I love the new cover. Isn’t that the cutest goat ever? She only looks mildly annoyed by the tiara. I believe the headline is “Summer on the Hippy-Farm” or maybe “Summer of the Hippy-Farm.”

If I’m reading the German Amazon site, you’ll be able to get the German version in February of 2012. I can’t wait to see it!

On Friday, I did a workshop about standards for school library media programs that was awesome. It was led by Pam Berger, who was just fantastic. Then I went to the author panel with Eric Van Lustbader, Chuck Hogan, Tracy Chevalier, and Julie Powell. Ostensibly it was about books into movies, but they talked about all sorts of things. As a new author, I found it fascinating and reassuring when they talked about reviews. Except for Lustbader, who insisted he didn’t read his I should have taken notes and written down quotes because they were interesting. Chevalier talked about how the reviews balanced her, since most people who write to her or come to her events like the books. Both she and Hogan mentioned that they wished they could learn something from them, which is one of the fallacies of book reviewing, I think, that the author will read it, incorporate it, and somehow improve their work.

Next I went to the YALSA happy hour in which I met many hip librarians whose fashion I very much want to emulate, and with whom I had great conversations. I met people on various award committees who would not spill at all, even with my clever attempts at tricking them like, “Oh, I so want to know who wins!”

Saturday was exhibits and authors for me. It met up with Deva Fagan and Erin Dionne and they each knew so many people, and it was like every time I turned around I was being introduced to another magnificent author. It was crazy, and I was star-struck. Then I met my lovely agent Sara Crowe who took me to lunch along with Varian Johnson and Mary Atkinson. Can I tell you how amazing it is to have a business-lunch that’s all about literature? It is totally amazing.

So then I was going to crash the Tweet Up, but sometimes I need a little break from interaction, so I found a quiet place and started reading Will Grayson, Will Grayson, one of the many arcs I scored.

Finally I met some librarian friends for dinner at Tapeo, a tapas restaurant right in the neighborhood where I used to work when I lived in Boston. Good food and nostalgia — nothing better than that! Then I took the train back to the exact stop where I used to live, and my husband picked me up, and it was like when we first started dating. Sigh. And we all lived happily ever after. The end.

Oh wait! I forgot an essential part! So I mentioned the committees above, and I finally did get my answer. First off, congratulations to all the winners of the ALA Youth Media awards! I think it is a wonderful collection of books that won the awards and were put on the lists. My dear Deb L.K. Madigan won the Morris for Flash Burnout. Ash by Malinda Lo was one of the finalists. Ash was also one of the top books of the Rainbow List, a list which, I am very proud to say, also included Secrets of Truth & Beauty. Kekla Magoon, who I met at the Bar Harbor Book Festival, earned the Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe New Talent Author Award for The Rock and The River.

There’s some more good news for some of my writing buddies. Saundra Mitchell is nominated for an Edgar for Shadowed Summer. And Carrie Jones, who has my heart and a duct tape rose, is a New York Times Bestseller with Captivate!

I still need to get the art supplies. No dog or cat, though. Sorry, my dear, but I don’t want your parents on my doorstep about that one.

Anyway, if you, too, are planning to give books for gifts, and are planning to shop at Barnes & Noble, then please print out a voucher and take it with you. You can use it at any B&N in the United States, and, if you do, a portion of the sales will go to Seacoast Academy, an independent school in New Hampshire. They will use the money raised for classroom and library books.

If you yourself happen to be in New Hampshire, please drop by the book fair at the Newington Barnes & Noble. It’s this Sunday, December 6th, from 1:00-4:00. I’ll be there signing books, and there will be student performers, and gift-wrapping, and other fun stuff. Hope to see you there!

P.S. If you are planning to buy books — what’s on your gift giving list?

When you hold a belief so centrally and firmly, it’s bound to reveal itself in your writing. Feminism does make its way into Secrets of Truth & Beauty. Most centrally, I believe that weight bias is a feminist issue. However, sometimes an issue can overtake the writing, as it did in the following deleted scene. While I agree with Dara’s sentiment that feminism does not mean replacing one set of rules for another, in the end, this exchange came off a bit forced. I believed in it philosophically, but creatively, it never quite worked for me. So I cut it out. Only to resurrect it after the break. Enjoy!

(P.S. The town of Hollis was originally called October Grove)

A woman walked by carrying a canvas tote and muttering to herself. I was ready to let her pass, but Owen called out, “Mrs. Winslow!”

The woman looked up. First she saw me, and she frowned, but when she turned and saw Owen, a smile broke out across her face. She bustled over to us. “Owen Moon! I thought for sure I would never see you again. I thought you’d just shoot out of this town and never look back.”

“I like October Grove, Mrs. Winslow,” Owen said.

Mrs. Winslow cocked her head to the side as if she had to work to understand what Owen had said. Her gray hair swung over her shoulder. “Who’s your friend?”

“This is Dara Cohen. Rachel’s sister.”

Mrs. Winslow nodded. “So you’re selling cheese for the summer. That’s an interesting way for a boy genius to spend his summer. Selling cheese.”

“And feeding and milking goats,” Owen added.

Mrs. Winslow pursed her lips. I could tell she was unimpressed with our lives.

“And,” Owen said with great emphasis, “I was helping Dara with the Miss October Grove pageant, but then she dropped out…” Why he felt the need to tell everyone about the pageant was beyond me, especially now that I had dropped out.

Mrs. Winslow sniffed in. “I am sure I don’t need to tell you how I feel about pageants.” My cheeks grew warm. Though she said there was no need to tell us how she felt, she went on just the same. “Sexist. Objectifying. Debased. I really don’t understand how any intelligent young woman would decide to participate.” She looked me up and down trying to decide, I gathered, if I had come to my senses, or if I were still a vapid pageant girl. She went on, “You know it’s fitting that they hold the pageant at the country fair. The judging of the women is no different than the judging of the animals.”

I looked over at Owen. He was grinning, but looking at the ground. So that’s why he had mentioned Miss October Grove – to get her going.

“There was a time,” she continued, “when young women protested these sorts of events. I was at the protest of the 1968 Miss America Pageant.”

“Did you burn your bra, Mrs. Winslow?” Owen asked.

“They didn’t let us! They wouldn’t give us a fire permit.”

“So?” I said.

She turned to face me, her face pink with the excitement of remembering those days on the Atlantic City boardwalk. “Excuse me?”

It was as if Melissa had teleported from Belgium into my body. “So they didn’t give you a permit. So what? You go there and disturb the whole thing, but when the man tells you to settle down and not set anything on fire, you sit back and listen?”

Owen’s smiled had disappeared and now he looked at me with wide eyes.

I stood up straight with my right hand on my hip. “People do pageants for all sorts of reasons. Some girls want the scholarships. Some like to perform. Yeah, some girls just need someone to tell them they’re pretty. But what do you care? What’s it to you?”

“Young lady, I’ve been a feminist for my whole life. It’s thanks to women like me that you have the opportunities that you have.”

She was right, but she was not all right. “You’ve just traded one set of rules and restrictions for another. That’s not feminism. Feminism is each woman making her own choices, doing what’s right for her.” Yet again, I was quoting Mr. Fitz. Katie North had proclaimed herself anti-feminist and he had just about fallen over himself to declare his own feminism.

Mrs. Winslow made a harrumphing sound. “Third wave,” she muttered.

“And if I want to do this pageant, that’s my choice. It might not be the choice you would make, but you have to respect my right to do it.”

“I most certainly do not,” she said, her face twisted up like she smelled something rotten.

“Then you’ll always be angry, and you’ll never be free.”

Mrs. Winslow was red by this point, with her lips pursed together so hard I thought her cheeks might burst. She turned to Owen. “This girl has a lot to learn,” she said. She pivoted, and left our stand.

Before she was out of earshot, Owen started laughing. “No one has ever spoken to Mrs. Winslow like that.”

“She’s a bigot,” I said.

I thought about Mrs. Winslow and about Mama Cass. All Cass Elliott had wanted to do was perform, and she had to fight every single step of the way because of how she looked. She was the real feminist, as far as I was concerned.

I looked Owen. “I’ll do it,” I said. “I’ll do the pageant, but I’m singing Mama Cass.”

Also, Secrets of Truth & Beauty is going to be published in Germany!

Also, I am on Cynsations today!

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.

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!

In retrospect, Cass seems like the perfect person for Dara to emulate, but it actually took me a long time to figure that out. I was fixated on it being a country star, and thought about Patsy Cline or Dolly Parton. Dolly Parton is an amazing woman, and, like Cass Elliot was misjudged because of her appearance. But really, Cass was the right choice.

So then I started doing research. I read Dream a Little Dream of Me by Eddi Figel and used the Official Cass Elliot Website, maintained by her daughter. As I did my research, some interesting coincidences came up. For example, Dara’s last name is Cohen, and so was Cass’s originally. And Cass’s daughter is named Owen, just like one of my leading characters.

After I chose Cass, I had to pick one of her songs, and that was an easy choice. “Make Your Own Kind of Music” expresses themes of the book almost perfectly. But my favorite song of hers is “Dream a Little Dream.” So here it is from the Smother Brothers:

However, he took the dust jacket off when he was riding the NYC subway because he was embarrassed to be seen reading it.

Come on, now!

It’s a beautiful girl and a gorgeous guy. What’s so embarrassing about that?

It’s the pink, isn’t it?

Well, first of all, gentleman, you should be aware that it’s not pink, it’s magenta.

But even if it were pink, so what? Pink is a power color! Don’t fear it — embrace it!

Alexa

Congrats, Alexa!

So . . .I am offering one frenzy of a last minute extension of entry time!

If you are already entered, and want more entries, get more people to fan my facebook page! For every person you recruit, you get a new entry. When they become a fan, just have them leave a comment here telling me you referred them. Or you can leave the comment. I trust you.

If you have not yet entered, what are you waiting for?

Sweetening the deal – Hyperion sent me copies of the poster, so the winner will also get one copy of the poster to hang in their room, library, bookstore, wherever! This is in addition to the signed copy of Secrets of Truth & Beauty and one of the following books:

• Don’t Judge a Girl by Her Cover by Ally Carter
• Revelations by Melissa de la Cruz
• Kiss of Life by Daniel Waters
• Deadly Little Secret by Lauri Faria Stolarz
• The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau Banks by E. Lockhart

You have until midnight tonight, so enter, enter, enter!