Book signings then and now

When I first became an author I thought book signings were all about meeting my public, finding out what they wanted, and making them happy.

Sorry public, I gave up on making you happy long ago.

Now it's all about not looking bad in front of the book store personnel. If that means begging everyone I know to come into the store then I will do it unashamedly. Because there is nothing worse than having the book store personnel think you are a friendless, readerless author who can't draw a crowd.

So, although I know it seems like I just told you about a book signing, (because I did,) now I'm telling you about another one. I'll be at Changing Hands Bookstore in Tempe with super fun author Janni Simner doing readings and a signing.

This is your official invitation begging you to come!

Tuesday, March 31
7:00 PM

Changing Hands Bookstore
6428 S McClintock Dr.
Tempe, AZ 85283.
480-730-0205

Want to hang out with Stephenie Meyer? (Okay, that got your attention, didn't it?)

Come to projectbook.babe on Saturday, April 4th 2009, 2:00PM to 5:00PM at
Marcos de Niza High School Auditorium,
6000 S. Lakeshore Dr.,Tempe, AZ 85283

Look at this a-list of authors who will be there (in alphabetical order):

Frank Beddor-The Looking Glass Wars series
Chris Gall-There’s Nothing to Do on Mars
P.J. Haarsma-The Softwire series
Shannon Hale-The Princess Academy
J.S. Lewis-The Revenge of the Shadow King
Dean Lorey-Nightmare Academy series
Stephenie Meyer-Twilight saga
Brandon Mull-Fablehaven series
James A. Owen-Here, There Be Dragons
Janette Rallison-Just One Wish
Laini Taylor-Faeries of Dreamdark series

And it’s all for a good cause too. We’re helping out our very good friend and YA advocate, Faith Hochhalter, who is going up against cancer—a nasty villain in anybody’s book.

Everyone who buys a ticket will receive an autographed copy a book. Really, it is going to be a ton of fun, and I won’t let the cat out of the bag, but Shannon Hale is busy at work guaranteeing that we will all make fools of ourselves. Also Stephenie is auctioning off some Twilight memorabilia, which as you all know, has an ample sprinkling of vampire dust on it. I’m pretty sure Edward Cullen has touched all of it, so touching it is just like being caressed in his marble cold embrace.

You can buy tickets to this fab, once-in-a-lifetime event by going to projectbookbabe.com

Hope to see you there!

Book signings and teaser

Despite the fact that I'm always afraid my book signings will turn out like a bad version of a Junior High dance--me standing idly around trying to look like I'm perfectly happy to not be doing what I came to do, but desperately wishing that I could be on the dance floor--I have two book signings set up this month. (Where I may be sitting idly around trying to look like I'm perfectly happy to not be doing what I came to do, but desperately wishing that I could be on the dance floor--er, I mean, signing books. Although the dance floor would be a great reprieve too.)

Here are the dates/times/places:

Tuesday March 24th at 7pm
Barnes & Noble
Desert Ridge Marketplace
21001 N. Tatum Blvd. Suite 42
Phoenix, AZ 85050
480-538-8520

Tuesday, March 31st at 7pm.
Changing Hands Bookstore
6428 S McClintock Dr, Tempe, AZ 85283,
Cross streets: Guadalupe and McClintock



Just One Wish

It seemed like a good idea at the time, a foolproof plan, and not something that was likely to get Annika Truman, say, thrown in jail. All she was trying to do was help her six-year-old brother, Jeremy, beat his cancer. He’d been so afraid of his upcoming surgery that she was trying to use some of that “Power of Positive Thinking” everyone keeps talking about.

Annika told Jeremy that she had a genie and still had two wishes left. He could use one for anything he wanted and one to make sure his surgery went well. She knew he’d ask for the new action figure of Teen Robin Hood. It’s all he’d talked about since he started watching the TV series.

But there is no such thing as a foolproof plan where six-year-olds are concerned. Instead, Jeremy asked for the real Teen Robin Hood to come teach him how to shoot arrows. And now Annika has just a couple of days to drive to Hollywood, find the actor who plays Teen Robin Hood—incredibly hot and way too famous Steve Raleigh—and convince him to visit her little brother.

At times like this she could use a genie herself.

More thoughts on revisions

I was just at the Tucson Book Festival last weekend where I got to hang out with many fun writers including political cartoonist David Fitszimmons. He gave me this cartoon that he used during his presentation. No particular reason why. Nope, none at all.

Round two of revisions for Faking It

I got my second revision letter and manuscript comments from the bow-tied one. I will share some of it with you and interpret it for you along the way. In his email to me, he said, “You’re doing great! We love it!”

Ohhoho. I know better than to believe those words. He is not taking me in with those pretty exclamation points. He always says those sorts of things right before he butchers my manuscript and sends me back the bleeding entrails.

I opened the revision letter and braced myself. I read a few lines and then he said, “We can discuss deadlines after you’ve had a chance to sit with all of this.”

Ahh, the truth first peeks out with its beady little eyes. The bow-tied one knows full well that when I read what follows I will be so torked out of shape I will not speak to him for a solid week. It is going to be bad my friends, very bad.

He then says, “You will be relieved to see that there are fewer comments on this pass (only 407 this time, down from 435), so clearly you are moving in the right direction!"

AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!

I would make some other sort of statement about his 407 comments, but I haven’t read them yet. I can’t. I’ve made a bargain with myself. I will only read his revisions notes until I get so upset that I want to scream, then I will walk away from the computer and do something else for the rest of the day. It is the only way I can get through this.

It will take me at least another day to finish his revision letter before I even open the manuscript.

I have finally figured out why he wears a bow-tie instead of a regular one. Bow-ties are harder to grab a hold of when you want to strangle people.

Just One Wish is out! Well, maybe sort of . . .

The long awaited and much anticipated (at least by me) release date of Just One Wish is here! According to the Amazon and Barnes & Noble websites, my latest book was released March 5th.

Unfortunately someone emailed me that their book store didn't have it yet, which made me call my local book store and they told me that although they had the book on order it hadn't come in.

I emailed the bow-tied one to see if there was a distribution problem--I also haven't gotten my author copies--and he told me not to sweat it because we hadn't reached the release date yet.

Which proves what I've said all along, that editors have no concept of time.

So anyway, I'm not sure if your store has copies yet, but it should, and if it doesn't, then you should demand in a loud voice that they get it in soon because obviously there is going to be a rush on the limited first edition copies and things could turn ugly like they did years ago when shoppers were trampling each other to get Tickle Me Elmos.

Maybe we can create a frenzied shopping demand for the book. I'd be happy with that.

Utah trip--the first family wedding.

Okay, I'm finally blogging about my Utah trip. I went up for my niece's wedding, did three school visits and basically had a blast hanging out with my family. Because my family is hilarious. Some people think I'm funny. This is only because they haven't met my family. The rest of them are way funnier which means that every time we get together I usually laugh until I cry.

My brother-in-law, Dante, was telling us about the overpriced four-dollar pastries being served at the luncheon, and how even though he was paying an exorbitant amount for the catering, the wedding-palace-place was only serving enough pastries for 60 people. Unfortunately they had invited 125 people so the night before the wedding we were devising solutions to this problem. Our best idea was to have a rating system for the gifts, and only people who'd brought really nice ones got to get in the pastry line.


The most expesive blackberry my daughter will ever eat.

My oldest daughter (code name Serena, after her favorite cartoon character) was assigned to sit at the check-in table, take the gifts, and have people sign the guest book.

I've always found those guest books intimidating. I mean, here is this keepsake that the bride and groom will cherish forever and you want to write something deep, meaningful, and unique but after standing with the pen poised in your hand for long enough that the line backs up, you finally scrawl out, "Best Wishes!" and move on.

So the family got to talking about that too. Or rather, we talked about the things that you should not write in the bride and groom's guest book.

Here is the top ten list of things you shouldn't write:

1. This was really nice for your first wedding.
2. It's not too late for a pre-nup.
3. The office pool is giving you two years.
4. And who says you can't find nice bridal dresses at Sears?
5. Apparently she couldn't have done better.
6. We don't actually know you. We just came for the four dollar pastries.
7. He must be a good catch; his first three wives had no complaints, God rest their souls.
8. For your wedding gift I got you that supply of penicillin.
9. At last, you found a way to get your green card!
10. Don't worry her ex didn't make parole.

I bet after hanging out with all of us, Serena will never want to get married.



This is a picture of Serena and her cousin who was the namesake for the main character in How to Take the Ex Out of Ex-boyfriend. Isn't she gorgeous?

Another cool night to be an author--meeting Avi

First of all, let me say that I don't recommend you take an active six-year-old to an author presentation. Really, what was I thinking? Well, I guess I was thinking she was invited so why not take her? They had a build-a-book activity going on for the kids and I really wasn't clear about the fact that afterward she would have to sit politely on a chair while Avi spoke.

But let me backtrack, because I'm skipping over the coolest part of the evening. When I got to the Arizona Natural History Museum where the build-a-book activity and Avi presentation was happening, all the 3-hour parking was taken so I had to park in a 1-hour parking space.

No, that isn't the cool part.

The cool part is that when I left my kids building books--with strict instructions for my older kids that they were to WATCH YOUR LITTLE SISTER AT ALL TIMES SO SHE DOESN'T TIP OVER THE REFRESHMENT TABLE, KNOCK OVER THE BOOKS, OR SCALE THE DINOSAURS BECAUSE I HAVE TO REPARK THE CAR, I walked out of the room and who did I see standing by the stairs waiting to give his presentation? Yup, Avi.

At first, I just walked by because I didn't want to bother him. I mean, I'm sure he's constantly bombarded with people telling him how much they love his books and most likely he hadn't gone into the room full of teachers and librarians because he wanted some private time.

But then I thought, private time is overrated. And maybe he's just shy. And when am I ever going to have the chance to talk to him again? I mean, I would probably kick myself for the rest of my life if I at least didn't say hello. Besides, most authors I've met, even the really famous ones, are down to earth, nice people.

So I walked back up the stairs and introduced myself, and we spent about ten minutes talking about writing and editors. (Yes, Tim, I told Avi you were a great editor.)

After that I had to hurry to go repark my car, retrieve my kids, (little sister was parked in front of a book case reading a book while her older siblings finished up their book projects--hello, would they have even noticed if she disappeared?) made a pit stop at the bathroom because little sister drank way too much lemonade and I didn't want her having get up in the middle of the presentation, and then were in time to find chairs in the back of the room.

Avi gives a great presentation, by the way. He does cool voices while he reads his books.

Little sister was fairly good--at least for her. This is because I bought her a new toy dog and told her she could only have it if she was good. If she wasn't, I was taking it away and she'd have to wait until her birthday to get it back. So she wasn't loud, although she kept lying down on her chair, and then on the floor, and managed to spill the contents of my purse on the ground. And she still had to get up to go to the bathroom after 45 minutes. (I knew I shouldn't have let her drink the lemonade.)

The plus side to having a wiggly six-year-old with you? The kind Scholastic lady told us we could go to the front of the very, very, long signing line. It was probably a wise choice. I don't think anyone would have liked to see what a bored, active six-year-old would do while her mother was waiting in line next to dinosaur replicas.

And here is a picture of Avi signing our books.

Impulse buy

Okay, I was at the store today buying all that reduced price Valentines candy. (Discount chocolate--it is my siren call.) and I saw this and had to buy it. It is so true.

How you know you're a seasoned author

I was thinking about this as I got ready for my panel last night at Changing Hands. My how things have changed since my first book event!

First book event an author does:

You have dreamed about this day for years. You spend two weeks shopping for the perfect dress. You count down the days. You have your hair done by a beautician. You go out with your friends beforehand to celebrate. Your husband is there to take pictures.

After a few years:

You buy a new shirt for the book event. Hey, it's time you went shopping for yourself and this gives you a good excuse. You mark the event on your calendar with pride but don't obsess about it. You make sure you color your hair before the event so you have no gray roots showing. You barely remember to take your camera so someone can snap your picture with the other authors there.

After a few more years:

You mark the date on your calendar to make sure you don't forget. (How embarrassing would that be?) You figure what you have in your closet is fine to wear and iron something nice looking the day before. Your hair? Well, you probably can squeak by another day without anyone noticing the gray. Only a little is peeking out. When you get to the event you realize you forgot your camera and ask one of the other authors to forward a picture to you.

After 12 years:

You write a memo to yourself on your hand so you won't forget. (Yes, it's on the calendar but that's no guarantee you'll remember to go when it's time.) You wonder if it's possible to color your gray roots with an eyebrow pencil. You find yourself an hour before the event rifling through your closet looking for something clean. Forget the camera, if you're lucky you will remember to zip your fly. (Because how embarrassing would that be to have you're fly down again?)

And by the way, my fly was zipped last night, but while I was sitting on the panel I realized that I had forgotten to change my socks form when I was sloughing around the house earlier in sweats and they didn't match my dressy shirt.

Oh well, authors are supposed to be eccentric right? And hey, Michael, if you're reading this, forward me that picture you took of the authors so I can use it on my blog!

Thanks!

Changing Hands Author Panel Tonight at 7:00

Hey fellow Arizonians,
If you're looking for something fun and free to do tonight, stop by Changing Hands Book Store for the Teen Author Panel Discussion at 7 pm.


Explore how to write, market, and publish first-rate teen literature with authors Lisa McMann (Wake), James Owen (Indigo King), Janette Rallison (My Fair Godmother), and Laurie Brooks (Selkie Girl). Joining them is literary agent Erin Murphy. Panel moderated by Changing Hands Bookstore’s children’s book buyer Brandi Stewart.

(Did you notice it called my book first-rate literature? This is validation. I'm first rate.)

Changing Hands is located at:

6428 S McClintock Dr
Tempe, AZ 85283
480-730-0205
McClintock at Guadalupe

Princess of the Midnight Ball

When I was little I always wanted to be a princess. In fact when adults asked me what I was going to be when I grew up, I always told them I was going to be a princess. My older siblings tried to dismiss this career choice by pointing out that you had to be born a princess, and besides, queens had the real power.

But I was adamant. I wanted to be a princess.

This is because I adored fairy tales and princesses were always the ones wearing poufy dresses, looking gorgeous, and having fun and adventures. I wanted all of that. Especially the poufy dresses.

One of my favorite fairy tales was The Twelve Dancing Princesses. The short synopsis of this story is: Although the twelve beautiful princesses are locked in their room every night, every morning their dancing slippers are worn through. The King, vexed by this mystery, offers the hand of one of his daughters along with his kingdom to any man who can find out where his daughters go. If they fail, after three nights they will be beheaded. Many kings’ sons come to try and solve the riddle but they all fail.

Finally a soldier comes through town. He meets one of those kindly old magical women who just hang around street corners waiting to help the pure in heart. She tells him not to drink anything the princesses give him (which is laced with a sleeping potion) and gives him a magical invisibility cloak. He follows the princesses to an underground world where they dance with twelve princes (The Grimm brothers don’t say for certain, but I’m pretty sure these underground princes all look like the Jonas brothers.) The soldier brings back proof of this magical place to give to the king. Having solved the riddle, he wins the princess of his choice and the kingdom.

If you had asked me what the moral to this Grimm fairy tale was when I was a child, I would have said that it was either a) your father does indeed want to stop all your fun or b) if you are going to dance the night away with secret princes you should get sturdier shoes.

Now that I’m an adult I clearly see that this story is a cautionary tale for men: If you can’t figure out women and their secret worlds, you don’t stand a chance. Your head might as well be rolling on the floor. However, if you can stay awake long enough to discover the inner world of a woman, you get the whole kingdom.

And a very good moral it is too, men, so listen up.

This by the way, is not what Jessica Day George’s book, Princess of the Midnight Ball is about. At least not moral-wise. She does follow the fairy tale pretty closely, except that her version makes a lot more sense than Grimm’s did.

She explains who the underground princes are, why there are twelve of them and twelve princesses, and why they must dance every night. She also explains why the princesses have to keep it a secret, why the princes who fail to solve the riddle end up dying, and why there was that kindly old lady hanging around the street with magically items. (I don’t know about you, but even though I occasionally give money to beggars on street corners, not one of them has ever produced a magic cloak for me.) Jessica Day George even supplies what was missing in the original fairy tale, a villain who is capable not only of dooming the princesses but their whole kingdom as well.

The story is both believable and enjoyable and you will like the twelve princesses—especially the heroine, Rose. Galen, the soldier, is also a great character. (You have to love a man who not only sends flowers to a woman but can also knit his own socks.)

This is one book that the whole family will enjoy reading.


Here are some questions I asked Jessica:

Were you like me as a little girl--did you always want to be a princess? If not, what were you going to be when you grew up?

I did want to be a princess! I had a whole imaginary world I lived in. I had a horse, and a pet wolf, and a dragon, and I had hair down to my ankles (can you imagine actually having to wash hair that long? ugh!), and I lived in a marble palace with a huge pool in my room for bathing. There was more, it was very elaborate.

What is your favorite fairy tale?

East o' the Sun, West o' the Moon, which is the basis for my book Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow. Polar bears, trolls, and magic, oh my!

Did you imagine any specific person when you wrote about Galen or Rose? If so who?

I didn't, actually. Galen just popped into my head one day, marching along and wearing about five scarves because he was a knitter as well as an ex-soldier , and then I asked myself: what kind of girl would Galen fall for? What kind of girl would the oldest of twelve cursed princesses be? And Rose came from that.

I know you have small children. What's your writing schedule like?

Any free moment I can get! Usually the afternoons, now, when my four-year-old is watching a movie or playing, and the baby's sleeping. I used to write in the mornings, but with the late night feedings, I usually sleep until almost eight, and meanwhile the four-year-old has started waking up at 6:30! He just hangs out in his room, chatting with his toys and monkeying around, until I get up. What a nut!

What's next?

Dragon Spear, my third and final book about the seamstress Creel and her dragon friends!


Sounds great! Thanks for stopping by my blog!

Where I get my characters' names

I love choosing my characters' names. I get to use all the really cool names that my husband wouldn't let me name my children. (I tried to strike a deal with him that he could name all of the children he pushed out of his body, and I got to name all of the children I pushed out of my body, but he wouldn't go for it.)

He's sort of a traditionalist about names. In his mind a name has to be around for at least as long as the Bible for it to be considered a valid name. Which is why 4/5of our children have Bible names. (After 18 hours of labor with our last daughter, and a spinal headache, he patted my hand and said, "You can name her whatever you want." I should have named her Chanel, because then she would be our Chanel number 5, but no, that idea didn't occur to me until long after the ink was dry on the birth certificate.)

Anyway, while I was writing My Fair Godmother (and Just One Wish) I was teaching the nursery class at church. The kids were sooo cute and had such hip names, that I admit I stole several of them for my novels.

Here is a picture of Savannah

And here is a picture of Hunter. (Although the Hunter in the book never wears rabbit ears)

Aren't they so darling? And as a bonus, both of their parents want to buy the book. I should have thought of this idea long ago. My next character may be named Oprah . . .

Optioned!

Good news! My Fair Godmother was just optioned! This basically means that a very brilliant producer wants to make the book into a movie. Now I'm waiting and crossing my fingers that everything else will come together, because I've always thought this book would make a great movie.

Statistically speaking, most books that are optioned don't actually make it to the box office, but I'm happy regardless because the fact that it got optioned feels like validation to me. Someone else in the business saw the potential in this book. Yay!

professional jealousy

I was going to put up pictures of my Utah trip, but alas, Techno Bob is on a scout camp-out with one of the offspring, and I am pathetically unable to upload pictures onto my blog. (And no, I don't know how to work my cell phone or our DVD player either. I have mastered the toaster, even though it came with three additional buttons that didn't used to be on our older, less techno-savvy toaster. Seriously, the new one has a cancel button--I suppose for people who change their mind about making toast and want to retrieve their uncrispened bread, yet have never figured out how to flip the toast lever up.)

However an interesting subject came up on one of the writers' lists I'm on. Someone who hasn't seen any nibbles on their novel was bemoaning the fact that a high school friend submitted a book to an agent and two weeks later had a contract.

Yeah, that happens. And it's hard.

I remember how badly I wanted to be published. It wasn't just a want--like you want ice cream, or you want that new dress. It was an actual physical ache that I couldn't really explain to anyone else or to myself.

Pre-published authors tend to see that book contract--or better yet, that fresh new book--as the finish line: the accomplishment of the goal.

It's not though. It's just the beginning.

And that whole jealousy/want cycle doesn't end when you get published.

Once you're published you'll have friends that get this award or that award, or the book tour, or that speaking engagement, or that movie deal, or that Newbery, or hit the bestsellers list, or um, get constantly compared to J.K. Rowling. (And yes, in fact I did know both Shannon Hale and Stephenie Meyer before they became ultra-famous.) And I don't think any of us want our friends not to do well, we're thrilled when they do, we just feel a little left behind.

For me, I've decided that it's much more important for there to be good literature out there for kids than it is for me to be famous/rich/compared to JK Rowling. I have a good life, a wonderful family, a husband who loves me and who thankfully can support our family. I have no cause at all to complain. So I can applaud the success of all of the authors that I love and realize that all gifts (talents) no matter how big or how small are equally important if we're striving to make the world a better place. It's like the parable of the widow's mite. I may only have two pence to contribute but it's still enough.

Win My Fair Godmother

I like to have contests that match the book I'm giving away, but I'm drawing a bit of a blank on this one. Hmmm. Tell me a story about when you defeated an ogre? Nah. Best tips for getting rid of those pesky dragons that keep chomping on villagers? I probably wouldn't get a lot of entries on that one . . .

How about this: leave a comment on where you would ask your fairy godmother to send you, and why. Answers can include real life places or fantasy ones. (Personally, I'd like to visit Battlestar Gallactica . . . but yeah, we won't go into my crush on Apollo.)

After the week is up I'll pick one winner and send them a copy. And just so that you really want the book, here is the teaser:

After her boyfriend dumps her for her older sister, sophomore Savannah Delano wishes she could find a true prince to take her to the prom. Enter Chrissy (Chrysanthemum) Everstar: Savannah’s gum-chewing, cell phone–carrying, high heel-wearing Fair Godmother. Showing why she’s only Fair—because she’s not a very good fairy student—Chrissy mistakenly sends Savannah back in time to the Middle Ages, first as Cinderella, then as Snow White. Finally she sends Tristan, a boy in Savannah’s class, back instead to turn him into her prom-worthy prince. When Savannah returns to the Middle Ages to save Tristan, they must team up to defeat a troll, a dragon, and the mysterious and undeniably sexy Black Knight.

Oh, and the YA Fresh blog will also be giving a book away on Friday so if you'd like to double your chances you can visit:

www.yafresh.blogspot.com.

Just One Wish interview

Despite the fact that my expression in the beginning of this interview makes me look like I am about to discuss something extremely distasteful (politics, grout stains, Paris Hilton) I am actually talking about something fascinating--my book. Okay, at least it's fascinating to me. I am frequently fascinated by myself.

Cool technology? (In which I reveal my secret identity)

Okay, I admit it. Just like Clark Kent and Peter Parker and other extremely cool people, I have a hidden identity. Besides being mild mannered Janette Rallison YA author, I am also Sierra St. James, exotic romance writer. Not that any of my romances were exotic, just my persona as a romance writer is exotic.

I would regularly wear a boa and dangly rhinestone earings, and all of that other glamorous stuff romance writers wear. I would also swish my luxurious auburn curls around my shoulders and lower my lashes while speaking to wry, brooding men. (Okay, I am totally lying about that. I wrote those books in my pajamas and my husband only gets wry and brooding when I inform him that once again we're having cold cereal for dinner.)

Anyway, I haven't been Sierra since 2002, but one of my Sierra books, Time Riders--which is a science fiction LDS romance--is going to be picked up by Deseret Book and rereleased in 2010. (Wahoo! Wahoo!)

DB wanted me to make some changes and one of the things they asked was, "Will you be updating the technology in the book? With all the latest, greatest techno gadgets that materialize these days, are there things in the future setting that don't seem as cool now as they did when you originally worte the book?"

True, I wrote the book in 2001 so a lot has changed since then. When I wrote about a GPS-like device that not only steered cars to their destination, but had an electronic map that showed the destination and the car's progress, I had never seen or heard of a Garmin.

Here is a list of technology that I already have in the book:

1) the time machine (sort of)

2)cell-phone like communicators that can also track where people are (GPS will get us there quickly).

3)Voice activated computers

4)hologram recreational rooms.

5)crystals in their hands which work like credit cards (and also can be used to track them)

6)laser guns, of course! What would the future be without cool laser guns?

7) instead of cars they have community owned pod-like cars on rails that they call whenever they need to go someplace. When they're done with the car it sits there until someone else calls it. People program in their destinations, but because the cars move on rails, there are never car accidents. (I actually think this is a good idea--someone go out and invent this.)

8) I have added restaurant chairs that moniter and tell the diner what their weight, body fat, blood pressure, heart rate, etc are.

Do you guys have any other ideas of cool things you'd like to see in the future?

Let me know!

The other thing that bothers me about a lot of contemporary YA literature.

Okay, I get that the teen years are turbulent , emotional times, and that many teen girls are drawn to drama. I am embarrassed to admit that I, myself was that way as a teen. I even wrote ultra melodramatic (and bad) poetry that I unfortunately shared with a few of my boyfriends. Which is why I always tell budding writers to ABSOLUTELY NOT share your ultra melodramatic and bad poetry with your boyfriends (especially if it rhymes, or sort of rhymes . . . well, you know, assuming that you ignore a few syllable accents here and there).

Because if you actually ever do become a writer you will always be worried that should you get really famous your bad poetry will show up on ebay.

It just isn’t a situation you want to put yourself in.

But even when I was a melodramatic teenager often drowning in self pity and cynicism, I still liked to read cheerful books most of the time. I devoured romances and loved comedies. I did read Go Ask Alice, (Everyone read that book.) and probably a few other edgier books, but truly, if they had all been that way, I would have stopped reading after about the fifth book and never picked up another novel.

Which is why it worries me that all of the non-fantasy YA books I’ve read recently are excessively turbulent, dark, and angsty. I’ve read book after book and not only is the reading material depressing, I’m wondering if all teenagers have awful, horrible lives. Oh and as a corollary, I’ve also learned that guys are basically evil and untrustworthy. Girls aren’t much better—at least not if they are pretty.

I’ve compiled a list of situations that I’ve found in the last oh, about ten high selling YA contemporary books that I’ve read. You may set this to the tune: The Twelve Days of Christmas. (But I will not make you go through all twelve verses.)

On twelfth day of reading, I found in YA literature:
Ten cheating boyfriends/fathers
Five betraying friends
Four drug users
Three fatal car crashes
Three alcoholic, neglectful mothers
Two abusive boyfriends
Two overbearing violent fathers
Two date rapes
Two anorexics
Two undeserved slutty reputations
One unplanned pregnancy
And a suicide.

And mind you, this is the stuff that sells well. Probably better than my books. Which makes me wonder if I’m in completely the wrong genre. Maybe teenage girls just don’t want to read romantic comedies any more. Maybe kids who don’t want angst and edginess stopped reading long ago. Maybe they all just switched to other genres.

Fantasy readers still seem to like happy books. And yes I know there are dark and edgy fantasy novels too, but I imagine if you picked up ten random well selling fantasies they wouldn’t all be that way.

So yeah, I’m definitely thinking about making a full time jump to fantasy. My Fair Godmother was a super fun book to write and it’s already getting great reviews. I think I could be happy doing fantasy.

Interviews

I currently have a couple of interviews at different sites up. You can check them out at YA Fresh

http://yafresh.blogspot.com/2008/12/whats-fresh-with-janette-rallison-some.html

and

http://www.innovativeteen.blogspot.com/