Daniel and I made jack o' lanterns tonight.
His is the one with the creepy-cool face. Mine is the one that looks like Pac-Man. Except it is actually a moon and some menacing clouds.
This month has brought celebrations galore (including, of course, the Utah Literary Awards!). I love October.
Happy Almost Halloween!
Only 2 DAYS left until the good times at the Utah Literary Awards! For those wondering, the event will be held in the auditorium on the main level of the library, at 7:00 p.m. All are welcome.
Holly Cupala, soon-to-debut author at the forefront of everything YA, has chosen today to spotlight The Way He Lived on her blog! The column is called Book Cooks, and features recipes from great YA novels/authors. Check out my recipe here (hint: during the 2002 Olympics, images of this food graced many a collectible pin).
Some might have noticed from yesterday's clandestine video that this birthday I was the proud recipient of the American Girl Samantha doll. I have dreamed about owning Samantha since I was nine years old and first discovered the American Girls series.
Now, I am not so much a history buff and I am not so much a doll buff, but I loved the American Girl books. This was back in the day when there were only three doll/book setups, and American Girl wasn't the thriving enterprise it is now. Samantha, the lively orphan from Victorian days, was my favorite, and I vowed to make her my own. However, at that time she was $ 75--pricey enough to make her out of reach.
As recently as 2006, Samantha was still a dream:
And now:
Last week was an awesome week for me, and as this week promises just as many rollickin' good times, I am going to blog each day to keep up. Only 3 Days until Utah Literary Awards shindig with Sara Zarr and a whole bunch of other cool peeps. You don't want to miss it this Thursday night, 7:00, at the downtown SLC Library. Good times a plenty. I guarantee it.
In addition to my birthday, my family had other reasons to celebrate last week. First, my brother Ethan got engaged to one of the coolest girls on the planet (welcome to the family, Cami!). She's majoring in some sort of athletic-teaching and has promised to help me learn how to use my treadmill without falling over and getting black-rubber-burn-marks on my hands. Okay, so she hasn't promised that yet, but I know she will. She's chill like that.
Then my brother Andy got called to serve an LDS mission in Des Moines, Iowa. He'll be gone for two years, which is kind of a bummer, but he'll be serving people in all sorts of ways so it's for the greater good. I am SO happy for him. Andy, you are my hero!
Then it was the one-year birthday of my nephew, Holden. My sister Juliana and brother-in-law Reo threw the most happening bash EVAH. Happy B-Day, Holden. You are way more fun now than you were this time last year.
Speaking of my bomb brother-in-law, Reo was the lucky recipient of a Bag o' Crap from woot.com. Only a privileged few ever get to buy these rare gems. Included in his bag was a bunch of stuff from which the bag derives its name. One such item was a flip video camera that didn't record sound.
I've coveted the flip video camera ever since I saw Sara Zarr's. Not because I'd actually be able to use one. No way. I just love how it looks like a regular camera. Whenever Sara uses hers I forget it's a video camera and don't know I'm being recorded (see me saying incriminating things here). I figure, if I fall for it every time, so will others, and I can gather clandestine footage.
Daniel, techie wizard, took the non-functional flip camera and fixed it. Then, the next night while I was opening B-Day presents with the fam, he recorded me. I, of course, quickly forgot it was a video camera. When will I learn??? Anyway, he proceeded to make me this quality video, which I love. And at a mere 58 seconds, I hope you'll love it, too.
This title kind of reminds me of Morse code which I always wanted to learn. Obviously, though, this entry has nothing to do with Morse code and everything to do with my birthday on Wednesday. My husband, who has been downloading old-timey radio dramas to his iPod lately, wanted me to call my birthday post:
"In Which Sherman Alexie Makes an Appearance and Bree Nearly Impales Valynne With a Fork."
But I thought that title, while accurate, didn't focus enough on me. Because, seriously. It was my birthday!
My 29th birthday began by Daniel and I playing "Birthday" on Beatles Rock Band:
This picture is not of me playing Beatles Rock Band on my birthday morn, but it IS of me playing Beatles Rock Band, and my expression is similar every time I play (AKA my Rock Star Look). Also, Daniel is in the picture but you can't see his face, so that is probably good for privacy issues.
After that, I spent some quality time with my friends at B&N, answering email and composing the following list:
THINGS TO DO BEFORE I TURN 30:
~meet author M.E Kerr (I've wanted to do this since I was sixteen)
~see Barry Manilow (I've ALWAYS wanted to do this)
~write another book
~gain a working knowledge of very basic technology
~become an uber-blogger
~get rid of the recently discovered mouse-family living in my unfinished basement (finish my basement to avoid another mouse-family moving in).
~figure out where I put these lists of things to do that I never end up looking at again.
Luckily now I can't lose this list because it's on the computer, and the computer keeps everything easily accessible, right?
That night I went to see the famous Sherman Alexie speak at my favorite bookstore, the King's English. I expected a crowd, but the place was packed. It was insane. But that only helped matters when Sherman Alexie got everyone to sing "Happy Birthday" to me (for a very special birthday gift to me, Sara Zarr had tipped him off. Thank you, Sara!)
Here we all are, chilling with him:
Brodi, Bree and I are wearing our T-shirts, which Sherman Alexie remembered, and even recalled our names!
Then, off to the Dodo, our new local haunt mainly because it's the only place open late enough for us.
See my delighted expression? That's because I had the best. Birthday. Ever.
At my Senior Ball, a dinner/dance for the almost-graduates at my high school (unlike the prom, not held at a car dealership) I won a Most Likely Award. You know: Most Likely To Succeed, Most Likely To End Up Managing A BK, etc. I got Most Likely To Write For Teen Magazine. Besides the fact that I don't think Teen exists anymore, writing for it wasn't an option because I wanted to write me the novels. But I did love writing quizzes, which earned me the award in the first place. Ah, quizzes. We're talking pre-lame-o facebook quizzes that were apparently designed by an untrained ape. These quizzes were for real: Is He, In Fact, That Into You? What Does Your Personal Style Say About You? Not that the quizzes I wrote were remotely like that. Mine were more along the lines of: Are You An Insomniac? Do You Have Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder?
I guess that's why, when I saw this article yesterday, this popped into my mind: What Does Your Religion Say About You?
I have mixed feelings about the article, which appeared in School Library Journal and is, if not a Big Deal, a Big Enough Deal. I mean, national recognition for my book is always a good thing, whether it comes via being banned or by being mentioned in an article about YA books dealing with the Mormon culture.
But here's the rub: while my book, and some others on the list, indeed DO deal with Mormon culture, others on the list do not. Which is disheartening. Because since when is it the job of journalism to perpetuate untrue stereotypes.
Here's a little quiz:
1) In your excitement for a BFF's book launch, you know just how to celebrate. Your vision? To turn this:
Into this:
(Okay, so this wasn't exactly the vision, but it was the best I could do. To see the fully executed project, plus more about the launch day, check out Sara's video blog here).
Does your belief that cookies are not only a good idea but a crucial one make you a Mormon?
a) Yes
b) No
c) Depends
d) I'd never make cookies--those things'll kill ya.
ANSWER: a.
As far as I know, Mormons are the only people ever to make cookies. And make cookies we do, for any celebration large or small, any gathering large or small, and any reason large or small. It's our thing. Don't take that away from us!
2) After the launch party for second BFF James Dashner's novel:
your rockin' friend Brodi takes a picture of you and James chummin' it up.
You love the pic, but can't help noticing the immodesty of your shirt--the neckline is a little wide for a shirt designed with modesty as its expressed purpose (www.shadeclothing.com). Does even caring about this make you a Mormon?
a) Yes
b) No
c) Depends
d) Die, skank. Die.
ANSWER: a.
Mormons are all paranoid about immodesty. Every single one of them. Wide necklines are unacceptable, as is showing your ankle or elbow.
3) At an author event, you run into Carol Lynch Williams.
You call Carol your mother, and she calls you her daughter, even though she neither birthed you nor has ever been legally married to your father. Does this make you a Mormon?
a) Yes
b) No
c) Depends
d) What do you mean, she didn't give birth to you, MDawg? You totally have her eyes!
ANSWER: Well, apparently if you are the SLJ reporter who wrote this piece, you'll answer A, because being polygamist is part of being Mormon, as evidenced in the television show Big Love and the two YA books mentioned in the article, Sister Wife and The Chosen One.
Alas, none of these are about Mormons. Big Love is based on a splinter group that broke off from the Mormon church generations ago. While The Chosen One is written by an LDS author, it is about a fictional religious cult and has nothing to do with HER religion. Sister Wife has no Mormon ties whatsoever, as far as I know.
What does my religion say about me? Plenty. It says I sit through three hours of church every Sunday. It says that as a non-camper I go to Girls Camp because I love the girls in my congregation and want to share my love--for them, for Jesus Christ, and for His gospel. It says I don't drink mocha java despite my love of chocolate.
But two seconds of research will tell you it does NOT say I believe that men should abuse women and children, it is okay to break the law, and polygamy is hunky-dory.
As a side note, please, please, please be impressed by the number of correct photos and images in this post, along with myriad links. I'm doing this for you, people!
Okay, so it's not actually me personally that's almost banned. Sometimes I have a hard time separating myself from my book. It's actually THE WAY HE LIVED that's being challenged in Lake County, Florida. And with this being Banned Books Week and everything, the timing couldn't be better! Or make me happier. Not that I'm happy people want to ban books, which is bad, bad, bad. But when these elusive "people" succeed, others are like, hey, you can't tell me what I can't read! and they go on and read it anyway. Making us as a society stronger as we prove that indeed we ARE capable of thinking for ourselves. And now THE WAY HE LIVED is one of those books making people think!
I should mention that I'm in very good company--seriously, I'm such a fangirl that I get a thrill even from being on the same list as these people. We're talking Holly Black, John Green, Maureen Johnson and a bunch of others, including author of the ever-controversial Gossip Girls series. I mean, to be on a list with the likes of Gossip Girl...it's just surreal.
You know you love me!
xoxo
Today I have been going through boxes upon boxes of what I've always referred to as memorabilia but is, in actual fact, better referred to as accumulated random stuff. And "random stuff" could probably be replaced with a word that would make this post PG, or one that would make it PG-13. Anyway, it is a long, arduous process and now this stuff is scattered about my office floor, which I hate. So I must take a break to clear my mind from the clutter-demons that haunt me, along with the ghosts of the past. It all started last month when I was searching for a picture from this very past of which I speak. The sheer number of possibilities as to where this picture might be led to the decision to consolidate "memorabilia." Plus, I wanted to find some of my childhood writing samples to share when I visit schools. Hence, today's project.
Items I've unearthed so far:
--A mint-condition Madame Alexander doll circa 1992. I call her my "retirement doll" because I've never even taken her out of the box, to preserve value. I estimate that if I retire in approximately 85 years the doll should provide me enough income for a taxi ride to stand in line for government cheese.
--The Rowland Hall-St. Mark's Lower School Student-Parent Handbook for the 1990-1991 school year. No, I never attended this school. Yes, I dreamed of it. Enough, apparently, to request a student manual and then keep it for nigh unto twenty years.
--A program for the Salon Selectives Back to School Style Fashion Event. Unfortunately, exactly which back to school year this fashion event took place is unstated. I'm guessing about 1993, thanks to descriptions like these:
ACTIVE WEAR
Enuf eggplant pull-on short, Enuf puff logo T
DENIM AND WHITE
Zena over-dyed jeans, white spandex bodysuit
CLASSIC BACK TO SCHOOL
Violet plaid short, white shirt with plaid details, crocheted beret
THE GYPSY LOOK
Tiered chiffon skirt, velvet bolero
and, of course:
HOMECOMING PREVIEW
Red stretch lace cold shoulder dress
I should mention that most of the stores sponsoring the Fashion Event no longer exist, which of course is also the sad fate of "Like you just stepped out of a (Salon)" Selectives. RIP.
Through all of this "memorabilia", all of this hopeless dreaming for schools I would never attend, clothes I would never wear and a retirement that makes even today's 401 k look promising, one thing has emerged: a constant love for writing. A passion so consistent and deep it would get me through anything.
So here it is, and here I am, working away at a dream that's seen me through everything. And in just a few weeks I will be able to celebrate as a Utah Book Award finalist at the Utah Literary Awards Ceremony where THE WAY HE LIVED will go tete-a-tete with the phenomenal SWEETHEARTS by the equally phenomenal Sara Zarr.
It will be held at the Salt Lake City Public Library on October 22 at 7:00. If you'd like to attend such an event (with your respective TEAM SARA or TEAM EMILY t-shirt, of course) you are all invited! Since we're trying to get a head count, let me know (via email, the comment section, whatev) if you're interested.
P.S The t-shirt is not required. Wearing a top of some sort, however, would be appreciated.
Those of you who know me know I love a bargain. In fact, some have even asked me to share my most humorous money-saving strategies/stories here. And I will. But after I tell everyone about my latest find: a year's worth (that's THIRTEEN issues) of Seventeen magazine for only ten bucks! I kid you not. For less than a dollar a month, you can keep up-to-date with the life of Selena Gomez, steal Beyonce's look, AND pick the perfect snack. Also, if you're like me, the bill will be addressed to your parents (because, you know, what adult would want a subscription to Seventeen?). Maybe unlike me, you will tell your parents to foot the bill, making the cost to you a whopping zero dollars! Now that's a deal.
Now the October issue is here, because that's how magazines work: reading them makes living in the current month null and void. Which is cool, because according to Seventeen, my birthday is right around the corner. Wahoo! Again according to the source, as a Libra girl I am fashionable, girly, and an awesome friend.
Proof positive:
FASHIONABLE
Over the weekend I was a panelist at an SCBWI Southern Idaho conference and met TONS of cool people. Most of them lived in southern Idaho, and you might be tempted to think they were the ones who displayed a lacking in the fashion department. Do not be fooled by stereotypes, my wise friends.
In this picture I'm standing next to Brian Farrey, the publicist-turned-editor at my publisher, flux! As you can see, Brian has no problemo showing off his classy flux tee (he refused to give me one, btw. If you, too think this is an outrage, I'm sure Brian would appreciate hearing from you). Please note coordinating sports coat.
With friends like these, how can I NOT be fashionable?
GIRLY
Okay, so I couldn't figure out how to rotate this photo, but that's girly, right? To be incompetent? What? No it isn't because that's a stereotype? I fail at being girly.
Proof positive:
I had no idea why this woman was walking down the streets of downtown Boise holding an inflatable objet d'art until her friend yelled "She's getting married tomorrow!" To which I said, "Congratulations. Why is she carrying an inflatable objet d'art down the streets of downtown Boise?" Then, others had to point out to me that this was actually not an objet d'art, but instead a blow-up man (which I still find hard to believe, frankly, especially upon viewing the picture a second time). Also what had to be pointed out to me: why someone would carry a blow-up man down the streets of downtown Boise simply because she is getting married the next day (frankly, still a mystery).
Which brings me to:
AN AWESOME FRIEND
To some, my complete lack of savvy is endearing, or at the very least, amusing. To those people I say, I hope I am an awesome friend. Otherwise, I don't think I make an awesome friend--I just happen to make awesome friends.
Proof positive:
Friends old and new: Sydney Salter, Valynne, Neysa Jensen, and David Ward. Not pictured are a bunch of other peeps I'm honored to call my peeps!
Ah, astrology. About me you are never wrong.
P.S Shout-out to Brodi, who unlike me is celebrating a birthday in the REAL month this Friday.
I'm sitting here at the Salt Lake City public library, or, as I have come to know it over these past months, my second home. Seriously, today is the third time I've been here this week. Technically, this isn't my library. There are others closer to my house. But the creepy thing about the library closest to my house? It’s the same library I went to as a teen. Even more pathetic, the YA section is still basically the same as it was ten years ago. Sweet Valley High, anyone? Anyone?
I just finished a scene for the revision of my new novel (coming out from the lovely and mega-talented Julie-Strauss Gabel of Dutton Childrens Books.) Now I'm spent, though, and it’s… hmm, 11:28 a.m. Which does not exactly bode well for my productivity the rest of the day. Luckily, who am I sitting next to but BFF Sara Zarr, who suggested I write a blog post with my newfound free time. Brilliant! But then, what else would you expect from her?
Now, I try to keep the bragging on this blog down to a minimum, really I do. Yes, I'm friends with Sara Zarr, but is it really polite to continually make reference to it? No, it is not, but today I will anyway because Sara gave me one of her author copies of Once Was Lost this morning! And it is beautiful. The cover is that great matte-with spot-gloss combo and I dig the whole color scheme. Plus, Sara’s shirt matches her cover! I’d love to post a photo of the two of them together, but alas, no camera. And I refuse to jump into 2005 and get a camera phone, mainly because I tend to break things or otherwise maim them.
DANG IT! This was supposed to be a picture of SARA! From my picture archives, of which there are many of Sara, one that was perfect for this post! Instead there's a picture of me serenading a stuffed giraffe. I look like an idiot. Why do I even have this picture? Blah. This is not my day. (Author's Note: The day that is not my day is today, Tuesday. Friday was a perfectly lovely day).
Speaking of both my famous friends and my uncanny ability to maim (particularly myself), I am honored to be directly mentioned in three of Bree Despain’s highlights from the SCBWI LA conference. Go read about it, because I'll never get around to typing the whole story and it's actually pretty funny. FYI, This post is not typewritten, because after a brief and very sad period in which my ink cartridge ran out, Wonder-Pen is back! And better than ever!
Anyway, I am pleased, proud, and still a little shocked to say that my friend Bree is going to be the Next Big Thing in YA literature. I'm not shocked that Bree’s debut, The Dark Divine, is already getting so much buzz--Bree’s a fantastic writer who can plot like no other. But I'm still in awe that I've known her since the beginning, back when we were both just punk kids eating Cup o' Noodles at BYU. Yay, Bree!
(Author's Note: This is where I was going to insert a picture of Bree, but after the last fiasco I'm just not feeling it. So adieu).
Apart from the obvious ( I'm allergic to dogs, thus would be allergic to myself), myriad other parts of being a dog don't appeal to me. The lack of privacy when relieving oneself. The ticks. The assumption that since I am man's best friend, I must therefore be every man's best friend (Pure ridiculous. How can you be best friends with all mankind?) Of course, the worst part of being a dog is the lack of chocolate. Or so I thought until reading this. A dog who loves chocolate lives to be twenty-one. Coincidence? I think not.
On Friday night I attended a picnic thrown as an alternative to the high school reunion. Of course, it wasn't an alternative to my high school reunion, but no matter. I went anyway. I saw a classmate from junior high who I'd recently friended on facebook and met her children. "So what's up with you?" she asked. "All I see you post on facebook is writing stuff."
To which I replied, "Uh, yeah. What else is there?" But only in my head. Because in a well-rounded life there's more. In my life, which is decidedly not well-rounded, there are only two things: writing and chocolate.
So I bring you this:
2009: The Summer of Writing And Chocolate
June 11-- Delicious brownie sundae at the TGI Fridays in Provo, UT, enjoyed after a hard day's work at the BYU conference (photo courtesy of Sara Bolton and her iPhone). Even Edward Necarsulmer IV couldn't resist a bite!
Ten stars out of ten.
August 10--Cupcake from the bakery at the swank LA mall near the hotel where we stayed and played at the SCBWI conference.
Same cupcake after it had been "warmed up" as per the counter guy's recommendation.
Perfect ten for presentation pre-warm-up; four-point-five afterward. Taste? Out of this world!
August 22--Chocolate cake batter ice cream with brownie mix-in from Cold Stone Creamery after a night living it up with Utah book bloggers (and some authors, too). This flavor combination is a nouveau classic!
Maximum stars.
August 29--Tres Leches Cake from the Sonoma Grill in Ogden, UT, where some of us refueled after an exhausting yet exhilirating day at the Writing for Charity event at the Treehouse Museum.
In fact, here we all are at that magical event:
Don't we look hott!? Yep, all this was donated to help kids in Ogden schools get books (there was money donated, too, not just our extreme hottness. That, of course, is priceless).
All in all, I deem the Summer Of Writing And Chocolate a success! How would you synopsize YOUR summer?
