BEA Day Three (Otherwise Known as Fangirl Day)

I made mittens.

They have narwhals on them.

And they are lined to make them extra warm.

And they are made out of alpaca. For coziness. The pattern is by Ysolda Teague from her book Whimsical Little Knits 3. The yarn is Blue Sky Alpacas in a sport weight, I forget the colors. The lining is Spud and Chloe Fine.

And I made them for Victoria Schwab, author of The Near Witch. Because she loves narwhals. And she loves alpaca. And she is my friend. So she gets mittens. Friends get handknits.

Kelly and I went off to the Javits Center this morning, ran around the floor grabbing books, then ran into Victoria before her signing in the Disney-Hyperion booth. And we got to chat for a while. And I gave her mittens. I think she likes them.

Then we went over to the signing and Kelly and I got in line. We were given numbers, because V did not believe 50 people would show up for her signing! And from the look of the signing line, she was WRONG. There were LOTS of people.

So then I got a signed paperback of The Near Witch and got to squeal with childlike joy at the little narwhal V drew on the inside.

After that, I rushed over and joined the insane line for the Bitterblue signing. And although the line looked impossible, it moved rather quickly! So now I have a signed copy of Bitterblue. And I am a happy Laura.

And then there were other signings with other wonderful authors, including Maggie Stiefvater and David Levithan. I am completely spoiled.

We headed home early, since BEA winds down early on the last day. Later, we'll be off to Red Lobster for Kelly's birthday dinner, and then I'll sort through the books and update my spreadsheet, then decide which books are getting shipped back to Indiana and which will be lovingly packed into my luggage and flown home along with me. And I need to pick a plane book. But how can I choose which book to read on the plane when I have SO MANY great ones to choose from?

Have some pictures.

Day One of BEA

I am so tired, I feel as if I have melted into a puddle of Laura and there is nothing left of me except for eyes and maybe the hands I am using to type this post.

Tomorrow I will be MORE tired.

But we did all sorts of things and got books signed and run around and wait in lots of long lines. And I met author people and saw Victoria Schwab, who I fangirled. I fangirled a lot today. Here are pictures. I will tell you more later!

Random Monday

1. It is Monday.

2. I have a problem with that. But since Monday also has a problem with me, I suppose it all works out.

3. I think I have consumed more than my daily requirement of sweet tea. My entire body is vibrating, though I think the medical term is "tremor-ing."

4. Today I went to Wendy's and it rained really hard, and the rain came down through the sun-room roof and poured into my open purse, which was sitting on the chair next to me. Fortunately, the rain landed on my unused umbrella, which was stored inside my purse. I just carefully lifted it out, dumped the water, and fled to higher ground.

5. I told everyone that since the animals had already been gathered two-by-two, for the 4-H fair, we were going to have a Noah-quality flood. Dad said lumber was too expensive for arks, and I said it was okay, because we have the National Guard.

6. Dad then revealed that Mom was installing our new light fixture, on her own. His explanation for not helping her was, "I only get one day off a week." This was some impressive logic that will totally serve him well when he is pushing Mom from room to room in a wheelchair after she is crippled by the slipped disc in her back. One wrong move with that light fixture and that disc will shoot out from between her vertebrae like a rubber band, and poor Mom will be lying in a heap on the floor, groaning in agony.

7. I then called Mom to insist that she STOP what she was doing until I got home to help her. Paul had arrived at home and was already assisting her. In another few months, Paul could get work as a handyman, because he can do (and does) more around the house than Dad can do without his head exploding. Dad and home improvement don't mix very well. They actually don't mix at all.

8. Paul reports that there have been "major strides" toward having a working dining room light. If only he had poster squares. What do poster squares have to do with installing a light fixture?

9. I need to send a package. The Something* that goes in the package is the exact length of my forearm and hand, but it is super-skinny, so I don't want a HUGE box. I went to look for a box in our recycling closet outside and discovered the contents had just been picked up and we only had ONE box left.

10. The box was the exact length of my forearm and hand. It was no wider than a CD case, which is the PERFECT length. In other words, FATE gave me a box. It arranged the destiny of the box and my destiny perfectly to allow us to cross paths at the correct time. This was kismet, people.

KISMET.

Hope you're all having a lovely Monday.

L.

*This Something is a special present for Victoria Schwab, author of The Near Witch, which (hee, that sounds funny) is coming out in only THREE WEEKS! August 2nd! I am very excited. Victoria is doing a giveaway on her blog every Monday until her book is released. Check it out at http://veschwab.wordpress.com/

Waiting Is Hard: Near Witch Countdown Craft Tutorial

In case you haven't noticed, I'm very excited about The Near Witch by Victoria Schwab. So excited that I have the NW countdown widget over in the doobly-doo . See it?

Now, The widget is great and all, but I have this issue with remembering numbers. The issue is that I can't remember numbers. I have to give each number a letter to correspond with it, so I can remember what it is. Then I memorize strings of letters instead of dates or phone numbers.

What? You're surprised I do something bizarre? Have you met me?

The widget, as I said, is great. I love the widget. And when I'm at home, I can just bring up my blog on my laptop and I can watch the widget count down. I'm not going to lie to you, folks. I do that quite often. Especially since Netflix took my Sports Night away from me.

But, driving to work this morning, it occurred to me that I might forget that there are only 49 days until The Near Witch is released.

Forgetting is bad.

So, when I had a free moment, I decided to make a Craft. And now I will teach you to make it, too.

Near Witch Countdown Calendar

You will need:

• Paper and access to a printer
• A computer with the word processing or photo editing program of your choice
• Scissors
• A ruler or straight edge of some sort
• Heavy-duty scrapbook paper in an appealing pattern and color
• A stapler of dangerous proportions
• The ability to count

1. Go here, and download the picture.


2. Open your photo editor or word processor, I used Microsoft Publisher, and put your newly-downloaded book cover in it.


3. Admire the cover of The Near Witch. Daydream about reading it.


4. Pick a font that goes with the cover font and a color that works with the cover's color scheme.


5. Make a text box, and put it somewhere on the cover. In the text box, put the number 49.


6. Copy your picture and text box.


7. Paste your picture and text box many, many times.


8. Start counting down from 49, changing the numbers in all the text boxes except the first one. The first new box should have the number 48, then 47, then 46...you get the idea. Count down to one.


9. Paste your cover one last time. Make another text box with a happy saying announcing The Near Witch's release. Mine says, "It's HERE!"

10. Print, in color.


11. Cut out each cover neatly.


12. Arrange the pages of your calendar with the highest number on the top and the smallest number on the bottom. The numbers should be in order.


13. Put the happy announcement cover at the very bottom.


14. Cut out a piece of pretty but heavy-duty scrapbook paper (card stock) so it is the same size as the other pages of the calendar.

15. Place the scrapbook paper underneath all the other pages.


16. Use the heavy-duty, dangerous-looking stapler to staple your calendar together.


18. Admire your finished Craft Project.

19. Each day, tear off a page of your calendar, to signify the passage of time.

While you use your fantastic new calendar, make sure you go over to Victoria Schwab's blog and enter her giveaway! You could win a signed first edition of Hourglass by Myra McEntire, a signed Hourglass poster, a $10 iTunes gift card with an Hourglass playlist, and Near Witch swag pack* (signed bookmark, bookplate, set of buttons, playing cards). Trust me, you want all of these things.

*I can tell you from personal experience, the bookmarks and buttons are lovely. I read my set of buttons when I need a NW fix. I have them memorized.