On Moving Day, A Good Review and a Lovely Decline

So, it is over. The big stuff is moved/packed and we are officially housed at the rental home. But now comes the organizing of ourselves in our new house and dealing with some leftover stuff back at the old house to prep it for the upcoming demo/reno. It's not quite over yet. However, my back survived (sorta. I found a half-bottle of red wine works just as good as Robaxacet). It didn't rain. Nothing got broken/lost/damaged (although there was a scary moment when it looked like the couch wouldn't fit). My horoscope was right when it said the 23rd would be good for major home related moves. So, while exhausted, I am grateful to be officially relocated.

I was also rewarded with a surprise from my publisher who informed my agent of a review for ILLEGALLY BLONDE in CM magazine (Canadian Review of Materials) in the September 10/10 issue. For those who are unfamiliar with it, CM is a very well respected source in Canada for teachers, librarians, parents and kids that focuses on book reviews, media reviews, news, and author profiles of interest. Given this level of import, I was a bit nervous opening it up but it was really very nice! I got a Recommended 3/4 review. Here's the link but I'll just leave you with a quote from the review that I was thrilled to read

"The dialogue and Lucy’s interior self-talk is absolutely excellent. Because Roberto has captured perfectly the vocabulary, tone and emotions of the characters, the story flies by with the reader eagerly turning pages. From the rigid upper middle class kitchen of Joel’s parents to the cramped home of Lucy’s loving relatives, the settings not only reflect the characters’ values but also evoke a palpable love of Portuguese culture. Exceptional descriptions of the land and village in Portugal are woven seamlessly into the plot."

CM Review of ILLEGALLY BLONDE

So reading this made me feel a bit better after having gotten a lovely decline from an editor this week for my YA paranormal. I say a 'lovely' decline because she said my heroine was 'sharp and intelligent', was rooting for her on-again off-again love story and praised my engaging voice and smart writing. But she couldn't offer because she felt the paranormal story wasn't 'dark and epic' enough. Ah well. Different strokes. Let's hope there is an editor out there who loves all aspects of the story.

All-in-all I can't complain with how things have been going this week. Sure there have been moments of sheer mind and body numbing exhaustion and disappointments on the writing front but life is never just one thing or another. The good nearly always outweighs the bad and I am, as always, grateful for the good and plan to forget the bad as quickly as possible!

I hope to be back to a fairly normal routine next week (I know, I know: define normal) so hope to post more regularly again. See you on the bright side!