EARTHQUAKE! (And more about the Nook...Just Kidding).

I live in Indiana. It is flat. There is corn. There is also a lot of pretty things like flat land. And corn. And chalk-scratched skies. And...

EARTHQUAKES!

We had an earthquake this morning. It was all over the news and the radio. If more people were at work, I am sure they would be swapping stories. Did I feel it? Nope. But a lot of people around me did. It was in my area. I probably should have felt it. I wonder if I didn't feel it because I am in a revision daze and when one is in the middle of edits, well, every day sort of feels like an earthquake. Right? The whole world is shaking! Aw!

The way I figure it, if my dogs don't freak out, I didn't miss anything.

It also got really warm here all of a sudden. Like I don't need my winter coat anymore warm. The snow is now this mushy translucent mess. Birds are everywhere. Very odd. Could this be the end of days? Or is a little teaser? I am ready for spring now. After Christmas, I'm always ready for spring. It can come now. I welcome it, despite the oddity of its early arrival.

Something tells me this is just a cruel joke. Probably by February, the most evil month ever.

Happy Thursday! May you not experience any earthquakes today!

NOOK!

So...I got a Nook Color for Christmas! It's hard to pick between the e-readers and honestly it's taken me some time to warm up to them. And I still love holding a real, live book in my hands. But...I LOVE MY NOOK. Seriously. Love it. I can't stop playing with it! It's so cute and pretty! And books appear out of thin air! With one little tap of my finger! AW! And it's all so...organized!


Here's the thing: I read more than one book at a time. I can't help it. I like to "Book Hop." This is considerably easier with the Nook. I still have random books scattered all over my house and it may stay like that for a while, until I catch up on reading all of those. But when I do, books can go on the bookshelf. My husband and my dad did build those pretty bookshelves by hand, after all! Might as well use them! (I love my bookshelf, BTW). The Nook is portable and I have this adorable case for it that says, "Choose an author as you choose a friend" - Sir Christopher Wren.

I can take more than one book with me wherever I go! Without cramming my purse until it bursts! I can take MILLIONS of books with me wherever I go, in one little device! (Okay - I am not quite up to that amount. Yet. I have downloaded two books. And tons of free samples of others I plan to buy.)

I like to share quotes from books, too. This is pretty easy to do with the Nook. It posts right to Facebook or Twitter!

There are a million ways to read and it hasn't replaced regular books. I still have a pile of those I need to read and will probably switch between the formats. Why not? Who says we have to do things one way? But...gosh...I never thought I would love the Nook so, so, so much. And it has extras! I can play crossword puzzles! And because I am so awful at crossword puzzles, it gives me hints! So I can totally cheat! YES!

My mom also got a Nook. The Nook has a little LEND ME application so we can swap books. Now not ALL books are Lend-able. But plenty are, I think. We haven't tried that out yet. Hopefully it works.

So...enough about the Nook. I like it. It's cool. So I still love the smell of old books and the feel of paper between my fingers but...the thing that really matters is the story. What I am reading. That's not going to change.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Just wanted to take the time to wish everyone a safe and happy holiday! Blogging may be sporadic over vacation. But that seems common. I will leave you with one of my favorite videos from this year. I've watched it about a million times:

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Books Books Books

At the beginning of 2010, I made a list of books I wanted to read. I decided I would also keep a list of the books I actually read. Um. That didn't happen. I am not too great at lists but maybe next year I will accurately document my reading habits. Or maybe pigs will start flying. Who knows?

But, from what I can remember, here is a list of books I read in 2010. Chances are, if I finished reading the book, I loved it!

In no particular order...

1) The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

2) Room

3) I'd Know You Anywhere

4) The Perks of Being a Wallflower** LOVE. Can't believe it took me so long to get to this book...

5) Will Grayson, Will Grayson

6) Anna and the French Kiss

7) Paranormalcy

8) Hex Hall

9) Story of a Girl

10) The Disreputable History of Frankie-Laudeau Banks*** FAVORITE. LOVE. FAVORITE.

11) Honey, Baby, Sweetheart

12) Nothing

13) The Duff

14) The Search (Nora Roberts)

15) The Help

16) Stay

17) Peace, Love, and Baby Ducks

18) I Am the Messenger *SPECIAL LOVE.

19) It's Kind of a Funny Story* SPECIAL LOVE.

20) The Last Good Place of Lily Odilon

21) Thirteen Reasons Why

22) Cracked up to Be

23) Eat, Pray, Love

24) Fireworks Over Toccoa

25) Going Bovine

26) Al Capone Does My Shirts

27) The Smoke Jumper

28) 13 Little Blue Envelopes * LOVE! (This book and Anna and the French Kiss pretty much sums up my experience in Europe many years ago...love them both!)

29) If I Stay

30) The Spectacular Now

31) The Dogs of Babel *LOVE LOVE LOVE THIS BOOK!

Okay, so I could've been LOVE by all of them because I enjoyed all of the above. And that's all I can remember! Or maybe that's it! I feel like I read a lot more this year than I usually do. I took a big break from writing to just read, read, read.

I'm looking forward to great new books in 2011! Yeah!

Happy Holidays!

A MEOW-TASTIC Announcement!

Happy.

Hi! It's been awhile! You might have noticed some changes around here. Or maybe not. I wouldn't blame you if you didn't notice. It's hard to avoid the holiday daze. You might be asking yourself: Why the changes, Lisa? Well, I am sure glad you asked, dear reader. It's time to start fresh. I'm going in a new direction.

And I'm thinking about asking for this for Christmas...





BUT WHY? BECAUSE...

I HAVE AN AGENT!

You read that write, er, I mean right...

I HAVE AN AGENT!

I am now represented by the wonderful Katie Shea of the Caren Johnson Literary Agency!

You might be wondering (or maybe you are wondering where all the hot guy pictures are...I don't know...): But, uh, WHAT? How did this happen? HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?

The wonderful Katie represents the YA Contemporary Novel I wrote over the summer, this special little story that I thought might be too odd for anyone to like. I was worried about sending it out...but I did...

There is a lesson in here somewhere. I think...Oh, yeah! Write what you love!

I am happy and excited to start the New Year fresh and to work with Katie on my story! I'll also be happy to answer any questions! In the meantime...I will leave you with this:

Testing...

Testing...the...new...blog...

I'm Still Here

Hi! I'm here. Just got back from business trip. Sounds fancy. It isn't. My car battery died last night. I have jury duty next week. Painting bedroom, resulting in a mess of a room. Laundry piling up. Pet hair piling up. Blog reading piling up. E-mail piled up. Books to read. Christmas shopping to do. Yep. That kind of time.

In other news...

I won NANO! Yeah! 50,000 words, barely. I got it in before my trip. Yeah! Time to let that manuscript sit for some time. It was a fun one to write.

Holla. I'm alive. I'm alive. I'm alive. And wiped out. Must use weekend productively...

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!