As my reward, I lay out on my hammock over July 4th weekend and read CATCHING FIRE. Wow. I want to take a master class in pacing and plot structure from Suzanne Collins. She had me so wrapped up and involved in that story that I didn’t realize that my stomach, which hadn’t seen the light of day all year and given that none of my kids were around to tell me that I should not do so, I’d dared to bare in a bikini, was frying to a crisp. I ended up with second-degree sunburn. But I’m such a fangirl that I’d even say it was worth it.
Speaking of master classes, the amazingly bright and insightful Cheryl Klein is putting together a book of her essays, talks and blog posts on publishing, writing and editing. She needs a commitment of $2,000 to put it together and you can sign up for a copy here. She’s already more than halfway there. I can’t wait to get my copy!
Part of the reason for that is because I’m starting the writing phase of my fourth book, which is a bit of a departure for me in a few ways. Firstly, because I’m writing it in close third person, with occasionally shifting POV. At least that’s what the plan is so far. The other thing is because it’s going to be more of a suspense novel, very different from my first three. That’s why I was so enthralled by CATCHING FIRE, and why I plan to read it again for craft. I was really nervous about writing in the third person because I felt like I wasn’t getting the voice, so I backtracked and wrote quite long character sketches for the three main characters and then wrote most of the first chapter. I read it to my critique group last night and they felt like I’d got the voices okay, so I think the character sketch time was well worth it. They also gave me some new subplot ideas as I was working on them.
I’m hoping to make some good progress on the first draft before the kids come home and the chaos starts again.
Meanwhile, I’ve been playing a lot of tennis and read and loved THE GUERNSEY LITERARY AND POTATO PEEL SOCIETY (thanks Debbie for the recommendation!) and saw “Whatever Works”, the new Woody Allen movie, which I really enjoyed.
How is your summer going?
- Mood:
relaxed
The lead singer of Jack's Mannequin, Andrew McMahon, is one of my daughter's school friend's cousin, so she was texting her friend back and forth during the performance. He was a stellar performer, and personally I actually liked the energy of their performance better than the Fray, although the Fray were very good; just, it seemed to me, a more workaday and "we're here doing our job" kind of performance. Still, Daughter had a fab time and we'd bought the tickets at a silent auction at her school benefiting a school in Uganda, so it was a win/win because we had a good time for a good cause.
While we were there, I was thinking back to my teen years, and the concerts I attended, where a pall of smoke (cigarette and otherwise) hung over the crowd and even if you weren't smoking the otherwise, you could probably get high just by being there. Of course at the end of the concert, everyone would hold up their lighters as a sign of appreciation. I remember being at my first concert at Madison Square Garden (This will date me, but I believe it was Jethro Tull) and being awed at the wave of energy at end as everyone shouted for an encore and I looked around and there were thousands and thousands of twinkling lighters like the building had been invaded by fireflies.
These days with the no smoking laws, it's much easier for people like me who have asthma to survive being in a concert hall for 2 1/2 - 3 hours without having to resort to an inhaler, but I miss the sight of the lighters at the end of the concert. Well, I'm happy to say, "There's an app for that!"
It's called Zippo Lighter and you can get it on your iPhone. It doesn't have quite the same authentic feel of burning your fingers in honor of your favorite artist, and if you're like me, you feel a bit of a prat waving your cell phone in the air, but at least you're waving your cell phone in the air in an OLD SCHOOL kinda way.
One of the girls said, "I really enjoyed your book because it really sounded like a teenager."
I guess I did my job :-)
I can't remember on which social networking platform I saw the suggestion, but I've been reading Elizabeth George's book WRITE AWAY, and am finding it's given me some useful new tools that I'm experimenting with for my fourth novel. This novel is the first that I've ever tried writing in 3rd person POV so I'm looking for all the help I can get! I'm finding that it slow going, so I've had to back track and do a bit more exploratory writing. But I think this is a good thing, and will actually help me with plot outlining, another thing I'm trying to do more.
Meanwhile, after attending a writing workshop with Mitali Perkins and Rachel Vail a week or so ago, I finally went over to the Dark Side and started Twittering. You can follow the author me at SarahDarerLittand the political me at realsaramerica.
I was afraid it was going to be just another massive timesuck, kind of like Facebook can be at times, but what with the compelling historic events going on in Iran at present, Twitter is a fascinating real-time way of keeping up with people who are actually there. The Twitter revolution. If you're at all a political junkie like me, I recommend signing up for an account if only to follow the #iran election thread.
Meanwhile, I emerged from my lair this morning to attend a Master Class on Resonating with Young Readers at the Greenwich Arts Council. Featured authors were the wonderful Mitali Perkins, whom I knew from Kindling Words, and the very amusing Rachel Vail. I haven't made it to any craft related events since Kindling Words in January, so it was great to hear some insights from talented authors. It reminded me that sometimes you really need to get out of your lair, and not just virtually!
Meanwhile, my daughter and I experimented making alfajores, these Argentinean cookies that the MC in LIFE, AFTER longs for. I followed this recipe, including making the homemade dulce de leche because I figured I can't have my character dreaming about these cookies if I've never tried them myself. Well, they came out really well, but I managed to give myself a really nasty burn on my wrist while making the dulce de leche, and it's right where my wrist hits the edge of my laptop when I type. I tell you this writing research is dangerous (albeit yummy) work!
I'm thinking I might make alfajores for my book launch party next year, except I'm going to buy myself a pair of full length oven gloves first.
So it was really eeiry and horrifying to read about the attempted bomb plots against two Riverdale synagogues. Fortunately, good intelligence and police work (note: not water boarding, but good intelligence and police work) foiled the plot and saved innocent lives.
At the same time, I read recently of a violent attack in Buenos Aires against Jews celebrating the 61st Anniversary of the establishment of the State of Israel, plus bomb threats against synagogues in the Belgrano neighborhood.
Unfortunately, some things, like violence and anti-Semitism, refuse to remain in the history books.
"Today, I am going to talk about my Jewish experience with the author of the book, Confessions of a Closet Catholic. The book is about a Jewish girl named Justine who is secretly pretending to be catholic in her closet. I would never want to be catholic because I appreciate being Jewish.
The story all started when I was at my Hebrew School book fair. There was a book called Confessions of a Closet Catholic, by Sarah Littman. It looked sooo interesting and I really wanted to get it, but someone had just bought the last copy. I was so mad because I really wanted to buy it, even if it was with my own money.
When I got home I asked my dad if he could order the book online. He said, like he always does, “But sweetie are you sure you’ll read it?” I begged him to get it and promised I’d read it. A couple days later it came. I was so excited!
As I read the book I found out that not only was the main character’s name Justine, but that she also lived in Greenwich, CT, loved chocolate and Harry Potter, she was 12 years old, and… the most fascinating thing was that she was JEWISH! She was just like me!!!!! I felt like she was my twin already! I was astonished that the girl was Jewish since, most girls I know are not Jewish. After I was done reading the book, my dad and I went online and found Sarah’s website which had her email address. I really wanted to find out more about her, so I emailed her expecting not to hear back from her.
An hour later I checked my email and surprisingly she had written back. I emailed her asking if she would like to do a book talk at my synagogue, because she was also Jewish. She wrote back saying that she would love to meet my friends and me. I was jumping for joy!!!
A few Sundays later she came to my synagogue. My parents were filled with joy, because they too had read the book and loved it. Sarah came with her daughter Amie and Amie’s friend. They were just one year older than me, which I thought was nice. Right when Sarah first arrived she asked my mom and dad if they knew where XXXXXXX Road was. My parents said that we live on XXXXXXX Rd. “Well… there is a house for sale and we were thinking of buying it!” I was obviously listening to their conversation and screamed, “OMG!!!!!” I was so joyful and also wondering; would it be fun to have an author living on my road? I pondered that question for the next couple of days. It was swimming around in my mind. My friend in the neighborhood expected a limo to drive up to their driveway and pick them up. He thought she was a celebrity, but not all great authors are treated like a celebrity.
But it was the exact opposite. They were a normal family. And it turned out that we have become close friends over the 2 years they have lived here. A is now like a cousin to me she’s like a 3rd daughter to my mom. Confessions of a Closet Catholic was Sarah’s first book and she is now surprisingly already writing her 4th book! My strong connection with Sarah and A makes me feel good about being Jewish."
Awww. Isn't that wonderful? Remember that you guys, the next time you feel like you're not getting enough love for your book. "Not all great authors are treated like a celebrity." It still cracks me up that my next door neighbor's son expected me to drive up in a limo. Little did he know that I'm the chauffeur around here, and the limo is a dented, dirty Mom-mobile.
Still, I'm glad that even though I'm not a celebrity, I'm made a positive impact in one girl's life. That's what it's all about, isn't it?
One of the best parts for me was getting to meet friends that I only knew from online, like Laura Hamor
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
artistq and Robin Maccready seen here, also Jo Knowles jbknowles.
Also got to catch up with Julia DeVilliers, who I hadn't seen in a while, Daphne Grab (I was on a panel with Daphne, Rebecca Stead, Jo Knowles and Carolyn MacCullough) and the ever amusing Michael Northrop.
But the best part, as always, is meeting the people who read our books. Especially when they're cute as anything like these three:
saraclaradara has been a very neglectful blogger. How could I have left you all hanging as to the outcome of Daughter’s fateful venture into a Connecticut Writing Project fiction workshop taught by her freakish, embarrassing MOM? Especially after said Mom had spent the day at her middle school the week before doing workshops for the 8th graders and when daughter had entered Media Center to wave hello, Freak Mom had the nerve to blow her a kiss ? (Dum, dum, dum….)Well, the car ride up to Fairfield University was extremely entertaining. What with budget cuts, no bus transportation was provided for students (nor any teachers to accompany them, because we were told there wasn’t funding, even in tony Greenwich, CT, to pay for a substitute to cover) and since I was going anyway and am in possession of a Mom Mobile, I ended up with a carpool of six (count ‘em) 7th grade girls. Oh, the singing! Oh the texting! Oh the dialogue! Of course, if I happened to like a song, and made the slighted sign of enjoyment such as head bobbing or, heaven forbid, singing, I was rewarded with a stern glance and a hissed warning: “Mother!”
Upon arriving at the CWP, Daughter was extremely mortified to learn that her name tag had her last name on it. Horrors! What if the other kids put two and two together?
Fortunately she wasn’t in my workshop until the afternoon, so I had a practice run. Because strangely enough, as freaked out as she was about having me as her teacher, I was kind of nervous about having her as much student. I wanted her to be proud of me.
One of her good friends was in the morning workshop and was kind enough to give me a good review. At lunch, I notice Daughter eating outside in the sun with a group of her friends and I casually strolled by.
“Hello Mrs. Littman, who is not related to A!” one of her friends joked, earning themselves a dagger glance from Daughter.
“GOODBYE Mrs. Littman!” said Daughter.
I scurried away back to the land of older people, who happened to include keynote speaker Yona McDonagh
Afterwards, my daughter told me one of the other kids who didn’t realize we were related asked her: “Why were you being so mean to the fiction teacher?”
Yeah?! Why indeed?!! ☺
When the students came in for the afternoon workshop, someone from Daughter’s school saw my name on Powerpoint and called out, “Wow, she has the same last name as A – are they related?”
I followed my instructions and denied all knowledge. “I’m not sure…are they?”
Noticed Daughter smirking out of the corner of my eye.
Workshop went well, and afterwards, my daughter even admitted she enjoyed it. I asked her how I could improve it: “don’t talk so much”….hmmm I wonder if this is a daughter specific comment or a general comment – like is it just that she’s sick of the sound of my voice or do I really talk too much?
(See if you can spot Daughter. Hint: she’s the one giving the teacher attitude ☺)
So another hurdle passed successfully, and both Mother and Daughter survived intact!
"Wow!" I said. "That's great! Guess who will be teaching there?"
"Oh no...not YOU?"
"Uh huh."
"What section?"
"Fiction."
"Oh NO! That's the section I wanted to take!"
I tried to persuade her it might not be SO bad. That I'm going to be doing some fun new writing exercises. She finally agreed to go, but with these ground rules:
1. I am not, under any circumstances, to acknowledge that we are related.
2. I am, however, allowed to say hello.
3. I am in no way to treat her any differently than any other student.
4. Under penalty of death, I must not make the mistake of blowing her a kiss, like I did when I was at her school last Friday giving a presentation to the 8th graders. ("OMG Mother!!")
5. I must not behave like a freak.
Of these, I think number 5 will probably be the hardest, since in her eyes everything I do seems to qualify me as a freak.
Proof, if any were needed, that you are never a hero in your own hometown.
- Mood: amused
1. On Sunday night, the kids and I attended the ASIFA - East Film Festival at the New School, where Q & A, the animated short of the StoryCorps interview between my son and me by the wonderful Rauch Brothers took Best in Show!! It was so incredibly exciting! I felt like I was at the Oscars (minus the red carpet and a fabulous dress, loaned diamonds and Joan and Melissa Rivers and the E Network). J and I got to go up on stage when Mike and Tim accepted the award. I stood there sporting a cheesy grin like an ad for some bad dentist, but I couldn't help it. It was Just.So.Cool!
me, J's head, Mike Rauch speaking and Tim Rauch
I don't either J or I ever would have imagined when we stepped into that booth in Grand Central Station in February 2006 that our discussion would have reached so many people. And now we're going international! "Q & A" is one of 3 US short animated films chosen as an official selection at the Annecy Film Festival next month. Unfortunately, we're not going to that one, but Mike and Tim are, we'll live vicariously through their blog.
A, Me, J, Mike Rauch, Tim Rauch
2. In other exciting news, The Webmeister was mentioned on the FRONT PAGE of the New York Times! Our trip to Germany two summers ago was prompted by this research - Dr Brockmann was at the Max Planck Institute at the time. It's fascinating to see the real life applications of the research. And it's a terrific example of how it pays to always try to keep your awareness open because there are so many potential connections that are easily missed.
And now, back to revisions.
I'm really happy that the book is starting to generate discussion about body image and eating disorders. And you know what makes me REALLY happy?
This:
It's always wonderful to see your child engrossed in a book. But there's something really special when they are engrossed in YOUR book.
The problem is my daughter keeps asking me what's going to happen, and I won't tell her.
"You're just going to have to read the book, honey. Most people don't have the author standing at the kitchen counter making dinner while they're reading."
I'm such a meanie, aren't I?
Feeling good about yourself is important and it's something that everyone struggles with every day. It's not just a problem for teens . . . adults have this problem, too. So I think it's important to talk about all the different ways that this issue affects us and how we can deal with it.
We have invited bloggers from The Story Siren, Presenting Lenore, and In Bed With Books to participate and share their perspective and experience. And we are excited to also have authors Deborah Lytton, Sarah Darer Littman, Sara Zarr, Megan Frazer, Laurie Halse Anderson, Sydney Salter and Erin Dionne share their perspective, experience and advice. At the end of the week, we'll have a great giveaway for you to enter (by accepting & reporting on the Body Image Challenge) to win some of the books that we blog about this week!
Head over there to sign up for the Body Image Challenge, and then check back tomorrow for an interview with me! There's an interesting conversation in the comments about how people have difficult accepting compliments - seems to be a common problem, one that I certainly share. Is it because we feel that we don't deserve them? I've struggled for years to learn to just say "Thank you" when someone gives me a compliment, instead of making some self-deprecating remark.
Come join the discussion!
In the meantime, has anyone who has always written in first person POV tackled writing in third? How did you find it? Pros? Cons? Advice? I'm seriously thinking about trying close third person switching the POV's of two main characters because given the story it seems like the right tool but having written my first three books in first person it's daunting.
But life's about learning to stretch and grow, isn't it? (Remind me I said this in a few months time when I'm mainlining dark chocolate and tearing my hair out!)
(((((Free Hugs to you all!!)))))
(I cribbed this picture from Michael Northrop's blog because the one I took in the rain was just too dark and gloomy)I was excited to be in such great line up of authors - L to R: Elizabeth Scott, Neesha Meminger, Gayle Forman, David Levithan (Author, Editor, All-Around YA God and Moderator of this Event), Lisa Ann Sandell,Michael Northrop and me.
My reading went pretty well I think, but I stumbled a bit when I got to the BAD WORDS in the text, because I was conscious of the tender ears of Gayle Forman's adorable young daughter sitting in the front row, waiting to hear her mommy read. So Gayle, if,in the next few days, you ask your cutie pie to pick up her clothes and she says, "No Mommy, that's bullsh*t!", I know I am going to be so totally in the doghouse!!
Now President Obama has been making his best displomatic efforts with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev over in London with the G20, but these might have been greatly undermined last night when Michael massacred a portion of Crime and Punishment with a Russian/Polish/Count Chocola/The Count from Sesame Street/Mexican accent - or perhaps the more appropriate word would be the one my daughter used to say,"accident" as in "His attempt at a Russian accident might have caused an international incident." It was,however,rather hilarious.
We had some interesting questions in the Q & A about writing process. I loved Neesha's answer to David's question about what her family thought about her book - she said her mother's first question was "Why is there a belly button on the cover?" and her second question was "Is it yours?". Brilliant! And so quintessentially motherly.
It was a fun evening, and now I have even MORE books on my "must read" list, because after hearing these books read aloud, I have got to read them all!
I've heard Lisa and Michael read before and they are great and I'm excited to hear everyone else.
Gayle Forman, If I Stay
Sarah Darer Littman, Purge
Neesha Meminger, Shine, Coconut Moon
Michael Northrop, Gentlemen
Lisa Ann Sandell, A Map of the Known World
Elizabeth Scott – Something, Maybe
Hope to see you there!
Friday I headed to Big Red Dog HQ for an in-house reading by authors on the Scholastic Spring and Summer lists. It really exciting to hear everyone else read (especially once my reading was over and I could relax!) and afterwards we got to enjoy vodka pizza and schmooze and then squeeze into David's office to sign books. My "To Read" pile has grown considerably.
L to R: Blake Nelson, Eliot Schrefer, Siobhan Vivian, Matthue Roth, Moi, Natalie Standiford, Coe Booth
On Sunday I bundled Daughter and her friend into the car and started out for the New York Public Library, except I noticed that one of those car lights with the exclamation points was on. You know, the ones that when you look them up in the book to see what they mean say "DO NOT DRIVE WHEN THIS IS ON OR YOU WILL DIE" kind of lights. We were already a little late and I was freaking out, but it basically turned out that the tire pressure was low. Got it filled up, and made it there panting and wheezing for our panel. Blake Nelson gave a hilarious reading of his forthcoming book DESTROY ALL CARS, which I highly recommend, having read an ARC. The MC reminds me of my high school friends.
Then it was time for the First Ever YA Improv Short Story, organized by Barry Lyga. Audience members wrote down titles, characters and situations on scraps of paper and they were put in a box. We, the authors, had to pick a piece of paper out of the box and incorporate it into the story for 30 seconds...and so on.
The initial set up was Princess Papaya as the character, Schechezuan Panda as the setting and "Under the Knife" as the title. From there, it went to Facelifted Zombies who looked like Bianca Jagger, Transsexual, transgendered skinny dipping, the prom, AA, the shortest guy in the class - you name it, we went there. It was hilarious. And it's been videotaped. I'm told it will be on You Tube sometime in the near future.
L to R:
Barry Lyga, Marie Rutkoski, Moi, Coe Booth, Bill Konigsberg, Martin Wilson, Lizabeth Zindel, Blake Nelson
The event was in the Trustees Room at the NYPL. Isn't it gorgeous?
After ensuring we weren't being chased by any face-lifted zombies (or Joan Rivers), we headed down to Union Square for lunch with Adrienne Marie Vrettos, Coe Booth and Megan McCafferty:
before hitting the BIGGEST YA SIGNING OF ALL TIME event at Books of Wonder.
Now, here's a question: If you're at all insecure as an author, who is the person you do NOT want to be sitting near at a group signing?
A: Cecily von Zeigesar, that's who!
As the line for C v Z stretched around three city blocks, we other mere mortals sat doodling with our Sharpies and pondering life.
But I did sign a book. See!
Even if I didn't have a mile long line, it was a great change to meet teens and connect with other authors. And all it took was the one person who came up to me and said she'd read PURGE and really connected with it because she'd been through something similar to really make my day.
The other thing I'm doing is a website revamp. What kinds of things do you like to see on author sites?
What things make them interesting and fun? My site has been pretty static for a while because I've had problems with my web host (they kept getting taken over and then I'd have problems uploading changes) but now that problem should be resolved by switching hosts, so I'm hoping to liven things up a bit!
Best of all, this week is the first annual New York Teen Author Festival. I'll be taking part in the festivities on Sunday, and I'm really looking forward to seeing fellow YA authors and hanging out with teens.
Tim Rauch, one of the amazingly creative brothers behind Rauch Brothers Animation, sent me the link to our entry on the festival website which lists Son and me in the credits as "Voice". So now I have total illusions of grandeur and I'm wondering if we're going to get our own IMDB pages.
Son is in his first play at school, so can Hollywood be far behind?
I won't hold my breath, but still, it's incredibly cool and exciting!
Tim Rauch, Son and Mike Rauch
- Mood:
excited
