kami garcia

it's a real book

Because it has a cover. And now we can show it to you.

And one that is not quite as fantastic, of Margie and me. But this is what you look like when your ARC arrives first thing in the morning and drive straight to your writing partner's house so you can look at it together.

You don't really believe you've written a book until you can hold it in your hands. 

NG isn't old enough to edit, but he was still really excited. I hope he won't be as tough as MP when he is older.

neko case

Margie got me hooked on Pandora. Right now I'm listening to Neko Case. My favorite song is Middle Cyclone. It's the perfect song for Beautiful Creatures too.

Check out Pandora and create your own station.

a beautiful creatures birthday

My husband makes me wire sculptures. It started right before we got married - he's made me flowers, animals, a cross. But this year, he made me this. A moss covered oak. 

When you see the cover of Beautiful Creatures, you'll see why I love it so much.

recipe for the perfect birthday

waking up to kisses from my kids
2 early morning calls from my parents

sleeping in (although that can't happen on a wednesday)

the remaining somoas from my girl scout cookie box & the hope that ashly will give me another box tomorrow

the coolest vintage apron from amanda

a facebook page full of happy birthdays from my friends

my brother alex & sister sara singing happy birthday to me on the phone

dinner of my choice with my husband & kids

the option to reject any and all activities

new moon fan poster

We all know Robert Pattinson is hot, but this takes it to a new level. I found it on one of my favorite YA book blogs, The Compulsive Reader. But this is NOT an official New Moon movie poster. It's fan made. Can you believe that? I wish this person would do the trailer for Beautiful Creatures.

You be the judge.

< http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_9AnT57_Rl6Q/ScV-RaMqmaI/AAAAAAAABcQ/XWJesSYX66g/s1600-h/new+moon+poster.jpg>

book 2: stepping out of the shadow

It's an undeniable fact. The second book in a series is like the younger brother in the family - always trying to get out of the shadow of his big brother. Not to mention that second books don't always deliver. So that's where Marg and I are...trying to make sure our second book is worthy of Beautiful Creatures. And more importantly, worthy of our readers.

I'm always sentimental about the first book in a series I love, but the ultimate challenge is for the second book to be even better. Not easy to do, I know. But it has been done.

Most notably in

Because Days of Magic, Nights of War has it all.
Twists, reveals, major characters you love (and hate) die, and
it ends in the middle of the action. Which is the reason it won
the Bram Stoker Award for Young Readers in 2004. They say
great writers aren't afraid to kill off their characters when the story demands it. When it comes to great writers, Clive
Barker is the ultimate.

                                                          <www.lisamorton.com/hwa/stoker4.jpg>

And his husband, David Armstrong, is pretty fantastic too.

sweet dreams

I just finished Wake by Lisa McMann. It's about a girl who unwillingly becomes part of people's dreams. This in itself is unsettling, considering I don't actually want to be part of my own dreams most of the time. But there's more to it than that and of course there's a boy.

 

My dreams usually fall into one of three categories:

1. Fears - Snakes, Falling & Plane Crashes

2. Memories I would rather not relive. 

3. Reoccurring Dreams

Here are the repeat offenders:

 

Dream #1: I'm in some kind of gigantic pool/tank swimming, and there are huge sea creatures (think dinosaurs/the Loch Ness Monster) swimming all around me. This must have some kind of significance. So far, I've decided against swimming in any large tanks with prehistoric creatures. Other than that, I don't know. 

Dream #2: My teeth fall out. I've heard this is a common one. Most interpretations claim these dreams represent anxiety. But, according to African witchdoctors, these dreams represent prosperity. I'm going with that one.

Fade, the sequel to Wake, is in stores now.  I'm going to pick up a copy, along with An Idiot's Guide to Interpreting Your Dreams. Maybe it has something about swimming with the Loch Ness Monster in there.

what are your secrets?

If you're not reading the Caster Girls' blog, you should be. They're definitely more interesting than me and now they're playing a little truth or dare. Except it's all about truth. Caster Girl 25 is inviting you to share your secrets, or maybe just one. E-mail me or Margie your secret & we'll post it on our blogs without your name. If you put it on a postcard, like they do on PostSecret.com, just take a picture of it or scan it & e-mail the image. 

Remember: It's anonymous!

Check out Caster Girl 25's post here.

You can also check out Post Secret yourself.

Here's the first one, I've received.

What's your secret???

is there anything better than getting a box from amazon?

There's something about new books that just appear on your doorstep. I love libraries, but I also like to keep my books. I like to dog-ear the pages and write in them. The ones I love are like a favorite pair of sneakers - worn in. When I read Caster Girl 25's post yesterday, it made me think about all my books with their cracked spines. 

Here's the hit list, my all-time favorite (in no particular order):

1. Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury

2. Catcher in the Rye - J.D. Salinger

3. Lord of the Flies - William Golding

4. Almanac of the Dead -Leslie Marmon Silko

5. In the Time of Butterflies - Julia Alvarez

6. Where the Red Fern Grows -Wilson Rawls

7. Animal Farm - George Orwell

8. The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald

9. Slam (Poetry) - Various

10. A Good Man is Hard to Find - Flannery O' Connor

11. The House on Mango Street - Sandra Cisneros

12. The Book of Questions - Pablo Neruda

13. The Giver - Lois Lowry

14. Little Altars Everywhere - Rebecca Wells

15. Abarat - Clive Barker

16. The Supernaturalist - Eoin Colfer

17. The Wish List - Eoin Colfer

18. The Name of This Book Is Secret - Pseudonymous Bosh

19. Star Girl - Jerry Spinelli

20. Wringer - Jerry Spinelli

21. Freak the Mighty - Rodman Philbrick

22. Inkheart - Cornelia Funke

23. The Outsiders - S.E. Hinton

24. New Stories from the South 1998 & 1999

25. The Prince of Tides - Pat Conroy

26. To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee

27. Spilling Open - Sabrina Ward Harrison

28. Lord of the Rings - J.R.R Tolkien

29. The Golden Compass - Phillip Pullman

30. The Norton Anthology of Poetry

31. Primo Levi - Survival in Auschwitz - Primo Levi

32. Monster - Walter Dean Myers

33. The Portable Henry Rollins - Henry Rollins

34. Brave on the Rocks - Sabrina Ward Harrison

35. I Capture the Castle - Dodie Smith

36. Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist - Rachel Cohn & David Leviathan

37. The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Civil War - H.W. Crocker III

38. The Politically Incorrect Guide to American History - Thomas E. Woods Jr.

This is what arrived in my Amazon box...

Spilling Open by Sabrina Ward Harrison

Graceling by Kristin Cashore

The True & the Questions by Sabrina Ward Harrison

Bones of Faerie by

A Pink Spiral Notebook

Wake by Lisa McMann

Wreck This Journal by Keri Smith

the relationship between writing and pizza

Margie loves to work in the library and eat chocolate cake and drink lattes. I don't mind the library, but I'll trade it any day for the comfy chair in Margie's office or the leather one in Ashly's library.

For me, this is the perfect storm:

1) The comfy chair (during the day) or my couch (at night)

2) Pizza from Joe's in Santa Monica (during the day) or Baskin Robbons' chocolate peanut butter ice cream (at night)

3) Diet Coke with tons of ice (day or night)

4) Silence - I don't wear headphones, but I need quiet. I can't listen to music. When I'm writing, I hear the characters talking. I'm listening to the story in my head as I write.

5) My laptop

Those are the absolutes. Everything else is negotiable. And actually, considering I wrote most of BC sitting on the floor of my son's bedroom, I guess #1 isn't really an absolute. But the pizza is.