This is where the magic happens!

I'm leaving on a jet plane! But here's a vlog till I am back again :p




If you can't view, go HERE.

Heading to the big city!

First of all, thanks everyone for making my website launch so wonderful!

So, in case you didn't know, I'm going to New York this week! I leave on Wednesday, and I'll be there for a whole week. I am VERY excited.

So far my schedule includes...

1. High tea at Lady Mendl's
2. Cupcake party
3. The Strand, MoMa, and other appropriately touristy yet fun things
4. SCBWI!
5. Kidlit drinks
6. Blueboarders dinner party
7. Cupcakes (yes, again!) with my awesome agent, Amy, her fiancée, and another one of her authors, Marci.
8. Hot chocolate (see a sugary theme?) with ZOMG MY EDITOR AND MY AGENT. Together.
9. West Side Story on Broadway with the mother (she's flying up to play for a couple days)

Sound like an expedition MADE OF AWESOME?

So anyway, now I'm just chipping away at my most recent edits, packing wayyyy too many shoes, and waiting for Wednesday :)

A Website is Born!!

“If you are a dreamer,come in. If you are a dreamer, a wisher, a liar, a hoper, a prayer, a magic-bean-buyer. If you're a pretender, come sit by my fire, for we have some flax-golden tales to spin. Come in! Come in!” ~ Shel Silverstein

I thought this day would never come.

It's flawed and it still needs work, and I'm still adding pages, but it's up. And it's ME. It's very, very me. And that's all I wanted.

I present to you...

www.victoriaschwab.com



EEP.

The honest truth about agent hunting, and life in general.

So, it's my turn over at the YA Rebels, and it's AGENT HUNT week.

I was going to do a fun vlog.

It was going to involve baking analogies.

Then it was going to involve 4th grade leprechaun-catching demonstrations.

But I couldn't do it.

None of it rang true. None of it conveyed the most important piece of advice I have to give.

So I made this.





If you have any issues viewing, you can go HERE.



EEP.

BURIED.

Writing aside...

"Ugh I Hate You! Let's Make Babies."

Come into my blanket fort and learn about BAD ROMANCE. *starts singing Lady Gaga to self*

So, it's Wednesday again. And that means that, just like last week, I made a vlog. I also made a blanket fort. Actually, it's a SECURITY BLANKET FORT. And this week I'm talking about the balance between ATTRACTION and REPULSION in "bad romance".

My blanket fort is cushioned. And stocked with chocolate. And I have a diagram I use to talk about bad romance involving a stapler, a photo holder, and raisonettes.

I actually had to THINK really hard about this post, and you all know what state my brain is in during tennis (edits), so please come say hi. Or at least click the play button :p It would make my day.

F.A.Q.

F.A.Q.


Hey all. So that website, I really am working on it! And that means I need an FAQ section...

So, any questions?

So, any questions? Dying to know what song gets stuck in my head? How/where/when I write? How much time I spend THINKING about writing as compared to writing? My dreams/hopes/favorite foods? Ask away. The more random, the better.

Happenings in Victorialand.

In between tennis matches (edits), and this is what's on my plate:

-Planning my next vlog for the YA Rebels, in which I actually have to talk about something :p Really excited though! Our 2nd week is going to be so much fun (for us at least, we hope you have fun, too!)

-Working on the website. Yes, the one I mentioned MONTHS ago. It will be done. One day.

-Working on trailer. This too will be done. One day.

-I'm taking a southern lit course!

-Obsessively checking Goodreads, Twitter, FB, etc. It's a problem, but I like to call it a "fascination" because it sounds less like obsession and more like curiosity.

-TV show: Chuck. Hey, that show is actually REALLY addictive.

-TV comes back this week! This makes me happy because it's the only way I know what day it is. Consequently all through the holidays I thought it was Saturday. Please don't feel the need to tell me how pathetic this is :p

-I've come to the realization that I need things in my life that are deliberately NOT writing. Because writing isn't such a great break from writing, and so much of writing is waiting, and it's too easy for me to drive myself crazy either waiting or trying to write while waiting on other writing and you see how this can all go on and on until you feel slightly dizzy.

-To end on a positive writing note: I finally feel like I understand my characters. You might be saying, "But V, shouldn't you have gotten to that point many ages ago?" And the answer is no. I *tried* to understand them, and got to the point of auras and shadows and vague notions of their wants and motives, but have really struggled to GET them, to answer the fundamental questions of what it is they want, in life, in the story, etc. I finally feel like I understand, and if I could put into words the HOPE that this understanding fills me with, I would.

The YA Rebels - It's Wednesday, my turn!

Hey all. So I've mentioned the YARebels once or twice, but it's a vlogging group I'm a part of, along with six other lovely writers, and we kick off this week. Each week we cover a different topic, and we each post on a separate day. I'm Wednesday, and so today's my first video!

I'd REALLY love it if you'd take a look, come by, say hi, whatever you have time to do! Look, I even put it right here, so all you have to do is click the play button!






And did I mention that wonderful author Daisy Whitney AND the incredible Catt, from The Dreamer Reader blog (this one goes up later) BOTH did video responses? Did I mention how much that makes my day/night/week?? Because it DOES.


The YARebels can be found:
on Youtube - http://www.youtube.com/user/YARebels
on Twitter - http://www.twitter.com/YARebels
on Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/yarebels

Some Girls Are!

It's finally out!!!

You guys. This book. is. AMAZING.



You should know I'm a hard sell when it comes to realism. I like escapism, I like fantastical elements, I like magical realism and mystery and dreamlike worlds.

But wow. This book. Go get it. Here, I'll even give you a link:

BUY THIS BOOK ON AMAZON.

Here's my review:

Some Girls Are, like Courtney Summers' first, but to an even greater degree, was brimming with awesome. But what makes it so special, such an incredible, can't-put-down book, is the intense contradiction woven throughout. It's at once brutal and uncomfortable and captivating and addictive and impeccably written. I was never comfortable or at ease while reading, because the whole time I cared so deeply about the balance, or lack of it, in the characters' lives. Summers' characters walk tight ropes as...more This book, like Courtney Summers' first, but to an even greater degree, was brimming with awesome. But what makes it so special, such an incredible, can't-put-down book, is the intense contradiction woven throughout. It's at once brutal and uncomfortable and captivating and addictive and impeccably written. I was never comfortable or at ease while reading, because the whole time I cared so deeply about the balance, or lack of it, in the characters' lives. Summers' characters walk tight ropes as she balances their lives so precariously, and then does everything in her power to shake the ropes beneath their feet. I held my breath for most of this book.


Courtney Summers has being getting some fabulous nods from her first book, Cracked Up to Be, and the reviews for Some Girls Are have been wonderful, too. This really is an author to read, to get to know, because she's going to be around a long time. At 23, she's already leaving an indelible impression on YA realism.

Happy Book Birthday, Courtney. You earned every star and every word of praise and every ~*~.

Hear Ye! Hear Ye! EDITS ---> TENNIS

Some might remember, from long, long ago, when I was searching for an agent, and then an editor, that I decided to change REJECTION to MUNCHKIN. Because it amused me, and made me feel better, and it was fun to say. It dulled the pain.

Well.

I'm here to make a formal declaration.

EDITS are no longer EDITS.



EDITS have officially been renamed TENNIS.



That's right. EDIT is no longer a word to me. It is dead to me. TENNIS, that's okay.

Why?

Because if you ask me "How was the TENNIS today?" then it 1. doesn't sound as depressing, and 2. makes me sound quite athletic, because I get asked this question A LOT.

So, you heard it here. Feel free to use TENNIS as well, if you like. But if you come to me and ask me about EDITS, then I am afraid I will have no idea what you're talking about.

It's almost like she's real!

This AWESOME picture is one of three done for me as a gift by the incredible Vania, (the others will find their way into future posts) and it's Lexi from The Near Witch!! And oh my, it is PERFECT. It's hard to see but she's wearing leather boots under her skirt, and those are soo perfect, too.

What a way to kick off the new year, and certainly give me a great much-needed edit boost.

So, it is indeed a new year. Let's usher it in right.

Before I forget, The Elevensies would like to wish everyone a wonderful New Year!

Personally, this year I want to be more present. I want to find balance, I want to be productive, driven. Sure I've got some concrete goals (finish two more novels, read 75 books, either go to grad school or move to NYC, etc) but most of all I just want be as present as possible. I want to live each day with my eyes open.

Whatever your goals, I hope that 2010 brings with it many wonderful surprises.