Call it spring fever, call me an April Fool, but I woke up early this morning seized with the desire to give away a Nice and Mean ARC. 

Yes! I am giving it away!

I also wanted to share a bunch of other things I happen to have lying around!  

Books donated by Simon and Schuster

Bookmarks from debut novelists -- aka Tenners!

First-place winner gets Nice and Mean ARC, 3 Nice and Mean bookmarks, any one of the following books generously donated by Simon and Schuster, and a set of Tenner bookmarks.  

Second-place winner gets second choice of S&S book, 2 Nice and Mean bookmarks and a set of Tenner bookmarks.   

Third-place winner gets third choice of S&S book, 1 Nice and Mean bookmark and a set of Tenner bookmarks.  

The first 8 people to enter automatically get bookmarks, too!  This is not an April Fool.  This is real!  (And kind of insane, no?)   

Deadline: April 8, 2010, 10pm EST; Eligibility: All ages, citizens of US and Canada only

Now, I may be feeling generous, but my protagonists, Marina and Sachi, aren’t feeling the whole giving-it-away-for-free vibe.  They want you to do it their way. But since we are all about hybridity at Nice and Mean, Inc., there will be 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners in both the Marina and Sachi categories.  (That’s 6 winners!  Spring fever has taken hold!) 

 The Marina Way 

Marina is all about people knowing her greatness.  To win an ARC from Marina’s heart, you can prove your love by earning points, like this (read below or skip to this form) 

+1: Connect with @Jessica Leader on Twitter or become a Facebook fan of Nice and Mean (you can get points if we are already connected) 

+2: Publicize the contest on Facebook or Twitter 

+2: Share the Nice and Mean love on GoodReads 

+3  Add Jessica Leader to your blogroll 

 +4: Post Nice and Mean countdown widget on your page (here’s how) 

+5: Spread the word about Nice and Mean on your blog–share the synopsis or kind words; whatever moves you. 

(Marina doesn’t know who Jessica Leader is, and I’m pretty sure she doesn’t care.  But if doing these things will help people appreciate her supreme power, she’s all for it.)  

The Sachi Way 

Sachi wouldn’t mind being known, but she prefers substance to style.  She’ll be handing out awards to her favorite example of the following: 

-Write in the comments about a time you were especially nice or mean.  (If you are too shy to do this publicly, you can send it in an email to jess@jessicaleader.com) 

-Read the excerpt of Nice and Mean here and write in the comments what your favorite line is, and why.  (She won’t be too offended if you choose a Marina line.  She’s used to it.) 

-Tell her in the comments why you are excited to read the book about her…and Marina 

–Draw a sketch of her and/or Marina, or sketch your own cover for Nice and Mean.  You should probably take a photo and email this to jess@jessicaleader.com  If you really need to mail it, email Jess to get her address.  Winning entries will be posted on blog with your permission 

Marina and Sachi are pretty excited.  Spring vacation and notoriety.  They hope you’ll fill out the form or comment below.  Jess is looking forward to hearing from you, too! 

To add the Nice and Mean countdown widget to your blog, paste this as a text code in the widgets section of your blog. At least, that’s how it works in WordPress.  For other systems, ask the Help Desk.   (Note: I do not have a Help Desk.)

<script type=”text/javascript” src=”http://cdn.widgetserver.com/syndication/subscriber/InsertWidget.js”></script><script>if (WIDGETBOX) WIDGETBOX.renderWidget(‘0073821c-2667-45c5-8c76-a2cdb85f3268’);</script><noscript>Get the <a href=”http://www.widgetbox.com/i/0073821c-2667-45c5-8c76-a2cdb85f3268″>Countdown Creator Pro</a> widget and many other <a href=”http://www.widgetbox.com/”>great free widgets</a> at <a href=”http://www.widgetbox.com”>Widgetbox</a>! Not seeing a widget? (<a href=”http://docs.widgetbox.com/using-widgets/installing-widgets/why-cant-i-see-my-widget/”>More info</a>)</noscript>

As my mom will undoubtedly tell you, I’m a pretty much a Luddite.  I was the last of my friends to get a cell phone, which happened sometime in 2001.  I don’t have a Blackberry, iPhone, or Tivo, and I still listen to tapes in the car.  In spite of this aversion to Things New, I am really appreciating the internets lately.   What have they done, you ask?  I’ll tell you.

1) I raised $78 for my local library, thanks to Jennifer Hubbard’s Library-Lovin’ Blog Challenge.  Hard to imagine coordinating such an effort and disseminating the news over snail-mail.  Harder still to imagine how much we’d actually raise.  But somehow, with the clicking, it’s easy to do. 

2) Because I wrote some thoughts on the School Library Journal’s Battle of the Books, I won a t-shirt from them.  It will be the nerdiest piece of apparel I own, hands-down, which means it will become soon become well-loved.

3) This is the most embarrassing to admit I’m pleased about, but it’s a great story, so I have to tell it: I shared some good news on Twitter about how a judge ruled that a Mississippi high school student can attend the prom with her girlfriend.  It got retweeted by someone with over a million followers and then retweeted in turn.   I guess I’m embarrassed to report that I’m happy about my part of it because it’s not my story.  The story belongs to an incredibly brave young woman who opened herself up to hatred in the name of progress.  But I had a tiny bit of pride that I was the one who helped spread news to people who might not otherwise have heard it. 

4) The Internet allows you to line up pinch-hitters for your honeymoon.  Yes!  From April 10-20, you will get treated to On the Scene with Nice and Mean, thoughts by writers/bloggers Micol Ostow, Irene Latham, Tami Lewis Brown, Margie Gelbwasser, Susan Robertson, and Emily Kristin Morse.  (Sorry I’m not linking to you guys–my lunch break is already dwindling as it is.)  I doubt they would have responded to a chain-letter requesting nice and mean tales for post-honeymoon reading!  (NB, I didn’t get married over the weekend and not tell you.  That happened in August.  It’s a delayed ‘moon.)

5) Yep, I’m burying a lead, but anyway: the Internet will allow me to give away an ARC of Nice and Mean!  Be one of the first to read it.  Contest will take place April 5-9th, and will include lots of other Simon and Schuster books and Tenner swag.  A marketer friend of mine pointed out recently how the internet makes it easier than ever to reach our niche market, and it’s true.  Though I sometimes find all the self-promotion opportunities overwhelming, I would have had even less idea how to do it sans le net. 

So–your turn.  What’s your favorite thing the internet has done for you?

Note 1: leave a comment and I’ll donate a dollar to my local library

Note 2: Nice and Mean giveaway still in progress !

Last month’s poll question was, What did you think of your parents when you were in seventh grade?  Interestingly, this poll got the fewest number of responses ever–a mere 13, compared to past responses of 50 or more. 

Maybe I didn’t publicize it right, or maybe people are not interested in remembering what they thought about their parents at that age.  Or maybe some of us are parents and don’t want to go through that Looking Glass. 

In any case, here’s the report:

The majority of voters (42%), wrote that their parents were

“Pretty nice, helpful and loving, whether I saw it at the time or not.” 

 15% voted, “Probably they had my best interest at heart, but so they were annoying/ critical/ over-protective!”

Nobody said that their parents were easy to scam, but two people (15%) replied, “My parents…oh, you mean the people who fed me sometimes?”

Three people replied that their answers were too complex for multiple choice, and one respondent, a friend with an interesting mind, wrote,

“7th Grade pretty much drove home my creeping suspicion that my parents were neither all powerful, all knowing, nor able to take care of every problem I might have, as great as they were. Quite the bummer.”

Does that sum it up?  Scratch the surface?  I don’t know.  Parenting and being parented can be such loaded experiences—it’s a wonder how we don’t crack at the weight of it all. 

I asked this question because in Nice and Mean, Marina and Sachi, the protagonists, have very different relationships to their parents.  Marina, the mean girl referred to in the title, has a mom who is often quite narcissistic, which fuels Marina’s anger.  Sachi, the nice girl, is Indian, and her parents can be strict about many things, but there’s more love than in Marina’s relationship with her parents.  There are just so many things that influence a parenting experience—the parent’s job, financial situation, feelings about their own place in the birth order, relation to their new home, etc. etc.  Maybe this poll drew the fewest votes because it’s all too complex for multiple-choice. 

Onward, then!  This month: Nice people are….

Complex, potentially, but hopefully, less loaded.

See you at the voting booth!   And maybe the giveaway, too!

Today marks 3 months until the release date of Nice and Mean, and I’m going to celebrate by giving things away!  Booky bookmarks, Dr. Pepper lipgloss in three varieties, and some Indian bangle bracelets can all be yours to help celebrate the world of Niciemeanieness in anticipation of the big release.

Mavie, the delightful blogger at The Bookologist, is kind enough to host the giveaway, and she has all the details on her site of how you enter and earn points. (She’s on West Coast time, so if you go there and it’s not up, just check back later.)  I’ll be here all week to get you pumped about Nice and Mean and about being the first kid on the block with the swag. 

Why should you want to read Nice and Mean when it comes out in three months on June 8th?  (Or even pre-order it now?)

-We’ve all read about the mean girls, but what’s going on in the heads of the nice girls–the ones who smooth everything over for everyone?  Nice and Mean gives the scoop.

-Haven’t you ever wondered, maybe with annoyance, what makes people popular, especially when they’re, you know, MEAN?  Nice and Mean investigates. 

-Haven’t you ever wondered why everyone is suddenly wearing…. (Fill in the blank.  I’d wonder why people are wearing gladiator sandals, but I wouldn’t want to offend you, so never mind.)

-Don’t you think Dr. Pepper is the drink of choice?  Me, too.  You will get to think about it a lot when you read this book.

So, what are you waiting for?  Don’t let someone else get this fabulous Nice and Mean prize pack.  Comment, Tweet, and get other followers on board to win today.  If you comment, I will contribute money to my local library, as seen below.  And hey!  Thanks for coming!  It really means a lot to me.

Note: this contest is open to people of all ages, but you must live in the US, and will last until Friday, March 12, 2010, C.E.

My fellow Tenner, the endlessly energetic Jen Nadol (whose name, smushed together in her Twitter profile, looks attractively like Jenna dol), featured me on her Book Briefs feature.   (Thanks, Jen!)  You can check it out here, and read more about her book, the gorgeously attired The Mark, here.

And if you’ve come here because you were there and you’re like, “Double-dipping–what’s the point?” I’ve got a cookie for you.  There are currently 94 days (94!) until the release of Nice and Mean.  So I’m going to give you a little glimpse of what happens on p. 94 (::opening advance copy and hoping it doesn’t contain a major spoiler::)

Okay, here you go.  Sachi, the most un-trendy of characters, has to make a video about the subject of trends.  (Don’t ask.  Just read the book.)  But she kind of gets into it, interviewing a friend, and thinks,

Lainey was one of the only people in our grade who wore Converse hi-tops, but they didn’t look dorky, like Priyanka’s old reeboks.  I really wanted to find out how people knew when originality was cool and when it was doomed. 

Don’t forget–four days til the Nice and Mean swag giveaway!

(And now I really need to post something not about Nice and Mean.  I’m making myself Nice and Sick.)

Look who’s reading Nice and Mean!  My nephew–and he’s not even 10 months old yet!  He’s really pretty advanced for his age.  Must be all those books his dad reads to him. 

Okay…careful viewers have probably figured out that it’s not the book, it’s just a postcard, and he can’t really read yet.  (How did you all get so clever?)  But you have to admit: that’s one cute baby, and his adorable argyles make me want to kiss his feet.

And okay…since you asked, I’m going to attach another picture.  Gah!  The things I have to do to keep you people happy! 

According to my snazzy new Countdown Widget, there are now 97 days until the release of Nice and Mean.

Which can only mean one thing: Nice and Mean swag must be….Given away!

Giveaway giveaway giveaway giveaway

Yes!  You saw correctly, Pat–those are Nice and Mean bookmarks, next to Dr. Pepper Lip Gloss (Marina’s fave) and, not pictured, some Indian scarves that give Sachi a bit of pizzaz. 

Mavie, who runs the  very cool blog, The Bookologist, will be running the show. It’s next Tues, March 8th, which will be THREE SHORT MONTHS from N&M’s release.   If you find Mavie on Twitter (@TheBookologist), or find me there, too (@JessicaLeader), you’ll be up on the details and the chance to

Win!

Valuable! 

Prizes! 

This message was brought to you by the letters N and M, and by the punctuation mark !

Those Brits at The Guardian.  Always coming up with lists, aren’t they?  100 Books That, If You Haven’t Read at Least 50, You’d Better Get Cracking.  Or the 10 Best Films of the Decade and By The Way You Should Like the Coen Brothers.   This time, though, they’ve done something marvy: compiled the top ten pieces of writing advice from some truly excellent authors.

They started with Elmore Leonard, probably because his 10 are so pithy, but I’m going to veer off course for a moment and say I am sick of Elmore Leonard.  Sick of his hoopdetootle!  (You can only be wowed so many times by the word hoopdetootle.)  Sick of his maniacal opposition to adverbs!  As one of my educations profs used to say, most either/ors are usually both/ands.  Phonics vs. Whole Language?  Who said there can’t be both?

I am digressing, I know, and that’s probably enough dumping on Elmore, although I’ll also sneak in the fact that I don’t think anybody reads his fiction, so I don’t know why we listen to him.  But the reason I really came here was to nominate my favorite piece of writing advice in this stack:

From Anne Enright, Description is hard. Remember that all description is an opinion about the world. Find a place to stand.

I like this because frankly, I have a hugely hard time writing description.  Well–not of what people do when they talk; that comes alarmingly easily, as if I’m describing a screenplay.  (ps, Hi, Elmore–I just used two adverbs, and I think they worked great!) 

No, I have a hard time describing the background.  Oy.  What’s going on behind, around, and in front of the characters?  Don’t always see it right off and definitely, at first, do not care.  Yes, of course what’s happening on the street can enhance the action; why, in ch. 4 of Nice and Mean, poor Sachi is almost hit by a taxi, and it’s all metaphorical and nifty. 

But aha–that’s because, a la Enright, I’ve found a place for her to stand.  It’s not just, “Oh, the air was humid and cars rushed everywhere….”  Snooze.  I don’t think Sachi cares.  If it’s already hot, though, and a car lunges for her and stops close enough that she can feel the heat off the bumper–I think she’d care. 

It took me a long time to figure this out.  I’m still trying to picture things around the characters more than I already do.  But I also think I’ll do better if I stand where I usually stand–in their shoes. 

What’s your favorite (or least favorite) piece of advice from the list?

Good night, Elmore!

(Good night, Gracie.)

A Wordle, for those not in the knowdle, is a computer-generated artistic collage of the main words used in a document. I made a Wordle of the final chapter of Nice and Mean–but I can’t get the image to appear in this blog! Since it’s probably more important to, you know, start writing today than continue to futz, I’m going to leave you with a link for your clicking pleasure. Enjoy, and may you create fun Wordles for yourself, too!