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“I hugged my mom.”

Posted by tomleveen at 11:53 pm

Quick story:

Recently, one of the students in my writing class said that after reading the short story I’d submitted for critique, she gave her mom a hug and told her she loved her.  (The story was about a teenage girl who was trying to work up the courage to talk to her mother about a pretty serious topic in the girl’s life.)

That’s why I do it.  That’s why I write.  I do it because I hope it matters to someone.

If something I’ve written gives you a break from real life, from homework headaches or taxes or your sick grandma or a job loss or whatever…then I figure I’ve done my job.  If something I’ve written motivates you to tell someone you love them, then I figure I’ve done my job.  Man, I love being an author – all the ups and downs and stress and joy.  LOVE it.  It’s what I always wanted to do, going back to middle school.  But what really gets me going is this idea that something I’ve invested so much time and energy into can have a seriously cool impact on someone’s life.

So, yeah.  That’s why I do it. 

Take care, and we’ll see you on (details forthcoming on these Party signing events):

April 27 at Changing Hands

May 1 at ComicZone (Free comic book day!)

May 13 at Barnes & Noble, Phoenix

June 17 at Barnes & Noble, Glendale, CA

Now go hug your mom.

Bully for you!

Posted by tomleveen at 6:26 pm

First, in the Good News column, it is April 2010, which means PARTY is headed to bookstore shelves everywhere in about three weeks.  Then hopefully on to people’s bookshelves, but I digress.  So lemme take one moment to type a quick WOO HOO!  Good, done.  Moving on.

Bullies.  There’s been a lot of writing and talking about bullying, cyberbullying, and who ultimately is to blame for it all.  And not much forward progress that I can see.  So I’m going to do what I usually do, and that’s address one reader at a time by saying:  F’ing stop it.

If you are a bully, stop it.  If you’re being bullied…stop it.  If you think you’re neither (and chances are you are one or the other, if not both, or have been at some point, as I know I have been), then take a quick look at First They Came…  if you’re not familiar with it.  I’ll wait.

Back?  Good.  By ignoring the bullied in your life around you, hate to say, you’re chalking a point in for the bullies’ side.

Bullies aren’t, by the way, restricted by age.  Anyone who tells you that a bully will grow out of it…is probably an unrepentant or willfully ignorant bully themselves.  Anyone who tells you it will go away after you graduate…clearly has never held a job of any kind, anywhere.  Bullies know no age limit. Neither do victims.  You can choose to be neither.  And in fact you can choose to stand up on behalf of victims and help put a stop to it.  Indeed, standing up and speaking up may be all the help that’s needed. Maybe your voice alone – and the will to use it – will be enough to save one victim from the brink.

Far as I’m concerned, bullying takes on many insidious forms.  What are the homeless if not victims of a bullying culture which politely informs that they brought it all on themselves?  What are hungry children the world over if not victims of thoughtless, indirect bullies who don’t even want to hear about them?  By ignoring the marginalized in this country and others, we take one more step toward the day when our turn comes up, and we wonder why no one’s around to help.  (And then they came for me.)

Sorry, rant off.  It just ticks me off.

But seriously: Stop it.  SAY WORDS!

See ya on the 27th.  Bullies will be escorted rudely from the building.

~ Tom

…but half will.

Posted by tomleveen at 11:10 pm

One of my favorite movies is Teachers with Nick Nolte, Ralph Macchio, a teeny tiny Laura Dern, JoBeth Williams…ah, anyway, a bunch of good actors.  It has one of my favorite set of movie lines ever and is the topic of this evening’s post.  Ralph Macchio’s character has set off the school fire alarm, and the entire high school empties out into the parking lot, thrilled to be out of class, smoking in the parking lot, etc.  Nolte, a teacher, has this exchange with Judd Hirsch, a vice principal (paraphrased):

HIRSCH:  Alex, half those kids won’t come back after the fire alarm.

NOLTE: But half will.  I think they’re worth it.

They are.  They’re all worth it.  Lookit, trust me, there’s a whole lot of teachers and other grown-uppy types out there who were probably certain where my future was, and it sure as hell wasn’t where I ended up (thank God).  I wouldn’t say I was a bad kid, but it wasn’t for lack of trying.  What I do know is this: A small but dedicated group of those grown-uppy types didn’t give up on me.  They were hard sometimes, they lost patience with me, yes, and some of ‘em I went out of my way to make miserable.  (Apologies for that, if any of you are out there.) 

But when all was said and done, they said, in effect, “He’s worth it.”  They didn’t have to.  They chose to.  And in about six weeks, my first novel is going to be on the shelves as a result.  I was one of the half that came back.  So were most of my friends.  Where might we be if not for those teachers and leaders who didn’t let us give up on ourselves?  (Not blogging on my author website, for one…)

I can’t take back a lot of the evil, vile crap I did to some of my teachers over the years.  But I can and I will do my best to pick up where they left off.  Fact is, a pretty large percentage of teens only needs one thing: for one adult to stand up, to fight for them, to be there.  Yeah, they’re gonna mess up, make mistakes, pull fire alarms.  That’s what teenagers do.  (And I get to write books about it!) They also care tremendously - about a lot of different things.  They have the time and energy to devote to change things that  a lot of us grown-uppy types don’t.  Or won’t.

This applies equally to adults and teens:  Don’t let anyone ever, ever tell you can’t do something, and don’t ever give up on going after what you want.  Make choices today, even small ones, that will bring you closer to your goals.  Because half the people you know today aren’t coming back after the alarm.  But half will.  The only question is, which group do you belong to?

I think you’re worth it. 

Chao.

News & Upcoming Schtuff

Posted by tomleveen at 6:02 pm

Cocopah was all around awesome.  Got to hang out with Janette Rallison again for a bit (and as they say on the Inside The Actor’s Studio: “If you haven’t read Just One Wish, you must.”)  Next appearance is at People of Color Network, although like Cocopah, this is a private event. 

However, I’m also planning on attending Storycasting’s meeting at Changing Hands on March 13, just to hang out and talk with other people who love books!  Storycasting is like fantasy football, except for books and with actors.  Way fun!  (It’s harder than I thought to cast your own novel.)

Speaking of the best bookstore ever, keep an eye out for announcements of classes I’ll be teaching at Changing Hands this summer.  I’m particularly excited about my “Theatre for Dialogue” class, in which I’ll be showing how 22 years of theatre background has impacted my fiction dialogue, and how you can use it for yours, too.

Sidebar: Does anyone know if you can get out of Jury Duty if you’re a full time student…?

Also - in a perfect world, I’ll have outstanding news to tell you in about a month, maybe less if the stars align.  If they don’t…well, then no news is good news…?

Hasta!

Love on her arms

Posted by tomleveen at 3:01 pm

I recently became acquainted with “To Write Love On Her Arms” via Facebook. I don’t know much about the organization yet, still doing research, but what I have seen, I like.  Here’s the site:

http://www.twloha.com/index.php

I’ll be honest with ya’ll, it was a rough end to ‘09 and ‘10 is defining itself as a time in which I’m trying desperately to refill my emotional gas tank, the needle of which hovers over E right now.  But I know one thing.  I know one thing.  I have a reminder of it on every Bauer bag/murse/backpack I’ve carried since about ‘93 or ‘94.  It’s a crappy yarn-woven bookmark that is useless for that function, so now is merely decoration and a reminder.  It was knitted for me by an older lady I remember only as “Babs” who I met while in intensive day treatment therapy and one lovely evening as an in-patient for a number of psychological problems.

I know one thing that this crappy yarn bookmark reminds me of every time I see it:  I will not ever let myself get so out of control that I need to go back to that hospital.

I’m tired, worn out, stressed, on the virtual brink of being broke; I’ve been a shoulder, a confidante; and I’m out of gas.  But I will never hurt myself again.  Ever.  If I ever thought I was about to, believe me, I wouldn’t hesitate to get the help I needed. But I don’t think that will ever be necessary, because I won’t let it be necessary.  I’ll work it out.  I’ll hit the heavy bag in my garage or scream or cry or play really f’ing loud Social D on my crappy Mexican Fender, but I will not hurt myself.

Nor should you.

Self-injury is not cool, not hip, not wicked-awesome, not anything but a thin bloody scream for help.  Don’t let it get to that point.  This is your only body.  Use it wisely.  Treat it well.  This is your only mind; ditto.  Your only heart; ditto again. I’m not saying ignore any hurt, any stress, any drama.  I’m saying find a good way to deal with it.  Hurting yourself is not going to help, not going to make it go away, and is not something you can take back.  It’s as addictive as any drug.

So please — don’t.  Get help.  A friend, a parent, a teacher, I don’t care, but get it.  You matter to me, and I guarantee you matter to others.

I’m not a licensed anything – not a doctor, psychologist, psychiatrist, therapist, or anything else. I’m just a guy who took a mental tumble many years ago and made it back.  So can you.  It does get better. 

Hang in there.  Instead of carving Liar, Hopeless, Failure, or anything else into your body, write Love on your arms, a thousand times if you must.  But don’t give in and don’t give up. 

Take care.

~ Tom

Audio”book”/podcast

Posted by tomleveen at 10:16 am

In the Good News Column, this small publisher who does podcasts and who purchased one of my short stories many ages ago finally posted it, so here for your listening pleasure is the audio”book” of Tom Leveen’s THE DESERT.

http://pseudopod.org/

What they don’t tell you…

Posted by tomleveen at 9:50 pm

…about publishing a YA novel is how many other wickedcool YA authors you get to meet.

So YAllapalooza was awesome.  Not only did I sign my first book EVER (thanks, Maitlin! Also, stealing your name for a book someday), but I got to meet a group of YA authors from AZ and L.A. who rock.  Got to sign books (2 ARC’s), posters, t-shirts…and a guy could get used to this. (Here’s hoping!)

Also met teachers, librarians, reviewers, and of course the kickass staff of Changing Hands. Can’t say enough about that store.  They get it.  And they really do want to bring books, authors, and readers together, and they do a great job of it.

Special thanks to my ever-amazing wife and getting an unexpected plug on the radio, and to all my kids who came out to support me, CH, YA lit, and PARTY.  And if you made it to YAllapalooza, thanks for coming out!  Hope you had as good a time as I did.

Meanwhile, with any luck, Book 2 will be pitched sometime in the near future, and my first MG novel lands in Ms. Agent’s hands for perusal.  Here’s me sweating profusely.  First crack at MG.

Next event…APRIL 27.  That’s right, the big PARTY release, also at Changing Hands.   I’m taking suggestions on where I should take Joy for dinner afterward.

Changing Hands Bookstore appearance

Posted by tomleveen at 9:19 pm

There was this super-cool bookstore on Mill Avenue during my mis-spent youth that all the cool cats knew to go to for their literary fix: Changing Hands Bookstore.  It, like so many places on Mill (Coffee Plantation and Mill Avenue Theatre leap to mind), sadly has moved off that notorious Tempe street…BUT, it’s still around even after all these years, and as cool as ever!  I’ve meet some of my favorite authors thanks  to CH (Laurie Halse Anderson, Brian Jacques…), and now…MY TIME HAS COME!

Well, sorta, anyway.    While we’re still working out the details on my first official signing for PARTY, on January 9 there will be a YA author convention the likes of which only a truly indie bookstore could pull together.

So here’s the site:http://www.changinghands.com/event/yalla

It sounds like it’s gonna be a blast!  I don’t know yet if we’ll have ARC copies of PARTY to give away or not, but we’re working on it.  See you there!  (And buy copies of these guys’ books; I’ve been catching up on the reading and no joke, tremendous work being done here in town.)

On Writing

Posted by admin at 11:11 am

With apologies to Stephen King for use of the title.

My wife once asked me, “What is it about writers that they see things that other people don’t? How does your mind work to grab these conversations or images or people, and then turn them into stories?”

A fair question, and one I’d not thought of before. She asked this on the I-10 on our way to one of many trips to either Pasadena or Santa Barbara.

So I told her, “Well, I think writers just ask questions. Like that burned out old bus we just passed, sitting there all by itself in the desert. How did it get there? Was there a crash or something? Why was it abandoned so far off the highway? What happened to the driver? Were there any students in it? I could write a story answering any one of those questions. I think that’s the difference.”

Joy said: “. . .What burned out bus?”

And, well, there it is. I suppose writers see things that are incongruous, and we have to know the answer to how they became such. Lacking the truth, we write fiction to answer the question to our satisfaction. But we’re always honest in our lies; good fiction should never lie to you.

So there’s a writing prompt, if you’re looking for one: There’s an abandoned, burned-out bus shell out in the boonies somewhere. What happened? How long has it been there, what happened to the occupants? Who knows – it might be the beginning (or end!) of your next book!
~ Tom