Anyways.

Exciting news! I was on CBC Radio’s Definitely Not the Opera today (February 26th)! I talked about dropping out of high school and teenagers and writing and I was interviewed by Sook-Yin Lee. If you want to hear the show, you can go to this page and download it. Or you can just right click and save this link. My segment starts at 32:50 and goes until 40:39!

It’s all very lucky this happened because just this week I was thinking about how I hadn’t blogged anything for a while and then I was thinking about how things were so boring there was barely anything TO blog about so maybe that made it okay and then I decided it’s still been too long and I should blog ANYWAY and long story short, I was like thisclose to talking about how obsessed I have been with the Resident Evil movies lately, to the point where I sometimes stop whatever I’m working on and daydream about how many dangerous things I wish I was capable of doing while wearing a red dress with combat boots.

So this was basically a neat and unexpected turn of events. My first radio interview! With the CBC, no less. Trivia: ever since Cracked Up to Be to be came out my parents–die hard CBC listeners/viewers–have been trying to pressure me into figuring out a way to let the CBC know I exist because how awesome would that be? I could not deny it would be awesome but it also felt like ~The Impossible Dream~ so I just smiled and nodded whenever they started talking about it and went back to work.

Besides, I couldn’t really figure out the logistics for such things, either. Like, do I run up to the studio doors and set my books in front of them and run away and hope for the best? I am sure there are more professional ways to introduce yourself to the CBC but as an extremely introverted hermit writer that was the only one that truly sat well with me.

Needless to say, it was a teensy bit shocking when a very nice producer by the name of Joff emailed and asked if I’d be interested in sharing my story about dropping out for their show about Kids in Charge. First thing I thought after saying yes and ascertaining that my parents had not done the whole book-drop-and-flee thing while my back was turned?

WHAT WILL I WEAR?

I know, I know. Radio. Yes. Still, just because you can’t see me on the radio doesn’t mean I couldn’t see MYSELF.

And I would now like you to imagine me as beautifully and impeccably dressed while I relate the rest of this story.

So it was all organized and on Friday morning I was on my way to CFRC in Kingston, so I could sit in their studio and talk to Sook-Yin Lee, who would be in Toronto and Joff, who would be in Winnipeg. RADIO MAGIC. It was the most nervewracking drive ever. I’ve been a fan of Sook-Yin Lee since I was little and she was on MuchMusic and it was hard to wrap my head around the idea of like. Talking to her. And it was hard to wrap my head around the idea of talking out loud for radio purposes and having those things that I said be heard by lots of people. I mean, I write so I don’t have to talk, you guys. Writing is the only way I sound vaguely articulate. Everything that comes out of my mouth in real life sounds like “HA HA HA VELOCIRAPTORS SPARKLES ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE BOOK 4 DEADLINES WHEE [ANGRY YELLING]!”

My mom and sister came with me. Moral support. What could possibly go wrong with them nearby? Their excitement levels kept my panic levels equalized.

But in some ways they also made them worse.

Example:


Mom: Can I bring the camera?
Me: No.
Mom: Come on!
Me: I don’t want my picture taken!
Mom: Let me bring the camera.
Me: …
Mom: Pleeaaaaaaseeee?
Me: Fine. But DON’T use the flash, okay?
Mom: I would never! Give me some credit, here.


So I got to CRFC early and hung out in the lounge with my family, anxiously staring at clocks. Counting down the seconds. And then it was just about time! I was taken into the recording area (my sister and mom sat in the room outside of it and we could see each other through a big window) by the nice guy working there, sat on a stool and then a microphone was put directly in front of my face and my nervousness increased EXPONENTIALLY. For a second there, I was legitimately concerned I would fall off my stool. Or be sick to my stomach. On the mic. That wouldn’t have been very cool so I turned to the window so I could maybe get a thumbs-up or a wave of encouragement from my mom and my sister that would make me feel better when

And then of course it was time to go on.

And I couldn’t see anything.

So that is the story of how my mother temporarily blinded me.

I mean, of how I was interviewed for DNTO.

It was fun! Sook-Yin Lee is amazing and so was Joff. I have to admit, it will be a while before I’ll be able to listen to the segment myself (nerveees) but my parents were really pleased with it and that is good enough for me. I hope you are too because that would also be awesome.

Next, my friend Linda Grimes, recently announced HER two book deal with Tor! That makes us Macmillan cousins, I think! Linda’s blog is amazing, so just imagine how fantastic her books are gonna be! I am so excited for her and cannot wait to read both of ‘em!

And finally, remember Mindi Scott and her incredible debut Freefall? I had the pleasure of interviewing her recently! Well, she announced the sale of her sophomore novel, Live Through This, and it’s hitting shelves Fall 2012. As a total fan of hers, my anticipation hat is ON.

Yay Emily, Linda and Mindi! That’s my kind of good news!

Anndddd on that note–it is now back to the revision cave. Thanks for your patience while I’m dropped off the face of the planet. More from me when I get out… if I ever get out.

*ominous music*

Also:

For those of you keeping track at home: 63/270 pages revised.

Here is a video that pretty much sums up how I feel about revisions most of the time:

Exciting news: C.K. Kelly Martin released her book trailer for One Lonely Degree. Oh my God, you guys. I can’t wait for this book. Check it out. It’s freaking awesome. I love the breaths and I love the “should I?”–it’s like, BAM!

*cracks knuckles*

Cracked Up to Be–the trailer and the book–is on the New Media Minute!!!

Check it out right here:

!!! Like, I’d record how loudly I squealed when I saw this and upload it so you could all listen, but then you would all go deaf (I may have deafened my family, who witnessed the moment) and then you would probably have a viable lawsuit against me for that. Especially if I didn’t put up a proper disclaimer, which I wouldn’t because I AM SO EXCITED ABOUT THIS.

Thank you, Daisy!

It has been a good week for me, so far! I also discovered Tim Horton’s Smoothies and they are amazing. I mean, they’re not new on the menu or anything, but I had never ordered one before because I am all about Double Doubles and Ice Caps. Anyway, I am happy to report that I have a new Drink. Butter Caramel, oh yeah. And then tonight I am going to try the pumpkin smoothie! And then maybe in two days, I will have the MINT. My life is a thrill-a-minute, I’m telling you.

Thank God for news in the form of the New Media Minute, because I am so hard up for things to write about these days, I honestly could’ve dragged out an entire blog entry about a smoothie.

Maybe I still will, though. They’re pretty damn good.

And I can take absolutely zero credit for this. The wonderful Daisy Whitney introduced me to the equally wonderful Sheila Clover English of Readers Entertainment TV/Circle of Seven Productions, who did some mad distributing on my behalf.

For those of you who don’t know, book trailers began with COS (and this book trailer junkie BOWS DOWN to them–God, I love book trailers). So it was pretty cool being in contact with them for that alone aka cue fangirl. Within a day of sending Sheila the wmv file, my trailer was live everywhere. Like, my google alerts went absolutely crazy over it, which was pretty exciting. I would’ve had to clear a week off my calendar to get it in half the places they did. I get incredibly overwhelmed just thinking about it.

I have to be honest–it can be a lot daunting out here as a new author trying to do as much of the self-promo thing as can be done from my own laptop and in 24 hours, these guys made it a whole lot easier for me. I’m in total awe of and very grateful for the support they offer the writing community and the incredible work they do.

AND it’s not just that they helped me get my trailer out there–it’s that they really love and believe in books and that they’re committed to connecting them with as many readers as possible. That’s a wonderful thing. If you’re in a position where you need to get your work out there like this, don’t look any further than Circle of Seven/Readers Entertainment TV. Thank you, Sheila!

Except maybe zombies.

Things about zombies that I know:

They eat brains.
They eat YOUR brains.
They are flammable.
But not as flammable as Edward Cullen.
Who is extremely flammable, as it turns out.
They are slow moving, except when they run.
In which case we are all screwed.
They don’t live in trees.
Certain zombie animals probably do, though.
Like zombie birds.
Occasionally, zombies show glimmers of intelligence.
But you are supposed to shoot them before they get to that point.
You can’t have sex with a zombie.
SERIOUSLY YOU CAN’T.
And I don’t know why you would want to.
But apparently some people do.
I learned that from Showcase after 2 am.
Showcase is very educational after 2 am.

~fin~

I just chuckled and shook my head.

So me and this trailer have been through a lot together. It is like the boyfriend I kept telling you I had and assured you was really awesome and sexy for so long but refused to let you meet so you probably started doubting its existence like, SURE you have this awesome and sexy boyfriend Courtney… in your HEAD!, and then it accidentally leaked on Janet Reid’s blog and a bunch of people saw it before it was taken down, which was pretty freaking cool, as it put me in this elite club of people who can say their book trailers have leaked (it is also something I have in common with musicians–in fact, I’m pretty sure that MAKES me a musician in a way, which is good because that’s how I advertise myself: COURTNEY SUMMERS, AUTHOR/MUSICIAN).

Anyway, I should just stop segueing and show you, right? Here it is! My sexy book trailer!

A little bit about the trailer: I made it on Windows Movie Maker (came with my computer), and taught myself the ropes through trial and error (the final version was NOT my first attempt at a book trailer). The hand-drawn elements, the hangman, the broken heart and the failing grade, were done by me and my mom and scanned onto the computer. Ta-da!

My talented and wonderful friends, Veronique Moisan of Veronique Moisan Photography (if you’re in the Montreal area and need a photographer, look no further than Vero) and Kimberly Hutt of What Claudia Wore (if you don’t know the snarky deliciousness of What Claudia Wore yet, you must live under a rock) let me use their incredible photographs for the trailer, with the exception of the school washroom photo, which is mine.

The fantastic music is by Brad Sucks, with his permission. It’s the instrumental version of Look and Feel Years Younger, from his album I Don’t Know What I’m Doing, which I own and is great, if you’re into excellent music. For those of you who don’t know what Brad Sucks is about, check out his website and his wikipedia page. As we all know, music plays no small part in the moving pictures industry (there is no other reason I cried at that AT&T commercial back in the day, ok) and Brad Sucks is the reason the CUTB trailer literally rocks (PS, his new album, Out of It, is available for pre-order now!).

Making the trailer for Cracked Up to Be was a painless and relatively easy experience. With built-in video editing software on like, all computers and the internet at your fingertips and Creative Commons licensing all over various forms of media (photographs and music–essential book trailer stuff), I seriously can’t think of ONE reason why an author wouldn’t attempt to reach people in this way. Cost doesn’t have to be an issue–you don’t need to hire someone to do it–and being a technophobe is NOT a good enough excuse, sry2say (my pet DEGUS can use Windows Movie Maker).

Does a good book trailer translate into sales? Who knows, but at the end of the day, I’d have rather tried it than not. And at the end of the day, if I enjoyed making it and you enjoyed watching it, that’s what counts.

And I hope you enjoyed watching it.

Thanks again to Vero and Kim for use of their photos, Brad for use of his tunes and my mommy for drawing the broken heart on the post-it. Without you guys, Tyra would have laughed this book trailer off the runaway, but instead, Tyra thinks it’s ~*fierce*~.

She told me so.

I hope book trailers will be an enduring trend. I think they’re exciting. I think they’re exciting because, by nature, I’m a visual person and–as a consumer–I like the way book trailers sell to me. I also think of them as exciting because book trailers can be daring and gorgeous and inspiring and provoking WHILE still selling you something. It all depends on the execution. So I think I am saying they can be art! Yes, I believe I am. Am I giving book trailers too much credit? WHO KNOWS.

Maybe it would help to know that I think the Sony Bravia ads are stunning and that this Liberty Mutual ad gets me every single time. I’m not going to begrudge them their brilliance (or what I feel is brilliance–art is subjective, yo) just because they’re trying to get me to buy a television and life insurance respectively. I get something out of them (ie I enjoyed them) and I appreciate how they’ve done what they’re trying to do. I feel the same about a good book trailer.

Anyway, here are some of my favourite book trailers and why. If you are an author interested in making a book trailer for your book, or someone who would like to get into the business of making book trailers, everything I say about them is something you should TAKE TO HEART, as we all know I am the final word on EVERYTHING.

(On that note, BLACKOUT SHOULD HAVE BEEN BRITNEY’S COMEBACK CD AND I AM STILL SAD IT WASN’T BECAUSE GOD IT’S SO GOOD.)