Friday, June 26, 2009

Out of Touch

Ok, not figuratively (I hope), just literally. I'm not able to access my Internet very often, so that is my lame excuse for not being around much lately - things should return to semi-normal in a week or two.

In the meantime, I got to go to a fun luncheon/booksigning/author visit with none other than Sarah Dessen about a week ago. She was awesome and fun and had really interesting things to say for those of us author types who are fascinated by the process. As you can see, she has perfected her "smile for the camera with the fan" shot. I, alas, have not. Note to self: work on camera presence.

I also got to hang out with Heidi Kling, author of the upcoming Sea:

who was even more fabbo in person that she is online. Her upcoming book sounds great, and I got the dish on what she's working on which sounds amazing too. All in all a great day.


Must go, about to lose Internet again. Play nice without me.

Thursday, June 18, 2009

This is it!



Got another fun goldenrod envelope from the man in the big brown truck today - the typeset copy of Dirty Little Secrets. This is what the book will look like when it's all printed up. It's also the last chance I have to change anything...except I'm not supposed to. I can change blatant mistakes and typos but that's about it. No going back and trying to make that paragraph a little prettier and no changing that sentence to show that you meant that the boxes were folded at that point so the action makes more sense. Nope. Typos and horrible errors only. It's a little bit horrifying reading it over, knowing that the next step is to set everything practically in stone where it will live on in infamy, warts and all.

I've read that many authors never read their book once it's been printed for fear of spotting typos and mistakes. I've also read that other authors change things around even as they're giving readings on book tours to make the sentences flow better. I thoroughly believe them both.

Here's a bit of trivia - when all is said and done, the book will be 212 pages long. Whee!

On this date: In 1942, Paul McCartney was born.

Sunday, June 14, 2009

A Little Insight in Unexpected Places

Ah, the end of the school year. Endless bags of work shlepped home for me to go through eventually, putting some in the 'keep' pile and more and more as they get older in the 'recycle' pile. I was going through my third-grader's bag today and came across this (spelling as is):

Things I Dislike:
racis people
sometimes my brother
dark chocolate
the Raders
mean substitutes
homework
the war
not being able to fly
ghosts
enimise
Barney
getting put down
animals dieing
getting teased
star testing
spoild dinner (?!?!)
spinich
mushrooms
being by myself
girly fairys

Definitely in the keep pile.

On this date: In 1777, Congress adopts the Stars and Stripes

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

They're Here!



Just received a box of wonderfulness from my publisher - my author copies of Six O'clock. Totally amazing to actually have them in my house. They won't be available until July 20th, but you can preorder from Amazon or ask at your wonderful, local independent bookstore.

Love it!

On this date: In 1935, Alcoholics Anonymous was founded.

Friday, June 5, 2009

Girlz


I had one of those "um-yeah-that-was-so-obvious" moments yesterday.
I write for girls.

I didn't mean to, but it seems that my books are aimed mainly at the female sex. The first book I ever wrote (that is still looking for a good home) had a boy MC because that was the way it came to me, and I think that is what has caused my realization delay. I always thought I was an equal-opportunity writer.

I don't "mean" to write any kind of book for an particular audience. My ideas usually start with a main character, and whoever it is determines that kind of book it will be. Dirty Little Secrets has a main character named Lucy, the first pass of the cover (which I love) has a girl on it, and while it is dark and is about hoarding, it also has a strong romantic thread with some kissing in Chapter 18.

In conversation with my fabbo editor MK, I mentioned that the cover with the girl on it might deter boys from picking up the book. While she was polite and nice as always, MK pointed out that it really is written with girls in mind. Going over it in my head, I realized she was right. Not that boys wouldn't enjoy and identify with a lot of the content (except the kissing in Chapter 18 - did I mention that?), but as my son says, they can always take the jacket off so they aren't embarrased to carry it around. He's a boy and he liked it.

The new book I'm working on is also a YA, but it is unabashedly a summer romance so yeah, that was was aimed at girls on purpose. The zygote of an idea that I'm incubating next also seems to have a girl as an MC.

So while I go on about boy equality and want to write things that my sons will want to read, I'm afraid that most of the characters that come through whatever filter is in my brain are girls.

Sorry guys!

On this date: In 1968, Robert F. Kennedy was shot.

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Boy Issues




Having boys has been an eye-opening experience, in more ways than one (and no, I'm not talking about how a boy can pitch a perfect strike from 70 feet, but can't manage to get all of the pee in the toilet bowl not 6 inches away).

The other day, T asked me why on TV, movies and cartoons it was always the boys who were the stupid ones and the girls who were smart. He said this as we watched the movie Get Smart and it made me look at the whole movie in a different way. I started noticing in so many books and shows that it is the boys who are goofy or stupid and the girl comes in to save the day. I know that this is an outgrowth of girl power that took hold when I was young, but I'm starting to think we've gone overboard.

We passed the after school club Girls Inc. and he wondered where the Boys Inc. was. So much of the time, we take the girls-are-better-and-smarter-than-boys rule in the media for granted, but I don't think we realize what it is doing to our boys. Almost always, if it were reversed it would be seen as sexist and unfair. Try explaining that to a nine-year-old.

On this date: In 1935, Babe Ruth retired.

Monday, June 1, 2009

Totally Stuck

Sitting here working on the book and came to a screeching halt because I can't decide what kind of car a 17 year old, rich, vegetarian, hippie boy would drive. Subaru? BMW - an older one maybe? Honda hybrid? Ack! Seems stupid, but it's the details man...

On this date: In 1980, CNN launched.