The Whitneys

I attended the Whitney Awards on Saturday and had a grand old time. Forrest and I got gussied up then headed out for a lovely dinner (we both chose the beef--didn't know if we could trust the salmon) and awards ceremony. Here we are, gussified:





And here we are again at the actual event just before receiving the aforementioned beef, which was quite tasty, by the way. (And yes, I stole this picture off of the official Whitney blog feed):



I got to sit by Tony's DB editor, Lisa Mangum, a very nice woman who rejected BoE with a form letter a couple of years ago (and I don't blame her for it--truly--since BoE doesn't fit into DB's marketing niches well at all). She has a new book coming out this year with DB's Shadow Mountain imprint and it's supposed to be really good, so I'm looking forward to reading it. I also sat next to Aubrey Mace, also very nice, and she won Best Romance. She seemed genuinely surprised and it was fun to be at a table with all that positive energy.

We also sat by Ally Condie, author of DB's Freshman for President (among other things) and her husband. Ally had already sent me the nicest email about BoE . . . so I was predisposed to like her :-). But she was very cool, and Forrest was grateful to have another man (Mr. Condie--can't remember his name!) at the table to talk to. Mr. Condie's an economics professor--and one of Forrest's waylaid dreams is to be an economics professor [and isn't that a totally endearing waylaid dream? So much better than famous bass fisherman or something]--so we had a lot of good conversation to keep us company while we ate.

Oh, and Andrew, right after I mentioned that my brother was Anthony Sweat, author of the now famous Why? book, Ally said, "But isn't your OTHER brother the Normal Mormon Husband???. I LOVE the Normal Mormon Husband!" Drew, I think you are officially the most famous among us.

But on to the awards. The banter during the presentations was funny, just like last year. The fantasy writers (Scott Savage, James Dashner, et al) were quite entertaining, with Scott dressing up in drag like Stephanie Meyer. I had to wait until the BITTER END before doing anything nerve wracking, though. I read a little snippet--all the while telling myself to read sloooower, keep it cool, girl--then they announced the winners for my categories. And even though I told myself that I was NOT going to be nervous and I was NOT going to care if I won anything--because it is an honor just to be nominated, and I'm not just saying that--my heart rate was approaching baby rabbit speed.

They announced my first category, Best General Fiction (Whitney rules are you can only win in one category), and that went to Annette Haws. I've heard her book Waiting for the Light to Change is quite good. So then they got to Best Novel by a New Author and my baby rabbit heart kicked up to fetal rabbit heart after they said my name. I'd had in mind some things I could possibly say if I did win anything, but that all went out the window the minute I stood up. I rambled some things about how I was grateful to Parables for taking a chance on the book because it was hard to categorize and I'd gotten a lot of rejections (and then told the story about how one publisher gave me a note that said "I like the book, but short stories are the kiss of death"--don't know if I should have said that. Ah well. That's what happens when you extemporize.) I talked a little bit about how grateful I was for the chance to write and see the book published, then I also said something like "Even if I never have another book published again, I'm so grateful to have had the chance to do what I love--write--and have other people read it," which I also probably shouldn't have said in that way, because it makes it sound like I never intend to write another novel. Which isn't true. What I MEANT to say was that there are so many talented writers in the world who never get a chance to see their books published and that I never want to forget how lucky all of us are to have had that opportunity, and to always be grateful for it. Or something like that. Who knows what I meant. Anyway, I had a number of people tell me they liked my speech, but in my day-after instant replaying, I'm worried the take-away is, "I got a ton of rejections for my book and I will never write again!" Ah!! Where's my time travel machine? Forrest keeps telling me to stop obsessing and that it was a good speech . . . oh, and that I'm crazy. Which is probably true.

But it was a lovely evening, quite exciting, and I'm so grateful to all the people who put so much time and effort into creating such a great event. And now I have a pretty award to put on my shelf:



Thanks to all of you, my friends and fam, for all of your support and enthusiasm during this whole journey with Bound on Earth. Gussified evenings and awards are just frosting on the cake of all your love and overall awesomeness. (And yes, that was a terrible metaphor, but you are my friends and my family and this is my blog, so I can indulge in terrible metaphors and I know you'll all still like me. It's such a relief :-)!

Finish Line!

Two big finishes this week.

Big Finish Number 1: I held my last class for Winter semester on Thursday, with a "final" much like the finals I took in creative writing workshops during my MFA: instead of having a big scary final exam with essay questions and multiple choice bubble sheets, we had a reading and "celebration" where those of us who wanted to brought food. So we clapped for each other, ate cookies and veggies and dip, and had an altogether lovely evening. This doesn't mean, of course, that the students didn't work their butts off. They did. They wrote and wrote and wrote and read and read and read and revised and revised and revised. So the celebration was well deserved.

I've really loved this group of students--good people all, and a few of them are truly talented. And besides, they brought me presents. Really! Presents. First time in my college teaching career. I got a DVD of the movie Vantage Point, which I haven't seen, and which they bought as an homage to my obsession with point of view, and a really lovely card that everybody signed and that contained a $25 gift card to Barnes & Noble. It was really so sweet. (Although now that I think about it, I wonder if it's a no-no to accept gifst? But what was I supposed to do? Since the gift was from everybody, then there's nobody in particular for me to play favorites with. Right? Because I really won't.)

We'll see if my Spring class even happens, though. Since Spring term isn't part of the "official" academic year for BYU, enrollment, especially at the SL Center, is really low. For a while I had three students signed up, but as of right now I only have one. I need (I think) four or five for the class to carry. And although it would be nice not to have the stress of the Tues/Thurs compressed schedule, we could (um) use the money. So here's hoping.

And I do love teaching. Even when it stresses me out. Grading can be a grind sometimes, but time in the classroom? Love it. I still feel so lucky that I got this job.

Big Finish Number 2: Forrest finished the Salt Lake Half Marathon (13.1 miles) this morning! He did fantastic. His final time was 1:45, a full ten minutes better than last year, representing a 8 minute mile pace. He looked good when he came running toward the finish line, too. It was fun to take the kids there and cheer. Forrest ran it with his sister Mindy--her first half marathon, and she did great as well. I always get energized at races like this, seeing these masses of humanity who've decided to do something hard and see it through to the end. Really inspiring. I'm undeniably proud to be related to some of those people :-).

Forrest giving us the "Hey, I see you!" wave.

Forrest running over to give the kids high fives.

Forrest and his sister Mindy. (D'ya think they're related??)

Forrest and the kids. Jonas was doing what I call "puppy hands" when I tried to take this picture (see last year's Easter picture in my previous post for a perfect example of the "puppy hands" pose)--so squinty-eyed Joe is better than squinty-eyed, puppy-handed Joe.

Elise and her cousins, Bella and Ayva.

Oh! And before I forget. Two funny things Jonas has said in the last week or so:

Funny Thing #1:

Jonas: Dad, Who would you choose? The first black millionaire or Helen Keller? (The implications of this is, "Both represent pretty awesome accomplishments. But which one wins in a head to head?")

Dad: I don't know Jonas, who would you choose?

Jonas: (Thoughtful contemplation). Helen Keller. Yeah. Hellen Keller.

Funny Thing #2:

(Context: the kids were all in the car talking about what they wanted to be when they grew up.)

Jonas: We all have the things we're good at. Ethan has animals. I can't remember what Elise's is. And I don't know mine.

Wise words, Joe.

Spring! (And pictures)

It's finally been bright and sunny outside and I've been able to take some good outside pics with the new Christmas camera. So now for your Spring-ish enjoyment, a compilation.

Cute Wyatt, one spring morning (post-haircut):



Studly Ethan, playing baseball. In this particular game he had two great hits and was awarded the game ball. And yep, that's Forrest in the background, standing in as 3rd base coach:




Studly Jonas, also playing baseball (same night, different field):





Wyatt at our neighborhood spring party:



Elise, also at our neighborhood spring party (looking fetching):



And last but not least, what always happens when we try to take an Easter picture with all the kids in the frame at the same time. See last year's picture, beneath it, for proof. (There are some issues not even a new camera can solve):




Here's to spring, new cameras, ridiculous attempts at group photography, sunlight, and Easter!

Mmmmm . . . conference

I love Conference weekend. Not quite as much as I did when I was Primary President in Minnesota (oh, the relief!) but right now it's 9:45 a.m., I'm sitting on the couch in my U of U sweatpants and Johnny Cupid's Bar & Grill t-shirt, ready to chill and listen. Chilling and listening are good things.

And can you believe all the snow in Utah over the last couple of weeks? Although it was a big fat pain in lots of ways, I was selfishly glad for it last week because two of our three baseball games were canceled and so was soccer yesterday morning. Forrest was out of town from Sun to Fri, so it was Nice with a capital N not to have to chase Wyatt around in the biting wind. I'd wake up and pray for snow. Prayers ANSWERED!

I am not a good sports mother. I'm trying.

Elise's cute friends across the street, "the twins" McKenzie and Taylor, moved yesterday. Elise is sad. They were good kids. There are new residents in the house to our East, too, but I haven't met them yet. Forrest has though. Forrest always seems to meet everybody. (It helped that he was outside breaking up a section of our driveway with a sledgehammer--the concrete was all pitted and icky and he's going to replace it. Good first impressions? BANG BANG BANG! Hi There! BANG BANG BANG!)

Jonas is sick. He threw up at my mom's house last night into a large cast iron pot we brought for the express purpose of containing his vomit. It was my cousin Meghan's bridal shower--and oh, she looked so pretty and happy, the quintessential glowing bride--and all the men were at Priesthood session, so Joe had to buck up and come. He's a very good sick person. Takes care of things, etc. He's doing a little better this morning but is still a little green. (Around the gills. Where in the world did that expression come from??)

Wyatt likes to dance to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. He kills me. He also just got a haircut and looks like a little thug. A cute little thug who loves the MoTab.

Ethan is now on Facebook and just threw a sheep at me using SuperPoke. It is a new day.

And last but not least, HAVE YOU SEEN MY BROTHER'S COMMERCIAL???? It's on right this very minute. Right before conference. It's SO VERY COOL! You can see it on the Why? Facebook page here.