AS TWO PROJECTS REACH SUNSET...SPARK (YA / HARPERTEEN) AND PLAY IT AGAIN (INDIE ADULT ROMANCE)

I'm coming to the end of two projects right now: I'm reading first-pass pages of SPARK, my forthcoming YA, and I'm copyediting PLAY IT AGAIN, my next indie release.

...After many months of juggling several projects, it feels really good to start to moving two of them to the "done" side of the ol' checklist...

SIGNS OF FALL

New sweater!

First Halloween decoration!

BUZZIN'

Just a quick shot of my summertime flowers...We're all keeping busy around here...even the bees!

FULL BLOOM

It's been a wild couple of weeks around the Schindler abode...many of the goings-on have centered around recovering from a lightning strike.  (My house got struck when I was little; by now, I've had my fill of the stuff.)

Once calm settled, I headed outside to get some shots of the supermoon...and man, were they superbad!

So instead of the moon, I'll post some of the prettiest shots I've taken lately...One of our tulip tree in full bloom this spring:

I can't remember the last time we had so many flowers on our tree...

And one of our hibiscus in bloom right now.  These things are so cool; they're quickly becoming my fave flower:

LOVIN' MY MISSOURI SKY

JUST SINGIN'

The last time I embedded a video, it was visual (I wanted to show our unusual May snow).  This time, I had to share the sounds of the Ozarks...

I've noticed lately that the birds here have been singing like crazy!  (Even this short clip doesn't quite do their music justice.)  Maybe they're all just glad it's finally started to look like spring...


...Having problems viewing the clip?  You can watch it on YouTube.

MAY SNOW - ONE FOR THE RECORD BOOKS

May 3rd was a beautiful spring day here in the Ozarks...the birds were singing, the grass was green, the flowers were in bloom...and the snow was falling!


PS: Blogger's been acting buggy lately with embedded vids.  If you have problems viewing, you can check out the vid of our spring snow on my YouTube page.

OH, SPRING, WHERE ART THOU?

Every spring, I cut our backyard hyacinths and put them somewhere close to my current work space, mostly because I love the smell of hyacinths.  It's my all-time favorite scent:

This year, I also saved our hyacinths from this:

...the snow currently falling at a blizzard-like rate.

Spring???

WHEN SONGS TELL YOUR STORY

This girl is brilliant.  Seriously.

I'm in complete awe of people who can cram an entire book into a three-minute pop song.  And Kacey Musgraves does that beautifully here.

As a single girl in the Ozarks, I also have to say I relate to this one on a personal level.  I adore my area of the country, but I'd be lying if I said that certain area events (remember Sarah Ockler?) and attitudes didn't just embarrass me down to my toes. 


 

...How about you?  What songs have you sworn told your own story?

SUBTLE

Without a doubt, fall in the Ozarks can be strikingly beautiful.  Some autumns, the colors are so vibrant, it seems an absolute sin to spend any time indoors at all.

This autumn?  The colors aren't quite so bright.  Muted is more like it.  Subtle.  Earthy.  Instead of bright reds and oranges, we've got mustards.  Rusts.  Lingering greens mixed in. 

But as I was out and about, filming these clips, I was struck by how really beautiful subtlety can be...



What does your fall look like?

JUST WALKIN'

Celebrating fall in the Ozarks with my pup:

Wishing you all a happy and sun-filled autumn!

SIGNS OF LIFE (FERAL ON GOODREADS!)

Even with the persistent drought in Missouri, we still managed to grow a couple of flowers...Seems so funny that those flowers were glads, since that was exactly how we felt to see them!

Here they are, up close and personal, Georgia O'Keeffe style:

...Speaking of signs of new life, my latest YA, FERAL, recently popped up on Goodreads!  (It just always feels like a book is a living breathing entity when it starts to show up for discussion and / or purchase online...)  Be sure to put it on your TBR list!

CRUNCHY

Thought I'd take you all on a stroll through my lovely backyard...Turn up your volume for this one:



...Ahhh...August in Missouri...

PICS...AND A SLIDESHOW!

Spring in the Ozarks means it's now time to get rid of the ol' coat and hat pic on the sidebar and put up a brand spankin' new author photo. Besides, a new picture gives me yet another excuse to be outside. It's just gorgeous out here right now...Tulips (my fave flower) are popping up everywhere, and the redbuds are all in bloom. Speaking of gorgeous color, how about that fantastic green on the weeping willow I'm standing under in my new picture? I'm pretty sure Aura and Grace, the mother and daughter artists from A BLUE SO DARK, would be making the most of all the pastels we've got outside right now, challenging themselves to art showdowns every afternoon...


...Speaking of new pics (how 'bout them segues?), Joan Holub, one of the authors at my MG blog, Smack Dab in the Middle, recently put together a slideshow to celebrate the release of her new book, ZERO THE HERO. In the vid, she features pics of authors revealing their favorite numbers. My pic focuses on the cups of coffee it takes to get me through a page of drafting:



...Okay, maybe not quite that many cups. But it's close.

And now, my NEO and I are headed to the deck for a dose of outdoor writing. Ah, spring...

LOOKING UP (FOR INSPIRATION)

Okay, so I've said it time and time again: the skies here in SW Missouri are gorgeous. I even sing the praises of our skies on Twitter and Facebook...Last spring, one of my followers who also lives in the area tweeted about what a lovely day we were having, saying, "These are the skies Holly Schindler's always talking about!"

To prove to you just how beautiful our skies are, I've put together a short video. Just promise that when you watch you won't get too jealous!

DOUBLE WHEW! (REVISIONS + SARAH OCKLER’S VISIT)

As I said before on the blog, September was a crazy-busy month of revisions. We’re talking global revisions, for my forthcoming MG, THE JUNCTION OF SUNSHINE AND LUCKY. For some reason, the tech world decided to conspire against me during the rewrite—first my computer completely melted down, and I wound up with a new-to-me tower which, to be honest, drives me no less crazy than Frank, my previous computer. (Yep, Frank. I spend so much time with these gadgets, talking right to them when they get cranky, I figure might as well go all the way and give each of them a name. For the new tower? Clarice.) As soon as I finally got the new tower up and running (printer installation alone took two hours with HP tech support), lightning struck a utility pole near my house—and it wasn’t even raining!

Yeah. I know.

But for every loss of electricity, there is, in fact, a bright spot. No Internet also means no distractions. I spent hours upon hours on the back porch with my pages and my NEO (so many that a “Because You’ve Been Working So Hard” bouquet made its way to my kitchen table).

I have to say that I’m really proud of the end result.

Long story short, revisions are sent—on time, despite our little difficulties. (Whew #1.)

Also, last weekend, Sarah Ockler, the author of the Republic-banned TWENTY BOY SUMMER, came to Springfield for some events during Banned Books Week. Which, let’s face it, took guts. No one knew if any naysayers or protesters were going to show up for the events, or what the overall response was going to be. Thankfully, though, Sarah got a really warm reception from the side of the Ozarks I have always known and loved. (Whew #2.)

Though I was working like the dickens (literary pun intended) trying to wrap up my revisions, I was thrilled to be able to meet Sarah at the Library Center. Sarah is every bit as lovely in person as she is on the page, and she wrote a really beautiful inscription in my own copy of TWENTY BOY SUMMER (an inscription that officially moved the book from the “Favorites” shelf in my bookcase over to the “Prized Possessions” shelf):

“For Holly, a fellow YA writer and book lover who knows the importance of telling honest, difficult stories! Keep writing your truths, and keep searching for the red piece…”


See what I mean? Just beautiful…

REDEFINING "TORTURE"

As a writer, I spend more than my fair share of time thinking about the shades and meanings of words. This summer, it seems my old home state of MO is providing a brand-new definition of "torture," as this video explains:

A TYPICAL ATYPICAL DAY IN THE LIFE

Aislynn at Knit-Purl-Stitch... asked me to share what a typical day in my life looks like. In all honesty, though, a typical day in my life looks just about as exciting as watching your toenails grow: eight to twelve hours of writing. Period.

So I filmed a short vid about that one day a week that's a bit different from the others...that day I'm out and about, catching up on life beyond the computer screen.

ANYBODY ELSE OBSESSED?

Do all writers become obsessed with the outdoors? Do we all get so glued to our screens, our laptops, our keyboards, our notebooks, our kitchen tables, that we all just wind up aching for fresh air and green trees?

...All I know is that I'm becoming obsessed. Seriously. I can't get enough of getting outside lately.

Of course, getting outside means getting drenched, too, these days. These pics are of the park out by the completely swollen Finley River, which is my favorite place to take my pup, Jake...

...Jake and I are both itching for the park to dry out and the tape to come off that bridge!

READY, SET, GO: ENTER FOR A CHANCE TO WIN A SIGNED COPY OF PLAYING HURT

I so loved the Local Leg of the PLAYING HURT Blog Tour! I got a chance to stop at all my fantastic local bloggers’ blogs...and I got to chat a bit with the incredible Sarah Ockler...what a trip.


And now that I’ve made all five stops, the contest is officially underway—you can now enter to win a signed copy of PLAYING HURT!

The entire tour is recapped below. Make your own stops to each post. While you’re there, leave comments and link to your favorite post(s) from Twitter, Facebook, etc. Then fill out this form; he (or she) who racks up the most links and comments will win a signed copy of PLAYING HURT—this is the first giveaway signed copy of my second novel!

Local Leg:

GreenBeanTeenQueen,
The Juniper Breeze,
One Sparkling Star,
Another Book Junkie,
Sarah Ockler.

You can enter to win here. The contest will officially close March 5!