E. Lockhart, Sarah Mlynowski, and Lauren Myracle!

E: My blog readers told me they want me to post more about the writing life, and I thought: since Sarah, Lauren and I wrote HOW TO BE BAD together, even though we all three live in different places, it might be kinda fun to compare how we work. I've been up since 6:30. There is a stack of laundry on top of my printer, proofs and magazines and lists of things to do on my desk, plus a glow-in-the-dark skeleton pirate, a hat that has the ears and nose of a panda bear on it, my watch, and two cups of cold tea. It is 10:23 AM and I have written nothing because I spent a chunk of the morning on the phone with Sarah discussing minor changes to the proofs of our book.
Sarah is meticulous.
I am not.
I would not have caught any of the errors she's found.
It is still too early to call Lauren, because she's in Colorado while we're in Brooklyn and Manhattan.
Maybe I will skip writing this morning and do some yoga. Or make guacamole and then eat it.

S: Meticulous! I love it! Can I still be meticulous even if I am the messiest person in the entire universe?
Unlike E., I've been up since eight. Fine, eight-thirty. Okay, okay, nine-fifteen. The snooze button is the devil.
Like E., I should be at my desk, but instead I (along with HOW TO BE BAD page proofs, revision notes, a blue pen that has run out of ink, a black pen that is about to run out of ink, two cordless phones, a yellow pad of Post-It's, my laptop and possibly some miniature Reese's peanut butter cup wrappers) are sprawled all over my couch. A Law & Order rerun is playing on my television. I am not actually watching TV, but I am convinced the show's "Dah-Dah!"s help me think.

Lauren? Laaaaaaaauren. Are you up yet??? I just sent you an e-mail instructing you to call me ASAP. No, it's not about the book. We urgently need to discuss last night's American Idol!

Lauren here. Oh, wait, let me rephase. "L" here, tee-hee. And yes! I'm up! Yay! And I have to say, I have grown a little fond of Ryan Seacrest, despite major cheese-factor reservations..

OH. I'm supposed to be talking about my writing life. At this very moment, I am at Starbucks enjoying a delish maple scone and a venti mocha. I'm supposed to be writing the ending of a novel, but instead I'm... enjoying a delish maple scone and a venti mocha. But here's what will happen in just a minute: I'll put on my super high-tech noise-blocking headphones, shoo away the real world, and delve into my private world of characters, plot, silliness, and occasionally setting. Though I hate setting and find it boring. Except in HOW TO BE BAD, since in HOW TO BE BAD the girls are ROAD-TRIPPING through Florida, and how could that setting possibly be boring? Especially as there are alligators! And boys! And house parties with scuzzy guys and gum-popping girls, at which Mel (one of the girls in the novel) doesn't want to use the nasty hand towel in the nasty bathroom, so she wipes her hands on her hair. Which led to a big discussion between S, E, and myself (that's me, L!) about whether girls really do that.

So I put it to you, lovely blog readers: have you ever dried your hands off on YOUR OWN HAIR? I have completely strayed from the dignified topic of My Writing Life, and that, my sweeties, is just as it should be. Because that is my writing life—typing away and letting my brain go wherever and, best of all, having dear friends with whom to process it. But hey, if y'all want to ask us questions about writing or books or whatever, that's okay, too.

Here's to dear friends!!!!

E, S, and L

E. Lockhart, Sarah Mlynowski, and Lauren Myracle
Authors of How to Be Bad (in stores May 6th!!)

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