Quick life update!

Sorry for lack of blogginess lately! I have been quite tied up in trying to plan my trip to California to see my new nephew, and of course there was also Christmas and other stuff. So here's a quick sum-up of what's been going on:

Pitch Wars:

I've been reading through my mentee's book and making copious notes. He takes direction exceedingly well! I've dropped off the map a little with my two alternates and I intend to write them ASAP to start directing them on what to do next so everything will be ready to turn in for the contest. It doesn't help that my e-mail keeps breaking.

Late-night editing does make me a little loopy sometimes.

You don't want to know why I'm taking
selfies with eggs.

Baby:

My sister's baby Ash is an amazing cutie-patootie. I've been enjoying the pictures of him and hearing him make cute newborn noises in the background when I talk to my sister on Skype or the phone. I can't WAIT to meet Ash! But I don't know if I'll be able to share pictures from my trip publicly because my sister is a heck of a lot more private than I am, as are most people. My mother and I are leaving for California on New Year's Eve, so we'll be able to ring in the new year with the newest member of our family. :)

Holiday:

My family doesn't celebrate Christmas but hey, I had a day off, so that was nice! My mom came over and brought mini-quiches. I made Parmesan biscuits to go with them. And we ate them. We also gave each other gifts: I gave her an Andy Griffith calendar and she gave me this AMAZING purple fuzzy blanket that basically would be elected queen of the blankets if blankets had royalty and appointed them by election.

ZOMG so cozy.

I have received lots of other great gifts too--books, clothes, a new mp3 player, and some other thoughtful gifts, but I want to do a separate post about my presents, so that'll keep. :) I received a lot of nice cards too, including one from my fiction agent Michelle. (I had sent her one too. Any other agented authors exchange cards with their agents?) And my apartment is decorated very nice for the Solstice season.

Yule tree!

Book news: Not much to speak of except that it looks like my nonfiction book will be released in September 2014 and we've started talking about the cover. (If you have any input on what you think should be on the cover of a book about asexuality--or just any cover design thoughts--feel free to let me know. It's so nice that my publisher wants to know what I like, but I'm just not a visual person at all!) I unfortunately have no fiction news. I'm hoping I have something wonderful to share with you soon. :)

Oh, and I drew a new writing-related webcomic:

If you're not already following my writing webcomic, you should be!

I'm going to be having an extremely eventful next few weeks--California trip, followed by birthday road trip, followed by IvyQ conference at Princeton (and I haven't prepared my speech yet, eek!), so in between all that and getting some time in with my mentees and my own publishing work, I am just going to be drowning. I do hope to still keep some decent attempts to blog going, but don't be too surprised if I disappear a bit. :)