Never ask loved ones or blood relatives to critique your manuscript. They can read it, but only with the understanding that their job is to cheer you on. Their only responses shall be "That's great, honey!" or "Wow! Now I know why you're so excited!" or "I am so proud of you!"

If they say "You spent all that time locked in the closet and this is what you produced?" you are allowed to burst into tears. (I do not encourage full-blown temper tantrums complete with banging head against floor, but I understand that sometimes they are necessary.)

You need peers - people who are also writing and who read a lot - to give you a decent critique of your work.

Rule of thumb: don't ask loved ones to read your manuscript and don't ask critique buddies to pick up their socks.

EDITED TO ADD: Several of you commented that if your loved one is a writer, s/he can offer extremely helpful critiques. I agree. That works in my family, too. But I think it is rare. My tips this month are written with new NaNoWriMo participants in mind and I am guessing that few of them have a loving, in-house, qualified critiquer.

1. The latest news is that ABC has offered the GMA host job to George Stephanopoulos. Now, don't get me wrong. I like George just fine. Remember when Monica and Rachel were obsessing about watching him take off his shirt on Friends? (Yes, I know he has many other great accomplishments other than being mentioned on Friends. But this is the Friday Five, after all.) But George already has a show, on Sunday mornings. And, honestly, I'm just not sure he can move so easily between interviewing world leaders AND doing cooking segments like Diane did. But you know who CAN?

That's right. Also, I'd like to point out that if George comes, and then Chris LEAVES (which is the rumor, that he'll move on if he doesn't get moved up) then we, the loyal viewers, are down HALF the team. And I don't like change. Especially in the morning when I have not yet had my coffee. It's going to be hard enough to go without Diane. But Chris, too? Oh, GMA. Don't make me quit you.

2. In other news, I've been getting a lot of requests lately for some info on the book I'm working on. I want to tell you that I am very flattered that people are so excited about the prospect of another novel (my tenth!). But to be honest, I just don't like to talk about my books when I'm writing them. I'm getting kind of nervous even writing this entry, actually. It just seems like a jinx. Plus, I learned way back in college, when I was in brutal writing workshops trying to write my first novel (now in a dusty box in my attic, where it belongs) that input AS I write does not help me. I like to have my book and characters all to myself until it's done. Then, I pack it up and send it off to my agent, the One True Voice, for a yay or nay. Until she sees it, though, nobody does. My husband doesn't even know what I'm writing about. So I'm not ignoring your requests, just honoring my neurotic yet necessary process. I'm sure you understand.

3. Speaking of my crazy ways, can I tell you how much I hate to make big decisions? This was why I was TERRIBLE at wedding planning, which I was in the thick of ten years ago right now. All these little choices that are so important (or seemed like they were, then): cupcakes or big cake? champagne toast or no? buffet or sit-down? Oh, I'd just get totally paralyzed and end up freaking out. Now, I'm having to make all these decisions for my office, like picking carpet. I know, I know. It's carpet, you walk on it, big deal. But do I get beige? Or a lighter beige? Do I get berber or loop pile or something sort of shag-esque, which the carpet people insist is not retro but really cool? Oh, dear God I have no idea. I actually tried to send my husband to just pick it out himself, as I trust his taste, but he refused. I am honestly at the point of just closing my eyes and pointing at the samples, that random. Leave it up to fate. It can't go THAT wrong, can it?

4. Speaking of my wedding, I can't believe it was ten years ago this June. Also crazy? I will be 40 in the same month. FORTY. Holy crap, how did that happen? I had this totally crazy realization, while watching Cougartown, that I might actually be a cougar at forty. Or maybe I've BEEN a cougar, and didn't even realize it? How can this be, when mentally I still feel like I'm about eighteen? I can't even think about it. When I turned thirty, I was so distracted by my wedding, which was four days later, that I couldn't really think about it. But forty is big, wild jungle cats aside. Luckily I have six months to brace myself.

5. Finally, I'm heading out today to do some Christmas shopping and it's got me thinking. I'm really trying to do less in terms of gift buying and give more to the NC Food Bank, because they really do so much good and a lot of folks out there can really use help right now. It's a little tricky with the gift thing, though, since this is the first Christmas that my daughter is actually aware of what's going on. She's been reading Olivia Helps with Christmas for weeks now, and has already informed me she wants toys for her gifts. Yikes. So far I have only bought her a couple of picture books, and I know she wants some playdoh, which she was introduced to at a playdate this week. I really am trying to avoid bringing any more huge, plastic THINGS into this house. (Especially huge plastic things that made noise when buttons are pushed.) Simple, simple, simple. I'm thinking puzzles, crayons, no batteries required. It's a noble aspiration, right? We'll see if I can actually pull it off.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Santa's elves arrived in the Forest early this year!

They brought the news that WINTERGIRLS has been named a Publisher's Weekly's Best Book of the Year, Kirkus' Best YA Books of 2009, Booklist's Editor's Choice of 2009, the 2010 Texas Tayshas High School Reading List and nominated to YALSA's 2010 Quick Pick List! It has also been nominated to the 2011 Grand Canyon Reader Award by the very nice people in Arizona, who were kind enough to nominate...


CHAINS as well, on the Tween List for the Grand Canyon Reader Award.

Each one of those lovely lists feels like another filled stocking in front of the fire!

REVISION TIP #3

Many people struggle to find a way to look at the larger picture of their novel. They can line edit a page or take a chapter to their writer's group, but managing the unwieldy novel is hard.

Here is what I do.

1. Get the largest piece of paper you can find. I go to an art supply store and buy an enormous artist's pad for this task.

2. You need to carve out three hours of concentration time. Turn off the internet and phone. Loan your dog and children and partner to nice people who will return them fed and watered after the the three hours. Chain off the driveway so delivery trucks and friendly people who don't understand what you mean when you say "I'm working" can't drop in.

3. On one of your massive sheets of paper, list every chapter in your book. Describe the action in the chapter in one sentence.

4. Now prepare a separate action list. (This one will take up a couple of sheets of paper. (Did I mention that you 'll need to clear off the kitchen table for this? And maybe the floor?) This list will break down each chapter into the scenes. Keep it brief! F. Ex.: "MC (main character) drops homework in fish tank. Fish die. MC hides them in flower vase. Mother sees them and flips out."

5. (This is the fun part) With a colored pen or pencil, go through the detailed chapter list and make notes about the emotional arc of your MC and the important secondary characters. Also, make sure that changes in mood are properly motivated, and that conflicts are set up. You might use different colors to represent different plot elements.

6. The threads of your novel are laid out in front of you. Step back and study it. Do your characters have reasonable emotional responses to the actions in the chapters? Do the building levels of conflict appear in the right order? (I often move scenes around at this stage.) Which scenes and/or chapters can you completely remove from the story without affecting anything else? What characters can you eliminate? Do you have any characters that can be combined because they serve the same purpose in the story. (I do this a lot.)

7. By the end of this process, your papers will be covered with notes, stickies and lots of colored arrows.

8. Sit down with the giant map of your novel and apply the changes to your manuscript. I like to do this on a hard copy first, then type in the changes.

9. Don't forget to unchain the driveway and let your loved ones back in.

Dang, this is a long blog entry. Still with me? Questions?

If revising during December (like I am) give yourself only 24 hours in which to complete your shopping.

(Like I did.)

::crosses off the last item on gift list, pulls manuscript back out::

Now that it's officially the Holiday Season, I know it's more important than ever to follow my mother's mantra and Keep It Simple. The "it" can be just about anything: life, childcare, your To Do list, your exercise routine. With this in mind, I decided to order my holiday cards early, over Thanksgiving weekend, so I could be done with it. Simple, right? Well, yes. Until they came and I hated them.

Let me just backtrack and say that I have a wee bit of a perfectionist issue. When I was pregnant, I remember I was obsessing over the edits for Lock and Key, and my agent called me to do a little talking off of the ledge. (This is a regular part of my work process, needing this talk, and everyone---my parents, my husband, agent, editor----are used to having to do it. It takes a village to deal with my neurosis, clearly.) Anyway, so she was telling me to just calm down, and I said, "I just want it to be perfect!" And she sighed and said, "Now, you want things to be perfect. Once you have that baby, though, you'll be happy just to keep your head above water." And she was right. I have lowered the bar, big time. My bar is so low some days that I could limbo under it. Or NOT limbo under it. That's low.

Which brings me back to my cards. They are HOLIDAY CARDS. Who cares if they are, okay, not great, with the pictures too small and the type kind of weird and not that visually appealing? I ordered them, they are here, I should just send them out. But as much as I have TRIED to keep things simple, I am complicating this issue. Because I don't like them, and I want to order new ones, but now I'm in this crazy cycle of thinking about it and now, sharing my craziness with all of you. In fact, I should probably delete all this and just write something else about, say, whether it's a bad thing to do all gift cards for the holidays or how I can't wait for the next Friday Night Lights, which looks like it might rock my world completely. But that's complicating things. So I will leave this, and own my craziness. It is mine, if nothing else.

I'd also like to point out that it is only December 2nd. We still have a lot of the month to go. Maybe it's time to up my coffee intake.

In other news, an update from my last entry. I have heard from several readers letting me know that Chris Brown is not appearing on my beloved GMA after all. Clearer heads have prevailed, apparently, and I am so relieved because I hate it when GMA and I are all, you know, not good. On a related note, I read last night that Charlie Gibson's last day on World News is December 18th. Does this mean that we'll be hearing who will replace Diane as main anchor on GMA by then? I wonder. Just in case, I will repeat who I think should get the job:


Just my two cents. I love me some Cuomo.

Okay, I'm hitting that coffee now. Plain, black, hot. Simple. Mom would approve.

Have a great day, everyone!

Francesca Lia Block is my inspiration for a lot of my pieces in my shop. I thought I would post some because I thought you guys you like them. Thank you.





















http://spacepearls.etsy.com

Welcome to December! We woke up to a snow-covered forest and it is still coming down!




The Lexington Herald-Leader wrote an article about the book banning in Montgomery County High School in Mount Sterling, KY, where the superintendent appears to be breaking district policy by refusing to return the books (Twisted, Deadline by Chris Crutcher, Lessons from a Dead Girl by Jo Knowles, The Rapture of Canaan by Sheri Reynolds, What My Mother Doesn't Know by Sonya Sones, What My Girlfriend Doesn't Know by Sonya Sones, and Unwind, by Neal Shusterman) to the classroom after the books were approved by the district's Review Committee.

The superintendent says that he does not believe these books belong in the classroom.

(From the article) "I wrote the teachers over a month ago and said, 'show me why the books should be in the curriculum and we'll reconsider that decision,"' he said. "I'm certainly not the world's final authority on what ought to be in a college curriculum. But so far I haven't heard a word from anybody about why we should use these books."

That's not exactly true. I have a copy of a five-page letter written to Dr. Freeman by one of the top experts in the field about the use of contemporary literature in high school classrooms. The letter explains exactly why those books have a place in his classrooms, citing state standards, research that validates their use, and the district's own vision statement.

What do you think? Share your opinions with Dr. Freeman (daniel.freeman@montgomery.kyschool.us) or on the newspaper's website, in the Comments that accompany the article. Remember: it is possible to have strong opinions and be polite at the same time.

Congrats on everyone who participated in NaNoWriMo last month. Even if you didn't hit the 50,000 word mark, you wrote something which is way better than nothing. I'm deep in revisions for my next novel, so I'll be posting my own revision tips this month for any of you guys who are interested.

Revision Tip #1
When you finish a first draft, don't look at it for at least a week. Clean up your desk and catch up on your reading. Do some journaling about what you thought the story was at the beginning of the the draft and how it changed when you were writing. Make a list of those pesky little thoughts that are bugging you about places where your characters might not be consistent, or major plot issues. Do this without rereading your pages! Trust me on this one.



PS - A couple of you wondered what was on the back of the shirts we wore for the Turkey Trot 5K. It was a list of all of our names and the tag line, "The family that runs together eats more pie!"

I don't know about you, but I am still recovering from Thanksgiving dinner. Or maybe just Thanksgiving week. What a whirlwind! I had family in town, and tons of social engagements, meals to cook, folks to catch up with. It was so much fun but by last night, when I finally collapsed onto the couch, I was wiped out. Thank goodness therapy was available in the form of Xanadu, probably the cheesiest movie ever made about roller skating, disco and Greek mythology. (Although I imagine this is a pretty small genre. Just a hunch.) I remember going to see this movie in the theatre, when I was obsessed with Olivia Newton John---that's how old I am---but watching it now is like an exercise in nostalgia and hilarity. Oh, and Gene Kelly! With music by ELO! If you haven't ever seen it and need a good laugh, or just something to marvel at, I highly recommend it.

On a more bothersome note, I've been following with interest the news reports that Chris Brown will be appearing on GMA in the next couple of weeks. Now, I'm a little hesitant to wade into this issue, as I don't know for sure that he's going to be on---although it is confirmed he'll be on 20/20, doing an interview with Robin Roberts---but I have to say, I'm a little bothered. Mostly because the interview that Diane did with Rhianna, which GMA featured a LOT, was so moving and upsetting. But, okay. Maybe GMA has their reasons for wanting to give both sides of the story. I get that. However, this announcement of Brown's possible appearance came just after GMA cancelled Adam Lambert's concert because his performance on the AMAs was so sexual. (If you are reading this and saying WHO are these people? I understand. We will return to our regular pop culture and food content shortly, hang in there.) Now, I actually saw some of Adam Lambert on the AMAs, thanks to NCTE, which kept me up late enough that I was coming home just as the broadcast was going off the air. And it WAS provocative, don't get me wrong. But I find is hard to believe he would do the same thing at 8am that he did at 11pm. But see, that's not even the point. The point is that it seems hypocritical to me that Adam Lambert is too controversial to have on, but it's okay to have someone who beats women. GMA, I love you, you know that. But why not skip them both, if you want to be sure not to offend? Maybe I am coming at this all wrong. If so, I am sure someone here will enlighten me. But it just seems....wrong. And GMA doesn't do wrong. At least, I don't want to believe they do.

Finally, today is the last day of November. I will refrain from marveling at how fast this month went by, as I know I have done that pretty much every month for the last year or so. But I WILL say that it is also the last day of Nanowrimo, and for those of you who will hit that 50,000 word mark, congrats. For everyone else who might have tried but not totally succeeded, or tried and got really discouraged, or tried and ended up curled into the fetal position under their desk, I say: welcome. You're part of a big group now and you have a lot of good company. And just because the month is over doesn't mean your efforts need to be. You've tried the marathon. Now, maybe attempt the long, leisurely walk. Or even a lope. Write a little bit every day. Slow and steady. You will probably still have rotten days when you totally lose faith. But you'll also have those days when it's all clicking and good and just WORKING, and those will keep you going. At least, that's been my experience. Then again, I am not really sure I should be giving writing advice to anyone, as I don't know what the heck I am doing half the time. I guess that's part of the fun?

Have a great day, everyone!

Did you have a great Thanksgiving? We sure did. Three-quarters of our brood made it to dinner and the missing offspring beamed in for a long Skype visit before we ate. About half of the family made it to the annual Turkey Trot 5K we ran in.

Of course we wore our cool custom shirts.

Check out the back.

For the record, we all finished the race.

How is NaNoWriMo working out for everyone? Today is the last day for it - did you meet your goals? What was harder than you thought? What was easier?

If all went well, you should have a bulky draft on your hands. Now it's time for the fun part: revision!!!

Want me to post revision tips in December? What do you need help with?

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, which, as regular readers know, is pretty much my favorite holiday. Mostly because it is an eating holiday, and who doesn't like that? Because I ate my way around Philadelphia, however---huge breakfasts! best brunch ever at the Continental! Dinner at Davio's and Parc!---I'm also making this a moving holiday. As in, the treadmill is my friend. As are lunges, sun salutations, and push ups. I am sure somewhere there is a formula for how many miles, lunges and push ups you need to do to balance out a turkey dinner, or two. But I'm too lazy to look it up. Hey, I'm on vacation!

In other news, the day has come: my daughter has grown out of her crib. She's been jumping in it like crazy, and now that it's broken twice we've decided to stop fixing it and just take it as a sign that's she's ready to move on. Even if we aren't. And I don't think we are. I mean, I plan to put a mattress on the floor, baby proof the entire bedroom, and put a big gate on the door. But what if she still gets up and runs around in the night? How do we get her to stay IN the bed? I have these visions of her just collapsing by the door in a heap after running laps once we've turned out the light and said goodnight. Oh, dear. Some might say, do you really want to try to do this over the holiday? (And by some, I mean my husband.) But the truth is, we have a lot of family in town this week, all of whom are dying to spend time with Sasha. So if we have some sleepless nights (me or her) at least there is backup. Anyway, wish us luck. And if you have anything that really worked for you, big kid bed-wise, please share if you feel like it, I need all the help I can get.

Finally, I'd like to give a little thanks. I think I spend too much of this blog whining about stuff, especially lately. I am overdue for a little gratitude, which is why I am so glad Thanksgiving is tomorrow. It's a chance to slow down, sit down, and be with the people I love. To remember how lucky we are, in so many ways, for health and togetherness and each other. I'm grateful for my daughter, who is making me a better person, and my husband, who has been doing the same for a long time. I'm grateful for you, my readers, for all the support over the last year, and for friends, who get me through, and my dogs, even though they kind of drive me nuts. I'm grateful for Friday Night Lights, and Modern Family (the best new show on TV, I swear!) and for the fact that Jennifer is still on Top Chef. I'm grateful for Pop Secret Homestyle popcorn (even though I MUST find a way to stop eating it) and for coffee and chocolate. And chocolate and peanut butter together. I could go on, and on, and I plan to, in the days and weeks and months following. For now, though, I'm going to step back from this laptop and go hang with my family. I hope you all have a GREAT holiday.

Whew!

I spent yesterday snoring on the couch, recovering from the wonderful, high-energy weekend at the National Council of English Teachers Annual Conference. Thank you, thank you to everyone who stood in the long lines and who shared their stories of the impact my books have had on their students. You guys made me cry more than once - happy tears. Those stories humbled and honored me.

I am still fairly wiped out from the whole shebang, so let me pull my photos out of my back pocket and share them.

Here is Davis Macinnis Gill and I recreating our photo from last year. In last year's acceptance speech and this year's keynote address, I referenced The Scarlet Letter.

I ordered a Scarlet Letter shirt from Novel-t.com for the occasion.

Melinda Campbell from Tuczon, AZ had her students create a tree of students reactions to SPEAK, and she brought it all the way to Philly to share with me.

I did not take a picture from the podium of the 600+ people who listened to me at the ALAN breakfast because I was too nervous. Thank you for not laughing at my poem!

I went hunting for my friends on the convention floor before my signing. Here is Jerry Spinelli with editor Alvina Ling.

My buddy Kate Messner was there!

Sharon Draper!!

Wimpy Kid author Jeff Kinney.

I spoke on the panel about author blogging with Justine Larbalestier, Maureen Johnson, Lisa Yee, and Barbara O'Conner. It was a fantastic panel!! I raised a point for all teachers to contemplate: Should we continue to spend classroom time on letter writing or has the time come to teach children how to compose appropriate email communication? What do you think?

I was honored to meet Risha Mullins, the KY teacher who has had books (including TWISTED) pulled from her classroom by her district superintendent and NOT returned, even though the review committee approved them. Risha received oodles of support from her fellow teachers. I am sure there will be more details soon about the progress of this challenge.

Along with all the speechifying and booksignings and panel and friend-stalking, I had three bookstore events in the Philly area with other authors. Here is the crowd that came out to the Doylestown Bookshop to hear Jay Asher, Lauren Myracle, and me. Actually, the crowd was about three times as many people as you can see here - my phone couldn't get everyone in one pic.

On Sunday morning, Sarah Dessen and I had breakfast with 100 fans at Chester County Book & Music Company. Here we are with the members of a writer's group, The First Novels Club, who followed us to the enormous, weekend ending last event:

It was an epic signing at Children's Book World In Haverford, PA with T.A. Barron, Sarah Dessen, Steve Kluger, Justine Larbalestier, David Levithan, Lauren Myracle, Scott Westerfeld & Jacqueline Woodson. And me.

Yeah - it was a whirlwind. Exhausting. And wonderful and fun and energizing!

Good morning from Philadelphia, where, honestly, I'm a little peaked. (That's pronounced peek-ed, in case you were wondering.) NCTE has been SO much fun, though. I've gotten to catch up with old friends, meet a ton of great librarians and teachers, and eat a lot of great food. In fact, I am thinking I am going to have to go totally low-carb or no carb once I am back. For now, though, I am indulging in huge breakfasts, lots of cheese and bread, and, um, chocolate. At least for the next couple of hours.

Last night, I attended a cocktail party for ALAN, which is always a blast. All the big author names were there: Deb Caletti, David Levithan, Lauren Myracle, E. Lockhart, Sara Zarr, plus a ton of others, too many to list here. I spent a lot of the party searching for Lara Zeises, who I was so excited to finally meet in person, but I could never find her. Today, I'm doing a panel, and then I get to pack up and head home to my daughter, who apparently is crazy congested and refusing to blow her nose. My husband is MORE than ready for me to take over chasing her around with a tissue. And then it's Thanksgiving! Which means, um, more carbs and dessert. I see a lot of time on the treadmill in my future. But man, it has been so worth it. The food is GREAT here. And I haven't even had a cheesesteak! Maybe at the airport. THEN I am going totally carb free. Really!

Have a great day, everyone!