Last year, Sarah Dessen wrote several blog posts about her husband’s bicycle accident. I think he broke his pelvis…and maybe his collarbone? Either way, it was not good.

Last week, Meg Cabot’s husband broke his arm when he swerved his bike to avoid being hit by a car.

Yep…you guessed it. I am now playing nursemaid to the latest husband of a famous and highly successful  aspiring YA writer. Luckily, nothing was officially broken. His ribs may be cracked, and he definitely yells like they are every time he tries to sit down, or get back into bed, or coughs. Don’t even make him laugh! He also has a lovely bruise/contusion the size of half a grapefruit on his lower thigh. In reality, he was very, very lucky and I am very, very grateful to the whole first responders/paramedics/doctor crew here. Plus a few neighbours.

I like taking care of him so that’s no hardship at all (ask me again in a few weeks!). And I got to ride in an ambulance just like the character in my new book. That was pretty exciting. That might sound very writerly callous of me, but at that point I knew that while things might be broken, he apparently had not punctured a lung.

I pretty much knew he was going to be okay when the paramedics asked him if he was cold and he said, “I was fine until y’all took my britches off.”

I haven’t updated this blog in a while (not writing, so nothing much to say) and I haven’t done a Friday 5 in ages, so I thought I’d throw one out there.

1. I eat the same snack every day for months until I am totally sick of it and then I pick a new snack and repeat. The current snack is: handful of nuts (cashews or almonds), a couple of slices of smoked applewood cheddar, a dill pickle, and some dried apricots. Oh, and vanilla black tea.

2. I haven’t posted on Need To Read much lately because I’ve been reading a lot of ARCs and I hate to get you all excited about books you can’t get for months.

3. The fabulous writer Coe Booth has given me tips on cooking tofu and I’m getting better at it (it’s almost sacriligious to be a veggie and not be able to cook tofu).

4. I am addicted to the Britsh radio serial The Archers and listen to it every day (while I snack or knit).

5. When my husband went to have a homemade cookie last night, he saw it was the last one and so he only took half, saving the other half for me. I probably would’ve eaten the whole thing if I was in his position, but everyone knows he’s nicer than me!

I hate to brag, okay…in this case, I love to brag… I got an advanced copy of Meg Cabot’s latest book in the Allie Finkle series. I love Allie. I really do. She’s the coolest nine year old I’ve ever seen. Did I mention she reminds me of me? Okay, so she doesn’t because she’s way cooler, but whatever.

This is the third book in the series and I would’ve read it straight through last night, but my husband kept tossing the covers back to glare at me for laughing while he was trying to sleep. My friend Alix has been banned from reading Meg Cabot in bed for this exact reason. It’s not OUR fault Meg is so funny! Anyway, I do think you should get this book (and the two before them) for some nine year old you know and that you should very carefully, without bending the pages back, read them yourselves first.

The coolest thing is that my copy came with an Allie Finkle bookmark. On one side it says: Allie’s Rules and they are

1.You can never make a second first impression.

2. Licorice is gross.

3. Treat your friends the way you’d want them to treat you.

Sage advice, I think (except I sort of like licorice).

On the back of the bookmark is a place to write your own name in and write your own three rules. I have filled mine in.

Joelle’s Rules

1. No yelling unless the house is on fire.

2. Don’t tell other people what to do.

3. The wife is always right.

I’ve been reading a bit about blogging lately. First I read The Huffington Post book about how they got started. Well, I read about 2/3 of it, but after a while I was kind of over it. Plus it was due at the library. It did accomplish one thing though (which was probably its main goal for existing), I now check in on The Huffington Post most days.

What I’ve realized is that while I rarely just slam down a post and put it up, I do edit them, blog posts are an excellent opportunity to really hone tight writing (something I’m not that good at without a lot of extra effort). So, here’s my new goal. I am going to write my posts in Word from now on first, and then cut them by at least 20% before I post.

Today, and today only, you get both versions:

I’ve been reading about blogging. I read about 2/3 of The Huffington Post book about how they got started and then returned it to the library because I was over it. It did accomplish one thing though (which was probably its main goal), I now visit The Huffington Post most days.

I’ve realized that while I rarely slam down some writing and put it up on my site, blog posts are an excellent opportunity to really tighten my writing (something I’m not that good at). Here’s my new goal. I am going to write my posts and then cut them by at least 20% before I put them on my blog.

Haha! More than 20% and it reads better too.  

I am not one of those writers who carries a notebook, and I definitely don’t keep one by my bed for writing down ideas that I might suddenly wake up with in the middle of the night. My thoughts have always been that if whatever idea I come up with has enough sticking power, it will still be there when I wake up. I am crabby (at best) when I’m woken up in the middle of the night anyway. Even when I wake myself up.

The few times I have bothered to write down something in the middle of the night, I woke up either to find something that made no sense, or an idea that was beyond lame. However…

Last night, and I do consider this night even though it was technically about 5:30am, I heard the unmistakable sounds of my cat about to barf. I knew from the way my legs were pinned down, he was on the bed so I sat up, grabbed him and dumped him on the floor (now you know why we have hardwood floors!). Luckily, he did not upchuck and I should’ve been able to just go back to sleep, but instead there was this character in my head telling me her story. I told her to shut up. She wouldn’t listen. Finally, I dragged myself out of bed. I was not happy.

In forty minutes I laid down five pages. What they are, I have no idea. The beginning of a new book? The middle? Rubbish? Surprisingly, even in the light of day, they seem like they might have potential. Because I have no immediate plans for this, I thought I’d let you take a peek. You can’t steal any of it though because maybe it will become a book. All I know is that if I can write five pages when I’m half asleep, I should write at 6am more often. And then go back to bed until noon!

I was standing out in one of our fields with four other people. I wouldn’t call them friends, but that didn’t seem weird at the time because nothing was normal. For one thing, our field was sort of electric green, kind of like those postcards you see of the English countryside. Usually, ours are more golden brown. Especially in September.

We weren’t really doing anything, at least, not that I can remember, when suddenly out of nowhere, this plane comes flying low across the vivid blue sky. Not only was the grass bright, but everything around me was sort of startling colorful. It wasn’t a jet plane, but not one of those tiny two-seaters either. Somewhere in the middle. Which I know is a lot of leeway, but I’m not exactly a plane expert or anything, so I’m doing the best I can.

Anyway, almost on its tail comes another plane…a bigger one. Still not a jet, but maybe like…a military plane. Only in size though. They both look like normal, everyday planes like you might see a movie star fly in. The first plane seems to panic. Well, I guess I mean, the people inside, because it starts flying all erratic. And then there’s this piercing siren sound and the plane swings around…or banks, is the word, I think, but the bigger plane is right on its tail. And this is right over us. We’re kind of freaking out on the inside, but struck dumb on the outside. No one’s moving, but our hearts are racing. At least mine is.

Then there’s a second siren, higher and more whiny than the first, so now there’re two sirens, two planes and they keep flying very low, right over the top of our field, the bigger one chasing the smaller one. When the third plane shows up, that’s when we all come to life. Only it’s not really a plane. It’s one of those giant helicopters like you see on the news. Definitely military style. This one’s painted a light color too though, like it’s civilian. Not that I even know if they have such a thing.

“Oh, my God!” one of us shouts.

“We should get down!”

“Or hide in the trees!”

Did I mention that the field meets the old apple orchard on one side? Well, it does. Anyway, I say, “I don’t think a few trees are going to keep any of those planes from crushing us if they come down! If we stay here, we can run if they start to crash.”

So for some reason, everyone listens to me and we stay put. The planes are flying around each other, the sirens still wailing, and then the helicopter thingie sort of begins to hover over us. All of a sudden a door opens on its side and from a rope, yeah, just a regular rope, they start to lower down this white car. Right on top of us!

I can’t believe it either. Instead of running, we all sort of collapse onto the ground and wait for the car to crush us. It comes lower and lower and when it’s almost to the ground, I see that it’s going to miss most of us, but Hillary’s in its way. Instead of just telling her to move, I reach out my arm, lay my palm against the swinging car and just sort of shove it to one side. Just as it lands in the field, I wake up.

That’s the dream I’ve been having for the last two weeks.

I’ve looked on the internet to see what it means, and there are all kinds of kooks out there who say they know. I’ve heard that it means I have crushing debt (not that I know of) or I’m pregnant (definitely not, unless it’s the case of the miraculous conception again) or I’ll never get into a good college with my grades (probable). What I really think it means is that my parents are going to buy me a car for sixteenth birthday next week. A girl can dream can’t she? I’m also thinking that the reason I push it away in my dream is not because I don’t want it, or because I’m worried about it crushing Hillary (I don’t really even know Hillary), but because I actually hate white cars. Not that I wouldn’t take one if it was my only choice, of course.

The air is sticky-hot around me because I forgot to open a window before going to bed last night, and I’m just coming out of the girl’s bathroom (we have two. I have brothers. Mom and I drew the line and put up a couple of those signs that you see on bathrooms in restaurants. The boys got the downstairs bathroom, and Mom and I got the upstairs one) when Jim Bob’s voice floated up the stairs to me.

“Annabelle? Are you still sleeping, darlin’?”

Jim Bob is not his real name. No one calls their kid that anymore. At least not here in Oregon. Jim Bob’s real name is James Joyce McKenzie. Naturally, he changed it, like any self-respecting, parent-hating fifteen year old would (can you blame him for hating Mr. and Mrs. McKenzie when they gave him a middle name like Joyce?).

And Annabelle is not my real name either, although I sometimes wish it was. It’s just what Jim Bob calls me because he likes the way it sounds. To everyone else, I’m just plain Anne or Annie, after my great grandmother. How the two of us got so lucky in the names department, I’ll never know. But maybe that’s what drew us together.

“I had the dream again,” I said, as JB reached the top of the stairs.

He scooped me into his arms, just like in a movie, and gave me a kiss on each cheek. He can’t decide if he wants to be an Italian who kisses everyone he meets (mostly just to throw them off, especially the guys) or a southerner who calls you darlin’ and drives a truck with a tow rope and jumper cables in case of emergency. Either way, he’s just weird, which suits me fine, as my great grandma Anne would say.

“Coffee,” he said, leading me down the stairs.

I was wearing what I’d slept in, shorts and a t-shirt but no bra, so I hoped we didn’t run into any of the lodge’s guests.

“I have bedhead.”

“You look beautiful, as always.”

Some people might think JB is a little strange, and they’d be right, but I know he just likes to entertain himself with his funny ways. It makes him feel less stuck in the middle of nowhere. It does the same for me, which is probably why we’re friends.

 I’m putting this book on the main blog, rather than Need To Read, because I have a few things to say besides, “you should read this book”. But I won’t totally disappoint my regular readers. Here I go… I LOVE THIS BOOK!!!! Okay, now, back to business.

I thought Gladwell’s book, THE OUTLIERS, was fascinating, but this book might actually change my life. From Gladwell’s website:

The word “Tipping Point”, for example, comes from the world of epidemiology. It’s the name given to that moment in an epidemic when a virus reaches critical mass. It’s the boiling point. It’s the moment on the graph when the line starts to shoot straight upwards.

If you’re a writer, then the tipping point is when your book starts selling not thousands  more copies, but millions of copies. Not just best sellers, but sales of epidemic proportions (think THE DA VINCI CODE, BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY, HARRY POTTER).

While I don’t have any illusions about my book becoming the next Harry Potter, I do think that a person can take ideas from THE TIPPING POINT and apply them to new and inspired ways of marketing and really make a difference in his/her sales. At least, this is an experiment I am willing to try.

For the first time in 15 years I am without a writing project (aside from editing RH for Putnam). I don’t have any novels sitting around I’d like to revise and I don’t have any ideas for new novels. I have two novels in the can, so I’m actually happy about this instead of worried about where my next book will come from. I think if my mind can stop working on other books for a while, it will leave me wide open for the next novel. However, I was wondering what I was going to do while I wait for inspiration. Now I know.

I am going to develop a marketing plan for RESTORING HARMONY. Through the next year and a half as I come up with things and develop this plan, I will post about some of it here. I plan to develop my school visits (based on music and some of my acting stuff), create promotional materials (as cheaply as possible) once we have a definite cover, and build up a specific network of potential readers (I have ideas for this I’m not sharing quite yet). I’d love to hear anything any of you are doing too, if you want to share.

And if you’re looking for a good audio experience, you might try THE TIPPING POINT on audio because the author adds an afterword that includes changes to his original ideas in the book.

Apparently barcodes on books bug EVERYONE! I’ve been getting emails and comments and even linked to other blogs because of my barcode post. Cool!

What I found out, much to my disappointment, is that many libraries seem to do it however works best for them and there is no uniform placement. That makes it pretty hard for me or a single writer to go to publishers and say, “Look, leave this spot blank for the barcode.”and actually have them listen, rather than laugh in my face!

On the other hand, a fairly simple solution would be for the American Library Association to come up with a standard recommended spot for the barcode and then let publishers know that libraries have agreed to use this particular spot on a book. The designers could use this knowledge or ignore it.

After reading all the comments and emails, my personal recommendation is either the top right or top left corner of the front of the book. As one librarian pointed out, patrons lay their books down face-up. If the barcode is on the back, then the librarian has to flip each book over. May not sound like a big deal, but if you’re talking hundreds or even a thousand books a day, it’s a lot of extra work. So if you belong to the ALA and you think this might be of interest to them, feel free to link to this post or drop them a note.

You can read all the comments and emails I’ve received so far here. I thought about taking up the gauntlet, organizing a barcode revolution, posting pictures of book covers ruined by barcodes, but frankly, I’d rather write. Still…at least I’ve gotten this off my chest!

As a librarian, I have our library services company put the barcodes on the back cover.  If you’re looking at the back of the book like it’s an envelope, the barcode is placed basically where you’d put a postage stamp.  I don’t like to put them “in” the book, as it’s too much wear and tear on paper to scan them there.  If you want statistical info, contact someone like mackin.com or follett.com –they are large opening day collection jobbers and they can tell you how many customers ask for what placement.  I agree that I don’t want any front or back matter concealed by a barcode, but unfortunately it does happen. 

***

Moscow, Idaho public library:  Inside the front cover, top and center (for the most part).  How about BOOK SELLERS that put their stinkin’ price tag over the back of novels so you can’t read the blurb?!  Grrr…

***

Dc public library – top,  back cover, left, right and centre (on diff books they don’t have 3 bar codes!).  They seem to try and avoid the blurb – a 5 star library!

***

I use Homewood Public Library in Homewood Alabama and their barcodes are on the back, top right corner. Blows your theory again, but I am interested in this too. I hate when you’re at the bookstore (or CD store) and the price sticker covers up the title…sometimes it’s just some random sticker advertising some other product. It annoys me to no end!

***

The library that I work in puts the barcode inside the front of the
book, on the right hand side of the end papers, near the middle, close
to the top. On paperbacks or books that don’t have end papers, the
barcode goes on the first page. We try to avoid covering anything of
significance. Libraries that choose the cover placement, do so to save
a step in checking in/out and inventory.

***

FWIW, the King County Library System (here in WA) seems to put barcodes
on the upper left, mostly beneath the book’s title. I just looked at the
books I’ve checked out–out of 8, one covers the first word of the
title, and another covers the author’s initials (the title’s below the
author’s name).

***

Bottom right on the back cover here.

***

The libraries in Maryland put their barcodes on the back of the book.

The complaints about doing that came from patrons who wanted to read the information on the back of the book and discovered that the check-out label covered a goodly portion of it.
The barcode and library identifier are now placed along the top edge of every book, left hand side, parallel to the top edge.  (which means the circ staff have to turn and turn each book to find the barcode.)  The processsing department has the theory that all the older books will disappear and the only thing left will be the newer books with the barcode along the top edge, but nope, we librarians tend to keep popular books in the branches and therefore the two systems.

But wait!  There’s a third system being used in our libraries.  RFID.  Yes, all those books are still barcoded along the top back edge of the books. 0But now the circ staff simply puts four books on a “reader pad” (I have NO Idea what it’s really called, since our branch hasn’t been converted yet) and the computer reads the RFID dots and zips the books barcodes onto your patron record.  And you’re done.  No carpel Tunnel.  Just the delay while the Reader Pad tries to read the RFID dots.  (which we put inside the back cover, lower down, near the spine.)  (picture book readers who enjoy looking at endpapers will now have another complaint against libraries covering the endpapers.  Illustrators need to be aware of the bookcovers being taped down and now the RIFD patch which is 2 inches square.  Good illustrators are now designing their endpapers to have most of the important endpaper illustratons toward the spine and only a spare flying bird or other nonessential art along the edges where it’ll be covered up by the endpapers of the cover.)

Now, other items in the library also have to be barcoded and RIFDed, but we try to follow those rules as closely as possible with them, too.   

***

I was a librarian for years. It was always a controversy about where
to put these bar codes. Initially they were on the inside of the
front cover. This preserved the cover, but it became a repetitive
stress and time issue on checkout, as the checkout clerks had to open
each book to scan the bar code. You wouldn’t think much of this, but
when you are doing this hundreds or thousands of times a day, it adds
up. I once had a teacher check out 200 books for a class project. I
wasn’t the checkout clerk, but I did help the teacher select the
books and put them on a book cart to take them to circulation.

Then they started putting them on the back cover. People complained
because no matter where you put them, you still have the possibility
of covering something important, cover text, author photos, whatever.

Then came the possibility of self checkout. Libraries can use the
technology just as Walmart can. Some patrons love it because they
don’t have to wait in line at circulation. However, the machines are
set up (or at least they were when I was still working) to find the
bar code in a particular position near the edge of the book. That was
another reason our library started putting them in that position on
the back of the book.

However, that still meant that either the circulation clerk had to
physically turn over each book (because patrons just about always
bring the books to the counter front cover up), or the patron at self
checkout had to look for the bar code . . . or go complain that self
checkout didn’t work because they didn’t have the book properly
positioned in the machine.

So some libraries went to putting the bar code in a readable position
on the front cover to avoid those problems. Then people (including a
lot of library employees) were upset because it disfigured the cover
and sometimes masked part of a title, author or illustrator name, or
illustration.

So there you have it. It’s driven by technology and health concerns.

***

> But I agree. There’s nothing like an ill-placed barcode to ruin the
> looks of a good cover!

I agree. My local library does that, too. It drives me nuts and I have
even approached library management only to get the standard “brush-off.”

***

Our barcodes are either on the back, bottom right edge (over the
books barcode) or on the front, top right edge.

We have automatic check out. There is a little pad that you can stack
up to five books on and it auto-scans for you. Except 50% of the time
you get a “please rotate items slightly” message, and then it’s up to
you to guess if you should turn them over, turn them to the right,
the left … there’s no telling. And then if that doesn’t work you
have to check them out one at a time. I have learned to stack books
of similar size together and that the machine does not like movies
stacked on top of each other. Now, I will pay more attention to the
location of the barcode, and try to only stack back code books and
front code books together.

***

Interesting discussion this one. I can’t say that all California libraries do it this way but in the Sacramento City libraries (and branches), there are bar codes usually placed on the back cover of the book in no particular location except that they are parallel to the top/bottom edges of the books. The library card goes into a slot, similar to an ATM and the books are placed on the reading surface of the machine against a metal guide and pushed toward the back of the machine. The books are then scanned by a thin, red “reading” beam that is several inches wide so it will cross the bar code wherever it is located on the book cover.

***

this is something i’ve never thought about — but i checked my
library books. and find that juneau, alaska, library puts our bar
codes are on the inside, on the page facing the inside cover. i didn’t
even know some libraries had self-checkout!
i guess it’s another sign of how busy life is — and how understaffed
libraries in many places are.

***

Multnomah County library have the barcode placed in the upper left corner, and yes, several are plastered right on top of the author’s first name. I have both YA and adult, books, DVDs, CDs, and there’s no difference. (In the olden days they used to put the code inside the book, so an older book could be different.) If they are going to put this on the front cover, then it would be nice if the entire industry could put it in the same place and then all the covers could be designed accordingly. How about a suggestion to ALA? It’s hardly an unreasonable concern.

***

If you read this blog, you will know that it drives me crazy when the library barcode obscures the title, author name, blurb or photo on a book jacket. I often have wondered if book designers ever go into libraries. When I mentioned this to my agent, he was kind of surprised and asked me, “Do all libraries put the barcode in the same place?”

Well, that was all I needed to get started on my investigation!

These libraries put the barcode in the top, right corner if you’re holding the book up and looking at it:

Vancouver Island Regional Libraries (BC, Canada)

Nashville Public Libraries (TN)

Crossville Library (TN)

Forest Hills/Oak Park Library (IL/Chicago area)

Now I want to know where your library puts this barcode? Also, is it a public library or a school library? Where is this library?I guess it could be a coincidence that every place I have lived puts the code there, but honestly, if I can prove that a LOT of libraries do, maybe we can change the world! The book world, that is! Haha. After all, how are we supposed to judge a book by its cover if we can’t see the thing?

Yeah….I’m between writing projects. How’d you guess?

Leave a comment, drop me an email, or send me a note through the contact page!

I’ve just been informed that Multnomah County Libraries (Portland, Or) put it in the top left corner. There goes my theory that everyone does it the same. Still…if most libraries put it on the top…

I know I just mentioned this BBC radio show, Go4it a few weeks ago, but I am happy to write about it again because this week they had one of my favourite authors as their main guest.

Cathy Cassidy, author of Scarlett, Dizzy, Lucky Star and many more, gave a great interview. She’s one of my faves because she writes these really great contemporary books for tweens and teens that have real families with lots of real issues. I remember reading something once where a teen said that she loved Laurie Halse Anderson’s Prom because it was like finally reading a book about kids like her. I think Cassidy is providing stories for many kids out there who don’t live in traditional families. Plus they’re well-written, unusual, and entertaining. If you’re not familiar with her books, you should be. I’ve just realized that she has some out that I haven’t read, so I think I’ll take my own advice! By the way, I really liked Indigo Blue.

I LOVED THIS BOOK.

I know, I know…all my “reviews” say something along those lines, but that’s because I only write about books I really like here on Need To Read. Anyway, this is a fantastic read. As some of you know, I’m not that into fantasy. I do like the occasional fantasy novel as long as it’s more straightforward. What I mean is, I like it to have people, not a whole bunch of creatures that I have to figure out who is who and what is what. I like the world to be somewhat recognizable, but still magical (think Harry Potter). In other words, I don’t like to work at my reading. I know that I’m probably missing some really fantastic stuff, but if I have to spend half my time trying to remember who/what everything is and what their special powers on, I just get lost and give up. This is a more straightforward fantasy.

And, boy is it great! It weighs in at a whopping 400 pages and that’s long even for a YA, but this is MG! It never seemed long though, and the closer I got to the end, the longer I wished it was. I’m thinking there will be a sequel or a series (due to hints in the epilogue) and I will definitely be happy to read more.

It seems to be set way in the future, but it’s kind of ambiguous too. It could be another world, or it could be this one. Either way, it’s familiar, while beautifully described. Sensel has a great sense of rythym and uses language to evoke vivid pictures. The book is exciting, devastating, funny, inspiring, hopeful, and mostly just a great adventure. The main character is a girl, but boys will love this too.

I actually got hold of it from the box of ARCs that my friend gave me a few months ago. I chose to read it now because it was released this month. So, go on, go out and get it! Or request it at your library. Either way, you’ll find it absorbing and a great read.

My agent said I needed to be on Twitter. I didn’t want to…but he’s one smart

so I am. You can find me as joellewrites if you care to follow me.

The post below comes from BookClubGirl. The contest she’s referring to at the end is on her site (not mine), so make sure you drop by her site and read even more about the books and the re-issue.

From her site:

These tough economic times have hit the society hard and they’re unable to proceed on their work to maintain the mortgage on and update Betsy’s and Tacy’s real-life homes, which, amazingly, they were able to purchase so that fans can visit Deep Valley and enjoy the entire BT experience. If they can’t pay the mortgage, Betsy’s house won’t be there to visit! There are three ways that you can help:

1) Join the BT Society. Membership in the Society (an annual membership starts at $15) gets you a subscription to the Deep Valley Sun newsletter. A lifetime membership gets you a hardcover copy of the out-print book Winona’s Pony Cart.

2) Purchase a commemorative paver to go outside of Betsy’s house which you can have engraved with your own message for $80. Stones purchased now will be laid before the convention so you can see it in place!

3) Help to Burn the Mortgage on Betsy’s House. The house was saved from demolition when the Society bought it in 2001, and now they need help to pay it off to eliminate a huge monthly cost. You can help for as little as $100 (though there’s no limit!) and as a donor, your name will be included on a plaque. Donations are also tax deductible!

And to help encourage you, if you do either of the above three things, you’ll be entered to win a set of the younger Betsy-Tacy books (Betsy-Tacy, Betsy-Tacy and Tib, Betsy and Tacy Go Over the Big Hill, Betsy and Tacy Go Downtown) now and a set of the older books in the series (chronicling Betsy’s high school years, her trip around Europe and her marriage) when they are reissued in 3 volumes in Fall 2009. If you do one of the above three things AND you spread the word on your own blog, you’ll get two entries into the drawing!

This is another one of those books that someone recommended and I have no idea who. Well, I might have read about it on The Longstockings blog, but I’m not sure. Anyway, I totally LOVED this book. It is such a great read. It’s kind of light and fun (and funny) and romantic and definitely a perfect summer read or a good winter pick-me-up read. I think that maybe A. E. Cannon has sort of flown under my radar because she’s so good that her books are always checked out at the library. I will definitely look for more books by this author.

The only thing that bummed me out is something that I really shouldn’t get started on…but I’m going to anyway. Do the people who design book jackets EVER GO INTO A LIBRARY? They did this beautiful jacket design and the whole top of it is ruined by the library sticker/barcode. Including the title! You know what sticker I’m talking about…the one that EVERY SINGLE LIBRARY PUTS ON THE FRONT OF THE BOOK. Why, oh, why do they design books with the title, the author’s name, or the fabulous blurb from a famous author in exactly the place that libraries put this barcode????? It’s not like it’s random. It’s standard! Okay…off my soapbox…for now.

Don’t let the cover fool you. I mean, if you like rich-girl chick lit, then it won’t put you off, but that’s not really my favourite kind of book, so I was doubtful about whether I’d like this or not after seeing the cover. But heck, I had an ARC, so why not give it a try? What got me to keep reading was the hilarious voice of the main character right from page one, and also the fact that it is published by Speak. I know that Speak does not normally do straight chick lit, so I figured there must be a twist to this, and I was right.

Very funny, well written, and highly entertaining. I’m not saying it’s a serious read with a misleading cover, I’m just saying that it’s got some depth to it that chick lit lovers will like and those of us who are a hard sell for chick lit can also enjoy!

I am stating right now that I am not a fan of the new long title trend. Or perhaps I should call it TITLES THAT GO ON AND ON FOR DAYS AND DAYS BUT DON’T REALLY SAY ANYTHING THAT TWO WORDS COULDN’T HAVE SAID BETTER. I blame Louise Rennison for the long title fad. I really have no proof of this, but ten years ago (or so), her book ANGUS, THONGS, AND FULL FRONTAL SNOGGING hit the shelves and titles have never been the same since. Now, the truth is that I love her titles and a lot of them are long. But the rest of the long titles out there I can do without.

I would happily rename THE ABSOLUTELY TRUE DIARY OF A PART-TIME INDIAN simply PART-TIME INDIAN. Easier to remember and still says pretty much the same thing. And don’t get me started on…well, actually, I can’t remember any other really long titles which is exactly my point! How are people going to buy your book if they have no idea what it’s called?

There are exceptions. Like I’D TELL YOU I LOVE YOU, BUT THEN I’D HAVE TO KILL YOU works for me because it’s already a saying. Same with the sequel (sort of), CROSS YOUR HEART AND HOPE TO SPY. But most of the time long titles are not like this.

So, why am I ranting about this? Well, mostly because it’s my blog and I can.

Maybe it’s just me, anyway. Maybe young people, the target audience for these books still have plenty of brain cells and have no trouble remembering the title of “that Frankie book that everyone loves” or “A BRIEF CHAPTER IN MY IMPOSSIBLE LIFE” or “MY ROAD TRIP TO THE PRETTY GIRL CAPITOL OF THE WORLD” (by the way, these are all books I like, but can never recommend on the fly because…yeah, the titles are so friggin’ long! And yes, I just looked them up!).

I know that authors don’t always name their books, and sometimes there’s a lot of input before a title is decided on, but all I’m saying is while I’m very flexible when it comes to editing and even my title, I will go down fighting if my editor wants to name my book THE STORY OF A GIRL WHO TAKES HER FIDDLE ON THE ROAD AND FACES HER FEARS AND FINDS EXCITEMENT ALONG THE WAY WHILE REACHING NEW LEVELS OF ENLIGHTENMENT. Or anything along those lines.

What about you? Do you like long titles?

Someone somewhere recommended this to me. Or maybe they just mentioned they were reading it and liked it. I generally love Richard Peck, but only read recommendations because he scarred me for life when I was a teenager with his book ARE YOU IN THE HOUSE ALONE? and so I don’t trust him. Don’t read that book, even if you like scary things. It’s not just scary, it’s icky.

But do read THE RIVER BETWEEN US. It’s a great read. And historically very interesting. I liked it a lot. It’s not as hilarious as some of his other books (although it has its moments), but it’s a meatier subject than those too and its handled deftly, gracefully, and beautifully.

Yesterday, I was at the Theatre Centre here on the island because my husband and a few others were doing a benefit for the Gaza victims. We were talking to actor/director Antony Holland before it started and he’d given me a script and asked me to read a bit of it after the intermission with a few other actors. The idea was to give the audience a little preview of the reading we’re doing later this week.

At the intermission, Antony jokingly asked me if I had my character ready even though I’d only had time to read it through two or three times. And my husband, who thinks he’s funny (and is, sometimes), said, “Do you know what shoes you’ll be wearing?”

He was teasing me because whenever I do a play, I always start building my character from the shoes up. It’s really important to me to know what kind of shoes my character wears and then to wear them throughout the rehearsal process. So…get this! Today I was listening to a radio interview with Glenn Close and they were discussing wardrobe. The interviewer said, “You know, Laurence Olivier always said that he couldn’t play a character until he knew what shoes the character wore.”

HA! So there! That’s right…Sir Laurence Olivier and I use the same technique!

So what does this have to do with writing? I have recently started applying it to the characters in my books. Even if it doesn’t come out in the story, I always know exactly what kinds of shoes they would wear. It often does come out in the story though and now that I think about it, shoes often play some sort of importance in my plots.

Do you know what kind of shoes your character wears?

Okay, the truth is, I don’t know if I really had anything to do with this fantastic chain of events, but I like to think I do. Here’s what happened.

A couple of months ago, my grandmother said she wanted to buy the Betsy-Tacy books and I told her I’d order them for her online and have them shipped to her house. However, when I got online I discovered they are out of print and unavailable! I remembered that Meg Cabot is a huge fan of B&T, and I happened to have her email address because we’d chatted about something once or twice, so I emailed her. My email went something like:

Meg! Can you believe the Betsy-Tacy books are OP? You must use your considerable power to do something!

She emailed me back something like:

OP! I don’t know what I can do, but I’ll try. They’ll probably cite the bottom line though. By the way, I’m giving a speech at this summer’s Betsy-Tacy Convention.

Well, as you can imagine, that got me very excited! I mean, I knew they had the convention every three years, but I’d totally forgotten all about it! I’ve always wanted to go AND I’ve always wanted to meet Meg Cabot in person, so now I have my big chance! As you may know, if you hang out here (or if you heard me yell it from the top of the mountain), my fabulous agent sold my book!!!! And despite publishing being very slow, it is likely that I will have a little money this summer from it and so I am going to the Betsy-Tacy Convention!!! Woohooo!

Okay, and now for the extra cool part. There’s more? Yes, of course. I mean, I don’t expect you to be excited about me getting to go (unless you’re going too!). Here’s the exciting bit. The Betsy-Tacy books are being re-issued!!!!!! And guess who is writing the forwards? No, not me. Meg Cabot!!!

Now, when I found this out (thanks Anne), I immediately emailed Meg to find out if this was because I’d mentioned it to her, but I’ve not heard back. And I don’t expect to any time soon because according to her blog, she has over 7000 emails in her inbox! But I’ll be sure to ask her when I see her this summer. Maybe she’ll sign my newly issued B-T books!

I told my agent that I didn’t think I really had anything to do with this because publishing works so slowly that they were probably already in the works and when Meg checked into it they jumped at the chance of having her write the forwards, and he said, “Never doubt what you can do!” Yeah…that is one of the many reasons I adore my agent!

This was one of the ARCs I was lucky enough to get my hands on, and this month is the release, so now you can get your copy too. I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for something funny and with a new premise. I know! A new premise? Surely, I jest. But no, this is unexpected and very fun. The nice thing about this book is that the character is thirteen, and while I see it as a YA (and I believe it’s being marketed that way), it is easily a crossover to MG. An eleven year old will love it and so will a fifteen year old. It’s just got broad appeal.

It would be really, really easy for the author to make the mistake of preaching a message about nutrition in this book, and she touches on a very tricky subject matter, weight loss and healthy eating, but you really never feel like she’s telling you anything. All of the so-called “lessons” are simply discoveries that the character makes. While ALL books should be like this, the touchier the subject, the harder it is to pull off well, and Dionne does an excellent job by using reversals. But you’ll have to read it to find out what that last cryptic sentence of mine actually means.

Enjoy!