Happiness

We were leaning over the balcony, a cool wind spluttering through our hair, watching endless blue waves roll by. We listened to the elated shouts of children in the pool, the clatter and chatter of people in the restaurant, the relaxed conversations of adults stretched out on chairs facing the water. The air was filled with the fresh smells of sea salt and straight-out-of-the-oven pizza, swirly vapors twisting up to where we stood, enveloping us in a kind of happy, warm goodness.

Find me, it seemed to say. Come and find me.

© Priya Ganesan, April 2009

Body Image Challenge

I've joined the Body Image Challenge as part of Body Image Week. Here are the rules:

Part I: Feel Better About Yourself
For the next 7 days, we challenge you to look in the mirror every morning and find something you like about yourself. I don't care if all you can come up with is that you like your nail polish or your cute socks or your earlobes! Find something you like and can be happy about all day.

PART II: Accept That Other People Think You Are Great
Throughout each day if you ever receive a compliment about anything I want you to say "THANK YOU" and Stop. Right. There. Don't negate the compliment with "Whatever ... you're the one that's pretty" or "Thanks, but I wish my hair would have turned out better today" or "Thanks, but I'm not really very good at that".

PART III: Be A Builder
Now it's your turn to help the people around you know that you think they are beautiful and talented, too! Make a conscious effort to tell your friends and family the things you like about them, whether it's cute shoes, a listening ear, etc. You never know when it's just the thing they need to hear!


In order to accept the challenge, you can go here for more details.

NOW

I've been tagged by Danielle!

All the meme requires you to do is to take a picture of yourself immediately without fixing your hair, changing your clothes, etc. Here's mine:

I did this with the photo-taking tool on Gmail Chat, so it's kind of small--sorry about that!

I now tag:
Jen
Em

And if anyone else has a burning desire to take a picture of themselves, feel free to do this too!

Kiki Strike: Inside the Shadow City

by Kirsten Miller

Ananka Fishbein's boring, ordinary life suddenly becomes extraordinary when she meets Kiki Strike, a small, pale girl who seems to be strange, but surely not dangerous. Ananka's views of Kiki change when she is asked to join Kiki's exploration group of the Shadow City, a labyrinth of abandoned tunnels below Manhattan. One thing is for sure: Ananka's life will never be the same again...

I loved Kiki Strike! It had all the things I love in a book: mystery, adventure, history, action, and more. The story line was engrossing with several surprising twists, and the writing was interesting and fast-paced. I also loved how the story was so suspenseful, yet I learned a lot about New York from reading this book. I would definitely give this five stars, and I can't wait to read the next book!

The Adoration of Jenna Fox

by Mary E. Pearson

Jenna Fox has just woken up from a year-long coma. Her parents (supposedly) have given her a stack of past home videos, hoping that watching them will spark her memories. Adventure comes to Jenna in the form of school, conversations with her neighbor, community service, and more.

The Adoration of Jenna Fox was a beautiful book of self-discovery, self-learning, and self-acceptance. Jenna was a very relatable character, and her emotions and memories were conveyed really well. The science fiction aspect of the book was interesting, and it weaved in with the realistic fiction elements of the story. Overall, this book is a must-read!

Spacing

I've noticed several times that my spacing on my blog posts often gets messed up. Either it completely ignores the spaces between paragraphs, or the spacing is too much and I can't fix it. Has anyone else had this problem? Have you found a way to fix it?

Awards, Awards, and More Awards!

I've received:



The Proximidade Award from Em




"Your Blog is Fabulous" from Maya






The "Best Poetry Blog Award" from Katie

Thank you all so much!

Interview with Lorie Ann Grover

Lorie Ann Grover is the author of Hold Me Tight, Loose Threads, On Pointe, and many others, as well as an illustrator.


How did you get involved in writing?


I've always written to get my emotions out. I find it so helpful to put them down on paper. I didn't turn to writing as a career until after college though. I was frustrated everyone was interpreting my art work differently than I intended. I decided words were the best choice for me!


In addition to being a writer, you are also an illustrator for children's books. Is there one profession you enjoy more? What do you like about being both?


It would be sad to have to choose one! Although I illustrate less now that I have rheumatoid arthritis. A board book is about as large a project as I can illustrate. I love bouncing from difficult writing topics to lighthearted sketches. Both refresh my soul.



What inspires you?


My daughters and other great works of literature! Nature frequently stirs me to create.


Why do you choose to write your novels in verse?


That came from my jump from picture books to novel writing. Loose Threads was originally a picture book! My editor asked me to expand it to a novel in the very same form. And what a surprise: the verse format really fit my voice!


Do you often connect your story characters to people in real life?


Oh, yes. All my main characters so far are me. Side characters are all based on family and friends. Many carry their own names! In Hold Me Tight, there is the character who is kidnapped. That truly happened to Chris who sat right in front of me in fifth grade. All the ladies of Loose Threads are my family.



The theme of "doing things for yourself" comes up a lot in On Pointe. When you started writing the book, did you have this particular message in mind?


No, I didn't! But it's interesting to hear. My thought for On Pointe was to share that sometimes dream do end for reasons we can't control. And then we can get back up and dream again!


Family is an important aspect of most of your books. What does your family mean to you?



Family! Family is how we are here and often the focus of the majority of our lives. Life without family would be so difficult. Here's to those we are blessed with and those we create!



Is there anything you're currently working on?


Yes! I have a verse novel being presented to houses right now. It springs from my year in Korea. I'm finishing final tweaks on my first work in prose. It's a fantasy. And my journal is absolutely chubby with board book ideas. Yay! Of course, I spend much time working with readergirlz and readertotz. I love them both much.


Thank you for the great interview, Priya!


Thank you so much, Lorie Ann!

Books

Books are thieves of hours.
They kidnap the mind;
The body is left behind.
But books are always caught
Read-handed,
And released
After serving many
Arresting sentences.

-by J. Patrick Lewis

I believe this is a trick

but it's funny all the same. Check out the new Gmail Autopilot.

Happy April Fool's Day!

Some stuff to catch up on...

First, the meme from Emily Ruth (sorry, no pictures to go with this):


The book that's been on my shelf the longest:
Actually, it's a series of books. I've had a set of 4 Ramona books (by Beverly Cleary) for as long as I can remember. Those books are awesome, and sometimes I still read them now. *sheepish grin*

A book that reminds me of something specific in my life:
The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane. It was an adorable book, and I remember reading it curled up on my bed right before lunch on Christmas Day.

A book that I acquired in some interesting way:
I am going to say Shiloh here, because I get most of my books in boring ways. I don't remember how I got Shiloh, and that's the most interesting story I have. (Sorry. I know. I'm pathetic.)

The most recent addition to my shelves:
Mackenzie Blue. You can see my review here, and let me just say that I did not like it.

A book that has been with you the most places:
There are two. One is a Mary Poppins one (I'm not sure which one) and the other is The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan. I took both of those on an Europe tour in 2007, during which I visited 8 countries (I think.)

And an extra one:
When I went to India a couple years ago, I got a ton of mystery books by Enid Blyton. They aren't the best books ever, but they are quite interesting, and if you ever have the chance to go to England or somewhere you can get books by this British author, I would definitely recommend her.

For the rules, you can go to Emily Ruth's post here. I'm tagging everyone who wants to do this, because it's fun and everyone should have an opportunity to participate.



I've also received the Sisterhood Award from Jen, who is another fabulous blogger. The rules are here on Jen's post, and this time, I'm passing the award along to...Maya, from allegro!

The Zombie Chicken Award

From Emily Ruth and Beth Kephart and Betty and Boo's Mommy

The blogger who receives this award believes in the Tao of the zombie chicken - excellence, grace and persistence in all situations, even in the midst of a zombie apocalypse. These amazing bloggers regularly produce content so remarkable that their readers would brave a raving pack of zombie chickens just to be able to read their words.

There are tons of bloggers to whom I want to pass this award to, but I decided to pick five people who haven't gotten this award yet (at least I think they haven't gotten it yet).

The Curly Q
Reading to Myself
Em's Bookshelf
About Books
semper me invenio

Mackenzie Blue

by Tina Wells
(coming out in May 2009)

Synopsis (taken from back of book):
Meet Mackenzie Blue, aka Zee She has it all—smarts, talent, humor, and style. . . . Is it enough to survive middle school?

Countdown to a 7th Grade Meltdown

1. Your BFF moves away.

2. Someone steals your diary and reveals your deepest secrets—to the entire class.

3. You have one chance to become a rock star and one chance to totally blow it. Guess what!? All three happened to me! School's a disaster already. Don't get me wrong—I love Brookdale Academy and I have a fabulous crew of friends. (At least, I think I do.) But, if I'm going to survive, I need all the help I can get!

Ummm...well...

This is probably one of the most negative reviews I will write on this blog. I requested this ARC from HarperCollins, thinking that it would be a quick, fun read. I was completely wrong. The first thing I noticed was the cover, all pink and purple. I started getting apprehensive. Then, I read the first paragraph:
Hi, Diary,
Today I'm kind of blue. Not blue as in Mackenzie Blue, which I always am. (Ew! I can't believe I just made that joke.) This kind of blue is so not even funny. Not even a little.

So, that first paragraph, especially the writing and language, kind of indicated to me that Mackenzie Blue was sort of a chick-flick book. And that point was proved several times throughout the story, with all of the annoying text messaging and obsessions over sequins.

All of the characters were very stereotypical and shallow. I didn't get to learn about anyone in-depth, and everything was very predictable. The whole story was very girly (there was a whole page on book bag designs!) and cliched.

Oh, and one more thing. There were sketches in the book (about one small one every page) which were hideous. They gave me headaches. Everyone had big heads, gigantic eyes, super tiny waists, and giant feet. There were pictures of lipstick, hearts, teen posters, etc. (And they weren't even very well drawn.)

So...basically, Mackenzie Blue is definitely not worth your time. Unless you find such books as above hilarious and entertaining.

Happy Spring!

A Peek Inside my Desk

I have been tagged by Q.

I decided to change things up a little (mostly because there is nothing of importance in both my bag and my backpack). So I'm going to take y'all on a tour of one of my desk drawers. There will be no picture (because I didn't feel like taking one), but I'll try and make everything as descriptive as possible.

Random Bags
Silver, black, white, navy blue, sparkles, polka dots, etc. I don't even know where I got some of them from.
iPod Song Downloading Cord
for my wonderful iPod, which is big and white (first edition)
Pencil Boxes
Two pink Hello Kitty ones and one green Spacemaker one.
Art Supplies
Crayons, markers, colored pencils. And also Erasable Markers. Those are very cool. They erase pretty well, except the colors are really faded out and light.
Magic "Invisible" Cards
For magic tricks. The catch is that almost all the cards have a blank side. So that somehow helps with the tricks. (I never managed to pull them off.)
Juggling Balls
Another lost cause. There are three soft balls with triangular patterns. Each one is red, green, and yellow. I cannot throw more than two at a time.
A Gray Box with a Transparent Lid
This box contains several important things: tons of stickers, small pieces of paper that I wanted to keep, random pieces of junk, a bell that I got from my sister that was supposedly from The Polar Express, etc.
A Goody Bag filled with Ribbons
Courtesy of Borders Bookstore. The ribbons are shiny and silver and red.


I tag anyone who wants to do this. If you do, then post the link in the comments--I want to see all of your posts! (If you do them, of course.)


Also, I want to thank Beth for this. It made me VERY happy. :)