Scampering off again

I know I've been a bad blogger, but the last few days have been so busy. For instance: * I volunteered at the Smithsonian's annual Zoofari * I attended Sailor Boy's high school reunion * I watched Sailor Boy get yet another degree (our walls, they have no room for more diplomas... luckily, the Yale ones are both small and undiploma-y) * I designed some very cool promotional items for the release of Rites of Spring (Break). * I judged a contest for my RWA chapter * I worked on ancillary matter for Rampant * I reviewed a colleague's most recent book proposal * I worked on SSG4, which may have as many as up to seventeen sex scenes.* And today, I'm going to New York for a get together at the YA Author Mansion. Of course it's a real thing. Where do you think we get our ideas? _________________________ * In response to a writer who told me, straight faced, that the difference between YA and adult was that adult books had sex scenes. Which, huh? I can think of many YA books with sex scenes. I can think of many adult books, including ones written by me, without. For instance, there is no sex scene in Secret Society Girl. I am, however, keeping mum on the content of ROSB. ;-)

Miscellany, Vol 23

Cravenly stolen from Marianne Mancusi's blog: I could not stop laughing. This is every conversation I have with other writers every day on every writer list. What to do to promote your book that has nothing to do with writing books. And, like a flake, I keep forgetting to pick the winner for the Narnia drawing of Sarah Beth Durst's book. It's..... BARRATT MILLER. Barratt, email me your address, and I'll get that book to you when it releases. The topic of process is an evergreen topic of course. Too bad Justine's got it all cocked up. "Other writer are crazy..." Ha! No, she's crazy. I'm right. Carrie wants to know about sharing (Justine recently wanted to know the same, vis-a-vis word counts), which is interesting, because I've recently been taken to task for not doing enough of that around here. Am I not a writer? Then should not at least the occasional post contain some sort of tidbit about the writing I am ostensibly doing? Unfair. They do. But, in the interest of filling readers in, should they be curious, here's a global update: I'm finished with the revisions for Rampant, and I'm waiting for the next step. The book, as I mentioned recently, will be out in summer of 2009. This might be the only book I've ever written where I was still in love with it after the revisions were done. Usually, doing revisions is like being stuck in a small room or car or tent (you know, for those of you who lived the hobo's life in Australia or New Zealand) with someone you care about deeply whose little foibles and personal habits start to grate on you after a while and then it's like you need. To. Get. Away. From. Them. For a little while. And then, after a certain amount of time, you see them again, and you love them again. But with this book, I still love it. We had some rough moments in the tent, but I don't think we need some personal space right now. Curious. I'm working on all the release extravaganza stuff for Rites of Spring (Break). That book will be out in 39 days. Preorder now! I love this book too! (It's been ages since I finished the revisions.) I've can't wait for other people to get to read it and see what I have in store for Amy & Co. I'm writing the fourth secret society book. There is no title. There is also no word count meter. Sorry.

Paranurban Fomance and "Harlequins"

A few days back, Candy of Smart Bitches, Trashy Books, posted an excellent rant about this post on Pharyngula about the preponderance of mass market vampire romance. Basically, PZ Meyers knows nothing about the topic, but is curious (though he pushes buttons instantly by writing it off as "formula fiction" from the word go). Things really go off the rails, however, in the comment thread, which I have only skimmed, but in skimming, agree with Candy's sum up, which is brilliant, and goes like this: I am also fascinated--FASCINATED--that Harlequin has become shorthand for romance, all romance, the way it has, since books published under the Harlequin/Silhouette imprint cover only a very specific niche of romance. It’d be as if, in attempting to define ice-cream, somebody didn’t address the ingredients, or the characteristics that make ice-cream, well, icy and creamy, but instead chose to refer to it solely by a rather slapdash association of flavor and brand name, sometimes resulting in rather jarring juxtapositions if you know ice-cream well. “My mom’s a huge fan of Breyer’s Phish Food, but I just don’t get it--the thought of eating bits of unbaked chocolate chip cookie dough in ice-cream makes me want to hurl,” sez somebody, and it’s all I can do to not leap up like an obnoxious bastard and say “DUDE, Phish Food is Ben and Jerry’s, and for the love of God, it doesn’t have chocolate chip cookie dough anywhere in it, and really, YOU OBVIOUSLY DON’T EAT ICE-CREAM AND THEREFORE ARE UNQUALIFIED TO COMMENT ON WHAT WE’RE EATING, AND I’M GOING TO JUMP ON YOUR HEAD BECAUSE YOUR NEXT COMMENT IS OBVIOUSLY GOING TO BE HOW EVERYONE WHO EATS ICE-CREAM IS A FAT WHORE. SEE HOW I’M JUMPING ON YOUR HEAD? JUMP. JUMMMMMP.” Hmmmm, who pointed something like this out before? Oh, yeah: me. Just apply the Harlequin Rule, Candy. If they conflate an entire genre with one publisher's enormous, but necessarily limited series of books (which they have no doubt not read, as some of them are flatly fabulous), then they automatically lose their argument. As for the argument at hand, namely, "where did all this paranormal romance/urban fantasy/vampire stuff come from," I have my own ideas, too numerous to do justice in my allotted blogging time this morning, but I shall attempt: 1. No, it wasn't Twilight. Sorry. It wasn't even Twilight in YA, though that book's success has certainly been a big push. But every adult pub (and most YAs) was clamoring for paranormal romance and urban fantasy (which Twilight is decidedly not, it's a straight up romance) long before Twilight ever appeared. And Twilight effectively ended the vampire buy in at most YA houses, because it was pretty tough to compete. Now the big scramble seems to be for the "next creature." 2. I strongly believe the current confluence of paranormal romance, vampire books, and urban fantasy is a “perfect storm” situation. It's popularity in several distinct genres that have merged and created an enormous tidal wave of popularity. The people complaining in the threads of each post above have their taste, and hate it when the other genres intrude. If you got into urban fantasy through Charles De Lint, you probably dislike the people who got into it from Buffy. If you got into it through Buffy, you may hate the folks who came via Christine Feehan. If you got into it through romance, you probably hate the stuff that's Lint inspired. And yes, publishers ARE publishing things that you (or someone else) might decide belongs on THIS side of the Fence as THAT instead. Seriously, deal with it. A publisher is not going to define a genre to suit your own personal individual taste. 3. If I were to give an opinion of why the genre/s are so popular right now, I would say it was a combo of the following: a. The non-human men populating most paranormal romance are the natural extension of a readership who longs for the "alpha male" fantasy, but don't really buy it in normal contemporary settings. Nowadays, most men who act like the guys in romance novels would be considered psycho stalkers in real life. Thus, they are not the boys next store. But stalk it up to some paranormal soul mate/pack instinct/blood lust non human thing, and readers will accept it. b. The stripe of urban fantasy stories that have the kick ass women with paranormal powers is due to the zeitgeist of kickass heroines. They are the descendants of Buffy et al. c. The above are not mutually exclusive. d. Also, people are very scared of real life stuff right now, so it's fun to escape into magical scaredness of monsters instead of real scaredness of everything else in the world. Same reasons horror movies are in. My YA novel, Rampant, can be (loosely) defined as urban fantasy, in that it is fantasy, contemporary, and takes place in a city. Thus, urban. If I had to pick a path from which it came, I'd point at Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It doesn't have that "all powerful paranormal male" which I think is such a huge draw in the genre, but it does have strong women with supernatural powers dealing with same. It's also not about folks (for the most part) on the edges of society, which is, I understand, the liminal, Lintian influence one see in many current works. I do believe there's room for us all. It's unfortunate when one stripe of the trend is seen as ruining other stripes, or less worthy, or etc. I prefer to think of it as paths that lead to one another... or heck, to go with that ice cream metaphor again, as Neapolitan ice cream -- many flavors, one box. Eat whichever one you want, or all of them together!

World Premiere

So apparently I've been tagged by Allison Winn Scotch. These are the rules of the tag: 1. Pick up the nearest book. 2. Open to page 123. 3. Find the fifth sentence. 4. Post the next three sentences. 5. Tag five no people and post a comment to the person who tagged you once you've posted your three sentences. Like Allison, the closest book to me at the moment is the manuscript for Rampant. No, seriously. I feel kind of weird about that, since I don't usually post snippets of unpublished work at all. So yeah, a world premiere, as it were: "Has anyone been able to figure out who sent her here?” She looked at Phil. “And get shivved for our efforts?” Phil asked. Not entirely sure that makes a lick of sense out of context, but there it is. I'm not really into tagging. So anyone who would like to do this may. Let me know you have!

Books I'm Reading

Finally got the chance to kick back with a few novels. I'd been in a bit of a dry spell, not just behind in my reading, but also failing to find a book that really set me off. I don't know about you, but I tend to read in spurts. If I get my hands on a really good book, it just makes me want to read more. If I read some novels I'm so-so about, I tend to put books aside and check out the Netflix queue. Thankfully, this past week, I got my hands on some great ones. All debut, too! WAKE, by Lisa McMann. Hypnotic page turner about a girl who involuntarily and uncontrollably gets sucked into other people's dreams. Spellbinding and sweet love story. I was initially skeptical, because of the strange, distant tone employed in the novel, but it didn't take me long to get sucked in, much like the main character. Really enjoyed. It's apparently the first in a series. I am very curious to see what is next, because I must admit, it felt like a deliciously self-contained novel. PRIVATE ARRANGEMENTS, by Sherry Thomas. Another Bantam Dell author, I just kept hearing the buzz about this book, and I picked it up while out indulging in my favorite addiction at the Boston Borders with buddy Maureen McGowan. Well, the buzz is all deserved! Fascinating and inventive historical romance. A reunion story, too. My favorite kind. What I really loved about this book was that it's a cure for all those silly "big misunderstanding" kind of books. Yes, the couple is estranged after the hero decides that the heroine is an unforgivable bitch. But she actually did what he accused her of. Nicely done. Goes right in there with "favorite historical romances I've read recently" The Book of True Desires, by Betina Krahn, and The Companion, by Susan Squires. Your turn! Tell me about any good books you've read recently! __________________________________ PS: I totally forgot to draw a winner for the Sarah Beth Durst book the other week. Oops! I blame deadlines. You have until Tuesday to enter at that post, and then I'll draw.

A Veronica Mars Interlude

Sailor Boy and I have been re-watching the second season of Veronica Mars. I have long maintained that the first season of VM is my favorite season of any television show. However, I did recently watch season one of Dexter. What do these two shows have in common? (Besides being smart, witty, expertly written and crafted, with compelling characters, luminous dialogue, and amazing pacing?) They both started out as novels. Veronica Mars was a novel that was never written. Rob Thomas wrote several YA novels before turning to television, and VM was, at one time, "untitled girl detective story." I think part of the reason VM struggled to find its footing after that first season is because so much of it was designed for that first season story. The first season of Dexter follows the novel Darkly Dreaming Dexter. After the first season, I hear, it deviates from the rest of the novel series. (I don't know. I haven't seen it yet -- don't spoil it!) It's an interesting formula, and one I think works better with mysteries. Each episode of Dexter and VM is a mini-mystery, and the big mystery weaves through it all and occasionally interacts with the little one. So well done. I don't think you could make an entire season of television out of the SSG books. However, I do think that novels, in general, are better suited to the TV or miniseries format than to film. Anyway, back to Season two of VM. I do remember, when first watching it, how hard the writers were keeping us LoVe (that's Logan and Veronica) fans on the hook. Their embittered past seemed to permeate every moment of their screentime, and it was magical! However, watching it again, I'm struck this time around and how Kristen Bell plays the love triangle. I don't think I noticed how many of her reactions to Logan are motivated by her feelings for him. Her responses to Duncan are so incredibly tame and surface/cynical, by comparison. It may be the reason I never bought her whole tearful "and we can never email or call each other again" act in "Donut Run." I never, ever, ever got what she saw in Duncan. Yeah, he's "nice" (though have we come down on the side of he slept with Kendall or not?) But I came up with a new theory last night. The reason she goes to these ridiculous, elaborate lengths to get Duncan out of town -- rather than just letting him use his significant financial power to lawyer that baby right out of the Manning's hands -- is so she can have a guilt free way to get him out of her life. Duncan is a constant reminder of the "old" (pre-Lilly's murder and life falling apart) Veronica. Until she gets rid of Duncan, and not in a way that means he's hanging around like, oh, DUMPING him -- she will not be free of her ties to her old life. I do find it interesting that when she dreams of "what might have been" in the last episode of the season, where her father is sheriff and she's an '09er and things are grand, she is dating Logan and Duncan is being a jerk. Hmmmmm... My point is... um, point? Right. My point is that it must be really hard to show a relationship wherein the two characters are not only in social positions that require them to keep their distance (i.e., ex lovers and friends of ex lover's current lover), but also have so much anger and bitterness toward each other, and STILL manage to give off love vibes. And considering that I love that relationship so much, and it's a TV show, and the actors involved are fabulous, and it still took me several watchings to "get it" -- wow. Can you imagine if that tried to be a book?

Me On the Shelves

A.K.A. My Books And Where You'll Find Them What It Is: Through the Wardrobe: Your Favorite Authors on C.S. Lewis's the Chronicles of Narnia. Place You're Likely to Find It: Border's Book Stores (Exclusively), either in the YA or children's sections, shelved with the other Narnia books, OR under B for Herbie Brennan (who edited the collection). Alternately, your local Borders may have a special display at the front of the store for the Narnia books and tie-ins in preparation for the movie. You are unlikely to get any help from the employees, as the book is NOT listed in the system, either by title or ISBN. This has been the case at several Borders I've visited in various states. The Borders in Boston where I most recently saw the book had it listed as being written by C.S. Lewis. If you have trouble finding it, try to get a hold of the YA or Children's Books specialist in the store. I don't think you can buy it online, either. What It's About: A bunch of YA and fantasy authors writing essays about the Narnia series. My essay is called "King Edmund the Cute" and talks about the character of Edmund Pevensie. ____________ What It Is: The paperback of Secret Society Girl, my first novel and the first book in the ongoing series. Where You'll Find It: Any bookstore, shelved in the literature/fiction section. The easiest way to find me is to look for the massive Jodi Picoult shelves and I'm usually right before it. I heart Jodi Picoult. Alternately, fine online retailers. And finally, I hear you can still find them in Target book sections. What It's About: Smart, sassy Ivy League co-ed Amy Haskel gets tapped into the previously all-male secret society Rose & Grave, and that's just the start of her adventures. _____________ What It Is: Under the Rose, my second novel and the follow up to Secret Society Girl. Where You'll Find It: Right next to Secret Society Girl. You'll be more likely to find it this summer, however, than you will now. Meanwhile, your best bet is fine online retailers. I've also heard people had good luck at Target. What It's About: From Publisher's Weekly: "Picking up where last year's Secret Society Girl left off, the novel follows the misadventures of Amy Haskel, who, having endured the initiation only to unravel a misogynistic plot set on destroying the first class of Diggers to include women, is looking forward to putting her troubles behind her. But things begin to sour when all the Diggirls receive a mysterious letter warning them of the society's impending implosion. To make matters worse, Amy's ex-boyfriend has a hot new girlfriend; her roommate starts dating a society member with commitment problems; another society member is dying to get under Amy's ceremonial robe; and Amy's senior thesis looms. When the Diggers realize they have a mole, Amy is intent on finding the culprit." _____________ What it Is: The World of the Golden Compass, edited by Scott Westerfeld Where You'll Find It: In the YA or Children's section of your local Borders (exclusively), with the Philip Pullman books. Alternately, in the YA section with the Scott Westerfeld books. Like the Narnia book, this book is not listed in the computer system in the store, so it is unlikely employees will be able to help. You used to be able to order it online, but the link appears to be broken now. (Seriously, this is the best picture I can find of it now!) What It's About: Another essay anthology. Mine is called "Ghost in the Machine" and is about the concept of daemons and why I named my laptop Pantalaimon. _______________ What It Is: Everything I Needed to Know About Being a Girl I Learned from Judy Blume, edited by Jennifer O'Connell. Where You'll Find It: I know nothing about a paperback release for this book, so your best bet is fine online retailers. Or, you may get lucky in a store. What It's About: An essay anthology by women's fiction writers (including Megan McCafferty and Meg Cabot) about what Judy Blume meant to us growing up. My essay is called "Brave New Kid" and it's about how I identified with Sally J. Freedman. _______________ And, coming up: What It Is: Rites of Spring (Break), the third book in the Secret Society Girl series. Where You'll Find It: Starting on June 24, 2008, you'll find it in bookstores all over. Check the new release tables, and if that doesn't work, check next to Jodi Picoult. You can also pre-order it now -- today! -- online at these fine online retailers and have a book delivered to your door the day it's out! What It's About: For Amy, a week of R&R on her secret society’s private island should be all fun in the sun—and an escape from an on-campus feud with a rival society that’s turned disturbingly personal. But along with her SPF 30 and a bikini, Amy is bringing a suitcase full of issues to remote Cavador Key. Graduation from Eli University looms, not to mention buckets of unfinished business with a former flame and—most pressing of all—the sudden, startling transformation of a mysterious Rose & Grave patriarch from sheerly evil to utterly…appealing? Just when Amy thinks Spring Break can’t get any less relaxing, a wacky “accident” puts everyone on edge. And that’s only the beginning, as Amy starts to suspect that someone has infiltrated the island. With some major Rose & Grave secrets to be exposed, and the potential fallout enough to take down one of America’s most loathsome figureheads, what she can’t know is that the party crasher is deadly serious about making sure “Bugaboo” doesn’t get back to Eli alive…. ___________________ And, in 2009, at bookstores everywhere: June: RAMPANT, a tale of killer unicorns July: The fourth book in the Secret Society Girl series