It's July! Nightshade is on the shelves in 3, yes 3, months!!!
To celebrate the new month and the holiday weekend I'm combining two features: Monthly Q&A and a contest.
Here's how it will work: To enter all you have to do is ask a question in the comments below. I will pick 5 random questions and answer them in next Tuesday's blog - July 5.
And the writers of those 5 selected questions will each receive a signed Nightshade ARC.
Yes! You heard that right. I'm giving away 5 ARCs this month. (Thank you, Penguin!!) Looking forward to your questions :)
Wow! I've been home two days now and I'm still reeling from the awesome that was ALA.I've already blogged about the wonder that was spending time around writer heroes. I also had the joy of meeting more Nightshade fans!
Big shout out to Mitali (Alley of Books), Amy (ReadingTeen), Andy (Reading Teen Too) who spent loads of time chatting in the Penguin booth. I couldn't believe how many people showed up. The line was so long that the actually ran out of Nightshade ARCs! Yikes!
On the one hand I'm so sorry to those of you who waited for an ARC and were unable to get one, on the other hand OMG I can't believe so many people showed up that they ran out!!!
Meeting readers and librarians who are so excited for Nightshade's release was such a gift. Thank you to all the librarians who are bringing Nightshade to their teens and book clubs. Having spent so much of my life in libraries, from summer reading programs as a wee one to my first job in high school, I can't thank you enough for all you do!
In addition to meeting writer heroes I also had the geek-out of the millenium when I showed up at Penguin to find this: Wow! Darth Vader and Storm Troopers. Wow!! Wow!! Wow!!
As you can tell I had a blast. Fingers crossed that they invite me back next year :)
One of the incredible benefits of being a Penguin author is that I get to meet other Penguin authors. My first night at ALA I attended a dinner with wonderful librarians, great Penguin friends, and amazing writers like Laurie Halse Anderson, Ally Condie, and David Small.
Too much happened at ALA to squash it into a single post. So I decided to start with the pinnacle of my debut ALA:
They say you shouldn't meet your heroes. "They" obviously picked the wrong heroes.
Hanging out with these guys exceeded all expectations. Through some amazing trick of fate, I got to spend pretty much the duration of ALA with David Levithan and John Green.
And I learned a few things.
One - that David Levithan is my writing soul mate. I don't think any other person could make it seem like a good idea - natural even - to sing "You've Lost that Lovin' Feelin'" into a mic in front of 100 teenagers. Yet somehow this happened. And it was awesome. Meeting David has given me two new goals in life: To at some point go on tour with David, so that singing about writing is always part of the deal. The second goal is to somehow convince David that he needs to collaborate on a YA novel that has a paranormal element and then to convince him that I should be the other half of that collaboration. I do not know how I'm going to make this happen - but I am working on it.
+ = Werewolf Bands of London (or New York? Chicago? David??)
Two - John Green is not the zany character you think he is.
I think he is a spy - or possibly a super villain of the alluring variety. It's just something in his eyes. Sure, he's charming and witty. Sure, you love him the moment you meet him. But beneath that lively exterior lurks something else. Something complex and brooding. I'm now fleshing out a theory that Nerdfighters are actually a secret society working to overthrow the world (not that their rule would be a bad thing...). John Green would be just the guy to pull that revolution off. And nobody would see it coming.
If you haven't read John and David's books, you need to start right now. My favorite books are those that make me laugh out loud and sob. David and John both write with that type of insistent and authentic emotional quality. I reread John's Looking for Alaska on the plane right home, and had to constantly apologize to the person sitting next to me for my torrents of giggling and crying. I told him it was the book. I'm pretty sure he was convinced I was going through a break up that was somehow hilarious but tragic.
Spending time with these two authors made me feel better about the state of the world. Seriously.
Meet your heroes. Just be sure you pick good ones.
Last night I finished Bloodrose (Nightshade #3). Finishing up a manuscript is an amazing feeling, euphoric and draining. I cried a lot - it's not unusual for me to cry when I'm writing a book, particularly at its conclusion. This book evoked more tears than usual though because it's the third book in the Nightshade trilogy. It's the first time I've ever completed a full series arc and I have to say I was a bit of a basket case when the story came to a close.
But as much it was a bit sad, mostly I was ecstatic. I did it! The book is written!!
Except that I'm not actually done.
Sure, I wrote the first draft. And yes, that's a big deal.
My experience of writing is that I'm jumping up and down about it immediately after draft one, and then I'm suddenly terrified that it's no good. Those fears get worse once it's out in the hands of my crit partner (I'm looking at you, Lisa!) and my agents. Their feedback is the first I get in the revision process. They are brilliant and I trust them completely; even so, waiting for their reads is always a bit of a nail-biting experience. The nagging insecurity about sending a new story into the world is something that I doubt will ever go away.
Soon I'll begin the revision process. The first time I went through the revision cycle with Nightshade I was really nervous, not sure what to expect or if I'd be able to do it well or efficiently. Now I look forward to it, knowing that the draft I'm excited about is still a work in progress - and that's a good thing. Writing the first draft is a frenzied, all-consuming experience. Revisions are where I get to take stock and really fine tune the piece.
As much as I *finished* Bloodrose last night it's thrilling to know that my journey with this book is far from over.
This weekend I'll be in Washington D.C. at the American Library Association annual meeting. Anyone who will be around D.C. at the convention, I'll be signing at the Penguin booth on Sunday at 10:30 a.m. and I'd love it if you stopped by!
It's Father's Day (hi Dad!)Last night I had a very strange dream about saying goodbye. My family were all packing up our cars up at my parents house and hugging and talking about the next time we'd be together. And I was horribly upset through the whole dream. I woke up puzzled because life is good right now. It's great, in fact.
So why the bad dream? (It also had a part involving killer bees, but that's unrelated) I'm blessed by a truly extraordinary family. When we get together we have a wonderful time.
Case in point - last weekend we all got together for the wedding of a very close friends, people who are very much like extensions of our own family.It was beautiful and wonderful and the joy of the moment could be testified to by the fact that my Dad - who DOES NOT dance - pulled us all out on the dance floor at one point with the exclamation "We need to dance! We need to form a family circle and dance!" Awesome.
I think the dream was a reminder that those family gatherings are special and I wish they happened more often. My brother, Garth, lives in LA and that is TOO FAR from here. I see my mom and dad quite a bit because they're only a few hours away, but I'd like to see them more.
Family time leads to hi-jinx and belly-deep laughter that leaves your in happy tears. Who wouldn't want more of that?
Remember me? I'm the writer who used to post on this blog.
Sorry for the infrequent appearances of late. I'm still busy writing Bloodrose and am being swept away by the final chapters. But I thought I'd better stop by to say "hello" and thank you for visiting, despite my own neglect of posts.
In addition to writing. I've also been sneaking in some World Cup games. I love the World Cup! I'm likely to run screaming from the label "morning person," while clutching my coffee cup to my chest. Even so, I'll roll out of bed at 6:30 a.m. to watch Germany vs. Serbia (darn you referee and your yellow cards!!!).
I like the World Cup even more than the Olympics. To me it's like the difference between a family reunion and a girls' weekend with your BFFs in Vegas. One is nice and comfy while the other is a 'rockin good time not to be forgotten.
The World Cup has a life of its own. You get caught up in its fever. I love knowing that all over the world, soccer fans are glued to their television sets, gathered in pubs, cheering on their teams.(Yes I know Scotland didn't qualify for the World Cup. Quiet you!)
I came to soccer, excuse me, football fandom in college while studying abroad in Scotland. My family had spent a summer in Scotland seven years earlier and I went to visit family friends - who've become much more like family than simply friends over the years - and they pretty much adopted me.
No one loves football (or for that matter, sports) than my Scottish Dad, John, and his two sons. For her own part, their mum, Sandra, is a pretty loyal fan as well. To spend time with my Scottish family is to learn to love the beautiful game. I had no trouble being hooked or accepting the fact that to truly be Scottish means always rooting against England.
When the World Cup rolls around every four years it's not just about the excitement of the games or the mesmerizing skill of the players. (Tim Howard is my hero!)It's about feeling connected to my Scottish roots, to a world of roaring fans.
If you aren't watching you should really give it a try, or at least learn what a vuvuzela is. I'm sending this out to John, my Scottish dad, - his favorite song - and true sports anthem. Wish I were watching the matches with you in Irvine!
I'm nearly finished with Bloodrose (Nightshade #3) and I promise that soon there will be real posts here again...except that the World Cup is on right now too...just kidding - though I will be blogging at least once about why everyone should watch the World Cup.
And the writers of those 5 selected questions will each receive a signed Nightshade ARC.
