Ellen reading in 2008

If you could have a super power, what would it be?

The ability to be in more than one place at a time. I would be simultaneously kayaking, bird watching, and snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef.

What is the best thing about your job?

Helping people with their research questions. I love the combination of detective work needed to find an answer and knowing

I helped the user. Plus I learn about many subjects along the way.

What is the worst?

Being in administration, I wish I had more opportunities to work directly with users on their research needs.

What are you reading now, and what do you think about it?

I am on the Stonewall Book Awards committee so read a lot of gay/lesbian books. Unfortunately I can’t comment on those books

until the awards are announced, but I can comment on a few I enjoyed last year.

Very cool! Tell us more…

One my favorite genres is young adult fiction. I really enjoyed Sparks: The Epic, Completely True Blue, (Almost) Holy Quest of Debbie, by S. J. Adams. I read the book in one day. The fast pace, breathless nature of the writing/story was engaging and reminiscent of the headiness of being in high school, feeling like everything is earth-shattering and must be taken care of NOW. The rush and confusion of first love, the risk-taking, the cliques, the clunker cars with not enough gas or enough money for gas, the realization of religious hypocrisy–it all felt very realistic. I just had to keep reading to find out what happened. I found the plot unpredictable and the characters engaging. I think everything about the book was fun, from the cover art and title, to the writing style and characters.

Art on Fire by Hilary Sloin is a somewhat unusual work of fiction. It is a pseudo-biography, complete with fake footnotes and art reviews, of lesbian artist Francesa desilva. Tomboy Fran lives in the shadow of her genius sister Bella in their otherwise typically dysfunctional family circa late 1970s–early 1980s. Fran meets Lisa, also a genius, at one of her sister’s parties for the socially inept. Thus begins Fran’s only love, an on again-off-again relationship burdened by Lisa’s internalized homophobia, her own familial baggage, and Fran’s belief that she can never really, truly love. Fran runs away from home, begging Lisa to join her. Ultimately, Fran ends up living a life of artistic deprivation. The isolation suits her and, through a serious of coincidences, she becomes a famous artist, eclipsing her sister’s success.

There are several layers of mystery in the story and the reader is invited to read between the lines–and footnotes– looking for the truth but the mystery is only a subtle part of an otherwise tragic story, filled with broken people, thwarted desire, unfilled dreams. I enjoyed the juxtaposition of the scholarly art analysis of Fran’s work with the rest of the story. The reader almost has to laugh at the art reviews, as each attempts to decipher the meaning in Fran’s art within the context of feminism and lesbianism while the reader knows how each piece came about and why. A story of contradictions and sadness.

My TBR pile just grew. Tell us a story about yourself or about a librarian you know that runs counter to the myth of librarians as retiring, spinster-ish, bookworms.

At my last job I was working with a colleague on the reference desk and another librarian came by. We were carrying on some discussion when a patron asked us to be quiet. Clearly we were a chatty bunch, social to a fault—literally. The image of librarians as quiet, etc. has become a trope, media’s code for communicating precisely that someone is quiet, retiring, and book-ish. However the advent of the Internet, e-books, and other technologies in the library has mitigated the image to some extent. Librarians are now portrayed as tech savvy.

Is there a librarian in your past that influenced you?

I don’t recall the names of my local, branch librarian in NJ and my school librarian. I’ve always been drawn to libraries and have a very vivid memory of my first library visit. I had just learned to write my name and my mom took me to the branch library. I was in heaven and asked the librarian how many books I could take home and she said “as many as you can carry.” That response wowed me. Plus, I wanted to play with all the stamps on the librarian’s desk. Alas, by the time I became a librarian stamps were virtually non-existent.

Are there topics you feel writers need to write about more?

There is always more room for stories with characters of diverse ethnic backgrounds.  I would like to see a greater variety of religious fiction based on faiths other than Christianity; the latter has pretty much cornered the market.  The growing visibility of transgendered individuals indicates the need for more serious fiction featuring transgender individuals and bisexuals could also be included in that category.

What do you have to say to readers?

Read as many books as you carry. Read outside your favorite genres to broaden your horizons.

Great advice! That’s why I belong to a book club. It forces me to read books I never would’ve picked up on my own.

Thank you for stopping by, Ellen. Have fun snorkeling the Great Barrier Reef!

Dear Miss Fortune Cookie,

In my group of friends there were four of us. One of them decided she didn’t want to be friends with us anymore and her reason was that I was bullying her; I wasn’t, I thought she was my bestfriend. She caused a big scene leaving the rest of us not wanting to talk to her.

It’s been 3 months and now one of my bestest friends wants to be friends with her again, and I’m not sure that I can be friends with someone who is friends with that girl that treated me badly.What do I do? 

Stuck

Dear Stuck,

 

I’m allergic to scenes. They discourage communication. If your ex-friend had not thrown a scene, you could’ve talked about what upset her. You might have seen each other’s point of view. Amazing! But now it’s a Chinese Opera with shifting alliances, and daggers unexpectedly drawn.

 

What a mess.

 

Your bestest-friend-that-wants-to-be-hang-out-with-your-ex-friend is key. Can you talk to her? If she understands that her move hurts you, she may change her mind.

 

I love to give people second and third chances. But true friendship is based on trust, loyalty, and mutual admiration. A friend should always have your back.

 

Miss Fortune Cookie

To celebrate the release of the final book in Kersten Hamilton’s riveting Goblin Wars Trilogy, you can get a copy of the first book free at iTunes. The offer is only good this week, so jump on it!

You can also download a copy onto your Kindle for 0.00 at Amazon.

Here’s what reviewers are saying about WHEN THE STARS THREW DOWN THEIR SPEARS:

“This spectacular conclusion will satisfy fans and lead new readers into a complex world with fascinating magic and appealing characters.” —Kirkus, starred review

Zombie dinosaurs?

Sinkholes?

Radioactive capybaras?

Tweet your theory for the impending apocalypse.
#apocalypseprediction

If you’ve never heard of Teen Day at the Romantic Times Booklovers Convention, let me fill you in.

100 amazing YA authors + me + 1 big room = 3 hours of delicious pandemonium called YA Alley.

Get autographs from luminaries such as Jennifer Brown, Veronica Roth, Kim Derting, Ally Carter, Carrie Ryan, Aprilynne Pike, Maureen Johnson, and Stephanie Perkins. I, personally, will be sitting next to Sarah Rees Brennan trying not to faint from fan-girl overload.

I’m on a speed reading panel between 5 and 6pm, and afterwards plan to “unwind” at the Teen Party, where you can win books and swag by the toteful. Hope to see you there!

Congratulations to Mary Catherine Miller for winning the Be an Advice Columnist for a Day contest. She’s a doctoral student at Ohio State University working in Literature for Children and Young Adults. Check out her excellent blog, Travels with Mary.

And read her pithy and fun advice below:

Dear Miss Fortune Cookie,

I’m not short, but my girlfriend is taller than me. My friends laugh about it. They call me stumpy and pat me on the head. I don’t want to go to school anymore. Should I just break up with her already?

Taller Than Average

 
Dear Taller than Average,

Miss Fortune Cookie says: Long legs let the heron see more than the duck.

Don’t your friends know that the average height of a model is 5’11″? Tell them there’s no way you’re going to set them up with her friends if they keep patting you on the head.

Miss Fortune Cookie

Do your friends dump their problems on you all the time? Do you feel like you’re expected to listen and keep your mouth shut?

Here’s your chance to do the talking!

I’m hosting an awesome Dear Miss Fortune Cookie CONTEST. Just reply to one of three letters asking for advice and you’ll get:

A signed bookmark

An opportunity to be published on my blog

An entry into my giveaway — sparkly nail polish, a beautiful bracelet, and a signed copy of Miss Fortune Cookie

Go here for more details!

Are you proud of being opinionated? Do you like to give advice?

BE AN ADVICE COLUMNIST FOR A DAY!

WIN A SIGNED COPY OF MISS FORTUNE COOKIE PLUS GOODIES,
INCLUDING A $30 GIFT CARD

TO ENTER, write a response to one of the Dear Miss Fortune Cookie letters below:

Dear Miss Fortune Cookie,

My boyfriend and I have been together for one week. He’s amazing, and I don’t just mean his eyes and hair. He really listens to me. He gives me compliments. Now I wonder if it’s just an act! He brags to his friends after we make out. My friend showed me one of his texts! I want to kill him. But what if someone else sent the text to split us up? Lots of people are jealous of what we have.

Going crazy

Dear Miss Fortune Cookie,

My best friend and I share a locker. It’s kind of a pain because she is a total slob. If I throw out trash, she accuses me of losing her homework. Once she left half an Icee in there, and it spilled all over my social studies binder. I’d move out of the locker, but my friend just joined chorus. Now she has new friends that she can hang out with instead of me. What should I do?

Squeezed

Dear Miss Fortune Cookie,

I’m not short, but my girlfriend is taller than me. My friends laugh about it. They call me stumpy and pat me on the head. I don’t want to go to school anymore. Should I just break up with her already?

Taller Than Average

ALL THOSE WHO ENTER WILL RECEIVE A SIGNED BOOKMARK

Email your entry to [email protected]
You can enter as many times as you wish.

CONTEST DEADLINE March 1, 2013

GOOD LUCK!

Cynthia Brian will interview me tomorrow for her program StarStyle on World Talk Radio.

You can catch us live at 3 pm Pacific Standard Time (California) and  6pm EST ( East Coast). Just click on the link at the bottom.

Miss Fortune Cookie by Lauren Bjorkman is an uplifting story about the struggle between being true to yourself, fitting in, and considering the needs and desires of the people you love, told through a teen’s funny observations as a secret advice columnist. It deals with the moment all young people must face: choosing the kind of adult they will become.

When the Saudi royal family vacationed in Los Angeles, they hired Jayne Amelia Larson, an actress struggling to make ends meet, to be their personal chauffeur. Her book, Driving the Saudis is a story about the corruption that nearly infinite wealth causes, and about what we all do for money.

The Golden Globes, the SAG Awards, the Oscars, and Emmys? What do they all have in common besides glamour, glitz, and garb? They influence the movies and TV shows we watch, support, and mimic. SAG-AFTRA members Cynthia Brian and Heather Brittany go behind the scenes to bring you the gab.

 If you miss us, you can catch the podcast later.

When I was 12 and 13, I delivered the Palo Alto Times to around 80 customers. Before rolling the papers and stuffing them into my bag, I’d read the Dear Abby letters. I always enjoyed her motherly advice.

Here’s a sample letter:

DEAR ABBY:

I am 16 but will be 17 in a few months. I have known my boyfriend, “John,” for two years. He is my first boyfriend.

After four months of dating, John has asked me to marry him, and I said yes. He had been hinting about an engagement, and I didn’t have the heart to say otherwise. John is very dear to me, but I keep hearing people say, “Keep your options open.” I told John that I am young (he’s 18), and I want to take it slowly, but he says if I break up with him to date other guys, he will never date me again.

Abby, I want to make sure John is the person I want to spend the rest of my life with. Sometimes I wish I hadn’t started dating him because I feel too young to be engaged or married. I love John dearly. I

don’t want to break his heart or mine. I am also scared I might mess up this relationship. What should I do to make myself believe that I have found my true love? — STUCK IN OKLAHOMA

DEAR STUCK:

You should have been absolutely honest with John from the beginning. When you have found your own true love, you won’t have to “make yourself” believe it. You will KNOW it.

John is pressuring you because he is afraid if you start dating others he won’t measure up. For both your sakes, tell him that you are not ready to make the kind of commitment he is demanding. He may not like hearing it, but it is the truth. You won’t break his heart, and once you have done it, you will feel a sense of relief.

You can read about her life in the LA Times.

I’m off to look for more of her letters!

Okay, not really. Each month 25 amazing YA authors (including me) blog about process, craft, our writing, and personal lives at YA Outside the Lines. This month, we’re giving away 30 books, plus Skype visits with authors and cool swag. Go here to enter! Here’s a sampling of what you can win.

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My friend Erica and her daughter, Isabelle in Hawaii. Mele Kalikimaka!

Mark, Mr. Popularity, tools around town in the yellow mini left to him by his recently deceased father; his new girlfriend Stacey can’t believe her luck, but doesn’t understand Mark’s odd need to disappear into the woods from time to time; her former friends Mary and Annabelle try to find their place in the world – shy Mary transforms into a concert pianist and Annabelle into an world-changing activist with the idealistic and adoring Christopher by her side. In the background, the teens’ parents struggle with their desire to protect their children, yet give them room to grow into the adults they must become. Each voice tells his or her story in powerful free verse.

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I read this book in a single day, very unusual for me. With few words, Lori Weber paints a picture of changing friendships, and how reality can be ever so different than the fantasy. I particularly enjoyed the plot twists.  The characters are beautifully drawn, each one lovable despite his or her flaws. This is a powerful and uplifting story.

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Nominated for the QWF Literary Award!

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Jessica of Crossroads Tours has organized a three week tour

AND A MEGA-GIVEAWAY to celebrate the release of MISS FORTUNE COOKIE.

You can win a signed copy of the book, lovely bracelets, blue sparkly nail polish,

and other goodies.

But best of all you can win a $50 AMAZON GIFT CERTIFICATE OR A KINDLE FIRE HD.

I’m not joking. Just click on the link below, and enter at the end of the post.

May good fortune shine on you!

The Cover Contessa Rafflecopter

This November The Ultimate YA Reading Group featured Miss Fortune Cookie on Tumblr. The interview questions they wrote for me were some of the best I’ve answered in a long time!

Ultimate YA describes themselves as an organization that promotes young adult (YA) literature and reading. But they are so much more than that. Between book posts, they post hilarious, inspirational, and touching videos, photos, and quotes about writing.

Like this one. It totally cracks me up.

 Kendra has always felt overshadowed by her older brother, Grayson, whose OCD forces him to live a life of carefully coordinated routines. The only way Kendra can stand out next to Grayson is to be perfect, and she has perfection down to an art — until a cheating scandal threatens her flawless reputation.

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You can also enter at Jelly Loves Books. Win a copy of the book plus some cool swag.  Entries will close on November 20.

Jelly Loves Books is hosting a giveaway of Miss Fortune Cookie plus some cool swag.

Go here to enter!

You can also read my guest post about how falling in love and following advice don’t mix.

Dear Miss Fortune Cookie,

Thank you for the advice last week! I’m sending my acceptance to Cal Tech tomorrow!!! I’m scared to tell my friend that we won’t be going to college together. Can I do it by email?

Natalie

Dear Natalie,

Miss Fortune Cookie says: A closed mouth gathers no feet. Just don’t tell her. Bad joke!

Tell your friend about your decision when the two of you have time together alone. And bring her favorite treat to sweeten the bitter news.

Miss Fortune Cookie

For more Dear Miss Fortune Cookie letters, click here.

My debut YA, My Invented Life, centers around big SECRET that drives a wedge between sisters that used to be close. The secret has to do with sexual identity. When the book hit the stores, interviewers often asked me what inspired me to write it.

This question always made me squirm. The easy answer would’ve been, “I wish that funny, uplifting stories with lesbian an bi girls existed back when I was a teen.” Unfortunately that would’ve been a lie. I am not lesbian or bi. I don’t have any LGBT family members. Nor LGBT friends in HS. The challenges of growing up gay did not occur to me until much later. I’m that lame.

In fact, my biggest post-pub fear went something like this: LGBT readers and authors would scoff at my lack of “credentials,” laugh in my face, call me a fraud, or much worse. (False alarm, btw. I learned later that people like me are called allies. I felt very appreciated by the LGBT community.)

Luckily, the interviews were written, so I had time to develop cogent answers.

Reason A: I was inspired by events around my high school reunion. A number of my classmates came out around then. I asked a few about their experience in HS, and was somewhat horrified by their answers.

True.

Reason B: I wanted to write an uplifting story that focused on a friendship between sisters, and how a secret can ruin a friendship. I didn’t want the “coming out” itself to be traumatic.

Also true.

However, the biggest reason didn’t occur to me until after the book got published. Here it is: I can identify with the pain of LGBT teens that hide their true selves from friends because I grew up in the same situation.

Only different.

My mom died when I was five. She didn’t die in a car wreck, of cancer, or in any tragic, yet socially acceptable way. She killed herself. My Dad insisted that my sister and I keep it a secret. I mostly did. But the secret made me feel ashamed. Dark. Dishonest. Disconnected. Fringe.

And that is why I believe in telling the truth, even if it makes others uncomfortable. Some day, I hope to live in a world where we aren’t afraid that others might judge us for who we really are.