What I Have in Common with Kelly Clarkson

Greetings! I can't begin to tell you how excited I am with all the great new music that's out. I've been listening to two albums on repeat this past week: Florence + the Machine's "Ceremonials" and Kelly Clarkson's "Stronger." I love that women are having such a great year in music. Adele's "21" is currently in the running as my favorite album of the year, but both Kelly and Florence are making a very strong case. It's going to be a tight race! I love me some K. Clark (that's my nickname for Kelly Clarkson and I'd like it to catch on, so Kelly hears it and thinks "that's awesome, whoever thought of that should be my best friend." It could happen, right?). Anyways, when I read USA Today's review of "Stronger," I had to laugh. It starts, "Guys, if you start going out with a girl who tells you how much she loves Kelly Clarkson's latest album, run away. Fast." Odd enough, I've heard pretty much the same thing about The Lonely Hearts Club.

Kelly sings songs about not putting up with stupid guys (one of my favorite lyrics on the new album is "Dumb + Dumb = You" from the song "Einstein"). Or that walking away from a bad relationship will make you better in the end. ("What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, stand a little taller. Doesn't mean I'm lonely when I'm alone" from the title track.)

In The Lonely Hearts Club, Penny Lane Bloom decides to stop dating guys in high school because they've done nothing but cause her and her friends heartache and trouble. I recently had a high school boy write to me that I am "what's wrong with the world." Um, I'm pretty sure there are other things that are wrong with the world besides someone standing up for themselves. But thanks for giving me so much credit!

Writing (or singing) about strong women can make it hard when you're dating. When Matt Lauer read Kelly that USA Today review when she was on Today, her response was "Which is funny because I haven't had a boyfriend in so long, maybe I'm scaring them!"

I've had more than one person ask me how I handle talking about my books on a date. Well, I have a tendency to not give out too much information when I meet a guy (like my last name, because one Google search can give him so much information about me and I believe in an equal playing field). This is pretty much how I handle questions about my books on a first date:

GUY: So tell me about your books. ME: They're contemporary teen fiction. GUY: So what are they about? ME: Stuff. GUY: Oh, okay... What's the title? ME: One is a modern retelling of Pride and Prejudice. GUY: Um...

It's not like I'm embarrassed about my books or not proud of them, I am very proud of them. I have received so many wonderful letters from girls about how The Lonely Hearts Club has helped them get through a tough relationship (the best compliment ever was "it helped stop the tears at night.") And I will continue to write books about strong girls who will not compromise themselves for a guy (or if they do, it'll be with consequences). But let's face it, some guys can't handle a strong, independent woman. I'm not talking about all men, of course! There are plenty of amazing guys out there. And I have complete faith that I'll meet one someday (and so will Kelly). But, for now, I think I'm in VERY good single company.

Oh, did I forget to mention that I once met Kelly?!?!?! I DID! AND I gave her a copy of The Lonely Hearts Club because I'm that big of a nerd. (I do think I look like a drag queen in this photo, but Kelly is adorbs as always!) And I already snapped up tickets to see Kelly at Radio City in January (I totally jumped around like a lunatic once I got them. Again: nerd.)

I do want to make one final comment: K. Clark is not fat. This makes me so mad. Just because she isn't an emaciated skeleton doesn't mean she's fat. She's a beautiful, talented, and healthy young woman. I'd love to have an ounce of her singing ability. So all you haters out there making fun of her (or anybody's) weight, take a look in the mirror, because you're the one with the problem.

And with that, I leave you with the most played song on my iPod. Enjoy!

XO, Elizabeth

Comments still closed. Sorry, we are still trying to figure out what's wrong. I may have to call in a professional!

My Sweet George

Last night I watched Martin Scorsese's documentary "George Harrison: Living in a Material World." It was a three-and-a-half hour long intimate look at George's public and private life. It was personal, it was touching, and to put it simply, it was amazing. I highly recommend it to anybody who loves The Beatles (it's currently playing in repeats on HBO in the US). I mentioned briefly in my blog about seeing Sir Paul McCartney this summer that I have a very special place in my heart for George. I always hate when I'm asked who my favorite Beatles is because it really is a hard question to answer. I absolutely love Sir Paul, he can do no wrong in my eyes. His post-Beatles career has been filled with so many wonderful songs. I have nothing but the utmost respect for John Lennon, it is such a tragedy that he was taken away from us so early. And of course, Ringo has this charm and humor about him that he just makes you smile. And then there's George. Sweet, sweet, underrated George.

What it must've been like to be surrounded by the songwriting genius of Lennon/McCartney. How could you even compete? But then quiet George comes in and gives us such brilliant songs as "Taxman," "While My Guitar Gently Weeps," "Here Comes the Sun," and, of course, "Something." As Sir Paul has recalled on more than one occasion, Frank Sinatra once said to him, "'Something' is my favorite Lennon/McCartney song." To which Sir Paul cheekily responded, "Mine too."

I burst into tears last night when "Something" came on. Every time I hear the song, I have (and I mean HAVE) to sing aloud loudly to my favorite part: "You're asking me will my love grow, I don't know... I don't know." This just gets me every time. Such passion, such honesty, such beauty... It is not only one of my favorite Beatles songs, it is one of my favorite songs, period.

When I was in grade school, George Harrison came out with a new album. I didn't know a lot about The Beatles back then, but I did like it when their music came on the oldies station my mom listened to. "I've Got My Mind Set On You" was the big hit from that album, but I remember loving the second single, "When We Was Fab," more. I guess it was the soon-to-be-realized Beatles fangirl inside of me getting ready to come out. Click here to see the video, which I love because it has Ringo, an homage to Sgt. Pepper's, a walrus, an apple, lots of Beatles references that I didn't "get" when I was little.

George was also extremely spiritual. He's responsible for bringing in the sitar and other eastern influences on the Beatles later albums. This also influenced his solo work. Probably George's best known solo song is the one that I'll leave you with, "My Sweet Lord." I'm happy that George is getting the recognition he deserves through this documentary. And hopefully, it'll make it harder in the future for a lot of people to answer the question, "Who's your favorite Beatle?"

Dear George, I send you all my love. I find comfort in your music and words on a daily basis. And as you once said, "Here comes the sun and I say, 'It's all right.'"

XOXO, Elizabeth

Please note: my website is currently being updated, so I wasn't able to embed the videos (hence the links) and comments are closed until update is ready.

End of the Road: Edinburgh and Belfast

Greetings from... America! Yes, I am home. I honestly can't believe how quickly four weeks go by. I woke up in the middle of the night last night and was really confused where I was. At one point I thought, "This duvet cover looks familiar... am I home?" But as they say, all good things must come to an end. So before I put myself on lockdown to work on my next book, I thought I'd wrap up my vacation blogs with my last stops: Edinburgh, Scotland and Belfast, Northern Ireland. My friend Amy came to visit during the last week of my vacation and we headed to Edinburgh. I visited Edinburgh when I was studying abroad in college and remember liking it, but as an adult, I LOVED it. It's such a beautiful, old city with lots and lots of hills. And I mean lots of hills. We certainly got a workout taking in the views. Case in point:

See that giant hill (more like mountain) behind me? Yeah, we climbed it. Proof:

Totally worth it! And that wasn't the only hill we scaled, this is from the much smaller Calton Hill:

From Edinburgh, we went to Belfast. Belfast has a troubled history, but is now a safe city to visit (I won't get into "The Troubles" here, but if you plan on visiting Belfast, I highly recommend taking a Black Cab tour that delves into the history). I've heard a lot about Belfast and suggested to Amy that we go. We are both so glad we did as it was a highlight of the trip for both of us. A lot of that has to do with the Northern Irish people, who are seriously some of the friendliest, funniest people you'll ever meet. Just an example of Northern Irish humor, on a sign for a Titanic walking tour: "She was all right when she left here." The Titanic was built in Belfast.

We went to visit Giant's Causeway on our first full day, which is an extraordinary rock formation on the coast. There are tens of thousands of these perfectly formed, nearly hexagonal rocks that are all natural (from a volcanic eruption). It's over 60 million years old and ancients believed it to be the work of giant's, hence the name.

One of my favorite quotes from the day came when Amy and I were taking in the view. She said in a New Jersey/Soprano's accent: "This is freakin' beautiful right here." After laughing for about twenty minutes, I started talking for pretty much the rest of our time there in a very bad New Jersey accent about bringing my cousin Vinny over for some cannolis and pasta to fully enjoy the view (by the way, I am not Italian nor do I have a cousin named Vinny). If you ever go on vacation with me, I will not only burst into different accents, I occasion like to spontaneously bust out dance moves (the running man was a favorite this trip) and songs. It's amazing that Amy keeps agreeing to go places with me. Thank goodness for friends who do not embarrass easily...

On the way back from the Giant's Causeway, we got to go to the Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge (or what I kept referring to as "crack-a-rack" for no other reason than I'm an idiot). Now, some people choose not to cross over because it's 250 feet high and a little unstable (it is a rope bridge after all), but I'm not really scared of heights, so...

Now both the guide book and the bus driver suggested you don't look down. But do I listen? Of course not, I had to take a picture!

The next day, we explored the city of Belfast, including the beautiful City Hall.

We took a tour of City Hall and they even let you sit in the Lord Mayor's Chair.

Belfast is a very walkable city. But that didn't stop two competing bus tour guys fighting over me. I always enjoy two boys fighting over me, sure it was to sell me a ticket, but in my mind, it was all for love! (Do we now see why I need to write fiction?)

We ended our time in Belfast with a little pub crawl (when in Ireland...) that a local (Hi Aaron!) offered to take us on because again, Belfast people are super nice! Especially since I first talked to Aaron because  he was wearing a Pittsburgh Steelers hat so I just had to go up to him and say, "Hi, I'm from Wisconsin. Go Packers!" Not the best start to a friendship, but sometimes I just can't help myself...

These last four weeks have been so much fun. Thank you to those who have e-mailed, Tweeted, Facebooked, etc. me about how much you've enjoyed these posts. I enjoyed writing them! Now it's back to work (and reality) for me!

XOXO, Elizabeth

Oh Dublin, My Dublin

Greetings yet again from Dublin! Since I talked a lot about my road trip, I think it's time for me to talk about my current home away from home: Dublin. I first came to Dublin *cough* years ago when I was studying abroad in London, a couple friends and I came for the weekend. Then I came here again a few years ago for work (which doesn't count since you never get to see anything when you're working). So I decided to base myself here. I rented an apartment near Christchurch Cathedral and was not only excited about the location, but that it has a washer/dryer. Seriously. You suburban folks with your washers/dryers have no idea what a luxury it is, I still have to leave my apartment back home to do laundry, it's a pain. So alas, I'm living the dream having a washer/dryer in my apartment (hey, it's the little things and being gone for four weeks, I was going to need to do lots of laundry since I only allowed myself clothes for 10 days!). ANYWAYS, when I got to the apartment, I couldn't believe the view that greeted me from the tiny balcony outside the living room.

I know, right? AMAZING! That domed building in the distance on the left is Four Courts, home of Ireland's law courts since 1796. And well, the big, beautiful building in front... requires a story. So I get in and see this and I think, "Oh my goodness, what is that?" I go to my handy Frommer's Ireland guide and nothing. It's not listed. I thought, "That's impossible. Look at it! It's old, it has to be something important."

To the left of said building is St. Audeon's Church, parts of which date back from 1190.

So I went to visit St. Audeon's today. It's very pretty and quiet in there. But I also went in to say, "What is the building next door? Do you know?" Alas, I got my answer. Said building is a newer church also called St. Audeon's that was built in 1849, so really, it's practically brand new in Dublin! No need to mention it at all in any literature about the city. Yawn. This cracks me up. I understand that there are way older things around, but in the US this would be considered super old and important. It probably also doesn't help that Christchurch is just up the street and parts of that date from 1038.

Okay, now that I've been able to finally figure out what's across the street (only took me two weeks!), I'll share with you some of my favorite parts of Dublin.

I've walked around Trinity College a few times since being here and one of my favorite moments came while in Trinity. On the day I arrived, I was jetlagged, I hadn't showered in what felt like days, and I couldn't get into my apartment until the afternoon. So I went to take a walking tour to help me stay awake. The tour started inside the gates at Trinity. I'm standing there and this kid walks up to me, "Are you a fresher?" Me: "Sorry?" Guy: "Are you a first year here?" Yes, someone thought I was a freshman in college. Made my day!

My first Friday here was Culture Night in Dublin, a nigh when various museums, churches, organizations, etc. open up their doors for free and put on special events. I totally took advantage of this opportunity. I went to see the Book of Kells at Trinity College Library, and got to see the stunning library itself. You aren't allowed to take photos in the library (see * below), but found this pic on the web to share since it's stunning.

From there I went to the Royal Irish Academy of Music, where they opened up the classrooms. I got to hear a string ensemble rehearse. They were wonderful, and I was struck by one of the violinists who is the spitting image of Emme from my upcoming novel Take a Bow. I really wanted to take a photo, but she was up on stage practicing (so Emme!). Then I went to Dublin Castle where I got to tour the grounds and was treated to a performance in the courtyard from a scene from (Trinity graduate) Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest. From there, I went to Christchurch Cathedral where I took a tour and then listened as a choir performed (fun fact: some scenes from The Tudors was filmed inside). Needless to say, it was a busy night, but loads of fun.

While I enjoyed seeing the Book of Kells (hand-drawn manuscript of the four Gospels from circa 800), I don't understand why there was a huge line for that (which costs 9EUR) when the Chester Beatty Library is not only free, but has manuscripts and books that are way older. And if you want to see religious pieces, they have pages from the oldest known surviving bible from 250. That's the year 250. And at one point, the guide (there are free guided tours a few times during the week) pointed out one document and said, "This is from 1000 BC, so it's quite old." Um, probably the understatement of the millennium!! Honestly, if you are coming to Dublin and love the written word, you must go here!

Wow, there's so much that I did that I enjoyed: The Dublin Writers Museum, Kilmainham Goal (jail), St. Patrick's Cathedral... It's a good thing I've been here so long. I also did an Traditional Irish Music Pub Crawl which was a lot of fun. We heard traditional Irish music and got to hear the history of Irish music. Plus, that was the only time I saw the inside of a pub. (And if you believe that, I've got some beans to sell you.)

Alas, my time in Dublin is quickly coming to an end. I'm off to a day tour of Newgrange tomorrow (a burial mound that is more than 5000 years old, so it pre-dates the Egyptian pyramids and Stonehenge!!). Then my friend Amy arrives on Saturday and we leave for Edinburgh and then Belfast. It's a tough life, folks, but someone's gotta live it!

XOXO, Elizabeth

*I wanted to just make a little comment about tourists. I'm fully aware that I'm a tourist here (as much as I try to hide it). But I can't believe how tourists sometimes act. I repeatedly saw people ignore the "No Pictures" signs and GUARDS telling them not to take pictures, because apparently that doesn't apply to them. When I was in Christchurch, I saw a woman lift a red velvet rope and placed her daughter on an extremely old bench so she could get a photo. I can see the argument that you can't understand a sign/guard, but a velvet rope? I'm pretty sure that's international for "stay out." Many of these places I got to see are hundreds of years old and have so far survived the test of time. But seriously, they aren't going to last even fifty more years if people keep treating them like their personal property. It's if purchasing a ticket allows them to ignore the rules. It drives me nuts. And I thought tourists in Times Square were bad. Nope, the guy who scaled a grave at Rock of Cashal probably takes the cake. Oh, no sir, please make sure you get a good picture, no need to respect this sacred ground and somebody's tomb. Okay, rant over. I've got some more sights to see! XO