You’ll never believe what coolness happened to us this past winter. We had an eagle viewing. Not a spotting, but a twenty minute show! We were sitting at our kitchen table and I saw this GIANT eagle swoop down over a flock of coots and buffleheads. Not ten minutes before that Victor had said, “look at all the coots, I’ve never seen so many at once” and I said, “it’s the coot buffet” (meaning for an eagle). Anyway, in my infinitely cool way, I started shouting “AAAHH!!! AHHHH!!! EEEEHH!!!” and waving frantically at the water. The eagle continued to sweep over the coots (and geese) and everyone was diving under water and bobbing around and the geese were honking and it was crazy! Then the eagle finally decided that he needed a break so he landed IN OUR OAK TREE! Victor’s outside measuring how far that is just so I can tell you. It’s somewhere between 80 and 90 feet from our kitchen! He did that in a very scientific way. He walked in a straight line toe to heel and counted his steps.

Anyway, the eagle sat in our tree while the coots and buffleheads hauled ass to get out of there. The geese stayed however, and this is where my story and Victor’s story collide, the eagle started attacking a goose! Victor (and Herb, our neighbor) say no way, a goose is too big and it must’ve been a stray coot or some unlucky duck. But I have way better eyes than those old coots and I could see the goose it was attacking. Do you know how a goose protects itself? It waits until the eagle is just about to attack and then it puts its head down and starts flapping its wings like mad, sending water spraying up into the eagle’s face! It didn’t take long for all the other geese to circle the one under attack and then they all protected each other. This is another reason I know it was a goose. Why would the rest of the geese protect it when they just watched the eagle coot-fishing? Hmmmmm??????

Anyway, the eagle landed in our tree again for a while. And later we saw him swooping across the lake and being chased by a couple of crows (they fly right behind it so it can’t catch them) and then we had to go to town for groceries. This all took place over about an hour, but the main show was twenty minutes long. It was kind of weird because part of me was rooting for the eagle, you know, so it wouldn’t go hungry and also so I could see it fly away with something, but the other part was yelling, “DIVE DUMMIES! DIVE!” We locked the cats in the house, except Mr. Fatboy. He’s lost weight, but he still weighs 20lbs.

I stole this idea from the fabulous writer, Arthur Slade. Anyone who knows me knows that the first draft is a killer for me. I can revise until the geese come home (we don’t have cows here on the lake), but first drafts? I need to be super-glued to my chair. Thus, the timer method. Art told me (I may not have it exactly right, but it was some version of this story) that he sets the timer for forty minutes and sits in his chair, hopefully writing, but doing nothing if writing doesn’t happen until the timer goes off. When the forty minutes are up, he takes a twenty minute break. He does this four times before noon. Then he’s done for the day. Unless he wants to keep writing.

I usually have to work my way up to four forty minute sessions when I’m doing a first draft. I aim for one or two sessions a day and then add more over a ten day period or so. For a revision, I have to set the timer so that I remember to take the break! When I’m revising, I have to MAKE myself take days off. Sometimes I even have to give my computer to my husband and tell him not to give it back until the next day. One day last fall, I thought, “Gosh, I’m tired.” and that’s when it hit me I hadn’t had a do-nothing day off since May! Yes, May.

I am doing a first draft right now which means I’m very good at finding other things to keep me busy. Wish me well on my forty minutes today…I’m aiming for two sessions…

How do you get motivated to write?

Four hours later… I did one forty minute session that turned into 60 minutes (my timer’s broken) and went back and wrote another forty minutes after that. Yay! Take that, first draft!

Today’s topic is actually about grade schoolers, but I could see teens jumping on this bandwagon. At East Side Elementary School in Chattanooga, TN, the kids exceeded their reading goals and their reward (besides reading the books) was they got to throw pies at two teachers. Now that sounds like fun. I can remember a few teachers who could’ve used a pie to the face when I was in school. The best job was reserved for the overall point leader (no name in the paper, cause it’s a kid, I guess). He got to shave the student counselor’s head! And this student counselor, Mr. Shelsky, had quite a head of hair, but not anymore!

If you write a book review and post it as a comment here (50 words or less, please and no spoilers), I’ll put your name in the hat twice. If you send someone new to my site and they enter to win, have them include your name in their post/comment and I’ll throw your name in again too!

Last week’s winner is Olivia D. She’ll be receiving a book of her choice from my stash! Congratulations, Olivia and thanks for your email! Olivia chose The Boggart and I threw in the second one for fun. Now don’t you wish you’d entered? This week, I’ve mixed it up with a few new titles and some from last week. Here’s what’s on offer:

SOMEONE LIKE YOU/THAT SUMMER – two novels in one book by Sarah Dessen (YA)

THE MIDWIFE’S APPRENTICE – by Karen Cushman (MG)

JACOB HAVE I LOVED – by Katherine Patterson (it’s an old beat-up copy, but what the heck? It’s great and it’s free!)

SO SUPER STARRY – British chick lit by Rose Wilkins (better than most) (YA)

THE PRINCESS DIARIES Give Me Five – the fifth book in series, by Meg Cabot (new, YA)

CHILDREN OF THE RIVER – by Linda Crew (YA)

Commenting here gets you entered to win OR you can comment on any of the books I write about this week in Need To Read OR you can send me your info through the contact page. Next weekend, I’ll draw a name out of the Cubbies hat and post the winner on Monday along with the new book.

Because this website is geared towards teen readers, I have a few rules, mostly regarding internet safety.

MORE WAYS TO WIN!!!!

1. Please send only your first name or a username if you’re under 18.

2. If you are the winner, and you’re under 18, I will require your parent or guardian to send me an email with <strong>their</strong> name and address on it claiming your prize for you. No email, no book.

3. I’m footing the bill for the postage so I’ll only send the book to a U.S. or Canadian address, and it will be going slow-boat-media mail.

4. I’ll choose a title to give away each week, but if you’ve read it or it’s not your thing, I might be able to offer you an alternate pick, so go ahead and enter and if you win, just let me know then.

5. This website is geared toward teen readers and writers. Adults are welcome to enter for now, but I may limit it to the under eighteen set eventually. I reserve that right.

Wow. Yeah. Wow. This is an incredible read. I’m not really sure how to write about it without giving anything away. I will just say this though…the characters are so well-written and dimensional that you don’t just sympathize with them, you empathize with them. This novel really makes you feel. At one point I had to stop reading because the scene was so powerful I just wanted to digest it. And it was in a high point of the book where you should’ve wanted to keep going to find out what happened next. I found myself doing that more with this book than usual. In fact, it took me four days, at least, to read this book and it’s only 312 pages, so it’s not like it was WAR AND PEACE or anything. Some books you devour because they’re so good and others you savor because they’re so good. The was a savorer.

One of the great things about this novel is that it’s got this whole other world – the world of comic books and graphic novels – that you the reader get to experience. I mean, what a great thing to have in a novel because there are all the comic book kids who will really identify and yet, those of us who have never read a comic book in our lives still get it and learn something new too.

Author Tom Perrotta called it “A captivating, darkly entertaining first novel.” And yeah…that sums it up really well. It is entertaining, but it’s also dark. And for those of you who have asked that I make note of things like that here on this blog, I would say this is a book for a teen, not so much a pre-teen…unless you (the parent) read it first because you know your kids and know if they’re ready for this or not. I personally would let my kid read it (which is easy to say because I don’t have any), but like I’ve said before, my mom thought it was important to let me choose what I read and I think that’s a good move. So…yeah, it’s a little dark, but even if your comfort zone is low in regards to dark (mine is very low), this book is worth it.

Oh, and by the way, did I mention that Barry Lyga and I have the same agent ? That’s how I came across this book. He’s got a really cool site that you should check out.

I’ve been collecting author interviews with the idea of posting one each Friday. I have a few on hold and when I went to pull one of those today, I realized all the ones I have are slated to be posted later when those authors’ books are released. That left me with two choices…interview myself again or use something else. We’ll return to The Friday Five next week, but for today, here is something fun I put together and then never did anything with it. I hope you like it.

Betsy’s house on Center Street.

Readers the world over love Maude Hart Lovelace’s series, Betsy-Tacy. Everyone from the little girl whose librarian handed her Betsy and Tacy Go Downtown yesterday, to celebrities like Bette Midler and writer Anna Quindlen sing the praises of this series. People often ask me, “What’s your favorite book of all time?” and without hesitations I answer, “All of the Betsy-Tacy books, of course.” As a writer, I’ve also learned how to write from reading about Betsy. Here are ten things Maude, Betsy, her loving family, and abundance of friend have taught me about life and writing.

1. Watch sunsets. Pay attention, enjoy life and it will make you a better writer. Nature stimulates your imagination. Betsy-Tacy, Chapter 3 – Supper on the Hill.
2. Never neglect your writing for friends, parties, or nay Sayers. Heaven To Betsy, Chapter 27 – The Essay Contest.
3. Green ribbons, scented notepaper, and adding an “e” to your name won’t make you mysterious, only miserable. Be true to yourself. Betsy in Spite of Herself, Chapter 22 – Betsye into Betsy.
4. If you’re not sure what to write, try a little of everything and see what happens. Betsy-Tacy and Tib, Chapter 5 – Everything Pudding.
5. Lists are part of being a writer. “But perhaps people who liked to write always made lists! Just for the fun of it.” Betsy Was a Junior, Chapter 24 – Growing Up.
6. Stubbornness and the inability to apologize will only bring you and others pain. Betsy and Joe, Betsy and the Great World.
7. Procrastinating until the night before your deadline will keep you up all night and probably cause you to do poor work. Betsy Was a Junior, Chapter 22 – The Consequences of Folly (Gaston and the herbariums).
8. If something’s important enough to you, make sure you grab it and don’t wait around for someone else to provide it. Heaven To Betsy, Chapter 17 – The Brass Bowl.
9. Instead of trying to make enough writing sales to pay the housekeeper for a year, earn enough to pay her for a week. And then another week…and another…and another… Betsy’s Wedding, Chapter 8 – Of Meat Pie and Other Things.
10. Keep submitting. “Many of her manuscripts had made twenty and thirty trips” Betsy and the Great World, Chapter 2 – “Haply I May Remember”


Pick up your copy of Betsy-Tacy today. Better yet, join The Betsy-Tacy Society. Also, don’t forget to enter to win a free book! Scroll down to Monday to find out how to win. See you next week.

I got to hold a gosling last Saturday! He wasn’t too thrilled about it, and I now have one less shirt to wear, but it was still a very exciting experience. Near our house, there’s a walking trail through some very thin woods along the lake – it’s more like a park than a wilderness area – anyway, I came around a bend in the trail and there were three ducks sitting with a lone gosling. As soon as the ducks saw me, they were like, “Hey, we never saw that guy before in our lives. He sat next to us!” and they ran off in the other direction, leaving this poor little gosling all alone. Believe me, I checked for adult geese who might be with him. Trust me, you don’t want to piss off a mama or daddy goose, just ask our cats.

The coast was clear and I saw my chance. Just that morning I’d been thinking how much I’d love to hold a gosling because they’re so cute and yellow and soft looking. I tried walking after it, but it ran, ran, ran, so then I ran, ran, ran, calling out to it things like, “It’s okay! I’m going to reunite you with your family. You know me! You come to my yard every day!” But it was like he couldn’t understand English or something. He just kept going.

I have long legs. Goslings don’t. I wore him out pretty quickly and he just laid down in the grass, hoping he’d suddenly become invisible. But he hadn’t, so I picked him up and held him right up against my heart and sat on a bench so he could relax. He actually did relax pretty well – kind of like when the cats catch a chipmunk and it plays dead until the cat sets it down.

My plan was to walk him back to our house and wait for the families to come like they do almost every afternoon. We got almost all the way home (about 1/8 of a mile) before he let loose all over my shirt…blech! But he was so cute, I forgave him. If someone as big as I am, picked me up, I bet I’d go all over her too!

When we got to our house, I took him inside and put him in my bathroom while I wrestled one of those collapsible cardboard pet carriers together. Then I plunked him inside and took him outside to wait (oh, I’d also changed my shirt). I threw little bits of hamburger bun in the carrier, but he was too upset to eat them.

I went out to the edge of the lake and believe it or not, there were several geese families swimming along! It was almost time for me to be a hero. Except they were swimming towards the opposite shore. I yelled at them and threw bits of hamburger bun into the lake. And then, because I was running out of bun, I pretended to throw it, but they totally ignored me. Apparently they have their own schedule and I wasn’t on it that afternoon. They landed across the lake and disappeared from view.

I went back to tell my new friend it might be a while so he should just get comfortable, but when I peered into the breathing holes, he was standing rigid with bread and poop lying around him. This is where I got duped by his cute-osity. I was taken in by someone with a brain the size of a peanut. He looked so helpless, so fragile. I’d felt his heart beating against my chest. We’d bonded. Surely if I just let him out and set him on the grass then he would hang out with me, spend the afternoon pecking around our yard, maybe even become friends with Mr. Fatboy (our cat) who wouldn’t hurt a flea (in fact, fleas love him and he doesn’t do a thing to get rid of them).

So I was suckered in by his cuteness and I opened the box so we could become lifelong pals. I knew he was too little to jump off the retaining wall into the water, heck, he couldn’t even jump out of the box on his own so I lifted him out and set him on the grass.

Let’s just say if there were gosling Olympics, he’d be a gold medallist for sure. He ran so fast across the yard, he almost could’ve taken flight on those stubby little wings. When he got to the wall…he looked down at the water for about half a second…a two foot jump…and then the little buglet leapt in and swam away! I was heartbroken that I didn’t get to reunite them, especially since he swam in the wrong direction!

I ran out to the retaining wall and watched him dive under the water, to get the goose poop off of him. He couldn’t possibly be trying to rid himself of the scent of his new mommy. For about two seconds I entertained the idea of plopping the canoe in the water and going after him, but by then he was half way across the lake. Besides, I could just see me chasing a gosling in a canoe. Now that would’ve been funny!

I sat on the retaining wall, clutching half a hamburger bun and tried to keep him in my sight as he paddled away. Mr. Fatboy nibbled on the hamburger bun, hoping to make me feel better. Eventually I consoled myself with the idea that he wasn’t any worse off AND I got to hold a gosling. So there you go! How fun was that?

But wait, the story doesn’t end here. There’s good news! The next morning, when the geese families swam towards our yard, I noticed that in one of the families, the mama had the trail of goslings behind her, and the daddy was swimming off on his own with ONE GOSLING trailing behind him! Sure enough, when they arrived, their family of 6 had grown to 7! And I know it was him because he recognized me and ran away squealing…no not really, he acted all indifferent, like he didn’t even know me. It was like dating all over again.

I’ve decided to make a little change on my website because I want to be funny. Everyone else is funny, why not me? Actually, here’s the deal…we have a lot of funny things happen here, mostly to do with animals, often to do with our cats, and I write these little essays about these incidents. I’ve decided that I’m going to combine My Writing and Your Writing and have that be the topic for Wednesdays, and use Thursdays to indulge myself and post these essays. They won’t all be about my cats or other wildlife around here, sometimes I’ll write about my favorite funny subject, my husband! I just thought it would be nice to have a little sample of my writing each week that wasn’t anything I could really market and sell anywhere. Although, if you’re an editor, and you want to buy any of these pieces, please contact me!

My first story is all about how I got to hold a gosling.
.

Do you fall asleep when you read? I can go either way. Depends on the book, the time of day, the chair… Where sleep gets me is not with reading, but with writing!

In the fall, I feel alive, excited, ready to write. I think it’s that back-to-school thing. I peruse Office Depot adds imagining what I would buy if I went back to school, I check out a few Masters programs online, I read first day of school books, like JASON AND MARCELINE by Jerry Spinelli, and I send my characters back to school themselves. It’s a great time to be a writer.

Winter’s pretty good too because I’m way too cold to fall asleep during the day. Even with silk long underwear and bulky sweaters, you’ll find me with blankets and icy fingers at the computer. Tea is a staple and the caffeine probably contributes to my productivity.

Spring is where things start to break down. In Early spring, it’s just so pretty that I end up spending a lot of time on the porch reading. Since reading technically counts as writing in my dictionary (Don’t read? Can’t write!), I just indulge my instincts. However, once the pollen sets in…it’s sleepy time. I told my husband I could walk around and scrape the pollen off the cars and furniture, put it capsules, and sell it as a sleep-aid on the internet and we’d be millionaires. He said I’d fall asleep before I could fill one capsule. He’s probably right. Writing suffers in the spring.

I’ve heard from a lot of writers that the summer is their best time to write because they’re teachers and have it off, or their kids spend lots of time at activities which means they have to be there and supposedly they’re watching to make sure the kiddies don’t drown (Anne Marie), but actually they’re writing. Summer is not my best writing time. Why? Because summer makes me sleepy. It’s true. I could sleep away the entire summer if my husband didn’t need things like meals and sunset walks.

So when’s your favorite season to write? When are you the most productive? And most importantly, how can I stay awake this summer?

Last week’s Teen Topic was preempted by the news that I HAVE AN AGENT. Ummm…but you knew that, right?

What I had intended to write about was about a seventeen year old student who discovered that iPods might interfere with pacemakers. Here’s the story. What I’m impressed by is that there are seventeen year olds thinking about this stuff. No offense meant, there are plenty of smart kids, I know a writer who has a couple of them, and I know some myself, but I personally, was not thinking about this when I was seventeen. I’m actually not even thinking about this stuff now. All I can say is I hope that he serves as an inspiration to other kids who have ideas/thoughts/avenues they want to pursue but think they have to be older to do it. Go for it, kids!

Last week’s winner is Karen H. She’ll be receiving a book of her choice from my stash! Congratulations, Karen and thanks for your email!

This week, I’ve mixed it up with a few new titles and some from last week. Here’s what’s on offer:

SOMEONE LIKE YOU/THAT SUMMER – two novels in one book by Sarah Dessen (YA)

THE BOGGART – by Susan Cooper (MG)

THE CASTLE IN THE ATTIC – by Elizabeth Winthrop (MG)

SO SUPER STARRY – British chick lit by Rose Wilkins (better than most) (YA)

THE PRINCESS DIARIES Give Me Five – the fifth book in series, by Meg Cabot (new, YA)

CHILDREN OF THE RIVER – by Linda Crew (YA)

Commenting here gets you entered to win OR you can comment on any of the books I write about this week in Need To Read OR you can send me your info through the Contact page. Next weekend, I’ll draw a name out of the Cubbies hat and post the winner on Monday along with the new book.

Because this website is geared towards teen readers, I have a few rules, mostly regarding internet safety.

1. Please send only your first name or a username if you’re under 18.

2. If you are the winner, and you’re under 18, I will require your parent or guardian to send me an email with their name and address on it claiming your prize for you. No email, no book.

3. I’m footing the bill for the postage so I’ll only send the book to a U.S. or Canadian address, and it will be going slow-boat-media mail.

4. I’ll choose a title to give away each week, but if you’ve read it or it’s not your thing, I might be able to offer you an alternate pick, so go ahead and enter and if you win, just let me know then.

5. This website is geared toward teen readers and writers. Adults are welcome to enter for now, but I may limit it to the under eighteen set eventually. I reserve that right.

MORE WAYS TO WIN!

If you write a book review and post it as a comment here (50 words or less, please and no spoilers), I’ll put your name in the hat twice. If you send someone new to my site and they enter to win, have them include your name in their post/comment and I’ll throw your name in again too!

  Earlier today I mentioned to an online, non-writer friend that I have a website that her daughter might be interested in checking out. She emailed me back to tell me that her daughter loves to read and she was sure to enjoy my site and she was excited about it. However, she did ask me if the books I recommended were “safe for a twelve year old”. She assured me that she is not a prude, but she’s found what she considers “soft porn” in a lot of YA and she just doesn’t find that appropriate for a twelve year old. I was really glad she asked the question because this blog has been geared towards grown-ups from its start, but now it is on my website which I am clearly marketing towards teens. This was a fair question that I needed to consider, but hadn’t really thought of before.

My answer to her was that I think sex plays an important part in a lot of YA and therefore I am certainly not going to refrain from posting about books that I love just because they contain sex. That said, I have yet to fall in love with a book containing gratuitous or shock-value sex scenes in them, and I’ve read some. As you all know, I only write about books I really like so those books aren’t going to end up on my website anyway. I explained to her about MG and YA labels also and how it would be safe for her daughter to read any of the MG that I talk about, and she seemed happy with my answer.

This got me thinking, and any of you who are between about 35-45, or are parents of people that age, will remember Judy Blume and the FOREVER scandal. I think that my mother handled that better than anyone else’s. When my friend, Shannon, brought FOREVER to school in the fourth grade and we all gathered around reading the sexy bits, we were caught and our parents were called (or a note or something). What did my brilliant mother do? She went out and bought the book, read it herself, and then handed it to me and told me that I couldn’t just read the sexy bits, I had to read the whole thing straight through, just like any other book. Which I eagerly did. And I loved that book, but believe me, taking away the taboo like that certainly put a damper on the whole thing! The thing I remember most now, as I’m older and can reflect back on it, is how OLD I thought Michael and Katharine were. They were seniors in high school! Practically grown-ups. So what if they had sex?

My new age mum wasn’t so forthcoming with WIFEY which I will admit now, I read anyway. She’ll probably tell you she knew that, but I don’t think she did! Still, books were never hidden in our house, so I could read whatever was around.

To wrap up this post, I’ll just say that in future posts, I may make a note if a book contains sex. That way the kids will know which ones they want to read. I mean, the parents can read them first to make sure they’re comfortable with the books.

This week I interviewed children’s writer, Dori Butler. Her book TRADING PLACES WITH TANK TALBOTT just won the Maryland Black-Eyed Susan Book Award (reader’s choice for grades 4-6). That book is also on award lists in Iowa, Florida, Oklahoma, and Tennessee. Many of her other award winning books are available too, and this spring she has two new picture book releases, MY GRANDPA HAD A STROKE (Magination Press) and F IS FOR FIREFIGHTING (Pelican Publishing Company). Visit Dori’s website at http://www.kidswriter.com/index.htm to learn more about her!

Q. What were your favorite books when you were a teen?
A. My favorite author was Judy Blume. Judy Blume got me through my adolescence. She told me what I needed to know.

I also liked the Betsy-Tacy books by Maud Hart Lovelace (I grew up just one hour from where those stories were set!)…and I loved mystery/thrillers!

Q. What’s on your iPod or CD player?
A. I don’t actually have an iPod. But we have all our music (and one of my husband’s friends entire music collection, too!) converted to MP3 and we can listen to it anywhere in the house (or put it on CDs to listen to in the car). I’ve got a wide range of stuff…classical, new age, jazz, music that was popular when I was a teen…there’s nothing like a certain song from my youth to put me right back in that time.

Q. Do you eat right, get plenty of exercise, and sleep eight hours, or do you sit in front of your computer writing all the time?
A. I eat too much chocolate and too much Chinese food. And I don’t sleep as well as I used to…I need a good thunderstorm during the night if I want to sleep really well. I’m pretty good about getting exercise, though. I try and walk four miles or bike 14-24 miles almost every day.

Q. I gave you ten questions and asked you to answer five. Were you tempted to answer all ten?
A. Yup.

Q. Do you use an outline when writing, or just let it flow and write as fast as you can?
A. Sort of a combination. I’m a reluctant outliner, so I don’t sit down and outline until I get stuck. Then, when I’m stuck I pull out my character and plot charts…and I start outlining. Either I get tired of the outlining and go back to my WIP out of boredom…OR I figure out what was wrong with the story in the first place (why I got stuck).

Q. What’s the most embarrassing thing that happened to you in high school?
A. I played the oboe in high school, which I loved…but I never liked being the center of attention, so I never wanted to play solos. I would flub my auditions on purpose just so I would end up second chair rather than first. But I ended up first chair my senior year anyway. The first time I had a solo in a concert, I was so scared! I was sure I was going
to throw up or pass out or both. Well, I didn’t throw up or pass out…but when it came time to play, my first note came out in the most god-awful SCREECH you can imagine! Not a pretty oboe sound at all. But I had to keep going, even though my hands were shaking and my face was hot and I could hardly breathe. After an eternity (about a measure or two), I sort of went on auto-pilot and managed to finish the solo. By the end
it actually sounded pretty good.

And now a word from your sponsor (me!).

Thanks, Dori! Also, just a quick reminder, I have an agent now…oh, wait, that wasn’t what I meant to say! I just can’t help myself. What I meant to say is don’t forget to enter to win a free book this week! Scroll down to Monday for the rules. It’s easy peasey and this week you get your choice from a whole list of fabulous books.

Also, I just want to add that I didn’t choose to interview Dori because she loves Betsy-Tacy like I do, but since she brought it up, don’t forget to read those fabulous books and you can join the B-T Society here: http://www.betsy-tacysociety.org/

Like millions of people, I am preparing for the release of the seventh HP book by starting at the beginning and reading them all again. I have to admit that I usually try this, get stuck on book four, and skip to book five (probably my favorite, although I liked book six too). This time I am trying a new approach. I am reading the first two, because when I was in England I bought the British versions (I’ve been ordering them from England since book three, but had never read the British versions of the first two). However, I am going to listen to the others on my iPod while I work out. I did not steal this idea from Lisa Graff (http://lisagraff.blogspot.com/). I thought of it before she posted on her blog that she intended to do that too! Anyway, I might read book six again too because I’ve only read it once.

I thoroughly enjoyed book one, even though I’ve read it probably four or five times and seen the movie that many times too. Now I’ll read book two, and then I’m looking forward to some books that Michelle (my agent’s assistant) recommended and hopefully will arrive tomorrow or the next day. Happy reading!

Do you plan to reread the HP books? Are you a fan?

We interrupt this regularly scheduled post called “Teen Topic Tuesdays” to bring you this important message (and I decided to leave it up all week…until Friday’s Author interview anyway)!

I now have a literary agent.

Yep, an agent! Kathy Anderson of Anderson Literary Management has offered to represent me and I gladly accepted.

I am now allowed to say things like:

“Well, my agent says…”

“I’ll have to ask my agent…”

“My agent, Kathy Anderson, told me…”

And someday I’ll probably even get to say:

“Well, when my agent, Kathy, sold my first book…”

YIPPEE! YAHOO! YAY!

The winner of last week’s book ARTEMIS FOWL – THE ARCTIC INCIDENT is…me. Yep, me. I get to keep it. I guess y’all have read it already so no one wanted another copy.

This week, to entice you, I’m giving you your choice from some of my stash. Here’s what’s on offer:

SOMEONE LIKE YOU/THAT SUMMER – two novels in one book by Sarah Dessen

THE MIDWIFE’S APPRENTICE – by Karen Cushman

DANCING NAKED – by Canadian author, Shelley Hrdlitschka

SO SUPER STARRY – British chick lit by Rose Wilkins (better than most)

THE PRINCESS DIARIES Give Me Five – the fifth book in series, by Meg Cabot (new)

HOW TO BE A REAL PERSON – by Sally Warner (hardback)

Commenting here gets you entered to win OR you can comment on any of the books I write about this week in Need To Read OR you can send me your info through the Contact page. Next weekend, I’ll draw a name out of the Cubbies hat and post the winner on Monday along with the new book.

Because this website is geared towards teen readers, I have a few rules, mostly regarding internet safety.

1. Please send only your first name or a username if you’re under 18.

2. If you are the winner, and you’re under 18, I will require your parent or guardian to send me an email with their name and address on it claiming your prize for you. No email, no book.

3. I’m footing the bill for the postage so I’ll only send the book to a U.S. or Canadian address, and it will be going slow-boat-media mail.

4. I’ll choose a title to give away each week, but if you’ve read it or it’s not your thing, I might be able to offer you an alternate pick, so go ahead and enter and if you win, just let me know then.

5. This website is geared toward teen readers and writers. Adults are welcome to enter for now, but I may limit it to the under eighteen set eventually. I reserve that right.

MORE WAYS TO WIN!

If you write a book review and post it as a comment here (50 words or less, please and no spoilers), I’ll put your name in the hat twice. If you send someone new to my site and they enter to win, have them include your name in their post/comment and I’ll throw your name in again too!

This is not the type of book I usually read. It’s an adventure story, based on true events. It’s fabulous! It was recommended to me by someone who works with the author, which is why I picked it up when I normally would’ve walked right past it.

The Washington Post called it, “Truly thrilling.” and I couldn’t agree more. In addition to the high adventure, there’s just a lot of great writing. You’re reading along, totally absorbed in the story, and then McKernan writes something so beautiful or exact that you stop for a second and want to absorb it. She’s particularly good at ending chapters this way.

The book is a page turner and an emotional roller coaster. If you love adventures, this is for you. If you’re lukewarm about adventures, you still can’t go wrong with this one. If you like historical novels, pick this up. Really, just read it!

One of my favorite writer friends is Anne Marie Pace. She’s one of those sweet people who always have encouraging words and she also knows a lot about the business, so you can ask her questions and she usually knows the answer! Gotta love that. So, welcome, Anne Marie.

Anne Marie Pace writes for kids. Her stories, articles and poems have been published in such magazines as Highlights for Children, On the Line, My Friend and Wee Ones. Check out her website at http://www.annemariepace.com

1. What were your favorite books when you were a teen?

I had a lot of required reading to do for school (Tales of Two Cities, Fahrenheit-451, Anna Karenina—you know the routine), but when I got to choose, I read everything by Victoria Holt and Judith Krantz (eep!). I think I was a teen when I was reading Ellen Conford, Paula Danziger, and Judy Blume. Every year I reread all of the Little House books and all of the Swallows and Amazons series by Arthur Ransome at least twice. That last series is wonderful; it’s a group of kids in the 1920s exploring the Lake District of England (and sometimes beyond). They ate exotica like steak-and-kidney pie and hot pots and squashed fly biscuits.

2.What’s on your iPod or CD player?

I have pretty eclectic taste in music. I’m a choral singer so I have a lot of choral music of all types. My favorite piece of music is Leonard Bernstein’s “Chichester Psalms,” without which I couldn’t have completed my second novel manuscript; I think of it as the soundtrack to that work. The music plunges into despair, then soars into hope and peace. Other music? I grew to love Irish music when I took Irish dancing as a kid, long before Riverdance made it cool. And I still have a soft spot for (gulp!) the Partridge Family.

3.Do you eat right, get plenty of exercise, and sleep eight hours, or do you sit in front of your computer writing all the time?

I don’t get enough sleep. I could use eight hours, but it’s usually more like six and a half or seven. I do try to exercise and eat right, but I’m not a model of either. I’m just regular. I try to write at least an hour a weekday, but sometimes do three or four. I can’t write much more than that unless I have a deadline. My hands get cramped.

4. What’s the best piece of advice anyone ever gave you?

I don’t know what the BEST piece of advice I’ve gotten is; I have been blessed through the years with good friends who give wise counsel. But writing-wise, I had a recent discovery that helped me get through the downdraft of a YA; this quote is something I found in Candie Moonshower’s blog, and it’s a quote from Jane Smiley:

“Every first draft is perfect because all the first draft has to do is exist. It’s perfect in its existence. The only way it could be imperfect would be not to exist.” I typed it out, printed it, and taped it to my computer under the screen. It helped me plow through. I guess it’s just another way of saying to BIC or free yourself of your internal editor, but this particular way of phrasing it resonated with me and allowed me to work.

5. What’s the most embarrassing thing that happened to you in high school?

Falling down the steps near the gym in front of the quarterback and his girlfriend. They snickered. L

__________________________________________________________________________________

Don’t forget, last day to enter to win ARTEMIS FOWL – THE ARCTIC INCIDENT (or one from my stash if you don’t want that book). Scroll down to Monday for “how to enter” directions! And thanks for stopping by my website.

Wow! What a great book. I am not a huge MG fan, as you know, and the lower end of MG really doesn’t speak to me too often, but this is the exception. Run, don’t walk, to get your copy. And if you’re a grade school teacher, this is a fantastic book to read aloud to your kids. You’ll see why once you read it.

This is Lisa’s debut novel, but I’m excited to see that she has another one coming out soon and her agent just sold a third one too. This book is a new twist on “my mom is having a baby who will displace me”, friendship, and learning who you are (and who you aren’t). I highly recommend it. Lisa has a great website at www.lisagraff.com

It is true that I know Lisa, but just for the record, I’ve read books by authors I know or have met and if I don’t like the books, I just don’t write about them here, so you don’t have to worry that I’m being partial. As you may have noticed, I like to give my books away, but this one I’ll be keeping in my small library of books I’d like to read again.

Yay, Lisa!

Today I want you to post your website or blog link so that I can visit you. Also others who stop by here can find some more sites to check out. If you’re not a writer or you don’t have a blog or website, feel free to post the URLs of some of your favorite writers! And when you’re done, check out my links section to find out about some of my favorite writers.

Thanks for stopping by!

(the heart is just because it seemed cheerful)

All I have to say today about my writing is STAY TUNED FOR SOME VERY EXCITING NEWS!

P.S. And don’t forget to enter for a free book this week. Even if you have THE ARCTIC INCIDENT, I have alternative prizes!

Last week’s winner of THE FIRST FIVE PAGES is Susi Fowler. Send me your address, Susi and I’ll drop the book in the mail. Congratulations!

This week I’m giving away a YA because I can’t decide if I really want to part with that other craft book that I was going to give away! This is a brand new paperback, and the second book in the series. Do you like the Artemis Fowl books? Tell me why or why not and you could win (if you tell me why not and you win the drawing, you can select something else from my book bag). Commenting here gets you entered to win OR you can comment on any of the books I write about this week in Need To Read OR you can send me your info through the Contact page. Next weekend, I’ll draw a name out of the Cubbies hat and post the winner on Monday along with the new book.

Because this website is geared towards teen readers, I have a few rules, mostly regarding internet safety.

1. Please send only your first name or a username if you’re under 18.

2. If you are the winner, and you’re under 18, I will require your parent or guardian to send me an email with their name and address on it claiming your prize for you. No email, no book.

3. I’m footing the bill for the postage so I’ll only send the book to a U.S. or Canadian address, and it will be going slow-boat-media mail.

4. I’ll choose a title to give away each week, but if you’ve read it or it’s not your thing, I might be able to offer you an alternate pick, so go ahead and enter and if you win, just let me know then.

5. This website is geared toward teen readers and writers. Adults are welcome to enter for now, but I may limit it to the under eighteen set eventually. I reserve that right.

MORE WAYS TO WIN!

If you write a book review and post it as a comment here (50 words or less, please and no spoilers), I’ll put your name in the hat twice. If you send someone new to my site and they enter to win, have them include your name in their post/comment and I’ll throw your name in again too!

So, I haven’t posted for a while because for a couple of days I just read the newspaper and magazines. And for the last few days I’ve been reading a pretty long YA. I’ve gone back and forth on whether to name it here or not, because I have very mixed feelings about it and I don’t like to say bad things about other people’s work. That said, I didn’t hate this book, in fact, I liked it, so the title is MY LOST AND FOUND LIFE by Melodie Bowsher.

Here’s the deal. The book hooked me with the very first sentence. There was no going back. But then the writing felt like it was a bunch of back-story that could’ve been woven into the real story IF it ever got going. But I still couldn’t put it down because the first sentence hooked me.

There are two reasons I got hooked. One is because it was a premise I’d never seen before. Yeah, I know. Hard to believe, but true…an original premise. The other reason is because I couldn’t help putting myself in the character’s position and imagining all the ways I would’ve handled it better. Anyone who reads this book will do that. I’d put money on it. So I knew what I would do, and I knew I’d do it better, but how was the character going to handle it? I had to find out. Despite the fact that the writing just went on and on AND the character was not very likable at all!

So when did it pick up? You’ll be shocked to hear that I don’t believe the story really got going until around page…150. Seriously. No kidding. The book is 312, pages, by the way. You got some new information around the 75 page mark that helped keep you hooked, but overall, the story really didn’t get interesting and exciting until then. And then it got pretty damn interesting and exciting. I find it fascinating that someone, the writer’s group, her agent, her editor, didn’t see this or chose to let it slide.

So, I tried to find some reviews to see if anyone else felt this way, but these days most reviewers seem to think a plot summary is a review. That baffles me too. You’ll get a plot summary and one sentence about the “voice” or something. How is that helpful? Anyway, that’s another post entirely!!!

Speaking of voice, the voice is excellent and the characters are very well-drawn. I think the author went to unnecessarily great pains (like a hundred pages) to show that the character was a spoiled brat. The way her “friends” reacted to her hardships and how people perceived her already showed who she was very clearly. Anyway, just my thoughts. I would read something else by this author, especially since this is a first novel and her next book is bound to be even better. I would even recommend this book but with the caveat that you have to have some stamina to get to the good part.