Yep, it’s that time again! Back to school, and today was my first day at the University of Washington.

But, Chelsea, didn’t you claim you were NEVER GOING TO SCHOOL AGAIN?

Ha… ha… Did I say that? I might have maybe said something like that once or… lots of times. Ahem. But nevertheless I am back in school, taking more Latin classes to improve my language skills while I apply to grad school for next fall.

The UW campus, it turns out, is freaking gorgeous! It was so beautiful. All the buildings are very majestic and look like castles and cathedrals. It was a nice sunny day while also smelling crisp like fall, and there were orange and red autumn leaves drifting off the trees. It was amazing, and at first I was worried I wouldn’t have anything to do, since I got there an hour early, but I was more than happy to wander around campus, checking out the scenery and my new academic digs, so to speak.

Latin class was fun. Though I think I may have made the Roman Drama teacher think I’m an idiot, because after class I stopped to ask her if we really *needed* to buy the books or if we could just print off the texts from the internet (the beauty of reading thousands of year old texts–no copyrights), and she explained how useful the comments in the books were and how the editor put in all the meter marks in the text. I wanted to mention that I had a degree and had taken poetry composition classes and knew how to read meter, and had also read comedy before, and that I wasn’t trying to get out of learning, just save money, but I couldn’t think of a good way to say it, so I figured I’d better keep my mouth shut. But then I had to go and ask how the class works and if we read through the lines on our own and then come to class and read together, and at that point I think she thought I was a complete noob instead of someone trying to make sure they weren’t going to embarrass themselves by not knowing this particular school’s routine. Ah, well.

I’ve also been chipping away at my self-imposed Shades of Rome revisions. I put this book down a couple months ago because I couldn’t stand to look at it anymore and I was *sure* that all my revisions were stupid and just mucking everything up instead of helping. Well, okay, I wasn’t *sure*, but that was the problem, not being sure. Maybe they were awesome or maybe they sucked and I just couldn’t tell anymore. So I had to set it aside, and then it was like eating too much of something where later you can’t stand to even look at that food without wanting to barf. But, um, a few weeks ago I started reading it again and it turns out the revisions I made are leaning much more towards the “this is awesome!” side than the sucks side. I was actually really happy with them–I couldn’t put it down–so now I just need to finish putting an ending on it, since the old one had to go.

Oh, yeah, and since the last time I blogged (note to self: blog more, for reals this time) I took the GRE! I’d been studying for it for about six weeks, and after a while I realized I was treating it as if I was preparing for battle. Which I guess I was, but still. It was pretty grueling and took me three and a half hours. But I think I did a decent job on the essay section, and I got a 700 on the verbal and 610 on the math sections. Not bad, I say, and it put me a little over my goal. *phew* So now I just have to write a kick-ass personal statement, get recommendation letters, and, oh yeah, figure out which schools I want to apply to besides the University of Washington.

You may remember this post I made one year ago today about my fall visitor, Mr. Ugly P. Umpkin. Well, his visit turned into not just a fall visit but an extended stay. You might say Mr. Umpkin has lost his edge now that he’s left the p-patch, but you might also say that his still being here, alive and raising trouble a year later, just goes to show how bad-ass he is! After all, he is one tough pumpkin, and don’t you forget it. Nothing gets him down, not even time.

Here he is, a little older, a little wiser, and a little more yellowed:

From Drop Box

For some reason I always thought Labor Day was some kind of war holiday, like Memorial or Veterans Day. It’s only today that it occurred to me it might have something to do with, you know, labor and work and stuff. Anyway, complete coincidence but today I also focused on not slacking off and actually getting some work done. And I mean getting up and doing writing work and then taking a break and then doing more work. The hard part isn’t always the getting started, it’s starting back up after you’ve had a little time to congratulate yourself on the morning’s work, but then eventually you have to stop congratulating and face the fact that you really need to sit down and do SOME MORE of it before you’ve really earned your pat on the back for the day.

But anyway, today I didn’t slack off, so today I feel good. Also I found out that ALL of my shows are returning this fall. Finding out one of your shows isn’t coming back is like getting a lump of coal in your stocking.

For anyone who’s interested–cause I’m sure this is riveting stuff–these are my shows, in no particular order:

Bones
House
Modern Family
Community
Supernatural
Life Unexpected (well, this is *probably* one of my shows, since I’m still only partway through season one)
Glee
The Office

I have a love/hate relationship with Parenthood, which I noticed is also still on. I really can’t stand that show. I hate everybody on it. I hate the lessons the show tries but fails to teach. It is BARF. But… also I love to hate it and for a while couldn’t stop watching it even though it pissed me off every time. Probably because besides being all those things I said, it’s also really JUICY. And juicy is addicting. It’s like one of those pop songs you hate but can’t stop humming to yourself. (And yeah, I thought I would love it because it has Lauren Graham and is made by Ron Howard, but sometimes these things just happen.)

Oh man, I am all about ebooks. For a while I was uncertain, and I was like, “AGH, but WHAT IF all the books become ebooks and what if it happens before my paper book is supposed to come out and I never get to, like, sign a real copy of my book?!?!?!” Which is total debut author freakout nonsense and A. not a real threat and B. not all that important in the grand scheme of things. I mean, I *don’t* want all books to become ebooks or only ebooks or whatever. But I’m over my authorly nervousness at never getting to hold/sign physical copies of something I wrote (you’ve signed one, you’ve signed them all, I always say), and having had my nook for about a month now, OMG I am so in love with ebooks.

First off, I really love the nook. I did tons of research on ereaders last winter and am still something of a walking ereader encyclopedia. (Note that last winter I was working like mad on a novel. This is what I do when I’m procrastinating–I obsessively research things I might want to buy.) Anyway, I decided the nook was for me, but I was still a little bit nervous about spending that much on something I wouldn’t *really* know whether I loved or not until I had it in my hot not-so-little hands. But I have to tell you that I absolutely love it. Here, allow me to count the ways.

1. I love that the words look like they’re on paper, *but they’re not.* This is way cool. Obviously. And it doesn’t hurt my eyes, at least no more than reading regular books would, and certainly hurts less than staring at a computer screen.

2. I love the way the buttons click when I turn the page. I mean it. LOVE. I like pushing buttons and I am especially pleased by buttons that click. Add to that the fact that I have to press said button fairly often–over a hundred times per book–and I am in some kind of button-pushing paradise.

3. I love that I don’t have to worry how big the text is printed or if the publisher tried to cram too many words on the pages of the paperback version or whatever. There have been books I’ve passed up in the past because the layout of the text was too hard to read or was just not aesthetically pleasing. But now I don’t have that problem. I haven’t had to yet, but I could change the font or the font size if I wanted to.

4. I love that I can get library books without having to leave my couch. (Assuming my laptop and my connector cord are in reach.) And, er, even if I do have to get up off the couch, I don’t have to leave the house. And I don’t have to leave the house to return the books either. The same goes for buying books. And with buying books, I find it amazingly freeing that the “store” is never going to be out of the book I want (like when the B&N website said that my local store had Pretty Little Liars book 5, but when I got there, they only had 1-4 and 7-8 and I was DISAPPOINTED), and the buying them online is instant because they don’t have to come in the mail.

Another thing I like about ebooks is that I can’t accidentally bend the pages all wonky, which I have a tendency to do. I can, however, in my constantly pressing too hard on things way, push a little too hard on the bottom edges of the nook and turn the little color screen on when I don’t mean to. I’m guessing this wouldn’t be a problem for most people, though.

The back of the nook is supposed to feel like a real book, to simulate holding one in your hand. This makes me think of those things you get to train your cats to use the toilet, the ones you put on the seat that are supposed to make the cats feel like they’re digging in litter even when they’re not. I don’t know if the back of the nook feels just like a book, but it feels okay. I have no qualms with it.

The nook also comes with chess and sudoku. I could care less about the chess, but I’ve become kind of addicted to sudoku, which eats up the battery because you have to use the touch screen so much. But, you know, I could also just not play. If I was some kind of superhuman person with the strength to say no.

I *do* worry that I’ll get all into ebooks and then there’ll be an apocalypse that kills all forms of electricity and then I won’t be able to charge it in order to read and THEN won’t I be sorry I ever read digital books instead of the kind I grew up with. But also I figure if there’s some kind of apocalypse that wipes out all our electrical outlets and such, then I’ll probably have bigger problems than how to charge my nook.

W00T, two posts this week. I am on a roll, even if I missed yesterday and therefore can’t do a blog every day in September thing. (I’m off the hook. *phew*)

I spent the past couple days sleeping more than twelve hours a day and feeling extremely listless and not having the mental or physical energy to do anything except watch TV. Even reading was a strain. I wasn’t depressed or anything, or sick, but it felt reminiscent of the time about ten years ago when it turned out I had hypothyroidism. I’ve always regretted taking two freaking years to realize there was a problem and actually doing anything about it, so I was proud of myself for admitting right away, “Hey, that’s not right!” and calling up my endocrinologist. It took less than a five minute conversation on the phone with someone from her office for us to realize the pharmacy was supposed to give me two prescriptions, and they’d only filled one. I thought since it was a custom pharmacy where they mix things up for you that that must have meant both meds I needed were in one pill. I was suspicious, but… I didn’t know. And I felt good on the meds I had, at least up until a few days ago when I totally crashed.

So now I’m back on both T3 and T4 and feeling tons better. I seriously can’t believe how I lived like that for two years back in the day. I can look back all I want and think, “Wow, I know things were tough back in late high school and early college, what with my undiagnosed thyroid problem, but I still should have overcome that somehow and done more with myself!” But, uh, after the past couple days, I’m surprised I managed to go to school at all back then.

Right now would have been horrible timing, too, since like I mentioned last time, I’m studying like mad for the GRE, and I have a writing sample to turn in soon, and my own books to work on, and school coming up.

So, no matter how many times I vow to blog more, I keep going forever without blogging… I would love to, like, blog every day in September, to get back into the hang of things, but we’ll see.

The big news is that I moved! Hooray! It was horrendous and I don’t know how we did it. I never thought we’d get the truck packed up, let alone *unpacked* again, and then hauling all our stuff down one flight of steps and up three more in a heat wave in August. But here I am in my third story apartment with all my earthly belongings. I kind of wish I had more virtual belongings than earthly ones, though. I am seriously thinking of selling off most of my books and just buying digital copies if I ever want to read them again.

Also I am studying like mad for the GRE, which if you don’t know stands for the “Graduate Record Exam” and is basically like the SAT, only for grad school. I’m taking it on the 22nd, so that means if I do blog every day in September, it will probably all be stuff about geometry and analytical essays. Blerg.

I read Mockingjay and the entire 8 volume Pretty Little Liars series. I thought Mockingjay was very satisfying and PLL was so freaking awesome. I wish there was more!

In book news, Amazon says The Rise of Renegade X is coming out in paperback on May 10th, 2011. I have no idea how sales are doing, but feedback from readers has been amazing! I think the most frequently asked question I get is whether or not there will be a sequel–I need to put that up on the site somewhere–and the answer, at least for now, is no. But if it makes anyone feel any better, there might be a movie.

So, I haven’t posted since BEA. That was, like, over a freaking month ago! My blisters are almost healed, that’s how long it’s been. And so many interesting things have happened. Except not really because whenever an author says “interesting things have happened,” everyone jumps to conclusions, and while I wish I had conclusions for you to jump to, alas, I do not.

But I did other interesting things, like back my car into my friend’s barbed wire fence at a 4th of July party. It was really dark out, and apparently the back window was fogged, but it was so dark out I couldn’t even tell. And I was really cold because I wore shorts because it was warm for, like, two hours before it got freezing, and somehow I got disoriented. I thought I was turning around in a normal, I-know-how-to-drive-sort-of-way, and then CRASH. Mostly nothing happened, though. Eustace has a few new battle scars, and I felt extremely stupid, but otherwise everything was okay. (Eustace is the name of my car, btw. Eustace, rhymes with useless. I had so many cars die one year–and I am not, like, rich and made of cars or anything, so it was kind of devastating–that when I got this one I decided to name him so he wouldn’t die, kind of like how people used to name babies so fairies wouldn’t steal them. So far he’s been the least useless car, and I had to learn to drive a stick to operate him, so I feel like I’ve earned his non-useless-ness.)

Oh, and I bought a box of powdered donuts that were HALF OFF, so they were only 79 cents. I thought they might be stale and dry or something, but in fact they are kind of wet and if anything are too moist. O__o (Still delicious, though.)

And I rewatched Watership Down for the first time in 14 years. (14 years! That was half my life ago that I last saw it!) I used to watch that movie over and over when I was really little, even though about half of the stuff in it is so scary that I’d have to close my eyes or leave the room. I thought as an adult I would laugh at how scary I thought it was, but you know what? It’s TERRIFYING. There are all sorts of violent parts, and it’s like the people who made the movie didn’t get how horrifyingly they were animating rabbit blood. And also some of the violence is taken out and represented by imagery instead, which really only makes it more terrifying than just showing it would have been.

I’m reading the screenplay to American Beauty so that I will FINALLY UNDERSTAND what happened in the end. I keep blinking during the important parts at the end or something and missing the entire point of the movie. I’ve thought it had several different endings now, and several different morals, and I’m not sure which one is right. Maybe after that I’ll read American Psycho so that I’ll finally understand what was going on there, too, because no one I ask has seen it and thus cannot explain to me what the hell was going on or what I was supposed to get from it.

I’ve been doing revisions on Shades of Rome. And thinking about going back to school. For anyone who doesn’t know, I graduated from college 3 years ago, after spending 7 years getting my degree. I feel like after 7 years, I should have 2 degrees or gotten a medal for procrastination or something. But, no. I got a generic piece of paper that said “Bachelor’s Degree” and didn’t even say my major on it, because it was self-designed. So anyway, I sort of swore off school and didn’t ever want to go back. And then every once in a while I decide I want to get a master’s in something and make wild claims about applying for grad school. And then I never do.

Well, I AM THINKING ABOUT IT AGAIN. I miss Latin, and now that I have a book published, I feel like the burning need to validate my life by proving I’m publishable doesn’t take up so much of my thoughts. It’s hard, though, having been in the “real world” or something like it for the past three years. I’ve learned a lot of lessons about reality and while I’ve always hated practical people who pet their business degrees and ask, “What are you going to *do* with that?” I find my thoughts are now clouded with that exact sentiment.

And you might think that’s nonsense because, duh, I’ve spent my whole life not listening to people who said the exact same thing about writing–“It’s just a hobby, though, you can’t *do* that for a living”–and then I sold a book and it was more than I’d ever made as a minimum wage slave who hated her life all the time. And you are probably right and I should let my successes validate the risks I’ve taken rather then let reality change me into someone “practical” who wears clean clothes every day and remembers to shower regularly and actually flosses. I’ll be honest and say I’m not sure I ever want a real job. I want to think I could get one someday, just to prove it to myself, but I’m not sure if I actually want one. But I’m also not sure that I want to always be a fulltime author, either. The times when I’m working like mad on a book and am able to stay up as late as I want/need to and not worry about waking up or doing anything else are GREAT. But the times in between, when I feel like I have nothing to do and no purpose in life… get a little boring. Not, like, worse than working retail or fast food boring, but still. The only thing in the world I hate more than being practical is being bored.

I’m sure there are even more interesting things I could tell you about–I left out all of June; what happened in June? I don’t even remember now–but I will stop there. And try to remember to post more.

Last but not least on Egmont Debut Week is Alexandra Bracken, author of Brightly Woven.

Sydelle Mirabil is living proof that, with a single drop of rain, a life can be changed forever. Tucked away in the farthest reaches of the kingdom, her dusty village has suffered under the weight of a strangely persistent drought. That is, of course, until a wizard wanders into town and brings the rain with him.

In return for this gift, Wayland North is offered any reward he desires—and no one is more surprised than Sydelle when, without any explanation, he chooses her. Taken from her home, Sydelle hardly needs encouragement to find reasons to dislike North. He drinks too much and bathes too little, and if that isn’t enough to drive her to madness, North rarely even uses the magic he takes such pride in possessing. Yet, it’s not long before she realizes there’s something strange about the wizard, who is as fiercely protective of her as he is secretive about a curse that turns his limbs a sinister shade of black and leaves him breathless with agony. Unfortunately, there is never a chance for her to seek answers.

Along with the strangely powerful quakes and storms that trace their path across the kingdom, other wizards begin to take an inexplicable interest in her as well, resulting in a series of deadly duels. Against a backdrop of war and uncertainty, Sydelle is faced with the growing awareness that these events aren’t as random as she had believed—that no curse, not even that of Wayland North, is quite as terrible as the one she herself may carry.

BIO: Alexandra Bracken wrote Brightly Woven as a birthday present for a friend, and the story grew and flourished during a year of unpredictable, wild weather. A native of Arizona, she is a recent graduate of the College of William and Mary, where she majored in History and English. She now lives in New York City.

INTERVIEW
1. If you could meet any author in the world, living or dead, who would it be? What would you say to them?

JK Rowling for sure, though I honestly have no idea what I would say to her. I think I’d probably just start blubbering, and then the tears, meaningless hand gestures and squeaking noises would come and I’d have to run away in shame.

2. What’s your favorite dinosaur? How do you feel about the Brontosaurus being an accidental mix-up of bones and not a real dinosaur?

WAIT. WHAT? Chelsea, you have just rocked my world. Are you telling me my second grade teacher lied to me? Why did the Museum of Natural History have one out on display?? CHILDHOOD OF LIES!!! I think I need a minute…

3. Do you have any “guilty pleasure” shows you watch? If so, what are they and what makes them irresistible?

I can’t decide if Doctor Who should be counted as a “guilty pleasure” show or not—I think it’s a little too awesome and popular to be considered a “guilty pleasure,” but only in the UK. So… probably The Jersey Shore. That one is DEFINITELY guilty.

Today’s interview is with Kristina McBride, author of The Tension of Opposites!

Two years ago Noelle disappeared. Two long years of no leads, no word, no body. Since the abduction, Tessa, her best friend, has lived in a state of suspended animation. She has some friends, but keeps them distant. Some interests, but she won’t allow herself to become passionate about them. And guys? She can’t get close—she knows what it is like to really lose someone she cared for.

And then, one day, the telephone rings. Noelle is alive. And maybe, just maybe, Tess can start to live again, too.

A haunting psychological thriller taken straight from the headlines, The Tension of Opposites is a striking debut that explores the emotional aftermath a kidnapping can have on the victim, and on the people she left behind.

BIO: Kristina McBride, a former high-school English teacher and yearbook advisor, wrote The Tension of Opposites in response to the safe return of a child who was kidnapped while riding his bike to a friend’s house. She lives in Ohio with her husband and two young children. This is her first novel. Visit her online at www.kristinamcbride.com.

And because it’s so awesome, the trailer for The Tension of Opposites:

Order Now From Your Choice of Online Retailers

INTERVIEW
1. If you could meet any author in the world, living or dead, who would it be? What would you say to them?

I cannot name just one! I feel like I’d be betraying some of my closest friends. I’ll list a few, if that’s okay. Nathaniel Hawthorne is an author I’ve had a crush on since college. His short stories, Rappaccini’s Daughter and The Artist of the Beautiful spurned my imaginary romance. I think I’d just like to stare at him, which might make my husband a little jealous, so it’s good Nate is dead (yes, I call him Nate). I would give just about anything to hang out with Laura Ingalls Wilder. Need I say more? As for current authors, I’d love to spend some time with Laurie Halse Anderson or John Green. How cool are they? I would like to think that I’d be cool and reserved if I ever met these authors, able to explain my admiration of their talent, and ask all kinds of smart writerly questions. But I’d probably just stutter around until they decided it best to walk away from me.

2. What’s your favorite dinosaur? How do you feel about the Brontosaurus being an accidental mix-up of bones and not a real dinosaur?

What? The Brontosaurus isn’t a real dinosaur? I’m shocked! I have to admit here that I’m not all that up on my dinosaur trivia. I really liked the one from Jurassic Park that spit toxic, killing juice. I would’ve enjoyed having that ability a few times while I was a high school English teacher. (Just kidding people, I really loved my students!)

3. Do you have any “guilty pleasure” shows you watch? If so, what are they and what makes them irresistible?

Oh dear, there are so many. I love several teen shows: Gossip Girl, Glee, The Vampire Diaries. I’m a reality show girl too: Survivor, Project Runway, Big Brother. And while I hate the idea of soap operas, I’m kind of addicted to The Young and the Restless. I think the thing that makes any of these shows irresistible is that when I sit down to watch them, I can totally forget about all the things I have to do in my real life – TV in general gives me a much needed break!