Five For Friday

Five things I'm obsessed about this week:

1. The sandwiches at Oui Banh Mi. $3.25 for a giant banh mi sandwich on a crusty French roll. I could eat one every day. Yesterday I had the tofu. But the other choices are equally delightful. And did I say it was $3.25?

2. Stacy McAnulty's forthcoming middle grade novel THE MISCALCULATIONS OF LIGHTNING GIRL -- about Lucy, who was hit by lightning, which left her brain damaged in this way that both gives her OCD behaviors AND makes her a math genius. She's 12 and after four years of homeschooling, her grandma/guardian decides that instead of college, Lucy first needs to learn to socialize in middle school.  Oh this book. It is delightful and funny and serious and moving and not overly sweet or sentimental. You will love it. Coming in May from Random House.

3. We are FINALLY starting the redo on our master bathroom.  It is going to be wild and crazy around here but once you start looking at new tubs and sinks and tile and paint and fixtures you get this sort of remodeling fever and suddenly it seems worth it to spend buckets of money while having to move all my stuff out of the bathroom and closet and probably the bedroom because if I'm going to demolish the bathroom I might as well rip up the carpet in put in new bedroom flooring, right?

4. I quoted from the Music Man the other day to a customer. Because he had said, "We got trouble," and I had said, "Right here in River City." And then he made a face and said, "Trite. So trite. And not amusing." Which fortunately made me laugh in a generous-spirited way. People. Oh people.

5. This week that thing happened where I'm tantalizingly close to finally finishing this manuscript so over course I thought of a new idea and spent some hours writing a first chapter and brainstorming the characters and shhh.... I think I'm gonna love this one, too. So now I know it's waiting for me when I'm ready to work on it!

BONUS: Last night's Watch What's Happening Live on Bravo when Andy Cohen (I LOVE YOU Andy Cohen) surprised Jennifer Lawrence with a mini dinner party with Countess LouAnn and Bethenny Frankel from RHONY! I am TELLING YOU. This was Bravo TV at its best. The look on Andy Cohen's face as he watched the delight on JLaw's face! The whole thing. If you are not a fan you need to be a fan. I am not kidding. Do it. Do it now. The world in general is a swirling trash heap some days and the state of the publishing industry has not been immune (a topic for another day very soon) but THIS SHOW will make you smile. (Okay maybe not every ep. But enough of them.)

Five For Friday

1. Reading Samantha Mabry's Fierce and Subtle Poison which is not only gorgeously written but also a twist on Hawthorne's Rappaccini's Daughter, which is a short story I have long adored. Samantha and I will be paneling together (with others) at TxLA16, on a Fairy Tale Retellings panel on Thursday. If you are a librarian type, please come see us!

I'll also be joining Samantha at Book People on Sunday 5/22 at 2 PM, in conversation with Mandy Curtis from Forever Young Adult! We'll be talking our new books (IT WASN'T ALWAYS LIKE THIS  will be out then!) and magic and mystery and love and other juicy stuff.
http://www.bookpeople.com/event/samantha-mabry-joy-preble

2. Getting ready in general for TxLA16. I am honored to have a big schedule this year:

Tuesday 4/19
Panel: What's New with Texas Authors and Illustrators for MG to YA?
3:00-3:50

Wednesday 4/20
Texas Tea: Meet and Greet with YA Authors
Hilton Hotel
4:00-5:20

Off site event: Soho Teen Night at Murder by the Book
2342 Bissonnet Street, Houston 77005
with Adam Silvera, me, Robin Epstein, Brianna Baker
7 PM

Thursday 4/21
Signing galleys of IT WASN'T ALWAYS LIKE THIS at Author's Area: 1:00- 1:35 PM

Panel: Fairy Tale Retellings in YA Literature
2:00-3:50 PM
with Liz Bramwell, Samantha Mabry, Lisa Maxwell, Marissa Meyer, Liesel Shurtliff and me!

Did you notice that you can get galleys of IWALT on Thursday??
And just fyi Soho Press is distributed by Penguin/Random House, so if you are a librarian, check the PRH booth for any further info about IWALT! Which will be here 5/17! (more on that soon.)

3. So Blacklist. Last night. The big surprise. Not at all sure how I feel about this. Or if I believe it's even true. Hmmm...

But OUTLANDER season 2 is here. And it did not disappoint. Oh Jamie Fraser. Jamie. Fraser. You are the cause of the great Preble household "This is why I must have access somehow to Starz" debate. Which I lost last season. But won last week. Yes, I know. Shallow problems. But still. It's Jamie. I mean seriously.

And in less cerebral matters, RHONY 's Ramona Singer will be guesting with Amy Schumer on Bravo's WWHL next Wednesday and so yeah. The DVR will be cranking. Because where else would this pairing exist except in the mind of Andy Cohen?

4. The WIP continues. All I'm saying for now except that this book is set in Chicago, right in the heart of the city and so I've had the honestly fun research job of looking up El and bus routes and I've been spending some quality time on Google Maps looking at street views. Which always makes me think twice when I walk out to the mailbox and imagine those same satellites taking pictures of me in my yoga pants.

5. Can't wait to show you the amazingly awesome IWALT swag I just ordered. Counting down to 5/17.

Tis next time.

Watch What's Happening Live, Andy Cohen, Shotski Wednesday and Other Thoughts

It's the best live television you may not be watching. Okay, it's not always the best. Sometimes it panders. But often enough it's surprising and fresh and rude and provocative and very New York, and it makes me laugh. It's Bravo producer Andy Cohen in his Clubhouse interviewing a wild mix of celebrities and 'Bravo-lebrities' and other famous folk, some of whom are famous for real and serious reasons. As Andy himself called it on NPR the other day, he likes to have a mix of guest that you might find on either the cover of The New Yorker or US Weekly. Think about that, okay. (Also, yes, NPR! He was hawking his new book and playing a game show where he answered questions about houseflies. Yes, really. Here's the link: http://www.npr.org/2014/11/22/365599417/not-my-job-we-ask-real-housewives-producer-andy-cohen-about-house-flies   It made me smile so much that I tweeted and lo and behold my very awesome editor was also listening. It was a bonding moment. But I digress)

If you don't know, Andy Cohen is the one who's responsible for the Housewives franchise on Bravo. Yes, yes, I know you're too cool and serious to be watching. But I watch. And while sometimes it's too much even for me, I find it fascinating on more levels than I can discuss here and if nothing else, it's like a little morality play some days. And trust me when I say I'm not the only one who has this at the top of her guilty pleasure list.

 NPR has actually talked to Andy a lot about the whole issue of pop culture. Here's another one:

http://www.npr.org/2012/07/26/157248143/at-bravo-a-pop-culture-kingpin-works-day-and-night

But back to WWHL and the Clubhouse. They sit in this tiny space and drink cocktails and talk. They play a few games. On Wednesday nights it's Shotski night, which means that midway through, Cohen and his guests simultaneously drink shots from glasses attached to a ski. So yeah. Dan Rather taking a shot. Julie Andrews, for god's sake! Dick -freaking- Cavett. (if you are too young to know his importance to television interviewing, just google it.)

Even The Daily Beast has talked about this show that you're probably not watching but should be! http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/07/16/andy-cohen-reveals-his-watch-what-happens-live-dream-guests.html

Guests offer up surprisingly candor in silly games like Plead the Fifth. (Maybe it's cause they're drinking cocktails. Maybe because it's the kind of down and dirty talk show that no one else is doing, not even cute little Jimmy Fallon (who does, I have to admit, do other things make me laugh, like photo bombing family pics on top of 30 Rock with Cameron Diaz) It's why he gets one on ones with Cher. And Oprah. (Who gave in and said his name in that Oprah voice. "Andyyyyyyyy Cohennnnn" which made him delighted in a real way) And Lady Gaga, who, according to WWHL lore, also peed in the dressing room trash can. (one can only wonder.)

Mashable has talked about this, too! http://mashable.com/2012/05/08/watch-what-happens-live/

So yeah, he's also interviewing Teresa and Joe Guidice of New Jersey Housewife and indicted for tax fraud fame. And the episodes that air from SXSW in Austin sometimes feel a bit self-conscious. But he paired Tori Spelling with George Takei once! And Soleil Moon Fry (little Punky Brewster!) with Dr. Sonjay Gupta. Seriously. It happened. And a recent favorite: Amy Sedaris and Deeprak Chopra. Sitting together for 30 minutes. Talking.

I could go on. But I have a book due by the end of the year and I finally know where the plot is going and so I better jump in there and finish the darn thing.

If you're not watching -- it's on 3 or 4 nights a week on Bravo. You won't be sorry. I promise.

Five for Friday

Simply cannot believe it is already Friday, but 'tis true. Head has been buried in writing --some on new secret project, some on IT WASN'T ALWAYS LIKE THIS--which you won't see until spring 2016 (from Soho Press), essentially 2 years from now. In writing land, that's like, um, tomorrow. I love those heady moments when a story is new and fresh and anything is possible. They make up for those moments like yesterday when you've written a synopsis five times and it's still not working. One of the great mysteries of the author life-- how you can write the whole darn book but the synopsis makes you want to curl up in the fetal position and weep. (which possibly I did)

In no particular order, here's what I'm obsessed with this week:

1. The dog's recovery from her UTI. I will not tell you how much the vet bill was. Let us say that the hubs and I could have flown somewhere. Together. But she is perking up now, Miss Lyla. And seems to find the taste of her new pro-biotic sprinkle quite pleasing. I, on the other hand, think it smells like flowers and rear end. Which, you know, are good smells when you're a dog.

2. Book 4 of Outlander. I said I'd take a break and read something else. I read something else but also kept going. Cause Jamie and Claire are in America now. The New World! And I feel like I'm there with them. And Gavin Hayes just got hung and now Jamie and the other Scots are singing a Gaelic tune to him in the tavern. And so it goes in this addictive series.

3. Maleficent. The movie. I never want to like Angelina Jolie. I really don't. But I think this movie is going to rock. Now I just need to find the time to see it.

4. Upcoming events that I'm really excited about! A library book club visit in Austin! (Will report soon). A signing at Katy Budget Books this Sunday with my girls Sophie Jordan and Christie Craig (CC Hunter). I'll be signing the new A-WORD (Soho Teen) and also SWEET DEAD LIFE and more!

5. And this line of Ciersi's from Game of Thrones. "Everywhere in the world, they hurt little girls." 

Enough already, world. Seriously. Enough.

There's much more, of course, like how I wish I was at the Children's Author Breakfast at BEA, which so loved attending 2 years ago. Or how I think Crossbones might be worth watching. And how if you're not watching Watch What's Happening Live with Andy Cohen on Bravo, you're seriously missing out on amazing live television. I am not joking.

Tonight is the launch party at Blue Willow for my buddy and debut author and fellow YAHOU, Jennifer Mathieu. THE TRUTH ABOUT ALICE is going to be huge. It is a phenomenal new voice. It's out next week from Roaring Brook. Jen will be touring with Fierce Reads. She is funny and whip smart and a fellow NU grad. She writes like a dream. Pick up this book!

Okay, that was way more than 5, right?

Happy Friday!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THIS IS W.A.R. by LISA AND LAURA ROECKER

I first met ‘THE SISTERS’ – as our mutual Soho Press publicist, Meredith Barnes like to call them, yes, with the CAPS—back in March 2010 at the launch of Sourcebooks Fire YA imprint. My debut DREAMING ANASTASIA had just come out a few months back and their debut THE LIAR SOCIETY, was on its way. We chatted briefly, the way people do at these things. We listened to Tiger Beat play, because yeah, we shared (and still share) an editor—Dan Ehrenhaft— who plays guitar in an all YA author band with Libba Bray singing vocals. Which yeah, is very cool. Sometimes mind-blowing.

But back to LISA AND LAURA! They rock. LIAR SOCIETY came out and I loved it. Secret society, private school, kick ass girls kind of mystery. Sleek and fun and oh so well-written. As were the two sequels.

And the best part was, that even though they were in Ohio and I was in Texas and we have honestly NEVER SEEN EACH OTHER IN PERSON again, we kept up the conversation. Why, you may ask? Is it because you chat about publishing and the brilliant people you work with and the FATE OF THE BOOK? Because we both have new books as part of yet another debut imprint – SOHO TEEN at SOHO PRESS, a wonderful, nimble publisher of fabulous books including ours? And we both work with editor Dan again, now at Soho Press?

Nah. It’s because along the way we discovered our mutual low brow TV tastes. Specifically all things Bravo. Housewives. All of them. Andy Cohen, in general. Gallery Girls (a travesty that they cancelled after only one season). Princesses Long Island. I could go on. But I will spare you. Let us just say           WE BONDED. Andy Cohen needs to have us all behind the bar on Watch What’s Happening Live. Meredith Barnes needs to GET ON THIS!

THE SISTERS are here with me to talk about THIS IS W.A.R., their new YA, out today from Soho Press! Here is a brief synopsis:

This is not a story of forgiveness... 

The mystery of their best friend's murder drives four girls to destroy the Gregory family. Emily Thorne would be proud.

Everyone at Hawthorne Lake Country Club saw Willa Ames-Rowan climb into a boat with James Gregory, the Club’s heir apparent.

And everyone at Hawthorne Lake Country Club watched him return. Alone.

They all know he killed her. But none of them will say a word. The Gregory family is very, very good at making problems go away.

Enter the W.A.R.—the war to avenge Willa Ames-Rowan. Four girls. Four very different motives for justice and revenge, and only one rule: destroy the Gregory family at any cost.

I know, right?? I was lucky to read an ARC and so I’ve known for awhile how kick ass this book is! In fact one lucky one of you will WIN AN AUTOGRAPHED COPY!! So make sure to enter the Rafflecopter giveaway!

But first, Lisa and Laura are chatting today about reviews. Yeah, I know, everyone’s favorite thing, right? Of course, people like Publisher’s Weekly are saying fabulous things about THIS IS WAR. “The Roecker sisters (the Liar Society books) weave money, power, and secrets into this suspenseful story of four teenage girls determined to avenge their friend’s murder.”

But every author knows that reviews can be tough. So here’s some advice from my favorite SISTERS!

My senior year of high school, I took AP English and my teacher hated me. I think he thought I was an idiot. I’d write a response to one of his prompts and his red pen remark would read, “Perhaps you’re thinking of the movie version” or some other hate-filled reaction. I’m not saying I was a genius, I wasn’t, but I wasn’t that stupid. And for the record, I did actually read Hemingway’s A FAREWELL TO ARMS and I wasn’t confused by Bullock’s performance dammit.

The point is, there’s nothing worse than writing that poem, you know the one, that beautifully constructed (I use the term loosely) poem about heartbreak and loss with hope just skirting around the edges and knowing, positively knowing that today you’ll be asked to read yours aloud because it most definitely is the best in the class. And then having said poem returned without comment but rather a big, fat, red ‘C’ at the top of the paper. Average. Sure it could have been below average, God knows it probably was, but, but, but…

Well, reading reviews is kinda, sorta like that. Only more than 30 people are listening and they have no idea who you are and you’re the fly on the wall, the one who really isn’t supposed to be reading anyway and certainly shouldn’t be reacting even if it is within the confines of your own, broken heart. See? I was a poet.

I always know a bad one’s coming when I get a single link in a text from Lisa. It looks like Spam and if I were smart, I wouldn’t take the bait. But according to my high school English teacher, I’m not smart, so I always click. And WHAM. A review. A BAD review with comments. Lots of comments. I’m whisked back to high school and can practically hear the snickering rising from those God forsaken metal desks with the too-small chairs attached. These girls are vicious! They’re laughing at lines, ridiculing characters, burning books, researching our other books so they can burn those too. It’s all very tragic. We didn’t even get a C. We’re not even average. The lines we read aloud to each other, the words we lingered over, the characters we became are reduced to a pile of 50+ catty, mean-spirited comments.

But what’s a pair of writer-sisters to do? Give up? We considered it. Respond? Oh, lord no. Cry together? Sometimes. Laugh? Always. The harsh reality is that you’re the ones standing naked at the front of the room. And you put yourself there on purpose. And readers are supposed to pick apart and disagree and judge. In fact, that’s the whole point. So, we give a loving pat to the book we still adore and we look forward to the next. Because that’s what writers do. We write!

And now, the giveaway!! Since this is a holiday week, the giveaway will run through next Tuesday, 7/9!

 a Rafflecopter giveaway