Dutchness

It’s a strange thing, being an expat. Now, I’ve gotten used to big gallon jugs of milk, how so many things are processed, and that there are fewer flavors in the potato chip aisle (although Americans are coming around—I found Chili Limon flavored ones the other day). I’ll never quite get used to the sweet flavor of bread, but suspect it’s what helps it last forever.

Oddly, by living in a foreign country, you become more aware of the oddities of your own folk. I figured out that, as part of my Dutchness, I know a lot of Yiddish (it’s just part of Dutch vocabulary, interestingly), will not go to the doctor unless blood is gushing from my head (we’re stoic that way), and love, love, love anything that’s free. Which I’m pretty sure is in Dutch genes. You should see my kids bolt for the free samples in the grocery store.

My point? I’m loving this free download of Westerfeld’s Uglies. It was never my favorite (I like his standalones and Midnighters series better), but hey. It’s free. Who can pass that up?

Certainly not a Dutch girl.

Dude, Where's the Mystery?

So I’m reading my way through the Edgar nominees, as you have probably noticed from my blog posts. It’s good stuff (the Edgar noms, not my blog). But I can’t help but notice that genre definitions work a little differently.

The book I’m reading now, for instance, hardly qualifies as a mystery at all. Sure, there’s a plot question, which I suppose qualifies. But it’s not fitting the genre, in my opinion. And most of these YA ‘mysteries’ really don’t qualify—and we’re talking Edgar nominees here. Which makes me wonder: where are the true mysteries in YA? I’ve read a few over the years, but can count those on one hand, to be honest.

So here’s another question: how are we going to have adult mystery readers in the future, if we’re not putting out YA mysteries?

And when I say ‘we’, I really mean ‘you big publishing house people out there.’

When I look at what’s on TV and in the theater, I’m delighted to see lots of crime stuff, noir stuff (Watchmen, anyone?), and mysteries. So why are mysteries so absent in YA??

Happy Friday

Of course, I’m sure you’ve heard that Liar, Liar got a new cover. And the whole fuss got some good marketing for the book, so happy happy, joy joy for everyone.

Otherwise, not much to report. I’m reading Getting the Girl by Susan Juby; more on that book next week. I mowed the lawn, edited a manuscript, and am listening to groovy James Morrison CD. Feeling smug on this Friday.

Paper Towns

So I read this year’s Edgar winner, Paper Towns, by John Green. In short, the book is about Quentin, who has a thing for the girl next door, Margo. One night, Margo takes him on a tour of revenge, where she gets back at all the people who’ve wronged her. And they break into SeaWorld too, which turns out to be fun. Then the next day, Margo disappears. Her parents are so tired of her antics, they just kind of give up (Margo is 18). But Quentin decides to find her, following clues Margo left behind.

I wish I could say how I felt about this book, but I’m honestly not sure. It’s well-written (for the most part; more on this later), the story is interesting, but… Okay, so here’s what bothered me:

1. Margo is such a fun, chaotic, on-the-edge character that Quentin is kind of a bummer. Once she leaves (after the revengeful night), I was sorry she wasn’t there anymore. Quentin’s friends Ben and Radar are cool, but just not as exciting to follow as Margo.

2. It’s a little too convenient how Margo’s parents just throw up their hands.

3. My biggest objection: there is a longwinded scene at the end of the book where the characters (I won’t give the ending away) explain everything to the reader—meaning, the author doesn’t trust all the beautiful literary work he just did, and feels his reader is to dumb to get it. Big no-no. My critique folk would eat this for breakfast.

So here’s where I’m confused. All my objections are really proof that this book was very well-written: Margo is compelling, all plot angeles are resolved, and there’s literary depth.

If you get a chance to read this book (and you should—I sailed through it), let me know what you think.

Dinero, baby

Those of you who know me a little better, know that I also freelance. This year, I wrote a book on finance (a study guide for stockbrokers to pass the Series 7 licensing exam, to be precise). It was incredibly complex, and a little boring at times. But I did figure out I’m pretty good at the money stuff.

Or so I thought, anyway. Then I read Kristen Nelson’s blog this morning—she always has all kinds of smart things to share on publishing, and often YA too, so I suggest you bookmark her blog. Her current post is all about treating your writing as a business, which made me pause. When was the last time I did a balance sheet for my business?

Silence.

I’m off to grab my calculator…

The Amanda Project

Now this is so brilliant, I wish I would have thought of it myself: The Amanda Project allows teens to hunt for clues and solve the mystery.

The book comes out September 22; you can bet I’ll be picking up a copy. Nothin’ like a good mystery, right?

Yo, You with the Yo-Yo!

It’s fun for me to watch what’s hip now. Because it all looks remarkably like what was hip when I was hip (that’s a lot of hip, huh?): black clothes, punk-style hair. Ripped pants, Madonna sunglasses—it’s all been done. I bleached my own jeans once upon a time.

Some things are different. Cell phones everywhere, videogames, Twitter—me, I had none of those things. We hung out at the playground. And we yoyo-ed. Yes, really.

But then this morning, I found this article on how yoyos are making a comeback. Yoyo sales are up 23 percent, apparently, and there’s a yoyo store in Santa Barbara—some company makes yoyos that are nearly 500 bucks.

And did you know that a professional yoyo-ist makes 50k a year? Now where did I put that yoyo??