The Unlikeable Main Character...do we really like her?

Tip of the Day: Being sandals season, when you go to paint your toenails put lotion on first (on skin not nails). If you get any paint on your skin it'll rub off easily.

I've written six books now (and partials of two more) and I love them all. I've never written a book and felt iffy about it or felt like oh man, this one is torture to write, let's just get through it. I'm always very happy and in love with whatever project I'm working on. So if I get a different reaction to one of my books than another, I'm always shocked. What do you mean you don't like this book?! For example, with one of my books I've been told by some that my main character (MC) is unlikeable. I, of course, adore her. I guess I can see why people find her unlikeable. She does do some not so nice things. Even so, I still like her. So here's my question, can't we still love a book even if we don't love the MC?

For my book club last month we read Emily Griffin's Something Borrowed. I hated her MC. Really, I thought she was annoying, a bad friend, and thought to much of herself. But that didn't stop me from enjoying the book and wanting to read on in the series. So this unlikeable MC thing can work, right?

And aren't we all sometimes intrigued when we are told something is bad or we'll hate it etc. For example, Mandy Hubbard (author of Prada & Prejudice, out this June) had an awesome post this week about what do bad reviews really mean. Check it out here. Publisher's Weekly really gave this book a few whacks huh? You want to read it now don't you? I kind of do. I bet LOADS more people will read it now that this bad review was published. Maybe the unlikeable isn't so unlikeable.

What do you guys think? Ever love a book with an unlikeable MC?

Kristina, Miss Delighted to Debut

That Character Had a Name? (or I Swear It's Not Personal...)

Tip of the Day: Stuck for what to read next? Ask a YA or Children's Librarian for suggestions -- they will be so excited to point out their faves to you!

I am terrible with names. Unless we are friends, there is no way I will remember your name after the first time we meet. Maybe not after the second time either, unless we've had lots of face-to-face contact in between. I don't know why; it's just the way I am.

But don't feel bad! I do the same thing to novel characters! Unless the main character's name is in the title of the book a la Lisa Yee, I do not remember it. Even when I blog abbout a novel I finished right after I put the book down, I still need to read the blurb again to remember the main character's name.

Does anyone else have this problem?

I think the reason this happens to me when I read is bc once I establish early on what the MC's name is, I skim over it through the rest of the book so I can get to the exciting plot. I read quickly, so this is not unusual for me.

What have I learned from this? Is it a) I better come up with fantabulous names for my MCs so others with my name memory problem can no way forget my MCs' names, or b) if my plot is so great that it makes a reader forget the MC's name, who cares? Right now I'm leaning towards (b), but maybe that's bc that's already how I read!

Or perhaps my memory just sucks.

How about all of you?

Deena, Miss Subbing for Pubbing

Motivation is Key

Tip of the Day: need some motivation? Try writing outside or in a different location. You just might find new inspiration!

It seems like every few months one of us writes about finding motivation. Sometimes I feel bad for having to admit that I need to search for writing motivation so much. I mean if we love writing, then we shouldn't have to search for motivation all the time, should we?

But then I remember I'm not alone, and that just like with everything in life some days we are more motivated then others. One day you might have a hectic schedule at your day job, the next your kids might not stop screaming for attention, or the next you might be extremely sick and unable to physically work. With all that chaos, I don't know how people don't have to seek motivation to write (So if you are one of those lucky few, please share with the rest of us).

No matter how chaotic life might get, if you want to pursue writing for publication then you definitely have to find motivation. So this list of things to try to get your writing groove back is just as much for you as it is me:

1. Read!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Sometimes that's all it takes is to immerse yourself in someone else's world to get motivated to create your own.
2. Try something new. If you are bored with what you are writing and have the option to work on something different, then do it. Or even just change where you write (just think how different your story could be written from the beach instead of your cramped couch) or how you write (hello old-fashioned paper and pen, how I've missed you). You might be amazed at the results. But if you are under contract, maybe just writing five minutes a day of something else might also help.
3. Surround yourself with a great support system. Someone wise once said that you are only as good as the people you keep around you. Having writing friends that can support you makes all the difference. Having non-writing ones are just as important for the days you need to take a break, which leads me to...
   
4. Take a break. Sometimes all you need is a break. So don't feel bad if you need to take a day, week, month, or even longer break from writing. Chances are everything will still come out fine, and your writing might thank you for the rest. Remember at your day job, you usually get two-days off a week for a reason :)
   

What about you? How do you find motivation, where no motivation exists?

--Emily, Miss Querylicious

Outline Ideas: Planning and Plotting

Tip of the Day: Now that the sun is finally shining in Upstate New York (can you believe it?), it's time for me to remember to apply my face moisturizer with SPF 30 in the morning. I'm so glad someone invented that stuff!

I just finished a later draft of a novel, and I have another novel where I stopped writing at the climax chapter. Nothing beats sitting down and churning out pages for getting things done, but I'm at the point where my projects need organization. I need a plan, and that means I need to spend time planning.

I'm not a great outliner. I'm not sure I'm even a mediocre outliner. I can write them, but they never turn out as expected. What I thought I could cover in a few pages turns out to be two chapters long. Then months later, I'll figure out how I can get from plot point A to plot point B a better way ... but then I'll have to scrap the outline! Horrors! It was so hard to write! Why did I bother?

On the other hand, looking at a draft of a novel and writing down as my weekly goal "Make this better" isn't working out either.

Right now, I'm really digging this article by Alicia Rasley called Outline Your Novel in Thirty Minutes (http://www.sff.net/people/Alicia/artout.htm). It's a series of 9 questions about your idea. I used it to test a potential plot idea for a new book to see if it had potential. I also used it for the novel I'm working on. That one already has a plot (or so I like to think), but the questions helped me identify a way to build in more tension that I'm excited about.

Here's the first question on the list: 1. At the start of your book, what distinguishes your protagonist from other people? What central strength does he/she have? How does this strength get him/her into trouble?

Isn't that brilliant? What makes your main character different from other people? (Okay, you can all take a minute and answer that one.)

So instead of working on a chapter by chapter outline, I've been working on big, macro-level outlines. I've noticed that it gives me ideas that I can slot into this chapter or that, and I jot them down with notes like "C3" for chapter 3. (Fancy code, right?) I'll still have to whip this into something with a timeline (ahh, the dreaded timeline!!!) but staring at a spreadsheet with a chapter column is so not me.

Hmm, start with the short plot summary and then expand it into details ... yeah, not so revolutionary. I've been hearing that forever. But hearing it and figuring out how to put it into practice are two different things! Any advice?

-- Kate, Miss Perfecting the Pages

Winner of CONFESSIONS OF A TRIPLE SHOT BETTY is....

Christine Farley!

Congratulation! Please email your snail mail address to:

author2author DOT blog AT gmail DOT com

Happy weekend, everyone!

Deena, Miss Subbing for Pubbing

The Strange and Unusual

Tip of the day: Last chance to enter to win CONFESSIONS OF A TRIPLE SHOT BETTY! You have until midnight tonight, EST to comment. Winner will be announced tomorrow – good luck!!

So I’m working on a new project right now. I’ve got 10,000 words and I think it’s going to end up being the longest thing I’ve ever written, assuming I’m able to finish it and all of that.

Right now I’m trying to get the first five chapters done so I can send them to my agent for a thumbs-up before continuing on. This book is going to be pretty cool, I think, but there’s one part that’s a little strange and I just want to make sure she sees it as a good strange and not a bad strange.

But really, does anyone see anything as too “out there” anymore? I mean, in books now we have tons of vampires, werewolves, shape shifters, and all kinds of other creatures. I think it may be all in how you execute it.

I’m really glad I have an agent who is willing to look over early chapters and/or a synopsis to give feedback and help shape a project so it goes in the right direction. I’ve written entire novels in the past that simply had parts that were too strange. In trying to be different, I went too far.

And as Agent Nathan Bransford posted recently, the kind of books people love are those that have a familiarity about them, but add a new twist of some kind.

Do you ever worry your story is too far-fetched, or has an aspect of it that might be so? Do you think these days, in YA, pretty much anything goes?

~Lisa, Miss Crafting a Career

Hook up with the Locals

Tip of the Day: Don't forget you still have TWO DAYS to enter to win CONFESSIONS OF A TRIPLE SHOT BETTY. Each day you comment is another entry into the contest. Comment, comment, comment!!!!!

I mean, if you want to. Whatever. :-)

Last week in my tip of the day I mentioned there was an Illinois Author Fair in Bolingbrook, IL. I wasn't part of the fair but I knew there would be some YA authors there so I really wanted to go and introduce myself.

I got to meet three authors: Stephanie Kuehnert (I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone), Kimberly Pauley (Sucks to be Me), and Pamela Todd (The Blind Faith Hotel). They were all so cool and nice and it's so fun to meet other YA authors who live in the same area. In this field lots of times it can feel lonely because no one else is around that does what you do (unless you live in NYC, then you're pretty lucky to be surrounded by cool authors frequently!). Or, if you're like me, you've talked to other authors so much online that you start to think they look like the person on their book covers. (Come on, you do this too right? Right?) So if any opportunity to meet others in your area pops up, grab it.

I'd like to be a good blogger and give you pictures and more details about the Illinois Author Fair but it was kind of a blur for me. Saturday was one of those days where the list of family things to do was a mile high so I ran into the fair at the end at literally just scanned the room for Stephanie's cute hair. Once I found her I introduced myself and we chatted. And then she introduced me to the others. I can tell you the fair did look cool from what I saw. There were authors at tables all around the Fountaindale library in Bolingbrook, a B&N rep selling a ton of books, bits of swag all over to pick up, drinks and treats to munch on, and a raffle. I'm totally planning on participating next year once my book is out.

But even if you don't have any author fairs in your area, maybe put a shout out on Verla's or another Web site and see what authors are in your area? Have you guys hooked up with YA authors in your area? If so, how did find them? Share!

Kristina, Miss Delighted to Debut

Starring Me as the MC (or A Novel Identity Crisis!)

Tip of the Day: Comment today -- and all week! -- for a chance to win Confessions of a Triple Shot Betty by Jody Gehrman. See Kate's Monday post for the rules!

Doesn't this





get you in the mood for this? (I love the detail of the kissing couple inside the circle! Get close and check it out.)


As writers, we are often asked of our work, "Is this story based on real life?"



The answer for my first novel ever written is, "Well, kind of, but I changed enough details to make it so it wasn't like my life."



In other words, I took a scenario I was familiar with from real life but changed:

1) the characters' ages

2) the characters' backgrounds

3) the characters' jobs

4) the characters' reactions to the situation

in order to make it "fiction" and not like I was writing a memoir, and to "force" me to create characters and scenarios instead of rehashing a sort of truth.



But now as I reevaluate that novel with thoughts of a major overhaul, I realize that in going so out of my way to make it NOT my life, I lost the essence of the story that WAS my life; the essence that would drive the story; that which inspired me to write it to begin with.



The painful reactions of a sister pulling away, the joyous revelations of a new boyfriend, the authentic VOICE that I scrapped bc I was afraid it was MY voice, not my MC's voice.



In some cases it's OK to use "your" voice as you write. It's in your head for a reason and as long as your character speaks and acts in a way that is true for her given the situation, it's OK for her to act like you would -- or how you as the author would want to act.



When I get around to revising this book, it still won't be anything close to a memoir, but the MC's voice will be a bit closer to the truth and I think that's a good thing.



I hope this make sense. This revelation just came to me and I'm still pondering it but think I'm getting somewhere....



Deena, Miss Subbing for Pubbing

Giveaway Day 2

Tip of the Day: don't forget to comment on this post for your chance to win a copy of Confessions of a Triple Shot Betty. The more you comment, the more chances you have to win!!!

I'm going to keep this short and sweet, because the real purpose of this post is merely to give you another shot at winning a book (see, I look out for you blog readers, don't I?!)

But I couldn't let it go without seconding that I agree with Kate 100% in that you should write about what you love.

When I first started writing, everyone (and by everyone I mean well-meaning family, the mailman, the 80-year old woman walking her dog, and pretty much every non-writer out there who likes to give writing advice) told me I should "write what I know." And to some extent I agree with them, but when I started to actually write fiction I found it was much more fun to write about what I didn't know and what I wanted to learn A LOT about.

And the second I found a way to combine some of my biggest interests (such as movies, travel, adventure, and solving puzzles), writing started to get much more interesting for me. And when the writer is passionate about what they are writing, the readers can't help but catch some of that infectious energy.

So basically what I'm saying is don't limit yourself to writing what you know, but have fun with writing, researching, and living your life. Your books and your readers (or eventual readers) will thank you for it!

No go forth and comment...

--Emily, Miss Querylicious

A2A Giveaway Week: Coffee and Writing What You Love

Hi, Kate here, Miss Perfecting the Pages. As Monday's poster, I'm announcing our book giveaway this week, selected by Deena, Miss Subbing for Pubbing. Here's what she has to say about CONFESSIONS OF A TRIPLE SHOT BETTY (I love that title) and why we're giving it away this week:

Tina[Miss Delighted to Debut]'s debut, THE ESPRESSOLOGIST, will be in stores this fall! I had the pleasure of reading this book in a draft form and it had me smiling and laughing and wishing I'd come up with the cool concept of a barista who matches up couples based on their favorite coffee drinks. To get our A2A readers ready for some great coffee shop reading, we're giving away a copy of CONFESSIONS OF A TRIPLE SHOT BETTY by Jody Gehrman. Love triangles and a coffee shop with a really cute scratch and sniff coffee cover. What more can you ask for? (Except Tina's book to come out sooner! :))

To enter, just leave a comment on our blog as many days as you can this week, and for each comment you'll be entered to win CONFESSIONS OF A TRIPLE SHOT BETTY! For example, comment Monday through Friday, and you're entered 5 times to win. Winner will be posted Saturday. Got it? Now comment away!

Thanks, Deena!

Tina loves coffee. Like, a lot. I think it's so cool that she found a way to take that enthusiasm for something and make it a big part of a novel. When I think of my hobbies and interests, I can't get them to be so, well, hooky.

I love comics and cartoons, but I can't draw myself. I've tried working this love into a novel and giving the same enthusiasm to my main character. It doesn't work well, though, if I can't draw cartoons to go with the text.

I also love boating and I've always wanted to write a story about that. But I don't know anything glamorous like yachting. That would be cool. I could probably pitch a yacht crew book, if knew the slightest thing about it. I know blue collar boating, like clamming and crabbing. I do have some ideas for boat stories. One involves ghost sharks. Really. I'm really stretching to make this one interesting.

Coffee is perfect, I think, because you could learn a lot about it firsthand (unlike yachting) and teens are interested in coffee, too. Clamming, not so much.

How do you write about what you love?

-- Kate, Miss Perfecting the Pages

Dear Lisa edition - advice for aspiring authors

Tip of the day: If you are a Mac user and struggle with the distraction of the Internet, you might want to try Freedom. It allows you to set a timer so you don’t have access to the internet during that time, so you can write in peace! It’s free to install and easy to use!

I’m feeling this need to try and say something helpful today. To give you guys advice of some kind. It's fun to play "Dear Abby" once in awhile, isn't it?

In interviews, I often get asked, what’s the one piece of advice you like to give to writers? And I think I usually say something like, read a lot and write a lot, make sure you experiment and play and discover where your strengths are.

And I believe that. But there are probably ten other things I could tell you I believe as well. So today, I'll give you a few other nuggets of mine. Oh boy, aren't you just so lucky! They’re all over the place as far as topics, but that’s okay. As you know, there are many pieces to this writing and publishing puzzle!

1. Don’t let the desire to be published ruin your life. Please! I know it’s something that can make your heart ache, wanting to see that book you sweated over sitting on a shelf in a bookstore. I certainly understand that desire to have someone read your words, and to connect with you through the story you created. I know. I get it. But I also know it’s a tough business, and it can be years of trying and writing and writing some more and trying some more. Life is short! Don’t live in misery while you wish and wait for a book to sell. Find other things you like to do and that bring you joy, and recognize when you need to take a break from the madness of this business.

2. Learn how to write a hook that describes your book. How? By reading others. If you have never joined Publishers Marketplace before, I recommend you do it for a short period of time (cost is $20.00 for a month) and study deals, retype them, and work on writing up a short, juicy description for your own book. Learn how to write a really short one, a medium one, and the longer one-page synopsis. Again and again, I’ve seen how this skill is so important. Yes, my editors write my jacket copy, but I like to read it and provide input. Even now, when I don’t have to try and woo an agent, I certainly want to try and wow the one I have! So I’ll write up a one or two sentence pitch about the book I’m working on, to give her an idea. If you’re still looking for an agent, practicing and getting this skill down is only going to help you when you’re writing your query letter, trust me!

3. More than anything else, work on craft. Sometimes I hear of writers who keep trying and trying and trying to get published with one book. If you really want to be a writer, guess what, you have to KEEP WRITING. I know it’s hard sometimes to think you spent all that time writing a book that won’t ever be published, but it’s really not wasted time. Think of those books as schooling. I’m guessing most first books don’t sell. Do some? Sure, of course. But you have to be willing, at some point, to let go and move on, I think.

4. Find writers who are in the same place as you. This is SO important. You need friends by your side, to laugh with, to cry with, to read with, to critique with. How do you meet people? You can find them at places where writers hang out on-line, or go to a conference with the goal of finding a couple of people to start a group with.

I think that’s all I have time for today, but if there’s anything you’d like to know about, leave it in the comments and we’ll tackle it in a future blog post!

~Lisa, Miss Crafting a Career

It's that time again...

TOD: There is an Illinois Author Fair at the Bolingbrook, IL library on Saturday from 11-3. 25 authors will be there. Young adult authors include Stephanie Kuehnert (we interviewed her here), Pam Todd, Janet Riehecky, Kimberly Pauley, and Laurie Lawlor.

Revision! I know I've blogged about revision before. Specifically how when I first see revision requests I feel like AHHHHHHHH!!!!! I'm getting better though. This time instead of needing to mull over the revisions I instantly said yes! Of course! And then screamed after. Kidding. I didn't scream at all this time. Only a little tiny bit in my head. Mostly I was VERY excited because I have a definite book two for 2010! My middle grade, MY FAKE BOYFRIEND IS BETTER THAN YOURS is it. In my excitement it seems I can do anything. And I'm sure I can. The revision requests are good ones and I just have to figure out how to execute.

I'm going to try something different this time and I thought I'd share. Here's what I'm doing:

I printed out the book, got the red pen to write in notes, and different color post-its.





















Yes, I know, earth-shattering stuff. But I've never printed out one of my books before to revise. The first time I worked on a printed manuscript was when my editor sent me Espressologist for line edits. Fake Boyfriend is the 6th book I've written. I just never got into printing the books out. Even when I was querying for agents I only sent to those who took equeries.

Anyway, my editor had a few main points that need to be applied throughout the book. Mostly just things I need to add. I figured I'd assign each point a color post-it and then read through the whole book and put the post-it (with new scene written in brief) in various spots. Then go back and write the scenes when I'm done. I'm hoping by printing and having it front of me I'll be able to see the whole book better. Think it'll work? I hope so!

Kristina, Miss Delighted to Debut

Social Networking Norms? (or MySpace Melts My Brain...How About Yours?)

Tip of the Day: Libraries + Full Moons = Strange patrons out and about....beware....

Tina's post yesterday about all the internet social networks available got me thinking about MySpace.

At the library, teens are on MySpace all the time. I see less on FaceBook, but I know from word of mouth that they go there, too.

So is MySpace washed up in terms of connecting with teen readers? Is FaceBook the best place to go for providing a venue for discussions of your work and a way to reach authors?

I recently bought my domain (bc there's such a HUGE demand for deenalipomi.com), and was wondering what content would make it accessible and fun, like apparently the social networking sites are? A blog? Pics and videos? What do you like in an author website? What do teens like?

Deena, Miss Subbing for Pubbing

Where should my time go?

Tip of the Day: Confused by Twitter? Check out these great tips.

Em's away from the Internet still this week so I thought I'd throw up a discussion question for ANYONE to answer. Where should a young adult fiction author's online attention go? I'm kinda feeling like there is SO MUCH out there right now that I don't know what to spend more time on. Here's where I'm at right now:

A2A

Live Journal

Blogspot

my Web site

MySpace

Facebook

Twitter

Goodreads

AuthorsNow

2009 Debutantes

Is there somewhere else I should be? Is there one place that is better to spend time at than another? Like, everyone is saying TWITTER! TWITTER! TWITTER! lately. What do you guys think? Where is the best place to invest your time/energy?

Kristina, Miss Delighted to Debut

Teen Book Festival and Twitter

Tip of the Day: My awesome online critique group has a website! Check out a group of talented YA/MG writers at http://www.migwriters.com/.

Last weekend, I attended the annual Rochester Teen Book Festival and saw inspirational author presentations by Sara Zarr, Daphne Grab, Jenny Han, Jack Ferraiolo, Robin Brande, Sharon Flake, and Matt de la Pena. I also got books signed by Kenneth Oppel, David Levithan, and Ellen Hopkins. It was phenomenal. The turnout of teens dying to see their favorite authors was so much fun!

If you'd like to read about the festival and see some great pictures, check out Deena's writeup at http://deenaml.livejournal.com/122006.html, author attendee Jenny Han's blog at http://thelongstockings.blogspot.com/2009/04/tbf-forever.html, and my local librarian's take at http://blaine.org/sevenimpossiblethings/?p=1626.

I left those links as full addresses because I wanted you to see where I'm leading you. But I could've made them into "tinyurls" because I know how to do that. Yeah, I'm on Twitter, although I haven't quite gotten the hang of it. For the Teen Book Festival, I decided to Twitter my experience. I set up my account to take texts from my phone the night before the festival. I was all set to report from the scene.

You know what? It's really hard to say something substantial in 140 characters without practice. I ended up tweeting "Robin Brande is awesome" and "Jack Ferraiolo is soo funny!" And those things are true, but you probably could've figured them out without my Twitter updates.

What I liked better was searching for the Teen Book Festival in Twitter afterwards and finding people to follow. Now that I have some more feeds to read, I can think about how to be clever in 12 words or less. That has to be great discipline for a writer, right?

Before the festival, I received an invite for it in Facebook. After the festival, I read blogs about it by other people who had attended. I enjoyed that. It made the festival more exciting, more of an event. At the festival itself, though, I totally slacked on the picture taking and clever tweeting. I need to live in the moment, I think, so I have trouble preserving it at the same time. I'll try tweeting another event though, and hopefully get better at it with practice.

-- Kate, Miss Perfecting the Pages

A2A The Teen Years: Sophomore Saturday Nights

Tip of the day: Peeps are dangerous. Be very, very careful this weekend.

Ah, okay. Saturday nights. Sophomore year. Well, since that was the year my friends and I turned 16, this is easy. Cruising the strip is what we did Saturday nights. And NO, this wasn't the 60's.

I went to a small town high school, and the next town over had this section of town that was PERFECT for cruising. And it would get packed. We would be in stand-still traffic at 10:00 at night, with the windows rolled down and Billy Squire blaring from the speakers. And hopefully, or at least my friends hoped anyway, we'd be sitting next to a car full of cute guys.

I never drove, one of my friends, Dawn or Jodi, who had REALLY cool cars, usually drove. This is what one of theirs looked like (no, I'm not kidding):




The funny thing about this whole cruising thing is that I HATED sitting in the front seat. Because sitting in the front seat meant I might have to strike up a conversation with a car full of guys I didn’t know and that was really my least favorite part of cruising. I liked the music, I liked talking and laughing with the girls, and I liked looking at the guys. But when it came to talking to them? To pure strangers? On a road, in a car? Yeah, not so much.

Today, whenever I hear a Billy Squire song, I instantly go back to those good old days and I almost feel 16 again. No cool car. No strip to cruise. No cute guys to ogle over, except my husband, of course.

But still, almost…

~Lisa, Miss Crafting a Career

A2A The Teen Years: Sophmore Saturday Nights

Tip of the Day: We always tell teens to not divulge too much info online but sometimes the adults need to hear it too. Don’t post things on your blog/facebook like “I’m leaving for a two-week vacation!” (As in my house is empty, feel free to look up my address online, and stop by any time!)

Saturday nights during my sophomore year…I can tell you where I was. I was up to no good! Well, sometimes I was innocent. Like during football season after a Saturday game I’d go to the band party. That’s right, I said band party—you know, the one where all the COOL kids hang out. And they were fun and well chaperoned. But on those other Saturday nights where no band function was in sight? I’d be getting in trouble with my friends.

I don’t know why we were so naughty but it seemed like we always had to find something to do that was dangerous. Generally it would start with a sleepover at someone’s house. We’d wait until that parent(s) fell asleep and then chaos would ensue. One time, I recall being in a jam-packed car cruising through town where not a single one of us had a license.

We had our most experienced newly permitted kid doing the driving so we felt extremely safe of course (and not at all stupid like we so totally were).

Another time I remember sneaking out with a friend to walk to the White Hen at midnight. Ended up we were being followed by two weirdos and had to get the White Hen manager to drive us home. Yeah, that was fun explaining to her mom let me tell you.

I could go on with my sophomore antics but quite truthfully, I’m scared. What if my mom reads my blog? I'm not sure what the statute of limitations is on this kind of thing. We did a lot of really crazy things that year. Quite the pranksters too I must say. If I ever meet you somewhere we can have a coffee and I’ll fill you in but let’s just move past sophomore Saturdays for now.

I do want to cheat (like Deena yesterday!) and tell you briefly about my freshman Fridays because they were quite unique and wholesome (like bread I tell ya). I don’t know if I mentioned this before but I was always the youngest in my class. My birthday is near Halloween so when I started freshman year I was 13 turning 14. I didn’t drive for a loooong time (second qtr junior year!). So every Friday my best friend and I would go with my dad to his bowling league.

My Dad has been bowling on Friday nights for some 35+ years. He’s the president of the bowling league in these parts actually (yep, that makes me part of the first family). And it was a BLAST. No, really. I’m not kidding. F-U-N. Here’s what you’ve got—one dad busy bowling from 6 to 10 + two thirteen year olds running amuck. (What is amuck anyway?). While my Dad bowled we’d walk up and down the street, go to various stores, go to a nearby fifties diner for green rivers and fries and just generally all around be goofy. It was so much fun and a regular thing until I was old enough to drive.

Once I was a junior with a license all heck broke out. That’s all I’m saying.

Kristina, Miss Delighted to Debut