Friday 4 (because 5 is just one too many for me)

Four things that please me this week:

1.  This is what all of my email in-boxes looked like yesterday:  Empty!  And the folders are all organized as well.  Of course, the emptiness hasn't continued since I put out an offer to mail FREE AWESOME BOOKMARKS (and the offer is still open, just so you know), but I'm keeping up on it.  So far so good.

 

2.  I have tickets to see Silversun Pickups on July 31st!
 

3.  Over 450 people have added FREEFALL on Goodreads!  And I don't even know most of them!
 

 

4.  As you might know, on Twitter, one can categorize the people they follow onto various lists for easier reading.  I often see my name on lists of "authors", "writers", "kidlit", etc.  But the other day, I saw that someone put me on a list of "funny-people."  Morgan thinks I'm funny!

Bookmarks!

I got a box yesterday.  A box that is filled with 5,000 strips of glossy paper.  This is what it looks like inside:

As you might notice, those strips are the artwork from the FREEFALL cover in bookmark form!   (Bookmark design by Shane from Dwayne's band, Alabaster).  Fun, right? 

Since the FREEFALL bookmarks have arrived, I've found a number of different ways that one can use them. 

1.  You can build a falling-down one-story house of FREEFALL bookmarks:

2.  You can make a FREEFALL bookmark fan. . . :

3.  . . . And then hide behind said fan:

4.  FREEFALL bookmarks are also a great way to dress up ordinary pets:

           

5. And if you wanna, you can use FREEFALL bookmarks to keep your place in your own copy of FREEFALL (when you receive it in October, I mean):

As you can see, the options are pretty much limitless!  What would you do with FREEFALL bookmarks? 

(Oh, and if you would like a free bookmark or two or hundred, please email me (mindirochelle AT gmail DOT com) with your name, mailing address, and the number of bookmarks you'd like and I'll do my best to share the FREEFALL bookmark joy.  Unless I get overwhelmed with requests.  Then I'll just lie here curled up on the floor next to my box of bookmarks and wish I were an organized, on-top-of-things person.)

MEMORY LANE: Starstuck by Charles R. Cross.

The first writers conference I ever attended was the Pacific Northwest Writers Association (PNWA) during the summer of 2005. 

This was my nametag. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------->

I also wore cute outfits from Ann Taylor Loft, the agent at my pitch session requested the partial of my manuscript FADED AS MY JEANS (which caused me run into the bathroom afterward to cry with joy), and one of my friends from my writing class placed in a contest at the awards banquet.  Good times all around, I say!

But at the time, even better than all of those things was the fact that at one of the dinners, Charles R. Cross sat next to me.  Charles Cross!  The guy who wrote the best Kurt Cobain biography EVER!  Yeah.  He sat. By me.  No, I'm not messing you.

Okay, so you might be wondering what the fuss was about.  I mean, I wasn't, like, a devoted Charles Cross fan or anything.  But the deal is that he was a real author with a real book out that I'D ACTUALLY READ and he talked to a lowlife n00b writer me like I was worthy or something!

In the days and weeks following the conference, meeting Charles was the thing I talked about the most.  Sometimes, I was really hilarious and said things like, "Oh, that totally reminds me of the time when Charles R. Cross, the New York Times best selling author of HEAVIER THAN HEAVEN, and I were talking at dinner at that writer's conference."

It's possible that some of my friends and family might have rolled their eyes and/or growled at me a few times.  But what a lot of fun it was! 

Thanks, Charles (if you Google yourself), for being cool.  :-)

AUTHOR INTERVIEW: Holly Cupala

Holly Cupala is the author of TELL ME A SECRET, a contemporary YA novel released by HarperTeen on 22 June 2010!

Tell me a secret, and I'll tell you one...
In the five years since her bad-girl sister Xanda’s death, Miranda Mathison has wondered about the secret her sister took to the grave, and what really happened the night she died. Now, just as Miranda is on the cusp of her dreams—a best friend to unlock her sister’s world, a ticket to art school, and a boyfriend to fly her away from it all—Miranda has a secret all her own. 

Then two lines on a pregnancy test confirm her worst fears. Stripped of her former life, Miranda must make a choice with tremendous consequences and finally face her sister’s demons and her own. 

In this powerful debut novel, stunning new talent Holly Cupala illuminates the dark struggle of a girl who must let go of her past to find a way into her future. 

1.  Mindi Scott:  At age eight, what did you want to be when you grew up?  And at age eighteen?  And while you’re at it, what about at age twenty-eight?

Holly Cupala:  A writer…a writer…and a writer! I know, boring. No career angst in there. Though there was some question as to whether or not I would have to be a teacher in order to make the writing happen. In fact, I was just about to finish my Masters in Comparative Literature and start a teaching assistanceship when I realized I had made a huge blunder and forgotten my first love—that, and I cringed at the thought of standing up in front of people and having to actually…talk. So I finished the degree and started investigating how to write. It took classes, critique groups, life, and especially good friends to help me bring a novel into existence.  

 

2.  MS:  Which Breakfast-Club-style label would have best fit your teenage self?  (Clever Examples:  The Bad Ass, The Athlete, The Hottie, The Dork, The Genius, The Psycho, The Social Butterfly, The Band Geek, The Drama Queen/King, The I Wish I Were a Vampire, The Entirely Something Else.) 

HC:  A little of each, I think! Well, maybe not The Bad Ass or The Athlete. Everybody else—sure. Though I was mostly a combo of Drama Girl, Dork, Brainy, Social Butterfly, and maybe a little bit Hottie. Somebody called me “Legs” in my yearbook, anyways! But I kind of wanted to be The Psycho. For a minute or two.  
 
3.  MS:  What are some of your superstitions and/or phobias?

HC:  I’m a bit concerned about earthquakes in the Northwest. I don’t like insects that sting. I think eschatology (the study of the end of the world) is quite fascinating.  

4.  MS:  Without giving away too much from your book, which character or scene are you the most pleased about having created, and why?

HC:  I think I’m most pleased with the second-to-last chapter—the hardest to write! It’s where the conflict launched in the first couple of chapters comes to fruition, and Miranda faces her ultimate adversary. It took me a while to get into the antagonist’s head until I realized she had a secret, too, and how it colored everything she did throughout the novel. It was cathartic to write, and I hope satisfying for the reader.   

5.  MS:  Was there any certain music that inspired you while you were writing this book, or is there a song that could serve as your protagonist’s theme song?

HC:  Definitely. Our friend Kasson is a music producer in several bands and a certain extremely popular music-related band game, and he always sends us mixes of good stuff and music from the bands he’s been involved with, including Splashdown, Universal Hall Pass, and Symbion Project. One mix in particular played a huge role in my inspiration, and I have most of those songs in a playlist on my site (www.hollycupala.com). Lyrics from a Splashdown song appear in TELL ME A SECRET, and the upcoming trailer will feature a different Splashdown song! I’m excited to get to share their music.

6.  MS:  What’s up next for you as a writer?

HC:  My second novel (tentatively titled STREET CREED – Fall 2011) is about a suburban girl who runs away from home to live on the streets of Seattle. She has secret reasons for leaving, and she hooks up with a band of homeless kids—including Creed. It’s gritty and romantic and there are lots of secrets. It’s about what it means to love. 

7.  MS:  And, now, the most important question of all:  Beatles or Elvis?  Please support your answer.  ;-)

HC:  Ack. I don’t know. Both? I think the Beatles are probably a little closer to the style of music I like, but then Elvis’ story is inspiring to me.

8.  MS:  Okay, your turn.  Do you have a question you’d like me to ask my Magic 8-Ball on your behalf?  (I’m telling you, this thing is scarily accurate!  Well, except for when it’s lying.)

HC:  Okay, 8-ball. I wrote the first book in four years. The second book in four months. Will I write the third in four weeks?!? Inquiring mind is dying to know! 

 

MS:  Kind of hard to read, but it says "It is certain."  Which is one of the first positive responses this 8 ball has given for ages!  Thank you so much, Holly! 
 

HC:  Thank you, Mindi, for inviting me to visit your blog—and I can’t wait for FREEFALL! 

Holly is doing a live chat TODAY, June 23rd, at the Harper Inkpop forums at 2pm PST/5pm EST about blogging and the writing process!  (http://www.inkpop.com/forums)