Yesterday I made caramel rolls, and for some reason the dough actually rose higher than I wanted it to. (Which never happens. Usually I'm in the kitchen staring at a partially risen ball of dough yelling "Rise! Come on! You can do it!" as if the dough is actually going to listen to me. Or hear me.)

So I carefully put the rolls in the oven, but some of the topping and dough must have fallen out of/off the pan during baking, because when I turned the oven on about ten minutes ago to roast some potatoes--whoa. Burnt sugar is not something you want to get a whiff of. In fact, the smell is so bad I had to open the front door in the hopes that some 'fresh air' would help. Of course, since it's about 90 out, it's not so much 'fresh' air as hot air.

Anyway, while I wait for the oven to finishing burning off all the caramel and dough that must have hit it yesterday, I have some links to share:

Five New York City students talk about what clothes they buy, music they like, etc. It's a fun read, and I'm strangely heartened by the fact that someone out there still uses the word dorky.

Lyda Morehouse blogs about the lack of rhyme or reason for why books fail

Meg Cabot on why authors need editors

This last thing isn't a link, but look at the great t-shirt I got from the Charleston County Public Library:



LOVE!!

I got The Complete Calvin and Hobbes (best comic strip of. all. time. IMO, anyway) over the weekend and I love it except for one thing. There's three books, and each book weighs approximately eight gazillion pounds. But it's a tiny drawback (lifting the books might enable me to develop some muscle tone!) compared to the joy of being able to read Calvin and Hobbes again. I hadn't realized how much I missed the strip until I sat down and started reading. And reading. And reading.

I'm almost done with the second volume and I have to admit, I want to get back to it. So let me leave you with some links:

Meg Cabot talks about her writing process, including revisions

Tess Gerritsen on how long it takes for a book to go from manuscript to on the shelves -- I have to say, while I've seen a few young adult books come out in a year or less, longer seems to be the norm. Has anyone out there heard of or had a young adult novel appearing in stores seven or fewer months after the publisher bought it?

Editorial Anonymous on things you should never ever do to editors

Agent Nephele Tempest talks about best-sellers vs. best sellers

I'm interviewed over at Poised At The Edge

My trip was great! I went hiking and running and...

Yeah, I'm totally lying. I sat around and read books and it was *fabulous.* I know some people love active vacations but I like nothing better than blobulating. The most strenuous thing I did was go see Superbad, which made me miss Arrested Development all over again. Michael Cera better become a huge star, because he is entirely made of awesome.

Some interesting links:

The always entertaining Maureen Johnson strikes again! Check out how to revise a book (Also, Devilish is out in paperback already, and if you haven't read it yet, do it now. (NOW!) I promise you won't be sorry!)

Chain stores can make or break a book (start reading at the fifth comment on the page)

Well, now I know why I shouldn't mention tv shows I love. Guess what's no longer on tonight?

That's right. The Nine.

You'd think I'd have learned my lesson with Freaks and Geeks, Profit, Arrested Development, etc. but nooooooo. Why must I fall for shows that never last? Why?

Oh well. I can't get too worked up about it because it's not like it won't happen again and also, as of early tomorrow morning, I'm on vacation! (Well, on the road to vacation, but close enough!)

I'll be back late next week, but before I head off to pack, I have some links to share:

I got a copy of the full (front and back) cover of Perfect You today! I love it even more now that I've seen the whole thing! Here's the little version:

(If you want to see the full version--and you know, read the back copy, it's here)

Agent in the Middle on a very, very large book deal

Tess Gerritsen offers up two great blog posts, one about how many current and former romance writers regularly show up on the NYT bestseller list--and how and why many of them "broke out", as well as how nerve-wracking novel publication is, even for best-selling authors like Gerritsen.

An interesting article on "The Truth" about getting--and staying--published

Hurrah, The Nine is back on! As far as I know, me and approximately nobody else watched this series when it aired last fall, but I loved it, and am thrilled ABC is (fingers crossed!) burning off the last few episodes.

I don't expect any sort of closure --the only show I can think of that actually provided that was the late but never *ever* forgotten Wonderfalls--but at least maybe I'll finally find out more about what happened during the bank robbery. I'll take crumbs at this point. Crumbs!!!

And now I'm off to finish Eagle Blue, a truly fantastic book about high school basketball in Alaska that you should totally check out--especially since it's now out in paperback...

Does anyone else spend as much (if not more) time getting ready to go on vacation than actually being on vacation? I'm heading out of town late next week, and already I've started making lists of things I need to bring.

Okay, I've been making lists of books. See, where I'm going I'll have a great ocean view but I won't have a phone (I know!), or internet access (!). Also, my cell phone won't work. (What kind of place has no cell service in this day and age? I mean, even my parents finally got it a year or so ago, and they live about five miles past the middle of nowhere. But I digress.)

Anyway, since I can only spend about ten minutes in the sun before I turn a shocking shade of pink (and that's with SPF 50 slathered all over), I plan on reading. Under an umbrella, and layers of clothing. (Always a charming look by the sea! I keep waiting for someone to ask me if I'm consumptive or something)

But, and here's the catch--I have to carry all the books I want to read because (you guessed it!) there are stairs I have to climb to reach the place where I'll be staying. Many, many stairs. (Elevators, you ask? HA!) I'm wondering how many books I can sneak into my husband's suitcase before he gets suspicious...

I have one v. amusing link to share today:

Twenty Over-Used Things in MG and YA fiction by Joelle Anthony

Oh! And you know what?--I've got copies of The Upper Class, Alex Unlimited, and Girl of the Moment to give away. If you're interested, leave me a comment with your email addy or send me a note at elizabeth at elizabethwrites dot com

I'll take comments/emails about these books through Sunday, the 12th, and then pick three people at random and send a book from the ones listed above to each of them.

perfect you cover! and other things!

Not only is Perfect You now listed on Amazon for pre-order, you can even see the cover:



I adore it, especially the shoes (there's a moment in the book about shoes--one of my fave moments, in fact)

What do you think?

Other things:

I did a podcast with the wonderful people at Bookcast/Fairfax County Public Library and if you're interested, it's up now and you can download and listen to it here. (Just a quick note: the contest I mention at the end was the BLOOM contest, which is now over.)

Bloom is currently the Teen Book Club Selection for Books-A-Million (YAY!!) and they've posted some discussion questions.

Now, so this entry won't be entirely about me (because I'm most definitely not that interesting!), I have some links to share:

A concise, smart, and helpful blog entry about how to get published

The always insightful Editorial Anonymous tackles what happens when you sell some books--and then can't sell another one

A great post about writing and money from Victoria Strauss

popgurls!

A dream of mine has come true...I've been interviewed by Popgurls! There's questions about writing, baking...and then they ask me to sum up each of my next two books in five words or less--gulp! (They're also giving away some signed copies of Bloom, if you're interested)

I'm going to be off floating on air for a while, but before I go:

Interesting insights into the publishing business from someone who works on contracts

The Rejecter has some advice for young writers

Be nice to booksellers!

Many authors recount their "big break"