July Dance Crush of the Month

Whoops, I went 48 Hours Dark before I could post my July Book Music Dance crush of the month: Marko Germar from So You Think You Can Dance.  By far Marko is the sexiest of my crushes.

For those who don't follow SYTYCD, here's why Marko makes me weak in the knees:

• When the store he worked in was held up, he stood up to the gunman.  He was shot in the shoulder and the bullet is STILL there.  The guy still dances like a master.
• He's Filipino from Guam.  My previous crushes should've made clear I'm all over the Asian-Spanish thing.
• While his multi-genre dancing is RIDICULOUS, I didn't develop my lust until this tango:

Something about that open-collared shirt and the dominance.  Watch just the first 10 seconds of this dance - the little flick of the sleeve before he stalks Melanie.


Melanie  Marko - Tango by choco-intense

***
Congrats to everyone who finished their first 48 Hour Dark Experiment!  You can still sign up HERE for the marathon.  I'm beginning my second session as soon as this posts.

48 Hour Dark Experiment Marathon: July 31st-August 8

It's what you've been asking for: the third run of the 48 Hour Dark Experiment, my internet-quitting boot camp.  That's 2 full days unplugged and procrastination-free.  Just in time to prep for SCBWI.

This time - marathon style. 

The rules again:

• Internet usage while at work FOR WORK PURPOSES ONLY doesn't count.  Allot time for that.  I will give myself a total of 30 minutes each day to be divided into 3 increments.
• If email is vital to your work as a writer, allot the necessary time.  For instance, I owe some pages to a critique partner.  It should take me only 3 minutes to draft up a critique email and send it.
• NO blogging, reading other blogs, surfing the internet, twittering, facebooking, stumbling upon, digging, Google+ing, gchatting, yahoo talking, AIMing, iChatting, liking, updating books on Goodreads, Grouponing, crying, whining, eating too much ice cream.  (Because that's bad for you.)  

Here's how the marathon is going to work:

• From July 31st-August 8th you will pick ANY 48-hour period to go dark.  
• Pick as many 48-hour periods as you like.  I recommend one if this is your first time.  As the creator, I will try to do one after another, with maybe a few hours of internet fast breaking in between.  In fact I might start early.
• Sign up below with Mr. Linky.
• Whenever you're not dark during that week, feel free to visit the blogs below and leave encouraging messages.  Or stalk them and slap them (virtually) if you catch them online.

You don't have to follow me or spread the word..  Do this because you have a problem, a problem like mine, which is watching too much time go to Mother Internet.  This is the third time I've done this and I'm extremely productive when I go dark.  I also come back with better discipline.

YES there is a prize.

I'd like to interview and feature the blogger who logs the most 48-hour dark periods during this marathon.  This is because I and the addict public would like to know how you did this without dying.

It's time to kick the habit, addicts.  The strong will survive. 

Sign up will remain open the whole marathon - join anytime!

Summer 2011 Diversity Your Reading Challenge

glamorous Cindy and me at YA In Bloom last month

Diversity in YA, run by Cindy Pon and Malinda Lo, is holding a summer reading challenge with AMAZING book prizes! 

There's a kick-off giveaway, just for...um, kicks.  (Man my brain function's really taken a downhill turn since the post-Harry Potter mental illness.)

And an essay contest at the end for a huge motherload of books.

Go check it out.  Go now. 

(psst - recognize the other author behind us in the photo?)

Pitch Contest with Victoria Marini

Chanelle at Beyond Words is hosting a pitch contest judged by her agent Victoria Marini.  Another great thing about Chanelle's blog is that she lists giveaways in her sidebar for easy entering.  Good luck!

Afterglow Book Reviews: BUMPED

I'm a book reviewer!  A while back I joined Afterglow, the site for those of us who don't want to bask alone in the sweaty light of after-book love.  My first glow is of, fittingly, Bumped by Megan McCafferty, the first book I read in ONE NIGHT and I review it as a writer as much as a consumer.

Slytherin in the House

Slytherin, Bellatrix (me), Sirius (Krispy), Gryffindor (Ani), Slytherin Quidditch

Krispy and I finally met Ani at last week's Harry Potter midnight showing, where we had a strong Slytherin representation.

Before you all go in an uproar, I sorted into Gryffindor.  BUT...the Death Eaters have cooler costumes.

yes this is a nice Muggle restaurant, I'm still gonna Cruciatus you

And then all 3 of us bloggers got sick after the showing.  Whoever hexed us, I will hunt you down with my Bellatrix brand of crazy.

Teaser Tuesdays: Prom

Teaser Tuesday is hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading.

"You're pregnant," I said.
"Ha," she said. "I don't know what kind of purse to buy for prom."

p. 13
Prom
by Laurie Halse Anderson

*** In other news, I'm sick and bored at home! 

Farewell, Potter; Hello, BlogHer

with the Dark Lord

Midnight showing.  I was Lestrange.  Photos to come...

***

I'm the featured blogger on BlogHer's Life front page!  YAY!

YAtopia Pitch Contest

YAtopia is having a 3-line pitch contest with Vickie Motter!  This is perfect for those who are squeamish about posting work willy-nilly over the webz. 

Yeah, with a z.

Sorry, I've been working with teenagers all day, then I went to Hot Topic to hunt for Harry Potter-wear for the premiere tomorrow night.

And I almost bought a leather-waisted jumpsuit at Bebe.

I need to just sit down quietly with a book .

Once Upon a Readathon/48 Hour Dark Experiment Update

I finished , so I only completed half my goal for the read-a-thon, though I did make strong headway into .  And got in a good hour of reading at the doctor's office (I hate you HMO's.)

The Dark Experiment was really necessary, despite a freak-out on the second night when I got stressed about work and compulsively surfed for like 4 hours.  I got no sleep, but found out that Vin Diesel is NOT gay, and IS a dad.  (Take that, boyfriend, for trying to ruin my raging crush on deep-voiced, beefy men.)

Going dark was like a reset - I learned to curb unnecessary email checking and blog reading.  I'll host another internet fast in a few weeks so we can all join in!

***
Krispy, Ani and I are going to the Harry Potter premiere tomorrow night!!!  Photos and probably videos will go up.

Snitches Be Crazy: Harry Potter Exhibit Opening

making friends in line

Krispy, Karyn and I waited over 2 hours in line to get got our cosplay on at Gallery Nucleus's Harry Potter exhibit opening.

We played the Bertie Botts WORST GAME EVER - each bowl had identical jelly beans that were either, for example, Peach...or VOMIT.

I ate:

• canned dog food
• toothpaste
• boogers
• centipede

but was lucky enough to miss:

• rotten egg
• skunk spray

next to a Hermione portrait w/ Luna Lovegood

the Lovegoods, Cho Chang and, um, me

(wait, aren't I supposed to be on a 48 Hour Dark Experiment? Yes I am; I pre-blogged this.)

Once Upon a Read-a-Thon and 48 Hour Dark Experiment

In an effort to curb my internet usage during Camp NaNoWriMo, I'm participating in

1.  this read-a-thon, hosted by Lori at Pure Imagination, Candace at Candace's Book Blog, and Reading Angel
2. a second run of the 48 Hour Dark Experiment, my successful internet ban.  This one will overlap on Monday and Tuesday.

I'm hoping to finish at least 2 of the books on my currently reading list (look to the left).

I'll come back next Wednesday with an update of how insane I this went.

Anyone want to play along?  (If you miss this one, I'll be hosting a more official 48 Hour Dark Experiment in the future.)

prettyGeeky Photoshoot for Gemco Jewelry

I feel like a Greek goddess from my novel

In April I did a photoshoot for Gemco Jewelry, an awesome family-owned retailer here in SoCal.

We found photographers prettyGeeky through the power of the internet - fellow writer Lori's sister is one half of this down-to-earth photography duo.

prettyGeeky scouted amazing locales:

• a helipad on the rooftop of a luxury downtown L.A. apartment, where we were shut down by security
• a secluded cove on an Orange County beach that slowly flooded us out of our location

For more photos, including a behind-the-scenes breakdown, check out "G-L-A-M-O-R-O-U-S", prettyGeeky's blog post documenting our shoot.

50 degrees and high winds, but so worth it

Camp NaNaNoWriMo

It's finally here!  Camp NaNoWriMo is the summer version of our yearly rough draft-fest.

July is the beta month (intrepid inaugural campers like me will be reporting bugs - not the Edward Cullen but the interwebz-ruining kind).

August will be fully functional.

You can follow my progress at: YellowTypingFiend, but I'll probably take 2 months to hit 50K.  Stupid computer strain.

Or send a care package (the Camp NaNoWriMo gear benefits the Office of Letters and Light, which runs NaNoWriMo and ScriptFrenzy.)

Anyone going to camp with me?  If there's anyone in SoCal who wants a writing buddy, I'm happy to organize a coffeeshop/Panera Bread gathering.

Boba 4 Life!

Accent vlog with Krispy concludes with read-alouds from Imaginary Girls and White Cat - plus a lesson in what to call your grandparents in Taiwan Mandarin.  Watch for the spontaneous hair change!



Catch Part 1 here