A Moment of Jen
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Saturday, February 14, 2004
posted by Jen at 2/14/2004 09:29:00 AM

Thank you, thank you, thank you, God.

Thank you for giving me the strength to quit looking at Amazon.com almost two years ago. Thank you for staying my hand when I was tempted to pen a nasty review of someone who'd written unkindly about my books.

Thank you from not turning me into a diva who'd dump two agents, demand movie-star-like perks, turn down important magazine work, and, eventually, have her publishers decide that her second effort was unpublishable, and seek to recover its seven-figure advance.

Or else, God, I could have turned out being part of stories like this one, or this one, instead of being able to enjoy them on the level of most excellent Schadenfreude-tinged soap operas.

Full disclosure -- I've written one anonymous review for this book -- I'm "a reader from Philadelphia." (Which is true!) I posted it anonymously because I also wrote a blurb for the book, and I didn't want to look as if I was piling on.

Adam wrote one of GOOD IN BED's first-ever five-star reviews, back when I was still looking at Amazon every day (okay, actually every hour, and during the book tour visit to New York I asked my publicist to call the office to check my rankings at ridiculously regular intervals), and could still have my day (okay, actually, my week) ruined by a bad review.

And back in the days when I was reading my own reviews, I'd routinely vote "unhelpful" on anything that said my book was, you know, un-good.

These days, I prefer not to.

I think Jane Green had it right when she called Amazon's reader reviews as "a poisoned chalice." Writers can get way too obsessed with the ups and downs of the hourly rankings, and spend far too much time wondering if someone who wrote a bad review is just a random reader or someone who knows you personally (you, or your Mom, or your husband, or your dog), and has an axe to grind. They can also end up devoting inordinate amounts of energy that ought to go to writing to hitting the NO key on the "Was this review helpful to you?" question, or soliciting their friends and loved ones to pen positive reviews to counter the haters.

I'm not saying this is best for every writer, but from my perspective, it was easier just to opt out of the whole mess and concentrate on my work.

On that note, I'm happy to report that I turned in the manuscript for LITTLE EARTHQUAKES, my third book, last week. Now I'm just waiting to hear what the editors think (and amusing myself with the saga of the fallen nannies, and how Dave Eggers has nothing better to do with his time than pen anonymous raves for his friends' work).

Finally, a report from the set of IN HER SHOES! My sister's going to be a secretary (in the law firm of Lewis, Dommel and Fenick, natch), and yesterday she had her wardrobe fitting.

"I bet they've got amazing shoes," she said to the wardrobe woman.

"Oh my GOD, the shoes are NOT TO BE BELIEVED," she said.

"And then she took me to this truck, and it was full of, like $20,000 worth of Manolos, Jimmy Choos...." said Molly.

"Wow," said I.

"Then the lady asked what kind of shoes YOU wore. And I said Payless! Payless!"

"Molly!"

"But I also said that now it's probably 9 West."

Too true.
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Tuesday, February 10, 2004
posted by Jen at 2/10/2004 10:13:00 PM

Two Tuesday-night IN HER SHOES notes....

Brooke Smith has been cast as Amy, Rose's best friend. Out of the oubliette and IN HER SHOES! Also, she's got a daughter just a few months older than Lucy, named Fanny Grace, which is cool.

And finally, for Philadelphia readers, Mike Lemon Casting is looking for extras and day players. All of the information -- and a link to the application -- is right here.
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posted by Jen at 2/10/2004 05:12:00 PM

All Conversations Guaranteed True

Mom: Are you watching "The L Word?"

Me: No. Is it good?

Mom: It's kind of a "Melrose Place" show.

Me (suspiciously): You never watched "Melrose Place. You don't like that kind of stuff!

Mom: Yes, but these are my people.

Me: What?

Mom: Yes! Thin, attractive, glamorous, well-dressed, fancy cars, high-powered jobs! My people!

Me: You know this is going on the weblog, right?

Pause.

Mom: Jenny, goddamnit!
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Monday, February 09, 2004
posted by Jen at 2/09/2004 10:41:00 AM

News from the Babyverse....the Social Security Administration's list of top names for 2003 is up. Top 10 for little girls: Emily, Emma, Madison, Hannah, Hailey, Sarah, Kaitlyn, Isabella, Olivia and Abigail.

Lucy's not even in the top 100 -- it got beat out by the likes of Destiny (60), Trinity (61), Aaliyah (74), Lillian and Jillian (87 and 88, and does anyone see a trend here?), and Maggie (99).

This is good news, as far as I'm concerned. When we learned we were having a girl, I wanted her to have a name that was pretty enough to work for a little girl but solid enough so that it wouldn't sound ridiculous during her Supreme Court confirmation hearings. I wanted it to be classic but not overused, familiar but not boring. And, more than anything else, I didn't want to give her a top 10 name and have her suffer through the indigities that every Jennifer in the 1970's endured -- being one of five girls with the same name in any given classroom, camp group or soccer team.

I love the name Sophie dearly. But Sophia/Sophie is number 15, and it seems especially popular here on the east coast, where you can't swing a dead cat in a playground without hitting (and grossing out) a Sophie or two. Ditto Lilly -- number 37, with a bullet, I think.

I also loved the name -- and I'll write it here because I doubt I'll ever get to use it -- Maisie. It had a fresh, sweet, Henry Jamesian appeal. Adam nixed it. "Sounds like a cow," he said.

So Lucy it was, and so far, so good, although I'm starting to worry. Every time we get a Pottery Barn Kids catalogue in the mail -- and, given my shopping habits, they're arriving every three days or so -- there will be a picture of some wall hanging or monogrammed towel labeled LUCY.

Oof.

Also, filming on IN HER SHOES begins today in Los Angeles. Happy filming, everyone!
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