Part II: Why Junior High is Better as an Adult than as a Teen

Yes, indeed:  Two posts in one week!  I am, in fact, supacool.  Some people are amazed when I even manage ONE post per week (Sara Z. and Bree, I'm looking in your direction.  DirectionS, actually, since you're in different places.  I'm talented like that--I can look two ways at once). But blogging twice it must be, because I have too much love for just one post.  And this love is for junior high and all the cherished memories I have made there.  Not when I was an actual junior high student, of course.   Those memories (at least the ones I haven't repressed) I'd prefer to forget.  I mean memories at the awesome junior high schools I've visited in the last few days.

First up was last Friday's Authors Day at Grantsville Junior High.  This was my first trip to Grantsville (a roadtrip made all the more delightful by the company of my boss friends Anne Freakin' Bowen and Wendy Toliver).  Now, before my visit I had a vague idea of where Grantsville was.  Vague is the key word here.  Grantsville is west of Salt Lake City--HECKA west.  But no worries--we made it there with plenty of time to tour the town and note local attractions, including a museum detailing the tragic history of the Donner Reed Party.

All 600 students at GJH took part in Authors Day, and enthusiasm was high. 

Obviously, this was not the picture I meant to insert.  This is a picture that my husband took when we went to EPCOT and saw how they can grow plants without soil.  It was all very educational, but not even CLOSE to the picture I wanted to download, which was of a bunch of happy GJH students.  However, as I don't know how to delete this picture, it stays.

Umm...okay.  This is a picture of me eating a delicious pastry at the France Pavilion (EPCOT again) with my friend Nate.  Again, entertaining, but so not what I was trying to get.  I give up, and will  have someone else help me get the GJH photos.  They were awesome.  Trust me.

Today I spoke at Granite Park, a junior high/middle school in Salt Lake City.  I talked to a bunch of 7th graders in Honors English.  They cracked me up with their comments and questions, my favorite being:  "If you could choose only one color, would it be purple or green?"  Thought-provoking!

I took some great pictures here, and none of them turned out blurry!   I'm afraid to try to retrieve them from my memory card because...well, I don't want to end up with some random shot of me in line for Space Mountain or some such insanity.  But anyway, it was a good time.

Going to junior high is SO much better when you aren't actually enrolled.

Part I: In Which I Wax On About DI

So, do you remember a few posts ago when I mentioned that I go wherever I'm invited?  Well, this mindset transcends my writer-life and exists in my regular-person life, as well.  If someone asks me to go somewhere, I do, which has led to some interesting experiences. Today I was asked to volunteer at Deseret Industries, or DI, for those in the know.   For those not in the know, DI is a thrift shop similar to Goodwill.  Most of the locations are in Utah (as DI is  run by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons)) but there are stores scattered throughout the West Coast.   As a side note, something I've long wondered about volunteer work:  Is it volunteering if you are asked to do it?  What is the actual definition of volunteer work?  Thoughts on this are more than welcome!

I got to wear a very cool apron, and my job was to sort and colorize the girls clothing racks.  Can you say bombtastic?  Go ahead, say it.  I won't tell Sara Zarr and let her make fun of you for it.  Anyway, this job made me wonder if I missed my true calling  as a retail sorter/colorizer.   One little Did-You -Know?-type fact:  DI does not colorize clothes according to rainbow order (ROYGBIV) as I would have expected (this is, of course, how I colorize my own clothes, because I am compulsive that way)(but you already knew that).  Instead, DI sorts clothes sort of from light to dark.  It threw me off a little at first, but no worries:  I had a handy pocket-sized chart, which I kept in my apron for reference.

Note to anyone who lives remotely close to the DI in Centerville, UT:  If you are on a budget but you (or your child) still want to wear name-brand clothes, go here!  Preferably on Wednesday, when (rumor has it) they restock their clothing racks.  Many ritzy people live in this area and buy their kids quality stuff, which their kids in turn outgrow and give away!  That's where Ordinary Joes come in and swoop it up for a fraction of the price.

This is A-1 merchandise.  In fact, DI Centerville had a selection of prom dresses so nice I actually thought:  "Too bad I'm not going to prom!"  Yes, I indeed thought this before realizing I did not want to go to prom.  However, they were great dresses.  And for $6??

I digress.  In fact, I've digressed for a whole post-length already and have gotten nowhere.  So I'm just going to make this a two-part post.  Because you've got a life.

Oh, and for those who might wonder:  No, I did not keep the apron.

Indie-rama, plus: what must go? YOU decide!

So, first off:  If you didn't know already, May is National Independent Booksellers Month.  Rock on, Independent Booksellers!  To celebrate in my own way, I wrote this spotlight on local Indie the King's English.   The spotlight appeared on the Shrinking Violets blog, which is devoted to helping introverted writers with publicity--both for themselves and for their favorite  bookstores.   Jenn Northington (Marketing and Events Director at the King's English) and I ate brownies in order to fully observe this terrif holiday. With my heart full of love for the King's English and its awesomeness, I decided to drop by on Thursday night to check out the reading/signing for YA fantasy author Aprilynne Pike.

If there's one thing TKE lacks, it's sufficient parking.  After all, the store is located in that little strip of Sugarhouse where local businesses and residences coexist in perfect harmony.  Parking lots are not conducive to said harmony.  Thus, I was resigned to street parking.  The only spot I could find was thisclose to someone's driveway.  Should I risk it?  Then I saw the Parking Enforcement officer coming down the hill on his little golf-cartmobile.  I turned off my car and stood next to it, thinking that if I was in violation,  this was certainly the man who'd tell me so.  When he putt-putted off without a second glance at me, I breathed a sigh of relief and got ready to PAR-TAY!  (There was cake.  Need I say more?)

After the shindig, including a bite to eat at the restaurant next door, my friends and I were heading  home in my car.  Imagine my surprise as I proceeded to make a semi-U-turn (never my strong suit) and saw two pedestrians rush out toward me, seemingly out of nowhere, as though they WANTED me to hit them.  One figure retreated, while the other came up to my window.  Upon closer inspection, this second figure proved to be a tweenage boy.  A very embarrassed-looking tweenage boy, who prompted me to roll down the window.  He then said, "My mom made this for you."  Before running away, he thrust the following note in my direction:

Yes, that is a picture of my car.  Which this lady took, printed out, and Scotch-taped onto a poorly written note.  As my friend Brodi pointed out, the picture actually proves my point more than hers:  technically, I'm NOT parked in her driveway.

In Brodi's blog she mentions her list of  Things That Must Go a la Radio From Hell on X96.   This scenario involves so many Things That Must Go that I simply can't decide on one.  This is where you come in.  What do YOU think must go?

a) East-side Divas with too much time on their hands.  (Sorry East-Benchers, but you know how we sistas from the street feel about your kind).

b) Grammatically incorrect, ill-composed and all-around bizarre notes.  (My favorite line:  "Are you just un-aware?  If so now you are."  Runner-up:  "I'm just hoping this will save someone else in the future." )

c) Parents who make their kids do their bidding.   How was this mom to know what a sweet, gentle person I was?  What if I was the burly, mean, criminal type who grabbed her kid and took off?  I'm not a parent, but really...do you have to be a parent to know this is a BAD IDEA?

d) Parking enforcers on funny-looking golf carts.

So?  What's the verdict?

Happy Mother's Day

Everything else on this blog is late, so I figured I had to follow suit with Mother's Day.  You know, to be consistent.  Consistently late.

The week leading up to Mother's Day always makes me yearn for my youth.  Or, not necessarily MY youth, but youth in general.  For those of a certain age, the week before Mother's Day offers a host of activities:  Paint a flowerpot for Mom.  Plant a pansy for Mom.  Decorate a cookie for Mom.  Bead a bracelet for Mom.  Make a picture frame for Mom.  Best of all, these activities are FREE!

Of course, while there's probably no official rule, stores don't want a twenty-eight-year-old to come make free things for her mom.  Unless they do.  In which case, they should make that known, because I would LOVE to make a free gift for Mom.

Not because I'm good at making things ( I'm not) or  because I'm cheap (I am) but because it makes Mother's Day so easy.  And that ease is completely wasted on little kids who have yet to realize how hard Mother's Day can be.  Those kids don't realize that the time will come when a plaster imprint of  their hand will no longer constitute a suitable gift.

Above is a picture of my mom.  I am a baby in this picture.  I don't look the same anymore, but she does.   Well, except for having a more current hairstyle.  Which reminds me, check this out:

Is this a fabulous portrait of the early 80's or what?  Thank goodness for Mother's Day, or I might forget about such quality photographs.

If you want to meet my mom (and who wouldn't? ) she'll be at the Provo Children's Book Festival at the Provo City Library this Saturday.  Of course, she'll be there to see me... but I'm sure she'd be glad to see you, too!  And so would I!  I'll be speaking at 2:30 with the lovely and talented Ann Dee Ellis, but there will be speakers all day long.  And food!  And prizes!  And fun!  Check it out!

Happy Mother's Day, to my mom and all the moms out there!  Also, if anyone has good ideas for what I can give my mom on upcoming M-Days, please leave a comment.  I need all the help I can get.

What I Did in April Instead of Blog

Why is it so hard for me to blog? It's a rhetorical question, of course.  Those of you who read this blog regularly (probably more regularly than I post) know the myriad reasons it's hard for me to post.  Still, I did such cool things in April I want to post about now, even though it is admittedly lame to post about things weeks after they happened.  Like, don't you have anything going on NOW that you'd rather post about?  Yes, I do.  But not at this moment.  So I'm doing the lame thing and blogging ex-POST facto.  Get it?  Post?  Seriously, I kill myself with these.

So:

Educator Night at the Orem and West Jordan B&N Stores:

Yes, I was actually at both stores that night.  Both stores invited me.  As I've mentioned before (to some of you many times) I need all the publicity I can get!  When I'm invited to go somewhere, I go.  Unless that place is overly dangerous.  I mean, basically, when you're me, any place is dangerous.  Opportunities to walk into stuff occur everywhere.  So for me to refuse an invitation somewhere it has to be out-of-control dangerous.  Even then I would probably still go, because who doesn't love a little danger?  Especially when most of your dangerous activities consist of walking into stuff?  So anyway, I go where I'm invited.

I planned to have a late lunch in Provo with my awesome brother and BYU student, Ethan.  Then I'd go to the Orem B&N from 5-6 and be at the West Jordan B&N by 7.  And things went swimmingly!  I had a delicious lunch with my brother, who is doing well, of course.  Ethan is like a cat--he always lands on his feet.  Actually, I guess that's the only way in which he's like a cat.  He might like naps.  I'm not sure.  Anyway, life is good for him, as per usual.

Brandi runs events at the Orem B&N.  This was my first time meeting her, and she's super nice, well-organized and has exquisite taste in nail art.  And I don't usually notice nail art.  Thank you, Brandi!

I got to my next stop just in time, where I was on a panel with young adult authors Ann Cannon, Jessica Day George, Shannon Hale, Mette Harrison, Randall Wright and Sara Zarr.  I was the only debut novelist there, so I mostly listened to those wiser and more experienced, but I did interject occasionally.  We had a huge turnout, and everybody signed tons of books.  Oh, and the food?  At both B&Ns it was awesome! Orem had REALLY good cookies and tropical punch, and at West Jordan we got cheesecake (mine was Neapolitan)(not that it matters).

Here I am with my homie, Sara.

Please don't be alarmed by the gang sign and pseudo-gang-sign flashed in this pic.  Sara and I are from the mean streets, is all, and we wanted to pay our respects, yo.  Anyway, thanks to Angie, Robin, Pam and all involved.  It was tight.  Yo.

AND I was invited to speak at Granite School District's branch of the International Reading Association.  As an alum of Granite School District (NOT when I lived on the mean streets), it was an honor to talk  to teachers, librarians, and others who labor on my home turf!  I even got to see my former junior high French teacher!  Do I have a picture with her?  No.  I have a picture with my foam-core blow-up, of course!

Ah, blow-up.  My constant companion at  each and every book event.  How do I love thee?

Anyway, this picture was taken by my former sixth-grade teacher, who invited me to speak!  Thanks, Janet, and everybody at GCIRA!

Speaking of foam-core blow-up, which really, only I was, query this:  For those of you who are published, what has been your most helpful/biggest hit as a promotional item?  Were you lucky enough to score a foam-core blow-up?  And for those of you who are book buyers (hopefully everyone!) what do you think is the best promotional tool.  Bree and I think car window stickers would be cool.  Does anyone agree with us?

Everything Is Fine

This is a super-clever title for today's post (if I do say so myself) because: 1)  Even though an evil facebook-version-of-swine-flu sent my friends a phony and non-functioning link at 2:39 this morning, I changed my password so it should never happen again.  AND I got a bunch of email messages from some of the coolest people I know this morning.  Who cares if they all wondered the same thing, which was, in essence, WTF?  I still got messages from them.  So everything is fine!

2) Even though I haven't posted in nigh unto three weeks, it isn't because I'm immobilized by sunburn, like I was last year at this time.  It's just because I'm technologically inept!  So everything is fine!

3) Even though I don't have a picture proving it, I actually DO know Ann Dee Ellis, author of two YA novels including the recent release EVERYTHING IS FINE.  And, on Tuesday night, I was lucky enough to attend Ann Dee's reading/signing at the King's English.  Ann Dee looked great, as usual, sporting a new super-swank do that attracted many an "ooh" and several "ahhs."

Also, I got to hang out with my writer friends, and that's always a good time.  Here is a picture of my Writer Peeps (see sidebar for links to their sites), getting a bite to eat after the shindig:

4) Even though getting that picture from my camera to this page took me way longer than it should have, I actually did it!  And even though this picture isn't exactly great, I have it on good authority that considering it was taken in low light, it's not half bad!  So I am capable of operating electronics, contrary to popular belief.  And that means everything is fine!

5) Even though the life of a writer is challenging (or perhaps just a writer who has trouble with all facets of technology, ranging from maintaining a flu-free facebook account to using a keyboard) I remain hopeful.  And book blogger/reviewer extraordinaire Little Willow posted my feelings on the subject.

So everything is fine!  In fact, some might say (and I'd agree) that everything is very fine indeed.

Remakes

Last week was crazy for me with all things NOT writing related!  In fact, I only worked one day, when I met my Posse for our weekly Writing Day (can't miss that).  The rest of the week I performed Bridesmaid Duties, as one of my BFFs from high school was getting married.  In high school we were known as "The Crew," and in some circles, we still are.  True, these are usually circles we form ourselves...but anyway, back to my beautiful friend The Bride. Friday was The Wedding and at the reception, I got to act as official videographer.  I love this job!  Hmm...is it still a job if nobody asks you to do it?  Or even WANTS you to do it?  I don't offer much cinematic genius, between bad hand constantly shaking the camera and my general technological un-savviness.   However,  Daniel bought me a  camcorder for our own wedding six years ago (apparently at the time he thought my bad hand and tech-ineptness were simply passing fancies).  When I found the receipt I about passed out after seeing the cost!  Now I use the video camera every chance I get, despite my lack of skills.  I'm not getting better, but the videos ARE getting more hilarious!

Someday I will post one of my videos, but because I'm feeling generous right now, I will merely post one of those boring "still-pictures" Daniel took during the Bride and Groom's First Dance:

The song?  "Make You Feel My Love," performed by Garth Brooks.  Personally, I prefer Billy Joel's version, but I have to give G.B his props.  He does a nice job with this song.  I know most  people call it a "cover" when an artist performs someone else's song (this one's a Bob Dylan) but I call it a remake.  Probably there's a technical difference of some sort, but I don't really care.  I love how truly talented musicians can make a song their own, no matter who came up with it first.  FYI, a LOT of musicians have remade this song, including soul-diva Adele whose rendition is stunning.  The  Google search I performed to get this info also showed me a new phenomenon of which I was previously unaware:  people (often teens) singing songs along with a karaoke machine, taping themselves, then posting it on YouTube.  I think I would call these songs "covers."

But I digress.  When I heard "Make You Feel My Love" at the wedding, I thought two things:

1--How happy I was for my Crewmate and her new husband and

2--How we as writers perform remakes.

I mean, there's the basic idea of retellings (how many versions of Cinderella are out there?) but I think it's more than that.  I once heard there are only seven different plots, which is probably an exaggeration, but still.  Truly, we are all just bringing our own twist to a story that's been made a long, long time ago in many, many different ways.

I was reading those crazy comments on YouTube (dangerous, because 99.9% of those comments are such complete trash).  But one comment following a remake-video made me smile: "The Master [Bob Dylan] would be proud."

I love that.  Because what more can we ask for, as artists of any kind, than to make The Master proud?

My First Photo (with the LHA)

Yes, I know I've actually had lots of photos in my posts.  But this is the first time I added one 100% by myself!  Okay, actually that's not QUITE true...my friend Valynne actually took the picture, and then emailed it to me.  But I was the one to figure out how to post it.  That counts for something, right? Below, feast your eyes on young adult writing sensation Laurie Halse Anderson!  I first fell in love with her stunning  novel Speak in 1999.  Now not only is Speak a YA classic, its ten-year-anniversary is a phenomenon!  The message on my lovely lapel button?   Speak up about Speak.  I got to speak up about Speak to the LHA herself, when she came to a signing in my own city.  Not only did I get to mingle with other writers, other readers, and a bunch of cool people in general, I actually got to hear the LHA speak (not just about Speak--in fact, mainly about her breathtaking new book, Wintergirls).

Do I look as thrilled as I felt?   (FYI: I was pretty darn thrilled)

Finding Nebo

Sorry I didn't post last week.  I really try to do the whole once-a-week-blog tradition, but last week I was just too tired.  Don't worry, Dan still got to play game night with Julie and Reo.  I just put my head down on the kitchen table in a state of pseudo-sleep. Why was I so tired?  I had spent the day presenting at the Nebo Young Writers Conference at Springville High.  Although it was exhausting, it was one of the best events I've ever attended.

For one thing, the authors were treated like royalty.  We had our own lunch table with our own ten-foot sandwich.  People were always around to give us water (an important thing when you are presenting).  But the best part were the students (who came from all around the valley and were anywhere from elementary to high school aged) .  These were some of the brightest, most inquisitive students I've ever encountered, and speaking with each one of them was a joy.

From this picture you might not think the experience was a joy:

As in most pictures, in this one my eyebrows have a mind of their own and I look more than a little insane.  Luckily I am used to this look.   Lest I violate some sort of copyright law, I should mention that this photo appeared in the Salt Lake Tribune, photographer Scott Sommerdorf.  Thanks, Scott Sommerdorf!  I don't blame you for my maniacal look in this picture.

Thanks to all those who made this event a great time!

I Get Two Thumbs Up

On Thursday and Friday I attended the Utah Valley University Forum on Childrens' Literature. I gave a lecture on voice on Thursday afternoon and signed my book both days. I made new friends, saw old friends and ate lunch next to award-winning and best-selling author, Shannon Hale. Best of all, during one of Shannon's speeches, when asked what her favorite reads of the year were, she chose The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman, and The Way He Lived by Emily Wing Smith! So, if you haven't read my book yet, pick it up for no reason other than it being recommended by Shannon Hale! Also, on Wednesday David at Largehearted Boy Book Notes posted this essay about what music inspired The Way He Lived.  Thanks David!