Still Alive!

I feel a little like a mad scientist's project, and he's desperately attaching electrodes to my head, and Igor is pedaling the lightning bike like Lance Armstrong's about to overtake him at any minute, and the mad scientist is yelling, "It's ALIIIIVE! Still. Er, I think."

I've really missed blogging and talking with everyone, and I do intend to come back and do it on a regular basis. But, you know, the personal life thing tends to get in the way sometimes. On an extended basis, even.

So here's a quick and dirty update on Carrieland:

• I'm going to be at Epic ConFusion in Troy, Michigan this weekend! Come see me talk about why the undead are awesome, and how to survive this whole writing thing, and a bunch of other things that I really need to sit down and think about. You know, during my copious free time.
  
• There's not so much of that free time going around lately, either, because I just got first pass pages for the next Kate Grable book! You know what that means? We'll have ARCs for BAD HAIR DAY coming out in the next couple of months! And I will give some of them to you. Because you are awesome.
  
• These are so freaking cool. I kind of want someone to make a picture of a zombie face out of a copy of BAD TASTE IN BOYS. Sadly, with my artistic skills, the only thing I could manage is a stick figure missing a foot.
  
• I'm a proud member of Team Kraken in Change Write Now! (And I did NOT come up with the name. But isn't it the coolest? Our full name is Lets Get Kraken. And my shoulders are really sore, which isn't particularly krakeny of me, is it?
• You must read this article and learn what the Hoff and Yeti crabs have in common.

What about you? What have YOU been up to?

THIS.

Beware. I'm about to be serious.

THIS.



I write ridiculous books full of zombies and vomit and superfluous hair. I'm okay with that. We need all kinds of books--the vomit-filled superfluous hair kind of books, books that make us cry, and books that make us look at the world differently. We need the kind of books that make us angry and books we reach for when we're sick on the couch and need something comforting. For anyone to restrict our access to any of those books is WRONG. For anyone to restrict our right to think and choose for ourselves is WRONG.

I stand up against censorship. Even if I'm wearing sparkly Richard Simmons shorts when I do it. Which is my right, even if it's oh-so-wrong.

See what I mean?

YA dance books in brief

I've been reading and reading and READING, and I keep thinking that I need to tell you all about these awesome books, but I've found that it's pretty tough to read and write simultaneously. I can't type with my feet no matter how hard I try.

But today, I'd like to talk about a handful of books with dancing in them. Because I danced way back in the day. And because I just got back in touch with an old friend whose daughter is now a competitive dancer. And because I CAN.

AUDITION by Stasia Ward Kehoe

In this verse novel, Sara leaves her home to study ballet in a new city, living with a host family and trying desperately to make up for the fact that she's undoubtedly behind everyone else her age, skill-wise. When an older choreographer starts taking an interest in her, she throws herself into the relationship in a desperate attempt to feel content. It doesn't work.

I think the verse form really works for this book, because it really captures what it's like to dance--both the highs and lows. I think it particularly works in those moments where Sara loses herself in the dance. I felt like Kehoe really captured the movement in words, so much so that I really REALLY wanted to dig out my old dance shoes and lace them up.

This intimate look at the inner struggles of a dancer would absolutely appeal to fans of Ellen Hopkins, even if they're not into dancing themselves. Because at the end of the day, it's the story of a girl who is living her dream...and realizing that maybe the reality doesn't quite measure up to her expectations.

BUNHEADS by Sophie Flack

BUNHEADS is another ballet book, but instead of student dancers, Flack takes us right into the world of professional ballet. Hannah's only 19, but she's living in NYC and dancing in the corps of the Manhattan Ballet. This is a fascinating slice of life tale that doesn't involve a single alien, sparkly vampire, or shirtless werewolf but nonetheless feels like we've been transported into a different world altogether.

Flack's experience really shines through on these pages. We see Hannah go through her days, prepping pointe shoes in the dressing room while chatting with her friends, going to the obligatory fundraising events, and occasionally wondering how the "normal" people live. She realizes that her world is limited to the ballet and to ballet people, and she's not sure how she feels about that. Especially when she meets a cute musician...

If you're into dance books or movies, you know all the stereotypes. I felt like this title took a balanced approach to them, which was nice. Yes, there's a weight subplot, but it's not all-consuming. Hannah's worried about her weight gain and what it will mean for her future as a dancer, but she realizes on her own that maybe there's a healthier way to approach the problem. I liked that the book didn't totally disregard those stereotypes but still made an effort to tell a different story.

STRINGS ATTACHED by Judy Blundell

If you're interested in reading a dance book but have a strange aversion to tutus, STRINGS ATTACHED is the story of an aspiring Broadway dancer in the 1950s. Kit Corrigan has left home in an effort to make it big, but things are a lot harder than she expected. When her maybe-kinda-ex-boyfriend's dad offers a little help, it seems harmless to accept it, right? And if he's curious about his son, that's normal. And if he asks her to do errands every once in a while...

Maybe it's not as normal as she'd like to think. Maybe all those mob rumors are true after all.

I loved the glimpses of backstage 1950s Broadway, and I thought this book was at its best during those sections. There's a lot going on here, with the muddled romance, the mob ties, and Kit's struggles to survive. But die hard Broadway fans and history buffs would probably love this read.

It's ALIVE!!!

I'm not sure whether I'm talking about myself or my blog, but either way, I feel like running around, wildly waving my hands in the air, and screaming, "It's alive!!!!" You can join me if you like. Especially if you're at work. (Although I'm not sure you should be taking my advice on what to do at work. After all, I AM the girl who once paged herself over the intercom and told herself to report to her desk. I didn't listen to me, because I'm rebellious that way.)

So. I'm alive. And so much is going on that I'm reduced to making one of my infamous bulleted lists. (They're infamous in my head, anyway.)

• It's official; there will be a paperback version of BAD TASTE IN BOYS!!! So if you're one of those paperback people, or one of those overcrowded bookshelf people, or one of those tight on finances people, or one of those collect every edition of books with puking in them people, you should get one! It'll ship on June 12, 2012, but it's available for pre-order now. It'll be like a Christmas gift to yourself, only in June.
  
• Do you read Amber's blog? She emailed me about bacon-covered Hasselhoff. I think that is the most awesome idea ever.
  
• Mark your calendars, because I'm going to be at ConFusion in Troy (Michigan Troy, not Aegean Troy) next month! And I will be wearing the zombie shoes. Or the werewolf shoes. Or maybe one of each.
• I am working on a sekrit project of awesomeness that involves the lovely Aimee Carter turning herself into a talking Abraham Lincoln. I get the giggles just thinking about that. Almost as much as I giggled when she took me to Breaking Dawn last week.
• Here. Have THIS. Because it is awesome and so are you. Bloop. Boop. Boop.

Wowie Wow Wow

This weekend was the shizziest of shizzes. It was the uberawesomest of uberawesome. It was the (insert word here)est of (insert word here)...

Of course, the minute I write that, I start thinking of nonsense words to put in there. Like, it was the monkiest of monkeys. Or the boingiest of boings. I'm not sure what you'd have to do to declare your weekend the boingiest of boings, but I suspect it would be inappropriate.

Anyway. We got a babysitter, so Slayer took me out for one last birthday celebration. And we went to a restaurant that serves bacon wrapped hot dogs AND an ice cream sundae with chocolate covered bacon in it. I would have taken a picture of it, but we shared them, so as soon as it hit the table, we were all dueling spoons and yummy noises.

And then, as if the bacon birthday wasn't enough, we made it the bacon and Bobcat birthday. That's right. We went to see Bobcat Goldthwait. And I have never laughed so hard in my life. Here is pictoral evidence:

This is Bobcat. He is blurry because I was laughing.

Here, he's doing an impression of a dead Muppet. Which is snarftacular. And that's why it's so blurry that it could BE a dead Muppet, and no one would know the difference.

Here. Have some Bobcat, with a little extra Robin Williams on the side. This one's PG-13 because it's on tv, but be forewarned that most of the stuff out there is hilariously fowl. Unsurprisingly, he has a potty mouth.

Appearance Info and Whose Line

I'm still astounded that they let me out in public. But they do. And you can see me, if you're anywhere near Michigan or Ohio, along with about 50 other authors, at the Writers on the River book fair this Sunday! You can even have lunch with me (and 50 other authors). I am very tempted to bring chocolate covered bacon to said lunch, because I AM CRAVING IT, but we'll see if I'm organized enough to make that happen.

And you should mark your calendars for January 20-22! I'll be doing ConFusion, Michigan's sci-fi and fantasy con. Trust me; the talk behind the scenes is TRES COOL.

Here! Have some Whose Line! Some PG-13 rated Whose Line, for all you parents and people who work in offices where they don't let you have fun.

What I Did For My Birthday

Here's what I did yesterday, which happened to be my birthday:

• Ate bacon.
• Got a pair of rain boots shaped like cowboy boots, which I am currently wearing...with my pajamas.
• Read a couple hundred birthday messages on my facebook and tried to figure out if I honestly know that many people. Results were inconclusive; I ran out of fingers and toes.
• Got a new iPod. The first song played on it was Thriller. Naturally.
• Cried when I read my cards, because my husband either picks out the pervy cards or the tearjerker cards. ATTENTION, EVERYONE. 2011 IS NOT A PERVY YEAR.
• Got massaged. One of my friends is the best massage therapist in the entire universe. I think she has cyborg hands, and cyborg hands are good. If you're ever in the Toledo area, I will refer you to her so you can see what I mean.
• Read some awesome books. Like YOU KILLED WESLEY PAYNE, which is a noir mystery, heavy on the noir. It's the kind of book where you spend half of your time reading with a WTF expression on your face, and the other half squealing in amused excitement. Or maybe that's just me. The book's about the search for Wesley's killer, but it's also this scathing commentary on high school cliques. And there are Chaucer jokes and people weightlifting with meat. If you like lots of character development and deep, introspective dialogue, this one probably isn't for you. But if you like high paced, ridiculous, stylish crazeballs? (And yeah, that sentence doesn't exactly make sense, but it's still amusing...which is probably the best illustration of what it's like to read this book.) You'll love it.
• Did I mention the bacon? No holiday is complete without bacon. I think we should throw a holiday bacon party.