Fan Art!

This was just sent to me by a reader who made this collage for her English class!

How cool is that?!

I don't remember ever getting cool assignments like this when I was in school (Mr. Sawaya, I love you, but why no collage??).

Anyway, I was so excited about it, I just had to post it here!

Thanks so much RJB-- You totally made my day!

Yesterday

So yesterday I attended the SCBWI Spring Retreat at the beautiful, and extremely busy, (weddings--writers--bus loads of wine tasters--oh my!), South Coast Winery Resort and Spa in Temecula, where I got to hang out with super cool authors like Debby Garfinkle and Stacia Deutsche, and give a little talk about how using the screenwriting technique changed my life. (Yes, Robert Mckee, I owe it all to you!)

Or at least it changed my writing, which lead to my first two-book deal with St. Martin's Press, which ultimately changed my life by allowing me to do what I love for a living (well, that and my awesome husband's unfailing support!) 

I have to admit, several months back when I was first asked to speak at the even I was thrilled, but as the day crept closer, I began to panic about what I was going to talk about. I'm not a "look under the hood" kind of writer. I just sort of immerse myself in the world I create, become the character, and feel my way though--somewhat like a method actor--with only the roughest, most barest, outline by my side, which is really no more than a list of the plot's most major turning points. And since there are so many industrious authors with their charts, outlines, and storyboards who do really great, visual, presentations, I had no idea how I'd fill up my own 50 minutes without all those tools.

But once I started thinking back on my publishing journey, I remembered how the shift came just after reading STORY by Robert Mckee (I later went on to read SAVE THE CAT by Blake Snyder, and love it just as much!). And the reason this worked for me is because film is an expensive medium with no time or $$ to waste on unnecessary scenes, and as FAKING 19 began as a story about a girl who did far more thinking than acting (kind of like me back then!), applying these lean, mean, make-stuff-happen-or-kill-it, methods, transformed it into a totally different manuscript that snagged my first book deal.

Are these methods for everyone? Probably not. But they worked for me, and hopefully, I was able to impart something helpful to a wonderful group of writers!

Happy Sunday everyone!

A

Sweet Thing

So, yesterday, I got home and found this at my door:

A framed clipping of the New York Times best seller list, featuring the first week EVERMORE hit #1!! Sent by my awesome editor and publisher at St. Martin's Press--how cool is that?!

And aside from making room on my wall, I'm also getting ready for tomorrow's SCBWI Spring Retreat at the South Coast Winery Resort & Spa in Temecula where I'll be giving a little talk and signing books!!  To say I can't wait is putting it mildly! For details click HERE.

What about you? Any weekend plans!

Mirror Mirror

For those of you who noticed the similarities in these two covers--click HERE to read the backstory!

Late Lament

I just realized I haven't blogged since last Wednesday.

Seven days--one week--no blog.

Why you ask?

Well, I'm not sure. 

I was all set to blog Friday, but then my husband surprised me with a spa day, so that took care of that--and then--and then--the week just sort of flew by in a blur of unaccounted for days.

All I know, is that we now have back cover copy for BLUE MOON (I'll be sharing that soonish), tossed around cover ideas for SHADOWLAND (can't wait to see how the art department interprets such vagueness!), the French rights for both EVERMORE & BLUE MOON were sold at auction to Michel Lafon, and other than that, I've been pretty much immersed in all things SHADOWLAND--getting very very close to typing THE END (I know, I've been saying that for awhile now, but only because it's been true every

 time I've said it!)!

Oh, and today being Wednesday and all, I just learned that EVERMORE remains at #1 on the New York Times Best Sellers list for the 4th week in a row--and it cracked the top 50 at USA Today coming in at #47!!

So, thank YOU for that! Truly, thank you!!

And in case you were wondering, and even if 

you weren't the title of this blog refers to the poem about six minutes into the old song, "Nights in White Satin" by the Moody Blues.  I've just

 rediscovered it and added it to my SHADOWLAND playlist--and it's soooo dramatic--and lovelorn--just perfect!

Oh, and lastly, I just thought I'd share the new revised cover for BLUE MOON! I have to say, I'm really loving that extra line they added!

Have a great day everyone!

A