Kirkus Review for Indigo! Editor's Corner!

Hello and happy September, everyone!

This'll be a quick post to let you know the first major review of The Indigo Notebook is in... and it's a good one! Phew! *BIG sigh of relief* ... *Ear-to-ear grin* Here it is:

"Upon arriving in Ecuador with Layla, her flaky, globe-trotting mom, 15-year-old Zeeta has no idea that this latest move will prove any different from the whirlwind to which she has become accustomed. Then she meets Wendell, an Otavaleño boy her age adopted at birth by a white couple from Colorado, and agrees to help search for his biological parents. Descending into a mystery rife with small-town secrets, Zeeta struggles to control her feelings for Wendell. At the same time, her mom has a freak accident that results in some serious self-examination and begins acting responsibly, observing social norms and, much to Zeeta’s distress, spacing out in front of the television. The characters fairly brim with life in this thoughtful, poignant novel filled with cultural details. The writing is simple but evocative—“Far above, the gray peaks wear long, green robes, swirling into valleys, rippling into smooth mounds.” The story’s too-neat ending may strain believability for some readers, but this is a minor detraction to an otherwise remarkably engrossing, layered work. (Fiction. 12 & up)" -- Kirkus

Yay! Thanks, Kirkus!!

Stephanie and me

This is the third book that I've published on with Stephanie Lane Elliott, my editor at Delacorte. We're in the process of working on four more, which will be released over the next two years. I'm so grateful for this wonderful editor-author relationship! I'm often asked how I ended up getting my first book (What the Moon Saw) published. I talk about it a bit in the Q&A section of my website (scroll down and click on the "path to publication" question). You can read Stephanie's perspective here -- she's the featured editor for September on the Editor's Corner page in the librarian/teacher section of the Random House website. I'm hugely honored that she chose to talk about my books-- starting from how she pulled What the Moon Saw from the slush pile. Thank you, Stephanie!!!

I'm in the midst of some blog interviews at the moment... they'll be posted over the next couple months to celebrate The Indigo Notebook release. Come back soon to see what great blogs are on the agenda for my book blog tour. And be sure to check out the growing list of Red Glass and The Indigo Notebook events happening this fall. (My husband and I will post some new ones this weekend.)

Thanks for reading!
Laura

Book Club in Denver!

Hey everyone!

For those of you going back to school, I hope your year is off to a great start! I had an amazing time at a mother-daughter book club meeting in Denver on Sunday afternoon. It was a cool, overcast afternoon, and seven girls (ages 13-15, I think) and their moms were gathered in a cozy living room... to talk about Red Glass!


They've been meeting for over five years, and most of the girls come from different schools. Books are their bond! For refreshments, they always make food from the book they're discussing at that meeting... I love this idea.


At their first meeting ever, they talked about Because of WinnDixie while feasting on a jar of pickles... and since then, they've made a tradition of having a jar of pickles at every meeting. (They're hard-core... when they read The Higher Power of Lucky, they ate SPAM.) So, for Red Glass, the most stunning part of the feast was this GORGEOUS cake!


Sally, who is also a writer of books for kids/teens, made the cake (during time she should have been writing... Sally, thanks for blowing off your writing for the day to create this scrumptious masterpiece! ;) Check out the red glass... she made the glass out of fruit roll ups! How creative is that?! Here I am with Sally, masterful cake-maker:


There was yummy mango salsa and guacamole and, of course, two big bowls of key limes that we squeezed all over everything, a la Limegirl!


And then, just when I thought things couldn't get any more delicious, Susan's husband waltzed into the living room with a tray of cinnamon hot chocolate in little crystal dessert glasses. Mmmmm...

Everyone asked really great questions about the characters and my writing process and all kinds of other things... what a fun discussion! Some of the girls and their moms are writers themselves, so they had some wonderful insights into the book-- really made me think.


I wonder if there are any mother-son book clubs out there? My son is two, and I would LOVE to be in a book club with him (well, once he starts reading, of course). I have enough writer/reader friends who have boys my son's age that I bet we could make it work in about five years. There probably wouldn't be as much squealing and giggling, though... ah well...

Muchisimas gracias, Maddie, Kaila, Smiley, Bessana, Dylan, Ellie, Natalie, and your moms!

On a different note, you'll be happy to know I finally send my draft of The Ruby Notebook into my editor, and am anxiously awaiting (and sort of dreading!) her comments... (let's just say that the manuscript was in a *very rough* form.)


Lately, I've been planning more release events for The Indigo Notebook this fall. If you're in Colorado, be sure to check out the Events page of my website and mark your calendars. I still haven't confirmed the Tattered Cover reading date, but I'll post it as soon as I know. Hope to see you at the festivities this fall!

Cheers,
Laura

Dreaming of a massage and tamales...

Hi, everyone!

I'm happy-- I just finished the latest revision of The Ruby Notebook, and spent the morning orchestrating book events to celebrate the release of The Indigo Notebook this fall-- October 13 to be exact-- less than 2 months away! (You can check out the events section of my website to see what's coming up... and I still have more events that I haven't posted yet (Boulder Bookstore and Tattered Cover in Denver. They're joint events with Victoria Hanley, and I'm excited because our book titles both involve purply colors in the rainbow:


I'm also happy because I'm getting a MUCH-needed massage this afternoon. The revision has wreaked havoc on my neck and shoulders... that's what happens when I'm writing under pressure, I've discovered.

Some good news! Red Glass was just selected as an Honorable Book for the Ohio James Cook Book Award for diversity in teen literature. Thank you, library lovers of Ohio!!! It's cool-- Red Glass is right alongside Sherman Alexie's book, which I absolutely loved (and which won the National Book Award for Young People's Lit-- very well-deservevd):


Here's an excerpt of a new review of Red Glass that I really love, posted by Minne of Athena's YA Book Review.

"... what I really enjoyed the most was all the cultural flavor...the description of boys selling tiny packs of chicles, the sounds of the cumbia, and the assembly line of tamale making. Now, for those of you who don't know what I'm talking about...chicles refer to gum, the cumbia is a rythmic style of music, and tamales....mmmmm...you've got to eat them! Tamale making is a Mexican tradition still alive here in South Texas. Of course, many of us buy them by the dozen, but even I know exactly what the tamale assembly line is all about. Basically, a bunch of women (the grandmas, aunts, etc.) get together, especially during the holidays, and make loads of tamales for all to share and take home. It's quite an elaborate process of kneading, spreading, and boiling, but it does provide a pleasant time of sisterhood, laughter, and fellowship with all the comadres (close, female friends and relatives). Ok. l'll admit a little gossip probably takes place, too, but it's all in good fun. And, Laura describes it right on. It's been a while since I've done the whole tamale thing...I have to plan better this Christmas and get over to my Mom's whenever she gets the tamale making bug!

Read it! It'll get you in the mood for some awesome, home-made Mexican food. A road trip, yummy food, romance, true-to-life descriptions, and Laura's beautiful imagery...can't go wrong with it. You'll love it! Hmmm...I think I'll make some real tortillas sometime this week."

-- Minerva Vasquez, Athena's YA Book Review

Thanks, Minnie!!! I love reviews that have a personal touch like this one... and I REALLY love reviews that talk about food like tamales and make my mouth water. And the best news: I'll be visiting Minnie's school in south Texas next year! Can't wait... I'm already dreaming of tamales... Check out her blog-- Minnie gives really thorough reviews that give you a distinct *flavor* of the book.

Finally, another piece of good news: My fellow Old Town Writers Group member, Molly Reid, WON the NPR Three-minute story contest!!! This is huge-- there were over 5000 entries, and they picked HERS! I was alone in the car on the way home from the Denver airport when I heard them announce it on NPR. I was screaming and smiling and laughing and nearly had to pull over to calm down. You can listen to it here.

Okay, time to walk Luli-- she's making all kinds of weird noises and pacing the floor, giving me some not-so-subtle hints.

Thanks for reading!

Laura

Portland Retreat with the Gang of Erin!

Hello everyone!

Sit back and relax... because I have a feeling this will be a ridiculously long post. Last week for four blissful days, I was at McMenamins in Edgefield (just outside of Portland) with my phenomenal agent, Erin Murphy, and some of the Gang of Erin -- about fifteen of her phenomenal authors (including one author-agent, who you'll hear more about soon!)

Oh, where to begin... first, the grounds, which more than made up for the 105 DEGREE WEATHER!!!

Outside view of a magical nook-tree in one of their gardens:


Inside the magical tree-nook! I really, really want one of these for my yard... I'd spend hours reading inside it.


Vineyards galore!


Zillions of sun-warmed blackberries to munch on during strolls around the grounds (which is what I did during afternoon breaks from my seemingly endless revisions of The Ruby Notebook.)


And now, for the artwork! Murals cover the three-story lodge, which used to be a poorhouse, and later an old folks' home, and now a hotel.

Tributes to the old-timers abound:


This mermaid was in the "Ladies' Lounge", and it makes me think of Ammi-Joan Paquette, who is now working on a novel involving mermaids! I've heard a bit of it, and it's fantastic...

My room featured the "Waltz King", who-- according to the story painted on the wall-- was a beloved resident of the old folks' home who loved to dance and is now waltzing in heaven... (A sidenote: this lodge is supposedly haunted, and although our breakfasts were abuzz with ghost reports from the previous nights, the Waltz King must have been perfectly content waltzing away up there, because he didn't bother me once...)

Even the exit signs and exposed pipes were decorated:

It felt like you could walk right into some of the paintings, like this pathway through a forest.


And now for the very best part of all... my fellow retreaters! We spent a lot of time hanging out and talking and eating and trying to stay cool. In the mornings, we met in the library and had semi-structured conversations about stuff like the intersection of market and craft, school visits, and permission to make desperate phone calls to Erin when we're overflowing with angst for one reason or another... (I haven't done this yet, but now that I know I can, don't be surprised if Erin gets a 3 a.m. phone call about my revision woes...) We also read aloud from our works-in-progress, and I was FLOORED. Every single person's work is extraordinary... completely riveting. We laughed, we cried, we bonded in a big way...

Back row, from left: me, Kathy Duval, Susan Hampton, Cynthia Levinson, Dawn Dixon, Zu Vincent, Erin Murphy, Colin McMucray
Front Row: Ammi-Joan Paquette, Tamara Ellis Smith, Lynda Mullaly Hunt

Ruth Barshaw was having an outdoor adventure of some sort (a big rock? a dam? Washington state? can't remember...) when the above pic was taken. So was Conrad, but somehow, I don't have a pic of him. Sorry, Conrad! Anyway, here is Ruth, in all her artistic glory:

She carries a little sketchpad around everywhere, and I mean EVERYWHERE, like even in the hot soaking pool at 10 pm. Hardcore. She writes the funny and wildly creative middle grade series starring Ellie McDoodle, her alter ego:

Here I am with Ammi-Joan Paquette (the one I associate with mermaids) at dinner. Just behind Joan is Tam-- an amazing pre-published young adult author. So talented and smart... we had great conversations in the back seat while car-pooling to Powells to oggle at the gigantic selection of kids' and teens' books (and of course, getting giddy to see our fellow Gang of Erinites' books featured.)


Joan has just joined Erin Murphy Litereary Agency as a new agent on board, which we're all super-excited about. Interestingly, her globe-trotting girlhood has much in common with Zeeta's, the star of my Notebooks series. Joan wrote this gorgeous picturebook that entices the imagination... I'll have to pull Toddler son away from his trucks and trains and construction vehicles and enlist him to go fairy-tracking with me in our yard... I think he'll get into it!


Here is the hilarious Dawn Dixon (left) and yoga master Zu Vincent (right) at the wine-tasting place.


Zu Vincent is the lovely author of The Lucky Place, a young adult novel I can't wait to read! Beautiful cover, isn't it?

Here are the brilliant and fun Lynda Mullaly Hunt, Kathy Duval, Ruth Barshaw, and Colin McMurcray (our tireless Portland retreat organizer)

Kathy Duval has written a bunch of wonderful picture books, including this one:

Needless to say, Toddler is in heaven with the new books I brought home for him.

Speaking of Toddler, he'll be up from his nap any minute now, so I'll sign off now... Thanks for reading!

Laura

between retreats

Hey everybody,

While Toddler is eating pizza and watching Sillyville on TV, I'll take a moment to fill you in on last weekend's writing retreat since I'm going to another one next weekend! (In the meantime, I'm revising like a madwoman. My deadline is in a week!!!)

So, my writing retreat was in Angelfire, New Mexico. Angelfire has to be the most gorgeous town name ever. It makes me think of fiery orange-pink sunsets that look like gates to heaven. Here we are, from front to back: Leslie, Sarah, me, Molly, Kimberly, and Carrie. They are all BRILLIANT and HILARIOUS. We're on the deck of Sarah's parents' cabin, which overlooks the Sangre de Cristo mountains. So breathtakingly beautiful.


Here's the hot tub where we hung out in the evenings. Nothing like looking at a zillion stars through steam.


Here's Carrie reading The Girl in the Flammable Skirt (Aimee Bender, adult book), which we passed around. I learned more about the different kinds of magical realism out there.



There were masses of hummingbirds on the deck, attracted by the many hummingbird feeders. I have to say, these creatures can be scary when their pointy little beaks are headed straight for your eyeball, and don't veer away until the last second. (I kept envisioning the ending of a creepy hummingbird-attack story by Molly that we critiqued a few months earlier.)


Here are Molly, Leslie, Carrie, and Sarah (clockwise from top). They're doing what writers do on a retreat between reading, writing, and hot-tubbing... a heated game of Scrabble! It's so hard to find people who are not just willing to play Scrabble, but wildly enthusiastic about it... and dang good at it, too!


Sarah's ENORMOUS dog who protected us from the hummingbirds.


Goldilocks and the bears and some other creature... a wolf? I don't remember what role that other creature plays. Anyway, there were cool little folk artsy surprises hidden in corners of the cabin.



Every day, we each did whatever we felt like... some of us (me) slept late, blissfully enjoying the lack of a Toddler yelling "MOMMY!" at six a.m. Others got up at five a.m. to hike up a mountain and watch the sunrise and get an early start to writing. The cabin was gigantic, so each of us could find a little nook in which to read or write. In the evenings we gathered for yummy food like melon ball-chevre salad and basil-lemon salmon and mint-chocolate-chip-ice-cream-rice-krispy-pie. After three days together, we all left on a high from so much writing and bonding. Very rejuvenating!

On a different note, here I am with my step-cousin-in-law, Lauren, who I met via my books! One of the loveliest things about having my books out there in the world is that I get to connect with very cool relatives who I didn't even know I had. Lauren is an amazing writer. She's fifteen and is in the midst of writing a number of novels (and they're deliciously good so far!) We had lunch in Loveland a couple weeks ago. She heard an earful about my revision angst. And as she talked about her own writing, I was reminded of all the mesmerizing things about writing (which are easy to overlook when you're sweating under a looming deadline.) Lots of fun!


Speaking of revision angst (and an antidote to it), I stumbled across Cheryl Klein's blog.
She's an editor with Scholastic and full of great revision advice.


I just have to share a couple new reviews of Red Glass that I love. Kathy from Literary Livewire says this:



"Reading this book is biting into a big, juicy guava. It tastes amazing and is the most wonderful thing ever, the sticky juice starts trickling down your chin, and you realize that it’s better that way."





Yum. Thank you, Kathy!



Here's another fun review I came across recently from Pages Blog, entitled "Red Glass: Better than Twilight" (... don't you love it?!)



"Twilight sucks so bad compared to this, no offense Stephanie Meyer."



Hee hee! Okay, forgive me, but I couldn't resist quoting the Twilight comparison. (And I'm happy that Angel is deemed better boyfriend material than Edward...) Thanks so much, Kiki and Nathan! You made my day...



I also have to say that it was especially fun to read that review since every time I get together with a bunch of writers, we try to figure out exactly why the Twilight series has become such a phenomenon. As we all know, Stephenie Meyers breaks lots of the classic "rules of good writing" that have been pounded into our writers' brains. (For example, if you can say something in 10 words instead of 100, do it.) Yet her books are utterly addictive to millions. (That was one of our topics of conversation at our retreat, of course...) Intriguing.




Okay, time to go for an evening walk/bike ride with Toddler.




'Night! Thanks for reading!

Laura

A few tidbits...

Hi everyone!

So I signed up for Google alerts recently. It's nice-- it informs me of lovely things floating around out there in cyberspace, like this review of Red Glass from Kristin at her Feed Your Imagination blog:

Red Glass by Laura Resau is easily one of the best books I've read this year, and is one of the few books that has brought me to tears. Despite all of the awards it's been recognized with, Red Glass receives nowhere near enough attention considering how much it deserves. Above all, this is an exceptional story about love – love across the generations, romantic love, familial love, and love for one’s heritage. Even if it is difficult to relate to the exact situation any of the characters are in, their emotions are universal and their dignity is certainly to be admired and respected. This story teaches us about human kindness and forgiveness, even in circumstances that seem unforgiveable. And of course, the quotes from The Little Prince not only extend the multicultural aspect of Red Glass – they help make Sophie and her companions’ journey universal. Laura Resau’s writing is entrancing and this story fascinating, so everyone should pick it up. 10 out of 10.

Thanks, Kristin! I've been so wrapped up in planning out promotional stuff for The Indigo Notebook's release this fall, and revising its sequel The Ruby Notebook, that I kind of forgot that people are still out there reading Red Glass for the first time.

Revising The Ruby Notebook is hard, hard work. This is probably the hardest it's ever felt to me because it's the tightest deadline I've ever worked under. In the past, I've let myself be playful with revision ideas and brainstorming in my journal-- "talking" with the characters about what changes they'd like to see, spinning fanciful conversations, giving myself poetry writing prompts, doing all these fun things to get at the story from a fresh, sideways perspective. And in this way, I was able to tap into the source/ my unconscious, whatever you want to call it, and from there, approach the revision.

But with this deadline looming, it's hard to let myself be playful. I feel like if I'm being playful, I'm wasting valuable time (and then I feel guilty that my toddler's in daycare when I'm sitting around "playing.") Finally, yesterday, I let myself go on and on in a fun, stream-of-consciousness way from each of the characters' perspectives. I didn't force any requirements on myself, just let each character ramble a bit in my journal. And of course, all kinds of little gems came out... plus it just felt GOOD. The rambling was seven single spaced pages. It gave me that rush, that feeling afterward of Whoa! Where'd the past two hours go? And I admitted to myself that it was indeed valuable, even though I wasn't focusing with my rational mind.

I think that writing a novel is a dance between the conscious and unconscious minds, with the unconscious mind leading. I love this about writing. I love how intensely thrilling it is to create something huge this way. But it's so, SO hard for me to remember this when I know I have a limited number of hours to spend on this revision, and I want to spend them wisely. I get myself into a bit of an unproductive panic.

Much of the time I spend revising actually involves me giving myself pep talks via my journal. My daily pep talk starts like this:

Okay, Laura. You can do this... YOU CAN DO THIS!!!

On to other things now...

Fun news about The Indigo Notebook audiobook! No, it will not be narrated by Brad Pitt (sorry, Brad, I know you've got your heart set on it). After hearing how he butchered the Spanish in a Cormac McCarthy book I heard, I made my opinion clear to the producer.

Worlds better than Brad Pitt is Justine Eyre, who will be narrating the book. Here she is:

She has a lot in common with the main character of The Indigo Notebook, as a matter of fact. Zeeta has lived a very international life, and so has Justine. She (Justine) was born in Nova Scotia (Canada) to an Australian father, spent her childhood in the Philippines attending British schools, moved back to Canada, then to Florida, and now lives on the West coast. Like Zeeta, she speaks several languages and loves writing. (Zeeta writes in her notebooks, and Justine, who has a degree in English, has written a novel.) I think this is very cool, and I can't wait to hear how the audiobook turns out!

I recently read a great page-turner for teens-- Graceling by Kristin Cashore.



It's her debut book and has been getting tons of well-deserved attention. It's set in magical medieval land, where most fantasies seem to be set, but it sets itself apart with its unique and beautiful love story and the amazing superhero powers of the main characters, who are thoroughly likeable (and the villain is thoroughly hateable, I must say.) The main character's issues and emotional growth are particularly original-- basically, she's the henchman for a tyrannical king, but she begins to see the value in being a humane, kind, ethical person. The writing is great-- it flows beautifully, which is always impressive when you're dealing with a complicated plot and real character/relationship growth, too.

I'm going to bed to reread more of The Time Traveler's Wife now, which is one of my favorite adult books.

G'night!
Laura