Monthly Archives: September 2009

Admirations and Inspirations: Rick Moody

Posted on by
Reply

I can remember the exact moment I fell in literary love with Rick Moody.

rick-moodyIt was 2001 and, thanks to a friend, I had tickets to see Tobias Wolff read at The New Yorker festival. Wolff, who wrote one of my favorite memoirs, This Boy’s Life, was reading with an author I had heard of but never read.

The reading was in a windowless club, and I sat in the back toward the bar. I believe that Wolff read first, and it was wonderful. Then this man with a mop of floppy hair stepped up to the microphone and the most amazing short story I have ever heard: “Boys.” As his voice sang the words, gooseflesh blossomed on my skin. It’s a lyrical story of two brothers and how they grow together and apart. You can find it in his Demonology collection.

After that night, I read the rest of the stories in his collection. I read his novels. When it came out, I read his memoir, The Black Veil, (and delighted over the places where our lives intersected). I often end up reading passages two or three times. His use of language is so beautiful and masterful that sometimes I wouldn’t catch the meaning at all because I was so immersed in the prose. He stacks words on top of each other so that they are perfect not only for their meaning but also their sound and the cumulative effect.

He’s an author I can’t read while I’m writing a first draft, because instead of my own voice I create pale echoes of his. It’s a summer read, a vacation read, not because it’s light, but because I need to the time to revel in the writing. Yet as I read, I am always a bit sad: If only I could write like this. If only.

Debs Pageant: Sydney Salter

Posted on by
Reply

In Secrets of Truth & Beauty, Dara is a former child pageant star. So, in order to introduce you to the wonderful authors and characters of the 2009 Debutantes, I am hosting a Debs Pageant on my blog. Today we get to meet up with an author who’s already had a character in the pageant: Sydney Salter. That’s because she has two books out in her debut year! Today we present Kat from Jungle Fever.

Character name: Kat
Age: 13
Biography:
Some people think I might worry too much–but they have no idea what missing Fiona’s mini-camp means. Our family vacation to Mexico is going to make me a social reject when I start 8th grade. But does Mom care? No!

What is your talent?
I can draw pretty well, but I keep those secret in my notebook.

What will you wear for the evening dress competition?
Anything but the stupid watermelon sundress my mom bought at the hotel gift shop! Does she think I’m nine?

Who is your escort?
I’d like to take Nando–he’s so smart, and nice (once you get to know him), plus he is kind of cute.

And now for the interview portion . . . If you could change one thing about the world, what would it be?
That prejudice would end. No matter what color you are, or what country you live in, we’re all humans! And that makes us a whole lot more alike than different.

Thank you Kat and Sydney!

If you want to find out more about Sydney, Jungle Fever or her YA My Big Nose and Other Natural Disasters, please visit her website. You can order Jungle Crossing from Amazon or get it from your local bookstore.

Debs Pageant: Megan Crewe

Posted on by
Reply

You know, I’ve often heard mention of all of Sara(h)s in YA. Sara Zarr, Sarah Dessen, Sarah Cross, Sarah Ockler, Sarah Quigley, Sarah Rees Brennan, Sarah MacLean. My agent is even a Sara. But you know, there’s another name rising to ascendancy in the YA world: Megan. We have Meg Cabot, Megan McCafferty, Megan Crewe, and well, you know, some lady named Megan Frazer. There may be  more of them, but unlike the Sara(h)s, we’ve managed to all get on the same page on the whole to-H or not to-H issue.*

gutgcoverToday, I am pleased to welcome one of the Megans to the Deb’s Pageant: Megan Crewe whose debut novel is Give Up the Ghost. Just a reminder about the pageant: In Secrets of Truth & Beauty, Dara is a former child pageant star. So, in order to introduce you to the wonderful authors and characters of the 2009 Debutantes, I am hosting a Debs Pageant on my blog.

Character name: Cass McKenna
Age: 16
Biography: Most people think I’m a loner, but I have friends. It’s just that the only people I can trust just happen to be dead, so no one else can see them. When I’m not hanging out with my ghostly buds, I enjoy surfing the ‘net, watching old sitcoms with my dad, and reading graphic novels.

What is your talent? Like I mentioned, I can talk to the dead. Which means I could probably find out things about all of you that you’d rather people didn’t know. :D

Who is your escort? My sister, Paige. Believe me, she’s right here.

And now for the interview portion . . . If you could change one thing about the world, what would it be? I’d make people more honest. Everyone’s so concerned about image and status, about looking better than other people, and they lie and fake their superiority whenever they can. The world would be an easier place to live in if more people would own up to their faults, and cut other people a break.
Thank you Cass and Megan!

To find out more about Megan Crewe, please visit her website. Give up the Ghost is available now, and Megan recommends you order from Powells. It is also available from Amazon.

* Apologies if I gorgot a Sara(h) or a Megan. If you fall into one of these categories — especially a Megan! — please add your name in the comments below.

Writers: A Clever Way to get Your Book Into Libraries

Posted on by
Reply

Here are some simple steps to get your book into local libraries.

  1. Make up a fake name for yourself.
  2. Send an email to libraries asking them to order your book for you (under your made up name, of course).
  3. When the librarian politely replies to your email and says that you don’t seem to be one of their patrons, and asks for basic information like your address or if you want to sign up for a library card, blithely ignore them and instead reply that you will see them that weekend to pick up the books.

Okay, hopefully you have realized that this is actually a terrible idea. Evidently, though, some writers are trying this. Aside from it being deceitful and stupid, librarians talk to each other. So not only have you annoyed the ones you’ve contacted, you’ve also damaged the reputation of your book through out the library world. Don’t. Do. It.

Debs Pageant: Kate Messner

Posted on by
Reply

It feels like it’s been forever since we’ve had a Deb’s Pageant Contestant.

In Secrets of Truth & Beauty, Dara is a former child pageant star. So, in order to introduce you to the wonderful authors and characters of the 2009 Debutantes, I am hosting a Debs Pageant on my blog. Today we have Gianna Z. from Kate Messner.

GiannaZ2Character name: Gianna Zales
Age: 12
Biography: I was born in Vermont, and I’m in 7th grade at Ethan Allen Middle School. I run cross country and will be competing in sectionals this year, IF I can get my dumb leaf project done on time.

My parents run a mortuary out of the house, and Nonna lives with the us. She bakes her famous “funeral cookies” for all the calling hours downstairs. My little brother Ian tortures me with riddles. Thank goodness for my best friend Zig, or I’d be lost!

What is your talent?
I’m great at two things — running and art. My philosophy with both is that you can’t do it right without getting dirty.

What will you wear for the evening dress competition?
Evening dress? I don’t want to do that part. Do I have to do that part? If you make me do it, I’ll just wear jeans and one of my Picasso T-shirts…

Who is your escort?
Zig. But he’s not dressing up either.

And now for the interview portion:
What’s the biggest challenge facing today’s youth?
School leaf collection projects. If I’m named Miss America or whatever, I’m going to make sure school leaf collection projects are banned.

What color best represents you and why?
Really, really bright red and orange, all blended together. Because I have a lot of energy and ideas that get smushed together sometimes, too.

If you could change one thing about the world, what would it be?
I told you…I’d get rid of those leaf collection projects. No, wait… anything? I think I’d try to turn back time, or maybe freeze it until Zig could grow up with his genius brain and come up with a cure for what’s wrong with Nonna’s memory. I want the old Nonna back.

If I could change TWO things, the leaf collection ban would for sure be next, though.

Thank you Gianna and Kate!

Gianna seems adorable, don’t you think? Although I get the impression that she might not like that description.

To find out more about Kate and Gianna, please visit Kate’s website. If you want to get a copy, you can order it from the Flying Pig Bookstore, Kate’s favorite local bookstore. They’ll even ship it to you.

Music Monday: On the Radio

Posted on by
Reply

I was at the Bar Harbor Book Festival this weekend (more on that later!), and so didn’t have time to write a longer blog post. I wanted to share two quick things I heard on the radio on my drive in to work this morning.

First Weezer’s new song “(If You’re Asking if I Want You To) I Want You To” is so good! I can’t find a legal video, so no linkage, but trust me, it is good. The DJ mentioned that Rainn Wilson (from The Office) interviewed Rivers Cuomo on his webiste, SoulPancake. I haven’t had a chance to watch the interview yet, but it’s on my to do list. And you can watch them singing Joan Osborne’s “One of Us”, which is quite good (even if it takes a little while to get going).

Second, one of the local stations interviewed Adam Lambert, and they talked about him being gay without ever using the word gay — or any synonym. It was odd. They asked him some pretty awkward questions, but he responded with grace and enthusiasm.

Music Monday: Irony

Posted on by
Reply

I went to a beautiful wedding this weekend. The music during the reception was a great mix of styles, genres, and time periods. They played the Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald duet “A Fine Romance.”

That got me thinking about irony in music. No, not that Alanis Morisette song that showed very little understanding of what irony is. Actual irony in which what is said is opposite of what is meant.

One of my favorite ironic songs is No Doubt’s “Just a Girl.” I remember a friend in high school, knowing my feminist bent, told me I would hate the song. When I heard it, I wondered how he could totally miss the meaning of the song — she’s not happy that she’s being boxed in by being a girl. This is a classic protest song, and Gwen Stefani uses irony brilliantly. I loved it then, and I love it now. You can watch the video here.

Mmm . . . Chocolate Cookies

Posted on by
Reply

cookiesI love Erin Dionne’s debut Models Don’t Eat Chocolate Cookies, and not just because it, like Secrets, has overweight girls and pageants. It is laugh-out-loud funny, touching, and honest. The only downside is the cover makes you crave Oreos like there is no tomorrow and I don’t even really like Oreos. (I do however like chocolate covered peppermint Joes O’s from Trader Joes.)

Recently, Erin was interviewed in a great article about “positive characters of size.”  I need to get reading some of the other books mentioned in the article. I would also like to add Wrenn from Leigh Brescia’s One Wish. I’ve only just begun this book, and I am finding it tremendously powerful — and a bit like Leigh read my middle and high school years’ diary.onewish

It just so happens that Erin and I, along with fellow Deb Deva Fagan, will be doing a panel at the Bar Harbor Book Festival about positive, unconventional female characters in YA and MG lit. We’d love to see you there!