2011...What a year!

We're having a New Year's Eve party at our house and getting ready for tonight's festivities has got me thinking about the year that was 2011.

It was a great year. A great year in my writing life. A great year in my family life. I'm a little sad to see this year go.

Thinking back over the year - this was a big year for change.

In my writing life:

I didn't start writing THE RULES FOR DISAPPEARING until Feburary of this year. In fact, on New Year's Eve last year, this story was just a few stray thoughts that had started to grow in my mind.

I didn't start this blog until August.

I didn't have a twitter account or a Facebook page until November.

In my family life:

My two older boys are growing and muturing and fast becoming young men. Well, there are moments (okay, a lot of moments) when they aren't so mature - they are boys after all - but you get what I'm saying!

My baby moved from diapers to big boy pants - and any of you with young kids knows what a Hallelujah moment that is! He also started K3 in August and was one of the only kids that didn't cry on the first day of school. (Is it really sad that part of me wished he did!)

2011 was so awesome that I’ve got really high hopes for 2012. I’ll be starting revisions soon which is scary and exciting at the same time. I’ll get to meet my agent, my editor and several of the Lucky 13 authors in NYC in January. I’ve started the sequel to Rules and 2012 will be the year to see what that book will ultimately become. And maybe even a few other ideas are growing.

So goodbye 2011 – I really loved ya! And hello 2012 – you’re looking pretty nice yourself.

And one last thought…After today – I can say my book comes out next year!! How cool is that!

Have a very SAFE and very WONDERFUL  New Year!

Character Interviews are hard

Today I posted my first blog post at the Lucky 13s. The topic was character interview and it was much harder than I thought it would be. I wrote these characters, so therefore it should be really easy to "interview" them.

Right?

Not so much.

Mainly because there is so much I didn't want to give away.

If you want to check it out, click here. I hope you enjoy a little glimpse into the world of THE RULES FOR DISAPPEARING.

Things I Learned in New York

First, let me say, my trip to New York City was incredible! We covered more ground (on foot by the way) than I thought was humanly possible and ate the most incredible food – my favorite stop was probably the little bakery in Little Italy. Oh, cannoli!

Yes. These were all mine. Don't judge me.

 

So this is what I learned on my trip to New York:

1.      I am not wired for marathon shopping. There were nine of us in our group – 4 of them being 13 year old girls. And they like to shop. For many hours. In a row. I knew I was out of my league when we walked into a store and I immediately looked for a chair.

2.      The world is a small place. Besides the nine of us – two other families that go to our school stayed at our hotel (I knew they would be there but it was still strange running into them). We met a very eccentric woman in the elevator that lives two miles from my house and I ran into a family whose son is friends with my oldest walking through Times Square. On our last day, I bumped into a woman in Dylan’s Candy Bar whose daughters I have photographed numerous times. That’s insane to me.

3.      I love Broadway shows. We saw Wicked, Mama Mia and the Rockettes. We might have embarrassed the girls by singing and dancing in our seats during Mama Mia but we didn’t care.

4.      Fifteen seconds on TV is really exciting. We got up early and made our way to GMA where Sam Champion actually interviewed the girls on air. I think I was a giddy about it as they were.

5.      Can’t wait to go back in January for the SCBWI Winter conference!

Outside GMA. The girls stayed up until 2am making that sign. I know - it's awesome.

Really bad iPhone pic outside of Mama Mia.

It’s always good coming home, though. And as much as I loved hanging with all those girls – I really missed my boys.

And actions speak louder than words. I guess this is my youngest son's way of telling me he wasn't going to be left behind next time.

Baby Boy with his favorite pillow and favorite blanket in my empty suitcase.

The main difference between traveling with girls vs. boys – the amount of time it takes everyone to get ready to leave the room.  

Braiding hair before a night on the town. You would think mulit-tasking like this would speed things up.
It doesn't.

Watch out NYC...here I come!

This year is the SCBWI 13th Annual Winter's Conference in NYC! And since I joined the Lucky 13s blog and will be debuting in 2013 - I took that as a sign to attend. But what's equally exciting is that I will (finally) meet - in person - my fab agent, Sarah Davies and my awesome editor Emily Meehan while I'm there! Woo hoo!

But I'll also be in the Big Apple this weekend! A group of friends are taking their daughters to celebrate turning 13! Yes, another sign - I must go too! "But wait," you say, "you don't have a 13 yr old daughter. Or any daughter for that matter. All you talk about are those boys!"

I know - and that's the beauty of it. I'm going as the "Favorite Aunt!" I get all the fun of watching these girls experience New York, shopping with them, attending some shows (Wicked, Mama Mia and the Rockettes!) with them  - with none of the responsibility! The trips my hubby and sons plan consist of camping out in some remote wilderness place where war has to be waged against all the bugs and wildlife in order to get a decent night's sleep. But this is a trip with shopping - and other females. I can't resist.

If any of you have ever been - I'd love any recommendations: things to do, places to eat, anything that's a must for New York...

Lucky 13s, Geaux Saints and social media discoveries

It's been a busy week! First, and most exciting, I've joined The Lucky 13s blog! It's a blog for children's and young adult authors debuting in 2013. You should seriously check it out - the up-coming books all look fantastic over there! And there's a new post today - an interview with Leanna Renee Hieber, author of DARKER STILL: A NOVEL OF MAGIC MOST FOUL.

This past weekend, Hubby and I took our two oldest sons to New Orleans. It was a fantasy weekend for Louisiana sports lovers with LSU beating Bama and the Saints beating the Bucs. We watched the LSU game in a small restaurant/pub. I felt a little sorry for the lone table of Bama fans in the back corner. But the real reason for the trip was we had tickets for the Saints game. Needless to say, my kids were in heaven.

Look how great our seats were!! Six rows from the field!

Oldest son and middle son just before the game started

And for my social media discoveries - I'm starting to get the hang of it. For those of you that don't know me - I'm a little late to the game but making up for lost time. I'm now on twitter. It was a little overwhelming at first - my phone was making noises every few minutes but I've got an easy rhythm now. So come visit me - I'd love to hear from you.

I have news...

Every writer dreams of the day they will make THE ANNOUNCEMENT.

Well...brace yourself!

From Publisher's Marketplace:

Ashley Elston’s THE RULES FOR DISAPPEARING, about a girl who, desperate to escape the Witness Protection program and discover what really happened the day that ruined her family’s lives, breaks her minders’ ultimate rule by falling for a boy and embarking with him on a perilous journey to outwit both cops and criminals, to Emily Meehan at Disney-Hyperion Children’s, in a good deal, in a pre-empt, in a two-book deal, for publication in Winter 2013,by Sarah Davies at the Greenhouse Literary Agency (NA).

*squees, jumps  up and down and generally acts a little crazy*

This has been in the works for the last week and the hardest thing in the world to keep quiet about. Needless to say, there's been lots of celebrating, tears, more celebrating, more tears... you get the picture.

First, I'd think to thank my incredible, fabulous, super-agent Sarah Davies. From my first conversation with Sarah, even though it was probably a tad difficult to understand each other with her proper British accent and my slow southern drawl, I knew I was in good hands.

And many, many thanks to Emily Meehan at Disney-Hyperion Children’s. I’m thrilled RULES found a home with her. I’m so excited about working with Emily and the entire Disney-Hyperion group.

Also thanks to all my family and friends for all their support and encouragement. And thanks to the readers of this blog. This is a great community and I’m so happy to be a part of it.  

Thriller Time

I love Halloween – the costumes, the candy, carved pumpkins, spooky decorations. Oh, and did I mention the candy? But today is really exciting. This year my oldest son is in middle school and will be able to participate in the Thriller dance. Yes, the entire middle school does a zombie dance to Michael Jackson’s Thriller at a special Halloween pep rally. So last night we shredded one of my husband’s white undershirts and got the face paint and fake blood ready to take to school.

Michael Jackson in the music video Thriller

The best part is: when I was the same age, I was learning the same dance. I was 11 when the video was released and my friends and I spent HOURS mastering every step. Watching him do the same thing is awesome. I hope I just don’t embarrass him if I bust a move in the back of the Gym. I may not can help myself.