For about four months, I got these two actors mixed up:






Daughter says they don't look alike. I (miss engineering and) need more data.

Please vote:

Poll #1424808 Twins?
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All

Do these two actors look alike?

This Jenny Moss is me:






This Naked Lady one is not:





I write books for teens and tweens, and do not live in Oregon, nor do I appear naked in parades.

I know my website must be a big disappointment, but if you keep googling, you'll prob find what you're looking for. (Maybe.)

Books we read:

OCTAVIAN NOTHING by MT Anderson
THE ACTOR AND THE HOUSEWIFE by Shannon Hale
GRACELING by Kristin Cashore
THE THIEF by Megan Whalen Turner
QUEEN OF ATTOLIA by Megan Whalen Turner
ENDGAME by Samuel Beckett
MAGGIE'S DOOR by Patricia Reilly Giff
SKIN HUNGER by Kathleen Duey

We did take a break on Saturday night and attended a friend's birthday party. Other than that, we just read and ate and slept.

Observations (after reading OCTAVIAN, I felt there should be observations)

1. We read slower than we thought.
2. Blissful that Daughter liked my choice for her (THE THIEF) and went on to read the next book in the series and is reading the last book now
3. OCTAVIAN is brilliant, emotionally challenging, slyly unexpectedly funny, and I'm very glad I read it, and I will never read it again.
4. Shannon Hale's YA fiction is not the same as her adult - even the writing style is different.
5. I'm a fan of whatever Shannon Hale writes.


Random family photo for today: Jenny returning to college:

Daughter and I are doing our First Great 48-Hour Read-a-Thon


RULES:

1. One classic
2. No Internet or TV (OMG)
3. Must have stacks of books
4. Must read 1/8th of the book before deciding to abandon the poor thing
5. Cannot abandon more than two
6. Each person must read a book the other one picks (two choices - must attempt to read first choice)
7. Must sleep from 1am-5am
8. If you abandon a book, you can make the other read it - but if she gets through it, you have to finish it
9. Must be fiction
10. May only read books you've never read before
11. Must choose one book for both to read (both must agree on title)

See you on the other side!

That busy Cynthea has ANOTHER book out!!

A QUESTION FOR CYNTHEA:

What was the title of your manuscript when you sold it? Did you have any input on the new title?

The original title of the book when I pitched it to my agent was THE DARE. But I always worried it would sound too dark for a humorous book. When I began submitting it with my agent, I changed it to Paris Pan Takes a Dare and my agent and I debated over the "a" for a little bit and it became Paris Pan Takes the Dare. Then we debated whether or not the "the" should be capitalized with my editor. In the end, we decided just a capital for Dare. The manuscript had "The Dare." My, my, all those important decisions to get to the final version. Phew!

I'm always interested in the way titles come to be. Thanks for a peek into the process!

Visit Cynthea at: www.cynthealiu.com/

I've deleted my account. I can't keep up with it all.

I hope everyone on LJ doesn't desert for Twitter. ;)

Early photo of my mom and dad:




Mom talking to someone famous:




Me, with beautiful hair:

Megan Frazer (Secrets of Truth and Beauty) sent me a lovely e-mail about Winnie's War. She said I could share. :)

My personal favorite moment was when [Winnie] is getting all gooey about Nolan, and chastises herself for being more like Amy than Jo. I told my friend (who has a 10 year old daughter) that and she laughed and said, "The other day [my daughter] came up to me and said, 'I'm afraid I'm like Amy.' And I told her that everyone's afraid they are like Amy."

Made my day, Megan.

What was the title of your manuscript when you sold it?

It was PRADA & PREJUDICE when it sold. They did discuss changing it, but it ultimately stayed the same. However the very first title it ever had was HOW TO SNAG A DUKE (AND OTHER THINGS I LEARNED IN COLLEGE). I am glad I came up with something better!

Prada & Prejudice is seriously perfect.

What place have you visited that you most want to return to?

Probably Moses Lake, WA. We go several times a year with our quads and camp in the sand dunes. I am also obsessed with Las Vegas.

Who is your favorite book character?

Would it be a total shocker if I said Mr. Darcy? :-P. I Also love Charlotte in TRUE CONFESSIONS OF CHARLOTTE DOYLE.

I would be totally shocked if you didn't! ;)

Thanks, Mandy, for stopping by!



Visit Mandy at: www.mandyhubbard.com/

I loved this book. Such wonderful writing, such heart. And my teen daughter enjoyed it as well. Highly recommend.





Sarah . . .



. . . stopped by to answer some questions:


What was the title of your manuscript when you sold it, Sarah?

I wrote the first words of the story in 2003 under the title Twenty Boy Summer, and other than a brief debate on 20 versus Twenty, Little, Brown did not change the it. :-)

What place have you visited that you most want to return to?

I would love to do another road trip through the Southwestern United States, including the Grand Canyon and parts of Utah. It's such an incredible part of the country!

We love Moab, Utah. Amazing place.

Who is your favorite book character?

Sal Paradise in Jack Kerouac's ON THE ROAD.

Thanks, Jenny! :-)

Visit Sarah at:sarahockler.com/

So do your cities have Junk just hanging out on the roads too?

A day driving on Houston roads can mean dodging boards, plastic jugs, boxes, and the occasional UMO (unidentified metal object).

Good grief!

Cool thing, one: Featured in Grand, an online magazine for grandparents: www.grandmagazine.com/article.asp

Thanks to Joni Sensel for posting on the blueboards about the opportunity and to Jim Whiting for adding me to his list of authors to feature!

Cool thing, two: Last Saturday, Valerie Koehler asked if I'd come by Blue Willow Bookshop to speak to five Girl Scouts about writing Winnie's War. These lovely girls are involved with the Share a Story project, initially created by Joan Lowery Nixon, and sponsored by Kappa Delta. The girls shared their writing with the group. I was honored to be included in the morning's events. Thanks to Valerie and Cathy for the invite! What wonderful stories!

I've never seen Winnie's War described this way, but okay:

"NASA engineer-turned-novelist Jenny Moss drops prepubescent readers into the just ecstatic of a Texas prepubescent lady in 1918 in her enrolment initial Winnie’s War."

I'd read that book. ;)

Posting a little late, but I wanted to share my pics.

Here's what happened: plane, check in at The New Yorker hotel, Teen Author Carnival, dinner at pub in West Village, early to BEA for ticket to CATCHING FIRE signing, Julie Andrews, Puff the Magic Dragon, roaming for ARCs, astounded by beautiful high (quickly-disappearing) stack of THE BRILLIANT FALL OF GIANNA Z, a lunch of what a friend called my yellow food (fries & a banana), listening to YA rock band at Books of Wonder, ABC Silent Auction, Betsy Bird's kidlit drink night, more roaming for ARCs, lunch with Debs, dinner with Blueboarders, long talk with lovely people in beautiful hotel room, more roaming for ARCs, MET, NY pizza, signed books at B&N, tour of NYU, walk around Columbia, tour of UN, red velvet cake at Harry & David, plane, home.


THE BRILLIANT FALL OF GIANNA Z!





Lovely books of the Westside Debs!




Shani Petroff, Pam Bachorz, and Megan Crewe:




Josh Berk and Jon Skovron:




Pam, Megan, and me:



Also at the above Deb/Tenners lunch: Michelle Zink and Neesha Meminger (and a bunch of teens)!


For those of you going to ALA, I want to see pics and hear about your trip!! :)

Oh my oh my - I was such a little second grader. I forgot my teacher's name, but I adored her.

Cab drivers fly.

You can say "y'all" here and no one laughs.

Van Gogh at the Met will always make you cry.

New Yorkers are very helpful and never sleep.

You can know who someone is from LJ, Twitter, Verla Kay, and/or Facebook, & he can have absolutely no idea who you are. (Need to remember this before next BEA.)

New York rocks.

Books rock.

And even Libba Bray rocks in a YA rock band.

Pink hair is cool.

If you get up earlyearly on Friday morning to be at BEA, you'll be in the middle of reading CATCHING FIRE on Sunday night. Very worth it.

Three questions for author Leigh Brescia:


What was the title of your manuscript when you sold it?

Actually, One Wish has *always* been One Wish. I think my publisher went through and double-checked to make sure there were no duplicate titles on the market, and so we never had to volley potential titles back and forth. It was called One Wish when I first began querying agents.

What place have you visited that you most want to return to?

My DH and I went on a road trip to Disney World on our honeymoon and stopped in Savannah, Georgia on the way. I loved everything about downtown Savannah—the architecture and history especially. I would love to go back and spend more time there.

Who is your favorite book character?

That’s a good question. It’s hard to limit this to just one. I guess I’d have to go with an obvious choice and say Elizabeth Bennet, because she manages to totally be herself and still gets the guy.

Thanks, Jenny!

Thanks, Leigh!


Visit Leigh's website to see the beautiful trailer for her book: www.leighbrescia.com/

"This fantasy heroine, who shows her spunk with quiet self-determination instead of swordfights, headlines an appealing magical adventure set in a refreshingly non-Western milieu."  Kirkus

Booklist Online recently placed SILVER PHOENIX on its Top Ten SF/Fantasy YA books. Wow.



I've read Cindy's book and truly is amazing. The heroine exudes a serene turmoil and strength. The language is stunning. I read sentences over and over. Read it. You're in for a treat.


cindypon.com/