Living with OJD: Some more questions for ya! :)

Hey guys! So, I've gotten quite a few more questions since the last Q&A and I am finally finished sorting through emails so I picked out 10 or 15 and thought I would share them with you :) I've sorted out all the emails that I got while I was away and I intend to respond to every one of them, even though it might take me a while. So please be patient, and if you can refrain from sending lots of new emails until I respond to your previous ones, that would be great :) Enjoy!

Paris:
Q#1 - What was Paris like?
A#1 - Paris was really cool, it was amazing to see all the sights and eat all the amazing food. The thing that most interested me though was the fashion. Many people wore unique and up-and-coming clothes that I've never seen before. I'm definetely trying to start some trends though!

Q#2 - What was your most rewarding experience during your travels?
A#2 - I would have to answer this with a quick story. There was a man staying in our hotel and he appeared to be by himself for the most part, always wearing a suit or something business-ish. He always tipped his hat to us in the morning breakfast room, but I was always curious about him. Finally, one night I was walking down the hall to get more ice from the machine and he had his suitcase with him. I asked him if he was leaving and he told me that his sister was going into labor back in the States, so he wanted to be there. He told me that he was originally from Canada and then he moved to Georgia with his family when he was just a kid. He traveled back and forth from Paris and New York for business, but he decided to stay just a little bit longer in Paris this time because he loves it so much. I went back to the hotel room and wrote the whole conversation down, and now he has taken the name of John, the friendly hotel guest at the place where Nina stays in the book :)

Q#3 - Where you nervous about going to a place where they don't speak English fluently and everything is different?
A#3 - Yes, I was at first, but once I got there I realized that a lot of people spoke both English and French. Many of the people who I communed with were just there on business from the States, so mostly everyone was fluent in English. I actually got lost when we first arrived, and that was a little scary, but luckily I found my way to the hotel and it was definetely an idea for the story to be worked in.

Home Life:

Q#4 - Do you enjoy being at your own home after traveling for so long?
A#4 - Of course I miss it and it's really nice to be back, but when I was in Paris I was so busy writing that I didn't really have time to miss anything, and in California I was so tired out that I wanted to just relax someplace that wasn't my house, because actually, I wouldn't have been able to relax here because there's so much going on. But it is good to be home and really focus on school work and family.

Q#5 - What did you miss most about your house when you were away for so long?
A#5 - I missed my dog and cat most of all, because a lot of family and friends came with me for parts of the trip. When we were in California, I just missed being familiar with people and missing all my things.

Q#6 - What's your schedule when you don't have anything special going on?
A#6 - I'm usually up by 10 on most days, and then I do my school work, take a break for lunch at noon or so, then go back to working. When I finish around 2 or so, I talk to my friends on the phone and work on some writing or clean until my mom gets home. Then, we usually either go out to eat, or shop on nights that aren't busy. We almost always have things going on.

Rumors:

Q#7 - Who are you dating? I heard that you weren't allowed to date. Is that true?
A#7 - No, that's not true, but right now I am single. I've been away for so long and it's only know that I'm getting back into the swing of things. My parents just want me to be happy, so for right now it's more just myself and me feeling like I'm ready to date again or not.

Q#8 - Did you refuse to make an apperance at a book store in New York City because they didn't pay you enough?
A#8 - No, this is the most absurd rumor yet. First of all, I haven't even been to a NYC bookstore, nor have I been offered money to make an apperance at one. Second of all, I definetely wouldn't refuse to do a book signing or something, even if it was no pay. I don't write for the money, I write for my enjoyment and hopefully other people's enjoyment as well.

Books:

Q#9 - When is the book coming out and what is it called?
A#9 - We've tossed around a lot of names, so far nothing is permanent. I like the current name, but I could wake up tomorrow, look at it again and decide that I hate it. So I don't want to give anything out yet that is subject to change. And it should be coming out this summer, if everything goes as expected. The editing process takes a long time so it's tough to have a set date for a book if rewrites need to be done or something that might take longer than estimated.

Q#10 - Why can't I find On That Day anywhere?
A#10 - It's currently been on backorder in most everywhere, mostly because the publishing company that I was with only allowed a certain number of books to be distributed to each store, and not a lot of copies came from the printer. Supposedly like 50 copies per state, omitting Alaska, Hawaii and Oregon. I'm actually working on getting it switched over to the company I'm now with, because they will help get the word out a little better and print a lot of versions and copies for us. I'm still super proud of that book though.

Thanks for reading, I'll try to have more questions soon but I'm really tired right now so I'm going to go to bed :) I'll keep you guys updated! Bye!

Living with OJD: Good to be back!!!

Hey everyone! Wow, it sure has been a while!
I am back from my trip and I am finished writing my novel! It's in the final stages of editing and should be out to stores by May 2009. I can't believe it's been this long! It seems like I was in Paris AGES AGO! I'm so glad that I recovered this blog, it sure has some great stuff on it. I stayed in Paris until the end of July, stopped home for a few days and then flew out to California for the greater part of August and September. It was SO much fun and I really enjoyed my vacation. I'm just getting back to the internet, as I lost my laptop (:-O) in Paris and couldn't buy another one until we got the correct internet hookup in our California home, which didn't happen until days before we left to come back to NY. I just turned on my computer for the first time in two and a half months! It's crazy to basically jump back into normal life again after such an extraordinary time in my life. I'm getting to work now on school and catching up with friends, even thinking about how to start my next novel! Paris was beautiful, there were so many sights and sounds and tastes and the people were just amazing. California was the absolute best place I could've ever been for a nice relaxing two month break. I'm excited to get back to you all, sorry that it's been so long! I look forward to catching everyone up to speed on what I've been doing and what's to come. A few reminders since last time: PLEASE EMAIL ALL QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS ON ANY OF THE BLOGS, don't leave comments on this website. I don't ever look at the blogs so I won't be seeing any comments or questions here. The email to do so is melaniehasojd@aim.com. And last but not least, I will be figuring out another Q&A segment for you soon, but I have about 300 emails on this account and 900 on my personal email. It's going to take me some time to get back into the swing of things. Please be patient, but keep emailing and let me know how your summer went and what your school year has been like! I can't wait to hear from you all! Bye :)