Lara Zielin

I discovered the more time I spent on my bike, the easier it was for me to run. And that got me thinking: What other areas in life benefit from cross-training?

After halting a lot of my regular exercise routine in a desperate attempt to finish novel number four (which I did, praise Baby Jesus), I got enough out of shape that it was a bit of a struggle to jump-start my workouts again. Running was always a challenge, but it had become absolutely grueling. I wondered if I’d ever get back to where I was.

And then something happened.

While vacationing in the Keys, Rob and I put major miles on our bikes. We pedaled long distances every day. And I discovered that the day after a long bike ride, if I tried to run, it was easier. A lot easier, actually.

It was cross-training. And it was totally working for me.

So that got me thinking, if biking makes running better, what other areas might cross-training apply? I could think of a few right away:

Reading always makes your writing better.

Trying new foods can make your cooking better.

Listening to music can enhance your ability to play an instrument.

Rob says skateboarding made him a better snowboarder, and that being an actor has made him a better filmmaker.

Showing vulnerability makes friendships better.

These were just a few I thought of off the top of my head. For me, it was a reminder that there isn’t always a straight path from A to B. Like, if you want to be a better writer, definitely practice writing — but also allow yourself to read, to watch movies, to put away the iPhone and just let your mind wander.

Anyone have cross-training thoughts, or ways in which one area in your life benefited from exploring something supposedly unrelated?

I am delighted and super honored to be part of a group of young adult authors who are taking a girl empowerment message on the road this summer with the GIRLS TAKING OVER THE WORLD book tour! It’s me, Rhonda Stapleton, Christine Johnson and Saundra Mitchell (along with some amazing special-guest authors!) and we’ll all will be visiting booksellers and libraries in Michigan, Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky starting in August, to highlight their girl-centric novels, and to talk to young women about celebrating their strength and making their own choices.

If you’re looking to get your copy of The Implosion of Aggie Winchester signed, or hear about why young-adult novels matter and are great for girls to read, check out our tour dates listed below. You can also find out more information about the tour by clicking here.

We’d love to see you while we’re on the road! Goooo books!

TOUR DATES/LOCATIONS:

Reading, Q&A, Signing
Friday, August 5, 2011
7:00-9:00PM
Nicola’s Books
Special Guest: Aimée Carter
Westgate Shopping Center
2513 Jackson Avenue
Ann Arbor, MI 48103

Booktalk & Signing
Saturday, August 6, 2011
6:00pm – 8:00pm
Summer’s Stories
131 S Main
Kendallville, IN 46755

Booktalk & Signing
Sunday, August 7, 2011
2:00pm – 4:00pm
Special Guest: Aimée Carter
Barnes & Noble Livonia
17111 Haggerty Rd.
Northville, MI 48167

Meet, Greet & Sign
Thursday, August 25th, 2011
5:00-7:00PM
Mudsock Books
11850 Allisonville Rd
Fishers, IN 46038

Book Talk, Q&A & Signing
Friday, August 26th, 2011
7:00-9:00PM
Special Guest: Julie Kagawa
Campbell County Public Library
Carrico/Ft. Thomas Branch
1000 Highland Ave.
Fort Thomas, KY 41075
(Sponsored by Blue Marble)

Booktalk & Signing
Saturday, August 27th, 2011
4:00-6:00PM
Special Guest: Sara Bennett Wealer
blue manatee
3054 Madison Road
Cincinnati, Ohio 45209

So, every writer needs fodder from their past to inspire them, right?

Well I have some fodder, let me tell you.

And this fodder has a name:

HUBCAPS.

When I was little, my parents decided to start collecting hubcaps. Like, the things that cover the wheel of a car? Yep. Those.

At the time, my ten-year-old’s instinct was telling me that this was very, very wrong. I mean, hubcaps are dirty. And from what I could tell, there wasn’t exactly a huge market for the used kind. What were they doing collecting them?

But it gets worse. My parents didn’t just go around buying choice hubcaps from reputable hubcap dealers. Oh, no. They liked to find hubcaps. And you know where you find hubcaps, don’t you?

The highway.

The roaring, screaming, busy highway of death.

We’d be driving along and wham, my mom’s hubcap antenna would go up. She’d think she’d spotted one in the median. On the shoulder. In a tree. It didn’t matter. She’d caught the whiff of hubcap and, like a tiger tracking its prey through the jungle, she was going to tirelessly pursue that shiny prize until she had it firmly in her claws.

My dad would cross lanes of traffic, weave in an out of cars, blast his horn, flip people off, gun it then brake — all to get to a hubcap that may or may not turn out to actually be a beer can.

These everyday, practical Midwesterners were transformed into aggressive hunters at the prospect of that sweet, sweet metal. My brother and I would be in the backseat, holding on to the headrests in front of us (because you didn’t wear seatbelts back then) praying just to make it out alive. This was a fight, and we knew our prospects were grim. Hubcaps were our ‘Nam.

In the end, my parents amassed quite a collection. I mean it wasn’t this,

but it was close. I remember we’d have garage sales and those shiny hubcaps would be out there glinting in the sun like they weren’t nearly paid for with blood. In fact, bloodcaps is what we should have started calling them.

I still don’t know what the crap my parents were doing collecting those things.

I know I’ve shared with you some of my really bad stories in the past. I intend to keep doing this, because a.) omg they are sooo bad and b.) one of us usually winds up giggling.

But then I realized it would be super fun to make videos out of some of them. Maybe even encourage other writers in the process. Like, yeah, you might write some crap, but that doesn’t mean you’ll always write crap.

Thus, I give you … THE FOX.

Did I mention that I love him?

Book reviews are like a bit like first dates. When they’re good, you can rave about them and be all like, Zomg, sooo amazing!

When they’re bad, you can shrug and say, Meh, it’s only one, we’ll see.

Either way, there’s no indication about any kind of long-term success. A good review doesn’t mean your book is going to be a best-seller. A bad review doesn’t mean your career is over.

And yet.

Andyetandyetandyet.

It sure feels amazing when you get a great review. I mean, just speaking from the heart here — as someone who really, really likes it when people really, really like my books — it feels fabulous.

And guess what?

Publisher’s Weekly — as in THE Publisher’s Weekly — likes The Implosion of Aggie Winchester!

I’ve pasted their entire review below, and you can also link to it here. Please, please do the happy dance with me because, okay, I know I can’t hang my hat on this long-term, but for right now? I am totally kicking my heels.

One of Zielin’s strengths as a writer is that she really “gets” teens: their voices, angst, and insecurities. Another is that she’s not afraid to throw her protagonists into no-win situations and watch them claw their way out. Aggie Winchester, a junior and self-professed goth, thoroughly resents her mother–who is also the principal of Aggie’s high school, which fuels her rebellious, self-destructive behavior. But then Aggie’s best friend, Sylvia, gets pregnant and is nominated for prom queen, an old boyfriend rears his gorgeous but devious head, and Aggie discovers that her mother has breast cancer. Though Aggie is not always a lovable main character, Zielin (Donut Days) keeps her real and honest. As Aggie heads ever deeper into the hole she’s dug for herself, she grapples with some tough choices. Should she have sex with her old boyfriend to get him back? Should she rat on Sylvia, who may have rigged the prom queen election? How can she make her mother actually listen to her? For teens confronting similar questions, Aggie’s realistically bumpy journey will be welcome, timely, and thoroughly satisfying. Ages 14–up. (Aug.)