1. I just signed my contract with Hyperion! Which makes the new books feel even more officially official.
2. I passed 25,000 words (a.k.a. 100 pages) on my current WIP last night. Almost at the halfway mark! And still mostly liking it (and with a rough draft, ‘mostly’ is about as good as it gets ).
3. I’m going to hang out with a bunch of other Toronto kids and YA authors tonight after work. Yay! The TorKidLit group gets together once a month to hang out and talk shop, and it’s always a great time. As much as I adore my online writer buddies, there’s nothing like getting to chat with other writers in person.
Some time last fall I caught a glimpse of a few minutes of a So You Think You Can Dance episode for the first time. (Yes, I pretty much live under a rock as far as TV is concerned. We use an antenna!) It caught my interest enough that I started watching the show. Right away, I was hooked: the talent of the contestants, even the ones who don’t make it all the way through, is astonishing, and the format means there’s always a variety of music and choreography.
One of the things I loved seeing the most was the chemistry developing between the pairs who continued to work together over the course of the first several episodes (something that’s sadly been missing from this season with the new format). It’s amazing, and I think useful as a writer, to see how much personality and emotion can come across without anything being said. My favorite pair, by far, was Legacy and Kathryn, especially after this routine which still gives me chills:
Also amazing is seeing dancers with no previous training, or training only in one style, completely absorb something totally different from anything they’ve ever done. Sadly, the video won’t let me embed it, but you really should check out Alex the ballet dancer proving he can hip hop with the best of them. Just goes to show you never know what hidden depths you might find if you push your characters–or yourself–out of the comfort zone!
And it’s probably because of this show that one of the characters in THE WAY WE FALL turned out to be a dancer.
Any other SYTYCD fans out there? Who are your faves this season?
What was your favorite cartoon when you were a kid?
For anyone who doesn’t know how old I am, this is going to do a good job of dating me. When I was really little I had a number of cartoons I loved: She-Ra, My Little Pony, Carebears, and The Raccoons, just to name a few. But I think my absolute favorite was Thunder Cats. I have many memories of playing Thunder Cats with friends, pretending to be one or another of the characters and racing off on great adventures.
As I got older, I stopped watching most cartoons, but there were a couple I still enjoyed in later childhood: The Little Prince and Belle and Sebastian.
It’s been forever since I’ve watched any of those, though. Now I’m feeling all nostalgic!
Okay, readers: What are your favorite childhood cartoons?
Just started outlining a new project… Always an exciting time! Not going to offer any details yet, but I will share what’s likely to be its theme song:
(Would have used the album version, but it wasn’t available–this was the clearest live version I could find.)
In GIVE UP THE GHOST, what is Paige’s favourite perfume?
Well, I know it smells something like her ghostly scent: sweet and fruity with a bit of spice. But I don’t know much about perfumes, so I didn’t have a specific one in mind when I made that up! I can’t see Paige wanting to spend a ton of money on perfume, though, so whatever it is, it’d probably be either a non-designer brand or a designer rip-off.
What was you favorite cartoon when you were a kid?
I loved ThunderCats! I’ve always loved cats, and the idea of being some sort of human-cat hybrid seemed amazing at the time. My friends and I liked to pretend to be our favorite ThunderCats and had many adventures as such.
I was also quite fond of She-Ra and My Little Pony.
You can live in any other city for a year, what city and why?
I’d love to live in London–maybe for a lot more than a year! If I could afford it, I’d seriously consider moving there. I love all the different neighborhoods with their different personalities; I love the history that you can just feel walking through certain parts; I love the subway (tube!) system that allows you to go just about everywhere in the city; I love the food (had some of the best Indian food in my life there!); and I love that it’s close to a lot of other places I love, like Edinburgh and the Highlands, and makes for much easier travel to all the places I’d like to see in Europe and Asia than here on the other side of the ocean.
Now I turn the question to you, blog readers! What would your dream city be?
If you were to live in any book universe, which ‘verse & character would you choose and why?
I found this tricky, because while I have many books I adore, most of them would be rather stressful/unpleasant to live in. That’s what makes them so entertaining, of course!
I think if I had to choose one, I’d probably go with Sophie from HOWL’S MOVING CASTLE. Because there’s a lot of fun as well as conflict in her life, and who wouldn’t want to hang out with the Wizard Howl in a castle that can take you into different worlds? I could even stop by Earth now and then if I wanted!
Your turn, readers: what book would you choose to live in?
Megan Crewe is a young adult author. Her debut novel, GIVE UP THE GHOST, a paranormal YA, was published by Henry Holt in September 2009. Watch for her second YA novel, the contemporary dystopian THE WAY WE FALL, coming in early 2012 from Disney-Hyperion.
).
