rgz LIVE! Beyond Imagination with Justina Chen, Zoe Marriott, and Alyson Noel

Welcome to the kickoff of our week's series of live chats in celebration of Teen Read Week: READ BEYOND REALITY. Tonight readergirlz tantalizes your imagination with three amazing authors:

JUSTINA CHEN, ZOE MARRIOTT, and ALYSON NOEL!

The fun starts at the top of the hour! Let's go, rgz!

Janet Lee Carey's Stealing Death Party & Meeting Melissa Walker!

Janet Lee Carey's STEALING DEATH party was so much fun! She had an amazing live Marimba band (wish I'd caught some on video!), an intriguing reading (plus her inspiration, which I always find fascinating), a dance performance straight from the pages of the novel, and of course many friends, including Dia Calhoun, Justina Chen Headley, Peggy King Anderson, Kathryn Galbraith, Katherine Bond, Molly Blaisdell, and so many more.

I'd met Deb Caletti a couple of times in person and we've had some correspondence, so it was an honor to get to talk with her and swap stories. She is so gorgeous and talented and amazing, truly.

And who should show up but the very beautiful and gifted Maya Ganesan, blogger and poet, with her family. What a treat to meet her in person!

Then on Sunday, Melissa Walker was in town! Several of us readergirlz divas (we missed you, Justina!) chatted over coffee at the now famous Seattle cafe, Bedlam. Isn't it funny, how you see someone on blogs and videos and Facebook and it's still so surreal and cool to get to meet them in real life? Here we are, divas minus one (Left to right: Lorie Ann Grover, Melissa Walker, Dia Calhoun, and me):

Happy week, everyone!

ALA 2009: Roundup

Rounding up ALA with just a few photos for the rgz peeps. The first is a bit of a blur from the Newbery, but how perfect for Neil Gaimen and The Graveyard Book? Right?

We had so much fun with over 90 tables of participants. An elegant evening for certain. I was especially thankful to be there to respect the talent and heart of Ashley Bryan.

Our very own diva Justina Chen Headley was busy on Monday, signing over 200 copies of North of Beautiful in 2 hours. Librarians were squealing and crying in excitement in her line. Seriously.


And then the Printz Ceremony! I have to give it up to our YALSA librarians who are so hip and passionate! It was a fantastic evening of speeches.


The dapper M.T. Anderson was one of the inspiring, honor award, key note speakers.

One of my favorite events of the weekend was the YALSA Coffee Klatch. Before we authors were whisked around the room in speed dating style, we all got to chat together over breakfast ourselves. I nearly dropped over meeting Margo Lanagan as I searched for words of appreciation for Tender Morsels. She was kind and patient with me.

I'll be posting a smattering of photos of new friends and old on my own blog and Facebook if you want to see more. But that's all for now. Thank you ALA for the Annual Conference of 2009!

Off to ALA!

diva Justina Chen Headley and I are off to ALA to party it up with awesome librarians and fantastic publishers! We'll be signing, spreading the news about rgz and TBD '10, and going to the Newbery and Printz awards. Hope to cross paths if you are stomping the streets of Chicago, too. Safe travels!

Lorie Ann's book, Bedtime Kiss for Little Fish!

Last weekend, the fam and I headed to Lorie Ann Grover's signing for Bedtime Kiss for Little Fish (that's the top of You-Know-Who, Big Fish Fan):

Trust me, the book is every bit as cute as the title and perfect for little Bedtime Fishes everywhere. We bought copies for all of the little sharks, skates, and jellyfish in our lives and celebrated with our buds! Left to right: readergirlz Justina Chen Headley, Lorie Ann, and me, Holly Cupala:

Congrats to Lorie Ann - it's sure to make a big splash!

Sarah Dessen Celebration

Over at The Sarah Dessen Diarist, the lovely Adele has put together an astonishing thirty days of posts(!) from authors, bloggers, and readergirlz in the month leading up to Sarah Dessen's birthday on June 6th.

Check out this super cute movie put together by our own readergirlz diva Melissa Walker, who grew up in Chapel Hill along with Ms. Dessen herself:



Stay tuned for blogs from an amazing list of authors and bloggers, plus divas Justina Chen Headley and Holly Cupala, and a special post from the readergirlz later in the month!

 

Justina is a Hometown Hero!

Already a hero to us, our very own co-founding diva, Justina Chen Headley, is a Hometown Hero on TV!

She talks about readergirlz, community service tied to her novels, and the need for story to KING 5's Joyce Taylor right here! See divas Lorie Ann, Dia, and Holly in action (missing Melissa!) as we deliver books to Seattle Children's Hospital.

Hooray for our very own hero, Justina!



 

Rgz Street Team: Miss Erin reviews North of Beautiful by Justina Chen Headley

The rgz Street Team is a group of teens who bring YA reviews to our blog, led by Postergirl Miss Erin. Find out more.

Today, Miss Erin reviews North of Beautiful by our own Diva Justina Chen Headley!

Trying to describe all that this book is about is difficult... it encompasses so much. It's about a girl named Terra and the birthmark on her face that has made her life so ugly. It's about a girl longing to be free, and wishing for someone to give her permission to be so. It's about relationships - the one you have with yourself, and the ones you have with others. It's about what the word "beauty" really means . . . and how that's not such a simple term to define.

Justina Chen Headley has crafted a truly stellar novel in North of Beautiful. She managed meticulously the delicate balance of mixing dark with light in her story. Her talent for weaving various themes and imagery throughout a book is brilliant. It's a story that overwhelms you with truth; both characters and story ring with a painful, sweet honesty. The book made me cry...

To read the rest of Miss Erin's review, click here.

Nikki Grimes: A One-Woman Hurricane of Change

Hello, readergirlz! Here's a repost from my blog. Please feel free to repost!

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Meet one of my writer-mentors, Nikki Grimes, a NY Times bestselling author and Coretta Scott King award winner. She is brilliant and fierce and 100% heart.

She called me last night to check in on me, shored me up with some solid advice, and then told me her chilling story. Just nine days after speaking at a school in Arkansas, the entire town was leveled by a hurricane. "Cherish every day," she told me. "Every day."

Nikki is a woman after my own heart. She is singlehandedly spearheading her own Operation Teen Book Drop by trying to replenish that school's devastated collection of young adult titles. So if you didn't rock the readergirlz drop and still have YA books lying around that are in need of a good home, consider sending a few of them here:

Jimma Holder
Literacy Specialist
Mena Public Schools
501 Hickory
Mena, AR  71953

Today, I am grateful to be surrounded by friends who are changemakers. Who are forces of nature. Who live by their words and actions.

+++++++++++++++++++++++

~justina, readergirlz diva

Lorie Ann's TLA Top Ten (and a few more)

Justina asked me to share my top 10 moments from TLA. I found I had a photo for most!

1. Getting to travel with Justina and Dia. Although we missed Holly Cupala and Melissa Walker dearly!


2. Packing up the gifties for publishers who are supporting TBD '09!


3. Finding Jodie Cohen on the floor. She's now at Listening Library. We formerly worked together at Simon and Schuster. Note: she's wearing heels!


4. Meeting the legend Sharyn November who probably has her eyes closed here because she can't believe the ruckus the co-founders of rgz are making over her.


5. My massive fan girl moment over Gary Schmidt where I kept mentioning the breeze, the breeze in Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy. Oh, my.


6. Happening upon Joan Bauer and putting two and two together to remember we first met at SCBWI National where we listened to Karen Hesse speak. I lurve Joan's work!


7. Our presentation to over 200 fantastic Texas librarians!


8. Our signings where S&S provided Hug Hug! and On Pointe for conference attendees.


9. Coming upon Justina's shrine of stars!

10. And then meeting Meg Cabot after working together multiple times with rgz!


There were so many highlights, really:

Authors: Sara Zarr, Ally Carter, Jennifer Zeigler, Justine Larbalestier, Walter Dean Myers, Margo Rabb, John Green, Scott Westerfeld, two Brown Bookshelf co-founders, and Cynthia Leitich Smith (and more, more, more!)

Publishers: the Little, Brown staff--Victoria Stapleton (Who I just love. She brought a chair into the Publishers' Reception. So appreciated. And her humor just cracks me up!) Kate Sullivan who helped carry my bags. How sweet is that? Laura Antonacci from S&S and her full team.

Librarians: our power lunch with Lorienne Roy and a midnight meeting with Beth Yoke. Susi Grissom and Joanna Nigrelli, our Texas hosts. An entire conference full of passionate, generous librarians. Just wonderful!

Here's to a great conference, and the rumor of TLA '10. I hope, I hope, I hope!



And sweet thanks to the librarian who asked me if my hair color was natural and another who gave me the "Best Shoe Award" for the entire conference. *wink*

Texan Librarians Throw BIG Conferences!

Justina, reporting in on the Texas Librarian Association conference...

All I can say is that Texan Librarians sure know how to make an author feel welcome. Yes, ma'am!

After spending 3 days in Houston at the legendary Texas Librarian Association with two of the other readergirlz co-founders (Dia Calhoun and Lorie Ann Grover), let me just say, I looooove Texans as much as I missed our other divas (Holly Cupala and Melissa Walker).

My Personal Trip Highlights in no particular order. (I can't wait to hear Lorie Ann and Dia weigh in on their top moments!)

1. Toiling late at night with the divas on getting our swag bags ready for our presentation on Making Literacy Hip + Relevant for Teens. (This brought back memories of the early days where I spent hours upon hours hand-cutting and crafting hundreds of goody bags for various readergirlz events...)


2. Kibbitzing with amazing YA authors, including Meg Cabot,

Sara Zarr, Ally Carter, Justine Larbalestier, Margo Rabb, John Green, Scott Westerfeld (ooohhh...confirmed a readergirlz feature month with him!)--it was a veritable readergirlz reunion...LIVE! And then to top it off, I met some of the Brown Bookshelf co-founders! THAT was a thrill. My fleeting glimpse of Cynthia Leitich Smith made me so mad at myself for not snagging some time with her for a coffee. Next time.

3. Meeting the incredible editor-visionary Sharyn November! In person! I literally squealed. Vaguely embarrassing. Dia and Lorie Ann were more refined in their fangirling.

4. Oh! Oh! MAJOR highlight: Hanging out with my marvelous Little, Brown peeps--Victoria Stapleton and Zoe Luderitz (amazing library marketing dynamic duo), Kate Sullivan (watch for ASH!), and at last meeting Rachel Wasdyke (I teared up! She's my publicist!!).

I wish I had taken a photo of Victoria's sassy, HIGH patent heels. Oh, my! I had the honor of meeting Justin Somper (VAMPIRATES--also proud wearer of the most rocking pair of men's shoes I've seen. Ever.) and Svetlana (graphic novelist).

5. Meeting every single one of the Texan powerhouses...like Professor Nana (my hero and the woman who kicked my behind to get readergirlz off the ground) and what must have been the entire TAYSHAS braintrust. You ladies are truly amazing.

6. All the teens and librarians who stood in line for me to sign my books. Wow, that's all I can say, WOW. Thank you.

7. Meeting with Loreine Roy(past president of ALA) and Beth Yoke (executive director of YALSA).

8. Spending a wonderful evening at the YART dinner with my dining companions. I now have a list of must-read Latina authors, which I am absolutely psyched about!

9. Walking the showroom floor and being absolutely wowed by the number of fantastic books I still have yet to read and showcase on readergirlz!

10. Looking out at a ballroom filled with librarians who rocked with readergirlz at our presentation... WHY, oh WHY, did I start to cry when the video trailers for Operation TBD rolled? Holly has done a spectacular job with them, for sure! But I also think it's because we at readergirlz move so fast from project to project that we don't celebrate enough!

AND that is what Texans know how to do: celebrate. In style.

Any time I get an invite to go to a book event in Texas where there will be librarians? I will so be there. Yes, Ma'am!

~Justina, a tired readergirlz diva

Find Beauty Challenge: Lorie Ann Grover

So, of course, I had to make one! Here's my submission for the Find Beauty Challenge!



Appearances: Miss Erin, Ellen and Emily, Jackie Parker, Dia Calhoun, Janet Lee Carey, Cathy Garber, Kato the dog, Justina Chen Headley, Holly Cupala, and me! Yay!

Find Beauty Challenge: Justina!

Here's Justina's entry for the Find Beauty Challenge. How sweet and beautiful it is!

Make Something - and a Giveaway!

This is something I've been dying to try for a long time: glass marble magnets. And what could be more fun than magnets featuring your favorite (or even your own!) book covers?

You need:
Flat glass marbles (I used 3/4" ones from Michaels craft store)
1/2" magnets (50/pack at Michaels)
Elmer's Glue
Images
Scissors

I tracked down book cover jpgs at Google Images then tinkered with them in Adobe InDesign to get them just the right size for the flat side of the marbles (you can use Word, Publisher, whatever). Print them out and cut circles to size. Add glue to the flat side of the marble, then affix your image face-down so that it shows through the bubbled glass. Let dry, then glue the magnet.

Here's the set I made as a gift for Joni Sensel to celebrate the launch of her new book, The Farwalker's Quest:


And here is a set of readergirlz magnets (1st row: rgz splat, Lorie Ann Grover's On Pointe, Dia Calhoun's Avielle of Rhia, Justina Chen Headley's North of Beautiful, Martha Brockenbrough's Society for the Promotion of Good Grammar; 2nd row: Janet Lee Carey's Dragon's Keep, Melissa Walker's Lovestruck Summer, Mitali Perkins' Secret Keeper, Martha Brockenbrough's Things That Make Us [Sic], and Sara Easterly and Jaime Temairik's Fashion Studio!)


You can keep them, give them as gifts, or even as a blog giveaway! Which gives me an idea...a giveaway!

Leave a comment by midnight on Saturday, March 7th, and we'll randomly choose one person to receive a set of readergirlz magnets! We'll announce the winner on Monday, so check back to see if it's you!

Holly Cupala, author & rgz diva

Writing Retreat, 3/09

It's going to seem like we retreat frequently. But we don't. Really! It's just that this opportunity came up and so we HAD to go, right?

One weekend with members of the team who could make it: postergirl Jackie Parker, divas Dia Calhoun, Justina Chen Headley, and me (Lorie Ann Grover), here:

Two fantasies and two contemporary novels were being born. And a few good photos. This is my favorite!


There are always surprises when you go to a place sight-unseen. The next photo looks perfectly normal. But it's a skylight! The eroding mud hill was LOOMING over us. Did it make for faster typing as we all worried we'd be washed out to sea? Um. Yes.

Of course dinner out is a highlight, the chance to share how the writing day went. Just in time for happy hour!


Then back to writing in the morning!


All in all, I'm liking this retreat lifestyle. Good friends, good writing, good fun. Now, if only the whole team could make it next time...

Behind the Scenes: The Making of a Trailer, Part 2

If you missed Part 1 of this Behind the Scenes Operation TBD Trailer tutorial, check it out here.



For the Operation TBD trailer, I wanted to create a Wizard of Oz kind of feeling, going from last year's event in sepia and switching to color for the upcoming event (besides, Andrea's music makes me think of old movies). I wanted the books in the video to simulate Rocking the Drop - teens and authors and publishers dropping thousands of books across the country - and used a few book covers from each of the publisher donors. Even better, and totally coincidentally, the first book to pop up is a Wizard of Oz graphic novel!

Ok, once you have your music and an idea rattling around in your head, it's time to create the images. There are basically three ways to do this: use video footage, use still images, or create titles within your moviemaking program.

The TBD trailer is compiled of still images (made in PhotoShop) and title effects (more on this later). For the rgz/GuysLitWire/YALSA/ publishers/tons of dropping books section, I made over 70 images to layer one after the other. Here are just a few:











Here's the part where the Mac people will want to throw fruit at me, because I use Windows Movie Maker (even worse...I run Vista on my MacBook Air). So I know there has to be a free moviemaking program for Mac OS X (iMovie?), but it's probably so user-friendly that you don't even need this tutorial (uh, unless you happen to be running Vista on your Mac).

In Movie Maker, everything is pretty drag-and-drop. The import bar is on the left, and you can import videos, pictures, and audio files. Once you have imported all of your components, you basically just drag and drop them onto the appropriate slot on the timeline bar at the bottom. To add titles (all of the text zooming in and out), just go to Tools -> Titles and Credits, and follow the instructions.

To create effects, like old film grain, fading in and out, sepia, or the cool warp that made Ellen Hopkins' books look like they were marching across the screen, go to Tools -> Effects. A bunch of options will present themselves. You can test them on the upper right screen and then drag and drop them directly onto each slide.

You can synch your images and titles by using the zoom tool above the timeline bar and adjusting the length of time that image is in the movie down to fractions of a second - for instance, I tried (very hard!) to hit the beats on Andrea's song when transitioning to another image for greater impact. If you are using video footage, you may want to tinker with the music and sound so that you don't lose the audio.

A more complete Windows Movie Maker tutorial is available here.



Looking for an excellent place to use your newly acquired movie-making skills? Check out the North of Beautiful Find Beauty Challenge! Justina is giving away an iTouch, and for every video uploaded, Justina will donate $10 to Global Surgical Outreach, an amazing group that helps kids with cleft lips and palates in the third world. See the details here!

Holly Cupala, author & rgz diva