Showing posts with label new york city. Show all posts

Monday, April 25, 2011

Never Give Up

Okay, so this isn't a new topic around the blogosphere or anything. I've sort of had it as my motto for a while. Those of you who've been here for a while know how many queries I sent out. *cough, cough*

Anyway, this concept was just reinforced on my trip to New York. I was walking down 5th Avenue, and I saw some swim shorts in a display window, and I veered right into the store. (Not for me, obviously. For my son.) I started talking with the sales guy, and snapping pictures to text to my kid to see which ones he liked. (Technology = win.)

I'm wandering, texting, picturing. My mom, meanwhile, is chatting up the salesman. A few minutes later, he comes over to congratulate me on my forthcoming novel. (Thanks, Mom.) He says he's a writer; I ask him some questions, and the conversation comes down to "Never give up."

Then he shows me his forearm*. He actually has it tattooed there.

Never give up.

I shoulda snapped a picture of that**.

I think sometimes I need a reminder of this. So today, I salute Luka (no lie! LUKA. Who's singing the song right now? "My name is Luka. I live on the second floor." Come on, you know this one...right?) for his tattoo reminder to never give up.

What's your motto? (Nothing. What's the motto with you? Okay, #lame) Will you give up? (I hope not. I also hope this is the end of my parentheticals. Jeez.)

*This was not as creepy as it sounds.

**This would've been totally creeper behavior. I may or may not have twitched toward the camera on my phone.

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

What I Learned About Teen Readers

Dude, so I met several librarians while I was in New York City last week. I love talking with book people. They really get things, and I enjoyed learning from them.

Biggest thing I learned: Teens have very little time to read for enjoyment. I'll admit, I was sort of shocked by this. But the librarians said that teens have so much required reading for school, that they don't have much time for recreational reading.

This surprised me, though it feels true inside. I mean, there are a lot of YA books out there. It seems to be a happening market. So to hear an industry person say that teens aren't actually reading for fun made me stop and think: Then who's reading all the YA novels that are being published?

So I ask you: Who's reading all the YA novels that are being published? And do you think it's true that teens are overburdened with required reading for school that they don't have time to read for fun?