Happy Anniversary!

I've just realised that yesterday was my blog's 5th anniversary. Wow! Time flies, doesn't it? Back in May 2005 when I started blogging, I was working on CASTLE OF THE WOLF and poor Cissy had been stuck on a steamship on the Rhine for weeks on end, poor girl:

As to my writing life, I'm happily (or not so happily) working on my next novel, The-Book-after-the-First-Publication, which, people keep telling me, is the most difficult book to write. (So this certainly gives me something else to worry about!) The story is again a historical romance, set in 1827 (I needed steamships on the Rhine, and there weren't any before 1827). Cissy, my poor heroine, got stuck on that steamship on the Rhine for weeks on end because her author was having panic attacks and suffering from severe bouts of insecurity and self-doubt. In the end, I decided to go for the "patchwork approach" and depart from the linear way of writing. So, while she still hasn't reached that deuced castle in the Black Forest yet, she has at least had some fun in the bedroom! Yeah! *G*

I more or less sold this book (and BEWITCHED) during RWA 2006 when my editor walked up to my table during the big Literacy for Life signing and asked, "Have you talked to your agent?" -- "No." (Cautiously.) "Why?" -- "I made an offer for the books." For the rest of the conversation I was babbling nonsense and tried very much not to hyperventilate. Then Chris walked on and I sat down, still trying not to hyperventilate. My neighbour leaned toward me and whispered, "I know, he's really cute, isn't he?" *g* I think that was the point where I started to hyperventilate, after all. "That's not it!" I shouted. "I've just sold TWO MORE NOVELS!!!!!!"

One of the first persons I told the news was Kathleen Givens. She was such a dear friend, and I still miss her very much.

The Bunny Who Wanted to Be a Mouse

When you write a novel, strange things happen sometimes. Like, you're planning this fantabulous gothic romance and then - bang! - in walks this female character with sturdy boots and proceeds to stomp all the gothicness to dust. (That's rather disconcerting, let me tell you.)

Sometimes characters talk to you. (If they actually call you, like, on the phone, you might want to consult a doctor, though. Just saying.)

Sometimes characters insist on being somebody else.

Did you know that exactly the same thing can happen when you do embroidery?

No?

You want proof?

Then let's have a look at a little bunny from that super-cute Japanese crafting magazine I got a few days ago:

This little bunny:

Do you see the cute little ears? And the cute little bunny tail? And now, may I draw your attention to this little bunny:

*cough*

Well, as you can plainly see, the little bunny didn't want to be a bunny. It wanted to be a mouse. I made two attempts to rectify the situation, but it still looked like a mouse. So I finally decided to go with the flow and let the bunny be a mouse.

The bunny was happy.

I was happy.

And I hope the recipient of this little bag will also be very happy.

Here's the inside. I lined the bag with a very smooth, satiny cotton:

Do you remember the fabric? I also used it for my very first sewing project last year. :)

Bloggers' Quilt Festival Spring 2010: My Very First Quilt

Once again Amy from Amy's Creative Side is hosting a Bloggers' Quilt Festival. And this time, I even have a quilt I can enter (woohoo!). Granted, it's not the craftiest of quilts and the quilting is a bit of a laugh (it's of the let's-see-whether-we-can-feed-this-through-the-sewing-machine-oh-look-I-can-quilt-a-straight-line! variety), BUT it was sewn with much love (and that is what counts, isn't it?).

I sewed "Rebecca's Quilt" for the baby daughter of a very good friend of mine. Rebecca loves animals and so the fabrics of Moda's "Love U" line were perfect for her quilt. This is the front:

And the back:

And the cute label that was included in the Love U ABC panel:

This was the very first quilt I finished (so far, it's also the only quilt I've ever finished - I do hope I'll have some more time for sewing later this year) (in autumn, perhaps), and sewing process was full of "yay, I can do this!" discoveries. As can be expected, there were also a number of ooops moments as when I sewed a flower-head pin into the quilt ....


(See how neatly the flowerhead has been attached to the back of the quilt?)


... or when I realised after the quilting was done why the back and the batting should always be a bit larger than the front.

Ooops, indeed. But hey, all you need to do in such a case is to adjust the size of the binding. ;)

Despite all the quilt's minor (or major, depending on your POV) flaws, I am very happy with the finished result. And more importantly, Rebecca is, too.

And now please head over to Amy's and have a look at all the other wonderful entries!

More Mean People :)

After I turned into a crafting-loving person, it was only a matter of time until I would stumble across Japanese craft books. They're so mean, the Japanese. Really, really mean. They produce craft books filled with such cuteness it hurtz. Huuuuuuuurtz!

You don't believe me?

Then have a look at the following pictures. This is an embroidery magazine called Stitch Idées:

I ordered vol. 11 a few weeks ago on ebay and it arrived yesterday. As if the projects depicted on the cover weren't already cute enough, these are the kind of projects you can find inside:


Embroidered bunny stamps!!!!

After this terrible cuteness-attack, I was forced to order the following today:


Fairy tales! Of course I have to have an embroidery book featuring fairy-tale projects! I'm a folk lit scholar, after all!

A peek at the inside cuteness:


And here is an edition filled with spring projects:



And then there's the stylish birdie issue:



So now, I only need a bit of time. :)

Mean Authors

Some authors are incredibly mean. Really, really, really mean.

Take Lisa Kleypas. Boy, is she mean! Not only did she distract me from reading those medieval romances (btw, did you know that when you are a royal baby in disguise, you glow in the dark? Really! That's what I learnt from reading medieval romances this week! *g*) by producing books like this:

No, she then also made me buy those:

And if that weren't enough, I was also forced to buy all the Lisa Kleypas books which I have already read in digital format as dead-tree books. Just because they're so good. If that isn't mean, I don't know what is. :)

Still There, Still Busy

I'm a bad, bad blogger these days. That's because I'm trying to be a good, good teacher and visiting professor: we're in the middle of our summer term here in Mainz and I'm currently preparing a course for the summer school at York University in Toronto, where I'll be teaching "The Rise of the Novel" from 21 June to 30 July this year. 4 days a week, 3 hours a day. That's 72 hours all in all. *gulp* This will be the most intense course I've ever taught (she said in slightly worried tones).

In addition, I also have to prepare my presentation for the IASPR conference in Brussels as well as a presentation as part of my application for an assistant professorship (no tenure track, alas) at Mainz University.

What's more, last week I had two moles cut out of my arm and leg, and next week my dentist will be busy filling two holes in my teeth.

In other words, these days there's little chance that I'll ever get bored. But I guess being busy is better than having fallen off the edges of the earth. :)