New Book, Old Book

On the eve of the release of my sixth young adult novel, MEANT TO BE, I want to note that it is also the tenth anniversary of my very first novel, GET WELL SOON. GET WELL SOON will always hold a special place in my heart, not just because it was my first novel but because it was so very personal. When I was sixteen, I was hospitalized for depression. I was overweight and insecure, suffered from un-diagnosed panic attacks, and I couldn’t sit through a movie let alone one of my classes at school. My parents didn’t know how to help me, and they felt I would be best fixed up at an in-patient program for teenagers in Chicago. The program itself was kind of a mess, although from what I have heard from readers over the past ten years, that is, sadly, often the norm. What I did glean from being institutionalized for three weeks (all my insurance would cover) was that I could handle much more than I ever thought I could, and I gained many new friends and a lot of independence. Years later, I wrote a book about my experience.

I still receive letters from readers who relate to the fictional version of me, Anna, and her battles with self esteem, anxiety, and depression. Just this morning this gem, from a long reader email, greeted me in my mailbox: “It made me feel like I wasn't as alone as I thought I was as I battled this battle known as awkward preteen life. It also lit a fire under my ass, without that book there are moments I would have let pass but instead I grabbed them and made them my biotch… Thank you so dearly for being the coolest and one of the most realest authors and changing my life.” So much out in the world now is pure negativity. It’s almost impossible to allow these beautiful rays of sunshine penetrate my cloud-covered brain. On the eve of my new novel’s release, I have so many insecurities about being a writer, why it is or isn’t important in the world today, why it does or does not make me feel successful, and does anyone else hear me? But even I, a woman of forty-two who still struggles daily with depression, who finds new anxieties to fixate on each and every day, and who has two children who reflect every doubt and mistake and failure back at me, can’t pretend it doesn’t matter when someone writes to me and tells me I changed their life.

MEANT TO BE may not be based on my life. It may not even be based in this reality. I wrote GET WELL SOON to tell my story at a time when I wanted commiseration. Six novels and more than ten years later, where my pre-Obamacare health insurance doesn’t even cover mental health, I don’t want to write about reality. I barely want to live in it. Writing MEANT TO BE was an escape for me. Sometimes the book that results from months and months of writing is written because that is what the author needed to do for herself at a time when she didn’t want to be herself. I think my readers will like the new book. It’s funny, and the voice is genuine, and sex! Will it change anyone’s life? No clue. But did I think years ago when I was singing to myself in the quiet room at Lake Shore mental hospital in Chicago that I would someday write a book about my experience? That said book would win a Ken Book Award from the National Alliance on Mental Illness? That teenagers would write to me, year after year, telling me how they related to my “character” and how she helped them through their own shitty situations? No way.

Happy ten year anniversary, GET WELL SOON. And happy almost-book birthday, MEANT TO BE. Here’s to changing lives.

Hello? Hello?

I wonder if this is the longest blog hiatus on record. Someone better be keeping a record. Why has it been so long? I'm glad you asked! There was a time when I enjoyed blogging. It was fun to babble about random things and hope people read my blather. However, I have two kids now, am home full time and am also still a writer of books. It's not that juggling everything has been so difficult that it's kept me away from blogging, although, truthfully, there are about fifty balls waiting to be caught at this very moment. But blogging is also writing, and there is very little time for writing in general. I have to pick and choose how much time I can spend writing in any format, and, frankly, blogging feels a little like I'm talking to myself. Being a writer and a stay-at-home mom is freakin' lonely. I live in the Chicago suburbs, and while I have some friends out here, pretty much parents of my daughter's friends, it's not like we do anything or talk about anything adult. My other friends live a good hour or more away, and, aside from the group of dudes with whom I play Dungeons and Dragons every Sunday (I don't know what I'd do without them), I don't have anyone locally to get out and about with. My family is the greatest, and I love them oodles, but we are together all of the time. Like, ALL OF IT. Therefore, talking to myself (ie: blogging) doesn't feel like the most healthy use of my time. I don't know if people even read author blogs anymore. I don't know if my blog actually exists anymore, since it has been so long between postings. If anyone is reading this-- hi!

In the last almost two years, I've had two books come out:
The F-It List, my ode to friendship and cancer, and Maternity Leave, my first foray into adult contemporary. They are both funny and real, and I hope you will seek them out and tell your public library to buy copies. Also, Maternity Leave has a brand new book club guide. (I wrote the questions myself! They are guaranteed to spark conversation, or your money back! On the questions, that is. Which are free.)

I have made this offer in the past and received very little response, and since I haven't blogged in almost two years I expect this year's response to be even smaller. But here goes:
Giving any of my books as presents this holiday season? I will happily mail out a personalized signed book plate free of charge for you to stick inside the books. Send me an email at julie@juliehalpern.com with your name and address, which book(s) and to whom I should sign them. Books make great gifts, and I make great books! (Am I allowed to say that?)

Time to get back to writing my next YA novel (out in 2017, I think). If you found this post, thank you for reading. It means I'm not talking to myself. Much.

Fan Mail

Many of you already know I'm a huge fan of Ke$ha. I have blogged about her awesomeness, most recently how I saw her in concert in Milwaukee. You may also know that Ke$ha is in treatment for an eating disorder (disgustingly encouraged by the very people making money off of her). I have blogged before about my penchant for writing letters and sending books to famous people I dig. Here's a link to a previous post about people who have not written me back. And here, right now, is a post about Ke$ha, who did.

I have been writing fan letters since at least junior high, although the first letter I really remember working hard on was to a band called Out of Order. They were the house band on a kids' talk show on Nickelodeon called, "Don't Just Sit There." I was madly in love with the bass player/lead singer, Chris Guice, so I wrote a letter (I have no idea what I said, but I'm sure it was brilliant. Or mortifying.) and my friend Tracy (yes, of Get Well Soon and Have a Nice Day fame) decorated the envelope with mosaic paper cutouts. One day, weeks later, I received my SASE back, and in it an autographed picture and a letter from Mr. Guice. I believe I cried. Here is a picture of me, taken on that very day. (I have no idea how I remember this picture is from that day. All I remember is that my friend Beth was over, and we took a bunch of pictures. Probably to commemorate the occasion.)

I must note that I am now "friends" with Chris Guice on facebook. Why, I do not know. It seemed funny at the time.

Over the years I have sent many fan letters to people. I am starting to reflect on why I, and other people, do this. I'm old enough to know that we won't become friends. Probably. But I feel writing a letter, and getting one back, would be some sort of validation, an "I exist!" acknowledgement from someone I admire. Which sounds really lame as I type this. Who cares if someone famous acknowledges our existence? (Obviously, a lot of people, since that's pretty much the whole point of twitter.) Whatever the reason, I can't help myself from still being a fangirl at age 39 (holy fuck I'm 39). With Ke$ha, it felt like a good time to write her a letter, supporting her when she's feeling a little low. As I'm sure thousands of other people are doing. In it I told her how happy her music makes me and how I think it's great how she is a proponent of being oneself. And I sent her some of my books because I know how long the hours in treatment can be (hell, one of my books is even about being in treatment!). Plus, I do happen to mention her a few times in The F-It List. Then I sent the books off, along with a SASE, and that was that. Until a letter with my handwriting arrived in the mail with a person named, "K. Damnit" in the return corner. To those who send out SASEs: are you always as confused as I am when one arrives back in the mail with your very own handwriting? It took forever for it to register that Ke$ha wrote me a letter. It turned out to be a really sweet one, and I was thrilled to get it. I didn't cry or take pictures of myself afterward, but, I will admit, I did write her another one. Because who the hell doesn't love a penpal? I come from an era of writing to people I didn't know but whose addresses I found in the back of teen music magazines because we both liked The Monkees. I had a penpal friendship that spanned junior high through college with a teenaged boy. I still write letters to my friend in Australia because it's fun to get international mail (and hella expensive). So, yeah, I wrote Ke$ha back. Of course I'm crossing my fingers and toes she'll write me back again. Because it's a damn good feeling to be acknowledged by someone I adore and admire. And I will never lose the excitement of going to my mailbox in hopes that something exciting is waiting inside. [note: by "something exciting" I do not mean the spider that lays eggs in our mailbox every year.]

How Do I Name Thee?

Thank you to all eleven thousand-- oh, excuse me, eleven-- people who took my poll about blog content. I appreciate you taking the time to click on the button (Did that sound sarcastic? I was going for self-deprecating). The number one blog (six votes, yo!) choice was how I name my characters, so here goes.

I first have to remember the names of my characters. Let's start there. You know how Brad Pitt somewhat recently said he thinks he has some disorder where he can't recognize a face that he's seen before? I think I have something like that about names. And I think it may make me seem like an asshole on occasion, but it's a real problem. Just the other day one of my daughter's friend's moms made fun of me for not knowing any of the other moms names in her class [ to which I say, a) why you gotta make fun of me?, b) at least I know all of the kids' names, and c) I swear none of them actually look like their names!]. So when I choose character names in books, I try to select names that match the characters. What was unique as I wrote The F-It List was that I was pregnant at the time. And because of all of the pregnancy troubles I had dealt with prior to this last pregnancy (that resulted in my now seven month-old son), I was struggling a lot with the idea that this pregnancy would actually result in producing a baby. Because of some new, intense testing, I knew very early on we were having a boy. But we really didn't have any boy names we completely loved. Because of this, the main male character in F-It, Leo, changed names a multitude of times. And I solicited people for name advice, which I do not normally do. Maybe it was so hard to name Leo because it was so hard to connect a name to the possibility of a baby. But I'll get back to Leo in a minute. Let's look at the two main female characters first.

Alex and Becca's names were based on two friends who helped and inspired pieces of F-It and made it possible for me to really understand what it was like to be a teen with cancer. In real life, Alex (or Allyx, as she spells it), was the person with cancer, and Becky, her friend. I thought Alex seemed more like a name for the tough-on-the-outside narrator, and Becca felt like a more romanticized version of the name Becky. Plus, I didn't want anyone to get the wrong idea that these characters were completely based on real people. I am happy with my choices.

Looking at my list of characters, here are some name trivia tidbits:

• Damien West was inspired by Damien Echols.
• Eliza Klise has the last name of my good friend, writer James Klise.
• Brandon Hathaway shares the last name of my longtime movie crush, Noah Hathaway.
• Jenna Brown was originally Jenna Gold but had to be changed to be alphabetically locker correct.
• Beth Sidell is a combination of Jewish friends from grade school (you probably see a lot of people named Beth, Liz, and with the last name Rubin in my books).
• I kind of hate the name Lottie McDaniels.
• Ms. Norton was the name of my first grade teacher.
• The school nurse, Mrs. Kafcas, shares the last name of one of my close friends, as does the secretary, Mrs. Novack.

I chose Caleb for the home-schooled neighbor because it sounded religious to me. Not that the character is religious, but I pictured him being old-fashioned. He is definitely one of my favorite characters.

Back to Leo... I believe Leo started with the name Sam. It's a name I really like and one I think has a kindness to it. But then Matt and I thought maybe we would name our son Sam, so I had to take it out of the book. Then I changed it to Dean (fans of the TV show "Supernatural" will recognize those names), but Matt and I kind of liked that one, too, so it was gone. Looking back at emails with Liz, my editor, we came up with some other names like Griffin and Gabriel (but, again, Matt and I liked Gabriel, and Griffin to me seemed too trying-to-be-cool). Leo was semi-last minute, and I like it. I don't remember how I chose it, or even if I was the one who thought of it in the first place. I don't know if it fits the character as well as some of the previous names mentioned, but I knew I wouldn't name my kid Leo, so it was a safe choice. I'd be curious to know what you readers think!

And in case you didn't already know, we settled on Dean for the baby. It had a cool, 1950's vibe to it, and while it isn't a unique name it isn't very common these days, which we liked. It's short and simple, and if Romy and Dean decide to start a band, I think Romy and Dean has a cool ring to it. Truthfully, it's hard to tell if he's a "Dean," but I suppose he'll have to be. I hope he's as brave and loyal as Dean Winchester, his TV character namesake, and I certainly wouldn't mind if he turned out to be as good-looking. I do hope he has better luck with relationships. And, you know, doesn't go to Hell. [None of this will make sense to you unless you watch "Supernatural."] Naming a baby and a book character is a lot of responsibility. I hope I chose wisely!

I'm Back!

Did anyone notice I was gone? I have sort of faded away from blogging. I quite enjoy the format, actually, but life has just really taken over, as has lack of sleep. I have a seven month-old, and while his sleep is significantly better than it was a month ago (which means it was shit for over six months), my boobs are not catching up. Seriously, I could make this blog all about breastfeeding, since it seems that's all I do, day or night. My boobs have taken over my life. Even when Dean sleeps, my boobs are all, "Wake up! Wake up!" I kind of hate them. Anywho, since I received a really cool email from a guy who recently read The F-It List (twice!), I thought it was time for me to post Alex's horror movie list that I promised 700 years ago. Alex, for those who do not know, is the main character in The F-It List. She is a lover of horror films, as I am, and this list is culled from my years of watching horror movies as a teenager and college student. I tend not to watch as many these days, mainly because my husband does not love them and I can't stay awake for ten minutes of a television show, let alone a movie. Below is a picture of the list I attempted to keep as I wrote The F-It List of all of the horror movies I included in the book:

I like how at the bottom of the list it reads, "Casablanca." You can also see a tiny section of Alex and Leo's (named "Sam" on this page-- more on that in another blog post) class schedule on the right side. Those are the kinds of notes I take as I write to help me keep track of things. I fully intend on typing the movie list up and posting it here and on the official F-It List page on my website, but for now I hope you can read my handwriting. I will go into more detail on the titles, if people like, to help you best with your viewing decisions. In fact, why don't I post a good, old-fashioned poll? I used to love to post these on my blog. So, if anyone is reading, please take a moment to answer the question of which items you'd like me to post about on my blog. Feel free to embellish your answers or add other ideas in the blog comments.

What should I blog about next?
	Write reviews/descriptions of Alex's horror movie faves
	What TV shows I wish I had time to re-watch
	How I selected the character names in The F-It List
	What I'm watching these days
	Breastfeeding
	What I'm reading
	How I can't find the perfect winter boots
pollcode.com free polls

The End of the Edits

I told you I was going to blog about some of the final passes of The F-It List, where the book is basically finished and there are just small changes to make. Sorry it's been a while. Not for any reason except that I have kids, and they don't like when I'm on the computer. The only reason I may be able to write this post is that my daughter slept at her Grandma's last night, and the baby is on a mat on the floor next to me. We'll see how long that lasts. Or how much drool collects.

This is what a manuscript looks like when I get it back from the copy editor.

This is usually the second-to-last time I can make any changes to the book. Those Post-It flags are mine. I go through heaps of them during the final two revisions. I put one on every page that needs attention. It could be that I don't like what the copy editor has suggested, I don't understand what the copy editor means (I should really make more of an effort to learn about all of those marks), or if I need to change something altogether. Much of the time, I wonder how stupid the copy editor thinks I am. When I finish going through the changes, I spend hours on the phone with my trusty editorial assistant, Anna Roberto. Our conversations are usually hilarious and nitpicky, and I love them. Here is a list of some of the things I flagged in The F-It List's copy-edited manuscript:

• On the very first page is the note, "Compositor: please do a global change from 2 spaces after period to 1 space." This is something I try to do nowadays (remember back in the day when two was the norm?), but I guess I still stutter out two spaces sometimes.
• There was a war of the hyphens in F-It (even the title technically has a hyphen!), and I started to get very perturbed by the number of suggested hyphens throughout the manuscript. Words were being strung together by hyphens far too often for my liking. Things like, I'm-going-to-die list and you're-got-to-be-kidding look. I felt like hyphens weren't always needed, or sometimes the same effect could be made with italics. But it was getting personal. When cheese-and-peanut-butter crackers had hyphens inserted, I wrote a note in the margin: "Why hyphens?" Later in the book, my comments veered toward the dramatic: "Really? Hyphens?"
• One of the funniest (to me) things was that somehow my word "asseyed" was changed to "assayed." This carried over into the ARC, I think. Page 86. Maybe that one needed a hyphen?
• I never know what to do with class names. Do I capitalize them? And I always screw up blond/blonde. I also compound the hell out of words that shouldn't be compound words.
• I changed Big Time Rush to Zac Effron somewhere in the book.
• Funny note from the copy editor: "DES: set upside=down crosses." Find that one in the final book.
• Words the copy editor underlined for capitalization: butt and mullets anonymous.
• T-shirt should always be t-shirt, in my opinion.

When the pages come back to me again, they are formatted to look like the actual book pages.

But I still have one chance to make changes. This time around, I made a lot of them. Some books, I only make a few. These are less grammatical and more fine tuning. I spent another hour or two on the phone with Anna debating the minutia, such as:

• Changing "message" to "smoke signal" 
• Taking out "video store" [yes, I'm old]
•  Still battling the hyphens
• Wondering why we capitalize Mohawk when referencing a hair style
• Changing Ryan Gosling to Channing Tatum [any day, people]
• Switching a dog reference to a cat reference (in the book, the line is something about "even dogs were going through cancer." At the time of my final revision, my cat, Tobin, was dying of cancer. He is also mentioned in the dedication.)
• Double-checking that the List references corresponded to the correct phrasing and numbers as the actual List.
• Making sure that the characters had the correct names (like who worked at the sub shop with Alex).
• "Urinal cake with a candle sticking out of it" became "stack of frosted urinal cakes with a candle on top."
• Certain words look bad when hyphenated onto the next line, such as "cof-fin" or "douche-cake."
• "Some perfume to spray on it?" changed to "A spritz of Kardashian's butt spray." [It makes more sense in context.]

The final phone call is often pretty funny, with Anna and I debating the finer points of "asshole" vs. "dickwad." It's great to hear an actual person laugh at my work instead of me wondering if only I thought it was funny. Writing funny books is like doing standup comedy to an empty room most of the time. Anna is my audience of one!

I could write more, but Dean is now sitting on my lap and staring at the computer screen. That is probably not so good for his baby brain. Plus, he keeps pressing keys. Let me know if there's more you'd like to know.

Cyber Monday at the Blog of Wonder

Welcome to Cyber Monday at the Blog of Wonder! Some deal-esque items coming up, but first a little recap of blog stuff. Last week you may have missed two posts with some interesting factoids about working in the publishing business. First was my interview with April Ward, the designer of The F-It List (among many other books). Next up was a great interview over at MacTeens between me and my assistant editor, Anna Roberto. You can read all about who she is and how it is we work together on my books. Coming later this week I have a post planned about the hilariously specific changes Anna and I work through when my book is complete but just needs those tiny tweaks. Since my blog readers don't seem to be huge commenters, I'm not sure if you find these posts fascinating or not. However, I think the publishing process is probably interesting to a lot of people, considering the number who come up to authors and say some variation of, "I've always thought about writing a book." I thought I'd give you a look into at least this writer's process. So stay tuned for that one. Plus, it's kind of hilarious having to discuss which word choice is better: "douchecake" or "douchetaco." [Douchetaco is awesome! I wish I had thought of that sooner!]

On to the Cyber Monday stuff. Since I have two new books in bookstores (the paperback of Have a Nice Day and the brand new The F-It List), and since Hanukkah is here and Christmas is coming up, I'd like to offer anyone who would like to buy my books as gifts (funny books make great gifts!) a chance to receive a signed bookplate. All you have to do is send a scanned receipt (or a picture of you purchasing the book, which would be extra awesome) to julie@juliehalpern.com, along with your address and to whom you'd like the bookplate signed, and I'll send it to you! Yowza! What a deal! Bookplates for all!

AND... Looking for that perfect, unique gift for a children's book lover, art lover, or someone who likes to put glorious drawings up in their kids' rooms? Look no further than the brand new Matthew Cordell Etsy shop! My husband, Matthew Cordell, makes the sweetest pictures, and I think art always makes a swell gift. So pop on over to the shop for some great holiday gift ideas! We're still working out the look of the shop, but items are up for sale and ready to ship. Fun!

And that ends my Cyber Monday post. Soon to be followed by Let Me Sleep Already, Baby Tuesday.

Covering Up

I always find it really interesting to learn about book covers that got away and the design process that goes into creating and selecting book covers. That's why I interviewed The F-It List's talented designer, April Ward! Below is the interview, and afterward is a selection of F-It List covers that didn't happen. I'm glad I don't have to design my own book covers. I have a feeling they'd all have something to do with cupcakes and Swedish Fish (of which I just ate both). Thank you, April, for the great interview and the gorgeous cover!

What is your job title, and what are your job responsibilities? How did you come to this position?

I am an Associate Art Director for Macmillan Children's Publishing Group. I design children's books, chapter books, and young adult novels for three imprints: Henry Holt, Feiwel & Friends, and Square Fish. I moved to NY after high school and studied illustration at Pratt Institute with a focus on children's publishing. I was taking some design and type classes as well but I thought graphic designers only worked on magazines and websites, which didn't interest me. My junior year I had an internship with an amazingly talented illustrator and designer, Kris Waldherr. At the time she was designing her book The Lover's Path which is an incredibly beautiful illustrated novel. Watching her process of illustration and design made me see book design in a totally different way. She also introduced me to some people in the industry which helped me land my first job as a design assistant at Harper Collins. I knew immediately that designing books was a good fit for me.

What is your process for designing a book cover? Do you always read the entire book first? Do you take notes along the way? Do images come into your head as you read? How do you take notes?

I like to read the entire book before designing it, though sometimes if we need a rush cover I will have to start on comps before I finish reading the whole book. I do read every book I design, I think that's one of the best parts of my job. While I'm reading I will write down little bits of the story that pop out to me visually like atmospheres, character details, moments…then I do little thumbnail drawings to get an idea of compositions that could work. Once I start in on photo research the concepts will change and morph into different directions based on what images are available. I have a little sketchpad with the original thumbnail drawings (now also covered in my daughter's scribbles) and I like to look back at those when the book is printed. It's interesting to see if an early concept stuck through to the final, or if the end result is something totally different.

How many cover design options are expected of you?

I try to to come up with 5-7 initial concepts, sometimes more depending on how many images I have that could work. Then based on feedback from the creative director and editor I'll do some revisions before presenting 2-3 covers at an art meeting.

Who has final say?

There are so many people involved in the process that I wouldn't say there is one person with final say. The final cover is chosen by a committee of sales, marketing, the editor, the publisher, the author, and even big book store buyers. Everyone's opinion holds weight and if one person has a negative reaction it generally means the cover will be reworked or at least discussed again, even if the comment comes after a point where the cover is considered final. We have to be really  flexible, which can be especially challenging when you're attached to a design.

Did you ever design a cover that you loved but everyone else hated? Has an author ever written to you and told you they hated the cover?

I've definitely done covers that I love that don't make it past the first round and you just have to accept it and let it go.  I've never had an author tell me that they hate a cover, that would kill me. 

Have you ever had the opportunity to redesign a cover after the book has been out? Say, for a paperback version of a book? Has the cover changed completely, and, if so, why?

Yes this happens pretty frequently, it's a good opportunity to rethink an existing concept or try to make the hardcover jacket punchier with a new direction. If a hardcover package is successful it doesn't necessarily need to be redesigned in paperback but I don't think it's a bad thing to give the book a new look for a new format. 

Are there any other questions you want me to ask you?

Sure! What was your daughter for Halloween?

A clown!

What are you doing this weekend?

Nothing!

We have a winner!

I'm having one of those moments where I can't have a single uninterrupted thought. Oh, wait, I'm having one of those YEARS. My children are trying to drive me mad. And they are very good at what they do. All I have to talk about these days is my kids, and all it is is complainy, tired bullshit. So here's a happy: congratulations to Ronni who wins the signed copy of The F-It List! I'll send you an email, too. Thank you to all who entered!

I was about to blog some more, but the five month-old is harassing me with his whines. God forbid I put him down and have access to BOTH of my hands. Thank you, ladies and gentleman, I'll be here all night. Two drink minimum. No hecklers, please.

Last Day to Win The F-It List! Plus Jewish Stuff

You should absolutely go to this post RIGHT NOW and enter to win a signed copy of The F-It List. If not for you, it would make a great gift for someone for the holidays! Hanukkah is next week! Speaking of, I still have not ordered this shirt, which I need.

I hope I'm not too late. I think I'll ask Matt to order it for me today as my Hanukkah gift. Maybe. I can't decide. But the time is nigh!

Also, I really want to order these:

'Tis a kitschy time to be a Jew!

Now for another lost F-It List cover:

I'm not mad at this cover, but I can't help but zero in on the shavings and think they look like fruit leather.

Alright. You have until midnight to enter the contest. I'll announce the winner tomorrow!

F-It List Friday: The First Week

I am in a no-sleep foggy glaze of stupor (?), so this is going to be short and rambly, if that's possible. The F-It List finally arrived in stores! I have visited two, one biggy and one indie, and they both had the book. That's not always the case, so I'm happy! Don't forget to enter to win your own copy. All of the fun and rules and such are explained here. You have a one in three chance of winning at this point. Either no one reads my blog, or no one enters my contests. Or maybe everyone is just being nice and wants to buy the book? Um. Also, there's the Get Well Soon Readathon on Twitter. Happy book stuff! Holy balls I'm tired. Howsabout some funny book cover action? April Ward, the fantabulous book designer [not actual job title] designed the gorgeous cover of The F-It List, and she was gracious enough to share some of the cover bloopers. I will post more of them next week and an interview with April (if she's game) about how she came to design the cover, but for now here's one of the covers that didn't happen.

Whoa! Pretty sexy, eh? Underboob! I think I would have been embarrassed to give this book to my aunts with this cover.

I love cover bloopers, don't you? I don't think they're technically called cover bloopers, but I like the sound of the word. Blooper. I feel kind of like a blooper today. Shut up, Julie. YOU shut up, you blooper! Sleeeeeeeeepppppyyyyy.

Let the Readathon Commence!

Today is the first day of the Get Well Soon Readathon! I love the idea of people reading one of my books together and tweeting about it, so I hope people will join in the discussion. I can't decide if I will read along (most authors will report that they don't particularly like to re-read their own works), but I will definitely chime in with the chat. Get all of the details here: http://www.macteenbooks.com/ya/join-the-get-well-soon-by-julie-halpern-readathon/  Don't have a copy? Check your local library, or download it for only $2.99 for a limited time!

Also, I've updated my webpage. It's nothing huge, but I added a few things to the homepage (an F-It List button and links to my social media pages) as well as updating my other pages a bit. I streamlined the process by removing the line of links on the bottom of every page with a basic "Home" button. I hope it doesn't look cheap, but since I'm the one who built and maintains the site I'm trying to make it as easy as possible to update it. Coming soon to The F-It List's page will be a list of all of the horror movies mentioned within the book. I'll let you know when that's up. And speaking of The F-It List, it comes out tomorrow! Don't forget the contest to win a signed copy here. I'll be tumbling and tweeting and twerking (or not) all over the place, so be on the lookout.

#readgetwellsoon

F-It List Friday: Coming Tuesday! Contest TODAY!

Holy turkeyballs! It's almost here! The F-It List comes out this Tuesday, 11/12/13! I still haven't put a page on my website, but in the meantime you can read all about it here. I plan on posting a list of all of the horror movie suggestions from the book and hopefully some other good stuff, but first I have to, you know, build the page. And looky what I have:

A big ol' box of F-Its! So it's time for another contest. But first, I have to announce the winner of the paperback of Have a Nice Day! I used my trusty bag of D&D dice for the occasion.

Note this is not my original dice bag (my original was a Sesame Street pencil case). Somehow my daughter switched all of the dice from that bag to this purse. No biggie. They still work! So I picked out a lovely 8-sided (seriously, if you enter my contests you have a REALLY good chance of winning), rolled, and the winner is...
Rach! Who was excited because she was offered an internship (Yeah Rach!) Congratulations! I'll be sending you a shiny, signed copy of Have a Nice Day in paperback. Has anyone seen a copy of it yet in the wild? Take a picture! Speaking of pictures, here's the F-It List contest:
All you have to do to enter to win a signed copy is comment on today's blog post with your name, email address, and your favorite f-word (it doesn't have to be a swear, you know). BUT, if you want to be entered to win a brand, spankin' new, signed copy of The F-It List more than once, find a copy of it in a book store or library, take a picture, and email it to me (julie@juliehalpern.com). Every picture you send will give you three entries into the contest! I'll give you until the following Tuesday to enter (11/19/13). And if you don't find The F-It List in a bookstore, tell them to order it! I'll give you an extra entry to win for doing that. Too complicated? Then just comment on this post. I made it so anyone, even anonymous posters, can comment on the blog (but, duh, if you want to win you have to include at least an email address). Good hunting!

P.S. Monday begins the Get Well Soon Readathon! Click here to learn about it. I'll have more info next week.

BuzzMe

Over the weekend I found a bunch of people re-tweeting this website, and was blown away that it was all about me! (Imagine me spinning in a circle with my arms out and singing that last bit. You may recall this blog post of mine from a couple months back, all about my internship in 1995 on the Nickelodeon TV show "The Adventures of Pete and Pete." Somehow this got into the hands of a nice man named Brian Galindo at BuzzFeed (I'm calling him a nice man because he said my pictures were "Adorable." That word went a long way with tired, old-feeling me), and he re-blogged them (with his own delightful commentary). My mind is boggled by the fact that almost 50,000 people have now looked at these pictures. Wha??? That's rather rad. I think the thing I like best about that many people viewing the pictures is that there is no malice in the act. The internet can be so yucko and negative and dwelly that it's refreshing to see a whole bunch of people looking at something just because it's happy. So, yay to that! What's funny about the experience is that it made me look at my own pictures in a different light, and here is what I learned: I have a really long tongue. Why has no one ever mentioned this to me? Maybe I'm not always sticking it out, but you'd think someone would have noticed this in my thirty-eight years of life. You know what else is great about these pictures? They've put me back in touch with the Brothers Pete, at least in a pleasant, social media way. I wonder what it would be like if the three of us met up for a bagel or something. What happens when you see someone so after the fact but spent a concentrated amount of time with them way back when? Would we reminisce or just talk about grown-up us? Speaking of grown-up me, my baby just woke up from his nap (I swear that's all he does-- wake up. I barely recall the moments where he's actually sleeping). Don't forget to enter my contest to win a signed copy of the paperback of Have a Nice Day! I changed the settings on my blogger account, so now anyone can comment (but be sure to include your name and email, or I can't tell you if you've won). I am trying to think of a kicky way to end this post, but Dean is whining over the baby monitor. I'm whining, too, but no one if monitoring that. I don't think. For all I know, it will end up on BuzzFeed. (Um, please no.)

F-It List Friday: Win a Book!

This has nothing to do with The F-It List (again? So much for my theme posts), but today is my daughter's birthday so I'm celebrating with a contest. This Tuesday, November 5 is the release date for the paperback of Have a Nice Day! So all you have to do to win yourself a signed copy is comment on this post with an adjective describing the type of day you're having and your email address. If I were answering today, I would say exhausted. And it's only 7:30 am. But this is my nth night of five hours of interrupted sleep. I can barely see the computer screen through my puffy eyes. I wish my four and a half month-old slept like my five year-old! Anyway, happy November and have a nice (or better) day! I'll announce a winner next F-It List Friday. (Contest is open to readers in the US only. Sorry! I can usually only get to the PO after hours.) And stay tuned to win a signed copy of The F-It List, too! Out 11/12/13!

F-It List Friday: Supernatural Con

I woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning ("woke up" being a relative term, since I was awake approximately fifty percent of the night, as is the norm, thanks to my crappy-sleeping four month-old). Therefore, this blog isn't actually about The F-It List. I'm hoping I'll get a kick ass night of sleep tonight (keep hope alive and all) because tomorrow Matt, Dean, and I will be attending Supernatural Con. That's right: an entire convention devoted to the television show Supernatural. It should be interesting. I do love a good Con, so there's that fun aspect, and I obviously love the show (my son's name is Dean). But Supernatural has an intense fanbase I have yet to experience in person. There are factions. There is much fanfiction. And there are tons of people who have conspiracy theories about supposed relationships between characters and/or actors. It's a little weird and somewhat creepy, but it's also kind of awesome that a show elicits such devotion. I'm stoked. Also, Dean will be dressing up as Dean Winchester for the costume contest. My kids and their cosplay. Romy will not be joining us at the convention, mostly because if she did I would miss most of everything because she wouldn't want to sit and listen. And she'd be all, "Where are the Futurama toys?"

Here's a little F-It List action: a group of bloggers named The F-It List to their Selective Collective. Start here for a review, then follow the links at the bottom for an interview, discussion, casting of the movie, and a few other fun pages, including a contest for you to win the book. Thank you for the Selective Collective nod!

Time to put Dean down for a nap. Again. And again. There must be a book in this slice of my life somewhere. Either a book or another loony bin lock-up. Must. Get. Sleep.

F-It List Friday: I Got It!

As I said, this was a great week for mail (see yesterday's post). I now have my first hardcvoer copy of The F-It List in my tired, little hands. It's gorgeous! It has a die-cut spot on the cover:

Skeleton kiddo not included.

I can't believe we still have to wait until November 12 before it hits stores!

Have a Nice Day, Paperback

I received a couple exciting packages in the mail these past weeks (and, yes, I'm including my bumper sticker that reads, "Driver picks the music, shotgun shuts his cakehole"). First, the paperback edition of Have a Nice Day arrived. The cover looks very similar to the hardcover, except for the lovely starred review quote on the top:

Here's the back:

I always wonder why my third novel, Don't Stop Now, is missing. It's the only one of my books not in paperback. I'm hoping it will have a comeback someday. I liked the book. It was my love letter to road trips. Anyway, you know what's funny? I haven't even read what the back of the paperback says. I get all weird and avert my eyes when my books come home. I like seeing them, but I don't want to see too much of them. Do other authors do that? I don't pour over every page, and I don't read the content over and over, looking for the good or the bad (as my husband does when his books arrive). I only just noticed what it says at the top of the back. I wonder who wrote that. Is it weird I don't know? When did I become such a space cadet?

Here's another page:

Here's Don't Stop Now! We didn't forget you, girl! And I like what it says at the top of the page. Awww.

If you buy the paperback, you get to read a jazzy, new interview with me, too!

Look for Have a Nice Day in paperback on November 5, wherever books are sold! Or, at least, wherever copies of Have a Nice Day are sold. Tomorrow-- my copy of The F-It List arrives!

tumblr!

I just started a tumblr account. Because it seems easier to update than my blog but less fussy than Twitter. I'll still post here when I have LOTS to say. Follow me on tumblr here (subscribe? I still need to get the tumbly lingo down.): http://juliehalpern.tumblr.com/

F-It List Friday: One Month!

Tomorrow marks the start of the one month countdown to the release of my next novel, The F-It List! I like to use a chocolate-filled advent calendar to mark the occasion. Not really, but that just gave me a really good idea to make my own life-sized advent calendar and fill it with full-sized candy bars hiding behind doors. Maybe I'm hungry. Or delirious. The baby boy, who turns four months today, is a crappy sleeper. He's still up every two hours. It's killing me, both mentally and physically. I think I've aged twenty years in the last four months. As you can see, this Friday post has a lot of month-measuring going on. And that's a big theme, both in the writing of "The F-It List" and the story itself. I used a friend's mom's online cancer journal to help me reference the progression of the disease and its treatment in the book. But in my own life, the months during the writing and publication of "The F-It List" have felt like centuries. Before I started writing the novel, but after I signed the contract, we lost a pregnancy (or was it two?). I had a lot of anger and hatred at my body and, sometimes, life in general. But there was that contract and a lightly looming deadline (nobody at my publisher pushed, but I knew I had to write a book). Not that I was dealing with cancer, but having medical issues helped fuel a lot of the questions and observations I used in the novel. Then I got pregnant again, something that should be joyous and anticipatory but becomes terrifying when you haven't always had success. That was last fall when I sat down for a few months to wrote the novel. Through morning sickness and endless doctors appointments, needles, and test after test after test, I wrote the story of a girl whose best friend gets cancer and how she helps her accomplish items from her bucket list. It wasn't the most uplifting subject while I was going through my own tumultuous medical adventure. So I added sex scenes. Because those are fun to write. And then my tests came back okay. And the morning sickness went away. And the possibility of actually having another baby seemed almost possible. This past spring, during the final pass through the pages of "The F-It List" where I look one last time for things I want to change (practically one word on every page), my beloved cat, Tobin, lost his own bout with cancer. He rested on my chest as I finished my final read-through (and before I knew he wouldn't be around much longer). The weight of his absence still drives me to tears (you'll find his name in the dedication of "The F-It List," and my son's middle name is Tobin). The last couple months of the pregnancy were fraught with gestational diabetes and the lack of sweet treats that come with it, plus the fear and uncertainty of what would happen during the birth. Then the baby came in June, healthy and sleepless. And here we are now, only one month away from The F-It List's release. Pretty much one year since I officially started writing it. Looking over this post, remembering the things that happened, it's been a really long year. A rough one. But also a happy one. Which I guess is what life's all about. "The F-It List," out November 12, is a book about life, not just about cancer. It sounds silly, but I found myself quoting Matthew McConaughey from "Dazed and Confused" (and I remember reading that he actually was quoting his own dad) a lot over this year: Just Keep Livin.' And I did.