Silver Lining

Whoa.
Just was jolted out of my whining, sneezing, wheezing state by opening the mail.

Some karmic comebacks going on here. After such an awful weekend, today I just felt like I wanted to be able to limit my drug intake (to one per four hours per drug), and stop cursing all blooming trees (Junipers? I'm talking to you.) and maybe clear the cotton out of my brain and perhaps still the tremors in my hands long enough to write. Instead, I hear not just good news, but great news -- many of the books I loved were voted on and honored -- Hattie and Rules and The Book Thief were Newbery Honors, and a Printz Award went to American Born Chinese! -- which raises the bar for not only graphic novels, but cultural awareness in novels in general, and promotes being who you are in a funny, thoughtful and really well-drawn way. A further honor went to John Green's stylishly jacketed An Abundance of Katherines, which is a book I really liked a whole lot. It's indescribable, and if you haven't read it yet, do. (I can't wait to dig into the works of the other honorees and winners, some of which I had never heard of previously!)

Though I was quite pleased for the success of these books, it was a busy weekend filled with unpleasant hives and equally unpleasant people, so my Monday has been spent avoiding sharp edges and loud words. When I picked up my mail, I was a little nonplussed. A big envelope... what now? And then I opened it and read the words:

Random House Children's Books

AGREEMENT made this___ day of ____2007, between TadMack ("Author") and Random House Children's Books, a Division of Random House ("Publisher"); The parties to this Agreement wish to publish and have published a certain work (the "Work") provisionally entitled...

And then suddenly, my evening sort of took a turn for the better.