Posts Tagged "family"
Reminder: Reading/signing at Oblong Books in Rhinebeck SUNDAY!
If you’ve been dying to hear me read from family, and/or to get out of the city for a lovely summer day trip to the Hudson Valley, now’s your chance to kill two birds with one stone! (Proverbially. I’d prefer no bird-killing.)
I’ll be presenting alongside the gorgeous and talented Nova Ren Suma, whose book, Imaginary Girls, is a must-read for summer.
We’ll be at Oblong Books and Music, at 4pm. Details here.
Hope to see you!
Top Shelf Tuesday
Check it out, folks — family gets a mention in I Heart Daily, alongside two of my FAVE releases of the season, Nova Ren Suma’s IMAGINARY GIRLS, and Tara Altebrando’s DREAMLAND SOCIAL CLUB. What fabu company my book keeps!
What are the I Heart gals saying about my little old book? Here’s a snippet:
This story in episodic verse leads you lightly down a path that will, eventually, scare you out of your mind.
Well, thanks, ladies! I aim to please!
What’s that you say? You just haven’t had enough Nova Ren Suma for the day? I don’t blame you. Why not head over to The Contemps, where you can check out my feature on IMAGINARY GIRLS, and join the conversation about magical realism in contemporary fiction? And why not watch the trailer while you’re at it?
Thursday Readers’ Round-up: BEA recap (happy endings)
So, okay: today was my family signing at BEA, and though it did not *quite* go off without a hitch, ultimately, all’s well that ends well, and it was a fabulicious event and SO MUCH FUN!
Though I’d been told that the signing was slated for 12pm, my editor had thought it was 12:30, and being the confident, outspoken person that I am, I immediately assumed she was correct and chose to silently defer rather than voice my vague misgivings.
Thus, our entrance to the autographing pavilion was fashionably late, and slightly dramatic. Apparently a lovely assortment of kind people had actually lined up in anticipation of a signed book from me (!), and mere moments before my arrival, had been turned away by the event organizers. D’oh!
Nonetheless, the fearless organizers managed to wrangle everyone back, and once I was seated and in place, the signing kicked off.
People, we signed every last copy of my book and I met some delightful librarians, bloggers, and other reader types. I’m so flattered that anyone would line up for little old me — not to mention, wait out my own bubble-brained self-imposed delay! — and I had a blast. Thanks a million zillion to all who came out, and I hope you like the book!
Blog tour bonanza!
So sorry for the very last minute-ness of this, folks, but the details for this blog tour were only verrrry recently confirmed. That said, The (Teen) Book Scene has been lovely enough to organize two weeks of interviews and other silliness with yours truly, kicking off this past Monday. Here are the dates and links for your reading pleasure:
Monday, May 23: Erika at Moonlight Book Reviews (Author Interview)
Tuesday, May 24: Serena at Pensive Bookeaters (Tens List)
Wednesday, May 25: Zoe at Zoe’s Book Reviews (Guest Post)
Thursday, May 26: Kari at A Good Addiction (This or That List)
Friday, May 27: Lindsay at Just Another Book Addict (Cover Post)
Monday, May 30: Kelsey at The Book Scout (Author Interview)
Tuesday, May 31: Corrine at Lost for Words (Character This or That List)
Wednesday, June 1: Julie at Reel Swell (Guest Post)
Thursday, June 2: Alisia at Alisia Leavitt (Tens List)
Friday, June 3: Val at Truth Be Told (Into the Past)
Top Shelf Tuesday – and a reminder to come see me at BEA!
For those who might be wondering, this week, I’ve branched out from my usual YA, and/or supernatural/thriller fare. Crazy, right? I’m reading The Wilder Life: My Adventures in the Lost World of Little House on the Prairie
I fell in love with Wendy back in her days of writing for Television Without Pity, and loved her memoir, I’m Not the New Me
Anyhoo, Wilder Life is for any girl (or guy, I suppose) who ever strapped on a sunbonnet and played at Little House
Read the book! It’s good! I promise.
And when you’re finished, don’t forget to come see me at BEA, this Thursday, 12-12:30pm.
I’ll be signing copies of family and smiling very nicely.
I will not, however, be wearing a sunbonnet. But you totally should if you want to!
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Monday Muse: Party Favors
I’ve talked before about what a privilege it was to work with Elizabeth Law on my novel, but it certainly bears mentioning again. Her editorial guidance was always gentle but pointed, and somehow she always managed to ask just the right questions. I’m so excited (and nervous!) to be embarking on a second book project together shortly! Elizabeth gave a lovely toast at the party, and then read a short selection from family. And for those writers who are shy about readings (like me!), I must say: this is a fabulous, if heady, alternative. I should really hire her out for all my public appearances.
Something else I’ve mentioned before in my blog is how rewarding it’s been to teach writing. I know that there are writers out there who prefer to focus solely on their own work when they’re deep in the throes of a project, and I can certainly appreciate that sentiment. But to me, the opportunity to workshop with students is the opportunity to think more objectively about structure and craft, unencumbered by proximity to my own work-in-progress. My students are astonishingly motivated (churning out some 20 pages a week!), and eager to talk shop. Wednesday nights, for me, are a chance to get outside of my own head, which is vitally refreshing.
My students are always the first to celebrate each others’ successes, which probably explains why so many of them came out to toast family. Here’s a shot of a few of us at the start of the evening:
Classes and critique groups are a great way to maintain accountability and momentum with one’s writing, as my students will attest. In my opinion, a supportive collective of motivate, creative colleagues can be one of the very best muses a writer can have.
FRIDAY Readers’ Roundup (with *bonus* freebie, too!)
Oh, why not? Who says Thursday has to have all of the fun?
And today’s bookish news is fun stuff – for me, at least – as I’m super-pysched to let you know that I’ll be hosting a rousing round of “Three Blind Words” over on the Figment forums tonight, 5pm EST.
Here’s how the game works: I feed you a prompt of three random words, and you spin those words into a book premise. I pick the top three pitches. Lather, rinse, repeat. Winners receive a signed copy of my book
(That’s the “freebie,” by the way.)
But wait, there’s more! More freebies, that is, this being Friday and all. The family release giveaway closes on 5/15. Interested in being entered to win a signed copy of family, an arc of my upcoming release, What Would My Cell Phone Do?
1. post a comment on any blog post (posts left on my interim blog WILL be included in the drawing) through 5/15
OR
2. head over to my Facebook author page and click “like.”
That’s all! Nothing to it! Why are you even still reading this when there are contests to be entered?
Happy Friday, folks!
Waiting on Wednesday (‘family’-style, again)
Still waiting on your copy? How about a teaser? A nice review for family in the April issue of Bayviews from the Association of Children’s Librarians of Northern California:
Teenage Melissa Jensen runs away to San Francisco to escape her relentlessly predatory “uncle” and her hapless mother. A dark stranger named Henry finds her curled up on a bench and convinces her after several days of sex and drugs in his van that he can be her father, her family, her “everything.” He brings her to a ranch in Southern California where he reigns as leader of a group of young men and women who unques tioningly accept his life view and do his bidding. Melissa is particularly struck by the lack of boundaries at this communal paradise—there is a feeling of limitlessness and vast grandios ity. Melissa tells her story in verse, and her voice is spacey and chilling. She is describing the Charles Manson saga to the tee, and the reader dreads the inevitable gruesome ending. Finally, however, Melissa finds she has personhood separate from the others. Though horrific and tragic, teens may be fascinated by a tale based on a sensational murder that uniquely fit its time and place.
Well, shucks!
Monday Muse: One good turn…
One of my very favorite authors (and all-around great friend), Nova Ren Suma, was kind enough to interview me on her blog for the family release. You can read my many words of wisdom here.
Our mutual admiration society being what it is, I thought it made sense to borrow from Nova for this Monday’s Muse (those of you who’ve read family and perused the acknowledgements may recognize Nova as a constant muse of mine, as it is. So why not share her?).
No doubt you’ve heard the very well-deserved hype for Nova’s forthcoming novel, Imaginary Girls
She recently re-posted an excerpt from a 2008 blog post entitled, “Before the novel was THE Novel.”
A snippet:
…In the old post I called the novel “M”), which I had just begun rewriting from scratch. At this point, I had no idea what would come of the book, and I said this:
M … does not have an official schedule. No deadline. No editor waiting to read it. No outline I am forced to write per the contract, no contract at all. I am writing M for myself only, and nothing may come of it after—I have to know that. That’s the reality of writing novels.
If my previous experience writing novels only for myself is any indicator, I could go off on a bender and spent FIVE YEARS writing a novel that’s too bloated and personal to get published. Or I could spend three years writing and rewriting a novel with a ridiculous concept that I will later use as a doorstop.
No. Not this time.
You know, that could have turned out terribly. I could be sitting here now with my heart broken (again). I’m so grateful that novel turned out to be THE novel, that the moment I was in then was THE moment that changed so much of my life.
The doors that had been closed to me were beginning to open. And I had no idea. You never do, do you? That’s why—if you want to be a published author—you can absolutely never stop trying.
Thank you, Nova – for that post, and for all of your support and encouragement of my writing, and of all writers out there struggling.
Release Week Rally: Friday Freebie – Charles Manson goes green
Oh, what a bittersweet finale to this week of celebrations. Can it be Friday already? Can the entire Kingdom of England truly have set aside a national holiday for moi?
Well, of course not.
But, I did get one of the bestest birthday presents an author can receive: an interview over at the phenomenal Nova Ren Suma’s blog. Check it out and post a comment for a chance to win a copy of family!
In the meantime, from the Annals of the Random, here’s a friendly public service announcement from everyone’s favorite rogue texting fiend, Charles Manson, regarding our fair planet:
Everyone’s God and if we don’t wake up to that there’s going to be no weather because our polar caps are melting because we’re doing bad things to the atmosphere.
If we don’t change that as rapidly as I’m speaking to you now, if we don’t put the green back on the planet and put the trees back that we’ve butchered, if we don’t go to war against the problem…
Of course, he has to reference war, right?
There’s a “helter-skelter” joke in there somewhere, but I fear it would be in bad taste.
So, um, thanks, Charlie. Let that be a lesson to us all.