Sunday, November 01, 2009

Call for quotes. And stuff.

In searching for quotes for new Laini's Ladies, I tend to find lots of wonderful quotes that wouldn't make good Laini's Ladies, but are nevertheless inspiring or profound or witty. Here's a good one relevant to something we were talking about lately, which was: the challenge of keeping at a manuscript after the initial honeymoon stage has passed.

"People often say that motivation doesn't last. Well, neither does bathing--that's why we recommend it daily."
- Zig Ziglar


Love it. I firmly believe that it is part of the daily work of writing to constantly re-inspire ourselves on the work at hand. It IS possible. Virtually any finished novel is a testament to that because you better believe that other writers struggle too. Just, some struggle and give up and watch TV instead, and others struggle and persevere.

On the subject of quotes, do you have any favorites you'd like to see on a Laini's Lady? I'm currently searching.

So. Cool news: Brilliance Audio has purchased audio rights to Lips Touch! YAYy!!!!!! I can't WAIT to hear it! They also did the Silksinger audio, which we just received in the mail. I've only listened to a little of it so far, but it sounds great. It's so exciting to hear one's own audiobook, to hear one's own words given new life by a super-talented actor. Hurray!

Yesterday Jim and Clementine and I went shopping, and I found a dress for the National Book Awards dinner. I wouldn't begin to know how to describe the style or fabric because I just don't speak that language, in spite of watching Project Runway lots of times! But I am capable of describing the color, which is gun-metal gray with a shimmer-sparkle of blue. I still need to get shoes (oh darn), and I wouldn't mind a big chunky necklace of some sort. I also found a knit dress for the night before, when all 20 finalists do a reading at the New School (this event is open to the public, by the way; tickets are $10, but I don't know if it's sold out yet). (And I think that there will also be an event at Books of Wonder on the 16th, for the 5 finalists in my category.)

There were a ton of kids dressed up and trick-or-treating at the stores. Speaking of trick-or-treating, check out this awesome Magpie:

She's totally got the attitude!

Have a great day!!

17 comments:

jaecy bells said...

I love chunky necklaces!!

Quote: "Being the best just gives someone else a chance to be better."

I actually made that up. I just wanted an excuse to throw it out on the internet and have someone quote me. That would be fun.

lizardek said...

Not sure what the criteria is for being a usable quote...has to be in public domain?

Perhaps imagination is only intelligence having fun. ~George Sciabala

You don't have a soul. You ARE a soul. You have a body. ~C.S. Lewis

We're all the same as clouds or butterflies. We just pretend to be different. ~Tom Robbins

A woman without a man is like a fish without a bicycle. ~Gloria Steinem

I have always imagined that paradise will be a kind of library. ~Jorge Luis Borges

To live is so startling it leaves little time for anything else. ~Emily Dickinson

Angels fly because they take themselves lightly. ~G.K. Chesterton

A mind that is stretched to a new idea never returns to its original dimension. ~Oliver Wendell Holmes

As soon as I get any money I shall buy books first, and then some clothes. ~Erasmus

Art is never finished, it's merely abandoned. ~Leonardo da Vinci

In the right light, at the right time, everything is extraordinary. ~Aaron Rose

The cure for boredom is curiosity. There is no cure for curiosity. ~Dorothy Parker

Debbie Barr said...

What a lovely Magpie!

I just finished Silksinger again yesterday. It was really wonderful, even after a second reading. I'd forgotten how well done the twists were, and what an awesome storyline the whole thing had. And I still just adore slomby.

WV: silyz

Martha Brockenbrough said...

I have it on good authority that particular Magpie sleeps beneath a chandelier strung with Laini's Ladies. I'll have to go on a quote hunt.

The NBA dress sounds amazing. Updates, please, when the shoes and necklace fall into place.

Amber said...

I LOVE the little Magpie!! So cool.

:)

Amber Lough said...

You know you've made it as a writer when a kid dresses up as one of your characters for Halloween.

Anonymous said...

Hmm, unfortunatly I don't have any snappy quotes I can think of right now...

Audio books, yay!! And a totally awesome Magpie costume.

-Sequoia

P.S. And hey, if you still need a NY babysitter, I am American Red cross certified! You pay airfare, I babysit free! ;D

persnickety_jen said...

Twitter is fabulously addicting. It's like the best hits of the internet, in terms of links and picture nonsense. In other words, PERFECT.

In terms of quotes, I've always loved:
"I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be." - Douglas Adam

"Logic will get you from A to Z; imagination will get you everywhere." - Albert Einstein

"I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work." — Thomas A. Edison

(Courtesy of GoodReads; I could troll their quotes forever.)

Congrats on finding a dress for the NBA dinner. I live in dread of events like that because I know I'm so picky that it will take months to find what I want. But I heartily approve of gun-metal gray. AND a chunky necklace! :)

Love the Magpie costume... did you and Jim dress up Clementine for Halloween?

Shveta Thakrar said...

I'm back from the West Coast and just caught up on your posts. First of all, much love about Leroy. He's very lucky to have such a caring family.

Second, I read Lips Touch on the plane, and "Hatchling" turned out to be my favorite piece. I liked the other two and would love to discuss them at some point if you ever decide to do a spoiler-thread entry.

How exciting that you'll be in New York soon! My fingers will be crossed for you, of course. :)

Much love!

Shveta Thakrar said...

Ack, I forgot my favorite quote!

"You have to be the change you want to see in the world." --Mohandas K. Gandhi

So true. Irritating sometimes, as it means accepting responsibility for your life, but sooo worth it.

Anonymous said...

I was trying to find one of my favourite quotes online to see who the person who said it was, and instead found you this:

http://www.todayswords.net/popular/wisdom/

Flemmily said...

Personally, I think the bathing one would make fantastic Laini's Lady. Just put her in a bathtub and cover it with bubbles!

I just found a quote that I love, but it wouldn't work for Laini's Ladies--unless you come up with a spinoff line of Significant Others of Laini's Ladies:

Nice guys may appear to finish last, but usually they are running in a different race."
~ Ken Blanchard & Norman Vincent Peale

lora96 said...

"She was made up of more, too. She was the books she read in the library. She was of the flower in the brown bowl...she was all of these things and something more, the one different thing such as that which makes no two fingerprints on this earth alike."
Betty Smith, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

Olivia said...

'A good pair of shoes can change your life'
~Cinderella

Amber Lough said...

Nobody makes a greater mistake than he who does nothing because he could only do a little.
Edmund Burke

Jim Di Bartolo said...

What a bunch of great quotes! And Amber (Lough) those are the words that Batman and I share in common! And also...uh oh! There's my signal in the sky...

--jenna said...

i too love chunky necklaces and make them all the time! i would love to design one that goes with your pink hair, though it might not be quite dressy enough for the book awards...ooh...etsy inspiration coming on! something goblin fruit-ish, i think...