Monday, March 31, 2008

Were you a jock? A brain? A homecoming queen?

Girl Friday here, kicking off the week celebrating my new release, TWISTED SISTERS, which comes out tomorrow! Yeah!In my sequel, my heroine, Aspen Brooks, goes to college and tries to accept going from being a queen to being a frog. She tries to forge new friendships with the girls in her sorority while trying to solve another mystery. In honor of Aspen, and her misadventures with the Zeta's, I decided to talk about the groups we participated in during high school/and or college. To much chagrin, and two feet that fell asleep, I couldn't find the pictures I wanted to post. So you'll just have to use your imagination today.

In high school, I kind of fell in the middle of everything. I was smart, but I wasn't a brain. I was friends with everyone, but I don't think I was one of the popular people. I was definitely not a jock. But I definitely knew how to have fun.

I was in Student Council, where we planned dances and pizza parties, and decorated lockers and hallways for sporting events, holidays, etc. It was fun, but I really only joined to get closer to a guy. Who, unfortunately, I got very close to. :)
I also had a brief stint as a pom-pon girl. I think I only got to perform twice because I was flunking geometry and was alway ineligible. Not my proudest memory.

I was also in FHA (future homemakers of america, I know now that I should have paid better attention!) and AFS, which was an organization to support our foreign exchange students. I was the secretary although I don't remember having even one responsiblity. We basically jacked around and had more pizza parties and lock-in's.

But my favorite group was band. I started playing the clarinet in fifth grade. We had the distinct honor of marching in the Halloween parade every year. For some reason, I thought this was really cool. Once I got in high school we started marching band and would perform at all the home football games. I'm not proud to admit that I got through four years of marching band without ever memorizing the entire school song. Yeah, I was kind of/still am a slacker. The performing was fun, except for the hideous wool outfits, but I had way more superficial reasons to love band. First of all, it was the first class of the day all four years. We had the same director that we'd had since fifth grade. I'm pretty sure that we had driven him so over the edge that most days were just a study hall. So instead of finetuning my instrument, I could spend the morning flirting with the hottie behind the trombone. :)


What was your favorite group?

Random commenters win an autographed copy of Twisted Sisters. I haven't decided how many because I don't have my author copies yet~!

xo,

Steph

www.stephaniehale.com

Revenge of the Homecoming Queen, OUT NOW!

Twisted Sisters, OUT TOMORROW!!!



33 comments:

Me said...

I was a lot like you in high school, Steph. I was a middle-grounder (friendly with everyone, not untouchably unpopular, not extraordinarily popular). I'll go into specifics more on Sunday, but I guess you could say I was a little bit of everything (except band, sad to say), but nothing exclusively.

KrisLeet said...

In high school I was on swim team, diving team, cheerleading, and I was in marching band.
I got along with loads of different people because of being involved in so many things. I wouldn't say I was popular because it is hard to shine in a graduating class of 700 people.
I would have to say Marching Band was my favorite thing. Although it was much less "R" rated than American Pie has made it to be I did get my first real make out session at band camp. I also decided to work my buns off my first year and declare a mini woodwind themed war on anyone who desired the coveted first chair spot. It was all good fun, but I totally kicked some tunes and got the spot.

TinaFerraro said...

So fun that it's release time...I can't wait for the postman to bring my copy.

Unlike you and TLC, I was NOT a little bit of everything in HS. Which I may or may not go into on Friday. How's THAT for the ultimate teaser?

Hugs and congrats to you on this exciting event!

Rhonda Helms said...

I'm so, so happy to see more band nerds. WE RULE!! haha. Anyway, yup, I was a proud band geek. I played trumpet, and had the honor of being drum major my senior year. LOL.

Other than that, I was a middle-grounder, too...I had friends in all the groups.

Anonymous said...

my favourite groups in high school where musical theatre and jazz-/tapdance. (and they are still my hobbys). Congratulations with you book launch Stephanie!

Amber said...

I'm still in high school and I'm a mix between nerd, prep and jock. I am in all honors classes and president of National Honor Society, I dress in traditionally classic "preppy" clothes but I'm also on two varsity sports! So you pick =) My favorite thing is probably being on the tennis team - we just have so much fun together! Thanks for this giveaway Stephanie, I would be thrilled to win =)

Donna McDine said...

Stephanie...Congratulations! In high school I was on the b-ball team and hung out with mostly the jocks. I certainly don't miss the drama of h.s....even more so that the drama starts earlier and earlier now. I'm seeing that with my 13 yr old and 10 yr old.

Anonymous said...

I consider myself a "floater," meaning I get along with pretty much everybody but at the same time I'm not popular, nor was I ever.

In 9th grade I decided to give sports a go, so I tried out for the basketball team. I made JV but quickly realized sports were not my thing. I hated practices, so sports were no longer an option for me.

Sophomore year I got into jazz dance but got frustrated because to me it seemed like I could never master any dance steps like the other girls could.

However, there was one activity in particular that I've built a passion for and that would be: journalism. I become involved with it in 8th grade as an after school thing and fell in love with it. At my high school, journalism is an actual course but it's not offered to freshmen so I had to skip out on it for one year (jazz dance only temporarily replaced it). I picked it up again sophomore year and got several articles published in my school newspaper, which is a great feeling.

I'm in eleventh grade now and am currently taking Advanced Journalism as the Opinion Editor, but for six months I was the News Editor. I plan to at least minor in journalism for college. So, I'd have to say journalism is definitely my favorite group. :)

Anonymous said...

Steph-
I was alot like you in high school; except for being smart, friends with everyone, being in Student Council, and even though I had a few "lost week-ends", I don't think I was ever in FHA or on the Pom-Pom squad. (I did come close to failing Geometry too, though.) But I did go to alot of pizza parties and even decorated some lockers (with spray paint). So yeah, I was alot like you!

I was an Orchestra nerd as oppossed to a band geek. I played the Bass Viol in high school AND college. It's been 20 years since I played one though. I always enrolled in Symphony in college as an elective because I enjoyed it until the director told me he had Bass playing Music majors who needed my chair. I guess you could say I got fired from a volunteer gig!

BTW, while you flirted with the trombones, I pined away for Janette Rallison's older sister in the 2nd violins section. She was older, and I was shy, so I never spoke to her :(

Chuck

PS "Check your ombishure!"

Anonymous said...

Yay for the band! I also started playing clarinet in 5th grade and was madly in love with one of the hot percussionists. I am not sure why I thought me wearing polyester bell-bottoms and a plastic cowboy hat would be a turn-on for him, though. Congrats on your new book, Steph!

Anonymous said...

i was the one in the bathroom, hoping no one would notice me even being there

i had speech problem, so guess how my day loew, when had to stand and read in front of class ACK

stephhale said...

Wow! So many band geeks! Thanks for all the comments, keep em' coming!

Anonymous said...

i was the token gay guy.

Anonymous said...

I wasn't really in a group and I'm not still in one. My friends and I hang out with everyone. It doesn't matter if they're a prep, jock, bando, or geek. We're nice to every one and we allow anyone to join us. High school shouldn't be about cliques nothing should. And that's why we accept anyone no matter what color, race, or reglion.
-Sara Stone

Megan said...

I'm not a band geek like some of you. I'm a singing geek!

In our school we have different choruses, one non-audition chorus and three audition choruses. I'm a member of one of the audition women's choruses, and next year I hope to get into the Chambers Group, which is basically the next level of selectivity.

This year I got involved in our musical, which was also a lot of fun.

Many singing geeks are also crossover band geeks, but I definitely think singing geeks have some unique qualities. For example, do the band kids go around singing show tunes? I think not!

(And we're probably just a tad more attention-seeking. Just a tad.)

Many of my friends also fall into the singing geek category, but besides that, me and my friends also have a few of these things in common: being grade perfectionists (94's and 95's are our versions of bad grades), goodie-goodies, and overall weird, slightly nerdy (in a good way) people.

There's one thing, though, that is mostly mine and mine alone: being a totally dedicated, practically obsessive writer girl.

Anonymous said...

Congrats on your impending release!!

i was an FFA dork. I grew up on a dairy, and all the hick-boys knew me because they liked duck-hunting at my house. It was not unusual to have a random guy come up and ask to hunt at my house, and me go, "and you are?" OOps.

I think there are way more "not quite anywhere" people in high school than those that are easily defined!

Amanda
www.livejournal.com/users/mandywriter

award said...

Hi! I was pretty much an in-the-middle type of girl. I had popular friends but wasn't really popular myself, if that makes any sense :). I was pretty much friends with all groups, but I only had a few close friends, which is what I prefer. I loved to play volleyball. Junior varsity was much better than varsity. There was more fun and it wasn't as competitive. Congrats on the new release!

Amy

AnimeJune said...

I was never in any groups in high school - I was a bit of a loner. In University, though, I joined a wackload of groups I had a lot of fun with - write now I'm with the University's Mixed Chorus, a Staff Writer on the Newspaper, and the Lieutenant-Commander (er, Secretary) of the Science Fiction Club.

Anonymous said...

Steph,
I loved REVENGE and so look forward to TWISTED SISTERS. I saw this review and thought of you - what great timing to get excited about the next in the series!

http://thecompulsivereader.blogspot.com/2008/03/revenge-of-homecoming-queen-by.html

Congrats!
Jessica

Meredith said...

I did all but a semester of high school online. But the one semester that I went to the high school, I was friends with just about everyone. I don't know why I remember this so well, but in my sign language class, this one kid said "Everybody likes Meredith. It's like impossible not to. She's everyone's friend." And it is pretty ture I guess.
I was defintely a brain, though. Friends with everybody but absolutely a brain, straight A's and everything. In junior high, I played the clarinet, so I was friends with people in band from there in high school too.
I cannot wait to get my hands on a copy of Revenge of the Homecoming Queen, I still need to read that one, and then I'll get my hands on Twisted Sisters.

the story siren said...

i guess i was right in the middle. i was in all the academic classes, but i still had to study so i wasn't exactly gifted. i was on the swim team but that was the only sports team i participated in. i was only in band my freshman year and i played the clarinet too!! i was really big into ffa and 4-h! i really loved it. and no i'm not a farmer, and it is no longer called future farmers of america, ffa is simply kept as the name of the organization. i soiled judged and livestock judged, and i showed every animal except for pigs and horses in 4-h. so i guess if i had to catagorize myself, i would be a jock/brain/musical/agriculture girl.

Anonymous said...

hmm. i'm in high school right now and i'm not sure what group i would stick myself in.
I'm secretary of Key Club.
I guess I'm a brain. I'm in mostly advanced classes and have good grades.
I'm easy to get along with, and have friends. but i wouldn't say that i'm popular.
i've never been into athletics.
so, idk. a brain?

irishgurl19 said...

I was so a band geek. I play clairnet too! And, it was my first class of the day for the whole four years of high school! I was also a middle ground too. I knew everyone and said hello, but I was by no means poplar.

Nurin said...

I'm in high school right now but since my school really is just a swarming mass of "nerds," I can't really clasify myself specifically, but I bet if I was at a different high school, I'd probably just be average.

xD

Congrats on your release!!

danetteb said...

Congrats Stephanie!

I was an all around girl,not really sticking to a specific group. I kind of regret that though because I didn't make long term friends doing that. I am thankful for the few I do keep in touch with.:)

Hugs, Danette

benjamintchip said...

My favorite groups were probably the school musical, band, and Key Club, because I got to hang out with my crush.

Anonymous said...

I was a track stat person during my Freshman year (because I wanted to be closer to my older sister), but that was the only group I was involved in. During my senior year, I hung out the Thespians, because my BF at that time was a drama queen (I mean that literally. He's gay and taking drama classes.)

Yvette said...

I was in the band. I played the flute for 3 years. I was also a loner and only had one friend all through high school.

Anonymous said...

congrats on your release! It looks like a great book. I flunked geometry too and had to take it in summer school. The teacher gave me an extra point for every geometry joke I told. He knew I'd have more luck as a smartass than a mathematician. Wise man. Can't wait to read your book! :) debbie

Emily Marshall said...

Congrats on the new release Steph. So exciting. Going to a smaller school, I definitely hung out with lots of different groups as well. But mostly with the "sporty" group as they were essentially labeled in our school, since all my friends played lots of sports and I was in several as well.

Keri Mikulski said...

I'm hearing great stuff about TWISTED SISTERS. Congrats!

Hmm.. Definitely jock, I think. :)

Marley Gibson said...

WHOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOO Steph!!!!!!

I fit into a couple of things. First, a band geek for four years, and a cheerleader for one. Talk about extremes.

= )

Breanna said...

Congrats on the release, I bet that is so exciting!

I fell in the middle of everything in high school as well. I was just kind of there. Didn't really fit in with anything. But at least I had some close friends. They were amazing, and still are. Although I rarely get to see them anymore .=(