A Dang Good Birthday Week, Yo.

Hey!  What’s this?  Two posts in ONE week?

Well, in all truth this will be quick.  As many of you may (or may not know) I turned the big 3-7 on Monday and I’ve got the gray hair(s) to prove it.

Anyway, never too exciting to have a birthday fall on a Monday, but even so my family and I had some fun.  We got some pizzas, dialed up some old school Super Mario Bros. on the Wii and just sort of took it easy.

That’s how the TROUPES roll.

But the fun times were just beginning…

A little while ago (late August),  I seriously thought of taking my Twitter account and deleting it.  I just got more annoyed with it than anything else.  I don’t know what it is.  Maybe it’s the restrictions, maybe it’s how some people will put up 14 ‘Tweets’ in a row (get a blog, people!) and I found myself even lashing out at it.  I tweeted some bad things like: I hope you fall on a knife, Twitter.

You know, things like that.  I’m not proud.

Well, I was literally on there for what I thought was the last time, when I saw a ‘Re-Tweet’ (am I saying this right Twitter Gods?) that Stone Arch Books was looking for some authors to write some middle grade books for them.

So, certain that I just wasn’t busy enough, I sent a tweet their way.  Turns out, the mastermind behind the SAB Twitter page KNEW WHO I WAS.  (Hi Beth!)  Anyway, long story short, the editor asked me to send ’em some writing samples.  I could do that.

Or could I?

My middle grade stuff has been collecting dust for a while.  I’ve spent the last couple o’ years working on my YA books (GOODHALO I & II and ANNA 2.0) so I wasn’t sure how well they held up.  I did a little tweak here and there, crossed my fingers and sent off a couple chunks of THE SHORT BUS JOURNAL and TRAVIS & THE MAGIC SANDBOX.

I sort of figured that everyone else in the world who saw the call for authors sent in stuff too, so I didn’t really dwell on it.  I also decided that my ol’ Twitter page could live just a bit longer.

CUT TO:  INT-MEETING ROOM DOWNTOWN ST.PAUL – DAY

It’s Tuesday morning.  I’m at one of my favorite weekly meetings and there’s a break in the action.  I check my Treo to see if I’ve gotten any e-mail (that’s what agent-hungry writers do, you know).  I see an e-mail from Stone Arch Books and I think:

Oh, here’s where they say “Thanks, but no thanks.”

Wrong.

While the books genres they were originally considering have been put on hold, the editor (Beth) asked if I would like to take a stab at writing a book (or two) in their on-going series.  Of course, I wanted to write back instantly and say: “Eh…heck yes!”  But my work meeting was starting up again.  I had to WAIT.

After a considerable chunk of time, I was able to write back, get all the ‘deets’ and basically agree that I’m in!

Not sure how much I can disclose, but I’ll be writing 2 middle grade books of about 5,000 words each that are sports-related.  Got some sample copies of a few of their previous titles and they’re VERY, VERY cool.

CAN NOT TELL YOU HOW EXCITED I AM!!!  Thank you, Stone Arch Books! You rock!

And…I’ve also been tapped to work on a series of Public Service Announcements for Woodbury Public Safety (where I do my firefighting/EMT stuff).  I’ll be primarily writing a handful of short commercials and letting the technical business happen on the outside.  A few 30 second PSAs?  Shoot.  I can do that in my sleep.

What’s cool about this is that we’re not doing just stiff and boring safety tips.  We’re throwing in some comedy to make them more appealing.  The idea is to get them out to the world and show them that safety and doing the right thing isn’t all that hard.

Yeah.  It sounds dry, but you’ll see.  My hope is to put a few of them up on here, too.  We’ll make it happen!

Anyway, it’s been a good October (weather excepted) and I’m hoping things keep picking up!

COMING UP: I’ve got a post that’s been 20-something years in the making.  Wait for it!