I’m a Prophet

I know I generally just talk about books and kittens and Zac Efron here, but I would like to talk to you guys about something else. MY BUYING HABITS.

OK, I know that you’re thinking this totally isn’t Mindy Kaling’s blog, but this is totally important.

You guys, I have had crappo skin since I can remember. I got a zit in third grade! That’s not right. As an adult I’m less zitty but I’m shiny like the sun, and I’ve been trying for as long as I can remember to combat this with the right product.

The other week I ventured into Lush to get some hand lotion, and a lovely salesman asked if I wanted anything for my face. He probably asked this because I was shiny and red. I am like a Christmas ornament, not a lady. So I purchased a few items, and turned down the most expensive suggestion. Amazingly, he gave me a giant sample of it so I could try it anyway.

People, I am not kidding when I say that within a couple of days, my skin looked better. Less shiny. Less red. More normal! My sample of moisturizer lasted me nearly two weeks, and of course by then I was happy spending the cash to get the full tub.

So now I’m one of these people who has a skin care regime, and old enough to worry about putting on moisturizer before I go to bed, but next time you see me, I probably won’t resemble a Christmas ornament at all.

If you yourself veer into red shiny territory, here are my new essentials:

Click

I’m very excited to announce that my essay about feminism changing my life will appear in the forthcoming book Click from Seal Press, which hits shelves on April 27.

About the book:

When did you know you were a feminist? Whether it was a scene in a television show, an experience in school, or a specific day at work, many women can point to a particular moment in which they knew—or realized—they were feminists. Accomplished young authors Courtney E. Martin and J. Courtney Sullivan offer a look at feminism in the lives of young women—and tackle the questions of what made them feminists, how they came to define themselves as feminists, and how that identity has shifted and grown over time.

Click features a range of women, including Amy Richards, Shelby Knox, Winter Miller, Allisa Quart, Rebecca Traister, Jennifer Baumgardner, and Debbie Siegel, each sharing their self-defining and personal stories. Sometimes emotional, sometimes humorous, each of these stories offers something to which other women can relate.

In a time of feminist reflection, Martin and Sullivan offer a look at feminism for the under-forty set.

About my essay:

Say, do you like stories about dead-end jobs, riot grrrl bands, and hopeful futures? Oh, good.

Stuff about Writing or the Most Generic Title Ever

The lovely Sarah Skilton said I’d been negligent in my blogging, which is true, and she also commanded I include this photo of my cats:

I’ve had some fun conversations about writing in the past week.* Sorry the formatting is so wonky; I truly have no idea what’s wrong with this post. Here I am, trying to blog again, and WordPress apparently hates my stupid face. Let’s try to get through this together, internet.

1. Isn’t it funny how you can get so married to “facts” in your work of fiction? When I’m revising, either thanks to someone else’s notes or just my own ideas of what could work better, there are elements I’m happy changing. Sometimes it’s to make the story flow better, sometimes it’s because a published work of fiction used a similar element and now mine seems inadvertently plagiarisy, sometimes it’s to make a different revision work, sometimes it’s something I totally think works but notes indicate otherwise. Anyways! Sometimes these are easy to change, often they’re challenging, and every once in awhile they’re practically painful.
   
   But then there are changes I truly can’t make. Amazing that in a work of ABSOLUTE FICTION that I find something absolutely permanent and immovable. Just another thing that makes me truly think writers are crazy. (Or, you know, at least me.)




2. Casting! I’m not talking about the crazy hypothetical film/TV adaptations perhaps some of us you dream of. No, every once in awhile there’s a character I just can’t quite pin down. And then I view an actor in whatever, and totally just FEEL that character. And suddenly it’s easier. Their dialogue becomes consistent, their mannerisms firm up, they suddenly just MAKE SENSE. It’s not as if they’re based on that person at all, it’s just a tool to help define someone. And, for me, it’s not that I seek out people who I can base characters on, it’s that occasionally I’ve already got a very hazy picture in my head, and seeing someone who resembles that pulls it all into focus.**




3. I used to hate rewriting. Really, really hate it. PASSIONATELY HATE IT! And then I got actual notes on actual fixable books, and, amazingly, I figured it out. But more amazingly, I’ve grown to love rewriting. First drafts are so much easier and more fun when you can just sail through, knowing you’ll fix those rough spots later.*** And then rewriting becomes about more than just polishing and catching typos and noticing that the ex-boyfriend’s name changes halfway through. It totally works a different part of my brain than writing does, but after pounding out a whole manuscript, that part of my brain needs a vacation anyway.




4. Not so much a discussion, but I will say that when you’re down and out and angsty about your own manuscript, some positive feedback from trusted readers means the effing world to me. Writing can be really solitary, so it’s good when it’s not.

*Well, fun to me, at least. I am a huge geek, so YMMV.
**Sometimes this is also an excuse to ogle celebrities.
***It is true that this can create some soul-suckingly terrible days of rewrites, I admit.

Agent Appreciation Day!

Happy Agent Appreciation Day, agents! My agent, the ever-delightful Kate Schafer Testerman (or Daphne Unfeasible, as some may know her), makes my life better and easier exponentially.

1. She believes in me and my writing, even when I’m having a crappo day. I try to be a ridiculously positive person, but I still have crappo days on occasion. When those occur it’s so good to have Kate in my corner.
2. She is freakishly optimist – the best kind of cheerleader to have. It’s tough worrying the worst will happen if Kate’s involved in any way.
3. She has excellent taste in shoes. (Though sometimes she puts me in positions where I must resist the urge to purchase MORE SHOES CONSTANTLY.)
4. She loves much of the random pop culture I do, as well as cute dogs, which means we have a fantastic amount in common on top of the whole literary thing. For me that’s a really good added bonus, considering how much random crap I often feel the need to talk about.
5. She couldn’t be better with quick responses to questions, jumping on the phone when I need to talk something out, and making me feel less panicked when I get into that mode.

In short, she is A++ awesome, and the best agent I could have hoped for.

Gaaahrateful!

Gratefulness: I has it!

(in no particular order)

1. Family, friends, pets, etc. They all rock in individually awesome ways.
2. Hey, I signed with an agent this year! Hey, she is awesome! Hey, she is a freakishly-positive glass-half-full shoe-lovin’ Whedon-worshipping optimistic pot of fantasticness. (Hey, she was my dream agent when I first made my list to start querying.)
3. I might have been unemployed for nearly three months but I found a job that makes me happy with people I like in a field I’m interested in AND totally allows enough evening time to write/take classes/have a life, etc.
4. My group of writers and critiquers is fan-effing-tastic. No joke. I would not have any of what I do, writing-wise, without them, and I seriously feel lucky all the time.
5. The Pardon My Youth book club at Skylight Books, which is also something of a writers’ support group.
6. My procrastination station: Lameass internet games (I WILL defeat you, balloons!), reality competitive television (For once I am SO OK with the winner of a cycle of Top Model.), various celebrity crushes. You might funnel time away from productivity but there’s no doubt you keep me sane.

Happy Thanksgiving, Americans! Happy Thursday, everyone else!

A Confession

I hear the excitement in my friends’ voices. I see the blog posts and the tweets. And I stay silent. Because, dear readers, I have a shameful secret.

I… I don’t like Christmas music.

I’m not sure what it is. The jolliness? The jingle of bells? The talk of snow while I’m cozied up in my hoodie in the extreme sixty-five degree Los Angeles fall weather? The memories of Catholic school and my ugly uniform? That dismal year and a half spent assistant-managing a greeting card store in the mall?

No matter. I don’t like it. But I like all of you! And therefore I play along, and I act enthusiastic when you tell me about the all-holiday radio station, and I fake the jolly as shops crank in the golden oldie holiday tunes.

Just so you don’t think I’m completely heartless, here are some things I do love:

• when Starbucks cups turn maroon for the season
• fuzzy baby animals
• warm apple cider
• Zac Efron
• brown paper packages tied up with string

Happy week before Thanksgiving, everyone!

Taking Care of Terrific

In a break from rewriting, I’m trying to get through my stack of library books. I’ve been slowly adding all the Lois Lowry books I haven’t yet read, and just started Taking Care of Terrific. Lowry does a lot of things I love, but I could probably sum it all up by pointing to the fact that she wrote this sentence:

The problem with most people’s lives is that they have lost the capacity to believe that Gregory Peck would be along.

Bad Blogger!

Egads, it has been a terribly long time since I posted. Here is what I did instead of blogging, in no particular order:

1. Finished the first draft of Current Project! I suppose now it is no longer Current Project! The abbreviation for its working title is MLLM so I guess I’ll be calling it that around these parts too. You will never guess what that stands for but if you really want to try go ahead! Here are three things about MLLM: show choir, boys with good hair, Stephen Sondheim.
2. Began first draft of what is now Current Project! Here are three things about Current Project: improv comedy, baristas, reinvention.
3. There might be some REWRITING going on too! Three things about the rewritten project: school paper, hot college boys, tattoos.
4. Went to fun events! Another Goodreads swap, this one at the fantastic Book Soup and involving the Kogi truck. Frank Portman (I KNOW RIGHT?) read at Skylight! (King Dork was totally seminal in my path to YA.) I tried to see a panel at the Paley but I ended up stuck in the lobby, which was fine, because the lobby has free soda, mostly-delicious snacks, and cute caterwaiters.
5. Went to St. Louis! Do you know what St. Louis has? My family! Also: humidity.
6. Shopped! It is the Fall of cardigans, and since I live in L.A. it will also be the winter of cardigans. I am so happy patterned cardigans are in right now! It’s not that I particularly care about fashion trends; it’s that I enjoy when my favorite items are easily accessible in stores. Also I think Doc Martens may be coming back in, but either way, I just ordered a new pair and I am psyched beyond a reasonable level.

And now I promise to be a better blogger. If you don’t believe me, look at a cute picture of my cats:

This Post Is Working Titled

You know what I hate? Titling things. I am so bad at it. I have over 65,000 words of my current project, which means it is VERY CLOSE to being finished. But what doesn’t it have? A frigging title.

I got very lucky with my last book. One came to me that I loved, that summed up everything I liked about it, and I can actually imagine on the cover of a real book. Yes, hypothetical marketing teams could still change it, and that’s fine (well, not fine, I’d cry, but I’d deal), but it was a good title to query with, and I love when people ask me what it’s called and I tell them and they say “OOOH!”

Now I have friends who think I’m excellent at titling. But, friends, you are wrong. It was a fluke!

GoodReads Pet Peeves

Listen, I love GoodReads. But it also annoys me on a fairly regular basis. I know the best life advice for the internet is “Don’t read the comments” but GoodReads is really… only comments. This advice cannot be followed there.

Pet Peeve #1: My friend Akilah pointed this out, and it had been bugging me too. Why do so many people start their review with a summary of the book or basically their own version of the flap copy? There’s a synopsis at the top of the page! I do not read reviews on GoodReads to know what a book is ABOUT. I want to know what you THOUGHT of it.

Pet Peeve #2: Adults who review YA with ten thousand disclaimers. “No, I know, it’s YA, but it’s actually good!” Listen, people, lots of YA is good. Clearly you just enjoyed a YA title! Why denigrate the rest of it?

Pet Peeve #3: Adults who feel the need to review books from their childhood that they haven’t read since with lots of rude remarks like “oh my god, I used to love this, I haven’t read it since, I’m sure it’s terrible now” and give it one star. I don’t understand the point of reviewing a book you haven’t read in ten to twenty years just to say it probably stinks now. The other year I actually gave myself a little project where I went back and reread favorite books from my childhood to see how they stacked up now. This was actually when I rediscovered A Summer to Die which I must say is usually the book I list as my favorite. (I also just realized a couple weeks ago how much I still adore Logan Likes Mary Anne! and not just because it contains two of my favorite things, cute boys and kittens.) Yes, people, you may now be ashamed at your childhood crushes and taste in music and literature. But also trust that sometimes you did spot quality. Also trust that authors who write for children aren’t all idiots just spewing out disposable crap.

Pet Peeve #4: Reviewers who say things like “I was hoping this book would be like this other book. It wasn’t. ONE STAR.” I mean, sure, judge a book any way you want, that’s fair. But it seems awfully unfair to automatically downgrade a book because it wasn’t more like something else, especially when most books don’t make promises to be like other, unrelated books.

I guess, looking back on my list, this is more a list of pet peeves with GoodReads users. Sorry, site!