The kitchen sink

(Also known as, this blog post.)
For serious people, I have many many things to share with you! So exciting!

For starters, in Bradford news, yesterday was the Biggest Teen Author Signing Ever at Books of Wonder in NYC. Not only did I get to sign copies of GoldenGirl, but I also got to meet Bradford friendlies Sharon Anne and Khyrinthia! I am pleased to report that both are every bit as awesome in person as online.
You may recall that Sharon Anne was our grand prize winner from the Bradford Blog Bash! Here's a pic of her humbly accepting her prize package (above).
(Please to disregard my slouching! I can hear my mother in my ear with the: "stand up straight!" And she would be correct. But oh, well.)

Other things Bradford: Spencer's birthday contest continues! Today, she announced on her blog that she'll be giving away as her present to YOU a signed copy of The Season by authoress extraordinaire Sarah MacLean. Rumor has it that Sarah will even be doing a short Q&A with Spencer on Wednesday in honor of the close of the contest. Swing by Spencer's blog between now and midnight Wednesday and post your own six word memoir, and you'll be entered for a chance to win the book.
(And believe you me, it's a good book. Worth the pain of the creative process.)



You might think that that is more than enough news from my corner of the world. But I have MORE THINGS TO TELL YOU!
Namely, that I can be found this week in two places: firstly, at author KC Dyer's Darby Speaks blog, chatting about--what else?--the Bradfordlies.
ALSO, an excerpt for the Ellen Hopkins anthology from SmartPop, Flirtin' With the Monster, (coming in May) can be found here. I was so flattered to be asked to contribute an essay, and let me tell you, it was nice to put those VCFA critical writing skills to use!

As you can see, it's been all kinds of bizzy here in Ostow-ville. But I wouldn't have it any other way!

Prize-alicious and Swag-tastic! Blog Bash winners REVEALED!

For those of you pretties who thought this day would never come, the wait is over--lo, we have tallied the various prizewinners from our month-long Bradford Blog Bash, and giveaways will be going out STAT!

(Though we may wait a week until the gorj new Bradford bookmarks and magnets come in so we can add them to some of the prizes. That's worth the wait, right?)

But first, I did want to thank you very very muchly for all of your supportive friendliness during our mucho-exciting new series launch. I had a great time meeting new people out there in the blogosphere (and spending time with old friends!), and my Bradford girlies had a great time getting to know you all, too! If you haven't already, be sure to check them out on Twitter, Myspace, Facebook, and on their own private blogs (links can be found on the sidebar to your left) to catch updates, additional plot reveals, and even some online-only story arcs to help you get your Bradford fix between now and June, when FASHIONISTA releases.

But I believe we were speaking of swag.
I'm sure that Spencer would agree that pressies are always most very.

AND THE WINNERS ARE:

*Widget download giveaways:
Katie Johnson
Meredith Foster

Mondays With Micol winners:
Allie Jones
Faith
Marjolein

Guest Blogger winners:
Lynn Weingarten ("Wherever Nina Lies"): Shalonda
Cynthia Leitich Smith ("Tantalize"): Paradox

(Quite Extremely) Grand Prize:
Reader Rabbit

and...

THE MOST, ULTRA, EXTRA, VERY Grand Prize:
Sharonanne!

Woo hoo!

If you've won a prize, and for any reason I don't have your information, I shall be contacting you shortly.

THANKS FOR PLAYING ALONG (and for partying with us)!

Besos,

Micol

The Dog Ate My Blog Post

I know, I know, that's so TOTES not an excuse! I am filled to the veriness with apologies for the fact that the BLOG BASH WINNERS have still not been posted! I could babble on about how completely and unexpectedly insane these last two months have been--which would be utterly and completely true*--or I could just swear on Chanel and Zac Posen to have the names up for you tomorrow, just in time for the weekend!

And just to raise the stakes--if I'm lyin', and the info doesn't go up by 11:59pm EST tomorrow, I will give away one whole entire extra surprise prize package at random.

For realsies.

*(said craziness did indeed include not one but TWO marathon plotting sessions for new books in the Bradford series--d'you forgive me now?)

TGI (almost) F, my most prettiest friendlies!

Guest Blogger of the Day: Gwenda Bond!

I had the great fortune to get to know Gwenda Bond through our MFA program at Vermont College of Fine Arts; she and I were fellow Revisionistas, and learned on our first night, over several glasses of wine and chatter, that we had many friends and colleagues in the YA-verse in common.


(Here we are at graduation with the rest of our kick-a$$ class; cute, right? And ps: how SHORT am I?)


To date, she is one of my first stops when I'm looking for feedback or an opinion on industry stuff (she has also been one of the beta readers for my Deep Dark Secret Spec Project, for which I'm eternally grateful!).
Gwenda blogs about all things lit (and pop culture, and cupcakes, and pets) over at Shaken And Stirred—when she isn't hard at work on a novel that promises to take the teen book world by storm.


Blog: Shaken & Stirred


URL: http://gwendabond.typepad.com/bondgirl




Blogs are a central part of the Bradford Novels universe. They are also, more and more, a central part of the YA-writing universe. When and why did you start blogging?


I should know, shouldn't I? The oldest post the editor shows on the old version of my site is in 2002. So, we'll say 2002. Anyway, who can say exactly when I started? Not me, apparently. But, wow, seven years-ish. That's a long time ago.

I do remember why I started though. It was because I was constantly e-mailing articles -- particularly New York Times articles -- to my friends, and I figured it would be less bothersome if I had a place to put them where they could nab them if they wanted, and ignore if they didn't. It was also a way to reduce the amount of e-mail I had to do. Several of my close friends started blogging around the same time, and so we could track each other's movements too. Clearly, that evolved over time. My posting got a lot less personal once strangers started reading the site, and once I discovered there was a whole burgeoning community of people writing about books (thanks to my friend Barb and the infamous Jennifer Howard Washington Post article in 2003 about how insular litblogs were), I recognized that was what I wanted to do. With room for miscellaneous posts about TV and dogs. I should also say that I discovered very quickly that litbloggers weren't insular at all. There's a real sense of community.



Completely agree! What's your favorite thing about blogging?


The sense of connection with the larger literary world I associate with it. I think I would get very lonely, writing and reading in my little corner, reaching out via e-mails to people who are also getting too many e-mails. I like talking about pretty much everything, and I like getting to know really interesting people. I like making recommendations, and drawing attention to other people saying worthwhile (or infuriating) stuff. Blogging has been a great gift to me, in terms of both discovering new books to love and in all the friends I've initially met through the site over the years. I try to give gifts back whenever I can.



What's the difference between a blog and a diary? How confessional do you like a blog to get? What sort of blog posts most appeal to you? What are some of your favorite blogs (book or otherwise) out there right now?


There are some great confessional blogs, but I mostly don't read them. Although I do ADORE reading other people's friends-locked livejournal entries. Those are more like diaries than traditional blogs, I think, and so it's a bit like getting a peek behind the curtain into someone else's real life, not just their online one. Plus, the secrecy is very appealing.

But, as I said above, the thing I like best about the blogosphere is the conversation of it, and I find the confessional sites frequently to be less about having a conversation. So they're just not my thing? This is one of the reasons I'm now addicted to Twitter. It's one big endless, flitting discussion.

The exception would be The Nervous Breakdown, where I'm a new poster. Many of the posts at this massive group blog of mainly writers are more personal essay in nature, but they're so funny/true/well done that I find it completely addictive.


Blogs I love: God. There are so, so many. I think Colleen Mondor does amazing work both on her own site, Chasing Ray, and as the mastermind behind Guys Lit Wire. Carolyn Kellogg has made the LA Times Book Blog Paper Cuts a must read. I still love About Last Night, one of the first blogs I ever discovered. Sarah Rees Brennan is hilarious. Oh, and Justine Larbalestier is so fabulous as blogging --far more thoughtful about it than I'll ever be. Betsy Bird. Cynthia Leitich Smith. And I'll stop now, because I could on and on and on and on. Clearly.



GoldenGirl is full of scandals and exposed secrets. What was the biggest scandal at your high school? Did your classmates discover any of your deep, dark secrets?


Biggest scandal... Hmm... I honestly can't think of anything that was huge! And my secrets are very well-protected. It was probably a bit of a scandal the couple of times I got detention, given that they announced your name over the loudspeaker in first period and I was the principal's daughter. Also, during my Jim Morrison phase, pre-driver's license when I still rode to school with my mom she once said, "I pledge allegiance to The Doors" during the morning address, because we'd just been fighting about how loud I wanted to play them in the car. I have about a million stories like this.



What’s the worst thing you ever did to a friend (or vice-versa)? Are you still friends with her or him?


I'm actually a pretty good friend, I hope, and more on the dangerously loyal side. That said, I think it was probably in college. I dealt poorly with a friend's crush, once I figured out he was serious and that I didn't reciprocate. Sadly, we actually did fall out of touch after that, but neither of us handled it that well, so that's some small comfort. As far the vice versa, I refer to my high school/early college best friend as Satan. Make of that what you will.



Sounds like she'd fit right in at Bradford! And...since Bradford is all about the rumor mill: rumor has it you've got some exciting book news on the horizon, too! Anything you want to share?


Um, I recently had the good fortune to sign with Jennifer Laughran at the Andrea Brown Agency.

Oh, exciting! Can't wait to hear more good news! And thanks for stopping by!

Awesome Authors: Kelly Parra!

Kelly Parra is a YA writer who also maintains a fantastic and fun blog, "YA Fresh," with writer Tina Ferraro. Not only did Kelly agree to do a little Q&A for our blog bash, but she has ALSO offered a copy of her book, INVISIBLE TOUCH, as a giveaway to a randomly selected commenter on her post. So comment to enter for a chance to win!

Kelly is a Mexican-Filipino-Italian writer. Through her teen years, her nationality was many times a guessing game by new acquaintances and today she often writes her multicultural characters with the same experiences. She debuted into young adult fiction with the Latina novel GRAFFITI GIRL, a double RITA finalist. Her latest novel is the YA contemporary paranormal, INVISIBLE TOUCH published by MTV Books. Learn more about her and her books at kellyparra.com.

Blogs are a central part of the Bradford Novels universe. They are also, more and more, a central part of the YA-writing universe. When and why did you start blogging?
I first started blogging a couple of years before I sold my first book. Blogs were really taking off and I wanted a connection with other writers during my struggle to publication. After selling my first YA novel, GRAFFITI GIRL, I knew many romance writers at the time but I didn't know how I would connect with other YA readers. I had always felt a blog needed to give something to readers that they would be interested in. Not just about my own YA books but about other authors, and soon YA Fresh was born. Not long after it launched, I asked my fab critique partner, Tina Ferraro, if she would like to join me and luckily she did. It's been a great couple of years!

What's your favorite thing about blogging? As someone who coordinates between a variety of different blogs, how do you stay organized?
My favorite thing about blogging is the connection with other writers and readers! It's such a blast to share your likes and dislikes, and all the book gossip with your friends. I do coordinate between group blogs and guest blogs and it can get overwhelming at times. I'm a total list person and I write down dates to try and keep me sane. :)

What are the pros and cons of running a group blog, as opposed to blogging strictly on a personal site?
One pro of running team blogs is having others to share a variety of topics with a different spin to keep readers interested. I can't really think of a con—I feel group blogs work really well if organized. Blogging on your own can be a little boring and it's hard to bring something fresh to readers.

What's the difference between a blog and a diary? How confessional do you like a blog to get? What sort of blog posts most appeal to you? What are some of your favorite blogs (book or otherwise) out there right now?
Diaries are for the writer's eyes only! A blog can be read by hundreds of readers and can reach farther beyond. On YA Fresh, we try and keep it light. Blog posts that appeal to me are background news on writers and their books. Its so fun to follow a favorite writer through their writing journey. Some of my favorite blogs are: Teenfictioncafe.blogspot.com and YAWriters.blogspot.com.
GoldenGirl is full of scandals and exposed secrets. What was the biggest scandal at your high school? Did your classmates discover any of your deep, dark secrets?
There was always a scandal in high school—from fights to party stories, whatever topic that could keep the gossip going. I'm not sure if any of my dark secrets were whispered behind hands...nothing I can think of at the moment!

Sure, sure...So, what’s the worst thing you ever did to a friend? Are you still friends with her or him?
I started talking to an ex-boyfriend of one of my friends. They'd been broken up for a long time, and she told me it didn't bother her. But later down the road when I stopped talking to the guy my friend ended up back with him and admitted it had bothered her. I wish she would have told me, but then I should have just brushed him off. Friends stick around longer than dates! I run into her every once in a while and we still talk like years haven't gone by.

What are your most recent books? What new projects are you working on now?
My latest release is INVISIBLE TOUCH (MTV Books/October, 2008). The story is about a girl who sees "signs" or symbols on individuals and must piece the signs together in order to save them from unfortunate fates. TeensReadToo gave Touch the Gold Award of Excellence and bestselling author Laurie Faria Stolarz called it a blend of mystery, romance, and deep and dangerous secrets.

Right now, I'm stepping out of my comfort zone and writing an urban fantasy that takes place in the near future. It's been an exciting and fun challenge!

Thank you for letting me join in, Micol!

Guest Blogger of the Day: The Frenetic Reader!

I'm so excited to be bringing an actual TEEN blogger to our discussion on YA book blogging! Khyrinthia and I found each other in the cyberverse as I was gearing up for the GoldenGirl launch, and she has been a staunch supporter of the series ever since. Here's what she has to say:

Name: Khy/The Frenetic Reader

Blog URL: http://freneticreader.blogspot.com/

Tell us a little bit about your blog (the content, editorial identity, purpose)

On my blog, I mostly review YA books. Occasionally I will mention the fact that zombies are 3852803 times better than unicorns, and more than occasionally I will mention my undying love for David Levithan. (I obsess over him.)

I don't blame you--David rocks. My jury is still out on the zombie/unicorn thing, however. So, how/when/why did you decide to start blogging? Is your current blog your first? If not (or, if so), how did your original blog/s evolve to your current blog-incarnation?

I started my blog back in April of 2008, but it sure doesn't feel like I've had it that long. I was extremely bored one night, and my friend had recently started her own blog, so I wanted to start one. And since I read a bazillion book blogs, I figured I'd start my own. And now, here I am. -insert festive music here-

What's your favorite thing about blogging?

Am I allowed to say everything? Because I love everything. I love finding out about new books, being able to rant about books I may or may not like, and talking to all the other awesome bloggers. And I'd be lying if I said I didn't like getting a free book every once in a while.

Yeah, me, too! What's one thing that surprised you about the blogging process?

How much motivation it takes to actually sit down and write something. The internet can be very distracting. So can Twitter. And sometimes it's hard to think of stuff to say, or write down your thoughts so that they make sense. But it's all worth it. :)

In your opinion, what constitutes a "good" (ie: interesting, readable) blog post? What sort of information are you looking to offer your readers?

Honestly, I have no clue what makes an interesting blog post. I'll read anything as long as it's in complete sentences, does not use chatspeak, and is not in one huge paragraph. Even if you write about what you ate for breakfast, I will probably at least skim your post.

As far as information that I want to offer my readers (I have readers! I like being able to say that), um....information about books? More specifically, books that should be read and obsessed over and books to be read and loved.

Hmm...my Bradfordlies and I might need to reconsider our use of chatspeak. What blogs do you read regularly?

Do I have time to list all 300 in my google reader? I read a ton of book blogs, and author blogs. I'd name favorites, but I don't want to leave anyone out. We have to be fair here, so no favorites. Though I do love all the ones I read. :D

And I just wanted to say, thanks for letting me answer your questions, Micol! Can't wait to read GoldenGirl.

Thanks for coming by, and for being as passionate about teen books as we are!

Guest Blogger of the Day: The Page Flipper!

We only have three days left in the Bradford Blog Bash, and THREE amazing guest bloggers still waiting to visit with us! So for the rest of the week, we're gonna have a guest book blogger EVERY DAY! First off, The Page Flipper, AKA Chelsea, was kind enough to sit down and talk to us about why it is that she blogs about books!

Name: Chelsea
Blog url: thepageflipper.blogspot.com

Tell us a little bit about your blog (the content, editorial identity, purpose):
My blog's main purpose is to connect with readers and push my opinion on them. :) Really, I just like to help promote new YA books coming out in the market, and help readers find books they'd be interested in. I try to review a variety of different genres, to hit with everyone. I also have a YA book club, where we discuss a different book each month; it's great to be able to fully geek out about books without being laughed at. (Here's looking to you, brother!)

We would never laugh about book love—we get it! How/when/why did you decide to start blogging? Is your current blog your first?
I decided to start in late 2007 - the main reason was because my family and friends got completely sick of me rattling on about my latest read. I figured I'd start sharing my opinion with people who actually wanted to hear it! It's completely addicting. The Page Flipper is my first blog, but it's been through many transformations. It was a cocoon at first, in its little bloggish state. It grew on its own, but then I decided to put it in an incubator and created a website. That lasted for a month or so, until I missed my blogging ways, and started back up again. Now I like to think of it as a butterfly. (I do realize how corny I am, thanks.)

Not corny, poetic! So, what's your favorite thing about blogging?
I lovelovelove communicating with other readers and authors. When I first started, I didn't picture "book blogging" to be as big and as friendly of a community as it became. I love talking to other readers about books, and to authors about writing. It's been a ton of fun, and I don't plan on giving it up anytime soon.

What is one thing that surprised you about the blogging process?
Free books! I started out with just library books - I used to make weekly trips. I had no idea what ARCs were, and when I was offered a free book, I thought it was a scam. Seriously. I was also surprised by how many bloggers are out there. We could totally dominate the world.

In your opinion, what constitutes a "good" (ie: interesting, readable) blog post?
I love humor. If you add a little of that into your posts, you're golden. And casualness. If you write formally all the time, it can get boring.

What sort of information are you looking to offer your readers?
I hope to provide my (fabulous!) readers with a fun environment to learn about new books, and to be able to get to know authors in an easy, laid-back way.

What blogs do you read regularly?
Eep. So many! I love The Story Siren's blog, along with Reviewer X's. And Po(sey) Sessions! The Book Muncher. Teen Book Review. The Compulsive Reader. I could go on and on, but someone would probably bring in duct tape, and I'd like to just avoid that whole scenario.

Thanks, Micol, for interviewing me! :)

Thanks for stopping by, Chelsea!

Party Favors!!!

The Bradford Blog Bash is winding down, but this week is packed with soooo much Bradfordly goodness...I just can't contain my excitement. Here are some of the highlights:

• NOW YOU SEE HER. Our fav author, Micol, has created a special vid that explains that interactive collection of web stuffs we like to call the Bradverse. She's super cute in it—especially right after the first cutaway—AND she manages to do a great job of explaining just what all this crazy internet stuff is all about. Let us know what you think, and spread it around! (It's also available on the FlirtyGirlBooks YouTube channel, if you have trouble embedding it from Vimeo.)
  

• ASK AND YE SHALL RECEIVE. Thanks to suggestions from Alea, Noah, and others, we've launched an official BradfordWiki!!! This is a special collection of articles about the series that's meant to be written for the fans, BY the fans. We've created a few article stubs just to get you started, but this is a place for YOU to share your Bradford knowledge with other readers! (In particular, I think Alea is interested in someone deciphering some of that unique Bradford slang...anyone out there willing to help her out?)

• PARTY FAVORS. We've just added some fun new GoldenGirl-themed avatars/chat icons and wallpapers to the Bradford Novels downloads page. Deck out your desktop like a Fashionista, or satisfy your inner Paige (or Mads, or Spence, or Regan) by switching your chat icon.
  

• THE GRAND FINALE. I know it's been a long and crowded party (thanks, authors, bloggers, and photo shoot cast & crew for giving us so many posts!) but you need to keep up your energy for a few more days! Not only do we have some really exciting posts this week, but we're planning two grand prize-ish giveaways (okay, so they're not a trip to Tahiti, but they're more than just a book). One's for a random commenter to any post from this week—multiple comments = multiple entries, natch—AND the other's for a random commenter to ANY POST FROM THE ENTIRE BLOG BASH (same rules apply). So, you're probably already entered to win one of the grand prizes!! How great is that? Now, let's get to work increasing your chances of winning by sharing your thoughts with us!
  

Spring Cleaning

The Bradford Blog Bash is ending its THIRD week, and we've still got a bunch of new awesome authors visiting next week. In fact, we had so many authors volunteer that we have TWO coming by over the weekend, so stop by on Saturday and Sunday for those Q&A's.

To celebrate the Blog Bash, we decided to do a little redecorating over at the Bradford Novels website this week, so check it out! Some of the new stuff includes an excerpt from GoldenGirl, a link directly to Spencer's student page (from which you can access other characters), and downloadable avatars featuring our Bradford girls. We're also working on some desktop wallpaper.

Since it's Friday, it's time to announce this week's randomly generated Mondays with Micol winner. Congratulations, Faith (who is not-so-secretly crushing on Jeremy)! We'll get your prize to you soon.

Guest Blogger of the Week: Little Willow

Many of you may know Little Willow through one of her many connections to the YA blog scene. Full disclosure: in addition to being one my FAVORITE web-mistresses, she is ALSO the mistress of micolostow.com. But I think that only makes her *more* awesome.

Little Willow's blog can be found at: http://slayground.livejournal.com

Tell us a little bit about your blog (the content, editorial identity, purpose):
Bildungsroman is, for the most part, dedicated to contemporary young adult novels, though I also review books for kids, tweens, and adults. In addition to book reviews, I also post interviews with authors, book-related news, and booklists based on themes, genres, or topics for various ages.

How/when/why did you decide to start blogging? Is your current blog your first? If not, how did your original blog/s evolve to your current blog-incarnation?
I've been designing websites for years, but Bildungsroman was my first blog. I contribute to other blogs and projects as well, such as readergirlz (http://www.readergirlz.com - http://readergirlz.blogspot.com), GuysLitWire (http://guyslitwire.blogspot.com), and SparkNotes SparkLife (http://community.sparknotes.com/index.php/category/books/).

Sparknotes was one of the very first GoldenGirl reviews to be published! So, what's your favorite thing about blogging?
Finding out that something I posted inspired someone, be it to pick up a book or a pen - or to put on a pair of dancing shoes!

What is one thing that surprised you about the blogging process?
Statistics tell me that many people visit my blog, but my entries do not get a lot of comments. I really like feedback and interaction.

So true. Come on out, lurkers! In your opinion, what constitutes a "good" (ie: interesting, readable) blog post? What sort of information are you looking to offer your readers?
Something inviting, intriguing, and intelligent. Honesty. Tone. Details. Positivity. Openness. Consideration.

What blogs do you read regularly?
Too many to list! The readergirlz blog as well as the individual, personal blogs run by each of the readergirlz divas and members of the postergirlz. Seven Impossible Things. The Longstockings. Christopher Golden. Sarah Miller. Maureen Johnson. All of my friends and clients. Yours, Micol!

Aw, shucks! Well, now I feel popular!

LITTLE WILLOW is an actress, singer, dancer, bookseller, writer, and webdesigner who is a fan of cats, Christopher Golden, and Duncan Sheik, among other things. She says, "I'm currently balancing my day job at the bookstore with web work while appearing in a world premiere musical that's running four days a week (and I've just been cast in another new musical!) I want for very little, other than respect, acknowledgment, and sleep."

Thanks for stopping by, Little Willow!

Awesome Authors: Carrie Jones!

Carrie Jones is the veriest. And that is all there is to say on the matter.

Just kidding. Here are a few reasons WHY Carrie is so very very very.
1) She is incredibly talented and has published four novels in the last two years. WTH, Carrie? Do you ever sleep?
2) She graduated from VCFA and is extremely dedicated toward being all helpful-like to younger people in the program, like myself. In fact, she played a crucial role in me selling my little labor of love, SO PUNK ROCK, which comes out this summer.
3) She writes about pixies.
4) She seems to have a direct line to John Wayne.

Take it away, Carrie!

Name: Carrie Jones

Blog URL: www.carriejonesbooks.com or http://carriejones.livejournal.com/

Blogs are a central part of the Bradford Novels universe. They are also, more and more, a central part of the YA-writing universe. When and why did you start blogging?

I started blogging when I was at Vermont College of Fine Art's MFA Program for Writing for Children.

Writers Sarah Aronson, Ed Briant, Bethany Hegederus and Kellye Carter Crocker were all blogging so that they could keep up with each other during the semester. They were just so damn cool that when they told me I should blog to and be their livejournal 'friend' I was all, "Oh! Oh! Oh! They want to be friends? With me? Oh yay!!! Happy dance!!!"

I started blogging.

Then I sold my first book, TIPS ON HAVING A GAY (ex) BOYFRIEND to Andrew Karre who was at Flux. And he said to me, "Writer. You must blog. You must continue to blog." So I did.


What's your favorite thing about blogging? Do you ever worry that between your own blog and Through the Tollbooth (the VCFA alum blog mentioned above), you'll run out of words?

My favorite thing is that I'm allowed to be my own true, neurotic, quirky self in my blog. I can make my dog have entires. I can make my cat have entries. And my other favorite part is how amazingly nice people are who read my blog. These people have lives and loves and careers. They have mad, passionate ups and downs in their lives and they still take the time to:
1. Read my blog
2. Comment on my blog
3. Care
It's the caring aspect that really gets to me. We hear all the time about the dangers of the cyber world; about the horrors of human nature, but the truth is that there are so many amazing, giving, beautiful people out there. Okay, yeah, some of them might love Bic pens a little too much, but still... They care. I love reading other people's blogs and having them read mine. I think it's all loving and warm and toasty like roast vegetables and hot chocolate on a snowy day.

What's the difference between a blog and a diary? How confessional do you like a blog to get? What sort of blog posts most appeal to you? What are some of your favorite blogs (book or otherwise) out there right now?

Well, a diary is for yourself. A blog is read by others (possibly). So there's a definite private vs. public aspect. Even though I seem terribly confessional on my own blog I really keep my biggest troubles and secrets to myself. I might hint at them occasionally (like this week actually) but I never tell. That's how I am in my un-blog life, too. I'm not good about telling the big deep hurts or truths.

When it comes to other people's blogs I really don't care how confessional they are. It's like books. I like all kinds. Some are factual. Some are emo. Some are just plain weird. It's not up to me to decide what other people should do with their space.

My favorite blogs are sinful pleasures really. I love cuteoverload, which is terribly cute-oriented of me. But it's so fluffy. And it has puppies on it almost every day. I always read Galleycat because Ron Hogan just rocks. Anyone who hugs me always gets read by me. It's like a Carrie Jones rule or something. Cynthia Leitich Smith hugs me, but even if she didn't I'd still read her blogs because they are full of usefull writer news. Same thing with Gwenda Bond's. I also have to admit that I read the superficial, which is a horrible, snarky sinfest of mean celebrity news. Barb Candidad (Fashionista_35 on livejournal) has a blog that just makes me so happy whether she's posting hot man pictures or talking about what she thinks the book business should be like.


We've got some Bradford characters who are hooked on The Superficial, too! GoldenGirl is full of scandals and exposed secrets. What was the biggest scandal at your high school? Did your classmates discover any of your deep, dark secrets?


The biggest scandal at my high school? It was probably about one of the teachers and one of the students having the sort of relationship that teachers and students are NOT supposed to have.
Or else it was just: Can you believe how much product Joe puts in his hair?

That was very important back then.

I was such a goodie-goodie that I had NO secrets. Oh. Wait. Yes. I did have secrets, terribly dark secrets, but nobody knew them. People still don't know them actually. I am very good at keeping secrets so do NOT even try, Micol. I swear I'll never tell.


Spoil my fun! So, what’s the worst thing you ever did to a friend? Are you still friends with her or him?

The first week of college one of my guy friends was really trashed at a party and he came up to me and said, "Carrie. I think you're gorgeous and you are a terribly sweet girl and I totally have the hots for you but it is just way too early to have a relationship with anyone right now. I mean, we only just got here."
And even though I didn't like this guy that way AT ALL I was all, "Whoah... Did I just get dumped by an ultra-pale accounting major that I don't even want? Whoah... ego.... Whoah.... Anger management therapy coming up."

And aloud I actually said (in a horribly mean way), "Woody, I don't want to have a relationship with anyone either and if I did, it sure as (insert swear word) wouldn't be with you."

Then I pivoted and turned away.

That was sooooooo mean of me.

And no we aren't friends now.

And yes people really called him Woody.


What are your most recent books? What new projects are you working on now?

My most recent book is NEED, which came out in December. It's a fantasy about Zara who moves to Maine and is being stalked by someone very scary and very supernatural and very much not a vampire. It has a lot of romance in it. I have to do that to make up for the Woody slam, you know.

My second most recent book is GIRL, HERO, which came out in August. It's a novel about this girl, Liliana Faltin, who is trying to navigate freshman year when all this crud is going down with her mom and her dad. They're divorced. Her mom has a new guy who drinks too much. Her dad's started cross dressing. Enough said.

Right now I'm working on the sequel to NEED. YAY!

What did I say? SHE IS THE VERIEST! You should all read NEED now.
That will be all.

Besos,

Micol

Awesome Authors: Jenn Echols

I first "met" Jennifer Echols when she took it upon herself to organize an author blog for the Simon Pulse Romantic Comedies line, for which she and I had each written several titles. These days, much of our communication consists of her "gently nudging" me when it's my day to post on the blog, and me frantically scribbling some thoughts down, and apologizing to her profusely. Luckily, in addition to be MUCH more productive and well-organized than I, she is also kind and merciful. I'm so excited to have her here today!

Jenn's personal blog can be found at http://jenniferechols.livejournal.com

Blogs are a central part of the Bradford Novels universe. They are also, more and more, a central part of the YA-writing universe. When and why did you start blogging?
I started blogging in October 2005 because my agent made me! My time was already thinly spread across writing, work, and family, and I didn't think I had room for one more responsibility in my life. My agent told me I needed to blog for the sake of my career, and I gave in. You can see my first post ever here: http://jenniferechols.livejournal.com/322.html. Aw, my little baby post, before I was published! Was I ever that young?

I'm really glad now that my agent put her foot down. I think blogging is the best thing I've done to connect me with my readers and with other authors. But do NOT ask me to join Twitter.

But how else will you keep up with the Tweets from all of our Bradford girlies? Okay, okay...you're off the hook! So, what's your favorite thing about blogging?
When it goes well, writing a blog entry is like writing a pop culture essay or a newspaper column, something I have done in the past and dearly loved. Some authors come up with a great entry like this every day and I am amazed, but I can only do it once every few weeks. I do not have enough brain capacity to write novels and daily blog entries too. If you ever see me post longish blog entries for several days in a row, you will know I am not working on a novel, and my writing has to go somewhere.

I can relate. I'm no good at daily blogging when I'm under deadline—Bradford Blog Bash notwithstanding, of course. Okay, then—as someone who coordinates between a variety of different blogs, how do you stay organized?
I am the founder and web mistress for the Simon Pulse Romantic Comedies Blog at http://pulserocom.com and the MTV Books Blog at http://mtvbooks.blogspot.com. The Simon Pulse blog was very difficult to push through because the editors there had all kinds of legal concerns. I was just discussing this with my new editor over the weekend, and we agreed that today I would have no trouble starting such a thing, because blogging has become so much more commonplace in only a few years.

Now that both blogs are up and running, they're really not very time-consuming. I have a calendar that tells me when I should prompt writers to post (everybody has a target day), and I get an e-mail message when someone has posted a comment that I need to approve. The author bloggers are fantastic, so both blogs pretty much run themselves.

I will take that as a personal compliment! :) What are the pros and cons of running a group blog, as opposed to blogging strictly on a personal site?
On a group blog, obviously you and your books aren't getting as much attention as you would on your own blog. But the group blog theoretically draws a larger audience, and readers may discover your books because they were interested in someone else's.

Very true. I'm personally always interested, also, in how different bloggers group together to create joint sites, such as The Longstockings, or YA Fresh. What do you think the difference is between a blog and a diary? How confessional do you like a blog to get? What sort of blog posts most appeal to you? What are some of your favorite blogs (book or otherwise) out there right now?
Some blogs are essentially diaries, and I don't enjoy those. I love blogs where I can learn something or LMAO.

Hopefully the Bradford Novels blog has given you at least a few giggles. But it's not all fun and games! GoldenGirl is full of scandals and exposed secrets. What was the biggest scandal at your high school? Did your classmates discover any of your deep, dark secrets?
We actually had quite a few teacher/student romances! But secrets—no. It was a Southern town of 15,000 people. There were no secrets.

I keep hearing about these teacher/student romances. If this was going on in my high school, I was outside of the rumor mill, for sure. So tell me, what’s the worst thing you ever did to a friend? Are you still friends with her or him?
I went out with my friend's ex-boyfriend. I actually thought she would be okay with it, but she was NOT. She is still one of my best friends, though.

How very Bradford-esque!

And now for the promote-y part: Of course, we want to know about your books. What are your most recent books? What new projects are you working on now?
Going Too Far will be published by MTV Books on March 17. It's about a seventeen-year-old who avoids prosecution for a high school stunt by spending spring break on night patrol with the 19-year-old rookie cop who arrested her. I just finished revising The Ex Games, my new Simon Pulse Romantic Comedy set in the world of snowboarding, which will come out in October. And now I'm finishing a book I started during NaNoWriMo that I absolutely LOVE. There's no better feeling than loving the book you're working on!

Lucky for us—'cause we love READING your stuff! Thanks for stopping by our party, Jenn!

Blogger of the Week: Author (and—natch—Blogger) Linda Gerber!

How cool is that cover? Almost as cool as Linda Gerber herself!
I first "met" Linda a few years back, when she was working on her Students Across the Seven Seas novel: Now and Zen (which I totally recommend). She had read my own Westminster Abby, and we formed a mutual admiration society of sorts. These days, Linda has a fantabulous adventure-mystery-chick-lit series out there, aka, the "Death By..." books, the third of which, Death By Denim (love the title!) will be out this spring. In the meantime, she's here to chat with us about all things blog (and book!) related.


Blog URL: lindagerber.blogspot.com

Blogs are a central part of the Bradford Novels universe. They are also, more and more, a central part of the YA-writing universe. When and why did you start blogging? Were you a blogger before you were a published author, or did the two evolve concurrently?
When my family and I moved to Japan, I started a blog to show the folks back home what we were up to, so technically I was a blogger before becoming a published author, but that one was visible only to family and friends. My author blog I didn't start until after my first book came out.

What's your favorite thing about blogging?
Connecting with cool people online! I have a lot of regular readers and through their comments I feel like I've gotten to know them a little bit. Plus I get to connect with other authors and bloggers when we exchange guest posts - like this!

What's the difference between a blog and a diary? How confessional do you like a blog to get? What sort of blog posts most appeal to you (or DON'T)? What are some of your favorite blogs (book or otherwise) out there right now?
My blog is absolutely not a confessional. I think that would get boring for the readers. Plus, what you post—even if you delete it—can remain in the cybersphere forever.
The kind of posts I like to read are positive and pretty much about stuff I'm interested in, like books, other authors, the publishing industry, current events, movies and certain TV shows. I don't waste my time reading posts that are whiny, gossipy, or divisive.
I have a lot of favorite blogs! I follow over twenty on my google reader and I'll bet you don't want me to list them all here! A couple that top the list are Melissa Walker's blog—she does cover stories of books that are fascinating to read—and Pop Culture Junkie, who does soft vs hardcover posts and cover lookalikes (can you see I'm obsessed with book covers?). And, of course, all the YA book review blogs and multi-author YA blogs like TeenFictionCafe, Books, Boys & Buzz and Readergirlz are must reads!

(ed's note: it is dangerously easy to spend one's writing day reading book and writing-related blogs—like this one! i like to call it "research!")

GoldenGirl is full of scandals and exposed secrets. What was the biggest scandal at your high school? Did your classmates discover any of your deep, dark secrets?
The biggest scandal that I knew about at my high school involved a homecoming queen vote count by the daughter of a college professor who 'volunteered' to let the school use the university's computerized tally system. Guess who ended up as homecoming queen? Even though you couldn't find a single person at the school who would admit to voting for her.

That sounds like the premise of a YA novel! So, what's the worst thing you ever did to a friend? Are you still friends with her or him?
Wow. What was that I said about true confessions? But in the spirit of this blog post I'll share. *shudder* This was long enough ago and my friend still doesn't know what I did (I think...)
In college I was interested in a guy my friend was dating. He had been a friend to both of us before they hooked up and so we had a prior history. While they were dating, he and I still talked. A lot. Eventually the main topic of conversation became their rocky relationship, and I confess I didn't do much to encourage it.
Then he went away on a study abroad for a semester, and my girlfriend started dating another guy. But she kept carrying on a long-distance relationship with our mutual guy friend. So one night she was talking about how she was all googly about guy #2, so I recorded her, and let guy #1 hear what was going on. They broke up.
I did end up with the guy for a short while, but it wasn't long before I lost interest as well. (There was a reason she was dating on the side, it turns out!) Much water has passed under the bridge since then, but I'm still not proud of what I did. I guess that I would consider my girlfriend and I still friends because we're not not friends, but now we live far apart and we rarely keep in touch.

Hmm...that actually sounds like a Bradford-worthy drama! Tells us about your most recent books. What new projects are you working on now?
My latest release is a YA romantic suspense, Death by Latte, which will be followed by Death by Denim in May. Right now I'm working on a YA paranormal which will come out next year and which is still, sadly, untitled.

Can't wait to read them! Thanks so much for partying with us!

Blogger of the Week: Cynthia Leitich Smith

At our Vermont College Winter '09 Residency "Opening Ceremonies," Cynthia Leitich Smith was named the Patron Saint of "The Undead, The Unpublished, and Everyone in Between." This lofty designation is no exaggeration.

Cyn is popular among readers for her contemporary, accessible look into the lives of multi-culti tweens and teens, and, more recently, her wildly successful forays into Southern Gothic supernatural (mwah ha ha!). She is popular among writers because her blog, Cynsations, serves as a comprehensive resource on all things kidlit. She is popular with ME because she rocks it out, all over the place, and in addition to be VERY VERY smart and talented, she is also phenomenally supportive of the many aspiring and burgeoning writers who are lucky enough to cross her path. I am so excited to have her here as a guest blogger today!

And, as an extra-special treat, we're giving away a copy of Cyn's TANTALIZE (also one of Madison Takahashi's picks, as per her student page, which is also a personal fave of mine!) Comment to this post by midnight Thursday (2/5), and you'll be entered in the random drawing to win her book. Winner to be announced a week from today.

Name: Cynthia Leitich Smith
Blog url: http://cynthialeitichsmith.blogspot.com/ or
http://cynleitichsmith.livejournal.com/

Tell us a little bit about your blog (the content, editorial identity, purpose):
Cynsations is a source for interviews, reading recommendations, publishing information, literacy advocacy, writer resources, and news in children's and teen literature.

How/when/why did you decide to start blogging?
November 2004

Is your current blog your first? If not (or, if so), how did your original blog/s evolve to your current blog-incarnation?
One of them is. Cynsations is mirrored at Blogger and LiveJournal. The Blogspot came first, and then I decided to crosspost to LJ and more easily reach the YA community there.

What's your favorite thing about blogging?
Being able to offer a most-days hearty dose of information and inspiration. It satisfies my inner journalist, allows me to participate in the greater conversation of books, and hopefully is of some use to the audience.

It is! Okay, what is one thing that surprised you about the blogging process?
The size of the audience. On occasion, I'll ask at a children's-YA writer's conference how many people read Cynsations, and often the majority of hands go up. Jeepers.

Jeepers indeed! You're famous! And with good reason. . . . So, in your opinion, what constitutes a "good" (ie: interesting, readable) blog post?
Anything of interest to the targeted community of youth literature enthusiasts. Styles vary, and that's part of the charm of the community.

What sort of information are you looking to offer your readers?
I tend to go for the substantive--meaty conversations and shared resources with an emphasis on the positive and outreach to the YA readers themselves through giveaways and book-related information of particular interest to them.

What blogs do you read regularly?
The list is too huge to mention, though I skim the whole blogroll on JacketFlap daily. Just for fun, though, I'll highlight: Through the Tollbooth, The Blue Rose Girls, The Longstockings, Read Roger, Fuse #8, Nonfiction Matters, and the whole Austin Blogger Community (see my sidebar for links).

Great recommendations! Thanks for stopping by, Cyn!

Bio: Cynthia Leitich Smith is the author of TANTALIZE (Candlewick, 2007), ETERNAL (Candlewick, 2009), RAIN IS NOT MY INDIAN NAME (HarperCollins, 2001), several short stories, and award-winning books for younger readers. She is a member of faculty at the Vermont College of Fine Arts M.F.A. program in Writing for Children and Young Adults. Her website at www.cynthialeitichsmith.com was named one of the top 10 Writer Sites on the Internet by Writer's Digest and an ALA Great Website for Kids. Her Cynsations blog at cynthialeitichsmith.blogspot.com/ was listed as among the top two read by the children's/YA publishing community in the SCBWI "To Market" column. She makes her home in Austin, Texas, with four bossy cats and her husband, author Greg Leitich Smith.

Blog Bash Banner!

To celebrate the official release of GoldenGirl today, here's a little random goodie: a fabulous graphic designed by Little Willow to advertise our blog bash! Isn't she the very bestest? Full disclosure: she is the webmaster of my author website (www.micolostow.com), so I have big love for her. BUT SHE DESERVES IT. She'll be guest-blogging for us during the bashity-bash, too, so keep an eye out!

Feel free to download it and post it on your own blog. Spread the Bradford joy!

:)

Bradford Blog Bash!

This is not a test, friendlies—the Bradford Blog Bash is kicking off TODAY!

If you will kindly refer to the image on the left, you will see that, while GoldenGirl is officially set to release on Tuesday, 1/27, some eagle-eyed folks have already spotted it out there in the retail wilds, spreading joy and blogtasticness amongst your friendly neighborhood teen readers' sections.

FABBITY FABNESS, no?

Yes.

And in honor of all of the Brad-fabulosity, we will be hosting a month-long Bradford Blog Bash that starts, as I mention, NOW NOW NOW!

We've got a tentative schedule of sorts for ya:

Mondays: will be Mondays with Micol, aka: a q&a with little old me, at the end of which I'll be shooting the q's out to you-all. If you post a response, you may just win yourself a special pressie. No lie.
Tuesdays: we'll have Awesome Authors: that is, interviews with lots of your favorite YA writerly types (many of whom will be offering copies of their books as giveaways, which is awfully nice of them, I must say).
Wednesdays: we will run Behind the Scenes with Bradford, where we give you a little glimpse into the making of our humble series.
Thursdays: will feature a Blogger of the Day, aka a super-loverly book blogger who comes by to chat with us (spreading the web-wealth; it's the Bradfordly way!).
And Friday is my fave: Fun on Friday, quizzes and other cool stuff, in addition to announcing the prizewinners of the week.

So. Much. Funness.

I CAN'T WAIT.
Thank goodness I don't have to.

OH—and lest I forget, here is a link to the groovadelic Pop Culture Junkie's review of GoldenGirl:
http://aleapopculture.blogspot.com/2009/01/goldengirl-by-micol-ostow.html

AND a reminder that I'll be chatting with The Page Flipper tonight: thepageflipper.blogspot.com, 8pm EST.

Come party with us, pretty please!