Spring into Summer with Lila Castle

Spring fever anyone? I am raising up both hands! I am supposed to be cleaning, but blogging is begging to come first. A new YA book called The Star Shack has done me in. The weather here in NYC is simply gorgeous, my windows are wide open and the birds are chirping - and I have just come back home from a lovely walk and coffee with the author of Star Shack, Lila Castle. I had the good fortune of getting my hands on an ARC (Advance Reader's Copy) and tore through this fun and sassy romp in one sitting. Perfect for springing into summer, which is when it will be widely available! I am a sucker for well-paced love stories, and Lila kept me guessing and rooting for our hero and heroine until the end. Written in the first person and in alternate points of view, we get inside the heads of both Annabelle and Pete, who spend summers together on Gingerbread Beach. But this summer, their feelings for each other have changed - or so they think! Annabelle dares Pete to set up a summer horoscope business with her - thus the title, The Star Shack.

Lila and I sat on the beautiful campus of Columbia University, drinking coffee, talking about writing. I love alternate points of view - indeed EDGES is structured by two POV's. (My road to publication post reveals that my first draft had nine POV's!) Lila and I have talked in the past about writing in the first person vs. third person. My fiction writing is almost always in the third person, while Lila feels more "at home" narrating as "I".

I feel shored up after this morning, ready for whatever comes my way! We also talked about our mutual friend Daphne Grab, whose beautiful book Alive and Well in Prague, New York is on our top ten list of YA books. Another first person narrative!

Currently, I am being blown away by Barry Lyga's Boy Toy. I need to get off the internet at night and read more - maybe if I blog about my reading list, it will help me! After Boy Toy, I will delve into the world of adult literature with The Radiant City, by Lauren B. Davis, then today Lila lent me If I Stay by YA novelist Gayle Forman, (which I had read about on Courtney Sheinmel's blog yesterday)! I'm also really excited to read Word Freak: Heartbreak, Triumph, Genius, and Obsession in the World of Competitive Scrabble, by Stefan Fatsis.

Thanks for stopping by, and hope to see you soon!

EDGES: ARC show & tell

How to celebrate hard work coming to fruition? Carry around bound galley and show to absolutely everyone you meet! (I would go get a pedicure, but all three kids need new shoes!) My first stop was breakfast with the fabulous Lila Castle who brought along her ARC of The Star Shack to show me. We cooed and oohed and ahhed over each other's babies as any other mother would do. It's so wonderful to be able to share this experience with Lila! I've also had a really fun experience on Facebook, where friend Lauren B. Davis suggested another friend Lish McBride from Seattle because we both have YA books coming out next fall. We've had a great time getting to know each other in cyber-land, and she got her ARC's about a week before mine!

Next stop in my Lit.Life was home to write a scene for my new book. I should have stayed out, because the bed (my office) was too comfortable, I couldn't help closing my eyes . . .

And as you know, Monday is also Megday, so I woke myself up to run to a different Starbucks to meet her . . . and she shared my excitement about the ARC. The ARC! It's been YEARS of struggling with self doubt about my choice to heed the call to practice the art of writing, and I am doing everything I can to set up my life so I can keep at it! My eyes are watering . . . I am SO grateful!

I will leave you with my favorite piece of writer advice this week, from Margaret Atwood, via Lauren B. Davis:

"You most likely need a thesaurus, a rudimentary grammar book, and a grip on reality. This latter means: there's no free lunch. Writing is work. It's also gambling. You don't get a pension plan. Other people can help you a bit, but ­essentially you're on your own. ­Nobody is making you do this: you chose it, so don't whine."

Tomorrow, Tuesday: READ ACROSS AMERICA at my friend Steve Evangelista's school, Harlem Links, with friends Elizabeth Winthrop and Courtney Sheinmel!