Writes-And-Wrongs

Moving over to Word Press

2008-09-13T14:54:00.002-05:00

Hey folks, got a new home for my blog over on Word Press, so if you're coming here through Blogger, hope on over to this addie to find me: http://www.juliekenner.com/blog

The things kids say ...

2008-09-07T13:08:00.001-05:00

So, yesterday, Isabella (age 4) spent a few hours writing in her "diarrhea."

Today, she and her sister (age 6) are wrestling on the couch. Catherine: "Put up the wall of evil feet!"

'Musicals Collection' bound for DVD

2008-09-07T00:18:00.001-05:00

'Musicals Collection' bound for DVD

I'm totally psyched about this ... but not about the price. Still ... maybe it's worth saving for as a family holiday present.

'Peanuts' animator Bill Melendez dies

2008-09-06T17:52:00.001-05:00

'Peanuts' animator Bill Melendez dies: "'Peanuts' animator Bill Melendez dies
Responsible for 'Charlie Brown Christmas,' 'Great Pumpkin'"

A great talent, and a great career. We'll miss you!

More on Pitching

2008-09-06T14:08:00.002-05:00

Here's an article that came to my in-box today, with some great tips.

"13 Steps For Constructing A Strong Verbal Pitch"
By Melody Jackson, Ph.D.

You love to write, right? You wish that you could just write and have someone else do the dirty work of marketing for you, right? Most writers feel this way anyway. In fact, most professionals in every business would rather just do their business than market themselves. Dentists and chiropractors would rather fill teeth and crack backs than worry about how they're going to get their next patients. Marketing wasn't in their vision of their dream job. But it is necessary!

No matter how much you prefer writing to marketing your script, if you ever want to see your script become a movie, you have to market it.. One aspect of that oft-dreaded task of marketing is pitching. This article is meant to ease your pain.

The first way to give yourself power is to really know yourself as the Storyteller that you are! As a screenwriter, you are the modern-day incarnation of the storytellers who used to sit around the campfire and tell stories to the community. When you prepare your pitch, somehow you have to bring your story to life and captivate your audience. Pitching is an art that can be mastered. To Master anything, you must practice. Here are 13 steps to head you in the right direction.

1. Tell the minimium that you need to to get them to read your script.

Tell your story in the shortest way possible to get the job done well. Once you have gotten the exec sufficiently interested in reading it, don't tell much more. If you overtell, you oversell, and it could backfire . An exec first listens to see if they like your idea at all. Then if they do like it, they want to save themselves the trouble of reading it if it is not very good, so at that point, they are listening to see if there is anything that ruins it for them. Once they are really excited to read it, leave your script, and get out of Dodge.

2. Work out an opening that HOOKS them right from the start.

For example, open with a question that draws them in: "What if you woke up one morning and discovered that your wish had suddenly been granted, and overnight, you had changed from a 12-year-old boy in a 12-year-old body to a 12-year-old boy in a grown man's body? Can you imagine the fun you could have?!"

Or "Imagine this: You've been working at a company for 23 years. Tomorrow is your retirement party. But there's a sudden hostile take-over ... by sadistic aliens! Would you stay and help fend them off? Or would you escape through the secret trap door in the back that only you know about and let the others figure it out on their own? This is the question that Bobbie Trunkman has to face as he . . . . "

The idea is to get a visualization jumpstarted in the audience's mind. Get them to SEE your movie.

3. Set the stage, the mood, as you start to tell it

If you can create a strong hook at the beginning that sets the mood, then great. Other ways to open could be something lke: : "This is the story of Bobbie Trunkman, a middle-aged man who suddenly ..." Or make a statement that draws them in to create the mood: "When you're a teenager, everything matters. To Cher Smithers, it mattered more. At 17-years-old, Cher has just . . . ."

4. If you have a special location or time period, be sure to mention it, otherwise you may lose your listener.

Let's say you start pitching about someone living in a commune - it would be one story if it's the 1960s and a very different story if it is 2008. Same thing goes for the genre. Mention up front what the genre is. You'd be surprised how most stories could be pitched in several different genres. To test this idea, pitch your script to yourself first as a drama and then as a spoof and see what you come up with.

5. Bring your story to life by adding words that suggest taste, sight, sound, smell, touch, and feel(ings).

"When he touches her face and looks into her eyes, he is overcome with love. He reaches over and picks up a juicy red strawberry and feeds it to her. She savors the moment and the strawberry, but suddenly, a FIRE ALARM goes off. Startled, they both dash over and ...."

The more you can use words that stimulate the senses without being mechanical, the more you will create the picture and the experience in your listener's world.

6. Use short, simple sentences.

You're not writing a literary piece here. Your telling a campfire story. Being too literary will distract from your writing. Don't use too many big words in your scene descriptions. Don't use complex academic sentence structure that you can prove is grammatically correct from rules in "Strunk & White." Use simple sentences. Ones people can grasp quickly. Easily.

7. Warm it up with guttural kinds of words, not concepts.

Stay away from psychological terms and labels, and instead show it in the actions of the character. For example, "Sally Bally is co-dependent and this has been hurting her in her life with her friends,' is psychological. Instead, more on the court would be, "Sally Bally cannot stop herself from trying to do things for everyone around her, and it is driving them crazy."

In the second example, you get the visual of how it plays out literallly in her life. It's not just an assessment.

8. Tell your story basically in the order it shows up on the pages of your script, using connector words to dramatize selected moments and to keep your story flowing.

This rule of thumb helps you to organize your pitch because writers sometimes go all over the place with their pitches. As you craft it and choose certain parts to tell, first tell things in the order they happen on your pages. After that, you can craft and tweak the pitch to dramatize the story.

Use connector words like "and then," or "meanwhile," and "but finally," or "However, back at ..." to keep your story flowing and building from point-to-point .

9. Know your story inside and out.

Know your story well so you don't get lost in the middle of your pitch. If they ask you questions, you must have answers. If you prepared your pitch a long time ago or haven't read your script for a while, get it out and read it again. Then practice your pitch to make it fresh.

10. Keep in mind that when you are on the phone, they cannot see you, so your voice inflection becomes ultra-critical.

If you manage to get yourself the opportunity to pitch to someone, remember there are hundreds of different things they could be looking at while you are pitching, and they may be doing two or three other things. They are distracted from the getgo and can easily be further distracted, so you must do all you can to engage them. It may be a big moment in your life when you get a Hollywood agent on the phone to hear your pitch, but they are basically looking for a reason to hang up on you. But knowing this, you can go in armed with a mesmerizing pitch that you have perfected the telling of.

11. Speak to them intimately - not at them. Listen to them listening to you.

Don't talk at people. Speak to them in a conversational tone. Not too softly, not too loudly. Match the other person's level to a degree. Try to connect with them energetically.

Think of it this way: Is it just me, or have you ever been talking to someone on the phone and gotten the distinct feeling they are not listening to you? That's what I'm talking about. Listen to them as you pitch -- it is an art to be able to do it. When you are speaking with an exec, you are listening for them listening to you. If you think they aren't paying attention, you have to change it up to get them to listen again. How you do that is a whole other discussion on communication, but you can start by listening for their listening.

12. Be careful about comparing your script to other films and mentioning actors that could be right for your movie.

Comparisons can have positive and negative connotations, not to mention they can seem pompous and naive. Being a marketer myself, I love "postioning" things for the market, meaning telling the buyer how something fits into the marketplace and what it is "like." However, if you do it with your script, you have to have a very strong sense of how things will occur to your listener.

I've heard more than one writer say, "My script will be bigger than Titanic." As soon as those words fell out of their mouths, they lost credibility. Even though it may prove to be true, saying it shows a lack of savvy and it shows that you don't understand the audience you are pitching to. A producer doesn't want to hear you say that about your own script. It's not that you can't compare your script to other successful films or suggest actors who would be right for it, but you need to tread those waters very lightly and carefully because of the implications. If in doubt, leave it out.

13. Practice, practice, practice, and practice.

Write out your pitch. Read it out loud. Rewrite it. Practice it over and over. Keep doing that till you have nailed just what you want to say. Then practice your pitch in the mirror like the person in the mirror is your audience! Record yourself and see what you think. Practice with a friend till they say, "Wow, that sounds really good."

If you haven't done much pitching or verbal storytelling, it may be a challenge at first. But just keep at it. Practice your storytelling skills by dramatizing every anecdote you tell. If you go to the store and someone almost hits you backing out, go tell someone about it and dramatize it. Make it entertaining. Make it interesting. Paint a picture for them. See what they respond to. Have fun with it. Then practice with your script story, and you'll get better and better. And at some point, we'll never be able to shut you up. And that's what we want. Kind of.

Story on!

Republished with permission per: Melody Jackson, Ph.D., publishes "Plugged in Hollywood," the Bi-weekly E-zine on Marketing for Screenwriters. She has helped thousands of screenwriters polish their scripts and get them read by top agents and producers in Hollywood. If you are ready to jump-start your career, finalize your script for marketing, and have more fun pursuing Hollywood success, get your free subscription now at www.SmartGirlsProductions.com.

© 2008 Smart Girls Productions, Melody Jackson, Ph.D.

Nine months later ...

2008-09-03T19:27:00.001-05:00

No, I'm not having a baby! But my baby did just take her last 17 ML of the meds that she's been on for the last nine months.

Yay! Whoo hoo! Release the balloons!!!!!!

We're all very happy here.

Stepping into Hollywoodland ...

2008-09-01T16:14:00.003-05:00

Lately, I've been working on some screenplays in addition to my novels
and I'm excited to say that one has so far won two "hook" contests! (Thus ends the self-congratulatory portion of today's blog.)

Anyhoo, I've been reading a lot of screenwriting blogs, and finding lots of interesting tidbits that apply across the board. After all, good storytelling is good storytelling.

Here's something that's useful for screenwriters and novelists, too. A video of a pitch workshop (RWA attendees, are you watching, too?)

Tori and The Great Google Ad Experiment

2008-09-01T16:08:00.002-05:00

Well, folks, I guess it's true. There is a dearth -- an absolute vacuum -- of folks out in the cyber-world advertising demon extermination services.

Tori sent this email to my gmail account: Julie, per our discussion on your blog post yesterday, I was wondering if you had any good tips on killing demons. We seem to have an infestation here. And nothing I try gets rid of them! ;)

And what did I see where the ads usually run? Nada. Zip. Not one thing!

Clearly, Kate needs to run some ads. Actually, that's not a bad promo idea! Whadda y'all think?

Google's Ads ... just a teeeeensy bit scary

2008-08-25T02:50:00.003-05:00

So, I've switched a number of my emails to Gmail, primarily because of it's kick-butt spam filter, but also because that ensures that emails from my husband, critique partners, editors and agents go to one input place (Outlook) and everything else goes to another place (gmail).

It's working great, and I'm actually staying more on top of my email than before (yes, there is a backlog, but I'm working on it. Honest!)

But here's the thing: I think Big Brother is watching. The other day, a fan sent me an email mentioning my daughter's cleft palate. The ads down the side ... all about Smile Train and cleft palate and orthodontia and plastic surgery.

Today, I emailed a hair salon to cancel an upcoming appointment ... the ads down the side? Hair color, hair extensions, salons.

I realize it's little bots doing all of that, but, hey, I'm not crazy about bots reading my email!

I'm not sure I'm weirded out enough to switch back to a POP account, but it does hammer home something I know, but sometimes forget: There ain't no secrets on the Internet. None at all.

Teach what you hate!

2008-08-23T09:55:00.003-05:00

Okay, maybe hate is too strong a word, but I strongly dislike writing synopses.

I like the exercise of getting my story down, but me being me, I usually end up at about 15-20 single spaced pages. Which is, um, a little too long. And then you have to enter The Cutting Zone.

If it were just for me ... a narrative roadmap ... I'd be a happy camper. But this sucker's a marketing tool and needs to rock.

And so I end up spending geegobs of time on it. Time I wish was writing a book!

Alas, that is the way of things.

And today, I'm giving a workshop on writing synopses. The good thing about that: Every time I give this talk, I learn a little bit more about my own process and how to write a kick-ass synopsis.

Dear Author: Reviews, Commentary and Industry News

2008-08-22T09:33:00.001-05:00

Dear Author: Reviews, Commentary and Industry News: "For anyone who is a long time reader of Dear Author, you’ll know that Julie Kenner is one of Jayne’s favorite authors. Ironically ..."

My First Sale story is up at DearAuthor.com. Check it out!

Deja in Publisher's Weekly blog!

2008-08-08T10:10:00.002-05:00

This is the fourth book in Julie’s Adventures of a Demon-Hunting Soccer Mom series. Again, she delivers a book that will keep you reading. As secrets go, they usually catch up with you and Kate’s secret demon hunting life catches up with her as she has to decide how and when to tell Stuart what is really going on. Of course, having David/Eric in the mix complicates things and makes this book that much more engaging.

Fabulouso! Got a mention in Barbara Vey's PW blog! Thanks, Barbara and PW!

DEJA DEMON - interview! Listen here ...

2008-08-02T10:06:00.003-05:00

Hey folks ... Wow, it's been a long time since I posted. I just did a really fun interview with DallasBookDiva.com -- you can read the review and listen to the interview here: http://www.dallasbookdiva.com

And remember, DEJA DEMON is on shelves now! Snatch up your copy and let me know what you think! Hope you enjoy Kate's continuing adventures!

FIFTEEN MINUTES OF SHAME by Lisa Daily

2008-04-03T01:12:00.003-05:00

Got the book and the press material on this first novel by columnist and dating coach Lisa Daily, and although I haven't finished it yet, I can already tell it's going to be a fun read! Looks like the press agrees, too:

USA WEEKEND columnist Dennie Hughes said, "I laughed, I cried, I cringed, I cheered. Fifteen Minutes of Shame is a dream of a read."

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY said,"delivers some surprising depth and a heroine with heart to root for."

PINK MAGAZINE said, "memorable and wickedly funny"

Click Here To Order

Here's a bit about Lisa: Lisa Daily is a real-life TV dating expert on DAYTIME, a nationally-syndicated morning show, and bestselling author of Stop Getting Dumped!She's a syndicated relationships columist, popular media guest seen everywhere from Entertainment Tonight to iVillage Live and quoted everywhere from USA Today to Cosmopolitan, and appears as a real-life "date doctor" on the HITCH movie DVD starring Will Smith. For more information on Lisa, www.lisadaily.com

As for the book ...

What happens when America’s favorite dating expert finds out on national television that her husband is cheating on her? Darby Vaughn’s fifteen minutes of fame quickly becomes fifteen minutes of shame when the story of her divorce is splashed across supermarket tabloids. If Darby takes her philandering husband back, her career will be over. If she doesn’t, she’ll lose the only man she’s ever loved. As she rebuilds her life with help from her girlfriends, Darby has to make some tough choices, but she stays true to her heart every step of the way.

And Lisa was kind enough to answer my "touring author questions" -

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR TYPICAL “WRITING DAY”?

On Tuesdays and Thursdays I usually had down to Siesta Key beach with my laptop and work until my battery dies. I’m hoping the Law of Attraction will kick in soon and I’ll be able to afford a house on one of the Keys. I am grateful that I get to write at the beach…The rest of the week, I start writing at 9 (after the kids go to school,) and I’m done by 3 (when it’s time to pick up the kids.) On Fridays I do the TV show, so I usually don’t get much writing done. If I were a hermit, I’d work all night and sleep till noon.

DO YOU RECALL THE KERNEL OF INSPIRATION FOR THIS BOOK?

When my dating advice book, STOP GETTING DUMPED was released, a really prominent dating expert was going through a nasty divorce, and she was just getting creamed in the media. I was both terrified and completely sympathetic – I kept thinking how awful it would be to go through the worst time of your life with everyone in the world watching, commenting, laughing as you go down. I also thought it would make an interesting novel.

PICK A CHARACTER IN THE BOOK AND TELL US WHAT TRAIT YOU SHARE (OR COME CLOSEST TO SHARING) WITH THAT CHARACTER. I’m a lot like Darby, the main character. She’s a funny, somewhat klutzy dating expert who wants to see everybody get a little piece of happily ever after. The trait we share is that we both tend to trust our brains over our hearts.

IF YOU WERE STUCK ON A DESERT ISLAND, WOULD YOU RATHER HAVE A MAGICAL TRUNK THAT GAVE YOU LIMITLESS BOOKS TO READ, OR A LIMITLESS SUPPLY OF PAPER ON WHICH TO WRITE?

Tough choice. Paper (as long as I had something to write with) but it would break my heart not to have any books.

If you could throw in a cabana boy, a lounge chair and a magic daiquiri machine, I might change my answer.

BEER OR WINE? Wine. Champagne always feels like a celebration.

CHOCOLATE OR VANILLA? Chocolate, baby. With chocolate sauce and chocolate chips and chocolate sprinkles.

WHAT’S YOUR ALL-TIME FAVORITE BOOK?

So many, so many. I love different writers for different things. My favorite book of all time would be Pat Conroy’s Beach Music.

Happy reading!!

I'm on the radio right now!

2008-04-01T09:59:00.002-05:00

I've been unable to access my blog prior to now, so I apologize for the late notice, but I'm on the radio right now, and until about 11 CST.

check here: http://www.internetvoicesradio.com

Check out Julie Leto's chapters on Plot Monkey!!!!

2008-03-24T17:58:00.000-05:00

My friend Julie Leto is giving quite a present to readers! SIX chapters from her new release, PHANTOM PLEASURES. Be sure to check it out ... AND check out the dateline. Austin, Texas. I mean, hey. YA gotta go give it a looksee!!!!

Plot Monkeys: "Hello, Plotmonkey readers! And to all the new readers linking here from the sites and blogs of my generous friends, WELCOME! It’s a party in the jungle!

This week starts something very exciting…every day, I will be posting a chapter from my book PHANTOM PLEASURES, which is officially released next week on April 1. That’s seven chapters! (Okay, six chapters and a prologue…but let’s not quibble.)"

Just melting your heart!

2008-03-23T20:28:00.001-05:00

So we're at dinner, and Isabella keeps asking "why" (the universal curse of four year olds). After answering approximately 9 billion "why" questions, I finally said, "Is 'why' your favorite word?"

"No, Mommy."

"No? Well, what is?"

"I love you."

Let's all say it together .... awwwwwwwww

Nice new Carpe Demon Review!

2008-03-17T23:23:00.000-05:00

Carpe Demon: Adventures of a Demon-Hunting Soccer Mom Book 1 | Kelley: "Classic Kenner humor is evident on every page in Kate’s sassy personality. I’ve come to enjoy that facet of much of Julie’s work and always look forward to what direction it will go in each book."

Yes, I've been MIA these last few weeks (dual spring breaks here -- one for dh and one for the kids; even with homeschooling, the Kiddo-In-Speech has break!). This was a nice thing to open my email to.

In other news, I'm hard at work on TAINTED. Counting down to the release in 2009, marking the start of a whole new series. I love Lily, and I think those of you who love Kate will love her, too.

February in Texas

2008-02-18T01:05:00.004-06:00

We went to The Domain today -- an outdoor mall that transports you to LA or NYC with Michael Kors, Barneys, Juicy Couture ... and apparently beach weather.

Yupper, it's the middle of winter, and here's what the girls begged to do while we were at the mall:

Beach Read!

2008-02-14T13:20:00.003-06:00

Order here!

This just in ....

THESE BOOTS WERE MADE FOR STOMPING was chosen as a SOUTH
JERSEY MOM's Chick Lit Pick 2008 Beach Read.

How cool is that?

Three fun stories from me, Jade Lee & Marianne Mancusi. Mine is a Protector story (i.e., the superheroes from the Aphrodite series)!

AND THIS JUST IN .... THESE BOOTS WERE MADE FOR STOMPING was chosen to be a Fresh Pick
at Fresh Fiction. WHOO HOO!

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY

2008-02-13T22:07:00.003-06:00

Love and kisses to all!

Check out the sweet cards the girls made for the various grandparents. (The fingers are bent into the ASL sign for "I love you.") And, um, Isabella's hand isn't really that elongated, but she was VERY proud of herself for tracing her own hand.

LWB Fundraiser - Update

2008-02-13T10:30:00.004-06:00

Just got word that one of the kiddoes that the 2006 fundraiser is not only doing great, but he's found his family! Hopefully the process will go smoothly and he'll be home soon. Here are some pics ... isn't he a cutie?

And here's some more news about another little boy who is "in foster care and apparently is thriving in his family. He is described as energetic and outgoing. He can walk and call to his "Nai Nai". He likes to visit the neighbors and to say goodbye when people are leaving the house." He sounds (and looks) so precious!

From Russia With Love ...

2008-02-11T20:52:00.001-06:00

Oh yeah! Got a box from my agent today, and in it I found the Russian edition of The Prada Paradox (thus completing my set), along with a cool red cover with a devious-looking black cat. Took me a minute to realize it's Carpe Demon. Looks sweet!

I love foreign editions. Wish I could read 'em!

GCC Tour: Don’t Get It Twisted by Paula Chase

2008-02-11T01:05:00.001-06:00

Click Here To Order

Meet Paula Chase -- this week's GCC touring author!

“So, wait…this writing thing actually doesn’t get easier?” author Paula Chase asks. “If I’d known that I would have taken up a much easier profession like shark wrestling.” {{Oh, yes! I'm so with Paula on that ... }} And compared to living in the minds of a clique of six teenagers, shark wrestling really may be easier.

In Don’t Get It Twisted, the sequel to her debut, So Not The Drama, Chase gives readers a peek into the Del Rio Bay clique’s foray into dating, while also dipping her toe into the issue of student athletics and cheating. Using humor and earnest insight, Chase continues the story of Mina Mooney and her mixed bag of friends.

The Buzz on Don’t Get It Twisted & The Del Rio Bay Clique Series

“Surprisingly real and deep…well worth reading.” – Teens Read Too

“Excellent for showing friendship that crosses racial and social boundaries.” – YA Books Central

“Don’t Get It Twisted, is another winner.” – Urban Reviews

About Paula
Author, Paula Chase has written for Girls Life, Sweet 16 and Baltimore Magazine, among others. In addition to her background in corporate communications and public relations, she founded the Committed Black Women, a youth mentoring program for 14-17 year old girls. Her Del Rio Bay Clique series helped launch Kensington Books YA line and joins a burgeoning number of YA books targeted to multi-culti suburbanite teens. Chase calls her brand of teen literature, Hip Lit, a nod to the diversity spawned by the MTV-watching, 106 & Park-ing, pop culture hungry hip hop generation. The author lives in Maryland with her husband and two daughters. Learn more about the series and author at www.paulachasehyman.com

Paula's answers to my GCC Questions:

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR TYPICAL “WRITING DAY”? It changes with every single book. This time around, it’s writing around 8 or 9 on the lap top surrounded by my family interrupting every few minutes. They did that anyway when I went into the office so I’m just saving them the trouble. My goal is to write two hours a day, that way anything I write beyond that is gravy.

DO YOU RECALL THE KERNEL OF INSPIRATION FOR THIS BOOK? I actually wrote it immediately after the first book – five years ago. So not really. I just remember that the story was still flowing, in my mind, once I closed out book #1 so I started Don’t Get It Twisted.

PICK A CHARACTER IN THE BOOK AND TELL US WHAT TRAIT YOU SHARE (OR COME CLOSEST TO SHARING) WITH THAT CHARACTER. My main character Mina has the interest of two guys in this book. And it pretty much makes her a basket case. That is so me! When I was a teenager and even in my 20’s I was never good at dating more than one guy. Every time I’d try the casual, seeing more than one guy thing it blew up in my face. I’m simply unable to switch that quickly emotionally. So I’d be with guy #1 and we’d be having a good time. Then guy #2 might call later and I’d snap at him, annoyed because I hadn’t flicked the lever to be in the mood to talk to him. It’s like I’d pick a fight, not purposely, but it ended up that way. Juggling guys never worked out for me.

IF YOU WERE STUCK ON A DESERT ISLAND , WOULD YOU RATHER HAVE A MAGICAL TRUNK THAT GAVE YOU LIMITLESS BOOKS TO READ, OR A LIMITLESS SUPPLY OF PAPER ON WHICH TO WRITE? If I also have a couple of pens on hand, I’ll choose the paper. I get so frustrated when a story idea comes to me and I can’t capture it. I mean, I get seriously irritated and snappy. I don’t want anyone talking to me until I’ve written down at least the concept. So I can imagine being on this island with no paper and simply spiraling into madness.

BEER OR WINE? Wine. I’m a Merlot gal.

CHOCOLATE OR VANILLA? Vanilla. That’s so plain Jane isn’t it? But vanilla has lots of flavor.

WHAT’S YOUR ALL-TIME FAVORITE BOOK? I’m prone to “obsessions.” There’s no one favorite anything for me. Instead, I go through bouts of obsession with one book, movie, song or another. Today, my all-time favorite book is Time Line by Michael Crichton. That book really swept me into it. Now, ask me this same question tomorrow and the answer will be completely different.

Chocolate: It's a Good Thing

2008-02-09T23:00:00.000-06:00

You haven't lived until you watch a four year old enjoy her very first chocolate milkshake.

Trust me on that:

When we first adopted Isabella, she disdained both chocolate and ice cream. Ah, how things can change in a year!

And if the vid doesn't show up, it's also available here: http://gallery.mac.com/juliekenner#gallery

Shark Bait -- trying again

2008-02-09T22:45:00.000-06:00

Well, dang, and double dang. Apparently, some folks can see the picture and some can't.

I uploaded it to my web gallery, so if you're dying to know what I saw when I got home (look in the water), visit here, then click the image to make it bigger:

http://gallery.mac.com/juliekenner#100008

Shark Bait?

2008-02-09T02:13:00.001-06:00

Took the kidlets to Disneyland, the beach, LA and the San Bernadino mountains over Christmas (more stories to come), but when I got back home I noticed something ...

There I was, snapping photos of the kids romping in the surf, and I never noticed a thing. Not until I came home and made this picture my screensaver. Click on it and make it bigger. Do you see what I see?

GCC Tour - EARTHLY PLEASURES by Karen Neches

2008-02-07T13:26:00.000-06:00

”Karen Neches' Earthly Pleasures is a rare treat. I laughed from the first page and cried in all the right places. Do yourself a favor and curl up with this book. Heaven knows, you won't be sorry!" -- Julie Kenner

I'm so excited to be touring Karen and her book, EARTHLY PLEASURES, as I had the supreme privilege of reading it back when it was still in galleys. Loved it, and I'm sure you will too! Check it out.

In Earthly Pleasures (Simon and Schuster, February 2008, $14) great love can transcend the dimensions, narrowing the vast difference between Heaven and Earth.

Advance Praise for Earthly Pleasures:

"What a treat! Earthly Pleasures more than lives up to its name. I was glued to the pages of this delightful little gem of a novel, and wish it could have been twice as long!"
-- Megan Crane, author of Frenemies

”Karen Neches' Earthly Pleasures is a rare treat. I laughed from the first page and cried in all the right places. Do yourself a favor and curl up with this book. Heaven knows, you won't be sorry!"
--Julie Kenner, author of Demons Are Forever

"Equally hilarious and poignant, Earthly Pleasures is a little powerhouse of a novel about love, life...and what comes next."
--Melissa Senate, author of See Jane Date and Love You to Death
"Karen Neches’s novel is an intriguing love story with a rare combination of both wit and depth. In her fresh voice Neches gives us an innovative version of heaven where the one true thing still remains: love that transcends both time and space."

--Patti Callahan Henry, National bestselling novelist of Between the Tides

“Earthly Pleasures is more than just a novel. It's a dream, a calling, a divine trip from which you won't want to come home. I loved it!—Valerie Frankel, author of I Take This Man and Hex and the Single Girl.

About the Author

Karen Neches was single for over twenty years. She used to tell people she was in the “hospice stage” of being single as she never expected to recover. Then at the age of forty-three she finally met her soul mate. Earthly Pleasures is dedicated to him. She maintains a web site at www.karenneches.com
Neches also writes under the name Karin Gillespie and is the nationally bestselling author of The Sweet Potato Queen’s First Big-Ass Novel with Jill Conner Browne and three novels in the critically acclaimed Bottom Dollar Girl series. She’s founder of the virtual tour The Girlfriend Circuit as well as the grog for Southern authors A Good Blog is Hard to Find. She is a former lifestyle columnist for the Augusta Chronicle.

Here are Karen's answers to my GCC questions!

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR TYPICAL “WRITING DAY”?

Type a sentence, check email, eat chocolate, repeat

DO YOU RECALL THE KERNEL OF INSPIRATION FOR THIS BOOK?

I had this sudden thought: Lovely Bones meets Bridget Jones. , I was so excited, I felt like I’d discovered how to turn rocks into gold. Then I spoke with a publicist who said, “What a horrific notion.” Too late. I was already 70,000 words in. My agent hated it. My editor wanted to use it for kindling. I almost gave up on it. I cursed the novel many times but now it’s my favorite.

PICK A CHARACTER IN THE BOOK AND TELL US WHAT TRAIT YOU SHARE (OR COME CLOSEST TO SHARING) WITH THAT CHARACTER.
My character, Skyem who is a greeter in Heaven, longs for a deep connection with people and I could say the same about myself.

IF YOU WERE STUCK ON A DESERT ISLAND, WOULD YOU RATHER HAVE A MAGICAL TRUNK THAT GAVE YOU LIMITLESS BOOKS TO READ, OR A LIMITLESS SUPPLY OF PAPER ON WHICH TO WRITE?
Limitless paper.

BEER OR WINE?

wine

CHOCOLATE OR VANILLA?

chocolate

WHAT’S YOUR ALL-TIME FAVORITE BOOK?
The Secret History by Donna Tartt

MY NEW WEBSITE!

2008-02-04T23:03:00.000-06:00

Oh yeah! Oh yeah! I got a new website, and it's soooo pretty!

Go give it a look-see!

I've joined the Kindle Klub ...

2008-02-03T23:09:00.000-06:00

Well, folks. I did it. I bought a Kindle (paying a premium since those puppies aren't shipping). My review: worth every penny. Already, I'm able to read more than I have before (I don't think it's just the newness!) Plus, I'm reading more new (NYT blog and the WSJ).

I uploaded an audiobook, but haven't tried it out (other than to test it), but the book reading is great. I still wish it had a built in light -- would love to read in bed, and the recommended book light is too bulky for a small purse.

The cover gets bad reviews on Amazon, but I think it's perfect.

Another nice feature for v. 2 would be a button to put it into screensaver mode, so that you can close and strap the book cover w/o accidentally hitting the next page bar. {edited: ha! there is such a button. Good job Kindle dudes.}

But all minor things.

I love the KindleNowNow feature: send a question and they send back an answer. Pretty cool stuff!

And I've downloaded a billion books (give or take) from ManyBooks.net, which has put Gutenburg.org books in Kindle format.

5 enthusiastic novels from me!

Isn't he a cutie!

2008-01-02T18:02:00.000-06:00

Here's a photo of Qiao, one of the kids being helped by the money we raised with the 2006 Love Without Boundaries auction I organized. Thanks everyone for helping!

GCC Tour - The

2007-12-21T10:34:00.001-06:00

Yay! I'm touring the paperback edition of one of my favorite writer's books: Melissa Senate's Theodora Twist.

Order the book!

“Senate sets up a tantalizing premise and the plot is equally entertaining.” –Publisher’s Weekly

“Theodora Twist has sugar and spice and everything nice. I loved it!”
–Sarah Mlynowski, bestselling author of Spells and Sleeping Bags

“A fun read!”
–Teen People magazine

You’re sixteen. A high school junior. A major teen celebrity like Blake Lively or Amanda Duff or Vanessa Hudgens moves into your house for a month and shares your bedroom, your friends, your clothes, your school. Your entire life. And it’s all caught on camera, for all of America to see. This is what happens to Emily Fine in Melissa Senate’s debut young adult novel, THEODORA TWIST (Delacorte Press). One day she’s ordinary nobody Emily Fine, practically invisible to everyone (including her own mother) and the next, she’s roommates with teen idol Theodora Twist and co-star of a TV reality show.

Theodora Twist is Hollywood’s hottest young actress—the girl everyone wants to be. Producers court her, tabloids love her, fans mob her, and US Weekly has covered every catfight with her co-stars, her ongoing feud with her mother, her yo-yo dieting, and her threesome with two Hollywood it-boys. Needless to say, Theodora doesn’t have the best reputation around.

So when Theodora’s publicity team decides to clean up her act with a reality show called Theodora Twist—Just a Regular Teen!, they send Theodora back to her hometown to live with Emily’s family for a month. Theodora has to do everything Emily does: attend high school, care about grades, friends, boys, the prom, zits (as though Theodora has ever had one). And a very unlikely friendship is formed.

Read an excerpt at Random House Teens (RandomHouse.com/teens) and visit Melissa’s website at MelissaSenate.com

Here are Melissa's answers to my GCC questions:

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR TYPICAL “WRITING DAY”?: Now that my son is in kindergarten, I have set hours to work that don’t require paying a fortune. Love that. I reread the last two chapters of my WIP, then go from there, usually getting a scene down and the bare bones of the next two.

DO YOU RECALL THE KERNEL OF INSPIRATION FOR THIS BOOK?: I was mindlessly watching MTV or VH1 and caught a show about Christina Aguilera visiting her hometown, camera crew capturing her every move. The next morning I woke up with the idea for Theodora Twist, about a teen movie queen with a seriously bad reputation who is forced back to her hometown to film a reality TV show about how she’s really just a regular teen. (She’s not!)

PICK A CHARACTER IN THE BOOK AND TELL US WHAT TRAIT YOU SHARE (OR COME CLOSEST TO SHARING) WITH THAT CHARACTER.: No matter what else you can call her, Theodora has a good heart. I’d like to think I do too.

IF YOU WERE STUCK ON A DESERT ISLAND, WOULD YOU RATHER HAVE A MAGICAL TRUNK THAT GAVE YOU LIMITLESS BOOKS TO READ, OR A LIMITLESS SUPPLY OF PAPER ON WHICH TO WRITE?: Limitless books to read. I can make up my own stories in my head, but I can’t make up other people’s.

BEER OR WINE?: Red wine.

CHOCOLATE OR VANILLA?: Chocolate!

WHAT’S YOUR ALL-TIME FAVORITE BOOK? I have so many, but the one I’ve loved the longest is Anne of Green Gables.

About Melissa

Melissa Senate is the author of several novels for adults, including the bestseller See Jane Date, which was made into a TV movie. Before becoming a writer, Melissa was a New York City book editor and worked on many teen novels. She now lives on the southern coast of Maine, where outside her door is foot of fresh snow.

Snowflakes, books, and crunching the numbers!

2007-12-05T21:18:00.000-06:00

I've been planning ever since Day One of this school year to update this blog regularly. As you can see, I've fallen a bit down on the job. Ahem.

But I did want to post a recent update, and leave the rest to the mercy of New Year's Resolutions.

Catherine read 61 books in November (yay!) which was her stated goal for getting her ReadIt! pizza. So we'll be having a pizza lunch sometime next week. (In truth, she read more. Those are the ones she remembered to tell me about so that I'd mark them on my list.) A mix of chapter books and easier readers.

Yesterday, Isabella and Catherine made snowflakes out of pipe cleaners, string, and supersaturated Borax. They turned out great. My advice would be to use as wide a jar as possible. The crystals form b/w the jar and the flake, and I had to pry it loose! Here's a link to the instructions if you want to try it yourself.

Oh, and our big news! Catherine is done with first grade math! We're moving on to Level 2A in Singapore Math, having completed Level 1A and 1B (along with Alpha in Math-U-See). Catherine's very proud of herself, and I'm proud of her, too. We've spent a lot of time working on the word problems in particular, and she's really developed a sense of how to think in mathematical terms.

As for Isabella, she's doing so great! Her speech is coming along nicely, and she "reads" (i.e., carries a book around) all the time. She's doing great at counting (though she skips "six" all the time ... poor Mr. Six!). Both girls are taking piano, and are doing great!

That's enough for now. Next homeschool post will be more in depth ... and with pictures!

"He gave his life for tourism ..."

2007-12-03T20:38:00.000-06:00

So ...

we've been doing Egypt, and Catherine read a book on King Tut. I got on line, found out the Tut exhibit is coming to Dallas next year, reserved slots, and then showed the girls the material on the web. They thought it was very cool.

And then ...

I remembered Steve Martin's King Tut, so I searched YouTube and found it.

Who would have thought two little girls, ages 6 and 4, would be sooooo enamored. Isabella has (for two days now) come over and over into my study making the sign for silly and pointing to the television. Needless to say, they are enraptured. And dancing "Egyptian" too.

In case you don't remember it (or are just too dang young) here you go:

Thanks, Steve Martin, for making my week. Not to mention entertaining my kids and supplementing our classical education with a mixture of whimsy, retro, and pop culture!

GCC Tour: CHICKS WITH STICKS (KNITWISE) - Elizabeth Lenhard

2007-12-02T09:11:00.000-06:00

Touring today is Elizabeth Lenhard's CHICKS WITH STICKS (KNITWISE), a new novel in her popular trilogy. (And the timing is perfect, since at the park the other day, I met a woman knitting with circular needles, and I was bowled-over impressed!)

At any rate, the Chicks trilogy began in 2005 with Chicks with Sticks (It’s a purl thing) (Dutton). Fifteen-year-old Scottie lives in a cool, Chicago loft, goes to a progressive-to-the-point-of-wacky private school—and she’s miserable. Her former best friend, trust-fund princess Amanda, is just that—her former best friend—and her mom has become an It girl in Chicago’s art world. Meanwhile, Scottie just wants to blend in.

Then she discovers knitting, and it’s as if she’s been thrown a cashmerino lifeline. Soon Scottie and Amanda find themselves hanging at their local yarn store, bound together by a yen for yarn and a hunger for friendship. They make two more knitty friends: Bella, a new age yoga goddess, and Tay, an indie tomboy with “anger issues” in the wake of her parents’ divorce. The friends’ stitches and their relationships become so intertwined that it’s hard to remember which came first: the girls or the purls.

Chicks #2, Chicks with Sticks (Knit two together), could be called the Chicks’ boy book. At sixteen, Scottie is finally smitten and thrilled to have her first boyfriend—or does she? Amanda’s heart is broken when she wakes up one day and finds that she’s a trophy girlfriend. Tay wonders if her b.f.—an adorable basketball player who knits on the side—is a cling-on. And Bella swears off boys altogether. Drama ensues—all, of course, to the tune of the girls’ click-clacking needles.

And now, there’s Chicks with Sticks (KnitWise). For Scottie, Amanda, Bella, and Tay, life in Chicago has been all about seeking shelter. They’ve found it in their firelit stitch ’n bitch at Joe Coffee; in the halls of their quirky private school; in the arms of boyfriends—and always in the comfort of the friendship that bonds them together.

But now the Chicks are staring down the end of high school and it's time to contemplate life beyond the protective web of their knitty ensemble. Will the stresses of college applications and service projects, debutante balls and long-distance loves, mean the end of the Chicks? Or can this unlikely foursome bind-off the happy ending that only true friendship can craft?

The Chicks with Sticks books aren’t just for crafty types (though each book does include several original knitting patterns and projects). They’re for anyone juggling the works-in-progress that are friendship, first love, and surviving high school; for anyone who’s ever found friends in the most unlikely place—or wanted to. Sometimes you just need some string and sticks—with some full-fat hot chocolate on the side—to get you there.

You can order the book HERE

Elizabeth's answers to my GCC questions:

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR TYPICAL “WRITING DAY”?
I take care of my daughter from wake-up time (6:30ish) until my mother, aka "granny nanny," arrives (11:30ish) and go into the office and shut the door. I then realize I'm exhausted from all the momming, so I ease into things with some e-mailing, blogging, and blog-reading. I rarely get rolling before the clock strikes noon, but then I try to work until around 5, with occasional breaks for cuddling with the baby and chatting with my mom. It's a longer, messier work day than it would be if I went somewhere "off-site" and just FOCUSED for several hours, but apparently, I don't have the discipline for that kind of work day!

DO YOU RECALL THE KERNEL OF INSPIRATION FOR THIS BOOK? I must admit, my editor was the one who came up with the concept of a knitter grrrl novel. But I came up with the setting and characters as an ode to a life I'd just left behind. Only a couple months before I started writing the first Chicks book, "Chicks with Sticks (It's a purl thing)" I'd moved away from Chicago and a really great, tight-knit group of girlfriends. None of the characters are directly based on these friends, but the sweet, silly, familial vibe of our friendship definitely inspired the Chicks.

PICK A CHARACTER IN THE BOOK AND TELL US WHAT TRAIT YOU SHARE (OR COME CLOSEST TO SHARING) WITH THAT CHARACTER. Scottie (the main character in the quartet of Chicks) is closer to my teenage self than my current one. We both have/had a tendency to brood and to go a bit overboard with new obsessions, like knitting or boys.

IF YOU WERE STUCK ON A DESERT ISLAND, WOULD YOU RATHER HAVE A MAGICAL TRUNK THAT GAVE YOU LIMITLESS BOOKS TO READ, OR A LIMITLESS SUPPLY OF PAPER ON WHICH TO WRITE?
Books! Without them, frankly, I'd curl up and die. And, though I guess writers shouldn't admit this, I can't say the same about writing.

BEER OR WINE? Wine (red)

CHOCOLATE OR VANILLA? chocolate

WHAT’S YOUR ALL-TIME FAVORITE BOOK? All time!?! That's too much pressure. I cannot choose. But ONE of my faves is "Feast of Love" by Charles Baxter.

More about the author…

Elizabeth Lenhard grew up in Atlanta and studied English and creative writing at the University of Michigan. She’s been a features reporter for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, a contributing dining critic for Chicago magazine, and the author of more than thirty series books for teens and children. Elizabeth lives with her husband and daughter in Atlanta. Now that the Chicks are college-bound, she’s assuaging her empty nest syndrome with lots and lots of knitting. Visit her online at http://elizabethlenhard.com/http://elizabethlenhard.com/ or at her blog at http://elizabethlenhard.typepad.com/

A Reading Machine ...

2007-11-15T21:01:00.000-06:00

Catherine is, in her own words, a "reading machine." And Don and I couldn't be happier. She LOVES to read. Anything and everything. Getting her to go to sleep at night is torture, since she wants to sit up and read. Really, what could make a mom happier????

Her current favorites are the Bailey School Kids books (she still loves Magic Tree House, but BSK has outpaced the time-traveling duo). What I love, is that she'll pick up science and history books and simply read to read. (And even better, Isabella "reads," too. They'll lock themselves up for hours with books -- though usually we have a meltdown in the end when Isabella's stamina fails to match her sister's. But such is life.)

We've signed up for the Pizza Hut Book It program, and in October, C hit her 50 book goal and got her free pizza. Encouraged, she upped her monthly goal for November to 61. Per Mommy Rules, these have to be books that she remembers to tell me she's read. (And I'm lenient with the easy ones; I figure for every early reader she reads, she's also read a chapter book).

Here's the list we made of the October books:

1.Vacation Under The Volcano
2. Amelia Bedelia's Family Album
3. Pinky and Rex and the Bully
4. Twister on Tuesday
5. Dolls of Danger
6. Sleeping Beauty
7. Winter of the Ice Wizard
8. Louis Braille bio
9. Angels Don't know karate
10. The Cat that Sat
11. The Hungry Thing
12. Clifford's Happy Mother's Day
13. Fossil Fever
14. Amelia Bedelia Helps Out
15. What a Bad Dream
16. Night Animals
17. Absolutely Lucy
18. Greek Myths
19. Amelia Bedelia, Bookworm
20. Scrambled Eggs Super
21. A Pet For Us
22. Septimus Bean and His Amazing Machine
23. Tikki Tikki Tembo
24. Vampires Don't Wear Polka Dots
25. Why Do Cats Meow
26. Gilgamesh the King
27. The Shape of Me.
28. Mermaids Don't Run Track
29-32. Four Halloween books, the titles of which I forgot to note.
33. Kitten's First Full Moon
34. Goodnight Sweet Butterflies
35. Don't Forget to Come Back
36. Werewolves Don't Go To Summer Camp.
37. Leprachauns Don't Play Basketball
38. The Big Green Pocketbook
39. Ollie the Stomper
40. Dinosaur
41. The Mission of Addition
42. Insects are My Life
43. The Last Quest of Gilgamesh
44. Much Bigger than Martin
45. Baby Mickey Toys
46. Play Ball Baby Minnie
47. Baby Minnie's Treat
48. Baby Goofy Catches a Fish
49. Humpty Dumpty
50. Duck For President
51. Tigers at Twilight
52. Ghosts Don't Eat Potato Chips

Way to go, Catherine!

(And for the record, she's now had number the October personal pan pizza ... and it was a big, big hit!)

One year ...

2007-10-31T23:05:00.001-05:00

Hard to believe that exactly one year ago today (discounting the international time difference!) we adopted Isabella.

Here she is in China on "gotcha" day, October 30:

Who would have thought that scared little girl would grow to be the little Wonder Girl who went trick-or-treating through the neighborhood tonight, happily shouting "Happy Halloween" and "trick or treat" and checking her bag for her favorite candies?

Or the little girl who performed in her first piano recital 11 days ago.

Or who has learned that we don't say "yucky" at the dinner table, but instead say "no, thank you."

A little girl with boundless energy, a sweet heart, an amazing sense of rhythm, and a wicked sense of humor. A little girl who loves her big sister and her mommy and daddy and her grandma and Nana and all our kitties. Oh, and who loves penguins and duckies, too!

Here she is from just a few weeks ago (because today's pictures won't download) --

We love you, too, Isabella!

Wow. A book club visit ... Wow.

2007-10-30T22:13:00.000-05:00

I had absolutely the best time visiting with a local book club that picked Carpe Demon as their monthly book, and then invited me to speak.

Not only were they a really fun group of women, but when I walked in the door, I noticed a bunch of spritzer bottles on the breakfast bar, each tagged "holy water." That was interesting enough, but then I saw the dip (with 5 carrots sticking up, with almonds as "fingernails"!) and the garbage bags taped over the window in the breakfast area! And ... yes, the piece de la resistance ... a dummy wrapped in garbage bags and shoved into the pantry!

Such fun and sooo creative.

Thanks, y'all! I had a great time!

GCC Tour: THE BOYS NEXT DOOR by Jennifer Echols

2007-10-18T00:36:00.000-05:00

I'm thrilled to be touring Jennifer Echols this week, and her book, The Boys Next Door. Check it out!

Order the book!

About the Book:

Lori has spent every summer on the lake, swimming and wakeboarding with the three boys next door, and working at the boys’ family marina. Lori is close to Adam, the “baby” of the family, who's her age. But secretly, she’s always had a thing for the middle brother, Sean. And this summer, Sean actually seems to be—dare she think it—flirting with her. She figures he’s only being nice because they're like family, since he’s not into younger girls. Until he steals Adam's (even younger) girlfriend.

Lori and Adam team up to get Adam’s girlfriend back, and to get Sean for Lori. But then Lori begins to notice ADAM. He’s grown taller. More mature. And Lori thinks Adam is interested in her, too. And that’s when their ploy finally works. Adam gets his girlfriend back, and Lori gets Sean. The right couples are finally in place, and everything should be smooth sailing. So what’s with all the waves?

About the Author:

Jennifer Echols is the author of the National Readers Choice Award-winning Major Crush, about a high school pageant queen turned band geek in a small southern town. Boy in Blue, about a rebellious teen who is sentence to accompany a police officer on his night shift patrol—and falls for him, will be published by MTV Books in February 2009. Growing up on beautiful Lake Martin in Alabama, Jennifer learned to water-ski when she was five (wakeboarding wasn't invented yet). She now lives high and dry with her husband and son in Birmingham. Visit her on the web at www.jennifer-echols.com

Jennifer's Answers to My GCC Questions:

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR TYPICAL “WRITING DAY”?
I get up at 4:30 a.m. and write until I have 1350 words or whatever my quota is for that day. Then I start my “real” job as a freelance copyeditor.

DO YOU RECALL THE KERNEL OF INSPIRATION FOR THIS BOOK?
I wrote a proposal for a book with a similar plot that was set at a dirt-racing track, and a book with a different plot that was set on the lake where I grew up. My editor asked me to take the first plot and set it at the lake.

PICK A CHARACTER IN THE BOOK AND TELL US WHAT TRAIT YOU SHARE (OR COME CLOSEST TO SHARING) WITH THAT CHARACTER.
The heroine, Lori, is the character I’ve written who’s closest to the real me. I am exactly that dorky. In fact, when my critique partner read the manuscript, she called me and said, “OMG YOU’VE WRITTEN YOURSELF!”

IF YOU WERE STUCK ON A DESERT ISLAND, WOULD YOU RATHER HAVE A MAGICAL TRUNK THAT GAVE YOU LIMITLESS BOOKS TO READ, OR A LIMITLESS SUPPLY OF PAPER ON WHICH TO WRITE?
Since I read A Handful of Dust by Evelyn Waugh, I’ve been haunted by the specter of being trapped in the jungle, reading the collected works of Charles Dickens over and over like that book's protagonist. So I’ll take the paper.

BEER OR WINE? Beer.

CHOCOLATE OR VANILLA? Chocolate!

WHAT’S YOUR ALL-TIME FAVORITE BOOK? Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen.

GCC Tour: BEYOND COOL by Bev Katz Rosenbaum

2007-10-05T00:33:00.000-05:00

I'm so behind on blogging (deadlines! ack!) and that's a shame because I want to make sure everyone sees this fabulous book:

Order the book!

Beyond Cool is the sequel (which can also be read as a stand-alone) to Bev Katz Rosenbaum’s phenomenally successful young adult novel, I Was a Teenage Popsicle! (Sarah Mlynowski, author of Bras & Broomsticks, said Popsicle was, “Fresh and fun—an absolute blast!” Melissa Senate, author of Theodora Twist, described Popsicle as, “Cool, clever, and full of charm!” Girlslife.com called it “super cool”. Popsicle was also recommended on Meg Cabot’s blog and included in a book quiz on seventeen.com!)

So, the story…

Floe Ryan was frozen for ten years. Crazy, but true. She was vitrified at sixteen because of a rare disease. Now she’s been thawed back to her normal self, but absolutely everything else has changed. Her little sister’s older than her, her teachers are now holograms (but still annoying), and instead of learning to drive a car, she’s trying to master a hovercar. And just when she starts warming up to this new scene, everything falls apart…

Her boyfriend is giving her the, er, cold shoulder, and worse, Dr. Dixon at the Cryonics Center tells her that people who were frozen are more susceptible to illnesses. The one doctor who can cure this immune system weakness has gone AWOL. Now it’s up to Floe and her brainy friend Sophie to find him. But they’re not the only ones looking for him--and this time, Floe could be iced for good…

Sounds like fun, doesn't it? And I love the mystery/adventure component.

Here's what Bev has to say in response to my GCC questions:

How would you describe your typical writing day?

8:00 At computer.

9:00 Ready to write or revise (depending on what needs to be done) after an hour of checking and replying to e-mails, checking blogs (mine and others) and posting new blog entries and/or comments, and getting totally sidetracked by MSN entertainment (i.e. gossip) news...

12:00 Quick lunch.

12:30 More writing/editing.

2:00 Manuscript critiquing (I run a popular critique service)

4:30 Exercise/Help kids with homework/Chauffeur kids to various activities or friends' houses/Make dinner

6:30 Dinner with family

7:30 More manuscript critiquing, interspersed with more helping and chauffeuring

10:30 Bedtime!

(Note from Julie: Bev is WAY more organized than me writing-wise. Sigh.)

Do you recall the kernel of inspiration for this book?

Well, this is the sequel (which can also be read as a standalone) to I Was a Teenage Popsicle. The idea for that one came when my hubby and I were talking about the whole Ted Williams cryonics brouhaha . I thought, hey, cryonics could be the basis for a really cool--ha-ha--teen book!

Please tell us about your latest novel (title, publisher, release date) and what we can expect from your characters.

Like I Was a Teenage Popsicle, Beyond Cool is a crazy mix of teen lit, romance, sci-fi, action-adventure, and comedy. In this book, cryonically preserved and recently 'thawed' Venice Beach teen Floe Ryan finds out all the human popsicles have immune system deficiencies, and the one doctor who can solve the problem is AWOL. Spunky (and witty!) Floe takes it upon herself to find the doctor and save the frozen zombies--while trying to hang onto her hot new boyfriend and learning how to hoverdrive...

What's up next? Do you have another project in the works? If so, please tell us a bout it.

I'm going all dark and dramatic with a top secret new project geared to older teens, but I'm also working on something fun and light for tweens...

Would you like to close with a writing tip?

You can't go wrong with the old standby: Show, don't tell!

Want to learn a bit about Bev? She's a former fiction and magazine editor who found her calling when she fell in love with the books her kids were reading and the TV shows they were watching. She lives in Toronto with her family. Be sure to check out her awesome website at www.bevkatzrosenbaum.com and her myspace page at www.myspace.com/bevkatzrosenbaum, where she also blogs weekly. (You can also catch her occasional blog posts at www.teenfictioncafe.blogspot.com.)

GCC Tour: IT'S NOT ABOUT THE ACCENT by Caridad Ferrer

2007-09-11T11:56:00.000-05:00

I'm thrilled to be hosting Caridad Ferrar this week on the GCC tour! Check out her latest book; it sounds awesome!

Order the book!

IT’S NOT ABOUT THE ACCENT traces the bold transformation of Caroline Darcy, a college-bound beige-blonde born and bred in small town Hampshire, Ohio, into “Carolina,” a half-Cuban aspiring actress, with striking Havana Brown hair, a caliente wardrobe, a taste for platanos, and a hunger for adventure. Carolina has no problem dressing, dancing, and talking the part, down to her effortlessly rolled rrrs – even though she’s only one-eighth Cuban. She owes her attraction to her exotic heritage and her yearning for something… different to Elisa Maribel Teresa de La Natividad Sevilla y Tabares – her Nana Ellie, the great-grandmother she loved, dearly and fiercely, and lost when she was thirteen. Carolina vividly remembers Nana Ellie’s romantic stories of her encounters with everything from the Eiffel Tower to Russian nobility. And she regrets missing the chance to unravel the facts from the fantastic tales – and learn more about her Nana’s mysterious, scandalous past.

The story opens at the beginning of Caroline’s Latina rebirth and undergrad career at the University of Southern Ohio for the summer session. To her thrill and amazement, her Cuban act works like a charm on the opposite sex. Faster than her first beer buzz, Caroline finds herself becoming more popular and getting increasingly intimate with Erik, a smooth-talking frat guy with gorgeous baby blues. The only male on campus who doesn’t fall for Carolina’s Latina allure is Peter, the full-blooded son of Cuban immigrants, who hails from Miami. Despite the danger of being exposed as a fraud, Caroline is drawn to this quiet, serious student – on a strictly friendship basis. But when Carolina gets in over her head and on the edge of a dangerous situation, Peter is the one who comes to her rescue. What’s more, he accepts her for who she is – and leads her on a real adventure to discover the truth about Nana Ellie and the very wealthy family she left behind in Cuba. What Caroline discovers about her ancestors – including one unknown living relative – is more exciting than she ever could have imagined.

Part mystery, part romance, and all captivating, IT’S NOT ABOUT THE ACCENT affirms Caridad Ferrer as a gifted teller of stories that resonate with young women, both Latina and Anglo.

About Caridad

CARIDAD FERRER is a first generation, bilingual Cuban-American, born in Manhattan and raised in Miami. Her debut novel, Adiós to My Old Life (MTV Books), was named Latinidad’s Top Teen Read for 2006 as well as winning the Romance Writers of America's 2007 RITA® for Best Contemporary Single Title Romance. Writing as Barbara Ferrer she has also contributed to the anthology, Fifteen Candles: 15 Tales of Taffeta, Hairspray, Drunk Uncles, and Other Quinceañera Stories (Harper Collins/Rayo). Find her on the web at CaridadFerrer.com and BarbaraFerrer.com.

Caridad's Answers to My GCC Questions:

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR TYPICAL “WRITING DAY”?

Well, especially now that my kids are back in school, it’s a case of wait for the coffee to kick in— while I’m doing so, check email and a few websites, then after doing a quick review of the latest new material, settle down and keep going. I’m a very linear writer, so I find that reading a little bit of what I last wrote helps get me in the groove, as it were. If I’m particularly stuck, I’ll either do some editing or research for later chapters. But I always try to do something that keeps me in the writing headspace. If it’s really bad, then I’ll just go cruise by Bluefly.com or Anthropolgie.com.

DO YOU RECALL THE KERNEL OF INSPIRATION FOR THIS BOOK?

It was very simple, actually, when I was trying to think of what I wanted to do for a second YA— I had long been fascinated by how many girls, especially Latinas, seem to want to anglicize themselves by changing their hair color or their eye color. I thought it would be fun to turn it on its ear and have a very white bread, at least on the surface, character, try to transform herself into a more “exotic” girl. As I worked through the plot, other elements fell into place and I found myself with a much bigger story, but as far as the kernel goes, that’s where it started.

PICK A CHARACTER IN THE BOOK AND TELL US WHAT TRAIT YOU SHARE (OR COME CLOSEST TO SHARING) WITH THAT CHARACTER.

Caroline turns out to be a bit of history geek and enjoys research, which is a trait I share with her— I absolutely adore history and when people have asked why I don’t write historical fiction, my response is always, “I’d get too sucked into the research and would never write an original word ever again!” When it comes to that kind of research, I’m like a little kid in a toy store, going, “Oooh, SHINY!”

IF YOU WERE STUCK ON A DESERT ISLAND, WOULD YOU RATHER HAVE A MAGICAL TRUNK THAT GAVE YOU LIMITLESS BOOKS TO READ, OR A LIMITLESS SUPPLY OF PAPER ON WHICH TO WRITE?

Paper. Without a doubt.

BEER OR WINE?

Wine

CHOCOLATE OR VANILLA?

Chocolate. Dark, dark chocolate.

WHAT’S YOUR ALL-TIME FAVORITE BOOK?

Oh man... are you SERIOUS?? I don’t know— it’s probably a tossup between Anton Myrer’s THE LAST CONVERTIBLE and Anne Rivers Siddons’ HEARTBREAK HOTEL.

There you go! Don't miss this book!!!!!!

Bedtime song ...

2007-08-25T16:21:00.000-05:00

Someone sent this to me. I think this guy wrote this with our family in mind!!!!

And here's the direct link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uISuvTiTYJA

Vote, vote, vote ... for, well, me!

2007-08-10T21:10:00.000-05:00

Okay, so I desperately need a new book jacket photo, not to mention new pics to go with my new website (coming soon!).

Here's the four pics I selected from a recent shoot.

Please, please, please, drop me a comment and let me know if one stands out to you as "book jacket" ... and also if there's one (or more, or all) that you think I should burn and never show in public again.

I figure those that don't make the book jacket will get a spot on my website. (oh, and if you click on the photo, it will make it bigger)

So here goes ....

Option Number One:

Option Number Two:

Option Number Three:

Option Number Four:

GCC Tour: You Had Me at Halo, by Amanda Ashby

2007-08-07T22:16:00.000-05:00

Order the book!

This is one of those 'wish I'd thought of it' premises. It sounds like a riot, and I can't wait to get my copy!

Holly Evans has just seen her own body laid to rest. If it had been up to her, she wouldn’t have chosen that particular polyester dress for the event. Still, she could live with that (so to speak), if it guaranteed a quick jump to Level 3 of the afterlife, which she hopes will feature both reruns of Friends and reunions with long-lost loved ones.

But Holly has some mortal baggage to unload first, starting with the matter of how she died. Yes, she drowned in her bathtub under suspicious circumstances, but she did not kill herself. Holly had too much to live for, from her recent promotion to taking the next big step in her relationship. Okay, her life had a few loose ends, but whose doesn’t?

Holly's heavenly shrink isn’t buying it. He says she has to return to earth to straighten things out. The thing is, she’ll need to borrow someone’s body to do it—and the body in question belongs to none other than computer geek Vince Murphy. Oh, and although Vince was supposed to have vacated the premises, he apparently never got the memo.

Now, Holly has forty-eight hours to resolve her issues while sharing arms, legs, and...other things...with a guy she barely noticed while she was alive. But the real surprise is what life has to offer when you have only two days to live it...

“It’s The Lovely Bones meets Bridget Jones in this fluffy take on what happens after death. It's a fun, witty traipse through the afterlife.” Publisher’s Weekly

“This book has a delightfully quirky concept that develops into a fun and interesting story. Peopled with a fascinating variety of characters, it also has an intriguing mystery and a charmingly different type of interaction between the hero and heroine. Expect a delightful tale with a wonderfully distinctive ending.” 4 ½ stars Romantic Times Bookclub Magazine.

“Drop-dead funny. Readers will fall inlove with Holly Evans – a girl who won’t let a little thing like death keep her from getting everything she wants out of life.” Brenda Scott Royce, Author of Monkey Love

“Who knew the afterlife could be so funny? Dead – it’s the new alive!” Allison Rushby, Author of Friday Night Cocktails

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Amanda Ashby was born in Australia and studied English and Journalism at Queensland University. Since graduation she has worked in sales, marketing and travel before discovering that she was no good at any of them and so decided to turn her attention to writing instead. She is married with two young children and has recently returned from the UK to live in New Zealand.

www.amandaashby.com
http://amandaashby.blogspot.com

Here are Amanda's answers to my GCC questions!

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR TYPICAL “WRITING DAY”?

A typical writing day normally involves me checking my
emails while my kids are throwing their breakfast all
around the room, then when I hustle them off to school
and nursery I scrape all the food off the walls, check
my emails again, wonder why everyone in the world has
something to write apart from me, check my watch,
check my emails, realize that I have to pick my son up
in fifteen minutes and then I write like the clappers
so that my husband doesn’t think I’m a lazy cow when
he arrives home later that day.

DO YOU RECALL THE KERNEL OF INSPIRATION FOR THIS
BOOK?

When I was at my dad’s funeral I kept imagining that
he was still there, commentating on the events – and
it was fair to say that all was not to his liking
(especially my rubbish attempts at cleaning the
house). Also, the idea of creating an afterlife that
would’ve given my dad the giggles, was a big motivator
as well.

PICK A CHARACTER IN THE BOOK AND TELL US WHAT TRAIT
YOU SHARE (OR COME CLOSEST TO SHARING) WITH THAT
CHARACTER.
My character Holly and I both have a great fondness
for M&Ms. Actually, apart from that we’re almost the
opposite because Holly says all the things out loud
that I would only ever say in my head. Probably why
writing her was so much fun!!

IF YOU WERE STUCK ON A DESERT ISLAND, WOULD YOU
RATHER HAVE A MAGICAL TRUNK THAT GAVE YOU LIMITLESS
BOOKS TO READ, OR A LIMITLESS SUPPLY OF PAPER ON WHICH
TO WRITE?

Eek, tough one, but I’d have to go for books because I
was a reader long before I was a writer.

BEER OR WINE?
beer

CHOCOLATE OR VANILLA?
I have to choose??? I have a deep love for both.

WHAT’S YOUR ALL-TIME FAVORITE BOOK?
Again on the choosing. It’s probably a three way tie
between The Earthsea Trilogy by Ursula LeGuin,
Magician by Raymond E Feist and Arabella by Georgette
Heyer.

.... now go read the book!

Shining Stars: Teacher Arrested

2007-08-07T21:36:00.000-05:00

Shining Stars: Teacher Arrested

Had to post a link. Couldn't resist. Truly.

I Will Read 10 Pages -- Interview with Moi

2007-07-26T00:20:00.000-05:00

I Will Read 10 Pages

This is a great blog/site, and Jennifer has just posted an interview with me. Be sure and check it out, especially if you're an aspiring author; she's got great questions about "the biz"...

My ending for Harry ....

2007-07-24T20:19:00.001-05:00

Here's the link to my ending of Harry Potter, published in the Austin paper the day the book came out (I wrote it about five days prior). Just had to share!! (You have to register, but it's free). I'm not the first one, so scroll down. I think I'm third.

http://www.statesman.com/life/content/life/stories/books/07/21/0721potterend.html

Oh, and on MSNBC, JKR said she's probably going to write an encyclopedia type book telling what happened with the 2ndary characters and giving some backstory on some other majors. Cool!

Harry Potter!

2007-07-23T23:18:00.000-05:00

I did it. I went to the store at midnight, got a wrist band (I ended up in Slytherin!!! Ack!!) and bought the book. Stayed up until 3 and got about halfway, then waited all of Saturday (can you believe the kids wanted attention?????) so that I could finish the rest that night.

Loved it ... and that is all I will say :) Well, that and it's bittersweet that it's over. No HP8 to look forward to.

The Austin American Statesman on Saturday ran some possible HP endings, including mine. After 72 hours, I can post my version, so look for it this week!

Author Buzz Winners!

2007-07-23T01:26:00.000-05:00

Congrats to the five winners of the Author Buzz contest! These folks will be getting Carpe Demon and California Demon (and I apologize to the winners, who haven't yet been emailed; my outgoing mail server is acting screwy, and I'll try again tomorrow):

Deborah Fochler

Deanna Stillings

Bob Seifert

Linda Scott

Jeanne Engel

Congratulations! If I have your address, the copy will be going in the mail tomorrow!

Come check out this great interview of me at The New Jaynie R

2007-07-10T19:58:00.000-05:00

The New Jaynie R

Fun interview and cool prizes. Check it out!

AUTHOR BUZZ!

2007-07-09T13:41:00.000-05:00

Here's a contest correction! The contest is STILL going! The drawing is July 20, not June 20. So go ahead and enter!

Notes from Oklahoma!

2007-07-08T11:20:00.000-05:00

Oklahoma! Where the wind comes sweeping down the plains ....

IN THE BACK OF THE VAN, AND READY TO GO!

Okay, at the moment, there's no wind (and it's very green, which I understand is unusual) but it sure is pretty here.

We're currently with the family of Alice, Catherine's new BFF, who she met in China. They are having sooooo much fun, although last night they managed to NOT stay up until 1 a.m. singing Mr. Mutt. (Here's a link to the Mr. Mutt song they invented in China for those of you who weren't following the China blog. Imagine wandering the streets of China after dark w/ two little girls singing at the top of their lungs! Go here, and then scroll down to November 7. Sorry, no permalink! http://redthreadchronicles.blogspot.com/2006_11_01_archive.html).

Anyway, the girls have become buds and penpals, and we decided that on our way to RWA National this year, we'd go to Oklahoma first (no, we're not geographically challenged, OK is past Dallas from Georgetown, but what the heck?).

CATHERINE AND ALICE ON THE HORSE. Catherine couldn't reach the stirrups and announced that she "couldn't reach the pedals."

The first day's drive was easier than I expected considering that Texas is pretty much underwater. I think our rented minivan (filled to the gills with more clothes than humans really need for 10 days) must be part boat. We arrived in Ardmore, spend the night there, and then continued on to Enid. Adorable town! And because it was wet her on the fourth, we also got to see fireworks our first night here. The girls loved them!

We've been having a great time! Catherine and Isabella both road Misty, Alica and her siblings' grandparents' horse (Alice and her mom were in China when we were to adopt an eight year boy who's as sweet as he can be, and also have a 5 year old girl and a 3 year old boy, and the kids are getting along great. Even Isabella is joining the wackiness!).

For everyone who's emailed or contacted me lately, I'll try to catch up next week. I'm at a t-mobile hotspot now, so we're mostly vacationing without internet!

Here are some more pictures of the kids:

JOE AND ISABELLA ON MISTY

MARY AND ISABELLA IN THE POOL

MARY AND ISABELLA ON THE CAROUSEL HORSES

That's probably enough for today!

Signing off from Oklahoma!

A bit o' news, DAF hits stores, and GCC Tour: TANYA LEE STONE and A BAD BOY CAN BE GOOD FOR A GIRL

2007-07-04T23:54:00.000-05:00

I have sent off the book!!!! Whoo hoo! Hooray! Release the balloons (what???? that's not the reason for all those fireworks outside my window????)

Anyhoo, hopefully I'll get back on the blog-train before the next (soon!) deadline approacheth, but it won't be tomorrow. We hit the road for a pre-RWA vacation. Me, the dh, and the 2 precious munchkins in a rented minivan. We're heading up to Oklahoma to see Alice, with whom Catherine bonded in China (those of you who followed the China blog may recall the "sticks in your head even though you don't want it to" Mr. Mutt song that the girls sang). Four days visiting, then down to Dallas for RWA ... and intermittent internet connectivity. Yikes! How will I survive w/o google and my WTM message board?

I will, however, have great things to read along the journey. **I** won't be reading DEMONS ARE FOREVER (since I, you know, wrote it, I already know what happens), but YOU can because -- hooray! -- it's in stores now!

Order the book!

But since I won't be reading my own book, I might just have to pick up Tanya LEE Stone's paperback release of A BAD BOY CAN BE GOOD FOR A GIRL. Check out the awesome buzz:

"brave and beautiful...honest and nonjudgmental" - Megan McCafferty, New York Times best-selling author

"Sure to be the new Forever." - Award-Winning Author Cynthia Leitich Smith

"...the kind of tell-it-like-it-is wisdom that comes from your best girlfriends."
- Libba Bray, New York Times best-selling author

“Vagina Monologues…for the teen crowd.” Donna Freitas, Beliefnet.com

"every high-school age girl in the world needs to read this book...a story of self-discovery, broken hearts, and renewed spirits...a wake-up call." - Teens Read Too!

"spot-on...evidence that feminism is alive and worth fighting for." - Avenging Sybil

"This is not a book that will sit quietly on any shelf; it will be passed from girl to girl to girl." - School Library Journal

"This amazing first novel is one of the most honest treatments of teenage sexuality to be found in YA fiction.” - Kliatt

"This should be on every girl's ninth grade reading list for life." - BookSnog

Order the book!

Tanya Lee Stone is the author of more than 80 books for young readers. A Bad Boy Can Be Good for a Girl is her first Young Adult novel. She has a degree in English from Oberlin College and a Master in Education degree from Southern CT State University. In addition to her books, publication credits include VOYA and the New York Times.

She loves chocolate-covered pretzels and Wild Berry Skittles. She hates the word tasty.

And more about the book ...

Don't let the title scare you.

A BAD BOY CAN BE GOOD FOR A GIRL is a cautionary tale. Teens are dealing with sex, whether we’re ready or not. This novel is about three very different girls who date the same player guy. About how the choices they make shape who they want to be. About empowerment.

Meet Josie, Nicolette, and Aviva. Three very different girls who all meet the same bad boy with an irresistible knack for getting into their blood and under their skin.

Three girls. One guy. Who will come out on top?

In A BAD BOY CAN BE GOOD FOR A GIRL, Tanya Lee Stone takes a hard look at love and sex and asks the questions: “When can a bad boy be good for a girl?”

Tanya says, “I get lots of email from teens thanking me for ‘being honest,’ saying my book helped them, or they ‘gave it to a friend who needs it.’ What’s better than that?”

Since the book came out, Tanya has been outspoken about censorship and the need for tackling tough topics in teen books. Check out her VOYA article: “From Forever to Today: The Importance of Sex in Young Adult Literature” and a recent interview with AS IF! (Authors Support Intellectual Freedom) in which she discusses sex, censorship, and Judy Blume.

The new paperback includes a bonus Reading Guide. Book Club Folks: If you have chat software and want Tanya to do a virtual book club visit, let her know.

For a free bookmark and signed bookplate, email her at tanyastone@tanyastone.com

Read an excerpt: http://www.tanyastone.com/badboy.pdf

In addition to her website (www.tanyastone.com) Tanya’s online blogging at Live Journal (http://tanyaleestone.livejournal.com/ ) and MySpace (www.myspace.com/tanyaleestoneauthor)

And here are her answers to my GCC questions!

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR TYPICAL “WRITING DAY”?

I have kids, so I often wake up before the rest of the house does and sneak in some quiet time. Then the ruckus begins! Once they’re off for the day, I work until about 2 pm. Then the hat changes from writer to Mom.
DO YOU RECALL THE KERNEL OF INSPIRATION FOR THIS BOOK?
Oh yes, the inspiration was the moment the title struck me. I was sitting in a lecture and the speaker was talking about upcoming anthology themes. One was bad boys; one was good girls. I scrawled the title in my notebook and was possessed for the next nine months.

PICK A CHARACTER IN THE BOOK AND TELL US WHAT TRAIT YOU SHARE (OR COME CLOSEST TO SHARING) WITH THAT CHARACTER.
I have three main characters; all girls. I share a bit with each of them, which was fairly intentional. My goal was to have three very different girls be faced with the same awful guy and explore how any of us are vulnerable to that type at one moment or another. By putting a piece of me in each, I was more able to do that. Josie and I share a strong sense of self. Nicolette and I share a skewed sense of power—meaning, there are times when you think you are immune to being hurt because you are so strong—and you are wrong. Aviva and I share the artsy thing. What’s interesting is that girls often write to me and say the same thing as I’m saying now—there are pieces of them in each girl, even though they may relate the strongest to one in particular.

IF YOU WERE STUCK ON A DESERT ISLAND, WOULD YOU RATHER HAVE A MAGICAL TRUNK THAT GAVE YOU LIMITLESS BOOKS TO READ, OR A LIMITLESS SUPPLY OF PAPER ON WHICH TO WRITE?
Limitless books to read. I think the pressure of having limitless paper would be too much to handle!

BEER OR WINE? Beer.

CHOCOLATE OR VANILLA? Chocolate.

WHAT’S YOUR ALL-TIME FAVORITE BOOK?
I’m afraid I answer this differently each time I’m asked! There are just too many favorites. Let’s go with F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Basil and Josephine Stories.

GCC Tour: FRENEMIES by Megan Crane

2007-07-03T01:28:00.000-05:00

I'm so excited to get to host Megan and Frenemies because I had the chance to peek at this book months ago, and thought it was just fabulous!

Order the book!

Check it out ...

FREN-E-MY\noun: The friend who gives you the sweetest smile to your face, while holding the sharpest knife to your back.

We’ve all heard the saying, “keep your friends close and your enemies closer,” but what if they’re one and the same? It’s the cardinal, number-one girlfriend rule: don’t date your friend’s ex. In FRENEMIES by Megan Crane, it is Gus Curtis’ supposed friend and old college roommate Helen who breaks that rule and goes one step further: she doesn’t just date an ex-boyfriend; she steals him from right under Gus’s nose!

Just a few months shy of her 30th birthday, Gus discovers Nate, her "Mr. Right," hooking up behind her back with her so-called "friend" Helen. Soon it seems despite working to hard to appear all grown up, Gus is still living the life of a teenager.

Gus is left with more questions than answers: Can she win Nate back before she turns 30 (And if so, does she really want him?) Is Helen really as devious and manipulative as she seems, or, worse, is Gus more like her frenemy Helen than she’d care to admit? And is she ever going to grow up? With the clock ticking down to her birthday, Gus discovers that sometimes the best thing about best-laid plans is trashing them altogether.

In FRENEMIES, Gus experiences first hand what happens when you reach that inevitable point in life when you must surrender yourself to adulthood and the big 3-0.

About Megan ...

Megan Crane is a New Jersey native who graduated from Vassar and got her MA and PhD in literature from the University of York in England. She is the author of Everyone Else’s Girl and English as a Second Language. She currently lives in Los Angeles.

Visit her on the web at http://megancrane.livejournal.com/
or http://www.megancrane.com

And now for Megan's answers to my GCC questions ...

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR TYPICAL “WRITING DAY”? My typical
writing day involves installing myself in my chair around 8, sucking
down coffee, opening my Word document, and then proceeding to spend
3-5 hours rotting my brain on the Internet at such places as Go Fug
Yourself. I console myself with the knowledge that as a chick lit
writer, I need to be up on pop culture. (Yeah, sure.) At this
point, I am usually in a panic, which means I try to crank out
pages. I usually have set page limits when I'm writing, or otherwise
I would still be lounging in my pajamas on the couch, waiting for The
Muse. On days when I am more stressed (read: closer to a deadline) I
surf the net less and write more pages. It all works out in the end!

DO YOU RECALL THE KERNEL OF INSPIRATION FOR THIS BOOK? It was a
combination of the movie Mean Girls, some personal friend implosions,
and my belief that it was time to write about severe drama queeniness.

PICK A CHARACTER IN THE BOOK AND TELL US WHAT TRAIT YOU SHARE (OR
COME CLOSEST TO SHARING) WITH THAT CHARACTER. Like my main
character, Gus, I have had long periods in my life where I over-
dramatized every last thing like it was going out of style. These
days, I contain that impulse to the medical realm. So instead of
saying, "my neck aches," I am much more likely to say, "honey, I
think I have bacterial meningitis." As you do.

IF YOU WERE STUCK ON A DESERT ISLAND, WOULD YOU RATHER HAVE A
MAGICAL TRUNK THAT GAVE YOU LIMITLESS BOOKS TO READ, OR A LIMITLESS
SUPPLY OF PAPER ON WHICH TO WRITE? This is an evil question. I'll
choose the books, since those books would inevitably contain blank
pages, and that way, I could do both.

BEER OR WINE? Neither. I'm a fan of the ridiculous cocktail with
foliage attached. If it's served in a pineapple, all the better.

CHOCOLATE OR VANILLA? Chocolate. I don't actually understand the
point of vanilla....

WHAT’S YOUR ALL-TIME FAVORITE BOOK? I don't have one! I have
shelves and shelves of books I love, that I refuse to give away...

This is just too, too funny ....

2007-06-28T12:52:00.000-05:00

Coming in 2009!

2007-06-27T18:03:00.002-05:00

Check out the blurb about my new sale that appeared today in Publisher's Marketplace:

Fiction:
Sci-Fi/Fantasy -- USA Today bestselling author Julie Kenner's new paranormal series featuring an Assassin of Evil who believes she's fighting for the side of good, but discovers she's been duped by the underworld, tricked into killing those who would stand in the way of her demonic handlers.

The books will be published by Ace back-to-back in 2009. Not sure of the months, but they'll be 3 in a row. I'm psyched!

Now back to my regularly scheduled deadline ...

GUEST BLOG: Carly Phillips & Cross My Heart

2007-06-26T10:28:00.000-05:00

Order the book!

I've been dying under deadline, so I'm thrilled to have my friend Carly do a guest blog for me today! Be sure to check out her hot new release! (Doesn't she say nice things about me? LOL! I'll keep my mouth shut and not tell her I **am** losing my mind!)

I met Julie Kenner when we both started writing for Harlequin Temptation. She and I both share an editor, Brenda Chin, at Harlequin, and we had girls, and we hit it off right away. We’ve done a series together and we’ve stayed in touch. I really admire Julie as a writer, a mother, a home schooler, and a lawyer (also like me!). I always thought it was perfect that Julie wrote paranormal books too because in my mind she IS paranormal. She creates hours in a day. I need more hours. I’m frazzled and I don’t even home school my kids.

Check out my office during a deadline. A deadline that I’m still on. While a book it coming out. While one daughter graduates elementary school and the other gets chauffeured back and forth to final exams in high school. I’m losing my mind.

Julie is not. (At least I don’t think so!) How does she manage? I need lessons. For me, I think the answer is NOT planning. When I plan, Murphy’s Law inevitably kicks in and something goes wrong. If I have an entire day free on my calendar and I think I’m going to write, one of my kids wakes up sick. If bring my laptop to use while one of my girls is in an appointment, they call me in with them. I’ve been just doing the best I can, barely treading water for a long time now. And I thought Julie’s blog was a good place to talk about this because she also has mom readers from her home school and adoption loop (right, JBK?)

So who here has suggestions on time management? Help me please!

A side note - Julie was gracious enough to let me blog for her today, when my book CROSS MY HEART is being released in paperback. (Woo Hoo!) For a sneak peek at CROSS MY HEART, visit www.carlyphillips.com and check out the video trailer and remember to click on the Free Reader Giveaway at the top of the page – and see what I have in store for readers who purchase CROSS MY HEART!

Thanks for having me, Julie! It’s been a blast. HAPPY TUESDAY!
*****
Thank you, Carly!

And here are some photos. Aren't her dogs adorable? And I'm soooo glad I'm not the only one with a messy office!

Hamlet by Cats ...

2007-06-20T00:02:00.000-05:00

Who can resist Hamlet performed by cats? Check this out ... from YouTube:

GCC Tour: Between, Georgia by Joshilyn Jackson

2007-06-14T11:41:00.000-05:00

Order the book!

Congrats to Joshilyn -- the current GCC tourer! Jackson won GEORGIA AUTHOR OF THE YEAR for this book. How cool is that?

More, Jackson read the audio version herself and won a Publisher’s Weekly Listen Up award, a starred review in PW, and made AudioFile’s best of 2006 list!

But, wait ... there's more!

Between, Georgia was a #1 BookSense pick, making Jackson the first author in BookSense history to achieve #1 status is back-to-back years.

Here's some quotes:

"One of this decade's most commendable novels. Every now and then a remarkable writer, following in the footsteps of great authors, comes along to reenergize American fiction. So it is with Joshilyn Jackson. ...overflows with gut-wrenching sadness and laugh-out-loud humor. Jackson's novel brilliantly explores abstractions - redemption, love and grace - through the most compelling characterizations to be found in contemporary fiction. Between, Georgia is an exemplary novel by a singular writer who is in full command of the art of story telling. Don't miss it!"
- Bookpage

"Between, Georgia is a small miracle, and Nonny Frett is the most engaging woman who ever lived in the pages of a book. Joshilyn Jackson is an enormously talented writer."
- Anne Rivers Siddons, New York Times bestselling author of Sweetwater Creek

Want to hear more? Here's a summary of the book:

There's always been bad blood between the Fretts and the Crabtrees. After all, the Fretts practically own the tiny town of Between, Georgia, while the Crabtrees only rent space in its jail cells.

Stacia Frett is a deaf artist with a genetic condition that is causing her to slowly go blind. She's lost the love of her life, and when her vision goes, she'll lose her career as well. She's asking God why He keeps her breathing in and out, until the night fifteen year old Hazel Crabtree shows up on her doorstep brandishing a stomach swollen with a pregnancy she'd hidden for nine months. Stacia thinks Hazel's unwanted baby might be God's answer, and so the Fretts decide to steal it...

Thirty years later, Nonny Frett is a successful interpreter living in Athens, Georgia. She understands the meanings of "rock" and "hard place" better than any woman ever born. She's got two mothers, "one deaf-blind and the other four baby steps from flat crazy." She's got two men; Her husband is easing out the back door and her best friend is laying siege to her heart in her front yard. She has a job that holds her in the city, and she's addicted to a little girl who's stuck deep in the country. And she has two families; The Fretts, who stole her and raised her right, and the Crabtrees, who lost her and can't forget that they've been done wrong.

In Between, Georgia, population 90, the feud that began before Nonny was born is escalating, and a random act of violence will set the torch to a thirty-year old stash of highly flammable secrets. This might be just what the town needs, if only Nonny wasn't sitting in the middle of it...

Here are Joshilyn's answers to my GCC questions:

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR TYPICAL “WRITING DAY”?

I don’t have one. I have two kids instead. I don’t have time for the luxury of ritual. Oh how I wish I did! It would be romantic and fun to say, “I can only write a pink room…” or “I can’t work if there’s a black cat within a mile of me…” But the truth is much more pragmatic and dull: If I get an hour or more with no kids in the house, I work. My husband takes them out of town for long weekends when I need to draft. If I get desperate I leave and check into a hotel.

DO YOU RECALL THE KERNEL OF INSPIRATION FOR THIS BOOK?

About 15 years ago, I was attending UGA in Athens, and I had friends in Atlanta, so I drove back and forth quite a bit. On the old route 78, I used to see this sign---I don’t know if it’s still there. It said something like, “Exit here to see Between, Georgia, Population 97.”

One day, I saw someone had snuck over and crossed out the “97” and written in “96.” That tickled me to death. I started wondering who would do such a thing. I was young, so of course my first thought was that it was some kid near my age who was born and bred in that tiniest of towns. He had always sworn he would get out and have a bigger life. As he headed off to college or New York or someplace that felt “big” to him, he stopped to lower the number as a triumphant farewell.

I thought about that kid for a few years, but he never gelled for me. I’m more interested in someone who can live a huge life in a town of 90 people than someone who tries to find significance externally. I never forgot Between, though. I started imagining the town layout, created families who lived there, and gave it its own specific and odd economy. Sadly, I never had a story that fit there. All I had was a strong sense of place.

About ten years later, maybe I had grown up a little, and I realized a kid had not changed that sign. It was an old southern lady, tough as nails, someone with her thumb ground down on that town. Earlier that day, the preacher had laid her greatest rival in the ground. She stood at the church in her best black dress and pressed a hanky to her mouth, but her eyes were alive with triumph and she had on a thick coat of monkey butt red victory lipstick. Later that same night, she’d crept out of her house, driven to the highway, and changed the sign in a gesture of small-minded and terrible victory.

That scene never happens in the novel, but the idea of a character who would do such a thing, of a rivalry between Southern Matriarchs that strong and virulent, began a story in my head. The sign changer became Bernese Frett, and I pulled her rival from the grave and let her grow into a crafty, drunken criminal named Ona Crabtree. Nonny Frett, the narrator, is by birth one of those trashy Crabtrees, but she is stolen and raised by the unbendingly respectable Frett clan.

I started to get a strong feel for Nonny, bravery, her desire to be loved, her good, good heart, and the way she hesitates, hopeful and cautious. I felt she was a character who lived “in between” on any number of levels, so the town itself, that strong sense of place I’d been growing for almost fifteen years, became a character as I started playing around with ideas about identity and nature v/s nurture, and what makes someone a mother.

PICK A CHARACTER IN THE BOOK AND TELL US WHAT TRAIT YOU SHARE (OR COME CLOSEST TO SHARING) WITH THAT CHARACTER.

My main character, Nonny Jane Frett, is a bit of a waffler. She’s Between on a lot of levels, and over the course of the book I think she grows into her own big voice…I am not sure I have yet. I am STILL a bit of a waffler. Her waffling irritated me no end, and I was so glad when she started standing up and making decisions and saying DAMMIT and fighting for what matters to her. I keep waiting for me to do that…

IF YOU WERE STUCK ON A DESERT ISLAND, WOULD YOU RATHER HAVE A MAGICAL TRUNK THAT GAVE YOU LIMITLESS BOOKS TO READ, OR A LIMITLESS SUPPLY OF PAPER ON WHICH TO WRITE?

I’m a pragmatist. I’d rather have fresh water and limitless supply of Lean Cuisines with a solar powered microwave…Hrm. I think the books. I have to read!

I could write in my head and memorize it --- I came out of theatre and I often think of writing in terms of performance. I’d perform each chapter as a monolog and when the boat came for me I’d write it down.

BEER OR WINE? Wine. Or a dirty martini. OH! Or wait, a Blueberry Smash made with Jack and POM wonderful. Or.okay, why not! Beer. You got Rolling rock? Or no, I’ll have what your having. Make mine a double. ßSee! I waffle!

CHOCOLATE OR VANILLA? Chocolate. The darker the better!

WHAT’S YOUR ALL-TIME FAVORITE BOOK?

Oh Hrm. Can I have a tie? From childhood, it is TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD. I still reread that probably more than any other book. But the book that spoke to me loudest since I (allegedly) became an adult is THE SOLACE OF LEAVING EARLY. I love everything Kimmel has ever written, but her first novel, about finding all kinds of love in the ruins of broken families, remains my favorite. It’s hard to find a book this elegant, precise, and intelligent that has such a warm heart.

Visit http://www.joshilynjackson.com for more!

GCC Tour: THE SECRET SISTERS by Joni Rodgers

2007-06-04T00:23:00.000-05:00

Order the book!

Currently touring with the GCC is Joni Rodgers and the mass market release of THE SECRET SISTERS. I've got this one in my TBR pile. Can't wait!

Exploring the timeless themes of family, self, misfortune, and hope that have made the novels of Anna Quindlen and Sue Miller bestsellers, Joni Rodgers's moving and powerful tale tells the story of three women bound together by loss and set free by love.

Pia feels the walls of her life closing in around her, until she discovers a strangely sensual world that leads her to a new existence. Lily, Pia's brash, tough-talking sister, makes a tragic mistake that leaves her incarcerated, body and soul, but in the prison library discovers a key that will unlock her mind and open her heart. Beth, married to Pia and Lily's brother, has never been able to admit her own failure as a mother. Finally forced to confront a tragedy of her own making, she discovers that the truth can set her free.

Praise for The Secret Sisters

"Believable...brilliant...beautifully written..." Armchair Reviews

"Honesty, humor, and fearlessness...(Rodgers) illuminates the internal landscapes all women navigate." Houston Chronicle

"A page turner, full of surprises, insight, and spine-tingling erotica..." Helena Independent Record

"A rough gem of a narrative...Pia's tale has it all: death, danger, sexual discovery, and resurrection." Missoula Independent

"An emotional maelstrom worth getting wrapped up in." Easton Express-Times

"A modern tragedy...Rodgers wisely resists the temptation to whip up tidy endings, and her smart choices give The Secret Sisters the necessary measure of grit." Texas Monthly

Here are Joni's answers to my GCC questions:

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR TYPICAL “WRITING DAY”?

What? There’s such a thing as a typical writing day? Why was I not informed of this?!

DO YOU RECALL THE KERNEL OF INSPIRATION FOR THIS BOOK?

THE SECRET SISTERS began with an erotic short story I tucked in my husband’s suitcase as a sexy little surprise when he went away on a fishing trip to Cabo San Lucas. The story about the shopkeeper/con artist Dalphine was never intended for publication, but the characters stayed with me. I kept dreaming about Pia sitting in a chair in a waiting room. I kept wondering how this smart and competent woman had become so vulnerable. Then the world changed on 9/11. Over the next year or so, I saw our country embrace fear as a lifestyle, and it was eerily reminiscent of my own fragile and fearful state in the aftermath of cancer. THE SECRET SISTERS is my response to that. It’s a parable about how vulnerable we become when we embrace fear as a lifestyle. It’s also an examination of the way that tragedy can – and should! – change us. Survivorship is about accountability, courage, and hope. As we emerge from life’s refining fires, we have to learn from our mistakes, celebrate our strengths, and seize hold of every new day with joy. I finally understood what Pia was waiting to tell me: That redemption is tragedy cross-pollinated with grace.

PICK A CHARACTER IN THE BOOK AND TELL US WHAT TRAIT YOU SHARE (OR COME CLOSEST TO SHARING) WITH THAT CHARACTER.

When family tragedy leaves her shaken to her core, Pia is seized by a panic disorder that has the walls of her world closing in around her. As I researched agoraphobia, some of the symptoms began to feel uncomfortably familiar. Writing is of necessity a lonesome task, and since my kids went off to college and I’ve become more focused on my craft and career, I’ve become more and more of a hermit. This realization prompted me to pay attention to some friendships I’d let slide and to seek out some new writer friends to network and socialize with. I joined The Midwives, a critique group of accomplished women authors. Best thing that’s happened to me in years, both professionally and personally.

IF YOU WERE STUCK ON A DESERT ISLAND, WOULD YOU RATHER HAVE A MAGICAL TRUNK THAT GAVE YOU LIMITLESS BOOKS TO READ, OR A LIMITLESS SUPPLY OF PAPER ON WHICH TO WRITE?

If you stop reading, your writing is going to shrivel up and die, so I’ll take the books and write on the endpapers.

BEER OR WINE?

My husband’s homemade pinot grigio is pomegranate-nuanced orgasm in a bottle.

CHOCOLATE OR VANILLA?

I used to be a major choco-holic, but ever since chemotherapy, the smell and taste of it make me nauseous. How sad is that?!

WHAT’S YOUR ALL-TIME FAVORITE BOOK?

SIDHARTHA by Hermann Hesse. Whenever the vagaries of the publishing biz start to overwhelm, I try hard to remember the mantra of the emerging Buddha: “I can fast, I can pray, and I can wait.”

About the Author

Joni Rodgers, a Houston author who ghostwrites celebrity memoirs between novels, has a unique take on the popular idea that everyone has a book in them. “Everyone has a story in them,” says Rodgers. “But everyone has a pancreas, too. Only in rare cases should it be taken out and displayed on a shelf.”

The ghost gigs pay well and make for “some interesting elevator rides”, but Rodgers is selective about new projects. “It takes a compelling client to drag me away from fiction, my first love.” Rodgers’ latest novel The Secret Sisters (Harper Collins 2006) comes out in trade paperback this week with an added “PS Section” in which Rodgers discusses the story behind the book. The added material is bound to generate some juicy book club discussions. “I can’t wait for the sparks to start flying,” says Rodgers, who intended the story of a woman’s struggle with agoraphobia to be “a parable about how easily exploited we are when we embrace fear as a lifestyle.”

Joni is a long-time wife, ridiculously proud mother, and doting dog owner. She divides her time between Houston and New York City.

Visit Joni Rodgers on the web at www.jonirodgers.com

Joni Rodgers blogs about the writing life on “Boxing the Octopus”: http://boxingoctopus.blogspot.com

It's 2:15. Do you know where your page count is?

2007-05-28T02:15:00.001-05:00

Bear with me once again, as I've disappeared into that oh-so-common author place known as "deadline hell."

To everyone here and over at my MySpace account, thanks for all the messages, comments, blog posts and emails to my gmail account. I'm reading all and responding ... but I'm about a MONTH behind on comments now. Yikes!

I feel like such a slacker. But I do appreciate everyone's notes and comments! Don't stop. I'll catch up eventually. And when I do (and this project hits the shelves) hopefully everyone will say it was well worth the deadline dementia!!!

GCC Tour: COUPON GIRL by Becky Motew

2007-05-26T10:55:00.000-05:00

ORDER THE BOOK!

Check this one out! It sounds like fun!

"Hi, you've reached the voice mail of Jeanie Callahan. I'm auditioning right now for the lead role in The Sound of Music and hopefully not throwing up or fainting. If you're a business owner and would like to do a coupon to attract more customers, leave me a message." BEEP

"Hey, Jeanie. I can't give 25 percent off a donut. Do you think I’m crazy?" BEEP.

"Miss Callahan? This is Sergeant Smith at the Worcester Fire Department. We got your grandfather down from the roof again, maam, and he’s okay like usual. But maam, you need to call us. " BEEP.

"My name Mike. You call." BEEP

Jeanie Callahan sells coupons. Dry cleaners, mechanics, pizza guys—all of them are friends and clients, deadbeats and tormentors. This summer Jeanie has joined the local community theatre, hoping to snag a collection of customers to win her company’s sales contest.

But weighed down in a nun costume and fighting with middle-aged women about whose crucifix should be bigger, she wonders if it was a good idea. Frankly, there’s not a business owner to be seen. The handsome director is in sight, though, and Jeanie thinks she may have found true love. Or maybe it’s a course in Sex Fetishes 101. Opening night looms and some unusual sales propel Jeanie to the brink of victory.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Becky Motew sold coupons on the road in Worcester for more than ten years and those experiences are reflected in COUPON GIRL, her debut novel. Becky’s second love is the stage and she has been active in numerous community theatre groups in Massachusetts. She has played Ado Annie in Oklahoma!, Rosalie in Carnival, and Miss Hannigan in Annie, where she scared her own daughter.

Here are Becky's answers to my GCC questions:

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR TYPICAL “WRITING DAY”?

I like to eat some ham and grapes, do a little web browsing, and then start in. If I’m lucky, things start to take shape. I try to finish the scene or the part of a scene from the day before and go forward into new territory before I stop. The worst thing is to stop at the very end of a scene without starting another. That’s a sure invitation to disaster the next day. If I’m really stumped, I go back to a previous scene and work on it until an idea presents itself. Eventually, it’s lunch time. I sometimes come back in the evening and work as well.
DO YOU RECALL THE KERNEL OF INSPIRATION FOR THIS BOOK?
I always knew I would write CG. The kernel of inspiration was having that job. Sales people are buffeted by everyone—the boss thinks he knows the best way for you to do something, the customers don’t want it that way, and THEY tell you how you should do it. Then your colleagues have their own ideas. You have to find your own way and that’s the story I tried to tell with Jeanie.

PICK A CHARACTER IN THE BOOK AND TELL US WHAT TRAIT YOU SHARE (OR COME CLOSEST TO SHARING) WITH THAT CHARACTER.
It would be foolish for me to deny my connection with Jeanie. She is me in many ways, though I got lead parts in shows and was never in the chorus. Wow, that sounds snobby. I don’t mean it to be. But that is a key difference between us—Jeanie is not interested in performing and I was.

IF YOU WERE STUCK ON A DESERT ISLAND, WOULD YOU RATHER HAVE A MAGICAL TRUNK THAT GAVE YOU LIMITLESS BOOKS TO READ, OR A LIMITLESS SUPPLY OF PAPER ON WHICH TO WRITE?
Wow, good question. Probably books to read, because I don’t really trust the cruise line to rescue me and maybe I could find a way to read a book, then write over it.

BEER OR WINE? Wine, dahling.

CHOCOLATE OR VANILLA? Chocolate in Perpetuity

WHAT’S YOUR ALL-TIME FAVORITE BOOK?
Catch-22

How to visit Becky or learn more:

Her web site: www.beckymotew.com
Her blog: www.beckymotew.blogspot.com

GCC Tour: Grafitti Girl by Kelly Parra

2007-05-19T11:31:00.000-05:00

ORDER THE BOOK!

This week, I'm hosting Kelly Parra and her new release, GRAFITTI GIRL, an awesome young adult novel. Check it out:

Graffiti art. It's bold. It's thrilling. And it can get a girl into serious trouble...

Raised by her single mom (who's always dating the wrong kind of man) in a struggling California neighborhood, Angel Rodriguez is a headstrong, independent young woman who channels her hopes and dreams for the future into her painting. But when her entry for a community mural doesn't rate, she's heartbroken. Even with the winning artist Nathan Ramos--a senior track start and Angel's secret crush--taking a sudden interest in Angel and her art, she's angry and hurt. She's determined to find her own place in the art world, her own way.

That's when Miguel Badalin--from the notorious graffiti crew Reyes del Norte--opens her eyes to an underground world of graf tags and turf wars. She's blown away by this bad boy's fantastic work and finds herself drawn to his dangerous charm. Soon she's running with Miguel's crew, pushing her skills to the limit and beginning to emerge as the artist she always dreamed she could be. But Nathan and Miguel are bitter enemies with a shared past, and choosing between them and their wildly different approaches to life and art means that Angel must decide what matters most before the artist inside her can truly break free.

Praise for Graffiti Girl

"With characters as bold and exciting as the art they love, and an honesty that keeps them raw and real, Graffiti Girl shows us that they only thing better than discovering your talent is finding yourself along the way." ~ Jenny O'Connell, author of Plan B and The Book of Luke

"Graffiti Girl is a fast-paced story that boldly looks dreams and temptations in the eye. 16 year-old Angel Rodriguez steals your heart as she tries to find her place in the world--artistically, socially, and even inside her own family. Don't miss this one!" ~ Tina Ferraro, author of Top Ten Uses for an Unworn Prom Dress

"This book blew me away. Kelly Parra writes with the keen eye of an artist. Graffiti Girl is warm, gutsy, and true-to-life--an unflinching, honest portrayal of young adults. A seamless and impressive debut." ~ Anne Frasier, USA Today bestselling author of Pale Immortal

About the Author

Kelly Parra writes young adult fiction for MTV Books. When not at work on her current novel, she spends her free time roaming book stores, surfing the blogosphere, and watching reality TV. Graffiti Girl is her debut novel. For an excerpt visit, www.kellyparra.com or check out the YA Fresh blog at http://yafresh.blogspot.com

And here are Kelly's answers to my GCC questions! (Check out her answer to the favorite book question ... I'm right there with Kelly!

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR TYPICAL “WRITING DAY”?

KP: My typical day is to get up and ready my kids for school and get them out the door. Then when I return home, I refuel, check email and my numerous blogs, and that takes at least an hour. I can then settle into where I left off with my current book. I usually read the prior chapter to get back into the tone and scene, and that goes on with breaks until it's time to pick up the kids. Pretty typical day unless, you know, the procrastinator bug bites me in the butt. :)

DO YOU RECALL THE KERNEL OF INSPIRATION FOR THIS BOOK?

KP: Basically my love for art in high school and my friends who were into Graffiti art inspired me to write Graffiti Girl. When I was sixteen, I tried my hand at graffiti designs in what is called a "piecebook" but could never really do justice to the bold style. I pretty much flunked as a graffiti artist in training.

PICK A CHARACTER IN THE BOOK AND TELL US WHAT TRAIT YOU SHARE (OR COME CLOSEST TO SHARING) WITH THAT CHARACTER.

KP: My character Angel has a whimsical artistic style in the book and while I was in high school I felt the same way about my own art. My creativity was not realistic enough to satisfy me for some reason. So it was just as easy to give all my feelings to Angel to work through in Graffiti Girl. I'm such a stinker. :)

IF YOU WERE STUCK ON A DESERT ISLAND, WOULD YOU RATHER HAVE A MAGICAL TRUNK THAT GAVE YOU LIMITLESS BOOKS TO READ, OR A LIMITLESS SUPPLY OF PAPER ON WHICH TO WRITE?

KP: This is not a fair question! Reading and writing are pretty much equal with me. If I really have to choose, I'd have to go with limitless books to read forever.

BEER OR WINE?

KP: Sorry, neither! I'm all about taste and they just don't taste good to me.

CHOCOLATE OR VANILLA?

KP: Chocolate. Yay!

WHAT’S YOUR ALL-TIME FAVORITE BOOK?

KP: I do not have an all time favorite single book, but an all time favorite series of books. The Death Series by J.D. Robb.

My First Lesson in Motherhood - New York Times

2007-05-14T19:35:00.000-05:00

This article had me in tears.

By ELIZABETH FITZSIMONS
Published: May 13, 2007

I SAW the scar the first time I changed Natalie’s diaper, just an hour after the orphanage director handed her to me in a hotel banquet room in Nanchang, a provincial capital in southeastern China.

To read the rest: My First Lesson in Motherhood - New York Times

GCC Tour: INSIDER DATING by JENNIFER O'CONNELL

2007-05-10T14:04:00.000-05:00

I'm thrilled to be hosting Jennifer and her new book, INSIDER DATING, this week as part of the GCC Tour!

ORDER THE BOOK!

Here's a bit about the book:

Abby Dunn, barely past thirty and still reeling from her divorce, has taken herself off the dating market. Instead, she’s using her experience to turn the tables on the opposite sex by building a database to rank underperforming men and set women straight when investing their greatest asset: themselves.

Now, what started as a pet project is becoming a full-time enterprise. But while Abby’s busy hedging bets, someone is skewing her data and threatening to ruin her business. Abby is about to find out that sometimes even the savviest market wizards can be headed for a crash.

While it may be perfectly legal, nothing good can come from insider dating.

ABOUT JENNIFER:

Jennifer O’Connell received her BA from Smith College and her MBA from the University of Chicago. She lives outside Boston and when she’s not writing, she spends her days as a market strategy consultant. She is the bestselling author of Bachelorette #1, Dress Rehearsal, and Off The Record.

PRAISE FOR JENNIFER'S OTHER TITLES:

“Insight and humor…entertaining.”
—The Denver Post

“A poolside page-turner.”
—Cosmopolitan

“Hot.”
—Us Weekly

JENNIFER'S ANSWERS TO MY GCC QUESTIONS:

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR TYPICAL "WRITING DAY"?
The only thing that’s typical when I’m writing is that I hit the “word count” function in MS Word about a million times. I’m very goal oriented – it’s all about the word count.

DO YOU RECALL THE KERNEL OF INSPIRATION FOR THIS BOOK?
One summer afternoon I was out on our deck, flipping through People magazine. One of those blow-ins for the Publishers Clearinghouse Sweepstakes fell onto my lap and I thought, “Wouldn’t it be cool if there was a clearinghouse for men.” The idea for INSIDER DATING came immediately, that a woman could create a sort of clearinghouse that allowed women to share information in a members-only club.

PICK A CHARACTER IN THE BOOK AND TELL US WHAT TRAIT YOU SHARE (OR COME CLOSEST TO SHARING) WITH THAT CHARACTER.
Out of all of my books, Abby, the main character in INSIDER DATING, most closely resembles me. We’d both like to believe we can control what happens, that as long as we’re prepared for the worst, we’ll never be caught off guard.

IF YOU WERE STUCK ON A DESERT ISLAND, WOULD YOU RATHER HAVE A MAGICAL TRUNK THAT GAVE YOU LIMITLESS BOOKS TO READ, OR A LIMITLESS SUPPLY OF PAPER ON WHICH TO WRITE?
I’d read. I always read when I’m writing, I find it inspiring to read what other writers are writing, see how they’re thinking. I read with a pen and paper in hand, because books always spark ideas. I’m actually a frustrated editor masquerading as a writer. I love to read.

BEER OR WINE?
Beer

CHOCOLATE OR VANILLA?
Chocolate

WHAT'S YOUR ALL-TIME FAVORITE BOOK?
So hard. Probably a book I read in high school, it’s YA – IT’S OKAY IF YOU DON’T LOVE ME by Norma Klein. The best ever.

Thanks, Jennifer! The book sounds great!

Ah, the Drama of it All!

2007-05-07T21:23:00.000-05:00

I've been a bit out of touch for the last week. Why? Because my girls (and me) have been in rehearsals and performances for a local homeschooling kids' group production of THE WIZARD OF OZ.

More about that later (many blog-worthy episodes!), but I just wanted to show you some photos that my friend Julia London took at today's matinee performance!

My eldest is the tinman, my youngest both a flying monkey and a munchkin. And I (in order to wrangle the youngest) am the tallest munchkin ever and a monkey!

(As a sidenote, the play premiered at just about Chenchen's 6 month anniversary in the states. How cool is that? So much has happened in 6 months it's hard to believe!)

Life is good! Busy, but good!

Another awesome review!

2007-05-06T23:09:00.001-05:00

After reading The Givenchy Code and The Manolo Matrix, I was anxious to read The Prada Paradox. Julie Kenner surpassed my expectations on every level with this story. First, it continues her trend of fantastic, winning characters, suspense, and complex puzzles. The pacing is excellent and the plot never falters. Instead, readers are kept on the edge with one puzzle and conflict after another. The answers to the puzzles seem to remain just out of my reach, but always make sense once solved. Devi and Blake are a dynamic couple readers will relish getting to know. Her sense of humor and his unyielding commitment make their scenes rich in emotion. The secondary characters are just as engaging and made sure I was never quite sure which direction the story would go. Readers of this series might find some story elements in common with the rest of the series, but make no mistake, The Prada Paradox is an original story that will lure and maintain readers’ interest from start to finish. This is a wonderful conclusion that lives up to the standard established throughout this series.

Fallen Angel Reviews

Click here to order the book!

Guest Blog: A PIECE OF NORMAL by Sandi Kahn Shelton

2007-05-02T23:01:00.000-05:00

Today, I have the pleasure to host Sandi Shelton, who is blog-touring her current release, A PIECE OF NORMAL. This looks like a great read, and Sandi is an absolute hoot! So be sure to check out the book!

Click here to order!

Here's the blurb about the book:

Dear Lily . . .

At age thirty-four, Lily Brown has her life just the way she likes it. And what’s not to like? She’s got a great job as an advice columnist for the local newspaper, an adorable four-year-old son, and an ex-husband, Teddy, who still thinks she’s wonderful. She even lives in the same beach house where she grew up, with a great view of Long Island Sound and plenty of beach roses to smell.

So what if she won’t let herself date anyone until she finds a new girlfriend for Teddy, who happens to still be hung up on her? So what if she hasn’t changed a thing in her parents’ house, even twelve years after their tragic deaths? So what if it’s been ten years since she’s heard from her younger sister, Dana, who stormed out of the house in a rage when she was a teenager? Lily is fine.

But it’s funny how life has a way of upsetting even the most perfectly laid-out plans, and when one night Lily finds herself painting ghastly orange highlights into her lovely auburn hair, even she suspects that she’s been in something of a rut. And then, when her long-lost little sister shows up, bringing with her the fun and drama and hell-raising spontaneity Lily has missed, her life suddenly takes a turn for the unexpected.

To Lily’s chagrin, Dana’s energy seems to enthrall everyone, especially Teddy. As the tension between the sisters escalates, Dana reveals decades-old family secrets that she’s been burdened with all these years, and Dear Lily must heed her own advice about accepting life’s messiness and chaos.

With her trademark blend of sparkling wit and characters you can’t forget, Sandi Kahn Shelton tells a compelling and universal story of two sisters who learn what they need to let go of, and what they have to hold on to as tightly as they can.

Check out my quickie interview with Sandi:

Even your bio is funny. If we met at a cocktail party, would I walk away thinking you’re quiet or a hoot? And, just to keep you on your toes, one word answers are not allowed. Please elaborate.

That’s a great question, Julie. And thank you for the compliment (as well as letting me come onto your blog for a visit). I come from a Southern family where humor seems to pervade everything. If you can’t tell a story that makes everybody fall down laughing, you just get pushed over to the side. Go make Auntie Pem another drink and content yourself with being part of the audience. That’s the way it is. Compared to my mother and grandmothers and aunties, I’m known as the shy, quiet, reserved one. Now that I live up in the North, I often notice that my dark Southern humor isn’t always taken the way I mean it; I get frequent shocked looks when I do my over-exaggerations. (I didn’t even know they WERE over-exaggerations until I moved up here.) So basically, I think I’m probably funnier in my writing than at cocktail parties. But give me a couple of glasses of merlot, and you never know…

Isn’t being a mom great? (That one’s a freebie. I still get two more questions, but feel free to answer this one, too.)

Oh, my goodness! It’s the best thing ever. I have three kids, and I cannot imagine what my life would have been like without them. They’re all out of the house now…but we still all talk every day, which I know makes me sound like some kind of clingy mom. (I’m really not, I swear.) One day recently I was working on my novel, and suddenly one them IM’ed me and a little screen showed up in the upper left portion of my novel page. So I typed with that kid about his car needing to be fixed…and then *bling,* up came another screen in the bottom of the page. My daughter wanting to know my recipe for chicken curry. And then *bling*--over on the bottom right was my other daughter just wanting to say hi. I sat there, shockedall three screens were covering up my novel! It seemed symbolic of just what my priorities are, LOL.

Your bio talks about the 17 year gestation of your first novel, and the 10 months to write A Piece of Normal. Was the shift from leisurely (haha) writing to a strict deadline difficult? How did you cope other than eating all the banana popsicles, I mean?

That’s a good question! Well, when I first found out that I had ten months to write Novel #2, I almost had to take to my bed with the vapors. I said to my agent, “What were you thinking? Tell me now: was there anything I ever did or said to make you think I could write a book in ten months?” She laughed and said she knew I could do it. And sure enough, I did. And, although I hate to admit this, there was a way in which it was actually easier. For one thing, when you have a strict deadline like that, IT GETS YOU GOING. You don’t wake up in the morning, yawn and stretch and think, “Hmm, do I feel inspired to write my book today…or would I rather, um, go anywhere else and do any other possible thing?” You know what you have to do.

On the advice of a friend of mine who has written one mystery a year for the past 11 years, I made up my mind to do three pages every single day. No matter what else was happening in life, I knew I had to do those three pages, inspired or not. And that worked to keep me in the book. It kept the material fresh in my mind and kept new juicy stuff for the book flying over to me, even when I wasn’t writing. It was an amazing thing, actually. Not having to sit down and re-read the whole book each time I sat down to write was a big bonus, too; the stuff was still so familiar to me, I could re-read it as little as possible and therefore not get tired of it. You know how when you’re working and working on a book, and you’re reading it too much, you can actually get bored with it and then you have utterly no distance on the writing at all? I found that if I just re-read and edited what I’d written the day before, I could keep going without wanting to press the DELETE button and get rid of the whole thing and go off to join the circus.

So for my third novel (which I am working on now) I also have a (rapidly approaching) deadline of ten months. I love the clarity of focus that comes when you know you have one true priority…and it’s not cleaning the bathtub!

What was the kernel of inspiration for A Piece of Normal?

I always love to write about family relationships, because I think they’re the most fascinating, complicated things going. I’m always struck with how other people’s families always look so together on the outside, and yet when you get to really know them, you see that everybody’s got quirky relatives to deal with, and weird past histories, and buried secrets. (Well, almost everybody. I do know a few people who seem to come from genetically secret-less people. But I’m still digging around, so I’ll get back to you.) I’m particularly interested in the ways that being in a family often requires us to understand and forgive acts that may at first seem like real catastrophic (even if unintentional) betrayals, but which in many ways, serve to enrich and open us.

I think it is these powerful relationships that shape us most dramatically and hold the key to how we see ourselves. (Isn’t there a saying that goes: “Families-can’t live with ’em. Can’t kill ’em”? Until I take up writing murder mysteries, I guess I’m stuck writing about how families manage to forgive each other and go on.)

My first novel-What Comes After Crazy-was about a complicated mother-daughter relationship-briefly, the mom was a flaky, itinerant fortune-teller and the daughter grew up with almost no skills in making a normal life for herself and her kids. (It should be noted that I thought it was a very serious novel, but when it came out, critics called it “hilarious.” That was a bit of a surprise.)

In A Piece of Normal, (which I had wanted to call “Ordinary Forgiveness”) it is two sisters-Lily and Dana Brown-who couldn’t be more opposite. Through their betrayals and long-buried sibling rivalries, they come to realize that they each have something the other one needs. And when the betrayal comes-well, oops, I should stop here. You see, I always have a tendency to tell too much. I’d write the whole plot here if I’m not careful, and all you asked for was the “germ of the idea.”

Thanks so much, Sandi!

Sounds great, doesn't it? Rush out and get your copy! And you can visit Sandi on the web at http://www.sandishelton.com/

GCC Tour: A DAMSEL UNDER STRESS by Shanna Swendson

2007-04-29T22:59:00.000-05:00

I love this series, so I'm thrilled to be blogging this latest release from Shanna, A DAMSEL UNDER STRESS.

Click here to order the book!

About the book:

Shanna Swendson’s beloved blend of fantasy and romance is back in her delicious new novel DAMSEL UNDER STRESS (A Ballantine Books Trade Paperback Original; May 2007).

I love Shanna Swendson’s Katie Chandler novels. They’re quirky and make me laugh out loud. The dialogue is snappy, the characters endearing (well, maybe not the evil ones...) and the plots are fascinating. She’s taken over the throne from Buffy, Sabrina is losing ground and Bridget Jones doesn’t shine as bright anymore, because we have Katie Chandler and she rules.”
—Armchair Interviews on DAMSEL UNDER STRESS

“Great entertainment, full of humor both magical and everyday, and some truly engaging characters.”
—Locus on Once Upon Stilettos

“A fascinating story that will keep readers turning the pages. Don’t miss Once Upon Stilettos.”
—Romance Reviews Today

“Fans of both chick-lit and Harry Potter should not miss out on this series set in magical modern-day Manhattan.”
—Fresh Fiction

“Mayhem at its most enchanting.”
—Romantic Times on Damsel Under Stress

Here's a bit about Shanna:

SHANNA SWENDSON escaped the corporate rat race to be a novelist and pop culture essayist. She is the author of Enchanted, Inc. and Once Upon Stilettos, in addition to contributing essays to books about television series, authors, and novels. When she’s not writing or watching television and movies so she can write about them, she enjoys cooking, traveling, and singing.

And now that you know about Shanna, here are her answers to my GCC Tour questions:

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR TYPICAL “WRITING DAY”?

This book was a little different from my usual pattern, which involves hours
of handling business stuff and goofing off until late afternoon. Instead, I
goofed off and handled business stuff all day, then started writing after 9
at night and went until around midnight or one in the morning. Before I
figured that out, I went for a while spending a couple of frustrating hours
late in the afternoon staring at the blank computer screen, then had trouble
falling asleep at night because my brain was suddenly wide awake. {{JK Comments: Welcome to my world. I think our neighbors must wonder why my office light burns bright at 2 am}}

DO YOU RECALL THE KERNEL OF INSPIRATION FOR THIS BOOK?

The main plot was part of the ongoing series, but the inspiration for the
fairy godmother subplot came from something I often say about my very
pathetic love life. I'm always saying I could really use a fairy godmother,
and after saying that one time more recently, I realized that in the
universe of my books, I could make that happen literally. {{JK Comments: Love it. Playing God is cool}}

PICK A CHARACTER IN THE BOOK AND TELL US WHAT TRAIT YOU SHARE (OR COME
CLOSEST TO SHARING) WITH THAT CHARACTER.

I share the housekeeping abilities of Owen, my hero. In his office, he
organizes with stacks that only make sense to him, and in his home, every
horizontal surface is covered with books and papers. That's pretty much the
way I live. {{JK Comments: Soulmate!}}

IF YOU WERE STUCK ON A DESERT ISLAND, WOULD YOU RATHER HAVE A MAGICAL TRUNK
THAT GAVE YOU LIMITLESS BOOKS TO READ, OR A LIMITLESS SUPPLY OF PAPER ON
WHICH TO WRITE?

I'd take the books because I can write in my head, just as long as no one
expects me to turn them in for publication anytime soon. {{JK Comments: THAT is a machine someone should invent. A brain-story transcription device. I'd buy it!}}

BEER OR WINE?

Wine. I may get kicked out of Texas for this, but I don't like beer at all. {{JK Comments: I'll be on the rails right with you, though, actually, I've started to develop a taste for beer. But, um, it's imported beer.}}

CHOCOLATE OR VANILLA?

Chocolate for flavor, vanilla for scent {{JK Comments: I'll go with that!}}

WHAT’S YOUR ALL-TIME FAVORITE BOOK?

To Say Nothing of the Dog, by Connie Willis. It's a book that has everything
-- a science fiction Victorian farce time travel romance World War II
mystery romantic comedy. {{JK Comments: Oh! I have so been meaning to read that one!}}

Want more?

Shanna's Web site:
http://www.shannaswendson.com

Read an Excerpt:
http://www.shannaswendson.com/damselexcerpt.html

Check out Shanna's Blog:
http://shanna-s.livejournal.com/

DEMONS ARE FOREVER - excerpt & more

2007-04-29T01:33:00.000-05:00

Here's a sneak peek at the next Kate Connor Demon Hunting book, coming to a bookstore near you on July 3 (just in time for July 4 beach reading!).

Click Here To Order The Book!

{{{Spoiler Warning: Although the Kate Connor books do stand alone, reading out of order will inevitably result in some spoilers. This excerpt contains information regarding the final pages of CALIFORNIA DEMON. Reader beware!}}

CHAPTER ONE

I killed my first demon at the ripe old age of fourteen. Stabbed it through the eye with an ivory-handled stiletto that had been a birthday gift from my caretaker and mentor, Father Lorenzo Corletti.

I had spent two days tracking the demon, living on the filthy backstreets of a poverty-riddled Italian village, eating nothing but the scraps I'd tucked away in a threadbare knapsack. I had one companion – a boy I adored and whom, in fact, I later married. But teenage lust was the farthest thing from my mind during those long days. Demon-hunting is serious business, and I was a serious girl.

Even now, over two decades later, I can still remember the intensity of emotions. The drive of the chase despite bone-numbing exhaustion. And the certain knowledge that this was Important Stuff. From an overall life perspective, after all, very little ranks above thwarting the minions of Hell.

As far as my duties as a Demon Hunter went, my youth was an issue only to the extent that my strength and training gave me a fighting chance to stay alive. By age fourteen, I was physically ready. As for mentally? Well, there was never any question. I knew what had to be done, and I was expected to do it. My age never factored into the equation.

With all that in my personal history, you might think that I would understand better than anyone that fourteen- year-old girls are both strong and resilient.

You might think that, but you would be wrong. Because when it came time to actually have the talk with my fourteen year old daughter, I was a tongue-tied mess.

And, just so we're on the same page, when I say the, talk, I'm not talking about the sex one. That one I managed to muddle through. I'm talking about the other conversation. The one where I sat her down and confessed my deep, dark, secret life.

My name is Kate Connor, and I'm a Level Four Demon Hunter with Forza Scura, a super-secret arm of the Vatican charged with keeping the forces of darkness at bay. That particular piece of familial history, however, had been withheld from my daughter her entire life despite the fact that her father and I had hunted demons all over the globe until just a few years before Allie was born.

**WANT TO READ MORE? CLICK HERE!**

And check out this great review:

FIVE STARS! This series just gets better and better! The author writes the character of Kate so well that I could almost believe she exists. I found myself empathizing with Kate's maternal instincts. I cannot recommend this novel highly enough. I eagerly await the next title, Deja Demon, due for release in Summer 2008! -- Huntress Reviews

Whoo-HOO!

2007-04-26T22:55:00.000-05:00

Just got this in my inbox:

Congratulations, you have been chosen by the reviewers of CataRomance to receive the prestigious CataRomance Reviewers’ Choice Award for Harlequin Blaze during the second half of the year 2006. Your book THE PERFECT SCORE was selected as one of the best books read and reviewed by CataRomance during that time frame.

How very cool!

Here's an excerpt from THE PERFECT SCORE if you're curious:

Click Here To Order The Book!

PROLOGUE

I never actually wanted to be one of those girls. At least not the sleazy, too-tight Lycra, jump anything that moves kinda girl. But I did want ... something. And I wasn’t getting it by being the girl next door, that’s for sure. I mean, when this all started, I was twenty-seven years old and I'd never even worn thong underwear. I'd never had cybersex. And I certainly hadn't ever done it anyplace even remotely public.

I guess, when you get right down to it, I just wanted sex. Good sex. Amazingly Good Sex. With a capital A, and a capital G, and a capital S. And, frankly, I wasn't getting any. Which meant I was on a mission to remedy that little problem.

You see, it all started with a simple New Year's Resolution...

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE!

GCC Tour: THE SECRET IDENTITY OF DEVON DELANEY by Lauren Barnholdt

2007-04-24T22:35:00.000-05:00

Click here to order THE SECRET IDENTITY OF DEVON DELANEY!

This week, I have the pleasure of hosting Lauren Barnholdt, whose book THE SECRET IDENTITY OF DEVON DELANEY is launching the new Simon and Schuster MIX line for tweens.

Mom says karma always comes around to get you, and I guess it's true. Because last summer I was a total liar, and now, right in the middle of Mr. Pritchard's third-period math class, my whole world is about to come crashing down…..

That's because while Devon was living with her grandmother for the summer, she told her "summer friend," Lexi, that she was really popular back home and dating Jared Bentley, only the most popular guy at school. Harmless lies, right? Wrong. Not when Lexi is standing at the front of Devon's class, having just moved to Devon's town.

Uh-oh.

Devon knows there's only one way to handle this -- she'll just have to become popular! But how is Devon supposed to accomplish that when she's never even talked to Jared, much less dated him?! And it seems the more Devon tries to keep up her "image," the more things go wrong. Her family thinks she's nuts, her best friend won't speak to her, and, as if it's not all complicated enough, Jared starts crushing on Lexi and Devon starts crushing on Jared's best friend, Luke. It all has Devon wondering -- who is the real Devon Delaney?

Lauren answers my GCC Tour Questions:

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR TYPICAL “WRITING DAY”? I don’t really have a typical writing day. I like to mix it up. Sometimes I’ll stay in bed with the laptop, or head out to Barnes and Noble. I like to have coffee or Diet Coke with Lime. I always set a word count goal for the day, too – I find it helps if I have something to work toward.

DO YOU RECALL THE KERNEL OF INSPIRATION FOR THIS BOOK? When my friends and I were in junior high, we were dating this group of guys from another school. So we made it seem like we were super popular at our school, and that all the boys wanted us. Which wasn’t even close to being true. One night some of the guys we lied to played basketball against some of the boys from our school who supposedly wanted us, and I just kept thinking, God, I hope none of them talk. And that was the inspiration for THE SECRET IDENTITY OF DEVON DELANEY. Only, unlike in my situation, poor Devon’s lies catch up with her.

PICK A CHARACTER IN THE BOOK AND TELL US WHAT TRAIT YOU SHARE (OR COME CLOSEST TO SHARING) WITH THAT CHARACTER. I think my junior high self was a lot like Devon – had very good intentions, but was slightly misguided in some ways!

IF YOU WERE STUCK ON A DESERT ISLAND , WOULD YOU RATHER HAVE A MAGICAL TRUNK THAT GAVE YOU LIMITLESS BOOKS TO READ, OR A LIMITLESS SUPPLY OF PAPER ON WHICH TO WRITE? Books

BEER OR WINE? Neither, really. I’m a total lightweight when it comes to alcohol. I’d rather have one of those drinks that’s mostly ice cream.

CHOCOLATE OR VANILLA? Vanilla.

WHAT’S YOUR ALL-TIME FAVORITE BOOK? The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger.

Want to know more?

Here's Lauren's bio: Lauren Barnholdt’s first book for teens, REALITY CHICK, was a Teen People Can’t-Miss Pick and a New York Public Library Best Book for the Teen Age 2007. In junior high, she was known to have a few “secret identities” of her own. She currently resides in Boston, Massachusetts, where she’s hard at work on her next book.

Visit Lauren online at www.laurenbarnholdt.com or www.livejournal.com/users/laurenbarnholdt

Bye-bye television!

2007-04-22T22:43:00.000-05:00

Literary Chicks: Saying Goodbye to Cable

Head on over to Literary Chicks and read about my meanderings about television, cable, and the addictive iTunes!

GCC Tour: SO NOT THE DRAMA by Paula Chase

2007-04-19T08:57:00.000-05:00

This week, I'm hosting SO NOT THE DRAMA, which looks like a fabulous YA debut! Check it out:

Click Here To Order the Book!

“I just realized, I’m the Seinfeld of YA lit,” author Paula Chase says. “Taking tiny teen crisis and turning them into an entire book is my ‘thing.’ In her debut, So Not The Drama, Chase takes her Seinfeldian-style and turns a high school sociology project into a catalyst for good old-fashioned, light-hearted teen angst.

So Not The Drama [Kensington Books/Dafina for Young Readers] introduces readers ages 11+ to bright-eyed, optimist Mina Mooney, a high school freshman with nothing more on her mind than climbing the popularity ladder, until a sociology experiment to rid the world – or at least Del Rio Bay High School – of prejudice backfires. The project causes a rift between Mina and her best friend, Lizzie and sends Mina on a journey of exploration that’s both funny and eye-opening.

So Not The Drama is about the transition from middle to high school and the impact it can have on friendship.

Set to burst on the scene with her self-proclaimed Hip Lit, Chase takes readers back to high school where cliques reign supreme and going to class…a place to be seen.

The Buzz On The Book
“Contemporary friendship story, which revels in rich diversity of race, color and class.”
—Booklist

“Readers will like the genuine dialogue.”
—Publishers Weekly

“A multi-layered story…contemporary and thoughtful.”
—Little Willow of Bildungsroman

Paula Chase has written for Girls Life, Sweet 16 and Baltimore Magazine, among others. In addition to her background in corporate communications and public relations, she founded the Committed Black Women, a youth mentoring program for 14-17 year old girls. Her Del Rio Bay Clique series helped launch Kensington Books YA line and joins a burgeoning number of YA books targeted to multi-culti suburbanite teens. Chase calls her brand of teen literature, Hip Lit, a nod to the diversity spawned by the MTV-watching, 106 & Park-ing, pop culture hungry hip hop generation. The author lives in Maryland with her husband and two daughters. Learn more about the series and author at www.paulachasehyman.com

Paula's Answers To My GCC Questions!

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR TYPICAL “WRITING DAY”?
My writing schedule recently changed. I used to be a night writer. But two months ago, I switched to mornings. Now, I get up anywhere between 6:30 and 7:00 and head into the office. I write until my youngest daughter wakes up. Normally I can get a good hour and a half in before the house is too full of her chatter. My goal is to get in at least 1,000 words a day. Some days I get more done. Some days less. But mornings are great because then I avoid that writer’s guilt, worrying if I’ll be too tired later on to push myself to write. Also, morning writing leaves me wanting to write more. So I find that, I’ll usually get in a few more words later in the day to capture thoughts as they come to me.

DO YOU RECALL THE KERNEL OF INSPIRATION FOR THIS BOOK?
Actually, I do. It was a Saturday morning. I was in a perfect sleep. The type where it feels like you could snooze for a few more hours. I went to turn over and the name, Mina Mooney, entered my head. I knew what she looked like and what made her tic. Soon other names popped up in my head and I popped out of bed and went into my office to write them down. Within thirty minutes I had a decent outline of characters and the places they lived. It felt very Sweet Valley High and I ran with it.

PICK A CHARACTER IN THE BOOK AND TELL US WHAT TRAIT YOU SHARE (OR COME CLOSEST TO SHARING) WITH THAT CHARACTER.
My character, Jacinta, is the “sassy” chick. I love her! She’s outspoken, unafraid to hit you with her sarcastic wit and very grounded in reality. Jacinta is very much me as an adult. I wish I had been like her as a fourteen year old – so unconcerned with what others think about me.

IF YOU WERE STUCK ON A DESERT ISLAND, WOULD YOU RATHER HAVE A MAGICAL TRUNK THAT GAVE YOU LIMITLESS BOOKS TO READ, OR A LIMITLESS SUPPLY OF PAPER ON WHICH TO WRITE? Books. If I became really desperate, maybe I could write on the blank spaces in the books. Gotta tell you, that’s a darn hard choice.

BEER OR WINE? Wine, Merlot to be specific

CHOCOLATE OR VANILLA? Ohhh….depends on my mood. But nothing beats a good creamy vanilla cone

WHAT’S YOUR ALL-TIME FAVORITE BOOK? Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry, by Mildred Taylor

Blast From The Backlist

2007-04-18T23:02:00.000-05:00

I've decided to start a new thing ... "Blast from the Backlist!" And I'm starting with my series of superhero romances, the first of which is APHRODITE'S KISS.

Follow the links for excerpts, reviews, and more. Or just scroll down for an excerpt:

Click Here To Order The Book!

Excerpt

Back Cover Copy

Reviews & Kudos

Related Books

EXCERPT:

VENERATE COUNCIL OF PROTECTORS
1-800-555-HERO
www.superherocentral.com

Protecting Mortals Is Our Business!

Official Business

Ms. Zoë Smith
Halfling
Los Angeles, California

Greetings and Congratulations on your upcoming twenty-fifth birthday:

Enclosed please find your Application for Membership to the Venerate Council of Protectors (487 pages, excluding affidavits and attachments) and Council Publication Numbers 1758-A(3) and 2987-Z(9), respectively titled "So You're A Halfling" and "The Venerate Council: A Brief History in 1200 Pages".

Please complete the Application and return it in triplicate to the Council by no later than one month prior to the 25th anniversary of your birth.

As part of the Application process, you may be evaluated through field testing during your birthday week. Such testing is random, and Applicants are not informed in advance.

You will be advised of your Application status the morning following your twenty-fifth birthday. A decision as to your denial or acceptance will be based on your overall skill level and performance during the tests.

If you are accepted to the Council, you will be informed at that time of the date and location of your swearing in ceremony. If your application is declined, you will be escorted to the Bureau of Registration, where you will be required to either register as an Unlicensed Protector (Outcast) or forfeit your Protector heritage and undergo mortalization, at which time all memories of your Protector relatives will be removed. (For more detailed information on the mortalization process, including limitations of liability, warranties, and disclosures, please visit our website at www.superherocentral.com.)

Failure to register as an Outcast or to select Mortalization is a violation of Section IV, subpart 2(a)(ii) of the Mortal-Protector Treaty of 1970.

In addition to your formal Application, you must submit -- by no later than sunset on your twenty-fifth birthday -- the enclosed Affidavit of Mortal Disclosure affirming that you have disclosed to your mortal parent your status as a halfling and your decision to apply for Council membership.

As you are aware, your Protector parent filed a Notice of Halfing Nascence contemporaneously with your birth, and such information has been periodically updated. Your file currently states that, in addition to the speed, strength and agility inherent in the Protector genetics, you have also demonstrated a propensity toward the following skill(s)/power(s)/characteristic(s):

heightened five senses (including x-ray vision)

As the anniversary of your birth draws closer, you will most likely experience significant oscillation in your ability to control/utilize such skills(s)/power(s)/characteristic(s). Such fluctuations are an unfortunate by-product of your halfling status and are considered normal.

Our records further indicate that you have not yet mastered the following necessary skill(s):

matter manipulation (a.k.a telekinesis)

Form 82-C(1)(a), on file with the Office of Halfling Registration, reflects the issuance of the following Council-controlled articles:

propulsion cloak, model C-14A (training model)
and
x-ray blocking glasses, tortoise-shell variety (regular and sunglasses)

Please be advised that at any time prior to the anniversary of your birth, you may formally announce your intent to not submit the Affidavit and to select mortalization. Please use Form 93B, enclosed, Intent to Select Mortalization.

Upon submission of such form, you will be immediately escorted to the Bureau of Registration for processing. Please arrange return transportation in advance. Following the mortalization process, you will have no memory of the Council or your Protector relatives. A stranded mortal is an unhappy mortal!

Thank you for your attention to this matter -- and happy birthday!

Sincerely,
Phelonium Prigg
Phelonium Prigg,
Assistant to Zephron, High Elder

jbk:PP
enclosure

***

Want to read more? Click here!

Xiang's Getting a Family!

2007-04-17T08:52:00.000-05:00

I'm so excited! Just received this from Love Without Boundaries! "Xiang whom you sponsored for lip repair surgery over the Christmas holidays is having her paperwork started for adoption!" Thanks to everyone who contributed to the fundraiser!

GCC Tour: Staying Home Is A Killer by Sara Rosett

2007-04-13T01:42:00.000-05:00

click here to order the book

This week, I'm blogging GCC Author Sara Rosett and her new release, STAYING HOME IS A KILLER, the second book in the mom lit mystery series about a military spouse who runs a professional organizing business.

Now, I LOVE Jill Churchill's mysteries, and so the blurb in Sara's material that says the book will appeal to Churchill fans really caught my eye. And, yes, STAYING HOME IS A KILLER looks like a fabulous read. Check out the info below, and then read Sara's answers to my GCC questions:

Diaper bag over her shoulder and adorable toddler wriggling in her arms, Ellie Avery strives to balance motherhood, marriage, and her professional organizing business, Everything in Its Place, but her ordered world is thrown into disarray when a fellow military spouse’s death looks more like murder than suicide. Toss in her husband’s deployment and her daughter’s separation anxiety, and Ellie has to keep the home fires burning as she sort clues from chaos and proves that home is not for killers.

The Reviews!

Publishers Weekly: The author, also the wife of an air force pilot, includes practical tips for organizing closets, but the novel's most valuable insight is its window into women's lives on a military base.

Romantic Times: Thoroughly entertaining. The author’s smooth, succinct writing style enables the plot to flow effortlessly until its captivating conclusion. (Four stars)

Armchair Interviews: If you like cozy mysteries that have plenty of action and lots of suspects and clues, Staying Home Is A Killer will be a fun romp through murder and mayhem.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Born and raised in Amarillo, Texas, Sara Rosett has always loved to curl up with a good book. The wife of an Air Force pilot, she and her family moved ten times—giving her plenty of expertise to write the Mom Zone mystery series about a military spouse. Sara and her family currently live in southern California. Her work appeared in Chicken Soup for the Military Wife’s Soul, and she is working on the next Mom Zone mystery, Getting Away is Dangerous (Kensington, April 2008).

SARA'S ANSWERS TO MY GCC QUESTIONS:

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR TYPICAL “WRITING DAY”?
It depends on what type of writing I’m doing. If I’m in the
composition/rough draft stage, then I drop the kids at school, go home, and
write for a couple of hours, then take a break to run errands or do whatever
needs to be done to maintain the semblance of normality in our lives. If I’m
in the revision stage of writing I usually have my manuscript in a huge
binder that I tote everywhere with me. I can revise while I’m waiting in the
carpool line.

DO YOU RECALL THE KERNEL OF INSPIRATION FOR THIS BOOK?
Since I write about an amateur sleuth I have to look for a legitimate reason
to involve Ellie in an investigation into what looks like a suicide. I had
to come up with something that Ellie would know about the person who died
that would be so compelling that it would completely rule out the
possibility of suicide and convince Ellie that her friend had been murdered.
I don’t want to spoil the story, so I won’t give away Ellie’s inside
knowledge. I’ll let readers discover that on their own.

PICK A CHARACTER IN THE BOOK AND TELL US WHAT TRAIT YOU SHARE (OR COME
CLOSEST TO SHARING) WITH THAT CHARACTER.
My main character Ellie and I are both very stubborn. Everyone always asks
if I’m Ellie. Overall, no, but that trait of stubbornness is shared. Her
stubbornness helps me in plotting because I know if she’s got an idea in her
head about who did something or why they did it, she’s going to pursue it.
In real life, I don’t know if that stubbornness is always such a good thing!

IF YOU WERE STUCK ON A DESERT ISLAND, WOULD YOU RATHER HAVE A MAGICAL TRUNK
THAT GAVE YOU LIMITLESS BOOKS TO READ, OR A LIMITLESS SUPPLY OF PAPER ON
WHICH TO WRITE?
Oh, I have to pick the paper. I think I’d go crazy if I could get the
stories in my head down on paper!

BEER OR WINE? Ah—Diet coke?

CHOCOLATE OR VANILLA? No question. Chocolate. Preferably dark.

WHAT’S YOUR ALL-TIME FAVORITE BOOK? So hard to narrow it down. My favorite
children’s book is The Secret Garden and for adult fiction I’d have to say
anything by Mary Stewart.

****

Visit Sara on the web here:
Website: http://www.SaraRosett.com
Blog: http://www.RosettWrites.Bravejournal.com
Blog: http://www.good-girls-kill.com

Night Owl Romance: Julie Kenner Interview

2007-04-12T00:48:00.000-05:00

Night Owl Romance: Julie Kenner Interview

Check out the interview of moi!

Are the kids psychotic?

2007-04-10T01:27:00.000-05:00

I'll never tell! Okay, actually, I will.

Wanna know what this wacky video is all about? Check out the upcoming posts over at Squawk Radio Tuesday and Wednesday!

And I'll be doing a "Kitty" Interview, too.

meow!

A Match Made on Madison, by Dee Davis, Paperback

2007-04-10T00:05:00.000-05:00

Barnes�&�Noble.com - Books: A Match Made on Madison, by Dee Davis, Paperback

Okay, folks, this is a fabulous read, by a wonderful author! Check it out.

And, yes, Dee is my critique partner, which means I was lucky enough to have a sneak peek at this book before it went to press. It's Dee's first foray into the trade women's fiction market (she also writes killer suspense).

Try it! Trust me! You won't be disappointed!

I'm being interviewed over at Make-believe Mondays

2007-04-09T23:13:00.000-05:00

Come check it out! Make-believe Mondays

The Good Ghoul's Guide To Getting Even -- "Stellar!"

2007-04-08T00:41:00.000-05:00

Ya gotta love a review like that! Here's the full scoop! The book has just hit shlves, so if you don't have a copy, run grab one! The feedback from teens (it's my first YA book) and adults has been awesome!

"I have not had this much fun with a teen book in a looong time! Beth is not only smart, but she is witty and filled with sass! Her friends are the same, but Beth just has it all in spades! The story is go great that I did not want it to end. So I am thrilled to find that there will be a second novel in this series. Dont worry, this book will NOT leave you hanging. It is fun watching Beth and her friends get even with Stephen and the cheerleaders, as well as, against the various other popular kids who got her turned into a vampire. But the author, Julie Kenner, is a Master at story telling! Again, the ending does not leave you hanging, but it does set up a problem that will obviously have to be handled in a part two. Buffy and Firefly, move over! There is a new show in town. STELLAR!" - Huntress Reviews

Click here to order the book!

GCC Tour: I TAKE THIS MAN by Valerie Frankel

2007-04-01T22:31:00.000-05:00

Touring this week on the GCC, I TAKE THIS MAN by Valerie Frankel. This one sounds great! How could it not, being described as "a hilarious story of suspense, revenge and revelation, involving a bride, a groom, her mother and his father"?

Penny Bracket has waited two years to marry her dream man, Bram Shiraz. Just as Penny’s putting on the final touches on her wedding day, she receives a note from her beloved that simply says, “Penny, I can’t go through with it. Sorry, Bram” Mortified, Penny is determined to figure out what went wrong, even if it kills her, or, preferably Bram.

Ester Bracket, Penny’s divorced mother wants Bram’s head on a platter. And she gets it: In a fit of maternal rage, Ester finds Bram as he’s packing to flee, knocks him out with a bottle of champagne, and kidnaps him to a secret room in her mansion in affluent Short Hares, New Jersey. Will Penny get the answers and revenge she’s after from Bram, who (as she may or may not discover) is locked in her attic? Will Bram’s widowed father, handsome tough guy Keith Shiraz locate his son and/or seduce Ester Bracket? Will Bram, athletic and regretful, escape both his wedding and his imprisonment in one piece? Find out in I TAKE THIS MAN.

About the author:

“Valerie Frankel cracks me up! Kooky, sexy, and downright hilarious, Hex and the Single Girl had me laughing to the very last magical page”
— Meg Cabot, author of The Princess Diaries series and Size 12 Is Not Fat

“Reading a novel by Valerie Frankel is like hanging out with your favorite and funniest friend”
-Melissa Senate, author of See Jane Date

Valerie Frankel is a freelance writer who resides in Brooklyn, NY with her two daughters and husband. She contributes to many national magazines, including O, [Glamour], Allure, Self, and Parenting. She’s also been a featured writer for the New York Times Style section. [Val has written thirteen novels thus far, including The Accidental Virgin which has been optioned to become a movie starring Heather Graham, Smart Vs. Pretty, optioned to be made into TV show, and The Girlfriend Curse, nominated for a Quills award.

Val's Answers to My GCC Questions:

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR TYPICAL “WRITING DAY”?

I take my kids to school at 8:30, go to the gym, come home, shower, waste an hour online, and then I write straight until school pick-up at 3. I'm lucky to get three hours of solid writing time, during which I hope to get 1,000 words of raw material down.

DO YOU RECALL THE KERNEL OF INSPIRATION FOR THIS BOOK?

The basic idea for I Take This Man was cranked out on a typical day in the life of a working mother. My daughter came home from school, and announced that some little girl in her first grade class made her cry. A flash of anger flooded my brain. After a minute or two, I calmed myself down. Lucy and I discussed what had happened, and worked out an appropriate response. But that flash of maternal rage got my meat grinder going. Any intense emotion is a kick-start. It made me wonder: What offense against one of my daughters would actually move me to lash out with violence against another human being? I fixated on the question, lay awake in bed, wondering what indeed would make an otherwise controlled, rational woman thirsty for blood? I imagined being the mother of a jilted bride who, in a fit of vengeance, attacks the runaway groom. From there, I asked more questions: “Why did the groom cancel the wedding?” “What did the mother do with the groom after she bashed him?” “How would the bride find out what happened?”

Five hours later, at three o’clock in the morning, I had the framework of a plot.

PICK A CHARACTER IN THE BOOK AND TELL US WHAT TRAIT YOU SHARE (OR COME CLOSEST TO SHARING) WITH THAT CHARACTER.
In I Take This Man, I relate to Esther, the brides mother, the most. She's a mom, a widow, in her forties, like me. Also like me, she finds herself a new man to love who makes all the pain of her past go away.

IF YOU WERE STUCK ON A DESERT ISLAND, WOULD YOU RATHER HAVE A MAGICAL TRUNK THAT GAVE YOU LIMITLESS BOOKS TO READ, OR A LIMITLESS SUPPLY OF PAPER ON WHICH TO WRITE?

I'll take the books.

BEER OR WINE?
Wine. But I'm not much of a drinker anymore. I get insta-hangovers.

CHOCOLATE OR VANILLA?

does anyone say Vanilla? Chocolate, of course.

WHAT’S YOUR ALL-TIME FAVORITE BOOK?
Simply impossible to say.

The Prada Paradox - review!

2007-04-01T02:07:00.000-05:00

The Prada Paradox: Just got this review from Romance Junkies ... the book is just now starting to hit shelves!

"THE PRADA PARADOX is a very engrossing ending to this fast-paced series. ... Ms. Kenner has put a slightly different twist on this version of the PSW game and readers will wait with baited breath to see how it all plays out. The suspense is high and because of Devi and Blake’s celebrity status, it is countered with a very public view that was not part of the original series that really ups the ante on the danger factor. THE PRADA PARADOX is enticing and fantastic suspense!"

Click here to order the book!

Bookshelves and celery ...

2007-04-01T00:49:00.000-05:00

Wondering about the pic? Read all about it over at Literary Chicks!

Stanford Magazine: Homeschooling article

2007-03-28T22:06:00.000-05:00

Stanford Magazine: November/December 2000: In a Class by Themselves

Here's an interesting article on homeschooling in the Stanford magazine.

Rita! Rita! Rita!

2007-03-25T22:21:00.000-05:00

Whoo hoo! I just got word that CALIFORNIA DEMON is a finalist for RWA's RITA award! (For those not in the know, that's sort of like the Oscar for women's fiction. If you win, you get a little gold statue and everything. And the award ceremony is reason to buy a fab new dress; what could be better?)

Fun stuff!

Have to fed ex galleys out tomorrow, so heading back to work ....

babasorphanage

2007-03-22T23:34:00.000-05:00

www.myspace.com/babasorphanage

Check out this wonderful fundraiser for SmileTrain, which helps kids with cleft lips/palates all over the world. I've bought a room (actually, I'm in the process of buying; seems to be some technical difficulty going on there) and I wanted to spread the word!

She's free! She's free!!

2007-03-16T21:50:00.000-05:00

Isabella Chenchen is OUT of the no-nos! The doc says the trench on the right side of her mouth will heal, and it’s that way b/c it’s just healing slower than the other side. He said the nail-hold size thing at the end of the suture line is a reaction to the last suture and not a fistula (yay!) and that he anticipates it’ll be all healed up when he checks her again in 6 weeks. She’s on regular food (w/ moderation. No lollipops or saltines or hard-edged food for at least another week).

In one week she can start trying to drink through a straw. In 3 months she can start speech therapy (the real kind for articulation).

She is VERY happy. She keeps pointing to her arms and then waving bye-bye (saying "bye" to the no-nos). very cute. We considered ceremoniously burning the things, but I think I’ll donate them instead to Love Without Boundaries for their cleft missions :)

And — yay — she’s sleeping through the night again. It’s not easy rolling over if you can’t bend your elbows!

(In other news, I have a nasty cold, thus the short post!)

GCC Tour: Super Mom Saves The World!

2007-03-14T17:59:00.000-05:00

Touring this week at the GCC, Melanie Hauser and SUPER MOM SAVES THE WORLD, a totally fun series!

Here's more:

About SUPER MOM SAVES THE WORLD (NAL/Penguin), the sequel to the acclaimed CONFESSIONS OF SUPER MOM —

It's six months after the Horrible Swiffer Accident that left her a superhero, and Birdie Lee is still adjusting. For starters, she's hearing voices and having lustful thoughts about Mr. Clean. Then there's the fact that her daughter is suddenly sporting a bright pink streak in her hair, courtesy of her new friend Vienna (and if recent history has taught us anything, we all know that a girl named after a foreign city is going to be trouble). Birdie's son is experiencing his first case of puppy love, her nerdy scientist love interest has just proposed marriage, and her annoying ex-husband is suddenly less annoying. Which can only mean he's up to no good.

But things get even more sinister when her hometown of Astro Park gets Little League fever in a big way. Rabid parents, performance-enhancing Gatorade and a domed stadium on shaky - potentially explosive - ground are just the beginning of Super Mom's problems; throw in a ticked off school janitor and a corrupt mayor, and Super Mom has her hands full. Can one superhero — one mother — struggle to keep her teenagers in tow with one hand while saving her hometown from disaster with the other — while trying to find time for herself as she plans her marriage to her very own Super Man? Only if she’s Super Mom!

What People are Saying —

“(Super Mom Saves the World) provides a welcome break from the proliferation of urban mommy books. For those who rely on Fresh Direct and nannies to run a household, this will read like a foreign text. The women in Hauser's world clean their own toilets, volunteer for the PTA and bake a mean tuna casserole.” Kirkus Reviews

“Hauser's sequel to Confessions of Super Mom (2005) is an amusing and sharp critique of the thankless job mothers perform as they juggle home and work. Every mom will want to be Super Mom.” Booklist

Smart, zany, and touching... (Karen Quinn, author of The Ivy Chronicles) Never has there been a more appealingly down-to-earth heroine or a superhero with more enviable powers. (Pamela Redmond Satran, author of Suburbanistas) Hauser's quirky characters sparkle brightly as a newly Swiffered floor, and her writing shines like freshly polished glass. (Meg Cabot, author of The Princess Diaries and Queen of Babble)

Here are Melanie's answers to my GCC questions:

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR TYPICAL “WRITING DAY”? After spending the morning getting the boys off to school, reading the paper, drinking my coffee, surfing the Internet and exercising, I'm usually ready to start writing around noon. I'll write until about three, when my sons get home; then after trying to extract tiny bits of information about their days from them before they go up to their rooms and shut the door, I'll write for another hour, before starting dinner.
DO YOU RECALL THE KERNEL OF INSPIRATION FOR THIS BOOK? Well, it was a sequel, and contracted, so I had to find the inspiration after the fact. But I really wanted to talk about blending families, as Super Mom contemplates a second marriage. And also - how moms, even when they're superheroes, are always taken for granted. I also wanted to poke some fun at the crazy fundraising part of every PTA, and Ryan Seacrest.

PICK A CHARACTER IN THE BOOK AND TELL US WHAT TRAIT YOU SHARE (OR COME CLOSEST TO SHARING) WITH THAT CHARACTER. Like Birdie Lee (aka Super Mom), I'm trying to figure out how to come into my own once my children leave home; I have a high school senior and a sophomore, so that time is rapidly approaching. And I don't want to stay stuck in the past; I want to find a way to embrace the future.

IF YOU WERE STUCK ON A DESERT ISLAND, WOULD YOU RATHER HAVE A MAGICAL TRUNK THAT GAVE YOU LIMITLESS BOOKS TO READ, OR A LIMITLESS SUPPLY OF PAPER ON WHICH TO WRITE? Can't I have both??? I guess I'd say the books, because I can always write in the margins!

BEER OR WINE? Red wine.

CHOCOLATE OR VANILLA? Chocolate.

About Melanie Lynne Hauser —

Former member of the PTA, Melanie Lynne Hauser is a prototypical Super Mom. In addition CONFESSIONS OF SUPER MOM and SUPER MOM SAVES THE WORLD, she is a contributor to the anthology It's a Boy. Melanie is an active member of both the writing and "blogging mommies" blogger communities. She lives in the Chicago area with her husband and two teenaged sons, truly does love Swiffer products, and would like to thank Procter and Gamble for its marvelous sense of humor about all this.

Visit her website (www.melanielynnehauser.com); blog (www.melanielynnehauser.com/wordpress/) and MySpace page (http://home.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user&MyToken=28f1a9a4-b705-49b3-9e6f-596b6f35ff13)

Tugging the heartstrings ...

2007-03-07T21:54:00.000-06:00

I've been wishing that CC would be a teensy bit more into television (my rationale is that it would help in learning English!). Well, the other day, my friend Carla (who adoped CC's little friend from the same CWI) mentioned that Sesame Street was doing an adoption theme because Gina had adopted a little baby from Guatamala.

I remember fondly the days when SS would keep Catherine occupied for a full hour and I could put away dishes without an audience. Ah, such luxury. But I don't think CC will be at all interested.

Still, I figured it was worth a try, and I've been Tivo'ing the show for that very reason. So, I offer it. And miraculously, she says yes. And oh.my.gosh, she is mesmerized!

At one point, the SS gang is talking about the adoption, and about how Gina and the baby are a family now. I tell CC that we adopted her just like Gina adopted the baby. Immediately, CC makes the sign for "mama," then the sign for "daddy," then the sign for "sister." Then she points to herself. I say, "Yes, we're a family." And then she jumps off the couch, runs over and gives me a huge hug!

It was truly one of the most precious moments of my life.

And to think I might not have tuned in. Thanks, Carla :)

The lowdown on Isabella Chenchen's surgery ...

2007-03-05T09:06:00.000-06:00

Surgery day came EARLY. The hospital called on Thursday and said that she could have clear liquids (water, apple juice) until 4:00 a.m. So .... we all got up at 3:30 (well, not Catherine), turned on a Tivo'd Curious George, and shoved apple juice at the poor kid. We explained we had to take it away soon, and she was a trooper and didn't complain when 4 a.m. arrived.

About that time, Catherine woke up and wandered into the living room, looking more or less comatose. She got milk in the kitchen (we're all eating out of CC's sight now!). The kids stayed in jammies, but D and I showered, and about 4:45 we loaded the car (with enough junk you'd think we were heading back to China), piled in, and headed to grandma's. CC was pretty clingy during this whole process, and we figure she understood what was going on and was a little nervous.

We got to my mom's about 5:30, dropped Catherine off (she, we later learned, went back to bed, much to the relief of my mom who is not an early riser), and headed to the hospital. My mom lives right near Children's Hospital in Austin, so we were about 15 minutes early for our 6 a.m. call (scheduled for surgery at 7:15).

They processed our paperwork and put armbands on me and Don (but not on Chenchen), and then we sat to wait for the nurse to call us back to the "Panda" area, which is where they take the kids' vitals. While we waited, CC lost her clinginess and played on the toys in the surgery waiting room, with her stuffed Curious George right beside her. Don and I sat, mostly comatose, as food and drink is forbidden in the waiting room, which meant no coffee (aaaaaghhhhhhh!).

Here are some pictures of Chenchen having a good time in the waiting room before we headed back:

So, not too long after 6, we were called back. They took us to a private room (not a curtained off area) and the nurse started talking to us and to Chenchen. She's the one who gave CC her armband, after checking against ours. CC was a little clingy at first, but soon warmed up to the nurse, who first brought CC purple jammies to change into. She then took blood pressure, temperature, and listened to her heart. She let CC do all those things, too, with the real equipment, and when she realized how into it CC was, she went out and searched out both a doctor hat (which CC made me wear, and a toy doctor kit).

Here are a few pics:

One of my major concerns with all of this has been attachment issues. CC has done so well attaching to the family, and to me in particular, that I didn't want to set that back by handing her off in terror to people who were going to take her to a small room and make her go to sleep, and then be the people she sees when she wakes up in pain. At the pre-op tour we took, we were told that the kids left the parents at the double doors leading to the surgery suite, and that the hospital did not use the "sleepy drink." The next day, I called and talked to a Child Life coordinator, explained the situation, and she assured me that "versed" – the sleepy drink – was available if needed, and that I should talk with our surgeon. I did, and he was fine with using it (and with having us in the recovery room before CC actually woke) but said it wasn't his call. He said we had to talk to the anesthesiologist, and since they work as a team, we wouldn't know who it was until the day of surgery.

So, on Friday, I mentioned all this to our nurse, who said that she thought the versed would be no problem, but that the recovery room was a decision for the charge nurse. She promised to ask.

A child life coordinator came by and gave CC an anesthesia mask to play with. We told her we had the versed lined up, but could she say something about the recovery room. She promised she would.

The anesthesiologist came by. He approved the versed and the nurse went to get it. He said he had no problems with the recovery room, but that was the charge nurse's territory. By this time I'm figuring we might not get a definitive answer (but thought it was looking positive).

While he's there, the nurse gives CC the versed, and thankfully lets her have a tiny bit of water to wash it down with (apparently, it tastes nasty!). VERY soon after, it's clear our 3 year old is quite drunk! The nurse gets a wagon for her to lay in, and she snuggles with Curious George and generally acts goofy.

The surgery nurse came by, and I went through my attachment/recovery room speech again. She said that one of the reasons they don't like to let parents back too early is that the kids look bad. I explained that I'd had surgery umpty billion times and that I had friends who are doctors and that blood doesn't freak me out. Plus, I said I'd rather be traumatized than have CC traumatized. She understood, and I felt positive about getting to go back (though still no definitive answer). Our surgeon came by, and checked on us, and then it was time to go. I carried CC and Don and I followed the surgery nurse to the magic double doors. I feared a bit of a tantrum, but she went willingly to the nurse, who wrapped her in a warm blanket. As a friend said, with the versed, she'd willingly go with Dracula. Yay!

Here's a little video taken about 5 minutes before they took her back. As you can see, when the staff describe the kids as "drunk," they mean it!

Here's what her palate looked like a few minutes before going into the operating room.

After she left us, the ick part begins. Because Don and I had nothing to do but wait. And wait. And wait. Surgery was scheduled for 7:15, and was supposed to take an hour and 15 minutes to an hour and a half. At about 9, I'm beginning to worry, and we go back to check. We're told they're still in surgery, but all is good. At about 9:15, they come and get us and take us to a consult room (where a television is mounted showing some really inane morning show, which reminded me why I don't watch morning shows). Our doc came in soon, and said that all went well and CC was in recovery. I asked if there were surprises since it took longer than anticipated, and he said they got started late b/c they didn't have the "mouth gag" he likes to use. I didn't ask what exactly that was!

We waited in the little room until the nurse came and said that one of us could go back to recovery. That was me, so off I went. CC was in there, looking pretty good all things considered. She had orange stain around her face, which I guess is disinfectant, and she had a doublestring coming out of her mouth and taped to her cheek (thankfully, our surgeon's nurse had warned us about that – it's a stitch that they put in so that if there's an airway problem while in the hospital they can yank her tongue out of the way). Her mouth was a bit bloody, but not bad. Her teeth were a bit bloody. She was just starting to wake up, and she was not happy. But it wasn't too bad. I did get a look at the inside of her mouth when she was crying, and it looked good. Bloody, but less icky than I'd expected, if that makes sense.

She saw me, but I'm not sure she was really all there yet. And then the nurse gave her some pain meds, and she was out again. And for a long time. The nurse said she thought it was the versed that was wearing off, and that's why she was sleeping so much. I held her hand and chatted with the nurse and a volunteer for about an hour, and then she started coming around again. THIS time, she was very unhappy about this whole waking up thing. She realized she was in arm restraints, and that's when the full-blown tantrum began. This was one unhappy kid! (For those of you new to the story, CC had a cleft palate repair. A cleft palate means that all or a portion of the roof of your mouth is missing, along with the soft palate that extends into the back of your throat. It's open into the nasal cavity, thus preventing kiddos from speaking properly, and early on, from eating properly. CC had a hard and soft palate cleft (roof and further back) along with a split uvula (sp?)). The reason for the arm restraints is to prevent the kids from poking fingers, spoons, etc into the mouth and messing up the work. They'd have to go back to surgery if they did, and that, frankly, would suck.

Anyhoo, the nurse was very sweet and let CC come to me, so I held her in my lap, tethered to her IV, with her face on my shoulder. (Thankfully, I wore a scrub shirt – great for writing in – b/c it ended up quite covered in bloody drool). We were there for probably another 40 minutes. At one point, CC fell asleep, but mostly, she had a tantrum. Not the worst I've ever seen, but by far the worse from her I'd ever seen. She did NOT like those restraints! And she was managing to get her fingers all the way to her face despite them. Even through all of that, though, she was adorable. I asked her if she hurt, and she said "no." So I asked her if she was scared, and she said "yes." This charmed the nurses soooo much!

No pics in the recovery room. It wasn't too icky – truly! – I just didn't think of it before she woke, and after that, I was too busy holding her.

At this point, I pretty much became a hospital patient, too. They got the room assignment and the "pain pack" from the pharmacy, so they loaded me into a wheelchair and got Don and we all went to the 4th floor of Brackenridge (which is the overnight section of the children's hospital until the new hospital is built this summer, thanks to Dell). We were put into a room with a little girl who was happier than CC and had also had surgery that morning. She was driving her mom crazy, though, but constantly getting down and running! No idea what she was in for.

The first few hours were a bit wild. CC was coming to terms with her arm restraints, especially after we switched her to the bigger size. She couldn't move in those, and I think the point of the things clicked with her. But the tubes were driving her nuts, and there was something not right about the way the IV was going in, because she kept getting occlusions and the machine kept beeping. Mostly, though, she slept – on me. Thus my feeling like a patient! She mostly dozed until about 2, when she decided she'd had enough of this sleeping thing, and overflowed her pullup onto my jeans. Stupid me, I'd brought another scrub top, but no spare pants. I ended up in Don's shorts.

About this time, CC was feeling up to going to the playroom, so off we went while the staff changed the sheets. When we got back, we learned that we'd been moved to a private room. Yay! I guess our beeping and peeing earned us a room to ourselves!

The playroom, by the way, was great. They had everything from baby toys to video games. CC played with everything and painted pictures (that we foolishly left behind). Sometime before all of this, D had gone down to get coffee and food for us (he ate in the hall. I had a bag of chips while CC slept) and he also got CC a little Curious George that she ADORES and a spy kit for Catherine. The toy store at the Children's hospital is, imho, the best toy store in Austin next to Terra Toys.

Anyhoo, back in our private room, CC dozed on and off, getting more lively with each nap. By evening, she was stir crazy, and we ended up walking the halls, to the amusement of the staff. Every IV rack we passed had to be noted and commented on. She'd point, then shake her head. Then she'd point to ours, and herself, and say "Chenchen." (I should point out that at this point, Don and I can hear that her sounds are "rounder" if that makes sense. However, there's no amazing recovery of speech here. She sounds pretty much the same. And I've also realized that a lot of what I thought she **couldn't** say, she just isn't saying. In other words, she never learned to say sounds instead of inflections. I knew that speech therapy would come after the surgery, so this is hardly a surprise. But it is a bit interesting, I think, how when a kid realizes she can't make a sound, she finds another way (intense inflections) to make the word understood, and that becomes "the" way. She has some serious unlearning to do. Of course, I may be wrong. Her mouth and throat are seriously swollen, of course. But she doesn't seem uncomfortable talking, so I think my take is pretty accurate at this point.)

Here are some pics of CC in her "no-nos" by the IV rack after our first walk. Amazes me how alert she looks for just a few hours out of surgery!

CC didn't get to eat or drink until quite a while after the surgery. When she did get food, it was apple juice in a bottle with a soft tube and clear chicken broth, which she gobbled down with a syringe. The jello that we tried to finger-feed her did NOT go over well. (It's really not good to be a picky eater if your only meal choices are soft or liquid ...)

Later, D went down to find dinner. Here is CC taking care of big Curious George. Note that we've put the original too-small no-nos on him!

The afternoon and evening was a typical hospital stay. Because I was tethered to CC, I couldn't work on my computer. And she's the only child in the world not interested in television, so we didn't watch that either. Thank goodness I had a book to read for a quote (Blood is the New Black. Really enjoyed it!! Vampires in the fashion world! As you can tell, I still have to work on the quote part, but I'll def'ly be praising it!). I balanced the bound manuscript on Big George and laid there reading while my kiddo slept.

About 8, D and I were both exhausted (which comes from getting up at 3:30) and we decided to crash. Of course, sleep was near impossible since the staff had to come in to check on CC about every hour. She was getting oral meds in addition to the pain pump every four hours, and they were also coming in to check vitals and to loosen the "no-nos" for circulation. They'd come in, she'd wake up. I'd wake up.

Yawn.

The next morning came early. As in, CC decided after the 4 a.m. rounds that it was time to get up. She didn't care that it was dark outside or that the halls were quiet. She wanted UP. So we did the hall walking thing. While we were walking, her benedryl kicked in. (I forgot. Apparently, morphine makes people itchy, and I guess it's more pronounced in little kids. But because she couldn't scratch, she was one frustrated munchkin. FINALLY she managed to communicate to me what she wanted – though at this point I had no idea her eyes itched; I thought she wanted tears wiped, and she couldn't understand why I kept stopping when the tears were gone! Finally we worked out a system where I'd put a washcloth on my chest and she'd press her head against it and roll her face over it. Whatever works!)

After our morning jaunt, she took another snooze until about 8 for which I was sooooo incredibly thankful. After that, we had some more hall walking and then some Mei Mei on my computer (her DVD of Chinese songs) until the playroom opened at 10. About that time, the doctor doing rounds took her off the IV – yay! – so she was able to play un-tethered. MUCH easier, believe me! And then our doc came by and said she could go home, and he took the stitch out of her tongue. I hesitated about posting a picture, but I'm using this blog as a memory book for CC (I'm way too disorganized to keep some notes elsewhere!) and as information for other parents of kids going in for cleft surgery. And since it's not gross (I don't think) here's the picture. CC was VERY happy when it was out of her mouth (though it really didn't bug her nearly as much as I think it would have bugged me!)

Anyhoo, while the discharge paperwork was being completed, Don packed and CC played. And then we said our good-byes, got a spare pair of no-nos, and headed for the car, CC and her animals being pulled in one of Children's wagons.

I took a pic later of the inside of her mouth after the surgery. So here's a pic of the results of our ordeal:

I need to ask the doc exactly what he did so I can explain to CC when she's older. I'd expected a row of stitches down the middle of her palate. This seems to have a horseshoe shape of some white stuff, which I'm not sure if it's tissue or synthetic bone filler or something. Will report back after the follow-up!

We got Catherine, who did GREAT at Grandmas and was so happy to see us, and us, her. CC had been asking about her sister every time she woke up, but by the time we got there, she was coming due on pain meds, so CEK didn't get to see just how excited CC was to see her big sister. The ride home helped, though. The traffic was a nightmare, and so CC got to take a car nap. By the time we were unpacking, she and CEK were bouncing off the walls.

Here's a still picture.

You might notice that CEK is wearing no-no's, too. They decided that would be a great idea (and though CEK only wore hers about an hour, I think it added to the 5 year old empathy factor).

So that pretty much takes us to where we are. CC is doing great, but I foreseen intense food boredom in her future. She is PICKY. So far, she has been eating only vanilla yogurt, strawberry Danimals, apple juice, and chicken noodle soup, drained of all but broth. We've tried a bazillion other things, including chocolate milkshakes. What kid doesn't like chocolate milkshakes????

Sleeping hasn't even been the problem that I expected, although I've laid down with her until she's fallen asleep, which I don't think I'll do for the whole 2 weeks. No return of the night terrors or anything, so that's great.

And when we take off the no-nos (for circulation and so she can play better at times) she's very, very good. And she doesn't complain when it's time to put them back on. Go CC!

So that's it. We're doing good! Thanks to everyone who sent good wishes!

Home!

2007-03-03T21:02:00.001-06:00

All went well. CC's a trooper, and we're all incredibly exhausted. More later.

Surgery: T minus 9(ish) hours and counting ...

2007-03-01T21:49:00.000-06:00

Well, surgery for Isabella Chenchen is scheduled for tomorrow (Friday) at 7:15 a.m. I think she kinda sorta understands. The being-three thing, coupled with the language barrier having only been here a few months, makes it hard to tell just how much she gets it. But when I asked her what was happening tomorrow, she pointed to her mouth and made the sign for sleeping. So I figure that's a good indicator.

After the surgery, it's drinkable foods only for TWO weeks, and "no-nos" on her arms (restraints so that she can't bend at the elbow and get fingers (or things) into her mouth. Fingers crossed we can make a game of this!!

Any and all good wishes for surgery and recovery appreciated!

And now, I'm off to bed.

Probably will not be online much over the next few days ...

Once More With Feeling

2007-03-01T01:30:00.000-06:00

Buffy, Drew, and Hugh Grant, too!

Hey. I made up a little rhyme. How cute is that? (I kept it because this post was going to be about Buffy AND Music & Lyrics. But I'm a sloth, and quit writing after the Buffy part. Maybe tomorrow. But, hey, I'd already made up the rhyme, so ...)

Been off the blog for a day or so. I had a proposal to get out the door. (They wanted a couple of paragraphs. I turned in 5 pages single spaced. That is SO me. But, hey, more is better, right? Unless we're talking calories, although frankly, if there are more calories, it probably tastes better. )

But I haven't just been writing. No, I also went to a movie! And before Lent, Don and I glommed much television, and managed to get further along in Season Six of Buffy. Yes, folks, we made it to ... the musical episode.

And can I just say that Once More With Feeling absolutely rocks? Now, I'm a major Broadway musical junkie as it is. I'm not entirely sure if that makes me more open to an episode like this or more critical, but the fact is I found nothing to be critical about except the ending (seemed extremely abrupt, but the actual freeze frame of Buffy/Spike, and also the resolution with the demon not wanting Xander as his queen, so he hightails it outta there). Other than that, though, I have nothing but good to say. I loved the musical numbers – especially Anya/Xander's song. I loved the way the premise fit naturally around the numbers. And I absolutely loved the way it got Buffy to reveal her Big Secret that she – being Buffy – would never have revealed because she knew it would hurt her friends. A wonderful moment in the arc of the series. Major kudos, and I hope Season Six stays on an upswing (although beating this episode won't be easy!)

(this post cross-posted with my MySpace blog because I'm a lazy slug)

The Guerrilla Curriculum: How to Get An Education In Spite of School by John Taylor Gatto

2007-02-28T19:36:00.000-06:00

The Guerrilla Curriculum: How to Get An Education In Spite of School by John Taylor Gatto

Another thought-provoking article

"No Thank You, We Don't Believe In Socialization!"

2007-02-27T20:16:00.000-06:00

Home Educator's Family Times - No Thank You, We Don't Believe In Socialization!

couldn't resist posting the link to this truly excellent article on the socialization "issue" that homeschoolers are often questioned about.

Dura Mater

2007-02-25T01:09:00.000-06:00

Dura Mater

I can't find a way to link to a perma-link, but I thought this post entitled "Yikes" was worth putting up. (And, hey, I haven't written anything for the blog. Too busy playing with my profile over at MySpace. Yeah. It's addictive.)

I have taken the MySpace Plunge!

2007-02-23T00:04:00.000-06:00

And the water is just fine.

Come visit me and be my friend :)

http://www.myspace.com/juliekenner

Goofy Girl!

2007-02-21T23:01:00.000-06:00

When we were in China, I discovered that Chenchen does "silly eyes." Rolling them up in the top of her head when she's in a goofy mood. It took a while, but soon she revealed "the eyes" to Catherine. Then, finally, later to Don. And now, she'll show them off to anyone when we ask. It's too cute!

here she is doing the silly eyes (the marks on her face are left-over kitty-face marks). Isn't she precious?