Hey, everyone!

It’s kind of funny how doing interviews makes me feel a little famous. Seriously. When someone asks me to answer some questions for an interview or to do a book reading at my school, I get all excited. And then I try to figure out what to say and what to wear. Which is when I remember that my one pair of tights has a run (although the biggest problem is that it has also disappeared from my dresser). This leads me to a number of very important questions. Do I really need tights?  Should I go into Portland to buy new ones? Should I go for textured tights?

Apparently they are quite fashionable right now. I love Taylor Swift's look. I have to say though, Taylor Momsen looks like she might want to kill me and then do a creepy ritual around my remains.

And, okay, maybe tights really aren’t the most important things in the world, but when it’s your first official book reading you want to look nice. Even if it’s just for all your fellow Lewis & Clark students who have seen you in your shlubby lazing around pants and oversized sweatshirts. Of course, I should be thinking about what section(s) I want to read aloud. It’s just so much easier to obsess over accessories. Which means I’m sort of allowing myself to do that instead.

It’s also easier to do that than to work on my math homework.

So, where and when will this awesome even be held?

Friday, April 23 at 3pm in the Watzek Library Classroom (at Lewis & Clark College).

If you want to check out the official posting, click here!

And if you want to read the interview I did for Purple Pen Adventures click here. I discuss writing, music, and authors. Fun stuff, right?

Since I’ve been doing so much writing about writing, it’s probably time for me to actually do, you know, writing. Over spring break I worked diligently on my current story. And then I came back to school where homework has a tendency to get in the way. But I will survive. One image will push me through.

It's my disapproving "Mom" face. And it's also my screensaver. Guilt can be a pretty good motivator.

Bye for now! I hope to see all you Portlanders at my reading (Please, oh please, don’t leave me speaking to an empty room).

More later.

Obsessively yours,

Marni

Hey, everyone!

So, when I was a kid, I loved Julie Andrews. I still do, actually. And not just because she wrote The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles.

One of my all time favorite books! I cannot recommend it strongly enough.

Like everyone else in America, I loved her in The Sound of Music.

Sister Maria and I both lose track of the time. A lot.

And my favorite scene (well, one of them) was when Maria is on her way to meet the Von Trapp kids. See, she doesn’t know that their dad is super cute or that the kids are way talented (and secretly sweet).

I totally wanted Julie Andrews as my babysitter!

So she’s totally freaking out. And what better thing to do than sing?

And you can't sing an up-beat, you-can-do-it, type song without dancing.

So Julie Andrews just starts belting out that she has confidence. And it doesn’t matter if everyone on the street looks at her funny. Because no one can bring Julie Andrews down. Not when she’s skipping so enthusiastically and repeating, “I have confidence in sunshine/ I have confidence in rain/ I have confidence that spring will come again/ And, as you can see, I have confidence in ME!”

But, let’s face it, in middle school and high school a lot of kids believe this is how to go about getting a self-esteem booster:

DON'T do it! Abort mission! I repeat, ABORT!

So what does this have to do with anything?

Well, right before Spring Break my school newspaper, the Lewis & Clark Pioneer Log, interviewed me. And yesterday when I got back to campus one of the first things I did was hunt down a copy. I am totally one of those people who enjoys googling themselves and seeing what comes up. I don’t understand celebrities who are all “oh, I don’t pay attention to the tabloids. I just focus on my career.” It’s a cool outlook and probably a healthy one, but I wonder if they aren’t also guilty of some secret Googling. Anyhow, I knew I was going to enjoy the article when I saw the heading: Marni: Not just another teenage autobiography.

Okay, I admit it, maybe I like the heading a wee bit too much. Anyhow, I was grinning hugely as I perused the article, until I read: The reason Marni Bates is not the average college student is her radiant confidence and wisdom.

That’s when I burst out laughing.

Because, me? Radiant confidence? Someone obviously never saw me back in high school. I don’t think I was ever “radiant” with anything. Unless perhaps my geekdom glowed?

And while, yeah, I’m doing much better self-esteem wise now, I still doubt myself plenty. And every time I work on a story, I wonder how long it will be before someone comes up to me and says “Marni, why are you writing that? Don’t you know to show not tell!?” Or maybe they’ll point out, in a voice laced with contempt, that my characters are flat, my writing style is stiff, and my vocabulary is lacking in sophistication. Ouch.

So you could say that I have confidence issues. And that by continuing to write, by typing against my inner critic, I try to battle them. And by thinking of the way Julie Andrews  just asserts: hey, I’m here. And I’m going to babysit the heck out of this family!, I’ve got a goal. And it’s not to be full of radiant confidence all the time. I’ve got a feeling some people (and all my family members) might find that obnoxious. No, I just want to get really good at giving myself confidence pep talks. So that every now and then I can feel like this:

Sometimes it’s good to see your inner lion, right?

I better stop procrastinating and get back to work.

More later.

Obsessively yours,

Marni

Hey, everyone!

Alright, usually I have caplock control. I try to refrain from blasting everyone with stuff like: OH MY GOD, I HAVE SUCH GREAT NEWS!

But I’m making a small exception.

Here’s what happened:

I, Marni Bates, am on the New York Public Library Stuff for the Teen Age 2010 list!

For the past 80 years, the New York Public Library staff have been compiling a list of the best titles from the previous year. Oh, and these lists? Yeah, my FAVORITE authors have been on them. The ones I would kill to meet in person.

Like Meg Cabot:

She is so cool! Love her books, her blog, and her screenplay. I'd totally get star-struck if we met though.

And Laurie Halse Anderson:

Her book, Speak, was probably the best thing I read during the brief time I spent in middle school. Such a moving story about a girl who is raped. But trust me, there is way more to it than that.

I admit: I have yet to read her other books, but I intend to read Wintergirls as soon as possible!

Love the cover!

It is such an honor to be selected. This vote of confidence, in my autobiography and my ability as a writer, has spurred me to attack my current work in progress with renewed vigor. And, yes, I completely freaked out. Just ask my roommate: there was screaming. And hyperventilating. And more than a little jumping.

I called up every member of my family, vibrated my way through dinner, and went out with friends for some celebratory pie.

No celebration is complete without pie!

And my super awesome friends were very understanding of the way I’d randomly blurt out “oh my god”, “on the list”, and “up there with Meg Cabot!” They didn’t even ask me if I suffered from Tourettes.

Maggie and Kristin make everything sweeter. Pun intended.

You’d think I’d have calmed down a bit since the e-mail (and I probably have) but seeing the list today gave me such a rush. If you want to check it out go to: Stuff for the Teen Age.

Just thinking about the New York Public Library makes me shiver (in a good way).

So that’s the big news!

More later.

Obsessively yours,

Marni

Hey, everyone!

So, technically my theatrical debut (since Middle School) happened last year. I was a Vagina.

Now, I know that sounds weird. Really weird. A tad bit creepy, to be honest. Let me explain: I was in the Vagina Monologues.

One of the best experiences from my freshman year.

Every year, around Valentine’s Day, Lewis & Clark puts on a production of this play. And while it may sound . . . unnerving having a group of women  in the Lewis & Clark Chapel performing excerpts of this play, it’s quite empowering. Because, as the play points out, the female body is often shrouded in mystery. The word “vagina” alone kinda creeped me out my freshman year. I had to get over that fast and, much to my surprise, I did. Two days into rehearsals and I was casually asking “Vagina rehearsal at 8, right?” and “Oh, remind me, which vagina are you?” That was the year I had the Angry Vagina.

I’m not making this up. At the auditions, one of my friends saw the title My Angry Vagina and jokingly handed it to me.

“Marni, needs to release her inner anger!” She insisted.

Since I don’t have a whole lot of inner anger, and what I do have I keep well hidden, I thought this was a stretch. But I auditioned, and much to my amazement, got the part. Then I fell in love with the part. And when I stood up in front of the school, knees shaking and heart palpitating, I brought the house down with my complaints about tampons, thongs, and doctors visits. Which became a bit awkward when a solid two weeks later people were still telling me in the cafeteria that I’d been a “great vagina.” Rather disconcerting to hear while waiting in line for a sandwhich.

This year though, my piece was called Because He Liked to Look at It. And, yes, it has it’s awkward moments too. But I really connected with the point that our standards of beauty come from our culture. And, let’s be honest, most of those standards are completely unachievable. Because I can workout on the treadmill every single day, exist purely on spinach, and I’ll still never look like this:

Kristen Bell. Stunning and super cool. Me? Jealous. Nah . . .

Anyhow, I vote that we love the bodies we’re in. Because that seems like a much better option than burying yourself under a pound of cosmetics or going under the knife.

But back to the Vagina Monologues!

I love this poster! I wish our school's had been this cool.

If you want to watch me perform my monologue you can see it here:

Marni Vagina Monologue

(Warning: this piece has massive amounts of awkwardness and may not be for everyone. If you are concerned, you can always ask a parent to view it first. Or, do what I usually do, watch until I feel uncomfortable and then stop.)

So now everyone who has read my book can see me too!

I hope you enjoy!

More later.

Obsessively yours,

Marni