Tag: random

general

i haz no words…

abby mumford

…so here, read theirs:

WRITING ADVICE by janice hardy. seriously, everything she says is this “AHA! LIGHTBULB! IS THAT YOU, OPRAH?” moment. the only downside is that she posts so frequently, i find it hard to find the time to read every post because each one deserves to be read with a fine tooth comb. or with a pen and paper for notes. or with a glass of wine. you know, how ever you roll. (also? her books are so so fun. THE SHIFTER and BLUE FIRE.)

HILARITY by allie. this is seriously funny business.

THE SPACE BETWEEN by lauren miller. a post i’ve linked to before but i’m linking to it again because i can’t stop thinking about it. it usually crosses my mind as i glance at the clock which reads 2:15am, 3:27am, 4:12am, 5:34am, etc.

CONVERSATIONS WITH STRANGERS. i came across this blog from her other tumblr site: HGRB. that is a lighthearted blog and perhaps this one started as one too, but it’s evolved into something more. she says this started as a way to combat her shyness and i must say, it’s working. she comes across as confident, witty, and interesting. plus, she always manages to say so much more than just what she writes in each short post. this is a read between the lines keeper!

READING RECOMMENDATIONS by michelle hodkin. a lot of buzz is swirling about michelle’s upcoming novel THE UNBECOMING OF MARA DYER and while i’ve read the first chapter (and sufficiently scared myself), but aside from all that, i’ve had a few interactions with her on twitter and she is awesome. not to mention yesterday she was giving away free book recommendations (based on the last 3 books you’ve read) in the comments section of the post. her point was that we should all break out of our reading habits. re-reading the comments section is a great way to add to your own TBR list.

this is what my life feels like right now.

anything else YOU’D like to add?

feelings

tweet-a-leedly-dee

abby mumford

the most unfamiliar part of the night was not when i hopped offline to meet some online friends at last monday’s boston kid lit tweet-up* in central square. (*tweet-up: when a group of people, connected by twitter and a theme [in this case, children’s literature] decide to meet up in the real world.)

it wasn’t when i walked through the streets of central square and went left instead of right and crossed instead of staying on the side i was on. nor was it when i remembered this area of cambridge is my own personal bermuda triangle.

it wasn’t when i heard “abby?” from behind me and turned to find @pebbleinmyshoe. apparently her definition of “i’m going to be a half hour late” is “i’m going to be right on time.”

it wasn’t when i walked into the room and saw some unexpectedly familiar faces (@caseygirard) and met some of the ones i’d only interacted with online (@bostonbookgirl, @briquinlan, @mitaliperkins).

it wasn’t when i discovered @briquinlan isn’t actually a sweetheart…well, she IS, but not the piece of candy that her avatar (this) depicts. so anyways, what i mean is that she is a hilarious and curly headed writer.

it wasn’t when i discovered that though i’d only talked to a handful of these people before, the topic (all aspects of children’s literature) was comfortable. from production to writing to agenting to illustrating to selling to reviewing to trends to ebooks, this was what brought us together and what kept us chatting for 2+ hours.

it wasn’t when i heard excited exclamations of “oh, abby of the sunglasses fame?” or “abby from twitter??!!” (my profile pic is one where i’m wearing sunglasses, so i guess i was a little incognito myself as i wasn’t wearing any that night. [i may be cool, but i don’t wear my sunglasses at night.])

it wasn’t when pebbsie and i found out that anindita knows jandy nelson (author of THE SKY IS EVERYWHERE, one of the most stunning, gorgeous, and haunting novels ever written) meaning we were now only two degrees separated from the genius that is jandy nelson. nor was it when people couldn’t hear past our screeching and thought we said the title was DIETS EVERYWHERE. or (as pebbsie thought they said), GARBAGE EVERYWHERE.

the craziest part of the night was during the group introductions when i had to stand up and say “hi, i’m a writer.”

general

legal name change

abby mumford

Juliet:
“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet.”

and would i, by any other name, still tweet?

it appears I DO. as is evidenced by my recent change in twitter user name. i’m now @abbymumford, formally known as @mumfusa.

why did i go from the obscure mumfusa to the normal abbymumford? mumfusa was generated in college, and well, as much as i don’t like to admit it, i’m past that time in my life. plus, i’ve been thinking about it for awhile. i joined twitter on a whim, but since that fateful day in march 2009, my relationship with twitter had completely changed. twitter and i? we’ve grown up. instead of following celebrities and marveling at how they tie their shoes like the rest of us, i have taken up residence in a publishing corner of the twitter world. i’m surrounded by authors and agents and publishers and editors and, let’s face it, digital friends. i’ve stopped lurking and joined the conversation.

and so, i’ve decided to unmask and unveil myself and go by my given name. err, my given nickname. (you have to save characters, you know. going by @abigailmumford would be asking for trouble. or for no RTs. or for no @ messages.)

plus, one of my life goals is to be published and i don’t plan on writing under the pen name of mumfusa, so i figure i should take this baby step forward towards that goal and link my internet presence with my off-line self. (in case that miraculous time comes when i sign an agent and a book deal and people start searching for me online.)

you know me, always prepared. never procrastinating. this is just me being me. whether it’s as mumfusa or abby or abigail.