50K, no Nanowrimo way

I didn't make it to 50K words. Why? Because halfway through my story I decided it wasn't working in third person and I decided to change it. So I've started again. I wrote one solid chapter that I am happy with, but I am waiting on my Sci Fi writer friend to proof it and offer an opinion before I proceed. I need another set of eyes. Although in this rewrite I have given the protagonist a sardonic wit that sets her apart from her third person counterpart. I am quite pleased.

In addition, I have found myself obsessively attracted to everyone on CW's Gossip Girl, in particular Chuck and Blair. Caliente! Seriously, this ain't no show for teens. At least teens get to look forward to having sex with the wrong people. We adults have already made those beds, so now we can live the dirty, sexy, rich life through actors who are young enough for me to have been their babysitter. OMFG!

A Librarian’s Take on Twilight the Movie

Librarians saw Twilight’s movie/money-making potential long before Hollywood put out a casting call. That’s because we’re the ones who field all the requests for Meyer’s books and we know without even checking the shelf that those same books are not even on the shelf for the come-lately patrons who haven’t gotten on the band wagon. We know the hysteria Twilight causes; hell we’re part of the hysterics.

Hollywood could’ve made improvements to Meyer’s Twilight if they just had the foresight. I really thought the screenwriter, Melissa Rosenberg, could have rewritten some of Meyer’s cheesier dialogue (ie. The whole lion and lamb line makes me want to put my finger down my throat and activate my gag reflex.) And Robert Pattinson, who, despite what I am about to write, was a great casting choice for Edward, is uncomfortably stiff, barely swinging his arms when he walks and delivering some lines with such melodrama that I couldn’t help but think, “teens today, everything is life or death with them.” I knew Edward wasn’t going to kill Bella and I just wanted him to relax. Probably the most enjoyable re-write was Charlie, played by Billy Burke, who Rosenberg instilled a sense of humor that Meyer neglected. Aside from Kristen Stewart and Pattinson, most of the actors portraying the Cullens hadn’t played any parts larger than McDonald’s Customer #4. No one saw the potential in this movie and for that reason; the movie didn’t live up to its potential.

Nano-nano

I'm up to 14,000 words for this year's Nanowrimo! God it has taken me so long to get anything going with my novel. And now I have 14K words. Granted, it's a mere 20 pages or something, but it's a start. It's funny. I have had this novel running through my brain for awhile. But as I write, my characters take a more human form, my plot develops, and everything begins to flow together. Now, don't get me wrong. My writing is shit right now. But I have the bare bones of, what I'd like to think, is a pretty decent YA idea. Is it premature to start fantasizing about my book tour? A little? Okay, I'll stop.

Nanowrimo

I am participating in Nanowrimo this year. And I know I am supposed to come to the table with nothing more than an outline of my novel. Which is fine since I sort of scratched my first chapter anyway. I had some inspiration last night and I was writing notes while poor Bob-o was trying to sleep.

I have a lot of books to review and 50,000 words to write in November. I guess I'll be DVRing most of my TV.

What have I been doing?

I haven't written a post in almost a month. So what have I been doing?
Well, I am working on chapter 1 of my YA novel. Yes, just chapter 1. I am a slooowwww writer. I've been reading everything and anything. I just finished Boy Toy by Barry Lyga which was totally excellent; Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott which was totally disturbing; and Blood and Chocolate by Annette Curtis Klause which was totally not interesting me so I returned it after a few chapters.
I am writing book reviews and watching Season 6 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
My novel writing workshop at the community college will be cancelled because only two people signed up for the class! So now I am just going to have to motivate my own ass.
Oh, and I'm dressing up as a "fanpire" for Halloween.
And my teens are doing a Twilight cart for Pimp My Bookcart contest which I can't refer to by name for fear board members and the like will whine about the use of the word pimp.
That's been my October thus far.

Same Difference by Siobhan Vivian (Review)

Same Difference
Siobhan Vivian. Scholastic Inc, $16.99 (304p) ISBN 978-0-545-00407-7

Emily Thompson is getting out of her South Jersey suburb to take art classes at a pre-college summer program in Philly. Detaching herself from her best friend Meg is not easy, especially when Emily has difficulty making friends at art school because she's more J.Crew than vintage. But as Emily's confidence grows in part because of her friendship with the fearless Fiona, and Meg's relationship with her boyfriend deepens, the girls naturally distance themselves from each other. Emily revels in her new persona; crashing art gallery openings and flirting with the teaching assistant. Yet having new friends does not mean giving up the loyal ones left behind, and Emily eventually realizes that not everyone is who they pretend to be. Vivian's talent is that she writes about very realistic and relatable teen experiences without being cliche. Teen girls in particular will be able to see themselves in this novel. Whether they identify with the attention-seeking Fiona or the slightly introverted Emily; they will no doubt find company in their own struggles with friendship, love, and self-expression. Vivian (A Little Friendly Advice) writes with intriguing insight, reliving those stressful and often confusing moments of adolescence where everything mattered so much.

Kim's Audio Book Pic o' the week -- Little Brother

Marcus, a 17-year-old techno hacker from San Fransisco, cuts class to play Harajuku Fun Madness with his best friends. Unfortunately, he and his buds are in the wrong part of town when terrorists attack the city. Trying to escape the massive swarms of people fleeing underground, Marcus and his friends flag down help only to be arrested by the Department of Homeland Security. Imprisoned and interrogated for days, Marcus, Vanessa and JoLu are eventually released while Marcus' best friend Darryl remains inside. Enraged over his ordeal, Marcus distributes "Paranoid Linux" for XBox that offers invisible and private Internet to all his friends. Using the Xnet, Marcus and city teens struggle to take back their privacy and freedom while bringing down the DHS. Yet in doing so, Marcus also has to claim responsibility for the rebellion he has incited and seek help from those adults he trusts.

Doctorow's novel is incredibly smart and scary. Marcus narrates more than a story; he explains technology in succinct terms and explores how easy it is to exploit and evade security systems. This book is embedded with technological knowledge and information that makes it seem so easy to transform your ipod into a super-sleuthing spy gadget. Or something like that. This book does nothing but make you think, rethink, and freak out about everything your government is doing behind your back. Intense, this novel should accompany Orwell's 1984 on that stand-by summer reading list.

I met Holly Black & Tony DiTerlizzi!

I was so lucky that my co-worker was looking out for me. She saw a small advertisement in the Record about the two authors doing a book signing at Book World in West Caldwell, NJ on Tuesday, September 16th. So I raced there after work to get in line. I had an anxious stomach all day thinking of monstrous lines. But I was #5 in line. I have never been more excited to meet someone since I waited 8 hours on line to meet Tori Amos at her book signing of Piece by Piece. [Stupid me didn't bring a camera!] Yesterday totally made my season!

HB and TD are cool, funny, down-to-earth and extremely generous, making sure to sign everything that people gave them. Holly read a chapter from Beyond the Spiderwick Chronicles 2 while Tony drew pictures and gave them to the kids. Then they graciously answered questions from the crowd of mostly elementary school kids. I felt totally blessed to be able to meet them.

Midnight Sun-down

Because of its illegal availability, Meyer has posted the link to Midnight Sun on her website, allowing fans to view the draft guilt-free. Because of the unfortunate incident, Meyer put the project on hold indefinitely.

Meyer's books have excited such passion for teen lit. There are adults reading YA for the first time, scratching at that vamp itch. Personally, I am bummed that there will be no Midnight Sun in the foreseeable future. And perhaps all of us zealous vamp fans are to blame in downloading the damn thing. It just shows how invested we are in the lives of characters; made-up people we think of as real, as our own. You want evidence? Check out fanfiction.net; it has over 36,000 entries for Twilight alone! Think of how much time is wasted by readers desperate to continue the lives of its beloved characters.

Come on Stephenie. Finish Midnight Sun.

Midnight Sun Leaked

So from dancing around some other blogs, I discovered that Midnight Sun (Meyer's Twilight from the POV of Edward) was leaked. So naturally, I went looking for it. I am about read Ch. 1-12 on my laptop and ruin my eyes. Twilight is my favorite of the four. And I need something to redeem Breaking Dawn.

Where have I seen this before?

I am in the middle of reading Ghostgirl by Tonya Hurley. I have to say I grabbed this puppy off the shelf primarily because of the black silhouette of the "Tim Burtonesque" goth-chick cartoon. And it doesn't disappoint. It's cute, morbid and strangely light. But, I'm 100 pages in and already this book reminds me of something.

Beetle Juice! Beetle Juice! Beetle Juice!

Charlotte Usher could be Geena Davis and Alec Baldwin's lost, dead daughter. And Scarlet could be Winona Ryder. I wonder if the book will have any parallel to that ginormous, creepy statue that pins Catherine O'Hara to the floor (if I remember correctly). Wait, there is Petula, the token bitch girl. She looks like she's going to get it.

Book pick o' the week

My book pick of the week is Playing With Matches by Brian Katcher.

Leon Sanders is a 17-year-old self-proclaimed loser looking for a good woman who understands him. That's a tall order for a teenage boy who's only 5'6" and ignored by every high school girl who crosses his path. During one of Leon's pity parties, he cracks a joke and befriends Melody Hennon, tormented by her classmates because of her severe facial burns. Leon and Melody eventually start a relationship but Leon just can't get over Melody's scarring especially when his dream girl, Amy Green, starts to make a play for him. You can only imagine how Leon screws this all up.

Katcher's debut novel is hilarious and sharp. He portrays Leon as a typical teenage male, honest and often misguided. Leon's friends are more accepting of Melody than the reader or Leon would have guessed. Some minor characters, like Dan (the super creepy classmate) and Dylan (the reformed bully) are often the most surprising and insightful.

This piece of realistic fiction is a worthwhile read. So get on it!

Mis-casting of Twilight?

Is anyone else surprised about the casting choices of Twilight? Don't get me wrong, I think Kristen Stewart is awesome (She's currently on the cover of Vanity Fair) and who doesn't love Cedric Diggory. Yet, I would've thought, Twilight being the insane teen money-maker it is, that they would've gotten some bigger names for the film. I mean Peter Facinelli as Carlisle?! Right now he's best known for being married to Kelly Taylor.

This leads me to think that either the director/producers didn't want bigger stars or couldn't get them. If the latter is the case, then I'm truly surprised at those stars who turned it down. If the moms of teenage girls are also placing holds on Breaking Dawn, then one doesn't have to stretch the imagination far to see the blockbuster potential of this movie. Seriously, was Jeff Bridges too busy to audition for the role of Charlie?

**Kellan Lutz who plays Emmett is also in the new 90210 where Jennie Garth, married to Peter Facinelli, will be reprising her role as Kelly Taylor.

I work at a library. How the hell did I miss this cover?

Creative WriTeen

This summer I taught a creative writing class for my teen patrons. I cleverly called it Creative WriTeen. (I doubt I made that up.) I don't claim to be a master craftser of writing, but I figured I could teach teens a thing or two about writing. Speaking of crafting, this program was way more attended than the craft program I developed. (No takers on gocks this summer.)

Utilizing the SMART Board and online resources, I developed 8 lessons about fiction writing, poetry, screenwriting, and even reviewing. These kids were amazing! They participated in everything. One even emailed a guest author to get advice on his script! They arrive to class with poetry, skits, fantasy stories all written on their own time. And they share.

I definitely learned that if a 13-year-old is stealing time from his/her summer vacay to write a poem or a novella, I can certainly utilize my laptop for more than surfing Petfinder.

The Annex

I started this blog on a whim. I write a blog for the teens at my library. Since that blog is theirs, I wanted one for me. Here I can write all about teen fiction, young adult authors, new movies, pop culture, etc, etc. Everything I do at work, except I can use words like ass and crap.

Right now I am sitting in my home office next to stacks of books. Or as Bob calls it, "the annex." I'm almost done with Breaking Dawn and while I want to savor it, I need to finish it. I have 3 other books on my nightstand waiting to go. And they are so overdue.