FEELING FOREIGN: A writer's life in Colombia

What were the odds that ... publishing facts numbers and such ...

2012-01-30T13:47:00.000-05:00

What were the odds that my books, or any number of other authors' books would hit the shelves??

People are number people. We LIKE statistics. I think there's something solid, REAL about numbers. They give us a tangible context to help us understand our world. And being part of this world of publishing and writing is murky, at best.
So, to appease the masses, I found some NUMBERS ... tidbits and facts that are pretty random and interesting at the same time.

Books published per country (from Wikipedia) per year ... some highlights:
USA (2009, new titles and editions): 288, 355
SPAIN (2008, new titles): 86, 300
I couldn't find a number for Colombia.

Interesting facts from Melissa Bourbon and Misa Ramirez (I'm not sure where they got their statistics, some of which were utterly depressing and I want to pretend aren't real, but I found this pretty interesting ...):
A book shopper will spend around eight seconds looking at the front cover and fifteen at the back. (Yep. Covers matter! So do blurbs and such. LOTS)

The Children's Market (highlights and numbers and quotes from Publishers Weekly 2010 overview)
"Eighteen books for children and teens sold more than a million copies last year: all of them were from authors of big franchises: Jeff Kinney, Stephenie Meyer, Rick Riordan, Suzanne Collins, PC and Kristin Cast."

Other random book/publishing facts taken from Jessiemac:
Nielsen Book Scan tracked book sales of 1.2 million books. According to their data, as of 2004, 950,000 books sold fewer than 99 copies. (Yep. You read that right. NINETY-NINE.) and 200,000 sold fewer than 1,000 copies. 25,000 books sold more than 5,000 copies. (Basically most authors sell around 500 copies of their books.)

I read somewhere that less than 2% of books that hit the shelves (from the big name publishers) come from the infamous slush pile.

A bit daunting, I know. But people LIKE NUMBERS THOUGH I CAN'T FATHOM WHY!! ;-)

Numbers DO tell us something pretty special: Publishing houses lose money on most books they put out there, most authors not even earning back their advances. Why? Because, guess what, publishing houses love books and take chances, BIG ONES, on authors every single day of the year. I get tired of hearing how they're only in it for the money (why shouldn't they be, it IS a business) when there are so many editors and agents and other people in the business of books fighting for novels they think deserve to be out there on the shelves, novels that they HOPE sell, but there are no guarantees.
And as for all those authors who make loads of dough (well, a really small percentage, really small) and criticizing how awful they are, how they're hacks and anybody could write a book like that, here's my take: Honestly, it IS frustrating when somebody like Snooki gets a book deal. It makes the whole world of print look really base. Yeah. I'll give you that. But because of big sellers, I've got a shot to write the books I want to write. How grateful I am for the authors that make big bucks because it gives my editor wiggle room to fight for me who, up to date, hasn't made big bucks. (up to date, I'd like to emphasize! ;-) )
Editors find magic in slush ... a spec of pixie dust in the piles ... that's why the slush pile gets read ... eventually. Imagine reading through slush to find that spec of pixie dust! Ugh.

So, the odds are against us ... just as they were against JK Rowling, Stieg Larson and a whole slew of authors out there that, I bet, we're pretty glad got their first shot.
As an author (published or on-the-road to publishing), I just recommend not looking at the numbers. Focus on your work. Make every word count and then wish on some stars!
When all else fails ... write better.

2012: What were the odds that ...

2012-01-21T13:52:00.000-05:00

This year is the year: What were the odds ... in honor of Mike, my main character in WANTED and a high school bookie.
So to start off 2012: What were the odds that I'd still be in Colombia after 15 years!!

Okay, technically we traveled a lot and lived all over the world, but truth be told, I arrived to Colombia 15 years ago this month. What were the odds I'd STILL be here? (My work contract was only for two years. Boy have I milked that sucker!)
So, it's officially my Quinceañera ... Where's the party? Where are the rose petals, fancy dresses, hoopla?? I WANT A CAKE!!!
Honestly, though, upon reflection (though nobody's really celebrating my big 15), there are two things that have cracked my world open and really, REALLY, formed my life.

1. Moving to Colombia when I was 23
2. Becoming a mother

I know. What about love and marriage and college and travel and being an aunt and GETTING TO BE AN AUTHOR (which, I must say is like icing and strawberries and cherries on the cake) and all that stuff? Absolutely those are milestones, but the two things that have most profoundly impacted my life (thus far) are stated above. So today, I'm going to take a little moment to tip my hat to Colombia, the gifts its given me, and the things I've learned since I immigrated here! (Yep, I'm one of those ... AN IMMIGRANT!)

Lessons from Colombia (a hodgepodge of tidbits ...)
1. Family doesn't necessarily mean you share the same DNA strand. Family comes from the heart.
2. The friend of the postman of the cousin of the sister of your boyfriend will always be welcome at a party!
3. Now doesn't mean now. Tomorrow doesn't mean tomorrow. There's really no rhyme or reason so just go with it and stop trying to figure out Colombian time.
4. Traffic lights are merely suggestions ... as with most traffic signs.
5. Work hard to live. Living doesn't mean things and possessions but friends, music, family, smiles, unforgettable moments.
6. It's not really wise to smile and wave at those guys who shout out, "Hey Monita!" Unless you want stalkers.
7. Every taxi driver in Colombia has an uncle in New Jersey.
8. Music is part of everything.
9. I will NEVER walk like a Colombian woman. *sigh*
10. There's no such thing as too-tight-jeans in Colombia.
11. There's always time for a friend.
12. "Impossible" doesn't exist here.
13. Everybody talks at the same time -- about different things -- and as confusing as this may seem, it's like watching chaos take form and it all makes sense ... sometimes.
14. There's never too small a reason to have a party. (Once some friends of ours had a big party to celebrate a little gazebo they built at their farm.) ;-)
15. Happiness is a choice ... Colombians choose happiness every day.
16. I've lived, and continue to live, a life a privilege. From this privilege comes a social responsibility to make my community better by sharing and giving the best of me.
17. Dancing is imperative ... or else you will have NO SOCIAL LIFE. (Yep, I know how to salsa!!)
18. There's more plastic here in a square kilometer than at an International Tupperware Convention ... these boobs don't sag!
19. Motels aren't for sleep.
20. "The heart's memory eliminates the bad and magnifies the good." (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)

Colombia is far from perfect. The social differences are staggering. Racism and classism are omnipresent. No society is perfect, and I've had the privilege to learn and continue to take the best of Colombia I can. It has made me, I believe, a better person: more tolerant, more aware, more appreciate of the United States as well as aware of the flaws of my country. Colombia is my home.
Colombia, I love you. I'm grateful for all you've given me. I'm grateful that you've accepted me, my funny ways, and the accent that just won't go away. Every day I learn from you.
Happy Birthday to me!
What were the odds??

The Year of Prime ... ahhh Heck ... just a bunch of books and authors I love

2011-12-23T12:35:00.000-05:00

It's NEVER too late to give the gift of a book. So, if you have a few last minute gifts you need to buy, BUY A BOOK!! And a great book is perfect for New Year's, King's Day, a pick-me-up ...
Okay. Anyway, blah blah blah. You get the idea.

First up is Chris Crutcher. He's a phenomenal storyteller and his books do what I think a great book should: make you question your beliefs, pretty much putting you on the spot. Yep. Uncomfy! In DEADLINE, for instance, one of the most interesting and likeable characters is a former priest that has done something deplorable -- this storyline parallels a love interest that has been abused by a close family member. Juxtaposing the two situations is completely uncomfortable for the reader, the main character. STAYING FAT FOR SARAH BYRNES is another of my favorites of his. Crutcher creates fantastic, believable characters who make you think, question, and feel. His characters have to make tough decisions. Not everything is black and white. On top of that, I can't think of another author that writes sports scenes so incredibly well! He's the master of bringing you into the game, meet ... whatever his characters are doing.

Next up is Kate DiCamillo. What a phenomenal storyteller!! Many are familiar with THE TALE OF DESPEREUX, her Newberry winner BECAUSE OF WINN-DIXIE and many more of her wonderful, WONDERFUL stories. One of my favorites of hers is THE MAGICIAN'S ELEPHANT. When I read LIESL AND PO I immediately thought of this beautiful story -- one of love, loss, heartbreak and magic. It's like taking a break and entering into a world where magic exists even though the rest of us had forgotten about it. Her books are simply astounding.

Finally are my Holiday Book recs! (A TOUCH late ... but these classics are perfect for every year, every age!!)

I wish everyone a happy holiday ... however you may choose to celebrate and a New Year filled with wonder and love!!

Happy Reading!

The Year of Prime ... On the 17th Day of Christmas

2011-12-17T08:32:00.000-05:00

Inconceivable.
But true. I'm actually POSTING A BLOG ON TIME! So, my pick of the day is one of my favorite all-time books written by one of the best literary minds today. Truly, though, I don't know of another author out there with more range and who takes bigger risks than MT Anderson. He's done historical fiction, sci fi, fantasy, contemporary -- all executed with skill and integrity and great storytelling. If I knew he was behind all those horrible manuals that explain how to put the freaking desk together, I'd read every line. (He's kind of my hero.)

FEED is one of the reasons I became a YA author. I remember reading it and thinking, "Oh my oh my oh my ... " then feeling totally intimidated by it then realizing that if I wanted to write books then I had to work my tail off. This book is, quite simply, PHENOMENAL. Set in the future, when people are born, an internet/TV feed are directly wired into everyone's brain upon birth. Corporations, read your thoughts and what you're looking at in stores then dominate the information stream, feeding information to each person. Titus and his friends and pretty much everybody else accepts things as are. Everything is owned. Sky (trademark) Clouds (trademark) ... everything belongs to one of the big corporations. And everybody's doing just fine until Titus meets Violet -- a young girl who's been successful in confusing her feed. The problem arises, however, when Violet's feed is breaking and she needs a new one and no corporation will sponsor it because her information is too jumbled -- she's not the "ideal" consumer.

It's truly brilliant. Actually, after having written about it here, I really REALLY want to go back and re-read it. Plus, it has one of the best first lines EVER in a novel:
'We went to the moon to have fun, but the moon turned out to completely suck.'

The Year of Prime ... On the 14th, 15th, and 16th Days of Christmas ...

2011-12-16T11:09:00.000-05:00

There are few things more exciting than kids that are excited about reading. One of those things, for me, are kids excited about writing. Scholastic has a cool award for books written by kids. The next two on my list are beautiful examples of the creativity of children, what they're capable of given the chance, and how amazing it is that there are educators out there guiding, motivating, and helping inspire children to create great things!

REJOICE: Poetry Celebrating Life in the Amazon Rainforest, Written and illustrated by the Third Grade Students of Mendon Center Elementary in Pittsford, NY

VINCENT VAN GOGH'S CAT, written and illustrated by the Second Grade Students of East Washington Academy in Muncie, Indiana

For a complete list of winners, including 2011's winners, go to Scholastic and prepare to be amazed!

My final rec for the day is another picture book, one I particularly love. I've recommended it before, but I really, REALLY have to do it again. I'll tell you why from my personal point of view. In Colombia (and all over the world), the panorama of family and what "family" means is changing. But people still seem to hold onto an archaic idea of what family "should" be: father, mother, kids, and maybe a goldfish. The "idea" of family is more ingrained than the reality of what family is. Who can define what makes a family? Who has the right to decide what is considered "the right way?" One of the things I most love about our lives is that we surround ourselves with people of all backgrounds and ideas, and our daughter sees families of all kinds: single parents, divorced parents, gay couples, grandparents as primary caregivers, friends living together and more. We have friends who have adopted children. One of our close friends decided to have insemination and raise a child on her own. This spectrum of family and what components make up "family" is always changing, but the core of what family is doesn't: love and respect.
AND TANGO MAKES THREE by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell, Illustrated by Henry Cole is my last picture book pick of the day. A love story that encompasses the most wonderful and basic things about the magic of families.

Happy Reading!

The Year of Prime ... Tenth, Eleventh, Twelfth and Thirteenth

2011-12-13T09:00:00.000-05:00

Geez this month goes fast. It's already twelve days 'till Christmas. (And I don't have the energy to do a cool 12 Days of Christmas improvisation.) So ... let's just get to the books. (Without lengthy explanations ... trust me. They're good. REAL good.)
Sound good?

LIESL AND PO by Lauren Oliver is simply lovely. It's touching (without being sappy) and poetic (without being cliche) and one of those novels that's a joy to read. Enter the magical world of Liesl and be swept away.

CROOKED LETTER, CROOKED LETTER by Tom Franklin is a mystery set in the deep south that goes back decades. In a time with CSI and Criminal Minds and every other kind of cop/mystery show, it's hard to surprise. This novel did. (And it had it's creepy element, too). I really REALLY loved the main character and head detective on the case. LOVED.

PERFECT by Ellen Hopkins is a novel that asks four teens the question: How far would you go to be perfect? All hyper-achievers and pushing to meet self-imposed as well as social and family expectations, Ellen takes us on an intense journey into the lives of teens today. It is heartbreaking and a novel that made me reflect as a parent and former educator. What kind of pressure are we putting our kids under.and what are the consequences of it?

Sara Zarr never disappoints. STORY OF A GIRL is the story of Deanna Lambert who's been categorized as the school slut -- a label she can't seem to shake in her small town. (Even her father can't stand to look at her since he's the one who found her in the back seat with her brother's best friend.) This coming-of-age story about a dysfunctional family and this young girl's journey to forgiving herself, her father, and her brother's ex- best friend is poignant, insightful and never feels forced. I loved how Deanna and those who surround her develop in subtle but powerful ways.

HAPPY READING!!

The Year of Prime ... On the Eighth and Ninth day of December

2011-12-09T11:29:00.001-05:00

"I survived the Bunuelado, 2011" ... I should get a t-shirt that says this. :-) A bunuelado, you ask??
December is "THE MONTH OF THE BUNUELO AND NATILLA" in Colombia. Bunuelos are like donuts, but instead of being sugary, they're made with cheese and are delicious fried balls of wonder. Natilla is a cinnamon-like jell-o/pudding sweet that, though slimy in texture, is pretty tasty (if you can get past the slime).
The seventh and eighth are THE ALUMBRADO in Colombia. Being Catholic, this is the celebration of the immaculate conception and pretty much marks the beginning of the madness to come! It's really pretty. Everybody lights lanterns (even kids!) ... the glow of light is exquisite.
Every year, we have a party at the farm. We invite a choir to sing Christmas carols and eat bunuelos and natilla until, really, I don't want to see another one for a year. There's a catch. We also have the contest of THE BEST BUNUELO.
Since the dough can be "molded", we hand dough out. We have trophies, a panel of judges, and pretty much everybody (adults and kids) get into it. (We now have two categories). And, if you're skilled, you can go home with THE GOLD, SILVER OR BRONZE BUNUELO.

Clark Griswold would have trouble competing with this. Hello Vegas!

Lighting Lanterns


The Golden Bunuelo goes to ... the Pig

I also have a book recommendation! (Of course!) I just thought you ought to know why I was so absent yesterday ... Keeping it "light" (teehee ... okay, I'm tired. My puns aren't really up to par.), I recommend a great book for that person who has "everything" and you really don't know what to give. It's also a good book for those who aren't big readers but are curious. AN UNCOMMON HISTORY OF COMMON THINGS (A National Geographic Publication) has half-page length explanations of how things came to be -- everything from indoor plumbing and pizza to kites and capitalization/punctuation. It's fascinating!

The Year of Prime ... On the Seventh Day of December

2011-12-07T08:25:00.000-05:00

Today madness begins. Well, it began a couple weeks ago but now Colombia jumps into the nonstop (literally) December celebrations with the Alumbrado. (pics up on Friday since it's today and tomorrow!) Anyway, to commemorate Colombia and celebrate its exuberance (to say the least ... yes, I'm bracing myself for the next twenty-four days of insanity), I'm recommending COLOMBIA: A NEW VISION by Santiago Harker.
Santiago Harker is an accomplished photographer who has spent his life traveling Colombia and capturing magical moments. We just went to one of his exhibitions this past week. The light, life, color, and dimension of his photos is indescribable. This is a truly exquisite journey into the Colombia I love, not the one we so often see misconstrued in the media. Open the pages and join me exploring the world I love!

Happy Reading!

The Year of Prime ... On the Sixth Day of December ...

2011-12-06T10:53:00.000-05:00

As promised, three more recommendations to catch up on the days I've missed!!! And as the rush of December and life kind of swamp me, my recs will be sincere enough but perhaps not as "in depth" as they should be. (Yes, that's a way of saying I'm a slack blogger. Yikes!)

Today, I'm tipping my hat to Edward Bloor. I've heard about TANGERINE for the last ten years or so and was always intrigued but never got around to reading it until this past year. I. Loved. It!
Paul is your average seventh grader ... except for the fact he's "legally blind" and his brother is a psychopath. He has distorted flashbacks about why he's blind, but his fear of learning the truth blocks memories.(Yeah. it's not every day we face those kinds of obstacles).
Paul's looking forward to a fresh start in Tangerine, Florida. While his mom and dad are wrapped up in work and his brother's "football dream", Paul proves himself to be one of the best soccer players at the school, befriends a group of "tough kids", and learns to love the art of tangerine growing. What's most remarkable and wonderful about this novel is Paul -- unassuming, kind, and though he doesn't think so, incredibly courageous. (It takes loads of courage to be kind.) This is a great novel to read for readers and writers, like a blueprint on how to create a complex and wonderfully developed, unexpected hero.

Another classic on my list falls into that "uncomfortable read" category. It's truly, though, one of the most masterful YA novels I've ever read. Most have heard of Robert Cormier's, THE CHOCOLATE WAR. I read it, for the first time, several years ago and just wanted to weep. Jerry begins his refusal to sell chocolates for the annual school fund raiser because he's put up to it by the school mafia -- the kids who really rule the school. But when they tell him it's time to sell and he refuses, the entire balance of power rocks and Jerry becomes an anti-hero, pariah, scapegoat, loathed, admired and totally misunderstood. This is a brutal study of human nature and how we live in a clockwork society -- and what happens to those who live on the edge of what we consider "normal". Intense. Heartbreaking. I'd venture to say it's edging toward that "must read" pile. (Though I hate those "must read" piles because, heck, if anybody told me I "must read" Ulysses, I'd poke my eyes out.) Simply phenomenal. How's that? (Instead of "must read.")

My final rec for the day is a psychological thriller. THE OTHER, published in 1971 and written by Thomas Tryon, is about thirteen-year-old twins growing up in Connecticut in the thirties. One is the "good twin", the other absolutely evil. It takes the reader on a freaky journey through two incredibly messed up kids and has one of those "holy crap" endings. I read it in high school (ahem, over twenty years ago) and still remember wishing I could sleep in my parents' room for about a week. (I didn't. But don't think I didn't REALLY consider it.) Don't read this at night.

Happy reading!

The Year of Prime ... On the Fifth Day of December

2011-12-05T09:00:00.001-05:00

ACK!!
I've missed four days. Four days of wonderful, phenomenal, fantastic books I'd love to recommend (great holiday gifts!), so, cheating (a bit), I'm cheating. I'm putting three-in-one here (and will catch up tomorrow with another three!) ... THREE BOOKS THAT I ABSOLUTELY a.) loved b.) really felt moved by c.) really felt disturbed by d.) and loved.

Sometimes a great book doesn't end up leaving you with a great feeling. It's uncomfortable, it makes you question yourself, how you feel about things, how you view the world. And my first rec of the month is such a book.
LIE, by Caroline Bock is totally and completely uncomfortable. A story about kids who, for kicks, go beating up Mexicans (any Latinos, really, but they just jumble them all together in the same basket) on weekends in Long Island and something goes horribly wrong. Told from several POVs of kids involved, parents not wanting to be involved, a Mexican coach, a principal who feels like this should just "go away" ... That idea of "everybody knows, nobody's talking" that we all get swept up in at time. The nuance of racism and how we often turn a blind eye to what's in front of us made me feel squirmy.
LIE is one of those books that I was SO RELIEVED I had finished but so glad I had read.

Next up on my rec list is a book I absolutely, positively loved. FIVE FLAVORS OF DUMB by Antony John is simply wonder. Winner of the 2011 Schneider Family Award, this novel is about Piper, a teen misfit, who's been given the job of manager of the school rock band DUMB. She has one month to get them a payinggig. Easy, right? Except for the band's leader is an egomaniac who's invited a hot, talent-less girl on board because, well, she's hot, and the guitar players can't really play. Their only hope is a band-geek to get them in line. Basically, the band sucks. And on top of it all, Piper can't hear a thing because she's deaf. This is one of those perfectly written novels about kids being kids and overcoming insane obstacles -- not the obvious ones (being deaf and having tone deaf band members) -- but the ones that kids have to deal with everyday: acceptance, tolerance, first love, conflicts with parents and more. I laughed out loud. What a wonderful, WONDERFUL novel.

OKAY FOR NOW by Gary D Schmidt is next on my list. The Newberry Winner for THE WEDNESDAY WARS, OKAY FOR NOW has already gotten a National Book Award Finalist nod and it is so deserved. Doug Swieteck is new in town and has everything going against him: a drunk, mean father, an almost-meaner brother whose reputation makes it hard for Doug to do "anything" right at school, a brother who's returning from Vietnam a very different person, a horrible, PE teacher who's got it out for him ... basically, the list goes on and on. And on top of it all, Doug can't read. But Doug can draw, and gets drawing lessons from the town librarian, tutoring from the horrible English teacher, a job delivering groceries for his only friend, Lil's, father and somehow finds a way, through kindness, perseverance, and friendship to turn his life around. I cried many times in this heartbreaking story. It's so beautifully written. The story weaves in the themes of loss, hope, anger, abuse masterfully. Hats of to Mr. Schmidt for such a beautiful, beautiful story. He makes me want to be a better writer.

Happy reading!! Holidays and books ... you can't go wrong!

The Year of Prime ... WANTED: COVER REVEAL AND PRIZES woot!

2011-11-11T08:22:00.000-05:00

You can enter to win a plethora of prizes:

1. Best WANTED poster: signed copy of Freeze Frame
2. Best Bonnie & Clyde pairing (YA): signed copy of Compromised
3. Just check us out and get a signed ARC of WANTED (yep ... out May 1, 2012 ... be the first to read!)
4. SWAG

Just click here to enter!! Simultaneous contest with Kari and her fearless dog Toby from A Good Addiction and the lovely ladies Stacy, Nancy and Shannan from Girls in the Stacks!

Happy reading! Good luck. And have fun!

The Year of Prime ... WANTED: World Domination

2011-11-10T08:00:00.001-05:00

Upload your own WANTED posters ... and the most witty, interesting, and funny ones just might win a prize.
Okay. You'll win a prize. You just have to make us laugh.
Check out what The Girls in the Stacks and A Good Addiction WANT ...

The Year of Prime ... A Little about Bonnie and Clyde ... WANTED cover reveal and signed ARC giveaway coming upl!

2011-11-09T10:46:00.000-05:00

We hear it all the time. "It's a total Bonnie and Clyde-style movie, book, TV show." And we say it with a little bit of reverence. Awe, even.
Bonnie and Clyde, the romantic robbing duo, are legendary.
But, really, who were they?

Bonnie Elizabeth Parker and Clyde Chestnut Barrow were leaders of a gang during the public enemy era -- something very similar to what Colombia went through in the eighties and Mexico is going through now: an era marked by violent criminal bands that steal and kill to further their own personal wealth and for cheap thrills. What set this particular gang apart is Bonnie. A woman. And a pretty one at that. Dillinger was sexy. Pretty Boy Floyd had the cool nickname. Clyde had Bonnie, and had it not been for her, he'd have been dismissed as the thug he really was. (Not so romantic, really. Downright scary.) Plus, two young UNMARRIED people traveling around the country together, chain smoking cigarettes created an aura of the forbidden. Hell, they were SEXY. (Plus, she was technically a married woman, having married a high school sweetheart when she was sixteen and never officially divorcing. When she was killed, she was still wearing her wedding band.)

There's been no proof as to whether Bonnie ever killed anyone. But the gang killed at least nine police officers and several civilians during their rampage across the Central US robbing small stores, gas stations, and a dozen or so banks. This gang wasn't spreading the wealth, either. "Steal from the rich, give to the poor," is Robin Hood, not Bonnie and Clyde. Basically, the fact that Bonnie was a hottie and Clyde wasn't so bad himself; the assumption they had a sexual relationship; the idea that they were a forbidden couple -- all of these things let them get by, literally, with murder and be swept up in a media frenzy of romanticism and legend. They were killed by officers in Louisiana, shooting about 130 rounds in the couple. Ouch.

Nevertheless, our mythic couple appears in modern-day movies all the time: Natural Born Killers, Pulp Fiction, even Justin Timberlake's latest futuristic movie In Time. (The last was insane to me since "Bonnie" spent the whole movie running at a full sprint in six-inch black heels. I sure hope she got paid extra for that. Her acting wasn't stellar, but how can you give the performance of a lifetime with pinched toes? Really? Could they not have found something a little more practical for her to wear?)

This is all building up to my big WANTED cover reveal this Friday (sharing the hoopla with my friends at Girls In the Stacks and A Good Addiction) in which I bought into the media myth of Bonnie and Clyde with the Robin Hood twist and turned it on the world of YA -- pairing up Michal and Josh, a high school bookie and trust-fund kid, who go from a school prank to a crime spree.

So before the big cover reveal this Friday in which YOU CAN WIN A SIGNED ARC OF WANTED, my novel that will be out May 1, 2012 (yay!), I'd like to know this: Which YA or MG characters would you pair up to reek havoc on the world whether it be for good or just plain old malice throwing in a little romance here and there? Here are my picks:

Doug Lee (the mc from FAT VAMPIRE by Adam Rex) and Dicey Tillerman (from HOMECOMING, DICEY'S SONG etc. by Cynthia Voigt)

Why? I get a little bored with sexy main characters. Yeah. I GET that it's our fantasy, but since I am into the real thing, I like real characters who look like real characters (aka, not sparkly) and are goofy and charismatic and funny and flawed and not necessarily beautiful from a media point of view; characters who struggle with their identities and are sometimes hateful and spiteful and not likeable but characters we can really relate to because of it. Plus, it'd be fun to pair Doug's overt need to fit in with Dicey's total disinterest in what people think of her. I think they'd probably end up killing each other, but it'd be fun to watch them find a way to fit together.

What about you?? Who'd you pair up and why?
And stay tuned for a cover-reveal Friday and a chance to win a signed ARC of WANTED ... Be one of the first to read it!

The Year of Prime ... The Lamentable Act of Banning ... or worse NOT READING!

2011-09-26T09:35:00.000-05:00

I miss banning. I miss people getting offended about a book and making a stink. I miss the debate about whether or not a book is appropriate and should be removed from the shelves.

This is a weird lament considering I'm an author and find any kind of censorship appalling. But when I hear about a censored, banned, or challenged book in the States, part of me feels a sense of longing because that can ONLY happen when there are readers. (Certainly misguided, ignorant readers, but readers nonetheless. And, yes, I'm aware most banning happens when a parent, administrator, blockhead, whoever hasn't actually READ the book but HEARD about the book.) Here, though, when I mention book banning, I sometimes, very rarely, get a response akin to: Oh yeah. That happened to me in the 1970s when there was this popular erotic poet. My parents FREAKED out when I was reading his work.

And then the topic changes from books to something very not book related. This is because, quite simply, people don't read in Colombia. I'm not saying they CAN'T read, but the habit of reading, joy of reading is virtually non-existent. In Pereira, the average book read PER YEAR is fewer than one. (This counts ALL SCHOOL CHILDREN WHO ARE "FORCED" TO READ BOOKS).

People FIGHT to read in some places. People DIE to read in some places. I live in a place where this freedom is there ... at all times ... but it's not cherished.

Excuses abound:
Time. "I don't have time." (This makes NO sense to me since I always have time to read ... ALWAYS. It's just part of my daily habit. It's like eating. Sleeping. Reading. Essential daily activities.)
Expense. "Books are expensive." (Welcome to the world of the library!)
Interest. "There's nothing to read." (*faint*)

See what I'm getting at here?

So book banning is a conversation we can't have until we have book reading. So maybe I don't miss banners after all.

I miss readers.

The Year of Prime ... Random Acts of Publicity!

2011-09-06T09:47:00.000-05:00

Random Acts of Publicity was started by the amazing Darcy Pattison, a tireless blogger, author, and promoter of great children's literature ... great literature, in fact.

So to begin celebrating my Random Acts of Publicity Week, I'm going to howl out to three amazing, talented authors whose work blows me away. (Not to mention the fact they're pretty amazing people!) The first HOWL, literally, goes out to:

CHRISTINE JOHNSON'S sequel to Claire de Lune, Nocturne, was released a couple of weeks ago to a hoard of happy fans waiting to find out what will happen with our, ahem, hairy heroine, Claire. :-)
Adventure, a little bit of blood (they're werewolves, remember?), romance, tension, and surprising twists make this a great read.

Fans of SCONES will be thrilled to hear LINDSAY ELAND has another book in the works. This light-hearted read about Polly, a misguided matchmaker, is quirky, funny, and a great break from the insanity of real life. It's the perfect choice for hopeless romantics and Jane Austin fans ... cynics and more!

Welcome to the world of steampunk, anamatrons, and pretty much the creepiest Harlequin on the planet. KATE MILFORD's take on making deals with the devil throws us into a dusty, summertime world of a small town in his clutches. Natalie Minks, our heroine, takes us on the ride of our lives.

A favorite element that all these novels has is a strong heroine -- flawed, unique, and really insanely determined. It's wonderful to see lit applaud the strength of female characters, turn cliches upside down and shake them up a bit.

Happy reading! And please spread the word about YOUR favorite novels. All week, I'll be howling out novels that I love and just happen to know the authors. (How cool is that?)

The Year of Prime ... Dios a Domicilio ... Soccer Mania ... Colombia from the Hip

2011-08-29T16:20:00.000-05:00

Okay. I've been slack.
Big time.
Time is no excuse since I know every blogger out there in bloggersphere has lots to do as well. Many have kids, full time jobs, but it seems all manage to maintain their blogs. I, however, do not.
That said, I'm back ... though I can't really promise this will be as regular as I dream. And I'm back with a rant, a rave, and A GIVEAWAY! (So that's not SOOOO bad)

RANT: DIOS A DOMICILIO
I live in Colombia, for those who didn't know, and am surrounded by the world of Catholicism. Which is fine. I was raised in a Christian tradition, baptized Lutheran, and many of the Catholic beliefs and values are what I was taught as a little girl. But there's something that just bugs the hell out of me here: mass ... everywhere. In shopping malls, grocery stores, tennis clubs, country clubs and more, mass services are given. EVERYWHERE. Like everywhere. Priests even go to people's apartment complexes to give mass. Now, I'm all for portable holy water -- it's almost comical to me to think of portable holy water, actually. Sure, we're in a world in which we need all the drops of goodness we can get, but what bugs me (besides the fact I'm not Catholic and don't like mass and don't really want to hear it EVERYWHERE I GO) is the idea that now God comes to your door if you're too bloody lazy to go to church. Harsh? Yep. I know it sounds brutal, but to me the idea of religion for those who practice is a sense of sacrifice. A sense of commitment outside of our regular day-to-day activities. So, if I'm too freaking lazy to go to church, but it's CONVENIENT for me to have mass at the mall or country club where it doesn't interrupt my day too much so I can have my coffee, meet with friends and do a little shopping, it all seems WRONG. And invasive. Dude, I don't want to hear your mass and services. Really. I don't. If I did, I'D GO TO CHURCH. Really. So this whole tendency of take-out God services just bugs me. Keep your church and services in your church, and let me buy my mangoes in peace. And if you can't manage to get to church or a cathedral or wherever you want to be to pray, then it probably isn't that important to you to begin with.

RAVE: U-20 WORLD CUP MANIA
Colombia put on one of the most beautiful, organized World Cup tournaments ever!! And I'm so proud. Our local stadium was revamped for this occasion and is, without a doubt, one of the classiest, most gorgeous stadiums I've ever been in. (And I've been to Camp Nou in Barcelona and Boca's Bonbonera in Buenos Aires.) I think it's given a little uumph to our local team, Pereira, too. Last night they beat Equidad in Bogota ... and pretty much need a near-perfect season to NOT drop down to B ... So, hopefully it's an inspiration to play pretty amazing and win, like every game, this season. Yep. We kind of need a miracle here for Deportivo Pereira. If that miracle comes in the form of a new stadium, that works for me!

GIVEAWAY
As promised, a giveaway!! Click over on the cool GOODREADS button to the side and win a signed paperback of COMPROMISED.

The Year of Prime ... GIVEAWAYS ... and some GREAT pickup lines!

2011-05-09T09:00:00.000-05:00

Here we are again ... giveaways, SWAG, and all sorts of nutty things going on ... That said, I LOVED this blog tour because it made me work really hard, I got to create some interesting side stories for my secondary characters and INVESTIGATE BEST PICKUP LINES ... EVER!

So, here you have it. Luc's best pickup lines at Page's place at One Book Time blogspot! Along with the sweet lines you can win a cup of the real deal ... Colombian coffee and SWAG.

The Year of Prime ... CHEERIOS PLETHORA ... LIFE LAG AND GIVEAWAYS

2011-05-07T11:03:00.000-05:00

Considering Colombia is only a two-hour time difference from Nevada, I can't really call this jet lag, but it's been a bit of an insane week with life, travel, family, AN AMAZING BOOK LAUNCH, ongoing blog tour and more (even though I'm not PRESENT during blog tour, I'm sure paying attention!) ... So this is my LIFE LAG blog.
Okay. And I've been busy consuming inordinate amounts of honey bunches of Ohs ... wait. Wrong slogan. Cheerios, Cheerios ... ahhh ...
On Thursday, we had a wonderful launch party to celebrate COMPULSION and the amazingness of my community -- the librarians who hosted the party, Comma Coffee, and the local band Hick'ry Switch (bluegrass music and book signings ... couldn't be better!)

That said, I'm listing the wonderful bloggers and links to their posts ... places where you can win everything from SWAG to books and more.
On Monday, May 2, Mundie Moms had a great post on OCD and compulsions with A SIGNED COPY OF COMPULSION to give away! (Great prize!)
May 3: Stop by Jessica's place, at a Fantastic Book Blog to hear from Luc, COMPULSION'S heartthrob and win a cool Colombian movie that will, no doubt, shed some light on Colombian customs and soccer
obsession.
May 5: At Sherry's place, at Flipping Pages for All Ages, this was one of my favorite blog posts that has character tweets from three different characters in my three novels. Win SWAG!
May 6: Over at Kathy's, at I am A Reader Not a Writer, I talk about my dinner with John Stewart and Anderson Cooper ... AND ... you can win a paperback copy of COMPROMISED. (Very cool!)
May 8: On Mother's Day, I'll be over at Melanie G's place, the Reclusive Bibliophile, talking about what I do when I'm not writing! (Which is most of the time!). Win SWAG and peek into the very unglamorous world of a writer and mom! ;-) (But happy world!)

I will be better ...and soon the massive mailing of SWAG, books and prizes will begin! Thanks to everyone. Now ... back to Cheerios!
Happy Weekend!

The Year of Prime ... GIVEAWAYS GIVEAWAYS GIVEAWAYS ... Cheerios countown

2011-05-01T09:12:00.000-05:00

TWO MORE DAYS!

And, in the midst of my countdown and packing and all the madness, I was lax and didn't send you along to visit some of my favorite people -- GIRLS IN THE STACKS! This was one of my favorite posts and a chance for you to win a copy (signed, of course) of FREEZE FRAME. Anyway, in this post, all my answers had to come directly from lines in my novel, COMPULSION. Trust me, I would NEVER tell anybody I'd kick their ass into next week. Ever. Even if I wanted to.

And after that, my tour took a trip over to Jamie L's blog, bookmarked, where the reader gets a chance to peek in my adolescent room and the supreme geek I was. Wow. When I did this post, I realized that, wow. But how cool is that? I can now embrace the geek. Stop by and win a copy of a book I read as a teen and glimpse into a very, um, peach world!

And finally, today Jamie has reviewed COMPULSION over at YA Addict in which she says "it is a story which is beautiful in its authenticity." (I like that line!)

My friends on this super, amazing, uber tour, thank you for having us. EVERYBODY ELSE, STOP BY TO WIN. Really. Every day there are winners. It's mad out there in the blogsphere ... so many giveaways, so little time!

The Year of Prime ... 5 MORE DAYS UNTIL CHEERIOS ...

2011-04-28T10:02:00.000-05:00

... Oh yeah. And a giveaway.

A great giveaway over at Lauren's place who's reading 365 days of the year. Today, she invited Jake, my main character from COMPULSION over for an interview. Get to know him and win a funky alarm clock, signed bookplate and SWAG!

If I sound a little deflated, I am. But in a wonderful way. I turned in my first-round revisions yesterday and think that all my brain cells are spasming. I'm not sure if it's possible to sprain your brain, but I'll look into it. Anybody with information regarding a lawyer who would consider taking up a brain sprain case ... send him my way! ;-)

Happy reading all!

The Year of Prime and Countdown Begins!! 9 Days Until ...

2011-04-25T09:00:00.002-05:00

It's Monday, April 25th.
A wonderful day because my niece turns ten. TEN. And she's a beautiful human being.
And today I begin the countdown. 9 DAYS UNTIL SOMETHING AMAZING.
May 3 is THE day.
Ready?
I WILL EAT CHEERIOS. (Sure, COMPULSION comes out that day, too, but for those of you who are aware of the egregious Cheerios deficit in Colombia ... NO CHEERIOS HERE ... and know about my love for that unsinkable taste ... you also know that I can't wait to pour myself a bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios and ... ahhhh!)

Oh yeah. And COMPULSION comes out that day, too.
I kind of think it's serendipity. Two monumental moments of the year on the same day.

There's also a lot of greatness happening tomorrow for writers out there. My editor, Ruta Rimas, is posting a blog about the writer/editor revisions process over at Books Complete Me where someone will win an editorial review of three pages of her manuscript and someone else can win a signed copy of COMPULSION. On top of that, Ruta and I will be fielding questions for a week! Yep. A week in which you can pick one of the best editorial brains in the business. And, yes, Ruta, a six-page editorial letter is PAINFUL! :-)

So ... 9 days! THE OFFICIAL CHEERIOS COUNTDOWN BEGINS!

The Year of Prime, Giveaways & a chance to use my glittery Tink again

2011-04-24T09:00:00.000-05:00

HAPPY EASTER!

For those of you who celebrate this tradition, I wish you happiness and joy and an end to the plethora of deviled eggs to come. Today, for any who've stopped by, Tanya's over at Alison's place at Alison Can Read ... And as I write this post (which I'm doing ahead of time to be ultra-organized) the neighbors are having a mariachi party, trilling their tongues ... a couple gunshots short of sounding like Pancho Villa. Sometimes the world can be a bit of a weird place.

Okay. Back to earth. Hoping you have had a wonderful spring break, Passover, Seder Dinner, Easter Brunch, Sun King festival or whatever you choose to celebrate and honor. AND ... hoping you stop by Allison's!

The Year of Prime, GIVEAWAYS including a Tinkerbell keychain and signed bookplates

2011-04-22T09:00:00.001-05:00

Okay. This is cool ... this glittery Tink! AND Tanya, Jake's "love" interest in COMPULSION, has stopped by Jessie's place at The Elliott Review in a revealing interview. It's like a Barbara Walters exclusive -- think Brangelina post Brannifer ... that hot!

Sure, I'm biased. She came from my head, right?
Anyway, come by and win, win, win in this month of prizes and winners and glittering Tinks! (So impressed with this whole glitter effect. Wondering if I could get an author photo like this. probably not advisable.)

The Year of Prime ... signed Compromised Hardback Giveaway ...

2011-04-21T09:00:00.001-05:00

I LOVE this post. At first I was totally stressed about having to bring some old characters back to life, like I'd have forgotten them, who they are. But these characters were like old friends, familiar and nice to spend time with.
Maya and Kyle come back from COMPROMISED and FREEZE FRAME ... They're watching Jake play soccer over at Jami's place at YA Addict. Stop by to win a signed copy of COMPROMISED.

The Year of Prime Giveaways and Win a Good Luck Charm!

2011-04-19T09:00:00.007-05:00

Today, we're visiting with Jake, my main character -- a 17 year old boy who's living with obsessive compulsive disorder -- and checking out his top ten list of favorite athletes.

Stop by Nancy's at Amusing Reviews and see which athletes are famous for their rituals. My favorite? Wade Boggs!

The Year of Prime ... COMPULSION TRAILER RELEASE ... Goodreads Giveaway, SIGNED COMPULSION ARC

2011-04-19T09:00:00.005-05:00

Here it is!! And I'm so so thrilled.

Thank you to the brilliant skills of Carlos Mario Urrea -- director, producer ... all around amazingly talented guy, Hector Marin and Benjamin Ellis who lent me their voices for a homemade lunch (Trust me, my cooking isn't necessarily a great swap for time), my husband for his photos and time and time and photos (and for surviving 13 years of my botched kitchen activities), Stephen Barbara with JUST the right advice (as always), and everyone at Harper for their input to make this a great trailer.
yaddayaddayadda ...

Getting a little corny here.
Anyway, ENJOY!

The Year of Prime ... GIVEAWAYS and Kasey's wannabe popularity angst!

2011-04-18T13:51:00.000-05:00

See, I TOLD YOU this would be worth it. After a vacuum of non-posts, I've been busy for this amazing blog tour and today, Kasey, Jake's little sister in COMPULSION stopped by to visit Corinne from Lost For Words
So, without further ado, I'll pass you along to visit with Kasey and Corinne and WIN STUFF!

Yes ... It's ALL about the stuff!

And ... for a little teaser, I have something pretty spectacular for everyone tomorrow. I hope you pop in to see ... well, I'll tell you tomorrow!!

Happy Reading!

The Year of Prime ... peeking in ... GIVEAWAYS GIVEAWAYS GIVEAWAYS!

2011-04-17T09:43:00.000-05:00

Yes. This is, without a doubt, the most neglected blog in the cyber galaxy. It all comes down to this: PTM ... Poor Time Management.

That said, WHAT A GREAT WAY TO GET BACK IN THE SWING OF THINGS WITH GIVEAWAYS. Some might call this bribery.
I, however, call it shameless self promotion as today MY SUPER CYBER BLOG TOUR kicks off. Organized by Kari Olson ... a blogger to be reckoned with out there, one who is able to read ten books in a single night, fall in love with countless characters, walk her dog, and drink coffee from a hot *ahem* cup ...
Yes. Kari is Super Blogger! (Damn. Maybe I was supposed to keep her identity secret.)
Today, I begin said tour (aka Shameless Self Promotion) talking about The Zombified World Domination Soccer Team over with Alyssa at Teens Read & Write ... and guess what?

YOU CAN WIN A SIGNED COPY OF COMPULSION ... huzzah!!! (The bribery begins!)

Got to start of big, so, prepare yourselves for a month (yes a month!) of giveaways including books, Colombian coffee, SWAG, Tinkerbell keychains, signed bookplates, surprises ... and more!

Today, though, why not stop by Alyssa's place and see who'd I'd have on my team to beat those brain-eating zombies? Who'd you have on YOUR team to beat the zombies? (I bet I picked the best ones!)

See you around!

The Year of Prime and Colombia From the Hip ...

2011-03-07T09:00:00.016-05:00

Unprecedented!
Historical!
THE Guiness Record.
Yep. I went to see a really really long chorizo on Saturday. A 1,917 meter long chorizo.

Think of it this way. It's like going up the Burj Dubai (including its spire) and down and back up a third of the way with one LONG chorizo ... Yes, making Oscar Meyer seem quite flaccid in comparison.
(I WILL refrain from any other inappropriate chorizo references because it's way too easy, expected and inappropriate, right?)
Anyway, here's the dish (literally): 900 kilos of meat, 500 kilos of fat, 50 kilos of condiments, and two-thousand meters of intestinal stuff to stuff it.
Holy heart burn, Bat Man!.
So where did this cholesterol bomb get made? Santa Rosa, Risaralda -- a small town about twenty minutes from where we live in Pereira. When Cesar told me that we'd have this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see the longest chorizo in the world, I didn't hesitate quite simply because I doubt most people will be able to say they've seen such a thing. I mean, it is kind of cool.
So we drove up to the Santa Rosa and wandered through the crowds that packed like sausages (ha!) around the haz-mat-like looking tent with the workers intently stuffing the pig intestines.

... music blared over the speakers, people cheered, signs were posted everywhere celebrating the goal of 1400 (though it ended up being 1917 meters long!) and the Santarrosano pride.

And our daughter got her first traffic ticket. Apparently, you're NOT allowed to ride livestock in a public park. Go figure. (The cow's name is Chiquitolin. Her owner battled the authorities for the right to ride. Personally, I don't think it's such a bad idea to NOT have livestock in a plaza. But, well, Pamplona and other cities don't necessarily set the best examples, letting bulls trample all over the town.) This does not bode well for our daughter's future transit future. Her first "transportation" and she's ticketed.

And after almost getting Chiquitolin, um, towed, the police let us off with a stern warning, and the owner led the cow to ... well, I don't really know where. We wandered around, checking out the chorizo progress, finding a beautiful cafe where we drank hot chocolate and decided it was time to end our adventure. The weather determined this since it started pissing rain.
Not to fear. The chorizo-lovers weren't deterred so easily. I guess we're a bit wimpy.
There's something magical about a city in celebration. I LOVE this about Colombia -- their celebrations. Colombians can find a reason to celebrate every day: music festivals, food, history ... anything worth a *cheers* gets one. And most everything is worth celebration. There's a general happiness here that I haven't encountered elsewhere. They're less broody, less gloomy, less existential angst-like. Colombians are quick to smile, quick to laugh, hot-headed but also quick to forgive. They talk loud, sing louder, interrupt each other constantly and ALWAYS are ready to tell you what they think. But there's something about this openness and sincerity that's endearing and, sure, infuriating. But Colombia wouldn't be Colombia without it.
Today in Santa Rosa, they're DEFINITELY not worried about counting calories, triglycerides and cholesterol. They're not worried about heartburn and ulcers. Hell. They have a near two-kilometer sized chorizo to eat.
And we got a chance to see it.

The Year of Prime, SIGNED ARC OF COMPULSION GIVEAWAY BEGINS TODAY ...

2011-03-05T10:15:00.000-05:00

Yep, starting today you can win A SIGNED ARC OF COMPULSION!

So .... What are you waiting for?? Click on the cool widget on the right, compliments of GOODREADS and win! Be one of the first to read COMPULSION

The Year of Prime, SIGNED ARC OF COMPULSION GIVEAWAY, book cover madness and COMPULSION cover reveal!

2011-03-02T14:46:00.003-05:00

If I had a smidgen of will power, I'd do some crazy cover reveal buildup and contest, but waiting to share this would be like waiting to open the dark chocolate bar with sea salt I have waiting for me in the drawer -- just not gonna happen!
So ... TA-DA!!! Here she is, Miss ...
Wait. Wrong song.
Ta-da!!! I have no song ... so ...
COMPULSION'S OFFICIAL COVER!

Today, I'm tipping my hat to Jenny Rozbruch and the design team at HARPER COLLINS for creating what I think is an exquisite visual representation of my words. I mean, how cool is that? Somebody takes the time to not only read my work but then put together what they feel is an image to represent what that work means. There's a lot of responsibility involved, many people come together to discuss, argue, put forth ideas, and then TA-DA!! We get a gorgeous book cover. Book jackets and covers are, and I'm stealing this phrase, Art For the Written Word (A great book about twenty-five years of Wendell Minor's jacket art that adorned some of the best contemporary authors from Ray Bradbury to David McCullough to Toni Morrison).

Here are some FAQ about book covers that I often get about my books and their covers that might help everybody understand, just a touch more, the business.

Do you get a say in your book covers?
Nope. (Technically). I have seen, though, all prelim book covers and been asked my opinion. I've loved them all and have trusted, too, my editor, publishers, and the design team 100%. Had I NOT liked a cover, I can't really say what would happen. To be honest, probably not a whole lot because SO MUCH GOES ON BEHIND THE SCENES that deals with marketing, target markets, what's working, what attracts buyers etc. that an author (well, me) can't even begin to fathom.

Does that bother you that you have no say in your book covers?
Nope. I'm not an artist (though I wish I were). I'm not a graphic designer. And I certainly have NO idea what is attractive for the market. I leave that to the experts! My job is to write the best novel I possibly can then let go. Obviously, if there's some kind of insane cover that doesn't make sense, my agent and I would make noise. It happens. We've heard the stories. 99% of the time, though, houses make smart art decisions.

Does a good book cover matter?
Absolutely. Sure, you can't read a book by its cover, but you certainly can BUY a book by its cover. Think of the books that catch your eye in the store. It's like buying art. (Hence, Art for The Written Word)

How do you get someone as awesome as Francisco X Stork, Jennifer Brown or Ellen Hopkins to blurb your books?
You ask. Well, your editor usually asks, which is way better than approaching an author unless you're very close to that author. Ellen Hopkins had offered to blurb FREEZE FRAME. We've known each other for a long time. And my editor, Ruta, asked Both Francisco X Stork and Jennifer Brown to blurb COMPULSION. I am grateful for their time and generosity. Like groveling grateful. And stunned. And just ... grateful.

Have you ever been disappointed by a cover?
Nope. Never. I love ALL my covers.

What is the process?
This is kind of a fill-in-the-blank answer because, to be honest, I'm not exactly sure how it works. I can tell you what I do know. My imprint, Balzer and Bray, works with designers at HarperCollins. My editor sends my manuscript to the designer with some prelim ideas about what she thinks the cover could have -- how she and the publishers imagine the cover to be. The designers read the novel then come up with a rough draft, I guess, of what they think would best represent the book according to the editors comments, ideas, and what they've read. This is sent to marketing and publicity and the publishers and the editor where they all discuss and tweak and talk and drink coffee and yell and wish they didn't have such a long commute on the train in the morning and remember they forgot their dental appointment and then come together for a finalized idea. This rough design with the finalized idea is sent to me and my agent and we "oooh" and "ahhh" and feel all giddy about it. (I do, anyway). And then it goes back to design for final tweaking until ... TA-DA!!

Do you always say ta-da?
Only when absolutely necessary or appropriate. I'm not a TA-DA abuser. Whatsoever.

So, all this hullabaloo and no cool contest about your book cover reveal?
I didn't technically say there wouldn't be a contest. I just said there wouldn't be a build up to a cover reveal contest.

So, since it's out, officially, I'm going to RAFFLE OFF A SIGNED ARC OF COMPULSION!! What's the catch? It's painfully easy! See that cool widget on the side of my blog with COMPULSION ... Well, starting March 5, you can enter to win. You can enter from March 5 - 13 ... nine days to enter and win.

That's all. And then, with Goodreads magic wand, they'll pick a winner and TA-DA! (Couldn't resist) ... Yep. Someone will get a signed ARC (advanced reader's copy) of COMPULSION.
Yay!

I love giving things away.
So ... click.
And win!

The Year of Prime and the Gatekeepers to the World of Publishing

2011-02-23T09:00:00.007-05:00

Doom, fangs, bloodsuckers that seep the life out of our words and dreams ... all in greedy hands. This isn't a paranormal, fantasy, dystopian world, this is publishing. Right?

I often hear remarks about how agents and editors don't take risks; publishing houses only want hack writing; and they're all money-hungry ogres ready to dash our words aside, chewing the quality prose to spit it back out. That, and, of course, they'll steal our original, one-of-a-kind idea, make millions, and leave us living lives of bitter misery, writing in a closet on a manual typewriter (since we can't afford a computer). (Unless we're willing to sell our souls for cash and a commercial project. Nothing of quality ever gets published, right?)

I also hear that there's no book that's "right" for kids, teens, pre-teens -- nothing suitable.

And writers ... sheesh, we're pigeon-holed into being either dupes, drunks, game-players, or just plain lucky.

It makes for a great soapbox. It makes for even more interesting movie characters. The sleezebucket agent, drunk, half-crazy, soul-selling writer, gold-digging publisher, and desperate editor make for a pretty cliche cast. Think: Adaptation, Barfly, Deconstructing Harry, Barton Fink. Hell, I'll even throw Misery in there. See what happens when you write what you've dreamed of writing? You get kidnapped by a crazy fan and get your legs chopped off. That'll show you.

I hate to be a downer, but the world of publishing from the perspective of a writer through that of an editor, marketing director, library team, design team, illustrator, agent and publisher is WAY LESS DRAMATIC. (I know. Can't make a cool movie out of that, can we?) This is WAY closer to my reality ...

(Okay, okay, I have my occasional glass of wine or beer, and copious amounts of coffee ... that cliche probably holds true for most in this business.)

The thing is, everybody who works in this business does so because they love words. Yep. They love great books, great words, great perspectives, a new take on an old idea (all ideas are old, just the perspective changes). And, at the end of the day, these horrible, awful people spend most of their time making sure great words get out there. Sure, some slip through the cracks -- "bad" writing is published (Ahem, I won't name those.) and great writing isn't guaranteed to get published. I get that. But it's not as big as a crap shoot as we'd like to think.

Those "crack-slippers" probably sell a load so that other books can be out there, on the shelves -- a book one editor fought for at acquisitions and publishing house backed; a book an agent knew would sell, even after double-digit rejections; a book an author put everything into, not because she wanted to sell her soul, but because she had a story to tell.

And to get these books out on the shelves, lots and lots of people work really hard doing something they love -- reading, writing, and weeding through slush -- they read it all -- because in slush, they'll find gems like:

SPEAK and A CONFEDERACY OF DUNCES. (The editor actually read the latter because the mother begged him to after her son killed himself. Then it won the Pulitzer.)

So these gatekeepers are actually the ones with open doors -- ready to find their next favorite author, work with someone they know has potential, someone they know will get there.

And that person might as well be you, right? (Just lay off the whiskey ... And don't drive on curvy roads during winter in remote areas, either.) We might not LIVE those movie characters, but we sure can learn from them.

The Year of Prime and the Publipocalypse

2011-02-17T09:00:00.001-05:00

Border's has filed Chapter 11.
Publishing houses have performed tectonic-plate like shuffles of imprints and editors.
E-books are out-selling paperback and hardback books.
Even Snooki hasn't gone into a second printing. (Maybe she has. I don't know. The whole Snooki thing kind of depresses me.)
The printed word is an endangered species ...

We're DOOOMED!
Okay. At least it gave us all an excuse to have early cocktails this week. (Umm ... you did have yours, didn't you, while toasting to the end of the era of literature and the beginning of a world in which we'll be forced to watch reality TV on a twenty-four hour feed?)

Here's the thing that's pretty great about human beings. Reinvention. And something that books haven't really had to do since, well, Gutenberg. Think of what the Egyptians would've said had Gutenberg been around when they were. They'd have had a slew of unemployed stone chiselers.

I have no idea what will happen in the next ten years. Hell, five years ago I wasn't addicted to Facebook and Twitter. Mubarak probably never thought social networking would be all that interesting. Who knew?

The world IS changing. How cool is that! There's no way to know what will happen to books, bookstores, and the general business. But there are a few things I am certain of.

As long as we have a world ... (that one's up in the air, too, I guess)

1. The world will always need stories.
2. The world will always need storytellers.
3. The world will always need people who hunt for talent in the slew of storytellers.
4. The world will always need people to help storytellers tell their stories better.
5. The world will always need people to promote storytellers, spread the news of storytellers, find ways to make stories of storytellers more appealing ...
6. The world will always need people to sell the stories of storytellers.

Basically, we'll all be here, changing, no doubt, worrying, no doubt, and writing. We'll be creating worlds with words, inventing futures that probably aren't as far away as we imagine (Fingers crossed it's not the Hunger Games), believing in princesses and fairies, ghosts and vampires, battling the drudgery of day jobs and high school existential angst, hoping for that first kiss in the rain (since all good kisses happen in the rain, right?), crying over someone we've loved and lost -- all with words.

And our publishing houses, editors, publicists, marketing directors, library team, design team, copy editors, and book reps will bring our stories to librarians, schools, bookstores (like Border's that will find their way back in the world) via print, e-books, and whatever medium we can get our hands on because we need stories.

So writers, don't despair. Keep writing.
We need stories. Fiction will always be an essential part of who we are, as people, as human beings.
It reminds me of something Gabriel Garcia Marquez said:

Fiction was invented the day Jonas arrived home and told his wife that he was three days late because he had been swallowed by a whale.

So what story do you want to tell? (And try to make sure it's not a tall tale for you wife. That Jonas one is so overused.)

The Year of Prime and Who Lost the Plot?

2011-01-18T09:00:00.001-05:00

Okay. Here goes. Remember that little plot triangle your 5th grade teacher taught you?

Guess what? IT'S TRUE! It's true. It's true. Hell, it's true, and as easy as it is to draw a triangle, creating one with words is about as easy as a non-anesthesized root canal. Painful.
But, as writers, we have to have a plot.
Yes, this probably seems obvious. A plot. Of course every novel would have a plot.
I speak from experience. FREEZE FRAME pre-editorial notes had a plot ... just not in the right triangle order. It looked a lot like this.

It absolutely had its ups and downs. It just didn't build toward anything, climax anywhere (admittedly, I didn't even REALIZE what my climax was), and never came to some kind of reasonable conclusion. It was a book filled with scenes -- somewhat disconnected -- and characters. It had no structure.
I called it my Choose Your Own Adventure being read straight through.
Every writer has strengths and weaknesses. The key is knowing what those are and knowing where you'll need extra help.
Enter: Arc Angels, Raiders of the Lost Arc for me -- the "Arc-impaired" ... So, how do you map plot? How is it remotely possible to get all those ideas in a cohesive arc and structure?

There are a few key things to remember:
1. Every single relationship in the book has its own arc
2. When you're ready to hit the climax, all of those relationships need to explode like popcorn, creating a kind of domino effect of mini climaxes to get to the big bang.
3. All of these explosions need to be resolved. (I don't mean that everything needs to be tied up in a pretty package. Everything, though, needs to be addressed. Just as we shouldn't have any hanging modifiers, we shouldn't have any hanging arcs.)

Once you have the relationships organized.
Voila! Plot maps.
It's basic. It's something we've all been forced to fill out in one English class or another. AND, it's something you should probably fill out for your own novels. I personally don't do this until I'm DONE with my novel because I get too caught up on the structure and lose my groove.
Here's an example of a plot map from JK Rowling and THE ORDER OF THE PHONIX ... The far left column is her time line. Then there are the chapter titles. The third column is the main plot and the subsequent columns are her sub-plots that build to the final, main plot, and how each of those sub-plots are addressed in each chapter. (You'll go blind trying to read it, but I think you get the idea.

She's a plot master. Unbelievable!
Everybody writes differently. Some plot out novels. Some outline. I don't. That's why I have to be extra careful to make sure that, at the end of the day, my novel actually HAS a plot and builds toward something. Plotting can be excruciating.
Plotting IS excruciating. But with a little inspiration from one of the plot masters, it's definitely do-able!

The Year of Prime and WHO'D BUY THAT?

2011-01-07T09:00:00.001-05:00

2011 is a prime number, and it also is the sum of 11 consecutive prime numbers (11 being prime itself): 157+163+167+173+179+181+191+193+197+199+211

So what?

Well, May 3, 2011 (5th month -- prime, 3rd day -- prime, 2011th year AD -- prime) my next novel, COMPULSION, will be released. Much of COMPULSION deals with prime numbers and my main character's need to find the primes in his life ...

That said, to celebrate the prime numbers of the year, I'm going to only blog a prime number of times per month on prime dates, just because ... And my first month of blogs of the year (January) will be entirely dedicated to writing. Writing tips. Writing ideas. How I write. Basically, the craft of writing. There might be an occasional slip from the theme if I find something worth sharing. Otherwise, January is the month of writing!

So today, I want to talk about characters, and some tips on how to create some interesting characters that I'd definitely want to read about. One of the coolest sources for off-beat, quirky, and sometimes just plain kitsch characters is your friendly neighborhood SKY MALL catalog. Browse the pages and ask the simple question: Who'd buy that? (And, no, I have not invented ANY of these items because I'm simply not this creative.)

So after answering, "Who'd buy the Sumo Wrestler Coffee Table?", answer, "Why?" Yes. We're all asking, "Why?" But it's your job to answer it. And finally ask, "For whom?" One table. Three questions. Not only do you have yourself a pretty complex character, you might even have a little back story, developing story arc to go with it.

What if it's a first generation Japanese-American boy who's embarrassed about his parents' foreign ways, so as a huge joke, he buys the table for his dad for Christmas, making sure his friends are in on it?
OR ... what if it's a young girl who, that though she's from Kentucky and was born in 1995, she believes she's been reincarnated because in her previous life, she was a famous Geisha, born in 1830, and had married the most powerful and important Sumo wrestler in Kyoto? When she finds the table at an flea market, she's sure it's the face and body of her past-life husband and goes on a search to find the model.

Same table. Two very different stories.

Another great character source: The classified ads. Read the ads. Who placed the ad? Why? And you don't necessarily need to go to an exotic or strange place for ads. I took these from THE NEVADA APPEAL -- the local paper in Carson City, Nevada.

Coke machine, 10 cent vendo 1950s, stored in home, runs, very good cond, with 4 cases of empty bottles.

Harley Davidson Ceramic Beer Stein.

MOVING - ENTIRE HOUSEHOLD MUST GO NOW! EVERYTHING NEGOTIABLE! New Sectional Oak Wall Unit Oak Gun Case Full Pedestal Bed w/Drawers LOTS of Misc. MORE

The most essential part of creating characters is the detail. Everything they own, every conversation they have, every minute detail of their bedrooms, habits, what they wear, who they admire, how they talk, is a window into who your character is and a way to create tension, reveal something about a character, move the plot forward, or even HIDE something about a character. Sifting through classifieds and funny catalogs is a great way to create more depth, humor and maybe find a key piece that's may be missing to make your character memorable.

A few unforgettable characters or character items in lit:

Rudy from The Book Thief and his obsession with Jesse Owens. (I really love that kid. Really, truly.)
The leg lamp from A Christmas Story ... (Yeah. It's a movie. But the movie wouldn't be the SAME without that horrible, tacky leg lamp.)
Violet Durn from Feed and her broken feed
Cameron from Going Bovine and his obsession with Tremolo the Portuguese recorder player

When you think about your characters, think details. Because that's where their essence will be revealed.

Happy writing!

And the Winner of NAME THAT LAME-DUCK NOVEL is ...

2011-01-02T10:37:00.000-05:00

With such an overwhelming response to the contest, it was hard to figure out who should win, so I decided ALL THREE ENTRIES are winners!! (Yes, this could be considered diplomacy, but it's just me happy that there were three entries.)
The winners have been contacted with elaborate prize-winning plans and wishes for a happy new year. In the meantime, here are the answers to the books that I somewhat hack-described!

1. GOING BOVINE: A string theory novel about a kid with mad cow's disease.
2. THE ASTONISHING LIFE OF OCTAVIAN NOTHING: TRAITOR TO THE NATION: A Revolution era novel written in eighteen century language about a kid who's basically a living petri-dish for a bunch of radical philosophers.
3. A CROOKED KIND OF PERFECT: A novel about a little girl whose father suffers from mental illness and mother is a work-aholic, enters a wheeze-bag organ competition playing FOREVER IN BLUEJEANS.
4. THE BOOK THIEF: Death narrates his experiences in WWII Germany.
5. THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHTTIME: A kid's obsession to discover the truth behind the mysterious death of the neighbor's dog leads him on a perilous journey.
6. SKIPPY JON JONES: A Siamese cat dreams about being a Mexican Chihuahua superhero.
7. THE BIG SPLASH: A Sam Spade-style , hard-boiled detective novel about a middle school with an organized crime ring that deals in forgeries, stolen test papers, and more, where a kid is hired by the underworld boss to do a simple job.
8. THE CHOCOLATE WAR: A kid refuses to sell chocolates in the school's annual fundraiser.
9. GILEAD: An older father, who is a small town's preacher, writes a long letter to his son.
10. STUCK IN NEUTRAL: A genius is stuck in a body that doesn't work for him, and he thinks his dad wants to kill him.

Lame-Duck Writing ... And CONTEST!

2010-12-27T15:37:00.000-05:00

Post-elections, a congress that has "nothing to lose" has gone into overdrive passing the Post-911 GI Bill, repealing a shameful "Don't ask don't tell," pushing for a vote on the DREAM Act (a bill that would give children of illegal immigrants a legal, and easier, road to citizenship) among others. In fact, they're in a mad scramble to pass through twenty pieces of legislation.
This, of course, begs the question: What the hell were they doing twiddling their thumbs for the past two years? Oh yeah. That's right. They were so worried about losing their seats in congress (which they did), they didn't do anything. It makes me wonder had they actually passed through these pieces of legislation their constituents would most likely support, they might still have their jobs come 2011.
Nevertheless, I'm thankful they're acting like the politicians we elected four years ago -- doing their jobs -- and makes me think about the kind of job I want to do as a writer.
I want to be (and strive to be) a lame-duck writer -- a writer that has nothing to lose; a writer who's determined to take some pretty big risks; a writer who believes that putting my heart, soul, imagination, and quirky ideas into each book I write will help me produce the best work I can.

So I want to tip my hat today to some lame-duck writers out there -- writers with gumption -- and to lame-duck agents, editors, and publishers (because a writer won't get too far without them -- lame-duck or not). And to give you just a little glimpse of the wonders out there in the world of lit, I'm going to give one to two-line summaries of some of the coolest lame-duck pieces of lit out there. You just might recognize some of these novels that, by taking huge risks, made huge splashes in the literary world. Don't confuse simplicity for "easy" either. Some of the richest novels out there take risks being exquisite pieces of simplicity.

And, to make this interesting, in the comments section, write a note that you've entered the competition: Name that Lame-Duck Novel. Then send me an e-mail to info@heidiayarbe.com with the name of the novels you think I'm referring to. (In the RE line, please put Name that Lame-Duck Novel). The winner will get one of the novels plus a 20 page critique of his or her novel. (And if you're not a writer, I'll critique your friend's writing, husband's writing, postman's writing, cat's writing ... whatever!)
Contest Ends December 31 at midnight. (Okay, if you're up at 1:00 am on January 1st, entering the contest, I'll take it simply because that's madness. You should be doing something else!)

All of these novels have inspired me to take big changes in my own work. And these chances I take have always been backed by my agent, Stephen Barbara, editor, Ruta Rimas, and publishers Balzer & Bray. So for those of you grumblers out there saying publishing houses don't take chances. Ummm ... go to your library, bookstore, and open the pages. Be prepared to be amazed.

1. A string theory novel about a kid with mad cow's disease.
2. A Revolution era novel written in eighteen century language about a kid who's basically a living petri-dish for a bunch of radical philosophers.
3. A novel about a little girl whose father suffers from mental illness and mother is a work-aholic, enters a wheeze-bag organ competition playing FOREVER IN BLUEJEANS.
4. Death narrates his experiences in WWII Germany.
5. A kid's obsession to discover the truth behind the mysterious death of the neighbor's dog leads him on a perilous journey.
6. A Siamese cat dreams about being a Mexican Chihuahua superhero.
7. A Sam Spade-style , hard-boiled detective novel about a middle school with an organized crime ring that deals in forgeries, stolen test papers, and more, where a kid is hired by the underworld boss to do a simple job.
8. A kid refuses to sell chocolates in the school's annual fundraiser.
9. An older father, who is a small town's preacher, writes a long letter to his son.
10. A genius is stuck in a body that doesn't work for him, and he thinks his dad wants to kill him.

Have fun! Have a Happy Happy New Year!!

This contest is open to anybody ... as of now!

A Book A Day: On the 21st - 24th of Christmas

2010-12-20T23:28:00.001-05:00

I'm doing a chunk here because, well, if you haven't gotten your gifts purchased by now and are brave enough to brave the stores, I wish you the best and know that I really can't help much anymore!

So ... here's a smattering of books that are GREAT for kids of all ages (meaning grown-up kids, too). And, quite honestly, I can't imagine a better gift than the right book for the right person. So ... have at it!

MERRY MERRY CHRISTMAS.
I will now let the Colombian holiday black hole swallow me up and will resurface after the 25th ... Hopefully in one piece. (mentally and physically).
Many many wishes for a healthy and happy holiday, whatever you choose to or not to celebrate. Just have a healthy December and New Year!

A Book A Day: On the 20th Day of December

2010-12-20T09:00:00.007-05:00

LESSONS FROM A DEAD GIRL by Jo Knowles addresses something I think very few YA novels address -- abusive relationships between friends and the complexities of this abuse. So many females have dealt with a kind of abusive relationship but rarely has the abuse between two female friends been explored in literature. Actually, I can't really name another novel that does such a phenomenal job. Jo Knowles just knocked this out of the park. The relationship between Leah and Lainey is strained, secretive, hurtful, but there's genuine caring in it, too. What struck me hard, when I read this novel, is that the relationship between Leah and Lainey's relationship is so so similar to that of some friends I grew up with. It was eerily close to a reality I saw a great friend of mine live. It also does an amazing job of showing the chain-effect of abuse; why a person who is abused abuses. This is a tragic novel, but I felt like it was honest and Knowles didn't take any shortcuts in exploring the friendship between Laine and Leah.

For: mature YA. This is a great novel for parents and teachers of teenagers. It's also a great novel for anybody trying to understand abuse and loss. Read LESSONS with your teen, too, because of the countless discussion points.

A Book A Day: On the 19th of December

2010-12-19T09:00:00.000-05:00

Sherman Alexie is a master. This semi-autobiographical novel is about a year in the life of Arnold Spirit, AKA Junior, who lives on the rez (the Spokane Indian Reservation) but decides to go to school in Reardon with the rich "white" kids when he's fourteen years old. This makes him a kind of traitor to his reservation school and a novelty in the rich white school, and Junior's found himself in no-man's land, trying to find a place where he'll fit in. The novel explores Junior's struggles with self-identity, tribal identity, community, family, and how he can overcome the poverty in which he lives regardless of handicaps from birth (born with water on the brain), social class and race. It's tragic, witty, never indulgent, and always, always insightful. Junior's sense of humor is phenomenal -- making me laugh through tears at times when most of us would just throw in the towel and give up. I only wish I had access to a novel like this growing up because it might've helped me understand, even just a little, what the rez kids that went to my school went through.

For: Middle school and up! This is a great novel for any kid who's just trying to find his or her place in the world, trying to understand where he comes from and where he's expected to go. I loved this novel. I LOVED Junior. I loved his best friend, Rowdy. My heart broke. I laughed (lots). And I felt like I understood things a little better about what reservation life is like and the kids who live there. Read this!!

A Book A Day: On the 18th of December

2010-12-18T09:00:00.001-05:00

Can I just say, "Wow!" ?
Wow
This book was phenomenal. I loved, loved, loved how Donnelly used music to define Andi. I loved the parallels between modern-day New York and the French revolution in everything from the haves vs have nots, Andi's red-ribboned necklace, the way Truman dies ... everything. Jennifer Donnelly has done the funkiest, best historical fiction novel I've ever read, weaving the French Revolution, the life of Alex and her personal loss with Andi's modern-day drama, depression, and personal loss. Everything about this book was surprising including the romance. I tend to be a non-romance reader, but Andi's romantic interest in this novel is perfect. He's imperfect, sexy as hell, a musician and fascinating without being over-the-top broody and dark and perfect. I guess that's a great way to describe this novel: surprising. What a breath of fresh air to read something so perfectly plotted but with enough twists to keep me wondering.

For: young adults (probably thirteen or fourteen and older), history buffs and anybody who loves historical fiction, music lovers, people who DON'T like historical fiction (because this is such a great story, you'll forget we're talking about the French Revolution), and anybody who's dealing with loss, trying to understand and work through something that seems bigger than them.

A Book A Day: On the 15th, 16th, 17th Day of Christmas ...

2010-12-17T09:00:00.004-05:00

Okay.
I got a little itty bit behind. So I'm going to recommend three books to make up for the lapse!!

I can't give really solid plot outlines on these novels because I read them all when I was in fifth and sixth grade, and this is what I remember about each. (But the point here, is, I read all of these books nearly thirty years ago and I STILL remember them and how they made me feel.)

A VIEW FROM THE CHERRY TREE by Willo Davis Roberts gave me nightmares. I STILL remember the scene where the boy realizes which man has the cat scratches on his arms. I was horrified and terrified and, well, had really bad dreams.
Susan Cooper's phenomenal THE DARK IS RISING series made me want to be magical. I remember reading the books and daydreaming that I was one of the children in the books with magical powers. (Like I said, this is pretty vague because I don't remember the plots, what powers they had or anything. I just remember how much I LOVED them.)
Cynthia Voigt's HOMECOMING made me cry. I so so wanted those kids to find more work to do for their grandmother every day. I hated and loved the grandmother and I loved, more than anyone, Dicey. She, to that point in my life, was the strongest female character I'd ever read about. And I loved how she was willing to do anything to keep her family together.

All of these books were recommended to me by the librarian at Bordewich Elementary School. I remember I'd go into the library, get a book, then pretty much return the next morning for a new one. The librarian always had one waiting for me. And I think I owe a lot of becoming a writer to her. She broke the mold giving me challenging, amazing books to read.

So, all of these books are GREAT for any middle grader. In fact, young adult or adult. I've got some catching up and re-reading to do!

A Book A Day: On the 14th Day of December

2010-12-14T09:00:00.001-05:00

Reading hour, book club, author talks, book clubs, writing workshops, art clubs, summer reading programs, origami, knitting clubs, movies and more ...

And it's free??

What better gift than to take someone you love to the library and share an hour there every couple of weeks ... every month? What better gift than time??

So, GIVE A LIBRARY CARD because you're giving time. Plus, you can have all those books I've mentioned before plus a billion more ... FOR FREE ...

A Book A Day: On the 13th of December

2010-12-13T09:00:00.005-05:00

Today I'm recommending one of my old favorites, ALL THE NAMES. Jose Saramago is the only author I have ever "known" that can write an entire book without referring to a single character by name -- except for Senhor Jos -- the main character who works at the Central Registry Office, cataloging the names of every birth, marriage or death of every man, woman, and child in the unnamed city where Senhor Jos works.

Senhor Jos is like any cog in the wheel of bureaucracy until he becomes obsessed with "the woman". Information about this woman gets mixed up in some clippings Senhor Jos steals for his personal collection. (He's a model worker except for the fact he steals, at night, birth certificates of famous people and copies them down, returning them to their rightful files in the morning. While doing this one night, "the woman's" information falls out of a file he's stolen -- obviously having been misfiled).

He can't stop thinking about this woman and Senhor Jos's quest to find out about her life -- something he's never cared about before (anybody's actual life -- just their births and deaths) -- means everything to him, putting him at odds with everything he's ever believed in, everyone he's ever worked for, and he's willing to take incredible risks to discover the truth about this woman's life (a woman he doesn't know but needs to know).

ALL THE NAMES is, hands down, one of the most fascinating, tension-filled novels I've ever read. And who says you need Jason Bourne to get your blood boiling? Give me a 50-year-old bureau clerk obsessed with an unknown woman over Bond, any day. In ALL THE NAMES you've got way more than gadgets and muscle and hot women. You've got magic -- Saramago-style, of course.

For: I'd give this to any government bureaucrat (just because they're probably relate on some level), anybody who loves great literature. It's definitely a more sophisticated read with adult angst, eccentricities, and a proverbial descent into the "metaphysical labyrinth" (PUBLISHER'S WEEKLY) -- this probably isn't for your teen reader. Unless they're DQ from LAST SUMMER OF THE DEATH WARRIORS ... This is, though, total awesomeness in literature in every shape and form. This is how it's done.

A Book A Day: On the 12th Day of December

2010-12-12T09:00:00.002-05:00

This past fall I discovered the most incredible books illustrated by Caldecott-award winner David Diaz and became an insta-fan, bought three, and won't give them to my daughter. (Two are signed, so I figured she'll get them when she's older, anyway). That said, I read them to my daughter all the time. ALL. THE. TIME.

In EL BARRIO (written by Debbi Chocolate), Diaz mixes photography with colorful acrylic paintings creating the magic of a Harlem neighborhood during a little girl's quincenera (15th birthday party). I love the magical words and rhythm of the text and Diaz's colorful interpretation of the words jump out of the page. The other two, I just bought because I love his work. I was drawn to both books and right away knew they were his.

I haven't seen, and intend to look for it, SMOKY NIGHTS, the picture book he won the Caldecott for. But in the meantime, I really recommend any of his books if you want to add Latin color to your child's (or yours, as is in my case) bookshelf.

For: Anybody. Everybody. A GREAT hostess gift, stocking stuffer, birthday present ... you name it. GREAT GREAT COLORFUL stylized wonderful works of art in 32 pages.

A Book A Day: On the 11th Day of December

2010-12-11T09:00:00.002-05:00

SKY BLUE ACCIDENT (ACCIDENTE CELESTE) by Jorge Lujan and Piet Grobler is, far and away, one of my favorite books ever. On the way to school, the main character falls off his bike and runs into the sky, keeping some of its broken pieces in his pocket. Whimsical illustrations of flying teachers, lost clouds and a moon directing traffic bring the words to life. SKY BLUE ACCIDENT, a bilingual book with both English and Spanish on the pages (translated to English by Elisa Amado) loses nothing in translation. My favorite line is "Lost clouds stumbled around, bumbling into corners,"

For: Any child. Teachers that have bi-lingual classrooms. Parents who want a book they won't get tired of reading. (Honestly, as much as I appreciate her, some days I think if I have to say, "Swiper, no swiping" one more time, I'll go mad.) It's also a great book for artists or people who just love beautiful books!

A Book a Day: On the 10th Day of December

2010-12-10T10:56:00.000-05:00

I'm a little bit excited about sharing this book because it's one of the most gorgeous picture books I've ever, ever, ever seen. A MOONLESS NIGHT (originally published in Hebrew) is written by Shira Gefen and Etgar Keret, illustrated by David Polonsky. A MOONLESS NIGHT is the story of Zohar, a little girl whose Daddy turns out the light, telling her not to be afraid because the moonlight will shine in her window.
But the moon is gone. And Zohar is scared and decides she has to find the moon so she can sleep.
This book is phenomenal. Its illustrations are out of this world. Her journey is dark and scary but one probably 90% or more of the children around the world can relate to. And the ending is a delightful surprise.

For: I tried reading this with my daughter when she was two and a half, and she got scared. I'd probably buy this for three or four year olds. I'd also buy it for anybody who really loves beautiful picture books that have both amazing stories and illustrations ... Or anybody who, at one time in their life, was afraid of the dark. Plus, it's not a very known book. In fact, I don't think I've ever seen it in any bookstore I've visited. So spread the word. Ask for this book. It's GORGEOUS!

A Book A Day: On the 9th Day of December

2010-12-09T07:59:00.000-05:00

I automatically assume everybody's read this book because it's so powerful and important, but then I thought, Okay. Somewhere around 300K books are published in any given year, so it's possible that you haven't read this book, and I really think YOU NEED TO READ THIS BOOK.

Why: (Information from RAINN (Rape, Abuse Incest National Network), www.rainn.org

WOMEN
1 out of every 6 American women has been the victim of an attempted or completed rape in her lifetime (14.8% completed rape; 2.8% attempted rape).
17.7 million American women have been victims of attempted or completed rape.
9 of every 10 rape victims were female in 2003.
While about 80% of all victims are white, minorities are somewhat more likely to be attacked.

Men
About 3% of American men — or 1 in 33 — have experienced an attempted or completed rape in their lifetime.¹

In 2003, 1 in every ten rape victims were male.²
2.78 million men in the U.S. have been victims of sexual assault or rape.¹

CHILDREN:
15% of sexual assault and rape victims are under age 12.

29% are age 12-17.
44% are under age 18.
80% are under age 30.
12-34 are the highest risk years.
Girls ages 16-19 are 4 times more likely than the general population to be victims of rape, attempted rape, or sexual assault.

7% of girls in grades 5-8 and 12% of girls in grades 9-12 said they had been sexually abused.

3% of boys grades 5-8 and 5% of boys in grades 9-12 said they had been sexually abused.

In 1995, local child protection service agencies identified 126,000 children who were victims of either substantiated or indicated sexual abuse.

Of these, 75% were girls.
Nearly 30% of child victims were between the age of 4 and 7.

93% of juvenile sexual assault victims know their attacker.

34.2% of attackers were family members.
58.7% were acquaintances.
Only 7% of the perpetrators were strangers to the victim.

Victims of sexual assault are:

3 times more likely to suffer from depression.
6 times more likely to suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder.
13 times more likely to abuse alcohol.
26 times more likely to abuse drugs.
4 times more likely to contemplate suicide.

Almost just as disturbing as these statistics is the fact we're still not talking about this with our kids. Just this past fall at YaleUniversity, some fraternity pledges stomped around campus shouting rape chants like: No means yes, and yes means anal. (among other things). What's more disturbing, besides the fact these are our "best and brightest" and these young men had absolutely no scruples about glorifying rape so they can make a couple of tail-gate party buddies, was the school's "boys will be boys" reaction.
Rape isn't funny.
Rape isn't a joke.

It gets worse ... way worse. For instance, an associate professor of management at Missouri State University, Wes Scroggins, characterized SPEAK, the book I'm recommending, as soft porn. Whoever thinks rape is a turn on and pornographic is a sick, sick, sick individual. The thing is, he's a professor. He's respected. People will BELIEVE what he spews because he has a few letters after his name.

So an amazing, amazing campaign began on TWITTER: #speakloudly. Writers, educators, professionals, and more came forward bravely sharing their stories about rape and sexual abuse because this is something we don't talk about enough or LOUD enough.

So for December 9th, I'm recommending the phenomenal novel, SPEAK, by Laurie Halse Anderson

I don't only recommend this for girls. This is a must-read for parents, young men and women. It's one of those novels that needs to be read, and I wouldn't wait until my kids were fourteen to do so. Read this together with your children -- both boys and girls -- as soon as they hit middle school. I know. So young? Shouldn't we preserve their innocence?
Um. No.
Because our jobs as parents are to give our kids the means to survive (see above statistics).
Is it uncomfortable? Hell yes. But do you want to give your kids the tools and strength to come forward and talk about this if, God forbid, it ever happens to them? Absolutely. Because silence is the killer here. Silence is what perpetuates vicious cycles of abuse, pain, and destruction.

So please read this with your children LOUDLY and #speakloudly. Speak often. Please.

Lighting a Candle: Making a Wish

2010-12-08T09:00:00.002-05:00

Taking a break from A Book A Day to share with you a celebration of lights. My holiday wish for you (besides great books, of course) is love, peace, health, happiness and lots of gratitude. And when all else fails, spike the egg nog.

A Book A Day: On the 7th Day of December

2010-12-07T09:00:00.011-05:00

Who wants to be fifteen forever?
NOBODY ... Well not anybody who isn't totally masochistic (or a sparkling God of marble). Doug, AKA Meatball, is accidentally turned into a vampire and is stuck in his chubby 15-year-old, not-very-likable body. He and and his best friend Jay, total Comic-con goers and dorky to the core, are doing everything they can to investigate Doug's new problem and figure out a way for him to stay alive while not having to eat people. (He's surviving sucking cow's blood in a field on the outside of town)
I thought we'd been vampired out, but this amazing, hilarious read by Adam Rex who doesn't take himself, or much of anything else, too seriously is such a breath of fresh air. It had my laughing out loud. (Some of my favorite scenes are with Doug and Jay testing vampire lore. Jay pulls out a crucifix and Doug just stares at him, bored. Then Jay, because Doug is Jewish, tries to do a Jewish star to no avail.) Absolutely funny. That said, it takes a pretty dark, Gothic turn. Go figure! A Gothic, freakish, and pretty gruesome vampire tale. Isn't that how they're supposed to be? On top of that, Rex is a master of characters and Doug is truly not a nice guy a lot of the time, taking his insecurities out on his best friend. And the sub-plot of Sejal, an Indian exchange student (Kind of like Edward's Bella but with a personality) determined to be Goth, who got sucked into a Cyber existence is pretty fascinating, too. She became a cyber bully, losing herself in a world of chat rooms and cruelty. And what she sees in Doug isn't far from where she was.
Though a funny read, it had some fascinating threads that real teens deal with -- some pretty amazing insights.

For: Teens ... of all ages who are obsessed with or anti-fantasy. And for anybody who says they'll never read a vampire novel. (There are non-vampire readers out there! I was one of them.)

A Book A Day: On the 6th Day of December

2010-12-06T09:00:00.001-05:00

Marcelo Sandoval is a bright, handsome 17 year old who's going to work at his dad's law office for the summer. A pretty basic expectation for any teen with the exception that Marcelo has Asperberger's Syndrome. Marcelo's world, up until this summer, has been a kind of utopia. He's surrounded by children and peers with special needs; he sees a specialist for testing once a year; he lives in a tree house and his parents and sister live according to his rules.Until his father strikes a deal with him.
Marcelo studies in a special school, and his father wants him to transfer to the public high school for his senior year. If he completes the summer job, according to the "real world" expectations his father has, Marcelo can choose where he wants to study his senior year.
Stork has created one of the most memorable characters in literature. We're invited to live inside Marcelo's private world, one in which he hears music and obsesses about God, religion and creation. Marcelo works at a law office and becomes a kind of moral compass not only for this particular story, but for the reader. I couldn't help but ask, "What would I do?" Because of Marcelo's special world view, his mind doesn't get muddied by the gray area adults often live by, justifying the unjustifiable. His approach to problems is similar to that of a child, though his intelligence is far from child-like. Marcelo's real-world problems include ethical dilemmas that are incredibly personal, falling in love, and potentially risking his father's career.
I loved this novel. I loved this character. And I'm so so happy to see that Francisco X. Stork has another novel out this year, THE LAST SUMMER OF THE DEATH WARRIORS, that is on my shelf for when I want something extra special to read.

For: YA -- twelve and older, parents and teachers of kids with high functioning autism spectrum disorders and Asperger's

A Book A Day: On the 5th Day of December

2010-12-05T09:00:00.001-05:00

Jennifer Brown's HATE LIST is very different than any other school shooting novel I've read in that it turns the spotlight onto the girlfriend of the shooter, Valerie. Valerie came up with the idea of a hate list, a list of people and things she and her boyfriend hated; Valerie was there, at Nick's side, when the shooting began; Valerie should've known this was going to happen.
Valerie didn't.
There are so many things I loved about this novel, but the thing I loved most was its honesty. Many of the kids Nick wanted to kill and did kill were mean. Really mean. And hateful. Nick had been victimized for years in the schools. And he was loved by a girl who isn't allowed to mourn him. The heinous crime he commits doesn't change how kids treat each other, and nobody feels better these kids died -- especially Valerie, the one who wrote the hate list. And add to that the kids who got in the way, the teacher who died protecting kids and couldn't calm Nick down, the chaos in the cafeteria during the shooting, the media hype afterward.
Brown doesn't take any shortcuts, and this novel forces the reader to take a step back and think about who we condemn because of their associations.
I commend Brown for taking on such tough subject matter and turning it on its head. It's an incredibly powerful novel.

For: Mature teens, teachers, administrators, parents ... It's an important novel for a base to talk about bullying and how to deal with it.

A Book A Day: On the 4th Day of December ...

2010-12-04T09:00:00.002-05:00

I am undoubtedly the last mother of a little girl on the planet to discover this absolutely joyful, wonderful, witty and funny book series. FANCY NANCY written by Jane O'Connor and illustrated by Robin Preiss Glasser makes me laugh. She's sooooooooo uber feminine and over-the-top that it's almost sickening, but I can't help but adore her, her fancy words, her silly predicaments, and the way she just charms the heck out of me. And the vocabulary is awesome. My almost three-year-old now says things are disastrous and melancholy. Hey, if that's not good enough incentive to read this, I don't know what is.

I'm including TEA FOR RUBY by Sarah Ferguson, The Duchess of York, illustrated by Robin Preiss Glasser because of RPG. The illustrations are super close to FANCY NANCY and the book could possibly be confused for the same series. TEA FOR RUBY is charming. It's a fun read. My daughter loves it. But I don't as much as FANCY NANCY because Ruby doesn't have the same spunk as Nancy. The illustrations, though, are gorgeous. Obviously! And TEA FOR RUBY is a great way to remind my daughter to say please and thank you. It's a sweet book.

Either way, both books are great for: little girls two to five years old. I don't mean to be exclusive on this, but I don't think lots of little boys would enjoy the books as much.

A Book A Day: On the 3rd of December

2010-12-03T09:00:00.002-05:00

Wow.
Just wow.
Yeah. You're going to need more than that. THE BONESHAKER by Kate Milford was my inauguration into the world of steampunk lit and, quite frankly, I'm hooked. Automatons, making deals with devils, Harlequins that gave me nightmares are all part of this intricately woven tale about Natalie Minks -- bike rider extraordinaire who just can't seem to ride the Chesterlane Eidolon (the boneshaker) her dad fixed up for her. A tomboy with spunk, Natalie and her friends are the first to go to see what Dr. Jake Limberleg's Nostrum Fair and Technological Show is about. Her friends have fun running around, exploring the maze of tents and shows, but for Natalie something just doesn't seem right. While Natalie's determined to figure out how his automatons work, certain that Dr. Limberleg isn't your everyday swindler, the entire town is sucked in by his magical cures -- even Natalie's brother and father who go to get a cure for her mother.
The stories her mother told her growing up about the townspeople -- like the old blues singer making a deal with the devil at the crossroads and winning among others -- start to make sense. Natalie gets dizzying visions of the past that tie into the evil that has come into her small town. And we take the bumpy ride with her on the boneshaker all the way to the end. Imagine Charlie Daniel's The Devil Went Down to Georgia mixed with a bit of Ray Bradbury's Something Wicked This Way Comes add a splash of punk and you've got THE BONESHAKER.

For: Though it's tagged for middle grade readers, I'd say it's probably for older middle graders (with great vocabularies), young adults and up. The prose is phenomenal though quite sophisticated which might frustrate some younger readers. And it's a really dark novel that grapples with good, evil, soul selling and more -- great for discussion with your kids, but probably for more mature readers.

A Book A Day: On the 2nd of December

2010-12-02T09:00:00.002-05:00

SCONES AND SENSIBILITY by Lindsay Eland is pure magic -- beginning to end. And it's such a nice break to read something that deals with important issues: relationships and divorce and heartbreak and more -- but in a way that we don't feel like we're reliving the bleak world that flashes before us on CNN.
Polly Madassa is a hopeless romantic, and, let's say, was probably born in the wrong century. She's determined to model her life and purpose after those of the likes of Anne of Green Gables and Jane Austin's characters in Pride and Prejudice, and being so out of touch with today's reality makes Polly's madness even more likeable. She's determined to fix what, well, isn't broken, encourage romance to bloom where a weed wouldn't grow, and in doing so makes a big mess out of her own personal relationships.
This is one of those magical books that is like exhaling. It's so much fun to read. Eland's gift for describing food is fattening because, trust me, on every page you'll be craving something new (As Polly's summer job isn't meddling but actually delivering her family's baked goods around the small beach town), and what better time to crave than Christmastime?

For: Middle grade and pre-teen readers. Anybody who loves Jane Austin and romantic books. Anybody who just needs a smile!

A Book A Day: On the 1st of December ...

2010-12-01T10:13:00.000-05:00

Tired of the damsel in distress? How about a hot soccer star in distress being saved by the wallflower werewolf?
That caught your attention! CLAIRE DE LUNE by Christine Johnson is such a great change of pace from what we typically think of as fantasy/werewolf/vampire novels. Claire, on her sixteenth birthday, is feeling an itch. Popular kids are at her party. Matthew, the most popular guy and star of the soccer team is there, too, and flirting. But her itch isn't that. It's because she's a werewolf. (As if being sixteen and having a budding romance with the high school soccer star isn't hard enough -- just think of all that extra HAIR).
Anyway, Claire's "normal" is finding out she comes from a lineage of werewolves and is inducted into the pack. On top of all this new found knowledge about her particular "issue", a rogue werewolf is on the loose, killing people, and Matthew's dad is an agent with the Federal Human Protection Agency looking to attach his rising star to trapping werewolves.
It's a fun read with romance, drama, the typical teen angst that comes from being a teenager + a werewolf (atypical, indeed, but we can definitely relate to Claire not feeling quite right in either skin). I especially love the way Johnson turns all the werewolf lore on its head ... And who said it was a man's world?
I can't wait for the sequel to come out in 2011.

For who: (Yes. I do realize it should be WHOM but WHOM feels so ... "correct") Twelve and up. Kids who love romance and fantasy and a little combined. (Nothing is too heavy handed. Definitely appropriate for adolescents of any age).

A Book A Day: On the 30th Day of November ...

2010-11-30T15:48:00.001-05:00

Alas, I'm starting early since I've utterly neglected my blog this past month.
No excuses. Just neglect.
But now that I'm back in full force, I'm going to be recommending BOOKS every day in December (until the 24th when I will go into shutdown mode). What better gift than a book for someone you love, your school library, your local library, your children's teachers, your husband, wife, best friend, postman, dog walker, babysitter ... than BOOKS?

So on this 30th Day of November, my first recommendation for you is:

FALLOUT is the third novel in Ellen Hopkins' CRANK trilogy. Heart breaking, bleak, and always honest, Ellen Hopkins concludes the trilogy about Kristina's crank addiction, adding new voices -- Kristina's children. She brilliantly shifts points of views between Kristina, Hunter, Autumn and Summer, taking us on a journey of not only Kristina's addiction but how her addiction has shaped her family. We follow the children and Kristina through anger, solitude, helplessness and even hope.
Ellen's verse novels have such stunning lines like Summer's, Train's like this generally wreck sooner or later. Or, one of my favorites, "Hunter Seth Haskins, her firstborn son. I've been choking that down for nineteen years."
What I most love in Ellen's work is that nothing is extra -- no fluff. Just beautiful images, heart-wrenching scenes that grab the reader and keep her/him turning pages until the end.

For who: mature teen readers

And the Winner Is ... (Ta-da-da-da ... horn music)

2010-10-19T10:19:00.000-05:00

Alas, my creative book banners, I haven't forgotten you! We were swept away into airports and travel nightmares, cesspools of germs floating around enclosed tubes in the sky and landed in LA then headed to San Diego. I have the "SHAMU SHAMU" song stuck in my head and it's been almost two weeks since our Shamu shower at Sea World. Is there somebody I can sue about that? There HAS to be. I mean, this IS the States, now, isn't it? Okay, lawsuits aside ... WE HAVE A WINNER!! Our panel of judges carefully read all the entries and finally determined which of your twisted and crazy minds deserved FOUR AWESOME NOVELS! (Yes. We really had a panel because I thought it would be more fair that way.

Here goes!
A concerned citizen in Reno wrote the following about that seemingly innocuous Christmas Classic: HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS:

HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS...... Where should I start with this abominable piece of trash? First of all, the author is a total fraud: "Doctor" Suess? Doctor????? What would he have been able to accomplish in a medical emergency? The only thing Mr. Suess contributed to humanity is a despicable excuse for children’s literature that encourages such atrocities as listed below:
1. The book is unabashedly blasphemous and seeks to defile the hallowed Christmas holiday.
2. The main character is a single man living alone… the homosexual undertones cannot be ignored.
3. The “Grinch” throughout the story engages in animal abuse, breaking and entering, grand larceny and impersonating an individual of authority.
4. Even more disturbing, however, are the implicit pedophiliac tendencies displayed by this supposed protagonist. How can we possibly allow our children to be exposed to a book where a grown man is lurking lasciviously in a young girl’s bedroom? Talk about “To Catch a Predator!”
Clearly, this book must be pulled from the shelves in order to protect the fragile innocence of our young people.

CONGRATS! To 'A CONCERNED CITIZEN IN RENO' You are now the proud owner of four novels, two of which are signed. You have been contacted and the novels are en route!

To everyone else, I hope you continue sharing wonderful literature with your kids, students, sisters, nieces, parents and more. The only way to stop banning -- that nasty, ridiculous habit people use to, um, I don't know, propagate fear and misinformation -- is TO READ BANNED BOOKS and fight for teachers, authors, librarians and readers who want access to information. THIS IS CALLED INTELLECTUAL FREEDOM and is one of those cool things that differentiates the USA (or SHOULD) from other countries with horrible, castrating regimes. Just think of it as the intellectual opposable thumb of society -- what separates us from the goons.

Happy reading. CONGRATS TO A CONCERNED CITIZEN IN RENO!

BE A CREATIVE BOOK BANNER ... MY FIRST BLOG CONTEST!

2010-09-29T20:24:00.001-05:00

It's only taken a year, but really, I never thought of a good contest until today. And I think this is contest-worthy!

When I hear about book bannings and challenges and rescinded invitations to book fairs and college professors equating rape with porn, I honestly don't want to believe I share 99.9% of the same genetic material with these people and kind of want to move in with the orangutans at some zoo.

There is so much valuable information out there about Banned Books Week and how invaluable it is for us to fight, on every level, to keep books available for everybody. (List at end of this blog).
So I wondered, like every author out there, what could I do to add something of value?
I decided that I would add a little bit of fun. We're readers, writers, teachers, librarians, parents, aunts, waitresses, accountants, doctors, horse breeders, dog groomers ... and more. And we are CREATIVE!

So I'm putting together a BANNED BOOKS pack including: a signed copy of Ellen Hopkins' CRANK, Laurie Halse Anderson's SPEAK, Stephen Chbosky's THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER. And I'll throw in a signed copy of FREEZE FRAME (my first novel, never been banned, but I can't very well have a contest without sharing my own work!)-- A FOUR PACK OF BOOKS FOR DOING SOMETHING PRETTY FUN! (Two of which are signed)

So what do you have to do to win such a tantalizing prize?? Be creative! Find the most absurd reasons to ban a book, poem, song ... anything. SOMETHING FUNNY!

My lame example:
WHERE THE SIDEWALK ENDS: Dangerous!! Children might feel impelled to walk to the end of the sidewalk, off the curb, and twist their little ankles. Think of the tendons, bones, the endless days of ankle-wrapping! Insurance doesn't cover orthopedics! Children aren't supposed to walk off a sidewalk. That'd lead to mayhem. DANGEROUS!

If you can find a reason to ban a book that makes me laugh, you might just win! The sky's the limit!!

DEADLINE: Well, how about by October 4th? That gives you five and a half days to come up with reasons to ban books you never thought possible!! HAVE FUN! (Contest limited to USA, Canada and Colombia!)
Give us the reason and in the comments, please leave me your e-mail.

I will notify the winner the week after the contest ends and we'll crown you a creative book banner and everything. Maybe I'll throw in a Miss America-style sash.
Good luck and may the most ludicrous, ridiculous, and downright dumbfounding banned book prevail!

American Library Association
The Guardian
Cheryl Rainfield
Ellen Hopkins' Manifesto Poem

Books YOU recommended!!

2010-09-15T20:23:00.000-05:00

THE SHAPE OF WATER, Anne Spollen
RELATO DE UN NAUFRAGO, Gabriel Garcia Marquez
THE HELP, Kathryn Stockett
Harlan Coben novels
THE SKY IS EVERYWHERE, Jandy Nelson
REVOLVER, Marcus Sedgwick
REVOLUTION, Jennifer Donnelly
THE MONKEY WRENCH GANG, Edward Abbey

I often am asked how do I choose the novels I read. And, luckily, because of this business, everything is word of mouth. I don't remember a time going to a bookstore not knowing what to buy because there's a running list of novels out there that people I trust -- librarians, authors, agents, friends, family, avid readers -- recommend. Little has to do with New York Times best sellers lists (though I try to read those, too!) And a little tweet can go a long, long way. Just today, FREEZE FRAME was a book blogger's unexpected treasure because of a contemporary author chat we did a couple of weeks ago hosted by the intrepid Kari from A Good Addiction blog. And I now have somebody reading my books who might not have otherwise. So the best way to get good books? WORD. OF. MOUTH. (or tweets ... or Facebook ... or any number of social media places ... or conferences .. or at a coffee shop ... or on an airplane ... )

After asking for recommendations a week or so ago (after plunging into depression because, unwisely, I followed MOCKINGJAY with SOPHIE'S CHOICE and was on the brink of major depression), I chose to read THE SHAPE OF WATER this past week. A friend, Dhonielle, recommended it, but ultimately I chose it for the title without having any idea what it was about. It's absolutely stunning. The writing is ethereal and it's like swimming in images and words and this timelessness the author has created in the world of a very tragic young girl.

Next, after looking at covers, I'm going to have to choose REVOLVER because I LOVE the cover and it comes from a very good source that it's a very good novel. (yes. You're all good sources. But recommendations from my friend Barbara have NEVER disappointed!)

I intend to get to them all. But this brings me to two important factors in choosing novels we're going to read: covers and titles. As much as we'd like to think the novel will speak for itself, there's gotta be a hook -- eye candy or a title that just makes us HAVE to read a novel. And that's where titles and cover art comes in. Both are chosen carefully, gone over by publicity, marketing, the editors, and publishers before they're sent out to find a space -- hopefully standing out -- in the thousands, literally hundreds of thousands, of books on the shelves. Title and cover ARE IMPORTANT.

My first novel, FREEZE FRAME went through about seven titles, beginning with FINDING YESTERDAY and who knows what else? Same with COMPROMISED though I honestly can't remember its original title. That said, editors, authors, and the entire team behind a book (trust me, there are loads of people working to get each of these books out there), are consulted about titles and covers until they come up with something that seems "just right" for the target audience.

They make a big difference. So looking at these covers and titles, which books would you read first? Why? Why not? What is your ABSOLUTE favorite book title? And favorite cover?

Happy Happy Reading! Thank you so much for great book recommendations. I can't wait to start another one: so many books, so little time.

Rant: Ramona Geraldine Quimby and Farenheit 451

2010-09-06T12:46:00.002-05:00

My parents were both teachers, avid readers, and books always spilled from our shelves. To this day, I don't remember an evening in which my mom and dad weren't reading books. My mom reads about three or four novels a week. My dad is huge on biographies, history, and reads every word from THE ATLANTIC MONTHLY, two local papers and more.
My first book memories are FROG AND TOAD. I devoured those books and couldn't wait for the Scholastic brochure to come out so I could pick the next in the series. Over the course of the years I read a lot, but there was no character or any book that would prepare me for Ramona Geraldine Quimby. It was as if Beverly Cleary was writing my life.
How did she know my sister Carrie was perfect with big brown eyes and long, thick auburn hair that hung to her waist while I, a rusty red-head, the incarnation of cow-lick was doomed to be my sister's frumpy, clumsy, Tom-boy little sister?
How did she know that I had tried to run away more times than I can count, always hiding around the corner with my little red suitcase packed with my favorite pillow, a couple of dolls and probably a graham cracker for good measure?
So when my parents took us to see Farenheit 451 -- it was being shown at the Community College (my first taste of what cine-clubs would be like), I watched with horror as the books went up in flames. When the movie ended and the lights flicked on, everybody left in that hushed kind of way people do after seeing a movie that needs to be thought about, digested, and discussed later on.
I clearly remember, though, saying to my mom, "I'd memorize ROMONA THE PEST to pass on to others. That's what my book would be if I was a book person."
A lady walking ahead of us laughed in that condescending way adults tend to laugh at children's whimsies and said, "Sweetheart, but that's not a real book. Not the kind that needs to be passed on. How sweet."
I was dumbfounded. How could the book that had the one character who I identified with most in this world not be considered a 'real book'? How was it possible she didn't deserve to be remembered and passed on?
Being a YA author (whatever that means), I find that people still consider children's literature "cute" -- like a stepping stone to the real stuff: adult novels. This perplexes me still, not because I write "cute" novels but because the idea that children's lit is sub-standard is one I find pretty insulting and ignorant. How many people can write something as vivid and dead-on as ALICE THE FAIRY; or absurd and captivating as DON'T LET THE PIGEON DRIVE THE BUS?
Sandra Boynton captivated my daughter's attention when she was nine months old. Go ahead. I dare you to do the same.
I could spend a year writing about the wealth of middle grade novels out there from the classics like A BRIDGE TO TERABITHIA and THE LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRARIE to daring contemporary novels like Linda Urban's A CROOKED KIND OF PERFECT (that deals with mental illness, unexpected friendships and the reality of a life not quite perfect but perfect just the same) and Kate Milford's THE BONESHAKER (The Devil Went Down to Georgia in a novel that grapples with the ideas of good and evil, strength, faith, and a parents' illness) and Suzanne Morgan Williams' BULL RIDER (a young boy struggles to find his brother in the returned vet from the Iraq war.)
Then the plethora of YA novels that deal with drug addiction (Hopkins' CRANK), anorexia (Halse Anderson's WINTERGIRLZ), violence, romance, suicide, pregnancy ... you name it, it's out there. All of these novels are written from the point of view of the kids and young adults that deal with these issues.
So when we say children's literature is cute, I have to say, I don't get where the "cute" part is.
Because what I see are thousands and thousands of books empowering youth and children to understand their worlds -- to help them realize they are not alone out there.

So back to Ramona. If I were a book person, you're damned right I'd memorize Ramona and pass her on because I can guarantee you there'll be a little girl with cowlicks and mismatched clothes trying to find her way in the wake of her sister's perfection. Trust me. To an eight year old, there's nothing cute about it.

Colombia from the Hip -- Pereira's Parties!!

2010-08-27T12:19:00.000-05:00

Silletero

On Saturday, we watched a magical parade of dancers, musicians, beauty queens (of course!) and monsters go by, ending with the first Silletero parade of Pereira. The silleteros are famous in Medellin -- a tradition that began when Santa Elena flower farmers used silletes (a kind of support to carrying things on your back) to commercialize their flowers in Medellin -- walking up and down the city streets, throughout neighborhoods, carrying hundreds of pounds of flowers on their backs. Now, it's a world-renown festival in Medellin. Pereira had its first silleteros in the parade last Saturday. Stunning.


Miss Pereira

Silletero

Afro-Colombian Dancers and Musicians


More Dancing!

Ken Robinson says schools kill creativity | Video on TED.com

2010-08-17T10:51:00.001-05:00

Ken Robinson says schools kill creativity Video on TED.com

Please take the time to watch this video if you're a parent, a teacher, an educator, an aunt or uncle or grandparent, sister, brother, daughter or son ...

That pretty much covers it all!

Colombia from the HIp -- Let the Mayhem Begin

2010-08-16T10:12:00.000-05:00

It's that time of year again ... Pereira's parties. Parades, beauty queens, papayeras on every corner (loud loud brass bands), orchestras, party Chivas (big wooden buses filled with irritating drunk people and papayeras -- those loud, loud, loud brass bands), and, of course, the infamous burro-teca (yes, I'll get a photo of that). Let the mayhem begin!

What would Salinger Tweet?

2010-08-09T12:06:00.000-05:00

On Fridays my palms sweat and I feel a sense of dread and excitement. Yes. #FF ... EAch week I could very well be recommended by others to be worthy of being followed. Naturally, in the real world, this would be considered downright creepy, warrant restraining orders and the like, but we're not talking about the real world, even though we oftentimes feel more real here than in our own lives. We're talking about the Cyber Universe.

Twitter, Facebook, Linked In, MySpace, e-mail (Yeah! That still exists), YouTube, Flickr, blogs, Gather, Goodreads, Waka Waka (Okay. Not yet. But it won't be long before there's a waka waka social networking site, I'm sure) ... All of these are ways in which we keep in touch, disseminate information, share ideas, debate ideas, and make ourselves known in the Cyber Universe -- one that has re-invented itself over the past five years. Now it's not good enough to write a novel. You've got to be witty in 140 characters: pithy, funny, relevant, polemic, brazen, bold (no, I'm not talking about the hoochie-mama followers), and follow-worthy.

Blogs just ten "followers" away from the promise of Swag (loot, free promos), ARCs (Advanced REader's Copies), book cover posters, signed bookplates and more! We click on the "follow" button because, hell, who doesn't want to win a new book? Contests, giveaways, all about building numbers on Twitter, Facebook, fan pages and more.

Groups form: vampire groups, non-vampire groups, groups that prefer werewolves and nasty fairies with body odor to vampires and groups that have sworn off vampires, except for the latest FAT VAMPIRE because that doesn't really count as a vampire group ...

Flurries of messages, tweets, dinging bells, and chirping birds remind us if a friend's sent a message, if we've been mentioned (big big deal here) or if anybody wants to contact us. To track the mere mention of our names or novels, we've got Google Alerts. And the goal: to create a world of followers. A strong online presence is important now.

So, I wonder, what would some of the classic authors tweet today?

JD Salinger: Grand. There's a word I really hate. It's tweet. I puke every time I hear it.
Shel Silverstein: I know a way to stay ff, There's really nothing to it, I tell you what to do, & #FFshelsilverstein
Ernest Hemingway: I turned on the computer. I sat down. I logged on. I wrote the tweet. I twittered. And it was good.
Gabriel Garcia Marquez: Just kidding! He can't do anything in 140 characters ...
Truman Capote: When I think about how good my tweet can be, I can hardly breathe.
Orham Pamuk: The tweet twitters, tweets, its sound tweeting on my computer in a tweet-like, tweetish presence.
Ayn Rand: Who is Tweet?
Shakespeare: Such SWAG as tweets are followed on ...

See. It's even a stretch for them. I think it's easy to get swallowed up in the CyberWorld. Everybody has a different way of approaching it. I've been feeling a bit "out of it" of late, and it got me down until I remembered why I do it: for friendship. In this vast universe of people, I've made some really good friends, all thanks to that intimidating Cyber Universe. I don't have loads of followers. Just a little over a handful. But I'll take them. Gladly. At the end of the day, the relationships I've built online have been pretty incredible!

So being a bit of a Cyber dud, myself, you can imagine my amazement when I was given this cool award below by my friend Anne M. Leone. It made my day!So I'm now passing this on to five bloggers I follow in my "circle of friends" because, at the end of the day, that's what this is all about for me: making friends, developing real relationships not with a flurry of followers but with people I genuinely care about. Thanks for reminding about that, Anne!!

So I'm now passing the torch to (Pass it on to five more friends!):

Jennifer Duddy Gill (whom I met on the Verla Kay boards and was the first non-family, non-"friend" to congratulate me on my sale of FREEZE FRAME). We've kept in touch, and I now consider her a good friend.
Lisa Amowitz at Why? A for being a poet, wild ball of energy, and good friend.
Christine Johnson for her kindness, graciousness, and amazing eye for detail, and being a good friend.
To Shannon and Stacy at Girls in the Stacks for great reviews, loving YA, and letting me be part of their YA world!
And finally to Kari and A Good Addiction because of her in-depth reviews of so many novels (she eats them for breakfast, lunch and dinner), and hoping she gets her boot off this week!

Things NOT to do on the Agent Hunt ...

2010-08-02T09:33:00.000-05:00

I am lucky, lucky, lucky. I am represented by the most intrepid agent in the business (Stephen Barbara of Foundry Media + Literary Agency). We've been together for over four years now, and I thank my lucky stars. So I've been thinking about all of those authors out there looking for their dream agent.
With all the information about what we SHOULD do to find an agent, I thought I'd share my thoughts on what NOT to do when trying to land your dream agent. Some, though obvious, are probably things that happen more often than not. Again, this is from a writer's POV, I'm sure agents could chime in and tell us loads loads loads more!

Don't query an unfinished project. Your novel needs to be finished and in as perfect conditional as possible. (Yes. We've all heard the Stephenie Meyer story, but, well, in the real world, you need a finished novel.)
Don't misspell the agent's name. Please.
Don't send out a "form letter". EVERY query should be personalized geared toward each individual agent. (They're not this amorphous body of people. They're REAL people with REAL clients with REAL tastes and interests and contacts etc. So your letter should reflect your knowledge of this person.)
Don't say an agent's client recommended you if she did not. This is such a small business. When I recommend somebody query my agent, I specifically say, "You can use my name. Use it in the query. Use it in the RE: line." If an author does not specifically say that, then don't use that author's name. It's really awkward and will inevitably get you a rejection.
DO, though, mention authors the agent represents. (Not in the, "I was at their BBQ last weekend-way" but in the "I admire their work-way.")
Don't talk badly about other agents and problems you've had with other agents. This looks bad. Real bad. Again, it's a small business. When something doesn't work out with another agent/agency, it sucks, but it's how it goes sometimes. Venting to a prospective agent will not make things better. (This is actually a good thing to go by: If you don't have something nice to say ...)
Don't send gifts or gimmicks with submissions. (As far as I know, this doesn't work unless it's like, I dunno, a 1937 Bugatti Type 57S). Guess what. Agents LOVE great writing, unique perspectives, out-of-this-world novels and commercial projects, too ... that's what they're looking for, so sending gimmicks, unless it's the aforementioned 4 + million dollar car, won't work.
Don't tell the agent you've queried 723 agents, and he/she is your last hope. (I exaggerate, but you get my drift). Nobody wants to be the last pick -- like the old school days when kids picked teams and you were the one left with the kid with Coke-bottle glasses that couldn't hit a ball to save his life, but they still picked you last. That really stinks. Big time. And it doesn't feel any better for an agent
Don't assume the "big name" agents are better for you. It's all about how much an agent loves your work and how good a track record an agent has. For new agents, working to build their lists, it's important they have a good agency backing them. So, don't pass on the newbies just because they're new (they're taking a chance on you, you can do the same!). Also if a "star" agent wants you, it's because they're ready to sell, sell, sell. So that's a great thing, too. At the end of the day, you want an agent who loves how you write and believes they can sell your novel.
Don't NOT ask questions. It's really important to know what the agent's expectations are and if they align with your own.
When an agent says they'd like to see a revised project DON'T rush the revision (if you agree with the revision ideas). And, when you send the revision, DON'T forget to mention this was a project they were interested in etc. etc. etc. If an agent takes the time to send revision notes, it's because SHE'S INTERESTED BIG TIME. Agents rarely give revision/editorial notes or requests. They're busy selling their clients' novels, trying to find new clients, coddling clients' egos, going to workshops and conferences, reading novels that have come out, battling over contracts, reading thousands of queries, networking with editors, editing clients' novels, offering feedback, all the while hoping they won't get bed bugs (the New York ones, anyway) ... BUSY ... They don't have time to send revision notes and won't do this unless your novel is something that really intrigued them. So take your time. Do it right. SHOW them how you can revise. This is WAY important for a future editor/author relationship.
Don't be too keen meaning, take it easy. Inhale. Exhale. Agents are busy people. They try their best to get back to you as soon as possible. Don't nag. Don't write "reminders". Don't follow up every week and double-triple check to make sure they haven't changed their mind about your future best-seller. See #12. They'll get back to you. If a few months have gone by, write a quick reminder. If no response, move on.
Don't forget to send a thank you -- either e-mail or snail mail, after an agent takes the time to talk to you or send you revision notes.
Don't take it personally: This is hard. I know. We're sensitive people, laying our souls out on the page to get "Sorry. Not right for my list." Bugger. It's hard. But don't take it personally. Really. Agents aren't out to get anyone. They don't have time. (They have that bed bug issue, remember?)
Finally: DON'T GIVE UP ...

Debunking Myths About the Mysterious World of Writing, Publishing etc ...

2010-07-26T12:51:00.000-05:00

Whenever I do school visits or go to book clubs, there seem to be quite a few recurrent myths about what makes a writer a writer, an editor an editor and how the business is going to burst into flames and crash into a pile of rubble and ash because of Kindle. So, I decided to address some of the myths. Keep in mind, one man's myth is another man's truth, so ... hell ... what do I know?

1. Writers have divine inspiration.
HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA HAAAAAAAAAAA .... Okay. Really. Only if I've had one too many glasses of wine. But then those aren't muses. Those are the little wine people called the the Tannins family and instead of writing clearly, I see blurry.

2. Writing is passion.
Ahh, hell. This one is a killer because though I'd love to say I can't breathe if I can't write, that's not true. I. LOVE. TO. WRITE. Yes. But I don't feel like I'd implode and go mad if I didn't write. I'm sure I'd find another creative outlet: teaching, making damned good cappuccinos ... This is a tricky one. You'll get lots of answers for that one. I guess I'd say READING is something I couldn't do without. Writing, though, is something I REALLY work hard at to make sure I can keep doing it ... The jury's out on this one.

3. Editors are frustrated writers.
Ha! Editors are probably frustrated editors when their writers (me!) have forgotten about fifth grade story arcs. Some editors are accomplished writers. I'd say fewer writers, though, have the same editorial eye. Editors' jobs are to ask questions, pull on loose strings, and watch as your entire story falls apart THEN their job is to let you find your way through the rubble and write something you're pretty damned surprised you had in you. I think editors have an eye for something -- and they get jazzed when they find, in their piles and piles and piles of slush -- magic. Only editors would sift through two-thousand manuscripts to do that. (This is pretty important to note, too. Their job is NOT to destroy a writer's vision, but to make it better, more polished, give the writer clarity that the Tannin family didn't.)

4. Editors only edit.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!! Okay. Really. As nebulous as this world is, I do know a few things and one of them is that editors are a writer's best friend in the house in that editors: 1. edit 2. build support and start buzz about books, sending them to their favorite librarians, book clubs etc. 3. are hands-on with titles, cover design etc 4. edit edit edit 5. read through a lot of crap (yes, these are the books ALREADY acquired) to get a polished product 6. read everything coming out from other houses similar or dissimilar to what they're working on 7. go to conferences 8. go to book fairs, library fairs etc. to see what's out there and push their projects 9. edit, edit, hold hands when writers get teary etc. ... I could go on and on and on

5. Writers KNOW when a novel is complete.
Ahem ... Well, I'm one of those who just has to have faith my editor will know because I'd revise until the end of time (which according to Hollywood might be 2012 ... so two more years!). In fact, I still haven't gone back to read any of my novels because I'm terrified I'll want to revise more.

6. The release day of a novel is filled with champagne, calls from Oprah and whirlwind booksigning tours.
Are you kidding? Maybe Oprah misplaced my number. Damnit.

7. You have to be talented to be a writer.
You have to love words. You have to READ a ton. And you have to be disciplined and work your ass off. You have to LISTEN to what critique groups and beta readers have to say and be determined to improve. You have to care about whether you should use the word pummel, bash or cudgel (good word!) in a sentence because everything is in the details. You have to LISTEN to what your editor has to say and be a good eavesdropper because ideas come from everywhere. If there's talent somewhere in there, I'm not sure. But I do know that the harder I work, the more "talented" people think I might be. (Don't tell them I'm just listening in on their conversations!)

8. Once you sell a book, you can quit your day job.
You can NEVER quit your day job. Unless you're JK Rowling. (But word has it that she still knits scarves to sell on the side.)

9. Agents are only in it for the $$$.
Huh?? Since when are we doing the Peace Corps here? This, like anything else, is a business. But, hands down, agents LOVE books. Agents also love writers which makes them pretty brave souls because writers are weird. (I'm totally allowed to say that since I'm a weirdo). So what do agents do besides sell books? 1. Edit 2. Work hard to make sure a writer's contract is fair (they READ the small print. Hell, their job is to WRITE the small print) 3. read, read, read everything that's coming out to know what's going on in the business and get a feel for tendencies 4. Hold writers hands when they're pregnant and going through revisions and feeling overwhelmed 5. Sell, sell sell .. Sell books they believe in that, more likely than not, another fifty agents passed on. This is a TOUGH business! 6. read slush -- lots of queries about the next "best sellers" ... slush pile hell 7. Push their writers to come up with better, stronger novels every time. 8. Believe, when nobody else does. (even the writer herself).

10. It gets easier with each novel.
Nope. Every novel is like starting from ZERO again ... for me. I know some authors click into it. But I don't click until revisions come around, so the first draft is hard work. REALLY hard work. Creating a world that not only is unique and filled with tension but also MAKES SENSE ... Even in fantasy land the novel has to hold together with a structure that has people doing everyday things ... THAT MAKES SENSE. And commas, periods, spelling and all that stuff MATTERS ...

Hope this answers some questions. Answers may change depending on how many muses I drink while doing blog posts.

Lauren Baratz-Logsted Stops in my little Corner of the World on her Whirlwind Blog Tour

2010-07-19T08:57:00.000-05:00

You do realize, Lauren, that you don't get miles for all this travel. That'd be ingenious -- blog miles -- hmmmm.
Lauren is one of those wonders of the writing world that makes me so grateful I have this job. She wrote me a gracious note after reading Freeze Frame, and we've kept in touch through the magic of Twitter and Facebook where Lauren keeps us updated on her prolific, and BUSY, writing career and General Hospital (and the dubious parentage of Eliz). Last year, Lauren's novel, Crazy Beautiful, a modern-day beauty and the beast ... beautifully written ... was my fantastic Thanksgiving Day read while waiting for the turkey to brown (okay, blacken. But Cajun turkey is okay, too). In fact, it was the first time I just sat down to read a novel during "work hours" since after college. And I'm so glad it was this one.
This month, Lauren is celebrating the release of The Education of Bet. Bet is a unique heroine (a little reminiscent of Yentl) who desires education more than anything, but living in the Victorian Era, she's not given such a luxury. She convinces her cousin, Will, to let her take his place and attend his boarding school, giving him the "freedom" he so desires. The education Bet receives, though, isn't the one she had in mind. And Lauren doesn't disappoint. She's true to the historical time period but makes the characters contemporary, believable, and easy to relate to. Bet, at the end of the day, is a young girl trying to find her place in the world -- a timeless story!

After visiting Lauren's Website, I came up with one irrefutable fact: Lauren is a vampire.
Alas, vampires don't exist. (Shhhh!! Don't tell. People will be crushed). So I came up with a more reasonable explanation for how many great novels (a mere FOUR this year) Lauren writes: She doesn't sleep.
So here is/are the, ahem, the question(s) ... yeah, yeah, I know ... but really, how could I just leave it to ONE ... I posed to Lauren:

Do you sleep? How do you fit General Hospital in all this? In all seriousness now, can you tell us a little bit about your writing process? (EG Do you work on one project at a time? What challenges do you find writing for different genres?)

Lauren: As you yourself are no doubt aware, that's far more than one question you're asking. But in a sense, it's all part of the same question - how do I organize my time so I can do it all? - so I'll treat it as such. I do sleep, far more than I did when I first started out writing; back then I'd rise between two-thirty and four-thirty a.m. so I could write before the rest of the world got up and I had to go to work myself at any one of the four simultaneous jobs I held so I could pay the mortgage while writing. Nowadays my schedule is far more luxurious. I start work at seven a.m. and basically work every minute until three p.m., when I turn on the TV to watch General Hospital. You see, I'm willing to give up a lot for my writing, but not everything, certainly not GH! That's eight hours a day, five days a week I'm writing: a forty-hour work week, just like any other job. I'll also write nights and weekends when a project is calling me to keep working. So, the Cliff Notes version of what I just said: Even though you write because you love to write, if you also treat it as a full-time job, putting in a full day every day, you're bound to produce a lot. People wonder how even more prolific writers like Stephen King and Nora Roberts do it. Well, that's how. They put the time in. Finally, to address your tag-on, parenthetical questions (don't think I missed those!): I will sometimes work on more than one project at a time although eventually one will win my attention over the other and I'll wind up finishing that first before going back to finish the other. It is challenging to work in several genres but in the best sense of the word: I'm being challenged as a writer! Mostly, it's simply wonderful, getting to stretch myself in different ways, always feeling like I'm working on something fresh instead of the same book over and over again. In fact, I imagine that's why I'm able to get so much done.

Even though I cheated, she answered them all!! Find out who which character in any novel she'd like to spend the day with at Angie's blog in Angieville and see what Nelaine has in store for her tomorrow.
Thanks, Lauren. And best of luck with Bet and all of your other wonderful endeavors. I can't wait to read what's next.

And check out this great article in newstimes.com about Lauren and her twenty-three published books. (That whole sleeping thing she claims she does, I'm NOT buying it.)

Blast From the Past ... A Travel Log!

2010-07-11T09:08:00.000-05:00

Pre-motherhood, my husband and I traveled a lot. I never kept diaries, but I would send long ... excruciatingly long ... e-mail to tell people about our adventures. And considering the most exciting thing that's happened to me in the past few weeks is getting peed on in the middle of a jazz concert, I decided to go back and re-live the past ... for just a day.
This is one of my favorites from our trip to the Patagonia in Argentina and Chile three years ago!

And ... be warned ... it's excruciatingly long ...

Like a short chapter book or something.

An adventure that includes glacier hiking, torrential winds, pissing rain, black eyes, and the heroic measures of my husband!! (Intriguing, no doubt!!)

Chapter One: Leaving Ushaia ..

You know you´ve stayed too long in a place when the hostel people begin to pencil you in their work schedule. (They wanted to give me the night shift.)

After finally getting out of bed on Sunday because of my kryptonite intestinal issues, I felt like a new person. (Greg, our intrepid Australian friend had already gotten out of bed the day before.) So I showered and went to have my first breakfast in four days. People I hadn´t ever seen before kept asking, "Wow. Are you okay?"

I felt great! And went to look for a bus ticket to Puerto Natales where we would begin our adventurous trek in Torres del Paine, and found that the first bus out of Ushuaia wasn´t until Wednesday. That´s a LONG time to spend in a small, small town. Oh well. We went back to the national park one day for hiking, and spent the rest of the time eating: king crab, king crab soup, slabs of meat (in Argentina, you pay $5.00 for a side of beef, really), gelati, artesan hot chocolate and chocolates, pastries, alfajores, and more.

I had to go for a final checkup with the doctor:

Doctor: How are you feeling.

Heidi: Okay. Just a little extra stomach movement.

Doctor: You´ve stuck to the diet?

Heidi: Diet?

Doctor: Vegetable broth. Dried bread.

Heidi: (Clearly lying) Sure.

Doctor: (Dumb tourist.) Okay. Stick to it. You should be okay in a couple of days.

Heidi: (Red faced) Thanks again.

We spent so much time in the aforementioned restaurants, the gelati guys invited us to stay with them next time we were in Ushuaia, the beef guy gave Cesar a CD with all the BOCA Juniors cheer songs, the hostel manager cried when we were going and asked to take photos of all of us together (for her Christmas card this year).

It was clearly time to leave Ushuaia.

We left early Wednesday for a 15 hour journey to Puerto Natales .. the gateway to Torres del Paine National Park. (Towers of Paine National Park)

Chapter Two: Puerto Natales

Puerto Natales` sole function in life is to get eager backpackers prepared for the mountain. The town is replete with backpacking shops, dried food stores, and backpackers who look really tough in their Mountain Hardwear gear with five o-clock shadows (I`m talking about the women!).

We weren`t intimidated (Well, I was. Just a touch), though, and we, too, were ready to hike the most trekked National Park in South America -- and most extreme.

Greg, Cesar and I spent a day renting the gear we needed to complement our own, got enough food to last us the expected four-nights, five-days in the park (including inordinate amounts of chocolates), and packed for our big adventure.

How naive we were!

Torres del Paine receives about 200,000 visitors a year, and though the actual trek isn´t so excruciating, the weather is a killer. In one day, you can have snow, rain, 100 mile-hour winds, and sun. The most important thing to be for this trek is prepared.

But can anyone REALLY prepare for the towers? That, my friends, is for you to decide after you read about our next six-nights/seven-days. (Note: Two days longer than expected.)

Need a coffee break? Or maybe you can come back and read on later .. if you wish. If not, you can just humor me and write "Wow .. great update, Heidi." Then I will know that you read to this part and just got bored out of your mind.

No hard feelings. (Just don`t expect a souvenir or postcard anytime soon.)

Chapter Three: Towers of Paine = Towers of Rain

The morning we were leaving, a Canadian couple was having breakfast, having just returned from the park. I asked them how the trek was and the woman practically spit out her coffee. "They lie! They lie"

I thought it was an odd response .. little did I know this would be indicative of things to come ... (DA DUM DA DUM ..music cue)

We arrived to the park and took a ferry to where the trek began. Our first leg was up to Glacier Grey -- one of 47 glaciers in the Glacier National Park here (the biggest fresh-water source in the world.)

That day, the wind ripped the rain into us, so it felt like we were being struck with needles. It was a pretty easy 3-4 hour hike up to the massive blue glacier. Exquisitely blue! That night, Cesar worked his magic. It´s fall here, and the park pretty much closes up at the end of April, and the glacier guides have small groups. Many days trips are cancelled because of bad weather. Two guides are going to be traveling in Colombia in July, so Cesar offered to exchange a day of glacier hiking for the three of us ($135.00/each) for lodging at his family`s farm in Colombia. They said yes!

The next day, the trip was cancelled because rain started pouring in buckets. (When it rains like that, the boat can`t get to the glacier, so we`d be stuck sleeping in an ice hut over night or until the boat could come.) So we decided to go for a day hike.

Hiking in pouring rain isn´t fun.

I don´t like people who say it is fun because, quite honestly, when it´s pissing rain, hiking isn´t even remotely fun.

The only people who say it is fun are:

1. That guy who does the entire Pacific Crest Trail with his camel-bak and a power bar.

2. Canadians. Canadians are impervious to horrendous weather conditions. It´s like they´re walking radiators. Weird.

3. Oregonians. They don´t shave, so I think they have some kind of natural wicking agents to keep them dry.

4. That guy. We all know that guy who´s really, really beefy and says, "Yeah, I broke my femur going over John Gardner´s pass but was able to bungee my leg together and hobble my way around the trek."

Nobody likes that guy.

So, after three hours of hiking, the glacier guides lent us their stove to dry our clothes -- it took 8 hours.

In those eight hours Cesar managed to burn a hole in his fleece, his socks, and his hiking pants. Greg burned his shirt. The poor glacier guides´ hut smelled like sweaty burnt clothes. And they STILL let us go on the hike the next day ...

Chapter Four: Crampons, Ice Climbing and Rapeling ...

The next morning, the sun rose and we actually got to SEE the glacier (not behind the clouds). We spent the entire day exploring ice caves that looked like Italian blown glass -- a crystal blue with transparent swirls. We drank water from icy streams. We rapeled down a wall of ice and climbed back up with ice axes and ropes. And we ate lunch next to a crevasse the color of the blue sky just as the sun drops behind the mountain. It was truly exquisite.

We tromped all over the glacier and at 5:00 the boat picked us up as scheduled.

Thus far, it´s been one of the most spectacular days I´ve ever had traveling.

Chapter Five: Towers of Hurricane ... Pain .. Migraine

The next morning we packed up and said good bye to our new friends. We can`t wait to see them in Colombia! The sun was still up and the wind was blowing pretty fiercely. (In Torres del Paine, if it´s not raining, it´s blowing.)

There are "horror stories" of the wind and how people get to John Gardner´s pass on the back side of the mountain only to return because they can`t physically get up the mountain because of the wind. I met two huge Australian guys who crawled 2 kilometers in the wind to get over the pass.

(Just to give you an idea .. Punta Arenas, a city a few hours outside of Torres del Paine has cables on every street for people to grab onto when the wind picks up because people die every year being blown in the wind. It´s THAT strong.)

Can you tell the theme here is wind? Wind is phenomenal and when the human body is taken by wind, there´s no way to regain control of it. The body will roll until the wind dies down unless that human finds something to hold onto for dear life (like cables, trees, bushes, boulders .. whatever)

Because we weren`t doing the entire circuit, but just the front side of the mountain, I thought we wouldn´t have to deal with said wind.

How very, very foolish.

We had a pretty easy day of hiking from the glacier to a beautiful valley encircled by massive granite mountains. I fell into a thorn bush with a wind once, but that´s not a big deal. Greg (our spindly Aussie) fell once as well. I just thought that´s par for the course.

The next morning, we woke up, ready for a fairly easy hike that would take us just one day away from the actual towers. The wind ripped through the trees all night, but we didn´t think much of it. We began our hike and stopped 2.5 hours into it to eat lunch. We were happy. The sun was up. We were dry. What else does a backpacker need?

The wind got so strong it ripped water from the lake and spattered us (hundreds of meters away!). But we continued on -- grateful for the sun. I was about a hundred meters ahead of Cesar and during one massive gust, the wind literally picked me up and threw me face first on the trail.

Crack.

I felt like an upturned cockroach. I couldn´t move, the wind had me pinned to the ground. When I finally lifted my head and blood dripped everywhere.

Heidi: (panic mode -- sprawled on the ground) Novio?? Novio??

Cesar: (running around the corner) What happened? My god! Are you okay?

Heidi: (sob, sob sob ...) You`ve got to clean the blood off my sunglasses. I can`t see. (stupid thing to think about, but that`s all I could do at that point.)

Cesar: Okay. Heidi, you`re okay. You`re okay.

Heidi: (clutching a rock, trying to keep still in the wind) I´m so sc-a-a-a-ared. (Yes. I know I´m killing all my bravado here.)

Cesar: Heidi! How many fingers to I have up?

Heidi: Three

Heidi: Two

Heidi: One ..

Cesar: What´s your Dad´s first name?

Heidi: It´s D-d-d-dominique, but he goes by G-i-iiilbert. (sob sob sob)

Cesar: We´ve got to get out of the wind. We´re going to those trees to clean up.

Heidi: Oh-oh-okay.

So somehow Cesar managed to get me up and down into a little place with protection. He pulled out the handi-wipes to get a better idea of the situation and found I only had a cut above my eyebrow and on my cheek. (honestly, though, heads bleed a TON!). And it´s bloody scary to lose control of your body to wind. WIND! Cesar was cleaning me up while I tried to regain some kind of self control when two little ladies in their sixties came from the other direction. This is what we might call irony and where I lose all credibility about how damned hard that wind blew.

Ladies: Oh! Quite a wind cooking up today.

Heidi: (trying to control sobbing at this point. Not in a "talking" mood.)

Ladies: Oh dear. Whatever happened to your face?

Heidi: Wind.

Ladies: Tsk-tsk

Then they flitted off down the trail.

Now there´s nothing I hate more than a tsk-tsk. I did refrain from hollering, "You´ll break your hips!" Because that´s just not a really nice thing to say.

But I don´t like those ladies.

Cesar managed to clean me up. I put a bandana on my head to put pressure on the bleeding and from then on throughout the trek I was known as the "girl with the bloody forehead and black eye". (Honestly, people came up to me throughout the rest of the hike and said, "Oh! Some guy told me about you!") I also managed to jam my left wrist, swelling to the size of my forearm, and scrape and bruise parts of my body I didn´t know could be bruised.

Ugh.

So we began walking together. Cesar was right in front when another gust literally almost blew me away. I don´t know how he did it but he managed to grab onto a tree, grab me and throw me into the tree and yell "hold on!". My hero!! (horn sounds here) We held onto that tree for a good thirty seconds.

Cesar: Okay. The coast is clear. Let´s go.

Heidi: (hugging tree with all her might) No

Cesar: Heidi, we´ve got to go.

Heidi: You can´t make me

Now keep in mind I almost labotomized myself just minutes earlier by being impaled on a rock and the wind hadn´t died down and I was terrified. So of course I wasn´t being rational.

Cesar: How long do you intend to stay here?

Heidi: Forever. And ever.

There was no way in God´s green earth I was going to let go of that tree. No way. Had it not been for Cesar I would still be hugging that tree -- redefining "tree hugger".

This next part is what I like to call "the military trek".

Chapter Who knows: Military Walking

Cesar came up with a brilliant plan. We had a sign for "hold on" and then when the coast was clear, Cesar´d motion with two fingers and we´d run like hell. We did this for about 2 hours .. sprinting when the wind died down. It´s hard to sprint with a 35 pound pack. Strangely, though, the entire day, a rainbow followed us. The sky down here has the most phenomenal light.

Then we came to the bloody river crossing -- more like a water fall crossing holding onto some kind of flimsy wire. (Yes, I AM AWARE the old ladies already did this. But we don´t like them, remember?) We got through that obstacle and suddenly the wind stopped. Flat. Dead. It was heaven. We walked the last two hours of a 7 hour day under the rainbow in peace.

Chapter Fatigue:

We caught up to Greg who had similar experiences having been hurled into a bush and toppled over. He was bruised all over his body. But we got over a ridge and saw our final destination (for that day). In some areas of the park, there are cabins next to campsites, so we walked into what we thought was one of those cabins with dorm beds.

It was a 17000 star hotel.

That´s mean. Really mean to put a hotel like that near the end of a trek for hikers.

I still had blood spatters everywhere, so when we asked if we could come in for a hot chocolate, the matre-de just said, "sure. Go ahead." Stepping back ever so slightly.

We sat down and the hot chocolates were SEVEN F"!%$ING DOLLARS. That´s cruel. Double cruel. So we just had a glass of water. I think the waitress felt sorry for us, so she refilled Greg´s tea cup twice.

A tour group arrived -- one of those organized group with people who wear cashmere scarves and Italian leather shoes. (Now, I don´t have anything against cashmere clad people, but if I were wearing cashmere and saw three of the scraggliest, saddest looking backpackers, I´d invite them for a coffee .. or chocolate. Or at least I wouldn´t gawk at them as if they were mountain beasts.) Anyway, I think we kind of scared them, so the maitre-de was very happy to point us to the campground.

We dragged ourselves to what we thought was a campsite (it turned out to be a horse pasture .. the campsite was about 100 - 200 more meters down the road). None of us were in any shape to go farther at all (and we still had two days left. We hadn´t even gotten to the Towers yet. Bloody hell.)

After setting up camp, the sky turned an iridescent blue with cotton-candy clouds that made everything glow pink. It was like standing under a pink spotlight. The entire field turned pink. Sydney, my niece, would´ve been very very happy to see that the whole world turned the color of her princess dresses.

The light in the sky is magic here.

The next morning, we got in a little trouble for camping in the horse pasture, but really, we didn´t care. Plus, we started using my eye to our advantage. People automatically stepped back and treated us nicer -- visible wounds are good for sympathy.

Chapter: The Towers!

The next day, we packed up and trekked 500 meters up (in about six kilometers) to our last camp site, then scrambled up 500 meters more over boulders and stones to get to the base of the towers -- three immense, majestic, granite towers next to a lime-green lake. The glacial ice cracked and tumbled off the towers in cascades and waterfalls.

Head pounding, wobbly legs, still a bit freaked out about wind, and totally exhausted, I sat next to Cesar and stared at the towers in awe.

It was worth it.

That night, Greg threatened to erase all the photos of the past week. (He´s a bit shell-shocked.) Cesar and I said, "What a great week! What a great hike!"

Greg stared at us and said, "Jesus, I´d hate to see what a bad hike is for you guys."

Chapter: WE MADE IT!

We hiked out to where the bus was going to pick us up in RECORD time. We had french fries while waiting for the bus. FRENCH FRIES! After a week of oatmeal, dried fruit, and top ramen, they tasted divine.

I have a major shiner (I look like I´ve been in a bar fight and lost.) We´re all too skinny now, so I can`t wait to get back to Argentina´s gelati and cow-sized portions of beef. We leave for El Calafate tomorrow to see Perito Moreno (the famous glacier that breaks off every three years) then we´ll be back in Buenos Aires soon for work and to enjoy what could be even more harrowing than the Torres del Paine -- a soccer match between Boca Juniors and River Plate ..

And I don´t intend to backpack. At least not for a little while.

Ode to Soccer -- why we should LOVE the sport

2010-06-28T14:06:00.000-05:00

Here's a post for all those belly-aching "non-soccer people" out there who wonder WTF anybody would care so much about the most important sport in the world. Let's call this: ODE TO SOCCER and quirky facts about a sport that an estimated 3.5 billion people in the world follow plus a compendium of useless trivia about it.

ETYMOLOGY: Guess what? Soccer IS the correct "English" term for the game. It comes from "Association Football" because there were two games, association football or Rugby football. Rugby was called "rugger" and they couldn't very well call the other game "asser" now, could they? So they called it "soccer." American football, what we just call "football" in the States, started catching on in the states at the same time. So, JUST LET ME SAY SOCCER INSTEAD OF "FOOTBALL" PLEASE!
GEOGRAPHY: My experience teaching is that kids are better with geography when they watch soccer. This is TRUE! There isn't a kid in Colombia who doesn't know where Argentina and Barcelona, Spain are because of Lionel Messi, or Portugal and Madrid, Spain because of Cristiano Ronaldo. Or Manchester, England, Madrid, Spain, and Los Angeles, California because of Beckham. Alas, soccer fans are great geographers.
POWER: In Argentina, there's a Maradonian Church after, you have it, Diego Maradona (drug addictions, scandals, and liposuction aside, he IS a God there.) As I write this he's a MERE three wins away in this world cup to deification, and possibly a coup d'etat, replacing Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner as president. (Yes, I exaggerate ... just a bit). Henri Thierry, as soon as France was shamefully disqualified and didn't make the top sixteen, got on a plane and landed at Sarkozy's presidential doors in Paris. Sarkozy moved all meetings that day to receive Thierry. In 1969 the war between Honduras and El Salvador is called "the soccer war". Obviously, soccer isn't the REASON the countries went to war, it just helped it along. Soccer, as a sport, religion and political system (using these terms loosely) is something to really pay close attention to.

SEASON: Soccer has no season. It's year-round.

ODD FACTS AND STATISTICS:

Europeans have reached the final of EVERY world cup except for 1930 and 1950. (And perhaps, 2010)
I first started watching soccer because of a HUGE CRUSH I had on Chris -- mid-fielder -- when I was a sophomore in high school. (Told you these were odd facts). We're still friends, though he never fell madly in love with me.
Goalie, Arthur Wharton, was the first professional African soccer player (born in Ghana) and played for an English team in Rothham (1889).
Pele's real name is Edson ARantes do Nascimento (from Brazil). In 1366 games, he scored 1283 goals.
India has qualified for the World Cup once, in 1950, but had to withdraw because they weren't allowed to play barefoot.

Random Publishing Facts

2010-06-22T14:43:00.006-05:00

I always am amazed by this business and often get questions about HOW things work. So I've accumulated a few facts that might answer questions you've had ... or not. Either way, here goes.

Publishers can be categorized as:

Trade (a source of over half the books in English language -- what we generally think of when we think about publishers.)
Textbook Remember those heavy Biology 101 books at college or the infernal social studies books in high school? This is a pretty profitable market because the books are bought not by choice but obligation available for us at the college bookstore!
Scholarly or Academic: University Presses
Reference: This shouldn't be confused with textbooks as reference books are found in bookstores across the country -- not only college bookstores. The Penguin Guide to Recorded Classical Music for instance. Reference books cover everything from music to tools to house projects and recipes.
Self-published: This is pretty self explanatory.

The SIX SISTERS of publishing refers to six conglomerates that have control of, from what I understand 80% of the market of the publishing world.

(Germany): Bertelsmann AG owns 70 imprints including Random House, Knopf, Ballantine, Crown, Pantheon, Vintage, Bantam Dell, Broadway Doubleday, Anchor, and Villard, Del Ray, Fodor's and Fawcett that are divided into three groups
(US): Simon & Schuster includes Pocket Books, Free Press, Scribner, Touchstone, Fireside, and Atria Books
(France): Hachette Book Group, USA owns Little Bro, own and Company and Grand Central Publishing, which has ten imprints
(Australia/News Corp.): HarperCollins includes Harper Paperbacks, Harper Mass Market, HarperOne, HarperBusiness, Avon, William Morrow, and Ecco (United Kingdom/Pearson): Penguin Group (USA) includes Penguin, Putnam, Viking, Berkley, Signet, Plume, Grosset, Ace, Jeremy P. Tarcher, Dutton, Penguin Press, Perigee and Portfolio
(Germany/Holtzbrinck): Macmillan U.S. includes Henry Holt and Company, St. Martin's Press, and Farrar, Straus & Giroux

Between the six sisters, midsized publishing houses (that are "independent", not owned by conglomerates, like McPherson and Company and Holloway House) and small houses (university presses), there are more than 86,000 publishing companies worldwide.

Wikipedia has a massive list of publishing houses and links to each house:

RANDOM FACTS:

Over 70% of all books published sell fewer than 500 copies.
Only 3% of books sell over 1,000 copies
Only 1% of books sell over 5,000 copies
According to RR Bowker (the company that issues and maintains info about ISBN numbers) there are more than 1, 879,000 books available in the world. So, doing my weird calculations, the average person who lives to 85 and starts reading at 5 would have to read 65 books per day to read all the books available. (And yes, I'm adding to that number ... happily!)
Most of those available books came from small publishers.

That's all for now ... Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. Facts and numbers are obscure and hard to come by -- lots of discrepancies, so I took my facts from solid sources ... and cross-referenced them and all that jazz.

Colombia from the Hip! Working Hard ...

2010-06-13T20:21:00.008-05:00

SELLING MINUTES: People buy plans with several cell phone providers and sell minutes on several phones, wiring themselves to the phones so nobody will steal them.

HORSE-DRAWN CART: It's common to see horse-drawn carts on the streets of Pereira (and killer for traffic at times). They're contracted much like a truck ... but they're horses.

Rant: Ten Irrelevant Things that Bug Me

2010-06-08T14:55:00.012-05:00

No rhyme or reason to these things and in no particular order ...

People who talk on the phone or text while driving. (This, I believe, should be against the law. It IS in Colombia. Why not in the States?)
People who talk on cell phones in elevators, at dinner ... and loud.
Children beauty pageants (HOW is that NOT considered emotional abuse subjecting a four-year-old to such inanity? Why not wear a badge that says: Look how shallow I am.)
Turtlenecks.
Watching or hearing somebody floss his teeth. ICK!
Anyways (IT'S NOT A WORD!) and irregardless (IT'S NOT A WORD!)
TV in the morning (unless it's a sporting event or news): TV should not be turned on until after dinner ...
SUV Hummers
That annoying sound that someone opening candy makes in a movie theater when she's trying to be particularly quiet but isn't, so it takes freaking forever to open a candy and everybody is stuck hearing the excruciating crackle crackle of the wrapper.
Cliche.

Carson City From the Hip

2010-05-28T12:15:00.006-05:00

Carson City's Capital building and Mountains ... and best ballerina!
I wish I had more pics to upload and share. I was asked to write a little article about Carson City for the paper here in Colombia so I thought I'd share that instead ...

Coming Home:

I always get excited when the pilot announces her initial descent and fight my way to a window seat to see the snow-capped Sierra Nevada Mountains and Lake Tahoe before dipping into Reno, a strange mishmash of suburbia meets quasi-Vegas. Reno doesn't have so much a "strip" as a "smatter" of Casinos.
We drive from Reno to Carson City through Washoe Valley's gale winds known to topple eighteen-wheelers while attracting extreme sportsmen who think it's a good idea to jump off the surrounding mountains and paraglide through the valley. And then we're home. My parents live in the same house where I grew up. I've known this home for thirty-seven years now -- the familiar creaks in the floorboards and rattle of wind on the windows.
The first thing I notice when I come home are the smells: the clean, spring scents of sagebrush and lilac -- crisp and fresh -- unlike the musky, perfumed smell of the tropics. The air feels lightter and, granted, drier so my lips are practically peeling as soon as we get off the plane. I end up using about a gallon of lotion a day.
Then I notice the silence. Quiet. The sense that not every bit of air space needs to be filled with blaring music, talking, talking over talking, and honking horns. Silence. The kind of silence that lets you hear the sheep bleating on the hillside, dogs barking in a distance, the hum of bicycle wheels and click of spokes, the wind in the trees (and there is loads of wind); a welcome silence that tells me I'm home.

It's like slipping into me when I visit where I grew up -- no second guessing, no worrying about using the wrong verb tense. A timelessness in a town that's growing but doesn't seem to change. It's so easy to return to who I was ... and still am.

Perhaps John Ed Pearce is right when he says, "Home is a place you grow up wanting to leave, and grow old wanting to get back to."

Yes I'm on Your Flight With a Two-Year-Old ... Run Away!

2010-04-28T19:48:00.009-05:00

Okay. Don't think I don't see the eye-rolls, hear the grumbles, and can't smell the sheer terror on you when I walk into the boarding area. It's like your pheromones are secreting fight/flight through your pores.
Yes. I'm on your flight.
A bloody long one.
With a two-year-old.
And trust me, I'm not having a pleasant day myself.
I write this because Monday, I'm about to embark on another journey to the states with Amelia -- just the two of us. It's about a twenty-four hour trip, door-to-door. Yep. 24 HOURS. And Jack Bauer thinks he has long days? He hasn't seen the first of it. Try MY day with a 15-month-old that has an intestinal virus and blow outs we haven't seen since they did nuclear testing in Nevada (last year's return trip to Colombia). Beat that, Bauer.
Freaking pansy.
Anyway, this is the thing: Traveling is hard. Traveling alone with a baby/toddler is a full-blown logistical nightmare that not even Robert Michael Gates could wrap his mind around. We've got twenty-four hours of possibilities -- limitless ones -- to plan for. And all of these possibilities have to be packed in one backpack.
Why one? Because if you pack more, you have to carry two backpacks, a kid, and manage the stroller, too.
Yep. One pack. One day. Endless possibilities. What could possibly go wrong? (If you need to ask you didn't pay attention to the swampy diaper issue from last year.)

So what's the point of the blog? An apology? Nope. Here are a few things to keep in mind before you roll your eyes at the haggard looking mother and child that will be boarding your plane:

I'm in hyper-mom mode -- all senses are go. So if anybody even looks cross-eyed at my kid or heaven forbid offers her a candy, I will overreact and super-sanitize her, keeping the candy to take the CSI lab when I arrive home. (This is why I have that crazy, blood-shot eye look about me)
I am dehydrated. I haven't had a drip of water because that would mean I have to pee at some point. Relieving myself would mean either a) leaving my daughter on the plane alone which would cause either 1) a meltdown the size of Chernobyl or 2) dread because I have seen Flightplan or b) bring child with me into plane bathroom. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Two people in one plane bathroom is only good for one thing. And that's not peeing.
I won't even talk about food.
This is a twenty-four hour trip. Luck might have it you get to sit next to us on hour twenty-one. No toy, sticker, game, cajoling, candy, crayons, bribery or anything will calm my child down because she's tired. She didn't sleep on the red-eye because the drinks cart practically knocked her off the chair. I haven't slept either. So if the only thing that keeps her happy is singing the Wheels on the Bus, you get three hours of Barneytime. Consider the alternative.
Guess what? Kids cry. Sometimes they're just tired. Sometimes hungry. Sometimes bored. Sometimes all of the above; sometimes none of the above. Bottom line, kids cry. Moms want to cry, but we're the grown ups so we have to wait and cry when we get a chance to go pee at the end of the trip.
If we are coughing, we are probably sick. Yes, I'd like the luxury of canceling trips at the last minute but simply can't afford it. It's a thousand dollar ticket home. Changing only makes things costlier. So there are few things that will keep me off the plane. I will do all I can to contain the germs in the meantime, but you seething at me doesn't not help the situation and only makes me want to not cover my mouth when I hack.
And finally, no matter HOW LONG your flight seems because you're stuck next to a two-year-old who's just plain-old had it, my day has been MUCH longer. Trust me on this one. Bearing the weight of three-hundred plus angry passengers is not pleasant.

You've been warned. I've given all travelers ample opportunities to avoid the airways on Monday, May 3 and Tuesday, May 4th. If, however, you proceed with your travel plans and are stuck singing If You're Happy And You Know It with us, thanks for singing along. Maybe we can even do it in rounds! (And feel free to spritz me with water ... I'll need it.)

Happy Travels To You ...

TIPS & GREAT TOYS FOR TRAVELING WITH TODDLERS

Dental floss (you can't imagine how FUN this stuff can be! Mint, of course.)
Sticker books/albums
Crayons/paper
A surprise baggie of "new toys"
Snacks (dehydrated fruit, raisins, cereal, water, water, water)
Laminated photos of people they love. Wallet-size. With NEW wallet to boot.
Favorite Books (not NEW ones, necessarily because you're gambling they won't be into it)
Ripping airplane magazines and doing impromptu ticker-tape parades for little people.
Songs, songs, songs ...
Mini play-doh packs
Imagination ... PLENTY OF IT. NOW is NOT the time to shut that part of the brain down.

Colombia from the Hip! Overloaded ...

2010-04-22T16:04:00.005-05:00

It's been a while. A LONG while ...

So here are a couple of photos of Colombia; overloaded trucks and people, trying to make a living.

The "R" Word: Revisions

2010-04-04T13:08:00.004-05:00

One of the most common questions I get from people is how the revisions process works. I can only talk about my experiences, as I imagine the revision process is different for every writer/editor relationship. But I'd like to share a little bit about revisions simply because I think it's the most important part of my job. (Other writers probably write much more polished first drafts. That's not me. So for those of you out there with vaguely disastrous first drafts, there's hope!)

When I sent off my first draft of Freeze Frame, I did so with a sense of pride and accomplishment. I even imagined the editorial team glowing with excitement and buzzing about this newbie author and her amazing first drafts.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!

Okay. My stomach hurts.
Let's get real here. My first draft of Freeze Frame was shockingly terrible. And you know that little story-arc triangle you learn in fifth grade about building to a climax, the climax, and denouement? Guess what? It's true.

So back to my revisions. At the time I was expecting the letter, I was traveling in Argentina. Several weeks had gone by without news from my editor, Jill Santopolo. And when I heard from her, it was a little note saying we had some kinks to work out. Ahhh ... Jill is an extremely gracious human being and for her to say "kinks to work out" pretty much meant my first draft was abysmal. So right away I wrote my intrepid agent, Stephen Barbara, who talked me off the icy edge of a glacier, saying, "Hold on. It'll be okay."

This is a good thing. To have an agent that talks you off plunging into Antarctic waters -- especially considering the only swim stroke I've mastered to date is the dog paddle.

Then I got the letter. Seven pages single spaced of "kinks". I remember reading the notes thinking, "Wow. This would be a great book." Then my husband kind of reminded me that this was my book. So then I thought, "Oh shit. How am I going to pull this off?" Then Intrepid Agent Barbara said, "Take those notes. Take a breath. Think about them. And write in your own words how you want to iron out the kinks."

And then the real work began. With Freeze Frame, I worked six to eight hours/day for a month on the first round of revisions. This was pre-motherhood, so I could dedicate all those hours to that little baby of mine. Then we went through six or seven (okay, I lost count) revisions similar to this -- each letter getting considerably shorter -- each revision taking a lot less time, too. With Compromised I only had to do three or four revisions. (These, of course, aren't counting the copy editing stage. I'll write about that another day.) And now I've begun revisions for The Doubting with my new editor-at-large Ruta Rimas, and the real work, once again, has begun.

I'm sure a lot of you are wondering why an editor would take so much time on authors and books that need so much work. This is a question I do not dare ask and probably never will. I'm just lucky that I have had and continue to have editors who believe that within the rubble of my words, they can find a decent building. So here's a little bullet-point list of what revisions are from an author's point of view after working with some of the brightest people in the business.

Editors want your book to be the best it can be. This is not a means for them to throw you down and kick dirt on you. In fact, every book that hits the shelves is also a reflection of the editing as well.
Take. Nothing. Personally. (If you do, find another job. NOW.)
The revision process is a dialogue between the editor: somebody who has experience (having read more books in the past week than I have in my life) and objectivity and the author: somebody who creates a world and can't see far enough past her nose to realize the world she has created is flat. And we all know that the world really really really needs to be round or else while dog-paddling off the glaciers, we will fall into oblivion.
The author's vision is never compromised during revisions. Editors are these amazing people that take a snippet of "wow" from the novel on page 242 and open that door so the author can take that snippet and work her ass off to trying to get the "wow" factor in from page 1. Editors work to make authors better authors. And, I'd like to think, authors work to make editors better editors. (Whenever I get revision notes, my head buzzes with ideas. It's exciting. It's a gift! Really.)
The initial revisions are global, focusing on character development, plot, relationships within the book etc, with some basic line editing to get rid of the same facial expression or "shrug" I've used for three-hundred pages.
Everything is open for discussion because, like I said, it's a dialogue.
Take. Nothing. Personally.

Revisions are challenging and intimidating. Because, at the end of the day, my editor is always asking me to give more, dig deeper, and really really work to create a better story. And the beautiful thing about editors is that they see the potential in a first draft and see that the book you have written can be a hundred times the book you ever imagined you could write. Somehow, they bring that out.

So ... I'm in the midst of revisions. My head is buzzing. I'm reworking scenes, relationships, revamping characters and having to dig deep -- way deep. And I'm tired. My head hurts. I'm terrified I won't finish on time. But this is what I love. Because, at the end of the day, I have somebody to work with (Ruta! :-) ) who's there to bounce ideas off, to give me the perspective I need, and, well, to remind me that revisions are due May 1. Nothing like a deadline to inspire!!

FEELING FOREIGN: A writer's life in Colombia

What were the odds that ... publishing facts numbers and such ...

2012: What were the odds that ...

The Year of Prime ... ahhh Heck ... just a bunch of books and authors I love

The Year of Prime ... On the 17th Day of Christmas

The Year of Prime ... On the 14th, 15th, and 16th Days of Christmas ...

The Year of Prime ... Tenth, Eleventh, Twelfth and Thirteenth

The Year of Prime ... On the Eighth and Ninth day of December

The Year of Prime ... On the Seventh Day of December

The Year of Prime ... On the Sixth Day of December ...

The Year of Prime ... On the Fifth Day of December

The Year of Prime ... WANTED: COVER REVEAL AND PRIZES woot!

The Year of Prime ... WANTED: World Domination

The Year of Prime ... A Little about Bonnie and Clyde ... WANTED cover reveal and signed ARC giveaway coming upl!

The Year of Prime ... The Lamentable Act of Banning ... or worse NOT READING!

The Year of Prime ... Random Acts of Publicity!

The Year of Prime ... Dios a Domicilio ... Soccer Mania ... Colombia from the Hip

The Year of Prime ... GIVEAWAYS ... and some GREAT pickup lines!

The Year of Prime ... CHEERIOS PLETHORA ... LIFE LAG AND GIVEAWAYS

The Year of Prime ... GIVEAWAYS GIVEAWAYS GIVEAWAYS ... Cheerios countown

The Year of Prime ... 5 MORE DAYS UNTIL CHEERIOS ...

The Year of Prime and Countdown Begins!! 9 Days Until ...

The Year of Prime, Giveaways & a chance to use my glittery Tink again

The Year of Prime, GIVEAWAYS including a Tinkerbell keychain and signed bookplates

The Year of Prime ... signed Compromised Hardback Giveaway ...

The Year of Prime Giveaways and Win a Good Luck Charm!

The Year of Prime ... COMPULSION TRAILER RELEASE ... Goodreads Giveaway, SIGNED COMPULSION ARC

The Year of Prime ... GIVEAWAYS and Kasey's wannabe popularity angst!

The Year of Prime ... *peeking in* ... GIVEAWAYS GIVEAWAYS GIVEAWAYS!

The Year of Prime and Colombia From the Hip ...

The Year of Prime, SIGNED ARC OF COMPULSION GIVEAWAY BEGINS TODAY ...

The Year of Prime, SIGNED ARC OF COMPULSION GIVEAWAY, book cover madness and COMPULSION cover reveal!

The Year of Prime and the Gatekeepers to the World of Publishing

The Year of Prime and the Publipocalypse

The Year of Prime and Who Lost the Plot?

The Year of Prime and WHO'D BUY THAT?

And the Winner of NAME THAT LAME-DUCK NOVEL is ...

Lame-Duck Writing ... And CONTEST!

A Book A Day: On the 21st - 24th of Christmas

A Book A Day: On the 20th Day of December

A Book A Day: On the 19th of December

A Book A Day: On the 18th of December

A Book A Day: On the 15th, 16th, 17th Day of Christmas ...

A Book A Day: On the 14th Day of December

A Book A Day: On the 13th of December

A Book A Day: On the 12th Day of December

A Book A Day: On the 11th Day of December

A Book a Day: On the 10th Day of December

A Book A Day: On the 9th Day of December

Victims of sexual assault are:

Lighting a Candle: Making a Wish

A Book A Day: On the 7th Day of December

A Book A Day: On the 6th Day of December

A Book A Day: On the 5th Day of December

A Book A Day: On the 4th Day of December ...

A Book A Day: On the 3rd of December

A Book A Day: On the 2nd of December

A Book A Day: On the 1st of December ...

A Book A Day: On the 30th Day of November ...

And the Winner Is ... (Ta-da-da-da ... *horn music*)

BE A CREATIVE BOOK BANNER ... MY FIRST BLOG CONTEST!

Books YOU recommended!!

Rant: Ramona Geraldine Quimby and Farenheit 451

Colombia from the Hip -- Pereira's Parties!!

Ken Robinson says schools kill creativity | Video on TED.com

Colombia from the HIp -- Let the Mayhem Begin

What would Salinger Tweet?

Things NOT to do on the Agent Hunt ...

Debunking Myths About the Mysterious World of Writing, Publishing etc ...

Lauren Baratz-Logsted Stops in my little Corner of the World on her Whirlwind Blog Tour

Blast From the Past ... A Travel Log!

Ode to Soccer -- why we should LOVE the sport

Random Publishing Facts

Colombia from the Hip! Working Hard ...

Rant: Ten *Irrelevant* Things that Bug Me

Carson City From the Hip

Yes I'm on Your Flight With a Two-Year-Old ... Run Away!

Colombia from the Hip! Overloaded ...

The "R" Word: Revisions

The Year of Prime ... peeking in ... GIVEAWAYS GIVEAWAYS GIVEAWAYS!

And the Winner Is ... (Ta-da-da-da ... horn music)

Rant: Ten Irrelevant Things that Bug Me