Contest winners!

Hey, everybody! Thanks so much for entering the contest!

I decided “what the hey” and decided to choose two winners!

(drumroll…)

Tracy and Danielle!

I have been so swamped that I forgot how much I like giving things away. So stick around, because I’ll be doing more contests in the future!

Happy Saturday! I am planning to get some exercise (imagine that) and then I’m going to try to do some work on an outline for Book 3. I have soooooo many ideas, and I’m in that “mom from pageant child reality show” mode where I’m like, “You are the BEST idea and the PRETTIEST idea and no other idea in the world is as SPECIAL as you and you are the center of my universe and go pour Mommy another glass of wine while she just watches you practice your pageant walk.”

Very exciting! It has put me in an insanely cheery mood.

k.

1. Writing Retreat, Part 2: Set Yourself Up to Succeed!!
2. Dog show!
3. Writing and other forms of torture.
4. "Writerly things," she said.

1 comment July 3rd, 2010 Katie Alender

Tags: contest

Seven Quick Takes Friday – copyedits edition!

Happy Friday, everyone!

— 1 —
Don’t forget to enter my contest! You could win not one but TWO signed copies of Bad Girls Don’t Die, one for you and one for a friend! Plus an eye pillow in festive shades of red, white, and blue. It’s so easy, all you have to do is comment!

— 2 —
Yesterday, Book 2 officially went off to copyedits! This is a big YAY because it means we’re one step closer to having a cover, a title, reader copies, and a BOOK!

— 3 —
Copyeditors are the people who read everything with a fine-toothed, uh, eyeball and send the manuscript back to you with tons of notes along the lines of, “Why did you say Sparkle is a magical RED pony on page 26 and a magical PURPLE pony on page 40? Which is it, hmm?” and “You are so wrong about the wedding gift customs of the Tupapali peoples of Indonesia, they would NEVER send cash as the marshlands there are full of moths who eat Tupapalian paper money like potato chips.”

— 4 —
One of the stressful things about being a writer is that when you finish some major step, like sending your books into copyedits, your first instinct is to be all, “Hurray! Now I can relax and catch up on 5 months’ worth of reality TV!” But in actuality, your first week will be spent cleaning your house and doing laundry in order that one may sit on the couch and see all the way across the room to the TV without having to look around piles of junk. Also, clean undies.

— 5 —
I always assumed Winston got hot easily. I mean, he wears a fur coat. But now that summer is here and the sunshine is peeking through the windows, more often than not I will find Winston dozing in the sun. Believe me when I say it is insanely cute. Right now, for instance, he is in his bed next to my desk with his face thrust forward to catch a spot of sunshine on his nose. You can’t make this stuff up.

— 6 —
Happy 4th of July! If you are in the USA or celebrating US holidays, Happy Independence Day! We are celebrating by having family come to see us and probably barbecuing. We have been woefully deficient at barbecuing this year. Shame, shame!

— 7 —
One of the most exciting things about sending Book 2 off to copyedits is that this means we’re off and running on Book 3! I love to savor the moments before starting a project, knowing that what is now just a germ of an idea will soon be a big old book with a life of its own. It’s like watching the Oscars–my favorite part is, at the end of the show, thinking, “I wonder what movies will be winning Oscars next year!” It’s so wondrous and fun that there’s so much coming that I’m not aware of right now!

Happy weekend! Have a great and safe one!

1. How to bring out the worst in people…
2. The 12 Days of Christmas: Two Turtle Doves
3. Relics, Part 2: The Ice Cream Notebook
4. Wooooooooo, scary!

4 comments July 2nd, 2010 Katie Alender

Tags: 7quicktakes

2010 reading update: June

Well, June didn’t turn out to be quite the reading month that May was! The reason, of course, was that I was having to devote time to WRITING my own book and not just reading those written by other authors.

Here’s the scoop:

1) When I Stop Talking, You’ll Know I’m Dead: Useful Stories from a Persuasive Man by Jerry Weintraub
If you enjoy old Hollywood or show business memoirs or music business memoirs, this book will probably please you. I know I enjoyed it. It was one of those books where every chapter brings a new anecdote I’m dying to tell the husb (but I refrain because he immediately starts chanting, “SPOILERS!”). Jerry Weintraub began his career as a concert promoter and is best known currently as the producer of the Oceans 11, 12 and 13 movies. The best part about this book is his storytelling about some of the very famous stars of years past (Sinatra, Elvis). The worst part is the weird section at the end where he describes his permanent non-monogamous situation. (Which reads a lot like what it is–a man who has become used to getting what he wants justifying getting what he wants.) But you can always skip that part.

2) Save The Cat! The Last Book on Screenwriting You’ll Ever Need by Blake Snyder
I’d seen this around the internets, and I finally decided to give it a look-see. I must say, it really might be the last book I ever need. (I’m not a screenwriter, but I do enjoy books about writing.) It was really a great book with a very concrete and simple explanation of story structure. Highly recommend.

3) Prophecy of the Sisters by Michelle Zink
A dark and spooky YA about a pair of twins whose destiny is tied to an ancient prophecy. The first in a series.

4) Diane: A Signature Life by Diane Von Furstenberg
This memoir started strong for me and ended a little on the dry side. I guess I wasn’t aware that DVF was such a force in the 1970s. I always just associated her with the wrap dresses. Still a fairly interesting read about a woman who had a lot of connections and resources and used them to find success (which is more than can be said about today’s young celebutantes).

5) The Likeness by Tana French
I listened to the audiobook of In the Woods a couple of years ago and found that it ranged from excellent to maddening. I love French’s writing; it’s her plotting that can make you want to tear your hair out. There always seems to be a point about 2/3 of the way through where you want to chuck the book (or iPod) at the wall. (I wouldn’t normally say anything critical about another author’s work; the only reason I do is that for all of that, I’ll still gladly read whatever she writes.) Also, as a writer of mystery-style thrillers, I can relate very much to the problems and challenges of structuring a story that needs to unfold piece by piece.

1. 100 Books
2. Fall reading lists
3. It’s a cracktical matter.
4. The leap.

1 comment July 1st, 2010 Katie Alender

Tags: books, reading

Bad beginnings

(Psst! HEY! Did you enter my contest? You could win a signed copy of Bad Girls Don’t Die for you AND a friend! All you have to do is comment!)

It’s that time of year again! The results of the 2010 Bulwer-Lytton contest are in! If you’ve never heard of it, it’s a “writing” contest where people submit worst first lines of imaginary novels.

It actually takes a lot of skill to write so badly and well all at the same time. Here are my two favorites, both from the “Miscellaneous Dishonorable Mentions” section:

His chest glistened like a pumpkin seed, either one fresh out of the pumpkin but with all the orange strands of pumpkin flesh removed, or one straight out of the oven after being coated in just the right amount of oil and then baked; the point is that it was smooth, fairly shiny, and that color.

Jesse Kolman
Phoenix, AZ

Leaning back comfortably in a plush old chair, feet up, fingers laced behind his head, Tom Chambers inventoried his life and with a satisfied grin mused, “Ah, marlin fishing off the coast of Majorca, a bronze star for that rescue mission in Jamir, the unmatched fragrance of pastries fresh out of the oven at Café Legrande, two sons who would make any father proud . . . I’ve never done any of that.”

Ernie Santilli
Drexel Hill PA

Find the whole shebang right here.

1. What would YOU do…
2. A change is in the air…
3. Questionable beginnings…
4. Sea Legs and Other Things

Add comment June 30th, 2010 Katie Alender

Tags: funny, on the web

Contest time! Win a signed copy of Bad Girls Don’t Die!

Hi, everyone! Well, it’s been a while since I had a contest. So here’s the deal:

You can win TWO signed copies of Bad Girls Don’t Die (the Scholastic paperback edition) — one for you and one for a friend! And I’ll throw in a cheerfully patriotic red, white, and blue eye pillow to help you rest your eyes after all that reading!

HOW: Just comment on this post! That’s all! One entry per person (and please don’t enter as your mom, your grandmother, your dog, the duck that lives in that pond you went to once…).

Although if you’re feeling shrewd, you could make a deal with a friend and both of you could enter and if one of you wins, the other would get the second book.

WHEN: Starting… NOW! … and ending at 11:59 PM Friday July 2.

Go! Go! You can do it!

PS – If I get more than 100 comments, I will choose TWO winners! So spread the word!

(Open to US and Canada… Don’t forget to read my contest guidelines for more useful info.)

1. Win a signed-by-author copy of Tiffany Baker’s debut!
2. Where’s Santa? I deserve presents!
3. (reply to Kristy’s comment)
4. On the first day of Christmas…

25 comments June 28th, 2010 Katie Alender

Tags: contest

Book 2 – a non-excerpt

In my BGDD2 working files, I found a file called “Darlings – Feb 2010″. Based on that bit of advice about having to “murder your darlings” as a writer. Apparently I found the process of cutting material painful and held onto the hope that I would be able to bring a few back to life. Not the case here.

So here it is, a sneak peek of something that will not be in Book 2. You are the first ones to not-read it this non-excerpt, aren’t you lucky?

Non-Excerpt

Dad pointed at me. “Behave.”

“But that would really interfere with my plan to be an unwed teen mother,” I said, and Dad pantomimed a heart attack.

1. Mom, this is the right page. (Content-light posting follows.)
2. Winston — or Whineston?
3. Queshtun.
4. Winston’s Lament: a Tuesday Redirect

1 comment June 24th, 2010 Katie Alender

Tags: bgdd2

Bad Girls Don’t Die in paperback!

Are hardcover books too hard for you? Do you long for something soft and floppy to carry around? Do you prefer a book with a slightly smaller overall size? Or are you just an obsessive collector of Bad Girls Don’t Die and want to own every single edition under the sun?

Or have you just not bought it yet and the guilt is starting to gnaw at you from the inside out?

Or do you have a hardcover and your cat wants something to chew on?

Or were you hoping to get your hands on a version of the cover you could easily cut off and add to your latest collage?

Do you need something to smack flies with?

Do you want to own my book but not want to be bothered with looking at my author photo?

Are you so environmentally conscious that you only buy products with recyclable-sounding names (PAPERback books)?

Are you thinking, “Enough with the jokes, Katie, if you can call them jokes”?

Good news!

Bad Girls Don’t Die is available in paperback today!

You can get it…

here at Amazon
or here at Barnes & Noble
or here at Borders
or here at Indiebound

!!!!

Don’t go crazy, though; please don’t buy one from EACH establishment. (Although if you do I will give you a gold star. I’m just saying.)

Okay, I am in the thick of final revisions on Book 2. In the coming weeks I hope to be able to share many exciting things, like a title, and maybe a release date, and my Spanish cover, which is amazing…

Happy Tuesday!

1. Real quick, fun with titles…
2. Oh, by the way: I read a BOOK!
3. Conflicted.
4. Bad Girls Don’t Die: presenting… the cover!

2 comments June 22nd, 2010 Katie Alender

Tags: bgdd, news

New York, New York, what a wonderful town.

I love this city! There’s something magical about it. Just being here feels like you’re doing something.

We’ve been all over town, to MOMA (where you’re walking along and look to your left and, oops, there’s Van Gogh’s Starry Night and oh, hey, here’s Dali’s Persistence of Memory (which is a very tiny painting! Much smaller than dorm room posters would have you believe).

We’re staying in SoHo, which means we’re surrounded by shopping, which is very dangerous for me. The hotel is really nice with a staff who are somehow both supermodelesque AND effective (unlike The Standard, where we stayed last year, when a doorman literally wouldn’t come out into the rain to open the door for us).

Every time we come to NYC, we try to stay in a different neighborhood. We try to stake out hotels in advance so we aren’t surprised when we get there!

Yesterday morning, I had “breakfast” with the Delightful Editor (the quotes are due to the fact that neither of us ate anything during the encounter). BGDD2 is coming right along, and I am so excited! We’re on the very last wave of revisions and then it’s into copyedits! Which means that relatively soon we’ll have a title. Yay!

There is so much to see and do here. A lot of our friends from high school and college ended up moving here when we moved to LA, and I even have some family! Not to mention the neverending possibilities for sightseeing and museums and all that stuff (and maybe even a little shopping–though I shouldn’t, I know I shouldn’t).

The one dark spot on the trip is the fact that I did a very bad job of packing! And somehow managed to bring all the wrong clothes. So I’ve just been wearing the same pair of jeans every day. You know, if I packed the way I actually dressed, I swear I could just bring all of my stuff in a plastic grocery sack. Instead, I have a suitcase full of clothes I’m not wearing, for one reason or another, and I always feel like I’m wearing slightly the wrong thing. And the shoe situation… don’t even get me started on that.

Oh, well! I’m here in New York and I am loving it as always. You really do feel like you’re in the middle of everything. You can see how this city attracts people from all over the world.

1. Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!
2. Things I couldn’t do if I tried.
3. The lullaby of Broadway…
4. My Dog Rules

3 comments June 12th, 2010 Katie Alender

Tags: travel

Amen, sister!

From this article about Christina Aguilera’s new album and comparisons to Lady Gaga:

She notes that she’s sported big, bold hairstyles, fashion and makeup since 2001’s “Lady Marmalade” and says this of the 24-year-old Gaga: “I’ve always done what I’ve done as far as push boundaries and take risks. … I think now more than ever, it’s being accepted to do those kinds of things. So more power to her. And she’s obviously a hard-working, focused young woman. And I have nothing but respect for that work ethic.”

“I’m no stranger to comparisons in this business and being pit(ted) up against other female artists unfairly,” Aguilera adds. She says the two haven’t met “but I’m sure that we would get along.”

I love it when people call out the media for trying to stir up drama!

I have never been a huge fan of her work, but I was blown away by her performance on the American Idol finale, where she basically sent everyone else back to singing school:

You can’t deny that she has a Voice with a capital V!

I wonder if the lack of interest is because she refuses to self-destruct and isn’t sorry about it.

1. Where did I put that kitchen sink?
2. Cry for help, non-betrayal pledge, circus dogs.
3. Deep thoughts from a dream:
4. Where’s Santa? I deserve presents!

June 7th, 2010 Katie Alender

Tags: music, stuff I like

Scratchscratchscratch. Scratchscratchscratch.

Well, Winston and I get the same hayfever, and now it is apparent that we both have the same honey-flavored blood. Our house is under flea attack, going on four or five days now, and it’s downright exhausting trying to keep them off the dog, off me, out of the carpet, and on top of all that, keep Winston from chewing holes in his legs.

We use the stuff you put on the dog’s neck; I guess he got too many baths, because it didn’t take. It had been almost three weeks so I gave him another dose (he’s at the very top of the weight range, so it’s not a megadose to begin with)… and it helped (as in, now he has five fleas and not fifty), but it didn’t solve our problems. Five fleas can make a dog plenty itchy.

I’ve been spraying him and myself with anti-itch spray and keeping him on a low, constant supply of Benadryl, because if he’s left to scratch as much as he wants, he’ll do more damage to himself than the fleas do.

Seeking a solution, I went to the natural pet food store and bought a spray to go on the dog, a homeopathic anti-itch remedy to go IN the dog, and diatomaceous earth to go on the floors and the dog bedding (and in the vacuum cleaner). The anti-itch stuff is its own adventure as it has to be dropped into his mouth with a medicine dropper. But I’ve come up with a decent system: hold a treat and let him mouth it, then squirt the stuff into his mouth slowly while he tries to gnaw my fingers off.

I feel like a mother whose child has chicken pox. (Do kids even get chicken pox anymore?) The worst part is, every time he goes outside (and he has to, seeing as how he’s a dog and all), he gets more fleas.

Up til now, every year we would have a “day” of fleas. Like, “Oops, there’s a flea on the dog, oops, there are twenty, and look! They’re biting me, too. Better get the flea stuff,” and then the fleas all die and the problem is solved for a whole ‘nother year.

Not anymore. 2010 is apparently the year of the bionic flea. I feel like my house and dog and legs/feet are some sort of battleground… wish me luck.

1. Fellow blogger book release! Pat Wood’s LOTTERY…
2. First day off.
3. Devil in disguise.
4. The world’s most expensive dental flossing.

6 comments June 6th, 2010 Katie Alender

Tags: stuff i dislike, winston