I think I've finally got my life more or less back to normal -- just in time to go abnormal all over again. However, I believe I have my agenda for the trip planned out. I just have a few errands to run in preparation, and I need to find a new pair of shoes. My good "fashion" sneakers -- in other words, not big, white running shoes -- have pretty much died. It was one thing when the suede on the outside frayed, but when the holes in the lining at the heel appeared, I knew it was over because that rubs blisters. These were the shoes I bought to celebrate finishing the first draft of Enchanted, Inc., so I suppose they've lived a long, full life. Unfortunately, I can't seem to find anything quite like them to replace them.

I do have one last bit of business that got shoved aside in all the uproar of last week. I'm late on hosting a Girlfriends Cyber Circuit tour. So, without further ado, here's the scoop on The Lost Sister by Megan Kelley Hall. It's the follow-up to the book Sisters of Misery.

Maddie Crane is grappling with the disappearance of Cordelia LeClaire, and trying to escape the grasp of The Sisters of Misery—an insidious clique of the school’s most powerful girls, whose pranks have set off a chain of horrific events, and who have Maddie in their sights…

Now in a prestigious boarding school far away from her mysterious hometown of Hawthorne, Massachusetts , Maddie feels free from danger. But when an unmarked envelope arrives at her dorm containing a single ominous tarot card, Maddie realizes with terror that some secrets won’t stay buried. Knowing she must return to Hawthorne—a town still scarred by the evil of the Salem witch trials—Maddie prepares to face the fears of her past...and the wrath of the sister she wronged.



And now the interview:
Was there any particular inspiration behind this story?
The Lost Sister picks up where Sisters of Misery left off. It shows what happens when someone is pushed too far and when hazing pranks go wrong. It’s a continuation of Sisters of Misery, in that it’s a modern-day retelling of the Salem Witch hunts. It has a sort of fairytale-esque Gothic appeal and it will keep you up at night due the spooky, supernatural events that take place.

What, if anything, do you have in common with your main character?
I grew up in a town similar to Hawthorne on Boston's North Shore. Everyone from my town who has read SISTERS OF MISERY is convinced that Hawthorne is Marblehead, MA, but it's really not. I took a bunch of towns on the North Shore of Boston and smushed them all together to create Hawthorne.

When I was growing up, I was a lot closer to Maddie in terms of personality than Cordelia. I tried to avoid conflict. I watched fights going on around me, but never really wanted to get involved.

Now, I'm the first person to stand up for someone or something when I think it's wrong or unfair. I'm definitely closer to Cordelia's philosophy of life. Anyone who knows me well will tell you that. I don't hold back. After going through many life altering experiences (premature baby, open heart surgery, strokes, losing partial vision) I've learned that life is precious and NO ONE should have to put up with taking crap from ANYONE. We're only given one life--one chance--so you'd better make the best of it and not let anyone or anything stand in your way.

The clique in your books takes the concept of mean girls to a whole new level. When you were in school, would you have been more likely to be one of the Sisters or one of their victims?
I probably would have been watching in horror on the sidelines (actually, that's what I was doing. Watching all these mean things take place and taking mental notes for the book I would write in the future.) I've never actually witnessed severe physical brutality (although I did play in a field hockey game where one girl bit off the earlobe of another girl -- no lie!), but the psychological and emotional tormenting happens more than most people would like to believe.

Which book (or movie or TV show) has left you wanting to keep the lights on all night after reading (or watching) it?
Wow, there aren't many, because I'm a huge fan of scary movies and books. I hate slasher flicks. I'm definitely more of a psychological thriller fan. The Shining has always freaked me out. The Strangers with Scott Speedman and Liv Tyler REALLY freaked me out. Just picturing that guy standing in the background while Liv Tyler waits for Scott Speedman to return gives me the chills. The Blair Witch Project gave me nightmares the first time I saw it. And I simply CANNOT watch or read anything about aliens. I think that might have to do with watching Close Encounters of the Third Kind at a very young age.

What has been your favorite summer vacation ever?
I spent three weeks on the French Riviera, which was totally wasted on a 13 year old, because I was pining away for a lifeguard back home, who clearly had no interest in me. (I still get flutters in my stomach when I hear his name – shhh, don’t tell my husband.). On that trip we visited a medieval town called St. Paul de Vence. We kept running into Tom Hanks and his new bride Rita Wilson. Since the town keeps wrapping around, we kept passing him until the third or so pass, he waved to us and said “Oh, my old friends.” Of course we had to have a picture taken with him.

What are you working on now?
I just finished my third YA novel. It's not a continuation of the SISTERS OF MISERY series (although, I'd love to continue that at some point. Maddie, Cordelia, Finn and I needed a little break from each other.) It's another suspense thriller that is currently being shopped around by my agent and will hopefully be coming to a bookstore near you in the future!

Is there anything else you'd like to say about this book or the process of writing it?
Hmmm... well, I'd like to say that this is my first blog post that I haven't mentioned my unwavering love for Johnny Depp. Whoops...too late. Can't say that anymore. :)

But, seriously, I wrote these books because of the growing trend of bullying. It's absolutely frightening.
THE LOST SISTER and SISTERS OF MISERY are about mean girls, bullying and hazing. Today, almost 6,000,000 kids, nearly 30% of all children, are either bullied or are doing the bullying in this country. Now, for the first time, the American Academy of Pediatrics is stepping in with recommendations and tips to help all involved. There are several current news stories about the subject: the hazing at Miss Porter’s, cyberbullying and a recent study out of the University of Maine stating that 50% of college students admit to enduring some form of hazing in high school.

This type of bullying and hazing is totally unacceptable and frighteningly common, which is why I highlighted it in my books. I'd love to talk to teens about the issues surrounding bullying, because the repercussions are far-reaching and serious. No one should be treated poorly. No one should be made to feel bad about themselves. And sometimes, the worst type of bullying happens among "friends." If there is anything that I would love teens (or all women, for that matter) to take away from these books is that you don't have to put up with being a target for bullying. No one or group is THAT important for you to risk your dignity or your well-being. And if you see it happening to someone else, have the strength to stand up for them. Don't sit on the sidelines and simply be happy that it's not happening to you. Because, guess what, one day it will, especially if you have surrounded yourself with "friends" who can turn on others.

Always surround yourself with people that you respect and who have respect for you. And if you can't find any at your school or your town or in your area, just be patient, because one day, you will find friends that were worth the wait. You don't need a group of people around you to make you feel special. You can be cool and independent and special on your own.

For more info, visit Megan's web site. Or order the book from Amazon.

I finally got a good swim with no interruptions or irritations, and it was heavenly. I swam some laps, then splashed and lounged around in the pool, swam some more laps, did a little water jogging, practiced some ballet jumps in the water, swam a little more and then finally got out of the water when my fingers got all wrinkly. Then I spent about five minutes in the hot tub. The really fun thing is that I went to the pool a little earlier than normal because it was empty and I couldn't wait, and it was one of those cloudless, sunny days. Then less than an hour after I went inside, it was so dark that I had to turn on a light. A storm that hadn't been forecast at all, not even as recently as the noon news, had blown in. I feel like I outsmarted Murphy's Law because if I'd waited for my usual swimming time, it would have been too nasty to hit the pool. And now my shoulder is feeling much, much better from the water exercise. Now, if I could just learn good posture, this wouldn't be a problem. It will help when ballet starts again next week.

But enough about my swimming pool dramas. I've got another Girlfriends Cyber Circuit guest author today, Stephanie Kuehnert, author of the new book Ballads of Suburbia.

In high school, Kara McNaughton helped maintain the "Stories of Suburbia" notebook, which contained newspaper articles about bizarre and often tragic events from suburbs all over, as well as personal vignettes written by her friends,which Kara dubbed "ballads." Ballads are the kind of songs that Kara likes best.

Not the clichéd ones but the truly genuine, gut-wrenching songs that convey love, loss and an individual’s story. Those "stories of Suburbia" were heartbreakingly honest tales of the moments when life changes and a kid is forced to grow up too soon. But Kara never wrote her own ballad. Before she could figure out what her song was about, she was leaving town after a series of disastrous events at the end of her junior year of high school.

Four years later, Kara returns to face the music, and tells the tale of her first three years of high school with her friends’ "ballads" interspersed throughout.



Now, the interview:
What was the inspiration behind this story?
I grew up in the suburbs and saw firsthand that it was not all white picket fences and happy families. I'd wanted to write a book about it since I was a teenager, but I struggled when it came to the approach to take. I didn't want to write about my life. Inspiration hit when one of my college professors brought a Johnny Cash CD to class and talked to us about ballads as a form of storytelling. I got the idea for this notebook, where the characters in my story would write their ballads, their incredibly honest tales of the moment that changed their lives. When I started writing the ballads, I met such unique, real people that I didn't even have to worry about accidentally borrowing from my real life.

What, if anything, do you have in common with your main character?
Kara and I do still have a lot in common even though I went out of my way to make the book fiction, not autobiography. We both struggled with making friends and were really shy. We both grew up in Oak Park, Illinois. We both love the Chicago White Sox, PJ Harvey, and have a weakness for boys with tattoos. We both lost our way for awhile in high school. We both coped with depression by injuring ourselves.

Are you a fan of ballads, yourself? If so, what are some of your favorites?
I am, though I don't necessarily think of ballads the way most people do. As Kara puts it, I'm not talking about the song where the diva hits her highest note or the rockers tone it down a few notches for the ladies. (Though I do love "Every Rose Has Its Thorn" by Poison, total guilty pleasure.) I think of country crooners and punk rockers telling the real, honest, gritty truth about life, love, and how we always seem to mess it up. By that definition, my favorite ballads include "Story of My Life" by Social Distortion, "The Young Crazed Peeling" by The Distillers, "Coal Miner's Daughter" by Loretta Lynn, and "Cocaine Blues" by Johnny Cash. Hell, basically anything by Johnny Cash. Also I adore the song "Where Did You Sleep Last Night." I love the Leadbelly version, the Nirvana version. I love that there are so many versions!

This book deals with some serious subjects, including drug abuse, violence and cutting. Do you have any suggestions for parents who'd like to discuss this book with their teens?
Read it first, then suggest your teen read it if you feel it is appropriate. Talk about the different character's ballads and ask your teen what their ballad would be. But also share, tell them your ballad, tell them which characters you related to. Be honest. Nothing pissed me off more than for my dad to act like he'd never done a bad thing in his life when I was 14 and then to casually tell me at 21 about his hallucinogenic drug experiences!

What has been your favorite summer vacation ever?
Last summer when my first book, I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone, came out, I decided that even though my publisher wasn't putting me on tour, I would go. So my fiance and I flew out to LA and hung out there for a couple days, then we drove up the PCH to San Francisco, stopping in Monterey for day to read with another author, Kelly Parra. We hung out with a good friend in San Fran and then flew to Seattle, my absolute favorite city and we stayed with one of my best friends from high school and her partner and their daughter. Good people, beautiful sights. Best two weeks of my life!

What are you working on now?
Um a bunch of different things. I'm in that place right now where I've got a bunch of different stories fighting to see which will get my fullest attention first. There's another contemporary YA, this one about a girl searching for her real home with her bipolar friend. I've been toying with my version of the Persephone myth forever. And I have this post-apocalyptic story that was born from a dream.

Is there anything else you'd like to say about this book or the process of writing it?
Um this book was really, really hard to write. Like multiple nervous breakdowns hard. But it was that way because I wanted it to be as real as possible and really bring the characters to life. I hope I succeeded.

For more info, visit Stephanie's web site. She's also having a blog launch party with guest bloggers and prizes through August 14 at her blog. You can also order the book from Amazon.

I did get to the end of the book yesterday! Now all that's left is to give the book one last read-through. I'm checking my agent's schedule to see if she wants it right away or won't be able to look at it for a while, and that will determine whether I do that last pass this week or wait until next week. The longer it rests between passes, the better.

The night after I finish a project is usually kind of weird. I feel like I'm at loose ends. I have things I could be doing, but it feels weird to be doing them without that project looming over me.

Then I had a really odd dream last night that combined Torchwood, NCIS, Primeval, Stargate and Ashes to Ashes. And it worked (mostly it involved characters from NCIS, Primeval and Ashes to Ashes being on an SG team that had to deal with something from Torchwood, and I was Alex Drake from Ashes to Ashes). If I had time for fanfic, I'd be seriously tempted to write it.

But enough about my scary subconscious. I've got a Girlfriends Cyber Circuit author guest today, Jennifer Banash, author of the Elite series. The latest (and last) book in that series, Simply Irresistible, came out this week.

This new book brings us more adventures from the spoiled, rich teens in Manhattan who nearly ate Casey McCloy alive when she first arrived in the Big Apple from her small town of Normal, Illinois. Casey learned very quickly after she moved in with her grandmother at The Bramford, the most exclusive luxury apartment building on New York’s Upper East Side, and got into the prestigious Meadowlark Academy on a full scholarship, that it’s not who you are but who you know!

Casey has had a big city-haute makeover, courtesy of her classmate and neighbor Madison Macallister – part teen icon and part queen diva-bitch. Wearing the right clothes, saying the right things, and meeting the right people, has given Casey the look and the attitude – she’s “in” and loving it! Much to Madison’s dismay, her rival is climbing up the social ladder in a big way and could end up just as popular as Madison now that the two are set to star in their own TV reality show, “De-Luxe.” Yes, showbiz came knocking on two of The Bramford’s most illustrious doors and, as much as Madison thrives on the attention the show brings, she’s not thrilled about having every bit of her life of privilege caught on tape. However, fame comes at a price and Madison is one chick who is willing to pay anything…especially if it means becoming the next reality “it girl.” Casey, on the other hand, is realizing that Reality TV can sometimes be unreal, causing her to wonder if she even knows who she is anymore. With her relationship with Drew, Madison’s ex, currently more off than on, she can’t help wondering if everything i n her life is really just an illusion – and how much longer the illusion can last….



Now the interview:
Was there any particular inspiration behind this story?
Reality TV! I'm obsessed with it, and I knew that I wanted the girls to eventually have their own reality series, so when the opportunity came up in the last book, IN TOO DEEP, I ran with it!

Have you seen the NYC Prep Bravo series? How does it compare to the reality series you created for your book?
It made me think that I hadn't gone far ENOUGH. But, honestly, these are the most unlikeable teenagers I've ever had the displeasure of watching on television. Those kids have absolutely no heart, or sense of morality, as far as I can tell. And, worse yet, they represent the very worse of NYC snobbery, elitism, and consumer gluttony. I watch the show, but it's not even a guilty pleasure--it just makes me feel guilty period!

What was your best summer vacation ever, and why?
Paris. I try to go every summer, but, alas, not this summer. I just love it there. I have a lot of French friends, and it's the perfect place to write--the French really respect writers--we're not seen as degenerates without day jobs!

(Hey, I'm a degenerate! Cool!)

What are you working on now?
I'm working on a novel called WHITE LINES, which is loosely based on my experiences as a club kid in NYC in the late eighties.

Is there anything else you'd like to say about this book or the process of writing it?
Buy it! The entire ELITE series is an amazing, throw in your tote bag summer read!

For more info, check out the Elite series web site. Or you can order the book from Amazon.

I managed to lose more than 2,000 words while still making lots of progress, so I think yesterday came out ahead, in a sense. Just remember, thinking is your friend. And I got what I think is a potentially brilliant story idea last night that I will have to let the subconscious creative squirrel play with while I finish the current project.

In the meantime, I've got another Girlfriends Cyber Circuit guest, Melissa Walker, author of Lovestruck Summer. Quinn is an indie rock girl who came out to Austin, Texas, for a music internship. She also plans to spend long, lazy days in the sun at outdoor concerts--and to meet a hot musician or two. Instead, she’s stuck rooming with her sorority brainwashed cousin, who now willingly goes by the name “Party Penny.” Their personalities clash, big time.

But Sebastian, a gorgeous DJ, definitely makes up for it. Sebastian has it all: looks, charm, and great taste in music. So why can’t Quinn keep her mind off Penny’s friend cute, All-American Russ and his Texas twang?

Sebastian is the kind of guy Quinn wants, but is Russ the guy Quinn needs? One thing’s certain: Quinn’s in for a summer she’ll never forget!




Now, the interview:
Was there any particular inspiration behind this story?
A trip to Austin--with it's blasts of heat, amazing live music and colorful characters--totally inspired me to set a romance there.

What, if anything, do you have in common with the main character of this book?
Quinn can be judgmental of people when she first meets them, but she's trying to be more open. (Me too.)

Did you get to visit Austin to research the setting for this book? If so, what were some of the "hot spots" you'd recommend for people who travel there and want to experience the world of the book?
I did! I recommend: The Continental (old school country music bar), Barton Springs (natural spring pond to swim in), Iron Works (amazing barbecue!), and the Four Seasons Hotel lawn, to watch the bats fly out from under the Congress Avenue Bridge.

(Here's where I have to confess what a loser I am. I went to college in Austin and lived there four years, and yet I've only done one of those things. I have gone to Barton Springs, once, and got a terrible sunburn. But I've never seen the bats and I didn't go to any bars or clubs. I managed to avoid the "Austin live music scene" entirely, unless you count classical and jazz concerts at the university. Sad, huh?)

When you were a teen, what would your ideal summer internship have been?
At a magazine. And I got to do it! Dream come true.

What are you working on now?
A new book, but it's a secret so far!

Is there anything else you'd like to say about this book or the process of writing it?
For a chance to win Lovestruck Summer, plus 3 other great beach reads, your readers can go to this site.

For more info, visit Melissa's web site. Or you can buy the book from Amazon.

Last night my quest in ballet was to hold my arms correctly, something I usually fail to do and which takes great effort and thought. That left my upper arms achy in such a way that it feels like someone is grabbing me. And that meant lots of freaky nightmares about being grabbed -- made even freakier by waking up and still feeling like I was being grabbed, so that there was a brief moment of panic before I verified that I simply had sore muscles.

Meanwhile, now that I've rewritten parts of the first two chapters to make them more interesting, I've realized that these changes more or less negate almost everything else I already had written, so that it will actually be easier to just scrap it all and start from scratch. And that means I'm really, really far behind because not only has progress been slower than planned while I've tinkered with getting the opening right, but my progress goals were based on starting from having five chapters already written. Needless to say, it looks like I'll be working this weekend.

But on a much more fun note, I've got another Girlfriends Cyber Circuit Guest, and this one is a real treat because the author has been one of those people I hang out with at writing conferences and conventions for ages and ages. And I still like her even though she rejected me under her agent role (though we share an agent when she's in author mode). My guest is Lucienne Diver, author of Vamped, and although I am so not into vampires, I've thought this book sounded like a hoot from the moment I heard about it, so I may have to make an exception.

From “Valley Vamp Rules for Surviving Your Senior Prom” by VAMPED heroine Gina Covello:

Rule #1:
Do not get so loaded at the after prom party that you accidentally-on-purpose end up in the broom closet with the surprise hottie of the evening, say the class chess champ who’s somewhere lost his bottle-cap lenses and undergone an extreme makeover, especially if that makeover has anything to do with becoming one of the undead.

Gina Covello has a problem. Waking up a dead is just the beginning. There's very little she can't put up with for the sake of eternal youth and beauty. Blood-sucking and pointy stick phobias seem a small price to pay. But she draws the line when local vampire vixen Mellisande gets designs on her hot new boyfriend with his prophecied powers and hatches a plot to turn all of Gina’s fellow students into an undead army to be used to overthrow the vampire council.

Hey, if anyone's going to create an undead entourage, it should be Gina! Now she must unselfishly save her classmates from fashion disaster and her own fanged fate.



Now, the interview:
Was there any particular inspiration behind this story?
My heroine, Gina, just started talking in my head one day. I’m not sure how it happened, especially when I realized that she was essentially the big-haired girl with the reputation who tormented my sister in high school. So I tormented her right back. What’s true horror for a fashionista? Lack of reflection, no way to fix your hair and make-up, eternity without tanning options! At first I was just going to give Gina a short story to get her out of my head – let her claw her own way out of the grave, face her fears and turn her stylist…or die (again) trying. Then Gina got her claws into me. My readers liked her. “This wants to be a novel,” they said. And, well, they were right. So, Gina had to grow and change into someone I could live with for two hundred plus pages. She’s still a fashionista determined not to go through eternity a total schlub, but underneath it all is a heart she’s been hiding for her own protection, and it’s slowly revealed over the course of the story.

How much -- if anything -- do you have in common with your heroine?
I like clothes. I’ve object to being seen as a total schlub. I sort of had the Mafia princess look cooking for me in high school. [Note, see totally embarrassing picture I’ve attached.] However, I was a geek girl. I played D&D, got caught reading library books in class, had to date outside my high school . Actually, the character I have the most in common with in the novel is the blond book girl Gina pumps for information.



(You know, I think we have the makings for a new horror film: It Came from the 80s! I have plenty of my own material to contribute.)

Why do you think vampires are so popular in young adult fiction right now?
And adult fiction as well! I think it’s because vampires are sexy. They’re the ultimate bad boys (or girls). You want to piss off your parents? Try bringing home a bloodsucker!

(Hmm, maybe that explains why I never got the appeal of vampires. I never wanted to piss off my parents.)

Vampires vs. Zombies: Who wins? And who wins homecoming queen?
Vampires, hands down! Zombies…bah! They’re decomposing as we speak. So easy to rip off an arm or a leg and beat them with it…I’m just saying! Not that I’ve fought off a zombie invasion above once or twice in my life, but I think that’s a fair sampling. As for homecoming queen, Gina‘s got that in the bag!

What are you working on now?
I’m working on a middle-grade boy-book that’s been talking at me since a trip to NYC last fall. I was deep in the midst of REVAMPED (VAMPED sequel which will be out in 2010) at the time, and so I had to wait until just recently to start. I’m having a lot of fun with it because I get to bring in some archaeology and history. Plus the protagonist is only a little older than my son, so I get to use him as a litmus test for the voice!

Is there anything else you'd like to say about this book and the process of writing it?
Just that I really hope people enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. VAMPED was a trip, and Gina is probably my favorite character I’ve ever written. Every time I came to a difficult scene to write, like an action scene, I felt as if the character actually kicked me out of the way with a, “Would you let me handle this?” And she did. In some ways it was a hard book to write because I had to wrestle it back from Gina, who, if you can’t tell by now, is one tough cookie. In others, it was the easiest thing I’ve ever written because all I had to do was get out of my own way and let my protagonist take point.

For more info (and to see a more current, less frightening author photo), check out Lucienne's web site or order the book from Amazon.

I am actually ahead of schedule! I had planned to send the partial of the current project to my agent for a sanity check tomorrow, but it's pretty much ready to go now. I'll still wait to send tomorrow because that's when I told her I would, and that gives me a chance to give it one more look. I'm kind of eager to get started on the next thing, so I'm wavering between letting myself have a minor celebration and jumping right in. I think I can do a little of both by doing a mini "retreat" to shift mental gears and get revved up. That means finding a movie that makes me think of this story and then doing a little reference reading.

Meanwhile, I have another Girlfriends Cyber Circuit guest, Linda Gerber, whose new novel Death by Denim will be released May 14. This is the third "Death By" young adult mystery novel.

Aphra Connolly is being chased by some very dangerous people. She knows her survival depends upon staying far away from love interest Seth, and listening to her mom’s lectures on the finer points of anonymity and survival. But how is a girl supposed to live under the radar and not think about her boyfriend when she’s in Paris—the most romantic city in the world? When her mom’s contact in Paris is found floating in the Seine with a deadly message stuffed in his mouth, Aphra realizes that she will never be able to stop running unless she confronts the situation head-on. Sneaking away from her mom, Aphra tracks down the criminal mastermind in Italy, only to unwittingly reveal Seth’s location. And her mistake has just put them both in mortal danger. . . .



Now the interview:
Was there any particular inspiration behind this story?
Since Death by Denim is the third in the series, the inspiration was drawn mostly from the first two books. By book three, my character Aphra had a few issues to settle - her relationship with her mom, her relationship with Seth, and the constant threat of the Mole on her tail. Those things led the story as it evolved.

When you were a teen, how might you have coped with international intrigue?
I've always loved suspense and thriller novels and movies, so I think I might have enthusiastically embraced the adventure. I mean, I grew up in a relatively small town - a college town in a place we used to call Happy Valley - so we seldom saw much in the way of intrigue. I think I would rushed headlong into any escapade - just to shake things up a little.

Who was your favorite "girl sleuth" to read about when you were a kid/teen?
I had a complete set of Nancy Drew and Trixie Belden books. I also loved spy/sleuth stories like Harriet the Spy and From the Mixed up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler.

(Hmm, sounds like we were reading the same things!)

What are you working on now?
I'm switching gears with a YA paranormal about trance writing sisters.

Is there anything else you'd like to say about this book or the process of writing it?
I've had a lot of fun working on the entire series, but I have to say, Death by Denim is probably my favorite to write because I got to go international with it and to throw things at Aphra that she hadn't faced before. And as a bonus, by the time I was hammering through revisions on this one, Death by Bikini had been released and I was starting to get letters from enthusiastic readers who were looking forward to reading more. It gave me a real boost of confidence - which I needed during some of the more intense scenes. So, THANK YOU, readers, for your support!

For more info, check out Linda's web site. She'll be hosting a blog book launch party May 14-16. You can also pre-order the book from Amazon.

The tax nightmare is over for another year! Actually, I don't think it's all that difficult. The time-consuming part is the record keeping because I have bursts of disorganization. However, part of my getting ready for doing taxes this year included catching up on the record keeping and accounting for this year, so if I keep up with that throughout the year, doing the taxes next year should be a snap. And now I have no excuse for not spending a good chunk of the day writing.

One thing I'm discovering is that this book apparently needs Rachmaninoff. I usually write in total silence, but there are books that need music, mostly to drown out the outside world. I don't think I could have written Damsel Under Stress without the soundtracks from Battlestar Galactica and Firefly (even now, a part of my brain thinks it's time to go to work when it hears the opening notes of that BSG prologue -- that part that ran under the "The Cylons were created by man" thing). I've tried a variety of music for this book and have settled on orchestral works by Rachmaninoff (but not the piano concertos -- I can't listen to those and still write). Mostly, it's Symphonic Dances and The Isle of the Dead, but then I found a CD of one of the symphonies that I forgot I had yesterday, and that works, too.

This week's Girlfriends Cyber Circuit book is a fun one because I was part of it. Some of you may remember from a couple of years ago that I participated in a tribute book about the works of Judy Blume. Well, Everything I Needed to Know About Being a Girl, I Learned from Judy Blume came out in paperback this week, so if you're absolutely dying to buy something written by me this year, here's your chance.

Here's the official scoop:
Whether laughing to tears reading Otherwise Known as Sheila the Great or clamoring for more unmistakable “me too!” moments in Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret, girls all over the world have been touched by Judy Blume’s poignant coming-of-age stories. Now, in this anthology of essays, twenty-four notable female authors write straight from the heart about the unforgettable novels that left an indelible mark on their childhoods and still influence them today. Drawing on their own experiences of feeling like a Fourth Grade Nothing before growing up to become Smart Women themselves, these writers pay tribute, through their reflections and most cherished memories, to one of the most beloved authors of all time.

Contributors include: Megan Cabot, Megan McCafferty, Cara Lockwood,
Melissa Senate, Laura Caldwell, Stacey Ballis, Shanna Swendson and 17 other acclaimed women writers.



I asked Jennifer O'Connell, who pulled together and edited this anthology, a couple of questions about it (and then you'll get my insights).
What inspired you to develop this anthology?
I was about to begin writing my first teen book, PLAN B, and I sat at the computer and thought to myself, "Everything I needed to know about being a girl I learned from Judy Blume." And so the idea for the collection of essays was born. Because I knew I wasn't the only one who felt like that.

Which was your favorite Judy Blume book as a girl? Have you re-read it as an adult, and how has your perception of it changed?
Deenie. I re-read all of Judy's books before editing the essays in the collection, and Deenie was one of them. I still loved it. And, honestly, the story stood the test of time.

(Me again) Oddly, my essay in the book was about Deenie, but that probably wasn't my favorite Judy Blume book (for reasons that become pretty obvious in my essay). I suspect my favorite was Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret, though I might have a different take on Otherwise Known as Sheila the Great if I reread it now (it may have hit too close to home then). I wasn't a big reader of "girl" books as a kid, and my Judy Blume phase came in the very brief window between my Nancy Drew obsession and the time I discovered The Lord of the Rings. I first checked these books out of the library because there was some controversy. Word on the playground was that these were "dirty" books about sex. I was skeptical, since they were in the children's section of the library, and being the stubborn, skeptical sort, I had to see for myself. I was pretty disappointed by how non-racy they were. Some of that was because a lot of it went right over my head (I didn't realize what the controversial part of Deenie was actually about until I re-read it for writing my essay) and some of it was because I'd already heard the scientific explanations for a lot of it and thought that these characters were making too big a fuss about everything. I may owe Judy Blume thanks for helping my journey through puberty be so relatively non-dramatic because in comparison to what went on in her books, real life was very low-drama, so reality was easier than I expected.

What really appealed to me about those books (and maybe I should have written about this, but I didn't think of it until later) was the fact that she captured what it was really like to have friends as a girl at that age (or, at least, what it was like for me). So many of the "girl" books paint this idealized vision of true best friends who do everything together and stick together through thick and thin, but in real life girls that age are incredibly competitive, even with their closest friends. The alliances among clusters of friends within groups are always shifting, and there are subtle rivalries going on all the time. It might not be to the level of a real "frenemy" who just pretends to be a friend while undermining you, but there can be a kind of competition under the surface, sometimes over things you can't control, like who starts wearing a bra first. There are times when you can't stand to be around your best friend, times when your best friend can't stand you, times when you find yourself forced to hang out with someone you don't even like because of that -- and then the realization that maybe you like that person better than the person who's supposed to be your best friend. That's the way the girls in the Judy Blume books were, and it was a huge relief to me to read that and see that it wasn't just that I was somehow doing it wrong because I didn't have a "like a sister" best friend where we wore matching outfits and did everything together, like in so many other children's books.

And then soon after that I discovered hobbits and magical wardrobes that led to other worlds and achieved a new kind of social awkwardness.

So, if you want to see what I had to say about Deenie, the girl who was pretty enough to be a model until she found out she had scoliosis, here's the Amazon link.

It's really, really windy -- like, Mary Poppins weather. If you had a sturdy enough umbrella, you could probably go places. However, where you went would be entirely out of your control, as the wind doesn't seem to be going in any particular direction. The birds seem to be having to fight it. A little while ago, one was almost stationary in the air while furiously flapping its wings because it was trying to fly against the wind. And then one came by going with the wind, and I'm not sure it meant to be flying. It was just tumbling around. I wouldn't be at all surprised to see a small, furry thing go flying by. Or maybe a mean old lady on a bicycle. It's also really, really loud on my roof, with tiles rattling and lots of gusty sounds. In other words, a good day to stay indoors. I'm afraid my little car might go airborne.

If I don't post tomorrow, I may be in Oz. Fortunately, I already have my own pair of ruby red slippers (though they were silver in the book, and I don't have any silver slippers).

While I'm developing my trapped-in-Oz contingency plan, I've got another Girlfriends Cyber Circuit guest, April Henry, who writes both adult mysteries and young adult thrillers. Her latest release is the YA thriller Torched.

When Ellie’s parents are busted for growing marijuana, the FBI gives her a choice: infiltrate the Mother Earth Defenders (MED), a radical environmental group, or her parents will go to jail. At first Ellie is more than willing to entrap the MEDics, but the more time she spends undercover—particularly with Coyote, the green-eyed MEDic that she can’t stop thinking about—the more she starts to believe in their cause. When talk turns to murder, Coyote backs out, but Ellie is willing to risk everything to save her family—even if it means losing Coyote and putting her own life on the line.



And now, the interview:
Was there any particular inspiration behind this book?
The Earth Liberation Front has long been active in the Northwest. The FBI considers them domestic terrorists. I was driving to work one morning, listening to the news, and the broadcaster said, “The FBI says they have been unable to infiltrate ELF.” And I thought, what else are they going to say? Yeah, we have someone who is working there undercover? And then I started thinking that most Elves are young, and FBI agents have to be at least 23, and they might need an informant.

What, if anything, do you have in common with your heroine?
Ellie is a little shy, a little uncertain. We have that in common. She is much more creative than I am. I'm kind of jealous.

What do you see as the biggest differences between writing for teens and writing for adults?
The writing itself is not much different. The publshing world is completely different. You have a lot longer to succeed, and the measures of success are completley different. There are no state awards, for example, with adult books, and librarians aren't nearly as important.

Chocolate: milk or dark? (question back by popular demand!)
Dark, dark, dark! Preferably with cashews and sea salt.

(Oh, man, that sounds good!)

What are you working on now?
In 2010 I'll have two books out: an adult mystery called Hand of Fate, and a YA thiller that was to be called Shadows Walking Backward but now is in the process of having its name changed. I'm also working on a new YA thriller called The Girl in the Mini Cooper and another adult mystery called either Blood of Innocents or Heart of Stone.

Is there anything else you'd like to say about this book or the process of writing it?
I have terrible luck with YA titles. Shock Point was originally going to be called Point & Shoot, but then marketing decided it sounded like school violence. Torched was originally called Fire, Kiss, Electric Chair, but they didn't like "electric chair."

For more info, check out April's web site. Or order the book from Amazon.

And now I may have to close my blinds because the movement of the tall ornamental grasses across the street in this wind is making me seasick.

I was sooo very good yesterday. I didn't get the kitchen cleaned, but I did my radio scripts and got back into The Nagging Idea. It was good to really write again. I think I may need new code names to keep the various projects in progress straight. I don't talk about them by title for several reasons:
1) I often don't come up with a title until I've finished the book
2) the title is likely to change, and talking about it a lot under the working title (if I have one) will make me more emotionally attached to that title
3) if editors are considering a book and research me by looking at my blog, I don't really want them to be able to identify the book they're looking at so they won't be biased by any discussions of the trials and tribulations I went through in writing it
4) I don't want readers to know for sure when a book gets published which books I was talking about when I was writing them, so as to avoid unintentional spoilers or setting expectations
5) I watched way too much of The X-Files and like giving things names like all the bad guy characters -- like Cigarette Smoking Man, etc.

In a tiny news flash, Don't Hex With Texas is a finalist for the Award of Excellence given by the Colorado Romance Writers.

Now, I need to catch up on a Girlfriends Cyber Circuit tour with Going Too Far, the latest book from Jennifer Echols. All Meg has ever wanted is to get away. Away from high school. Away from her backwater town. Away from her parents who seem determined to keep her imprisoned in their dead-end lives. But one crazy evening involving a dare and forbidden railroad tracks, she goes way too far… and almost doesn’t make it back.

John made a choice to stay. To enforce the rules. To serve and protect. He has nothing but contempt for what he sees as childish rebellion, and he wants to teach Meg a lesson she won’t soon forget. But Meg pushes him to the limit by questioning everything he learned at the police academy. And when he pushes back, demanding to know why she won’t be tied down, they will drive each other to the edge—and over…



Now, the interview:
You've previously written comedies, but this sounds like a more serious book. How did you make the transition in subject matter and writing style?
The idea for this book started as a romantic comedy about two teens who get in trouble and have to do a ride-along with a cop to scare them straight. As I thought about this story, I realized that the interesting tension would not be between the two teens. It would be between one teen and the cop, especially if the cop were a teenager himself. I did a little research and discovered there are some places where a 19-year-old can be hired as a law enforcement officer. I've always been interested in the drama that unfolds when very young people are pushed into situations meant for more mature adults, so I was hooked on this idea, and I couldn't turn back just because it was no longer a romantic comedy.

It sounds like you're pushing some boundaries with this book. Was there anything about this story that scared you or made you nervous, or are you naturally a rebel?
I naturally have a huge problem with authority, which is why I'm a novelist. The heroine of this book also has an authority problem. She is definitely my dark side.

The only thing that made me nervous in writing this book was going into detail about what made the heroine who she is. Originally that was not part of the book because I thought it would make readers like the heroine less. But my editor wanted me to go there, and I'm glad I did.

What are you working on now?
I'm going over the copyedit of my next romantic comedy, The Ex Games, which will be published on October 6.

For more info, check out Jennifer's blog. Or buy the book from Amazon.

I managed another thousand words yesterday. I think I'm still warming up, but I'm getting more of a feel for the characters. If I'm good today, I may get to the introduction of the other main character, but I'm also getting my hair done today (I realized it had reached my waist again, which is just too much hair to deal with) and I have ballet class tonight, so there's not a lot of writing time.

Since the collective wisdom of my readers never ceases to amaze me, I thought I'd throw this out there and see if anyone has any ideas: I haven't been dancing in far too long, and I'm dying for a foxtrot. Since I'll be in New York next weekend, I figure there has to be something in the ballroom dancing arena going on. I mean, there's pretty much a little of just about everything going on in New York, right? (Or have all those TV shows, books and movies been lying to me?) Does anyone know of any possible ballroom dancing venues in the city where I might be able to show up solo and still manage to dance with someone? I've Googled and found a couple of dance studios that have social dance parties and a dance society that has public dances at a church. That's the kind of thing I'm looking for, as opposed to an actual nightclub or music venue where people are more likely to go with dates, so I thought I'd check to see if anyone knew of anything else or had something good to recommend.

Now, I've got a really fun Girlfriends Cyber Circuit book to talk about, The Zombie Queen of Newbury High by Amanda Ashby. (Just the title cracks me up.) Tomorrow is prom, and all Mia wants to do is cast a love spell on her date Rob Ziggerman to keep him away from cheerleading goddess Samantha and save him all to herself. But somehow she ends up inflicting a zombie virus onto her whole class instead. At first Mia loves all the attention her classmates are giving her; treating her like a queen, compliments galore, and all the chocolate a girl could want. But then zombie hunter hottie Chase explains they are actually fattening her up. Why? Because in twenty-four hours, Mia will be the first course in their new diet. That’s what being the ZOMBIE QUEEN OF NEWBURY HIGH means. She’s sure she and Chase can figure something out, especially when the alternative means that her classmates and teachers will be feasting on her bones. But in the meantime, she’s suggests that no one wear white to tomorrow night’s prom, because she has a feeling that things could get very messy.



I interviewed Amanda about writing and zombies (which are far more related than you might think):
Was there any particular inspiration behind this book?
To be honest the whole thing started as joke. I use to threaten my critique partners that if they weren’t careful I would write a book a called I Was a Zombie Killer Bride (and between you and me I still think the project has legs!!). Anyway, the more I said it the more the idea of doing a zombie book appealed to me. I’d never seen or heard of any other books out at the time (this was back in 2007) and so I started trying to think of some zombie ideas. Enter my husband who had been preparing himself for this very moment by spending a lifetime watching zombie movies (in fact he was the one who first insisted I watch some Hammer House of Horror movies which I ended up loving!). Anyway, instead of running a mile which is what he normally does when I’m stuck for ideas, he opened a bottle of wine, patted the couch and we started brainstorming!!!! It was too much fun!

Can you offer us a few zombie survival tips?
Yes, absolutely.

Rule number one is footwear. Trying to run away from zombies while you’re wearing heels just isn’t going to work. You need sneakers and socks (to stop blisters, since let’s face it, blisters leads to blood, leads to zombie saliva glands and is therefore a big no-no).

Rule number two. Don’t try and play dead because they will find you. Zombies might not have great vision but they can smell you from over a mile away (and apparently you smell a bit like really, really, really great BBQ chicken with just a hint of herbs and spices sprinkled over the top. Or, so I’ve heard…)

Rule number three. Don’t stand anywhere near a ketchup bottle. Or jug of gravy for that matter because that is just making life a little bit too easy for our undead foes.

What do you have in your personal Zombie Survival Kit?
A lighter (but you’ll have to read the book to find out why)
A cell phone charm (but you’ll have to read the book to find out why)
A detailed floor plan of Newbury High (but you’ll have to read the book to find out why)
A bottle of water (but you’ll have to read the book to find out why)

Is there a sure-fire way to tell if the cheerleading squad has been turned into zombies or if that's just normal for them?
The first sign someone is turning into a zombie is the skin around their face and jaw starts to go slack. The second sign is that suddenly have an uncontrollable desire to eat meat. Lots of it.

Unfortunately, when it comes to cheerleaders, the discovery that their diet is screwed and that their looks are going will normally cause them to rip out their own their own hair in despair. Also, it is normally accompanied by some moaning and wailing. So in my professional opinion, if I was trying to identify a potential cheerleading zombie, I would look for anyone who was holding some matted hair extensions while chewing on beef jerky and wearing a paper bag on their head. Sound familiar? If so you’d probably better give the Department of Paranormal Containment a ring. Pronto.

Is there anything else you'd like to tell us (or warn us!) about this book?
I’m fairly certain that ZOMBIE QUEEN OF NEWBURY HIGH will put you off ever wanting to do a love spell in order to avoid public humiliation, since as Mia Everett discovers, there are actually worse things than getting dumped before prom.

What are you working on now?
My next young adult book out with Puffin is about a girl who goes to a prestigious slaying school. She is determined to follow in her dead mom’s footsteps and be a dragon slayer. Unfortunately she gets stuck with four inch fairies who spend more time in the mall than they do out trying to hurt people. Not exactly the stuff that high destiny is made of. Then she suddenly starts to see another kind of fairy. Of the six foot, killer variety that no one has ever heard of before. However, due to a small misunderstanding, no one believes her and she is forced to fight the killer fairies on her, while at the same time trying to discover how her dead mom fits into it all.

I’m still waiting for me revisions for that one and so in the meantime I’m hard at work on a mid grade book with a thirteen year old heroine who does something even more ridiculous than turn her school into zombies. Oh, yeah!

For more info, check out Amanda's web site. Or you can order the book from Amazon.