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I had a great morning visiting Lake Placid Middle School kids.  We talked a lot about books and writing, and they got a sneak peek at the cover for my upcoming figure skating book, SUGAR AND ICE.  Sharing that secret was extra-fun because the school is quite literally in the shadow of the Olympic Center, where much of SUGAR AND ICE takes place.



Another cool thing about this particular school visit?  The principal and I share a last name.  (No, we're not related!)


Dr. Dave Messner, Me, and Sara Kelly Johns, awesome Lake Placid librarian who is also running for ALA President!

And the best part?  The kids.  These 6th, 7th, and 8th graders were enthusiastic, inquisitive, and downright fun.




Rachel & Jillian were especially good sports, modeling 18th Century clothing when we talked about historical fiction!

Thanks, Lake Placid Middle School, for a fantastic February morning!

We had plans to ski last Sunday, but high winds kept the chairlifts  at Whiteface Mountain grounded for the first part of the morning.  Instead of waiting it out, we headed into Lake Placid for some pancakes and a dogsled ride.



I've always been fascinated by the Iditarod, the 1150-mile sled dog race from Anchorage to Nome, Alaska.  A few years ago, my husband and I visited Iditarod headquarters and got to meet some of the amazing dogs that make that journey.  But it was summer, so we couldn't  actually ride on a dogsled.

That's why we jumped at the chance to take a ride with these gorgeous dogs on Lake Placid's Mirror Lake.

The dogs were excited to find out they had some business.




The ride around a frozen Mirror Lake was brisk but spectacular!




This is our musher, whose name has escaped me, but he was very, very cool and friendly.  Interestingly enough, he never actually hollered "Mush!"  He hollered "Hike!" instead.  We were slightly disappointed but got over it.




While we circled the lake, other winter weather lovers were skating or riding toboggans down an icy chute set  up along the shore.




This is Lightning.  He likes to run in the back of the pack and was the friendliest of the sled dogs -- the only one the kids could pet after our ride.  The rest of them couldn't wait to pull us around on the sled but wanted nothing to do with us when the ride was over.  You can see in their eyes that these dogs still have a lot of the wild left in them -- one of the reasons they do so well in the actual race in Alaska.

Do we need a Facebook for bookworms? 

Book bloggers have always been an interactive bunch, but a few companies are trying out new ways of mixing book lovers via social networking technology.

GalleyCat just explored this burgeoning field and come back with a helpful report from the front lines. Follow these links for more web 2.0 goodness and connect with other book lovers:

"Compare and contrast the three main social networking sites for books: Shelfari, GoodreadsLibraryThing. [PW] And now add a fourth one: LovelyBooks."

Over at Literary Gas, Adam explains how you can land yourself a Literary Boyfriend. While I agree with some of these helpful tips, I gotta say that I really, really hope you don't correct my grammar. I'm terrible with the rules, and those discussions me feel like a little kid, not some sexy Literary Boyfriend. (Thanks, Ed Champion)

According to LitKicks, on lucky donor to the Polaris Project will be able to name a character in the next novel of T. K. Kenyon (who wrote the novel Rabid). Join the auction, and immortalize yourself...

Publishing Spotted collects the best of what's around on writing blogs on any given day. Feel free to send tips and suggestions to your fearless editor: jason [at] thepublishingspot.com.

"Greg Saloga glanced at the inert and writhing bodies around him and fell to his knees, letting out the most primal wail anyone had heard in a couple hundred thousand years. He covered his face and screamed into his hands, 'Why must I ... hurt?'" 

That's a dispatch from Larry Doyle's topsy-turvey high school novel, I Love You, Beth Cooper--where everybody, including the school bully, has an 80's-teenage-movie-style epiphany.

Doyle has written for The New Yorker, The Simpsons, and HBO. Today, he's sharing some of his novel research and character design secrets with us.

Welcome to my deceptively simple feature, Five Easy Questions. In the spirit of Jack Nicholson’s mad piano player, I run a weekly set of quality interviews with writing pioneers—delivering some practical, unexpected advice about web publishing.

Jason Boog:
Who are the writers that inspire you? What are the writing resources,
websites, and tools you use?

Larry Doyle:
Writers I have stolen from: Charles Portis, Kurt Vonnegut, Donald Barthelme, Thomas Pynchon. Click here to continue reading...