Maggie Stiefvater's Blog: Maggie Stiefvater, page 397
April 11, 2011
THIS IS TEEN! events with Meg Cabot & Libba Bray. Also, Australia
So, in addition to going places and breaking down in my Camaro this year, I also have some events booked with Meg Cabot & Libba Bray as part of Scholastic's This is Teen promotion.
When they first pitched the idea to me, I thought This is Teen would involve sneaking out of the house, grappling with one little triangle of my hair always being greasy, having musicians not take me seriously, wondering why clothing in the juniors section never seemed to fit me, and wondering if now was the time to learn how to put on make-up.
It turns out that was not what they meant. They meant this.
And these are the places Meg, Libba, & I will be stopping by.
• May 24, 2011, Barnes & Noble in Carle Place, NY
• May 26, 201, The Scholastic Store in New York, NY
• June 13, 2011, Books Inc. in San Francisco, CA
• June 15, 2011, Anderson’s Bookshop in Naperville, IL
• June 16, 2011, Wellesley Booksmith in Wellesley, MA
• July 23, 2011, Books & Books in Miami, FL
I don't have the times yet, but when I do, they'll be posted here.
MOREVER, it seems, I'M GOING TO AUSTRALIA. I'll be at both the Melbourne Writers Festival and the Brisbane Writers Festival in August/ September. I am revoltingly pleased.
That's all.
When they first pitched the idea to me, I thought This is Teen would involve sneaking out of the house, grappling with one little triangle of my hair always being greasy, having musicians not take me seriously, wondering why clothing in the juniors section never seemed to fit me, and wondering if now was the time to learn how to put on make-up.
It turns out that was not what they meant. They meant this.
And these are the places Meg, Libba, & I will be stopping by.
• May 24, 2011, Barnes & Noble in Carle Place, NY
• May 26, 201, The Scholastic Store in New York, NY
• June 13, 2011, Books Inc. in San Francisco, CA
• June 15, 2011, Anderson’s Bookshop in Naperville, IL
• June 16, 2011, Wellesley Booksmith in Wellesley, MA
• July 23, 2011, Books & Books in Miami, FL
I don't have the times yet, but when I do, they'll be posted here.
MOREVER, it seems, I'M GOING TO AUSTRALIA. I'll be at both the Melbourne Writers Festival and the Brisbane Writers Festival in August/ September. I am revoltingly pleased.
That's all.
April 9, 2011
The Theory of Hubris
I would like to meditate on hubris at the moment.
Those of you who read this blog with any regularity whatsoever probably know that I have a car named Loki that I love dearly. Loki* was a present to myself when I sold SHIVER, finally becoming a full-time writer. He is also, for tax purposes, my business car.
In theory, this is the best idea ever.
In practice, having a vehicle made in 1973 as your business vehicle presents some problems.
*moreover, you'll notice I named him after the Norse god of mischief. This, in theory, seems like the best idea ever. In practice, however, it presents some problems.
Here is a diagram with some details of Loki:
And a close up diagram for finer details:
Sometime last year, while I was on tour for LINGER, I was sitting in my hotel room in Los Angelos and looking out the window and thinking. And that's when I saw this parked outside of my hotel.
And I had a great idea. That great idea was that next year, instead of flying to all of my book tour destinations, I should do a great American road trip. In Loki.
Sleep-deprived, high on sweet tea, and gazing at the Wienermobile the entire time, I stared at a map of the United States and drew a looping, 3,700 mile road trip on it. As I stared at it, I remembered Loki's foibles, the weather in July, and how crucial it is to arrive at events on time. This is insanity, I thought fondly.
Then I e-mailed it to my publicist.
Let's fast forward a few months. By this point, Loki has been to joint author events in Richmond (and broken down), to parade in front of NASA engineers (and broken down), and to numerous school visits (and not broken down, to mix things up a little bit). My publicist calls.
PUBLICIST: Maggie, this is insanity.
ME: yes.
PUBLICIST: However, insanity seems to be your "brand." Let's do it.
The map had just become one step closer to reality. Loki headed into the shop to have wiring replaced and air-conditioning put in. For my part, I picked out jeans that would match Loki on tour. Lover built me a model of Loki to sit on my desk while I meditated. My publicist spent long hours with a phone in one hand and Google maps in the other.
Now, I had grown up with old cars — my dad infected me with an affection for the smell of gas leaking — and so I knew that it was always a bad idea to travel alone in a car you didn't trust entirely, especially if you were a young and tender girl wearing jeans that matched your Camaro.
I needed a co-pilot. Someone who I wouldn't kill after three weeks, and someone, more importantly, who wouldn't kill me.** Who better to ask than my best friend and critique partner, Tessa Gratton?
**I can be somewhat highly strung.
You see Tessa in this photo (left). That is Carrie Ryan on the right. I feel this photograph adequately expresses both of their personalities.
She said yes. My plans were finally coming together.
Meanwhile, after four months in the shop, Loki was supposedly a new man, free of the . . . inconsistencies . . . that had troubled him to that point. Plus, air-conditioning. I do not feel I cannot emphasize this enough. I was delighted when, a few days ago, I got a phone call from the mechanic (who is French. With a heavy accent. This makes all of our technical conversations slightly obscure, like so:
FRENCH MECHANIC: I have finished your car, but zer iz a problem.
ME: oh?
FRENCH MECHANIC: Ze door panels, I can find ze top two parts, but not ze bottom.
ME: which part is that?
FRENCH MECHANIC: Ze part wi ze glove box. Wi ze cavern. Wi ze trash pocket! You know zis word, what is ze TRASH POCKET?
ME: I . . . okay. I just want air co and running car. Everything else is cool.
FRENCH MECHANIC: You need to come into ze shop! So I can stop trying to think of word for TRASH POCKET!
)
I picked Loki up. Apart from the Trash Pockets, the car ran and sounded like a million bucks, or at least like the $11,000 I had claimed for him on my taxes when I bought him. I was excited, but I was also beginning to feel that possibly I had misled Tessa as to the full extent of what it was like to ride in Loki. With a sense of duty and doom, I pinged her in chat.
Tessa was still game. My evil plans really were falling into place. French Mechanic urged me to drive Loki as much as possible before the tour, in order to "iron out ze bumps."
With a sense that I had the best ideas in the world, I decided to take Loki to a fairly local event in Fredericksburg on Thursday. The organizers had arranged for me to have a parking space right by the building, and in my head, I could already see my triumphant arrival. Bright orange-red muscle car belching smoke and roaring proudly, license plate shouting my novel, me cool as a cucumber in my newly air-conditioned front seat. Everyone would have to walk by it to get into the event and oh would they see how terribly cool I was.
I was riding high as I left the house that evening. The sun was as low and red as my car, and I was feeling pretty smug. Loki tore out of my home town, engine thrashing enthusiastically, speakers pumping. The miles careened out behind me. One mile. Two miles. Four miles.
Five.
Six.
Somewhere around seven miles from home:
LOKI: >cough<
ME: I know that was just an accident. Clearing your throat. You —
LOKI: >coughcough<
ME: If you ever want to be let out of the house again, you —
LOKI: >die<
From the side of the road, I noticed that the spring flowers were super pretty and considered the idea that, possibly, there was still more wrong with Loki than the trash pocket. It was probably time to have another chat with Tessa. As Lover sighed over the phone and packed up Things 1 & 2 to rescue me, I pondered the meaning of the word hubris.
Forty minutes later, I pulled up sulkily at my event in my diesel Volkswagen. It did not belch smoke. It was not bright orange-red. The license plate did not say SHIVER. Really, the only thing it had going for it was that it ran, and really, that is the least important thing a car can do, right?
I have loads of time before July. And at least I have air conditioning in Loki now. Which, turns out, is slightly better in theory than in practice.
Those of you who read this blog with any regularity whatsoever probably know that I have a car named Loki that I love dearly. Loki* was a present to myself when I sold SHIVER, finally becoming a full-time writer. He is also, for tax purposes, my business car.
In theory, this is the best idea ever.
In practice, having a vehicle made in 1973 as your business vehicle presents some problems.
*moreover, you'll notice I named him after the Norse god of mischief. This, in theory, seems like the best idea ever. In practice, however, it presents some problems.
Here is a diagram with some details of Loki:
And a close up diagram for finer details:
Sometime last year, while I was on tour for LINGER, I was sitting in my hotel room in Los Angelos and looking out the window and thinking. And that's when I saw this parked outside of my hotel.
And I had a great idea. That great idea was that next year, instead of flying to all of my book tour destinations, I should do a great American road trip. In Loki.
Sleep-deprived, high on sweet tea, and gazing at the Wienermobile the entire time, I stared at a map of the United States and drew a looping, 3,700 mile road trip on it. As I stared at it, I remembered Loki's foibles, the weather in July, and how crucial it is to arrive at events on time. This is insanity, I thought fondly.
Then I e-mailed it to my publicist.
Let's fast forward a few months. By this point, Loki has been to joint author events in Richmond (and broken down), to parade in front of NASA engineers (and broken down), and to numerous school visits (and not broken down, to mix things up a little bit). My publicist calls.
PUBLICIST: Maggie, this is insanity.
ME: yes.
PUBLICIST: However, insanity seems to be your "brand." Let's do it.
The map had just become one step closer to reality. Loki headed into the shop to have wiring replaced and air-conditioning put in. For my part, I picked out jeans that would match Loki on tour. Lover built me a model of Loki to sit on my desk while I meditated. My publicist spent long hours with a phone in one hand and Google maps in the other.
Now, I had grown up with old cars — my dad infected me with an affection for the smell of gas leaking — and so I knew that it was always a bad idea to travel alone in a car you didn't trust entirely, especially if you were a young and tender girl wearing jeans that matched your Camaro.
I needed a co-pilot. Someone who I wouldn't kill after three weeks, and someone, more importantly, who wouldn't kill me.** Who better to ask than my best friend and critique partner, Tessa Gratton?
**I can be somewhat highly strung.
You see Tessa in this photo (left). That is Carrie Ryan on the right. I feel this photograph adequately expresses both of their personalities.
She said yes. My plans were finally coming together.
Meanwhile, after four months in the shop, Loki was supposedly a new man, free of the . . . inconsistencies . . . that had troubled him to that point. Plus, air-conditioning. I do not feel I cannot emphasize this enough. I was delighted when, a few days ago, I got a phone call from the mechanic (who is French. With a heavy accent. This makes all of our technical conversations slightly obscure, like so:
FRENCH MECHANIC: I have finished your car, but zer iz a problem.
ME: oh?
FRENCH MECHANIC: Ze door panels, I can find ze top two parts, but not ze bottom.
ME: which part is that?
FRENCH MECHANIC: Ze part wi ze glove box. Wi ze cavern. Wi ze trash pocket! You know zis word, what is ze TRASH POCKET?
ME: I . . . okay. I just want air co and running car. Everything else is cool.
FRENCH MECHANIC: You need to come into ze shop! So I can stop trying to think of word for TRASH POCKET!
)
I picked Loki up. Apart from the Trash Pockets, the car ran and sounded like a million bucks, or at least like the $11,000 I had claimed for him on my taxes when I bought him. I was excited, but I was also beginning to feel that possibly I had misled Tessa as to the full extent of what it was like to ride in Loki. With a sense of duty and doom, I pinged her in chat.
Tessa was still game. My evil plans really were falling into place. French Mechanic urged me to drive Loki as much as possible before the tour, in order to "iron out ze bumps."
With a sense that I had the best ideas in the world, I decided to take Loki to a fairly local event in Fredericksburg on Thursday. The organizers had arranged for me to have a parking space right by the building, and in my head, I could already see my triumphant arrival. Bright orange-red muscle car belching smoke and roaring proudly, license plate shouting my novel, me cool as a cucumber in my newly air-conditioned front seat. Everyone would have to walk by it to get into the event and oh would they see how terribly cool I was.
I was riding high as I left the house that evening. The sun was as low and red as my car, and I was feeling pretty smug. Loki tore out of my home town, engine thrashing enthusiastically, speakers pumping. The miles careened out behind me. One mile. Two miles. Four miles.
Five.
Six.
Somewhere around seven miles from home:
LOKI: >cough<
ME: I know that was just an accident. Clearing your throat. You —
LOKI: >coughcough<
ME: If you ever want to be let out of the house again, you —
LOKI: >die<
From the side of the road, I noticed that the spring flowers were super pretty and considered the idea that, possibly, there was still more wrong with Loki than the trash pocket. It was probably time to have another chat with Tessa. As Lover sighed over the phone and packed up Things 1 & 2 to rescue me, I pondered the meaning of the word hubris.
Forty minutes later, I pulled up sulkily at my event in my diesel Volkswagen. It did not belch smoke. It was not bright orange-red. The license plate did not say SHIVER. Really, the only thing it had going for it was that it ran, and really, that is the least important thing a car can do, right?
I have loads of time before July. And at least I have air conditioning in Loki now. Which, turns out, is slightly better in theory than in practice.
April 7, 2011
2011 Critique Partner Love Connection
I've been asked several times in the last few months if I would do another critique partner love connection on my blog and I now have enough requests that I'm going to go ahead and do it. I did one WAY back when and, looking at it, I find that the wording on it still mostly applies, so here we go:
Okay. As y'all know, I have two critique partners ( and ) whom I love dearly. They rip and tear at my ms with everything they have in them and they read what I read and love what I love and . . .well, after a long critique partner search, I have learned much about what I need in crit partners, and they are what I need.
However, it's come to my attention that not all of my blog readers have found what they need, and they're having a hard time putting out a call for crit partners on their own blogs because of traffic. Some of them are really good too -- agented or published or close to agented or published, and they need someone at that level. Others are just starting out.
So I thought I might do a Crit Partner Love Connection here on my blog, if anybody's looking. This is PRECISELY the way I found Tessa and Brenna.
Here are the rules, such as I ever have rules:
Post a comment saying the age range (adult, YA, MG), a brief, one-sentence blurb about your book or just the genre if you don't want to share more than that, and whether or not you have an agent, etc. Also the last book that you read that you loved that you feel epitomizes you as a reader.
Then, if someone sounds appealing to you, you send them a message saying so and find out if it's mutual. If it is, you exchange the first 50 pages of your manuscripts, critique them, and return said critiques. If either of you doesn't feel like the crit relationship is working at that point, you get to smile and say thanks and walk away without any questions asked. That's the way it works.
NOTE: I myself am not looking for critters. Two partners is enough for me -- I can't keep up with anymore. I recommend definitely two or three partners for best results. That way when someone says "this sucks!" and someone else says "does not!" you can be the tie breaker. But if they both say "this sucks!" and you say "does not!" it means you're wrong. ;)
Okay. Go! Any questions?
Okay. As y'all know, I have two critique partners ( and ) whom I love dearly. They rip and tear at my ms with everything they have in them and they read what I read and love what I love and . . .well, after a long critique partner search, I have learned much about what I need in crit partners, and they are what I need.
However, it's come to my attention that not all of my blog readers have found what they need, and they're having a hard time putting out a call for crit partners on their own blogs because of traffic. Some of them are really good too -- agented or published or close to agented or published, and they need someone at that level. Others are just starting out.
So I thought I might do a Crit Partner Love Connection here on my blog, if anybody's looking. This is PRECISELY the way I found Tessa and Brenna.
Here are the rules, such as I ever have rules:
Post a comment saying the age range (adult, YA, MG), a brief, one-sentence blurb about your book or just the genre if you don't want to share more than that, and whether or not you have an agent, etc. Also the last book that you read that you loved that you feel epitomizes you as a reader.
Then, if someone sounds appealing to you, you send them a message saying so and find out if it's mutual. If it is, you exchange the first 50 pages of your manuscripts, critique them, and return said critiques. If either of you doesn't feel like the crit relationship is working at that point, you get to smile and say thanks and walk away without any questions asked. That's the way it works.
NOTE: I myself am not looking for critters. Two partners is enough for me -- I can't keep up with anymore. I recommend definitely two or three partners for best results. That way when someone says "this sucks!" and someone else says "does not!" you can be the tie breaker. But if they both say "this sucks!" and you say "does not!" it means you're wrong. ;)
Okay. Go! Any questions?
April 6, 2011
You Would Not Believe the Things I Do When Caffeinated
Actually, you guys probably would.
April 1, 2011
Fourth SHIVER Book REVEALED!!!!!
I know that many, many readers are going to be delighted when I announce that I have bowed to reader pressure and will be releasing a fourth book in the Shiver series in July of 2012.
I hope you guys LOVE IT!
I hope you guys LOVE IT!
April Appearances in Virginia
1. I swear this is not an April Fool's Prank. Google did a great one.
2. I have two events coming up in Virginia in the next few weeks, the last ones I have until FOREVER comes out in July.
3. One is in Fredericksburg, VA, and put on by the Fredericksburg Area Service League. It's a Author Book Chat and Dinner and it benefits area projects and they will be giving fun stuff away, as will I, and I think I shall read a Small Part of Forever. It's on April 7th, details here: http://www.faserviceleague.com/Book_and_Author.html
4. The other, "Taking Books to Heart," is aimed at teachers, librarians, and "other adults interested in young adult literature" (that would be me). It's in Williamsburg, VA, on April 13th. Details here: http://hamptonroads.com/2011/03/taking-books-heart. I'll be talking about books that I fell in love with as a teen and chatting with participants.
5. I'll be announcing a few other appearances VERY SHORTLY. I think next week, as a matter of fact. With exciting! guest! stars!
6. Today I am picking up my car, Loki, from the shop, where he was getting air-conditioning installed for my Epic Road Trip this summer. I am obscenely excited.
/maggie out
2. I have two events coming up in Virginia in the next few weeks, the last ones I have until FOREVER comes out in July.
3. One is in Fredericksburg, VA, and put on by the Fredericksburg Area Service League. It's a Author Book Chat and Dinner and it benefits area projects and they will be giving fun stuff away, as will I, and I think I shall read a Small Part of Forever. It's on April 7th, details here: http://www.faserviceleague.com/Book_and_Author.html
4. The other, "Taking Books to Heart," is aimed at teachers, librarians, and "other adults interested in young adult literature" (that would be me). It's in Williamsburg, VA, on April 13th. Details here: http://hamptonroads.com/2011/03/taking-books-heart. I'll be talking about books that I fell in love with as a teen and chatting with participants.
5. I'll be announcing a few other appearances VERY SHORTLY. I think next week, as a matter of fact. With exciting! guest! stars!
6. Today I am picking up my car, Loki, from the shop, where he was getting air-conditioning installed for my Epic Road Trip this summer. I am obscenely excited.
/maggie out
March 31, 2011
Where to Find My Prints
After my post about the importance of cookies, I got a few comments and e-mails about where people could find my prints. I've had several of these in the past too, and the answer was "nowhere" since I went full time with my writing. BUT I finally got off my butt and opened an Imagekind account as some of my artist friends had been kicking me to do. So here it is, if you're interested.
If you're not interested, go make some more cookies. Well, heck, do that anyway.
In other news, I've been asked 14,000 times in the past two weeks about starting novels. I thought I'd talked about this before, but is anybody interested in hearing me talking about it more?
If you're not interested, go make some more cookies. Well, heck, do that anyway.
In other news, I've been asked 14,000 times in the past two weeks about starting novels. I thought I'd talked about this before, but is anybody interested in hearing me talking about it more?
March 30, 2011
Win a Writing Critique -- To Benefit Japan
I was going to write a long preamble to this post about how acutely I feel for kids in terrible situations, and how the news about Japan has been absolutely heart-breaking, and how my best friend Tessa Gratton donated a critique through this site because she had lived in Japan and loved it and how events conspired for me to donate a writing critique as well, but I'll just cut and paste from the auction blog with the details.
Basically, you have 72 hours to bid. Leave your bids in the comment on the auction blog post; bidding's open until April 2nd.
Here is the cut and paste bit:
From NYT bestselling author Maggie Stiefvater: a critique. Or perhaps more detailed:
"$50 and under for the winning bid, I'll do a 5 page crit.
$100 and under, one chapter (3000 words).
$250 and under, three chapter critique (9,000 words).
Anything over $500, 15,000 word critique.
$1,000 and over, 20,000 word critique, a signed copy of Shiver, Linger, Lament, and Ballad, and a Linger tank-top."
If the amount for any reason goes obscenely over $1,000, I will continue thinking of things to add to the pot until bidding closes.
NOTE: COMMENTS HERE ON MY BLOG ARE NOT BIDS.
Basically, you have 72 hours to bid. Leave your bids in the comment on the auction blog post; bidding's open until April 2nd.
Here is the cut and paste bit:
From NYT bestselling author Maggie Stiefvater: a critique. Or perhaps more detailed:
"$50 and under for the winning bid, I'll do a 5 page crit.
$100 and under, one chapter (3000 words).
$250 and under, three chapter critique (9,000 words).
Anything over $500, 15,000 word critique.
$1,000 and over, 20,000 word critique, a signed copy of Shiver, Linger, Lament, and Ballad, and a Linger tank-top."
If the amount for any reason goes obscenely over $1,000, I will continue thinking of things to add to the pot until bidding closes.
NOTE: COMMENTS HERE ON MY BLOG ARE NOT BIDS.
March 29, 2011
Priorities, Priorities
I've posted time and again how important I think priorities are in a creative career. When you set your own schedule, you are the one responsible for what does or doesn't get done in a day. Every time you do something, you are subconsciously saying: "this is a priority."
I think it's pretty clear to readers of this blog what my top priorities are.
That's right. Cookies and tea. These two things have been at the top of my agenda ever since my art days. (that top one is a photo I took, because the only thing better than eating cookies is photographing them; and the bottom is my first colored pencil piece that I made into prints, because the only thing better than drinking tea is lovingly recreating it with pencils).
I'll confess I did a few paintings of tea and cookies. A few.
So I suppose it should come as no surprise to me that this morning, when I opened my inbox, I had an e-mail from a reader asking me for wisdom. Not on writing. No. She asked me for my recipe for cookies the size of my head.
I reckon she's talking about these.
Well, dear reader, here you go. One of my four recipes for chocolate chip cookies I have in my arsenal.
COOKIES THE SIZE OF YOUR HEAD
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted (cut it into tablespoons and microwave it for 30 seconds)
1 cup packed brown sugar (and I'm talking nice stuff, not the store brand. Come on, people!)
1/2 cup white sugar
1 tbs vanilla (again, nice stuff. Try this and you'll never spend $8 dollars on McCormick's again)
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 cups semi-sweet chips (I like the mini-chips for these)
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease a cookie sheet. Stir together flour, baking soda, and salt. In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugars. You can do this by hand, if you have Popeye arms, or use your handy standing mixer. (I KNOW you have a standing mixer. Everyone has one, along with a favorite pair of jeans and the dark secret of your first movie crush. If you don't have one, sell your couch and get one.)(Can't beat that great advice from a NYT Bestselling author, can you?) Beat in vanilla and eggs until light and creamy. Mix in flour until just blended. Stir in chocolate chips (really, when you're trying to make absurdly large baked goods, the mini chips are better for allowing them to hold together). Use a 1/3 measuring cup to scoop dough onto the cookie sheet, 3" apart. Bake for 15-18 minutes, until they're golden brown around the edges. They will get firmer as they set up because of the high butter content.
Hold up to your head to verify the size. The end!
I think it's pretty clear to readers of this blog what my top priorities are.
That's right. Cookies and tea. These two things have been at the top of my agenda ever since my art days. (that top one is a photo I took, because the only thing better than eating cookies is photographing them; and the bottom is my first colored pencil piece that I made into prints, because the only thing better than drinking tea is lovingly recreating it with pencils).
I'll confess I did a few paintings of tea and cookies. A few.
So I suppose it should come as no surprise to me that this morning, when I opened my inbox, I had an e-mail from a reader asking me for wisdom. Not on writing. No. She asked me for my recipe for cookies the size of my head.
I reckon she's talking about these.
Well, dear reader, here you go. One of my four recipes for chocolate chip cookies I have in my arsenal.
COOKIES THE SIZE OF YOUR HEAD
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted (cut it into tablespoons and microwave it for 30 seconds)
1 cup packed brown sugar (and I'm talking nice stuff, not the store brand. Come on, people!)
1/2 cup white sugar
1 tbs vanilla (again, nice stuff. Try this and you'll never spend $8 dollars on McCormick's again)
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 cups semi-sweet chips (I like the mini-chips for these)
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease a cookie sheet. Stir together flour, baking soda, and salt. In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugars. You can do this by hand, if you have Popeye arms, or use your handy standing mixer. (I KNOW you have a standing mixer. Everyone has one, along with a favorite pair of jeans and the dark secret of your first movie crush. If you don't have one, sell your couch and get one.)(Can't beat that great advice from a NYT Bestselling author, can you?) Beat in vanilla and eggs until light and creamy. Mix in flour until just blended. Stir in chocolate chips (really, when you're trying to make absurdly large baked goods, the mini chips are better for allowing them to hold together). Use a 1/3 measuring cup to scoop dough onto the cookie sheet, 3" apart. Bake for 15-18 minutes, until they're golden brown around the edges. They will get firmer as they set up because of the high butter content.
Hold up to your head to verify the size. The end!
March 28, 2011
Yours, Maggie
Just a few days ago, Diana Wynne Jones died. She was one of the greats of children's fantasy. I'm not sure what to say about this, so I'll just paste the letter that I wrote to her here on this blog back in June.
There are not many people in the world I can point to and say "they changed my life completely," but she's one of them. It would be an incredible thing to be one of those life-changing people for someone else someday, because of her.
Dear Diana,
I found out yesterday that you'll be discontinuing the chemotherapy you'd been undergoing for your lung cancer and I realized it was time to write a letter. Past due time.
Again and again in interviews, I've listed your books and career as one of my main influences, but I never actually told you directly. So here goes. When I was a young, evil child, I read your books again and again. I'm pretty sure I stumbled on Charmed Life and The Lives of Christopher Chant first, during my years living in between the shelves of my public library. Then Archer's Goon and The Ogre Downstairs, checked out again and again. Then I hit on Fire and Hemlock, which I didn't like the first time, partially because I was too young and partially because my sister loved it, and there was no way I was going to be caught dead loving something that she loved. She must feel so vindicated now that I've finally agreed to love it.
All the while I was writing horrible books with overwrought characters and dreaming of being an author.
Then some summer I hit upon Dogsbody and I know I did other things that summer, but I don't remember any of them. Because I read Dogsbody back to back six times. I still remember laying on my bed -- on a hot, muggy, thunderstorming Virginia afternoon -- closing the last page of the book, sighing, and then flipping it back over to the front to read it again, not even getting up to stretch my legs.
And somewhere along the way, I decided, that was why I wanted to be an author. I wanted to be that author who changed someone's life. Not through deep and weight philosophical tomes, but merely by the sheer physical weight of the days spent lost in the pages and mood of the book. So much of my childhood was reading and so many of those books were yours. So even after hitting the bestseller list and getting lovely emails from around the globe, my favorite ones are still the ones that say: "I have reread Shiver or Ballad or Lament 14 times."
Thank you so much for being part of my childhood and adulthood and everything in between. I owe a debt more than any letter sent via e-mail or post could say, and I'm sorry that it took bad news for me to send it.
The other day, I pulled out Fire and Hemlock and reread it for the first time in years. And you know what I did when I got to the end? I flipped it back around and started reading it again.
Yours,
Maggie
There are not many people in the world I can point to and say "they changed my life completely," but she's one of them. It would be an incredible thing to be one of those life-changing people for someone else someday, because of her.
Maggie Stiefvater
I don't read blog comments here — it's a feed from my site at www.maggiestiefvater.com
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