Thinking about what Prince means to me

Here's the thing about Prince's music. His songs were often the background of my life in high school. I mean, there was a lot of music we loved, a lot of music we cranked in the car and danced to at the school dances. But his was there a LOT. Like, I have such a strong memory of a friend and I driving around blasting Little Red Corvette in my very first car, and I think back to that night, to that time, and it is like we were swathed in magic.

Prince = Magic

And what's amazing to me is that over time, some of the music I listened to back then I don't like as much anymore. But Prince's music? My love has only grown over the years. And it was on my bucket list to see him in concert at least once, and I'm just so sad that will never happen now. I came from a small town. To go to the big city, to see a concert, hardly ever happened. A bunch of us made the two-hour trip to see Journey, and man, that night was epic. I wish we'd made it happen for Prince too.

Here are the things I know about Prince.

He was extremely talented.
He worked hard.
He was brave with his art.
He wanted control over how that art was seen and heard, and so he took control, and he did NOT apologize for that, or care what people thought.

Today, I'm feeling inspired to be a little more Prince-like with my work.

To be brave.
To work hard and put work out there that I'm proud of and;
to not care so much about what other people think.

Thank you, Prince, for the music and for the inspiration. I am so grateful the music lives on.

Reading a book, over and over again

I get a lot of notes from kids and teens that go something like, "I love this book so much, I've read it XX times."

And I'm always like, wow. That's a LOT. I mean, to me, anything over three times is a lot. I rarely re-read books, so I'm easily impressed, I think.

For the middle grade set, they often say this about IT'S RAINING CUPCAKES.

For the Young Adult crowd, the book that gets that kind of comment the most is CHASING BROOKLYN.

I'll usually respond with a thank you note, and say how glad I am that she's enjoyed the book. And I go on to tell her I do have other books, if she might be interested?

But it's kind of a strange thing - sometimes I don't think she really is interested. Because there will never be another book like THIS book. And I realize, of course she is right. A favorite book is a special thing. They probably do read other things, but for whatever reason, they return to their favorite books again and again.

We never know what might happen with a book when we're in the middle of creating it. Some end up being semi-hits, some are misses, and very rarely, they are hits far and wide. Once we release it, we hope the book finds someone (maybe a lot of someones) who likes and appreciates it. Every time I get a note from a reader telling me a book is a favorite, that she has chosen to spend countless hours emerged in the pages, I smile. No matter what else I do in my life, I am honored to have done that.

Sometimes I think about these books and what it is about them that makes readers feel this way about them. I think it's probably not one thing, but a lot of things rolled up together. It would be great if we could find the magic formula. But each book is unique and different and you just never know... With every book we read, we begin anew, to decide where this particular book falls on the list of favorites. Or least favorites, as the case may be.

After all, what fun would it be, really, if it was all predetermined, and we didn't have to do that? It's the beauty of reading - beginning each book and letting it take you on an unknown journey. The possibilities are endless - and I love that!

I love school visits!!

I've just returned from two days of school visits in Southern Oregon. I don't like the four hour drive much, but the students and teachers and the awesome librarians made up for that!

My first visits were at South Middle School, where I did four presentations on Monday and two presentations on Tuesday, and had lunch both days with a select group of students. The kids were amazing - so many of them came up to tell me super nice things about my books and writing. A lot of the kids bought books and had me sign them. One girl told me she saved her dog-walking money so she could buy four of my books. FOUR! It must be her favorite number, because when I asked her how many dogs she walks, the answer to that question was four as well.

One of the language arts teachers reads CHASING BROOKLYN to her 7th graders every year. When someone told me that, I was like, oh my gosh, doesn't she get sick of it? He replied, "She just really loves it. You can tell." As a result, I had lots of fans of that book there, both boys and girls, which is always awesome to see. Another language arts teacher was reading IT'S RAINING CUPCAKES to his 6th grade students. Really appreciate that teacher support, let me tell you.

We got one of the lunch groups to pose for a picture. Here we are, getting our jazz hands on.

Tuesday afternoon I hopped over to North Middle School (that totally makes me sound like the Easter bunny, doesn't it?) where I met with another great group of students. They were in the middle of this awesome contest the librarian puts on every year involving peeps and dioramas. SO cool! Check out this Harry Potter one:

I've always said I write my YA novels with middle school kids in mind. They are my core audience, and I love spending time with them!

So, I'm back home and back to work on the current work-in-progress. But not this morning. Author Cynthia Lord is in town, and presenting very near my house, so I'm going to go and listen to her presentation this morning!

These are the days I really love my job.

Chasing Brooklyn in German

Yesterday I got a package from my editor. I was so surprised when I opened it.

Small, adorable books, written in German!

Here is IN LIEBE, BROOKLYN next to her big sister, CHASING BROOKLYN, so you get an idea of the size. It's almost pocket-sized.

And check out the bookmark that is sewn into the book:

I would love to give away a couple. If you read German or know someone who does and might like to read this book of love and loss, healing and hope, let me know with an e-mail address and I'll get in touch with you.

Danke!

It's so nice to be nominated!

I haven't been blogging much lately - sorry about that! I haven't felt well for the past week, mostly with a headache that won't quit, and being on the computer doesn't help it, of course. Although this morning I did power through 1,500 words on a new project I'm really excited about.

I have things to talk about, things I want to say, but I have a feeling I'm going to have to limit my computer time for a while longer, until whatever this thing is decides to give me a break. (Please, let that be soon).

SO, making a list is an exciting thing for an author. And I have the chance to make a few of them, so I just wanted to say here, because I want the universe to hear me, I would love, love, LOVE to make the final lists of the following:

Chasing Brooklyn is a preliminary nominee on the 2012-2013 Missouri Association of School Librarians Gateway Readers Award.

Chasing Brooklyn is also a nominee for YALSA's 2012 popular paperback list - yay!!!

And finally, The Day Before is a nominee for YALSA's 2012 Quick Picks for Reluctant Readers list. I Heart You, You Haunt Me made this list a few years ago, and it was such a great thing for my book.

Thanks so much to the librarians who helped me get on these lists, and if I don't make any of them, it was really nice to be nominated. Maybe I should go buy myself a cute dress to have as a consolation prize?

NYC Here I Come

Tomorrow morning I get up bright and early to head to NYC.

I can hardly believe it!

It's my first trip to the Big Apple and I have so many things planned. I have a date to eat NYC pizza Monday night. On Tuesday, I'm hoping to do lots of touristy stuff, exactly what depends on the weather. I hope to ride the free ferry, stroll Central Park, and visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art. As if that's not enough, I'm seeing Jersey Boys Tuesday night! I got a 9th row seat - woo hoo!

Wednesday I'm meeting publishing people and having an authorly kind of day.

Thursday I hope to hit a workshop or two, plus an awards reception in the afternoon, and then at 6:00, I'll be reading and signing THE DAY BEFORE at Books of Wonder. SO excited about this event!

Friday night, I'll get all dressed up for the awards event, because, as you may or may not remember, Chasing Brooklyn is a Rita finalist in the YA category. Look at the great company I'm in:

From the Romance Writers of America. Source: YA Fresh.

• Chasing Brooklyn by Lisa Schroeder (Simon Pulse, 2010)
• The Clearing by Heather Davis (Graphia, 2010)
• Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare (McElderry, 2010)
• I Now Pronounce You Someone Else by Erin McCahan (Arthur A. Levine, 2010)
• The Iron King by Julie Kagawa (Turtleback, 2010)
• Rules of Attraction by Simone Elkeles
• The Summer of Skinny Dipping by Amanda Howells

It's gonna be fun!!!

It's April 19th - do you know what that means?

These two books are now available in paperback!! I found IT'S RAINING CUPCAKES at Barnes and Noble yesterday. If you go searching for one of them and the bookstore you're in doesn't carry it, remember, you can always ask to order it.

This latest edition of IT'S RAINING CUPCAKES has a little taste of SPRINKLES AND SECRETS at the end. And CHASING BROOKLYN has a sneak peek of THE DAY BEFORE.

Happy reading!

Joy Not Sorrow Playlist from Chasing Brooklyn

In every one of my young adult novels so far, music plays an important role. Music can be salve to our souls, and so it is with my characters.

I often get letters from teens, struggling with the loss of a loved one. The playlist I've put together (mentioned in my book, CHASING BROOKLYN) is for you.

I know it's hard losing someone. The pain at times seems unbearable. Music can be a comfort, whether it's music that makes us cry because we relate to it, or because it's music that gives us hope. The songs on this playlist takes a similar journey we do when we're grieving - from love and loss to healing and hope.

Here are the songs from the Joy Not Sorrow Playlist given to Brooklyn.

Can't Cry Hard Enough - Williams Brothers

All That I'm Living For - Evanescence

Sleeping to Dream - Jason Mraz

Say (All I Need) - OneRepublic

Hope for the Hopeless - One Fine Frenzy

The Heart of Life - John Mayer

All We Are - Matt Nathanson

When I Look to the Sky - Train

I Will Remember You - Sarah McLachlan

My Wish - Rascal Flatts

(a BIG thank you to Maggie, L.K. Madigan and Teresa Schauer for helping me with my song selection.)

How to do a drive by signing and blog links

Today I'm taking a break from the Dream Big blog series to share a few things with you.

My release month continues and one thing I did last weekend was to visit a couple of bookstores for drive-by signings.

In case you aren't familiar with the term, it means you drive up, walk in, sign stock, and go on your merry way. Fast and easy and a great way to bring some attention to your books, because you can put the special stickers on the front that tell customers it's a signed book!

Next, I want to thank the nice bloggers who have hosted me on their blogs the past couple of weeks to celebrate the release of CHASING BROOKLYN.

Georgia McBride is curious about my high school days and why I liked them.

Creative A wants to know one thing about CHASING BROOKLYN you wouldn't know from the description of the book.

The Book Butterfly asks me about the challenges of writing a book with a dual narrative.

The Story Siren wants to know if I get emotional while I write my books.

Tabitha Olson is curious about the title and how I came up with it.

The Fantastic Book Reviewer wonders if I set out to make people cry.

The Page Flipper wants to know how I come up with the names of my characters.

And finally, Shannon Messenger asks me for secrets for unpublished writers on the path to publication. And I actually come up with one!

It's been a busy and fun couple of weeks, and for all the people who have read CHASING BROOKLYN, blogged about it, reviewed it on Amazon, goodreads or Barnes and Noble, told friends about it, etc. etc., let me just say

THANK YOU!!!

The traditional release day VLOG!!

It's become sort of a tradition to do a vlog on release day.

This one is quite silly, but sometimes, you just have to let the silly out!

Enjoy!!

Book trailer!

Tomorrow we return to Dream Big 2010, which will happen all month long except Sundays. I have left Sundays open to post book-related news if I have any.

And today, I have some!

A book trailer to share.

I hope you'll watch, enjoy, and share if you're so inclined. Just a couple more days until release day - yay!

Bookish news!!

First of all, um, ONE WEEK UNTIL RELEASE DAY. EEEEEEK!!!

1. If you are a Portland, OR peep, I will be signing and reading next week. Tues., January 5th at 7:00 pm, to be exact, at the Clackamas Barnes and Noble. It's kind of weird, barnesandnoble.com has me on their events page! Go HERE and wait a minute, and you'll see me as the ad scrolls from THE HONOR OF SPIES to CHASING BROOKLYN.

2. A few early reviews have been posted, so thought I'd share...

"Schroeder masterfully creates a parallel structure within the text, the energy and emotion of each scene heightening its overall drama, underscoring the sorrow and, above all, strengthening its final message of hope."
—Kirkus Reviews

"Schroeder has covered a few rough topics in one novel and she weaved [them] together in a magnificent way."
—http://agoodaddiction.blogspot.com

"Lisa has written a story that to me was emotional, powerful, strong and filled with love."
—http://alifeboundbybooks.blogspot.com

"As a reader, I got the feeling that I was reading the diaries of friends and felt the sympathy and urgency and thrill of healing right along with them."—http://yahighway.blogspot.com

3. FAR FROM YOU makes a very cute paperback. I really like it. My new editor sent me a couple copies of each book until I get my author copies from the warehouse. Here, I took a picture for you:



Tomorrow - Find out what BIG plans I have for the month of January. It's so awesome and so exciting, I can't wait to share it with all of you!!