Susane Colasanti - Journal

1. As Teen Read Week wraps up, I'd like to remind you to read something out of this world. To celebrate this most fabulous week, Readergirlz has been posting tributes to authors made of awesome. If you're looking for some good book recommendations, you should head over there.

2. Dissecting Perfection has compiled a Fall 2009 playlist entitled YA Celebs Playlist. Along with a bunch of other authors and bloggers, I answered the question, "What's your fall anthem of choice?" Regular readers will be less than shocked by my response.

3. Speaking of John Mayer, I'm a bit irritated. His new album, Battle Studies, drops on November 17. I could not be more excited. He's even having a small album release concert. When tickets went on sale, they were only available to existing members of his fan club. Which of course includes me. But I didn't get my tickets! Because right when they went on sale at 10:00, the website didn't refresh my page the way it was supposed to. Then it was 10:01. Then 10:02. The dread was unbearable. At 10:03, I was forwarded to the sales page. By then all the good seats were sold out. I could always go and sit way in the back, but I know me. I'll just be fuming the whole time that I'm not closer and I can't see and there's some dumbass who's not even a fan in the front row, checking his messages and not knowing any of the songs. Blerg.

4. When Thirtysomething was on, I was 13. I was not interested in watching the show. It was about grownups. Grownups were not interesting. Even so, I remember getting a sense that the show would be good. So I've been watching the first season, and it really is good! I love shows where people just sit around talking about everyday stuff that we can all relate to. If you can look past the goofy 80s fashion atrocities, you'll see a show that was ahead of its time.

5. The last few days were gorgeous! Today is cold and rainy, which is actually a good thing. It was so perfect out yesterday that I kept finding excuses to do errands. Now I have a lot of writing to do. Last night we went to the High Line to watch the sunset. That place is magical, especially at night. It was all city lights and big sky and waxing crescent moon:



Hoping you find some magic this weekend!

I heard a rumor that recent Gap ads are using the most excellent Seals & Crofts song, "Summer Breeze." I'm a bit disturbed that no one checked with me first. That's my song! Well, that's my summer song. Every year when spring finally turns warm, I go around singing, "Summer breeze! Makes me feel fine!" Whenever a warm breeze blows through my window, I'm all like, "Summer breeze!" Seth Cohen's boat is the Summer Breeze. My desktop folder is titled "Summer Breeze." I even bought the CD just for that one song. Ever since I was little, this song has been close to my heart. And now it's a Gap ad? Fine. I'll let them have it, given that my husband (aka John Krasinski) did a Gap ad and all.

Speaking of John, I could not be more excited for Away We Go. When I saw the preview months ago, I didn't even recognize him with that beard. And then I was like, "Dude! That's John Krasinski!" SP was less than thrilled. The movie comes out today, but I'm going away to Chapel Hill, NC this weekend so I won't be able to see it right away. I've decided that after my deadline next week, I will celebrate turning in my line-edits with an exclusive afternoon viewing. I like going to movies on weekday afternoons when you have the whole theater to yourself. I haven't done that in years!

One ad I am psyched about is in the July issue of Seventeen. Since I have a subscription, I will be eagerly awaiting the issue, which contains an ad for Waiting for You. I'll post it when the issue comes out. In the meantime, I have to pack and figure out what I should see in Chapel HIll. I'm going there for a wedding, so I'll document the wedding cake if it is spectacular. I'm hoping for vanilla with buttercream icing.

Sometimes readers ask me what the hardest part about being an author is. My job has two main parts. One part has to do with the things that don't involve writing books, like blogging and social networking and writing back to readers (all of which I love, by the way). Within the writing books part, I would have to say that a few things about the process are not so easy.

One of the most challenging things about writing a book is translating feelings onto a page in a way that captures exactly what I want to say. Or transforming an image into words so that you can see exactly what I do. Parts of feelings and images are usually somehow lost when words enter the equation, so I worry about how much of these intangible qualities disappear. I don't like writing long descriptions, so the challenge is to make you feel exactly what my character is feeling with as few words as possible. Those words must be chosen very carefully.

So how do I identify which words to use? Music helps. I played the Cure over and over while I was writing When It Happens and I believe it shows in the story. There's such an intensity associated with the Cure for me. When I hear the same songs now that I obsessed over in high school, all of the emotions I want to capture come rushing back, which makes them much easier to write about. If you're feeling what you're writing instead of trying to write about a feeling you're imagining, your writing will be more authentic.

Images also work, whether they involve actually visiting a place or just visualizing it. There's something about [summer evening, sunset, warm breeze, city lights] that inspires me. This feeling doesn't have a name. It's the combination of happy and intensity and exciting and the possibility of everything. If I want to share this feeling with you in a scene, I might walk along the river and watch the streetlights and the sunset reflecting off building glass and the sky changing colors and all the windows and try to write how the experience feels. John Mayer does stuff like this, too. This is why his music enriches my life in so many ways - I get exactly what he's feeling behind his words. So it's cool to discover that our writing process is similar.

Here's something John is working on now. For inspiration, he physically put himself in the scene he was trying to write about. He calls it "California Fleetwood Mac sunset post-shower going out window down new Summer hopeful." And I know exactly what that feels like.

Did you participate in Earth Hour? I heard Toronto did an awesome job. I'm not sure if the word got out around here so much, but I got my candles together with determination. Revising my manuscript by candlelight was challenging in the best possible way.

They were playing "Hangin' Tough" in the gourmet store the other day. It was weird. There were fancy people waiting for their deli selections and old ladies in expensive suits picking out apples and New Kids was all like, "We're gonna put you in a trance with a funky song!" I've been noticing a lot of strange combinations lately. Like salt in hot chocolate. I didn't get the memo that they go. But apparently, it's all the rage. My friend Joe likes drinking that in Starbucks, which I usually avoid because taking out a small loan just to buy a frappuccino is not my idea of fun times. Joe asked if I wanted to taste his salty hot chocolate. I was like "That's okay." Then he dared me. It was just as gross as I thought. But I won the dare, so the joke's...well, the joke's still on me because it was gross.

The musical status was a lot different in Rite Aid. I went in to score some Cadburry Creme Eggs. I do not like those, but someone I make Easter baskets for loves them. I don't know about other areas, but here in New York those suckers sell out by early March (I hope you got yours, Sharyn!). You'd think stores would just order more. So of course the Cadburry Creme Egg box was totally empty. This didn't bother me, though. "I Just Want To Be Your Everything" came on, which is the best Andy Gibb song. I was busting a move right there in aisle nine. My taste in music often suggests that I'm about twenty years older. Another good Andy Gibb one is "Shadow Dancing." It's the new song on my MySpace, so click on over to enjoy!

Paul Feig is Twittering! He's a producer, writer, and director for The Office, plus he created Freaks and Geeks. I heart Paul something serious. Freaks and Geeks gets a very special shout-out in Waiting for You and The Office is my natural high. So I pretty much worship him in a godlike way. This news was brought to me by a tweet from Rainn Wilson. I'm Twittering here. I could go on a cranky rant about the injustice of Freaks and Geeks only being on for one season, but I will keep things where the light is and focus on my happy memories. The character I adored the most (although James Franco's is a close second) was Nick Andopolis.



Walking even further down memory lane, I watched Flatliners. I don't know what's scarier: the fact that this movie is twenty years old, or those circa-1990 jeans. How was that twenty years ago?! I forgot what a great cast it has. I remember loving it, but I totally forgot how it's completely awesome. Not one ounce of cheese to be found. And it's always fun to watch Kiefer Sutherland when he's not Jack Bauer, although he's best as Jack.

If you know me, you know that I am a hardcore John Mayer fan. He's always in heavy rotation at my place. Marisa, the main character of Waiting for You, thinks that the answers to all of life's problems can be found in a John Mayer song. In short, he rocks my world. So I was stoked to hear what he's working on now. This is how he's stacking some vocals of a new song, "Half of My Heart," which sounds so amazing I can't stop thinking about it:

Time it was and what a time it was. Paul Simon played two concerts to commemorate the grand reopening of the Beacon Theater. Art Garfunkel showed up the first night for a surprise reunion. I'm still furious that I went the second night instead. You know how sometimes you get mad at yourself for not doing something you didn't know you should have done in the first place? That was me all weekend.

The last time I saw Paul Simon in concert was during his Graceland tour. I was about 13. It was me, two friends, and a parent. Our seats were really far up and we couldn't see much, so we spent half the time trying to get backstage. Not that we even remotely knew where to go. Around that time, my obsession with Paul was at its strongest. I played Graceland so many times my cassette tape practically combusted. I have many Paul Simon CDs now, but not Graceland. I feel like every song is burned into my brain and I can play it there any time I want. At this concert, Paul did a lot of songs from Graceland. I still knew every word over 20 years later, even though I hadn't heard most of those songs since then. Memory is a fascinating thing. I remember every lyric of every song, but I can't remember most of high school or college. Fascinating.


I like Paul's 70s music (plus or minus two years) the best. He just had this sound with Hearts and Bones and One-Trick Pony that is transcendental. So when he played "Train in the Distance" and "The Only Living Boy in New York," I really thought I would have an emotional meltdown. "The Boxer" was also intense. Paul is extremely graceful. I was in a total trance, watching him bend and sway with the music. Every move he makes is so fluid. He uses lots of elaborate hand gestures. He is pure rock star.

In other musical news, Steve Martin has a new banjo album!

1988: Wrote Paul Simon lyrics all over my Keds way before doing that kind of thing was accepted as cool (I was nerd chic like that). Had this thing where I'd trace my hand with a metallic outliner on my binder cover and write Paul Simon lyrics inside. Obsessed with visions of streetlights and city sounds and sunsets sifting through trees and every other picture Paul Simon painted in his songs. Felt the magic of New York City in his songs and knew it would feel like home to live there (here). Wished for a book of Paul Simon lyrics so I could cherish them all together.

2008: My wish came true.



How brilliant is this? Lyrics to all of Paul Simon's songs are included in this new book, Lyrics 1964-2008. Paul was at Barnes & Noble last night and I was planning to get there at 4:00 for his 7:00 interview. So of course I've been smacked down with a nasty case of food poisoning for the past two days and there was no way I could go. But I have this book. And I have my memories.

Some of my favorite lyrics, from "Train in the Distance":

The thought that life could be better
Is woven indelibly
Into our hearts
And our brains

And from "Bookends Theme":

Long ago...it must be...
I have a photograph
Preserve your memories
They're all that's left you

The 80s was a weird decade. It had weird clothes, weird music, and weird Valley Girl speak. I made fun of a lot of music back then and hoped I'd never hear those songs again. So it's really funny that now when I hear most cheesy 80s songs, I'm all like, "Nostalgia! Yeah!"

Last night I saw Rock of Ages, a new musical set in the late 80s. It was so freaking awesome! The show managed to make fun of itself and how ridiculous 80s music was, while celebrating it all at the same time. Which is not an easy technique to master. They played some of my fave 80s songs, like Extreme's "More Than Words" and Foreigner's "Waiting for a Girl Like You", plus some Air Supply and Journey. Dude, I've been playing Journey all week on repeat! How did they know? And when someone busted out a T-shirt that said 867.5309, it was too good.

Here's my friend Joe with Lauren Molina, who worked her butt off and nailed two very different characters in the show:



The lead guy was played by Constantine Maroulis, who rocked the house and then let me put my cheek on his cheek:



The core of the show is all about following your heart. It's about a small-town girl who moves to the big city to achieve her dreams. I'm that same dreamer and I believe that anything is possible. Journey said it best: Don't stop believing. Hold on to that feeling.

As far back as I can remember, I've always been one of those people with musical tastes that belong to an older generation. I wrote Paul Simon lyrics on my Keds in junior high. James Taylor and the Beatles and Cat Stevens and Led Zeppelin were (and still are) the word. True, I worshiped (and still worship) R.E.M. and the Cure, but I was mostly into stuff from the 70s. And one of my most adored musicians was Jackson Browne.

Jackson has a message. He's all about peace and love, hippie style. His lyrics are all writing about the moon and dreaming about the stars and other transcendental stuff. I listened to "The Road" so many times that my cassette tape stopped working from exhaustion. So you can imagine how excited I was to see him perform last night at the Columbus Circle Borders.

Listen here: Jackson Browne - The Road

Whenever I show up for a reading, I'm mad professional about it. When Steve Martin came to the Union Square Barnes & Noble, I arrived at 4:00 for his 7:00 reading. I needed that seat in the second row, right in front of the podium. But here's the thing. No one told me that, in order to actually see Jackson Browne last night, I had to show up at like 10:00 to get a wristband for his 7:00 show.

Jackson has tons of fans. And a lot of them live here in New York. Since I didn't have a wristband, I was not allowed in front of the stage. I was banished with the rest of the no wristbands. This meant standing on tiptoes for half and hour, wedged in between CD racks in the World and Folk sections, trying to catch a glimpse of Jackson from around the edge of a sign and a guy's swaying head. My view looked like this:



You can clearly see Jackson smiling at my determination to remain on tiptoes for the whole show. Good thing I'm 5' 8". And great quote by Joan Didion (I feel the same way!). Jackson was signing after and I could not wait to meet him and have him sign my CDs. Then I found out that Jackson was only signing his new CD. And, oh yeah, he's only signing if you have a wristband.

Heart. In. Pieces.

And not just over my own disappointment. There were dudes with his albums from freaking decades ago. I wished them good luck at getting their albums signed, then took my Running On Empty and Hold Out and dug my way out of the crowd.

Of course I signed some of my books before I left. We should do whatever we can to remain in the happy place.

Your TGIM Thought of the Day is brought to you by my good friend and soul sister, Michelle.  She showed me Pandora.  Do you know about this?  Dude, it's a free music site that only plays the music you love all day long.  You could have it on at work and improve your mood by several degrees.  How it works is really simple.  You just select an artist or group, and Pandora plays songs by them, plus other artists that play similar music.  It's awesome to hear all of your faves and more obscure songs that might not be on your iPod.

I plugged in Paul SImon and Pandora began playing "Kodachrome."  I'm kind of sick of that one, so I just pressed the forward button and it went to the next album, James Taylor's Greatest Hits.  Pandora selects one song randomly from each album and then moves on to the next album when that song is done.  Other albums on Paul Simon radio were by the Beatles, Cat Stevens, Fleetwood Mac, CSN&Y, and the Police, with other Paul Simon and Simon & Garfunkel in between.  It was just like my CD collection, but cooler.  It's also like an iPod shuffle, but it grabs music you may not have and related music you may not know.  And did I mention it's free?  Enjoy!

There is no person on this planet more intense than The Cure's lead singer, Robert Smith.  Or any other planet.



When It Happens would not have been possible to write without The Cure continuously playing.  Almost every scene in that book is set to a Cure song in my mind.  I've got this thing for nostalgia, but not the normal kind of nostalgia where you're remembering stuff you've been through all fondly and missing it.  I have the kind of nostalgia for times I never experienced.  But being at The Cure concert last Friday was like senior year all over again, with the sucky parts removed.



Some people think I'm crazy for spending way too much money for a second-row floor seat at a John Mayer concert.  But dude.  Being close enough for Michael Stipe's sweat to fling in my eye at an R.E.M. concert is a priceless experience.  So was having fourth-row center floor seats to The Cure at Madison Square Garden.  And these were a gift from SP, so even better.  He's the best boyfriend ever!



You know that stranded on a desert island game where you have to give three CDs you'd take with you to listen to for the rest of your life?  I'd only take one.  Disintegration.  And I'd never ever get tired of it.  John Mayer's Heavier Things is like that too, but The Cure was with me back when I was surviving high school.  It got me through things.



Before the concert, Laila and I made our Top Five Cure Songs lists and had a pre-concert rock out session.  They played four of my songs!  "Hot Hot Hot!!!," "Close To Me," "Pictures of You," and my all-time fave Cure song, "Fascination Street."  When they started "Fascination Street," I thought I might have a heart attack.  I almost couldn't take it, it was so intense.



Robert's guitar has googly eyes.  I always knew he was a kindred spirit.  It has googly eyes and stars and a Parental Advisory sticker.  And he totally made eye contact with me.  But that's not something you look at through a camera lens.



Nights like these are ones I will never forget.  So when I have nostalgia for this time in my life twenty years from now, I'll have real things to remember.

In When It Happens, this kid George from the band Overlord rocks out extra hard.  Well guess what?  He's a real dude!


I've known George since college, so of course I went to see him play the Mercury Lounge last weekend.  It was a blast.  Then we stayed to hear the bands after Overlord and they also rocked.  Hospitality is a sweet band based in Brooklyn.  They have such an original sound and do randomly excellent things like bust out a penny whistle or this mini keyboard instrument that you blow into to play.  I should know what that's called by now.

Then The Bloodsugars came on and they were such rock stars.  I can't get those riffs in "Purpose Was Again" out of my head.  They're down with the 80s synth pop thing.  And super entertaining to watch.  Here's Brendan on bass:



He was jamming out unawares when a magical birthday cake appeared in front of him:



Yay!  It was a cake of cupcakes!  That's a reason to celebrate right there.

Your TGIM thought of the day is brought to you by our dirty musical secrets.  Why?  Because when I admit something about how dorky I am, it tends to make other people feel better (i.e. possessing less relative dorkiness).  And if you share something embarrassing with me, then I can have a good laugh on a Monday.  Sweet deal!

So.  Let's get down to our dirty musical secrets.

Mine:  Okay.  Um...I liked New Kids on the Block.  As if that's not mortifying enough, I liked them when I was too old to like them.  I was sixteen and all the other NKOTB fans were like eleven.  But that did not stop me.  I even had their door poster.  And this was my boy:



Yours:  ?

So I was supposed to be blogging about how awesome The Cure was at Madison Square Garden last Sunday.  That was the concert where SP and I had 4th row center floor seats.  Which is so freaking awesome I can't even explain how close that is.  And today I was going to post photos and the playlist and details about how I was so close I could see Robert Smith's lipliner.

But that's not what this is about.  Because The Cure canceled their concert.

Canceled.  It.

At first I was like, Who does that?  But then I found out that they have to finish their next album or some such.  Hmph.  At least we have the same seats on June 20, which is the rescheduled date.  That's a good thing.  So instead of being all depressed about this, I'll share some positive John Mayer energy.

I went to two John Mayer concerts during his Continuum tour.  I had 2nd row seats for Madison Square Garden and 2nd row seats for Tweeter Center.  They both rocked harder than ever.  Enjoy, neighbors: