Women Who Rock (for a cause!) Wednesday: Karen Conterio & SAFE Alternatives

Welcome to the final Women Who Rock for a cause feature. I hope you've enjoyed learning about all these fabulous causes this month and that you've been inspired to donate and/or volunteer to these or other important organizations. You'll find the final contest details and a list of all the other WWRW Cause blog entries at the bottom of this entry, but for now, let's learn about our final Woman Who Rocks and her cause, Karen Conterio and SAFE Alternatives!

SAFE stands for Self Abuse Finally Ends, a topic that you know is close to my heart both because of the subject matter of my book, BALLADS OF SUBURBIA, and because as a teenager I struggled with self injury. I wish my parents had known about SAFE Alternatives at the time because I believe it really could have helped me.

Now this is a different sort of interview because I actually met Karen at a local coffee shop to talk about SAFE Alternatives. So I'm sort of going to be paraphrasing her answers here. Still she gave some great information. Please read on!

I asked Karen about how she got started with SAFE Alternatives and she told me that she is a certified group facilitator and she was trained in the substance abuse field. When it came time to do her clinical work, she wanted to do something other than substance abuse though. She saw an article in TV Guide about a hospital that treated self mutilators and spoke with one of the psychiatrists at that hospital to ask for patient referrals to start a group. At first she only had one patient and was completely winging it. Since she wasn't trained in one-on-one therapy, she needed to get more people into the group. So in January of 1985, she called the Chicago Tribune to see if they would be interested in doing a story about self injury. They did and this generated one or two more patients for the group.

Next Karen decided to send the Tribune article along to a TV program called AM Chicago, which recently had gotten a new host--a woman named Oprah Winfrey. Ultimately Karen was on Oprah's program twice and this generated five or six more people for the group. Next she contacted Donahue and that was the first national TV program about self injury. It aired in 1986. Within a year, the same psychiatrist she met initially introduced Karen to her business partner, Wendy Lader, and asked the two of them to write up a treatment plan.

Karen said that she and Wendy "didn't reinvent the wheel, [they] just rearranged it," working with Karen's substance abuse counseling background. At the time, those who self injured were often hospitalized from six months to two years. Karen and Wendy's program was a 30 day program with a 7 day extension. Karen said "to do effective treatment in a short period of time was considered radical at that time." Some of the important elements that they introduced to make their program successful was to let patients knows their discharge day. They also carefully screen the patients admitted into their program--not for severity, Karen says they have seen everything--but for motivation. The program is strictly voluntary. Patients are allowed access to their sharps, such as shaving razors, they simply have to sign them in and out. Patients also signed a no harm contract and unlike many contracts in other psych programs, SAFE Alternatives follows through on the consequences. The theory is "we can't keep you safe, but hopefully you will utilize us to get past it." Karen says the biggest compliment they get on the program is that patients say it is the first time they felt like someone had a belief in them.

Unlike AA, SAFE Alternatives doesn't follow the disease model. They treat self injury as symptoms and encourage their patients to learn that they are far more than their symptoms. They believe that part of the reason of injuring is inability to verbally communicate feelings. Instead of allowing a patient to simply say, "I feel like cutting," it is pointed out that they don't "feel like" cutting, they are "thinking of" cutting. And the patient is asked what is making them think of it, getting down to what causes the desire to injure.

Karen says the goal is not help patients "feel happy all the time. We're human and we have a range of feelings. There are no good or bad feelings." The goal is to learn how to manage the way patients feel without turning to self harm.

Currently, Karen runs an outpatient group on Tuesday evenings in my hometown of Forest Park, which has the same structure as the inpatient program complete with logs, the SAFE Focus manual and group therapy. SAFE Alternatives is working on an agreement with a hospital for their inpatient program as they have a waiting list of 300 people to get into that program. If you are interested in learning more about SAFE or their inpatient or outpatient programs, visits www.selfinjury.com

SAFE Alternatives also has a foundation aspect and you can find that website here. They have 501c3 status and can take donations here. The money they raise goes to things such as small grants for doctoral students doing research about self injury. They are also looking for volunteers as they would like to create the first 24-hour hotline for self injury. They currently have a hotline 1-800-DONT-CUT (366-8288) but Karen is the one who runs it so when she is not available people have to leave messages and she calls them back.

So that is the lowdown on SAFE, a very important program that has done a lot for many people since the 80s but hopes to do more in years to come. Of course, I also asked Karen the standard WWRW questions.

Karen couldn't remember her first album, thinking it was either the Beatles or the Rod Stewart. In terms of concerts, she saw bands that would go on to be big like Styx at small venues like Wheeling High School. But her first big concert was Bob Dylan at the Chicago Stadium in 1974 with The Band opening.

As for her rock star moment, it's a pretty cool one. Karen was asked to write part of a segment for 7th Heaven and it turned out to be their second highest rating show ever. They didn't really change the part of the segment she wrote at all. It was about a friend of the main character who was dealing with self injury. And when the girl's father is talking to the minister, he hands him Karen's business card with Karen's name visible and the 1-800-Dont-Cut phone number.

I hope you enjoyed learning about Karen and SAFE Alternatives (I wish I'd known about it 15 years ago!) and about all the other women I featured this month.

This is your last week to enter The Big December Contest! Here are all the details:

As you probably know by now, this month, I'm doing one big Women Who Rock Wednesday contest. The grand prize winner will get copies of both of my books I WANNA BE YOUR JOEY RAMONE and BALLADS OF SUBURBIA signed and, even more importantly, they will get to choose which charity I donate to at the end of the month. You'll find the list of charities below.

Here are the ways you can tally up entries this week:

+1 for leaving a comment
+1 for tweeting or linking to this blog entry
+1 for tweeting or linking to www.selfinjury.com or the SAFE Alternatives foundation website
+5 for posting about SAFE Alternatives on your blog, myspace or facebook page
+15 for donating to or volunteering for the SAFE Alternatives foundation

Please note your additional entries in your comment. Provide links when you can. Please also leave an email address in your comment so you can be contacted if you win!

Also there are the still first four charities/organizations to spread the word about to tally up more entries for this contest. Don't forget to check out the blogs about Keep On Keeping On, Real Change, Pizza Fusion , and Community Partners for Affordable Housing and enter those contests.

I'll be drawing my winner next Wednesday so it's time to pick which charity you would like me to donate to if you are the winner. Please, include with your comment, which of these charities you'd like to see me donate to (I know they are all amazing, but please pick only one):

-Sarah's Inn (this is the domestic violence agency that I talked about in my very first blog entry about this month long contest, and I also talk about it my local newspaper in a column I wrote about the important of giving today, which you can find here.)

-Keep On Keeping On (an org that assists those with physical disabilities, blog about that one here)

-Real Change Homelessness Empowerment Project (blog about that one here)

-Earth Justice (a non-profit public interest law firm dedicated to protecting the magnificent places, natural resources, and wildlife of this earth, and to defending the right of all people to a healthy environment. Suggested by Katie of Pizza Fusion, who was interviewed here.)

-Community Partners for Affordable Housing (blog about that one here)

-SAFE Alternatives

So please enter away and spread the word about all these important organizations!

Women Who Rock (for a cause!) Wednesday: Teri Brown & CPAH!

Welcome to Women Who Rock (for a cause!) Wednesday! This December I've been profiling some women that I feel very proud to know because of the work they do to help other people and our planet. Today, we are going to talk to Teri Brown, who many of you may know from her YA novel, Read My Lips, but did you also know that she runs a book club for teens in need through Community Partners for Affordable Housing in Oregon?

Here she is with her book club, let's find out more about it, shall we?

Q: Tell us about your organization, how you got involved and why you are inspired to keep working with it on a volunteer basis in addition to all your other responsibilities.

Teri: I got involved with Community Partners for Affordable Housing through Craigslist. I never even knew such an organization existed in my area, but I am so glad it does. Basically, CPAH fights poverty on many levels. They offer low income housing, which is so important in this economy, but they do more than that. Each of the properties has a community center where they offer access to drug and alcohol support groups, parenting classes, bi-monthly access to a social worker, food donations and childrens programs, including an after-school homework center and a program to teach teens about personal finance.

I got a job with the after-school program and realized that while the children's book shelves were overloaded, there were very few offerings for teens. I put out a call to my YA author friends and books arrived by the boxful. Once I had a good YA library, I spoke to the director about creating a book club for tweens and teens. She loved the idea and our book club was born. Once again, I went door to door begging for books... okay, not door to door, more like email to email. This was more difficult because I needed ten of the same books and that's a lot for an author to come up with! But young adult authors love teens and I have managed to keep the book club going for almost two years on donated books! I try to include authors from the area or ones who are coming to Portland, because the girls, (and one boy), love to meet and talk to the authors. I also wanted the girls to keep their books so they could start building their own library. They may not have a lot, but they each have a set of books autographed by some of the best young adult authors out there!

When the club started I figured I had three dedicated readers. Now I have ten. Which is huge considering some of the obstacles they are facing. I love these kids and honestly feel book club has made a difference in their lives. I know it has in mine!

Q: How can we help? Is there a way to donate or spread the word?

Teri: Yes! You can go to http://www.cpahinc.org/ and donate or contact me at diddymon (at) verizon (dot) net to make a donation of books. I still have room on the shelves for more YA books!

Q: I have two questions that I always ask my Women Who Rock, the first is a two-parter. What was the first album you bought and the first concert you attended? Be honest, we don't judge, we like to see the roots of our women who rock!

Teri: The first album I bought myself was Pink Floyd's, The Wall. I was a rebel at heart, (Okay, I still am!) and I loved the song, Another Brick in the Wall. I lived in Alfalfa, Oregon, which was very rural, and I always felt out of place. As a reader, I knew there was a bigger world out there, but it seemed unobtainable. The album, The Wall, spoke directly to my feelings of personal isolation.

My first concert was a Portland hair band called Black and Blue. Great music, but hair bands were on their way out, so they never went anywhere, though the drummer from Black and Blue now plays with KISS!

Q: Tell us about your biggest rock star moment, perhaps it's a moment of real success in your career, a time when you met someone super cool and had that Wayne's World "I'm not worthy" moment, or just a time where you felt like you got the rock star treatment. I get a huge variety of answers for the questions, so it's pretty much whatever "rock star moment" means to you!

Teri: I think it would have to be my 20th high school reunion. I traveled to Central Oregon to do a promo spot on a morning show for a nonfiction book that had just been released. I did it in the morning and went to the reunion that night. I was pretty much a nobody at highschool and I can tell you, the satisfaction I had when someone recognized me from the show and told everyone about it that night, was pretty much the most amazing thing ever. Oh, that and the mean, popular girl from school was fat.

What Teri does is truly amazing. She is giving these kids such a great gift with these books. Won't you help me spread the word about Teri and book club? If you do, you'll earn entries in...

December's Big WWRW Contest!

As you probably know by now, this month, I'm doing one big Women Who Rock Wednesday contest. The grand prize winner will get copies of both of my books I WANNA BE YOUR JOEY RAMONE and BALLADS OF SUBURBIA signed and, even more importantly, they will get to choose which charity I donate to at the end of the month. You'll find the list of charities below.

Here are the ways you can tally up entries this week:

+1 for leaving a comment
+1 for tweeting or linking to this blog entry
+1 for tweeting or linking to the Community Partners for Affordable Housing website
+5 for posting about Community Partners for Affordable Housing on your blog, myspace or facebook page
+15 for donating either books (through Teri, her email is above) or $ to Community Partners for Affordable Housing

Please note your additional entries in your comment. Provide links when you can. Please also leave an email address in your comment so you can be contacted if you win!

Also there are the still first three charities/organizations to spread the word about to tally up more entries for this contest. Don't forget to check out the blogs about Keep On Keeping On, Real Change, and Pizza Fusion and enter those contests.

I *might* have one more interview for you next week with the women who start SAFE Alternatives, (SAFE stands for Self Abuse Finally Ends) a treatment program for those who self injure, which as you know is an issue very close to my heart, but it's a busy time of year so I may not be able to get that posted in time. So, we may just be drawing the winner next week. So that means it's important to get your entries in (and sadly not that many folks have been entering, I know it's a busy time and these aren't the coolest prizes in the world, but spreading the word about these organizations is a great way to build holiday spirit!). And also, it's time to pick which charity you would like me to donate to if you are the winner.

So please, include with your comment, which of these charities you'd like to see me donate to (I know they are all amazing, but please pick only one):

-Sarah's Inn (this is the domestic violence agency that I talked about in my very first blog entry about this month long contest, and I also talk about it my local newspaper in a column I wrote about the important of giving today, which you can find here.)

-Keep On Keeping On (an org that assists those with physical disabilities, blog about that one here)

-Real Change Homelessness Empowerment Project (blog about that one here)

-Earth Justice (a non-profit public interest law firm dedicated to protecting the magnificent places, natural resources, and wildlife of this earth, and to defending the right of all people to a healthy environment. Suggested by Katie of Pizza Fusion, who was interviewed here.)

-Community Partners for Affordable Housing

-SAFE Alternatives

So please enter away and spread the word about all these important organizations!

Women Who Rock (for a cause!) Wednesday: Katie Lagges & Pizza Fusion!

First off, my apologies for not blogging much lately. I've been writing instead. Yanno new books. Hopefully you want to read new books from me eventually ;-) But if you do miss my insightful rambles, I did blog over MTV Books this week. About exercise of all things and how I've actually come to like it. You can find that entry here.

Now I am keeping up with Women Who Rock Wednesday because we are doing a very important and special thing this month. We are talking to women who are working for a cause or in the case of my very best friend in the whole entire world, Katie Lagges, helping to save the earth, one pizza at a time. So let's meet Katie and learn about the delicious and environmentally friendly place where she works, Pizza Fusion.

Q: You've been in the culinary world since high school and over the past few years have been drifting more and more toward an interest in organic cooking and green business practices. Right now you are at a place called Pizza Fusion in Naperville, IL. Can you tell us about this business, what drew you to it, and why organic foods and green business practices are so important.

Katie: Pizza Fusion is a great newer company. It started in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida in 2006. The Naperville Location is the first in the Midwest and the ONLY one in IL. (Note from Stephanie, it is located at W 75th St and Beebe Dr, one block from Route 59 and I eat there whenever I can because it is soooooo delicious!)

Our menu is 75% organic, and we are the "greenest" business in the nation.

I was drawn to it at first because of the Organics and Green aspects. I've worked with local organic farmers in years past, and the topic is very close to my heart. We also provide several vegan options along with Gluten Free options. These particular offerings are so important to me for several reasons. Having so many dietary restrictions myself, I am so happy to be able to provide a dining option to those who may not be able to dine out otherwise. The vegan options are near and dear to me, for the same reasons, along with having first hand experience watching my best friend have such limited options.

The green aspects are very important to me as well. As a company, we are doing our part to help save the planet. Not only are we trying to save it, but we are trying to change the way things are done, to better our planet.

Organic Foods are important to me for several reasons. What we put in our bodies effects everything to do with our health, our longevity as a species, and nature in general. Most foods that we have put in our bodies throughout life have been Genetically Modified and Chemically Modified. If we are what we eat, then we are big walking chemicals, with lots of sugar syrups!
There is a misconception that Organic food must taste bad, but really I see it as food, but better!
I could go on and on for days, but I don't think your readers want to hear the lecture!

If they would like more info, check out www.pizzafusion.com or visit our Facebook fanpage.

Q: Can you tell us about some other organic or green charities that you believe are important so we can check them out?

Katie: There isn't a specific Green charity that I think is more important than another, but giving I am a supporter of giving to foundations that help keep our earth clean. Nature conservations, Groups that clean oil spills, etc, are all wonderful. Another great way to help minimize your carbon footprint is by shopping at local farmer's markets. Buying local produce not only helps local farmers, buying local products cuts down on emissions and energy used to ship produce from other countries.

As for Green Sites to check out: www.earthjustice.org and www.newdream.org

Q: I have two questions that I always ask my Women Who Rock, the first is a two-parter. What was the first album you bought and the first concert you attended? Be honest, we don't judge, we like to see the roots of our women who rock!

Katie: The first Rock cd's I bought were Nirvana's Bleach, and Pantera: Vulgar Display of Power
The very first concert I attended was White Zombie and Anthrax. I do love a good pit!

Q: Tell us about your biggest rock star moment, perhaps it's a moment of real success in your career, a time when you met someone super cool and had that Wayne's World "I'm not worthy" moment, or just a time where you felt like you got the rock star treatment. I get a huge variety of answers for the questions, so it's pretty much whatever "rock star moment" means to you!

Katie: I'm not sure I've had a real "rock star" moment yet. I've had some very close ones. I'm still hoping have one soon!

Ahem. I would like to suggest giving Katie a rock star moment by going into the Naperville Pizza Fusion and screaming "Katie, we love you!" But only do this if you are going to order a pizza of course.

Now those of you looking to enjoy Pizza Fusion pizza, here is their list of locations. Saving the earth, it can be fun and delicious! Oh and you can win prizes too....

This Month's Contest:

As you probably know by now, this month, I'm doing one big Women Who Rock Wednesday contest. The grand prize winner will get copies of both of my books I WANNA BE YOUR JOEY RAMONE and BALLADS OF SUBURBIA signed and, even more importantly, they will get to choose which charity I donate to at the end of the month. I'll put together a list of charities to choose from at the end of the month, and there will definitely be a "green" charity.

Here are the ways you can tally up entries.

+1 for leaving a comment
+1 for tweeting or linking to this blog entry
+1 for tweeting or linking to the Pizza Fusion Website
+2 for becoming a fan of Pizza Fusion on Facebook

+5 for posting about Pizza Fusion and/or organic food or green living on your blog, myspace or facebook page
+10 for visiting your local Pizza Fusion or buying local, organic food

Please note your additional entries in your comment. Provide links when you can, but obviously with buying organic food, I'll be taking your word for it. Please also leave an email address in your comment so you can be contacted if you win!

I really hope you are enjoying learning about these organizations as much as I am and maybe they are inspiring some New Years resolutions about helping your own community. Please come back next week to learn about another woman who is rockin' an important cause!

Women Who Rock (for a cause!) Wednesday: Polly Jirkovsky and Real Change

Before we get to the main event, I wanted to let you know about a guest blog I did with the amazing lit blog Beatrice. I posted up my three favorite "ballad" albums, so if you want to learn about them, go here. Good stuff to add to your holiday list :)

Welcome to Women Who Rock Wednesday! All this month I'm shining the spotlight on women who are doing important work for others, to improve our world and make their communities and our world a better place for everyone. It's the holiday season after all and everyone is thinking about giving, so let's think and talk about giving back!

Last week, I interviewed Katie Corboy about the organization she volunteers for, Keep On Keeping On. If you missed that interview, please check it out, and you can still enter the contest I posted about because it's a month long contest and I'll give you more ways to rack up entries following this interview.

Today, I want you to meet Polly Jirkovsky. She's been a friend of mine since high school (though the photo is from when I visited her last summer). She was a year older than me and became a real big sister figure to me. I truly looked up to her because she was so kind-spirited, thoughtful, political active, and thirsty for knowledge and justice. She is still all of those things and remains a major inspiration to me for the important work she does.

Polly works at an organization in Seattle called Real Change, but I'm going to let her tell you about it.

Q: Tell us about Real Change, how you came to be involved with it and why you feel the organization is so important to support?

Polly: Real Change Homeless Empowerment Project has been a non-profit organization in Seattle since 1994. I've been working there for 2 years now as the Volunteer Coordinator. Real Change is a street newspaper- one of many both nationally and internationally. It's not a chain, each paper is run by a different organization with a different style but we are loosely networked with each other and share ideas and stories. We produce an 8 page weekly newspaper that is sold by our homeless and very low-income vendors. The vendors buy the paper from us for 35 cents and sell it for a dollar. We don't have any rules around how many papers a vendor sells, it's up to that particular person. Some of our vendors treat it like a full time job and are out there for 8 plus hours per day and for some folks it's just one of the things that they do in the midst of their chaotic lives. Our vendors tend to be people who have lived very tough lives. Many of them have physical or mental disabilities which make it hard for them to succeed at traditional employment which is where Real Change can be very helpful.

Our paper is often not what you would expect. I think people have this idea that it's a charity purchase, which lasts until they read the paper. We have three professional reporters and many talented volunteers who cover local social justice issues as well as interviews with writers, intellectuals and activists. One of our reporters, Rosette Royale, won a First Place Excellence in Journalism Award by the Society of Professional Journalists this year, which is huge.

Real Change is also an advocacy organization. It's important for us to not only provide a great community paper and provide a job for people but also to look at the big picture. Poverty is political and we try to inspire our readers to get involved in the process of change. We hold forums about topics such as the economic crisis, or the connections between the criminal justice system and homelessness. We collaborate with other organizations to make a annual visit to our state capitol and our state senators and representatives on MLK day. And when we found out that people who were sleeping outside in the winter were having their sleeping bags and tents confiscated and destroyed by city employees, we organized camp outs in front of city hall and gave away survival gear.

I think for me the heart of Real Change is this idea that we can build relationships across vast social canyons between people, and that those relationships can change things. It's one of those great truths that until a story touches you personally, it's only ever at arms length. I think a lot of people who've never been homeless walk past someone on the street and maybe they want to help but they don't know what to do, and maybe they wonder about what brings a person to that point but they don't know how to ask or how to get involved. And one of the things that happens with Real Change is that vendors often find a spot that they sell at pretty regularly. And so it becomes a part of the customer's routine, on the way home from work or at the bus stop or at the grocery store they see the same vendor. And maybe they buy a paper or say hi or learn each others names and there starts to be a connection. Most of the time it's small but I think even just a hello here and there humanizes the problem. We try to incorporate this philosophy into the agency as much as possible. We have vendors on the Board of Directors, the Editorial Board, and peer-elected Vendor Representatives that are the final arbitrators in firing and suspension decisions. There is still a lot more we could do in terms of vendor participation but it's always a process, right?

Q: What are ways that we can support Real Change? Are there events, volunteer opportunities or ways that people from all over can donate?

Polly: There are lots of ways to support Real Change! If you live in the Seattle area, you may be able to volunteer at our office in Belltown. 95% of our volunteer opportunities are M-F between 9am and 6pm, but we occasionally have events on weekends or in the evening. For more information on volunteering you can email me at volunteer(at)realchangenews(dot)org (note from Stephanie, remove the at's and dots and replace with appropriate symbols, I just didn't want Real Change to get spammed)
Be forewarned that I'm on maternity leave though, so I won't get back to you until January.

If you don't live in the Seattle area, you could always subscribe to the paper. It's $60 for one year (that's a paper every week) and like I said, it's a great paper. For more info on that, you can email Alan Preston at alan(at)realchangenews(dot)org

We also accept donations, and in fact the majority of our funding comes from individual donors, not grants and foundations. For more information on donating, you can contact Katie Porch at development(at)realchangenews(dot)org

The other thing I would say is support your local street paper. Lots of towns and cities have one, from Chicago to Tokyo. If you see someone selling a paper on a street corner or outside a store, buy a paper. Maybe chat with the vendor a little about how the paper works, or how their day is going. If you've ever had a job where you have to be outside all day or have to try to sell things to people, you know how nice it is to just have a few kind words.

Q: I have two questions that I always ask my Women Who Rock, the first is a two-parter. What was the first album you bought and the first concert you attended? Be honest, we don't judge, we like to see the roots of our women who rock!

Polly: I bought my first two albums at the same time: Debbie Gibson's Out of the blue and Tiffany's eponymous album, Tiffany.

Q: Tell us about your biggest rock star moment, perhaps it's a moment of real success in your career, a time when you met someone super cool and had that Wayne's World "I'm not worthy" moment, or just a time where you felt like you got the rock star treatment. I get a huge variety of answers for the questions, so it's pretty much whatever "rock star moment" means to you!

Polly: Well when I was a bookseller I sold books to Peter Buck from REM and the playwright August Wilson. I also got to help out with some great author events including Alison Bechdel, David Sedaris, Michelle Tea and some girl named Stephanie Kuehnert ;) Two of my favorite bookselling experiences have to be the nights that Harry Potter #6 and Harry Potter #7 came out. We had release parties at midnight and lines around the block. We all dressed up as different characters and had cupcakes and butterbeer and tons of people in our little store. It's so great to see a book receive star treatment like that, and I only wish it happened more often!

We're all book lovers here, so I'm sure many are agreeing that that is a true rock star moment and it should happen for books more often!

I hope you found Polly's work with Real Change as inspiring as I do. I hope you'll help me spread the word about it and maybe get involved with the homeless locally as a part of the month-long contest. Here's the deal with that....

This Month's Contest:

This month, I'm doing one big Women Who Rock Wednesday contest. The grand prize winner will get copies of both of my books I WANNA BE YOUR JOEY RAMONE and BALLADS OF SUBURBIA signed and, even more importantly, they will get to choose which charity I donate to at the end of the month. I'll put together a list of charities to choose from at the end of the month, but Real Change will absolutely be on it, so keep them in mind.

Here are the ways you can tally up entries.

+1 for leaving a comment
+1 for tweeting or linking to this blog entry
+1 for tweeting or linking to Real Change
+5 for posting about Real Change and homelessness awareness on your blog, myspace or facebook page

+10 for volunteering at your local homeless shelter, street newspaper like Real Change, or donating items to a local shelter or food pantry
+15 for donating to Real Change

Please note your additional entries in your comment. Provide links when you can, but obviously with volunteering I'll be taking you at your word. Please also leave an email address in your comment so you can be contacted if you win!

I really hope you are enjoying learning about these organizations as much as I am and maybe they are inspiring some New Years resolutions about helping your own community. Please come back next week to learn about another woman who is rockin' an important cause!

Hugging The Negativity Away

Right before writing this, I went to kiss my husband goodnight. (I've learned to use my insomnia to my advantage and do my blogging and other writerly business type stuff around midnight every night.) I took in the smell of him, the feel of his arms around me and said, "hug me really tight." He hugged me tighter, stronger and I tried to draw that feeling of comfort and the pure happiness we share deep into me. This is the feeling that matters, more than anything, I told myself. And this is free, no one can repossess it or take it back. You will not fail and lose this. This is yours. Try to focus on that. Wake up and remember it and have a better day.

Sorry to get all self-affirmation on you there, but I've been feeling shitty lately. Surrounded by big black clouds and all that not fun stuff. I feel like I'm turning into Eeyore and I don't want to be.

Last night at work was the fourth really bad shift in a row. Like not making at all what I need to bad and with the exception of Black Wednesday it's pretty much been this way since my wedding in October. And, yanno, weddings cost $. My wedding was not super expensive, but it still led me to take a lot more out of savings than I would have liked. And I'm trying to rebuild that savings so I use it to pay my property taxes next year and buy holiday gifts (I'm really resenting this whole holiday gift thing. Can't spending time with people count?) and to go on a little tiny much smaller than our daydreams honeymoon next month. But the rebuilding is not happening. In fact the normal amount of money to pay bills thing is not even happening. And that makes me think I need to go back to a regular job. And that is a thought that brings on anxiety attacks.

And then there is the whole writing thing which is not going as well as I would like. I have this idea that really means a lot to me. Like as much or more than Ballads a lot. But it's not coming out right and I get frustrated. And I think I am not cut out for this. I am not good enough to write this idea. And even if I write it, well I worked really hard on Ballads and I am not satisfied with how it is doing and I feel helpless to do anything for it. Burned out. Basically I am burned out. But I'm a fighter and I don't want to give up.

Except on nights like last night. Last night I walked into the bar and had one customer. Two hours later, I only had one more customer and my mood grew darker and darker still. And my one customer noticed and she grumbled at me something along the lines of "when you are negative, you attract negativity."

And I started crying. Right there. At work. I started crying. Because I knew she was right. Because that was in fact something I swore by. I whined pathetically, "But I am trying so hard not to be negative. I can't..."

And my customer said, "Oh poor baby come here" And she held open her arms and I ran around to her side of the bar and hugged her. And she hugged me for a really long time and was kind of crying herself and also kind of laughing. And she insisted I watch something she found funny on YouTube on her computer. And I dried my eyes and did and we laughed. And she told me that the full moon was waning and this meant all the negativity was draining away and by the new moon on 12/16 or the day after it 12/17, things would be good. And I told her I would try to believe in that.

And I am trying to believe in that. I'm also trying to believe that when I chant it's doing something. But sometimes I have a hard time in believing in any of that and I need concrete things.

I'd hoped today would be a better day, but again I struggled with the writing. Then I got a frustrating letter reminding me of a frustrating situation with the person who has caused some of the most frustration in my life. I lost my last hour and a half of writing to this frustration. But I went downstairs and had a really strong workout and then I went to writer's group and wrote a semi-decent scene.

I have direction for tomorrow and I'm trying to believe in myself. I hate when I get negative. I hate feeling like I'm being pathetic/whining/wallowing because I know other people have it worse. A lot worse. After all I just wrote this newspaper column about local homelessness. But sometimes you just have to vent, like I did just now. Sometimes you have to cry in the arms of a customer at work as stupid as you feel about it. Sometimes you have to listen to that person about the moon and you have to make yourself believe in what they are saying. Sometimes you have to hug the person you love the most as tightly as you possibly can and remember that your ability to do so is the most important thing and that will give you strength to do the other important things.

So now I'm going to go to bed. I'm going to read beside my sleeping husband for a little while. And I'm reading the book Shadowland by Alyson Noel, an author I admire and consider a friend, an author who didn't hit the NYT bestseller list until her 8th (I think?) book. She's an inspiration and her books are amazing.

Tomorrow when I wake up I will think about her and the moon and the hug and I will write and things will get better even though there is a snowstorm coming which will undoubtedly make my next shift at work really shitty. But maybe not. Who knows. My dead Sunday night improved a little against expectations after that hug. So goddammit, I'm going to keep trying to hug the negativity away.

GCC Presents: Debbie Rigaud!

One of my girlfriends from the Girlfriends Cyber Circuit has a new book out! That would be Debbie Rigaud with her book PERFECT SHOT!

Have you heard about it yet? Well if not, here is what PERFECT SHOT is about!

Synopsis:
What’s the wackiest thing you’ve ever done after a crush attack?

High school athlete London Abrams is more likely to spike a volleyball than wear spike heels. Yet in one crush-tastic moment, she signs up for a modeling contest as an excuse to meet the photo intern Brent St. John. But instead of getting a call back from Brent, London gets a call back from contest judges! Now she’s in a fierce modeling competition feeling out way of her league, and Brent’s camera is zoomed in to document everything. Suddenly, London’s not feeling so ready for her close up.

Back Cover Copy:
London Abram’s first love is volleyball, so why does she enter an online modeling competition? Answer: superhottie Brent St. John. London spots Brent signing in contestants at a store, and she gets in line simply to say hi. But she never dreams she’ll make it into the competition!

London’s now up against fourteen hungry fashionistas willing to do whatever it takes to win. All she wants to win is Brent’s heart…but the money prize couldn’t hurt. If London plays this right, she can win the contest, the boy, and the cash. GAME ON!

There are a few reasons to be extra excited about this release:

• First book in the Simon Pulse Romantic Comedies series to feature an African-American protagonist
• First book in the Simon Pulse Romantic Comedies series to be written by an African-American
• Features a multicultural cast of characters in a contemporary setting

Sounds cool, huh?

Well let's learn a bit more about Debbie Rigaud, the author!

Debbie Rigaud began her writing career covering news and entertainment for magazines—namely, Seventeen, Twist and CosmoGIRL!. She’s interviewed celebs, politicians and other social figures, but enjoyed interviewing “real” girls the most. A total Jersey girl at heart, Debbie lives in Bermuda with her husband.

Of course, I also interviewed Debbie to get the full low-down on PERFECT SHOT and her writing inspirations!

Q: Please tell us what your new book is about and what inspired you to write it.

Debbie: PERFECT SHOT follows what happens after high school volleyball player London Abrams impulsively signs up for a modeling contest as an excuse to meet Brent, the cute photo intern collecting contest applications. When she gets a call back from contest judges instead, London soon finds herself feeling out of her league in a fierce modeling competition. And Brent is there documenting every awkward moment on his camera.

PERFECT SHOT was fun to write because I've always been fascinated by how the most uncomfortable, fish-out-of-water experiences shape a person. And I love that these characters are ambitious, enterprising teens who are pursuing their passions.

Q: If there was a soundtrack for your book what are five songs that would be on it and how do they relate the story?

Debbie: 1) Santigold's remix to "You'll Find a Way" in one scene, we find out that London?s ringtone is a Santigold song. I imagine London to be a fan--plus, this song has the perfect energy for the volleyball game scenes; 2) During London's first photo shoot, "Click Flash" by Ciara is blaring from the speakers; 3) In (dis)honor of Rick, London's ex, probably something by old school hip hop giant Slick Rick. I'd go with "Hey Young World" because it's an ode to go-getters like London; 4). "Google Me" by Teyana Taylor for two reasons: Teyana was my style muse for London, and because London gains a cyber presence when she's featured in an online mag; 5). And because deep down, London is a true romantic, I'll go with Taylor Swift's "Love Story."

Q: Who were some of your inspirations to become a writer or the inspirations that keep you writing? Feel free to include other authors, teachers, parents, or people in other creative fields, whoever is an inspiration to you!

Debbie: The women in my family--especially my mother, godmother and grandmother--are my inspiration. They are all such talented, witty storytellers! I grew up listening to vivid tales about their childhood in Haiti and their young adulthood in Brooklyn. And at each family gathering, my godmother (a great aunt) would read to us the most heartfelt speeches she'd written to mark the occasion. I plan to keep this tradition going with the books and short stories I hope to continue publishing.

Q: Even though music plays in so heavily into my storytelling, I rarely can actually listen to it while I'm writing. Can you? How does music fit into your writing process?

Debbie: Yes, I can listen to it while I'm writing but I don't always need it. I find that jazz, classical or "meditation" music helps keep me focused as I write. Other times, I let R&B tunes play on low volume in the background, which I find energizing. But I have to be careful not to get distracted, because some of those songs make me want to get up and say, "Oooo, that's my jam!"

Q: What is next for you? What are you working on now?

Debbie: Another romantic comedy is in the works, but I'm also working on a paranormal story. I love all things paranormal and I also appreciate a good fantasy from time to time. :-)

Debbie sounds like a very cool gal (I love her family filled with storytelling women!) and her book sounds amazing. Go check it out this weekend!

Women Who Rock (for a cause!) Wednesday: Katie Corboy & Keep On Keeping On

As I mentioned last week, I'm changing up the focus of Women Who Rock Wednesday this month. I know a lot of amazing women who may not be famous writers, musicians, artists (well not YET in certain cases), but they are rock stars in their own right because they are fighting for a certain cause.

It's the holiday season. I'm not a festive person and the outrageous spending habits around the holidays gross me out. Being truly "giving" means helping those who are less fortunate or building our society/community or saving the planet and I thought we should shine a spotlight on some of the women and the organizations who are doing those things this month.

The first woman I would like to introduce you to is my friend Katie Corboy. I'm convinced that Katie will be on this blog for her books someday. She is one of my critique partners, a brilliant and amazing writer whose advice I'd be floundering without. And she is also one of the most compassionate, giving people I know. So let's meet her and celebrate the important work she is doing with an organization called Keep On Keeping On or KOKO today!

Q: Tell us about KOKO, what does the organization do, and why did you choose to get involved with it? As I understand it, even though you work full-time, you continue to volunteer your time for this important cause.

Katie: The Keep On Keeping On Foundation is a nonprofit dedicated to helping those born with severe physical disabilities such as Cerebral Palsy or Muscular Dystrophy in the Chicagoland Area. We are a direct service organization and provide life-sustaining medical equipment, specialized wheelchairs, outfit homes to help individuals lead more independent lives, and aide with outstanding medical bills. Our goal is to also help others see past the wheelchair to the incredibly bright, passionate, and able-minded individuals.

I became involved in KOKO in Fall of 2007 when I received an email about a volunteer meeting from Executive Director, Dave Kunicki, with whom I’d gone to grammar school and high school. I’d recently received my MFA in Creative Writing from Columbia College Chicago, where I’d been Managing Editor of a magazine, editor of two anthologies, tutored college students in Fiction Writing Skills, taught Creative Writing to 5th grade students, and acted as Assistant Artistic Director of Story Week: Festival of Writers. I’d worked in several areas of writing, but still didn’t really know what I wanted to do with my passion for words and the arts. When I went to the volunteer meeting and heard Tim Wambach—Founder and President of KOKO and someone I’d grown up with as well—speak about his experience with Mike Berkson—living with Cerebral Palsy and the inspiration behind KOKO—I felt something click into place. I’d discovered another use for all of my varied experience and a new passion for nonprofit work. Now I’m the Director of Events & Marketing, on a volunteer basis.

Our goal is to become a full-time, full-service nonprofit in the next several years. All of the executive members are volunteers and we rely on the kindness and dedication of all of our incredible volunteers to help us keep moving and growing. We help people directly. There’s no bureaucratic red tape to wade through. There’s just a matter of raising enough funds to aide every family who needs our help. The satisfaction of seeing the children and adults we’ve helped take a figurative step toward independence is indescribable.

I work a 9-5 job now but still dedicate a lot of my free time to KOKO. I want to continue to do something for others because I can. We also do extreme challenges, such as our annual 24 Hr Run, to bring awareness to our cause and to those who physically can’t, but mentally are as strong, if not stronger. We push ourselves because we can. Mike is a great inspiration. He’s in community college right now and wants to transfer to Columbia College Chicago for screenwriting. He’s witty and more poignant than a lot of people I know. He has his bad days, but keeps pushing forward. He inspires us all to Keep On Keeping On.

Q: KOKO has a super-fun annual event called Santa Cause. Please tell us about this year's event? Also if there are ways those outside Chicago can contribute to KOKO please let us know!

(click image to make bigger, right click to save and distribute online!)

Katie: Santa Cause is our biggest fundraiser of the year and is a fun way to kick off the holiday season. This is our 5th year holding this event. This year, we’ve moved to a new venue, The Abbey Pub (3420 W. Grace, Chicago), and are very excited about all the new components we’ve been able to add. The night’s festivities include a fun and flirty singles auction featuring Miss Illinois 2009 Ashley Bond, Country musician Kyle Jennings, Survivor: Fiji contestant Mookie Lee, author of From CP to CPA: One Man’s Triumph Over the Disability of Cerebral Palsy Rob Pritts, Founder and CEO of unstrapp’d Bradley Will, WGN Weather Team member Duffy Adkins, publicity “Maven” Sarah Vargo, and Bon V Chicago CEO Casey Urlacher, plus local singles. Kyle Jennings will be performing an acoustic set at 7:30pm and local band, Farkus, will play a special concert after the auction. The event is emceed by Jonathan Keaton from the upcoming film, My Name is Jerry, and Jen Knoedl of the NBC 5 Chicago Street Team.

The event is 21 and over. There’s a $15 donation at the door, or you can pre-purchase tickets for $10 through www.abbeypub.com. Doors open at 7pm and the auction begins at 8:30pm. Our goal this year is $20,000.

But anyone can donate through the website and we are always looking for volunteers. We also ask anyone, even if not in the Chicago area to post the flier on thier Facebook/ MySpace pages.

Q: I have two questions that I always ask my Women Who Rock, the first is a two-parter. What was the first album you bought and the first concert you attended? Be honest, we don't judge, we like to see the roots of our women who rock!

Katie: The first CD I purchased to go along with the first stereo I bought with my own money was Skid Row’s self-titled album. I cranked it to 11 and played it on repeat until my brother threatened to throw it out the window like he’d done with my Barbie’s just a few years before. The first concert I was taken to was Barry Manilow. I still have not forgiven my mother. I’m a Neil Diamond fan. But the first concert that I went to as a willing participant was Tiffany. New Kids on the Block opened up for them. I think it was a Tinley Park. Or The World. Or Tweeter Center. Or whatever name it’s going by now.

Q: Tell us about your biggest rock star moment, perhaps it's a moment of real success in your career, a time when you met someone super cool and had that Wayne's World "I'm not worthy" moment, or just a time where you felt like you got the rock star treatment. I get a huge variety of answers for the questions, so it's pretty much whatever "rock star moment" means to you!

Katie: I’ve always been a behind-the-scenes kind of person. Don’t get me wrong, I like recognition and accolades, but I do not like getting up in front of people. My rock star moment was the first time I helped organize an event for Story Week at Metro. Once the reading began, I had a moment to myself downstairs in the green room. Upstairs, the house was packed with 800 people listening to Irvine Welsh read with his thick Scottish brogue. Laughter trickled down the stairs. 800 people were at the legendary Metro, not to listen to local bands trying to break through, or rock gods paying homage to their roots, but to listen to writers read their words like music from the page. That was my rock star moment. I was a part of that. I helped make it happen. And I peed in the green room bathroom while Stephanie Kuehnert guarded the door because the lock was not trustworthy. Yes, I peed in a stall scrawled with gibberish from the likes of Billy Corrigan, Clutch, REM, Bob Dylan, and I felt like a rock star.

LOL, I totally remember that!

Well how cool, I got to be part of Katie's rock star moment. But, seriously how cool is Katie for her involvement with this amazing organization. Won't you help me and Katie spread the word about it? If you do, it will be part of...

This Month's Contest:

As I mentioned last week, this contest will run all month long. The lucky winner will get signed copies of both my books and more important than that, they will get to choose which organization I donate to at the end of the month. (I'll have the list of orgs together next week. Totally disorganized this week But KOKO will definitely be on it.) Plus you will be helping to spread the word about charities through the contest during this season of giving. Very important work!

Here are the ways you can tally up entries.

+1 for leaving a comment

+1 for tweeting or linking to this blog entry

+1 for tweeting or linking to KOKO

+1 for tweeting or linking to the Santa Cause 5 facebook invite

+5 for posting the Santa Cause 5 flyer on your blog, myspace or facebook page

+5 for blogging about KOKO and/or Santa Cause 5

+15 for donating to KOKO

Note your entries in your comment as well as your email address.

See you next week with discussion about another great cause with another Woman Who Rocks!

New Music Tuesday: My current writing soundtrack

Yesterday on the MTV Books blog, I posted about what motivates me to write and I also mentioned that I'm currently having a big old problem with focusing (you'll find all the details here), so I may be staying off the internetz over the next couple weeks aside from my regularly scheduled group blogs (and I'm over at the Teen Fiction Cafe today talking about my all time favorite vegan recipe site so check that blog out for good eats!), my Women Who Rock Wednesday features (it's charity month on WWRW, details here. Hope you'll check those out and be involved in my contest!) and of course the random, often frustrated Twitter updates on my writing progress, which you can follow here.

I've been kinda having blog burnout lately. I was trying to post four times a week, which might be too much for me to do and for you guys to keep up with. Sometimes I have the burning desire to blog about something (I do still view this as an online journal to a degree which is why I may get more personal than some people do on their blogs) and I do like to share my pictures on here (and those are the posts you all seem to like best according to the statistics Google gives me) as well as my news. And I know you all like Women Who Rock Wednesday interviews/contests, but sometimes I wonder if it's even interesting, my other random babble about writing and music and whatever else. I don't know, feel free to let me know what kinds of posts you like to read and maybe it will inspire me. But I really do feel a bit of a blog vacation coming up for this month so I can whip this new novel idea into shape because it's kicking my ass.

However, I do like the new music Tuesday blog post idea for the first Tuesday of the month (and hopefully you do too), so I wanted to do that.

Except I realized that I'm not really listening to anything new. I'm still all hooked on The Loved Ones from last month, but the main band that I can't stop listening to right now is an old favorite, Rise Against. That seems to be *the* band for the book I'm working on. And I've been getting the hankering for Hole's Pretty On the Inside album and The Distillers' self-titled album. My main character is a really angry, grief-stricken girl, but she's also a survivor. As I mentioned in my Music For The Muse post last week (which I'd really hoped more people would be interested in. oh well. *shrugs* maybe we all have blog burnout), "Survive" by Rise Against is pretty much her theme song, but I've also been listening to my personal survival anthem from my teenage years, AKA the song that I have lyrics from tattooed on my arm, "Firefly" by Heavens to Betsy.

Anyway, as usual, I've begun to create a playlist for this new book. It's part a procrastination tool and part an inspiration thing. There are select songs on it (the first four) that I seem to listen to a few times every day to get the writing going. Some of these songs don't really feel like they apply any more because the book is evolving and I have a feeling there are some songs that are going to sneak on to the playlist soon (early Hole and Distillers). But let's record it for posterity as it is right now. It will be interesting to look at once the book is done (if it's ever done.... yeah I'm in that kind of bad place now writing-wise. Ugh, but it is always darkest before dawn. Hopefully the huge breakthrough is right around the corner.)

So here is the the playlist for my WIP (and yes it has a title, but I'm not sharing the title just yet. I don't mean to be such a secretive tease about what I'm working on, I just don't want to jinx things.):

Survive- Rise Against

Gone Away- The Offspring

The '59 Sound- The Gaslight Anthem

Radio- Alkaline Trio

Worth Dying For- Rise Against

Son of A Bitch- Civet

Iris- The Breeders

Rape Me- Nirvana

I Hate Danger- Bikini Kill

Rumors of My Demise Have Been Greatly Exaggerated- Rise Against

Firefly- Heavens To Betsy

Boomboxes and Dictionaries- The Gaslight Anthem

Radio- Hot Water Music (bc sometimes I like this cover better than the original & so does my character)

Hell Hath No Fury- Civet

I Am A Revenant- The Distillers

Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge on Seattle- Nirvana

Marianne- Tori Amos

So yeah, don't know if that gives you a sense of the book at all, but it does for me :) And it's basically all I've been listening too lately. What songs have you been totally stuck on, whether they are new to you or old? And got any angry revenge songs or good grief coping songs to recommend as I'm willing to expand my character's horizons.

Okay, that's all for now. But I'll be back for Women Who Rock Wednesday soon.

Women Who Rock Wednesday: A New Holiday Focus

Welcome to Women Who Rock Wednesday! Let's start things off with the prize I have to announce... the winner of Jessica Brody's LOVE UNDER COVER is MARIAN from Blogger! Marian you didn't leave your email address, so hopefully you are reading this and can send your address to stephanie at stephaniekuehnert dot com so you can get your prize!

So it's Thanksgiving which marks the beginning of the holiday season. I've gotta say, I'm not a fan. Other than the part where we say what we're thankful for (and I'm thankful for all of you, my darling blog readers), to me it is such a gluttonous time and I'm not just talking about all the eating (I do like eating, though as a vegan, I'm not really into the stuff people usually eat). Black Friday and all the crazed consumerism is what really grosses me out.

So I also am trying to change the focus of the holidays to giving back to your community or giving to those in need rather than buying a ton of unnecessary crap.

This means that throughout the holiday season I am going to change up the focus of Women Who Rock Wednesday. I plan to interview and spotlight charities and positive community or earth-friendly efforts that women I know are involved in. Of course, if there are some charities or do-gooder women out there you think I should spotlight, please do let me know as I could use at least one more woman & her organization to spotlight. Contact info/personal references really helps and you can email those to stephanie at stephaniekuehnert dot com.

Today I'm going to talk about the organization I was involved with as a teen. Sarah's Inn is a Domestic Violence agency in Oak Park, Illinois. I started volunteering there when I was sixteen, after getting out of an emotionally abusive relationship myself. I wasn't openly talking about or dealing with what I'd gone through at the time, but volunteering helped me work through my own issues a little bit. I spent my Saturday mornings there working with a bilingual children's support group. These were kids whose fathers were abusive and their mothers were getting out of the relationship. They were amazing kids, so resilient and smart and inspiring.

I also worked a bit on the agency newsletter and did any volunteer office work they needed. Christmas time always makes me think of sitting in a big storage area assembling gift baskets for the women and children Sarah's Inn served, many of whom were in shelters or temporary housing after leaving their abusers.

There are a lot of things I did during my teenage years that I am not particularly proud of, but my work at Sarah's Inn is something I can always look back at with pride, knowing that I helped others and I helped myself heal. Kimberley, the volunteer coordinator, is a woman who I will always be thankful that I had in my life. She was in her early twenties and a writer as well, a journalism student who fell into this job at a non-profit and truly loved it. She's actually the one who inspired me to go to school for sociology because I saw how I could incorporate writing with non-profit work and truly help people... of course I ended up getting sucked in by creative writing instead, but I do write my books in hopes of helping people--not in some holier than thou let me teach you a lesson way of course, but by creating dialogue about important issues. And if this book writing thing doesn't work out, I may go back to school so I can be like Kimberley, that woman who I admired so much at sixteen.

Now I did this volunteering thing completely on my own, but I know a lot of schools encourage it or require some sort of community service now. Have you done any? What kind of impact did it have on your life?

And once again feel free to comment about an organization or woman you think I should highlight over the next few weeks.

New Contest!

I'm changing up the contest now too. Through the end of December, I will run one big WWRW contest that begins now. At the end of our focus on community service, I'll choose one winner from the commentors on all the blog entries (including this one!) and that person will get signed copies of Ballads of Suburbia and I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone, but more importantly, I will donate as much as I can afford (minimum 25$, but hopefully the bar will be busy tonight and I'll have some extra cash) to whichever charity they choose from a list I will compile of my favorite charities and of the organizations you tell me about in the comments of this blog entry.

So get in the *real* holiday spirit and start telling me about those great organizations you love and why you love them!

Oh and as usual, you'll get an extra entry for tweeting, linking to, or blogging about this blog entry. Please note those extra entries along with your email address in your comments.

Music For The Muse

I promised you a more interesting/special blog post today and here it is. Ronna (aka RR Smythe, who writes YA Fantasy and then other books under other names) came up with this cool idea for a bunch of different authors to write about how music is their muse all on the same day. Obviously, I was psyched about the idea. So read on to find out about how music is my muse and then I'll be linking you to six other authors' blogs so you can find out how music inspires them.

I think music is up there with the essentials for me: food, water, shelter. I can't live without those or music either. Music has inspired my writing since I started writing angsty poetry in junior high. It all started with Nirvana. Something about seeing this scrawny, dirty-blond guy screaming his lungs out and people listened. He was a freak/weirdo/outcast/misfit like me, but people listened. And his screams felt like I felt inside. He inspired me to unleash those feelings on the page. Well he did and so did his wife, Courtney Love. If you read any of my teenage poetry (which, um, you won't unless you search super hard and find the couple of poems I submitted to what would become poetry.com as a teen), you'll see that it basically sounds like a bad version of Hole or Babes In Toyland or Sleater-Kinney lyrics.

Eventually, I realized I could never lyrically live up to the punk rock ladies who inspired me and I definitely didn't have their musical talents, so I started to explore fiction and eventually I wrote my little rock n roll fantasy--of women like Courtney and Kat and Corin totally ruling the rock world--and it became my first book, I WANNA BE YOUR JOEY RAMONE.

My second book, BALLADS OF SUBURBIA, was inspired by the Man in Black himself, Johnny Cash. After a discussion in a grad school class about ballads, true ones like the one Johnny sung about life and love and our tendency to fuck up, I came up with the structure of the book--a notebook where my characters write their ballad or confession of the moment their life changed.

The two books I'm working on now are both musically-driven in some way. I can't help it. Music changed my life, so I usually find myself writing about characters who are changed by music in someway.

But lets talk about how music fits into my writing process and feeds my muse (and I'll include links to YouTube so if you are not familiar with a song or artist, you can check them out). I don't write to music, not usually, not unless I am so deep into the zone that I don't even have to think. During the first draft of BALLADS, I got to that point. I was on a ten-day writing retreat and since there were other writers in the house making some sounds, I blocked it out with my headphones. The bands I listened to then were Screaming Trees, PJ Harvey and Johnny Cash. I think the atmosphere of that music definitely makes its way into BALLADS. Both Johnny and Mark Lanegan, the singer of the Screaming Trees have these deep, throaty baritones that makes the music feel dark and moody and PJ Harvey is just... wow I don't even have words, but it fits.

Usually though I build a playlist as I'm writing and I get stuck on a few songs and always find myself listening to them to get into the mode of the book. I listen to them either while I am brainstorming or right before I write. With IWBYJR, it was all about the song "Don't Take Me For Granted" by Social Distortion. I felt like the story of Emily and her best friend Regan in a small town forming a punk band was the female version of Mike Ness's song about forming Social D with his best friend. Of course, the song the book is named after, "I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone" by Sleater-Kinney was also one I'd listen to. I remember playing it every night before I delved into my revisions on that book.

With BALLADS, each character had their own ballad or theme, but an overarching theme song for the book was "Bastards of Young" by the Replacements. However, I also had music for the mindsets of my characters. The book deals with heroin addiction, which was hard to write so I went to the music, listening to "Mr. Brownstone" by Guns N Roses and "Heroin" by The Velvet Underground, but also the entire Dirt album by Alice in Chains.

While I'm refining a book, I'm also refining a playlist for it. It's part procrastination tool, but it's also really part necessity. The finished playlists are posted as "soundtracks" on my website. You can find IWBYJR's here and BALLADS' here.

The book I'm working on right now was actually born from listening to a song. I was heading to the gym to work out and had my iPod on of course. "Radio" by Alkaline Trio was on as I walked up the stairs, passed the glass enclosed fire alarm. I thought about how I'd always been tempted to pull the fire alarm. Then a character came to me who would pull the fire alarm. I saw two girls, one of whom would pull it despite the other girl's pleas not to and I knew that these girls would really relate to the song I was listening to, particularly the lines "While you're taking your time with apologies, I'm planning out my revenge. Red eyes on orange horizons, if Columbus was wrong I'll go straight off the edge."

Image plus song equaled book idea... well not so much an idea but a feeling, a feeling that these girls were hurting, a feeling that pulling a fire alarm would be involved, and a feeling that the book was about revenge.

Another song would add to the book idea later. I'd already written a draft of the first fifty pages of it, but something was wrong with it. Then I was in the car on a rainy day and the song "Gone Away" by The Offspring came on. I was still raw with grief for a friend that died almost a year before and the song hurt in such a way that I needed to pull over and just let it hurt. Purging pain through a sad song is very similar to how I purge pain through writing. And I knew then that I needed to write through my grief. I knew then that the sister/best friend of the fire alarm girls was dead. This was going to be my grief book, I was going to mourn with my characters. So now I listen to "Gone Away" and also "The 59 Sound" by The Gaslight Anthem before I write because it brings up those feelings of mourning for me. They aren't good feelings, but the process is healing.

So yeah now this is my revenge/grief book, but there is one last song that is really influencing it right now and I believe a line from it is the true theme of the book. The line is "How we survive is what makes us who we are" by the band Rise Against from the song "Survive."

That's how music serves as a muse for me. It inspires my characters, my themes, the mood or atmosphere of my books. Without it, I wouldn't be writing.

Now, you should go check out these 6 blogs and see how music inspires some of my fellow writers. Also please comment away and tell me how music feeds your muse!

http://jenniferlinforth.blogspot.com/
http://www.jerismithready.com/blog/
http://chapmansmythe.livejournal.com/
http://bryanbliss.blogspot.com/
http://marleydelaroseauthor.blogspot.com/
http://thetaratracks.com/blog

Some Random Odds & Ends

*Warning: today's blog is in no way cohesive!*

I've been having trouble keeping up with random things... I've been having trouble keeping up with everything in general. Honestly, I'm in a place where I just want to write and ignore the world, but unfortunately I can't. I'm probably the only person not thrilled about the holiday this week because it's cutting into my writing time, but anyway....

First of all, thank you so much for all the honeymoon suggestions last week. Our budget was really insanely limited, so Miami was definitely the way to go, but the other suggestions have been noted for the future... hopefully one day we will have money for travel. We couldn't even afford to get all the way to Key West (it's a four hour drive from Miami, so would necessitate flying back from Key West instead of spending so much of our time driving, and flights from Key West cost 100$ more than flights from Miami), but we are going to stay two nights in Key Largo as we found an insanely good deal on a four-star resort so that is our one splurge. Suggestions for beaches, bars, restaurants (with vegan options please), or other must-sees in the Miami and Key Largo area are definitely appreciated. Hubby is trying to convince me to go snorkeling, but I've had this fear of swimming with fish since I was 19 or 20 and drunkenly swam halfway across a lake in Wisconsin in the middle of the night only to become paralyzed with fear about very large fish lurking around my legs, perhaps ready to pull me under. (I think I blame Kevin for this. I'm guessing while we were swimming he mentioned the large fish in that lake. It just seems like a Kevin thing to do...) But I suppose if I can see the fish, I can swim away from them... Anyway, we leave on our honeymoon on January 10 and are in Miami on Sunday (very late), Monday, and Tuesday. Then drive to Key Largo on Wednesday, stay there Thursday and return home in the evening on Friday. So yeah, suggest away.

On to the other randomness. I did some cool interviews recently, so please check them out if you have time. I did an interview with Oak Park 365/the Oak Leaves about Ballads and my relationship with Oak Park, the town where I grew up and the novel is set. It has some cool pics of me in Scoville Park, so you can check it out here.

I also did an interview with Diana of Stop, Drop, and Read where I talk about the piercings I've always wanted to get among other things. That is here.

And last but certainly not least, yaReads.com is featuring me as their author of the month! This means two lucky people will win signed copies of Ballads and you can enter that contest here. You can also read their amazing review of Ballads here. It's a review I am super proud of. And they did an in depth interview with me about Ballads (but be warned there are some major spoiler questions, so do yourself a favor and skip those if you haven't read the book), which you can check out here. In it I also choose the ballad that best suits my life. I'll be posting a guest review later this week over there about a book that is coming out next year that I am so crazy excited for, Harmonic Feedback by Tara Kelly. If you are a fan of my work, you will definitely adore this book. I'll post a link when I get it, so you can learn more.

Oh and I do want to pimp the reading I'm doing on Friday. I really, really hope that if you are in the area, you can make it out. Hometown events are always kind of nerve wracking for me. And I'm extra anxious now because this past Friday I had my first author event where *absolutely no one* showed up. I felt like such a jackass because I'd arranged the event and invited four super cool YA writers (Jessica Hopper, James Kennedy, Daniel Kraus, and Adam Selzer), but I guess no one realized that it was on New Moon release weekend. Apparently there is no completing with Twilight. *sigh* I was majorly bummed.

So anyway, now I'm nervous as hell that I'll be 0 for 2. So please come see me read at Barbara's in Oak Park this Friday if you can. Here is the facebook invite and the sweet flyer they made for me is posted below. Feel free to share them.

Okay, off to get some writing done. Tomorrow's blog will be more cohesive and interesting. Though I'm not making big promises for the rest of the week. I'm starting to get cranky about my lack of time to write.

GCC Presents: Laurie Faria Stolarz

I'm a part of a fun blog touring group called the Girlfriends Cyber Circuit. When my fellow girlfriends have new books out, I bring them by to tell you about their new releases. Today I've got Laurie Faria Stolarz here to talk about her two new books, BLACK IS FOR BEGINNINGS and DEADLY LITTLE LIES. First, let's hear about the books (which sound incredible!), then Laurie will answer some interview questions!

ABOUT BLACK IS FOR BEGINNNINGS:

The BLUE IS FOR NIGHTMARES series that put a spell on more than half a million readers continues – in graphic novel format! Prophetic nightmares. Near-brushes with death. Killers pursuing her and her friends. Stacey Brown knows that being a hereditary witch isn’t all it's cracked up to be.

All she really wants to do is work things out with Jacob and figure out what to do with the rest of her life. But before Stacey and Jacob can have a future, they must face their pasts. BLACK IS FOR BEGINNINGS reveals the never-before-seen backstory - and what lies ahead - for the young, spellcasting lovers.

BLACK continues the harrowing adventures of Stacey and Jacob in the wake of Jacob's brush with death. Ever since he lost his memory, Jacob hasn't been able to remember Stacey - his own soul mate. He leaves Massachusetts, returning to his childhood home in Colorado, hoping to jog his memory. What he remembers is Kira, his ex-girlfriend. As Jacob works to piece together his past, will there be room for Stacey in his future?

REVIEWS:

"The half-million readers of Laurie Faria Stolarz’s paranormal mystery series will be happy with this shift to graphic style, offering as it does the pleasure of putting faces on characters, its visualized eeriness and vibrant displays of emotion...The graphic style allows Stolarz to distill the story while simultaneously dropping hints about Stacey and Jacob’s supernatural talents, luring new readers to the series." - Kirkus Reviews

"Taking Stolarz’s Blue Is for Nightmares series into the graphic-novel realm is a bold idea, and it pays off in this morbidly entertaining and surprisingly romantic page-turner." - Booklist

“This scary and romantic story, with its larger-than-life emotions and darkly twisting plot, lends itself well to the graphic novel format. The teenage characters, their dialogue, and their interactions are well imagined and ably captured. And when you are not enjoying the great dialogue or fantastic artwork, it is fun to pore over the little details…BLACK IS FOR BEGINNINGS serves both to draw new teen readers to the series and to supply existing fans with interesting additional background and never-before-seen details. A winning formula!” – TeenReads

ABOUT DEADLY LITTLE LIES

Last fall, sixteen-year-old Camelia fell for Ben, a new boy at school who had a very mysterious gift – psychometry, the ability to sense the future through touch. But just as Camelia and Ben's romance began to heat up, he abruptly left town. Brokenhearted, Camelia has spent the last few months studying everything she can about psychometry and experiencing strange brushes with premonition. Camelia wonders if Ben's abilities have somehow been transferred to her.

Ben returns to school, but he remains aloof, and Camelia can't get close enough to share her secret with him. Camelia makes the painful decision to let him go and move on. Adam, the hot new guy at Knead, seems good for her in ways Ben wasn't. But when Camelia and Adam start dating, a surprising love triangle results. A chilling sequence of events uncovers secrets from Ben’s past – and Adam's. Someone is lying, and it's up to Camelia to figure out who – before it's too late.

View the Book Trailer for Deadly Little Secret here.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Laurie Faria Stolarz is the author of several popular young adult novels, including Deadly Little Secret, Deadly Little Lies, Project 17, Bleed, and the bestselling BLUE IS FOR NIGHTMARES series, which has sold over 500,000 copies worldwide. Stolarz's titles have been part of the Quick Pick for Reluctant Readers list, the Top Ten Teen Pick list, and YALSA's Popular Paperback list, all through the American Library Association. Born and raised in Salem, Massachusetts, Stolarz attended Merrimack College and received an MFA in creative writing from Emerson College in Boston. For more information, visit Laurie's website at www.lauriestolarz.com

INTERVIEW:

Q: Please tell us what your new series is about and what inspired you to write it.

Laurie: I wanted to write a story where the main character has to struggle with the idea of falling in love with someone who could potentially be dangerous. I tinkered with this concept in the first three books of my Blue is for Nightmares Series [(Blue is for Nightmares (Llewellyn 2003), White is for Magic (Llewellyn 2004), and Silver is for Secrets (Llewellyn 2005), as well as in Bleed (Hyperion 2006)]. In Bleed, in particular, there’s a young male character who was convicted for the murder of his girlfriend. His next relationship consists of pen pal letters he exchanges with a young girl while he’s in prison. Without giving too much away, the relationship is briefly pursued once he is released, but I wanted to bring this concept to another level.

Additionally, I wanted to continue experimenting with the supernatural (which I also use in my Blue is for Nightmares Series as well as in Project 17), showing how we all have our own inner senses and intuition, and how with work we can tap into those senses and make them stronger.

I started researching different types of supernatural powers and discovered the power of psychometry (the ability to sense things through touch). The concept fascinated me, and so I wanted to bring it out in a character, showing how sometimes even the most extraordinary powers can also be a curse.

Lastly, I wanted to apply these concepts to be part of a series. I love the idea of growing a main character over the course of several books.

Q: If there was a soundtrack for your book what are five songs that would be on it and how do they relate the story? (and if you have a playlist, feel free to share a link!)

Laurie: I actually have a contest going on that involves this very question. In celebration of the release of DEADLY LITTLE LIES, the second book in the TOUCH SERIES, I’m launching a very exciting contest, the winner of which will have a minor character in DEADLY LITTLE GAME, the third book in the TOUCH SERIES, named after him or her. Please see the official rules here. I had a similar contest for the release of BLACK IS FOR BEGINNINGS. See the winning entry here.

Q: Who were some of your inspirations to become a writer or the inspirations that keep you writing? Feel free to include other authors, teachers, parents, or people in other creative fields, whoever is an inspiration to you!

Laurie: I was inspired by one of my college professors. I was a business major as an undergrad, so I didn’t have a lot of room for English courses. But I filled one of my open electives with a creative writing course, taught by MaryKay Mahoney at Merrimack College (MA). Even though I loved to write, I never imagined that I could actually become an author as a profession. She really believed in my work, and told me that I owed it to myself to pursue my passion for writing. Nobody had ever said that to me before, and I honestly feel it made all the difference. I’m also continuously inspired by other authors, filmmakers, and screenwriters.

Q: Even though music plays in so heavily into my storytelling, I rarely can actually listen to it while I'm writing. Can you? How does music fit into your writing process?

Laurie: I use music to help when I need to get into a particular mood to write a scene, but otherwise I find it too distracting. Once the scene is done, I need to shut the music off.

Q: What is next for you? What are you working on now?

Laurie: I’m currently working on DEADLY LITTLE GAME, the third book in the TOUCH series.