Paris is always a good idea

Oh my goodness. First time to Paris, and what a lovely trip we had. The weather was practically perfect. A cool, showery day after we arrived, and we got caught in a sudden downpour when we were out in the countryside one day, but it didn't last long and some trees helped keep us somewhat dry. Other than that, sunny and blue skies, including a couple of 80 degree days.

Here is a day-by-day account of this trip of a lifetime, mostly so I can look back on it when I want to. I think I'm also going to do a post for first-time visitors to Paris. Maybe it will be helpful to others? I did a lot of research before going and had pages filled in a notebook of tips and tricks to know. It really helped. I think if you just go, without a lot of thought or planning beforehand, you'll end up at all of the touristy spots and to me, that is not fun. Touristy spots are tourist traps, which means scams and pickpockets and all of those things I'd really like to avoid.

Trip Report:

Day 1 - we arrived around 2:00 pm. A rep from Insidr Paris met us at the airport to deliver the phone we'd be renting for our stay (a service I highly recommend). This phone allowed us to have a hotspot the entire time, provided restaurant recommendations and other tips from a community of Paris experts, and allowed us to easily use the Citymapper app so we could figure out how to get places using the metro, the bus, trains, or by walking. It was awesome. We didn't take a single taxi. When we went to Montmatre for the day, my husband heard a couple get out of a cab and the American man said, "How much was that?" And she said, "Fifty euros, which is like fifty seven dollars or so." For ONE ride!? Oh my gosh. We bought Navigo passes for less than that and they got us just about everywhere we wanted to go, with the exception of Giverny, which required a separate train ticket. After we checked into our hotel, it was a beautiful sunny day so we walked from our hotel to the Pantheon for a look around and a tour to the top. After that, dinner at a famous steakhouse - Le Relais de l'Entrecôte - yum!

Day 2 - In line at 9:00 for the doors opening at 10:00 to go up to the tower at Notre Dame. Wow, this was so amazing. Highly recommend doing this. So glad we got there early, the line was long by the time we got inside. After staying up top for an hour or so, we walked around inside the church for a while.

I bought a little painting from an elderly gentleman who was selling some of his art outside Notre Dame. It's now hanging in my office, a lovely reminder of our wonderful trip.

After that, we strolled over to Île Saint-Louis and walked around, and I had a scoop of the world-famous Berthillon ice cream (raspberry).

We visited the Eiffel Tower, though we didn't stay long because it's such a tourist trap and there are scammers everywhere. I knew we'd have a chance for more photos later on the trip, because I'd scheduled an evening cruise on the Seine.

After an early dinner in a bistro that we happened upon and was delightful, we went to the Musee d'Orsay, which is a museum in an old train station. I really loved this museum. When I saw Starry Night over the Rhone by Van Gogh, I got chills. It is SO beautiful in person. Like, you just can't even imagine. There's also some beautiful pieces by Monet, Renoir, and more.

Day 3 - A day trip to the French countryside to visit a chateau, Vaux le Vicomte. I was not interested in going to Versailles which I've heard is wall-to-wall people, so I researched others and decided on this one. We really enjoyed it. The man who had it built, Nicolas Fouquet, was the superintendent of finances for King Louis XIV. He hired architect Louis Le Vau and landscape architect Andre le Notre. Fouquet invited the King over one night, when it was all finished, hoping to impress him. Instead, the king became jealous and when someone led him to believe public funds had been misappropriated, the king believed it and had Fouquet arrested. The king then hired the architects who had designed Vaux le Vicomte to design what would become Versailles. So in a way, I suppose you could call this estate a little Versailles. There's a casual restaurant on site, so we ate lunch outside on the patio, before the clouds rolled in.

Day 4 - We met up with a group for a 4-hour bike tour. This was really fun. A little scary at times, because biking through Paris is not for wimps, but overall, it was good. We rode around the city, and stopped at attractions and heard fun stories about them. We visited a couple of places I wouldn't have known about. We also stopped in for hot chocolate at Paris' oldest restaurant, Le Precope. So much history in this restaurant - the guide pointed out all kinds of cool things.

That afternoon we went to the Musee L'Orangerie to see Monet's water lilies as well as some other pieces. Then we had pizza and beer while sitting outside in the St.-Germain area, watching all the people going by. It was so good. And I had cake. No surprise.

Day 5 - A day trip to the village of Auvers-sur-Oise. This was one of my favorite parts of the trip. It's such a quaint little place with the cobblestone streets and charming cottages. This is where Vincent Van Gogh spent his last days before he died. In 70 days he painted close to 70 paintings, because his doctor told him it would be good for him to immerse himself in his work. We spent the entire day here, walking from one end of the town to the other. 

Day 6 - Another day trip, this time to Vernon, where we rented bikes and rode them to Giverny, to see Monet's home and gardens. The gardens are lovely, although I didn't like this trip as well as Auvers, mostly because the place was packed with people. The bike ride was fun though - along an easy path that keeps you away from traffic. And now I want a yellow dining room. 

Day 7 - We spent time at Luxembourg Garden, visited a Jean-Paul Hevin's chocolate shop to bring some chocolates home for my son who was pet-sitting, and went to the Opera House (Palais Garnier) and took a tour. Such a beautiful place. 

That evening, we took a dinner cruise on the Calife. I read lots of reviews and this was the one with the highest marks. People said it wasn't cheesy and the food was actually good. So we went for it. I have to say, we had a really lovely time. It had been 80 degrees that day, so it was neat to see how everyone flocks to the river banks with food and wine and has picnics all along the river. So fun! That is one thing I noticed again and again - Parisians know how to get out and have fun.

Day 8 - our last day! We headed to Montmartre and took a walking tour using the phone we had rented which had a bunch of walking tours programmed into it. We should have done more of this! It was great because it mostly kept us out of the tourist trap areas, and it is such a beautiful place to walk around. When our feet were tired of walking and our stomachs were grumbling, we hopped on a bus and made our way to a "must-do" on my list - to have a fallafel sandwich at the world-famous L'as du Fallafel in the Marais neighborhood. So good. After that, we visited the Memorial de la Shoah, the French holocaust museum for a little while. It's free, and they had a really interesting exhibit about comics and graphic novels that have been done about the holocaust. 

Merci beaucoup for reading!

I'm all about balance when it comes to work

First, some good news. I'm writing a new book that will be coming out sometime in 2018. I can't share many details yet, but when I can, I will! I'm almost as excited as this lady from my favorite soft-serve ice cream place.

The not-so-good news? I have a first draft due in a month or so. I'm about halfway done, I think? Maybe? Hopefully? And April is a really busy month for me with some sub jobs I already agreed to, a couple of appearances/events, some scheduled Skype visits, and the usual stuff life stuff.

Author R.J. Anderson shared this post on twitter yesterday, which talks about hours worked and productivity. "Decades of research demonstrate that the correlation between the number of hours worked and productivity is very weak," says Alex Soojun-Kim Pang, a Stanford University visiting scholar and founder of the Restful Company. Pang has now written a book called REST: WHY YOU GET MORE DONE WHEN YOU WORK LESS. I think I'm going to read that book.

R.J. shared that it's taken her a long time to realize that she is much happier and more productive when she takes frequent breaks throughout the day. And by breaks, she means getting up and getting away from the computer. Taking a walk. Napping. Baking cookies. I replied I've found the same to be true. I am a much happier writer when I have a balanced life that includes the things in life I love - gym time, dog walks, meal preparation and the occasional batch of cookies, a relatively clean house (which my family does help with, thankfully), social get-togethers, family time, and yes, power naps when I need them.

I know that if I write 500-1000 words a day over the next month, I'll meet that deadline. If I can focus for two hours a day, I can do those words. Here are the two things I've found to be key for me:

1) Every evening, I jot down what comes next in the story. It's usually just a paragraph, nothing fancy, but it takes the guess work out of what needs to happen when I sit down to write. I've already figured it out.

2) Then I have to decide WHEN those two hours will occur depending on what appointments or errands I have the next day. Like, today, I need to go grocery shopping and I also have a hair appointment early this afternoon. AND it's supposed to be sunny this afternoon. No way I'm spending the last hours of the afternoon in front of my computer. So I'll go grocery shopping, come back and write for two hours, and then I'm done for the day.

Everyone is different, it's true. Some authors would rather write a ton of words every day over a short period of time, doing hardly anything else. And maybe that's the key here - each writer has to experiment and find out what works best for him/her. But I also think burnout is a very real thing we need to be careful of if we want to keep writing for many years to come.

Anyway - if I'm not posting much this month, now you know why. It's a busy month, with a book to write. As Coach Taylor from Friday Night Lights likes to say - let's git'er done.

Wishing you a happy spring!

Getting past the fear to begin

In April I went to a retreat outside of Austin, Texas, in the lush, rolling hills. I'd been toying with a book idea for a while, an idea that would be different from anything I'd ever written. I was so afraid to begin. I think it's one of the hardest things for a writer - going from idea to story and putting words on paper.

Sometimes the idea seems too good to be true, and we're afraid we'll ruin it.
Sometimes the idea is too vague and we worry it will fizzle out once we start writing.
Sometimes the idea feels bigger than we are, and we're not sure we have what it takes to write it.

But as I sat in a quiet, sunny spot with my journal, the trees whispering encouragement, I realized I was in exactly the right place to start this story that scared me so much. I had time and space and room to breathe. I could immerse myself in those early chapters and see what might come of them. I could let the characters lead me where they wanted to go and wherever it was, it would be okay because that is what a writing retreat is for: to write and to explore.

And so I wrote. I wrote 25 pages or so, and then I came home and had to put it away for a while but over the summer, I kept working and working. I had hoped I'd have a draft by September, but that didn't happen. So I wrote in September. And I wrote in October. And finally, a couple of weeks ago, I finished the draft.

I'm revising now, reading over printed out pages, marking them up, trying to figure out what's missing, what doesn't ring quite true, and on and on. I don't know if or when it will sell, although I hope it does someday. What I do know is that after I read a scene today, it brought tears to my eyes. And then, I thought back to those magical trees, and I'm just so glad I took that first scary step and started writing.

We don't always get to write in such a gorgeous spot, I know. Although I think the universe is happy to give out words of encouragement wherever we are, if we just take a moment and listen for them. I wish they were as loud as the words of doubt always seem to be, but they're not. So get quiet and listen, and remember, there can be no ending unless there is a beginning.

On Mixing Things Up as a Writer

Since 2008, I have published seven young adult novels

I HEART YOU, YOU HAUNT ME
FAR FROM YOU
CHASING BROOKLYN
THE DAY BEFORE
FALLING FOR YOU
THE BRIDGE FROM ME TO YOU
ALL WE HAVE IS NOW

and eleven middle grade novels

IT'S RAINING CUPCAKES
SPRINKLES AND SECRETS
FROSTING AND FRIENDSHIP
CHARMED LIFE #1, Caitlin's Lucky Charm
CHARMED LIFE #2, Mia's Golden Bird
CHARMED LIFE #3, Libby's Sweet Surprise
CHARMED LIFE #4, Hannah's Bright Star
MY SECRET GUIDE TO PARIS
SEALED WITH A SECRET
THE GIRL IN THE TOWER
2017 MG title not yet finalized

Eighteen books.
In eight years.

Starting in 2010, I worked hard to publish two books a year, one YA and one MG. Then, I had the year where I wrote all four of the CHARMED LIFE books, because my publisher wanted them to come out quickly, one after the other.

The thing is, if I'm not regularly selling books to publishers, I'm not making the kind of income I need to pay the bills. You're probably wondering, don't you get lots of royalties on all of those books? Well, no, not really. Some of them haven't even earned out their advance, and may not ever do that. Others give me a small amount of royalties every six months, but once books are gone from the shelves of bookstores, they aren't selling enough copies to make much of a difference.

I have a couple of things on submission now, and I'm crossing my fingers something will sell. In the mean time, I decided it was time for me to mix things up a bit. Stretch myself. Write something that would make me forget about the stressful business side of publishing and fall in love all over again with the act of writing.

If you're a writer and feeling like you'd like to mix things up a bit too, but don't know what that means or how to do that, here are some things you can try.

Write for a different age-group.
Write a different genre.
Do something new with point-of-view.
Do something new with timeline.
Play with voice.
Write in a different form - short story, poetry, essay, etc.
If you've never outlined, try outlining.
If you've never gone without an outline, try drafting without one.
Write faster.
Write slower.

I've always been a pretty fast writer. Also a lean writer. Perhaps the two go hand-in-hand?

But this summer, I am mixing things up by first and foremost, slowing things down. I'm also trying a different genre (historical fiction), although it's a book that alternates between the past and the present so it has other challenges besides the research aspect. Talk about mixing things up!! I started the book I'm working on now at a writing retreat back in April, and I'm probably one-fourth of the way through a first draft right now. I am letting things simmer more than I usually do and giving lots of thought to decisions I make about what happens next. I'm trying to write two pages a day, but if I only get one done or even a couple of paragraphs, I don't sweat it.

There are times when things are hectic and chaotic and dinner at my house consists of soup and sandwiches. Other times, I can spend an hour and a half in the kitchen, making a really nice home-cooked meal. No doubt about it - the dinner I spend more time and care on is usually a much more special meal. That's not to say the soup and sandwich dinner is bad - I can make a pretty tasty sandwich. I guess my point is that life doesn't always allow us to spend an hour and a half on dinner every single night. Similarly, life doesn't always allow authors many months and even years to write books. I've done what I've needed to do over the years to feed my family, and did the best I could with the time/resources I had at the time.

But right now, with this particular book, I know I need to take it slow. It is the kind of book that deserves care and attention and a lot of thought. So that's what I will give it.

Eighteen books in eight years may be great or it may be slightly insane, I'm not quite sure. What I do know is that it's okay to slow down once in a while. Hopefully this particular story will be better for it.

In the land of no contracts

It's always a bit of a strange feeling for an author when a contracted book (one that a publisher has bought and is scheduled to be published) is turned in. On the one hand, there is this huge sense of relief - the book is done and the editor is pleased. Hooray!

But it also can be a bit nerve-wracking. The book is done, so now what? Because books are published so far ahead, authors also have to be thinking ahead. I'm now thinking about 2018, wondering if I'll have any books that year. If I don't sell something here in the next little while, I may not have anything published in 2018 and as someone who relies on this writing gig for income, it's really not good to skip a year.

I try not to worry, but it's hard. It's really hard. It's like this little nagging voice in the back of my head all the time - you need to sell something, you need to sell something. The fact that publishing is the slowest business in the world doesn't help. Once an author has something to sell, it can be a loooong time before a sale actually happens. Editors are busy. Most of them read submissions during their "off hours."

So, I'm busy working on coming up with a couple of proposals for future series. I'm also working on a manuscript I don't want to sell on proposal because I want to make it the best I can without any deadline pressure. And I have a completed manuscript on submission now.

Just like when I'm writing sometimes, I'm not sure what's going to happen next. But I hope I don't have to wait too long to find out!

The most important thing a writer must learn to do

That probably reads like a click bait headline. Oh well. I'm keeping it. I like it. And I completely one hundred percent believe what I'm about to tell you IS the most important thing a writer must learn to do.

 I wonder, right now, what do you *think* it is?

Write every day, even when you don't want to? No way. I don't believe that.

Develop a thick skin? Not this either, although of course this is true, but you've heard it a million times.

Write a FANTASTIC story in order to get it published? Nope. Because I'm not even talking about writing to get published.

I'm talking about writing wherever you are on the path of being a writer. Maybe you're just playing around right now. Writing to see how it feels. See what it looks like for you. Or maybe you are one that's been doing this for a while, and you're thinking about querying agents soon. Maybe you're like me and you've published some books, had some successes and some failures, and you're wondering - what's next?

There's one thing you have to do and keep doing no matter if you've never published a book or published a hundred books.

You have to learn to write with doubt. 

I feel like I could make a rhyme about that.

Figure it out,
all writers learn to write with doubt.

I did an author visit at a middle school one time and I LOVED this wall of poetry they made in honor of my visit. Do you think those students worried about me reading the poem they had written and that would be hanging on the wall in the room where I'd be speaking? Of course. Do you think any of them were afraid I might not like what they'd written? Absolutely. But you know what? They somehow managed to DO IT ANYWAY.

Every time I start a new book, I have doubts. I am scared. I am worried it won't be good enough. But I understand it is part of being a writer. It shows I care about the work I'm doing, and that's not a bad thing. The difficulty is in learning how to manage the fear.

In her book BIG MAGIC, Liz Gilbert tells us to tell Fear it is welcome to come along with us, but it does not get to drive the car. No, if it wants to come along, it has to sit in the backseat and be quiet.

I think I've always thought of Doubt as this pesky little thing on my shoulder that won't go away. It really likes my shoulder, and so it sits there. And when it starts whispering ugly things in my ear, I have a choice as to whether I listen or not. It's completely up to me. I have the power - Doubt does NOT have the power. It simply has messages, messages that often times aren't even true.

Often, Doubt is loudest when I sit down to start my work for the day. Opening the document is often the hardest part, yes? But once you just do it, and you let your characters talk to you, Doubt tends to quiet down.

I get so many notes and emails from kids and teens asking me - how do I write when I'm scared? Scared it won't be good enough? Scared I don't know what I'm doing? Scared people will say bad things if I even manage to somehow show it to someone?

I wish I could say there is a magic trick writers use to make the fear and doubt go away, but there isn't. The truth is, every writer who has finished a book managed to figure out how to send it to the back seat or to write with it sitting on their shoulder.

You can't avoid it. You simply have to figure out for yourself how to write with it.

Happy March - hope you have a great month!

Happy February!

I am trying to like February more than I have in the past. It's always a tough month for me, because my body is ready for more daylight. I long for less rain and more sun. And when February rolls around, it starts to feel like the grayness and the rain will never leave, and it can make me kind of cranky.

But I also believe that so much of how things go is partly influenced by our attitude at the outset. So today I'm trying hard to say - hooray, February is here! Can you see that pained smile on my face as I say it? Maybe I just need to fake it 'til I make it - that's what I'm trying out, I guess. We'll see if it makes a difference this year.

Kind of related - did y'all see this list of goals that author Octavia Butler made years ago? (Sorry, sometimes I just become Tami Taylor for no good reason. Texas Forever, y'all.) Anyway, Octavia Butler is the Queen of Goals, for sure. What's that saying - Believe it then you will see it? Mkay, I'm gonna believe February will be awesome and hopefully it will be so. If halfway through I give up and just want to curl up into a ball and have a Friday Night Lights marathon, well, at least I tried.

If I had my way, I'd just go to Maui for the whole month of February and be done with it. Now THAT would definitely affect a change in my attitude. (Here is a picture of me hiking through a bamboo forest a few years ago). Ahhhh... I miss you, Maui.

January wrapped up with with more good news. THE BRIDGE FROM ME made another list - it's a nominee for Iowa's teen book award. Thanks to the librarians there!

I have a bunch of promo work to do this month to get ready for the release of THE GIRL IN THE TOWER. (Speaking of which - if you're on Goodreads, there is a giveaway for FIVE Advanced copies. But hurry, it ends Friday!) And I need to start writing a contracted book that's due in a few months. So it will be a busy one, but it's all good. I'm constantly reminded how fortunate I am to be doing this writing thing for a living. Yes, there are frustrations and heartaches, but there are also celebrations around books and reading - two things I've loved my whole life. To be a part of the business of putting books in the hands of kids and teens is pretty incredible.

I'm wishing y'all a wonderful February. Eat lots of chocolate which the shelves are full of right now. I've heard it helps.

Verse novels and a book recommendation

Last year, the kidlit world was taken by storm with two AMAZING verse novels. First there was BROWN GIRL DREAMING by Jacqueline Woodson, which won all kinds of awards. Then there was THE CROSSOVER by Kwame Alexander, winner of the Newbery medal. I checked both of these out from the library before they won the awards and got insanely popular, and for Christmas I'm asking for my own copies because I want to read them again and again. Maybe I can soak up a little bit of their brilliance, you know?

I was thrilled to see verse novels get some time in the sun, so to speak. In the past, verse novels have gotten a bad rap from the community from time to time. "Verse is just a gimmick," some say. "It's such a waste, breaking up sentences with crazy line spaces and creating all that white space," others complain.

Of course, these are mostly adults with their harsh opinions. Ask kids who've enjoyed THE CROSSOVER, or LOVE THAT DOG by Sharon Creech, or MAY B. by Caroline Starr Rose, or WHAT MY MOTHER DOESN'T KNOW by Sonya Sones and they will tell you how much they love these books and that the verse doesn't take anything away, and in fact, actually adds something wonderful.

Since I've written a number of verse novels, I know that writing novels in verse isn't easy. It's a bit like walking on a tightrope, trying to balance the story and the poetry to create something that is accessible while also poetic, to write a story with a good plot and interesting characters while not using a ton of words. It's tough! But when it's done well, it can be a pretty magical reading experience. And I'm so glad there have been books lately that prove to the world there is nothing wrong with writing this way.

So what if they're different? I mean really, so what? If people don't like them, they don't have to read them. But to out and out say awful things in generalities is just not very useful, and in fact can be hurtful to the authors who enjoy writing this way. Trust me, I know this too well.

Anyway, last week, I finished a verse novel I want to recommend to all of my readers (12 and up) who love verse novels. It's called ONE by Sarah Crossan. It's about a set of conjoined twins, Tippi and Grace, who you will fall in love with. This book made me laugh and made me cry - my favorite kind of book!

Not only is this book a really, really good read, it also made me long to write an entire novel in verse again. It actually made me excited at the thought. Because of the criticism they were getting a few years back, I went through a bit of a crisis with my writing. I didn't want to write entire books in verse anymore. I didn't want to be put under a microscope for someone to declare whether it was just a "gimmick" or not. Besides, I told myself, if I write in mostly prose, maybe I'll be more popular.

Ha. Hahahaha. I will never be one of the "popular" YA authors. So really, I need to do what I do best and not worry about anything else. And when it comes to YA, I think that's writing in verse. I'm fifty pages in on a new project and having so much fun.

So thank you Sarah Crossan, not only for writing this amazing book, but also for putting me back on the path I veered away from for a while. I don't know what awaits me up ahead, but I'm enjoying the journey and for me, that's the most important thing when it comes to writing.

Have a great week!

Top 10 list of things to do while waiting

One thing that is a constant in the publishing world is waiting.

There is always something.

When you're querying agents, you're waiting on responses.
When you on submission to editors, you're waiting on responses.
When your book has sold, you're waiting on the editorial letter.
When edits are done, you're waiting and wondering about the cover.
When the book is basically done, you're waiting on professional reviews.
When the book is out in the world, you're waiting and wondering about sales and readers' reactions.

I am not kidding when I say it never, ever ends!

So you have to find a way to deal with it. Here are my top ten ways of dealing with the waiting.

10. Snuggle with your pet(s) and tell them all your worries.

9. Bake yummy things

8. Go do something fun, like float on the river. Unless it's February. Because, well, not fun.

7. Play Cards Against Humanity with friends (if you are over 18). You will forget everything in life and laugh your face off, and it will be glorious. Since I'm a decent human being (most of the time) I picked a clean one for the sake of the children.

6. Search out quotes and post them on social media. Why? Because it's fun to play with the apps, that's why.

5. Go for walks and take photos of pretty flowers. Unless it's February. Then stay inside and drink hot cocoa and scroll through your feed and remember days gone by and the pretty flowers. Actually, if it's February, just get on a plane and go to Hawaii.

4. Write a blog post and search out fun gifs. Like the following:

3. Watch a really good TV series. Personally, I've really enjoyed Rectify and Mr. Robot this summer. And good grief, if you haven't watched Friday Night Lights, what are you waiting for???

2 . Keep writing. Always keep writing.

1. All of this is to basically say, don't sit around waiting. Get on with your life!