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The bookshelves in my studio were getting a bit crazy, with things stuffed into all the wrong places or flowing out onto the floor. I am not one of these people who can live in chaos. I don't mind a bit of untidiness, but I have a threshold, then I can't concentrate until things are more neat and tidy.
So I took a little bit of time this morning to sort it out. Much better:
I am showing you, because I know I am nosy to see other people's studios, especially their bookshelves.
The top shelf on the left is older sketchbooks (the brown paper package is to protect a couple of big ones from my art college days, which are over 30 years old). The shelf below is new, unused sketchbooks and below that is used ones from the last 10 years. Below that is sketching gear then, below that, all my 'in progress' sketchbooks are on the right (I always have loads on the go: different sizes, different papers, ones I leave because they don't have enough free pages to last a whole train journey etc.).
While tidying, I pulled out some sketchbooks and found this piece of paper scrunched up underneath. It's biro drawings, obviously done on a train. I must have forgotten my sketchbook and pencil-case one day, so drawn with what I had on scrap. I thought I'd share it with you before I throw it away:
Back to the bookshelves, in case you're interested: the bottom left is stock of my own books, for selling, plus books of my writings done on Electric Tomato nights, and the bottom right is visual reference books (which, if I'm honest, I don't use much anymore, now Google Images is so quick and easy). The hardbacks of my picture books, which I use for events, are above the reference and, above that, are other people's books, bought as inspiration (or because they are so gorgeous, I just can't help myself!). The rest is reference, or design books.
I love books. I can't imagine not hoarding them. E-books are just not the same. I have loads more bookshelves downstairs for other stuff:
Right, back to work...
5 Comments on Sorting out the Books, last added: 2/16/2013
Love your work Lynne! Just watched a few videos on your website - very helpful and inspiring! I've also found you on Twitter too and sent a few tweets.
As an inspiring picture book illustrator, I've been right through your blog. Any news on when 'Swap!' is out? I need a copy :)
Thanks Louise - so pleased you have enjoyed reading through the blog.
'Swap!' was originally coming out later this year, but the pubisher has imploded, so my new book, and all my back-list with that publisher, has been transferred to a sister company to manage, who have pushed Swap's publication back a year: now due out some time in 2014!!!! Very frustrating, but nothing to be done.
Sorry I haven't replied on Twitter, I am not very good at it: still something of a novice. I use it mainly as a way to pipe the blog to an alternative audience. Probably just as well, as all this web-based stuff is quite addictive enough!
Good luck with your work. You don;t have to illustrate as large as I do but pastels are definitely best done as big as possible, as you'll soon find out if you give them a try.
So far it's been a week of trogging through all the emails that have built up while we've been away, opening the post, checking the diary and generally getting my head back into gear. It's the sign of a good holiday when you get back and work feels like something you vaguely remember you were up to once, but you can't recall anything properly.
I've started scanning a handful of my sketches, so I'll pop them on tomorrow morning, but here are some quick monkey sketches in the meantime. They were a little bit scary, but also very cute, though a right nuisance to locals, as they would steal anything sweet.
It's back to work with a bang tomorrow though, as I'm back teaching at the university for 2 half days, so that should sort me out and get me in gear!
0 Comments on Bewilderingly Back to Earth as of 1/1/1900
Yes, there is a new addition to the studio - I have a Personal Assistant (!!!). For some time I have been feeling a little swamped by all the admin that seems to be attracted to me by some invisible, magnetic force...
You know how it is: once you get a bit behind, it starts to pile up, quite literally sometimes. But help is at hand, in the form of the (now even more) long-suffering John, who finished his contract at his regular place of work at the end of March. H
e has various irons in the fire but, about half the time from here on in, John will be my Right-Hand-Man, my secretary, project manager, researcher, administrator, (tea maker, brow wiper, foot massager..?).
Thanks to his help, I should manage to get all my artwork done in time for my deadline at the end of the week (despite my naughtiness yesterday!).
Luckily John's already got a pretty clear sense of how it all works here, so that part is easy, but it remains to be seen if we can continue to work together in the same room all day without killing one another! I have a whip on order, just in case he proves to be a slacker. Now I just need to decide what sort of uniform I want him to wear...
Boy, I'd love a PA! Hope that works out for you. Lynn, I just stumbled upon your wonderful blog, and I'm following now. I am an artist, and an author. Love your illustrations! Cheers, Catherine
I'd like a PA like yours; he sounds very useful. Can I order one from your website? Do they come in different colours? (the red shirt could be a bit much early in the morning). Are they friendly or do they bite?
I know you are busy but perhaps your PA could reply.
Ah well, the holidays are most definitely over, so this week I've started to get stuck in.
One of the first things on the agenda is tweaking a few of my roughs for the Baby Goes Baaaa!project that I'm working on with Egmont Children's Books. I need to get motoring on it, as ideally the artwork needs to be finished by the end of next month, before the main school-visits season in March.
However, while I'm waiting for the specific details from the Art Director, I've been doing that dread task: the annual accounts. At least I already did half of it a while ago, so it's not been as bad as it might be.
Actually, this sounds a bit sad but, though the thought of ordering and entering all those receipts is a bit intimidating, once I get going, I almost enjoy the repetitive, mundane nature of the task. I have the satisfaction of getting a job done, but there's no pressure to be clever, or creative, or witty, or original. Yep - definitely a saddo.
Back to all that clever-clever stuff next week...
4 Comments on Starting Work Again, last added: 1/8/2011
Hi there, I have just found your blog, what a great read it is!! I shall come back again over the weekend to have another browse. I love your style,such characters! Kind regards, Happy New Year. Jane
Okay, after yet another spam hammering I’ve had to switch comments and pinging off on many of the posts that were getting hammered. I’m really at a loss as to what to do. I don’t want to switch comments off. I love your comments. But right now I’m battling so much spam that loads of geuine comments are not making it past the filters while too much spam is. I’m only spending four hours at the computer a day so I cannot use most of that time dealing with spam.
Oh, how I hate spammers!
Anyone got any cool wordpress plugins or other suggestions?
My wireless keyboard is not talking to my computer. It is a beautiful keyboard. I love it more than any other I have ever owned. (A Logitech diNovo Edge if you is curious.) Before I left it was in perfect harmony with my laptop. Upon my return, despite being fully charged, despite multipe restarts, despite being placed so close to the computer they are as one, my laptop will not have a bar of it. This is unhappymaking.
I have had many wireless mouses and keyboards over the years. None of them has been functional for more than a few months at a time. But my diNovo Edge worked for six months straight. But now after a few months of being idle it is without function.
So this is me declaring that I am finished. No more wireless devices. Most of them are battery chewers, anyways. From now on I will be plugging my laptops and mices into the USB port.
I suspect it’s like the fountain pen. Wireless devices will work perfectly in some far distant future when they’re largely redundant.
In conclusion: Grrr.
2 Comments on I Say No to Wireless Devices, last added: 4/14/2010
One of the results of my recent injury, which has meant that I spend no more than four hours at my computer each day, is that I’ve been reading a tonne more. Here are some jetlagged thoughts, without any spoilers, on stuff (of all genres, not just YA) what I have read and loved recently:1
Battle [...]
Justine said, on 4/13/2010 9:01:00 PM
Okay, after yet another spam hammering I’ve had to switch comments and pinging off on many of the posts that were getting hammered. I’m really at a loss as to what to do. I don’t want to switch comments off. I love your comments. But right now I’m battling so much spam that loads of geuine comments are not making it past the filters while too much spam is. I’m only spending four hours at the computer a day so I cannot use most of that time dealing with spam.
Oh, how I hate spammers!
Anyone got any cool wordpress plugins or other suggestions?
Or getting in a plane again. This time to Istanbul, which is a city I’ve never been before. Am I excited? Yes, I am. But it does mean that blogging may not be as every single day as I like it to be. Might be a couple of weeks before normal service resumes. On the other hand, there may be kickarse wireless in the hotel and I’ll blog like a demon. Just to keep you on your toes.
Have fun in my absence—I know it will be hard—and patient with my slow response to emails and questions etc. If you do have any quessies for me the best way to get a response is to go to the FAQs and ask there. I check them regularly. Whereas questions asked on regular posts often go unanswered. Sorry bout that.
I have a question for youse lot though: What do you feel about novels written in collaboration? I’ve heard some readers won’t touch them, which I find really odd. But I’m curious to know if it’s a widespread feeling. You don’t see that many bestselling collaborations, though there are a few. (I’m excluding ghostwritten books.) I’ve always wanted to do one but the opportunity has never arisen.
Thanks for your answers.
0 Comments on On the Road Again + Collaboration Quessie as of 1/1/1900
Today I decided I really, really needed to get around to doing my accounts.
I've spent the last two days catching up: answering all my emails, writing invoices, paying bills. I've chatted to friends, fiddled with my blog, drunk lots of tea, looked out of the window, blown my nose (lots and lots - I have a horrible cold)...
And suddenly I find I can put it off no longer.
I'm normally quite organised, but this year it's sort of got away from me and I have a MASSIVE file of receipts to go through. So I spent this morning sorting them all into months, and then into date order (groan). This afternoon I've started slowly (oh, so slowly) entering them all into my Excell spreadsheet.
The only thing that's kept me awake has been the periodic sneezing and good old Radio 4.
At least it's finally sunny here...
4 Comments on Boring Stuff Beckons... (yawn), last added: 12/24/2009
I have created a Liar FAQ page on account of I’ve already gotten the same three questions many many times already and the book isn’t even officially out yet. If you have any more questions about the book feel free to ask them over there. And, yes, I have not answered the third questions in any detail that’s because I’m working on a whole post about it.
Some other questions I’ve gotten lately:
Q: Will you be posting a spoiler thread so that we can talk about Liar without having to be super careful about spoiling people?
A: Only one person has asked for this. If there seems to be a demand of more than one I’ll put up a Liar discussion post.
Q: Is your tour final? Is there any chance that other cities will be added?
A: I have a number of writing posts in the works including one on writing dialogue and another on how Scrivener affected the writing of Liar. But I’m happy to listen to requests. Just check first to see if I’ve alreadycovered it.
Q: Have there been any reviews of Liar yet?
A: There have been. You can find pull quotes and links to reviews here. I don’t blog reviews because I find it extremely dull. And if it bores me than I figure it will bore youse lot even worse.1
I’m happy to answer any further questions. But if it’s a spoilery question about Liar take it over to the FAQ.
Hope you’re enjoying your Sunday. (Or early Monday morning if you’re back home in Oz.)
It’s blogging about reviews I find dull, not reading reviews.
2 Comments on More Questions About Liar & Other Things, last added: 10/15/2009
The winner from the US of A found Liar at the Harvard Bookstore in Cambridge, Massachusetts1. Here it is:
Our Australian winner is Emma Gibson of Canberra who picked up her copy at her local Borders in Canberra. She reports that she found it on the “Borders Recommends shelf in YA. (Prominently displayed at eye level no less!)” And here is Emma with a copy of Liar:
Congrats to you both!
The Liar sightings contest is not over yet. Our New Zealand friends still have to claim a prize when they send photographic evidence of Liar in a Kiwi book shop. Sources at Allen & Unwin say it should start showing up there on the 25th of September.
So there you have it, if you’re keen to grab a copy of Liar in Australia, Canada and the US of A it should now be possible for you to do so.
Why, yes, I did have to look up out to spell that.
Justine said, on 10/15/2009 12:50:00 PM
For a while now I’ve been thinking about how many readers seem to hate female characters more than they hate male. Or rather that the same behaviour from a male character is okay but someone inexcusable in a female. Sarah Rees Brennan has written about this phenomenon most eloquently:
Let us think of the Question of Harry Potter. I do not mean to bag on the character of Harry Potter: I am very fond of him.
But I think people would be less fond of him if he was Harriet Potter. If he was a girl, and she’d had a sad childhood but risen above it, and she’d found fast friends, and been naturally talented at her school’s only important sport, and saved the day at least seven times. If she’d had most of the boys in the series fancy her, and mention made of boys following her around admiring her. If the only talent she didn’t have was dismissed by her guy friend who did have it. If she was often told by people of her numerous awesome qualities, and was in fact Chosen by Fate to be awesome.
Well, then she’d be just like Harry Potter, but a girl. But I don’t think people would like her as much.
To which I say, indeed. I am noticing this somewhat acutely right now because quite a few people are hating on Micah Wilkins the protagonist of Liar. Now, I will admit as how Micah has rather more flaws than HP. Even aside from being, you know, a liar. But I happen to love Micah, as I do all the characters in my books.1 I’m well aware that I’m not an impartial observer, but I have a sneaking suspicion that were Micah a boy even with all the same flaws s/he would not be attracting such hate. I suspect that there would be a fair few crushes on Micah-the-boy. That he would be considered hot.
As evidence I offer the fact that I’ve already been told by a few people that they have a crush on Zach, who a) is dead and b) is, um, perhaps not the most reliable boyfriend in literary history given that he had an official girlfriend and an unofficial girlfriend. I.e. there’s a strong argument that’s he’s a cheating dog. Yet there are crushes.
Now, what I want to know is how to go about being part of the process of changing this kind of thinking. I was talking about this with a friend and she said I should write books that unpack it. To which I umed and ahhed before realising hours later that I already do. I have worked very hard in all my novels to unpack assumptions about what girls and boys can and can’t do. I have written female jocks, boy fashion obsessives, laconic girls, garrulous boys. I have tried to work against stereotypes at all times.
So does pretty much every working writer that I love. Yet still readers call Isabelle (of Cassandra Clare’s Mortal Instruments trilogy) a “slut” and have crushes on Jace who’s much more slutty than Isabelle. What can we do to shift such sexist assumptions when they’re so deeply ingrained in so many of us? Because even when we write books that challenge such stereotypes, readers put them back into the text by reading Isabelle as a slut and Jace as Hotty McHott Hero. I have done this myself both as a reader and a writer. Our prejudices are so unconscious that they leak out without our knowing it.
Hmmm, I find that I have no cheering conclusion. Feel free to provide one in the comments.
Yes, even Jason Blake and Esmeralda Cansino in the trilogy and Dander Anders in How to Ditch Your Fairy.
I worked hard on Bears on the Stairs again yesterday, listing to my talking book as usual. Below is my desk shot last night. I have to break for a haircut this morning, but then my target is finishing these three by tonight.
My final deadline is Oct 1st and I can't be even half a day late, as it's peak time for school visits and I'm in Selby first thing the very next morning! I love the visits, so it's great that bookings are coming in thick and fast: I'm already out every day from Oct 2nd to Oct 12th. Trouble is, there's a lot of associated admin to sort in advance, which I haven't got time for just now.
So, when John left at 5.45am Monday morning for a train to London, I got up too, and spent a few hours getting on top of admin before beginning drawing.
I went through back emails, creating an A4 sheet for each visit, with venue, contact details, train station, timetable, any ordered books etc etc. so I can spot which information is missing well in advance: I don't want to find myself the day before, not knowing the school's address!
By 10 o'clock it was all done and, feeling more relaxed, my drawing went well. Lots of deceptively time-consuming bits to negotiate though, like designing more pictures for the walls and books for the bookshelf:
Once again the pussycat (and this time Dad too) were left blind overnight. Both spreads are due for a blast of the dreaded fixative before I carry on, then I can put in the eye dots, as well as various patterns on things.
6 Comments on Getting Organised, last added: 10/3/2009
Really enjoying seeing this piece come together Lynne. Interesting seeing your end of day desk shots.
I'd do the same myself but other than putting the laptop in a different place or perhaps having a diferent cat sat next to it, it would look rather boring.
Go, Lynne, go! I've been following your progress on these pictures with great interest. They're just beautiful (the colours take my breath away) and each of your decisions about pattern and detail seem just-right to me. I'm cheering you on from "across the pond" in Canada. It's going to be a wonderful book! Cheers from Joanne Stanbridge (aka Everdello)
I don't know where you get all the energy, as for getting up at 5.45, well that's bloomin' early! I love the picture of the dad on the settee. It must be extremely satisfying putting the final dots in the eyes!x
I think the magic of your work is that it’s comforting in its illusion of simplicity... and then you show us the breakdown of effort and all the details, and it dawns on me just how genius this illusion is! Thanks for sharing and for all the details! Cheers!
I am so full of admiration for the precision you achieve with pastels. They give your illustrations a warm soft glow, but none of the details are lost - brilliant.
I has one. Back in May I mentioned that I wanted one on account of all the elecronic documents I read. I tried reading on my iPhone but it did not work out: too small and awkward.
After talking to friends and hearing what youse lot think I wound up getting a Sony 505. While it’s not perfect and lacks many features I want,1 it’s made a huge difference. While flying home to Sydney, I did not have to carry the usual 5 books in my backpack on top of the entire suitcase of books. All I carried was the eReader. My back thanks me. Profusely.
It turned out that the incompatibility with my Mac was not a problem thanks to this fabulous software, Calibre, which is incredibly easy to use and is yet to fail me in any way shape or form. Bless you, Calibre.
As predicted I’ve been using it to read manuscripts by friends, books I’ve been asked to blurb, and public-domain research and comfort books. (I’m yet to buy an ebook.) My eyes don’t get nearly as sore as they do when reading onscreen with my computer and I can curl up with my eReader, which I can’t do with my computer even though it’s wee (for a computer).
So, yes, I’m very happy I bought an eReader. However, I’m still waiting for the iPhone to have its own native eReader which is not tied to any particular retailer. Because I would like to have my portable electonic needs—music, mail, podcasts, camera, ebooks, texting, phone calls (ugh)—in the one location. I want an iPHone that’s roughly the same size as my Sony Reader. When that happens I’ll start buying ebooks.2
In the meantime, being able to read Pride & Prejudice, My Brilliant Career, Anne of Green Gables, Alice in Wonderland, The Getting of Wisdom and Ivanhoe whenever I want to is vastly happy making. I’m off to go make a donation to Project Gutenberg for making that possible (and to Calibre as well). Bless!
It does produce mangosteens whenever I want them or set off fireworks. Honestly!
Though I’m not going to buy ebooks without being able to preview what I’m buying. There are still too many companies not providing previews. I’ve had several friends who buy ebooks report that are still companies out there selling ebooks that are poorly proofed scans. Sometimes of paper texts. Not good enough.
1 Comments on Electronic Readers, Post the Second, last added: 9/2/2009
Enough of youse lot are wondering what’s up with me not blogging every day that I am driven to offer an explanation for my blog silence of late. A brief explanation: travel, busy, knackered, bad sport karma.
I have many posts brewing or brewed. More on race, writing and publishing (here’s a fewlinks to others. I’m especially loving the Writers Against Racism series on Amy Bowllan’s SLJ blog like this one with Ari of Reading in Color.); a complaint about Being Human (Why does the woman have to be a timid ghost? Wouldn’t it have been much more interesting if she was the werewolf or the vampire? Um, okay no need to write that post.); on re-reading Han Suyin’s A Mountain is Young; the long awaited stalker song post; a response to Sarah Rees Brennan’s wonderful essay on the way female characters get dumped on (hmmm, I think those last two posts may be connected); the art of writing dialogue, and many others.
Feel free to make requests for anything else you’d like me to blog about in the comments.
And for those who keep asking: both Liar and the paperback How To Ditch Your Fairy publish on 29 September. I.e. this very month! I happen to have two copies of HTDYF in its glorious paperback edition. So beautiful. Liar is also already a complete book with brand new dustjacket. I bet they will both start showing up in book shops around or even before the 29th.
I’m at Sydney airport, on my way to Melbourne for the Melbourne Writers Festival, and since it took way less time to get here than I thought1 I figured I’d test this here new application what Stephen Fry recommended.2 I am blogging from my phone without squinting or yelling. I count that as a big thumbs up for the wordpress app.
I’d also like to give a big thumbs up to my Sony reader 505. It’s not perfect—I’d prefer a touchscreen and a faster page turn on PDFs, I’d also prefer my iPhone to be larger and be a reader on top of everything else it does3—but just for reducing the weight of my luggage I hug the ereader to my chest. I’ve been a lot faster reading mss. than ever before. W00t! Oh, how I hate reading mss. on my computer or in paper form. I am liberated.
What electronic device is making your life better right now?
10 mins as opposed to 1 hour. Who knew? Other than Scott.
As you all know everything Stephen Fry says is golden unless it is about cricket. He supports the bastion of evil the English cricket team. Ewwww!
Next year I hear.
0 Comments on Testing Wordpress iPhone App & Praising Electronic Devices as of 8/23/2009 12:14:00 AM
Yes, the new cover means that it is unlikely that Liar will be available in US and Canadian stores on the announced publication date of 29 September. I don’t know what the new pub date is but it will definitely be in October. As soon as I know I’ll pass it on.
There is no planned UK edition as UK rights have not sold. The English language editions, both to be published in October, are the Australian one published by Allen & Unwin and the North American version published by Bloomsbury.
There will also be an audio version read by the amazing Channie Waites (scroll down to see the photo of her) for Bolinda in Australia and Brilliance in the USA. I was able to sit in on part of the recording session and plan to blog about that incredible experience (with pictures) next week. (Short version: my work brought to life! OMG!)
If you prefer to read in languages other than EnglishLiar will also be published in Brazil, France, Germany, Italy, Taiwan, and Turkey. I have no details yet on when those editions will appear.
I am hoping for a manga version, because I am always hoping for manga versions of my work. So far there has not been the faintest hint of a nibble in that direction for any of my books. Personally, I think How To Ditch Your Fairy would make the best manga series ever.
If you have any other questions fire away. I promise to answer them all even if it’s just to say, “Why are you asking me about stalactites? I don’t know anything about them. I can’t even remember if they’re the sticky up-y ones or the pointy down-y ones.”
0 Comments on Quickly Answering Some Recent Questions About Liar as of 1/1/1900
Theresponse to yesterday’s posthasbeenastonishing. I am overwhelmed. I received more mail in a single day than I normally do in a month. (I was already behind with my mail.) I’m going to try very hard to get to it all, but it may take some time and I have a novel to finish and leave the country in a couple of days. So bear with me.
Thanks so much for taking this conversation further. It’s crucial.
It proved absolutely impossible for me to choose from among all the amazing stalker song entries so I got Scott to pick six numbers between 1 & 116. (That’s how many entries there were: one hundred and sixteen!)
Scott went to Random.org for the numbers thus they are truly random.
The winners are comment numbers 49, 49, 109, 98, 4, 25 and 114:
Faint by Linkin Park:
“I am what I want you to want, what I want you to feel
But it’s like no matter what I do
I can’t convince you to just believe this is real”
“Sin miedo a nada” by Alex Ubago [translated to the best of my ability]:
“I die to beg you
That you don’t leave my life
I die to hear you
Say the things you never say
But I keep quiet and you leave
I keep hope
To be able someday
To not have to hide the wounds
It hurts to think
That I love you a every day a bit more.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4l04TzdcdOU
Oh no, someone told me I posted a song that was already posted. I don’t know if that’s allowed
Just in case, I’ll post this one:
————
OKaysions- Girl Watcher
I’m a girl watcher, I’m a girl watcher…
Watchin’ girls go by, hey, my my
I’m a girl watcher, I’m a girl watcher…
Here comes one now…
I was just a boy when I threw away my toys
And found a new pastime to dwell on
Whenever I detects them there of the other sex
I play the game I do so well on
Mumble something female, my my, but you do look swell
Could you please walk a little slower…
Wonder if you know that you’re putting on a show
Could you please walk a little closer…
———-
My second creepiest song. He’s FOLLOWING her, it freaks me out xD Hope it creeps you out too!
Does a parody song count? My friends and I made a parody of Stop and Stare by One Republic called “Stalk and Stare” The chorus goes-
Stalk and Stare
I think about you all the time
I swear
You are mine and I will never share
oh oh ooooh
Stalk and Stare
When you are alone
I am always there
So tell your Boyfriend to beware
oh oh ooooh
Stalk and Stare
I love the way the moonlight
shines on your hair
Without you there would be no air
oh oh ooooh
It keeps going and gets pretty crazy.
But if it has to be song I would go with “Somebody’s Watching Me” By Micheal Jackson. This one of course is from the stalkee’s point of view. I want to know how no one thought of this song though!
When I’m in the shower
I’m afraid to wash my hair
‘Cause I might open my eyes
And find someone standing there
People say I’m crazy
Just a little touched
But maybe showers remind me
Of Psycho too much
That’s why
(I always feel like)
(Somebody’s watching me)
And I have no privacy
Whooooa, oh-oh
(I always feel like)
(Somebody’s watching me)
Who’s playin’ tricks on me
Then there is also “Kelsey” by Metro Station
So take one word you said
You put it in your bed
You rest your tiny head on your pillow
You wonder where you’re going next
You got your head pushed to my chest
and now you’re hoping that someone let’s you in
Well I’ll sure let you in
You know ill let you in
Oh Kelsey, you.
So don’t let anyone scare you
You know that I’ll protect you
Always,
now through the thick and thin
Until the end
You better watch it
You know you don’t cross it because
I’m always here for you
and I’ll be here for you
(I know x3) I know how it feels believe me
I’ve been there and
(I know x3) I know what it feels like
tell me Kelsey
And I’ll swim the ocean for you
the ocean for you
whoa, oh Kelsey
and I’ll swim the ocean for you
the ocean for you
whoa, oh Kelsey
(i hear you darlin’)
Find More lyrics at http://www.sweetslyrics.com
Now it’s gonna get harder
and it’s gonna burn brighter
and it’s gonna feel tougher each and every day
so let me say, that i love you
you’re all I’ve ever wanted
all I’ve ever dreamed of to come
and yes you did come
i want you so bad (so bad)
can you feel it too? (it too)
you know I’m so, I’m so in love with you
i want you, so much
i need you, so much
i need your, i need your, your touch
and I’ll swim the ocean for you
the ocean for you
whoa, oh Kelsey
x4
and you never ever let me in (let me in)
x4
Definitely Helen Hunt by Hank Green. Hahaha
http://wiki.dftba.com/index.php/Helen_Hunt
Um… Plain White T’s are very stalkerish… Hey there Delilah, You and Me, Write You a Song, and I could go on…
You Found Me by Kelly Clarkson, kind of the other person is the stalker here. I mean just read the chorus:
“You found me
When no one else was lookin’
How did you know just where I would be?
Yeah, you broke through
All of my confusion
The ups and the downs
And you still didn’t leave
I guess that you saw what nobody could see
You found me
You found me”
There is a song called the stalker song by the Australian comedy group Tripod. It sort of misses the point a bit because it’s meant to be a little (read: a lot) creepy. It is pretty funny, though.
Check it out:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxwNIyJ2mDM
So. Man. Very. Creepy. Songs. So glad so many of you realise that stalking is not a sign of love!
The first four get a signed Love Is Hell plus a signed Liar sampler and the last two get a Liar sampler.
Because of my post about the US Liar cover I have discovered some wonderful blogs, which as someone who follows the YA blogosphere closely, I’m ashamed I didn’t know about already. I have added all of them to my blog roll:
The Brown Bookshelf (which the fabulous and unbelievably talented Varian Johnson is part of. Have you read My Life as a Rhombus? It’s also on my to be read pile and from what I’ve been hearing is astonishingly good.)
I am still no where near working my way through all the mail the cover post generated. It may take me a few weeks. Sorry. But thank you everyone for your intense responses and for all the links and for continuing the conversation in so many different places. I’ve heard from several people that at least two YA publishing houses have been circulating my post to their staff. Awesome.
And extra special thanks to the people who emailed me with the typos they picked up in that post. As someone who’s not the world’s greatest speller, I really appreciate it! (Though am embarrassed that I still don’t know the difference between “effect” and “affect.” Aargh.)
This is for the people who have been spamming my last post with ads for their boy-friendly books.
Don’t.
I am well aware you only landed here because you googled “boy books” and are looking for somewhere to post your spam. I don’t accept paid advertising which does not mean I’m going to let you advertise for free.
The comments on this blog are for discussion. By all means recommend a book that you think is relevant to the discussion. I’m all ears for passionate recommendations of books people love when it’s relevant. But do not comment with an ad for your own book. It’s tacky, it’s boring, it adds nothing to the conversation, and I will delete your ad. If you do it again I will ban you from my blog.
That is all.
2 Comments on Commenting with an Ad for Your Book is Spam, last added: 6/30/2009
This is for the people who have been spamming my last post with ads for their boy-friendly books.
Don’t.
I am well aware you only landed here because you googled “boy books” and are looking for somewhere to post your spam. I don’t accept paid advertising which does not mean I’m going to let you advertise for free.
The comments on this blog are for discussion. By all means recommend a book that you think is relevant to the discussion. I’m all ears for passionate recommendations of books people love when it’s relevant. But do not comment with an ad for your own book. It’s tacky, it’s boring, it adds nothing to the conversation, and I will delete your ad. If you do it again I will ban you from my blog.
Lately there’s been a huge increase in spam here. The result of my current methods of combating it is that heaps of your comments are winding up in the moderation queue. As I have a very heavy work schedule at the moment I’m often not getting to those comments for hours at a time. Not good.
I’m thinking of installing one of those anti-spam word thingies where you have to type in a random word or grouping of letters to prove you’re not a spambot. However, I kind of hate them when they’re on other people’s blogs. They definitely put me off commenting.
How about youse lot?
Would you hate it if I added such a plug-in? Would you be okay with it if the words it generated were amusing and/or related to this blog? Like “quokka” or “mangosteen”?
Anyone got any other brilliant spam combating tactics?
2 Comments on Combating Spam, last added: 6/6/2009
Lately there’s been a huge increase in spam here. The result of my current methods of combating it is that heaps of your comments are winding up in the moderation queue. As I have a very heavy work schedule at the moment I’m often not getting to those comments for hours at a time. Not good.
I’m thinking of installing one of those anti-spam word thingies where you have to type in a random word or grouping of letters to prove you’re not a spambot. However, I kind of hate them when they’re on other people’s blogs. They definitely put me off commenting.
How about youse lot?
Would you hate it if I added such a plug-in? Would you be okay with it if the words it generated were amusing and/or related to this blog? Like “quokka” or “mangosteen”?
Anyone got any other brilliant spam combating tactics?
Justine said, on 6/6/2009 11:10:00 PM
Late breaking news: Liar has sold to Editora Record in Brazil, who are also the home of the Magic or Madness trilogy there. And for the first time in my career a book of mine has sold in Turkey! Liar has found a home at Artemis an imprint of Alfa Yayin Grubu. Yay! Liar will now be published in seven different countries: Australia, Brazil, France, Germany, Taiwan, Turkey and the USA. Not bad for a book that isn’t out until October.
A couple of readers have asked me what this means exactly. How do books get sold to other countries? How does it all work?
Basically the world is divided up into various different territories for publishing rights. Those territories (more or less) correspond to different countries. Though notoriously the UK is under the delusion that many other countries are part of its territory. Newsflash to the UK: Your empire crumbled decades ago. Get over it!
When my agent, Jill Grinberg, sells one of my books the first rights she sells are North American (USA + Canada) and ANZ (Australia + New Zealand). Those are sold directly. Thus my agent gets 15% and I get the rest.1
Translation rights to my work are sold by my agent working with different sub-agents around the world. Which means that they split the agents’ commission with both my agent and the sub-agent taking 10% and me getting 80%. Some sub-agents handle more than one territory. I know of one who handles Spanish and Portuguese language sales in multiple countries, but most sub-agents work only in one territory, which is usually their home country.
The larger commission is no big deal because without agents working on your behalf you would not sell in other countries. The sub-agents are the people who know which publishing houses are after what kind of book, and who has the best translators, and they’re the ones who sort out the labyrinthine tax laws and tax arrangements between your home country and the country you’re selling into. Also, I don’t know about you, but I am not fluent in any of the languages spoken in any of the countries I’ve been sold in other than Australia and the US.2
I became very interested in foreign rights after my first visit to the Bologna Book Fair, where I met some of my foreign publishers, and saw the world-wide business of buying and selling rights to kids and teen books up close. I was totally fascinated to learn that the Netherlands is not big on fantasy, Brazil loves chicklit, and most of Eastern Europe loves science fiction. The US market is notorious for buying almost no translation rights at all. I wonder what the Australian YA market is known for buying?
I hope that helps you understand a bit more what I’m talking about when I jump up and down because Turkey just bought my book. Did I mention that I just sold in Turkey?
Hey all: Quick admin notice that we're aware that some of our sites (including PotterCast.com and large parts of MyLeaky) are undergoing some shortages. Thank you for your patience as we get this ironed out. We are waiting for drives to be added to our servers and it is making a fix take longer than it usually does. Hang tight and we'll be running swiftly as usual in no time!
I just finished going through and answering all your letters. *mops brow* Thanks so much for writing to me. I hope my responses arrive okay. But alas there were some bounce backs.
Because the volume of letters has been going up in the last few months, and I’m not getting any faster at answering, 1 I’ve decided I’m going to respond to questions asked on this website first. Especially the questions asked on the FAQs. That way the answer will be available for everyone and not just the people who email me. That’s fairer, right?
Currently I have four FAQs:
There’s the Personal one: Where you can ask any questions that don’t have to do with particular books or writing. But let’s not get too personal.
The one about Writing: This is where I answer all those tricky writing questions. I’ve answered many already so before you ask yours check that it hasn’t already been asked and also have a squizz at the posts on writing.
About the Magic or Madness Trilogy: This is where you can ask questions about the trilogy. Don’t read if you don’t know the books. It gets VASTLY spoilery.
Me and Scott are in Houston for TLA (Texas Library Association). Tis much warmer than NYC. W00t! Also we’ll get to hang out with many teen librarians.1 Always a good thing.
Another w00t worthy thing: I have just learned that the ARC (advances readers’ copies) of Liar have made it to TLA. Yee hah!2 I have not actually seen it myself. So I’m eager to get my hands on a copy. Well, not eager so much as afraid. I know I’ll just open it up and go, “Crap. Typo. Also that section really doesn’t belong there. I need to move it. Another typod. Also I’m not sure this minor character’s got the right name. Perhaps I should have called them Rexford? What was I thinking! Crap. Yet another typo. And another.” Etc.
But I’m excited that people who aren’t my agent, friends, or publishers will soon be having a squizz at it. Liar is unlike anything I’ve ever written before and especially not like How To Ditch Your Fairy. Thus I am dead curious to see how people respond. I hope no one throws things at me.
Admin note: Sorry for everyone whose comments were held up in moderation yesterday. Wifi access was sketchy. I believe I have set everyone’s comment free at this time. Let me know if you still can’t find yours.
To be clear, I mean librarians who specialise in books, manga, anime, etc for teenagers, rather than librarians who are teenagers.
I am in Texas, after all. Though maybe it’s not spelled “yee hah”. That looks wrong.
There’s something wrong with comment moderation at the moment. Currently WordPress simply will not allow me to approve a handful of the comments. So if your comment disappeared into moderation never to re-emerge that’s what’s going on. My apologies! Me and my genius tech staff are working on it! (Well, mostly them cause I have no idea how to fix the damn thing.)
Update: Looks like all comments trapped in moderation have now been released. Here’s hoping that’s the end of that problem.
0 Comments on Quick Admin Note (updated) as of 1/1/1900
As a result of all the extra categories, I’ve gotten rid of the “writing and publishing” category, which was pretty much useless, and amalgamated the MorM books under one category: “Magic or Madness trilogy”.
Wow. I feel so organised. First new year’s resolution is now off the list!
I have a mountain of work, admin, packing, and correspondence to catch up on, but instead I am reading through my new favourite blog, Cake Wrecks, which I discovered via an old favourite blog, Jenny Davidson’s Light Reading. I’m sure all of you have been enjoying it for years. What can I say? I am slow.
So far it has led me to many pleasures but few top the delight of the world’s worst Dalek cakes. I confess that I laughed so hard I cried.
Then it led me to this. The making of the most incredible cake I have ever seen:
Apparently it took twelve days to make. Wow. Just wow.
1 Comments on In which I am naughty, last added: 12/7/2008
All the problems of the past two days appear to have been resolved. Sorry for the inconvenience. Especially to those of you who had your comments eaten.
Thanks for chiming in on last post. I no longer feel like I have lost my mind. Just my website for a couple of days. And, praise Elvis, may it never happen again.
We can now resume normal blog activity.
For those who missed the post that was only visible to a handful of you for most of the day there’s a sneak preview of my latest published effort.
Thanks to everyone who wrote to share their concern about the absence and/or weirdness of my site today. It’s nice to know you care.
I’ve been trying to diagnose my current writing woes. While, yes, there has been an insane amount of admin, travel, and the site disasters of the last two days1 have not been helpful, but they’re not the cause, they’re just hindrances.
This is my current theory:
The world I’m living in right now is much more interesting than any world I could write.
I can’t look away from the election. From the world financial crisis. From all the crazy stuff that’s going on.
The winner from the US of A found Liar at the 
Love your work Lynne!
Just watched a few videos on your website - very helpful and inspiring!
I've also found you on Twitter too and sent a few tweets.
As an inspiring picture book illustrator, I've been right through your blog. Any news on when 'Swap!' is out? I need a copy :)
www.munkeypants.com
Thanks Louise - so pleased you have enjoyed reading through the blog.
'Swap!' was originally coming out later this year, but the pubisher has imploded, so my new book, and all my back-list with that publisher, has been transferred to a sister company to manage, who have pushed Swap's publication back a year: now due out some time in 2014!!!! Very frustrating, but nothing to be done.
Sorry I haven't replied on Twitter, I am not very good at it: still something of a novice. I use it mainly as a way to pipe the blog to an alternative audience. Probably just as well, as all this web-based stuff is quite addictive enough!
I've just went and bought a bunch of your books. Particularly looking forward to Bears on the Stairs after seeing your blog posts.
Sorry to hear about 'Swap!' looks like such a lovely story will be waiting for news of it's release in 2014.
I loved your 'Swap!' spreads and am very inspired to do a few of my own for my portfolio. I find drawing on a bigger scale a bit difficult though!
I loved your video on how you started out and hope that in a few years I'll be doing my own about my very first picture book :)
That's great - thank you Louise!
Good luck with your work. You don;t have to illustrate as large as I do but pastels are definitely best done as big as possible, as you'll soon find out if you give them a try.
Have fun, and I hope you enjoy the books x
So interesting, thanks for sharing. I totally agree ebooks are not the same.