Wednesday, February 06, 2008

Does your fetus send you postcards?

So, Jim and I have this expression: ". . . moving at the speed of publishing. . ." The confusing thing about this is that it really has two completely opposing meanings. The speed of publishing, from what we have experienced so far, is either:

a) Ai ai ai! We need it yesterday!! like back when the final edits of Blackbringer were due and Tim asked if Jim couldn't drop them off at Fed-Ex while driving me to the hospital for the heart attack I was going to have from the pressure.
or
b) Molasses. And I mean, old molasses, like the half bottle that I found in the back of my cupboard and used to make gingerbread cookies. It took forever to empty that bottle into the mixing bowl!!

Which is fine. You get used to it. Anyway, I thought of this when reading this NY Times link, found thanks to Gwenda. An interesting look at what happens in that year and a half or so between manuscript and book.

A few other good linkies. Here's one from Bookmoot about authors doing school visits, full of really good advice. The advice I need, in addition, is how to get invited to do more school visits. (Thanks, Kim for your help in that effort!)

And here's a goody from bestselling author Rick Riordan about his "overnight success." He also stresses the importance of school visits.

Oh yeah, and we got another postcard from the gummy bear today! I relay my fetus's words verbatim here:
Dear Ma & Pa, So, I thought you might be o'wondering how it is that I got assigned to you two homeys. Well, it works like this. Everyone gets three choices to pick from. Mine were:
1) Mr. T & Charro
2) Pamela Anderson & Mike Huckabee
3) Laini Taylor & Jim Di Bartolo
So let's hope it was the right choice because I might have turned down a bassinet on Pennsylvania Avenue next year! [There's a frowny face drawn here.]
Love,
Baby


Well, baby, it doesn't look good for Huckabee in the White House (the very thought of which gives me the heebie jeebies), and from what I've heard, Huckabee's kids don't tend to turn out so great anyway, so I think you'll be pleased with your choice.

14 comments:

blessedmatch said...

So now everyone is going to start giving you advice on everything from what to eat to what to name your baby. Personally, I like biblical names. Like Mahershalalhashbaz (Isaiah 8:13).

tone almhjell said...

Well, just stay away from Gonorilla, king Lear's oldest daughter according to legend. Poor thing. No wonder she wasn't very nice.

Let me know if you'd like Norwegian name suggestions!

tone almhjell said...

No, actually, I couldn't wait. There is absolutely no reason for you to choose a Norwegian name, I mean, we don't even have real gummy bears over here. But still. Here are some girls' names and their meaning:

Sunniva (gift of the sun),
Linnea - pronounced linnëa (a beautiful flower)
Eirin - pronounce it like you would aëryn (peace)
Eline- pronounced elinë (bright, shining)
Alva (elven, being of light)

Q said...

Thank you for the Rick Riordan link!

I think your baby has a sense of humor already. You should be so proud.

Tone--those are really pretty names!

Alex S said...

I wonder if Davesap's (first comment above) bosses know that he is busy leaving blog comments on their work dime in the middle of the afternoon when he should be collecting billabe hours? I'm appalled! ( I'm dialing them up right NOW!)

Anonymous said...

Hah. You are awesome! :D

Deirdre said...

I think your baby is going to have a magical childhood - much better than any White House childhood. And look how literate the gummy bear is already. :)

Katie said...

yay laini and Jim! congrats on your little gummy! I agree with deirdre...your baby will have a magical childhood!

Amber Lough said...

Ooh, names are fun!

Can you fix the link to the NY Times article? I'd really like to read it. Right now, it just goes back to your blog page.

Oh, and um...cookies are on the way!

Laini Taylor said...

Hi Amber -- the link is fixed! (thanks, I hadn't noticed that!)

Tone -- thanks for the names! I love names. Eirin is really pretty, and I've always liked Linnea since those children's books about Linnea in Monet's Garden. Do you know them?

tone almhjell said...

No, never heard of them, and I didn't know Linnea was known outside of Scandinavia. Must check out. I recently re-discovered a Lindgren pearl: My dearest sister. I remember reading it when i was little, pondering the magic and sadness of discovering I had a secret sister named Ylva-Li, only to lose her when roses wilt. So maybe Ylva? It means she-wolf :)

Enna Isilee said...

Gah! You blog to fast for me! I saw the Shannon and Libba post and I saw the one praising bloggers and I totally missed the announcement! I was so confused.

But I'm better now and I'm very happy for you! Congrats!

Q said...

I do know someone named Linnea! I'm pretty sure it's spelled like that too...

And no, I don't live in Scandanavia.

Anonymous said...

Ooh, I love the name Linnea but I have to confess, TEG and I have already started calling the baby Magpie. :)

And Gumdrop is such a good writer already...must be the genes!