Resource Thursdays: Through the Tollbooth

What’s better than a blog written by one person?  Why, a blog written by nine people, of course!  Through the Tollbooth is a blog focusing on writing for YA and Children’s markets, and it is penned by nine women with MFA’s in writing from Vermont College.  Pretty cool, huh?  These women talk about everything from the writing process, to landing an agent, to marketing and ideas for promoting your book after publication.  It’s a very fun blog to read because of the depth and breadth of information listed. It’s also nice to have different perspectives and writing styles all gathered in one place.  This is definitely a blog you can get absorbed in for a while.  Definitely a good place to go when you’re procrastinating studying for exams.  (Who, me?)

It’s official!

It’s time to celebrate!  Despite the fact that I got married about nine months ago, I hadn’t yet changed my name.  It’s a huge paperwork hassle – from getting your marriage license to getting your social security information changed, getting a new driver’s license, and on and on.  Three months after starting this whole process, I am now officially Tanya Seal Grant!  At least on my social security card.  Making the appointment at the DMV will come later…

Twilight: the movie

As promised, I’m reporting back with my take on the Twilight movie.  The movie trailer always looked kind of Lifetime movie-ish to me, so when we sat down to watch, I made my husband promise not to laugh.  But he did.  A lot.  And so did I.  Though the film stayed pretty true to the storyline of the book, the production value was quite low.  Since Ian is in the entertainment business, we both knew how much better it could have been.  And typically when a movie opens with a voice-over it’s a sign of a weak film narrative.  That being said, once I got past the fake-looking CG, I enjoyed the film.  The acting – meh.  But still, who could resist the star-crossed lover story of a vampire and a human?  Would I have paid money to see it?  No.  But it wasn’t a waste of an evening either.

Date night on CVS’s dime

This weekend Ian and I decided to head to CVS to pick up a few items.  Once we made our purchases, the cashier handed us back a coupon for $5 of free goods.  The catch was the expiration was only two weeks away, and we rarely go to CVS.  We looked at each other with the same idea – free money!  (though, yes, I know, it’s not really free since we had to spend money to get money back.)  We went back into the store and picked up another item.  Back to the cash register we went.  Our coupon code was entered and lo and behold, we got another $1 of free goods.  More free money!  We picked up some candy and back to the cash register we went.  By now the cashier was looking a little disgruntled, but like a good sport she rang up our free purchase.  Success!  We left the store with satisfaction, and a whole evening’s entertainment.  Guess I’m a cheap date.

By the way, if you want to learn more ways to stretch a dollar, visit www.cheapfree.com.

Books vs. Movie versions

I’m in the process of doing a swap with one of my friends: I loaned her the first book of the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer, which she hasn’t read, and she’s loaning me the movie, which I haven’t seen.  This got me thinking about books versus movies.  My personal preference is to read books before I see their movie versions.  This could be because I’m a book lover at heart, but I think it’s also in part because books allow you the creative control of deciding how to picture characters and events.  Movies make that choice for you.  Plus, part of the beauty of many books is the way they are written – the form of the language itself.

My experience has always been that the books are better than the movies.  I’m thinking of The Horse Whisperer by Nicholas Evans, White Oleander by Janet Fitch, Holes by Louis Sachar, The Tenth Circle by Jodi Picoult, and The Pact by Jodi Picoult.  There are many others, as well.  The exception could be Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling, which is a more plot-oriented book where the language itself is not especially remarkable.  I’ll weigh in on the Twilight film, which kind of looks like a made-for-TV movie.  What is your stance?

Resource Thursdays: Query Shark

Query letters – some people loathe them, some people write them for fun.  No matter what your stance on these letters, they are an important part of getting your writing noticed by agents and editors.  It’s crucial to remember, though, you can both get noticed for being horrendously bad and being amazingly good, and it’s the latter category that you should aim for.  To help keep you on track, check out the blog Query Shark.  This blog helps you learn by example – readers submit queries and the blog takes them apart, detailing what works and what doesn’t.  This is a great way to learn what catches someone’s attention and give you the edge in the market.  It’s worthwhile to visit Query Shark no matter what stage of the writing process you’re at.  Besides being a great tool, it’s a lot of fun to read.

Los Angeles Times Festival of Books

Hey everyone!  If you’re local to the Los Angeles area and a book lover, stop by the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books this weekend.  The event is held on the UCLA campus, and all this week the pretty white tents have been going up.  The festival will have author signings, panel discussions, and readings, along with booths for different booksellers and publishers.  I went last year, had a lot of fun, and bought way too many books.  It was boiling hot last year, and may very well be this year, so I suggest packing sunscreen and your own water and snacks.  You can wander around aimlessly, but if you’re interested in the panel discussions be sure to get some free tickets ahead of time.  Other than that, go and enjoy!

Hot hot heat

Over the last two days it’s gotten remarkably hot in the Los Angeles area.  Normally people think of LA as being hot year round, and while it is always relatively warm, it’s usually a nice 70 degrees or so.  Well this weekend it shot up to the triple digits in the Valley, so all the nice sweaty people decided to come down to the Westside to hang out at the beach.  This of course led to lots of angry sweaty people stuck in traffic – never fun.  Ian and I had an engagement shoot this Sunday in Malibu, and it took us over two hours to get there.   The shoot was well worth it but argh.

The good news, however, is that the heat makes me think of ripening summer.  Two of the books I’m currently working on are set in this season, and the heat gets me in the perfect summer frame of mind.  I’ve been getting really into my books, which in turn makes my mind go, which makes it harder for me to fall asleep.  Factor in the oppressive heat which makes it hard to breathe, and you’ve got a recipe for sleepless nights.  At least I’ll be doing something productive with all that time!

Perfect Fifths by Megan McCafferty

I’ve been thinking awhile about what to say about Perfect Fifths by Megan McCafferty.  This books ends the Jessica Darling series, and it is a much anticipated, perfect end.  After having read the four previous books in the series, I have gotten to know the characters well.  In this story, Jessica Darling and Marcus Flutie run into each other at an airport, after not having spoken for three years.  Unfolding in the course of eighteen hours, the story has sections written entirely in dialogue and entirely in haiku.  I originally wasn’t sure how the change from the first person format of the first books would work, but the flow is wonderful.  Not gonna lie, I teared up a little at the end – in part because I was sad the story was over, and in part because it was just that good.  So then I read it again.  Seriously, good book.  Go read it.

In case of a grooming emergency check my house

Remember how I told you my husband likes to buy his toiletries in multiple?  Here’s the proof.  In our new house he gets a whole cabinet devoted just to discontinued products.  This is me shaking my head.