Tag: silly

general

names

abby mumford

having the last name i do + a popular band with the same name = i’ve been picking up comments left and right…

“do you have any sons?”

“your kids are pretty talented.”

“you should have some daughters.”

“you’re not related to mumford and sons, are you?”

of course, within the family, we have our own comments, such as “and we’re off, like a herd of turtles.”

and in other parts of my name, when you add the “dear” salutation in front of my first name, it becomes immediate fodder for advice. i can’t tell you the number of times i’ve opened an email to see “dear abby… (sorry, couldn’t resist.)”

does your first or last or middle name or any combination thereof inspire others to make silly or serious remarks to you?

writing

sacrifices

abby mumford

i was going about things all wrong.

first, i had twitter open. second, i had been listening to THE SCORPIO RACES by maggie stiefvater. third, i also had the book open on my desk as i perused it trying to turn it into a textbook because i can’t stop thinking about it and i’m basically in love with it and all that it does.

you might say i’m slightly obsessed.

this wasn’t the problem.

the problem was that by studying/reading/looking at another book, my focus had shifted away from my own work. even though i had the best of intentions when opening THE SCORPIO RACES (i.e. wanting to learn), it’s way too easy to compare my writing to the masterfulness of that novel and clearly, that’s not fair.

and then the downward spiral of self-doubt began, which is NOT the brain space you want to be in when revising your work.

but before i closed THE SCORPIO RACES, i, of course, turned to twitter to voice my opinion BECAUSE EVERYBODY NEEDS TO READ THIS BOOK.

with the mystery of publishing revealed, i closed THE SCORPIO RACES and twitter. i read sean ferrell’s “pathetic email” post for the tenth time because it’s uplifting and spot on and exactly the right motivation i needed to dive back into my edits because it’s time to whip this WIP into shape.

now if only my neighbor had a cat…

general

sugar lips

abby mumford

when you hear the nickname “sugar lips”, you’d probably turn around and flip off the person who called you that. unless you actually HAD sugar lips, in which case, you’d probably nod your head at the truth of the statement. unless you were a zombie and if you nodded, your head fell off. then you’d have to figure out where your head rolled to. and you’d have to do so by flailing your arms around because (as you well know) you’ve now lost your sight, taste, hearing, and scent senses and are only left with touch. and then, provided you found it, you’d have to reattach your head using some sort of zombie voodoo because by this point, you’d be hungry again and brains are not that easy to come by.

“what’s this all about?” you ask, delicately refraining from adding, “sugar lips.”

they say you’re not supposed to judge a book by its cover, but when your cover looks like this, how can you not?

my judgement? evocative.

i confess i don’t know much about zombies, nor do i know how they’d get lips like those especially since i always assumed they ate brains; brains which are more gelatinous matter than sugar crystals…but what’s my point? this cover? this book? I WANT. i want it like a football player wants a touchdown or a tackle (position depending). i want it like a zombie wants brains. i want it like kate grable wants the antidote.

(see what i did there? i made clever plot references. read here for a full book description.)

fortunately, i don’t have to wait much longer as it’s being unleashed in the wild on JULY 12, but while we wait a little bit longer, the author, carrie harris is having a contest. here’s the post where she details the rules. basically she’s asking her “readers” (i use the term loosely because we haven’t read her work yet so in reality, we’re her future readers. hey cool, i’m coming to you live from the future!) to spread the news about the book’s imminent release. so consider yourself updated and make sure to go to the bookstore on or around JULY 12 to get this book before it gets you because when dealing with zombies, it’s always better to strike first.

(also, you should click the link because her website is beyond amazing.) (and also, ALSO, you’re going down, Breakey. this contest is mine!)

and just in case a zombie apocalypse happens before TUESDAY JULY 12, i’m headed to the nearest candy shop to buy the biggest sugar crystals and coating my lips in them because if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em and if you’re too wimpy to beat ’em and too scared to join ’em, it’s best to try to blend in.

how’s my camouflage?

p.s. no, that is not me. i wish i teeth like that. all the better to eat you with.

wait, wrong story.