Jessica Day George's Blog

New Year's Resolutions and TWO Movie Lists!

2012-01-05T13:20:00.008-07:00

Hello!

I hope that everyone had a wonderful holiday season and a happy new year! I love December, and I also love the first part of January, when things are just getting back to normal . . . and yet not . . . because we're all busy getting set up for the new year!

I generally don't make hardcore resolutions, nothing that would be depressing or demoralizing if they fall through. That's generally not a good idea for someone who has depression to begin with, especially when you factor in that we're headed toward the bleak, cold, dark, awful time of year that affects many people anyway. But if you do, I salute you, because you are braver (and have better willpower) than I!

But this year I would like very much to:

Lose weight. (I know everybody says this, but I'm pretty sure I can do it, since a good 15 pounds or so don't belong to me, and will be "removed" by the end of the month . . .)

Have this baby. (I think I might start crying with joy on the day when I can put on my socks without panting and feeling lightheaded. Also, see above about the gratifying instant weight loss.)

Read a lot of books. (I currently have over 300 books on my To Read shelf over at Goodreads. I want to OWN that list this year. I know I can't read them all, but I would really like to be able to get that list below 200.)

Potty Train My Daughter. (I will pay good money if anyone wants to come and do this for me.)

See some movies. (Good stuff coming this year: The Hunger Games. The Avengers.)

And on that note, here are my Top 12 Grown Up Movies of 2011!

(For those of you who are new to the blog, I used to write movie reviews for a website my husband ran, before there was blogging, and I still like to weigh in on le cineme, if you will. Also, last year I did a Top 11 in honor of 2011, so I figure, why not a Top 12 for 2012? Also, I took my kids to a lot a movies this year, and thought I'd rank the kiddie faves separately.)

And now, for real, the list:

1. Jane Eyre
2. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
3. Super 8
4. Thor
5. X-Men: First Class
6. The Help
7. Crazy, Stupid, Love
8. Cowboys & Aliens
9. Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows
10. Captain America: The First Avenger
11. Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol
12. Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

*Please note that not all of the above movies are suitable for all audiences.*

1. The Muppets
2. Cars 2
3. Winnie The Pooh
4. Arthur Christmas
5. Kung Fu Panda 2
6. Hugo
7. Hop
8. Gnomeo & Juliet

Coming soon: The Book Lists!

Guess What I Got For Christmas?!

2011-12-29T10:24:00.002-07:00

No. Not a baby.

The baby will be here soon, though, and we are in full "hunker down" mode. I have already been in a minor car accident (not my fault, thank you very much!) and fallen very hard in an icy parking lot. I refuse to leave my house again unless I am going to the hospital. So I asked for books for Christmas. Books upon books upon books!

And guess what? I GOT THEM!

I got wonderful books! Books that I am so excited to read! Books I have been waiting for!

Books like:

A CONSPIRACY OF KINGS
ALL CLEAR
A DANCE WITH DRAGONS
WELCOME TO BORDERTOWN
UNDERDOGS
TONGUES OF SERPENTS
MONSTER HUNTER ALPHA
THE CHRONICLES OF HARRIS BURDICK

I even have new graphic novels, like a new collection about Thor (or "Mommy's Boyfriend" as my husband has trained our son to say), and a new Schlock Mercenary, THE TERAPORT WARS.

So let's get out the hot chocolate, people, and prepare to hunker down, sip and read!

*AND NOW A PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT*

Webmaster Mikey has once again discovered that the settings on the Contact Jessica page were changed, and no messages have come through! If you emailed me through the website in the last month, your message was lost in the webisphere (or whatever they call it these days). If you wish to re-email me, please do so! This will also explain why, if you are requesting an interview or some such thing, I appear to be ignoring you. Sorry about that! It's all fixed now!

25 Days Until . . .

2011-12-01T15:26:00.002-07:00

CHRISTMAS!

I love Christmas! I love everything about Christmas! No joke: I even love going to the mall, despite the crowds. Because we're all there to buy presents for people we care about, so what's not to love, right?

But, as many of you know, I love Christmas books, too. And movies. And I love to recommend them. In fact, you cannot avoid my recommendations! So if you do not want these things recommended to you, just look away now!

Let's start with the movies, shall we? Wonderful movies, like-

Elf'
A Christmas Story
The Muppets' Christmas Carol
A Charlie Brown Christmas
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town
Santa Claus Conquers the Martians! (Mystery Science Theater 3000 edition, of course)

And I'm super excited to see the new movie, Arthur Christmas. Looks like fun!

And to read:

The Legend of Holly Claus, by Brittney Ryan
Let It Snow! by John Green, Maureen Johnson, and Lauren Myracle
Miracle and Other Christmas Stories, by Connie Willis
Miss Davenport's Christmas, by Marion Chesney (out of print, but a gem of a Regency romance!)
Sammy Keyes and the Runaway Elf, by Wendelin van Draanen
The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, by Barbara Robinson
A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens, illustrated by P. J. Lynch
A Child's Christmas in Wales, by Dylan Thomas, illustrated by Chris Raschka

To look at AND read:

Llama Llama Holiday Drama, by Anna Dewdney
Olivia Helps With Christmas, by Ian Falconer
Merry Christmas, Splat! by Rob Scotton
Olive, the Other Reindeer, by J. Otto Seibold and Vivian Walsh
A Wish for Wings That Work, by Berkeley Breathed
Red Ranger Came Calling, by Berkeley Breathed
Santa Calls, by William Joyce
The Christmas Tapestry, by Patricia Polacco
The Polar Express, by Chris van Allsburg
Snowmen at Night, Snowmen at Christmas, by Mark and Caralyn Buehner
A Pirates' Night Before Christmas, by Philip Yates and Sebastia Serra
The Twelve Bots of Christmas, by Nathan Hale
The Christmas Magic, by Lauren Thompson and Jon J. Muth
Song of the Stars, by Sally Lloyd-Jones and Alison Jay

And to listen to:

The Barenaked Ladies: Barenaked for the Holidays
Annie Lennox: A Christmas Cornucopia
Sarah MacLachlan: Wintersong
David Sedaris: Six to Eight Black Men
Stewart McLean: Polly Anderson's Christmas Party
Vince Guaraldi Trio: A Charlie Brown Christmas

Any favorites of yours you'd like to suggest? Feel free to use the comments!

And have a great holiday season (if I don't blog again)!

WE ARE IN ORBIT

2011-11-13T14:19:00.006-07:00

TUESDAYS AT THE CASTLE was launched into the world this last month! Huzzah! And it's doing very well, if rumors can be believed. . . Thanks to all of you who were able to come to my signings!

For those of you who weren't able to come, you can now order any of my books, signed and personalized, from The King's English Bookshop in Salt Lake City. They will ship them right to your door, signed, stamped, and bookmarked! For more information on that, go here: http://www.kingsenglish.com/localauthors/290663

The other big news around here is that I am having baby number three in January. And it's a boy! Which is why you may have noticed fewer blogs, more ranting on Twitter, and why I have no signings scheduled after December . . .

This month is National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo. I keep getting asked if I'm participating, and the answer is: Well, EVERY month is NaNoWriMo around here! There's plenty of encouraging blog and information out there if you do a search, so I really have no wisdom to impart to any of you who are participating, other than to say Good Luck! And don't forget to revise AFTER November and BEFORE you send the novel out to an agent or editor.

And for those of you who weren't able to attend my signings, I now answer the two most Frequently Asked Questions:

1. What will your next book be?

It's PRINCESS OF THE SILVER WOODS, the third and final book about the Twelve Dancing Princesses of Westfalin. It will be out next fall.

2. Will there be a sequel to TUESDAYS?

Yep! I'm working on it right now. It will be out some time in 2013, and has no title yet.

So how's that for news?

And some good news for those of you in Idaho: Next week I will be in Rexburg and Idaho Falls. I'll be speaking and signing at the Madison County Library in Rexburg from 7-9 pm on November 17th, and signing at the Idaho Falls Barnes & Noble on November 18th in the evening (we're still settling on a time, either 4-6 or 5-7.)

New Website Look For A New Booky-Wook!

2011-10-02T14:57:00.004-06:00

Hello!

Have you seen it? Did you notice?

There's a brand new look over here at Jessicadaygeorge.com! And it's all in honor of my brand new book, TUESDAYS AT THE CASTLE!

TUESDAYS AT THE CASTLE will be out officially on October 25th, but there will actually be two events prior to that where the book will be available. One will be my official launch party at The King's English in Salt Lake City. That will be on October 15th from 2-4 pm, and there will be cake and readings and a giveaway and all good things! The other will be the Fall Authorpalooza at the Orem, Utah, Barnes & Noble on October 22nd from 1-4 pm.

There are other events planned after the launch date, so please see the events page for more details!

Now I'm sure that this raises other questions, so let me answer a few right here:

TUESDAYS AT THE CASTLE is the first book in a new series, and is a middle grade book about a young princess who lives in a magical castle. There will be at least three books about Princess Celie and her castle, and there is more information about this specific book on the book's page.

My next book will come out next fall (roughly) and is the third and FINAL book about the Twelve Dancing Princesses. It is entitled PRINCESS OF THE SILVER WOOD. It is Princess Petunia's story, and is based on Little Red Riding Hood.

That is all the news that's currently fit to print!

Summer Reading Wrap-Up

2011-09-08T09:17:00.005-06:00

So! I know you're all dying to know: Did I "kill" that double stack of books on the bedside table?

Well. Sort of.

There's still a double stack of books, it's just a lot shorter.

First I got some books from my publisher that made it a triple stack briefly. Then my sister loaned me a couple of books that she said I just had to read (MAGIC AND THE MODERN GIRL, THE SWEETNESS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PIE, and HOURGLASS). A few things arrived via library hold . . .

Let's just see how I did, shall we? Keep in mind, I also read books aloud to my son at bedtime, and at one point my publisher just DEMANDED that I proof the galleys for TUESDAYS AT THE CASTLE (they're funny that way, with the making me work and all).

How many did I actually read?

44! FORTY-FOUR books, people! That's not too shabby, eh? EH? Especially when you consider that I've also written 300 pages of a book of my own! (More on that later, it's PRINCESS #3 if you're trying ot keep track.)

So here's the list, in order:

OLD MAN'S WAR - John Scalzi

BOSSYPANTS - Tina Fey

SUPERMAN: EARTH ONE - J. Michael Straczynski

DIVERGENT - Veronica Roth

INSATIABLE - Meg Cabot

DRAGON SPEAR - Read aloud to Boy.

TUESDAYS AT THE CASTLE - The galley proofs. (SO GOOD!)

SEAN GRISWOLD'S HEAD - Lindsey Leavitt

PARANORMALCY - Kiersten White

THE PAPER ROSE CLUB - Jennifer Youngblood & Sandra Poole

BEAUTY QUEENS - Libba Bray

DANDELION WINE - Ray Bradbury

HOW TO SAVE A LIFE - Sara Zarr

GUARDIANS OF THE HIDDEN SCEPTRE - Frank L. Cole

WITHER - Lauren De Stefano

THE LAST LITTLE BLUE ENVELOPE - Maureen Johnson

SHUT OUT - Kody Keplinger

DAUGHTER OF SMOKE AND BONE - Laini Taylor

THE SWEETNESS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PIE - Alan Bradley

A RING OF ENDLESS LIGHT - Madeleine L'Engle

THE HOBBIT - J. R. R. Tolkien (Yes, I've read this before, I read it aloud to my son.)

HEARTLESS - Gail Carriger

ENTWINED - Heather Dixon

ABANDONED - Meg Cabot

WINTER TOWN - Stephen Emond

THE SHIRT ON HIS BACK - Barbara Hambly

THE BLACKNESS BETWEEN - Howard Tayler

MAGIC AND THE MODERN GIRL - Mindy Klasky

ICEFALL - Matthew J. Kirby

THE A CIRCUIT - Georgina Bloomberg and Catherine Hapka

HOURGLASS - Myra McEntire

THE SCRAPYARD OF INSUFFERABLE ARROGANCE - Howard Tayler

BLOOD FEUD - Alyxandra Harvey

HARD MAGIC - Larry Correia

BOY 21 - Matthew Quick

LIESL & PO - Lauren Oliver

THE FULL CUPBOARD OF LIFE - Alexander McCall Smith

THE MALTESE FALCON - Dashiell Hammett

A BOY & HIS BOT - Daniel H. Wilson (Still in the middle of reading this aloud to Boy.)

PRECIOUS DRAGON - Liz Williams

FALLEN GRACE - Mary Hooper

HAUNTING VIOLET - Alyxandra Harvey

TECHNOSAURS Vol. 1 - Kevin Wasden

SERVANT OF A DARK GOD - John Brown (I'm actually still reading this, but it counts, right?)

And that's the round up! Some of these books were amazing. Some were so-so. A couple were crappy. I refuse to say which ones, though! HA HA HA HA HA! You'll just have to read them and find out for yourself!

I will say this: FALLEN GRACE was wonderful, and if you love historical fiction, you really should pick this up. If you are a fan of DIVINE SECRETS OF THE YA YA SISTERHOOD, try THE PAPER ROSE CLUB, and if you haven't tried Gail Carriger's wonderful Parasol Protectorate yet, you really must. But don't start with HEARTLESS, it's book four. You'll have to go back to SOULLESS to really enjoy the series. (These are adult books, though. Consider yourself warned.)

And there it is! The big list! Feel free to leave your favorite summer read in the comments!

As for fall, I think I'm going to just go with whatever moves me. I might do some rereading (MIKE NELSON'S DEATH RAT! and WAR OF THE FLOWERS have been calling my name of late...), I might ignore the 50 odd never before read books lurking around the house and go on a spree at the library. You never know!

Some Honey for Midnight Ball!

2011-08-07T22:11:00.005-06:00

I'm never one to toot my own horn, but HONKITY HONK HONK, people!

PRINCESS OF THE MIDNIGHT won the Beehive Award! WHOOPEE!

The Beehive Award is essentially the People's Choice Award for the state of Utah. Librarians pick the finalists, and then for a year readers have a chance to vote at public and school libraries. Each state has a similar award- Check yours out!

And so, while I am shamelessly flaunting my own awesomeness, in other award news:

SUN AND MOON, ICE AND SNOW has been nominated for next year's Maud Hart Lovelace Award, the Minnesota state award. So, readers of Minnesota, beginning in the fall you have a chance to vote for SUN AND MOON! I find this terribly exciting, because as many of you know, SUN AND MOON is kinda my baby, and I love it when it gets attention. But also, let's think about it: Minnesota was pretty much settled by Norwegians . . . so could there be a BETTER book for them to nominate?!

(No!)

And also . . .

PRINCESS OF GLASS is a finalist for the Utah Book Award! It's up against two very fine books, however, but at least I get to go to the fun ceremony in October! (The other books are PARANORMALCY by Kiersten White, and FORBIDDEN SEA by Sheila A. Nielsen.)

But now, some other news!

My awesome PR person over at Bloomsbury is helping me set up some book signing dates for TUESDAYS AT THE CASTLE. The first one, the big launch, is finalized. I will be having a party at The King's English on October 15th from 2-4 pm. There will be refreshments, and readings, and prizes, and all sorts of goodies, so save the date! And more signings will follow, so make sure to keep an eye on the calendar on my website.

Big things, much excitement! But first I must return to work on PRINCESS OF THE SOMETHING SOMETHING NUMBER THREE!

Steadily more hilarious, steadily more daunting . . .

2011-06-13T08:39:00.010-06:00

So. Naturally as soon as I posted the blog of my summer reading, I got a lovely care package of books from my publisher, which contained several books I have been DYING TO READ.

Ahem.

Yes, I added them to the list!

And I've already finished one of them, and it was fabulous: SEAN GRISWOLD'S HEAD by Lindsay Leavitt. Wonderful book!

So if you're keeping score for me, please add:

THE A CIRCUIT by Georgina Bloomberg and Caroline Hapka

BLOOD FEUD by Alyxandra Harvey

FALLEN GRACE by Mary Hooper

And I'm debating two: A WHOLE NOTHER STORY by Dr. Cuthbert Soup and A BOY AND HIS BOT by Daniel H. Wilson. I want to read them, but wonder if I should read them aloud to Boy. . .

And then my sister read THE SWEETNESS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PIE by Alan Bradley, and loved it, and bought a couple of copies and gave me one . . . so let's put that on there, too!

The list! She grows!

But the good news is, I have finished:

OLD MAN'S WAR

SUPERMAN: EARTH ONE

DIVERGENT

BEAUTY QUEENS

WITHER

INSATIABLE

THE LAST LITTLE BLUE ENVELOPE

DAUGHTER OF SMOKE AND BONE

BOSSYPANTS

PARANORMALCY

THE PAPER ROSE CLUB

DANDELION WINE

HOW TO SAVE A LIFE

GUARDIANS OF THE HIDDEN SCEPTRE

SHUT OUT

So why does this pile not look any smaller?

Summer Reading 2011

2011-06-03T21:52:00.006-06:00

That's my bedside table. And that's Magne and Walroo. Magne and Walroo are feeling a bit put out, due to the ENORMOUS DOUBLE PILE OF BOOKS ON THEIR TURF. Sorry, guys! But hopefully by the end of the summer it will be all gone!

I started putting my most urgent "to reads" on my bedside table last year, which led to last year's Summer Reading post, in which I attempted to read an insane number of books (and mostly succeeded). Well, I've decided to do it again this year!

I put my start date as June 1st, but this is the 3rd, and I'm a bit slow with the blogging obviously, so I have already read two: OLD MAN'S WAR by John Scalzi, and SUPERMAN: EARTH ONE by J. Michael Straczynski. I am also halfway through DIVERGENT by Veronica Roth.

And now, the list of books I will be reading by Labor Day (September 5th), in no particular order:

ANATHEM - Neal Stephenson

BEAUTY QUEENS - Libba Bray

INSATIABLE - Meg Cabot

SERVANT OF A DARK GOD - John Brown

A RING OF ENDLESS LIGHT - Madeleine L'Engle

PRECIOUS DRAGON - Liz Williams

HOW TO SAVE A LIFE - Sara Zarr

DAUGHTER OF SMOKE AND BONE - Laini Taylor

HARD MAGIC - Larry Correia

CITY OF FIRE - Laurence Yep

CITY OF ICE - Laurence Yep

BLACKOUT - Connie Willis

ABANDON - Meg Cabot

ENTWINED - Heather Dixon

THE LAST LITTLE BLUE ENVELOPE - Maureen Johnson

WITHER - Lauren De Stephano

THE PAPER ROSE CLUB - Jennifer Youngblood & Sandra Poole

THE MALTESE FALCON - Dashiell Hammett

LIESL & PO - Lauren Conrad

CATE OF THE LOST COLONY - Lisa Klein

DANIEL DERONDA - George Eliot

THE MIDNIGHT PALACE - Carlos Ruiz Zafon

BOY 21 - Matthew Quick

THE CLOCKWORK THREE - Matthew Kirby

EVERYBODY SEES THE ANTS - A. S. King

ROT & RUIN - Jonathan Maberry

DOWN THE MYSTERLY RIVER - Bill Willingham

GUARDIANS OF THE TEBAH STICK - Frank L. Cole (This has a new title, which escapes me. I have the Black Ops ARC . . . )

HAUNTING VIOLET - Alyxandra Harvey

THE FULL CUPBOARD OF LIFE - Alexander McCall Smith

IN THE COMPANY OF CHEERFUL LADIES - Alexander McCall Smith

BLUE SHOES AND HAPPINESS - Alexander McCall Smith

THE GOOD HUSBAND OF ZEBRA DRIVE - Alexander McCall Smith

SHUT OUT - Kody Keplinger

WINTER TOWN - Stephen Emond

TECHNOSAURS NO. 1 - Kevin Wasden

SCHLOCK MERCENARY: THE SCRAPYARD OF INSUFFERABLE ARROGANCE - Howard Tayler

SCHLOCK MERCENARY: THE BLACKNESS BETWEEN - Howard Tayler

Some of these books aren't out yet, but are ARCs that I was lucky enough to score in my journeys. And, to my embarrassment, some of these books are ARCs that I got a while ago and the books are out . . . I'm easily distracted by shiny new books, all right?!

This is 38 books . . . Eep. Also, my book club is reading DANDELION WINE, MAIRELON THE MAGICIAN and THE MAGICIAN'S WARD this summer, three of my favorite books. Shall I reread them? Shall I?

And what will YOU be reading this summer?

And the Winners Are. . .

2011-05-24T08:07:00.002-06:00

The winners of the ARCs of TUESDAYS AT THE CASTLE are:

KT

and

Natalie Decker!

Would KT and Natalie please email their real names and addresses to:

theauthorATjessicadaygeorgeDOTcom?

Congratulations to you both!

Win TUESDAYS AT THE CASTLE!

2011-05-22T16:49:00.003-06:00

See the pretty cover? SO PRETTY! Do you want one? YOU KNOW YOU DO!

I will give away TWO advanced readers' copies of TUESDAYS right now! Just put "Jessica is awesome!" in the comments of this very blog, and I will select two of you to win, win, WIN!

It's that easy!

I will pick the winners at midnight on Monday night, so you have until then to comment and tell me how awesome I am!

Quick! Do it! "Jessica is awesome!"

Mortification Monday

2011-04-25T13:10:00.003-06:00

Many people assume that once you become a famous author, it is nothing but adulation and crowds of fans, hanging on your every word. Heaven knows that's what I thought! But as the big day of my very first booksigning dawned, I had heard a few things . . . and begun to worry about a few things . . . and I resigned myself to the fact that I would be talking to a small, intimate crowd of family and very close friends. I was quite, QUITE delighted to find that a fairly good sized crowd had turned out for that first signing, and not all of them were my relatives! It gave me a wonderful, glowing feeling. A feeling that I was popular, and loved, and that my rosy childhood dreams were true and I would spend the rest of my careeer speaking to nothing but packed crowds of devotees.

Yeah. No.

For one thing, after my launch party and a well-choreographed panel-and-signing at a large conference, I didn't DO any more signings for months. No one seemed interested. So when I found myself in a bookstore I used to work at a few months after DRAGON SLIPPERS debuted, I couldn't help but check for it on the shelf, and then show it to some of my former co-workers. They all expressed their excitement, and so I eagerly asked one of the managers if I could do a reading a signing at the store.

"You know," I said, "sort of a Former Employee Makes Good! type of thing!"

"Oh, honey," she said kindly. "Other than your parents, who would come?"

A few months later booksignings picked up again, and I was invited to do an event at a local bookstore for Teacher Appreciation Week. I prepared a few remarks, some fun anecdotes about favorite teachers and how they inspired me, and also brought a couple of books to give away, since the manager who contacted me had said that they would be doing drawings every half hour while I was there. Good. Nice. Fun.

I arrived at a quarter to seven, fifteen whole minutes early, and totally impressed with myself. (Usually I am the world's least punctual person.) No one knew what I was talking about. No one could find the manager who had contacted me. I stood by the information desk, smiling in an increasingly forced manner, until she was finally located, and told her that I was ready to go for it whenever she was.

"Well," she said, not looking me in the eyes, "I didn't know what to do when you weren't here, so I just announced at twenty to seven that any teachers in the store could come to the info desk and get a prize. If you want to stay and sign or something, we can put a little table at the front of the store."

"Um, don't you want me to speak or anything? I thought I was going to be speaking at seven." It was barely seven at that point, and the manager acted like the night was already over, and my extreme tardiness had ruined everything.

"Oh, I don't think there's really enough people here," she said. "Let's just set up a table for you."

So I became one of those awkward authors, sitting at a little table at the front of a bookstore, smiling bravely at everyone who came through the door and hoping that they would take pity on me and buy my book. One of the booksellers (not the manager) came over and offered me a bottle of water. He told me in a quiet voice that he had set up chairs and a microphone in the back of the store, and had everything ready to go at 6:30. Several people had asked what it was for, and seemed interested in waiting around to hear me talk, but ten minutes later he had been told that no one was coming and to take it all back down. He gave me a sympathetic look, asked if I needed anything else, and sidled away like he wasn't supposed to talk to me.

At 7:30 the manager came over, told me I was great, and then said she had to go.

"What?!"

"Yeah, I get off at 7:30. But you can stay as long as you want," she told me cheerfully.

"Um, I guess I'll stay until 9. Aren't booksignings usually two hours?"

"Whatever," she said, and shrugged.

She started to walk away and I asked her if she wanted me to sign some books and put an "autographed copy" sticker on them.

"Oh, no! If you sign them we can't return them tomorrow."

"You're returning my books? To the publisher?"

"Yep."

"Aren't you going to keep a few to sell?"

"Well, maybe two, but we don't need them signed." And then she left.

The good news is, I did sell a few books that night. There were indeed teachers wandering the store, and they came over to talk and even to get some books signed. A few friends stopped by, and a couple of my cousins. I was still so new to booksignings, though, that I jumped whenever someone came over to the table, and felt humiliated that the manager hadn't thought that anyone would want to hear me talk. I have a feeling that she was new to this managing gig, that or she was even more insecure than I was.

I thought after this moment that nothing could be worse.

Well. This is hands down the worst bookstore signing I've ever had, let's just say that. We shan't talk about the major convention where I did a reading to an amazing audience of four people, and then sat for two hours without signing a single book in a room crammed with fans interested in every other author but me. Nor shall we mention the school visit where, after my presentation, the reading specialist who had scheduled me came up with an angry look and told me that my presentation was wildly inappropriate because all I talked about was killing people. (I had joked that Creel wasn't an orphan, but my editor had killed her parents. The kids thought it was hilarious.) It turned out that she had never read any of my books, but someone had told her that my presentation was wonderful, although now that she'd seen it she "had no idea WHAT they were thinking," and didn't think she would be recommending my books to her students, because they were probably filled with murders and inappropriate jokes.

Yes, let us not speak of these things!

But for more of Mortification Monday, please check out Shannon Hale's and Mette Ivie Harrison's blog. There are some great, humiliating stories out there!

Where the party's at!

2011-04-12T15:12:00.002-06:00

If you are lookin' for a good time in the Logan, Utah, area next Friday night, I got yer good time right here! Friday, April 22nd, at 6 pm I will be at Mount Logan Middle School (875 N. 200 E.) along with: THE Ally Condie, THE James Dashner, THE Shannon Hale, and THE Brandon Mull! The event is open to the public, but the school has been gracious enough to let us use their auditorium. We will be doing a short presentation and then answering questions, followed by a booksigning! Everybody come!

Farewell to Diana Wynne Jones

2011-03-26T10:18:00.004-06:00

Diana Wynne Jones passed away last night, March 25, 2011. I never had the opportunity to meet her, which makes me deeply sad. She was one of my greatest inspirations, and I have never read a book of hers which didn't delight me. And so, since I cannot tell her how I feel, I will tell you!

I discovered Dogsbody when I was about twelve years old at the Madison County Library. The cover had a background of stars, with a white dog with red ears and glowing green eyes sprawled across it. It was intriguing, and the description on the inside flap was a bit weird, but just tantalizing enough to make me check it out.

Joy. Delight. Wonder.

The story of the Dogstar, Sirius, being sentenced to live as a mortal dog to pay for his celestial crimes was like nothing I had ever seen before. It was a murder mystery. It was social commentary. It was fantasy AND science fiction. And, at its root, it was a beautiful, beautiful love story. I checked it out many times, and when I was an adult and had my own money, I wanted to buy a copy.

Sorrow. Frustration. Despair.

In the mid- to late-nineties, many of Diana's earlier books were out of print in this country. For Valentine's Day one year, my dear husband bought me three of her books, importing them from England at what was probably insane shipping expense. Dogsbody, Archer's Goon, and A Tale of Time City. These last two were the ones I had discovered right after Dogsbody, and the ones whose out-of-print status I most bemoaned. (You can see why I keep my husband around.) I cherish those copies, with their fun, very Britishy covers.

But you, you lucky reader who has yet to discover them, don't have to get your DWJ fix the same way I did! The Harry Potter Phenomenon was in full swing, and only a few months later (to the husband's disgust), all of Diana's books were rereleased in the US in shiny new covers, and put on display in bookstores under signs that read, "If your kids love Harry Potter, try these next!" I worked at Borders at the time, and I remember showing a mother to one of these displays and having her pick up Witch Week. She read the back and then rolled her eyes. "They're all copying J. K. Rowling," she said. "Rowling should sue!"

Imagine her shock when I then proceeded to "educate" her, informing her that Diana Wynne Jones' books had come out decades before Harry Potter, had delighted me since I was a child, and were, if anything, Rowling's inspiration. She looked like she was going to slink off, but her son was holding A Tale of Time City with a big grin on his face. I convinced them to take Archer's Goon as well.

And I know that he loved them.

I know that he loved them because there was something her books for everyone: dog lovers, cat lovers, fantasy, science fiction, Greek, Celtic, and Norse mythology, historical fiction, romance, mysteries, and satire.

Read a lot of fantasy books? Try The Dark Lord of Derkholm, about an entire world being exploited by a tour company from our world, in order to give Lord of the Rings fans their fix.

Ever attended a sci fi or fantasy convention? Deep Secret is for you! It seems that sci fi cons are really just cover ups for the meetings of interdimensional guardians. This explains the centaur in the bathroom . . .

World War II buff? A Tale of Time City is about those who live outside of time, whose job is to keep the unstable eras like world wars safe. But what happens when a young London evacuee is taken from her train, and moved out of time? Could the war start a year early, and what would happen to the world?

Just love a good story, with magic and plenty of humor? Try any of her Chrestomanci books. They're all fun, but I think the last two, Conrad's Fate and The Pinhoe Egg, are my favorites.

I can't tell you enough how much I love these books. I can't tell you enough how much they have influenced my life, and my writing. But I'm trying to tell you, because I no longer have the opportunity to tell her.

Editing- The Mystery Revealed!

2011-03-15T16:06:00.003-06:00

I hate editing. And I love it. It's one of those things that most authors love to complain about, but take it away and we'd all have to admit that boy howdy do we need our editors! I am currently editing my upcoming book, TUESDAYS AT THE CASTLE, and tweeted and posted on Facebook last week that my brain was broken, and I didn't know how to begin. The tweets and comments that I received indicated that, frankly, nobody knew what I meant. Admittedly, none of the people who replied were published authors. The published authors of my acquaintance were probably all busy with their own cursing/pacing/snacking/napping method for dealing with edits. Or possibly in Cabo . . . Wish I was in Cabo . . . Anyway! I decided to take a little breaky-poo here and clarify:

What is editing? What does an editor do?

And, as per usual, I feel the need for a disclaimer. I am one person, who has only dealt with one editor. Your editor may be different. Your "style" maybe be different. It's all good. But this is what my editor and I do. Also my agent. It's a whole process.

So we begin!

Phase 1:

I write a rough draft. I love rough drafts. I run screaming through my rough drafts like a sugared up toddler in a meadow full of chocolate eggs and puppies. I rarely stop at this point to check or revise anything, I just start with Chapter 1 and babble on until I hit The End. Then I congratulate myself, loudly and frequently, and eat some chocolate. (Actually, the eating of chocolate is a daily if not hourly ritual, but let's just say I eat MORE chocolate.) Then I take a day or two off, to refresh the mind, then I plunge into reading the draft. I make some changes, I mull it all over . . . and I usually pronounce it a Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius. I can rarely find fault with my own manuscripts. This is why people should send frequent thank you and condolence cards to both my editor and agent.

Phase 2:

I send this to my agent. I tell her it's my Best. Book. Ever. Not to mention Completely. Finished. She reads it over and makes a couple of general suggestions. It's too long in the middle, I didn't think the romantic element happened naturally, the ending was too abrupt, etc. I go back over the manuscript with this in mind and do some fixings, and she looks at it again and usually pronounces it Ready For the Editor. Sometimes it needs more work, but let's not discuss that.

Phase 3:

Off it goes to my editor! She reads it and often has her assistant (who is also an editor) read it and give her thoughts as well. My editor mulls it over, reads it again, makes notes, etc. In the case of TUESDAYS, she also sent a copy to an editor at Bloomsbury UK, and then combined this editor's feedback with her own. I meanwhile usually move on to gleefully shriek my way through another rough draft, because I have the attention span of a toddler.

Phase 4:

Time to edit! Long about the time I've become so obsessed with my new project I don't even remember writing any other book, I suddenly get a package from my editor containing a printout of my manuscript covered in tiny neat little pencilled notes. These range from grammar and spelling corrections to big picture things like adding in paragraphs and chapters to give more background for a character or event, or taking out paragraphs and chapters that are unnecessary to the story. There is also a 2-3 page letter giving her overall thoughts. This is usually a nice balance of praise for what is working well in the book (Loved this or that character, loved the interaction here and here), and cautions about what isn't working (this character is inconsistent, that part of the ending is confusing).

Now. Here is the thing that a lot of people don't realize. This is MY BOOK. I don't actually have to take one word of my editor's advice. They cannot fix a typo or move a comma without my approval. A lot of people seem to think that I turn a rough draft over to my editor, she fixes it all, and then the book is printed. Nope. I can choose to take her advice or not. She can refuse to publish the book if I do, however, because if she doesn't feel like it's something she and the publishing company would be proud of producing, then they can break the contract. Seems fair. I can also look at her notes, say, No way, this changes the entire point of the book, and break the contract myself. That's why you need to understand and trust your editor, and feel that your editor understands you and your book. I have been lucky enough to work on seven books now with this same editor, who I believe has the same vision in mind for my books that I do. Her suggestions are almost always right on the mark, and as soon as I see them I think, YES! That's what was missing here!

There has been one exception to this, which I think illustrates how we both work together. SUN AND MOON, ICE AND SNOW, and the four winds. In the original fairy tale, EAST O' THE SUN, WEST O' THE MOON, the Lass travels on the backs of the four winds to get to the trolls' palace. This is one of my favorite parts of that story, and in my original manuscript, her experience is pretty much word for word with the fairy tale. My editor thought this was a bit vague, and with it happening four times, repetitive. She suggested combining it all into one wind . . . and, actually, making it a person like a tinker or trader who had traveled the world rather than a magical being. Now, this is fine . . . except. I had read EAST by Edith Pattou, a lovely retelling of EAST O' THE SUN that came out about ten years ago. My editor knew of the book, but had not read it. In EAST, the winds are compressed into one person, a boat captain. It's very well done, and her boat captain is a great character . . . but this is MY version. I didn't want to copy Pattou, and I really wanted those four winds. I called up my editor, and we chatted about it for a bit. She asked me to find some sort of middle ground: they are the four winds, but they look like people, just to give the scenes something more easy to visualize. I paced and snacked and mulled and thought . . . and ended up with what I think is some of my Best. Writing. Ever. I came up with a concrete personification for each of the winds, and a slightly different way of carrying the Lass for each one as well. Cheers from me, and cheers from my editor when she saw what I'd done.

So that's how this works. She suggests things, like: Could we get a paragraph here to explain the history of the castle? Or: could this be rephrased to make her seem more decisive? Or even: I can't get a grip on these four winds, do we need all four? And what about making them into something else, like a tinker who accidently stumbled on the trolls years back?

Then I take her suggestions, and I make them my own. I turn sentences around, I correct typos, sew up plot holes, rewrite dialogue, cut out redundant paragraphs. Or not. Sometimes fixing A and B makes C work better, and C doesn't need to be fixed after all. Sometimes changing chapter 2 inspires me to rewrite chapter 3 (or even 7. Or 11.) all on my own. That's what an editor does. They coach you, but they don't jump in and play the game for you.

When I feel that I've addressed all her concerns, and I've read it over and over until it's a big blur, checking that the changes are seamless, I send it back. Then comes . . .

Phase 5:

Usually, if the initial edit has gone well, this is just a couple of minor suggestions. There may be a new paragraph or chapter that feels a little choppy, but at most this is something that can be fixed in an hour. Then we go to copyedits, which is where someone whose expertise is grammar and spelling comes in and goes over the manuscript and makes sure that every comma is in its place and every hyphen is really supposed to be there. Once again, I approve everything here, and I can disagree with this person as well. I may be using Regency syntax or spelling, or inventing new words, and I need to explain what they are, and maybe see if they are really adding to the overall book or just confusing the reader. This is also when I usually put in my acknowlegements and such, if I haven't already. And it goes back to the editor again!

Phase 6:

We're in the homestretch now! This is the galley phase usually. Galleys are unbound pages that have been printed exactly as the book will be printed. The font is the same, the margins, page numbers, and any fancy doodads are all in place. I read over this, making sure that I don't see anything horrible that we've all missed before. The trick is: if I do, I have to write it on the galleys, and try to make it work without changing the page numbers. If I take a sentence out, I usually have to find a sentence to replace it that is the same length, etc. It's a bit like making a jigsaw puzzle with words, and I sweat harder over these things than I do with anything else. There was a problem with the galleys of DRAGON SPEAR that took me three days to figure out how to correct. It. Was. Awful.

Phase 7:

Hello, beautiful new book! I love you!

TA DA! Working with an editor!

Call Me Thumper . . .

2011-03-03T11:08:00.003-07:00

"If you can't say something nice, don't say nothin' at all!"

Sage advice, from the mother of a small, loud-mouthed rabbit.

In recent days, authors have been getting blasted for posting blogs either firing back at negative reviews, or urging people not to give negative reviews at all. I agree with some of this. Let me explain why.

I am not taking a stance against people who don't like my books. Honestly, I don't care. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, every book is not for every reader. As long as you don't get up in my face and rant about how much you hate my books, I have no problem with you. I don't love everything I read, I don't expect anyone else to, either. That's not what this is about. What this is about is professionalism, in my opinion. Or at least, that's what I want to make my blog about. I can't speak for the other authors posting on this topic, or variations thereof, but this is what I want to say.

I review books on Goodreads. Most of my reviews are positive. I review books on Bookshop Talk, the blog I started with a friend, where EVERY review is positive. This is not because I'm afraid that someone is going to come to my house and break my kneecaps unless I do, this is because I love to recommend good books to people. Bookshop Talk exists not to review books so much as to recommend books. We want to spread the love to readers with the site.

But I don't rant about books I've hated on Goodreads because . . . well, that's not my job! I'm an author, not a professional reviewer. You don't have to listen to any of my reviews or recommendations. I'm a writer, and a reader. I love Goodreads because I love making lists. I like having a To Read list. I like sorting through books I read as a kid. It's fun for me.

But it's also true I don't post reviews of books that I've hated because I don't want to look bad. I work with other authors. We meet at conferences and booksignings. We go to dinner together. It would be awkward (to say the least!) to be sitting side by side at on a panel or at a dinner with someone whose book I had torn to pieces online. What if they had seen the review? Authors take it very personally when someone hates their books, it's like calling someone's baby ugly. And if it's another author . . . that's teen times worse. I don't want to be in that situation. I don't want to put a fellow author in the situation of having to pretend that she doesn't know I hate her work. It's not good for either of us.

I have worked with the same editor for five years now, and I adore her. But if I write a book that's not a fit for her, I'll need to sell it to another publisher. How would that reflect on me if the editor I wanted to work with noticed that I had written scathing reviews of a book she loved? A book she had worked on? A book by an author who is a good friend? My rant, posted on Goodreads and forgotten two minutes later by me, could potentially kill my chances with an entire publishing house. Editors and authors don't hate professional reviewers who have panned one of their books (well, maybe they do, but they're not supposed to), because they know that it's the reviewer's job. But it's not an author's job to pan her colleagues' books, and that's where an author can run into trouble. Many authors don't review books at all for this reason, but some of us like to recommend good books, to spread the love, as I've said before. (Also, if you know me, you know that I can't shut up about books.) When I first started out, Shannon Hale gave me the advice that I didn't want to be known as the author who writes mean reviews about other authors' stuff, and I have taken it to heart.

Mostly.

I will admit that I have occasionally hated a book so much that I gave it a negative review. I have mostly gone back over my Goodreads account and deleted those, however. It's not something that I want to be known for: hating certain books. Except for The Grapes of Wrath. I hate that book, and I'm not ashamed to tell the world. John Steinbeck's zombie might come for me, but I don't care. I will take that zombie down with a knitting needle if I have to. Ugh. Ditto The Red Pony. What was wrong with that man?!

But in light of the recent discussions about negative reviews online, I recommitted myself to the decision to "go nice or go home." I'm not going to give good reviews of books I hated. You can always trust me to be honest in my reviews. I'm just not going to review books I didn't like. I might rant to my sister, but not online. I see this as professionalism. You may see it as hypocrisy if you like, as I said, Everyone's different.

So this is my advice to aspiring writers:

You might want to make the same decision.

Editors know what a blog is. They know about Goodreads. If you submit a manuscript, the FIRST THING THEY DO IS GOOGLE YOU. They're looking for a couple of things: to see if you have an online presence, which is necessary these days for promotional reasons. But they're also looking to see if they want to work with you judging by the things you've posted. If you have crazy rants on Facebook where you talk about bringing a gun to work, if your blog is nothing but negative reviews, you could have written the Best Book Ever and they'll turn you down. My husband does some of the hiring at his work, he Googles applicants and has turned down people with stellar resumes based on their Facebook statuses. (Guess what, weirdos: posting the word "kill" over and over or joking about bringing a gun to work will not get you hired!) No one is going to want to read your middle grade book if you're already notorious for your profanity-laden Twitter feed. Editors want authors they can dress up and take out in public, to conferences for librarians and booksellers, for instance. If, judging from your blog, you are liable to go off on a rant about everything and everyone you hate at the drop of a hat, alienating those librarians and booksellers . . . well, you might be in trouble, my friend.

It's not a conspiracy. It's common sense.

I never thought I would bring this up on the blog . . . but I'm going to use a personal example.

A year ago or so, I got a Google Alert about a review of Dragon Flight. I don't normally read reviews of my books, I'm not really sure why I do the Google Alert thing. (Maybe because I feel paranoid that people would be talking about me and I WOULDN'T know?) But I could see from the header of this review that it was bad, and recklessly clicked on it. I'm very glad I did. This was the blog of an aspiring author, and every post was a dissection of a middle grade or YA fantasy book, basically ripping the book to shreds and detailing the "mistakes" the author had made and how the blogger would do it better in her book. She was, apparently, doing it to learn from our mistakes, but it really just sounded extremely mean and condescending. During the course of the Dragon Flight review, she misquoted or used out of context things I had said at a recent conference. I very politely commented on the post, saying that I was sorry she hadn't liked the book, but also setting straight what I had been saying at the conference. The blogger emailed me apologizing and asking how on earth I had ever found her blog, and we exchanged several perfectly polite emails, wherein I gave her the advice that since it was a public blog, anyone could find it. I explained about Google Alerts, and how many authors used them. . . And the next day got ANOTHER one from this same site! She had redone the post, mentioning that I had contacted her, and that in retrospect she had really, really liked Dragon Flight and thought I was an amazing author! While it was very nice, I knew for a fact that it was insincere, and there was very much a sense of "Whoopsie, I got caught!" I mentioned on my private Facebook status that I had commented on a bad review of Dragon Flight, which I know is unprofessional, but it had been an interesting couple of days. Five minutes later an editor friend messaged me to say that she had found that blog within 30 seconds, that she had seen the other reviews and mine, and that she would never sign someone who did that kind of thing on their blog. I passed this bit of advice on to the blogger, who I think has taken down her blog altogether. I'm sorry that that's what happened, I hope that she didn't think I was going to be watching her all the time, or that her potential career was being threatened. I'm not normally policing people's blogs, and like I've said, I don't usually read let alone comment on bad reviews of my books. But because I stumbled on one that was misquoting me, and I felt misrepresenting me and my books, I made the decision to speak up.

This is the kind of things that authors are warning people about, when they advise people to be careful about posting reviews. Being super, super nice and posting nonstop, totally dishonest reviews about how much you love everyone's books isn't a guarantee of a book deal. But posting a scathing review of a book? That can come back and bite you in the rear end!

TUESDAYS AT THE CASTLE

2011-02-27T21:36:00.006-07:00

Every day I get emails urging me to write another book. This baffles me, because it would not occur to me to STOP writing books! OF COURSE I'M WRITING ANOTHER BOOK! In fact, I'm usually working on several books at once, which can be very confusing and probably isn't very efficient . . . but oh well! That's just how my brain- SQUIRREL!

Right now I am about to begin editing a fabulous book, the first in a series, called TUESDAYS AT THE CASTLE. It's the story of young Celie, a princess who lives in a magical castle that is, in truth, alive. Bloomsbury, my publisher, has come up with the perfect description of this, calling it a mix of Home Alone and Hogwarts' Room of Requirement. I am jazzed about this description, and jazzed about something else: the cover of the book! Isn't it AMAZING?! How much do you love this cover? I cannot wait to hold this book in my hands, it's going to be beautiful to look at as well as fun to read!

Those of you lucky enough (and also smart enough) to attend my reading at Life, The Universe, and Everything in Provo last week got to hear the first three chapters. I was very pleased with the reaction that I got to those chapters, and I cannot wait to read them at upcoming events. So be sure to check the events page in the next few months, because I will be reading this every chance I get!

The official release date of this book is, magically, my birthday! October 11, 2011! (I will not tell you how old I will be.)

So, coming somewhat soon to a bookstore near you: TUESDAYS AT THE CASTLE!

Top 11- Best Adult Books

2011-02-09T22:15:00.003-07:00

Adult books! They're books . . . for adults! Not really sure what else to tell you! So here's the list!

1. Under Heaven by Guy Gavriel Kay

If you've spent more than, say, half an hour in my company, you probably know that I am the hugest fan of Guy Kay. A new Guy Kay book is a matter of much rejoicing in my household, and even back when I was a poor starving newlywed I would fork over the cash for his books as soon as they came out. But it's always a little nervewracking. There's always the chance that this time, this particular book is gonna stink. It could happen to any author . . . but if it ever happens to Guy I think it might actually herald the Apocalypse. So, good news: the world isn't ending. Yet. Under Heaven is amazing, my favorite book from this year, a gorgeous, lyrical work of art. I don't care if you hate fantasy, you've never heard of Guy, you're anti-Canadian . . . you will still love this book, you have my guarantee.

2. Tooth & Claw by Jo Walton

This book is just plain cool. Based on the Victorian family sagas of Anthony Trollope, it's the story of a respectable upper middle class family reeling from the loss of their father. There are concerns about the inheritance, the marriage prospects for the younger sisters now that they are orphans, the careers of their older brothers, a lawsuit with a belligerent brother-in-law, the usual sort of thing you'd find in a Victorian novel. But they're all dragons. Yep. Dragons. It's amazingly well done. I've never been a fan of books with nonhuman main characters, I have a hard time relating to them, but not so here. I was fully invested in all the plotlines, and loved (or loved to hate) all the characters.

3. The Help by Kathryn Stockett

If you haven't read this book, you really, really should. A portrait of life in Mississippi at the beginning of the Civil Rights movement, it's by turns heartbreaking, humorous, and dramatic. For days after I had finished it I would find myself looking forward to reading some more, and then realize I was done and be disappointed.

4. The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss

This is a big, sprawling fantasy epic that reads like the best historical fiction, or even a real life biography. The first book in the Kingkiller Chronicles, it covers the childhood and early training of Kvothe, known as the Kingkiller, and now living incognito as an innkeeper. What king did he kill? How did he come to exile himself? We don't know! And it doesn't matter! Because Rothfuss is carefully unspooling Kvothe's story, putting down layer after layer, and he hasn't gotten that far yet. But that's not to say that it's boring. Hardly! Kvothe is a fascinating character, and the story of his life is well worth reading about, in detail.

5. The Greenlanders by Jane Smiley

Written like one of the sagas, this is a fictionalized account of the final years of the Greenland colony. Settlers from Norway and Iceland lived in Greenland under an uneasy truce with the natives for many years . . . and then abruptly died out. Smiley has created a wonderful fictional cast, and then put them into a well-researched backdrop of harsh conditions, plagues, and famines that absolutely grips the reader.

6. Boneshaker/Dreadnought by Cherie Priest

It's not cheating! Sure, this is two books, but if you read one you will HAVE to read the other! Where else will you get your alternate history/steampunk/zombie/family drama/Civil war fix?! No, seriously: where else? 'Cause now I'm hooked, and I want MORE!

7. The Sookie Stackhouse Books by Charlaine Harris

Here is my weird story. I read the first of these books Dead Until Dark several years ago, when it first came out. And went, Meh. At the time I had been reading a lot of vampire books, and I was getting burned out (or so I theorize). Then I went to World Fantasy 2007, and met Charlaine, and she was lovely. And the True Blood series started, and the actors were all so PRETTY, and my sister kept telling me to read them because she absolutely loved them. Hmm. So our book club read the first one, and I decided to reread. And could. Not. Put. It. Down. And snuck into my sister's house while she was out of town to grab the rest of them. And then bought the ones she didn't have. I don't know what it is, but these books are like M&M's: I know they're bad for me, I know I shouldn't eat/read them, but I can't stop! (They are, um, very naughty.) BUT SO ADDICTIVE!

8. North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell

Not to be confused with the smutty Civil War novel by John Jakes, this is the novel of British class snobbery we're talking about. (Although I really can't point fingers at smutty Southern novels, after putting the Sookie Stackhouse books at #7.) And why are we talking about Mrs. Gaskell's novel now, in 2011? Well, let's see: I became obsessed with the miniseries, thought I'd try the book, and became obsessed with the book. For a 19th century novel, it's very readable for the modern reader, and with it's very pointed message, I can't believe that it isn't used in classrooms more. (Why, WHY do high schools assign Wuthering Heights over and over? A little variety, people!)

9. My Antonia by Willa Cather

Egad. My mother was right. This is probably her favorite book of all time, and she has been talking about it since I was a wee child. Some perversity of nature kept me from reading it until this past year, when I discovered that it was a wonderful, beautiful and unusual love story . . . just like Mother always said. Why isn't this book taught in high schools more, too?!

10. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson

The late Larsson scatters his amazing cast of characters to the four winds, giving unique problems to all of them that seem to distract from the main narrative, and then he magically ropes them all back together! Gripping, intense, and yet full of wonderful little details and subplots, this is a masterful finish to the Millenium Trilogy.

11. Turn Coat by Jim Butcher

Oh, Jim! You're so darn hilarious! A Harry Dresden book is always a treat, and they just seem to be getting better and better. The Wizard's Council is turning on itself, Thomas has some serious issues, and Harry keeps getting his, um, rear end kicked by evil forces. So, typical day for him, really. But the combination of snarky humor, action and attitude keep me shouting for more!

Honorable Mentions go out to my buddy Larry Correia, whose Monster Hunter International and Monster Hunter Vendetta keep the ol' adrenaline pumping (as well as the snorts of laughter). I also devoured the rest of M. C. Beaton's Hamish MacBeth mysteries (I think I'm in love with Hamish. Secretly.) And I was moved to tears by David Farland's In the Company of Angels, a beautiful novelization of the harrowing Willy-Martin Handcart Company debacle.

9.

Top 11- Young Adult!

2011-02-01T13:33:00.003-07:00

Ahh, Young Adult! A tricky genre to be sure! Very popular right now, of course, flooded with worthy titles . . . but writing YA can be harder than it looks. Character is all important, especially the main character. The author has to find that balance, got to create characters that read like real teens, and not just what they personally think of teens. Not too mature, not too whiny . . . not too obviously written by an adult, in short. My number one pick here does that perfectly. The narrator is so realistically drawn that I could have read about her and her friends for several hundred more pages. But alas, all good things must come to an end, and so it was with the amazing

1. Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver

Gorgeous.

2. Immortal Beloved by Cate Tiernan

As some of you may know, I am not the hugest fan of the "YA paranormal romance" subgenre. Usually I am bothered by the fact that the guy is usually a) a monster and b) really, really old, making the relationship just wildly inappropriate from every angle. This book, however, is delightfully different in that our narrator, whom I FREAKING LOVE, is herself very old (VERY old) and not without powers of her own. I described this book to my sister as "Norse gods in rehab," and I stick to that description, even though it does not do justice to the hilarity, drama, suspense, and wonder of this book.

3. Jane by April Lindner

Yes, Pride and Prejudice is a great book, I am not going to argue that with anyone. But if I had to pick my favorite 19th century novel I would go with Jane Eyre every time. I'm sorry, but there it is. I love that book. And so with fascination I picked up the advance readers' copy of this little gem, an updated version of the story featuring a mousy nanny going to work for a washed up rock star. The modernization was flawless, giving new life to the story, and there was a perfect balance between the new elements and the old. It didn't ever make me think "THIS is supposed to be Jane Eyre," but I also never felt bored, like, "Yeah, yeah, now the brother-in-law shows up." I read this book in one day, ignoring children and other obligations, I was so hooked.

4. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

I know, some fans were angry. To them I say, write your own book, then. This was Collins' world, and Collins' story, and she ended it how she started it, with gorgeous amounts of anguish, anger, love, and hope. Katniss Everdeen was a tragic and wonderful heroine, a teenager forced into a role that she didn't want and none of us knew if she could fulfill, and this book was an amazing finale for her.

5. Forever Princess by Meg Cabot

Has our Princess Mia finally achieved self-actualization? If not, she's come awfully close! Mia's all growed up and saving Genovia, and while I'll be sad to see the last of her, this was the perfect ending for this series as well! Adieu, Mia! Adieu, Grandmere!

6. Enchanted Ivy by Sarah Beth Durst

I've always fantasized about gargoyles coming to life, heck there's a gargoyle housekeeper in Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow. But what if they came to life, and were up to no good?! YIKES! An exciting look at the perils of applying to college!

7. Are These My Basoomas I See Before Me? by Louise Rennison

Another great YA series ended this year! So we must say "Auf Wiedersehen, my little pally!" to Georgia! But we are so glad that she has at last chosen from the menu of the Cake Shop of Luuuuurve! HOOOOOOORN!

8. Going Bovine by Libba Bray

This Printz Award Winner is a mad journey through Mad Cow Disease, as a modern-day Don Quixote goes on a quest through the It's A Small World! ride and Spring Break, aided by a punked out angel, a talking lawn gnome, and a germaphobic little person. Yes, it's that crazy. There's a reason why they call it "Mad" Cow Disease . . .

9. Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson

This is a hard book to read. The protagonist is anorexic, and she doesn't want to get better. This is a very close, very accurate, and very moving look at eating disorders, mental illness, and family relationships.

10. The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey

So icky, but so good. The fluids fly as a young apprentice assists his scientist master in tracking and killing an infestation of hideous creatures straight out of nightmare!

11. I Am Not A Serial Killer by Dan Wells

Egad! Speaking of fluids! I am normally not a horror novel person, but I could not put this book down. It was wonderfully creepy, and amazingly well plotted!

Honorable Mentions go out to:

Girl In the Arena by Lise Haines
Hearts at Stake by Alyxandra Harvey
and Circle of Flight by John Marsden

Go forth, as I always say, and READ!

Top 11- Middle Grade!

2011-01-26T18:28:00.003-07:00

Middle grade books! Those unsung heroes! Those books that take a reader from "chapter books" to the heady realms of young adult! The books, if you will, in the MIDDLE of it all! Our #1 on this list was one of my favorites of the year from any genre, the amazing, charming, funny, heart-tugging, award-winning . . .

1. When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead!

Talking about this book with Ann Cannon (author, bookseller, Hamish MacBeth enthusiast, and friend) when the announcement was made, she said that it reminded her of books she read as a kid, like when she read A Wrinkle In Time for the first time. I read it shortly after that, and had to agree! A delightful book from start to finish, I don't think the ALA could have picked a better winner for the Newbery Award!

2. Dragon's Heart by Jane Yolen

I have been waiting twenty years for this book. TWENTY YEARS. The fourth book in Yolen's Pit Dragon Series, which I read as a child (and reread, and reread, until my copies disintegrated), this is the perfect capstone to that amazing tale of dragons, slavery, and revolution on a distant planet. Also, Jakkin was my first crush . . . so it was nice to read about him again!

3. Secondhand Charm by Julie Berry

Another joy to read! I've never wanted a sea serpent before, but now it's on the top of my Christmas list!

4. Calamity Jack by Shannon, Dean, and Nathan Hale

The sequel to the trio's Rapunzel's Revenge is equal to (if not better than) the first, filling in Jack's backstory with rich detail as well as sending Jack and Punzie off on a new adventure! Fee, Fie, Foe, Fum!

5. Terrible, Horrible Edie by E. C. Spykman

A reread, but I'm including it because, after years of being out of print, this hilarious story of the mischievous Edie is back in a beautiful new edition from the New York Review of Books Children's Collection! I adore Edie, and hope that the rest of her adventures get the same treatment!

6. Matilda by Roald Dahl

I love Roald Dahl's books, and I love the movie based on this book, so I read it aloud to my son . . . and realized that I had never actually read THIS book! Hysterically funny, as Dahl's books are, and particularly fun to read aloud.

7. Found by Margaret Peterson Haddix

I had the very great thrill of speaking at a conference with Margaret this year, and once which I didn't realize she was also attending. Caught without my beloved copies of the Shadow Children series, I hastily bought the first book in The Missing series . . . and was hooked. Suspense in spades, and wonderful characters!

8. The 13 Clocks by James Thurber

Another swell New York Review of Books reissue, complete with the original illustrations. I had never read this book before, had never even heard of it, but it was wonderfully creepy and strange!

9. Three Tales of My Father's Dragon by Ruth Stiles Gannet

This has been recommended to me, but I hadn't been all that interested. It's very young middle grade, so I read it to my son, and we both loved this story of a brightly striped dragon, and his adventures with a young boy.

10. Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin

A Newbery Honor from last year, this is a wonderful Chinese folk tale, further brought to life with gorgeous illustrations!

11. The Girl Who Could Fly by Victoria Forester

What if a small child from a poor, backward farming community could fly? What if there was a top secret agency devoted to studying such children? What if? What if it was turned into a thrilling adventure story, complete with some of the best dialogue you'll ever find in a kid's book?

Top 11- Picture Books!

2011-01-16T21:19:00.005-07:00

I love picture books. Before I ever had kids, before I ever WANTED to have kids, I collected picture books. Weird ones, funny ones, pretty ones. Then I had kids, and my criteria changed. Kids don't sit still while you read them elaborately drawn, overly wordy picture books. You don't want to spend HOURS reading elaborately drawn, overly wordy books, either. Suddenly David Wiesner and Sandra Boynton were looking like a pair of geniuses, when I had previously been mildly entertained by him, and condescendingly amused by her. Now, too, my picture book shopping involves a great deal of diverting my son from Disney and other cartoon tie-ins, and trying to entice him with, ahem, real books.

So here are our favorite "real" picture books of the year!

1. We Are In A Book! by Mo Willems

Willems' Elephant and Piggie series for beginning readers are simply wonderful: hilarious, charming, and a nice way to get kids excited to read. This is my favorite of all time: Gerald the Elephant and his best friend, Piggie, discover that they are characters in a book! Piggie entertains herself by making the reader say things, and Gerald freaks out when he realizes that the book will soon end.

2. Knuffle Bunny Free by Mo Willems

A tender goodbye to everyone's favorite stuffed toy. We laughed until the last two pages, and then we (well, ok, I) bawled over the ending.

3. Baby Happy, Baby Sad by Leslie Patricelli

Have a baby or toddler? Know about the constant mood swings? You need this book. My two-year-old reads it to herself and laughs uproariously. Then she suddenly becomes sad . . . and the rollercoast begins anew.

4. It's A Book! by Lane Smith

Not really for kids, because of the inappropriate punch line, but a hilarious look at our sadly plugged in youth.

5. Olivia Goes to Venice by Ian Falconer

And Venice will never be the same!

6. Princess Hyacinth (The Surprising Tale of a Girl Who Floated) by Florence Parry Heide and Lane Smith

A charming fairy tale about a young princess with an unusual problem. It also stars a redhaired boy called Boy, which makes my redhaired Boy feel like a star!

7. Your Personal Penguin by Sandra Boynton

Who doesn't want their own personal penguin? My daughter certainly does! Also, check out Davy Jones singing the song on YouTube for extra fun!

8. Red Sings From Treetops: A Year In Color by Joyce Sidman and Pamela Zagarenski

A Caldecott Honor book from last year, with gorgeous and vaguely European looking illustrations and a fascinating way of helping children associate the different seasons with their signature colors.

9. The Twelve Bots of Christmas by Nathan Hale

I'm not just saying this because he's a personal friend, I swear: Nathan Hale is a picture book GENIUS. Every one of the books that he has written and illustrated has become an instant favorite of my son's. Yellowbelly and Plum Go to School, The Devil You Know, and now this one. After one (ONE!) reading, my son could sing the entire song, and went around doing so all during Christmas. He loved it, and I loved it. My husband loved it. My daughter loved the pictures, but threw things at anyone who tried to sing it. (That's because she throws things at anyone who sings, though.) This is a new Christmas classic, at least in our robot loving household!

10. Crazy Hair by Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean

Neil Gaiman does indeed have some crazy hair. Google the man and see for yourself. But the combination of Gaiman's poem about his hair (begun as a present for one of his daughters, who calls him Mr. Crazy Hair), combined with McKean's wild illustrations, is beyond crazy and approaching sublime.

11. The Tomten by Astrid Lindgren

Like the average American, I'm mostly familiar with Lindgren's Pippi Longstocking, though I did love Ronia Robber's Daughter as a child. Last year I discovered that this beautiful picture book existed, and received a copy for Christmas. Gentle watercolors combined with a hushed and comforting story about the kind little gnome who cares for a snowbound farm filled me with such a sense of warmth and love that I had trouble not crying while I read it to my son. (Yes, yes, I know I even cry over Knuffle Bunny, but seriously, this is a beautiful book.)

Honorable Mentions go to Binky, The Birthday Box, and Tubby by Leslie Patricelli, Can I Play Too? by Mo Willems, and the gorgeous Cinderella retold by Cynthia Rylant.

Technical Difficulties- FIXED!

2011-01-14T22:44:00.004-07:00

First off, my humblest apologies to anyone who has tried to email me through my website for the past, um, three months or more. Seriously. HUMBLEST APOLOGIES. We don't know how it happened, or why, but about three months ago when we updated the site (and by "we", I mean: my husband, but he's not solely to blame, and I'll explain why in a sec), something happened. Whatever that something was (I don't know, because I think email is delivered by fairies), it blocked any emails that came through the website. So if you sent me a nice message in that little "contact Jessica" message box thingie, I didn't get it. We don't know where it went, but it didn't come here, and it didn't notify you that it was blocked either. I am very, very sorry.

And this is why my husband isn't entirely to blame: I didn't notice. For three months. At least. One day I'm getting a steady stream of emails, the next day nothing. And it takes me months to say, to the person that I LIVE WITH, Hey, I'm not getting any emails from the site, could you take a look? It's not that I'm stupid (really, it's not!), it's not that I'm THAT busy (those of you who follow me on Twitter know I do have SOME free time), it's actually this:

I am an author, and we are insecure.

Yep. You guessed it. I have seriously thought that what was largely fan mail dried up overnight because I suddenly had no fans. Or people reading my books. I have seriously been thinking, Well, I had a good run. I got some cute emails from kids that loved my books, some rocking high fives from librarians and adult readers, it's time to go away now . . .

Yep. We're THAT insecure.

So my husband fixes the email thingy today, with the greatest of ease, because he is awesome (and sent a message through the site saying he was awesome, in case I didn't notice). And I've already gotten two other emails.

Which means two very nice things:

The email dealie on my website is working.

I don't suck!

The Top 11- Part 1: Movies!

2011-01-09T14:11:00.005-07:00

Because it's 2011- in short: the FUTURE!- I have decided to not just do one big post of my top tens of the year, but to do several weeks of posts in which I give you top ELEVEN picks in movies and books! YAY! Aren't I nice? (Yes. Yes I am.)

So we'll start off with movies, because I am still mulling my book lists and how I want to divide them up and such (All adult books together? Separated by genre? It's a puzzler!), we'll start with movies, simple and straightforward. We have two small kids, so we only go to movies if a)the kids can come or b)we REALLY want to see it. (Or, actually, c) we REALLY need a night away from the kids.) Some of you are wondering, too, why an author is putting up her movie picks. Well, you see, kids, I am a big movie fan. I minored in theatre & film briefly in college, and have taken film classes since high school. I also used to do review movies on an amateur movie review site called MovieSurvey.net along with my husband and a few of our discerning friends. So, in short, I think I'm pretty awesome when it comes to separating the winners from the duds. I mean, I've seen The Umbrellas of Cherbourg AND Woman in the Dunes! (I really, really cannot express my hatred of Woman in the Dunes enough, by the way. Though I believe it is exceeded by my hatred of La Strada. Also Mac and Me.)

Oh, and here's my little disclaimer: not all of these movies are suitable for all audiences. Please check the ratings and consider your own age/personal tastes before viewing. These are just my favorites, they may not be yours.

And so, without further babble . . .

Jessica's Top ELEVEN Movies of 2010!

1. True Grit (The DIALOGUE! Oh, the DIALOGUE!)
2. How To Train Your Dragon (A classic hero's journey, with humor, pathos, and great animation. Also: a dragon movie that doesn't suck! Wahoo!)
3. Toy Story 3 (This movie brought me to tears at least four times. And I'm not ashamed of that.)
4. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 (The first of the Harry Potter movies that, frankly, could have stood alone as a great movie without the book fandom to support it.)
5. Alice in Wonderland (Tim Burton's bizarro sequel to the original story was creepy and fun and bizarre . . . the acting is as delightful as the craziness.)
6. Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (It's literally a graphic novel come to life. Or a graphic novel, video game, and anime film mashed together . . . )
7. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (Great cast, fun settings/costumes, and it's hands down the best of the Narnia films.)
8. Tron: Legacy (I'm a big nerd, a huge fan of the original film, and a huge fan of Jeff Bridges. What's not to love?)
9. Inception (An amazing achievement in writing and filmmaking. But it's low on the list because . . . well, after a long day, what would YOU rather watch? Johnny Depp being weird as the Mad Hatter, or Leonardo DiCaprio feeling bad about his wife? Uh huh, thought so.)
10. The Millenium Trilogy: The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played With Fire, the Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest (Difficult to watch because of the graphic nature of the violence in the first film, but nevertheless a riveting and amazingly faithful adaptation of the bestselling books. The lead characters are so perfectly cast that I can't imagine how the Hollywood version attempt to improve on them!)
11. Tangled (A charming fairy tale in the classic Disney style! Both my kids were hooked, and so was I!)

What were YOUR favorite movies this year?

New Year's Resolutions!

2011-01-01T21:04:00.005-07:00

Remember that weird fad for a while, about not making New Years resolutions? Apparently, we are all doomed to fail, gain more weight, lose our jobs, and be generally miserable if we do. I don't buy this. A new year just FEELS good, and seems like a great time to start afresh. The orgy of eating that is Halloween/Thanksgiving/Christmas is over, so why NOT try to lose a little weight? My husband has a fresh slate of vacation days, so why not plan a trip? Let's face it, we're all assessing what we've done in 2010, and thinking about what we're going to do in 2011, so why not go ahead and do some resolvin'?

I'll go first!

In 2011, I am going to:

Get up earlier!

-I've fallen into the very bad habit of staying up late reading, and then sleeping in as long as the kids will let me. Which means that by the time I stagger out of bed, get everybody fed and dressed, it's almost time for lunch! Eeek! So I'm going to go to bed on time, and get up with the Hubster at (double eek) 6:30 and get going!

Lose weight!

-I've fallen into yet another very bad habit: snacking with the kids. Having a toddler and a weedlike six-year-old means an endless supply of goldfish crackers and such things lying about. I'm eating waaaay too many of them myself!

Read more books!

-In 2010 I only read 141 books! What's up with that?! I have an ever-growing pile of books to read, and books that I want to reread! Maybe if I spent less time noodling around on the internet . . .?

Write more books!

-Or at the very least: get more writing time! Having the two aforementioned kids running amok all day has really cut down on my writing time. I need to get the kids on a better schedule (see aforementioned wake up early resolution) and try to get some more time to work! (Possibly this will involved throwing the children at my husband when he gets home one or two nights a week. Must discuss with him.)

Go on more dates!

-The hubby and I need to have some more date nights! Especially if I am planning on turning the kids over to him one or twice a week so that I can write!

Learn to cook!

-Okay, technically I do know how to cook. And I'm not bad, either. I've even taken some of those Wilton cake decorating courses, and I collect character shaped cake pans. But I have a tendency to not plan meals well, and end up making the same two or three easy (and not very healthy) things every week. (See earlier resolution about losing weight, too!) I've got some great cookbooks (and for Christmas I got the Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook and Chocolate Never Faileth, both of which are awesome!), and I just need to do some planning, shopping, and make a little time to actually cook some good meals. (And the occasional great dessert.)

There! How does that look? I think it's a fine list of fully achievable goals for this year!

And how about you all? What would you like to see happen in 2011?

Last Minute Gifts

2010-12-19T10:07:00.002-07:00

So, Christmas Eve is this Friday! Hooray! But: you've just realized that you forgot one of your nephews, or some friends are coming that you didn't expect to see until New Year's, or maybe you were knitting someone a scarf but so far it's only potholder-sized and made from flammable yarn . . . at any rate, you need a gift, my friends!

And Auntie Jessica is here to help! I have some go-to last minute Christmas gift ideas, and wouldn't you know they'd be books?! I mean, sure, you can always get someone a gift card, but that's kind of admitting that you didn't know what to get someone (unless they really love gift cards, as Mr. Jessica Day George does).

So here's some lovely, lovely books that will make a fine gift for your last minute guest, forgotten relation, or person who just gave you a gift that you weren't expecting!

Christmas specific:

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, illustrated by P. J. Lynch
The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry, illustratied by P. J. Lynch
(You know I'm a fan of Lynch's beautifully detailed illustrations, so check out how they illuminate these classic Christmas stories!)
Let It Snow: Three Holiday Romances by John Green, Maureen Johnson, and Lauren Myracle
Skipping Christmas by John Grisham (Mr. Legal Thriller brings you a funny and heartwarming story of a modern Scrooge and his comeuppance.)
The Legend of Holly Claus by Brittney Ryan (The novel is beautifully illustrated, but there is also a picture book version with charming full color illustrations for younger readers or picture book fans!)
Miracle by Connie Willis (This collection of science fiction stories for Christmas is a must!)
Olivia Helps With Christmas by Ian Falconer
The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg
How the Grinch Stole Christmas! by Dr. Seuss (I'm surprised by how many people don't have a copy of the Grinch, or Polar Express!)
The Twelve Bots of Christmas by Nathan Hale (Nate's latest Christmas book is funny and cool, and my son has been singing it for weeks!)
A Charlie Brown Christmas by Charles M. Schulz (There are a variety of book versions of the classic Christmas special. We have it in board book form, my sister has an anniversary edition that includes backstory about the making of the cartoon, you can even get a miniature book that comes with a small tree and Linus' blanket!)

For the wee:
The Llama, Llama books by Anna Dewdney
Perfect Piggies, Snuggle Puppy, or the Pookie books by Sandra Boynton
Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed! by Mo Willems
The Olivia books by Ian Falconer (In the new one, Olivia takes Venice by storm!)
Princess Hyacinth by Florence Parry Heide and Lane Smith
Animal House by Candace Ryan and Nathan Hale
The Elephant and Piggie books by Mo Willems (These are a delightful series for young readers about an uptight elephant named Gerald and his best friend, a sweet and funny pig! Our 6 year old loves them, and so does our toddler!)

For the in-between:
Gregor the Overlander by Suzanne Collins (Everybody's read Hunger Games, I'm sure, but have you tried her first series? Wonderful!)
Into the Wild by Sarah Beth Durst (A fun book for middle grade readers, with fairy tales getting loose on an unsuspecting town!)
Enchanted Ivy by Sarah Beth Durst (And for the college bound . . . )
Faeries of Dreamdark: Blackbringer by Laini Taylor
A Crooked Kind of Perfect by Linda Urban
When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead (This year's Newbery winner was delightful for all ages, from 10 to adults!)
The Graveyard Book, M is for Magic by Neil Gaiman
Jane by April Lindner (This modern take on Jane Eyre wowed me! Why not include a copy of the Bronte original with this great book for teens!)
Immortal Beloved by Cate Tiernan

For the grown-ups:

Under Heaven by Guy Gavriel Kay (Magnificent! Fantasy, in that it's an imaginary world, but it's light on the magic, and would thrill any fan of historical fiction, Ancient China, or just plain old good writing!)
The Help by Kathryn Stockett (If there's someone out there who HASN'T read this book, they really need a copy!)
The Millenium Trilogy by Stieg Larsson (Ditto my note above, but with an R-rated content warning.)
I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
Monster Hunter Internationl by Larry Correia (For the man in your life, I suggest this heavily armed, let's blow up monsters thrill ride!)
The Temeraire series by Naomi Novik (It's the Napoleonic War, only the cavalry is dragons!)
The Hamish MacBeth mysteries by M. C. Beaton (Set in the Highlands of Scotland, these short, fun mysteries feature the most put-upon policeman in Scotland!)
The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss (Fantasy at its best!)
Assassination Vacation by Sarah Vowell (Vowell is an NPR commentator obsessed with presidential assassinations. Hilarity and history ensue.)
Boneshaker by Cherie Priest (It's Civil War-era America . . . with zombies!)

I hope that this helps you with your last minute gift buying!

Merry Christmas!

Christmas!

2010-12-08T20:49:00.002-07:00

Oh, I love Christmas! Love it, love it, love it! Baked goods, turkey, ham, candy, presents, snow, yummy smelling things . . . what is not to love? NOTHING!

So here we are getting ready for Christmas at Maison le George, and it's looking good. The trees are up and decorated (we have three, one is fancy, one is dripping with Star Wars and other pop culture ornaments, one has Old World Father Christmases on it), the stockings are hung by the chimney with care, the kitchen towels have been switched from brown and orange to red and green. I'm knitting something red with sparkles in it! AH!

I'm also reading some great, great books. It's what I do, and every year I recommend them as well!

Like "Let it Snow" by John Green, Maureen Johnson, and Lauren Myracle.

Or, speaking of miracles, "Miracle" by Connie Willis.

But let's not forget the classics, like "A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens! This year I'm reading it aloud to Boy, with translations from ye Victorian as I go. It's the beautifully illustrated version by P. J. Lynch, he whose "East o' the Sun, West o' the Moon" is a big inspiration for my "Sun and Moon."

I've alread read "A Highland Christmas" by M. C. Beaton, and I can't decide whether to go with "The Legend of Holly Claus" or "A Christmas Story" when I'm done with "Miracle."

Boy and I have read some picture books together, too, like "Olive the Other Reindeer", "Llama Llama Holiday Drama", "The Grinch" and "Merry Christmas, Splat!" And we'll be reading "The Polar Express", "Red Ranger Came Calling", and "Santa Calls" in the next few days, I'm sure!

We've watched some of our favorite movies as well. Like "Elf", "A Christmas Story", "The Muppet Christmas Carol", and "Rudolph." We watched "Santa Claus is Comin' to Town," which never really holds the kids' interest, and always makes my husband and I snicker naughtily. (I'm sorry, but there is a song in there that is wildly inappropriate in today's more cynical world. Watch it, and see if you can tell which one!)

A great deal of hot chocolate has been drunk already, and will continue to be drunk. My sister has made sausage dip, and I have partaken of it. There have been things baked with Andes bits, and I have made sure that my recipe for Pumpkin Empanadas (which has become our Christmas morning breakfast of choice) is close at hand.

Because it's Christmas. I'm being nicer to people. I'm occasionally giddy about things, like Christmas music, and wrapping paper. It's a wonderful time, a time when anything is possible. A time to think about so many miraculous things, like flying reindeer, talking snowmen, fat men who can slide down chimneys, but also babies being born in stables, new stars shining in the sky, and peace on earth.

Raise your glass of hot chocolate with me, won't you?

Merry Christmas, and God bless us every one!

Thanksgiving!

2010-11-20T09:23:00.002-07:00

Thanksgiving it next Thursday! Are you excited? I know I am! I love turkey and stuffing and pumpkin pie! (My oh my do I love pumpkin pie!) Thanksgiving is unusual, though, in that I think it's one of the major holidays here in America that just doesn't get enough attention. We eat for a day, lie around groaning, and then IT'S TIME FOR CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!

Wait. Stop.

What is Thanksgiving for? Just the eating?

Well, it does all surround the eating, because it was the Pilgrim's way of celebrating that a) they had food, and b) they weren't dead. So yes, the eating is central, but so is the giving thanks for things, like not being dead. And having food.

So ends our somewhat skewed history lesson, and begins ....

My List of Things I'm Thankful For This Year!

1. Family and Friends
2. My house
3. Books, my own and other people's. (Especially Under Heaven, Jane, and the Sookie Stackhouse books)
4. Movies, particularly Toy Story 3 and How To Train Your Dragon
5. Dark Chocolate Peanut M&M's
6. Pumpkin pie, cookies, breads, and muffins
7. Stephen's Hot Sipping Cocoa
8. My new poodle jammies (Thanks, Jenn!)
9. My husband and I both have cars
10. I've been on four vacations this year: Romania, Las Vegas, Disneyland, and The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. It's been amazing!
11. My dishwasher might be loud, my clothes washer might occasionally smell funky, but by dang I'm not washing dishes or clothes by hand, and I am eternally grateful!
12. As of this moment, no one in our house has thrown up for 18 hours!
13. Boy has discovered LEGOs, Harry Potter, and Indiana Jones.
14. Boy can read
15. Cynthia Rylant's book, In November
16. The Charlie Brown Holiday Specials (Will anything ever be better than the Great Pumpkin? Or Snoopy making toast and popcorn for Thanksgiving, then pulling out an entire meal for himself and Woodstock after the kids leave?)
17. Shaun the Sheep
18. The Parasol Protectorate
19. My bed. (It's big and soft and warm!)
20. Baby Girl can talk!

And that's just to begin with!

If you're looking to get into that Thanksgiving mood, try these: 'Twas the Night Before Thankgsiving by Dav Pilkey, In November by Cynthia Rylant, The Thanksgiving Treasure by Gail Rock (out of print, but worth finding), A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Potpourri

2010-10-16T17:21:00.003-06:00

Potpourri - n. (French) 1. A bowl of dried stuff that smells good for several years before becoming so dusty that it starts to smell like a mummy.
2. A random mixture of informational tidbits.

I swear: this is exactly how the dictionary defined "potpourri!"

Anyway, we're going with definition number 2, as I need to post a random bunch of stuff that I'm sure you will all find edifying.

First up: I finished the rough draft of my SUPER SECRET ROMANIA PROJECT! Alas, it is very rough at this time, and so I do not know when it will see the light of day! (And, by the way: I jokingly called the book My Grandmother Is A Bat! on Twitter a month or so ago, which apparently caused someone to a)think I was serious and Tweet/blog about it and b) keep asking me, essentially, if my vampires "sparkled" or were "the icky kind." THERE ARE NO VAMPIRES. A monk at Snagov Monastery made me promise, and I'm sticking to that promise!)

Second: I have seen some cover sketches for my next book: TUESDAYS AT THE CASTLE, and they are AWESOME! I'm in love with this cover art, and so exited to get something more final that I can show you all! TUESDAYS will be out September 2011!

Third: I have launched a new website/blog with my friend Amy Finnegan called Bookshop Talk. It's a place where she and I and any of YOU can post reviews of their favorite books. Check it out: http://www.bookshoptalk.com/ If you want to post a review, send it via the site to Amy. (Please no reviews of, um, erotica or reviews that look like this: tHis izz my fave cuz the Guy is soooooooooooo hottt!)

Fourth: Monday, October 18th I will be on THE TELEVISION promoting my upcoming events with fellow redheaded Bloomsbury author, Julie Berry! You can see me on Mountain Views with Ori Hoffer, Park City TV, at 6 pm, or watch it online at http://parkcity.tv/live .

Fifth: Julie and I will be at the King's English Bookshop on the 20th at 7 pm, and at The Purple Cow Bookstore on the 21st at 6:30. We're working out a little song and dance for y'all, so please come see us! There's addresses and such here on the site under News- Events.

And Sixth: my To Be Read pile by the bed is overflowing yet again. Which makes me both happy and exasperated. You can follow me on Twitter: @JessDayGeorge or on Goodreads.com, to find out what I'm reading and what I've read. 'Cause if you're a bookworm like me, you're always wondering what people are reading. I have seriously leaped over furniture to try and see what a total stranger is reading. It's embarrassing, but nobody's perfect.

(Seriously: stop judging me!)

And come and see me and Julie Berry this week!

AUTHORPALOOZA!!!

2010-09-12T21:30:00.002-06:00

Yes, folks, it's time for that ultimate in booksigning experiences: the Authorpalooza!

This one is at the Orem, Utah, Barnes & Noble at University Crossings Plaza. It will be THIS Saturday, September 18th, from 1-4(ish).

Come on down and goggle at the authors!

I will be there (of course, otherwise I wouldn't blog about it!), and also Dan Wells, Nathan Hale, Brandon Mull, Brandon Sanderson, Dene Low, Mette Ivie Harrison, both Kristen Landon and Kristen Chandler, PLUS Kristyn Crow! (Whew, I know a lot of Kriste/yns!) John Brown, Lisa Mangum, Sydney Salter . . . and like TWENTY more authors, Scout's Honor!

Join us! It's never too early to start your Christmas shopping!

The Summer Reading Wrap-Up!

2010-09-07T14:12:00.002-06:00

I know what you're all dying to know: Did she do it? Did she really read all those books?

Weeeelllll . . .

First of all, I kinda wish I'd put the deadline at Labor Day, instead of September 1st. So let's all pretend that's what it was, okay?

Okay!

Second of all, YES! YES I DID! I OWN THAT LIST, BABY! BOO YAH! Not only that, but I also read a couple of extras that came up, and finished a couple of books that I was reading aloud to Boy. Not only that, but I also managed to write almost two hundred pages in Ye Olde Romania Manuscript, which I so excited about that I can't stand it! It's going to be so good, you're all going to achieve Nirvana when you read it. Pinky swear.

So here is the list, in order, of books read this summer.

1. I Am Not A Serial Killer, Dan Wells
2. Under Heaven, Guy Gavriel Kay
3. Three Tales of My Father's Dragon, Ruth Stiles Gannett (read to Boy)
4. Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, Grace Lin
5. Charles and Emma, Deborah Heiligman
6. Stories, Neil Gaiman, Al Sarrantonio, editors
7. The Monstrumologist, Rick Yancey
8. The Sapphire Flute, Karen E. Hoover
9. When You Reach Me, Rebecca Stead
10. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, Stieg Larsson
11. Mr. Wilmer, Robert Lawson (read to Boy, one of my all-time faves)
12. Some Girls, Jillian Lauren
13. Dead Until Dark, Charlaine Harris
14. Low Red Moon, Ivy Devlin
15. Living Dead in Dallas, Charlaine Harris
16. Petronella Saves Nearly Everyone, Dene Low
17. Club Dead, Charlaine Harris
18. Dead to the World, Charlaine Harris
19. Before I Fall, Lauren Oliver
20. Dead As A Doornail, Charlaine Harris
21. Definitely Dead, Charlaine Harris
22. Fangbone!, Michael Rex
23. All Together Dead, Charlaine Harris
24. Incarceron, Catherine Fisher
25. Girl in the Arena, Lise Haines
26. Hearts at Stake, Alyxandra Harvey
27. The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, Alexander McCall Smith
28. Brightly Woven, Alexandra Bracken
29. From Dead to Worse, Charlaine Harris
30. Dead and Gone, Charlaine Harris
31. Sovay, Celia Rees
32. The Thirteen Clocks, James Thurber (read to Boy)
33. Dead in the Family, Charlaine Harris
34. Magic Under Glass, Jaclyn Dolamore
35. Spells, Aprilynne Pike
36. Tears of the Giraffe, Alexander McCall Smith
37. Boneshaker, Cherie Priest
38. Saving Juliet, Suzanne Selfors
39. Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone, J. K. Rowling (still reading to Boy)
40. Morality for Beautiful Girls, Alexander McCall Smith
41. Small Change: The Secret Life of Penny Burford, J. Belinda Yandell
42. The Kalahari Typing School for Men, Alexander McCall Smith
43. The Name of the Wind, Patrick Rothfuss
44. In the Company of Angels, David Farland

Now, if I had stopped at September 1st, I would have been halfway through The Name of the Wind, so even with my "extension" I don't think I did too shabby! Boy and I just finished reading about Harry's first shopping trip to Diagon Alley, and I'm about halfway through In the Company of Angels. I've also managed to take the kids swimming twice a week all summer, Boy started Kindergarten, and Mr. Mister and I took a weekend in Vegas. (It was hot, and smelly, and both of us were getting sick so we didn't want to eat anything. But the Cirque du Soleil "Love" show was amazing, thanks for asking!)

Now you're probably wondering, Are all these books worth my time? Should I try to be awesome and read them all, like Jessica?

No. Not everyone can be awesome as I am, and also, a couple of these books made me want to cry, and not in a good, cathartic way. BLEAH! But, as usual, my lips are sealed on which ones! (Sorry, I just don't want to use my blog to destroy another author's fragile ego.)

So what was the BEST?

Well:

I Am Not A Serial Killer. Under Heaven (of course). Where the Mountain Meets the Moon was delightful, especially for reading aloud, or younger readers. When You Reach Me was breathtaking. Before I Fall just broke my heart, and I loved it. Hearts at Stake is a must for vampire fans, or even teen romance fans. The Charlaine Harris books, though very much for adults, are more addictive than chocolate. Petronella Save Nearly Everyone will delight Wodehouse fans and Victorian buffs, and Incarceron is for the Hunger Games devotees. Boneshaker was so good I want to put a bow on it and call it Baby, and The Name of the Wind brought out a similar reaction. I have for several years had a "falling out" with grown up epic fantasy, which all seemed to be the same, and all seemed to be plotted using roleplaying game dice, notable exceptions are Sanderson's Mistborn books. Sanderson recommended that I try The Name of the Wind, and by golly, he was right! (Should I tell him?) Rothfuss' book is a big sprawling epic of awesomeness. Mr. Wilmer has been out of print for many decades, but is one of my all time favorites, and Boy loved it too. If you can find a copy somewhere, treasure it. It's about a man who, on his birthday, suddenly gains the ability to talk to animals, and is hired by a zoo. Mayhem and hilarity ensue, and the animal and human characters are fabulous. Fangbone was an ARC of an upcoming graphic novel that I scored, and will delight young boys, Three Tales of My Father's Dragon is an old book that is still in print for good reason: simple, fun, charming.

And right now, I'm deeply into The Company of Angels, and heartily agreeing with Dave Farland's mom: This may be his best book ever.

Writing for Charity

2010-08-16T09:06:00.004-06:00

It's the Third Annual Writing for Charity event this Saturday! YAY! That's August 21st, for all of you wondering "Which Saturday?" Writing for Charity is a fabulous event, for those of you unfamiliar with it! It's a one day writers' workshop, with all proceeds going to charity. This year's charity is A Book for Every Child, which (you guessed it, you smarty!) aims to put a book in the hands of every child, to ensure lifelong readers! Could anything be better?

At the event, you will have the option to hear from many of our fabulous local authors, like James Dashner, J. Scott Savage, Bree DeSpain, Anne Bowen, Rick Walton, Ann Dee Ellis, Emily Wing Smith, Mette Ivie Harrison, Dan Wells, and a dozen more! There will be discussions, questions answered, and pages critiqued, just like any other workshop, but the benefit here is that this workshop is run entirely by successful authors!

This year there will also be an evening extravaganza that you can sign up for separately. This will feature an author panel, silent auction, musical and comedy entertainment. Whole families are welcome at this, as well. Additional guests for the author panel will include ME, Brandon Sanderson, Ally Condie, Brandon Mull, and Sara Zarr. Items in the silent auction include more personal critiques, lunch with James Dashner and his darling wife, being murdered (by name) in Dan Wells' next book, and having your name in one of my books as well! (I promise not to kill you in my book).

Writing for Charity has been a great event every year, and it just keeps getting better! Come and join us this Saturday, whether you can make it all day, or just in the evening! It's worth the price of admission, if only to help get books out to kids who normally couldn't afford a book of their very own!

Here's the link to the official website, with many more details and online registration:

http://www.writingforcharity.com/

Back to School- Please Be Kind!

2010-08-02T14:07:00.004-06:00

aka The Mean Girls Post
aka Hooray for Josh and Rachel

So, this is something that I've thought about blogging for a long time. But I didn't want to get preachy . . . or seem weird, or desperate, or like I haven't gotten over the trauma of high school . . . and let's face it: I probably am weird and desperate, and a therapist would probably tell me that I really need to get over high school. But, since it's back to school time, and since I'm about to send my oldest child to kindergarten, let's plunge in.

People, be nice to each other.

I don't know if I have a whole lot of teenage blog readers, I'm hoping that I do, just because technically my books are for you, but also because this post is mostly for you. Teenagers, be kind.

School is hard. It's very hard. Academically and socially. Puberty is hard. (Golly, I hate that word. It just sounds nasty.) Your brain is so busy trying to process all the changes that are going on to it and your body that it doesn't really work right. True story: scientists recently published a report saying that teenagers are incapable of making logical decisions. Now, I find this hard to believe. No logical decisions at all? Surely not! Okay, I did some STOOOPID things in high school, but I like to think that some of my decisions were not totally insane! I did occasionally try to flirt with boys using an English accent. I may have called up a guy's mom when I knew he wasn't there, to try and chat her up for information . . . which at the time seemed like a brilliant plan that would totally endear me to him for years to come. Uh huh. Yeeeah. Moving on . . .

School is hard. Puberty is hard. Life is hard. You know what doesn't help any of these situations? Mean people. To quote one of the world's best bumper stickers: Mean people suck. So why do we feel the need to be mean to people? I wasn't a "mean girl" in high school, I didn't get a kick out of putting other people down . . . but there are times when I could have been nicer. A little less sarcastic. Or even just said hello to someone who looked like they were having a bad day. I don't know why I didn't (too absorbed in how bad a day I was having, probably), but boy do I regret it now. I have a theory that sometimes we feel so low, that we put people down because we hope it will make us feel better. "Ha! Now she's more depressed than I am! I feel so much better!" But it never works, because now you have the added guilt of making someone else's day a worse.

Now, I am not telling you to go out and make friends with everyone in your school, so that we can all hold hands and run through meadows full of puppies. Mainly because it's not possible to be friends with everyone. Everyone is different, and there are always going to be people that you mesh well with, and people that you don't. But that doesn't mean you can't smile at people. That doesn't mean you can't say hi. Or, if your day is really sucking with a lot of suckage, at the very least, try not to verbally destroy one of your peers. (You are now all wondering WHAT ON EARTH WAS SHE LIKE IN HIGH SCHOOL?!)

Here's the thing about me in high school: I didn't know what I was doing. Maybe it's true, and my brain wasn't working. Who can say? I also did suffer from some mild bouts of depression. School was hard, I liked about two classes. I also went to a high school that had, well, some cliques. It was nothing like Mean Girls (an excellent movie, which I highly recommend), but there were moments. I once had a friend tell me I couldn't sit with her at lunch because I was wearing too much black. I had lived there six years when another friend (who had known me the entire six years) was surprised that I knew this other girl at our school, since I was "new." My parents lived in that town for almost ten years, and my mom said that she had people refer to them as being "new to town" up until the day they sold their house. None of these things, you can imagine, made me feel very good. I frequently thought, "Okay, math test today, German test, viola lesson later, turn in audition tape for the orchestra thing, and I swear, if So-and-So makes some smart remark about my clothes, I will freakin' lose it."

In short, I had enough going on, with school and just the everyday stresses of life. I needed good friends who supported me, I needed encouragement and to feel like I was wanted, like I belonged. Why? Because everyone needs these things. Everyone has enough other stuff going on in their lives, every day. There are stresses with school, work, family, and countless other things. We don't need to worry that our friends are gossiping about us behind our backs. We don't need to be told we don't look right, or fit in. What purpose does that serve? A temporary rush of power for the person making the comment, and then . . . what? Nothing but badness.

Now, I can't protect you all from the badness. I honestly wish I could. I wish I could travel around to high schools and leap in front of people making demeaning remarks and scream "What, what, WHAT are you doing?!" (a la Sassy Gay Friend on YouTube), and help them rethink what they're about to say. But I can't do this. I know that I can't even protect my own children from this, and boy, let me tell you how badly that hurts. But what I can do is urge you to try and not be the mean person. It's hard, because some times it's so easy to lash out, or to put someone else down. But please stop and think before you do this. Even if you don't want to befriend everyone you see, at least you can try not to be their enemy.

And now the part where we all go, Hooray for Josh and Rachel!

Now, I'm really, REALLY not trying to lie on my bed of pain and bemoan the horrors of my personal high school experience. It wasn't really THAT bad. But at the beginning of my senior year, I realized that I didn't have a Best Friend. My Jr. High Best Friend was a year older in school, and had already gone to college. My Best Guy Friend had done the same. (Hey, Rebecca! Hey, Derek! What's up?!) So I kind of wandered around with my usual circle of friends, none of whom I was all that close to. And then, I went on an orchestra trip to Spokane.

Now, our high school orchestra was amazing. I mean, TRULY AMAZING. Taught by Rick Hansen, a gifted violinist, we used to win competitions and be invited to perform all over the western US. We rocked! Many of our members went on to become professional musicians, and I've discovered that several people met their future spouses through orchestra. Our orchestra was fab, and the only reason why I didn't graduate early. I had talked with counselors about early graduation, and taking college classes locally, but I would have had to give up the orchestra, and that was something I just wouldn't do. It was a great thing to be a part of, and so I hung on. Just after Christmas, senior year, we went to the All Northwest competition in Spokane. Sometime on that looooong bus ride, I was approached by two sophomores: Rachel, a violinist, and Josh, a cellist. I knew their names, but not much else about them. We hung out on the trip. Josh tried to drink a liter of water while laying on his back in a moving elevator. It was great! (The trip, I mean, the water thing was hilarious but kind of gross.) We returned home, and Rachel, Josh, and I continued to hang out.

We didn't have a whole lot in common on the surface, other than orchestra, but that didn't seem to matter. We just liked to talk. We could talk about anything. They got me to try out for competition speech, and I went to State in the category they picked for me. (Two years later, at college, one of my friends said the weirdest thing she'd ever seen was this speech one year at a state speech competition. Yep, it was me!) We cheered for each other at everything we did. We waved as we passed in the halls going to our various classes. It felt so good just knowing that if I was having a bad day, even if I was wearing black, someone would sit by me at lunch. It felt good knowing that I could call someone after school to vent, and they would listen. it felt good knowing that if they needed something, they would come to me. People trusted me to care for them, no matter what. That's a big responsibility, but it's one that makes you feel happy all the same. Josh and Rachel played as two parts of a quartet at my wedding reception. Two weeks ago, they were at my house for dinner. Rachel lives in D.C., and has advanced degrees in Political Science. I just found out that Hillary Clinton is the Secretary of State like, a month ago. Josh delivers organs for transplant because he thinks it's fun. I, um, don't. Yet we talked for four hours straight. Fifteen years ago we reached out to each other, and it has been a wonderful experience.

I still don't know how to diagram a parabola. I often have trouble with semicolons. At this point it doesn't matter. Math is irrelevant after high school, no matter what they try to tell you, and I have a copyeditor who checks my semicolons. But one of the most invaluable things I learned in high school was how to be a friend.

Reach out to someone. Make someone's day. Maybe they will become your best friend. Maybe not, but what does it hurt to try? The important thing is that you try, despite the suckage of your own day and the fact that your brain may not be working at all, and not be the meanest person in the room.

Okay.

Sermon over.

You may return to class.

*Related book recommendation: Before I Fall, by Lauren Oliver

Killing the List aka A Late Summer Reading Post

2010-07-11T21:37:00.007-06:00

What's that? There, on the bedside table? Not the lamp (although it's very nice). Not the stuffed dragon (also very nice, his name is Magne, and my friend Natalie gave him to me in high school). Why, it's three chunky piles of books! Why are they there? Well, I'm going to try to read them all by September 1st!

I've talked before about SABLE (Stash Acquisition Beyond Life Expectancy) . . . well, it's reached new heights, really, at our house. I suddenly added about thirty books to my "To Read" pile, and I thought, "Jessica, you have a sickness. Let's try and get this under control!" My friend Kyle, professor and zombie enthusiast, is doing a summer reading list of his own devising, and I decided to go for it myself. I took all my most pressing new books, the ones simply crying out to be read, and read NOW, plus the books my book club was reading this summer, and I put them on the bedside table where they would nag at me. Where they couldn't be forgotten, or where I wouldn't be tempted to wander amongst my other bookshelves and then find something else to read. By Jove, I said, I will make a summer reading list, and I will KILL THAT SUCKER by September or die trying!

Now, that's not to say that I have simply lain about, eating bonbons and reading! Oh, my, no! I'm working on a book of my own (and no, I won't say anything more about it. Oh, FINE! It's set in Romania. But that's all I'm sayin'), and taking the kids swimming, and trying to beat my yard into submission, and launching Princess of Glass in the manner to which my books are accustomed. I also took a little jaunt out to Washington, D.C., where I basked in the glow of all the book love at the ALA Annual Conference. (I met John Green! And Rick Yancey! And Libba Bray! And Melissa Marr!) (And accidentally picked up MORE BOOKS, because obviously I needed MORE BOOKS!)

So not all the books are pictured in this picture. Some of them I had already read by the time I found the camera. Some of them got added (see ALA reference above). But here, in it's entirety, is the list:

First off, the books I've read so far:

1. I Am Not A Serial Killer- Dan Wells

2. Under Heaven - Guy Gavriel Kay

3. Where the Mountain Meets the Moon- Grace Lin

4. Charles and Emma- Deborah Heiligman

5. Stories- Neil Gaiman and Ed Sarrantonio

6. The Monstrumologist - Rick Yancey

7. The Sapphire Flute - Karen E. Hoover

8. When You Reach Me - Rebecca Stead

9. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest - Stieg Larsson

10. Some Girls- Jillian Lauren

11. Dead Until Dark - Charlaine Harris

12. Low Red Moon - Ivy Devlin

13. Living Dead in Dallas - Charlaine Harris

14. Petronella Saves Nearly Everyone - Dene Low

15. Club Dead - Charlaine Harris

16. Dead to the World - Charlaine Harris

17. Before I Fall - Lauren Oliver

I am currently reading Dead As A Doornail, by Charlaine Harris, and after that I have:

1. Definitely Dead - Charlaine Harris

2. All Together Dead - Charlaine Harris

3. Dead to the World - Charlaine Harris

4. From Dead to Worse - Charlaine Harris

5. Dead and Gone - Charlaine Harris

(You may have noticed a theme here. My sister has raved about these books for years, but I read the first one back in the day when all I was reading was vampire stuff, and I overdosed and went, "Meh!" I decided to reread it this summer, and got hooked. Now I can't stop, but I feel I should warn my younger readers: These books are not for the faint of heart or the, um, under 17 set.)

6. Incarceron - Catherine Fisher

7. Brightly Woven - Alexandra Bracken

8. Boneshaker - Cherie Priest

9. Sovay - Celia Rees

10. Girl in the Arena - Lise Haines

11. Magic Under Glass - Jaclyn Dolamore

12. Hearts at Stake - Alyxandra Harvey

13. Saving Juliet - Suzanne Selfors

14. The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency - Alexander McCall Smith

15. Tears of the Giraffe - Alexander McCall Smith

16. Morality for Beautiful Girls - Alexander McCall Smith

17. The Kalahari Typing School for Men - Alexander McCall Smith

18. The Name of the Wind - Patrick Rothfuss

19. In the Company of Angels - David Farland

Extra Credit (aka Picked up at ALA):

1. The Thin Executioner - Darren Shan

2. Cate of the Lost Colony - Lisa M. Klein

3. Immortal Beloved - Cate Tiernan

4. Monster High - Lisi Harrison

5. Jane - April Lindner

6. The Girl Who Could Fly - Victoria Forester

Think I can do it? Want to join in? Let me also warn our younger or more sensitive readers that Stieg Larsson's books are VERY MUCH FOR ADULTS, as are Charlaine Harris' and Jillian Lauren's memoir. On the other hand: I just finished Before I Fall, and found it to be absolutely a masterpiece, recommended for teens and adults alike. And When You Reach Me? A delight from start to finish, suitable for all ages, fully deserving of that Newbery Medal! Also, Rebecca Stead's speech at the ALA banquet was joyous and charming.

All right, I've got books to read! Catch you later!

Houston, we are go for launch!

2010-06-10T14:35:00.003-06:00

Greetings! I am She Who Wakes At Dawn To Piddle, or "Pippin" as my servants call me. I have condescended to blog today, because She Who Writes Books is very busy. She has ignored me on several occasions of late, but I have been generous, and merely sighed at her, and did not chew her sparkly shoes, though they smell delightfully of feet.

She Who Writes Books is busy because she has not only the two puppies, The Loud One and The Unsteady One, but also a new book. It is called Princess of Glass, a title I find acceptable, although Pippin of Glass would have been better. Pip-- er, Princess of Glass will be celebrated at a number of events, which I will recount here. She Who Writes Books becomes nervous about these events, and moans that no one will come. This displeases me. All must attend.

But do not eat all the cookies. I wish to partake of the leftovers. (That's why it's called a doggie bag.) (This is not a joke. Humor is frowned upon among my people. When we ruled the Roman Empire, we did not laugh at the Celts. We destroyed them and then left white hairs on their cushions.)

She Who Writes Books will appear under her human name, Jessica Day George, at the following locations and times.

Saturday, June 12th, The King's English Bookshop (Salt Lake City), 2 pm.

Friday, June 18th, Barnes & Noble at Jordan Landing (West Jordan), 7 pm.

Saturday, June 19th, Dragons and Faerie Tales (Eagle Mountain), 5 pm.

Sunday, June 27th, ALA Spring Conference in Washington D.C.

Wednesday, June 30th, Barnes & Noble Sugar House, 5 pm.

There will be readings! And talkings! Questions answered, upcoming projects revealed! Book giveaways! Treats! Sparkly shoes! And other such things as humans enjoy!

All must attend, or there will be chewing of shoes, and much displeasure!

And the winner is. . . .

2010-05-21T09:44:00.002-06:00

WOW! You guys are such smarties! I was sure this would be take a while. . . .

But within two hours of posting, I had the correct answer from HEATHER MUIR!!!!

Congratulations, Heather!

I guess I should have been more specific, I was only looking for the right country, but Heather also got the locations with the exception of the first one. That's actually the clock tower in Sighisoara (which is, apparently, 1,520 km from Stockholm). Her guesses were: Sinaia (which we did also visit), Snagov Monastery, and Peles Castle. Well done!

A close second was Rachel Peterson, who also guessed the same locations, and was just an hour later.

So the Grand Prize goes to Heather!

And a second prize, a signed copy of Princess of Glass, goes to Rachel. BUT ONLY IF YOU EMAIL ME YOUR ADDRESS ASAP!

But no one wants to guess whose toilet that is? Er, was?

Fine, I'll just tell you!

It's Vlad Dracula's toilet! Yep. In the ruins of his castle in Bucharest, the only remaining furnishing is the, ahem, throne. Ew.

Next week I'll do a more complete post on our trip, featuring Shardas eating at a restaurant with fake severed heads and blood on the walls! YAY!

Where in the World is Shardas?

2010-05-20T14:48:00.014-06:00

Well, technically, Shardas is sitting in the bedroom with Velika. But a couple of weeks ago, Shardas, the Mister, and I took a little vacation. Nothing big, just a ten day guided tour of a faraway land that I'm going to write a book about, that's all! It was a fabulous place, rich in history, full of trees and plants and mountains and things! We saw a lot of castles, and many, many churches. Also a lot of dogs. And several dragons.

So let's have us a little contest! I'll post some pictures of Shardas' adventures, and you try and guess Where in the World Shardas Went! DO NOT POST YOUR GUESS IN THE COMMENTS! Email me directly at theauthor@jessicadaygeorge.com. Include your guess, your name, address and email, so that I can get you your prize!

(Oh, you want to know about the prize?)

How about a fridge magnet! And a bar of chocolate! AND A SIGNED COPY OF PRINCESS OF GLASS, THE OFFICIAL HARDCOVER EDITION!

And now, we bring you: Shardas on Vacation!

This is the famous city S, which is apparently 1,520 km from Stockholm.

The famous S Monastery (a different S from the city, this one is actually outside the city of B).

Shardas didn't want to be in this picture, because this is a real toilet from Ye Olden Tymes, and who knows who sat on it! (Actually, they know exactly who sat on it. And boy, is he famous! And old!)

And the amazing Castle P! The first castle ever built with indoor plumbing, central heating, electricity, telephones, and central vacuum!

Well? Can you guess? Do you know where we are?! You're welcome to guess as many times as you like. The contest will keep going until somebody gets it. If nobody guesses correctly by next Friday, May 28th, I will post more clues

Good luck!

The Whitney Awards

2010-04-25T22:24:00.007-06:00

I took Shardas for a little trip this weekend, just on his own. It wasn't very far, about a half hour drive, and he slept the whole way. I had to teach a one hour class on "world building in fantasy novels" down at the LDStorymakers Writing Conference. Of course, being me, I was late and didn't know who to call or have any phone numbers with me anyway, so while I was driving in a panic, the conference planners were all in a panic at the hotel as they tried to cover for me. Eventually, Howard Tayler jumped into the fray and began giving some excellent tips. I came in, sweaty and flustered, and found him saying things that were much more pithy and interesting than anything I had planned. I calmed down, taught the rest of the class, and then hid in a hotel room until the Gala.

Oh, yes, there was a Gala.

It was the third annual Whitney Awards Gala! The Orson F. Whitney Awards are for LDS (Mormon) fiction authors, and it's a wonderful event. Along with getting a neat award (or at least the privilege/pleasure of being nominated) it's a wonderful event. We get to dress up fancy and have dinner and visit with our peer group. Princess of the Midnight Ball was nominated for Best Youth Fiction, and lost to Carol Lynch Williams' The Chosen One. I'm really all right with that, because Carol's book was heart-breaking and intense, and deserved great recognition. My sister, Jenn, was my date, and we sat with Dan "I Am Not a Serial Killer" Wells and his beautiful wife and parents, and Howard "Schlock Mercenary" Tayler.

Both of whom cry like girls, GIRLS, at the drop of a hat, by the way.

The first category was Romance/Women's fiction, and the winner, Liz Adair, got up and gave a little speech that I don't even remember except that it made me tear up and I thought, "Oh, NO! Keep it together! You cannot stop crying now, you'll be on the FLOOR by the time it's your category." So I look over at Dan for strength, and see him WIPING HIS EYES. Then Dan presents a Lifetime Achievement Award to David Farland. Dave is one of the greatest people in the world, a talented author, funny guy, and incredibly generous mentor to who knows how many fledgeling authors. So I'm really thinking, all right, Dan, just be funny, FUNNY, so I don't start blubbering. Oh, no. Dan "I Am Not a Serial Killer" Wells gets up, and immediately starts crying and tells this moving story about how much Dave has influenced him . . . and I was a goner. My sister was a goner. Howard was wiping his face on a napkin.

It was some crazy pie.

By the end of the night, when Dave Farland also won Best Novel of the Year for his book In the Company of Angels, there was not a dry eye in the house. Best. Whitney. Gala. Ever.

The point(s) of this post is (are) thus:

First off: Buy Dave's book. In the Company of Angels. His mother flat out told him that, of the 50 or more books he's written, it was hands down the best.

Second: Dan and Howard are babies.

And third: Shardas has developed a taste for traveling. He enjoyed the car ride, the hotel, meeting new people all of it. Velika is far more shy and retiring, and refused to come, but Shardas is demanding to go with me on the research trip I'll be taking soon. So keep your eyes on this blog, because a spanking new contest is coming up!

And now we leave off with a strange and disturbing picture of Howard getting a little too friendly with Shardas. . . .

Opinionated? Me?

2010-04-18T20:17:00.002-06:00

All right, fine, I admit it: I have opinions, and I'm not afraid to use them. I loooooove to review books and recommend books and tell people, "Please for the love of all that is good and fluffy, don't read that book!" Which is why I am grateful for Goodreads. Goodreads is the greatest website EVER if you're a book nerd. You can review books, meet other people who like the books you like, sort the books you've read, make a to-read list, and take endless quizzes about books to make you feel smart (or dumb, it depends). Sometimes people disagree with me on books, and that's fine. Occasionally they REALLY disagree with me, which I actually enjoy, because if nothing else, it reminds me of the Moviesurvey days.

Aaaahhh, Moviesurvey! How I miss thee!

What's that? You've never heard of Moviesurvey? The greatest website known to man? Back when websites were rare beasts indeed, things that your grandmother had never heard of, things that only weirdos really knew about, there was Moviesurvey.net.

Moviesurvey.net started as a project for the BYU Statistical Department. When the American Film Institute came up with their Top 100 Movies of All Time back in the early 1990's, statisticians everywhere flipped their lids. These weren't movies that were selected by a large, random group of people, thus representing the American Public. Nor were they even the big box office movies of all time. Instead they were selected by the members of the AFI, some of them on the basis that they'd heard the movie was ground-breaking, without having actually seen it all the way through. (Birth of a Nation, which was in the top five, is literally unwatchable because most of the reels have disentegrated.) So the BYU Stat Dept. put together a website where random voters could log on and vote for their favorite movies. Star Wars was in the top five, if not number one (I can't recall). Ghostbusters was on there, and so was The Princess Bride. It was fascinating to compare the two lists . . . and then the project was over.

Or was it? My husband was one of the people behind Moviesurvey, and when the project was done, his professor turned the website over to him. And we went crazy with it. We turned it into a movie review website for ourselves and a select handful of friends. We'd have monthly special features, reviews, and heated arguments. One of our friends, Sherry, gave Drop Dead Gorgeous five stars and called it the funniest movie she'd ever seen. My husband and I saw it, didn't crack a smile, and I counter-reviewed. Sherry's sister leapt into the fray in the comments, and it went on for days . . . and all in good fun! One of our readers used to argue with pretty much all of my reviews. Bizarrely, if we liked or disliked the same movie, he would argue that I had loved or hated it for the wrong reasons. Then he asked to be a reviewer, since I wasn't doing my job correctly. We told him NO! with great pleasure!

And then . . . we all had kids. At the same time. All boys even. In a random twist of fate, all three households involved in Moviesurvey had their first baby within a five month span and suddenly none of us had time anymore. Alas for Moviesurvey! We hung on for a while, but then . . . the dream died.

Which is why, today, I cannot resist. There's a little bit of Moviesurvey magic in the air tonight, folks, and I thought I'd give you a quick list of good movies I've seen lately.

1. How To Train Your Dragon So hilarious, so darling, so exciting! I loved every minute of this movie!

2. Clash of the Titans Just as fun as the original, with its sweaty men in tunics make witty remarks as they battle ludicrously large scorpions and other such baddies.

3. Alice in Wonderland Other than the bizarre dance sequence at the end that was fortunately only a minute long, this is a trippy, freaky, awesome sort-of-sequel to the original.

There! How's that?

Oh, did you want some book recommends?

Well, I just read Wintergirls and could not put it down! I've also been on a Barbara Hambly kick lately, with her Benjamin January historical mysteries. So good!

The House of the Future

2010-03-31T09:39:00.022-06:00

Today, at last, I will tell you a story. A story about a house. A house . . . of the Future!

Last month Shardas and Velika took a little trip with us to visit some friends. Our friends are nice, and they are normal . . . Okay, that's kind of a lie. None of our friends are really normal, and in this particular household, the Mr. is a Professor of Zombiology, and the Mrs. reviews sci fi tv shows for a website called Pink Ray Gun (sci fi for girls)!

But they are nice people, and they live in a nice house. A VERY nice house. It was built in 1961, with every amenity that the family of 1961 could possibly want. Like a purple toilet. A stove that slides out of the counter like a drawer. A master bathroom that turns into One. Giant. Shower. And planter boxes. In the house.

Shardas and Velika were very impressed. Living as they do in a cave in the middle of a jungle, they liked the planter boxes a great deal.

But they were a little baffled by the "sink room." Velika supposed that you would call it a "quarter bath", since a "half bath" had a toilet and sink, and this just has . . . a sink.

Then there was the kitchen! Velika loved that everything was blue, and Shardas liked the blender motor built into the counter top. He's hoping that the Professor can find a blender that fits into it before our next visit, so that he can have a goat-and-peaches smoothie. It did make Velika a little nervous when Shardas climbed onto the pull out stove to inspect a boiling pot. . . She wisely kept her distance.

But they both agreed that the side by side ovens, with glass doors, were great.

The master bathroom was their favorite part. Fully tiled, with excellent echoes, it had a luxurious sunken tub in the Japanese style, and no shower curtain is necessary as the entire room becomes a nice, steamy shower.

They also admired the built-in scale. . .

and the conveniently placed planter box in the "commode closet." Perfect for dragons! (Velika has asked that I not show the picture of them using the planter box, er, commode room. For the sake of their dignity.)

Yes, the Queen and King of the Dragons were most pleased with their visit to the House of the Future, and hope to return soon!

We have a new winner!

2010-03-18T21:48:00.003-06:00

Hello, hello!

I have drawn a new winner from Ye Hat! Dragongirl128, I don't know where you went, honey, but if you ever come back, we'll see if we can't rustle up an ARC for you anyway.

In the meantime, ba ba bum!

B. Faulk "Fig", or Bets, as she signs herself on the blog, is our new winner!

Bets, m'dear, please email your real name and address to me at theauthor@jessicadaygeorge.com, so that I can get you a shiny, shiny ARC of Princess of Glass!

Ta DA!

Calling Dragongirl128!

2010-03-10T09:10:00.002-07:00

I know, I promised a visit to the House of the Future this week, but we have a little problem!

One of our winners from last week has not yet sent me her address!

Dragongirl128, where art thou? Please email me your address, so that I may send you your prize! If you don't send in your address by next Monday (March 15th), I will draw be drawing another name to win this fabulous ARC.

It's been quite a week: the kids are sick, I have a jillionty-one things to do, and I'll be sailing on to Logan, Utah, on Thursday for a couple of days. So if you're in the area of Logan on Friday, come and see me! I'll be at the Borders Books from 4-6 pm.

That is all for now!

Dragongirl128, please email me!

And the Winners Are. . . .

2010-03-01T15:32:00.002-07:00

First of all, a very, VERY big thanks to everybody who posted a review! You are all awesome! I now have sixty-eight . . . that's right! SIXTY-EIGHT! reviews on Amazon.com for Princess of the Midnight Ball, and I am thoroughly delighted about that!

So I have some lovely swag to give away! If you are one of the lucky winners, please email me at theauthor@jessicadaygeorge.com and let me know your mailing address so that I can send you your fabulous prize!

And now, without further ado, our winners!

The three ARC winners, as pulled out of a baseball cap by The Boy, are:

Cathy (see, I did get your email!)

Laura Ellen

Dragongirl28!

The winners of the t-shirts and ARCs are:

Chantele

Debbie the Nerd Goddess!

Congratulations to them! And for the rest of you, do not be sad! More giveaways are coming up!

Tune in next week for Shardas and Velika's report on their trip to the House of the Future!

And a p.s. to Kristi -Yes! I do remember you! What's up?!

Win a Fabulous Prize!

2010-02-16T21:00:00.003-07:00

Yes, that's right! You, even you, could win a fabulous prize here at JessicaDayGeorge.com! If you look at this lovely picture, you will see Shardas and Velika admiring two lovely pink t-shirts sporting the cover art for Princess of Glass, and nestled there just to the side of Shardas is a shiny Advanced Readers' Copy of Princess of Glass! I will be giving away five ARCs and those same t-shirts on February 28th! Two lucky Grand Prize Winners will get a shirt (hand ironed-on by my amazing sister Jenn!) and an ARC, and three other lucky winners will get an ARC!

But how do I win, you say? What do I, the reader on the street, do to get a shot at such fabulous swag?

Well, you have to do a little something for me! As of this very minute, Princess of the Midnight Ball has thirty-six reviews on Amazon.com. I know, I know, "they" say that Amazon.com reviews and rankings are meaningless. But "they" are clearly not paranoid authors. These are the only numbers we have, people, and we cling to them in desperation! Now, my goal is to have Midnight Ball hit fifty reviews before Princess of Glass hits the shelves in May.

So this is where you all come in! Log on to Amazon.com and review Midnight Ball, then post a comment telling me that you've reviewed it, and make sure to include the user name you used for your review. If you've already reviewed it, you're still eligible, just let me know that you've already reviewed it, user name, etc. On February 28th, I will put all the user names in a hat, and draw out five lucky winners!

YAY!

If you don't win, don't worry! I'll be doing more contests in the months to come!

And make sure you get a good look at Shardas' and Velika's stuffed animal forms. They'll be having more adventures soon!

The Future's So Bleak, I Gotta Wear . . . A Jumpsuit?

2010-01-31T12:17:00.007-07:00

"Big Brother is watching you. . . "

We've all heard the phrase, but who among us knows where it comes from? And of those, who has actually read the book? That's right, Big Brother is not just a reality show about losers doing . . . something . . . (I don't actually watch much reality tv.) It comes from 1984, George Orwell's grim, grim vision of life in . . . 1984. His prediction: constant surveillance by the minions of dictator Big Brother. People wearing shapeless jumpsuits and ugly, clunky shoes, endless war, disgusting food, and children informing on their parents!

The reality of Britain in 1984 was . . . Duran Duran and hot pink stretch pants. Sometimes together! The food was no worse than usual in England, although this was around the time the McRib was invented, so perhaps he wasn't too far off there.

But should we really mock Orwell for thinking that within fifty years the world would be as bleak and horrible as he thought? No! For he joins countless other authors in that grand, grim genre: Dystopian Literature! Hooray for Dystopia! It's science fiction, only politically charged, full of cannibals, everyone's really badly dressed, and it's all frighteningly plausible! It's like science fiction's mean older brother, the one telling you that if you did discover a new planet, it wouldn't be full of buxom green women, but probably toxic slime. And by the way, why are so worried about another planet, when the one we've got is already going to pot?

Dystopian literature is rarely very cheery, yet it sucks us in all the same. Perhaps because it is, truly, the Final Frontier, for several reasons. One, because it's our future, like it or not, and two, because we'll all be dead. Get it? Final Frontier?! (These are the jokes, people!) I actually went through a phase in high school where I read it all: 1984, This Perfect Day, Brave New World . . . great stuff! Filled me angst, and that's what every teenage needs, really! Then I went off the dystopia for a while, until a couple of years ago when a new crop was written, and Lo, I found that I could not look away!

The Road

Have you read this book?! Cormac McCarthy, he of the pretty, pretty horses, wrote a book so simultaneously gripping and awful that it was like, like, well, it was like nothing else, all right? I loved the review in Entertainment Weekly, where she admitted that it had been over a month since she read it, and was just barely able to review it. Also, she knows exactly where the book is in her office at all times. Yes. It felt like that. My friend Kyle Bishop, Professor of Zombiology, finished it late at night, then woke up his baby son so that he could sit and rock him for a while. Yes. It felt like that, too. I also demanded that my husband go out and buy a lot of food storage the next day. And he, freaked out by my freaked outedness, did.

*Warning: The Road is not for the faint of heart or stomach. Anyone under the age of 18, pregnant women, or anyone who has a problem with cannibalism, should totally avoid that book.

Seriously.

Then I discovered that dystopian literature was alive and well, in the YA section.

What?! Never say it's true!

Oh, yes, it's so true! And again, I couldn't look away. Horrible, terrifying, and yet magnificent. You've heard of them, I'm sure. You've read them, even. The two that stick out in my mind are The Hunger Games and Life As We Knew It, by Suzanne Collins and Susan Beth Pfeffer, respectively.

Now, the fact that either of these authors had written books like these threw me for a loop. I mean, they're great authors, always have been. But they've never done something like this before.

Suzanne Collins I had known and loved for the past four years as the author of the Gregor the Overlander books, a superb middle-grade series about a boy who follows his baby sister through a heating duct in their laundry room, and discovers an underground world of peril and talking bats, among other things. In that series she introduced us to possibly the greatest non-human character EVER: Ripred the amoral outcast rat. He was sarcastic, cunning, dangerous, a gifted fighter, almost always out for number one . . . if he hadn't been a rat he would have oozed bad-boy sexiness. As it was . . . well, I did occasionally forget he was a rat! Alas, the Gregor series came to a close, albeit a very satisfying one, and I wondered what Suzanne would do next.

What she would do next was shock and astonish the world with her vision of a future where the dictatorship ruling North America keeps the populace down through the skillful use of . . . reality television. The concept behind The Hunger Games literally took my breath away. It was bold and crazy, and yet I could see it happening! It blended Greek myths, Roman gladiatorial competitions, and a host of other things from cultures around the world. It's seamless, flawless, horrible, and riveting! And there's a sequel! And then there will be one more! And I can't wait while at the same time I can't believe I want to go back for more punishment!

Life As We Knew It is a simpler story, in which a catastrophe causes the moon to move just slightly in its orbit, creating tidal waves, earthquakes, and other natural disasters. The young narrator struggles with the sudden changes to her world, starting with irregular school schedules and ending with . . . well, just about everybody dying! It's not simply a page-turner, it's a keep-you-up-all-night-crying-and-reading-til-you-finish book. Prior to this, I had not read a book by Susan Beth Pfeffer since I was a wee lass, and the one I recall had been a gentle, sweet book about a timid young girl finding her courage.

A vastly different book, let me say.

As I write this, and once again it's taking me days, I realize that Lois Lowry's The Giver could be put in this category too. And so could Devil On My Back by Monica Hughes. This was a book I got from a school book fair, Lo, many years ago, and it may be out of print. But if you can find a copy, it's soooo worth it! It's about a futuristic society where everyone is divided into classes depending on whether or not they can tolerate the computer memory packs they plug into their brains. But is it really as wonderful as it's supposed to be? And why are there always a perfectly balanced number of lords, workers, and slaves? Will spoiled young Tomi find out? Does he want to? Ba ba BUM!

Good stuff, people!

So, to sum up: Big Brother is watching you!

No, sorry. What I meant to say is: sometimes its good to read something a bit shocking. Something that, much as I hate this phrase: Really makes you think. Even something that makes you a little bit bummed out. Because, Hey, maybe you can't afford those cool shoes you saw yesterday, but at least you're not crouched in a bomb shelter, wearing a baggy canvas jumpsuit and hiding from cannibals!

Well, I'm not anyway. . . I don't know what you guys do for fun. . .

Newberys I Have Known and Loved. . . .

2010-01-19T11:56:00.007-07:00

It's awards season all over the place! Avatar just got a Golden Globe for Best Movie Drama, Oscar nominations are imminent, and the American Library Association just announced the winners of the Newbery and Printz awards, among others. So exciting! The winner of the Newbery Award this year was Rebecca Stead's book, When You Reach Me, and the winner of the Printz was Libba Bray's Going Bovine. For a complete list of the award-winning books for this year and years past, go to ala.org.

Now, I know that some of you are thinking, Oh, no! I hate those books! *whine whine* I recently had a friend say that her sons call the Newbery sticker the "Death Mark", and I will be the first to admit that some of these books are not my favorite. In particular, there seem to be books that were picked because they would be good for the children, morally improving and all that. Also, some of the older books have titles like Queer Person and The Old Tobacco Shop, and there seems to be a strange fondness for goats. . . .

But let's not talk about those! Let's talk about the good ones.

Like The Hero and the Crown.

Many of you know my relationship with this book, and are rolling your eyes, saying, Yes, Jessica, we know about you and that book. We get it, she's a redhead, too! But I just have to say it one. More. Time.

I love this book, which won the Newbery in 1985, and inspired me to become a writer myself. It and its companion book, The Blue Sword, which was an honor book in 1983, were my comfort books from the time I was eleven on. I would read them, or parts of them, whenever I was sad or sick. I recently had a friend read Hero for the first time, and he said, Yeah, it was fine. I told him we were no longer on speaking terms. (I have since recanted, but honestly, he has no taste.)

Some of the books are for very young children, like the Ramona books by Beverly Cleary. And you can pretty much bet that if there was a horse in it, I loved it. (Marguerite Henry, I adore thee!) But there are a few books on this list that I think have not only stood the test of time, but are great for any age of reader. Some of them are being forgotten, like Jane Langton's heartbreaking and wondrous The Fledgling, while others remain constant classics, like The Witch of Blackbird Pond.

So, since this post has taken three days to write because of my children and the general busyness of life in general, I will finally post this list of my favorite Newbery books, from oldest to newest. I would like to mention the Printz Awards as well . . . but in the interest of time, let me just say: Skellig. How I Live Now. Read them or we are not on speaking terms.

And now, the Newberys!

The Cat Who Went to Heaven
Indian Captive: The Story of Mary Jemison
The Wheel on the School
The Witch of Blackbird Pond
A Wrinkle in Time
The Black Cauldron
From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler
The High King
The Tombs of Atuan
The Headless Cupid
Figgs and Phantoms
Abel's Island
Bridge to Terabithia
Dragonwings
Ramona and her Father
The Westing Game
The Fledgeling
A Ring of Endless Light
Ramona Quimby, Age 8
Dear Mr. Henshaw
The Wish Giver
Sarah, Plain and Tall
The Whipping Boy
Joyful Noise
Shabanu
Maniac Magee
The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle
Nothing But the Truth
The Giver
Catherine, Called Birdy
The View From Saturday
The Thief
Out of the Dust
Ella Enchanted
Holes
A Long Way From Chicago
A Year Down Yonder
Because of Winn-Dixie
The House of the Scorpion
Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy
Princess Academy
Hattie Big Sky
The Graveyard Book
Savvy

I'd like to discuss each one, but sadly, I must pick up Boy from preschool right now.

Go forth, and read! Post your favorite Newbery in the comments!

Best of the Year- Now with a Chair!

2010-01-11T18:06:00.004-07:00

I like books. I really, really do. And every year I read a lot of books. Usually more than a hundred, and I think my top year was 2006, when I read 152 books. And I love to recommend books, too. So every year I list my favorite books from the year before, broken up into categories so that I don't have to pick just ten total. Also, please note that these weren't necessarily published in 2009, that's just when I read them.

And I'm not saying that you're guaranteed to like them, too, or that I won't like you if you don't read them, I'm just saying, "Here, this is what I liked!" Please feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments!

Picture Books

1. Princess Hyacinth, Florence Parry Heide, Lane Smith
2. Naked Mole Rate Gets Dressed, Mo Willems
3. Llama Llama Mad at Mama, Anna Dewdney
4. Crazy Hair, Neil Gaiman, Dave McKean
5. The Queen of Style, Mark and Caralyn Buehner
6. Elephants Cannot Dance! (and all the Elephant & Piggie books), Mo Willems
7. The Dangerous Alphabet, Neil Gaiman, Gris Grimly
8. Blueberry Girl, Neil Gaiman, Charles Vess
9. Mary Had A Little Lamp, Jack Lechner
10. The Hair of Zoe Fleefenbacher Goes to School Laurie Halse Anderson

Middle Grade

1. The Graveyard Book, Neil Gaiman
2. A Crooked Kind of Perfect, Linda Urban
3. Kenny and the Dragon, Tony DiTerlizzi
4. Silksinger, Laini Taylor
5. Savvy, Ingrid Law
6. House of Many Ways, Diana Wynne Jones
7. The Ice Dragon, George R. R. Martin
8. The Willoughbys, Lois Lowry
9. Middle School is Worse Than Meatloaf, Jennifer L. Holm
10.Starcross, Philip Reeve

Young Adult

1. Lips Touch, Laini Taylor, Jim DiBartolo
2. Dreamhunter, Dreamquake, Elizabeth Knox
3. Once Was Lost, Sara Zarr
4. The Knife of Never Letting Go, Patrick Ness
5. The Ask and the Answer, Patrick Ness
6. The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins
7. Catching Fire, Suzanne Collins
8. The Loser's Guide to Life and Love, A. E. Cannon
9. Ice, Sarah Beth Durst
10.The Chosen One, Carol Lynch Williams

Graphic

These are just my favorites, in no particular order.

The Arrival, Shaun Tan
Stitches, David Small
Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader?, Neil Gaiman
Schlock Mercenary: Under New Management, Howard Tayler

Adult*

1. The Girl Who Played With Fire, Stieg Larsson
2. Bel Canto, Ann Patchett
3. The Hamish MacBeth mysteries, M. C. Beaton
4. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, Stieg Larsson
5. Reservation Blues, Sherman Alexie
6. The Blue Castle, L.M. Montgomery
7. Any Given Day, Dennis Lehane
8. The Hero of Ages, Brandon Sanderson
9. Victory of Eagles, Naomi Novik
10. Diaries: 1969-1979, Michael Palin

*Please note, younger readers: These are ADULT books and some of them are not for the faint of heart or young of age!

And now, because you've all been so good, I'm going to give you a peek at my innermost sanctum. I'm sure you're all thinking, What is her DEAL with the chair?! Well, dear readers, here's the thing: I have written most of my books sitting on a kitchen chair at the kitchen table. Now, finally, I have purchased myself this fine and worthy item, and have been lounging in it as often as I can, finding it very comfy but also very conducive to writing. At last I feel like I have a real, comfortable Writing Spot.

Ta da!

The Dawn of a New Age

2010-01-04T10:36:00.004-07:00

Those of you who have seen "The Adventures of Baron Munchausen" are now thinking, "An age of lacy, pink, intimate things!"

Unfortunately, no.

It is 2010, and behold, there is new life on the moons of Jupiter and monoliths being planted on other worlds and . . . wait! Curse you, Arthur C. Clarke!

All right, I'll stop talking about movies.

And get down to brass tacks: New Year's Resolutions. They say you shouldn't make them, because you're just setting yourself up for failure. But who are "they?" "They" sound remarkably depressed and depressing. Let us ignore "them" and make some resolutions. I'm feeling awfully resolutiony.

In 2010 I want to:

Read over 150 books (I got to 149 last year. So close!)

Finish the book I'm currently working on, and get at least 2/3 of the way through another.

Lose 7 pounds.

Learn to play mah jong.

Go to the movies at least once a month.

Blog every week, and start including pictures in the blog.

Take a trip to a supersecret, supercool location where I will do loads of research and begin writing a supersecret, supercool book.

Oh, that last one is just a big TEASE isn't it? HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! But it's so true: Mr. Man and I are planning a Very Special Vacation which will include a guided tour of a number of castles and other Ancient Sytes of Ye Intereste, followed by several days of lounging around so that I can begin my Supersecret Book on site, for Maximum Ambience.

Also, I'd really like to take the kiddies to Disneyland again. Just for a day or two. Ride the Thunder Mountain Railroad, eat a giant smoked turkey leg. Perhaps it should be a family tradition: every September when there is NO ONE THERE, we go to Disneyland. (Seriously, no one was there. It. Was. Awesome.)

I was going to start off this blog right, by including a picture, but Baby Girl is asleep in the Chamber I Wished to Photograph, so I will not. We were up all night with the little moppet, as she has stomach flu for the first time ever, and threw up every five minutes from 2 am to about 7:30. Not. That. Awesome. Now she is asleep in my bed, so I cannot photograph the Chair. I recently used my ill-gotten gains (aka, "royalties") to purchase new furniture for my bedroom. Part of this furniture includes a freakin' awesome chair and ottoman which has already cradled me comfortably for the longest writing stint I've managed since November. I wished to show you all the Chair, but since you would also get a good luck at the Bed, which contains a sick, sleeping child and has sheets in dire need of washing after last night, I shall forbear.

Perhaps next Monday.

When I keep to my resolution to blog every week, by presenting to you my favorite books of 2009! (Cue cheers, cue crashing of cymbals!)

But here, as just a small taste of "Best of" list goodness, are my Top Five favorite movies of 2009:

1. Star Trek
2. Avatar
3. Up
4. Sherlock Holmes
5. The Princess and the Frog

What are your resolutions?

The Christmas Kiss Off

2009-12-18T22:20:00.002-07:00

And I mean it in the nicest way.

Basically, dear readers, I am going to be incommunicado for a little while. I am removing my author hat, and putting on my party hat, so that I can celebrate Christmas with my family and friends. There will be lots of food. And games. Movies will be watched. Books will be read. Songs will be sung. And if we're lucky, in the end, a good time will be had by all. I will no doubt be posting hilarious little sniglets on Twitter, but I will not be blogging, or answering non-urgent emails until after the New Year.

Why am I doing this to you, you ask?

Because.

Because it is Christmas. It doesn't matter to me if you are a Christian, but I am, and I look forward to Christmas all the year long. Christmas means family and fun, snow and presents and treats and some of the most wonderful movies, music, and literature. I like to rest from my year of labor, and reflect on all that I have done, all that I will do, and all that I have to be grateful for. I have a loving family, adorable children, a husband who would kill for me. I am healthy and safe, my house is warm and I always have plenty of food. This year I saw my babies turn five and one, I sent two new books out into the world to be read, I visited over a dozen schools, and rode the Matterhorn at Disneyland for the first time. (I mention this last because I have been to Disneyland four times, and this is the first time that the Matterhorn was open while I was there. Weird but true.)

Next year I will have only one book coming out. Boy will start kindergarten, Baby Girl will be walking and talking, the Man and I are planning a big vacation for just the two of us. A calendar will need to be purchased soon, perhaps more than one, and birthdays penned in, school visits and booksignings, appointments for the children and other plans made. But for the next few day I'm going to read my Christmas books, and think my Christmas thoughts, religious and secular, and drink my Candy Cane Cocoa.

It's going to be wonderful.

So take a moment for yourself, whether or not Santa is coming to your house. Indulge in a treat or two. Think about all that you've accomplished, and all that you hope to accomplish, so that when the new year comes you'll be ready for it. Read a favorite book while you're at it, sing along to the radio in the car . . . just do something that you really want to do!

I know that's what I'll be doing!

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

See you in January!

It's time for Christmas reading!

2009-12-08T10:01:00.002-07:00

Every year I look forward to watching Christmas movies, listening to Christmas music, and most of all, reading my Christmas books. I try to add to all these things each year, and I love to recommend them to others!

So I proudly present to you my list of things not to be missed this Christmas season!

To Listen:

The Barenaked Ladies, Barenaked for the Holidays!
Includes Hanukkah songs, by the way, a mix of traditional and new tunes that is great for car listening and singing along.

Sarah McLachlan, Wintersong
She has such an amazing voice! This is a beautiful and soothing collection.

David Sedaris, Six to Eight Black Men
I'm not sure which of his audio collections you can find this in, but his story of learning about Dutch Christmas traditions has me in tears (of laughter) every time.

Mannheim Steamroller, Christmas in the Aire
Great for dancing around, baking cookies, decorating.

To Watch:

Elf
Just when you thought there couldn't be a new holiday classic, Jon Favreau made the world's most perfect Christmas movie. I loved it that he didn't have to give up his innocence and become cynical and worldly to survive, instead, his joy and love of Christmas changed everyone else.

A Christmas Story
You'll shoot your eye out, kid! Ho! Ho! Ho!

The Muppet Christmas Carol
A remarkably faithful version of Dickens' classic, with music and singing vegetables!

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
Always delightful.

Santa Claus Conquers the Martians
Better with Mystery Science Theater 3000 commentary, but still so bad it's good!

A Charlie Brown Christmas
Simply a must-watch. (Memo to Linus: you're a smart kid, people would take you more seriously if you lost the blanket.)

And now, to READ:

Miracle and Other Christmas Stories, by Connie Willis
A stellar collection of Christmas stories, some tender, some funny, some even a little bit scary, in Willis' superb style. The last story, Epiphany, is to be read AFTER Christmas, and is my favorite.

Let it Snow! by Maureen Johnson, John Green, and Lauren Myracle
New last year, this is three interwoven stories by some of the best contemporary YA writers on the scene right now.

The Legend of Holly Claus, by Brittney Ryan
A beautiful fairy tale about Santa's daughter, a gifted dollmaker cursed to have a heart of snow.

Skipping Christmas, by John Grisham
I beg you: ignore the dreadful movie version, Christmas with the Kranks. This is the tale of a modern day Scrooge, by turns frustrating (in a good way), funny, and at the last moving.

A Highland Christmas, by M.C. Beaton
I actually haven't read this yet, but a Hamish MacBeth Christmas mystery? Sign me right up!

Don't Bite Me, I'm Santa Claus! by Tom Plummer
A hilarious collection of essays and anecdotes about Tom, a German professor, his writer wife, and their children.

Miss Davenport's Christmas, by Marion Chesney
For those who love Regency-anything, a lighthearted romance about two repressed young misses celebrating their first real Christmas and meeting two dashing young lords!

Picture books:
Snowmen at Night, Snowmen at Christmas
Auntie Claus
Santa Calls
A Small Miracle
Robert Sabuda's Twelve Days of Christams and The Christmas Alphabet
Bob the Little Reindeer and Six More (by Sandra Boynton)
Olive, the Other Reindeer
How the Grinch Stole Christmas
A Wish for Wings That Work
Red Ranger Came Calling
The Dinosaurs' Night Before Christmas
The Christmas Tapestry
My gift to you! Enjoy them all!

Merry Christmas!

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Polar Bear - Sarah Beth Durst

2009-11-30T11:37:00.003-07:00

Morn'a!

Ever since I first discovered P.J. Lynch's picture book version of East o' the Sun, West o' the Moon, I planned to write a novel-length retelling of it. It was my favorite story, and I wanted to share it with the world. No one seemed to know it, I would corner the market on retellings of this tale. Right? WRONG! First Edith Pattou wrote East, and I read it with great trepidation. What if she'd stolen my ideas? Or what if, even worse, she'd ruined my favorite story? But no! It's a wonderful book, and I loved it, and I knew that I wanted a very different take on it, too. So I wrote Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow, and thought, There is room in the world for two of us.

But three? Could there be room for three?

Yes.

But only because the third member of my unofficial group, the Sisterhood of the Traveling Polar Bear, is Sarah Beth Durst. Sarah's first two books, Into the Wild and Out of the Wild, were brilliant, brilliant fun, and she clearly knows her way around a fairy tale or two. So when she told me that she was writing a version of East o' the Sun, called Ice, I knew that it would be a tremendous book. Last month we exchanged signed copies of our books, and agreed to interview each other. I was much more relaxed about reading Ice, probably since my own story was finished and on the shelves.

But I soon lost my laid back attitude as I was sucked into a gripping adventure that interwove both an ancient mythology and modern-day polar exploration techniques. Ice is gritty and realistic, rich in detail and so vividly described that I actually felt cold while I was reading some of the scenes. Cassie and her Bear are beautifully drawn characters, full of life and personality. Often the complaint with fairy tale retellings is that the romantic part of the plot seems thin, the people barely know each other, but they're in love because the story says they have to be (check out Sarah's other books for more on that!). Here, though, the romance is strong and natural and tenderly done.

So now I shall cease my babbling and give you, Sarah Beth Durst!

1) Why did you choose to retell East o’ the Sun, West o’ the Moon? What drew you to this tale?

I knew I wanted to work with a fairy tale. I love all things fairy tale from the brave princes to the wicked witches to the castles in clouds... I'm not so fond of glass slippers. I think they'd be horribly uncomfortable and I'm a fan of comfy footwear. But I love the power of fairy tales. They have tremendous cultural resonance -- they are part of how we understand and interpret the world and part of how we understand the very concept of story.

I chose East o' the Sun, West o' the Moon because I was tired of all the princesses who slept through their tale. (No pun intended.) I wanted to write about a girl who saves her guy-in-distress. I also wanted to write about true love, real love, where the beauty and her beast work at their relationship and become a team. This folktale had all of that.

2)How did you first discover the tale?

I used to walk through Harvard Square every day on my way home from my day job. But I never managed to walk in a straight line. There were four bookstores in Harvard Square, and I always did a circuit through all four of them. One day, I was browsing through the folktale section at Curious George Bookstore, and I came across this tale, gorgeously illustrated by P. J. Lynch. The art enchanted me. I loved the lush, romantic paintings, especially the one of the "lassie" riding on the back of the North Wind -- it's an illustration of billowing wind with a very teeny-tiny, red-headed girl perched amidst the fury. When I saw it, I knew I had to write about this fearless girl.

3) What inspired you to make the changes that you did, ie place the story in a modern setting among Arctic researchers?

Growing up, I spent a lot of time wishing for a unicorn in my backyard or a magical door in the back of my closet. I used to memorize the position of my stuffed animals so I could check later to see if they'd moved. My Christmas list for Santa always included "magic wand."

I love the idea that magic could exist in the real world, hidden from sight. So I wanted to write about a modern girl in a modern setting. Given that the story centers on a polar bear... it just seemed logical that my "lassie" would be the daughter of Arctic researchers.

4) Your descriptions of the region were so vivid, have you been on an expedition to the Arctic?

I've never been on any expedition anywhere. Truthfully, I'm not an outdoorsy person. Bugs freak me out. I hate dirt. I like pillows and showers. I need to be temperature regulated and to have clean socks. But one of the things I love about being a writer is that you can live vicariously through characters who don't have the same hang-ups about mosquitoes and dirty fingernails. You have a legitimate excuse to bury yourself in research and immerse yourself in another world.

5) Each chapter heading has the latitude and longitude of Cassie’s location. Are they accurate? Could I map her progress?

Yes, they are and you could. I used dozens of maps -- topographic, vegetation, etc. -- as well as charts of the position of the sun at different lattitudes at different times of year. I wanted Cassie's world to be as real and accurate as possible to contrast with, y'know, the whole talking polar bear thing. The only thing that doesn't exist is the research station itself. And the ice castle one mile north of the North Pole. And the underwater city. And the... :)

6) Bear is a munaqsri (Ok, sorry, my sister has my copy now I can’t check the spelling!), responsible for the souls of all polar bears. Is this a real legend/belief, or did you invent it for your story?

You spelled it right. The word "munaqsri" is from an Inupiaq word that means "guardian" or "caretaker." I found the word in a North Slope Barrow dialect Inupiaq-to-English dictionary. (I think I'm the only person I know who owns one of those. Kind of got a wee bit carried away with my research.)

Aside from the name, the concept of munaqsri is my invention. I wanted Bear’s magic to be a part of who he is and a part of who Cassie falls in love with. So I decided to make him a man who can choose to be a polar bear at will in order to ensure the continuation of the polar bear species -- he takes the souls of dying bears and places them into newborn bears, completing the circle of life.

7) Your Bear is very much a wild creature, and an immortal, able to see things from a more eternal perspective, while Cassie is very human and very in the moment. The interplay between them was amazing, and I found myself siding with her sometimes, and with him others. Which was your favorite, and was it hard to find Bear’s perspective sometimes?

Cassie was easier for me to write. For her, I'd simply ask myself, "If I were in this situation, what would I be far too terrified to do?" and I'd have Cassie do that. :) Seriously, though, I spent a LOT of time working on their voices and their relationship. It was really important to me that their love feel real.

8)If a bear asked him to marry you, what would you say?

I said "yes" to my Bear years ago.

Lovely! Thanks, Sarah!

To check out my answers to Sarah's questions, go here: http://sarahbethdurst.blogspot.com/

And don't forget to pick up a copy of Ice!

Happy Nanksgiving!

2009-11-25T09:23:00.002-07:00

Boy, Baby Girl, Mr. Mister and I would like to wish you all a very Happy Nanksgiving, as the Boy calls it.

What are we thankful for?

Boy is thankful (or "nankful", no, I'll stop now) for UP (Wall-e and candy having been "taken" by other children at preschool). The Mr. is thankful for the Honda Crosstour, or he will be soon anyway. Baby Girl is thankful for those freeze-dried Gerber yogurt drop things and bouncy balls.

And I?

I am thankful for two adorable children and a wonderful husband. I am thankful for five books published and one on its way. I'm thankful for the dozens of ideas that will keep me writing for years. I'm thankful to be headed to my parents' house tomorrow, for pie and turkey and stuffing and games. I'm thankful that my family always has enough to eat, and a warm house, and that I can afford to dress my kids in new outfits for family pictures.

I'm thankful for coconut M & M's, the new Star Trek movie, Naomi Novik's Temeraire series and Diana Wynne Jones in general. I'm thankful for my little Pippin sitting on my feet right now because she loves me. I'm thankful that twenty years ago my grandparents sat me down and taught me to knit.

I have a lot to be thankful for, and could go on for hours, but I won't.

I will say, though, that I'm thankful for you, dear readers. I have a special treat for you that will post next Monday. Hint: polar bear.

Happy Thanksgiving! Go watch the Charlie Brown Thanksgiving Special!

NaNoWriMo, in a desultory fashion. . .

2009-11-03T14:05:00.003-07:00

So, it's National Novel Writing Month! YAY! And this year I'm actually participating. Sort of. I haven't registered with the website or anything, but I have a fun little idea in my head, and I'm seeing what happens. I finished the Big Edit of Princess of Glass (HALLELUJAH!), and last week I had this fun little idea spring to mind. I thought to myself, Self, if you really went to town on this during November, you could probably get a pretty fun little rough draft out of this fun little idea. And lo, as it is NaNoWriMo, you might as well!

So if you've had a nice little idea in your head, now is the time! Go, go, go! You can register with the site, or not, depending on your whim. And at the end of the month, you can rest on your laurels and think, Hey, I did some writing! Now I deserve a little Christmas break, and maybe some chocolate. . . .

But Jessica, some of you are saying, I don't want to write a novel at all, let alone in one month! What can I do in the month of November?

Why, that's easy! Become a big book nerd like me! You think this big thing on top of my neck is just hair? Why no! It's an enormous head, filled with an enormous brain, filled with an enormous amount of words I've read. Read some for yourself!

Jessica's Giant Book Recommends! Each one chunkier than the last!

Dune by Frank Herbert
Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein (Uncut Anniversary Edition)
War of the Flowers by Tad Williams
The Dragonbone Chair, The Stone of Farewell, To Green Angel Tower by Tad Williams
A Song for Arbonne by Guy Gavriel Kay
Titus Groan, Gormenghast by Mervyn Peake
Household Gods by Judith Tarr and Harry Turtledove
The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan (Book Twelve just came out, and it's still not the end!)

Not sure you've got it in you to take on 1,100+ pages? (Think I'm joking? To Green Angel Tower comes in two volumes!)

Try these on for size!

Magic Kingdom for Sale! by Terry Brooks (There were sequels . . . meh . . . but the first is fun.)
Deep Secret by Diana Wynne Jones (If you've ever been to a sci fi/fantasy convention, you'll cry from laughing. If you haven't: still funny!)
The Pinhoe Egg by Diana Wynne Jones
Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
The Rolling Stones by Robert Heinlein
Dragonsbane by Barbara Hambly
Faeries of Dreamdark: Blackbringer by Laini Taylor
Ice by Sarah Beth Durst
Jack the Bodiless, Diamond Mask, Magnificat by Julian May

For the rest of you, those who are embroiled in the madness that is NaNoWriMo . . . enough yakking, start typing!

This is your Writing Process. . .

2009-10-26T16:04:00.002-06:00

Some of you may have noticed that I rarely use my blog to expound upon Ye Writerly Methodes and Modes, and hand down words of Ye Wysdome. There is a very good reason for this.

Who said I have Ye Wysdome?

I'm a writer. A published writer. This is my goal and my dream and the life which I have chosen (and been lucky enough to succeed at). However. This doesn't mean that if I tell you how I got published, the same thing will happen to you. This doesn't mean that if I tell you how I write, it will work for you. Being a published author does not qualify me to tell you anything, except how I work, and what works for me, but we're all different.

Very different.

For instance, I like Dragon Flight. I wrote it, slaved over it even, and presented it to you, the reader, when I was sure that it was the best that I could make it. Today I read a review online of Dragon Flight that was written by someone who loathed it. They found it to be almost unreadable, and would not recommend it to anyone. This person is not a professional reviewer, so normally I would ignore the review. Everyone is different, and it's well known to my friends and book club members that I have hated with a mad passion books other people love and vice versa. This review, however, inspired me to write this blog entry because the reviewer is an aspiring writer who had heard me speak at a conference. From my books (she has also read Dragon Slippers), and what I said at a conference, she analyzed my "writing process" and where it had gone off the rails, resulting in my books not being very good.

Now.

The big confession.

Several of them.

First off, I have nothing against this woman. She thinks her thoughts and has her opinions and that's all dandy.

But.

She was wrong. What she described is not at all how I write. For one thing, she called me a "discovery" writer, because I (apparently) said I didn't outline. (By the way, I have no clue what conference this was at, so I have no idea what I may have been yakking about.) There are, in this blogger's opinion, only two types of writers. Those who outline and worldbuild first, and those who are "discovering" the story as they go along (I got the impression that she thinks of this as almost a stream-of-consciousness situation).

I can't be 100% certain, but I believe that if you interviewed 100 writers, you would find that all of them have a different writing process, rather than just falling into the Forman Outline, No Formal Outline categories.

The Biggest Confession of All.

I am not very articulate.

I know, I know, I could talk the hind legs off a tauntaun. But stick me on a panel and ask me a writing question, and I go, "Uh, I dunno." Part of it is because, well, I'm used to sitting with my little computer and writing my thoughts, deleting the ones I don't like, changing them around, pondering, changing some more things, and then posting/publishing them. So I have long suspected two things about Me At Writing Conferences: 1. I sound like a moron. 2. I am not explaining anything well.

Let me clear that right up, to the best of my ability.

I am going to tell you about My Writing Process, that you may behold it in all its beauty. Perhaps it will anger you, perhaps it will inspire you. If you, too, are a writer (and many of my blog readers seem to be), please feel free to use the comments to discuss your writing process!

Step 1. Inspiration!
An idea will come to me, whether it's a plot, like Dragon Slippers, a character like Galen in Princess of the Midnight Ball, or a setting like a little something I'm working on now but don't want to discuss! I mull this all over for a while, thinking about the characters, their stories, how it will fit together, and get a general sense of where the story will go, whether it's one book or a series, etc. This could technically be called an outline, but it's not that formal. I do make notes: character and place names, thoughts, good dialogue snippets, to make sure I don't lose anything as I sift it all together. This could take anywhere from days to years.

Step 2. Writing!
This is basically the rough draft. So when I say that I wrote Dragon Slippers in three months, this is what I mean. I didn't go back and make any changes, I just wrote it all out from beginning to end before I lost the broad thread of the story. That was the shortest time I've ever spent on a rough story, too. Some of them have taken a year, my last couple of books have been around six months each. The end product of Step 2 is not a finished book, and I would NEVER let anyone see it, not even my husband. It's like prancing around in unsexy underwear: strictly for the eyes of myself and occasionally my stuffed dragon Magne who I still talk to when I am upset. (While I'm confessing things, I thought I might go all out. . .)

Step 3. Revising!
I read back through, make changes, cut boring bits, fine tune characters and dialogue. Then I give it to my agent, and she critiques it and I fix things, and then it goes to my editor.

Step 4. Editing!
I hate step 4. My editor sends me notes. I make changes, or don't, depending on my Vision. I sweat and swear and dance around. I eat too much. I read and reread the manuscript, the editorial notes, I dither over every change. Then I send the manuscript back. My editor either suggests one or two more things, or she puts it through to the copyeditor, or Grammar Police, and then we all go over each line and consider each word and its usage until I want to start screaming.

Step 5. Behold!
A shiny new book!

This is how I roll.

So tell me:

How do YOU do that voodoo that you do so well?

Questions! Now with Answers!

2009-10-18T16:46:00.003-06:00

Hello!

It has been many moons since I updated the FAQ page. In fact, it's been almost a year! So behold, I shall answer some FAQ's here, and then add them to that page later. (By which I mean I will get my husband to do it! YAY!)

Here are some answers to recent questions I have been getting via email.

Q. Will there be a fourth book after Dragon Spear?

A. No. And also Maybe. I am finished writing about our friends Creel and Luka, but am mulling over a couple of ideas for books set in Feravel with other characters.

Q. What is the Lass's real name in Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow?

A. Hmmm, did you really read the book, or were you skimming? You can easily find it if you read the second-to-last page of the book!

Q. What does it mean?

A. I don't know. I'm not a white reindeer.

Q. What are the names of the twelve princesses in Princess of the Midnight Ball?

A. I'll give you a hint: they're all flowers! And all twelve names can be found in the second chapter, "Princess." I'll get you started: Rose, Lily, Jonquil. . . .

Q. Where and when were you born?

A. In Boise, in the 1970's.

Q. What are you working on right now?

A. I am editing the sequel to Princess of the Midnight Ball, entitled Princess of Glass. It will be out in spring of 2010!

Q. If I send you my manuscript, will you give it to your agent/editor?

A. Nope.

Q. Why not?

A. Unfortunately, I do not have time to read or critique people's manuscripts, and I would not feel honest giving a manuscript to my agent that I didn't love.

Q. Are you going on a book tour sometime soon?

A. Sadly, no. But you never know! Keep checking for events!

Q. Why won't you "friend" me on Facebook?

A. I have two Facebook pages. The regular one is just for my family and very close friends, so that I can chat about my kids and private stuff. The other is a celebrity page, where you are all welcome to become a fan. I answer questions there, post info, and all good things.

And let's finish off with a nice "Jessica Recommends!"

Jessica Recommends:

Ice by Sarah Beth Durst, Liar by Justine Larbalestier, and the Hamish Macbeth mysteries by M.C. Beaton. Boy recommends the Elephant and Piggie books by Mo Willems, and Baby Girl recommends Your Personal Penguin by Sandra Boynton.

Presenting Julie Wright!

2009-10-05T11:04:00.002-06:00

Gentle readers, I'd like to introduce you to a friend of mine: Julie Wright. Many of you, because you are avid and discerning readers, will be familiar with Julie's books, but for those of you who aren't . . . she is fabulous! Her book, My Not-So-Fairy-Tale Life is absolutely amazing. A tender, funny, romantic, and inspiring story about a young woman coming out of a terrible childhood and a misspent youth to make something of herself. Along the way she has to make one of the most difficult decisions you can make in life, and Julie handles it all with a light, beautiful hand.

Her latest book, Eyes Like Mine, is about . . . well, lots of things. The pioneers crossing the plains to settle in Utah. A young girl who is bitter over her parents' divorce and the drastic changes it brings to her family. And time travel.

Yep.

Time travel.

It's freakin' awesome, and I couldn't put it down. And I said to myself (when I could finally put it down), "Jess, you oughta interview Julie. Because this book was awesome, and she's freakin' hilarious. And cool."

And so some questions (and answers!) with Julie Wright!

1. Usually when I think of the Mormon pioneers crossing the plains to Utah, I think of heat and dust and cholera and dried beef and dead mules. Never before have I thought, Hey! And time travel! Where did the inspiration for this book come from?

It actually came one day while driving down the road. We live in Utah. Driving anywhere in Utah means you will deal with construction. I was whining about the conditions of the road and feeling a wee bit ungrateful in general. I popped in a Jenny Phillips CD and had a moment of introspection. I hate those moments. But this particular one made me think about my own pioneer ancestors and how they would laugh at me for whining about road construction when I was sitting in an air-conditioned car, drinking an ice cold Dr. Pepper and snacking on chips while waiting for traffic to clear. Yeah. Total hardship. I wondered, if my ancestors could see me, what might they have to say about my attitude? And the book just sort of came to me from that. I went home that night and wrote the first few chapters.

2. Your two main characters are both young and female, yet their personalities and situations are so vastly different, and you made their voices quite distinct. Did you have a hard time switching between them? Did you prefer writing one to the other?

I didn’t have too hard a time switching back and forth because they were both so different in my mind. I knew their personalities and knew what their motivations and goals were. I genuinely enjoyed Constance. I love the way the gentry of England speak and had a good time incorporating that into the story. And because the angst Constance felt was a little more justified than the angst of a spoiled contemporary girl, I felt more kinship to Constance.

3. Liz rides and jumps her horse competitively. Do you have any background with horses?

I live in the country . . . seriously. THE country. The kind where the livestock population is a hundred times that of the human population. And there’s dust and heat, dried beef, dead mules and—oh, wait, what was the question? Living in the country requires me to be around horses a lot, but I am FROM the city, so I don’t know much about them. In order to write this book, I had to spend some time at my neighbors, learning to ride and care for horses. It was great fun. But wow. Those animals are a ton of work.

4. You speak Swedish. Say something Swedish!

Did you hear it? Maybe I should say it louder. Did you get it that time? Oh, you mean *write* something Swedish. Ja, vet jag vad du vill at jag ska göra, men jag är roligt i alla fall. Jag älskar allting som du skrivet. Du är snillrik! Och Dashner har ett stor huvud. But don’t tell him I said so.

5. You and your husband own a small general store. If I owned a store, I would only carry books that I liked and/or wanted to read, chocolate, licorice, Dr. Pepper, and Cheetos. Did you open the store so that you could have an endless supply of treats? Be honest.

We opened the store because we wanted to live in the middle of nowhere and finding a job in the middle of nowhere is TOUGH. So we bought ourselves a job. It’s been interesting. I don’t regret it even though sometimes I act like a bitter shop keeper. Lots of good things have happened in my life due to the store. And hey, if I want ice cream at two in the morning, I know where the keys are kept.

6. What is your publication story?

Convoluted. I started writing my first book when I was fifteen. I finished it at the age of 24 and then left it on my computer for several years because I am a coward like that. I finally starting submitting at the encouragement (whip cracking?) of my husband and after three rejection letters got a contract offer. I stumbled through the first publication and the publication of my second novel and then realized those first two books were pretty poorly written and I ought to try a little harder. Book three, My Not-So-Fairy-Tale Life, was much better written and, oddly enough, ended up being rejected by my then-current publisher. They said it was too dark. So I submitted with a bigger publisher and they published it for me instead. That rejection form a small publisher was the best thing to have ever happened to me even if it felt really horrible at the time. I’ve been able to grow and stretch as a writer in ways I never imagined. I hope to keep growing and stretching and improving as I get older.

7. Favorite books? (Try to keep the list to a reasonable length. Say, fifteen.)

To Kill A Mockingbird, Dune, Princess Bride, Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, Wheel of Time, Princess of the Midnight Ball, Ender’s Game, Hunger Games, Percy Jackson Series, Witch of Blackbird Pond, Pride and Prejudice, Poisonwood Bible, Les Miserables, Harry Potter, Oh! The Places You’ll Go!

I eagerly await all books written By Jessica Day George, Janette Rallison, and Josi Kilpack—something about those J names . . .

8. What are you reading right now?

Right now I am writing. I reward myself for finishing a new manuscript by reading. Soooo on my to-read-next-shelf is: Catching Fire, and Poison Study

9. What are you going to read next?

Catching Fire. I am so excited to read it, I can barely contain myself. It is my carrot dangling in front of me when I don’t feel like writing. I don’t get to read it until I’m done with this manuscript.

10. Favorite movies?

A&E Pride and Prejudice, The Tenth Kingdom, Meet Joe Black, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Love Actually and a ton of others.

11. Care to hint about the book you're working on right now?

I am writing a book called Spell Check. It’s a fun, YA fantasy about a girl who discovers she’s a witch on her sixteenth birthday. I have laughed a lot while writing this book. The first line? It’s a little known fact that witches are still alive and well in Salem Massachusetts. They call themselves cheerleaders.

12. You once told me the freaky-awesomest idea you had for a book involving a dream journal. Are you working on that story right now? If not, then SNAP TO IT!

Bossy much? Just kidding. It is third down on my list. So I am working on Spell Check right now, then I will be writing the Skinny Woman book we talked about over ice cream last month and the freaky awesome dream journal book is next. I should have it done by next October. The writing schedule can change based on editor’s commands. I am more than happy to switch things around if my editor said they wanted something else sooner.

Thanks, Julie! (By the way, blatantly flattering the interviewer by mentioning her books is . . . a nice touch! Also, the Skinny Woman book idea is a HOOT and I cannot wait for that one either.)

(Also, the first line of Spell Check rocks.)

And now, my gentle readers, go forth and read ye some Julie Wright!

S.A.B.L.E.

2009-09-14T11:06:00.002-06:00

I have a leetle problem. A problem called S.A.B.L.E., or Stash Acquisition Beyond Life Expectancy. This term was coined (to the best of my knowledge) by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, aka the Yarn Harlot. It refers to having more yarn stashed in your house than you can reasonably knit in your lifetime. Now, I am a knitter, and I do have a hoard-- excuse me, STASH-- of yarn in my basement. But that's not the stash that's gotten out of control. If I bought no more yarn for a year, I could probably knit up what I've got down there and be fine. No, I have a different kind of stash.

It's books.

Two kinds of books.

The ones written by other people, and the ones in my head waiting to be written by me. This second stash bothers me with a sort of gentle nagging in the back of my head. I came up with a book idea just last night, for instance. I'll write it down in a minute, and that's great, but when will I actually get to write that book? I have over twenty books waiting to be finished. Over twenty. And no time to work on any of them, it seems like. I fully expect to die and leave behind a rich legacy of unpublished genius. Whoever they hire to ghostwrite these little darlings had better be good. . .

But anyway.

What's really staring me in the face right now is the other stash. The books by other people. I own a lot of books. I mean, a LOT of books. Occasionally I try to count them, or catalogue them, but I never make it all the way through. Yep, that's a lot of books, I think, I' rather read one of them than keep counting. . . and I wander off with a book in hand. I receive books as presents, I buy them for myself, I pick up things at library sales, I get advanced reader copies from friends and publishers. And now I've reached the point where, if I never add another book to the shelf, never go to the library, and never reread a book, I could go for YEARS on just the books in my house. But wait! How could I contemplate not getting books for my birthday and Christmas? I shudder at the thought! Think of all the new shiny books coming out this year! And the year after! Who knows what riches lie in store? And I'm currently hooked on the M.C. Beaton Hamish MacBeth mysteries, and the House of Night series, which I've been getting from the library! I can't stop reading those! Right this minute my love-worn copy of The Dragonbone Chair by Tad Williams is sitting at my elbow, because I decided to go for some comfort reading on our vacation last week and reread the Greatest Fantasy Series Ever, and I'm not even done with the first book yet.

So if we add in all the books on my Amazon.com Wish List, all the books I've been hankering to reread, upcoming books . . . well, friends, we've got S.A.B.L.E. On the one hand, it's comforting to know that I will never be without a good book. On the other hand . . . WHAT IF I DIE BEFORE SANDERSON FINISHES THE WHEEL OF TIME?!

When Your Child Takes Orders From a Trash-Compacting Robot

2009-08-18T15:33:00.002-06:00

Boy loves Wall-e.

I mean, he really loves Wall-e. We aren't sure what it is about the little trash-compacting 'bot that does it for him, maybe it's the big eyes, the cute little noises, the fact that all Wall-e wants is a girl to hold his hand, but something about it appeals to him, and has since he first saw that trailer for the movie a year and a half ago. That's right: he was obsessed before the movie even came out. He saw the preview on a DVD, and that was it for him. We had to play the preview over and over, we had to find more previews and film clips on the computer, and play them over and over, and I worried that the movie would not live up to the hype.

But of course it did, and he loved it, and we had a Wall-e birthday party and we own the Wall-e Blu-Ray and Boy eats off of a Wall-e plate and sleeps on Wall-e sheets (in a Lightning McQueen bed) and wears Wall-e pj's and shirts and underwear and takes Wall-e vitamins and plays with Wall-e toys.

And we're fine with that.

(I believe I mentioned the 96 My Little Ponies boxed up in the basement.)

But then Wall-e started to tell my son things.

Like, "Today is Wall-e's birthday. He's six. He wants us to sing to him, and he wants these three toys as presents."

Okay.

I played Happy Birthday on the piano for Wall-e, and he received his present graciously.

But now I'm hearing things like, "Wall-e needs to come to preschool with me. He says he needs to watch what I'm doing."

"Wall-e just told me how to play a great game, but it's lunchtime so I need to explain that his game will start after lunch. I hope he's not mad."

"Wall-e says he has a lot of work for me to do today. I wonder how I will get it all done in time."

What this work is isn't clear. So far it's involved reading a book about robots, and one about The Clone Wars, and playing with sidewalk chalk. I can deal with that. That's all fairly innocuous.

What worries me is that Wall-e will decide he's mad at someone . . . say, me. If Wall-e tells Boy to cut holes in Mommy's clothes, or rip the pages out of Mommy's books, will he do it? Who does he love more, me or the robot? I'm afraid to test this. Also, Wall-e has shown a suspicious interest in the lighsabers in the basement, and we're having some Star Wars/Wall-e crossover. Boy is quite good with a lightsaber, a point of pride for me and the Mister. I'm becoming concerned, though, that he's switched from being the blue-Anakin lightsaber to the red-Darth Vader lightsaber. (The fact that they are the same person is not believed by a four-year-old.)

That's right, my four-year-old has already left the Jedi Order and become a Sith. Wall-e's influence? I'm not sure.

But I do know one thing, I miss the days when Boy would sit in the corner with his hands folded on his chest, "cubing up" for the night. That was when Wall-e was just a movie.

Before he started giving my son "work" to do.

Let's all hope the next day's agenda doesn't involve gasoline and matches and the neighbor's house. . . .

How A Mix CD Saved My Life

2009-07-29T14:52:00.003-06:00

It's true.

Let me set the scene: driving in a car with two small children, to Idaho. The drive is not quite four hours long, and I am about to reach the dead zone where XM Radio suddenly quits on you, leaving you to your own devices. Normally this is not a problem. Normally my six-CD-changer is chock full of CD's. But then I realize, as the kids fall asleep to the sound of the Mulan soundtrack, that this is not the case. I have taken all the CD's out of the car so that I could put in new fresh ones for the trip. . . . Only I forgot Step 2, where I actually put in new fresh ones for the trip! I now have a choice between Mulan (again) and a CD of assorted Disney songs my sister made for Boy.

This is not the mix CD that saved my life.

I start frantically searching for another CD abandoned in the car, anything! I check the door pocket, the little CD rack dealie under the armrest . . . nothing! Then I look in the armrest, where I find . . . Sandra Boynton's Rhinoceros Tap! No! It hasn't come to this, has it? I toss Rhinoceros Tap back in the armrest and it makes a funny noise. I take my eyes off the road for a second and look again. What's that? There under some pens? Could it be?

Yes, it's the Hale Family Christmas Mix '08!

For the past two years we have been privileged to receive a mix CD (in lieu of a Christmas card, which seems odd coming from an artist's family) from the Nathan Hale family. Nathan, the illustrator of Rapunzel's Revenge and the author/illustrator of Yellowbelly and Plum Go to School, has unusual and eclectic taste in music, as does his lovely wife, but I enjoyed last year's mix. I had put this one in the car and then forgotten to change it in, apparently. Now, this was a risk. What if it sucked? I didn't have the case, just the CD. But I was desperate. We were in the long, radioless stretch, the children were asleep. Even the dog was asleep, and there were no other adults in the car with me.

I put it in.

The soothing sounds of David Bowie's "Rock'n'Roll" flowed forth from the speakers.

Aaah!

And what's this? The Boomtown Rats? I love them! "Diamond Smiles!" I haven't heard that song in years. And my new favorite song ever, "Roscoe," which contains the line, "When I was a child I wondered what if my name/Were changed to something more productive, like Roscoe," which delights me. A bizarre song called "Still Alive," in which the jilted girl singer does science and eats cake. (You kind of have to hear it.)

There are recession-themed songs like "Chasing Change" and "Nobody Wants You When You're Down and Out," and a song about Spanish vampires. Yes. Spanish vampires. It's called "We're From Barcelona!" by a group called "I'm From Barcelona," and has lines like, "When the night comes, we'll make you one of us." See? Vampires? Viva Espana!

And I don't need to tell you that hearing one of my all-time favorite songs, "More Than This" by Roxy Music made my drive infinitely better.

Good music. It can save your life!

So a special thanks to Nate and Mindy for their annual tradition of sending music, instead of a card. 'Cause really, what does killing trees have to do with Christmas? It should be all about the music.

"They said she did it with grace, they said she did it with style, they said she did all, before she died . . . Oh, I remembered Diamond smiled!"

Boy am I tired!

2009-07-18T17:39:00.000-06:00

I've just spent the last four days in beautiful, exotic Provo! For those of you not in the know about Utah geography, Provo is only a 45 miles away. But I went and stayed in a hotel anyway, so that I could spend less time driving to and fro, and more time basking in the glory of the BYU Young Readers' Symposium! It was a thing of beauty: Susan Bartoletti, Linda Sue Park, Gennifer Choldenko, Brett Helquist, Jerry Pinkney, and ME! All talking about our books, and everyone else's! Lots of laughs, and I once again got to prove my theory that great authors are NICE!

And I had a whole long blog planned, but I am so tired that I can hardly stay awake, and the kids are cranky and off their schedules, and so is my husband. I'd better go!

But coming soon: How a mix CD saved my life!

Have you hugged your Utah author today?

2009-06-23T12:29:00.002-06:00

I have the very great fortune to live in Utah. I say this is a fortunate thing not because of the climate (it's a desert), or the mountains (they are fine), or the drivers (LEARN TO USE YOUR BLINKER!), but because I am surrounded by BUCKETS OF TALENT. It's a strange thing, a heady thing, a thing that makes me write like a frantic writing maniac, just so I can keep up. And I can't hate them, and I can't be jealous, because they are my neighbors, and my friends. It's a wonderful support group we've got goin' on, and I love it.

Although it really does make it hard when you want to be jealous. Like losing the Beehive Award this year to Candy Shop Wars. I could have thrown a hissy fit, but instead I grinned and clapped, because I ADORE Brandon Mull, and his beautiful, funny wife, and I was so happy for him!

I know, it's weird. Normally I'm the world's most competitive person, but when it comes to Utah authors, I just love 'em all. And I've been doing a lot of "local reading" lately, books that I haven't gotten around to before, or are new, and I just can't stop talking about the fabulousness of these books.

So here, in alphabetical order, is a list of some (but not all!) my fellow Utah writers whose books I am recommending off the top of my head. (Please, any Utah authors that I forget, know that I love you, and understand that I make the Absent Minded Professor look savvy. It's not you, it's ME!)

Anne Bowen- Tooth Fairy's First Night is a darling, darling picture book, a fun one to give to your favorite kid who's losing/lost their first tooth!

Mark and Caralyn Buehner- This stellar writing/illustrating team gave the world Fanny's Dream, and The Queen of Style, which lead to one of my niece's giving her little sister a haircut!

Ann (A.E.) Cannon- You know how much I love Ann, and her Loser's Guide to Life and Love. Unleash your inner Sergio!

James Dashner- Like a laugh with your adventure story? Try the Dashner Dude's Thirteenth Reality series!

David Farland- Dave's weeklong writing class was a huge boost for me, I got published just a year later, after trying for eight years! Try his Ravenspell series, and find out what it's like to be a mouse!

Nathan Hale- I've had to read Yellowbelly and Plum Go to School about six thousand times to my Boy. It never gets old for either of us. Favorite page: Plum made a bear-painting.

Shannon Hale- This raw young talent just might make it big! HA! My favorite: Book of a Thousand Days.

Mette Ivie Harrison- Check out her new book The Princess and the Bear, a truly unconventional love story.

Tracy and Laura Hickman- Tracy is the master of the Dragonlance novels. The MASTER. Together with his beautiful wife, he's traveled the world, taking names and kicking orc booty. The Bronze Canticles is their first project together.

L.E. Modesitt, Jr.- For you grownups, there's Lee, the best-dressed man in sci fi. Who knows what to recommend, the man's done over fifty books, there's something for everyone! I'm about to tackle The Parafaith War . . . so excited!

Brandon Mull- After reading The Candy Shop War I really can't be jealous: what a fun book! Two great lines: "Sounds like a good way to get stabbed by a hobo." And: "Summer was a fudge zombie!"

Tom and Louise Plummer- Tom writes wonderful essays about life, my favorite collection is Eating Chocolates and Dancing in the Kitchen. Louise is an amazing YA novelist. A Dance for Three is her breathtaking, heart-breaking look at teen pregnancy.

Brandon Sanderson- Mistborn, baby! Restored my faith in big, chunky grown up fantasy books.

J. Scott Savage- Farworld: Water Keep has peril in every chapter, plus monsters, magic, and mayhem. Y'know, if you like that kind of thing.

Emily Wing Smith- Wanna find out The Way He Lived? You really should. Really.

Carol Lynch Williams- I would interview Carol for the blog, but after reading The Chosen One all I can do is say, Wow. And, Golly. Not really good interview questions, you know? It was an amazing book, tense, thrilling, heart-wrenching. I couldn't put it down, and my palms were sweating the entire time. And yes, I cried in parts.

Julie Wright- The world is a better place because of Julie. Just in general. Also, she wrote My Not So Fairy Tale Life. Better. Place.

Randall Wright- I cannot WAIT for The Geezer in our Freezer!

Sara Zarr- Sara wins acclaim and exudes literary greatness without even trying. Also, she has great clothes. Also, I loved Sweethearts.

Go out and read a Utah author today!

Who'd I forget? Tell me in the comments!

It's A. E. Cannon!

2009-06-05T10:10:00.003-06:00

Today we have another fabuloso interview with a talented author! You know what one of the best perks of being an author is? Getting to know folks like Julie Berry, and today's interview victim, Ann (A. E.) Cannon!

I've actually had the pleasure of knowing Ann for several years, and just got a chance to read her latest book: The Loser's Guide to Life and Love. Halfway through the book, I knew that I had to share the love by interviewing Ann for the blog. I could not put this book down! It's hilarious good fun, and I enjoyed every minute of it. From the great characters to the delightful way she turned A Midsummer Night's Dream into a modern story that anyone could relate to, this book was one of the best I've read in a while.

And away we go!

Getting to know you:

When/why did you decide to become a writer?

I always wrote (and illustrated!) stories as a kid, but it didn’t occur to me I could actually try to be a writer until I was in grad school. I took a YA lit class at BYU and decided that I wanted to write books for young readers—especially books that make people laugh the way M. E. Kerr’s books made me laugh.

You also write a column for the Deseret News, have you always wanted to do both (fiction and journalism) or did you fall into one or the other?

I wanted to write books first, but that didn’t seem like a realistic career plan. So I started sending out pieces to local magazines and newspapers at the same time I was pursuing my dream of becoming a novelist. Eventually my articles and essays started getting picked up—one thing led to another until finally twelve years ago when John Hughes (then editor of the d-news) called to see if I was interested in writing a domestic column for the paper. I did not say no.

In addition to writing novels, and a column, you have five (FIVE!) sons, and you work at a bookstore! Just typing that almost made me forget my question . . . Oh, yeah! What is your writing schedule? Do you have certain days devoted to the column, others to your fiction? Mornings on the terrace with your trusty notebook while everyone tiptoes around you (if they know what's good for them)? Evenings crouched over the typewriter dreaming of that Pulitzer?

This question made me laugh. You should be the one writing the column, obviously. I try to write every day, although since I broke my wrist and I don’t have a deadline looming I’ve been kinda lazy. Mondays are devoted strictly to the column—I work a week ahead. Although the columns are only 500 words, they take me a full day to write. Speed has never been my strong suit.

When all five of the boys were at home, how many loads of laundry did you average in a week?

Too funny! I did loads and loads every day. One of the things I noticed is that laundry decreases exponentially when they go away.

Where is your dream vacation location? Have you been there?

I’ve been fortunate. I’ve traveled a lot. But my favorite place to go is Capistrano beach every summer with my family. What could be better than sun and water and chips and salsa and a great book.

Your dad is legendary BYU football coach LaVell Edwards. Who was the better quarterback: Ty Dettmer or Steve Young?

Okay. NOW you’ve really made me laugh. How about I pull a legendary LaVell move and give you an answer like this: “Both of them shaped up to be great quarterbacks—exactly the right guys we needed at the right time.” There. I do have some of my dad’s genes after all.

Nice answer. Actually, when I was at BYU, it was all about Steve Sarkisian. My freshman roommate had his picture on our wall. . .

The book:

The Loser's Guide to Life and Love is based on Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. Which came first for you? Did you want to write your own version of the play, or were you plotting out the book and thought, Hey, this reminds me of that play!

I had the ideas almost simultaneously. I was teaching a YA lit class at Westminster College in Salt Lake in which I required my students to do a “bridge” assignment, i.e create a connection between a new YA novel and a classic likely to show up in a public school curriculum. I thought it would be fun to do something myself—so I linked up a contemporary story with A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM, which I have always loved for its feyness and silly confusion.

A lot of the plot hinges on Ed wearing a nametag that says Sergio. Why Sergio? And have you ever had a job where you had to wear someone else's nametag? (I have, and it was usually a boy's name like Will, and not one person remarked on it!)

The summer I was teaching at Westminster, my oldest son was working at Hollywood Video where he wore a nametag that said SERGIO. As the summer wore on, we noticed this son becoming slightly more “Sergio-esque,” so NATURALLY I had to write about that.
Oh, that is too great! I think the power of the name Sergio really can't be fully understood!

You write from four different characters' points of view, and yet their voices are all distinct. That's really impressive! Was it hard to keep them separate? Did you have to write just Ellie's part, then just Ed's, and so on, or were you able to write the book chronologically?

Thanks for the compliment. One reviewer said the voices all sounded the same, which sort of stung, because I worked hard to make them distinct. And good question about method—I did both, actually. Sometimes I was able to just switch gears and write chronologically. After I finished the first draft, I filled in scenes and wrote those separately according to character.

Do you also enjoy the screwball comedies of the 1930's?

YES! Especially anything with Cary Grant. He made it all look so easy.

I know! My favorite is My Favorite Wife. Such a great movie!

Do you believe in love at first sight?

I believe in lust at first sight for sure. And I do like the idea of love at first sight. It could happen.

And for our finale:

Anything you would like to tell our readers about the book? About yourself?

I had more fun writing this book than ANYTHING I’ve ever written. In some ways it is the book closest to my heart because of its lightness of spirit. I’d like more of that lightness in my own life. Especially in January when I am always always always depressed.

What are you working on right now?

I just finished a book about a girl who finds a magic diary. I hope I can sell the manuscript!

Me too! That sounds fun!

Care to recommend some favorite books?

Your books, of course. And let’s hear it for our fabulous Utah authors all around. I still love THE BLUE SWORD by Robin McKinley and THE LORD OF THE RINGS. As far as adult writers go, Nick Hornby is my absolute fave at the moment. He’s so funny and so generous-hearted even when his characters are behaving like heels.

Nice! Thanks, Ann!

It's A.E. Cannon and The Loser's Guide to Life and Love, everybody! Go forth and read!

Strawberry Shortcake's Friends Are Real?

2009-05-26T14:04:00.004-06:00

I have red hair. Some of you have met me, and you know this. Some of you haven't, so there it is. I have red hair, it's natural, and I like it. I have never once wanted another hair color.

My mom takes the credit for my positive redhaired attitude, because she (and this is not an exaggeration) filled my room with red-headed dolls.

I'm the youngest of four and the only redhead. My parents don't have red hair either, but my maternal grandmother did, and my mom always wanted to have a redhaired girl. She (sort of) jokes that she only kept going with the kids until she got her redhaired girl. So it's understandable that she wanted me to like my hair. So she tried to surround me with positive images of redheads. Anne of Green Gables was big around our house (which is funny, because Anne hates her hair color), and so was Strawberry Shortcake.

And this is where it started to get weird. I have not one, not two, but three Strawberry Shortcakes. (One is a ballerina, one came with a carrying case.) So if I wanted Strawberry to play with someone, she had to play with her clones. I asked for a Blueberry Muffin, since blue was my favorite color at the time, but was told, "She doesn't have red hair!" I asked for a Care Bear, the blue one with the rainclouds on its stomach, but was rebuffed on the grounds that they were just bears, no red hair to be seen! Later my dad took pity on me, and after the second movie came out, he gave me a Care Bear Cousin I still treasure, Gentle Heart the lamb.

I have an Annie doll, complete with limo and wardrobe, but none of the other orphans to interact with her. I have one of the first Cabbage Patch kids, with red yarn hair, one of the later ones with "cornsilk" red hair, and one that talks (it was pretty creepy, sometimes it said, "I have a secret, I HATE puppies!") I have a Hugga Bunch (remember those, anyone?) and her baby, both red-haired. By the time I was in high school, I had a shelf running the length of my room (specially built by my dad, who is the MAN when it comes to wordworking) just to hold my redhaired dolls.

Now, back to the Strawberry Shortcake part of the story. I had heard of Miss Shortcake, and seen a cartoon of her and her food-named friends, and then I received one of my own. And I loved her, and her shiny hair and her smell of strawberries. And then my friend Heather got Lemon Meringue.

"WHAT?!"

"She's Strawberry Shortcake's friend!"

"Strawberry Shortcake's friends are REAL?"

I thought they had existed only for the purposes of the cartoon, which also featured the vaguely nasty Peculiar Purple Pieman of Porcupine Peak. My oldest brother could do (and still ocassionally does) a dead on impression of the Pieman, which is both awesome and disturbing, and later I learned that you could also purchase this toy, although I can't see how he would have been that popular. Thus began my campaign to own some of Strawberry's friends, repeatedly thwarted by my mom, who seemed to think that if even one doll entered my room without red hair, I would immediately reach for the Miss Clairol and go blond. When they came out with the Strawberry Shortcake baby dolls, I asked for ANY ONE but Strawberry, and I heard my mom telling my red-haired grandmother that for my birthday I wanted one of those dolls, the Strawberry one of course! My heart filled with dread, I had Strawberry Shortcake! Three of them! Plus stickers, t-shirts, and a bike! My grandmother, who also liked her red hair, sent me Baby Apricot. I loved her. She had white hair, and smelled of apricots, and had a little pink outfit. I was fascinated by her hair, which was so shiny and wonderful. I didn't want different hair, but I wanted to look at different hair . . . was that so wrong? I think my mom was reassured by this. I didn't start hating my hair, and I continued to play with the redheaded dolls, it's just that one of them was different.

I soon became obsessed with My Little Ponies, and my parents switched from dolls to ponies when they realized that buying them was much, much cheaper than buying me a real horse. Though not by much, since I ended up with 96 ponies, plus every stable, castle, mansion, dance studio and ice cream parlor. By now I think my mom had calculated that her early indoctrination had worked: I loved my hair, and we could all relax. So it was that when, in Jr. High, I asked for a bald boy Cabbage Patch Kid newborn, my request was granted, and we all laughed about how many redhaired dolls I had lined up with him.

But.

I can't say that I didn't experience the teeniest pang of jealousy three years ago when, for my son's first birthday, my mother gave him a Care Bear. A blue one.

Teen Writers, Come One, Come All!

2009-05-21T14:01:00.002-06:00

I've got a really great post planned, called "Strawberry Shortcake Has Friends?" But that will have to wait for a later date. Why? Why do I tease you with this? Because, my friends, I am in the throes of launching/advertising/flogging to death a little book called Dragon Spear. I'm running around, frantically trying to remember all the places I'm supposed to be, and occasionally throwing some cookies to the kids (cookies are rich with vitamins, you know).

So let's talk about where I'll be.

I'll be at a school on Friday, and I don't think I'm supposed to invite strangers to the school, so we'll skip them. But Saturday and Sunday I will be at CONduit, Salt Lake City's local sci fi/fantasy convention, along with David Farland, Brandon Sanderson, James Dashner, and other exciting people. The link is: conduit.sfcon.org. Saturday night, though, Dave Farland and I are slipping away to the Sugarhouse Barnes & Noble to do a signing from 7-9, so come and say Hi! Next Saturday, May 30th, I'll be at the Jordan Landing Barnes & Noble, reading and signing and handing out cookies under the kind benevolence of the inestimable Manager Angie! That's at 2 in the afternoon, giving us all ample time to catch a late matinee of Disney*PIXAR's Up. ("My master made me this collar so that I can talk . . . Squirrel!")

And the NEXT Saturday, June 6th, I'll be here:

Teen Writers Conference
Saturday, June 6, 2009
Weber State University
Ogden, Utah

Ages 13-19
Registration: www.teenwritersconference.com

$39.00 Registration fee (includes lunch)
Don’t forget to enter the Writing Contest

Registration Deadline: May 25, 2009!

Presenters include best-selling authors:
Jessica Day George, James Dashner,
J. Scott Savage, and Lisa Mangum

Join us, won't you?

It's O-U-T, out!

2009-05-13T16:09:00.002-06:00

Ladies, gentlemen, dragons,

Dragon Spear, the third and final book about Creel and Shardas is officially out!

Look for me to be doing some heavy promoting here, people! I'll be on Park City TV tonight, and we'll post the interview on YouTube as soon as we can. I'll be at the King's English Friday, the Provo City Library Saturday, and various other exciting places! Check the events list for details!

And yes, I need to post Julie's list of favorite books, because it is fabulous! I'll get that up as soon as I get a sec!

Kisses!

Interview: Julie Berry!

2009-05-06T15:18:00.003-06:00

Verily, it has been weeks since last I blogged! But behold, I return to you with something super-fancy-extra-special! An interview with Julie Berry, author of the superb Amaranth Enchantment!

Before we get to Julie and her interview, two little thoughts: Dragon Spear will be out next week! Check the events page for signings and hijinks! Second, I would take it right kindly if y'all would review my books on Amazon.com and other locations! That is, if you liked them. . . .

And now, ta ta ta tum! Julie Berry!

Amaranth Enchantment is her debut novel, and it was splendid in all ways. Beautifully written, well-plotted, great characters, and a brilliant new world (two, actually)! So I sez to myself, Self, let's interview Julie, and find out all the dirt!

Regarde! (As the Frenchies say!)

What is your favorite book(s)?

Impossible to narrow it down to even a sackful! Depends on my mood. I’m attaching a list I just finished preparing for the schools that I visit. I talk a lot in my presentation about my favorite books as a child, and they’re always asking me for the list, so here it is. In addition to the kids’ books mentioned, I love the usual suspects: all things Austen and Brontë, Dickens, Shakespeare. I’m crazy about Terry Pratchett, C.S. Lewis, Tolkien, P.G. Wodehouse, Agatha Christie … on and on and on.

Movie?

I like lots of movies, and there, too, it depends on my mood. My most sacred movie is (of course … bet you could see this coming) the BBC (Colin Firth) version of Pride and Prejudice. My husband and I try to watch it every second or third New Year’s Eve – a night when we can actually stay up late and finish it. Except, now that our kids are getting older and want to stay up to ring in the New Year, it’s cramping our style.

TV show? Or do you not watch TV?

Don’t watch TV. Gave that up at 14. Which means my perpetual notion of TV is “Cosby” and “Family Ties.” I do see snatches of it at the gym, though, and I’ve gotten some great laughs from Big Bang Theory and Malcolm in the Middle.

How many states have you lived in?

Three – solid, liquid, and gas.

Oh, I kill myself!

Two: New York and Massachusetts.

Where is your dream vacation location, and have you ever actually been there?

Never have been there. In fact, I’ve never vacationed much. My family’s idea of a vacation, when we were kids, was to pile in the car and drive across the country to attend someone’s graduation from BYU. (I’m the youngest of seven.) Now, my family vacations by driving to upstate NY to visit my relatives. My dream vacation wouldn’t even really be a vacation, because a mere week or so would be a maddening tease. I want to spend a summer (heck, maybe a year) living in a cottage in some small English village, sipping chamomile tea in little shops, reading novels, hobnobbing with the locals, and trying to acquire an accent. If I weren’t already so very married, I’d also try to acquire a British romance. But I’ll settle for the scenery and the literary shrines.

You work for a software company. What is polymorphism?

Uh-oh. What irks me is that I feel like I once upon a time knew this. My husband would know the answer, but that’s cheating. So is Googling it. So, in the spirit of SAT-desperation, I’ll say it’s when … um … something changes form? Or can take on multiple forms? Does it have to do with when objects in an OO design model can have multiple instantiations? Help! (I only work in software sales and marketing, mind you. I’m not expected to know anything.)

Meaty Writing Topics!

You have kids AND a day job. When/where do you write?

Late at night, by the light of a gibbous moon.

You can skip the gibbous, but I do write at night. That’s the only time I’ve got. Hence the bags under my eyes.

We're both Bloomsbury-ites. I got published because I met my editor at a writing retreat. What's your publishing story?

My manuscript won a prize at Vermont College. Soon afterwards I went to a New England SCBWI conference. Flush with prize-induced confidence, I approached an agent for the first time. Long story short, she took me on, sent the submission to a round of publishers, and Bloomsbury bought it, bless their hearts.

What made you want to write in the first place?

The awesomeness of books! Same reason people cook – because food’s so yummy.

Probably like most authors, I was a book nut as a kid. Throughout my schooling years I liked many subjects, but I always received praise for my writing. Which, oddly enough, made me take it utterly for granted, and think about being things like marine biologist and doctor and chemist. One by one all those fantasies faded, but writing still remained. So I ended up with a B.S. in communication, primarily technical, from an engineering and science college, and did lots of technical and marketing writing. The dream of fiction writing was small at first but always in the back of my mind, one of those try-before-you-die ideas. But I started reading more and more children’s books in my late twenties, and began to think, why couldn’t I write one?

Did you always want to write for young readers?

I think so. Children’s books hold a place in my heart that nothing else could fill. I think it’s that way for all of us, really, even for those who aren’t kidlitophiles. There’s something so magical about those first books we learned to love as we learned to read. I wouldn’t rule out an adult book, though. Quite possibly a mystery.

Did you/will you always write fantasy?

I have written non-fantasies, and intend to do so again. But I suspect fantasy will be the lion’s share of my work, and will heavily influence my “realistic” writing.

Would you like to give us a sneak preview of what you're working on currently?

I’m trying to find my way into a mystery for teens. It’s still very fragile, so I’m afraid if I say more, I’ll squash it!

The Amaranth Enchantment

I don't want you to give any spoilers, because I loved the delightful twists in this book, so there's only a few questions here.

I love goats, personally, but why the goat?

I honestly don’t remember when the goat decision was made. It sounds silly, but my goat really just appeared in the story, with his identity fully intact. Goats are magical creatures in their own right, in that they’re almost always immediately funny. Like ducks. It’s pretty hard to talk about ducks and keep a straight face. They’re fast and beautiful and graceful and noble (as are goats), but something about them makes us giggle. I didn’t mind that any.

Some of the country names were the same as in our world, but others differed. Is this an alternate reality, or just an imaginary land in our own reality?

It’s a made up country, tucked into a more or less historically accurate Western Europe. Most of us are pretty hazy on our 18th Century European geography. All those little kingdoms … who knows? Maybe there was a Laurenz or a Hilarion. ("An" Hilarion? Yikes!)

Will there be a sequel? Or a prequel to tell us about Beryl? Or Peter? Please?

I surely hope so! I’ll keep you posted.

Thanks, Julie! It's been a treat getting to know you!

Check out Julie's website: www.julieberrybooks.com

The site, it is a changin'

2009-04-16T15:24:00.003-06:00

I'm not sure if any of you noticed, but my website changed.

Yep.

Take a gander, people! It is no longer the laid back, blue-and-green place of soothingness that once ye knew. Now it's exciting, and dynamic, and has a cool new layout! Can you handle it?

Yes, you can! Because it's awesome! And check out that tiara sketched on my pretty little head! Don't you think I need a real tiara? I think yes!

There's all kinds of new things to enjoy, like info on Dragon Spear (coming May 12!), and an FAQ page. What's a fack page? Why, it's for Frequently Asked Questions! Although it's probably already behind in ye times, since I came up with it in October, but once we get everything all adjusted and fiddled with, I'll update it, 'kay?

So noodle around and explore! See what's new, see what's old, and let me know if you have any more FAQ's!

Howl at the Moon

2009-04-04T18:08:00.002-06:00

The other night I was awakened at some unholy hour by a sound. It was a weird sound, a sound I couldn't quite place. It was not the sound of Boy coming in to ask for a drink of water. It was not the sound of Baby Girl in her bassinet complaining that she was starving and what do you have to do to get fed around here?! It was not the sound of Pippin jingling her collar or attempting to dig her way through the blankets and mattress to make the bed more comfortable. (She is convinced that if she could just hollow the mattress out, it will feel better to her tiny doggy bones.)

And yet there was something very doglike about it. As I came to, my mind said, that is a dog howling. So I rustled the blankets around and said, "Pippin, shh!" And then I rolled over and went back to sleep.

The next morning, Hubby started to tell me about this weird dream he had. Right as he said, "I had a weird dream," I thought of the howling in the night and assumed he was going to say, "I heard something howling in my dream." And then I would tell him that it was just our little guard dog, defending us against who-knows-what, and we would all chuckle at her antics.

But instead what he said was this:

"I dreamed that I was friends with Jason Bateman, and he wanted me to star in a remake of Teen Wolf Too with him. So he was having me practice my werewolf howling. And then I woke myself up, because I was howling aloud!"

I was flabbergasted. Never had I thought that the howling I heard in the middle of the night might be my husband!

And dreaming he was starring in Teen Wolf Too, no less! Teen Wolf Too!

Pippin, Guardian of the Underworld

2009-03-27T15:01:00.002-06:00

So the other day I picked up Boy and his Friend from preschool and brought them to our house to play. Boy has no fear, which is sometimes a bad thing and sometimes a good thing, but Friend is unfortunately afraid of dogs. Now, when you're three and a half, and you are only about three feet tall, it's easy to understand why you would be afraid of dogs, particularly big dogs. Especially since Friend has no dog of his own to interact with. But it always surprises me when Friend, or anyone else, is afraid of Pippin. Pippin is the size of a bedroom slipper. She weighs a whopping six pounds (which the vet has informed us is borderline obese, for her, hee hee. Baby girl weighed eight pounds and some eleven ounces when she was born, so Pippin is the official lightweight in the house.)

So I unlock the door into the house, and I lift Boy and Friend down out of the car, and I go around to Baby Girl's side to get her out. I come around the car and see that Boy has gone inside, but Friend is standing rigid in the middle of the garage.

"What's up?" I ask.

He points at the door into the house, mute and terrified.

I look up and see, standing with all the tiny majesty of an alpha female the size of a shoe, Pippin. She is in the doorway of the garage, nose lifted to sniff the air, tail curled elegantly across her back, and Friend does not dare to take a step closer. I snap my fingers and attempt to banish her, but lo, she does not budge. I carry Baby Girl into the house, stepping over Pippin in the process, with many assurances to Friend that this is just same ol' little Pippin, no threat to small boys or beasts, but neither of them move.

Finally I put down the baby, snatch up my little one-headed Cerberus, and stick her under my arm. Then I start thinking that maybe Friend knows something I don't. Perhaps Pippin is some sort of harbinger of doom. A guardian of the underworld. A being of immense, dark potential.

If this is true, I may want to take the little bow off her collar, because it ruins the whole effect.

Seventy Years and Counting. . . .

2009-03-18T23:25:00.003-06:00

Last night I spoke to a book group that has been going for seventy years. SEVENTY YEARS. And one of the members has been attending it since the beginning, when she was a young married woman! What a fun group they were, too! All ages, getting together to talk about children's literature every month. Wonderful! Think of the friendships that have been formed, the books discussed, the laughter and tears. What a great thing these ladies have to look forward to every month! Next month they'll have a presentation on The Hero and the Crown, and the month after on Anne on Green Gables, two of my favorite books! And speaking of L. M. Montgomery (author of Anne), I just read her book The Blue Castle, which was wonderful, wonderful, wonderful!

And also wonderful are some exciting new items on the Meet Jessica page! I'll be signing in Logan next week, and some other fun places in the months to come.

Check it out!

2009-03-04T15:24:00.003-07:00

Apparently, I'm someone's favorite thing!

Check out this stellar review of Princess of the Midnight Ball over at My Favorite Author! http://myfavoriteauthor.blogspot.com They'll have an interview with me up soon, too!

So after reading, and loving, The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, I read and loved Paper Towns by John Green. Big ol' John Green fan, yes, indeed. (Remember, though, kiddies, he's for older readers, 16+ I'd say.) But The Hunger Games was really Wow and a whole lot of Gee Whiz! I adored her Gregor the Overlander series. (If it's possible to have a crush on a giant rat . . . well, Ripred was my guy. Rat. Whatever.) And Hunger Games is even better. I can't wait for the fall, when we get the sequel, Catching Fire.

And now, back to work!

While I'm working, though, wanna see something hilarious? Always a classic!

Favorite things!

2009-02-26T13:13:00.002-07:00

You know, I think I'm broken, because writing the title of this blog made me think of the song, and how most of those AREN'T my favorite things. Kittens? Nope! Bright woolen mittens? Double nope! Of course, I'm allergic to both those things, so it's not really my fault. I'm just broken, apparently. I do, however, love brown paper packages tied up with string! In fact, when I was in high school my mom and I discovered this GREAT bookstore in Idaho Falls called The Paper Bag Princess, and they would wrap each of your books in brown paper and stamp it with a big green "B". It was the neatest thing ever. They recommend Sarah Stewart's The Library to my mom, as a gift for me, because with my red hair and glasses I reminded them of the character. Still one of my favorite books!

So on to more favorite things!

Facebook!

Yes, kiddies, I'm hooked on Facebook. I have a celebrity page (yes, it makes me feel a bit vain), and you can Be a Fan of Jessica Day George! YAY!

Jeremy Davies on LOST.

Lost is good again, thanks in part to the weird, lanky, scruffy Davies as physicist Daniel Faraday, with the fabulous Fionnula Flanagan as his mom. Don't you just love the name Fionnula Flanagan?

The Mistborn Trilogy by Brandon Sanderson.

So good, they restored my faith in the adult fantasy novel, on which I had mostly turned my back years ago. But Sanderson does an AMAZING job of creating a trippy cool world, with very inventive magic, and a political and religious crisis of world-changing proportions. Great stuff, people!

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman.

Neil should always write for kids. Always. If you loved Graveyard Book, and you've read Coraline, try M is for Magic, his collection of short stories for kids. "Chivalry" is my favorite.

And speaking of Neil: Coraline in 3-D!

Love the book? Haven't read it yet? Doesn't matter! It's a fun, wild ride from the people who brought you The Nightmare Before Christmas!

And now, if you'll pardon me, I've got a fussing baby, and once she's settled, it's back to work! (Insert whipping noise here!) I'm working on a little something, and just for ambience, I'm writing it longhand in a pretty, pretty notebook that my aunt made for me! (Well, she didn't "make" the notebook, but she covered with with beautiful scrapbooking paper and ribbons and things to make it fancy, and it's sooo fun to write in!)

And I shan't tell you what it is I'm working on! It's too, too much of a surprise!

Let's do launch!

2009-02-02T17:55:00.002-07:00

It's time to give Princess of the Midnight Ball its official launching into the world! Come see me at three (yes, three!) different locations:

The King's English, February 7th, 2 pm.
Jordan Landing Barnes & Noble, February 13th, 6 pm.
The Purple Cow Bookstore, February 14th, 2 pm.

More details are on the "Meet Jessica" page! Hope to see you there!

Also, I have a celebrity page on Facebook, so log on and become a fan! I send out updates from there, so if you are one of those people who likes a little email nudge when a book comes out, this is your chance!

And that's all I'm gonna type for now, because my right wrist is in a brace, and typing is harder than it looks when you can't move your hand.

Ta ta!

Oh, wait . . . . You want to know why it's in a brace? Well, you see kids, back on Boxing Day (December 26th, in case you were confused), I shoveled our driveway with That Darn Snow Shovel, a horrible contraption that creates twice as much effort as a normal snow shovel. When I was done, I played a little Guitar Hero with the hubby, and then I noticed a horrible pain in my hand. And, a month later when the pain was still with me, I finally went to the doctor, and lo, I had pulled a tendon in my right thumb, thus requiring this awkward half-cast-type brace. It's great for getting sympathy, but crap for typing.

Hooray for Midnight Ball! Hooray for Neil Gaiman! Hooray for lists!

2009-01-26T10:50:00.003-07:00

Just, in general, hooray!

Today the Newbery Awards were announced, and I am beside myself with glee! Neil Gaiman's Graveyard Book is the winner! And Savvy, by Ingrid Law, is one of the honorees. I have not yet read Savvy, but I've been hearing such good things about it, I cannot wait! For a complete list of the winners, also the winners of the Printz and other fine awards, go to: www.ala.org!

And in other news:

Princess of the Midnight Ball is out! YAY! It actually came out last Tuesday, but I haven't had two seconds to blog! But it's here, and it's fabulous. Go, buy, read, love. It is my joy and my delight, as though it were one of my very own children. Kirkus gave it a RAVE review- Thanks, guys!

If you check the "Meet Jessica" page, you will see that I will be out and about promoting this wonderful book in the month of Love, aka February. And speaking of love, I have yet to post on that page that I will be in Tooele at 2 pm on February 14th at The Purple Cow Bookstore. More details to come on that one, as I will be reading and signing and making merry with other authors like Sara Zarr and Randall Wright!

Remember, kids, Midnight Ball is my ode to knitting, and there are knitting patterns that go along with it. The patterns have been added to the Midnight Ball page, and if you knit one of them, send me a picture. I think I'm going to start posting "fan knits!" on there too! So if you're a knitter, wear your best knitwear to my signings! I'll have THE black wool chain with me, and am elbow deep in yarn making some other fun things to wear.

And now it's that time when I post my favorite books of the year. I'm doing something a little different this year, as you will see. They're in no particular order, and they may not have been published in 2008, that's just when I read them.

Favorite Kids' Lit

The Faeries of Dreamdark: Blackbringer, by Laini Taylor
The Exchange, by Graham Joyce
The Game, by Diana Wynne Jones
Life As We Knew It, by Susan Beth Pfeffer
Chalice, by Robin McKinley
Suite Scarlett, by Maureen Johnson
The Absolutely True History of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie
Fighting Ruben Wolfe, by Markus Zuzak
The Invention of Hugo Cabrey, by Brian Selznick
The Patron Saint of Butterflies, by Cecelia Galante
Ten Cents a Dance, by Christine Fletcher

Best Adult Books

Ysabel, by Guy Gavriel Kay
Angle of Repose, by Wallace Stegner
The First Man in Rome, by Colleen McCullough
Water for Elephants, by Sara Gruen

Best Non-Fiction

Yes Man! by Danny Wallace
Eating Chocolates and Dancing in the Kitchen, by Tom Plummer

Best Short Stories

The Ladies of Grace Adieu and Other Stories, by Susannah Clarke
M is for Magic, by Neil Gaiman
Let it Snow! by Lauren Myracle, John Green, and Maureen Johnson

Best Picture Books

Llama Llama, Red Pajama, by Anna Dewdney
No Babysitters Allowed! by Amber Stewart and Laura Rankin
Cinderella, by Cynthia Rylant
Fifteen Animals! by Sandra Boynton

Go now, my people, and READ!

Interview with Janette Rallison

2009-01-14T12:27:00.002-07:00

Today, gentle readers, we have a first: an interview with fellow YA author Janette Rallison! YAY! I've never interviewed anybody before, so this is very exciting for me, as is the reason for the interview: Janette's new book!

My Fair Godmother

My Fair Godmother is the story of two sisters, two hot guys, and a not-so-great-fairy godmother. Not to mention the glass slippers, dwarves, gowns, Black Knights, princes and princesses that seem to go along with godmothers! It all starts when the two sisters, Jane and Savannah, both fall for the same guy. When Jane gets the guy, Savannah's godmother steps in. She's not a full-fledged fairy godmother yet, and her grades have only been, y'know, fair (hence the title), but she's there to grant Savannah three wishes anyway. Unfortunately for Savannah, Chrissie the godmother isn't that great at listening, which leads to some hilarious misinterpretations of Savannah's wishes!

I won't reveal any more, but the book is a hilarious look at the reality behind life in the Middle Ages as well as several fairy tales. Plus I just love the combination of a very modern, appearance-obsessed girl and well, Ye Olden Stinky Tymes!

Let's get down to some interviewin'!

You normally write contemporary fiction. What made you take on fantasy?

To tell you the truth, the idea for My Fair Godmother came when I wrote a skit for my daughter's church youth group. The theme was Fractured Fairy Tales, so I wrote a short play about a girl who wanted a prince of a guy to take her to prom. Her "Fair" godmother (because her grades weren't, great, or good, but you know, fair) messed up her wishes and sent her to the Middle Ages to be Cinderella and then Snow White. This involved a lot of cleaning on her part, and not much fun.

I thought it was such a cute play (and my daughter did such a great job as a less-than-concerned fairy godmother) that I decided to write it into a book.

I loved how you evoked the look (and smell!) of the Middle Ages. Did you do any research?

I have a Middle Age romance plotted out (er, that means a romance that takes place in medieval times, not a romance about middle aged people). So I have a ton of books on the Middle Ages. I still haven't gotten around to writing that romance, but it made the research for this book really easy.

You did an amazing job of putting us in the head of first the studious sister, Jane, and then her more popularity-minded sibling, Savannah. Which were you in high school: the bookworm, or the more outgoing type?

I was a bizarre combination of the two of them. I prided myself on getting straight As, and it was actually painful if a teacher handed me a B on something. At the same time I loved drama, shopping, and all things girly. I wasn't at all organized or punctual, so I guess there is really more of Savannah in me.

If you were stuck in a fairy tale, which one would you want it to be?

Hmm. I'm trying to think of a fairy tale where the heroine isn't knee deep in housework, or being threatened by evil forces before a prince shows up to rescue her . . . Although I've always loved Cinderella, my dislike of chores is going to make me choose Sleeping Beauty, because, hey, all she had to do to get her prince was sleep. I can do sleep very well. I practice a lot.

Are you planning on writing any more fairy godmother adventures? I'd love to see what Chrissy's next assignment is!

Originally when I wrote the first draft, I had Chrissy accepted to Fairy Godmother University, but then I decided it would be much better to keep her out and give her another assignment. I'd love to write another book with her, but I don't have anything plotted out quite yet.

This is my favorite question to ask authors: What is your favorite book (you can have more than one)?

You mean beside mine? (I'm very partial to everything Janette Rallison has written.) I would have to say The Princess Bride, Pride and Prejudice, and the Phantom Tollbooth. (I obviously have a thing for P titles.)

What are you reading right now?

Whitney award nominations. But Austinland is sitting on my nightstand waiting for me to get to it. It's that love of Pride and Prejudice (and Shannon Hale too.)

Valentine's Day is coming: What is your ideal Valentine's Day date?

I think it would be something along the lines of my husband whisking me off to Cancun to a resort that had lots of calorie free chocolate desserts.

Tell us about your next project!

I have another book coming out in March called Just One Wish. It's about a girl who drives to Hollywood to find and convince the hunky teen actor who plays Teen Robin Hood to visit her little brother before he goes in for brain surgery.

It's a romantic comedy, but has a more serious side to it than my other books because the heroine spends a lot of time thinking about the purpose of life and what happens after death. I think my fans are going to really like it.

Sounds amazing. I will defintely be reading that one as soon as it comes out! Thanks for being my first interviewee, Janette!

Ring out wild bells. . . .

2009-01-05T14:08:00.003-07:00

Yes, it's a new year. A year of stuff and things! And I haven't blogged in ages because . . . hello! Trying to enjoy Christmas over here! And enjoy it we did! There was food (oh, so much food!) and games, and presents! I got to play Nerts with the family. If you don't know Nerts, you're missing out. Everyone gets their own pack of cards, and it's kinda like playing solitaire with yourself and everyone at the table simultaneously! We also discovered a game called Apples to Apples, which is hilarious. And then the presents! Santa Claus was very good to your Aunt Jessy this year, people. Very good. Sooooo many books, plus a 5,000 horsepower blender for all my blending needs! (I have a lot of blending needs, okay?) Boy got a bike, Baby Girl got soft toys to amuse her.

And then the editing fairy came. . . .

Yes, kids, the editing fairy sometimes even comes during the holidays. Unfortunately for that cheeky little pixie, I did not have time to bow to her whims. Consequently, I have 145 pages left of Dragon Spear to read over. Oopsy. But fear not, I shall have them done forthwith. And then we will concentrate on launching that book of books, that masterpiece, that book we like to call: Princess of the Midnight Ball!

Ba-ba-bum!

But now please enjoy these dogs decorating a Christmas tree!

It's Christmas Time (Oh, Yeah!)

2008-12-04T15:28:00.002-07:00

It's the hap-happiest time of the year! Hooray! I love Christmas! The food is better, the weather is my favorite (let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!), you get presents, the decorations are so pretty, you get to buy other people presents. . . . It's wonderful. Of course, it's also a bit hectic, especially around here when we have, get this, FOUR birthdays going on: my dad's, the Boy's, my sister-in-law Katie's, and my sister's (ordered by date, not importance, thank you).

But relax and enjoy, and here's a little piece of advice for you, as well. If you're feeling too hectic, and like you have waaay too much to do: just say no to something. This is my new motto after last year. I was so busy with signings and parties for church and book clubs and friends and work and family, and singing in choirs and on and on, that I was never home! NEVER! Christmas came and went and I realized that Boy had never played in the snow, let alone gone sledding, that he could sing the songs from a dozen tv shows, but didn't know Rudolph or Frosty. I'd made gingerbread men three times, but not for my own family. SHOCKING. So I said, Next year, I'm going to pick the thing that I will enjoy least (I won't tell you what it is), and say, No, thank you. Of course, having a new baby, I've said no to a lot of things this year. . . .

But here, as always, are the Christmas recommends:

To read:
Miracle and Other Christmas Stories by Connie Willis
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
Sammy Keyes and the Runaway Elf by Wendelin van Draanen
The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson
Miss Davenport's Christmas by Marion Chesney
The Legend of Holly Claus by Brittney Ryan
Picture books: Olive the Other Reindeer, Santa Calls, The Polar Express, The Christmas Tapestry, Sabuda's Christmas Pop-ups, Olivia Helps with Christmas, A Wish for Wings that Work, Red Ranger Came Calling, The Polar Express.

To watch:
Elf, Miracle on 34th Street (the original, black and white), Charlie Brown Christmas, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, The Muppet Christmas Carol, A Christmas Story.

And in other news:
I will be at the Jordan Landing Barnes & Noble December 13th for the Christmas Authorpalooza! It's from 2-4, I will probably be late. But there will be other cool people there: Nathan Hale, James Dashner, J. Scott Savage, Mark and Caralyn Buehner. . . . Come and get some Christmas gifts signed!

And more knitting patterns are up! Check on the Princess of the Midnight Ball page for the rest of the knitting patterns. Coming soon: pictures of the knitwear, also the rose pattern for the shawl. Promise.

DRAGON SPEAR

2008-11-10T16:00:00.002-07:00

Yes, it's time for the big reveal!

The third book about Creel and the dragons will be called:

DRAGON SPEAR

Coming in April, 2009!

What's a dragon spear? you ask. "TELL ME MORE!"

NO! NEVER!

I am pure and dedicated to my art, and shall not sully this final book in the trilogy by giving away any secrets! So do me a favor: don't email me and ask me to tell "just you" the whole plot, or asking if you can read the manuscript because you are my biggest fan. I get a lot of these requests, and I'm sorry but I just CAN'T!

I will tell you two things, though. First of all, yes, this is the last book about Creel and Shardas and the rest of their cohorts. After Dragon Spear, they get to rest. I may write other books set in Feravel, but not about these particular characters. Sorry, but them's the breaks.

And the second detail? Fainting goats! I love fainting goats, so I decided that they should make an appearance. Don't know about the fainting goats? Check them out:

Fainting goats, one of nature's wonders!

I don't have any cover art yet, but it's coming, and I'll post it as soon as I get it. It's once again drawn by Brandon Dorman, who has done the paperback cover of DRAGON SLIPPERS and the cover of DRAGON FLIGHT.

Well, it's 9:30 in the morning and I'm still in my PJ's and trying to type with a baby clad in nothing but a diaper and a flannel blanket in my lap, so I think I'll leave you all to mull over this information while I get dressed. But first a shout-out to the wonderful Guy Gavriel Kay, whose book YSABEL just won the World Fantasy Award. It's a great, great book, and Guy deserves the award (and more)!

Three cheers for Guy and YSABEL!

Praise from Caesar!

2008-10-28T17:00:00.002-06:00

Not, you know, the real Caesar, though.

He's, um, dead.

And although this is just days before Halloween, it's not really a Halloween post. But I am working frantically to finish a pair of orange and green socks I was knitting myself to wear. Got one done, and the other halfway. . . there's still time! I'm just going to be in the house with Baby Girl, so I figured some orange socks and a witch's hat would be festive enough this year. Baby Girl has a Halloween onesie and socks and bib, also a pumpkin hat I've knit her, so she's good.

And Boy will be Buzz Lightyear! he is beside himself with glee.

Anyway, the praise comes from two places.

One: Dragon Slippers was a finalist for the Utah Book Award. Last week I got to dress fancy and go to an awards ceremony with the husband. It was fun. My sister had the kids out in the hall so that I could run out and feed the baby when it was all over. My poor sister! Normally good-natured, Baby Girl screamed the whole time and Boy conked his head! But I sat with my "competition": Shannon Hale and Sara Zarr, and we were all rooting for each other. Really. Because we're all just that nice, and good friends, and genuinely supportive.

Because kids lit rocks.

Also, we're all really hot. True story.

The second instance of praise from on high comes from P.J. Lynch, one of the greatest illustrators ever. His picture book of East o' the Sun, West o' the Moon was a huge inspiration to me when I was writing Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow. He saw me mention his book during an online interview, and was intrigued enough to read it. I was quite nervous about this: what if he hated it?!

But no: he loved it, and was kind enough to blog about it, and you can read his blog here: pjlynchgallery.blogspot.com. And check out his art while you're there. He's done some wonderful illustrations of fairy tales as well as classics such as A Christmas Carol and E. Nesbit's Melisande.

IT'S A GIRL!!!!!!

2008-10-15T17:00:00.002-06:00

Yes, gentle readers, I have been keeping a secret from you.

A very big secret.

Of course, if you have had the good fortune to see me in person some time in the last few months, the secret was readily apparent.

But now comes the big reveal:

On Tuesday, October 7th, I gave birth to a bouncing baby girl!

Eight pounds, eleven ounces, twenty-two inches long, and ten days early, if you can believe it. Fat cheeks, and a serene expression like a very small, red-headed Buddha. Yep, tons of red hair!

And now, for the purposes of this blog, she shall be known as Baby Girl.

All hail Baby Girl!

Two Interviews and Jessica Recommends. . . .

2008-09-27T17:00:00.002-06:00

Yes, yes, I've been TERRIBLE about updating my blog! Last week two interviews posted with me online, and I'm just now getting around to linking to them.

Sorry.

My short attention span seems even shorter these days. I'm supposedly finishing the sequel to Princess of the Midnight Ball, but didn't have more than two minutes to write last week and . . . .well, it's just a whole big thing.

Anyway.

The first interview was with Rachel Bishop over at www.pinkraygun.com. Pink Ray Gun is a sci fi site for ladies, and I love it dearly. They review books, movies, and tv, rant about all things sci fi related, and have a pretty hilarious comic strip that updates weekly They are also running a series of free jack-o-lantern patterns you can download, with characters from popular tv shows on them. My interview has already been bumped to the Archives. So go to www.pinkraygun.com, click on Archives on the top left, and you'll see that it posted on September 22nd.

The other interview is actually a podcast, so you can download me giggling and chatting with the lovely ladies of LDS Womens' Book Review. We talked so much that it looks like they're doing the podcast in two episodes, and so far only Part 1 is available. Go to www.ldswomensbookreview.com, and click on Download Podcast. It's the most recent episode, episode 26.

Which reminds me: Vote for the Whitneys!

I met the LDS Womens' Book Review ladies last spring at the Whitney Awards Ceremony. The Whitney Awards, as some of you may remember, are a new award for fiction written by LDS (aka Mormon) authors. Anyone can nominate a book, and then a panel of judges in each category (Novel of the Year, Childrens' Book, Sci Fi/Fantasy) choses the winner. So go to www.whitneyawards.com to nominate your favorite book published this year by an LDS author. (Hint, hint: I've had two books published this year!) I'll "out" a few people while I'm at it: Shannon Hale, Brandon Sanderson, James Dashner, Orson Scott Card, David Farland, J. Scott Savage, Stephenie Meyer.)

And in other awards news: Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow is one of YALSA's picks for Teen Reads Week, which is October 12-18, and Dragon Slippers has been nominated for a Beehive Award. So if you live in the state of Utah, get yourself over to your local library and vote for Dragon Slippers! (I'm assuming if you read my blog, you also like my books.)

And now time for Jessica Recommends:

Ten Cents a Dance by Christine Fletcher

The Patron Saint of Butterflies by Cecelia Galante

Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer

All these books were fan-freakin'-tastic, and I couldn't put them down!

FAQ (again) and Oh, Those Wacky Victorians!

2008-09-14T17:00:00.002-06:00

I am really going to have to get a Frequently Asked Questions page on here, and soon, because once again, due to the high volume of emails I've been getting, I need to answer some FAQ's!

Yes, there will be a third book about Creel and the dragons.

I will not tell you anything about the plot. I'm just that mean. Sorry.

It will come out in spring of 2009.

It does not have a finalized title or cover art.

I will put up the cover art, tell you the final title and the more exact release date as soon as I know them.

I don't know when that will be.

Even if you promise to be my best friend forever, and even if you promise that you are my biggest fan and will always be my biggest fan, I still will not tell you the plot.

Even if you send me chocolate.

Even if you send me your firstborn child.

My own firstborn child is enough of a handful, and I will send yours right back, although I'm sure they're very cute. I will provide them with fruit snacks and a juice box for the trip.

And now on to the Victorians!

The Victorians fascinate me. They really, really do. We always think of Jane Austen and Charles Dickens and their contemporaries as being so cute! So prim and proper, with their corsets and their tea and their young ladies fainting left and right.

But look more carefully. . . .

A friend of mine is working on a book set in an imaginary country that is sort-of, kind-of like Europe in the 19th century. In it, the two main characters are childhood sweethearts who at one point are talking alone together, holding hands. A woman critiquing her story was SHOCKED at this. According to her, they never would have been alone together (in the real 19th century) and they NEVER would have held hands. She advised my friend to read Jane Austen for an example.

My friend looked at this woman and said, "Have YOU ever read Jane Austen?"

Seriously, have you?

Sure, there are no heaving bosoms and ripping bodices, but there's a lot more going on there than hand-holding. Shocked? Don't believe me? Take a look at Pride and Prejudice: Wickham and Lydia run off to London and are living together for weeks before Darcy finds them and they are forced to get married. Sense and Sensibility? Colonel Brandon's foster daughter has a baby out of wedlock with the handsome cad who is now wooing Marianne!

But I'm not just talking about torrid affairs. (Although it was fun.)

I just saw the miniseries "Daniel Deronda", based on the book by George Eliot. No, I haven't read the book, although now I really want to, and I swear I will! (I do at least know that George Eliot was actually a woman, so there's one point in my favor.)

This was the most amazing thing I have ever seen, largely because it tackled a number of heated issues that it never would have occurred to me to associate with the cute little Victorians. Racism. Psychological abuse. Spousal abuse. For example: a woman gives up her child because he's getting in the way of her career! Seriously! And what makes the bad guy so bad is that he marries this young girl just so that he can torment her! Honestly! He marries this spoiled, pretty girl just so that he can teach her a lesson. For the rest of her life he's going to play mindgames with her and treat her like dirt, just because he can. It was like evil Taming of the Shrew! Then there was also the extreme prejudice against the Jews, which was dealt with at length, and the problems they faced of being hated in England, and just about everywhere else in Europe, but having no country of their own to move to.

Heavy stuff.

And I started to think about how we really don't get the Victorians much credit. We think of them as being so . . . good. So quaint and, well, old-fashioned.

And then you realize that Mansfield Park has a subplot about the horrors of slavery!

Makes you kind of wonder if there ever was such a thing as "The Good Old Days."

School days, school days!

2008-09-07T17:00:00.002-06:00

It's funny how living in Utah has changed my perspective of "fall." I'm getting that giddy, "It's fall, how lovely!" feel: the air is crisp, the days are shorter . . . and then realizing that it's still 80 degrees. That's the thing about Utah: it's so unbeLIEVably hot all summer that you will suddenly think 80 degrees is jacket weather. I actually dressed Boy in a long-sleeved shirt today, because it was "only" 72 degrees when I took him to preschool. (Also, it was a red rugby shirt, and today was Red Day at his school.)

Yes! Boy is in preschool! He's excited, and so am I! He is the world's most social child. Every day of his life he wants to know where we can go and who we can play with. Boys, girls, adults, everywhere we go he'll talk to anyone, play with anyone. Having a mom who doesn't like to leave the house is very trying for him, as you can guess. And, for those of you worried that I'm sitting at home crying because my baby is all grown up and gone to preschool . . . No, I'm sorry, but I really like having the time to myself!

I mean, really, really like having time to myself.

I'm the horrible mom at the preschool orientation going, It's only TWO days a week? Can't he come every day?

Again: he's social, I'm not.

Also, for almost four years now I have been trying to write books while Disney movies play in the background, or without typing too loudly, because my little light sleeper might wake up from his nap courtesy of the clicking keyboard. To be able to lounge across the couch with my laptop, playing whatever music I want for two and a half hours is a luxury I could never have imagined.

Aaaaaahhhh!

Now I just have to keep my short attention span in check, and not just sit there surfing the internet, checking out Maureen Johnson's blog posts, shopping online, watching movie trailers. . . . Oh, dear!

FOCUS!

This is not helped by the fact that, literally minutes ago, the UPS man brought me a present. My editor just sent me Rapunzel's Revenge and the third Alfred Kropp book.

FOCUS, JESSICA!

You may not read Rapunzel's Revenge until you finish the book YOU'RE writing!

(All right, Conscience, fine!)

(Just peeking at the first page. . . .)

STOP THAT!

Fine!

And before you all ask, since I know you're dying of suspense, I am just getting to the climatic finale of a sequel to Princess of the Midnight Ball. HOORAY!

And if you're wondering about Maureen Johnson, she's the FABULOUS author of Suite Scarlett, Devilish, and 13 Little Blue Envelopes, among other books, and I love both her books and her blog. Visit Maureen at: www.maureenjohnsonbooks.com

By the way, we're thinking of ways to make the website more exciting. Juicier info on each book, more pictures, etc. Let me know if there's anything you're particularly dying to see!

Done, baby! Ooooooh, YEAH!

2008-08-27T17:00:00.002-06:00

Oh, YEAH!!!! WOOOOOOOO!!!!!

I just sent a thrilling little electronic package off to my editor called DRAGON BOOK #3!

(It actually has a title, but since that title has changed in the last 24 hours, and may likely change again before it hits shelves, I'm just going to head off the confusion now, and call it something generic.)

Ah, the feeling of relief! The feeling of freedom! The feeling that now, I have no excuse will have to clean my house!

Ick, let's not dwell on that.

Again, I will reveal no spoilers! I will not even repost that hint I put here a couple of blogs ago. You just needed to be paying attention to my blog, don't you?! HA HA HA HA HA! Yes, I'm pure evil! EVIL!

Now all I have left to do is work on the nine thousand other books knocking around in my head before I go insane. That won't be hard, no not at all! Hee hee hee hee! (That's the insane giggle, not the maniacal laugh, if you're wondering.)

Also, seriously, I should clean my house. Bleah. What if I have so much fun cleaning my house that I decide to never write another book, but just spend the rest of my life cleaning my house?!

Um, yeah, that's not too likely. But just in case, maybe I'll let the house go another day. . . . The bathroom isn't too scary. And if things get bad enough, the husband usually notices, and does it for me!

How evil is that?! HA HA HA HA HA HA!

ps-Jessica Recommends: The Shadow Children series by Margaret Petersen Haddix.

Yee-HAW!

2008-08-19T17:00:00.002-06:00

So far today, I have posted two blogs that have disappeared into the ethosphere, never to be seen again. One here, one on MySpace. I'm becoming very annoyed. VERY.

Here we go again:

This Saturday, for those of you who may not have heard, is the big launch party for Rapunzel's Revenge. If you are not a Shannon Hale fan, and don't know, it is a graphic novel co-written by her and her husband Dean, and illustrated by our good friend Nathan Hale. It is AMAZING, and to give it an equally amazing launch, there will be a big party at the Anderson Library in Salt Lake City. There will be live music, and games, a panel and signings by not just all three Hales, but also yours truly, plus James Dashner, Sara Zarr, Kimberly Heuston, and Ann Cannon.

Not only that, but it is a Western-themed party, and so this is your one and probably only chance to see me WEAR COWBOY BOOTS! That's right, I own cowboy boots! I inherited them from my grandfather, and they are very cool. I just, you know, don't really wear that type of thing. But this is a special occasion, so I'm breakin' out the boots, people. Bring cameras.

Check out the crazy scene Saturday, August 23rd, starting at 1 pm. The Anderson Library in Salt Lake City, with books provided by The King's English!

The Swedish Chef Sings Carmen

2008-08-11T17:00:00.002-06:00

I don't normally direct people who might be young and impressionable to YouTube . . . but oh, my golly!

There is a clip on YouTube of The Muppets' Swedish Chef and Beaker singing "Habanera" from the opera Carmen. After the first three seconds, I was laughing so hard I couldn't see. So here's the link, use it responsibly:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDFgtFXfnv0

You can thank me later, if you don't die of laughter. I don't know what it is, perhaps the dramatic way they both appear onscreen . . . I can't get enough!

"Bork, bork-bork-bork! Bork, bork-bork-bork!"

"Me me me, memememe memememe. . . . "

I can't stand it!

The other YouTube video I can't get enough of (and neither can Boy, he wants to watch it every day) is the Misheard Numa Numa Lyrics. Now, some of you may be familiar with the Numa Numa Guy. A few years back, when weirdo video clips first started circulating on the internet and being relentlessly forwarded via email, this chubby guy named Gary Brolsma became wildly popular for lip-synching this song into his webcam. The song, "Dragostea O Din Tei" is in Hungarian (? Romanian? Actually, not sure. . . .), something which seems to have escaped the average viewer. All anyone knows for sure is that the chorus contains the words "Numa Numa", hence the nickname for the song. Having watched Gary rock out to this song a number of times, I was well aware that whatever he was singing, it was not English. But a large number of people seem to think that it is, and have "figured out" the words. Someone has now taken the misheard lyrics and illustrated them using stick men and photographs. They are hilariously incoherent, and you wonder what kind of person thought he was saying, "Raise a fresh pear! No my no my A!"

Because all good pop songs contain a reference to farming, right?

So, yes, I should be working hard on a couple of manuscripts, but instead I'm watching stick men act out misunderstood Hungarian pop songs, and Beaker and the Chef do Verdi.

Fine, I'll get back to work! Slave drivers!

But let me also point everyone to the "Meet Jessica" page, where there are shiny new events posted, two of them for this week. So if you live in or around southern Utah, come and see me!

Jessica Recommends. . . . Plus: the World's Most Frequently Asked Question!

2008-07-28T17:00:00.002-06:00

Many, many years ago when I started this blog, I used to regularly do a "Jessica Recommends" blog where I listed all my most recently read books that I've liked. Most of you will not remember this, due to the fact that pretty much no one read this blog before I ever had a book out! (Don't feel bad, reading random people's blogs is not that interesting.) But I feel that lately I have been lapse in recommending books, and so let me through a couple out there.

Jessica Recommends:

Out of the Wild, by Sarah Beth Durst (the sequel to Into the Wild, which I also cannot recommend enough)

The Wall: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain, by Peter Sis

Angle of Repose, by Wallace Stegner

Wizards at War, by Diane Duane

Suite Scarlett, by Maureen Johnson

And I'm currently reading The Black Tattoo, by Sam Enthoven, and really enjoying it.

Actually, I'd just like to take this opportunity to endorse anything by Maureen Johnson. Maybe I shouldn't since I've only read three of her books, but I'm guessing from those three that all her books are phenomenal. I have LOVED Devilish, Suite Scarlett, and 13 Little Blue Envelopes, and look forward to reading her three others, The Bermudez Triangle, The Keys to the Golden Firebird, and Girl at Sea.

And now for the World's Most Frequently Asked Question!

I bet you were thinking it was: What is the answer to life, the universe, and everything? But we all know the answer to that is 42. That was settled years ago. (Thanks, Douglas Adams!)

Judging from the emails I get daily, the World's Most Frequently Asked Question is:

Will you write another dragon book?

The answer is: Yes.

Also, the rough draft is done. Finished. You may email me your plot ideas all you like, but I'm afraid I do not need them. Also, you may speculate away, but I'm afraid I will not be giving out any spoilers. I will not tell you if there is a wedding, any dragon eggs hatching, or any major deaths.

Nope.

Nuthin'.

All right, now I feel bad.

Here's your hint:

Volcano.

Matt?! Who's Matt?!

2008-07-18T17:00:00.002-06:00

This past week the hubby and I took a little vacation, our first in two years. Hooray! We went to Portland, Oregon, one of our favorite places. The divine food! The Saturday Market (now also running on Sundays)! Powells City of Books! It was lovely!

We: bought homemade soap and I got a Himalayan ring at the Saturday Market. Ate at Who-Song and Larry's, the best Mexican restaurant this side of the Rio Grande. Took a drive to Tillamook to watch our fave cheese being made. (I was banned from saying, "It's a cheese holiday, Gromit!" however.) Drove to Cannon Beach to run around on the sand and screech over the fact that it's ninety degrees everywhere else but the beach, where the ocean wind keeps it to a balmy fifty.

And spent a day at Powells.

Ah, Powells! So many books! So many, many books! I got to sign the copies of mine that they had in stock. I also startled one girl buying a copy of Dragon Slippers by offering to sign it for her. She looked like I was crazy, so I showed her my driver's license. Then I pretty much forced another girl to buy it, since she was giving me the eye and also had the same taste in books that I do. (Hooray for Patricia Wrede!) At her recommendation, I bought the first book in the Bartimaeus Trilogy. The clerk at Powells who was helping me with the signing of the stock said that they sell tons of my books, which made me smile for the rest of the day.

So then, home again, my husband was looking at the Powells website and the info that they have about my books. And he noticed the bio of me.

"Who's Matt?"

"What?"

"Who's Matt? It says you live with your husband, Matt. Is there something I should know about?"

Yes, much as I never reveal the name of our son, I'm also a bit standoffish about telling people my husband's name. He does have to go out every day in the real world and make money to pay our bills, you know. So my "official bio" just says I live with my husband and our young son.

And apparently someone, somewhere, has decided that my husband's name is Matt.

I'm still giggling.

I may have to start calling him that.

Beautiful, Downtown Idaho

2008-07-04T17:00:00.002-06:00

It's Fourth of July weekend, which for my family means lots of making of food and lots of running around. There's the annual parade-watching and bbq with my cousins, dinner (more bbq, and baby I loves me some potato chips) with my in-laws followed by fireworks, and then a family reunion the next day. Yep, busy times, but fun. Boy is asleep on the couch now, all tuckered out from running amok with a squirt gun for six hours.

But before all these fun things I was in Twin Falls with my mom and dad, hanging out and, yes, talking about books. I did a signing at the Twin Falls Barnes & Noble, which was very fun. I stayed for hours longer than normal, because every time I thought, "Okay, it's slowing down, it's time to go," someone cool would come in to talk to me. YAY! And then I did writing workshop with some homeschoolers. I have to say: homeschoolers=well behaved! My goodness! They wrote down everything I said, they never had to be shushed, it was . . . kinda weird, honestly. :) They were a good group, though, and I fully expect some great books out of these kids in the future.

But.

Pippin.

Yes, THE Pippin. Star of Dragon Slippers.

For those of you who don't know, Pippin is really my dog or, to be more exact, my oldest child. She's freakishly intelligent and exhibits alarmingly human personality traits.

And, while I was in Twin Falls, she walked out the front door of my parents' house and got lost. Her collar tag only had her name and our phone number, sans area code, so there was no way for someone to contact us if they found her. We searched for her until one o'clock in the morning, then finally went to bed. No one slept: a five pound dog lost in a strange town?! Where was she? At seven am I got up and started calling the sheriff again, while my mom put up posters in an ever-widening circle around her neighborhood.

And then, at eight thirty, someone called to say that the night before they had caught my little darling right as she was about to dart across a busy street five blocks from my parents' house! They'd tried the number on her collar, and when it didn't work they turned her over to the humane society! I think this man thought I was crazy: I was crying and screaming with excitement into the phone. When the shelter opened at ten we were right there, scooped her up, paid her bail, and took her straight to PetSmart to buy dog shampoo and a collar tag that has our phone number (with area code) AND complete address on it!

I just hope I never lose a child, because losing the dog was the worst thing I've ever been through!

Did you miss me?

2008-06-19T17:00:00.002-06:00

Verily I have not blogged in ye olde dogge's years. For those of you who actually read this, I'm sorry. People who don't read my blog. . . . Will never know that we're talking about them, so I'll stop.

Anyway, it's just been a crazy couple of weeks.

The Purple Cow is FABULOUS!!!! I loved being there, and if anyone is in the Tooele area, it's a great place to buy children's books. I was swooning, looking at the shelves. They had so many of my favorites, and so many books I've been wanting to read. . . . (drool)

Since then I've also talked at the Orem City Library's Summer Reading Club, who were a pretty wild bunch for library people. Honestly, how cool are kids (and teens) who choose to spend their summer in the library reading? Very cool. First off: look at all the good books. Second: air-conditioning!

I just finished what I hope is the last big edit of my fourth book, now (officially) called PRINCESS OF THE MIDNIGHT BALL! YAY!! I really like that title, and I love the cover. I will be adding it to the website soon, I promise. I also promise to add those booklists I've been talking about, and the knitting patterns. Pinky swear.

In the meantime I've finished William Shatner's autobiography (don't laugh, it was fascinating), and am into Kiki Strike: Inside the Shadow City. VERY good book.

And color me thrilled: I just got an email from P.J. Lynch, the PHENOMENAL artist whose "East o' the Sun, West o' the Moon" picture book helped cement my love of that story and inspired me whenever I was bogged down while writing Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow! Turns out he's talented AND nice!

Must lie down now. . . .

Purple Cows and Lists!

2008-05-31T17:00:00.002-06:00

This Saturday (June 7) I get to read and sign at a GRAND OPENING!

And not just any grand opening, but the grand opening of a CHILDREN'S BOOKSTORE!!! Isn't that just the coolest thing ever? there used to be a great children's bookstore in Salt Lake, but they sadly closed a few years ago.

But now Purple Cow Books is opening up on Main Street in Tooele, UT, and they've got fun things planned all day. There's going to be a cake contest, and they asked if I wanted to help judge! Boy, do I! So if you know where Tooele is (and, more importantly, how to pronounce it!), come on by! I'll be there to read and stuff from 2-3, but there will be tons of things earlier.

Also, while I was at CONduit, I found myself recommending tons of books to people, particularly YA books. I had actually thought of printing out a list to hand out at one of the panels, but Mr. Only Computer Hooked to Printer was being elderly and slow, and I did not have time. I have decided to update my Favorites page to have some more comprehensive lists of cool books. That should hopefully be up in the next day or two.

CONduit and Excuses

2008-05-26T17:00:00.002-06:00

So, I have not blogged in forever. Again.

This last weekend was CONduit, the local sci fi and fantasy convention. I always have a whale of a time, because I get to run around with people like James Dashner and Julie Wright and L.E. Modesitt Jr., cracking jokes and talking about books. And movies. And hey, is that guy over there wearing a bathrobe because he's Arthur from Hitchhiker's Guide, or because he's just too lazy to get dressed?

But it also took a lot out of me, I think I was up until 1 am one of those nights, and on my way home, there were flashing red and blue lights behind me! ME?! NO! Turns out a headlight was out, but for a minute there I was filled with righteous indignation. I had just passed a speed limit sign, and checked my speedometer. But there ain't nothin' I can do about a headlight that's gone bust. Well, except fix it, apparently, then take it to the city building and get someone to sign a paper saying that I was no longer driving a one-eyed car.

This last week, between CONduit and a gig at the West Jordan B&N, I've probably spent more time with Dashner than my own husband. This has resulted in a lot of teasing, and occasional elbow-jabbing, and such behavior. After one of the panels at CONduit, someone came up and asked if we were married, or just siblings. (We are neither.) Later I heard from someone else that she thought it must be hard for two people who hate each other to have to sit together on a panel! I laughed for about twenty minutes.

And now I'm back home, doing laundry, and also (GULP) trying to potty train Boy. He has a wide array of underpants featuring his favorite cartoons. He has a little special seat and stool for the bathroom. He has had only one accident all day, early this morning.

I feel like I've been run over by a train!!!!!

I will pay hard cash to anyone who wants to come to my house, take this kid to the bathroom every half hour, and sit with him while he decides whether or not he really needs to go!

Behold, the Miracle of the Stickers!

2008-05-11T17:00:00.002-06:00

So, Boy has been moved from his crib to a big boy bed. And not just any big boy bed, but a Disney Pixar Cars Lightning McQueen bed! He is bug-eyed with joy over it, and for the first week, it was all he talked about.

And then.

And then whatever it is that keeps this kid up at night kicked in. From the day my child was born, he has fought sleep like the boogeyman is going to get him the moment he closes his eyes. We've worked through that mostly, and bedtimes go very well. But if he sneezes, coughs, rolls over, or hears the least little noise, the kid is up, and there is no going back to sleep unless he can get in with Mommy and Daddy. And then the kicking and thrashing ensues.

You'd think getting to sleep in Lightning McQueen would change that. You'd be wrong.

So along with launching my book and all the running around that that entails, I have also been getting about four hours of sleep.

But one sleep deprived night, right about Launch Time (or D-Day, as it is also known), I came up with a little idea. Hubby printed out a May calendar, and I taped it to the fridge. Every night that Boy stays in Lightning McQueen all night, he gets a sticker on the calendar. Coloring books have been promised. Even water color painting coloring books.

And behold, it is a success! He has not gotten up ONE TIME. He has earned a painting book, and we are moving on to a bigger reward. It's the most amazing thing in the entire world! All this time, this sleeplessness, repeatedly trying to get him back into his own bed, the crying and pleading and begging and even threatening of middle of the night time outs, and all I needed to do was give the kid a STICKER?!

The mind of a three year old is a strange labyrinth, my friends. Very strange indeed.

And now, back to writing news.

Saturday's Authorpalooza was awesome. I was at a table with Brandon "Fablehaven" Mull, and of course there was this huge line of people waiting for him when we all got there. But looking down the line, I realized that a few of those books had dragons on them! Wait a minute! There are people here just for lil' ol' me?! Yep! Makes a girl feel good, I have to tell you. I love Authorpaloozas. During the lulls I chatted with Sara Zarr, knit a little bit on the freakishly complicated sock I am attempting, wandered over to take Guy Francis' place so that I could harass Nathan Hale, artist extraordinaire whose "Yellowbelly and Plum Go to School" is Boy's favorite book. (And, by the way, Shannon Hale fans: He's also the illustrator of Rapunzel's Revenge. And yes, I've seen the finished copy. And yes, it rocks.)

If there's ever an Authorpalooza in your town, don't miss it!

And this week, people who live in or near Provo, it's the Provo Children's Book Festival! Games, readings, crafts, people talking loudly about books IN A LIBRARY!

Let's do Launch!

2008-05-05T17:00:00.002-06:00

I have launched Dragon Flight on the world, my people!

Let us all admire its shiny cover! And also the shiny new paperback cover of Dragon Slippers. We need to put up a picture of that, too, it's quite fancy.

I don't know if I ever explained about that, by the way. Probably, but here it is again. Pete Ferguson, the artist who did the original cover of Dragon Slippers decided to take a few years and go live in the jungles of Argentina (as is my understanding). It's not something that I would enjoy, but everybody's different. Anyway, so in order to try and get a uniform "look" to the dragon books, we switched to Brandon Dorman, who has also done the Fablehaven books. So that's what's up with that.

Anyhoo. Went to the King's English on Friday, and braved the cold on the patio with 30-odd other intrepid souls, to talk and read (very briefly). Launch 2.0 was on Saturday, roughly the same number of people came to Barnes & Noble, where I was able to talk without my teeth chattering, which is always good. What is up with the weather lately people? Today I'm just sitting around the house, and it's probably 80 degrees outside, and on Friday it was 50 and dropping rapidly.

But I digress. . . .

For those of you a bit to the south of us here in Salt Lake, there's a big to-do on Saturday. At 2 pm, May 10th, the Orem Barnes & Noble will be hosting an Authorpalooza. Brandon Mull, Brandon Sanderson, Nathan Hale, Rick Walton, Sara Zarr, Mette Ivie Harrison, and many, many more including yours truly! We'll be there until 4, maybe later, signing books and I'm sure chattering nonstop. Come and see the spectacle!

They're heeeere!

2008-04-28T17:00:00.002-06:00

Yes, today is (as far as I ever know with these things) the official release date of Dragon Flight and the paperback version of Dragon Slippers!

Hip hip hooray! Hip hip hooray! Hip hip hooray!

They have exciting and shiny covers, the paperback of DS is completely different from the hardcover, to match Dragon Flight. (The artist for the hardcover of DS took a couple of years off to live in the Argentine jungle. No, seriously.)

But they should be in bookstores and shipping from Amazon and all those good things today.

Is this so crazy to anyone else? This is my THIRD book, and it's exactly one year since DS came out! ONE YEAR! In fact, although it came out at the end of March, I didn't do a launch for Dragon Slippers until May 12th, and Dragon Flight launches this weekend.

What's a launch, you say? Well, that's when I go to a bookstore (or two), and talk about how great the new book is, and read from it, and hand out cookies, and sign the shiny new copies. And I'll be doing two of them this very weekend. So if you happen to be in the Salt Lake area, check it out!

May 2nd, 7 pm, The King's English Bookshop

May 3rd, 2 pm, Barnes & Noble at Jordan Landing

May 10th isn't just for me, but it's going to be a GREAT time. The Orem Barnes & Noble is doing a HUGE Authorpalooza. From 2 pm to whenever, me, James Dashner, Brandon Mull, Brandon Sanderson, Rick Walton, Mette Ivie Harrison, Nathan Hale, and I can't think how many others will be strewn about the store signing books (maybe some that aren't even ours!).

So if you're lucky enough to be in Utah in the next two weeks, come say Hi!

Ha! Take that, Editing Fairy!

2008-04-16T17:00:00.002-06:00

Yes, despite the fact that I still feel like crud, with all the coughing and sneezing and sore throaty-ness, I have finished my rewrite!

I think.

I went over it, tore it apart, put it back together, printed it out, went over it with a red pen, and incorporated those changes.

Enough?

Who knows?

That's the trouble with editing. I could probably read over and over this manuscript until I went insane and started tying scraps of yarn in my hair and calling myself Queen Pooh-lah, but I could always find SOMETHING to change. I think at a certain point you have to step back and say, this is good. This will work. Any more changes and I might as well write a new book.

Also, I want to get feedback from my sister, who is supposedly reading the manuscript. . . Hint, hint.

And then we'll see what Melanie the Editor thinks. So this is by no means the last time I will go over this manuscript. It's just the last time this round.

Ding!

And the winner is . . . ME!

(For not going nuts and calling myself Queen Pooh-lah.)

Now I can lie here coughing and read John Marsden's Tomorrow When the War Began series in peace. I'm halfway through book two: The Dead of Night. Love these books.

Also, it might be a good time to finish knitting the baby blanket I'm making for my cousin Chandrea's baby, since he's already a month old (or more). I ran out of yarn, and haven't been able to drag myself to the store for more this week. Ugh. Sorry, baby!

Sick, sick, sick, sick!

2008-04-06T17:00:00.002-06:00

So very, very sick!

Congested, head going to explode, can't stop coughing, nose running. So very, very sick! And Boy is sick too, which means he wakes himself up coughing and wants to climb into bed with Mommy and Daddy, so no one is getting any sleep. We just got Boy a "big boy" bed which looks like Lightning McQueen. (Spoiled? Or just really, really lucky?) And due to his illness we can't keep him in it all night. We were hoping it would improve his sleeping, but with him being sick, how can we tell?

Gleeb.

Must. Finish. Rewriting. Princess Under Stone.

But sick!

So here's some fun stuff:

I'm reading H.G. Wells' War of the Worlds, with illustrations by Edward Gorey. Love it.

At www.freerice.com you can test your vocabulary, and they donate a grain of rice to the UN's World Food Program for every correct answer. I did it for about twenty minutes the other day, and donated six bowls.

At Shannon Hale's website (www.squeetus.com) she recently interviewed Jennifer L. Holm, author of the fabulous Penny From Heaven and the Babymouse graphic novels.

And, for those of you trying to figure out what the deal with Dragon Flight's release date, here's the scoop: It does not have a "hard" release date, because I am neither J.K. Rowling nor Stephenie Meyer. It will start shipping to bookstores sometime after April 10th, and they are free to put it out as soon as they receive it. We put the release date as May, because I was originally told "May-ish", because it should be in all stores by May. Amazon.com will ship it on April 26th.

Sick!

Whitney Awards and all. . . .

2008-03-25T17:00:00.002-06:00

I know, I haven't blogged in forever. What have I been saying about the editing fairy?!

But I just this minute finished the first "pass" of what we shall now call Princess Under Stone, so I shall blog about my weekend.

First off: I totally killed with my keynote address at LDS Storymakers. At first people were kind of staring at me, because it had been a long day. They'd been bombarded with publishing advice, many of them had just met with an editor and/or agent about their books, and they were feeling dragged through the wringer just a bit. (Or so I was later told by several people.) But once I got going, and confessed that I could not read my own handwriting and so was having trouble with my notes, I think things went well. By the end I was getting laughs (in the funny places), and was asked, "Are you like this all time?" (In a good way.)

And then came Saturday, and the Whitney Awards.

The Whitney Awards are a new award for LDS (Mormon) authors. There's never really been something like this before. They had nominees in categories from Best Romance to Novel of the Year, and they announced them at the gala, after a wonderful dinner. It was like the Oscars: we were all dressed up, the Best Novel nominees read from their books, there were Lifetime Achievement tributes. Really, very cool.

Also, I got to wear a sparkly top! And lots of jewelry!

I borrowed from my sister one of the greatest ensembles EVER. A fitted, short-sleeved black top beaded with green and blue sequins, some of which were shaped like stars, and others like SHAMROCKS! I had a big, poofy back taffeta skirt, and really tall heels, and found a jeweled barrette shaped like a crown for my hair. I had big dangly emerald earrings, and my mom gave me a bracelet with a shamrock charm. (It sounds like a bit much, but really it all worked, I swear.)

I was nominated in three categories: Best Speculative Fiction (along with Shannon Hale for Book of a Thousand Days and Brandon Sanderson for Mistborn: Well of Ascension), Best Novel by a New Author, and Novel of the Year.

Drumroll, please: I won Best Novel by a New Author! YAY!

And I got to present the award for Best Mystery/Thriller. Sanderson was my co-presenter, and we thought it would be hilarious to rib the MC for the bad joke we had to tell when we announced the nominees, and later we found out that this sweet woman named Kerry Blair had written the joke. Oops!

But Josi Kilpack won for her book Sheep's Clothing. Josi was at my table, which turned out to be the luckiest table, with me, Josi, and Brandon Mull all getting awards. Mull won for Fablehaven 2 as Best Children's Book. He was sitting by my husband, and was really a hoot. The stork (not to be confused with the editing fairy), had just visited the Mulls, so Brandon brought his brother as his date, and watching them both freak out every time someone took a picture of them was hilarious. ("We're together, but like, because we're brothers! Not 'together-together'!")

Shannon won for Book of a Thousand Days as best Speculative, by the way, and her acceptance speech was awesome. She said that people who are jealous because they didn't win, rather than be happy for the winner, are going to hell (I'm paraphrasing). It became the catchphrase of the evening, "I'm going to hell!" When I won, I said, "Yay, I'm not going to hell for this one!"

But it was a great evening, and I'm excited for next year. This was the first year, and I think it will just continue to be bigger and better. And how cool is it that I got to be involved with the very first year?!

In other news:

I'm reading Inkheart (I know, I'm a bit behind) and loving it.

I just found out that Robin McKinley is having a new book out in September, called Chalice. Pre-order it today!

And I'm going to have my webmaster/husband put some updates on the "Meet Jessica" page: in May I'm going to be all over town!

Me? Keynote Speaker?

2008-03-18T17:00:00.002-06:00

So, the Editing Fairy, she is a harsh mistress. She makes me work. And think. And write. And cry.

I just have to keep telling myself that it's worth it.

Yes, yes it is.

And while I've been wandering from room to room, moaning and pretending to work, I got an email. From a nice lady named Annette. Who is in charge of a local writers' conference that's going on this weekend. It seems they are in a bit of a pickle: the Friday night keynote address was supposed to be given by Chris Crowe. He's a professor of English at BYU, a renowned author, local character and bon vivant. Sadly, he's also had a family crisis arise, and cannot speak on Friday night.

So naturally Annette thought of me.

Yep, me.

So Friday night I'm giving the keynote address for the LDS Storymakers Conference. They are estimating about 200 people. No sweat. No sweat at all. (Oh, please! Please don't let me start sweating like a monkey in front of all those people!)

I'm coming up with some good remarks. I think it will be fun.

And it will take my mind off Saturday night, and the Whitney Awards. They're a new award being started by the LDS Storymaker committee, to celebrate LDS (Mormon) authors. I'm up for THREE awards, and also co-presenting one of them with Brandon Sanderson. So I have to not spill anything on myself during the dinner (and yes, I will be wearing fancy clothes. For once.) And then I have to not trip over my fancy clothes going up to the podium. . . .

Wish me monsters, as Buffy would say. . . . .

(Not sure why, but do it anyway!)

Hello, Editing Fairy!

2008-03-04T16:00:00.002-07:00

Yes, folks, the editing fairy has laid another egg on my doorstep. Literally.

Our UPS guy is a NUT. You can hear your package smacking down on the doorstep even as he's ringing the doorbell, and in the time it takes to walk across the living room and into the little entry and open the door, the dude is back in his van and driving away. DRIVING AWAY. In less than one minute. I'm not sure if he hates me personally, or is agoraphobic, but even when I have been standing IN the entry when I hear the box drop, I have not been able to see his face.

So, he threw a padded envelope at my front door and ran again today, and I opened it to find:

Black Wool Chain

The manuscript complete with millions of tiny little editorial suggestions from my editor. This is a long-awaited arrival, though, so I'm not complaining. According to my contract, I was actually supposed to have edited it and turned it back into Bloomsbury by last Saturday. So I've actually been wearing a hole in the floor with my pacing, wondering when it was going to come. And, for once, I'm really excited about this edit. I've been a bit of a whiner in the past: Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow was a touchy subject for me, editing-wise. There were a number of things that I would in no way change, in my anxiety to do justice to the original tale. This one is based on a fairy tale too (The Twelve Dancing Princesses), but I'm more flexible about it. The biggest problem that we're having with this one is the title.

Yep, the title.

I've mentioned this before, but I am not a good titler. Titling does not come easily to me, it is not my gift. Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow was the original title for that book, and neither my editor nor I was really in love with it. We came up with about ten other titles, and the marketing department pooh-poohed them all. Dragon Slippers was originally Dragonskin Slippers, then The Dragonskin Wars. Dragon Flight was going to be called Dragon Helm, but then I didn't end up using the word 'helm' in the book, because it actually kinda annoys me. And really, those are the least changes books of mine have undergone, title-wise. My first novel ever has been called about six different things over the years, and I'm working on a story right now that after four years of kicking around in my brain and computer files, is still called Untitled Desert Project. My titling bone is broken.

So.

Black Wool Chain. I actually like it, myself, as much if not better than I've ever liked a title of mine. My editor, on the other hand, hates it. She would really, really like to put 'princess' somewhere in the title, because (like 'dragon') it is an eye-catching word. Unlike, say, 'wool'. (She has a very, very valid point.) Her title suggestions, on the other hand, don't work for me.

So here it is, the alternate title I've come up with. And you, gentle reader, must use the comments to tell me what you think.

Princess Under Stone

It's got 'princess' in it, it's intriguing, easy to remember, and I think quite catchy.

Anyone care to comment?

This n' That

2008-02-28T16:00:00.002-07:00

I'm busy being the least productive person on the planet, so I'll just throw some stuff out there.

Wildwood Dancing by Juliet Marillier = un-put-down-able. It's The Twelve Dancing Princesses plus Dracula plus about three other legends/fairy tales I've spotted so far. Hence the lack of productivity. I'm tellng you what, if this one guy ( I won't spoil it by naming him) doesn't get a good comeuppance, I'm going to be very upset. SO EVIL! I love it!

To address the comments on my previous post: Chatspeak = NOT REAL WORDS. Emoticons are fine. They're cute. When not used to excess. But LOL, IMHO, just annoy me. I can't tell you the number of emails I get from people who liked my books (I think), and use so many chat contractions that it takes me an hour to decipher them. (Also, please include your name in your email! So many people don't bother to sign their names to their emails. Don't you want me to remember your name, should we ever met in the real world?)

Multiple comments are fine, Enna.

And a review with me is up at Deliciously Clean Reads. They came up with some really great questions. They're also giving away a signed copy of Sun and Moon.

http://cleanreads.blogspot.com/

Happy Leap Year, Everybody!