Whoa, you guys.  I keep going MIA for weeks on end, and it doesn't even feel like it's been that long.  Crazy.

Two things that have kept me very busy as of late:

1) As mentioned previously, I made it a mission to get svelte and presentable so as to look my best come promotion time.  I started this back in mid-February after turning in the first draft of The Life and Death of Emily Cooke, and as of today I've lost 40 lbs.  Crazy!  I've discovered the joys of cooking variations of grilled chicken, rice, and vegetables, and I've got the whole walking/workout thing going on.  So hurray for progress.  Only like a zillion more pounds to go, but I'm thrilled.

2) Revisions!  I got notes back from my editor, Stacy, about The Life and Death of Emily Cooke and I've been working on making the final draft all shiny and awesome.  We both think the book turned out really well, so I'm excited for ARCs to come out end of year so people can read it!  This final draft is due May 12th, so I'm still keepin' on keepin' on . . .

In other news unrelated to myself, it was just announced that my writing friend Lisa Harkrader -- author of Airball: My Life In Briefs -- has sold a new psychic CSI-for-teens series to Nina Hess, my very first editor and the head editor for Mirrorstone Books.  The book is called Afterlife and is out May 2009.  Check out Lisa's web site for all the details on her awesomeness: www.ldharkrader.com

I leave you all today with a link to a web site I discovered yesterday that does nothing but post high quality pictures of food with links to blogs with the recipes.  And it's searchable, so if you want to look at page upon page of cupcakes, you can!  Go there if you're like me and love to look at all the delicious food you shouldn't be eating . . .  www.tastespotting.com  

So I have this book called The Wayward Wizard, the first of a trilogy I wrote that turned out pretty well.  For some reason I've been getting more attention for it than any other book I've written -- in fact, when I was playing World of Warcraft the other day (don't mock me!) I was chatting with someone who had actually heard of the whole trilogy.  I was pretty sure this person was mistaken, I mean there was no way someone knew about my books, but nope, it was mine.

Anyway, apparently The Wayward Wizard has disappeared off the face of the planet and those who have a copy or two -- specifically used booksellers -- have been selling it at obscene prices.  I wouldn't think anyone would ever buy my $5.99 cover price book for like $80, but it's listed for that much through Amazon so consistently that it makes me wonder.  Now today I was sent this link:

http://cgi.ebay.com/The-Wayward-Wizard-Suncatcher-Trilogy-Volume-One-D_W0QQitemZ250233803384QQihZ015QQcategoryZ378QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD1VQQ_trksidZp1638.m118.l1247QQcmdZViewItem

That's right, someone on eBay is selling this book for $215.  Two hundred and fifteen frikkin' dollars.  That is INSANE.  My book is not worth that much!  And yet somehow it has fallen into the position of being a collector's item.  Who woulda thought?

Sadly I don't get a single dime from these obscene sales, but I guess it's sort of flattering to know that there are people willing to pay that much for something I wrote, eh? 

Seriously, what is the deal with Internet backlash?

So a friend and I have been chit-chatting about this lately, because we are totally in love with Diablo Cody, memoirist and recent Oscar winning screenwriter who the Internet has come down upon with a vengeance.  Beyond totally loving the hell out of Juno, I also recently read Cody's memoir about her year as a stripper: Candy Girl.  And can I just say, this book is frikkin' off the hook hilarious.  We're talking raunch and nerdiness and the type of expertly crafted conversational prose that makes me realize I might as well be wearing a dunce hat proclaiming "witless" for all the world to see, 'cause I will never be that terrifically clever.

Anyway, so between that movie and that book, I now have a strong desire to meet Diablo Cody and have drinks with her and talk about all the crappy and yet awesome horror movies we love to watch, but the Internet HATES her.  It's backlash ahoy with all the denizens of the Internet converging to wage one massive flame war against Miss Cody and . . . what the huh?  Why?

Here's how I see it: Juno came out.  Some people saw it and really, really loved it.  They found the dialogue hyper-realistic and clever, the story heartfelt, the acting fantastic -- and left the theater with a smile.  Some people saw it and were so-so about it.  Wasn't necessarily their cup o' earl gray, but wasn't really a bad movie, they guessed, even if they cringed at "Honest to blog!" and the hamburger phone.  And there were a few that legitimately hated every second of it, from Rainn Wilson's rapid fire zings all the way to Juno and Bleeker's rendition of a sweet-voiced Moldy Peaches song.  And then, other movies were released, milkshakes became catch phrases, and life moved on.

Or, well, it should have.  The movie had the audacity to become a financial success.  Oscar nominations were thrown about.  The writer actually won one of the coveted naked gold men -- and now all those people who were so-so about the movie have decided that they, in fact, HATED it and that Diablo Cody is a complete try-too-hard hack that must be crucified on the electronic cross.  Because, ugh, no one is actually clever in real life!  Hyper-reality is not allowed in entertainment!  Anyone who dares write in such a style is horrible and doesn't deserve awards!

Now, I won't begrudge anyone their opinion -- you don't like a movie I like, don't necessarily enjoy dialogue that isn't utterly true to life?  Whatever, that's fine, I wasn't a big fan of something you think is a filmic masterpiece, I'm sure.  But I do, however, dislike when my own intelligence is called into question, or my own integrity, when I liked a movie another person did not.  Yes, I did find Juno hilarious and heartwarming.  I left the theater excited to have discovered this movie.  No, I'm not just saying that because the movie became popular -- the friend mentioned earlier had me anticipating this movie for months prior to its release and we saw it before anyone even knew what it was.  It also didn't hurt that I was blown away by Ellen Page in Hard Candy, and the movie also featured other actors I think are fantastic: Michael Cera, Jason Bateman, Jennifer Garner, Allison Janney.

So what is the deal, then, with this backlash?  Why are people (on the Internet especially) so prone to revealing irrational levels of hatred when something they don't particularly care for is a success?  I don't give two spits about, say, Hannah Montanna, but I don't go around screaming that she's a talentless hag now that Miley Cyrus is a worldwide phenomenon.  

Why is there this inate need for people to try and bring down those who become succesful or popular?  And on that thread, why is there such a refusal of Internet dwellers to seeing/reading/listening to something that has achieved success?  I mean, let's look at it this way -- I was on the fabulously taltented Tiffany Trent's journal (

tltrent

To get the new blog a'started, I'm re-posting an entry I wrote for a Blogger blog about my new series waaaay back in June when I was still in create mode: 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

June 24, 2007

I am an almost 25-year-old guy developing a series with a 16-year-old girl as the main viewpoint character. Not only have I apparently lost the ability to remember anything of importance about my life past around, say, two years ago, what little I do remember of being a teenager did not, in fact, involve being a girl.

That said, I have an author friend--a fabulously gifted writer who wrote series books for a million years before she got burned out and went off to write literary novels that will probably win tons of awards, leaving the “Series Hack” mantle for me to snag and wear proudly--who told me that she always deliberately created characters different from herself. That is, she’s so not sporty, so she made a character who was a crazy thrill-seeker who did extreme sports. She’s ambivalent about religion, so she made a character who’s staunchly devoted to God.

I always liked that process, since it forces you to write characters that are outside of your comfort zone--meaning you don’t end up with fifteen versions of yourself running around the pages of your book. The challenge after creating these wacky not-at-all-like-you people is to find ways to relate to them anyway.

So, as I sit here figuring out my new main character--a girl named Emily Webb--I have made a list of ways we are similar, despite the very obvious difference in age and hoo has.

1. We both like girly pop-rock. Her ring tone is my ring tone: “Walk Away” by Kelly Clarkson. And can I just say, I love me some Kelly; in fact I am listening to her new CD right this second and it is awesome. So ignore all this business you hear from the likes of that blogging fame whore Perez Hilton, she’s cool beans.

2. We both hate Perez Hilton.

3. I was pretty eh about school, even though I liked learning just fine, and so is she. She has her various obsessions--all of the obscure and geeky variety--and would rather sit at home and read than spend effort doing boring schoolwork. Me too!

4. She has no pets, but if asked, she’ll say she likes puppies and kitties. I must say, I do too; they are damn adorable, though they make me sneeze.

5. While she is bubbly and energetic around a few close friends, when around groups of people she can get quiet and shy. I’m not like that anymore, but one of the few things I remember of being a teenager is being that guy. With worse hair and glasses than you remember.

6. She can get totally OCD about stuff; like, she has to check her alarm clock 20 times to be sure that it’s set before she goes to bed, and she constantly checks herself to make sure she has everything she needs while she’s out and about. That is so me; I can’t go to bed with the fear that I may have just imagined setting my alarm, and so I’m constantly getting up to check it again.

7. Also, I want to note that after I said “she constantly checks herself” in item #6, I got a strong urge to follow it up with “before she wrecks herself.” That is a joke she’d make, too.

8. At night, a crazy mood swing overcomes her, she puts on skimpy outfits, and goes to prowl the streets in search of thrills. That is like my nights in a nutshell.

So hey, at the end of the day, despite my being a bitter shell of an old man, me and this character click. Does this mean that she’s a lot like a 20-something dude, or that at heart I’m just a teenage girl? That is a question I ponder every night as I sit alone, watching my DVDs and getting drunk on Vodka.

She and I don’t share that in common. Yet. Let’s get to [Currently Untitled YA Series]: The College Years and we’ll see.

Everything else about Emily Webb I’ve drawn from people I know. As in, I’ve blatantly stolen traits and likes from people I know. So, that friend who has a plush Corgi from the TV show "Cowboy Bepop"? Yeah, your little stuffed doggy is on my character’s bed. That other friend who has “Labyrinth” and “Princess Bride” posters on her wall? They’re on Emily’s wall now. And my poor sister--I’ve stolen all of her teenage awkwardness and gave it to this character, from being ashamed about her abundant chest and wearing giant hoodies to hide it, to her 1982 Honda Civic named Little Rusty that had a tendency to die at stop lights.

Cool, looks like I have a better bead on this character than I thought. Suh-weet. Now to make sure the rest of the massive cast isn’t just me in disguise, and we’ll be set . . . 

Hey folks!   As I move on to be more capital-P Professional, I've renamed my journal to, well, my real name.  If you are wondering who this is, I formerly went by a supervillain alter-ego, Egg Fu.  All those fun cartoons are still saved in this journal, but now that I have a new series I want to yack about, I'm switching gears to make this more writerly informative.

Here's a mini-bio if you aren't sure who I am:

And that's that!  I hope I can be at least marginally as funny and informative as my blogging peers.  Going from one of the many talented writers working on a series to launching a series that is all me, all the time is suddenly feeling like a Big Deal, and I hope y'all will stick with me as I talk aaaaall about it . . .