Tamra Norton's Blog

Who said this?

She's starting to damage my calm.

Your guess doesn't count if you had to google!

damage my calm -- cool phrase, huh?

I could have used it A LOT when my kids were 2 and 4, or 4 and 6, or . . .


I love this photo of my mom:

What was the title of your manuscript when you sold it? Did you have any input on the new title?

It was called Fairy Lust and stayed that way until only 6 months prior to release. There was concern that "lust" might rub some people the wrong way, since the book is actually a sweet romance. They gave me a list of titles and I just decided Fairy Tale was the simplest and most fitting one. The others were kind of lame.

What place have you visited that you most want to return to?

Ah, Maui. ;)

Who is your favorite book character?

Um, the tree from The Giving Tree. Every time I read that book, I want to give her something back.

And a fourth question: Have you had the baby yet??

Visit Cyn's LJ  to keep updated on that:  cyn2write 

And visit her website here: cynbalog.com/

lj_volunteers
You might not know that most of the Support on LJ is provided by volunteers who are users just like you. And if you volunteered, you could be just like them. Check out this community to see how they keep LJ running and how you can help.

4_eyez
Josh Neufeld has a lot going on. His cartoons played a starring role in Earth 2100, the ABC special about climate change, and his new graphic novel, A.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge, comes out in August. And he still finds time to update his LJ!

montreal
Residents, visitors, French speakers, English speakers—anyone interested in Montreal is welcome here. Find out everything from where to buy a tart burner to how get around on public transit, but be sure to check the memories and tags before you post.

For about four months, I got these two actors mixed up:






Daughter says they don't look alike. I (miss engineering and) need more data.

Please vote:

Poll #1424808 Twins?
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All

Do these two actors look alike?

And the Winner Is . . .

The votes have been tallied, the results are in, and we have a winner (two, actually). Congratulations to the newly elected user representatives to the LJ Advisory Board: from lj_election_en, it's kylecassidy, and from lj_election_ru, it's nekbke! You can see the full breakdown of results for lj_election_en here and for lj_election_ru here. Thanks to everyone for your participation.

This Jenny Moss is me:






This Naked Lady one is not:





I write books for teens and tweens, and do not live in Oregon, nor do I appear naked in parades.

I know my website must be a big disappointment, but if you keep googling, you'll prob find what you're looking for. (Maybe.)

Books we read:

OCTAVIAN NOTHING by MT Anderson
THE ACTOR AND THE HOUSEWIFE by Shannon Hale
GRACELING by Kristin Cashore
THE THIEF by Megan Whalen Turner
QUEEN OF ATTOLIA by Megan Whalen Turner
ENDGAME by Samuel Beckett
MAGGIE'S DOOR by Patricia Reilly Giff
SKIN HUNGER by Kathleen Duey

We did take a break on Saturday night and attended a friend's birthday party. Other than that, we just read and ate and slept.

Observations (after reading OCTAVIAN, I felt there should be observations)

1. We read slower than we thought.
2. Blissful that Daughter liked my choice for her (THE THIEF) and went on to read the next book in the series and is reading the last book now
3. OCTAVIAN is brilliant, emotionally challenging, slyly unexpectedly funny, and I'm very glad I read it, and I will never read it again.
4. Shannon Hale's YA fiction is not the same as her adult - even the writing style is different.
5. I'm a fan of whatever Shannon Hale writes.


Random family photo for today: Jenny returning to college:

alittleawkward
Run-ins with exes, mistaking someone for pregnant when she's not, getting caught talking about someone as he enters the room—things haven't gotten any less awkward since the last time this community was in the Spotlight.

writergrl
In RL she goes by Sarah Dessen, but on LJ this best-selling author is known as writergrl. Her latest book, Along for the Ride, just hit #1 on the New York Times Best Sellers List, and you can find all the details on her journal.

team_unemployed
This is one team you probably don't want to be picked for, but once you've been tapped, it's nice to know you have teammates to help you out. Share your job search strategies, favorite free-time fillers, and more at this hangout for the unemployed.