Meeting Carrie Ryan

I must blog very fast today, because I am *SOOO* behind. (I know, I know. And you’re totally going to hear this until my next month off, which is um, June. So I apologize in advance for the whining.)

I do want to say that I left my house long enough this week to hear the *fabulous* Carrie Ryan speak in Kinston yesterday. No one *ever* comes to speak to us in Eastern NC, so this was a big deal.

I snatched my little brother and met Shana Norris (TROY HIGH, SOMETHING TO BLOG ABOUT) so we could show our writerly solidarity (I don’t even know if that makes sense, and I don’t have time to look it up) and support Carrie.

Actually, I was hoping to steal some of Carrie’s magical, New York Times Bestseller Greatness for myself.

Seriously though: she gave an awesome presentation about everything zombie, talked about getting published, and (as a writer) putting your characters “through the fire” to prove they can handle it.

She almost made me want to go out and rent every zombie movie ever filmed. (coughs) Almost.

I was able to get a photo. Yay!




(Thank you, Shana, for sending, because of course my camera is Crap.)

(I usually don’t post photos of myself without doing some retouching, but if there’s no time to blog, there’s definitely no time to spend hours and hours playing with my photo-editing software. You’ll just have to deal with my shiny face, and what my mom calls my *default* smile: all big and toothy. Carrie, of course, is adorable.)

And . . . Carrie signed my copy of THE FOREST OF HANDS AND TEETH, which I’m planning to read (again) after I finish Melissa Marr’s INK EXCHANGE.

It’s actually with my brother right now, anyway. He started reading it in the car on the way home, and made me drive 40 minutes in silence (no discussion/no radio). It was worth it, though, and I guarantee he stayed up late last night to finish it. I love it when I’m right.

(sigh) It’s back to work for me.

Enjoy your weekend!

Love,
~Leigh~

P.S. Yes! My red hair is gone. The color faded, and my roots were looking heinous, so I re-colored this week. Unfortunately, the store didn’t have Ruby Rush, so I had to go with Ruby Fusion, which is *not* a Feria Power Red. My hair is sparkly and auburn, but I miss the *red* already. The guy I’m sort of married to but not allowed to talk about online and my mom seem to feel differently.

*Am going to paint my fingernail tips black in protest*

Friday Five: Melissa Joan Hart Edition

TBS keeps screwing with my morning programming. Saved by the Bell wasn’t running for a few days this week, and you know: that’s the *only* thing that keeps me on the treadmill, so it’s like, ESSENTIAL that they stop doing this or I will turn into a blob that has to be peeled off my couch. . . .

Or maybe not, because ABC Family is showing reruns of:

1. Sabrina the Teenage Witch. I officially have a back-up plan!

I mean, how cool would it be to zap the living room clean? Have dinner on the table in five seconds? Piles of papers graded in under a minute? Yeah, I could deal.

Now, I have *always* liked Melissa Joan Hart, starting with:

2. Clarissa Explains it All. Was there ever a cooler show? And why didn’t I have a cute next door neighbor climbing into my second-floor window?

And then there’s. . . .

3. Holiday in Handcuffs. Yes, it’s a cheesy Made for TV Christmas movie.

And maybe I shouldn’t admit that Mario Lopez is what sold me, but it has *easily* become one of my Christmas favorites. So Slay Me. (Sleigh Me?) (groans).

And then there’s the Holiday in Handcuffs knockoff for year-round:

4. My Fake Fiance. Which I just saw for the first time (on Hulu) a few weeks ago. And then I watched it again. And again. And (coughs) again.

And yes: another cheesy Made for TV movie. But I loved it. Seriously. But it could have something to do with. . . .

(coughs). Yeah.

Which brings me to Melissa and Joey’s new sitcom:

5. Um . . . Melissa and Joey. Which I have been watching faithfully for the last few weeks and is kind of funny and includes two of my favorite Made for TV people.

I mean, we have neurotic and adorable and someone I can totally relate to:

And. . . .

Need I say more? Didn't think so.

Have a Great Weekend!

Love,

~Leigh~

It's Raining, It's Pouring. This is my Nightmare.

No Friday Five Today. Why? Because it would turn into Friday Five: Waterlogged Edition. Friday Five: Why I Should’ve Invested in a Canoe. Or Friday Five: Why I Hate Rain.

Because my hair frizzes into a puff of cotton and it can’t be controlled. Because it’s dark and depressing. You get the point.

I’m not a fan of any cold, wet thing, really. I’d never make it in Seattle. Or the Pacific Northwest. Forks.

It has been raining here almost nonstop since Sunday. I haven’t seen the sun once. And you know I *need* the sun and the warm weather. I got caught in a major downpour on Monday while grocery shopping, and have made an effort to remain indoors since then. The schools here were closed yesterday, so I had a SuperGirl SideKick to entertain. Today we’re on a two hour delay. And yes, I’m taking her, even though her “school day” will last all of an hour and a half.

The ground is soggy, roads are closed. . . .

They are saying we got 15 inches of rain in four days. It was kind of nightmarish, actually. We had a major drought this summer, and it barely rained at all, which is unusual for the South, as we’re known for those freak, afternoon thunderstorms. Still, it’s like all the rain we were supposed to get this summer was stored away, and then dumped on us all at once.

So I’m glad I gave myself permission to take September off from projects and writing, because I got *nothing* accomplished this week. Crazy thing is: it’s October. WHAT? I know. And it’s 63 degrees, which is below my threshold. I’m a 78 degrees cool breeze kind of girl. It’s getting colder. I’m going to have to pull out sweaters, there are pumpkins for sale on the side of the road.

I will unwillingly embrace fall . . . if I absolutely must . . . if only because fall means that Christmas is just around the corner, which is, of course, the best holiday ever.

But please Please PLEASE, Authorities that Be: make this rain Go Away.

Wishing you a warm, sunny weekend wherever you are. . . .

Love,

~Leigh~