Wine with your whine?
Last night was a lovely writerly evening with fellow LAYAs (Los Angeles Young Adult Authors -- yes, technically LAYAAs, but we can't spell). In attendance was Cecil Castellucci (QUEEN OF COOL) castellucci, Betty Birney (THE SEVEN WONDERS OF SASSAFRASS SPRINGS), Sonya Sones (WHAT MY MOTHER DOESN'T KNOW), Eileen Rosenbloom (STUCK DOWN), Mark L. Williams (DANGER BOY series), Cynthia Kadohata (WEEDFLOWER), Amy Goldman Koss (POISON IVY) and Heather who has a lovely last name, but I am doing that memory loss thing at the moment. Heather just sold her first novel to . . . uh oh, more memory loss . . . a place that makes books. Henry Holt? I'm sensing an "H" in the name.

Anyway, we all gathered at Cecil's for a Geek Dinner sponsored by this wine company. They are hosting 100 Dinners all over the world. Mark wrote to them and told them about us, and voila! They sent free wine and art.

I don't drink, but it didn't stop me from going. To make up for not partaking in the wine, I partooook in the baklava. Much.

The conversation was all shop. A lot of whining. A lot of complaining. A lot of angst. A lot of self pity. It was wonderful! This is what authors talk about when they gather in groups.

In my last blog when I blog-whined about my deadline, kindly editor Cheryl Klein offered me an extension. Drunk as I was on baklava (I REALLY liked that pistachio one), I decided to take her up on it, and immediately e-mailed her when I got home. (It took me 20-minutes to get to Cecil's house and 1-1/4 hours to get back. At one point I drove around the Rose Bowl THREE times. And Cecil lives NOWHERE near the Rose Bowl). Oops. Digression.

(Back on track here.) I will now work on my final draft of SO TOTALLY EMILY EBERS when I am in Orlando this weekend teaching at the SCBWI Workshop. (Hi Mindy!) Actually, I get a lot of work done when I am on the road. What? You thought it was all room service and spas?

Oh! And here's something my best friend Henry told me not to blog about . . . occupational hazards.

Today I took a writing break and ended up in TOTAL pain. I took four big vitamins at once and snarfed while drinking Diet Coke (without Mentos) to wash them down. But instead of going down, they went up. It was sooooo painful. Like the time broccoli came out of my nose. If felt like they were going to come out of my ears.

I called Hubby in a panic and explained that vitamins were in my head, and that my head was going to pop. His concerned response? "Is this some sort of April Fool's joke?" Duh. Noooo, it's not even April! Anyway, eventually (while I was on the phone actually) I wretched and the vitamins worked their way back down to where they belong.

I am fine now, although Hubby claims, "As you age you're getting weirder."