Getting Out More

I'm in rehearsal for play here in Tucson, my second thespian endeavor in the last few years if you count my stint at Old Tucson Studios in 2005. It's a really adult play, and I portray a bisexual character who is everyone else's psychiatrist. The director keeps trying to convince all the actors, most of whom are a lot younger than me, to go for the nudity in the script. But I'm only down to my bathrobe. I'm also doing stand-up comedy and as many speaking engagements as I can muster, since deciding to come out of Novelist Hermit mode. It helps that the kids are just about raised -- got to get the youngest one to age of 18 in December and at least out of high school.

If any of you happen to be in Tucson this weekend, I'm speaking at a couple of public libraries with SF author Timothy Zahn. (I know I should get these in sooner.)


Timothy Zahn and John Vornholt
Saturday, Sept. 22, noon - 4 pm
Dusenberry-River Branch Library
5605 E. River Rd.
and
Sunday, Sept. 23, 1 - 5 pm
Joel D. Valdez Main Library
101 N. Stone Ave.

As usual, you can catch me doing karaoke all over town.

CG

Yaaaaarg!

It be International Talk Like a Pirate Day! Some holidays, they leave me cold, ye hearties. But Old Salty Echols'll always save a place in me heart for Talk Like a Pirate Day. On this day last year, Old Echols started writin' The Boys Next Door in earnest. That's why Adam be wearing' a skull-and-crossbones necklace. (Look close at the cover, mateys, and you'll see that thar booty.) And THAT be leadin' to Adam bein' the swashbuckler he is. Savvy?

Yo to the ho to the ho!

Please and thank you

You can take the girl out of Jersey...
Wait, scratch that.
Apparently, you really *can't*.
Today my brother and I attended the second annual Princeton Children's Book Festival, sponsored by the Princeton Public Library. Although I'm mostly known for my teen writing, this was a proper children's book fair, in that most participating authors write and/or illustrate picture books or chapter books. So while I brought and displayed all of my ro coms, of course, I was really there to shill the etiquette book I wrote last fall, MIND YOUR MANNERS, DICK & JANE.

Actually, most parents I met were more familiar with Dick and Jane than their children were, since they grew up learning to read with Dick, Jane, Sally, and Spot. But in the past few years, Grosset & Dunlap (also the home of the original Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys) has revived the property, reissuing old favorites and creating new content for a whole new generation of readers. While MANNERS contains a bunch of practical advice for being on one's best behavior, it's very tongue in cheek and intentionally irreverent. So I was THRILLED to find that my reading (wherein I was graciously assisted by brother Dave in a cheeky call-and-response format) was a huge success.

Most parents I spoke to today told me that MANNERS was a book that their kids really need! But when Dave and I launched into "Do's and Don't's for a Happy Household (DO: Share your toys, DON'T: Share your toothbrush), we were met with laughter from an audience of all-ages.

Good humor--and good manners--have no expiration date, huh?

Spectators Behaving Badly

School's back in! School's back in! Yay, school!

(Yeah, yeah, yeah...I know that made you want to retch. I NEVER felt that way about school starting!)

One of the most annoying things about the first weeks back school, to me, occurs when teachers and administrators present you with a list of (presumably self-evident) don'ts for school. Things you've heard for years, such as, "Don't leave the building without stopping by the office" or "Don't steal books from the library." Since the first day of school often coincides with the first big sporting events of the year, I thought I'd devote today's blog to a more useful back-to-school topic: The Don'ts of Watching Sports. (Not that you'd ever engage in annoying sports-watching behavior, of course.)

These suggestions are meant to help you from becoming a social pariah while watching your favorite sports teams win games this fall. (And if YOU have suggestions that are missing from this list, post 'em!)

Niki's Don't List:

1) Don't do the cell phone wave. You've probably seen this behavior during televised games. There's one guy standing in the middle of the bleachers while everyone else is seated, talking on his cell phone and waving to the camera, presumably to show his friends (who are watching at home) that he's cool enough to be at the game. This happens at least once during every single game I watch, whether it's a high school football game on my local cable network or a major league baseball game on Fox Sports. Here's the thing: the friends you're calling think it's goofy rather than cool. That's why they're egging you on, not because they think you're impressive on screen. It's their job to laugh at you and this is a prime opportunity. Everyone else finds it annoying. Sit down and pocket the phone.

2) Don't confuse bleachers with your living room and/or automobile. Private conversations are best held in private places, like your home, your car, or when you're out on a walk and know for an absolute fact there's no one else within hearing range. When you're sitting at a sports event, the people around you can hear everything you say. For instance: if you're a lawyer (or possibly a law student) and your name starts with A., and you were sitting in section 142 at the Red Sox/Orioles game in Fenway a couple weeks ago, the entire section wants to warn your boyfriend M. to run away. They know exactly what you think of him. So does most of section 143. They discussed it while you and your BFF went to get more beer. While your conversation would have been perfectly appropriate for the car ride home (hey, these are the things friends share), it is not something you probably wanted to broadcast.

3) Don't assume you know who's nearby. This is closely related to #2. When you're watching a game, you have no idea who may have slipped into the row behind you when you were focused on the ball moving down the field. Sports, by their nature, involve crowds and noise. That means it's very easy for someone to sit down behind you, where they can hear every word you say, without you even being aware of the fact. Exercise caution.

4) Don't pretend to understand the game if you're clueless. Now, it's perfectly acceptable to attend a game even if you're not an expert on that particular sport. (I love going to soccer games, but I can't figure out all the ways someone gets offsides, despite having it explained to me and pointed out in games more times than I can count.) If you're in the stands and confused, take a clue from the folks around you and cheer when they cheer. Quietly ask a knowledgeable friend to explain things you don't understand. But don't fake knowledge. The girl who talks loudly about how it was awesome when the quarterback kicked the ball through the uprights for a touchdown is going to regret it later. Trust me on this.

5) Don't forget to have fun. Sports fans can get intense. But do you really need any more stress in your life? Enjoy yourself! (Besides, if your team gets crushed, there's always next year.)

Princeton Children's Book Festival

Prizes and books and swag, oh my! Come hear myself and thirty other children's book authors and illustrators read at the Princeton Children's Book Festival this Saturday. A sneak peek of TRIBE will be available, as will the chance to meet and schmooze with brother Dave.

http://www.princeton.lib.nj.us/children/index.html

Greetings and Salutations!

Hi. My name is P.J. Ruditis and I’m a write-aholic. I’d like to thank Jenn for bringing this community together. I am thrilled to join this group in anticipation of the release of my Ro Com, LOVE, HOLLYWOOD STYLE (Premiering in January 2008). It’s the story of a movie studio tour guide who thinks she’s found the perfect formula for romance, but quickly realizes that true love doesn’t always follow a script.

Since I’m introducing myself, I might as well explain how I got here. I started out working in licensed publishing for a major motion picture and TV studio that shall remain nameless (because I feel that discretion is of paramount importance). This was when I first had the chance to work with the amazing editors at Simon & Schuster from the other side of the book process. It was my job to oversee the development of movie novelizations as well as the book series for TV shows like Sabrina, The Teenage Witch. And, really, who can ask for a better job than one that combines books with television?! But no matter how fun it was, it was still a job. Several years ago, I decided to leave the corporate drudgery to pursue my passion for writing and those same editors at S&S—to whom I will always be indebted—were the first to hire me.

I should also mention that, while I did oversee the Sabrina, The Teenage Witch book line—and the spin off, Salem’s Tails—I was introduced to the work of some really great authors, including a few that are part of this very blog. (Yes, Ms. Krulik, I’m talking about you. And you too ... um ... Ms. Goode.) And, of course, I had the opportunity to get to know some wonderful editors who became equally wonderful authors and amazingly wonderful friends (Hi, Micol!). So, around here, I may be the new kid on the block (Dance Break! Oh, oh, oh-oh-oh ... the right stuff) but I feel like I’m already familiar with the neighborhood.

But enough about me (and washed up eighties boy bands). Since so much of my past work has been related to television, let’s talk some more about that fun subject. (Because what better place to talk about TV than in a blog devoted to books!) With the fall TV season almost upon us—and we’ve sadly lost the likes of the Gilmore Girls and Veronica Mars from our season passes (not that I have TiVo, but I like to pretend I’m current)—what new shows are you all most looking forward to use as an excuse for a work or homework break?

For me, the top of the list has to be Chuck. Not because the show was created by Josh Schwartz, the man who taught us the way they do things in The O.C. And not because it has a great premise and a talented leading man. No. I’m into this one because the lead character works at a place that is an unabashed homage to a huge electronics chain store, which they’re calling ... wait for it ... Buy More! Is that not the most perfect name for a store ... ever?

So, how about all of you? What shows are you anxiously awaiting?

CH...CH...CH...CHANGES

My first book for Simon Pulse (GETTING TO THIRD DATE, pictured) was about a young woman who was trying to adjust to a whole new world of college life. This was a natural topic for me as I've literally never left the university life since I was dropped off at my dorm room in Dickinson Hall of the University of Delaware by my mom and dad (who said, "Don't come home on the weekends. Talk to people." ...very wise advice, btw). So I went to school for my BA in English, went back for a BA in Biology (which I did not earn, due to circumstances outside of my control -- my dh got a job teaching at a different state university), dabbled with grad school while working at said different state university, watched my oldest get her psych degree at same, am watching my middle work his way through same, and....ta da...dropped my youngest off at his (still local, but private) college last Saturday (those dorm rooms are *small*).

He hasn't had a lot of luck with school (dyslexia is a certified pain in the brain, he can attest). But this school, I hope, will be different. Not just because it is hands-on learning in a field he loves. Not just because the other students will be interested in and value the same things as my son. But because there are certain times in our lives when we get new chances to embrace big change and demand more of ourselves. College is one of those times.

There are two things that reminded me how much change is headed his way: (1) the warning about how expensive the equipment he is about to get his hands on actually is (ye gods, boy of mine, you better not break *anything*); and the fact that they say his name correctly (it isn't a hard name, but it is similar to a more popular name). His former school district couldn't get his name right...ever...in thirteen years. I stopped trying to correct them after a while. I figured they all, collectively, had a hearing discrimination issue and I try to respect other people's frailties (I, myself, can't remember faces very well at all, which is very embarrassing at times).

I'm not sure my son quite realizes how much his life is about to change (the teachers warned us to give them all three weeks to adjust). He's a 'dip a toe in the water to test it out' kind of kid. When he was little, he was afraid of our steep narrow dark stairs. He would not go down without holding onto my hand, or else he would drop to his bottom on the floor about three feet from the stairs and then scoot to the edge of the stairway, and inch his way down by sitting firmly on each stair (bounce, bounce, bounce, you'd be surprised how fast a toddler can get at that :-). And then, one day, without warning, he started running down stairs. That's what change is like for him. So, as his mom, I'm waiting for the familiar "I can handle this!" look on his face. I know it will come out of nowhere. I know I'll say something about it, the first time I see it, and he'll look at me and grin that same grin he gave me when I praised him for learning to handle our stairs like a big kid. And I'll grin back with that "I knew you could do it!" grin. Just like we have done through so many changes.

I know there are lots of people making changes, and wondering if they are good. So...change is hard, but one sign that it may be change for the better is when they get your name right without any prompting at all.

Kelly

Everyone's favorite four-letter word

Want copies of Major Crush and The Boys Next Door for FREE? You have five chances to win in September, and lots more chances to win other YA books. Just send The Genius an e-mail at the Teens Read Too book review site!

Where do you write?

Wendy Toliver

I split my writing between two places, the living room (as pictured with me on the floor holding my baby) and in my home office (shown with me on the couch.) My office is painted a bright, cheery shade of cranberry and there's a coordinating oriental rug on the floor. My favorite decoration is a painting of a redheaded angel that I bought from an artist (D. Finley) on Ebay. She's cute and sassy and keeps me in line. I also have a bookshelf that's practically toppling over with books, folders, Bratz dolls, and voodoo dolls, awards, etc. The quote on one of the shelves reads: One shoe can change your life ... Cinderella. I've tried to bring the world into my office, with art from all over the world, foreign signs, and paintings of girls touring places I dream of going. I have a terribly non-ergonomic desk, a cozy loveseat, three funky lamps, a bulletin board covered in photos and cards people have sent me, and a framed photo collage showcasing my favorite family photos. Somewhere in there is a phone and if I'm really lucky I can find a pen.

---

Aimee Friedman

I'm attaching a photograph of me in Prospect Park, in Brooklyn. Though I typically write at either a) my desk or b) Starbucks, those aren't that fun, and I LOVE writing outdoors when I can.

Basically, I take my laptop, a blanket, an iced coffee, maybe a baguette with some cheese, and spread out on a shady section of the grass, and just go to work. My laptop battery lasts for a good three hours or so, and I love feeling the buzz of activity around me as people go about their daily business and soak up the fresh air (well, as fresh as city air can be...).

---

Kelly McClymer

This is my office, after six solid months of writing where I didn't take a good cleaning break. I'm still in the throes of revising a book, but I tried to clean up in order to take a picture to show on the blog. Hah. Sharp-eyed viewers will spot: a copy of one of my witch trilogy books under some filing (came from my publisher from a third printing run and was dumped in the file pile); two boxes of holiday cards (very handy...in three months) the watch that goes with my exercise monitor (fell off the desk two months ago and has yet to be picked up); notes to myself; receipts; a toothbrush from my visit to the dentist a month ago; an Amazon box that is *not* empty but contains a friend's book that I ordered two months ago and have yet to unpack and read. The stack of file folders is my teaching work -- and that *will* be taken care of tomorrow...only to be replaced by a fresh stack of work, of course.

The desk is no cleaner, but I do have a cool new cork board wall (see next pic).

Ah, what I can stick to these cork panels -- when they finally stick to the wall (the push pins are meant to encourage the sticky stuff on the back to, you know, actually *stick*. I have to buy one more pack, for a truly awesome wall. I'm going to do my storyboarding there. Can't wait to finish my revisions and get on to the next project.

If you think the desk is bad, you should see the two bookshelves and the mini-desk on the other wall. One day, my office will be a paean to organization. I'll take another picture then, to prove it is possible to turn chaos into order.

---

Jennifer Echols

Office. I painted the walls pink to prevent my husband and my son from coming in and talking to me while I'm trying to write. It didn't work. The chick on the bulletin board is Zoey, the heroine from the novel I'm writing now, No Parking. No, you're not mistaken, the front has fallen off my computer tower. I can still use the buttons if I am very careful. Only the highest quality tools are used to write Jennifer Echols' novels, let me tell you.

Porch. I think the plant might have been dead for three years and I can't tell because it's a cactus. It petrifies instead of withering.

Starbucks!

---

Micol Ostow

Here is a set of pics of Miss Bridget Jones' contribution to my writing process (ie: "portrait of the writer returning home from a coffee shop," or "why I now work from my apartment").

---

Niki Burnham

I'll let everyone in on a deep, dark secret. I thrive on the unexpected when I'm away from home. I prefer the chaotic beauty of an English garden to the formal structure of a Versailles hedge, wandering streets to make my own discoveries over following a tour guide whose route and spiel hit a town's highlights in perfect order. I like the hum of people chatting in a restaurant, the noise of a stadium full of sports fans, and the chance to park myself on a bench or wall in the middle of a big city to people-watch. But at home, I crave structure and quiet. I'm an everything-in-its-place kind of person, which is why my office looks like this....

Here's what would really scare my friends (the ones with whom I travel, who are used to seeing the inside-out clothes strewn across my suitcase and/or hotel room floor four days into a weeklong trip): I didn't clean this room before I took the picture. This is really how I work. (If I'd have cleaned up for the picture, I would've taken the paper towel out from under the bonsai and filed the stack of papers on the shelf in the left-hand corner of the photo. I might've even put my glasses back in their case.)

Yep. I, Niki Burnham, am secretly a neat freak.

While I often do work in coffee shops or airports--happily, even--this is my favorite spot to write. Notebooks with research for my current project are close at hand; my computer screen is large and clear. There's plenty of sunlight, files are within reach but hidden away behind doors, and there are enough shelves to hold my books and pictures. I don't play music or have a television in the room. The silence and lack of clutter helps me think. So even though my characters are frequently knee-deep in mayhem, I'm not. At least not in this 9' x 11' corner of the world.

Leaving the Magic Behind

Hey all!

Just got back fom Disneyworld. It was hot, steamy, and a total blast. Gotta love that mouse. Anyone who can smlle as kids sweaty kids hug him andpaw all over him deserves props. And don't try to tell me that it's just a guy in a costume. I'm not gonna believe you!

It is such fun to get away on vacation. Just letting your brain rest is one of the best gifts you can give yourself. And you know I didn't bring my laptop on the Rockin' Roller Coaster or Space Mountain! It was a total battery recharge, and I have come back ready to write.

In fact, I'm working on a new Rocom to be released next summer! It's exciting to be back in the teen brain (a little confusing, too, I admit) as it's been ages since I wrote a new teen novel. Having two series running simultaneously leaves little time for a long novel, but this summer I indulged myself and took on the challenge. I will let you all know more about the book in a bit, but for now I like playing things close to the vest. And besides, I'm in a playful mysterious mood today.

On a different note, I have been interviewed for the new Author's Channel on the 'net. Right now, the interviews that are edited and posted as video blogs are about the Katie Kazoo series, but the teen stuff and the interviews about the How I Survived Middle School series will be posted on the channel shortly. Here's the link to the channel. Just scroll down until you find children's books, and click. Then search for the book/author you want to hear speaking about their craft.

http://vidshadow.com/authors_top.asp

Hope you're all enjoying your own lazy, crazy days of summer. . .

xxo

N

swimming lessons

It's a sad but true fact of my life:

I do not know how to swim.

I used to include this in my litany of "Oh, I'm a city girl!" excuses (alongside with "Sure, I never got my license, but I can ride the subway better than you"). And while it's true that I never did the summer camp thing, preferring to hole up in my air-conditioned bedroom with ice cream, my journal, and a pen to scribble stories, there WERE neighborhood pools where I could have taken lessons. Most of my city friends know how to swim -- some not too well, but at least they can stay afloat in the deep end. I guess I blame my parents to some extent as well -- when I was very little and fearless, they didn't take advantage of that time to throw me in the water. By the time I was old enough to be neurotic and worrisome (um, like I am now...) the idea of putting my face in chlorinated water was horrifying.
Fast-forward to this summer, when a crack team comprised of my friends and my boyfriend decided, in the pool of a friend's beautiful country home on the tippy-tip of Long Island, that their mission for the afternoon was: Teach Aimee to Swim.
It was terrifying. Six cheering, encouraging voices urged me to "Let go! Let go!" of the side of the pool, to "Pick up your feet!", to "Keep kicing!" and, most importantly, "JUST RELAX!" as I sputtered and sank and splashed. I defy anyone to "JUST RELAX!" while they are being screamed at, and bobbing in freezing cold water. I gripped people's arms, I announced, rather calmly, that I was "seriously freaking out," and in one life-flashing-before-my-eyes moment, I submerged completely, only to come up shocked and shaken. For the rest of the weekend, a favorite game of my friends was "who can best imitate the expression on Aimee's face when she came up after going underwater?"
I swear that, despite all this, my friends are very kind people.
The hardest part for me was learning not to leave one foot on the bottom of the pool for safety, to kick off with both legs up and floating. Once I mastered this, it was surprisingly easy to float across the pool (while hanging for dear life onto my boyfriend's wrists, of course) and I began to, well, have fun.
I'm sure this metaphor has been used before, but writing is a lot like swimming. At least, for me. When I first sit down to write a novel, there is that scary sensation: I CAN'T take my feet off the bottom of the pool. I can't plunge in and begin. There are so many traps, so many pitfalls that lie in wait --what if I cramp up and get stuck? What if I lose myself in a sea of narrative and drown? So much of writing is learning to trust yourself, to trust that you've done it before, that you won't sink and drown, that you have supportive friends on the sidelines to cheer you on and hold your hands when you're at your worst.
I'll be starting a new novel this fall, and though the idea for it is still simmering, I'm pretty sure it will have something to do with water, with swimming. No, I didn't really learn to swim this summer, but my experiences in the water taught me a lot about myself, and the nature of trust and friendship and fear. Maybe I'll be braver when I sit down to write this time. Or at least I'll know that, in the worst of scenarios, I can always summon a life preserver by calling up a friend.

Boyfriend brag

It's been a great day! In addition to having a lovely lunch with a new editor regarding a super-fun project (more news later), Noah just learned that his short piece on his grandfather's work as a medic in WWII was chosen by WGBH Boston to run as an interstitial during the Ken Burns documentary, "War," this September. You can see a rough cut here:

http://lab.wgbh.org/open-call/clearing- ... t#comments

Bridget Jones has chosen to celebrate this news with a hearty pre-bedtime nap!
Good times all around.

School's back in session!

School around here starts this week and the stores are stocked with back-to-school clothes and supplies. It brings me back to when I was in school and all the excitement of the first day. What will my teacher be like? Who will be in my class? Will I make the basketball team? What track events will I do this year? What am I going to wear? How am I going to do my hair? And, most importantly, will there be any totally hot new guys at my school?

What is it about the new guys? Is it the mystery factor, or the fact that they're not already assigned to a certain clique and therefore up for grabs? In my WIP there's an adorable new guy from Texas who wins the heart of the main character. Of course, he's good looking and he has a mesmerizing drawl. But what I think is really cool about him is he's not caught up in appearances and he's willing to hang out with anyone, regardless of cliques or groups.

For those of you going back to school, good luck! And don't forget to be yourself. :)

All work and some play

So, as I'm sure my fellow bloggers will attest, when you tell people that you write YA fiction, they usually respond with a bright smile and a, "that must be so much FUN!"

And it is. It really is. When I'm surfing baby-naming websites for names of characters or conducting "research" by watching reality tv, I have a great time. And the actual writing itself isn't always completely painful, either. But the truth is that no matter how much I love my job, it is *work.* There are deadlines, revisions, and--agh--days when the words refuse to come. Then there's the whole question of boring, grown-up concerns, like knowing when your next gig will be coming along. I am fortunate enough to have a great agent who loves to sit with me and think "big picture," but the big picture can be awfully intimidating, and truthfully, the ro coms are the steadiest work I've got.

I can't say why, for sure. Maybe it's all those years I fancied myself the next Francine Pascal, scribbling ideas for Sweet Valley High novels in my journal. But whatever the reason, I definitely slip into the ro com world as fluidly as if they were a scrunchy pair of Old Navy yoga pants (mmm...yoga pants...).

That's why i was so excited to hear from my editor this week that she's ready to start thinking about a new story together. Frighteningly, I've got two back-to-back deadlines coming up, and have been living and breathing my graphic novel project since June. Freelance: it's always feast or famine.

Luckily, I am just back from a long weekend at the cigarette-studded Jersey shore (see brother Dave's sketch of a local historical building). I am rejuvenated, and ready to dive back into the work.

Here's hoping my motivation lasts at least as long as my tan does....

Little joys

I had to take the dog to the groomer's this week. Thing about owning a poodle is that they need trimming pretty regularly (I've taken to calling Tipper "fluffanutter" for the week or so before she gets clipped.) I go to a place in Natick, MA. There's not much to do in the immediate vicinity of the groomer's, so it's usually a good time to get back in the car and try to run a few other errands. This week, however, I decided to wander down the street from the groomer's to a bakery and grab a coffee to take back to the car before heading out.

If you're ever in Natick, check out Bakery on the Common. Oh, YUM.



Imagine the smell of freshly-baked Challah bread made into French toast and dusted with cinnamon. Kids munching homemade chocolate biscotti. Guys in the kitchen whipping up omelettes with smiles on their faces. The place was sooooo much more than simple coffee. Needless to say, I grabbed a table and stayed. Sitting there soaking in the atmosphere, reading a great book, and enjoying a delicious breakfast made a mundane errand into one of life's little joys.

From now on, dog-clipping day is going to be a real treat. The whole experience got me brainstorming ways to make other errands and chores more fun. Any suggestions?

“Please do not exit on that side of the taxi, you will get killed”

(Updated when I figured out how to get the photos off my phone)

On Tuesday I went to NYC to visit Catherine, my BFF from high school in Alabama. She’s the artistic director at The Moth. She showed me her office in Manhattan and the beautiful loft space with a rooftop garden where she’s getting married in September. Then we walked around the city in the twilight.

Catherine: And here’s the shop where a friend recommended I get my wedding veil. But I’m not sure a veil will look good with my red wedding dress. I was thinking a tiara.

Jenn: I was just going to suggest that.

Catherine: And have the hairdresser arrange it so I can take the tiara out after the ceremony is over, for the rest of the party.

Jenn: I think, with wedding hair, once the tiara goes in, it’s pretty much there to stay.

Catherine: I need to be able to take it out. It might get in the way when I spin fire on the roof.

Jenn: You talk like you’ve spun fire wearing a tiara before. *chuckle*

Catherine: *dead serious* I ALWAYS wear a tiara when I spin fire.

Jenn: Oh, I beg your-- Hey, a rat, my first New York rat! How adorable! *following rat into alley for a closer look*

Catherine: Watch out, they jump.

Jenn: Ack!

Finally she showed me her apartment.

Jenn: It’s so cuuuuuuuute!

Catherine: It’s tiny. But you have to call it something. Here’s the skylight the girl fell through when the Rockettes threw a party on the roof.

I have to say I would not want to live in NYC myself. I had claustrophobic dreams and woke with a strange need to walk all the way to the edge of the island to make sure the water was still there. (It was.) But Catherine loves the city, and it was wonderful to see her so happy and share her life for a few hours. I can’t wait to go back in September!

Yesterday I had lunch with my agent and my editor. My next book is BOY IN BLUE, about a 17-year-old who avoids prosecution for a high school stunt by spending spring break on night patrol with the 19-year-old rookie cop who arrested her. It will be published by MTV Books in February 2009. You will be happy to hear I did not spill anything or trip over anything at the meeting, and I did not smear chocolate on my suit until I got back to LaGuardia.

Book learnin'

Hey guys--
I've just learned that I am going to be teaching a YA writing course at Media Bistro in NYC this fall. The course is designed to help you start--and finish--your YA manuscript in 12 weeks. It's going to run from Oct 2 until Dec 18, on Tuesday nights. Check out the MB website: www.mediabistro.com for more details.

Thunderstorms

I spent a good portion of my growing up years in South Carolina. I knew the beauty and the danger of thunder and lightning (why do people go out into the ocean on blow-up rafts in the middle of thunderstorms?). As a child, I remember sitting near an open window, feeling the wet storm breeze coming in through the screen, a sweet reprieve from oppressive heat.

When I moved to Delaware, the thunderstorms got fewer and less fierce, but I still would park myself in front of a window to watch and catch the breeze when I could.

The move to Maine, twenty years ago, robbed me of my summer storms. Sure, the weatherman might say there was going to be a thunderstorm. Hah! Pretender storm more like it. Perhaps a bolt of lightening, one wimpy round of thunder, a puff of breeze. Granted, the summers are cool here (70s and 80s are more usual than 90s). But still, I missed my storms.

Until this year. This year, we have had several storms a week for the last few weeks. Real storms -- lightning that cracks jaggedly from cloud to ground and thunder that shakes the house. We're predicted to have more this week. Even though it means unplugging my computer (my parents had their modem zapped by -- FL -- lightning once), I welcome the storms. It really feels like August to me (we even got a few days in the 90s last week!).

Here's hoping your summer brings you at least one of the things you love about the season.

Kelly

Music for your drive

What radio station are you listening to over the noise of the air conditioner while you’re driving to work, play, or band camp?

In high school my station of choice was Y-102 from Montgomery. They played great music. They also had Mark Thompson as a DJ. He liked to make prank phone calls to the White House. When I was in 10th grade, everyone at my school was thrilled that he was the DJ for our prom--which I didn’t attend because I was at a statewide student government retreat at the beach.

Then Mark moved to I-95 from Birmingham, which played even better music. That became my station of choice. He was joined by someone named Brian Phelps, and they continued to make phone calls to the White House. They got so popular that they were offered jobs at a radio station in Los Angeles, and they left us.

A few years later we heard they’d landed a TV show, which turned out to be short-lived. I never saw it. This was during my no-TV/English major/high culture/literary snob phase. But a few weeks ago I finally watched The Princess Diaries, and there are Mark and Brian as Themselves, as if they’re still popular DJs in Los Angeles. Weird! (I was also fascinated by how such a wonderful book could be turned into such an awful movie, but that’s a subject for another blog entry.)

When I was at Auburn University, my station of choice was the übercool student alternative station WEGL, which you could only receive for about five blocks around Haley Center.

Here in Birmingham, until recently my fave was 100 The X, which played all the latest rock--Incubus, Relient K, Audioslave, Nickelback. Then, without warning or explanation, they suddenly became a Auburn and Alabama football talk show. All football all the time, as if you can’t get this at any break room, gas station, or family reunion around here! LIKE WE NEED MORE DISCUSSION OF AUBURN AND ALABAMA FOOTBALL. I am a football fan but please, the CD player in my car is broken, I need Incubus.

Luckily 105.5 The Vulcan has popped up to fill the void, but it’s not the same. They do play some new rock, but for the most part they’re stuck in the 1990s--Alice in Chains, older Red Hot Chili Peppers, and enough with the Nirvana already. Kurt Cobain is dead, yo. (*shielding head from rotten vegetables*)

Living Large: A Reader/Writer Challenge

I am huge.

I don't mean feeling sort of bloated and post-cupcake-chubby huge, but massive, reminiscent of some sort of whale-esque creature or perhaps an elephant. Yes, this grandeur comes with pregnancy. Even moreso with a twin pregnancy, but boy, I am unenviably large. I will have two new babies sometime around the beginning of September, and in the meantime, I'm stuck at home roasting in the muggy August heat enjoying a small-child's-worth of excess weight.

So this month, I issue a challenge...
Can you entertain me?

I have been stuck in a semi-laying-down position for about a month now, and books and movies and trying to write are just getting old. Even beach-reading fluff has lost its glimmer. I've surfed and re-surfed the internet. All my photo albums are in order. I don't do crafts. I am too impatient to learn a language. But I need something to do....HELP!

Anyone who can successfully entertain me with either an amazing book suggestion, a must-see movie that will keep me from falling asleep, a fabulous website, or some other much-more-creative and clever couch-based endeavor will be my new best friend. Are you up to the challenge?

Later,

E.