Design Your Own Ballgown, Win a copy of The Season!

The wonderful Aprilynne Pike, who happens to be a friend, fellow 2009 Debutante and author of the soon-to-be-on-everyone's-list, WINGS (HarperTeen, May), is hosting a super fun The Season related contest over on her blog! Head on over there, design the gown you'd like to wear to your own first ball and, if Aprilynne picks yours as her favorite, you win a signed copy of The Season!

Who doesn't love ballgowns and free books?

Surely not readers of this blog.

John Green is Right. Always.

Girls...nerdboys are awesome. I know. I'm married to one.


John Green is also awesome. I know that a) because it is a logical deduction from the fact that he calls himself a nerdboy, and b) because of this video.

Check It! I'm on Nineteenteen!

I'm super psyched to be the guest of honor this week over at Nineteenteen, the awesome blog on all things relevant to teens in the Nineteenth Century run by Marissa Doyle, author of Bewitching Season and Regina Scott, author of La Petite Four.

On Monday, the lovely and talented Marissa interviewed me about The Season and the Regency...and today I got to guest blog about Rotten Row in Hyde Park and why it was an integral part of young female aristocrats' lives. I had such a blast writing for them, although I'll confess a little performance anxiety, considering what an incredible wealth of information Nineteenteen is to readers and lovers of the time period!

If you have time, head on over there and share the love!

oooh! I almost forgot!
You can win a signed copy of The Season by commenting on either my interview or my guest post!

pure unadulterated awesome

My first album -- are you kidding?! If I were an actual musician, with an actual marketing machine, I couldn't have done better!

Uncanny!  

Now you try...don't forget to come back here and link to your cover! 

1. Go to Wikipedia, select a random article: 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
The first article title on the page is the name of your band.

2. Go to Quotations Page, select a random page of quotes

www.quotationspage.com/random.php3
The last four words of the very last quote is the title of your album.

3. Go to Flicker, select an interesting photo

www.flickr.com/explore/interesting/7days/
The third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover.

Alex eats a Reese's

To celebrate her debut, Alex has been invited to lunch with the fabulous Jennifer Brown, one of my fellow 2009 Debutantes and author of Hate List. Jen let Alex pick the place, the menu and the company for their luncheon...and they had a great time!

You can read about it, and Alex's reaction to her first Reese's, here...

Arrested Development The Movie

I woke up to this, which assures my day will be awesome.

So when we had the chance to speak with executive producer Ron Howard on the red carpet at the Oscars, we asked him to kick us some truth. He did, and now MTV News can exclusively confirm that the “Arrested Development” is happening.

“It’s going ahead,” Howard confirmed.

YAY RON HOWARD! And yay Michael Cera for not making a terrible mistake!

My new favorite blog...

I just stumbled upon The Art of M. S. Corley...check it.



And don't miss his re-envisioning of HP, Spiderwick and The Horrors of Literature...

Iris Rhame on Inside the Characters' Studio

This week on Inside the Characters' Studio--Iris Rhame, the star of Saundra Mitchell's Shadowed Summer.

What is your favorite word?
Fine.

What is your least favorite word?
No.

What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally?
Pretty sure I ain't allowed to be turned on. But I like wondering about things. How they got the way they are. Seeing if there's magic in 'em. Oh, and looking at the stars. I like that, too.

What turns you off?
No air conditioning.

What is your favorite curse word?
I guess you're trying to get me grounded.

What sound or noise do you love?
When it's real soft, I love listening to the river go by. Sometimes I think I can roll on with it, right out to the sea.

What sound or noise do you hate?
When wind gets up and cries in the trees? I don't like that. It crawls my back and makes me feel haunted.

What profession would you like to attempt?
Maybe I'd like doing something with books, like maybe collecting 'em, or fixing 'em or something like that. Keeping old stories alive.

What profession would you not like to do?
I watch Dirty Jobs with Ben sometimes, and I gotta tell you. There's about a thousand I don't wanna do.

If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?
It's all right.

----
Check out other interviews from Inside the Characters' Studio here.

TV Meme!

Everyone (yes, Alea...you're everyone in this scenario) seems to be doing this TV Meme...and I hate to be left out!
xoxo

TV Meme!

1. Name a TV show series in which you have seen every episode at least twice: Sports Night, Arrested Development

2. Name a show you can’t miss: Project Runway, 30 Rock, Brothers & Sisters, LOST, Gossip Girl

3. Name an actor that would make you more inclined to watch a show: Bradley Whitford

4. Name an actor who would make you less likely to watch a show: I'm stealing Alea's answer for this. Charlie Sheen.

5. Name a show you can, and do, quote from: Arrested Development. All. The. Time.

6. Name a show you like that no one else enjoys: I loved New Amsterdam. No one watched it. Hence, the cancelled-after-six-episodes thing.

7. Name a TV show which you’ve been known to sing the theme song: Friends.

8. Name a show you would recommend everyone to watch: Sports Night. It's not about sports. It's available on DVD. Ignore the laugh track in the first half of the first season and you'll become a convert.

9. Name a TV series you own: Six Feet Under, Mad Men, The Tudors, Sports Night, Arrested Development...that's a start.

10. Name an actor who launched his/her entertainment career in another medium, but has surprised you with his/her acting choices in television: Jason Lee. Pro-Skateboarder turned Earl. My Name is Earl jumped the shark, but I do love that Jason Lee.

11. What is your favorite episode of your favorite series? The West Wing: "Isaac and Ishmael" (A special episode written after 9/11/01)

12. Name a show you keep meaning to watch, but you just haven’t gotten around to yet: House.

13. Ever quit watching a show because it was so bad? Sure. I was a huge Desperate Housewives fan...and then it just got weird. So I stopped.

14. Name a show that’s made you cry multiple times: The West Wing. I cry all the time during that show.

15. What do you eat when you watch TV? I don't really snack with TV...but Eric & I tend to eat meals in front of the TV. Which is lame. We shouldn't.

16. How often do you watch TV? An hour or so a day.

17. What’s the last TV show you watched? I watched Ugly Betty on the DVR last night.

18. What’s your favourite/preferred genre of TV? Dramedy.

19. What was the first TV show you were obsessed with? Hmmm...I used to watch Bewitched in reruns after school when I was a kid. I loved that show.

20. What TV show do you wish you never watched? America's Next Top Model. I want those brain cells back. Why can't I stop watching???

21. What’s the weirdest show you enjoyed? Northern Exposure

22. What TV show scared you the most? LOST has been known to freak me out.

23. What is the funniest TV show you have ever watched? Arrested Development. The episode with the claw machine and Gob in the banana costume? Stop it.

24. What show was cancelled too early? OMG, SO MANY! Sports Night, Arrested Development, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip.

Sarah Cross Sweetens the Deal

The amazing Sarah Cross interviewed me this week for her blog. For those of you who don't know Sarah, you should. Don't believe me? Consider the following five-point plan. First, she's the author of the incredible Dull Boy, which is out in May and which I have been lucky enough to read early. It's clever and funny and endearing and I can't wait to own my own copy! Second, she's super fun and wickedly funny and a blast to hang out with. Third, she knows everything (read: EVERYTHING) there is to know about superheros, comic books, and awesome gaming. And she's a girl, which is rad. Fourth, her name is Sarah. Fifth, she loves Baxter, despite never having met him.

But...I should warn you...she has a flaw. A tragic one. Sarah Cross has never read a Jane Austen novel. I know. I shall wait while you take a moment to recover...................

Admitting the problem is the first step, though. And Sarah has officially admitted the problem...and she is willing to rectify the situation with some coaxing. As part of the interview, she is giving away a signed copy of The Season! AND...if she gets 50 entries in the giveaway, this comic-book-reading-super-hero-loving-Halo-playing Cool Girl will read Pride & Prejudice. Well, at least TRY to read it. If she gets 100 entries in the giveaway, she will READ THE WHOLE THING.

So go on over to Sarah's Blog, enter the contest, and restore sense and sensibility to the world!

...oh...and to those who are wondering, of course I'm not going to make her buy her first book by Aunt Jane. I'm going to buy it for her. :)

Meet Courtney Summers!

I'm thrilled to have a chance to interview the amazing Courtney Summers on MacLeanSpace! If you haven't had the chance to read the amazing CRACKED UP TO BE, run out and do so. Now. We'll wait.

WHAT’S THE WORST THING YOU’VE EVER DONE?

When “Perfect” Parker Fadley starts drinking at school and failing her classes, all of St. Peter’s High goes on alert. How has the cheerleading captain, girlfriend of the most popular guy in school, consummate teacher’s pet, and future valedictorian fallen so far from grace?

Parker doesn’t want to talk about it. She’d just like to be left alone, to disappear, to be ignored. But her parents have placed her on suicide watch and her counselors are demanding the truth. Worse, there’s a nice guy falling in love with her and he’s making her feel things again when she’d really rather not be feeling anything at all.

Nobody would have guessed she’s turn out like this. But nobody knows the truth.

Something horrible has happened, and it just might be her fault.

I scrambled to Amazon to buy CRACKED UP TO BE after I saw its awesome book trailer...and boy did it deliver. I read it in one sitting...simply couldn't put it down. Parker is a fantastic character--beautifully written in her witticisms and confusion and self-exploration...and her past is perfectly doled out in little morsels that keep the pages and mind turning, until everything comes together in an explosion of wow.

Meet Courtney Summers

I'm always interested in the genesis novels...Where did CRACKED UP TO BE come from? Did you see Parker first? One of the other characters? Was it a seed of the plot that started it all? A line of dialogue? A location?

I knew I wanted to write a really abrasive, not-so-nice female main character and I knew I wanted to frame the novel around the question, "What's the worst thing you've ever done?" But there are a lot of things I know I want to write and there are lots of questions I frame ideas around and they don't necessarily become novels. So it wasn't until I jotted out the opening ("Imagine four years" etc) in a blank Word Document, sort of spur of the moment--but a really inspired moment--that I had Parker's voice and I had Cracked Up to Be. She was just really there. And then Chris followed with his inappropriate-for-school talk (oh, Chris), and the rest, as they say...

So many of us have felt that incredible pressure to be perfect--particularly when we're teenagers. It's such an all-consuming feeling that it is hard to imagine how any of us survive it. What's your advice for those of us who just can't seem to shake the demands to be perfect?

It can be very difficult. It's so easy to be your own worst enemy and the pressure we can project on ourselves is amazing. I think the most important thing is to have someone to talk to. A friend, a family member, a professional--just someone you can trust. It's crucial to have an outside voice to remind you of your options, to tell you it's going to be okay and to give you some perspective about your situation. When you're really overwhelmed, that's next to impossible to do on your own.

I blogged before about your awesome book trailer...which made me run out and pre-order the book. What's the trick to making a great book trailer?

Thank you! I'm glad (relieved?) the trailer did its job. :) I'm not really an expert, but in my opinion: sound and pacing are incredibly important when it comes to book trailers. I think the less time you use to say it, the better. Killer music can make a trailer and bad music can break it. Be visually engaging and creative. Don't be worried about being super-literal. Don't just talk about the book, tell a story and have fun, whatever you do!

CRACKED UP TO BE tackles the popular kids. Your next book is about mean girls. What is it about high school hierarchy that makes for such great fictional food?

I just find it absolutely compelling. When I was in school, I was constantly trying to make sense of it and now that I'm out of school, I still am. So much of being in high school is trying to figure out your place; where you fit in among your friends, where your friends fit in among your peers. You basically have an entire world, an entire society, inside this little building, just waiting to explode, for better and for worse. It's amazing. I love writing about it.

We're both big Ani DiFranco fans...what song of hers most inspires you?

Ooh, so many! Ani's fantastic. I don't know if I could narrow it down to just one. All of her songs inspire me in different ways... but I've always had such a soft spot for Marrow.

And, finally, Courtney Summers on...

High school cliques:
Cheerleaders or Band Geeks?
Neither! Can I chose neither? I chose the Inbetweeners. The people that don't raise eyebrows. I was totally one of those.

Uniforms:
Plaid Skirts or Khaki Pants?
Oh, God. I hated them both. At my school, you had to wear shorts under the kilts because people would just randomly kilt you all the time (they would flip up your skirt and help you flash your classmates--lovely!), but on the other hand, khaki pants are khaki pants. I hate to chose 'neither' again, but yucck.

Zombies:
Night of the Living Dead or Omega Man?
Night of the Living Dead! Night of the Living Dead, totally. Actually, I haven't seen Omega Man, shamefully, but I feel like if I did, I would probably still choose Night of the Living Dead. I have a fierce loyalty to that movie and George Romero.

On volcanoes:
Mauna Loa or Vesuvius?
Mauna Loa gets definite props, but I'm for Vesuvius all the way. It's incredible. I loved the docudrama they had on the Discovery Channel, Pompeii: The Last Day. I became a big Vesuvius fangirl the first time I saw that. I used to be afraid of volcanoes, but when I saw that, I realized they were not only to be feared--but respected! And admired!

On Survivor:
Eating bugs or Starting a fire without matches?
Starting a fire without matches. But I am sure I could get hungry enough to eat a bug. I might be hungry enough to do that now, actually...

----
Thanks so much for coming over to play, Courtney!

For everyone else...find Courtney at her website. I also think she'd appreciate you ordering Cracked Up to Be on Amazon.

----

Meet someone else here!

Rhode Island Booksignings!

I'm very very happy to announce that Little Rhody is not turning its back on me even though I now live in the Big Apple! I've added two new signings to the readings and visitations box on the sidebar...both in Rhode Island...I can't wait to read and meet fans in my homestate!

If you're near the Ocean State in March or May...please join me!

March 12, 2009, 4:00-6:00pm
Barnes & Noble
Warwick, RI
(401) 826-8885

May 1, 2009, 6:30-9:00pm
Rhode Island Author Night
Barnes & Noble Putnam Pike
Smithfield, RI
(401) 231-5828

xoxo!

Celeste Harris on Inside the Characters' Studio!

I'm starting a new recurring spot on MacLeanSpace...Inside the Characters' Studio, in which I ask main characters in YA novels to answer the Pivot Questionnaire. First in the hot seat, Celeste Harris, the star of Erin Dionne's Models Don't Eat Chocolate Cookies.

For the record, Celeste is awesome. She's funny and clever and I kind of want to hang out with her when she grows up. I hope she moves to New York. :)

What is your favorite word?
Eensy

What is your least favorite word?
Fatso

What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally?
My Theo Christmas CDs!

What turns you off?
Mean people. Especially Lively Carson.

What is your favorite curse word?
I don't really curse. I said "bitch" once, but my Author had to take it out of the book.

What sound or noise do you love?
The song "Ruby Red Hair," by Theo Christmas. Or the crinkling that happens when you open a bag of Oreos.

What sound or noise do you hate?
Laughter, when it's directed at me.

What profession would you like to attempt?
I think I'd be a good teacher, maybe.

What profession would you not like to do?
MODEL!

If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?
I've never considered Really Big Questions before. I mean, I'm thirteen. How do I answer that? Like, if I die tomorrow? That would be awful, and I'd want God to say that He was sending me back, or something. But if I am supposed to answer it as though I were old and died, I have no idea.

Thanks, Celeste! Good luck with your debut! And that Ms. Husky Peach contest!

Callie Goes to Somerset House...

For the Summer Exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts.

But not with whom you think. Or with whom she'd like.

Like Winning Stuff?

Boy do I have something for you!

Top 10 Sigh-Inducing Moments...

In honor of the day, I give you my top ten list of sigh-inducing romantic moments from literature and film.

10. "Nobody puts Baby in the corner." --Johnny, Dirty Dancing

9. "Aaaaaassss Yoooouuuuuu Wiiiiiiiissssshhhhh!" --Wesley, The Princess Bride

8. "Loretta, I love you. Not like they told you love is, and I didn't know this either, but love don't make things nice - it ruins everything. It breaks your heart. It makes things a mess. We aren't here to make things perfect. The snowflakes are perfect. The stars are perfect. Not us. Not us! We are here to ruin ourselves and to break our hearts and love the wrong people and die." --Ronny, Moonstruck

7. *sigh*



6. From Breakfast at Tiffany's:

Paul: "I love you."
Holly: "So what."
Paul: "So what?! So plenty! I love you! You belong to me!"

5. Have you ever loved a man, then lost him, then learned he lives on Fiji with a new lover? Is Fiji still Fiji? Coconuts and palm trees? --Tomcat in Love by Tim O'Brien

4. "I came here tonight because when you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible." --Harry, When Harry Met Sally

3. Meet Lloyd Dobler:



2. From The Odyssey:

Then with a burst of tears she ran straight toward him, and
flung her arms about the neck of Odysseus, and kissed his head, and spoke:
“Lo, thou dost convince my heart, unbending as it is.”
And in his heart aroused yet more the desire for lamentation;
and he wept, holding in his arms his dear and true-hearted wife.

1. "In vain I have struggled. It will not do. My feelings will not be repressed. You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you." -Fitzwilliam Darcy, Pride & Prejudice

Ok...so what have I missed???

Meet Jenny Moss!

I'm so happy to have a chance to introduce you all to Jenny Moss who is not only a fellow 2009 Debutante, but who also shares my editor (for her SECOND novel)...But this is about Jenny's first, wonderful book, WINNIE'S WAR!

A debut novel set against the backdrop of the Spanish Flu epidemic of 1918.

Life in Winnie's sleepy town of Coward Creek, Texas, is just fine for her. Although her troubled mother's distant behavior has always worried Winnie, she's plenty busy caring for her younger sisters, going to school, playing chess with Mr. Levy, and avoiding her testy grandmother. Plus, her sweetheart Nolan is always there to make her smile when she's feeling low. But when the Spanish Influenza claims its first victim, lives are suddenly at stake, and Winnie has never felt so helpless. She must find a way to save the people she loves most, even if doing so means putting her own life at risk.

Jenny Moss is a former NASA engineer. She earned a master's degree in literature and taught writing as an adjunct at University of Houston-Clear Lake. Winnie's War is her first novel. She lives with her two teenagers in Houston, Texas.

Meet Jenny Moss

When first conceiving of Winnie's War, what came first? Winnie? The Spanish Influenza? Winnie's family? Or something else entirely?

Yanno, I'm a child of the suburbs, so I wanted to create my own small town. So Coward Creek came first. Then Winnie's voice, her relationship with her mother, and finally the influenza. After I selected that time period, it did seem perfect. So many changes happening in 1918, a time when people rode horses and drove cars, and then came the well-known influenza, but this strain was a virulent killer that confounded doctors -- to the surprise of those in the new twentieth century.

You took on a really interesting time period when writing the book. From one historical writer to another, what were the best and worst parts of writing historical fiction?

Researching is the best. And it's great to have an excuse for spending days and days in the library. :) All that research does take time from the actual writing of the story, though; sometimes I get frustrated when a few unknown historical details are slowing down the writing of a scene -- and I can't find the answers anywhere!

You used to be a NASA engineer, and now you've got two books in the pipeline! This seems like a drastic switch to most people. What caused it...and is it that drastic, after all?

I've been writing stories since I was a kid. Even when I was an engineer, I was taking writing classes at night. For me, it doesn't feel like a sudden switch from engineer to author -- rather, it's a lifelong dream finally fulfilled!

And finally, Jenny Moss on:

Pluto:
Miscategorized? Or misunderstood?
I like the idea of a Pluto just misunderstood.

Dylan:
Blonde on Blonde or Blood on the Tracks?
Blonde on Blonde is genius too, but 90% of the time I prefer Blood on the Tracks.

Sickness:
Feed a cold or Starve a fever?
Always eat?

Winnies:
Winnie Cooper? or Winnie the Pooh?
I love Pooh bear!

----
Thanks so much for coming over to play, Jenny!

For everyone else...find Jenny at her website. I also think she'd appreciate you ordering Winnie's War on Amazon.

----

Meet someone else here!

John Irving and Red Velvet Cupcakes...

What do they have to do with each other? And how do they relate to yours truly?

Find out by reading my interview with the amazing Cindy Pon (author of the soon-to-be-released awesome SILVER PHOENIX) over at A Little Sweet, A Little Sour!

Hey Brooklyn!!! Get Yer Signed Copies!!!

So...Eric and I just took a walk to our local Barnes & Noble...where I did my first official authorial act (well, second if you count writing a book)...I signed stock. There were three copies of The Season on the New for Teens table...and a very nice bookseller tolerated my squeeing and let me sign the stock there. So...if you're in Brooklyn...stop by the Park Slope B&N and pick up your very own autographed copy of The Season!

Of course, Eric took a photo!



Also...had to share this one...note Mt. St. Twilight in the background. Seriously. Like 150 copies of Twilight in every imaginable version! You can barely see The Season (third row, on the end) Someday I shall have a heap of books like Stephenie.

Callie has a Theme Song...

Lady Calpurnia Hartwell, the heroine of my next book, NINE RULES TO BREAK WHEN ROMANCING A RAKE, has a theme song. As of now.

Jason Mraz's I'm Yours

I won't hesitate no more
No more
It cannot wait
I'm yours.

Yes. This is Callie's theme song. Thank you, Mr. Mraz for giving me an answer to one of the most asked questions about books ever. :)

Regency Books On My Desk

So...in a fit of procrastination from the 6000 words I have to write today (yes, you read that right), I've decided to cover the books that I've got on my desk within a foot of my computer--because they're too valuable to my writing process to be any further away. If you're interested in the Regency (writing or reading about it) at all...these are essential adds to your own bookshelf. In no particular order:

Regency Era Fashion Plates: 1800-1819, A Collection of Fashion Plates and Descritpions by Timely Tresses. Quite literally, two hundred or so Fashion Plates from a variety of clothing journals published during the Regency. When you have to dress a character, this book--more arty than informative--is essential inspiration. Then, you can turn to,

English Women's Clothing in the Nineteenth Century by C. Willett Cunnington, which is invaluable. My copy is dogeared, flagged with little colored papers, highlighted, and filled with notes in the margins. Aside from pages and pages chronicling the fashion trends of every epoch in 19th Century fashion, it's filled with more than 1000 pen and ink sketches of everything from corsets to muffs to spencers to turbans to evening gowns. The book covers 19th Century fashion by YEAR...which is awesome...including fashionable colors, intricate changes like half-inch drops in waistlines, they types of fabrics and accessories that were en vogue...and, the best part? PRIMARY SOURCE material like quotations and references from of-the-time publications. I mean it when I say there is no better costume resource on 19th Century England than this one! If you have read The Season, I can tell you that the scene where Alex dresses for her first ball would not have existed without this fantastic resource.

Periodically, characters have to eat. Or shop. Or read. Or play games. And they didn't have McDonalds, Bloomingdales, US Weekly or Scrabble during the Regency. For those moments...check out Daniel Pool's What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew: From Fox Hunting to Whist--the Facts of Daily Life in 19th Century England. While a better resource for the latter half than the earlier half of the 19th Century, I can't deny that this one is also dogeared and flagged and highlighted and scribbled in...this is great for overviews of things like country houses and sport and clothing and the layout of 19th Century London. It's got a fantastic glossary that helps with keeping dialogue sounding of-the-time and, in general, is a good go-to resource to get the beginning of an answer to a bizarre question like, "Where would Ralston's fencing club be?" No..you don't know who Ralston is yet...but give it a year and it will all be clear. ;)

You can't write about the Regency without acknowledging the fact that, for much of it, England--all of Europe, really--was at war. There are about 200,000 books about Napoleon and the the Napoleonic Wars, much of which is military history and not entirely what you need when you're writing lighter fiction about the era. I'd recommend two books which, together, provide a primer of both the history of the wars and a sense of the part high society played in them. The Napoleonic Wars: The Rise and Fall of an Empire by Gregory Fremont-Barnes & Todd Fisher and Dancing into Battle: A Social History of the Battle of Waterloo by Nick Foulkes. Now...the Fremont-Barnes and Fisher book is BY NO MEANS a comprehensive history. It's a quick primer, to bring you up to speed on what happened when and why, and to keep you honest when setting your book in place and time. If you're writing about a specific battle or a particularly historic moment, you're going to need more than this one. Foulkes's book is specific to Waterloo, and set mainly in Belgium--covering the Brits who lived there. It provides an excellent sense of how intricately intertwined society and the military were at the time, however, and it's worth reading for that alone.

Not everything about the Regency was lovely dresses and handsome gentlemen, though. The darker side of the time was rife with pickpockets and poverty and body snatchers and highwaymen. For a great primer on this more nefarious world, don't miss The Regency Underworld by Donald A. Low. It's a great read, and filled with all sorts of sordid tales that make a writer's mind reel. Definitely worth a look.

For the record...none of these books (aside from the fashion volumes) can do justice to the rich primary source material you find in The Times of London. For a fee, you can subscribe to the archives of the paper (or, for free, New Yorkers can find it in the microfilm room of the New York Public Library) and browse the full Regency-era archives. Which are completely mind-blowing.

Finally, no Regency author should set fingers to keyboard without something nearby to give her a little inspiration. Which I why this book is prominently on display. Aunt Jane (and lovely Colin Firth) wouldn't steer me false.

A romance novel I'd really like to read....

Love in the Time of Scurvy...Marge Simpson's favorite book.
It looks AWESOME. I want it.

Alex gets her debut!

Head on over to the fabulous Sarah Ockler's blog to read all about the debut party that Alex *wished* she'd had! From a guest list that spans four centuries to party favors and music, Sarah Ockler hasn't forgotten a thing...and, thanks to her, Alex is finally getting the debut she wants.

For those of you who don't know Sarah, you should. She's another 2009 debut YA author...and I'm predicting now that her INCREDIBLE book, Twenty Boy Summer will be a contender for the 2009 National Book Award. Yes. It's that good. You should preorder it.

Yesterday, Sarah and I also discovered a very bizarre coincidence about our lives...stay tuned...I'm going to blog about that later. But now, back to the day job!

Hometown Pride...

Just had to share this one...and then, I SWEAR I will stop posting photos of the book here and just let them live on the map. :)

BUT...My dad braved the YA section of our local Barnes & Noble in my homestate of Rhode Island...and found 5 copies of The Season. And, because he loves me more than I deserve, he took a photo. Yay!

So...I've added the photo to the map on the sidebar...don't forget to send in your own photos of the book! You don't have to be in a bookstore...just take a pic with the book and send it in to win a fun prize!

The Forest of Hands and STARS!!!

The amazing Carrie Ryan just scored a lovely little red star from Publisher's Weekly! You guys...no joke...The Forest of Hands and Teeth is the next big thing.

Don't believe me? Believe this instead:

Mary's village has been trapped for generations by a very near, very visible menace: the Unconsecrated—insatiable, flesh-eating zombies that constantly tear at the village's fences. Yet the Sisterhood—a conventlike order of religious women charged to protect the village's survival—is as much responsible for the submission of Mary's village as the Unconsecrated. When the fences are breached and the village overrun, Mary and several others escape through gated paths and arrive deep into the Forest of Hands and Teeth, forced to search beyond it for their future. Mary's observant, careful narration pulls readers into a bleak but gripping story of survival and the endless capacity of humanity to persevere. That Mary maintains emotional distance serves to render her yearnings and romantic feelings even more poignant and powerful. Fresh and riveting.

Spot The Season!

Ok...Cecilia also sent in a photo...so I'm starting a map to track The Season! If you see it and have a camera handy...or if you're reading it and want to share...take a shot and send it to me so that I can add it to my official collection! (Added bonus...you win a fun prize!)


View Larger Map

OMG!

YOU GUYS! It's for real!

Thanks to Khy over at Frenetic Reader who not only took the first photo, risking embarrassment, but also bought a copy!

I can't BELIEVE it's real!!!

Meet A.S. King!

Ok. For those of you living under a rock who haven't been struck dumb by the incredible cover of A.S. King's first YA novel, The Dust of 100 Dogs, here's your chance to look cool at parties. Amy has written a YA book about pirates and dogs.

Once I stopped rending my garments and asking all within earshot why I hadn't thought up this idea, I decided to contact the mind herself and ask all the questions I was dying to ask. You, dear reader, get the fruits of that particular labor. Yay for the Internet! And for generous authors!

In the late seventeenth century, famed teenage pirate Emer Morrisey was on the cusp of escaping the pirate life with her one true love and unfathomable riches when she was slain and cursed with "the dust of one hundred dogs," dooming her to one hundred lives as a dog before returning to a human body-with her memories intact.

Now she's a contemporary American teenager and all she needs is a shovel and a ride to Jamaica.

Possibly the best concept for a novel ever in the history of concepts for novels. I'm just saying.

A.S. King has recently returned from Ireland, where she spent a decade dividing herself between self-sufficiency, teaching adult literacy, and writing novels. Her short fiction has been published in a bunch of cool journals and has been nominated for Best New American Voices 2010.

Meet A.S. King

There's something about pirates...and about dogs...and you've melded those two worlds (both of which I'm totally in love with)...what came first with Dust? Pirates or dogs? Or Saffron? Or some other thing?

Oliver Cromwell came first. Emer’s story was first inspired by Cromwell’s 1649/50 invasion of Ireland. Then Saffron arrived. Then dogs and then pirates.

The cover of The Dust of 100 Dogs is a total knockout. Exactly how much did you plotz when you first saw it?

I plotzed a lot. I’m still plotzing. Not just because it’s beautiful, but because it manages to communicate the premise in a few simple images. It’s just unbelievable. I think I have at least another forty years of plotzing in me for this cover.

Writing a book about a 300 year old character in the 1970s couldn't have been easy... from one historical novelist to another...what was your research process like?

Well, Saffron isn’t really 300 years old. She’s a teenager, dealing with her parents, her brother, school, and all the other complications of teenage life. She just happens to have memories from Emer, who lived 300 years ago, and from the 100 dogs in between. So, writing Saffron was probably the easiest task, because she was born during the same era I was born, in a boring Pennsylvania suburb, just like me. Our lives were nothing alike, thankfully, except that we both, along with every other teenager on the planet, felt an urgent need to escape.

My research was a lot of fun because I actually lived where the Irish parts are set and I was fascinated by the history right in front of me. I had a few local historians offer up their libraries, and I devoured books about the Cromwellian invasion, European history and local history. Cromwell’s letters from the time were captivating as were the few books I managed to find on piracy.

Writing the three-century-old parts was simplified by having a close third person narrator. Technically, it’s Saffron telling you about Emer’s life, the same way she is telling you about the lives of dogs in the Dog Facts and her own first person life as Saffron. That was incredibly helpful. In reality, the dialog in the Irish part of the book would have been in Irish (Gaelic). Obviously, writing it that way wouldn’t have been a great idea. So, having the close (English-speaking) third person narration allowed me to describe the practical history – Cromwell, the weaponry, the daily routines, the journey to Connacht, Tortuga’s slavery, the life of pirates – and omit content that would have bored or confused readers.

The Dust of 100 Dogs is your first foray into YA. How has your experience with the YA literary world differed (if at all) from your experience with the adult literary world?

I’ve found the YA community to be a laid back, genuine and generous one. Because of my similar nature, I feel at home here. On the business side, it’s harder for the adult literary world to take risks on unconventional work, because literary books are a hard sell to start. I find the YA world more open to the unconventional, which is how I landed here, and I’m thankful for that. Still, I wish we could invent a genre for my other books, which are a mix of kooky and heavy, like D100D, but meant for my generation. (You saw it here first, folks. X-lit. Fiction for Slackers.)

You've been an adult literacy teacher...which I think is one of the hardest and most rewarding jobs there is. What's the biggest lesson you learned during your years of teaching older struggling readers?

The smartest people on Earth are the ones who know what they don’t know and want to learn more. The dumbest people on Earth think they know everything and feel they have little to learn. Humility is essential.

In your bio, it says you ran off with the circus. What's the craziest thing you ever saw in or around the Big Top? (Note: If you didn't actually run off with the circus, too bad. You'll have to make a crazy thing up.)

Keeping in mind I ran off with a circus in Ireland, where it rains most of the time, the craziest thing I ever saw on the circus is what it takes to actually run a circus. It’s insane. Over the span of one week, they could move up to six times, breaking down the entire show and dragging themselves, truck by truck, wagon by wagon, out of the deep mud [sometimes with a tractor, and usually in the dark] only to get to the next place, set up the tent (and everything else – generators, wagons, bathrooms, animal areas, etc.), do two or three shows, and break down again. The people I know in circus don’t really sleep. I’ve known hard working people all my life – restaurant owners who work 18 hour days to farmers who can calve 48 hours straight – but Irish circus is the hardest work I’ve ever seen. You have to be crazy to do it.

And, finally, AS King on:

Piratical Punishment:
Walk the Plank or Marooned on a Desert Island?
If it was me, I’d choose marooned on a desert island. Then, I could finally bring those five essential books/albums/movies people always ask about.

Irish Literary Heroes:
Beckett or Joyce?
Beckett. 

Man's Best Friend:
Shake or Fetch?
Fetch.

Tom Robbins Heroines:
Sissy Hankshaw or Ellen Cherry Charles?
Ooo. That’s tough.
Ellen Cherry Charles, I guess.
No. Sissy Hankshaw. Hmm.
Can’t decide.

Corn pie.
What's that about?
It’s the yummiest thing in the whole world. One time, I hard boiled three eggs that were still warm from the hens, picked fresh corn, blanched it and took it off the cob, mixed the pastry from ground spelt flour and made the freshest corn pie ever. I’ve just drooled on my keyboard thinking about it. Some newer recipes add all sorts of other stuff, but all you really need is fresh corn, hardboiled eggs, and salt and pepper in (and topped with) pie crust. Bake. Serve with hot milk with melted butter. Drool.

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Thanks so much for coming over to play, Amy!

For everyone else...find AS King at her website, on the D100D website, and at her blog (where Baxter will be featured soon as part of Wagging on Wednesday!) . I also think she'd appreciate you ordering D100D on Amazon.

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Meet someone else here!

Regency Contest!

Ok...so I hadn't planned on this giveaway...but something happened tonight that inspired me...namely that fellow 2009 Debutante Jenny Moss SAW THE SEASON IN A BOOKSTORE TODAY!!!

OMGOMGOMG!

Ok. So. After some looking, it appears that there are Barnes and Nobles across the country that are already stocking The Season! Of course, none of these Barnes and Nobles are in New York City. Of course. And so, I turn to you, dear readers! If you're in a bookstore anytime in the next two weeks...and you see The Season...AND you take a picture of it and send it to me...you will win something awesome!

"Something awesome, you say, Sarah?"

Indeed, dear reader. I did say just that. You win a Regency-themed or Season-themed goodie from my Regency/Season goodie bag...which I had planned to break open in March! But, instead, I break it open here and now. In there are stickers, magnets, pins, bookmarks, postcards, greeting cards and other odds and ends (all nifty)! To sweeten the deal, the FIRST person to send a photo of The Season in an ACTUAL bookstore, will win copies of my two favorite Regency books (I'm not saying who they're by, but the author's name might rhyme with Rain Pausten)!

Winner Winner Winner!!!

The Stacey Jay You Are So Undead To Me T-Shirt Contest is now officially over! And the winner is....

Khy from Frenetic Reader!!

Congrats, Khy! Shoot me an email at sarah at macleanspace dot com and let me know what size shirt you want!

Have a great Sunday, everyone!