With a Little Help From My Friends

To celebrate the start of my mini-tour (NJ, MA, NY, PA, CT, TX, MD - here I come!), I thought I'd talk about my very first event.

I’ve gone to countless author events as a publicist. But on January 8, 2010, I attended one as an AUTHOR. Crazy, huh?

Books of Wonder, a wonderful independent bookstore in Manhattan, hosted my very first event. They host fantastic publications parties with yummy treats (hello, cupcakes!).

I was a little nervous, but mostly I was embarrassed. People who know me find that hard to believe because I am NOT a shy person. As my editor, David Levithan, introduced me, I quickly realized that I’m much more comfortable at the side of the event instead of in front of the crowd.

It was also surreal to be standing in front of so many people in my life, many who played a huge part in the publication of my book: from providing stories of boys gone stupid to being my early readers, from doing my hair and make-up for my author photo to designing my website. I had friends from my childhood, college, post-college, work, even my friends from the gym came. My friend Sarah flew from Minnesota to attend! In college, Sarah and I studied abroad in London. While there, we took a Beatles walking tour and posed for a photo that might look familiar to some of you.

I also made some new friends at the event. Yes, there were even people who didn’t personally know me who came as, um, fans? It’s weird to think that I might have fans. I prefer to think of people who attend my events as friends. And I was so happy to make some new friends that night.

I did a brief talk, read an excerpt and then signed some books. One of my authors told me that I need contact all the authors I’ve worked with and apologize to them because now I’ve experienced all of the things I forced upon them. I would push so many books on my authors and never paid attention to whether or not all the signing hurt their hand. So I felt incredibly guilty when my hand started hurting. Then I got over it – having your hand hurt because you signed so many books is a GOOD thing!

After the event, my friends and I went to a karaoke place. I got a private room and we had a blast. And for those of you who have read the book, David and I kicked off the night by singing (what else?) “A Little Help From My Friends."

Thanks so much to everybody who turned out. And for those of you in the Northeast and Texas, be sure to check out my upcoming events listed under the EVENTS tab. I hope to see you there and make even more new friends!

XOXO, Elizabeth

Friday’s Favorite: The Swell Season

Since I listen to music pretty much 24/7 (seriously, I fall asleep to music, listen to it when I’m working, when I’m walking – the only time I don’t listen to music is when I’m reading), most of my Friday’s Favorites will be talking about bands that excite me.  First up: The Swell Season. I first noticed Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová in the movie Once.  If you haven’t seen this brilliant independent Irish movie, you should go watch it.  NOW.  Once follows the relationship of two strangers who meet and bond over music.  The Once soundtrack is on constant rotation on my iPod.  Glen and Markéta won an Oscar for Best Original Song for “Falling Slowly.”  Their acceptance speech was, to me, one of the most memorable in recent years. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qx8yLvb0gZM

Glen and Markéta have a band, The Swell Season, with members of The Frames (Glen’s earlier band).  Their latest CD, Strict Joy, was one of my favorite albums of last year.  The songs are full of honest lyrics and beautiful melodies.  “Fantasy Man,” “High Horses” and “Low Rising” are three of my favorite songs.  (Check out the brilliant video for “Low Rising” at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5KV1Lf2NkY)

I recently got to see The Swell Season perform at Radio City Music Hall.  I see a lot of concerts, but this was one of my favorites.  The members of Swell Season are true musicians who perform with their hearts on their sleeves and evoke countless emotions from their audience.  As someone who plays the guitar and piano, seeing masters of their craft up close was very inspiring.  It was a truly magical evening.

Behind the Book, Part 4: Editing

I’d acquired a publisher, and now the majority of the work was done, right?  HA!  Nope.  Not even close.  Then came the editing of the book. But Elizabeth, didn’t you do a bunch of editing of the book prior to getting a publisher?

Yes, I did.  But now I had to work with my editor at Scholastic to get the manuscript in the best possible shape before it was released to the world.

I’m very fortunate to have one of the best editors in the business, David Levithan. (Who, for the few out there who don’t know, is a brilliant author in his own right. Check out: Love is the Higher Law, Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist, Boys Meets Boy, How We Met…and about a dozen other books.  That guy is a writing machine. I don’t know how he does it.  Honestly, I’m starting to think he isn’t human.)

While the basics of The Lonely Hearts Club remained the same, David helped me dig deeper into the story and characters.  We especially worked on the beginning and he pushed me to expose Penny’s feelings a little bit more, which was originally hard to do.  I obviously love my characters, especially Penny, and making her suffer was really difficult for me.  But it was completely necessary to make the story better and believable. 

We worked in sections and he’d send me about 50 pages or so at a time.  He’d make notes about which sections to expand on, which to cut, what I should add to make a scene stronger, etc.  After working on the manuscript for four years, it was great to have a new perspective on the book.  I know that some authors don’t like editing, but I really enjoyed it.  I got to dive back into the story and characters. 

Both David and I realized at the same time that there was a continuity issue.  Early on, while I was still working with my agent, she had me tighten up the beginning so the Lonely Hearts Club formed earlier.  The problem was that I didn’t fix the timeline when I cut three weeks from the story.  So towards the end of editing, David and I discovered that Thanksgiving came about three weeks earlier than it should.  David made a ingenious suggestion (As I said, he's brilliant!), so I added a chapter and all was fixed!

As the ah… four of you who read this blog know, I worked on numerous drafts of this book.  So one would think when I finished editing, I’d be relieved.  Not exactly.  When David told me that the content edit was completed and only the line editing and copyediting remained, I freaked out.  [Line editing is exactly what it sounds like, we go through each line to tighten up areas or make small changes while copyediting is to check for grammar.  I ain’t got no need for copyediting though.  Just joking.  Obviously.]

I couldn't believe the process was complete and I kept questioning myself on what I could do to improve the book. I realized I had to let that go. It was done.  After five years of working on it, I was finished writing The Lonely Hearts Club.

Is The Lonely Hearts Club perfect?  Of course not.  I don’t think any book could be considered perfect… well, maybe The Book Thief by Markus Zusak.  But The Lonely Hearts Club is my first book and I’m very, very proud of it.  And I’m very grateful to have an editor who enjoyed the characters as much as I did…and didn’t get offended when Penny said all guys with names beginning with D are the Devil.  (My father’s name is also David so I had a lot of apologizing to do for that one!)

So the final manuscript was finished.  All I had to do now was put my feet up, relax, and wait for the book to come out.

Yes, you know what’s coming next.  Not quite.  I had to get my author photo taken, website ready…all while Scholastic was prepping the Advance Readers Copy.  Details on that and more coming in the next installment of Behind the Book.

Friday’s Favorite: For the Love of Jack Bauer

I thought it would be appropriate to kick off Friday’s Favorite by discussing the return of one of my favorite TV shows of all time: 24. I LOVE 24.  However, I will be the first to admit that it's had some shaky moments (Kim being chased by a cougar, anybody?).  But when it’s good, it’s AMAZING.  And I really think that last season was incredible and so far this season is shaping up to be a good one.  I already screamed at the end of the fourth hour in total disbelief about what happened.  Then I started to get giddy and said aloud (to nobody), “This is so good.  SO GOOD.  Oh my gosh!”

I get really excited when a new season starts, but I also get anxious.  24 isn’t a show that I can watch for an hour and then go on with my day.  It’s an emotional investment.  (My sister had to stop watching it because it exhausted her.)  I’m grateful for the invention of DVR so I can fast forward through commercials instead of pacing like a lunatic during the four-minute breaks. 

I also get REALLY annoyed when anybody questions Jack Bauer.  Um, the man has single-handedly saved the world seven times now.  Take his word for it people!  Stop giving him crap!  He’s been through enough!  (See what I mean about getting invested?) [Lonely Hearts Club fun fact: the character of Ryan Bauer’s last name comes from Jack!]

At one point last year, the President said to Jack something like, “Mr. Bauer, why should I trust you?”  And Jack replied, “With all due respect ma’am, ask around!”  I literally jumped off of my couch and started screaming at the TV, “That’s right, he’s JACK BAUER!  Don’t you dare question him!”  I sometimes wonder what my neighbors must think of me, but I do have a karaoke machine, so me screaming at the TV is not the worst sound they’ve heard coming from my apartment. 

Which brings us to Kiefer Sutherland.  Ah, Kiefer…  First off, that voice.  “The following takes place between 8:00 a.m. and 9:00 a.m.”  Um, swoon!  I would really like him to read me a bedtime story.  Then there is the man.  I don’t know anybody else who could pull off making a character as complex as Jack Bauer believable.  Jack is (how do I put this?) a little nuts.  But you can’t help routing for him, especially after everything he’s done.  (Seriously, why do people give him crap?  It really does drive me nuts.  I almost lost it already this season.  New CTU guy, you better get in line fast!)

And how can you not love Chloe?  Spoiler alert for anybody who has not begun watching this season: I think it’s brilliant that they’ve made Chloe’s character struggle this season with the new CTU system.  It has already given us some hilarious Chloe moments.  If I was ever running around a city trying to dismantle a bomb (let’s hope for everybody’s sake that never happens), Chloe is the person I’d want on the other line.

So for the next 20 weeks or so, I’ll be happily spending Monday nights glued to the TV set to see what craziness the folks of 24 have to offer.  

And seriously, if people don’t give Jack the respect he deserves, there are going to be serious consequences.