Greetings! I just returned from visiting two awesome high schools today — Casa Grande High School (home of the Gauchos) and Petaluma High School (home of the Trojans), both in the lovely town of Petaluma, California — as part of Holidaze With the Debs. (Of course, Casa Grande and Petaluma are arch rivals!)
Me and Cheryl Renee Herbsman (author of BREATHING), at Petaluma High
(Apologies to Casa Grande — I neglected to take a photo with any of your Gaucho landmarks.)
It was a lot of fun, and we met some fantastic teens, both readers and writers. It can be a little tiring, though, to talk about yourself. (Seriously!) I talk about myself a lot on this blog (since it’s mine, of course), but I only do it because I’m hoping some of you find it entertaining. So today I’m flipping the tables and asking you to tell me a little about you. You can tell me anything you want! But if you’d like some direction, I have a question for you: What was the name of your high school sports team? (Mine were the Centaurus Warriors.)
And if you didn’t go to high school in the U.S. or your high school didn’t have a sports team, what did you eat for lunch today? (I had a goat cheese, tomato and basil omelette.)
So … tell me about yourself!
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Howdy Malinda
Not being based in the US (hello fellow Australians!), I can’t answer the sports team question. All our sports teams were pretty much just named after the school. Massive creativity FAIL!!
Anyhoo, lunch today was a roast pork roll with gravy (to die for) with a side of potato salad (bacon ftw!!).
The highlight of my week was placing (yet) another massive book order through Amazon, which naturally included Ash, seeing as my last book order was just before it was released. It should arrive Monday, so I’m pretty excited about that!
Bob
Hi Bob, thanks for your comment (and for ordering ASH)! Mmm pork. Can’t go wrong.
Hello!
I can’t answer the sports team question either. French high schools tend to forget that people are not made entirely of brains, so there are no sports teams, only classes after classes… But I didn’t mind that much…
Here, it’s breakfast time, and I’m having coffee with large butter and jam toasts.
This is some sort of ritual now: breakfast and blog-reading.
The “bad” part of the day is coming next. I’m killing my brain cells over a research on 18th century french literature, and forgotten texts in which people walk around their town and write about that strange experiment (walking is weird in the 18th century, only bad people walk). Believe it or not, it’s fascinating!
Is there any french translation of Ash on the way? Please come and visit this side of the planet, my copy needs signing!
And keep on writing! can’t wait to read more of your work ^^
Have a nice day/night
Julia
Hi Julia! Wow, researching 18th century French literature about walking. Actually it does sound fascinating … and kind of romantic in a weird way!
So far, French rights have not been sold for ASH, so at this time it’s not coming out in France. You never know, of course, what the future holds.
St. Teresa’s Academy (STA) Stars. All-girls. Always did really well as I recall, but I was not a sports kid. I was a drama/music/literature/arts kid.
Looking forward to Ash. It’s my reward for meeting some nasty deadlines this week!
Hi Shannon, thanks for your comment! I was a drama/music/lit/arts kid, too. But I forced myself to play tennis. (I sucked.)
High schools in Israel have sports teams, but they remain nameless.
I played handball all throughout elementary school & high school. and let me clarify: we don’t play softball in Israel, so handball is “our” “breeding ground”. OK, I thinks that’s enough quotation marks.
My lunch was far from thrilling, so I’ll share other exciting news: I won a rather important case in the Supreme Court this week, which makes for a permanent change in Israeli banking law. so, that was kinda nice
Wow, congratulations, Hadas!
Also, I think that handball is like the rest of the world’s softball (for lesbians).
Hello! My high school sports team was the Rams… so, during girl’s cross country season we were the “lady rams”.
I haven’t eaten lunch yet, so I can’t talk about that. I can mention why I started following the blog. I enjoy reading the commentary on GLBTQ issues and I’m in library school, so it’s also interesting to read things from different authors’ points of view.: )
Hi Sam, thanks for your comment. Lady Rams, love it.
Hey Malinda:
I just starting Ash, intrigued with your take on the traditional fairy tale… I use fairy tales as inspiration for my stories, adding a sort of spooky, twilight-zone-ish twist to them. I think coming from a gay perspective can create a whole new take on the “classics”. So I’m loving what you’ve written.
Right now I’m researching the labor movement in 19th century New York for a story about a female river pirate… it’s a steam punk tale involving gang politics, blind orphans and diabolical toys.
My high school team? Wauwatosa West Trojans! Unfortunately, even then the name lent itself to H.S. humor!
Haven’t had lunch yet, but I’m about to make myself an egg and cheese sandwich.
Hope your day is swell.
Gabriel
Hi Gabriel, thanks for your comment! Glad you’re enjoying ASH so far. Your steampunk/pirate story sounds like a lot of fun, and I’m cracking up over the Wauwatosa West Trojans. I think these high school administrators just liked to punish the teens involved.
Hi Malinda!
My school’s sports teams are the “Jaguars”! =)
I’ll go ahead and answer both questions, though.
For lunch I had a grilled chicken sandwich, and a friend gave me a slice of pound cake to eat after.
I just finished reading Ash on Tuesday, though, and I must say that I enjoyed it from start to finish! I can’t wait to read your next book. =)
Hi Taylor, thanks for your comment and I’m glad you liked ASH! I love pound cake. Someday I will make one.
Hi malinda,
My high school team was the Talbots. Which is an extinct dog breed favoured by Henry VIII at Hampton Court. Our football team’s record was about right for the name.
I had leftover cottage pie for lunch, which has lentils, carrots, swede and wholegrain mustard mashed potatoes on top. Yum.
I found your blog both via Twitter and AfterEllen (loved the dating vlogs you did before you left). Left a comment the other day and I was dorkily excited to see you’d replied. I really enjoy your perspectives on writing and LGBT issues. I think I saw that Ash is meant to be published in the UK next year, I look forward to reading it and hope you get to do a European, or at least British, book tour! All the best.
Hi Rachel, thanks for your comment. The Talbots — that is a really funny team name. Cottage pie sounds delicious!
I would love to do a British book tour but it doesn’t look like it’s in the cards for me. Bummer, though, I love the UK.
Wow, that is so cool that you went to a Petaluma high school, I graduated from Sonoma State 2 years ago! I absolutely loved it there and Petaluma was a really cool place to be. I love it when I know what places people are talking about, it give me a good visual too!
My high school mascot was the panther. We were the Mack High Panthers. Black and red colors for uniforms…I have never looked at a black and red outfit the same way since!
Hi Emily, thanks for your comment. Yes, not only did I visit two Petaluma high schools, I gave a talk at Sonoma State earlier this month! So I’ve apparently been visiting your old stomping grounds. Panthers — a very classic high school team name.
Hey there.
My high school mascot was the knight. I played soccer my junior year (after being cut my freshman year and being too cranky about it to try out the next year even though the coach that cut me wasn’t coaching that year) and we were the lady knights. Because putting lady in front of it makes it any better… My freshman year rec soccer team was the Strikers. I was mostly a band geek though. At least the band won stuff. My high school’s sports teams generally sucked. We bandos had to stand until the football team got a point. There were several games we spent standing.
I’ll tell you about lunch and dinner yesterday, but both of my last two meals were frozen and prepackaged before I ate them. Dinner was frozen pizza, it was chicken, spinach and mushrooms with a white base, and lunch was szechuan chicken, but it wasn’t very good. I’m looking forward to going to the kitchen and eating some vanilla almond granola when I get done with this post.
Thanks for your comment, Hillary. Lady Knights! You know, the female knight in Tamora Pierce’s BLOODHOUND are actually referred to as “Lady Knight,” I believe. Like a title.
You’re right! I hadn’t even thought about that before. I always thought the lady part was sort of silly, but that does make me feel a little better about it. Since I left junior high and middle school, they have changed mascots from the bulldog and the mountain lion, to the squire. I think thats taking the knight theme a little far, but it is kind of clever
Hillary: the knights’ ladies would have made more sense!
I think sports teams ought to have feminine names, and then they should put “gentlemen” in front of them.
For example, at the University of Illinois, there has been a dispute for many years about the mascot being an American Indian “chief.” My idea is to change the mascot to the endangered, locally indigenous, “Prairie Chickens” and to call the men’s teams, “the Gentlemen Chickens.”
If they’re so great at basketball, their egos should be able to handle that, right?
I *love* the idea of the Gentlemen Chickens. Awesome.
We were the Lions…so the Lady Lions Basketball and Softball teams were where I spent much of my high school life.
For lunch I had leftover Christmas pasta (spinach, tomato, italian sausage, and bowties).
I can’t wait to pick up a copy of Ash.
Thanks for your comment, Eva! Christmas pasta — sounds like a good idea.
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