A.C. Gaughen's Blog, page 11

GLOWing Strong

So many of you know my passion for GLOW--Girl's Leadership and Organized Women--and I just wanted to take a moment to, you know, promote the hell out of it. 

First, a few amazing things we did last year:

In just ten short months over 110 active volunteers donated over 1500 hours of their time in projects geared towards providing opportunities for girls in the community and connecting women to make a difference.

Think about it: This means that on the average day, 5 hours were donated to engaging women in the community through Boston GLOW.

We gave away $5000 in scholarships to teen girls in Boston

We saw two of those girls off to college this year.

In four months, we managed to organize a fundraiser that made more than  $13,000--after costs. 

To me, the most amazing thing is that, one by one, we convinced women and teen girls that they could do absolutely anything. 

This year, we're aiming to do more--and it's more in need than ever.  Check this out:

In a year of some major successes for women — the Nobel Peace Prize, the commanding performances of Angela Merkel and Hillary Rodham Clinton, the end of men-first in the line of succession to the British throne — a new worldwide study concludes that women remain well behind men in two crucial areas: economic equality and political power.

Women hold fewer than 20 percent of all decision-making national positions, says the World Economic Forum's sixth annual Global Gender Gap Report 2011, released on Tuesday at the organization's office in New York. And while 85 percent of the 135 countries in the survey, representing more than 93 percent of the world's population, made some progress in women's health and education levels, relatively few showed marked advances for women in economic and political parity since the first survey came out in 2006. Tuesday's conference focused on the need for governments and the private sector to implement and enforce laws and policies that promote women's economic and political roles.

Can you believe that? 

What about these statistics from GLOW's website:

I'm always horrified every time I read these. 

And the article above closes with this:

Despite some disappointing findings, Ms. Zahidi remains optimistic. "The next wave of change will come from how to actually close gender gaps. We know how to measure them, we know why it's important to close them, and there's some new research on policy and on practices in business. That's going to be the game changer."

Honestly, I think that Boston GLOW has the potential to close those gender gaps.  I think that any girl who stands up and says that statistics like that are unacceptable has the power to change everything--but I know it's easier with someone standing with you. 

If you:

agree with me
want to see women and girls succeed and get the recognition they deserve
are feeling socially generous
are just feeling the girl power

PLEASE:  Like us on Facebook, Follow us on Twitter, Check out our Website, and if you feel unbelievably generous, Donate to Boston GLOW. 

GIRL HEROES: Asheley Williams

Today's post is brought to you by Leah Moschella.  She and I work together at Boston GLOW, a non-profit that I currently serve as a board member of.  Last year she and I developed the first IGNITE Change Essay Contest to inspire teen girls in Boston to actionable change, and we handed out $5000 in scholarships to the finalists.  Asheley was one of our finalists--and she was just accepted to college! 

"So it's official. I start in January!" These jubilant six words were exclaimed by Boston GLOW's 2011
IGNITE Change Finalist, Asheley Williams last Friday. Asheley will be commencing course work towards a
Bachelors Degree at UMass Boston in January of 2012.

One word describes this inspirational young woman. That word is determination. Originally scheduled
to graduate from the Jeremiah E. Burke High School in 2010, Asheley was left behind when she struggled
to pass the math portion of the MCAS. Asheley was not alone in this category: in 2010 only 28% of
students at the Burke High School passed the math MCAS on their first try and less than 60% of students
graduated. (http://www.doe.mass.edu/sda/turnaroun...).
However, as she watched her peers graduate and plan their futures, Asheley refused to settle, even
though her only option to graduate would involve taking the math portion of the MCAS for the seventh
time.

Determined to succeed, Asheley and her father searched the city for resources, finally discovering the
Pathways to Success MCAS class at Roxbury Community College. It was during this course that Asheley
heard of an opportunity. While she was perfecting her algebra skills, she could write an essay for
Boston GLOW. All she had to do was write an essay about how to change her community for a chance
to win a $500 scholarship. "That's the start of my college fund", Asheley enthusiastically expressed,
and went home eager to write her essay about the community of Roxbury, a place she loved and calls
home. "Even though Roxbury has all these great things about it some people don't care. They need to
respect their area, their HOME, and take better care of it", she wrote. She continued to explain that her
community should be recognized as more than a zipcode, but a source of pride.

Asheley's words impressed a panel of judges, all published female authors, and in April, Asheley was
selected as finalist for Boston GLOW's first ever IGNITE Change Essay contest. Immediately she knew
what this meant. She would have $500 for her college fund. In April of 2011 Asheley passed her MCAS,
received her high school diploma, and with the support of Boston GLOW began to talk about her career
and educational future.

Last January, Asheley Williams wrote about change she could make in her community. Ten months
later, she is making a change for her future by heading to college. Recently, Boston GLOW founder,
Leah Moschella, asked Asheley if she was excited and if she needed any support to ensure her success.
Her response was quick and blunt, "You've always supported me. I know that's never going to stop,
but I know I'm ready for this!" Congrats, Asheley! We know you're ready, and we're excited to see you
succeed!

The second annual IGNITE Change Essay Contest is currently underway, and our fundraising efforts to do even more for the teen writers of Boston are in full swing.  For more information, or (MAYBE!) to donate, check out www.bostonglow.org

SCARLET's Traveling!

Scarlet has been getting some mileage this week--first, she popped up in Frankfurt at the book fair:

Well hello there, fellow Walker babies!  Including The Mapmaker and the Ghost, which I just finished.

 

And then, I see that SCARLET has also turned up in Britain!  With a face lift! 

[image error]Hello gorgeous!  If you're a UK reader you can sign up here to buy it when it's available. 

 

I told Scarlet that next time she takes a trip, she should take me with her. 

 

 

Class of 2k12 Goes Live!

So, things you may not know about me:

AC does not stand for ACCUWEATHER, despite what the header may tell you.
I didn't own a pair of jeans until I was 13. 
I'm a little all over the place.

There are more, of course, but pursuant to #3, one of the places I'm all over is The Class of 2k12!  Which, egads, officially launched our Year of Awesome. 

 

 

In honor of our friends debuting this year, we're giving away a huge prize pack of all seventeen Class of 2k11 titles for a deserving class, school, or public library. If you'd like to nominate your favorite library, stop by our Facebook page and tell us about it. The winner will be announced November 12.

 

 

Be sure to visit our links to find out about 2k12 books, authors, and events:

our website
our blog
our Facebook page
our Twitter link
our newsletter (Click to sign up -- simply write ADD ME in the comment line)

 

And The Winner Is...

VIVIEN!

and check out some of the favorite'd pieces of art:

I LOVE this one!This was also the cover of a DIG Boston Issue!Check all the "favorites" in the original post, and of course, buy your own copy of TANTALIZE: KIEREN'S STORY.  You might even be able to buy a signed copy (if they have any left!) from BROOKLINE BOOKSMITH! 

GIRL HEROES: WOMANTHOLOGY

So I think I've mentioned before that I'm really captured by this idea of Kickstarter--it's crowdsourced funding that's only successful if it gets fully funded, and it's giving a lot of creative projects room to grow. 

 

WOMANTHOLOGY is one of those projects.  My friend Ming Doyle (ahem, contest, ahem) brought it up during her talk at Brookline Booksmith, so obviously I set myself to Google mode.  And DUDE, how incredible is this? 

By women--for a world without them.

Obviously in Boston GLOW and in my general life as a girl, I'm pretty sensitive to the inequalities women face in their various workplaces.  Worse still, I see the detrimental effects that this problem has on young women--not just locking out their salaries, seeing them ludicrously underrepresented by Congresses (state and federal) and creating glass ceilings, but literally instilling a sense of worthlessness--"I can't do that, so why should I try?" 

I can't tell you how many responses like that we got to last year's essay contest.  REALLY disturbing. 

Amidst all of this, I honestly thought creative careers were fairly well represented.  There are a lot of women writers (I just gripe that men tend to win all the awards).  Ming pointed out to me, though, how insanely few women there are in graphic novels/comic book art. 

Why what Renae De Liz is doing is SO COOL

She's not being exclusive; artists from totally amateur teens all the way to seasoned industry pros are being included.  She says:

Womanthology is an anthology graphic novel created entirely by women for Charity. The purpose of the book is to showcase the works of female creators of every age and experience levels.

The Graphic Novel will majorly consist of many short stories interpreting our theme for this volume; "Heroic". We'll also have interviews and how-to's with some of the industry's top female pros, as well as talks with young girls who someday want a career in comics.

We will be published, and will be raising all the printing costs for the project through Kickstarter.com. Stay tuned for more information as it becomes available! :)

I think this is going to be an insanely inspirational product, and I can't wait to see more of it when it comes out. 

 

A TANTALIZING CONTEST!

So, Ming Doyle and I have been friends since we were itty bitty.   

[image error]

Actually, we were already friends for like eight years when this was taken. 

YEAH. 

Anyway, she's got herself a book out, and I want to celebrate the fact that she's a successful (and pretty bad-ass) illustrator, so I'm giving one away to a lucky entrant.

Illustrated by hot new talent Ming Doyle, Cynthia Leitich Smith's TANTALIZE is reimagined as a graphic novel— seen through Kieren's werewolf eyes.

As a hybrid werewolf, Kieren is destined to join an urban Wolf pack and learn to master his shift. Soon, he'll leave everything behind: home, school, his family, and Quincie, his human best friend . . . who's beginning to be a whole lot more than a friend. For years, Kieren has managed to keep his desires— and his wolf— at bay. But when the chef at Quincie' s family restaurant is brutally murdered, Kieren resolves to be there for her, even if it means being framed. Even if it means watching Quincie's beloved restaurant morph into a vampire lair. But when the new chef begins wooing her, how long can Kieren control his claws? How long can he protect Quincie— and himself? In an elegant graphic edition featuring cinematic sequential art by debut artist Ming Doyle and lush, romantic cover art by Sam Weber , bestselling author Cynthia Leitich Smith re-envisions her delicious dark fantasy through wolfish eyes.

Sounds pretty amazing, right?  The drawings are absolutely insane, and of course, the copy is signed!  This is a gorgeous book for anyone who's a fan of Cynthia's books or just really beautiful artwork. 

 

So here's what you have to do!

Any of the following will earn you an entry. 

1.  Post in the comments with a link to your favorite piece of Ming Doyle art.  You can find her stuff here, and here, and probably more places like Facebook and such. 

2.  On Thursday night, 8PM EST, I'll be tweeting with some of the others of the Class of 2k12; join in the chat by following #teenink and tweet @acgaughen telling me that you would like to be entered! 

3.  If you can take a picture of yourself with actual Ming Doyle art (yes, a copy of Tantalize, even in a bookstore, counts!) you get three entries. Please tweet it @acgaughen or link to it in the comments. 

Rock on! 

The contest will close Friday, October 7th at MIDNIGHT EST.  Please leave an email address/way for me to get in touch with you, or else you won't receive your loot! 

Good Luck! 

Thank God

...for Kindles (well, the Kindle app on my iPad).  Because if I had all of these books in my physical arms rather in electronic format, I would DIE.  Or be buried. 

So basically, my desperately need to read IMMEDIATELY list has exploded.  Here's what's on it:

LOLA AND THE BOY NEXT DOOR by Stephanie Perkins

THE AUSLANDER by Paul Dowswell

I SCORED AN ARC OF THE MAPMAKER AND THE GHOST!! by Sarvenaz Tash

NOWHERE GIRL by AJ Paquette

DARKFALL by Janice Hardy -- this is the third in the series, and frankly, I don't hear enough about how amazing, fresh and totally novel this fantasy series is.  I can't WAIT to read the third part. 

MASTIFF by Tamora Pierce--probably my all-time biggest writing hero

FINNIKIN OF THE ROCK by Melina Marchetta

SCORPIA RISING by Anthony Horowitz--another of my writing gods--and actually I just tweaked out because my Kindle app failed to mention this is THE FINAL MISSION!??!?!  ALEX, NOOOOOO!!!

 

OMG.  I'm already tired.  I'd ask for recs....but I don't think I can handle them. 

Twiddling

So, thanks to the Blitz of Last Week I did in fact finish a first draft on the Really Big Thing I've been working on; whether that will be successful or not is a different story entirely, but I've been pretty thrilled with the work I've done and I'm pretty excited to get some feedback and do some revisions. 

Especially since this one was really really risky for me.  There's sex and there's graffiti and COPIOUS swearing and there's art and there's really difficult, complicated emotions.  I don't think it's even close to perfect yet, but having a full draft--and knowing that it is within my capability to finish the damn thing--is a huge relief. 

But now I'm waiting for feedback and...I'm just waiting. 

Well, no, I'm trying to catch up on the backlog of busy work that needs doing, and I've been reading a lot around a new story idea I have, which includes reading Giacomo Casanova's memoirs.  Dude, that man was a saucy, saucy minx.  In the bit I've read so far, he tried to seduce one girl with two others in the room, then told her she hated him because she wouldn't put out, then two months later (but nary a page later) he has sex with the two other girls (sisters!) in the same bed--at the same time.  And deflowers both of them. 

And the tactics!  The TACTICS!  These gambits are still in play today.  The man was a master of reverse psychology before the term was even invented. 

Oh, Casanova.

It's actually kind of hysterical, and makes me feel like I got game by proxy.  Which I don't--by proxy or any other way.

But other than that, I'm RESTLESS.  I don't like being between novels.  I don't like not having another, fully fleshed world to think about other than my own.  LAME. 

So I'm blogging, about nothing in particular.  I cleaned out my camera and posted pics on FB; I intend to soon swap out my summer wardrobe for my winter one, winterize my bedding (YAY flannel) and tidy up.  Make my way through some netflix backlog...and generally be a big old lump on a log.  Dare to dream. 

God, what the hell would I do with myself if I weren't a writer?  I'm starting to see the value of those things they call "boyfriends"--but only if they'll consent to disappear while I'm actually working on a novel. 

 

Hm. 

Discovery; or, Procrastination

[image error]So, I'm still working on Really Big Thing That Could Be Awesome, but it's distracting.  And when I get distracted, well, I tend to work on new story ideas, and website hop, and travel plan. 

Being difficult, these are all the things I've been looking at recently--some have to do with new story ideas, some with travel, and some are just random websites of note that I've come across.  I'll leave you to decide what is what. 

Sound Cloud (and their creative commons section)

Kickstarter.com (crowd sourced funding that is super cool)(also where Neil Gaiman and Amanda Palmer promised a series of limited edition tour stop videos and got uber paid for it)

The Say Yes to Gay YA article that's been going around

The Doges of Venice

Carnival in the 18th century

[image error]Hotel Frontenac Photos

Venice in Fog photos   (these literally make me shiver)

And that's it.  I'm back in that scattered state of mind which is usually good for writing and inspiration, so I have high hopes for this weekend--just shy of 50,000 words right now, hoping to get the first draft to about 65,000 by tuesday night--wish me luck!