X-Rated

This weekend I got to indulge my inner naughty girl and attend Erotica LA Expo. My attendance was for research (I swear!) for a project I am currently working on. And no, not for the middle grade book I'm about to write. When I first entered the convention floor and was confronted with chocolate lollipops depicting various..uh..er...erogenous zones I felt myself become flustered. Now you might be surprised that I would feel any sort of embarrassment about something sexual (especially if you've read the sex scenes in Hollywood Girls Club) but writing a sex scene alone, on my computer is actually remarkably different than walking through a convention center with a thousand people (many of them in various stages of undress)looking at sex toys.

I admit there was very little that shocked or surprised me aside from one very large booth that sported cartoon films...porn meets sci-fi...think Star Wars convention meets Cathouse, meets Vivid. I was impressed with the branding elements (not like the kind used on cattle) that some porn stars now use. I guess Jenna Jameson is the Julia Roberts/Cameron Diaz of porn and she has her own brand of clothing and a group of exotic dancers. I was also surprised at how closely mainstream entertainment advertising parallels porn advertising and wondered when (if ever) the two will converge? I know from my research that porn actually eclipses Hollywood by almost double the dollar amount every year.

And although I left my judgments at home there was something about standing around watching older men, watch (and videotape) young women gyrate and slide up and down a pole that left me feeling like I needed to take a shower. I understand sexual empowerment and I'm totally down with women owning their sexuality and taking control of their orgasm and doing what they want with their bodies...I am OKAY with that. But when I watch some of these young women (and I mean YOUNG) I had to ask myself how many fully understand the choice they are making? How many are actually making a choice? How many feel forced or coerced into what they do? Will their older self regret their youthful decision to strip, pose, and/or have sex for money? Yeah, I know I'm suddenly getting deep and asking questions that I never would have asked at 22...but now I'm a mother. A mother of two girls. And the thought of my daughters expressing themselves sexually, in public, for pay well that idea yesterday left me speechless. As liberal as I propose to be, I wouldn't be down with that at all.

Wow, I guess becoming a Mom does change everything.

xoMaggie

Cover Art, Television, and Ally Carter

Oooohhhh! I just got cover art for Secrets of The Hollywood Girls Club and I love it! I can't show the cover art just yet...but when I can, I will. The cover is sexy and enticing. Crown is using my all time favorite color turquoise for the lettering. On another note I got a great piece of fan mail from a television actress yesterday. (Gotta love the fan mail!)

Hi, Maggie- what a fantastic read! I just finished "Hollywood Girls Club"
and I absolutely loved it. I live in LA and work in the entertainment business
and I thought you captured the spirit of "the business" so completely.
I've recommended the book to all of my friends (on this coast and the
other coast) and am really looking forward to reading your next book.

Thank you, thank you thank you! We started emailing and next came a question as to HGC and television:

are there any plans to make the book into a TV show???

I guess the best answer is, yes! There are 'plans' but no buyer yet. ICM (my agency and former employer) represents the film and television rights for HGC and are discussing it w/buyers and producers. I plan for HGC to be a television show. I see the cast, the story, the opening scene all in my mind. The best pitch to describe Hollywood Girls Club both as a book and a television series is Entourage meets Sex And The City (two of my all time favorite shows..and one was also a very fun book).

Now for GREAT BOOK NEWS. A new segment that I am starting in support of all the great books in the world. I got to read an ARC (that's an Advance Reading Copy)that I received at BEA (that's Book Expo America) of Cross My Heart And Hope to Spy by Ally Carter (Hyperion 10/07). And it is FANTASTIC! Super Fabulous! The book is YA and a follow up to the best selling I'd Tell You I Love You But Then I'd Have To Kill You (which I loved and just came out in PAPERBACK.) I'm HOOKED! Can't wait for book number three. Cross My Heart And Hope To Spy (as well as I'd Tell You I Love You But Then I'd Have To Kill You) is a must read for teenage girls and everyone that's ever been a teenage girl... The book is empowering and yet girly...is that possible? Only in Ally Carter's capable hands.

xo Maggie

Back And Better Than Before

Last night I slept in my own bed for the first time in 21 nights. No, I am not living the sexually exotic life of a nubile young actress trying to get her first agent. I've been on the road and what an exciting trip it's been! Two lost car seats, one stolen laptop, two stolen jackets, three stolen skirts, one misdirected bag, and one lost debit card. BUT the good news? We sold TONS of books! And I met hundreds of people! Wonderful wonderful people who bought my book and attended my signings. Thank you to all the friends and family that housed and fed my family while we were on the road. Such a joy to spend time with all of them and sooo much better than hauling two little girls from hotel room to hotel room.

Did I mention the stolen laptop? There are few things that someone could steal from a writer that would cause them to collapse into a heap and sob with such desolate wails. I've not been so heartbroken since 8th grade when Brandon Meyer was embarrassed that I wore his football jersey on jersey day. So I have the new laptop and I am recovering...literally and figuratively from the loss of what will forever be known as Apple I and am getting Apple II up and running. So please, if I had your email address or contact info, for whatever reason, RESEND. I am thankful that I didn't lose my second book..that my agent had an updated copy! My editor, Lindsey The Magnificent, has given me some time to get back up to speed. And today is my first day back on the laptop, emailing, and looking at my garden as I write.
xo Maggie

Greetings From The Road

First stop, Bloomington-Normal, Illinois...or my adopted hometown. I went to high school in Bloomington-Normal many many MANY years ago. I am a University High School Graduate (Go Pioneers!) And even though I no longer have 'family' in B-town, I do have friends! Lots and lots of friends. So coming home to Bloomington-Normal is always fun, and especially if you have a book signing! Last night Barnes & Noble was kind enough to host my first Mid-western Book Tour signing. (Pics soon, I promise) Thank you to Tara Jacquin, Barnes & Noble's Community Relations Manager who did a great job promoting and hosting the Hollywood Girls Club book signing! I also must thank Dan Croft who wrote a fantastic article in the Pantagraph about Hollywood Girls Club. As well as WBNQ, Magic 100.7 and WJBC all of whom gave me radio time. Thank you for WEEK TV, I got to be on both the Noon show and the 9 pm news! And to two people who made all the media coverage possible RC Raycraft and Leslie Ferguson (my PR Maven/Magician). As I mentioned B-town was our first stop and we sold 50 books! Next up; Rockford!

Thank You To The Soldiers

Yesterday, in the Saint Louis airport I cried. I cried for two men I've never met and probably never will. The first man, if you want to call him that, couldn't be much older than 18. I watched as his father hugged him and sobbed, his little sister embraced him with tears rolling down her cheeks and his mother tried desperately not to cry and told him to keep his chin up. I watched him get into the security line wearing his desert fatigues, in fact I stepped aside to let him get in line in front of me. Because, that was right, and just, because he's going to fight for me. The second man, was really a man. Perhaps my age. I watched him hug his wife, while she held their three year old daughter. I watched his two other girls most likely six and eight hold on to each of his legs. Yes, I cried for these two men and their families yesterday and I am crying right now as I type. I have two children and a husband to hug any of them good by is difficult but to hug them good by as they head to war? I can't begin to imagine. Now, I hate this war. I believe we, the American people were told a bunch of great big lies. There were no WMD's. Saddam Hussein had NOTHING to do with 9/11. And I believe these lies stem from greed. Greed, from a bunch of middle aged men who are helping their buddies become rich from oil and war profiteering. And the tragedy is that they are using the brave men and women in our military to fill their pockets full of money. But I have only gratitude for these soldiers. Men and women who go because America asks them to go. And I thank them. I thank the soldiers and their families for their sacrifice. Because it is a sacrifice. So thank you. I know my words of thanks are not enough, nothing could be. But, thank you. Please be safe and come home soon.
xo Maggie