A Time for Vampires

The 50s are known for Rock-around-the-Clock. The 60s for the Beatles and hippies, the 70s for bell-bottoms and The Brady Bunch, the 80s for big hair, the 90s for rap and George Clooney, but what will the first decade of the new millinium be known for?
I pose this: Reality TV, Uggs, Expensive Coffee, LOL and Vampires.
Each of these warrant meaty analysis, but since Halloween (the BEST holiday of the year) is days away, let's talk about Fangers.
Bram Stoker wrote Dracula in 1987, and while he didn't invent the notion of Vampires (we have multi-cultured folklore to thank for that), he did give us a vampire character with Count Dracul. Since Stoker, vampires have been part of stories, movies and TV. They've been scary, funny, and sexy. Not only has each subsequent writer taken the rules of vampire magic and added a bit, they've continued to main-stream the creatures. Today's Blood Suckers intergrate vampires into society. They're in high school, at our restaurants, even dating the living.
To take things to the next level, authors have invited Shapeshifters ("Shifters")to the scene more often. Who knows, maybe a Shifter will be the Clooney of the 2010s.

Was Stoker a genius? Was he before his time? Who knows, but it's a pretty awesome power for an author. The power to create something so fantastic that it lives on for over 110 years.

Kudos, Bram.

Devil's Kiss

You've probably heard the buzz about Sarwat Chadda's Devil's Kiss, which I am currently in the middle of and loving. Sarwat is a Greenhouse Literary Sibling, and pretty much a rock star at the moment as he's been touring and interviewing about this new release.
Here's the 411:
Billi SanGreal is the first girl in the Knights Templar, and the most kick ass weapon-wielding heroine around. At fifteen, her life is a rigorous and brutal round of weapons practice, demon killing and occult lore – and a whole lot of bruises. But then, she didn’t have much choice. Her father, the Templar Master, forced her to take this path. There is no sacrifice Arthur will not make in his war against the Unholy. But Billi hates the Order, and she hates him too. Tempted by a chance to live a different kind of life and reject everything her father wants her to be, she learns to her horror that she may unwittingly have brought down the Tenth Plague upon humanity – the death of all first born. Faced with choosing her destiny, she must make sacrifices greater than she could have imagined.
The trailer:
And, BOOKS have trailers now. Here it is: www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWWuTslNfYI

Some things I say to myself:

As my own best friend, I tell myself things. Recently, I've noticed that I'm saying some things (to myself) alot.

1. That guy/chick should get pulled over for driving like that.
2. You've gotta be KIDDING me...
3. That's one weird dude.
4. It is what it is.
5. No. Freakin. Way.
6. I'll let it cook and think about it later.
7. Verrrry interrresting....
8. THAT could be a great character.
9. I've gotta write that down. (Then, I don't and I forget what it was.)
10. I should make a list...

So, I Want a Title,...For Me, Not a Book

Not for a book...in front of my name. Somewhere in history there was a need to specify marital status, and/or profession (tweaked for gender) upon first mention of a name. So, society developed Mr, Miss, Mrs, Ms, Dr, Counselor, Majesty, and Your Honor.
These tags are not only efficient, but are also an excellent means to brand oneself. However, in modern times, we're more casual, and often don't use titles. You could even argue that they are passe. But, it still has a certain je ne said quoi. And I want one.
It's not like I don't have any. I've got "Mrs", "Coach", and my personal favorite "Mom", which is truly the best title of all. But these don't capture everything about me...all my "kwon" (if you can name the movie that made "kwon" a household term, you rock!).
Here's the short list of things about me that I want my title to capture: I'm also a pet parent, writer, business professional, caring daughter, sister, awesome friend, life coach (to messed up friends and coworkers), master organizer, deep thinker, avid reader, cool dresser, great listener, secret keeper, blanket maker, creative consultant, multi-tasker, chief problem solver, career consultant, and finder of anything lost (or not lost, but responder to someone who yells..."Where's the...", but that peeve is for another day).

I'm thinking Exalted Artisan or "Exhaltisan" (abbreviated Extn.)

Extn. Cindy Callaghan
Cindy Callaghan, Exhaltisan
Callaghan, Self-Proclaimed Exhaltisan

I need to sleep on this for a few days.

The Book That Changed Me

Michael Connelly's THE POET is, undoubtedly, the book (maybe I should say, the first book) that changed the way I feel about reading and writing; and thus, changed a lot in my life.
I can't continue until I make a confession. Librarians and teachers aren't going to like this. But here it is: Unlike most readers and writers, I didn't have a childhood filled with the love of books. Actually, I didn't read a book for enjoyment until I was about twenty-six years old. Seriously, I never read Judy Blume or Trixie Beldin (my BFF Chris read those) or Nancy Drew...none. But, (and this is a big BUT) I always wrote stories, and poems, even plays.
As an undergraduate English major, and French literature minor, and I read only what I absolutely HAD to, which familiarized me with a vast array of fancy writers and poets. I did well in a Shakespeare class. I loved studying Shakespeare...I did not, however, enjoy reading Shakespeare, (I opted to watch the BBC movie version whenever possible) or Chaucer or Thoreau. Yet, I admire, like and respect those works.

This is all kind of messed up, huh? Here's where the story changes.

At about 26 years old I had my own apartment, as in 'no roommates.' And I was finishing my MBA, and I did a lot of text book readings, as well as trade magazines, newspapers, and stuff like The Economist. But, not for enjoyment.
One day, I can't remember the circumstances, I find myself in Borders flipping book jackets. There is a new release called THE POET. The cover looks good. Never heard of the author, but I'd never heard of any main stream authors.
I bought it, and read it...the WHOLE book...cover to cover. I loved it so much that I went back, and spent my precious waitressing dollars on everything else written by that author, and I built a relationship with his main character, Detective Harry Bosche, and followed him from case to case. I quickly branched into The Firm (Grisham), Disclosure (Crichton), The Body Farm (Cornwell), Orchid Beach (Woods). I loved them too. So the mountain on my nightstand grew with every book those authors ever wrote. I became a real mystery lover...still am, but I like to think I've diversified. I read and/or listen to twenty-thirty books per year. And the more I read, the more my left brain re-awakened and wanted to write again. As you know, in the last six years I've written three and a half novels. KELLY QUINN'S SECRET COOKING CLUB (due out from Aladdin next fall) is the first middle-grade project. One of my many objectives with KELLY is to draw kids in and keep them turning because I don't want them to miss out on twenty-six years of reading.

It all comes back to Connelly's THE POET. It convinced me that I could enjoy reading a book.

The Boy Who Fell Down Exit 43

Why does the UK get all the coolest stuff first?? Check out the latest:
The Boy Who Fell Down Exit 43
By, Harriet Goodman.
The 411 from Amazon:
"For a millionth of a second the car grazed the drenched moorland. If it had come down on any other patch of ground Finn would simply have been another statistic. Death by dangerous driving. But the car hit the surface of the Earth at Exit 43. It slid through the membrane like a hot knife through butter, plunging into the darkness and catapulting Finn from its shattered windscreen as it fell. Finn Oliver knows he'll never come to terms with his father's death, but joy-riding over the moors in his mum's beat-up old car is a quick fix of freedom and forgetting. Until the accident happens - and Finn finds himself hurtling through the wafer-thin divide between the worlds of the living and the dead. Adventurous, charming and poignant by turns, "The Boy Who Fell Down Exit 43" is a quirky debut novel laced with humour and a dollop of magic."

Harriet and I are agent-siblings. That means we have the same awesome agent, Sarah Davies. I wish Harriet all the best with her debut novel.

Have you looked out the window?

Have you looked out the window?
Rain is coming down in slanted sheets. The sky is jam-packed with bleak clouds, angry and bloated. It’s dark enough to feel like dusk, a time of day when I'm usually pooped. But, since it’s only 7 am, I’m awake and my creative energy is fresh. A parade of muses dance around my head, clockwise. The white noise of a bazillion drops hammering on the roof sharpens my focus. What am I getting at? Simply put, it’s a PERFECT day to write. More specifically, it’s a PERFECT day to write spooky, Gothic, melodramatic scenes. I can’t think about anything else.

The Obligatory Back2School Post..and SOCCER!

Has anyone noticed that Back to School is creeping earlier and earlier?? For crying out loud, camp hasn't even officially ended.
The bitterness of back to school is: matching socks, tucking shirts, forms, writing checks, forms, homework, forms, etc...
But, the sweet, sweet smell of CLEATS balances everything out!
Once again I'm coaching the JV Bulldogs, *the* awesomest co-ed soccer team.
What's the big whoop? The sound of cleats on pavement, the look of concentration as a player tries to increase their juggling by just one, the feel of the leather ball in your hands for a throw-in, and even the sweaty smell of shared goalie shirts and pinnies...totally yuck, and totally wonderful. (Of course my teams gets them freshly out of my dryer each week.)
Yelling at these kids is totally acceptable, even expected, and I'm a yeller: "Hustle", "pass", "clear it", "head it" and "SHOOOOOT!". But mostly, I love playing the game with them. And it always amazes me how they get better every week.
Am I reliving my youth? Nope, I'm waaaaayy too young to be reliving anything. so, I'm just living it....living the dream of fall school soccer...

Go Bulldogs!

My reading list - So many books, so little time.

I have a love/hate relationship with the book store. I love snooping and seeing the latest and greatest. I also love perusing the shelves of classics and thinking,
Read that - loved it
Read that - hated it
I was supposed to read that for some class and watched the movie instead.
It's kind of like visiting old friends, and makes me feel warm and cozy inside. I can spend hours in Borders or Barnes and Noble.

But, then it starts. You see, I'm a list-maker, and I can't rest until everything on my list is crossed off. And by the time I left my most recent quickie-trip to Borders, I'd made a new list of books I simply must read:

The Lost Symbol, Dan Brown - Let's face it DaVinci Code and Angels and Demons were awesome before Tom Hanks starred in the movies, which were also awesome.

Smash Cut, Sandra Brown - Sandra Brown's last book, Ricochet, I just couldn't put down.

The Alchemist, Paulo Coeho - Never heard or it, never heard of the author, but oh, that cover...it just called to me.

Being Nikki, Meg Cabbot - I admire what Meg Cabbot has done for YA fiction, and I want to get my hands on her latest.

The Mysterious Benedict Society, Trenton Lee Stewart - I'm not recalling the cover, but that title...can't stay away from it.

A host of books by LJ Smith - These are YA vampire books. I'm not ashamed to admit I'm caught up in the vampire craze. Actually, I was a fan before it was cool. I remember the occassional afternoon black and white vampire movie from my childhood...oh, the chills.

The Coffin Club (and others,) Ellen Schrieber - Same comment as above....Come on, give me a goose bump.

Skinned, Robin Wasserman - Again, good cover.

Tantalize, Cynthia Leicht Smith - I read Eternal not too long ago, and wrote about it in this blog. It was great and I hope Tantalize is more of the same.

And this list doesn't include the newest installments from some of my favorite authors: John Grisham, Michael Connely, Patricia Cornwell, James Patterson (he writes so fast, I can't keep up.), Joseph Finder, Steve Martini, Lisa Scottoline and many more.

There isn't enough time to keep up on all the reading I have to do (like business stuff for work), YA stuff (like the kind of stuff I'm currently writing), and adult suspence mystery (like I've also written, and stuff I love reading).

Maybe I'll just stay out of the book store so I don't get myself all stressed out with another list.

KELLY QUINN is getting a face lift

I've received the much anticipated comments from my editor from Aladdin (Simon and Schuster's Children's Publishing Division), and not surprisingly, I'll be making more changes to KELLY QUINN'S SECRET COOKING CLUB.
Recently, I've taken a break from KELLY to work on another project which isn't baked enough to tell you about. I'll just say that it's for an older audience than KELLY and takes place at a summer camp in the Poconos...that's it, I'm not saying anything else. And believe me, it's killing me because I'm excited about it. But, now I'm going to separate from the new project to attend to the KELLY comments. Some are quick fixes, while others are more significant and will take some time to figure out and rewrite.
I have a love/hate relationship with revising. Often being told you need to make changes to a project over which you've toiled for a very long time doesn't feel so good, although I have to say that I have an OUTSTANDING support network which makes this as painless as possible:
The WIPs: This is my very special critique group, the Works in Progress, that I'll talk about in more detail in another entry. They're feedback and ideas are always enlightening, and always gentle.
My agent: I'll admit that the first time Sarah told me to consider my manuscript a draft (after over a year of revising), I wasn't thrilled. But she was very specific with her guidance regarding what was needed for the plot to "work." She too was kind and gentle...and right, apparently because it caught the attention of the wonderful Alyson Heller.
Enter my new editor: Now a fresh set of eyes reviewed the piece from a slightly different perspective. Among other things, Alyson wants to ensure the commercial fit with Aladdin Mix. She knows the Mix audience well and wants to give them what they've come to expect from the imprint. When I didn't think there could be any room for improvement, Alyson has found the cracks that need mending.
So, it is with this newest set of insight that I'm determined to make KELLY even stronger. Working through edits can be time consuming, and tedious. BUT, it's also rewarding when you look at a chunk of pages and think, "By Golly, it's even better!"

Introducing The Sweet Life of Stella Madison and PARTY

Party info first: Reading/QA/Signing by YA author and fellow Delawarian Lara Zeises

Saturday, August 8th 2:00-3:30

Borders Books and Music by (not "in") Christiana Mall

This book is by an amazing local author (and friend, and writing coach Lara Zeises). You can't miss it. It's a MUST read this summer. Lara leads and amazing and mysterious life doubling as Lola Douglas, the genius behind Confessions of a Hollywood Starlet and More Confessions of a Hollywood Starlet, the former was a Lifetime TV movie last year starring JoJo and Valerie Bertinelli.

Here's a fab review of STELLA from Kirkus:
Seventeen-year-old Stella has multiple problems in this breezy adolescent dilemma story. She’s almost at the “I love you” stage with her boyfriend, Max, a sweetie, but she’s shamefully attracted to her mom’s new intern, Jeremy, a hottie. Zeises doesn’t just depend on teenage romance for the plot’s fizz, though; she introduces additional difficulties for her struggling heroine. Stella has the misfortune of being the only daughter of a famous French chef, and her mom’s also a “foodie,” running an upscale restaurant that features cooking demonstrations from a different chef each week. Stella rebels against gourmet food but lands a good summer job as a restaurant critic and has to depend on Jeremy, with awkward consequences, for advice. The author keeps the narrative moving along at a good clip with some well-developed, recognizable characters. The story never descends too deeply into actual angst but floats along merrily on the surface. That’s fine for this genre and makes this effort one that will appeal widely among teen girls. Good, chatty fun. (Fiction. YA)

Beach Reading: BLISS

Lauren Myracle is a hot YA author, and with good reason. She has the magical combo nailed: Great/hot topics, strong characters, and solid writing (to me that means that it moves fast with just enough, not too much, description). She she's on a roll.

BLISS is her latest. It's a YA book, but very appealing to adults. For one reason, it takes place in the early seventies, which is before my time, but I understand many of her references because they were part of my childhood. I'm uncertain how today's teens feel about being transported back in time when cellphones, text messages and iTunes didn't exist, when these components are essential to their very being.

As you can see from this cover, which I love, BLISS is a bloody book without being pure horror....I would call it Supernatural Suspense. (I made that up.)

Bliss is the child of hippie parents and most recently lived in a commune. She is uprooted when her parents flee to Canada to avoid Nixon’s policies during the Vietnam War, and she's left with her wealthy grandmother in recently-integrated Atlanta. (Note for teens: The notion that there was a time when peeople WEREN'T integrated is an important thing to understand.)

Quickly, Bliss needs to understand bras, hygiene, make-up, the KKK and the social structure of her prep school where the students are obsessed with the Manson trial and where Bliss is haunted by an evil voice.

The story is interspersed with diary entries, which allows the reader know more than the first-person narrator. There are also snippets of quotes from news and TV which I find confusing.

This is not G-rated. I recommend it for the PG/PG-13 teems and adults due to the horror which, at times, is gruesome.

Geek is the new Black

I was speaking to a totally cool, pretty, trendy woman at work the other day. She blushed when she professed that she is actually a geek. In fact, I'm pretty much surrounded by geeks. It seems Geek is the new Cool, and this is a very good thing, I think. When I was a kid Geeks were outcasts. Now, the non-geeks are working for the then-geeks. The then-geeks paid a high price of unpopularity, ridicule and awkwardness...(If you're a kid and you don't know what I'm talking about, add Revenge of the Nerds to your Netflix list). They are probably spending (or have spent) big bucks on therapy from a crappy childhood, but they can afford it, right? I wonder if they think their current socio-economic status was worth the price.

So, how did this wonderful transformation of Geek being Cool occur? There are probably many factors, but I think the media may be thanked. Let's take Zoey 101. They still have the quintessential nerd in Quinn (and her awesome Quinventions), but she is in the "in crowd". Even Zoey, the most popular and beautiful girl in school is super smart. This is a great role model for today's youth. (Of course, then Jamie Lynn got pregnant at seventeen.....go figure.) We also have Hermione Granger, Hannah Montana and iCarly who are all booky, totally cool and haven't conceived children. (And I really hope they don't any time soon.)

Yet still, other shows like Drake and Josh reinforce the old stereotypes. Drake is cool, popular with the girls, but a poor student, while Josh is the opposite. Zack and Cody fall into this pattern too. However, both Josh and Cody have grown cooler with age despite their geek handicap. Whatever the reason for this transformation, I'm glad. I think Geek should be cool, good grades rewarded, extra curricular activities applauded, science made sexy, and computer skills appreciated because these are solid building blocks for the future success.

(Becky, as one of my coolest and geekiest friends, I expect you'll comment.)

Beach Reading...Review of: IN THE CARDS: LOVE

As my summer of reading Aladdin Mix books continues, I've recently finished IN THE CARDS: LOVE By Mariah Fredericks. It's hard for me to read a book without also having KELLY QUINN on my mind. That is particularly true of IN THE CARDS because there are similarities. IN THE CARDS has three girls who inherit a deck of mysterious tarot cards. KELLY QUINN'S SECRET COOKING CLUB also has three girls who find a secret and mysterious book. Both stories have a similar magical smell.

IN THE CARDS: LOVE is the first of three books that explores middle-grader life, and all its friend-stuff. Anna, the narrator, is left a set of tarot cards by an elderly woman for whom she cat-sat, but who is now dead. Anna, a self-proclaimed 'nobody', has a crush on hottie Declan. The cards indicate Anna will get the boy, but she's disappointed to learn that Declan was seen kissing the popular girl at a Halloween party. That romance doesn't last long, because as the cards predicted, Declan soon chooses Anna instead. Anna's ego balloons and soon she blows off her buddies to spend more time with her now boyfriend...who turns out to be less awesome than she'd originally thought. There are all sorts of middle-grade emotions: jealousy, pettiness and self-consciousness run amok depicted in this book.

The recommendation: It's a good read filled with good characters, cool cats and interesting tarot tid-bits. This book delves into boyfriend-girlfriend relationships more than the other Aladdin Mix books I've read. It's still G, but might be for the older middle-graders ie: 11, 12, 13 even 14.

What are YOU reading on the beach??

Playground Politics

The 4th of July is over, but I'm not done with my political poop just yet. I have a question for Kelly Quinn and her friends to consider: Let's pretend there's a strong, popular kid who everyone likes and admires. Then, there's a big, mean kid who is a real bully. Lastly, there's the small kid that the bully picks on. I hope this scene sounds familiar.

Here's my question: Should the popular kid help the small kid?
The popular kid has the ability to get the bully to lay-off. But, it's not like he's related to the small kid, or obligated in some way. The popular kid could see the bully kid beating up the small kid and walk by while the small kid gets his brain crushed.

I mean, the popular kid has lots of other stuff to do: football, homework, volunteer activities, chores, parties, family stuff etc... no shortage of cool stuff. And if he helps this one small kid, what if all the other small kids being bullied want his help? What if he's helping some small kid and then his cousin or brother gets bullied and needs his help, but he can't help his brother because he's protecting a bunch of other kids? You see the dilemna...

So, I'll ask my question another way: Just because the popular kid can help the small kid, should he help the small kid?