I just wrote a nice post about this and it disappeared, so just let me say quickly (since I’m supposedly on holiday) that I loved this book. Fun. Quirky. Adventurous. Spunky heroine. Same thing I just said but a lot more succinctly this time.

Today, I spent way too much time some very productive hours archiving nearly all of my posts just to make it easy for you to entertain yourself on the days I’m too lazy to post. I also did this because my archives along the side of my blog don’t work very well. You click on “June” but only get a few of June’s posts. Anyway, let the entertainment begin! And soon, I plan to make an archive of all the Need To Read blogs too. Will the fun never end here at blog Joelle?

It rained today for the first time in many, many weeks. Rainy days are perfect for writing, so what did I do all day? I read this wonderful book! It is laugh-out-loud funny, a great story with a unique hook. Full of all kinds of facts and cultural stuff that you absorb but never think, “Oh, here’s another useful fact.” Just a great read. And if you have any reluctant readers in your life, or you are one, this is a snappy, fun, keep you going read. When I write, I always try to make the last sentence of a chapter hook you into reading the next, and Petrucha is a master at this! Maybe it will rain tomorrow and I’ll get back to my WIP then!

Even though I said last week in this post that despite my curiosity about what writers find interesting about TV, I would not succumb, I actually did! Read what I learned here.

Lisa Graff has just brought to my attention that it is Beatrix Potter’s birthday. Which brings to mind a funny story…

New stuff on Need To Read

So…if you’re wondering why I haven’t said, “Oh My God! You have got to read this book!” lately it’s because I haven’t been reading. Really! Seriously. Hard to believe, isn’t it? I just haven’t felt like it. Three weekends in a row, I listened to audio books and in between I read nothing! See the post below to read about the first audio book, GODS BEHAVING BADLY.

Last weekend it was SHUG by Jenny Han. I had read the book when it first came out and really liked it. I think the audio version is excellent, so if you’re looking for a great MG audio (or read), SHUG is a great choice.

The next audio I listened to was Larry McMurtry’s TELEGRAPH DAYS. This is my FAVORITE LM book. I LOVED THIS! I am sure I would’ve loved reading it, but if you want a fantastic audio book, this is it. It’s read by the fabulous actress, Annie Potts, and she is magnificent!

I have a few library books on my shelf that look good, but I was waiting for something to really make me say, “I gotta read this right now!” and so when THE YEAR MY SISTER GOT LUCKY arrived (I’d had it on hold) at the library for me, I knew I’d found the book I wanted to read. This is such a great read. It’s everything a YA should be. And it got me with the first sentence. “I’m an insomniac.” Now that might not hook everyone, but I can sleep like I’m a pro, so the idea of someone being an insomniac is interesting to me. I can’t help but wonder what that might be like! Actually, if I’m totally honest, I think this book actually hooked me with its title. Can you think of a title that makes you want to know what happens more than this one? Great title! Oh, by the way, the author is Aimee Friedman and she has other books out that I’ll be sure to get my hands on.

What about y’all? Are you reading?

You know, just because the domain is joelleanthony.com, why should this blog be all about me? I think I’ll take the day off. Today’s Friday Five is all about y’all. Well, about five of you anyway. Find them here.

Earlier, it was the fawns, now I just had three Pileated woodpeckers fly over my head and into my yard. One was clearly a junior and the parents were trying to teach him things (apparently by leaving him behind). He clawed his way up the tree, looking all around for the parents and when he couldn’t find them, he began to do this little, “uh…uh…uh…” and sounded exactly like a baby about to start wailing for its mama. How’s a girl supposed to finish her new chapter with all these wonderful distractions?

I was over at The Longstockings and Siobhan is talking about how she’s going to try a seat-of-her-pants approach to writing for a change. She’s always been a detailed outliner and she wants to try something new. If you’ve been hanging out here, you will know that I just tried outlining for the first time (without success) and am now back to free form writing (and happily so). At first, I thought I would blog today about some tips for anyone who wants to try this form, but while I was making my breakfast (the most amazing English rock cakes that are mostly butter) – oh! wait! I must interrupt with this notice that the mama and twin fawns just wandered through looking sooooo cute – okay, anyway, I’m digressing. While I was making breakfast and contemplating the kinds of tips I would put up here, it occurred to me that perhaps this whole flip-flop thing that writers do – exchanging one technique of writing for another – really has very little to do with getting that first draft down and actually is much more about looking for the magic solution to make writing easier.

I mean, really…I write by the seat of my pants. I have written numerous bottom drawer novels, and several that I hope to see as books someday, but the truth is, why did I want to switch to outlining? Because the guy who wrote the thing about how to do it said it would make writing easier! I’ve come to the conclusion that nothing makes writing easier. Some things make it more fun, like sitting outside and writing on a summer day, or cuddling up in front of a fire in the winter, but there’s really no magic solution. It all comes down to butt in the chair and a lot of hard work. Some find the hard work terrifying, difficult, and frustrating. Ninety-five percent of the time, I find it exhilarating, interesting, and fun, so I can’t see any reason to try changing techniques now. Do you outline? Write free-form? Have you ever switched from one to the other and found it works better for you?

Yesterday I was just zipping along on my revision and I added a new scene that I’d thought of the other day on my walk. Sometimes when I add scenes, they go in directions I never expect. When I was done with the chapter I had to stop and pause. You see, I’d just moved a major event from the halfway mark of the book to the third chapter without even meaning to. At first I was kind of concerned because…well…now what’s the big event in the middle of the book? But then I realized that it really made much more sense for it to come earlier and I should just shut up and listen to my characters! They always know what’s going on if I let them lead.

The next two days will be busy…probably too busy to write because I have to sort out the changes in my mind before I go back to it and I can’t really do that without some long walks. I won’t have time for that until Thursday. On the plus side, it’s always better to let things like this germinate AND I am about to have approximately nine days of write, write, writing time (minus the weekend for Sunday Soup ). The husband has volunteered to help a friend for a week and I will be on my own all day, each day. While I’ll miss him (and all the funny things he says that I steal for my books) at lunchtime and breaktime and walking time and baseball time, I’m looking forward to completely uninterrupted chunks of writing time too.

Do your characters tell you what to do too?

P.S. The photo is of me and my husband and we took it ourselves with the timer. It was the cover of our wedding invitation. All together now…”Awwwww!”

Their sheer cutie-pie-ness can really be a distraction if you write outside!

The weekend…a new experience…click here to find out why!

I have not really had weekends off since junior high. All during high school, I had rehearsals on the weekends. In college, I worked weekends. When I was older, I had Mondays off when I was acting and weekends were my biggest money days as a vendor in the baseball stadiums. Even after moving to the South and becoming a full time writer, I never took weekends off because my husband was an actor and he had Mondays off, so I took my day off from writing then.

However, almost three months ago we started having Sunday Soup at our house. If you haven’t visited that blog, I’ll just summarize it quickly. Every Sunday we have an open house from 4pm-7pm and I make a pot of homemade soup and fresh bread. Anyone we know can just drop in, and they’re encouraged to bring new people. It’s been really fun. And it’s given me weekends for the first time in my life.

The way that happened is that Saturdays have become the day when I go to the farmer’s market and buy up fresh ingredients, browse recipes, tidy up my kitchen, and make the soup. Somehow this has become an all-day project. Then on Sunday, we tidy up the house, do weekly chores (laundry, etc.) and I make the bread and reheat the soup and then people come over. I often do extra cooking for the week on either day too, like granola or casseroles or whatever sounds good.

Now…how does this tie into writing? Well, I have never, ever been good at taking days off from writing. There have been times I have actually had to hand over my laptop to my husband to keep me on the straight and narrow. But suddenly I like this time off! It’s fun and this morning when I realized that even though I’m deep into my new revision project, it was my day off, it made me feel good! I think this will give my brain a rest and my writing ideas a chance to percolate each week. Okay…off to the market for some fresh spinach, green onions, and eggs. Drop by Sunday Soup tomorrow to find out what I do with these things!

Tell me why you love TV!

A few months ago, I switched from reading mostly agent blogs to reading mostly writer blogs. I had landed a fabulous agent and while I still read Janet Reid and Jennifer Jackson, I’ve pretty much given up the agent blogs. What I’ve noticed is how much TV writers watch. They don’t just watch stuff that’s on right now, they watch whole seasons on DVD. Writers seem to have their favorites and also they watch series on DVD because everyone else likes them and they want to like them. They rent them, check them out at the library, buy them, get them as gifts!

Now, I am NOT anti-TV by any means, but frankly, it rarely occurs to me to watch TV. I don’t have time and it’s not because I have kids or a job either. It’s because I’m cooking or knitting or reading or listening to baseball or walking or riding my bike or helping my husband water the garden or staring off into space (hey, it’s beautiful around here…that’s easy to do!). And oh, yeah, there’s that whole writing thing that takes up part of my day too.

We do have a TV. A brand new one. It’s not hooked up to any service and we’ve had it about a year and probably have watched maybe 50 hours, mostly baseball games when we first got it, and a few DVDs. Since moving here, I mostly forget we even have a TV, but now, after reading all these writers blogs, I’m starting to wonder if I’m missing out on something! If y’all love it so much, and you’re writers too, then there must be something in it, right? To be honest, no matter what you say, I’m not going to start watching TV, but I am curious. Why do you watch TV? Is it because of the stories? Is it because after writing, your brain needs a break? What is the appeal of TV?

So when they turn my YA novel into a movie, I know exactly who I want to play the lead role. It’s my friend, uber-talented actress/singer/musician, Chelsea Nye. All of my characters play instruments and some sing, so Chelsea is perfect for any of the roles. If anyone out there is interested in optioning my books right now, and casting her, you should know that she’s a real actress, pro and all, and has a NY agent and everything. I’m not trying to get my second cousin once removed who does community theatre a lead role in a movie or anything. Give me credit! I am sometimes realistic! By the way, she is the model for the cover of this book. Ain’t she beautiful?

Now I know that it’s a long shot getting your book turned into a movie, especially when you know…you don’t actually have a published book out yet.. But the truth is, you’ve thought about it too, so I can admit that I have. Actually, what brings this up is that after reading ELLA ENCHANTED a couple of weeks ago, I got the movie on DVD yesterday. It was pretty interesting because it was as if someone had written a one sentence premise and a few character descriptions and handed that to Gail Carson Levine and also to a screenwriter and then said, “Okay, each of you take this one sentence and character descriptions and turn it into a book/screenplay.” And they each went off on their own journey, both coming up with something unique and fabulous, but not really very similar.

It wasn’t like when a bad movie is made of a good book. It was a good movie made of a good book, but entirely different! I have been contemplating what that must be like for the writer. On one hand, you wrote the book the way you wanted the story told and readers loved it, so you know it worked. On the other hand, there is your character, come to life! And the movie that is purporting to be your baby, is well done, just not what you wrote. I have always thought that if your book was made into a terrible movie, all you could really do is say, “Well, everyone knows the book is always better than the movie anyway, and now I’ll just go cash this big fat check.” But in this case, it must feel a bit different.

By the way, can I just say I LOVE Anne Hathaway? The director referred to her as a young Lucille Ball, and while I wouldn’t have thought of that myself, I think it’s a perfect comparison. She is beauty beyond words and so funny and unbelievably talented. Almost as talented as Chelsea!

Click here to find out who’s going to star in the film of my book…

For a while now I’ve been mostly reading recommendations, which probably explains why I’ve liked so much of what I’ve read lately. However, I was missing the “scan the library shelf for interesting prospects” experience so the other day I did and I found two books. The first one is by an author I know (literally) and I’m sure it will be brilliant. The other one I picked up because I thought the title was catchy and funny. Too bad the book isn’t.

It is a first person YA and basically it goes like this:

Chapter 1 – I hate these people and high school because of this and this and this

Chapter 2 – Goes to a class – I hate this class because this and this and this

Chapter 3 – Goes to lunch – I hate lunch because this and this and this…

Yeah, we get that you hate everything. If it was slightly funny, well…maybe I’d keep reading, but actually, I hate this book because it’s sarcasm is flat, nothing has happened by page thirty, and ummm…the main character hates everything. So back to the library it goes. And no, I won’t tell you the name of it because I hate it when writers diss other writers!

I listened to this on audio. I am not sure how interested I would’ve been if I’d sat down to read it, but the actress who does the audio is phenomenal. So for those of you always complaining that I give you too much to read, try this audio book. While I maintain that kids should be able to read whatever they want, judging from the cover, you might get that this is NOT a book you’d want to listen to in the car with your kids. Maybe your spouse (wink, wink) though.

  My husband spends lots of time each day at the Community Gardens where he is the Compost King, a member of the squash, potato, and corn co-op, and has his own garden plot. He also “lifts heavy things” when needed. Because of this, he has gotten quite tan (well…his forearms, neck, face & head, his white chest still glows in the dark). The other night we were brushing our teeth and he looked in the mirror at us both and said, “Wow! I’m really tan. You’re really white!” I made a snarly face at him and he said, “What? You’re a writer! If you were tan it would mean you weren’t getting anything done!”

Ha! While that’s true, I hate to think I’m missing out on summer!

I’m one up on him now. I’ve moved the bed outside onto the porch and today I am spending the whole day outside, lying in bed (well, propped up) writing. I’ll be tan in no time AND I’ll get something done. All I need now is someone to fan me and bring me drinks. Do you write outside in the summer?

In addition to the Friday Five below, here’s a bonus (assuming you consider my postings a bonus). I’m guest blogging on my husband’s bike blog today.

Click here to read about all the places that books have made me want to visit!

Just for a fun Friday Five, I thought I’d pick five places that particular books made me want to visit. By next week, if this is the “new” Friday meme, we’ll know that my plans to take over the www (writer web world) are finally beginning to come to fruition! Bwaahhaaaahhaaa!

1. Deep Valley, MN (aka Mankato, MN) – Home of Betsy Ray, the star of the BETSY-TACY series. You knew I’d start with Betsy & Tacy, didn’t you? I don’t want to just visit Deep Valley, I want to live there! In 1905! Since I can’t live there in 1905 and attend Deep Valley High School (truth be told, I’ve always been a bit worried about this fantasy because everyone can dance and sing in the B-T books…I would be the clunky cousin from out of town with hair even straighter than Betsy’s), I can at least visit Mankato, the town Deep Valley is based on, and see the author’s house, as well as Tacy’s house, and many other landmarks. It’s still on my list of places to go someday.

2. York, England – the setting of John Rowe Townsend’s CLOUDY/BRIGHT. I read this book while I was living in England and I actually managed a day trip to York. It is a really beautiful town, starring the York Minster, and the famous Betty’s Café Tea Room, where I spent almost as much time eating scones and drinking tea as I did admiring the stained glass of the Minster.

3. Woodstock, NY – as described by Paula Danzigger in her book THE DIVORCE EXPRESS and the sequel. Or maybe that was the sequel. Either way, it sounded like exactly the hippie town for me. Ironically, while I’ve never been there, I think I’ve moved to the Canadian equivalent.

4. Switzerland – Well, of course, there’s Heidi, but then there’s also Sharon Creech’s wonderful book BLOOMABILITY which not only made me want to move to Switzerland, but also go to boarding school (despite the fact that I was long past school age when I read it!).

5. Harrod’s Food Hall- visited many times by Angelica Cookson Potts in the YA trilogy by Cherry Whytock. Okay…okay… this is not a town, but it’s a place! But the Food Hall in the basement sounded so fantastic, that last time I was in London, I had to go there several times. It did not disappoint!

What books have made you want to visit places? Have you gone yet?

The difference…