I did a lot of reading this weekend. First, I read Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants because (gasp!) I’ve never read it! I’ve seen the movie a couple of times (love Alexis Bledel), but I forgot about the book.

Then, I tackled two books from Aladdin MIX (*cough* my line). 😉 I read Tricia Rayburn’s THE MELTING OF MAGGIE BEAN (see sidebar for link to Amazon) and Lauren Barnholdt’s THE SECRET IDENTITY OF DEVON DELANEY. Both are amazing books and MIX has the coolest, cutest covers ever! Next on my list is I am Rembrandt’s Daughter. It’s a historical YA that came out this year.

What books did you read over the weekend? Or what are you reading now?

PS- I’ve got awesome news to share, but it’ll have to wait a bit. Stay tuned! 🙂

Did anyone else hear that Sophie Kinsella’s Confessions of a Shopaholic is going to be a movie? Isla Fischer is playing Becky Bloomwood and Jerry Bruckheimer will produce. I’ve only read the first book, but I’d love to see the movie! What do you think?

The blog has been quiet (very!) this week, but it should return to regularly scheduled blogging soon.

Today, I wanted to talk about series. I love a good series, especially those by Libba Bray, Stephenie Meyer and (from my childhood) the Thoroughbred series by Joanna Campbell.

Series give such a rare chance to follow and bond with a character instead of leaving him/her behind after one book. For some, one book is all that’s needed to tell a compelling story. There are several books that I’ve read recently where I loved the ending so much, I was glad there wasn’t a sequel. Others seemed to leave me hanging and begged for a follow up. Imagine if JK Rowling stopped with the first HP! Okay, that’s not even imaginable.

What are some of your favorite series? Why? Did a sequel ever let you down? Or has a sequel ever been better than the first book?

I’ve been editing really hard this week and got through a huge chunk of pages. Yay! 🙂 That feeling of “Oh my, I’m getting closer to the end!” is exciting! For a while, I wasn’t writing or editing up to my own standards and now I hit my stride. I’ll be working through the weekend and will be breaking for the Emmys on Sunday night. Can’t wait. Gorgeous gowns, dashing men, crying behind stage after winning….all good. 😉

Are you in the middle of edits? If so, how’re they going? Do you have any Emmy favs? I’m pulling for Grey’s, Desperate and Ugly Betty.

* Happy Birthday, Em and Samah!

Has anyone else read this article yet? Whoa, and I thought I’d received some harsh rejection letters for freelancing! This article definitely goes to show that publishing is quite subjective and it’s all about finding the right home for your book.

Check out No thanks, Mr. Nabokov from the NYT.

As proof that I can be really (embarrassingly) behind the times, I just listened to my first audio book this weekend. Really. It’s true. At the library, I came across Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone on audio. So, I picked it up and I finally understand why audio book sales are so high. On the way to pick up my brother, I was at Hogwarts. Waiting in the car for said brother while he did a practice PSAT–more Harry.

What’s your take on audio books? Have you listened to any? Which ones? If not, why not?

And….today is release day for PLATINUM by Jennifer Lynn Barnes! Yay, Jen!! 🙂

Okay, I need some opinions, please! 🙂 I’m hiring a fab Website designer at the end of this year to re-do my Website for my series release. Now, I’m going to be providing her with information (colors, theme, sites I like, etc) and while I know color-wise what I want, I’m going back and forth on the theme. Some Websites, such as Diana Peterfreund’s are more book specific. Her site matches Secret Society Girl in the Flash into. Others, like Simone Elkeles are not specific to one book.

I’m trying to decide if for my first 4 books, I should make the site as an upper-classy looking equestrian boarding school feel or if I should make it non-specific to my High Jumps books since I *hopefully* will see more books in the future.

What do you think?

Did you guys read this? Madeleine L’Engle, author of A Wrinkle in Time, died on Thursday. Yahoo! wrote a nice article about her and her work. Check it out below.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070907/ap_on_re_us/obit_l_engle

Blogging has been and will be a little (just a little!) neglected while I get through this round of edits.

What’s keeping you busy right now?

On a freelance note, I got my September 2007 issue of Listen Magazine with my profile of singer Whitney Wolanin. Check it out if you see the mag. 🙂

Side note: There has also been so much celeb and lifestyle news/gossip recently that I need someone to dish with me! 😉 What do you think about the new iPod? Or Halle Berry’s pregnancy? Or Britney’s rumored performance at the VMA’s? I’m writing so much that I’m relishing a little Hollywood chatter.

It’s all-new Tuesday for TV! 🙂 Well, daytime that is. I should be editing, but instead I’m watching new episodes of Ellen (she has Hillary Clinton on!) and The View with new co-host Whoopi Goldberg. I miss the controversy Rosie stirred up, so we’ll see how Whoopi does today.

I’m blogging for Lamar today so come check us out.

Did everyone have a good holiday? What did you do? My parents, brother and I grilled and we watched movies over the weekend. I’ve never seen Miss Potter, so I watched that and my fifth (maybe more) viewing of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. The cast was so young and tiny! Aw. Renee Zellweger and my fav Ewan McGregor (gorgeous!) were brilliant in Miss Potter, so if you haven’t seen it–get it.

Lots of reading was also done over the extended holiday. I finished several books and am now reading So Totally Emily Ebers by Lisa Yee. The book has one of the most adorable covers I’ve ever seen.