Canadian Children's Book Centre List of Books for Family Literacy Day (and ILLEGALLY BLONDE is on it!)

We have a fantastic resource in the Canadian Children's Book Centre (CCBC) that promotes reading and books by our authors and helps teachers, librarians, and the general public in their book buying and reading decisions. Canada has a strong, supportive culture that encourages reading (the recent budget threats to our Toronto Public Library system notwithstanding) and as part of that, we celebrate Family Literacy Day on January 27th. As the CCBC states in its promotion of this day:

"Family Literacy Day is a national awareness initiative created by ABC Life Literacy Canada in 1999 and held annually on January 27 to raise awareness of the importance of reading and engaging in other literacy-related activities as a family. More than 1.5 million Canadians have already participated in the initiative since its debut. Taking time every day to read or do a learning activity with children is crucial to a child’s development. Even just 15 minutes a day can improve a child’s literacy skills dramatically, and can help a parent improve their skills as well. For more information, please email info@abclifeliteracy.ca."

In celebration of Family Literacy Day, the Canadian Children’s Book Centre compiled a list of 50 Canadian books (25 picture books and 25 works of fiction) that share in the joys (and struggles) of families of all sizes and combinations. And guess what? They included ILLEGALLY BLONDE on it! Here's the link

I'm so very, very pleased IB is on this list since, at it's heart, the story is about the strength and strains of family and what we do and what we have to sacrifice for the ones we love. I'm also awed and honoured by the fantastic company of books ILLEGALLY BLONDE sits with.

So Yay for the CCBC! and YAY! For Family Literacy Day (January 27th). Here's hoping that the joy of reading spreads to those that need to hear it the most.

Preview's Sell E-books! (at least to me)

Sorry for the long hiatus but it's been an unusually busy holiday season. Hockey tournaments, Dad's 80th birthday celebrations (on New Year's Eve no less) and ongoing house reno madness has left me about six balls behind the 8th one. I must confess, though, that one of the things that led to my distraction from blogging was my hubby's birthday gift for me of the new Kobo Vox. It's sort of the Canadian version of the Kindle Fire - a tablet e-reader (that also allows me to surf the web since I can never get my hands on any of the computers at home!). It's fabulous. After I pried it away from my husband (seriously, I did not see it for the first six hours it was home) I was finally able to download my first e-book purchase.



I chose World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie Apocalypse by Max Brooks for a number of reasons, one of them being my recent fascination with all things zombie due to The Walking Dead. But the biggie? The publisher let me read the first few pages. What, you ask? Isn't that standard e-book practice? Don't ALL e-books allow a potential buyer to get a taste of the book, an author's style, whether the beginning pages hook you or not? Surprisingly, NO.

I'm a big lover of sneak peeks. I love watching movie trailers for upcoming releases before the main movie begins. In fact, if we're late to a movie and miss the previews, it puts me in a grumpy enough mood for me to not enjoy the movie I actually came to watch. Those trailers hook me (or not) and are necessary (along with reviews) to help me make my decision about what movies I want to pay money to see in future. Same thing with books. When I browse for books from authors I have not read before I go through my process: Interesting title? Cover's cool? Blurb intrigues me? If all those are a yes, then I open the book and read a few pages. If it's all good then I usually buy.

When I was going through the Kobo library, I used the same process. Cover, title, blurb then I clicked on the Download Preview button. Then I went to my library where the book was sitting on my shelf, clicked on it and 9 times out of 10 I would get to read the first few pages. Well, I was deciding on whether to purchase World War Z and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. World War Z had it all and the writing was good so it was a no brainer. Click on Buy. With the second one, I already new Jonathan Safran Foer was a fabulous writer, my brother had spoken highly of the book, and I wanted to read the book before I saw the extremely well-reviewed movie. So you figure I should just buy it, right? Well, when I downloaded the preview and scrolled through the pages what I got were the first few pages of illustrations/pictures that were in the book but none of the actual writing. What the … ? No first five pages of writing, nothing. I know it probably didn't matter since the writer is who he is. But still. It irked me. I was denied the pleasure of browsing. I don't like to buy without browsing. No matter how many people tell me it's an amazing product. No click on Buy.

And it wasn't just that book. There were a few books from major publishing houses that gave me a preview of copyright and acknowledgement pages but stopped just before chapter one. I just don't get what they think they're accomplishing by doing that. Seriously. I don't buy the car without the test drive, people.

On a more positive note, I'm really enjoying World War Z and my Kobo Vox. And I'll probably go buy Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close the old fashioned way - standing in the bookstore aisle, flipping through the pages and enjoying the preview.

How about you guys? Do you need the test drive when you buy an e-book or not?

The Book is the Thing

I've been writing for nine years now. Not a great long stretch of time when you think of writers like Stephen King who started writing his stories as a young boy and he's in his 60's now or Nora Roberts who has been writing over 30 some years now(sorry, I'm too tired tonight to Google and find out exactly how long she's been at the game). I'm wondering if it's just me or if this happens to all writers at a certain point, no matter how successful they are:

There comes a point in your writing process where you finally realize that the book is the thing.

Not the agent.
Not the publishing contract.
Not a launch party.
Not pretty covers.
Not how many sales you've made (or haven't made).

Those things are the wrapping that's around the actual present. THE BOOK.

I was wondering why, since I parted ways with my agent earlier this year, I haven't been angsting about what's coming next. I'm not panicking about whether I've got a book to go out on sub right this very second. I'm not freaking out over the ever shrinking book shelf space or the lack of reviewers out there. I'm not stressing over whether I'll find another agent or get another publishing contract. I'm not worried about whether I'm tweeting or facebooking or blogging enough. I have finally, blessedly, come to the realization that all of those frets and worries and stressors and strains do very little to help get the real work of writing done. It always comes down to one thing: THE BOOK.

Don't get me wrong, I'm very conscious of the business side of things and I try and stay on top of what's happening - I'm not writing in a vacuum. But I understand now that I will still write stories without all of that. Maybe they won't get published or it may take a while to get them out there but I think I may have finally become confident enough about my stories and my writing to accept that not all of them will be going out into the world. It doesn't mean I won't try. It doesn't mean that I don't believe in the stories I write. It just means that I am accepting the reality that this is a tough business to break into, a tough business to stay in and a tough business to keep slogging through.

With acceptance comes a very relaxed attitude. But relaxed does not mean indifferent. Not by any means. I care about my stories and I want them to find supporters and homes and readers. But if that doesn't happen I know that it doesn't lessen them in any way. The act of creating something out of nothing is significant. And all writers need to understand that what they do and what they write is to be celebrated.

You wrote a BOOK. Holy cow, people. You wrote a frigging BOOK.

Stop worrying about the other stuff. Work on THE BOOK. And the rest will follow. If it doesn't? You still have THE BOOK.

On Dedications and Acknowledgements

I thought I'd write a little blog post on these two often overlooked parts of a book: The Dedication and The Acknowledgements pages. Maybe not everyone cares about these two pieces, maybe not every book has them, maybe they're not essential to the enjoyment of reading a book but for an author (and sometimes a reader) these two things can add another layer to the story. A personal slant that can give some insight into the author's thoughts and feelings when writing that book.

Before I began writing, I never used to think much about, or necessarily even read, the dedication or acknowledgement pages. Well, perhaps the dedication because it was at the beginning of a book and maybe only consisted of a few lines. But half the time the dedication was so cryptic: e.g. For L.M. Huh? Who was/is L.M. ? What kind of influence did they have on the author? Was it their wife? Maybe it was the librarian at the public library? Who knew? Sometimes the dedication was more personal and offered a little tease like: For Alice. The woman who changed my life. Really? Again, who is Alice and how, exactly did she change the author's life?

Maybe I'm just an overly curious person. I know a dedication is a very personal thing. Maybe it's best that a dedication be cryptic. Maybe the person being dedicated to is very private and doesn't want their name splashed over the pages of a book. There is no rule that says the author has to explain anything about who he/she is dedicating the book to and why. Still, I kind of like to know. When I dedicated ILLEGALLY BLONDE I wrote the dedication to my parents both in Portuguese and English so that they understood why I was dedicating it to them. But, again, that was a personal choice.

The Acknowledgement page is a different beast altogether. I've read some beautifully crafted words that acknowledge the special people who have influenced or inspired the author in their writing. I've also read just a long listing of names that have no meaning for me whatsoever but, with space constraints, maybe a listing was all the author could do. I'm sure the author at least wanted to make note of all the people who have had some role in making the book come to fruition - whether with research, moral support or as part of the publishing team. Again, how an author wishes to acknowledge the people involved in their personal or writing life is up to them but in the case of acknowledgements, I feel like cryptic or a long list of names doesn't work.

Now that I'm an author I often read the acknowledgement page with as much interest as the book itself. Sometimes, an author will give the reader a little story as to how/why they wrote the book or who inspired them. Maybe the issue in the book has touched them personally in some way. Also, from a purely selfish publishing perspective, I love to read the acknowledgements that authors give to their editors or agents. Those shout-outs can tell a prospective author a lot about who they would love to work with in future. I find that in debut novels the acknowledgements page can go on for quite a bit. But that's understandable - who knows if a writer will ever get another chance to publish their thanks?!

I've just finished writing the dedication and acknowledgements for my second book, THE BREAK. For some reason this time it was harder. My dedication for the book is not to one particular person but is more generic in nature and it gave me a lot of trouble for being only one line in length! My acknowledgements were easier but I still fretted about acknowledging some of the same people I did in ILLEGALLY BLONDE while saying something different to them. I also acknowledged people who have passed away and hope I did it with caring and respect and didn't make it too maudlin. What I always worry about the most is the people who I have NOT acknowledged. Many of my friends and family may not be identified specifically but since I like to acknowledge a name with a statement as to why they're being acknowledged if I named everyone I'd have an Acknowledgement book not a page. Ah, well. I wouldn't be me if I didn't fret about something.

So, what do you think about it? Are Dedications and Acknowledgements important? Or do you not think about/notice them at all?

Surprise! And Why It's Good for a Story

I hate surprises. Seriously. Hate 'em. Don't like people jumping out at me yelling 'Happy Birthday'. Don't like someone putting a dish in front of me for which I have not ordered and don't know what it is. Don't like someone not telling me something because "It's a surprise". So you'd think, then, that I'd also hate when a book or movie has a surprise in it, right? Well, um, no actually. Surprise! :)

Writers know that if there are surprises in a story a reader is more likely hooked by the story. In the last month I've been made aware of how important this element is to story telling in two very different stories and mediums: the George R.R. Martin A Song of Ice and Fire book series and the movie Crazy, Stupid, Love.

I just finished reading the fourth installment of the book series a couple of weeks ago and I saw the movie last week with my daughters so they're both fresh in my mind. In both cases, the author and the screenwriter, used surprises very, very well and those surprises are what I keep thinking about when I think back to the stories. Martin is known for killing off characters that a reader expects to survive but he also throws in some unexpected character actions that make a reader perk up and say, "Whoa! He did not just DO that!" But those surprises, while coming where and when you least expect them, are not OUT of character - ever. That's the key to a surprise. It must be set up properly (without a reader or viewer) being aware that it is being set up. So that when the surprise happens, all these little 'clicks' happen in your brain that take you back through the events of the story and you realize that while this is a surprise to you, all the stepping stones were there - all the little clues to the character or the storyline - that you cannot (or should not) be aware of while you're reading the story. This kind of intricate, subtle story-telling leading to a surprise (or twist or whatever you want to call it) was also done exceptionally well in Crazy, Stupid, Love. I can't reveal the surprise (one minor one and one major one) but it's a beauty and it throws all the storylines together. It elevated an already highly enjoyable movie into an excellent one for me.

The other thing that a surprise can do for your story is save it. I'll be honest, by the middle of the third Martin book my interest was flagging. Too many characters, too many stories, taking too long. But then in the third book … the author does something to a character I was not expecting. It changes the character and the story and immediately my interest is peaked again. That kind of thing can make the difference between a reader putting down a book and never picking it up again or hanging on to see what else might be thrown at a character.

Understandably, you can't have a story filled with surprises and twists on every page and just for the sake of 'throwing something in there'. However, I would recommend having one or two surprises, set up nicely, timed to be revealed at a critical point in the story and making it a game-changer - where everything you thought about a character or a storyline now needs to be re-thought. As a writer, I've found the best surprises in a story are not necessarily planned. In ILLEGALLY BLONDE I have a surprise towards the end that when I wrote it I went, "Seriously? SHE's the one??" and it was perfect. Same with my current wip. I thought I was writing one character in a certain way and "Bam!" she pulls something on the hero and it's a game-changer - for her and the story. I had to go back and carefully re-read the story to that point and, in many instances subtly change some of her actions/thoughts in order for the reader not to say, "Okay. That is totally not in character." For, above all else, a surprise must be BELIEVABLE.

What about you? Hate or love surprises? And, if you're a writer, do you plan them or are you, you know, surprised when they happen?

Obsession: Good for Reading But What About Your Writing?

I'm back from a week at the cottage and, like every year, I planned on doing a lot of reading and, hopefully, some writing as well. Alas, I failed miserably on the writing front and I blame it entirely on my current reading obsession with George R.R. Martin's SONG OF ICE AND FIRE series. Most everyone knows it by the title of the first book A Game of Thrones.

I have been completely OBSESSED by this series. I devoured the first book, kind of went 'meh' on the second book, LOVED the third book and trudged through the fourth book. I am taking a pause before beginning the fifth book. My obsession may be waning - much like a torrid love affair that's run it's course. I still have interest, I'm still curious but ... I need a break. Reading four books with that many characters, that many story lines, that many PAGES ... well, I'm an avid reader, yes, but I'm a bit burnt out.

After finishing the fourth book and reading the first line of the author's acknowledgement page I wonder if his obsession wasn't getting to him too. The fourth book was a bit meandering, bringing in new characters, remaining totally silent on others and just seemed to have less, I don't know, spark? than the previous three books. In his acknowledgement page, Mr. Martin said "This one was a bitch." I had to laugh because I figured he suffered through it more than his readers did. He explained why he wrote the book this way and promised our old, faithful characters would be back in the fifth book.

The fourth book was written in 2005. His fifth book only came out this year. SIX years. That's a long time to spend with a book. You kind of need to be a bit obsessed to stay with a story this long. Which leads me to the question in the title of this post: is obsession with a story always a good thing for your writing? I know that when writers start off with a story idea that initial burst of obsession doesn't always stay. I know I can get tired of my story after working on it for a few months. I can't even imagine working on it for years! I know it's different when you build a world as complex as Mr. Martin has. But I wonder does he ever feel like chucking it all and writing a completely different story set in another world with other characters? Is he still obsessed or does he even need to be to write a good story? Can the passion for your story come through when you are sick to death of it?

A lot of questions I pose and I have no answers. What about you writers and readers out there? What do you think - is obsession with your story necessary to make it good?

What's the Kiss of Death in a Novel for You?

I know that appreciation for a novel and whether someone thinks it's good or bad is a subjective thing. I know that depending on your mood, a reader could pick up a novel one day and think it dreck and on another day might be so engrossed in it that they miss picking up their kids from school. But in the last week, two writer friends have both said the same thing about two different novels (neither one of which I have read) that made me think this one descriptor is probably the worst thing someone could say about a novel - for me, anyway. The thing they mentioned? The books were BORING.

For me, that one word is the kiss of death for a novel. I hadn't planned on reading one of the books (it was the last in a series I'd never gotten into) and now I likely never will. But the other one had been on my list to pick up. I'd actually been looking forward to when it came out in paperback so I could have a good summer cottage read. But now? With the BORING label stuck on it? Nuh-uh. I can forgive a lot of things: characters that are TSTL (Too Stupid To Live), overly-complicated plots, writing that is too bare-bones, or too overblown, but a boring story? That's it.

Now boring could, of course, mean different things to different people. But the way these two writers described the books to me, it sounded very similar. Basically, a whole lot of nothing happening for a whole lot of pages. No conflict, no action, page after page of descriptive prose about setting, just … nothing. The writing was good. In both cases written by very accomplished authors. But a reason to keep turning the pages? Um, not there.

I've seen evidence of this meandering, boring, why-is-this scene-even-in-the-book? type of writing in many a novel. When it happens in the case of the last of a series (hello? The first half of the last couple of books in the HP series? Boring.) you still keep reading because you know there is a payoff at the end. Some big event that will be coming that will make the slog worthwhile. And maybe, when it gets to the end of a long series like HP, readers will want to stretch out that time until the end, not wanting to say good-bye to Harry and all that. But in a stand-alone novel? In a first time authors work? Why?

Yes, boring is subjective but character and good writing can only take you so far. Plot and conflict and making things worse for your characters is what keeps people turning a page (not talking about literary fiction here folks, just your average commercial book). Personally, I'd rather be accused of a whole slew of other issues in my writing but if someone tells me they were bored? Agh. As the inimitable Jack Nicholson once said "I'd rather stick needles in my eyes".

How about you? What's the the Kiss of Death for you in a novel?

Things That Go Bump in the Night

I don't write horror nor am I a particular rabid fan of the genre but I do admire those authors who can scare the beejeezus out of people. It is a talent most rare.

At one point in my life - primarily in my teenage and early twenties days - I was a huge Stephen King fan and loved watching horror movies. Reading the book IT made me even more deathly afraid of clowns. I have vivid recollections of the TV series Night Gallery (gah, The Earwig! Dolls coming to life *shudder*). I remember calling my friend Jan on the phone when we were both home alone at our respective houses watching the TV adaptation of King's 'Salem's Lot and at a crucial point (I think a vampire was floating outside the window of a 2nd floor bedroom asking to be let in or something) the roll-up blinds in Jan's bedroom flew up with a clatter causing her to scream over the phone and me to have a heart attack. I remember watching my brother reading The Exorcist and him having to put the book down every few minutes and pace around just to get a break from the tension. He still remembers seeing the movie when it first came out and the hype was about people fainting in the aisles during the screening. He said the producers weren't over-hyping. The movie was that freaky. I still have vivid memories about The Blair Witch Project and going home alone (8 months pregnant) thinking the movie wasn't that bad but, when faced with a dark, empty house (hubby and Daughters One and Two were gone) and calling up my Golden Retriever to the bedroom, allowing her to sleep in the bed with me (strictly a forbidden thing until that point) and locking the bedroom door against … what, really? Don't even get me started on Paranormal Activity or The Ring. Nightmares, I tell you.

So you'd think that with all those vivid recollections I would run the other way when my daughter said she wanted to see this very hyped and buzzed West End hit play called "Ghost Stories" that's now playing here in Toronto. I have to admit, the advertising is very well done. Warnings in the ads state:

"Please be advised that Ghost Stories contains moments of extreme shock
and tension. The show is unsuitable for anyone under the age of 14"

They even have videos showing audience members cowering behind their coats and screaming at key moments.

Ya. Sounds like fun, huh?

Well, instead of running the other way, the two daughters, my brother, hubby and I will be going to see it this Saturday (the Boy does NOT enjoy scary things. He will be at a friend's house well away from ghosts, demons and other supernatural beings). My brother has said that he wants his money back if he's not terrified when he turns off the lights that night. My brother is sick. The teenage girls like to be scared and love to scream so they're all in. My husband will think it's stupid. And me? I used to enjoy being frightened but now I'm not so sure. Why put myself through the stress? Yet, horror is a big business. Do it well and you've got a career out of it. Hello? Stephen King, R.L. Stine? But people wanting to be scared? I don't get it. What is it about some people that like to have that fear adrenaline rush?

What about you? What really scares you when you read or watch a movie (besides bad writing that is :)? I'll let you know if the play was as good as the hype or if the overpriced tickets were a scam. And if I survived...

Celebrating Cinderella Ninja Warrior and Sleeping Beauty Vampire Slayer

I'm so thrilled to help my good friend and fellow #torkidlit author Maureen McGowan celebrate the release of TWO (that's right, people, you heard me TWO) new YA books: Cinderella Ninja Warrior and Sleeping Beauty Vampire Slayer. Now if those titles aren't enough to make you run to your nearest bookstore and grab them off the shelf then the concept of having kick ass heroines save themselves instead of waiting for a prince to do it for them should get your butt in gear (hmm, I seem to be writing in a very 'kick butt' oriented kind of way. I'm already being influenced by the books). Not only do you get characters you'd want your pre-teen and teen daughter to emulate, the reader also get to choose which decisions our heroines must make along the way. Romance, adventure, humour and vampires? What's not to love?

But I have to confess, while I'm very excited about the concepts of these two books and what Maureen has done with them, I'm absolutely thrilled to celebrate the fact that Maureen is the one who wrote them. Anyone who has ever met her knows what a great personality, a wealth of writerly knowledge and a true-blue friend she is but, most importantly, Maureen is a GREAT writer. She's been nominated for the prestigious RWA Golden Heart award twice for two different books. (For those who don't know, RWA is the Romance Writer's of America. Being nominated for the Golden Heart is a very big deal folks.) Now that her first books are out everyone can get a chance to see what so many of us already know: Maureen is a true class act, a very fine writer and these will only be the first of many great stories we can expect from her. I'm always thrilled to celebrate when an author has spent years honing their craft and is finally being rewarded for their patience, perserverance and passion. Maureen has all three in spades (she may suggest her patience is over-rated)and this is a big deal for all who know and love her.

So, yeah, I'm celebrating and I hope you do too. Bring on the Ninja's and the Vampire Slayer's! Maureen's books are out! Whoo-Hoo!!!

Which Influences a Teen Reader More: Title, Cover or Back Cover Blurb?

Last week on Twitter there was a very interesting discussion on #yalitchat about what draws a teen to pick up a book from a shelf. There was general consensus that the biggest influencer on teen reading was word of mouth. Of course teens listen and watch what their friends are reading - just like adults do. Reviews don't seem to be as big an influencer (whereas that enters into adult book choices much more. Not saying they don't help make a decision but I'm talking more about impulse buys.

My personal belief is that Covers and Titles are the biggest influencers for teens. As I have my very own little test group at home (i.e. a teen daughter) I thought I'd find out straight from the horse's mouth what influences her to get a book (forgive me for comparing my DD to a horse - she looks nothing like a horse. She's quite lovely actually. Not that horses aren't lovely too. And where did that weird saying come from anyway? Must research and do a blog post about weird sayings another time. Sorry. I digress.)So the next time Daughter Two and I were in a bookstore and she was picking up a couple of books for her collection I asked her why she chose those particular books.

One book, The Clearing by Heather Davis, she said she picked up first for the pretty colour of the green on the cover (she's into colour choices now since she has to pick one for her room walls) and that it drew her eye. The title was interesting (what happened in The Clearing?) and then the back cover blurb intrigued her because it was a bit of a time travel love story. So all three of these things drew her in but the most prominent was the cover.

The second book she got was Looking for Alaska by John Green. This was strictly a choice based on a friend of hers having read it and recommending it.

The third book was Whip It by Shauna Cross. Again the image on the cover drew her in but then she remembered that a movie was made of it and she heard the movie was good so she wanted to see what the book was like.


I also remember when I brought home Across the Universe by Beth Revis (which I purchased because of all the positive reviews I'd been reading) and Daughter Two's reaction was "Oh, I wanted to check that one out because the cover was so pretty."

Totally unscientific but it supported my belief that Covers are probably one of the biggest influencers for a teen who doesn't have a preconceived notion of what she/he wants to read when she walks into a book store. That cover may hook them but the back cover blurb might keep them hooked. Then they might check out the first page or two (at least that's what I've always counselled my kids to do if they're about to spend some hard earned cash on a book). I don't always check out the first page if a book has received fantabulous reviews but if I know nothing of the book besides what's written on the back or inside flap then I will check out the writing.

But what about the title, you ask? I always thought it was one of the things that hooked a potential teen reader more than anything. I still believe that though I have no scientific proof (or unscientific because Daughter Two only peripherally acknowledged that a title helped her in selecting her books). I know ILLEGALLY BLONDE was a title that got attention from agents and editors but have no idea if it hooks a teen reader. I do think the cover draws the eye and am hopeful that a teen will pick it up because of that and read the back cover blurb etc.

I know publishers spend a lot of time and money on getting the right cover so there must be more scientific data that confirms all the expense that goes into either getting the right stock photography, or hiring an artist or photographer to create original artwork. I wonder also, with the proliferation of e-books whether the same sensibilities will happen when browsing through e-books? My brother, not a teen mind you, but an avid iPad book user says his main determinant for buying an ebook now is the free chapter download and not cover or blurb. So the first chapter will become even more important than it already is I guess. But will teens buy e-books in the same way? Or will they browse through the covers and download the most evocative covers for them?

What do you think? Covers, title, blurb or all three?

A Hit Book Series - Is the World Your Oyster or are you Pigeon-holed?

I just read this article about Jeff Kinney and his musings on life and writing with the Diary of a Wimpy Kid franchise going stronger than ever. He describes the surreal moment of seeing his main character Greg Heffley as a giant helium balloon floating over him in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade and he mused

"That was a real moment of joy, along with a feeling of ‘It can’t possibly get any bigger than this.’"

He's working on the sixth Wimpy Kid book now, which by any stretch of the imagination is a wonderful, every-writer-wants-this-kind-of-success, story. And yet, Mr. Kinney said he'd also like to write a non-Greg sitcome and feature film. "“I don’t want Wimpy Kid to be my one thing.”

Which brings up an interesting question: Does a mega successful series mean it will be harder or easier to do something else? Will you be pigeon-holed for life? And always found wanting?

Of course not, you say. There are many examples of writers writing other things beyond their successful series or novels. But what are the odds that the next thing you write would be just as successful as that hit series? The expectations from readers are huge. Writing that Wimpy Kid, Percy Jackson, Hunger Games or, the mother of all hit series, Harry Potter, is like catching lightning in a bottle - so rare, so once in a lifetime, that writing two hit book series is a rare, rare beast. But who cares, you say? That author got five, six or seven books out of this lightning. Years of being a successful writer. Mega bucks. Mega fame. Complete nirvana. And yet…

Would that kind of fame and success be stifling creatively? I mean we all know what happened to Harper Lee (author of To Kill a Mockingbird) right? And that was just one book that did it to her. Having a series success, a series success that builds with each book mind you, that has to be even more stifling and stress-inducing. You've spent years only writing about these characters, this one world, questions must enter the authors mind when the series is over like: Will I ever be able to write another story? Will it ever be as big as the one before? Will anyone accept another character's world as they did the first one?

I know how hard it is to emerge from even one story and then start another so I can't imagine spending YEARS writing about the same characters and then, all of a sudden, switching to completely different ones. The worry about repeating things/character types because they've become so ingrained in your writing repertoire must always be lurking at the back of the author's mind. I know the last time I read an interview with J.K. Rowling she was writing an adult crime/mystery novel I think. Maybe the answer is to go off with a completely different genre like she's doing and keep challenging yourself as an artist by trying new and different things. But I haven't heard anything about a new J.K. Rowling book coming out. And Stephanie Myers seems to have become a recluse. Hmmm.

I guess what's important to remember is, as Mr. Kinney said, as long as what you wrote before doesn't become your 'one' thing, you can appreciate that success and try not to let it defeat you, then keep creating more 'things'. And maybe keep your perspective by not expecting the next thing to be a big thing.

What do you think? Would writing a hit series be the be and end all for you? Or just the end?

Thoughts and Feelings on Becoming a Sophmore Author

I haven't posted much lately about my publishing journey and 'the trying to figure it all out' part (supposedly the purpose of this blog) and I feel a little guilty about that. But since this darn journey is so long and filled with so many hours of sitting by a roadside and waiting for something to happen it doesn't allow for that many scintillating and/or illuminating posts. However, as most of you heard or read about last week, I do finally have some news: my second book titled THE BREAK sold to Great Plains Teen Fiction for publication in Spring 2012!

Here's the PM announcement:
Nelsa Roberto's THE BREAK, in which a teenager is left alone during Spring Break to watch over her beloved, and increasingly forgetful, grandmother and will do anything to stop her from being sent to a retirement home, to Gregg Shilliday and Anita Daher at Great Plains Teen, for publication in Spring 2012, by Kris Rothstein at Carolyn Swayze Literary Agency. kris@swayzeagency.com

And the longer blurb found on my agency's website:

The Break. When Abby Lambert’s parents leave for an emergency Doctors Without Borders mission she knows she’ll have to give up her long-anticipated March Break ski trip with her friends to watch over her grandmother (Nona) Lucia. She doesn’t like it but if she doesn’t stay home she fears her mother will finally commit Nona to the Sunny Haven Community Retirement Home and Abby has no intention of Nona ever leaving her. So begins the craziest week of Abby’s life. She somehow agrees to help out at the very place she’s been trying to avoid – Sunny Haven. And to make her life even more stressful, she has to deal with Kyle DiLuca – the stuck up nephew of Sunny Haven’s owner. But when Nona disappears on a bitter winter night Abby discovers that assumptions aren’t always facts and intentions are only as good as what you can deliver on. Rights Sold: Great Plains Teen, Canada, for spring 2012.

So beyond being obviously thrilled that THE BREAK will be published (I truly do adore this story and the characters so much) what am I feeling about no longer being a debut (newbie) author?

Well, the most overwhelming feeling is one of GRATITUDE. I'm so grateful that Great Plains Teen and my awesome editor, Anita Daher, are behind this story and feel as passionately about it as I do. There is never a guarantee that the next book you write will be received with any enthusiasm. It's all a crap shoot, as we know. To receive the validation that people whom you respect and who know this business and see so many stories believe this one is worthwhile enough to spend their time, effort and money on is very humbling.

Gratitude is closely followed by RELIEF.

Yup, I'm relieved that I'll be published again. I have many stories inside me. I know not all of them will be published but I always have hope that the one I'm writing will be 'it'. But I'm also aware of how very, very hard it is to keep writing in the face of so many amazing books and so many talented writers out there. But as a beginning writer what I have learned is that you need to tune out a little bit of that overwhelming noise that is the publishing world. Keeping the focus on writing stories that you care about is the best thing you can do in trying to get (and keep getting) published. My personal formula for getting published (Passion + Persistence = Published) can be easily applied to Staying Published. There may be months or, more likely, years between books but all you can do is keep writing and keep that passion for writing alive.

The third thing I'm feeling is ANXIETY.

Unfortunately, this feeling doesn't stop the second time around. The excitement of knowing your words will see the light of day is always (for me, anyway) quickly followed by it's ugly sister: anxiety. The sophmore effort has a little more anxiety oomph for me as it has those extra thoughts layered in about trying to do better than your first effort. Why even bother writing if you don't learn from your past mistakes and make your next effort better? Then you start to worry are you repeating yourself? You want to keep the style and your voice consistent so that when someone picks up your books they feel like they are part of a family but, at the same time, you want to stretch and grow as a writer, even if only a little bit. Gah. I know, I know. Just enjoy the fact that it's being published, Nelsa. Sheesh.

I really liken this sophmore experience to being a sophmore in high school. You've gotten over the huge thrill and fear of starting your first year. You've bumped along, made some new friends, made some mistakes but hopefully haven't screwed up too much as you try and navigate the alien landscape before you. Now, in your second year, you kind of know what to avoid, who to trust, you don't get lost as much but there's still so much to learn, still so many things that you haven't experienced yet. It is still a long journey ahead (and you may never graduate!) but, as the old Beatles song goes: "I'll get by with a little help from my friends".

So thanks for listening to my thoughts and, as long as I keep writing, hopefully the journey will continue.

The Best of Times or the Worst of Times?

So, I walk into my local Chapters store a little while ago, one I hadn't been inside for in a while, and discover they've done a major reno. The small, tucked into a corner teen section that used to be there had blown up, moved and placed in a prominent location (taking over the entire back wall that had formerly housed the adult bestsellers). Whoa. How cool was that, I thought? So much more space, so much more prominence. Such an obvious example of how teen fiction has exploded in the last few years. It was both exhilerating and depression-inducing because in that split second I realized how lucky I was to be writing in such a hot medium right now and how brutally hard it is to stand out in an increasingly crowded market.

I've also been reading the book Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell. It's an incredibly fascinating analysis about what makes 'outliers' - those who stand out from the pack or break out because of some amazing talent - so successful. And one of the things that I never thought about is the time in which you are living being so critical in making whatever you work on a success. Sure, I knew about the 10,000 hours of practice (and for writers - writing over a million words) being a large part of your success, but what got me was that sometimes (heck, a lot of times) its not so much how much work you do but just the time in which you are born or when you're living that makes a difference. For example, hockey players born between January and March are more likely to make it to the NHL than those born in later months because they get picked for minor hockey teams more often because they're just physically bigger so they get more practice, people who grew up during the Depression and then started working in the 50's and 60's had much more chance of making it simply because there were fewer of their age group in the population and the economy was booming at the right time.

So it makes me wonder are we in the best of times or worst of times for YA writing? Everyone is writing for the YA market right now because it is booming, but publishers are downsizing because people are supposedly reading less. More people writing YA makes for more competition, which makes for better books (the best of times - for readers anyway), but the economic climate makes it harder to break in or stand out because there are less publishers and less retail space to house those books and the competition is fierce (the worst of times).

Sigh. It's enough to make a poor YA writer nuts. But, like when I was born, I can't control the climate within which I happen to be writing. Maybe I might have had an easier time if I'd sold my first book in the 1990's instead of 2010. But, then again, would I want to be published when not many people were noticing YA and would I have been published because there weren't that many teen books out there then? Isn't competition a good thing, anyway? Upping your game is always worthwhile, right?

So then why did the sight of all those teen books make me wilt a little bit? Ah, well. Nothing worthwhile ever comes easy, right folks? :)

First Page Panda Today Featuring Illegally Blonde

A fabulous writer friend I got to know through Verla Kay's blue boards, Anna Staniszewski, has created a terrific new blog featuring the first pages of new and upcoming young adult and middle grade books and sharing some information about the authors and their books. It's called First Page Panda because, hey, who doesn't like panda's?? and ILLEGALLY BLONDE is being featured today! Check it out here if you have a minute and make sure you go back often to read the first pages of some exciting new writers. Anna herself will be coming out with her debut book MY UN-FAIRY TALE LIFE in 2011 from Sourcebooks Jabberwocky imprint. I'm very excited to read that one!

Hope your holidays have been a source of joy and minimal family conflict so far. Tomorrow we're heading off to our nation's capital, Ottawa, to cheer on The Boy's hockey team in the Bell Canada Cup tournament. Hoping for good weather, good hockey and fun times. The next time I'll be posting will be in 2011 the Year of the Rabbit. After the turbulent Year of the Tiger that 2010 was I'm definitely looking forward to a calm, peaceful (and lucky) Rabbit Year!

Celebrating REAL MERMAIDS DON'T WEAR TOE RINGS!

I was fortunate enough to get to go to Helene Boudreau's (sorry I can't get the accents in on your first name, Helene!)book launch for her new tween book from Sourcebooks called REAL MERMAIDS DON'T WEAR TOE RINGS tonight. I've been anxiously awaiting the book like many of the #torkidlit group of writers and all the Verla Kay Blueborders(the book released December 1st but I wanted to get my copy at Helene's launch)Verla Kay's Blueboards was where I first met Helene and she, in turn, introduced me to the #torkidlit group. To say I am grateful to have met Helene would be an understatement.

It feels like MERMAIDS is very much a Blueboarder baby since Helene shared her agent search with the query letter for the book over a year ago. If you want to see the evolution of a great query check out this thread. Now, after all Helene's hard work was the celebration of the book itself. I wish I had pictures but I'll leave it for Helene to share the awesomeness of the cake (beautiful!) and the coolness of listening to the first chapter of the audio book and the joy of finally seeing a book you've worked so hard on come into being. I especially enjoyed seeing the scrap of paper where the idea for MERMAIDS was written - literally an old grocery receipt with the idea for the book scribbled on the back.

I got home and read the first few chapters and I'm hooked. Jade is a wonderful, funny, sweet heroine and I can't wait to see what happens to her (well, I know she becomes a mermaid but what about her mom? and her crush? and does she ever get rid of that zit??)

Congrats, HELENE!

Crying With Your Story

I'm curious. All you writers out there, when you've written that gut-wrenching scene whatever it is, the most emotional scene in your book, it could be a death, it could be someone breaking up, it could be a farewell or just a description that tugs at the heartstrings ... do you cry when you write it?

I ask this because it takes a heck of a lot for me to cry when I read a book. I can remember exactly 3 times when I've done it. When I first read the play Cyrano de Bergerac and he ... well I won't spoil it if you haven't read it. When I read that scene in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Chapter 35 was it? You know, when Harry is walking and thinking that ... well I won't spoil it (has anyone NOT read it)? And the last few chapters of The Time Traveller's Wife. Sobbed. Sobbed I tell you! I wasn't able to do much of anything for hours. Now I don't know if Edmund Rostand (who wrote Cyrano) cried much, if at all, when writing the ending or even if Audrey Niffenegger did for Time Traveller's Wife. But I do remember reading an interview with J.K. Rowling and how she was sitting in the hotel room typing away and sobbing as she wrote this pivotal scene. I know I was completely wrenched when I finished it and glad no one was home to hear my sobs.

Now my stories haven't had that many sob-inducing scenes except for one. I won't go into details but two readers who I trust dearly both contacted me after finishing the book and told me that they sobbed at one particular scene. I knew it was emotional. It was not an easy scene to write but I knew it had to be written. Maybe that's why I didn't cry when I wrote it. I was so caught up in making sure it was right - not too melodramatic nor too distant. The right notes are so very, very hard to hit in these types of scenes. I was dreading writing it, was wiped after writing it but ... I did not cry while writing it. Was I too close? Had I thought about it too much to then feel the - hopefully - gut wrenching impact I wanted it to have? I guess it doesn't matter. As long as the reader feels the impact. Not necessarily to cry but to feel something inside them.

So, how about you? What books/scenes have made you cry? And have you ever written a particularly emotional scene that made you lose it?

Subway Stranger Reading Recommendations

Usually I pick the books I want to read in one of two ways: I receive recommendations from friends or I read reviews. It's been a simple and, for the most part, effective way to broaden my reading experience. But the other day, as I was sitting on the subway riding in to work, I looked up and saw a woman reading a book that had an intriguing cover. I tried to check the title without looking like I was a subway stalker but because of the angle I couldn't quite catch the title. She got off on a stop before mine and I was never to find out what book she was reading. This bugged me. I don't know why but I decided to pay more attention to what the mass of people were reading on the TTC (that means subway in T.O. but really stands for the Toronto Transit Commission. But that's not the point of this story). Anyway, I decided to check out these random books so that I could decide whether to add them to my reading pile. A stranger's recommendation, if you will. A barometer of what the everyday, joe-blow, go to work person like me is spending their precious 20 min, half-hour to an hour commute reading in the morning. It wasn't as easy a task as I thought it would be.

Some days not one person had a book. Which appalled me. It's not that people weren't reading - they were. It just happened to be newspapers, iPhones, or university or highschool textbooks. Many were just listening to music. Others just staring off into space. I despaired of finding ten different books that I could check out before Christmas. But, by the end of two weeks (and some days I didn't ride the subway) I had my Subway Stranger Reading Recommendations.

So here are the books (and the blurbs I hunted up on Amazon and other sites) that I'm committing to either buying or checking out from the library over the next few months. Of the 11 books I spotted, I only read one (The Time Traveler's Wife) so I have a nice even ten books to check out:

The Secret Daughter by Shilpi Somaya Gowda
On the eve of the monsoons, in a remote Indian village, Kavita gives birth to a baby girl. But in a culture that favors sons, the only way for Kavita to save her newborn daughter's life is to give her away.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Stratten
January 1946: writer Juliet Ashton receives a letter from a stranger, a founding member of the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. And so begins a remarkable tale of the island of Guernsey during the German occupation, and of a society as extraordinary as its name.

A Mortal Curiosity by Anne Granger
The second novel in Ann Granger's wonderfully atmospheric Victorian mystery series. Lizzie Martin, lady's companion, has been sent from London to the New Forest to comfort a young woman whose baby has tragically died. A sad enough task, but things take an even darker turn when a rat-catcher is found murdered in the garden, and the young woman is discovered beside the body, crying and covered in blood. Not knowing where else to turn, Lizzie calls upon her friend Inspector Ben Ross from Scotland Yard to solve the horrific crime.

Mr. Shakespeare's Bastard by Richard B. Wright
In a quiet manor house in Oxfordshire, an ailing housekeeper by the name of Aerlene Ward feels the time has come to confess the great secret that has shaped her life-she is the illegitimate daughter of William Shakespeare, England′s most famous playwright.

Lie Down with the Devil by Linda Barnes
Things get moving quickly in Bostonian Carlotta Carlyle’s twelfth mystery, picking up right where Heart of the World (2006) left off, with Carlyle’s mobbed-up fiancé, Sam, sought for murder, and teenage Paolina, Carlotta’s adopted little sister, recuperating from her horrific experiences in Colombia. In her emotional agony, Paolina has shut out Carlotta, so the six-foot ex-cop and part-time cabbie turns her energy toward proving Sam innocent—in the face of his secrecy, his womanizing, and, worst of all, mounting evidence that he actually did the deed.

The Debutante by Kathleen Turner
Cate Albion is a gifted artist who is hiding from her past in her elderly aunt’s London antique shop. When her aunt sends her to Devon to catalog the contents of an old Georgian house, Cate finds more than just antiques, she finds a mystery. The home belonged to Irene Blythe, a wealthy, elderly woman who was once a beautiful socialite between the wars. Cate finds an abandoned nursery, locked for years, and a shoebox full of mysterious articles hidden behind a stack of books. Cate realizes the box belongs not to Irene but to her sister, Baby Blythe, the dazzling, dangerous, over-the-top debutante who mysteriously disappeared without a trace more than 60 years ago. Unable to resist, Cate unpacks the box and follows the clues to Baby Blythe’s dark, secretive past––one that parallels Cate’s own dark life all too well.

The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown
"The Lost Symbol" solves puzzles, analyzes paintings and reveals forgotten histories -- all so that Brown's tireless hero, Robert Langdon can find a legendary Masonic treasure despite special ops squads that are dogging him and a bizarre killer who has kidnapped his dear friend and mentor.

Black and Blue by Ian Rankin
Rebus is juggling four cases trying to nail one killer - who might just lead back to the infamous Bible John. And he's doing it under the scrutiny of an internal inquiry led by a man he has just accused of taking backhanders from Glasgow's Mr Big. Added to that there are TV cameras at his back investigating a miscarriage of justice, making Rebus a criminal in the eyes of a million or more viewers. Just one mistake is likely to mean an unpleasant and not particularly speedy death or, worse still, losing his job.


Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
This zany tale of the bungling of Armageddon features an angel, a demon, an 11-year-old Antichrist and a doomsaying witch; unmistakably British humor is in abundance.

The Kings Grace by Anne Easter Smith
Smith's newest historical fiction is a complex exploration of a turbulent period of English history, taking on one of its biggest mysteries: the fate of princes Edward and Richard, locked up in the Tower by Richard III. Protagonist Grace Plantagenet is the illegitimate daughter of Edward IV and had been confidant to his family—including her imprisoned half-brothers Edward and Richard. After Richard III is killed and the princes disappear, a man named Perkin Warbeck appears to challenge Henry VII, claiming to be the presumed dead Prince Richard. Determined to discover the truth of Warbeck's claim, Grace throws herself into the politics of the court, knowing that if Warbeck is Prince Richard, it could be drastic for Grace's family—especially for her half-sister Elizabeth of York, now Henry's queen.

Whew. That's a heck of a lot of different books. To tell you the truth, I'm not sure I'm going to like each one. And if I don't, I'm not sure I'll finish them all. But it's an experiment in whether I can enjoy books I haven't sought out myself or that have been recommended to me by someone I know - a broadening of my reading experience to see if I like other tastes and genres. We'll see how it goes. I think I'm going to try The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society first - just because I love the title and I love WWII stories. I'll keep you posted on the progress.

So, have you read any of the above? And how do you go about picking what's going on your To Be Read pile? But, please, don't give me any more recommendations. I don't think I could handle it!

Celebrating an Amazing Author

It is so rare to achieve any success in this writing game that when something comes along that is so amazing, so wonderful and the recipient of that success is so deserving of it it is a joy to celebrate it with them. The wonderful thing that happened today was that a fellow Torkidlit writer is a finalist for one of the most prestigious awards in Canada - the Governor General's Award. The writer is Cheryl Rainfield and the book is her searing story SCARS.


This honour is particularly special because Cheryl is, without question, one of the most supportive writers I have ever had the pleasure to meet. She is open and warm and caring of the struggle that writers - and people in general - go through. That comes from her compassionate nature and it comes from a lifetime of her own personal struggles and her ability to rise above the most horrible of circumstances to become an exceptionally positive and creative human being. Her love of books and reading enabled her to do this and it is that love that helped her write and gave the world SCARS. And now, with this nomination, even more people will be aware of the book and the story and hopefully, more teens will know they are not alone even when it seems the world has turned its back on them.

Bravo, Cheryl. I'm thrilled your book has received such an honour but mostly, my dear, I am thrilled for you. Enjoy the ride!

Expectations - High, Low or No?

I've been thinking a lot lately about expectations people put on things. You know what I'm talking about, right? You're excitedly looking forward to a big party, expecting to meet fun people, have scintillating conversations, maybe discover the love of your life. The party doesn't turn out quite like you expected, maybe the host is in a bad mood, didn't put any food out, has ghastly wine and the one person you do meet has bad breath, is a close talker and won't leave your side the entire night. Or another example all you readers out there can identify with: you hear about a GREAT book, a book you have been told over and over again you must read, you will love it, it gets all these awards. You're excited. Can't wait to read it so you pick it up and ... you can barely make it past chapter two. And it's a hardcover that you spent over 25 bucks on. I think that example ticks me off more than a lousy party.

So, was it the high expectations that ruined the party and the book? Would you have enjoyed both more if you went in thinking that you would have a lousy time and you checked the book out of the library because the cover caught your eye? Are high expectations the reason behind many of the negative reviews we see for movies and books? I wonder if I would have enjoyed Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins nearly as much as I did if I'd bought it after all the hoopla surrounding the series. I was lucky enough to buy it right when it came out - yes, it had some good reviews but it hadn't 'caught fire' (pardon the pun) as much as it has now. So, while I hoped for a good read I was blown away by the story. I don't know if I would have had the same kind of reaction if I'd been bombarded by all the hype it's getting now because, after all that press, I would 'expect' to be blown away. The bar has been set pretty high.

I guess you could argue that truly great books, movies, parties, whatever will always meet expectations because that's what makes them great. TOY STORY 3 for example, had HUGE expectations when people went to see it and by no means did it disappoint. It even, dare I say it? in my opinion, surpassed the expectations the audience had for it. But that is a rare, rare thing.

Pixar genius aside, I think I prefer going into something new - whether it's a book, movie, or a party having no expectations at all. I like approaching the new experience with a clean slate because then the intensity of the experience - if it's good - will be even more pronounced. It doesn't mean I don't read reviews - I do. But I try not to put too much stock in them. Maybe my husband has had it right all these years - he doesn't want to hear ANYTHING about a movie before he goes to see it. He doesn't want to hear what I've heard or what I think about it. He truly wants an empty slate so that he can be surprised, excited or totally disgusted on his own, without expectations.

What do you think? Are high expectations a good thing to have? Or is it better to temper expectations with a dose of "Whatever will be will be?"

Serial Monogamist or Playing the Field?

When it comes to reading books I've always been a serial monogamist. One book at a time and faithful to that book until I hit The End. I rarely ever strayed, never feeling the need to dip my toe into other books while I was still being faithful to the one I started. But lately, things have changed. I don't know whether it's a product of the erratic life I'm leading - running from one thing to another, packing one thing then being led astray by yet another, whatever it is in the last week I've started THREE books: MOCKINGJAY, THE PRINCESS BRIDE, and FORTY WORDS FOR SORROW. This is not normal behaviour for me!

So, because of this, I'm now feeling distinctly unfaithful and uncommitted when I pick up any one of these books to read these days. Granted, I can't be totally blamed for straying from MOCKINGJAY. I'd passed the 200 page mark and my daughters absconded with it while I was in the middle of packing a closet. Okay, I understood. I wasn't paying it the attention it deserved. It is a book deserving of a full hour upon hour of immersion and I just wasn't giving it that devoted, full-time attention. So MOCKINGJAY strayed to partners that would show it the devotion it required. I'm hurt and feeling guilty for my part in the break up but I totally understand. So, to console my bruised ego, I picked up THE PRINCESS BRIDE. After so many years of watching the movie and falling in love with the story I'd yet to actually read it. Well, how better to console oneself after the first book has left you to immediately go to a book that you've wanted to read for years? And what a book it was! Oh, my William Goldman is a master. I could totally forget MOCKINGJAY (for a time) while in the arms of THE PRINCESS BRIDE.

Alas, that too was doomed. While I was downstairs, trying to veg out after a day of exhausted pack and move duties, I was looking through the bookshelf and a mystery I'd been given years ago caught my eye. It was just going to be a casual read. Just a few chapters. It was meaningless time killer. But no. I got hooked.

So I'm now in a twisted three way love triangle with books I don't have time for. How did this happen?? I fear I'm going to have to give them all up for a time so I can make a decision on which one to choose. You see, it's just not in me to play the field. Yup, I'm a definite serial monogamist when it comes to reading.

How about you? One love affair at a time or a few going on all at once? And if it's the latter, how on earth can you keep them all straight?