An Interview with...Rhonda Stapleton

I first met Rhonda Stapleton through editing. We hit it off and spent fun times sending one another zany emails that probably wouldn’t be funny to other people but were hilarious to us. Ah, those were the days! I’m so excited that Rhonda is here today, because she’s lovely, funny, caring, and such a damn nice person who really does deserve to have all those yummy books coming out with Simon Pulse. I LOVE RHONDA! RAH!

Emmy: To start off, would you mind taking us through your publication journey?

Rhonda: My journey is a harrowing tale of love lost, treachery, and a little bit of magic. Okay, not really–I queried my hind end off with my first YA, got an agent, and wrote like the wind on another story (STUPID CUPID). We submitted that one to Simon Pulse, and they liked it but wanted it as a trilogy. So I rewrote the first 50 pages, wrote outlines for all 3 books, and that’s what sold!

Emmy: LMAO @ ‘Okay, not really’ and a zany RAH for selling your books.

I admire anyone who is dedicated enough to keep plugging on in the publishing world. Was there ever a time when you considered giving up on your dream to become a published author?

Rhonda: Nope. I was dead-set determined to publish. That’s not to say it was all butterflies and lollipops–I had a lot of rejection along the way, a lot of frustration. But I had my eye on the prize, and I wasn’t going to back away from it.

Emmy: Ah, good for you!

What advice would you give to aspiring authors?

Rhonda: Make time for your writing! If you’re a writer, write. It’s so easy to let life get in the way…but if something is important to you, you make time for it.

Emmy: How did it feel to get an agent? I imagine I’d probably wee my knickers. I remember when you told me you’d got one. I cried with happiness!

Rhonda: LOL I love how colorful your expressions are! I was full of shock and glee and, well, more shock. haha. It was amazing and really reinforced for me that I was going in the right direction. I totally went out to dinner to celebrate (which is what I usually do).

Emmy: Hee hee. What is the best part about being an author?

Rhonda: I’d have to say the butler–when you get a book contract, they’re standard issue from your publisher. hahaha I WISH. Seriously, the coolest part so far has been that I can be weird and cracked out in my stories, and they PAY me to be that way. *happy sigh*

Emmy: I love weird, as you know, because I’m weird myself.

Come on, sock it to us! We want to know about your upcoming releases!

Rhonda: My trilogy all revolves around the efforts of my heroine, Felicity, who becomes a cupid for her high school (there’s more than one of them). She uses handheld technology to send love emails and texts to her targets. In book 1, she decides to pair her BFF Maya up with 3 guys, so her friend could choose which dude she liked for herself. Of course, it ends up going disastrously…

Emmy: Oooh, sounds very diggy indeed.

Now for the more laid back questions! What would be your ideal menu at a dinner party—let’s say three courses—and where would you go to eat it? Any destination in the world. Oh, and what would you wear? (I’ve just handed you a credit card with unlimited funds so you can buy your clothes and shoes for the evening…what is your dream store/designer?)

Rhonda: I’d love to go to a dinner party in Japan. Full-on festivities with tea ceremony and everything. Sushi, rice, tea, the works! It would be fun to wear an authentic kimono while feasting too.

Emmy:  That sounds lovely, but knowing me I’d dribble my bloody tea down the kimono and end up a right mess. I can’t say sushi appeals. In fact, the thought of it makes me gag, but you go on and enjoy your meal, dear. Don’t let my retching sounds put you off at ALL!

Here we are, look, Rhonda. There's me posting another manuscript off. Damn, my toes hurt in these bloody shoes!

When you have the time to read, which authors’ books are you most likely to pick up? Do you select those in the genre you write or go for something completely different? And, have any of those authors inspired you in your own writing?

Rhonda: I read a LOT of young adult books, since I like to keep current on what’s out there. Plus, I really, really enjoy them. I have certain authors who are my go-to reads: Sara Zarr, Maggie Stiefvater, Sarah Dessen, Neal Shusterman, Laurie Halse Anderson, Elizabeth Scott, and many more. I tend to read mostly contemps and futuristics, though I love historicals too.

Emmy: You have a day off to spend as you wish. Anywhere in the world, unlimited funds, and the twenty-four hours are guaranteed to feel like a week. How would you spend it?

Rhonda: OMG you ask the hardest questions. haha! Okay, let’s see. I think it would be fun to wander around Japan for a day–pack in as much sightseeing as I could, from Tokyo to Kyoto to the hot springs…I would love that!!

Emmy: And eat more sushi…? Oh…oh my goodness… I need the bathroom!

Seriously now, thank you so much for taking the time to be at Author Toolbox. I wish you oodles of success with your trilogy and anything else you sell thereafter. Oh, and here’s another RAH just for you.

AHA MEDIA is proud to present Children Live Dream Here: Urban Landscapes on Thursday Oct 29th, 2009

Visual Arts
CHILDREN LIVE DREAM HERE

 
Thursday October 29, 5:30pm-10pm
5:30pm-7pm Art opening
Families welcome

7pm-10pm Join your neighbours to celebrate the Festival
Chapel Arts, 304 Dunlevy

The presence of children in our community is the focus of this show of photo works by students from grades 4 to 7. Photographer and lead artist Anne Marie Slater collaborated with the students on an interpretive walk of Princess Avenue and their photographs reveal the sky, the street, and the industrial side of Hastings Street re-linking the historic north/south connection to the waterfront.

The perspectives of inner city children are captured in photo stories and audio recordings, on view in the main gallery and in projections on the outside of Chapel Arts.

Children Live Dream Here: Urban Landscapes is a community arts initiative with the participation of local organizations, community members and the support of the Festival and the City of Vancouver Great Beginnings program.

Sponsored by Strathcona Elementary School, Strathcona Community Centre Association and Chapel Arts, with funding from Port Metro Vancouver and Telus-Vancouver Community Board. Free

With thanks to Anne Marie Slater and the Heart of the City Festival in Vancouver Downtown Eastside for text and image

http://www.heartofthecityfestival.com/festival-09/october-29/

SAS Data Mining 2009 Las Vegas

I am going to Las Vegas as a guest of SAS Institute for the Data Mining 2009 Conference. ( Note FCC regulations on bloggers come in effective December but my current policies are in ADVERTISE page unchanged since some months now)

With the big heavyweight of analytics, SAS Institute showcases events in both the SAS Global Forum and the Data Mining 2009

conference has a virtual who’s- who of partners there. This includes my friends at Aster Data and Shawn Rogers, Beye Network

in addition to Anne Milley, Senior Product Director. Anne is a frequent speaker for SAS Institute and has shrug off the beginning of the year NY Times spat with R /Open Source. True to their word they did go ahead and launch the SAS/IML with the interface to R – mindful of GPL as well as open source sentiments.

. While SPSS does have a data mining product there is considerable discussion on that help list today on what direction IBM will allow the data mining product to evolve.

Charlie Berger, from Oracle Data Mining , also announced at Oracle World that he is going to launch a GUI based data mining product for free ( or probably Software as a Service Model)- Thanks to Karl Rexer from Rexer Analytics for this tip.

While this is my first trip to Las Vegas ( a change from cold TN weather), I hope to read new stuff on data mining including sessions on blog and text mining and statistical usage of the same. Data Mining continues to be an enduring passion for me even though I need to get maybe a Divine Miracle for my Phd to get funded on that topic.

Also I may have some tweets at #M2009 for you and some video interviews/ photos. Ok- Watch this space.

ps _ We lost to Alabama #2 in the country by two points because 2 punts were blocked by hand which were as close as it gets.

Next week I hope to watch the South Carolina match in Orange Country.

Behind-The-Scenes Of Wynn Las Vegas' Le Rêve!

I’m very fortunate to have seen A LOT of amazing theatrical productions, and Le Rêve at Wynn Las Vegas is no exception!  Le Rêve was created by Franco Dragone (of Cirque du Soleil fame), and features the most amazing lighting by Tony Award-winning lighting designers Jules Fisher and Peggy Eisenhauer.  And as if that’s not impressive enough, there are three incredible ballroom dance numbers, choreographed by Dancing With the Stars hunk Maksim Chmerkovskiy.

During a recent trip to Las Vegas, I went behind-the-scenes of this incredible aquatic spectacle in-the-round for BroadwayWorld.com.

Click on the video below to see the segment:

more about “BWW TV: LE REVE – Behind the Scenes! …“, posted with vodpod

Guest Interview n°9: Benedetta Barzini

Guest Interview n°9: Benedetta Barzini

Who is the most surprising designer of the spring summer collection 2010?
No real surprises, honestly. Some demonstrate knowledge on cutting and sewing, but the style belongs to a melancholic past.

And who is the most telented?
I hate to place one above another. ‘Better than’ is not in my way of thinking.

There was a lot of criticism about the Milan fashion week this time… Why? Do you agree with this point of view?
In Italy there is no sense of solidarity or common sense. I’m not going into what designers and organizers fight over. It’s rather repetitive (somewhat like the clothings that come out of the Italian productions).

Milan, Paris or New York?
Milan is commerce. Paris is Paris, light years separated from the other capitals. New York is playing around with the aura it has of being the most exiting place to be in, so it created a personal way of dressing. New Yorkers indeed yearn for France.

How do you see the intersection between street fashion and catwalk fashion?
‘Street’ talks about being different from acting out and dressing exactly like all others . ‘Catwalk’ reveals and therefore projects what the inner thought of women-seen-through-men’s-eyes is about.

In the past you were a model. What do you think has changed in the last 20 years for better or for worse?
Modelling today is opposed to the Sixties: the market has developed at an incredible rate, the girls are used and thrown out at a good pace, fashion is a product and the show must go on, regardless of its meaning.

What is the most negative aspect of the fashion world today? And the best one?
No negative or positive aspects: it constantly measures the temperature of a collective form of distorted unreality and tells us where affluent society stands.

What we must absolutely recover from the past?
The values of slowness. It allows people to assimilate an idea, a dream, lots of important lost things..

You currently teach at Milan Politecnico. Do you consider internet a resource or a hazard? Do you use it for your lessons?
Internet. It’s an illusion of power, knowledge and contact. It really only gives you headlines whithout depth. It has the privilege of turning all people passive. I can smell it a mile away when a student just owns some internet notions.

One example to follow and one to avoid..
Figure out what you could think without using someone else reflections. Avoid plucking your eyebrows.

Describe your typical day.
I’m sort of lost these days, so there is no typical

Your speciality in kitchen?
I’m not keen on cooking, but I can make a decent vegetable soup.

By Silvia Bergomi | images by Matteo Cherubino

veld_ver_slagen: Kraak

veld_ver_slagen is een rubriek over de mensen in het veld en het schemergebied achter de schermen. Gesprekken met concertprogrammeurs, evenementenorganisatoren en curatoren van kunstencentra. Kortom, de heren en dames die bepalen wat wij te zien krijgen. Ditmaal met een Dave Driesmans en Steve Marreyt van het Vlaamse platenlabel, boekingbureau en algeheel keurmerk van avontuurlijke muziek, Kraak.

(Gepubliceerd in Gonzo (circus) #90 – januari/februari 2009)

Kraak: Keurmerk voor Vlaams avontuur

Sinds de oprichting in 1997 is Kraak uitgegroeid tot een waar kwaliteitslabel voor de Vlaamse avontuurlijke muziekliefhebber. Dave Driesmans gaf zijn perspectief op de zaak en Steve Marreyt schoof er halverwege bij aan.

Kraak lijkt een verzamelnaam voor een grote hoeveelheid activiteiten, van een platenlabel tot festivalorganisators tot een magazine; was dat vanaf het begin af de bedoeling, of is dat zo gegroeid?
Dave Driesmans: “Het is allemaal heel organisch gegroeid. Aanvankelijk was er enkel het platenlabel. Maar toen kwam al snel het idee om een jaarlijks festival te organiseren, en wat later ontstond het idee van een maandelijks tijdschriftje. Het is een combinatie van veel zin hebben om iets te doen en de noodzaak voelen een leemte op te vullen. Maar het is natuurlijk wel leuk dat we nu een beetje een structuur en publiek hebben waarbij we snel projecten kunnen lanceren.”

Hoe is de organisatie nu verdeeld? Zijn er aparte medewerkers voor ‘Concerten’ en ‘Platenlabel’, of loopt het door elkaar?
Driesmans: “Het loopt allemaal door elkaar. De ene dag ben je bezig met de website, de andere dag met de mastering van een nieuwe elpee, dan weer wat het boeken van vluchten voor een volgend optreden. Die variatie houdt je fris. Bovenal vind ik het voor Kraak heel belangrijk dat er meerdere mensen inbreng hebben. Zou er maar één programmeur zijn, dan is de kans op herhaling reëel. En dat willen we te allen tijde vermijden.”

“Over kleuren en smaken [moet] zoveel mogelijk getwist worden” heet het dan ook op jullie website; hebben jullie onderling nog twisten over wat wel en niet binnen Kraak past, of is het concept zo afgebakend dat daar geen onduidelijkheid meer over is?
Driesmans: “Nee, er wordt hier erg veel getwist en getwijfeld. Niet zelden gaat er een hele discussie vooraf aan het boeken van een groep. Is die groep representatief voor wat er nu gebeurt of kiezen beter voor een andere groep? Is die laatste release niet iets minder? Enzovoort.”

Op welke manier heeft de (Vlaamse) markt voor experimentele muziek zich ontwikkeld sinds 1997?
Driesmans: “In tien jaar tijd is er erg veel veranderd vind ik. In 1997 waren we hier één van de weinigen die met experimentele popmuziek bezig waren, en zeker de enigen die dat in een festivalformule aanboden. Er zijn sindsdien talloze ‘nieuwe muziek’ festivals opgedoken, maar de meeste daarvan zijn niet echt interessant meer. Aan de andere kant is de platenmarkt in elkaar gestort en zijn er in Vlaanderen nog maar enkele winkels over waar je een Kraak-cd kunt vinden. Een jammerlijke evolutie want door het ontbreken van subsidies kunnen de winkels niet overleven, hoewel ze voor mij toch evenveel cultuur brengen als een gesubsidieerde instelling.”

Vaak wordt gesteld dat door het internet de nadruk in de muziekbranche is verschoven van platen naar live-concerten. Hoe zien jullie dat?
Driesmans: “Ik heb op de trein of metro nog nooit zoveel oordopjes gezien, hoor. Verklaren dat de aandacht van opnames naar het livegebeuren verschoven is vind ik dus onjuist. Ik denk dat er wel een verschuiving te merken is in het luistergedrag: er veel meer aandacht gekomen voor de geschiedenis van muziek. Daar zullen mp3-blogs en de verzwakte marketingkracht van de platenfirma’s deels voor hebben gezorgd.”
Steve Marreyt: “Die downloadbare geschiedenis is lange tijd mijn verslaving geweest. Ik ben nogal een fan van muziek uit de jaren 1960 en 1970. Toen ik ontdekte dat zowat alle zeldzame psychedelische parels gewoon van blogspots te plukken waren, heb ik mij daar lange tijd mee bezig gehouden. Dat duurde tot het moment dat ik meer downloadde dan ik kon beluisteren. Nu ben ik een stuk selectiever geworden. Ook met internet was het dus weer zoeken hoe je er op een goede manier mee omgaat.”

Random Thoughts About Grad School. And Interviews.

On Grad Schools:

This I tell you, and I tell you with the hopes that you’ll learn from my stupid mistakes: If you are AT ALL considering continuing your studies after undergrad in a field you did not major in, for the love of Jasper Gabriel bon Jingles- MINOR IN IT!! My faculty adviser told me minors weren’t worth anything unless I was sure I wanted to study that subject in grad school. And, given the fact that I wasn’t forward-thinking enough to be considering grad school, (mostly because I hate application essays), I didn’t minor in anything. Stupid, stupid me.

After all, I knew I was interested in film studies and psychology- but instead of sticking to either of those minor programs, I took more English courses (Literary Criticism and Shakespeare) and a not-required Biblical Studies course (Exodus-Deuteronomy) because it was taught by a professor of uber brilliance. Do I regret taking these classes? No, I enjoyed all three (well, not Shakespeare so much as a class, but I was in Oxford at the time, so I would have been happy to study ancient native Haitian basket weaving… or whatever). But wish I had also made room to take more psych courses (even if APU’s psych program SUCKS TO HIGH HEAVEN… regardless of how blindly proud they are of it. I’m sure the faculty members are all very nice people…). Because now I find myself staring at MA program aps and banging my head against the wall because I haven’t taken the prerequisites. Could I trudge my way through the information at the Advanced Level- sure, if I really put my mind to it. But they don’t know that, and that stinkith. So then what? Online classes or MJC? Yuckiness… Gr.

On Interviews:
Due to the fact that I once (ignorantly) aspired to be an Executive Assistant in the film industry, I have gone to many, many interviews. Perhaps this is indicative of my resume’s brilliance (since a resume’s purpose is to get you the interview), or maybe Oxford’s too shiny to resist, or they chose aps at random. But, I never did get an assistant job (and, after hearing how Sam’s bosses treated her, I stopped applying). Regardless, I’ve faced many an interviewer, and this is what I’ve noticed:

Bad:
1. When he/she picks you out of a crowd as “the one wearing all black?”
2. Ending rambling sentences with “and, um… yea. so on?”
3. Sending out mass emails to potential employers in the “To:” section instead of the “BCC:” section (one actually sent me an email back, all insulted and whatnot. Er, sorry? My bad…)
4. When the interview is really short.
5. Going home and deleting all your info on a potential employer because you’re convinced the interview went horribly. They still might call you back.
6. Sweat. It’s just a pain. It screws up your bangs and makes your feet smell weird. And there’s little to nothing you can do about it- RAHH!!

This afternoon, I learned that:
1. Group interviews suck
2. I am not so great at making a good impression when there are three other interviewees around the same little table, and only one question is actually asked pertaining to job-related experiences, etc.
3. Some people, when asked if they have any questions, will ask the interviewer what her favorite color is. (I spell this without “u”s because it was a freaking stupid question)
4. At a group interview, you will get interrupted by loud-mouths. And they might even pretend not to notice that they talked over you.

In my experience, no one cares if:
1. You don’t tailor your resume drastically for each position. Of course, it should show that you can do the job (ie. have previously answered a phone and/or spoken to a human being in real life).
2. You’re nervous. They probably can’t even see you shaking, so grin and ignore it.
3. You spill your purse contents everywhere- especially if the interview is for an internship that they barely pay you anything to do.
4. You call them by their first name. They seemed to expect me to, at least in LA. Don’t know what it’s like up here in hick country though… teh hehe…

So, now I have to figure out how to take prereq classes and write a statement of purpose, as well as still picking programs to apply to. And I start working at a new job tomorrow. This is a good thing but…. AHHhhhhh… *hides*