Research for Kicks and Giggles

I've heard rumors that there are a few book groups reading my blog in preparation for my visits later on this year. I love you already, but not in a creepy-sparkly-vampire stalker kind of way. More in an I-think-you-are-awesome-but-I-still-sparkle-because-let's-face-it-sparkles-make-everything-better kind of way.

Another thing I think is awesome? I went to see the Detroit Derby Girls skate this weekend, and that bout was 17 different kinds of fun. DDG is 4th in the league, and they're crazy good. The best part? I WAS THERE ON BUSINESS.

I've been on a lot of business trips. I've already told you all about my trip to Slovenia, where I did a presentation on Mad Cow disease to a group of people who kept calling me Carrie Fisher. (I also missed my connecting flight and ended up stranded in Boston with no hotel nor luggage, but that part's not so much fun to tell.) I've been to DC for a few conferences. At the last one, I was pregnant with twins, and the people at my table kept trying to convince me to name them Strawberry and Shortcake.

I didn't. Just in case you were wondering.

Those trips were fun, but it's nothing compared to the stuff I get to do now. I get to research some wicked strange stuff. The roller derby? Research. That book on medical forensics? Research. The links to all the various spellings of the word "awesomesauce"? (As in, should it be two words or one? Should it be hyphenated? Capitalized?) RESEARCH.

I used to take notebooks to conferences and come back with notes to email such-and-such report to people, or send them data on whatever. Now I come back home with the words "helmet panties!!!" scribbled on a piece of paper. Helmet panties are the name for the covers that derby girls wear over their helmets (naturally). And I think it's the funniest term ever invented.

I think the research is one of my favorite parts of the job, partly because of the goofy things I get to learn about. What are the strangest things you've ever researched, whether it's for a book, report, or kicks and giggles?

Rock On, Beth Revis!!!!

This is a strange, scary, silly roller coaster of a business. Of course, those of us who are lucky enough to be in it aren't complaining, but you can bet that we're always talking behind the scenes about the good things and the bad. A random day can bring emails from friends who are thrilled about their covers, frustrated about release dates, worried about sequels, nervous about Skype appearances, and so on. Frankly, it's one of my favorite things about writing YA, that there are literally hundreds of people at my fingertips who will know EXACTLY what I'm going through and will send me ridiculous emails to help cheer me up.

Yesterday, for instance, my friend K and I decided to change our last names to Freud-Drool. Because it's fitting.

So when the Bookanistas learned that one of our own made the New York Times bestseller list, we knew that this one deserved a special celebration. Beth Revis is the nicest person ever, and she had the UTTER GALL to write a sci-fi book. Everyone knows that YA sci-fi is out, right? But Beth had the guts to buck the norm and say, "Yo. I'm going to write the story I want to write, and to heck with the conventions." (Okay, maybe she didn't say YO, but you get the picture.) She did it, and damn did it pay off. So the next time you're working on a project and regretting that it doesn't have sparkly vampires or glow-in-the-dark Yeti or whatever the creature du jour is, remember Beth. Write YOUR book, whatever it may be.

And, since she really is one of the nicest people ever, who out of the blue wrote me an email last week to say that she'd randomly thought of a piece of advice for me (and a freaking good one, at that), the Bookanistas are celebrating the bleep out of her today:



From now on, I'd like you to all call me Sonar.

But seriously. CONGRATULATIONS, BETH. It couldn't have happened to a nicer or more deserving person.

Celebrating XVI

No, this is not a post about football. I don't know a lot about football despite having sat through four seasons of it in high school marching band. I do, however, remember all the perverted and stupid things we used to shout at the cheerleaders when they attempted to rile us up. Good times.

Anyway, this IS a post about books! It's Bookanista Thursday! I'm pretty sure we all know the drill now, so I'll run through it fast--theBookanistasareauthors whospreadthewordaboutawesomebooks everyThursdayandisn'tthatfrawesome? It's so frawesome that I want you to give me an all temperature cheer!

HOT! WARM! COLD!

I have no shame.

So let's shamelessly celebrate the book XVI by my friend and Class of 2k11-mate, Julia Karr! Here's a little about the book:
Nina Oberon's life is pretty normal: she hangs out with her best friend, Sandy, and their crew, goes to school, plays with her little sister, Dee. But Nina is 15. And like all girls she'll receive a Governing Council-ordered tattoo on her 16th birthday. XVI. Those three letters will be branded on her wrist, announcing to all the world—even the most predatory of men—that she is ready for sex. Considered easy prey by some, portrayed by the Media as sluts who ask for attacks, becoming a "sex-teen" is Nina's worst fear. That is, until right before her birthday, when Nina's mom is brutally attacked. With her dying breaths, she reveals to Nina a shocking truth about her past—one that destroys everything Nina thought she knew. Now, alone but for her sister, Nina must try to discover who she really is, all the while staying one step ahead of her mother's killer.

And here are three reasons that I hate Julia (in the most admiring way possible):

1. This book made me THINK, but I still enjoyed reading it. I worried about Nina and Dee's safety, and I thought about my own past, and I thought about my daughters. I think this would be a great book club pick because it's the kind of book that people will feel passionate about rather than just going, "Yeah, those zombies were kewl." And isn't that what good dystopians are supposed to do? They're supposed to tell a good story about one bleeping wonky society and get us thinking about our own. This book definitely made that happen for me.
   
2. It's a dystopian that felt like it could actually happen. I love dystopian in general, and there are tons of great ones out there. Recently, though, I've read a couple that were fun and interesting, but I didn't feel like there was ANY WAY they could actually happen. That left me feeling a little removed from the story, and I didn't enjoy them as much as I could have. But this one felt all too possible.
   
3. Julia has the most adorable cats. I have pet envy. My father-in-law is severely allergic, so we don't have any. (Hey, I didn't say this whole list would be book related.)

So there you go! XVI was a fun, thought-provoking read. If you're into dystopia, I definitely recommend it.

But wait! There's more! (Why do I suddenly feel like an infomercial host?) Check out what the other Bookanistas have to say! And make sure to visit our newest Bookanista, Rosemary Clement-Moore. Her Maggie Quinn books are some of the funniest I've ever read.

• Christine Fonseca freaks for THE FAMILIARS
  
• Elana Johnson loves THE LOST SAINT
  
• Jen Hayley and Scott Tracey swoon over ANNA AND THE FRENCH KISS
  
• LiLa Roecker dies for DESIRES OF THE DEAD with a fabulous giveaway!
  
• Shannon Messenger gushes some cover love for HOURGLASS
  
• Shelli Johannes-Wells is over the moon for ACROSS THE UNIVERSE
  
• Carolina Valdez Miller loves THE LIAR SOCIETY, complete with a signed ARC giveaway!
  
• Shana Silver has fallen for FALL FOR ANYTHING
  
• Kirsten Hubbard is blown away by BLOOD MAGIC
  
• Myra McEntire reveals her amazing cover for HOURGLASS
  
• Jessi Kirby is mesmerized by A BLUE SO DARK
  
• Rosemary Clement-Moore marvels over MATCHED

Things That Make Me Snarf - Guy Gets Murked

This is why you shouldn't put ninjas on reality tv shows like PUNK'D.



Although Big Brother with ninjas would be awesome. Or Survivor. Or Jersey Shore.

Blurbs, Whales, Shotguns, and Perviness (Just another day in Carrieland)

Last night, I asked my book to blurb itself. This makes a lot more sense if you're on Twitter. If not, it will only make sense after you know that I made some offhanded comment that my book should tweet, and it would say things like, "Why does this lady carry me around her house all the time? SOMEONE SEND HELP!!!!" Then I went on a weekend trip to visit family, and when I got home? I found out that my book was tweeting here.

EEEEK.

It was actually pretty awesome, and the anonymous book blogger behind it all is getting a big old thank you from me in the mail. Which, BTW, has been slightly delayed by the untimely demise of Helsing, my van. I am attempting to get him started today so he can go to the garage for a generous application of holy water.

Anyway, that poor blogger probably threw a fit, because then my book tweeted, "I should blurb myself!" And I said, "Yes, you should!" Because wouldn't it be cool if books blurbed themselves? I can just imagine walking past MOBY DICK on the shelf, and hearing its little voice: "It's about WHALES, you perv. Quit giggling."

When you walk past BAD TASTE IN BOYS on the shelf, you can imagine it saying this:

Hilarious, scary, awesome, smart and kind of sexy, I am all of these things. You should read me. *cocks shotgun*

Awesome, huh? *whispers* We're trying to get it into therapy to address some of those pesky violence issues.

In other news, I have another REAL blurb from the uberty-awesome Tom Sniegoski that compares my book to BUFFY. And he should know--he worked on some of the Buffy books! ZOMGSOCOOL. You can read ze blurbs and get all the preorder links HERE.

My Average Week

ACK! I have forgotten to blog! In my defense, there is a LOT going on at Chez Harris this week, much of which is book related. It's funny, because I thought being a professional writer was going to entail a lot of, well, WRITING. But I find myself getting sucked into a hole of Other Stuff. I'm not big on procrastination, but I could still work on my to-do list all week and never write a single word in the WIP if I were so inclined. And the sad part is that I'm not even on the shelves yet!

Think you'd like to write for a living? You can expect your weekdays to look something like this:

• Attempt to squeeze in work on the WIP at some point every day.
  
• Emails! An hour a day, every day. Gotta keep up with fans, bloggers, interview requests, fellow writers, and publishing in general.
  
• Marketing type stuff. It's impossible to do it all, so you just pick something you do well and go with it. Like I do a lot of blogging (sometimes LATE) and tweeting. I do a few Skype visits, but it's not my biggest thing. And I do something marketing related every day.
  
• Interviews! If you choose to do them, expect to take two or three hours to answer those questions. No one wants to read the same answers cut and pasted over and over. It might take only five minutes to read those things, but I guarantee that the author slaved over those answers. This helps to explain why I still have interview requests from November-ish that I haven't answered. Sorry about that!
  
• Fun mini projects. I'm starting to gear up for the launch. Yes, six months in advance. Those big events take a lot of planning, you know--and I'm a big event kind of person. So this week, I'll be doing things like renting a school hallway, and creating an audition request for actors, and going to the yarn store, and drafting some web copy. All a part of some fun launch related things I've got lined up, although admittedly the to-do list part isn't particularly fun.
  
• Critiques. If you decide to trade manuscripts with someone for feedback, and I really recommend it, you've got to return fire. That means reading, thinking about, and replying to their manuscripts as well as reading, thinking about, and replying to their feedback. It takes a lot of time, but it's worth it!
  
• READING! Some writers skip this, but to me it's a part of the job. I read a little every day. Some books I pick up for pleasure, and some are sent to me by people I know. It makes me a better writer, and it helps me remember what I love about writing. Sometimes that feeling can get lost in the neverending to-do list.
  
• Take your kids to school and try to figure out what's wrong with the car battery. WAIT. That's just me. And something tells me I ought to get on that right now.

Reading over that list, I'm a little exhausted. I'll admit that. But I still wouldn't trade this profession for any other. I GET PAID FOR MAKING UP STORIES ABOUT ZOMBIES. How cool is that?

Oh, and I get to write off my trip to the roller derby this weekend. SNARF.

Back in the Drafting Saddle and Wishing for Roller Skates

This week, I started back to work on what I hope will be my third book to hit the shelves. I've been away from it for a while; I did about six million edits on BAD TASTE IN BOYS (but now I'm DONE!) and wrote a couple of chapters of a just-for-fun project. It's not funny. At ALL. During the process, I discovered that it is indeed possible for me to rein in my inner smartass, but she doesn't like me for it.

Anyway, now I'm back to drafting the new book, and I had a few Ideas of Brilliance on how to change things. So I've been walking around the house with half my brain whirling around the plot and the characters. I may have been muttering to myself. I definitely have been wishing that the snow would melt and a pair of size 5 1/2 roller skates would fall from the sky.

In other news, ARCs of BTIB have been spotted out in the wild! Did you score one?