Sarah Dessen's Blog, page 36
October 28, 2010
The Five!
1. As I write this, I am thirsty. Why? Because my monthly Movie Night with my girlfriends was last night, and I ate popcorn. How much? TOO much. And here's why. We went to dinner, had our wine and caught up (my favorite part, actually, although the movies are nice too) then proceeded to the theatre. We were seeing The Social Network, which was AMAZING, by the way. But back to the salt issue. My friends went to the restroom and left me in charge of buying popcorn. We always get one medium and split it, but I got upsold by the person behind the counter. "Want to switch to a large for another dollar?" she asked. I thought, hey, why not. It's a dollar. But let me tell you something: the medium popcorn is, like, what you would expect. A bit bigger than a small, but enough for everyone to get a good serving. The large, however, comes in a BUCKET. It was gi-normous and when she handed it to me I busted out laughing (which might have been from the wine, but really, it was huge). So when my friends come back they see me standing there with basically a gallon or two of popcorn, all alone, and then they start laughing. We dragged it with us into the movie, ate off of it for the full two hours plus running time and STILL had enough to feed a small country. Oh, my goodness. I've been chugging water all day and still feel like I have a saltlick in my mouth. Whew. Lesson learned. Next time, no upsell. Or no popcorn, period.
2. As I said, we saw the Social Network, and it was freaking awesome. The best of the four movies we've seen since we started this tradition. You would THINK a movie about the startup of Facebook, heavy on the courtroom stuff, would be boring, but this is written by Aaron Sorkin. So it rocked. Also awesome: Justin Timberlake, who I have always had a tiny crush on. Maybe it was the salt, but by the credits I was full on sa-wooning. And he wasn't even likeable in the movie! Then again, nobody really was. Which is another reason why the writing is so good. You don't have a clear hero and STILL can't stop watching. Amazing.
3. Halloween is this weekend, and I find myself in this weird place. For years, I dressed up: as a kid, with my friends, in high school then college. Then, I hit that middle spot where we just didn't really DO Halloween. Partially because we live so far out in the country, so we have no trick or treaters, but also because Halloween here is really all about going down to Franklin Street and braving the crowds, which I'm just not into. Now, though, I have this toddler who is FASCINATED with Halloween, so everything has begun again. I've dressed up the last two years, as she has dressed up, and it looks like Sunday I'll be doing it again. I found a Bump-it on clearance at Bed, Bath and Beyond ages ago ($2.00!) and bought it on impulse. I am thinking I will pair it with some dark jeans, the loudest, most low-cut shirt I can find, my bling-y sunglasses and some platform heels and call myself…well, I'm not sure. Something? A random Bravo Housewife, most likely. Meanwhile my daughter is going as a giraffe, courtesy of the best costume ever from Old Navy. I am sure we will make an odd pair. But we probably do anyway, every other day of the year.
4. I watched the first episode of Bret Michaels' new show on VH1, Life as I Know It, this week and was…hooked. Immediately. What IS it about Bret Michaels? He can be on the skankiest show ever (Rock of Love, Rock of Love Bus) show several dealbreaker qualities and yet…I love him. I do! And this show is the best yet. Again, he does stuff that should drive me crazy, like referring to himself in the third person. But I'm like teflon when it comes to him! Oh, it's a sickness. Like popcorn, clearly.
5. I know I usually (and even today) write about really kind of silly, pop-culture stuff. Either that or I am complaining about how stressed out I am and how there is not enough time in the day. Every once in awhile, though, I see or hear something that just makes me feel compelled to say something more meaningful. There's been this girl missing here in NC for a few weeks now: she battled bone cancer and won, was hearing impaired, and disappeared from her home under suspicious circumstances. Once she was reported gone, people came forward and said they had seen her with black eyes, and suspected she was not being treated well by her father and stepmother. And now...well, they can't find her, and they are expecting the worst, mostly because of the conflicting testimony by her parents. Maybe it's because it's here in my home state, or because I keep seeing pictures of her hopeful face, smiling up at the people who were supposed to be taking care of her. But something about this has just broken, broken, broken my heart. I know I can't do anything about it, and I don't mean to bring everyone down on a normally happy Five. But I will say this: if you see someone, ANYONE, but ESPECIALLY a child you suspect is in danger, SAY SOMETHING. Call authorities, talk about your concerns, take action. Because you might be all that kid has. Really.
Again, sorry for the downer. I hope you all have a safe and happy weekend.
2. As I said, we saw the Social Network, and it was freaking awesome. The best of the four movies we've seen since we started this tradition. You would THINK a movie about the startup of Facebook, heavy on the courtroom stuff, would be boring, but this is written by Aaron Sorkin. So it rocked. Also awesome: Justin Timberlake, who I have always had a tiny crush on. Maybe it was the salt, but by the credits I was full on sa-wooning. And he wasn't even likeable in the movie! Then again, nobody really was. Which is another reason why the writing is so good. You don't have a clear hero and STILL can't stop watching. Amazing.
3. Halloween is this weekend, and I find myself in this weird place. For years, I dressed up: as a kid, with my friends, in high school then college. Then, I hit that middle spot where we just didn't really DO Halloween. Partially because we live so far out in the country, so we have no trick or treaters, but also because Halloween here is really all about going down to Franklin Street and braving the crowds, which I'm just not into. Now, though, I have this toddler who is FASCINATED with Halloween, so everything has begun again. I've dressed up the last two years, as she has dressed up, and it looks like Sunday I'll be doing it again. I found a Bump-it on clearance at Bed, Bath and Beyond ages ago ($2.00!) and bought it on impulse. I am thinking I will pair it with some dark jeans, the loudest, most low-cut shirt I can find, my bling-y sunglasses and some platform heels and call myself…well, I'm not sure. Something? A random Bravo Housewife, most likely. Meanwhile my daughter is going as a giraffe, courtesy of the best costume ever from Old Navy. I am sure we will make an odd pair. But we probably do anyway, every other day of the year.
4. I watched the first episode of Bret Michaels' new show on VH1, Life as I Know It, this week and was…hooked. Immediately. What IS it about Bret Michaels? He can be on the skankiest show ever (Rock of Love, Rock of Love Bus) show several dealbreaker qualities and yet…I love him. I do! And this show is the best yet. Again, he does stuff that should drive me crazy, like referring to himself in the third person. But I'm like teflon when it comes to him! Oh, it's a sickness. Like popcorn, clearly.
5. I know I usually (and even today) write about really kind of silly, pop-culture stuff. Either that or I am complaining about how stressed out I am and how there is not enough time in the day. Every once in awhile, though, I see or hear something that just makes me feel compelled to say something more meaningful. There's been this girl missing here in NC for a few weeks now: she battled bone cancer and won, was hearing impaired, and disappeared from her home under suspicious circumstances. Once she was reported gone, people came forward and said they had seen her with black eyes, and suspected she was not being treated well by her father and stepmother. And now...well, they can't find her, and they are expecting the worst, mostly because of the conflicting testimony by her parents. Maybe it's because it's here in my home state, or because I keep seeing pictures of her hopeful face, smiling up at the people who were supposed to be taking care of her. But something about this has just broken, broken, broken my heart. I know I can't do anything about it, and I don't mean to bring everyone down on a normally happy Five. But I will say this: if you see someone, ANYONE, but ESPECIALLY a child you suspect is in danger, SAY SOMETHING. Call authorities, talk about your concerns, take action. Because you might be all that kid has. Really.
Again, sorry for the downer. I hope you all have a safe and happy weekend.
October 26, 2010
writergrl @ 2010-10-26T16:15:00
Man, I thought you guys were opinionated about politics. But I mention cupcakes and one thing is CLEAR: you have opinions. Forget Juju Chang and GMA, the bulk of the comments (it seemed like to me, anyway) from my last entry were all about who makes the best cupcakes in New York. Magnolia? Crumbs? A place called Tony's? This is serious business. I think next time I am up that way I will have to do a tasting tour to decide for myself. Better hit the treadmill now.
(For the record, if you are ever down MY way, my favorite local cupcakes are at Cafe Carolina at Meadowmont. Oh, my goodness. Little chocolate chips in the chocolate ones? Cake and frosting equally good? I wish I could figure out a way to ship them up to my New York friends. I'm not even joking. But nobody likes a mushed cupcake. That's just plain sad.)
Anyway. I can't think about cupcakes, because I am eagerly awaiting (read: hoping, wishing, praying) that the galleys of my new book will show up sometime this week. I have no idea if they will. All I can go on is that my friend and fellow Penguin author Susane Colasanti's next book. So Much Closer, comes out the week before mine in May 2011 and she got HER galleys last week. I know I have written about this before, but it never gets old, that first time you hold your book and it actually looks, like, you know, a BOOK. This is my tenth time and I know I will still get all aflutter and possibly squeal. It's the closest thing to a crossing the finish line moment I get. The real finish line is when I complete that first draft, but it's hardly a moment to savor. More often than not I am limping across, crawling even, and collapsing on the other side. By the time the galleys arrive, however, I've gotten some distance and therapy. Fed Ex Man: I am waiting for you!
It's funny that I mention the finish line thing, because I am currently surrounded by people training for marathons. What is up with this? It's like the new tattoo, everyone is doing it. My husband is currently gearing up for his second, which he's running with my friends Dana and Amanda in December. My friend Courtney is training for a half, and my other friends Jason and Blaine just did their second. It's like a cult or something. I hear a LOT about IT bands, tapering, and how to best take a bathroom break in the middle of a run. (TMI, people!) Meanwhile there I am on my treadmill, watching my Real Housewives, doing my three miles and sweating. Sigh. I am not built for distance, sadly. But I WILL be on the sidelines, cheering everyone on. Maybe holding a galley of my book?
In other news, the premiere of the FINAL SEASON of Friday Night Lights begins tomorrow night, Wednesday, on DirecTV . I am so excited and sad at the same time. I've made peace with the fact that some people will just never know how good this show is, but I'm so happy I'm not one of them. If you don't have DirecTV, this season will run next on NBC. I promise no spoilers! One bonus of country living: no cable, so we have to have satellite. I can't get pizza, but I can get my FNL. Yes!
Ooh! I hear a truck! Is it...no, just my husband. Sigh. I love him, but he is NOT my book. Soon, soon.....
Have a good night, everyone!
(For the record, if you are ever down MY way, my favorite local cupcakes are at Cafe Carolina at Meadowmont. Oh, my goodness. Little chocolate chips in the chocolate ones? Cake and frosting equally good? I wish I could figure out a way to ship them up to my New York friends. I'm not even joking. But nobody likes a mushed cupcake. That's just plain sad.)
Anyway. I can't think about cupcakes, because I am eagerly awaiting (read: hoping, wishing, praying) that the galleys of my new book will show up sometime this week. I have no idea if they will. All I can go on is that my friend and fellow Penguin author Susane Colasanti's next book. So Much Closer, comes out the week before mine in May 2011 and she got HER galleys last week. I know I have written about this before, but it never gets old, that first time you hold your book and it actually looks, like, you know, a BOOK. This is my tenth time and I know I will still get all aflutter and possibly squeal. It's the closest thing to a crossing the finish line moment I get. The real finish line is when I complete that first draft, but it's hardly a moment to savor. More often than not I am limping across, crawling even, and collapsing on the other side. By the time the galleys arrive, however, I've gotten some distance and therapy. Fed Ex Man: I am waiting for you!
It's funny that I mention the finish line thing, because I am currently surrounded by people training for marathons. What is up with this? It's like the new tattoo, everyone is doing it. My husband is currently gearing up for his second, which he's running with my friends Dana and Amanda in December. My friend Courtney is training for a half, and my other friends Jason and Blaine just did their second. It's like a cult or something. I hear a LOT about IT bands, tapering, and how to best take a bathroom break in the middle of a run. (TMI, people!) Meanwhile there I am on my treadmill, watching my Real Housewives, doing my three miles and sweating. Sigh. I am not built for distance, sadly. But I WILL be on the sidelines, cheering everyone on. Maybe holding a galley of my book?
In other news, the premiere of the FINAL SEASON of Friday Night Lights begins tomorrow night, Wednesday, on DirecTV . I am so excited and sad at the same time. I've made peace with the fact that some people will just never know how good this show is, but I'm so happy I'm not one of them. If you don't have DirecTV, this season will run next on NBC. I promise no spoilers! One bonus of country living: no cable, so we have to have satellite. I can't get pizza, but I can get my FNL. Yes!
Ooh! I hear a truck! Is it...no, just my husband. Sigh. I love him, but he is NOT my book. Soon, soon.....
Have a good night, everyone!
October 24, 2010
writergrl @ 2010-10-24T15:42:00
Hi.
So I'm home, after a crazy whirlwind two and a half days in New York. I have to say to everyone I know who lives in that city: I salute you. I get bested, physically and emotionally, EVERY single time I go there. It's so fast and noisy and crowded and busy and wonderful: if I lived there, I'd be a total stress case. Okay: MORE of a stress case. Thank goodness I live in the middle of the country. Can you even imagine what I'd be like with the constant stimulation of a city? I got a taste of it, and just so you know, it's not pretty.
I got in on Thursday morning, dropped my bag at the hotel, and headed straight down to the Penguin offices, where I got to catch up with everyone and bore them with both pictures of my daughter AND my race cars. Also, I managed to score not only the BRAND new Llama Llama book (just released!!!) but also I Miss You, Mouse. Some of you have no idea what I am talking about, but those acquainted with the toddler set know these were big gets. Then it was off to lunch, followed by a bit of shopping (hello, Theory and Olive & Bette, my credit card is still warm thanks to you), and a return to Penguin, where I got to catch up with MORE friends and meet the woman who designed my beautiful new cover, Theresa, which I Iove more every single time I look at it. Truly. THEN it was off to drinks with my fab publicist Allison, followed by dinner with my best friend from high school, Bianca, who I hadn't seen in ages. After that I went straight home and set my alarm for 5:30 so I'd be ready for...
GMA! Regular readers know that 1) I am sort of stalker-y obsessed with Good Morning America 2) I've been to visit before 3) last time I watched from outside the window in Times Square. THIS visit, however, thanks to my agent, I got to hang out backstage with Juju Chang, who does the news on GMA. She is SO NICE OH MY GOD I CAN'T EVEN TELL YOU. She and her producer Kelly brought me up, let me sit right there in the dressing room while they worked like mad all around me (it looks so smooth and easy on TV, but there is a lot of scrambling going on, all the time). I just tried to be quiet and not gush too loudly. Although I could not HELP myself from pointing out that Juju had a Lauren Conrad book on her bookshelf. I am really glad I did not have one of mine with me or I'm not sure I couldn't have controlled myself from sliding it oh-so-sneakily up beside it. I'm not proud of this. Just honest!
When it was time for Juju to do her segments, we all went down the hallway (often at a fast clip) to the studio upstairs or downstairs. Here's Juju doing the news:
On the way back to the dressing room, we bumped into Emeril Lagasse:
He was very nice and smelled minty-fresh, like gum. Did you ask me this? No. But I feel compelled to share it anyway.
I also met Dr. Richard Besser, who does all the medical bits (oh, how I wanted to ask him about potty training, thank God I controlled myself) and saw Paulina Porizkova walk by in the hallway several times. She is GORGEOUS, not that that should surprise anyone. But seriously: whoa.
Before I knew it, it was almost 9am and time for the last segment, a cooking one. We ran back downstairs (seriously running: these people MOVE) to watch George Stephanopoulous make a pie and some chicken dish with Emeril. I did not get to meet G-Step, and so therefore do not know if he is minty fresh or not. This is as close as I got:
But I DID get to taste the apple pie Emeril made and it was very good. Not that this should surprise anyone, either.
And then it was over! It went so quickly, I swear. Juju had a plane to catch, so I walked out with her. She is just straight up awesome for so many reasons. She's a mom, she works her butt off, she's funny and gracious. My favorite thing, though? When she was about to leave, she kicked off her fancy shoes and put on these sparkly Converse All-Stars. I commented on them and she said she'd gotten them in Florida while she was working on a story about skateboarding....and she bought them at Wal-Mart. How cool is that? Also, she has a Keurig in her dressing room. I mean, come ON!
The rest of the trip was crammed packed with walking, shopping, and catching up with more friends. On Saturday morning, craving something sweet, I went in search of a Crumbs bakery, as my friend Susane Colasanti swears they have the BEST cupcakes ever. I found one, but they weren't opening for another hour, and I had a plane to catch. So I hit another place instead. It wasn't the Best Ever, but it was just fine.
Two days in New York all to myself was just...well, different, to be sure. I could sleep in (but didn't) not have to find things in the playroom (although I ended up helping locate ballet slippers and a missing drumstick via text message). It was like a different life. Fun for a while but...I got to say, I am glad to be home. It may not be glamorous, but it's all mine. And now, I've got a very important third birthday party to attend. Cake will NOT be by Emeril or Crumbs. But I bet it tastes just perfect anyway.
Have a good night, everyone!
So I'm home, after a crazy whirlwind two and a half days in New York. I have to say to everyone I know who lives in that city: I salute you. I get bested, physically and emotionally, EVERY single time I go there. It's so fast and noisy and crowded and busy and wonderful: if I lived there, I'd be a total stress case. Okay: MORE of a stress case. Thank goodness I live in the middle of the country. Can you even imagine what I'd be like with the constant stimulation of a city? I got a taste of it, and just so you know, it's not pretty.
I got in on Thursday morning, dropped my bag at the hotel, and headed straight down to the Penguin offices, where I got to catch up with everyone and bore them with both pictures of my daughter AND my race cars. Also, I managed to score not only the BRAND new Llama Llama book (just released!!!) but also I Miss You, Mouse. Some of you have no idea what I am talking about, but those acquainted with the toddler set know these were big gets. Then it was off to lunch, followed by a bit of shopping (hello, Theory and Olive & Bette, my credit card is still warm thanks to you), and a return to Penguin, where I got to catch up with MORE friends and meet the woman who designed my beautiful new cover, Theresa, which I Iove more every single time I look at it. Truly. THEN it was off to drinks with my fab publicist Allison, followed by dinner with my best friend from high school, Bianca, who I hadn't seen in ages. After that I went straight home and set my alarm for 5:30 so I'd be ready for...
GMA! Regular readers know that 1) I am sort of stalker-y obsessed with Good Morning America 2) I've been to visit before 3) last time I watched from outside the window in Times Square. THIS visit, however, thanks to my agent, I got to hang out backstage with Juju Chang, who does the news on GMA. She is SO NICE OH MY GOD I CAN'T EVEN TELL YOU. She and her producer Kelly brought me up, let me sit right there in the dressing room while they worked like mad all around me (it looks so smooth and easy on TV, but there is a lot of scrambling going on, all the time). I just tried to be quiet and not gush too loudly. Although I could not HELP myself from pointing out that Juju had a Lauren Conrad book on her bookshelf. I am really glad I did not have one of mine with me or I'm not sure I couldn't have controlled myself from sliding it oh-so-sneakily up beside it. I'm not proud of this. Just honest!
When it was time for Juju to do her segments, we all went down the hallway (often at a fast clip) to the studio upstairs or downstairs. Here's Juju doing the news:
On the way back to the dressing room, we bumped into Emeril Lagasse:
He was very nice and smelled minty-fresh, like gum. Did you ask me this? No. But I feel compelled to share it anyway.
I also met Dr. Richard Besser, who does all the medical bits (oh, how I wanted to ask him about potty training, thank God I controlled myself) and saw Paulina Porizkova walk by in the hallway several times. She is GORGEOUS, not that that should surprise anyone. But seriously: whoa.
Before I knew it, it was almost 9am and time for the last segment, a cooking one. We ran back downstairs (seriously running: these people MOVE) to watch George Stephanopoulous make a pie and some chicken dish with Emeril. I did not get to meet G-Step, and so therefore do not know if he is minty fresh or not. This is as close as I got:
But I DID get to taste the apple pie Emeril made and it was very good. Not that this should surprise anyone, either.
And then it was over! It went so quickly, I swear. Juju had a plane to catch, so I walked out with her. She is just straight up awesome for so many reasons. She's a mom, she works her butt off, she's funny and gracious. My favorite thing, though? When she was about to leave, she kicked off her fancy shoes and put on these sparkly Converse All-Stars. I commented on them and she said she'd gotten them in Florida while she was working on a story about skateboarding....and she bought them at Wal-Mart. How cool is that? Also, she has a Keurig in her dressing room. I mean, come ON!
The rest of the trip was crammed packed with walking, shopping, and catching up with more friends. On Saturday morning, craving something sweet, I went in search of a Crumbs bakery, as my friend Susane Colasanti swears they have the BEST cupcakes ever. I found one, but they weren't opening for another hour, and I had a plane to catch. So I hit another place instead. It wasn't the Best Ever, but it was just fine.
Two days in New York all to myself was just...well, different, to be sure. I could sleep in (but didn't) not have to find things in the playroom (although I ended up helping locate ballet slippers and a missing drumstick via text message). It was like a different life. Fun for a while but...I got to say, I am glad to be home. It may not be glamorous, but it's all mine. And now, I've got a very important third birthday party to attend. Cake will NOT be by Emeril or Crumbs. But I bet it tastes just perfect anyway.
Have a good night, everyone!
October 19, 2010
writergrl @ 2010-10-19T16:29:00
Is anyone else having One Of Those Days? I swear, it's become almost comical how many things keep breaking down, imploding or just not cooperating all around me today. For instance: right now, I really, really need to be reading over the rough pages of my new novel. These are the printed pages of how the book will actually look once it is bound, the last step (for me, anyway) before it's printed. I'm seeing my editor on Thursday, so I thought, perfect! I'll just get them done, slip them into my bag, and take them to her personally. Every time I try to sit down and work on them, though, something happens. First, we had a bunch of important stuff come through for my husband's company that had to be printed and dealt with. But the attachments wouldn't open. Then the printer had a tantrum (probably following my daughter's cue) and stopped working. Finally I gave up on that and came over here to my office, only to remember that I needed to get my car from the shop. I paid for it, went out to crank the engine and...battery was dead. (I'd brought it in for a low tire, so this was a surprise.) I was getting out of the car (in full view of everyone in the waiting room, who had heard my car make that tick-tick-tick-not-going-anywhere-sorry noise) and this one guy standing there smiled at me. "Oh, well," he said. "At least you're in the right place. If your battery has to die, best it happen at a garage."
See? There is a positive in everything. Even if you have to have some total stranger point it out before it is suddenly obvious. Now I am back, the car is fixed (although now my stereo's not working, but no matter! It will give me more time for contemplation while driving!) and I may actually get some work done. I keep looking up, though, just in case an anvil is falling from the sky, so I can get out of the way.
In other news, ABC Family has pulled Friday Night Lights from their schedule. To this I say: SIGH. I feel like it is just the fate of this great, great show to just be misunderstood and undersold forever. But on the bright side, I know for a fact that even this short run on ABC Family has hooked in a whole bunch of new viewers who are now addicted just like me. So that's a good thing. Thank goodness all the seasons are on DVD, and the new one begins on DirecTV NEXT WEEK. I don't care what network honchos say, FNL. I love you, forever and always. Period.
I also love GMA, so I am really getting pumped for my visit to the studio on Friday. I had to laugh earlier today when I saw someone tweet that I was going to be ON the show: I WISH! That is my ultimate dream, as well as new life goal, but for now I am more than happy to be going to stand in the audience and just watch. I heard that Sam Champion, my favorite weatherguy, is not going to be in New York Friday, which is such a bummer. But hopefully G-Step, Robin and Juju will be there. If not, I'll be happy with whoever, because you know I am such a GMA nerd that I'd watch an empty studio and be in heaven.
It's been so crazy busy with the anvils falling and tires deflating that I haven't EVEN had a chance to start thinking about my trip other than the whole GMA thing. I need to pack. I wanted to get some cute shoes and a new jacket. (How cold is it up there right now? Do I need a jacket, or can I get buy with thick sweaters? Help!) I wish I had time for a haircut and a full day of sleep before I go (I fear I will scare people with my toddler-recovering-from-a-cold-and-therefore-not-sleeping caused dark dark circles under my eyes) but oh, well. The truth is, this is how I look: slightly rumpled, always a bit tired, not wearing the cutest shoes, especially by New York standards. And you know what? It's just fine. It really is.
Finally, thanks to everyone who gave me the heads-up that Along for the Ride had been picked for the YALSA Teen's Top 10! Not only am I at number 7 (my lucky number) but I'm in great company, with good friends like Laurie Halse Anderson, Gayle Forman, and others. And even better, I got to watch the announcement on the WWE Website, delivered by a wrestler named Eve . Did you know Wrestlemania had a connection to teen reading? ME NEITHER! So freaking awesome. AND they pronounced my name right, which never happens. Double score!
Okay, I have a few more minutes before the dinner craziness begins. Maybe I can get some work done? Wish me luck....
Have a great day, everyone!
See? There is a positive in everything. Even if you have to have some total stranger point it out before it is suddenly obvious. Now I am back, the car is fixed (although now my stereo's not working, but no matter! It will give me more time for contemplation while driving!) and I may actually get some work done. I keep looking up, though, just in case an anvil is falling from the sky, so I can get out of the way.
In other news, ABC Family has pulled Friday Night Lights from their schedule. To this I say: SIGH. I feel like it is just the fate of this great, great show to just be misunderstood and undersold forever. But on the bright side, I know for a fact that even this short run on ABC Family has hooked in a whole bunch of new viewers who are now addicted just like me. So that's a good thing. Thank goodness all the seasons are on DVD, and the new one begins on DirecTV NEXT WEEK. I don't care what network honchos say, FNL. I love you, forever and always. Period.
I also love GMA, so I am really getting pumped for my visit to the studio on Friday. I had to laugh earlier today when I saw someone tweet that I was going to be ON the show: I WISH! That is my ultimate dream, as well as new life goal, but for now I am more than happy to be going to stand in the audience and just watch. I heard that Sam Champion, my favorite weatherguy, is not going to be in New York Friday, which is such a bummer. But hopefully G-Step, Robin and Juju will be there. If not, I'll be happy with whoever, because you know I am such a GMA nerd that I'd watch an empty studio and be in heaven.
It's been so crazy busy with the anvils falling and tires deflating that I haven't EVEN had a chance to start thinking about my trip other than the whole GMA thing. I need to pack. I wanted to get some cute shoes and a new jacket. (How cold is it up there right now? Do I need a jacket, or can I get buy with thick sweaters? Help!) I wish I had time for a haircut and a full day of sleep before I go (I fear I will scare people with my toddler-recovering-from-a-cold-and-therefore-not-sleeping caused dark dark circles under my eyes) but oh, well. The truth is, this is how I look: slightly rumpled, always a bit tired, not wearing the cutest shoes, especially by New York standards. And you know what? It's just fine. It really is.
Finally, thanks to everyone who gave me the heads-up that Along for the Ride had been picked for the YALSA Teen's Top 10! Not only am I at number 7 (my lucky number) but I'm in great company, with good friends like Laurie Halse Anderson, Gayle Forman, and others. And even better, I got to watch the announcement on the WWE Website, delivered by a wrestler named Eve . Did you know Wrestlemania had a connection to teen reading? ME NEITHER! So freaking awesome. AND they pronounced my name right, which never happens. Double score!
Okay, I have a few more minutes before the dinner craziness begins. Maybe I can get some work done? Wish me luck....
Have a great day, everyone!
October 17, 2010
why I love this blog...
Well, there are many reasons. First because it gives me someone to talk to about pop culture and television, especially Friday Night Lights. (My husband can only hear me swoon about Glee and Tim Riggins so much.) It's like my water cooler since I started working at home and spending the majority of my time with someone who prefers Twist from the Fresh Beat Band when it comes to Boys of Television. (That would be my daughter, not my husband. Just to clarify.) Also it gives me a place to write where I don't have to worry about editing or marketing so much (although all of those things are so important, thank goodness I have my agent and Penguin to deal with them most of the time). And you guys are honest with me (thanks for the heads up about MySpace being well...not so relevant. I suspected, but was not sure). But also, this blog is pretty much the place to find The Best Advice Ever.
If I'm having a problem? You guys have a suggestion. Done something REALLY embarrassing as a parent? You've done it too. Been confused about something I saw on TV, wondering what to read? You have the answers. Take for instance my blog from Friday. I complained about Photoshop being too complicated for my wee brain. You (a reader named Jenny, specifically) said try Picasa (among other great suggestions). And voila!
The internet. It's a good thing. (Usually.)
Now here it is Sunday, after a weekend spent...well, facing the inevitable, insurmountable truth that every single time my husband leaves town and I'm parenting solo, my daughter gets sick. It is predictable as the tides, I swear to you. No sooner does he pull out his bag that she gets the sniffles, and the further away he gets the higher her temperature climbs. Throw in a bit of puking and you can see why I'm hoping he'll stick close to home for awhile. I'm not sure WHY this happens, other than the universe just likes to see me scramble. Because everyone of course wants to help me out when he's gone...unless it means getting sick themselves. Which I totally get. A three year old isn't really the best at, say, sneezing into her elbow or NOT wiping her nose on YOUR arm. Thank goodness for my sitter Kelsey, who was not daunted and brought her self-proclaimed "great immune system" over here to spell me for a few hours. Sasha's feeling better now, at least---she'll be FINE by the time husband arrives home, just watch---so all I can do is just drink Emergen-C, try to get as much sleep as possible, and hope I am not feverish myself in the coming days. Oh please, please, please. It's my first trip to New York in ages! I need to work! Please?
(It just goes to show my utter hubris that I think that the forces that decide such things read this blog as well. Get over yourself, Dessen.)
However, my husband was gone for a good cause, even if he did get to escape the snotting and sneezing. He was off handling the inaugural track appearance of the www.sarahdessen.com sponsored race cars:
I swear, every time I see those pictures I giggle. I can only imagine what the crowd at these events (which I can imagine is NOT thick with girls who read my books, just a hunch) is thinking as these cars zoom past. Pink? Legs? More pink? In a world full of cars sponsored by car part and tire companies, they certainly stand out. But just wait until we get the cover of What Happened to Goodbye on one. My friend Evan, the main driver, put it thusly: "There will be a girl's butt on my car."
*snort*
Okay, I'm going to take some more vitamins and lay down for a few minutes. It can't hurt, right?
Have a great night, everyone!
If I'm having a problem? You guys have a suggestion. Done something REALLY embarrassing as a parent? You've done it too. Been confused about something I saw on TV, wondering what to read? You have the answers. Take for instance my blog from Friday. I complained about Photoshop being too complicated for my wee brain. You (a reader named Jenny, specifically) said try Picasa (among other great suggestions). And voila!
The internet. It's a good thing. (Usually.)
Now here it is Sunday, after a weekend spent...well, facing the inevitable, insurmountable truth that every single time my husband leaves town and I'm parenting solo, my daughter gets sick. It is predictable as the tides, I swear to you. No sooner does he pull out his bag that she gets the sniffles, and the further away he gets the higher her temperature climbs. Throw in a bit of puking and you can see why I'm hoping he'll stick close to home for awhile. I'm not sure WHY this happens, other than the universe just likes to see me scramble. Because everyone of course wants to help me out when he's gone...unless it means getting sick themselves. Which I totally get. A three year old isn't really the best at, say, sneezing into her elbow or NOT wiping her nose on YOUR arm. Thank goodness for my sitter Kelsey, who was not daunted and brought her self-proclaimed "great immune system" over here to spell me for a few hours. Sasha's feeling better now, at least---she'll be FINE by the time husband arrives home, just watch---so all I can do is just drink Emergen-C, try to get as much sleep as possible, and hope I am not feverish myself in the coming days. Oh please, please, please. It's my first trip to New York in ages! I need to work! Please?
(It just goes to show my utter hubris that I think that the forces that decide such things read this blog as well. Get over yourself, Dessen.)
However, my husband was gone for a good cause, even if he did get to escape the snotting and sneezing. He was off handling the inaugural track appearance of the www.sarahdessen.com sponsored race cars:
I swear, every time I see those pictures I giggle. I can only imagine what the crowd at these events (which I can imagine is NOT thick with girls who read my books, just a hunch) is thinking as these cars zoom past. Pink? Legs? More pink? In a world full of cars sponsored by car part and tire companies, they certainly stand out. But just wait until we get the cover of What Happened to Goodbye on one. My friend Evan, the main driver, put it thusly: "There will be a girl's butt on my car."
*snort*
Okay, I'm going to take some more vitamins and lay down for a few minutes. It can't hurt, right?
Have a great night, everyone!
October 14, 2010
The Five!
1. The definition of FUTILITY: spending about an hour of very super precious babysitter/work time updating your MySpace page (which has been woefully neglected since, like, last winter) only to be told that nobody is on MySpace anymore. Whoops. Is that true? I mean, I know it's older than Facebook, and Twitter is newer still, but it SEEMS like there's still quite a bit happening over there. Anyway, that's what I'm telling myself because the alternative is really...I can't even think about it, really. Don't mess with my denial, people. It is a powerful thing.
2. One great thing about MySpace? I was able to FINALLY make a new collage of my book covers without my head exploding. I used to have this really easy photo editing thing, back on my old PC, but with the Mac I didn't have anything I could use to do quick photo changes easily. I was told to get Photoshop Elements, which honestly is the MOST COMPLICATED THING ever. I may be a moron (it's highly likely, in fact) but every time I try to use it I cannot seem to figure out what exactly to do to achieve the end result I want. Enter MySpace, which has this random little collage feature on the menu. A couple of easy uploads later, a conversion to JPEG, and bam!:
See, that's all I need in any given day. Just the feeling that I got SOMETHING done somewhat correctly. It's like manna from heaven, seriously.
3. So I wrote here awhile back about my whole do-I-get-braces-or-not issue, and you guys were very supportive and informative about the issue. Earlier this week, I went in for a consultation with a very well recommended orthodontist here in Chapel Hill. This office was impressive: iPads to play with while you wait! Fresh-baked cookies! A movie room! My head was spinning before we even talked about my teeth. They took extensive pictures, which were then put on on a monitor so we could study them. (Oh, dear God: me, early in the a.m. after a not-great night of sleep in super close up: whoa. Clearly, I need to be wearing concealer or something, but that's another issue entirely.) Anyway, it was a really good consult. They said I could definitely do Invisalign, showed me all the elements of doing so, gave me the price, etc. All I had to do was agree. It should have been easy: I'd been looking at my crooked teeth for, like, an hour straight, to the point they were pretty much burned on my brain. But you know what? I couldn't do it. It wasn't the cost (it's not cheap) or that I didn't think it would work. I just didn't feel right. So I said I'd think on it, and I left. I figured I'd wait for a sign from the universe to help me decide. A couple of hours passed. Then I saw something on Facebook from my good friend Geralin, the professional organizer. It was a quote a client had given her: "Embrace Frayed Edges, Worn Pages and Laugh Lines. True Beauty Lies in Imperfection." And I thought...okay. Yes. It was actually really nice to just make that decision. So my teeth aren't perfect. Neither am I. I'm forty and my teeth are my teeth. I plan to just smile big anyway and save the money and time for my kid when SHE might need braces, which will come sooner than I think. There's a certain peace in just deciding to be okay with something. It frees you. At least, that's how it feels in this case.
4. Tonight is the premiere of the latest Real Housewives installment, this one set in Beverly Hills. How many of these shows can Bravo possibly run at once? I think we are finding out. Pretty soon it will just the the All-Housewives network. But I have to say, I credit this show and all the crazy people on it with me staying in shape: as I have said before, it is my workout staple. Even if I am horribly behind. I JUST saw the one where that couple from the DC show crashed the White House State Dinner. You'd think knowing their backstory would make it all make more sense, but you'd....be wrong. I STILL can't believe they did that AND that they got away with it. Of course, the downside of watching the Housewives alone on the treadmill at six a.m. is that there's no one to shout back at the TV with me. I probably sound like a crazy person, running and shouting while it's still dark outside. But at least I'm not crashing State dinners on national television.
5. Finally, a warning: this time next week, I'll be in New York, doing some business stuff and....wait for it....getting ready to go to the GMA studio Friday morning. YESSSSSS! My friend who has a serious GMA connection worked her magic and if all goes well I'll be watching the show from INSIDE, instead of standing on my tiptoes in Times Square hoping for a glimpse of George or Juju. I know many of you cannot fathom why I love this show so much, and I understand that. As my mother says, Different Strokes for Different Folks. So I am giving you a heads up that if you follow me on Twitter you may want to, I don't know, prepare yourself for next Friday. Because I WILL be tweeting my excitement minute by minute. You have been warned.
Have a great weekend, everyone!
2. One great thing about MySpace? I was able to FINALLY make a new collage of my book covers without my head exploding. I used to have this really easy photo editing thing, back on my old PC, but with the Mac I didn't have anything I could use to do quick photo changes easily. I was told to get Photoshop Elements, which honestly is the MOST COMPLICATED THING ever. I may be a moron (it's highly likely, in fact) but every time I try to use it I cannot seem to figure out what exactly to do to achieve the end result I want. Enter MySpace, which has this random little collage feature on the menu. A couple of easy uploads later, a conversion to JPEG, and bam!:
See, that's all I need in any given day. Just the feeling that I got SOMETHING done somewhat correctly. It's like manna from heaven, seriously.
3. So I wrote here awhile back about my whole do-I-get-braces-or-not issue, and you guys were very supportive and informative about the issue. Earlier this week, I went in for a consultation with a very well recommended orthodontist here in Chapel Hill. This office was impressive: iPads to play with while you wait! Fresh-baked cookies! A movie room! My head was spinning before we even talked about my teeth. They took extensive pictures, which were then put on on a monitor so we could study them. (Oh, dear God: me, early in the a.m. after a not-great night of sleep in super close up: whoa. Clearly, I need to be wearing concealer or something, but that's another issue entirely.) Anyway, it was a really good consult. They said I could definitely do Invisalign, showed me all the elements of doing so, gave me the price, etc. All I had to do was agree. It should have been easy: I'd been looking at my crooked teeth for, like, an hour straight, to the point they were pretty much burned on my brain. But you know what? I couldn't do it. It wasn't the cost (it's not cheap) or that I didn't think it would work. I just didn't feel right. So I said I'd think on it, and I left. I figured I'd wait for a sign from the universe to help me decide. A couple of hours passed. Then I saw something on Facebook from my good friend Geralin, the professional organizer. It was a quote a client had given her: "Embrace Frayed Edges, Worn Pages and Laugh Lines. True Beauty Lies in Imperfection." And I thought...okay. Yes. It was actually really nice to just make that decision. So my teeth aren't perfect. Neither am I. I'm forty and my teeth are my teeth. I plan to just smile big anyway and save the money and time for my kid when SHE might need braces, which will come sooner than I think. There's a certain peace in just deciding to be okay with something. It frees you. At least, that's how it feels in this case.
4. Tonight is the premiere of the latest Real Housewives installment, this one set in Beverly Hills. How many of these shows can Bravo possibly run at once? I think we are finding out. Pretty soon it will just the the All-Housewives network. But I have to say, I credit this show and all the crazy people on it with me staying in shape: as I have said before, it is my workout staple. Even if I am horribly behind. I JUST saw the one where that couple from the DC show crashed the White House State Dinner. You'd think knowing their backstory would make it all make more sense, but you'd....be wrong. I STILL can't believe they did that AND that they got away with it. Of course, the downside of watching the Housewives alone on the treadmill at six a.m. is that there's no one to shout back at the TV with me. I probably sound like a crazy person, running and shouting while it's still dark outside. But at least I'm not crashing State dinners on national television.
5. Finally, a warning: this time next week, I'll be in New York, doing some business stuff and....wait for it....getting ready to go to the GMA studio Friday morning. YESSSSSS! My friend who has a serious GMA connection worked her magic and if all goes well I'll be watching the show from INSIDE, instead of standing on my tiptoes in Times Square hoping for a glimpse of George or Juju. I know many of you cannot fathom why I love this show so much, and I understand that. As my mother says, Different Strokes for Different Folks. So I am giving you a heads up that if you follow me on Twitter you may want to, I don't know, prepare yourself for next Friday. Because I WILL be tweeting my excitement minute by minute. You have been warned.
Have a great weekend, everyone!
October 12, 2010
writergrl @ 2010-10-12T18:40:00
Six o'clock, which is the serious witching hour here. And by witching, I mean---
*runs away from computer*
*returns*
---chaos. This is a terrible time to try to blog, clearly, as I hadn't even finished the two sentences above before my dog spotted toddler's abandoned dinner plate and started in on it. I have food in the oven, which is broken and so I am PRAYING it will just work long enough to cook this chicken so we have something to eat. Now I need to fix another, dog-spit free dinner for my daughter. Oh, and then there's the Fresh Beat Band.
If you've ever watched the Fresh Beats on Nick Jr. you will remember it. It's a show about...well, basically the most cheerful, bright and colorful musical foursome ever! They sing about great days, and friends helping friends: they are like the poster children for well-adjusted young America. I mean, even their NAMES are happy: Kiki, Marina, Twist, and Shout. (Is that a Beatles reference? Up the cute factor another notch!) You know how I know that I am officially grumpy and old? The fact that when I see the Fresh Beats, bouncing around so happy and sunny on the TV, it just makes me want to stick my head in the (broken) oven. And I don't even know why! I mean, look at them:
I was over at a friend's house today who is kind of a Superwoman. She has three kids, and one is only, like, two weeks old. The other two are under 6. We were talking about kids' TV and of course I told her about how The Fresh Beats make me insane but I CANNOT STOP HUMMING THEIR MUSIC DEAR GOD MAKE IT STOP. She said her husband LOVES the show, and even puts the songs through the stereo to better enjoy them. So clearly, it is just me. Although when I became the cynic in the house, I have no idea. I must have been sleeping or something.
In other news, I've written here before about how, after Lock and Key was published, I started getting a lot of emails from people who were confused about something that happened at the end of the book. I don't want to ruin it for anyone who hasn't read it, so I'll just say that one character gave another character something, but the way it was written it was hard to tell there was an actual exchange, so when the object showed up later people didn't know where it came from. (That is the worst explanation ever. I am so sorry.) Anyway, I got SO many emails and questions about this that we actually went back before the paperback was printed and clarified the issue. But I didn't really get how frustrating it must have been until I just finished a GREAT book, Kate Atkinson's When Will There Be Good News. Again, I don't want to ruin anything for anyone, but at the very end someone ended up with something (so vague, sorry!) and I had NO idea that the two characters had known each other for such an exchange. (If you read the book, it had to do with the Doctor and Reggie's brother. That's all I can say!) I went back, flipping pages, trying to find it, and couldn't. It drove me nuts! I am thisclose to emailing Kate Atkinson to ask for clarification, but I'm sure she would think I was a crazy person. Which I probably am.
In other news, my daughter just called out: "Mama, who is your favorite on Fresh Beat Band?" Oh, dear.
Dogs are barking. Chaos continues. Next time I will remember to blog when I am in my office and can focus. Sorry!
Have a good night, everyone!
*runs away from computer*
*returns*
---chaos. This is a terrible time to try to blog, clearly, as I hadn't even finished the two sentences above before my dog spotted toddler's abandoned dinner plate and started in on it. I have food in the oven, which is broken and so I am PRAYING it will just work long enough to cook this chicken so we have something to eat. Now I need to fix another, dog-spit free dinner for my daughter. Oh, and then there's the Fresh Beat Band.
If you've ever watched the Fresh Beats on Nick Jr. you will remember it. It's a show about...well, basically the most cheerful, bright and colorful musical foursome ever! They sing about great days, and friends helping friends: they are like the poster children for well-adjusted young America. I mean, even their NAMES are happy: Kiki, Marina, Twist, and Shout. (Is that a Beatles reference? Up the cute factor another notch!) You know how I know that I am officially grumpy and old? The fact that when I see the Fresh Beats, bouncing around so happy and sunny on the TV, it just makes me want to stick my head in the (broken) oven. And I don't even know why! I mean, look at them:
I was over at a friend's house today who is kind of a Superwoman. She has three kids, and one is only, like, two weeks old. The other two are under 6. We were talking about kids' TV and of course I told her about how The Fresh Beats make me insane but I CANNOT STOP HUMMING THEIR MUSIC DEAR GOD MAKE IT STOP. She said her husband LOVES the show, and even puts the songs through the stereo to better enjoy them. So clearly, it is just me. Although when I became the cynic in the house, I have no idea. I must have been sleeping or something.
In other news, I've written here before about how, after Lock and Key was published, I started getting a lot of emails from people who were confused about something that happened at the end of the book. I don't want to ruin it for anyone who hasn't read it, so I'll just say that one character gave another character something, but the way it was written it was hard to tell there was an actual exchange, so when the object showed up later people didn't know where it came from. (That is the worst explanation ever. I am so sorry.) Anyway, I got SO many emails and questions about this that we actually went back before the paperback was printed and clarified the issue. But I didn't really get how frustrating it must have been until I just finished a GREAT book, Kate Atkinson's When Will There Be Good News. Again, I don't want to ruin anything for anyone, but at the very end someone ended up with something (so vague, sorry!) and I had NO idea that the two characters had known each other for such an exchange. (If you read the book, it had to do with the Doctor and Reggie's brother. That's all I can say!) I went back, flipping pages, trying to find it, and couldn't. It drove me nuts! I am thisclose to emailing Kate Atkinson to ask for clarification, but I'm sure she would think I was a crazy person. Which I probably am.
In other news, my daughter just called out: "Mama, who is your favorite on Fresh Beat Band?" Oh, dear.
Dogs are barking. Chaos continues. Next time I will remember to blog when I am in my office and can focus. Sorry!
Have a good night, everyone!
October 10, 2010
away we go...
Thanks to everyone who left such kind words about the new book cover. For those who asked, it comes out in May 2011, and I have to say, I'm really happy with it. (Although seeing someone's rear end on my desktop/wallpaper/Twitter page on a regular basis is making me more aware of all the potato chips and chocolate I'm eating. Not that I'm STOPPING eating those things. Perish the thought!) Plus, revealing the cover makes the whole thing feel like it's actually happening. The thing is, writing and publishing a book is always a LOONG process (at least for me). I actually started this novel on New Year's Day 2009, if you can believe that. Maybe it was because it was the tenth, or I went all wonky with the plot halfway through and then had to tear a bunch out and rewrite it, but for whatever reason, this one was as doozy. Really, the writing of only two of my ten books would qualify as "not soul-shattering": This Lullaby and Along for the Ride. And do you know why they are the exception? Because I wrote them when no one had any idea I was working on anything, nor expected me to be doing so. With This Lullaby, I'd just pulled a completed novel from my publisher that I wasn't happy with and decided to disappear for awhile. With Along for the Ride, I'd just had my baby and everyone assumed it would be awhile before I got back to work.
Hardest to write besides this one? Just Listen. Oh, dear God. I had SUCH a major breakdown when I finished that book. I couldn't believe I'd spent so long and worked so hard on on something that just....didn't work. At least in my mind. But see, that's what happens when you get too obsessed, too tangled up in a draft. You can't see anything, not even what's in front of you. In the case of Just Listen, I called my parents up in a panic, heart racing, reading to delete the whole thing and go back to waitressing if it meant I could maybe feel normal again. My mother, freaked, said, "Talk to your father!" and put him on the phone. He said, very calmly, "Send it to your agent. See what she thinks before you do anything else." I did, although I was terrified. And she LIKED it. The day she called to tell me so I burst into tears.
The Truth About Forever was a tough one, too. I had another book done I sent to my agent while I was writing it, which she turned down---it happens, they can't all be winners---and so that upped the pressure to the point I could, like, feel it sitting on my chest. Again, it's all in my head. I know that. I also know that to my agent, and my editor, and everyone at my publishing company, my in-process freakouts have become as predictable as Christmas. "Oh, right," I picture them saying in their conference rooms and offices in New York, glancing at the calendar, "it IS about time for Sarah to decide to go back to waitressing again, isn't it?" Sigh.
I guess I can't blame them. Neurosis, especially the kind writers feel mid-draft, is hard to understand unless you're in the thick of it. And while I would LIKE to think that all writers get as crazy as I do, I have a feeling I'm wrong. But my process is...well, my process. I don't have to love it as long as somehow, it works. And ideally, by the time I get to reveal the cover, I've forgotten about that day in late April when I was looking for a paper bag to breathe into because my publisher was planning a big press release and I still had no idea how, exactly, my book was going to end because I was STILL WRITING IT.
Oh, God. Just thinking about that makes me want to wheeze. Maybe it's not so forgotten after all.
I think I should be learning something from this. Like to never talk about writing with anyone, ever. Or maybe to take longer between books so I'm rested and ready. But the truth is, I realized a long time ago that I have absolutely NO control over my writing, how it goes any given day, or week, or in any given book. I can follow the same schedule, sit at the same computer, eat the same two chocolates, every single day, with wildly varying results. And that, my friends, makes me NUTS. It's why I spend so much of the rest of my day organizing drawers, separating my daughter's toys into neatly ordered bins, and obsessively updating my calendar. I need to feel like I'm doing something right, when such a big part of what I do and love is always the big question mark. But I do love it. That's the thing. I love the fun, early days, those first thirty pages, which is like falling in love. I love having this great big secret, good or bad, but all mine. And I love the day when I get to see the finished product and know that despite those paper-bag grabbing moments, somehow, I got where I needed to be. It continually amazes me, even if my publisher and agent are not surprised. Me, though? I'm stunned. Every time.
Anyway. It's the end of the weekend, I have Jane Lynch from Glee hosting SNL on my DVR waiting for me, and steak quesadillas on the dinner menu. Before I go, though, an update on something I wrote about here earlier. Remember how I told you guys about my friend Evan's racecar? He drives Spec E30 class (and no, I'm not sure what that means either, other than he goes FAAAAAAST) and was looking for sponsors. I thought it might be a fun way to promote my books to an audience that might not otherwise find them. Oh, who I am I kidding: would probably NEVER even hear of them. Anyway, in time we hope to have a fan page on Facebook, where I can link to his races, but this weekend, they started stickering the car. It's not done yet, but here's a sneak peek:
Is that not the BEST? It has been suggested to Evan that he MIGHT need to wear a pink racing suit and purple helmet to match. He was not quite convinced. But give me time, give me time...
Have a great night, everyone!
Hardest to write besides this one? Just Listen. Oh, dear God. I had SUCH a major breakdown when I finished that book. I couldn't believe I'd spent so long and worked so hard on on something that just....didn't work. At least in my mind. But see, that's what happens when you get too obsessed, too tangled up in a draft. You can't see anything, not even what's in front of you. In the case of Just Listen, I called my parents up in a panic, heart racing, reading to delete the whole thing and go back to waitressing if it meant I could maybe feel normal again. My mother, freaked, said, "Talk to your father!" and put him on the phone. He said, very calmly, "Send it to your agent. See what she thinks before you do anything else." I did, although I was terrified. And she LIKED it. The day she called to tell me so I burst into tears.
The Truth About Forever was a tough one, too. I had another book done I sent to my agent while I was writing it, which she turned down---it happens, they can't all be winners---and so that upped the pressure to the point I could, like, feel it sitting on my chest. Again, it's all in my head. I know that. I also know that to my agent, and my editor, and everyone at my publishing company, my in-process freakouts have become as predictable as Christmas. "Oh, right," I picture them saying in their conference rooms and offices in New York, glancing at the calendar, "it IS about time for Sarah to decide to go back to waitressing again, isn't it?" Sigh.
I guess I can't blame them. Neurosis, especially the kind writers feel mid-draft, is hard to understand unless you're in the thick of it. And while I would LIKE to think that all writers get as crazy as I do, I have a feeling I'm wrong. But my process is...well, my process. I don't have to love it as long as somehow, it works. And ideally, by the time I get to reveal the cover, I've forgotten about that day in late April when I was looking for a paper bag to breathe into because my publisher was planning a big press release and I still had no idea how, exactly, my book was going to end because I was STILL WRITING IT.
Oh, God. Just thinking about that makes me want to wheeze. Maybe it's not so forgotten after all.
I think I should be learning something from this. Like to never talk about writing with anyone, ever. Or maybe to take longer between books so I'm rested and ready. But the truth is, I realized a long time ago that I have absolutely NO control over my writing, how it goes any given day, or week, or in any given book. I can follow the same schedule, sit at the same computer, eat the same two chocolates, every single day, with wildly varying results. And that, my friends, makes me NUTS. It's why I spend so much of the rest of my day organizing drawers, separating my daughter's toys into neatly ordered bins, and obsessively updating my calendar. I need to feel like I'm doing something right, when such a big part of what I do and love is always the big question mark. But I do love it. That's the thing. I love the fun, early days, those first thirty pages, which is like falling in love. I love having this great big secret, good or bad, but all mine. And I love the day when I get to see the finished product and know that despite those paper-bag grabbing moments, somehow, I got where I needed to be. It continually amazes me, even if my publisher and agent are not surprised. Me, though? I'm stunned. Every time.
Anyway. It's the end of the weekend, I have Jane Lynch from Glee hosting SNL on my DVR waiting for me, and steak quesadillas on the dinner menu. Before I go, though, an update on something I wrote about here earlier. Remember how I told you guys about my friend Evan's racecar? He drives Spec E30 class (and no, I'm not sure what that means either, other than he goes FAAAAAAST) and was looking for sponsors. I thought it might be a fun way to promote my books to an audience that might not otherwise find them. Oh, who I am I kidding: would probably NEVER even hear of them. Anyway, in time we hope to have a fan page on Facebook, where I can link to his races, but this weekend, they started stickering the car. It's not done yet, but here's a sneak peek:
Is that not the BEST? It has been suggested to Evan that he MIGHT need to wear a pink racing suit and purple helmet to match. He was not quite convinced. But give me time, give me time...
Have a great night, everyone!
October 7, 2010
The Five!
1. 
Okay, so I got beaten to the punch with the Big Cover Reveal by both a blogger AND Amazon, but what can you do? It's not exactly a bad thing that people are enthusiastic about a new book. In fact, it's wonderful. At any rate, here it is. Finally! Now, everything starts to feel, well...real. Which is also wonderful.
2. Thanks so much to ALL the booksellers and others who responded to my questions about what readers should do if they happen to buy a novel with missing pages. I've alerted my publishing company that this was happening---they were horrified---and which books I think have been affected, so they're on the case. The upshot is that you should probably take it back to where you got it and it will get replaced, with the damaged book hopefully going back to my publisher so they can figure out what's going on. Don't you love it when a problem is solved? It's like cleaning a drawer. Or, in my case, reorganizing my daughter's dollhouse so the bathtub is not in the kitchen, filled with suitcases. Order and answers: they are good things.
3. I know that lots of you are fans of Susane Colasanti, a fellow YA writer who is also published by Penguin. (The cover of her new book was also blogged and up on Amazon without her knowing: she got trumped too! So I was in good company.) Right now, though, I am just so jealous of Susane that I can't even stand it. Why, you ask? Because last week she went to the Austin Book Festival and got to stand on the football field they used on Friday Night Lights. OH MY GOD! Of course she had to tell me, as we are fellow squealing fangirls, and share pictures. You can see the proof on her blog here . It's the next best thing to hanging out with Tim Riggins. If, you know, he was a real person and all. Sa-woon!
4. But things are not all dullsville here in Chapel Hill. Not at all! Get this: today, I'm going to the bank to make a deposit. Routine errands, routine day. And parked RIGHT outside my bank is this:
Oh, my goodness. Can you even imagine? What is Bret Michaels' tour bus doing outside a Wachovia, just steps from a freaking Food Lion, at 10:30 in the morning? No one had any idea, but there was a lot of speculation. I talked to a teller to get the lowdown. No one had seen Bret, just a bus driver, and it had been there about an hour. All I can think is that they were driving some equipment home and pulled off of I-40 (which is just down the street) to grab some pork rinds or something. Still, SO surreal. It was all I could do not to go up, knock on the door, and announce I was there rock Bret's world. But then I remembered that I am 40, married, a mom and am not really into longhair types. Still, very exciting.
5. Finally, for you fellow shopaholics, a milestone: yesterday, I bought my first NICE purse since my daughter was born. For the past three years I've been carrying mostly big, waterproof things I could literally hose out if necessary, as I was always dropping goldfish and sippy cups and wipes inside of them. I am ready to be an adult again, at least in the handbag department, so I went to Nordstrom yesterday. On the clearance table, I found this mustard yellow Dooney & Bourke number that just jumped out at me. It is such a weird color it goes with nothing and therefore everything, just like my old orange purse. And it was on sale! And it looks like a doctor's bag, kind of, so I feel all official. The saleswoman told me it could be a fall purse but not a winter one, like I was someone who actually follows those fashion rules. Puh-leeze. I will rock my banana purse in the snow. Just watch me. Now I just have to keep the goldfish crumbs out of it.
Have a great weekend, everyone!
Okay, so I got beaten to the punch with the Big Cover Reveal by both a blogger AND Amazon, but what can you do? It's not exactly a bad thing that people are enthusiastic about a new book. In fact, it's wonderful. At any rate, here it is. Finally! Now, everything starts to feel, well...real. Which is also wonderful.
2. Thanks so much to ALL the booksellers and others who responded to my questions about what readers should do if they happen to buy a novel with missing pages. I've alerted my publishing company that this was happening---they were horrified---and which books I think have been affected, so they're on the case. The upshot is that you should probably take it back to where you got it and it will get replaced, with the damaged book hopefully going back to my publisher so they can figure out what's going on. Don't you love it when a problem is solved? It's like cleaning a drawer. Or, in my case, reorganizing my daughter's dollhouse so the bathtub is not in the kitchen, filled with suitcases. Order and answers: they are good things.
3. I know that lots of you are fans of Susane Colasanti, a fellow YA writer who is also published by Penguin. (The cover of her new book was also blogged and up on Amazon without her knowing: she got trumped too! So I was in good company.) Right now, though, I am just so jealous of Susane that I can't even stand it. Why, you ask? Because last week she went to the Austin Book Festival and got to stand on the football field they used on Friday Night Lights. OH MY GOD! Of course she had to tell me, as we are fellow squealing fangirls, and share pictures. You can see the proof on her blog here . It's the next best thing to hanging out with Tim Riggins. If, you know, he was a real person and all. Sa-woon!
4. But things are not all dullsville here in Chapel Hill. Not at all! Get this: today, I'm going to the bank to make a deposit. Routine errands, routine day. And parked RIGHT outside my bank is this:
Oh, my goodness. Can you even imagine? What is Bret Michaels' tour bus doing outside a Wachovia, just steps from a freaking Food Lion, at 10:30 in the morning? No one had any idea, but there was a lot of speculation. I talked to a teller to get the lowdown. No one had seen Bret, just a bus driver, and it had been there about an hour. All I can think is that they were driving some equipment home and pulled off of I-40 (which is just down the street) to grab some pork rinds or something. Still, SO surreal. It was all I could do not to go up, knock on the door, and announce I was there rock Bret's world. But then I remembered that I am 40, married, a mom and am not really into longhair types. Still, very exciting.
5. Finally, for you fellow shopaholics, a milestone: yesterday, I bought my first NICE purse since my daughter was born. For the past three years I've been carrying mostly big, waterproof things I could literally hose out if necessary, as I was always dropping goldfish and sippy cups and wipes inside of them. I am ready to be an adult again, at least in the handbag department, so I went to Nordstrom yesterday. On the clearance table, I found this mustard yellow Dooney & Bourke number that just jumped out at me. It is such a weird color it goes with nothing and therefore everything, just like my old orange purse. And it was on sale! And it looks like a doctor's bag, kind of, so I feel all official. The saleswoman told me it could be a fall purse but not a winter one, like I was someone who actually follows those fashion rules. Puh-leeze. I will rock my banana purse in the snow. Just watch me. Now I just have to keep the goldfish crumbs out of it.
Have a great weekend, everyone!
October 5, 2010
writergrl @ 2010-10-05T16:30:00
It's Tuesday, but I feel like I'm running behind, if only because I've spent so much of the last couple of days backtracking. You know how it goes. You're out of town, you get back and things have piled up, which means that then come down the pike pile up behind them, and the next thing you know, you've got a mighty big pile. I'm at the point now where I need either chocolate or a glass of wine to face my email inbox (both?) and I'm embarrassed to return some phone calls because it's been SO long since the other person called me. And then, there's the freezer.
When we first built our garage, one of the most exciting things (because I am a geek) was that we could have a big freezer out there to store things like lasagnas and casseroles and spaghetti sauce, as well as stuff we eat all the time that we could buy extras of when it was on sale. If I make a lasagna, or soup, I usually freeze half, so I LOVED that I had all these little containers, marked and labeled (with my labelmaker!) as well as coffee cakes and Alexia waffle fries (which were just on sale buy one, get one, the best deal EVER). I used to get excited about purses. Now it's meals in Pyrex. Whatever.
So two weeks ago, I'm getting ready for the beach. My husband is out of town and I'm packing the car by myself, running around like a crazy person, trying not to forget anything. I take my cooler with some stuff I'm bringing down out to the freezer, where my husband also keeps some bags of ice for Just This Kind Of Occasion. Fill it up, put the ice back, and I'm on my way.
Then, a couple of days later, when husband returns home, I get a call. Turns out when he went into the garage, he smelled something. Upon closer inspection, he discovered that I LEFT the freezer wide open AND left the bag of ice, half full, to melt all over the garage floor. WHAT? I almost had palpitations. I mean, this is NOT like me. I am the person who checks that her alarm is set, like, forty times before she goes to bed. I have been known to drive back to my house to make sure I locked the door, only to find, always, that it is, in fact, locked. It's like I went totally insane. Even worse (than being insane?) everything in the freezer---all my casseroles, the steaks, even the coffeecakes I got on super sale---are ruined. Done. Finished.
Oh, the shame. I could just HEAR my mother, who never throws out or wastes a bite of food, clicking her tongue. And both my grandmothers, who were the exact same way, chiming in behind her. It was loud, too.
There's something so awful about doing a thing that is SO outside your realm of normal behavior. It makes you question everything. If I'd leave the freezer open and a bag of ice to melt all over the garage, would I leave the stove on? Or the door wide open? I mean, I'm a girl who backs up my novels in not one, not two, but FOUR different places in case of a computer crash. What in the world was I thinking?
I guess I wasn't. But as I stood there later, piling things into a hefty bag (all those Alexia fries, oh, my goodness, the horror) all I could think is that some things you just can't explain. And also, there is something to be said about streamlining your life, as I've been saying here I really, really need to do. When you're so crazybusy you're leaving things wide open, literally, it's time to take a step back and figure out what you can do better. So I'm working on that now. Also, I see a fair amount of lasagna and chicken soup making in my future. Sigh. At least I have plenty of room for them.
In other news, I've gotten a few emails lately from people who have bought my books, only to find a chunk of pages are missing. (Maybe someone was busy attending to their freezer in the printing house?) I, of course, want to be a full service author, and in the past I have tried to remedy this situation by replacing the books personally, but now I'm out of extra copies and wondering what course of action to recommend to them.If any booksellers are reading this: would you take back a book missing pages and replace it? Would the publisher then reimburse you? I am curious. Also, trying to fix the things I can in order to deal with those I cannot. Now I just need the wisdom to know the difference. Maybe it's in my garage.
Have a good evening, everyone!
When we first built our garage, one of the most exciting things (because I am a geek) was that we could have a big freezer out there to store things like lasagnas and casseroles and spaghetti sauce, as well as stuff we eat all the time that we could buy extras of when it was on sale. If I make a lasagna, or soup, I usually freeze half, so I LOVED that I had all these little containers, marked and labeled (with my labelmaker!) as well as coffee cakes and Alexia waffle fries (which were just on sale buy one, get one, the best deal EVER). I used to get excited about purses. Now it's meals in Pyrex. Whatever.
So two weeks ago, I'm getting ready for the beach. My husband is out of town and I'm packing the car by myself, running around like a crazy person, trying not to forget anything. I take my cooler with some stuff I'm bringing down out to the freezer, where my husband also keeps some bags of ice for Just This Kind Of Occasion. Fill it up, put the ice back, and I'm on my way.
Then, a couple of days later, when husband returns home, I get a call. Turns out when he went into the garage, he smelled something. Upon closer inspection, he discovered that I LEFT the freezer wide open AND left the bag of ice, half full, to melt all over the garage floor. WHAT? I almost had palpitations. I mean, this is NOT like me. I am the person who checks that her alarm is set, like, forty times before she goes to bed. I have been known to drive back to my house to make sure I locked the door, only to find, always, that it is, in fact, locked. It's like I went totally insane. Even worse (than being insane?) everything in the freezer---all my casseroles, the steaks, even the coffeecakes I got on super sale---are ruined. Done. Finished.
Oh, the shame. I could just HEAR my mother, who never throws out or wastes a bite of food, clicking her tongue. And both my grandmothers, who were the exact same way, chiming in behind her. It was loud, too.
There's something so awful about doing a thing that is SO outside your realm of normal behavior. It makes you question everything. If I'd leave the freezer open and a bag of ice to melt all over the garage, would I leave the stove on? Or the door wide open? I mean, I'm a girl who backs up my novels in not one, not two, but FOUR different places in case of a computer crash. What in the world was I thinking?
I guess I wasn't. But as I stood there later, piling things into a hefty bag (all those Alexia fries, oh, my goodness, the horror) all I could think is that some things you just can't explain. And also, there is something to be said about streamlining your life, as I've been saying here I really, really need to do. When you're so crazybusy you're leaving things wide open, literally, it's time to take a step back and figure out what you can do better. So I'm working on that now. Also, I see a fair amount of lasagna and chicken soup making in my future. Sigh. At least I have plenty of room for them.
In other news, I've gotten a few emails lately from people who have bought my books, only to find a chunk of pages are missing. (Maybe someone was busy attending to their freezer in the printing house?) I, of course, want to be a full service author, and in the past I have tried to remedy this situation by replacing the books personally, but now I'm out of extra copies and wondering what course of action to recommend to them.If any booksellers are reading this: would you take back a book missing pages and replace it? Would the publisher then reimburse you? I am curious. Also, trying to fix the things I can in order to deal with those I cannot. Now I just need the wisdom to know the difference. Maybe it's in my garage.
Have a good evening, everyone!
