Five for Friday

Happy Friday!
Can you believe it's almost May?

Here's what I'm obsessed with/getting ready for/having fun with, this week:

1. Still flying high from yesterday's PM announcement about IT WASN'T ALWAYS LIKE THIS, coming in 2016 from Soho Press. A girl. A boy. Two families that stumble upon a fountain of youth. And the crazy things that happen when you're stuck at 17 and searching for the boy you love.

Yeah. I kinda love it. I bet you do, too.
Tuck Everlasting meets Veronica Mars.
That's all I'll say for now.
(except that the blurb itself is on yesterday's blog post if you haven't seen it!)
Also that my agent, Jen Rofe, totally rocks.

2. Getting ready for this weekend's Houston SCBWI conference. I'm honored to be part of the local faculty, critiquing manuscripts. And looking forward to all the panels and sessions and just hanging out with authors, editors and agents. Yay!

3. Just ordered some fun giveaways for the A-WORD launch. Can you say cowboy boot keychains? They're seriously adorable. (Okay, I tried to type 'adorbs' but you know, I think I am officially done with the cloying cuteness of that word. There, I tossed that out there. Now you know.)

4. Finally watched most of The Trouble With the Curve w/Clint Eastwood and Amy Adams. Predictable. But sweet. A perfect rainy day/cleaning the family room/getting my head together before I leap into another project kind of movie.

5. Vampire Diaries is still holding my attention. There are far too many plot threads going on, some of which drag me from what I want to watch which is the Elana/Damon/Stefan triangle, but no matter. I'm still a fan. I do believe I could be a fan of The Originals, too, but I will need to actually watch more than the one ep I perused months ago. And it seems that perhaps this summer I need to catch up on Agents of Shield, which after its hiatus turned into a much stronger show. Sometimes, things just have to simmer a bit until the writers hit their stride. And I think this is one of them.

What are you doing/reading/watching this week?

Philosophical Friday

It's been that kind of week - the kind where you think too much... or maybe that's just me. Been writing 2-4 thousand words a day to make my deadline so I think it just gets the brain cooking and mulling.
Here's one for you: I write about choices a lot because in real life I agonize over them. If I was a total believer in zodiac stuff, I'd tell you that its 'cause I'm a Libra and we Libras like that scale in balance. We tend to overthink and freeze. If I do this... but if I do that... Some call it being contemplative. Others say it's waffling.

Here's a choice I agonized over that I'm glad, glad that I made: I am writing full time this year and picking up part time gigs here and there where I can to make ends meet. It's scary, but it feels absolutely right. My creative energies are in the right place. Frequently I run into former colleagues. Too often they (generalizing here to protect people's right to privacy) tell me some form of "I'd quit/retire but hey it's a paycheck. So you, um, write all day? Like that's all you do?"

So yeah, I guess it was time.

Watched The Vampire Diaires season opener last night. Oh Damon. You are sooo good inside. Really, you are. And (spoiler coming) that scene where Stefan calls Elana. And we just see the look on his face. Sigh. Sigh. Sigh. Dontcha just love it?

Am very excited to tell you more about Again and Again soon. How anxious I am to let you find out how the Anne/Ethan romance turns out.
And very excited to tell you about The Sweet Dead Life. A different book. A Texas setting. And some guardian angel shenanigans.

Soon my little pretties. Very soon.
Have a great weekend all!
And if you're a choice waffler, comment here and tell me all about it. We choice wafflers need company.

And in the Mac vs PC debate.... Mac has won. Now it's Pro vs. Air. I'm thinking Pro.
Husband is soo a PC guy. It's like I'm bringing a cat into a dog house or something. He will have to get. over. it. dear boy.

Want to win HAUNTED and the Sunday seven

Various contests up and about with HAUNTED giveaways, thanks to bloggers, author/bloggers and other kind souls.

Want to win a copy of HAUNTED?

Author Janet Fox (Faithful and the Forthcoming Forgiven) has an interview with me and a contest!
http://kidswriterjfox.blogspot.com/2011/02/voices-you-should-hear-joy-preble.html

And Blogger Book Whisperer does, too!

http://book-whisperer.blogspot.com/2011/02/book-tour-haunted-by-joy-preble-and.html

Very cool!

Now for the Sunday seven:

1. tomorrow's blog post will be about matryoshka dolls, which play a huge role in the Dreaming Anastasia series. (Yes this will be my Valentine's post. Yes, there's a reason!)
And later this week, Crystal Allen!

2. Finally watched EasyA last night. Very very funny. Even a tad poignant.

3. Can't decide if I want to watch Waiting for Superman when it comes out next week. I'm not a fan of those who claim that they have THE ANSWER to our educational woes. Cause you know what? They don't. It's never that simple. Okay, actually it is. You want to know the secret to good schools? Here it is: a.Highly educated teachers who are masters of their subject matter. (ie - Don't hire an English teacher who hasn't read Shakespeare and who couldn't step in and competently teach any grade level. Or a math teacher who can't teach more than algebra. Just don't do it.) B. Parents who care and who take the time to follow their kids' progress. Really follow it. Who know what they're learning. Who value learning. And who make it a priority to pass that value on to their kids. Those two would be a good start. Want to sort the good teachers from the weaker ones? Stick your candidates in a room with just a student textbook (no internet or teacher's guide) and paper and pen. Tell them okay - you're going to be teaching a unit on short stories next week. Create it and the activities and assessments that go with it. If they can't do it, don't hire them. End. Of. Story.

4. Bethenney Frankel has a new series coming up. Bethenney - you are like crack to me. I even watched you on Skating with the Stars. I will be there, girlfriend!

5. Brooding Aiden's bitey, bloody, obsessive love affair with the new vamp on Being Human - gross but addictively watchable.

6. Does anyone else notice that Vampire Diaries sometimes recycles Buffy plots? Like next week's ep where Stefan relives his past victims. Didn't Angel do this in Season 3 on the Buffy Christmas episode? Plus others?

7. It is clear that for a woman who teaches six classes, is writing a book that's due in July and attempting to promote the new one PLUS prepare for her son's wedding (got a dress!!! I found a dress!!), that I watch entirely too much tv.

til next time...

Sunday Seven

Do I even have seven? Let's see:

1. Launch party was so much fun yesterday. About 90+ I think... and I know it would have been more if not for the weird weather week, rescheduled sports events, etc. February is s fickle little month, esp if your book launches on the day of the great Chicago blizzard. But so good to meet you all/see you all/give away Haunted t shirts, eat cake... If you took pics, post them/send them/let me see them! I got only a few on my camera... too busy saying hi!

2. Have updated my HAUNTED tour schedule on the website news page. (http://www.joypreble.com)

3. Definitely had a sniffly moment yesterday when I said, "you know, last year at this time...." and talked briefly about last year's thyroid cancer journey. Signed book contract/got diagnosis all in same week. But look at the happy happy ending. Yay for health!

4. Need to write 2k today. Let's see if I do it.

5. Thanks to Roecker Sisters for turning me to GOOP. That's all I'm saying. Oh the humor.

6. Hooked on Being Human on SyFy. Vamp, werewolf, ghost - sharing a house. Loving this show.

7. Vampire Diaires continue to get better and better. Oh Damon. How I love you. I haven't enjoyed an hour of tv this much since the BTVS days.

til next time...
and ONE DAY left (through 2/7) to get your free Dreaming Anastasia download on the ereader of your choice. Just like you always do, only it's free!

THANK YOU one and all for supporting me and HAUNTED. I seriously love my middle book. Hope you do, too!

Sunday Stuff.. and a few Haunted hints

Okay, just a quick post. Must finish Haunted revisions for Editor Kelly. Have placed the absolutely gorgeous cover here in honor of this morning's task! Kelly and I are whipping Haunted into lean mean fighting machine shape for February. Lots of running around. Lots of peril. (Kelly and I love to get into peril while we're editing. Just Friday we dueled with the art department over a tricky font issue) The Anne and Ethan romance heats up. (Oh does it heat up!) Some romantic conflict. Mostly because of a new character named Ben Logan. Baba Yaga's back. Plus there's this malevolent mermaid.... I think you're going to love it. So does Kelly.

Beyond that - in no particular order:

• Since we don't have DirectTV, Friday Night Lights is finally back! If you are not watching, please watch with me. DVR it. Tivo it. Record it on your old vcr tapes. (seriously - you don't need that series finale of Gilmore Girls anymore. It's on dvd now. Just tape over it) But watch. You won't be sorry.
• And speaking of my tv habits - the season finale of Vampire Diaries - hello! Saw it coming a couple of seconds before it happened. All I can say is holy fangs, Batman!! Am completely happy with my guilty pleasure.
• And okay, Top Chef Masters. I'm addicted.
• Almost done with Maggie Stiefvater's Linger. (My coveted ARC from TLA) Sooooo darn romantic. And wow, Maggie - your artist's eye is so evident. I wish I could describe things as fabulously as you do - the light, the angles - gorgeous.
• My bestest pal Janet Fox's Faithful is on shelves now. I'm pimping you out, Janet. Dear readers - get thee to a store or Amazon and start reading now.
• New on my Kindle: Friend is not a Verb by my beloved former editor Dan Ehrenhaft - who if you didn't know not only has crazy mad guitar skills but also has many, many books on the shelf. Do you know there's a character named Petra Dostoyevsky in this book? Dan! Why do you do this to me? I must revise faster so I can have the time to read.

Okay. Back to work.

til next time...