Another Blog about Twilight??

Well, at least I got you to come to the blog.
It seems to me the only blogs being read these days are rants, few raves, and mostly incensed insults about the famous Twilight series.

Several years ago when Twilight first hit the shelves, I read no fewer than seven vampire novels including the classic Dracula and Rice's Interview With a Vampire. And I liked them all. Really. (My personal favorite being MT Anderson's Thirsty). And, yes, I liked Twilight. Not big into Vampire lore myself, I have no idea if any of the other books I read commit egregious errors like Twilight does (according to the majority of articles and blogs).

But I took Twilight for what I think it is: a pretty good read. (Other books in that category for me are: The Davinci Code, The Firm, Practical Magic and more. And I mean this as a compliment because being a good story teller is a great skill!). As for Twilight, I think Edward's sexy (At least in Twilight. Admittedly, I haven't read the other books in the series. But a sixteen year old here in Colombia gave me the synopsis one day while waiting in line for a Juanes concert. Good enough.) And the thing I most remember about Bella is she makes dinner for her dad. (I, for one, can't boil water so I think making dinner for two people at seventeen years is an awesome feat.)

But it kind of amazes me the sheer number of people who are so vehement, and even a touch malicious, about the dreaded, damaging Twilight series. To be fair, every single article, blog etc. I've read about the series is much wittier, well-written, well-versed, and well-researched than this blog. I can't be bothered to look for examples of bad prose etc. (Links to all these blogs, articles below). But that said, what's the deal? A Facebook friend wrote, "TWILIGHT HAS DIVIDED THE COUNTRY." And it seems that it's definitely divided the writing community.

But why? Why is everybody so upset about a, um, sterilized vampire-world?

I'll use me as an example. I was pretty shy in school. I've never been a giddy "ooh-ooh" kind of girl. And my novels, to date, are pretty sex-less. My characters spend much of their sexual energy with hot magazines in bathrooms. Moreover, I'm definitely not a Christian and though I believe in something, I'm not sure what that something is. My novels and characters are a reflection of my belief system.

Meyer is a young Mormon woman. (Yes. Faith, background, everything we ARE influences our novels). She herself has said she relates most with Edward (who, admittedly, has that creepy stalking thing going on. We'd have to ask her hubby about that one.) Moreover, though, he's incredibly nineteenth-century when it comes to his sexuality, a touch obsessive, and, well, saving himself. Hey. It works for Meyer and obviously her audience. It's where she's coming from.

It seems, though, there's a slew of critics (including the great Stephen King himself) who find this series an abomination to the canon of literature we offer for young adults out there. (Remember last year the big "to-do" about King dishing Meyer's writing saying, in so many words, she probably couldn't write her way out of a paper bag. Link below.)

But this is the thing. All those people who rant, stump, fume and rage about Twilight have read it (and finished it). See. I don't finish books I don't like. Period. Life is short and there are too many awesome books out there.So this brings me to believe they feel jipped about spending money on such a horrific book and finished it because they just had to. But think about it. Every time we mention the dreaded Twilight, though, I can guarantee you Meyer is getting another sale. Hell, I kind of wish my book would be on all those blogs. FREE PUBLICITY. And by doing this blog, to ride the Twilight-read-my-blog-wagon, I am doing the same: selling her books.

And I've read the criticisms about how Twilight promotes unhealthy relationships, stalking, horrific prose, and hack research. Okay. Perhaps. But I know a few classics that pretty much do the same (except for the horrific prose part. Maybe. Okay. What the hell, I'll go there. Ever try to read Snow by Pamuk? Good God. 600 pages of snow descriptions. Yep. Just put me on that uncultured-rather-read-Twilight-than-Nobel-prize-winners train!)

I can hear the screaming: But all the teens will become love-sick, obsessed, and jealous and throw themselves into abusive relationships and whatnot.

Nah. Let's give our reading audience more credit than that. They're savvy. They're smart. They call it when they see it. Oh. Yeah. And they're teens who have love-sick, obsessive, jealous tendencies because their hormones are raging, brains aren't fully developed, and are willing to wear neon colors. Good God. Haven't they seen a decade of bad 80's style? MUST they repeat it? If that doesn't PROVE they're a market that can be influenced by evil, I don't know what. But the fashion will pass as well as the Edward obsessions. Really.

And that said, they're buying my books. (Okay. Some of them are.) And they're buying my friends' books. And I'm happy they are. And I'm happy their buying Meyer's books, too.

I guess this is just me thinking there's Much Ado about Nothing. It's a vampire book series. (A million-dollar empire now). I live in a country where the people read an average of 1.7 books per year (nationwide) and fewer than one book per year in my city. Yep. PER YEAR. So guess what? I bought the Twilight series for a library I work at down here along with Harry Potter (I DO love all the HP's and Rowling's magical world), and anything that's coming out on film this year because I need kids to read here.

So in my opinion any book, any book, that gets people reading is a good book.



Links to other articles/blogs about Twilight (if you don't do the direct link, just cut and paste):

http://psa.blastmagazine.com/2008/08/16/twilight-sucks-and-not-in-a-good-way/
http://psa.blastmagazine.com/2008/08/23/twilight-a-follow-up-and-a-promise/
http://community.feministing.com/2009/08/twilight-criticism-has-no-teet.html
http://blogs.usaweekend.com/whos_news/2009/02/exclusive-steph.html

Thanksgiving: Let the Chaos Begin

I never fully appreciated my mom until I had to put on my own Thanksgiving dinner. And I think the people who ate my first five or six Thanksgiving dinners would REALLY appreciate mom. (But, luckily, these feasts are held in other countries where the people have NO idea that what I cook is pretty abominable compared to Mom -- the magician of Thanksgiving with innumerable side dishes.)

That said, I'm waxing nostalgic about all the years of botched Thanksgivings, burned and lost turkeys (yes lost, under a spare tire, in fact) and more. This is my mishmash list of Thanksgiving Memories I prepared (since I have time today before my house looks like it exploded). (Yes. It takes me about four days of organization and pre-cooking to get a meal on the table. I think Amelia's fondest childhood memories of my cooking will be "take out.")

• Buying live turkeys in "la Galeria" -- open market -- in Pereira. Holding them up by their feet and thinking they were pretty heavy. Do you realize how much feathers make a bird look plump? Very non-runway attire.
• Realizing that you can't cook a turkey in a pizza oven -- no matter how hard you try to smoosh it down.
• Looking for a lost turkey, only to find that it slipped under a spare tire and had a nice black tire-mark across the top. (Gravy does not cover up tire marks)
  
• Smoking ovens when I realized that 350 degrees celcius is WAY too hot. (Damn conversions)
  
• Spending seventy dollars for three anorexic turkeys. (Yep. Turkey is really expensive abroad).
• Searching for ingredients in every language possible only to find the ones I need don't exist in some places. So I do "creative replacements".
  
• Watching Cesar take a bite of turkey after seven botched Thanksgivings and saying, "Wow. this is good. Like. I really want to eat it this year." Me: "Really??"
  (That was an exciting day! I think our guests, though, felt a little bit like guinea pigs after they realized that my usual Thanksgiving feast was pretty crappy.)
• Years of laughter and forgiveness (you have to be forgiving to survive one of my dinners and remain my friend).
• Lots of leftovers. (Proud to say not many leftovers anymore. I've improved. Really.)
• Cesar's family always looking forward to our annual Thanksgiving and his aunt thinking my pumpkin pie is great. (It's not bad. It's just not ... pumpkin pie. Just a little weird-tasting is all).
• Learning that family isn't only "family" but those you love. My parents taught me that Thanksgiving is a time to share happiness, love, life, tears ... family. And living abroad, friends become family.
  

So now that I see it's getting to be too much of a "Chicken Soup" kind of post (with all do respect Mr. Canfield), I'll leave you with wishes for a wonderful salmonella-free Thanksgiving. (That's what I always cross my fingers for.)

Best Author Visit questions EVER ...

This year my author visits were with Kindergarteners, second and third graders, who, in my opinion, had some of the best questions and comments ever!

1. Did you write your book in pencil or are you allowed to use a pen?
2. Do you have lots of pictures in the book?

I asked how long they thought it took me to write the book:
Student A: Ummm, like ten hours.
Student B: No way. At least two weeks.
Me: About three and a half years. So I started when you were still wearing diapers and finished when you were in first grade.
Students. Whoaaaaaaaa ... (whispers -- she's really slow.)

3. Do you read your book after you're done?

I talked about revision and making corrections and how my editor had pages and pages of notes on how I needed to make my book better.
Student A: Oh. Did you forget your capitals and periods?
Student B: I bet you missed a lot of spelling words.

4. How did you draw the picture on the front?
5. Do you really like your job?

And my favorite ...

6. How did you get the pages in the book? (Comments afterward included: Geez. If she had to put her book together in the garage she'd never get done.)

Thank you Fritsch School for welcoming me and making me smile. Thank you for your amazing attention to detail.
PLUS, I loved the hugs. (High Schoolers and Middle Schoolers usually don't hug me.)

Waxing Philisophical on HOW COOL CARSON CITY NEVADA IS ...

And Nevada Day. (and Virginia City, Reno, Tahoe ... the whole area)
Okay. Growing up in a "smallish town" makes most people a little antsy. "There's something more out there. There's gotta be something better."
Well. Yes, there's MORE out there. But not better. Not worse. Just different. I've lived almost thirteen years away from Nevada, and I so so appreciate things that happen here, in Carson City, that don't in other places. So here's my random list of wonderful Nevada (Carson City) things:

1. You can trick-or-treat at the Governor's Mansion. (How cool is that?) In fact, the whole trick-or-treating thing amazes me. It's a time where we TRUST people -- perfect strangers, in fact -- to give our children candy. I LOVE it. It's one night in which we believe the best in people.
2. The Nevada Day Parade (on a non-election year). LOVED the Burning Man float, marching bands (Carson High and Middle School were AWESOME -- no, I'm not biased), the gymnasts, dogs dressed up and more. Plus, it was the first Nevada Day Parade I've seen in thirteen years and the first one that I didn't freeze my tail off.
3. Perma-blue skies -- the bluest of blue skies I've ever seen. Really.
4. The smell after it rains here. (I live in the tropics where it rains every day, and it doesn't smell like Nevada rain. Not even close.)
5. Countless parks! What an amazing place where there are parks everywhere in practically every neighborhood. Take advantage of that!
6. The Children's Museum and Carson City Library -- GREAT places for kids.
7. Comma Coffee, The Sporting Rage, The City Cafe, The Purple Avocado, Dog Eared Books, The Silver Pinecone, Red's and all the other local businesses that give Carson City pizazz.
8. Downtown Carson City and the Historical Walk! (It's just pretty.)
9. It's just minutes away from any kind of outdoor activity (skiing, hiking, boarding, rock climbing, kayaking ... You name it!) and Lake Tahoe!!!

I'm proud to be from a place that supports local businesses (and authors -- you can't imagine how amazing Carson City was to me with Freeze Frame's book launch.) I'm proud to be from a place with a diverse population with rich ancestry: Basque, Mexican, German and more.
Really.

Carson City is just a cool place to be.