Girls Just Wanna—Stay Home and Watch TV!

One of my favorite things to do after a long day of writing is either read or watch TV. I know, exciting right? And you thought the life of an author was glamorous. Trust me, my best friend’s the glamorous one, juggling a social life so frenetic and busy it makes my head spin. While I—well, I really hate to miss my shows.

I’m fiercely loyal to my favorite programs, some might even say obsessive. I care as deeply about Vince and Ari, as I do Pam and Jim, (and just in case I’ve already lost you, I’m referring to Entourage and The Office respectively).

I get character crushes too, though not on the one’s you might think. Because in a room full of Brad Pitt and George Clooney clones, I’ll take James Roday, the guy who plays the fake psychic on Psych—but only if he stays in his Shawn Spencer character—any day.

I love Bill Henrickson’s sense of place and duty in a life so crazy I can’t even fathom it (Big Love), Tommy Gavin’s struggle with addiction and survivor’s guilt that somehow comes off as humorous (Rescue Me), Mr. Monk’s longing to be normal as he’s trapped in a mind that’s anything but (Monk), Wayne Malloy trying to do what’s best for his family even though it’s all based on deceit (The Riches), Alison Dubois doing the dishes while talking to dead people (Medium), believe me I could go on and on, referencing Dirt, My Name is Earl, Scrubs, Damages, Extras, and back in the day—Gilmore Girls . . .

But that’s what a good TV show does, pulls you so far into the character’s lives, you not only feel like you know them, but you also think about them when they’re not around, and then you go on to discuss them with your friends.

A good book does that too. And the other night, after all my shows were over and I went to bed, I ended up finishing my book. And as I closed the cover I turned to my husband and said—O—my—God!
And he went—I know. Can you believe it? (He’d read it before me)
Then we spent the next fifteen minutes discussing the character as though he was real.


What about you—what characters do you wait all week to see, or think about well after their story has ended?


PS- The book I finished was Shutter Island, by the amazing Dennis Lehane.


And speaking of good books—I’m blogging over HERE today to celebrate the release of the lovely Sara Hantz’s debut novel, THE SECOND VIRGINITY OF SUZY GREEN (talk about a great title!). My post is just under the amazingly prolific, Lauren Baratz Logsted, and anyone who leaves me a comment will be eligible to win a free copy of my September release, SAVING ZOE! Hope to see you there!

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Vacation! (and Calendar Events)

I think we were supposed to be shouting "Vacation!" back in June when school let out. But since I leave on mine tomorrow, I get to shout it today. We'll be going on a cruise from New York to Canada, the same cruise we took last summer because my daughter made friends with a girl on the ship, we've seen the family several times since, and so we're going to take the same trip with them all over again.

The other day a writing acquaintance asked if I'd take her manuscript along with me to see what I thought and I said no. I'll gladly read it when I get back, but I try not to do anything that constitutes work anymore on the few vacations I take. I used to take work with me all the time, but since I work seven days a week when I'm home - I'm here now, aren't I? - I just refuse to take anything with me. While on the ship, I will force myself to relax and have a good time...even if it kills me.

Before we had our daughter, we used to travel a lot. Some of my favorite vacations? Scotland, where we did a hiking tour across the country and climbed a mountain. Iceland, which in case you don't know it, is the cheapest way to get from the U.S. to mainland Europe provided you're willing to stop in Iceland, where everyone smokes and uses cell phones like crazy. Israel, which I just love. England, because - my God! - Shakespeare came from there. Seattle, three times, where it's always perfect weather for us while we're there, never raining. And a few other trips, totalling about 30 states and 15 countries.

In terms of calendar events, it looks like the biggies are the two books I have coming out early next year. First up, SCENES OF MY SUBURBAN LIFE, a YA about a girl whose novelist mother is crushed to death by a stack of Harry Potter books. In the aftermath, she and her father move to CT where she becomes involved in a sort-of mystery featuring an online predator. It comes out from Simon & Schuster on January 8.

OK, I keep trying to upload images of the covers, but for whatever reasons, it won't appear on the page. Bleagh. Anyway, the second book is called ME, IN BETWEEN, my first tween book about a precociously well-breasted 12-year-old who feels ambivalent about her endowments.

I'm still bummed about those cover images. Anyhoo, I was thrilled this week to learn that ANGEL'S CHOICE has gone into a second printing. That doesn't happen to me every day, so I am still enjoying the moment. There are plenty of moments in life that suck - might as well enjoy those that don't.

QUESTION OF THE DAY: WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE VACATION AND WHY?

See you when I get back!

P.S. Obviously, I just figured out how to get the images up...but they're all in the wrong places. Honestly. Some of us should *not* be allowed anywhere near modern technology!

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Culture Shock: Religion

When I first moved to Utah, I have to say it wasn't the best experience. For one, I was moving away from everyone in my family. For two, I was moving into a state where I would be in the religious minority. Before I write another word, I want to say that I love religion. I find it facinating. I studied it in college and am always up for chatting about it with whomever is willing, learning more every day about the many different and intriguing religions of the world. I consider myself very open minded and nonjudgmental.

As many of you know, roughly 50% of Utahns are Mormon (LDS). I am very happy and secure in my religion, which isn't Mormonism. But many of the core beliefs are similar (as I've found is true with most religions) and my family hasn't been shunned or made to feel uncomfortable. Sure, there have been some rough patches and some times when I've needed someone to define a word or phrase so I can follow what they're trying to say, but I think it's going well so far. I really believe I can live here, being in the religious minority, and still be respected. Sure, it's been a huge culture shock, and after living here for 12 years, there are still times I'm shocked. I want to thank Utah for being open minded and for welcoming people of other religous cultures into its beautiful land. And for those of you who are in the religious minority wherever you live, keep your beliefs close to your heart and enjoy the diversity around you.

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Hometown Culture

I’m not much of traveler, and I’m still a resident of my hometown.

But one thing I’ve always felt was that my hometown has always been rich with Culture and History.

I live in Salinas, CA where the agriculture is one of California’s richest farming towns. We have fields galore with a strong Mexican culture from families who settled here to work in the fields, and now some own their own patch of land.

My mother and father were both born and raised here as well with their 12 siblings, during a time of prejudices where my father couldn’t take a girl to a dance because he was dark and she was light. Our town today is so diverse I couldn’t imagine how it was years ago.

Come every July, the town fills for four days with cowboy culture for the California Rodeo. With parades, chili cook-offs, competitions, and cowboy poetry.

And if you are updated to in your literary history, you’ll know Salinas is the birthplace of Nobel prize laureate, John Steinbeck. His novel East of Eden was primarily set in the Salinas Valley. (My mother’s friend is actually the girl in the field in the opening of the film as the train passes by.) Steinbeck’s childhood Victorian home has been restored and we also have a wonderful Steinbeck Center filled with memorabilia such as the notes he actually wrote with his own hand.

Salinas is far from perfect, especially with its high cost of living and the tension of gang violence, but it’s my hometown with so much history intertwined with my own memories and experiences.

One day we may leave, but it’s hard to imagine living anywhere else.

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Culture shock!

That's the theme this week, and I'm here to tell you I'm totally hoping to feel some on the 18th, when I'm off to New York City for a couple of days, then Cape Cod!

Yeah, I know, NYC in August smells like a cesspool. I don't care--I just wanna shop till I drop. (It's been a tough year and I deserve it.) Also want to soak up the atmosphere. Bring on the rude cabbies and the snooty waiters!

Then I wanna flake out on a beach. And get into the simultaneously relaxed/party vibe in artsy Provincetown.

Okay, I'm not leaving North America--I rarely do, being as I'm not JK Rowling & usually drive to my vacation destinations--but it's incredible how each and every city/town over Canada and the U.S. has its own unique feel. (Heck, I even experienced culture shock when I moved one neighborhood over! Totally different demographic, totally different feel.)

Have you ever experienced culture shock even when you haven't travelled very far? Share your stories!

Bev

P.S. Beyond Cool was released this past Tuesday--woohoo! I really love this book, got to know my I Was a Teenage Popsicle characters so well (talk about people experiencing culture shock!) that the book practically wrote itself. I think it's funnier, too. (And btw, you don't have to have read Popsicle to 'get' Beyond Cool.) Check it out if you're in a bookstore this week. (Which you probably will be, picking up Eclipse, like the rest of the world...)

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Sister Golden Hair Surprise

Not long ago I spoke at a book club for my adult novel, Fly Me to the Moon, and as I was signing books, a woman walked up to me and said, “Where’s your curly, frizzy hair?”

My hand immediately sprang to my head, smoothing my flat-ironed locks as I bit down on my lip, her disappointment ringing loud and clear. “Believe me,” I assured her. “It’s still there, still obstinate with a mind of it’s own. It’s just temporarily subdued for the evening, it’ll be back in full force by morning, I swear.”

I’m used to people thinking that book is autobiographical. After all, like the protagonist I too was a flight attendant and now I’m an author, but that’s all I’m willing to cop to. Well, that and my character’s temperamental hair.

Growing up, I never really thought much about my hair. It was long, wavy, and present. Demanding to be washed more often than I liked, but other than that, it went mostly ignored.

And then came seventh grade, and suddenly, it refused to do anything right, like it was plotting against me, sabotaging all of my efforts, clearly out to get me, and sadly things haven’t changed much since.

I’ve done just about everything a person could possibly do to their hair—
Big eighties perm? Check.
Japanese straightening? You bet.
Home dye job gone wrong? Um, yes.
Blonde ambition turned Brassy Rendition? Sad but true.

And after all these years, I still can’t figure out just what it should be when it grows up.

My best friend never changes her hair. Oh sure she may trim a few inches, before growing it back out a few more, but basically, it’s exactly the same as it was back in eighth grade. “Hey,” she says, smiling. “When it works, it works.”

And even though it definitely does work for her, I just couldn’t do it. It would feel too much like surrender, as though I was forfeiting the game before it really got started. So as long as I’ve still got the fight in me, it’ll continue to be my own personal work in progress.


So how about you? Any hair neuroses you’re willing to cop to??

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Beauty is in the eye of the beholder

When it comes to physical beauty, have you noticed how we often disagree about what makes someone beautiful. Very often my husband and I will have totally different views about whether someone is attractive. I might say that girl/guy is gorgeous and he'll totally disagree. And vice versa.

Is it a man/woman thing?

And do you think there is any connection between our own physical appearance and what we think is beautiful? So, for example, are dark haired women more likely to find dark haired women attractive. And the same for blonds. I don't have any answers to this, I'm just posing the question ;)

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How to Rule Apres School

It's coming.

Early morning football practice has started. Band camp is just next week. Back to school ads have been popping up on the TV and newspaper since the 4th of July. Before you know it, you'll be straightening your leggings and slipping into your ballet flats and heading off to school.

You've got your classes scheduled and your extra-curriculars lined up. Maybe you've got an after-school job. You've thought of everything, right?

Maybe.

Let me fill you in on a little secret that I guarantee will make your entire school year better - volunteer. Offer some of your time and talents for free. Just to be nice. It may sound trite to say that giving service can make you happier, but it's true! And it makes those you serve happier, too. Win, win all around.

Don't know where to look for those opportunities to volunteer? Here are some ideas that should be available in about every community:

Hospitals: Many hospitals have volunteer programs so that the staff could concentrate on other things. You know, like making people healthy.

Animal Shelters: Since many animal shelters are non-profit, they rely on volunteers to take care of the animals, keep the place clean, and help with the paperwork.

Habitat for Humanity: Check out their website to see if there is a Habitat in your area and how you can help.

Food Banks: Food banks are always in need of donations. You could organize a drive in your community to gather the staples they could use.

The Red Cross: Did you know that the Red Cross has an entire youth division called the Junior Red Cross? I didn't. Check out what you can learn and how you can help here.

Literacy Programs: When I lived in Japan, I learned very quickly what it was like to be an illiterate. I developed strategies for getting along without being able to read kanji, but what I was able to learn and accomplish was severely limited. If you could help even one person learn to read, think of how you could enrich their life! Check for literacy programs in your community or check out Reading is Fundamental and/or ProLiteracy to get involved.

Don't have time for a regular volunteer gig? Keep your eyes open. Watch for a need you can fill, like babysitting for a overworked parent or raking the leaves for your neighbor who can't move around so well. And don't forget the power of organizing volunteer groups yourself. The students at ASIJ raised money and awareness for causes as diverse as the crisis in Darfur to the tsunami victims in Thailand to local homeless families.

The trick is to find a moment here and there to think outside yourself and get involved. You'll be glad you did.


Gerb

NOW AND ZEN, Now Available!
THE FINNISH LINE, Coming your way Oct. '07
THE WORLD OF THE GOLDEN COMPASS, Benbella '07
DEATH BY BIKINI, Puffin '08
lindagerber.com

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School of Life

My parents made sure I knew that education was the key to success in America. My father and his family were from Russia, and he grew up really poor--like no food on the table poor--and my mother was from an American family, but she was never really given the option, I don't think, to go to college. Girls went to secretarial school back then or got married.

So doing well in school was THE most important thing in my house. My father is an atheist, so we didn't go to church. We didn't play sports. We studied. I skipped a couple of grades, graduated early, got a scholarship to a private university. Seems like Dad's plan worked.

But the thing is, the BIGGER thing is, my father also sneered at education. He told me from the time I was in third grade that my teachers weren't ANY smarter than I was. They just happened to go to school for teaching. So I should never be intimidated by them, I should ALWAYS question their authority. And I shouldn't believe anything they told me unless I verified it from independent sources and formed my own opinion. Also sensible--I mean, you can't believe history books all the time. You can't believe anything--you have to search for your own truth.

However, what was really important in terms of school was I was educated in the school of life. My father made me read the NY Times every day from the time I was in first grade . . . I HAD to read a paper each day. My mother didn't just read--she devoured books. I wasn't allowed to watch much TV at all--but books overflowed from my nightstand.

My father was a classic pain in the a**. If you had an opinion, you had to defend it. And woe to you if you formed some kind of snap judgment of war or politics without a solid basis to defend your beliefs.

So when I look back on my education, granted it was a little unconventional, but the message I got was the school was important, but education was more important, even, than school. The piece of paper is important--but it's nothing if you just grab it without having LEARNED in the process.

How about you? What did you learn from the school of life?

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Fun Health

I'm jumping in here a day late (sorry!) but I've been in a remote Alaskan lodge and its surrounding lakes and rivers for the past week and am just now getting back to a computer. So if you don't mind, I'm going to take you back to last week's subject of Health for a spell and then we can get back to what Lauren, Jen, and Erica are discussing this week.

When I was in Alaska, I got to hang out with a beautiful lady named Judy, who lives in Achorage. We went kayacking and she told me about how she and about 30 of her girlfriends have something active planned for every single day of the year. They do miss days from time to time, but there's always something going on so no one has the excuse (or luxury) of saying "there's nothing to do." They go mountain biking, cross country skiing, downhill skiing, boating, snow mobiling, running, walking, hiking, climbing, etc, etc.

I'm going to be honest with you. I'm in an exercise rut. I bought a punch card at a new gym that's only 10 minutes away (that's very close because I live in the country), and I've only been able to go to power yoga twice. I have three little boys, and finding someone to take all three is nearly impossible. Not to mention I'm totally behind on my writing and I'm planning a writers' conference for October, and time is getting away from me.

So I asked Judy if she was this physically active when her two boys were little. She said no, and that my time would come. That made me feel better. So I'm going to do whatever exercise I can (like jumping on the trampoline with my boys), when I can (like when the baby's sleeping and the laundry's drying), and enjoy my kids and my writing. Because another important part of health is being happy. :)

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Talking about School...in the Summer???

It's probably no surprise that my favorite subjects in school all had to do with reading and writing. But I wasn't always an A student in every subject. In fourth grade, having transferred midyear to a new school, my science teacher sent a note home saying, "Lauren doesn't seem to have a clue as to what is going on." And later, in high school, I had one teacher tell me I'd never go anywhere in life because I couldn't take proper instruction. A guidance instructor at the same school, dismayed that I'd only applied to three colleges, all of them good colleges, urged me to apply as well to a rinky-dink school. Clearly, he didn't believe I'd get into any of the places I'd chosen. Well, I refused to apply to the rinky-dink school, telling him if I couldn't get into any of my three choices I didn't want to go anywhere. I got into all three, proving that sometimes people's low opinions of you are just plain wrong. And I would add that one of life's best revenges against naysayers is to go on to be a success in your chosen field. My chosen field is writing, and while I may not have the commercial success of a Meg Cabot or the literary success of an Ian McEwan, I've had seven books published since 2003 with at least five more due out in 2008, making me feel successful enough, even if it's just me thinking that.

But returning to my favorite subject in school, I did indeed love English and I used to get a thrill at the idea that homework could actually consist of reading great books, and I loved writing. I often credit my eighth-grade English teacher with first putting the idea in my head that I could be a writer. We'd been given an assignment to write stories that had to use three seemingly disparate elements - a priest, a nun and a camel - and I wrote a steamy little tale ala The Thorn Birds. My teacher liked it so much, he had me read it to the class three days straight, which probably made them get sick of it but did succeed in making me believe that maybe I had stories to tell that people would want to hear. Later, in high school, a school where I was mostly classified as a loser because I refused to fit neatly into any one defined group, I took the one Creative Writing course they offered. Again, a teacher fell in love with one of my stories, only in this instance she was the one who read it aloud. My classmates loved that story and it was only after she'd read it that the teacher revealed I was the writer. I could feel thirty heads swivel in my direction. Did it make me instantly popular? No. But every time we were in that class, every time I ran into any of those thirty kids outside of that class, I would catch them looking at me differently. Apparently, they were seeing something more in me than what they'd seen before.

Writing, reading - no one will ever convince me you can be good at the former if you haven't done a lot of the latter. And my favorite reading experience in school? Discovering Shakespeare. It wasn't a direct journey. In high school, we read one or two plays, but it was tough to get excited about anything that came with so many footnotes. Then, in college, I signed up for Shakespeare I. The professor was just plain awful. He'd come to class and just read from his podium - he was not a good reader - doing nothing to bring the material to life. It was only by some grace of the universe that I'd signed up for Shakespeare II before realizing how much I wasn't enjoying myself and then being too lazy to drop the second class. Good thing. My new professor was one of those magical teachers everyone should encounter at least once during their education. He made it all come alive. He made me see Merchant of Venice clearly - not as an anti-Semitic play, but rather as the indictment of the prejudiced Europe of its time that it is. He made me want to sit at a table with Falstaff and Hal, raising a tankard to England. And when he closed out The Tempest with its Epilogue, "But release me from my bands, With the help of your good hands...As you from crimes would pardon'd be/Let your indulgence set me free" - Shakespeare's plea for the audience to put their hands together and clap him into retirement - I listened with tears in my eyes, sad that the plays and the class and my time with this magificent teacher were at an end, happy that I'd been granted the opportunity to take the journey. My love of Shakespeare didn't end there - indeed, I used money from my first paycheck upon graduation to purchase the one-volume complete set of The Globe Shakespeare that I still have twenty-four years later. My love for the Bard has never wavered and I fully accept Harold Bloom's thesis that Shakespeare invented us.

So what are the morals of my ramblings today:

1) you don't have to accept other people's low opinion of your potential

2) a good teacher can make all the difference in the world

And now I've gassed on enough for one day, so if you will let your indulgence set me free, I'll simply close with the questions:

WHAT COURSES DID YOU LOVE/HATE IN SCHOOL AND WHY?

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Fast Food Kingdoms

I wish I could say I was health conscience during high school, but I wasn't. I played sports for a couple of years until I moved to a new school and my new friends weren't exactly pro-sports. :)

One thing that didn't change with the move was that I was a total junk food connoisseur. If a food restaurant had a drive-through, I'd probably been through it. heh.

My top faves: Mickey D's, Taco Bell, Burger King and Wendy's.

And still I have my weak moments and revisit these drive-throughs...you know, for the memories.

Here were my favorite meals from these Fast Food Kingdoms:

Mickey D's: Big Mac (hold the pickles), fries and a coke.

Taco Bell: Big Beef Burrito Supreme or Mexican Pizza or Nacho Supreme, with a coke.

Burger King: Whopper with cheese (hold the pickles), fries, and a coke.

Wendy's: Jr. Bacon Cheeseburger, fries, and a coke.

*sigh*

These days, I've come to my senses--as much as I'm able ;)--and order salads. There's one fast food kingdom I've been waiting for years to open, though. A chain of Pizza By The Slice drive-throughs. I mean, come on, think of the bank someone could make!

Fess up, which was/is your fave fast food drive-through?

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