Ang Shaef Writes

I'm in Hawaii this week babysitting my granddaughter.  My book also came a long for a photo shoot.  

The ireads virtual book tour for The Things They Didn't See begins today and runs through July 18.  Click here for details and the daily schedule for forty bloggers, instagrammers, and TikTokkers  who will be reviewing my book, with links to author interviews and a signed book giveaway!  

I've been answering author interview questions in preparation for the upcoming virtual book tour through iReads. (June 23 - July 18.) These ones about food aren't being used, but the answers are worth knowing. (I mean, have you tried Fudge Brownie M&M's?!) Do you snack while writing? Oh yes, I have a terrible weakness for treats and polishing off the entire bag instead of eating an appropriate amount. While writing TTTDS I went through a phase of Fudge Brownie M&Ms! But in an effort to be healthier, I keep a stash of Raspberry Brownie Luna Bars and chocolate covered Peanut Butter Perfect Bars near my desk. What's your favorite dessert? I dream about the most delicious biscotti brownie from Hunters Cakery in the Cotswalds.

My first journal entry was written a few days after my eight-year-old birthday. My second was a year later when I rewrote that first entry in my much more impressive nine-year-old handwriting. From the beginning, even at eight years old, writing was how I got to know myself better.  When my oldest children were teens, I thought it would be fun to share with them parts of my journal so they could see what was on my mind at their age. They were lazing in our family room when I brought out the letter-sized white binder with a worn leather cover that I'd written sporadic entries from ages eight to eighteen. I read to them my eight year old birthday entry and then a rushed but enthusiastic paragraph I'd written just after doing a a double-flip on the trampoline at age ten. (We were trampoline pros!) Then we turned page after page of entries that were either angry, angsty or a long list of childhood crushes. My children were as embarrassed for me as I was. Clearly, not everything is ...

Thirty-six years ago today, when we were just eighteen, Dan and I had our first date. It was the summer after our freshman year of college. Campus was relatively quiet, our class schedules were relatively easy.  Long days eased into perfect Utah nights. We met in Geology 101.  I was smitten with his confidence even though it bordered on cocky. One day he passed me a note that read: Make me dinner tonight. With no hesitation I dashed off a response: You make me dinner. He agreed. He made me dinner, which was the plan all along--his roommates and neighbors and Dan all grilled steaks on a balcony hibachi. And they made side dishes. I remember peas. One of his roommates played the record Another One Bites the Dust backwards and we laughed and laughed. Later that night we went swimming and I dove into the pool, which clinched it for Dan. It was many nights of him making dinners that did it for me. Love at second sight , as the song goes. (The Gambler. by fun. Love it so much.) His...

The Things They Didn't See is now available locally! The beautiful Four Lemons art gallery in Holladay that also features the work of the talented Shelly Coleman who painted the cover scene. Adored and charming, The King's English Bookshop, in Sugarhouse. And Frost's Books in Millcreek, which not only sells new books, but used books, cards, calendars  (plus a snow cone hut in the parking lot and Feldman's Deli and Cactus & Tropicals across the street). I'm still waiting to hear if TTTDS will be accepted by the Salt Lake County Library system, but meanwhile, it's also in our neighborhood, Little Free Library! (And last time I passed by on my morning walk, someone had already picked it up!)

It's not a dream... Ten years to get here and now I'm holding my real book!  I've loved every minute of the process.  All the writing--including a four-day stay in a hotel in the mountains where I worked uninterrupted to finish the second draft. In addition to writing: classes, workshops, conferences, my writing group and books--all to learn about writing, then querying and then publishing. I "finished" numerous times only to realize I wasn't finished. Two professional developmental editors, five beta readers, and seven (yes seven!) rounds of professional proofreading! That doesn't count the read-through I did as well as four others, when the authors copies arrived in March. It was all part of making my dream come true. Huzzah!