From The Department Of The Friggin' Cool

We interrupt this blog for a Very Important Announcement: NASA, launcher of freaky-cool space probes, gatherer of rocks, thinker-upper of massively amazing ideas like submarine space probes (with detachable  drills to break through the icy surface of Europa into its watery sub-surface) has made an announcement.

Or rather, they've made an announcement for an announcement.

According to this, NASA will be making an announcement regarding a recent finding in the field of Astrobiology. So, first of all: ASTROBIOLOGY! Holy crap!

Now, here's a thing I did not know: NASA has an entire section dedicated to the study of Astrobiology, and the link to their site can be found here. And Astrobiology does not necessarily mean the exclusive search for E.T. and light-saber-weilding Jedis (though, certainly the search for non-Earth-based life forms is certainly part of their research). But mostly, what they're looking for is some sort of insight as to how life happened on our planet. And the fact that there are scientists who are looking beyond Earth to understand about Earth, is pretty dang cool if you ask me.

The thing that has the internets all a-flutter right now is the fact that NASA is instituting an information black-out in the run-up to the announcement on Thursday. So we don't know exactly what  was found or what was learned. We just know that they learned something, and to find out what that something is, we are all gonna have to cool our heels and wait.

In the meantime, I don't know about you people, but I am going to be dreaming. And thinking. And imagining. And probably writing. If life was truly discovered somewhere beyond Earth, what does it do to our understanding of Earth? What does it do for our understanding of us? If we are not alone in the universe, does that change how we see our relationship to our own planet, or our relationship to one another? I wrote a story recently called "The Taxidermist's Other Wife" that will appear in the December issue of Clarkesworld Magazine. The story is essentially a meditation on loss and loneliness - and on the lengths that some people will go to to preserve the memory of what they once had, but there is a moment in the story when the narrators are bending their backs to the howl of the wind, feeling the aching emptiness of the land around and the sky above like a weight. (You are alone, the stars seem to tell them. You are still alone.)


But what if we're not? Do I need to re-write the story? If the universe is populated, how does that alter how we see the stars?

I've been working on a YA sci-fi novel lately set on an energy transfer station on the moon. I'm already bracing myself for how this information is gonna change my own story. And the question is this: how will it impact other stories currently being written now? How will it impact the stories we will write next month? Next year?

On Thursday, I will be simultaneously glued to my laptop and radio. Where will you be?

(And secretly, I am really, really, really, really hoping they're gonna announce they found this guy:)

New Year, New Projects, Epic Awesome

As we get closer to the holidays (and further from the pie-pocalypse that was Thanksgiving), things may appear to be slowing down in the blogosphere. But that's not entirely true. Even if I miss a Monday every now and then (hey, I was in a wedding last week!) know that I am busy behind the scenes working with fellow 5-er Miranda on a sekrit project.

Okay, it's not so sekrit. It's called Dear Teen Me and, holy crap, it's going to be awesome.

Dear Teen Me launches Dec. 1st with some of your favorite authors participating. Head on over to the site for more details, but for now, I'll tell you this: it's an entire blog dedicated to authors writing letters to their teen selves. Could it possibly get more awesome?

I'm not sure. I mean, every time I get an email from an author saying "hey can I write a letter for Dear Teen Me, too?" it definitely gets more awesome. And all of the YA-5 bloggers are on board, so, you know, you can count on some hilarity.

I hope you'll go check out our website. There's not a ton there now, but there will be very, very soon. I promise, this is going to be epic!

Winner of the HUNTRESS ARC!

An impartial third party (my husband :-D ) put all the names in a hat and drew out Maggie Desmond-O'Brien! Congrats on winning the HUNTRESS arc - we hope you enjoy it. Email mirandakenneally (at) gmail.com with your address, and we'll send it to you.

And thanks again to agent Sara Megibow for sharing her thoughts on YA with us!

Giving Thanks

This week is Thanksgiving here in the states, so I thought I would do the obligatory Thanksgiving post.  I'm a bit of complainer, and spend a fair amount of time yammering on about the stupid stuff that happens in life.  So I figured I should balance it out with a list of 365 things I'm thankful for.  I'll be blogging about at least one of these things a day starting January 1st at my blog (you know, because I rarely write anymore), so stop by if you're interested.

And if you want to be thankful for an ARC of Huntress by Malinda Lo, go here.

1. Indoor plumbing

2. Books

3. My agent

4. My family (I should mention here that these are in no particular order)

5. My job (although not always)

6. Central air

7. Toes

8. Fingers

9. Noise cancelling headphones

10. Cupcakes

11. Waffles

12. Pillows

13. Comforters

14. My husband

15. Decoder rings

16. Pop Tarts

17. Rubik’s Cubes

18. El Rodeo (Mexican food)

19. Heath bars

20. Twizzlers

21. Easter candy

22. Snow days

23. Vacation days

24. Snowflakes

25. Sunrises I can sleep through

26. Clean Water

27. Highways

28. Yo Gabba Gabba

29. Shampoo

30. Deoderant

31. Chocolate

32. Judd Apatow movies

33. Beds

34. Digitally signed emails that prevent me from sending without verification

35. Beer

36. Art

37. Digital cameras

38. Cell phones

39. Dilbert

40. Beautifully sparse writing

41. Credit cards

42. Lotion

43. Noise cancelling headphones

44. Rise Against

45. Pandora

46. Crit partners

47. The YA-5ers

48. Internet

49. Netflix Watch it Now

50. Cars

51. Coffee

52. Cake

53. Trees

54. Twitter

55. iTunes

56. Kindle

57. HDTV

58. The Pittsburgh Steelers

59. Chocolate

60. Tea

61. Email

62. Charity

63. Friends

64. Shelter

65. Kleenex

66. Warm sweaters

67. The ocean

68. Grocery stores

69. Calculators

70. Breathtaking architecture

71. Rivers

72. Amusement parks

73. My daughter’s laughter

74. Falcons

75. Long drives

76. Hawaii Five-0

77. Pecan Pie

78. Conditioner

79. Tampons

80. Inside jokes

81. #wordtribbles

82. Surprises (good and bad)

83. Mistakes

84. @ replies

85. Writing

86. Nail polish

87. Butterflies

88. Jon Lovitz as Satan

89. Bicycles

90. Lighthouses

91. Porch swings

92. The annoying people who write checks at stores and give you something to laugh about

93. ATMs

94. Acceptance

95. Computers

96. Cake

97. Tea parties

98. Stuffed animals

99. Roller coasters

100. Lemonade on a hot day

101. Hot cocoa on a cold day

102. Roses

103. Birds that sing at the crack of dawn

104. Playgrounds

105. Libraries

106. Food courts

107. Discounts at stores

108. iPods

109. AFI

110. Winter

111. Farmers

112. Windows

113. My Chemical Romance

114. Bad Religion

115. Dropkick Murphys

116. Spellcheck

117. Showers

118. Long baths

119. Taking Back Sunday

120. Northstar

121. Bread

122. Chik-fil-A

123. Sweet Tea

124. Money

125. Milkshakes

126. French fries

127. Health Insurance

128. Car Insurance

129. My mother

130. Satellites

131. Best Buy

132. Thumb drives

133. Metal water bottles

134. Balloons

135. Music

136. Johnny Depp

137. Tim Burton movies

138. Chocolate

139. Spring

140. Hot air balloons

141. Zoos

142. Fish

143. Duct tape

144. Sparkly things

145. Fire

146. Stoves

147. Macaroni and cheese

148. Cheese

149. Solitaire

150. Tim Burton movies

151. Bruce Willis

152. Math

153. Numbers

154. Gravity

155. Schrödinger’s cat

156. Big Bang Theory

157. The Mentalist

158. Judge Judy

159. Ice cream

160. The People’s Court

161. Laws

162. Gum

163. Shoes

164. Socks

165. Razors

166. Treadmills (okay, not really)

167. Parades

168. Halloween

169. Candy

170. Pearl Jam

171. Perfect timing

172. Romance

173. Jewelry

174. Scottie dogs

175. Good dreams

176. Text messaging

177. Other people driving

178. Lunch dates

179. Deer

180. Streams

181. Forest

182. Wildflowers

183. Mud

184. Ergonomic chairs

185. Patience

186. My butt

187. Spanx (see above)

188. Jokes

189. Batman

190. Cliffhangers

191. Beethoven

192. History

193. The perfect turn of phrase

194. Making friends laugh until they pee

195. YouTube

196. Cookies and cream anything

197. Vaccinations

198. Wikipedia

199. A fertile imagination

200. Leaving work early

201. The Constitution

202. Three Branches of Government

203. The Bill of Rights

204. The Federal Reserve

205. Low interest rates

206. Mouthwash

207. Fresh laundry

208. Sesame Street

209. Phineas and Ferb

210. Post it Notes

211. Love letters

212. 80s Tv Theme songs

213. VH1

214. Palm trees

215. Maple syrup

216. Snow

217. Chocolate

218. Books

219. Honesty

220. Travel

221. Chili’s

222. The Army

223. Joint Chiefs of Staff

224. Montgomery G.I. Bill

225. Bubble baths

226. Comic books

227. Hellblazer

228. Ed Brubaker

229. Books

230. Kanye West

231. Crazy people

232. Kittens

233. Puppies

234. Alligators

235. Armadillos

236. Capybaras

237. Unconditional Love

238. String Theory

239. The Universe

240. Combustion

241. Detectives that are Loose Cannons

242. Steampunk

243. Zombies (at least fictional ones)

244. 70s funk music

245. School

246. Literacy

247. Lessons learned

248. Ice

249. Mint

250. Kettle korn

251. Cartoons

252. Peace and quiet

253. Target

254. Red Cross

255. Football

256. Basketball

257. Hockey

258. Boots

259. Old-fashioned letters

260. Strangers

261. Kohls

262. Makeup

263. Toothbrushes

264. Pipe cleaners

265. Construction paper

266. Crayons

267. Watercolors

268. Bean bags

269. Sewing machines

270. First person present

271. Glue guns

272. Apples

273. Bananas

274. Fresh baked bread

275. Frou-frou coffee drinks

276. Sandwiches (not open faced)

277. Reruns

278. Pennsylvania

279. Kermit the frog (and Muppets in general)

280. Cheese steaks

281. Dear Teen Me

282. Promises kept

283. Blood

284. Lungs

285. Brain

286. White Collar

287. How I Met Your Mother

288. Big Bang Theory

289. Cherries

290. Fried chicken

291. Saturdays

292. Me

293. Relaxers

294. Labrador Retrievers

295. Walking

296. Bookstores

297. Indie films

298. Jake Gyllenhaal

299. Kevin Smith movies

300. John Cusack

301. Sixteen Candles

302. Febreze

303. Laundry soap

304. Modern medicine

305. Cop dramas

306. Jeans

307. The railroad

308. Long haul truckers

309. Cheetos

310. Tahitian treat

311. Fresh cut grass

312. Lawn gnomes

313. Chocolate cake

314. Cheesecake

315. Sushi

316. Memorial Day

317. The Easter Bunny

318. Bunnies

319. Chipmunks

320. Corn

321. The Alamo

322. Ripley’s Believe it or Not Museum

323. Styx

324. Journey

325. Earth Wind and Fire

326. Happy Accidents

327. Hibachi

328. Summer

329. Holidays

330. The Smurfs

331. Neil Patrick Harris

332. Cable

333. Blogs

334. Games

335. Cellular divison

336. Photosynthesis

337. Organ donors

338. Hair salons

339. Flat irons

340. Books

341. Praise

342. Scooby-Doo

343. Karaoke

344. Soup

345. Rain

346. Fall

347. Ducks

348. High school memories

349. A job well done

350. Flattery

351. Coupons

352. Anime

353. Action Movies

354. Die Hard

355. Celebrity Jeopardy

356. My birthday

357. Junk food

358. Tchotchkes

359. Stream of consciousness

360. Cookies

361. Watching a movie in the theatre

362. Throwbacks

363. Unicorns

364. Trains

365. Self-Reflection

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!!!