Robin Benway

Once more for a simple twist of fate...

Oh, look, I'm back and so are you. That's good, don't you think?

So this weekend, I ended up attending the SCBWI (Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators) conference in Los Angeles. When I say "attended", it was actually something more like "showed up and spent 10 hours desperate hunting for gift bags and freebies." (I kid, I kid.) I didn't even have plans to go, but suddenly schedules changed and I found myself at the Century Plaza Hotel on Saturday afternoon, searching frantically for people I knew so that I wouldn't have to stand by myself and look like I didn't have any friends.

Sometimes I get a smidge nervous in large groups of people that I don't know, but it was actually a nice way to spend an afternoon. The conference is made up mostly of writers, editors, and agents, and I got to see Jay Asher & the Disco Mermaids in the lobby. Also, my lovely & stylish friend Rachel Cohn gave a wonderful speech about writing YA. I sat in the audience with our friend Sean and we took turns heckling her. (Again, I kid. Sean was the only heckler, Rachel. One hand to God.)

But in between gift-bag searching and heckling, it hit me how fortunate I am to have my job. There were thousands of people at the conference this weekend, writers and would-be writers and struggling writers and everyone in between, and I'm one of them. I get to wake up every morning and write and cross things out and type for 3 hours and then wonder where the time went. I sort of wanted to start walking up to people and shake them by the shoulders and say, "Don't give up! Keep going! You can do it!" (But let's face it, if I did that, they would have called Security and then I'd never get my gift bag.)

So I'm saying it here: if you're a writer, keep going. If we had 30 minutes and comfortable chairs, I'd tell you all about how many times I failed at being a professional writer, which includes getting 3 rejection letters from various MFA programs, all of which arrived on the same day. (Yeah. I'm still bitter.)

But being published doesn't make you a writer. Having a degree doesn't make you a writer. You're a writer when you're putting words together in your mind, or when you're waking up at 3am to jot down the word "skateboard" on a notepad by your bed. You can be a writer at 8 years old or 15 or 93. It doesn't matter. Just keep going.

Wow, this entry got so long! I was actually supposed to turn this into an essay about why I love writing, but how I always end up blogging about music instead. It was going to be a good entry, too. Well, I guess we'll do that tomorrow. In the meantime, here's part of a quote that I plastered to the inside of my medicine cabinet and never took down. (The entire quote can be found here.)

"My advice to you is as follows: don't be afraid of grief, or heartthrob; [don't] be intimidated in the presence of presidents and rock stars, but come on as a gentle, living, flesh and blood human being.  Don't treat people as icons....Be a slave to love. Wear your heart on your sleeve. Twenty rejections in a row are wiped out by one acceptance."

--Allen Ginsberg, from "Cups"

'Til Tuesday, kittens!

This paper trail leads right back to you...

I did not lie, I will definitely talk about books today, but before I do, I just have to mention this NYTimes article I read this morning. The opening paragraph made me laugh so hard I choked on my granola. (Too much information?)

Anyway, from "Gym Grunted Not Assaulted By Silencer, a Jury Rules"...

"They are among the irritants who are an unfortunate part of the New York experience: the loud cellphone talker in the elevator, the picture-happy tourist blocking a crowded sidewalk, the testosterone-laced grunter who practically coughs up a parakeet with each biceps curl."

"Coughs up a parakeet!" AHAHAHA! Never change, NYT!

Okay, enough shenanigans. Today I'm talking about books. That's right, serious bibliographical discussions are happening here. Put on your thinking caps and your reading glasses, kids.

If you've ever seen my apartment, you would know that it's crammed full of books. Every surface is pretty much covered, except for my dining room table, but only because that's where all my CDs are. I buy books whenever I can, I am a card-carrying member of the public library, and every time I go to New York, I spend several hours at Strand, then walk from there to the UPS store so I can ship all my new books home. (And then I go to the Mudd Truck on Astor Place for coffee because ohmygodcoffee).

But my logic is, books don't go bad. They don't spoil. Why not get as many as you can, while you can? With that in mind, here are some books that I want to read this summer. It'd be even better if I could do all this reading in a hammock, but with all the books & CDs in my studio apartment, I don't think I have room for a hammock. I need to get on that.

The World is Flat, by Thomas L. Friedman - I've been hanging on to this book for, oh, at least a year now, which really bothers me. I know I need to read it, all of my smart friends have read it, and I'm always interested to hear what Thomas Friedman has to say. Part of the problem is when I write, I tend to disappear into my own head for days & weeks at a time, so I sometimes feel like I'm missing the big picture. This summer, though, I am reading this book. FINALLY.

Other People's Love Letters: 150 Letters You Were Never Meant to See, by Bill Shapiro - Even though it's not officially summer, I picked up this book last night, started reading, and an hour later was sitting on the floor in tears, surrounded by crumpled tissues. (Sometimes my life is like some Ephron-esque romantic comedy, I swear.) It's a collection of, well, other people's love letters. Some are furious and heartbroken and hopeful and wistful and all of them will make you feel okay. As an added bonus, there's a postscript in the back that tells you about what happened to some of the letter-writers & their admired afterwards, and I really lost it after reading one particular story.

Laurel Canyon: The Inside Story of Rock & Roll's Legendary Neighborhood, by Michael Walker - I can't lie: Laurel Canyon is one of my absolute favorite things about Los Angeles. Even though it's way up in the hills, accessible most times only by massive traffic jams, and landslides every winter, I love it. And of course, in the 1960s & 1970s, it housed some of my all-time favorite musicians, including Joni Mitchell. I'll stop right there because otherwise, this will turn into a "Why Joni Mitchell is One of the Most Awesome People Alive" post, and I swore this would be about books.

but joni mitchell really is one of the most awesome people alive.

Hey, that was fun! Maybe I'll feature more books throughout the summer, but for now, tell me what you're reading! I love perusing your comments, so keep 'em coming, kittens.

Get your runway stride home and keep it goin'...

Okay, so really, how can I compete with a not-quite hotel fire? It's a hard act to follow, but I will now try to do my best to recap my book tour experience for you crazy kids. Behold!

ROBIN'S FIRST EVER BOOK TOUR EXPERIENCE, POST-SAN FRANCISCO!
(With photos and musical accompaniment. This should not surprise you.)

So I have to say that Seattle was not nearly as action-packed as San Francisco, but only because I was there for 11 hours. I know, right?! That's just enough time to go to my hotel, get coffee at Starbucks (hey, when in Seattle...) and listen to Kanye.

Here's the thing: sometimes I get a little nervous before talking to groups of people, so I need some musican encouragement. Kanye works well for this. Sometimes I even think, "What Would Kanye Do?" but then I realize he would probably just complain about not winning any literary awards, so I let that drop. Anyway, here's what shakes me out of my nerves.

Kanye West, "Champion"
"For me, givin' up's way harder than tryin'..."

So then it was time to go to the signing at Third Place Books with Polly & Jody.

There was a band at our event! They went by the name Shotty and they did a 9-minute Santana cover that sort of shook the roof. Was I expecting to hear a Santana cover that night? Absolutely not, but it was a pleasant surprise!

Another pleasant surprise was that my friend Anna-Lynne came to see me. She and I grew up together and she made me my first mix tape. (I don't have enough room to explain how life-changing that tape was, but trust me, it was epic.) Anyway, she's in the band Trespassers William and now has her own solo deal, Lotte Kestner. It's very shoegazey and I think you will dig it.

Anyway, this is me & Polly & Jody looking all author-ly at Third Place. Don't be fooled, we really are professionals.

After that, I ate dinner at a place that I cannot remember, slept for a few hours, and made it out of the hotel the next morning in time to sit at the Seattle airport at 6:11am. Here's what that looked like:

(I swear to God, some of the loudest people in the world are in airports before 7am. WTF?)

I landed in LA, safe and sound and very tired, only to discover that my baby-friend Luke had sent me good luck wishes for my LA event that night! How cute is he!

(If you don't have a baby-friend, I recommend getting one as awesome as Luke.)

Anyway, so after that, pretty much everyone I have ever met in my life--like, at least 30 people--showed up to see me & Polly & Jody. I know some pretty amazing people. Here are the backs of their heads:

Not the most flattering shot, I'm sure, but that's all of them. Not a bad-looking crowd, huh? I read the dedication in my book and made my mom & brother cry (sorry, guys!) and then read a little bit of "Audrey" and people clapped and my knees finally stopped knocking together.

This is my littlest fan, Claire. She was eight days old when this picture was taken. You can't tell from the photo, but I'm holding my breath because I didn't want to breathe my adult germs all over her and ruin her babyhood. She is very tiny and is obviously going to be a prolific reader.

By then, Jody & Polly & I & everyone else in the room was ready for a party, so we trooped across the street and talked and danced a little. You know how sometimes, you can hear a song a million times and not really think about it, but then you hear it in a certain environment and all of a sudden, it's like, "Holy cow, this is the best song EVER!"

Yes. Enter Beck.

Beck, "New Pollution"
"She's got a carburetor tied to the moon / Pink eyes looking to the fruit of the ages..."

(I'm dancing to this song even while writing this entry. That's how good I am.)

But then it was time to say goodbye to Polly & Jody. A word of advice: if you ever become a writer and do a book tour, I highly recommend doing one with authors as cool as these two people. They were my favorite traveling buddies. I miss you guys!

So after traveling and dancing and reading and talking, where do you think I went? Where else?

Vegas.

Now, I'm not exactly a "shake your booty at the club" type of person, so some parts of Vegas and I don't get along. However, I definitely got along with the Bellagio, which is where we stayed. Any hotel that has a gelato store built into it gets two thumbs up in my book!

They also have a botanical garden, which is way prettier than most places in Los Angeles. Now, I don't know what the world is coming to when you have to go to freaking Vegas to see beautiful pieces of nature, but there you go.

Another interesting thing about Vegas is that towards the end of the Strip, there are 4 HUGE screens that constantly blast the 30-second Mary J. Blige iPod commercial. It is relentless. RELENTLESS. So if I have to have that song stuck in my head, so do you. It's only fair.

Mary J. Blige, "Work That"
"You can look at my palm and see the storm coming / Read the book of my life and see I've overcome it..."

So after Vegas and gardens and Mary J., it was time to come home and realize that I have a lot of laundry to do. But it was totally worth it! I had the best time meeting all of you--you might not realize it, but one of the best compliments I could ever get is someone coming up to me and saying, "I liked your book!" It will never, ever get old.

I hope you are all having lovely days and weeks and months, and I can't wait to see you again!

In conclusion, my favorite song that I heard while I was in Vegas. Turn it up, kittens.

Ella Fitzgerald, "The Lady Is a Tramp"
"I like the theater, but never come late / I never bother with people I hate..."