| Road Trippin'... |
[Jun. 25th, 2007|07:07 am] |
Hey all!
I've been having a blast out on the road reporting for one of the Conde Nast mags and came home to such a lovely reception by various bloggy reviewers- thank you so much for your kind words! So has been a crazy month, this whole freelance journalist gig is hardcore. But I'm now parking myself on my back balcony to finish my next YA, watch the various mamas and cubs wandering through (cute but yikes- TL where are you when I need you!), and conducting cool bloggy thing interviews with some of the lovely ladies of marine science (and posting the occasional bit of writerly nonsense).
Thanks to the ol' email addy being printed on the book, I've been getting the most amazing letters from readers and thought they might like to hear about the real deal of working in the field straight from the horse's, or in this case, shark's mouth. So next week's guest will be Toby Daly-Engel, shark biologist and all around cool girl. Anyone with questions for Toby can shoot them to aimee ferris at gmail dot com (removing spaces, etc.)
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| Today...is a Cool Day... |
[May. 10th, 2007|02:18 pm] |
I feel kind of like I did the day this was taken.
Girl Overboard is officially available!
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| Whoa... I know that boat... |
[Apr. 24th, 2007|10:17 am] |
I haven't heard any more about this story since it first ran.
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=3059539
It caught my eye because, well, any missing boat crew stories generally catch my eye. But then I was shocked to recognize the boat as one I'd worked on when I lived in Airlie Beach in Oz. So many bizarre stories on the sea. I've worked with crew from the boat that movie "Deep Blue" was based on and worked with an amazing guy down in Costa Rica who was lost at sea for 110 days. I've also done regattas with survivors who made it through a bad New Zealand to Samoa regatta where not all the boats were so lucky. Here's to hoping these guys are found safe on some tiny remote island and return in good health to enjoy the many VB's (beers) bought for them in exchange for telling their story.
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| Pinkwater Blurbed Me Awake From My Looong Nap... |
[Mar. 7th, 2007|09:15 am] |
Not that I'm complaining, in fact this is beyond cool. I just got forwarded an email from my pub about an unrequested blurb that just came in. Unfortunately, a touch too late to make it onto the cover, but I love his work so very psyched all the same. So since this might be the only place it is seen - check it out!
"Never having read one before, I had no idea that any girl-type YA novels were this well written. I liked it! Learned stuff! Good book!" Daniel Pinkwater
So I know, I know- been a way long time since I've shown my bloggy head round these parts. ( Read more... ) |
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| What a long strange trip it's been... |
[Oct. 19th, 2006|10:41 am] |
but I've arrived in my new home in the Catskills in NY! Things have been a bit hectic, to put it mildly, but what's a last-minute-two-weeks'-notice move from one country to the next. Piece of cake, hehe. And I really dug driving that monstrous seventeen foot Uhaul, brought me back to the good old days of hauling a boat around behind my truck. Though they really ought to put better signage at the border.
I drove up and there were two big signs. "CARS," "TRUCKS." I'm sitting in this hulk of a thing going, "hmmm." ( Read more... ) |
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| Yay! Cover! |
[Sep. 17th, 2006|08:28 pm] |
I love it! Yay for awesome artists (a Japanese artist named Yuko) and design folks (including Jeanine Henderson and I'm not sure who else had a hand)! I love it, I love it! Oh, I think I said that...
(Did I mention I love it?)
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| School Dazed... |
[Aug. 22nd, 2006|02:53 pm] |
Well, today is the first day of school. Back at it. I'm actually very excited, after an extremely intense past three years of overloads of solid Philosophy classes, I was told by my adviser that I needed several general public awareness sort of classes to fulfill my degree requirements.
( Read more... ) |
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| Katimavi-huh? |
[Aug. 10th, 2006|08:45 pm] |
You learn something every day. Today I was chatting with the editor of a soon-to-be-published local literary mag to showcase the writing of high school kids in the area. He's letting my book campee workshoppers take their own shot at submitting with the older highschoolers. It's all run through a community resource center and if nothing else, should be a good learning experience.
So after getting that squared away, we began talking unis. He was telling me he is essentially taking a gap year to participate in the Katimavik program.
What is this Katimavik I speak of? So cool! They send kids from 17-21 to live for three months at a time in three different regions of Canada to work on various volunteer programs (trail building, tree planting, meals on wheels sort of things). So they get to travel and help people in that region and looks like from their website, might even earn some college credit or at least pump up their resume/college apps. Looks like fun! http://www.katimavik.org/ I think I would have dug this sort of thing. Amazing what is out there.
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| Jurassic Apartment! |
[Aug. 8th, 2006|07:37 am] |
This (see above pic) is rather startling to see float by your window before you even have your coffee. A well timed blast of fire in its belly as it passed, presumably so that the three-story-high-thing went up and over my apartment and not through, didn't add to the whole soothing wake up call experience.
Also not helping was the fact that I was up until three in the morning adding final touches to the ms before turned it back over by this morning. I finished the edits Friday, but knowing it might be the last time I get my hands on it for any content sort of changes, I couldn't resist going back in last night and adding a munching on sugar cane line here, a unique-as-fingerprint pink blotch that leatherbacks have on their head comment there.
But now it's off. Time to grab some coffee and watch the Godzilla-like back view of T-rex terrorize the city. Maybe Mothra will fly by next...
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| It this the beginning of the end? |
[Aug. 6th, 2006|05:05 pm] |
I admit it. I was self-googling. But only to see if googling - Aimee Ferris - pulled up this blog or not. And guess what popped up? The first mention of my name on the Publishers Weekly website. Giggle, giggle. It was just the briefest of mentions in the PW Spring Sneak Preview section, but it is the first time I've seen outside proof that I really will have a book out in less than a year! Teeheehee.
What fun! I am sure I'll be looking back at this entry and laughing at my dorkiness in the future, but for now I think I'll just enjoy the little thrill of the moment. This most definitely calls for chocolate. As do most occasions. Or, um, Saturdays.
Hmmm...I hope I don't turn into one of those obsessive self-googlers now...
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| Opening Act... |
[Aug. 6th, 2006|09:15 am] |
How very exciting! I was just asked to give a short presentation this Fall as a sort of opening act for ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) arthurslade. How fantastic! Art's got some great titles out there, including "Dust", which won the Governor General's Literary Award for Children's Lit. He's got a cool website - http://www.arthurslade.com/ and seems like a great guy. I'm really looking forward to meeting him.
Oddly enough, the Book Camp falls on the birthday of someone in my immediate family...and so does this talk...hmmm, curiouser and curiouser. Better keep December 20th open. Shame my mom didn't have more kids...
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| Full of Hot Air... |
[Aug. 5th, 2006|03:40 pm] |
Tonight is the city's opening of the annual hot air balloon festival. If you've never seen a field of balloons glowing in the night, you gotta find a festival and check it out! Very cool.
I have a bit of a history with hot air balloons. One of my most incredibly embarrassing stories of all time (saying much as the field to choose from is surprisingly- or not surprising at all if you know me- wide) involves a hot air balloon...but it wasn't exactly an experience I want to relive in a public forum...even if it may or may not have accidentally been filmed as part of a PBS documentary. Actually, as I'm sitting here, I can think of another half dozen embarrassing hot air balloon stories involving others, so maybe it IS something about the balloons themselves. And not me at all. Really.
In any case, tonight I'll just be observing. But it reminds me of days on a chase crew and the last time I went up in one of those puppies- http://www.hotair.com.au/scenic-lx60-helipd.html An amazing trip I was invited on by one of my all time favorite people, Link, a bud and occasional roommate when I lived in Oz. I don't normally write my characters based on anyone besides the voices in my head, but it just happened weirdly in this book that three different real people came to mind while I was writing it. I'm curious if others find their characters evolving from specific real people in their lives or just what flows in via the muse or open window or what have you...
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| A Scissors, a Scissors, My Kingdom for a Scissors... |
[Aug. 3rd, 2006|10:50 am] |
I've read occasional editor/agent blogs or conference talk transcripts where they comment on little things that turn them off. One that seemed to pop up a lot was the choice of envelopes and I confess I've always thought, man, could you be any pickier?
But these freakin' envelopes from Penguin...we're talking total Fort Knox time! There is no way to open the suckers without a pair of scissors. I misplaced mine due to a recent gift wrapping frenzy and you can rip at the white bubble plastic all day long but it just doesn't give. I know, it's a good guarantee that those revision notes don't wash away when it is dropped in a puddle or something, but geeez.
So naturally, I reach for the handy dandy steak knife, *note- not called an annoying-plastic-envelope-opener, and whooshed open my envelope...and my right index finger. Um, ow. And daaang. I'm a glorified "hunt and peck" girl and I've been reduced to just "hunt".
It's all good. After all, I do have until TOMORROW to get these back in. Heh. With a heat index of 102 today, at least now I can say in all honesty that blood, sweat, AND tears went into this fershlugginer ms...
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| Swedish Fish...Made in Canada... |
[Aug. 2nd, 2006|02:10 pm] |
I don't know why that makes me giggle. But it does.
I'm doing a little workshop with some ten to twelve-year-olds for the city's fantabulous book camp. I'm so excited to meet the kids! (and the amazing Maggie L. Wood faerie_writer who is helping to organize the camp)
But just in case we hit a lull in the Q & A's...well...let's just say, I am not opposed to bribery by sugar for participation. Since I am already adept (due to my former profession) at tossing fish and it goes with the Caribbean semester-at-sea book thing, I consulted with cynthialord as to where to find individually wrapped little Swedish Fish. In my research, I've found that the only company that makes authentic Swedish Fish...is now in Canada. I guess when they moved countries "Canada Fish" didn't have quite the same ring to it. Luckily, Cindy also reminded me that Swedish Fish and braces don't make a good combo.
Back to edits...
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| Siwezi kusema Kiswahili...(I Can't Speak Swahili) |
[Aug. 1st, 2006|09:59 am] |
But my friend of a friend, Michuki Mwangi, in Kenya does! Isn't it great when you have a too-cute-for-words couple in your book who whisper sweet nothings to each other in Swahili and when you are in disagreement about the proper use of a phrase you can just drop an email to Kenya and get the lowdown?
If you were wondering (as I'm sure it was keeping you up at night, heh) from a native speaker - "nina furaha" would be more a contented happy, while "nime furahi" might be a more excited happy...
Ahhh, Kenya. I was on my way there to work on a boat that would stay out at sea diving Pemba http://www.divingpemba.com/thediving.html, an island group off the coast of Tanzania, only popping in once every week to refuel and drop off/pick up tourists. But I made the mistake of stopping en route to sell all my stuff I left behind in the Caribbean Bay Islands. Some places just suck you in and you just can't manage to leave. But Pemba's on my list...someday.
Where's your someday spot?
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| The Beginning... |
[Jul. 31st, 2006|06:00 pm] |
"Begin at the beginning," the king said, "and then go on till you come to the end, then stop." — Lewis Carroll - Alice in Wonderland (I'm partial to Carroll, and not only because my first part in a play was that of the Queen of Hearts. I did do a mighty fine, "OFF WITH YOUR HEAD!"...for a nine-year-old...)
Or, if that doesn't float your boat you could always go with -
"Let's start at the very beginning, a very good place to start" — Julie Andrews - The Sound of Music (You're either humming or imagining Debra Messing right now, aren't you.)
In any case, since I am starting this blog exactly eight months after I got news that my first book would become a reality, I thought I'd copy a quick quote from an email of mine to a writing bud that day -
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Subject: Is good news supposed to make you want to throw up?
OMG! OMG! OMG! I got news. Is it a yes? It's not a no! I got an email with - spot on tone for this project- dynamic characters- interesting setting and structure- and a "We all feel that it has great potential!" (I love that exclamation point, I must admit). And I got about five pages of revision notes and a deadline so we can move forward...in eight days. Excuse me. I have to go throw up right now.
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Never before in history had one exclamation point been so overanalyzed. Well, it WAS a yes and I made it past that eight days. (Will refrain from commenting on whether any puking actually did take place.) And went on through many more "eight days" (and many more revision notes) and here I am, looking at this Thursday as the day all final touches should be made on this puppy.
Better get back to tweaking!
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