Follow up to the "John Green is not a Pornographer" post

Here is a nice article that sums up the school board meeting: Buffalo News

My favorite quote is apparently from one of those who wants to ban this book from the school curriculum (even though it wasn't required reading):

The Rev. Nelson C. McCall, pastor of Hillview Baptist Church in Depew, said he had not read the book “but a doctor doesn’t have to have cancer to treat someone who has.”

When will people learn that they can make a much more credible argument if they actually read the book? I don't understand how the Reverend McCall can make a call on this without reading it. Especially a man with his education. Is that how he preaches the Word of God, too? He doesn't have to read The Bible in order to teach it? Please, sir -- you're only making Christians look more ignorant, and frankly, we don't need your help on this right now.

Why are you so afraid? And what are you afraid of? Acknowledging that sex exists is NOT the same as promoting sex. And it's certainly not porn. It seriously makes me wonder what is in the "history" log on these people's computers. And the deep, dark secrets they have that makes them so fearful.


Thanks to John's blog, Sparks Fly Up, for the link.

WIN WIN WIN!! You can win a hardcover copy of WAKE

Between now and Friday, February 8th at midnight, you can win an autographed copy of WAKE from friend and fellow author Elizabeth Scott, author of BLOOM and PERFECT YOU.

Go to Elizabeth Scott's blog and follow the rules to win. Good luck!


Also, if you haven't downloaded your WAKE countdown clock, dream journal stationery, avatars, screensavers and wallpaper, here's that link again.

John Green is not a pornographer.

And LOOKING FOR ALASKA is not porn. I? Actually read the book. Unlike some.

Week in review...

Crazy, busy and fun!

Have I mentioned lately that I love my publisher, Simon Pulse?

On Monday & Tuesday, they sent me to Ann Arbor, Michigan, so I could have lunch with some people at the home office of BGI (Borders Group Inc), which is basically Borders and Walden book stores. My wonderful escort, Victor, is the national account manager of the children's division of S&S, and we had a blast together.

I spent ten years as a bookseller, but I think I had forgotten how much fun book store people are. Victor, Jennifer, Tara, Lori...if you're watching from our studio audience today, here's a *wave* and a thank you for a fantastic lunch. We talked about books and babies and all the cool authors that these BGI friends have met (I'm so jealous) and it was a really lovely time. I hope our paths cross again one day.

Victor and I also visited four bookstores in Ann Arbor before it was time for him to drop me off at the airport for my flight back home.

On Wednesday, I received the edits for FADE from my editor, and I've been working on those the last few days. This would be an appropriate time to say my editor, Jen, is brilliant.

And now we are in February, and suddenly WAKE comes out next month. Wow!

FADE

FADE is the sequel to WAKE. I submitted the manuscript to my editor a few months ago, then did a revision based on her comments. I was delighted (*hop*) to find out today that my aforementioned lovely and talented editor, Jen Klonsky, LOVED the revision. YAY!! This is terrific news!

Kirkus Reviews WAKE

Review from the 2/1/08 issue of Kirkus Reviews:

McMann, Lisa

WAKE


"Dealing with an alcoholic single mother and endless hours of working at Heather Nursing Home to raise money for college, high-school senior Janie Hannagan doesn’t need more problems. But inexplicably, since she was eight years old, she has been pulled in to people’s dreams, witnessing their recurring fears, fantasies and secrets. Through Miss Stubin at Heather Home, Janie discovers that she is a dream catcher with the ability to help others resolve their haunting dreams. After taking an interest in former bad boy Cabel, she must distinguish between the monster she sees in his nightmares and her romantic feelings for him. And when she learns more about Cabel’s covert identity, Janie just may be able to use her special dream powers to help solve crimes in a suspense-building ending with potential for a sequel. McMann lures teens in by piquing their interest in the mysteries of the unknown, and keeps them with quick-paced, gripping narration and supportive characters. (Fiction. YA)"

Counting down!

Today, with my shorts and t-shirt, I wore a pair of boots around the house.

Yep, gotta break them in. I am gearing up for the WAKE tour, and I'm going to cold places! I just had to buy a new pair of boots for the occasion.

THE TOUR:
I'll be doing school events during the days and book signings in the evenings.
Will you be in or near one of these cities in March so that you can come see me, my book, and my new boots?


March 5: Mesa, AZ
March 6: Phoenix, AZ
March 7: Dallas, TX

March 10: Holland, MI (my old home town!) Treehouse Books
March 11: Novi, MI
March 12: Naperville, IL
March 13: Chicago, IL

March 18: San Francisco, CA
March 19: San Francisco, CA

April 9: Tempe, AZ (Changing Hands Bookstore) With NYT bestselling author CASSANDRA CLARE.

More details as they come in, so stay tuned! And if you haven't been here yet to get your free WAKE downloadables, go now and check them out, and then let me know if you put anything on your myspace or website so that I might come and admire you and thank you properly.

book characters and their jobs

When you read a novel, discovering what the occupation of the main characters helps define the character in your mind.

Janie Hannagan, the main character of WAKE, works in a nursing home, and that is simply the best darn job for her.

When you WRITE a novel, having worked in a variety of places helps make giving occupations to your characters a bit easier. The more experience an author has in a variety of occupations, the more options the author has. This is not to say that an author can't research and create an unfamiliar job for a character -- it's just easier if there is some life experience one can draw upon.

I never worked in a nursing home.

However, my mother did. She was a beautician, and one day a week, she would set up shop in the nursing home on 40th Street and do hair. My sister and I went with her sometimes. We got to know the residents there. Spent some time in the game room hanging out with the old folks and playing games while The Price Is Right blared full volume in the background.

It was a learning experience -- one I never expected I'd write about thirty years later. To this day, I enjoy visiting residents in nursing homes. There can be a lot of joy there.

I *heart* Judy Blume

And it is with delight that I point you to her new website.

Judy Blume's site is a wealth of information both for readers who have loved her many books over the years, and for aspiring and current authors.

She also has a blog.

What's your favorite Judy Blume book?

Cook! Read! Win Finn for your local high school!

A friend of mine, Jon Clinch, author of FINN: A NOVEL (the story of Huck Finn's father), is holding a cool menu contest.

From his blog:

Win a visit from Jon Clinch to your book club,
and copies of Finn: A Novel for your high school.

If there's one thing that book clubs like better than reading, it's eating. Which is why we've put together the Finn Book Club Menu Contest.

Here's how it works.

Design a menu for your book club to enjoy on the night you discuss Finn. Use your imagination. Use your frying pan. Use catfish and whiskey and fatback bacon and cornbread and sunfish and baking powder biscuits and...well, you get the idea. Be inspired. Have fun. And make sure that you don't forget the huckleberries...

More information at the contest link above.

An awesome blurb:

WAKE is "A lyrical, shuddersome novel whose images linger with you long after you've turned the last page, like the most haunting of dreams."
Cassandra Clare, author of NYT Bestseller City of Bones

Speaking of dreams...

In order to write my novel, WAKE, I had to do a good deal of research on dreams. A lucid dream is a dream in which you are aware that you are dreaming and you will remember the dream. Lucid dreams come into play in this book, and they have in my own life as well. I get a lot of my ideas for plots and events in my books from my own dreams.

There are lots of "typical" dreams. Who hasn't had a "falling" dream? I'm no expert at interpreting dreams, but some seem obvious in their meanings.

Last night, I had a dream that I was in my senior high English classroom. The only weird thing about the dream was that Mr. VanDenBerge was the teacher -- he was my math teacher back in the day. What's he doing teaching English, huh?

Anyway, Mr. VanDenBerge (a teacher I liked) gave me a "D" on a writing assignment. Pfft. Can you guess that I'm anxious to see what readers and reviewers think about my book?

Misc.

Look! I won a badge and I didn't have to do anything. Isn't it cute? Thanks to Lisa McGlaun for thinking of me.




In the writing world, things are winding down. I'm on little break from writing at the moment. Working on some marketing ideas. Speaking of that, if you aren't my friend on myspace, facebook, or goodreads, why not? The links are in the side bar. Come be my BFF.

I am trying to decide what to cook for Christmas dinner. It'll be just the four of us, so I hate to put a ton of effort into it. I may have my new favorite place, Midwestern Meats, deliver me one of those "just put it in the oven" meals. If you live in the Mesa area, they are wonderful butchers and they know everything.

And as for Survivor last night... plah. I wish Courtney had won.

Best Book You've Read This Year

I've read a lot of books this year. More than most years. Mostly I read young adult novels, and some of my favorites this year were:

Every Crooked Pot by Rene Rosen
Evolution, Me & Other Freaks of Nature by Robin Brande
Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes
by Chris Crutcher (which came out years ago but I just re-read it last month)

Also by Crutcher -- his latest, called DEADLINE. I'm in the middle of this one right now.

What have you read this year that you'd recommend?

Happy Thanksgiving to those in the U.S.

Test your vocabulary, have fun, and give free rice to stop world hunger, all at the same time.

Go here: Free Rice

NYC

What a blast.

I just returned from a short trip -- my first time in the big city. With me was author Lisa McGlaun. We had a blast together!

It was a tremendous visit. I spent Thursday with my amazing editor Jennifer Klonsky (who is so funny and very cool) and the fabulous team at Simon Pulse. It was so cool to meet them all and put faces to their email addresses. They are really supportive of my book and we had a great meeting. Then Jen took me to lunch at a cool restaurant in Rockefeller Center where our prime seat overlooked the famous ice rink. Cool! I also saw Tori Spelling in the S&S offices. Maybe I should contact Gawker. (Nah.) My roommate Lisa saw Holly Hunter.

That evening I dined with my agent, Michael Bourret, whom I love love love. We went to Sapa, an Asian-French restaurant. Michael knew the chef, who kept sending out extra dishes for us to try. It was delicious, great music too, and I highly recommend the restaurant.

Friday I hooked up with a smattering of friends including the highly entertaining Antonio Pagliarulo, who kept Lisa and me laughing all evening through the pouring rain that night.

And Saturday, before we headed back to the airport, was breakfast in Times Square. I paid $3.75 for some cream cheese to go on my bagel. That? Is ridiculously funny to me.

You? Must now tell me about your trip to NYC and your famous people sightings.

November is National Peanut Butter Lovers' Month

When Janie Hannagan, the main character in WAKE, needs some fast protein, she'll go for the peanut butter jar (if she can't get a Snickers bar, that is). Coincidentally, peanut butter is one of my most favorite foods.

For a recipe on making your own peanut butter, and for instructions on how to grow peanuts right there in your very own house, check out brownielocks.com.

If you manage to grow some, let me know!

Contest winners

Winners have all been notified via email!

If you didn't hear from me, that means you didn't win -- not this time anyway! But I will have more contests in the upcoming months, so stay tuned.

Thanks to all SEVENTY of you who entered -- your nightmares were great! I loved reading them all. Some of them were very much like nightmares I've had myself. Freaky! Janie wouldn't want to get sucked into half of them, that's for sure.

Congrats to the winners!

Contest ends Halloween at midnight!

If you haven't yet entered to win fabulous prizes, see the post below this one for details.

Yesterday I received the WAKE dog tags and they are suh-weet! They are all silvery-shiny aluminum with the word WAKE etched into them. Very cool, not obnoxious.

And today, Robin Brande shared a little bit about WAKE on her blog (she managed to get her hands on an ARC of the book). Just a little over 4 months to release day!

CONTEST!! Ends Halloween Night at Midnight

Woo, baby! It's time, peeps.

Time for the First Official WAKE Contest!! Follow the directions below and you could win one of the following very free, amazingly fabulous prizes:


-- An advance copy of WAKE (1)*

-- A giant 24" x 36" glossy WAKE poster (1)*

-- A smaller, less glossy, yet still completely delectable WAKE poster (1)*

-- A WAKE dog tag on a 24" chain (10)*



Here's how you enter:

1. Click to go to my official website, here http://lisamcmann.com. Scroll down until you see the link, "Email Me!" and click on it.
2. In the subject line, write "WAKE CONTEST"
3. In the body of the email, tell me in a few sentences about a nightmare you've had. (Keep it G or PG-rated, puh-leaze! Or I'll delete it and you'll be disqualified.) If you don't remember dreams, make something up! I'll never know the difference.


That's it. Simple. GO!


WINNERS WILL BE NOTIFIED ON NOVEMBER 1, 2007, via email. If you don't hear from me by midnight Pacific coast time, you did not win.



Contest FAQs (well, actually, just the answers. You can guess the questions if you are bored):

1. Chosen randomly.

2. Draw them from a hat.

2.5 A cowboy hat, if you must know.

3. Because I said so. It's my contest.

4. No, I'm totally serious. G or PG-rated dreams only.

5. No, I'm not a cowboy. I just like hats.

6. I will ask winners for their mailing addresses via email -- don't send them now.

7. Teens, college students, librarians, teachers, dads, moms...anybody reading this is eligible to enter the contest.

8. (x)* <--- indicates the quantity of that particular item I have to give away in this contest. One prize per person.

9. You really need to email me if you want to enter, yes. If you post a comment here, you are not officially entering the contest. I might forget about you if you are not tucked safely into my CONTEST inbox folder, and I don't want that to happen.

10. Absolutely NOT. I will not send you spam or sell your email address or do whatever those nasty people do without telling you. I hate that.

11. Truth? Because I want you to visit my website. That's why. Humor me.

12. I <3 u 2