LHA – Page 136 – Laurie Halse Anderson

May 12, 2008

In which an author gets down to it

Don’t know about you, but my weekend rocked the house. I worked on revisions, I did not touch the pile of research I was supposed to, BH and I ran 13.3 miles on Saturday morning, and I was both mom and daughter yesterday. Spent most of it in the garden, a most Demeter-like day.

(ETA – You should read my daughter’s blog on what she learned from her various moms about books.)

I will be signing books on Thursday! Come see me at river’s end bookstore in Oswego, NY from 6 – 8pm. The store is celebrating its 10th anniversary and it is time to party. We’ll have TWISTED in paperback and INDEPENDENT DAMES (thank you Uncle Simon and Uncle Schuster for making it available a little early).

The next 6 weeks are going to scream by, so be patient if my posts are a little sporadic and shorter than usual. I am going to be posing questions in preparation for my July Writing Challenge; things designed to get you thinking and maybe open up some ideas for your writing during that month.

Today is Katherine Hepburn’s birthday. Ms. Hepburn famously said: “If you obey all the rules you miss all the fun.”

So here is today’s question: Which rules are worth breaking?

May 9, 2008

The Ladies are in the House!

Having your new book – the book you’ve worked on for years, dreamed about, fussed about, cried over, danced with, bored your relatives to tears with (“aren’t you done with that thing yet?”) – having that book arrive is the closest thing possible to the moment when you give birth to a child.

Without the mess and a room full of strangers wearing latex gloves and face masks.

Without further ado, meet INDEPENDENT DAMES: What You Never Knew About the Women and Girls of the American Revolution.

::wipes tears from eyes::

DAMES is a 40-page non-fiction historical picture book that highlights the revolutionary activity of 80 women and girls you’ve probably never heard of.

When you spend more than a decade on a project, you want to show it off.

May 7, 2008

Want to join my writing challenge?

Last month I gave the keynote speech at the New England SCBWI Conference. There were 550 people in the room. Most have them have written to me in the last couple of weeks (thank you very much – they have been sweet and much appreciated notes) commenting on what I had to say.

The most frequent topic is the challenge I issued: to write for at least 15 minutes a day for 21 days. Some people loved it, others struggled.

With summer coming, I thought I’d issue it again:

Can you commit to write for at least fifteen minutes every day from July 1st – July 21st?

Let know if you want to join by leaving a note in the comment section. You can comment anonymously, if you want. If there is enough interest, I will focus my blog posts in July on writing stuff.

What do you think? Want to play?

May 5, 2008

Happy Cinco de Birthday!

The Forest is decorated with streamers and margaritas today. Yes, it is Cinco de Mayo (and take it from me: San Jose is where you want to be on Cinco de Mayo weekend). But it is also the birthday of Stephanie, my oldest daughter. You can leave birthday greetings on Bookavore, her blog, if you want. AND it is the 50th birthday of my most very Beloved Husband, Scot. All he wants for his birthday are a few more donations to his charity run.

So, yeah. This is Party Central today.

It’s also Catching Up from the Weekend Day. Friday morning I ran along the Guadalupe River Park Trail – it reminded me a lot of the trail that runs through the middle of Austin. After a long shower and lunch, my intrepid hosts, Dr. Mary Warner and Dr. Jonathan Lovell, drove me to Yerba Buena High School. Thanks you very, very much to Ms. Goltzer and her students for making the afternoon so much fun! After we left the school, we went to Hicklebee’s, an amazing independent bookstore run by Valerie Lewis, who ought to be called She Who Knows Everything. I would love to take her out to dinner with Teri Lesesne. The two of them in the same room at the same time might be enough to fix everything that is wrong with our world.

This should be a Destination Bookstore; the kind you plan an entire vacation around.

Not only do they have tons of books, artifacts from writers (like The Pants from Ann Brasheres and an early drawing of Clifford the Big Red Dog), and a terrific staff, but they have wall after wall crowded with signatures and drawings from authors and illustrators who have dropped by.

What San Jose, Stevie Wonder, and the Shippensburg Women’s Rugby team have in common

May 2, 2008

Dawn Patrol

Yesterday was a lucky day for me. My tomato plants survived the frost, snug in their little handmade hoodies. My flights were on time, my flights were (relatively) comfortable, and my luggage did not wander off on its own. AND I won a contest. I have never won a contest before in my whole life. And get this – I won ICE CREAM.

Coconut & Lime is my favorite food blog. (You really should check it out and try some of her recipes.) When I was inbetween flights at O’Hare Airport yesterday, I saw the announcement of a contest to win some of the new flavors of Haagen-Dazs ice cream. So I entered. I always enter contests; it’s a case of blind optimisim overcoming decades of painful experience. But yesterday, I won! I don’t know when the ice cream is coming, or what flavors will be in the box, but I’ll let you know.

One of the nice things about jet lag is that it’s really easy, as an East-coaster, to wake up wicked early for a sunrise stroll. San Jose is a very walkable and runnable city. I am staying on the campus of San Jose State University and went for a run last night through the surrounding neighborhoods. This morning I wandered through downtown, enjoying all the public art. While looking for an open coffee shop, I came across a cool memorial to Ernesto Galarza, called Man of Fire.

He was a brilliant author, activist, and organizer who fought for decent working conditions for farm laborers and educational opportunities for all.

The piece looks like a long dining room table, with objects that reflect Galarza’s passions and accomplishments scattered on it.

See this memorial to his life and work, especially since we just celebrated International Labor Day yesterday and Cinco de Mayo on Monday, was a meaningful way to start the day.

I leave in a while to speak at Yerba Buena High School, then to Hicklebee’s for a 4pm event and signing. You’re coming, right? Please? Paleeeeezzzz?