Meet Cobi *

This is our new brand new guy, Cobi. We adopted yesterday him from Skyway Border Collie Rescue. Not only is he made of cuteness, but he's incredibly sweet, and lots of fun! From standing, he can jump several feet in the air and give you a smooch. And not just can, he does! Often! He loves to play ball, which also makes Tessie very happy. Now she has someone to herd.


* Cobi might not be his forever name. He was called Kobe, but I switched up the spelling for the time being. We'll see.

It's poll time!

Last night I re-read Lock and Key by Sarah Dessen, which came on the heels of re-reading The Truth About Forever just a few days ago. I really like Sarah Dessen's writing and like her characters even more. Especially the guys. Until recently Dexter from This Lullaby was my favorite, but after taking another look at Wes, I think my loyalties have changed.

What about you?



P.S. If you picked a different guy, comment him. If you have no idea who Sarah Dessen is, GO HERE NOW and find out!

P.P.S. I haven't read her forthcoming Along for the Ride yet, but I have a feeling Eli will need to be included in the next poll.

Trish Recommends...

Carter Finally Gets It by Brent Crawford

(Note: I did not write the following. I couldn't have written it better.)

Meet Will Carter, but feel free to call him Carter. (Yes, he knows it's a lazy nickname, but he didn't have much say in the matter.)
Here are five things you should know about him:

1. He has a stuttering problem, particularly around boobs and belly buttons.

2. He battles Attention Deficit Disorder every minute of every day...unless he gets distracted.

3. He's a virgin, mostly because he's no good at talking to girls (see number 1).

4. He's about to start high school.

5. He's totally not ready.

Join Carter for his freshman year, where he'll search for sex, love, and acceptance anywhere he can find it. In the process, he'll almost kill a trombone player, face off with his greatest nemesis, suffer a lot of blood loss, narrowly escape death, run from the cops (not once, but twice), get caught up in a messy love triangle, meet his match in the form of a curvy drill teamer, and surprise the hell out of everyone, including himself.

(NOTE: The rest is all me.)

I don't read a lot of male YA authors, but I figured that since one of my favorite writer friends is a dude, I should probably do something about that. So when I saw Carter Finally Gets It on a cart in the receiving room at the bookstore, I picked it up and read what you just read above. I thought it sounded good. I was wrong. It was fantastic.

Sunday Funny

Okay, so I'm not always "hip" and "happening" when it comes to the coolest stuff on the internet. Like, I have no idea what feeds are or why they're important. I don't know what digg does. I mean, when I discovered that I can send a text message to twitter and then have it show up as my Facebook status message, I felt like I'd discovered gold. So you may or may not have already seen this video, but until yesterday, I hadn't. And I laughed until I cried.

WARNING: If you are offended by swearing, you really don't want to watch.

The Landlord from Will Ferrell

S.W.A.K.

So I've been working my characters up to The Big Kiss. Every time I think I have them at just the right moment, I'll go back and read the scene again--and decide it's just too soon.

So let's talk about kissing.

If you're a writer, when do you know the moment is right for your characters to kiss? And as a reader, can you think of a kissing scene that you really love? Or a build-up to a big kiss that doesn't happen?

One of my favorite scenes happens in Maureen Johnson's Girl at Sea. SPOILER ALERT! If you haven't read Girl at Sea go off and think about your answer to my questions. If you have, press on.

I love when when Clio and Aidan are supposed to be swapping rooms so that Clio's roommate can have some private time with Aidan. Except that he wants to be with Clio, and she with him. They're confessing these feelings and almost manage to pull off the big kiss--and discover every word they've just said has been broadcast over their two-way radios. I love the way Maureen takes us right to the breathless edge, then pulls us back. It makes it all the more satisfying when the kiss actually does happen.

So... your turn.

Super Rad!

I've been feeling kind of bleh lately. I have a cold, which has left me sniffling and coughing and sneezing like crazy, so I was looking for something that would make me smile.



If that doesn't make you feel super rad, nothing will.