TRAINS & THANK YOU

source.

So. I am staring at my right side bar (which is a ranking of most popular posts)* and my last post (here) has become the second most popular post most popular post (since I posted this it has climbed) on my blog in a week. It's surpassed The Other - I'm Not It, and It's the Fear (which have, until this past week, been the most trafficked posts on this blog).

Wow. Thank you guys so, so much for all your congratulations and kind words.You have no idea how much I appreciate it, and how giddy I was (and still am!) as your kind words poured in. I'm still trying to figure out how to get back on track with blogging consistently while maintaining a certain level of quality, so bear with me please!

This post is one part thank you post and one part very flimsy how-to advice (because nothing works for everyone and what worked for me might not work for you).

Fact: I could not have revised my manuscript or gotten on the query train, or stayed on the query train (I think at one point I said: me no gusta no me gusta el query train, which is awful Spanish, but you get the gist) without amazing support. It would have been impossible. Writing is an isolating endeavor. It's emotionally stressful - just the act will make you rip out your hair (you all know what I'm talking about). You (or maybe just me) cannot - or maybe should not - do it alone.

I am incredibly blessed to have a mother and two sisters who have supported me every, single step of the way. I am doubly blessed to have friends in the young adult community who cheered me on all the time, who cheered me up when I was ready to throw the towel in, who made sure to tell me that what I was feeling was normal and that patience was necessary and that I was awesome (whether that's true is up for grabs, but flattery never hurts during any part of this process).

And I think the best and most important thing that I've taken away from this process** is that you need that. You need a support system that will prop you up when you want to fall down, who will force you back on the train while telling you that it's going to take you somewhere amazing. Whether you find them on Twitter (how I met Sarah), or on a forum (how I met Kristin and Dawn) or through their blog (how I met Tahereh), go out and meet people. Connect. Make friends. They will be invaluable once you get on that train (I really have a thing for trains today, I don't know why) and really, desperately want to jump off.

How have you all met friends and critique partners? And are you talkers or lurkers on blogs? Inquiring minds (aka the lurker) want to know!

*Apparently I also really like parenthetical asides today.
**Lord knows I didn't learn patience. Not even a little bit.

THE WORLD CUP & YOU

So if you've been in contact with me at all you know that I have been taken with FIFA Fever 2010. My Twitter has exploded with tweets about Brazil and England and Korea and Italy. I scream at the top of my lungs when I'm at home and pump my fists silently when I'm at work. Occasionally, the ICSB liaison will come in, see me watching, and ask for the score.  He has actual things to do.

To be honest, FIFA is the only time I really get into soccer. I love the game and if I'm invited or reminded that a team that I love is playing I'll watch if I have the time. But the FIFA World Cup is what I watch almost religiously. It's the one time I keep up with team stats, watch games repeatedly and blow up my Twitter. And yesterday, while watching the Brazil v Korea game, I was put in mind of how much the World Cup reminds  me of the young adult writing community.

If you didn't watch the game, Korea scored once in the last five minutes. They tried a bunch of other times, but the one was all they managed. After one of the missed shots, do you know what a Brazilian player did? He didn't laugh or jump up into the air. He patted the player's shoulder as if to say 'it's okay. Maybe next time.'

And this, I think, is what the game is all about. And, more relevantly, what I think our community is all about. Players in the World Cup come from every corner of the earth. They don't speak the same language or have the same customs, but they're brought together by this amazing game. They shake hands and promise to have a good game and when one team wins, they congratulate each other. They're civil and supportive and it's beautiful.

Just like us. I can't speak for other writing communities. But I know, for a fact, that the young adult writer's community is amazing. We don't tolerate hate or dis-ingenuity. We love each other. We want each other to succeed. We cheer each other on and congratulate each other and support each other. If we miss a goal, there are ten people to pat us on the shoulder and say 'it's okay. Maybe next time.' That's beautiful and wonderful and I don't ever want it to change. There are enough people out there waiting to knock us down. But there are so many more people right here, waiting to pick us up and push us forward.

Keep being great, guys. It makes my faith in the world and the future soar.

THE POWER OF LOVE

So let me start off by saying that maybe my self imposed ban wasn't necessary. As I'm getting work done, commenting on blogs (if I haven't I'm sorry) and lurking around AW all while getting work accomplished. So, yeah. That's pretty much over. I'm here and what not.

So. If you're anybody that's anybody that's anybody, then you probably know about Sailor Moon. You know that it is fabulous and wonderful and made up of fantasmical moments that know no equal. And if you're on Twitter and doubly cool you know that somehow I managed to plant the idea in Margo's head to sit around and re-watch this fabulous show all day.

How, you  readers may ask, does this having anything to do with anything?


Be patient. I am about to tell you.

A few weeks ago, this person showed up at Absolute Write. She was happy and bubbly and really friendly and had me going 'Who is she? Also, how can I be like her?' She was Tahereh  and she was filled with love and sunshine. And a few days ago she wrote this amazing post about love and friendship and amazing awesomeness that pretty much made me want to weep with happiness.

I think, as adults, kind of adults, and people that generally want to live in the real world, we forget. We forget how amazing it is to believe in something as simple as love. And how this love - for life, writing, people, the world - can change everything. How it can make everything wonderful. How it can make roses bloom and birds sing and how it can make you happy.

And if you share that love? Do you guys know what can happen? The whole fraking world will explode in color. And Sailor Moon really gets at the heart of this. The entire show revolves on the power of love to change, and make things magnificent. And while it might be a bit of an oversimplification, I think that the real world sometimes forgets that at its heart, it's right. Love changes things. Love makes things better. Love is kind of really awesome.

So be Sailor Moon. Win love by daylight. Also, if you're cool, you'll remember this song.