Trailer for Awake

My book comes out in just over a week! I debuted the pre-release trailer for it on my author blog on Friday, but I wanted you guys to see it too! Thanks so much to Victoria Austen-Young for putting it together, and to my hubs, Ed, for composing the score!

What do you guys think?

I can't wait for next Tuesday!

A New Sample of Awake

Last week I posted a new sample of my upcoming novel Awake: A Fairytale on my author site. I'd love for you to check it out and let me know what you think.

I am now counting down in days to the release! Yikes!

Well, hello there Winter!

There is really nothing more to say...

Last Year

I haven't done a year in review post because I felt like I didn't get much accomplished last year. I haven't been able to sew as much as I wanted, and even though I got two quilt tops down, I haven't had time to take nice pictures or blog about them. 2011 was just a weird year for sewing and crafting.

So, I don't have a lot of super gorgeous sewing related pictures to put in a fancy layout, but that doesn't mean I didn't get a lot done last year. I have no reason to feel unaccomplished, but I found myself feeling that way. To make myself feel better/gain perspective, here are a few things I did last year.

I moved. Three times. Seriously. And one of those moves was basically across the country. That's a pretty big accomplishment I think.



I wrote TWO books! This didn't really occur to me until recently, but it's true. I didn't start working on Awake: A Fairytale (other than that first few thousand words I managed in 2010) until March. I wrote the entire thing (those first few pieces hit the trash bin pretty early in the process) between late March and early June. Not only did I write and edit Awake this year, in November I wrote my second book, Attempting Elizabeth. Yeah, it is in rough draft form and I still have several scenes to add, plus the laborious process of editing, having it beta read, rewriting, editing, etc., but the fact remains, 53k words of that book were written in 2011. (If you add together what I've done this year on the two, it is about 144k words, wow).



I started a pretty cool website. Indie Jane was launched in July and we've had 24 thousand plus page views to date and have had fun establishing an online community. The book club on our message boards is starting a Pride and Prejudice group read this week. Each week's discussion questions are being hosted by an author of an indie P&P continuation or re-imagining. We have some great authors participating and our community members are the best!


All in all, I think it has been a pretty darn productive year and I hope to make 2012 even more so.

Merry Christmas

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

“Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

Luke 2: 8-14

Christmasy Stuff

Even though we are running behind on Christmas due to combination of a) leaving things until the last moment, and b) a horrible virus that caused us to lose an entire week of December, we've still managed to get a few Christmasy things done.

Thanks to Walmart One Hour Photo, I manged to slap together a Christmas card!


And we finally hung up the sparkly snowflakes that we glittered in early December. Yay for toddler art projects! And for finding something for this really strange, large, open window!



It's December 22! I'm still getting out Christmas decorations! Oh boy. Next year I am going to be done with gift shopping early... as in September!

How are you doing? Are you ready for the big day?

While the Giant is Sleeping

One of the most interesting geographical features of Helena, Montana, is the Sleeping Giant. There is a section of our mountain range that really, truly looks like a giant laying on his back. The cool thing is the Sleeping Giant is perfectly framed out of our new back window!

Alycia Holston is an author and Helena resident and, I'm glad to say, also a friend of mine. She and illustrator Suzi Stranahan have produced a charming picture book called While the Giant is Sleeping that follows the Sleeping Giant throughout the year as the seasons change around him. This well written and beautifully illustrated book is a treat for both children and their parents. Both of my young children loved reading about all of the wildlife and weather that pass through "while the giant is sleeping." I highly recommend this book, especially if your children are interested in nature.

Alycia and Suzi are currently having a giveaway on their site Calm Creations for a copy of While the Giant is Sleeping. All you have to do to enter the giveaway is visit their site today, let them know which of the winter illustrations from While the Giant is Sleeping is your favorite (the illustrations are on their site), and make sure to leave your name and email address in your comment. Easy peasy!

You can also purchase a copy of While the Giant Sleeping on Amazon or through CrossRiver Media.