You Can't Plan This Stuff

So I get this email from my publicist, Rebecca Grose... Apparently a Chicago politician has it out for squirrels... And they heard about it and decided to get even... (Warning: it doesn't have a happy ending for the squirrel...)

Read it  HERE

And with a great review in Critical Blast which references both Evolution Revolution: Simple Machines and the attack on the politician, like the reviewer says:

"It's a charming little fiction / science fiction piece until you learn about things like squirrels attacking politicians for saying mean things about them, at which point there's maybe a little more to ponder on the subject. For now, enjoy Bennardo's fiction -- before it becomes a little too real."


To whet your appetite, here's a little deja vu from the book:

Illustration by Cathleen Thole-Daniels

 You may notice the animals are destroying the machines... And who do you think is leading them?

Be nice to squirrels. They're smarter than you think...

And wait till you see what they do in book 2, Evolution Revolution: Simple Plans...

Char

Time... Waits For No One

Does anyone really know what time it is?
Does anybody really care?

That's an old Chicago song (I can't for the life of me find who wrote it, but I give you, whoever you are, the credit).

Time--can't touch it, see it, taste it, hear it.

But you can waste it, spend it, enjoy it, find it, use it, run out of it, have plenty of it. Time defines our lives.

When people ask me how I 'find' the time to write, be a mom and wife, take care of the home, volunteer at my church, work in my garden, and accomplish a number of other things, I tell them, "I don't waste time." If I'm sitting at fencing practice with the youngest, I bring my laptop and edit. If I'm going to be waiting at the doctor's office, I bring a book. Working in the garden, I formulate new stories or work out kinks in current ones. Swimming laps, I mentally go over my to-do list.

It's almost as if I 'feel' every second. I think of how much I could, or should, do. But I have my moments of just sitting by the pool, and with cool drink in hand, enjoying a summer read. Sometimes, you need to slow things down and just be in that moment.

And that's all the time I have-

Char

Chicago, Chicago...

Sing it with me!

Okay, those are the only words to the song I know. So I'll show you some pics from the Romantic Times convention I went to with Natalie Zaman now that I've cleaned out my email spam box (563 idiots missed me.). Friday was kind of slow for us, so we slipped out with Amalie Howard and her lovely mom and aspiring author Cate Hart.

This is a famous tower (No, not the Sears one). You see it a lot in movies and stuff. I think people generally fall off and die. Thought we might perish if we didn't get our Chicago deep dish pizza! The waiter was close to my gnawing on his buff ankle if he came any later!

Chicago is located along the Chicago River (for you peeps who didn't have geography- me- or just plain don't remember all those names). You can walk along it on beautiful sidewalks, there are cafes, benches, gardens. It's just so breathtaking (at least when it's warm. May be a different story when it's blowing snow and ice).

And this is what signing day was like- so many authors in one place! We were located in Teen Alley (you're seeing the other half). My friends Amalie Howard and Kristi Cook and many new friends were on that side. On ours we were sitting next to award winning Franny Billingsley! Down our line were Cole Gibsen, Ann Aguirre, and so many (my brain is still fried from it all) I wish I could remember. Check Nat's blog, she collected autographs so she can tell you who was there. You can't see the lines for Anne Rice, le grande dame, or JR Ward (on fave list!). Wanted to see Mary Janice Davidson (my humor muse) but people wanted signed copies of Sirenz! Finally met Katelyn Torrey, of Kate's Tales of Books and Bands blog and some new Sirenz fans.

(Do NOT ask me about doing the worm dance at the YA pajama party. Bones are still creaking. The things we authors do to promote our books...)

It was fun and exhausting and silly and hard work and eye opening. Lots of new friends- authors, publicists, literary agent-mates, aspiring authors, fans. Next year the theme is:

Going to Kansas City, Kansas City here I come....

Will we see you there?

Char