Amy Spalding's Blog, page 11

The Hardest Part of Being a Writer

What is it? Is it the eyestrain of staring at your computer? Is it the pain of, upon hearing your book is coming out next year, a friend/family member saying, “YA? Like with vampires?” Is it the constant torment of having lost your anonymity and no longer being able to say “that dude SUCKS” publicly?

No. Guys, no. It’s not going insane and beating people and/or furniture up while waiting. While your book is on submission. While it’s in an acquisitions meeting. While the contract is being writt...

Musical Theatre Monday – Lindsay Ribar on The Scarlet Pimpernel

Happy Musical Theatre Monday, now celebrated in some nations as a national holiday!* I am really excited to welcome Lindsay Ribar to the blog today, not only because she is a great friend and a great writer, but because her awesome (you can trust me for reals, I have read it) young adult novel, The Art of Wishing, features not only a mystical kind of magic (genies!!!) but the kind of magic that my novel shares: A STEPHEN SONDHEIM MUSICAL.

LINDSAY RIBAR: The Scarlet Pimpernel is not, according...

Friday Friday I’m on Vacation Friday

McKayla Maroney’s Vault Was So Good It Literally Dropped A Judge’s Jaw (from BuzzFeed)
Your Path is Unique; You are Incomparable (from Jennifer Represents…)
A Tribute To The Intense Sexual Tension Between The Two Olympic Swimming Commentators (from BuzzFeed)
The Magical Mystery of The CW (from The Hollywood Reporter)
Duty of Care (from Justine Larbalestier)
Writing Advice: It’s Not One Size Fits All (from Leigh Ann Kopans)

The Amy Spalding Journey

On Twitter, someone asked if I’d blog about my journey to publication. To be super fair, I am still on that journey, with The Reece Malcolm List (AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER MAKES A GREAT GIFT OR PAPERWEIGHT OR DOORSTOP OR PROP) not due on shelves until February 12. And that’s so far away. There’s so many opportunities for me to begin a downward spiral in those months.

But here’s how it’s gone so far.

I have been writing all my life, basically, which translates to “since 8 or 9″. I have told storie...

Redux Reflux Podcast

My friend Robin Hardwick, who coincidentally wrote this week’s Musical Theatre Monday post, runs a great podcast called Redux Reflux, and I’m this episode’s guest. So what I’m saying is: listen!

Here are some of the subjects we tackle:

Just how big/heavy ARE those KidKits?

What role do puppets play in sitcoms?

What is the deal with Jack Davenport’s upper arm mole?

For answers to these and more thrilling questions, please check out Episode 8 of Redux Reflux. Thanks for having me, Robin!

Musical Theatre Monday – Robin Hardwick on American Idiot

I’m psyched to welcome fantastic friend and blogger Robin Hardwick as our guest bloggist today!

ROBIN HARDWICK: I never thought I’d be convincing people that they should see a Broadway musical based on the music of Green Day. I mean, my thirty-four year old self. Plus, I’m what one would consider a musical theatre aficionado. My favorite musical is Sondheim’s Assassins. I’m no slouch when it comes to true musical theatre, am I right? So trust me on this one. American Idiot is better, much bett...

Friiiiday Fuuuuntimes

A Brief History of Chekhov’s Gun in ‘Breaking Bad’ (from Uproxx)
Eating: A Manifesto (from Rookie)
Return To Sweet Valley High: Our Interview with Francine Pascal (from Culture Brats)
(from BuzzFeed)
The 5 Creepiest Disappearances That Nobody Can Explain (from Cracked)
10 Photos of Broadway Stars with Puppies and Babies (and One Marsupial) (from The Craptacular)
Why Boys Don’t Read Girls (Sometimes) (from Shannon Hale)

Musical Theatre Monday – Amy Spalding on Hair

Thanks to all my contributors for their amazing guest posts in this series. However, today it’s back to me.

In high school, my best friend Jess and I were insanely into 1960s music. This started with The Beatles but it spread, and we spent as much time prowling for records by The Who at Vintage Vinyl as we did rounding out our R.E.M. collections. I wore a tie-dyed John Lennon shirt until holes appeared in it (and then wore it as a nightgown for about ten more years because I’m nothing if not c...

It’s Friday.

17 Awkward Celebrity And Cat Portraits (from BuzzFeed)
Dear Aaron Sorkin: Someone Please Fix You (from Awards Daily)
The Mysterious Disappearance of Peter Winston (from The Observer)
35 Lifechanging Ways To Use Everyday Objects (from BuzzFeed)
Magic Mike and the Myth of Entrepreneurialism (from tiara.org)
The Encores! Cast Album of Stephen Sondheim’s Merrily We Roll Along (from Playbill)

You Can Preorder Reece!

[image error]And by “Reece” I do mean The Reece Malcolm List, not the character of Reece Malcolm who is most definitely not for sale, muchachos.

But it’s true! As of now the paperback is available for preorder on Amazon, and it’s even part of their awesome 4-for-3 sale.

Also feel free to support your local indie bookseller when the book comes out in February! And it should be available for preorder any day now from Barnes & Noble, which for many communities has become the community bookstore, and should be...