~~~Lara Zielin~~~

FAVE LINKEY-POO RIGHT THIS SECOND: I suppose I was the only one until recently who hadn’t seen the crazy viral double rainbow vid, but have you see the double rainbow remix? I have. Thanks to Lauren!

I love Goodreads. Every time I read a book, I’m excited to list it on my shelf and see what other people are saying about it. And, yeah, it’s true — I like to see what people are saying about DONUT DAYS too.

For a while there, I was starring and reviewing everything I’d read. And then I started to think about my reviews not as a reader, but as a writer. If I were the author of said book and I read my review, how would I feel? If I were the author of said book and I saw it had been given three stars out of five, what would I think? (And let me tell you, when I see three-star reviews of DONUT DAYS, my heart does sink a little. I know it’s not supposed to. Thick skin and all that. But it does. Because I want so much for everyone to love it.)

Anyway. As a writer, I really can’t be a reviewer. The biggest factor in this is because I now understand that even the worst of books still represent loads of hard work by the author. And if it was in their heart to get it that far, to a place where I actually held it in my hands, I can’t front on that. I can throw Twilight across the room, but I can’t diss Meyer for putting words to what was in her imagination. (Or what was in her bedroom, watching her sleep. *shudders*)

Also, the writing community is small. About the time I go around saying I couldn’t stand a certain book, I’m going to  meet that writer at a conference and have to shake their hand and want the floor to open up and swallow me whole.

So, these days I mark the book as read, and I leave it at that. I do sort of miss putting my opinion out there, but as a published author, my job duties have changed. It’s no longer my role to critique as a reader and say what’s good. It’s now my responsibility to champion books and authors writ large — because as a whole they’re awesome — and cheerlead everything on the shelves.

FAVE LINKEY-POO RIGHT THIS SECOND: Other than Sydney Salter’s blog? Uh, how about AMC’s site correcting famous film misquotes? Like, Darth Vader never said, “Luke, I’m your father.” Eye opening!

Okay, so Sydney Salter’s blog? It’s a new fave. But first, let me start by saying how much I loved her book, MY BIG NOSE AND OTHER NATURAL DISASTERS. I adored it for many reasons, which you can read about here, not the least of which was its humor and unexpected closure for every single loose thread. I love a good ending, people!

But, anyway, back to Sydney’s blog. This thing just oozes good energy — Sydney is smart, positive, funny, and honest. What’s not to love? I personally love that she admits her dog hurls under her desk. I also love that she encourages compliments. Of all kinds.

So, Sydney, my compliment is to you: I’ve never met you, but I love your book, I love your blog, and I love your attitude. Thanks for putting so much good stuff online!

FAVE LINKEY-POO RIGHT THIS SECOND: Swine flu is no laughing matter, it’s true, but these masks? Come on. That’s funny. You gotta admit, you giggled.

Last night, I talked to fellow author and Carleton grad Sarah Quigley. Her new book, TMI, is hilarious and fun, and you can get it here.

Ah-hem. Anyway, after our conversation, I realized, oh jeez, there are some SERIOUS coincidences going on here. So I penned a letter about said coincidences to Laurie Hertzel, book editor for the Star Tribune. Because, seriously, this is beyond accidental. This is fate. This is worth an article.

Right? Let me know what you think. Cuz here’s the letter:

Sarah Quigley and I, both Minnesota natives, graduated from Carleton College the same year — 1998. We never had a class together, never held each other’s hair back at a party, never even lived in the same dorm. When we graduated, we both lived in Minneapolis for four years. For a portion of that period, we lived about a half-mile from each other in Uptown. We never met.

We both moved away from Minnesota around the same time (2002)–me to Michigan, Sarah to New York, then California.

We both wrote young adult novels that were picked up by the same publisher, Penguin. Sarah’s book is titled TMI. Mine is titled DONUT DAYS. We both appeared, mere pages apart, in Penguin’s recent spring/summer catalog.

Sarah saw something that tipped her off that I’d gone to Carleton, too. She emailed me, which was the first time we’d ever communicated. We realized our books would be coming out just a few short months apart.

Then I picked up her book and realized …

Both our young adult novels take place in Minnesota. Our protagonists are both from small fictional towns — hers is Pine Prairie, mine is Birch Lake. We both reference the cold. And Northfield, where we went to school.

Can I just say … OMG?!

It’s a little weird, even for me. I’m wondering if there’s a story here that the Star Tribune might be interested in. Sarah’s book is currently on bookshelves, and mine comes out this August. I’ve pasted our websites below, and both of us would be more than happy to supply any additional information about our books. Or lives. Or cats. Or how much we love Minnesota.

Thanks so much for the consideration, and I hope to hear back from you.

FAVE LINKEY-POO RIGHT THIS SECOND: I am so glad I got hooked into the Debs 2009 community, a group of writers who all have books coming out in 2009. I love the advice, the information, and the support this site offers.

Rhonda Stapleton is one of the authors I’ve “met” through Debs 2009. She has a book, Stupid Cupid, coming out in late 2009, and she did this laugh-out-loud interview with her publisher, Simon & Schuster. When asked if she had one sentence of advice for new writers, her answer was (and I’m paraphrasing here) “Read a lot.”

I totally agree. I put Rhonda’s book on my reading list, as well as a bunch of other Debs’ books, and I’m also plowing through a pile of books I got from Swaptree (my fave site for trading books and getting reading material on the cheap).

I just finished The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, which I loved, and I keep track of everything I read on my website, on this page here. I don’t pretend to review them (I’m SO not qualified) but I do try to provide a general synopsis.

In any case, mi bookshelf es tu bookshelf, and I’d love to hear what books you’re diving into (and loving) as well.

STATUS: Ready for a vacation to someplace that’s not grey and snowy.

FAVE LINKEY-POO RIGHT THIS SECOND: Garfield minus Garfield. The comic strip gets infinitely more funny — and sad — when the orange cat is taken away.

Last night was the first meeting of the young adult book club that some friends/colleagues and I started. We’d decided to read The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing to kick things off and, I gotta say, that book is like The Patriot meets Roots meets …. what’s the most depressing movie ever? Boys Don’t Cry? Maybe. So mix all those things together and you’ve got Octavian — and an urge to hurl yourself off a building. I’ll probably take some crap for this because a lot of people loved this book. None of them, however, attended book group last night.

I also felt my age last night because I was schooled in the meaning of “pwn3d” — pronounced “poned.” It basically means getting embarassed or shown up. Which takes on a layer of irony because I was pwn3d when I didn’t know what pwn3d was. D’oh.

Yesterday, I also got another lesson in pop culture, which apparently has been around since 2006 but I’ve been too busy working and writing young adult novels to notice. It’s lolcats, and below I’ve pasted the original lolcat, which not only makes me laugh so hard I want to cry, but it also looks exactly like my own cat, Pancake.