March 31, 2009
it’s a real book
Because it has a cover. And now we can show it to you.
And one that is not quite as fantastic, of Margie and me. But this is what you look like when your ARC arrives first thing in the morning and drive straight to your writing partner's house so you can look at it together.
You don't really believe you've written a book until you can hold it in your hands.
March 30, 2009
neko case
Margie got me hooked on Pandora. Right now I'm listening to Neko Case. My favorite song is Middle Cyclone. It's the perfect song for Beautiful Creatures too.
Check out
Pandora and create your own station.
March 26, 2009
a beautiful creatures birthday
My husband makes me wire sculptures. It started right before we got married – he's made me flowers, animals, a cross. But this year, he made me this. A moss covered oak.
When you see the cover of Beautiful Creatures, you'll see why I love it so much.
March 25, 2009
recipe for the perfect birthday
waking up to kisses from my kids
2 early morning calls from my parents
sleeping in (although that can't happen on a wednesday)
the remaining somoas from my girl scout cookie box & the hope that ashly will give me another box tomorrow
the coolest vintage apron from amanda
a facebook page full of happy birthdays from my friends
my brother alex & sister sara singing happy birthday to me on the phone
dinner of my choice with my husband & kids
the option to reject any and all activities
March 23, 2009
book 2: stepping out of the shadow
It's an undeniable fact. The second book in a series is like the younger brother in the family – always trying to get out of the shadow of his big brother. Not to mention that second books don't always deliver. So that's where Marg and I are…trying to make sure our second book is worthy of Beautiful Creatures. And more importantly, worthy of our readers.
I'm always sentimental about the first book in a series I love, but the ultimate challenge is for the second book to be even better. Not easy to do, I know. But it has been done.
Most notably in
Because
Days of Magic, Nights of War has it all.
Twists, reveals, major characters you love (and hate) die, and
it ends in the middle of the action. Which is the reason it won
the Bram Stoker Award for Young Readers in 2004. They say
great writers aren't afraid to kill off their characters when the story demands it. When it comes to great writers, Clive
Barker is the ultimate.
<www.lisamorton.com/hwa/stoker4.jpg>
And his husband, David Armstrong, is pretty fantastic too.
March 21, 2009
what are your secrets?
If you're not reading the Caster Girls' blog, you should be. They're definitely more interesting than me and now they're playing a little truth or dare. Except it's all about truth. Caster Girl 25 is inviting you to share your secrets, or maybe just one. E-mail me or Margie your secret & we'll post it on our blogs without your name. If you put it on a postcard, like they do on PostSecret.com, just take a picture of it or scan it & e-mail the image.
Remember: It's anonymous!
Here's the first one, I've received.
What's your secret???
March 18, 2009
is there anything better than getting a box from amazon?
There's something about new books that just appear on your doorstep. I love libraries, but I also like to keep my books. I like to dog-ear the pages and write in them. The ones I love are like a favorite pair of sneakers – worn in. When I read Caster Girl 25's post yesterday, it made me think about all my books with their cracked spines.
Here's the hit list, my all-time favorite (in no particular order):
1. Fahrenheit 451 – Ray Bradbury
2. Catcher in the Rye – J.D. Salinger
3. Lord of the Flies – William Golding
4. Almanac of the Dead -Leslie Marmon Silko
5. In the Time of Butterflies – Julia Alvarez
6. Where the Red Fern Grows -Wilson Rawls
7. Animal Farm – George Orwell
8. The Great Gatsby – F. Scott Fitzgerald
9. Slam (Poetry) – Various
10. A Good Man is Hard to Find – Flannery O' Connor
11. The House on Mango Street – Sandra Cisneros
12. The Book of Questions – Pablo Neruda
13. The Giver – Lois Lowry
14. Little Altars Everywhere – Rebecca Wells
15. Abarat – Clive Barker
16. The Supernaturalist – Eoin Colfer
17. The Wish List – Eoin Colfer
18. The Name of This Book Is Secret – Pseudonymous Bosh
19. Star Girl – Jerry Spinelli
20. Wringer – Jerry Spinelli
21. Freak the Mighty – Rodman Philbrick
22. Inkheart – Cornelia Funke
23. The Outsiders – S.E. Hinton
24. New Stories from the South 1998 & 1999
25. The Prince of Tides – Pat Conroy
26. To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee
27. Spilling Open – Sabrina Ward Harrison
28. Lord of the Rings – J.R.R Tolkien
29. The Golden Compass – Phillip Pullman
30. The Norton Anthology of Poetry
31. Primo Levi – Survival in Auschwitz – Primo Levi
32. Monster – Walter Dean Myers
33. The Portable Henry Rollins – Henry Rollins
34. Brave on the Rocks – Sabrina Ward Harrison
35. I Capture the Castle – Dodie Smith
36. Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist – Rachel Cohn & David Leviathan
37. The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Civil War – H.W. Crocker III
38. The Politically Incorrect Guide to American History – Thomas E. Woods Jr.
This is what arrived in my Amazon box…
Spilling Open by Sabrina Ward Harrison
Graceling by Kristin Cashore
The True & the Questions by Sabrina Ward Harrison
Bones of Faerie by
A Pink Spiral Notebook
Wake by Lisa McMann
Wreck This Journal by Keri Smith
March 17, 2009
the relationship between writing and pizza
Margie loves to work in the library and eat chocolate cake and drink lattes. I don't mind the library, but I'll trade it any day for the comfy chair in Margie's office or the leather one in Ashly's library.
For me, this is the perfect storm:
1) The comfy chair (during the day) or my couch (at night)
2) Pizza from Joe's in Santa Monica (during the day) or Baskin Robbons' chocolate peanut butter ice cream (at night)
3) Diet Coke with tons of ice (day or night)
4) Silence – I don't wear headphones, but I need quiet. I can't listen to music. When I'm writing, I hear the characters talking. I'm listening to the story in my head as I write.
5) My laptop
Those are the absolutes. Everything else is negotiable. And actually, considering I wrote most of BC sitting on the floor of my son's bedroom, I guess #1 isn't really an absolute. But the pizza is.
March 16, 2009
remembering john
Today is the anniversary of young boy's death. A boy I loved.
My friend Madeline's younger brother,
John Lewis.
When someone dies young, there's nothing you can say.
He died too young? I think we all know that.
He will be missed? John is more than missed. A life so beautiful and unfulfilled haunts us all.
He's in a better place? I still wish he was here.
There's nothing you can say, except I remember …
Some say love, it is a river
that drowns the tender reed.
Some say love, it is a razor
that leaves your soul to bleed.
Some say love, it is a hunger,
an endless aching need.
I say love, it is a flower,
and you its only seed.
It's the heart afraid of breaking
that never learns to dance.
It's the dream afraid of waking
that never takes a chance.
It's the one who won't be taken
who cannot seem to give.
And the soul afraid of dying
that never learns to live.
When the night has been too lonely
and the road has been too long,
and you think that love is only
for the lucky and the strong,
just remember in the winter
far beneath the bitter snows,
lies the seed that with the sun's love,
in the spring becomes the rose.
- "The Rose," Bette Midler
I remember.
