Road Trip Music

I'm off on a road trip this week doing book research, so music week here on TFC comes at a great time for me. Why? Because I cannot travel without tunes.

Things have been so crazy at home over the last few weeks that I rarely have time to eat much less enjoy my favorite songs. But driving an entire day to my destination? Oh, baby. Crank up that volume.

In the spirit of playlist happiness, here are 10 songs currently on my travel soundtrack this time. Some of these are book-related (for writing inspiration) and others are just because I like 'em. I'm happily eclectic when it comes to music. :-)

Gravity by Sara Barielles
Back to December by Taylor Swift
One Last Breath by Creed
Better Life by Keith Urban
Across the Universe by Rufas Wainwright
World by Five for Fighting
This Could Be Heaven by Seal
Duck and Run by 3 Doors Down
Every Day by Rascal Flatts
Ordinary Miracle by Sarah McLachlan

What's on your personal soundtrack this week?

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Anniversaries, the photo method

Recently, my husband and I celebrated 15 years of marriage. I swear we were just college students the other day. Where did that time go?

As I started pondering that question, I pulled out a photo box and sifted through it. There, captured on film, was the last 15 years. Or, as it turns out, mostly the holidays and trips of the last 15 years.

Being in a sentimental upcoming-anniversary mood, I decided that I would create a scrapbook of our life together. Not our family, just us. We have tons of pictures of our family, but not nearly as many that celebrate us as a married couple. This, I thought, would be a lovely anniversary gift.

So I began happily organizing the photos, jotting down funny notes about the trips that I happened to remember (which I should have done LONG ago because I'm sure I've forgetten most of them). And then I made the critical, bubble-bursting error... showing them to my husband while he sat watching a Nascar race and reading email on his laptop.

ME: Look, honey, remember when we went to San Francisco?
HIM: Mm-hmm. (not really looking)
ME: No, here. See? This is one of my favorite pictures of us. Look how young we look!
HIM: (watches cars go three wide into turn 2 then glances at the picture) It's nice. (gives me a kind, patient smile)

What I realized, other than my timing was perhaps not ideal, was that he wasn't all that interested in seeing the *process* of my scrapbooking. 50 miles to go in a big race wasn't egging on his sentimental side. :-)

So I've taken on this monumental task: scrapbooking our first 15 years together. It feels monumental to me because I've never really scrapbooked before. Zoikes. But I've got the pictures organized, a friend to scrapbook with (who, unlike me, actually knows what she's doing), and some basic (and, ok, not really necessary but SO COOL) supplies. My goal is one 2-page layout a week. Two pages celebrating events from the last 15 years of our life together. It's just two pages, right? That seems doable. Two pages that should capture the magic of those 15 years because they deserve to be honored and remembered.

No pressure. :-)

What about you? Do you take lots of pictures during the holidays and at other big events? If you do, what do you do with them after you take them?

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My new favorite word: SIMPLIFY

Sometimes life throws you a curve ball. Sometimes life throws several at the same time. Over the last six months, I've been through several major life changes including, most recently, the loss of my mom and turning 40 within a two-week period. For those of you who've read The Cinderella Society, you may recall that the book is dedicated to her. The dedication reads:

For my mom,

my role model, my friend, and the world's first Honorary Cindy

I love you, Mom.

My mom battled cancer for 10 years. When she was first diagnosed back in 2001, she had advanced cancer and the long-term survival prognosis was dim. Little did we imagine back then that we would get to spend 10 more years with her. It was a blessing I'm incredibly grateful for.

In the weeks since her passing, I've spent a lot of time thinking about the last 10 years. Things I've accomplished, and things I haven't. Times we spent together, and times we could have but didn't. And it turns out the only thing I really regret is that I let the unimportant "tasks" of life take precedence over my true priorities.

So often the little things - the imagined crises stemming from being a writer, the home maintenance issues, the nagging weight of things like social media or blogging - got addressed long before I made sure that the important things in my life were running smoothly.

My new favorite word for this next stage of my life is SIMPLIFY. To that end, I'm cutting out a lot of the riff-raff of my life. That sounds like a gang of bandits I'm banishing from the homestead and, in a way, maybe it is. It's about nixing all of those seemingly urgent but actually unimportant "things" that constantly bubble up in our lives. What does SIMPLIFY look like for me? Well, for starters:

** First and foremost, I'm making sure I'm focusing on the five most important priorities in my life by doing my own happiness project. If you haven't read Gretchen Rubin's fabulous The Happiness Project, you're missing out on a lovely opportunity to rethink how you approach life. (A special thanks to my wonderful agent Holly Root for recommending this book to me after my mom passed away. I appreciate you, H.) In the book, Gretchen focuses on a different theme each month but I chose to focus on my five major life priorities - well-being, relationships, career, home, and peace of mind - and establish one new positive habit in each area each month. Those become the top priorities of my everyday life and ensure that all of the unnecessaries take a back seat to what's really important.

** Restructuring the national Great Scavenger Hunt Contest(TM) reading program for kids and teens that I run for more than 800 libraries across the country. There will still be winners every month, but everything else will be updated quarterly rather than monthly to streamline the process of managing such a massive program all by myself.

** Clearing the clutter of my home, my to do lists, and my life. I've purged my office, cleared out closets and under sinks (an ongoing project), and tackled nagging projects like calling the plumber to replace the faucets in the master bath. (He's here right now. Hooray for more water efficient plumbing!)

The more I reflect on SIMPLIFY the more ways I find to streamline the chaos of my life and get back to what really matters. Because in the end, no one will care how many times I tweeted or washed the windows. What they will remember is who I was as a person and what truly mattered to me. (And possibly that I was a cupcake fanatic. I do talk about them rather obsessively.)

In this year of so much upheaval across the globe, I think it's a good time for us each to take a step back and rethink what it is that's important to us. And then to ask the simple but powerful question, "Does the life I'm living now reflect that?"

If we can't answer a resounding YES, maybe it's time to think about simplifying our lives so that our true priorities are front and center.

So what about you? Can you think of one way you would like to SIMPLIFY your life?

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The Top 5 Shows I Miss

I was just lamenting the other day how all the old sitcoms my husband and I watched when we were first married have gone the way of the dino. But lo and behold... most of them can be found somewhere in Directv land in syndication! So here, as a tribute to them, are the Top 5 Shows I Miss.

5. Frasier

Was there ever a funnier, more ascerbic wit than the banter between Frasier and Niles? I think not. And Niles had the most hilarious aversions to random things. I can be a little, shall we say, particular about certain things too. (Okay, it's smells. Weird smells make me crazy. My husband calls me The Bloodhound.) So when I started getting too smell-conscious, my husband would just call me Niles.

4. Seinfeld

I can't even think of a way to describe how much I loved this show except to throw out quotes that we STILL say in our house.

"A George divided against itself, cannot stand!"

"It's a Festivus miracle!"

"You stole my Jesus fish!"

(Have you noticed how all of our favorite quotes have exclamation points? Lots of hilarity in the yelling, that Seinfeld.)

3. Everybody Loves Raymond

I'm so glad this show came along when we were 30ish instead of 20ish. I think a lot of the humor would've been lost on us before then. But get us to the same point in the marriage that Ray and Debra were--minus the inlaws across the street--and them's some guaranteed laughs right there.

"The monkey never learns."

2. The West Wing

I know what you're thinking. Hello? Not a sitcom, Kay! But this show had some of the absolute smartest and sharply funny dialogue of any show I've ever watched. Plus it was brilliantly scripted with memorable, real-life political drama and brought to life by the most amazing ensemble of actors EVER, imho. Who can forget the day Josh decided to respond to the Internet forum to "correct their mistake". Whooo boy. Or the day the group showed CJ that the world map was not what she thought it was. And, of course, the quintessential West Wing moment:

"Let Bartlet be Bartlet"

1. Friends

Hey, I'm turning 40 next month. I grew up with Friends. I loved watching Chandler and Monica fall in love. I cried when Rachel left for Paris without Ross. I never laughed so hard in all my life as I did at Joey's delayed reactions. I can still recite many of Phoebe's songs, and not just Smelly Cat. Even the horribly wrong ones like A Cow in the Meadow. You remember that one, don't you? Phoebe singing to a class of youngsters trying to keep her songs age appropriate. A huge feat for Phoebe's often off-color lyrics. So, you think she's finally got one that will charm the kids and not freak out the parents, thank goodness! Until...

"Oh, the cow in the meadow goes moo.

Oh, the cow in the meadow goes moo.

Then the farmer hits him on the head and grinds him up,

and that's how we get hamburgers.

Now, chickens!"

So those are the top 5 shows that I miss. What about you? What show do you miss the most?

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TV vs. books... the great debate!

Elizabeth's note got me thinking about my own TV viewing habits. For a long time, I was an American Idol fan. Granted, I only watched from Hollywood week on because I think there was so much negativity in the early auditions that it was a big turn-off for me. But I was thinking the other day that the last season I watched in its entirety was the David Cook/David Archuleta year. I watched on and off the year Kris Allen won. Since then? I'm not even sure I know who won.

Among other shows that I used to be a big fan of and now rarely watch: Dancing with the Stars, Life Unexpected, and even... (gasp)... Glee.

What happened? There's nothing wrong with the shows. It's just that life got in the way. We got DVR several years ago so we could DVR things like Idol and not have to rearrange our lives around our TV viewing habits. But I think that made us kind of lazy about our favorite shows. If we can watch an episode anytime, what's the incentive to watch it right now?

And so weeks go by (I still haven't watched the Britney episode of Glee yet) and you know what? I'm finding I don't actually miss any of them. They're still DVRing so I could watch them if I wanted to. And maybe I will. Someday. But you know what I've been finding time to do instead?

Read.

For someone who is forever wanting to read more, I'm pretty excited about this revelation! Reading is a double-edged sword for me. On one hand, it's my job to read books because I'm an author and I need to keep current with what's out there. Not to mention the fact that everyone deserves to enjoy their favorite hobby, right? On the other hand, there's always that guilt factor of "If I have time to be reading, I have time to be writing."

But without the TV intrusion, I've been able to read some great books lately without the usual guilt. Some of the goodies include: CRUNCH by Leslie Connor, MISTWOOD by Leah Cypess, THE GOLLYWHOPPER GAMES by Jody Feldman, THE LONELY HEARTS CLUB by Elizabeth Eulberg, and THE DUFF by Kody Keplinger. And those are just off the top of my head. I wouldn't have been able to read them if I'd been keeping up with my former favorite shows because, the truth is, there just isn't enough time to do everything.

So reading it is. :-)

What about you? Would you rather be reading or watching TV?

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Vacation mania (aka Kay does Atlanta)

I saw Elizabeth's post this week about not having been on vacation in a really long time and thought, "Yes! That was so me up until June." I hadn't been anywhere on vacation (except to visit family) in years. So this summer, in the midst of traveling an insane amount after the book came out, we also squeezed in a visit back to our former stomping grounds in Georgia.

I had a book signing in Atlanta back in June and, since we lived in Georgia for several years when we first got married, we decided to stay a few days after and check out the things we'd missed. Like our favorite pizza place with its drool-worthy Hawaiian pizza and our favorite dinner restaurant. (Wait, why do all my best memories involve food?)

It's amazing how taking even just a short vacation with the people you love--especially a vacation where you don't have every moment scheduled to within an inch of its life--can rejuvenate you. We need to do it more frequently, to get out of the ruts of our lives. Not that my life is a rut, no sirree. My life is incredibly exciting and glamorous and TV movie worthy.

(Pause for Kay to clean the dryer lint trap and clean up doggie vomit)

What was I saying? Oh yes, glamour and glitz and excitement. It's quite exhausting. So having time to rest and relax is a definite plus.

What about you? Where did you go on your last trip to get some R&R?

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In the news... e-readers for everyone! (maybe)

It seems like everywhere we go these days, we're bombarded by e-reader comparison articles and testimonials and in-store demonstrations. The Great E-Reader Debate. I've even been tweeting/lamenting for the last month or so about my interest in buying an e-reader. This is probably more surprising to me than anyone because I am a fervent believer that you cannot properly snuggle up with a piece of technology on a cold winter's day.

But.

I would love to be able to do full read-throughs of my own work on a device that does not make my eyeballs want to fall out. Since staring at the computer screen for 200-300 pages is out, I usually make the margins and text really small and print it for proofing. I always print on both sides of my paper and then recycle them after the second printing, but still. An e-reader would be a very earth-friendly way to manage my manuscript proofing.

And I do love the idea of having reference books on it. I have so many reference books for research and would love to be able to bookmark passages that I want to refer back to later while I'm writing.

But the more I compare e-readers, the more I realize there is no such thing as Kay's Perfect E-Reader out there. At least not that I've found so far. Why? Here are the things I'm looking for all in one e-reader:

** Searchable notes. Most e-readers allow you to make notes, but I need one that allows you to search your notes for certain key words. What good is making notes if you end up with 47 different notes that are simply listed as "Note - page 171" and "Note - page 335". Tres helpful, no? Let's make a fully searchable notes feature. The technology has been around for eons and you already have it in your searchable book text. Why not expand that to your notes as well?

** Easy page turning. I have radial tunnel syndrome in my arm from the typing and mouse work I do and the e-readers I've tested have stiff page turn keys. Some have the finger swipe option as well, but that repetitive motion is problematic too.

** Privacy. What is this about Amazon backing up your notes for you? That is a bit too Big Brother-ish for my taste. I want to know that my research notes for manuscripts aren't floating out there in cyberspace. Because we all know nothing is truly secure in cyberspace.

** Full access to books. What drives me the craziest about the whole e-book thing is the exclusivity of most platforms. If I choose a Kindle and decide after a while that it's not for me, is there really no legal way for me to transfer the e-books I've spent all that money on to a new device (other than iPad)? I understand that everyone's trying to be proprietary for business purposes, but I know there are a lot of people like me who haven't bought an e-reader solely for this reason. If I move 14 times, I can take my books with me. If I buy a new computer from a different company, I can take my documents with me. That would be like Sony saying "If you create a document on a Sony computer, you can only ever read it on a Sony computer." They would never in a million years do that. Why do we let e-reader companies get away with it?

So there you go. An ode to Kay's Perfect E-Reader. Some e-readers have bits and pieces of this criteria, but none have everything I'm looking for. Where does that leave me? I'm not sure. Probably waiting to see what the e-reader world has in store for us as we head into the holiday shopping season.

What about you? How do you feel about e-readers?

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The stuff of yum

This has been a very stressful week. And when things are stressful, I crave sweets. I just do. I don't always indulge, but boy do I ever think about it. :-)

Mostly, I crave cupcakes. There is a local cupcake bakery that makes THE most amazing red velvet cupcakes with chocolate chunks and cream cheese frosting. I'm not a big red velvet person--I managed to live down South for 8 years and only have red velvet cake once--but these cupcakes, I'm telling you, are the stuff food fantasies are made of.

Mmmm.

When I'm deep in writing mode, as I am right now (Cindy on a Mission is due to my editor on 9/1), I almost always have two essential treats on hand:

Milk chocolate caramel Treasures...

And Twizzlers (always strawberry, never cherry)...

If I had to list all of my favorite yum foods, the list would be long and distinguished. But these are my top go-to treats when I'm in writing and editing mode.

What about you? What do you crave most when you're going to indulge?

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The Art of Making Friends

When I was a little kid (back in the 1880s), it seemed like making friends was easy. If you were a three year old at the playground and saw another three year old, you simply went up to them and said, "Hi. Want to be my friend?" And then they would shrug, and off you would go to play together. Then you would later return to your parents' side and announce you couldn't possibly leave to go home because you couldn't leave your Best Friend Ever.

But then, once you hit school, it was a little harder. Even in kindergarten, there's evidence of cliques. The paste eaters, the readers, the kids who can swing without being pushed. How do you figure out which people are likely to be your friends? But eventually, you figure it out. Someone shows up with a Hello Kitty lunchbox just like yours and it's the playground all over again. Best friends for life.

High school is harder still. By then, people have gravitated toward the things (and people) they mesh with. Sports teams, certain clubs, people you work with. And there's the subtle difference between true friends (the people you can call at 2am when your car runs out of gas on your way home from a midnight movie and give you a lift to the gas station) and acquaintances (who would respond to said call by saying, "Dude, do you know what time it is???").

One true friend is worth the weight of 10 acquaintances in my book.

College is a little easier because, at least as freshmen, everyone is new to the school. Unlike high school where most of the people have been going to school with each other for eons, college is fair game for new friendships. Often times, friendships result from dumb luck: getting assigned to be roommates, meeting someone who shares your sense of humor in your orientation group, etc.

What's interesting to me is that it seems that making friends in adulthood is sometimes the hardest of all. Sure, you have your work friends. And sometimes those are true friendships rather than just someone to grab a beer with on Friday night. But when you change jobs, those friendships often fade into the background. Same goes for neighbors you're chummy with. Once you move, staying in touch takes real effort. It's the whole proximity thing again.

Add to that the whole family aspect--parents at different stages of the game with different family obligations pulling on their time--and no wonder it's hard to build real and true friendships at this stage of the game. Is it okay to call them after 8pm when I finally get home from work and finish dinner or will it wake the baby? Should I ask them over this weekend or are they out of town for the sixth weekend in a row for their son's traveling baseball team? And for adults who have multiple kids going in 19 different directions all at once, when they finally ARE all home together, I almost feel guilty extending the invitation because they deserve some quality family time once in a while too.

It's the friendship conundrum. It seems that making friends, no matter what your age, is always one part luck.

Fortunately, I've made some wonderful friends over the last few years in our new town. Both fellow writer chums (who have become my friends in real life too) and neighbors who we still keep in touch with even though they've moved across the country. And I don't take that for granted. We've moved around a lot as a couple and it's a rare (and wonderful!) thing to have finally settled in and made lasting friendships.

That hasn't always been the case for us. In our last house, we were surrounded by people who were almost never outside. Seriously, NEVER. We never saw our neighbors unless they were mowing their lawn. Which isn't really the ideal time to stop for a chat. And the people we worked with were at different stages of their lives (or had vastly different interests) than us.

So today, I'm sending out some karmic love for our great adult friends and all the wonderful childhood friends who helped shape who I am over the years. Big smoochies to all of you.

What about you? What do you think is the hardest part about making friends as you get older?

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Good News Friday!

To kick off our Good News Friday, I wanted to say a big THANK YOU to all of my TFC sisters and everyone who participated in the Cinderella Society launch party here on Tuesday! I had a fabulous time celebrating and seeing The Cinderella Society on the shelves after all these months. Definitely a day I'll never forget. :-)

For my good news, I'd like to announce the winners of the blog launch party games!

Winners of the Cinderella Society glass slipper bookmark:


Congratulations to Giada (Italy) and Liz Patanders!

~ AND ~

Winners of the Cinderella Society mini glass slipper:


Congratulations to Jen Petro-Roy and Jill of the O.W.L.!

Thanks again to everyone for celebrating my debut day with me! Contact me here with your mailing address to claim your prize. :-)

So, that's my good news for the week. What other fun news does everyone have to share?

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It's the official blog launch party for The Cinderella Society!!

WOOHOO!!!!!!

Ahem.

I mean, "Hey! Guess what day it is!" ;-)

At long last, I'm delighted to be celebrating the release of my debut YA, The Cinderella Society. When I was planning what to do on launch day, the first thing that came to mind was celebrating with my author buds here on TFC. They've been with me from the start (and some of them have been with me since long before I sold!).

So here we are on release day, ready to celebrate. How? By giving away free stuff, of course! :-)


*** THE BOOK ***

THE CINDERELLA SOCIETY
On shelves... today!

What's a girl to do when the glass slipper fits, but she doesn't want to wear it anymore?

Sixteen year old Jess Parker has always been an outsider. So when she receives an invitation to join The Cinderella Society, a secret society of the most popular girls in school, it's like something out of a fairy tale. Swept up by the Cindys' magical world of makeovers, and catching the eye of her Prince Charming, Jess feels like she's finally found her chance to fit in.

Then the Wickeds--led by Jess's arch-enemy--begin targeting innocent girls in their war against the Cindys, and Jess discovers there's more to being a Cindy than reinventing yourself on the outside. She has unknowingly become part of a centuries-old battle of good vs. evil, and now the Cindys in charge need Jess for a mission that could change everything.

Overwhelmed, Jess wonders if The Cinderella Society made a mistake in choosing her. Is it a coincidence her new boyfriend doesn't want to be seen with her in public? And is this glamorous, secret life even what she wants, or will she risk her own happy ending to live up to the expectations of her new sisters?


*** THE LAUNCH GOODIES ***

To celebrate, I'm giving away two kinds of special The Cinderella Society goodies!

A glass slipper bookmark

And a miniature glass slipper

I will be randomly choosing four separate winners, one for each TCS prize in both of the launch games.

Playing along is a breeze!

Choose one game or play both... just respond to each game in its own comment below. (And yes, if you've played the excerpt game on my blog, you can totally share your favorite quote here to play again!)


*** GAME #1 - EXCERPT MANIA ***

Step #1 - Go check out the excerpt of The Cinderella Society

Step #2 - Come back and post your favorite line from the excerpt in the comments of today's post

*** GAME #2 - GIRL POWER QUOTES ***

Step #1 - Share your favorite girl power quote to celebrate The Cinderella Society's girl power creed:

Celebrate your strength - Embrace your future - Be extraordinary

That's it! :-)

I'll be announcing the winner in our Good News Friday feature (since winning a prize is pretty good news, don't you think?). ;-)

Enjoy the free excerpt, good luck playing along, and thanks for helping me celebrate the debut of The Cinderella Society!

PS - And don't forget to join me tonight on Twitter for the official Twitter launch party and more great TCS goodies! #HonoraryCindy is your ticket to the festivities. :-)

Cheers,
Kay

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SIGNATURE STYLE

This week on TFC we're talking about fashion and style. This topic is a timely one for me because I'm pretty much immersed in international style at the moment. I'm deep in revisions for Book One of CASSIDY ON CAMERA (my middle-school series that comes out next year) and the main character's sense of style is one of the things that makes her who she is.

Since she's grown up all over the world, Cassidy has a unique view of fashion. She's not tied into the trends of a particular country or region when it comes to clothes, but simply chooses what she likes and what she's comfortable wearing. Also, she likes to collect new pieces to add to her wardrobe in every country she visits, whether it's a nautical striped shirt from Brittany or a Harajuku Girl purse from Tokyo. Her signature style emerges as she puts the pieces together in her own unique way.

As I've been working on these books, I've thought a lot about what constitutes a "signature style." And... confession time... I'm not sure that I have one! I do have one favorite piece of clothing - an old jean jacket I can wear with just about everything - but I don't know if that defines my style. What about you? Do you have a signature style? How would you describe it?
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P.S. On a related note, in Kay Cassidy's upcoming book, THE CINDERELLA SOCIETY (out April 13 - watch for it!) her character Jess learns about signature styles and how to settle on the right one for her. It's a very fun book, but also a very sobering one, as Jess also learns to empower herself against bullying. If THE CINDERELLA SOCIETY isn't already on your radar, be sure to put it there!

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More anniversary fun!

As the newest member of the Teen Fiction Cafe (and the only one still waiting for her debut!), this was a funny thing to go back and look at. Especially after reading everyone else's posts!

Three years ago, in March of 2007, I was an unagented, unpublished writer wondering if I would ever actually sell a book. I was still trying to find my voice, putting off writing a book called The Cinderella Society because I was afraid I didn't have the skills to pull off a book bigger than I'd ever tried before.

Every published author I know has been at that point. Wondering, worrying, comparing themselves to other authors and fearing they'll never measure up. That was me three years ago.

But it was the summer of 2007 when I finally decided that worrying was never going to get me where I wanted to go. And when I acknowledged that my writing improvements were coming more incrementally than in the huge leaps they'd come in at the beginning, I knew it was now or never. It was time for me to write The Cinderella Society.

So I did. I shredded everything I'd written on it up to that point, made the idea as big as I could, and started over with my fears banished to the closet while I hammered out a first draft. I finished the book in fall 2007 and entered it in the Golden Heart. And then came the agent search. I queried the amazing/funny/talented woman who would become my agent at the end of January 2008 and signed with her in early March. Three weeks later, I found out The Cinderella Society was a finalist in the Golden Heart.

Fast forward a few months... MANY revisions to The Cinderella Society (including the famous "Do you think you can make the climax of the book the midpoint?" which nearly made me faint but made the book TONS better)... and it went out on submission in June 2008. The summer was crazy and then on August 2, 2008, The Cinderella Society won the Golden Heart. I remember standing on the stage at the awards ceremony in San Francisco thinking I couldn't believe this was happening.

Flying high from the win, I went home and regrouped with my agent. Three houses still had the book, including one that had been championing it for two solid months in-house trying to buy it. Everything was fabulous...

And then I got an email from my agent saying the editor who had been such a supporter of it had to pass. It was a Monday, two weeks after getting home from San Francisco, and I was devasted. If she couldn't sell her publisher on it after two months, what were the odds *anyone* was going to want it? I spent Monday in deep despair, thinking for sure this was the end of the road.

And then Tuesday arrived.

With an offer from one of the remaining two publishers.

And then Friday arrived with an offer from the other remaining publisher.

It's truly amazing how your writing life can completely change in a span of just four days. I never would've imagined on Monday that things would turn around so completely. I signed with Egmont in August 2008 and never looked back.

It hasn't been easy, by any means. There have been many days I've fallen apart, swearing that I'm a terrible writer and this was all somehow a fluke. But it's made me stronger as a person and I'm grateful for that. And it's helped me remember what's really important in life too - my health, my family, my friends. Those are the things that make life really spectacular. :-)

So, fast forward 18 months and we arrive... here! Today! Celebrating three years of TFC goodness! The Cinderella Society hits shelves next month (April 13th - the same day Glee returns!) and the second book of the series, Cindy on a Mission, is slated for Spring 2011.

I feel so incredibly blessed. I get paid to make stuff up in my pajamas and get to hang out in the Cafe with some amazing, wonderful, funny authors. If this is a dream, please don't wake me! I'm going to sleep in a while longer. :-)

GIVEAWAY TIME!

To celebrate our 3-year blogoversary, I'm giving away a Cinderella Society "glass slipper" bookmark! Simply comment below for your chance to win. It's open to US/Canada residents and the winner will be announced in our grand finale on March 15th.

Happy anniversary, Teen Fiction Cafe!

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Overflowing TBR shelves

I've been on a book buying spree for the last 12 months. At last count, I think I'd bought well over 200. Some of those are librarian prizes for the national Great Scavenger Hunt Contest reading program I host, but at least half of those are for my own use.

What's on the list? A little bit of everything!

• YA books
• Middle grades books
• Research books for The Cinderella Society series
• Research books for my option book
• Women's fiction and romance books
• Mysteries
• Even the occasional inspirational non-fiction title

The problem with this (budget aside because that's a whole 'nother kettle of fish) is that I have been busier in the last year than I ever expected. So most of those 100+ books that are for M-E? Yep. Still on my TBR shelves.

But I am committed to getting back to reading. Not only is it good for me to make time for things I enjoy, but it's good for my career too. Reading fabulous books inspires me to be a better writer. And so, with much fanfare, I moved my teetering TBR piles away from my comfy reading chair (where they were on the verge of burying me in paper if it toppled over) and into the safety of a bookcase. I can happily stare at these books and get all giddy about the literary goodness that awaits me.

Except... I can never decide what to read.

The problem, I've discovered, is that having too many good books to read is almost as troublesome as having not enough good books to read. Am I in the mood for a chick lit or a mystery? A middle grades adventure or a serious women's fiction? Usually I'm somewhere in the middle and that's no help whatsoever, thankyouverymuchbrain.

Craziest of all? I'm still. buying. books. I swear I need adult supervision when I enter a bookstore. But you know what? I will read those books. I will.

In fact, I'm willing to make a solemn vow right here at the Teen Fiction Cafe:

I vow to read the books currently on my TBR shelves by 12/31/10 come heck or high water.

There. I feel better already. Now if I could just decide what to read next. :-) What are you reading right now?

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Scrapbooks love vacations

I wish I had the scrapbook gene.

Lots of my friends do. They create these glorious, lavish scrapbooks with all kinds of cool layouts and embellishments to remember the major events in their lives. I, on the other hand, have only ever managed digital scrapbook pages. And only then because there are really cool digital scrapbook programs that cost less than $30 each and require you to simply drop pictures into an already designed page and do a bit of journaling.

That I can handle.

But I decided that I want to create a real album for my husband and my first ten years together. This is partially because I would like to give traditional scrapbooking a try and partially because all of our photos from that time are (gasp) actual photos and the idea of scanning them all in (even if my scanner was working) makes me want to pass out.

About five years ago, I did the laborious task of sorting through those first ten years of pictures and putting them into labeled envelopes with the date and event. Apparently, I had to go take a nap after that because that's as far as I ever got.

But in pulling out all those envelopes again, I've discovered that pictures--at least for me--fall into one of three categories:

-- Holidays
-- Major life events (birthdays, weddings)
-- Vacations

And really, vacations is about 80% of them. It appears we do nothing noteworthy in the slightest the 345 days a year when we are not vacationing. :-)

It's fun though, this nostaglic look at vacations past. So I thought it would be fun to note my top three favorite vacations from the first five years of marriage. If my scanner was working, I would even include pictures. But alas, Miss Scanner is a finicky girl.

3. The great California trip

Back in the late 90s, my husband and I took a weeklong vacation in California with another couple. We flew into LA and did the Tinseltown routine (and Rodeo Drive) and then drove up the coast to Carmel. We ate at the Hogs Breath Inn which Clint Eastwood owned at the time (perhaps he still does) and then stayed the night in lovely Monterey. Then it was up to San Francisco for three days where we did Fisherman's Wharf, saw Phantom of the Opera and ate. A lot.

2. Grand Cayman

My husband actually won this trip through his work! A week at a gorgeous resort on Grand Cayman. This was the first trip we'd taken in a LONG time where I wasn't obsessed with work. (I actually took my laptop on our honeymoon - no lie.) We sprinted across the Miami airport trying to catch our flight... which left five minutes EARLY even though they'd been alerted to our airplane's delay... but managed to get rerouted on Cayman Air. I hate to fly. I'd rather walk, but the Cayman Islands are, well, islands. So that wasn't really an option. One thing I will say is that Cayman Air served us Cayman punch (I think it was called) out of a gallon jug in these little plastic cups. And it was GOOD. Turns out it was also laced with Cayman rum. Live a little, learn a little. Anywho... we ended up having a nice flight despite the chaos. My favorite memory is sitting out on our balcony with the scent of barbecue floating into the air and chilling out to the sound of steel drums.

1. San Juan, Puerto Rico

This is hands down my favorite vacation ever. We stayed in a bungalow right on the beach with a hammock outside the door. We ate Monte Cristo sandwiches and ate luscious seafood and watched the waves crash over the rocks outside our favorite restaurant's window. I also managed to get a horrific sunburn while snorkeling and spent two solid days on our covered balcony with John Grisham (in book form, not the real deal). But it was still by far the most relaxing and wonderful vacation EVER.

What about you? What's your favorite vacation ever?

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My deep dark fashion secret

In the spirit of full disclosure, I am going to reveal my deepest, darkest secret where fashion is concerned.

I loathe clothes shopping.

There, I said it. I know many women and girls love shopping for clothes. They love trying on a billion things and scouting for bargains. They love the rush of a great sale when the blouse they've been eyeing is suddenly half off. And I used to be one of them. Really, I did.

I'm not sure when this change happened. But now, I buy nearly all of my clothes online. I only shop in stores if I absolutely have to. Part of it, I think, is that I have a very unusually shaped figure. Nothing that's currently in style looks good on me, and I'm that weird not-quite-petite-not-quite-average height so nearly everything is either too short or needs to be hemmed. If I'm going to tack on $10-20 for each piece of clothing to be hemmed so I don't look like I'm wearing my husband's castoffs, I'd better like it. Which, sadly, is a rare occurrence.

There are pros and cons to ordering online. The pros are, most obviously, convenience. And with so many online retailers offering free shipping this fall, it's a no-brainer. Especially if you can return it to a local store's catalog dept instead of paying for return shipping.

The cons are many, however. Colors often don't look the same on screen/in catalog as they do in real life, sizes can vary widely, and sometimes things are tucked or twisted on the models so they don't actually look the way they do in real life.

Sometimes it's worth it, and sometimes it's not. I placed one order this year for tall boots, skirts and sweaters for book signings. Since most of my wardrobe consists of yoga pants and polar fleece, upgrading my wardrobe is a priority. This particular order was probably a dozen items, of which I hoped I might get lucky and find three that worked. Imagine my surprise when I kept every single one! It was like winning the shopping lottery, I tell you. I even did a little dance, I was so giddy.

And then there was another order I placed. I ordered the same pants in the same size in two colors. One fit perfectly around the waist but was an inch too long and the other gaped around the waist but was the perfect length. If I could've combined the best features of these supposedly identical pants, they would've been perfect. And they were almost 40% off! So... I ended up deciding to order those pants again, but order a couple of each figuring that surely I would find a keeper in each color that way. I also ordered them in a third color because they're perfect wardrobe builder trousers (and I often order basics that fit me in several colors because it's so hard to find good basics that work on me).

Anywho... 7 pairs later, I managed to find two pairs that were mildly close to fitting properly. Not even a great fit, just an okay fit. The other five varied in length and waist size regardless that they were the exact same pant, exact same size, just in different colors. Crazy.

So that's my deep dark fashion secret. Even though fashion plays a role in my books, I secretly detest having to do the shopping thing in a real store. What about you? Do you like clothes shopping or are you an online shopper extraordinaire?

Kay

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Note passing and other trials of youth

So I was chatting with my neighbor the other day about her son getting caught passing notes in class. And while we were talking, I mentioned that I used to be a champion note passer in class. Mostly in junior high, but some in high school as well. I'm not proud of this, mind you, but it was a moment of nostalgia that brought back memories.

I had a laugh thinking about the one time I got caught--I mean, really caught--passing notes in class. The sad part is that I wasn't even passing it yet! I was just sitting at my desk writing the darn thing.

Our junior high had this open air classroom section that looked like this:

Okay, so see where my math class was? All of those yellow hearts represent my lovely fellow classmates of 7th grade advanced math. The pink heart represents one Kay Cassidy, student of 7th grade advanced math/lover of all things note-related.

So I'm sitting there writing a note and all of the sudden, the social studies teacher comes around the end of the divider to make a joke to our math teacher and (with the stealth of a child going for the cookie jar ten minutes before dinner) snatches the note off my desk and holds it above her head like a prize.

So. Busted.

She then proceeded to read said note to the entire class. Thankfully, it was NOT about my crush du jour. Instead, and far worse in ways I didn't understand until later, it was about how horrifically boring said math teacher was. Which I felt TERRIBLE about because he was really a sweet guy. But, you know, 7th grade advanced math. Not exactly mesmerizing stuff.

As you might guess, I got teased about that for the rest of the year, mostly by my teacher (who I also realized later had an excellent sense of humor). He would stop class periodically throughout the year and ask "I'm not boring you, am I, Kay?" when I was totally paying attention, thankyouverymuch.

Fortunately, my teacher and I actually got along great so it was more like good-natured ribbing. I had him for 8th grade advanced math and then for typing in 9th grade, so he never got rid of me until high school.

By the way, there's a tidbit in my debut novel, The Cinderella Society (sorry for the plug, but it's where this comes from), that I think is fitting to mention here. In the book, the Cindys (the members of The Cinderella Society) have a great strategy to help put stressful or embarrassing situations into perspective. It's called The Rule of 5s.

Here's how it works:

Whenever something really stressful or embarrassing happens, stop and take five slow, deep breaths.

1... 2... 3... 4... 5.

(You feel better already, right?)

Then, stop and ask yourself the Five questions.

1) Will this matter in five hours?

2) Will this matter in five months?

3) Will this matter in five years?

This technique is actually based on a newspaper column from the mid-80s that my mom gave the drama queen that was teenaged me. You'd be surprised how effective it can be to put things in perspective. Even things that seem horrific and mortifying often don't pass the five-month test. And things like someone cutting you off in traffic? Those don't even pass the five-hour test.

It's all about perspective. :-)

So next time you're stressed or angry or mortified, give the Cindys' Rule of 5s a spin. I hope it works as well for you as it does for me. Let me know what you think!

~ Kay

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Favorite web sites

I have LOADS of favorite web sites. Some are for entertainment, some are for information, and some are for... okay... shopping. I'm one of those people who really doesn't enjoy shopping. I'd much rather be home reading or surfing those fave sites o' mine or tweeting or, well, you get the picture. :-)

So I thought I'd share some of my favorite web sites. These are in no particular order, but I hit them all at least once a week. Usually a lot more.

www.weather.com

Okay, I'm a weather junkie. I love love LOVE seeing what's up, especially in the tropics. (A throwback to my corporate days where my company tracked every named storm on a giant map.) I check the weather every day, at least once a day sometimes more. I know there's a Google gadget that will put this right on my desktop, but I like getting there the old-fashioned way.

www.twitter.com (@kaycassidy - come say hi!)

Well, technically I access it via Tweetdeck most of the time. But the end result is still the same. I fear I may have to go on a Twitter hiatus as I get closer to my The Cinderella Society book 2 deadline, but oh how I shall miss it!

www.chatzy.com

I heart Chatzy. Yes, it can lock up on occasion, but I still think it's fabulous to be able to set up a free impromptu chat anytime you want to. The Tenners (my debut class of 2010) do twice-weekly Chatzy chats--I usually try to make at least one of them--and I've popped into several author/blogger chats just for fun. They're usually in the evening, so it's a great way to wrap up the day!

What about you? What sites do you hit every week? (Besides TFC, of course!) :-)

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Schooooool's out... for... wait, what were we talking about?

Sorry, my mistake. It's not school's OUT, it's school's IN. Yes, it's that time of year again. Time for students to get back into the daily grind of Monday through Friday classes. I know some of you have been back for a few weeks already!


When I was in high school, we always started school the Wednesday after Labor Day. Always. Where I live now, students head back to school in mid-August. Mid-August! That just seems crazy to me. I wasn't even thinking clothes shopping in mid-August when I was a teen. (Disclaimer: That was a blatant lie. I started school shopping as soon as the fall clothes got put on the racks. But I'm trying to make a point here, so let's roll with it.)

So I was debating the other day whether I would've rather started school in mid-August and been done the end of May -OR- started in early September and been done in mid-June.

I grew up in the North, so the pools were nowhere near warm enough by the end of May to actually do any swimming. And some of the schools didn't have adequate air conditioning, so late August days would get a bit stifling in the classroom. Both points in favor of doing a September-to-June schedule.

On the other hand, having an August-to-May schedule would mean I could... um... my friends and I would surely... err...

Okay, I have no idea. What are the advantages of doing the August-to-May schedule? I'm sure there are plenty! So now I'm even more curious. If you could choose between having a September-to-June schedule or an August-to-May schedule, which would you choose? And those of you on the August-to-May cycle, school me! What are the perks? I know there are obvious ones that I'm missing. :-)

Happy back to school shopping!

Kay

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