PAULA'S JORT TOO

Pee's YA Boot Camp - Day 1

2011-10-04T08:15:00.005-04:00

My penance for taking such a long hiatus from reading (YA at least) is to put myself through a grueling boot camp. Between now and early December, I will read as many of the YA novels nominated for the Cybils as possible AND...wait for it:

Provide a mini-review. Mini because boot camp is all about intense workout bursts, not marathon training. So my reviews will be true to the boot camp mentality - my bare thoughts on the book and what sort of reader I think they'll appeal to.

Why yes, I am a little crazy. But I'm also way behind on reading YA. I believe the last I read was the Hunger Games trilogy.

How much has the landscape changed since my last book hit shelves in 2009? I can tell you I'm still not seeing a boat load of brown YA - which may explain why they're also missing from Cybils noms.

I know you're out there, books!!!

So here we go. Day 1 reads...

Blink & Caution by Tim Wynne-Jones
I love a good suspense novel. Among the adult fic I read, it's my go-to genre. So, I was looking forward to reading a story revolved around young characters. The premise of Blink & Caution sets the reader up well - two "street" kids find themselves in over their heads. Blink is the only witness to a crime that involves corporate intrigue and Caution has stolen a guap (i.e. a lot of money) from her drug dealing manfriend. No not boy. He's a grown man.

What I thought right away is - wow how will they get out of this? Suspense novels are all about that ride you take as you see how the characters emerge (or not) from the mess they stumble upon.

That's where I walked away unsatisfied. I overlooked the revolving POVs even though Blink's chapters - told in second person - distracted me. Caution's chapters, in third, flowed more organically. I cared about the characters, but can't help but wonder if Blink would have been more rounded out had his chapters not been in second. That lack of well-roundedness played a part in why I felt the story was wrapped up too neatly and there were some character trait inconsistencies (Caution vacillated between tough girl and innocent) that stilted my believability.

I'll admit, as a hard core suspense fan my expectations were pretty high. It kept me turning the pages - and for sure that counts for something, but in the end I walked away less satisfied then I'm used to when I read that genre.

The Absolute Value of Mike by Kathryn Erskine
I'm not one of those adults who thinks all kids are totally naive. I know that mature characters such as fourteen-year-old Mike not only exist but may be more the norm than the not-so-worldly characters often portrayed in fiction. Problem is, there's maturity because of circumstance...which exists in Absolute Value:

* Mike's mom has died.

*His father is an engineer and genius who processes facts only, never emotion. My first thought was, how did this man ever got married and sire a child?

*Because of his father's total lack of connection, Mike has pretty much raised himself and taken care of his father.

So it's ripe for this kid to be mature. But then there's maturity because every adult around you is so loopy and over the top, that the character is forced to be the most reasonable person in the room. The difference is, the latter comes off contrived. Had it been left at the above facts, the reader would have understood why Mike is such a fixer/problem solver.

Instead, added to the mix, nearly every adult Mike comes into contact with is portrayed as half off their rocker or rocked by some past tragedy.

The Absolute Value of Mike is a warming story. Kid goes to live with distant relatives and finds himself needing to help an entire rural town get its act together. Nice, right? Yes. Pee isn't heartless, after all.

But the story is more MG than YA. It's all about how something is presented. And had I read it in the vein of MG, I wouldn't be so tough on it. I often forgive MG books that are so sweet they're syrupy or whose "lesson" is worn proudly on its sleeve. Though I must say, MG is getting edgier and my views on that may have to change with the genre. Still, traditionally you can get away with that vibe in an MG. Not so much in YA.

The Absolute Value of Mike came off as one of those books that adults want kids to read. I'd recommend this for an avid 9 or 10 year old reader. But the average YA reader may find it too tame.

Flirt Club by Cathleen Daly

Flirt Club is cute.

I almost ended that review there, then thought - wait, that's not fair. Used the wrong way, cute comes off as a total back-hand compliment. And I don't mean it that way.

Flirt Club's story is told through letters and emails passed between the characters and journal entries. I think the story's structure will really appeal to eleven year old readers. I'd say ten but these young ladies are dealing in matters of the heart, so for parents who don't want their ten-year-old discussing the art of flirting...it may not be for them. Eleven year olds are either most definitely dealing with that in middle school or know a friend who is.

The note passing and journal entries are ultra girly and I think most tween readers will relate to the characters' silly, yet edged with growing maturity, outlook on school, friends and flirting. But its structure would likely turn off older readers. If this were an MG book, this mini-review would be all positive no neg. It's however, competing against traditional YA for the Cybils so that's how I approached it.

I think MG and Tween novels can get away with either being deeply character driven or totally driven by devices such as an entire novel in Instant Messages. However, when we're talking competition, story and character development have to be expertly melded in YA novels. And because of the book's style it took about 50 pages before the actual story emerged. Once it did, I found myself wanting to know the outcome. But 50 pages is a long time to wait for the "real" story to begin.

Censorship Whoomps

2011-09-26T16:39:00.003-04:00

If ever there was a case for how ridiculous banning books can get, just check out the books in the poster above. These were some of my favorite children's books. Sure those old hags in James and the Giant Peach were scary as hell, but it made the story all that more delicious!

Pee's celebrating Banned Book Week by sending you this PSA:

Don't give kids one more reason not to read. Support Banned Book Week!

If I have time, I plan to participate in the Virtual Read-Out.

Interested in my longer view on banned books? Check out my post Eff The Censors at The Brown Bookshelf.

This PSA has been brought to you by the National Stop Hating on Books Foundation. Yes, I totally made that up. But please, by all means, return your regularly scheduled program.

Welcome to my World

2011-09-11T06:48:00.003-04:00

If you've found your way here you must love young adult fiction or you were looking for publishers clearinghouse, whom I unfortunately share initials with. If you were looking for pch dot com, sorry. Visiting here won't make you eligible for a million bucks, but it will introduce you to a great series. So if you're into reading, stay awhile.

My website tells you pretty much all you need to know about me and my books, but it's been awhile since I've updated the JORT and you've come all this way, so I thought I'd do a little tutorial.

Picture This
My author head shot is hella old. I took it back in 2006 right before Kensington Books launched the Del Rio Bay clique. At the time I had an 11 year old and a 2 year old and rocking a short curly 'do was the ultimate in time saved, come mornings. It also really fit my pie-face. But now I'm in the midst of the great twist experience. The goal is to grow out my perm and go back to natural hair but longer. Eeks!

This is my first try at the spiral twists.

A little more hair than I care for, but you have to start somewhere.

What's Up
If you're a first time visitor to the JORT it only takes a tiny scroll down to see it's been over a year since I last blogged. I could ignore that fact or I could claim the usual - I've been busy. But the truth is, if you're living life you'll always be busy. So it's a pretty lame excuse.

My life is always a whirlwind. Whether or not that wind includes writing is the X factor. From 2002 through 2008 I juggled writing the series with raising my family, coaching my daughter's competitive cheer squad and working as a local government PR chick.

2008 marked the year my life took a decidedly downward spiral and writing didn't just sink to the bottom of my priority list, it fell off altogether.

I won't bore you with the details, but between 2008 and March 2010 I had a major car accident which left me out of work for nearly 3 months and unable to walk, Kensington decided not to renew my contract so I had to end the Del Rio Bay story one book earlier than I wanted, my dad passed away and I was laid off from my job.

Many writers turn life's turmoil into good fiction. But the constant flow of challenges thwarted my ability to write and crippled me creatively. I never lost faith that I'd go back to writing, but writing took a backseat to my issues. I don't know if that's what it feels like to "find yourself," but it was three long years of constant unpleasantness.

Back in the ring
I started a new job last August (yay, I can pay my bills now) and thanks to a small circle of writing friends, I stayed connected (just barely, mind you) to the writing community. I officially started writing again about three weeks ago.

While things don't yet flow nearly as seamlessly as they used to, they're cranking up nicely. I'm loving my new WIP and if the writing Gods deem it so, in no time I'll be back to the crazy world of submitting my work and complaining about the level of promotion involved in pushing a new book. Stay tuned.

The Series
The Del Rio Bay series is my debut work. I love this series. And since this is my blog and they're my books, I don't need to be modest - they're damned good books.

They're as good as any of the bestselling pop lit series. But publishing isn't as logical as all that. If you hit a bookstore to look for my books, you'll have a hard time finding it on shelves. Don't ask me to explain why, the distribution of my books has always been a mystery shrouded in a riddle. Since I can't control it, I've always simply encouraged readers to order it online: Books-A-Million, Barnes and Noble and even though I'd much rather you pay full price for it then like twenty-five cents, I still give Amazon love.

And there's always the library. Remember libraries? Well they're still holding on and they've always had the series at the ready for readers. *mwah* Love 'em for that.

Next...

I don't know the answer to that. I'm taking it one step at a time. Being an author is exhausting. Writing books is only step one in the entire process. So even before I ran into all those bumps in the road, several years ago, I was feeling the burn out from churning out and promoting five books in a short window. I learned a lot about publishing that I hope will help my experience the next go-round. For now, I'm just happy to be writing again.

I won't promise to blog regularly. But I'll attempt to when I have something to share. Meanwhile, go grab a good book...preferably one of mine.

This blog has moved

2010-03-31T17:47:00.001-04:00

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Raising a Princess

2010-03-03T07:02:00.002-05:00

There used to be a time when the word Princess had a certain dignity to it. That was before the tiara - world wide symbol of princess status, became associated with bridezillas screaming for obedience from their wedding party and vendors and twenty-one year olds wearing them in a bar on their birthday in an attempt to hold on to a youth quickly slipping past them.

Now you call somebody a princess and it's almost tantamount to a backhand compliment.

That's the problem with how fast the world changes and people's ignorance of the past. Too many words have been permanently redefined based on changing behavior.

But I still hold on to princess as a positive. In royalty, a princess is someone who is groomed in not only social etiquette but community awareness. Real princesses are aware that the world does not revolve around them, but that they're fortunate for their status and must continue to nurture the world and people around them. Pay it forward and back, simultaneously.

I'm raising two princesses. Yes, they're slightly spoiled. In my opinion, every kid should be to a degree. But they're also aware that there's a difference between good fortune and good luck and that the bulk of their lifestyle and values are based on the former.

They're being taught to treat others as they want to be treated. To have good judgement without being moralistic and to surround themselves with those who love them and can be trusted.

One day they'll be queens of their own household and maybe have little princesses of their own. And maybe by that time the true definition of the word will have righted itself.

You know what time it is...

2010-02-02T19:16:00.002-05:00

I have fought this whole only focus on all things Black during February. But you reach a point in your life where you must say - well at least we have February. And the biggest event of the month for me is 28 Days Later, over at The Brown Bookshelf.

The little project I began with Varian Johnson, Kelly Starling-Lyons and Carla Sarratt still endures. We're in our third year and though we've had some changes - Carla had to move on, and Tameka F. Brown and Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich, joined, ushering in a new phase - we're strong as ever.

Stop by and check out the hottest in brown children's literature. Pass on the link and support the authors with a book purchase or borrow from your local lib.

Agent Appreciation Day: She Gets Me!

2009-12-11T13:38:00.003-05:00

If someone asked you why you married your spouse, you'd probably have a few dozen reasons, among them things as small as, I love his eyes. We'd all say something different. But one thing we may all say in common is, he/she gets me.

There's nothing like having someone "get" you. Better still, when they love you in spite of some of your less than admirable traits.

Choosing an agent isn't like marriage - the agent chooses you and you date around quite a bit before you get that "ring."

But it is like marriage because, in the end, no matter why you were chosen the grand hope is that your agent gets you. Mine does. And she has from the beginning.

When Jen Carlson read the manuscript for So Not The Drama(can it really be 4 years ago?!), it wasn't love at first sight (unless, it was. Jen?). There was definitely some affection there, yes. But, more importantly, between the manuscript and my query she got me and my mission, right away.

All I've ever wanted to do was write books where the characters were diverse but the story was not about race. And I do. But I needed Jen to explain how important that sort of literature was to the publishing industry. She's been my voice to editors. She's been my advocate who has to constantly point out - her books appeal universally to teens but they put African American protags on the stage. Her work is good. It's needed. It's marketable and it's fun.

Imagine that having to be your job all day - convincing someone of something you believe in. That's what agents do, day in and day out, across their list of rosters.

It's got to be exhausting. I only do it for my books and it burned me out in less than three years.

On top of all that, she's had to talk me off the ledge many days. Explain that damned royalty statement over and over. Ease my anxiety over the ever so slow submission process. And, be a cheerleader when I feel like saying, to hell with it.

I laugh when people question if the 15% paid to agents is worth it.

Do all of the above on your own AND still write books and then you tell me.

Jen Carlson, today, I salute you!

Look at all this agent love over at Lisa and Laura's blog.

Schizophrenic P

2009-11-30T15:23:00.002-05:00

Newsflash:

I am Black.

I am a woman.

I am a writer.

Yes, yes, I know. Astounding. Who knew, right?

Well, the problem, it seems like lately these three different traits are fracturing me more than they're melding. I've come to realize it because my social networking revolves a great deal around them.

I have sites/forums and circles of friends I frequent because I'm a children's author. Others where the point is I'm a Black children's authors. Others because I'm a female author.

It's all very...headspinning.

Diana Peterfreund and I, made a bet, that we could go 14 days with only being on the 'net for 90 minutes daily. Today, I popped onto Twitter and found that some of my other peers are taking a total hiatus from Twitter until January. And it's sounding like a damned good idea. If nothing, it'll give me time to pull myself back together so I'm just P again. Not P, the Black, YA author chick.

Social networking is great, but it also leads to a bit of over exposure to social circles that, while has plenty positives, has one really huge negative: it's too fracking distracting!

I'm starting to ponder how I ended up to my eyeballs in nings, blogs, forums, chats and tweets.

I love the socializing but I'm also feeling more than a little schizzy, right now trying to keep up with all these different outlets that represent the many facets of myself.

I've not yet dedicated myself to a hiatus but if you don't hear from me, you'll know what I decided.

Time To Read

2009-11-27T16:29:00.003-05:00

I know Stephen King says that serious writers should read four hours a day, but I'm venturing a guess here - the serious writers he's talking about are either:

NOT mothers.

- or-

DON'T have full-time jobs

Since I am and do, the luxury of reading time comes down to this - sleep or read. And funny thing, I usually choose sleeping. However, I did give up two solid nights to finish King's latest tome du jour, Under the Dome. Uncle Stevie, you're welcome.

Anyway, these days my reading is done in mad obsessive spurts. One, because if I take too long it won't get finished, two, it's a kind of escape and three, were I to read every day like that, I'd be horribly sleep deprived.

My lack of time to read more doesn't mean I don't have a whole slew of books I'm eyeing to put on the list. So, as the year comes to a slow wind I'm looking to beef up my reading over the holidays and beyond.

Suggestions for my TBR list are welcome.

Looking for Adult and YA.

When it comes to my adult lit, I like thrillers, suspense and true crime novels. Non-fiction, in general, doesn't really interest me. That's what good TV docus are for, in my opinion.

And girlfriend and Chick lit don't interest me as much because it's too close to the type of YA I write. So reading them feels like work research or something. I over analyze!

For YA I'm a bit more open to whatever's good. Be it a Scott Westerfeld fantasy or a Sara Zarr-type novel, I'm down if you say it's good (and mean it!). Not looking for anyone to pimp a book to me. If you sincerely liked it, suggest it. I'll be highly pissed if I read something that ends up being a waste of my time just because someone wants to hype a friend's novel.

Don't do it!

Otherwise, I'm a pretty easy person to please.

Whaddya reading and will I like it?

Another nail in the coffin...

2009-11-18T13:51:00.003-05:00

I've been longing for innocence, lately. In a way, I think that's why I'm a writer anyway. Specifically a YA writer.

I'm sure the average teen would hardly consider themselves "innocent." After all, many are quite worldly. But you never realize how innocent you are until you realize you aren't anymore.

As a kid it didn't matter to me that the stories I loved so much didn't have one Brown face in them. Didn't matter a whit. I escaped into them, saw myself in their place. It didn't matter how they looked, what they went through I was going through with them.

But now, as an adult I'm constantly offended by the lack of diversity in mainstream anything - TV, film, books, anything. Because the lack of color makes me feel invisible in a way that I never ever felt when reading or watching TV as a kid.

So it's with great joy and, yes, some amount of frustration that I await Disney's, The Princess and the Frog.

Joy because it's about time.

And frustration because, what the hell took so long?!

Disney has Jasmine (Arabian), Mulan (Asian), Pocohontas (American Indian) and Ariel (Mermaid...oh, that's not a race, is it?). So where has the Black princess been all these years? Where?!

Should it matter anymore? Let's pretend it doesn't for a second because I'd rather focus on the fact that my daughters will see a Disney movie that depicts them as the princess. It's especially important for my five year old because, she's just now starting to distinguish race, a practice that can be somewhat embarrassing when she calls out in the store, Mommy, that white woman...

Oy.

But cut her some slack. She's just trying to put the whole different shades thing into context. And in our house context is, race doesn't matter. Something I can say til I'm blue in the face, but it doesn't mean much if things outside our home don't reinforce it.

So this Disney movie means more than some may know.

Althought, let me be clear, my daughters already think they're princesses. We have an oddly significant amount of tiara's in the house because they buy them every chance they get. And I guess it doesn't help that my husband and I treat them like they're royalty sometimes (lazy, spoiled kids).

But still, that's as it should be with any parent/child. We want them to feel special.

The problem lies in the reality they're faced when images reflected back to them from TV and magazines tells them - Oh you're beautiful to your parents but this is what AMERICA deems beautiful. This, right here and it ain't you.

So I wish great box office success for The Princess and the Frog.

So ONCE more we can squash the myth that black folk don't go see movies AND that white folk won't go see a movie with a black protagonist.

The more nails we can put in those coffins the better.

Check out the trailer here.

Is Greatness Overrated?

2009-11-02T08:33:00.002-05:00

I was an A and B student, in school. A's in subjects I really liked (English) and B's in pretty much everything else. I could pull a B with minimal studying and a C without studying (mostly). My mother would always say, "If you truly applied yourself you could be a Straight A student."

And my thought was always: Why, when I can get good grades without overexerting myself?

I've never had a problem with the fact that I'm really good at a lot of stuff but perhaps not great at anything.

Now, with kids of my own, I definitely see why my mom was frustrated with my nonchalance, but I still don't regret my outlook.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not advocating slacking. Quite the opposite. I don't think the word slacker ever defined me, nor would it apply now. I approach near everything I do with ferocity but I also enjoy things 100% while I'm doing them, so I never feel like I need to be immersed in it 24-7.

It's been proven that those who achieve greatness often do so by the sheer volume of time they spend doing whatever they're great at.

Me, I'm a huge fan of being well-rounded and to be so, you sort of sacrifice the pinnacle of greatness for goodness. I'd love to be a great writer instead of a really good one, but literally the only thing I could sacrifice to write more is sleep or time with my family.

Call me crazy, but I sort of need sleep and I really like my family, they're kind of fun to be around. I feel like this approach I've always had has prepared me for juggling writing along with a full-time job and an active family.

Writing is addictive and I could very easily let it take over my life. Very easily.

I have incredibly manic phases where all I want to do is write. I give in to them, but not nearly at the level I'd like to. I'm afraid if I do, I'll emerge from the office and my kids will be grown and my husband off with another woman. I mean, the mania gets that bad.

Thank goodness, I know how to control it. Years of being satisfied with goodness has taught me how.

And I've passed that trait down to my kids.

In my oldest, I see myself. She can get good grades with minimal effort and as much as she loves anything (her friends, cheerleading etc...) she always reaches a point where it's like - Okay, enough of that for right now.

Some might see our quest for a little taste of it all as fickleness. But I don't see it that way.

It's more like living in the moment and cherishing experiences rather than letting any one thing define us.

I see the pros and cons of our mentality. But I'm totally at peace with being like this. After all, I am the goodest! Ask anybody.

Promote My Novel

2009-10-19T07:21:00.002-04:00

No, not MY novel, yours.

Jeff Rivera, the columnist for Galley Cat's People of Color blog and Gumbo Writers has started a vlog - Promote My Novel.com. It's a string of sixty-second videos where he gives advice on query letters, marketing and other fine points of making it in the pub business.

Promote My Novel is an extension of Jeff's pub advice. If you haven't visited Gumbo Writers, do so. It's an informative site with agent interviews and features of those who have hit promotional gold in book promotion.

Here's an example of his new venture:

For more, check him out here.

Hellooo, Alexandria!

2009-10-14T07:26:00.002-04:00

So, if you're in Northern Virginia and have always had this burning desire to meet me and talk about books I'll be Old Town Alexandria this weekend at Hooray for Books! on Sunday, Oct. 18th at 2 p.m. along with YA authors:

Caroline Hickey of The Longstockings (Isabelle's Boyfriend) and Elizabeth Scott, a fellow Class of 2K7 classmate of mine (Something, Maybe).

I'm sure the three of us can amuse ourselves talking about writing life, but it would be way more fun to have some young folk come to chat with.

Stop by.

P.S. This is part of the Kidlit Conference '09, which is Saturday. Not sure if there are still spots open, but you can check that out here.

Irony thy name is Racism

2009-10-10T22:47:00.003-04:00

What if you walked into the grocery store one day and they no longer carried your favorite brand of hair gel? You'd probably ask management about it and they might tell you that the demand wasn't high enough to warrant them using the shelf space for that gel, so they stopped carrying it.

Maybe you'd be annoyed because now you have to find another store, nearby, who sells that gel. Or maybe the store would be customer service oriented enough that they'd start keeping a tiny stock of the product to appease you, the only customer who bothered to inquire about it.

Maybe.

Truth be told, customer service is hard to find, these days. So if the store went through all of that for you, they deserve your patronage.

Just about everything is about supply and demand in our country. I get that. It annoys me, but I get it.

But what I don't get and staunchly refuse to get is why a world, that's increasingly diversifying, continues to try and mainstream every product. Why does everything have to be stamped and approved as used by this mythical "everybody" to be validated?

I went into Walgreens tonight to buy some hair perm. I walked the lone hair care aisle for about five minutes, puzzled. Not only did Walgreens not sell my brand of perm but they didn't sell ANY black hair care products. Any!

I asked the cashier if they were kept in a different area and she explained if they had it, it would be down the hair care aisle. So they simply don't sell it.

Walgreens is literally one minute away from my house. Giant is two, but hair care products at the grocery store are too expensive. So I had to drive seven minutes down the road to get what I needed.

I can't begin to tell you how much this pisses me off. Not only because I had the gall to believe having the Walgreens right across the street would be convenient but because apparently, Walgreens has moved into my progresive, upwardly mobile, some say upper middle class neighborhood and decided there are NO black customers so they don't need to serve me.

Yes, Walgreens, that's what you're saying.

Have I just stepped back into 1950? What the hell?

I left that store blazing. I did what I do, wrote my letter to them letting them know I'm perfectly content giving my business to Rite Aid who has figured out a way to serve us non-existent Black customers. Rite Aid who is more than happy to stock products in case a black person happens to wander in lost from the outskirts.

I'm not real happy with the systemic ignorance that continues to seep into our society's bloodstream. It's so uncalled for.

I just talked about racism at Amy Bowllan's blog and then it subtley rears its head, thumbing its nose at me like I thumb my nose at it by making my fictional worlds as diverse as the real world always should be.

And yes, it is racist that Walgreens doesn't carry black hair care products. If you don't think so, then think about some silly, yet necessary mainstream item you need and think about how you'd feel if your local retailer decided to stop selling it because you were invisible to them. Then tell me how you feel.

In Good Company

2009-10-07T09:09:00.002-04:00

There are a few facts I've come to terms with about my writing life that, nonetheless, still stress me now and again.

1) The chance that I'll always have to maintain a FTJ even as I continue to sell books.

2) My writing time is more likely to shrink than grow, especially since I'll always have a FTJ. I'll always have a family. I'll always want a life outside of those things. I sort of enjoy sleeping.

There are days when I feel as if I'm the only writer in the world continuing to angst over these things. Forget that I can't control either one or that it's been a stark reality almost from day one, so six years later it should be like, whatever. It's not.

The reality is easier to swallow when I'm reminded that I'm not alone in my feelings or my struggle.

Like manna from heaven, Emily St. John wrote a sobering, yet enlightening post about Working The Double Shift (also known as Paula's life) and YA author, Sarah Dessen posted about the special challenges us mothers face when we've got to get some words on screen.

Both pieces calmed my usually frazzled nerves. I'm not thrilled about the prospect of being on a professional treadmill my entire career. Nor can I say, I'm totally at peace with having to squeeze writing time in where I can. I consider writing what I do. It's my job, albeit not my sole job. So "squeezing" in time to do it offends my writer's sensibilities. I mean what would my supervisor at the FTJ say if I said "well, let me see if I can squeeze coming in, today?"

Yet, it's my reality - good, bad, or ugly. Glad to know I'm in very good company.

Del Rio Bay Blog Tour

2009-09-29T07:52:00.001-04:00

It's funny. I've heard different sides of what life's like writing adult fiction. On some accounts, I hear adult authors are "much more" supportive of one another, helping one another to push books into hands of readers. And then on the direct flip side, I hear that they're really not close or connected at all.

I'm sure there's truth in both sides.

But let me say this, in the children's writing community, it's all love. That's been my experience from the moment I joined the Yahoo Chick Lit Group (now the Teen Lit Group) to the day Varian Johnson, Kelly Starling Lyons, Don Tate and Carla Sarratt and I decided to launch The Brown Bookshelf. I've had nothing but positive experiences.

The community is close, eager to spread the word about new work, encouraging when you're having a bad writing day and simply a huge shoulder to lean on during the tough and often lonely times. True enough, some days I've got to pull myself totally out so I can focus more on writing. But if I had to decide - go it totally alone so I wouldn't have the distraction of socializing vs. having a cadre of writing buds to call on - it's a no brainer.

I'm still deep in the hole writing and I don't know how long I'll be there. But before I disappeared-ish, I called on some of those friends and asked them to host my blog tour. I wanted to do a big push of the series now that all five books are out. And even though every person I called on was busy promoting and/or writing, they all said yes.

Check me (and them) out:

Chicklit Gurrl - Shon Bacon goes above and beyond the call and makes a trailer for the DRB series! *mwah*

Musings of A Novelista - Karen Strong asks me about the importance of authors having a web presence and why it matters to label my work "multi-culti."

Devyn Burton - Devyn hosts me and makes me feel all edgy and stuff.

Rawsistaz - I have a great talk with the Rawsistaz lit group about their thoughts on the series.

Linda Gerber - I'm Gerb's Freebie Friday feature. Hey, say that fast five times!

Melissa Walker and Readergirlz - I'm double-booked at Melissa Walker's and Readergirlz talking about the story behind my covers. Ever wondered why I have both graphic and photo covers? I spill...

Mitali's Fire Escape - Mitali and I talk about how I was as a teen and whether or not I'd write a boy protag or one who isn't African American.

YA Fresh - Kelly Parra and Tina Ferraro's blog is the place to find the freshest YA and I was lucky to be a catch of the day for the tour.

- Color Online is all about strong women writers. They make me put my thinking cap on and talk about who/what made me the writer I am today.

APOOO Books - Hopefully, APOOO can still squeeze me in. I turned in my interview answers late. But check out the site, anyway. It's chock full of literary goodness.

Real Teen Talk: Landsdowne PL

2009-09-24T06:44:00.002-04:00

*waves* Hi ladies! I'm posting this hoping you won't notice it's late but umm....you probably do. Sorry!

I had a great time with you, the other day, during my first live Real Teen Talk. It's visits like this that remind me why I enjoy writing for teens.

For everyone else who doesn't know what I'm talking about - I visited the Landsdowne Public Library and had the pleasure of meeting several young readers. And because I love torturing, er spreading the joy of writing to others, I did what I always do on these visits - gave them a tough writing assignment with an ungodly deadline. The ladies were tasked with writing an advice column solving an issue straight out of one of the Del Rio Bay books. Their deadline? Fifteen minutes.

The winning entry gets the spotlight here.

Ladies, just so you know, my mom thought everybody should be a winner. And that's a very mom thing to say, isn't it?

But P's a hardcore competitive person. So...an A for effort for everyone participating. Love that! But I've gotta give the top spot to...

Rena Crandell

The problems they solved weren't easy and they only had fifteen minutes to create a magazine-type advice column to share their wisdom.

In the game of Real Teen Talk there is no judgement, just an opportunity for teens to say how they might help one another through an issue. No easy task. All the ladies were great sports and took on the task willingly. And special kudos to their Librarian who took a shot at the task and tore it up! Her entry was great.

Still, I promised a winner and Rena's it. Read on...

Caught Up!

[The PROBLEM]Dear Real Teen Talk,
My boyfriend saw me talking to another guy and got jealous. As I was trying to explain he smacked me. He apologized right after. He's never hit me before and I believe that he's sorry but people say if he hits you once it'll happen again. Do I give him another chance?

Step To Him
Go up to him and tell him that he really hurt your feelings and that he should handle things more maturely.

We're done-ish
Leave him alone, for like three days. Let him earn your trust back.

This is the last straw
What I'd do is...call him up and tell him to stop being insecure or you're out. Let him know, if he has you already it should be no problem when you talk to other people.

P.S. Love to Saquetta Crandell and Valyncia Davis!! You guys were a lot of fun. Of course I was going to shout you out, even if you didn't win! :-)

Pardon My Absence

2009-09-01T11:49:00.002-04:00

Let me just go ahead an apologize, now. To everyone whose call I don't return. For all the emails that may get backlogged. Hell, for all the dinners that may not get cooked. Sorry, y'all!

I'm writing again.

Yep, back in the saddle.

Immersed in the writing pool.

Down in the hole.

Call it what you want, but it means that mentally a large chunk of my brain will simply not be paying attention to much else.

I have my issues with Diddy, but he said something on Making His Band (yeah, I'm watching it. So sue me!) that resonates deep with me. He was talking about his new CD and how important working on it was for him. Then he said something to the effect that in order to succeed at something you have to be obsessed with it.

That's an entirely true statement.

People have asked how I wrote five books in three years while still working full time, raising a family and coaching a cheer squad. You'd think the person who took part in it would know, but I don't. I don't know how I did it except I was obsessed with writing. It wasn't something I wanted to do as much as it was something I had to do - literally and figuratively.

Literally, I was under contract. The funny thing about getting paid is, it makes you want to get the job done.

Figuratively, the voices of my characters possess me, forcing me to pay heed to their whisperings lest I lose what's left of my mind.

This go round, I have no contract to spur me (and that's a huge bummer) but I do have several stories sitting on my chest. They're not pressing so hard I can't breathe, but that's only because so far I haven't let them.

Now I'm going to let them. I've put everything in front of writing, the last year, because I needed to. You don't stay obsessed for three years and not have some making up to do. So I had to take the break the last nine months or so.

But I'm about to gear up into pure selfish mode, which means I won't let anything get in front of my writing time. Sorry fam. Sorry friends. Sorry social networks. That's the life of a writer - letting the voices control you for awhile.

I'll check in periodically. So, be good while I'm gone or they'll be hell to pay.

This is why it's hot!

2009-08-30T15:50:00.002-04:00

The best part about being an author is, people think you know things. So they call you and ask you questions and you can spout off about anything you want.

So, when Wendy Coakley Thompson called wanting to inquire why YA is so hot, right now, I went on and on. And contrary to the aspects of the Sormag chat where it was debated if it were hot or not, YA is hot. There's a lot of focus on it, certain YA best sellers are getting total mainstream attention (Hello, Hunger Games) and well, I write it...so um, by association it's hot!

Check Wendy's article, leave a comment on her article and weigh in - is YA hot or not? And how come?

Top Teen Books in '09

2009-08-24T11:31:00.002-04:00

Ahh did you think I was going to list them?

Namp!

The list is all up to you, dear teen readers. Head over to YALSA and submit up to three books that you think are the tops for '09.

Yes, it would be wonderful if you submitted Flipping The Script, but I'm all about free love. I feel like if enough love is given - no matter to whose book, I'll get it back at some point.

So go, nom what you want.

BTW, YALSA stands for Young Adult Library Services Association. Consider yourself, schooled.

Real Teen Talk - Drama-Free, That's Me!

2009-08-18T08:40:00.001-04:00

Drama-free, That's Me!

Write, Damn You!

2009-08-12T13:10:00.003-04:00

It's no secret to most I've had a rough year. My dad passing, my fam's car accident and then there's the general burn out that comes from being a multi-slash (mom/wife, PR hack/writer/self-promoter).

Through it all, I've tried to maintain a writing schedule. For weeks at a time I managed to do so and then for weeks at a time I didn't. Usually when I need a break from something (like say exercise) I don't angst over it. My body or mind is tired, I know I need the break, so I take it. Guilt-free.

Not so with writing.

When I take a writing "break" either I outwardly angst or it bubbles underneath, the characters, story lines never too far from my mind making me want to run for a notebook even though I know a break is what I need.

I don't need excuses. Having a full-time job, a family and stomping the yard (aka promotion) for the Del Rio Bay series are pretty much explanation enough for why my mind is often too tired to properly engage with new imaginary characters.

But the light at the end of the break tunnel is - the new school year.

Yippe kay yay mo' fo's...school is back in session soon and I'm hoping it's the springboard to launch me back into a consistent and regular writing schedule.

We'll see.

On one hand, I wouldn't mind taking off a solid year from writing. I mean five books in three years, you do the math and if you're not tired afterwards, give me a call, I have some books I need you to tap out for me!

But on the other, these characters keep whispering in my ear. And while I rarely have the time or energy to hear them out, I also need to shut them up.

So, the countdown begins. In two blissful weeks both the Princesses will be back in school and I'll be back in the saddle...I hope!!!

Readergirlz Love Drama

2009-08-03T22:41:00.002-04:00

So Not The Drama that is.

The Readergirlz Divas and their Postergirlz advisory council has selected So Not The Drama as a recommended read.

It's no secret that I'm a Readergirlz fan. They promote great books that focus on the inner strength every woman, young and not so young, possesses. Having my book selected as a must read is truly an honor.

Mad girl-power shout out for the love!

What makes this doubly delicious is I'm a recommended read the same month my girl, Coe Booth, is the Readergirlz featured author. Coe's gonna be chatting at RGZ on August 26th 9 p.m. Eastern. Please drop by and show her some love as she talks about her book, Kendra.

And if you haven't read Kendra yet, run don't walk to the nearest bricks and mortar book store and cop it. You won't regret it!

I may never get rich, but...

2009-07-24T08:28:00.003-04:00

The odds of me getting rich off my writing are, hmm...about the same as me hitting the lottery. No wait. A little better than those odds because I actually do write books. I don't play the lottery. You get the picture.

Few authors write to get rich. And I'm no different. I'm right with the fact that I'm not gonna make J.K. Rowling paper. But I'm not okay with the ongoing falsity that is this belief 1) Black teens don't read and 2) only a teen of color would read a book about a protagonist of color.

I'm so not okay with it that it's been hard for me to keep my mouth shut about it. And since my middle name is diplomacy, allow me to diplomatically rant against the notion altogether!

Yesterday, Justine Larbalestier spoke out about the cover for her latest novel, Liar. The book's protag is a Black teenager who wears her hair short and natural. The U.S. cover of LIAR features a white teenager with long, brunette hair. Yes, it's a very WTF-moment.

Justine articulated her feelings about the cover, well. The cover isn't what this rant is about.

It's about the larger issue at hand, the belief that a cover with a brown face dooms a book to no-sales land.

Pardon me if I'm totally offended by that notion since I have three books with brown faces on them. Or do my books get a pass because one of those covers happens to also have a white face on them. *rolls eyes*

Here are a few facts (as I see them!):

* YA books by white authors sell better, whether they're about a person of color or not. This isn't because these books are better written, it's because they're marketed to the "mainstream" audience and in relative comparison to - ugh, I'll have to say it "black" books get more marketing push, period.

* YA books by authors of color don't sell as many because they're often niche marketed. LIAR may be causing a stir, but it's also the front cover of the publisher's catalog. Add that and the stir into the pot and tell me what bookstore isn't going to carry it? Any "black" YA book not by Walter Dean Myers or Sharon Flake would love that treatment. Talk good or bad about us, but dammit just talk about us!

One thing that Justine said that nailed all of this home: "Perhaps the whole “black books don’t sell” thing is a self-fulfilling prophecy?" It's starting to feel like it is.

L. Divine's Drama High series are some of the most popular "black" teen lit books out there. The success of her books is not an anamoly. But if enough people say it is, then it will be.

My books aren't pushing Drama High numbers. But then again, half the time readers can't find my books in the store. I know, because I get more emails from people saying "I can't find your book" than I do "I love your book." And I get lots of "I love your books" emails, thank you, very much.

I always direct those email senders to request the book. But let's face it - as a buyer you've already done the one thing advertisers hope you'll do: get to the store and buy it. Having to request it is a real downer. I love reading as much as the next guy, but just how much work do I, the reader, have to do?

Point is, my series has readers. Coe Booth's Kendra has readers. Sherri L. Smith's Fly Girl has readers. Tanita Davis's A La Carte has readers. Varian Johnson's My Life As a Rhombus has readers. Derrick Barnes' The Making of Dr. Truelove has readers. Deborah Gregory's Catwalk has readers. Dana Davidson's Played has readers. And every book on the Brown Bookshelf Teen Lit page has readers.

And I bet some of them are even white readers. *mock awe and surprise*

When I hear the statement "black books don't sell," I know it's false. Usually, when I hear something I know is false, I'm able to discount the statement as silly, ignorant or just plain, wrong. But, this time, we discount these false cries at our own risk. Because as I said, saying it may make it so.

If publishers believe brown books don't sell they'll decrease acquisition of them. Already, these books don't get the marketing push of their mainstream counterparts. Already brown books are piegon-holed and relegated to our cultural lanes. You would have thought the success of Troy CLE's novel, Marvelous World , would have increased the number of fantasy books with brown characters...but not so far.

If the notion that brown books don't sell continues we'll find ourselves back at square one - portrayals of brown characters as the historical fiction and street lit hero.

No. No. And no. We must continue to push toward having depictions of brown characters broadened.

Apparently sales aren't enough, at least if those sales aren't within a certain range. As long as there is a sales goal, publishers can use the generic "they won't sell" statement.

Readers, refuse to be ignored. Write to the publisher of the books I've mentioned or any other brown book you've read and enjoyed and let them know:

I'm a reader. I loved this book. Don't leave me out of the count!

Readers of my series, send your letters here:

Kensington Publishing Corp.
c/o Paula Chase's Books
119 West 40th Street
New York, New York
10018

Be heard. Be counted. Let the industry know, if brown books don't sell it's a total surprise to you!

The 1:30 Factor

2009-07-03T23:26:00.002-04:00

Like most everyone else in the world I'm a Michael Jackson fan. Not one of those conflicted ones who angst over how I should feel about the plastic surgeries and the allegations. I'm a fan, period. Of his music, of his ability to entertain, of what he's done to the musical landscape over the last forty years. And the greatest compliment I can pay to Michael is to say, he sure could tear up the last minute and thirty seconds of a song.

When someone takes that last minute and thirty seconds of the track and gets so lost in the song, he or she takes you with him, that - to me, is the mark of a great artist.

Back in the day, when songs were longer than today's three minute average, artists truly worked audiences into a frenzy. That last minute and a half was the climax, the time to turn it on thick - get some panties thrown on the stage or lure the crazies on stage, make security work for their paychecks. It was that minute thirty zone when the spirit hit the artist and they started going off.

I think a lot, if not all, of the Motown artists from the 60's had the ability to rip it the last minute thirty. But since then only some artists still manage to do so consistently.

Stevie Wonder is one of them. He sings the hell out of the last minute and thirty of his songs. It's when he starts getting "happy" jumps out of his seat, shouts the words like the audience has suddenly gone deaf, gets that head shaking, his fingers stabbing at the piano like the keys are burning his finger tips. It's where his songs cross the line from meaningful lyric to spirited jibber jabber. My favorite part!

Michael Jackson was the same way. The last minute and thirty of many of his songs was when he'd start that crazy talk "you can't, you got, you have." Not one complete sentence because he's just in the groove and the emotion is more tangible than the lyric!

Minute thirty is when the heart of the song begins beating. If it's a dance song, it's when the artists forgets he's performing. Instead he's living the dance. If it's a ballad, it's when the tears spring, the begging becomes real.

It's the emotional core of the song.

I wish more artists, today, understood the art of the last minute and thirty seconds of their music. Too many keep the same tone and cadence from start to finish. It's too practiced. What changed in the music industry that artist stopped getting off on their music in the studio? Does it really take a stage and audience for their own music to touch their souls?

If so, that damn sure explains some of the industry's issues.

I'm a music fan. So if a song makes me move or sing or touches something in me, I like it. Still, there's only one contemporary artist that has the 1:30 factor: Ne-Yo.

Forget that he writes his own music (something he shares in common with Wonder and Jackson), young brother rips through the last minute and thirty like an old school soul singer. Sometimes, when I listen to "Do You" I rewind the last minute and thirty over and over, lost in his groove.

See if you do the same...

"Dirty Diana" Video

"Do You" Video

Real Teen Talk June Chat

2009-06-15T18:10:00.002-04:00

Buh-Bye Friend

Balls Dropping Everywhere...

2009-06-13T18:30:00.001-04:00

I've had to come to terms with the fact that there is no such thing as juggling it "all."

Sorry, future generation of writers, mommas and daddy's who think they'll be the ones to master the great lifefail that is having a career, family, social life all while eating healthy and exercising. Nope, just ain't gonna happen people. I know because I've been on a quest to do it "all" since I entered the workforce.

Now, now, it's not all doom and gloom. Honestly, once you come to terms with it, it's sort of nice - like seeing the white light leading to the pearly gates.

My realization came after I admitted that while I actually did achieve near daily blogging during BEDA and held on kind of nice to a regular schedule early May - the second I decided that maybe finishing my next novel was a bit more important than blogging, everything went to hell in a handbasket. No, I'm not sure exactly what that means but I'm pretty sure it's what happened.

Keep in mind that while blogging and a good deal of my social networking has been on the decline writing my next book, spending time with my family (working the dreaded full-time job FTJ) and working out regularly are on the uptick.

See, ALL of it can't be done, but most of it can.

For reasons I'm uncertain - possibly because writers have a natural case of the guilts, anyway, I always feel bad when my social networking suffers from me actually living life.

It's just like when you begin slowly losing touch with old friends - you feel like you need to make an excuse for why you haven't called more often.

So, truth is, I haven't called because I'm making an actual attempt to have a life. Hope no one holds it against me...working off the guilt in addition to the 19 pounds I'm trying to lose would be near impossible.

Real Teen Talk Chat - June 15th

2009-06-09T22:27:00.001-04:00

Has it been a month already?!

You betcha.

Monday is my second RTT chat. We'll be talking about when to cut a friendship.

If I were...

2009-06-09T10:52:00.002-04:00

A musician, would you expect me to answer the phone while I'm in the booth recording?

An artist, would you burst into my studio expecting me to stop mid-stroke to chat?

An actress, would you demand the cameras stop rolling so I could help you with your problem?

Doubtful. Yet, because I'm a writer, it seems the world around me thinks that it's okay to interrupt.

If this phenomena were germane only to me, I'd brush it off as my family and friends not getting the level of solitude and concentration I need to create. But it's an illness that afflicts many of my author friends.

What is it about writing that people take it so lightly as an art? Is it because sitting at the computer looks like any other type of work or play? Would I really look this focused playing Solitaire?

In order for me to write well, there's a level of detachment I've got to achieve. Not the loveliest word, for sure. But exactly what I meant. When I write, I detach myself from this world and float into the world I'm creating.

Maybe it seems pretentious to non-writers. Or maybe they think it's easy to fall in and out of the haze. For me, it's not and it's been awhile since I've truly given into the tug of detachment.

I'm enjoying the 500 Word Challenge. Got in over 5,000 words, last week.

The Challenge forces me to visit my manuscript, daily. But I've yet to reach that level where I block out everything - hunger, thirst, fatigue, and my family - to stay in that zone. I want to, but since I'm not a musician, artist or actress, walking into my office, apparently, is an invitation to the world to interrupt. I mean, somehow even people NOT in my house seem to know when I'm writing because that's when they call.

Not the ten hours before when I was sitting on my duff. Only when I step foot into the office to write.

Sounds like a writing retreat is in order.

Hmm...

1,2,3,4, Five Hundred Words a Day

2009-06-01T09:58:00.002-04:00

I've been in a creative slump since about October '08. February of this year I jumped back into writing because you can't fix a blank page. But the slump has not yet broken to a point where I feel a raging inferno of creativity within. And that's what I loved most about writing...the irrepresible urge to create. The sort of urge where if you don't satisfy it, you feel it might drive you a teensy bit insane.

So you give in.

Yeah, that.

I'm looking for that feeling again.

Enter Karen "The Novelista" Strong and her 500 words a day summer challenge, right when I need it most.

I've done these sort of challenges before. Several years ago, the Yahoo Teen Lit Listserv did one (I think it was a 1K a day) and it helped me finish That's What's Up!.

When you dedicate yourself to these challenges, they work...or they make you work. Whatever the case, you get the words written.

So I'll be checking in periodically to update on my progress. If I can hang, I can get a huge bulk of my WIP done.

Light a candle for me and send up a flare if you haven't heard from me by the end of June. It may mean I've gotten lost in the forests of Slumpelvania.

Meanwhile, I've gotta post this in a few places in my house and office:

Rachel Balloon, Ph.D author of The Writer's Portable Therapist: 25 Sessions to a Creativity Cure says you should use the following traits to write every day:

Commitment
Risk
Energy
Action
Truth
Enjoyment

Lo and behold that spells CREATE.

Go forth and be creative.

Pout On over at The Brown Bookshelf

2009-05-29T11:35:00.001-04:00

I'm hosting a "panel" over at The Brown Bookshelf in honor of the BEA '09 Pout-A-Thon.

Today we're talking about Who's Who Among Brown Authors.

Stop in, participate.

BEA Here We Come...sort of

2009-05-28T12:28:00.004-04:00

Yeah, so BEA starts today in New York City.

Why yes, I am jealous as hell of anyone who's going because New York is my all-time most favorite city in all the world and BEA is one of the biggest book events in the U.S.

Stats, schmats. I don't have no stinkin' stats to prove that. It's the biggest and that's all there is to it.

And I don't like being left out of big things.

Lucky for me, I pal around with a lot of writers. And we're nothing if not imaginative. So Laurie Halse Anderson launched the BEA Pout-A-Thon, #BEA09PaT for those on Twitter.

So I'll be doing mini blog posts here and at The Brown Bookshelf throughout the weekend as we stage our own version of BEA.

If you're a bookseller, librarian, reader or author who would like to pout with us, stop by the myriad of posts and chime in. By the way, you have to chime in. You wouldn't go to BEA, walk around and not say anything to anyone would you? So chat it up!

Good Day

2009-05-22T09:51:00.002-04:00

A wise philosopher once said, "Just waking up in the morning gotta thank God.
I dont know but today seems kinda odd...I cant believe, today was a good day"

For all you non-old school Hip Hop heads, that philosopher would be Ice Cube.

Kiddies, run out and listen to yourself some Ice Cube. Before he went family man in Are We There Yet? he was quite the lyricist. And I gotta give him props. He's still rocking the 'curl in the photo on his home page. That takes balls, Cube. For real.

So anyway, me and Cube, we're having a good day.

For me, it's the first in a VERY long time.

And as much as I love my cyber buds and soaking up all the information I can across the blogs, tweets, and threads - I'm going out to enjoy this good day.

Remember, it's Memorial Day weekend. Don't forget to remember those who fought and died so we'd have more good than bad days in our country. Drop a little libation on the ground while you're swigging your cocktail for the brothers and sisters who ain't here.

Deuces!

I'm SORMAG YA Author of the Year

2009-05-20T00:00:00.000-04:00

Let me see. I'd like to thank my wonderful agent, Jen Carlson. Without her I...

Oh sorry. I had an Academy moment, there.

Seriously, though I'm honored and psyched to be the Shades of Romance Magazine YA Author of the Year and have my books chosen as YA Book of the Year.

My life as a writer isn't easy, primarily because it's my second job. A second job that feels like a first job when on deadline or promoting books or up late, alone and tired.

But it's been especially hard over the last nine months since my accident and the passing of my dad. A LOT of times I feel like I'm toiling in total obscurity.

Because I frequent author communities, I'm surrounded by the ups and downs of my peers and the myriad of book lists - some prestigious, others just playing their part to acknowledge the many good books that may go unseen by readers, if they weren't around.

It's easy to get caught up in sales numbers and the angst/hype of being left off or included on a list.

I've found it's way too easy to lose sight of why I write.

I haven't yet found the solution to not lose sight. Sometimes I just do. Luckily, I've always found my way back.

Thank you, LaShaunda and the Sormag readers.

This award means people are reading the books. And that's what it's all about.

The gravy is - they really like them.

Thank you.

The "Secret" Life of Teens

2009-05-19T07:34:00.002-04:00

One of the most frequently asked questions of YA writers is - how do you get inside the head of a teen character? Talk like them? Know what they'd do? Wear?

Here's my easy answer to that question:

When I celebrated my 33rd birthday *a few years ago* Yeah I said a FEW. Those who equate a few with two don't count like I do. Anyway, when I turned thirty-three, I made it very clear I wasn't celebrating 33 but the 20th anniversary of my thirteenth birthday. I said it to anyone who asked how old I was and did everything short of getting a cake that said Happy 20th Anniversary 13.

That should tell you a little bit about how I think and why it's not so hard for me to write from the POV of a teen character.

Last night, I had my first chat on the JORT and it reinforced that, hanging out with a bunch of teen girls is little different from when I'm with my adult friends. Yes, yes there are differences of course. But talk to teens on the regular, like I do, and the largest difference (for most, not all) you'll detect is how we view issues/problems.

Teens tend to see them face on. Adults tend to turn them over sideways, back around and upside down, dissecting it from more angles.

That's the major diff and not even in all cases.

Last night, the girls and I chatted about relationships. We spent a good deal of time on the Chris/Rihanna spectacle, relating it back to how we saw it, Rihanna's decision now or in the future to stay with him and how we'd handle both our own and/or a friend's abusive relationship.

Pretty heady stuff, yet we had fun while doing it.

Since the C/R (fight?) many radio stations have cut his songs from the playlists. Truth is, it was probably time anyway. Evolution came out in '07 for God's sake. Why it took him being a public asshole for them to put a two-year old CD to rest is problem one with the industry. But I digress...the lack of play has not diluted his fan base. Not that I can tell, anyway.

Many callers to the radio stations, at the height of the spectacle, were female and most supported playing his music. From what I gleaned, they supported Chris the artist, not necessarily Chris the douche who beat up his girlfriend.

Yeah, you can separate the two in some cases. It's called reality.

I still like Chris Brown's music. Do I see him differently as a person, now? Yes. But until the whole story plays out it doesn't change that I like a good number of his current tracks.

My teen chatters felt the same.

They were disgusted and shocked by what he did. They all said Rihanna shouldn't go back to him. Felt like in a similiar situation they'd have no issue walking away the first time he hit them (which leaves for debate if this was the first time)and thought his image had taken a large hit. But, BUT no one said anything about not buying a future CD or terminating him from their playlists.

When Chris Brown went to court, there was a gaggle of girls out front squealing and calling his name. Some people thought this perplexing.

It's not. They're fans.

No matter how much the media attempts to saturate our brains with images of celebrity life and feed us every detail from what they had for breakfast to what items they bought their kid, I can honestly say that many of us - teens included - get it. They're just people. People who live a glamorous life, make shit loads of money and make mistakes.

The teens have spoken. Mystery unshrouded.

Chat: I Love You So Much, It Hurts!

2009-05-18T15:19:00.000-04:00

I Love You So Much It Hurts

Real Teen Talk Chat - Monday, May 18th

2009-05-14T22:45:00.002-04:00

I'm hosting my first live Real Teen Talk chat at Paula's JORT Monday, May 18th.

RTT is for the true Del Rio Bay fans. We’ll be taking issues from each book and talking about how we have or would handle the same thing in real life.

It'll help if you've already read the books but it's not mandatory.

Monday's topic:

I love you so much it hurts!

In light of the Chris Brown/Rihanna spectacle and the drama the character Jacinta goes through with her boyfriend Raheem in That’s What’s Up! it's time to put love on the stage.

So, calling all teens or folks who enjoy kicking it with teens, stop by the JORT at 8p.m. Eastern time!

I'm a Rat with an Island...are you?

2009-05-07T16:07:00.002-04:00

I wish writing were easier.

I wish when I sat down to write it was with my kids off to school, my husband off to work and me in a sunny office with six hours of blissful silence ahead of me instead of at nine p.m. after I've worked a full day at my "other" job, made dinner, did the homework/bath thing, managed our household budget and am ass tired.

I wish when I sat down to write, all the exciting plot points and nuances that swam in my head throughout the day while I was at my "other" job would float from my head down my fingers and onto the screen instead of simply floating away.

I rarely get my wish, yet I'm still a rat with an island swimming around and around blindly believing that at some point my little paws will hit land. They've got to hit land. I know that island is around here somewhere.

I'm not so nuts.

Check out what Jenny Cruise wrote about this phenomena, known simply as believing in your dreams enough to block out reality.

Are you a rat with an island?

Diversity Roll Call

2009-05-06T10:13:00.003-04:00

Mitali Perkins' article, Straight Talk on Race, is making a lot of folks think.

As you know, I recently committed to diversifying my own reading habits.

Yes, thank you. Thank you. Just doing my part.

Worducopia is asking folks to take Mitali up on her request to look at the books they're reading (have read) and assess how they avoid or (knowingly or unknowingly) embrace stereotypes.

Many times authors of color are purposely writing about a character of color, simply because those characters are missing in mainstream fiction. But that doesn't mean we're not guilty of stereotyping. Mitali confesses to some of her own, in the article.

Usually when someone says diversity, immediately the white writers are ducking for cover. But writers of color should be just as aware of embracing diversity and challenging stereotypes in our writing.

Have I?

Have the authors in books I've read lately?

Using Mitali's five questions, I took a look at Jumped by Rita Williams Garcia, Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson and my series:

1. Are the nonwhite characters too good to be true? The point of this question is to encourage us to pay attention to how and why the race of characters is conveyed in a story.

In Jumped, most of the characters are African American or Latino. However, early in the book, the female bully confronts a white, male teacher who is clearly afraid of her. Not only does she know it, she takes pride in being able to have this sort of power over him.

One could argue that this plays on the stereotype that white people are intimidated and/or threatened by Black people. But, in the context of the book, it's a very realistic portrayal of a kid living on the edge and a teacher wary of this type of kid which he probably runs across too often.

But I have asked myself, anew, had the teacher Dominique was confronting been a black woman, might there have been a different outcome? Assuming she has daddy issues, what if he'd been a black man?

Usually black teachers are portrayed as not taking any guff from students, while white teachers are portrayed (when dealing with black students, at least) of being more timid. Williams Garcia portrayal rings true to me, but I'm tempted to ask her personally about the flip side.

In Wintergirls, that I recall, there are no characters of color, token or otherwise. Everyone is white. In the realm of the story, it mattered little.

In my own books, I chose to make Lizzie, Mina's best friend who is white, the more grade-conscious, practical one who is not interested in losing her virginity. It never came to mind that this might feed into the stereotype that too often teens of color are the faces of declining grades and teen pregnancy. Out of context, it can be seen that way.

But in the context of the entire book, Lizzie is one of six characters. Nearly all of them get good grades, Lizzie just happens to be more of a straight-A type. And Lizzie isn't alone in her abstinence pact, the Latina character, Kelly, also takes it. So I think the traits are well-spread out. However, had I made Lizzie the rich character (instead of Kelly) then I would agree that Lizzie was made too perfect an ideal.

2. How and why does the author define race. (Does it need to be defined? Is their race crucial to the plot?)

In Jumped, the characters' race is defined by physical descriptions and dialect. I believe race is crucial to the plot because at its heart, it's a portrayal of an inner city school.

Because it, like most books, doesn't dwell on desciptors, it's easy to assume the characters in Wintergirls are supposed to be white. There are a few small hair and skin tone references which solidify the implication. However, the face on the cover is white, which also makes it easy for the reader to assume, early on, that everyone within is as well. I don't believe race is crucial to the plot.

In my books, I very obviously state race via descriptions of hair, skin tone and body types (Lizzie is the more straight up and down and curveless while Mina and Jacinta have more junk in their trunk).

I also use dialect and slang to show the different economic backgrounds of the characters. Could that be stereotyping? Yeah. But the point of the first book is that some of the characters are coming from a different mentality and economic place than Mina. So it was necessary. Race is crucial to the plot in So Not The Drama. Not so much the preceding books.

3. Is the cover art true to the story? (Mitali cites as an example the cover of Cynthia Kadohata’s novel Weedflower, in which the Japanese American main character is wearing a kimono, even though she's never described as wearing one in the text)

In both Jumped and Wintergirls, definitely. Jumped's cover is a desolate, dim hallway that foreshadows the ominous nature of being at this school. Wintergirls has a face peering through a web of ice.

My first cover is graphic and was meant to convey a vibe (light, teen read) and I think it delivers. However, when the covers went photo, they were meant to convey that the cast was multi-culti. And it delivers there as well.

I actually like covers like Jumped and Wintergirls where a single shot captures the essence of the story. I'm not sure, for the type of books my series are, what single shot would have done it quite as well.

None of these covers are stereotypical unless you want to count that Wintergirls implies that anorexia is primarily a disease among white females. But that's correct, statistically. I don't see it as a stereotype.

4. Who solves the problem in the story? (Would "Dances With Wolves" have been as popular with theater-goers without the white hero?)

The white person as the hero can grate, especially when it's done so often. And it is!

But none of the books I'm assessing suffer from this. Without going spoiler-rific, I don't know that the problem is solved in Jumped. Had a white teacher jumped in and made everything peachy, then yeah. You almost wish that would happen as you read.

In Wintergirls, the protag is her own hero.

In my books, there aren't any true "someone saved the day" moments, though someone did call me on the teacher character in So Not The Drama being a stereotypical white idealistic teacher who wants to save the world.

Maybe she is. But I had a teacher like her in high school. When a character is based on someone does that lessen its stereotypicalness?

5. How is beauty defined?

The girl who is ultimately Jumped is Latino. Her beauty is implied in her actions, the way she carries herself and for the most part, the reason she's jumped in the first place. Williams Garcia doesn't necessary give her a tangible mark of beauty. The character believes she's all that and carries herself that way.

In Wintergirls, beauty is defined by the character's mission to be ever thinner. It's an American ideal that crosses all racial bounderies.

In my books...hmm...well I tried to keep it more along the lines of how Williams Garcia did it and convey it via attitude. However, I'll admit I probably used way more "outer" beauty landmarks - describing someone's size or hair, than I should have. I'll take the hand slap on that. I think I veered way into the stereotype lane, in that respect.

So...how does what you're reading or writing fare against the questions?

Flipping The Script is Top Shelf

2009-05-05T00:00:00.000-04:00

Urban Reviews gave Flipping The Script five out of five stars and bestowed it the Top Shelf honor.

[insert applause here]

Yes, I'm pleased/proud of the honor and good review. As an author I reserve the right to adore every good review and ignore every bad one.

And while we're in blatant self promotion mode - FTS is the second Del Rio Bay series book to get a Top Shelf honor. That's What's Up! also received one.

Good reviews, feel good.

But I've always said it's balanced reviews I appreciate most. Urban Reviews points out to parents, without spoilers, that the book contains mature content and that it wouldn't be unwise to read the book with their teen.

I don't disagree.

The Del Rio Bay series started out so innocent and mild - a girl seeks popularity. By Flipping The Script we're dealing with sexual orientation and cheating boyfriends.

Woah! Who changed the channel, right?

But I wouldn't have done it any differently. Mina and the clique are freshman, in So Not the Drama. They are innocent. Their drama is mild.

But anyone who has ever raised a teen, been near a teen, mentored a teen, known a teen knows that as those years go by, their drama becomes more complicated and involved. So my series reflects that.

Like Urban Reviews, I encourage - heck, even challenge parents to read the series with or behind their teen's back, your choice. If the thought of talking sex, drugs or rock and roll makes you squeamish, my books might give you enough false bravado to get through the discussion without passing out...until your teen's left the room, anyway.

My BEDA-cation

2009-05-04T11:32:00.001-04:00

So how did everyone do last month Beda'ing?

I came out of the gate incredibly strong. Even had a plan to make sure I blogged every day by straddling my own blog and The Brown Bookshelf blog.

But as I looked back over my entries, I realized I missed ten days. I'm not sure how the hell that happened because, I swear, it felt like I was blogging everyday. The good news is, it balanced out anyway.

According to my blog post count, it looks like I missed ten days (seriously, that has to be wrong!). BUT, I realized that I ended up doing double blog posts seven days, in April, and a triple post one day. So that's actually nine additional posts, which means technically I only missed ONE day.

Yes, only one. That is my story and I'm sticking to it!

Here's what I learned by blogging every day:

1) It's hard as hell! Sure, a few days I popped in here at the Ning and wrote a little rambling post about nothing. But on days where I was attempting to truly write an engaging or informative post, it took a lot of time.

2) Much like writing a novel, blogging requires staying "in the zone." I'd see potential for a blog in everything I heard, read or saw. And that's a good thing. But by doing that, it also meant I was using creative energy that maybe (probably) should have been used elsewhere.

3) I enjoy blogging. The last time I blogged regularly was early 2008. At that time, blogging was cathartic. A writing exercise that helped my juices flow. After my car accident (May 2008) blogging simply didn't fit into the scheme of things. I didn't think I missed it until BEDA.

4) Sometimes people enjoy being lemmings. I mean that in the most respectful way possible. I and about five hundred plus people jumped on board, without as much as blinking over what we were getting into. But it was a good thing. I feel like we emitted a lot of positive chi into the environment. But Maureen, know that I draw the line at jumping off cliffs (and learning to trapeze). I'll follow only so far.

5) As much as I enjoy blogging, it's about to take a dive on my priority list, again. Fact is, I'm working on a new manuscript that I'd love to get to my agent before she goes out on maternity leave. So I'm gathering every ounce of creative bandwidth I have to get that done. Blogging has to suffer. Though I'm less likely to totally abandon it now after having participated in BEDA.

So...until next year. I mean, this will be an annual thing, right, Maureen?

LMFAO

2009-04-22T12:27:00.003-04:00

Okay, now that I've stopped laughing long enough to actually write...

I had no idea what I was going to blog about today. BEDA is kicking my ass. I ran out of topics fifteen days ago. Do the math to see just how fugazied that made me.

Then I came across The Happy Nappy Bookseller's rant about African American books being left out of the mainstream.

Oh to be a poet. ::sigh::

Side note: I've already prepared a post about my thoughts about her rant for Friday's Brown Bookshelf blog.

And after cruising the HNB blogroll, I found this lovely gem:
The Society for Librarians who say "Motherfucker"

Yes!

I LOVE people who you don't expect to work blue to be so damned blue they're purple.

Thank you MOFO Library Society. You saved me from skipping this BEDA day, because I most definitely was gonna.

Practicing What I Preach

2009-04-20T10:11:00.003-04:00

I'm always shaking the diversity-in-reading pom-poms. But I'll confess I haven't always practiced what I preach.

Not to make excuses, but here's why...

The two years I was writing my series, I barely found time to read at all and I was literally unable to read YA. I tried but I'd over-analyze it, making it feel more like work than pleasure. When I had a free moment to read (which was very rare during this period)I stuck to comfort reading. Adult suspense, thrillers and horror that were so far from what I wrote, it was truly a vacation from writing.

I didn't diversify my reading much because I wanted a "sure thing" for the rare weekend I reserved for reading. Sort of like how you choose a restaurant when you're really hungry. When you're really hungry and you go out to eat, you select the restaurant that has items you know you like vs. taking a gamble on an untested place.

Gradually, I've gained more time to read and my ability to enjoy YA without analyzing it has returned. So I've decided it's time to step up the diversity in what I read - at least when it comes to YA.

I'll remain selfish in my adult reading, for now. I've got to feel like I still have pure comfort reading where I can be as un-PC as I want. So I have no plans to venture beyond the thriller/suspense/horror adult fiction or true crime non-fic.

But for YA, I'm making an active effort to read everything from realistic fic to paranormal. I just finished Winter Girls by Laurie Halse Anderson and Just Listen by Sarah Dessen. I'm currently reading Kendra by Coe Booth. (I tried checking out Shine On, Coconut Moon by Neesha Meminger and My Life as A Rhombus by Varian Johnson but they weren't in.)

The rest of my reading roster (must be finished by May 7th because they're lib books):

Haters by Melissa De La Cruz

The Bermudez Triangle by Maureen Johnson

There are a lot of great books out there and I plan on diving in. If you don't already,consider taking a diversity challenge and change up your reading habits. Diversity is broad - it can mean reading books about other cultures and races or simply reading outside of your usual comfort zone genre.

Do it. You won't regret it.

No Race Cards Here

2009-04-18T00:00:00.001-04:00

My writer bud, Neesha Meminger, re-introduced a word to my lexicon a few weeks ago as we watched American Idol, "cultural affiliator."

As Anoop Desai sang his heart out, Neesha, who is also of Indian descent wished him well. Just as she'd wished a few other Idol contestants she was rooting for. But rooting for Anoop was different. No matter what, she couldn't help but identify with him as another person of the same ethnic descent and for that one but ultimately complex bond, she wanted him to hit it out of the park. Get a home run for the "home team."

And she admitted as much with a very simple "at the risk of being a cultural affiliator..."

And I immediately thought - yes, that's me. That's what my work with The Brown Bookshelf is about. I just hadn't really thought about it in those terms. Or at least, I'd never vocalized them.

People of color are cultural affiliators for their race and ethnicities, not because we want to be but because we simply are. Every day we relate to people because of a million other things - from the same neighborhood, went to the same high school or college, share the same publisher, write in the same genre...but there always comes a time when we identify with someone simply because of a shared cultural background.

Yes, religion, political ties...all those count too. But those are things you can choose not to share. Race and ethnicity...not so much. Race you wear on the outside. You're affiliating even when you're not saying a word. So sometimes it feels like someone is pulling the race card if they verbalize their cultural aff.

Everytime I find myself wearing the Hi, My Name is the Black Writer hat I'm always a teeny bit uncomfortable.

Will I remember my notes from the last "Black" meeting? Will I get our talking points right?

And when those worries creep, I then get a teeny bit frustrated because were the playing field totally level, there'd be little need to slap on that name tag at all. Well...Hi, I'm The Black Writer is in the building...

On Friday, a few lists from the Oprah Book Club were circulating. And boy was I disappointed to see that her YA list was totally and utterly devoid of any African American authors.

Wait. Stop.

I don't feel nor have I ever felt that Oprah should wave the banner for all things African American. However, I am constantly amazed and disappointed when I see any pop culture list of "great" booksmoviestvshowsCDs and they don't list one, not ONE item by someone of color.

How are such vehicles consistently overpassed when these generic lists are being compiled?

So, my annoyance with the Oprah YA list being color-less has very little to do with her race. If the list had been compiled by Martha Stewart I would raise the same exact issue. Because I find it hard to believe that whoever put the list together hadn't heard of any books by a person of color or felt that there were none worthy.

Please, let's immediately get rid of the "none worthy" argument, because it's trash!

The Brown Bookshelf was started because when books for African American children are mentioned they tend to be by our trailblazers Myers, Draper, Flake. We wanted to make sure that readers knew there were more than three Black authors writing for children.

But when even the vanguards/award winners are overlooked, it's a sucker punch in my cultural affiliated gut.

*oof!*

Day of Silence

2009-04-17T09:47:00.000-04:00

There's been much speculation about whether my character, Michael, is gay. And readers have clamored for more Michael. But the heart of my series was about the girls. So it wasn't until this last book, Flipping The Script, that I put Michael center stage.

So is Michael gay?

Personally, I don't think the answer is as important as what unfolds as the other characters go about dealing with whether he is or not. So imagine my delight when I became aware of Day of Silence, a national initiative to bring attention to anti-LGBT name-calling, bullying and harassment in schools.

Serendipity, I love thee!

So, the book is out (no pun intended).

The question of Michael's sexuality answered.

And homophobia among those closest to us, visited.

The icing on the cake - I had an opportunity to participate in FiveAwesomeYAfans Day of Silence campaign. FiveAwesomeYAFans takes my breath away.

Active teens ROCK!!!!

Thanks guys!

Check it out:

I Rocked...and almost Dropped

2009-04-16T15:50:00.001-04:00

I've been angsting over it for weeks and it's finally here.

Rock the Drop!

Herewith lies my adventure:

Book 1 - A copy of That's What's Up! This is a no-brainer. The cover features two girls, one a cheerleader wearing a blue, gold and white uniform. So naturally I get Princess A to drop it somewhere at her high school, because as fate and my requesting my editor to find these specific colors would have it, her school colors match the cheer uniform on the cover.

I just hope she didn't chicken out and get into one of those sulky teen moods like - This is so stupid and stuff it at the bottom of her bag. If so, me, her and a little can of whup ass are gonna have a little talk.

*mwah, momma loves ya' babe*

Book 2 - Operation Middle School. Another copy of That's What's Up! I know a lot of little cheer chicks at this school and they'll be cheer chicks at the high school soon. So, yeah, subliminal uniform message at work again.

They're renovating the school, so there were construction vehicles everywhere and I feared for the books safety. I start to drop it at the front door but then decided to head to the Media Center - which was actually just a ginormous portable classroom.The two librarians were very interested to hear about Support Teen Literature Day. So I dropped it at one of the tables and wished the book luck.

Book 3 - Now it gets a little challenging. I was too gun shy to leave the book in a book hostile area. So I stuck to book-y places. I decide to change it up a bit and leave a copy of Flipping The Script in the lobby of the local lib.

Even though I literally dropped this one, I still went inside and spread the good word about the initiative. It was nice to see the big "National Library Week" banner up and the librarian who checked me out (oh yeah, forgot to mention I picked up a few books :-) loved the concept.

Book 4 - It's now that I realize I only printed out four bookplates instead of five. So I've got to make it good. It's between a middle and a high school. On one hand, the last three books are more geared to older readers. But I created this series wanting a group of middle schoolers to start it and grow with my characters. So the middle school wins out - even though it's much further from my house than the high school.

Luckily the day isn't as crappy as yesterday. So...the grounds of this school felt endless and I was unsure where to leave a fresh shiny copy of So Not The Drama. Finally, I decide on a nice ledge near the front door then I run like hell, except that's not very fast because I have Princess Bea with me and she's already sick of this game of drop the book and is wondering when lunch will be. So she's purposely lagging behind, questioning me.

If the school security guard had come chasing, she would have been on her own. But we make it back safely to the car.

Whew.

So, I have officially rocked the drop. I think next year, I'll do the same places plus add a few more. And although the last drop (and run) was exhilirating, I rather enjoyed singing the praises of the initiative - so I'll be stopping, dropping and yakking next year. That's way more fun.

P.S. I took pictures but they're refusing to load. Grr!!

BoB Rages on

2009-04-15T12:20:00.003-04:00

I'm enthralled by School Library Journal's Battle of the Books.

The all in fun competition has its critics. Some wish SLJ hadn't selected a battle between books that have already been knighted the "best." While others don't see the point in pitting books against one another.

Can't we all just get along and read ALL of them?

But critics are missing the point.

Unless you live under a rock or in Montana (sorry, Montana) you can't get away from talk of the lastest movie, TV show or what songs are rocking the Pop charts. But where can you find, honest and true, comprehensive insight into books, much less children's books?

No, don't answer that. Because you can find this information, but you must search for it. Always searching.

You won't find a slew of pop-up ads heralding most books, unless they've already been designated bestseller babies. You won't hear the radio DJ rhapsodizing about how she can't wait for the sequel to [insert the name of any book here].

And, nine and a half times out of ten, if you hear a book mentioned on the radio or within a television "all access" show, it's because it's been made into a movie. Books are the bastard child of the entertainment industry. Some are loathe to consider them entertainment at all.

So for SLJ to create a new avenue for people to get excited about books, yes even books that many people have already been excited about, is a good thing. Because it will likely produce copy cats who just may focus on the lesser-known books.

For those who don't know me, that's called foreshadowing because I'm already so on a mission to do a similiar book tourney for brown YA books. You heard it here first.

Hey, SLJ, imitation is the best form of flattery.

For now, let the battle continue.

Hooray for Kadir Nelson, making it to the next round!

Let's Chat

2009-04-14T08:52:00.002-04:00

Or at least we will be able to soon.

I'm making good on my promise to re-imagine PCH.com (hating that PCH.com is actually publishers clearing house ::sigh::) which of course is Paula Chase Hyman dot com. I'm testing free live chats, today, and believe I have a winner.

The internet really gets on my nerves sometimes. But today isn't one of them. Whenever there's decent free software out there, you've gotta love that. In a society where it's blasphemy not to have capitalistic drive, getting something free gives me a rush - like I'm getting away with something naughty, sticking it to the "man."

I wish there were more good free things on earth.

Are there any countries that have managed to implement a more balanced vibe of capitalism and...struggling not to use communism, even though that's obviously the accepted opposite?

It's not that I'm against capitalism. I sort of like money. But there are some who are really into the money is the root of all evil thing to the point they're anti-earning an income doing what you love.

I once talked to a woman who was a producer for a lit talk show. She said she wanted me on the show because I wasn't writing to make money.

Umm...I must certainly am. It's called my profession. If I don't make money, where will I live? How will I eat?

She went on to say that authors who talked about "targeting young readers" turned her off because writers shouldn't be "targeting" anything. Her theory - you write from the heart and smile until someone decides they want to read your work.

Umm...yeeeah.

Maybe it does sound crass and antiseptic to talk about targeting a certain reader. But who just goes off writing willy nilly without knowing who they're telling the story to/for?

In reality, I knew what she meant even if the way she presented it was a bit *out there*. There are some who write, whatever, specifically to turn a buck. I can't be mad at them. If you want to write to earn a living (novel concept) good luck. Writing is hardly a get rich quick, scheme.

But this woman was saying children's writers who were blatantly capitalistic offended her. She was a big time advocate for youth and the idea that young people were seen only as consumers offended her.

So I didn't totally disagree. My readers aren't dollar signs to me. Still, I'd like to think there's a road between starving artist and writing slut.

What this has to do with chatting, I can't be sure. But the chat feature is, as they say, coming soon.

Stay tuned.

Rock The Drop Panic

2009-04-11T11:57:00.002-04:00

Readergirlz Rock The Drop is Thursday.

Wait. What happened to all that time I had to mull over the cool ways I'd drop the books this year?

Blegh! Panic is setting in. I fear I'll either drop out or end up doing the lamest book drop ever.

There's the obvious route: dropping near libraries and schools.

There's the middle and high school down the street from my house, the one near my FTJ and a private school in the historic district.

But I wanted to be a bit more creative than that.

And what if I drop the books and then people trash them? What if someone picks it up and plays hacky sack or kick the can with it? And does anyone still play hacky sack, much less kick the can?!

Will the cop believe me that I'm doing it for a good cause when he stops me with a stern, "Ma'am, did you realize simply abandoning a book on public property is a misdemeanor?"

I love the idea of Rock The Drop. It's all very new age marketing like. But it's turned me into a blithering idiot incapable of making a simple decision: where to leave five books...without getting busted.

I had an easier time translating the directions to put up our last entertainment center, which was in all Korean.

*deep breaths*

Okay, I can do this.

I'm sure if the litter bug po-po come after me, Lorie Ann, Justina, Dia, Holly or Melissa will bail me out.

Right guys?

Guys?

The re-imagining of PCH

2009-04-10T14:00:00.004-04:00

I think I'm going to get a makeover.

I know, you're like - Oh you're far too young for that, P. You're perfect just the way you are. And I am *natch* I was talking about for my Clique Lounge page on the website.

I love my website. But I always had this vision for the Clique Lounge page that I never quite had the time to implement.

After a good talk with my old editor - ooh Stace, you know I don't mean old as in age I meant old as in...my first editor. Okay, hold on. *digging my foot out of my mouth*

So, I was talking to Stacey Barney, the lovely editor who acquired So Not the Drama for Kensington Books way back in the ice age of 2006 (better?) and she gave me some of her thoughts on cool web stuff. Made me look at my website through new eyes.

I always meant for The Clique Lounge page to be this like fun hang out type spot on the site. The challenge is that I have books to write and promo to do, appearances to make and blah, blah, yadda, yadda so keeping content fresh is like so whatever.

Don't you hate when your intent to do something really good and cool and meaningful is sidelined by life...and stuff?

Yeah, well that's what happened to the Clique Lounge page. So now, I'm determined to make it a more fun and interactive page because anytime I drop the ball on something it completely offends my competitive nature (yeah, even when it was my fault) and I feel the need to run faster and harder.

Sooooo, looks like I've got myself a project. Well, my webmaster does.

I'll keep you posted.

P'isms

2009-04-09T00:00:00.002-04:00

As we enter Day 9 of BEDA I've decided I'm no longer responsible for the quality of my entries. Fettucine Alfredo, this is hard!!!

This concludes the griping portion of this entry, we now take you back to your regularly scheduled blog entry, which is already in progress...

The very first review of So Not The Drama by Booklist said that it included "fast, funny colloquial talk." Colloquial is a fancy term for - slang only some people understand. It also serves to drive copy editor's crazy because in some cases the english is broken on purpose - going against every fiber of their being and training.

I thought it might be nice to bring folks up to speed on the P'isms they're likely to see in my books or hear from my mouth:

Dag - No, this does not stand for David Allen Grier. The first time he was called that on Chocolate News, I was like - Who are they talking to? Dag is the term I grew up saying in place of "dang" or "darn." Eventually, because I got tired of explaining it, I changed it, in my books, to the customary "dang," despite really disliking that term.

I know, right? - For some reason, my lovely editor always wanted to change this phrase to "I know that's right." Umm...no, just "I know, right?" The term itself is self-explanatory and it's used much like "I know that's right," but it's meant to be spoken in the form of a question. In other words, questioning the obvious/questioning something you agree with.

Example: Person 1: Man, that test was mad hard. Person 2: I know, right?

Shoot - This can be used in place of "dag." They mean the same thing and it also means that obviously I'm a little bit country when it comes to my colloquial talk. I myself am much more likely to say "shoot" or "dag," in place of "damn." I don't think I've ever said "darn" in a serious conversation.

Namp! - Far as I know, I made this word up. It just came to me one day when I was reacting to something I was fierecely against. It means "oh hell, no." Or for fans of Whitney Houston, "hell to da naw."

I also, to my husband's utter annoyance, have a habit of naturally shortening words. Perhaps I'm lazy. I don't know. But it's nothing for me to use:

vibe - as in someone's phone is "vibin" in place of vibrating

vom - short for vomiting, of course

Chipolts - my favorite mex fast food joint, Chipotle. And techinically that's not shorter at all, but ya' know.

Contrary to popular belief, I actually can have a conversation without colloquial talk, slang or abbreviations. In fact, to prove that my vocab is actually pretty extensive, I'm the reason my friends started the five-letter rule on weekends. No words over five letters is allowed or you get a penalty. I've had many a flag thrown on me just for talking the way I normally do.

So yeah, you guys can't have it both ways!

But short talk is infectious. Despite my husband's standard WTF look as he tries to deceipher what I'm saying (or the grocery list where I go mad with abbrevs), one day we were cooking and he goes "Okay well let me just get a spatch."

What's that now? A spatch?!

That would be a spatula!

Being the person that I am, prone to taking the high road, I immediately gave him hell for it.

18 Things...

2009-04-06T00:00:00.002-04:00

Jordan, the official BEDA Coordinator (ooh that sounds so professional), had a he-larious blog about 18 Things You Should Do Before You're 18 as dictated by Reese's Puffs cereal.

Yeah, because Reese's is a known expert on living life to its fullest.

Well it got me thinking. A most dangerous thing in most cases. I think I've lived a pretty full life. That doesn't mean I could die happy tomorrow, because there are plenty things I still want/need to do. Hear that Gods of Fate!

Anyway, but because Reese's is a renown source on how to grab life's brass ring, I thought I'd see just how full my life has been. I'm looking at the list below both in terms of whether I accomplished any of these things before 18, which full disclosure was some time ago, and if I've accomplished them since.

1. Ride the world's biggest roller coaster.

I was deathly afraid of roller coasters until I was about thirteen when my father forced me to ride one in Myrtle Beach. I was hooked, immediately, but riding the biggest by 18? No.

Kingsdominion and Six Flags were the closest parks, within driving distance, and while you risked whiplash on most of KD's rickety wooden coasters, none of them stood at record-breaking heights.

However, I did ride Six Flags' Superman coaster about five years ago, well beyond the 18 mark and it occurred to me that very day, as I rode up the ninety degree incline, that I was too old to be trying to conquer bigger and faster coasters.

Thanks Six Flags for curing me of my roller coaster obsession!

Verdict: Half a check for braving all of the coasters within my reach.

2. Bungee jump!

Yeah right! Look, bungee jumping looked stupid when it came out and it looks stupid now. Come to think of it, I don't even know if bungee jumping was invented when I was eighteen. It may have been something that came a few years after, when I was in college. Either way, didn't do it, never would do it, ain't gonna happen Reese's.

Verdict: Pffft!

3. Score the winning goal/basket

I love *watching* basketball. I adore ballers who look all sexy running up and down the court with their strong, muscular calves and broad shoulders. And I have seen many (some I even dated) make the winning basket. That's gotta count for something.

Verdict: Half a check for dating ballers with skill!

4. Win an award, trophy, or prize.

Check! I've won plenty, some even for stuff where I beat someone out for the award.

And, the streak continues. I got a Top Shelf award just last year...well, my book got it.

5. Learn an instrument.

Pah! My musical prowess is as strong as my balling skills. But wait, it didn't say master it. So yeah, okay, there was the recorder in the fourth grade. I learned that with eight more years to spare on the expiration.

Verdict: Woo friggin' who, I was a prodigy based on Reese's standards.

6. Go back stage at a gig.

Did you not read April 5th's blog? Oh crap, but wait, I was a sophomore in college, so I missed the requirement by one year. Bah!

Verdict: Half a check. Sorry I wasn't a road raging, hip hop groping groupie a year earlier, Reese's.

7. Meet your idol.

I'm not easily star struck. As a matter of fact, I define star differently than most. For as obsessed as I am with pop culture, I simply could give a rat's behind about celebrity. Therefore and thus I don't know that I've ever idolized anyone, to put it bluntly.

However, a few years ago I met Francine Pascal, creator of the Sweet Valley High and I was definitely giggly like a school girl because I'm a total book nerd. Does that count?

Verdict: Stuff it, Reese's. Not every teen has a perpetual crush on anyone the media says they should adore.

8. Play a part in your favorite TV show.

I don't even remember what my favorite TV show was, back then. But I do know I've never played in one so...

Verdict: Goose egg

9. Meet someone with your own name.

All the time. I've met plenty Paula's.

However, it wasn't until I went to register my domain name that I realized Paula Chase was taken by someone who is a folk singer. I didn't meet her but she is the reason my website is Paula Chase Hyman and not Paula Chase, like on my books.

Verdict: Thanks Reese's for an easy one. Way to throw us a bone and only half way through the list, no less.

10. Make a discovery.

Ummm, like something significant to mankind or like discovering that the path between my now husband (and then boyfriend's) house and the next cul-de-sac was primo for making out? That was a discovery and some might say a significant one.

Verdict: Gotta go with check here.

11. Get away with the perfect practical joke.

As in, like the perfect murder where no one knows you did it? What would be the point in that?! Half the beauty of a practical joke is that people know you were the one who pulled it.

Verdict: Reese's explain!

12. Own a pointless collection.

Err...ummm...I collected stamps once, but only ended up with a few. So it wasn't so much a collection as a few random stamps that couldn't be used to mail anything.

Verdict: Check!

13. Invent a word that makes it into the dictionary.

Oh that's so establishment. Look, I've invented plenty words or at least have found multiple uses of my own for existing words. I don't need Websters to validate me. And not for nothing, once the dictionary christens it, it loses its edge. RIP Bling!

Verdict: Check, for inventing "cutty sark" as a term for your best friend. Do I care that it was the name of a whiskey first? No..

14. Conquer your biggest fear.

Dying? I'm still working on that.

15. Raise money for charity.

Yup. Another easy one for me. Well, does it count that my parents actually did all the selling of tickets and wrapping paper and candy for the charities "I" supported?

Verdict: Half a check. Must split honors with the 'rents.

16. Pass your driving the first time.

Yeah, thanks for bringing up one of the single most humiliating experiences of my life, Reese's. No, no I did not pass my driving test the first time. Geez! And I ask you, why do you have to parallel park to get a license?! What does parallel parking have to do with driving?!

To this day I only parallel park if there is absolutely zero other alternative and that's pretty darned rare.

Verdict: No check and the bad memories of that disappointing day now linger. Great!

17. Complete a road trip coast to coast.

What am I, insane? I hate driving, which BTW has nothing to do with why I failed my driver's test. It has to do with commuting daily as an adult.

But prior to that, the longest drive I ever took was from Maryland to Alabama then to Orlando and it FELT like driving coast to coast.

Verdict: No check, but I'm not shedding tears over this one.

18. Reach 18 years of age.

And how does one reach the age of 18 prior to turning 18, Reese's? Huh? How?

Verdict: Still feel my life is quite fulfilled despite scoring only 8 before I was eighteen. Perhaps I need some Reese's life counseling. Off to buy a Reese cup, now. I hear it holds the secret to living forever.

Unbelievable but true...

2009-04-05T03:00:00.000-04:00

Life is stranger than fiction.

People who read certain passages in books and think "that could never happen," are usually wrong. When you read something in fiction that doesn't ring true, I'd venture to guess that ninety percent of the time it's because the author has dropped a ball or two in setting up the character so you'd believe HE or SHE would do or say that - because people, in real life, are capable of doing and saying just about anything.

So in honor of the odd, bizarre or just "hmm, that's interesting" I call this little blog segment unbelievable but true things that have happened to me.

I had breakfast with Flavor Flav.

I was a sorority chick in college. And no, there are very few suburban cliches that don't describe my upbringing - so there. One of my sorors had a cousin in Public Enemy who was the complete and utter shit, at that time.

She managed to hook the campus up with a Public Enemy performance. Now this was nothing short of manna falling from the sky because I went to mid-sized vanilla college in the boons of the Shenandoah Valley. Getting a Hip Hop group to perform there, much less one of the most popular and radical, was a feat this side of amazing.

Because of my connections, my friends and I were invited to the "green" room after the show.

#1 Groupies are real! There was so much jock riding that night, I immediately understood why guys in bands get so much tail.

#2 Some people try too hard to make conversation with "famous" people. I'm standing in a small circle of folks talking to Chuck D (and if you're too young to know PE outside of Flavor Flav, get up to speed here). This one chick gushes, "I really liked what you said about staying in school. That's such a powerful message."

And Chuck D looks at her with the straightest face and says, "I didn't say stay in school, I said get out that mother fucker and do something to make the world a better place."

Her face fell a little, but Chuck wasn't trying to embarrass her, he was merely clarifying. So the conversation went on without a missed beat.

#3 You need only be minorly connected to the band to get groupie love. Everybody from the dude who touched a spotlight down to the body guards were lining up their hook ups in the green room.

Anyway, after the deep, stay in/get the hell out of school topic was over, Flavor Flav interrupted and inquired about local eating places. I think his exact words were, Where does somebody get something to eat up in this mother fucker? Or something to that effect.

Oh #4, rappers tend to curse quite a bit. ::shrug::

Harrisonburg is a sleepy town, literally. At that time, everything except the Hardees and Waffle House closed by 9 p.m. So Waffle House it was.

I don't remember much about the dinner table conversation, that night. There's nothing especially profound or gossipy to share. We were just six hungry people crowded into the overrun Waffle House.

What I remember is that Flav was a really down-to-earth kind of guy. If stardom fed his ego, I couldn't tell from that one night. And years later when I saw him on Surreal Life tenderly helping Brigette Nelson when she got sick (or was she drunk? I don't recall) it rang true.

Although he became more and more outrageous on Flavor of Love, outrageous is as outrageous does. These shows want you to be caricatures and archetypes, so hey, he was getting his Reality TV on and I'm not mad.

I know a lot of people have looked at Flav and questioned how he ended up getting a dating show. But ya' know, first impressions are lasting ones. And he struck me as a nice, genuine guy with a crazy side. I've met more handsome guys who were also total douches. So, it balances in the end.

I used to have a photo of us that night but I gave it to my uncle who, at the time, was a huge PE fan. Anyone who knows me, knows I'm terrible at keeping mementos and such anyway.

But that was one of my celeb encounters. Breakfast with Flav. Yeah boyeee!

No I Didn't Skip A Day - BEDA 09

2009-04-04T07:48:00.000-04:00

For those wondering why there's been a sudden and significant increase in my blogging, I'm participating in Maureen Johnson's Blog Every Day in April challenge (BEDA 09).

Yes, I'm insane. But it's doing wonders for my writing state-of-mind.

And I didn't skip today, but I'm also blogging over at the BBS.

So go there now and read about the perks of being last vs. first.

Teenage Love Affair

2009-04-03T03:00:00.000-04:00

Sitting there watching Taking the Stage, I had an epiphany - one of the reasons I write YA is the teen love angle. And I could say it's because of the innocence of first love or something else goopy romantical. But I'd be lying.

I like the angsty, confusion and pure schizophrenia of teenage love.

Is there ever a time in a person's life where love is so new and awesome yet so horribly confusing?

Don't say your twenties, because you know damned well what you're doing in your twenties. Most of us just fight common sense dating men who are bad for us or wrongly assuming the dude who only calls you at three a.m. is doing so because he really enjoys "holding you."

*snort*

Once we experience love for the first few times, everything else after is working to stay one step ahead of the game. And believe it or not, I don't mean that in a cynical sense. You're literally trying not to get your heart stomped even as you make moves to hand it over to someone.

But teen love is very new and curious. Willing yet cautious, but cautious because it's new, not necessarily because you expect heartbreak. Quite the opposite, I believe.

I watched tonight's ep of Taking the Stage with my heart scrambling to make a run for it. The trailers indicated that Mia would be crushing on Tyler.

Mia, nooooo!! Are you not aware he's with Jasmine, the cutest little black ballerina since Jasmine Guy fluttered across the screen in It's A Different World in one of those filmy, short ballet skirt thingies?

Lord, don't these kids gossip at all in this school?!

I prayed against all good sense that the trailer was merely building something out of nothing. Then bam, Tyler goes to a party and makes out with Mia. This after he so cutely asked Jasmine what was up between them.

::sigh::

What I loved:

- Realizing that Jasmine's best friend caught him red-lipped locked with Mia, Tyler came clean to Jasmine and asked for her forgiveness.

- He didn't just say "My bad" which for all intended purposes is not the same as "I'm sorry." But he uttered more important words. "I messed up." There you go, take responsibility, little dude.

- Jasmine was heartbroken. Now normally that would be an odd thing to love. But it was so endearing. She really likes this guy and his infidelity (?) indiscretion (?) tore her up. The pure emotion of it touched me. And no, it doesn't take much to make me cry, but whatever.

- Jasmine did NOT blame Mia. It's not Mia she was committed to, it was Tyler and her anger or disappointment was directed squarely at him. Thank god! I'm sick to death of girls who blame the "other" girl. When this age old ignorant mentality dies I will be a happy woman. Just praying it's with my daughter's generation!

Okay, but here's what I didn't love so much:

- Next week's trailer indicates that Jasmine and Mia will have a confrontation. ::groan:: Ladies, ladies, ladies. If you must confront, do so with the guilty male species person involved so he's forced to stick to ONE story. Must I teach you guys everything?

- Mia (in the trailer) says that Tyler told her that he and Jasmine weren't a couple. ::double groan and a moan:: Tyler, did you do that? Dude, no player on earth has ever successfully played two women. One of them is going to leave you and I have faith in this new gen of young women...now it's more likely that both will leave you. Ladies, Tyler's a cutie but there are other fish in the proverbial sea.

This show is refreshing because, even though we all know reality tv is more like reality-ish, I heart a show that highlights kids who are purusing a dream. There's the usual high school drama (which, confidentially speaking I adore), but already these kids know what they want from life professionally speaking, so there's a new dimension to their awareness that's very inspiring.

Taking the Stage reminds me of my own books. I don't mean that in a braggy way. But the daily trials and tribs of teen life is what I chronicle in my fiction. So watching TTS is like watching one of my books come to life.

And even though I've only spent three episodes with the real life "characters" of the show, I feel like they're my kids just like my DRB babies. I'm rooting so hard for them to make good choices.

So TTS cast, here's Miss P's wisdom, from my finger tips to your eyes:

Love is a tough gig. Dating won't be much different from the audtions you'll go onto after graduation - you'll face a lot of rejection before you get the gig you love best. So hang in there!

*mwah*

A Teen-less Twitterville

2009-04-02T03:09:00.000-04:00

I love Twitter. But I can see why a lot of teens wouldn't.

My daughter tried it as did my neice, because they were curious about all the hype. But after a solid 24-hours, the declaration was "Twitter is boring."

Ahh, youth. So succint when they think something sucks.

Twitter isn't boring, but here's why I think they might think so:

Enough of their friends aren't on Twitter.

So they're left wandering Twitter town looking for people to follow. Well, they get enough of that follow crap in high school - follow directions, follow this crowd, don't follow that crowd, blah blah order and organization blah.

Facebook allows them to just be them in front of folks they already know. Twitter is like forcing them to attend a mixer and walk around the room introducing themselves to strangers, all night.

Twitter connects you with like-minded folks and/or keeps you updated on your favorite topics of interest.

In other words, it requires interaction.

Facebook, on the other hand, allows users to say "what's on their mind" *natch* then proceeds to let people start groups surrounding topics/issues near and dear to them. Which in reality would be a great way to network except folks are rarely active in FB groups. But us old fogeys are missing the point.

It's not about interacting with the group, it's just about joining it! If it were about interacting, how do you explain the ginormous amount of folk who joined Heath Ledger Should Win a Posthumous Oscar for The Joker group? There's nothing to discuss. If you disagree, just don't join the group.

The group itself is the statement and joining it shows how you're aligned.

Take that Twitter, with all your talking and linking and re-tweeting!

What? I've got to click through on stuff? Namp!

You upload a photo to Facebook, it's there for you and everyone even vaguely connected to your network to see. Put a tag on it and I think you can see FB photos from the space shuttle!

Twitter isn't as immediate. You've got to click through on a link to see photos or other web pages. Dude, that like takes time.

So I can see the disconnect for some young social networking fiends.

Now, now teens who tweet, don't go getting your panties in a bunch. I didn't say no teens tweet. And God forbid anyone should think Twitter un-hip simply because the 16 and under set hasn't christened it the shit. But, I think with Myspace, Facebook and Twitter reigning as the most recognizable social networks (this hour), it's safe to say the line has been drawn in the sand and folks are choosing sides.

Me, I straddle the fence.

Facebook is for the people IKRL. Ninety percent of the time my status is whatever lyric happens to run through my whirling mind. Yet it somehow still manages to sum up my state-of-mind, near perfectly. And with a quick comment here and there, I'm able to keep up with people I don't have enough time to see IRL. Ironic, I know. But I'm fine with that.

On the flip side, after a year of self-imposed social networking restriction (cut out all my blog reading and blogging and most of my forum participation in '08) I'm finally back in the YA loop, chatting with my writer friends. As an added perk, I get my pop culture/publishing news/entertainment gossip fix by following organizations and people in one spot vs. crusing the 'net all day hunting for it.

I'm sure the boss at my FTJ would be proud of my time management skills. See kids, Twitter is actually an organizational tool disguised as social networking.

Hmmm...that's probably not going to do much for increasing interest is it?

Oops.

BEDA Days

2009-04-01T03:00:00.000-04:00

So, Varian Johnson, Coe Booth and I were talking about blogging or rather our lack of blogging regularly. One could surmise, from our very random and incredibly unstastical focus group, that authors simply don't have time to blog. But then all you'd have to do is look over our shoulders and see that plenty of authors manage to blog, if not everyday, way more regularly than the three of us have done in the past year.

I have no idea how they do it or what they sacrifice to do it - I'm thinking cheese sandwiches for dinner and semi-clean laundry for the kiddies (no stains? no odor? It's clean). Regularly blogging authors feel free to drop me a line to your secret.

Or, maybe I'll discover it myself during this month-long blogging boot camp known as BEDA - Blog Every Day in April, started by Maureen Johnson.

It's that damned competitive streak in me that has me doing this. I'm like Fred Flinstone when he hears the word "bet."

Bet? Betbetbetbetbetbetbetbet!!!

I can make anything a competition. The fact that this came up, just as I'd already admitted how difficult it is for me to blog daily was an affront to my competitive nature.

You no say, P can't blog everyday. I'm in!!

The second I committed I realized it was probably a mistake.

I have a manuscript due to my agent by month's end. April contains several key, personal dates that can't be ignored for writing unless I want to end up single again. The weather's warming and who wants to be chained to the office - because, oh BTW my lap top is acting completely ignorant. And, I did mention I haven't blogged regularly since about...oh, I don't know early 2008?

But here I am, day one of what I have a feeling will be 30 days of pure blogging hell as I attempt to keep it fresh and witty and on days I can't, I'll still have to keep it informative as I'll alternate blogging over at The Brown Bookshelf to fill my quota.

So ride with me. And if I begin talking gibberish or if blog posts begin to resemble things like my grocery list, know that I gave it the ol' college try.

BEDA 2009. It's so on!

The official BEDA Pledge
I commit to this idea and am determined to create something EVERY DAY in April, including weekends. Every day, I will find something to say. I embrace the reality that there is always something to talk about, if you are willing to take the time to look for it.

I _Paula Chase Hyman_ promise to blog every day in April.

So it's written. So it shall be!

Release Day - Part Cinq

2009-03-31T03:00:00.000-04:00

That's part five for those french-challenged.

A rebel at heart, always, I refused - REFUSED to take Spanish simply because it was the number one growing language and would come in handy later. And yes, there are plenty of days at my FTJ where a spanish-speaking background would so come in handy and yes, the only time I really got to use my five years of French teaching in any extensive manner was last year when I chaperoned my daughter's french class trip to Quebec and I made the kids order Subway in French. But, what of it?

I...oh wait, I got a little off track here. For some reason, I tend to be a little defensive about having taken French instead of Spanish *raises eyebrow at mother who still questions my choice to learn a beautiful but "useless" language*

Hrmph, try telling that to my group who so eloquently ordered their subs in perfectly mangled Franglish every night.

No, today is not about French vs. Spanish or daughters vs. moms, it's about *trumpets blaring*

I promised myself I wouldn't get all choked up, especially after Don Tate teased me for revealing that I cried after writing a scene in Who You Wit'?

I refuse to let him make the case that YA writers are weepy, even if I sort of am.

But this is the last and final book in a series prompted by my goal to show a side of African American teen life that is not depicted enough in fiction. Subjective as "enough" may be, that's my story and I'm standing by it.

I've spent the last three years nurturing the teen characters in these books and now, it's all over. It'll be so weird not having a next book on the horizon.

Of course, I've had more time to get used to that reality than the readers. The Flipping The Script manuscript has been done and done since about October. And mentally, I've had to move on to new work.

Still, release day makes it all so real and final!

Flipping The Script focuses more on the boy characters - Michael, JZ, and to a lesser extent Raheem. And while I love me some happy endings...at the risk of being spoilerific, I let the story do what it do. Interpret that the way you'd like.

If you've not read the first four books ::la, la, la I can't hear you:: now's a good time to do so. Remember, if the earlier books, aren't on the shelves, ask and they'll be ordered.

Meanwhile, I'll keep writing to block out the inevitable silence that'll crash in on me a few months from now when I'm no longer able to create a new Release Day post.

*sniff*

YA Authors Tweetin'

2009-03-27T13:08:00.000-04:00

YA author, Mitali Perkins, in the great tradition of Follow Friday on Twitter, has taken on the task of listing YA authors on Twitter.

The list is 50 authors and growing. And quite an impressive list it is, I must say. All genres of Young Adult fiction and authors from the barely known to the best selling.

If you want to keep up with what these authors are doing, their writing process or ever had a desire to join in on live tweets on Idol night (Jo and Neesha, may I consider Tuesday's our standing date?) here's your chance.

Come on in, the water's fine.

The Un-clique "Clique" Series

2009-03-27T09:48:00.000-04:00

When my Del Rio Bay Clique series was announced in February 2006, Girls Life Magazine debuted it on their blog in one of those "check this book out," promos.

Love to Girls Life!!

For the week my book was the feature, I lurked on the blog and read the comments from readers - always a dangerous thing for an author, who at the time, was still trying to thicken her skin for criticism of any type.

The comments ranged from curiosity to outright hateration.

The curious ones were typically readers who already enjoyed "clique" books and saw my book as an opportunity to quench their thirst for more. While the haters either labeled my book a Gossip Girl/The Clique wannabe, surely it couldn't be as good as those, or ranted against the very existence of "clique" books.

You know how people say "no offense" before they're ready to say something that totally offends someone? Well no offense, but my books aren't and never were meant to be anything like Gossip Girl or The Clique novels. But because the series revolved around a clique that was hard to dispute until someone actually, ya' know, picked up the book and read it!

I've found myself defending cliques for many years, moreso since I started writing YA fiction.

To the public, cliques are evil, snotty groups that terrorize anyone in their paths that dare not move out of their way or think their way. In my books (based on my own high school circle of friends), the clique is a group of friends who share their most significant teen years growing and maturing together.

Just days away from the last of my series ready to drop the topic of the dangers of cliques has reared its head. I call that, an opportunity to educate!

A recent Ypulse article talks about the dangers of glamorizing cliques in answer to a New York Times article on real-life clique drama surrounding an elite private school in Connecticut.

Please, check out both articles. They're good reads. But in honor of the release of the last and final Del Rio Bay book, Flipping The Script, I must break out a good ol' list:

Why the DRB series is NOT your average Clique book

They're not rich be-yotch!

For the most part, clique novels revolve around privelged teens. One might get the impression that all rich kids are total snots, if these meant-for-entertainment outlets were taken too seriously. My novels follow six teens from varying economic backgrounds, though admittedly primarily solid middle class.

So Not The Drama is about the challenge of accepting others no matter their parents bank balance. Yes, there's a "mean" girl. God love my character Jessica. She's a misguided teen who covets the material. But she's not your average Queen Bee, more like a wannabe that somehow made it into the fold of her clique, who will do whatever it takes to stay there. But she's also a secondary character!

Purple labels aren't a character

I skimmed a The Clique book once and nearly got a rash thinking about coming face-to-face with the snitty main character. Within the first few paragraphs she'd dropped the name of more designer labels than I even knew existed.

I actually read three Gossip Girl books and enjoyed them. They're a fun read. Don't take that from them. But the wealth of the characters and what they wear are so dominate, at times, the label dropping makes the clothing seem as if it were a character.

Is fashion a component in my books? You betcha. Michael is an up and coming fashion designer...or at least he will be one day. But fashion is linked to Mina's quirky style and Michael's Tim Gun-like need to prevent fashion faux pas by his best friend. His ambitions go beyond simply being obsessed with wearing the right labels. His eye is on turnubg love of fashion into a paying passion.

My characters swim on the deep end of the pool

To say that all characters in clique novels are shallow is a generalization I won't be a part of. I've not read every clique novel, so I can't say. But, because the point of this list is to convince naysayers that they've got to look beyond the pouty teen models on the colorful covers, I've got to point out that there's more substance to my books than the average clique novel.

So Not The Drama touches on racism and prejudice. Don't Get It Twisted is about a teen love triangle and rising above humiliation. That's What's Up! is about the consequences of getting caught wrong. Who You Wit'? is about first times vs. abstaining from sex and Flipping The Script is about homophobia blowing up in your face.

Every "issue" is wrapped in light, teen vernacular and antics, because it's my job to make getting to the end voyeuristic and fun.

Clique isn't a four-letter word

There's no doubt, the biggest difference with my books is that the clique are the good guys. They're not the bullies. They're not foisting their views, desires and standards on anyone else at their school.

I mean for the reader to see themselves among the motley DRB crew - a group of teens who find themselves, not only bonding over their similiarities but also questioning how they can work around their differences.

In some instances they manage to work around the differences. And in others they don't. The consequences - be they good or bad- always impacts the overall circle of friendship. Because that's life.

I wrote the books to tell the story of this group of teenagers and how they survived high school, together. In my mind, their experiences are as real as any teenager in America because most teenagers in America aren't super rich or dirt poor. Most teenagers in America aren't one-dimensional jocks, geeks, goths or insert-stereotype-here, but rather multi-faceted teens who may be those things plus twenty other things in addition...and it's the popourri within that makes high school hard sometimes. They're trying to figure it out alongside their peers and now and then it makes for conflict and confrontation. But it also sometimes serves as a recipe for friendships that last a lifetime.

I didn't write the books to glorify or demonize cliques. I wanted to create an homage to my own clique for the wonderful memories we made together and I believe, I did. If my teen experiences and thus my books serve as the flip side to show cliques do not have to be sanctioned suburban gangs, hey, sign me up. I'll be the Poster Child all day long.

But based on the number of folks ready to quickly discard my books as just another set of clique books, it's safe to say my type of "clique" books are in the minority.

Notice, I can't stop putting clique in quotes whenever the word is anywhere near a reference to my book.

No offense, other clique books.

But don't take my word for it. Take the Un-clique Challenge and read them for yourself.

This has been a Public Service Announcement for P's mission to dispel myths about cliques.

That is all.

Rockin' The Drop This Year

2009-03-20T09:16:00.000-04:00

Last year, I was at the Romantic Times convention in Pittsburgh (yes, yes, Steeler fans we know. You won the Super Bowl. Geez). And though I suppose I could have Rocked The Drop right there in Steel City, I didn't feel comfortable doing it in a location unfamiliar to me.

And now that I think on it, Pittsburgh didn't have any one area teeming with people, much less teen readers. But I digress.

This year I am totally going to Rock The Drop with Readergirlz!

I'm not gonna lie, I feel very odd about simply "dropping" my book somewhere. I swear, I'm already fearing the strobe lights and siren as they pick me up for littering.

But I'm going to overcome my fear and drop a few books near teen friendly places in the area. I have a few in mind, but feel like I should truly strategize this.

I know, me overthink something? Pish, never.

But spread the word. The point of the event is to have teens and authors drop their favorite books. So anyone can do it.

Get to dropping.

I love this initiative. It would be cool to walk around my city and see random books lying in wait for a teen to find them. It's all very covert and sneaky in a book nerd kind of way.

Hey, if the title fits, I'm wearing it!

But, on April 16th if you see one of my DRB books lying around somewhere...it wasn't me.

Tweet Back!

2009-03-09T11:55:00.001-04:00

Okay, so I exiled myself from a fairly large portion of the blogosphere over the last ten months. It just became too much to blog, read other people's blogs, write, work, spend time with the fam blah blah blah.

I pulled back, dropped out of some of my blogging committments (miss ya' GCC) and attempted to reconnect to "real" life. But I'm ready to re-engage. Yes, it's true - P is back!

But blogging is so yesterday, people. I don't have time to write a whole page on what I'm doing. That takes way too much effort to remain cogent. So I'm now a Facebook/Twitter junkie. Blogging, I don't have time for, but especially since I can update from my phone, letting you know what floats through my mind at any given moment, I can do!

Why should I care what's floating through your mind, P? You're saying.

::shrug::

I have no idea. But I find most of the tweets quite enjoyable. Diddy's tweets keeps me rolling, while School Library Journal keeps me in the know. I've never been so equally connected to fluff and substance. Sweet!

Although I'm a little afraid of falling victim to short attention span syndrome, it's a hell of a lot easier keeping up with my friends, associates and various industry orgs via Twitter and FB than a full blog.

So, you know how I do. If you're down, follow me at www.twitter.com/paulachy.

I'll show you mine, if you show me yours...thoughts, that is!

What she said!

2009-02-18T10:23:00.000-05:00

I don't have time to write, lately.

Scratch that...time, I have. Motivation, maybe not so much. The last ten months have been nothing short of hell, for me, and while blogging about it could be cathartic, I'm too deep in the weeds to bother. When I find my way out - likely more by forcing my way out via a machete than being led out gently, I'll hop back into taking care of my novels. Blogging is a fun hobby that I've left behind to tend to life.

But now and then, I take a few minutes to read a blog or two. And Denene Millner, co-author of the Hotlanta teen series, took me to church with this post over at Elia Ulen's. It's from last year, but somehow, I figure if I asked Denene how she's feeling she probably still has days where this blog is quite relevant.

If anyone wants to know how I've felt about publishing and the life of an author/writer, lately...well, what Denene said is pretty much it.

This is Us

2009-02-02T09:35:00.001-05:00

One of the reasons The Cosby Show was such a huge breath of fresh air, back in the 80's, was because it assumed that Black folk lived that way - upper middle class, professional, college bound- instead of forcing a message down people's throats that doing those things were special.

We did it in the 80's. We did it in the 30's even among horrendous civil discord. And we do it now.

An exhibit at the National Museum of African American History and Culture Gallery reinforces that the African American experience has always been a diverse one. Photos* left by Addison Scurlock and his two sons depict high society, not as a unique perspective of Black life, but simply as one of the many.

It's Black History Month. The time of year when Black this and African American that is ballyed about in an effort to give "special" attention to the contributions African Americans have made. But the Scurlock exhibit and its photos dating back nearly eighty years reminds me - this is us and it's always been.

So can we finally, please Lord, put to rest entertainment that caters to the lowest common denominator of the Black experience?

Please!

The Scurlock exhibit runs through November 15, 2009.

*If you click the link, you may be required to register at Washinton Post.com to view the story and photos.

So this is what having a life is like...

2008-12-16T19:54:00.001-05:00

On Saturday, I did something I hadn't done in two years...cleaned my house.

I know you're like - Damn P!

No worries. The house had always gotten clean, just not by me.

For the last two years I've split my time between family, coaching and writing - oh and there's that little matter of my full-time job. So pardon me, but cleaning simply wasn't a priority. But with my Del Rio Bay series finished (the ARCs arrived Saturday as if to signal that this is the end for real) my mind is free and clear of voices and more importantly, I'm free of deadlines.

Right up until my publisher passed on my option book - sorry kiddies, Flipping The Script, will be me and Mina's swan song - I kept my head in writer's mode. Because there is a certain "place" you've got to stay to write books. It's an odd sort of limbo where you're partially of the real world and partially of the world you've created.

It's blissful and painful.

Liberating and frustrating.

Rejuvanating and exhausting.

Once they passed and I knew I didn't have to straddle two worlds, I let go.

I slept like a baby Friday night and since I didn't have to get up early and steal some writing time while the house was still quiet, I slept in while everyone else got up and about their day. Woo Friggin Hoo!

You have no idea what a big deal that was.

At some point, I'll let my mind go back to the hole. I'll climb back down and create a whole new cast of characters to play with. Probably sooner rather than later. Already the voices are whispering and faces and places are lingering in my head. I'm taking notes now and then, but I'm also ignoring some of it.

I know ignoring it can be dangerous. You never know when you might sleep on a mighty gem of an idea. But I've come to realize that the ideas truly worth pursuing never leave you alone.

For now...do you hear that? It's the sound of my sanity creeping its way back home.

I'll miss spending my nights with Mina and the clique. They're a big part of my heart. Like every good parent, I did the best I could to raise them right. But now they belong to the collective mind of my readers and my mind is free to be silent. I took a certain level of comfort in vacuuming and tidying up my abode, on Saturday. It actually got me thinking about this chick, sixteen years old - she's half Korean and half Black and she lives in this big old suburb with this best friend who...uh-oh.

In the name of literary unity

2008-11-21T17:04:00.000-05:00

I resigned my post as columnist at Blogging In Black over the summer due to extreme overload, but I still peek in now and again. And they've declared December, National Buy a Book By a Black Author and Give it To A White Person Month.

Consider it one more step toward racial harmony.

Lordy, if you take offense easily, don't bother to visit the site or comment on the initiative.

It's all very tongue in cheek, yet a real effort to help books written by African Americans to be seen as simply books not merely "black" books.

In a way, it's sort of like what we're doing at The Brown Bookshelf - simply trying to bring attention to these books so they may be mentioned alongside of mainstream books without the added identification of the author's race.

Yeah, yeah I know - by declaring this special month, race is automatically a focal point. But it's a complicated web from which none of us really knows how to emerge.

I think it's an interesting initiative and feel it's a good step to help authors outside of Toni Morrison, Gloria Naylor and even Terri McMillan gain a broader audience.

So check your bookshelf , see which titles' theme resonates beyond the color lines and gift it to a non-black friend of choice. :-)

Gen-Y's All Blue

2008-11-11T08:03:00.000-05:00

Apparently, if Gen-Y, that lovely generation right behind my own, were allowed to vote on their own without anyone else in the country having a say, this is what the map would have looked like druing last week's election:

Map courtesy of SurveyU

Though skewing quite a bit older than my reader base (Gen Y is considered those ages 18-29), I believe Gen-Y and those behind them (Gen-M? for mobile) are likely to be swing votes in a lot of future elections.

This year's map is nearly blued out. But the biggest mistake pundits will make is assuming these two generations and their opinions will remain static. They've proven time and again that static isn't in their vocabulary.

Coming of age post 9/11, post VA Tech shootings and smack dab in the middle of economic strife, Gen Y and Gen M - led by Gen X'ers who refused to be traditional when it came to choosing a professional track thanks in large part to an early 90's recession - are going to keep this country on its toes.

And I'll be the first to say amen. Keep us honest, young folks.

Spoken like a true YA author. It's no surprise that a lot of us are moderates and liberals - regardless of party affiliation. I mean for God's sake some of us write about teens and sex or drugs or drinking. ::Gasp::

But we know what some others, are just figuring out, you cannot box in young thinkers whose minds are whirring 100 mph. They'll zig when we think they'll zag and as soon as you're ready to write them off as a bunch of empty headed, ADD-myspace/facebook/youtube video addicted whipper snappers, they turn around and start talking politics.

Rock the vote? You bet they did and will!

Check out Ypulse's article for more on Gen Y's political proclivities.

Happy Feelings

2008-11-05T08:45:00.000-05:00

I'd be remiss if I didn't blog today. I'm not a particularly political creature. Political preference is a personal thing. But last night was so much more than politics.

The history of our country is not subjective. It was stolen from the people who discovered it and built on the backs of slave labor. We asked for other country's poor, huddled masses while we discriminated against existing citizens.

But last night represented another giant leap forward in our country's evolution. Race didn't matter. For once, race honestly didn't matter and that is a significant shift in our country's mindset.

Last night felt like last call for all the small-minded, bigoted folks who'd rather focus on a person's skin color than their values, morality, what's in their heart and their common experiences with others who call themselves Americans.

With a middle name like Hussein...

With his skin color dark enough to confirm that part of his bi-racial heritage was black...

Barack Obama won.

The world I write about in my books, where characters are friends regardless of race or background, is the world I grew up in. It's the world my daughters are growing up in. I realize there are places where that heterogenous vibe is non-existent, where people fight it...but maybe not for long.

Obama's own words sum up this election well - “young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Latino, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled — Americans who sent a message to the world that we have never been a collection of Red States and Blue States: we are, and always will be, the United States of America."

That's what many have been striving for all along.

As we continue to, I wish us happy feelings and no one can say it better than these dudes...

Straight, No Chaser - Kelly Parra

2008-11-03T11:00:00.000-05:00

Every now and then I realize how long I've been hanging out on the web with other writerly types. Today is one of those days.

Today's featured guest is Kelly Parra, a lady I met about three or four years ago over at the Teen Lit loop. Her debut, Graffiti Girl and my first book came out the same year.

It's nice to see us both still out there doing our writer thing. Her latest is Invisible Touch and I'm digging the cover, very Outer Limits!

But all work and no play makes for an insane writer. So Kelly, let us peek into your pop culture side.

Which cliché best describes you as an author?

KP: Oh man, would it sound conceited if I compared myself to great writers?? haha! I'll go with Eclectic Toni Morrison because I'm always writing something different!

Stereotypes

KP: I'm a total homebody. From my introvert personality to living in front of the computer, I could write the book on being a hermit and loving it! haha.

Using either television, film or literary references, give us the one or two sentence pitch you’d give film agents:

KP: Invisible Touch is Tru Calling meets an edgier Nancy Drew.

If you did an informercial for your book, who would be the perfect celeb to serve as the pitch guy or gal? And why?

KP: I answered this before and it was really hard. I chose Vanessa Hudgens as Kara, the girl who is sweet but has a inner rebellious side and a younger Milo Ventimiglia for Anthony who is a rebel on the outside. :)

Stalkerazzi

KP: Its a good thing I'm not a stalker or else Johnny Depp would be in trouble because I'd be telling him how great an actor he is every time I saw him!

A lot of times, authors start a book with one concept in mind
(especially us pantsters) and end up with a totally different story.
For your most current book tell us where you story started and ultimately ended.

KP: My book started out about a girl who had a gift and a secret and ended up about a girl who could finally share her secrets.

You’re on a desert island with a cell phone. Miraculously it has two bars and enough battery life to make one three minute call. Who do you call?

KP: Definitely my husband and kids. They are everything to me.

If someone were deserted on an island and came across your book washed ashore, what’s the one thing they’d take from it and want to share with the world once they got back to civilization?

KP: I'd hope they'd take with them an entertaining story with mystery, romance and family drama that made them "feel".

Which celebrity would you like to see put on a bus and dropped in the desert? And why?

KP: haha! Yikes, hmmm. I can't do it. I'd feel guilty if something bad happens to him or her in the future. I'm superstitious that way!
Thanks so much for having me on your blog, Paula!

Hey Look...

2008-11-01T13:38:00.000-04:00

The fourth book in my Del Rio Bay series is officially out today!

Man, what a difference a year, seven months, five manuscripts, oodles of edits, and way more promo than should be deemed legal can make.

In March 2007, when So Not the Drama came out, I was stalking the book like crazy, asking people to send me photos of it on the bookshelf and basically lost in a wave of debut book mania. Now, Who You Wit'? comes along and I'm like - Oh yeah...my book came out today.

Before you go thinking I'm all jaded and everything, it's not that. I'm burned out, yes. But so goes the life of a writer who also has a full-time job (many of us), a household to run and a family to nurture. Sleep is a foreign word to us and so burn-out is par for the course.

There are definitely things I feel more learned about. And I'd be lying if I didn't admit that there are parts of publishing (the business side) that has "matured" me faster than I think occurs in most professions. But I still love writing. I'm still in awe when the screen goes from blank to a full story alive with dialogue and description. I still marvel at my edited manuscript wondering who in heck wrote all that neat stuff on the page. And, I still think there's no cooler profession on earth than to tell stories.

But as a series writer, I have the, luxury, as it were, to slow down a bit. After all, the books are out there as a group and they sort of help one another to sell. There was a period when That's What's Up! came out where I could actually see how its sales were impacting the sales of So Not the Drama. Neat to witness.

I have no doubt Who You Wit'? will do the same.

For now, I'm going old school with my promo - I'll be doing a few things here and there, but for the most part I'm going to let the stories speak for themselves. And for those who care, Who You Wit'? got a decent review from Kirkus. Sort of blew me away because many times it seems Kirkus is the toughest reviewer of them all, seemingly hard on books because they can be.

It wasn't a starred review but they didn't throw tomatoes at it either. I'll take it!

If you've been following the series, run don't walk to get the latest book. My girls are growing up and dealing with the hard core realities of dating. Check 'em out.

Straight, No Chaser - Stacy DeKeyser

2008-10-31T04:48:00.000-04:00

Is anyone else in awe that it's the end of October?!

This was the fastest October on record for me. I'm not even sure what I've done with my month, I mean besides fall behind on my GCC touring.

Next up is a suspense novel, Jump The Cracks, which I find to be an intriguing title. It's about a young girl who steps in when she suspects child neglect. This is especially interesting to me in light of a case, locally, where a mother abused one of her adopted children and killed two others she was fostering. If that's not a case of slipping through the cracks of our system, nothing is. So Stacey's book touched a nerve with me about our nation's flawed child protective system.

Whew, I know, so heavy on a Friday. So let me lighten it up... Stacy, let's talk pop culture!

Which cliché best describes you as an author?

SD: How about the Strunk-and-White A-student? Honestly, The Elements of Style is one of my bibles. My writing style is very straightforward, which has caused some people to comment that it's "nothing special." As if I just dashed off a 200-page book in a few hours. I wish!! In fact, I work hard to make my prose kind of disappear so that the story and characters come to the forefront. Other readers have called my books very "readable," which I take as high praise.

Stereotypes

SD: I'm a total Mom. From my "Good morning, sweetie pie!" to insisting on kisses even if my kids' friends are looking, I could write the book on being a Mom.

Using either television, film or literary references, give us the one or two sentence pitch you'd give film agents:

SD: Jump the Cracks is a great suspense thriller -- The Fugitive for teens!

If you did an informercial for your book, who would be the perfect celeb to serve as the pitch guy or gal? And why?

SD: I'd find a two-year-old boy who could jump up and down and yell "READ! BOOK! NOW!"

Stalkerazzi

SD: It's a good thing I'm not a stalker or else Sarah Jessica Parker would be in trouble because I'd constantly bug her about how she gets her hair to look so good every day (I have curly hair too!)

A lot of times, authors start a book with one concept in mind (especially us pantsters) and end up with a totally different story. For your most current book tell us where you story started and ultimately ended.

SD: My current book (which has no title) started out about a modern-day girl who has visions of the Virgin Mary. It ended up being about family secrets and first love and learning that things are not always as they seem.

You're on a desert island with a cell phone. Miraculously it has two bars and enough battery life to make one three minute call. Who do you call?

SD: I'd call my husband xoxox!

If someone were deserted on an island and came across your book washed ashore, what's the one thing they'd take from it and want to share with the world once they got back to civilization?

SD: They might think about how doing the "right" thing isn't always the easiest thing, or even the most sensible thing. They'd put themselves in Victoria's shoes and wonder what they'd do if they were thrust into her situation.

Which celebrity would you like to see put on a bus and dropped in the desert? And why?

SD: Michael Vick. Those poor dogs. (Actually, anyone who abuses children or animals should be dumped in the desert.)

Sit on your duffs and read!

2008-10-23T09:12:00.000-04:00

I've never been ashamed to admit that I watch quite a bit of trashy TV. I'm unapologetic because my mind is a maelstrom of things to do, books to write, people to see, books to promote, elections to follow etc... I don't want to think about a damned thing when I sit to watch television. And thanks to the amount of mindless stuff out there, mission accomplished!

I've always wondered when us book people would get our day in the sun on the web or television. I mean where are the shows where people form alliances to get a book deal? Huh? Where are those?

Sorry. Anyway, our time has arrived.

Dave Farrow is supporting literacy in our schools by living in a store front on Fifth Ave. throughout October and reading. Yes, reading!

The catch is - he's reading from a Sony Reader. For every page turn, Sony will provide an ebook library of 100 ebook Classics to a school or educational institution.

Sweet!

Check out the Reading Revolution Youtube page and see how you can join the cause and get an ebook library donated to your school of choice.

Warning: The video never loaded for me from the Sony page. But you can see Dave's video blogs at the Youtube page.

Hmmmm....

2008-10-15T10:07:00.000-04:00

Is it evil that this song makes me smile?

We Still Got It!

2008-10-02T08:45:00.000-04:00

Back in the day, middle school years, me and my girl Nick started this rap group, Luscious Ladies.

It was the 80's people. Everybody was in a rap group or a crew break dancing.

She was Luscious D and I was Lively P. Her cousin Tiff was in it and another chick...but I forget their rap names.

We were serious, even battled this other group of chicks at a school dance. I don't remember who won. I think I blacked out!

There comes a time when you've gotta hang up your mic, though. So I left the rap game behind after that infamous battle. Then about nine months ago, the hubster decides he wants to remix his Suck My Toe single.

The song only has one line. But I'm like - A remix? Okay, let me get a piece of that.

So I sit down and write two bars of a lyric and we go at it. When I finished he looked at me like - Damn, did you just write that?

Hey, baby, I'm a writer. This is what I do!

So he asked for a few minutes so he could step up his game. And of course, the camera phone comes out to record it for posterity.

I thought Princess A had long deleted the thing from her phone. But you know kids, digital is their life. She keeps digital clutter like my mom still has stories I wrote in the first grade.

So here you go, one night only, P and Ready Teddy, The Suck My Toe Remix.

Def Jam, don't bother calling with a deal. Writing YA is where my heart is.

Haters...don't hate 'cause I still got it.

Straight, No Chaser...Linda Gerber

2008-09-24T09:45:00.001-04:00

Thanks to the internet, I have a lot of writer friends. Most I've never actually met in person. But my girl, Gerb, is among the few I've met. We hung out at Mid-Winter...wow, could it really be that was nearly three years ago?! I guess it was.

She's a good friend who invites me to her cyber launches, even though I'm the perpetual fashionably late gal. Now it's my turn to host her on my blog.

Her Death By... series is a hoot and her latest, Death by Latte sounds like what's going to happen to me if I don't kick this Starbucks habit and fast!

Welcome, Gerb. Domo, for hanging out!

Which cliché best describes you as an author?

LG: Romance Lite Meg Cabot - with a gun

Complete this sentence: I'm a total….from my BLANK to my BLANK, I could write the book on being BLANK

LG: I'm a total procrastinator. From last-minute weight loss plans to frantic writing deadlines, I could write the book on putting things off until the last moment.

Using either television, film or literary references, give us the one or two sentence pitch you'd give film agents:

LG: My Death By series is Veronica Mars meets 24.

If you did an informercial for your book, who would be the perfect celeb to serve as the pitch guy or gal? And why?

LG: Emma Roberts's about the same age as Aphra and she played a sleuth in Nancy Drew.

Complete this sentence: It's a good thing I'm not a stalker or else INSERT NAME OF CELEB MINOR OR MAJOR would be in trouble because

LG: It's a good thing I'm not a stalker or else Tommy O'Haver would be in trouble because I would hunt him down and make him explain how he could ruin a fabulous book like Ella Enchanted by making it into such an asinine movie.

A lot of times, authors start a book with one concept in mind (especially us pantsters) and end up with a totally different story. For your most current book tell us where you story started and ultimately ended.

LG: I had taken a cruise up the inner passage in Alaska and imagined a chase scene down the river in the Denali National Park , but when I started Aphra out in Seattle , she just sort of stayed there. I did get my river scene, but it takes place in the Cascades instead.

You're on a desert island with a cell phone. Miraculously it has two bars and enough battery life to make one three minute call. Who do you call?

LG: Verizon Wireless, but only if they bring all their network guys like on TV. One of them has got to know a way off the island.

TLC Says: LMAO!!

Which celebrity would you like to see put on a bus and dropped in the desert? And why?

LG: Ha! I've never thought about that… maybe Paris Hilton because she's annoying.

TLC Says: So what, I'm the only person who thinks about this constantly? Calling Dr. Phil!

VMA's Not Hot

2008-09-08T08:23:00.000-04:00

As a pop cultist, I've had long love affairs with various shows, even when it's become obvious they've jumped the shark. Last year VMA's disappointed to levels that astounded from the what were they thinking unshown performances to the agressive directive to get fans to also watch the show online. Yeah, because we pay $160 a month for cable to have an online experience.

This year, I returned in hopes they redeemed themselves. That in their effort to remain ahead of the curve, MTV would realize that, even without overhauling, the VMAs have always been ahead of the curve in comparison to other award shows, simply because it remained true to the original formula - lots of performances, spontaneous moments likely elicited from the attendees alcohol excess and excited musicians aware that the Moonman's prestige was tied to its counterculture symbolism.

Last night was as boring and tame as a Grammy's show. OMG, have the VMAs become the Grammys?

Maybe, because MTV doesn't seem to get get it. This year's VMA performances were over produced. True to its Hollywood location, the performances were heavy on sound stage theatrics instead of live band purities.

The Jonas Brothers looked like they were performing on Sesame Street. T.I. nearly got lost in his performance because there were so many extras and rooms to go through. I guess Rihanna's opening was okay, though admiteddly I'm a bit tired of her.

This year's show, as last year's, once again rewarded the studio audience with side performances, that the viewing audiences received only peeks of.

Hey MTV - why on earth wouldn't the viewers like to see full-on performances by Katy Perry who has one of the hottest songs out right now? Or Lupe Fiasco who is changing hip hop with his skater boy style and lyrics? I don't get it.

The biggest 'huh?!' for me was MTV pushing Britany Spears as if she were truly significant any longer beyond her ability to generate tab headlines. Three? Three Moonmen?!

Video of the year?!

Is it 1998 or 2008?

I'm not sure why the media thinks we still care about Britany. Don't get me wrong, if she makes a hot song right now I'll nod to it. But until she does, I could care less about what she's doing and at this point in her career I'm baffled at three awards - not with pop music competition as tight as it is.

Not sure if the open bar at these shows have been banned, but they need to be brought back. The audience looked as bored as I felt. As they did last year. At least if they were sauced, they'd make some excitement.

Last, I'm not a fan of having it in Hollywood. Leave Hollywood to the film and TV stars. New York is music! Apparently when things are held in Hollywood the production becomes more about, well production - about making a spectacle of red carpet entrances and making use of Hollywood sound stages.

When it's in New York, the limited space means it has to be about what happens inside the show. It has to be about music, not celebrities. It has to be about live performances, not lip synching.

I felt like I was looking at a very bad, low-budget version of The Grammy's last night. And that could be an insult to the Grammy's as they've tried their best in the last few years to get a little swag.

MTV, you've tried it for two years and it hasn't worked. When bloggers are using words like "tame" to describe the show, that's a problem.

Go back to the original formula:
New York + Open bar+Performances focused on music not props+Courting today's hottest artists (not yesterday's) = Hot VMAs.

Go back about three years (oh, but not the year it was in South Beach) and simply repeat.

And just in case my pop culture addiction isn't enough cred to make my opinion important to the ever-youthful network, I watched the VMAs with my 14 year old and she willingly went to bed in the middle of the show.

Proof enough?!

Straight, No Chaser - Melissa Walker

2008-09-05T07:16:00.000-04:00

It's Friday. It's Friday. It's Fr-fr-fr-fr-FRIDAY!!!

OMG, can you tell I'm excited that it's Friday?! And it's been a short week, yet still I'm ecstatic.

Tonight is high school football night. Princess A is a JV cheerleader. Yes, I'm quite the proud hen having my baby chick follow in my cheer foot steps. All the cheer haters watch your mouths! Cheerleaders will cut you.

And tomorrow, the U plays the Florida Gators. Go 'Canes!!!

I'm just full of football spirit and ready to watch some hot young guys trounce on other hot young guys. Wooh! NFL spirit...meh, catch me later in the season, closer to Super Bowl.

Speaking of hot people, today's feature is Melissa Walker's Violet in Private . Now you know your girl P is totally addicted to shows about fashion, including the ultimate crack, America's Next Top Model. So I am loving, loving the cover of the first book in the series Violet on the Runway and am not hating the model pose on the latest. And even though Melissa froze like a new model on the catwalk during the Desert Island questions, she was a good sport and played along for the rest.

The buzz on the Violet series:

"Take a peek into a model's life with this hip novel!"
--Teen Magazine

"I couldn't put it down! You're kind of rooting for her to make it big, and kind of rooting for her to just go home before the biz ruins her."
--Glamour

The runway, err, floor is your's Melissa:

Which cliché best describes you as an author?

MW: With the Violet books, I'd say Candace Bushnell Zeitgeist

Complete this sentence: I’m a total….from my BLANK to my BLANK, I could write the book on being BLANK

MW: I'm a total small-town-girl-in-awe-of-NYC. From my missteps with high heels in subway grates to my search for the perfect signature cocktail, I could write the book on being a little fish in a big pond (with big dreams).

Pop Culture References

MW: The Violet series is America 's Next Top Model meets Judy Blume.

If you did an informercial for your book, who would be the perfect celeb to serve as the pitch guy or gal? And why?

MW: Blake Lively from GOSSIP GIRL and SISTERHOOD OF THE TRAVELING PANTS would be the perfect Violet pitch girl--she's both down-to-earth real and intensely fabulous.

Stalkerazzi

MW: It's a good thing I'm not a stalker or else Tim Riggins from FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS would be in trouble because I'd follow him around just watching those full lips and soulful eyes brood.

History Lesson

MW: My book started out about a real girl in a glamorous and dark world ended up swirling around a romance between Violet and her best friend from home. He was just too great to resist!

Those Crazy Desert Island Questions

MW: I am HORRIBLE at desert island questions. I think I just can't face choices like that. I'm sorry!

TCL Says: No problem, Melissa. Though the chance to throw an annoying celeb in the middle of nowhere is usually too hard for most to pass up. LOL

The Great Debate

2008-08-28T10:31:00.000-04:00

Fall is around the corner and my creative side sent me a note saying - we need a new blog feature to kick off the "new" year. Now, now, I know I haven't been blogging much. You're like - new feature? You haven't even posted a regular blog since...hmm...yeah it's been awhile.

So sue me, I have books to write, kids to raise, a husband to feed and oh yeah, a full-time job to attend.

Still, I got to wondering...do great minds really think alike? Or is that just a bunch of bull crapola?

We're about to find out because, I present to you:

The Great Debate

I challenge fellow writers to a pop culture debate, right here.

Those who dare talk pop culture with P must bring their trivial knowledge to the fore, because this writer here, has a lot of mindless information locked away in her skull.

If you're looking for political, religious or serious debates, head on over to CNN.com. Here at the JORT it's all about music, movies, TV, books and pop fluff that makes the world a more fun place to live.

Stay tuned. This oughta be good.

Straight, No Chaser - Stephanie Kuehnert

2008-08-27T07:01:00.000-04:00

Everyone knows I'm a huge music fan. My Del Rio Bay chapters all start with a song lyric that best describes the mood or action within. So I'm stoked when fellow music fanatics are also fellow sisters of the pen.

Stephanie Kuehnert's, I wanna be your Joey Ramone screams rock from the title and cover.

Ya know, I'm somewhat of a rock diva myself...when the fam and I play Rockband. I'm lead vocals for our band, Random Violence. Rock and Roll baby!

Stephanie, dish with us:

Which cliché best describes you as an author?

SK: Out of these three, Toni Morrison. I aspire most to be like Toni. She has a definitive style, but each story is so unique. I want to do that.

Complete this sentence: I'm a total….from my BLANK to my BLANK, I could write the book on being BLANK

SK: I'm a totally music junkie. From my collection of almost a thousand albums including a buttload of rare vinyl to my ears that ring at random from going to shows once a week for so many years, I could write the book on living for music… Oh wait, I did :)

Using either television, film or literary references, give us the one or two sentence pitch you'd give film agents:

SK: Okay, I am absolutely atrocious at these. I really could not come up with anything that worked because it would be a rock n roll story + a mother/daughter story, but it's a female rock story and there really aren't many of those and it's a different spin on the mother/daughter relationship because they have been separated since Emily was an infant... So I'm going to rebel against this and use music instead. I would say it's a Distillers song (loud angry girl punk for those who don't know them, which is the Emily part of the book) meets a Tori Amos song (you know, very introspective and emotionally nuanced, which is the Louisa part of the book). Hope this is permissible!

TLC says: Absolutely. Music tells a story just like books. Rock on, read on!

If you did an informercial for your book, who would be the perfect celeb to serve as the pitch guy or gal? And why?

SK: Patti Smith, one of the original queens of punk rock is the perfect woman to pitch IWBYJR. She's 100% pure rock 'n' roll and the idol of both my main character Emily and her mother Louisa.

Complete this sentence: It's a good thing I'm not a stalker or else INSERT NAME OF CELEB MINOR OR MAJOR would be in trouble because

SK: It's a good thing I'm not a stalker or else Courtney Love would be in trouble because I'd be following her to the studio so I could hear her new songs. Same goes for Brody Dalle.

A lot of times, authors start a book with one concept in mind (especially us pantsters) and end up with a totally different story. For your most current book tell us where you story started and ultimately ended.

SK: My book started out about tough girl rock goddess and ended up about girl rock goddess with a secret vulnerable streak because of her missing mother.

You're on a desert island with a cell phone. Miraculously it has two bars and enough battery life to make one three minute call. Who do you call?

SK: Well, it's a hard choice between my boyfriend and my mom. But I'm gonna go with boyfriend because my mom would probably freak out whereas my boyfriend would figure out how to rescue me. He could also tell me if my cats were doing ok. But he'd be instructed to call my mom and best friend immediately.

If someone were deserted on an island and came across your book washed ashore, what's the one thing they'd take from it and want to share with the world once they got back to civilization?
SK: That women are the future of rock 'n' roll and that is always better to follow your dreams than to run from your nightmares.

Which celebrity would you like to see put on a bus and dropped in the desert? And why?

SK: Paris Hilton. She's famous for being rich and obnoxious and she started the trend of people being famous for being rich and obnoxious. I can't stand that. What happened to having actual talent? And I think it sends a horrible message especially to girls, that money and looks are all that matter and you should act dumb if it gets you want you want. ARGH!

Straight, No Chaser - Megan Kelley Hall

2008-08-18T09:56:00.000-04:00

I love suspense novels. I think it's because they're the direct opposite of what I write, so I really get into them without being distracted. I've not jumped onto the Twilight/Breaking Dawn bandwagon - I have a serious aversion to being mainstream - though the concept of dark, gothic tales appeal to me. So what's a girl to do for a little YA suspense fix?

In steps Megan Kelley Hall with Sisters of Misery complete with snotty cliques and a good old fashion what the heck just happened here mystery.

Have I found a new companion to my Scott Westerfeld obsession? Mayhaps so.

Megan dishes with us on the pop culture tip...

Which cliché best describes you as an author?

MKH: Even though people have been describing me as this dark, gothic writer, I’m actually a pretty upbeat, easy-going, non-threatening girl. I think people expect me to be this dark brooding type, but I’m actually more silly than scary.

Complete this sentence: I’m a total….from my BLANK to my BLANK, I could write the book on being BLANK

MKH: Creative spirit… from my house crammed with books and craft/jewelry making supplies to the fact that my daughter never wears matched clothing and often goes to school in a tutu over jeans and her various collection of tiaras and the fact that I’m always late, scatter-brained and living in a state of chaos, my husband could write the book on living with a free-spirited, creative, chaotic, procrastinating, chronically late for everything writer.

Using either television, film or literary references, give us the one or two sentence pitch you’d give film agents:

MKH: A Modern Day Witch Hunt is Ignited When “Mean Girls” Meets “Practical Magic”.

If you did an informercial for your book, who would be the perfect celeb to serve as the pitch guy or gal? And why?

MKH: Angelina Jolie because everything she does seems to attract the world’s attention. I think if she even used my book as a booster seat for her kid, it would become a bestseller. She would also make a great Rebecca in the movie version, though she might be a bit young to play the mother of a teenaged girl. She’s got the wild, ethereal, free-spirited thing going for her though.

MKH: Complete this sentence: It’s a good thing I’m not a stalker or else JOHNNY DEPP would be in trouble because I’ve been obsessed with him since the 21 Jump Street days.

A lot of times, authors start a book with one concept in mind (especially us pantsters) and end up with a totally different story. For your most current book tell us where you story started and ultimately ended.

MKH: My book started out about a thirty-plus year old woman returning to her hometown to find out the mystery of her cousin’s disappearance that happened over a decade ago and ended up about a teenager looking into her cousin’s disappearance that recently happened.

You’re on a desert island with a cell phone. Miraculously it has two bars and enough battery life to make one three minute call. Who do you call?

MKH: My daughter, just to hear her voice and tell her that her mommy is okay.

If someone were deserted on an island and came across your book washed ashore, what’s the one thing they’d take from it and want to share with the world once they got back to civilization?

MKH: Don’t go to New England. They have crazy, mean girls who live there. (just kidding!)

TLC Says: Megan, Stephen King had me avoiding the New England states long ago. LOL

Which celebrity would you like to see put on a bus and dropped in the desert? And why?

MKH: Every reality show “star”. I saw a girl from one of the Real World shows in an airport and she had her dark sunglasses on and was trying to avoid the paparazzi and fans that existed only in her mind.

TLC: LMAO at anyone on Real World thinking they're a celeb. Whew, that was a good one!!!

Pardon my Passion

2008-07-30T07:45:00.001-04:00

I don't like being told to "calm down."

I cry during mushy commercials or TV scenes.

When I get angry, I'm sort of like the Incredible Hulk going from 0 to 60.

When I love someone, they're my favorite person. When I don't, I'd prefer if they moved to Mars.

It's hard to make "favorite" lists because my favorites tend to change by mood.

When I fly off the handle, I let everyone know exactly why I'm pissed - but, when the anger passes I mend bridges* and am ready to talk reason.

*FYI I'm not a feeling hurter. Like angry drunks, feeling hurters say things in anger they don't mean. Passionites (like that? I just made it up) only say exactly what they mean. No regrets!

Yes, my name's P and I'm a passionate person. A passionite, if you will.

I think my kind are misunderstood. Some people view us as over zealous or label us over re-actors. Neither are true.

For the record, I don't get people who aren't passionate. I mean, granted, I tend to be passionate about everything. I won't do it, if I'm not passionate about it. And boy, when I'm not passionate about something the quality of my work suffers.

I also lack the ability to be phony with people. If I don't like you, it's on my face. It's in my body language.

So yeah, I'm an extreme example. But everyone should have a passion for something. Those of you who haven't found at least one thing to be passionate about, quickly go find yourself now. Everyone else, stay and let's discuss the best way to handle the passionite in your life. They'll thank you (passionately, of course) for taking the time to learn to cope:

Rule #1
When your passionite comes to you, lost to all reason, ranting about how INSERT NAME/JOB or FRENEMY got on their last nerve, listen, nod and interject a short, but meaningful blurb of commiseration.

Some good choices are: "Man, he's always been a bastard, hasn't he?" or "Yeah that job never did respect your expertise. Screw 'em." or "Hey, everyone needs a bitchy friend - she's yours."

Rule #2
During above rant, if you're unable to muster commiseration remain silent. And for God's sake never ever ever ever utter "calm down."

The words "calm down" to a passionite are like flame to dynamite. It only enflames our passion more, except now instead of being mad at NAME/JOB or FRENEMY we're mad at you!

Rule #3
Roll with their mania.

Passionites tend to get very excited about opportunities to a point it may seem like manic/depression. I assure you it's not. But a passionite sees the value and merit to most things - disregarding the challenges that may pop up later. Give them time to get over the excitement before pointing out the hurdles. They may even agree with you. If nothing else, they'll appreciate that you waited for the right time vs. pissing on their parade.

Rule #4
Never question their dedication or excitement for something.

Look, just because you can express why you enjoy doing certain things or why you feel a certain way doesn't mean everyone can. Some people go through life "feeling" their way through. They don't always know why they feel something...they just do! It sets us up for quite a few emotional highs and lows, but hey who are we to question the great Creator on why they made some of us this way?

Rule #5
Never take a passionites rant personally.

Recall I said, passionites go through life "feeling" things around them...sort of like how a fly can taste through their legs. Okay eww, that's gross, but similiar nonetheless. In the "moment" they may express exactly how they feel in politically incorrect terminology (Beware feeling hurters, they are not passionate, just mean! True passionites never make someone feel bad just to get their feelings off their chest. Seriously. )

True, the reality of a passionites feelings may seem harsh but it's how they feel at that time...they could actually feel differently once they settle.

Rule #6
Never hold a rant against a passionite.

Remember, we tend to love hard and hate hard. But we're rarely grudge holders. So if you are and you're trying to be our friend/partner...umm, that's gonna be a tough road. Many of us know how to rant without hurting feelings. I'm not saying forgive them for anything they utter. Just saying, blaming someone for feeling the way they do is like getting mad at someone for breathing.

Now you're armed with how to deal with that person, who just yesterday you may have thought needed Prozac. Nah, they probably just need a hug.

Go forth and make peace with the passionite in your life.

Straight, No Chaser - Lara Zeises

2008-07-28T07:23:00.000-04:00

Love or fame? Your career or your Boo? Which would you choose?

While some actually sacrifice one over the other, those who don't mind being insane simply try to balance them. Still, it's a choice that many of us have had to face at some point. So may as well start them out young dealing with it.

Lara Zeises, writing as her alter ego Lola Douglas, tackles the issue in More Confessions of a Hollywood Starlet, the sequel to True Confessions of a Hollywood Starlet. In More Confessions a seventeen year old must choose between life in the glam lane or love in a small town.

Whoa. See, I'd totally choose Hollywood...well, unless he was really, really, really...really hot!

Cool side note: True Confessions of a Hollywood Starlet was made into a Lifetime movie, premiering August 9th. Go forth and read then watch.

Hey, Lara dish with us!

Clichés

Which cliché best describes you as an author?

LZ: I’m the Kathy Griffin of the YA genre. I’m totally a D-list author clawing my way up the ladder.

TLC Says: Aren't we all, Lara. Aren't we all.

Stereotypes

Complete this sentence: I’m a total….from my BLANK to my BLANK, I could write the book on being BLANK

LZ: I’m a total television addict … From my obsessive love of competitive reality TV shows to my appreciation for quality scripted fare like FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS and THE OFFICE, I could write the book on what to watch and when.

Pop Culture References

Using either television, film or literary references, give us the one or two sentence pitch you’d give film agents:

LZ: My Starlet books are the Princess Diaries series meets LITTLE GIRL LOST (Drew Barrymore’s autobiography about her struggle with addiction)

If you did an informercial for your book, who would be the perfect celeb to serve as the pitch guy or gal? And why?

LZ: Lindsay Lohan, naturally. Most readers think she’s who I based Morgan Carter on anyway, even though I use Drew Barrymore quotes at the beginning of each installment. The thing is, this generation only knows Drew as one of Charlie’s Angels. They don’t remember the Just Say No spokeskid having to confess to a drug and alcohol addiction.

Stalkerazzi

Complete this sentence: It’s a good thing I’m not a stalker or else INSERT NAME OF CELEB MINOR OR MAJOR would be in trouble because

LZ: It’s a good thing I’m not a stalker or else Alton Brown would be in trouble, because I am obsessed with GOOD EATS and I just want him to be my friend. And to cook for me. But mostly to be my friend.

History Lesson

A lot of times, authors start a book with one concept in mind (especially us pantsters) and end up with a totally different story. For your most current book tell us where you story started and ultimately ended.

LZ: My book started out with me re-imaging Drew Barrymore’s life and ended up mirroring Lindsay Lohan’s.

Those crazy desert Island Questions

You’re on a desert island with a cell phone. Miraculously it has two bars and enough battery life to make one three minute call. Who do you call?

LZ: I should probably say my fiancé, but the truth is he’s kind of scatterbrained and would totally botch a rescue mission. And I couldn’t call my mom, because she’d burn all three minutes talking about herself before I could disclose my location. So I’m going to go with my best friend Candace, because she’s saved my ass more times than I care to count, and she wouldn’t stop until she brought me home safely. She’s really the best friend I’ve ever had.

If someone were deserted on an island and came across your book washed ashore, what’s the one thing they’d take from it and want to share with the world once they got back to civilization?

LZ: “You should be careful when using pop culture references in your writing – they date rather quickly!”

Which celebrity would you like to see put on a bus and dropped in the desert? And why?

LZ: The Olsen twins. Because then I’d never have to see their fake, duck-bill pouty smiles ever again

Feel Like Chatting?

2008-07-23T13:18:00.000-04:00

I'm facilitating a Myspace Forum chat for The Brown Bookshelf at 9 p.m. eastern, Wednesday the 23rd (un-huh, tonight).

It could be me just me, Jenn Laughren of Books Inc./Not Your Mother's Book Club and Jaz Vincent, owner of RealEyes Bookstore shooting the gip about our triumphs and troubles as small fish in the big pond of publishing. But I sure hope others show up.

Here's the deal - hard to believe, but, Borders is having issues with their sales "model" and may be closing down a few stores. Hell, in a world where Starbucks are closing stores anything is possible!

Amazon is warring with POD companies and self-published authors about their right to only sell books they publish.

Libraries are cutting hours and budgets. RIP Sunday hours at my local branch!

People are having to choose between gassing up their vehicle and buying a gallon of milk.

So, the time is ripe to talk about independent bookstores and authors and our place in the world of book retail sales.

I see it like this - we've reached the ceiling on just how tough times are going to get or we're about to. Either way, the paradigm on how we spend money and what we spend it on is constantly changing. Where books are concerned, they remain one of the least inexpensive entertainment outlets - so despite those who think the economy will be a hinderence to book sales, I'm hoping the opposite.

Chat with Jenn and Jaz, tonight, to find out how indie bookstores and customers and authors can work together to keep themselves afloat.

That's What's Up! is Top Shelf

2008-07-14T08:10:00.001-04:00

At least at Urban Reviews.

That's What's Up has snagged a five-star, Top Shelf, review from Urban-reviews, the site's elite honor. An honor also bestowed upon Don't Get It Twisted.

Urban Reviews predominately reviews adult fiction - heads up to those who click through. But I applaud their efforts to review YA, to guide adult readers to what's out there for the young reader.

Now, normally I don't make a lot of noise about reviews. Let's face it, they're totally subjective. And if I had gotten a bad one I wouldn't have bothered to mention it. I'd drown myself in ice cream and self-pity until the realization that it was simply one person's opinon sank in.

However, I always love when reviewers "get" what I'm aiming for in my books. Urban Reviews has reviewed all of the Del Rio Bay series books so far and they get it. While their reviews cover what each book is about, they also speak to the greater good of the whole i.e. they often shout out the fact that it's a series. By doing that they're helping the many adult readers of their site understand DRB may be a good choice for the young reader in their lives.

My fave quote of the review is the part signaling they get it:
"I truly love how Paula has meshed suburbia and the hood and came up with books that all teens can relate to."

Inclusiveness was my goal when I wrote it. I'm not mad at hearing that someone or a few someones believe I hit the mark.

Check out the rest of the review.

Yes, Virginia, Teens Do Read

2008-07-09T08:16:00.000-04:00

YA authors face an inherent challenge that few others do - reaching their readers.

See, the writer of a children's book has parents purchasing for the reader. Adult readers are willingly led to new books by their desire to read, reviews or simply their thirst for fresh literary adventures. Plus, they have their own cheese to buy books.

Readers age 12 and up are a different creature. They're newly independent - so having mom or dad pick out a book is a no-no. While there is no limit to what's available out there for them, I'm not convinced reviews or even advertising really draws them in.

I'd bet my salary that many teens pick up a book because of the cover and purchase based on cover copy and a quick skim - reviews be damned.

There's also that little hitch, they typically need to have mom and dad along with them for a purchase.

On top of that there's the increase in homework and required reading that sometimes turns them off from reading for pleasure all together.

All that in mind, I'm so over the laments of - teens don't read. If I had a dollar for every time I heard it I'd be well-off, if not rolling in dough. A hobby of mine is proving the notion wrong, because I have this whole 'being right makes me happy' thing going on.

And last night, the teen participants at my Rosedale library visit didn't disappoint. Shout out to the members of God's Reading Stars Foundation for stopping in.

As usual, the librarian and I went through the obligatory conversation about our uncertainty of who, if anyone, would show up. After all, this wasn't just a typical "How I became a writer" presentation. I was offering a writing workshop for teens.

Everyone knows, teens don't read, much less want to show up in the middle of their summer, at 7 p.m. and have to WRITE something. What are we, nuts?

Crazy like foxes, apparently. Because nine - yes NINE young readers showed up. And not just wandered in because the Lib made an announcement, but they had all come out to the branch specificially for my workshop.

What?!

Who were these exotic creatures who would forsake chatting online, texting their buds and watching re-runs of Baldwin Hills to come hear some oldish chick talk about books?

Note my sarcasm.

The reality is - teens read! Some of them read a lot. Even if they have a crap load of required reading to get through, avid teen readers read whenever they can get their hands on a book.

So let's stop assuming teens don't read. Let's not give teens the impression that since "they don't read" it's okay to prioritize every other activity and entertainment outlet over books. Let's stop prematurely lamenting the death of literature's importance.

I have no idea if teens read less than they did 5, 10 or 30 years ago. Probably. But we've lost a lot of "traditional" ways since the industrial revolution - ya know? Regardless of any "decline" in the number of overall readers, there are teens who read and teens who don't.

Hmm...sort of like adult readers.

My focus, selfishly, are on teens who read - by choice, not force. I applaud the authors who write books for reluctant readers, because converting non-readers into readers is a win-win for the author and the reader. But my personal focus has always been to create work for young people who already know that the best escape is sinking yourself into a good book.

The young ladies who showed up for last night's event are the exact type of readers I write for. They were excited to talk books. They didn't groan when I made it clear they would be trying their hand at several writing exercises. And no one went deer-in-the-headlights on me when I asked them to read their paragraph aloud.

It was the most fun I'd had at a visit since my stop at the Cockeysville branch during Teen Read Week, where more than 15 teens showed up to talk books and writing. Okay and maybe the snacks didn't hurt to draw them in. But I digress!

Point is, there's a large population of teen readers out there. Every time we vocalize this belief that teens don't read, we undermine those who not only love to read, but manage to enjoy a lot of other hobbies and activities in addition.

Choosing to read doesn't doom you to a life of being solely a book worm. You can be a reader and still be outdoorsy, athletic, a social butterfly or whatever.

The teen reader is not extinct. Nor are they alien pod people. They're ordinary teens who love a good tale and they're among us. Here's to 'em, they're my favorite kind of folk!

Get Your Summer Reading On

2008-07-01T13:50:00.000-04:00

OMG, this is the kind of contest that would have put me in a straight happy coma when I was a teen.

Teen Reads is running their Beach Bag Contest. Five lucky readers will bag 10 hot summer reads. And no, I'm not saying these books are hot simply because That's What's Up! is one of the ten books. Okay, maybe I am.

But the fact remains, this is a pretty cool contest. And you have until July 31st to enter. Simply read the excerpts of the books and say which one you'd like to read the most and why.

Now, I'm not trying to put words in your mouth. But you could choose That's What's Up! because:

- No one runs into more eye-raising drama than Mina and the clique

- Mina and Brian get a little *ahem* closer in this book

- Kelly and Angel do something that could cost them 20 to life...if you know what I mean.

- Calling all cheerleaders and people who have always been curious about cheerleaders- if you ever wanted a book that gave a good example of life at a National competition, well here you go.

- The green cover with the chick giving the death stare is cooly high, for real.

- You've already read So Not The Drama and Don't Get it Twisted...what else would you do with your summer but read the next book in line?

And finally,

- I don't write these books for my health, I write them so you can enjoy 'em man.

Check out the contest and enter.

Happy Release Day To Me!

2008-07-01T08:14:00.000-04:00

Yup, it's release day for That's What's Up!

Nope, release days don't get any more exciting with each new book. It's still one of the most ant-climatic days in the life of an author because there's so little fan fare involved.

I mean where's the paparazzi outside my door?

Where's the grand book signing where a line of anxious and screaming fans await my sig on their book?

Don't know. But it still feels great to know that a new Del Rio Bay book is out there for readers.

I remember how I excited I used to get when my favorite series book came out. Heck, I still get that excited each time Stephen King releases a new one. For King and a limited number of other authors I'm one of those - hot off the presses buyers. So the thought that there are DRB series readers out there doing the same is actually pretty exciting.

And people are already talking.

Angelia Menchan of APOOO Books says:
"Ms. Chase has once again brought us the group from Del Rio Bay High school and it is as much fun as ever to see what they are up to and the lessons they will learn. "

And Julie Prince of Teens Read Too says:
"Things don't get much more "now" than the happenings in this clique of books... I'll be looking for the next book as soon as it hits shelves, because I know Paula Chase will be keeping it real! "

But don't take their word for it. Check out the latest in my Del Rio Bay series for yourself. If you like stories about frenemies and forbidden relationships, That's What's Up! is your cuppa tea.

Straight, No Chaser - Jenny O'Connell

2008-06-30T12:14:00.000-04:00

A-blogging I will go.

A-blogging I will go.

Hi-Ho the merrio, a-blogging I willlll goooooooo!

And I'm starting off with Jenny O'Connell's newest - make that TWO newest, Local Girls and Rich Boys.

Mmm...rich boys. Sorry, I dazed off for a second. So Jenny, let's chat:

TCL: Which cliché best describes you as an author?

JOC: Brooding Hemingway type

TCL: Complete this sentence: I’m a total….from my BLANK to my BLANK, I could write the book on being BLANK

JOC: I’m a total walking contradiction, from the bruises on my arms from playing field hockey every week to the three inch Calvin Klein stiletto heels and suits I wear to work, I could write the book on having dual personalities.

TCL: Using either television, film or literary references, give us the one or two sentence pitch you’d give film agents:

JOC: I guess I’d have to say LOCAL GIRLS and RICH BOYS are Juno meets Gossip Girl – stories that offer a glimpse into the lives of girls dealing with the confusion life throws at them while living in a place that feels like a ferry ride and a world away from everything until it’s transformed during the summer. Each book is told in first person from the point of view of a single character who was introduced vaguely in the book before, so it’s like a spotlight on one person with the island as the stage.

If you did an informercial for your book, who would be the perfect celeb to serve as the pitch guy or gal? And why?

JOC: I am terrible at questions like this because I am not a movie person, it would have to be a teen girl who’s down to earth, smart and just struggling with the stuff every girl goes through.

TCL: Complete this sentence: It’s a good thing I’m not a stalker or else INSERT NAME OF CELEB MINOR OR MAJOR would be in trouble because

JOC: Or else Matt Damon would be in trouble because I’d kidnap him and take him to a Red Sox game so we could share a couple of beers and laugh our asses off.

TCL: A lot of times, authors start a book with one concept in mind (especially us pantsters) and end up with a totally different story. For your most current book tell us where you story started and ultimately ended.

JOC: My books started out about summertime on an island and ended up about situations and problems that could happen anywhere.

TCL: You’re on a desert island with a cell phone. Miraculously it has two bars and enough battery life to make one three minute call. Who do you call?

JOC: My husband and kids, who happen to also have my best friends over for a party so we all get to talk.

TCL: If someone were deserted on an island and came across your book washed ashore, what’s the one thing they’d take from it and want to share with the world once they got back to civilization?

JOC: That they could totally relate to the characters and what they were going through.

Which celebrity would you like to see put on a bus and dropped in the desert? And why?

JOC: There are so many, I don’t think I could choose – could we make it a train instead so I could fit more people?

Sure, Jen. All aboard! Next stop, the Mojave Desert.

Me and Tiger On the Mend

2008-06-20T08:26:00.001-04:00

I watched The U.S. Open over the weekend. I tend to watch the majors because Tiger Woods plays in them and he's interesting to watch.

I'm not sure everyone has been converted yet, but I'm definitely a believer that even someone who isn't an avid golf fan can enjoy/appreciate what Tiger Woods does on the course and has done for the sport of golf.

Rocco Mediate gave Tiger a hell of a run. It was truly an entertaining sports event.

But one of the reasons I was into the Open more then ever was Tiger's injury. He was playing on a bad knee. Without an ounce of overplaying the injury, he winced, buckled and grimaced through 91 friggin' holes of golf.

Ninety-one!!

And I so knew what he was going through. Not literally, of course. The only golf I play is mini-golf on vacation.

But my family and I were in a terrible car accident at the end of May. It's why I haven't been blogging. It's why I haven't been doing much of anything lately. The accident busted up my knee pretty bad and has stripped a great deal of my independence and mobility.

At the heart of things, I'm an athlete. I ran track and cheered competitively and most recently coached competitive cheerleading. I don't exactly understand terms like "can't," or "too hard" or "pain" unless it's accompained by the words "no pain, no gain."

So my recovery has been tough or rather the fact that I'm unable to do so many normal, everyday things, has been tough.

For weeks I couldn't do anything but lie prone in my family room because I couldn't walk on the leg without bursting into tears. Let me tell you, there's nothing like needing help to use the toilet.

Good times. Good times.

Then when I was able to get up and around I was on crutches. I also used a cane for awhile.

I'm finally walking on the leg now - no extra artificial appendages needed. Maybe hobbling is a better term because I still can't bend the knee. Still, I'm way more mobile than I was a few weeks ago. Hell, more mobile than I was a few days ago.

It's not quite as bad as starting from scratch and learning to walk all over again. I mean, I still have one perfectly healthy leg. But I'm an active, mobile person. So my getting around now compared to what I'm used to doing is 180 degrees different.

It takes me longer to get up and down stairs. Have you ever taken one stair at a time?

Good lord, it takes forever.

Straight-legging every step I take means even my four-year old walks faster than me.

I can't drive and working out or taking a simple walk around my neighborhood is out of the question.

Some days my leg aches so bad I wish I had a massage therapist on-call. Other days the wound itches so bad and I attack it so furiously even Princess Bea is like, "Mommy stop scratching." But I do what I can. And each time I feel the leg is ready for a new milestone, I give it a whirl.

Seriously, I nearly threw a party the first time I was able to take the stairs. I hadn't seen the upstairs of my house in fifteen days.

My heart did a little dance the first time I was able to bend over far enough to shave my legs. Woo-hoo!

And standing up in the shower? Well, I think the whole house celebrated that day. Twenty plus days without a shower...fughedabowid.

So yeah, when I saw Tiger power through his injury then heard that he'd be out the rest of the season, I felt a connection.

No doubt his leg was screaming at him by Monday night. Nothing a few codeine can't help, I'm certain. I know of the codeine haze!

I'm sure it'll kill him inside a little to watch the British Open and PGA championships from the sidelines. Princess A is about to start conditioning for cheer try-outs and I had an entire boot camp ready - one I was going to do alongside her. Now, not so much.

I think Tiger will find the toughest part of the recovery is the mental acknowledgement of his physical limitation. I wish him well with that. It's trickier than the physical mending and can take you out of your game completely if you let it.

I've never met a situation that I didn't think I could conquer. So it's humbling when your mind tells your body to do something it simply can't...especially something as simple as "knee...bend!"

Already the golf analysts are speculating on how ready Tiger will be next season. Pre-mature doesn't begin to describe that conversation. Yet, no doubt Tiger is already thinking about how to hasten his recovery and he hasn't even had the surgery yet.

I've been told my total recovery will take six months, total. That means I won't be 100% until January!

I try not to think about that. I'm taking it day-by-day and doing what I can to return to life as "normal" as soon as I can. So I have no doubt, once Tiger's body is physically able he'll be back out there pounding away at those courses.

Me and him both.

Straight, No Chaser...Sara Hantz

2008-05-19T07:39:00.000-04:00

What happens when all your worlds collide?

Come on, don't tell me I'm the only one who has multiple worlds spinning on their own axis'?!

Well, since mid-April my FTJ, writing, mommy and coach worlds all collided resulting in an implosion that meant I had to take a vacation from a few things. Guess which world lost?

If you said writing, you're the winn-ah.

As much as I'm proud of my multi-tasking, of late I'm seriously contemplating a lifestyle change. Speaking of which, today's GCC spotlight is Sara Hantz and The Second Virginity of Suzy Green.

I love the concept - teen girl is total non-comformist until experiencing a great tragedy so she decides to change course in her life, which is all good until a part of her old world clashes with her new.

OMG, that's so me, right now.

Sara let's chat...

Stereotypes

Complete this sentence: I’m a total….from my BLANK to my BLANK, I could write the book on being BLANK

SH: I’m a total TV junkie, from my obsession with American Idol to the reruns of Friends I watch over and over. I could write the book on being a TVaholic

Pop Culture References

Using either television, film or literary references, give us the one or two sentence pitch you’d give film agents:

SH: My The Second Virginity of Suzy Green is OC meets Gilmore Girls

If you did an informercial for your book, who would be the perfect celeb to serve as the pitch guy or gal? And why?

SH: Rachel Bilson from OC is the perfect pitch gal. She’s the same age and is like Suzy in many ways.

Stalkerazzi

Complete this sentence: It’s a good thing I’m not a stalker or else INSERT NAME OF CELEB MINOR OR MAJOR would be in trouble because

SH: It’s a good thing I’m not a stalker or else Johnny Depp would be in trouble because I’d be in France watching his every move.

History Lesson

A lot of times, authors start a book with one concept in mind (especially us pantsters) and end up with a totally different story. For your most current book tell us where you story started and ultimately ended.

SH: My book started out about a girl on a mission to lose her virginity and ended up about a girl who denied she had lost it.

Those crazy desert Island Questions

You’re on a desert island with a cell phone. Miraculously it has two bars and enough battery life to make one three minute call. Who do you call?

SH: My children – 1.5 mins with each.

If someone were deserted on an island and came across your book washed ashore, what’s the one thing they’d take from it and want to share with the world once they got back to civilization?

SH: That it’s ok to be who you are, and you shouldn’t try to be someone you’re not.

Which celebrity would you like to see put on a bus and dropped in the desert? And why?

SH: Johnny Depp….. perfect eye candy and a fun, smart guy

Straight, No Chaser...Megan Crane

2008-04-28T15:15:00.000-04:00

If time were money I'd be broke and homeless. I'm forever running at a time deficit and because of that I'm on a constant quest to re-evaluate. This go round, my inner psychologist tells me that I need to seriously eliminate internet activities that don't result in 1) relieving stress or 2) increased awareness to my books.

Starting in June, I'm likely going to be dropping a few things from my plate based on that criteria. But no worries GCC, you will not be among them.

Granted, I'm two weeks behind in my GCC profiles. But according to my statcounter, GCC delivers on #2 of my internet musts.

I was fortunate enough to meet founder, Karin Gillispie during the RT Convention. Sweet lady and a fellow, take a book to dinner chick.

So Karin and GCC peers, forgive me for falling behind on my girlfriend duties. With no further adieu, I present to you Megan Crane giving us a little inside scoop.

Umm...does anyone have a craving to go out lip gloss shopping after looking at Megan's cover?

Meet you at Sephora!

Clichés

MC: "Brooding Hemingway type" is what I aspire to, definitely. I'd love to swan about Paris , complaining about my friends who happen to be great literary luminaries, sipping absinthe and practicing feeling jaded. I do this in my apartment all the time.

Stereotypes

MC: I’m a total hypochondriac. From my belief that each freckle is a time bomb trying to kill me to my obsession with WebMD, I could write the book on how to misdiagnose yourself and cause the most needless stress.

Pop Culture References

MC: Names My Sisters Call Me is Brothers & Sisters meets Ally McBeal. (And hey! Both involve Calista!)

MC: Oprah Winfrey is the perfect pitch person for my book. I just have this feeling that viewers would connect with her, and buy my book as a result. Call me crazy.

Note: Oh sure, if you like that sort of thing, being a bestseller and all! ::snicker::

Stalkerazzi

MC: It’s a good thing I’m not a stalker or else Gerard Butler would be in trouble because... (I already kind of stalk him. Is that wrong? I feel that his beauty is one of the great wonders of the world, so that makes him a tourist attraction, practically.)

Note: Hmm...sounds like a pretty good defense to me. I'll have to remember it if I'm ever caught stalking Reggie Bush's abs!

History Lesson

MC: My book started out about first love vs. true love and ended up about self-love, family love, and what sisters can sometimes do to each other.

Those crazy desert Island Questions

You’re on a desert island with a cell phone. Miraculously it has two bars and enough battery life to make one three minute call. Who do you call?

MC: My husband. I like him a lot, but more important, he's kind of a ninja, so I'd expect him to come rescue me.

If someone were deserted on an island and came across your book washed ashore, what’s the one thing they’d take from it and want to share with the world once they got back to civilization?

MC: Its surprising insights into the human condition. (Why not??)

Which celebrity would you like to see put on a bus and dropped in the desert? And why?

MC: Angelina Jolie. She could live off of her lips, and her bottomless self-regard. She offends me, deeply; that's why.

Note: Ooh joy, another Angelina hater. I'm so with you, sister! I'm still waiting for Brad to get back with Jen. ::sigh::

My Thinkie Thing's Tired

2008-04-23T14:35:00.001-04:00

Some days I long for the days when I was in college, home for the summer waitressing. Not to glamorize it, because being the relative low gal on the totem pole of the food service industry is no joke. Long hours on your feet, demanding customers and that icky, food residue smell that saturates your clothes.

But what I enjoyed about being a waitress was how when my shift was over, it was over!

I went home, shed my smelly garb, showered and turned into someone else for the rest of the day - sometimes I was reader girl lounging in my parent's sunroom, other times I was date girl, hanging out with a guy friend at the movies.

Don't you love jobs like that?

I'd simply hang up my server's pad and pen for the day and didn't lose any sleep worrying about whether or not a customer received the right order or fretting if maybe I'd forgotten to refill all the ketchup bottles.

I haven't had a job where I could leave my work at the job in a long time, because though I rarely take work home from my full-time job, writing and promo are always there waiting on me.

In other words, my thinkie thing is operating at full-tilt eighteen hours a day. But that gravelly crunching sound you hear are my gears grinding to a halt.

In January, I already knew what my April and May would bring: travel to RT, a few local library visits, my cheer squad's final Nationals and a trip to Canada with Princess A's French class.

I also knew, that despite some of the activities being purely personal and fun, it would make for a very tiring two months. So I was doing my best to get as much writing done on my fifth, DRB series book, Flipping The Script, as I could.

Good thing I did because I've hit the wall.

Yup, right here at the very start of my busy period, P's thinkie thing has left the building. It's simply incapable of doing anymore deep thinking.

Don't get me wrong. I can handle the lightweight stuff. Hell most of my daily routine I can do with my eyes closed, though I wouldn't recommend doing that while behind the wheel in rush hour traffic. But where writing goes, I'm fooling myself to think it's happening until life has settled down to a more natural rhythm.

Too bad that's another 40 days from now!

You know what the hardest part of slowing down is? Admitting you need to.

I had a good time at last week's RT Convention. Had fun with some cool authors and networked with a good number of booksellers and librarians. Woke up every morning at 6:30, worked out, got a little writing in on Friday and was in bed fast asleep by 11:30 every night.

I know, I'm such a party poop. No faery ball for me.

I honestly didn't feel tired until I woke up Sunday morning. Never underestimate how tiring being "on" is! I've been dragging ever since and the writing has suffered.

I pushed myself to write yesterday, got in two hours. The prose didn't titillate me, but I got it done.

However, today, as I dragged my butt to the post office for stamps (remember the rates go up on May 12th...don't get me started on the postal service and these near annual rate hikes!) trying to see ahead to what the next chapter would tackle, I realized my brain was muddled. So muddled, in fact, that even my desire to write can't help me produce something coherent.

Normally, I'd rather write drivel then write nothing at all. But if you don't re-energize the thinkie thing it goes on strike.

I need to stay away from my characters long enough for them to come looking for me. I love those times when they won't leave me alone, no matter how I try to block them.

Right now, they're seriously MIA.

If you see them, send them my way. I'll be the one poolside sipping a Seven & Seven.

Extreme Author Challenge: Village Learning Place

2008-04-15T20:50:00.000-04:00

Do you hear that? It's the sound of the P promo train leaving the station, first stop The Village Learning Place, a private library in Baltimore.

Invited by Ms. Andrea, I was asked to do the author thing with their middle school group. I had a good time, a little rusty since I haven't done a visit since November, and the kids...well I think they enjoyed it. It's so hard to tell with middle schoolers. If it's not something they're currently obsessed with, you only register mildly on their radar.

But I think they had fun. Thanks to the tweens and teens who played along.

Ms. Andrea said something that really struck me - she said with this age group they know what they don't want but not really what they do. I think that's so true. Which is why exposing young readers to as many experiences as possible is key.

So thank you, Village Learning Place for having me!

I think the young patrons enjoyed making posters to promote their chapter more than they did creating it, but I've learned when it comes to young readers - take what you can get and be happy. If they're geeked to get your book - and they seemed to be - then Ms. Andrea and I did our jobs.

The point of the Extreme Author Challenge is to help young readers experience life as an author. They get fifteen minutes (a deadline) to write a mini-chapter as a group. Then they must promote their "book" within their library and encourage patrons to read and comment on their chapter (promotion).

So, leave a comment and let the young readers know you stopped by. They're far too young to experience the deafening silence that's the norm for authors.

Their chapter is based on Don't Get It Twisted.

The Set-up:
Mid-way through the book, Mina is warned by Brian, at a party, that she may not be too happy when she finds her crush/sort of boyfriend, Craig. Here's what the clique at Village Learning Place thought happened after:

Mina gets hit by Kelis, the girl Brian was secrety dating. So Mina punches her back. The neighbors called the police and cleared the area. Then Mina went home and told her mom. Her mom asked what happened for her to get into a fight. Mina tells her mom what happened and her mom says, "That was a very stupid thing to fight over." When Mina finished talking to her mother, she went up to her room and slammed her door. She found out Kelis was talking to a friend they met at camp. But Craig came over and he and Mina went to Mina's room. She found out he was cheating and Brian was like, "What I tell you?"

P's A Romantic

2008-04-15T13:41:00.000-04:00

At least in the sense that I'm heading to the Romantic Times Convention later this week.

Let's just get it out, up front, that I'm none to happy about flying solo. Flying isn't exactly my favorite thing to do, in the first place, but flying by my lonely gives me more time to think about how much I dislike flying.

I know, I know, the flight's only an hour. Get over it, P!

I would have gladly taken the train, but Amtrak - for some unGodly reason takes eight plus hours to get to Pittsburgh. It's a four hour maybe five all day long, in a car, from where I live. Why Amtrak takes longer to get there is a mystery to me.

Not that I wanted to drive that far either because after commuting on the local beltways for a number of years - my patience for long car rides is little to nothing.

So I'm hopping a flight amidst all the issues of Southwest and American Airlines. Lovely.

Still, a few days to myself, a luxury I'm rarely afforded in the house of Hyman, is well worth the tiny flight. Also, I get to hang out on a YA panel with some lovely ladies who I cyber pal around with - Melissa Marr, Mari Mancusi, and Stephanie Hale.

And did I mention a few days to myself?

So, if you're in Pittsburgh or at the convention stop by and see me at the panel , Thursday evening or Saturday's book signing. Otherwise, I won't know what to do with all that free me time.

Two Plus Too Minus One

2008-04-10T06:30:00.000-04:00

People are always asking how did I come up with the idea for the DRB Clique. Why six people? Why a mixed group? Why so many?

Because that's how big my tightest circle of friends was. The DRB Clique isn't a cover for my teen clique but an homage to them. Tiny pieces of our existence are intertwined everywhere in my characters - which is why no one character mirrors me or my friends exactly.

Of course we considered ourselves a crew then, in the eighty's, because break dancing and what not was huge and break dancers ran in crews. So, fiends of pop culture followed suit.

That's it, though. That's the answer. Nothing more, nothing less.

I chose marketing and PR as a career. I'm a writer by skill. But everything isn't a concentrated effort or strategy much as my Type A personality would like it to be so.

Two Plus Too Crew was me, my girl Nick and our four best guy friends. I know, we couldn't count very well could we? 'Cause that's six people all day long. But it started out with four and just kept growing.

The crew actually had more than six, because we rolled mob deep in high school. But at its core, it was us six.

The "heart" of the core was Big Ed, named so because he was literally a big guy. But as luck would have it, he also had a big heart and was the friendliest person on earth. Eddie had this smile that immediately signaled he was up to something devilish.

And he couldn't lie. When he tried, his mouth would pooch up and his forehead would wrinkle like it did that time all the guys rode with him to me and Nick's cheer competition and never arrived.

We were so hot with them. They told an elaborate lie, the way guys do when they're in trouble...oh because I forgot to add that the original four of the crew were Nick, myself and our boyfriends (now hubbies). So they were the ones in trouble, and by association so were Rodney and Eddie.

Now that I think about it, Rodney and Eddie got into more trouble because of our BFs. They're probably the only two guys in the world who basically got all the nagging of having us as girlfriends and none of the benefits.

Man, that's so wrong now that I think about it.

Anyway, the other three told the lie easy - bad influences every one of 'em ('sup ya'll?) but Eddie's lips started to pooching and his eyebrows rising and falling making his forehead wrinkle. Nick and I were like - Alright ya'll lying! What really happened?!

They were like - Aww man, Ed you dogged us out.

But he didn't of course. He was just too honest for his own good, sometimes - or at least for their own good when they wanted to be up to no good.

Big Ed passed away, last year. It was the first time I'd ever lost a close friend. He was only thirty-seven. And honestly, using the term "only" is habit when referring to someone not old passing. The fact is, if I were sixty-five or seventy, right now, I'd probably still say "man, he was only..."

Because you never want to lose a friend.

This morning, though, I realized you never do.

Tomorrow is Eddie's birthday. He would have been thirty-nine.

I dreamt about him this morning, just as my brain shifted from sleep to waking. He was only in the dream for a few seconds. The dream wasn't about him. It wasn't about anything really, fractured thoughts from a tired, stressed out mind, mostly.

But right in the middle, when the nonsense was getting I guess too ridiculous for my mind to process anymore, there he was, sitting in a chair teasing me, covering his big laugh behind his fist like he used to do. And there I was giving him grief, pounding him good-naturedly with tiny fists that couldn't inflict pain on him even if I hit my hardest. He laughed it off, pretending to fend me off as we joked back and forth.

The way we interacted in the dream is how we always used to hang out and it could have been a scene out of one my books, because it's how the clique trips with one another - light barbs filled with affection.

I woke up, pleasantly startled and a little sad that he'd come to visit me so easily. Slipped into my dream so smoothly I never questioned why he was there or why he's no longer here.

There's no answer to the latter, but there is to the former question - it's his birthday, tomorrow, but he dropped by and gave me a gift, a reminder that he is still here.

Happy Birthday, Big Ed. R.I.P. and keep dropping into my dreams now and then.

Children's Authors of Color - Where Art Thou?

2008-04-09T10:51:00.000-04:00

Kyra Hicks was Monday's guest blogger over at The Brown Bookshelf. She shared the annual numbers from the Cooperative Children's Book Center study on the state of children's books. The study is decent insight into whether, statistically speaking, the number of books published are up, down or holding.

Specifically, books by people of color are down. African American children's literature is down 12%.

Blegh!

Hungry for a few more stats?

* 42 Latino Children's Book Authors in 2007, just as 2006
* 56 Asian American Children's Book Authors in 2007, down from 72 in 2006
* 6 American Indian Children's Book Authors in 2007, down from 14 in 2006

Kyra asks if we believe these numbers will go up or down for '08. Give your .02 cents over at the BBS.

Here's mine...

My impression was that the number of childrens books by authors of color was rising. But looks are deceiving.

I was shocked at the '07 stats, especially since there was a definite flurry of YA among African American authors last year. Now I'm beginning to think that where there may have been an increase in YA, perhaps MG or Picture Books took a hit. It's not exactly progress if only one area is allowed a renaissance.

So here's the deal, money talks.

The only way we'll see a steady increase in books by authors of color is if consumers purchase them. So if you're looking for:

- books by and about people of color

-or-

- books that give a peek into a world readers may not necessarily think is like their own (but oftentimes is)

make sure you purchase or borrow these children's books and definitely request them at the store or library if they aren't carried.

iTunes Ain't Right

2008-04-08T20:45:00.000-04:00

Don't get me wrong, I love my iPod like it's one of my kids...okay, not that much, but close.

Still, iTunes runs afoul of me anytime I can't find a song I'm truly feigning to hear. It's almost always some obscure, old-school jam that I haven't heard since my teen days. But they seem to carry every tune on earth, so when I run up against a song they don't have, I take it personally.

Okay, so last year I went searching for Pop Goes My Mind, one of the first hit singles by LeVert. If you're unfamiliar with the group you're likely not an R&B fan. If you're unfamiliar with the single, you likely only know Gerald Levert as a solo artist. And you know how P feels about musical history lessons. Check the links and catch up, I'll wait.

Moving on...

iTunes has this odd habit of only carrying the "successful" albums of artists. And by successful I mean the mainstream stuff. Levert didn't really take off until late 80's, early 90's so Bloodline, the album with Pop Goes My Mind didn't make the cut.

I cursed iTunes out for a good week when I couldn't find it - which is ten days shorter than my blast when I found out I had to buy the entire Sheila E. album to get my jam, Love Bizarre. Don't even get me started!

Last week, Sean Levert, the younger of the Levert brothers passed away. The tragedy was impacted by the fact that Gerald died late '06. I can't imagine their families pain at losing them both, so early.

These are young guys we're talking here -both in their late thirties/early forties.

I'm doing all I can to keep my mortality hypochondria at bay, just talking about it!

Anyway, so the hubster and I morbidly joked that now that both had passed maybe iTunes would make all their tracks accessible.

Honestly, I was only kidding.

But I went to iTunes tonight and what did I find? Each and every album Levert ever released.

I got the track I wanted and now I can reminisce about 1986 for hours on end. The year me and the hub started dating.

Awww, that's cute, isn't it?

Still, iTunes you ain't right!

I have no idea what politics are involved with how artists and labels release tracks to iTunes. So it's probably not even iTunes fault. But they're the messenger, so who else am I gonna blame?

Hmm...although last I heard Sheila E. was alive and kicking, I better check just to make sure iTunes hasn't released that death grip on Love Bizarre.

That's my jam!

Straight, No Chaser...E. Lockhart

2008-04-02T07:26:00.000-04:00

E. Lockhart has this way of eliciting the strangest information from me. Thanks to her, now people know exactly what type of groupie I'd be (you know, if it weren't for that whole husband and kids thing) and that apparently, I'm a raging feminist. Who knew all that male-bashing I've done in the past had an actual politically correct purpose?

But now I get to delve into E's mind and find out a little bit about her latest book, The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks.

Clichés

Which cliché best describes you as an author?

Brooding Hemingway type
Eclectic Toni Morrison
Candace Bushnell Zeitgeist

EL: I think I write literary fluff, or maybe fluffy literature. So maybe Eclectic Brooding Zeitgest?

TCL says, only use fluffy literature when throwing books at people.

Stereotypes

Complete this sentence: I’m a total….from my BLANK to my BLANK, I could write the book on being BLANK

EL: I am a total Brooklynite. From my crammed apartment to my blue-painted toenails, my intimate knowledge of the subway system to my massive consumption of bagels, I could write the book on Brooklyn.

Pop Culture References

Using either television, film or literary references, give us the one or two sentence pitch you’d give film agents:

EL: The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks is the love child of Dead Poets Society and Mean Girls.

If you did an informercial for your book, who would be the perfect celeb to serve as the pitch guy or gal? And why?

EL: I would want novelist John Green to pitch Disreputable History. Does he count as a celebrity? Maybe in the world of YA literature.

Why? Because John actually likes my books (I wouldn't believe it if Cher said she liked my books, you know? Though I would enjoy having Cher, just because she's, well, Cher, and maybe I'd get to see what her real hair looks like). Anyway, John actually likes my books, he writes novels that are extremely awesome and kinda similar to mine but get more respect; he's funny, and librarians love him. He makes great video blogs.

Stalkerazzi

Complete this sentence: It’s a good thing I’m not a stalker or else INSERT NAME OF CELEB MINOR OR MAJOR would be in trouble because

Example: or else Reggie Bush would be in trouble because I’d be hiding in his shrubbery trying to get a photo of those abs!

EL: Okay, I am a big dork but I had to google-image Reggie Bush.

HelLO, abs! Those are incredibly serious, Paula!

Honestly. I don't know. Even when I was 12 I was never one to have like pictures of Sean Cassidy up on my wall. (Yes, Sean Cassidy. I am that old, okay?)

But I did have a dream once that I was friends with Liz Phair. She really thought I was cool. Which in real life she probably would not.

TCL says, shame on E for not knowing Reggie Bush's abs. Gah! And I never thought I'd EVER say this, but I'm jealous of Kim Kardashian (the Abmeister's GF).

History Lesson
A lot of times, authors start a book with one concept in mind (especially us pantsters) and end up with a totally different story. For your most current book tell us where you story started and ultimately ended.

EL: Nice question! The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks started out as a book about kids playing truth or dare, and ended up a book about feminism, old boys networks and secret societies.

Those crazy desert Island Questions

You’re on a desert island with a cell phone. Miraculously it has two bars and enough battery life to make one three minute call. Whom do you call?

EL: I call my home. The people I live with.

If someone were deserted on an island and came across your book washed ashore, what’s the one thing they’d take from it and want to share with the world once they got back to civilization?
EL: Women don't have full social equality yet, even though we have equal rights. Hello? Let's get on that.

Which celebrity would you like to see put on a bus and dropped in the desert? And why?

EL: I am deeply annoyed by many celebrities, but I would never want any of them dropped in the desert, because I get so much enjoyment out of gofugyourself.typepad.com. The worse the celebrities are, the better Go Fug Yourself gets, so let them live on in their crazy outfits!

Sweet Mother of Anorexia

2008-03-28T12:59:00.000-04:00

What was Random House thinking when they changed the size of the Sweet Valley High twins from a size six to a size four. And what on earth made them bother to highlight it in a letter to the press announcing the re-issue of Sweet Valley High?

Are there not enough images on television and in film of the ultra-thin? Now, books must also emphasize someone's size?

I was a first-generation Sweet Valley High reader. Loved those books to death. I never knew the size of the twins, much less would recognize a change in a re-issued version of the book. I'm completely clueless as to why it was an essential fact to "update." Or why it's worth noting in relation to what is otherwise a grand moment in the life of this series and teen literature.

Gossip Girl and my own Del Rio Bay series owes our debt to SVH - it's the mold from which all teen pop series were formed.

I met Francine Pascal at the SCBWI Mid-Winter conference in 2006 when I attended her workshop "Writing The Teen Series." I remember her saying she wrote SVH because she wanted to create a teen soap opera. And SVH was definitely that, right down to amnesiacs, evil twins and mysterious sometimes near-fatal diseases among key characters.

Pascal's plot lines were homages to the Guiding Light, Days of Lives and All My Children soap rage that personified much of the '80's. The SVH twins being "a perfect size six" wasn't a marketing angle. It merely mirrored the petite women of daytime soaps.

But what purpose does diminishing their size serve? And what the heck is wrong with being a size six?!

As the momma of an athletically-built, curvy teenager who hasn't been a size six since she was in the fifth grade, I'm disgusted that size matters. As a YA writer, I'm saddened that within all the words we writers put together to make a fun read, the one which bears the most significance, in this case, is a number.

See, this is why I'm not a numbers person!

I Heard You Died

2008-03-24T09:40:00.001-04:00

At least that's what regular readers of any blog feels when their blog goes on unannounced hiatus only to come back out of the blue.

I am alive and well, thank you. But blogging is harder and harder to keep up with in between writing to pay the bills, working to pay the bills, helping to make bills aka family time and of course the ever present coaching - as you know cheer season runs the same amount of time it takes a woman to carry a baby to term. That makes me perennially pregnant for the last six years. Oy!

And I doubt I'll return to any sort of regular blogging schedule until something gives. This includes but is not limited to:

- Cheer season ends once and for all culminating in the most bittersweet moment of my life. I'll have to resume blogging to add meaning to my life - after all, isn't that what coaching cheerleading was about?

- I get a multi-million dollar book contract allowing me to become arrogant and big headed, leading both to a drinking problem that somehow enhances my ability to write the world's best prose and an obnoxious need to rub my new riches in people's faces via daily blogs outlining my new luxe lifestyle that may or may not involve a manservant named Chauffery.

- My boss at the FTJ decides for reasons only known to her that blogging is somehow an essential part of my job duties, regardless of subject matter.

- I decide to begin videotaping my family (secretly of course) 24-7 and launch my own Reality Blog show titled, "Meet The Hymuses," a hilarious but incorrect spelling of our last name according to some random junk mailer. Now the whole world can feel the pain of a mother caught in the maelstrom of both teen angst and toddler tantrums, as she and her husband raise a 13 and 3 year old.

- I decide writing for pay is for suckers and that the only writing with any true merit is speaking from the heart about random topics, grammar be damned.

- A publisher decides my blog entries are so witty, I'm forced to begin blogging again which immediately freezes my creative juices and earns me the title of a dried up has been. This would be crushing except for the immediate offers from the producers of Dancing With the Stars, Gone Country, and every other show on Vh-1 not titled something "of Love."

Should I start blogging again with any consistency, one or all or none of these things have happend.

So, how the hell have you been?