Angela Sage Larsen's Blog, page 8

The Double Giveaway is on!

WooHoo! It's that time of year…perfect reading weather (dreary, cold, gray, rainy…)! So, amazing author Heather Vogel Frederick and I dreamed up an awesome 2011 CYBER MONDAY DOUBLE GIVEAWAY. Yeah, you read that right! Win Heather's latest Mother-Daughter Book Club book, HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS and my Fifties Chix book, TRAVEL TO TOMORROW. To read my interview with Heather and get all the sweet deets, click here (and there you can also find out how to read her interview with me).

And, because this is also the time of year where we think about family and friends just a little bit more (and because I think the two best gifts are: 1. a unique experience and 2. books), how's about starting your own Mother-Daughter Book Club?! I interviewed a real life Mother-Daughter book club and did all the snooping for you so you can start your own. Read my interview here.

Now, go win yourself some awesome reads, snuggle up with your cocoa and fave blanky and get reading.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Travel to Tomorrow is a Goodreads Choice Award Semifinalist!!!

When I got an email from Goodreads announcing, "Congratulations! One of your books is a 2011 Goodreads Choice Award Semifinalist!" I was way ahead of them. Thanks to my extraordinary husband, who had gone behind my back to email everyone I know and ask them to write in Fifties Chix Travel to Tomorrow, the book got enough votes to make the semi-finals. He knew voting closed Sunday night for that round, so he was up all night, checking Goodreads every 15 minutes to see if the book made it through. At 6 am on Monday, he announced to me that the book was posted and had officially been nominated!!

I love my Fifties Chix and I care about what happens to them. The fact that there are other readers who agree with me is more than I can ever ask. So, thank you for your votes and reviews as we head to the next round.

Here's the schedule:

Semifinals: November 14 – November 20, 2011 (Happening now!)

Finals: November 21 – November 30, 2011

The field narrows to the top 10 books in each category.

Go here to vote and please help us spread the word. And thank you.

True Moral Courage

The victims in the *disaster* (which is not a strong enough word) surrounding Penn State are true heroes. To go through what they did and come forward takes a courage many of us may not be able to fathom. Joe Paterno, Tim Curley, Gary Schulz AND SO MANY OTHERS didn't have the courage to break through the resistance to MAKE THIS STOP. And there is resistance, believe me, I know. There is not a logic to it (though it tries to be logical). It is the nature of evil to hide itself and protect itself by any means necessary. It's almost a kind of laziness, for lack of a better word. Coming out and dealing with something like this feels like trying to beat down a cement wall with only your bare fingers. There's bound to be red tape, financial repercussions, reputations destroyed…and that's just for starters. But, as one of the ESPN commentators pointed out, if this abuse had happened to any of the above-named gentleman's children, you can bet they would not have stopped until there was justice. They would have laid their lives down (one hopes) to defend, protect, vindicate, safeguard and support their child. We all must make this commitment here and now for the boys associated with Second Mile and Penn State, for the women who are coming forward about sexual harassment by Herman Cain and others, for the girls and boys sexualized harmfully in the media EVERY DAY as if it were a matter of taste or personal preference: we are all accountable for protecting our children, for standing up and refusing to back down, no matter what it takes. Shame on all of us for looking the other way or merely observing the bare minimum of the letter of the law. To the victims, you are honorable, courageous, loved…and though it might not seem like it, you are not alone.

How did you find your first publisher?

Ah, great question and one I get frequently. Here's my answer in a recent interview I did with a Columbia, MO NPR affiliate during a Fifties Chix: Travel to Tomorrow book signing at Rose's Bookhouse.

Time to start thinking of your 1 Christmas wish…

When I was having a *really* bad day last month, I almost ducked out of my book club meeting. Only catch was, they were reading my book! When I showed up late and bedraggled, I was instantly cheered when I realized that all the members of my book club had shared our read with their kids and the kids were at the meeting, too (plus, there was pizza, bevvies and yummy appetizers from Trader Joe's)!! Since then, my affection for the idea of mother-daughter book clubs (originally ignited by Heather Vogel Frederick), has been even more kindled and I have been working on some great stuff to share with you from a real-life Mother-Daughter book club and from the author of the awesome Mother-Daughter Book Club Series herself, Heather Vogel Frederick (including a giveaway of her brand spanking new M-D BC book, Home for the Holidays!)

Isn't a Mother-Daughter Book Club the perfect thing to start just in time for Christmas? With the excessive materialism, celebrity and overall ickiness that tries to crowd into our holiday season (didn't we just survive the Ill-Conceived Female Costumes Season called Halloween?), doesn't curling up with a good book and poring over its finer points with a mug o' cocoa and good friends sound kind of perfect? Stay tuned…

[You know, if I had one Christmas wish (besides starting a mother-daughter book club), it would be for all the children of the world to get together and sing in the spirit of harmony...AND $30 million dollars to be delivered to a Swiss bank account each month in my name....*]

*Disclaimer: Those are actually Steve Martin's Holiday wishes.

Best Book: Write in your vote here for Travel to Tomorrow!

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2011 Goodreads Choice Awards: Best Best Middle Grade & Children's

Vote now for your favorite books!

Click this link, scroll down and write in Fifties Chix: Travel to Tomorrow for Goodreads Choice Awards 2011. Hurry! Voting ends soon.

A Spiritual Perspective

The Christian Science Monitor published my response to the documentary Miss Representation here. Check it out!

The timing could not be more perfect because today Fifties Chix: Travel to Tomorrow is officially available through Barnes & Noble stores across the United States (and online). Make sure your bookstore has it! We need books like this; the WSJ article that met with so much controversy about the need for some more positive (=less dark) story lines is still fresh. Readers and parents are still looking for something positive for girls especially to read. The Fifties Chix journey has just begun. All aboard!

Stereotypes Save Time*

Here's a fantastic article in Forbes you won't want to miss, featuring  Condoleezza Rice, Janet Napolitano, Anna Wintour, Hillary Clinton, and Jill Abramson, among others detailing the 10 Worst Stereotypes About Powerful Women. All the more reason to write rich, multi-dimensional characters for readers to look to. Then when they see real-life women expressing those characteristics of authority,  it's not so inconceivable or foreign. Better yet, let's keep celebrating femininity wherever we see it Enough blustering and bullying, I promise if you let girls be girls, it will be a blessing to us all.

*From the film "Up in the Air"

Let's make fiction a fact

This is one of the hardest posts I've ever had to write. I just finished watching Miss Representation. I have so much to say, so much to think about, and honestly, the last thing I want to do is write this blog. My first instinct actually is to run to my latest Fifties Chix manuscript and check in with Bev, Maxine, Judy, Mary and Ann. I want to gather them in a group hug and tell them they are doing good things. I want to stay up late with them and talk about their hopes and dreams and ask them how they will take what they've learned with them back to the 1950s and make a difference. I want to ask them what it is they would each say if only the world would listen for a minute. I want their story to be your story, her story, his story. I want to tell them that they are not alone; that everyone is trying to figure out their place and how they can best contribute. I want to assure them that just because they are girls doesn't mean boys don't want to read about their victories, too. I want to tell them they aren't an alien species, their stories are just as valid as if they were the gun totin' Fifties Dudes, Bob, James, Conrad, Gary and Danny.

I want to tell Bev that of course she can play baseball with the boys and earn a living playing a sport;

I want to tell Maxine that we've made great strides with the civil rights and women's movement and of course she can be President if she wants to;

I want to tell Judy that there are certainly a multitude of wonderful film roles for women and as a talented actress, she can have her pick;

I want to tell Mary that she doesn't have to be the perfect homemaker to "deserve" a loving family–that bringing her amazing self to the table is enough;

and I want to tell Ann that she has a voice as an artist–that she will be noticed and heard for the soulful language she speaks on canvas and not just for her size and looks.

I want to tell them all these things and I can…because I write fiction. But the more we read, watch, create, magnify, celebrate the potential of girls, the less these things will be fiction, the stronger will be our women, the better our men, the safer our children and the more stable and progressive and productive our society will be. "You can't be what you can't see."

Here's to creating our story and helping it come true.

Much Love,

The Perfect Storm!

I made this image myself. If you're thinking that I could have made better use of my time, you're so right.

Teen Read Week! Character Counts Week! The debut of Miss Representation! Bosses Day! OK, the last one doesn't totally relate…but let's throw this one in: deciding on a Halloween costume! That one definitely relates. And…the launch of the Fifties Chix series with the first book, Travel to Tomorrow! That just wraps it all up in a nice little bow (which will be a great segue way to Christmas…next post?)

So…we have Teen Read Week, encouraging teens to read. And if they're gonna read, wouldn't it be nice if isn't it essential that they had some good strong female characters to revel in? [Hmmm...is it a coincidence that Fifties Chix: Travel to Tomorrow is launching right now? Could this be a conspiracy?]

Character Counts Week…an education means you learn stuff (even terrorists can be educated);  character education means you learn stuff and you care about being a productive honest citizen who constructively puts to use what is learned.

The debut of Miss Representation!!! Do you feel the ground moving?? Do you feel it?? That is our paradigm shifting. Don't grab onto the media's shallow and harmful portrayal of women and girls to steady yourself…find something substantial and solid to stand on and don't allow yourself to be swayed!

And then we've got the Halloween season upon us; a challenge for girls who are not looking to dress as a street-walking {well, anything}. I came across this post of a woman who wanted to be the trashiest at a Halloween party four years ago. I think she succeeded! If you don't want to be trashy, how about dressing up as a Fifties Chix character ala 1950s and joining us at Barnes & Noble, West County in St. Louis for our Fifties Chix: Travel to Tomorrow launch and costume party? YAY!!! FUNNN!! We'll even have scenes from the book for you to act out and that we'll put on YouTube! Prizes, party, cash (oops, got carried away. No cash. But super fun)  Friday, Oct. 28 at 7:00. Be there or be square. [But don't be trashy!]