Arlaina Tibensky's Blog, page 3
September 30, 2011
Skunks
Skunks have invaded my upper Manhattan neighborhood and I love it. If you are out at night up here and the moon is high and you are returning from the Associated with organic milk at 9:00 for the kids' breakfast in the morning, you might see one or two skulking about between parked cars or through the co-op on the corner's bushes.
Photo by fieldsbh
They are totally cute. Because of the Wild Kratts, I know that they are related (cousins, actually) of the weasel and badger.
When we got to the subway elevator (yes, I live in a magical land!) it smelled of: Skunk. And the kids and I loved it and it kind of made my day and the attendant smiled and said, "yeah they were in here."
I love skunks. I love the smell of skunk and also the smell of gasoline.
Photo by fieldsbhThey are totally cute. Because of the Wild Kratts, I know that they are related (cousins, actually) of the weasel and badger.
When we got to the subway elevator (yes, I live in a magical land!) it smelled of: Skunk. And the kids and I loved it and it kind of made my day and the attendant smiled and said, "yeah they were in here."
I love skunks. I love the smell of skunk and also the smell of gasoline.
September 29, 2011
On Freaking Fire!
"Success isn't a result of spontaneous combustion. You must set yourself on fire."-- Arnold H. Glasow
So.
My Day At 7:30 a.m. I drag the 5 year old to the kindergarten at the highest point in Manhattan and then drag the little one to his daycare at the bottom of the hill and I go half way back up a kind of hill and wait for the BX7 bus. On the bus I try and get a seat, the solo kind in the front and check my email on my iphone. 30 minutes later (around 8:30a.m.) I wind up at this cafe in Inwood which is like any awesome cafe in Brooklyn but closer to where I live.
I go to the bathroom and put lipstick on.I get a coffee, sometimes with a little cow.
Sometimes not.
I find a table either by the window or in the corner by the kitchen.I take a picture of my coffee and tweet it.I open up my Macintosh device collection of iphone, ipod touch, and the laptop that will not die.I find a good station on Pandora- Lou Reed or David Bowie (they fit this book best so far).
I ass around for half an hour.Then I mediate a bit.Then I write.AndthisbookispracticallywritingitselfbutnotreallyandIhopeit'sgoodIhopeit'sgoodIhopeit'sgood.Three hours later I pack up, and take the bus home.I make dinner at 3pm or so.Pick up the kids at 4:30/5:00.Home.Bath.Dinner.Teeth.Story.Bed.TVWine.Book.
Bed.
Voila! This is my life!
And I love it but whoa. I left a LOT out (laundry, reading series curating, bathing, yoga, sleep, laundry laundry laundry, lunch with agent, readings, blogging, facebook, mom dad, Wild Kratts, Halloween costume planning, soccer, NCTE planning, John Green meeting nerves, haircut, hair dye, pedicure, finding the one umbrella that isn't broken that is in the way back of the closet and then it didn't even rain this morning, Big Bird doll for the baby or he won't take a nap at day care, gluten free cooking for fun and profit. I could go on but I don't want to BORE you...)
Why not follow me on twitter? @ArlainaT
New look for blog soon.
xoxo
September 23, 2011
And now a word about Scotland...
My husband is from Scotland and I love it there. I also love how much the Scots love books and reading. My father in law reads about 5 newspapers a day and their libraries are busy and not because homeless people are living in them, either. My mother in law is a huge murder-mystery fan and my brother-in-law reads a book a day practically. My husband? Well, is a political/history of whiskey/cultural criticism of the health care system for 10 minutes before bed type of guy. At least he's reading!
Here is a smashing photo of my handsome brother in law reading And Then Things Fall Apart on the glistening greens of St. Andrews. Thanks to him and my other family there, my sales numbers show a spike in Scotland.
This a short list of my favorite Scottish writers:
J.K. RowlingIain BanksIrvine WelshAli SmithJames KelmanRobert Louis StevensonIan RankinSir Arthur Conan DoyleAlasdair GreyA.L. KennedyMuriel SparkAlan Warner (The Sopranos and Morvern Callar)
But what I'm getting at here is that the Scots seem to still be in a passionate love affair with books. Events as the Edinburgh Book Festival SELL OUT. There's like, people scalping tickets to see some woman in glasses talk about her BOOK for half an hour. And then there was some artist leaving mysterious book sculptures in libraries, little gifts that said "I love you, books," all over Edinburgh.
I'm still waiting for this kind of thing at my local library, which I am slowly, despite the lack of mysterious book sculptures, falling in love with all over again.
Here is a smashing photo of my handsome brother in law reading And Then Things Fall Apart on the glistening greens of St. Andrews. Thanks to him and my other family there, my sales numbers show a spike in Scotland.
This a short list of my favorite Scottish writers:
J.K. RowlingIain BanksIrvine WelshAli SmithJames KelmanRobert Louis StevensonIan RankinSir Arthur Conan DoyleAlasdair GreyA.L. KennedyMuriel SparkAlan Warner (The Sopranos and Morvern Callar)
But what I'm getting at here is that the Scots seem to still be in a passionate love affair with books. Events as the Edinburgh Book Festival SELL OUT. There's like, people scalping tickets to see some woman in glasses talk about her BOOK for half an hour. And then there was some artist leaving mysterious book sculptures in libraries, little gifts that said "I love you, books," all over Edinburgh.
I'm still waiting for this kind of thing at my local library, which I am slowly, despite the lack of mysterious book sculptures, falling in love with all over again.
September 19, 2011
SIGH SIGH SIGH
Hey there. So my real life grandma is 88 years old. My other real life grandma is 90. I did some kind of weird Frankenstein monster sewing up of the best and weirdest parts of both of them and added a lot of made up stuff to create the Gram character in And Then Things Fall Apart.
I am terribly lucky to have both my grandmothers alive and relatively healthy. But one of them (the brunette) fell and broke her leg last week and it's freaking me out. Distracting me really. I'm not near her and can't visit really and am just thinking about the meaning of life, and time, and death and all kinds of other cheery things that are totally depressing me. She's OK- however OK an 88 year old woman with a broken and pinned together thigh can be.
SIGH SIGH SIGH it's all I'm doing lately.
Booklist had a little heart attack of love over And Then Things Fall Apart which is insanely good news. They even liked Keek's poetry. Shocking, I know! And I have some awesome and rabid Keek fans out there who have made themselves known to me through the magic of the internet. Which is also good news. (MWAH! You know who you are...)
I'm going to a fancy conference in November with the loves of my life, English Teachers, and I'm planning not one but two birthday parties for those lovable and scrappy tykes of mine. And oh I'm supposed to be writing a book and I kind of am but not in the way I would like. But I'm doing it in a fashion... and will sputter along until it clunks into my brain properly and then writes itself.
And here we are. Fall is upon us, pumpkin spiced lattes are on offer at various latte bars around the city and school is in full swing. My 4.75 year old loves to play chess (!) on my iphone (?!) after school, when his homework is complete (?!). SIGH SIGH SIGH! The other one says please and thank you and fits into a spiffy pair of flannel pyjamas from Scotland.
So below is a sensational little book trailer for And Then Things Fall Apart that someone other than me made. I came upon it quite on accident and I think it is totally cool! I might try and make one myself on animoto. Or maybe on imovie, or I dunno. I didn't think I needed one but I think it might me kind of fun to actually make one! And I will do anything except write a new book so. There was some acclaimed writer of note whose name I don't remember who famously outfitted his writing chair with a seatbelt and would STRAP HIMSELF IN to write. It's not that I don't love writing. Oh- we are in love, writing and I- it's just--- well. Stay tuned...
And remember: A man a plan a canal, Panama!
I am terribly lucky to have both my grandmothers alive and relatively healthy. But one of them (the brunette) fell and broke her leg last week and it's freaking me out. Distracting me really. I'm not near her and can't visit really and am just thinking about the meaning of life, and time, and death and all kinds of other cheery things that are totally depressing me. She's OK- however OK an 88 year old woman with a broken and pinned together thigh can be.
SIGH SIGH SIGH it's all I'm doing lately.
Booklist had a little heart attack of love over And Then Things Fall Apart which is insanely good news. They even liked Keek's poetry. Shocking, I know! And I have some awesome and rabid Keek fans out there who have made themselves known to me through the magic of the internet. Which is also good news. (MWAH! You know who you are...)
I'm going to a fancy conference in November with the loves of my life, English Teachers, and I'm planning not one but two birthday parties for those lovable and scrappy tykes of mine. And oh I'm supposed to be writing a book and I kind of am but not in the way I would like. But I'm doing it in a fashion... and will sputter along until it clunks into my brain properly and then writes itself.
And here we are. Fall is upon us, pumpkin spiced lattes are on offer at various latte bars around the city and school is in full swing. My 4.75 year old loves to play chess (!) on my iphone (?!) after school, when his homework is complete (?!). SIGH SIGH SIGH! The other one says please and thank you and fits into a spiffy pair of flannel pyjamas from Scotland.
So below is a sensational little book trailer for And Then Things Fall Apart that someone other than me made. I came upon it quite on accident and I think it is totally cool! I might try and make one myself on animoto. Or maybe on imovie, or I dunno. I didn't think I needed one but I think it might me kind of fun to actually make one! And I will do anything except write a new book so. There was some acclaimed writer of note whose name I don't remember who famously outfitted his writing chair with a seatbelt and would STRAP HIMSELF IN to write. It's not that I don't love writing. Oh- we are in love, writing and I- it's just--- well. Stay tuned...
And remember: A man a plan a canal, Panama!
September 8, 2011
More Evidence That I am the Geekiest Girl in the World
I love stamps, OK.
I'm like, INTO them and if I were a little different I would collect them. I would store them in elaborate leather bound albums that I would occasionally drag out of cold storage only to gaze at each frame adoringly through a magnifying glass with a mother-of-pearl handle. I'm one of those annoying people in front of you at the post office who ask the desk clerk --"got anything interesting back there?" while you are late for work and just need a money order to pay your landlord since your checks ran out. I still swoon over the effing GRETA GARBO stamps from a few years back, the Ronald Reagan stamps that my ultra-liberal pals used as postage on their annual holiday newsletter, the Marilyn Monroe and Elvis stamps that have never been separated from each other and nestle like lovers in glassine envelopes in my office drawer.
I don't use the "good stamps" (yes there's good stamps and so-so stamps and bad stamps- I'm looking at you, "forever" liberty bell) to post the cable and electric bill. You know I like you if you get oversized artsy stamps or better yet, an eclectic mix of squash blossom 1 centers, GRETA GARBO, Tito Puente and whatever else tickled my fancy that morning- an insane collection of geekdom in the upper right hand corner.
So, dear reader, imagine my surprise and delight to learn about my beloved and beleaguered US Postal Service's latest offering (er for next year, if they are still in business):
And yes of course, Sylvia's included, much to my delight. And Cummings, Brooks, Bishop, and Levertov! Of course, the USPS adores writers- we spend millions of dollars a year on postage of manuscripts, blog giveaways, editor gifts, bookmark peddling, agent love letters and etc. I'm there at least four times a month and each time EVERY TIME I spend 40 bucks a pop on fancy stamps I don't really need... because I have a serious stamp problem and when I say problem I'm not kidding.
But I can't support the whole operation alone, people. Go. Write a letter. Send your mom a gift, why not send every 5 year old you know a Good Luck in Kindergarten card? Your post office NEEDS you!
I'm going there tomorrow. Can I get you anything?
I'm like, INTO them and if I were a little different I would collect them. I would store them in elaborate leather bound albums that I would occasionally drag out of cold storage only to gaze at each frame adoringly through a magnifying glass with a mother-of-pearl handle. I'm one of those annoying people in front of you at the post office who ask the desk clerk --"got anything interesting back there?" while you are late for work and just need a money order to pay your landlord since your checks ran out. I still swoon over the effing GRETA GARBO stamps from a few years back, the Ronald Reagan stamps that my ultra-liberal pals used as postage on their annual holiday newsletter, the Marilyn Monroe and Elvis stamps that have never been separated from each other and nestle like lovers in glassine envelopes in my office drawer.
I don't use the "good stamps" (yes there's good stamps and so-so stamps and bad stamps- I'm looking at you, "forever" liberty bell) to post the cable and electric bill. You know I like you if you get oversized artsy stamps or better yet, an eclectic mix of squash blossom 1 centers, GRETA GARBO, Tito Puente and whatever else tickled my fancy that morning- an insane collection of geekdom in the upper right hand corner.
So, dear reader, imagine my surprise and delight to learn about my beloved and beleaguered US Postal Service's latest offering (er for next year, if they are still in business):
And yes of course, Sylvia's included, much to my delight. And Cummings, Brooks, Bishop, and Levertov! Of course, the USPS adores writers- we spend millions of dollars a year on postage of manuscripts, blog giveaways, editor gifts, bookmark peddling, agent love letters and etc. I'm there at least four times a month and each time EVERY TIME I spend 40 bucks a pop on fancy stamps I don't really need... because I have a serious stamp problem and when I say problem I'm not kidding.
But I can't support the whole operation alone, people. Go. Write a letter. Send your mom a gift, why not send every 5 year old you know a Good Luck in Kindergarten card? Your post office NEEDS you!
I'm going there tomorrow. Can I get you anything?
August 29, 2011
You, Moonface Tibensky, are no John Green
Moonface is my nickname for myself when my face, especially on tv or video is as illuminated, white, and round as the effing moon. I know I shouldn't be so hard on myself. I should be grateful that I even have a head, moony or otherwise, and that there are people that actually want to record whatever I have to say forever on digital film...
Being in Chicago was amazing and hilarious. I love it there and now I'm back in New York and totally homesick. While there I paid a visit to my hometown La Grange Public Library where I met the lovely and amazing Noel Zethmayr, head of young adult services. And then she interviewed me and I went on and on and on about And Then Things Fall Apart and reading and writing and etc.
And it is on YouTube and now, here...
Noel was cool to talk with and really interesting and funny and smart. I gave her some Sylvia Plath pins as a parting gift and she was so punk rock she put them on her shirt sleeve!
Hope you weren't bored to death watching the video. I'm a little in love with John Green and his vlog is really and truly entertaining. I'm working on it...
August 22, 2011
Winners! Rockers! Writers!
Oh dear Random.org thank you so much for randomizing the winners of the Sofa King Amazing And Then Things Fall Apart Giveaway!BrittLit and Pantalones... email me your info (like, privately) and I'll shoot your loot out to you asap!
Thanks to everyone for following and signing up to win and just- I dunno- for being so great!
While I'm at it, feel free to rate And Then Things Fall Apart on Amazon and/or Goodreads. Every Star Counts!
In other great and fun news, I wanted to let you know about this interview I did with Stephanie Kuehnert at her blog, Life, Words, & Rock 'N Roll. It came out last week but here it is in all its glory. Ozzy Osbourne, Africa, writing... it's all in there. We met for lunch when I was in Chicago for a signing and we ate organic chips and salsa at this restaurant that was ALSO a house. It was fun and a great break from my family to talk about writing and writing and writing with someone who was way more punk rock than me. Thanks for everything, Stephanie.
August 12, 2011
100th POST and a HUGE GIVEAWAY that is SOFA KING HUGE I Can Hardly Stand it!
I am alive!
And have now graduated with the publication of AND THEN THINGS FALL APART from "Writer" to... say it with me... "Author."
I have had enough experiences the past two weeks to blog about for a lifetime. There are photos, interviews, videos (!), announcements, tearjerking coincidences and etc.
This does not even include all the guest blogging I've been doing and totally digging.
Thanks for all the great reviews, savvy readers of mystery, it makes me feel like I'm onto something with this writing thing.
Meanwhile... This is my 100th post (I know! I can't believe it either) and I wanted to really live it up and give fun crap away to those who come knocking.
This amazing and heart breaking giveaway of staggering genius shall include:
One (1) signed copy of a AND THEN THINGS FALL APARTOne (1) hand made hideously ugly and one of a kind AND THEN THINGS FALL APART soapdishFour (4) Punk Rock Sylvia Plath button pinsOne (!) Sylvia Plath stick mask from the AND THEN THINGS FALL APART Book Launch Event at Books of WonderEight (8) signed bookmarks for you to pass around to your most amazing friends and librarians
All you have to do is become a follower of my blog (if you are not already, my darling) AND (as well as) leave a comment in this post's comments. I will use some sort of randomizing application to choose not one but TWO (2) lucky winners!!
What are you waiting for? You will have until August 20th to enter. (Shipping is US only...)
This is like, my first contest. It may be my last... so don't miss out!
xoxo
July 26, 2011
It's Like a Birthday, but Weirder
Today, Tuesday, July 26, 2011 is the official pub date of
And Then Things Fall Apart.
I'm getting ready for the book launch and thought I should toss something at my very own blog...
Thanks to everyone and when I'm not so harried and emotional, I will post a real entry.
And thanks too for all the following and insane love on Twitter! It's like getting love notes tossed at my desk all day long... (@ArlainaT)
To tide you over, my pal Nova Ren Suma has an interview she did with me up on her blog.
And me talking about influential YA books over at Alisia Leavitt's cool blog too!XOXOXO
July 22, 2011
Blog Tour! So Far!
And Then Things Fall Apart by Arlaina Tibensky
July 18th - August 12th
Monday, July 18: Diana at Books by their Story Wednesday, July 20: Ivy at
Ivy Reads
Friday, July 22: Jenny C at
Mimosa Stimulus
Monday, July 25: Rummanah at
Books in the Spotlight
Tuesday, July 26: Alisia at Alisa Leavitt Thursday, July 28: Patricia at
Patricia's Particularity
Friday, July 29: Kari at A Good Addiction Monday, August 1: LiLi at Chica Reader Wednesday, August 3: Cass at
C A Marshall
Friday, August 5: Danielle B at
Frenzy of Noise
Monday, August 8: Hannah at
Paperback Treasures
Tuesday, August 9: Erica at The Book Cellar Thursday, August 11: Julie at
That's Swell
Friday, August 12: Jen D at What's On the Bookshelf
These feature anything from interviews with me, interviews with Keek, playlist commentary and/or me, basically going on and on and on about writing and my book and Sylvia Plath. I know! You can't get ENOUGH of the self promotion...
Well, I do love the book and I really want it to get in as many hands as possible. Thank you so much for the love and support and for recommending AND THEN THINGS FALL APART to all the coolest teenagers (and adults!) you know...
Reviews are coming soon... Also, some great YA authors and colleagues have interviewed me too and those will be up when Things Get Pulled Together. I will so totally let you know.
xxoo--Arlaina
July 18th - August 12th
Monday, July 18: Diana at Books by their Story Wednesday, July 20: Ivy at
Ivy Reads
Friday, July 22: Jenny C at
Mimosa Stimulus
Monday, July 25: Rummanah at
Books in the Spotlight
Tuesday, July 26: Alisia at Alisa Leavitt Thursday, July 28: Patricia at
Patricia's Particularity
Friday, July 29: Kari at A Good Addiction Monday, August 1: LiLi at Chica Reader Wednesday, August 3: Cass at
C A Marshall
Friday, August 5: Danielle B at
Frenzy of Noise
Monday, August 8: Hannah at
Paperback Treasures
Tuesday, August 9: Erica at The Book Cellar Thursday, August 11: Julie at
That's Swell
Friday, August 12: Jen D at What's On the BookshelfThese feature anything from interviews with me, interviews with Keek, playlist commentary and/or me, basically going on and on and on about writing and my book and Sylvia Plath. I know! You can't get ENOUGH of the self promotion...
Well, I do love the book and I really want it to get in as many hands as possible. Thank you so much for the love and support and for recommending AND THEN THINGS FALL APART to all the coolest teenagers (and adults!) you know...
Reviews are coming soon... Also, some great YA authors and colleagues have interviewed me too and those will be up when Things Get Pulled Together. I will so totally let you know.
xxoo--Arlaina
