When Swift hosted Saturday Night Live last week, she was funny! Here is the video “Monologue” from that:

And her performance on SNL:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZU0KjdkBaM]

One more week until “New Moon”! Do you have your tickets yet? I do! (Yes, I’m way too excited about it).

I’ve been reading faster and more often these days, so I have two book reviews this week:

“Evermore” by Alyson Noel

St. Martin’s, 2009

Thoughts

I’m not usually a paranormal fan, but this reminded me somewhat of “Twilight.” It has a contemporary feel and a great love story with a lot of mystery that keeps you turning the pages. If you enjoy paranormal YA romance, I would recommend this author. This book is part of the “Immortals” series, and the second book (the sequence to “Evermore”) was released a couple of months ago.

“Lost It” By Kristen Tracy

Info

Simon Pulse, 2007

Thoughts

This contemporary YA is about a girl who loses her virginity, and the way she deals with it, along with her struggling family situation. The author has a great voice and style that keep you moving through the story. I liked the ending and how the character was changed even though we don’t quite know what will end up happening in her life.

Keep reading and have a great week!

Is Taylor Swift dating Taylor Lautner? I don’t know, but that would be pretty sweet (we’ll all feel some sort of satisfaction that Edward wasn’t the only one to snag a good girl). Taylor Swift just put out a killer video called “Fifteen.” Go for your dreams girls and forget those boys (unless they’re buying you Starbucks, of course, then give them a few minutes of your time).

Miley Raps—Or at Least Tries

I love Miley Cyrus. I’m not even a teen (no, I won’t tell you how old I am, but I recently exited my 20s), and yet I love her movies and music. When she quit Twitter with more than 1 million followers, I was disappointed. There were rumors she quit because her boyfriend told her to. Then she clarified in, um, a rap video (yes, a rap video) that she quit because she wants her privacy. If she wants her privacy she shouldn’t be putting out rap videos! Here it is for your viewing enjoyment:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tSOTQPUQoU]

Thank you to Jenny B. Jones who told me about the Jimmy Falon spoof, which I was sorry I missed but glad I could find it online.

 [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rmtB0fx6mQ]

News for Writers

So the buzz/arguments/blogs this week in the CBA publishing world surrounded the fact that the biggest CBA publisher there is, Thomas Nelson, has added a self-publishing imprint. It’s controversial because, well, somewhere along the lines we got this idea that self-published books were garbage. It’s also controversial because the imprint name they are using was used at one time for some well-known authors. A few years ago they switched those authors under the Thomas Nelson imprint, but still, not some happy authors out there.

Personally—other than the imprint name problem—I think it’s a great idea. It’s a way to make money, and the face of publishing is changing dramatically. It should be an option for those who want it, and Thomas Nelson will offer a nice product for those authors (mostly non-fiction writers, although I am still waiting for the day when some fiction author self-publishes a teen novel and makes a ton of money because (1) teens live online, and (2) teens don’t care what a book’s imprint is).

Anyway, you can read a balanced response to the move on agent Rachelle Gardner’s blog.

In Other News

• A few weeks ago I posted a blog about teens in the news, failing to post any positive stories. Then I read this great article about a new book coming out (“The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind”) telling the story of a teen in Africa who changed his community. Very touching and heart-warming story that you can read here.
• If you are a teen author, you should join two awesome groups that I’ve recently joined. One is the YA RWA (YARWA) chapter. They have a fun loop, and since they are new they have a lot of other things planned for the future. The second is TeenLitAuthors, a Yahoo group that discusses everything YA. They often have guest agents and authors on the loop to answer questions.

Have a great weekend!
Sandi

I like Beyonce’s song and video too (“Single Ladies” (Put a Ring on It)”), but that was just plain rude and wrong. The poor girl was giving her acceptance speech. She was, however, somewhat vindicated—West was booed by the audience and told to leave the building. Later, when Beyonce won video of the year, she invited Swift up to finish giving her speech (plus, a couple of singers tweeted some choice words about West). He did, though, apologize on his blog today.

The VMAs are known for their controversy (think last year and Brand’s rude comment about the Jonas Brothers purity rings), and their crazy antics (this year Lady Gaga speared herself in fake blood as a testimony of the Paparazzi and what they did to Princess Diana). So, if nothing else, it’s some strange, yet interesting entertainment.

Photo credit: AP | Singer Kanye West takes the microphone from singer Taylor Swift as she accepts the "Best Female Video" award during the MTV Video Music Awards on Sunday, Sept. 13, 2009 in New York. (AP Photo/Jason DeCrow)

I have to say the “New Moon” clip was awesome. The movie looks better than the first one and I can’t wait.

And, one of the best parts, there will be a preview of “New Moon.” Yippee!