Companions Along the Journey

Let me introduce you to my writing partner: 

Max has been a part of our family for close to fourteen years now.  He was a gift for my son on his fifth birthday, but I’ll let you in on a little secret. 

That was just a ruse. 

Read more!

Finding a Mentor

In one-hundred and two days The Promise of Amazing will be out in the world.  Even after all the work I've done on it this past year -the excitement of the sale, the editorial letter, seeing the cover, walking into the HarperCollins offices and trying desperately not to fangirl as I met my editor for the first time, holding a bound galley in my hand- it still seems surreal.  To put it in perspective, last year at this time I was busy polishing up the final draft to send to my agent.  In my wildest dreams I could never have predicted the route my manuscript has taken.  There are people who sell their novels and have to wait a few years before ever seeing it in print. I know I'm one of the lucky ones, and I never take that for granted.

I should be cracking open the bubbly, eating dark chocolate truffles and propping my feet up, right?

Read more!

Fly, Be Free

As I sit here on this rainy morning pondering what words of wisdom I'm going to lay on you, my lovely Paper Wait readers, I realize no matter what I say, I will most likely fall spectacularly short. Confession: at the moment I'm feeling a bit empty, maybe even melancholy.

This past weekend, my son went off to college for the first time.  And oh...so many feels.

Read more!

Taking my character far, far away to develop him - as in Jersey boy goes to British beach

Even though we've never met, Robin Constantine and I have been on the same page, so to speak, at the beach. We have been imagining characters from our respective novels (hers about to be published, mine a work in progress) on vacation at the beach. Since my novel also takes place in New Jersey, one would think that my main and secondary characters would also have familiarity with it. They don't. The absence of the Jersey shore experience among my New Jersey characters is, in itself, telling: Neither of them go for reasons related to their backgrounds.

However, while I was traveling through southern England last month and periodically writing, where did my second-most important character wind up? At another beach: Teignmouth, in the Devon region of England.

Read more!

Characters on Vacation

Over on the OneFour KidLit YouTube channel this month, we are highlighting places our characters would go on vacation.  Since THE PROMISE OF AMAZING takes place in New Jersey, I didn't have to think too hard about where the teens in my book might venture on a sweltering summer day.  I had such a blast creating this video that I thought I'd share it here as well!
Where would your characters go on vacation?

Read more!

COVER REVEAL: THE PROMISE OF AMAZING

 
Dearest Paper Waiters,

This is a moment I’ve been dreaming about since, well, forever.   And the fact that I get to share it with you means so much to me.  Some of you have been with me since the beginning of my writing journey – at least the “official” writing journey.  I remember walking into Penny Pollock’s picture book class and feeling instantly at home, like “I’ve found my people”.   The creativity and the support in that room made me believe that I could follow this crazy dream of being an author.

The road hasn’t been easy for any of us, has it?  Ups and downs, almost theres, near misses and those wonderful moments we could bring out the champagne.  You were there for my first good rejection, nurtured me when I said I thought I wanted to write a novel and patiently supported me when tears of frustration would leak out during meetings.  There are no guarantees in this business except one: writer buds make the fiercest of friends.

So thanks for ‘getting me’ Paper Waiters! 

Oh, yes, I was revealing a cover wasn’t I?

Revealing this here, on The Paper Wait, feels especially sweet!! 

Here it is… yes, you have to jump to see it!!

Read more!

Full Catastrophe Writing

One of my favorite feel good books (you know, from that section in the book store* nobody wants to be seen in) is Full Catastrophe Living by Jon Kabat-Zinn.  In it, he recounts the line from the movie of Nikos Kazantzaki's novel Zorba the Greek:

Zorba, have you ever been married?

to which Zorba replies...

...Of course I've been married.  Wife, house, kids, everything...the full catastrophe.

So, maybe if I heard my husband refer to our life together as a catastrophe I might get offended, but actually the term 'full catastrophe' here and in John Kabat-Zinn's book is meant to express the richness of life and all its many faces —good, bad and the gray stuff in between.  It speaks to the joys and sorrows, our personal trials and triumphs.

If that isn't a perfect metaphor for the writing journey, I'm not sure what is!

Read more!

Getting Myself Out There

Did you ever see the movie Limitless?  One of my favorite lines is right toward the beginning of the film where we see a truly disheveled Bradley Cooper walking through the streets.  His character is narrating the scene and says:  My excuse for looking like this?  I'm a writer.

I really did LOL with that one.  Mostly because I can relate.

One of the aspects of having an author platform is being...well...visible.  

After years of keeping my writing cards close to my chest and spending my working days looking fairly disheveled, becoming visible has been one of the more challenging things to do.

So I'm taking baby steps.

And I'm sharing those baby steps with you Paper Waiters!

Here is my Intro Interview on the OneFour KidLit blog, where I talk about my sometimes arduous path to being published. 

And here is my first ever YouTube video, made with assistance from my ten year old!!  The OneFours have a YouTube channel, and each month we'll be covering a different topic. April's topic is INSPIRATION.   In my video I talk about some of what inspired me to write THE PROMISE OF AMAZING.  If you have a chance, take a look!

Thanks! 

Read more!

Stoking the Creative Fire

Years ago I had the opportunity to hear Anne Lamott speak.  A friend in my critique group happened to have an extra ticket for her lecture and I JUMPED at the chance to listen to one of my favorite authors discuss the writing process. I don’t quite remember the venue, suffice to say a large, old, theater/auditorium somewhere in mid-town Manhattan, and I’d be hard pressed to come up with an exact quote, but I remember nervously handing Ms. Lamott my copy of Bird by Bird, and squeaking out something that was supposed to sound like thank you as I scuttled away.  I do remember laughing a lot as she talked about her process.   And I do remember leaving inspired to dive into my own writing.

One of the writing tricks/tools that Ms. Lamott spoke about that day was The Observation Deck – A Tool Kit for Writers by Naomi Epel.    I may have ordered it that night when I got home, but I think if Anne had said that it was important to eat artichokes and hop on one leg for ten minutes before sitting down to write, I probably would have done that too.  (So glad she didn’t recommend that, btw.)

Read more!

Who's Going to Star in the Movie?

If you missed my publishing news from my December post, it goes something like this:

Squeeeee!  I have a book deal!!*

In the interim between the initial excitement and the editorial letter, there's a kind of a "did that really just happen" limbo.  Luckily, I spent some of that time with family and friends but the following is a smattering of the (sometimes) bizarre reactions to my book news.

Read more!

Triumph Times Two!!

The Paper Waiters ended 2012 with a joyful bang - book contracts for Robin and Brianna! Their celebratory posts were delightful reading. Full of !!!!!.

Such stunning good news deserves a back story. Now that the confetti has been swept away, the band has packed up, and the fireworks are ash,  I'd like to ask Robin and Brianna a few questions.

Read more!

My News!! And a Giveaway!!

Okay, so, I wasn't going to post this quite yet since I'm sure everyone is busy with the holidays but  I can’t hold it in any longer…

I HAVE A BOOK DEAL!!!!!!   Balzer + Bray is publishing my debut YA, The Promise of Amazing, in 2014!!!  Champagne for everyone!!!

I’m still pinching myself.

In honor of this and in the spirit of Christmas, I’m having a GIVEAWAY!!!   

In the comments section, tell me which writers have influenced you and why and I’ll randomly select someone to win a $25.00 Amazon gift card!  Okay, my turn:

One of the writers who has influenced me is fellow Jerseyan, Judy Blume.  Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret was the first book I remember falling in love with. I lived in that book. It was also the first book I read over and over again.  What struck me most about that book was the way it made me feel.  I was going through some of the same things that Margaret was going through…trying to figure out where I fit in, who my friends were, getting a bra, (worrying about having something to fill out said bra!), and going to my first boy/girl parties.  These were thrilling, yet sometimes, scary events!  Reading about someone going through those same things made me feel that all the emotions, the highs and lows, that I was experiencing were…normal.

This is what I aspire to do in my own work -  to create characters and stories which grab you by the collar and pull you into their world.  To laugh, cry and maybe even recognize yourself there.

So how about you, Paper Waiters?   Which writer has influenced you?  Any comments left before midnight on December 24^th will be eligible for the giveaway!!  (Just make sure to include an e-mail address so I can contact you!)

Oh, and I apologize for the overuse of exclamation points...but I just can't HELP IT!!!!!!

Read more!

Look Who's Coming to Dinner!

Thanksgiving is here! Already!  We still have uneaten Halloween candy!!

Stores are hawking their Black Friday sales - some even starting BEFORE Thanksgiving. (Black Wednesday, anyone?) Christmas decorations are adorning shopping centers and private residences. And my sure fire way of telling the holiday season is upon us - Starbucks has their holiday hot cups! And Peppermint Mochas!!

So, I'm going to keep this light. I'm hosting an incredible (albeit virtual) Thanksgiving feast and you're all invited! Please bring your favorite dish and a guest - a character: hero, villain or otherwise - from your favorite children's book. Picture books to YA! Classics to contemporary! Everyone is welcome.

Hmmm...I invited Severus Snape, but seeing as a)he doesn't want to fraternize with Muggles and b)he doesn't celebrate Thanksgiving and c) well, there was that nasty business in book seven...he declined via owl.

So instead my guest will be the lovely Katniss Everdeen. She promised to provide the fowl.

Who will you bring, dear Paper Waiters?

Read more!

Music to Soothe the Savage Writer

Over the summer my husband noticed a song on one of my iPod playlists and wondered why on Earth I felt like listening to THAT? It was Hate Me by Blue October.  I'm prone to some blue periods, so his concern was genuine.  Is that how I was feeling? But when I answered that I wasn't listening to it for me, but for my character - I think he worried even more!
 
I first heard the song in spin class, during a time I was getting to know the characters in my current manuscript.  There was something about the haunting melody and angst-ridden lyrics that felt perfect for my male protagonist. I listened to it for quite some time - sometimes while writing - to put me in the character's frame of mind.  See, music is portable.  You can listen to it in the car, on a run, cleaning, folding laundry and still write in your head. With my ear buds in, I can multitask, even make dinner, while working out my plot and no one is the wiser.

I know I'm not the only writer who gets inspired by music. Stephen King listens to heavy metal so he can focus.  Stephanie Meyer even thanked the band, Muse, in her acknowledgements for inspiring her while she was writing the Twilight series.  I rarely listen to music while I write, but when I do, it's to tap into some emotion.  If I'm stuck in a scene, or have trouble feeling the mood I'm trying to create, listening to music sometimes helps.  I don't consciously put a playlist together, but when I'm finished with a novel I definitely have a soundtrack.  And every character, no matter how minor, almost always has a song.

So what about you Paper Waiters? Does music help or hurt your process?

Read more!

Put Said to Bed

Last week my daughter's teacher sent out an e-blast letting us know what the children would be learning the upcoming week. As I scanned the e-mail I noticed in their Writing lesson they were going to learn how to "put said to bed". The image I kept getting was of poor little said, being sent to bed with no supper. I wondered if said would be the type of word who kept looking for ways to stay awake, rubbing its eyes, asking for water and maybe needing an extra blanket or two.

I was impressed because I don't remember learning something so fun in my own fourth grade class. I remember doing a report on the natural resources of Alabama.

But then I thought, is this really the right lesson for a writer? 

Said gets a bad rap, doesn't it? Use it too much it gets redundant and boring. Don't even think of spicing it up with an adverb (shudder) because the literary police will actually come knocking on your door and ticket you for lazy writing. "Then of course there are using other words in its place," she scoffed. 

Just the other night I had a conversation with my daughter that went something like this...

G - "Mom, what's another word for said?"
Me - "What do you mean?"
G-"You know, what can I use instead of said?" 
Me - "Um, hmm, well, you see..." 

No, really, try and answer that question easily. It wasn't that I was stumped, but I had to ask her what was going on in the scene. And then suddenly I was getting into dialogue mechanics* and the tone of the scene and what point did she want to get across and really all she wanted to do was finish her work, watch some Phineas and Ferb and then go to bed herself. 

To be clear, I don't have a problem teaching fourth graders to find different words for overused ones. I get it. This is for creativity, not creating a Printz-worthy masterpiece. It expands their minds, makes them think. As I revised some of my own writing this week, that little phrase kept going through my head. And while I didn't put said to bed on every page, I did give it some warm milk and made the suggestion on quite a few. The result was tighter, more concise dialogue.

Maybe not a bad lesson for writers after all. 

So how about you? Do you have trouble putting said to bed? 

*For a great lesson on dialogue mechanics and the word said please refer to the book Self-Editing for Fiction Writers by Renni Browne and Dave King.

Read more!

Romance, Hold the Cheese.

About a month ago, I watched the movie Letters to Juliet with a group of my friends. When I originally saw it on the big screen, I was swept away with the gorgeous Italian countryside and of course, the romance. Who doesn’t love a story about star-crossed lovers who meet again and reignite their passion? Or of someone in the wrong relationship who is suddenly thrown together with a person who is truly right for them?

The ladies I was with apparently. As the credits rolled, more than a few of them thought our choice for movie night was entertaining but somewhat cheesy.

Oddly enough, I agreed.
For me, what had been magical on the big screen came across as slightly unbelievable and forced in my friend’s living room. But what had happened? Maybe since I wasn’t distracted by the larger than life gorgeous scenery and hot buttered movie popcorn, I had the chance to dissect the plot?  Was my mood different?  Or was I affected by my friends reactions? I’m not entirely sure but the question that remained with me, especially as a romance writer, is how do you let a character express their feelings without making it seem cheesy or forced?

Romance is different to all people, isn’t it? What may come across as mawkish to one person might ring true to someone else. If I’m writing something from the heart and a person deems it cheesy – does that mean I'm trying too hard? Or is it just a matter of opinion? And the bigger question is this – if the literary world can accept dystopian societies where kids fight to the death, angels and demons battling over doomed love, and any number of dead girls reflecting on their life who are given the chance to make it better - why is the act of falling in love and forging a relationship so hard to believe?

Are we all just too cynical for a dose of cheesiness now and then?  

Read more!

Brain Freeze

I know I'll be aging myself here, but anyone remember that PSA in the eighties that showed an egg frying in a pan with an ominous warning that went something like this  - "This is your brain." (the egg) "This is your brain on drugs." (egg frying) "Any questions?" As I begin another round of revisions, I think I might be changing that to - "This is my brain." "This is my brain during revision."

GAH!

Wait, no, that's honestly not the right feeling. It's more like the above picture of a dried out sea sponge...empty. Maybe I shouldn't be posting this but I know in the past I've made it clear that I have a love/hate relationship with revision. Yes, it's hard but exciting and ultimately I embrace it, since revision is like 80% of the process, isn't it?

The dried out brain feeling is heinous, though. I feel like I've turned every stone, gone down every path, asked "what if?" about a gazillion times. The request for more revisions has me stymied because my characters have suddenly gone AWOL. ( It's summer, they're teenagers, I guess I should give them a break.)  I've taken to putting my subconscious to work, posing questions right before I go to sleep so when I wake up I can have a "eureka" moment.

Still waiting on that one.

In the meantime I'm working on small edits. I know it will all work out fine, my characters will sheepishly show up on my doorstep during down dog or while I'm taking a shower, but oh, the angst of waiting for it!!

So, Paper Waiters, have you ever felt this way? What do you do to remedy this feeling?

Read more!

Happy Summer (Reading?!)

Way back when, in my small, private elementary school we did not have a summer reading list. There were no projects to complete. No packets of worksheets so our minds wouldn't turn to mush. The last day we cleaned our desks, received our report cards and didn't have to think about school until after Labor Day.

Now as a parent I greet the summer with a mix of relief (Yay! We can sleep in!) and worry (Okay, now what?) and the statistics of "summer learning loss" that are tossed around as early as a month before school gets out. I particularly enjoy the commercial for a learning center that shows words literally pouring out of a child's ear as he climbs out of the pool. The parent in me gets completely freaked with this information but there's this other part of me that's like...

Oh. Please. Come. On.

Whatever happened to summer just being summer? Family vacation? Time to goof off? Time to swim, make a sand castle, hunt for treasure, sleep in a tent, capture lightning bugs, run just because it feels good or eat ice pops that turn your tongue purple?

Not that I'm against summer reading - I don't like being the ENFORCER.  And while I never had a summer reading list, I usually read during the summer. Mind you, I wasn't reading Newbery winners - more like Forever by Judy Blume or the Flowers in the Attic series by V.C. Andrews. Books that I enjoyed - does it matter if I wasn't analyzing them? Answering essay questions? Thinking about deeper themes and meaning? I read, for the sake of - gasp - reading and I'd really like to raise children who read because they love it as well.

I do think summer reading is important, but so is goofing off. Make anything a requirement and it suddenly becomes a drag. A sure fire way to make any reluctant or rebellious would be reader push away from the table.

So Paper Waiters, what do you think? Is it more important to read from a classic reading list and work on a project than to read for enjoyment? Or can the two co-exist peacefully, especially in the summer?

Read more!

A Kiss is Just a Kiss (NOT!)

As a writer of contemporary YA fiction, I find myself creating a lot of romantic plot lines. I'm currently digging deep to finish a second round of revisions, and one of the things I'm looking to clean up is parts where I'm 'overdoing it'. My problem is characters who over analyze their feelings...maybe too much heart-thumping, breath-catching, lip-biting, sighing, staring deeply into each others eyes...you get the picture.  Then I'll read some current YA and growl in frustration because it feels like all I'm reading about is

lip biting,

breath-catching,

heart-thumping kisses,

and wonder where am I going wrong?

See, my first kiss was amazing. No awkward nose-bumping, no fumbling. He was the boy next door (okay, not right next door, but close enough), two years older and suffice to say, had skilled lips. Being kissed by someone with experience was like getting a hit of the most delicious, pleasure-inducing drug imaginable. If I'd only known the side effects - confusion (Does he like me?)...despair (Why is he ignoring me?)...desire (When can we do that again??!!)...I would have run in the other direction.

Yeah, right.  A kiss in NOT just a kiss for me.  It's a life altering experience.

And so began, as kd lang sings, this constant craving for those yummy feelings that come with the territory. Romance - even just the hint of it - is an essential part of a book for me. And it's part of who I am as a writer. Most stories I've written have some element of l'amour in them. Does that make me a sap?

Over the years, some of the most biting editorial remarks I've received regarding my writing have included words like "melodramatic" and "cheesy" - yeah, ouch. My cheeks are reddening as I type this. Not exactly buzz words you want on your jacket flap. 

So Paper Waiters, I know there's a fine line between true romance and mawkish romance, but how do you know when you've crossed it? What are some good, contemporary YA romances that have gotten it right? 

*photo credit  Alfred Eisenstaedt (photographer of The Kiss)

Read more!

Chatting with YA Author Brigid Kemmerer

I’ve never met agent sister Brigid Kemmerer in person, but after interviewing her for The Paper Wait, I feel like I’ve had a virtual cup of coffee with her! Brigid is the author of the Elemental series. The first book Storm is due out Tuesday, April 24th. If that’s too long a wait for you, the awesome prequel, Elemental, is available for download NOW. Last week she took time out of her busy schedule to chat with me about craft.  

Four brothers who can control the elements – how cool is that! How did you get the idea for the Elemental Series?

The first novel I wrote in high school was about four vampire brothers, named Michael, Nicholas, Gabriel, and Christopher. It was a silly story, but I still have most of it on paper. In my twenties, when I really began to take writing seriously, I wrote a few books but was unable to find a literary agent or a publisher. I couldn’t get those four brothers out of my head – but I didn’t want to do vampires again. I started tossing around ideas that would work with the number four. Four horsemen of the apocalypse. Four leaf clovers. Four, four, four. The four elements of earth, air, fire, and water seemed to work best—and I had a lot of ideas how I could make it fun. What teenagers wouldn’t want to be able to control the elements?

Did you originally set out to write a series or is that something that came after you began writing?
 
I love discovering new series, so I wrote the book with the hope that I’d be able to write more—and luckily Kensington chose to buy three! Storm is out on April 24, Spark will be released on August 24, and Spirit is scheduled for early next summer. When I originally started the series, I planned on having the books follow Becca’s point of view all the way through, much like Bella in Twilight or Katniss in The Hunger Games. I’d even written half of Storm entirely from Becca’s point of view. But then I realized I was selling the brothers short, that they should each get a chance to tell their story. I went back and rewrote the first half of Storm to include Chris’s side of things, and it just developed organically from there.

In regards to the prequel, Elemental, I actually wrote that after Storm was completely finished, and I was halfway through Spark. There’s a lot of reference to an event five years before the events in Storm, and the short story came together easily.

What inspires you to write – do you start with characters or plot?

Characters! Wait. And plot! No, seriously. I think one of the greatest writing mistakes is starting with a scenario instead of a plot. (I used to do that all the time, and my books ended up long and rambling.) Starting with a scenario is easy: it’s like coming home and saying to your spouse, “I stopped off at the grocery store, but armed men jumped out of the freezer aisle.”

Instant conflict, instant excitement. But if you don’t start the story knowing what those armed men want, and how the story is going to ultimately resolve itself, you’ll spend 400 pages floundering around trying to figure out your plot. That’s what I had to make myself do with Storm. I knew what the ultimate conflict was going to be, and I kept my eye on the ball the whole time. That’s when I finally sold a novel.

What have you learned on your road to publication?

Wow. So many things that it’s hard to think of them all. There’s definitely a learning curve to this whole process.

Top two:

1) Keep your eyes on your own paper. Someone else said this to me, and it’s so true. It’s very easy to get wrapped up in what everyone else is doing, and it’s human nature. There’s always someone with a bigger deal, a bigger book, a bigger fan base.

2) Once you’re a published author, you’re more than just you. Everything you say online is a reflection of your brand—and it’s permanent. That’s not to say you can’t use profanity or talk about risqué topics, but I have to remember that it’s not just a handful of people reading my posts anymore. There are teenagers and teachers and librarians and editors and readers and writers and whole lists of people I don’t even know. I made a flippant comment to a friend on Facebook that was totally misinterpreted by someone I’ve never even met. Now that Facebook has the news feed on the right hand side (and now that non-friends can subscribe to your updates), Facebook is every bit as public as Twitter. I love social media (please follow me @BrigidKemmerer! I love new friends!), but I always have to remind myself how things might come across.

That’s a really great point, and I think one easily forgotten. How long did it take you to get to this stage of your writing career?

It took a long time. I once read a John Grisham (I think) interview where the interviewer said, “How does it feel to be an overnight success?” And he responded, “It’s only overnight to you. For me, it took ten years.”

I wrote in high school, but it wasn’t until I was in my late twenties that I finally got it into my head to research publication and find an agent. Even then, my first book never got picked up. I had a paranormal romance about the son of Apollo running a music store in downtown Baltimore called A Wicked Little Rhythm, which landed me an agent in August 2009. I was over the moon, thinking it would sell right away. It didn’t. By March of 2010, I’d started Storm, and it sold in February 2011. Writing is not a “get rich quick” scheme.

Haha – so true! How do you juggle your family/work responsibilities with writing time? Do you have a specific routine? Word count?

My husband would read this question and laugh hysterically. I have a family and a full time job on top of this writing gig. I write in the middle of the night sometimes, or early in the morning. I’m not good at catching a random hour here or there—I need a solid block of time to get anything productive done. If I only have a half hour, I’ll back-edit. I don’t write draft after draft, I constantly revise, so when I get to the end, it’s done. I also keep an open file where I add notes (i.e., “Go back and add foreshadowing about …”), then cross them out once they’ve been done. I also keep a timeline in the same file and add notes where I need to make changes. This was especially helpful while writing Spark, because I have numerous house fires, and it started getting hard to keep track of what day things happened.

For word count goals, I’ve been trying to write 7,000 words a week. But that doesn’t always happen, and I’m okay with that.

Do you think it’s important for an author to work with an agent?

My agent gives great editorial advice, and when my first agented novel didn’t sell, she really helped me get Storm to a saleable place. She also had several publishers interested, which turned into an auction, and I ended up with a much better deal than the first offer. People harp on that 15% sometimes, but I think having the right agent is worth every penny.

What part of the writing process do you like the best?

There’s a great quote: “I don’t like writing. I like having written.” That says it all right there. I love telling stories. I don’t mind revisions at all, because the story is done.

I love that quote! Any books from childhood that particularly inspired you to be a writer?

I loved Christopher Pike and L. J. Smith when I was a kid. Christopher Pike had a great book called Master of Murder about a teenager who was secretly a bestselling YA author, and all his friends at school were shocked it was him. I loved that one. All his books are great. He wasn’t afraid to be edgy and dark.

Any advice for aspiring authors?

Keep writing! Don’t give up! I know, I know, it sounds trite. When I go back and read the first novel I started submitting to agents, I want to change my name and enter the witness protection program. I cringe and think, “You sent that out???” But it’s true. I think writers should beta read for strangers on the internet as much as they can, because it helps you develop a keen eye for editing. I learned so much from reading other people’s writing.

A very heartfelt thanks, Brigid! Good luck with the Elemental series and beyond!!

Read more!