Really. They do. Although I must admit that sometimes I have a hard time picking the right book for the right person. This year I took a Salvation Army ticket — you agree to buy the presents on the ticket for the child. In my case it was a teenager and she wanted book. I’ll give her a copy of mine, but I wanted to give her a few. So, not knowing anything about her except her other requests (art supplies and a dog or cat), I chose Let It Snow by John Green, Maureen Johnson, and Lauren Myracle. I figured it’s a fun, seasonally-appropriate title. And then since maybe she likes more sci fi type of stuff, I also got her Uglies by Scott Westerfeld. I’ve found that people like this series whether they are die-hard sci fi fans, or never touch the stuff.

I still need to get the art supplies. No dog or cat, though. Sorry, my dear, but I don’t want your parents on my doorstep about that one.

Anyway, if you, too, are planning to give books for gifts, and are planning to shop at Barnes & Noble, then please print out a voucher and take it with you. You can use it at any B&N in the United States, and, if you do, a portion of the sales will go to Seacoast Academy, an independent school in New Hampshire. They will use the money raised for classroom and library books.

If you yourself happen to be in New Hampshire, please drop by the book fair at the Newington Barnes & Noble. It’s this Sunday, December 6th, from 1:00-4:00. I’ll be there signing books, and there will be student performers, and gift-wrapping, and other fun stuff. Hope to see you there!

P.S. If you are planning to buy books — what’s on your gift giving list?

Originally published at Megan Frazer. You can comment here or there.

Lo these many years ago, as a junior in high school, I took a creative writing class. There was a senior in the class named Mikey Merenda and everything he wrote was in iambic pentameter. Everything. He wrote and directed an entire one-act play in iambic pentameter.

He was also a member of the hottest ska band ever to come out of New Hampshire.

Plus he was a hockey star.

Given this range of talents, it’s perhaps not surprising that he’s gone on to craft a career in music for himself. He’s recorded with his band the mammals, solo, and now is touring and recording with his wife Ruthy Ungar. I’ve mentioned Mike before, and how cool I think he is. Ruthy is super cool, too. See for yourself:

I’m always impressed with people who take the risk to make their art their life. Mike & Ruthy tour as a family, and are making it work, and for that as much as their musical talent, I am in awe.

Originally published at Megan Frazer. You can comment here or there.

It’s Debsness time again! This is your penultimate chance to win silly goodies from all of the Debs.

If you are a librarian, don’t forget to enter our contest to win 46 brand new books!

Originally published at Megan Frazer. You can comment here or there.

In Secrets of Truth & Beauty, Dara is a former child pageant star. So, in order to introduce you to the wonderful authors and characters of the 2009 Debutantes, I am hosting a Debs Pageant on my blog. Today we have a boy! I love when boys are in the pageant. His name is Blake, and he’s from L.K. Madigan’s Flash Burnout.

Character name: Blake
Age: 15
Biography: Hi, I’m Blake. I’m in the tenth grade at West Park High. I live with my parents, one shaved-headed jock brother named Garrett, and The Dog Formerly Known as Prince. My best friend is Riley, and my girlfriend is Shannon. She is sweet and funny and hot.

What is your talent?
I am the funniest 15-year-old in Portland, and my wit will be on display tonight!

What will you wear for the evening dress competition?
I know most dudes would go the safe route and wear, you know, slacks and a shirt. But I’m gonna go with a Utili-kilt, which shows off my sexy legs, so I can win this pageant-apalooza!

Who is your escort?
My girl, Shannon.

And now for the interview portion . . . What’s the biggest challenge facing today’s youth?
The biggest challenge facing today’s youth is getting a little private time, you know what I mean? My parents and the horrifying DeWinters (Shannon’s parents) are way too interested in where we’re going, what we’re doing, what time we’re going to be home, etc. Focus on your own lives, olds!

Thank you Blake and L.K.!

If you want to get to know Blake better, get your hands on a copy of Flash Burnout. I recommend indies, and L.K. recommends Annie Bloom’s Books in the other Portland (Oregon, that is). You can, of course, also order it from Amazon. I know you want to know more about L.K. Madigan, so visit her site, too.

And finally, if you want a Utili-kilt like Blake, check out their website. It’s an education.

Originally published at Megan Frazer. You can comment here or there.

I am an unabashed feminist. Many women and girls, for reasons I have never been able to understand, are afraid to identify themselves in this way. I suppose that they have what I would call a misunderstanding of the word. If you are feminist, it does not mean that you think women are better than men, or that men are worthless, or that the world would be better off if women were in charge. It means that you think that everyone, male or female, deserves an equal shot. That the choices we make should in fact be choices and not dictated by our gender.

When you hold a belief so centrally and firmly, it’s bound to reveal itself in your writing. Feminism does make its way into Secrets of Truth & Beauty. Most centrally, I believe that weight bias is a feminist issue. However, sometimes an issue can overtake the writing, as it did in the following deleted scene. While I agree with Dara’s sentiment that feminism does not mean replacing one set of rules for another, in the end, this exchange came off a bit forced. I believed in it philosophically, but creatively, it never quite worked for me. So I cut it out. Only to resurrect it after the break. Enjoy!

(P.S. The town of Hollis was originally called October Grove)

Read the rest of this entry »

Originally published at Megan Frazer. You can comment here or there.

I get totally obsessed with songs. I want to hear them over and over and over again. Eventually I move on to something else, but once I am obsessed with a song, it always brings me joy.

Now here’s the weird part. Often, I am true to my New England roots (that is to say, cheap frugal) and I don’t actually buy the song. It probably stems from being burned one two many times by really loving a song, buying the CD, and realizing that all the other songs are pale imitations of the one I loved. Now that we’ve entered the brave new world of being able to buy just one song for only 99 cents, you’d think my habits would have changed. And I do tend to buy my obsession songs more often; I couldn’t resist “Single Ladies” earlier this year.

But I also love turning on the radio and hearing one of those songs I just love. Since I can’t go and play it when I want, it’s this wonderful happenstance. It’s like an indication that everything is fine, good even.

I am very much obsessed with “Say Hey” by Michael Franti and Spearhead. It makes me want to dance, and I love to dance.

Finally, in keeping with Music Monday, Jordyn and Ten Cent Notes is having a really fun contest for playlists of songs key to 09 Debs’ books. Bet you can guess which one I picked!

Originally published at Megan Frazer. You can comment here or there.

I hope everyone had a good Halloween! Any fun costumes? At the school where I work the faculty did literary characters and I was Harriet the Spy.

Today it’s back to the Debs Pageant, with Jane from Kristina Springer’s debut The Espressologist. What’s the Debs Pageant? In Secrets of Truth & Beauty, Dara is a former child pageant star. So, in order to introduce you to the wonderful authors and characters of the 2009 Debutantes, I am hosting a Debs Pageant on my blog. So here we go with Jane!

Character name: Jane Turner
Age: 17
Biography: I’m a Chicago girl, senior in high school (when I show up), and a barista at a chain coffee shop. I’m not so great with guys but I’m a really good friend!

What is your talent? I’m an Espressologist! I can hook people up based on their favorite coffee drinks.

What will you wear for the evening dress competition? How about I bedazzle my work smock? Could be cute.

Who is your escort? My number one frat boy regular, Will. He’s so dreamy.

And now for the interview portion . . . If you could change one thing about the world, what would it be?
If I could change one thing about the world I would make good coffee affordable for all people. No more would citizens have to drink day old coffee from questionable looking gas stations just because it’s 99 cents for the big gulp size. No more would your average caffeine addict need to get a second mortgage just to afford his six extra shots of espresso in his daily Joe. If I had my way, coffee mugs would be bottomless, syrup would flow freely, and whipped cream or no whipped cream on that would never even be a question– there would ALWAYS be whipped cream. We would all live in harmony, with caffeine buzzes from sun up to sun down.

Thank you Jane and Kristina!

To find out more about Kristina and her book, please visit her website.

You can purchase The Espressologist through Amazon, or visit your local bookstore. Kristina recommends Anderson’s in Naperville, IL. Aprilynne Pike also recommended Anderson’s, so it must be an extra super fantastic Indie.

Originally published at Megan Frazer. You can comment here or there.

Elizabeth Bluemle has a great post in her PW Shelf Talker blog about negative stereotyping of fat characters. It’s a pervasive and unfortunate problem.

There are a lot of books, like mine, which are specifically about overweight characters. Body image and weight may or may not be the primary issue of the book, but the author is clearly thinking about it and, hopefully, approaching it thoughtfully.

But when you look at books where it’s not one of the main issues, authors all too often resort to making the baddies or the butts of jokes be the fatties. So, this made me try to think of books with fat characters who are neither evil nor used, unwillingly, for comic relief.

Hassan from John Green’s An Abundance of Katherine’s comes to mind. He is a funny character, and sometimes uses his weight for humor, but he seems in control. He’s a fully realized character. If I were an overweight teen boy, I wouldn’t feel assaulted by this depiction.

That’s kind of where my list starts and ends. There have to be more, though, right? I’m hoping I just can’t think of any because their weight is such a small part of who they are that they don’t spring to mind. Can anyone think of any other characters that are incidentally fat and not stereotypes?

Originally published at Megan Frazer. You can comment here or there.

Recently I confessed my past a reviewer. While I miss the unexpected delivery of boxes of books, some of the experiences of fellow reviewers make me glad I got out of the business when I did.

When you get a bad review, it makes sense to behave like a Wild Thing, and gnash your terrible teeth. You may rant and moan and complain. You may cry or eat pints of ice cream or otherwise self-medicate. These are all reasonable responses.

Here are some things that are not so reasonable:

1. Posting a point by point rebuttal on the reviewer’s GoodReads page (and Amazon, and Barnes & Noble. . .). Doing so on the commercial sites makes the writer look, in my opinion, petty. Doing so on their personal page is crossing a line.
2. Sending a private message to the reviewer via Facebook explaining why the reviewer was just plain wrong. Again, this would be a big line between professional personal that should not be crossed.
3. Calling the reviewer’s place of work to verify if (s)he is indeed a librarian in their employ. This is when the reviewer starts to get scared.

I have more stories, but the reviewers don’t want to reopen old wounds — or re-attract the attention of the writers. These actions led to the reviewers contacting the editors of their magazines (big magazines!). “Crazy and difficult” is not how I want to be thought of by the journals that can make or break my books.

Originally published at Megan Frazer. You can comment here or there.

I have a post up at my agent’s blog today about the myth of reading up.

Holly Cupala, readergrlz div and author of the upcoming Tell Me a Secret (HarperCollins, 2010) is doing a delicious series on her blog: Book Cooks. My recipe for Goat Cheese Pizza is up today. Carrie Jones has a recipe for truffles, Wendy Toliver has Sad Cake, Liz Gallagher has butterscotchies — the list goes on and on.

Originally published at Megan Frazer. You can comment here or there.

As a writer, reviewers are scary. They read your book and then they proclaim upon its worthiness. Sometimes it feels like a roll of the dice. One review gives you a star, another slams you. In such an atmosphere of uncertainty, it’s easy to think that reviewers are the enemy. If that is the case, then I am the enemy. Or at least I was.

Like many librarians, I have reviewed for a professional journal. I believe I did so with both a librarian’s and a writer’s eye. A book might not appeal to my personal taste, but I tried to think about which of my patrons would like it, and what about the work they would find appealing. I always included these things in my review.

I also thought of what the author was trying to accomplish, and how well they did that. Here is where I may have been particularly tough. I had no patience for lazy writing or shortcuts.

I started reviewing before I sold Secrets of Truth & Beauty, and continued as I worked through the editing process. As I grew closer to my own publication date, I found myself feeling more and more torn. I could imagine what it would feel like to read the words I had written in a negative review.  Though I wanted to spare other writers the pain of reading my perceived faults in their works, I also had a professional obligation to my colleagues as a reviewer and librarian. Librarians rely on reviews not only to choose which books to buy, but also which books to recommend to which students.

I was unable to reconcile my two roles. So, first I decided to stop reviewing nonfiction, and then I decided to stop reviewing all together.

When I started to get my own reviews, I can’t say that my time on the other side made it easier to stomach any negativity. In fact, I have the ability – common to many writers – to pick out even the hint of a criticism in an otherwise positive review. It did help a little to remind myself that my reviewers were people just like me. People who struggled over the reviews, who weighed the few words they were allowed, and tried to be as honest as possible. People, too, with whole histories behind them that would of course influence how they reacted to a particular book. Nothing makes the initial sting less, but this helped with the dull ache that lingered.

Originally published at Megan Frazer. You can comment here or there.

Aaargh! I’m too angry to have a more nuanced response to this: Scholastic Censors Myracle’s ‘Luv Ya Bunches’ from Book Fairs.

Luckily, Myracle herself is more eloquent:

“A child having same-sex parents is not offensive, in my mind, and shouldn’t be ‘cleaned up.’” says Myracle, adding that the book fair subsequently decided not to take on Luv Ya Bunches because they wanted to avoid letters of complaint from parents.

Originally published at Megan Frazer. You can comment here or there.

In Secrets of Truth & Beauty, Dara is a former child pageant star. So, in order to introduce you to the wonderful authors and characters of the 2009 Debutantes, I am hosting a Debs Pageant on my blog. Today we have Roz from Lauren Bjorkman’s debut, My Invented Life.

Name: Roz Peterson aka Chub (That’s my sister’s evil nickname for me. Preferred nickname–Pixie.)
Age:17
Biography: I like attention, except the negative kind I keep getting for some reason. I’m so not new age, but sometimes turn to online ouija to answer life’s little questions.

What is your talent? I was born to be on stage. And this time I’m going to get the lead in the school play, even though there are others who might possibly be more talented than I am. But Shakespeare wrote Rosalind for me. For the pageant, I’ll perform a monologue from As You Like It.

What will you wear for the evening dress competition?
A neo-goth black dress. I have a secret “crush” on someone who’s into neo-goth.

Who is your escort? I hate to limit myself to a single person. My people will get back to you on that.

And now for the interview portion . . .

What’s the biggest challenge facing today’s youth?
I believe that it’s figuring out who you are, and daring to be that person, in a world with so many competing expectations (parental, societal, and peer).

What color best represents you and why?
Pink because I’m cheerful, naive, and generally nice to people. But I’m not fond of all things pink-e.g. the frilly frou frou stuff. I never owned a Barbie doll. I wanted a pink tutu to go with my black leotard when I was five, though.

If you could change one thing about the world, what would it be?
In my ideal world, we would accept each other in all our glorious diversity. Oh, can I delete greed and the hunger for power, too? I think this would end war, and let us focus on the important things.

Thank you Roz and Lauren!

If you want to learn more about Lauren and My Invented Life, please visit her website.

You can order My Invented Life from Amazon. You can also get it from a local indie. Here’s a recommendation from Lauren:

My small town of Taos, NM has a wonderful Indie bookstore called Moby Dickens. If you ever come here, be sure to drop by.

Originally published at Megan Frazer. You can comment here or there.

Oh, Glee, how I love you.

I love that there is a show in which characters break into song to express their emotions, much like I would like to do on a daily basis.

I love that your characters are all stereotypes pushed beyond the breaking point, each with nugget of something pure within them.

I love that I get to watch Jane Lynch every week.

I love that you brought on Kristin Chenoweth as a guest star.

I love that you handled Kurt’s coming out so sensitively that I cried when he told Mercedes that he was gay.

I am less enthralled with your depiction of women in their thirties as overbearing and/or desperate for marriage/babies.

But I do love that you seem to also love eighties music.

I love that even though everyone has satirized “Single Ladies”, yours was so funny I laughed so hard I couldn’t sit up straight.

Yes, Glee, you have my heart!

P.S. Saundra Mitchell is inviting people to trick or treat on her blog. You can win awesome books. Authors and others have been stopping in all month with their true ghost stories. Head over today to read mine.

Originally published at Megan Frazer. You can comment here or there.

I can remember the exact moment I fell in literary love with Rick Moody.

It was 2001 and, thanks to a friend, I had tickets to see Tobias Wolff read at The New Yorker festival. Wolff, who wrote one of my favorite memoirs, This Boy’s Life, was reading with an author I had heard of but never read.

The reading was in a windowless club, and I sat in the back toward the bar. I believe that Wolff read first, and it was wonderful. Then this man with a mop of floppy hair stepped up to the microphone and the most amazing short story I have ever heard: “Boys.” As his voice sang the words, gooseflesh blossomed on my skin. It’s a lyrical story of two brothers and how they grow together and apart. You can find it in his Demonology collection.

After that night, I read the rest of the stories in his collection. I read his novels. When it came out, I read his memoir, The Black Veil, (and delighted over the places where our lives intersected). I often end up reading passages two or three times. His use of language is so beautiful and masterful that sometimes I wouldn’t catch the meaning at all because I was so immersed in the prose. He stacks words on top of each other so that they are perfect not only for their meaning but also their sound and the cumulative effect.

He’s an author I can’t read while I’m writing a first draft, because instead of my own voice I create pale echoes of his. It’s a summer read, a vacation read, not because it’s light, but because I need to the time to revel in the writing. Yet as I read, I am always a bit sad: If only I could write like this. If only.

Originally published at Megan Frazer. You can comment here or there.

In Secrets of Truth & Beauty, Dara is a former child pageant star. So, in order to introduce you to the wonderful authors and characters of the 2009 Debutantes, I am hosting a Debs Pageant on my blog. Today we get to meet up with an author who’s already had a character in the pageant: Sydney Salter. That’s because she has two books out in her debut year! Today we present Kat from Jungle Fever.

Character name: Kat
Age: 13
Biography:
Some people think I might worry too much–but they have no idea what missing Fiona’s mini-camp means. Our family vacation to Mexico is going to make me a social reject when I start 8th grade. But does Mom care? No!

What is your talent?
I can draw pretty well, but I keep those secret in my notebook.

What will you wear for the evening dress competition?
Anything but the stupid watermelon sundress my mom bought at the hotel gift shop! Does she think I’m nine?

Who is your escort?
I’d like to take Nando–he’s so smart, and nice (once you get to know him), plus he is kind of cute.

And now for the interview portion . . . If you could change one thing about the world, what would it be?
That prejudice would end. No matter what color you are, or what country you live in, we’re all humans! And that makes us a whole lot more alike than different.

Thank you Kat and Sydney!

If you want to find out more about Sydney, Jungle Fever or her YA My Big Nose and Other Natural Disasters, please visit her website. You can order Jungle Crossing from Amazon or get it from your local bookstore.

Originally published at Megan Frazer. You can comment here or there.

Here are some simple steps to get your book into local libraries.

1. Make up a fake name for yourself.
2. Send an email to libraries asking them to order your book for you (under your made up name, of course).
3. When the librarian politely replies to your email and says that you don’t seem to be one of their patrons, and asks for basic information like your address or if you want to sign up for a library card, blithely ignore them and instead reply that you will see them that weekend to pick up the books.

Okay, hopefully you have realized that this is actually a terrible idea. Evidently, though, some writers are trying this. Aside from it being deceitful and stupid, librarians talk to each other. So not only have you annoyed the ones you’ve contacted, you’ve also damaged the reputation of your book through out the library world. Don’t. Do. It.

Originally published at Megan Frazer. You can comment here or there.

It feels like it’s been forever since we’ve had a Deb’s Pageant Contestant.

In Secrets of Truth & Beauty, Dara is a former child pageant star. So, in order to introduce you to the wonderful authors and characters of the 2009 Debutantes, I am hosting a Debs Pageant on my blog. Today we have Gianna Z. from Kate Messner.

Character name: Gianna Zales
Age: 12
Biography: I was born in Vermont, and I’m in 7th grade at Ethan Allen Middle School. I run cross country and will be competing in sectionals this year, IF I can get my dumb leaf project done on time.

My parents run a mortuary out of the house, and Nonna lives with the us. She bakes her famous “funeral cookies” for all the calling hours downstairs. My little brother Ian tortures me with riddles. Thank goodness for my best friend Zig, or I’d be lost!

What is your talent?
I’m great at two things — running and art. My philosophy with both is that you can’t do it right without getting dirty.

What will you wear for the evening dress competition?
Evening dress? I don’t want to do that part. Do I have to do that part? If you make me do it, I’ll just wear jeans and one of my Picasso T-shirts…

Who is your escort?
Zig. But he’s not dressing up either.

And now for the interview portion:
What’s the biggest challenge facing today’s youth?
School leaf collection projects. If I’m named Miss America or whatever, I’m going to make sure school leaf collection projects are banned.

What color best represents you and why?
Really, really bright red and orange, all blended together. Because I have a lot of energy and ideas that get smushed together sometimes, too.

If you could change one thing about the world, what would it be?
I told you…I’d get rid of those leaf collection projects. No, wait… anything? I think I’d try to turn back time, or maybe freeze it until Zig could grow up with his genius brain and come up with a cure for what’s wrong with Nonna’s memory. I want the old Nonna back.

If I could change TWO things, the leaf collection ban would for sure be next, though.

Thank you Gianna and Kate!

Gianna seems adorable, don’t you think? Although I get the impression that she might not like that description.

To find out more about Kate and Gianna, please visit Kate’s website. If you want to get a copy, you can order it from the Flying Pig Bookstore, Kate’s favorite local bookstore. They’ll even ship it to you.

Originally published at Megan Frazer. You can comment here or there.

Also, Secrets of Truth & Beauty is going to be published in Germany!

Also, I am on Cynsations today!

Originally published at Megan Frazer. You can comment here or there.

I was at the Bar Harbor Book Festival this weekend (more on that later!), and so didn’t have time to write a longer blog post. I wanted to share two quick things I heard on the radio on my drive in to work this morning.

First Weezer’s new song “(If You’re Asking if I Want You To) I Want You To” is so good! I can’t find a legal video, so no linkage, but trust me, it is good. The DJ mentioned that Rainn Wilson (from The Office) interviewed Rivers Cuomo on his webiste, SoulPancake. I haven’t had a chance to watch the interview yet, but it’s on my to do list. And you can watch them singing Joan Osborne’s “One of Us”, which is quite good (even if it takes a little while to get going).

Second, one of the local stations interviewed Adam Lambert, and they talked about him being gay without ever using the word gay — or any synonym. It was odd. They asked him some pretty awkward questions, but he responded with grace and enthusiasm.

Originally published at Megan Frazer. You can comment here or there.