~~~Lara Zielin~~~

STATUS: Dancing the Monster Mash (not really, but the idea of it appeals to me).

FAVE LINKEY-POO RIGHT THIS SECOND: Jedi breakfast. Cornflakes meets the dark side.

I’m still editing so not much to report there. BUT, I did decorate a pumpkin for Halloween. And by decorate, I mean I pimped the thing out. Because really, my personal philosophy is that you can pimp out anything. I call it a pimpkin. I hope I’m the first to use that word because I love it. Pimpkin.

Happy Halloween!

STATUS: Drinking coffee out of a mug that’s shaped like Bret Favre’s head.  

FAVE LINKEY-POO RIGHT THIS SECOND: Live-action Pac-Man.

I thought I’d share one of the big editing directions that Stacey gave me for Donut Days. It might be kind of obvious, but it’s one of those little things that, in my experience, can easily get pushed to the back-burner when you’re cooking along on a book.

According to Stacey, some of my scenes seemed to be happening in a vacuum because I wasn’t providing enough detail about the environment and the people that were in the scene. So, I’d have all this dialogue – a good three or four paragraphs worth, sometimes more – where my characters would just be talking but there were no visuals to underscore what was going on. She really encouraged me to slow down and spell out some of the details. I’ve written out a “before and after” example of some text that illustrates what Stacey was talking about. It’s not from Donut Days per se, but it’s similar enough:

BEFORE:

“I can’t believe you would do that,” I said.

“Well, deal with it,” replied Jane.

“I – I don’t know how.”

AFTER:

The wind picked up and the dust started swirling. “I can’t believe you would do that,” I said, clutching the empty canteen in my hands.

“Well, deal with it,” replied Jane, wiping her mouth.

“I – I don’t know how.”

I know this seems like pretty rudimentary stuff. I guess it is. Sometimes the mechanics of writing a book seem so obvious, but you know what they say about the obvious – it’s so smack-your-head evident it’s easy to ignore.

STATUS: Drinking chai.

FAVE LINKEY-POO RIGHT THIS SECOND: An oldie but a goodie with the all-over shaver.

I couldn’t figure out why little Brit-Brit was covering her mouth the other day when she was talking to the stalkarazzi. Now I know — it’s because she had her lips plumped. You go, Brit. Because that’s TOTALLY going to make everything better. Just ask Jessica Simpson.

I’m blogging about Brit again, which should tell you a lot. I’m holed up, doing more edits. Life is on the boring side right now. So somebody please leave a comment and tell me about your life, which has to trump mine right now.

STATUS: Not surprised Kid Rock is jail. Slightly surprised that Dumbledore is gay.

FAVE LINKEY-POO RIGHT THIS SECOND: The site for those of us who wish to look like Alec Baldwin. Don’t miss the FAQ or About Us pages.

This was one of those perfect fall weekends that makes your heart ache it’s so pretty. So, instead of blathering on about the colors, the smell on the breeze, or how freaking cute the dog was the whole time, I’m just going to post more pictures. You know what they say — a thousand words and whatnot. Also, it was Mrs. Hess’ birthday, so that last one is of us celebrating at the French Laundry in Fenton. Yummy!

STATUS: So freaking excited for Most Haunted Live tonight. I’m scaring myself, I’m so jazzed.

FAVE LINKEY-POO RIGHT THIS SECOND: Mullets Galore. The name says it all.

A new magazine, Geek Monthly, bills itself as “more adorable than a Wes Anderson film.” It’s certainly a timely publication, seeing as how the rise of geek chic is sweeping pop cult. Everything from nerds on TV (Dwight in The Office) to nerds in film (Superbad) to nerds in … books? I was thinking about that last one and wondering if there were more nerds in YA today, or if most YA authors were still creating lip-gloss toting characters who backstab their best friends while wearing Juicy couture. Oh, and did I mention they’re rich? They’re ALWAYS rich.

Now, disagreeable, unlikable characters are often the best kind of characters. Ideally, by the end of the book, they’ve learned a few things and have changed their ways — at least to some degree. I’m just saying I’d rather read about an overweight protagonist, like in GODLESS, and his snail-loving best friend, than I would about another catty cheerleader. Most of my characters are geeks — probably because I was a geek. I guess I have an affinity for the breed.

If you’re sitting in an office that smells like Xerox paper (or even if you’re not), take a virtual walk in the woods by checking out this video of poplars that Rob took while we were at the cabin. About 10 seconds in, a breeze comes up and the poplars sound like they’re clapping. Fall applause.

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STATUS:Eeeeelaaaaine! Eeeeelaine!

FAVE LINKEY-POO RIGHT THIS SECOND: http://www.engrish.com/ Happy bruising … I mean browsing.

So, this past weekend Rob and I went up to our little cabin in the woods for a much-needed break. It was late on Friday by the time we headed up there, and we were on some desolate backroads in the pitch dark. At one point, Rob said, “I’m going slow because there are a lot of deer out here.” No sooner had he said that when we saw a glowy pair of eyes in the bushes. Rob slowed waaaaay down and then, suddenly, the deer came galloping out of the bushes and started heading straight for us. Rob pulled the car way over to the side of the road to avoid the deer, but I think it was Cujo deer or something. It was after us. We were almost at a complete stop when — wham — the deer smacked into the side of the car.

Rob and I kind of looked at each other for a second, and I of course pictured a dead, mangled deer on the road and a crumpled left-side of the car. But neither of those things happened. Like a bad hangover, the deer shook it off and trotted on. And my car was fine, save for a couple little indentations and a few tufts of deer fur stuck to the door. So I guess Rob and I are, like, the two people in America who have been hit by a deer, versus the other way around. Why is this not surprising to me?

After we recovered from being practically run off the road by Bambi, we were able to have a blast at the cabin. Amos, too. Here’s a picture of him, running around and being silly. Like the beagle he is.

Yay fall! 

STATUS: Stay on your toes, Bill Clinton. There may be a new crush in town.

FAVE LINKEY-POO RIGHT THIS SECOND: A gorilla playing drums advertising chocolate. Just trust me on this one.

So Josh Ritter is in Ann Arbor. He just played a concert over the noon hour at Borders to promote his new album, The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter. Can I just say, how am I supposed to sit at my desk and WORK after seeing this guy play? Seriously? How? He was so completely adorable and — his songs! The lyrics! Good stuff. If you haven’t previewed his album, check out JoshRitter.com, where the entire album plays so you can hear it.

Speaking of lyrics, how is it even remotely possible that Sting received Blender’s nod for worst lyricist? Sorry but I LIKE Sting’s lyrics. Fields of Gold, anyone? Call me cheesy but I don’t care. Paris Hilton makes an album and STING gets worst lyricist? Come ON, Blender. What gives? 

STATUS: Bedazzled. Life should always sparkle – at least a little.

FAVE LINKEY-POO RIGHT THIS SECOND: Promotional photos of 1970s Swedish bands.

I’m not going to spend a lot of time on this but seriously — why Britney can’t keep her vuh-jay-jay in her pants is absolutely baffling. Yes, you read it here first. Brit got nabbed by the stalkarazzi and … well, you can find the photos online yourself. Honestly, I think there’s a University of Michigan scientist somewhere writing a grant to study why that girl keeps forgetting to put on some freaking panties.

If it weren’t for Britney, I might be having the slowest week ever. It’s just me and my laptop, marathoning our way through all the edits. It’s all good, though. Really good, actually. I like the process of taking the novel to the next level.

I hear the blog might have a new reader, who I will mention by name because she sounds so cool. All together now: Welcome Alex.

Thanks for reading, yo. I always like it when peeps dig the blog.

Even during the slow weeks.

STATUS: Showed up to work and Bill Clinton’s book, GIVING, was on my chair. I’m freaking ecstatic!

FAVE LINKEY-POO RIGHT THIS SECOND:  Seth Green’s take on Britney’s biggest fan.

I had the great privilege of interviewing Laura Kasischke last Friday, and it was so fabulous to talk with a writer of her caliber who is completely and total real about … being a writer of her caliber. Without scooping my own article on the subject, I’d just like to point out that when Laura is on a plane and someone asks her what she does, she tells them she’s a professor. And if they ask of what, she says writing. And only then, if they ask her if she writes, she says yes, she does. Even Laura, who has won awards and whose books have been made into movies, says that being a writer “doesn’t feel like what I am.” Because there’s still something that eludes her – something that she hasn’t yet obtained even with all her success.

And that thing? Well, my thinking is that it looks like what a lot of us writers face. We think, oh, if I could just get ONE book published, I’d be SO happy. Then we get that one book published and we’re onto the second work, saying, OH, if I can just make this SECOND book sing, I know I’ll be satisfied. And although it nearly tears us up, we make the second book sing and then we’re onto the third book thinking … we’ll, you get the point. Where’s the end? How do we rest? When are we satisfied?

Sorry to say, I don’t have the answer. I’m on book two (see above) and I daresay, I don’t know ANY writers who have the answer. Not even Laura.