Where I've Been

Thanks to Carol Moore of the Water-Blog for the photo.

So, yeah, I've been a tiny bit MIA from my blog(s) here. Apologies.


Here are just a few of the reasons why:

• I am STRUGGLING with revisions on my possible next YA. Yes, in all caps and an angry red font;

• I have had a few medical weirdo things happen which have kept me running to doctors, including an allergic reaction to Cipro that covered my body scalp to toe in itchy rashy red hives, and, you know, the other part where I thought I was having a *coughs* heart attack (but thank goodness wasn't);

• It is the end of the school year which is a notoriously busy time for my (all) kids and I have been running them places, helping them with final papers, getting son one set for college (?!?!) and driving son two to and from friends', golf, etc.

• I have been trying to devote myself to some anti-bullying work which feels important and right to me, but has taken up a decent chunk of my free time. Most of it I have done through participating as a mentor/support on this amazing Stand for the Silent facebook page started by the incredible whirlwind of a man named Kirk Smalley whose son killed himself at age 11 after being bullied insufferably for too long. 

• I have been dealing with the next phases of my next YA, THE SUMMER OF LETTING GO, including obtaining clearances, copy edits and early marketing stuff (author photos, Q&A, author essay, etc.) and, YES, I've seen a sneak peek at a possible cover! EXCITING!!!

and, last but not least. . .

THE OPEN WATER SEASON has started with a bang, or at least with some rocking and rolling water conditions. https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10151944021590299&set=vb.128827940504281&type=2&theater

So, there you have it. Ima busy. But, any day now, I'll be back here with a vengeance, since Teachers Write! is about to start and I'm bringing back Friday Feedback, so stay tuned!

xox gae

p.s. this is a pretty extraordinary review of THE PULL OF GRAVITY by a librarian now working in Hong Kong. If this Top 15 list doesn't make you want to read my book if you haven't, I don't know what will.

Swimming Book to Book

That's me, mid-photo far right behind the blue paddleboard, at about mile 2

As many (most? all?) of you know, when I'm not writing, I'm usually swimming, and, indeed, while I'm swimming, I'm often writing in my head.

Last weekend was a milestone in my open-water swim career:

At 48, I swam my first 5-mile swim.

Honestly, it amazed me, even though I wasn't surprised.

I've done several 3-mile swims this summer (having done my first official 5K two summers ago), and knew I'd have no problem -- absent some major unforseen occurrence -- making it.

Still, 5 miles is a lot more than 3-miles (well, 2 more, to be exact -- see, I can do maths!) and, the morning of, missing one of my two usual swim cohorts, I arrived at the beach with an abundance of butterflies in my stomach.

Did I make it? Yes.

Was it harder than I thought? Yes.

Do I plan to do it again soon? Hell, yes! I can't wait to try longer than that.

If you're interested, here's my quiet, spare account of the swim on my other blog. And here's a more detailed account on the blog of our West Neck "Fairy Pod Mother," The Water-blog.

In the meantime, the morning temps are dropping here in NY, and I've got lots of swimming left to do before the winter sets in.

The beach at around 11:30 am on 8/25/12, after my 5-mile swim.
The resident (un) friendly swans were waiting for me when I got back to home base.

xox gae

Swimming, Winning, Whining, and New Beginnings.

Considering this is me (photo left, with my sister),
terrified by a 5 degree angle,
I'd say I'm doing pretty winning at life these days. ;)

In an oh-too-predictible microcosm of that old macrocosm of Time, 2011 flew by in a blink of an eye.

Damn you, Time. I wish the days would slow down.

I did my best to seize them, to make the most of the hours, some days more successfully than others.

In this, my 47th year, it seems essential to seize every moment, or at least to try, as they blur past me, out the windows.

Here are some of the highlights, the good, and the whiny:

That's me in the middle, finding my religion. . . and, yes, we swam on Christmas Eve day,
me sans Santa hat, but I did don my monkey hat after.

Swimming. My family fills me, my writing sustains me, but my swimming? My swimming saves me.

As I get older, the water keeps me young, keeps me pushing to achieve new goals. Frustratingly, I did not accomplish last year's resolution to complete a five-mile swim this summer (mostly due to logistics), but I am signed up for one this coming summer. Luckily, I did push myself in new ways, including by swimming faster, harder, in more challenging conditions, and through December. Good enough. I'll take it.

I am endlessly blessed to have found The West Neck Pod (here's the official blog of the Pod, if you are interested).

And here I am swimming today, on 12/24/11 with the other amazing nutjobs of the West Neck Polar Pod ;))

Winning. I've had some winning experiences this year, both family and book-related. My kids don't love it when I blog about them, so suffice it to say, both my boys are wonderful kids who are having some awesome and hard-fought-for successes, and I'm proud of them. This is my younger son, having one such moment (yes, that is his name they are chanting ;)).

They say you're only as happy as your most unhappy child, and I can tell you that this is true.

As for winning book news, some of the many highlights were:

the Dolphin Bookshop reading in October 

the high schools that have picked up The Pull of Gravity into their curriculum (!), my Skype visits with Mr. Hankins' class and especially the boys of Room 407, and with the 9th graders of Clio High School thanks to Mrs. Sarah Andersen,

and, the winning-most things of all: the confirmation that I will be going to PAPERBACK (!!! Winter 2013) and

my shiny, wonderful, and oh-so-geekily meaningful 2011 Nerdies Award in Young Adult fiction bestowed by the amazing teachers and educators who run the Nerdy Book Club. (Thanks again to all who voted in the final phase!)

Whining. I am out on SUBMISSION. Need I say more? (If I do, you can read this blog post, or this one to learn more). Also, my old lady, bum hip still hurts despite months of Physical Therapy, and then there was the night I passed out and broke my nose on the bathroom floor. Also, my freaking house is a mess and I have zero desire to clean it. There. That should do it. That wasn't too bad, was it?

New Beginnings.

So, there you have it. And, now, here it is, a New Year.

I have a fresh slate and a chance to do better. To be a better friend, to be a more patient parent, to let go of old wounds and find a way to embrace the unknown without so much angst and distraction. And to spend less time wasting time, and more time writing and doing.

This is what I've learned: the more I do, the less I long for all the things I didn't do. Simple, right?

I have books to write, friends to spend time with, a family that I love, and that deserves to have me not just there for them, but fully present.

I am grateful for all the good that has come to me in 2011, and I hope you know how much your readership, and friendship, mean to me.

Especially to those who inspire me, who swim with me, and to my classmates in the Class of 2K11 who got me through this first author year, a very heartfelt thank you.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

- gae