laurenellen

Recently, I got my proofread copy of ABSOLUTELY MAYBE back from my editors . . .


This is what it looked like . . .


At this stage I am given a Captain Underpants eraser and instructed to wipe out any spelling/grammar/proofreader-y things I disagree with. I was all set to get started, when suddenly something important came up. I was overcome with the need to look up photos of Suri Cruise on Google Images. (I think she is so cute) . . .


Sock Monkey was not happy. He thinks I have a problem with procrastination. Which is ridiculous. I am very good at procrastinating. How about you? Do you ever feel like you HAVE to do something before you can do that other thing you really ought to be doing but you can't do that one thing until you've done the other thing first?

Despite Suri's cuteness, I finally did finish my proofing and now am now done with ABSOLUTELY MAYBE . . .


Good thing, because the next day I went to Lindero Canyon Middle School . . .


All the kids had read at least one of my books. Authors love it when this happens. That way you don't have to explain to them who you are and what you write and why you are there . . .


Peepy was particularly pleased with the hospitality, including a big box of pastries just for her . . .


On Friday I got to meet up with my pal, the talented Dan Santat. In addition to illustrating and writing books, Dan has his own Disney Channel Show. Here are The Replacements . . .


And here's Dan . . .


Dan and I may or may not be working on something together. If/when/perhaps it happens, I'll let you know!

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Email:

I get LOTS of lovely fan mail. I also get emails that make me want to simultaneously cry, laugh, and shake my head in disbelief. Like this one, which I'm going to share, so there, Mr./Ms. Meanie Pants. I've deleted the name of the person who sent the email out of respect, though that's more respect than he/she showed me...

And here it is:

Lauren Myracle,

My daughter and stepdaughter both read your book Eleven which seemed harmless enough. However, when my 11yr. old daughter came to me and asked me what an erection was, I was at a loss for words. Apparently, there is a girl in her 5th class that has told all the other girls they have to read your books and has since been secretly passing Twelve and Thirteen around to others. It is secretly passed because they know that these books are inappropriate and dirty. I am appalled that the book is full of constant make-out sessions leaving the girl's "lips puffy" and has her older sister drinking alcohol in hot tubs while kissing boys. Really, hot tubs and wine coolers- is this the subject matter that 11-13yr. girls need to be reading? Are you an advocate for underage drinking? I'd hate to read Fourteen, I guess they would snorting coke and getting knocked -up? Just because you were apparently a girl with loose morals early in life, doesn't give you the right to influence young girls to follow in your horrible footsteps. Newsflash- not all young girls are drinking and making-out especially not 11-13yr olds. Some young girls dream of careers and read books about horses and ballet competitions. I would like my girls to grow up not thinking "I have to have a boyfriend to be cool" and spending her time and energy thinking only of partying and making out. I hope you have made enough money off these books to make it worth defiling the innocence of young girls. Oh, and talking like your twelve so you can get "in" with young girls on your website is disgusting and creepy and has allowed me to see even more what a horrible person you must be. Oh, and you stated you are Christian?- You should invest in a religious studies class and explore what defines a Christian, I think you forgot the Christ part in your response on your Q&A section. Christianity is not believing God is me and you and everybody and has been expressed through Buddha, Mohammed and everybody's right and happy etc. This sounds like a Universalist view of religion not Christianity. If they asked if you were Muslim, would you have answered yes to that- it is the same difference. If you don't believe in Mohammed, you're not Muslim. If you don't believe that Jesus is the son of God, you are not a Christian. I am just at a loss. After writing this I'm not even fuming anymore, I am just saddened and disappointed.

P.S. Your books have now been removed from the Accelerated Reader program list at our school.

Okay, let's all sing the O.C. theme song, shall we? California! CaliFORnia! Califooooooo-or-or-nia!

Cuz that's where I'm heading on Monday, yo yo check it out! (That's me being randomly hip hop. I blame it on my film agent who says things like that cuz he lives in L.A.)

Anyways, E., Sarah, and I are off to be bad some more, and y'all should come visit us! Here's where we'll be:

May 19 2008 7:00P
B&N @ Thousand Oaks, CA

May 20 2008 6:30P
Vroman's @ Pasadena, CA

May 21 2008 7:00P
Books, Inc. (Not Your Mother's Book Club event!) @ San Fransisco, CA (Opera Plaza location)

May 22 2008 3:00P
Hicklebee's @ San Jose, CA

May 22 2008 7:30P
Copperfields @ Petaluma, CA

So...yeah! Yo yo!

xoxo,

me

http://justinelarbalestier.com/blog/?p=1167

When homesickness eats at me I listen to podcasts. I listen to news broadcasts, talk shows, shows about sport, science, design, culture. I don’t care just as long as I’m hearing voices from home.

One of the my favourites is The Book Show¹. Ramona Koval’s voice and sense of humour soothe me and the range of coverage is excellent: old books, new books, local books, o.s. books, books in translation, poetry, essays etc. etc.²

Last week was all poetry. They looked at five classic Oz poems. Beginning with one of my favourites, “Five Bells” By Kenneth Slessor:

Time that is moved by little fidget wheels
Is not my time, the flood that does not flow.
Between the double and the single bell
Of a ship’s hour, between a round of bells
From the dark warship riding there below,
I have lived many lives, and this one life
Of Joe, long dead, who lives between five bells.

The reading by Robert Menzies was gorgeous and the people commenting on it were smart and insightful. I first read “Five Bells” in high school, but I feel like I never really understood it until I listened to that show. Beautiful.

Made me wish I was back home because the Sydney he describes, the harbour he describes, I know it well and I miss it so much:

I looked out my window in the dark
At waves with diamond quills and combs of light
That arched their mackerel-backs and smacked the sand
In the moon’s drench, that straight enormous glaze,
And ships far off asleep, and Harbour-buoys
Tossing their fireballs wearily each to each,
And tried to hear your voice, but all I heard
Was a boat’s whistle, and the scraping squeal
Of seabirds’ voices far away, and bells,
Five bells. Five bells coldly ringing out.
Five bells.

Someone asked me what was the last thing I read that made me cry? At the time I couldn’t think of anything but I have an answer now: “Five Bells.”

1. Which I can’t help thinking of by it’s old name,”Books & Writing”
2. Though it’d be nice if there was more YA coverage. I keep waiting for the show devoted to all the Oz YA writers storming the world: Sonya Hartnett, Margo Lanagan, Jaclyn Moriarty, Garth Nix, Marcus Zusak and so on and so forth. We are hot overseas, Book Show, honestly we are. Between us we’ve sold in more than thirty countries! Won prizes all over the place. You need to notice this world domination!

I survived the drive home on I-15 to report that the book festival was a success. I found out about halfway through that it was the FIRST Provo Children's Book Festival, but you'd never know it because the library crew did a great job organizing. All of the book fest staff were easily identified by their purple aprons, there were several different signing spaces, art by the illustrators in attendance hung on the walls, and every kid got a little commemorative autograph book. I loved this because 1) not every kid can afford to buy a book to get signed. I would have been one of those kids. And, 2) having a little something to take home makes the kid feel good about libraries, authors, and book festivals. Good, right? Right! And, it gave the kids something to do while they were wandering around between presentations and provided a fun chance for interaction with readers (and for me, future readers).

Ann Dee and I mixed it up a little for our presentation: I book-talked This Is What I Did: and read a favorite excerpt, and she did the same for Story of a Girl. Then we each talked about our second books, and did some Q&A and hopefully gave some encouragement to aspiring authors by showing that we, too, are crazy and insecure and lazy. It's not just you. Also, Ann Dee read from her 2009 release, Everything Is Fine, and it was so good. I'm all excited.

Here we are with Mette Harrison, who ran a half marathon this morning, and then drove an hour and a half each way for the fest. Hello, ironwoman! We are all heeding Tyra's advice and doing our best to not lose our necks. I believe that is Julie Olson's art hanging behind us.

A fan of The 13th Reality...

And thank God I had my camera with me, because I encountered this a few blocks from my house on the way home:

I have no idea. On that note, enjoy the rest of your weekend!

I am oh so tired. If it was just from lack of sleep like it used to be I could survive. But no. It's everything. Everything irritates me, and I have no fucking time to myself. I try to paint and my mom is bashing me to study for my Biology final since it's official, I suck at it. No it's not an, oh you just finished cramming for your World History AP test, here hon take a break from painting. No, I just finished the fucking skeletons, now, 3 days late, I'm finishing 2 painting for next week, while on top of that keeping my grades from dropping; trying not to miss school, despite of how shitty I feel; and trying to stay awake in class. My mom does try to make it better by reminding me it's only three more weeks and then I'll be free from DASH. I understand she's trying to help, but these are the most important three weeks, I can't do bad in any of my finals or my final grade is fucked. I can't mess up on my paintings or my A is gone. I can't relax with a game of Diplomacy without my mom telling me I should have been painting instead of having fun with my friends.
I've even tried meditating to see if I could help myself relax. Surprisingly it helps.

At the end of the day, I just remind myself that it's almost over. Though it's hard to believe.

http://justinelarbalestier.com/blog/?p=1166

. . . Is USians what know zero about cricket writing about it. Today’s example comes from the New York Times and concerns a novel that’s been written about the Staten Island cricket club¹ by one of the members, Joseph O’Neil. Here’s my favourite bit:

That Mr O’Neill in his other life happens to be a novelist is a matter of indifference to most of his teammates. They’re more interested in him as an accomplished batsman, a sure-handed fielder and a decent off-speed bowler.

Off-speed! Hahahahahahah! Perhaps they meant “off-spin“? Or has the Staten Island cricket club invented a whole new kind of bowling?

Made my day. Bless you, New York Times.

1. And apparently other things such as 9/11, family, politics, identity. That kind of stuff. Obviously, none of it as important as cricket.

http://www.hbook.com/blog/2008/05/teaching-little-fingers-to-play.html

Despite my memories of the very tense Sr. Irene Marie (who, probably to everyone's lasting relief, "jumped the wall," as we used to call leaving the convent in the 1960s), I'm immensely enjoying Tricia Tunstall's Note by Note: A Celebration of the Piano Lesson (S&S). Noting that "there are very few occasions when a child spends an extended period alone with an unrelated adult," Tunstall's observations flicker between her own childhood piano lessons and those she now gives as an adult. There are plenty of parallels for those of us who go mano a mano with child readers, so check it out.

And, fellow survivors--what can you still play? I still have "Lightly Row," "Spinning Wheel" and "The Juggler" in my fingers.

The newest issue of The Edge of the Forest, a children's literature monthly, is now available! There are many contributors to the Forest, and I'm glad to be one of them. Check out the many book reviews, author interviews, and reader responses in the May issue.

I contributed a piece about prom (and my lack of desire to attend) that was initially inspired by Erin Downing's novel Prom Crashers. I added in my prom booklist for good measure. Visit http://www.theedgeoftheforest.com to read all about it!

http://www.theboyfriendlist.com/e_lockhart_blog/2008/05/dialog.html

There is a fascinating dialog going on about The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks over at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast. A serious CONVERSATION warms a writer's heart. Or mine, at least.

http://www.theboyfriendlist.com/e_lockhart_blog/2008/05/a-note-from-the.html

MJ, author of Suite Scarlett (go read it, now) has revealed all. (Scroll halfway down the post to learn the secret).

I do feel like I could actually die by boredom right now. I can't do ANYTHING. I feel so closed in. I hate when my parents get my fucking hopes up and then just rip shit away from me like this. Did they REALLY have to do that?
I know it's really not their fault, but I need to take my frustration out on something right now. And I'm not taking it out on them directly right now, I'm just taking it out on them online, which is much better. But right now I REALLY wish I was home alone.

You have no idea. 

The artist Robert Rauschenberg died this week. I liked his art very much. Always stopped to look at it when I saw it.

But it wasn't until I read this paragraph in an opinion piece that David Byrne wrote about Robert Rauschenberg that I realized that Robert Rauschenberg had helped me with my art.

Bob was extraordinarily generous. I don’t mean he gave away art — though he did that, too — but he was generous with his time and with his ideas and spirit. He started Change Inc., a foundation that awards grants to emerging artists who can’t pay their rent, utility or medical bills. No questions asked.


A few years back, when the dot.com boom had fallen and I could not for the life of me get a job, I spent my unemployed days working on a novel because I knew that was what I wanted to do for my real life. But my money had run out and I had no idea how I was going to pay my rent or my utlities, which were all being cut off. My friend Andrea suggested that I apply for an emergency grant from Change, Inc. I did, and I got it, paid my rent and my utlities and it gave me some breathing room, bought me some time to get my poop together, find a job and pretty much saved my ass.

I sent them a thank you card, but let me say it again here and now: Thank you Robert Rauschenberg. You totally helped me.

CHANGE, Inc. awards artists emergency grants of $100-$500 for medical, living, or other expenses. Contact Change, Inc., Box 705, Cooper Station, New York, NY 10276; 212-473-3742

http://www.megcabot.com/diary/?p=608

Wow! There were so many entrants to the Airhead tee shirt contest, I’m still trying to read them all!

But I promise all winners will be notified by the end of this weekend, and their tee shirts shipped by next week.

Your entries (the ones I’ve managed to read ...

Some Friday miscellany for you:

1. Since Justine nicely composed this excellent post to save me from writing a far more intemperate one, the least I can do is send you toward it.  (Actually the least I can do is reward her with a delicious treat, but that's more of an offline endeavor.)

2. Who loves Joss Whedon? Meeeeeeeeeeeee! If you're raising your hand (or making a similarly undignified squealing sound), you will want to click here immediately to watch the first trailer for his new show, Dollhouse. Starring Faith. Er, I mean, Eliza Dushku.

3. Via Bookshelves of Doom, the greatest Harry Potter rapping puppet show you've ever seen. (I dare you to resist the lure of that description.)

4. A column by an English professor confessing that he cheated his way into grad school (along with numerous other acts of plagiarism before or since). This is somewhat riveting, and the big question now is: What next? Does this torpedo his career, or will it just be taken as I suspect he intends, a string of humorous anecdotes that can garner him a bookdeal?

5. Maybe it's the former debate geek in me -- defining the terms generally being the key to victory -- but I came across this today and it really struck me: "Yet does not this curious right [to define one's terms], which we have come to grant as soon as we deal with matters of importance -- as though it were actually the same as the right to one's own opinion -- already indicate that such terms as 'tyranny,' 'authority,' 'totalitarianism' have simply lost their common meaning, or that we have ceased to live in a common world where the words we have in common possess an unquestionable meaningfulness." (Hannah Arendt)

6. In my continuing -- if often floundering -- attempt to forestall the turning-30 freakout (see subject heading), I was quite cheered to encounter this thought: "Attractive women of nineteen and twenty-nine are alike in their breezy confidence; on the contrary, the exigent womb of the twenties does not pull the outside world centripetally around itself. The former are ages of insolence, comparable the one to a young cadet, the other to a fighter strutting after combat. But whereas a girl of nineteen draws her confidence from a surfeit of attention, a woman of twenty-nine is nourished by subtler stuff. Desirous, she chooses her appertifs wisely, or, content, she enjoys the caviare of potential power." (Fitzgerald) 

For the next 15 days, I think perhaps I will sign all my emails "insolently yours, Robin."

(Although certain people would suggest that my entire life has been an Age of Insolence.)

This week, I'm part of a book cyber-launch party. Very fitting, seeing as my new book series, THE BRADFORD BLOGS, is toId entirely in blog format (as you may have guessed), and incorporates a big online component. It's so cutting edge! And this from a girl who seriously hasn't quite learned how to program her TiVo yet.

The party is in honor of Linda Gerber's book, DEATH BY BIKINI, which I cannot wait to tear into. Many different, most excellent authors will be posting on her blog: lindagerber.blogspot.com, including moi. It's like a virtual beach party! The best part? I TOTALLY don't even have to wear a bathing suit to participate. No self-consciousness, no three-way mirrors, no department store dressing room fluorescent lights.

In other words, my kind of bikini party!

For all that I joke about my new sedentary freelance lifestyle (or, what I lovingly refer to as "writer's butt"), I actually was once a very active person (for serious. Check out my website: www.micolostow.com, for photos of me running the NYC marathon. Madness). Believe it or not, bikini season didn't fill me with dread. Body image issues aside, the beach was kind of an ideal locale for me: sun (I know, I know, it's not PC or good for you, but I'm Latina--I thrive on sunshine and can't resist a good sunbathe), sand, surf...and time to read a book from cover to cover.

Today is the opposite of beach weather in NYC--I'm huddled in a coffee shop in sweats that are really only one step up from pajamas, wishing the waitresses would collectively decide to close the door against the dreary drizzle outside. I doubt I would even have gotten out of bed if it weren't for the mother lode of revisions hanging over my head.

So what's keeping me going? The promise of a beach vacation, of course.

My boyfriend, a fancy-schmancy big-time film producer, is off in Cannes right now at the film festival. Since he has work to do, I chose to stay behind, but next week I'll be meeting up with him for a tour of the beaches of the French riviera: Nice, St. Tropez, and Monaco (that lovely pic you see is us on last year's riviera jaunt).

Yes, I'll have to squeeze my writer's butt back into a bikini. That's the "bad news." The good news is, I've got my reading list all planned out:

1. Audrey, Wait!, by Robin Benway
2. The Show: Pilot Episode, by Jordan Cooke
3. Fly On The Wall: How One Girl Saw Everything, by E. Lockhart
4. I Am The Messenger, by Markus Zusak
and, of course:
5. DEATH BY BIKINI, by Linda Gerber!

That should tide me over for at least an afternoon.

THE BOOK: The Second Virginity of Suzy Green

THE PITCH:

Suzy Green used to be one of the coolest nonconformist “almost-Goth” party girls in Australia. That was before her older sister Rosie died and her family moved to a new town. Not even her best friend would recognize her now. Gone are the Doc Martens and the attitude. All she wants is to be like Rosie—perfect. The new Suzy Green makes straight As, hangs with the in-crowd at her new school, and dates the hottest guy around. And since all her new friends belong to a virginity club, she joins, too. So what if she’s not technically qualified? Nobody in town knows . . . until Ryan, Suzy’s ex, turns up.

As the past and present collide, Suzy struggles to find her own place in a world without her sister.

THE BLOG: www.sarahantz.com/blog

THE EXCERPT: http://sarahantz.com/books/ (scroll down a bit - it's past the reviews)

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING:

"he topics addressed here - sexuality, friendship, family relationsships - all add depth to the plot and should provide much fodder for discussion." -KLIATT

"Reading this book is like hearing your best friend tell you the story of her life. It is fun, sweet, and hilarious. Sara Hantz really knows how to get into the teenage mind and tells us that we are okay just the way we are. Another great addition in teen chick lit." -Young Adult Books Central

THE INTERVIEW:

What is your favorite word?
Fabulous.

What is your least favorite word?
No.

What turns you on, creatively, spiritually, or emotionally?
Music.

What turns you off?
Blood.

What's your favorite curse word?
Crap.

What sound or noise do you love?
Waves on a beach.

What sound or noise do you hate?
Dentist's drill.

What profession other than yours would you like to attempt?
Movie star.

What profession would you not like to do?
Surgeon.

If heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the pearly gates?
"Hurray…you’ve arrived… now we can have some fun."

BONUS QUESTION: If someone were to make a movie of this book, who would you want to bring your characters to life?
Rachel Bilson and Zac Ephron.


Sara Hantz started writing when she ran out of degrees to study and decided it was much more fun to make things up than to comment on dry academics. Born in England, she moved to New Zealand a few years ago. The Second Virginity of Suzy Green is Sara's first novel. You can visit her super-cute web site at http://sarahantz.com/.

1. It's HERE!


Yes, those are my pj's in the background. It's early but I couldn't sleep. I've actually been up for quite a while.

Anyway, this was one of my and my sister's FAVORITE books. My sister had the whole thing memorized. For years I've wanted to get a copy, but the only ones available were over $200! Now, they've been re-issued and two copies came in the mail yesterday (one for my sister, of course)! I still knew the opening lines by heart:

Jennifer knew
As well as you
That everything has its place,
But she just didn't care
a whit,
a bit,
So her room was a real disgrace!

Check out the end papers:


When I showed them to E he replied: "That's disturbing."

And here is my all-time favorite spread:

The bed was prickly, the floor was strewn,
The chairs were heaped-up too.
There wasn't one bit of room to sit
Unless she sat on a shoe.

:-)

2. Questions from E just now, "Mom, what do you think it was like to be the first homo sapien? Why is your butt warm? Why do you not have much of an eyebrow?"

3. cynthialord's forsythia have really taken off this year. Thank you for the daily gift of yellow, Cindy!

4. And more random questions from E just now. "Mom, have you ever heard of underwear with pockets?
Why were the North Koreans evil in the movie The Pacifier?" (Note to self: Think next time you try to update your blog while sitting next to the boy)

5. Sometimes there are things you can't really talk about for professional or personal or whatever reasons. But sometimes you still want to ask your friends for a hug. I am asking now. (Don't worry, Mom, it's nothing really serious. But sometimes a hug is nice.)

http://justinelarbalestier.com/blog/?p=1164

This one’s for Robin.

You know what I’m sick of?

People generalising about YA in the exact same way they generalise about teenagers.

“YA is innovative and amazing. I love it!”
“YA always has a moral and is simplistic and full of easy-to-read words and fast moving plots.”
“YA is the future of America!”
“YA is full of smut and filth and pollutes the minds of our children.”

Blah. Blah. Blah.

Some YA books are shit. Some are brilliant. Some bore me. Some should never have been published. Some make me happy in a slightly guilty way. Some are the best thing I’ve ever read. Some really really aren’t. Some are simple. Some are complex. And some of them really piss me off.

Pretty much like adult books really.

Likewise teenagers are brilliant, stupid, smart, conformist, creative, challenged and challenging, bored, blissed out and any other adjective you care to think of. Sometimes all at the same time.

Much like adults really.

Why is that so hard to comprehend?

I really hope that none of you have anything that you need me to do tomorrow. Cause I will be busy.