Oh lord

I got a press release today for a new song called "F--- My Face." Apparently there is a clean version and a dirty version. How could there be a clean version of F--- My Face?

Too easy

As if someone would say 'no' to this. But really, how complicated was this dessert to think up? Just put a bunch of yummy stuff together. Big deal. I could do that.

French kiss

There are a lot of mentions of La vie (pas) tres cool de Carrie Pilby on the web. It's one of the first releases from French Harlequin Teen and it came out there a month ago.

Here's what one person wrote on her blog, as translated by Google:

Summary: Not easy to live your life when you feel a girl apart and found the hypocritical world.

Constantly disappointed and tired to ask a thousand questions, Carrie is definitely much refuge under his blanket. However, a secret voice whispers to give a second chance ... by throwing a few challenges. Notably, "Making an important meeting" and "Saying 'I love you" to someone "...

My opinion: This is a book in which he generally does not happen much and which can easily take heroin flu ... But it is also a book that gives cause for reflection on oneself.

Carrie asks a lot (too) questions. Carrie has one side a bit pedantic: as with a High IQ more than average, it tends to find "normal" people are uninteresting. It is the sort who quickly judge people just on her looks. What logically force a loneliness that weighs more. Especially since Carrie is way ahead of his age: not even 19 she is already graduated from Harvard. Some find it unbelievable, it is actually difficult to live.

Sure, that's no excuse any lack of Carrie, her haughty side to the other, but I was sorry for her. Especially when she shares with us his reflections on life and our scoiété. She knows that she considers too quickly and too easily, it would make an effort, but too often it has taken bowls. Obviously it hardens. The loneliness that besets is also a way to escape it all.

But this is not the solution to everything. We follow its evolution and development during a period of several weeks. She learned to reach out to others, to accept them as they are and to gain acceptance of them.

Each meeting is a milestone in its progress and its importance for the rest of the route. Even if sometimes we say "roh but a lucky chance anyway!" I thought it was pretty well done.

This brings us to a final, simple, a little short perhaps, but to me much. It is an end "security blanket" that makes you want to shake his book as one would press a teddy bear!

In short, far from the chick-bed that could be expected, it is a book about the difficult access to the adult world of a young lady like no other, and yet one that may restrict attach and even identify with. I liked: o)

My rating: 9 / 10

Life (not) very cool Pilby Carrie (French Amazon link)

Get shorty

We went to a minor league baseball game this weekend and saw this fella playing...he really does look tiny out there even though he's taller than me. He was a darn good player, actually! He plays...shortstop. (What else?)

So, meet 5'3" Chris Cates of the Rock Cats in New Britain, Connecticut, shortest player in professional baseball.

Various quick updates

Baby is still doing well in my tummy, thankfully. We are starting to play some music for him to enjoy.

I finally got the rest of my Carrie Pilby press releases out via regular mail, since it comes out July 1. Glad to get that out of the way.

We're going to a minor league baseball game soon. Always a fun experience to go to these little pockets of America.

And now, a photo version of the quick update:

1.


2.

3. (Okay, this doesn't really have to do with baseball.)

Happy summer!!!!

A Mother's Love

This story made me cry. So sweet! (Don't worry, it has a happy ending.)

Carrie Pilby on Kindle, Part 2

Oh, OK. It costs $7.20 on Kindle. The paperback version is only $9.99 Cheap! (As Mad Mag used to say.)

Would you...

Would you keep walking down the sidewalk if this was in the way?

Carrie Pilby on Kindle, too

Apparently there will be a Kindle edition. Looks like it will be available July 1. I'm not sure of the price, but it may be the same as the regular book, $9.99. The regular book is now orderable on Amazon for delivery. It says there are only two left in stock (they must not have had a lot, but maybe are getting more) so check it out!

Isn't the World Cup dangerous...

...to viewers?

Actually to players, too, if they kick into the wrong team's goal and get murdered for it.

I know I can't blame a sport for the actions of its fans, but this one seems to stir some strong feelings.

Oh well, I am glad our version of football doesn't stir those feelings...okay, except maybe on Super Bowl Sunday when it leads to (according to statistics) domestic issues.

Hmmmmm

Instead of spaying and neutering, wouldn't it be better to teach abstinence to feral cats?

To Do

Have you bought your new copy of Carrie Pilby today?

'A thunderstorm tomorrow afternoon'

That's what they forecast for my area. But I've notice that they forecast this for every hot day, especially as it gets toward summer. After all, the conditions are right. It COULD happen.

It probably won't, though.

But just in case it does, look how smart they are!!

Article today about rerelease of Carrie Pilby!

Once a chick lit book, now rereleased by Harlequin Teen.

Click the long story here.

Some worthy items from the Book Expo of America

1. Fat stuff:

Some think the Book Expo of America is just about getting free totebags. Nope, there are books to read, too! (Ha ha ha). Anyway, I've been meaning to share a few things I picked up:

When I was a kid and read young-adult book after young-adult book, I enjoyed a few really good novels about fat kids trying to lose weight. Some that fell into the category were:

I. One Fat Summer (I thought there was a sequel to it, but now I can't find it on the web). Author Robert Lipsyte is more well known for his baseball writing, but his YA stuff was great. One Fat Summer is a true classic. (You also may have heard of Lipsyte's son Sam, a successful novelist in his own right).

II. A book called Slim-Down Camp that I really loved. According to the web, it came out in 1983 and was by Stephen Manes, who went on to write more YA in the 1990s.

III. Jelly Belly was popular with my friends, and I liked it too, but not as much as One Fat Summer and Slim-Down Camp.

IV. The Fat Girl. I'm just realizing that all four of these books have a guy as the protagonist - even The Fat Girl, which is about a teenager who starts dating a fat girl and works with her to help her slim down. The ending of this book really made me think, and was very well-done. The book was by Marilyn Sachs, who wrote a few YA's I loved as a pre-teen. It was re-released three years ago by a new young-adult imprint called Flux.

Anyway, this is all a lead-up to a YA novel I spotted at BEA called Fat Boy Chronicles. This one definitely joins its illustrious forbears. It's also about a guy (I'm starting to wonder about this! How come the chick lit books about fat protags are about women, but the YA is about boys?) It's published by Sleeping Bear Press in Ann Arbor, Mich. The authors are Diane Lang and Michael Buchanan and it says it's "inspired by a true story." It's also dedicated to Cincinnati Children's Medical Center.

With that lead-in you'd think it might be maudlin or medical, but it's not at all -- It's very a lively, true-to-life YA in the voice of a typical teenage boy. The novel chronicles 14-year-old Jimmy Winterpock, and is told (in a humorous way) through the journal entries he's forced to write for his English class (weren't we all?) It starts like this:

"Hey, Mrs. Pope. I'm the diet-challenged kid who sits in the last seat by the door. I'm probably bigger now than I was this morning because your class is right after lunch and homeroom..."

I'm only a few pages into it but it's already made me laugh out loud. It's told like a YA should be: Straightforward, no pretentiousness. Very well-written. The kid isn't perfect, either; he comments in one entry that another kid sitting near him smells. Isn't it just like an insecure kid to hate being picked on, but have a choice word about someone else? I think that's pretty realistic. Anyway, so far, the book is a good read, and should definitely resonate with teen and YA readers. I like Jimmy and want to see what happens to him in high school. So I hope to keep reading, and to see more from Sleeping Bear Press. Some of the other children's books on their website look really great.

2. Two charities:

I happened to also stop by a booth run by a group called WriteGirl (www.writegirl.org). It's an organization in Los Angeles that helps young girls channel their energy into writing. They say they are "helping girls through mentorship and self-expression." I am soooo for that. (There's a mentoring group like that here in NYC, too, called "Girls Write Now.") Anyway, stop by www.writegirl.org if you desire. I just did, and what a great website. Love the layout and pastel colors.

Also, a group called Happy Hearts Fund (www.happyheartsfund.org) was giving out stickers. You can text "HEART" to 85944 and reply "YES" to donate $5. Their site looks really involved, and it says "The Happy Hearts Fund mission is to improve children's lives through educational and sustainable programs in natural disaster areas." Looks like they rebuild schools and start programs all over the world. So take a look!

For Jennifer Weiner fans

Just saw this on Publisher's Lunch, where they post publishing deals:

General/Other
Another four books by Jennifer Weiner, again to Greer Hendricks at Atria, for publication once a year, by Joanna Pulcini of Joanna Joanna Pulcini Literary Management (world).

Four books! I guess she still has a lot of ideas burning inside of her. So take heart, fans, because she's got more coming!

Playing catch-up

I have to write about some things I saw at the Book Expo of America, and also my reaction to the Sex and the City movie (no spoilers).

So....as soon as I get a chance, I will.

Baby was moving around a lot during the movie. Could be that he liked it. Could be that he hated it. But the truth is, I think it had to do with the grape syrup in my Icee.

Who says there's no drama in publishing?

Actually no one says that, but anyway, this tidbit was in Publisher's Lunch today:

ICM agent Esther Newberg told the NY Post she is "lying in wait for the moment when I can get back at" Andrew Wylie after he tried to poach a client from another ICM agent recently. Speaking about the ridiculous supposed nickname for Wylie "The Jackal," used almost exclusively by the UK press rather than anyone in the business, Newberg told Pia Lindstrom in a Sirius radio interview that "I think I gave him that."

I feel a reality show coming on.

June 1 = resolutions

June 1 isn't even halfway through the year - that'd be around July 1. But I need to make a resolution anyway. So I may just do that. Why not? Anyway, I'll keep it private (except I told hubby what my main one is) so feel free to make your own June 1 resolutions.