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May 29th, 2008 I would apologize for my lack of posting, but I can't. I had a very good reason to be gone: 
This month has been spent planning and preparing for my wedding, a day I've been picturing in my head for the past three years. Everything went perfectly and everyone present had a blast! I know I did. ;)
I'll post a couple more pictures when I get them (the photographer is doing digital things to them), but I wanted to post this while I was thinking about it. Just to let you know that I haven't forgotten about the blog. Yours truly, Sera 
April 6th, 2008
It was a dark and stormy night (literally. It was 12:30 a.m. and raining) and a peal of thunder tore through the sky. But something was wrong. This didn't sound like normal thunder. The rumbling was off. It went on too long. It shook my entire house. Now, Florida isn't exactly known for earthquakes, so my first thought was "Oh, $h!t. The Tree." 
The Tree. The evil, sick, threatening thing that is too expensive to get rid of and too dangerous to leave in. My fiance and I run downstairs, open the back door, and see this:   
And, to make everything even better, 95.8% of the damage was to our neighbor's yard and house, not ours. Greeeeeat. I can already tell that this is going to be a fun week.
And I know this has nothing to do with writing, but it was such a freak occurance really felt I had to share.
March 30th, 2008 Words cannot express how much fun I had on this trip. Seriously. I got to spend a weekend with my mom in one of my favorite cities in the world and, because we weren't with my sisters, we spent most of the weekend in museums! We also spent time with her friends from high school and my friends from New Jersey, ate a bunch of really awesome resturaunts (Try Gobo if you're ever near The Met! It's amazing!), and saw two incredible Broadway shows (Passing Strange and Curtains). Trying to explain everything we saw would be inadequate, so I'm going to give you a day-by-day, best-of photo blog. :) 3-21-08 Battery Park: The Guggenheim: The Metropolitan Museum of Art: 3-22-08 The Museum of Modern Art: Passing Strange: 3-23-08 The Museum of Natural History: Curtains: Times Square: The Empire State Building: The Macy's Flower Show Window Displays: Think of this as a "best of" recap. I was simply happy that I got to see a part of the city I hardly ever see. And the display windows at Macy's are always worth stopping by for. Look for more pictures from my trip when I update the picture pages for April! I'll probably use some of the NYC pics in May, too. Yours truly, Sera
March 12th, 2008 In the Today window of hotmail, I saw this headline: Baby's got book: 17-month-old tot knows how to read. I didn't believe it. But then I went and read the article and I was floored. It actually seemed true. Then I watched this video and I was convinced: For the past two years, I have worked with a psychology professor who specializes in reading research and language development in early childhood. I've seen some amazing things (like a 4 year old who could sound out the work knowledge) and I've seen the other side of the spectrum (a normal six year old who still couldn't sound out the word and). This child, Elizabeth, is the most astounding reader I've ever seen. It just goes to show you that anything is possible for humans and it drives home the fact that we have ridiculously low expectations for our children's intelligence in today's society. Hundreds of years ago, children were speaking and reading multiple languages, versed in mathematical theory, and able to discuss art, music, philosophy, history, and politics with equal ease by the age of twelve. Today, we're not surprised if I child struggles to pass their classes and remembers nothing once they do. This isn't a rant against anything, just something that brought it back to mind. And one more reason why any children I have will be homeschooled. Yours truly, Sera
March 1st, 2008 I had hoped that this update would bring me one step closer to announcing the publication of Fallen, but it is not to be yet. The agent who was considering my book declined representation, but in a way that makes me hope the next set of queries will result in a contract. They gave me things to work on in the book and I will use their advice in the next edit of the story. For those of you who sent me well wishes, thank you so much! Your encouragement was, well, encouraging! I will continue to send out queries until I get an agent. I am determined that, one day soon, I will see my name in print and my words on published pages. I will keep you all updated on the uphill battle of publication! Yours truly, Sera
January 13th, 2008 Have you ever thought that you were too young to possibly write a good book? There have been authors who have proved doubters wrong over the years (Christopher Paolini is a prime example), but this newest addition to the list astonished even me. Meet fifteen-year-old Nancy Yi Fan, the author of the New York Times bestselling book Swordbird and its soon to be released prequel Sword Quest. I have not read the story yet, but, having learned about it today, I am determined to buy it. For more information, you can visit her biopage on the Haper Collin's website, or her own Homepage. Learn about her and never forget that anything is possible. This is just one more piece of evidence. Yours truly, Sera
December 31st, 2007 In the spirit of the holiday season and the strong desire to be held accountable by someone other than myself for the goals I have in mind, I decided to post my list of New Years resolutions here. This time next year, I will come back to this post and see how well I did. These goals are not all writing related and are in no particular order. In fact, I may add to it as I think of new goals over the next couple of days. Sign a contract with an agent. Go to the gym three times a week. Sell a short story to a magazine. Complete rough drafts of books two, three, and four of the Fallen series. Begin work on a new book project. Sell Fallen to an American publishing house. Completely reorganize my house. Start printing pictures and putting them into albums. Develop a writing schedule. Buy a good laser printer.
This is an ambitious list and, though I hope I can accomplish it all, I will be happy if 90% are able to be checked off before 2009. If you would like to join me in my quest to beat personal demons like procrastination and laziness, here's what you should do. Make a list like the one I have above with goals you know you can accomplish (going to the gym and developing a writing schedule are examples from my list) as well as goals that will take a great deal of work to complete (like finishing two and a half books this year). Once you have your list, give a copy to a friend and keep one for yourself, preferably pinning it somewhere where you will see it every day. When you finish an item, cross it off your list, and, at the end of the year, your friend can check to see how many of your goals you actually finished! And this is by no means limited to only two people. Get a whole group of people involved and you can all keep the others motivated! The more, the merrier! :D So, to all those making resolutions for the new year, good luck! Know that I'll be toiling toward the impossible right there beside you. ;) Yours truly. Sera
December 9th, 2007 It is a wonderful feeling to be done with school. For the first time in my life, I do not have to worry about homework or tests, studying or attendance. Although I don't think the reality of this freedom has truly sunk in yet, the possibility of my time only being split two ways instead of three is a marvelous thing! Really, what this change affords me is the chance to devote more time and mental energy to my writing. I have been forced to neglect my characters for far too long but, starting at the end of this week, I will have more of myself to give them. I'm excited to get back to work! And, on a completely unrelated topic, I am more anxious for Christmas this year than I have been in a long time. I'm getting clothes!! I know this doesn't sound that exciting to a lot of people, but you have to understand that about half of my wardrobe is made up of holdovers from middle and high school (I haven't grown much since eighth grade). I am utterly sick of all of my clothes, so I'm donating bags of things to Good Will and looking forward to revamping my closet with whatever my mom finds for me (when I have money, I'm going to hire her and my sister as my personal shoppers. Seriously.) Anyway, that is all for now. Until next time! Yours truly, Sera
November 22nd, 2007 Happy Thanksgiving to everyone in the U.S. celebrating this holiday! To those of you who aren't, Happy Thursday! ;) For you this holiday season (for, yes, it is the season of too many holidays), I can only wish that you find the time to relax, that life doesn't find a way to stress you out, and that you eat plenty of delicious food! In the meantime, check out this widget from Linkin Park: Enjoy your Thanksgiving and please, if you're travelling anywhere this weekend, drive safely. Yours truly, Sera
November 13th, 2007 I've had a couple of people ask me how my agent search is going, so here is the latest update: In October, I sent a query letter and the first ten pages of my book to agents. Since then, I have gotten a positive response from one who then asked to see the first hundred pages of the book. Right now, she is considering it on an exclusive basis (which means I can't and won't send it to anyone else until she makes her decision), but this doesn't mean I'll know any time soon. I could find out tomorrow or two months from now what her decision is. There's nothing like waiting... ;) Thank you so much to everyone who has been sending me their support! It means a lot to me to know that people besides my family are rooting for me to succeed in this business! I can't wait until I can pay back your perseverance somehow. The least I can do is promise to get this book published no matter what! :D So, thank you again! As soon as I have anything official to report, it will be all over every site I frequent! Yours truly, Sera
November 2nd, 2007 This is only a test. My first attempt to put this widget on the front page ended in a bout of frustration as the HTML messed with the formatting of my home page. I'm trying it out here to see if it does the same thing. Hopefully, it doesn't. Sera
October 19th, 2007 I stumbled across this quote today, something Isaac Asimov once said: I was once being interviewed by Barbara Walters in three segments, all at once, though they were to be run on three separate days. In between two of the segments, she asked me how many books I had written, and I told her. She said, "Don't you ever want to do anything but write?"
"No," I said.
"Don't you want to go hunting? Fishing? Dancing? Hiking?"
And I said, "No! No! No! and No!"
She said, "But what would you do if the doctor gave you only six months to live?"
I said, "Type faster."
In his life, Asimov penned well over 100 books and stories, some of which were the basis for the movie I, Robot starring Will Smith. (Awesome movie. Check it out if you haven't already seen it.) Yet, despite the fact that Asimov spent nearly his entire life writing, it was something he never tired of. That kind of passion is what makes life fulfilling. Not money or fame or success, but passion. Whether it be for a person, a hobby, a job, or anything else, having something in your life that you love that much is what every person is striving for (in my opinion). So once you figure out what it is your passionate about, don't let it go. Live every day as if it may be the last time you get to experience what you love and you'll have nothing to regret when it ends. Yours truly, Sera
October 4th, 2007 I have been sick this week and so haven't had the energy or concentration to write much. Times like this make me sad because I miss my characters. I get so used to hearing them in my head and following their stories that I miss it when I'm not working. But such is life. I'm hoping that I will be able to get some writing done this weekend. As for everything else, I am slowly closing in on my graduation from college and I can't say I will be sorry to kiss the hallowed halls of learning goodbye. I'm glad I have a degree and I probably wouldn't be where I am today if not for my experiences, but I need a break from school. I'll see how I like just working for a while (something I've never done before) and see what happens. I will still be writing, of course, but I shall no longer have school as a distraction. I'm looking forward to it. :) I wish I had something more exciting to report, but that is all for now. See you all again soon! Yours truly, Sera September 27th, 2007 This is the first day the website is open to the public and I find myself growing to like my plum-colored page. I've always been fond of purple. :) The FAQ has grown overnight as Lyn bombards me with countless (but ever intriguing) questions. Twenty-one at current count. If I think of something I would ask another author that Lyn hasn't covered yet, I'll add it to the list. Anyone, though, is welcome to send me questions. Whether or not I can answer them is another story. ;) So, besides the FAQ, the website will probably remain the same for a while. Hopefully the next big update will be an announcement of my successful search for a literary agent! Wish me luck! Yours truly, Sera
September 26th, 2007
Oh, the woes of the internet and cheap (meaning free) unreliable webhosting programs!
I had a wonderful conversation with a young girl named Lyn yesterday; she kept asking very good questions about writing. I asked her permission to use her questions on my site (which she graciously gave) and set about creating a FAQ page. However, when I tried to publish it to my site, something in the system I was using corrupted all four other pages. So, while I did end up with a wonderful FAQ page, the rest of my website was shot.
Thus, here I am, starting over! I’m far more limited in terms of what I can and cannot do design-wise but the system seems more reliable and I got a free domain name out of the deal! I thought that was a wonderful bonus.
So, have a look around and check out the latest addition to the site, the all new FAQ page. The questions are all writing centered, but a few of them concentrate more on my personal experiences with writing. Just in case you were interested. :) Yours truly,
Sera
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