1. I just started this Five apologizing for being so late. Because I thought it was 7pm on FRIDAY, not Thursday. Which it is, as I’m writing this. I have a good reason for being so discombobulated, though. First off, the floor guys have been here all day (Thursday), my bed and bureau are in my living room, and my ears are ringing from the compressor popping. Also, I’ve been trying to do major edits on my next book, which is hard even when you DON’T have a parade of strangers coming in and out, loud noises and two very nervous dogs on the verge of a breakdown. Whew! But it is Thursday. Got it!
2. And now…it is FRIDAY, for real. My dogs just left for the kennel for the weekend, I have somehow managed to pack even though my clothes are scattered all around upstairs as if shot out of a cannon, and we will soon depart for the mountains to try to escape the chaos. I am a neurotic packer even under the BEST of circumstances, but with all this happening I am sure I will forget something major. I’m like Jason from The Truth About Forever, with multiple checklists. If you saw them, you’d think I was insane. And maybe I am. But when you HAVE no control, you do what you can to pretend that you do. Or, I do. (Updated later: I forgot to pack a sweater for myself, which is not a big deal, and any underwear for my kid, which is. Whoops.)
3. This week, I got a really nasty email from someone who needed help with a book report and was angry they received my auto-response. There was a time when I tried to answer each email personally, but then it just got overwhelming, and I had to, like, sleep and eat and raise my kid, so I tried to put the info people might need on my website and direct them to it. Most people understand this. I mean, if you want to learn about me, look no further than this blog: you will learn WAY too much about me just by reading back a few entries. Anyway, this person wanted me to answer some questions for her school assignment. When I didn’t, she said it was my fault she got a B. (Don’t even get me started on teachers who might actually grade based on a student getting a personal response from an author: UNFAIR all around doesn’t even begin to cover it.) Then she sent me a two word email, that began with a certain F word and ended with the word YOU. Nice, right? My first reaction was to write back and tell her how rude she was. Instead, I wrote a long blog post, saved it, and put it aside until the next morning, when my cooler head prevailed. No point it giving it more air than I’m doing here. And the only reason I AM writing about it is on the off chance that someone reading this is a teacher and in a position to point out to students that dropping the F-bomb just cause a total stranger doesn’t do exactly what you want or need isn’t okay. Because it isn’t. End of rant!
4. On a totally different note, a confession: I watched Here Comes Honey Boo Boo this week. I feel like I should pay a penance, maybe, say, have to watch nothing but PBS for the next month. Or year. Oh, people: this show. My husband—who I convinced to watch it under duress—is convinced it’s scripted, but I don’t think so. I just think these people ARE that wide open and honest and don’t realize how they come across on national TV. Or maybe they do and don’t care? I have always been a sucker for reality TV, I’m not too proud to admit it. But certain shows, even when I am WATCHING them, make me feel ashamed of both the subjects and myself. On the flip side, I am LOVING Gordon Ramsay’s new show, Hotel Hell, which is basically Kitchen Nightmares but at hotels, so he’s not only shocked at the state of someone’s walk in cooler but also their guest rooms and lobbies. I wonder what he’d think of the hotel where I am currently writing this, in Asheville, at 6:21 on a Saturday morning (nope, my kid does NOT sleep in on vacations). It’s cute but the pillows on the couch are like leaning back against cardboard boxes. I can hear him now, “Good LORD! How pathetic ARE these?” LOVE.
5. Okay, I’ll be honest. I don’t have a five. I barely have a four and this HAS to be the most disjointed blog I’ve ever written, or at least one of them. I mean, I started it on Thursday when I thought it was Friday. Added to it Friday in the midst of chaos. And am finishing it LATE early Saturday morning, drinking watered down tasting hotel lobby coffee. (“What IS THIS???” Gordon would scream.) Clearly, my blog skills are slipping. Hopefully it’s a temporary thing. Like situational anxiety: passing blog fail. Yeah, that’s it.
Have a good REST of the weekend, everyone!
Aw Sarah we all get discombobulated from time to time. What’s amazing about you is that despite all the stress you’re dealing with, you still manage to update your blog! Don’t let that nasty e-mail get to you because if there are any fans out there who know you put out a lot for them, it’s your fans who read your blog. I wish you the best during this stressful time of revision, and I can’t wait for future updates about the book.
Number 3 reminds me of a cool book I read last year, The Narcissism Epidemic: Living in the Age of Entitlement, by Twenge and Campbell. Because the kid who wrote you really IS the center of the universe!
I love reading your blog.(please dont ever stop writing it) and i love reading your books(please dont ever stop writing).have a wonderful day Sarah
I doubt anyone minds if you’re out of it. That’s part of neing human. As for the student that decided to be so rude, that’s terrible. As a teacher, I REALLY don’t understand an assignment that expects a student to get a response. Usually responses entail EXTRA credit, not a credit markdown. Both the educaor and the student were out of line…or possibly just the student. It wouldn’t be the first time miscommunication about an assignment happened.
Haha, Honey Boo….. She’s so special….
I can’t believe someone would send such a terrible email to a complete stranger! Your novels are an inspiration to so many teenage girls, and the fact that you spend so much of your time reaching out to your fans is commendable. The idea of you answering an email for a book report is absurd! Rather than doing the research on her own, she tried to take the easy way out and get you to complete her work for her, and that’s why she got a B. Keep your head up, Sarah!
Haven’t you heard? Authors get an automatic exemption during the editing process, house renovations or vacation. Qualifying for all three means you deserve to do nothing but sleep and spend quality time with your family. Thank you for giving us the four (and a half?) that you did. Have a great weekend!
I absolutely love Asheville. End of story. Malaprops (best independent book store EVER), Tops For Shoes (well stocked, great customer service and HUGE), Early Girl Eatery (I can’t even describe it. Their breakfast is amazing…especially the pumpkin and banana bread), COrner Kitchen, (the food is so amazing you won’t want to go anywhere else to eat. Their breakfast is great too….F.S. CARBON WAFFLE!!!!!!) etc. I’m sure you have already been to or heard of a few of these places if not all….I think I remember reading a blog post about Malaprops. Anyways, to summarize….love Asheville.
And I watched Here Comes Honey Boo Boo too! I wasn’t planning on it, but it was on and I had to watch it. It was insane. My dad saw some and though it was scripted too. My friend and I think it’s just the way they are, but the Honey Boo Bo crew encourages it a lot. I don’t know though….who knows if we ever will? THanks for the blog pose…I LOVE THEM!
Auto-responses can be irritating but that is really rude.
Re: #3 – oh, that is a world of not cool. Auto-responses can be frustrating, absolutely, but it’s no one’s job but the kid in question to do their own homework (and any teacher insisting that kids get responses from someone else – and I know there are still many of them out there – hasn’t properly thought it through, which is about the kindest way I can put it).
I love the connection you made between yourself and Jason; it’s always so fun to hear you make comparisons to your characters.
It WOULD be nice if you could still answer your own emails, but I didn’t mind getting an auto-respond. At least you are nice enough to take the time to make the auto-response to lead your followers to your blog (which, BTW, is the best blog & website in the WORLD)!
Have fun in Asheville!
Okay, first off i give you credit for being able to function at all with the chaos of renovation. Also, as a student myself i am embarrased for kids of my generation to act like that not only to someone over email but to an author that you got mad at fir being a little too busy to write back personally. I mean, if all authors could write back immediately themselves there probably wouldn’t be time for a new book to come out. Also a B isnt bad, maybe it was the student’s opinion and angst getting in the mix. As for the rest, it may be easier said than done but don’t let silly things bother you like that. Just enjoy your tv shows and vacation and relax:)
I have a “five” for you
1) It is not okay, ever, for someone to respond to another person that way for not doing exactly what they wanted. And that right there is what is wrong with kids these days. 2) You keep me laughing and entertained with your tweets about your normal, every day life including your house renovation madness. 3) I love that you forgot underwear for your kid and KNEW you would forget something like that. 4) I feel you on the edits thing. I feel like I always have home renovations going on while I’m editing: compressors popping, construction men yelling obscenities, etc. When in reality, I’m in a dead silent room. Just feels that way, I guess. 5) The husband and I have got sucked into all things Gordon Ramsay thanks to you
Hope you had fun in Asheville and avoided that crazy rain on 40 on Friday evening. I drove though it on the way to Greensboro and thought I was going to die!
Unbelievable about that rude email. That makes me soooo angry and I wasn’t even the one to receive it! I hope whoever that little snot is reads this blog and this comment and this is what I have to say to her: Right back at you, you lazy, irresponsible, rude, entitled little wretch! Do your own homework!!!! You deserve an F for your crappy attitude!
Ah, I feel better.
Keep being awesome, Sarah
Sarah,
I am a teacher and will begin my first year as a teacher in a few weeks as an 8th grade special ed teacher. I am sure that I will have the opportunity to have a discussion about the f bomb on more than one occasion. It is bad enough when students drop the f bomb on their teachers, parents or friends, but when they drop it on a stranger (and one that they must look up to to some degree since they sought advice from that person) it is completely out of line. I will remember this story for when I am sure I will need to have the inevitable discussion with my students.
I cannot believe people get angry with you for not being able to help them more personally. Using the internet to connect with your favorite author would have blown my little 15 year old mind. I’d have been all over Christopher Pike & RL Stine, lol. But I would’ve NEVER have gotten angry because an extremely popular author can’t answer every single question posed to him/her. And honestly, even a form letter would have made me giddy to have gotten a response at all.(And actually just being able to comment on a blog post of one of my favorite authors and that she might actually read it?! Kinda makes me giddy)
I would be really frustrated and angry if I were you, but I guess you just have to let it go and move on.
And let me also say- I saw some of that Honey-boo-boo business this week and I hate myself a little. I think I’ll follow your lead with a PBS penance, lol.
Underwear is overrated…she had the one pair anyway…lovin’ your books (and now this blog)! This spring my 12 yrs daughter brought Just Listen home from school after her teacher loaned it to her and said, “You have got to read this!” Now we have been spending the summer reading all of your books. I am reading Lock and Key now and only have Truth About Forever left to read. I will be looking forward to any new projects!
hey, you are my absalute favorite author. ive read all of your books and im reading them all again a second time. im so excited to see you next book come out cuz i know it will be just as good as the last. one of my favorite thing is how real your books are…no fake gooey romance. i also love how some of your book are tied together slightly. with much love, one of your fans (i would say #1 fan but everyone is your #1 fan)
yay I’m excited for your next book!! Don’t listen to that girl, you don’t owe her anything we are lucky that you have shared your creativity with the world and given us so many great reads, and you let us in on your life with your blog and your twitter and your books and your pretty open. You have already given a lot more of your time to your fans then most people do and for that I thank you. Really we all thank you. You show us that being a writer is about passion and you can be a real person and still be so accomplished.
My word was that girl rude! You shouldn’t just ask favors of strangers in the first place, and then to expect them to give in to your every given command, p-a-t-h-e-t-i-c. You are such a wonderful person Sarah and please do not let that girl get you down. Have a great week too!
Sarah! I absolutely LOVE your book. I randomly stumbled upon them when I was at a holiday house. ‘This Lullaby’ was just chilling in the bookshelf and I decided to read it when it was raining and I deffintley fell in love. I’ve now read most of your books bar a few that I haven’t been able to get in bookstores. But there is a question that I would like to ask. Will you ever come to Australia? I live in Perth but even if you go to Sydney I will fly over there to see you. I will do whatever it takes! xoxoxox pleeeeease come here
[...] Sarah Dessen talked about getting an obnoxious email from someone when she didn’t reply to someone to help [...]
hi what is ur email me and my friend are doing a book report on ur book so can u email me somtime i live in los angels california plz visit i would give u my adress but there are some stalkers so call me at………………………..