Father's Day Cupcakes

My daughter and I made Perry the Platypus (from the cartoon Phineas and Ferb) cupcakes for my husband for Father's Day. We still have six left to decorate (there are twelve altogether) but here's the process and initial result.

My daughter's stuffed animal Perry and the Starbursts that we used for bills. We also used Starbursts cut in half and dipped in frosting for the feet.

Graham crackers being shaped into the tails. I had no idea what I was going to use for the tails until I was hunting through the cupboard for something to use and went, "Aha! Graham crackers!"

Two cupcakes stuck together with frosting form the base for the bodies.

Completed cupcakes!

Close-up of completed cupcake. My daughter and I dyed toothpicks in food coloring for the top part sticking out.

Happy Father's Day to my wonderful, amazing husband! Happy Father's Day to my dad and my father-in-law. And Happy Father's Day to all of you dads out there!

Mid-April Update

I hope all of you doing the A-Z challenge have been having a blast with it! I can't believe it's already halfway through April. I haven't been blogging because all of my free time has been going to frantically writing Rising Book 2. I'm almost halfway done--I have about a chapter and three-fourths left to the halfway point. I think this will probably be my longest novel yet, considering I have 69,154 words already. There's just so much more story to tell and tie up in this one than the first one.

I've also been prepping for my daughter's birthday party, which is today. Her birthday was a couple of weeks ago, but today was the first day we had free to do it. She wanted a Yoshi cake from Mario Brothers, and let me tell you, that thing was hard to make. O_o I had made the head out of rice crispy treats, but it fell apart (slooooowly) after I attached the head to the body, so then I had to remake the head smaller. Plus, I was pretty much out of frosting at that point, which meant I had to steal some from around the body. Yeah. Definitely not my best cake ever, but it's together and it's edible, darn it.

Here is the end result:

I also had my next Taekwondo belt test this past week--I don't have the results for that yet. So. Yes. April has been busy.

I hope you all are having a wonderful month and that you have a fantastic day!! I need to go do final prep for a birthday party...

Angry Birds Birthday Cake

My son's birthday party is tomorrow. He wanted an Angry Birds birthday cake, so I spent today baking and putting it together. Here is the finished six-layer cake:

E is for Editor* and Edible

*Specifically, first all of the wonderful people who beta-read for me and edit my books and rip them to shreds before they ever go anywhere. Second, Ramona Tucker, Editorial Director and co-founder of my publishing company, who goes through them all again before they go to print and does SO much more.



Dear beta-readers/critiquers,

Thank you SO MUCH for all the time you spend reading my books. Thanks to those of you who read the first drafts, or the drafts-in-progress that are subject to change as I go, or the third or fifth drafts. Thank you for being honest with me and telling me what you think is working and what you think is crap. Thank you for ripping my books to pieces so that I can put them back together and make them better.

You are all awesome and I would not be able to write without you.

Laura


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Dear Ramona,

You are incredible. You handle so much and work insanely long hours, and I have no idea how you do it all—but not only do you do it, you accomplish everything with such patience, grace, and kindness. Thank you for all of your hard work. Thank you for taking my books and helping me make them better. Thank you for your time, enthusiasm, and persistence, and for believing in my stories. You not only brought me through my first journey of publication, but you made it a beautiful one, and I look forward to the next journey.

Thankfully,
Laura



**Question for others: Do you have people who help you along in your editing process? How do you edit?  I have a whole post somewhere on here about having a support system--do you have one as you write?  I'm always curious about how other people go about writing a book and whipping it into shape.


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 Dear Wall-E Cake,

I will likely be eating you for breakfast (why yes, I am so very healthy), because it is my daughter's birthday and my kids get to have cake first on their birthdays. ;) You were a lot of fun to make, and even though your eyes turned out funky, my daughter is happy with you, so all is well.