Glamour Cover Art

Oh. My. Goodness.

I received an email yesterday from the brilliant lady who is creating the cover art for my book. She sent me four different ones and said that I'd have say on the final. What do I say? They're amazing!

It's like she crawled inside my head and saw my fictional world as I saw it. How did she do that?I've been imagining what this book would look like for several years now. She asked my opinion on a few things earlier and I told her. However, she nailed details I'd dreamed of but never mentioned.

Grinning from ear to ear, I opened the first one and thought, "This is it. This is perfect." Once I reached the last one, I realized she'd done an excellent job on each one.I have two favorites, but we'll see which one makes the cover.

As soon as I get permission, I'll post it for you to see.

Using media? Use your brain.

What is going on with people using technology? I love the ease of access to information, but what is with people's inability to control themselves?

As long as email has been around we've known that lies and vitriol can be sent to as many people as one has in the address book. Now blogs and places like My Space and YouTube allow an even broader forum. And for some reason, many believe the trash with the mentality my grandmother once had about tabloid mags: "They wouldn't print it if it weren't true." Sadly, we've stopped thinking for ourselves and standing up for what is right.

Cowards find it easy to be brave sitting behind a computer screen--Brad Paisley's song "Online" went to #1. Why? We recognize the truth in the lyric, "I'm so much cooler online."

The taping of that girl's beating in Florida is a sad statement about our society. As I watched the interview, Pink's song "Stupid Girls" kept playing through my head. First of all, what possessed them to physically hurt another person? Second of all, what level of brain cells are they lacking that made them think it was a genius idea to tape it (gather evidence for the police) and post it on You Tube?

The girl who got damaged allegedly badmouthed the girls on her My Space page. This was a dumb thing to do. She was only out-dumbed by the girls who beat her up and the stupid boys who stood guard. If the girl had written false things on her site, I think all parties were wrong and should be punished--legally.

Teens and younger have a lot of power in the media and they need to realize it. As Spider-Man knows, "With great power, comes great responsibility." Authorities need to give youth credit for their brainpower and hold them accountable. Laws should be passed and enforced about online abuse. Let's face it. Adults can be as stupid as those girls on the video.

I don't get it.

Still, while those teenagers are sitting in a detention center--and they totally deserve it--American Idol gave back last night. It was really cool to see so many people take their success and show that they still believe it's important to "give back." Last year they raised $76 M. This year is certain to surpass that number.

I was disappointed in one aspect, however, because I totally wanted to see Miley Cyrus interact with David Archuletta. I'm guessing he would blush and grin while she headbanged her long curls. How cute a couple would they be? Wouldn't you love for them to sing a duet?I know for a fact neither one of them would be stupid or mean enough to plaster evil-doings on the internet.

Writing Conference

May 1-3, 2008 marks the 40th annual writing conference sponsored by Oklahoma Writers' Federation, Inc. This year will be my sixth year to attend, and I'm so excited! Not only do I get to see my writing group The Inklings, but I also get to see all of the other writing friends I've made over the years. The best part is that each year, I've been able to meet new people who share my interests. Some of them are aspiring writers while others are working in the field as either writers, agents, or editors. It's a wonderful place for anyone who enjoys writing. If you'd like to attend or learn more about it, go to the www.owfi.org

Attending writing conferences is important. They are excellent tools to inspire and motivate. Plus, they can help you network. Like people, conferences have different personalities. One of the things I love about OWFI's is it encourages open communication with speakers and attendees even after the sessions. An abundance of social time allows for maximum connections. Believe me, not all conference planners do that. I attended a conference once where the speakers were escorted from each session with armed guards! (Okay, maybe not armed guards, but the message was clear that we were peons not to speak to them.) I was disappointed. Sometimes, it's after the sessions that one can learn the most.

A problem some writers face is that they develop Social Writeritis. That is, they attend all the conferences and meet all the people, but they don't do anything about it. They don't enter contests, they don't submit their works... they don't even write. These people can be easy to spot when you ask them what they're working on. They usually look blank. Or they reveal that they have a lot of great ideas. It doesn't take long to realize these people are more into speaking than writing.

And that's fine. More room on the bookshelf for the rest of us, right?

However, if you want to be a real writer, don't be a poser. Just write.

And attend a conference to learn more about what you're writing. I promise it will be like going to school where it's recess all day.

Journal

On Easter weekend, we drove to the Jersey Shore. Point Pleasant Beach was calming, beautiful... and cold. We bundled up in our warmest coats, and it was so worth it. For the weather being so frigid, people were plentiful on the sand enjoying the bright day. We even saw toddlers with their Easter baskets collecting seashells. Adorable.

When we first arrived, we drove up and down the street nearest the beach. It was fun to see all the old beach houses. Some of them were so enormous, they must have housed 20 bedrooms. I loved the wrap-around porches. It was easy to imagine bathing beauties of the Victorian era with all their pals heading to the beach to cool off. Many of the shops were closed for the season, but a good portion of them were open. We enjoyed a seafood feast while looking out at the docks, the seagulls, the ducks, and the working fishing boats.

All afternoon, a poem by e. e. cummings repeated in my head. maggie & millie & molly & may is one of my favorite poems. It inspired me to go home and journal. Before you write, read the poem several times. If you've never been to the ocean, simply use your imagination.

Journal topic: What do you find in the sea?

New York Auto Show

Last Saturday I went to the NY Auto Show. My husband claimed it was the biggest in the nation and I'd be impressed. Surprisingly, for a gal who usually can identify a car only by color, I thought it was pretty cool

The most exciting aspect of the show was seeing this car--even though a bunch of guys and little boys made no effort to get out of my way so I could get a better view. Do you recognize him? It's Bumblebee! From Transformers! I just know that if those people would have gotten out of my way, he would have transformed and had a chat with me. I'd like to ask him why the amazing theme song from the cartoon didn't make it to the movie. Seriously, I was so disappointed that I had to sing it to myself. It probably annoyed the people around me, but does it matter? The song should have been included.

Isn't she pretty? This is my new car. Okay, maybe she's not, but she wants to be. You can't exactly tell from the picture, but this little Jag looks like a kitty cat in the face. Me-ow.

Do you journal?

Keeping a journal is a great way to write regularly and create potential aspects of future works. A journal can be a fancy leatherbound type, but it's just as effective in a cheap spiral notebook. The important thing is that it doesn't simply sit on your bedside table or get covered in candybar crumbs at the bottom of your backpack--it should be filled with ink. And writing isn't all you have to do. Many creative people find it just as inspiring for future reference to draw or paste pictures in the pages. I find that magazines are great for finding a character. They're easy to describe since you already know exactly what they look like, plus you can refer back to them later and your memory of the color of her hair or the slant of his smile is immediately sharpened.

The only rule about your journal is to make it truly yours.

When I taught creative writing I often gave daily journal assignments. Do what you like, but I'll offer you the same guidelines I gave my students:

For the fifteen minutes or so that we've set aside for journaling, just write. Take my journal topic as a jumping off point and go from there. It can be true or totally fictionalized. If your story takes the shape of a play, that's fine. If it is a character sketch, great. If it's simply a description of a setting, perfect. Listen to your creative voice.

Your journal is your gym. It's where you exercise. Most gyms are stinky places covered in sweat and people pushing themselves to become their physical best. Journaling doesn't have to be pretty. Just push yourself to go beyond your comfort zone.

You'll be surprised at what you learn you can do.

In fact, the prologue of my novel Glamour was a journal entry. My character Kat just arrived in my classroom as I journaled with my students. True, she was inspired by some boys (that I usually adored) who were excited about something that happened at lunch and insited on whispering, gigging and disturbing the others who wanted to journal. I'm thankful to them, though, because when we all managed to settle down, I had the first line of my novel: She liked to keep their tongues in her pocket.

Try out the journal topic for yourself and see what you come up with.

Journal topic: What do you have in your pocket?

I love my library

I only recently moved to New Jersey. Since then, a lot of money has left my wallet to find its home with bookstores. Buying books is a good thing, but I also like checking them out for free at the library. Last Friday I finally got my new library card.

This weekend I went to the Jersey Shore, celebrated Easter with friends, and read those four books. It felt great. None of them were deep or depressing books; they were delightful escapism.

Meg Cabot's Princess Diaries series is always light and fun. I'm a little behind, so I read Volume VIII, Princess on the Brink. The ending was like one of those to be continued tv shows, so I went to her website and read the beginning of the next one.

Then, to continue my reading marathon that was the equivalent of eating one chocolate after another, I read Janet Evanovich's Plum Lucky. Sure, she's formulaic, but do I care? Nope. The comedic timing is brilliant. Stephanie Plum and Lula always make me laugh. (And I swear I saw Lula's cousin on the train a couple of weeks ago headed to Trenton!) The Between-the-Numbers novels bother me a bit, though, because Ranger isn't featured. Every gal's life is better with Ranger.

I'd read a lot about Ally Carter's series I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You. Mostly on her agent's blog. So, I checked it out. Good times. It's Hogwarts for female spies. I must be in the right genre for the weekend because the last person who checked out the book had also checked out Princess at the same time. (I found the library receipt stuck in the book jacket.)

Lastly I read Lisa Fiedler's Romeo's Ex: Rosaline's Story, which pretty much follows Shakespeare's play to the extent that anybody who is having trouble in class can read this and understand the plot and characters better. She even lifts lines straight from the play and creates her own rhyming couplets in an attempt to emulate Will's style. However, she cleverly weaves a love story between Rosaline and Benvolio. Really, they're the only characters in the play who exhibit true honor and virtue, so it's easy to want them to be together.

It's time for me to go back to the library.