ANNOUNCEMENT

Carrie Pilby is being re-released in July, 2010 under the new Harlequin Teen imprint!!

The new line has gotten a lot of press last week from USA Today and other outlets. And today some information went up on the web listing their titles for 2010, so the cat's out of the bag.

It sold more than 40,000 in its original printing, so I'm glad that they're re-releasing it...and to a teen audience, too! I have heard from many teens who enjoyed the book.

Take a gander at this list and you'll see me under July 2010.

Thanks for your support! I suppose you may be able to pre-order it on Amazon early next year.

What will they say?

I just read this article:

"Walter Breuning learned to read by kerosene lantern, remembers his grandfather telling him about fighting in the Civil War, and cast his first presidential ballot for Woodrow Wilson. The 112-year-old resident of Great Falls, Mont., apparently became the world's oldest man when 113-year-old Henry Allingham of England died Saturday. Breuning was born Sept. 21, 1896."

What will they say about me?

"Caren M------ learned to type on a gray Smith-Corona typewriter, cast her first ballot for President Bill Clinton, and remembered her grandfather telling her about playing tennis in Florida. The 150-year-old resident of New Jersey apparently became the world's oldest living person when 189-year-old actress Elizabeth Taylor passed away. A cradle-robber from the get-go, she is older than her 145-year-old husband..." Ha ha ha

Aha!

If you do your taxes at home, can you declare that room your home office?

Who knew?

Brilliant photographer and proprietor of WhereIWrite.org Kyle Cassidy e-mailed me in response to the writer who left his short stories somewhere:

"it was Ernest Hemingway -- his first wife, Hadly, famously left the only copy of all of his short stories on a train in france. it's the literary holy grail."

It sure is - If I could find that, I could make big bucks. But should I sell the manuscript, or just retype it and pretend it's my own? I guess people would be suspicious if all of a sudden I was writing about bullfighting and people were calling me "Papa."

By the way, is that why he divorced "Hadly"?

Anyway, check Kyle's work out at his great blog, http://kylecassidy.livejournal.com/.

Mom on pop culture

I went to my mom's to watch Jeopardy! this week.

ALEX TREBEK: On their first night in the White House, the Obama girls had a scavenger hunt in which these musical brothers were at the end.

MOM: Jonas.

ME: Pretty good, Mom!

MOM: I don't even know who they are.

WhereIwrite.Org

Wired Magazine described this blog as "Cribs for the literary set."

I bet Blanket Jackson hates his name.

Who?

Someone got to my blog by putting this into Google:

Who was the writer who left the only copy of

a whole collection of his short stories on some

subway and lost them

I don't know who that was. I know Garrison Keillor left his only copy of a novel in an airport bathroom, though.

Dating Disorder Diagnosed?

Click here!

Partial ocean view

This weekend, we were at a hotel on the beach. I booked the room partially based on the "partial ocean view." Well, the only way you could see the ocean was from a little window high up above the toilet! Do you think that should count? I don't.

I guess it should have said "partial view of the water." Ha ha ha.

I'll put up a few pics. It was Cape May, NJ. I think I prefer Wildwood. Both beach towns are at the southern end of NJ. Here's what's the same and what's different:

Cape May vs. Wildwood

The beaches of Wildwood are free and have the finest sand. Cape May had some nice sand too, but is $5 for the day. Both places are also big on miniature golf and candy/fudge shops. Architectually, Wildwood is known for its kitschy '50s hotels. Cape May has beautiful Victorian houses and bed-and-breakfasts. Wildwood has a boardwalk with amusements, so it's a much better place for kids. Cape May is better for us fogies. It has a boardwalk too, but only a few shops on it. For me, Wildwood also has the memories of the once a year my parents took me and my bro there as a kid. It hasn't changed, really. Not like, ahem, Asbury Park.

Sarah responds

Wow, this girl can write lyrics! She had this to say:

Nah C-Dawg - yo rap lyrics be all strange an sh*t! fo shiz you got da rhyme down, girl, but you aint makin no sense wit da story, ya feel me?
An there aint no cursin in yo rap. Where is the anger, yo? Word.
I say

Girl, you came to be like a b*tch to a bone,
With an ass like dat I hadda take you home,
We pop champagne and drink the foam,
I aint no pimp like Sean P. Comb(s),
Girl I wanna lick ya like an ice cream cone

(hee hee)

Worst rap song ever

I'm working on a rap song. I think I will sell it to Cisco or someone. So far I have this:

You came to me like a dog to a bone

So I had to take you home

And shove my cream in your cone

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!!!

I was just lamenting what a bad job I did taking fireworks photos when I found that iPhoto can drastically improve them!

BEFORE

AFTER

New food ideas

Hmmm!

Writerly stuff

1. Ned Vizzini has been working for two years on a book that's more than 400 pages long. He finally sent it to his agent. They just had a phone conversation in which the agent gave a lot of criticism and they both decided to put the book off indefinitely.
Surprisingly, he's not upset. He actually is a bit relieved.
This turn of events, and the fact that he has a newer project he's more excited about, is not so unusual in the writing world.
Anyway, here's his journal entry about this, which is interesting and a good slice of the writing life.
It's just too bad I'll have to wait longer to read the next Ned book, because his two novels were great.

2. An article about submtiting your short stories or essays to literary magazines. There's usually low or no pay, but it gets your work out there. And sometimes it even gets your work to a "Best of..." collection, where there IS some financial reward. Plus it may get the attention of agents or editors. Junot Diaz rose to prominence by getting his first story in STORY Magazine when it existed years ago. Agents saw it and ultimately he got a book of short stories published.

Mammatus clouds at sunset

The battle of who could care less

I've heard some of my peers (not most, but some) saying they really don't care about Michael Jackson's death. Usually I don't care much about celebrity deaths either, but you have to realize that even if you didn't like him or his music, he was one of the biggest celebrities of the world, and an '80s phenomenon. And I *did* like him and his music. That said, even if I feel bad (and shocked), it's not exactly going to affect my daily life.

The whole thing got me to thinking about celebrity deaths I cared and didn't care about. Luckily, most of the celebrities in my age group probably have a lot of living to do. The exceptions, like Kurt Cobain or the (younger) Heath Ledger, I really didn't care about much.

But I remember feeling really affected by River Phoenix. I'm not sure why; maybe because he always seemed so soulful in his roles, particularly in "Stand By Me" and "Running on Empty." (The latter was a depressing, intense, and excellent film that I highly recommend).

I guess it'll be pretty terrible when we get old enough that a lot of the celebs our age start passing away.

Lisa Marie Presley talks about trying to 'save' Michael Jackson

Worth reading. I wonder how many people who walk away from a relationship with a destructive person have those feelings of regret & sadness that they couldn't save or change them...

Click HERE.

Men at Work song accused of ripping off folk song

I hear a lot of songs that sound like other songs. What's different here? Anyway, the comments below this story are funny.

Jon & Kate

I don't watch the show. But being on a reality show - where the producers are only going to make money and get an audience if there's drama - is a recipe for disaster. In this case, I don't think these two could help it, since how else are you supposed to pay for a family of 10? So it's a shame. But look at the ratings! The family's loss is the producers' gain.