creative visualization

Yay, it's my first official contest to win copies of Take Me There and When It Happens!  Woo-hoo!  For extra fun, check this out:  The ultimate winner of this contest will have their writing published in my third book.

Dialogue lovers, this one's for you.  Because the contest winner will be the person who writes the best dialogue (no more than three sentences) for a particular scene.  And it's not just any scene.  This is the crucial last scene, in which the main boy character asks the main girl character to the junior prom.  Six months early (it's currently November and the prom isn't until May).  Here's the sitch:  He's a boy who's liked this girl (both juniors) for years without her knowing, but now she knows.  He sat behind her in eighth-grade physical science and overheard her talking to her best friend about the prom, so he knows she's been looking forward to it for a long time.  Now he's finally asking her to go.  He's revealing his true feelings, holding nothing back.  What magic words does he use to make her say yes?


These sweet prizes can be procured:

1.  The ultimate winner will have their dialogue published in my third book, Waiting For You, which will be released next summer.  The winner will also receive a signed copy of Take Me There.

2.  The first runner-up will receive a signed copy of Take Me There.

3.  The second runner-up will receive a signed copy of When It Happens.


The contest rules are simple:

1.  Entries must be received by the summer solstice, June 21.

2.  Email all submissions to me at friendly.neighbor@hotmail.com

3.  Enlighten me with your spectacular talent!


Winners will be notified by June 25 and posted here.  If you are a winner, I will email you for your address.

Thanks to SP for this totally brill idea.  You are a work of genius.

Did you know that you can hire a boyfriend to fix stuff around your place?  It's called Boyfriend for Hire and it's real.  According to their website, "It's like your boyfriend only better!"  Thanks, BFFH!

In When It Happens, Sara and Tobey play the Game of Favorites.  It's a way to get to know a person on a deeper level, beyond the whole what's-your-favorite-color type stuff.  And today at The Compulsive Reader, you can see some obscure favorites of mine, like which constellation and type of sticker I like the best.  Thanks to Laila for your awesome suggestions!

Over at NPR's site, there's a summary of how to pack everything in one bag.  You can also read an excerpt of Stephenie Meyer's The Host.  And check out the word cloud of compiled responses to this question:  What one word of wisdom would you give to college graduates?

A secret goal of mine was to have at least one of my books show up on YouTube in some way. And now, that goal has been achieved! Not that I had anything to do with it. This reviewer is an avid reader who is tearing it up in 2008, discussing the books she reads this year. Sweet!

Have you heard that Polaroid is the new Brontosaurus?  Polaroid is going to stop making its film and all of those cameras will be obsolete.  You don't have to be a lover of all that is old-school to understand the enormity of this announcement.

My friend Eric Luper eluper recently posted an update on the condition of my Colasanti Tree.  He planted my special tree last summer so I would feel better about turning on the air conditioner when it's mad hot (like, above 90 degrees - temps below that get the fan treatment).  I am happy to report that the Colasanti Tree is thriving!  You rock, Eric.

I'm getting to the end of The O.C. in my Netflix four season marathon, and I have to say that the last season is quite lacking.  I mean, they all end up not in college?  Come on!  Is that really the best those fine writers could rustle up?  It's just hard to accept the demise of this show, what with the totally brill creation of Seth Cohen and all.  I'm going to miss you, Cohen.



Antoine de Saint-Exupery is the author of my all-time fave book, The Little Prince.  One of the most fascinating things about him is that he disappeared into the sky, just like his Little Prince did.  And now, the man who shot him out of the sky during World War II has been identified.  Reason #73,285 why war sucks butt crack.

Holly Black blackholly linked to info about how to fnd a four-leaf clover.  That's hot.

I'm interviewed today at The Compulsive Reader.  Both When It Happens and Take Me There were selected as the Book(s) of the Month and I'm stoked.

The most awesome Compulsive Reader is also running a contest so you can win a copy of both books.  How sweet is that?  Just email your name, address, and email address to thecompulsivereader@gmail.com.

Back in the day, I had this student who totally inspired me with her creativity. She was so confident and optimistic and always kept it real. When we started talking about positive energy and how her mom does everything "hippie style," I knew I had found a kindred spirit. Which was awesome, since kindred spirits are really hard to find. She's also an amazing poet and winner of many slams. I was like, "You rock. I'm going to put your writing in one of my books."


So that's what I did. Take Me There features an excerpt from Tatyana Fatima Cabrera's intense poem, "Rebel." I'm stoked that this increases her exposure and that more people can discover her brilliance. In this interview with Tatyana, she shares her sources of inspiration, the one thing that's essential for a perfect day, and what's lacking about high school.

1. What inspires you?

Inspiration is born within and outside of me. Inspiration is trapped deep within the experiences, pain, and wisdom that my soul has captured throughout the many chapters of my life. Struggle inspires me to write my life through the eyes of poetry, reaching others and innovating them with the creativity i was blessed with. My surroundings inspire me to write about truth, sociological and political consciousness, and about still remaining optimistic to the simplicity in life covered in a world of negative complexities. "How can i lay in the future,if i'm still resting in the past?", is a question that i ask myself daily, and it's a question that inspires me to keep my mind,ego, and soul in a state of balance. Without balance nothing can inspire me. My words supply me with the balance i need to live the future that i've always dreamed of.

At times my inspiration is invisible, and to be honest i prefer not being able to taste, hear, see, or touch it, just the deep feeling of inspiration pumping through the chambers of my heart that keeps my blood boiling with motivation satisfies me. I guess if inspiration was tangible it wouldn't be the same, it would be overused, tarnished, and discarded as rubbish in a materialistic world. Inspiration is all around me, it can build and destroy me.

2. Please share a bit about your writing process. Do you write better while listening to music? Do you have a favorite place for writing?

I'm very random with my writing. It has no specific place or time, it's spontaneous. It happens when it happens. Words sporatically pop into my head and i just write on. This is why i always keep a pad and pen by my side, because you never know when my creative juices start flowing. Even i don't know! However, i do write better when i'm listening to music. Most especially old school hip hop like: Lauryn Hill, The Fugess, Tupac, Big Pun, Erika Badu, and Common.

3. Which experiences have influenced your life the most?

Many experiences have influenced my life. Everyday is a lesson learned, struggle survived, and tragedy turned into triumph.


4. How is your first poem different from your most recent one?

I was still getting to know myself as a creative writer when i wrote my first spoken word poem titled "Breathe". As years went by i grew a literary backbone by doing tons of research about many successful spoken word poets, viewing tapes in order to analyze their performance style, and attending their performances. It was only then when i gathered all i've learned, and was finally ready to show the world what i was about that i actually went up on a stage to bless the mic. To this day i have alot of research to do, and alot to learn. It's a daily process that i always look forward to. My most recent poem defines intellectual growth not only as a poet, but as a woman.

5. Describe your perfect day.

ok. I'm not going to be complex with this one. Honestly my perfect day would be the day that i actually get good sleep. Seriously! I'm an ultra insomniac! More like a walking zombie. So yea, a perfect day would be just staying home and sleeping under the warm and cozy covers.

6. What was the worst thing about high school? The best?

The worst thing about high school is status. You are either popular or not. I always thought that sucked! It wasn't important to me either way because i never cared or paid attention to what anyone thought of me. I was always the fearless, outspoken one who would enlighten others with 'outside of the box' ways of thinking. I would always stand up for myself full force. The best thing about high school was when my voice was finally heard when i performed my poetry in a crowd of about 250 people. That crowd was full of people who would make fun of me for being different, and little did they know that at the end of the day they would end up going up to me and saying. "Taty you are deep, i really underestimated you." Going up on that stage meant the end of status, and the acceptance of difference.


7. Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

Alive! Published! Performing! Making a Difference!

8. If you were a shape, which one would you be? Why?

I would be an upside down purple triangle because i will forever fight the rights, representation, and pride of the LGBT community throughout the world.

9. If you could write a letter to yourself at age 15, what would you want yourself to know?

I would want myself to know that it's okay to make mistakes.

10. I love your T-shirt designs! Which one reflects your identity the most?

Thank you. I love designing shirts! Each and every design is a piece of my identity and who i am as an artist. I proudly design every piece with the emotions i am feeling at that current moment.

Your TGIM thought of the day is brought to you by this dude who takes vegetables and turns them into instruments. You will not even believe the broccoli one! Thanks for this, Solomon.

My mourning dove is hooing!  And yesterday he was all fat and fluffy in the window.  Life is good.

Even better:  I am honored that When It Happens and Take Me There were both selected as the May Book(s) of the Month over at The Compulsive Reader!  To kick things off, you can read Tirzah's reviews of both books.  Every Thursday for the rest of May, a new feature relating to these books will dazzle and entertain.  Sweet!

You only have two more days to enter Elizabeth Scott's Perfect You contest, where you could win some serious gift certificate action.  Dude, you could win a freaking iPod!  Get your butt over there yesterday!

On a related note, has anyone noticed that 2008 is like 1/3 over?  When did that happen?

Today is May Day.  May Day is my birthday.  And what an awesome birthday gift:  When It Happens is out in paperback today!


As a bonus gift, I can officially announce my exciting Barnes & Noble news.  Barnes & Noble is doing national floor displays of Take Me There and When It Happens!  The floor displays should be out on June 10, but Take Me There will be in stores on May 29.

You may have noticed two slightly different covers for Take Me There kicking around.  That's because Barnes & Noble requested a few changes to the cover.  Below, the original cover is on the left and the final cover is on the right.

I was one of those teens who hated their small town in the middle of nowhere and couldn't wait to live in the big city.  People would say how pretty my town was, with the hills and the woods and the cows and blah blah blah, but I was so over it.  (Funny how I'm into all that now, though).  Even so, there were a few things I liked about rural living.  Fireflies.  Visible stars.  And mourning doves.



Mourning doves make a really specific sound that you would recognize.  And here in New York, mourning doves have set up shop.  Luckily, some mourning doves like to chill in my courtyard.  My bedroom windows are right above them and I get to hear their hooing in the morning.  And lots of other times during the day.  But they like to do their hooing sounds at dawn and it's a very Zen moment.  Except for the other morning, when a mourning dove pressed himself up against my window screen in a tizzy and was all like, "Hooo-OOOHH-oooh!" with some serious volume.  I jolted awake in a panic that I'd have to deal with a bird in my apartment, but that wasn't the case.  Now he and a friend like to perch on the fire escape.  When I stare at them, they just stare back.

How much I love hearing mourning doves made me think about happiness in general.  Like how some people are all about the little things (me), while others are into large-scale fun times (still me).  And how happiness can actually be quantified.  Tal Ben-Shahar teaches a happiness course at Harvard and offers six tips for happiness.  His research shows that the most important factor in being happy is friendship, followed by health.  Which is so true, since we all know that material things do not make us happy for very long.  Well, maybe except for the sexy iPhone, but I don't have one so how would I know?

A happiness equation has been formulated, which can be basically represented as HAPPINESS = REALITY / EXPECTATION.  Jodi Picoult references this in her brilliant Nineteen Minutes.  I'm one of those people with really high expectations.  Maybe they're too high.  But I like how my expectations drive me to always be working toward the next goal, always be creating something better.  I never forget that anything is possible.  And that makes me happy.

Here are the top three frequently asked questions readers ask me.

1.  Are you going to write a When It Happens sequel?

It's possible.  I'd love to write a sequel, but there are a few obstacles in the way.  For starters, young-adult novels usually feature characters who are in high school, and Sara and Tobey have already graduated by the end of When It Happens.  I've read a few books that take place the summer after senior year or move from senior year into college, but these are the exception.  So I'm not sure if that would fly.  Another thing is that I've already planned the plots for my next five books and I'm really excited about writing them!  I guess this is one of those questions that never really gets answered completely.

2.  Will there be a When It Happens movie?

I hope so!  That would be so freaking awesome I can't even tell you.  While I was writing the book, I visualized the scenes like movie scenes, and a lot of readers tell me that the book feels like a movie playing in their head when they read it.  That's hot.  So we'll see - my agent is working on selling the movie rights now.  It's such an exciting time for teen movies, with the most excellent Juno and Paranoid Park out, plus the upcoming Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist and Twilight, so there's hope.  The ultimate would be if Evan Rachel Wood played Sara.



3.  Was it difficult to write from a boy's perspective for the Tobey chapters?

Not really.  Although girls and boys are definitely different in some ways, we're all human and share basic similarities.  We all want to be loved.  We're all looking for someone to connect with, that one person who gets us better than anyone else.  And we all want to be happy.  So these fundamental common emotions are true no matter who you are.  The main differences that make Tobey's voice sound different from Sara's are how he speaks and interacts with his friends.  I find boyspeak to be choppier, while girls like to talk about their feelings more.  Of course, Tobey is not a typical boy.  He's introspective and sweet and confident and sensitive.  Oh, and really, really cute.  I wanted to create the ultimate teen boy character who girls would fall in love with, so it was super fun to write his scenes.

Viking Children's Books 75th Anniversary Party was fan-freaking-tabulous!  Here I am with Ambassador Jon Scieszka.  I was going to bring him a crown, but I felt like everyone probably does that and I didn't want to be a lame copier.  But according to Jon, everyone does not do that.  So I got you next time, Jon!

Any event where I get to speak with Laurie Halse Anderson (halseanderson) is a magical time for me.  She has been such an amazing source of inspiration and is one of the kindest, most compassionate people I know.  I wish that her books would have been available when I was a teen, but I'm happy that she is saving so many kids in countless ways now.



So many friendly neighbors were in the house, there was just not enough time to visit with everyone.  My incredible editor, Anne Gunton, was awesome about taking care of me, even in her very pregnant state.  Impressive!  I am extra lucky to not only have a wonderful editor, but also to have the best publisher a girl could ask for, and that's Regina Hayes.  Regina will be my editor while Anne is on maternity leave starting next month.

Ah, Earth Day.  The day I used to offer extra credit to my students who carried a garbage bag around with them everywhere to collect all of their personal garbage.  Actually, they had to lug their own garbage around for 48 hours.  After that, more kids understood my incessant ranting about not taking a bag in the store if you don't need one and letting the deli guy know that you really don't require a huge freaking pile of napkins for one bagel, thanks.

This Earth Day is celebration time for many exciting reasons, like:


1.  Sarah Dessen's Lock and Key is released today!  I had the privilege of reading a galley and was impressed, once again, by Sarah's awesome talent for telling stories that touch our hearts.

2.  Season Two of Friday Night Lights is out on DVD.  Tim Riggins in my living room is always a good thing.

3.  It's Viking Children's Books 75th Anniversary.  Yay Viking!  There's a special anniversary party tonight, so hopefully I'll have some cool photos to share with you soon.

Your TGIM thought of the day is brought to you by this breaking news.  New research shows that for every ten years of age, your probability of happiness increases by five percent.  Rock on.

In When It Happens, Joe Zedepski is this dude who always has to put his ginormous calculator right at the edge of his desk.  His huge, annoying calculator which he has out even on the first day of school when you don't need it yet, teetering on the edge, just waiting to fall off. 

Kayla is a very special reader who gets how funny this is.  She and her friend Kerri were totally cracking up when they found out about Joe.  They even drew Joe's calculator:



Love that!  And Joe would have loved yesterday's blog post.

When It Happens comes out in paperback on May 1, which is also my birthday.  I love it when the universe consolidates gifts like that.

Attention math geeks!

Using four fours and any operations, can you write equations to equal each number from 0 to 100?

Example:  (4 * 4 + 4) / 4 = 5

Get the answers.

I'm all about the little things in life.  Like seeing that the When It Happens page in Penguin's summer catalogue has The Outsiders on the other side.  If you told me that I'd be on the other side of S.E. Hinton's masterpiece back in the day when I was sleeping with The Outsiders under my pillow (as part of an osmosis/creative visualization/obsession thing), I would have been like, No way.  Fact:  Energy of the universe rocks.

Here's a little thing that's a big deal to those of us who care about punctuation:  Saving the semicolon.  Apparently, the growing influence of English in France is challenging the semicolon's fate.  Read all about it.

In celebration of National Poetry Month, you can receive Knopf's poem-a-day e-newsletter.  What better way to start your day than with a poem that makes you happy?  Sign up at their website.

Here in New York, a lot of places don't care if you're short a few pennies when you buy something.  Lots of delis and stores have little penny dishes near the register, so if you're short a few cents you can take some pennies from the dish.  And if you don't have three cents, no problem.  But friends who visit say it's not like this in the rest of the country.  Is this the case where you are?

We're moving toward a penniless world and eventually the prevalence of so many prices ending in ".99" will be a thing of the past.  But pennies are still money.  So why is it now socially acceptable to disregard actual money?  And where does it end?  Are nickels next?

Seeing - 5th Avenue & Washington Square Park:  Pink flowers on two trees.  The best evidence is evidence of spring.

Also seeing - That grassy area where Miranda and Steve got married:  White flowers on a tree.  More evidence.

Tasting - Crumbs, East Village:  Carrot cupcake.  Which has an iced carrot on it.



Missing - South Beach, Miami:  Happy palm trees.



Admiring - World Financial Center:  The Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef.  The New York Times calls it an "environmental version of the AIDS quilt."



Collecting - Facebook:  Pieces of Flair.  They're just so dang cute.