A fun tidbit of my day:
I found out the photo shoot for the How to Be Bad cover (book due in stores May 2008, co-written with Sarah Mlynowski & Lauren Myracle) was shot at this diner (see video, below).

Plus, this is also the video for a song the slang from which I used heavily in Fly on the Wall.
(Hey, it's a little bit of a racy video. I mean, it ran on MTV and everywhere else, but since people worry a lot more about sexy bits in YA novels than in videos, goodness knows why, I thought I'd warn you; there's a lot of shaking going on, some suggestive dairy products, a significant amount of lust and the word "d-mn")

I'll post the cover as soon as we've got one!

Jennifer Echols is on the GCC with me (btw, the GCC is now all-YA books all the time!), and her book Major Crush was a National Reader's Choice award-winner. The new one, THE BOYS NEXT DOOR (buy it at Flying Pig for $5.59!) is about Lori, whose next-door friend Adam has a hot brother, Sean. And this summer, Sean actually seems to be—dare she think it—flirting with her. Lori and Adam team up to get Adam’s estranged girlfriend back, and to get Sean for Lori. But then Lori begins to notice ADAM.

Love complications! Cute boys next door! What's not to love?
So Jennifer made us a BOYFRIEND LIST (it's been a while since we had one, eh?) and did the Dramarama musical theater interview, too! Revealing a taste for manly manly men AND an affection for Rebecca Luker, whom I recently saw in Mary Poppins, and who rocked Brigadoon and Sound of Music.

Jennifer Echols’ swashbuckling boyfriend list

Dream boyfriends who, like Adam in THE BOYS NEXT DOOR, are about to get in a fist fight at any moment:

Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) in The Bourne Identity etc.
Ryan Atwood (Benjamine McKenzie) in The O.C.
Agent J (Will Smith) in Men in Black etc.
Johnny Utah (Keanu Reeves) in Point Break
Ramond Avilla (Andy Garcia) in Internal Affairs
Jack Colton (Michael Douglas) in Romancing the Stone
Jeremiah Johnson (Robert Redford) in Jeremiah Johnson
Harrison Ford in Star Wars
Brad Pitt in anything

E: I pick Will Smith, myself...

The Dramarama Musical Theater Interview, questions by me, answers by Jennifer Echols

1. You were in a play in high school, weren't you? Tell me all about it.

Alas, a chick named Kimmykay beat me out for a part in Bus Stop.

2. Give me song lyric that makes you laugh. Preferably from a show, but I'll cut you some slack if whatever you quote is funny.

“Fish gotta swim, birds gotta fly, I gotta love that man til I die, can’t help lovin’ that man of mine.” When I was in high school I played oboe in the local junior college production of Show Boat. I giggle any time I think of people politely listening to me play the oboe.

3. If you've seen a show on Broadway, what was your first one? Whom did you go with, who was the star, what did you think of it?

I went to NYC with my mom and saw The Sound of Music starring Rebecca Luker, who is from Alabama (like us). We both adore the movie and can sing every word of the soundtrack, and the Broadway version was just as wonderful.

4. What's your showbiz fantasy?

To be on American Idol. Ability to sing would also be good.

5. Which Broadway diva are you, deep inside? And why? Ethel Merman, Carol Burnett, Nell Carter, Kristin Chenoweth, Bernadette Peters, Julie Andrews, Bebe Neuwirth, Audra McDonald, Carol Channing, Mary Martin, Barbra Streisand? Or someone else?

I wish I were Julie Andrews, who does everything so exquisitely and makes it look easy, while spreading the love.

(Friend Jennifer on Livejournal or myspace)

Because I can't resist a book meme:

1. Hardcover or paperback, and why?

Paperback. They're cheaper so I can have more.

2. If I were to own a book shop I would call it…

Avid. It would sell teen books and comics and unusual candy, and have big couches.

3. My favorite quote from a book (mention the title) is…

One key to happiness is frequent small treats.
-- Iris Murdoch, The Sea, The Sea

4. The author (alive or deceased) I would love to have lunch with would be ….

Joe Orton would be a fun lunch date, I think.
But last week I had lunch with Sarah Mlynowski, Cassie Clare and Maureen Johnson – and it was pretty boffo.

5. If I was going to a deserted island and could only bring one book, except the SAS survival guide, it would be…

written by Charles Dickens.

6. I would love someone to invent a bookish gadget that….

Turned the light out automatically when I've fallen asleep reading.

7. The smell of an old book reminds me of….

Graduate school.

8. If I could be the lead character in a book (mention the title), it would be….

I think I might quite like to be Stephanie Plum in Janice Evanovitch's One for the Money series. That girl has a very good time.

9. The most overestimated book of all time is….

Well, I fell asleep reading Gravity'sRainbow so many times I never found out whether I estimate it highly or not.

10. I hate it when a book…

idealizes female passivity.

Nominations for the Cybils award for best YA book this year (and the other categories) are open. Last year, Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist won. Anyone can nominate a book

It's not Teen Read Week yet (that's October 14-20) but tonight the whole Readergirlz chatstravaganza starts with MEG CABOT, people!

Details here but suffice it to say you can chat with the likes of Stephenie Meyer, Ann Brashares, Deb Caletti, John Green, Rachel Cohn, Sarah Mlynowski, Lauren Myracle, Carolyn Mackler, Lisa Yee

(I just have to pause to say: lady lady lady lady lady lady John Green!)

anyway, and also me on Oct 24th.

E

PS:
Now, it's not SUPER obvious what to do, so this is it:
Go to readergirlz group on myspace, once YOU are signed in to myspace. (remember, make sure you have followed the instructions above re: friending and joining readergirlz).

At the readergirlz group site, scroll past the Welcome and Member faces down to the forum.
Find the thread for or the date and name of whatever other author you are checking out) and double-click it.
At 5:00 PDT / 8:00 EDT, the chat starts. You can post questions and the writer will answer them. To see the answers, return to the forum and refresh.