Topanga and Me!

One of my favorite kid shows is Boy Meets World. Why, you ask? In a word, “Topanga.” I loved her from the moment that card-carrying, freak-flag flying hippie graced my screen and enticed her way into the heart of lovable, boy-next-door, Cory Matthews.

Through seven seasons, my daughter and I watched Topanga/Danielle grow from an awkward misfit into a gorgeous femme fatale, thanks to the considerable acting and comedic skills of Danielle Fishel.

A couple of months ago, I found myself in the unique situation of meeting Danielle, in the flesh, in Midtown, NY. She had natural eyelashes as long as a caterpillar’s, a great figure to die-for, and a winning personality to match. How I met her, needs to remain a mystery for now, but what transpired after we got to know one another is a story I’ll annoy everyone with, till the day she slaps the gag order on me!

Of course, as a shameless self-promoter of my Young Adult new novel, Time Warped, I mentioned to her it had been recently published. She politely asked what it was about, and then became my captive audience as I overwhelmed her with my enthusiasm for what I consider to be a most entertaining and unique tale of a troubled teen who wakes up one morning to find herself in an insane asylum back in 1969! Danielle was glued, or rather pinned to her seat, by me. I wasn’t about to let her escape.

"There has got to be a rip in the universe, somewhere."

When I was finished with my epic length description of the book, she said she’d love to read it. Well, to my surprise, I just so happened to have a copy in my bag. Imagine that! So, I signed it and handed it over and she promised to give it a read on her way back to L.A.

Yesterday, I checked my email and was stunned to receive one from her, mentioning she’d just got done reading Time Warped and absolutely loved it! She even wrote a paragraph about it and said if I wanted to, I could use it as a blurb to promote the novel.

I’m still on cloud 9, and you guys are actually the first to know outside of my family. That’s how special you are--you should be extremely touched!

Here’s what the lovely Danielle Fishel wrote:

“I couldn’t put Time Warped down because there is something so relatable about Lanie Landry’s quest to find out the truth about herself and her family. The journey she takes is full of surprises!”~ Danielle Fishel, Topanga from "Boy Meets World," and "The Dish"

Wow, I still can’t believe she liked it. She really, really liked it! There has definitely got to be a rip in the universe, somewhere!

"Good Things Come in Dwarf Packages"

After watching The Golden Globes Sunday night, I saw a little man deliver a big speech, reminding us all about the horrors of bullying. Or, as George Carlin would probably say, “I saw a little guy remind us of how many big, stupid people there are in this world.”

Peter Dinklage, in his acceptance speech for supporting actor in a TV series, paid homage to an English bloke by the name of Martin Henderson, a dwarf now partially paralyzed after he was attacked last year. Some stupid thug approached him outside an English pub and without saying a word, he simply picked him up and threw him to the ground.

“I saw a little guy remind us of how many big stupid people there are in this world.”

No arrests have been made, but it’s suspected that the bully was influenced by some rugby players who took part in “dwarf tossing,” shortly before the incident took place.

For those of you who aren’t aware of Dwarf Tossing, the game is very much as its name implies and involves tossing dwarfs clad in Velcro padded suits onto mattresses or Velcro-coated walls. The idiot who throws his dwarf the farthest, wins. In other circles, it’s also known as “Smeagle Throwing.” Sounds funny, I know. But when you factor in the danger and humiliation for all the Smeagles of the world who are participating in it, somehow it ceases to tickle the funny bone.

"No arrests have been made, but it’s suspected that the bully was influenced by some rugby players who took part in 'dwarf tossing,' shortly before the incident took place."

Martin Henderson can no longer find work as an actor and one can only imagine how far the anger within him must now run. Perhaps the idiot who tossed him believed Henderson was a dwarf from Middle Earth with magical gravity powers. Unfortunately, Mr. Henderson was not any different than the rest of us. And that’s just the point.

In my new novel, Time Warped, one of my favorite characters is a rather feisty midget by the name of Esme. I suppose that’s why I felt so strongly pulled to defend all the vertically challenged people of the world today. Though Esme is small, she be mighty, and it would do well for all of us to remember that good things in life do often come in dwarf packages and should never be tossed.

I'm Not a Goody-Two-Shoes

Really. Anyone who knows me will tell you I'm about as far from that as they come. But I am a mom, and I was a teenage girl...several years ago. Again, I'm not raising my kids in a puritan-type household. We're pretty open and honest about most things. Keeping something secret or taboo, in my opinion, just makes a kid want it more. So, we don't do that.

So I have no intention of sheltering them from things in books, and we're already pretty open as far as movies go. (I have a no rated R rule with regard to the kids...it's more like a guideline since I know it's been broken...by my husband.) And I like books that portray teen life with a degree of realism (no matter how unreal they might be). That means dating, and sexuality, and cheating, and driving too fast, and drinking, and drugs, and all sorts of things. And I'm totally okay with all of that...as long as it serves a purpose.

I read a young adult novel by a friend recently (great book overall, I hope it gets picked up) that had the main character and the love interest having sex. In general, sex in YA doesn't bother me, but in this instance (much like the problem I had with Shiver, the sex didn't seem important to the characters or the plot. In both instances, I missed it initially when reading and had to go back to make sure they'd actually had sex. Glossing over the details is okay, but making it so unimportant that it can be easily missed or misinterpreted? In those cases, why is it there? People can fall in love without having sex, so it isn't by definition needed for the romantic plot/sub-plot. So why is it there if it doesn't have some effect on another point in the plot or on the characters involved? (Okay, the Gossip Girl ad may be a bad example. I'm not sure since I don't watch the show, but I thought it was hilarious that they're using quotes like that in their ads.)

An even worse offender for me is adding drugs and alcohol...just because. Yes, teens drink. Yes, some do drugs. No, I don't think having drinking and drugs in books will encourage teens who wouldn't otherwise imbibe to give it a try. However, if it does nothing for the characters and nothing for the plot...why add it? I'm reading an ARC of an upcoming dystopian. Not a bad book so far, but it's very hit-or-miss on this. There are (for lack of a better term) rave scenes. The scenes serve the purpose of connecting the main character with others she wouldn't meet or be able to talk to in her day-to-day life. Drinking and drugs make sense at a rave. No problem there. But later, there's a public fair (again, lack of a better word), and the adult beverages are flowing like water. *blink* Why? Everything that happened in that scene could have happened with the teens sober.

I see the same thing on TV for teens.

Vampire Diaries. Those people simply cannot have a get-together without drinking--and usually someone getting wasted to the point of stupidity. I'm okay with it most of the time--teen parties, blah blah blah. But all the time? That bumps it from realistic straight to you've-got-to-be-kidding-me. I'm sorry, but someone's parents in that town are not going to let their kids celebrate with drunken debauchery.

Look, I don't want every book and TV show out there to be squeaky clean. I just have this thing about balance. Most teens are not drunk all the time. Most teens (at least the ones I know) don't hop in bed with their boyfriend (or worse, their maybe-he-might-be-my-boyfriend-if-he-was-human-or-not-lying-to-me-all-the-time) as soon as the opportunity arises. Yes, some do. But unless that's part of their anti-hero persona, I really want it to be important to the plot. I want it to be necessary and (forgive me for this) mean something.

I don't know about you, but I chose my high school drinking times very carefully. And I made choices about if or when to sleep with a boy over the course of a long time. I didn't kiss him once and then strip, and neither did anyone else I knew (okay, except the school slut, but..hello...school slut). I remember losing my virginity. I remember my bad, drunken decisions. (And no, the two don't fall into the same category for me.) Is it too much to ask that fictional characters do the same?