Bloggers!

I have been looking at blogs all evening! I was happy to see so many...sometimes I irrationally worry about the future of books. I read this terrifying (and REAL) article about a university's library making everything digital...and getting rid of ALL THE BOOKS.
But, tonight has reassured me greatly. The internet supports books, books support the internet, and I can spread the word while sitting in my bedroom. (Thumbs up.)

I heart book bloggers.

I think that eventually I'll start talking about books other than my own here, but first I have to finish talking about mine.

My book, I think, can be approached from any angle and appreciated by any age. But if you find teenage girls annoying, well, I'll still recommend trying it out but I supposed that leaves the possibility of a terrible reading experience. Phyllis, however, is not a typical teenager.

Actually, let me pause. I feel kind of bad even saying a typical teenager exists. Look at all the books out there! All the characters are different, and all the teenagers I've met are different. I used to HATE when people used to say I did things because I was a teenager. I think one of the statements that pissed me off the most was my English teacher telling us we were all lumps of clay that he had the privilege of helping shape. I'm sure it sounded wise to some, but to me it just felt condescending. (But then again he always seemed like he'd walked right out of Dead Poets Society or Freedom Writers or one of those inspirational teacher movies. Heh, sorry if you're reading this right now. Hope you're taking those things as a compliment and you read my book! Cough.)
Probably because I was a teenager.
No, just kidding. I am not ever going to chalk up anyones actions to being a teenager, at least, not ONLY to being a teenager.

Okay, moving on from one rant to the next, Phyllis is not a typical PERSON or TEENAGER because of her experiences and also because of her friends. Part of the book is Phyllis seeing what a lot of other teens are like, which is especially important because previous to this she hasn't had a ton of great friends outside of her house. She feels the absence of her parents but not to a point where she's lonely or depressed, and she fits very well in her house because the norm there is...not the norm. :)
That's the thing though. I kind of wish more places were like the house in my book (probably because I'm a weirdo) and when I wrote it originally it wasn't so that I could get it published and make money; it was so I could escape. Granted, I have nothing bad in my home life to escape, which was why most of the book was written during school or homework.

I think my dislike of the, shall we say, scholastic environment, leaked over into Phyllis, but it does make a lot more sense for her than it did for me. When you first meet Phyllis, she doesn't have many friends, and the ones she has aren't great. Like Janelle, who laughs it off when her boyfriend hurts Phyllis's feelings. But I don't spend much time on that part of Phyllis's life...just on the revenge. And then onto much happier times and much more interesting matters, such as Sid and his secrets.

Hey, what else would you expect from a girl who breathes fire?

Also, why do people keep asking me if I'm the girl on the cover?! (facepalm) I'm not on the cover, guys. I'm not like, Sarah Palin or something. Hmm. Wonder if she'll read my book, though. She'd say something really bad about it.
And then it'd be a best seller!