This is me at thirteen.

The haircut is my mother’s fault. From it you can deduce three things:

1)    We were too poor to get haircuts at a salon like normal people,

2)    My mother was a much better librarian than hairdresser, and

3)    I was still a year away from the massive rebellion after which I refused to get my hair cut at all for a while.

At this point I had just gotten my braces off, to my tremendous relief, but I was still wearing a retainer, as you can see from the wire.

I was in eighth grade, attending to a modified Montessori school at the time this picture was taken. There were a total of 60 kids in the school, about eight of whom were my age.

My parents, foolishly, let me choose where to go to high school. I selected one of the two expensive, private schools attended by all the richest kids in Indianapolis. I’m guessing you can imagine exactly how well I fit in with that haircut and those glasses, right? Yeah, whatever you’re thinking, it was worse.

I finally figured out haircuts about the time I turned sixteen and spent a semester in Washington D.C. as a Congressional Page. I got better glasses around that time, too, but I never really fit into any group socially until I escaped to Brazil as a junior. But that’s another story.

Mike, this is priceless. Thanks so much for making my day! My blog thanks you with all it’s heart. Here’s Mike now, if you’re curious.

If you missed our interview together, check it out. Or, stop by his blog to learn more about Mike or read the first two chapters of his novel. And make sure to buy Mike’s book, Ashfall, from one of these locations:

Autographed Copies
Indiebound
Amazon
Barnes & Noble

If you’re a YA writer and wish to be featured on Self-Deprecating Sunday, please contact me at jody(dot)mugele(at)gmail(dot)com, or leave a comment and I’ll be in touch. It’s more fun than church.

Then I read this douche canoe article. John Branch, I can talk shit about my city. But, you can’t. Not without a bit of blogger backlash. If you’re going to write for the New York Times, at least do your fucking research. If you’re going to complain about Indianapolis, act like a journalist and do some digging. You picked the most surface-level bullshit to paint your picture of the city. Grandmas and prison inmates knitting? Really? Eighth graders who want to have a voice? That’s who you pick on?

Pick on the fact that people won’t be allowed to buy alcohol on Superbowl Sunday. Pick on the fact that our public school system found kids that could actually spell. How about how most people will choose Red Lobster over Room Four? We have our faults. You just didn’t manage to actually find them.

Call me defensive. I’ve resisted being a Hoosier my whole life. But, damn, New York Times, you made me want to step in front of my city while you throw stones, and say hey, Fuck you. We’re okay.

But, just because he’s into the gross and violent, doesn’t mean he’s that way. He’s very nice. He even let me interview him here on Sparks and Butterflies. His debut, young adult novel is selling like hotcakes and was picked as one of the top 5 young adult novels in 2011, by NPR.

Here’s a synopsis:

Many visitors to Yellowstone National Park don’t realize that the boiling hot springs and spraying geysers are caused by an underlying supervolcano. It has erupted three times in the last 2.1 million years, and it will erupt again, changing the Earth forever.

Fifteen-year-old Alex is home alone when the supervolcano erupts. His town collapses into a nightmare of darkness, ash, and violence, forcing him to flee. He begins a harrowing trek in search of his parents and sister, who were visiting relatives 140 miles away.

Along the way, Alex struggles through a landscape transformed by more than a foot of ash. The disaster brings out the best and worst in people desperate for food, clean water, and shelter.  When an escaped convict injures Alex, he searches for a sheltered place where he can wait—to heal or to die. Instead, he finds Darla. Together, they fight to achieve a nearly impossible goal: surviving the supervolcano.

Awesome premise. Fast-paced read. Mike knows what dudes want in a book! Here’s what I had to know about him and his book:

Jody: How long do you think you’d survive the ashfall? Be honest. I’d make it to chapter 7 (which for the main character is next door) and die of fear.

Mike: I’d probably make it past chapter 7. I’ve never witnessed anything quite as horrible as what I write about in Chapter 7, but I’ve been in violent situations before—seen my own blood and bones—and I’ve been able to stay calm and continue thinking. I’d probably die during the trek out of Cedar Falls. People older than 35 don’t fare well in disaster situations. We’re not essential to the preservation of the species, after all. I’d probably get sick, or my lack of aerobic conditioning would catch up to me, and I’d die a hacking, wheezy, death of pneumonia or something similar.

Jody: In high school, what grade did you get in weather?

Mike: Um.

Jody: That’s not a class?

Mike: No.

Jody: How about Geography? Social Studies? Science?

Mike: My high school grades are easy for me to remember. Every subject. Freshman and Sophomore year, I got ‘A’s in everything. Junior year, I flunked out. I’m pretty sure I took Biology, Physics, and Chemistry during my first two years and aced them. If I remember correctly, I flunked out of Organic Chemistry and Physics II. It wasn’t that I couldn’t do the work: I just didn’t care.

Jody: Describe your teenage self.

Mike: Incredibly maladjusted and incurably nerdy. My peers were a foreign country to me, one whose shoreline promised both riches and headhunting cannibals. I coasted along that beach for two years without landing or learning anything useful, and then I gave up. I spent a year in Brazil as a youth exchange student, and rather than returning to high school when I came back, I took the G.E.D. and went straight to college.

Jody: See? Cannibals. Sounds like you need to participate in Self-Deprecating Sunday. Yeah?

Mike: Sure. Why not?

Jody: Awesome! See you back in two days. Now on with the interview. What would you miss most during an ashfall?

Mike: The toilet.

Jody: That’s not a luxury.

Mike: Ha! I take it you’ve never dug a pit toilet. Or trudged to an outhouse when it’s below zero outside.

Jody: That is true.

Mike: If the plumbing quits working, we have two choices: 1) Defecate wherever and suffer the disease that will result, or 2) Dig pit toilets, trenches, etc. and tend them: digging new ones as necessary, adding layers of dirt and lime, etc.

Some readers have wondered why ASHFALL spends considerable time on bathroom issues—a subject most novels avoid. I wrote those scenes specifically to help readers internalize how different the world would be after this kind of disaster—even something we take for granted, like a decent place to urinate—becomes a challenge.

Jody: That’s another reason I wouldn’t make it past Chapter 7. Okay, random question pulled from the Internet: Grab the book nearest you, turn to page 18 and find line four. Recite it. What book is it from?

Mike: “He could go without breakfast, graze at lunch, and barely touch dinner, all while working twelve-hour days of constant activity, and still his weight never fluctuated.” Zeitoun by Dave Eggers

Jody: I wish my weight and I were both that disciplined! Now, if I gave you $50 and told you to go have fun spending it, what would you buy? NO BOOKS!

Mike: I’d take Margaret (my wife) to lunch at Fogo de Chao. Fifty bucks wouldn’t quite cover it, but it’s worth the splurge.

Jody: That’s on my list of places to eat in Indianapolis! I’ll try it after the Superbowl maybe. What’s the best or most interesting thing someone’s said about Ashfall?

Mike: “Mullin never shies away from the truth, not once, in this book.”  Intergalactic Academy.

Jody: When’s the sequel come out?

Mike: October 8^th! There’ll be a big party on October 7^th at Kids Ink Children’s Bookstore. Hope you can make it!

Jody: Will there be a third book?

Mike: The third book is a few pages of random notes right now. I plan to produce a proposal and sell it to Tanglewood Press sometime next month. ASHFALL has sold so well that I don’t foresee any problems with that. I’d like to get it written in time for a 2013 release, but my top priority is to write the best book I can, not just to get it out by 2013. If it slips to 2014, I’m okay with that.

Jody: Sounds great!

Mike: By the way, it’s wonderful to work with a small publisher that shares my values in this regard. I already know that Tanglewood wants to publish the third book and is willing to give me however much time I need to write it. Many of my author friends write to very tight deadlines, so I’m well aware what a luxury it is to be published by Tanglewood.

Jody: Congratulations on getting published and having a great experience with your publisher. Thanks for stopping by, Mike. It was fun.

Mike: Thank you.

If you want to buy a copy of Ashfall, click on any of the links below. And, don’t forget to stop back by on Sunday to see this young adult author as a young adult.

Autographed Copies

Indiebound

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

Here’s what Brodi has to say about getting ready for a dance her sophomore year:

Mama always told me, “Brodi, honey, if you wanna catch yourself a great man, you gotta make a great entrance.” Just kidding. She never said anything like that. But that’s what this picture makes me think.

Here, my friend Cherie (in the black) and I are practicing our graceful “walk down the stairs” and nothing says class at these moments like a chandelier with plastic garland hanging off of it.  As for my hair, lemme explain.

In my day:

1. You could never have enough bangs.
2. If your bangs could move of their own volition, you didn’t put enough hairspray on them.
3. Puffy sleeves were in. I swear!

Up close, you can see the detail on my Victorian Frock. I can imagine my mom seeing it in the store, and thinking to herself, “With that neck so high and tight, and that hem that hits her ankles, it’s practically it’s own chastity belt. No boy will want her after this.”

In case you’re curious, yes, I did peg my hems. I could peg anything in those days.

Frankly, Brodi, I’m glad our moms didn’t shop together. However, I think we shared the same hairspray fairy back then. And, despite all this, you are still cute as a button. Thanks so much for participating this Sunday! (I will see you on the Scrabble board, lady.)

Next week I’m featuring Mike Mullin, debut author of a contemporary YA book, Ashfall. Don’t miss it! It’s incredible. And remember, if you are a YA author and want to do a guest post here at Sparks and Butterflies (And how could you not?), please contact me at jody.mugele(at)gmail.com. It’s more fun than church.

This was not my best reading year. I read two less books than last year and didn’t fall in love with my list of books-read like I have in years past though there were some amazing standouts. Part of that may be because I saved a few that thought would be outstanding to read over my holiday break and then proceeded to watch movies and play Rock Band. I did some writing, too and to be honest, it was a really nice break. And part of the reason I think I didn’t fall in love as much was because I was reading authors’ second books, which sadly just don’t generally dazzle like their firsts. Anyway, here are my stats for reading this past year. And here’s for hoping that this is the year I sell my first book!

Books By the Numbers

Total books read in 2011: 26
Total books read that were considered YA: 22
Books by female authors: 19
Books by male authors: 7
Author’s first book: 8
Author’s first book, debuting 2010: 2
Books I read because I liked Author’s previous work: 9
Authors I found that I will read future books: 3
Books I started, but didn’t finish: 2

Books By the Substance

Favorite Character: Blake, Flash Burnout, by L.K. Madigan
Funniest Book: Flash Burnout, by L.K. Madigan
Tear Jerker-est: None this year had me crying, but I did read Gayle Foreman’s Where She Went, the sequel to If I Stay, a book that had me balling for days in 2009! And the sequel was a satisfying read.
The one I didn’t expect to Love, but WOW did I!: Nothing, by Janne Teller
Best Suspense: Drought, by Pam Bachorz
Best Romance: Boy Meets Boy, by David Levithan and The Big Crunch, by Pete Hautman
Best Book Cover: Girl (paperback), by Blake Nelson
Best Title: Gender Blender, by Blake Nelson
Book with the most heart: Flash Burnout, by L.K. Madigan
Most unique writing style: Girl, by Blake Nelson

Non-Contemporary YA Books I Read:

Middle Grade: Gender Blender, by Blake Nelson and Nothing by Janne Teller
Fantasy/Sci Fi: The Wolves of Mercy Falls, by Maggie Stiefvater (entire 3-book series), Drought, by Pam Bachorz, A Curse as Dark as Gold, by Elizabeth C. Bunce, and Please Ignore Vera Dietz, by A.S. King (included because it has a ghost).
Adult Fiction: The Help, by Kathryn Stockett (though it read a lot like a YA book – fast paced and young characters)
Non-fiction: Second Sight, by Cheryl Klein

My Top Picks for 2011

1. Flash Burnout, by L.K. Madigan
2. Girl, by Blake Nelson
3. Nothing, by Janne Teller
4. Boy Meets Boy, by David Levithan
5. The Big Crunch, by Pete Hautman

What about you all?  Anyone want to share some of their stats?

Goal One: For me, write a query letter.
Reward: Lunch

Goal Two: For me, finish characterization for new book’s main character, working title: DOLLY.
Reward: Cookies.

Goal Three: For me, list all actions scenes needed for this character to get through the book.
Reward: Glass of wine.

Goal Four: Take second pass at query letter.
Reward: Go to Young Adult movie with group.

Not usually being a goal-setter, I was really pleased with how this worked out. Really I think it’s more that I respond to peer pressure and don’t like being left out, so I was motivated to finish my goals. And I did!

I am now the proud owner of a query letter (for my current work) that is very nearly ready to go (if needed) and 33 scenes that need to be written in the new book. Now all I need is about another writing day to characterize the supporting cast and discover the scenes they need to be written. And then draft the book. Which will take about a month of writing days. But, I love that I know exactly where I’m going! Progress feels gooooooooood.

Must also record here that I was pretty disappointed with Young Adult. Boo. I knew the main character was going to suck as a person making YA authors everywhere roll their eyes, or cringe, or generally fart in this movie’s direction, but I was pretty excited about the flick. I figured, well, duh, this character just has to grow up, so that will be funny. But, nah. I don’t know what happened, but pretty much nothing. I think the main character thought she was finally going to grow up, but her actions didn’t really show it.

But, it was still a really great day and I hope that it happens again next year. Maybe we’ll see Mike’s book become a movie! One can hope.

Rackety Boom: My most favorite book from childhood. Not sure why I loved a book about a jalopy so much, but much thanks to my sister for finding it. It. Is. Awesome!

Lafcadio, the Lion who Shot Back: From Josh. The book we read on our first date.

I love being surrounded by these books so much!

And from Jan, I am so happy to have received the PERFECT clock. I’m going through an owl phase with the rest of America, and this clock is so perfect because Friday is my dedicated writing day. (I also dig there are no numbers on the clock.)

Mom put the icing on the cake with a gift certificate to shop for books at the local independent children’s bookstore, Kid’s Ink. My family gets me. I love them so damn much. Merry Christmas!

Of the three voices/characters in this book, I related to Jasper as he slept through the event and found himself alone watching the news after the attacks happened. I had just finished my paper route in Half Moon Bay and had gotten the baby back to sleep when the attacks happened. My neighbor woke me up to watch the news. What’s weird is that baby will be 11 years old in the next couple weeks. She has no memory of that day in 2001, while it is still fresh in my mind.

I got to thinking about what she’ll know of September 11th and it’s probably a collage of images rolled together into series of videos on the Internet and set to some cheesy American pop song, which I guess does reflect some truth of moment. But, I think in this book Levithan does thing I love about contemporary novels best, which is tell a truth with a fiction. I admire the way the teens in this book respond to the event. I love that he chose to have all three characters just close enough to the event that if their lives change it’s because of their doing and not the terrorists.

I loved seeing the reactions to the events from a New York perspective. I think the way he used music and concerts specific to the time (especially U2 – hence the title) was heartfelt and interesting and something everyone relates to, which was the point–community and commonalities and an in-this-together camaraderie.

So, hats off to Levithan for preserving this truth for the young adults in my house and all over, and in the YA writer in me that wants to find these kinds of truths in my works.

As I generally do with series, I waited for all the books to come out so that I could read them all back to back, no waiting. This time I think I wish I would have bought them one at a time. I doubt I would I have finished the series. And I think I would have been more satisfied with having stopped after the first story was over. Shiver was the strongest of the books and I rather like the ideas I had in my head of where the story would go from there. When I read the other books, I felt the characters were left somewhat undone in my head. And I was left with afterthoughts of, “shit, are they going to be happy adults?” For some reason in these books I need a truly happy ending, not an they’re-grown-up-in-a-happy/sad-life-is-hard-but-managable way. Which is probably my problem for having false expectations rather than a problem of the author breaking promises. Shiver ended in that happy way I wanted (still some heartbreak to be had though), so that’s why I should’ve quit there. However, the Wolves of Mercy Falls was a good read as a series and if you’re looking for an alternative to the Twilight Saga or something to do after reading it because you have gotten your fill of Werewolves, than this will satisfy that hunger.

That being said, this book is way more science-based. Which I’ll take over magic any day. I think this was my favorite aspect. It towed a line of Sci-Fi, which worked for me as a someone grounded in my love of contemporary fiction and as person who is rational. I was at times difficult to buy into teenagers discovering the “cure” to werewolfism, especially in the last two book when the primary researcher was a former rock star. The sections introducing Cole into the wolf pack as depressed rock star in the mood to die were difficult, but I did find my way into sympathizing and being interested in his story with Isabel.

I also found the romance between Sam and Grace a little gushy and annoying, which is probably why I bought into the Cole/Isabel story lines. I’m always looking for a good romance within a story and I have two to choose from, I’ll pick teams. So it was fun to go back and forth between the romances, but I would have liked to see more development with Rachel and Olivia. I’m betting that was a bigger part of the story that was cut. Olivia disappears before we really get a chance to know her while Rachel is barely more than a cliche’d supporting character.

Much of the descriptions of characters were drawn from the thoughts of other characters. This bugged me. Grace was always saying or thinking how Sam was pensive and awkward and Sam was always saying or thinking how Grace was not very adept at reading people. And it began to feel like a writing crutch. Most of the writing  however was lyrical and soft and enjoyable. The quoting of German poets didn’t grab me, but it also didn’t frustrate me. I really wonder how young adults reading this would respond to it. I’m guessing adults are patient and willing to read those lines, but I suspect many teens skipped them.

The book designs were outstanding including font color inside to match the book covers. These books were wonderful to hold in my hands and are lovely on my shelves.

Conclusion: Didn’t love everything. Didn’t hate anything. Glad I read the series. Would recommend to avid urban fantasy lovers.

I was really into the idea of a girl finding her newer self back at home — belonging — instead of the traditional independence found that you see in YA books all the time. And that was there: Janie learns to dig the idea of a having a Hootenanny in which her mom invites the entire community. She crushes on the unpopular but actually cool guy who hangs with his family. But bottom line: it was too innocent for YA. It felt like it just as much about not growing up too fast as it was “embracing a new you.” I’d give this to my 10 year old to read, not my 13 year old. And I’m not even sure she’d love it.

I LOVE this cover. The chapter titles were very fun and the author used some of my favorite quotes from poets, so it felt strange not love the story. So, we’ll see what else this author does! I think I’d like to hang out with her again.