…of this author. Be prepared to be dazzled by the glamor and astonished at my competence:

7:00 a.m.–Boy 3 wakes up. Has awakened twice during the night, which is about par for the course. I’ve slept through the night about five times in the last 18 months, but I have hope it will end someday.

7:00-9:00 a.m.–get everyone ready for the day. Cereal, showers, clothes, finishing homework, finding mittens, etc.

9:05 a.m.–drop off Boy 1 and Cute Neighbor Kids at school.

9:10 a.m.–arrive at Target, feeling fantastically on top of things for getting everyone ready in time and for running errands so early. Items needed, in order of urgency: present for birthday party Boy 1 will be attending that afternoon, brown mailing paper to wrap copies of Being Sixteen up for mailing, soap, baby wipes, cereal, I-won’t-bore-you-any-further-you-get-the-gist-of-this. Neither Boy 2 nor Boy 3 break down while shopping. Sail out of the store flushed with triumph.

10:00 a.m.- Return home. Boy 3 down for nap. Pop in Blue’s Clues for Boy 2 and frantically write catalog copy for publisher.

10:30 a.m.- Time’s up. Blue’s Clues is over. Send e-mail to publisher with catalog copy and hang out with Boy 2, making lunch and talking.

11:00 a.m.-Boy 3 wakes up. Boys 2 and 3 eat a gourmet lunch of dinosaur chicken nuggets and pears. I eat too, and make cinnamon streusel muffins on the sly, because what is the point of not having a treat in winter during the afternoon? While making the muffins, however, and going through the grocery bags, I come to a disturbing revelation. I forgot to buy the birthday gift and the mailing paper. I did, however, manage to end up with another customer’s bag of bras. I am not even tempted to steal them, since I could never wear them (they are DD!) and if I am going to you-know-where for stealing, it is going to be for something better than bras.

12:25 p.m.– Muffins done, Boy 2 to preschool, return to Target. Give back bras. Buy the birthday gift but forget the mailing paper (I wish I were kidding).

1:30-2:30 p.m.–Back from Target, play with Boy 3 (who is so, so funny and cute but who was so, so naughty at Target the second time–hence the forgetting of the mailing paper) and put him down for bed.

2:30 p.m.-3:15 p.m.–Precious Writing Time. Stare at screen for several minutes trying to have coherent thought. Pull things together enough to rewrite a scene that I will later rewrite over again.

3:15-3:45 p.m.–Pick up kids from preschool and elementary school.

3:45-5:30 p.m.–After school snack (aforementioned muffins, Clementines, juice). Boy 1 off to birthday party. Play Legos with Boys 2 and 3. Prevent Boy 3 from ingesting Legos and break up many, many fights over Legos. But, also, have a pretty good time making a rocking spaceship for Indiana Jones Clonetrooper (we may have mixed a few sets here).

5:30-6:00p.m.–Husband home. (Yay!) Roads not clear enough to run outside, so run three miles on the treadmill and wish for spring.

6:00-8:00 p.m.–Dinner. Baths. Bedtime and story time for Boys 1,2,3.

8:00 p.m.-9:00 p.m.–Clean up dinner, bathtime mess, run laundry.

9:00 p.m.–Precious Writing Time. Also, headache time. Write for an hour, then give up and watch two episodes of 30 Rock with husband instead. Laugh until crying over “Werewolf Bar Mitzvah” sketch, and rewatch several times.

11:00 p.m.–Time to sleep.

The End.

(Just so you don’t think that I’m the laziest person in the world, I should add the caveat that I don’t usually give up so easily in the evenings with the writing–but this particular day was a Friday night, and I was tired. And I do usually spend most of Saturday writing)

I saw it with my very own eyes (as opposed to someone else’s eyes, I guess) at the Deseret Book store in my town.  And my sister confirmed a sighting of it in Cedar City.  So…I think we can officially say that Being Sixteen is out!

Yay!

I’m really proud of this book.  It’s my father’s favorite book out of anything I’ve written, published or unpublished, which means a lot to me, because he’s one of my toughest critics.  (And, this is an LDS-themed book, and he’s an agnostic, so I was especially surprised.)  It’s a book about turning sixteen. About sisters.  About family. About being strong and having faith.  And I really hope you like it, if you do decide to read it.

For a little blurb on Being Sixteen, click here.

It’s not up on Amazon yet (except for someone’s used copy), but I’m sure it will be soon. Meanwhile, if you feel so inclined, you can find it online at Barnes and Noble (where, for some reason, it is marked down quite a bit–yay!–but also the release date is given as May, which doesn’t make sense).  You can also find it at Deseret Book online or in their stores if you live near one.

Big thanks to everyone for such wonderful comments and congratulations.  I am a giant baby.  I cried when I read them.  And then I printed them out to save and look over when I am feeling scared or down about my writing.

I’m feeling awfully grateful this week.  For old friends.  For new ones.  

For people who are happy for other people and cheer them on.  

For clean air after a week of smog.  For running outside with mountains instead of inside with walls.  

For cute kids.  For good books.

And, on a much less important note, for the fact that I figured out how to make those peanut butter cookies with a Hershey’s kiss in the middle.  Maybe I should retitle this post culinary genius.

Nope.  Too grateful.  Thank you again.

I’m posting a day early this week, but I can’t help myself.  I have some very good news, and I just got the go-ahead to mention it here.

Here’s the official press release from Penguin:

PENGUIN YOUNG READERS GROUP ACQUIRES HIGHLY-ANTICIPATED DYSTOPIAN NOVEL MATCHED IN HEATED AUCTION

Newcomer Ally Condie’s Futuristic Novel Reminiscent of Brave New World and The Handmaid’s Tale

New York, NY – December 5, 2009 – It was announced today that Dutton Children’s Books, an imprint of Penguin Young Readers Group, has acquired Ally Condie’s highly-anticipated dystopian novel MATCHED in a heated auction that included seven major publishers. One of this year’s most talked-about manuscripts, Condie’s futuristic novel tells the story of a teen-aged girl who has waited seventeen years to find out who “the Society” will select for her ideal mate, only to find herself falling in love with someone else. The novel is part of a three book deal brokered by Jodi Reamer of Writers House, LLC and Don Weisberg, President of Penguin Young Readers Group along with Lauri Hornik, President and Publisher of Dutton Children’s Books, and Julie Strauss-Gabel, Associate Publisher of Dutton Children’s Books, who will edit the novel.

Julie Strauss-Gabel commented, “With relatable humanity and formidable tension Ally shows us our future in Matched, a flawed utopia that will make readers crave the passion of uncertainty and cherish the power of the written word. I can’t wait for the world to discover the love story that has already consumed our hearts and minds at Penguin.”

Jodi Reamer remarked, “Reading Matched reminded me of the first time I read the Twilight manuscript.  Ally combines the eloquence and dystopian setting of Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, the passion of Twilight and the game theory of Orson Scott Card’s Ender’s Game to create one of the most provocative novels I have read in a long time.”

Lauri Hornik added, “I find myself talking about this fascinating novel constantly. Not only has Ally delivered a complex, dystopian suspense novel, she has also written an unforgettable tale of forbidden romance.”

Foreign rights for MATCHED have already been sold in Germany, Italy, Brazil.

Here are the answers from the questions in the comments about my writing process…thanks for asking them!  And I promise that if you read the whole thing to the end, the blue hoodie will make sense.  Now if that isn’t tantalizing…I just don’t know what is.

Shelli asked:

so did you know your book was “the one”. Im afraid I think every book of mine is “the one.” Kinda like when you dated a guy and were like “oh yeah, he is the one!” Then you break up and he’s a jerk and you think. “Why did I ever think that?”  

I hope I’m answering this correctly, because I’m not sure which book of mine Shelli had in mind.  The answer is, every book I’m writing I think is “the one.”  As in, “the one I want to be writing right now.”  I can’t write a book unless I’m enjoying doing it.  As far as it being “the one” for anyone else–I never have a clue.  I am completely incapable of being objective about my own work.  Which is why I have readers who critique my stuff, and I make sure I have both readers who will be ultra-positive, and readers (especially Elaine) who will tear it apart in a very meticulous way.

Wendy asked:

How many rejections did you have ? Did you ever get to a point when you said “okay maybe I’m not that good a writer or this book is not as good as I think”  How did you know your work would get published one day?

For my first book, I had a bunch of rejections, and then a revise and resubmit for a small publisher.  I revised and resubmitted twice, and then it was finally accepted.  I didn’t keep track of the number of rejection letters, and I didn’t save them (but there were a lot).  I know people do that, but we were living in a tiny space and I just didn’t even want to devote one file folder to rejections. And I did think, “I’m not that good a writer.”  All the time.  I didn’t know my work would get published.  I just hoped. And worked really, really hard (kept writing, writing, writing).

Brittany asked:

Do you edit/evaluate how strong the writing is as you go, or do you just write it and then edit or evaluate what to keep later on when you have a large section written?

When I’m drafting, I just draft.  I write as fast as I want and I don’t worry about quality.  I have to get the story out and have fun.  I can edit forever (and I mean forever–I tinker with stuff until the last possible minute).  So that first draft is really freeing and fun for me.

Rachel asked:

I am curious about your writing process and would find anything you post about it fascinating. Do you outline? How many drafts do you write? Do you edit as you go along? Or are you like me: just get the first draft over with and then go back and fix everything? These are the things I wonder about. And also, if I am normal for wondering about these things.

I don’t outline.  I outline as I write, but never before I write.  As I start writing, I see where the pieces are going to come together, and I’ll make a very basic outline that I change hundreds of times.  I do dozens of drafts; I’m not even sure how many. I don’t edit as I go along.  I just enjoy that first draft because that is my favorite part.  It’s you and the story and the characters.  And yes, you are totally normal!

And here is some random stuff about my writing process that no one asked but I’m going to tell you anyway:

I drink a lot of water while I’m writing.  I don’t know why it makes me thirsty to write, but it does.  

I wear a blue hoodie (similar to the one in the photo, but older) when I write because I write in a corner of my freezing cold basement.  I am convinced the hoodie has magical powers because no matter what I’m wearing underneath–sweater, t-shirt, sweatshirt–the hoodie magically makes me just the right amount of warm to write.  Warm enough that my fingers aren’t cold, but not so warm that I get dozy. Because I have a baby who has not slept through the night in eighteen months, it is very easy for me to get dozy.

I can’t listen to music when I write.  I can when I’m editing, but not when I’m writing.  I used to think I was alone in this, but when I found out that the brilliant M.T. Anderson can’t do it either, it made me feel better.

I’ve developed some minor carpal tunnel issues that have been alleviated by gel wrist rest for the keyboard and mousepad.  So my desk looks like the desk of a very old person but it is so worth it.

What about everyone else?  What are your writing/creative processes like?  Do tell.