1.
Fifty percent of the members of my critique group (The Garret) have sold their novels this year!

Okay, there are only four of us in the group. :-)

But we’ve been writing, revising, editing, and cheering each other on for several years, so to have TWO of us sell our books within the space of a few weeks felt like winning the lottery twice. We’re hoping to celebrate 100% in book sales before the year is through! Go, Garretistas!

Here’s the Publishers Marketplace blurb for Lee’s - sealy38 - book:

C. Lee McKenzie's BAD ASS ATTITUDE, in which a high school teenage girl, a cutter abandoned by her mother, flees Vegas to find refuge at her unknown paternal grandmother's ranch in California, to Evelyn Fazio at Westside Books, for publication in Fall 2009 (World).

2.
I’m going to the Oregon SCBWI conference tomorrow. [Edited to add: At which the talented lisa_schroeder will be speaking!] I haven’t been to a conference in, like, five years. The last one I attended was the national SCBWI conference in New York, where I met my friend Yvonne. We bonded over lunch, and stayed in touch via email. She invited me to apply to her crit group, I did, and was accepted. A few years later, I felt ready to start my own group. The old one was wonderful, but I had trouble keeping up with all the deadlines and requirements. The group I started is much looser and anti-deadline. We manage to provide timely feedback for each other even without deadlines, because we want to read and respond to each other’s work.

3.
My son and I have been reading THE TRUE MEANING OF SMEKDAY together. (I read it first, and loved it so much I couldn’t wait to start reading it to him. I was dying to do the Boov’s voice!) Even though the main character is an eleven-year-old girl – which might have been a deal-breaker for a 10yo boy – she is accompanied by an alien (the Boov), who is on the run from the rest of the aliens. It’s fast-paced and sooo funny. My son laughed so hard at one point that a new space opened up in my heart which now belongs to the author, Adam Rex. “My chest feels like it’s going to explode,” said my son, when he could breathe again. The next day he asked if we could read “some more of that book about the Boov.” This is huge. He’s more of a comic book reader, so to see him eager to return to a novel warmed the cockles of my heart. (Oh, and SMEKDAY has comics in it, too!)

4.
A friend of mine has launched a website for her jewelry. (I always, Anglophilically, want to spell it ‘jewellery.’) She made a gorgeous pair of custom earrings for me. If you’re in the market for some pretty new baubles, check out her site: http://www.katiejeans.com.

5.
My cold veered with unexpected violence into a sinus infection a few days ago. I’ve had sinus infections before, but never one so painful that my entire face hurt. When I looked in the mirror, I was surprised that my cheeks were not swelling into purplish-red pockets of throbbing pain … because that’s how they felt on the inside. I was able to persuade the Keepers of the Antibiotic to give me some without a pilgrimage to the urgent care clinic. Last year at this time I was suffering from a (less vicious but still persistent) sinus infection, and had to beg for a prescription two weeks after my visit to the doctor, where the primary person on duty had told me condescendingly, “You have a cold.” I can’t help but refer back to last year’s gratitude:

And it came to pass that on the 21st day, Lisa did beseech the Jealous Keeper of the Antibiotic for relief. With heart and sinuses full of hope and green mucous, respectively, she did make her petition. And lo, unto Lisa was delivered the miracle medicine. And the powerful pills did slay the infidel infection with the righteous wrath of the Lord and the might of modern medicine. And Lisa did sing hosannas unto the Lord and the Amoxicillin for many days.

Happy weekend, everyone!

I’m expecting my editorial letter at the end of May, and I’m already thinking about revisions. I finished FLASH BURNOUT in December 2005. Knowing how quickly slang goes stale, I avoided it as much as possible, but it’s a challenge to write a first-person YA without lapsing into some common usages.

I knew I could always edit later.

Here we are in the spring of 2008, and that day has come for ‘playah.’

Blake’s older brother, Garrett, uses it sarcastically to torment Blake. Here is the section where it’s used for the first time, in Chapter One:

“Haul ass, Playah,” says Garrett. “We’re outtie in five.”
Garrett started calling me ‘Playah’ after I acquired an official GirlFriend. I guess it’s better than Ass-wipe, my previous nickname.

So … yeah.

‘Playah’ is used up, and ‘outtie’ may follow it to the chopping block, too. Since the name of Blake’s brother was decided by poll, I thought I would turn you guys loose on my outdated slang.

Feel free to suggest alternatives in the comments. Please!

Okay, I'm off to bed with my stuffy head. See you - and your brilliant suggestions! - in the morning.

Poll #1187485 Fix the nickname!
Open to: All, results viewable to: All

What word should be used instead of 'playah'?

Welcome to Authorial Intrusion! To read any of the previous interviews, just click on the tag “authorial intrusion” on the left side of the page.

For those just tuning in, here’s the history behind these posts:

I love reading about the Publishing Journeys of my favorite writers.

I love the long, soul-searching interviews that reveal every obstacle and triumph: the author whose agent made her do three revisions before signing her … the author who gets up at 4:30 a.m. to write, because it’s the only time she has to herself … the critically acclaimed author who spent nine years trying to get published … I never tire of this stuff!

Long, luxurious interviews aside, don’t you sometimes find yourself wondering: “But do you like Thai or Chinese food better?”

Reader, I asked them.

I assembled a grab-bag full of random questions and emailed them to some of my favorite writers.

They answered!

And now, without further ado, please welcome E.M. Crane!

( Read more... )

No, that's not right.

Sometimes I fail the words.

If I could find them and put them in the right order, everyone would comprehend exactly how I feel about Nina Nelson - lucky_life - and her mission.

Since I seem unable to do that (writer's nightmare), I will just say that I am humbled.

And honored.

Please read more here.

Gratefully,

Lisa

Welcome to another special Monday edition of Authorial Intrusion!

Yesterday’s Intrusion was postponed due to a sunny day. It seems like we’ve only had about three of those since spring began, so I indulged in bike riding and gardening, rather than Internetage.

But we have Lisa Schroeder to brighten our Monday! And I’m especially excited to host her today because she’s not just a rising star in teen literature, she’s a friend of mine in Real Life. We’ve read each other’s manuscripts, had movie dates, and stalked attended a reading by Markus Zusak together. She’s as much fun in person as you would imagine.

Okay – back to the boilerplate text:

To read any of the previous interviews, just click on the tag “authorial intrusion” on the left side of the page.

For those just tuning in, here’s the history behind these posts:

I love reading about the Publishing Journeys of my favorite writers.

I love the long, soul-searching interviews that reveal every obstacle and triumph: the author whose agent made her do three revisions before signing her … the author who gets up at 4:30 a.m. to write, because it’s the only time she has to herself … the critically acclaimed author who spent nine years trying to get published … I never tire of this stuff!

Long, luxurious interviews aside, don’t you sometimes find yourself wondering: “But do you like Thai or Chinese food better?”

Reader, I asked them.

I assembled a grab-bag full of random questions and emailed them to some of my favorite writers.

They answered!

And now, without further ado, please welcome Lisa Schroeder!

( Read more... )

This poem was written a few weeks ago:



Boy, Ten and A Half, April 2009


A new movement

came from you today.

We were in public,

just walking.

I put my arm around your shoulders,

and you

shrugged out of my grasp.

So smooth and quick

like a silvery fish eluding the hook

like a leaf letting go of the tree

or a streak of heat lightning

before the rumble of thunder.

My fleeting pang was replaced by

wry pride.

You are on schedule.

It is time to allow space between us,

and my arms will learn

to leave you alone.

From the day of your birth, this moment was

waiting.

I'm thankful that my vertigo is gone.

Although it's a Hitchcockian ailment, it's a drag.

Why does it happen?

I don't know.

If I knew, I would stop doing it.

Having the room spin when you're sober is wrong.

And sitting around the house trying to keep your head still is boring.

Welcome to this special Monday night edition of Authorial Intrusion!

Due to Internetus interruptus last night, I was prevented from posting my regular Sunday Intrusion, but I’m really excited to be here tonight because one week from today is when my guest’s second book comes out. Woo-hoo! (Plus the paperback of her first book. Wow!)

Anyway, back to the boilerplate:

To read any of the previous interviews, just click on the tag “authorial intrusion” on the left side of the page.

For those just tuning in, here’s the history behind these posts:

I love reading about the Publishing Journeys of my favorite writers.

I love the long, soul-searching interviews that reveal every obstacle and triumph: the author whose agent made her do three revisions before signing her … the author who gets up at 4:30 a.m. to write, because it’s the only time she has to herself … the critically acclaimed author who spent nine years trying to get published … I never tire of this stuff!

Long, luxurious interviews aside, don’t you sometimes find yourself wondering: “But do you like Thai or Chinese food better?”

Reader, I asked them.

I assembled a grab-bag full of random questions and emailed them to some of my favorite writers.

They answered!

And now, without further ado, please welcome Melissa Marr!

( Read more... )

angie_frazier tagged me for the page 123 meme!

Here's how to play:

1. Pick up the nearest book.
2. Open to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences.
5. Tag five people and post a comment to whoever tagged you once you've posted your three sentences.

This is from E.M. Crane’s Skin Deep:


I can curl up in bed all day with a book and listen to the rain pelt the window, or drip in its mournful way from the eaves, creating patternless rivulets of water on the glass.

Mom’s missing, but her car is in the driveway. No note.



Fun!

I wonder if people will still be playing this meme a year and a half from now, when my book is out???

I tag whoever wants to play!

Pity my poor son’s generation. Their parents have grown up with everything from the histrionics of Led Zeppelin to the face paint of Kiss. We’ve scratched our heads over the lyrics of Queen (“Scaramouche! Scaramouche! Will you do the fandango?”) and discovered androgyny with Culture Club.

We’ve not only seen it all, we’ve rocked out to it all … and probably have the vinyl albums and concert t-shirts to prove it.

When my son asked me to download “Welcome to the Jungle” by Guns N’ Roses for him, instead of frowning and saying, “I don’t think that song is appropriate for a ten-year-old,” I started screeching the chorus and doing that snaky Axel Rose move.

Where’s the thrill of rebellion for him?

Of course, some of the lyrics require commentary, i.e. “We don’t really like to watch people bleed.” And my husband remarked that Axel Rose (can you believe I never knew the anagram behind his name until I read John Green’s An Abundance of Katherines??!) sounded a lot like Robert Plant.

As a long-time Jane’s Addiction fan whose favorite headbanger anthem is “The Mountain Song,” I am hardly someone who objects to loud music. I’ve met Perry Farrell, for heaven’s sake! (Did you guys know he adopted that name because it’s a play on the word PERIPHERAL?) I worked at Warner Bros. when the cover of “Nothing’s Shocking” was, well, shocking. He was the first guy I’d ever met with a piercing in his nose.

To my son’s mortification, I bust into dance when the right song starts playing within earshot. And while I don’t actually perform with an air guitar, I have been known to clutch a pretend microphone while I sing.

Rather than banning Kanye West and other rappers from my son’s delicate ears, I explain that the N-word is NEVER okay for him to say and that Chamillionaire’s “Hip Hop Police” is a spoof on bad cops, not a documentary.

I am glad we’ve got plenty of fodder for discussion when it comes to music.

If he’s lucky, maybe someday my son will find some music I object to. :-)

I'm thankful that 416 children in Texas may grow up without being forced into marriage at age 12.

I hadn't paid much attention to the "Polygamous Ranch" story that was unfolding over the past few days. In fact, my only passing thought was, "Those poor moms ... having their children taken away from them."

But yesterday on my way home from work, I heard the following story on NPR:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89695220

Suddenly, I don't feel any any sympathy for the weeping mothers. No 16-year-old girl should be giving birth to her fourth baby.

Welcome to Authorial Intrusion! To read any of the previous interviews, just click on the tag “authorial intrusion” on the left side of the page.

For those just tuning in, here’s the history behind these posts:

I love reading about the Publishing Journeys of my favorite writers.

I love the long, soul-searching interviews that reveal every obstacle and triumph: the author whose agent made her do three revisions before signing her … the author who gets up at 4:30 a.m. to write, because it’s the only time she has to herself … the critically acclaimed author who spent nine years trying to get published … I never tire of this stuff!

Long, luxurious interviews aside, don’t you sometimes find yourself wondering: “But do you like Thai or Chinese food better?”

Reader, I asked them.

I assembled a grab-bag full of random questions and emailed them to some of my favorite writers.

They answered!

And now, without further ado, please welcome Cecil Castellucci!

( Read more... )

Welcome to Authorial Intrusion! To read any of the previous interviews, just click on the tag “authorial intrusion” on the left side of the page.

For those just tuning in, here’s the history behind these posts:

I love reading about the Publishing Journeys of my favorite writers.

I love the long, soul-searching interviews that reveal every obstacle and triumph: the author whose agent made her do three revisions before signing her … the author who gets up at 4:30 a.m. to write, because it’s the only time she has to herself … the critically acclaimed author who spent nine years trying to get published … I never tire of this stuff!

Long, luxurious interviews aside, don’t you sometimes find yourself wondering: “But do you like Thai or Chinese food better?”

Reader, I asked them.

I assembled a grab-bag full of random questions and emailed them to some of my favorite writers.

They answered!

And now, without further ado, please welcome Cindy Lord!

( Read more... )

1.
I just went through a weird spate of reading books that didn’t do it for me. Here are a couple of notes from my list of books read:

“Meh.”

“Simultaneously icky and overly cute. Didn’t finish.”

“Bad chick lit that is rife with cliché and not even funny, despite the blurbs. Gave up after 30 pages.”

“It may be a classic, but it’s boring.”

“Stuck with it for 120 pages before throwing in the towel.”

That last one was an adult mystery by an author whose books I have previously enjoyed very much. I don’t know what the heck happened with this one, but I finally put it down, probably never to pick it up again.

Finally I picked up one that my sister had sent me, and was immediately pulled in by the fresh language and characters. Whew! Saved by the book! I highly recommend Love Walked In, by Marisa De Los Santos. More “women’s fiction” than chick lit, I would say. More in the style of Joshilyn Jackson than Jennifer Weiner, for the sake of comparison.

I’m relieved that the next book in my to-be-read pile is E. Lockhart’s The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks. As I have said before on this blog, you always know you’re in good hands with E. Lockhart.

2.
I hear it’s National Poetry Month. You know we prose-y (as opposed to prosy) types envy the poets. They can pack a whole story into 600 words. It takes me 60,000.

I haven’t stretched my poem-y muscles for awhile. Maybe I will do that this month. But more likely, I will be receiving my editorial letter soon, and will immerse myself in Blake’s world once more. A couple of years ago, I spent an entire April working on a narrative poem, as a self-imposed assignment to step outside the comfort of prose. It was HARD. I am definitely a novelist.

But I’m not ashamed of my effort, and since I don’t have anything new to offer, here’s the two-years-old poem:

http://lkmadigan.livejournal.com/42590.html

3.
My son asked me to download Coolio’s “Gangster’s Paradise” for him today. Hee. I got “Fantastic Voyage” for him, while we were at it. Blast from the past! He’s oddly fascinated by Michael Jackson’s old hits, too. I blame Weird Al Yankovic: he parodies the songs, my kid loves the parodies (in this case "Amish Paradise,") then he wants to hear the originals. I’ve caught him (my son) trying to do that twisty-knee move from “Beat It.” :-D

4.
I’m going back to my WIP now, so let’s leave it at four. Have a great weekend, my friends.

Edited to add:

I just remembered!

I DO have a 5.

I have fan art!

FAN ART, people.

From my favorite (don't tell the others) Deb, Saundra Mitchell:

http://anywherebeyond.livejournal.com/23964.html

Don't get upset, Heidi! I'm just kidding! I love all my Debs. xo

carriejones is a wonderful writer, a passionate activist, and a political powerhouse! (Yes, you are, Carrie.) (Or you will be.)

She’s also my friend.

xo

I am thankful for dreams beginning to take root. They’re not just seeds, waiting, anymore. Their shells have split. Roots are curling out. They will flower in the fullness of time.

One root that has taken firm hold is my membership in the group debut2009. I get to hang around online with a bunch of amazing writers!

I mean, yes, I’ve already been hanging around online with a bunch of amazing writers. Hi to all of you!

But now I’m a peer. I belong to a group of middle grade and young adult authors whose first book is coming out in 2009.

EEEeeeee!

(Sorry … sometimes it still does feel like a dream, then a scream escapes me.)

We ask questions and cheer and commiserate in locked posts. It’s a community dedicated more to support than promotion.

We have begun posting unlocked entries about the writing life. Here you can learn about how we got “from there to here.”

Happy Thursday, everyone.

Please welcome LJ newbie pambachorz to our neighborhood! Stop by her blog and help her "get found" by saying hello.

I was lucky enough to be in a critique group with Pam a couple of years ago. She is a terrific writer of young adult fiction – I still remember the chapters she posted of her WIP. Even after she left the group, I kept bugging her to finish the book. I needed to know what happened!!!

I predict that big things will be happening for Pam this year. I’m really looking forward to reading her book in hardback someday, and knowing that I played a small part in its development.

Not only is Pam a talented writer, she’s an insightful editor – I received a lot of valuable feedback from her on FLASH BURNOUT. (Back then it was called HURTLE.) (I know. That’s why I changed it.) I hope after my book is published she will get a kick out of knowing that she helped it along the path to publication.

The scent of hyacinths.

Libraries.

Dentistry.

Welcome to Authorial Intrusion! To read any of the previous interviews, just click on the tag “authorial intrusion” on the left side of the page.

For those just tuning in, here’s the history behind these posts:

I love reading about the Publishing Journeys of my favorite writers.

I love the long, soul-searching interviews that reveal every obstacle and triumph: the author whose agent made her do three revisions before signing her … the author who gets up at 4:30 a.m. to write, because it’s the only time she has to herself … the critically acclaimed author who spent nine years trying to get published … I never tire of this stuff!

Long, luxurious interviews aside, don’t you sometimes find yourself wondering: “But do you like Thai or Chinese food better?”

Reader, I asked them.

I assembled a grab-bag full of random questions and emailed them to some of my favorite writers.

They answered!

And now, without further ado, please welcome Elise Broach!

( Read more... )

This is sooooo good:

Stuff White People Like.

Have a good weekend, everyone. I’m having breakfast with my gay friend on Sunday, and at least one of us will probably wear outdoor performance clothes. Afterwards, we might shop at a vintage store while talking about her renovation, our gifted kids, and Barack Obama.