The Young, Fanged, & Undead panel -- David MacInnis Gill, Daniel Waters, Melissa de la Cruz, and me. We had a TON of fun. I love making new friends (barring David, whom I've known like forever). There are a few more pics here.


BFFs: The Soul-Seller, the Necromancer, the Vampiress, and the Princess

..like a rainbow caught in a storm.



Also, I'm in the thick of novel revisions/rewrites. Your regularly scheduled blog will return...um...yeah. And it's not like I'm not constantly on Twitter or anything. I'm still alive and kicking. And beautiful. And caught in a storm...

The pictures from Horrorfind Weekend are up! I'll be posting them to Facebook too, but if you want the captions & tags, you'll have to check out the official Picasa album. Just click on the big happy family.

I'm home, finally, and I have got to get to bed. Tomorrow expect lots of updates and tons of pictures. In the meantime, please enjoy the BEST PICTURE OF THE WEEKEND, which I believe epitomizes everything about Horrorfind.

What would YOU caption this?

Takes me about 20 minutes every day to get to the other side of that rainbow. Music helps pass the time.

This is the scene in my dining room.



It's looked this way for a week now, because I came home sick from Dragon*Con AND I'M STILL SICK. I'm a healthy person. I'm not used to these illnesses that take two weeks to clear up. After seven days I have to admit...this is driving me nuts. Granted I've caught up on pretty much all the TV I've ever wanted to watch -- my two new favorite shows are "Castle" and "Lie To Me" -- Nathan Fillion just makes us authors look GOOD, and Tim Roth is, well, TIM ROTH, only he Hugh Lauries it up a bit.

There's a Dragon*Con Top Ten post coming. I have notes and everything. I've even started writing it. But I also have to get back to other work, and I don't want to leave you guys hanging.

So here are my pics from yes, the Best Dragon*Con Evar, and here are my best friend and Con Roomie Chris McCormick's. The Sideshow was standing room only. The Hour With Sherrilyn Kenyon had over 1000 people. Our signing lasted two hours. The parade was marvelous.

And I still maintain it was worth every minute of my current misery.
*sneeze*

Yesterday morning on the radio I heard that the Discovery shuttle launch had been postponed until 11pm or midnight that night, and I seriously debated getting online to see if I could book a quick ticket to see my folks in Titusville. I've seen a shuttle launch live now so it's officially crossed off my list, but a night launch is something special to experience.

Happily, my parents (who now get ringside seats to all the launches) experienced it first hand for those of us who could not be there, and Dad snapped a few great pics.

I am so ready for Dragon*Con.

I had an amazing time at my first Necon. And as "amazing" is not nearly enough to describe it, look for a retrospective post coming soon. If you're impatient, all my Necon pics are live. If you start with the first one and page through, it makes for a pretty nifty travelogue.


The Breakfast Club: Bob, Kelli, Mary, Joe, Princess Alethea, Dickie, and Bandleader Jack Haringa

I also came out from under my rock because I couldn't forget to tell you that I have a live interview today with Jerrod Balzer at The Metal Crypt @ 3:30 EST. I'm a cute little author in a sea of some seriously hardcore performers...I'm listening to the podcast with Shadowside's Dani Nolden right now. That is one seriously beautiful and talented Brazillian woman. And she has the best hair.

My plane leaves for PA and Necon in 6 hours, and I'm STILL uploading pictures from Chicago. I took over 500 pictures -- if I ever need a reference for a building when I'm drawing, I'm totally covered! There are some really magical ones sprinkled throughout, though...like this one:



Check out the rest of my unabashed love for Chicago here.

The Kitten Shower was a lot of fun. Thanks to everyone who gave me great ideas!  We had tea & homemade scones and lots of kitty luv. Tracy snapped a few pics. Including this one! Soak it up now, because you won't see many photos like this...


Princess Lee, Cisco, and proud Mama Kathy


Cisco on the prowl

I barely slept the night before my first 5K...you know how it is. I was up at 3am and 4am, worried that I'd sleep through my 5am alarm -- especially since I was in the middle of a writing retreat at Sherrilyn Kenyon's cabin (which was closer to the race than my house). For all that I had prepared I had forgotten both the shirt I had planned to wear and my hair sticks (notice I have one hair stick and one Papermate pen) and the chain for wearing my car key around my neck (thank heavens for sports bars), but I remembered my shoes and my iPod, and that was the important part.

I was crazy early and got a good parking spot, found the bathroom, checked out the YMCA, and walked in circles around the parking lot to warm up while I waited for everybody to show. All the Ingram folks were to meet at the big sign at 6:30 (the race started at 7:00). Kevin found me first, so we hung out at the sign and chatted as Sam and Alison, Robin & Amy and their husbands, and Ben trickled in.

I kept doing stupid stretches to a.) look like a big shot and b.) keep myself from fidgeting and c.) because I probably needed it. So I'm folded in half touching my toes by the sign, and I notice that there's quite a bit of clover interspersed with the grass. Back In The Vermont Days, I used to spend hours in the field across the street from our house searching for four-leaf clovers. "Wouldn't it be funny," I thought, "if I found a four-leaf clover right now?" And then I did. Within like 30 seconds. I'm not kidding. It's pinned to the top left corner of my number in that picture. I pressed it when I got back to the cabin. Are your surprised? Me neither.

I took a friend's advice and started the race way in the back, so I wouldn't be run over by the Serious Athletes. (Instead I got run over by ladies with baby carriages.) So I didn't cross the START line the minute the gun went off, but I had a nifty chip on my shoe that would mark my time from the point that I did, which was cool.

My only goal was 45:00. I figured it would be a miracle if I finished that fast. For the last half of the race I think I joggled my iPod between the Beach Boys' "Surfin' USA" and "Let's Start a Riot" by 3 Doors Down. The former was my running song; the latter was my walking song. I just kept at it, back and forth. I skipped the water when it was offered (it was really a beautiful day and not nearly as hot as it should have been), and it was nice to be cheered on by perfect strangers. Kevin was waiting for me at the FINISH line with a bottle of water and a smile. The time on the big clock said 46:09. I figured I was maybe a minute back at the START line...I could maybe pull off beating 45 minutes. So when the times were posted and it said 43:53 by my name, I had to read it three times before it sunk in. WOOHOO!!!

I was the slowest person on my team and at the bottom of the list in my age group, but I totally don't care. I did something I never thought I'd do, and I had a great time. Even better -- I'm totally looking forward to the Christie Cookie 5K in September. I can't wait to kick my own butt.

I'm not sure WHAT is on sale...but it's only 2 for $4!
Any guesses?

Because you've done this pose too, and you know it.


Stephanie & Lee -- Ingram's Angels

And this one:


Beau Ordoyne is not your lover.

Indeed.



Saw this on the way to work this morning. I still want to ride in a hot-air balloon someday.

...without an Awesome Dad.
Happy Father's Day. xox

Today is my little sister's birthday. She's officially thirty-something today. Her name is Soteria. Back then, we called her Sami. Now you're only allowed to call her Sami if you've been grandfathered in. If you're one of those people, consider yourself special. But don't push it. She still prefers Soteria. (So-TEE-ree-uh)

This is exactly what we were like when we were kids:



I was the tomboy. She was the princess. It took me at least 15 years to realize I was a princess too. Soteria's always been ahead of her time.

This is us now:



We haven't changed much.

In honor of Soteria's birthday, I'm encouraging everyone to become a fan of the Dixie Dunbar Studio page on Facebook. Soteria was the lead designer for many years at Dixe Dunbar Studio in Charleston SC -- second only to Dixie herself -- and now she owns the entire kit & caboodle. If you've ever complimented me on my necklaces, that's where I get them.

Even if you don't become a fan, please click on over, check out the beautiful shinies, and wish Soteria a VERY happy birthday.
Thanks, guys.
xox

Apex Book Company has a really cool lottery going on right now -- including this one for a bunch of my books and some bonus swag.

One ticket for $1.00 -- ten tickets for $8.00. Go on. You have a dollar. I know you do.
(Did I mention all the books are signed?)

Jason is also adamant about leaving up my pin-up girl shot (the one I used to have on my Twitter profile). Which is totally fine with me. But he is NOT allowed to put it on the Apex calendar. Nope. No way, mister. I don't care how persuasive you think you are.

I like this one from yesterday of me and my new friend author Ally Carter:


You are now ded from cuteness. Ur welcome.

Hypericon 5 pics are live here.

(Due to the sheer awesomeness that was "Alethea's Adventures at BEA 2009, and What She Found There", I will begin at the end and go on until I come to the beginning. Because I am the princess and I said so.)

**********************************************

The Friendly Skies
Monday June 1, 2009



It's been said -- and I've mentioned it before myself -- that "the point of the journey is not to arrive." Well...that's crap, really, isn't it? Of course the point of the journey is your destination, or there wouldn't have been a journey in the first place. Arrival is simply the period at the end of the sentence. But if all you're concentrating on is the punctuation, you've definitely missed something.

While in Charleston with my sister over Memorial Day weekend, Sami and I did a spot of shopping -- just enough to make it worth our while but not completely nauseous (a distaste for so-called "retail therapy" is genetic, apparently). See...now that I'm brazen enough to slap pictures of myself all over the internet, I feel pressured to constantly add to my wardrobe to prevent all of you from suffering from the crazy delusion that I'm a Smurfette with only one nice dress. So I bought some fun things--a few you'll see in the BEA pics, a couple you'll see during Hypericon, and one I've saved for when I get nominated for an Oscar.

I also purchased what quickly became my new favorite shirt: a brown babydoll tee that reads: "faith hope love" in gold across the chest. (This has a point, I promise. It's not just 3000 words about clothes. Bear with me.) This shirt cried out to me, appealing to my inner six-year-old, the one who used to lock herself in the bathroom with a tape recorder and give inspirational speeches that begged everyone in the world to love each other, be happy, and "ho, mo, and grow" (I still haven't decided what "ho, mo, and grow" means, but it was important enough for me to repeat. A lot).

While at BEA, I picked up a button that said "HAPPY" and wore it on my badge until I lost it. Some people wear their heart on their sleeves; I suppose I have a tendency to wear my feelings on my chest.

As those of you who follow my FB/Twitter already know, I opted for the pretty dress/cute shoes every day of BEA weekend -- and I'm currently wearing the band-aids to prove it. By the time Monday rolled around, I was overjoyed to slide into my crumpled jeans and that soft brown t-shirt. (I am now compelled to find a button that says "OVERJOYED.") Mary and I went for a walk around the Upper West Side, stopped for breakfast, and dropped far too much cash at Bank Street Books. (One of my favorite children's authors is Arnold Lobel. Not only did Bank Street have some of the Frog and Toad books in hardcover, they had Frog and Toad in PLUSH. How was I supposed to pass that up? Exactly.)

Mary's done her share of traveling, so she knew right where and when I needed to catch the M60 bus back to Laguardia in time to check myself in and get settled. My suitcase full of books managed to squeak by just under the weight limit (yes!) and there was zero line at security, so I had plenty of time to sit back and relax before flying back to Nashville (via Charlotte again). I wandered over and bought a Snapple and some dark chocolate with almonds, found a comfy spot in front of the window, and cracked open Frog and Toad Are Friends.

Okay, yeah. I suppose any thirtysomething girl with braided pigtails and a cute hat sitting crosslegged at the end of a row of chairs eating chocolate and giggling into a Caldecott Honor book is just asking to be approached. When some guy tapped me on the shoulder, I turned and smiled at him...mostly because he had had the courtesy to let me finish reading my book before he interrupted me.

"Hi, sorry," he said. "This may sound a little strange but...well, I noticed your shirt....and it looks like you enjoy books, and reading..."

( (Okay....this essay's getting a bit long -- but I promise, it's totally worth it. For LJ folks, the rest is behind the cut.) )