Well, I kind of took a long, unexpected hiatus from the blogging world.  Doesn't mean I wasn't still reading them (always the blog stalker), but I wasn't writing.  SORRY!  :)

Let's see, what has been happening since September...

One of the cards I made for a book release party raffle prize.

Paul started another school semester/quarter, which is actually ending next week.  He was doing well at the beginning, but is now struggling a bit with his writing. 

His teaching has picked up.  His students have read A Wrinkle in Time and Tale of Desperaux and The Giver and MY BOOK!!!!  That was pretty cool. 

And my book inspired a lot of his students to write more, especially for National Novel Writing Month (November).  I was writing about superheroes, so a lot of his students also wrote either fairy tales or superhero stories.  Nice to know that I am making a positive influence with my writing, in some small way.

Basketball season has already begun and Paul is coaching the High School boys.  So, if you're ever out and about and have nothing to do, give us a call and cheer on his students!  They got really good last year and only lost 1 Senior.  So, they have a really good chance to make it to the finals.

As for me, I always keep busy.  (Paul says I give myself TOO many projects.  Oh well.)  :)  I guess I should categorize my activities:

The book release party:

Me with Janet and book at the book release party.

After the book release party (pictures are up, by the way, at www.karenschow.com), I did one book signing at Borders, which was an interesting experience.  (Did I say this before?  I feel like I've typed this already.)  People are pretty friendly, in general.  And I sold 31 books!  Cool beans.  WAY overceeded my expectations of 10.  I pretty much stopped with the marketing after that.  I tried to get in a signing with a different Borders, but no dice.  So, I gave up.  ha. 

I have been making do by word of mouth and through friends at church.  I sell about 3 books a month, average.  So far, I think there are a little over 200 books in circulation.  :)

Other Writing:

My books!  (Since this is my blog...I still have copies, if you want one!)

Authors are supposed to write continuously, right?  Yeah.  :)  After the book release party, I started writing the sequel to The Prophecy Box...tentatively titled The Magic Harp...and got to Chapter 7 and then hit a road block.  I don't usually get writer's block, but I felt like the story needed more OOMPH, so I stopped writing and thought intensely about my villian (which every fairy tale needs) and my new main character (who is so sweet, I love her) and Paul said my story needed more action (which keeps things interesting). 

Of course, by the time I realized that I needed more OOMPH to my sequel, NaNoWriMo hit and sucked up all my spare time.  For my November novel this year, I chose to finish a story I had started writing two years ago about a girl in an alternate future in our world, where superheroes are real and are fighting a war with us.  Her father was killed by a superhero and now she hates them.  She goes to a summer camp that is themed for superheroes.  They pretend to be them, they come with costumes and names.  Fun stuff, really.  Allusions all over the place.  :)

I finished the word count (50,000) early on Nov. 28, but I'm not completely done with the book.  Oh well...

Thanksgiving:

My sister and brother came in from out of town this year for Thanksgiving, which was SO nice.  Family is always family, you know?  We celebrated turkey day on Thursday with them and then Friday night with the Hsus.  Lots of food, lots of leftovers.  Is it weird that I still feel over-full these days?  I can't seem to eat very much anymore.  I think I stuffed myself.

On Saturday, Paul and I took out my mom, brother, and sister to afternoon tea for my mom's birthday.  SO FUN!  I really like tea, and I forgot about that.  My brother needs to learn proper etiquette.  A really fun experience for an old-fashioned meal.

Christmas events and stuff:

I'm still involved with the bell choir and we're playing before the Christmas concerts at church on Dec. 11, 12, 13.  (I have created a Facebook event, if you're interested in coming.)  I also decided NOT to play the cello in the Christmas orchestra and am, instead, playing mallet parts in the percussion section: xylophone, bells, chimes.  (In high school, I was in the pit.  So, this is not completely left field for me, in case you're wondering.) 

It has been a nice change from frustration and stress in the string section to relaxation, cool-dude-attitude in the percussion section.  Seriously, there is something about percussion that is so different from the rest of the orchestra/band.  Less cattiness?  Less pressure?  Can't put my finger on it.

Cards I helped Christine make for her birthday...not Christmas, but still winter-themed.

Anyway, last month, I began making Christmas cards (and have finished) and will now fire up the newsletter neurons in my brain, realizing that my biggest accomplishment this past year was not having a baby but writing a book.  LOL!  Same difference?  You decide!

I've also begun the process of handmaking Christmas presents, since people seem to appreciate them more.  :)  Last year, I made scarves.  This year, I'm returning to my ol' tried and true...cards...

Here's hoping my desk doesn't end up looking like this again.

We didn't end up buying a new TV during Black Friday, but shopped a little for Christmas presents and scored a great deal on photo printing paper (50 sheets for $1!!!).

I am trying to figure out the electrical situation on the house's outside plugs that don't work, so that I can hang up lights.

Is that enough of a brain dump for you?  hahahaha.
Here's hoping you had a happy Thanksgiving.  And if I don't blog again for another 3 months, Happy Christmas and Merry New Year!

I think I have gotten used to calling it that...death...rather than passing. 

It has been 6 years.

I still get emotional when I watch movies and tv shows where it deals with the death of an adult figure and I did get emotional when speaking in front of the book release audience.  But, when talking about it conversationally, I am okay with it.

I know that my dad is in a better place and I know that he is proud of whatever I do...small or big.

I think about the what-ifs...if he would have been alive, what would have been different?

All I know is that, everyday, I admire my mother more and more...for her strength, her courage, and her determination to defy loneliness.  It is a testiment to God of her character.

School is out for summer!  :)

Summer brings a whole different schedule around our house.  Doesn't it mess with your standard routines?

Paul turned in his grades at Providence yesterday and is not planning on getting a summer job.  Instead, he will be working like a dog on his grad school writing and annotations.  He is going to develop a new summer routine that consists of going to the library, swimming with my brother, playing in a tennis league with Mikey, and haunting Barnes&Nobles and/or coffee houses from 1-5pm (aka. our peak time-of-use for our energy bill).  :P

As for me, in addition to my job, I get to hound Paul about his productivity.  LOL.  But, really, this summer will be all about the book!  Promoting it, planning parties for it, selling it.  :)  Exciting stuff!

-----------------

On another note, I'm so happy that we attend a church that addresses difficult issues!  They had a peacemaking session and, once the church leaders reconciled with the hurt parties, they announced what happened to the whole church on a Celebration Sunday morning.  It was so cool.

Many tears, but so much healing.

Praise be to God!