On Gratitude

Today I return home after an extended Thanksgiving holiday at my inlaws. We've had a really nice time and I actually haven't written the entire time I've been here, which frankly, after the difficulty of my NaNo project, has been really nice.

A year ago, I had just sold my book. A year from now, my book will be out in the world for sale. I have so many, many things to be grateful for. But today, I am most grateful for things that have nothing to do with FAULT LINE.

1. I am grateful for the Kindness Project. Finding this little pod of people who are out in the world trying to spread kindness has been a really wonderful thing for me. If you aren't following our blog, you should do so. It will do your heart good if nothing else.

2. I am grateful to all the bloggers out there who have stuck with my little rambly blog for so long. There is little rhyme or reason to it, and yet, I am so thankful for all your comments and all your encouragement. I have been more of a quiet blogger these past few months (very busy day job) and I have been commenting on blogs less for many, many reasons (the biggest of which is that I find that I can read more blogs when I don't comment and my comments are almost always "yeah, what they said" since I am frequently delayed in my reading). I have still been reading blogs. I love it actually. It feels like checking in with my people, but I'm generally more passively reading than actively commenting. I'm still here. And I'm so glad you're all still out there with me too.

3. I am grateful for my friends and family. Always this. Always. I'm not the easiest person to deal with. I can be flaky and I talk too much and I have all that awkwardness going on and I get seasonal depression and, and, and... But I am so lucky to have found the people that I have in my life. This includes the people who have become my friends through this crazy online world of writers and publishers. And of course, as I said on Thanksgiving, I am ever so thankful for my kids because Jojo, Biji, and Butter make me feel like I have done three things very right in my life (four if you count being smart enough to marry their dad). They are the legs to my tripod.

4. I am grateful for the Voices and Faces Project. It keeps me passionate about making a difference in the world. It makes me realize that good things can come from terrible things. And it reminds me frequently that though we are so very small, we are never alone.

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Gender, Empowerment, & Sexuality Panel at Peace Conference

So today, I participated in a panel on gender, empowerment, & sexuality at Chicago's Peace Conference. I was attending as a spokesperson for the Voices and Faces Project and was tasked with giving a presentation on our organization's mission. My co-panelists included a woman who runs a feminist burlesque troop and a therapist who works with people transitioning lifestyles (particularly transgender and genderqueer people).

You are likely wondering how all of these different worlds came together. At first, I wasn't absolutely clear myself. But then I realized that the commonality of us all is promoting communication, openness and being comfortable in your own skin.

Rape survivors who are willing to speak out and tell their stories are integral in creating dialogues that promote change. So are women who dance and create their own definition of sexy and beautiful, no matter what their bodies look like. So are transgendered people who are able to shake off traditional gender roles to embrace a part of themselves that they've always hidden.

Here are a few of my slides from the panel:

After the panel, we opened up for questions. First question: "What are your thoughts on Fifty Shades of Grey?"

Oh dear.

The Anatomy of a Title: FAULT LINE

So I have an on-sale date: 11/12/13! It's an awesome date, easy to remember. And this week I get copy edits. I am not sure what those will look like beyond a lot of post-its and funny marks I'm not sure about.

But, perhaps more importantly, I have a new title. You all know this happens. Because originally my book was called MANHOLE (and even some of you writers/bloggers were a little concerned about my ability to sell that one). So I went back to the drawing board and came up with TRAINWRECK. Which a lot of people liked. But then, Lindsey Lohan happened. There's really no other explanation. For those of you who really loved TRAINWRECK as a title, I apologize. But the smart, marketing-savvy people of Simon Pulse were concerned that the gravity of my book might not come across when "train wreck" is now bandied about in popular culture terminology as much as "hot mess". (Please see media news article entitled "Color us shocked, Lindsey Lohan is Trainwreck on set of Scary Movie 5"). 

So I had to go back to the drawing board again. My editor wanted something that would grip readers but also would speak to the fact that when rape happens, it's not just the survivor who is impacted. There's sort of a ripple effect out to the people around the survivor. And of course, a major theme in my book is culpability and victim-blaming. Add to this a very awesome new blurb:

Ben could date anyone he wants, but he only has eyes for the new girl — sarcastic free-spirit, Ani. Luckily for Ben, Ani wants him too. She’s everything Ben could ever imagine. Everything he could ever want.

But that all changes after the party. The one Ben misses. The one Ani goes to alone.

Now Ani isn’t the girl she used to be, and Ben can’t sort out the truth from the lies. What really happened, and who is to blame?

Ben wants to help her, but she refuses to be helped. The more she pushes Ben away, the more he wonders if there’s anything he can do to save the girl he loves.

And you get the epicness of my new title: FAULT LINE.

Hooray! Next step...the cover. I'll get back to you all with that one. It's a busy month:)
And speaking of busy months, I'm over at the Kindness Project Blog on Saturday to discuss the Gender & Equality speech I'm giving to Peace Corps volunteers. And next week, I shall have news on how my first On The Edge YA Book Club goes. So lots of yay!