Sarah Beth Durst's Blog, page 53
March 19, 2011
NYC Teen Author Festival Signing at Books of Wonder
If you're in New York City tomorrow afternoon (3/20/11), you might want to think about stopping by Books of Wonder. There is a MASSIVE book signing event at that lovely bookstore as part of the NYC Teen Author Festival. I'll be there from 3:15 to 4:00 pm. Below is the full list of authors with their latest books. We are appearing in reverse alphabetical order because we're just that cool.....
NYC Teen Author Festival Book Signing:
1:00 - 1:45pm
Lizabeth Zindel - A Girl, A Ghost, and the Hollywood Hills
Maryrose Wood - The Hidden Gallery
Suzanne Weyn - Empty
Danette Vigilante - The Trouble with Half a Moon
Maggie Stiefvater - Linger
Natalie Standiford - Confessions of the Sullivan Sisters
Mark Shulman - Scrawl
Alyssa Sheinmel - The Beautiful Between
Kieran Scott - She's So Dead to Us
Leila Sales - Mostly Good Girls
Patrick Ryan - Gemini Bites
1:45 - 2:30pm
Marie Rutkoski - The Celestial Globe
Lena Roy - Edges
Michael Northrop - Trapped
Sarah Mlynowski - Gimme a Call
Neesha Meminger - Jazz in Love
Terra Elan McVoy - After the Kiss
Lisa McMann - Cryer's Cross
Kimberly Marcus - Exposed
Melina Marchetta - The Piper's Son
Torrey Maldonado - Secret Saturdays
Barry Lyga - Archvillain
2:30 - 3:15pm
E. Lockhart - Real Live Boyfriends
Sarah Darer Littman - Life After
David Levithan - Dash and Lily's Book of Dares
Melissa Kantor - The Darlings Are Forever
Carla Jablonski - Resistance
Gwendolyn Heasley - Where I Belong
Kim Harrington - Clarity
Christopher Grant - Teenie
Margie Gelbwasser - Inconvenient
Elizabeth Eulberg - Prom & Prejudice
Helen Ellis - The Turning
3:15 - 4:00pm
Daniel Ehrenhaft - Friend is Not a Verb
Sarah Beth Durst - Enchanted Ivy
Matt De La Pena - I Will Save You
Brent Crawford - Carter Finally Gets It
Eireann Corrigan - Accomplice
Susane Colasanti - Something Like Fate
Alexandra Bullen - Wishful Thinking
Marina Budhos - Tell Us We're Home
Kate Brian - Book of Spells
Philana Marie Boles - Glitz
Judy Blundell - Strings Attached
Cathleen Bell - Little Blog on the Prairie
NYC Teen Author Festival Book Signing:
1:00 - 1:45pm
Lizabeth Zindel - A Girl, A Ghost, and the Hollywood Hills
Maryrose Wood - The Hidden Gallery
Suzanne Weyn - Empty
Danette Vigilante - The Trouble with Half a Moon
Maggie Stiefvater - Linger
Natalie Standiford - Confessions of the Sullivan Sisters
Mark Shulman - Scrawl
Alyssa Sheinmel - The Beautiful Between
Kieran Scott - She's So Dead to Us
Leila Sales - Mostly Good Girls
Patrick Ryan - Gemini Bites
1:45 - 2:30pm
Marie Rutkoski - The Celestial Globe
Lena Roy - Edges
Michael Northrop - Trapped
Sarah Mlynowski - Gimme a Call
Neesha Meminger - Jazz in Love
Terra Elan McVoy - After the Kiss
Lisa McMann - Cryer's Cross
Kimberly Marcus - Exposed
Melina Marchetta - The Piper's Son
Torrey Maldonado - Secret Saturdays
Barry Lyga - Archvillain
2:30 - 3:15pm
E. Lockhart - Real Live Boyfriends
Sarah Darer Littman - Life After
David Levithan - Dash and Lily's Book of Dares
Melissa Kantor - The Darlings Are Forever
Carla Jablonski - Resistance
Gwendolyn Heasley - Where I Belong
Kim Harrington - Clarity
Christopher Grant - Teenie
Margie Gelbwasser - Inconvenient
Elizabeth Eulberg - Prom & Prejudice
Helen Ellis - The Turning
3:15 - 4:00pm
Daniel Ehrenhaft - Friend is Not a Verb
Sarah Beth Durst - Enchanted Ivy
Matt De La Pena - I Will Save You
Brent Crawford - Carter Finally Gets It
Eireann Corrigan - Accomplice
Susane Colasanti - Something Like Fate
Alexandra Bullen - Wishful Thinking
Marina Budhos - Tell Us We're Home
Kate Brian - Book of Spells
Philana Marie Boles - Glitz
Judy Blundell - Strings Attached
Cathleen Bell - Little Blog on the Prairie
March 6, 2011
Dreams
I've been thinking about dreams lately. Not dreams as in the life-long wishes/hopes/aspirations of someday becoming an astronaut/princess/superhero variety. Just actual dream-dreams. Nocturnal hallucinations. Bedtime brain entertainment. You know what I mean.....
This is probably because I saw the movie Inception this weekend. Cool movie. Could have been even cooler. But very cool nonetheless. Though I have to say, my dreams rarely have such detailed scenery. They tend to be much more plot and character oriented.
For example, last night, I dreamed I was a vampiric Cinderella, complete with a ballgown and fangs. In the dream, my real-life human husband and I had to sit on a concrete bench and watch a soccer match between humanoid dinosaurs (as in, they wore shirts and sneakers) for one hundred years in order to complete a spell that would turn him into a vampire too so that we'd both be immortal and could live together forever. It was all kind of romantic, except that every once in a while, one of the dinosaurs would eat the goalie.
Sometimes I do have more realistic dreams. When I'm stressed, I dream about transportation issues, like being late for a train. Such a waste of good dreaming time. I've also had many dreams interrupted by scenes where my dream-self has to leave the telepathic dragon/unicorn/whatever to find a toilet.
But typically, my dreams involve visiting with or being attacked by aliens, dragons, Lego-zombies, Ewoks, or killer M&Ms from outer space. (Those M&Ms haunted me for years. Don't even get me started about the Skittles.)
Studies have shown that people who aren't allowed to dream go crazy. I rather like the idea that soccer-playing dinosaurs and Lego-zombies are actually preventing me from losing my mind!
But sometimes I do wonder what my subconscious is trying to tell me. My current theory: it's just trying to keep me amused. It likes the same kind of fiction that my conscious mind likes!
Have you all had any cool dreams lately? Please do share in comments.
Any theories, thoughts, pet-peeves about the movie Inception? I've been bugging my husband with my theories ever since we watched the movie.....
This is probably because I saw the movie Inception this weekend. Cool movie. Could have been even cooler. But very cool nonetheless. Though I have to say, my dreams rarely have such detailed scenery. They tend to be much more plot and character oriented.
For example, last night, I dreamed I was a vampiric Cinderella, complete with a ballgown and fangs. In the dream, my real-life human husband and I had to sit on a concrete bench and watch a soccer match between humanoid dinosaurs (as in, they wore shirts and sneakers) for one hundred years in order to complete a spell that would turn him into a vampire too so that we'd both be immortal and could live together forever. It was all kind of romantic, except that every once in a while, one of the dinosaurs would eat the goalie.
Sometimes I do have more realistic dreams. When I'm stressed, I dream about transportation issues, like being late for a train. Such a waste of good dreaming time. I've also had many dreams interrupted by scenes where my dream-self has to leave the telepathic dragon/unicorn/whatever to find a toilet.
But typically, my dreams involve visiting with or being attacked by aliens, dragons, Lego-zombies, Ewoks, or killer M&Ms from outer space. (Those M&Ms haunted me for years. Don't even get me started about the Skittles.)
Studies have shown that people who aren't allowed to dream go crazy. I rather like the idea that soccer-playing dinosaurs and Lego-zombies are actually preventing me from losing my mind!
But sometimes I do wonder what my subconscious is trying to tell me. My current theory: it's just trying to keep me amused. It likes the same kind of fiction that my conscious mind likes!
Have you all had any cool dreams lately? Please do share in comments.
Any theories, thoughts, pet-peeves about the movie Inception? I've been bugging my husband with my theories ever since we watched the movie.....
February 9, 2011
Valentine's Day and Voracious Reader
I have a love/hate relationship with Valentine's Day.
On the one hand, I believe in true love and think it's thoroughly appropriate to have a day devoted to telling your soulmate that he is the phoenix of your heart, or whatever. On the other hand, I resent that a greeting card costs nearly as much as a paperback book. (I ran out of clever non-card small-yet-meaningful gift ideas ages ago. Sorry, dear phoenix of my heart.)
Best Valentine's card ever was the one where we jointly bought a single card then covered up half as we each wrote our message to the other. I also loved the year where we both bought the same exact card for each other, proving how in-sync we are (or how poor the card selection at the supermarket was).
Anyway, this Friday, to console me while I suffer through the traditional card-buying angst, I will be participating in a very fun book event with four other awesome authors at The Voracious Reader, a wonderful bookstore in Larchmont, NY. Here's the description from the bookstore's website:
Won't You Be My Paranormal Valentine?
Friday, Feb. 11th, 2011
7:00 - 9:00 PM
Meet FIVE thrilling authors of the paranormal: Cynthia Leitich Smith, Daniel Nayeri, Jen Nadol, Sarah Beth Durst, and Shannon Delany. Discover your destiny, find your heart's desire, or a book you can sink your teeth into. Come in costume (there will be prizes!), semi-formal (there will be photos!), or casual-as-you-like-it. Teens and YA fans welcome!
Hope you all have a wonderful Valentine's Day!
On the one hand, I believe in true love and think it's thoroughly appropriate to have a day devoted to telling your soulmate that he is the phoenix of your heart, or whatever. On the other hand, I resent that a greeting card costs nearly as much as a paperback book. (I ran out of clever non-card small-yet-meaningful gift ideas ages ago. Sorry, dear phoenix of my heart.)
Best Valentine's card ever was the one where we jointly bought a single card then covered up half as we each wrote our message to the other. I also loved the year where we both bought the same exact card for each other, proving how in-sync we are (or how poor the card selection at the supermarket was).
Anyway, this Friday, to console me while I suffer through the traditional card-buying angst, I will be participating in a very fun book event with four other awesome authors at The Voracious Reader, a wonderful bookstore in Larchmont, NY. Here's the description from the bookstore's website:
Won't You Be My Paranormal Valentine?
Friday, Feb. 11th, 2011
7:00 - 9:00 PM
Meet FIVE thrilling authors of the paranormal: Cynthia Leitich Smith, Daniel Nayeri, Jen Nadol, Sarah Beth Durst, and Shannon Delany. Discover your destiny, find your heart's desire, or a book you can sink your teeth into. Come in costume (there will be prizes!), semi-formal (there will be photos!), or casual-as-you-like-it. Teens and YA fans welcome!
Hope you all have a wonderful Valentine's Day!
January 31, 2011
Kindling Words 2011
Last weekend, I attended Kindling Words, an annual writing retreat for writers, illustrators, and editors that takes place in northern Vermont. This was my second time going, and I loved every second of it.
One of the highlights was the Saturday night bonfire. Dressed in our warmest clothes, we all trekked out behind the hotel and clustered around a campfire. We each brought a wish or a resolution or a dream that we'd written on a piece of paper -- the idea is that if we burn the paper, our wish will come true.
After watching a few other people toss their dreams into the flames, I crumpled mine and threw it into the fire. Wind blew it out onto the edge of the embers. I darted in and snagged it. Second try, I tossed it harder toward the center of the logs. Wind tossed it out, and it skittered over the ice. Third try, I tried an underhand toss. It rode the smoke out to land next to a smoldering log. Fourth try, I scooted around the campfire and threw it onto the fire with the wind at my back. The paper uncurled so that the words were facing the sky, and the flames ate it from the outside in.
I retreated back to the circle of writers and illustrators and editors, and I said that I was worried that maybe it meant my wish wouldn't come true -- the fire didn't seem to want it. And the person next to me said don't worry. Maybe it meant that my wish would come true but I needed perseverance.
I liked that. I liked that very much.
Certainly a much nicer interpretation than my being an idiot for throwing it into the wind three times before it occurred to me to move to the other side of the fire.
Anyway, I think it's a nice metaphor for writing. We're tossing our dreams into the fire and hoping they burn true. Sometimes it takes a LOT of tosses. Important thing is to keep trying.
Also, if the wind is in your face... MOVE.
One of the highlights was the Saturday night bonfire. Dressed in our warmest clothes, we all trekked out behind the hotel and clustered around a campfire. We each brought a wish or a resolution or a dream that we'd written on a piece of paper -- the idea is that if we burn the paper, our wish will come true.
After watching a few other people toss their dreams into the flames, I crumpled mine and threw it into the fire. Wind blew it out onto the edge of the embers. I darted in and snagged it. Second try, I tossed it harder toward the center of the logs. Wind tossed it out, and it skittered over the ice. Third try, I tried an underhand toss. It rode the smoke out to land next to a smoldering log. Fourth try, I scooted around the campfire and threw it onto the fire with the wind at my back. The paper uncurled so that the words were facing the sky, and the flames ate it from the outside in.
I retreated back to the circle of writers and illustrators and editors, and I said that I was worried that maybe it meant my wish wouldn't come true -- the fire didn't seem to want it. And the person next to me said don't worry. Maybe it meant that my wish would come true but I needed perseverance.
I liked that. I liked that very much.
Certainly a much nicer interpretation than my being an idiot for throwing it into the wind three times before it occurred to me to move to the other side of the fire.
Anyway, I think it's a nice metaphor for writing. We're tossing our dreams into the fire and hoping they burn true. Sometimes it takes a LOT of tosses. Important thing is to keep trying.
Also, if the wind is in your face... MOVE.
January 17, 2011
Cover Art for DRINK, SLAY, LOVE!!!
Got an email from my editor with the most gorgeous present ever -- the cover art for my next YA novel, DRINK, SLAY, LOVE! I am deliriously in love with it, and I can't wait to share it with you. So without further ado...
(Please pat your hands on your lap so we have drum roll sound effects. Also, imagine a red velvet curtain raising up. And maybe a few trumpets.)
... the cover art for DRINK, SLAY, LOVE!
*swoon*
I love, love, love it! It fits the novel so perfectly! That's Pearl with her never-seen-the-sun skin and beautiful black hair and sardonic smile. You see, this is how the book opens:
"One hour until dawn," Pearl said. She leapt off the roof and landed catlike on the pavement. "Oodles of time, if we steal a car."
This cover is totally her.
DRINK, SLAY, LOVE is about Pearl, a vampire girl who develops a conscience after she is stabbed through the heart by a unicorn's horn. It's coming out September 13, 2011 from Simon & Schuster / McElderry Books.
I don't know the names of the cover artists/designers yet, but whoever you are... I think you are brilliant!!! Thank you (and everyone at Simon & Schuster) for this gorgeousness.
So... what do you guys think??? Do you like it?
(Please pat your hands on your lap so we have drum roll sound effects. Also, imagine a red velvet curtain raising up. And maybe a few trumpets.)
... the cover art for DRINK, SLAY, LOVE!
*swoon*
I love, love, love it! It fits the novel so perfectly! That's Pearl with her never-seen-the-sun skin and beautiful black hair and sardonic smile. You see, this is how the book opens:
"One hour until dawn," Pearl said. She leapt off the roof and landed catlike on the pavement. "Oodles of time, if we steal a car."
This cover is totally her.
DRINK, SLAY, LOVE is about Pearl, a vampire girl who develops a conscience after she is stabbed through the heart by a unicorn's horn. It's coming out September 13, 2011 from Simon & Schuster / McElderry Books.
I don't know the names of the cover artists/designers yet, but whoever you are... I think you are brilliant!!! Thank you (and everyone at Simon & Schuster) for this gorgeousness.
So... what do you guys think??? Do you like it?
January 15, 2011
Icy Research
There is a lot of snow outside here. A LOT of snow!!!
All the snow makes me think of the time that I spent listening to the whisper and crackle of the crumbling frozen sea and plotting the journey of the sun as it circles the horizon at the top of the world.
I wasn't in the Arctic in person. I've never been there. But for months at a time, I lived there in my head.
One of the things that I love about being a writer is that you have a legitimate excuse to immerse yourself in another world. While I wrote my novel Ice, I listened to Arctic-themed music. I watched documentaries about the Arctic. I plastered my desk area with photos of the Arctic and covered the floor with maps. And I read and read and read.
I devoured everything that I could get my hands on that had to do with my new world -- dozens of nature guides, survival guides, polar bear books, and explorer memoirs. I'm the only person I know who owns a North Slope Barrow dialect Inupiaq-English dictionary.
My favorite research books were:
- A Naturalist's Guide to the Arctic by E. C. Pielou
- Walking on Thin Ice by David Hempleman-Adams
- The SAS Survival Guide
And the most inspirational book was:
- East o' the Sun and West o' the Moon, illustrated by P. J. Lynch
There is a common misconception that research isn't necessary for fantasy novels. After all, it's made up. But you're asking readers to believe in the impossible. If you build that impossible dream in the middle of a sea of real details... well, then your ice castle won't be standing on air. You'll be able to walk inside.
I'm often asked about the research that I did for Ice. So for those of you who are interested, below is a bibliography of the books that inspired and influenced the world of Ice:
- Abridged Inupiaq and English Dictionary by Edna Ahgeak MacLean
- Arctic Daughter by Jean Aspen
- Arctic Dreams by Barry Lopez
- The Boy Who Found the Light: Eskimo Folktales by DeArmond
- Camping and Wildernness Survival by Paul Tawrell
- The Dancing Fox, Arctic Folktales ed. by John Bierhorst
- Dictionary of Native American Mythology by Sam D. Gill and Irene F. Sullivan
- East o' the Sun and West o' the Moon by P. J. Lynch
- East of the Sun and West of the Moon by Laszlo Gal
- East of the Sun and West of the Moon by Nancy Willard
- East of the Sun and West of the Moon by Mercer Mayer
- East of the Sun and West of the Moon by Kathleen and Michael Hague
- The Encyclopedia of Native American Religions by Arlene Hirschfelder and Paulette Molin
- The Eskimo Storyvteller, Folktales from Noatak, Alaska by Edwin S. Hall, Jr.
- The Girl Who Dreamed Only Geese, and Other Tales of the Far North by Howard Norman
- Handbook of North American Indians, v.5 Arctic edited by Sturtevant
- How to Speak Alaskan edited by Mike Doogan
- How to Stay Alive in the Woods by Bradford Angier
- How to Survive on Land and Sea, 4th edition, by Frank C. Craighead, Jr. and John J. Craighead
- Julie of the Wolves, Julie, and Julie's Wolf Pack by Jean Craighead George
- Icebound Summer by Sally Carrighar
- The Iñupiat and Arctic Alaska by Norman A. Chance
- Kingdom of the Ice Bear by Hugh Miles and Mike Salisbury
- The Last Wind Edge by Susan Zwinger
- Mountaineering Medicine by Fred T. Daville, Jr. MD
- Native American Myth and Legend, An A-Z of People and Places by Mike Dixon-Kennedy
- A Naturalist's Guide to the Arctic by E.C. Pielou
- The Nature of North America by David Rockwell
- Northern Tales edited by Howard Norman
- Names, Numbers and Northern Policy: Inuit, Project Surname, and the Politics of Identity by Valerie Alia
- Over the Edge: Flying with the Arctic Heroes by K.C. Tessendorf
- Over the Top of the World by Will Steger and Jon Bowermaster
- Polar Attack by Richard Weber and Mikhail Malakhov
- Polar Bears by Ian Stirling
- Polar Bears by Nikita Ovsyanikov
- Polar Bears: Living with the White Bear by Nikita Ovsyanika
- Running North by Ann Mariah Cook
- SAS Survival Guide
- A Snow Walker's Companion by Garrett and Alexandra Conover
- The Survival Handbook by Peter Darman
- To the Arctic by Steven B Young
- Up North by Doug Bennet and Tim Tiner
- Walking on Thin Ice by David Hempleman-Adams
- White Bear by Charles T. Feazel
- Wilderness First Aid by William Forgey, MD
- The World of the Polar Bear by Norbert Rosing
To the authors of all the above books: Thank you for sharing your world!
All the snow makes me think of the time that I spent listening to the whisper and crackle of the crumbling frozen sea and plotting the journey of the sun as it circles the horizon at the top of the world.
I wasn't in the Arctic in person. I've never been there. But for months at a time, I lived there in my head.
One of the things that I love about being a writer is that you have a legitimate excuse to immerse yourself in another world. While I wrote my novel Ice, I listened to Arctic-themed music. I watched documentaries about the Arctic. I plastered my desk area with photos of the Arctic and covered the floor with maps. And I read and read and read.
I devoured everything that I could get my hands on that had to do with my new world -- dozens of nature guides, survival guides, polar bear books, and explorer memoirs. I'm the only person I know who owns a North Slope Barrow dialect Inupiaq-English dictionary.
My favorite research books were:
- A Naturalist's Guide to the Arctic by E. C. Pielou
- Walking on Thin Ice by David Hempleman-Adams
- The SAS Survival Guide
And the most inspirational book was:
- East o' the Sun and West o' the Moon, illustrated by P. J. Lynch
There is a common misconception that research isn't necessary for fantasy novels. After all, it's made up. But you're asking readers to believe in the impossible. If you build that impossible dream in the middle of a sea of real details... well, then your ice castle won't be standing on air. You'll be able to walk inside.
I'm often asked about the research that I did for Ice. So for those of you who are interested, below is a bibliography of the books that inspired and influenced the world of Ice:
- Abridged Inupiaq and English Dictionary by Edna Ahgeak MacLean
- Arctic Daughter by Jean Aspen
- Arctic Dreams by Barry Lopez
- The Boy Who Found the Light: Eskimo Folktales by DeArmond
- Camping and Wildernness Survival by Paul Tawrell
- The Dancing Fox, Arctic Folktales ed. by John Bierhorst
- Dictionary of Native American Mythology by Sam D. Gill and Irene F. Sullivan
- East o' the Sun and West o' the Moon by P. J. Lynch
- East of the Sun and West of the Moon by Laszlo Gal
- East of the Sun and West of the Moon by Nancy Willard
- East of the Sun and West of the Moon by Mercer Mayer
- East of the Sun and West of the Moon by Kathleen and Michael Hague
- The Encyclopedia of Native American Religions by Arlene Hirschfelder and Paulette Molin
- The Eskimo Storyvteller, Folktales from Noatak, Alaska by Edwin S. Hall, Jr.
- The Girl Who Dreamed Only Geese, and Other Tales of the Far North by Howard Norman
- Handbook of North American Indians, v.5 Arctic edited by Sturtevant
- How to Speak Alaskan edited by Mike Doogan
- How to Stay Alive in the Woods by Bradford Angier
- How to Survive on Land and Sea, 4th edition, by Frank C. Craighead, Jr. and John J. Craighead
- Julie of the Wolves, Julie, and Julie's Wolf Pack by Jean Craighead George
- Icebound Summer by Sally Carrighar
- The Iñupiat and Arctic Alaska by Norman A. Chance
- Kingdom of the Ice Bear by Hugh Miles and Mike Salisbury
- The Last Wind Edge by Susan Zwinger
- Mountaineering Medicine by Fred T. Daville, Jr. MD
- Native American Myth and Legend, An A-Z of People and Places by Mike Dixon-Kennedy
- A Naturalist's Guide to the Arctic by E.C. Pielou
- The Nature of North America by David Rockwell
- Northern Tales edited by Howard Norman
- Names, Numbers and Northern Policy: Inuit, Project Surname, and the Politics of Identity by Valerie Alia
- Over the Edge: Flying with the Arctic Heroes by K.C. Tessendorf
- Over the Top of the World by Will Steger and Jon Bowermaster
- Polar Attack by Richard Weber and Mikhail Malakhov
- Polar Bears by Ian Stirling
- Polar Bears by Nikita Ovsyanikov
- Polar Bears: Living with the White Bear by Nikita Ovsyanika
- Running North by Ann Mariah Cook
- SAS Survival Guide
- A Snow Walker's Companion by Garrett and Alexandra Conover
- The Survival Handbook by Peter Darman
- To the Arctic by Steven B Young
- Up North by Doug Bennet and Tim Tiner
- Walking on Thin Ice by David Hempleman-Adams
- White Bear by Charles T. Feazel
- Wilderness First Aid by William Forgey, MD
- The World of the Polar Bear by Norbert Rosing
To the authors of all the above books: Thank you for sharing your world!
January 6, 2011
Hello 2011!
Snoopy Dance of Joy! Revisions are DONE!!!
This week, I sent off the revised manuscript for DRINK, SLAY, LOVE, my next novel. Cue dance music.
To be honest, I'm always a little bereft when I finish revisions. I adore revising, and I particularly adored working on this novel. This one was fun from start to finish. I am going to miss Pearl and Evan and Bethany and Jadrien and Antoinette and Matt and Zeke... But I can't wait to introduce you to them!
I have a date for that introduction: the official pub date for DRINK, SLAY, LOVE is September 13, 2011. It's on Amazon already, as well as GoodReads, which makes it feel a lot more real.
Still feels futuristic to write 2011. We're only four years away from the future date in Back to the Future II. And I still don't possess the skills to handle a hover-skateboard. Or, you know, a regular skateboard.
Anyway, these revisions are my excuse for my absence from this blog for the last month. I received the revision letter from my editor just after Thanksgiving. Given the way my family does holidays (sprawled across the entire month), the end of 2010 was VERY busy. But it was busy with family and writing, my two favorite things.
Also, lots of cookies.
Perfect way to end a year (and start a new one!).
So goodbye, 2010! Hello, 2011! And happy New Year, everyone! Wishing you all a year filled with health, happiness, and all of your favorite things!
This week, I sent off the revised manuscript for DRINK, SLAY, LOVE, my next novel. Cue dance music.
To be honest, I'm always a little bereft when I finish revisions. I adore revising, and I particularly adored working on this novel. This one was fun from start to finish. I am going to miss Pearl and Evan and Bethany and Jadrien and Antoinette and Matt and Zeke... But I can't wait to introduce you to them!
I have a date for that introduction: the official pub date for DRINK, SLAY, LOVE is September 13, 2011. It's on Amazon already, as well as GoodReads, which makes it feel a lot more real.
Still feels futuristic to write 2011. We're only four years away from the future date in Back to the Future II. And I still don't possess the skills to handle a hover-skateboard. Or, you know, a regular skateboard.
Anyway, these revisions are my excuse for my absence from this blog for the last month. I received the revision letter from my editor just after Thanksgiving. Given the way my family does holidays (sprawled across the entire month), the end of 2010 was VERY busy. But it was busy with family and writing, my two favorite things.
Also, lots of cookies.
Perfect way to end a year (and start a new one!).
So goodbye, 2010! Hello, 2011! And happy New Year, everyone! Wishing you all a year filled with health, happiness, and all of your favorite things!
November 28, 2010
Tangled and Princeton Book Signing
I love Disney.
Just the silhouette of mouse ears makes me smile. I think it's because so many of my favorite memories -- family vacations where we laughed so much our cheeks hurt -- took place in Disney World. For me, it is the happiest place on Earth.
Also, it's so very clean. You drop a straw wrapper, and Cinderella's mice pop out of the sewers and sweep it away. Little birdies assist with your personal hygiene. And woodland creatures select your wardrobe.
Combine my Disney obsession with the fact that my debut novel (Into the Wild) is about Rapunzel's daughter, and of course I had to see the movie Tangled.
Overall, I loved it. The use of her hair was magnificent (also the use of frying pans). I adored the montage of Rapunzel's torn emotions when she leaves the tower. The floating lanterns were lovely. And the horse was awesome.
But I can't help thinking that Disney missed an opportunity with the witch Gothel. If she had genuinely loved Rapunzel (rather than only using her for the regenerative properties of her hair), it would have instantly deepened and complicated the story. She could have been an overprotective parent gone wrong, which would have been interesting. Maybe it would have made the story too dark, though.
I also saw Harry Potter 7 (part 1) this weekend, which was plenty dark, both in plot and palette.
In addition to seeing movies this weekend, I also did two book signings at the Borders in Meriden, CT, and the Borders in Stony Brook, NY, and I had a great time at both. Thank you to everyone who stopped by! It was great talking with you!
If you happen to be anywhere near Princeton, NJ, this Wednesday Dec 1st..... I will be signing books at the Barnes & Noble at Princeton Market Fair starting at 6:30pm. A portion of sales will benefit The Pennington School's book fair. Since Princeton University is the setting for my latest book, Enchanted Ivy, I am hoping that numerous gargoyles and were-tigers will be in attendance. Hope to see you there too!
Just the silhouette of mouse ears makes me smile. I think it's because so many of my favorite memories -- family vacations where we laughed so much our cheeks hurt -- took place in Disney World. For me, it is the happiest place on Earth.
Also, it's so very clean. You drop a straw wrapper, and Cinderella's mice pop out of the sewers and sweep it away. Little birdies assist with your personal hygiene. And woodland creatures select your wardrobe.
Combine my Disney obsession with the fact that my debut novel (Into the Wild) is about Rapunzel's daughter, and of course I had to see the movie Tangled.
Overall, I loved it. The use of her hair was magnificent (also the use of frying pans). I adored the montage of Rapunzel's torn emotions when she leaves the tower. The floating lanterns were lovely. And the horse was awesome.
But I can't help thinking that Disney missed an opportunity with the witch Gothel. If she had genuinely loved Rapunzel (rather than only using her for the regenerative properties of her hair), it would have instantly deepened and complicated the story. She could have been an overprotective parent gone wrong, which would have been interesting. Maybe it would have made the story too dark, though.
I also saw Harry Potter 7 (part 1) this weekend, which was plenty dark, both in plot and palette.
In addition to seeing movies this weekend, I also did two book signings at the Borders in Meriden, CT, and the Borders in Stony Brook, NY, and I had a great time at both. Thank you to everyone who stopped by! It was great talking with you!
If you happen to be anywhere near Princeton, NJ, this Wednesday Dec 1st..... I will be signing books at the Barnes & Noble at Princeton Market Fair starting at 6:30pm. A portion of sales will benefit The Pennington School's book fair. Since Princeton University is the setting for my latest book, Enchanted Ivy, I am hoping that numerous gargoyles and were-tigers will be in attendance. Hope to see you there too!
November 14, 2010
Let Them Eat Cake
Last week, there was a lovely article about Enchanted Ivy in the Worcester Telegram & Gazette -- the newspaper in central Massachusetts, where I'm from! Yay!
I am particularly enamored with the title of the article, "Novelist takes an excursion to magical world," since that is exactly how I view the writing process.
Please help yourself to a virtual slice of cake while you read.
Mmm... cake...
This cake was created by Rolling Pin Bakery for Enchanted Ivy's book launch party at Book Revue in Huntington, NY. It's vanilla with raspberry filling. Yum. Special thank you to everyone who came and shared non-virtual cake with me last Sunday!
Mmm... books...
Also, for those of you who are in the NY-NJ-CT tri-state area, I have added three new book signings to my schedule:
Friday, November 26, 2010 at 1pm
Borders - Meriden
470 Lewis Avenue, Meriden, CT
Saturday, November 27, 2010 at 3pm
Borders - Stony Brook
2130 Nesconset Highway, Stony Brook, NY
Wednesday, December 1, 2010 at 6:30pm
Barnes & Noble - Princeton
Princeton Marketfair, 3535 US Route 1, Princeton, NJ
(with a portion of sales benefitting The Pennington School's book fair)
Hope to see you there!
I am particularly enamored with the title of the article, "Novelist takes an excursion to magical world," since that is exactly how I view the writing process.
Please help yourself to a virtual slice of cake while you read.
Mmm... cake...This cake was created by Rolling Pin Bakery for Enchanted Ivy's book launch party at Book Revue in Huntington, NY. It's vanilla with raspberry filling. Yum. Special thank you to everyone who came and shared non-virtual cake with me last Sunday!
Mmm... books...Also, for those of you who are in the NY-NJ-CT tri-state area, I have added three new book signings to my schedule:
Friday, November 26, 2010 at 1pm
Borders - Meriden
470 Lewis Avenue, Meriden, CT
Saturday, November 27, 2010 at 3pm
Borders - Stony Brook
2130 Nesconset Highway, Stony Brook, NY
Wednesday, December 1, 2010 at 6:30pm
Barnes & Noble - Princeton
Princeton Marketfair, 3535 US Route 1, Princeton, NJ
(with a portion of sales benefitting The Pennington School's book fair)
Hope to see you there!
November 4, 2010
Enchanted Ivy Book Launch Party
Hello, Long Islanders! Please join me this Sunday at 2pm for a reading/signing/book launch party for Enchanted Ivy at Book Revue in Huntington, NY. As you may have surmised from my calling it a reading/signing/book launch party, there will be reading (by me, from Enchanted Ivy), there will be signing (again by me, of, you know, books), and there most certainly will be partying (by all in attendance, to celebrate the launch of Enchanted Ivy -- though honestly, if you have something else to celebrate, I'm game to celebrate that too).
Once all the reading and signing is done, we'll have yummy cake -- decorated with Enchanted Ivy's cover art!!! We got a BIG cake, so come hungry!
Here's all the info:
Book Revue
Sunday, November 7th at 2pm
Reading/Signing/Book Launch Party (with cake!!!)
313 New York Avenue, Huntington, NY
Hope to see you there!
