MY MUSE, GRISELDA

Yup, here she is: Griselda, my muse, who has occupied my office for the past ten years. (Anytime somebody says "muse," I instantly get this picture in my head: black hair, tambourine and all...)

I'm eyebrow-deep in yet another project right now; good ol' Griselda's been working overtime this summer...

YOU CAN "LIKE" ME, REALLY "LIKE" ME

Yup, it's true...I just created my own "fan" page at Facebook!

Be sure to head on over to the page and give 'er the old thumbs up:

Holly Schindler on Facebook

TV SERIES PITCH

School starts here in Springfield today...and in honor of the new school year, I'd like to vote that we develop a sitcom set in a grade school that stars all of the "teachers" in the current Target ads (my fave is the music teacher).

Come on...don't these ads make you giggle every single time they air?

FOLLOW FRIDAY #5

I'm back for another Follow Friday! Love this meme...

This week, the question is basically, "Which book would you write yourself into and what role would you play in that book?"

Weeeell...I sort of already did.


Both of my published books (A BLUE SO DARK and PLAYING HURT) are 100% fictitious. The events and characters are complete figments of my own imagination.

...But there's just something about writing in first person. Bits of myself naturally leak out. My humor, my observations, drips of my own personality become part of my characters. And it doesn't matter how unlike me my characters might seem at first. I even see bits of myself in Clint, the male protagonist from PLAYING HURT.

So in a way, I feel as though I am very much a part of both of my books. (I don't think I'm the only writer who feels this way, either. I think this is part of the reason why written work always feels so very personal to the author...)

New followers, please leave a comment so I can head on over to your blog! (Also, be sure to check out my last post...we're looking for fabulous topics at my YA group author blog, YA Outside the Lines!)

HIT ME WITH YOUR BEST Qs

I know I've mentioned this previously (the idea of sending me your topics for September blog posts for my YA group blog, YA Outside the Lines). But I also just filmed a short vid about using your topics for our posts, and I had to share...

We're getting some really great suggestions in, but I'd love to have more! Slapstick funny or deadpan serious...it's up to you! Go ahead and leave any ideas in the comments to this post.

Thanks in advance for your fabulous suggestions!

FOLLOW FRIDAY: MY RETURN

It's been so long since I participated in Parajunkee's Follow Friday! I love this week's question, which is basically, "How have your reading habits changed since you were a teen?"

To answer, I'm counting college as part of my teen years...after all, I was a lit major when I was 18-19 years old.

College taught me how to read with a pencil. To scour the books, underlining, making constant notes in the margins as I searched for potential test material or quotes for term papers. When I got out of school, finally, as a 24-year-old with a newly-minted master's degree, I still read with a pencil, looking to find out how successful, published authors got their stories on the page (I had to learn to write all over again following graduation; I sincerely believe there's a difference between academic fiction and mainstream / trade publishing fiction, but that's a post for another day).

Bloggers, though? Bloggers read with their gut. Bloggers respond to books on an emotional level, not just an intellectual level. They view characters as people they either connect with, want to befriend, or punch in the face.

I can't turn off the writer in me; I can't completely silence the margin-note-taker. But more and more, I find myself letting my emotions come into play now when I read, too...And that's definitely allowing me to continue to grow as a writer...

New followers, post comments below so I can head straight over to your own blogs!

REDEFINING "TORTURE"

As a writer, I spend more than my fair share of time thinking about the shades and meanings of words. This summer, it seems my old home state of MO is providing a brand-new definition of "torture," as this video explains:

YA OUTSIDE THE LINES: CALLING ALL QUESTIONS

I recently took over administrative duties at my YA group blog, YA Outside the Lines. (Don't worry; the blog's previous administrator, the fabulous Jennifer Echols, is continuing to blog at YAOTL, too...)


Like my MG blog, Smack Dab in the Middle, everybody at YA Outside the Lines blogs about one theme per month...And for our September posts, we'd like to hear from you guys! Send us your questions: the kookier and quirkier, the better! Don't be shy! Head over to YAOTL, check out who's blogging there, follow along, and shoot some funky q's to writehollyschindler (at) yahoo (dot) com...even leave a few questions in the comments below! Nothing's off limits.

Can't wait to hear from you!

HANGING MY HEAD IN SHAME (THE 20 BOY SUMMER BAN)

Back when the story broke about Republic, Missouri resident Wesley Scroggins's attempt to ban three books from Republic schools, I wrote a post for Sarah Ockler's blog which defended my home state. Scroggins isn't representative of Missouri, I insisted. Missouri itself doesn't stand for banning. When I wrote the post, I honestly thought the whole situation was basically over. The school board wouldn't actually ban Ockler's TWENTY BOY SUMMER, or Anderson's SPEAK, or Vonnegut's SLAUGHTERHOUSE FIVE. I mean, really...SLAUGHTERHOUSE FIVE? What decade is this?

Only...they did.

I woke up this morning to a headline in my local paper (THE NEWS-LEADER) indicating that two of Scroggins's targeted titles had been pulled: Vonnegut's and Ockler's.

And I'm completely, totally mortified by the decision. I'm even embarrassed that the headline is on page one of the paper, not shunted to some little paragraph deep inside, hanging its own head in shame.

The truth is, anybody with a book on the shelves can be banned. Anybody. And while "numerous individuals," as superintendent Vern Minor put it, claim to have read the three books in question, I wonder if they've read any other contemporary YAs. I contend that if those individuals were to start reading YA authors whose last names begin with "A" and work their way through the alphabet, the shelves would be empty.

And that's the last place on earth I want to be: a world with empty bookshelves. The slippery-slope is terrifying.

To Sarah, a YA author I so admire, all I can say is this: There are many, many important books out there that have never been banned. But I can't think of a single banned book that is not important.

A NEW WRITING TIP!

It's been forever since I posted a vlog writing tip! (But only because I was so wrapped up in the super-fun vlog interviews and posts associated with my PLAYING HURT Blog Tour...)

I just recorded a new tip, which gives a few pointers on what to do with hazy, unclear bursts of inspiration! (Love doing these tips...so, so fun...)




I'm also anxious to get back into my blog series Breaking In (in which I answer any questions you might have on the business aspects of publishing, as opposed to craft), and want to remind everyone that the authors at my MG blog, Smack Dab in the Middle, are also open to answering any questions you might have about writing for kids!

Feel free to post any new questions you might have as a comment to this post! I look forward to hearing from you...

ON FINDING A NEW AUTHOR TO LOVE (+GIVEAWAY OF MY OWN)

I'd never read an Anne Lamott book before picking up CROOKED LITTLE HEART. Actually, if you want to get technical about it, I haven't read CROOKED LITTLE HEART, either...not completely, anyway. I'm about fifty pages in.

And I have to say it: I'm so in love with this book.

I've heard wonderful things abut Lamott's BIRD BY BIRD, and found out about this book through an interview printed in the back of another book I was enjoying; the author of that book recommended CROOKED LITTLE HEART. And as an author with a book out myself that's already over a year old, I sort of feel the need to wave the flag for backlisted titles. So I bought this book...and have found an author I so, so admire.

My admiration runs so deep, in fact, that I had to put up a post about this book before I'm even finished. But every single time I pick up CROOKED LITTLE HEART, I think, "I'm going to read everything this woman's ever written."

Now, that's a good feeling, indeed...

Also, a new guest post of my own just went live, and includes a chance to win a swag pack! Check out the details at Snowdrop Dreams of Books!

FAVORITE GUEST POST OF ALL TIME

I got a chance to "meet" fellow author Tracy Barrett online, when I asked her to take part in my MG blog, Smack Dab in the Middle (the blog is growing in leaps and bounds; we're now offering writing tips, interviews, guest posts, and giveaways, which excites me to no end).

I soon learned Tracy's taking the (let's face it: thrilling and scary) plunge into being a full-time author...She's even blogging about the experience at Goodbye, day job!

She asked me to blog about my own experiences as a full-time author...and the post, in which I recognize my family's incredible financial support, is now officially my favorite guest post of all time. Not kidding. All time. Find out why at Goodbye, day job!

A TYPICAL ATYPICAL DAY IN THE LIFE

Aislynn at Knit-Purl-Stitch... asked me to share what a typical day in my life looks like. In all honesty, though, a typical day in my life looks just about as exciting as watching your toenails grow: eight to twelve hours of writing. Period.

So I filmed a short vid about that one day a week that's a bit different from the others...that day I'm out and about, catching up on life beyond the computer screen.

A BLUE SO DARK WINS SILVER AWARD IN FOREWORD MAG'S BOOK OF THE YEAR!

Yep, it's true: A BLUE SO DARK took the silver award in ForeWord Magazine's Book of the Year Awards!

(Developments like these make the strangest noises come out of my mouth...My dog cocks his head to the side like he wonders if I'm all right...)