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I have decided that I love songs about women who don’t want to be married. I decided this while listening to lots of Gillian Welch. Twas the song “Look at Miss Ohio” which triggered this decision. Also my annoyance with certain lines in Beyonce’s “Single Ladies”. “Put a ring on it”? What are we living in the 1950s or something?! Uggh.

Then I realised I couldn’t think of any other songs about women who have priorities in life other than getting married.¹ Other than the “I never will marry” song:

I never will marry
I’ll be no man’s bride
I expect to stay single
For the rest of my life ((Lyrics from memory thus could be wrong—too many keystrokes to google.)

But that’s usually sung as a heartbroken miserable song of despair, which is not what I’m talking about.

Can anyone think of cheerful songs of women who are happy to be single, who are not desperate to be married, of women who may want to marry some day but not right now? Please to share in comments if so.

Disclaimer: I have nothing against marriage. I am married myself. Happily even. Nor do I have anyone against women wanting to be married. It’s just that they already have a tonne of songs. I want representation for all the girls who don’t dream of a big wedding and marriage when they grow up.

- – -

Thanks to everyone for all the lovely get well wishes. I is touched. Truly I am on the mend and is not that bad an injury. Trust me, I’ve had worse. But, yes, I will continue to not be online much for the forseeable and, yes, there will be more guest bloggers. Thank you, wonderful guests, and thanks again, faithful readers, for bearing with me.

Have a good weekend everyone!

1. This probably reflects more on my dreadful memory than anything else.

Scott is in mourning because mango season is over. I share his pain and yet . . . mangosteen season just started! My heart fills with joy:

ALL MINE.

Er, um, Scott can have one. If he’s good.

Must go. Have a whole bowl of mangosteens to gobble.

T’other day I was gasbagging with John Scalzi as I do when the writing isn’t going well and IM calls to me. We got to discussing as how we are frequently annoyed by reviews which dismiss a book because the reviewer did not like it but can give no reasons beyond saying that the book [...]

Yup, it’s finally here. Liar is now officially out in the world in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the USA! Is it just me or did that take FOREVER?

Also available for the first time today (officially) the audio books of Liar and How To Ditch Your Fairy. As well as the gorgeous US paperback of How To Ditch Your Fairy which as I may have mentioned multiple times is my favourite cover of all time. (Look to your left at the squashed fairy.)

If you can’t afford to buy new books right now, but are desperate to read Liar, I recommend getting your local library to buy a copy (if they haven’t already) or having a friend who owns a copy. That always worked for me.

Happy reading!

First I must make a confession: I was very nervous about reading Zetta Elliott’s A Wish After Midnight despite all the good reviews it’s had. I was nervous because it’s self-published and I’ve had some bad experiences with self-published books. Midnight does show a few (minor) signs of not coming from an established publisher such as the margins and line spacing too tight. However, within a couple of pages I stopped being bothered by them, and a few pages after that I stopped seeing them at all because I was lost in the story.

I feel like A Wish After Midnight was designed with me in mind. Because it does so many things I love as well as working as an homage to one of my favourite writers, Octavia Butler. It’s a time travel story set in New York City between now(ish) and the Civil War. Both time periods are vividly realised. You can smell and taste and feel the very different NYC (mostly Brooklyn) landscapes between then and now. I adore historical novels that are clearly well-researched and yet all that research is not obvious. It permeates every scene, every sentence of the book, but it never feels like the author was showing off. Story came first. I love social realism that is also genre. Wish covers multiple genres seamlessly.

Then there’s the protagonist. I absolutely adored Gemma Colon. She’s smart, strong, resourceful, but also very young. She’s an outsider at school and doesn’t get on with her two oldest siblings. Her mother is fighting hard to keep the family afloat but that involves working around the clock. Funny how economic stability and emotional stability sometimes work out to be incompatible. If you’re a single parent working two jobs you don’t get to spend enough time with your children. Gemma is in a lot of pain but she channels it all into working as hard as she can at school and at home. She maintains a huge capacity for joy and hope. Can you tell I adored her?

A Wish After Midnight is influenced by one of my favourite books of all time, Octavia Butler’s Kindred. You could almost say that it’s a YA reworking of Butler’s brilliant book. Butler has had an enormous influence on my writing. So when I say that Wish evokes Kindred without ever being overwhelmed by it, that’s a huge compliment. In fact, I was left wanting to re-read Kindred and Wish back to back.

My biggest question about Wish is why it had to be self-published. This is great story telling, it’s totally commercial—i.e. I could not put it down—it’s also an ethically compelling book about race, class and gender. It’s not like other books in the marketplace. I don’t understand why a big house has not picked it up.

As you can tell my streak of reading extremely good books continues. I’d love to hear what you all thought of A Wish After Midnight espeically those of you have also read Kindred.

Disclaimer: I am writing about YA publishing in the USA. Although I’m Australian I know much more about the publishing industry in the US than I do about Australia. Or anywhere else for that matter. I know that the title of this post is going to lead to some comments insisting that it’s not true that [...]

The event at North Melbourne library was fabulous. Lots of excellent quessies and best of all I got to tell a vomit story. Thank you for asking, Aimee! And thank you so much for organising the event. Was lovely to chat with such knowledgeable YA readers. Yes, Twilight was discussed.

So, the Oscars. What do we think was the worst dress? Please to include link to it. I’m still spluttering over Miley Cryus’s explosion.

And what did we think of Our Hugh Jackman’s effort? No expletives please!

Everything today was wonderful. Just everything. Especially my book launch. Thank you, all! Especially Lily and Jodie for your blush-making speeches, and Readings in Carlton for hosting, and all my wonderful friends for coming along to cheer HTDYF’s official appearance in Australia. And all the people I don’t even know. Bless!

Thanks to everyone who’s written after my Melbourne events. I’m not sure when I’ll get a chance to reply. Hopefully on my return to Sydney but more likely when I’m in NYC. But I just wanted to let you all know that I SO appreciate your wonderful letters. And, no, being a good speller is not necessary if you want to be a writer. Though it’s not a bad thing either!

For those who were asking, HTDYF should now be available in book shops far and wide across this fair land. And if they don’t have it—demand to know why not! Or alternatively buy Simmone Howell’s Everything Beautiful which rocks.

I leave you with this Alien Onion post on parallel importation, which links to many profound, beautiful, and smart submissions on publishing in Australia. You should especially read Tim Winton’s piece.

And now I will dance towards bed.

Tomorrow = Perth.

Will be chatting tomorrow night at Kinokuniya here in sunny Sydney. We will say many wise and excellent things. If you are within a 500k radius you cannot miss this! Margo is genius! I can do a passable imitation of a genius!¹

Here are details:

5 March 2009, 6:00PM
Me and Margo Lanagan in conversation
Books Kinokuniya
Level 2, The Galeries Victoria
500 George St
Sydney NSW

I will have MANY How To Ditch Your Fairy bookmarks. How can you resist such excellent enticements?

See you all tomorrow!

1. Sort of.

I was reading today that the whole zombie v un***rn debate was started by John Green. I’m not going to link to the person who claims that because, you know, I’m not into shaming people. But, EXCUSE ME?!

The mighty zombie versus un****n debate began right here on this blog back in February 2007 with me on the side of zombies and Holly Black on the side of uni***ns. Anyone who says otherwise is a liar or ignorant. Sheesh!

Let’s just say I am not happy that such a slanderous lie is circulating. John Green will be the first to tell you that it began over here.

In less cranky-making news I will be doing an appearance right here in New York City this coming Saturday with a cast of hundreds, including New York Times bestseller Suzanne Collins of Gregor and Hunger Games fame. But as far as I’m concerned the highlight is being on the same bill as Robin Wasserman of Skinned fame. Have you read it yet? If not why not?

You’ll find us here:

Saturday, 15 November, 12:00PM-2:00PM
with William Boniface, P.W. Catanese,
Suzanne Collins, Joanne Dahme,
Daniel Kirk, Dean Lorey, Amanda Marrone,
Ketaki Shriram and Robin Wasserman
Books of Wonder
18 West 18th Street
New York, NY

Who knows? If you join us you might spot some zombies. Or uni***ns. Though I hope not. I hear those single-horned creatures are definitely not toilet trained. I’m just sayin’.

Does it really need to come on at 4AM and not let up until 9AM?

Why does it have to sound like banshees being tortured by trolls? What’s with the even LOUDER clanging? That’s almost, but not quite, like the bell that tolls for thee? Or me in this case.

Am I ever going to get a good night’s sleep again?

Stupid NYC with it’s stupid steam heating. I don’t ever remember it being this loud before. Is it because I have a book due on Friday?!

I’m so TIRED! Waaaaaahhhhh!!

I wish I had a horrible-noise dampening fairy.

/whinge

Yes, I am aware that steam heating is super energy efficient and good for the planet. So, no, I don’t really hate it. But if NYC wasn’t so damn cold they wouldn’t need heating. Stupid coldness.

Oops. Looks like I lied about the whinge ending.

Hahah!

Recently me and some of my pro writer colleagues have been asked why we are always complaining about writing, and, the follow-up question: if it’s such a horrible job why don’t we get a better one?

Good question! Here are some of the answers:

1. Whingeing is fun. Writers in particular are totally addicted to it. We can’t not whinge.
2. Writers are boring. We don’t get out much so we don’t have much to talk about other than writing, which is one of the least interesting things ever. “Hey, guess what, guys? Today I typed! A lot. Like, I typed maybe 2,000 groupings of letters.” If we whinge about it we figure it sounds a bit more interesting. We don’t get another job because we’re boring and writing is boring: we belong together.
3. Boasting about how you have the best job in the whole world is rude and skiteful and makes rational people want to chunder¹ or kill you. “Look at me! I am so blessed and lucky! Why today I typed. A lot! I think I typed maybe 2,000 groupings of letters. I think I arranged them really well! Go me! Also I did that wearing pjs. And no one at work was mean to me. Because I work at home! Where the ice cream is. My life is perfect!” Oh, shut up, already. It is better to whinge than to skite.
4. Writing is really hard. It makes writers bleed from the eyeballs. Demons take up residence in our brain and sip on our cerebrospinal fluid. But if we told you how it really was—how there are tiny goblins—trained by our evil publishers—that hold open our eyelids and slap our fingers back on to the keyboards thus making sure we never miss a deadline and keep churning out publishable product—you would never believe it so we just whinge about the lesser aspects of writing hell. We don’t get another job because we can’t. The contract with our publishers mean we are indentured slaves until we die.
5. Writing is dead easy. Seriously all we do is sit around and type, luxuriating in our pyjamas, and ordering our minions around, while we feast on champagne and caviar. But if we let everyone know that then too many people would want to be writers. Thus, der, we pretend it’s really hard. “Ow, my brain! It burns! Too many groupings of letters today! I suffer!”

I hope that makes it all crystal clear. I live to answer your questions. And, um, write books. Like the one that’s due next Friday fer instance. Should get back to that. Or sleep, possibly. If the clanking pipes allow.

Oh, and also, what Maureen said.

Later!

1. Or as me and a bunch of my friends used to say “muntah material”. We were studying Indonesian. Don’t ask.

So, Justine, I shouldn’t regale you with stories of my childhood in amateur musical theatre? *grin*

Anything Goes is one of my favourite old-school musicals, highly recommended if you can find a good production (and handwave the Chinese subplot as a product of its time).

But I loooove the, ahem, non-traditional musicals as well. For example, there’s a jazz version of The Mikado that has pretty much spoiled me for any Gilbert & Sullivan not set in a nightclub in the 1920s. And I loved Jerry Springer: The Opera in London, magnificently wrong as it was. I haven’t seen the movie, but the iOTA version of Hedwig in Sydney was mind-blowingly awesome.

Do not, under any circumstances, see Li’l Abner.

I would love to see wicked or spring awakening. Those would be my top suggestions.

A Chorus Line! It’s a wonderful, classic show, and I loved the current Broadway revival, which I saw last spring.

I like the music from Wicked, but I was less impressed with it on stage (hated the ending). Conversely, I liked Spamalot much more on stage than I do on disc.

And definitely any Cole Porter! I’d adore to see Kiss Me Kate, Anything Goes, or Fifty Million Frenchmen (which is lesser known but has some great songs).

I hate that you hate Andrew Lloyd Webber. I’ve been hating Andrew Lloyd Webber for most of my life and was hoping to get into a nasty argument with someone over it. I really really hate him. Oh and Sondheim too. Yuck. Everybody raves about Spring Awakening, but I didn’t like it. The music was just mediocre indie-folk-rock and the story was even lamer than a musical should be. I think you’re going to have to wait for my musical about sentient software programs to come out.

i very much enjoyed the producers.

and i’m dying to see spamalot!

Hereandnow: There was an extremely short run version of Jerry Springer on here in NYC with Harvey Keitel as Springer. Apparently it was brilliant. I only heard about it after the run was finished. Grrr.

LBS: It’s just as well I don’t have children. I would be horrible. “No, I can’t come see you in your school play. You’re all hideous amateurs. Leave mummy alone so she can finish her martini.”

Lauren: Well, I hate that you hate Andrew Lloyd Webber more than you hate that I hate Andrew Lloyd Webber. So nyer!

i feel so dreadful and sad! i like several of the shows not to be named in this here blog, so i will not mention them. i am not a big fan of sondhiem either, but some of that stuff i can deal with. i even like the musical version of “aladin” even though i am not supposed to because it is unfair in places to people of my ethnicity. (but only if jafar is properly evil. if jafar is improperly evil, it has no zing.)

i also love high school and college productions! i love a show where the lead is not the hunky hero but a skinny kid with glasses who can SING! and i like the no money part of it. i saw a “big musical” (not going to name it because i am not like that) where the lead was sexy and handsome and sang and made is so freaking obvious that he was bored and jaded. he basically walked through the part, only really shining on his solo pieces. i got my $$$ back btw. he left the production shortly thereafter. when you get into the school productions, you have people who want to be there and are there for the heck of it because it is fun.

i do like professional shows too, though and i am dying to see Spamalot when it tours again. I loved the Sweeney Todd movie, but if you can see it as the original on stage, you really should!

A Chorus Line, definitely. So energizing and wonderful. I’m also a fan of a lot of the others that have been mentioned - classic R&H, etc. Personally I also love Oliver! and Annie. The soundtrack of The Music Man is in my top 5 of musicals, but I’m not in love with the book. I’d rather just listen to the record.

I agree with your comment on Andrew L W. (and it makes me think of the Crowded House song “Chocolate Cake”). But I loved Les Miz! It’s been years since I saw it, but I remember much sobbing on my part. Maybe I was PMSing.

p.s. LOVE Godspell! But then, I grew up in a seventies hippie Christian household, so we were all about it. Still, when I listen to the CD now (both the original cast recording and the movie version), I think the songs are, on the whole, pretty amazing.

Ysa: I totally take your point that amateur productions can be good at the pro ones can be dreadful. Indeed, I stopped going to theatre all together for many years on account of having seen some really dreadful professional productions. Nothing is worse than bad theatre. Actors who just work through their parts are evil and wrong.

On the whole, though, I’ve seen more good pro theatre than good amateur.

Sara Z: Godspell is the only movie I have ever walked out of. It was So. Very. Bad.

the godspell play is 8 million times better than the movie. the movie just sucks.

im still rooting for equus tho.

Emily: I suspected as much. The South Pacific movie is also horrible.

Equus makes me nervous.

Why is Bernstein being neglected. Just to mention 3 ground breaking musicals. There is the early celebration of NYC: On the Town, which did become a fab movie. West Side Story just shifted the whole ground of musicals (I don’t think Hair could have been done without its precedent). And my favourite, Candide (which we all saw at Belvior), a much underrated spoof.

I did mention Hair which gave us Marcia Hines.

Did you not see this sentence above where I wrote, “And I’m convinced that getting to see good productions of Anything Goes and West Side Story would make my life complete.”?

Didn’t mention On the Town precisely because the movie is so good. I know I saw Candide but I don’t remember it at all.

Ok, I agree with many of the recs already made, but I’ll make a few others:

Ok, less cerebral or…impressive, than Chicago, Wicked or Rent, and not nearly the classic of Chorus Line, but I am huge fan of The Lion King and Mama Mia.

Mama Mia is just good Abba-liscious fun. Kind of like the “beach read” of musicals.

The Lion King has fabulous music and incredible Julie Taymor costumes and direction.

If you were only going to see one or two, I’d definitely go to Rent and then Chorus Line or Chicago. But if you really are going to see more, especially if you do the half-price tickets booth thing, consider giving Mama Mia and Lion King a chance…

Emily

Ah, yes! WSS: Melbourne 1960; Telaviv 1961.

If it’s ever revived, see Big River, which is Huckleberry Finn set to music. The songs — by the late country music star Roger Miller — aren’t your typical Broadway caterwauling. They comprise a kind of tour through the many flavors of early American folk music.

I’m also with the ALW haytaz, with one exception. See the next professional production of Evita you come across. Awesome stuff. The character “Che” is a great charismatic trickster figure. Even the song “Don’t Cry for Me blah blah,” which I kinda detest, is really affecting in context. The Madonna movie is way, way, waaaay weak in comparison.

Side note: Only ever walked out of two movies — Eraserhead and Urban Cowboy. And both involved irritating music! Hmmm.

RENT is awsomes if you can see it you should. Wicked and Spamalot are also really good.

P.S. Rock on for the Hedwig love!!

If you find a production of West Side Story going on…well, definitely go and see it, but also let me know where it is going on so I can kill one of the orchestra’s violinists and steal his/her seat. My own orchestra just finished working on this, and it has the single best score of any musical I’ve been exposed to. A Leonard Bernstein score makes just about anything worth seeing.

As per previous recommendations, Wicked is wonderfully fantastic and at the top of my list; Spamalot is hysterically funny; and a lot of the “classics” like Chicago, Chorus Line, Rent, and the Cole Porter works are deservingly popular.

P.S. As I do not live in NY, I have no idea if this is going on anywhere, but…if Fiddler on the Roof is being put on anywhere, see it. It’s delightful and funny and moving and the movie version is my favorite movie of all time.

P.P.S. I have never met a musician who likes Webber. I believe there is a good reason for that.

To whoever mentioned Fiddler on the Roof - definitely. I think Tevye has got to be one of the greatest characters ever written. The whole thing is one of the most touchingly human musicals I’ve seen.

I love Rent, Hairspray, and Avenue Q.

most people here have already mentioned the good ones like avenue q and hairspray (which is TONS better than the recent movie), but i do know that “cry-baby,” based on the 1990 john waters film, is coming to broadway later this month. i’ve heard a couple of songs and they’re pretty fun and quirky.
*as a side note: the songs were written by david javerbaum, who was a writer on the daily show with jon stewart (so that should be exciting to see, or hear)

Although about 98789 other people have said this, you absolutely have to see Wicked. I didn’t like the Wizard of Oz until I read the book, and I like the musical a lot better than the book.
I finally saw it last weekend, we took a trip to Chicago just for that reason and it was AMAZING! As in, almost-in-tears Amazing. I’d already been addicted to the OBC soundtrack, and the Chicago singers were just as good! I was surprised.

The DVD of Working absolutely sucked, but my high school drama club (including me) is performing it. And it is way better than the movie because, well, we make it more interesting. If you are in the “chorus”, like me, you’re not just an extra, but you have a backstory, even if the audience doesn’t realize it. I may be a restaurant patron, but the backstory is that I am with a group of my sorority friends in that scene.

We have about six guys and they have to be more than one male lead while we have 20-something girls. It’s basically the atmosphere that makes the musical. Working is a bunch of monologues and solos, but everyone can have fun.

(I hope that made sense)

can i recommend anything by soundheim?
if you love musicals, or don’t care for them - he has turned the whole genre inside out 7 times over. makes lovers out of haters & lovers even more mad for musical theatre! he is a serious antidote for phantom & les miz.
especially enjoyable for writers - the man elevates musicals to a whole other sphere! sunday in the park is crazy genious. into the woods is clever & fun!

i am also lover of classics (like south pacific & gigi) but another new interesting pushing-the-envelope musical that was up a few years ago was caroline or change. written by the tony kushner who wrote angels in america.

seriously? you hate Phantom of the Opera?? …that makes me sad. i loved it. oh well i guess. different people like different things. i’ve also seen Mamma Mia. i love that one too. and am hoping to go see Rent once it comes to my little city in May. i’ve kinda become obsessed with brodway musicals latly. i’ve seen 2 so far this year.

One of my co-workers is Elvis’ like, 2nd or 3rd cousin. Her mother’s maiden name was Presley. Isn’t that so cool?!

Racists are ignorant in general.

I’m sure you already know, but Lisa’s duet with her father is being released Friday on iTunes. You can also view it on www.spinner.com on Fri. The proceeds will be used to build temporary housing in New Orleans for Katrina victims. Sounds like something the daughter of a racist would do, huh?

little sidenote…
my husband used to be an Elvis impersonator.

Someday when you are in my neck of the woods again I will kidnap you and require you to stand in my kitchen. It is an Elvis kitchen, decorated entirely (except for curtains) is cheesy Elvis paraphernalia.

(It is all gifts! I have never bought an Elvis item in my life! And yet, I own both a copy of his driver’s license and a dollar bill with his face on it.)

I think a lot of people lay their own cultural ankle-weights onto famous people, and onto the past. I don’t know much about the man himself except that he liked fried peanut butter and banana sandwiches. And that — contrary to the popular imagination, see what I mean? — his hair wasn’t naturally black. Everybody just thinks that because he dyed his hair by the time color TV came along; in black and white photos from his early 20s you can see he had ordinary light brown hair.

living in the south (just outside memphis, where the elvis-love is unbelievable) for four years, i learned a lot about what i call “invisible racism.”

it’s insidious because everyone denies they have it, but there is an unspoken awareness of race in any inter-racial interaction.

i didn’t even realize it until i visited back home and interacted with people without that underlying tension.

it’s really heartbreaking that in this day and age those ways of thinking still exist. the older (70+) generation is the worst, and yet many say they aren’t prejudiced. but they are.

i think a time goes on, the younger generations find there is less and less a place in the world at large for their feelings. but, in those small pockets of the world, i wonder if those tensions will ever dissolve.

The only time I spent in the South (which, strangely is more ‘North’ and ‘East’ for me) was an August in Fredericksberg, Virginia. You’d swear they were still knee-deep-dug in defending against Union aggression with the number of stars-n-bars banners waving. One afternoon I was at the big mall in Woodbridge and in their food court alone I personally overheard a half-dozen racial epithets. Now I know it’s wrong to stereotype southerners as being racist, but it sure seemed a little too comfortably close to commonplace that day…

i guess i’m too young because i really don’t know anything about elvis.

um (i am from the y generation) but i’d never heard he was racist, and from the evidence (that you) just presented to me it doesn’t seem likely that he was any more racist than most of the people in the 1950’s, 60’s and 70’s- I mean, come on, the white Australai policy was only lifted in, what, 1973 or something..?
but I don’t think it matters either, because, when it comes down to it, he was an artist that captured the whole world’s attention and gained the whole world’s admiration and still makes millions of people (black, white, yellow, brown- whatever) happy when they hear his music and that is the whole point of music and it’s a pretty amazing thing to have done with your life. (even if he did die obese and a drug addict)

or I should say the ‘last vestiges’ of the white austrlia policy was lifted in 1973.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Australia_Policy

…that’s my source