Your Weirdest Guilty Pleasures

Cruising through youtube the other day, I was reminded of this music video for a song I was absolutely OBSESSED with my senior year at Cornell.

See, I've always kind of had a soft spot for bad European dance songs...the cheesier the better--I WAS born in the 80's. And so when my friend from Russia introduced me to this gem, it was all over.



Of course nothing can compare to the obsession I had with THIS song!



The first time I heard the infamous Numa Numa song, I was at a friend's house party. It started playing and I grabbed my friend's arm and ran into the middle of the dance floor/living room yelling, "I LOVE this song!" I think I had a sixth sense that I would love this song. Anyway, she was hooked too, and we invented the goofiest dance to go with it--performed regularly now at weddings and New Years Eve parties--not to mention we hosted a party at our apartment two weeks later for the sole purpose of sneaking this song into the playlist a total of 8 times. 8 times... Because that's how we roll.

I also may or may not have sung the song to a bunch of Romanian guys I met one night in the city...

Oh look it comes in English!

So now that you know some of my weird obsessions/guilty pleasures, what are yours?

Crap, I couldn't resist.

Here's Elmo's Numa Numa.


#hidesheadinshame

Sara Shepard Signing! Pretty Little Liars Contest!

So two weeks ago I had the chance to see Sara Shepard at a Borders by her hometown (and mine) in Bryn Mawr, PA! This was my second time getting to meet her--for a recap of my first meeting with her and the FNC click here!


Considering she's been sitting pretty at number 1 on the New York Times Best Seller list for weeks, her books were made into the most popular tv series this summer AND she got to appear on the show....Sara is one of the sweetest and most down to earth writers I know. Simply, I adore her!

But I'm not here to gush about my author-crush on her, I'm here to recap everything I learned. There were some pretty interesting tidbits--like she doesn't even know who A is on the show.... So read on and check out the contest at the end.

1) Sara would love to continue the Pretty Little Liars series and might write Ali's diary (SQUEE) she even has the diary outlined for Ali in 6th grad and 7th.

2) She just finished writing a book in her new series The Lying Game--about twin sisters, one's dead, the other's alive. The Lying Game comes out Jan 2011. The Lying Game takes place in AZ and isn't about super rich kids. She also has an adult novel coming out in the UK.

3) Sara's working on another all adult novel. All of her adult novels are about teens--but they aren't as fast paced as her YA books but still accessible for teens.

4)Favorite character? All aspects of her go into all of the characters. She's OCD like Spencer, was a swimmer like Emily, into being popular in high school like Hanna. Sara said she became like Aria later, hated where she lived, left and moved back.

5) Favorite character to write is Hanna--she's her comic relief. While Hanna is hard on the outside, she has a lot of vulnerability underneath. She wishes she could write a Hanna spin-off series. She also LOVED Toby and feels like she should have given him more than 1 book. She also likes Jenna and mentioned how she thought Jenna appeared much spookier and outspoken on the show than in the book.

6)For inspiration, she always liked murder mysteries and loved watching Twin Peaks growing up--liked the idea of a perfect town and then suddenly a girl goes missing. She was also writing Pretty Little Liars when text messaging was becoming popular and she had an interest in stalkers.

Sara even got into stalking in high school leaving cryptic messages in people's lockers that said things like "Monkey" or "You" just so people would wonder what on earth the messages meant. They were meaningless.

7) Sara comes up with the premise first and then the characters. Her own trip to Iceland became an influence when writing (Aria is returning from Iceland) and she drove around the Mainline (PLL's setting) and picked out character's houses.

8) Sara wrote 8 chapters of PLL and sold 4 books on it. When she was in the middle of writing 2, they told her there'd be 8 books so she had to reassess and outline and plan more.

9) Sara always knew who A was when writing but doesn't think that the A in the books will be A on the show. And she even asked the show who A was and they wouldn't tell her. Apparently the director originally only read the first four books. Sara is always surprised when she watches the show.

10) Through swimming in HS, Sara met a lot of people at other schools including mean girls like Ali and Mona.

11) In HS she wrote for the newspaper and literary magazine, including really bad poetry. Luckily she had amazing English teachers who really encouraged her. In 11th grade she even had a teacher offer her the chance to be exempt from paper writing and just a write a novel to turn in. Sara didn't take the offer--she freaked thinking it had to be a perfect novel (a la Spencer).

12) For her writing schedule, she writes everyday 9-3 or 4, but will work longer hours when on deadline. When she's working on a brand new book she tends to procrastinate. Since PLL books came out every 6 months she forced at least a chapter and a half out a day. She can also read and edit one of her books in their entirety in a day (OMG that's insane).

13) Sara is happy with the PLL show and LOVED the pilot because it was basically book 1 and stayed super close to the story. She also loved the dance episode and the finale which looped back to a lot of events that took place at the end of book 3, nicely wrapping it all together.

14) She doesn't mind that the girls on the show look different from how they are written/imagined in her mind because they have the personalities down so well.

15) She got to visit the LA set with her husband and LOVED the experience. She's not sure she'll have that experience again or be on tv again--unless of course Mr. Fitz needs more subbing! She said everything that's happened is pretty surreal but is thrilled because she can write for a living and knows what a privilege that is.

16) There will be 12 new episode of Pretty Little Liars in January.

17) To create Ezra Fitz she imagined all the qualities she'd most like in a guy, because she is most like Aria. Their romance in the books make her cringe but on the show they seem less scandalous to her--maybe because Ezra looks so young?

18) The boys in the books are like a lot of boys she knew mashed together. Ali and Mona are based on girls she knew. She had friends with parents like Aria's. One of her BFF's had super strict parents like Spencers.

19) In 3rd grade she wrote a Maze Magazine and handed it out to everyone. She was friends with an Ezra Fitz in elementary school and always liked the name.

20)Ali is her sister's name!

21) Sara writes 20 page outlines for each book including details on flashbacks, clues etc. The outlines are almost as complicated as the books.

22) She's a pantser when she writes the adult novels

And there you have it!

So....I have a copy of Pretty Little Liars signed by Sara Shepard to give to one of you!

Yay!

To enter....

1) Comment below on any part of the recap +1
2) Follow my blog +1
3) Tell me if you're an old follower +3
4) Tweet +2
5) Sidebar +2
6) Blog this epicness +5

Cool?

Contest ends Friday September 3rd at 11:59PM.

Nightshade Arc WINNER!

Wooo! I loved the excitement you guys had for this contest because this book is AWESOME!

And after tallying up all the points--seriously without these contests I'd never do math--and going to randomizer.org....we have a Nightshade winner!!!!!

And it is...

(drum roll)

STELLA (EX LIBRIS)

Yay!!!! Congrats!!!

Thank you to everyone who participated. And come back tomorrow...

I have another giveaway and it involves Pretty Little Liars and things that are signed:-)

Nightshade Arc Contest Reminder!

Hey Guys!

I just had to jump in here real quick to remind you that the contest for my beloved arc of Nightshade ends at 11:59 tonight!!!!!!! AAAAH!

So if you haven't entered yet--what are you crazy?--make sure you do so today.

And...HAVE A GREAT Weekend!

I have some fun things planned for next week--an unorthodox--Frankie Styled--review of Mockingjay--a total gushing of The Duff--and I got to hang out with Sara Shephard, you know the author of Pretty Little Liars, last week and need to fill you in on the details.

So enjoy the last weekend of August :-)

Mockingjay Midnight Release Party Recap

So it took me like 2 days to fully read AND recover from the epicness that was Mockingjay along with the epicness and sleep deprivation that was the Midnight Release Party.

But I'm back and ready to rock. So recap ahoy!

6:35 Arrive in NYC, find Sara at Pennstation

6:45 Subway ride to Books of Wonder

7:00 Arrive at Books of Wonder an HOUR before the party starts. We are SO cool!

7:01 See the line. Realize people have been lined up since 4.

7:05 Go to the back of the line.

7:06 We are NOT so cool.

7:07 But everyone likes our shirts. We ARE cool!

Mine says "District 12 Tribute" Sara's says "Girl on Fire"

7:15 See Violet Haberdasher in line! LOL! We're both from Philly but we only run into her in NYC.

7:30 Spot super agent Joanna Volpe in line!

7:45 Find Elizabeth Law, Egmont Editor cruising through the line.

7:50 Have our pictures taken for The T-Shirt Project! (Sara and I are the last 2 in the post)

8:00 The line starts moving! YAY!

8:01 Realize that super agent Suzie Townsend is number 1 in line! Man, how did she do that?

8:30 Get INSIDE the store! SQUEEEE!

8:45 Realize that even though we are IN the store, we are STILL in line--it wraps around the whole interior!

8:50 Effie Trinket!

8:55 Spot my favorite Books of Wonder Book Seller ALLARY! LOVE!!!

9:00 Get our welcome packets, sign line numbers, lottery tickets, etc!

9:15-9:45 Desperate search for coffee in the city! This party goes WAY past our bedtimes.

10:00 Join the other people waiting on the floor for David Levithan and Suzanne Collins to appear.

10:45 Raffle prizes from Books of Wonder owner, Peter! YES!

11:15 We do not win any raffle prizes. Fail!

11:25 OMG! Realize we're about to see Suzanne Collins! SQUEEE!

11:30 David Levithan comes out to introduce her!!! He's so beyond adorable.

11:35 SUZANNE COLLINS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! READS!!!! We get a snippet from Catching Fire and the first few pages of Mockingjay! OMG!!!!!!

11:37 Seriously, you could hear a pin drop next to her voice. Everyone is SILENT with a few gasps here and there.

11:59 COUNTDOWN is on!!!!!!!!!!

12:00 MIDNIGHT!!!!!! Happy Mockingjay Day!

12:15 Get in line to get our books

12:20 Hold my copy of Mockingjay! SQUEE!

12:30 Suzanne Collins stamps our books!

Sara is beyond excited to have her book stamped!

12:40 OMG!!!! We haz stamped copies of Mockingjay!

12:45 Speed Drive home so we can read!

4 AM Pass out!

Ok, I hope you enjoyed!

Happy Mockingjay Day!

Me about a minute after Suzanne Collins stamped my copy!

Happy reading everyone! I'll be back after I've recovered to recap the night for you and share pictures:-)

Mockingjay Spoiler Paranoia

OMG you guys! I am going to NY TONIGHT to see Suzanne Collins and get MOCKINGJAY at midnight!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!

I'm pretty excited. But I'm also terrified! Of spoilers.

You see, these midnight release parties are tricky things. A bunch of excited people together in one place, sharing oxygen, reading the same book---dangers are easily afoot. All it takes is one foolish person, or...one five year old to completely ruin everything for you.

Don't believe me?

Here's a history of my Harry Potter Midnight Release Parties. The good. The bad. And the paranoid.

Order of the Phoenix: The Good

My first foray into the midnight release party phenomenom! This was one kick butt night. I came. I sat. I got my copy and I stayed up the entire night reading. I thought to myself...now why don't we have more parties like this all the time? I'd totally come to the bookstore at midnight for a party, even for a book I didn't like. Truth! Because books are parties. I was so happy to sit there and read and revel in the awesomeness of Harry Potter with every other person in my town. Anyway I walked away from this night completely care free, lalalalala midnight release parties rule, I love books, I love people! Yay!

A few years later...
Halfblood Prince: The Bad

My second time at a midnight release was not so good. After waiting for hours, eating Bertie Botts every favor jelly beans (they MEAN every flavor) and being sorted into Gryfindor (obviously), donning my Harry Potter lightning tattoo on my forehead (what! don't judge) I got in line and got my book. After a miniature squeee-fest at holding the new book in my hands I then proceeded to the cafe to locate the rest of my peeps so we could head home and begin an epic night of reading.

Little did I know that my trip into the cafe was about to take a horrid detour for the worse, forever turning me into a paranoid midnight release partier.

God knows why, but...some girl was hanging out one table away from me with her 5 year old sister. 5 YEAR OLD SISTER (bolded so you can fully understand my dismay at what happens next).

The girl has her copy of the book WIDE open, showing some page near the end to her sister. And then...I kid you not, the 5 year old goes, "Dumbledore goooooone!"

Yes. The ending of Halfblood Prince was ruined for me by a 5 year old.

Of course then I went home and saw this horror on the internet furthering my case of why these release parties were dangerous.



Needless to say I was traumatized. I mean why would people do this? Is there really evil in the world? And more importantly, how on earth was I going to protect myself for the release of Deathly Hallows?

Deathly Hallows: The Paranoid

For the release of Deathly Hallows, I went into battle mode. I was going to get my book and I was going to get out of the store IMMEDIATEDLY! NO one and I mean NO ONE was going to ruin the ending for me.

So after I partied and checked out all the costumes, I anxiously did the countdown to midnight.

3...2...1...

And at that moment, when the boxes of books were opened and could possibly get into the hands of potential 5-Year-Old-Spoiling-Monsters across the store, I left.

I know...I'm crazy.

Anyway I left my prepaid ticket in the hand of a friend. And I ran to my car where I proceeded to park in the darkest and most remote place in the lot, blasting music loudly in case any maniacs decided to do a drive-by spoiling.

Once my friend had the book in her hands, I sped across the parking lot, opened the door and had her jump inside the car. And then like a bandit, I sped the heck out of there and home.

You see? Paranoid. But it was so worth it!

Now what am I going to do tonight? I don't know. Me and FNC Sara are going to be out of our element in NYC. We also have the added obstacle course of waiting in line after the release for Suzanne to stamp our books--so no quick get aways.

What do you think? Should I bring my ipod to block out sound? A blindfold?

Anyway....Mockingjay in less than 24 hours! Squeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!

P.S. Check me out tonight on twitter @frankiediane and also @FirstNovelsClub for up to the minute details on the party tonight (Spoiler Free--I promise).

Is anyone else going to be there? Let me know!

Nightshade Arc Giveaway!

Psssst! Something's happening on my blog today!


Elena: *googles "things that are awesome" on the internet* Ooooooh! Look! Frankie's having another contest. She's giving away a copy of Nightshade! Holy crap! Ever since I stopped writing in my diary I've been dying to read a book--not about vampires thank you very much--and this one has werewolves in it! PERFECT!

*calls Bonnie*



Bonnie: Hello?

Elena: You'll never believe what I found! Frankie's having this contest on her blog and she's giving away an arc of Nightshade!

Bonnie: Is this another vampire novel? Because I'm getting really sick of--

Elena: There's witches in Nighshade!

Bonnie: Sold!

Elena: Meet me at the Only Restaurant in Mystic Falls and we'll chat!

Bonnie: Cool!

*calls Caroline*

Bonnie: Caroline, hey! You should meet me and Elena at the Only Restaurant in Mystic Falls. She found this really awesome contest online and was going to tell us about it.

Caroline: Why didn't Elena call me herself?

Bonnie:...

Caroline: I mean, as if being used as Damon's chew toy for 3 whole episodes wasn't enough to add to my humilation, I wasn't even on the show at all in the middle of the season.

Bonnie: Stop being a drama queen! If you show up now you'll probably get some screen time in season 2. Also Nightshade sounds totally awesome. Now move your butt!

Caroline: K.


*Elena, Bonnie and Caroline all discuss ways they can rig Frankie's contest so they can win*

*Douche-bag Tyler walks by*

Tyler: Hey, are you guys talking about Nightshade?

Elena: Yeah.

Tyler: Aren't there werewolves in that book?

Bonnie: Yeah.

Caroline: Why do you want to know?

Tyler: Because I'm going to come out as a werewolf in season 2. Ummmm, no reason. *walks away*

Soooooo, I guess you all now know--I'm giving away my arc of Nightshade! SQUUEEEEEE! <--that squee was for you guys by the way...I'm not too squeeey over this because I LOVED Nightshade and kind of want to keep it for myself and snuggle with the pretty cover, but....I love you guys, and soooooo....here you go.

To enter:

1) Comment below +1
2) Follow my blog +1
3) Tell me if you're an old follower--like you were following me before today +2
4)Tweet this and include @frankiediane if you can +2
5) Add this contest to your sidebar +2
6) BLOG about it! +5

For a total possible 13 points!

Contest ends Friday 8/27 at 11:59PM.

International entries are welcome :-)

And leave me your email too!

Ok, I think that's it. :-) Good Luck!

Nighthshade Love!!!

I have been extremely lucky and on a super-awesome reading kick. I've pretty much loved every book I've read recently--as you can tell by my sudden outpouring of reviews. But Nightshade...just might be my favorite. I LOVED this book!

If I had to sum up Nightshade in 3 words, I'd say it was...

1) Sexy

2) Suspensful

3) Magical

Yeah, hands down one of the sexiest YA novels I've read in forever. Seriously ladies, wait until you meet Ren! He is like the very definition of hotness, plus he's an alpha wolf.

Then there's Shay who's sweet and funny.

Calla, our MC is rightfully pulled in both directions and Andrea Cremer pulled me along for the ride too. Everytime she was with Ren, I was like YES! Go Ren! And then when she was with Shay, I'd feel like YAY! SHAY!

Ok, I have to move on before I go into a gushing rant about how hot these boys/wolves are.

The world building in Nightshade was fantastic! I admit, I was a little confused at the beginning trying to figure out what the Keepers were, etc, but Andrea really pulls all of these cool magical, folkloric and legendary elements together wonderfully. I was also fascinated by the social structure, customs and rituals in the book. Calla really is in a tight spot between Shay and Ren and whichever choice she makes has serious consequences.

Did I mention Calla was kick-ass?

She is! And not only is she kick-ass, she is social and has friends...hell, she's an alpha herself and controls her own pack. Like seriously, I want my own pack. Can I get one for Hanukkah?

Anyway, I adored Calla. She was strong-willed, a bit foolhardy, passionate, protective, and at times, completely vulnerable and open despite how much she wants to appear closed off.

I simply adored all the members of the pack and loved how Andrea set it up so they all had a lot at stake besides Calla. This is something you don't always see in YA novels. Sure, the heroine could lose everything, as could her potential love interest (or two), but rarely do you feel like every single character in the book is in a precarious position. And rarely do you care so much about them.

Andrea Cremer really set up an epic world, and an epic story and I'm just going to be biting my nails until book 2 comes out so I can find out what happens to everyone.

If you like werewolves, magic, sexy boys, awesome world building, tough social structures and good books in general, I think you'll like Nightshade too.

Did my review wet your appetite?

Stay tuned, because tomorrow, I'll be giving my arc away.

STOLEN Art!!!!

So last week I got a little surprise package in the mail that erupted into a TOTAL Squeeeeeeee-Fest when I opened it. One of my beta-readers, the awesomely and uberly talented Tara Sasiadek decided to actually create a STOLEN book for me, by decorating a box, shaped like a book. SO cool! She created a STOLEN cover and even drew one of the scenes featuring my characters Ryan and Lilliana *dies*.

Also, she made me some jewelry inspired by something my MC Lilliana wears in the story. So I HAD to show you pictures. These are my first official pieces of fan art! Squeeee!

Front Cover

Back cover!

Interior of the book/box

Key Necklace on the book!!!!

The Key!

Detail of Stained Glass Window imagery

Close up of Ryan and Lilliana!

Tara, you have no idea how happy this made me. Your art pretty much made my month! And seeing the images of Ryan and Lilliana kind of made me cry.

Ok it totally made me cry!

This is like reason 1,596 that beta readers are AWESOME!

P.S. Tara offers discounts to blog followers...check out the sidebar for more info.

What has made you Squeeeee lately?

Anna and the French Kiss!

OMG you guys, Stephanie Perkins is giving away her last arc of Anna and the French Kiss--aka the book that I will die drooling over if I have to actually wait until December to read it.

So like, whatever you do, don't go and enter her contest--Im only here blogging about it to get more points. Seriously!

However, I suppose I am obligated to include the link to the contest---but DON'T CLICK ON IT! Because I want to win soooooooooooooo bad!

Ok? Got it? Capiche?

Seriously! I want this arc!

Stop clicking on the link!!!!

Roadtrip Recap!

So as you know, last Thursday night I hit the big bad road to Virginia with Donna and Sara from the FNC. We drove, we sang along with our ipods (badly), explored Colonial Williamsburg, and hung out with my agent-mate, Maggie Stiefvater.

And here is my weekend recap in real time!

Thursday Night:

8:00 Arrive at Donna's and load car with snacks.

8:10 Decide that if during the course of our roadtrip, the moon falls or some other apocalyptic disaster occurs, we will have enough snacks to last us a month.

8:15 Hit the road with Donna and Sara

8:20 Hook up Sara's GPS...feel confused...I miss MY GPS

8:30 Get the hang of Sara's GPS, sing loudly along to songs on my ipod

8:31 Remember that I need singing lessons for the sole purposes of singing in my car (I am THAT bad)

9:30 Rain hits

9:50 Even more RAIN hits

10:00 SO much rain is raining that this very well may be the sign of the apocalypse

10:05 Discuss rationing our fruit-leather supply in the event of emergency

10:45 Cries because of all the rain

11:30 Relax in our hotel! YES!

11:45 Discover really ancient mulleted Arnold Schwarzenegger movie dubbed into Spanish....Red Sonja

12:00 Burst into a fit of giggles every time we see a mullet

12:01 Giggle

12:02 Giggle

12:03 Pass out

Friday:

10:30 Back on the road, heading for Colonial Williamsburg

11:30 Realize we've driven only 10 miles in the last hour because traffic is THAT slow

11:45 Eat more fruit leather, screw rationing it!

12:00 Lady Gaga Dance Party in the Car!

2:00 Arrive in Colonial Williamsburg! Hurray!

2:15 Get caffienated

2:30 Check out Mermaid Books!

2:31 See mermaids everywhere!!!

On the ceiling!

On the shelves!

2:35 Find special edition of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

2:36  SIGNED! *dies*

2:37 Realize it wasn't actually signed... *revives*

2:38 Obsess about whether I might have been wrong about the signing....

2:40 Sara and Donna Photo Op!

3:00 Meet up with Maggie

3:30 Visit the REAL candy store behind the one Sam takes Grace to in Shiver

3:45 Play with Maggie in the toy store. Pretend a stuffed wolf and cub are Sam and Beck.

4:00 Maggie explains the deep rooted history of horse poop in Colonial Williamsburg

4:45 Head to an EXTREMELY early dinner with vegan options (for me) and preservative free (for Maggie)

5:00 Confuse the wait staff with my order--eggplant parm, hold the parm...

5:10 Play with trivia questions on table

5:20 Intense debate over whether or not there were beasts or flies in the 10 plagues of Egypt, ask twitter for help...am still convinced that Wikipedia has lied.

5:45 Drive Maggie to library for event

5:55 Stop at parking garage so Maggie can get supplies from her car

6:00 Take 5 minutes to drive what she could have walked in 1 minute...

6:01 Drop her at the wrong door...oops!

6:30 OMG! Giant book statue!

7:00 Event!

9:00 Get books signed!

9:30 Return Maggie to the oh so epic parking garage (walking time would be 1 minute-- driving time...5 minutes)

10:00 Say goodnight to Maggie

10:05 Gear up for 6 hour drive home

10:06 Realize that driving 6 hours is CRAZY

12:00 No more driving. Crash at friend's!

And there you have it! Super thanks to Sara and Donna for a blast! Maggie for being beyond awesome and our full stash of snacks.

Friday Five (or more)!

1. I did not write this post on a Friday.


2. I know, I know...

3. But I only wrote this in advance because I knew I wouldn’t be around.

4. You know…on my computer, writing this post—obviously I’m still around.

5. I’m just not home.

6. I’m in Virginia.

7. With two of my bffs, aka, Donna and Sara from the FNC.

8. Since I’m writing this in advance I can’t tell you exactly what we’re doing.

9. But I’m almost positive it’s fun.

10. And we’re laughing.

11. We tend to do that when we’re alone.

12. But I promise I will update you.

13. And even write a post in real time.

14. So I can say exactly what happened, and not just what I want to happen.

15. While we’re on that topic, I suppose I should mention I just met Brad Pitt.

16. And he proposed!

17. …

18. Alright, you got me. That never happened.

19. Or did it?

20. Hard to tell when you write your posts in advance what the future holds.

21. Ok, I’m pretty much 100% sure that Brad Pitt is not in my agenda.

22. But one can hope…

23. Or not.

24. Whatever.

25. Happy Friday!

P.S. The square root of 25 is 5<--I do math!

Road Trip Time!

So tonight, Donna and Sara from the FNC and I are going on a totally crazy, writer-girl road trip. We’re driving to Virginia….to Colonial Williamsburg in fact. We’re planning to explore the area, take in whatever Virginia has to offer….and...


Ok, so you’re probably wondering why of all places we’d drive to Virginia.

Well…

We’re also planning to spend a little time with a certain #1 New York Times Best Selling Author….Maggie Stiefvater! Yep!

She’s having a special signing event --A Shivery Night That Lingers and so we figured if we were going to go anywhere this summer, it would have to be literary related and Maggie is pretty much the icing on our literary cake and a great way to end our trip. So expect lots of pictures and shenanigans from our adventures to come next week.

Anyone else doing anything exciting this weekend? Anyone take any road trips?

Also, anyone from Virginia who is planning to be there, come say hi!

Nature Trails

So lately, my newest obsession has been walking through nature trails and taking pictures. Besides how beautiful these paths are and how calming—seriously, if you’re worried about anything, go hug a tree—you think I’m joking, but you will thank me later. Anyway, what these trails are also great for—are clearing your mind!
And you know what happens with a clear mind?

Plots, stories and character arcs!

A lot of writers say they get their best ideas in the shower, or a plot problem will solve itself there. I’ve definitely had my fair share of shower ideas…as well as car ideas---and WHOA---sometimes the ideas that come in the car are nuts and I have to pull over to the side of the road because…well writing while driving isn’t really recommended.

So I thought I’d share a few photos from my nature excursions—I’m completely obsessed with this one park near my house now. And I’m getting the best ideas from walking through. It's seriously beautiful--unfortunately, I only have my blackberry to capture shots--my camera is super dead.

I love seeing pathways like this--I love imagining where they lead.

This is my heaven right now.

What about you guys? Where did you get your best ideas and how do you calm your mind when it’s running like crazy with a bajillion thoughts?

10 Reasons: Matched

I've been on a fantabulous reading kick, just loving book after book after book. And my latest love...

Matched by Ally Condie.

So....here are 10 Reasons I Fell In Love With Matched!

1. Xander! Xander was the sweet golden boy of the novel, Cassia’s best friend, and Matchee who she was supposed to spend the rest of her life with. And though Cassia wonders about Ky….I couldn’t help loving Xander. I mean, the boy would do anything for her and he had her back without hesitation no matter what. Seriously! Xander was the nicest guy Ive read about in a looooong time.


2. The Set Up! WOW! The world building Ally Condie has done is just fantastic down to every last detail. It was amazing and in a way…SUPER SCARY.

3. Metaphors for Childhood. Here’s something I found interesting about Matched—a lot of dystopians become warnings or sort of twisted reflections of our own society and culture. Matched certainly was that—but what was interesting here was the Society had complete control over everyone down to what they ate for dinner and how big their portions were--and everything seems pretty...reasonable. When Cassia starts to question the society and think for herself, her thoughts were kind of a mirror image of thoughts and wishes I had as a teen tired of being at the whim of my parents—like I want to decide what Im having for dinner, dammit (you can tell I was just full of rebellion). SO the Society kind of double metaphored for our culture and for mom and dad.

4. Stories! Stories were super important in Matched—because there were so few of them---there were like only 100 songs in existence and I think 100 books too—OMG!!!!!!!! THE HORROR! So not only were stories not emphasized and scarce, but personal stories were just not heard of---when you have no choice and no original thoughts or….if you’re like Ky and have some pretty negative attention from the Society—having someone know your story becomes extremely important.

5. KY! Ok so I kind of love Xander but I also loved Ky! He was so sweet and sensitive and brave and…oh….please please please let there be more Ky in the next book---I need MOAR!

6. Which brings me to….the LOVE TRIANGLE! I can’t tell exactly who Cassia should really be with—I mean, obviously Xander is a great choice, but so is Ky and…and…ok, Im just glad that I don’t have to choose. Seriously, this is going to bother me almost as much as Peeta vs Gale--I cannot choose! But my gut tells me Ky, kind of like my gut tells me Gale...but...I don't know!

7. Cassia’s Choices! Cassia’s character development was very subtle and…I don’t want to say slow because that’s not the right word…maybe steady? It had a rhythm to it that I think fit the character and the world very well. She made some incredible choices by the end that really defined who she had become, but…it was almost like she stayed true to herself the whole time—which was also cool. Anyway, I liked it.

8. Bram! Being a big sister myself…I’m totally a sucker for little brothers or sisters. I loved Bram and loved how much Cassia wanted to protect him. He was so adorable and there was something so real and vulnerable about his character.

9. This book seriously makes you wonder. What if the government could predict your perfect partner? What if they rationed your food for optimal health and weight? What if they killed you before dementia kicked in. Granted…the negatives here, like not having ANY free will, plus only 100 books in existence --OMG-- totally outweigh some of the possible positives here by like a 1,000, but still it was interesting to consider all the ways The Society differed from our government and what sorts of problems dissapeared.

10. The END! OMG that ending….soooooooooo worth the ride and I seriously need book 2 right now! Please? Ally, did you write it yet? Want my email? Ky!!!!!!!!!!!

Anyway Matched is definitely one that ought to be on your TBR list! I loved it.

Obligatory Photo Post

So this weekend my mother hosted her annual Golden Heart Awards Banquet where “unsung heroes” in the community are recognized for their community service by the Golden Heart Group, as well as their congressmen, senators, mayors, and governors.

It’s a really uplifting night.

It’s also one of the few nights each year that all of my siblings are together—are dressed up---AND in the mood for pictures (unlike Thanksgiving where we’re stuffed with tofurkey).


So….here are a few shots of me and my siblings--all close ups I snapped quickly on my blackberry.

Me and my baby sister, Julie.

My sister, Eva.

Me, Julie and Eva. According to Mireyah Wolfe (who saw these on facebook, I look like I'm up to no good in this photo).

My sister, Elissa.

Me, Eva, and my brother, Michael I think we look like an album cover here.

And with my mom.

So yeah, totally random on a Monday. Hope you all had fun weekends too!