The Friday Five!
Watching, waiting, wordle-ing.
Up early with the dogs this morning and the weather report. Even though we are far from Florida, we have learned to prep for any storm that hits below us, and this one looks BIG. Yesterday was spent doing various prayers over our aging generator, then charging everything and finding lanterns in case said prayer doesn’t quite work. Also I will admit to spending some time nervously studying the huge trees that loom over our house. Now all we can do is keep an eye on the radar and hope for the best. If we retain power, I will also be baking. Does making cookies keep tornadoes at bay? I know it does not. But something about mixing and dropping dough calms me when everything feels unsteady like this. Stay safe, everyone.
In other news, this week—-thanks to the Watching Newsletter from the New York Times—-we discovered the show Colin From Accounts. Not surprisingly, I thought it was a show about an office ( and had it partially confused with Kevin From Work, which is an entirely different show). Anyway, Colin from Accounts is an Aussie romantic comedy about two people who meet under not-that-cute circumstances (that’s all I can say) but form a bond regardless. It’s weird and hilarious and both seasons are on Paramount Plus. We also have watched the first two episodes of High Potential on Hulu, starring Kaitlin Olson as a office cleaning person with a knack for solving crimes. Can I also say how much I love a procedural in times of uncertainty? I YEARN to be a person who can walk into a mystery, take a good look around and see some crucial detail everyone else has missed, saving the day. Instead I tend to be the one who stumbles in late, adds to the chaos and makes things worse. Which is why there is not a show about me.
I feel like I have gotten a BIT too obsessed with my daily Wordle habit. For those who aren’t familiar, it’s a game (again in the NYT, I do make the absolute most of my subscription) where you have six chances to guess a five letter word. I wrote about this way back at the beginning of this Substack. Over this summer, though, it took on an added weight, for reasons I can’t really understand. I have a whole ritual: I save it until the end of the day, at which time I slip away by myself and do the one from the paper AND another from the archive. It’s somehow become one of the ways I reflect on things—-how the writing’s gone, the way I’ve navigated relationships and issues, even my mental state—-all in this one little box of thirty squares. If I figure both out, I feel so proud I could burst and often will yell, “Got it!” even if I am alone in the house. You have to take the wins where you can, people.
Last week, during a press event here in Chapel Hill, I had a few minutes to speak to a reporter from People Magazine. (Also a UNC alum: Hi, Kelsie!) And today, she has published this article about How To Deal and my memories of working with Mandy Moore way back in 2003. (How has it been 21 years? How?) Also it has updates on my movie options, including that a very good script for This Lullaby still out there that I am hoping someone will decide to develop. Getting anything made in this day and age is a miracle, and I feel beyond fortunate to have been able to do it not once but twice. And while I am not great at putting myself out there, Taking Meetings and Pitching, I remain ever hopeful that more of my stories will make the leap to the screen. You just never know, right?
Finally, a word about where it all begins: writing. Regular readers of this Substack know I have been through many ups and downs in the years since I published my last book in 2019. Some novels come easy. Some drag you through the dirt and mud and leave you bloodied. I’ve been working on my current one for over a year now, which is long for me, and I’ve looked at it SO MUCH I worry I have lost all perspective. Also everyone keeps telling me no one is publishing contemporary YA anymore anyway, which is kind of disheartening. For this and other reasons, there have been (several!) times I have wanted to set it aside, or, to put it more plainly, just give up. But every time I try, I just can’t: it pulls me back, coaxing me to finish, get it as good as I can. If not for me, for the girl on the page who has told me her story: draft after draft, change after change. We’re in this together, her and I. All the way to the end. Which, honestly, still needs work. Then again, what doesn’t?
Have a great weekend, everyone!
That is so sad, we have so many teens come into the library looking for something to read that is not fantasy or dystopian and I always recommend your books! We have them all!
I find it so crazy that publishers are completely ignoring contemporary YA. Authors like Lynn Painter are still doing it and selling loads of books. You are a proven author with decades of writing and amazing books that people keep coming back to year after year. It just doesn’t make sense why they aren’t running to publish your books! I’m turning 30 this year but have been reading your books since I was 12. I reread them every few years and they just never get old. I think I’ve said this once before in a comment, but please consider self-publishing! I’m sure the publisher rejection is not easy, but self-publishing and getting the love that your books are guaranteed to get once they get into your devoted readers hands might be the kind of boost you need to reinvigorate your writing.