Michelle Zink's Blog, page 68

Why I Love Where I Live

As most of you know, I moved my family from Southern California to a small town in New York about nine years ago. Today, as I was driving home from school drop off along a road like this;

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I thought about all the people who told me I'd regret leaving California. How I'd hate the weather in NY and I'd be back inside five years.

Now, I'm not going to say I don't miss anything about California. There are two big things I miss – great restaurants and the beach. But I LOVE where I live, and...

Lyrics, Lady Gaga, and Never Giving Up

Welcome this week's Anonymous Teen reader, Pistachio! I know this teen fairly well, and I was not at all surprised to see that he chose the picture at left to represent him. It's funny and macabre, but there's something more underneath it all that makes you want to look a little more closely. Just like him.Hope you love him as much as I doooo!

JUST THE FACTS

Interview Code Name (you choose!); Pistachio

Current country of residence; United States

Male or female? Male

Age; A few steps away from...

Chances Are

Damn. I love this band.

Happy Saturday Night Music, you guys!

Spray Tans – Fashion Don't?

Guess what, you guys?! It's Prom season! And you know what that means!

Spray tans!

I know some of you are thinking "WTF?" right now. That's because if you grew up in the 80′s like I did, this might be a bit of a revelation for you. After all, when we were teens, everybody was starting to figure out that tans caused skin cancer, and since the words "spray tan" hadn't been invented, most of us just weren't tan. Advertising agencies even started using paler models in an effort to discourage...

Thursday Night Write

Is it just me but is time flying by way too fast?! I almost couldn't believe it was time for another Thursday Night Write, but here we are.

I've been super busy working on two books – one that I'm about halfway through writing and one that's been finished for a long time. Sometimes I'm not sure WHICH world I'm living in, but it's always interesting!

Anyway, prompt is at the left, same rules as always; give yourself 30 minutes to come up with something, anything, inspired by the picture. It can ...

Real Life Writing

Of all the questions I get from other writers, one of the most frequently asked is, "When do you write?"

Oh, there are variations; "How often do you write?" "Do you write every day?" "Do you stick to a schedule?" "How do you find the time as a single mother to four kids?"

But the question, basically, is, "How do you DO it?!"

So I decided that I'm going to give you a detailed answer. If you're easily bored or just not interested in this question, you might want to grab a pillow and a blankey.

Firs...

Book Geeks, New York, and a Band Called BlackHatchet

Meet BlackHatchet, this week's Anonymous Teen Reader! She's one of those online people who ALWAYS make me smile. And let's be honest; what's not to love about a spunky girl with short hair and a band called BlackHatchet?!

JUST THE FACTS

Interview Code Name (you choose!); BlackHatchet

Current country of residence; USA

Male or female? Female

Age; To me, actual birthday age doesn't count… but how you act does. So if you didn't know my birthday and you only judged me by the way I acted, you would...

I Don't Give a Damn About My Bad Reputation

You know how sometimes you're just in the mood for one of those, "Screw you, World!" songs?

Well, I have a few. This is one of my favorites.

And with all due respect to Avril Lavingne, no one does it like Joan Jett.

Happy Saturday, guyssss!

Pants On the Ground

Have you guys noticed how LOTS of guys now wear their pants belted under their ass? Not to sound like an old hag, but every morning when I drop my daughter off at high school, I see TONS of guys walking into the school with their asses hanging out.

And these aren't guys who's pants are slipping. They're wearing their pants that way ON PURPOSE.

In one case a kid with his ass hanging out was wearing Tidy Whities, and I'm like, "Ew! No! I do not want to see your ass through the thin material of...

Thursday Night Write

Time for Open Mic! You guys know the drill; 300 words or less of your poem, short story, or novel excerpt. Leave it here for comment, and don't forget to comment at least one other post if you do.

I've had a tough week with a lot of personal nonsense, but I'm back at work on another new book and that always makes things better.

Lastly, I'll be doing a HUGE chat from 9pm-11pm EST on Twitter tonight with awesome authors like Sarah Rees Brenna, Holly Black, Scott Westerfeld, Cassandra Clare, Kami ...