Bio:
A native to the Chicago suburbs, I have been a school librarian for more than ten years (old much?). I live with my sweetheart husband, illustrator Matthew Cordell, and our gloriously large Siamese cat, Tobin. In my spare time I like to read, watch TV, play Sims 2, and travel.
Guest Post: When I'm Not Writing:
I actually spend a lot of time not writing, probably more than I should as a writer. Thing is, I am a firm believer that living life makes for excellent inspiration. Plus, I don’t exactly have the time to write every minute of the day. I recently quit my job as a school librarian, a job I’ve done proudly for the last ten years. Part of me left to explore living life as an author, but that certainly wasn’t the financially sensible part. The bigger part of me left work to be home with my young daughter. Perhaps I will return to school librarianing one day, either when my daughter is in school or I am broke. Whichever comes first.
So how do I spend my time when I’m not making food, playing at the park, and picking up Polly Pockets? I do one of three things: I waste my time on the internet, I waste my time watching TV, or I waste my time playing computer games. It’s sad that I feel doing any of these are wastes of time because, really, I can only do any of them for less than two hours a day. Some people watch TV for hours and hours at night. Or sit in front of a computer for eight hours on a weekend playing The Sims. That used to be me. Now I’m lucky if I get in one TV show per night before crashing out or an hour of Sims Medieval during my daughter’s nap. So when do I write? Good question. Sometimes it’s in the morning before my daughter wakes up, and sometimes it’s stuffed in during her nap (both times very stressful, since I don’t know when she’ll wake). When it’s important, flowing, paid for writing, my husband (a children’s book author and illustrator) and I have to make an elaborate schedule involving babysitters and trade-offs. In those times, my Sims have to live their pretend lives without me. My real life is just a tad too busy.
On the first day of Lillian’s summer-before-college, she gets a message on her cell from her sort-of friend, Penny. Not only has Penny faked her own kidnapping, but Lil is the only one who figures it out. She knows that Penny’s home life has been rough, and that her boyfriend may be abusive. Soon, Penny’s family, the local police, and even the FBI are grilling Lil, and she decides to head out to Oregon, where Penny has mentioned an acquaintance. And who better to road-trip across the country with than Lil’s BFF, Josh. But here’s the thing: Lil loves Josh. And Josh doesn’t want to “ruin” their amazing friendship.
Josh has a car and his dad’s credit card. Lil has her cellphone and a hunch about where Penny is hiding. There’s something else she needs to find: Are she and Josh meant to be together?
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