The Winner and the Foreign Body

And the winner of the Red Glass creative letter-writing contest is…

Emily, age 12! Congratulations, Emily!!!! Enjoy your prize… a signed copy of the audiobook of Red Glass!!!


I loved Emily's letter—it was written from Sophie to Pablo, a year after the book ends. She fills him in on what's been going on in her and Angel's and Dika's and Mr. Lorenzo's lives—and let me tell you, there is a BIG surprise. I'll wait to post the letter until I get official permission from Emily to do so. (If you weren't aware of the contest, you can see the fun and travel section of my website for details. I'll be posting a new contest sometime soon.)

So, last Sunday, I was in a bad mood. I'd just gotten Lasik surgery (24 years in contacts was enough for me) and was assured that I would probably have a "foreign body sensation" in my eyes for a few hours after the surgery. Things were going well with my eyes for a few days, until Sunday morning, when I felt a major foreign body sensation in my eye—it felt like a giant piece of fuzz. I doused my eyeball with drops and ointments, but the feeling wouldn't go away. I was told not to touch or rub my eyes at all, and I practically had to sit on my hands to keep from doing so.

I felt too grumpy to do much-- (did I mention I had a whole big long list of owies including bashing my head on a steel jungle gym bar while playing with my son?) -- so I messed around with the Gimp (free version of Photoshop) and Windows movie maker (even though staring at the computer screen for hours is not recommended for people who've just had Lasik, and was probably not helping my foreign body sensation.)

Anyway, here is my extremely amateur book trailer for The Indigo Notebook. Please, please be forgiving! When I showed an earlier version to Ian (hubbie), he said, "Cool," and tried to leave halfway through.

"Wait!" I commanded/whined, and he watched the second minute, sighing and rolling his eyes.

"So, what do you think?" I asked afterward.

Short pause. "Cool." And he headed to the door.

I chased him outside. "Really? Any more specific feedback?"

"Well, actually, I was trying to be diplomatic, but, how shall we say this, your video might have the opposite effect to what you intend."

"You mean it would make people NOT want to read the book?!"

"Um, it's kind of boring."

I swallowed my urge to threaten to omit him from acknowledgments in future books (I've used that threat so many times he knows I'm bluffing), and told him his feedback would promptly get him kicked out of any writing group. Then I explained that he first must find some positive thing to say about my trailer before giving specific constructive feedback.

After thinking very hard, he said, "Well, the pictures are nice. And maybe you could speed it up a little."

So I went back inside and cut it down to a minute and did a few other maneuvers, and here it is. At least it's short.

(And remember, all book trailers are, as a rule, very cheesy… even the professionally produced ones, I've noticed.)

One of the things I like about my book trailer is that it doesn't have depressing and/or ominous music like many of the other YA book trailers I've seen. (I'm sorry if your book trailer has depressing and/or ominous music—I don't mean to offend you— please rest assured that overall, your trailer probably has LOTS more going for it than mine.) The music was performed by my friend Tino, whose extended family is featured in the images (that I oh-so-deftly photo-shopped). Um, anyway, enjoy the trailer, and remember, if you don't like it, join Ian's club. (And Ian really likes the actual book, so be sure not to judge the book by its trailer…)

Okay, here it is!




Giant Piece of Fuzz story continued…

Wouldn't you know it, I woke up on Monday with that same foreign body feeling in my eye. I was about to phone the eye doc and schedule an appointment because I was sure something was terribly wrong. I examined my eyeball in the mirror once more, and this time, the angle of the morning sunlight was just right, and I'll be darned—There WAS a big piece of fuzz in my eye, so big that I could pluck it out without touching my eyeball. Ah, sweet relief…

Thanks for reading!

Laura

Star in the Forest ARCS!

It's SO much fun to be clickety clacking away in my trailer and hear the UPS truck pull up in front of my house… and to see the driver emerge with a padded manila envelope. Today, when that happened, I slipped on my flip flops over my socks (my feet were cold this morning) and (feeling a little embarrassed at my footwear) ran outside to greet him. I tore open the package (leaving little bits of cardboard padding dust everywhere—I never learn) and I was greeted with two beautiful little ARCS (advanced review copies) of STAR IN THE FOREST! (I say little because they're actually slightly smaller than my other books, in length, width, and height.) And two shiny book jackets to boot! So exciting. This UPS surprise made it impossible to follow my rule of no break-taking until I revised to pg 100 on my next manuscript (The Ruby Notebook).

Um... just turn your head counter-clockwise for this picture. Note the packaging fuzz spilled out everywhere.
The little monster is from Oaxaca, and I just stuck him in the picture on a whim.

This is my first book with B/W illustrations in it—they're kind of old fashioned looking, as is the cover illustration itself… well, maybe classic is more the word I'm looking for. The illustrations remind me of books I loved as a kid, and I feel ridiculously pleased to feel part of this tradition now. I think the dog illustrations really help show his personality.

Here's a summary of Star in the Forest, which is for middle/upper elementary ages and up:

Zitlally feels so alone. Papa isn't there anymore to whisper to her in star language. Mama is always on the phone, worried. And her sisters are just as scared as she is. Everyone is thinking about that day.
The day Papa was pulled over for speeding.
The day the police found out that Papa was an immigrant without papers.
The day her family discovered that Papa would be deported.
Zitlally seeks comfort in the forest of rusty car parts behind her trailer. There, she finds a dirty, skinny dog with a star-shaped mark on his neck. Soon, she realizes that Star is no ordinary dog. He's like the magical animals in the stories Papa told her. His fate is connected to a human's fate.
To Papa's fate.
If Zitlally can keep Star safe, Papa will stay safe, too.
When Star disappears one day, it's up to Zitlally and her new friend, Crystal, to find him… and save him. Only then can Zitlally be sure that Papa, too, will make his way back home—and they'll be a family once again.

So, on a different note, in case you're wondering what I'm up to in my trailer these days… no, I'm not dozing on the comfy futon all day long (as Ian accuses me of doing). I'm revising The Ruby Notebook (formerly known as The Cerise Notebook, Fall 2010 release). I'm not going to reveal the cover yet, but I'll show you this picture of a ruby red vintage circus performer's outfit that I have hanging in my trailer for inspiration.

My master plan is to have the outfit altered into a dress or top or some article of clothing to wear for the book release party (good motivation to actually finish the book)! I found this dazzling garment for cheap at a shop in Boulder, and I fell in love with it (although it definitely needs altering—it must have been designed in the days of corsets when women's torsos had unearthly proportions.)

Oh, and another early review of The Indigo Notebook came in—this one by Sarah Miller (who is both a fabulous book reviewer and YA author)! "... multi-textured characters... a dash of the mystical... unique plot..." You should check out all Sarah's reviews, as a matter of fact-- they're fun to read.


Off to do more revising in my trailer, which I recently adorned with flowers and butterflies and a flamingo I found hanging from the ceiling of our garage!

Thanks for reading!

Laura

After the rain and hail...

Fiona and me

Hello, hello, hello!

I'm in my trailer in the cozy aftermath of a spring storm. I love the sound of the rain and hail pelting the tin roof (it's thrilling and a little scary somehow-- so loud!) I spent the morning and early afternoon listening to wild French music and writing away, trying to get The Ruby Notebook in shape (which, incidentally, is the new name for the book formerly referred to as The Cerise Notebook.)

Thank you to everyone who gave me comments on the title Cerise! I emailed my editor, Stephanie, about it, and we decided that Cerise could be a challenge to locate online or in a bookstore if you have no clue how to spell it. I do like Ruby a lot, though, even more now that we've made this decision. Although it's not a French word, it's nearly the same in French-- Rubis-- which sounds pretty much the same-- you don't pronounce the s. So, you francophiles out there can feel free to murmur it with a throaty, sexy French accent... Another good thing about the new title: I've ended up having fun including some ruby-ish images in the book (there actually already were quite a few...), so I think all's well that ends well. (Plus, ruby's my birthstone, so it's a stone close to my heart.)

Me and Allison-- librarian extraordinaire!

I had a great time at my Red Glass paperback release event at Old Firehouse Books on Saturday of Memorial Day weekend. It was so much fun talking with everyone afterward-- that's my favorite part of these readings! I was grateful and humbled that a few people drove all the way from Denver and Greeley in the rain to be at the reading. (Thank you, Kim and Allison and Alice!)

So here is the almost-final cover for Star in the Forest, which is my middle grade novel coming out in Spring 2010. I like the soft, magical lighting (remember, I'm really into sunlight through leaves...) and how Star's fluffy white fur melts into the grass.

cute dog, huh?!

More about Star later... I've got lots to say about it, but right now I want to post some pics of my ESL students and me at our recognition ceremony. This is the last ESL class I'll be teaching for a while... *sniff sniff*... I started teaching ESL eleven years ago. Last year, I started to feel overwhelmed after the arrival of Baby, but I stubbornly hung on to my last class, since I love it so much. (Teaching ESL is like traveling around the world-- complete with the music, dancing, food (we LOVE parties...) Many years ago, my students were the ones who first taught me cumbia... and a few years later, salsa... and this past year, Jo from Brazil tried to teach me samba, but I can't seem to move my hips that fast. ;) One of these days...

Me, Jo, and Wendy

Anyway, I finally admitted that it's too stressful for me to teach two nights a week while writing several books under deadlines AND spending time with Toddler (AND catching a cold from him every other week-- I'm currently recovering from yet another one) AND managing to have a conversation with Hubbie here and there AND having time to just sit and stare at sunlight through leaves (which, I must admit, is a priority for me.)

Jose Luis and me

I feel so, so grateful to all the students I've had over the past eleven years. I don't think I could have written any of my books so far without them. Many characters and scenes from Red Glass, What the Moon Saw, and Star in the Forest were inspired by my wonderful, warm, fascinating, enthusiastic, smart, funny students, and I can't thank them enough. And my book coming up in Spring 2011-- The Queen of Water-- was co-written with Maria Virginia Farinango, who I met at the school (the next classroom over)! When I was in Ecuador doing research for our book, I stumbled across stories and people that ended up inspiring The Indigo Notebook... so that's *five* books that grew out of my ESL teaching in one way or another. Thank you, beloved students!!! Gracias, queridos alumnos!!! Obrigado!!!

Me and Fernando

May is officially over, which means that my month of fame and glory with the readergirlz is over... such a great time! I'm hooked, and I'll definitely be dropping into the site to chat and comment and read about the other books they're featuring this year. They've archived all the discussion threads, including the live chat (plus the interview, book club party ideas, etc) so if you have time, check it out! Minnie at Athena's YA Book Review did an awesome job of listing the highlights of the chat in her blog-- thanks, Minnie!
Being involved with readergirlz last month had the added bonus of making me aware of all the amazing author/reader blogs out there... I could spend all day wandering around their words of wisdom (but I don't because I unplug my wireless for a few hours every day so I can get some writing done!) I discovered Laini Taylor's blog, which has fantastic essays about the writing process (plus it's got cool artwork that she did herself.) I love her metaphor for the "exploratory" draft of a novel: you've seen the jungle from above and taken notes on it from a big-picture bird's-eye view, but during the exploratory draft, you're down on the ground with your machete, sweating and chopping a path through the underbrush, feeling lost and scared and just hoping you'll survive. I recently finished that phase of The Ruby Notebook, and having survived that (thankfully!), I am now revising, which feels much less scary...

Okay, thanks for reading!

xoxo
Laura

Steamboat Springs trip!

Hey everyone!

I just got back from a gorgeous weekend in Steamboat Springs, Colorado-- a lil hot-spring-laden-mountain town three and a half hours by car from our house-- just head west down a winding canyon road along the rushing Poudre River and over pine-covered mountain passes. I went there with Hubbie and Toddler for a vacation/bookstore signing. We stayed at the groovy Rabbit Ears Motel in a room with a balcony overlooking the Yampah river.

The signing was at Epilogue, an extremely adorable bookstore on the main street. If I owned a bookstore, I'd want it to look something like this. Notice all the charming features.

*atmospheric lighting* (one quirk of mine is that I'm super-sensitive to lighting-- infuriatingly so, according to my husband, who has tried in vain to have us switch to all fluorescent lights, but that's one sacrifice I just can't make...)

Lovely, golden quote on the wall

tea and cupcakes!

Pat, the events coordinator, me, and Erica, the owner-- I could've stayed on that cozy couch talking to them all afternoon...

Several of these girls are writing their own BOOKS at the moment! So impressive!

Mary and I got lost in a fun conversation about one of our favorite topics... OAXACA!

soaking in the hot springs... ahhhh....

Hubbie striking a pose at Creekside restaurant, where we ate a yummy brunch accompanied by guitar music on Sunday (Epilogue's gracious treat!)

Still snow in the mountains!

So now that I'm back in Fort Collins, I've been revising The Cerise Notebook, which is actually pretty fun. The hardest part was getting that first draft done. It's much smoother sailing now that I know (and love) the characters and setting and story and everything.

The ARCs of The Indigo Notebook are floating around out there (hopefully being read and enjoyed)-- and I just got an early review (most reviews won't come out til this fall.) I'm relieved and overjoyed that it's a good one! Voila:

***** Five out of five stars!!! "This amazing book blends coming of age, romance, mystery, and a little mysticism to build an enticing story. The characters become real and I hated to turn the last page and leave them."--Diana Tixier Herald, genrefluent (a fiction review website) & goodreads

I can't wait until it's out there for everyone to read-- it's so hard to have patience during this in-between time...

Please join me for a live chat on readergirlz tomorrow (Wednesday, May 20) at 6 p.m. Pacific time/9 p.m. Eastern (which means if you're in Colorado, like me, it wil be at a convenient 7 p.m.) It's really, really easy to join in the discussion, and I hope you do!!!

Thanks for reading! And please sign up for my every-other-month newsletter if you haven't already-- a new installment is coming soon...

xoxo,
Laura

Lots of old, pretty chandeliers in my life lately... this one's in Epilogue.

New York Trip!

Hey everyone!

It's a gorgeous spring day in Colorado. Got back from NYC last night (where it rained nearly every day, but I didn't mind-- I love the smell of rain on pavement... and it was fun to use my pink umbrella, since I hardly ever get to use it here.)

view from my hotel window

Before I forget, here's some good news about The Indigo Notebook (to be released in October.) It's been nominated as an ALA Best Book for Young Adults-- hooray! I'm so grateful to whoever nominated it and absolutely thrilled that it was deemed a worthy read!

Okay, so my NYC trip--

My main objective was to visit my editor, Stephanie, and my publicist, Emily, and all the other people at Delacorte/Random House involved in my books (turns out there are so many more people than I realized, and they're all magnificent!)


The Random House offices occupy the first 23 floors or so of this building. Stephanie and Emily brought me to a bunch of different offices to meet people, which involved taking two separate elevators. A Charlie and the Chocolate Factory- style elevator would've come in handy...

I had a wonderful afternoon hanging out at Random House. Stephanie and Emily and I had yummy Greek food for lunch at a nearby restaurant. Then we went to the RH offices and I met many people (whose names I've failed to keep straight!) It was touching and a little overwhelming (in a good way) to meet these people who've been so excited about my books and have worked so hard behind the scenes to promote them.

Here's the lobby of Random House-- the walls are lined with old classics they've published-- a very exciting atmosphere!

I did short readings from Red Glass and The Indigo Notebook for a lovely crowd of RH people, signed books, and then went upstairs to record a podcast interview. I got to see the final version of the interior illustrations for Star in the Forest.... wow! Thank you, Gary Blythe! (That's who illustrated them so beautifully.) I can't wait til the book is out in the wide world and you all can see them!

a funny antique toy from a Williamsburg flea market store

Over the weekend, my dear old friend Amanda, who lives in Williamsburg (neighborhood in Brooklyn), showed me around.


Amanda and me at an old Italian restaurant-- Bufanti's-- where a shoot-out scene for the Sopranos was apparently filmed.


My favorite two restaurants both had pink walls and funky chandeliers and cool portraits.

This one was called something like the Hotel DelMonte-- it featured an old-fashioned American atmostphere-- early 1900s.

The waiters wore cute suspenders.

In front of the MOMA (modern museum of art) restaurant (seems like I have something mysterious hiding under my shawl, doesn't it...?)

On my last day, I was happy to meet an Ecuadorian named Marco-- he was my cab driver to the airport, and was enthusiastic about my upcoming books set in Ecuador (The Queen of Water and The Indigo Notebook). Gracias, Marco, por la buena compania y conversacion!!


On a different note, be sure to check out the readergirlz website periodically all month long. There are ongoing conversations about topics related to Red Glass. Join us!

Thanks for reading!

xoxo
Laura

Readergirlz May Issue!

Hey everyone,

I'm so excited-- today is the first day that RED GLASS is featured on the very cool readergirlz website and blog! Check it out-- there's an interview, playlist, party ideas, discussion questions... and even a poster to download!

Please make sure to post comments on the blog discussion during this month of May-- I'll be checking often and posting comments myself. This is a great way to explore RED GLASS...

AND be sure to mark your calendars for Wednesday, May 20. I'll be doing a one hour long *LIVE CHAT* that starts at 6:oo p.m. Pacific time, 7:00 p.m. Mountain time, 8:00 Central time, and 9:00 East coast time.

Isn't the readergirlz manifesta great?

It's such an honor for RED GLASS to be chosen for this... readergirlz is such an awesome site... that's how I found out about The Adoration of Jenna Fox, which I wrote about in my last post. You can check out the other books and authors they've featured in the past and put together a great reading list to last you through the summer...

I'm really happy that the readergirlz feature also talks about the Dream Act , which is proposed legislation that would address the problem of the huge number of teens who are great students and want to go to college and get professional jobs, but they can't because they're undocumented. Many of the teens in this situation were brought here as little kids by their parents, and have spent most of their lives here. Read more about the Dream Act ! You can sign a petition here


Okay, on to other news:

I'm extra-excited today because I'm headed to NYC tomorrow to visit my editor and the gang at Random House... and also my good friend Amanda who lives in Williamsburg. Toddler and hubbie are staying at home, which means I'll get to sleep in past seven (pure luxury). And I'll get to go to MOMA and hip lil restaurants and ride the subway (hopefully without a mask...) Can't wait!

Okay, check back again in a few days for my NYC pictures...

Thanks for reading!

Laura

Bas Bleu Theatre's Immigration Evening!

Hey everyone!

It's a sunny spring day and the windows are open and Toddler is taking a pleasantly long nap. This morning we went on a walk downtown, had some tea at a cafe, commented on passing trucks (he now knows the color yellow-- it's his favorite because he's obsessed with construction vehicles.) On the way home he jumped in mud puddles (which are lingering from the past few days of rain-snow). To his credit, he asked me permission first, while standing at the puddle's edge, ready to spring. "Mess, Mommy? Me mess?" And because he looked so beautiful with the mud-puddle light reflecting on his face, and because I was so happy about the mud-lucious (a la ee cummings) world, I said, "Sure, go ahead." And splat! MESS!

So, on to writing-related things-- I had the privilege of participating in Bas Bleu Theatre's Immigration-themed night of readings and performance last week. It was incredible-- so moving and inspiring!

The evening started with Teresa Funke reading a lovely essay about the longing she's felt to connect with her Mexican roots, despite her mother's and grandmother's rejection of a Mexican identity.

Trai Cartwright (the organizer of the evening), Teresa Funke, me, Gloria Garcia Diaz.

Then I read a sneak preview of Star in the Forest (spring 2010), my novel for ages 7 and up about a girl whose dad gets deported to Mexico. The audience liked it (at least they said they did...), which made me happy, especially since this is the first time I've read from it!

There were two extremely touching audiotaped stories (originally a high school project intended for a radio program) told by local teens about how they immigrated here. This was one of the many times I got choked up during the evening.

Mark Sanchez read his poetry, some of which was really funny (like his infected toe that got up and walked away) and some of which was powerful and sad (about poverty he witnessed in Oaxaca).

Q & A panel after the show. Left to right-- me, Gloria Garcia Diaz, one of the students involved in the radio project, Mark Sanchez.

There was a fantastic Romeo and Julieta scene from a bilingual production of the play-- super creative and romantic.

For me, one of the most special parts of the night was reading my friend Gloria Garcia Diaz's piece about a childhood trip she and her family took to scavenge in a dump in the slums of Mexico City. It's a funny, gorgeous, sad story that ends on the poignant note of her parents playing guitar together... and Gloria tape-recording their songs. It turned out to be a recording she'd treasure her whole life-- her mother died a year later, and her father three years later. After the reading, we played the audiotape-- it was haunting and heart-wrenching to hear those voices and guitar notes from so many years ago. (That was another time I got choked up...)

Here are me and Gloria (to my right, with the pink rose blouse) and her lovely sisters and niece.

So, I finally got my first every-other-month e-newsletter out! Thank you, everyone who gave me enthusiastic responses! If you haven't signed up for it, and you want to, please go here.

As you know if you read the newsletter, I'm holding a creative writing contest to win a free signed copy of the RED GLASS audiobook CD (a $45 value)! Please enter the contest!

I read two amazing speculative fiction/sci-fi/fantasy/futuristic-type books that I highly recommend! I wished I was reading them as part of a book club so that I could discuss them with people-- The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins and The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary Pearson. Both books are technically labeled young adult, but I think adults would love them, too.


The Hunger Games is set slightly in the future-- it's about a girl who is selected by a lottery system to partake in a life-and-death "game" (a sick political variant of a reality TV show, complete with corporate sponsorship) with 23 other teens. According to the rules, only one teen can make it out of the "arena" alive. This is a well-written, multi-layered, fast-paced story of adventure, survival, friendship, romance-- told with great wit and wonderful social commentary.


The Adoration of Jenna Fox is also set slightly in the future and raises fascinating questions about spirit/soul, identity, what makes us a person, and other profound ideas. It's hard to write about it without any spoilers, so I'll just say that it's about a girl who has emerged from a long coma and finds herself without a complete memory or sense of identity. She gradually discovers the mysteries and secrets surrounding what happened to her. I'm sure this could spark fantastic discussions about the ethical implications of advanced medical technology. Really exciting and thought-provoking stuff!

Okay, Toddler's up from his nap now-- we're going to make another mess with the yellow dump truck in the soggy sand of his sandbox.

Bye!
Laura