Heather Demetrios's Blog, page 12

Lessons From Lexie #2

So it’s been a little over a week since I launched Lexie. In this time I went through various stages of excitement and discouragement. I’ve been thrilled with beginning and sharing this project and disappointed when droves of people didn’t jump on the train right away (a foolish hope, of course, but a girl can dream)! Everyone I tell about it seems to think the idea is cool, exciting, and cutting edge. I just need people to go one step forward and begin reading and engaging. (Hey, sociology majors—this could make for a good paper!).

pros and cons of wattpad, other modes of sharing the story

One of the reasons I decided to put Lex on Wattpad was because I’d seen the crazy high numbers of followers and reads for stories – we’re talking in the MILLIONS here. The problem is, it seems the only way to get that kind of following is to trade reads with others and be really active on discussion boards—a working author with several deadlines just does not have the time for that. It was a little rough, seeing the numbers climb oh so slowly. After a week, I’ve had about 715 reads, but that doesn’t translate into followers or “votes” (another Wattpad thing that helps your story move up in the ranks, therefore giving…

Lessons From Lexie #1

I set out to do The Lexie Project in the way I do so many things: running headlong into it before thinking of the long-term challenges and/or consequences. This mode of being has generally served me well and so it has with Lexie. If I’d thought too long about it, I might have lost my nerve. I might have, for example, been worried that people would think I was Lexie, that her worldview and way of interacting with the world was my own. I might have realized that writing this book would be a constant struggle to balance telling a story in weekly serialized form (a chapter a week) and keeping the quality of one’s craft just as good as books I’ve worked on for, oh, a million times as long. I might have worried that I was putting tons of work into something that might be a total crash and burn, an utter failure la Waterworld. Good thing I can’t resist an artistic adventure.

This is the first of many posts I’ll be writing over the next year as I embark on the multiplatform storytelling extravaganza that is The Lexie Project. I have lots of sneaky plans and together we’ll see if they work out or not. It could turn into Fidel Castro’s exploding…

Responses to my Whiplash Post

First, if you didn't read This piece is so honest, and I am so glad it was published because it’s a truth lots of writers don’t share.

All this to say, your blog was very powerful. There’s nothing I hate more than being at a party and…

Whiplash (Or, Don't Waste My Fucking Time Or, Art Is Not For Pussies)

I am a certain brand of crazy.

As a child, I responded best to tyrannical gurus: a figure skating coach who would be so mad at me for not landing a jump that he’d spit on the ice, yelling at me God, I could just KILL you or, worse—far worse—he’d just look at me with disdain as I fell on my hipbone again and again, that motherfucking Axel jump, that goddamn double salchow. I’d look up at him, my twelve-year-old body splayed on the ice, face first, my chin inches from his blade. Again, he’d say, waving a hand in the air—two rotations I always fell short on. I was never going to be good enough for the Olympics and so I had to stop skating. Didn't matter if I loved it. There was no point unless I was going to achieve the literal and metaphorical heights I'd dreamed of. My coach agreed in the only way he could: he stopped showing up for practice, he turned to another student, one who landed her jumps.

I loved the hell out of him.

In high school, my favorite teacher was known as an irascible grump, a man who refused to accept anything less than a masterpiece. He scowled, slumped his shoulders, and glared at the half-brains he had to teach. He rarely…

Announcing...THE LEXIE PROJECT!

Lexie is in Los Angeles, on a mission to take Hollywood by storm. From red carpet premiers to helping her YouTube star roommate film weird videos, Lex fits right in with the droves of girls just as hungry as she is for some screen time. When Jax Wilson, a young, hot producer, offers to launch The Lexie Project, a reality show that will chronicle Lex’s adventures trying to make it as an actress in LA, she jumps at the chance. It isn’t…

Our Stories Choose Us / Awkward Conversations With Soldiers

This video was shared by the book blog Gone With The Words - it really hits the nail on the head about the awkward things people say to soldiers. It's another version, really, of the first chapter of I'll Meet You There.

I didn’t want to write this book. Out of all my reasons, it came down to this: who was I to write about the journey of a young Marine with PTSD, an amputee struggling with grief and memories that threaten to crush him all day, every day? How was I in any way worthy to tell his story? The thing is, sometimes we don’t choose the story we want to write: the stories choose us. I gave up on I’ll Meet You There more times than I can count. I didn’t want to write a throwaway summer romance; I wanted to write something that would break people’s hearts, then put them back together in ways they never expected. So I’d put the manuscript aside, then come back to it. Again and again and again. The root of my quitting was fear. I couldn’t bear the thought of not getting it right. But…

An I'll Meet You There-Inspired List of Top Ten Things For Broke Lovers To Do

Since I’ll Meet You There is, at its heart, a love story about two kids in a broke-ass town, I wanted to indulge my inner romantic with a Top Ten for Broke Lovers. Whether you’re a teenager whose parents don’t have the scratch or a thirty-year-old who’s pinching pennies, you don’t need much to feel the love. These are in no particular order.

1. Star Gazing

Let’s be honest: even if you’re one of Donald Trump’s kids and can buy passage on the next rocket for space tourists, you can’t compete with the nightly celestial light show right here on planet Earth. Lovers have been starry-eyed since the beginning of time. There’s something so romantic about looking “up in perfect silence at the stars.” (Come on, if you know me, I had to throw in a little Whitman). Sky and Josh find a nice field and lay in the back of his pick-up truck, but you and your lovely can camp out in your backyard and get the same effect. The darkness makes for optimum hand-holding conditions and staring up at the vastness of the universe may just spark an intimate, bonding conversation or two. Bonus points if you can impress your love with some constellation knowledge.

2. Late Night Drive Thru

Even if I had the money, I’d choose a late night dash through the McD’s drive-thru before a fancy-schmancy restaurant…

YA Scavenger Hunt

YA Scavenger…

NYCTAF Round-Up!

I had such a great time at …

Emery Lord And I Interview Each Other For Bustle

See the original interview on Bustle here .

Emery: Hi Heather! I'm so glad we're doing this! I've read and loved your books, so I'm excited to talk more about some of the threads I think we both tug at as writers. (I would also like to talk about how prolific you are because HOW. Nevermind, don't answer that. I'm going to assume you have a time-turner. Tell McGonagall I said what's up.)

So, our first books- Something Real and Open Road Summer- both feature a young girl existing in the media/public eye and the struggles that come with that. What sparked that examination of the inner workings of celebrity for you?

Heather: Emery! First, it is downright uncanny how often people talk about our books in the same breath. I'm so excited to chat and find out what makes you tick. So--Something Real and Open Road Summer. They're kind of besties at this point, right? Chloe from SR and Reagan and Lilah from ORS would totally hit it off, so I have high hopes for us. By the way, McGonagall sends her regards. As to your question about the inner working of celebrity: I'm originally from Los Angeles, so celeb culture has always been a part of my life. You can't really live there…