Better than a movie

So not only is there not one right answer to the job-at-Disneyland question, it turns out that you can totally use this as a personality test. For example, not only have I never wanted to be a princess--never even crossed my mind--I think the best job would be Jungle Boat cruise guide.


And there you have it: a sneak peek inside my brain. I still think it's the best job, but y'all can be princesses if you want to.


Moving on . . . don't judge a book by its cover, right? That's stupid advice. I judge a book by its cover all the time, but it's the backliner that clinches the deal. Or kills it. Let's go a step further, okay? Let's judge a book by its author. 


Take my friend Susan. She is opinionated and loyal. She is sassy and loving. She's a small-town girl who has a very clear understanding of human nature. And she wrote a book. And guess what her main character is like?


Yeah, you really want to read this book. It's LDS YA and it's got a kick butt high school soccer star who's got a thing going with a smokin' hot BYU men's soccer player. Until her hair falls out. And suddenly she's ugly. Or thinks she is. And it changes EVERYTHING about her. And it's hard. And she has to learn some stuff. And she breaks up with her guy. And he comes back to haunt her. And that is hard too. But the kind of hard where you're cheering the whole time and pulling for them to work it out.


Susan is one of those writing friends who honestly, I couldn't figure out for the life of me why she wasn't published. This is third novel of hers that I've read and they've all been killer. But this is the first one that gets to see the light of day. And YOU should read it.


It's available through the Deseret eBook shelf so you can read it on  you iPad, Android device, Kindle, and soon on your Nook. Here's the thing . . . instead of the normal $14.99 or more this book would cost new, you get it for half that. Like on Kindle of $7.99. So basically, it's going to cost you a movie ticket but give you four times as much entertainment. THAT'S a deal.


You can check out her blog here. And buy it on Kindle here. Or for your iPod or Android device here. And you're really going to like it. I PROMISE!


And although I know you're perfectly capable of looking up the blurb yourselves, here it is iffn you want it:

Bayley Albrecht’s dream is to play soccer on BYU’s South Field. When she is invited to soccer camp the summer before her senior year in high school, she just knows she’s one step closer to her dream. Things get even better when she meets Matt Macauley, the star of the men’s soccer team. When they decide to write each other while Matt is on his mission, Bayley figures her life can’t get any better. But it certainly can get worse...

After she receives a minor concussion from playing soccer, Bayley discovers she had a disease called alopecia which causes her to lose her hair. As Bayley struggles to deal with the reality of her baldness she finds herself having to make some tough decisions. Can she still play soccer? Does she even want to? More importantly, should she tell Matt? And will he still want her when she does? Becoming Bayley is the story of one girl’s journey through self-discovery, of the definition of true love, and of the realization that as a daughter of God, she is of infinite worth.

Happiest place on earth

I'm not being metaphorical with that title. I don't really mean my house. I'm talking actual Disneyland today. 


Anyway, we went on Tuesday. And it leads me to a question:


Imagine you're hired to work a job in the park. But it can be ANY job IN the park. What do you pick? And yes, there is ONE right answer. I'm just going to see how many of you get it. Go ahead, name it in the comment trail and defend your choice.

I do this because I'm lazy...

I'm blogging twice in one week. I don't even know who I am anymore.


Oh, wait. Yes, I do: the woman procrastinating a manuscript deadline by blogging. So . . . pretty much the same girl I always was.


But here's why I'm blogging. Today my critique partners were over and I needed to deal with my mostly dry hair while I listened to one of them read. And they were kind of fascinated by my solution. As was I when I learned this solution two weeks ago.


So I'm going to share in the spirit of procrastination being helpful. And since this is a totally spontaneous blog post, I don't have any makeup on in these pictures, so you can judge, but when you judge someone trying to do you a favor, you earn a very special place south of the Heavenly Border.


Anyway . . . headband curls. I stuck my hair in a headband like this. It takes 3 minutes even for the hairstyling-impaired like me:

You just take a section of hair and tuck it up over the hairband. Then you take another one and it add it and keep going. It looks like this from the sides:

And then I left them in for a while. Even ran into the park and received a few admiring and few more puzzled looks. And then I just gently unwound them from the head band and it does this:

And then I just finger brush them, hairspray them, and go.


And for an added bonus, here's YouTube tutorial where a girl with a Russian accent explains it all to you:

Recap!

I went to the LDS Storymakers conference last weekend. It was as fantastic as usual. I think I like it more and more every year because I have more and more friends to see there when I go. It helped that I was way less stressed than last year about teaching. I taught on how to find your next story idea and I feel like it went well. So yay for that!


And in case anyone didn't already know, I didn't win the Whitney award for romance. However, as it was noted to me, I got nominated for my first two books. Ever. Both of them. And that's not small potatoes. And I actually called who I would lose both the Whitney for Romance and the Best New Novel awards to and I was right. Or maybe the better way to say that is that I called who would win those categories. For all I know, I lost to everyone else in those categories, too. Which means that I must technically have even lost to myself in the romance category. Weird.


But I am not sad. So no pity in the comment trail, okay? I spent an evening with some of my most favorite ladies laughing until I cried and corrupting one of our youth. I wore several fabulous pairs of shoes and I think I placed in the top five of the Whitney evening gown competition (that was only in my head). 


And I'd post a bunch of pictures of stuff except I used my phone to snap them, and it's a little harder to put on my blog than on Facebook. Sorry about that!


But that's okay, because pictures take me a WAY long time to do, and I need all my time because I'm on a tight deadline for next week and I'M GOING TO DIE. Maybe. But probably not. But it's going to be rough. I'm having to hire a babysitter for 7 hours tomorrow so I can work. I hate doing that, but I hate being stressed out about deadlines and therefore cranky to my children even more. So blow it all out in one day it is. 


Anyway, I just want to end on this note: I have a very hard time expressing exactly how much I dislike Cristina Aguilera. It's up somewhere around a lot + infinity. And counting.

On the down low . . .

I blogged today, but at my other home, where only the people here on this blog will ever know my secret identity. Anyway, it's short, but feel free to hop over for what it's worth.


Also, I need to tell you that I'm reading something besides Whitney books for the first time in months and it's awesome. The Whitneys were great too. Some were truly exceptional. But there's still a difference between reading a book because it's on my list and reading it because it's on someone else's list. It's kind of like if you ate nothing but chocolate for days, and then you suddenly have a potato chip and suddenly that crisp piece of spud is like a revelation. Neither is inherently better; I'm just rediscovering an appreciation for fiction I've long neglected.


Later this week I'll tell you about some books I think you should read. Because they are good. And they're all different from each other. But still good. But for now, really, you can go check out my other secret identity blog.

Shaking off the dust

LOOKIT: I'm here!


And you can't see it, but I totally just did a high kick, scissor jump with a full twist and a Mary Catherine Gallagher landing because of the excitement of it all! I love you, blog. *Reaches out and awkwardly hugs computer.*  *Even more awkwardly, computer hugs back.*


Sorry I've been gone. Kinda, but not really. Something had to give, guys. And it was the blog. I have to write. I also apparently have to clean my house and feed my children and I don't know, DO STUFF with them when it's Spring Break. And I've kind of, sort of, been getting it all done. 1500 words a day. At least two clean rooms each day. I even disemboweled the 12-year-old's closet. 

But guys: 1500 WORDS A DAY. And I fight for every single one of them. 


But I had a crazy break through in the middle of this manuscript about how to write it (I already knew what I wanted to write) and for the first time ever, now on manuscript NUMBER SIX (because I'm a slow learner) I may  not be 20,000 words over when I finish the first draft, begging for someone to club me and put me permanently out of my misery before I have to tackle revisions.


I am delighted.


I also thought I'd tell you about some random things that I am in no way being compensated to endorse, but I kind of like them, so you might too:

As far as deep pigment lip glosses that you don't need to wear over a lipstick that actually stay in place for a long time and also don't attract your hair all day go, this is my favorite. But I like the Forever Raisin color. Because nothing evokes the image of plump luscious lips like calling it raisin.


James's Australian stepmom thinks that kettle corn--and anything sweet and salty--is an abomination. I think that is weird. What is not weird but rather delicious are these (but don't have them in your house if you're dieting):

I have lots of cookbooks. This is the best one where every single thing has come out tasting YUMMY:

And the cool thing is that they have a blog where you can get the recipes for free. My favorite is the Baked Creamy Chicken Taquitos (I could probably live on them), but I've also made the sweet-and-sour meatballs, coconut chicken fingers, spicy honey chicken, Natchitoches pies, steak fries, coconut rice, and carmelized green beans. Plus some other ones I forget. It's all easy and it's all good. 


Lastly, I have, shall we say . . . an overabundance of booty (see above recommendation). But I like this brand of pants (Kut from the Kloth--let's all forgive them their stupid use of the letter K) because it works if you're bootyful:

I actually have these shorts. I'm wearing them right this second. Brittany has these shorts too. Don't wear them on the same day as her. Actually, that tip will probably beat any other tip I can give you so I'll stop right there.


Happy weekend, y'all!

Baby Monsters

Seriously, want to win my book?


Two shots: Just comment on my post yesterday or visit the fabulous Mommy Snark and comment on hers. Also, you should read that review. I like when people say nice things about my book, bless her.


And now I have to play Baby/Monster with the kids. This is where I rock them (even my giant four year old) like a baby and sing a lullaby until they growl like a monster and I throw them out of my lap. Seriously, they can do this for an hour straight. *Whimpers.*


*There's a really cute new button for my book over in the sidebar. I wouldn't mind at all if you put it up.