Massive exhale.

I’m back from Park City, Utah in one piece. Physically, that is.  My heart, however, got broken into a billion pieces.

Day one. Kevy (life crush) and I went snowboarding. The sun was blazing and the snow was fluffy. It was perfect. He even committed to a day with me on the slopes which, for an ah-mazing snowboarder, must feel like jogging with a 95 year old. I can get down the mountain but I am afraid of extreme speed and those narrow cat trails which I renamed cat walks to try and give them some appeal. Because, for a snowboarder they are not savory. Unless you take these winding narrow paths with cheek-puffing speed you’re going to come to a stop and will be forced to hop your way to the closest incline.  But I was doing it. And much to my surprise Kevy wasn’t embarrassed by me. In fact, he said I was a 7 out of 10 (on a scale made for beginners and spazzes.) I was proud. So was he. So he rode ahead and recorded me coming down. Later that night we reviewed the footage. I was pretty good. If you don’t count my swinging arms.

Usually snowboarders (good ones) have a very relaxed stance. Their arms are slack and their hips pivot with hula dancer ease.  I looked like I was constantly hailing a cab. I began to beat myself up and get self conscious.  I looked much better when I couldn’t see myself.

No matter. I would go for slack arms the next day.

Day two. The sun was gone. The wind was vengeful. My board no longer glided. It scraped. My pivoting legs were sore. And my lips were chapped. Still I was going to look relaxed if it killed me. Which it almost did. We ended up  on a run that was 100% cat walk. I was miserable. Kevy kept shouting at me. “Keep your speed up!” and “Ride the high ground!” but all I could think about were my cab arms. And then I’d fall. My circuits were getting jammed. I was too concerned with how I looked. I kept telling myself to stop being so shallow. But that became one more thing to think about and I’d fall again. I was getting frustrated and tears were forming. Still, I got up and persevered. Then, just as I started getting into a rhythm some older dude whizzed past me. (A SKIER!) He was flailing his arms in the air and shouted, “Try using your arms more! Ha!”

It was a pole straight to the heart. I fell. I cried. Okay, truth? I bawled. I shouted, “Ass!” because that’s all I could think of. I was shocked. I mean, who does that?

I lay in the snow crying. People passed and stared. Kevy had to assure them I wasn’t injured. He was getting annoyed that I was being such a baby. I was too. I never cry. But I felt so sorry for myself. There I was trying and progressing. And that ass-pole had to come along and ruin it. What did I ever do to him? Why me? Couldn’t he see that I was a beginner? And that I was already a 7 out of 10?

Later that night I asked myself why I got so bent out of shape. I mean, I preach accepting yourself and your flaws. I write books about it. I tell people to celebrate the things that make them different and not to hide them. And there I was, crying because I do some weird arm thing when I snowboard and someone called me out on it. Poor me.

And then I started to giggle.

I imagined myself DIY-ing some feather-glitter sleeves so when my arms flail I’d look fabulous. Because that’s what I’d have one one my characters do. She would own her crazy quirk. She’d turn it into a thing. And that’s why we would love her. So I decided to become the Crazy Arm Boarder. (CAB, get it?) Maybe I’ll get made fun of again. Or maybe I’ll start a new trend. Either way, I’ll get a giggle out of it. And that’s always better than a cry.

TTYW

Lisi

Happy (belated) Valentines Day sisters. I hope you all felt loved. Kevy, my life-crush* and I are not into the Hallmark Holidays so we didn’t do anything. We are going out tonight instead just to be rebels. Sushi at Katsuya if you much know. No one tells this girl when to love.

(Segue needed)

Yesterday the news broke. I will be writing an adult book! I wasn’t allowed to tell you until the press release went out and it finally did. See?

Publishers Marketplace

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Deal News
Author of YA series THE CLIQUE, Lisi Harrison’s debut adult novel THE DIRTY BOOK CLUB, about four women in the 1960s who start reading provocative fiction and form a secret club that changes their lives, to Gallery, in a pre-empt.

I will be taking questions now.

For those of you under the age of 18 (okay, 21) I am also working on a new YA series. I’m not allowed to post that dirt yet because the contract has not been signed. But I am writing it right now. And I am loving it. I can’t wait to share.

(Segue needed)

It’s a year of change ladies. New office, new books, necklace design, AND a new _____. I’ll save something for next week. Just know I am updating it all. I will keep you informed every step of the way.

Thanks to those of you who weighed in on my office wallpaper. I am going with the birds. I want my new space to feel dreamy and airy. Hopefully, I’ll live to see it.

(Good segue alert)

I am going snowboarding on Friday in Park City, Utah. I can snowboard but I am a massive spaz. There’s a reason I write. My athletic build is not my best feature. If you happen to be on the mountain between Friday and Tuesday please accept my apologies in advance. I didn’t mean to bash into you/run over your hands/knock down your energy drink/block your path as you try to get off the chair lift/give you a black eye. It was an accident.

TTYW, if all goes well.

Lisi

XXXXX

* Yes, to clear up the confusion, Kevy my life-crush is also my husband. Like I said, I have a slight issue with being told what to do or say. The word “husband” sounds so boring and unromantic to me so I call him my life crush. It’s a lot more exciting. At least to me.  I call my dog BeeBee my hairy best friend. She thinks “pet” is condescending. Her words not mine.

Hola my amigas!!! I am back from Mexico and better than ever. Most of my pictures are not suitable for this Blah-g but I will show you one that might make up for all of the ones I’m hiding. Yes, privacy still matters.

The house I stayed in was directly next door to the house Lady Gaga rented one week earlier. It was vacant when we were there so I weaseled my way in and Kevy, my life crush, snapped a photo of me laying on her bed.  Check it out!!! That’s me on her bed. Pinky swear!!!

Anyway.

As you know I have been blah blah blah-gging about the necklace we will be co-creating  and I’m pleased to let you know I am meeting with the designer in two weeks so I will have a lot to share very soon.

Just to get your co-creative juices flowing I am going to give you a say in the wallpaper I will be putting up in my NEW OFFICE!!!!!!

That’s right. I am moving offices ah-gain. This will be the fourth one in six years. All in the same building I’ll have you know. But for me change is very inspiring.  I will be starting two BRAND NEW series’ this year and I need a fresh start. I’m like that with perfume too. I can only wear a scent once, then, when the bottle is tapped it’s on to the next. Repeating scents makes me feel like I’m going back in time and I am not one to live in the past. There is only one exception to my perfume rule and that’s Kiehl’s Cucumber oil. It is seriously the best smelling thing ever…other than Lady Gaga’s sheets.

Ew! I’m kidding.

Anyway.

The point is I am changing my office vibe. I want airy, girly, glam. There is one huge wall behind my desk and I want to slather it in wallpaper. The other walls will be glossy white. Here are my top three choices right now.

1. Birds

2. Poppy’s 3. Yellow Thingy’s

I really love them all and I can’t decide. Help me!!!!

It’s good to be back!!!

TTYW,

Lisi

You guys are ah-mazing!!! Seriously. I love how you responded to this jewelry idea. So far it’s clear we are going silver and not gold. You are pretty unanimous on that one. The charity is still undecided, so is the accessory, and the design.  But the comment numbers still have a long way to go so clearly we have our work cut out for us here.

The good news is I will be away next week so you have two weeks to build up our clique.

I am going to Mexico with 7 friends so I won’t be blah-g-ing next week.  I have an appointment to meet with the jewelry designer when I get back so hopefully we can get started in February.

I also have a meeting tomorrow and Friday with my editor Erin, from Little Brown to talk about my new series so I should have some cool news on that soon.

I will take lots of pictures of my fab beach poses and post them on Pose. So we can stay in touch that way.

Stay warm,

Adios!

Lisi

XXXX

Thank you Nadia Smalling for your kind words and thank you Hana for explaining why comments are down these days. I was seriously starting to wonder. Exams. Midterms. I get it. I respect it. I hate it.

We went from thousands to hundreds. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not Ashton Kutcher. I’m not looking for a ton of followers just to say I have them. I have plans for you ladies.

I have teamed up with a jewelry designer http://www.gorjana.com so I can create some killer (and affordable) accessories. I will donate the money to charity.

But which charity? I’m thinking anti-bullying. What do you think?

A necklace or a bracelet?

A toe ring or a pinky ring?

Gold or silver?

Design?

Message?

Packaging?

There are a billion decisions that need to be made and I was hoping you could help me. My plan was to post the options each week and have you all weigh in. Sketches, ideas, materials…

That way the final product would be something we created together. Something we can be proud of. By our global clique. For our global clique. But alas. I need more than 129 opinions. And so I put it on you. I will head up the project but you girls need to bring in the peeps. If you each bring ten girls to the sight we’ll be 1000 strong in no time. Then we can get to work in February.

Kick butt on your exams and then text your friends and tell them we have some real work to do. The fun kind.

TTYW

XXXX Lisi

January through March is known (in my brain) as the Dead Zone. The weather is grim, our dewy skin flakes, and the only movies worth paying for are being screened at Sundance. For people with stylists! Getting dressed feels impossible. Everything looks old and drab. Searching my closet feels like that crazy opening and closing the fridge thing we all do when we’re bored. Each time we hope something new will magically appear inside even though we know there’s only one crusty jar of mustard and three-day old chicken fried rice inside.

But who has the money–or desire–to shop these days? Didn’t we just spend all of December at the mall playing Santa and smelling like food court?  So what’s a broke, bored, flaky skinned clothes horse supposed to do until spring? Nayyyy with me here because I have a few ideas.

It’s all about working with what you have and making it feel fresh again. Here’s what I did.

1) I went through my closet and pulled out EVERYTHING I haven’t worn in the last year. So what if I bought it and haven’t taken the tags off yet. Admitting I messed up is part of the healing process. If I didn’t wear it in the last 12 months I’m not going to wear it now.

Put the rejects in a crate.  I got mine at the Container Store. See?

If you can’t get to a CS a suitcase or box or clearly labelled trash bag will work just as well. Now get the clothes out of your room. JUST GET THEM OUT! Garage. Attic. Anything, but don’t toss them. Their story isn’t over yet.

2) Rehang and fold the clothes you have left. Maybe you need some new hangers. The kind with the felt so your boho tops don’t slip off and land in your boots. Target has some great ones. Potpourri or something with a fresh scent will help invigorate the survivors.

There’s something about the lack of clutter that is inspiring. You will find a bunch of new possibilities now that the dud duds are gone.

3) Tell your friends to complete steps 1 & 2 and then have a clothes swap party. Look at all the new things you have!!! Fun, right?

4) Donate the items no one wants to a homeless shelter, Goodwill, or the theater department at your school. You never know when they’ll be putting on a production of Les Miserable.

5) All you need now is inspiration. I love fashion mags, don’t get me wrong, but 1/2 the stuff is out of my price range and the other 1/2 I wouldn’t even wear to a Nicki Minaj costume party. (Um, Teen Vogue much?)

I get my best ideas from the streets. Well, I used to, when I lived in NYC. But style in Laguna Beach has the edge of a spoon. So I started perusing POSE. Register online or download the App. I did and I’m loving it. Members post pictures of their outfits and latest finds. They even tell you who made the clothes so you can start working on a wish list.

FOLLOW ME and check out my daily outfits and faves. Search for LisiH. Let me know what you think. Post your own creations and I’ll check them out.

Together we can, and will, survive the Dead Zone of 2012. One outfit at a time.

TTYW,

Lisi

Set it free! And if it was meant to be it will come back to you!!!

Or something like that. The words might be a little off but the point is dead awn!!!

Anyway.

I luh-uved your artwork and it was lost. Remember?

(This is me looking ‘tward the heavens, waiting for it to come back)

I had all these grand plans to post it in the FROM U section of my website and it vanished? I know, that’s not exactly setting it free but work with me here…the point is, IT CAME BACK!!!! Webmaster JJ’s sister found it in her house. It was in a Bey Blade Stadium (those of you with younger brothers will know what I mean) and the crazy part is I bought that Bey Bade Stadium for one of her kids for his birthday. And they left that behind too.

It’s like the folder clung to my gift–my essence! Like if the folder and the stadium had been my pets, and they had been freed from their cages by noun activists and were trapped in the wild waiting to get rescued..Moments before the search party gave up on them they were spotted, clinging to each other for warmth. Deciding which one to eat first. A folder full of colorful art or a plastic dome? (Um, like the answer isn’t obvious.)

Anyway.

It is being driven back from Bakersfield, CA as I type. I can’t promise it will be up next week because I still haven’t hired a new webmaster. Nuh-thing productive happens in the business world between Thanksgiving and New Years. Especially when Mercury is in retrograde, which it was. Which was why I broke 3 iPads and crashed my car in one week. But that’s so 2011.

I am ready for 2012.

I am meeting with my editor Erin on January 26th to discuss the new series. She asked that I sit on my gossip fingers until then. But as soon as I get the green light I will pull my hands out from under my butt and tell you everything. I will say it’s probably going to be about freshman in high school. Let the speculating begin…

It’s great to be back. I hope you all had an amazing holiday and I wish you all a Happy New Year.

Let’s rock this one.

Thanks for coming back to me

TTYW,

XXXX Lisi

Hey everyone,

The time has come for me to sign off for the rest of the year. I have a ton of family coming for the holidays and a I have  learn how to cook before they get here.

I will be back January 4th with plenty of good cheer. I will hopefully be able to tell you about my brand new series (if the contracts get signed by then) and look forward to hearing about your time off.

Please continue to chat amongst yourselves. I am hoping for tons of comments when I get back. It’s been a comment famine over here and I am getting hungry for some serious feedback.

If you have exams, good luck.

Happy H-ALL-idays!!!

Happy New Years!

I seriously can’t wait for 2012. I have a ton of new stuff for you and I can’t wait to share.

TTYWJ4th,

Lisi

XXXXX

There can’t be an up without a down. There can’t be a good without a bad. And unfortunately there can’t be a thanksgive without a thankstake.

Allow me to explain…

You all know Webmaster JJ, right? If you don’t, she is the beautiful and talented web designer who has been keeping my site humming along. She is also the greatest friend a girl can have. Which is why, right before Thanksgiving break I gave her a bag containing two items.

1) A thick folder filled with your artwork. Drawings, sketches, cards, photos, handmade jewelry…Things I have been collecting from book tours and fan mail. She was going to scan them and upload them to the FROM U section of my website.

2) A gift for her sister Camille who just had a baby.

JJ was going to give Camille the gift over the holiday and then spend the weekend scanning your artwork and updating the site. The good news is Camille loved her baby gift. The bad news is JJ lost the folder.

She told me on Saturday while we were hanging out. I became heavy with grief. My smile went south. I wanted to puke on her cute new Nike’s.  She felt terrible. I felt worse. After a very honest talk we decided to stop working together so we could keep our friendship love alive.

You see, usually when someone you hire does something like that you fire them. Done and done. But with JJ it was a hard conversation to have. Because we were friends first. And the last thing we wanted was for work to come between us. And last Saturday it did.

Have you ever had a crush on your guy best friend but agreed not to hook up because it could ruin your relationship? Well JJ and I should have had that talk. Because friends and work usually don’t work. Remember that. If you learn anything from me let it be that.

The good news is, JJ and I are so tight we were able to move past this. The bad news is (aside from having to find a new webmaster) your work is gone. But I saw it. And I ah-dored it. So thank you.

Losing your art feels awful. Trust me, I know. I lost the entire Dylan book from the Clique Summer Collection when my computer crashed. I had to start again. It was devastating.

But I’ve also lost a best friend and that was worse.  So I have chosen to look at this whole situation and find a way to be thankful. And I am. The art may be gone but we’re still here.

Back to the drawing board.

TTYW,

XXXX Lisi

Epilogue

The Dylan book turned out better the second time around. Your pictures will too. JJ and I are tight as Spanx.

BFENR

There is nothing I despise more than the use of cliche. Truly. It feels like lazy unimaginative writing to be and it’s a bigger turn off than a Doritos burp.

That said, I am about to post a cliche blah-g because what else can I do on Thanksgiving Eve but think of things I am thankful for. What I will try to do is come up with non-cliche things to say so it feels fresh and so you don’t call me a hypocrite. So please know I am beyond thankful for my family, health, career, friends, pets, freedom, pilgrims, Native America Indians, tofurkey, and you. But if I wrote those you’d be so bored with me so here are:

10 Things You Didn’t Know I Was Thankful For But I Am!

1.  I have never puked from drinking alcohol.

2. Spell check.

3. Google

4. I love being alone.

5. Sushi

6. Steve Jobs

7. People over 50 who text. (No offense mom, seriously)

8. My friends for not being mad that I decided to not host thanksgiving this year.

9. If they are mad they aren’t telling me.

10. Activists.

Happy (American) Thanksgiving!!!!

TTYW,

Lisi (Canadian but still thankful to be living here)