Choices, choices

We decided not to get This Weeks Special Flavors.

Are you insanely gifted?

Whether yes or no -- you may want to check out this great book trailer by my pal, Dan Elish!

I can't wait to read it...

Aunt Ronnie's blog

The best burritos I ever made were for a Cook-Off competition at my Aunt Ronnie's house.

Aunt Ronnie is, among other things, bitingly funny, a formidably talented cook, a fiery intellectual, and a generously loving aunt and friend. Also, she writes really well. I read her blog all the time and suggest you do too -- and not just because my now-famous burritos are the featured attraction today...

Revising

Turns out maybe I have been revising too much?

I don't care if my books are considered "literary" fiction, though I do kind of hate the "YA" designation -- my characters at ages 14-16 may not know everything about themselves but one thing they are all pretty certain about is that they are NOT young ADULTS.

Maybe people in the book world realize that and that's why we don't say Young Adult anymore; we say YA. Which maybe just means YA now, kind of like we're all cool Canadians ironically questioning (Why, eh?) or like the SATs. SATs stopped meaning Scholastic Aptitude Tests a few years ago when everybody had to agree the tests didn't test aptitude. So then SAT was retrodefined and suddenly stood for Scholastic Achievement Tests, but then people were like, wait, do these tests actually gauge scholastic achievement? Urgh! So everybody gave up and said, okay fine, it means SATs. SAT stands for SAT and just shut up and sharpen your number 2 pencils, wouldja, ya smartalec kid thinking you're smarter than other people?

I'm actually not a big fan of the "Middle Grade" designation either, which to me sounds more like a type of gas somewhere between Regular and Premium ("fill it up please with the Middle Grade") or a porn category ("No, Aunt Tillie, what I write isn't really Hard Core; well, no, not exactly soft focus romantic either; kind of, well, Middle Grade.") Or, most devastatingly, it sounds like a value judgement -- like, at a dinner party if Jonathan Franzen started declaiming about how what he writes is firmly in the High Art Literary Tradition, and then the host turned to me and said, "Hey Rachel! Are your books in the High Art Literary Tradition, too? Or do you write a bunch of crap just to kill trees and brain cells?" I would have to mumble, well, neither I suppose, my stuff is more, um, middle grade.

Okay, well, maybe that's fair, on second thought. Because that is totally what I would say whether I happened to be writing for kids or not.

Because while I think it's important to write the best sentences you possibly can, and to revise them as much as necessary until they are as good as you can make them (and please, no hiding behind well it's just for kids, doesn't matter if I don't get the exact right word YES IT DOES MATTER!) your words and sentences and characters and most importantly your stories should be sharp and fine and exactly right, whether your intended reader is 10 or 50, a pimply ninth grader or a gorgeous brilliant New Yorker Editor -- I also think it sucks to be a pompous ass.

Love,

Rachel Vail

Catching up

Has your summer started yet? Or are you still finishing up with school, work, etc?

We're hanging out with pals here... enjoying the city...
And the country...

And the longer days...And then, also, getting down to work.

Any wonderful plans for the summer?

I am going to write a book, exercise every day, have fun with friends and family, sit in some cafes, send out books to the WINNERS of the DRAWINGS, and maybe learn to waterski.

Well, those are my goals. Not sure I will achieve all of them. Feeling pretty confident about the cafes and the fun, though... and I WILL get to the post office very soon...

How about you? What do YOU want to do this summer?

Love,

Rachel Vail

Paperback Pub Day!

Look inside! (says Amazon) -- it's ready for you today!

To celebrate today, the paperback publication day for JUSTIN CASE, I am heading to a pub.

Well, not really. Or maybe later? Right now I am working.

BUT: today, to celebrate -- it is the last day for you to sign up for the drawing to win a free copy!

You can sign up right here -- all the names are going into a hat (or possibly the popcorn bowl, we shall see) tomorrow, and my kids will pick the lucky winners. You can sign up to try to win a free copy of JUSTIN or of BRILLIANT -- or, what the heck, both if you want.

You can tell a worry you have, or a cause you support, or write a haiku, or tell your favorite color/dessert/song/type of shoes/summer drink... -- or just your name and which book you'd like.

Love,

Rachel Vail

PS If you buy a copy of any of my books before June, post a picture of yourself holding the book and I will send you a FREE OTHER BOOK to go with it, automatically.

As long as I am going to the post office, anyway...

WRITING PROMPT/ GAME

My friend Rima had this odd-seeming game on her facebook page. I had a few minutes to kill while waiting for my editor to call me for a phone meeting, so I tried it -- and found it not just occasionally hilarious and weirdly appropriate for me -- but potentially useful if I took the answers as NOT pertaining to me ME, but rather to my current narrator...

So here I will share it with you, for your own amusement or as a very interesting way to force your writing mind WAY outside-the-box with your current character(s).

Please let me know how it goes for you -- and if you want to be entered into the GET A FREE BOOK drawing, happening NEXT WEEK, you can post your responses here and make sure to indicate if you would rather be trying to win a FREE new signed and personalized copy of JUSTIN CASE or BRILLIANT with your response.

And, have fun with it -- tell the truth!

1. Put your iTunes on shuffle.

2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.

3. YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN NO MATTER HOW SILLY IT SOUNDS!

4. Tag 10 friends who might enjoy doing the same as well as the person you got the same from.

IF SOMEONE SAYS "IS THIS OKAY" YOU SAY?

Superboy and the Invisible Girl

WHAT WOULD BEST DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONALITY?

The Wrestler (!)

WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL?

What would happen (!)

HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY?

Something in the way she moves

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE'S PURPOSE?

son of a preacher man

WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO?

shining like a national guitar

WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?

Racing in the Street

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN?

Trailways Bus

WHAT IS 2 + 2?

Terry’s Song

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?

Perfect for You

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE PERSON YOU LIKE?

Make Up Your Mind/Catch Me I’m Falling

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?

Sweet Baby James

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?

Don Giovanni (!) (k-527 Deh, Vieni Alla Finestra)

WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE?

Requiem - Lacrimosa

WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?

Good Man, Good Woman

WHAT WILL YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING?

Seconds and Years

WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?

La La Love You

WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?

New Years Day

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET?

Somedays

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?

Abdelazer, Or the Moor’s Revenge

WHAT'S THE WORST THING THAT COULD HAPPEN?

Ich Ruf Zu Dir, Herr Jesus Christ (I Cry to Thee, Lord Jesus Christ)

HOW WILL YOU DIE?

Shadow of Doubt

WHAT IS THE ONE THING YOU REGRET?

Te Deum (You, God)

WHAT MAKES YOU LAUGH?

Rickshaw Riding

WHAT MAKES YOU CRY?

Air on a G String (hahahaha, never thought of it as a non musical g-string before!)

WILL YOU EVER GET MARRIED?

Thing Called Love

WHAT SCARES YOU THE MOST?

Somewhere in the Night

DOES ANYONE LIKE YOU?

Mock Song

IF YOU COULD GO BACK IN TIME, WHAT WOULD YOU CHANGE?

Love is Stronger than Justice

WHAT HURTS RIGHT NOW?

Pollyanne

WHAT WILL YOU POST THIS AS?

Beautiful Boy