sarah ockler :: author of TWENTY BOY SUMMER

I recently asked readers for blog topic suggestions via my Facebook and Twitter status. Some might call this the lazy blogger’s way, but to them I say, *yawn* *stretch* *shrug* pass me the white cheddar popcorn? I’m gonna need some coffee, too. Thaaanks!

Lazy blogger? No way. I’m just connecting with my people. Taking part in the ongoing discussion. Good Internet citizenry, customer service, solutions not problems, readers know best and all. Dig?

So, the people have spoken, and after filtering out the inappropriate suggestions, here’s what the people want to know. Or maybe they were just being nice and don’t really want to know, but this is a potluck, so if you don’t like what you brought to the table, try a different dish. Thankfully no one brought ambrosia salad.

*Shudders*

All right. Got your paper plates and plastic cutlery?

APPETIZERS

• Megan would like everyone to know how awesome she is, so check out her blog Pos(sey) Sessions and feast upon her awesomeness with thine own hungry eyes. Oh, man, that hungry eyes comment totally reminds me of Patrick Swayze. “Nobody puts Baby (or Megan) in a corner!”
• Greg asks, “Have we gotten soft? Wazzup with earth hour; kinda like going on a fast between meals!” I wondered about this myself. But after all the trouble I got into with my psycho vegetarian April Fool’s post, I don’t want to start talking about the Earth. I mean, there are a lot of Earth-haters out there! So let’s all adopt a don’t-ask-don’t-tell policy when it comes to our respective carbon footprints, and then we can all stay friends.

MAIN COURSE

• Steven, former OPHS homeroom buddy, asks, “Would you ever open a book store/coffee shop?” I’ve often thought about this in a highly romanticized sort of way, like running off to Paris and writing in little sidewalk cafes all day. But the cold hard fact is, I’m soooo not a morning person. So as much as I love books and coffee and jazzy uptempo ambient music and ironic trivia questions written in neon chalk on tiny little blackboards, I just don’t think it’s a feasible business model for me. Perhaps I could open a vampire coffee/book store for people like me who are up all night. That might actually work. Especially if Edward Cullen was available for the grand opening… mmmm… um… wait, what?
• Apparently my Edward-themed coffee shop isn’t exciting enough for homeroom buddy Steve, because he also suggests a blog about “…hooking up your old high school mates that DON’T read with your cute single friends that DO read.” I’m compelled (and legally obligated) to inform Steve that most of my “cute single reading friends” who visit this blog are, well, in high school. And not to point fingers or use the word geriatric or anything, but Steve went to high school with me. So, sorry buddy, that blog isn’t gonna happen. Next!
• Lisa at Eudaemonia wants a funny post about Grand Lake. “I’m sure some funny stuff happened to you up there,” she says. “We won’t be mad.” Grand Lake was a writer’s retreat I attended through Lighthouse Writers Workshop in the summer of 2007, where I met Lisa, Darling Rachel, and a number of other talented writers. We all stayed in a lodge for a week and did tons of workshops by day and got into lots of trouble by night. Totally “One time, at writer’s camp…” type stuff. Now Lisa, if you’re referring to the boob graze incident, the tattoo peep show, the awesome local cover band talent, or Rob’s “Creative Cat” drawing, I was barely involved and can neither confirm nor deny…
• Karen at Beyond Understanding wants to know more about Buffalo. It’s cold here. Rainy. Mostly dark. But we’re still officially in winter. Alex and I are looking forward to summer in our neighborhood — lots of art and food festivals, fun places to walk, Delaware Park. We also just visited the new Burchfield Penny Art Center with our neighbors and saw some cool stuff. I grew up here, but after 11 years away, I’ve only been back about 6 months and haven’t fully re-experienced it yet. With the weather turning warmer (finally), look for more posts about fun stuff going on in Buffalo this summer!

PALETTE CLEANSER

• Sharon (aka TSM, The Strand Master, so named for her prowess at sneaking us into the secret back room at Strand Books in NYC) at Sharon Loves Books and Cats thinks I should do a vlog for her. I did promise I would if we hit 100 responses on my Connecting with YA Authors Online survey by April 5. We got 264. So that vlog is coming soon!

DESSERT

• YA author Josh Berk says, “You should do an April’s fool post where you reveal some ridiculous secret & then later reveal it to be a hoax.” Yeah, thanks, Josh. That suggestion worked out awe-awe-awesome. BTW, we’re all clear on that now, right? I mean, Josh brought hamburgers to the Reader’s Choice Potluck Blog and I was totally cool with it. I put them on a separate table, in a different room, in the basement, but still, totally cool with it. *Group hug!*

FUTURE MEALS

I received lots of great suggestions for future blog posts, so check back soon for these topics and more:

• A post about the pros and cons of writing groups and how uber cool the people who run and attend Lighthouse Writers Workshops are, for Lisa.
• For T.S. at Must Love Books, “Planning the Middle,” for a discussion for writers about what to do when you’ve got a really great setup & ending but aren’t sure how to get from point A to point B.
• Vania at Reverie Media would like to know about my favorite book! Yeah!

If there’s anything else you want to know (that is, anything *appropriate*), drop a note in the comments and I’ll answer your questions at our next potluck. Thanks for dining with me! Don’t forget your Earth-friendly biodegradable doggie bags!