I'm having computer issues . . .

I know! I'm so frustrated. I work from home, so the laptop is my lifeline. I'm currently borrowing one right now. Fingers crossed that my laptop is cured soon, and all of my files can be saved....

~Leigh~

We interrupt this blogging hiatus to bring you:

An Update!!

So, a lot has happened since my last post. For one, I’ve moved. Again. The irony is that I’ve moved back to where I moved FROM three months ago. That guy I’m sorta married to but not allowed to talk about online transferred, and because the house we were living in didn’t sell, well, here we are.

I miss the house we were in, because it was newer and bigger, with things like built-in bookshelves and a kitchen island, but I’m glad to be “home.” I have a big yard here, and privacy . . . and a river that’s a 20-minute drive from my house, which is crucial to my creative being.

It sounds strange, but I’m all “water.” It’s like I NEED water to function properly. I know, duh, you’re supposed to drink it, but I need to be NEAR it. I need to physically see rivers and lakes and oceans, or I just don’t feel right.

In fact, I think that’s why I was having so much trouble when we moved. I couldn’t take those nice drives to the river, because there wasn’t one (not a good one, anyway). I’m convinced that, if things work out the way I’d LIKE them to, one day I’ll have a house on the Ocean (hopefully not IN the Ocean), or a river or lake. There’s just something about waking up to sunshine and water . . . I don’t know—I could be very productive there. Water is my Life Force.

So, I’m back, and I have a feeling once this new course I’m developing is taken care of, I’ll be my old, YA-novel-writing self. I’m glad, because I’ve felt completely discombobulated the last few months.

In the meantime, I’m unpacked and settled. There were some rough, 100-degree weather days, and now there’s a huge wildfire burning two counties over, so the last few days have been filled with smoke. Needless to say we’re staying inside.

Soon, though, when the smoke clears out and I’m back to “summer,” I’ll take that first drive back to the river, then all will be well in Leighland. I can’t wait! :)

Love,
~Leigh~

I am so, super-overwhelmed. Yes, this is my *great excuse* for not posting my usually scintillating, brilliant (ha) blog entries lately.

I’m teaching an online course right now, I have a new one starting Monday, I have three encyclopedia articles due in a couple of weeks, and I don’t even have the book yet . . . plus, I was asked to develop a new online course, which is ultra top-secret at the moment but leaves me with a lot of writing/research to do. Not surprisingly, I find myself in a *new* training class for yet *another* online teaching platform. I’ve done educator, blackboard, and now I’m using moodle. Next up? WebCT, I’m sure of it. It’s like, the only online course platform I can think of that I haven’t already trained for….

But this is sounding like jibberish. The truth is, I need to post something so I don’t feel so bad for not writing *ANYTHING* creative in the past few weeks. I literally have a middle grades novel sitting on my desktop, collecting dust, unopened. I’m not sure if I’m just so busy that I don’t have time to look at it (but then, that doesn’t explain why I killed 30 minutes with continuous games of solitaire the other day), or if I’m just not interested in the book. Or MAYBE, I’m so busy with this educational stuff that I just don’t *feel* like writing right now, and I need things like movies and solitaire to take my mind off how busy I am.

Either way, it’s all an excuse. Surely I can find fifteen minutes a day to write, right?

Erg. MAYBE I should just stop saying I’ll do things that I don’t have time to do . . . but then, everything I’ve mentioned above is a great opportunity in its own right . . . so I really don’t want to say *no* to anything….

Unfortunately, the writing is suffering, people.

Maybe I should clone myself . . . surely if there were two of me running around things would get done, right?

Of course, I’d probably just keep on adding projects so that me and my clone were booked solid, stressed, and overwhelmed….

(Sigh) And here I am writing a blog entry. :)

Oh well, it’s better than solitaire….

Have a great week, everyone!

Love,
~Leigh~

P.S. “New Moon” (the Twilight sequel) is on its way . . . (happy sigh) I love me some Edward.

I am in love....

I’m not ashamed to admit that I have fallen head over heels, madly, desperately in love with Edward Cullen.

What I AM ashamed of is the fact that I’ve had my copy of Twilight since early December and just now, less than 48 hours ago, picked it up.

I am also not ashamed to admit that I will be running, very soon, to the first available bookstore to buy the sequels.

I am *forever* in love . . . with an amazingly dashing vampire, no less.

(releases a happy sigh)

~Leigh~

I have in my hands a copy of Sarah Dessen’s latest book “Lock and Key,” which, so far, is *not* disappointing. I love, love, LOVE Sarah Dessen’s books, which is why I needed to post *how* I managed to get my hands on a copy.

We just moved last month, so I’m *familiar* with the area, but then again, I don’t really know my way around yet, especially downtown Raleigh, which is only about 20 minutes or so away.

So on Saturday the guy I’m sorta married to but not allowed to talk about online decided we should go out and pick up a few things, with the intent of buying Dessen’s latest. We went to a few retail stores without luck, and decided we definitely needed to get to a book store, so into Raleigh we go.

I have to confess that I’m pretty uptight about driving. I haven’t driven to Raleigh to date because I’m just *not* used to the traffic—I’ll get to it one day, but either way, if I have a destination in mind, I *have* to know exactly where it’s at, and what streets I need to take . . . I’m just a big planner (read: control freak). DH, thankfully is *not* like that at all. In fact, he’ll take a random turn “just to see where it goes” which I love, because you never know where you’re going to end up and what you’re going to see. It’s safe to say that we get lost whenever we go out, but it’s a fun lost—kind of a “lost on purpose” thing.

So we were looking for a bookstore, and “lost” on Saturday, when DH randomly sees a sign that says “shopping center” and whips into the turn lane and heads into it. The shopping center wasn’t exactly what we expected—a little on the dated, bohemian side—but guess what it held?

Quail Ridge Books and Music—which is Raleigh’s only independent bookstore. A store I’d heard about, and knew about, but had never seen (I didn’t even know where to find it). So we pulled in a space and I ran inside and first thing: copies of Lock and Key. I picked one up and was ready to go in two seconds, but then I saw the YA section in the back, so I decided to go take a look. And There . . . in their own little stand . . . copies of Lock and Key . . . THAT WERE SIGNED!

ACK! I saw that little gold “signed copy” sticker and practically ripped the book off the shelf.

So not only were we lost, and taking random turns to find a bookstore, but we *find* one, and it just so happens to be the best bookstore in Raleigh AND it has signed copies of my favorite author’s newest book. J J J

The stars were in alignment.

Sarah Dessen will be signing there this weekend, but of course I’ll be out of town. Erg. Still, I’m pretty satisfied just knowing she picked up my copy herself and wrote her name in it, which is just, so completely “stalkerish” it frightens me.

What’s funny is that somehow baby girl (almost three) recognized the book later when I started reading it, pointed to the cover and said “Sarah Dessen.” Of course, I thought this was incredible, so I told her to say: “Sarah Dessen is brilliant,” which she did.

Moral of the story . . . um, go off the beaten path because you never know what you’re gonna find? And . . . it’s never too early to introduce your young to amazing writers.

Yeah. Sounds great. What’s even better: I have a copy of Sarah Dessen’s newest book, which I’ve waited two years for . . . which I’m going to go read . . . right now.

Love,
Leigh