Don't Stop Believin'

(Blog title courtesy of Journey)

So last night, my husband & I decided to celebrate The Immortals hitting their 52nd consecutive week on the New York Times Best Sellers list by dining at the same restaurant Ever dined at with Sabine on page 38 in Evermore.

The one Riley called, "ChiChi."

(For those of you who don't have your book handy, that restaurant is HERE.)

And after enjoying an awesomely "ChiChi" meal with probably just a bit too much wine & champagne, served by our awesome waiter with the world's coolest name (shout out to Metro!)--it suddenly hit me:

Six years ago --to the day!-- I was in Las Vegas with my husband (a business conference for him), it was our last night on the town and I gave myself a stern talking to I'll never forget.

You see, my then agent had been shopping my debut novel, FAKING 19, and all we seemed to be getting for our efforts was a nice big stack of rejections. Months had passed, and not one publisher was biting, and I was starting to doubt that they ever would.

It was making me sad, depressed, filled with self-doubt, and probably not all that fun to live with. So, that night, I made a vow to myself to release it. To stop focusing on it, obsessing over it, and worrying about an outcome I had absolutely no control over whatsoever.

I decided to just let it be and turn my focus to something else.

I wasn't necessarily giving up on the book, and I definitely wasn't giving up on my dream of being published, but I was giving up on all of that energy I'd spent freaking out over its unsold state.

Moments after I'd made that commitment, I felt better. Lighter. Less burdened. And I decided that as soon as I returned home the next day, I would pick up where I left off on that "other" book idea I'd kinda started (aka-ART GEEKS & PROM QUEENS).

So, cut to the very next day, February 4, 2004, I've pushed Faking 19 totally out of my mind, and am thinking up new plot ideas for my other book, while returning the rental car to the airport, when my agent calls to tell me that St. Martin's Press just offered me a deal for FAKING 19 and "whatever else I was working on."

Yep, less than 24 hours after releasing my obsession, it all just sort of happened on its own.

Last year on this date, when I first hit the NYT list, I couldn't help but notice the coincidence in the dates, and I'm sure I blogged about it then too.

This year, after being on the list for a year straight (something I never even dreamed of!), and with the milestone hitting on the same date, well, sorry for the redundancy, but I couldn't help but blog about it again.

I guess what I'm really trying to say here is that if you really, really want something you cannot give up on the dream itself--though you can (and should) give up on the negative emotions that tend to crop up when that dream is temporarily thwarted.

Don't give in to the self-doubt and that little voice in your head that just loves the words like "Can't" and "No" and "Sorry, not for you!"

Just keep learning, doing, improving, and moving forward--and don't forget to take time to enjoy the journey, because even though it's not always pleasant while you're down in the muck of it--looking back on all the rough bits you survived sure makes it feel sweeter once you've arrived!

Have a good day everyone!

A

:)

Secret Garden

(Blog title courtesy of The Boss--Bruce Springsteen!)

(Summerland--as imagined by Skyrose--isn't it lovely?!!)

So, the ringing in of a new decade got me thinking a lot about how I spent the last one, and I have to say, that if nothing else, it's been one of great change. Containing some of the hardest, most difficult hurdles I've ever faced, and yet those very same hurdles ended up providing not only great opportunity for learning and growth, but the chance to build something positive from them.

On the Millennium New Year's Eve, I was in Stockholm Sweden on a four day layover (I was working as a NYC based flight attendant back then), and a trip like that was pretty much the same as getting paid to vacation in a gorgeous (and cold!!) city. And, as I was still dating my soon-to-be husband, I took him along and we had an amazing time!

Fast forward to 2001, we got married in May, and by September, when 9/11 hit, I was suddenly faced with a 40% pay cut and the additional duty of performing early morning bomb checks. And as horrible and tragic as that day was, as much as that moment of watching those planes fly into the towers will forever be sealed in my mind, it also served as the impetus to finally stop talking about my dream of being a writer, and actually start, well, writing!

So, I dusted off the story I'd started nearly a decade before, finished it, sent it off to a slew of publishers (erroneously thinking I didn't need an agent--wrong!), only to get a slew of rejections for my efforts. And yet, as much as it hurt to be rejected by everyone, in the end it just made me try harder. I took classes, revised my manuscript over and over again, and by 2003 I had an agent, and by Feb 4, 2004 I was offered a two-book deal with St. Martin's Press!

But before we'd even finished celebrating, we were hit with tragedy as every member of my husband's immediate family was diagnosed with cancer within months of each other--including my husband.

By 2005, when my debut novel, FAKING 19, was released we'd already lost his mother, and a very, dear, old friend of mine (my first love!), suddenly passed away too. By the time my second book was released, my husband lost his twin brother, and by the time my third book was released, I was on the verge of losing my husband as well.

But, he pulled through, and what was truly the absolute darkest phase of my life, ultimately shifted into something else. And I soon realized that If I hadn't experienced that--if I hadn't gone through a grief so deep I could barely get off the couch--I wouldn't have been able to write Saving Zoe, Cruel Summer, or any of the books in The Immortals series. Those stories were a direct result of where I'd been and who I'd become because of it. Writing them helped me to make better sense of the world.

2009 has brought some amazing opportunities my way, and to say that I'm grateful hardly seems sufficient. And even though I have no idea what 2010 will bring--I can't wait to get started! If nothing else, I think I've finally learned that no matter how dire something may seem on the surface, if you go deep (very, very deep!), there's a message, an opportunity for growth, and maybe even a chance to turn it into something better.

The other night I watched "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" (original version) on TV, and at the very end, in Charlie's "all is lost" moment, when Wonka tells him that he failed the test and to go away, Charlie reaches into his pocket and hands over the gum he'd taken earlier. Only to have Wonka look at him, eyes shining as he says:

"So shines a good dead in a weary world."

And then hands him the keys to the kingdom.

I hope you all shine just as bright (if not brighter!) in 2010!!

Alyson

xoxo

Pictures of You Me

(blog title courtesy of The Cure)

(Art work courtesy of Estefanie--isn't it awesome??!!!)

So yesterday I did something I've been putting off for ages--or, to be more precise, since March of 2005, which pretty much marks the time when my debut novel, Faking 19, hit the stores.

I finally got a professional author photo taken.

I know, I know, how could I let this drag on for so long, you ask? (and even if you didn't please play along!)

Well, the truth is, while I'm always up for the spontaneous, candid, party or vacay photo, the idea of posing before a photographer in a studio totally freaks me out. Just the thought of it was enough to inspire no less than a gazillion excuses as to why I couldn't possibly get around to scheduling it.

I'm on deadline.

I will be on deadline at some point in the near future.

I don't like what my hair is doing this week.

I feel puffy.

I have a zit.

The list goes on . . .

Which is also why I've sported the same photo on the back of nine of my novels so far--the one taken by my husband just seconds after checking into The Wynn hotel in Las Vegas after the 4 hour drive from Laguna Beach. The one where most, if not all, of my makeup was melted away, and I was just really glad to finally be there. While Faking 19 features the photo my husband took the time I joined him on a business trip to Ohio, back when I was experimenting with darker hair. An experiment that ended shortly after the photo was taken and hasn't been revisited since.

But with my big date with braces and gum surgery looming next week (!), I finally bit the bullet and made an appointment at Crush Studios, where I was made up by the beautiful, sweet, and amazingly talented owner of Addiction Cosmetics, Noel Sweeny, who gave me a smoky eye I could hardly believe and left my lips glossy and pink, before Crush owner and photographer extraordinaire, Nancy Villere, went to work and got me laughing so easily I actually caught myself doing the one thing I was sure that I wouldn't --having fun!.

And when it was over, not wanting to waste the smoky eyes I could never replicate on my own, my husband and I went to one of our favorite local restaurants, Vine in San Clemente, and celebrated The Immortals spending a 3rd week on the NYT series list (making for 44 weeks on the list in general!)!

(end of the night at Vine- look at that pretty kaleidoscope effect)

And now, today, I'm back to the barefaced, sweat pants wearing me . . . those dark, smoky eyes reduced to a distant memory-or at least until I pick out my photos next week!

What about you? Do you enjoy posing for photos? Or do you head for the hills when a camera is pointed your way?

Yesterday

So yesterday I attended the SCBWI Spring Retreat at the beautiful, and extremely busy, (weddings--writers--bus loads of wine tasters--oh my!), South Coast Winery Resort and Spa in Temecula, where I got to hang out with super cool authors like Debby Garfinkle and Stacia Deutsche, and give a little talk about how using the screenwriting technique changed my life. (Yes, Robert Mckee, I owe it all to you!)

Or at least it changed my writing, which lead to my first two-book deal with St. Martin's Press, which ultimately changed my life by allowing me to do what I love for a living (well, that and my awesome husband's unfailing support!) 

I have to admit, several months back when I was first asked to speak at the even I was thrilled, but as the day crept closer, I began to panic about what I was going to talk about. I'm not a "look under the hood" kind of writer. I just sort of immerse myself in the world I create, become the character, and feel my way though--somewhat like a method actor--with only the roughest, most barest, outline by my side, which is really no more than a list of the plot's most major turning points. And since there are so many industrious authors with their charts, outlines, and storyboards who do really great, visual, presentations, I had no idea how I'd fill up my own 50 minutes without all those tools.

But once I started thinking back on my publishing journey, I remembered how the shift came just after reading STORY by Robert Mckee (I later went on to read SAVE THE CAT by Blake Snyder, and love it just as much!). And the reason this worked for me is because film is an expensive medium with no time or $$ to waste on unnecessary scenes, and as FAKING 19 began as a story about a girl who did far more thinking than acting (kind of like me back then!), applying these lean, mean, make-stuff-happen-or-kill-it, methods, transformed it into a totally different manuscript that snagged my first book deal.

Are these methods for everyone? Probably not. But they worked for me, and hopefully, I was able to impart something helpful to a wonderful group of writers!

Happy Sunday everyone!

A

My Life Would Suck Without YOU!!

Borrowing from a Kelly Clarkson song as a way to express my gratitude to all of of friends, family, and amazing readers who've stood by me all these years--4 years to be exact--(well, 4 years for my readers that is-- my family's been around a little longer than that!), because 4 years ago today, my debut novel FAKING 19 was released, and it felt like the ultimate realization of a dream come true!

Because it was.

And now, because of all of YOU--the dream just keeps getting bigger and better--so:

Thanks.

  Seriously, Thanks.

And just to show you how serious I am, I'm going to give away a signed copy of EVERMORE to one random commenter (I'll use the old name in a hat trick to choose!)!

Oh, and speaking of gratitude, I recently received my first piece of EVERMORE fan art, which I would totally post here except for the fact that my scanner is currently on strike. But still, let me just say, that it's totally adorable and cute and sweet and completely made my day!

And double Oh, and another reader wrote me an e-mail sharing a new word that she and her friends made up and she used it to describe my book: ausome-tasical!!  LOVE it! And definitely plan to use it myself!

And triple Oh, google alerts alerted me to THIS a Live Journal community dedicated to all things EVERMORE and the IMMORTALS series!

Also, in the spirit of grateful thankfulness, the YA Edge has chosen EVERMORE as their March book club pick!! How cool is that, I ask? So, feel free to march on over there, or better yet, just click HERE and check it out for yourselves!

And, believe it or not, I'm even grateful for jury duty. Yes, it's true. And no I'm not joking. But that's only because I'm a "call in" juror which means I have to call in each day after 5:00 PM only to be told to call in the next day after 5:00 PM. And even though it's totally tedious, easy to forget, and really gets in the way of making plans, I'm still incredibly grateful that I don't have to drag myself down to the courthouse and hang around all day, hoping no one will call me for duty. Done that. Not fun.

Oh, and I'm also grateful because a super good friend of mine just divulged some extremely exciting news--but, I'm sworn to secrecy until I get the okay to tell you--but even though  I'm busting at the seams--dying to shout it out-- since I promised them I wouldn't -- I'll just add it to my grateful list!

What about you? What makes you grateful?  Oh, and don't forget to comment, doesn't have to be a grateful comment, just a regular old comment will do, for your chance to win a signed copy of EVERMORE!!!

OOPS!! UPDATE!!! YOU HAVE UNTIL SUNDAY, MARCH 8, 2009, MIDNIGHT California time!!!

(forgot to mention that before!  As you were . . .)

Free Books!!!

So, in honor of the fabulous Linda Gerber's new release, DEATH BY LATTE, (see last post for more details), she's throwing herself a major blog party and giving away all sorts of awesome prizes!

And since today's my turn, I'm blogging about LYING. So, please drop by, and leave me a comment about the last lie you told, or just how you feel about lying in general, for your chance to win a signed copy of my debut novel, FAKING 19, and my most recent release, CRUEL SUMMER.

All you have to do is click HERE!

Happy Sunday everyone!!