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!
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
Isn't he a cutie!
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!
Friday, December 21, 2007
GCC Tour - The
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.
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
Snowflakes, books, and crunching the numbers!
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!
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!
Sunday, December 2, 2007
GCC Tour: CHICKS WITH STICKS (KNITWISE) - Elizabeth Lenhard
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/
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/
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Wow. A book club visit ... Wow.
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!
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!
Thursday, October 18, 2007
GCC Tour: THE BOYS NEXT DOOR by Jennifer Echols
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:
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.
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.
Friday, October 5, 2007
GCC Tour: BEYOND COOL by Bev Katz Rosenbaum
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!
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:
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.)
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.)
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
GCC Tour: IT'S NOT ABOUT THE ACCENT by Caridad Ferrer
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!
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!!!!!!
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!!!!!!
Friday, August 10, 2007
Vote, vote, vote ... for, well, me!
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:
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:
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
GCC Tour: You Had Me at Halo, by Amanda Ashby
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!
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