Aha
This person can't live without Carrie Pilby. It's lucky I wrote it because I wouldn't have wanted her to die!
I talked to Superagent who said she thinks CP is my freshest book. She wants me to write another book that's fresh and original someday. I'm working on two things. Hopefully one of them will capture people's hearts. Or minds. Or wallets. Yeah, yeah. It's all about the benjamins, yo.
(Disclaimer: I'm kidding about that. I do care about my characters and their integrity.)
I am hosting trivia this evening (Tuesday), 7:30, Baggott Inn, NYC. That might be my last co-hosting for a while. Not forever, but for quite a while.
I picked a wedding date. My wedding date will be...
(wait for it)
The Boy!
3/20/2007
3/19/2007
Random thing I thought of
I'm working on teen books, so I'm allowed to remember junior high memories like this one...
When I was in eighth grade, my family moved to a wealthier town than we'd ever lived in before. It was a huge New Jersey farm town with mansions and country clubs. The school system was one of the best in the state, which was why my mom liked it. We found an old house in the only non-new development in town, the only part of town we could afford, and moved in.
The kids at my new school talked about which company their dads owned, and only wore Guess jeans. I had always had a few friends in any school I lived in, even if we were all geeks. But in this new school, I had none.
So anyway, something happened there that really made me laugh - because it showed how popularity worked.
There was a kid in my homeroom named Bill Jakorsky. Bill was unpopular. But he was still more popular than I was (who wasn't?)
One day, we had a pep rally. After it, we all went back to homeroom.
Bill Jakorsky came up to me and demanded: "Caren, did you cheer?"
I thought he was asking if I was a cheerleader, just to make fun of me. So I said, "No." Because of course I wasn't a cheerleader.
Then I realized that he just meant, did I cheer for our teams. I wanted to correct what I'd said. But it was too late. I got a sinking feeling as he ran to report me to a popular girl in the class named Rachel.
"Rachel," Bill said. "Caren didn't cheer."
Rachel looked at him and said, "Who gives a shit whether she cheered or not?"
Hee hee. It wasn't that she cared about me at all, it was that she didn't care about what Bill had to say, either. I took satisfaction in that.
I just think it's funny that even the unpopular kids in a junior high will try to pick on someone less popular than they are, to score points with the popular crowd. And it always backfires.
Sorry, Bill. ;)
I'm working on teen books, so I'm allowed to remember junior high memories like this one...
When I was in eighth grade, my family moved to a wealthier town than we'd ever lived in before. It was a huge New Jersey farm town with mansions and country clubs. The school system was one of the best in the state, which was why my mom liked it. We found an old house in the only non-new development in town, the only part of town we could afford, and moved in.
The kids at my new school talked about which company their dads owned, and only wore Guess jeans. I had always had a few friends in any school I lived in, even if we were all geeks. But in this new school, I had none.
So anyway, something happened there that really made me laugh - because it showed how popularity worked.
There was a kid in my homeroom named Bill Jakorsky. Bill was unpopular. But he was still more popular than I was (who wasn't?)
One day, we had a pep rally. After it, we all went back to homeroom.
Bill Jakorsky came up to me and demanded: "Caren, did you cheer?"
I thought he was asking if I was a cheerleader, just to make fun of me. So I said, "No." Because of course I wasn't a cheerleader.
Then I realized that he just meant, did I cheer for our teams. I wanted to correct what I'd said. But it was too late. I got a sinking feeling as he ran to report me to a popular girl in the class named Rachel.
"Rachel," Bill said. "Caren didn't cheer."
Rachel looked at him and said, "Who gives a shit whether she cheered or not?"
Hee hee. It wasn't that she cared about me at all, it was that she didn't care about what Bill had to say, either. I took satisfaction in that.
I just think it's funny that even the unpopular kids in a junior high will try to pick on someone less popular than they are, to score points with the popular crowd. And it always backfires.
Sorry, Bill. ;)
3/16/2007
That was the week that was
I took off most of this past week to work on various teen novels. My goal for the main one was to get up to 50 pages done, and I did! (I already knew where I wanted to go with it.)
It's a fun book (for ages 10-14 I think) and not as complicated as some of the other stuff I've tried to write. So we'll see.
I also got various other errands done and still had time to pretend to care about basketball when The Boy had it on (ha ha, just kidding honey).
I took off most of this past week to work on various teen novels. My goal for the main one was to get up to 50 pages done, and I did! (I already knew where I wanted to go with it.)
It's a fun book (for ages 10-14 I think) and not as complicated as some of the other stuff I've tried to write. So we'll see.
I also got various other errands done and still had time to pretend to care about basketball when The Boy had it on (ha ha, just kidding honey).
3/15/2007
3/13/2007
3/10/2007
3/08/2007
Random writerly things
From Publisher's Weekly:
Granta announced their second list of the 21 best American writers under age 35 (though 5 were born outside the US) last night. They picked: Daniel Alarcon; Judy Budnitz; Kevin Brockmeier; Christopher Coake; Anthony Doerr; Jonathan Safran Foer; Nell Freudenberger; Olga Grushin; Dara Horn; Gabe Hudson; Uzodinma Iweala; Nicole Krauss; Rattawut Lapcharoensap; Yiyun Li; Maile Meloy; ZZ Packer; Jess Row; Karen Russell; Akhil Sharma; Gary Shteyngart; and John Wray.
Personnel NewsRyan Fischer-Harbage has launched The Fischer-Harbage Agency, specializing in fiction, narrative nonfiction, memoir, and health. He was an agent at Vigliano Associates.
From Publisher's Weekly:
Granta announced their second list of the 21 best American writers under age 35 (though 5 were born outside the US) last night. They picked: Daniel Alarcon; Judy Budnitz; Kevin Brockmeier; Christopher Coake; Anthony Doerr; Jonathan Safran Foer; Nell Freudenberger; Olga Grushin; Dara Horn; Gabe Hudson; Uzodinma Iweala; Nicole Krauss; Rattawut Lapcharoensap; Yiyun Li; Maile Meloy; ZZ Packer; Jess Row; Karen Russell; Akhil Sharma; Gary Shteyngart; and John Wray.
Personnel NewsRyan Fischer-Harbage has launched The Fischer-Harbage Agency, specializing in fiction, narrative nonfiction, memoir, and health. He was an agent at Vigliano Associates.
3/07/2007
Here it comes again
As you know, one of my pet peeves about writing is when I'm working on something, and I found out that another book or movie is coming out with a similar plot.
But that's not always the kiss of death - everyone has a different take on a certain plot.
I just saw this on Barnes & Noble.com about a new novel:
Nothing much happens in the sleepy town of Sterling, New Hampshire. That is, until a quiet, troubled student comes to high school with an arsenal of guns and starts shooting, changing the lives of everyone inside the classroom and out. The daughter of the judge sitting on the case is the state's best witness — but she can't remember what happened in front of her own eyes. Or can she? Tackling fundamental issues like what it means to be different in our society, Nineteen Minutes is bestselling author Jodi Picoult's most raw, honest, and important novel yet.
There have already been numerous novels and movies about school shootings, some because of Columbine, and some before it. But I guess that this doesn't stop an author with her own ideas about telling the story. Just something to remember.
As you know, one of my pet peeves about writing is when I'm working on something, and I found out that another book or movie is coming out with a similar plot.
But that's not always the kiss of death - everyone has a different take on a certain plot.
I just saw this on Barnes & Noble.com about a new novel:
Nothing much happens in the sleepy town of Sterling, New Hampshire. That is, until a quiet, troubled student comes to high school with an arsenal of guns and starts shooting, changing the lives of everyone inside the classroom and out. The daughter of the judge sitting on the case is the state's best witness — but she can't remember what happened in front of her own eyes. Or can she? Tackling fundamental issues like what it means to be different in our society, Nineteen Minutes is bestselling author Jodi Picoult's most raw, honest, and important novel yet.
There have already been numerous novels and movies about school shootings, some because of Columbine, and some before it. But I guess that this doesn't stop an author with her own ideas about telling the story. Just something to remember.
3/06/2007
Other blogs
I have nothing much to say today, but here are some links of interest.
Fellow writer Wes seems to have been stirring up some controversy with a post about race and Raven.
The 'Lesb*an bad dater' seems to have it much worse dating than everyone I have ever met - poor girl.
I have nothing much to say today, but here are some links of interest.
Fellow writer Wes seems to have been stirring up some controversy with a post about race and Raven.
The 'Lesb*an bad dater' seems to have it much worse dating than everyone I have ever met - poor girl.
3/05/2007
Monday, Monday
Happy Monday!
I love pie. This is a really good place for pie. The Boy was nice enough to help me go get pie here. Yay.
Someday I will write about how much I love newspapers (even though my job can get me pretty stressed as well). When I was about 12, I knew I wanted to write a book someday, and I also knew that it wasn't easy to do. So I still had to decide what I wanted to be when I grew up. Then one day I was at a doctor's appointment and saw, in the distance, a long trail of black smoke. It was over the farmy areas of Freehold. I wanted to know if it was a fire, where it was, what it was...and it occurred to me that a good career would be journalism, because of my desire to understand things and because I loved to write. And thus a career was born.
Happy Monday!
I love pie. This is a really good place for pie. The Boy was nice enough to help me go get pie here. Yay.
Someday I will write about how much I love newspapers (even though my job can get me pretty stressed as well). When I was about 12, I knew I wanted to write a book someday, and I also knew that it wasn't easy to do. So I still had to decide what I wanted to be when I grew up. Then one day I was at a doctor's appointment and saw, in the distance, a long trail of black smoke. It was over the farmy areas of Freehold. I wanted to know if it was a fire, where it was, what it was...and it occurred to me that a good career would be journalism, because of my desire to understand things and because I loved to write. And thus a career was born.
3/03/2007
3/02/2007
T.G.I.F.!!
A few people have recently posted their stories about coming to New York, and how they've changed since then. Here's a writer I know who is finally leaving the city.
By the time you read this, it's supposed to be POOOOURing out. Enjoy!
A few people have recently posted their stories about coming to New York, and how they've changed since then. Here's a writer I know who is finally leaving the city.
By the time you read this, it's supposed to be POOOOURing out. Enjoy!
3/01/2007
Clueless
When I was little, I used to hate when TV shows or kids' books would use terms that showed that they were out of touch with modern elementary schools.
For instance, a lot of them would be about a character in the fifth or sixth grade and talk about the "semester," when in fact, many elementary schools have "marking periods" or "quarters" and not semesters. It was as if the authors forgot that because they hadn't been in school so long.
Or on the SATs, a character would say he got 1367 or similar nonsense, when all modern SAT scores end in zero.
Anyway, since I plan to write some teen stuff, I was thinking about a "junior high" in my book, and it occurred to me that the phrase "junior high" is not used much anymore. Most schools seem to be called middle schools and intermediate schools.
I put the question out to the young-adult writing e-mail listserve that I'm on yesterday, and most of the writers said that yeah, there are very few "junior high schools" anymore. Plus, there are few schools that are just 7th and 8th grade. Now a lot of them go 6-8 or 7-9. Most schools are "middle schools" now.
I'm sort of glad that I got to stay in my elementary school through sixth grade. It gets a little scary in junior high. Familiarity is comforting when you're little.
Hey, maybe that's why kids today are growing up faster, because 11-year-olds are being stuck with 13-year-olds and all their gonads!
When I was little, I used to hate when TV shows or kids' books would use terms that showed that they were out of touch with modern elementary schools.
For instance, a lot of them would be about a character in the fifth or sixth grade and talk about the "semester," when in fact, many elementary schools have "marking periods" or "quarters" and not semesters. It was as if the authors forgot that because they hadn't been in school so long.
Or on the SATs, a character would say he got 1367 or similar nonsense, when all modern SAT scores end in zero.
Anyway, since I plan to write some teen stuff, I was thinking about a "junior high" in my book, and it occurred to me that the phrase "junior high" is not used much anymore. Most schools seem to be called middle schools and intermediate schools.
I put the question out to the young-adult writing e-mail listserve that I'm on yesterday, and most of the writers said that yeah, there are very few "junior high schools" anymore. Plus, there are few schools that are just 7th and 8th grade. Now a lot of them go 6-8 or 7-9. Most schools are "middle schools" now.
I'm sort of glad that I got to stay in my elementary school through sixth grade. It gets a little scary in junior high. Familiarity is comforting when you're little.
Hey, maybe that's why kids today are growing up faster, because 11-year-olds are being stuck with 13-year-olds and all their gonads!
2/28/2007
2/27/2007
Yes! Yessss!
Junot Diaz' long-awaited second novel is finally coming out next fall. However, it's coming out the day after Labor Day weekend, which is a terrible time for books. People are going back to school and are consumed with their school duties. Parents are consumed with their kids' school duties. People bought books all summer long for their vacations and are done with pleasure-reading for a while.
However, since it's been 10 years since Diaz' first book, an easy-to-read but stil literary short story compendium, DROWN, made a big splash (ha ha), the new book is likely to make waves (ho ho). Part of it appeared in the New Yorker several years ago and was great.
I also was in Diaz' journalism class in high school, which is a story I will tell, well, probably never, but it was interesting.
Junot Diaz' long-awaited second novel is finally coming out next fall. However, it's coming out the day after Labor Day weekend, which is a terrible time for books. People are going back to school and are consumed with their school duties. Parents are consumed with their kids' school duties. People bought books all summer long for their vacations and are done with pleasure-reading for a while.
However, since it's been 10 years since Diaz' first book, an easy-to-read but stil literary short story compendium, DROWN, made a big splash (ha ha), the new book is likely to make waves (ho ho). Part of it appeared in the New Yorker several years ago and was great.
I also was in Diaz' journalism class in high school, which is a story I will tell, well, probably never, but it was interesting.
2/26/2007
Monday Mailbag
(posted so late today, it's almost Tuesday!)
From C in Kansas:
They wouldn't put the "h" there if they didn't want us to pronounce [vehicle], would they? And it IS an alternate pronunciation in my dictionary. So.... how do you guys pronounce things like "vehicular homicide?" No "h" in vehicular? Sure, you can mention it on your blog. Just be sure to include my Kansas twang. :-)
From Sally in MN:
Finally, snow forecast for MN - we're talking a foot or more, possibly. New "Snowplows are out" photo at my blog.
Okay, I thought of a combonym:
When your bra straps keep falling down or the undewire is poking you, you've got a "brablem."
Yesterday I was having brablems galore.
Take care!
Sally
From Dymocks, the official bookseller of Australia, where the Carrie Pilby cover was really great (but unfortunately I only have two of that version at home, so I tried to order more):
Dear C----,
This is an update to your Dymocks Online order DYMXXXX. The publisher of Carrie Pilby(ISBN:0733545548) advises that this book is no longer in print, and thus is not available. We have cancelled this item from your order, and apologise for any inconvenience caused.
The following is a list of all items in your Order and the current details
TITLE: Carrie Pilby PRICE: $16.32 QTY: 3 STATUS: Cancelled-Out of Print---------------------------------------Please note all prices indicated are in Australian dollars
Oh fudge.
(posted so late today, it's almost Tuesday!)
From C in Kansas:
They wouldn't put the "h" there if they didn't want us to pronounce [vehicle], would they? And it IS an alternate pronunciation in my dictionary. So.... how do you guys pronounce things like "vehicular homicide?" No "h" in vehicular? Sure, you can mention it on your blog. Just be sure to include my Kansas twang. :-)
From Sally in MN:
Finally, snow forecast for MN - we're talking a foot or more, possibly. New "Snowplows are out" photo at my blog.
Okay, I thought of a combonym:
When your bra straps keep falling down or the undewire is poking you, you've got a "brablem."
Yesterday I was having brablems galore.
Take care!
Sally
From Dymocks, the official bookseller of Australia, where the Carrie Pilby cover was really great (but unfortunately I only have two of that version at home, so I tried to order more):
Dear C----,
This is an update to your Dymocks Online order DYMXXXX. The publisher of Carrie Pilby(ISBN:0733545548) advises that this book is no longer in print, and thus is not available. We have cancelled this item from your order, and apologise for any inconvenience caused.
The following is a list of all items in your Order and the current details
TITLE: Carrie Pilby PRICE: $16.32 QTY: 3 STATUS: Cancelled-Out of Print---------------------------------------Please note all prices indicated are in Australian dollars
Oh fudge.
2/23/2007
Random thing I just remembered from elementary school
It's sixth grade, Mrs. Shaak's class. She's teaching us spelling. The next word is "vehicle." She says, "You don't pronounce the 'H'. You don't say ve-HICle, right?"
This girl, Dawn, says, "On the Dukes of Hazzard they do."
The teacher says, "Well, you shouldn't listen to how the Dukes of Hazzard pronounce it."
Just another case of '80s television ruining our minds.
Happy Friday!!!
It's sixth grade, Mrs. Shaak's class. She's teaching us spelling. The next word is "vehicle." She says, "You don't pronounce the 'H'. You don't say ve-HICle, right?"
This girl, Dawn, says, "On the Dukes of Hazzard they do."
The teacher says, "Well, you shouldn't listen to how the Dukes of Hazzard pronounce it."
Just another case of '80s television ruining our minds.
Happy Friday!!!
