Make me laugh, win some stuff
January 28, 2009

Disreputable History is a Printz Honor book this year. I am so thrilled!
So you know Disreputable History is in the Morning News Tournament of Books, yah?
By now you know Sarah Mlynowski and I wrote a book together with Lauren Myracle -- How to Be Bad.
(Here we are. That's Lauren with the pink hair, Sarah with the awesome hair, and me showing my gums.)
But did you know her new book Parties and Potions is out? The fourth in the Magic in Manhattan series. You can become a fan on facebook.
1. Tell me the sneakiest thing you ever did.
I backpacked in Europe with my boyfriend…but told my parents I was backpacking with my friend Shobie. I got caught too. Shobie was also in Europe that summer and left a message for me at home about meeting up in Florence. The next time I called my parents, my dad asked me who I was traveling with…unfortunately my answer was Shobie.
2. Tell me the sneakiest thing that happens in your new book.
Rachel, the main character, is always up to something. In Bras & Broomsticks she tries various techniques to sabotage her father’s wedding—like giving her future step-mom an ugly spell. In Frogs & French Kisses Rachel casts a love spell on her crush, except it lands on her crush’s boyfriend instead. In Spells & Sleeping Bags she tries to organize her camp cubby with magic, but ends up zapping her clothes away. In the new book, Parties & Potions, Rachel whispers to her boyfriend that she can’t talk because she’s at the dentist, when she is actually in the middle of a debutante-witch lesson in Arizona.
3. Are you a prankster? Tell me a story.
In college, we stole a friend’s clothes and towels out of the dorm shower and she had to unhinge the disgusting shower curtain and wear it back to her room. Oh, wait…that was done TO me, not BY me. I still need to get Kevin back for that.
4. Were you in any clubs or societies in high school? Did any of those club activities make it into your novels?
I wasn’t. Some of my friends were in the fashion show in high school, and while not a club, it definitely felt like one. A very exclusive one. You had to be gorgeous, popular and be able to move your butt like you’ were a contestant on Dancing with the Stars. And the models took the show very, very seriously. Zoolander seriously. I had to use that somewhere, and it’s in Bras & Broomsticks. Rachel gets her little sister to give her a rhythm spell so she can make it into the fashion show and hang with the A-list. Harlem shakes, the Macarena and chaos ensue…
5. Do you consider yourself a feminist? Why, or why not?
Yes. First, because women and men deserve equal opportunities. Second, because I think it’s important that women’s realities are valued in the same way men’s are. They may be different, but that doesn’t make a woman’s experiences any less valuable. For example, growing up I loved my Cabbage Patch Kids, Angelica and Bianca. I also loved my Star Wars figures. Should I not have loved my Cabbage Patch Kids because they were so… girly? Absolutely not. I celebrated them. They took rides on the Millennium Falcon.
6. How does your answer to question 5 show up in your new book?
In Parties & Potions, Rachel learns to accept and be honest about who she is (a witch) and to feel empowered by her differences rather than inhibited. Also, the cover is hot pink. And I love it.
7. The club in Disreputable History is called The Loyal Order of the Basset Hounds. If you were to found a secret society, what would it be called, and what would its mission be?
Secret Society of Super Powers. It would be a lot like Spiderman and His Amazing Friends. I would be Firestar, aka Angelica Jones (yup, the namesake of one of my Cabbage Patch Kids). We would use our powers for good—stopping evil, saving children, roasting marshmallows.
HERE'S THE TRAILER FOR PARTIES AND POTIONS:
John Green keeps posting memes, which is bad of him because he knows I can't resist them. I am supposed to be writing!
Type your name into Google with the verb that comes after in the question. Answer with your favorites from the first page of google results. Have fun! (I abbreviated -- this is a shorter list than John has -- because my name is not as common as John's so the results were not always so amusing...)
Q: Type in "[your name] needs" in the Google search.
A: E. Lockhart needs a bunch of people to answer some questions for her soon to be finished book Roo3. (That was true. And you did!)
Q: Type in "[your name] looks like" in Google search.
A: (There were no results. I am an enigma!)
Q: Type in "[your name] says" in Google search.
A: E. Lockhart Says:. okay, I was in danger of buying a shrug sweater at the Boden sale, but now I am safe! (This was in response to Justine Larbalestier's blog, in which she warned us of the horrors of shrugs)
Q: Type in "[your name] wants" in Google search.
A: (No results. I am content, apparently.)
Q:Type in "[your name] does" in Google search.
A: E. Lockhart DOES rock! and Has anyone apprehend the admirer account by e. lockhart? does anyone apperceive if it's 1st person, 3rd person, all-seeing or 3rd being omniscient. (No comment)
Q: Type in "[your name] asks" in Google search.
A:E. Lockhart asks J. Green if he is going to eat that bagel, or just let it is sit on the windowsill and get cold. (This from Maureen Johnson's blog.)
Q: Type in "[your name] likes " in Google search.
A: E. Lockhart likes to be as dignified as possible at all times. (Lies Lauren Myracle told about me on tour! :) )
Q: Type in "[your name] eats " in Google search.
A: (no results. But I do too, eat.)
The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks goes up against the big boys as a contender in the Morning News 2009 Tournament of Books.
Check out the new cover for How to Be Bad! Gator is new, girl is old. The paperback is coming out this summer, and along with the gator on the cover it'll have all kinds of fun extras: a playlist, top-secret emails we sent while working on the book, etc. (Here, by the way, is the official How to Be Bad page, which has photos from our travel adventures, a video, and various other fun stuff).
Gacked from John Green. Because it has been too long since I've done a meme!
The Dramarama Audiobook is here!
I love me my audio books! I am listening to Flora Segunda and The Prize-winner of Defiance, Ohio right now.