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We'll see if we can keep this a SECRET, but . . . Editor Kate's birthday is in a month--November 10th.

As you guys know, she has been very, very sick since May 2010 (a very long time now) and yet she's continued to edit the Canterwood books from home. How amazing is that? She loves the series so much and we're all incredibly lucky to have her play such a huge role role in Canterwood Crest.

This is where you come in.

By November 7th, I'd love to have thoughts from Team Canterwoood to give as a present from you to Kate.

**You can leave a comment on this post, email me (use something like "Kate's bday" in the subject so I can find it easily), or send me a letter/drawing in the mail.

For snail mail:

Jessica Burkhart
C/O Simon & Schuster
1230 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10020

For email:

jess _ burkhart AT hotmail DOT com

Write whatever you'd like--even a "Happy birthday, Editor K!" is *perfect.* I am trying to collect as many birthday wishes/thank yous from Team Canterwood to give K on her birthday. It will mean so, so much to her. I'm asking for your help because I'm usually the one to get the fan mail as the author of CC. But what you don't know is how hard Kate works on the books. The series would NOT exist without her. So many of the ideas in the series would never have played out if she hadn't brainstormed with me. Giving her a little love from the best readers ever would be ahhh-mazing. She is my best friend and I'd love to give her this gift. :)

I heart you all!

xoxo

Clarence was no ordinary barnyard cat. Take your eyes off him for a minute and… oops, a few of the chickens have gone missing.

Meoooowzer, that was one bad kitty!

We’ve come a long way in this 31 Days of Thinking Like a Writer, a challenge to write at least 750 words each day.

Secrets and Letters

Letters written in the 1860s

Letters can be inform about facts or events; they carry emotional baggage that can be negative or positive.

Today, write a letter from your character to another character in the story.

It’s an exercise in drawing out the tension in a short piece of writing, as you Think Like a Writer

NEW EBOOK Available on Nook Kindle PDF Now an iBook

by Johanna Wright  Neal Porter Books / Roaring Brook Press  2009   Only the mice know, and they aren't telling... In Paris there is a circus, a very secret circus, a very tiny circus, that only the mice know about. They ride a hot air balloon to a merry-go-round long after the people have gone to bed and find their way to the circus where they snack on left-behind snacks and enjoy the show.

Happy Friday! I know I’ve been a bit quiet this week. Recovering from a crazy month, I suppose. I also have a little something up my sleeve, but I can’t tell you what it is. Not yet. Soon. I promise.

Ok, I’ll give you a hint. If you’re a teen and you like to write/read and you like FREE stuff, you’re going to love this. That’s it. You can’t pull anything else out of me. Now stop trying. Really. Stop.

Have a great weekend everyone!

? of the day…What would you do on the first warm day of the year? If it rained would you still do it?

Image by Musée McCord Museum via Flickr

What was your secret hideout when you were a kid?

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Clayton P. Alderfer

Undercover Boss, one of reality TV’s newest additions, is based on a truth that many thoughtful CEOs grasp: they do not have a thorough understanding of what goes on at the middle and bottom of their organizations.  There are multiple reasons why.  Immediate subordinates do not know either.  Middle and lower ranking managers withhold their understanding from those above them.  First level managers cut deals with hourly workers that permit the employees to do well enough financially while not working too hard – lest the employees act disruptively.  CEOs hired from outside have even less of an idea about what goes on, as insiders feel resentful about being subject to outsider rule and choose not to tell what they know.  The reasons why CEOs face this predicament are thus far reaching.  The question for CEOs who grasp this tough reality is whether they can do anything about it.

Undercover Boss provides one solution to the top boss’s dilemma: Change clothing; create a new identity; become a temporary hourly employee; expose one’s shortcomings as a worker; [eventually] reveal one’s identity to those who helped; provide high profile rewards (and an occasional punishment) to employees who were encountered; hold a public meeting to reveal the charade; and, finally, go back to work as an apparently enlightened CEO armed with the knowledge acquired.  Here the TV episode ends.  But is this the whole story?

As someone who has spent several decades studying organizations, serving as a middle manager in universities, and working as an organizational consultant to numerous systems, I believe the findings that undercover bosses turn up are, for the most part, valid.  The problems are with the procedures the CEOs use.  Most critical is the rationale built on deception.  The show operates from the premise (shared with social scientists who conduct experiments using deception) that one can establish laws of human behavior by employing methods that include lying to the people who provide data.  In short, one lies to learn the truth.

In social psychology over the years, students to whom the experimenters lied later told other students, who then became what was termed “experiment-wise.”  Beyond that, lead investigators carried out studies demonstrating that experimenters (perhaps inadvertently) communicated experimental hypotheses to the people providing data, thus possibly invalidating the findings produced.   To compensate for these two problems, researchers introduced a second order of lying.  Investigators began to lie not just to their “subjects,” as respondents in these studies were called, but also to the experimenters who executed experimental treatments.  Among researchers who used deceptive practices, this later development ushered in a new order of experiments based on “double deception.”  Viewed in organizational terms, these practices emanated from temporary organizations in which top managers (professors) lied to middle managers (graduate students), who in turn lied to subordinates (undergraduates or innocent citizens).

Undercover Boss appears not yet to have reached the second stage of employing deceptive practices.  Shows currently close with an apparently happy gathering of employees smiling as their CEO reveals the deception after having returned to his actual role.  The implied explanation for the observed employee satisfaction is that the people feel pleased, because the top boss has taken the trouble to find out what organizational life is really like at the middle and bottom of the system.  One wonders, however, just how long the initial reactions will last.  Might there be resentment toward the employees who assisted (some wittingly, some unwittingly) the boss in his deception a

Critically acclaimed YA authors are spilling their guts here at Bildungsroman all month long. Today's guest says:

"I am a die-hard Jazzerciser. But that's not the secret (okay, that actually kind of is a secret). The secret, the confession, is that one day I went to Jazzercise within a few hours of a major emotional meltdown having to do with the pressure of...I don't know what all. Life, writing. That night, we learned a new routine to a Timbaland and Miley Cyrus song, We Belong To the Music, which is somehow this incredibly joyful yet shallow pop ditty. Dancing to that -- or should I say 'dancing' to that -- was such a release after a stressful day that I was actually moved to tears while doing my hip lifts. It was kind of awesome."

Who do you think this writer/Jazzerciser might be? I'll give you a hint: When I interviewed her back in 2007, she revealed that the working title for her first book was The Miracle of Life. The final title tells a different Story. Leave your guesses in the comments below!

To discover more secrets, bookmark the schedule and visit Bildungsroman every day through the end of June.

I'm still pretty young, but I already worry I'll never fall in love again.

- Lauren Oliver

Critically acclaimed YA authors are spilling their guts here at Bildungsroman all month long. Bookmark the schedule and visit every day through the end of June to discover even more secrets.

Growing up, my greatest and most important secret was that I wanted to be a writer. Guess the cat's out of the bag on that one. But when I was a kid, I didn't tell anyone because I knew I couldn't handle being teased about my dream. I just wanted it way too badly to have a sense of humor about it.

Now that I'm older and wiser, my secrets are mostly about my fears. Fear can be a very personal, emotional thing. In no particular order, I am terrified of Frisbees, skunks, and electric can openers.

For Frisbees, you can blame the one that hit me in the mouth years (and years) ago. But truthfully, I have always had a horror of objects that fly at my face at high speeds. This explains why I am not a Major League baseball player. Well, this and my utter lack of athletic ability.

For skunks, you can blame the family of skunks that lived in our cellar (directly beneath the coat closet, to be specific) when I was in kindergarten. I went to school smelling as if I'd been dipped in the Bog of Eternal Stench. The teacher made my leave my coat outside.

For electric can openers... come on, who isn't a little afraid of those? They grab the can and don't want to let go. And that noise! You can tell they're hungry for blood.

Lastly... and this one's a little embarrassing, but in the interest of full disclosure... I am also a little bit wary of Gonzo from the Muppets. You see, when I was little, I used to have this recurring nightmare that a robot Gonzo from outer space would land on earth and shoot M&M-like beetles into people's foreheads. Surprisingly and thankfully, this nightmare did not lead to a fear of M&Ms. But if Gonzo approached me in an alley, I'd run the other way.

- Sarah Beth Durst

Critically acclaimed YA authors are spilling their guts here at Bildungsroman all month long. Bookmark the schedule and visit every day through the end of June to discover even more secrets.

Like the main character Scarlet Hughes in her most recent book, this author, too, has a secret love for those true crime books where some clean-cut suburban type, someone you'd never expect, whacks his or her spouse in their own garage.

Think you know who it is? Leave your guesses in the comments below! Then bookmark the schedule of secrets and check back throughout the month to learn her identity and discover more secrets from other authors.

I'm secretly dying to live inside the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World. If I could kick Cinderella out of her castle and move in, I seriously think my family and I would consider doing so.

- Jen Calonita

Critically acclaimed YA authors are spilling their guts all this month here at Bildungsroman. Bookmark the schedule of secrets and check back throughout the month.

To help earn college money, I did singing telegrams as Marilyn Monroe.

- Wendy Toliver

Critically acclaimed YA authors are spilling their guts all this month here at Bildungsroman. Bookmark the schedule of secrets and check back throughout the month.

Wanna hear a secret? Critically acclaimed YA authors are spilling their guts all this month at Bildungsroman. Today's guest says:

"I was never supposed to be a writer. In fact, growing up, I thought I hated reading and English class and generally anything to do with language -- except for French. Instead, I was math and science girl. I was going to be a marine biologist or an environmental biologist or a doctor or a veterinarian. Even a lawyer, an architect, or a school teacher. But never, ever a writer."

So who surprised herself by becoming a writer? Here are two hints:
* Her newest book stars a teenage mermaid.
* Her initials create a well-known acronym. So does the title of her first book.

Think you know who it is? Leave your guesses in the comments below! Then bookmark the schedule of secrets and check back throughout the month to learn her identity and discover more secrets from other authors.

My secret is this: I write under the pen name Lila Castle.

- Daphne Grab

Note from Little Willow: The Star Shack by Lila Castle was released earlier this month. Check it out!

Related Posts:
Interview: Daphne Grab
Family: Daphne Grab
Hope: Daphne Grab
What Makes Daphne Grab Smile
Read my review of Alive and Well in Prague, New York.

Wanna hear a secret? Critically acclaimed YA authors are spilling their guts all this month at Bildungsroman. Bookmark the schedule of secrets and check back throughout the month.

This is a twist on "tell me a secret" - it's about a secret that I don't know myself.

My husband makes Linzer torte, which is a raspberry-almond pastry, from a secret family recipe. It's yummy. He usually makes it around Christmastime. One year, I brought in a little to work, and one of my co-workers raved about it and asked for the recipe.

"No," my husband said. "It's a secret."

I thought he was kidding, because he's 1) often kidding and 2) a very generous guy. But no. He and his whole family take this recipe very seriously. I don't even know it myself, being related to them only by mere marriage.

And at this point, I don't want to know, because it would make me nervous to hold such powerful information. Secret international cooking agents might come after me. So as long as he keeps making it and I can eat it, the process can stay secret, as far as I'm concerned.

- Jennifer R. Hubbard

Wanna hear a secret? Critically acclaimed YA authors are spilling their guts all this month at Bildungsroman. Bookmark the schedule of secrets and check back throughout the month.

Wanna hear a secret? Critically acclaimed YA authors are spilling their guts all this month at Bildungsroman. Today's guest says:

When I started to get wee bosoms, I thought I was getting breast cancer because I could feel lumps where there were none before. I was 10.

Think you know who it is? I'll never tell. This author has chosen to remain anonymous.

Bookmark the schedule of secrets and check back throughout the month to discover more little known facts about well-known authors.

When I was little, we lived in California, and there was this deli at the bottom of our street sold M&Ms of all colors. You just told the clerk how many you wanted of each color, and he'd dispense them into a paper bag. It was because of this deli that I discovered my secret talent of being able to tell yellow M&Ms apart from red M&Ms.

Fast forward a few years. We now lived in New York, I was in eighth grade, and I told a few friends about my talent. Of course no one believed me. The next day, the mean girl in our grade – I'll call her Jess – brought in a bag of M&Ms. She directed another girl to stand behind me and cover my eyes, and then Jess tossed M&Ms into my mouth and tested my ability to tell their color. But I couldn't tell, because she kept giving me green and brown ones, even though I said I could only do it for the yellow and red ones.

The whole thing seems really silly now, but it felt pretty awful at the time, with all the girls laughing, and someone else's hands pressed over my eyes. I haven't really talked about my M&M talent since. But I'm older now, so I'm not ashamed to say it, and I know I'm right: the yellow shells are slightly smoother, and the red shells are just the teeniest bit sharper. I guess it's not a secret anymore.

- Courtney Sheinmel

Wanna hear a secret? Critically acclaimed YA authors are spilling their guts all this month at Bildungsroman. Bookmark the schedule of secrets and check back throughout the month.

Related posts:
Interview: Courtney Sheinmel (2009)
Interview: Courtney Sheinmel (2008)
Family: Courtney Sheinmel
Hope: Courtney Sheinmel
Book Review: My So-Called Family by Courtney Sheinmel
Book Review: Positively by Courtney Sheinmel

My book Dirty Little Secrets is about hoarding, but that doesn't mean I'm not a collector. My favorite collection is a few hundred plastic snowglobes from all over the world. Back when I had a real job in a real office, people would bring me a snowglobe whenever they would go out of town. I have them from Holland, Africa, Mexico and many other countries, and I can remember who gave me each and every one. Nobody knows about this collection because they all live in boxes in my garage right now because there is no space in our little house for them. Someday, I'm going to have my own home office and I'm going to have special shelves built around the room so that I can display them properly.

- C.J. Omololu

Wanna hear a secret? Critically acclaimed YA authors are spilling their guts all this month at Bildungsroman. Bookmark the schedule of secrets and check back throughout the month.

Wanna hear a secret? Critically acclaimed YA authors are spilling their guts all this month at Bildungsroman. Today's guest says:

"Here's my secret -- I can't do a handstand. Or a cartwheel. For some reason, my feet want to stay on the ground!"

Okay, so she's not Nadia. But who is she? Here are two hints:
* The title of her first novel will make you think of a flower.
* Her last name could also be a first name.

Think you know who it is? Leave your guesses in the comments below! Then bookmark the schedule of secrets and check back throughout the month to learn her identity and discover more secrets from other authors.

The first time I saw KING KONG, I cried at the end. "Twas beauty killed the beast." Sniff, sniff.

No, really, I'm okay. I'm over it.

- Christopher Golden

Wanna hear a secret? Critically acclaimed YA authors are spilling their guts to blogger Little Willow all this month at Bildungsroman. Bookmark this post and check back throughout the month.

Most of the people and events in TELL ME A SECRET are fictional - or they are bits and pieces of people and life that have been blended up and recombined into totally original scenes. But this one came directly from my own experience:

When I was about four months' pregnant with our daughter, our friends from the band Freezepop were doing a west coast tour, and my husband and I tagged along. At one stop, I was manning the merch table, and I had to get a message to the band. On the way, a girl in the crowd was going to slap some guy on the bum and pushed me in the stomach to get out of the way. I had a reaction that totally shocked me - an almost frightening, mama-bear kind of reaction! Adrenaline, blistering anger, protective fury...I probably could have punched her, but somehow I managed not to. I'm a non-violent person, and it completely blew me away that I would have those instincts.

The memory stayed with me, and you'll find a very similar incident in TELL ME A SECRET. I think it surprises Miranda as much as it surprised me!

- Holly Cupala

Wanna hear a secret? Critically acclaimed YA authors are spilling their guts to blogger Little Willow this June at Bildungsroman. Bookmark this post and check back throughout the month.