I am totally freaking out with excitement for Beth, my very cool and smart critique buddy. Why? Read this:

In another major YA acquisition before the Bologna Book Fair, Ben Schrank at Razorbill pre-empted North American rights to the debut novel by high school teacher Beth Revis, Across the Universe. Merrilee Heifetz at Writers House brokered the deal, which is for three books, and Universe is scheduled for spring 2011. In the novel, set in the near future, a teenager is cryogenically frozen only to thaw too soon, before arriving at the new planet that’s her destination. Set to wake 300 years in the future, She rouses 50 years too early, still on a spaceship in transit. Schrank said he thinks the book will do for popular sci-fi what The Hunger Games did for postapocalyptic fiction. Rights have been pre-empted in the U.K. (by Razorbill UK, which will do a joint publication with Penguin USA) and Germany, and sales have also closed in France and Greece.

(via Publisher’s Weekly)

And there’s also this:

High school teacher Beth Revis’s debut ACROSS THE UNIVERSE, in the near-future, a reluctant teenage girl and her pioneer parents are cryogenically frozen for a 300-year trip to a new planet; she awakens 50 years early on a vast spaceship with a murderer on board, to Ben Schrank at Razorbill, in a major deal, in a pre-empt, in a three-book deal, for publication in spring 2011, by Merrilee Heifetz at Writers House (world English).
(via Publisher’s Marketplace)

Congratulations Beth! And rumor has it she’s having a rocking awesome contest soon on her blog, so check things out here.

This past Friday I presented three workshops at the KORCOS conference here in Seoul. Nearly a thousand international teachers from across Korea gathered together to learn and share ideas. I shared about writing- of course! One of them was on bookmaking, I was honored to co-host with Jenny Walters, our SCBWI Korea representative. She’s so innovative and creative that it was a real joy to work with her.

Jenny and I also set up a booth for the SCBWI Korea chapter to promote who we are as well as try to network with schools to bring international authors to Korea. We are so excited because we have three authors coming already!

Last week was an insane week with getting ready for the conference. Plus I broke my toe in taekwondo class. So I’ve been hobbling around and frustrated at not being able to move faster. I’ve decided that since I can’t go running in the morning until it heals, I’ll just write during that time. That brightened my mood. And the fact that it snowed here again! In March!

I’ve been neglecting my blogging of late, but I did notice that A Romantic Enters the World is having a great contest. Definitely go check it out!

And it’s too late to enter Nora’s contest, but you need to check out here adorable blog at Lemons for Lemonade.

I am doing a presentation for teachers next week called “I Hate Writing!” In the talk, I’ve listed one way to motivate students is to hear their favorite authors chat about what motivates them to write and how they craft a story. But bringing authors to Korea is expensive, so I’ll be mentioning two alternatives: YouTube and Skype chats.

If you are an author who is willing to Skype with an international school (these kids all speak English), could you please let me know either here or PM me? Please let me know your fees and details if you have those set up.

Or if you have a YouTube clip, I’ll also pass that out that link.

I’m also a member of SCBWI Korea and we’ve created the Author International School Network, which is committed to bringing and connecting authors with the international schools in Korea. If you are an author and you’re planning a trip to Korea, email me and we’ll hook you up with the schools (working with multiple schools may even be able to pay for flights).

Today is a day to celebrate! When I celebrate, there is always lots of chocolate and Starbucks lattes.

I finished my first drafted of my next novel! WOW! I can’t believe it. I really can’t. I think every time I write something new, it seems to get easier. Although, my next novel I’d like to tackle, isn’t going to be so easy. But I’m going to wait a while to write that one.

A special thank you to Amber Lough who gave me an award. Thank you Amber! Passing back the love your way!

1. I love, Love, LOVE! chocolate (bet you hadn’t guessed that one)

Picture by Carolina K. Smith

Has your muse ever been on vacation? Mine was gone for a while. Check out this post I wrote on MiG Writers on what I did while she was gone.

What about you? What do you do while your inspiration is gone? (Other than eat chocolate of course.)

Picture illustrated by Debbie Oh

I have been neglecting my blogging of late. Partly due to fast drafting my latest novel. But I have to say, the Olympics haven’t been helping me out either. Who wants to write when Kim Yu-Na is performing?

We were pretty excited over here in Seoul to see Yu-Na shatter her own world record in her James Bond routine. It was said she even slowed traffic!

How about you? What is your favorite Winter Olympic sport?