so many movies, so little time

I love movies. To prove it, I have a top-level membership with my local film society that gets me free movies at their two theaters all year. I have the three-at-a-time Netflix plan. I have a Netflix Roku box, the thing that let's you see stuff from your "watch instantly" queue on your TV screen. Problem is: the little red envelopes tend to sit, unopened, for weeks at a time. One time I had this French movie for like two months and finally I said, Sara, let's face it, you're not going to watch that movie. Send it back! My queue is so long there's stuff still there I put in when I first opened my account several years ago. And there are 52 thing in my "watch instantly" queue. And it's amazing how a year of my film society membership goes by and I haven't gone to a movie every week like I'd planned. 

So, in my efforts to simplify life in 2009, I've downgraded my Netflix account from the three-at-a-time plan to the one-at-a-time plan. I'm still hoping to get to the theater every week, and I'm going to stay on top of the Roku. I am! I am!

Meanwhile, here are some movies I've seen lately with my ten-ish-words-or-less reviews:

Grey Gardens: Sad and funny documentary about koo-koo mother and daughter. 

Hamlet 2: Comedy for grownups. Funny! Stand & Deliver meets Waiting for Guffman. 

Frost/Nixon: I have mixed feelings about Ron Howard movies. It's no Apollo 13.

Slumdog Millionaire: Imperfect, but I loved it anyway. Favorite Danny Boyle so far.

Let the Right One In: Creepy. Swedish. Had a bad headache while watching, so I don't know.

The Departed: Saw it when it came out, am watching it again. Still awesome.

If you are so inclined, tell me in the comments what you've watched recently and LOVED or HATED.

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Zombies!

I am the first person to admit I am a big chicken.

My best friend Pammie and I go to the movies all the time. As my "date," when we see scary movies, she is subjected to me squeezing her hands until the circulation cuts off, tugging on her sweater sleeves to hide my eyes (RUINED one black sweater of hers, as a matter of fact, during SE7EN).

But few movies freak me out more than zombie flicks. Undead? They terrify me. Two nights ago I watched I Am Legend. Yeah, I know critics didn't love it. But flesh-eating zombies? Of COURSE it's a Christmas movie!

What is even funnier, I guess, is how I define scary. You see . . . Friday the 13th didn't scare me. I mean, come on? Freddie Krueger? I laugh in the face of this gloves. And those movies where you answer a cellphone and next thing you know, you're dead? Come on! Or those Final Destination ones? I laugh in the face of their gore.

But zombies? Well, they could really happen!

So could devils! The Exorcist had me awake for a week after I saw it.

I don't know why I have this pecking order of what I believe could really happen and thus it's scary. But I do.

The only movies I avoid in that realm are torture porn flicks like Saw. See . . . that's just sick. Not scary.

But tell me . . . what movies keep YOU awake at night?

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Upcoming books to movies!

This past weekend, the box office seemed full of books turned movies. Marley and Me, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Yes Man, Revolutionary Road and The Tale of Despereaux were some of the top movies that were adapted from books or novellas. When I hear about movie coming out that's also a book, I often try to read the book before I see the movie. So many books get new looks (ahem, Twilight and The Clique) with the movie's stars on the cover. Do the new covers add to sales? Hmmm...personally, I often prefer the original cover. (What do you guys think?)

Anyway, adapting a movie from a book must be popular because more are on the way!

Cornelia Funke's Inkheart hits theaters on January 23, 2009 with Brendan Fraser (hot!) and Helen Mirren (super talented!). I started the book a few weeks ago, but didn't finish it. Has anyone read it? Do you think the movie will be good?

















Also in January, Emma Roberts stars in Hotel for Dogs, based on Lois Duncan's book. Haven't read this one, either, but I want to now! The movie looks cute.


















February sounds as if it will be a good book to movie month with Neil Gaiman's Coraline, He's Just Not That Into You and Confessions of a Shopaholic.

All of this info came from Bookreporter.com--a cool site that dedicates an entire section to books turned movies. It has a complete list of books to movies from 2002-2008. Wow.

So, if you're a writer, do you have a cast in mind for your book(s)? If so, share! If not, what's your #1 favorite book to movie? Or, what book to movie did you dislike?

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Movies: Ignoring the Reviews

A number of movies were reviewed this week in the New York Times and while I can't remember all of them, and I'm too Sunday-lazy to go look, here's my reaction:

Tale of Despereaux. The review was mostly positive, but neither the review nor the trailers I've seen reflect the sensitive and serious book I read, so unless my eight-year-old drags me to see it, I'm staying home. (Note: She's very good at dragging! She even got me to take her and a friend to College Road Trip last year - talk about really loving your kid! Ticket Taker: "You here to see Horton?" Me: "No, College Road Trip - you know, the best movie of the year?" Ticket Taker: "You just keep telling yourself that, lady." Really, I love my daughter; and, you know, at least the Raisinettes were good.) I do agree with the reviewer that the red hat makes Despereaux look more like a bunny than a mouse.

Bedtime Stories. Lousy review, but I'm still going. Adam Sandler deposited a lot of good will in the bank with Wedding Singer years ago - hysterical and moving - and he's still reaping the returns, at least with me. Plus, I only recently discovered "The Chanukah Song," I'm Jewishly grateful for it, and that hamster looks adorable.

Revolutionary Road. Not a good review, but I'm still going. I'm curious to see how Kate Winslet, whom I adore - yea for the occasional not-skinny movie star! - and Leonardo DiCaprio do together 10 years after Titanic, plus it looks dark-dark-dark in the way that other period piece Far from Heaven was, and I've been needing to indulge my dark side lately as an antidote to all this holiday cheer.

Marley and Me. Bad review, and I'm going to try hard not to see it even though I love Jennifer Aniston - go, Team Jennifer! - and my daughter says she wants to. My daughter cried buckets when the often-mean gorilla died in "Tarzan," the play, prompting all the adult strangers around us to get tears in their own eyes at the sight of her sorrow, so how are we going to get through the death of a cute dog???

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. This is the real problem. The Times review was mixed in parts, but mostly the reviews have been overwhelmingly positive. And I really like Cate Blanchett. And I really like Brad Pitt, even though I am devoutly Team Jennifer. Have I mentioned I'm Team Jennifer? I really am. But, but, but: the F. Scott Fitzgerald story that it's supposedly based on is one of my favorite short stories ever, I've read it several times, and everything I've seen about the movie bears no resemblance whatsoever to the story I love so dearly! Well, except for the title and the fact that the main character physically ages in reverse. But other than that? Nothing! And how in the world did they take this short story - did I mention that it's a short story and not a 500-page novel? - and turn it into a nearly three-hour movie??? But I still may go. Maybe. Because I'm curious about Curious and because my daughter wants to see this one as well. Maybe I could trade her: We skip the mouse/bunny and the dead dog in favor of seeing just what the hell Hollywood has done to Fitzgerald this time? OK, maybe I won't phrase it like that, but you get the picture. So...

QUESTION OF THE DAY: WHAT MOVIES ARE YOU GOING TO SEE NO MATTER WHAT THE REVIEWERS SAY?

Be well. Don't forget to write.

Oops, I forgot to mention: The first two books in THE SISTERS EIGHT series, ANNIE'S ADVENTURES and DURINDA'S DANGERS, go on sale tomorrow - please buy early and often!

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Plotting And Snow Fun

So we have fifteen inches of snow in Portland, Oregon, a city known more for it's never-ending rain than snow. Me thinks we're going to have a white Christmas.

In other news, I am busy plotting out my WIP. I discovered One Note and am totally in love. I created a notebook for my WIP and have different pages for each chapter, as well as a page for my characters and another one for my plot notes. It looks like an electronic binder. Fabulous. I usually get to chapter five and panic because the ending is done and I have to get into the meat of the book. I've tried many different plotting methods and have only had minimal success with any one method and it seems to change with each book.


In still other news, (am loving this week's topic of anything goes!) today is my birthday. People always ask me if I ever felt cheated having my birthday this close to Christmas, but I never did. When I was little, I thought all the lights and hoopla was just for me. As I got older, I still loved having the house decorated for my birthday. My parents and family always made sure I got separate gifts, so it was never a problem. The only thing I didn't like was never having my birthday presents in pretty birthday paper, it was always Christmas paper! As if having a birthday and Christmas so close together wasn't enough, my husband and I got married on the 27th... let's just say I make out like a bandit the last week in December!

This will be the last time I post here this year... so I want to wish everyone a wonderful holiday. I am proud and happy to be a part of Teen Fiction Cafe!

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Christmas Gifts

Since this week's topic is "Anything Goes" and I finished my Christmas shopping today, I've got Christmas gifts on the mind. What are some of my favorite gifts to have received? Most recently, a trip to New York. My dear husband arranged to have his parents take our boys for 4 days and we headed off to the Big Apple to hang with my agents and meet the fine folks of Simon Pulse (my publisher) as well as partake in a variety of touristy and Christmassy sights and events. It was a vacation I'll never forget. I think this was so special to me because it's something I probably wouldn't do for myself.

I also like gifts that are customized or personal. My sister-in-law once gave me a beautiful bracelet with the initials of my three little boys engraved into the beads. When I was younger, Santa brought me a birthstone ring that I still have and love, though it only fits my pinky finger. I also love scarves and hats, and I've received beautiful handmade ones from my sister, my friends Christina and Drienie, and my mother-in-law.

What are some of your favorite gifts to give? A few years back I bought some plain white plates and painted cute snowman scenes and Christmas sayings on them. They turned out really cute and I think people enjoyed receiving them. I like getting my husband cologne because he wears it and I get to smell it, haha. I like to give my dad clothes because, bless his heart, he needs my help in that department. I like to get things for the boys that we can all do together, like games or snowshoes or a basketball.

In the spirit of giving, I'm giving away a signed copy of The Secret Life of a Teenage Siren (recommended for ages 14 and up). But instead of winning it for yourself, you'll be nominating someone else to win it. (If you haven't read it yet, maybe s/he will let you borrow it after s/he finishes it). Just share the first name of the person you'd like to nominate and a couple of sentences why this person deserves a copy of my book. You can leave a comment below, or via my website. I'll choose a winner on Dec. 26, which happens to be the one year anniversary of The Secret Life of a Teenage Siren. Whatever your holiday traditions, I wish you good health and a happy spirit as we head into 2009!

xoxo

Wendy

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Turning the tables

This week we're talking about suriviving adolescence...... so I decided to turn the tables slightly and talk about how as a parent I'm surviving my kids adolescence!

If you think it's tough going through the teens years, then take it from me it's no picnic going through it again with your kids. In fact I have only one piece advice to all parents: remember you were young once.

And as I frequently tell my kids: there's nothing you're doing that I haven't already done - so don't bother trying to fob me off with untruths!!!

Having said that, it's still hard to watch them make the same mistakes, although at least they do confide in me in a way I never would have with my parents.

Their father doesn't see it like I do, and is continually saying things like: 'it wasn't like that in my day'....... maybe that's why I write young adult fiction and he doesn't!!!

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attention LiveJournal users!

You can now read the Teen Fiction Cafe blog syndication through your LJ friends page.

The feed is here: http://syndicated.livejournal.com/tfcblog/

You should be able to go to your add/remove friends page, and add the username tfcblog

Thank you Jo Knowles for the suggstion!

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Mean Girls

I’m not sure if I ever wrote about it here before, but for years I didn’t mention the fact that, as a kid, I had been bullied.

And I’m not talking about a single confrontation between me and some mean kid that took place after school, no, I mean an ongoing, ridiculously prolonged, form of bullying between me and a group of older girls (two in particular) that took place before, during, and after school, and that lasted five years.

One of the reasons I didn’t talk about it is because I didn’t understand it. I’d done nothing I could think of to instigate their behavior except move to a new town, and arrive at my new school with a major stomachache and a bad case of nerves. But by lunchtime that very first day, word was out, and my new nickname of “Stuck Up B*&%h” somehow stuck. There was even a song created to go with it, one that made liberal use of my nickname, over and over again.

But despite the lyrics professing that I thought I was “sooo bitchen” I’m here to say I pretty much felt I was anything but. I may have lived in the biggest house on the street, but trust me, it was by no means happy inside. My parents were constantly fighting, on the verge of divorce, and my entire world was falling apart, making it hard to determine which was more miserable, being at home or going to school.

One of the other reasons I never talked about it is because I was ashamed. When a group of kids decide to outright reject you, without talking to you or getting to know you first, but merely deciding to hate you at first sight, it does more than just hurt, it makes you question your entire being, your self-worth. Besides, back then, bulling was relegated to something boys did. No one ever spoke about the propensity of meanness in girls. And believe me, there was nothing covert about what they did, it was right out there in the open, available for teachers and parents to see, but not once did anyone ever step in to stop it.

And though the taunting eventually stopped, the effects lingered for a very long time. And it wasn’t until a few years ago, when I read Rachel Simmons incredible book, ODD GIRL OUT that I could finally define what’d happened to me. It’s hard to describe the emotions I went through when reading the book, but it was definitely a cathartic experience. Just knowing that I wasn’t alone, that others had experienced the same type of thing, provided tremendous relief.

Not long after reading it, I wrote ART GEEKS AND PROM QUEENS, my book about bullying, conformity, and the insidious meanness of girls. And I thought I was done with the topic, having fully moved on, when the strangest thing happened just a few days ago.

One of my bullies sent me an e-mail.

She’d found me on a social networking site and contacted me. Telling me how horrible she’d felt all of these years, and how she’d never tolerate that sort of behavior in her own kids. And even though it would seem like I should be well past caring either way, I could hardly believe my eyes when I read it. That e-mail meant a great deal to me, much more than I was probably able to express in my reply.

So I guess these are my tips for Surviving Adolescence week here at The Cafe:

If you’re being bullied- speak up! Don’t suffer in silence; tell someone who can help you! And definitely get yourself a copy of ODD GIRL OUT.

If you ARE the bully- then STOP IT! Just STOP IT! Treating others poorly is one of the worst things you can do, and it is NEVER okay. The cheapest way to feel good about yourself is by bashing someone else. Find a better way to boost your own self-esteem.

Oh, and no matter how many decades have passed, a heartfelt apology goes a very long way.

Alyson Noel is the author of several novels for teens and adults. Her upcoming IMMORTALS series begins with EVERMORE on 02.03.09. visit: www.alysonnoel.com to read excerpts, watch trailers, etc.

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YA Holiday Survival

I love the holidays. I really do. But let's face it - this time of year can be stressful. There's so much to do! Plus, you're supposed to look joyful and triumphant while doing it. That's a big part of holiday stress, I think - living up to the expectation of what it's supposed to be.

So for today's post, let's share survival tips. What are some of your best strategies for getting through the holidays?

I'll list a few of mine to get us started:

1. Look for something you can do to brighten someone else's holiday.
Test me on it if you don't believe it works, but getting involved in some kind of service is the best way I know to forget about your own stress, plus it has the added benefit of helping someone and it makes you feel great in the process. It's even better if you do it anonymously.

2. Take control. If you have a family gathering looming and you dread the pushy, nosey questions some of your relatives love to dump on you each year, go proactive. Be prepared with topics to steer the conversation. If that doesn't work, have an escape plan in place!

3. READ! Curling up with a great book is another stress reliever. If you'd like book suggestions, we are discussing book gift ideas over on my blog this week and all of the suggestions so far sound fantastic. My TBR list is growing by the day!

So how about you? What are some of your holiday survival strategies?

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And the winner is...

Actually, before I mention the winner, I'd just like to say a big humungous THANK YOU to everyone who left comments at blogger, myspace and teen fiction cafe. You guys rock sooo much and you had so many great zombie survival tips. If only my poor heroine Mia Everett had half of this knowledge she would've saved herself a LOT of stress. Still, at least she will know what to do next time she is forced to confront the living dead (as will I!!!!!!!)

And now, the winner - drawn by random number generator(every author's favorite friend) is:

Khy

Thank you to everyone else who entered and don't forget to keep checking back in because there will be more prizes up for grabs closer to the release date not to mention a MASSIVE blog party with a whole heap of amazing authors (and a whole heap of books written by the before mentioned amazing authors!!!)

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Sweethearts giveaway results

Wow, you guys. Just...wow. Thank you. I especially loved what you had to say about not comparing yourselves to others, or to women in the media, because every single one of us has a genetically unique body (unless you are an identical twin!) and comparison is really just a dead-end street. On the other hand, I also appreciated you for pointing out that you don't just have to be defeatist about the genetic hand you're dealt---you can take good care of yourself, no matter what your size or shape, by eating well and getting enough sleep and reaping the many benefits of exercise and rejecting negative self- and other-talk.

I truly wish I could give everyone a copy because you all inspired me. Alas, I've only got two copies, and so...

My random pulled-out-of-the-hat winner is: Yan! Congratulations! (By the way, walking up and down hills is a great workout!)

And the very difficult decision of the second winner is Ruby, because her story is very similar to something that happened to me in 6th grade when I was just innocently walking down the hall to class, minding my own business, and this 8th grade boy I didn't even know looked me right in the eyes and said, "You're fat." And for some reason, it takes tremendous powers of the mind to get the unsolicited opinion of a random stranger out of my head 27 years later! I also think what Ruby says about the people you surround yourself with is important. If all your friends are constantly saying mean things about other people's appearance, you might want to think about how that's affecting your own views.

If Yan and Ruby could please email me your contact info - sarazarr at gmail.com - I will get those signed books in the mail next week.

Again, thanks EVERYONE, you are all winners to me!

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And yet more book winning: my latest contest!

I'm taking a short break from my revisions on my second novel, BALLADS OF SUBURBIA,to tell you how you can win an Advanced Review Copy of it, among other fabulous prizes.

I blogged about how over the moon I get when people tell me they were inspired by my book, I WANNA BE YOUR JOEY RAMONE, and how I wanted to do some sort of fan art contest. Well, I've finally had the time to figure out details (for the most part, there are a couple of legalities I am waiting to hear back from the publisher about) so now I am happy to announce the Inspired By Contest!

There will be two categories for the Inspired By Contest: Fan Art and Soundtrack.

Fan Art Category:

Submit your songs, poems, drawings, paintings, photography, zines etc that are inspired by IWBYJR OR dress up as a character, film a scene from the book, make a She Laughs music video OR design a logo for a She Laughs band t-shirt. Basically anything creative that is inspired by the book will be creative.

You will need to submit your entries by email to stephanie at stephaniekuehnert dot com, which means that you will need to be able to send a photograph of your art project or in the case of songs or videos, you will need to send me a link to where I can hear/see the song/video like on YouTube or MySpace or whatever. Please also include a sentence or so about how the artistic endeavor was inspired by IWBYJR ie "This song is about a relationship like Emily and Johnny's" or "This is me dressing up like Emily did for her first show" or "This is a painting inspired by Louisa." Oh and yes, you can submit up to three entries as long as they are different types, ie. one song, one soundtrack, one She Laughs logo design.

Deadline is January 15th. This should give you time after the madness of the Holidays, but of course if I don't get enough entries or you guys don't think this is enough time, I'll push it back.

Judging will be done by my blog readers. I'll post a blog entry with all the photos and links and ask people to vote. Yeah, you can vote for your own or send your friends to vote for you, that's fine!

Grand Prize will be your choice of a 25$ online gift certificate to either DownloadPunk or Amazon or (if we have them) a She Laughs t-shirt PLUS a signed poster from my Metro reading with Irvine Welsh (signed by me, Irvine, and Bill Hillmann, pictured above) PLUS once I receive them (which may not be until spring), you will get a signed, advanced reader's copy of my next book Ballads of Suburbia!

Second Place will get a signed poster from my Metro reading with Irvine Welsh (signed by me, Irvine, and Bill Hillmann).

Three Runners Up will get signed coverflats of IWBYJR.

All Winners will have their work posted on or linked from my website.

And note that depending on the number of entries, I will try to do a little something for everyone who enters, like either put your stuff up on the website or send you a signed bookmark or something!

A note about the She Laughs logo design entries/making t-shirts: this is the thing I am waiting to get legal clearance on from the publisher. If we get legal clearance (which will probably involve me posting some legal mumbo jumbo and potentially having the winner sign something), I may like to use one or more of the She Laughs logos that is designed to actually sell shirts for charity via a Cafe Press store. If your design is chosen, regardless to how you place in the contest, you will receive a t-shirt with your design!

Soundtrack Category:

This is for those of you who like me, may not be musically or artistically inclined (though I could write a poem or dress up as a character and I'm willing to bet most of you could too) or who just LOVE making mix CDs.

Submit your list of up to 20 songs that would be on your personal IWBYJR soundtrack. Unless the song is super popular (ie. Nirvana' or the Beatles or Britney Spears or something), if you can give a link to where the song can be heard or a YouTube video or something that would be great. Even more awesome, do your soundtrack on Project Playlist. Send the list of songs or link to Project Playlist to stephanie at stephaniekuehnert dot com.

Deadline is January 15th.

Judging will be done by the blog readers and again, you can vote for your own or send your friends to vote for you, that's fine!

Grand Prize will be a copies of both of my soundtracks (I have one for IWBYJR and one for Ballads) PLUS once I receive them (which may not be until spring), you will get a signed, advanced reader's copy of my next book Ballads of Suburbia!

3 Runners Up will receive their choice of either my IWBYJR soundtrack or my Ballads soundtrack.

All Winners will have their soundtracks posted on my website. And depending on the number of entries, I may post all entries on my website.

Whew! That is a lot of info, but it's kinda a complicated contest. It's also the one I am most excited about running so I hope those of you who have read the book will enter, it should be really fun!

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More Winning of Signed Books: Sweethearts edition

The winning never stops here at the Teen Fiction Cafe, and just in time for the holidays! Now it's my turn, because I am celebrating two exciting publishing events. One, the Sweethearts paperback comes out on January 1, and, like every author I know, I'm excited about my books coming out in paperback. Why? Because paperbacks are pretty (with quotes from reviews that came out since the hardcover publication), they travel well, and because they're under $10 it means a whole new audience. Particularly: more actual teens! We all adore our adult fans and the libraries and schools who stock the books, and the teens who are able to buy in hardcover, but a $7.99 cover price kind of makes it accessible to a whole new group. Also, like the Story of a Girl paperback, the Sweethearts paperback includes a discussion guide. Bonus!

The other exciting event is the publication of the anthology Does This Book Make Me Look Fat? (coming out December 29) to which I contributed an essay detailing, among other things, how a doctor completely humiliated me when I was 16 and how I eventually learned to (mostly) make peace with and take care of my body. DTBMMLF? also includes essays and stories by many of your favorite YA authors, like Coe Booth, Megan McCafferty, and even some dudes, like Barry Lyga and Matt de la Pena. Now, if you've read Sweethearts, you know that the narrator, Jenna, has some body and eating issues, so the fact that these two releases coincide is kind of cool.

And, because of that theme, the way to win yourself a signed copy of the Sweethearts paperback is to leave a comment here telling me something that you do, something you've changed, something you've overcome, or something you've learned to do help keep your connection with your body & health strong and positive. Emphasis on the positive. (Like, "I make sure to only eat 175 calories a day" is not a good answer, because obviously that is not enough food to live on! "Every time I watch Gossip Girl I do self-talk that reminds me it's okay to not look like Jenny Humphrey" is better.) I wish I had a spare copy of DTBMMLF? to give away, but I don't. Instead, I'll give away two copies of the Sweethearts paperback.

I will pick one random winner from the commenters, and one winner for the comment that I think is especially inspiring (even though I know they will all be pretty awesome!). I'll do that on Friday, December 12, sometime after noon Eastern and post the results here. I'm really looking forward to your answers!

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Win a copy of Zombie Queen of Newbury High

OMG- there's only four months until ZOMBIE QUEEN OF NEWBURY HIGH hits the shelves and to celebrate this momentous occasion I'm going to give away my Very Last arc!

Yup, that's right, this is your only chance to get a sneak peek at what happens when Mia Everett decides to do a love spell to stop her prom date from dumping her, but instead she (accidently) releases a virus that turns her entire senior year into flesh-eating zombies who are determined to make Mia the first course in their new meat-only diet. Whoops. And now Mia's only chance of survival is if she and hottie zombie hunter, Chase Miller can find a cure before it hits the final stage. She suggests that no one wear white to prom, because things could get very messy.

Now, I love my heroine as much as the next author, but between you and me, I think Mia probably would've found it a lot easier if she'd had some sort of Zombie Survival plan. So, in order to give Mia a helping hand, and to prepare yourselves for if you should ever be in a similar situation, I want to hear everyone's best Zombie Survival Tips for what they would do if they were being attacked by the living dead.

Though, let me give you a gentle hint - don't say that you would lie there and play dead because it wouldn't work. Zombies might look stupid - what with all the crazy walking and the drooling - but they've got a serious sense of smell and they'd be pulling out the ketchup bottles and chewing on your arm before you even realized your mistake.

So, see, it's simple. All you need to do is leave me your best zombie survival tip and you can go in with a chance to win. I'm running this competition on my blog, myspace and Teen Fiction Cafe and you can leave an answer on any of them (or all of them if you REALLY want to!!!!) and I'll pick a winner on Sunday night. Easy peasy.

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And the winner is . . .

While I truly wish you could all win signed copies of EVERMORE, alas, there are only two in this particular giveaway. So after dropping all of the names into a Sex Pistols baseball cap (a Rock n- Read freebie!), I had my husband close his eyes, reach in, and pick two names . . . .

And the winners are . . . .

Wait for it . . .

Paradox & Rimasbookjournal

So, if you are either one of those people, please e-mail me at: alyson@alysonnoel.com and tell me where to send your signed copy (and who to make it out to!). And please note, these are coming straight from my box of author copies, which, usually arrive early-- usually being the key word here as the CRUEL SUMMER box arrived seriously late.

Anyway, congrats to Paradox & Rima-- and thanks to all the rest of you who entered!!!

Have a good day everyone!

Alyson

:-D

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The Immortals Series

It's promo week at the cafe and I almost missed my turn as I was in Las Vegas celebrating my b-day with my amazing husband-- Thanks babe you ROCK!!

And even though a b-day celebration is a sort of promo of sorts (I mean all that cake and champagne was kind of like a promo of moi) luckily, I made it back just in time to promote my new book.

Or rather, my new series of books.

Or even more specifically the first two books in my new series of books, EVERMORE (o2.03.09) and BLUE MOON (08.04.09)

Now, if  you've been to the cafe before, then you've probably already heard me mention my new IMMORTALS series, at least once.

Maybe twice.

But definitely no more than thrice.

Okay, probably more than thrice, but I digress.

Anyway, I'm very excited about this new series, partly because I'm the excitable type, and partly because it's been really fun to write, the research has been awesome, and it's a bit of a departure in that it's a paranormal about a psychic girl and a very mysterious boy--and yet not a HUGE departure in that the girl is 16 and lives in Laguna Beach. 

Also, during the writing of these books some very cool things have happened, EVERMORE received the 5 STAR GOLD AWARD from TeensReadToo, the first two books sold at auction in Germany, EVERMORE sold to Spain as one of their lead fall titles, and I've sold three more books in the series to St. Martin's Press (to be published in 2010)- making for a total of five! Oh, and early reader feedback has been great (and very much appreciated!)!

And since it constitutes a whole new addition to the Alyson Noel ouevre I asked the amazing Maddee over at Xuni do a little website makeover to include the new series and I think she did an amazing job!

So, in honor of all of my excitement, and in honor of YOU for reading this far, I'm giving away 2 signed copies (I'm talking hot off the press author copies!) of EVERMORE to two randomly selected commenters who visit my website, clicks on the EVERMORE cover, enters the portal, goes to the "Extras" page, picks a song from the playlist, then comes back here and posts the song in the comments section. (Not as involved as it sounds-- I promise!)

And all you have to do to start the journey toward winning is click HERE.

The small print starts here:  Contest closes at midnight, Laguna Beach time. Two winners will be chosen at random, and announced on Monday, December 8. Author copies usually arrive before the books hit the shelves (scheduled bookstore drop is on Feb 3, 2009) but please keep in mind that my CRUEL SUMMER copies didn't find their way to my doorstep until very late, and as these things are out of my hands, your patience is very much appreciated.

Oh, and speaking of . . .CRUEL SUMMER was nominated for the Best Books of 2008!!!

Click HERE to see the full list, and learn how to vote for your favorites!!

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Authors at the Party

Sometimes I get to see lots of other authors in one spot, and that is always kind of magical, like seeing a unicorn under a rainbow with a leprachaun. Or something.

Anyway, a night like that happened this week at the book party I co-hosted at Butter (a favorite Gossip Girl eatery) with Gamer Girl author Mari Mancusi, who rules. Here she is signing her book. Isn't she pretty in purple?



We were celebrating Gamer Girl (which has a purple-ish cover) and Violet in Private, so I wore purple tights, too, but I have no evidence of that. Sorry! Here (with me, left) were awesome authors Bennett Madison (The Lulu Dark mysteries) and Deborah Gregory (Cheetah Girls series and Catwalk).



And Mari and I got to rub elbows with Scott Westerfeld (Uglies) and Diana Peterfreund (Rampant). They came with fellow fabulous authors Justline Larbalestier (How to Ditch Your Fairy) and Maureen Johnson (Suite Scarlett).



Mari put games on the table, so here's Becky, Jeff and Dave getting into Hungry, Hungry Hippos.



Great crowd too--attendees from Vogue, Teen Vogue, ELLE, InStyle, Daily Candy, CNN and, of course, Mari's colleagues from Better TV. We also had socialites, publicists, a ton of great authors, and Dorchester and Penguin editor types.

What other authors were there? Glad you asked! Michael Northrop (Gentlemen), Liz Maverick (Wired) and Anisha Lakhani (Schooled). It was cool.

Oh, and we had signature chocolates that looked like they had gold in them. It was like magic!

Thanks to everyone who came and celebrated with us--too many awesome people to name. Also, thanks to Butter, and to Clarins and Lierac for the gift bag contributions. We had a blast!

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Books. Or: my love for author introductions of re-issued classics

[Edited to add: After I posted this, I worried that it wasn't teen-fictiony enough for TFC, but then I thought about how the separation between YA fiction/authors and "adult" fiction/authors is one of the things I don't love about the industry, and how fans of both overlap, and I like that overlap, and that as authors and readers we read and think widely, and admire widely, I hope!]

I’m going to start with a fangirly story about Richard Peck, but I promise that this post will eventually get to the topic at hand this week: books and reading. At the Utah Book Festival, I had the lucky chance to spend some quality time with the acclaimed and bemedaled Mr. Peck, and marvel at his career longevity and energy. At one point, he asked my husband and me about favorite movies. After we answered, we asked him about his favorite movie, and without hesitation, he said: Dodsworth. Now, I think of myself as pretty film literate, across genres and decades, but not only had I not seen this movie, I’d never even heard of it! How humiliating! I don’t like to not know things. It conflicts with my image of myself as the all-knower-of-things. Anyway, because I developed a great affection for Richard and wanted to prove myself worthy of his friendship, I of course ran right out and got hold of Dodsworth. It was great. In the long run, it’s mostly a movie about ideas, and I liked the ideas it explored and the way it explored them. But this post is not about movies, it’s about books!

So, Dodsworth the movie is based on Dodsworth the novel, by Sinclair Lewis. I checked the Kindle store to see if it was available, as a lot of classics are, on the cheap (like $5 and under for Kindle versions, much of the time). No sign of Dodsworth there, but I did find a bunch of other Sinclair Lewis books, including one of his most well-known, Main Street, in a Modern Library eBook Edition. I started reading it the other night and it includes an introduction by the author. I love author introductions! They tell you so much about who the author is and what kind of relationship he or she had with his work in the process of writing it, and later at the time of writing the intro. They tell you if the author has a sense of humor about life and work, or is a self-important blowhard. They also offer inspiration and understanding to authors who might feel uninspired or misunderstood. Lewis’s introduction made me immediately love him and feel inclined to love his work. Here are some quotables:

“To me (and I think to most writers) there is no conceivable subject so uninteresting as one’s own book, after you have finished the year of ditch-digging and bricklaying, read the proofs with the incessant irritation of realizing how much better you might have said this or that if you had had another year, then fretted over the reviews---equally over those in which you are hoisted to the elevation of world master, and those in which you are disclosed as a hypocritical illiterate.”

He started the book fifteen years before it was published. Originally it had a different protagonist. He threw out his original material and started over. About 30,000 words into the do-ver, he decided that he wasn’t up to it yet. (And writes, “Whether I was up to it in 1919 [the year it was published], either, I must leave to critics less prejudiced.”) He went off and wrote short stories for awhile and sold a serial to the Saturday Evening Post. That gave him enough money to take a year off and he put nose to the grindstone, “eight hours a day, seven days in most weeks, though a normal number of daily hours of creative writing is supposed to be about four…I never worked so hard, and never shall work so hard, again…unless Comes the Revolution and I am driven from writing to real work, like bricklaying or soldiering or being a nursemaid.”

Despite the fact that I sometimes see all the different versions of classics as just a cheap way for publishers to make money on expired copyrights, a good edition tells you stuff you might never get to know about a writer who died before we all had blogs. This edition also has commentaries from ten other authors, including E.M. Forster, Dorothy Parker, H.L. Mencken, and Sherwood Anderson. I’m not reading those yet, because I like to know a book myself, first.

Speaking of the book, I’m loving it. It’s about small town Midwestern America just after the turn of the century. The protagonist is a college grad from St. Paul, who marries a country doctor and reluctantly moves to one of the prairie towns that she so hates and fears. Here she is taking a walk on the first day in her new town:

"She stared with seriousness at every concrete crossing, every hitching-post, every rake for leaves; and to each house she devoted all her speculation. What would they come to mean? How would they look six months from now? Which of these people whom she passed, now mere arrangements of hair and clothes, would turn into intimates, loved or dreaded, different from all the other people in the world?"

And one last note about the Kindle itself as it relates to the books/reading topic. After owning mine for a month or so, I'm finding that I go to it for very specific things: reading manuscripts, reading one of those "through the bible in a year, for dummies and lazy people!" bibles, and finding cheap but good electronic classics. Often the versions at the library are either big heavy hardcover editions, or mass market paperbacks with tiny print and yellowed pages. Something about having a classic on the Kindle makes it feel accessible and new, and you're not thinking, "Damn, this is an old book!" as you read. Which is good for a reluctant reader like me.

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Book Vlog!

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Books: Let's Hear It For the Boys

Recently there's been a lot of talk about how the poor economy is having a negative impact on book sales. One area where agents say editors are still aggressively looking for new titles is novels for tweens and teens with male protagonists. To understand why this is so, one need only stroll through a bookstore to see how female-dominated most offerings are. Since the theme at TFC this week is Books, I thought I'd go through the list of books I've read thus far in 2008 to see which ones with male protagonists I could recommend. And here they are:

DEADLINE, by Chris Cruthcher. After being diagnosed with an incurable form of leukemia, 18-year-old Ben Wolf decides to forego treatment and keep his illness a secret, instead electing to pack an entire lifetime worth of living into his senior year.

GYM CANDY, by Carl Deuker. A high school football player resorts to steroids to amp up his game.

BOY TOY, by Barry Lyga. A then-and-now story about how the sexual relationship a boy has with his teacher at age 12 still affects everything in his life now that he's 18.

KNIGHTS OF THE HILL COUNTRY, by Tim Tharp. Think "Friday Night Lights" only in small-town Oklahoma, where sometimes football even ranks ahead of God and country.

GETTING THE GIRL, by Marcus Zusak. An earlier work from the best-selling author of "The Book Thief," set in Australia, about family dynamics and competition between brothers.

And since I'd be remiss if I made such a list and didn't give a shout-out to my own husband:

SOMETHING HAPPENED, by Greg Logsted, about a 13-year-old boy, still mourning the death of his father, who falls prey to the attentions of a hot new teacher; and ALIBI JUNIOR HIGH, forthcoming, also by Greg Logsted, about the globe-trotting son of a CIA agent, forced into hiding, who now faces the real challenge of his life: junior high.

Oh, and I just happen to be working on a new book myself with a male protagonist.

QUESTION OF THE DAY: WHAT BOOKS HAVE YOU READ WITH MALE PROTAGONISTS THAT YOU CAN RECOMMEND?

Be well. Don't forget to write.

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Holiday Music

Every year at about this time, I buy myself a new holiday CD. I particularly like Christmas music because I love the festive feeling it gives me. My collection is quite extensive: from classical piano to country to rap. One of my family's traditions is gettin' down with Ricky Martin (Ay-ay-ay It's Christmas) and I want to personally thank him for helping me lose my post-birth baby weight. Gracias, Ricky!

This year, I found a CD by Utah artist Danielle Vaughn. It's called "Noel," and it is great for listening to while driving or while typing away on my keyboard. I bought a bunch for my friends and family and had her autograph them. Cool, huh?

Does holiday music make you want to puke, or does it put you in a merry mood? Do you have a favorite holiday song or CD? If so, please share!

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Songs as Stories

I've been thinking about songs as stories a lot lately and since it is Music week on Teen Fiction Cafe, I thought it would be the perfect time to blog about it. I've always loved a song that tells a story. I know most songs do in a vague, emotional way, but I'm talking about the kind of songs where you can literally picture the characters like you do when you are reading a book.

I was exposed to those songs at a very early age and even though I really only remember them as background noise, they definitely influenced me subconsciously. When I was young, my parents listened to a lot of folk music when I was little, so I grew up on songs by Pete Seeger, Woody Guthrie, Joan Baez, and others. Their songs often told stories about people who worked hard to get by or who were trying to bring change to the world. Admittedly, as I grew up and started discovering my own music, those artists didn't really interest me. Like my character, Emily from I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone, I usually searched for music that was loud. One big exception was Johnny Cash.

I had a really cool teacher in college, Joe Meno (who some of you might know for his books like Hairstyles of Damned), who brought a boombox and a bunch of Johnny Cash CDs into our creative writing class one day. He wanted us to listen to the stories in the songs and think about music as a form of storytelling. After all, before the printing press and all of that, stories were often passed along as ballads. I wrote in my journal furiously during that class because it helped me figure out something very important about a novel idea I had that would become my second novel, Ballads of Suburbia (which is already available for pre-order on Amazon, squee!). I realized that the Johnny Cash songs that Joe was playing had something in common with a couple punks songs I really liked, namely "Story of My Life" by Social Distortion and "The Young Crazed Peeling" by The Distillers. They told the story of the most important moment (or moments) of someone's life (perhaps a real person, perhaps a character). I decided to do work that concept into Ballads of Suburbia. Each of my characters writes their ballad, or the defining moment of their life, in a notebook. Their ballads aren't songs though they all are introduced by lyrics that speak to the character and remind them of their story.

I'm about to start revisions on Ballads of Suburbia, which may be one reason I'm re-obsessed with songs that tell stories. But the other reason is a song called "Anna is a Stool Pigeon" by Tom Gabel, the lead singer of Against Me! who just put out a solo ep called Heart Burns. I've been listening to the song over and over again. It's based on the true story of activist Eric McDavid and I might just have to share the song with my parents because it likes the punk version of the folk songs they raised me with. Here's a clip of Tom performing it at my local radio station Q101:



This is the link to the video of the song, but be forewarned, the lyrics in this version are not "radio friendly."

As for some other story songs I like, Against Me! has a song called "Thrash Unreal" that weaves the story of a very interesting and sad female character. I have no doubt it will inspire me to write a story someday. Also, Nirvana is my favorite band and even though Kurt Cobain is known for writing lyrics that are hard to understand and interpret, he wrote one of my favorite story songs, "Polly," which is based on the true story of a girl from Tacoma, Washington who was kidnapped and escaped her captors. Their song "Paper Cuts" is also based on a newspaper article that Cobain read and the song "Scentless Apprentice" is basically a book report on the novel Perfume by Patrick Suskind. It's interesting to think of Kurt Cobain being inspired by books and newspaper articles to write his songs, when I'm inspired by music and newspaper articles to write my books!

What about you, what are some of your favorite songs that tell a story that is really vivid or resonates with you?

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Books to Movies

The countdown has begun... One week until the Twilight movie release! Judging from the responses to Alyson's post, most of us who are Twilight fans are looking forward to the movie, even if we aren't too sure we have high expectations.

It's always a gamble when a favorite book is adapted for the silver screen. Here are some examples from recent years (in no particular order):

Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine

Fail. How could they add that stupid talking snake and music montage and take away the animated rug and sliding down the banister?

Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling

Awesome, especially the quidditch game.

Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot

Fun. Ever notice how well Hector Elizondo plays the gentle advisor to confused diamond-in-the-rough young women? See Pretty Woman.

Eragon by Christopher Paolini

Fail. What was up with the costuming? Bleh.

Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson

Well done. Made me cry, just like the book.


The Golden Compass by Phillip Pullman

Disappointing. A beautiful movie to look at, but sooo chopped up.

The DaVinci Code by Dan Brown

OK, The DaVinci Code was not a favorite book, but I had to include it to ask - what was up with that awful hair they gave poor Tom Hanks? Ick.

Holes by Louis Sachar

Loved, loved, loved it. Great adaptation. Especially Dule Hill as Sam and Jon Voight as Mr. Sir.

And there are so many, many more.

Have any of your favorite books been made into movies? How did they fare?

P.S. I'm giving away the first ever advanced readers copy of DEATH BY DENIM this weekend on my blog. Come on by!

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Twilight, anyone??

Since it’s anything goes week here at the café, I thought I’d write about a little phenomenon you might have heard of called TWILIGHT (the movie). And while I won’t get into a Team Edward vs. Team Jacob debate—I think we’ve all had enough of divisive politics for a while—I do want to talk about the amazing fact that according to Fandango, over 100 show times are already sold out across the nation—and we’re still a week away from the premiere!

And while I haven’t read past NEW MOON (yet!), I’m definitely planning to see the movie—at midnight—on Thursday—and yes, I preordered my tickets from Fandango too—or rather Jessica Brody pre-ordered them as she’s far more organized and industrious than me—but I digress!

And in case you were wondering (you probably weren't, but still) I don’t consider myself a rabid fan. I mean, I really really liked the book, and by the end I was even more than a little annoyed with my husband for not being a vampire like Edward—because how cool would that be? But still, I’m not as obsessed as some people I know (you know who you are!). So I guess that’s why I don’t have these huge expectations other than to be entertained.

Oh, and for Edward to be insanely hot!

But really, that’s it. And with Catherine Hardwicke at the helm, I’m pretty confident I’ll get what I want. But other than that, I honestly don’t care if it’s not just like the book, or if they take major liberties, or leave stuff out, or whatever. I’m just there for the camaraderie, the popcorn, and the good time.

Okay, and maybe I'm hoping for lots of Edward close ups--but that's it-- I swear!

What about you? Do you have major expectations? Will you be disappointed if it’s not true to the book?

Alyson Noel, is the award winning author of seven novels. EVERMORE, the first book in her upcoming IMMORTALS series will be in store on 02.03.09, BLUE MOON will follow in Fall 09, with three more titles in 2010. You can visit her at: www.alysonnoel.com

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The same. But different

As a rule I'm far too lazy to get really obsessed with something, but within my shallow parameters it's fair to say that ever since I heard Liverpool band, The Wombats perform Bleeding Love at the VMAs last week I've been listening to it non-stop. Another favorite song of recent times is the Mandy Moore version of Umbrella which I heart big time.

So anyway, it got me to thinking, do I love both these songs because they are familiar or because they are different? But of course, as you teen fiction cafers have probably already twigged, it's because they are both, and it suddenly occur ed to me that this is what I always try to do with my writing.

I love taking something familiar (like death or zombies) and building up my own little world for it where things can happen my way. I'm not saying everyone will like what I do with it, but as a writer, it's definitely what keeps me feeling challenged and happy. So what do we all think? Do you like these sort of covers of have the artists committed the ultimate sacrilege????

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How did you think of that?????

For my post this week I decided to talk about ideas, and where they come from. It's a subject that fascinates me because my ideas are a bit thin on the ground. I'm truly envious of writers who say they have enough ideas to keep them going for the next fifty years. WTF!!!! I'm lucky if I have one or two swirling aimlessly around my head at any one time.

One source of ideas for me, though, is my teenage son. The things he gets up to, and has in the past, help me greatly. The staple gun incident.... one of his. A friend and him riding round a farm, one on a quad bike and one on a lawnmower and crashing..... and his friend persuading the owners of the bike/lawn mower not to tell his parents and letting him pay for the damage in instalments...... perfect opening to another book. Swapping keyboards in a computer test so his friend could complete his while it looked like he was doing the work..... ingenius. The trouble is he's getting older and more responsible.... so then what shall I do. I can't rely on my daughter. Apart from the fact she's older she's always behaved herself.....

So, if you write, where do your ideas come from?

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Halloween Photo Contest

Halloween greetings!

This year, I got to dress up four different days. To keep things exciting (and to keep my go-go boots from causing permanent damage to my feet), I changed my costume toward the end.

In the spirit of the season, I'm running a contest for Best Halloween Costume of 2008.

To enter, just email me a photo of you in this year's costume. wendy info (at) wendy toliver (dot) com.

On Saturday, November 8, I'll choose my favorite, then post it here at the Teen Fiction Cafe for everybody to see. (If you'd rather keep your photo private, you can still enter. Just let me know at time of entry.) The prize is a signed copy of The Secret Life of a Teenage Siren, appropriate for ages 12 and up. Good luck!

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Dizzy's Iced Coffee

This is my coffee shop. I get an iced coffee with cream and sugar here nearly every morning. J, who was working five mornings a week, knows how I like it to taste like coffee ice cream. She humors me, even in the winter. (Hot drinks make me feel like I have the flu--it's weird, I know.)

Lately, however, J's cut down on her shifts. There are new people there, and they are very smiley and nice (J often surly, but it's part of her charm), and these new people do not make the coffee right. Too much cream, too little sugar, not enough cream, waaaay to sweet... the combinations of wrongness are endless. I miss J.

This one small thing--someone changing shifts after five years at my coffee shop--has really thrown me! I can't get the coffee I want, and therefore I can't write as well as I want to! I need my Dizzy's iced coffee!

Now, never fear, I've taken to stalking J's few shifts and ordering coffee then. It's not the same, but I should cut back on the cream anyway, and this just makes the perfect cup all the more special and tasty--it's become a real treat.

Has this ever happened in your world? One small shift that seems to have a ripple effect? And also: What is your Dizzy's coffee? The thing you need to sit down with when you start working on something? (I'm thinking of subbing in Gummy Worms.)

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the lull

Right now, I'm in the lull between having turned a manuscript in to my editor and getting editorial notes for revision. I do not have a day job, and I don't have kids, and there are no pressing tasks on my immediate horizon. In other words: I'm in hell.

Of course, before I was actually in the lull (the more I type that word, the more wrong and crazy it looks), I looked forward to it. I'd fantasize about waking up to empty days and being able to relax and play and read and putter and shop and lunch and go to movies and maybe even mop the floors. In reality, waking up feels a little bit like falling into a hole. As soon as my eyes open, I'm slipping down, down, down into an abyss of uncertainty: How will I approach my day? How will I get myself to make good use of my time without obsessively trying to be "productive"? What is the balance between rest and work? And if I think I've found the balance, can I trust my own judgment? Et cetera.

"Wow, Sara, this sounds like the perfect time to get cracking on your next book or some other wonderful fun writing project!"

Oh, does it now. Yes, on good days I do dabble in potential future projects and try out some new ideas. But I find it difficult to concentrate when in the back of my mind I know there's a monster editorial letter coming that embodies my dearest dreams and worst fears and will be the beginning of a lot of hard work (during the holidays! yay!).

Still, I know that if I want to sustain a long-term writing career and keep the hits comin' and not have a psychotic break, I need to learn how to deal with The Lull. That might look like working on a writing project, or it might look like figuring out how to relax and enjoy the down time, or a little of both.

How do you deal with the lull? Tell me your secrets!

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Anything goes! Let's talk first drafts!

Yesterday, I finished the first draft of Behind the Bit, the third book in my Canterwood Crest series. When I hit the PRINT button, a happy nerd dance began! Sure, the draft is messy, there are INSERT WITTY DIALOGUE HERE in place of actual conversation in some spots and the final scene needs more work.

But...

It's a draft and it's down! With this draft, I did my own sort of NaNoWriMo but in half the time. I started this draft with a 25 page outline on October 10 and finished it yesterday. It flowed so well and there were times when I couldn't stop writing.

Now, it's onto paper editing for a few weeks. I'll be glad not to be starting at my computer screen for most of the day.

How do you celebrate when you finish a first draft?

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YA the Vote: An Unglamorous Post

In summer of 1970, at the age of eight, I committed my first act as a political animal: I conducted a poll. Taking a piece of cardboard from one of my dad's dry-cleaned shirts, I magic-markered on the white side: WOMEN'S LIB. I underscored those radical words and underneath wrote two other lines:

FOR

AGAINST

That's all I wanted. I wasn't selling my neighbors usuriously high-priced gift wrap or other things they didn't need. I just wanted to know which women in my neighborhood were for and which against this crucial issue. Somehow in my mind, I had decided that the women's liberation movement could not possibly stride forward unless I was able to provide statistics from my own minuscule neighborhood in suburban CT. So I trudged from one-acre lot to one-acre lot, doggedly seeking my data. This did not take long since I was only allowed to go to three streets. Nor was it a very successful day for the movement. What few women did answer their doors - I remember all of them wearing hair curlers - did not answer as I'd dreamed they would, mostly just shooing me away. I remember one woman who wouldn't even answer her door, opening a second-story window just long enough to fearfully implore me, "Please. Just go." Who did she think I was, the Ghost of Women Future? It was tough not to picture a chain reaction of hair-curlered women, each one calling her neighbor to warn about the kid with the dry-cleaner cardboard survey who was threatening to come their way.

It's odd to me now to think of that little girl: how earnest, how certain she was that what she did mattered!

Funny, I still think that certain things matter. It matters to have opinions on the significant issues challenging our times. It matters, whether we do it literally or figuratively, to register "for" or "against." And it really matters, even if we live in states so far red or blue that it doesn't seem like it matters, to exercise our privilege by getting out there and voting.

I started out by thinking this an unglamorous post. I mean, it's not exactly Gossip Girls, is it? But now I'm thinking it's very glamorous. Standing up and being counted: that's sexy. And there'll be nothing sexier come November 4 than walking out of a polling station with one of those happy little "I voted today!" stickers plastered to your chest. So get out there this year and vote. And if you're not eligible yet? Then imagine your parents are Kevin Costner and make like "Swing Vote" - make sure they vote. Seriously, if you don't, I may have to come knocking at your door with one of my dry-cleaner cardboard surveys.

QUESTIONS OF THE DAY: GOT ANY POLITICAL ANECDOTES TO SHARE? OR ANY TALES OF EARNESTLY BELIEVING IN YOUR OWN IMPORTANCE WHEN YOU WERE YOUNG?

Be well. Don't forget to write.

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What Makes a Book Popular

Last night, I had the good fortune to sit next to YA author Mette Ivie Harrison (author The Princess and the Hound) at an author signing event at the Barnes & Noble in Layton, Utah. She brought up an interesting conversation topic: What makes a book popular? Sure, advertising/publicity, reviews, awards, and marketing considerations including: cover, placement, and availability play roles.

But what about the book in and of itself? We agreed a book's popularity isn't solely the writing or even the story. We suggested that a world that's created completely and imaginatively, a strong connection to its audience, and timelessness are important.

What do YOU think makes a book popular?

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