BEHOLD:

Hi! I’m Ellie and I am FREAKING OUT.

I think it captures the essence of the story quite well (which is pretty cool, considering it was designed before I had even fully finished it) and, did you notice? It’s the same girl! That’s some awesome continuity, and major props to the fine designers at Flux (who just received a well-deserved shout-out in Publishers Weekly!) Thanks for the lovely cover.

Also, I sort of want that girl’s hair. And her lipstick.

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Fortunately, a friend of mine took a whole bunch of lovely photos and collected the eyewitness quote “It’s marching band on steroids”.  Looking at the pictures, I think I’d have to agree!

Drum Corps International World Championship Pictures

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Things that didn’t make it easier to concentrate on revising included playing Apples to Apples with my extended family, eating pesto, kayaking, singing folk songs, walking out to the lighthouse and…hmm…there was something else.  Oh, that’s right -

BEING TERRORIZED BY A BEAR!

Hard to tell from this picture, but the bear was, like, two seconds from eating our faces off.

Well, technically the bear was not much bigger than a large dog.  And it was in the water, scared out of its mind.  And we were in a sizable boat 15 feet away.  But that still counts as being terrorized, right?  RIGHT? (The bear was okay, by the way…it swam across the channel and jumped right out of the water and ran into the woods.)

Other than that, though, it was a relaxing vacation. I’m glad to be back to my precious internet and the Olympics and some downtime to read a few books off the top of my reading pile.  And, of course, there are always new books to write…

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Fortunately, on Sunday I’m off to a yearly family reunion in the farthest remote reaches of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan where they do not believe in internet or plays or telemarketers. The U.P. is one of my most favorite places on the planet and the area I’m headed looks something like this:

Actually, it looks exactly like this.

I plan to do nothing else but revise, eat pancakes, revise, walk to the lighthouse, revise, canoe around the bay, revise, sing some songs by the campfire, and then revise some more. With perhaps a few breaks to make my family read the Band Geeked Out draft and give me their opinions. And they are good at giving opinions, let me tell you. On just about anything. They are totally up for the job.

I’ll be back soon to report the excellent news that I’ve turned in Band Geeked Out!

Hope you all are having wonderful summers!

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I think it painted a pretty good picture, though the profiled band camp definitely sounds more hardcore than any high school camp I ever attended:

…Ben and his snare drum strode onto the dewy grass of the band’s practice field on the Tallahassee campus. He had been awakened at 5 a.m. and the day’s last rehearsal would not end until 10 p.m. His feet screamed. His shoulders ached. Gnats swarmed around his face, daring him to break rhythm and lose composure.

Five a.m. AND gnats? That’s some serious dedication.

There are some really sweet YouTube videos of the Florida A&M Marching 100, too. What an awesome band!

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So without further ado, here are the songs that I listened to over and over (and over) again while writing Band Geek Love two (!) years ago. I’d dig up the playlist in iTunes and listen to it again whenever I had to revise or revisit the story and also while I was envisioning the sequel in order to get in the Ellie Snow mood:

Entry Cadence - Michigan Marching Band
Suddenly I See - KT Tunstall
Falling is like this - Ani DiFranco
This Years Love - David Gray
Are You Out There - Dar Williams
So Cruel - U2
The Scientist - Coldplay
Temptation - Michigan Marching Band
Ain’t No Other Man - Christina Aguilera
Hard to Concentrate - Red Hot Chili Peppers
The Shining - Badly Drawn Boy
500 Miles - The Proclaimers
Cadence Series - Michigan Marching Band
Sweetest Thing - U2

Needless to say, I’ll never be able to listen to any of the above songs again without thinking about Band Geek Love!

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Ellie is obsessive, high-strung, and sometimes rather horrible. She’s touchy and domineering, and cares too much about what people think about her. Somehow, though, her behavior and attitude come off as refreshingly real and honest. Ellie is indecisive and makes mistakes, just like many teenagers. Her strong personality is nicely offset by Conner’s kindness, and their relationship, with all its twists and turns, is interesting to watch unfold. The unusual setting of marching band, a microcosm of high school not often seen in YA novels, helps this stand out.

It’s been interesting to see reactions to Ellie’s character - some readers have, uh, really not liked her very much. Which, as the writer who created her, is kind of disappointing…I’m not gonna lie. My characters feel like pieces of me and the urge to get defensive on their behalf is strong.

But if I’m being honest with myself, I’m not surprised that people have issues with Ellie. I didn’t write her to be that girl who everyone gets along with, who everyone likes, who is all sweetness and light and good manners. That would be a totally different story…one that doesn’t hold as much interest for me.

I think that a lot of readers, like the reviewer above, understand that. My goal was to make Ellie human, and all the humans I know make mistakes. Some of them are even kind of bitchy and unpleasant and occasionally hard to like. And if Ellie comes across as real and honest, despite her occasional horribleness, then I consider her a success.

Plus, most people grow up eventually. It’s not like Ellie is going to be that way forever.

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Being a music geek myself, I immediately loved this book. Instead of the popular crowd being the focus, the band geeks get to rule and it’s so much fun. Ellie is a relatable and refreshing main character. She is a control freak, and a band geek, but she also develops a softer girly side. Conner is charming and makes you swoon. Even if you’ve never been in band, this is a fun romantic comedy.

I love the idea of Conner making people swoon, although I’m sure he wouldn’t believe it if you told him (the most charming guys are the ones who don’t even know it, am I right?).

Thanks Sarah Bean the Green Bean Teen Queen !

I also received a message from a reader in which she told me she’s going to lend Band Geek Love out to her non-band friends to help them understand her a little more…I think this is an excellent idea! I fully endorse the use of the book as an instruction manual regarding how to relate to band geeks. We are a complicated and sometimes confusing breed.

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(Note: Not this blurry in real life.)

I couldn’t resist taking a picture and then putting a copy face out. And though I tried to do that as nonchalantly as possible, as if normal people do such things in bookstores everyday, the girl who was browsing next to me started shooting concerned glances in my direction. As I left to go stalk other sections of the store, I heard her whispering to her mom about how some people are so weird.

Girl in Bookstore, I totally agree! And by the way, are you in marching band? Because I have the perfect book for you…

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Well, my friends, last night I followed through with my big pub day plans one day late. Please see below (and excuse the bad camera phone quality and lack of pedicure):

No one thought I’d go through with it. Including me. But it barely hurt! For serious!

When I told my mom what I planned on doing to commemorate the occasion of my first book being published, she sighed deeply. “I just don’t understand why it has to involve needles and pain,” she pointed out.

And I explained that I wanted something permanent, something that I’d take with me everywhere to remind me what I’ve accomplished with Band Geek Love and what I hope will happen in the future (I think I’m going to add to it with each book). I mean, I guess I could get a pet monkey and carry him around everywhere to remind me, but I don’t think monkeys are allowed in my apartment building or at my job.

And Mom said “OK, fine, I understand the concept. But why does it have to involve NEEDLES and PAIN?”

I suppose moms never like the idea of their children in pain, even if it’s self-inflicted

Anyway, it wasn’t that bad, Mom! It helped that the tattoo artist was extremely, distractingly cute and also the fact a tattoo that size takes, like, ten minutes tops. It stung a bit, but I just chattered away with my friend, who also got a tattoo (she is a bad ass doctor who is about to go away to learn how to fly planes), and then it was done! It made me happy…I see how it can become addictive.

And I think Ellie would totally approve.

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