If the Internet was High School, I'd Vote Book Bloggers Most School Spirited

I want to take a minute to say how much I love book bloggers. Seriously, book bloggers are THE BEST. Before I was on the published author track, I loved reading book blogs to find out about great things I should be putting on my Goodreads list. I have book bloggers to thank for finally getting into Sarah Ockler, Gayle Forman, Rachel Hawkins, and Jenny Han. Is there any greater gift than a good book? I don't think so. I love their enthusiasm over books and how contagious that enthusiasm could be.

But now that I'm a mere 7 months (!!!) from publication of my debut novel, I love love LOVE book bloggers. Over the last couple weeks, I've been spotting a ton of Waiting on Wednesday posts, which are inevitably followed by a slew of comments from people who are psyched up about reading Meant to Be, some of whom heard about it for the very first time from a blog post! Thanks to book bloggers spreading the word (and the love!), the adds on Goodreads have jumped to exponentially! You guys, thank you so much for blogging and sharing and talking up my book. I really hope you all love the insides as much as the outsides!

And if you're psyched about Meant to Be, I have some good news for you:  I'm almost done with the second book on my Random House contract, another stand-alone contemporary YA comedy. I can't tell you much about it yet, but I can tell you that I'm working hard to make sure it's HILARIOUS (with some swoony bits in there, too!). There's a little bit of The Parent Trap meets a little bit of The Cutting Edge, and I promise, you're going to lust after it, too!

While I've been a little absent from these parts due to my insane writing schedule, I have been tumbling fairly frequently over at laurenmorrill.tumblr.com, so follow along there to see little snippets of my brain. Posts over there seem to fall into one of three categories:

• Writing is hard, ya'll
• OHMYGOD HE IS SO. CUTE.
• OHMYGOD THAT IS SO. CUTE

It's basically like being inside my head, except less messy and slightly less insane.

Once I finish book 2 (which should be just four short weeks from now!) I'll be a lot more into the whole long-form blogging thing. I'll probably also have a lot more news to talk about, if these recent Waiting on Wednesday posts are any indication!  Keep up the blogging, and if you have a post to share about Meant to Be, leave it in the comments!

Curiously Absent ... aka, the Life of an Author Between Book 1 and Book 2

I know, I know, I've been a little MIA lately around these parts, but that's because I'm smack in the middle of Book 2. And also starting to prep for the release of Meant to Be, aka Book 1 (only 285 days to go!).

And well, I've been spending the last 48 hours gazing longingly at this:

Yep, that's the title page to my very YA first novel, our November 13, 2012! Wendy, my editor, sent first pass pages, which basically means the thing is typeset and LOOKS LIKE A BOOK. My job is to go through looking for typesetting or small proofreading mistakes. This is not the time to decide that I want to change a setting or conversation. That ship has sailed. All I can do now is look for misplaced commas or misspellings.

I estimated that I have to read through 23 pages per day to get through it all by February 14, when it's due back to Random House. I sat down last night to get started, and can you imagine my shock when I ended up at 40 pages! I actually got sucked into my own story, which is kind of crazy since I wrote it and I know what's going to happen. And then I looked over at my husband, blinked back a few tears, and said, "Um, I think this is pretty good." I can't wait for you guys to have Meant to Be and fall in love with it as much as I have. It's funny and sweet and swoony ... it's a rom com with some serious heart.

But it's not all daisies and roses around here. Yes, it's really exciting to have Meant to Be in my hands, almost a real live book, but there's WORK to be done. Serious work. Beyond reading through it carefully for mistakes, I'm also knee-deep (well, maybe more like neck-deep) in the first draft of book 2. So far I've got 6 chapters, 18,900 words, and 2 POVs. Oh, you didn't know? Book 2 is told in dueling perspectives!

And so while reading through Meant to Be, I also have 4 new chapters due, plus a revision on the first 6. All by February 14th. There's going to be some serious celebrating come Valentine's Day, that's for sure! Luckily I can do that celebrating in Montreal, where I'll be playing roller derby, eating poutine, and doing some vacation book research. Oh, you didn't know? Book 2 is set in Montreal!

Being an author means...

I did a big thing this weekend. It may not seem very big to those outside of my world, but it's very VERY big to me.

But first, some background...

You see, I started playing roller derby in 2007. From the very first time I strapped on my skates (a pair of Carreras I got off of ebay for $35), I was hooked. I wanted to skate ALL THE TIME. And that's pretty much what I did. I skated my way through my last semester of grad school. I skated my way to Boston for my first job, and from the time I joined the Boston Derby Dames in the summer of 2008, I pretty much played as much roller derby as I could. I volunteered for extra games outside of the league, I signed up for every extra travel game I could, and I never EVER missed a home game.

Wicked Pissahs v. Nutcrackers, BDD Hometeam Championships (we won!)

As you can imagine, this is a pretty big chunk of my life. I attend 2-3practices a week, lasting from 2-4 hours depending on if it's a team practice or a scrimmage day. And it's not just skating. As a member of the league's executive board, I have a lot of admin work I do from home, and as the manager of our all-star travel team, The Boston Massacre, I'm pretty much always on email organizing games and dealing with team business. It's like having another part time job, but it's never bothered me because I LOVE IT.

With the Boston Massacre at WFTDA Eastern Regionals, just before we played London

 But now that I work full-time and am on a book 2 schedule that's so aggressive I think it would make Norman Mailer cry, I'm finding that I need to prioritize my life in a way I've never had to before. And so what was that big thing I did?

I withdrew my name from tryouts for the Boston B Party, Boston's traveling B Team.

Skating against Jersey Shore with the B Party (photo by Dezdemona Lott)

What does this mean exactly? I'm still skating for the Wicked Pissahs and managing the Boston Massacre, but I can no longer commit to an extra practice every week and traveling to extra games. And that really sucks. Because B Party games are really fun. But I know myself and what I have on my plate, and right now my priority needs to be working on Book 2. And that's the part that doesn't suck ... knowing my limits, and making a big girl decision that doesn't exceed them.

Holy crap, I'm becoming a grown up. When did that happen?!

Ok, now back to work, so that I can get everything in my office done, so that I can do a final edit on my first two chapters of Book 2 before I send them in (Beth, if you're reading this, it'll be later tonight!)

Book 2, I'm coming for you. (photo by Sergio Keith Abe)

Goals for 2012

I'm not a big New Years Resolution person. In fact, I don't think I've ever kept a single one! Well, I take that back. Sometime in high school I probably resolved to quit biting my fingernails, and I managed to accomplish that sometime during grad school. Does that count?

But I am down for goals. I like accomplishing things, like shaving seconds off my lap time in derby, or reading a certain number of books each year. So instead of resolutions, I'm going with goals, which can be accomplished at any time.

This bottle is hanging out at work with me. Love it!

Drink more water ... My liquid diet is made up of mostly Coke and Starbucks grande nonfat iced chai. My body is probably begging for hydration, so I think it's about time I answered the call.

The first bits of work on Book 2

Write a novel ... ok, this is kind of a cheat, because I'm contractually obligated to do this. But I'm going to say that once Book 2 is turned in (around June), I should finish a draft of something else.

2012 Reading Challenge

Lauren has read 0 books toward her goal of 52 books.

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Read 52 books ... this one shouldn't be a problem. I hit 60 in 2011, and 52 is only an average of a book a week. But it's nice to set at least one goal you'll have no trouble accomplishing! This is one you can track along with me (and set you own goal!) over at GoodReads. This one probably also won't be that hard with all the amazing Apocalypsies book debuting this year!

What are your goals for 2012?

This post started about me being sick, and ended with AMAZING NEWS!

You guys, this Christmas season has really been kicking my behind! First I got heinously sick with an inner ear and throat infection that necessitated an antihistamine, an antibiotic, an inhaler, and nasal spray ... and two sick days that were the least enjoyable days off of work I've ever experienced.

Welcome to my world...

Then, after flying home to Tennessee to surprise my grandpa for his 80th birthday, both the Guy and I picked up a cold. Mine came and went pretty fast, but the Guy has been home sick for three straight days and is now coughing like he's got tuberculosis. I finally got him to go to the doctor this afternoon, so we'll see what becomes of that.

Then you add in lots of work (yay admissions season!), manic Christmas shopping, wrapping and shipping, and oh yeah, what was that one thing?

I have the outline for Book 2!

My trusty Rhodia notebook

Yep, everything's been approved, and I'm on to working away on Book 2! I've got a finalized outline due next week and am going to start writing over the winter break. This one's set in Montreal (one of my favorite cities!) and while there's definitely some juicy romance, this one is more about family and friendship and finding yourself. It's written with in two POVs, and I'm loving these characters. And I hope you will too! More info to come later, but for now just know that I'm working hard so that you can have this one in your hands sometime in 2013.

Oh, and I saw an updated proof of the Meant to Be cover ... IT. IS. SO. AMAZING! I can't wait to show it to you, but it'll probably be a while before the big reveal. I think they're still doing some tweaking on it. Also got to see a mock-up of my author bio page ... oh AND I'm getting new headshots taken on Dec 29th, so my face will be all bright and shiny on the back cover.

Um, and one more really cool thing ... What was it? Oh yeah, this:

Uh, yeah... I think that's pretty much all the news! *dies*

November 13, 2012 gets closer and closer every day!

*For anyone who misses my more regular blogging, feel free to follow me over on Tumblr, where there's some more fun micro-stuff ... once-a-week blogging is about all I can do with so much on my plate right now!

NaNoWriMo Day 7: Procrastination Nation

Current Word Count: 9,922

Here are all the ways I procrastinated this weekend, instead of being a good lil NaNo and meeting my word count:

I finally went to Target and bought a frame for my Boston postcards. Not only that, I actually put the postcards in the frame AND hung it! Um, and tonight I plan to hang all my derby awards/pictures ... but I'll write tonight, too. I swear!

While at Target, I took a swing through the toy aisle. Because, why not? Aaaaaaaaand I came home with a 1000 piece puzzle of a vintage travel poster. We're a little bit farther now than when this photo was taken, but there's still several hundred puzzles pieces waiting to be snapped into place. This will provide quality procrastination FOR DAYZ.

I changed my closet over for winter, stored away all my sandals and sundresses (sob!), and got all my sweaters and jackets out. I don't know if you actually change over your closet, but I highly recommend it. Not only do you get more storage space, but when you open up your storage box, you'll get to see all those cute wool skirts and sweaters that you forgot you had. Early Christmas!

I made a scrapbook page for my teammate, Claire D. Way, who made Team USA for the first ever roller derby World Cup. She leaves for Denver this week to train, and then is off to Canada to compete. Our team made her a scrapbook full of fun pep talks and inspiration to take with her (my pep talk went in the little white cloud in the middle ... but I decided not to share it with the Internet).

I'm also in the middle of Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor. It's a little bit too much paranormal for me, but it's ok because the story at the heart of all those monsters and angels is FREAKING AWESOME. I totally don't care that the sexy guy has wings or that people are walking around with animal parts of everyone has names I can't pronounce ... I'm sucked in. I'm reading it now in hopes of going to the Forever YA book club in my area, but I don't know if I'll finish in time. Oh well, still an excellent read!

Turns out the weekends are by far the hardest for me to buckle down and write. I do better on the weekdays, when I'm cramming 15 minute sprints in between meetings and lunches and bedtime. It's the same phenomenon that kept me from being a productive writer when I was only working part time. But never fear, NaNoWriMos... because though I fell just a bit short of my required Sunday word count, it was only by a little. Little enough that I  can easily make it up today and be back on track to finish. By the end of today, I WILL have 11,669.

NaNoWriMo: Day 4

Current Word Count: 6,949

Work was busy yesterday, so I wasn't able to take my standard lunch hour to eat and write. And then I got home and did something stupid ... I watched the pilot for Revenge. I can't help it! So many of you are going bananas for it on Twitter, so I had to see what all the fuss was about.

Uh, I totally get it. This show is crazy campy and borderline ridiculous, but it's somehow aware of itself in a way that makes it cool and ok. And it's ADDICTING. I watched three episodes last night. But then I realized it was almost 10pm, and I still hadn't written a word. Uh oh.

Emily Thorne says knock that shit off and write, dammit!

I was far enough ahead on my overall word count that I could have afforded to skip the day. I was totally tempted. I even closed my laptop and curled up in bed, ready to leave my word count behind. But who skips day 3? Seriously! It's way too early to start slacking, so I opened up Scrivener bound and determined to write SOMETHING. And what came out was an epic meltdown scene for my main character, which may or may not have been inspired by 3 hours of the 21st century version of Dynasty.

I didn't quite hit my daily word count, but I'm still ahead enough that it was ok. And today I'm going to make up for it by churning out an awesome follow-up scene where my main character has to pay for her epic meltdown.

And I'll probably watch some more Revenge ...

If you want to add me as a writing buddy on the NaNo website, just click here (my username is laurenemorrill, same as Twitter!)

NaNoWriMo: DAY 2!

Well, that first shiny day, when everything is possible and you think you might actually write 50k in ONE WEEK ... is over! Now we're on to day 2. Things are still sort of shiny, and if you wrote ahead yesterday, then you're feeling pretty comfortable. If you didn't? You're already feeling the pressure to break even or *shudder* catch up.

I'm up to 4,111 words, but I haven't written anything yet today (saving that for lunch). I'm definitely going to hit 5,000 today, maybe more if I'm a good little writer. The key for me is to get ahead in the early days, so that when I hit the dreaded middle, I can slog through without my procrastination doing too much damage. Then the end is just a dead spring downhill.

This is just a pop in to share my progress and hopefully inspire you guys to put your fingers on the keyboard and get writing. SO GET WRITING! And if you need a moment more of procrastination, here's a few fun things:

This NaNo wallpaper is pretty adorable, and it features a quote from the Gospel According to John Green. Amen. This came from a Tumblr user named serendipity-is-my-stripper-name (which is also pretty awesome).

Another tumblr post, this one from YA author Robyn Schneider ... isn't this writing fort just lovely? If I had a space like this, I could write ALL. THE. BOOKS.

And finally, some inspiration for when the going gets tough (and it will ... oh it will)

If you're looking for some more procrastination (because everyone needs a few minutes of mindless entertainment to keep the words flowing!) head on over to my tumblr. There will be plenty of mindless fun full of YA quotes, Downton Abbey, good looking fellas, and feminist humor.

Happy NaNoWriMo!

First thing's first, thanks to everyone who jumped on board my one-day-giveaway of Possess by Gretchen McNeil! The contest ended at midnight, but I was fast asleep at that point, so I drew a winner this morning. Congrats to Jesse B! I sent you and email, Jesse, so keep your eyes peeled.

So now that the Halloween giveaway closed and we've dawned on November 1st ...

Yes, I am participating in NaNoWriMo this year. Yes, I've participated a few other times. No, I've never won. In fact, I usually don't make it past the first week. But this is the year, friends, I can feel it. I've got a great new idea (some of you saw on Twitter, but I've got a kickin' new character who, in my notes, I described as Lola Nolan + Blair Waldorf). I've got an excellent strategy (just write scenes, don't worry too much about flow). I've got my snazzy new MacBook Air to tote around with me everywhere so I can always write when inspiration hits. I'm using Scrivener to keep track of all my scraps of writing and my word counts. I've got NaNoWordSprints added on Twitter for some healthy competition and motivation. I might even hit up a local write-in or two!

Mark my words, blog readers. This year, I will win.

But in order to do that, I need you, writer and reader friends. I need you to motivate me. Kick my ass. Make me write! You can harass me via Facebook, you can Tweet at me like a drill sergeant, or you can leave inspirational comments right here on this very blog. And anyone who does this who is ALSO doing NaNoWriMo will get their very own inspirational, drill sergeant-y, harassing (with love!) e-pep-talks from me!

So c'mon, let's go write our 1,667 words of the day RIGHT. NOW. Ready? GO! 

This post is brought to you by...

I subscribe to several fashion blogs. This is weird on a number of levels. First of all, I'm only "stylish" if jeans, tees, tanks, flip flops, or ballet flats happen to be in season. Which I think means I'm fashionable for a few months every couple of years. And I'm totally fine with that. If I had lots of money, I'd buy the entirety of an Anthropologie store, but beyond that, I just can't bring myself to get that into fashion. I think the blogs are just pretty inspiration for me and my writing. Besides, I may not be stylish, but some of my characters are. I owe it to them to dress them in something other than jeans and ballet flats.

But this isn't a post about fashion. It's a post about sponsorships. Because on fashion blogs, you'll always see "Dress c/o..." or "Shoes courtesy of..." or "This outfit brought to you by..." Jessica Quirk of What I Wore is a tremendous hustler when it comes to sponsorships. She's got Modcloth and Timex and Coach on the regular, plus all the fabulous other freebies she stumbles across (btw, Jessica and I both went to IU, graduated in the same year, and she was in the same sorority as one of my very best friends ... also, she dated one of my boyfriend's best friends, so we were in the same circle, but never met. That can happen at a gigantic state school...)

So all that is to say that I'm now thinking about what it would be like to be a sponsored author. What brands would I want to hawk on my writing blog?

Apple

Who amongst all ye writers out there wouldn't give your first born book to be sponsored by Apple? To have iPads and iPhones and MacBook Airs just APPEAR in your mailbox? I would vlog EVERY. DAY. OF. MY. LIFE. and wear only tee shirts with the Apple logo and make all my characters Mac nerds just to get sponsored by the almighty Apple.

And it's not just lusting over the shiny products. I use the time on my iPhone to do word sprints when I'm first drafting. 10 and 15 minute increments are perfect for getting words on the page. I use the Evernote app to keep track of ideas and brainstorms when I'm on the go. I write using Scrivener on my MacBook Air and my shiny new iMac. If I had an iPad? Oh the writing I could do on the go


Post-It

Post-Its are a necessity for me during my revision process, mostly because I revise on a hard copy. Thus, I print out the entire beast of a manuscript and set about flagging all the passages that need adjustment. This helps me visualize my progress and also not miss an important revision. If Post-It were to sponsor my writing, I could have a rainbow of stickies in all shapes and sizes. I could have the ruled notepads for outlining, the little flags for revisions, the fun shapes for drafting.



 Coke

Ok, I think I need my life should be sponsored by Coke, but my writing definitely owes a lot that fizzy beverage, too. I think about 93% of Meant to Be was brought to you by a very large Coke. I prefer a fountain Coke (preferably from McDonald's. Did you know they have their own formula of Coke? It's seriously the best), followed by a nice cold can. I really hate the 20oz plastic bottles. I think they go flat really fast and just don't taste as good. And yes, I'm more than a little crazy when it comes to my consumption of Coca-Cola.




What are your author brands? Your can't-live-without-them writing products?

Work, and lots of it

For the past year and a half, I've been really fortunate to work only part-time, so that I dedicate a lot of time to writing my first novel. Right about the time that Meant to Be landed in my lap, I saw a posting for an amazing part-time job in my field that paid really well and ... well, it just all worked out (you can read more about that here ... it was a big decision to leave my full-time job). Lucky me! So I worked Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday from 9-3:30 every week, and I wrote all day on Mondays and Fridays.

Or at least, that was the plan...

I learned a few things about myself over the last year and a half. The first is that excessive time is my enemy. The more time I have to waste, the more time I'll waste. And man, am I champion time waster. Often on those magical Mondays and Fridays, I wouldn't start at my computer until 6 ... PM! And if I had something due on Friday ... well, let's just say I'm not making the best use of all my days. Another thing I learned about myself is that it turns out that there's nothing like the crushing threat of an impending deadline to really get my creative juices flowing. I wrote nearly all of Meant to Be in the days leading up to various deadlines.

What I'm saying is that my part-time job and time off was starting to feel a little ... indulgent. Slovenly. Just plain lazy. Sure, I ran errands and did housewife stuff and took the dog to the park several times a day, but the purpose of the part-time job was to actually be WRITING.

I'm bringin' back the classic navy JanSport backpack for my daily writing/commute (er, maybe not...)

So when a full-time job came open in my office (which I love, by the way), I jumped on it. And today marks the first day of my return to the 9-5, Monday-Friday work force. And I'm PSYCHED about it (not least of all because a full-time paycheck is pretty great, but also because I love my office and the people I work with). I've got my MacBook Air in my backpack ready to write for a half hour around lunchtime, and I'll be using my evenings more fruitfully to get stuff done. Because when there's only a few free hours, I've got not choice but to fill them with writing.

Lucy wishes I would have kept the part-time job

Oh, and one last thing before I start organizing my snazzy new office (pictures to come, of course!). I posted this over on my Tumblr (are you following my Tumblr? Because you totally should). Random House made an It Gets Better video! I was always insanely proud to be a Random House author, but this just makes it even better.

The Perfect Storm

My copyedits are here. And they're due on Friday.

Luckily, I just bought this:

Which is going to make the work waaaaaaay more fun!

I'll post a better update on Friday, when this is done. Wish me luck!

In Defense of College Books

Last Wednesday marked freshman move-in day and the start of Welcome Week at Indiana University, my alma mater. Today is the first day of classes at IU. My own freshman move-in day? TEN YEARS AGO. Holy crap. I remember moving all my crap into Read Clark-503, where I was by myself for a couple of days until my roommate arrived. My mom was a trooper all day, until the moment it was time for her to leave, and then she burst into tears (and I cried a little, too).

Kathleen, me, and Lindsay hanging out at Delta Gamma
(Kathleen's sorority house)

I was one of those kids who couldn’t WAIT to go to college. I started requesting brochures and dreaming about dorm rooms as a freshman in college. I looked at a million different schools, but fell in love with IU because it had a kickin’ journalism program and just looked like college. I applied in September of my senior year, was accepted in October (note to admissions offices: rolling admissions? BEST. THING. EVER.), and spent the rest of my year getting psyched up for what I just KNEW was going to be the best four years of my life.

Showalter Fountain ... yes, I swam in it. And yes, I was there for the 2002
NCAA victory over Duke, which took us to the finals. AMAZING.

Being a high school student who was completely enchanted by the college, I devoured all the books I could find set in college. There weren’t many, and definitely not many literary once. I definitely read as much of Sweet Valley University as I could stand (I actually started reading these in middle school, which I probably shouldn’t have, because they were SCANDALOUS). And of course, I was completely plugged into Felicity (still one of my favorite shows of all-time).

My sophomore year, buddies in McNutt, our dorm (that's me, 2nd from left)

And even though I’m long since past my college years (oh sad...), I still love books set in college. Commencement? Joe College? I Am Charlotte Simmons? The late Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants books? Oh yes. I just wish there were more YA-focused books set in that first year of college. Unfortunately, every time someone brings it up, it seems the idea is instantly shot down. Apparently teens don’t want to read about college-aged characters (I don’t quite believe that), or those books belong in the adult section (see several of the books I mentioned above).

Ballantine Hall, where I had most of my classes

But I want them. I’m begging for them. And in fact, I want to write them. And I'm tired of people telling me these books have themes that don't fit into the YA market, that the characters' experiences would be too different front the experiences of teen readers. Well, if fiction is meant to be aspirational, then I think the themes of college-set books will appeal to every desire of your average 16-17 year old American teen. I think these books would do well in a YA market.

And here’s why:

Maximum freedom, minimum responsibility
My first year of college, I didn't work (I had a job every semester after those first two, but at the beginning I just focused on classes). I had no parents, no curfew, few rules (other than the ones imposed by my university) ... I could take care of myself in a very low-risk environment where most everything else was taken care of for me. What an exciting time, when you can just jump in your car and drive to Chicago on a Tuesday because there's a concert you want to see. 

The ultimate opportunity to reinvent yourself

You can move anywhere, and as a result, become ANYTHING. Join a sorority, take up a club sport, run for student government, become an RA, study harder, study less, party harder, party less, audition for a play, since in a coffee house, read some slam poetry ... pretty much anything you could want to be is available to you at college, and you can be it, because you've ditched all that rotten high school baggage. NO ONE KNOWS YOU. It's a truly amazing thing. Remember when Felicity cut her hair off? Yeah, I did that too ... I was watching Sliding Doors and fell in love with Gwyneth Paltrow's short haircut, so I went to the salon in town and hacked it off. 

A flashpoint for self-discovery

Remember when Rory Gilmore went to Yale, and we thought it would be all predictable and fabulous for her ... but (spoiler alert) then she was told she couldn't handle 5 classes, and that awful Mr. Huntzberger told her she was only fit to be someone's assistant and she nearly lost her shit and stole a yacht? Yeah, ok, that's a little extreme, but college is the place where you lose your future and rediscover it several times a week. I changed majors a several times, made new groups of friends, tried out new clubs, and left college with a life plan that bared very little resemblance to the one I had going in. And hey, look at me now ... it all worked out, I think!

IT’S REALLY REALLY FUN

I loved my four years at IU (so much, that I earned a master's there, too!). Basketball games, late nights in the dorms, Little 500, parties, good friends, laying in the Arboretum, and all the amazing food in Bloomington ... I'm going to stop short of saying they were the best years of my life, but they were pretty damn good. College really CAN be SUPER DUPER AMAZING FUN. This is why Greek ran for FOUR SEASONS, and was hysterical all the way up until the end.

The Student Building in the Old Crescent at IU

Book Birthdays Galore! And a little writing, too

Today is the fabulous book birthday of fellow Apocalypsie (lucky duck got her pub date bumped up!) Gretchen McNeil's POSSESS! I preordered my copy and it arrived right on release day (thanks Amazon Prime!)

The blues on this cover are even more gorgeous than you can imagine, so even before I've cracked the spine, I'm giving it an A+ for cover judging. I'm pretty excited to read it. It's jumping to the top of my TBR stack, as soon as I finish Hold Me Closer Necromancer by Lish McBride (the September Forever YA Book Club book) and my e-galley of Wanderlove by Kirsten Hubbard (yes, I'm reading two books at once ... it's pretty much how I roll these days).

Also out today is Sweetly by Jackson Pearce. It's a follow-up to Sisters Red, and again, holy cover jealousy! So gorgeous.

And for those that have been hiding under a rock today (or, you know, avoiding Twitter), you may not know that Jackson is celebrating her release day with an incredible heap of giveaways! Just tweet with the #Sweetly hashtag, and you're entered! Easy peasy.

As for me? Final revisions of Meant to Be are in! I'm meeting with Wendy, my editor, soon, and she promised to introduce me to the designer who's working on my cover. *DIES* I'm back to working on Monument Beach (working title, will come up with something snazzier later) again. Last night I read and revised the 10,000 words I wrote before MTB revisions came in. It helped me get back on track with where I was, and now I'm super psyched to get writing again. Mostly because I'm about to introduce lover boy #1 to my main character. I've also been watching A LOT of Gilmore Girls, because my goal for this one is to achieve snarky dialogue with a high level of wit and lots of heart. I was in deep like with this project before, but I'm about to upgrade it to passionate love...

Le sigh.... Jess 4EVA

Greetings and Salutations!

Sorry for the week-long absence from blogging ... between revisions and travel, life was a little upside down. Last weekend I was in Portland for roller derby, where the Boston Massacre played 3 games in 3 days (we only won 1 of them, but we're feeling really strong about our performance as a team, so no sad faces!).

I fell in love with Portland IMMIDIATELY. Food trucks? Voodoo Doughtnuts? POWELL'S BOOKS?! Oh hell yes. Powell's was my number one must-see location for the entire trip, and I managed to hit it on the first day. I picked up a tee shirt (of course), and then bee-lined for the massive YA section. I was NOT disappointed. I decided to buy a copy of Beauty Queens by Libba Bray, because I didn't finish my library copy, and I think I want to take my time with it. There's a lot going on there (Libba Bray does NOT write for dummies). And then the find of all finds: an 80s-era copy of Just As Long As We're Together by Judy Blume! It was my FAVORITE book as a kid. I read it a million times, and it was the book that made me think maybe I'd like to write books for a living. Sadly, my mom accidentally donated it after I left for college. I bought another copy, but it had some modern, redesigned cover. Boo. But at Powell's, the used books are integrated in with the new editions, so I was able to find the original cover! I swear, as soon as I pulled it off the shelf, I started to tear up...

Here's a little photo tour of my awesome adventure in Portland:

A gorgeous latte from Stumptown Coffee

I visited the spot in Powell's kickin' YA section where Meant to Be will live!

Found a copy of my favorite book, with the cover I remember from my childhood

My total haul from Powell's ... I could have spent all the money in my bank account EASY

The Boston Massacre with our custom lobster doughnut from Voodoo Doughnuts!

Other than that, revisions are done and sent, and it looks like we're ready to move on to the next book of my 2-book contract (yay!). This means you'll be seeing a lot more posts about drafting (I'll try not to whine too much...).

Oh, and one other fun thing. There's a new contemporary blog on the block! A couple of ravenous contemporary readers have started For the Love of Contemporary, which launches on September 1. I, for one, can't wait! It's no secret that while I'll read a paranormal or dystopian from time to time, my one true love is contemporary. I read it, I write it, I love it. Can't wait to see what's what over there!

Revisions are Done!

After half a pad of sticky notes...

and several rainy nights of writing on the balcony...

I sent in my revisions....

And made that face!

Winner Winner! Chicken Dinner!

(um, that title always makes me think of the movie 21, which was shot here in Boston)

First and foremost, the winner of the ARC of Sara Zarr's How to Save A Life is ....

Joni T!

Congrats Joni! I'll shoot you an email to get your mailing info. You're going to love this book!

And in other winner news, I was the lucky winner of one of Carrie Harris's Night of the Giving Dead auctions! With my winning bid (going to the University of Michigan Children's Hospital), I am the lucky winner of a 30 minute phone call with awesome agent Michelle Wolfson. I know! Lucky lucky Lauren!

For those that don't know, Michelle is a total rockstar agent who represents Kiersten White (um, hello NYT Bestseller list ... twice?!) and fellow Apocalypsie Kimberly Sabatini, whose book Touching the Surface will be released by Simon Pulse in Fall 2012!

So now, on top of my revisions, I need to spend my weekend brainstorming some super awesome questions to ask her. I want to get the skinny, folks. So I'm turning to you, loyal blog readers and Twitter friends. What would you ask if you had the ear of a supah stah (like my Boston accent?) agent like Michelle? Leave your questions in the comments!

Check out Michelle's Agent Spotlight on Casey McCormick's blog for more info on her career.

Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more

Don't forget, you can enter to win an ARC of Sara Zarr's new book, How to Save A Life, simply by filling out the form here. It's such a fantastic book, you definitely want it! 

Lauren Oliver titled a revision email to me with that quote ... that was oh, about four revisions ago!

But this time it's really THE END of revisions. Wendy Loggia at Delacorte read the manuscript and loved it. Seriously, the email she sent me was the best thing I've ever received in my inbox. It had me dancing around Provincetown saying, "I don't know if you've heard, but Wendy Loggia says I have talent! Yup! She said it! I have TALENT!" She suggest some small changes, which I now have 10 days to complete and return. ACK! But then Meant to Be is done and ready and moves on to the next stage!

So yeah, you won't be hearing as much from me. And if you ARE hearing from me, it'll be because I'm hiding from my revisions (which I would never do ... no, not ever!).

My manuscript in a binder, colored pens, and Mad Men on Netflix.

This is how I revise.

(not pictured: a very very VERY large Coke)

Catching Up

My plea for writer friends worked! I've got a couple volunteers to trade pages, and in fact, by the end of today the fabulous Tori Scott is going to be on the receiving end of the very first pages of #thebeach (the working title/hashtag for my new YA). Tori is already an awesome cheerleader/drill sergeant, and on top of that I get to read pages from her super awesome YA work in progress (it's not my place to share, but I'll just tell you that that main character is like a teenage Dexter Morgan ... I'm hooked). Tori read the first three chapters of Meant to Be, and she sent me the nicest note afterwards. I think this is the start of a fantastic partnership!

I haven't done any kind of roller derby update in while. Last weekend my team had a bout again the Cosmonaughties, and we won! It was really fun, and I played well. Here's a few awesome shots from the game by the talented Joe Medolo.

My semi-signature lunge/lean. I'm not a big girl, but I've got wicked long legs. Derby is a great sport for teaching you how to appreciate and use the body you've got.

I don't usually jam, so when I do there's always something silly that happens ... like I go sliding into the VIP seats after calling it off!

Love seeing the teamwork amongst the Pissahs. Look how we're all reaching for each other while we try to block Splitter Noggin!

Blocking Space Invader, with what I hope isn't an illegal elbow!

I really really REALLY love this picture of me yelling across the track ... the consensus seems to be that I should use it as my new author photo. Not sure how my mom would feel about my headshot being of me wearing booty shorts ... actually, I do know how she'd feel. She'd prefer I had a nice haircut and a sweater and was smiling at the camera just like in my senior portraits!

This coming weekend I'm off to New York, where my Pissahs will be taking on the Manhattan Mayhem of Gotham Girls Roller Derby. It's going to be a really great game. Tickets are available online, so if you live in NYC and haven't seen derby, this is a great chance! And if you come, please oh please come high five me on the track after the game!

Alrighty, back to work. And by work, I mean going over these pages I'm about to send to Tori. I get so nervous when I have to send work off, which is funny, because the WHOLE POINT of this is for people to read it!