Random Thoughts on a Friday

Putting a positive spin on things

1. Headaches can be productive:

I had a migraine this week which reminded me that my current novel on submission began with my migraines. I have suffered from them since I was a teenager and whenever I get one, I feel like I'm outside my body, as if I'm not me anymore. Naturally, that feeling evolved into my present book, SHIFT.

How awesome will it be to tell people who ask about the book's genesis that it started with a massive headache?

2. Deadlines can be fun:

I have 6 knitting projects that I want to complete and send to the east coast before the end of the year. Slippers and leg warmers, oh my! One of my very favorite things to do after teaching several hours of classes is to get out the knitting. So relaxing especially when it's for someone else.

3. Spending all your time on the internet can be profitable:

I am currently writing a novel whose main characters are constantly updating their statuses, playing games online, chatting with friends electronically, etc. I would never have been able to get the job and write the book if it weren't for my own obsession with Facebook and email.

4. Not being wealthy can have its advantages:

I know people who want to be my friend are not looking for celebrity or connections, since I have none. And no one is after me for money, that's for sure. If I hit a tree with my car at 2 in the morning, I'm fairly certain the police, press and paparazzi won't hound me for details.

Be thankful for small things.

Contest and Guest blog...

...at In Bed With Books!

Check it out.

Read. The blog.

Comment. As directed.

Win. A signed hardcover of LOVE, MEG.

Easy-peasy.

The LAYAs at WeHo! Free books! Free candy!

Meet the authors of some of your favorite books!

On Sunday, October 4th, 10 amazing writers from the LA area - members of a great group called Los Angeles Young Adult Authors (LAYA) - will be at the West Hollywood Book Fair with a terrific group of teens who will be reading from their books on stage, readers theater style.

There will be 2 sessions on the Teen Stage. The first, from 1-1:45PM, will feature the following writers:

Jonathan Bernstein – “Hottie”
Susan Casey - “Kids Inventing”
Cherry Cheva – “Duplikate”
Amy Goldman Koss – “Side Effects”
C. Leigh Purtill – “All About Vee”

And from 2:30-3:15PM, there will be these authors:

Ben Esch – “Sophomore Undercover”
Sally Nemeth – “The Heights, the Depths and Everything in Between”
Michael Reisman – “Simon Bloom”
Carol Snow – “Snap”
Mark L. Williams – “Danger Boy”

The authors will be signing books at the nearby Barnes & Noble booth, plus they will be promoting their books - and hanging out looking to make friends! - at the LAYA booth (#B15 in the center of the park).

We will also have a raffle for 2 baskets of books - one basket featuring books from the first session's writers and the other for the second session. You gotta come by the booth to enter!! And say hi to your favorite writers - they're mostly shut-ins so they need to see happy faces smiling back at them.

The fair runs from 10AM - 6PM and will be held at West Hollywood Park, 647 N. San Vicente Blvd, West Hollywood, CA.

Come see us!

Influential books

Sometimes you read a book that so impresses you as both writer and reader that you hang your head in your hands and wail, "Why can't I write like this?"

Many of the classics do this for me - I feel particularly humbled by John Steinbeck and Edith Wharton - as do newer genre writers like Ray Bradbury and Stephen King. Then there are my contemporary favorites who never fail to amaze me: Anne Tyler, Elizabeth Berg, Michael Chabon, Alice Hoffman, and many, many more.

When I read YA, I read mostly for research: to see what's out there and why it's getting attention. But recently, I've been doing some pleasure YA reading that my friend Laura recommended. Number one on her list since I met her almost 2 years ago has been "War for the Oaks" by Emma Bull. It's urban fantasy about human-faerie interaction and a war and the rock music scene and really not my normal cup of tea.

I finally read it, finishing it this weekend, and I loved it. It's a book that all other books in the genre are based on. Having read a fair number of urban fantasy novels like it, I was gratified to read the original. Smart characters, clever dialogue, a plot that moves...and the romance wasn't abrupt or grating. No wonder so many authors were influenced by the book.

I have longed to write a novel that would be influential to other writers (heck, I'd love to write one that is influential to readers too!), something like Orwell's "1984" or Bradbury's "Fahrenheit 451." I haven't come up with anything so far that has the monumental scope either of those do but books like Emma Bull's renew my desire to find that one thing that will make my own work stand out.

A LAYAPALOOZA!

Come one, come all to the LAYAPALOOZA at Vroman's on Saturday, June 20 at 2PM!

Tomorrow, a tremendously awesome group of Los Angeles Young Adult authors (we call ourselves the LAYAs) will be hosting a huge party at Vroman's Bookstore in Pasadena, CA. There will be books and contests and pizza and lots of smart people doing silly things and it's all free!

The event is called LAYAPALOOZA and all you have to be is a fan of great writing to have a good time!

Vroman's Bookstore
695 E. Colorado Blvd
Pasadena, CA 91101
Tel: 626-449-5320

Starts at 2PM
Free!!! (But please RSVP to Vroman's so they'll know how much pizza to buy)

Authors participating are Amy Koss, Sasha Watson, Anna Hays, Alexa Young, Sally Nemeth, Cherry Cheva, Heather Tomlinson, Ben Esch, Jordanna Frailberg, Sonya Sones, Mark London Williams, Michael Reisman, Jonathan Bernstein, Cecil Castelucci, Kerry Madden, and Lisa Yee!

Wow, what a terrific group!

Random Thoughts on a Friday

4 Things I'm Excited About - Yet Sad Too

Isn't that the very definition of "melancholy"?

1. Star Trek - the new JJ Abrams movie is out this weekend and I have tickets for tomorrow night.

Happy: I have been so jazzed about this film since I saw a trailer for it during I am Legend last year. I have seen every Trek movie and television incarnation and even if I didn't care for Deep Space Nine and Enterprise, I did watch some episodes just to keep checking to make sure I hadn't changed my mind.

Sad: It can't possibly live up to the hype that my own mind has created and much as I love Abrams' work, I know he's not a Trek fan. He grew up as a Star Wars nerd and never the twain shall meet. I know that sounds way too geeky but it's true! Trek and Wars are two very different universes and they appeal to different types of people. Anyway, I still want this film to do well.

2. LOST - the two hour season finale is on next Wednesday.

Happy: I have heard a rumor that we will finally meet Jacob which is very intriguing. He has been a specter that haunts the island for so many years and we really don't know anything about him.

Sad: Once the episode is over, we will have to wait 8 months for its final season. Yes, final season! I'm happy and sad about that too! Also, I have a feeling they may explode the hydrogen bomb and then simply leave us hanging until next year.

3. The Hunger Games - the library has reserved a copy for me and I can pick it up tomorrow.

Happy: I've heard so many awesome things about this book, plus my agent has suggested I read it as research for a book I'm writing now.

Sad: I'm sure I will love it and then be super depressed that my book can't possibly be as good.

4. Summer - almost here!

Happy: I love the warm weather and going to the beach and in July, HH and I will be meeting my brother and his family in Arizona on their vacation. Yay!

Sad: I gave myself a summer deadline for the rewrite of this book which makes me anxious. I am happy and sad about this too: love the ideas I have but afraid I won't write well enough for submission.

Women's Expo in Ventura, CA

This past Saturday, I was signing books at the Women's Expo in Ventura at the Bank of Books booth. Bank of Books is an amazing independent store (go indies!!) in Ventura run by Clarey Rudd who was at the Expo and who loves talking about books!

Here I am at my booth. Behind me are the seminar panels (Clarey and Rachel and I were actually talking TOO loudly about books at one point and a security person came over to ask us to keep it down!).

Rachel and I got there early and spent some time wandering the exhibit hall. Our favorite booth was the art installation called "Cups of Courage: Sisterhood of the Traveling Bras."


These photos do NOT do the bras justice. They are gorgeous! Unbelievable works of art! Here is some info about the installation.
While we were there, I also met two wonderful authors, Michael Mehas who is a movie producer and who wrote the novel, STOLEN BOY and Bill Myers, a tremendously prolific writer of funny and thought-provoking fiction for kids, teens and adults. Great meeting both you guys!

And thanks to Rachel who tagged along and kept me entertained on the drive up to Ventura (it takes an hour to get anywhere in SoCal!) and for talking movies all the way home!

Judging a Book by Its Cover

C'mon, we all do it. We see a book or a DVD on the shelf and we read the jacket flap or the summary on the back of the case and we think, "Been there, done that." Or worse, "Been there, done that, hated it."

You don't think you do? All right, I'll go first:

A few months ago, I received a galley copy of a novel called "The Book of Unholy Mischief" by Elle Newmark. The jacket copy made the story about a chef's apprentice in Renaissance Venice who gets caught up in a murder mystery sound, in a word, lame. I was convinced the story would be overwritten, the dialogue stilted, the plot contrived and so it sat on my TBR pile for weeks without me even taking a peek at it. When I finally did - by accident, I think - I was intrigued from the very first chapter. It's a fantastic novel and I have since loaned my copy out twice and recommended it to others.

The same is very true of DVDs: we use Netflix a lot and often, the service will try to recommend movies for us based on which movies we have previously rated highly. Using a complex formula involving lots of numbers and some pixie dust, Netflix will tell us what film we should see next and how much it thinks we will like it.

Example: "Tropic Thunder," the comedy starring Robert Downey Jr. , Jack Black and Ben Stiller. We like all of these actors and Netflix told us we would love their new movie. We were skeptical and thought we would hate it; after all, lots of groups had protested it for many reasons and it seemed sort of weird: Robert Downey Jr. in blackface? How can that not be racist?

And we loved it. Unlike many comedies, it had no lapses in the joke department, no sudden sweetness producers throw in to make the movie perfect for a couple on a date. This was just a very funny parody on all things Hollywood.

I mention these examples because recently, the book blogger Thao Tran reviewed my book, LOVE, MEG on her blog, Serene Hours right here. She very honestly says she didn't think she'd like it - and in an email to me, she told me she had won the book in a contest but had, in fact, been hoping to win my other book, ALL ABOUT VEE. But a free book is a free book, right? (LOL - my words not hers...)

Thao thought the story would be cliche, the characters uninteresting- she believed she had seen this before in other books so she really wasn't expecting to like it. She also wasn't crazy about the cover - it gave her an impression of the story being something she probably wouldn't like. Now, with all of that going against it, how can my little book possibly succeed?

But it did! When Thao read it, she began to enjoy it and you can read for yourself her review and how the book changed her mind. I love hearing this! It suddenly makes a 3 or 4 star review feel like 5 stars! While I would love to hear from a reader that she thought she'd like my book and then loved it instead, I will take the surprised reader too. I would so much rather surprise someone than disappoint them.

And this is not the first time this has happened in a review. Many, many times I read in reviews of my books, particularly ALL ABOUT VEE, that the reader thought she would be bored and was instead shocked at how much she liked the book. In these instances, I definitely want reviewers to say that: tell me, tell potential readers your honest opinion, let us know you thought you'd hate something but instead loved it. That will give other readers an incentive to give my books - and other books they thought they wouldn't like - a shot.

Thanks, Thao, for encouraging others to give MEG a chance.

Random Thoughts on a Friday

4 More Notes on My VC Andrews Challenge progress*

*contains spoilers

The next book in the Dollanganger series, "If There Be Thorns," is told from the points of view of Cathy's two sons, Jory and Bart. Jory is the son of Julian Marquet, her husband who died in a car accident (actually, he would have lived after the accident but he killed himself because he would never be able to dance again) while Bart is the son of Bartholomew Winslow, her lover and the husband of her mother who shoved her and her siblings in an attic which resulted in Cathy and her brother having sex.

Just to, you know, remind you of that.

The book alternates narrators and it's pretty easy to tell who's who: Jory, who is 14, talks like he's a teetotaling college professor while his 9 year old brother Bart says things like "don wanna" and "don like" and "ole witch." Eventually, as he reads his great-grandfather's memoir, Bart starts using language from the turn-of-the-century which makes him even more realistic.

So on we go...

1. Everything the boys learn about their parents' relationship and past is through eavesdropping. They are constantly listening to Cathy and Chris talking (usually pre or post-sex, god these two do it a lot) or their grandmother talking to her servant. Or they're reading the salacious stuff: Malcolm's memoir or Cathy's book. Why can't they actually talk to one another? Or at least listen to people other than family members? Lazy writing.

2. It takes months for Cathy and Chris to learn the identity of the woman who moved next door. Even considering they are out in the middle of nowhere, and their son is obviously troubled and spending a helluva lot of time over there, they can't be bothered to check out the weird old lady. And then when they do, each of them fails to immediately recognize their OWN MOTHER!

3. Just hours after learning that his parents are brother and sister, Jory finds it in his heart to tell Chris that he forgives them and would never want anyone else for a parent. This, by the way, while they are running in search of Cathy. Literally running. Somehow Jory manages to choke this revelation out between breaths. Then again, he is a dancer - destined to be the greatest male dancer the universe has ever known which, in the Land of the Real People, means absolutely nothing but in the Land of VC Andrews, it's the quickest route to fame and fortune.

4. After Cathy (that's Catherine Leigh, remember) stops dancing, she becomes a writer! Okay, like, am I following someone else's script? This was seriously freaky. I can't wait to read book four to see what I do next...maybe this should be called the "doppelganger series."

Books, what your body craves

Right now I'm reading two novels simultaneously: VC Andrews' "Flowers in the Attic" and Richard Yates' "Revolutionary Road."

No two books could be more different in tone, prose, characterization, plotting, etc. Where Yates was lyrical yet concise, every word chosen for a very specific reason, Andrews' wrote in what is known as "breathless prose," long strings of adjectives to describe every item in a room. Yates' dialogue is distinct for each character: subtle and spare. Characters don't telegraph what they mean - they hint. They don't tell everyone in the room their backstory. Andrews' characters speak not only in full sentences but complete chapters, unless they are younger than 5, in which case fragments are all right - but they will be corrected by an older character. And they tell us everything that is on their minds, leaving no room for (mis) interpretation.

I'm not trying to denigrate Andrews' books - or any books written like hers. Neither do I think Yates is necessarily better or better for you than Andrews. I love them both. I will devour them both - why I'm not reading them this very second is a puzzler. But I think it's important to recognize that books are written for all people. I find it strange and pretentious when book reviewers -be they pros or amateurs, traditional media or bloggers - assume that people should only be reading one type of book. I think it's dismissive of them when they refuse to review certain "types" of books because they believe they are lesser, that they don't deserve a place on a person's shelf or in a library.

I like to think of books as food: while you can't have a steady diet of candy (Andrews), neither should you restrict yourself to meat (Yates). There's good-for-you veggies (like nonfiction books) and comforting potatoes (your favorite go-to author you can count on like Stephen King or Elizabeth Berg) and the exotic appetizer (brand new lit or a novel in verse).

When you're younger, you need a glass of milk (Judy Blume, Beverly Cleary) but when you're older you're entitled to a soda (Stephenie Meyer) or a glass of wine (Doris Lessing). And for dessert, well, there's everything from a fruit-and-cheese platter (Joyce Carol Oates) to a slice of sugary cake (Meg Cabot).

And don't forget snacks!

The thing is that you and I don't have to agree on what's "great" literature, the stuff that'll last centuries and be taught in colleges. (Did you know that the films of Keanu Reeves are taught at a school in California? So, yeah, don't talk to me about what is or is not appropriate for our education system.) No one of us supports censorship -to ban a book is an abhorrent and cowardly act - and yet, many of us are disdainful of what others read - or write.

I may not write what everyone wants to read - or what everyone should read. I only want the chance for readers to discover my work.

In Bed With Books Likes Vee!

This is a fantastic review from Liviania at In Bed With Books. I have always enjoyed her reviews because they're insightful and unique. I never feel like I'm reading a rehash of a bunch of other reviews. She seems to find the nugget of truth within a book and reveals it for all of us to see.

Her review of VEE is just as special. I adore this review, not simply because it's a positive one, but because Liviania really got the book. She understood the important relationships in Veronica's life and that Veronica was not simply trying to find a job as an actress. And I especially love that the book surprised Liviania, that her assumptions at the beginning were challenged.

Not-so-positive reviews, I should mention, can also get the book but simply not enjoy it. When the two come together - the comprehension and the appreciation - as in this one, it really makes me feel good, like I've written a good book. And really, that's all you ever want as an author: to write a good book.

Thanks, Liviania, and thanks for the picture of the leg warmers! They look fabulous on you!

Post #301

No time to write here. Am reading "Twilight."

Yes, I know, finally. I got it from the library on Monday. I'm sure to finish this morning.

One word: unputdownable.

{Is that a real word?}

Celebrate the Indies

Independent bookstores are amazing places, did you know that? Not that chain bookstores can't have their great personnel (see Borders in Farmington and the fantastic David Battaglino as an example) but in general, the people who run indies are the ones who love books. They know just what to recommend when you're searching for something but you don't know what you want or when you want to buy a gift or when you do know what you want but can't find it.

Sadly, many of them are going out of business because of various economic realities. I love finding my books in these stores - they're like little surprises - and I love talking to the stores' owners about why they happened to purchase it. It's not usually because a corporate person has declared the book a best-seller or because a publisher is paying a ton of money for table space. It's often because of the sales rep or because they see something in the book that appeals to them. They know they can sell the book to their readers.

You absolutely have to love that personal touch.

Here are some of my favorite indie stores...

The Alphabet Garden, Cheshire, CT
Hickory Stick Books, Monroe, CT
RJ Julia Books, Madison, CT
Chevalier's Books, LA, CA
Book Soup, LA, CA

If you're nearby, I hope you'll take a look on their shelves.

Desert Island Books

You're shipwrecked.

You're on an extremely long vacation.

You're on LOST.

No internet. No phone. No iPod. No television or DVDs or even electricity. You're desperate for reading material. What do you hope the Universe will drop onto your lap?

Here is my dilemma: do I choose an author whose sheer prolificness (is that a word? maybe I should request a dictionary) means you have ample reading material for the length of your stay? Or do I choose books that I would gladly read over and over and over again?

Hmmm....

Can I have both?

No? Bummer. Okay, in the former category, I would definitely go for someone like Stephen King. Lots of books in lots of genres (well, okay, not that many genres but enough that I don't have a nightmare every night) that wil keep me occupied while I await rescue or death. While a writer like Isaac Asimov wrote something like 100+ novels, they're all s/f and I would need a break. King at least wrote some strictly literary material as well as nonfiction and some fantastic short stories.

In the latter category, I would choose a novel like Toole's "A Confederacy of Dunces," a novel I could read over and over again. I considered Eco's "Name of the Rose," which I also love, as well as Adams' "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" but Toole's work is especially poignant because he committed suicide and if I'm stuck on an island, I would want a book that spoke to the depth of a human condition while also being hilariously funny.

What about you? Any choices? Do you pick romance novels or graphic novels? Short stories or epics? Poetry? Haikus? A book of dirty limericks?

Random Thoughts on a Friday

1. I'm a Wikipedia entry! I'm so excited about this I can hardly stand it. I use Wiki like, a million times a day, and here I am, listed and everything. Check it out....Leigh in Wikipedia!

2. The winner of a free signed hardcover of LOVE, MEG will be announced next week. You can still enter to win over at Teen Book Review's blog where I was a guest blogger. Just post a comment, something like, "Leigh, you're the most awesome writer that ever lived!" or maybe just, "Hey, give me a free book!"

3. And speaking of blogging, I'll be a guest blogger at Young Adult's blog next week. Not sure of the date yet but you can come check that out too.

4. Next week I'll be on the east coast, doing some east coast book-type things. On June 26th I'll be reading and talking at the Wallingford Public Library (Connecticut) at 7PM and on June 29th I'll be reading and signing at the Borders in Farmington (Connecticut) at 2PM. I'm pretty excited about both of those visits - as you know I love libraries and who wouldn't love people who sell books? Especially mine!

5. The first rewrite of the book I finished last week is almost done. My deadline for getting it finished was this upcoming trip. I hate having things hanging over my head. Now I will be free to think about the rewrite of another book (I swear I do love rewriting) and developing a brand new idea which I am super-duper thrilled about. I can't wait to allow my mind to explore a new story with new characters - so many possibilities!

And last but not least...
6. Who watched Celebrity Circus on Wednesday night? Come on, raise your hands! How much fun was it to see Peter Brady (a/k/a Christopher Knight) set himself on fire? Or Wee Man tumble around in a wheel? Personally, I'm rooting for Rachel Hunter, who is the most graceful of all of them. Maybe she's not as athletic as the others but she looks fantastic!

Random Thoughts on a Friday

Is this a regular feature? Should it be? I am a listmaker and I have a tendency to think in terms of productivity, hence the end-of-the-week listing of things in my head.

1. Today is Friday the 13th (oooh! scary!). People who are afraid of this day are said to be afflicted with paraskevidekatriaphobia. They won't drive their cars or use anything mechanical; they won't make important plans for the day, like weddings or big meetings. Some people say it dates back to Christ whose 13th disciple betrayed him and led to his crucifixion (which was on a Friday). Others date it to the ancient Egyptians who associated 13 with the unknown realm (12 being the number of realms on earth) and to a story in Viking lore about the god of mischief, Loki, who was not invited to a banquet of the gods at Valhalla - and yes, he was #13.

Statistically, it's not anymore dangerous or deadly than any other day of the week or month. No, seriously, it's not so go ahead and schedule your wedding on that day. Just don't invite me...

2. M. Night Shyamalan's new movie "The Happening" opens today and while I was not a big fan of "Signs" or "Lady in the Water" and I guessed the secret to "The Village" not long after I read a Margaret Peterson Haddix novel, I do look forward to his hubris. He once had the gall to say he was a better filmmaker than Spielberg. Um, "Schindler's List," anyone? "Close Encounters?" Um, no.

3. I'm guest blogging at Teen Book Review next Wednesday, 6/18, and I'll be giving away...something! I'll let you know next week but in the meantime, check out the blog. Jocelyn gets some great authors and does some amazing reviews! I don't think she actually sleeps...or else she's figured out how to read while she snoozes!

4. I hate having a cold during the summer. It's completely unfair. It's hard enough to curl up with a hot cup of tea in SoCal during the winter because the sun still shines most of the time, but the summer? When everyone is outside and the days are superlong? Forget about it. I'm trying to pretend I'm perfectly fine and maybe my cold will get bored and leave.

5. Thursdays just aren't the same without LOST. HH and I are going through withdrawal. I suppose I could read or something, huh? I mean, it's not like I have to watch television...or do I?

Book list update...

Okay, so I have re-organized my piles of books and come up with the following list, in the order that the books need to be read. Let me say right up front that I will read the Meyers books at the same time, beginning with Twilight.

--The Ghosts of Kerfol
--Bliss
--Babylon Rolling
--Simon Bloom, Gravity Keeper
--Goth
--This Lullaby
--Chasing the Jaguar
--Catch a Mate
--The Lace Reader
--Millicent Min
--Someone Like You
--The Smart One and the Pretty One

There are more, I know, but I had to stop there because I'm pretty sure something will interrupt me, like my own work or something lame like that. The reason for this reorganization is twofold: one, if I don't make a list, I won't read the books at all and two, I want to give a lot of them away.

That's right, contests! Everyone else has contests so why not me? Right now, I am deciding how to divide them up, logically. They will be in reading packages, not single books, because I want to get them out there. What people do with them after that is their own business - give them away yourselves, donate to libraries, sell on eBay, whatever.

What this also means is I CAN'T BUY ANY MORE BOOKS! HH and I were in our fave used bookstore on Sunday and the urge to buy - to look - to glance quickly at - all of those books was so strong, I had to insist to HH that he keep me away from them.

I could seriously buy more books than I could ever read in a lifetime, like Burgess Meredith's character in that classic Twilight Zone episode, the one where he has all the time in the world to read - finally - after he survives a bomb blast but then breaks his only pair of glasses (ah, the pathetic irony). I have on my bookshelves a couple of King novels I haven't read plus a Koontz and some nonfiction, and that is simply inexcusable. The books are there to be read! I think I need to take a year off and just read...

The Massive To-Read List

The absolute coolest thing about attending the Book Expo last weekend was walking (crawling...) away with bags of free books!

The absolute worst thing about attending the Book Expo was...see above answer.

Why, you ask? That sounds ideal, like a dream come true. Free books. Advance reader copies.

Because I already have a HUGE stack of books at home that I still haven't tackled. You'd assume that since I write books, I would be reading them all the time. After all, I teach ballet, so I take a lot of ballet classes and when I wrote screenplays, I watched a lot of movies. The problem is that I try very, very hard not to read anything at all similar to what I write when I'm writing something new. When I'm editing or just in the thinking stage, then yes, I devour books both similar to and dissimilar from, my own.

As I mentioned last week, I finished a new draft of a book so now I'm in rewrite mode. Therefore, it's perfectly acceptable for me to read something that isn't mine. The question is what.

Here are some (just some) of the books on my pile...
--Janes in Love by Cecil Castellucci
--Sucks to be Me by Kimberly Pauley
--Bliss by Lauren Myracle
--The Ghosts of Kerfol by Deborah Noyes
--Philippa Fisher's Fairy Godsister by Liz Kessler
--Goth by Otsuichi
--Chasing the Jaguar by Michele Dominguez Greene
--The Lucky Ones by Stephanie Greene
--The Gravity Keeper by Michael Reisman
--Millicent Min by Lisa Yee

I also have some more adult books on my list...
--Crime by Irvine Welsh
--Atonement by Ian McEwan
--The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry
--Babylon Rolling by Amanda Boyden
--I See You Everywhere by Julia Glass
--The Widows of Eastwick by John Updike
--Catch a Mate by Gena Showalter

I can start reading any one of these books or I can chuck all of 'em and start the Stephenie Meyers books. Opinions, anyone?

Soon, very soon, perhaps during my next trip to the east coast, I will devise a clever contest to give away some of these amazing books I have in my possession. I just have to figure out how to do it!

Leigh's First Chat!

It was a smashing success!

If I do say so myself...

And how much FUN did I have????

Here is a picture of me having fun as I was chatting live on-line for almost two hours! (Thanks to my Ninja Webmaster for the picture!)

You can't tell but I'm chatting furiously with our host, Chelsea, and guests, Megan, Anilee, Breanna, Carol, Eliza, Lauren, Breakingnews, Chelsie, Liv and Hope. And of course, Mojo!

Here's Mojo having fun too! (Hard to tell, huh? Trust me, this is him having fun...)

There was dancing on the tables (by Mojo) and talk about Coney Island (with Mojo) and places to visit in Brooklyn (Mojo's opinions). And oh yes, we talked about favorite books, current books, books that inspire us, books on our long to-read lists, authors we love (Meg Cabot and Sarah Dessen and Stephenie Meyer and Laurie Halse Anderson and James Patterson and Cassandra Clare and Catherine Murdock and many, many more) and maybe 1 or 2 or 10 people told me I have to read every single word of the Twilight series, including the copyright and acknowledgments pages!

And then there was the writing stuff - the questions about how I write, what I write on, where I write. Do I outline? (Yes!) Do I like revising? (Yes!) Any advice? (Finish that! And write every day!)

And what would a chat be without non-writing topics? World travel and foreign languages! Favorite food! Favorite movies! Favorite television shows!

The answers: Italy, French, Chinese, 12 Monkeys, Lost...

Just like a regular party, people came, left, got a snack or answered the phone, returned, danced on a table or two, claimed to have another engagement, forgot their keys and came back again, sneaked some dessert, and finally finally left with hugs and kisses and promises to write very soon.

And my favorite question of all? From Breakingnews: is there a sequel to ALL ABOUT VEE coming out? Ah, it is written but without a pub date. Maybe soon. Maybe in the future. Maybe baby. We'll have to see...

Everyone was so welcoming and warm and kind and they made me feel like such a...writer!

Thank you, thank you to Chelsea for hosting at her fab website, ThePageFlipper.com! I had such a good time, I hope you ask me back! And if anyone has any questions, they should definitely email me or go to my Myspace page or my Facebook or post here at my blog (my gosh, I have a million ways to keep in touch!).

And now, I'm off to do writerly things in my writerly life.

Book Ends

1. Book Club - earlier this week I was lucky enough to be invited to Hillsides School in Pasadena to talk to a fantastic group of teen girls who love to read. Next they'll be reading ALL ABOUT VEE! While I was there they told me all about other books they love (besides all the Stephenie Meyers books I need to check out THE HATERS). I would LOVE it if people wrote to me about their favorite books - they don't have to be teen books. I want to compile a list of great books that I can read and then recommend. It also helps me to know what people like - sort of like research but I don't have to actually do it. LOL!!!! j/k

2. Book Signing - I'll be at Chevalier's Books in Larchmont Village tomorrow from 2 - 4 PM signing copies of ALL ABOUT VEE. And there will be cookies! Please come on down, even just to say hello and keep me from getting lonely. The address is 126 N. Larchmont Blvd, LA 90004.

3. Book Reviews - getting reviews from people is tough, I know. There are a ton of great books out there and people have limited time to read but I would really love to get some feedback from readers of LOVE, MEG and ALL ABOUT VEE. I will personally name and thank everyone who writes me a review in Amazon or Barnes & Noble and I will link to their blog here and on my website. That is my promise to YOU, my readers, just cuz I dig you all so much.