Pink Hair and being you.

I was a teenager during the 90's grunge movement.  I wanted to dye my hair, pink, green, blue. Whatever.  I so desperately wanted to join the goth kids because I liked their views of the world.  I wanted to hang out with the kids who were in bands, because damn their clothes looked comfortable. 

But alas, I didn't have the confidence to switches peer groups, dye my hair and buy new clothes.  Mostly because I was too damn cheap and lazy to do any of that.  Do you have any idea HOW MUCH WORK is to required to switch cliques?  How much money I would have to spend going into New Hope and since my mom would be with me, how much time I'd have to spend in the Irish Heritage store? 
(That joke is only funny if you know that New Hope is a tiny town on the New Jersey/ Pennsylvania border where the 60's never died.  It's got like 5 tattoo shops, 4 thrift shows, a Theater that shows Rocky Horror every Halloween, tons of antique shops and of course an Irish Heritage store.  It's also were all the goth kids bought their clothes, or at least that's where they did back on the 90's, now they buy it at hot topic.)

Long rambling story short... I never dyed my hair.

Then I went to college... and still never got around to it.

Then I graduated and had to be a professional.  Sign.  It looked like I missed out on my opportunity for cool hair.

Then I started blogging and you know what I noticed, YA authors are SO STINKING CUTE... AND lots of them have fun hair: Stephen Perkins, Laini Taylor just to name two.

So I thought, maybe, just maybe I could pull it off.

Once again I talked myself out of it, I'm a mom, I'm a teacher, I'm 33 years old.  Ho hum, time to be boring OLD me.

Today my husband and I are celebrating our ninth wedding anniversary, and a few months ago I asked him what he liked in a woman. he said, "Pink hair."
"SERIOUSLY? I've always wanted pink hair." I yelled-- very loud.

FINALLY I HAD AN EXCUSE!  I would dye my hair PINK as an anniversary gift for my husband! 

I researched what pink hair would look like,  I googled pink hair, I over thought  how much I would dye--- I couldn't go TOTAL pink, after all I was a mom, 33 and a TEACHER--- who has SUMMERS OFF!!!  And hair dye only lasts 6 weeks.

I decided on all pink on the back of my head and pink highlights throughout.  I looked in the mirror and thought:  wow, this is me.  This is really what I'm supposed to look like.  Fun, quirky and yet sort of sensible.

I love it.  So here's pictures to prove the awesomeness:

Back of the head.

Pig tales and too much eye make up

Hair down-  it's the first time I feel pretty too!

So this got me thinking, it took me 20 years to work up the nerve to dye my hair, to finally feel 100% comfortable with who I am. And THAT'S why I write YA.  For twenty years I had ugly girl syndrome because I didn't have the courage to be myself, to let my outside reflect my inner awesomeness. 

For any teens out there reading, don't wait for an excuse to be you.  JUST BE YOU.
And I know it sounds super cheesy, and I know it sounds bad because I let a man change the way I look, and I'm well aware of how difficult it can be to be yourself.  But it's the most rewarding adventure you can take.

Good luck!

Next summer I'm going BLUE!

Yes because all kid lit is exactly the same.

So I was walking around my house of worship-- TARGET when I came across this. 

At first I laughed, immediately casting Dora as Kitnass and Elmo as Peeta and the hilarity  in my head ensued.  Oh I had jokes about how The Map would help Dora find the others kids from the other districts so she could murder them.  Cookie Monster seemed 100% appropriate in this story and Olivia was terrified she would be lunch.


But the more I thought about it, the angrier I got.

Basically in target's mind, all children's entertainment is exactly the same.  My four year old would equally enjoy Hunger Games because she likes Dora, right?  Under 16 is all the same demographic? Well, isn't it? 

Diary of a Wimpy Kids is totally geared to the same readers as Paper Towns.  Right?


And I feel like I'm stating the obvious by saying, Um no.

A part of me feels like it's stuff like that, preschool imagery next to YA literature that makes it so hard for YA to be taken more seriously. 

On the other hand, Target is marketing clear and recognizable brands.   No one is saying the YA doesn't make money.  Or that it's not entertaining. 

With established authors who tend to write for an adult audience now jumping over to YA side, does that mean that YA is now legit or just a cash cow?

I'm sure I'm not the only one pondering this.

What are your thoughts on the topic?  Leave them below

Arrested over Revising? Really?

So I saw this over on fail blog.

Then I decided to check out the whole article, which can be found here:
For those of you who didn't have the time to read the article and assumed I would summarize it, you are right.  Basically, the kid who didn't have a computer at home, showed up early to school to revise for a final exam.  According to the school he was causing a disturbance and the police were called.  No charged were filed.

So the teacher in me, sees a kid who is freaking out over his grades and has become obsessed and needs some sort of a wake up call. (hence the police) Simple fact is, the kid was going to get an A anyway.  Sometimes the most humane thing a teacher can to do for an over achieving kid is say, "relax." But we also know that's can be completely futile.  Once someone has something in his or her head, it's nearly impossible to change their mind. 

The writer in me says, "let the kid revise already.  He's right, it's got to be perfect.  Or as perfect as he can make it at that moment in time. " 
Man if I was arrested for every time I went OCD on a paragraph in one of my manuscripts, I'd have a life sentence... although, I would have a lot more time to write.

Thoughts on this case? 

The Mirror seems to be the Fox News of the UK, so I don't know how reliable it is.

And if anyone know what a "swot" is, that would greatly help me understand the meaning of the text.  Is it like the American SWAT team?

Gems of the internet

Oh Ad Choices--- I'm not sure what you are other then a pop up add, but you're awesome.
Every once in a while Ad Sense gives you a little gem. A picture next to an article that doesn't quite go together.  Behold what I discovered on Saturday:

Yep an article about child abuse with a picture of a man holding a small half naked boy...
Sometimes internet you're funny with your snarky use of brief language.  But it's your unintended humor that bring hilarity.

Yes, I'm aware I'm going to hell, you don't need to point it out.

How to live if you're a character in a bad book

So I was going to post about non-events and insignificant accomplishments but instead I stumbled on this and I thought I should share. 


It's from Cracked.com and if you haven't checked out this website you should.

Ask yourself, exactly how many of these mistakes have you made?  

How to Survive Life as a Character in a Bad Work of Fiction -- powered by Cracked.com

Off Line

Sorry, I've been off line for a while and I think I'll be off line for the next couple of weeks. 

My life has exploded in an array of both good and bad.

I've started a new novel, although admittedly it's taking a long to time get into it.  Hopeful my word war with Holly will keep me motivated.

I've also started taking dance classes, which are super fun but a time vampire. 

Happiest of all, I've completely fallen in love with my husband all over again.  After being together for over decade, I recently woke up and realized exactly why I love him.  So I've been trying to spend a lot more time with him instead of on the internet.

 On the more tragic side, my grandmother passed away a month ago.  It was a beautiful and peaceful death, but she was a private person and out of respect for her I've opted from blogging about it.

 Most recently, one of my students suddenly passed away.  He was an eighth grader and I taught him in seventh grade.  The unspoken rule of being a teacher is you will attend at least one funeral for a student within your career.  

Sometimes it feels like there aren't enough successes in my profession.  Sometimes it feels like there are so many changes coming from people who don't understand children at all.

Sometimes you have to bury the student who sat in the third row.

It's easy to get overwhelmed and depressed.

Despite all the "sometimes," I ALWAYS have amazing students.  I am constantly reminded that the world is a better place because my students will make the future better. 

My heart and prayers go out to the student's family and all my students' families who are facing this highly personal tragedy. 

With all the emotional stuff, I need a little blog break. 

But I'll be back with witty and snarky things to say.  Eventually.  I miss you guys.

Enjoy your summer.

What I learned about writing- a tale about travel

Every time I fly to Boston- it’s a total cluster.  

My first trip to Boston I was four hours late, because there was a cloud shaped like a bunny hovering somewhere over the Atlantic.
My return flight, my plane had issues and I decided to run for president of the plane since clearly, I was going to end up living on the plane.  My election didn’t go as planned, I blamed a the smear campaign by my rival who claimed I hogged the only plug at the gate charging my laptop when it was already at 87%. I didn’t win.

Long story short, eventually I got home.


I have to admit, I had reservations about traveling to Boston and then driving two hours to Springfield.  History tends to be repetitive and I had good reasons to be worried.   My flight to Boston was fine... there was a slight hiccup with my connecting flight to Newark but I boarded the plane with ten minutes before it was scheduled to leave.  We got the Springfield with very little traffic and no issues.  


But Sunday is when the weather changed.  Alicia and I left the conference early, mostly because I was worried I wouldn’t make my 6:50 flight if we left at 3.   So we left at 2 and I was at the airport by 4:45. I joked with Alicia- I’ll see you later.   I was through Airport security and at my gate by 5:15, with dinner in hand.  Perfect.  I surfed the net while I decompressed when I got a email, my connecting flight from Newark to BWI was delayed by 15 minutes.
Fine.
No big deal.
Seconds later I got another email.  My flight from Boston to Newark was delayed until 8:40... CRAP.
I saw the signs. I hopped up, got in line and changed my flight.
I called Alicia and ended up sleeping on her couch.
I apologize for being a needy guest, since not only would I need her to pick me up, but I would need a ride back, at 4:30 in the morning.

I also found out my grandmother passed away on the ride back to Alicia’s house. (More on that next blog post)

Monday morning I got to Boston Logan Airport at 5 am, the flight boarded and left on time.  YAY.  Just when it looked like I would be home exactly as scheduled... I would get home by 9:05 am!  

I got to Newark, found my gate, sat down, looked up at the board and POOF my flight was delayed.  The flight after mine was canceled and a terrifying word was spoken. SNOW.

SNOW! IN APRIL!!!  OH COME ON MOTHER NATURE.

The plane was delayed due to snow and if we didn’t leave soon, Newark had a chance of being snowed in.   Sigh

At 8:30 we heard the plane was being de-iced.  YAY.

It arrived at 9:58.

We boarded by 10:45.

I landed by 12:20.

At 1 pm I finally walked through my front door.  

I was smelly, cranky and exhausted.

Now what does this have to do with writing... well I think the metaphor is clear.

Don’t run for president of the plane if you’re paranoid whenever your laptop drops below 90% battery life.

No, really.  When it comes to writing there might be delays, lIfe might be in the way.  You might not be where you want to be, whether it be drafted, revised, edited, agented, or published, but as long as you have a laptop, a plug and an outlet, you’ll be fine.  Eventually it’s all out of your hands.  You have to put your trust in someone else.   But it will happen.  You’ll get home.  You’ll hit the final goal.