Day: October 26, 2005

Yes, that’s what I had for dinner tonight. How can you resist a menu item like that? It had squid (duh), bamboo shoots, broccoli, onion and chili in coconut milk. I liked it. Didn’t love it, but liked it enough to eat an entire plateful. I wonder if I will have strange dreams because of it.

The day flew by.

The ladies of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis High School hung out with me at Teen Central, a HUGE YA section at the Donnell Library on 53rd Street. This is the library that had an Anti-Prom last spring, for kids who were feeling a little rebellious about the prom concept, but still wanted a good party. They had more than 100 kids show up for it. This is an idea whose time has come.

The men and women of Bushwick High, Academy of Urban Planning, Bushwick School for Social Justice, and New York Harbor School. I had such an amazing time with them…. and one of their teachers brought cookies. For everybody.

Some of the kids who stayed late to chat.

Now it’s back to revisions and then sleep. I’m at Long island City High School in Queens tomorrow morning, then the long train ride home. Since I was in Brooklyn today, I want to answer an email I received last week from Jessica in Sheepshead Bay. She wrote: i read the comments section where you said you don’t read many ya books because your usually busy writing them and since i want to be an author i always thought it was important to write books i myself would read i mean whats the sense of writing a book you yourself wouldn’t read? what would make you think other people want to? do you think that aspect of writing is important?

Thanks for giving me the chance to clarify this, Jessica. I agree if you want to be an author (or if you are an author) you need to read a lot. And I really encourage people to read outside of their favorite genre; that’s how you learn new things. I was not in any way disrespecting other YA books. I LOVE them. But books and characters I love tend to stick around in my head, like ghosts. And I think it would be immoral as well as illegal to steal from other authors. So when I am writing YA, I read other kinds of books. That way, the voices of my characters are coming solely from me. Does that clear it up?

The last time I came to NYC, I had some cranky things to say about Amtrak. I take it all back. My train ride from Syracuse was amazing. I pulled out my laptop and was working on my revisions before we left the station Five hours later, I powered down and pulled into New York. No stress, no hassle, total serenity. I may never fly again.

I signed stock at Bank Street Books and had coffee with a friend who recently moved here and is now living the swanky city life, sort of. Grabbed Thai food for dinner (hard to find in Oswego County, NY) and slept like death. I think I am fighting a cold, so I’ve been pounding tea and honey.

I see bunches of students today and have to sign books again. If I’m lucky, I’ll be asleep by 8pm. Yes, I am pathetic that way, but I am tired and I really do not want to get sick.

Before I go, I need to rant about something. Have any of you seen the television coverage of the tragic murder of Pamela Vitale? She was allegedly murdered by a 16-year-old in her home in California. My heart goes out to the family of this poor woman, and if the kid they have in custody really did it, then I don’t want him on the streets again. But I am furious at the way the media has grabbed on to the label of “Goth” as if a) it is a bad thing, and b) it has anything to do with the fact that this woman was murdered. I heard one story that pointed out his parents separated a few days before the incident. Hello? Do you think the fact that there is clearly pain and stress in his house may have led to the fabled depression of this boy? Not according to some news stories. To hear them, it’s those darn trenchcoats. They are the root of all evil. Give me a break.

Actually, I found an online news piece that examines this situation in a little more depth.

Are you frustrated with the stupid way much of media treats the Goth subculture? What can be done about this?