UPCOMING EVENTS: NORTH CAROLINA, SOUTH CAROLINA, & MINNESOTA

My friend Alexa’s fantastic new novel Sound is releasing this week! If you love science fiction, you absolutely need to check out her books. They’re so smart. So GOOD. To celebrate its release (and the release of Isla in paperback), I’ll be joining her—and a few other awesome authors!—at two upcoming events:

CHARLOTTE, NC

Park Road Books

Sunday, October 4th at 2:00 pm

A young adult panel with Renne Ahdieh, Alexandra Duncan, Alan Gratz, and Stephanie Perkins. Everyone is welcome! Free to attend. 

GREENVILLE, SC

Fiction Addiction

Monday, October 5th, at 5:30 pm 

A young adult panel with Renee Ahdieh, Alexandra Duncan, Alan Gratz, Stephanie Perkins, and Will Walton. Everyone is welcome! Tickets are $10. From the store’s website: “Each ticket can be redeemed for $10 off a purchase of the featured authors’ books prior to or at the event, and includes one admission pass to the event.”

I’ll also be attending Hank Green’s super sweet inaugural Nerdcon: Stories in MINNEAPOLIS, MN on October 9th & 10th. The guest list is insane, and I'm so psyched and honored to have been invited. There’s still time to register if you haven’t.

These will be my last events for the rest of the year (and probably most of next year), so please come say hello to me if you can!

As for the rest of October . . . hell yeah, I'm doing 31 Horror Films in 31 Days again! Stay tuned. This blog is about to become a blog again.

UPCOMING EVENTS: NORTH CAROLINA, OKLAHOMA, CALIFORNIA, & TEXAS

Hi, everyone!

I miss real blogging, and I hope/plan to return to it this spring. In the meantime, I wanted to mention these upcoming events:

March 16: I'll be in Winston-Salem, NC at Salem College with Kami Garcia, Brendan Reichs, and Carrie Ryan. The event is at 7pm at the Drama Workshop in Elberson Fine Arts Center. It's free and open to the public. Books will be available for purchase.

March 25: I'll be at the Midwest City Library in Oklahoma City, OK from 10am to 11am. This event is free and open to the public.

March 25: I'll be at the Northwest Library in Oklahoma City, OK from 6pm to 7pm. This event is free and open to the public.

March 26: I'll be at the Edmond Library in Oklahoma City, OK from 7pm to 8pm. This event is free and open to the public.

April 11: I'll be at YALLWest in Santa Monica, CA. Some of the events will be ticketed. Check their website for details.

May 12–17: I'll be returning to the RT Booklovers Convention in Dallas, TX. Registration required to attend.

I'm especially excited for the Oklahoma events, because they'll be my first in the state. I hope some of you will be able to come and say hello!

Before I sign off . . .

HAPPY (early) ST. PATRICK'S DAY! As per my annual tradition, I'll be making Storyqueen Shelley Moore Thomas's delicious corned beef with marmalade and watching Once, my favorite Irish movie. Do you have any fun traditions?

MY TRUE LOVE GAVE TO ME: THREE NYC EVENTS

New York City! I'm packing my luggage!

And so are Holly Black, Ally Carter, Gayle Forman, Jenny Han, David Levithan, Kelly Link, Myra McEntire, and Kiersten White!!!

(Okay. Not Gayle, Jenny, or David. They already live there.)

But—that's right—*NINE* out of us twelve anthology authors are coming for *TWO* very special events in your city this week.

Nine authors!

That's so many authors!!!

Plus, I'm doing a bonus reading with a bunch of other cool people this Wednesday at the Jefferson Market branch of the NYPL. Here's my full schedule:


WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 3rd

6–7:30 PM at Jefferson Market branch library (corner of 6th Ave and 10th St)
Teen Author Reading Night
Featuring: Anna Carey, Sarah Beth Durst, Margaret Gurevich, Daphne Grab, Claire Legrand, Stephanie Perkins, Kieran Scott, and Rebecca Serle. Hosted by David Levithan.


THURSDAY, DECEMBER 4th

4 PM at Barnes & Noble Tribeca
My True Love Gave to Me: Panel, Q&A, and Signing
Featuring: Holly Black, Ally Carter, Gayle Forman, Jenny Han, David Levithan, Kelly Link, Myra McEntire, Stephanie Perkins, and Kiersten White.

Additional details: Priority seating with purchase. Guests who wish to sit must purchase a book from B&N—either My True Love Gave to Me *or* any book written by one of the featured authors. If nothing is purchased, guests will have to stand. No purchase is required to attend the signing.


7 PM at McNally Jackson
My True Love Gave to Me: Holiday Reception
Featuring: Holly Black, Ally Carter, Gayle Forman, Jenny Han, David Levithan, Kelly Link, Myra McEntire, Stephanie Perkins, and Kiersten White.

Additional details: This party is also in celebration of McNally Jackson's ten-year anniversary. Hurrah! Wear your ugliest holiday sweater. THERE WILL BE PRIZES.


SPECIAL AWESOME SUPER BONUS: Matt de la Peña pre-signed the stock at both stores, and Laini Taylor sent signed stickers. Yes! You'll be getting the anthology signed by *ELEVEN* of the twelve authors.

But . . . but . . . what about Rainbow Rowell?

As you may have seen elsewhere online, Rainbow was scheduled to be here. Sadly, there's been a family emergency, and she'll be staying in Nebraska. We'll miss you so much, Rainbow.

We will also miss this FREAKING OUTSTANDING cardigan that your equally talented husband made especially for these two events:

I know.

I KNOW.

To be clear: We will miss you more, Rainbow.

But. Yeah.

We're totally gonna miss your cardigan.

AUTUMN TOUR DATES

America, I am leaving my house! I'm coming to see you! I'm bringing friends!

Atlanta! THIS WEEKEND, I'll be at the Decatur Book Festival and Dragon Con.

Friday, August 29: Dragon Con 

LGBTQA Representation in YA (A707, Marriott) — 11:30 AM
Panelists: Cinda Williams Chima, Christopher Elliot, Casey Fiesler, Stephanie Perkins, Nessa Warrin
*If you bring my books, I will happily sign them in the hallway after this panel.

Saturday, August 30: Decatur Book Festival

Map of My Heart: Love Stories (Teen Stage) — 12:00-12:45 PM
Panelists: Adi Alsaid, Isabel Gillies, Stephanie Perkins, Jennifer E. Smith
*Signing immediately following this panel

Sunday, August 31: Dragon Con

Beyond Genre: Realistic YA Fiction (A707, Marriott) — 11:30 AM
Panelists: Gwenda Bond, Michelle Hodkin, Stephanie Perkins, Debbie Viguié
*If you bring my books, I will happily sign them in the hallway after this panel.

* * *

Isla and the Happily Ever After tour:

Oakland, CA: Sunday, September 7
4 PM at A Great Good Place for Books

San Francisco, CA: Monday, September 8
Not Your Mother's Book Club event with Nina LaCour
7 PM at Books, Inc. Opera Plaza

Oceanside, CA: Tuesday, September 9
Illusions of Fate launch party with Kiersten White and Natalie Whipple
7 PM at Barnes & Noble (Oceanside location)

New York, NY: Wednesday, September 10
Milk & Cookies event with Gayle Forman
6 PM at McNally Jackson

Doylestown, PA: Thursday, September 11
with Jon Skovron
6:30 PM at Doylestown Books

Haverford, PA: Friday, September 12
with David Levithan and Chris Van Etten
7 PM at Children’s Book World

Houston, TX: Saturday, September 13
with Kiersten White and Jennifer Mathieu
2 PM at Blue Willow Bookshop

* * *

Additional events:

Naperville, IL: September 27-28
Anderson’s YA Conference (must purchase ticket to attend)

St. Paul, MN: October 11
Twin Cities Book Festival

Charleston, SC: November 7-8
YALLFest 

* * *

I'll have even more events to announce in the coming months!

RELEASE DAY CELEBRATION (WITH A FEW QUICK STOPS ON THE SHAME TRAIN)

Oh, man. The shame train. It has arrived.

I get SO embarrassed having to talk about myself and my books and my events and my this and my that. It always feels . . . braggy. And awkward. But with Isla and the Happily Ever After releasing in one week (EEP!), it's my full-time job right now.

Me talking about me. And my books. And why you should buy them.

*hides underneath desk*

*eats cookie*

*eats another cookie*

*eats twelve more shame cookies*

The good news is that everyone is being very kind about it! Thank you for not unfollowing me on Twitter. Seriously. I swear I'll be back to talking about my cat soon. (Oh, who am I kidding? I have never stopped talking about my cat.)

But soon I'll also have time to see Guardians of the Galaxy, which everyone seems to adore, and season four of The Killing (LINDEN AND HOLDER OMGGGGG), and we can talk about those things instead! I can't wait!!!

In the meantime, my incredible publicist Lauren has been working her butt off, and she's put together a mighty fine tour for me this autumn. I'll be visiting so many of your cities! I'll announce these dates/stops within the next week, but today . . . 

There is only *ONE EVENT* that matters:

RELEASE DAY CELEBRATION!

My hometown bookstore!

Malaprop's Bookstore & Café!

Asheville, North Carolina!

Thursday, August 14th!

7:00 p.m.!

I'll be reading and chatting and answering questions and signing books, and I really hope that those of you who live in the area will be able to make it.

Malaprop's has always been my biggest supporter. I am so grateful for their knowledgeable, enthusiastic, freaking awesome booksellers. They've DOMINATED the Isla pre-order campaign. (This one! There's still time to pre-order! Signed book! Free buttons! Free stickers! Open internationally!)

I can't wait to thank them in person. 

I can't wait to thank YOU in person.

Thanks for being so patient for this book . . . and for being so patient while I have to promote it. We're almost there, guys. I promise.

HELLO, LOS ANGELES + SALVAGE WINNERS

The Ladies of Asheville YA: Moi, Alexandra Duncan, Meagan Spooner, and Megan Shepherd at Alexandra's Salvage event at Malaprop's

Congratulations to Tiffing and Anna Swenson, the randomly selected winners of this week's Salvage giveaway! I've contacted you both, so please let me know if you didn't receive my email.

Next week, I'll be in Los Angeles for the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books. If you live in the area, please say hello! Catch me here on Sunday, April 13th:

• 1 PM: Signing at the Penguin Young Reader's booth with the hilarious and wonderful Rachel Hawkins (Rebel Belle).

• 3 PM: Panel on the YA Stage with Emery Lord (Open Road Summer) and Joanna Philbin (Rules of Summer), moderated by my awesome pal Amy Spalding (Ink Is Thicker Than Water).

Okay! I'd better get back to work!

Or maybe I'll go eat some cookies.

Yeah. That sounds better. Cookies first, then work.

Always cookies first.

A REASON TO COME TO MY EVENTS THIS YEAR (APART FROM MY DELIGHTFUL COMPANY, OBVS)

Oh, man!

I can't believe I forgot to blog about this. Because it's happening, like, RIGHT NOW.

(That's a lie. I absolutely can believe I forgot to blog about this.)

(I forget about everything.)

Megan Shepherd, Victoria Schwab, and I are hitting the road to celebrate the release of Her Dark Curiosity and The Unbound. And we’re bringing friends! Come visit us THIS WEEK at these events:

January 30: RICHMOND, VA — Fountain Bookstore at 6:30 p.m.

January 31: ALEXANDRIA, VA — Hooray for Books at 7 p.m. (with Ellen Oh)

February 1: BETHESDA, MD — Bethesda Library at 2 p.m. (with Ellen Oh and Jessica Spotswood)

As an added bonus, I'll be giving away a few FANCY BRAND NEW Anna/Lola/Isla tote bags at every event. They're pretty cute! See?

If I want to take a picture of it, he will sit on it.

Megan and I will also be in SYLVA, NC at City Lights Bookstore with Jessica Khoury on February 8th at 3 p.m. I'll bring tote bags to give away here, too.

I think I'll bring them to every event this year. That would be cool, yes?

And . . . I'll give away a few here on my blog next week! And maybe I'll talk about Isla and Josh a little bit, too. Maybe. Maybe maybe maybe.

Maybe.

MAYBE.

HAPPY FUZZY SELFIES FROM YALLFEST

Myra McEntire and myself. Hotel room. Taken by Myra.

Gayle Forman (bottom) and myself (top). Saddle shoes. Taken by Gayle.

Myra, Carrie Ryan, Brendan Reichs, myself. Post-festival. Taken by Brendan.

Attendees, organizers, and authors of YALLFest . . . you were as wonderful as ever! Charleston is the gorgeous-est. Benne wafers and palmettos and gas lights and dolphins and cheese grits and cemeteries and love. I'll be back soon.

WHERE I’M AT IN MY HEAD

Figure seen recently in Laclede's Landing Wax Museum. Also, a helpful representation of my current brainstate.

Before I get into this, a quick plug for everyone in Atlanta:

Gayle Forman and I will be at Little Shop of Stories in Decatur this Thursday, November 7th at 7:00 p.m. We’ll be discussing “What Is Love, Anyway? Teens, Romance, and Transformation.” A book signing will follow. You should come! It’ll be a great one. Gayle and I always get a little bit silly when we’re together.

After that, we’re hopping in my car and driving to YALLFest in Charleston. So if any of you are still holding out on whether or not you should make that drive yourself, STOP HOLDING OUT. Make the drive! It’s one of the best book festivals of the year.

Okay.

Today I’m trying something different here. First, I’m going to freewrite about the current state of my head. Then I’ll work for as long as I can take it. Hopefully, at least six hours. And then I’ll return here to freewrite again about today’s work experience.

The reason I’m doing this is because my head isn’t the nicest place to be right now, and I’d like to prove it wrong about a few things that it won’t shut up about.

I’m currently revising Isla and the Happily Ever After. I finally managed to turn in a full manuscript (this book’s first full manuscript) at the beginning of September, and I received some notes about it from my editor while I was on my road trip. Last Monday was the date that I was supposed to begin the revision.

Instead, this is what happened:

I woke up. And my brain started talking.

Hey. So you think you’re gonna work today, huh? You ACTUALLY think you’re going to work? Don’t you know this history of you and working? Of you starting ANYTHING on time? You’re a failure. You’re no good at this. You’ve never been good at this. Think about all those deadlines you’ve missed. All those people you’ve disappointed. You’re going to do it again, I know it, because that’s what you do.

You disappoint people.

You’re going to disappoint them with this book. It’s not great. It’s okay, yeah, but it’s not great, is it? It’s not better than your previous books. You have to be better, and you’re not. If anything, you’re worse. You’re tired. Your books have no life, because you have no life, and you’ll never have a life, because you’re always exhausted, and you hate leaving the house, and you hate replying to messages, and you want to be left alone, and you ARE alone. Look at you being alone, you sad stupid person.

HEY! I’m talking to you! We have work to do! We have to un-shit your book! We have a DISGUSTINGLY large amount of work to do, because you suck, so why are you scrolling through Twitter on your phone in bed at one in the afternoon? HELLO. CAN YOU HEAR ME? STOP IT. STOP WASTING YOUR TIME. This is SO like you to be doing this right now. You have a lot of work and not a lot of time.

Time is running out. Time is running out. Time is running out.

I’m just gonna play that on repeat, in the back of your head, for the rest of the day. No. For the rest of the year. You deserve to feel that relentless tick of doom weighing down on your stupid frail shoulders for the rest of your life, because you are such a sad pathetic self-absorbed individual who can’t get anything right.

And I do mean “individual,” because look at you. Look how alone you are.

You know that you’re ALREADY disappointing people by not working right now, right? I don’t care that you just woke up or that today is only Monday. You should’ve been awake hours ago, but you weren’t, and now your whole day is ruined. Which means your whole week will be a failure, too, because if one thing goes wrong, it all goes wrong, because THAT’S HOW YOU ROLL.

Man! I just can’t get over how much you’re going to disappoint everyone! Because I know you'll miss your deadline, because missing deadlines is what you do best now. Remember when you used to turn things in on time? Remember when you were better? You aren’t good like that anymore. You aren’t good at all. You didn’t even remember that there was a new episode of The Walking Dead on at 9:00 last night, so you had to watch the repeat at 11:00, because you are such a stupid self-absorbed fuck. You can’t even be trusted with a television or a clock or anything and I hate you, ohmygod, I hate you GO AWAY.

I suppose it took approximately one minute for all of that to go through my head. And it’s been going strong ever since.

Listen.

I know (most of it) isn’t true. I know I’m being cruel (no one will ever be harder on me than me), and I also know that I’m getting in my own way.

Self-fulfilling prophecies and all that.

But it’s also really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really difficult to stop this voice once it’s started.

I have always been my own worst enemy. I’d love to be my own biggest fan. That seems like an amazing place to live! People who have that type of headspace, that level of confidence . . . man. I’m in awe of those people.

So why am I telling you all of this?

I don’t know why.

Except . . . it feels like the right thing to do. Ever since I opened up about my depression last May, the level support and understanding and reaching-out has been incredible. Beyond anything I could have imagined or hoped for. And it's further cemented this idea in my mind that we should be talking about this thing, this self-head curse, with more frequency and more honesty.

Because I am so grateful to everyone who has reached out to me—both online and in person. I'm glad we've been having these conversations.

I can’t even properly express the depth of this gratitude, so I’m grateful (again—grateful, gratitude) to know that so many of you already understand its depth. Because so many of you seemed equally grateful to hear me speak up about it. And I also know that every time someone I admire—Allie Brosh, Marc Maron, any of Marc’s guests, Stephen Fry—speaks about their own struggles with the demons of self-loathing and depression, it's like I can suddenly breathe again.

There. Tears of laughter and recognition.

Because despite what my brain—my frightening, exhausting, bully of a brain—would like me to believe, I am not alone.

You are not alone.

We are not alone.

So . . . this post got weird and motivational-speaky. I didn’t mean for that to happen. I hope none of that sounded false, because it came from a real place. Honestly, I came here to give you an update. I was going to tell you about my mean brain, get to work, and then come back with proof (look at all of the work I did!) about how dumb my bully brain is.

I also wanted to say that even though my brain bullied me for the entirety of last week (SERIOUSLY IT WAS NONSTOP), I still managed to get out of bed (some of those days) and get some work done. I’m proud of that. And I’m hopeful for this week.

There doesn’t seem to be a casual way of ending this, so I’ll just say . . . see you later. I hope your day is going well. And if your brain is being an asshole, tell it it’s being an asshole.

And then get back to work.

SCENES FROM OMAHA

I finally got that picture with Rainbow! (With bonus Gayle!)

My sweet husband took these photographs last Wednesday in Omaha:

Thank you to Gayle Forman, Rainbow Rowell, the employees of the Millard Branch library, the Bookworm Omaha bookstore, and everyone who came to see us. It was a fantastic evening. I could have talked with these ladies all night!

AUTUMN TOUR DATES

Hi, friends!

This week, I'm taking a road trip to Nebraska. I'll be at the Millard Branch of the Omaha Public Library this Wednesday (October 23rd) with Gayle Forman and Rainbow Rowell.

I'm so giddy! They're such smart, thoughtful, talented women (good gravy, are they talented), and the three of us have such similar/overlapping readerships. It'll be a great evening. We'll be talking about "Coming of Age, Falling in Love: Teen Love Stories and Why They Matter to Us All," and a book signing will follow. The event is free. The doors open at 6 p.m., and the event itself starts at 7 p.m. Further details are here on the library's website.

I've been superlucky, because I've already gotten to hang out with them this year—oddly enough, both times in Portland, Oregon. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of myself with Rainbow. (Rainbow, we have to fix this!) But Gayle and I had this series of cute photographs taken together two weeks ago by Andie Petkus Photography in Wordstock's official Red Chair:

I love Gayle.

And look how close our hair colors are right now! I'm almost all natural again. The strawberry-blonde-ish tips are the last remaining hold out. The tips aren't dyed; they're simply the fade from last year's bright candy red.

(Yes. There was a natural red underneath the fake red.)

I still can't believe how lucky I got with this growing-out stage. I thought I'd have horrible clown hair for at least a year, but it's faded so nicely that most people think it was dyed like this on purpose. The hair gods have been kind, indeed. I feel like I should place a gift of thanks on their altar.

What does one give the hair gods? Bottles of Aveda gel? Rhinestone barrettes? 

A lot of readers have asked me why I'm no longer dying my hair blue or bright red. The answer, of course, is complicated. The biggest reason is that after five years of bleaching, my hair—which is already dry and brittle—had enough. My waves and curls were gone. There was zero shine or luster. My hair needed a rest.

I was also tired of having to lug around my own towels and pillowcases when I traveled. Oh, how those dyes bled!

And. Well. I've been writing inside the head of a natural redhead for the last two years—Isla Martin, of course—and whenever I'm that close to a character, frankly, I begin to imitate them. Or they imitate me. I'm never quite sure where one of us begins and the other ends. But we're definitely connected.

I'm not sure how long I'll remain natural. Probably for a while. Maybe until I'm grey. The thing with me is that the moment people start to assume something—"Oh, she's the author with the colorful hair," "Oh, she's the author who writes contemporary romance"—I'm likely to run (not walk, run) in the opposite direction. My chest gets tight and constricted. My mind challenges an imaginary crowd. "So you like that, do you? Well, how about this? How do you like me now?!"

Admittedly, it's kind of exhausting. But I've been this way for as long as I can remember. And I wouldn't change it.

So. GAYLE. Omaha isn't our only event together this autumn!

This picture was taken last November at YALLFest in Charleston, South Carolina. Gayle and I will both be returning for the festivities, and we're adding an additional event in Georgia right before it!

November 7th: Little Shop of Stories in Decatur, GA. Gayle and I will be signing books and discussing "What Is Love, Anyway? Teens, Romance, & Transformation." Free for everyone. Starts at 7 p.m.

November 9th: YALLFest in Charleston, SC. This all-day event features over fifty (!!!) YA authors. It's free, and there's lot more information on their website.

I hope that some of you fellow Southerners can make it. Next year, it looks like I might have some winter events in a few new (to me) states—Virginia and Maryland. I'll keep you posted!

TWO EVENTS: Asheville & Portland

I feel like I have tons to tell you, but I'm supposed to be WORKING, so I'll keep this to the pressing business and come back for the rest (i.e., the fun stuff) later . . .

EVENT NUMBER ONE:

Nova Ren Suma, Beth Revis, and I will be chatting and signing books and such at Malaprop's in Asheville, NC this coming Monday, June 24th, at 7:00 p.m.

I'm preeeeeeetty sure they'll have early copies of Lola and the Boy Next Door in paperback, which doesn't officially release until next month. And they'll definitely have Anna's new paperback. This will probably be my last local event this year, so I hope you'll stop by and say hello!

Beth is the author of the NYT bestselling Across the Universe trilogy, and Nova is the author of Dani Noir (reissued as Fade Out), Imaginary Girls, and 17 & Gone. Those last two, FYI, were edited by Julie Strauss-Gabel. Who is my editor! And John Green's editor, and Gayle Forman's editor, and Ally Condie's editor, and and and.

I mention this because I know there are a LOT of readers out there who will pick up a book simply because they know that Julie edited it. (Always a smart move, by the way.) So . . . if you aren't familiar with Nova's work, check her out!

Can’t make it? Call Malaprop’s to order signed copies of any of our books. Their number is (828) 254-6734, and they are super duper duper friendly.

EVENT NUMBER TWO:

It's that time of year again! 

LEAKYCON!!!

This will be my fourth (out of four!) LeakyCon and my billionth Harry Potter conference in general. Yep. You could say I'm a fan. ;-)

If you'd like to join me (red), my superagent Kate Schafer Testerman (purple), and superauthor Laini Taylor (pink), all three of us will be back this year, along with—of course—TONS of other amazing authors and guests. Look for us on the Lit Track panels in Portland, OR from June 27–30.

I'm sorry this post is so businessy. Back soon!

Blooper Reel + Autumn Events + HOLA ESPAÑA!

OH, MAN. This will be messy, because I'm doing a hundred things at once.

If you have yet to see the blooper reel that the awesome team at Penguin put together (thanks, Emilie!), and if you're wondering why I rarely appear in recorded form, you should watch the above video. And then you'll understand. The voice you hear patiently (oh so patiently) prompting me in the background is my beloved agent Kate. Bless her.

Nothing scrambles my brain as efficiently as a video camera. They're probably the worst thing in the world. No! Being eaten alive by a wild animal is the worst. Being videotaped is the second worst. War is probably third. And then, like, Brazil nuts.

ANYWAY.

I'll be doing a lot of traveling in the next few weeks. First up, Madrid and Barcelona! The ones in Spain! For real!

Mi maravillosa publisher Plataforma Neo is bringing me over for the publication of Anna's translation, Un beso en París. Which is . . . incredible. If you live in España, I sincerely hope you'll be able to come. I'm excited to meet so many new readers! Here's a poster with all of the necessary info:

Also . . . I might as well apologize now for the extreme level of language-butchering that's headed your way. I took eight years of (Mexican) Spanish classes, and I worship the films of Pedro Almodóvar, but I'm STILL a beginner. Just like Anna. ;-)

After Spain! I will be at the following!

NASHVILLE, TN

Parnassus Books: Sunday, October 28, 2:00 p.m.

"Tricks and Treats from Six Young Adult Authors": Please help Parnassus in welcoming six lively young adult authors to Nashville! Tessa Gratton, Sonia Gensler, Victoria Schwab, Beth Revis, Myra McEntire, and Stephanie Perkins will be joining the Parnassus Books community for a festive tricks and treats themed event.

LAS VEGAS, NV

Vegas Valley Book Festival: Saturday, November 3, 11:15 a.m.–12:15 p.m.

Historic Fifth Street School Readers Tent

401 S. Fourth Street

"Who Says There's Not Something for Everyone in Contemporary YA Fiction": Panel with Matt de la Peña, Sara Zarr, Simone Elkeles, Kirsten Hubbard, Abby McDonald, Stephanie Perkins; moderated by Lindsey Leavitt.

CHARLESTON, SC

YallFest: Saturday, November 10 

There will be forty-nine YA authors at this year's YallFest. Shazam! The panels haven't been announced yet, so I'm not sure when mine will be, but the full schedule will be on this page soon. I'm especially eager for Cassandra Clare and Holly Black's keynote about literary friendships. The keynote will require an additional ticket (five bucks, totally do-able), and you can purchase it here. Oh! And I did a quickie interview with the festival here.


OKAY I HAVE TO GO BACK TO WORK NOW BECAUSE DID YOU HEAR I'M LEAVING FOR SPAIN SOON???

Ohmygod. I have somuchtodo before I leave.

YO, ASHEVILLE!

WARNING: This is one of those lame posts in which I tell you about an upcoming event that most of you will not be able to attend.

This picture was taken in Nashville, not Asheville, but close enough. I was at Third Man Records. I did not see Jack White. (NEXT TIME, JACK, NEXT TIME!)

This Wednesday, August 1st, I'll be hanging out in the teen area of the Pack Memorial Library in my homebase of Asheville, NC at 6:30 p.m. I'll be discussing writing, publishing, my novels, young adult literature, and anything else you'd like to talk about. The event is free and for all ages.

The audience will probably be, like, my husband and a librarian. So if you're interested in monopolizing a large amount of my time, you should totally come! Bring questions! Lots of questions! Lots and lots of questions!

(Author casually inserts video of Jack White wearing tight pinstriped pants.)

Seriously.

*gets down on knees*

Please come to this event and keep me company.

Thank you.

Where To Find Me, Pt. 2: Spring Events

Cherry tree with floating petals. My backyard, this afternoon.

As promised, here's the list of my spring travels. If there's an event near you, I hope you'll come and say hello!

NYCTAF: New York City Teen Author Festival

Full schedule here. My events as follows:

Thursday, March 29: NYC Big Read — Manhattan

High School of Art and Design, in association with the NYPL's Grand Central branch

1075 2nd Ave (56th and 57th), 10:00 a.m.

Jen Calonita, Anna Carey, Matthew Cody, Melissa de la Cruz, Stephanie Perkins, Erin Saldin

Friday, March 30:

(1) Symposium

42nd St. NYPL, 2:10-3:00 p.m.

Being Friends With Boys 

Panelists: Elizabeth Eulberg, Jenny Han, Terra Elan McVoy, Stephanie Perkins

Moderator: Sarah Mlynowski

(2) Barnes & Noble Reader's Theater/Signing

Union Square B&N, 33 E 17th St., 7:00-8:30 p.m.

Andrea Cremer, Emily Danforth, Lucas Klauss, Stephanie Perkins, Siobhan Vivian, and John Corey Whaley will read/perform scenes from their novels in teams.

Moderator: David Levithan

Sunday, April 1: No-Foolin' Mega-Signing

Books of Wonder (1:00-4:00 p.m.)

I'm currently scheduled in the 2:30-3:15 slot, but I'm hoping to move to the 1:00-1:45 slot. I'll keep you posted!

RT Booklovers Convention: Chicago, IL

You must be registered with this conference to attend. 

Full schedule here, YA track here. My events as follows:

Thursday, April 12

Voices Inside Me: Shifting Between Narrators

1:30-2:30 p.m.

Panelists: Kelly Armstrong, Melissa de la Cruz, Nancy Holder, Melissa Marr, Stephanie Perkins

Moderator: Sarah Rees Brennan

Friday, April 13

Heartthrobs & Heartbreaks: Writing Romance for Teens

1:30-2:30 p.m.

Panelists: Melissa de la Cruz, Kami Garcia, Alyxandra Harvey, Michelle Jaffe, Stephanie Perkins, Aprilynne Pike

Moderator: Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Saturday, April 14: Teen Day

(1) Author Speed-Reading

3:34-4:45 p.m.

Short excerpts read by: Jennifer Lynn Barnes, Jennifer Estep, Cynthia Hand, Alyxandra Harvey, Jill Hathaway, Stacey Kade, Saundra Mitchell, Jana Oliver, Stephanie Perkins, Amy Plum, Veronica Roth

(2) Tending the Inferno: Series, Stand-Alones, and Genres in YA Novels

5:00-6:00 p.m.

Panelists: Franny Billingsley, Rachel Caine, Ally Carter, Stephanie Perkins, Carrie Ryan

Moderator: Melissa Marr

(3) Teen Party

6:15-7:30 p.m.

Mix and mingle with YA authors who signed at the Book Fair. All the authors that are taking part in Teen Day will be at this evening party.

YA or BUST! tour with Penguin/Dutton authors Gayle Forman, Nina LaCour, & Stephanie Perkins

Further event information here.

Tuesday, April 17: Oakland, CA

A Great Good Place for Books, 7:00-10:00 p.m.

Wednesday, April 18: Menlo Park, CA

Kepler's Books and Magazines, 7:00-10:00 p.m.

Thursday, April 19: Petaluma, CA

Copperfield's Books, 7:00-10:00 p.m.

Friday, April 20: Santa Barbara, CA

Chaucer's Bookstore, 7:00-10:00 p.m.

Saturday, April 21: Los Angeles, CA

Los Angeles Times Festival of Books

Signing at the Penguin booth, 4:30-7:30 (time is tentative)

Monday, April 23: Los Angeles, CA

Children's Book World, 7:00-10:00 p.m.

Tuesday, April 24: Huntington Beach, CA

Barnes & Noble at Bella Terra, 7:00-10:00 p.m.

Wednesday, April 25: San Diego, CA

Mysterious Galaxy, 7:00-10:00 p.m.

Thursday, April 26: Seattle, WA

University Bookstore, 7:00-10:00 p.m.

Hometown YA Q&A

Tuesday, May 1st: Asheville, NC

Q&A with YA authors Megan Miranda, Stephanie Perkins, Beth Revis, and Kiersten White. (Yay for Kiersten! It's her first time in North Carolina!)

Malaprop's Bookstore and Cafe, 7:00 p.m.

Maricopa and Phoenix Public Library Teen Author Bash

Saturday, May 26: Phoenix, AZ

Burton Barr Library — more info to come

Authors: Ellen Hopkins, A.S. King, Barry Lyga, Lisa McMann, Matt de la Peña, Stephanie Perkins

PHEW! That's plenty for this spring, yes? ;-)

Potpourri, as in the Jeopardy! definition

 Today in Rutherford County's Daily Courier — Shout-out to book bloggers!

I recently updated my website with new events in 2012, but I'd especially like to draw your attention to the event this Tuesday, January 10th with NYT bestsellers Beth Revis and Carrie Ryan. We'll be at Fireside Books & Gifts in Forest City, NC at 7 p.m. for the launch of Beth's new book A Million Suns — the second book in her fantastic Across the Universe trilogy — and we'll be chatting, answering questions, and signing.

For those of you who CANNOT make it, we'll also be answering questions live via Twitter. I'm still not quite sure how it's going to work. I'll let you know as soon as I have more details.

In other news . . .

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!

Anna and the French Kiss is a Cybils award finalist for Young Adult Fiction! Oh, man! This is the biggest honor that Anna has received, and I couldn't be more over-the-moon.

The picks are incredible. The other finalists are: Marianna Baer's Frost, Joshua C. Cohen's Leverage (also edited by my fabulous editor Julie Strauss-Gabel!), Sophie Flack's Bunheads, Geoff Herbach's Stupid Fast, A.S. King's Everybody Sees the Ants, and Ruta Sepetys' Between Shades of Gray.

I'm THRILLED for Anna to be in the company of so many wonderful novels. Thank you to Melissa Fox for nominating me, and thank you to all of the hardworking judges!

And, finally, here's something cool for anyone interested:

These beeaaauuutiful Anna and Lola icons were designed by aimmyarrowshigh for toreadabook (I *think* I have that right), and there are SO MANY MORE. Check them out here! And make sure to click on through to the individual blog posts if you want to see them all.

Of course . . . my favorite icons are the dirtier ones, especially this one from p. 212 of Lola:

HA HA HA!!!

And this one was surprising to discover since it is, um, *ME*:

The original photo, which is from this old blog post:

Happy weekend, everyone! Hope you have a great one.

Two Event Thingies + The Piemaker

Join me here tomorrow?

Hi-ya! This is last minute, but if you're an SCBWI member within driving distance of Asheville, NC, there's a schmooze tomorrow in the loft of the Battery Park Book Exchange. I'm the special guest, and I'll be discussing writing and publishing in the children's/teen market. You don't have to be an SCBWI member to attend, but you do have to be serious (or curious) about publishing. It's from 2 - 4 p.m.

Also, the place serves champagne. Just throwing that out there.

Also also, Beth Revis will be in attendance!

In other event-related news, I am NO LONGER ATTENDING the Vegas Valley Book Festival this November. Something incredibly important in my personal life has come up over that weekend. I'm very, very sorry for anyone who had been planning to see me there. I will make an effort to visit Las Vegas in the future! Thank you for understanding.

And now . . . three gifs from Pushing Daisies, because, hello, it's my blog. And I can do that.

I love how many people have told me how excited they were to see the show mentioned in Lola and the Boy Next Door. If you haven't seen it and you like colorful, romantic silliness with a dash of amazing wardrobes and delicious pie — in other words, if you liked Lola — you MUST check it out. It's one of my all-time favorite television shows.

Also, I *may* have just purchased this Piemaker print by Nan Lawson:

The idea was submitted to her by my friend Connie. How could I resist?!?

Oh, Piemaker. I still miss you.

Events + LeakyCon, Pt. 2

Even kittens adore Lola. Thank you, Amber!

A few boring but necessary reminders to start off with . . .

(Sorry, sorry.)

The official release party for Lola is THIS SATURDAY. Malaprop's in Asheville! 7 p.m.! I'll be jabbering about the book, doing a reading, giving away prizes for knowing Anna and the French Kiss trivia, answering your questions, and signing ANYTHING you want me to sign . . .

. . . including Kiersten White's Paranormalcy and Supernaturally.

Seriously, bring them and I'll sign beside my name in the acknowledgments! You can also take my books to her events. We're doing that now.

And next week, I begin my mini-tour with . . .

WONDER WOMAN!

Maureen Johnson and I will be flying in her invisible plane to the Austin Teen Book Festival on October 1st followed by three stops in northern California: Petaluma, Oakland, and — my favorite of favorites, and Lola's hometown! — San Francisco. For dates/details, please visit my News page.

(Yes, you may also take Kiersten's books to those events. I mean, really, you should take them EVERYWHERE you go. Just in case.)

Soooooooo anyway . . .

I am really bummed that my release party falls on the same weekend as #weddingcon. (My Wizard Rock friends Matt and Lauren are getting married! And Jarrod and I can't go!) To help ease my sadness, I'll post the rest of my pictures from LeakyCon. (Part one is here, if you missed it.):

TEAM ANNA/LOLA/ISLA: My agent Kate, moi, and my editor Julie on a panel with the fabulous Rebecca Sherman. Yippee! Thanks for tracking down this photo, Molly!


I did my book signing with editor/author extraordinaire Cheryl Klein. Later, we danced together at the ball. SO much fun!

Now for a bunch of Wizard Rock photos stolen from Cheri Root (everything can be clicked on to make bigger/prettier):

YAAAAAY! Jarrod, performing as Gred & Forge.


More Gred & Forge. Check out Jarrod's red boots!


The Remus Lupins' last show. Sad/amazing. (And Jarrod again, this time on drums.)


Matt (The Whomping Willows) and Lauren Fairweather, a.k.a. our LeakyCon roommates AND the soon-to-be-newlyweds. I love you, guys! Congratulations!


Harry and the Potters. They DESTROYED it. Of course.


I love Wizard Rock.

And I'm sorry, but I'm not sure who took this next picture . . .

All of us collectively wet ourselves when Evanna Lynch (Luna! Lovegood!) took the stage to play with Harry and the Potters. She could really play, too.


Check out my Snape tattoo! The next day, several employees at the Harry Potter theme park thought it was real and let me skip to the front of the rides. Is it bad that I didn't correct them? HA.


With Jarrod. ♥ Thanks for taking these last two pictures, Renee! (R: How did we not get a picture together?!?)

And then the last day . . .

BEST THEME PARK EVRRR!!!


BEST RIDE EVRRR!!!


BEST CAT MADE OUT OF MEASURING TAPE EVRRR!!!

I can't believe those were the only pictures I took at the park, but I'm pretty sure you guys have seen the highlights elsewhere, right? Right. I'm also disappointed that I didn't get any pictures from the Esther Earl Rocking Charity Ball, but . . . it was one of those moments where you had to be there, anyway. ;-)

There's not much I can say about the Harry Potter community without getting mushy and sentimental. It's filled with so much love, kindness, acceptance, and generosity. To everyone who was there, and to everyone who wanted to be there but couldn't make it: I am proud to be your friend.

And, with that, I shall take my leave . . .