Before I announce the finalists, I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who entered the contest.  This was a really tough choice and I was seriously tempted (especially early on when we only had a handful of contestants) to call everyone a finalist and let the voters make the tough choice.

It was so hard to choose, because all the valentines were so funny and unique.  In the end, what helped me decide was that element of surprise.  All the valentines I chose as finalists are ones where the pair is unexpected in some way.  A love letter from Dr. Jekyll to his evil alter-self.  A sweet valentine from a Tigger who just wants to be part of the family.  A letter of friendship from Dobby to the wizard who gave him his freedom.  And I couldn’t resist a haiku from Oedipus’ Mom to her son/husband/whatever he is.

Please vote for one of these fabulous finalists!

Patti Struble:  From Dr. Jekyll to Mr. Hyde
Kemendraugh: From Tigger to Kanga
Dave Symonds: To Harry Potter, From Dobby the Free Elf 
Prof. Bragg: An Oedipal Ode (in haiku form)

The Voting Booth will be open momentarily (see the sidebar) and will stay open until 11:59pm EST on Friday, February 25.  (Any votes posted after that time will not be counted.)

We’re all mature human beings, so I’ll be using an honor system here.  This means only one vote per person, OK?  But definitely feel free to help spread the word and tell your friends to vote!  I will tally the votes and announce the winner next Saturday.

Good luck to all!

Recap of Finalists:

Patti Struble:  From Dr. Jekyll to Mr. Hyde

You left the milk on the table,
I did not put it away.
I was not able.

You tossed the laundry,
Broke the vase.
You even jumped up
On my work-space.

Still, you brought me yet another gift.
Half-beaten man from over the rift.

Now the lab’s all a-twitter,
We, we’re not quitters.

His heart will go; lungs & brain too.
For these gifts, I give to you.

          * * * * *

Kemendraugh: From Tigger to Kanga

I don’t have a mama, and I’m not Roo.
But I sure love bouncing in on you!
You guys are my family. Like it or not.
And you’re the best family I ever did got.
I can’t write much, and I can’t spell more
That doesn’t matter, it’s you I adore
I want you to know you’re special today
Well, you’re special all days but this day especially special, okay?
So here’s a valentine’s ditty
Because you’re quite pretty
To Kanga (and Roo the little pest)
(I didn’t mean that I just needed it to rhyme.
(Poets say things like that all of the time)
Like I said, Kanga, and Roo the pest.
Poems is what Tiggers do best!

          * * * * *

Dave Symonds: To Harry Potter, From Dobby the Free Elf

To Harry Potter

Dobby is extremely fond
Of Harry and his waving wand.
And Dobby always gave support
As Harry fought Lord Voldemort

While at the Malfoy’s alma mater
He was freed by Harry Potter
Luscious Malfoy was in shock
When Dobby got that dirty sock

Although Dobby is a goner
Dobby feels it was an honor
Helping Harry to the end
As a free elf and his friend

Your friend
– Dobby the Free Elf

          * * * * *

Prof. Bragg: (an Oedipal ode in haiku form)

Love found after love
Grief and misery remain
Baby Man of mine 

Dearest Friends of iggi!

I am so sorry I haven’t announced the finalists and set up the poll for my Valentines Contest just yet.  You see, I moved houses yesterday and in my semi-delusional state I actually thought I’d have oodles of time this weekend to review the contest entries and figure out the poll widget-thingy.  Alas, we don’t have our internet set up so I’m borrowing some to write this message.  I guess living out of boxes is not conducive to one’s efficiency so please forgive my tardiness.

But don’t fret!  I will be posting the finalists by the end of the day on Monday and I’ll be leaving the poll open until Friday so all the participants will have plenty of time to tell their friends and get votes!

In the meantime, please send some sanity-filled-happy-unpacking-vibes our way.  I’m doing fine but iggi’s a bit out of sorts without his usual writing fix.

Welcome Back to YA Cafe, where book lovers can gather and chat about teen literature.  I’m your barista, along with Ghenet from All About Them Words.

Each Friday we pick from a menu of topics and share our thoughts on our respective blogs.  We’ve also got plans brewing for interviews, events and even some exciting giveaways, so stay tuned!  Join the discussion by responding in the comments, on your own blogs or on twitter using the hash tag #yacafe.

Today’s Special is: The Teen-10

• I am a Genius of Unspeakable Evil and I Want to Be Your Class President (Josh Lieb)  An evil mastermind running for eighth grade class president?  Hilarious!  This kid has such a great voice, it cracks me up.  Some readers might also not fully appreciate the voice, but chances are that’s because they’re just not smart enough to appreciate the sheer genius that is this book (and this character).  Then again, it’s easy to overlook genius in its own time.

• The Earth, My Butt and Other Big Round Things (Carolyn Mackler)
A funny, heartfelt book about a girl who’s struggling to live up to the unrelenting standards of her seemingly perfect family.  It was a tough call between this book by Carolyn Mackler and two of her others (Vegan Virgin Valentine and Tangled) but I chose this one for my Teen-10 because it’s the one that spoke to me on the most personal level.  Anyone who’s ever felt a little too fat or not good enough will relate to this heroine.

• Geektastic (Holly Black and Cecil Castellucci)
This collection of short stories captures geekdom on all it’s geekish levels.  Geektastic has all sorts of geeky goodness represented here–from trekkies and techies–the stories are written by bona fide members of the “nerd herd.”  Why I love this book: first there’s the sheer inspiration factor; being a geek doesn’t condemn you to a lifetime of awkward loneliness (these writers are living proof).  Second (in number but not in awesomeness) this book intermingles short stories with super-funny comics.  What’s not to love?

• Feed (M. T. Anderson)
Feed is one of my favorite books of all time and it most definitely wins the prize for best first line in a novel EVER.  I can’t think of what else to tell you that won’t seem meaningless, because no summary can do justice to the awesome that is this book.  But I’ll try.  Here goes.  Imagine a world where everyone has the internet pumped directly into their brains.  Sound scary?  Maybe because it’s not too far from being reality.

• The Looking Glass Wars (Frank Beddor) 
Alice in Wonderland meets Star Wars.  If you don’t find that unbelievably awesome, you need to get your head examined.  ’nuff said.

• What I Saw and How I Lied (Judy Blundell)
When I read What I Saw and How I Lied I read it practically in one gulp because I couldn’t put it down.  Now, let me just say this… with all interwebby awesome out there and reruns of Law and Order on just about every cable channel, the temptation to put a book down is pretty big.  But this book grabbed me by the scruff of the neck and would not let me go.

• Ice (Sarah Beth Durst)
Who would have thought a book entitled Ice would be so warm, heartfelt and passionate?  The relationship between Cassie and Bear is loving, sexy, and real.  I love how this book combines elements from so many different genres and styles; it has the flavor of a folktale with the structure of a fairytale and the strong-yet-vulnerable female protagonist of contemporary YA.  A breath-taking book.

• True Believer (Virginia Euwer Wolff)
Of course I had to include a verse novel on this list because verse novels are among my favorites.  This book makes my Teen-10 because when I read True Believer (book 2 in the Make Lemonade series), I detested it.  I thought it was sappy and silly and ridiculous.  The thing is, when a book makes me feel so viscerally against it, I often have to go back and take a second look.  In this case, I decided to go back and read book 1 in the series (Make Lemonade) and it’s positively lovely and made me reconsider my feelings about True Believer.  When a book (or in this case, author) wins me over on a second read, it often becomes a favorite of mine.  It’s as though I end up liking it all the more because I disliked it so much at first.  This is one of those books.  The other book I felt like this about is now my number-one-all-time-favorite-book:
Pride and Prejudice.

 

• The Book Thief (Markus Zusak) 
A book narrated by Death?  A story about the power of words?  Love, war, friendship, betrayal, family and sacrifice all woven together?  The Book Thief is a bibliophile’s dream.  Seriously.  When I read this book, I cried almost the whole way through.  Not because this book is sad (which it is, by the way) but because it’s so beautifully crafted that I kept thinking “I’ll never write like this!”  My writerly insecurities aside, if you haven’t read this book, you need to.  Right now.  Seriously, step away from your computer and Read. This. Book.

• If I Stay (Gayle Forman)
This book made me cry.  So much so that I couldn’t read the ending right away because vision was blurry.  Seriously, I had to get up and make a cup of tea so I could collect myself and read those last few pages.  This book has special meaning for me, for reasons I can’t quite explain here.  Suffice to say, this is a heart-wrenching but beautiful book.  Read it with a box of tissues.

All you have to do is glance at the twitter feed for the SCBWI Winter Conference in NYC (#ny11scbwi) to know that Sara Zarr seriously rocked the house.  There have been numerous recap posts about her talk.  My favorites include:

Jenny Torres Sanchez [Read. Write. Suffer.]  Sara Zarr at SCBWI–VALIDATION!

Candy Gourlay [Notes from the Slushpile] NYC 2011: Sara Zarr gives the speech she wanted to hear.

Now it’s been two weeks since the conference and as I sit down to write this post, I can’t shake that feeling of dread… that feeling that no matter what I write here, it could never do justice to the AWESOME that was Sara Zarr’s actual speech.  With that in mind, I have come to the conclusion that I will not do a recap.  Yes, I have pages and pages of notes.  Yes, I could give you a long list of all the amazing things she said.  But I could never manage to recreate the energy that filled the room while she said it.  So rather than try and fail miserably, I will simply try something else.

“The answer is in the work.”  Even as I write this post, I realize how true Sara Zarr’s statement is.  The answer isn’t some elusive thing floating out in the ether.  The answer is in the work.  All the things Sara Zarr listed as being essential to a fulfilling creative life are simply ways of taking the focus from neurotic writer-selves and channeling it toward the work.

Here are some of the qualities that Sara Zarr mentioned that lead to a fulfilling creative life (and obstacles that get in our way):

• Sustainable
• Engaging (as opposed to Disenchanting)
• Invites Company but Knows When to Send Company Away (as opposed to Inviting the WRONG Company)
• Faith-Based (as opposed to having a Lack of Faith)
• Gives Back (as opposed to being Self-Obsessed)
• Practice and Craft are central (as opposed to emphasizing Process or the Commodification of Creativity)

As I look down that list, I realize that writers will tap into all of the qualities of a fulfilling creative life the moment they focus on loving the work.  If you love the work, it will sustain you and engage you even when the people around you are not supportive.  If you love the work, you’ll invite good company into your circle of trust and send the bad company away.  If you love the work, you’ll have faith that someday, good things will happen even if the present moment kind of stinks.

“The true goal to strive for is to love doing the work.”  ~Sara Zarr

Notice also that all the obstacles that oppose those good qualities of a fulfilling creative life can get knocked down the minute we start loving the work.  If we love the work, it’s hard to be self-obsessed or to commodify our creativity.  The work will have inherent meaning to us, not just meaning defined by what other people think of our work.

Ultimately, writers need to love doing the work and believe that there’s enough generosity in the universe to go around.  In the words of Flannery O’Connor: “People without hope do not write novels.”

In closing, there is a line in that movie Pushing Tin, and it sums up the writing experience for me.  This one air traffic controller is returning to work after having a meltdown and his therapist has given him a mantra: “It’s a big sky, there’s lots of room.”

I feel like that mantra captures the writing life beautifully.  This isn’t a zero-sum game.  OK, it might be if your end-goal is to have a #1 bestseller or win some prestigious award–but that doesn’t necessarily make for a fulfilling creative life (and can lead to a lot of stress and neuroses).  But if the goal is to love doing the work, then there’s plenty of good stuff in the universe to go around.  It’s a big sky.  There’s plenty of room for everybody.