Showing posts with label April Fools. Show all posts
Showing posts with label April Fools. Show all posts
Saturday, December 8, 2012 1 comments

What a Difference a Year Makes...

by Brittany Geragotelis

A friend of mine just reminded me that it was a year ago TODAY that I threw my book launch party to celebrate self-publishing my first novel, Life's a Witch. Now, a year ago exactly, my biggest dreams have come true and I'm writing books full-time. My first traditionally published novel, What the Spell?, will be available in bookstores across the country on Jan 29th. (Pre-order your copy here!)

What a difference a year makes. Seriously.

So, to show you JUST how things have changed, I decided to do a comparison from 2011 to 2012. Enjoy.


CAREER
2011: Working as Managing Editor at a magazine, reporting for a 8-6 job where the possibility of a raise was nowhere in the future. My co-workers were some of the hardest working, passionate, underpaid and under-appreciated people I've ever known. At the same time, I was writing Young Adult fiction in my spare time (from about 11pm-1am every night) and had just completed my sixth novel.
2012: Toward the end of Jan this year, I was on vacation when I found out the magazine I'd worked at for 10 years had been sold and all of its employees had lost their jobs. Including me. Monday we arrived home. Tuesday I cleaned out my desk. Thursday we went into an auction for the rights to my Life's a Witch series. By the end of the day Friday, I'd decided to go with Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers in a 6-figure, 3-book deal. Today I am a full-time fiction writer and get to wake up every morning excited to do what I love: write books!!! Not only do I set my own schedule and get to work from home (in my pajamas!), I get so much respect from my publishers and my peers that I can't help but feel loved and appreciated every day. It's a pretty amazing feeling.



PERSONAL
2011: Living with my boyfriend and enjoying life. Matt and I celebrated our anniversary in December of last year, and after four fabulous years together, we were beginning to talk about spending the rest of our lives together. Of course, this was all still talk at this point, but we were excited to be entering a new part of our relationship.
2012: About a month ago, Matt took me to Paris. He said that the job he'd recently started working at was sending him there to meet with investors and asked if I wanted to tag along. I said, "Duh!" and we planned a trip about a week before we were to go. When we got there, I quickly found out that he'd orchestrated the whole thing. There was no business trip. And he gave me a ring! Now, we're furiously planning a wedding that's going to take place on April Fools Day in Disney World. And we'll live happily ever after.

So, that's what's been going on in my life this year....how has your life changed from 2011 to 2012? What do you hope happens in the year to come? Leave your comments below and let me know!

5x5,
B.






Thursday, April 1, 2010 0 comments

It's the end of the world as we know it—April Fools!

by Brittany Geragotelis

Happy April Fools Day! This is one of my favorite holidays (I of course love giving presents at Christmas, dressing up at Halloween, and I always throw a Friday the 13th party every time the day rolls around!). Who doesn't love a day that's filled with trickery and lies and whose sole purpose is to freak people out?

I don't usually pull any pranks, but being on edge all day, just waiting for someone to try and pull one over on me...that's exciting! My mom always likes to try to fake me out...a few years ago, she told me that my sister and my now brother-in-law had eloped! So, of course when she called me at work this morning, I was ready for her shenanigans. Only, somehow she'd forgotten and we got off the phone without her saying a thing about the day.

To be honest, I was a little disappointed. Not that I needed her to do anything too elaborate or anything...not like when I was in high school and our local news (in Seattle) did a whole news story about the Space Needle falling down. They had interviews with fake witnesses of the tragedy and everyone was freaking out and crying...and then they said April Fools! Even I agree, that was a little out of control. But so far, no fools on this day...

photo credit: HMH Books for Young Readers
Speaking of things being destroyed (like that topic change?)—I just finished reading an advanced copy of the book, This World We Live In by Susan Beth Pfeffer. The YA novel takes place in a post-apocalyptic world where a meteor has collided with the moon, creating a massive shift in the Earth, causing floods, volcanos, earthquakes, etc. The story's told from the perspective of teen Miranda Evans, who's recording her and her family's experiences in her diaries. Most of the population is dead and the Evans family is scrambling for food and survival.

photo credit: Entertainment Weekly
Now, I love me a good post-apocalyptic story. The Day After Tomorrow is one of those movies I HAVE to watch whenever it's on. And "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" is the greatest show ever made, and that was just one apocalypse after another. I find the idea of the destruction of the world as we know it both intriguing as well as terrifying. So, when I picked up This World We Live In, I was totally expecting to like it...

...But all it did was make me depressed.

But I continued to read, because most of the great end-of-the-world stories have somewhat happy endings or some kind of redeeming qualities in the end. This one just got darker and more depressing. And then in the end...well, I won't spoil it for you. The writing itself was good and I really started to like some of the characters (and was annoyed at others) and I thought the idea of the book was good. The bottom line is, I don't really enjoy books that leave me in need of an anti-depressant.

And with that said, I'm off to try and think of a prank I can pull on one of my friends...be careful, it may be YOU!

5x5,
B.
 
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