Win-It Wednesday: Recycling

I'm preparing for turkey, which means I had to pre-schedule this entry... you have one more week to win How to Be Popular by Meg Cabot, so keep the entries coming! If you want a second entry into the contest, tell someone about Win-It Wednesday and this week's giveaway (blog it, bulletin it, comment somewhere, talk about it, whatever works), and comment below tellling me that you did it. Voila! Two entries. Yes, this is lazy, but I can't be blogging all the time (just most). Happy Thanksgiving!!

Where you can find me...

On Sunday, Romer Pedron, a photographer and student at the Fashion Institute of Technology, photographed me for a project he's doing on people "in the industry." It was total fun and he had fancy equipment, like the umbrella light thingy. Here he is in my living room (obviously, I'm a blurry photographer): Hopefully I'll post some of the photos soon. In other news, I'm all over the place lately, but here are some two spots to find me: 1. Visit the readergirlz blog, where I wrote about LETTERS TO A BULLIED GIRL, an amazing new book (seriously, check this out). 2. Go to Teen Fiction Cafe, where I posted a new video blog about what I'm reading! (You can weigh in here on whether I sound like I have a lisp when I do vlogs...) And I might not be around later this week. Thanksgiving calls! Anyone have cool plans?

Cover Stories: Unraveling by Michelle Baldini & Lynn Biederman

Lynn Biederman is my facebook friend, and I fell so in love with her profile pic/book cover, that I had to ask her for a Cover Story. Little did I know there was drama, a teen survey, and saggy boobage involved. Exciting! Here's Lynn:"I thought about the cover of Unraveling 24/7 as my co-author and I were finishing edits. I'm very visually oriented, and everything in my eclectically cluttered house "speaks to me." So, it was only natural for potential covers to appear nightly, like fashions coming down a runway. (Hello, Violet!) But cover ideas halted when, last minute, we decided to change the title from The Deal on the DL, which stood for The Deal on the Down Low, to Unraveling. The generally accepted meaning of "down low," a situation kept quiet and private, suddenly had an alternate usage according to Wikipedia and a NY Times article released the day our edits were due -- 'down low' also refers to men discreetly having sex with each other. No judgments at all, but not exactly matching the content of our book! Despite a new title, we still wanted a cover that related to a pivotal part of the story--The Deal. Fifteen-year-old Amanda, frizzy-haired, and frazzled by a toxic relationship with her mother, whom she calls The Captain, thinks a solution to her problems has arrived when Rick, a popular senior, offers her a deal on the down low. The Deal is a date to the big Homecoming Dance in exchange for her promise to sleep with him. Amanda gets caught up in a whirlwind of analyzing friendships, virginity, and family as she weighs The Deal, all of which leads to her unraveling. We offered our ideas for the cover--Amanda in a prom-type dress with a thread coming out of the hem, as if pulling the gown apart, and spelling out Unraveling, our new title, in loopy string-like letters. Our editor, Stephanie Lane, liked the idea and passed it along to the powers that be. Soon after we received cover #1. So, what did we think when we first saw this cover? We freaked. We screamed. We thought about torching the project and moving to Alaska (pre-Palin!). But we're not dramatic, so we called our editor, who listened to our objections which included that the female pictured looked nothing like a 15 year old. In fact, we thought she appeared older than us--"even our boobies are perkier" my co-author and I told Stephanie. We agreed, however, to take a few days to let the cover sink in and see if our opinions changed. During this brief totally-sweating it period, I looked at covers in bookstores and online, took note of trends, and developed a quick cover survey for girls 14-16, which I arranged to have handed out in a local high school. (Survey asked about fonts, colors, fave covers, etc.) Michelle lived in Ohio at this point, so she also gave out the survey and we compared NY teens and Ohio teens for more information. Then, we took our new wish list to Stephanie. We told her we wanted a photographic cover, set against white background, with a young teen matching the description of Amanda, and we wanted to see her face, not have a headless image. And we sent pictures of prom dresses and asked that it be lavender like the one Amanda wears in the story. We also talked colors and fonts for title (teens said font matters!) and Stephanie graciously took our comments to the art department. When we saw Take Two, we again freaked and screamed but this time out of total joy. What emerged is our beautiful, glorious cover. Our editor and everyone at RH loves, LOVES the cover. We get so many awesome comments about it and it completely matches the mood and tone of the story and captures Amanda, our main character, right down to her wild frizzy hair. We are so grateful to our editor and Kenny Holcomb, the art director. They both cared deeply about two never-been-published authors' opinions. How great is that?!" It's so great! I love that Lynn and Michelle got their voices heard--and the cover is 1000x improved because of it, and the willingness of their editorial team to rework things. How gorgeous is that final cover? I love her hair, her dress, her gaze. Yay. Happy story. What do you guys think?

My Vampire Style

Okay, so here's what I have to say: Edward Cullen and I own the same vertical bookshelf! YES! I love having vampire style.Also, thanks to Mrs. Magoo for doing three video reviews of the Violet books and also for interviewing me. Head over there and say hi! And if you have time, seriously, more casting ideas! Now that I've seen Kristen Stewart in action, I think she might make a good Veronica in the Violet books... or will she always and forever be Bella?

Friday: Robert Pattinson Bloopers

Who's going to the movies today?! Here's a cute Edward--I mean Robert--blooper reel from Seventeen that won't let me embed for some reason. I like it when stars get all doofy like this.Plus, Twilight's lost script by Martha Brockenbrough is hilarious and will tide you over till showtime. For example, this scene's dialogue starts with... "EDWARD: Oh my God! What happened to your ears! Did someone hurt you, my love? BELLA: What? I can't hear you. I'm wearing my earbuds and rocking out." Happy Friday!

I Only Want to See You Laughing in the Purple Rain. A meme!

Liviania at In Bed With Books tagged me for this one, which was totally fun because I love infusing what song my iPod chooses with meaning. (Violet plays "The Song Game" in my books to determine how guys feel about her, which is what I used to do...okay, still do sometimes. It's a sickness).I'll link to videos for the songs I can find on youtube, in case you're curious. Also, after doing this, I feel like I just had a therapy session. Not sure if that's good or bad. Phew, music is really powerful! Here goes. 1. Put your iTunes, Windows Media Player, Minamp, etc on shuffle. 2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer. 3. YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN NO MATTER HOW SILLY IT SOUNDS. 4. Put the artist after a dash following the song name. 5. Put any comments in brackets. 6. Tag some lucky people to spread the disease. a. How would you describe yourself? Dream a Little Dream - The Mamas and the Papas [Ooh, this one is romantic and gorgeous! I love this game so far. Play this video while you read the rest if you want a treat: ] b. How do you feel today? Virginia Woolf - Indigo Girls [Wow. Kind of sad! Not really accurate, though I have been reading a lot today so maybe my iPod is picking up on that.] c. What is your life's purpose? Across the Great Divide - The Band [This song is adventurous and about the journey of life--I'm into it.] d. What is your motto? Girl Can't Help It - Journey [Um, hilarious. I don't think I can explain this one. It's weird. But I do heart Journey forever.] e. What do you think about very often? Ice Cream - Sarah McLaughlin [Oh man! I'm not cheating, I swear. Very accurate.] I'm gonna make you jump for more, because this meme is long (but fun!)....

f. What is your life story? Little Fat Babies - Sparklehorse [Okay, what?! No kids yet, but maybe someday. And I guess they might be chunky. (Kidding--this song is actually very sweet and about someone's life, so it fits.)] g. What do you want to be when you grow up? Goin' Back - The Byrds [I've always been completely nostalgic, and this song reflects that. So maybe when I grow up I want to remember who I've always been.] h. What will you dance to at your wedding? People as Places - Modest Mouse [No way will this happen. I love MM, but it's just not the dance song. Sorry.] i. What will they play at your funeral? Norwegian Wood - The Beatles [I do love this song, but beyond the opening line it's about pyromania, right? So, take note, and just that first part: "I once had a girl... or should I say, she once had me?"] j. What is your hobby/interest? Underwear - The Magnetic Fields [This just makes me seem totally weird.] k. If you could do anything right now, what would it be? http://video.aol.com/video/princepurple-rain/1799330">Purple Rain - Prince [I do believe that at any moment in time I'd love to see people laughing in the Purple Rain. So, right on.] j. What do you want most of all? Sit on the Sun - Keren Ann [A really sweet song, also incredibly nostalgic (um, okay, my iPod is a nostalgia box), so this fits. I want my memories always.] k. What is your greatest fear? Nobody Girl - Ryan Adams [Scarily accurate. I always fear I'm just plain no one, and this song nails that.] l. What is your darkest secret? This Time Around - Luna [Hmm... this could play into my darkest secret, which isn't really a secret, but isn't something I talk or think much about. Yeah, this fits. But no, I'm not telling.] m. What is your favorite thing in the world? The Long Day is Over - Norah Jones [I suppose this could mean home is my favorite thing after a long day, which it is!] n. If you could have one wish, what would you wish for? Crazy for This Girl - Evan & Jaron [What the--?! How did this song get on here? I mean, I was only obsessed with it for months in 2001... but... okay, I like this song. I admit it. And I guess it could mean I would wish for crazy love (which I think I have).] o. What is your theme song? Preachin' Prayin' Singin' - Flatt & Scruggs Oh, this sucks! I wanted a good theme song but this is on the bluegrass album that's for when I'm driving on country roads. Okay, I like bluegrass, but this is so not my theme song!! p. The next time you hear this song (aside from now, that is), you must dance. Cold Day in July - Dixie Chicks [Such a sad song! Not a dance song! I will not dance to this song.] What will you post this as? Gotta give it to Purple Rain. This meme was pretty fun, so I recommend it to anyone who's curious and who loves The Song Game... I know some of you have your own versions of that! One Rule: Let me know if you play--I want to see!

Win-It Wednesday: How to Be Popular by Meg Cabot

Last week's winner of Elizabeth Scott's Bloom + TESS lip gloss, as chosen by random number generator, is... GirlwiththeBraids! Send me your address, braids. This week, I'm celebrating a momentous moment (is that repetitive?), which is that I read my very first Meg Cabot book! Now, let me say that I've been loving Meg's blog and the movies made from her books for a while. I don't know what in the world kept me from her for so long, but you can be sure that How to Be Popular will not be my last Meg book--I loved it! She's so fun and fast and quippy and heartfelt and just a whole lot of bundled goodness and hilarity. Yay! (Also, she sort of said hi to me when we were on a chat together earlier this month, and I felt a fangirl flutter. So, you know, we're kind of friends. Um, virtually.) So, now that I've read How to Be Popular, it's your turn (read an excerpt through that link). This book happens to be part of a very big book club in December, so if you win it, I expect you to join in that conversation (more details soon). And, bonus, I found three cover images (two are likely foreign editions). But the big one is the one I have. To enter to win, please comment below on this topic: What makes a person truly popular at your school? (Or when you were in school, if you're done.) I think at my high school, it ended up that the kids who were popular in middle school became less popular as the years went on. I'm happy to report that the truly nice ones rose to the top by senior year. Well, mostly. Happy Wednesday! PS-You have until 11pm to go here and try to win a copy of Violet in Private. Go, go!

Win and Chat

First, I'm being interviewed over at Hip Writer Mama, where you can comment to win a copy of Violet in Private, so head over there! (This is part of the Winter Blog Blast Tour, which is filled with great author interviews!) Second, there's a live chat on the readergirlz forum tonight, November 18th at 6 PM PST/9 PM EST to discuss our featured book, Long May She Reign (the fourth book of the Meg Powers/President's Daughter series) with Ellen Emerson White. She actually wrote the first book of this series when she was 18, which blows my mind. I'm loving the book so much, and kind of hoping Ellen's sending copies to the Obama girls. How cute are they!? Oh, and also it's the last day to enter to win a copy of Bloom, so go here for that. Happy Tuesday!

Cover Stories: Dead Girl Walking by Linda Joy Singleton

The lovely Linda Joy Singleton is sharing the Cover Story for the first two books in her Dead Girl... series today! She did such a great job summarizing the stories within her interview that I'll just let her take it away! Here's Linda:

"I was asked for ideas for the cover and I said that I wanted a shadowy image of a girl with a bright light behind her as she walked away, to represent when my heroine Amber has a near-death experience where she sees her beloved grandmother and childhood dog, but then on the way back from the light she makes a wrong turn into the body of a popular, beautiful, troubled girl.

"Flux/Llewellyn often asks the author for cover suggestions. Then they let the art department and whoever is at their top secret meetings make the decisions (okay, the meetings probably aren't top secret, but as as author who would love to know what really goes on, they always sound mysterious to me).

"They hired a professional photographer to design a silhouette cover and they also have an art department that works on it, too. When I saw the first version of the cover (left), I thought it was dramatic and I liked the skeleton-ponytail DEAD GIRL logo.

"To be honest, I had hoped for a beautiful cover like TANTALIZE or WICKED LOVELY. I was pleased, though, because this cover was dramatic and what I like to call a 'selling cover' -- meaning it would grab readers' attention in a bookstore. Still the first version was a little too quiet with a silhouette of a cut-out girl with her hands on her hips, looking sort of like a SuperGirl pose. I liked it--didn't love it.

"Fortunately when they created the cover for DEAD GIRL DANCING, they came up with a different style with more action, showing a silhouette girl dancing with a fiery orange-red background. My (ex) editor Andrew liked this style better, so switched the first cover of the first book to make this design before it went to print (left).

"I'm very glad they came up with the more active design and I'm eager to see what they decide to do with the third book (tentatively titled DEAD GIRL IN LOVE).

"DEAD GIRL WALKING did have two different versions but that's not normal. Usually I don't see covers until they're ready to go. DEAD GIRL WALKING was the only exception since they changed the cover from the original version -- which really pleased me.

"I like the cover a lot. I think it's mysterious, dramatic and hints at romance, too. But it's DEAD GIRL DANCING, the second book, that has the cover I really, really love. I can't wait for that book to come out in March 2009. It's more mysterious, too, with a stalker, an evil cute guy and spring break wildness."

I really like the final version for the DEAD GIRL WALKING cover, too--having the character look over her shoulder like that brings more energy, I think. Thoughts from you guys?

Gamer Girl by Mari Mancusi!

Congratulations to the amazing Mari Mancusi on the release of Gamer Girl. I'm dying to get it, especially after seeing the fantastic essay about being bullied that Mari wrote for The Story Siren. You should go read it (comment to enter to win a book). Also, cool cover, right? I'm totally going to beg Mari to do a Cover Story with me. PS-Thanks to exercise your mind a.k.a. read books for the interview. Read it here.