Miss Erin

I went walking through the city, like a drunk but not.

2009-11-03T21:35:00.001-08:00

(i want to live here)

Right now, I am inspired in my life in ways I never have been before.

(i've heard it said that people come into our lives for a reason)

Today I have inside me Neverland and brainstorming and an 80's film with a teenage heroine I fell in love with and a show that made me think and a scent and an honoring list and all the beautiful, beautiful, beautiful people. Possibility.

(like a ship blown from its mooring)

c a r p e d i e m

. . .

2009-10-24T12:27:00.000-07:00

A thousand words

plum icicles cottage gray
taste june scratch
nine feet
her

you will never know.

_____
copyright Miss Erin McIntosh, 2009
please do not reprint without permission
Poetry Friday roundup at Big A little a

Readergirlz TRW: Day 4

2009-10-22T17:31:00.001-07:00

The Teen Read Week awesomeness at the readergirlz blog continues tonight with LIVE! chats with Melissa Walker (LOVESTRUCK SUMMER), Cassandra Clare (CITY OF ASHES), and Patrick Ness (THE KNIFE OF NEVER LETTING GO).

So far the chats have been spectacular, with swag, prizes, and terrific author chats! The chats are all this week, October 19-23, Monday - Friday at 6pm PST/9pm EST at the blog!

Hope to see you....!

Readergirlz TRW: Day 3

2009-10-21T12:26:00.000-07:00

Tonight don't miss the Teen Read Week rgz LIVE! chat with Holly Cupala (TELL ME A SECRET), Lisa McMann (WAKE), and Cynthia Leitich Smith (ETERNAL)!

There will be even more swag and prizes tonight, and Holly will have a special sneak-preview giveaway for TELL ME A SECRET.

The chats are all this week, October 19-23, Monday - Friday at 6pm PST/9pm EST at the readergirlz blog!

If you missed the previous chats, don't worry - you can see the transcripts at the blog.

Readergirlz TRW: Day 2

2009-10-20T10:25:00.001-07:00

The Teen Read Week fun continues this evening at the readergirlz blog with a LIVE! chat event with Lorie Ann Grover (HOLD ME TIGHT), Elizabeth Scott (LIVING DEAD GIRL), and Lynn Weingarten (WHEREVER NINA LIES)! Plus lots of other readergirlz and awesome YA folks. It's at the usual time: 6PM Pacific, 9PM Eastern.

Last night's chat was super-fun, and I can't wait for tonight's. See you there!

Readergirlz TRW: Day 1

2009-10-19T12:43:00.001-07:00

Tonight is the first chat in this year's readergirlz Teen Read Week series!

Come to the readergirlz blog tonight at 6PM Pacific/9PM Eastern to chat with authors Justina Chen Headley, Alyson Noel, and Zoe Marriott. I am soooo excited. Hyper-and-bouncing-in-my-chair excited. Par-tay!

readergirlz: Teen Read Week and Libba Bray

2009-10-13T18:27:00.000-07:00

Exciting things happening at readergirlz this month! Here's the scoop:

Teen Read Week Tribute!

Do you love Teen Read Week? Let it out at your blog through a post or vlog, then send the link to readergirlz@gmail.com. Put in the subject line: Your name, TRW Tribute. We’ll collect contributions and post them at the rgz blog in a 24 hour time span. Tell us about your recent release, or a book you love dearly, and then give a shout out for Teen Read Week. The tribute will run October 23rd!

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rgz Read Beyond Reality!

We are ready to Read Beyond Reality with YALSA, rgz! The divas will host nine young-adult authors—eight of whom are nominees for the Teens’ Top Ten—throughout Teen Read Week. The week’s chats will culminate with an online gala celebration, where Sylvia Engdahl, a pioneer in young-adult science fiction, will be hosted and honored for her contributions to the literary landscape. Watch for signed book prizes and swag from iHeartDaily.com!

Monday, Oct. 19: Beyond Imagination with rgz diva Justina Chen (NORTH OF BEAUTIFUL), Alyson Noël (EVERMORE) and Zoe Marriott (DAUGHTER OF THE FLAMES)

Tuesday, Oct. 20: Beyond Hardship with rgz diva Lorie Ann Grover (HOLD ME TIGHT), Elizabeth Scott (LIVING DEAD GIRL) and Lynn Weingarten (WHEREVER NINA LIES)
Wednesday, Oct. 21: Beyond Daily Life with rgz diva Holly Cupala (TELL ME A SECRET), Lisa McMann (WAKE) and Cynthia Leitich Smith (ETERNAL)

Thursday, Oct. 22: Beyond Our World with rgz diva Melissa Walker (LOVESTRUCK SUMMER), Cassandra Clare (CITY OF ASHES) and Patrick Ness (THE KNIFE OF NEVER LETTING GO)
Friday, Oct. 23: Into Our Beyond with rgz diva Dia Calhoun (AVIELLE OF RHIA) and pioneering YA sci-fi author Sylvia Engdahl (ENCHANTRESS FROM THE STARS)

It all happens at the rgz blog, Oct. 19-23 at 6 p.m. Pacific/9 p.m. Eastern. Spread the word with the press release, poster, banners, and trailer!

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rgz welcomes New York Times Bestseller Libba Bray!

In October we are also psyched to host Libba Bray as our Divas’ Choice. We’ll discuss THE SWEET FAR THING and all things Gemma. Feel free to chat about related topics all month at the rgz blog. rgz LIVE! with Libba will be held on October 28th at 6 p.m. Pacific/9 p.m. Eastern. Join our celebration and enter the realms this month, rgz!

Download our October Libba Bray bookmark!

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The Teen Read Week of chats is always one of my most-anticipated weeks of the year. Talking to authors all week long is completely inspiring. Hope to see you all there!

oh, cause blue skies are calling

2009-10-10T17:58:00.000-07:00

This is a song for anyone

With a broken heart
This is a song for anyone
Who can't get out of bedI'll do anything
To be happy
Oh, cause blue skies are calling
But I know that it's hard
This is the last song
That I write
While still in love with you
This is the last song
That I write
While you're even on my mind
Cause it's time to leave
Those feelings behind
Oh, cause blue skies are calling
But I know that it's hard
I don't think that it's the end
But I know we can't keep going
I don't think that it's the end
But I know we can't keep going
But blue skies are calling
Oh yeah blue skies are calling
Oh, blue skies are calling
But I know that it's hard

Oh my, this song is my favorite right now. It is perfect for me at this moment. A theme song of sorts, you might say. The music video is also one of my favorite things. Noah and the Whale. I think that's a lovely name for musicians.

photo credits: metrix x, cblee, pink lemonade, logan jack, sita marie, colorful mess

2009-10-09T18:38:00.000-07:00

slow down, little girl
take a breath, take it in
feeling lost and confused and gray
is not for you.
wait a while
your time will come
so wise and so childish
it doesn't matter what they think
or even what you do, yet
wait a while, young girl,
it takes your whole life to grow up,
and that is as it should be.
don't rush too fast,
don't fly too high,
nestle instead in this grass
under these trees
and don't be anything.

only be.

_____
copyright Miss Erin McIntosh, 2009
please do not reprint without permission
Poetry Friday roundup at Picture Book of the Day

2009-10-02T19:57:00.000-07:00

I am standing outside of my cage.
For the first time.
It's only me.
I don't need to be hand-fed
Or cleaned.

Everything out here is so white.
And less clean than I'd imagined.

Losing my wings was a small price to pay
For feet.
For this dirty house
Instead of that dirty cage.

The light is unpleasant,
But it's better than none.
I don't think people realize the darkness
Metal and gray give off.

I almost touch it.
I pull away.
I have finished with that life.

_____
copyright Miss Erin McIntosh, 2009
please do not reprint without permission
Poetry Friday roundup at Crossover

2009 Cybils!

2009-10-02T19:53:00.000-07:00

It is that time of year again....time for the fourth annual Cybils Awards! Nominations opened yesterday, and you have until the 15th to nominate favorite books published this year in multiple categories. Head on over and get nominating.

After three years as a panelist, this is my first year not working on the Cybils since they were founded. It feels a little funny, but it wasn't something I felt was right for me this year. I wish everyone working on the panels the very best: have fun, read lots, don't go too crazy....and I can't wait to see the lists y'all come up with!

dang, he's getting old

2009-09-23T07:07:00.000-07:00

So today happens to be the birthday of my favorite sibling.
Yeah, I got pretty lucky in the brother department.
He makes me laugh and shows me cool music and likes to be creative and we laugh at stupid movies or else freak out during intense ones together. Oh and we're both basically freaks at least once a day, usually more. Think of the weirdest thing and then multiply it times a hundred, that's us. No, really.
I love him bunches. I also torture him a lot, because that's part of the job description (see: page 4, section C, "Sister Manual").
He makes me very proud.
He's basically the coolest.
Happy 21st, big brother! I heart you forever. xoxo

Don't Stop Believin'

2009-09-20T19:24:00.000-07:00

This guy is incredible:

2009-09-19T20:37:00.000-07:00

Someone said, "Do one thing every day that scares you."

So I'm gonna go do something I've been afraid to do for too long, right now.

(Supper smells good. Maybe I'll have that first. My nerves will feel better on a full stomach? Or worse? Oh well, I'm hungry; I'll eat first.)

Then I'll do it.

(I've been saying that for days now.)

I want to mean it tonight.

via

I'm ready, I'm ready . . .

2009-09-14T17:32:00.000-07:00

I never really liked this song before, but now I do. This version is beautiful.

use somebody by hayley williams

gorgeous.

2009-09-11T10:34:00.000-07:00

and I keep repeating things.
you remind me, gently,
I've already said that.

oh. and I'm confused.
but there's something important,
I don't think you get,
this is important.
it is important for me to repeat.

you weren't there,
so you don't know.

please believe me,
this is important.
I need to repeat it.

But that's not the way it sounds,
I'm not getting this across very well,
so I apologize, again,
and stumble onwards.

I still can't find a way.
the trying itself is a redundancy.

_____
copyright Miss Erin McIntosh, 2009
please do not reprint without permission
Poetry Friday roundup at Wild Rose Reader

I didn't know phone books did this...

2009-09-09T13:21:00.000-07:00

I've just been sitting here, listening to my iPod (I'm trying to listen to all 966 songs via shuffle before it runs out of battery, current song playing: "Losing Touch" by The Killers, song #71), and flipping through a phone book while I wait for someone to call me back. I noticed that, sprinkled throughout the yellow pages, are a bunch of random inspirational-type quotes. Like a Danish proverb that says "The road to a friend's house is never long," which made my brain go, well that's stupid, I have a good many friends who live miles and miles and miles away. Yeah, yeah, I get that it's a "proverb" and it is "metaphorical." Whatever.

(Another Killers song came on. What is up with this, shuffle? "Took to the spotlight like a diamond ring....")

This quote was one of my favorites: "Some things have to be believed to be seen." —Ralph Hodgson (any relation to the author of The Secret Garden, I wonder?)

"If you want to test your memory, try to remember what you were worrying about one year ago today." —E. Joseph Cossman

The sad thing is, I can remember.

This made me smirk-slash-laugh: "If only God would give me a clear sign! Like making a large deposit in my name at a swiss bank." —Woody Allen (Which reminds me that I still haven't gotten around to renting Annie Hall, even though I keep meaning to.)

I smirked again— "Heredity is what sets the parents of a teenager wondering about each other." —Lawrence J. Peter

Every now and then quotes would repeat, which is pretty lame, I mean, think of all the great quotes in this world, and they had to double them up? This one tripled, which I figure means something important:

"Two important things
are to have a genuine interest in people
and to be kind to them.
Kindness, I've discovered, is everything."
—Isaac Bashevis Singer

And lastly, "A man's greatest strength develops at the point where he overcomes his greatest weakness." —Elmer G. Letterman

And now that I have filled you with your wisdom, smirking, and randomness quota of the day, I will go back to waiting for that phone call. (Song #76: "No Good" by Kate Voegele)

readergirlz news!

2009-09-07T09:17:00.000-07:00

As well as having Kristin Cashore as this month's featured author, readergirlz has some other exciting stuff coming up:

rgz Launch Party with Janet Lee Carey!
Join the STEALING DEATH Launch Party with rgz co-founder, Janet Lee Carey on Wednesday, September 30, at 6 p.m. Pacific/9 p.m. Eastern! We’ll be chatting about her new fantasy release. The chat will be over at the readergirlz blog.

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We are happy to announce our very first Author in Residence, Beth Kephart. This critically acclaimed, gracious writer will be on the rgz team through December. Check out her mini-issue at the rgz website. Watch our blog for Beth’s monthly vlog entries about writing, which will include contests! See her first post here.

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Teen Read Week Tribute!
Do you love YALSA's Teen Read Week? Let it out at your blog through a post or vlog, then send the link to readergirlz@gmail.com. Subject line: Your name, TRW Tribute. We’ll collect all the contributions and post them at the rgz blog in a 24 hour time span. Tell us about your recent release, or a book you love dearly, and then give a shout out for Teen Read Week. The tribute will run October 23!

And here's a sneak preview for the awesome Teen Read Week event we're planning at readergirlz! (Remember last year?) And do we have an unbelievable lineup! Stay tuned for more info later this month...

I'm somewhere else

2009-09-04T12:51:00.000-07:00

He might complain
that we're not seeing
eye-to-eye
—but I've only two.

He might say
I'm ignoring him,
or maybe he'll just feel it.
And it's the truth.

I'd rather read about a goose
and a girl
and a foolish boy chasing wind
than be a goose
or a girl
or a foolish person who chases wind
(I'll stick with tattered pages
and red nail polish, thank you.)

"This lace was my grandmother's," I say to you
(trying to keep a conversation going)
"It is older than me and you
And maybe wiser."

It is not soft to touch,
but neither are you.
It is not comforting, or
even very beautiful,
but then, you're not.
"Why do you keep it then," you ask
(don't think I didn't hear the bitterness)
And I say,
"Because it reminds me of something I love,"
and so do you.

Now my legs are curled up.
Now I am hidden again,
all but that one eye,
the one that doesn't see into yours.
My thoughts and my hair drift across the comforter,
and I don't even notice the door

opening and closing.

_____
copyright Miss Erin McIntosh, 2009
please do not reprint without permission
Poetry Friday roundup at Crossover

I Can't Keep My Own Secrets

2009-09-01T21:26:00.000-07:00

Today is the release day for I Can't Keep My Own Secrets: Six-Word Memoirs by Teens Famous & Obscure! Six words of my own are hidden away inside the pages. Hooray!

I loved the first two six-word memoir collections (Not Quite What I Was Planning and Six-Word Memoirs On Love & Heartbreak, in which I was also published) and I'm very thrilled to be a part of another one. I'm excited also to be in a book alongside friends Traci and Jocelyn . . . oh, and Taylor Swift. :-)

You can order the book on Amazon.com, and find out more at the SMITHTeens website.

Check out the book trailer:

Readergirlz presents: Kristin Cashore

2009-09-01T08:14:00.000-07:00

This month, readergirlz are discussing Graceling by Kristin Cashore.

Read the September issue of readergirlz. There's a playlist for the book, plus book guide questions and party ideas.

Drop by the readergirlz blog to discuss the book with other readers, ALL MONTH LONG!

LIVE CHAT:
Join our hour-long chat with Kristin at the readergirlz blog on Wednesday, September 16th at 6 PM PST/9 PM EST.

today's good (just some)

2009-08-30T18:57:00.000-07:00

live theater
sharing that look with her, the one that said, I know.
a magic trunk on an empty stage
watching an incredible singer and actress perform her soul out in front of us
chills running up my spine during that reprise
seeing my theater family and missing them a lot (and my film family, too) but somehow feeling a little bit okay
remembering and laughing about that time, when you actually thought I--that we--yeah. that time. haha.
hugs from you and you and you and feeling loved.
deja vu
Lisa Mitchell's album Wonder which is beautiful and perfect and I am head over heels for every single song on it
this key
knowing and inspiration rolled into one
tumblr
exchanging truths
a poem I wrote
still trying to make this work and holding out hope that eventually the trying will get easier

2009-08-28T18:43:00.000-07:00

I came home
and everything had overflowed,
overflowed "with madness,"
my mother said,

but to me it looked more
like fine, pure sand
the color of Arizona dust storms
or the bottom of my feet

except for where the light shown
on it, and there
the everything looked golden
Arabian and beautiful
looked like the thoughts in my head
instead of what was before me.

(The walls were chipped too,
just as they had been before,
only more so, and
big water-marks had bubbled up,
ruining the effect.)

_____
copyright Miss Erin McIntosh, 2009
please do not reprint without permission
Poetry Friday roundup at The Boy Reader

there and back again

2009-08-21T15:28:00.000-07:00

I've been home since Sunday night, or to be more exact, early Monday morning.

Being away from (most) technology for almost five weeks wasn't nearly as difficult as I thought it was be, but getting on a computer again felt lovely, I'll admit. The feel of a keyboard under my fingers as I type? Wonderful.

I've been wanting to blog ever since I came back, but I haven't been able to figure out what to say or where to begin. Everyone wants to know, So how was filming? What was it like? and so on.

It was beautiful. That's one thing I can think to say.

I will post more details eventually, over here, probably. For now, though, I just wanted to whisper hello to everyone.

Hello. (this is me on set; happy)

fairy tale

2009-07-14T08:39:00.000-07:00

Once upon a time, there was a little girl who liked to play make believe. She played dress up and pretend almost every single day.
The little girl's mommy would take her to see plays, and afterward meet the actors, and she was in awe. She also fell in love with movies.
One day the little girl realized, I want to do that, too.
It was a very confusing thing, this wanting to be an actor. It always is when one discovers what one is meant to do.
So she set off, head high, up this mountain. Sometimes she would fall and go rolling down the path, stubbing her toes and banging her head. Other times she would take great leaps and bounds, on fire with passion and adrenaline.
She met her best friend, who was also climbing this mountain.
Along the way were a lot of stepping stones, and a lot of crossroads. The girl (maybe not so little anymore) didn't know what path to take, what to do, how to keep climbing. She did the best she could. Every time, she did the best she could.
Each time that it got too steep and she became too tired of this path to carry on, wanting to give up but not being able to, unexpected things would come her way. God was very good to her and gave her lots of blessings. Here a play, there a short film, here a musical, there a workshop....
"My next goal is to be a lead in a play," she said one day.
That year, she was cast as the title character in a play.
"My next goal is to be a lead in a musical," the girl said next.
The very next year, she was.
Now it's the next year. The girl's next goal is to be in a movie. She's dreamed about that, wanted that, her whole life. A real, live, feature-length movie.

And she is.

(be back in a month, lovelies. xoxo)