Teen Fiction Café

Writing for Charity

2008-07-17T14:37:00.000-07:00

If you happen to live in the Utah area, this might be of interest to you. Even if you live elsewhere, hopefully you'll enjoy reading about this fun charity project and it will inspire you to do something proactive to help people in need.

This summer have unfettered access to professional children’s authors, all in the name of charity! Saturday, July 19 several local authors will host a Writing for Charity event in Salt Lake City, with all profits going to The Wheelchair Project, which provides wheelchairs for people in third world countries. Come hear writers talk about their process, how to write for a young audience, storytelling tips, and the ins and outs of the publishing business. In addition, have your picture book text or first page of your novel (the most important page!) workshopped by professionals.

When: Saturday, July 19, 9 am to 1 pm

Where: Salt Lake Main Library, 200 East 400 South, Salt Lake City, Utah

Cost: $45 (tax deductible!)

Authors include Brandon Mull, Shannon Hale, Mette Ivie Harrison, Ann Cannon, Kristyn Crow, Becky Hickox, Kimberley Heuston, Anne Bowen, Aprilynne Pike, Ann Dee Ellis, Mike Knudson, and Wendy Toliver (me!)

And on a totally unrelated note, check out my new cover. MISS MATCH will be out right in time for Valentine's Day!

Book Signing & New Video

2008-07-15T10:35:00.000-07:00

UPDATE: The signing was a good time! Check out pics @ YA Fresh and there is also a signed copy of Stephanie Kuehnert's I WANNA BE YOUR JOEY RAMONE up for grabs this weekend!
***Hey Everyone! I just wanted to share about a book signing with our Stephanie Kuehnert and myself at Borders Express in Monterey, California tomorrow night, July 16th - 7:00 pm. Steph will be signing I WANNA BE YOUR JOEY RAMONE and I'll be signing GRAFFITI GIRL. And of course, there will be a giveaway! I'm excited to meet Steph, and we'd love to meet you if you are in the area!

And on a different note, I'm happy to share my book video for my next release, INVISIBLE TOUCH!

Thanks for letting me share!

~kelly

Coming soon... CanterwoodCrest.com

2008-07-14T06:31:00.000-07:00

It’s promo week here at Teen Fiction Café and I’ve got something to share! (Finally, right?) :)

So, coming over the next few weeks is…CANTERWOODCREST.COM! Yeah! The site is parked and there’s nothing there now, but there will be soon. This is a site just for my Aladdin MIX Canterwood Crest series. Some of the fun things you’ll find on the site:

Downloadable avatars and wallpapers
Quizzes
Giveaways
Never before seen photos of the Canterwood girls
and more!

The contest will be fresh, fun and the tone will follow the tagline for Take the Reins—who says teammates have to be friends?

The Website is in the design process now and I’m suuuuper-excited. When it’s up, there will be an announcement on my Website (www.jessicaburkhart.com) and on my blog.

Happy summer!

friends who aren't really friends. sometimes known as enemies.

2008-07-07T19:23:00.000-07:00

So, first of all, hi! This is my first post here at TFC, and let me tell you it's an honor. I'm a little nervous, though, because if there's one thing I've learned watching What Not To Wear marathons, it's the importance of first impressions. Right now I'm wearing a fitted jacket. Over my pajamas. Okay not really.

Friends! How many of us have them? Friends! The ones we can depend on? Sorry, sorry, I do have a habit of breaking into Whodini songs.

There are a lot of things I could talk about when it comes to friends. There is my friend, Sarah, who doesn't judge when we're watching Project Runway at her house and I suddenly say, "Do you mind if I unwrap a dozen of these Hershey Kisses, mix them into a bowl of Frosted Mini-Wheats, and pour milk on top? For the purposes of eating?" I could write about my history with friends who move away, and the one who didn't say goodbye. But I think today I'll write about one of those people everyone seems to have in their childhood, that person who is connected to you in some way and therefore the adults in your life think you should be friends, never considering that you may not only have nothing in common - you may hate each other's guts. Yet social pressures force you to put up a facade and because you're, like, seven years old, it doesn't occur to you to say, "Um, no."

In my life, this girl's name was...Ava. Not really. But I have to protect myself, here! She put up a pretty convincing front as a good girl, but she was bad in ways our parents could not imagine. Have you read Jo Knowles' Lessons From a Dead Girl? It was a little bit like that (but not for the same reasons, as far as I know). Most of the time, we didn't go to the same school, but because of the connection our parents had, we were forced to spend way too much time together. Even more unfortunate was the fact that our birthdays were a few days apart and more than once our moms thought it was a good idea to have a joint party. I've blocked those out.

What I do remember: Ava was blond and pretty and girly - everything I wasn't. When we were little kids, I liked to play make believe Prairie Wagon. She liked to make her Barbies have sex. As we got older, she liked to scare me. If I was sleeping over, as soon as it got dark and we were settled in bed, she'd say in a creepy whisper, "Did you hear that?" or "Did you see that shadow?" or "I think my dad left the door unlocked..." knowing that the rest of the night I would be terrified and wide awake, imagining murderers lurking in the hall. Then, her games got more cruel. One time (another sleepover - I don't know why I kept putting myself through this), I was changing out of my clothes into my pj's. Her older brother had a friend over. In the second I was totally naked, she called for her brother's friend to come in. I fell, screaming, onto the floor behind the bed. Ava thought this was hilarious. "What?" she said. "It's not like there's anything to see." As we both got into our teens and our parents were less involved in our social lives, these episodes became less and less frequent. Still, there were a few scary nights and a lot of compulsive lying on her part. At least, I hope it was compulsive lying. Because if the stuff she told me about herself was true, she was worse off than I thought.

Why, oh why, do people stay "friends" - or, at least, continue to agree to spend time with - people who terrify them, or belittle them? Why don't parents notice that the two aren't a "good fit," to borrow a phrase so often used in the publishing world? And if any of this sounds familiar to you, you should totally read Jo's book.

WF vs NWF

2008-07-07T08:28:00.000-07:00

Let’s get friendly! Yep, we’re still talking friends here at TFC!

Since I’m a writer, I’ve got writer friends. Some who write books. Some write plays. A few write movies.

Then I’ve got my non-writing friends. Soon-to-be nurses. Students. Future lawyers.

When I talk to writer friends about my work in progress or different aspects of the publishing world, it’s SO different than talking to my non-writing friends.

Here’s how it goes:

Me to Writer Friend: OMG! I’m getting my ARCs soon!

Writer Friend: Yay! That’s awesome!

or…

Me to a Non-Writer Friend: OMG! I’m getting my ARCs soon!

Non-Writer Friend: Your what?!

I’ve only been in the book biz for a year and a half, but I forget how much lingo I’ve learned. When I talk to my NWF (non-writer friends), I forget that not long ago *I* didn’t know what ARCs, galleys or copy edits were.

It’s fun talking to WF (writer friends) who are knowledgeable about publishing, but it’s also just as fun explaining publishing to my NWF.

So, what about you? Are the majority of your friends writers? What do you like about having friends who are non-writers?

Best-Friend Breakups

2008-07-06T21:04:00.000-07:00

I’m not gonna lie: This blog is kind of a downer.

When I was in college, I had a best friend. I met her freshman year, and we used to talk for hours. We had nicknames for each other, knew each others' families and shared everything. A year or so after college, we broke up. It was swift and unexpected, and though I won’t go into the complicated reasons for our breakup, I will say that she ended things without ever saying goodbye. I’m still sometimes surprised that I can’t call her to tell her about something that’s going on in my life. I really wish I could say that it doesn’t still hurt, but it does, sometimes.

I’ve written on this blog about what fabulous friends I have—and that’s very true. But I know the pain of the friend breakup, too, and in some ways it’s harder than the end of a romance. Because it’s the end of something that you really never thought would end.

I even bought a book about when girls’ friendships end—I turned to the self-help shelf of all places, looking for a way to deal with how sad I felt. It’s painful in so many ways. Has anyone else dealt with this friendship breakup? How did you get through it? It’s been seven years for me (!) and I’m still finding my way.

Friends

2008-07-06T07:24:00.000-07:00

Thelma & Louise. Cagney & Lacey. Starsky & Hutch.

OK, so maybe that last doesn't quite fit the direction I was going with this, but I was out late last night celebrating my birthday a day early and I'm just too tired-headed this morning to think up another female-duo pairing. Sure, you've got your Lucy & Ethel, but the show wasn't named such so that doesn't count. (Btw, funniest line of the night last night? One of the guys said, "The older I get, the better Ethel Mertz looks to me." I think that should be on a T-shirt.)

So where am I going with this? Well, I guess I'm going toward this week's theme here at TFC: Friends.

My mom always says you only need one friend. While I think Mom's got something there, I do have more than one friend. On the other hand, I've never been a posse kind of person. Maybe that's why my characters aren't either. In ANGEL'S CHOICE, Angel's got Karin and later Danny; in SECRETS OF MY SUBURBAN LIFE, Ren does have a posse, sort of, but they're all cabdrivers, and she does eventually become friends with two girls who are themselves best friends, T'Keyah and Kiki; and in ME, IN BETWEEN, Lacey's got Margot and later Sam. But with the exception of Ren's developing friendship with T'Keyah and Kiki, none of my heroines seem capable of doing anything with two friends at once.

What have I done to my poor heroines? Have I inflicted lonerism on them?

I'm an odd duck. If put into a situation with a large group of people like last night, I'm happy enough to work the crowd. I do fine at big parties, never hug the walls. But for some reason, whenever I think of putting something together, it's a one-on-one for dinner or a movie etc. I guess that's my natural preference: one on one.

And I guess I think I'm a really odd duck because, for the most part, I don't do a whole lot of reaching out to other people. Whether it's good news or bad news, I tend to keep it all to myself unless someone asks. But I hardly ever initiate. I don't call. I don't email. On the other hand, if you call or email, I will always reply - unless you are a stalker - and in a timely fashion. And yet I like my friends, love my friends, would die for my friends.

Still, maybe having a solitary nature isn't such a bad thing in a writer. And maybe it's not so bad in a fictional character either. After all, the duos I opened this blog with are all from TV and film. But how often do you get the equivalent of the buddy flick in literature? In literature, it's more usual than not for there to be one protagonist, one person who needs to complete the journey, learning whatever needs to be learned along the way. Maybe that's why solitary has mostly worked for me: I'm the protagonist of my own life story, hopefully even learning something every now and then.

So how about you? Could they make a buddy flick of your life? Are you one of a dynamic duo or a posse person? Do you prefer to go it alone?

Be well. Don't forget to write.

New Girl on the Blog!

2008-07-02T09:02:00.000-07:00

I generally have bad associations with being the new girl. This is mainly because when I moved from St. Louis, Missouri to Oak Park, Illinois in third grade, I had a really hard time making friends. I know now that those girls that turned their noses up at me because I didn’t have the right clothes and was bookish were just snobs and not even really cool anyway. But the fact that it took me about seven years to feel like I’d found my place in my new town left a little bit of a chip on my shoulder and when I walk into new situation, anxiety flares.

However, when it comes to writing and reading related things, I’ve always seemed to fit in right away. When I started school at Columbia College Chicago, I felt comfortable in the Fiction Writing Department immediately, so comfortable in fact that I got a job at the office there and stayed for five years! And when my debut novel I WANNA BE YOUR JOEY RAMONE sold to a YA publisher and I had to familiarize myself with the YA world, I felt immediately welcomed. I’ve been navigating my new school, if you will, for about a year now, and many of the gals on this blog have been my guides. And now to be invited to hang out with them at the Teen Fiction Café? Well, that invitation pretty much makes up for all those slumber parties I wasn’t invited to in grade school. The people that hang out here are way cooler than the queen bees I went to school with in my book and I know we’ll have wayyyyyyyy better conversations, too.

But I guess now is the time to stand up in front of the class (or in the middle of the café as the case may be here) and tell ya all about myself, right?

So I’m Stephanie Kuehnert and I’m from the Chicago area. My 29^th birthday is coming up on July 13^th. I’m huge into music and the top five most played artists you’ll find on my iPod are Nirvana, Hole, Social Distortion, Rancid, and Against Me!, but I listen to a pretty wide variety of stuff from punk bands to Pink to legends like Johnny Cash. I swoon over Johnny Depp. My favorite TV shows are Grey’s Anatomy and Degrassi (all of them, I grew up on Degrassi Junior High and High, but I’m totally addicted to the Next Generation, too), but I also like the weirder stuff like the X Files and Twin Peaks. I’m obsessed with pirates and Hello Kitty and big sunglasses and vintage dresses and the city of Seattle. I work an office job now, but I really loved bartending.

Oh yeah, and I wrote a book called I WANNA BE YOUR JOEY RAMONE, which officially comes out from MTV Books on July 8^th, but you can already buy it on amazon now (way to throw me off, amazon!). Here is the basic deal about IWBYJR (ie. what you will read on the back of the book):

A raw, edgy, emotional novel about growing up punk and living to tell.

The Clash. Social Distortion. Dead Kennedys. Patti Smith. The Ramones.

Punk rock is in Emily Black’s blood. Her mother, Louisa, hit the road to follow the incendiary music scene when Emily was four months old and never came back.

Now Emily’s all grown up with a punk band of her own, determined to find the tune that will bring her mother home. Because if Louisa really is following the music, shouldn’t it lead her right back to Emily?

You can find out more about the book on my website.

Now, since I was lovely enough to get an invitation to Teen Fiction Café, I would like to invite all the lovely people that hang out here to my cyber release party for I WANNA BE YOUR JOEY RAMONE. It is a week long party with lots of fun guests and prizes. That’s right a week long! See the lengths I go to to make an impression! I really want you guys to like me and think I’m fun! Lol! But seriously, here is the invite and I hope to see you at one of my blogs next week!

Da Do Run Run

2008-06-30T08:28:00.000-07:00

I ran a mile over the weekend without stopping. I didn't really mean to. Previously, the furthest I had run was a quarter mile. Once around the track. So I thought I would see if I could run two. Then I felt pretty good after the second one so I thought I'd try for three. After getting about half way around the third time, I realized what I'd done. Now I HAD to run around the fourth time because I was just one tiny lap from making a mile. So I did it. Rocky has nothing on me.

Then, to make sure it wasn't a fluke, I did it the next day, too.

I've always wanted to run. Where this insane desire comes from, I have no idea because quite frankly, I hate it. I've never been into physical fitness and even flunked PE a couple of times because I refused to do what the teachers wanted me to. But I love the lean and mean look runners have. I see someone running who has obviously been doing it for a while and I'm torn between jealousy and thinking they must be missing a few brain cells.

But secretly I've always wanted to do it. And why not? Check them out!

My daughter, who runs sporadically, told me I should run with her ipod, but I've resisted. Walking or running is the only time I have away from electronic devices or a book. It's the only time where I have to completely entertain myself. I think about my wips, my business strategy and what I'm going to eat later that day.

Jane Porter once posted a blog where she wanted to get lean and mean, both physically and in her writing and I guess that is what I am trying to do. Write better books and have a better body. Good goals. What do you think?

Paging Mrs. Ringo Starr . . .

2008-06-27T18:10:00.000-07:00

So this week we're blogging about crushes--and for me, it all started with Ringo Starr.

I was six years old and feeling very grown up to be hanging out with my older sisters and several of their uber cool friends--all of us taking turns drooling over the Let it Be album cover, choosing which Beatle we'd most likely marry--when pretty much everyone there (predictably) chose Paul

Except me. I went straight for Ringo.

Partly because of his assumed availability since nobody present seemed to be interested in him, and partly because he had the coolest name I'd ever heard at the time. (Also, something about his long scraggly hair and moustache really spoke to me).

I carried this crush on Ringo for years--imagining how Alyson Starr would look on our wedding announcement (quite good, I still think). Only to enter junior high, cave to peer pressure, and replace Ringo with a number of the popular teen idols at the time. Guys like: Leif Garrett, John Travolta (um, this was back in the Saturday Night Fever craze), and Parker Stevenson--definitely my Hardy Boy of choice.

To say my tastes had hit the mainstream would be putting it mildly. But by high school, all of that changed and my affections switched to the serious rock stars--and the more British the better! I spent major hard earned $$ saved from working my after school job to sit third row at the David Bowie Modern Love concert. And did the same with Paul Weller of The Jam and Style Council Fame, as well as Morrissey, those guys from the Cure, and, no, I'm not at all ashamed to admit it, Adam Ant--whose white stripe and come hither gaze, drove me wild!

But lately, my affections have changed. Now it's the smart, quirky funny types that garner my interest. Which means if Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, Dennis Leary, or Ricky Gervais ever wants to buy me a coffee--well, that's okay by me.

But then again, if David Boreanaz from Angel fame ever wants to brood on my balcony--he's more than welcome.

So tell me, have your crushes changed through the years--or do you stick with one type?

Summer Crushes

2008-06-26T09:12:00.000-07:00

*

This is a repeat of a blog post I did for YAEnchanting Reviews a while ago. But the answers can be fun, so here we go...

In my latest book, DEATH BY BIKINI, Aphra Connoly must decide if the new hot boy on the
island is worth the trouble he and his family bring to her dad's
exclusive resort. But then, Aphra develops a rather serious crush...
is her judgment impaired?

Crushes truly have a power all their own. Behavior we would normally,
as sane people, never exhibit, we come to find is second nature.
Couple that with the romance power of summer nights and watch out! For
the entire summer break, you might not be in control of your actions.

I lived in a college town. Every summer, that college would host
sports camps... which meant a new crop of boys every couple of weeks!
This was mostly just a fun diversion - crashing the summer dances,
flirting with the guys - a new COW (Crush of the Week) every seven days, but there was one boy...

I don't remember anything about him except his pretty green eyes and
the way he walked - with a little bit of a lilt on the upstep. So
cute. I followed him all over campus the week he was there. Missed
work, stayed out after curfew, got a nasty sunburn watching him
practice baseball. All for a crush that would only last seven days.

But you know what? It was a fun seven days! Nothing quite matches the
thrill of a summer crush.

So, tell me: what stupid things have you done in the name of a summer
crush? Come on, come clean!

* Image from SUMMER RAIN, 2007

First Crush

2008-06-25T20:41:00.000-07:00

The most obvious crush for me to talk about is my long standing adoration of all things David Boreanaz, however, let's face it I'm not really a sharer, so I might just keep him to myself and talk about my first crush instead.

I was eight and it was on Will Robinson from the television show Lost in Space. God I loved that guy, and you know I really feel that he loved me as well. Yes, distance was a problem. I was in Australia and he was, well, Lost in Space, but when something is true and real you don't let details like that get in the way.

And actually, my crush on Will was probably a clue that I was meant to be a writer because the things I did to that boy. I broke his leg numerous times just so I could look after him. I think I gave him measles once as well because I figured hey, he's already got freckles, what's the difference. In fact I think I had about two happy years with Will before those Hardy Boys came along and my fickle heart was distracted by becoming Mrs Parker Stevens. I have had crushes on real people as well, but they were a bit harder. I mean I've got a reasonably bendy imagination but it's hard to dream about a boy when you've seen him pick his nose in the playground and then go and fart on someone's head.

So what about everyone else? Was your first crush on someone real, or a celebrity?

Le sigh..........

2008-06-22T14:21:00.000-07:00

This week we're talking about crushes, so I thought I'd talk about my latest (okay, I have discussed him before, but what the heck.... you can't get enough of a good thing).

Late to the party, I might be, but my crush is no less deep...... the gorgeous Johnny Depp. I even forced myself to watch all the blood and gore in Sweeny Todd, just to watch him.... and I LOVE his singing voice and his English accent is spot on!!

And what I love most about Johnny (not counting his fabulous bone structure... and the rest of his body) is that he's such a cool actor. When you watch him in a movie you see the character he's playing... and not Johnny Depp playing the character..... if you get what I mean).

So..... who else has a Johnny crush????

Btw..... Clive Owen and Keven Costner (even if he is a bit older) also figure on my radar!!!!

My Real World Launch Party

2008-06-20T09:05:00.001-07:00

PROMO WEEK: CHOOS v SHOES

2008-06-15T07:08:00.000-07:00

Since my most recent book for teens - ME, IN BETWEEN - came out in March, and since so many older teens read my adult books, at least the comedies, I hope no one will mind if the book I promo today is BABY NEEDS A NEW PAIR OF SHOES. It's my fifth and, as far as I know, my final book for Red Dress Ink.

"Baby" is the nickname of Delilah Sampson, an obsessive compulsive window washer who turns to her father's profession - casino blackjack - in order to finance her most recent obsession: Jimmy Choos. As her story progresses, Baby finds herself drawn towards two men: Billy Charisma, a tuxedo-wearing professional gambler whose name says it all, and Chris, a follow-your-dream kind of guy whose own ambition is to excel at being a yo-yoist.

I rarely complain publicly about anything to do with publishing: 1) because it's mostly a futile exercise; and 2) because it's usually bad form. But I'm going to complain a little bit today.

The book I originally turned in, over two years ago, was titled BABY NEEDS A NEW PAIR OF CHOOS. No one questioned the title, no one made a fuss...until a few weeks ago when I received an email informing me that the legal department at RDI had decided that unless they could get someone at Jimmy Choo to OK the title, it would need to be changed. And now I've been informed that, having been unable to get anyone at Jimmy Choo to return their calls, the title has been changed. Not much dismays me about publishing - I've even been asked to change a few of my titles in the past when the people in marketing or whatever have decided that they wanted a change - but I am dismayed by this, because sometimes a title is perfect for a book. Can you imagine if THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA had instead been titled THE DEVIL WEARS HIGH FASHION? No, I didn't think so. It doesn't quite have the same ring to it, does it? So now I feel I've gone from a title that was terrific and catchy - and one that was fully expressive of all dimensions of the book - to one that is substantially less so.

Ah, well. Thanks for listening to me whine.

So here's my promo bid for today: please preorder my book, no matter what its title, and encourage your friends to do the same, because the best revenge I've ever found in publishing is good sales.

QUESTION OF THE DAY FOR WRITERS: HAVE YOU EVER BEEN ASKED TO CHANGE A TITLE AND, IF SO, WERE YOU HAPPY WITH THE RESULT?

QUESTION FOR READERS: HAVE YOU EVER READ A BOOK THAT YOU THOUGHT WAS GREAT BUT ALSO THOUGHT THAT THE TITLE WAS BAD OR BORING OR JUST DIDN'T FIT THE BOOK?

Be well. Don't forget to write.

That's what friends are for...

2008-06-13T12:04:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I may have some very angsty diary entries and some fairly mortifying high school moments I'd like to forget, but what always got me through those rough patches was friendship.

I made this collage for the cover of my senior-year scrapbook (1995, thank you very much!) and it really illustrates who I was in high school. Because all of my best friends back then were a part of me. And they still are.

Yes, that's me in the center in my Nanette Lepore prom dress--which is in my closet right now. I am nothing if not nostalgic.

So what about you guys? Still friends with those high school BFFs? Or--if you're in the midst of high school right now--do you plan to stay friends?

I recommend it. There's no one in the world like the people who knew you then.

Surviving Adolescence: My Room

2008-06-13T07:39:00.000-07:00

As a mom of four, the idea that my bedroom is my sanctuary is . . . well, laughable. By the time I am done with dinner, clean-up, laundry, writing, answering emails, homework duty, putting my Demon Baby to bed, and all the rest of it, and get into my bed, all I want to do is collapse in quiet and read. But then starts the older ones tromping in. This one wants to talk about boy problems. This one about his evil science teacher. This one about . . . life in elementary school. So I put my book down and talk. Because I know too well that someday, they will all be gone and no one will want to talk to me.

But when I was a teenager? My bedroom was my sanctuary. My escape from my FAMILY. Much as I loved them, I just wanted to be ALONE. It helped that my room was in the finished basement. I had my own bathroom, and it was quiet down there. I could cocoon all I wanted. I could read. Play my clock radio. (I know . . . dating myself here. Now, of course, I have a killer stereo and iPod.) Talk to my boyfriend on the phone. In other words, HIDE.

Better yet, when the weekend came, I could SLEEP. Right now, I have sleep lust. Between four kids and deadlines, sleep is something I crave.

But back then . . . I could sleep in until noon.

I wouldn't want to go through high school again. But sometimes I find myself wishing for that old cave of a room of mine.

Anyone else treasure their room in their teenage years?

Surviving Adolescence: Riding!

2008-06-09T05:02:00.000-07:00

For me, growing up in the 90s meant one thing...horses!

After school, I couldn't wait to get out to the stables and ride, groom and learn how to train horses. I lived in a small suburban part of Tennessee (Greenbrier) and was lucky enough to have this riding arena right behind my house. When I did homework after school, I could look out and watch boarders ride and train their horses. I often had to move to the front of the house so I stopped watching them out the back windows.

That Appaloosa, AJ, was my first lesson horse. Oh, he was old and yes, he was was stubborn. But he was the best teacher. He taught me how to be a rider and how to listen to a horse's needs. He was a great partner and he helped me learn how to impress the girls at my new school with my riding skills. :)

Before we moved to Tennessee, we lived in Ocala, FL. This was a horse from a horse fair my family and I attended. I made my parents sooo nervous because I was always walking up to strange horses (even the occasional stallion!) and talking to them. I was a tiny kid, but if you had a horse, I'd ask for a boost so I could ride.

One of my absolute favorite horsey things to do was trail ride. My friend Amy and I would take our horses into the woods and get lost riding. We guided our horses through people's backyards (Sorry!), over creeks (Kind of dumb, now that I think about it) and along roads that saw a car a day. That was in the mid-90s and before cell phones were so inexpensive. Imagine how far my mom would have let me ride if I'd had a cell!

Horses were my most precious thing during childhood. They gave me the inspiration to write Take the Reins and the rest of the Canterwood Crest books. Name something from your childhood that inspires your writing.

Surviving Adolescence

2008-06-08T06:07:00.000-07:00

In some ways, I think it must be easier to survive adolescence now than when I was growing up. Where braces used to resemble the shiny grille on a car - at eight I was Buck-Teeth Baratz, at 10 I was Tinsel-Teeth Baratz - orthodontia has made advances such that braces are now virtually invisible. Where bad skin could ruin the effect of a pretty face or a handsome one, dermatology has made advances such that a lot of the emotional pain that used to center around acne can now be avoided.

But each generation has its own crosses to bear. Not being an adolescent anymore, I can only surmise what those are for people growing up now: a technology-driven world where advances function as dual-edged swords; an ever-increasing pressure to grow up fast.

Whatever the causes of adolescent angst, and there are many more I haven't listed here, I offer up two solutions:

1. Books. I really do believe books can save a person's life. They distract you from pain. They help you figure out solutions. They show you others who have it worse. They provide blueprints for how you can make things far better. They open up worlds you might not have otherwise imagined.

2. One Good Friend. My mother used to say that all a person really needs is one good friend. And I think she's right. Sure, it's nice to have lots of friends - hey, on MySpace I have over 4000 friends! - but you really just need one. One good friend who loves you unconditionally. One good friend for whom you can return the favor of unconditional love. Sometimes, in your darkest hours, that one good friend may turn out to be yourself.

Me, I'm going through a blue patch here. So after signing off, I'm going to take my own advice, since that survival strategy doesn't work just for adolescents but also for old ladies like me: I'm going to phone a friend and then I'm going to curl up with Liza Conrad's EIGHTH GRADE BITES.

QUESTION OF THE DAY: WHAT ARE YOUR STRATEGIES FOR SURVIVING EITHER ADOLESCENCE OR WHEREVER YOU ARE IN LIFE RIGHT NOW?

Be well. Don't forget to write.

Books You Can't Live Without

2008-06-02T12:34:00.001-07:00

I'm guessing that most of the bloggers and visitors to the Teen Fiction Cafe love books, and I'm no exception. I love to escape, whether to a real place or one you can only imagine--or to be able to see the world through an interesting character's eyes.

But have you ever sat down and thought about the books you simply cannot live without? Books that guide you in your everyday life, help to define those things that are fuzzy for you, or serve as must-have references?

Glancing through my bookshelf, there are several nonfiction books I like to have on hand. The Bible, the dictionary, the thesaurus, my "What to Expect When You're Expecting" was a must-have when I was pregnant, health books, writing books, parenting books, "The Little Giant Encyclopedia of Inspirational Quotes," and "Kama Sutra." Just kidding on that last one, but seriously, these books are such that if they went missing, I'd have to replace them.

Do you own any book(s) that you cannot live without?

Books, Books, Books!

2008-06-02T07:31:00.001-07:00

It’s book week here on Teen Fiction Café and if there’s one thing writers love, its books. Big books, little books, red books, blue books—even books that rhyme!

Some fabulous books I’ve read this year include:

The Girl Who Stopped Swimming

Violet on the Runway

The City of Bones

Some books I’m looking forward to reading include:

Death by Bikini

Cruel Summer

And if you are looking for a fun read you might want to try my book, Read My Lips, available tomorrow!

Utter Randomness

2008-05-30T17:00:00.000-07:00

So we’re coming up on the end of “anything goes” week here at the café, and after reading all the great posts about summer movies, happy endings (in books!), and reading (darn you Sara for making me chose between writing and reading—I won’t do it, I tell you!)—I kind of drew a blank.

I mean, sure I could talk about the fact that CRUEL SUM MER was released on Tuesday

and received a 5 star review from TeensReadToo, with reviewer Cana Rensberger saying:

" . . .Teen girls will totally love CRUEL SUMMER by Alyson Noël. The story is told using letters home, the journal her mother gave her, “Colby’s Journal For Desperate Times…,” and her new blog. The range of emotions, devastating lows to breathtaking highs, and the intense feeling that everything affects her is so authentic. The reader will relate to her habit of over-thinking every comment, gesture, or word of an email, and the insecurity she feels around Yannis. I loved this book and totally devoured it. For this reason, I give it five stars!"

Or how the French Version of FLY ME TO THE MOON was recently released!

But that’s better saved for promo week.

So then I thought I could write about the awesome Book Talk I did last week at the Lewis Library and Technology Center

and how they even put together a craft table so readers could make their own journals like the one in SAVING ZOE

but then I remembered how I recently blogged about that on my blog.

Then I though, hey, I know, I’ll confess something juicy like:

How I very recently, Netflixed the season 1 DVD of BUFFY (I know, I know, I’m way past late on this one), and am now so incredibly hooked I’ve filled up my entire netflix “queue” with all seven seasons and ANGEL too.

Or, how I was once mistaken for Mariah Carey while shopping at Armstrong Nursery in Newport Beach. Seriously, this woman walked right up to me and asked if I was her. Even when I said no, she said she and her friends recognized me right away. And when I said no again, it was clear she didn't believe me. And, for the record, I was not wearing a tight spandex minidress, a lame bikini, or a slit up to here gown. Though I did have awfully big blonde hair and large dark sunglasses,which I promptly got rid of (yes, both the hair and the sunglasses).

But then I thought, um- nobody cares about that stuff. Maybe you should just make a list of all the upcoming events you’re looking forward to. Stuff like-

BEA (free books!), ALA (more free books!), RWA (get to meet some of my fellow café peeps!), the June 10 release of Jessica Brody’s THE FIDELITY FILES (READ IT! You will not be disappointed!), my niece and nephews annual surf camp visit (can’t wait til July!), long lazy days at the beach, finishing my WIP so I can actually read some of those free books, eating outside, BBQ’s, leaving the windows open to let the ocean breeze in . . .

But then I thought- Aw heck, I really don't know what to write. So I'll just leave you with this:

Have a good weekend everyone!

So tell me, any upcoming events you’re looking forward to?? Anything random you want to share?

Alyson Noel is the author of: FAKING 19, ART GEEKS AND PROM QUEENS, LAGUNA COVE, FLY ME TO THE MOON, KISS & BLOG, SAVING ZOE, FIRST KISS (THEN TELL)-an anthology, CRUEL SUMMER, and EVERMORE (April 2009).

Are You Serious?

2008-05-29T07:11:00.000-07:00

On Monday, I took the kids to our annual Memorial Day Movie. We do this every year, and as it's kind of a celebration of the advent of summer, we choose a blockbuster-type movie. This year it was Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. No, that's not really what I want to talk about today, but it did get me thinking...

As a writer, I am very mindful of the whole suspension of disbelief thing. Even though I write fiction, I'm careful to check facts, weigh plausibility and try to support even the most outlandish ideas. And yet... in the movies, have you ever noticed at times that dazzling special effects or fast pacing can be thrown in as a sort of smoke screen and that plausibility or even logic are completely overlooked? Why is that?

And why is it that Ironman with its completely unreal premise worked so well and IJatKotCS just seemed silly? Is it execution? Is it Robert Downey Junior? : ) What do you think? And why do you think some movie makers don't feel the need to support their plots with logic?

Just curious...

Happy endings

2008-05-26T18:26:00.001-07:00

So last week I started reading this great young adult book. I mean it was really, really great. Until I got to the end and discovered it finished in totally the wrong place - well for me anyway! You see it had set up this amazing situation but then instead of letting the heroine fight through and resolve it, it just finished pretty much on the note of 'oh, well, that's just the way life is. Deal with it.'

My problem is that I don't read books to find out how life is, I read books to find out how life could be. Of course it was made worse by the fact there was about twenty extra pages at the back of the book (with blank pages, author bio and book excerpts etc) so I didn't even realize I was at the end of the story until I turned the page and discovered it was over.

I hesitate to mention the book's name because the truth is that these things are all subjective and perhaps other people like their endings less predictable and more realistic, but for me I need things to be finished. I like my Is dotted, my Ts crossed and my heroines and heroes living happily ever after while the bad guys get covered in green slime and are ridiculed for the rest of their natural lives. Really, is that too much to ask for?

So what about everyone else. Do you often read books where the end falls below your reader expectations? If so how do you deal?

Promo Week Winner

2008-05-26T04:53:00.000-07:00

LIVIANA - please shoot me an email at gerb at lindagerber dot com!

Everyone have a great Memorial Day! (I say this realizing that a lot of you are not in the States, but I wish you a happy day as well.) Party safe!