Welcome to My Blog!

This is a little embarrassing to admit, but this is my first ever blog. I know, I know... What rock have I been living under? It seems I'm always a little late to the technology party. I was the last of my friends to get an iPod, the last to switch to DSL over dial-up, and I still don't have a GPS. I probably would have gone my whole life without ever venturing into the blogosphere, content to keep all my thoughts to myself in my very old-fashioned journal (That's right. I still pick up a pen and write!), had I not had some pretty exciting things happen to me lately that I actually want to share with the world.

For starters, my friend Stephanie Elliott, who happens to be an amazing book editor, gave me the opportunity to write a couple of young adult books for her, which have become the Your Life, But . . . series! I can't even tell you how excited I am that the first book, Your Life, But Better, is coming out soon. It was fun to write, but I really can't wait to see it on the bookstore shelves--or preferably in a reader's hands. But in the meantime, I'm getting to enjoy the whole process.

This past Sunday I had my first official author photo shoot. Dan Elliott--a professional photographer and a good friend--did the honors. Dan, Stephanie, and I went to Central Park and took pictures on the bridge, on the carousel, near the lake and, my favorite, barefoot in the fountain. (I wasn't going to do that last one, but a very bossy tourist from California insisted that I get in and that I would love it. She was right--although I did have to walk around for the rest of the day with slightly wet jeans.) Dan was a great director, telling me when to tilt my head to catch the light or move away from it, when to smile or keep it serious. And as he shot, passersby kept checking me out, clearly wondering who I was and why I was getting the star treatment. Even though I'm nowhere near famous, it was pretty fun being a model for a day. Afterward we went to lunch and toasted to a successful day of picture taking. And just like that, I'm one step closer to seeing my face and bio in a book that I wrote. Without getting too cheesy, this really is my dream come true. 

One other exciting thing that happened to me this summer is that I moved into a new apartment that I love. I finally have hot water, lots of windows, a parking spot, a big bedroom, and best of all, an office where I can do all my creative stuff. It's perfect. Especially now that I'm working on the second Your Life book.

So now that I've joined the 21st century and started a blog, I'll try to update it as often as possible. Sometimes I'll tell you how the writing is going, sometimes I'll just tell you about my day--especially when something out of the ordinary happens. Sometimes I'll check in just to tell you about a cool quote or poem I heard--basically whatever comes to mind. And you can feel free to add your own comments or ask me questions. Monologues are okay, but I prefer conversations.

Thanks for reading!

-Crystal