My Cover

A few days ago my editor called and asked if I was near a computer because she had just sent me my cover! I had no idea what to expect, or even of what I wanted it to be. My editor had asked a while ago if I had any thoughts about it, but I’m not a visually artistic person at all, so I didn’t. I did send her five covers that I love so they could get an idea of what I liked (that was a great idea on my agent’s part.) But there are plenty of covers out there that really don’t do it for me, and my supreme hope was that my own cover would not be one of them. So I was beyond nervous as I opened the document. And this is it:

I LOVE it! Love, love, LOVE it! That girl is Matisse, my main character and I’m thrilled that we see her face! The brilliant designer, Amy Ryan, totally captured the mood of the book and I feel like just a glance at it sets up so much about the story. Amy Ryan is my new hero. I seriously spent half the day just gazing at it.

And the weirdest thing is that my name on it. I’m not fully convinced but I may have actually written a book. Yikes.

QoW: Betcha on land, they understand...

Question of the Week: Write a day in the life of a character when they are grown up.

Dear Diary,
Life with legs ain't all it's cracked up to be. When I was younger, I thought, gosh it would be soooo glamourous to dance and to wear high heels and just, you know, be a part of that world. But the longer I am human, the more I question my decision to give up my mermaid life for this. I mean, I was practically a mer-baby when I made that decision to give up everything for Eric. It's not that I don't love Eric, because I do. He's a good guy. He's even a bonafide prince. But the way these humans abuse the earth and sea, it makes me long for the cool embrace of the ocean. I miss Flounder and even Sebastian. The other night Cook served lobster for dinner. And I ate it. I ate it! The humans' crude ways are rubbing off on me. What if it was Sebastian? Or Sebastian's brother? When I got legs, I swore I'd never eat fish or even shellfish. But I made the exception just this once, and now here I am drowning in my own guilt because of a little morsel of lobster dipped in butter. I do love butter. I don't know if I could give up something as good as butter for seaweed.

Yours longingly,
Ariel aka Jenny

Get yourself a tagline

I met with Longstockings Lisa Graff and Jenny Han yesterday for brunch and writing. Whenever I get together with writer friends, the conversation inevitably dissolves into grumbling about how one's draft or revisions are going, and feeling like whatever current WIP one is working on is the HARDEST ONE EVER. And it's always true. Because when you are mid-WIP, it IS the hardest one ever. (I think I just invented a new word: mid-WIP. Everybody use it!)

Anyhoo, Lisa shared with us that she had given herself a theme for the revisions she's currently making to her WIP. Her theme is SIMPLIFY.

Naturally, that made me want my own theme for my WIP. Since I'm having trouble evening out the voice and tone, I came up with FUN BUT POIGNANT.

Jenny, who is trying to finish a draft of her WIP and needs the motivation to keep moving, came up with my favorite theme of all -- WRITE.

Mock if you will, but having a simple tagline to focus on can help you get through difficult revisions. There are only so many things you can juggle in your head at one time! I have pages of notes on the changes I'm making to my WIP, but I can't keep them all front and center. So by focusing on just the tone, I'm hoping to keep my rewrites running smoothly.

PS- I've also set my laptop's screensaver to be the picture of a small, furry secondary character in the book. So when my computer goes to sleep for a second, because I'm daydreaming or just not typing, this little character pops up and reminds me to get back to work!

*caroline hickey, writer of things FUN BUT POIGNANT

Wow, I've been Tagged

Hip Writer Mama tagged me for my very first meme! Thanks Hip Writer Mama! http://hipwritermama.blogspot.com/

(sorry, I can't link well)

Here are the rules: Each player lists 8 facts/habits about themselves. The rules of the game are posted at the beginning before those facts/habits are listed. At the end of the post, the player then tags 8 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

1- I'm the pickiest eater in the universe and I'm worse than Sally from 'When Harry met Sally' when it comes to ordering in restaurants.

2- 'When Harry Met Sally' is one of my all time favorite movies. I also love 'Footloose', 'Dirty Dancing' and the original 3 Star Wars movies.

3- Until a year ago I was a good red head and never worse pink because it looks awful on me. But last year i decided i adored pink and now half of my clothes are pink. 'Pretty in Pink' is another of my favorite movies even though the title doesn't apply to me!

4- I lived in China for two years (Changsha, Hunan province) and when I have the time to do it right, I can cook a mean Hunan feast.

5- I have a profound fear of spiders and once tore off my shirt in a crowded room of people because a spider fell on me. I was in high school and never really lived it down.

6- I am painfully self conscious and blush when i speak to groups of people larger than 1 (with the red hair you can probably guess how red I get.)

7- I once waited on line for three hours by myself (none of my friends wanted to come) to meet Dolly Parton and it was worth it, and my friends were losers for missing it. I have a fabulous picture of me and Dolly together and it is one of my most treasured possessions. I even brought her a box of chocolates because it was near her birthday and I kind of sang Happy Birthday to her (it's possible it's me and not my friends who were the losers that day...)

8- 'Beverly Hills 90210' is one of my favorite shows ever and once when it was filming on location at the high school where i used to teach (Reseda High with the coolest students ever), I cut my own class so I could watch filming. I saw Kelly and Valerie get in a huge fight and afterwards I got to chat with them. Worth almost getting fired? You better believe it!

I tag:

Lisa Graff, Lisa GW, Coe, Siobhan, Jenny, Caroline, Kathryn and Courtney

http://courtneywrites.livejournal.com/

#Daphne

QoW: Alexander at 24

Question of the Week: Write a day in the life of a character when they are grown up.

I went to sleep with the buzz of one too many glasses of champagne and now I have the worst headache ever and my mouth tastes like a dead toad. I couldn’t figure out how to work the hot water in my new flat so my shower was ice cold, and I lost the adapter so I couldn’t make any coffee.

I had the sneaking suspicion that despite relocation to Australia, it was going to be a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.

I got on the wrong bus to my new job and ended up being half an hour late. My new boss said I’d better set my alarm a little earlier if the Melbourne bus system was going to confuse me. I laughed with him but I didn’t think it was funny. I thought being a junior bank executive meant I could deny people loans and wheel and deal, but instead I ended up making Xerox copies for the senior executives and making coffee runs. I spilled coffee on my new suit and got lost trying to pick up lunch for my boss. This time no one laughed.

It was a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.

Even though the guy in the cubicle next to me gave me directions, I got on the wrong bus going back to my flat. Then I forgot my apartment number and tried to open the wrong door. I figured out my mistake when the police showed up and arrested me for attempted breaking and entering. Since I didn’t know anyone in Australia, I couldn’t call anyone to post bail for me. So I spent the night in a jail cell.

Obviously terrible, horrible, no good very bad days happen in Australia too.

I think tomorrow I’m going to sign up for astronaut school.

#Daphne

A business suggestion

I'm blogging from sunny Southeastern Connecticut. Waterford to be exact. My in-laws live here, and we're in town this weekend for a wedding of a high school friend of my husband's.

We were meeting up with some people a few nights ago, and something dawned on me while driving around downtown New London: what this town needs is an awesome, amazing, fabulous children's book store. A cross between Books of Wonder and Bank Street Bookstore, definitely including the cupcakes.

Booksellers, librarians, and writers out there reading this: think about these questions. Have you been considering a change in career path? Have you always wanted to own an independent children's bookstore? Do you love the beach? Would you be happy living in a small, tight-knit community?

Well, if you've answered yes to all of these questions, then it's settled. Pack up, find a lovely home by the water in Southeastern CT, and open up a super fabulous children's bookstore. I'll be one of your best customers. My in-laws will too. And since they know so many people in this community, they'll certainly bring in the crowds.

Let me know when the store is open!
Lisa GW

True Love

I fell in love this past weekend, utterly and hopelessly. It was unexpected to say the least. Sonya Sones was one of those authors people always recommended, but for some reason I tend to shy away from books in verse. It’s odd because one of my all time favorite books is TRUE BELIEVER, an exquisite book that is perfect in its verse form. I think it’s mostly that I read too fast and I feel guilty spending sixteen bucks for less than an hour’s read.

Anyway, the point is, it took me a while to pick up ONE OF THOSE HIDEOUS BOOKS WHERE THE MOTHER DIES. But it finally happened and I was blown out of the water. Two pages in and I was hooked. Before the day was out, I was back at the bookstore which thankfully had her two others, STOP PRETENDING WHAT HAPPENED WHEN MY BIG SISTER WENT CRAZY and WHAT MY MOTHER DOESN”T KNOW. (A quick side note- that book is dedicated to her kids with the line “I know all”- pretty funny!) Love, love, loved them! The bottom line is that Sonya Sones gets it. Her books take me back to all the feelings of being a tween and teen, in moments of crisis and joy, and I am living it. Her characters are real, her plots are true and her writing is gorgeous.

I wanted to cry when I was done with MOTHER, because it was so good and because it was over. The bad news for me: she doesn’t have twenty more books I can read. The awesome news for me: she has a new book coming out next month and it’s a companion to MOTHER!! I will be stalking the bookstores until I can bring that one home. I can tell already that this is a love that is going to last a lifetime.

#Daphne

QoW: Ideas -- Fluffed and Folded!

Question of the Week: Where do you get your ideas?

On Monday, Lisa GW wrote about the importance of "people watching" for generating story ideas. I agree. But I'm a little different. I seem to get more of my ideas from being a "people listener" than being a "people watcher." I love eavesdropping, hearing people talk when they don't know someone's listening in.

My favorite place for this is the Laundromat. That seems to be the place where my muse hangs out, probably washing and drying her long white robes! (HUH???) Now, I have a perfectly good washer and dryer at home, so I have no real reason to go to the local Laundromat -- except when I'm creatively blocked, that is!

Oh, the Laundromat...

I think there's something about being trapped inside, bored out of their minds, while all the clothes they own are being agitated and spun that gets people to tell their whole life story, sometimes to perfect strangers! And I love when the place is busy, with kids running around/whining/conspiring with one another, and women gossiping/laughing/complaining to whoever will listen. I not only listen to what they say, but even more important for me is how they say it! The real way people talk. It's what inspires me more than anything else.

So, if you're feeling a little stuck, gather up your clothes and find a good busy Laundromat. Not only might the visit stir your creative juices, but you'll also get a load of laundry done. And really, what could be so bad about that?
:-)


~Coe~

The Absolute Best Website For A Book, EVER

okay, people. i'm breaking the rules a little bit here. but only a little. and trust me. you'll appreciate it.

i came across a book website that absolutely blew. my. mind. and while it may be for an adult short story collection, i think there's a lesson for us all here in the power of DIY (do-it-yourself) marketing, of taking something simple and making it so unbelievably special and intriguing that you can't help but sit up and take notice.

i'm talking about the website for No One Belongs Here More Than You, by Miranda July.

behold.

after clicking through, i felt like i was only using about 10% of my potential brain power. and miranda's using, like, all of hers.

-=siobhan=-

ps. there's been a lot of discussion about this cover, but i think it is freaking beautiful and screams PICK ME UP!

QoW: Just a Thought

Question of the Week: Where do you get your ideas?

And his mother and his brothers came; and standing outside they sent to him and called him. And a crowd was sitting about him; and they said to him, "Your mother and your brothers are outside, asking for you." And he answered, "Who are my mother and my brothers?" And looking around on those who sat about him, he said, "Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does the will of God is my brother, and sister, and mother."

MARK 3:31-35.

I remember the exact moment I got the idea for Uncle Jesus: junior year at Barnard, Elizabeth Castelli's Gnosticism class. We were discussing the above Bible passage, which I'd never really considered in detail before, and I thought, Man, it would suck to be related to Jesus.

Within a week, I was in Ellen McLaughlin's playwriting class working on a script about what happens to a family when one of its members decides to live strictly according to New Testament teachings. I abandoned the stage project pretty quickly, but ten years later the same idea formed the seed for the novel I started turning in for my grad school workshops.

I love those aha! moments, but what I find really fascinating is what happens to ideas after that. Daphne wrote in her last post about starting with an intensely personal story and then building ideas around it to make it less autobiographical. With UJ, I started with an intellectual idea, and all the drafts since then have pretty much involved trying to turn the idea into a story, with characters who act according to their emotional and intellectual needs -- not mine.

To my surprise, that has meant getting more personal as I go along. When I started this whole thing I didn't want anyone to think I was writing about myself, so I created for my main character a fifteen-year-old boy who had always lived in a certain small town, who played football, whose dad hated his job at a local factory. It took about a year to realize I had no interest in learning enough about football to make that plotline convincing, so I rewrote 100 pages in three days and presto-chango, suddenly Tom Mueller sang in his church and school choirs--as I've done all my life--and his dad was the choir director for both.

It turns out, the more I write what's important to me--how I get most of my theology from hymns; how it feels to perform, when it's going well and when it isn't; how to balance thinking for yourself with learning from those older and wiser--the more alive my work feels, and the better responses I get in workshop.

The seed of the original idea remains; the plot still kicks off with the return of a Jesus Freak relative. But everything else about the book has changed, because I'm no longer writing it to make a point about religion or responsibility or anything else. I'm now writing to tell what happened to this family whose story started worming its way into my brain, back in 1996.

--Kathryne

QoW: That Tingling Feeling

Question of the Week: Where do you get your ideas?

I think Lisa answered this really well. Ideas hit at any time and are inspired by all kinds of random things. I first started thinking about the idea for ALIVE AND WELL IN PRAGUE, NY after my dad died. I wanted to write something about the experience of having a parent with a degenerative illness. I didn’t want to explore what happens after losing a parent (there are already so many good books that deal with that) but more what it’s like to live with a parent who is getting weaker and weaker. And who you know will never get better.

I didn’t want the book to be autobiographical so I gathered up a bunch of other ideas to create my character and her world. I chose a disease that I was interested in learning more about. I had a conversation with my mom about raising kids in the city vs. the country and thought that that could be a neat theme in the book. I got an email from an old high school friend who got me remembering stuff about my relationships from that time. One day I was on the subway and saw these five teen girls in fabulous Vintage outfits and thought “that would be a fun way to have a character dress.” Slowly a story grew from all these random bits and I was ready to start writing.

There have been times where I got an idea and thought it would be a great book, only to find it crumple when I tried to build it into something. So it’s not like every thought I have can translate into a plot or character. Only certain things have enough richness to turn into a story I want to write.

For me one of the best parts of writing is when I’ve sat with an idea and it’s really taking off. I get this tingling sensation, like I can’t wait to get started on it. This marvelous feeling usually gets me through about ten pages and then I start getting bogged down in the logistics of actually making it work. But those first ten pages are awfully fun!

#daphne

The right way to celebrate a book debut!

There's a right way to celebrate having a book published, and a wrong way. And, in my opinion, the right way includes decorated almond sugar cookies! This glorious cookie basket showcases the major characters and motifs in my now nearly one-month-old book, Cassie Was Here. My fabulous in-laws (shout-out to the Hickeys in DC!) surprised me this weekend with a little breakfast celebration that included these amazing, sugary representations of my little characters.



The details are amazing. They included Reid's cast, Bree's ponytail, Cassie's t-shirt and earrings, the dollhouse, the bike, everything! I can't believe it.




After spending 4 years and 3 months on this book, it's very gratifying to see my fictional world brought to life. My favorite cookie is Joey, because every imaginary friend deserves to be immortalized in dough form. :)


*caroline hickey

QoW: Here, There, and Everywhere

Question of the Week: Where do you get your ideas?

Well, I think we've all been asked this question. Either at readings, school visits and even by our relatives. The truth is, at least for me, ideas come from everywhere. I can be sitting on the subway when a story concept comes to me, seemingly out of nowhere. Or I can be talking to a friend who is obsessing over a guy and then she tells me about his relationship with his hairdresser mother and suddenly I decide that I am going to write a book one day called The Hairdresser's Son.

The idea for my current WIP came to me while sitting at my brother's graduation from The University of Pittsburgh. Sitting a row in front of me, was a little girl, about eleven or twelve, with a much older man, maybe about sixty-five or seventy. It was just the two of them, and they were having a blast. They were talking, and the man was making her laugh, and I was having so much fun just watching them interact. I couldn't help but wonder who they were there to see graduate. I wondered, also, if there were more people in the family, but maybe they weren't there. I wondered so much about them. About where they were from, what their exact relationship was. I was so fascinated by the two of them that a complete story idea dawned on me: a young girl with an older sister (who is away at college,) being raised by her grandfather.

You may already know that I love people-watching. It's one of my favorite activities, and I never get bored of it. I love it because it's interesting and entertaining, but also because it's a wonderful way to come up with story ideas.

There are stories everywhere, we just have to pay attention to find them.

Movie News

From Publisher's Marketplace:

FILM RIGHTS
Sharon Creech's RUBY HOLLER, optioned to Abigail Breslin; her BLOOMABILITY, optioned Teri Hatcher for her production company; and the Newbery-winning WALK TWO MOONS, previously under option to Jonathan Demme, optioned to Rocket Dreams, by Kassie Evashevski at UTA, on behalf of Amy Berkower at Writers House.

Abigail Breslin, huh? Well, in a world where 11-year-olds can option their own movies, I guess it's good to know that at least some of them have excellent taste.

QoW: Demi's Diary

Question of the Week: Write a journal entry as a character.

Sadye and I arrived here at Wildewood today. It's midnight now, but I'm still wide awake, sitting on the bunkbed in my dorm room. Sadye doesn't even know I'm keeping this journal. She's content with recording our thoughts on her microcassette recorder for posterity, but I need someplace for my own thoughts and feelings.

It's so funny, but I've only been here a few hours and already I feel so much lighter. No, not skin color; I am still brown and beautiful, thank you very much! I'm talking about weighing less, not carrying around all that armor anymore. I can be myself here without worrying that other people are going to judge me. Or worse. Sadye can't truly understand what it's like being gay in a town like Brenton. She can't feel what it's like to walk around all day trying NOT to be who you are.

But I have the feeling I'm going to be able to find myself here. At Wildewood. I think I'm going to be able to breathe, like in that movie "Waiting to Exhale" with my diva-girl Whitney Houston. That's what I want to do, too. Exhale. I hope Sadye understands that it's what I need to do. I hope she doesn't stand in my way. Because I love that girl so much. She's my best friend. But this summer, I have to think about myself, too. I don't want to be selfish. But there's nothing wrong with loving myself first. Is there?

Peace,
Demi



~Coe~

At the Roundtable with DRAMARAMA

Recently three Longstockings read DRAMARAMA by E. Lockhart then sat down together at a "virtual" roundtable to discuss the book.

Here is the transcript:

Coe: As the resident slow reader of the Longstockings, I just finished DRAMARAMA! So I'll get the discussion started by asking you guys, what is your overall opinion of the book?

Daphne: I loved it! I'm a big E. Lockhart fan for all the reasons that make this book sparkle: she writes great characters, puts them in unique and challenging situations and then lets them work their way through in ways that feel totally true and realistic. The setting for this was really fun (theater camp) and the story sucked me right in.

Siobhan: I was most impressed with the way the setting became this living, breathing, undulating thing inside the novel. I remember this one little random snippet inside a chapter, where the kids are all hanging out by the lake, lying in the grass and singing a particular show tune. I thought, Yeah...they'd SO be doing that. Plus, it was neat how adding a bunch of those moments here and there helped you feel like the summer was elapsing.

Coe: I know! I love how the main character Sadye soaks everything in! There's one part in the book where she sort of steps back and thinks about all the things going on at the camp, like how the kids seem to spontaneously break out into song in the cafeteria or create dances in the hallway. And while I was reading it, I could really understand why she would want to be there and why she felt so at home there. I was also a theater kid, and I can so relate to how Sadye felt. Like she just wanted to BE there, be a part of it.

Daphne: Who was your favorite secondary character and what did you like about them?

Coe: I loved Luke the best. He seemed really cute and not in that flashy way some of the other guys at the camp seemed. I don't want to give anything away, but I love how he was patient and finally got what (or who!!!) he wanted! It was great. I love it when the good guys win.

Siobhan: I am head over heels for Demi. He reminded me so much of my friend from college, who I met at a summer program akin to the one in DRAMARAMA. And he is FABULOUS. And magnetic! And jazz-i-riffic. I mean, can you blame Sayde for being totally addicted to his friendship? Demi made her feel sooo special! *sigh*

Coe: Demi reminded me a lot of my friend, too! Maybe everybody has (or should have!) a Demi in their life!

Siobhan: Yes. A friend who can whip out the jazzhands at any given moment. BTW, my "Demi" and I have an entire choreographed routine to Mein Herr.

Coe: My Demi and I have worked up routines to A Chorus Line, Chicago, and Rent! Jazzhands are the best, aren't they?

Daphne: Ugh, I never had a Demi and I want one! Is it too late?

Coe: No, Daphne. It's never too late to get your own Demi! :-)

Hey, what did you guys think of the book's structure, how most of the book was told in narrative, but then there were these little sections of dialogue in transcript-style? Effective? Distracting?

Siobhan: I realllllllly liked the tape recorder bits in the beginning, and I completely bought that this was something Sayde and Demi would do together. But a few of the later ones felt a little forced and slightly less organic. But that’s the kind of trouble you run into with ANY device...and overall I felt like E. made them all work.

Daphne: I was a fan of them too. They were fun little interludes where you almost felt included in their friendship. I think my favorite was the one when they were driving to the camp.

Coe: Yeah. They were sooo excited! I kinda liked those tape recorder transcripts too. It made sense to present them that way because it felt kinda like a script from a play, which totally tied into the whole thing.

So, would you recommend this book? And to whom? I mean, obviously, it'll attract the theater kids, but do you think every kid would get into it?

Siobhan: Def anyone who's a drama geek, but I think this book really speaks to the anti-Gossip Girl reader. I mean, this book isn't about a fabulous girl who knows that she's the sh*t. It's about a girl who desperately hopes to be fabulous but kinda thinks waaay deep down that she may not be all that (umm...hello Siobhan Vivian grades 6-12).

This book is for the girls who feel that twinge of insecurity, try everything they can to cover it up, but once they address it, come out more fab then they ever imagined! Which I think is about 85% of the ladies I tend to like. *deep breath* Man, that was a mouthful. Did I even answer your question, Coe?!? Hahah

Coe: It seems this book may have touched a nerve, eh Siobhan???

Siobhan: Umm...you should have seen E.'s face when I accosted her at the 21 Proms event to gush. She probably took out a restraining order against me.

Daphne: I’m sure she was pleased to see a reader connecting with her book. Though I should add that my fingers are crossed that that was E's reaction because I similarly gushed when I met her at a reading!

Coe: She's really great. And so is her book.

Hmmm. I think what we're saying here is EVERYONE should buy this book and READ this book, right? And sure, we're a little biased because we REALLY like her, but so what!

Daphne: We like her because her books totally rule and DRAMARAMA is yet another example of that! So, yeah, everyone should buy it!

Siobhan: Agreed. I give it two jazzhands up. Way UP, with sparkly gloves and a matching top hat too.

interesting blog alert

if you read the longstockings, then you must know how much i love blake nelson. his kick-ass novel, paranoid park, was recently made into a movie by gus van sant.

anyhow, blake is at Cannes this week for the film's world premiere and plans to blog about his experiences. read up here.

-=siobhan=-

BREAKING INSIDER NEWS!

okay, even though this is all over today's variety, i am calling it B.I.N. because i got the word from a verrrrrrry inside source. anyhow, the CW network just officially picked up the Gossip Girl pilot, produced by the OC's Josh Schwartz, for their fall season! Blake Lively*, who was in the Sisterhood movie, is starring in it.

i bet this show is goinna be a huge hit. it really is a slam dunk for CW...a bulls eye in both target audience and tone. do we even have to mention the loyal following? Publisher's Weekly just reported on the GG phenom in this week's issue. can you believe there are over 4.5 million copies of the series in print? insane!

i wonder what this will mean for the other YA properties that Josh Schwartz has optioned, now that he will be indisposed with this series, and another, for the time being...specifically the film rights to Looking For Alaska. hmmm.

*also on verrrry good authority - she has recently gotten a nose job!

-=siobhan=-

S.O.S

So I started reading Twilight by Stephanie Meyer today on the subway. I've been wanting to read it forever, and it's been waiting for me all this time, like a twinkling little gem. I'm a quarter of the way in, and I'm super into it. It reminds me a little of LJ Smith's books-- and I LOVE me some LJ Smith. Anyway, I just know I'm going to finish Twilight tomorrow (I am a fast reader with little to no restraint) and I will need New Moon immediately! I ordered it for our library and to my chagrin, it got checked out today. Do any of you Longstockings or friends of Longstockings have it?! Or better yet, does anyone have the galley for Eclipse?? Does such a thing exist? S.O.S!!!

frantically yours, jenny

Stop. Think. Read. Repeat. Talk.

I read The Bermudez Triangle last week, and so now I feel qualified to say something about the brouhaha going on in the comments over on Maureen Johnson's latest blog entry.

Somehow, through the topic of Maureen's book being banned, the commenters to her blog have gotten themselves into a fight about whether (a) book banners are Christian, or Christians are book banners; and (b) to oppose book banners--and, specifically, to suggest that the Bible has a wealth of fairly salacious material to protect the kiddies from--is to hate Christians.

A commenter calling him- or herself "in his service" (what, no capital H?) has posted (in part):

We, as Christians, feel the same about homosexuality as you do about Christianity. . .if you want to be homosexual, then that is your life and DEATH to deal with but please do not PUSH it on our children!!!! By validating it in a book, it sends the message that it is an acceptable lifestyle and goes against our beliefs and should NOT be pushed upon our children!!!

This really got me thinking. See, the thing is, there are a lot of books out there with ideas I don't want my future kids picking up. I'm guessing a lot of us posting in defence of The Bermudez Triangle would be a mite miffed if our kid came home from the school library with a book about two gay people who lived miserable lives and then died and went to Hell. "What are they letting our kids read?" we'd moan.

So now that we've made our position against book-banning very publicly clear, what on earth should we do?

Frankly, it's the same thing all parents everywhere should do, and not just when a book looks suspicious, either. When your kid comes home with a book you don't recognize,

READ IT.

Then, when it turns out to be full of ideas you'd rather your kid not absorb,

TALK ABOUT IT.

If you truly believe that homosexuality is a sin that will damn your kids to hell if they act on any urges in that direction, tell them that. Don't try to rid their world of anything that says otherwise: you can't, practically every TV show has a sympathetic gay character these days.

But you can tell your kids what you believe. You should tell your kids what you believe. And a book you've both read provides a perfect opportunity.

But don't forget, first, to ask your kid what he or she thinks. Plenty of kids read plenty of books they don't agree with. After all, your kid was raised by you! So chances are good she's already come to the same conclusion you did. You can have one of those wonderful and all-too-rare parent/teen conversations where you both agree.

So the next time anyone reads a book they wish their kid hadn't, can we all agree on the above course of action? It works, I promise. If my United Church of Christ parents managed to raise two liberal Christian daughters in the Bible Belt, you can raise a Biblical literalist there. No matter what books make their way into the library.

--Kathryne

TinTin!!!

Yanked from Galleycat:

The Guardian reports that Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson are teaming up to bring the adventures of Tintin, Belgium's famous globe-trotting reporter, to the big screen, the end of a 25 year hunt on Spielberg's part to secure the rights to the comic strip character. Spielberg and Jackson will joint-produce three back-to-back features, based on Herge's comic book character, with each directing one film. It is as yet unclear who will direct the third movie. The films will be shot in 3-D, using motion capture technology, a technique by which an actor's movements are recorded and used to create an animated character. Jackson used the technique on the Lord of the Rings films to create Gollum.

SO AWESOME!

Transforming Books

I saw a really awesome movie this weekend: The Lives of Others. It’s not a kid movie, but one of the threads of the plot is about the power of art to transform people and bring humanity into inhumane places. It was incredibly powerful and it got me thinking about art that has transformed me, books in particular.

I think the main reason I chose to write kid books is because the books that transformed me were the ones I read as a kid and teen. They touched me in ways that left permanent changes in who I was. One of the big ones for me was A RING OF ENDLESS LIGHT by Madeleine L’Engle. Vicky pondered the meaning of life and evil and love in a way that felt real to me. When I read the last page of the book, my world view had altered and deepened. I thought about people and relationships in new ways. I considered evil and its place in the world and thought more about who I was.

Judy Blume’s books really affected me as well. When I was growing up so many books were about fun, spunky, perfect families that made me worry my family was the only one with a few quirks. Judy Blume put some really human families out there in her books. She took kid concerns seriously and wrote about them realistically. As a kid it made me feel like maybe my own life wasn’t so freakish and maybe the fact that my family wasn’t perfect was okay. I think books that normalize your experience are essential.

What were some of the books that transformed you as a kid?

#daphne

This is just WEIRD

Be forewarned -- this will make you shake your head and go, "HUUH?"

Baltimore-area children's author, Richard Lynn Stack, has been banned from Maryland's Hartford County Schools. Apparently, when a ten-year-old girl asked him to autograph her forehead during a school visit, he jokingly said, "If you climb on the table and take your clothes off."

Say what??? He says he was just making an outlandish comment in reponse to her outlandish request, but considering he spent 20 years as a lawyer, and is an old pro at school visits (he's been doing them for years), you'd think he'd know better to than joke about THAT. No formal charges are being brought against him.


Read the full story.



*caroline hickey

Shh... Don't Tell.

Everyone is wondering, guessing... and waiting. Everyone wants to know what's going to happen and which two characters are going to die. But J.K. Rowling, who posted on her website yesterday, says, please, please, don't give away the ending!

The following is excerpted from the Reuters' article:

Author J.K. Rowling appealed to people on Monday to leave the ending of the final Harry Potter book as a surprise and not spoil the mystery for fans of the best-selling series about the boy wizard.

"We're a little under three months away, now, and the first distant rumblings of the weirdness that usually precedes a Harry Potter publication can be heard on the horizon," Rowling wrote on her Web site wwww.jkrowling.com on Monday.

"I want the readers who have, in many instances, grown up with Harry, to embark on the last adventure they will share with him without knowing where they are they going."

So if you get a copy of HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS before the rest of us, don't go blabbing!

Okay?

(Of course, if you do have an early copy, feel free to share it with us, your friendly neighborhood Longstockings. We won't tell the ending either! We promise you, J.K.)

;-)

~Coe~

QoW: Simone

Question of the Week: Write a journal entry as a character.

Simone just left. I can barely put into words how I feel right now. She's just so beautiful, so together, so smart. I think about all of the moments and days and weeks and months and years that have passed, and I really can't believe it. I can't believe how wonderful she is, and I can't believe how lucky I am.

I've thanked God every day for Elsie and for Vince. They are such wonderful people, the salt of the earthy, really. But now, I want to thank them even more. Thank them for helping to make my daughter into the person that she is today, and for being the best possible parents for her.

It's hard to acknowledge how little time I have with Simone. But in a way, I think it is going to make the time we have that much sweeter, that much more memorable. I hope so, anyway. I want to tell her everything, but yet, at the same time I just want to listen. I want her to tell ME everything. In a way, I wish there was a record for every day of her life, so I could review it and take it all in.

More later,
Rivka



Note: I haven't finished A Brief Chapter in My Impossible Life yet, but I am really enjoying it.

Lisa GW

Longstockings Meeting Minutes - A PHOTO ESSAY

I took my camera to our last workshop to show you a sneak peek behind the socks. Enjoy!

MEETING MINUTES - 5/9/2007
We were meeting to workshop a selection of Coe's current WIP. While we are normally all business, there was a lot to celebrate since our last workshop. Namely, Coe won the LA Times book prize and Caroline's book was officially for sale.

So we had a party!

first, coe made a speech and regaled us all with the JUICIEST backstage tidbits!















then jenny made a toast, which made everyone sniffly

and we all cheered!












the vueve hit lisa graff and coe pretty quickly












while they danced, caroline signed copies of her book. she wrote something soooo nice in mine.












to try and butter us up for her workshop, coe surprised the group with presents--official LA Times festival PENS! we love PENS!












we finally got down to business. everyone had great feedback for coe. jenny called my comment "inspirational". just sayin.

and, what better way to wrap up a productive meeting than a GROUP PHOTO!

see you ladies next time!

-=siobhan=-

QoW: A Once in a LIFETIME Opportunity!

Question of the week: What other kinds of writing would you want to do?

Like Jenny posted on Tuesday, I, too, dream of one day writing for television. I even have an idea for a dramatic series I'd like to create. But in the meantime, I'd like to get my feet wet. And what better way than to write LIFETIME movies???

Now I don't watch LIFETIME movies in my normal life, but whenever I get my hair unbraided (2 hours) and rebraided (6 hours), I am forced to watch them because that's what the women at the African hair braiding place watch ALL DAY! (Mind you, these women don't speak too much English, but evidently the LIFETIME movie transcends all language barriers!)

A while back I discussed my desire to write for LIFETIME with two of my writer friends Adrienne Vrettos (SKIN) and Nico Medina (THE STRAIGHT ROAD TO KYLIE), and together we've come up with a GREAT idea for our first movie. I can't reveal all the details (obviously!!!), but I can say it will star Tori Spelling, Richard Grieco, and Tracey Gold (of course!) It will be a story with all of the obligatory LIFETIME elements: love, betrayal, sex, and even murder most foul! Judith Light will also star in this movie in a surprising role.

It's gonna be sooo good!!!

I do have one fear though. I worry that LIFETIME movies will be so much fun to write, I'd never want to do anything else! They're kinda like crystal meth that way. Addictive! So it might be better to not even get started. Because, years later, you might end up in an alley somewhere mumbling to yourself, "Jack Wagner... Must get Jack Wagner to star in my next one... Yeah... He's my ticket to the TOP!"

~Coe~

Hit the Road, Shug!

In today's issue of Children's Bookshelf from PW, they mention our own Jenny Han will be going on tour this fall with Rachel Cohn and Melissa de la Cruz to promote the paperback release of Shug.

Check it out!


*caroline hickey

QoW: Come on along and listen to...

Question of the week: What other kinds of writing would you want to do?

This is easy for me. If I could write anything besides children's books, I would want to write for the theater. Specifically, I'd want to write Broadway musicals. Book and lyrics. I think that would be sort of kind of awesome.

I'm not sure I'd be good at this at all, but I like to think I'd be a fabulous lyricist. I'd want to write the really wordy, witty, fast-paced lyrics like the ones you find in the old classics: The Music Man, Guys and Dolls, and my favorite of all time, City of Angels (the play, I mean; not that terrible terrible movie...). Being clever and squeezing my thoughts into rhyme and rhythm is a challenge I'd definitely like to take on.

~lisa graff~

QoW: If...

Question of the week: What other kinds of writing would you want to do?

Well. I can't write an advice column or review restaurants, 'cause Lisa's got that covered. And J-Han is the Longstocking's emmissary to Hollywood. So that leaves me with only one option: Travel Writing!

I tell myself I'm going to get started pretty much every time I go on a trip. I keep a journal anyway, so it's not that hard to get more conscientious about it on vacation, even if all I manage is a list of quick notes of what to tell people when I get home. So every vacation, I think how great it would be to relive it all by writing it, and then pay for part of the trip by selling the article!

It never works out. Somehow coming home from a vacation and doing work resulting from the vacation seems to miss the point. So I'm just going to have to settle for sending a character abroad one of these days. Hopefully to somewhere I've never been, so I'll have to go do research...

--Kathryne

Shoot! Why'd They Go And Do That?

This has been a day of supreme highs and the lowest of lows. Here goes.

It all started when I passed by my local independent bookstore this morning. There, in the window, I saw the beauty that is the Everyman's Library Collection of STORIES by ROALD DAHL! I smacked my forehead against the glass, trying to get a closer look! Yessssssssssss! Fist pump! Etc.!

I am a huge fan of the Everyman's Library collections. They are packaged beautifully, with lovely papers, cool fonts and a little gold tassle to help keep your place. Plus, I have allllways wanted a single, hardback collection of Dahl's children's stories. So I didn't hesitate a single moment in scooping up their only copy and laying down thirty smackeroos. I walked home with a heavy bag and a big big smile.

This, if you haven't already guessed, was the high.

When I arrived home, I flipped through the Tabe of Contents. And I didn't recognize a single thing. Where was BFG? Charlie? James? Matilda? I also assumed there'd be some drawings in there. Hmmm. My heart started to sink. Baffled, I check the flap copy. Alas, this collection is of Dahl's ADULT stories.

Oh.

I mean, I'll surely still read them. I'm even a little bit excited to discover them. But why oh why not put out TWO collections? Or is Dahl's work for children not "classic" enough for you, Mr. Everyman.

TV is my friend

Question of the week: What other kinds of writing would you want to do?

Well, it's no secret that I love TV. I mean, I LOOOOVE TV. TV and me are like this (insert crossed fingers here). So the other kind of writing I would and do want to do is writing for TV. That, my friends, would be a dream come true. It would be such a kick to hear your words come out of someone else's mouth, especially a character you adore. My top shows that I would love to write for? So glad you asked! Gilmore Girls (wait, let me wipe away my tears now that it's officially cancelled), Veronica Mars (more tears, since it might be cancelled as well), LOST (do writers get to move to Hawaii too? if so, I'm there), and Big Love.

Even better, though? To start from the ground up on a new show and have a hand in creating lives and backstories for characters. I think it's a little intimidating (but also challenging in the best way possible) to write really well for a character everyone knows and loves-- like Lorelai Gilmore, now she's a fast talker. But so am I! The show I would love to be a part of from the start would be Amy Sherman-Palladino's new show with Parker Posey-- about, hello, a children's book editor! I totally know that world! I could so do that! And Amy Sherman-Palladino is a genius. Amy, if you're reading this, I love you! Hire me, please! But you wanna know the show I'd love to run? Rory Gilmore's spin-off-- picture it, Rory moves to big bad NYC to be a newspaper writer. She lives in a crappy apartment with Paris, who is in med school at Columbia (they have a med school, right?) and she runs into JESS (who has been killed off of Heroes and thus needs a new show) in Washington Square Park and they sloooooowly begin to move back towards each other. Good bye, Logan! Hello, Jess!

And as for me, Hasta la vista, NYC, California, here I come! (in 2009, at the earliest...)

love, jenny

Quiz time!

To be a good writer, one should BE a good WRITER. But with editors, copyeditors, spell check, and many years since your last grammar lesson, how do you know what kind of shape your grammar is in??

Take one of these quizzes from Vocabula.com and find out. I took a Moderate level quiz, and, I'll just say it, I FAILED.

C'mon! Test your knowledge of the English language. Tell me you didn't do so well either so I don't feel like such a weenie.

*caroline hickey

Let's Talk about Sex

I just finished reading GOOD GIRLS by Laura Ruby and loved it. It’s about Audrey, girl who is caught on film giving her friend-with-benefits a BJ. The picture is sent all around the school via cell phone and even sent to her parents. Honestly, I squirm just writing that- it is so beyond humiliating to contemplate! Ruby handles it so well. She really gets you into Audrey’s head and the whole thing felt so real (I squirmed a lot reading it too.) So reading it got me thinking about YA books and sex and the books that really handle it well.

When I was growing up, few books dealt with the feelings around sex. It was generally a bad thing (see ASK ALICE), or not mentioned at all— 17 yr olds just kissed like that was all they’d have an urge to do. Even at 12 I knew that was off. Of course there’s FOREVER and I’m thankful to Judy Blume for putting a healthy sexual relationship out there. But then she did have the Sybil character as a scare and I have to say, a guy who names his penis is just not a guy who’s going to get me going. But at least Katherine had urges beyond kissing and the sex felt good.

There’s a lot more out there today. I liked Sara Zarr’s STORY OF A GIRL which dealt with the hypocrisy still out there about girls and sex. POP by Aury Wallington was good too. And the latest PANTS books had some steamy stuff as well. Though I didn’t love that there had to be a pregnancy scare. But I feel like her descriptions of Tibby wanting Brian were spot on. The sex scenes Jessica Darling has with Marcus Flutie in the books by Megan McCafferty really sizzle (I forget if they have sex in SECOND HELPINGS or if it’s just CHARMED THIRDS but I remember at one point she calls the sex “sublime”- gotta love that.)

So what else is out there? What books do you like that have sex as a normal part of a healthy teen relationship? Or deal in a realistic way with the issues that come up when sex enters the scene?

#Daphne

QoW: Dear Lisa

Question of the Week: What other kinds of writing would you want to do?

A dream of mine is to have an advice column. A real one. One that's as famous as Dear Abby. I had an advice column in college, in Binghamton's alternative school magazine called X-Cess. The column was called Got Agita? I still love that name. But the truth is, we didn't get many people to write in. We got a few, but other than that we just made up the questions and that wasn't as much fun.

Besides children's book writing and advice column writing, I'd also want to be a food critic. I love eating (you may have realized this by now) but the only problem is, I'm kind of a lame eater. I hate all spicy foods. And besides from that, I'm Kosher. I'd be a boring food critic, but I'd be good for other boring eaters, wouldn't I?

Truthfully, as much fun as it would be to have an advice column and be a food critic, I think I'm going to stick with children's books for now. However, if someone out there is reading this and would like to pay me a large amount of money for the other two options, I'd certainly give it my all. Let me know, okay?

*Lisa GW*

The best friends you'll (n)ever have

So I loved the Babysitters Club growing up, and I also love this blog BSC Headquarters. Tiff is blogging her way through the series with acerbic wit-- now, sometimes she's a little hard on our girls (esp poor ugly Mallory! check her out her frizzy bangs and olive sweatshirt!) but she cracks me up. She and I both love the ones where the girls are mean to each other. I love Mary Anne's catty side! She's usually such a meek mouse. Anyway, so here's one of Tiff's zingers from her review of Super Special #6 New York, New York:

* So, Kristy's a closeted rich beotch. "I looked around the Leeches' [they adopt the stupid dog] apartment. It was small. The furniture was old and worn. But someone had crocheted afghans for the couch, and dried flowers were arranged in vases. Plus, Mr. Leech obviously cared very much for his son..." All I'm saying is, how nice was their furniture before Watson, anyway? Single mom with four kids? C'mon now. *

I edited that a little since this is a PG site--wait, are we PG or PG-13? I hope we're PG-13 because PG is SO boring. Anyway, old Tiff has the mouth of a sailor and boy is she FUN! Yall should totally check out her blog-- it's claudiasroom.blogspot.com. (I'm not linking to it because I always forget the code. Sorry!)

xox jenny

Hit Us Up on MySpace!!!

The Longstockings are now officially on MySpace! (And no, we're not a band. We just play one on the Internet!!!)

Our newly-reformatted-though-not-yet-"pimped" MySpace page is up and running. It'll be the place where we list all our individual and group readings and signings, and keep in touch with our friends.

And, really, isn't MySpace kind of fun?

So, please "friend" us. We promise not to bother you with those pesky bulletins!

:-)

~Coe~

(even more) Latebreaking News!

(Well, it's not exactly latebreaking but hopefully it got your attention.) I am doing a signing today at the Barnes and Noble at Lincoln Center in NYC, around 3:30pm. If you're in the area and want to stop by, please do! Calhoun, the school I work at, is having it's annual book fair and they've asked me to sign some books and maybe read. My seasonal allergies are in full effect, so we'll see if I can muster up the voice to read-- but I am super excited because I LOVE book fairs. Book fairs are like the best thing ever.

xoxo jenny xoxo

CANCELLED! No more signing. Boo hoo. My books didn't arrive in time! What's up with that?! There's been a lot of that going around lately.

When It Finally Became Real

One thing the Longstockings and I have chatted about is the moment when it finally hits you - that you've written a book and it will actually be for sale. Awesome!

For some of us, the realization comes with the actual publishing deal, for others when they get their ARCs, and some when they finally spot their baby on the shelves in the bookstore. My moment happened this weekend, when my first typeset pass arrived and I read this:



Oh! My! God! It's the official summary of my book! One that I didn't write myself! Look at that smoking hot ISBN number!*dancing ensues*

Embarrasing as this probably is, I'll admit it. I sang it like a song! I called several friends and performed it like Shakespeare. I thought about recording it as my voicemail greeting (thankfully, my sanity prompty returned).

But the fact remains...this is really happening and it feels soooo freaking good.

-=siobhan=-

QoW: Raising herself

Question of the Week: What character(s) do you want your kids to turn out like?

I just finished reading Hattie Big Sky, and I have to say, a parent could do a lot worse than raising Hattie Inez Brooks. Which is ironic, because Hattie never had much in the way of parents.

Hattie's parents die when she's around five, and she goes to live with an aunt. When the aunt (apparently the only person left on earth with any actual affection for the girl) becomes too ill to keep Hattie, our heroine spends the rest of her childhood shuttled from relative to relative. That, of course, I don't wish for any kid. But I hope I manage to raise one with half as much gumption.

Hattie finally gets a place to call home at sixteen, when an uncle dies and leaves her the homestead he's established in Montana. She's never done much farming, but even so, she leaves the house of a kind relative and his unkind wife to take over her uncle's claim. She makes friends with her new neighbors; she finds out what she has to accomplish in the next ten months, so she can keep the farm; she gets to work.

Hattie knows exactly what she wants--a home of her own--and she repeatedly confronts and overcomes distractions that might defeat that purpose: especially people who tell her she's too young, she's too inexperienced, the risks are too great. She holds fast without ever becoming silly or self-destructive. She never gets so wrapped up in her own problems that she can't sympathize with her neighbors', or the world's.

I hope I raise kids who can be that clear-headed. I hope they grow up with enough passion to guide them past obstacles and naysayers, and enough smarts to find out solutions to their problems, and enough flexibility to try something new when the first approach doesn't work. Most of all, I hope my kids grow up with the kind of heart that makes friends into families, making everything else that much easier.

--Kathryne

Cassie IS Here!

My first novel, CASSIE WAS HERE, has hit the shelves! It’s about an 11-yr-old girl who moves to a new town and revives her old imaginary friend to keep her company. That is, until she meets the mysterious Cassie, who has her own way of dealing with reality…

To celebrate, my lady Longstockings have asked me a few questions about me and my debut novel. (Bree is the main character, for those of you who haven’t read it yet. Why haven’t you read it yet? For goodness sakes, get your hands on one!)

THE INTERVIEW:

Daphne: If you and Bree formed a club, what would it be?
Me: It would be a bicycle-riding club, because both Bree and I have serious bicycle love. Hers was a gift from her parents when they moved to suburban Baltimore, and mine was a gift to myself when I moved to Brooklyn. Things would get interesting when we started doing bike races.

Coe: If you could have an imaginary friend now, what would he or she be like? What would you two do together?
Me: She would be a smarter, better, faster writer than I, and I’d put her to work three days a week revising my next book. I’ve got oodles to do to it, so I could really use her help. For breaks, I’d take her out for ice cream.

Siobhan: What would your ideal first piece of fan mail say?
Me: “I loved your book so much I bought 10,000 copies!”

Jenny: Bree has a big brother. So do you. What's the meanest thing he ever did to you when you were kids?
Me: Since he might read this, and he’s still a lot bigger than I am, I’ll just say the meanest thing he did was not let me tag along after him when he was going somewhere interesting. Well, that and he locked me and a friend in her attic once, then went off to play with her brother and forgot about us.

Lisa GW: What's your favorite thing about being a writer?
Me: When someone reads something I wrote and tells me it made them laugh, or cry, or feel eleven years old.

Kathryne: What did you get up to with your best friend when you were eleven?
Me: The same sort of things Bree does…we rode our bikes, played Nancy Drew, teased (and got teased) by our brothers. We played a lot of imagination games, like Secretaries, Teachers, or Models. We always had handsome boyfriends who were twins.

Lisa Graff: Did you ever make dollhouses out of magazines? Because that is rad and when I read that in your book I really wanted to do it.
Me: I didn’t. I thought it up when I was writing CASSIE, and as soon as it occurred to me, I realized how much fun it would be. Maybe we should do it at the next Longstockings retreat?

So there you have it. Don't miss out -- find out what Lisa Graff finds so darn rad about Bree and her magazine dollhouses. Check out Cassie!

*caroline hickey

QoW: Growing up in Kid Lit

Question of the Week: What character(s) do you want your kids to turn out like?

I have a boy and a girl and I’d like them both to start out with a healthy dose of David from the David Shannon books. Spunky, adventurous, fun and huggy to boot. My kids are already well on their way to this.

In their middle grade years I hope they still have those qualities plus some new ones as well. I’d love my son to be like Stanford Wong, from STANFORD WONG FLUNKS BIG-TIME. Okay, obviously I don’t want my kid to flunk big-time but Stanford went on to do well in summer school and the reason he failed is that he was too focused on his love of basketball to study. I want my kids to have an interest-sports, art, etc- that they feel passionate about like that. And to be able to balance it with the rest of their lives the way Stanford learns to. I also like that Stanford has a close relationship with his family- loner kids are fun to read about but I don’t want to be one of those distant, clueless parents.

Middle grade years are tough for girls. I remember the viciousness in my group of girl friends- to this day I’m still scarred. People say the high school social scene is tough but nothing was more cut throat than my years at junior high. In such conditions I’d love for my daughter to be a lot like Ramona. Spunky, strong willed, a powerful sense of self, unique and very much herself.

Once we get to high school things are tricky. This is when a kid really needs to break and out and separate from his and her parents. I’m sure my kids will have their own ideas about who they’ll be, but in my fantasy world, my daughter is a lot like Vicky Austin from the Madeleine L’Engle books. A deep thinker who forms meaningful relationships with all kinds of people. She’s strong, not pulled into being like everyone else and yeah, she’s close to her parents (I can dream, right?)

For my son I’m going to opt for a Nick type, from NICK AND NORAH’S INFINITE PLAYLIST. No, I don’t want to know the intimacies of his dating life, but I like that Nick is emotionally aware, has things that he’s passionate about and can form deep relationships.

I think what I like best about all these characters is that although they face difficult things, for the most part they are happy. And that’s pretty much the bottom line hope for any parent.

#daphne