I made a new Vlog! This one is all about How Buffy the Vampire Slayer Changed My Life. (Which is a very serious subject. For reals!) Please go to my blog to check it out! :-)
I've uploaded a new video! Of me! Talking! About how Buffy the Vampire Slayer changed my life!
A few facts about this video:
1. I chose to film at Richmond Beach on the Puget Sound because it's far from streets and I thought there would be no traffic noises. It's true that there were no cars, trucks, or emergency sirens to contend with. Instead, though, there were two seaplanes, countless boats and ferries, an entire tree FULL of crows, and six trains (six!) that interrupted shooting. Everything took more than twice as long as it should have because I kept having to stop and start over.
2. Amazing Intern Amanda edited out all the footage of me cursing at the various noisy things.
3. Most of these scenes were shot in one take because a) I was trying to finish quickly before more noise started up and b) I practiced what I was going to say whenever a train passed. Which meant that I had a lot of time to get it right.
4. Buffy actually changed my life in far more ways than what I mentioned here. But I had to, you know, keep it concise for all of our attention spans.
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I'm thrilled to announce that I've joined a brand-new group of authors with contemporary YA novels coming out between September 2010 and August 2011! The group is the Contemps and we have big plans for this coming year! Please check out my blog entry, which includes links to our website and other social networking sites!
If you like contemporary YA, I hope you'll follow us and get involved. There will be great contests, spotlights on contemporary novels (not just ours!), discussions about things that are important in the lives of real teens, and much, much more!
Earlier this summer, I received an email from Lisa Schroeder, author of books for kids and teens, discussing a new group she and Lindsey Leavitt were forming to celebrate contemporary YA fiction for the coming school year.
Even though the subject line said something like, "You're invited to join . . . !" my first thought was that I was being informed of this group because I write contemporary YA and could help spread the word. Which would have been great, too, of course. But a second read through the email helped me realize that the invitation was for me to become a part of this group of amazing authors, many of whom have written books that I've read and admired in the past few years.
I sent my husband a quick text about it before leaving the office and he wrote back something like, "That's cool!"
I drove home from work, thinking about The Contemps the whole way. By the time I pulled into my driveway, I was in tears. Dwayne turned off the lawn mower and ran over to me. "What happened?"
I buried my face in his chest and choked out, "Nothing."
"What's wrong? Why are you crying?"
"Just because . . . they wanted me. In their group!"
Sob, sob, sob, Sally Field at the Oscars, etc.
And now, today is finally the day! The Contemps have officially launched our website and we have Facebook and Twitter and Goodreads up and running, too. If you like contemporary YA, I hope you'll check it out and follow us. It's going to be a fun year with lots of great books to enjoy and discussions in which to partake!
P.S. One of our promises in our mission statement is to (over)share. Kind of like what I just did here. Ha!
New entries were added to the Read My Old Diaries page, just like every Monday! This week, 13-year-old Mindi misses "Aaron" like crazy and laments that she's stuck on vacation for over two weeks. (And adult Mindi wishes she could have a vacation that long right about now.) Also, 14-year-old Mindi talks about her day skiing with what might be more enthusiasm than she's discussed anything in these diaries to date!