I'm giving away a signed copy of Bree Despain's THE DARK DIVINE today! All you need to do is comment, and answer a question. Find out at the bottom.
1. WIFYR Conference
One of the best writing conferences I've ever been to was the Writing and Illustrating for Young Readers down at BYU.
This year, the conference will be held June 14-18, but the location has changed (it's in Sandy) and registration is now up. Click here to register.
The lineup of faculty is illustrious, including BFF Emily Wing Smith teaching the beginning/intermediate writing class.
If you are writing a novel, or thinking about writing one, I would recommend her class with all my heart. (I happen to know many of the classes are filling up fast, and seating for the workshops is limited.)
I also know of several people who have found their agents and publishers at the conference.
2. Rafa and Ted: They're like twins
The Australian Open started this week, and y'all know what that means...
Tis the season for this:
...this too:
(Rafa, laughing hysterically)
But last week I found out about one of the downsides to blogging about Rafa too much. (There aren't that many downsides, so I was surprised I found even one).
Bree Despain and I were trying to find a picture of our agent "Ted" and so we put his full name in quotes and then Google-Imaged him. And up popped this:
(Rafa. Not Agent Ted.)
Updated: Real pic of Ted
I thought, "That's weird. When I type in my agent's name, I get my absolute favorite tennis player in the world and my (not so) secret crush." What are the chances?
And I suddenly had this sinking feeling, could this be something I caused? Have I somehow, in the far reaches of the interweb universe, connected the two? Talk about unprofessional behavior on my part.
Then I looked at the web site that popped up with the picture. It was Bree Despain's. Ha ha. Totally not my fault. Bree Despain has linked Rafa to agent Ted.
Best. Day. Ever.
And personally, I think both Rafa and Agent Ted would be honored.
3. So, to enter the contest:
Leave a comment and tell me anything embarrassing or inappropriate you've done over the internet. Comments that had you up at night? Pictures meant for someone's eyes only? Sent your agent a tiny microscopic version of your manuscript?
If you are one of the lucky few who has done nothing embarrassing on the internet, you can leave a comment about Rafa.
As long as the comment is not: "Rafa is a poser", because my brother in-law said that yesterday at lunch. And he hasn't been seen since.
hmmm... Rafa on the cover of a fall fashion edition of New York magazine. I had no idea that green towels were the "in" thing for fall 2008! No wonder my thin argyle sweaters weren't grabbing the chick attention that I thought they would. Now I see that I was so "out" of fashion...
ReplyDeleteI don't have any embarrassing web moments that I can share except for my rambling posts to your blog, of course.
how about...
ReplyDeleteRafa just doesn't do it for me.
(sorry)
but think of it like this...
that means LESS competition for YOU! :O)
p.s. i NEVER do embarrassing things...ever.
ReplyDelete(cough cough)
*does this enter me twice? LOL
Kent- what you don't realize in the picture is that the green towel is connected to a flesh-colored shirt, complete with pec implants and just a smattering of fake chest hair.
ReplyDeleteI have one of those shirts, if you want me to send it to you.
Dorien- Rafa doesn't do it for you? I'm going to have to talk Smokey into keeping your name in the drawing. Because I have first dibs on Rafa, and Smokey has secondsies.
I never do embarrassing things either, especially when I am with The SIX. And I plan to keep up this perfect record even when we are in Vegas.
ReplyDeleteValynne- Vegas is the place for embarrassing moments, isn't it? We'll fit right in.
ReplyDeleteHow about sending someone a message that was was for someone else?
ReplyDeleteThat happens to me more times than you can imagine, brr.
My most embarrassing moment was not including Battlestar Galactica on my list of best scifi shoes. Doh! I will never live that down. I will also never live it down that I forgot to include the tv show 'Alf' on that list as well. I am such an idiot.
ReplyDeleteOh, and shocking...a post with pics of Rafa. I think your blog has more pictures of him than his own blog.
I have a great one. I'd been on Twitter a few months, and random people were adding me as friends, so I got used to having no idea who most of them were and not thinking about it much. Well, I saw this tweet from some guy in Utah condemning people to hell for being in favor of "socialist," "traitorous" health care reform. In class the next night I pointed it out to my students and laughed about how being overly passionate in your writing can make you sound ridiculous.
ReplyDeleteUm, it turned out the tweeter was the FATHER of one of my students.
I immediately apologized to the student and got on Twitter and apologized to her father. Luckily, they laughed about it.
Liyana- I think they should have a button for when you click send, it asks, "Are you sure you're sending this to the right person? We wouldn't want any more embarrassing mishaps, right?"
ReplyDeleteI need one of those.
Sam- What are sci-fi shoes? And where can I get me some?
My blog only has more pics than Rafa's because Rafa is a humble man.
Nikki- That is so so funny. Stuff like that has happened to me more often than I care to admit.
ReplyDeleteeven when I'm in a foreign country, and I'm telling a story about someone from my hometown, chances are that someone is there.
Oh man, bad internet moment for me #879. But in my defense, there are many countries that spell 'shows', with an 'oes'...thus, 'shoes.' Don't bother researching which countries do that, it is a known fact.
ReplyDeleteBrodi, thanks for the shirt offer, but I figure that Sam would give you quite a fight if you tried to take it off him. (hmmm... maybe that wasn't Rafa at all. Maybe it was just Sam in the stylish Rafa skin shirt...)
ReplyDeleteHmm, embarassing thing I've done on the internetz...I try to be good. and I've probably blocked out the worst of the worst. But I did used to send all those forwards to everyone I knew. Betcherglad I don't now!
ReplyDeleteI haven't really done anything embarrassing on the internet...I'm pretty guarded. Racking my brain here...oh, I know. I misspelled something in a comment one time. Truthfully, I find that incredibly embarrassing. I always hope that it doesn't come up in a search anywhere and give anyone the wrong impression of my intelligence.
ReplyDeletewhatinabox at gmail dot com
Wow, tough one. I could talk about the notorious "Reply All" or subconciously addressing an email making fun of someone to that person instead of the person you meant to send it it of the comments about me trying to lead the faithful away from the church with my blog and opinions.
ReplyDeleteBut, I will say I blogged a cute picture of my kids in their swimming suits washing our car in the front yard and labeled it "Bikini Carwash". For future reference, doing so will cause you to get a ton of hits from perverted people all over the world :)
I am officially registered for Emily's class...better warn her, LOL!
Oh my hell...I can't wait for the writing conference. Bree said such great things about it, but I didn't even know it existed until nearly a month ago. :)
ReplyDeleteI've had way too many embarrassing moments to count in my life, just none are coming to mind concerning the internet. Constantly getting my foot stuck in my mouth is a every day occurrence but I just haven't had one on the computer. Sorry.
ReplyDeleteDave, on the other hand, every time he opens his mouth he is questioning something from Rafa to kids salsa. I think Dad was laughing so hard that he was crying. Way fun lunch. Need to do it again.
I can't think of an embarrassing Internet moment... Ah, yes I can. So, when HP7 came out, I saw Daniel Radcliffe on the cover of Details magazine. I wanted to show the picture to a friend because he looks just like Elijah Wood in it.
ReplyDeleteI googled Daniel Radcliffe Details. I recommend not doing that. Let's just say because of his role in Equus, I saw a little more of Daniel Radcliffe than I wanted to. 8O
PS - The picture of Rafa on the cover of New York magazine = hubba hubba.
Okay, first of all, I think you should update this post with a picture of the real Agent Ted so people can see the comparison. It's shocking, really.
ReplyDeleteSecondly, I would like to point out that the blog post of mine that inadvertently linked Rafa and Agent Ted just happened to be a post in which I was discussing YOUR obsession with Rafa.
So there, you are still responsible. :P
Thirdly, I don't think I've ever laughed so hard in a public place as I did when we discovered that picture. Especially since I thought the green towel was a boa constrictor when I first saw the pic. I guess I need glasses.
Well, once I thought someone had written a bad comment about me, and I retaliated. Then I realized they were quoting something, and it had nothing to do with me.
ReplyDeleteTravis
spongyman1026@yahoo.com
Alysa- Thank you for not forwarding anymore. Now if you could just tell the people in my contact list to do the same...
ReplyDeleteInabox- I always make fun when people use "your" instead of "you're", and then I did a blog post where I typed the wrong one in the title. So embarrassing!
Cam- Good for you! I think you'll love the conference. As for the emails, have you meant to forward something little, and you accidentally forward the entire chain? Bad.
Melissa- I hope you sign up soon! It really is a good conference, nationally recognized, big names.
Erin- That was hilarious. I'm going to blog about it.
And I can think of an embarrassing moment for you: remember That Spring Morning? Or Rubbing that girl's belly? The one who was not pregnant?
Happy to oblige. Please don't kill me.
Jenni- you're entered twice. Embarrassing moment, and complimenting Rafa!
I once was looking for pics of guys for a book trailer. I googled "hot latino boys". Also, not a good idea.
Bree- don't try to shift the blame! We all know how much you lurrvvve Rafa, long time.
Inked Books- Ha ha! Hope you were forgiven.
Hmmm... can't think of anything inappropriate on the internet.... and I have basically no opinion of Rafa. Hmm...
ReplyDeleteI am apparently a pretty boring person.
My bathroom mirror commited suicide a couple hours ago, though. Maybe it did something inappropriate on the internet involving Rafa....
It would make a good story, right?
Oh shoot, didn't hit the "email follow-up comments" button.
ReplyDeleteUmm... I'm pretty sure that my entire life is one giant embarrassing moment, but oddly, I can't think of one specifically from the internet. I am the queen of forgetting to attach files, but that's not embarrassing, it's just because I have the attention span of a goldfish.
ReplyDeleteBut Rafa is indeed delicious... suddenly tennis seems much more rippled and manly! :)
You and Bree. Changing the world one pic at a time. =D
ReplyDelete(p.s. I have a copy of TDD already and hopefully will be getting it signing soon! Woot!)
Britt- Poor mirror. did you see it coming?
ReplyDeleteKayla- Rafa indeed has ripples. They are a thing of beauty.
L.T. - Yep. Just don't tell Ted about this little snafu.
I once put enough information on my blog that anyone could easily narrow down my true identity to seven people. Guessing which was me: cake walk. Hey! I was new!
ReplyDeleteNow you have me wanting to go to another writer's conference! Sandy would be perfect! I happen to have parents who live there. You have caused me to covet what I cannot have. Way to go.
No, but I suppose we should have... or we would have if we'd known the back of the frame was thin cardboard and that's what it was hanging by.
ReplyDeleteI think the 7 years bad luck should be on the head of whatever genius thought that was a good idea...
Robin- You're talking to someone who showed a pic of her own son's bum.
ReplyDeleteWhy can't you do the conference? Do you live way far away?
Britt- Oh yeah! I forgot about the 7 years bad luck. I agree, it should be on the maker. That's my vote, if anyone is tallying.
I'm up in Idaho. I'm taking a week and a half off of work in April to do a different writer's conference and my ten-year anniversary, and, though I would dearly love to take another week off in June (and will probably even have the vacation time to take)... I'll just barely be caught up from my April trip! Plus, the judges might get testy with me if I tell them I'm unavailable again.
ReplyDeleteMaybe next year....
I tried to post pictures of my naked newborn on Webshots once. They catch those things fast! (My word verification is an appropriate noise for the realization that not everyone wants to see your son's scrotum: Oyandi!)
Here's some fun facts that I learned in the 30 seconds I took to google Rafa: Rafa turned pro at 15, generally plays an aggressive behind-the-baseline game, and is involved in the process of selecting his own clothing and hair style.
ReplyDeleteSo funny that the two men are connected now. I just signed up for WIFYR and I chose your BFF Emily. So excited. As for embarrassing things...I do them all the time so I try not to dwell on them, but as I reread my recent post, I'm a little embarrassed by my choice of words when I talk about playing around with POV. Maybe I just have a dirty mind though.
ReplyDeleteRobin- Ha ha! Oyandi!
ReplyDeleteBecky- That Rafa sounds great, doesn't he? He's very metrosexual. He wore all pink at the French Open last year, and he totally pulled it off.
Mary- I think you're gonna love Emily's class! My friend Cam is taking it too.
Hi Brodi,
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, is the brother in law who said such terrible things about rafa on my side of the family? Also, one time I got this e-mail that made me quite angry, and I decided to forward the e-mail to someone I knew with a snarky comment I added...and then I pressed reply. Worst e-mail experience of my life.
That recall feature that brings up email addresses when you type in a single letter is going to get me one of these days. I once emailed an old boss some sort of drivel about naptime meant for my mother. Lately, my two year-old takes my Iphone and manages to go onto youtube (a tv icon), find a song like "Itsy Bitsy Spider," hit the envelope icon to send it to someone, and start pressing on the keypad. I catch him all of the time with a half composed message. So it is just a matter of time before he sends it to someone in my saved addresses. A few weeks ago I had a photo of a pregnancy test on my iPhone (ok, I guess I was asking for it), and he found it on there and kept waiving it around the room during book club at my house. I need to learn to hide my phone.
ReplyDeleteWay funny about the pictures popping up on google!
ReplyDeleteSo one time we were just starting out this book club and we had people coming out of the woodworks who wanted to join. However our group was up at like 20 and we just couldn't get anymore people because literally we were running out of places to meet (restaurants kept kicking us out for being too loud) so we decided to cap it so we could at least all fit in someones house. So I was in charge of the next activity and sent out an email with the details of the next party and jokingly said, 'keep this secret because we can't have anyone else in our group. Like the two ladies who didnt show up for the last three parties. Their chances are gone and we aren't including them in emails anymore' yes totally cc'd them on the email. Doh! Felt like THE biggest jerk. At least my book girls still get a laugh about it.
Leena- No, the brother in law was on my side. Don't you think email should have a 'take back' button? Where if you know you've made a mistake, you can snatch it from the person's inbox? That would be cool.
ReplyDeleteBibliophile- Kids and phones. How do they do it? I once hung up the phone after talking to someone who made me mad, and hubby and I started discussing the situation and venting a bit. In walks Kid C, holding up the phone. We don't really notice or anything, we just keep venting about the person. Then I realize, the phone is on. My 18 month old had just pressed the redial button and called her back.
Worst experience.
Debbie- too funny! Maybe you could be all, "I totally knew you were cc'd. Ha. Ha. Haaahhhh... ha ha?"
One of my clients had an accidental call-back used as evidence in her criminal case. The house she called let it go to voice mail, and the recording caught her telling her husband how she and her daughter had kicked their butts....
ReplyDeleteoh, I want that book so badly. Is it too late to comment? I can't think of any embarassing internet moments. And I think Rafa is pretty cute, but that's about as far as that goes.
ReplyDeleteRobin- an important lesson for all of us. Don't talk about your crimes when you're anywhere near a phone.
ReplyDeleteJenny- Of course it's not too late! And as long as you think Rafa is cute, you're entered. :)