Kiss 'n' Blog -- Robin

Happy Valentine’s Day, everyone! At first, I thought I’d take this day to tell the important people in my life—my family, my friends, and my future president—that I love them.

But instead, I decided to say Happy Valentine’s Day to the ones who got it all started…my first loves. Since I’ve been working on my young adult novel lately, my mind has been wrapped around the feelings that come with the intensity of first love. So yes, I’m going to share with you the boys in my junior high and high school that made my heart pitter-patter, caused me to doodle their initials on every notebook I owned, made my stomach churn, and forced me to seek medical attention due to extreme love sickness.

This is a special Happy Valentine to four very special boys…

First up is Mike. My first boyfriend. I was a senior in high school before I had my first real boyfriend, but he made it worth the wait. Mike was the kind of guy that all the guys thought was the coolest. All the girls thought he was adorable. And my mother? She practically adopted him. He was hilarious, sweet, and he loved me dearly. It was the best first-boyfriend-experience I could’ve ever hoped for.

Next up is Euel. My biggest crush. He wore tight jeans, the tightest in the school. He was tall. Blue eyes. Gorgeous thick, black hair. In tenth grade, I studied his class schedule, then altered my route between classes so I would pass him exactly four times a day. If I rushed through my lunch and ran up to the main lobby quick enough, I’d see him five times. And every time we’d pass each other, he’d say, “Hey, Robin.” That was all he said. But it made my heart melt. The following year he was killed in a car crash, and I was devastated. It took me a long time before I could walk those halls and not cry when I’d pass the exact spots I’d seen him every single day.

Next is Bryan. The hottest guy I ever kissed. (Well, second to my husband.) Bryan was beautiful. He was so beautiful…so hot…so perfect, that I never even considered him as a possible crush. He was way out of my league. But one night at a huge party, he grabbed me and kissed me in front of a zillion people as they watched. Now, it’s not like me to do such cheesy things. I think he kissed me on a dare, but I didn’t care one bit. It didn’t matter who was watching…this was Freakin’ Hottie McHottie Bryan…and he was kissing me, baby! Aaaahhh…one of the best nights of my life.

And finally, Billy. My first kiss. Ironically, my first kiss happened on Valentine’s Day, 1983. A bunch of kids from my neighborhood gathered in my friend, Nancy’s, basement and we decided to pair off and have a make-out session in the dark. But we had to hurry…her mom would be home from work soon. Billy tasted like candy hearts and I remember wondering if he’d eaten the “I love you” heart or the “Friends” heart. Based on that kiss, I think he ate the former. Wow! He really went for it! His kiss was so…intrusive. Did anyone else find their first kiss to feel like that? Not shocking, but a bit unexpected. Billy and I never talked about that kiss again. Well, except for the last day of high school when everyone was signing yearbooks. Billy wrote in mine, “Have fun. Don’t forget the time in Nancy’s basement.” And clearly, Billy, I haven’t forgotten it one bit.

Happy Valentine’s Day to my first loves. Thank you.

- Robin

Hey, Hey, I Wanna be a Rock Star -- Jay

I’ve found my release!

For the past several months, I’ve been seeking a new hobby to occasionally distract myself from thinking about books. I have a habit of getting a tad obsessive, whether it’s about writing a new book or promoting my last book. And while that obsessive quality can be good, it also makes my brain feel like it’s been tossed into a blender at Jamba Juice. (Anyone for a Jay Jubilee with a wheatgrass shot and an Immunity Boost?)

Problem was, I only considered hobbies I could do by myself. But when I tried those, my mind never fully focused on that new hobby.

Solution? A group hobby!

As you may remember, last week my wife and I headed into a studio to begin recording a dozen of her original songs. And for three-and-a-half hours, my mind never wandered from that studio.

It was awesome!

It was the first time since high school that I played guitar with a live drummer. The energy created by a living, breathing, pulse-pounding metronome is un-frickin’-believable. On that first night, we recorded drum tracks to four of my wife’s songs: Stranger, In This World, Sunshine, and What About Me?

The drummer played in a soundproof room all by himself, communicating with us through microphones and a large window. In our room was the sound engineer, my wife, and me. My wife played her dumbek (a handheld drum) and sang, while I played the guitar. The drummer could’ve recorded his tracks without us, but you get a much more powerful and emotional sound when musicians feed off each other.

In fact, it’s a lot like writing. Anyone can write alone, but when you…

Wait! Does anyone else hear the whir of a high-speed blender?

Okay, back to the music…

Solo

Duo

Drumroll (through the window)
** two points if you can spot a copy of Thirteen Reasons Why **

- Jay

Pride and Pokiness -- Robin

I have to take a moment to publicly thank Jay and Eve for dropping everything this past week to help me meet a deadline. I needed to get the first three chapters and a synopsis of my YA novel to my agent by Friday. And for me, just the thought of writing a synopsis makes me break out in hives, so I was desperate.

They came through for me more than I could have imagined. And we even had time to go out to dinner. Thanks, you guys. You make me proud. –sniff-

On Friday morning, I turned in my chapters and synopsis, turned off my computer, and decided I would take care of myself. Since I’d been suffering from excessive-revising-nerve-impingement-disorder (also known as pain-in-the-neck), I went to get some acupuncture.

Let me start by telling you that I’ve never had acupuncture before. The poking didn’t hurt (except for a couple that felt like eyebrow plucks) and I didn’t even mind the flame-filled glass suction cups she put on afterwards...which is just plain weird.

But afterwards, I had a reaction that I’m told is rare. It was as if the needles sent a message to my brain to block the pain, and suddenly I felt like I was on a heavy dose of vicodin. (I only know what that feels like because I had all my wisdom teeth pulled. Promise!) Not realizing I was going to have this reaction, I scheduled a lunch date with Jay for right after the acupuncture.

We were to meet downtown and walk to a restaurant. When he was just a couple of blocks away, he called me on his cell phone. “I can see you!” He waved at me, not knowing the shape I was in. “Go ahead and cross the street. The light’s green.”

“I…can’t…”
“No, it’s green, it’s safe. You can cross the street.”
“But…I…can’t…”
“Robin, just cross the street! What’s wrong?”
“I…can’t…think…straight.”

I finally figured out how to cross the street, explained to him what happened, and asked him to do all the talking at lunch since I was in no shape to carry on a conversation. “Nope,” he said. “This is going to be fun.”

So most of lunch was spent with me asking if my shoes were untied and if there were spiders crawling up my back.

But I’m back to my usual self now and it’s back to writing! I made an acupuncture appointment for next Friday, but I think I’ll skip the lunch date.

- Robin

Once Upon a Time... -- Eve

If only it were this easy to begin a novel. My YA work-in-progress love story has been a blast to work on. I love the characters and actually have dialogue running through my head quite often. The setting is beautiful, the research has been stimulating, and the plot twists have been as exciting to write as if they were happening to me.

The lovely and talented Laini Taylor describes the process of writing a novel so articulately on her blog, Not For Robots. I would advise anyone out there who is writing a novel, is thinking of writing a novel, or even those who believe novel writing to be an easy job…those who picture us lounging around coffee houses all day, philosophizing about life, love, and loss, effortlessly cranking out masterful prose in between smoke breaks…to visit Laini’s site to get a real taste for how complicated novel writing is.

What rang so true with me is Laini’s idea of The Snick, which she describes as “the sound and feeling of a puzzle piece fitting into place.” So true! It’s the most satisfying part of writing, that elusive Snick. It can’t be forced. It has to slide easily and feel right. In my insomnia haze the other night I took her puzzle-metaphor further and compared writing to having an enormous, small-pieced puzzle spread out in front of you. Oh, but the thousands of pieces are scattered about the table and they're all white. And what you have to do is paint an idea or feeling or spot of dialogue onto one piece, then find the pieces that fit around it (mind you they’re all white), and paint those pieces. In the end, the entire puzzle has to create one large picture, with no gaps or unbelievable images, like a horse with wombat feet or something (that’s just wrong). The big picture has to make sense and everyone staring at it has to go, “Oh! I totally get it. That’s so clever.”

Which brings me to this: I’m on a serious roll with my feelings and images and Snicks and all the rest, but, I can’t seem to figure out how to begin the bloody thing. Agent Nathan Bransford had a wonderful “Surprisingly Essential First Page Contest” where he dissected what goes into an extraordinary first page of a novel, which I found very informative. However, creating a tone, a memorable entrance for the main character, suggestion of the main problem, appealing setting, and hooks that are intriguing, but don’t hit you over the head with over-the-top-ness is easier said than done.

Where to start? Where to start? Action? Dialogue? A question? Setting description? A thought in the MC’s head? It’s the strangest feeling to be so close to this novel, yet so completely unaware of where the real story begins. Once upon a time…? It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…? It was a dark and stormy night…? Help!

- Eve

Super Tuesday (and Monday) -- Jay

Today is Super Tuesday, so it’s time for many of us to vote. I’m not gonna tell you who I’m voting for because I love you and I don’t wanna get into an argument (which I would win, by the way). So go vote! Not only is it important…it’s fun, too.

But it’s also Super Duper Tuesday. Why? Because it’s the beginning of a dream-come-true for my wife. This evening, we’re going into a studio to start recording a bunch of her songs. You might be familiar with her slow song, Soul Alone, which appears at the end of the Thirteen Reasons Why audiobook. But the songs we’ll be recording over the next however-long-it-takes will be a little faster, a little funkier, and include me on guitar. Woo-hoo! I'm sure I’ll be reporting our progress in future posts, and eventually we’ll sell the C.D.s on my MySpace page. So stay tuned…

And in case you weren’t aware, yesterday happened to be Super Monday. I was down in L.A. for a full day’s worth of presentations. It began at Franklin High in Los Angeles, where I gave two presentations to about 60 students. The students were awesome (as usual)…and so were their teachers. Then I went to Gabrielino High in San Gabriel, where I spoke in the library to about 100 students from several classes, including Peer Helpers (student counselors), which was something I was involved in back in the day. My favorite part? When a student (who stayed up till 4:30 in the morning to finish the book) showed me her journal, in which she’d copied a handful of her favorite passages from my book. Amazing!

But did the day end there? Oh no!

Then I spoke at Vroman’s…that awesome indie bookstore in Pasadena. It was a bigger turnout than I’d expected (and not just because my grandma, aunt, and uncle were there). It was my first time speaking to a group where the majority of people had already read my book, which added a cool dimension to the presentation. And the Q&A was a ton of fun. It even got a little silly when someone asked me to describe some of my earlier books. It became obvious, very quickly, why those books never sold.

In fact, I was having so much fun throughout the day that I forgot to take pictures till the very end. The only one I snapped was when the people at Vroman’s began lining up for autographs. (Have I ever told you how much I love scribbling my name in books?)


- Jay

They Call Me Reflector-Girl -- Robin

My husband and I have agreed it’s time to diversify. Not just our stocks and bonds or our selection in pizza toppings (especially since I don’t eat pizza anymore).

Hubby has decided to expand his photojournalism skills into the world of wedding photography. Which means he’s going to need an assistant. Which means…me!

My job will be to hold the huge reflector that bounces that beautiful natural light right into the bride and groom’s eyes. My job will also be to remind him not to stand on the bride’s dress and to please, please, take pictures of the cake and flowers...cuz brides love that stuff. Other than that, the rest is up to him.

Which is a good thing for these newlyweds, because he is awesome at what he does…

If you’re interested in photojournalism or weddings (or pictures of my kid) check out his new website:

www.jaysonmellom.com

Meanwhile, I’m going to work on my reflector-holding skills...which I’ve heard is good for those stubborn flabby underarm parts. Yeah for me! Reflector-Girl is on the job!

- Robin