Today I broke one of my New Year’s Resolutions. I colored my hair. That’s right, vanity won out over health concerns. More specifically, I decided I didn’t want to go to New York next month with gray hair.

Karma’s kind of a bitch, though.  I chose medium reddish brown, the same color I’ve used for pretty much my entire hair-coloring career, because I thought it was a safe choice. However, while the salt-and-pepper hair in the back was transformed into the nice reddish brown I remember so well, the silver hair in the front turned a weird orange-y color.Ick. I’m not sure what to do about it. I’m hopeful that a shampoo regimen will save the day. Or it might be back to the drugstore for an ashier color. Oy.

Let this be a lesson to me: Don’t cheap out. Next time go to a professional.

Speaking of New York, I have some more information about my upcoming trip. I was invited by Carol Hoenig to participate in a publishing panel that’s being sponsored by The General Society of Mechanics and Tradesmen of the City of New York and The New York City Department of Cultural Affairs; Tuesday May 24, 6:00 PM, at The General Society Library. I’ll be speaking about orange hair and how to avoid getting it. Or maybe it’ll be about something publishing related. Probably it’s that last thing.

In other news, look for Shannon Yarbrough’s interview with moi to be posted at LL Book Review on Sunday. The interview was conducted via Twitter direct messaging, which means all of my answers are 140 characters or less. Anyone who knows me will realize what a challenge this was. In the meantime, you can check out Shannon’s review of Waiting For Spring from 2009 and an article Kristen Tsetsi and I wrote for the site about first chapters last summer (which is pretty funny, if I do say so myself. And I guess I just did).