The Summer Cons: Comic and Leaky

Summer is unquestionably my favorite time of year for work-related travel.

BECAUSE IT'S CON TIME.

I'm ecstatic and honored to be attending Comic-Con International in San Diego again. This year, I'll be moderating a panel (my first time as a moderator!) about writing paranormal romance. Here's the info:

Friday, July 13

Paranormal Love-Potion: Writing Romance for Non-Human Characters

12:30p.m. - 1:30p.m.

Room: 5AB

From super-hot vampires to seductive Fae and beyond, authors divulge the secrets behind crafting steamy love scenes in their action-packed novels. Whether characters be vampiric, ghostly, faerie, witchy, shape-shifting or angelic, these authors know how to keep the passion sizzling between them. Find out more from the writers themselves, and you'll learn what makes these books red hot! Participants include Tessa Gratton (The Blood Journals), Andrea Cremer (The Nightshade series), Marjorie Liu (The Mortal Bones), Sylvia Day (The Renegade Angels series), Shawntelle Madison (Coveted), Aprilynne Pike (Wings series), and Kelley Armstrong (Thirteen), led by moderator Stephanie Perkins (Lola and the Boy Next Door).

So many awesome ladies on this panel! And we'll all be signing books (or your e-reader or your forehead), post-panel.

I'm also giddy to announce that my husband Jarrod is a panelist! You'll find me in the audience, proudly wearing my Ravenclaw pin, at this one:

Sunday, July 15

15 Years Since Philosopher's Stone: Harry Potter Fandom in 2012

4:00pm - 5:00pm

Room 6DE

Seven books from J. K. Rowling — or ten, depending on how you count — plus hundreds of thousands of fanfics. Eight studio movies — plus dozens of popular fanfilms, musicals, and songs. One theme park — but soon there'll be three or more! An international museum exhibition — and piles of fan-made shirts, crafts, fanart, CDs and DVDs. An encyclopedic website — and fancons, fan-made wikis, and history courses on the impact of the Harry Potter fandom. We'll look back at 15 years of Harry Potter fandom and try to predict where we go from here.

The panel of experts includes: Andrew Sims from Hypable, Heidi Tandy of HPEF, Alex Carpenter of the Remus Lupins, Airemay of Fiction Alley, Julia Thomas of the International Quidditch Association, The Hillywood Show, and Jarrod Perkins of Gred & Forge and the Harry Potter Alliance.

Also, I'll be attending as a regular ol' comic book nerd (I LOVE YOU, TOP SHELF!!! YOU ROCK MY WORLD, FIRST SECOND BOOKS!!!) on Preview Night, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. If you see me in the crowd, please say hello! I'd love to meet you. Look for my bright red hair:

I'll probably be walking beside Kiersten White when you find me. Because she makes me this happy!

BUT BACK TO HARRY POTTER.

Because LeakyCon is August 9-12 in Chicago!

And as over-the-top fantastic as Comic-Con is, my heart will always belong to Leaky. The Harry Potter fandom has been a home for me and Jarrod for . . . heavens, six years now? Seven? There's so much love and kindness and generosity in this community that my heart practically bursts from the memories.

This year, my husband will be rocking out as Gred & Forge on Friday night, and I'll be speaking on the Lit Track panels. Along with our favorite regulars — our longtime superawesome wizard rock buddies, Maureen Johnson, John and Hank Green, my beloved agent Kate Schafer Testerman — there are several new editions to the family, including HOLLY BLACK (cannot. wait. to fangirl.) and . . . LAINI TAYLOR!

The last time I saw Laini was here, in this picture, at last year's Comic-Con where we accidentally dressed like polka-dot twinsies. I miss her like crazy.

(I just realized that the other picture I posted also involves a black, polka-dotted dress. Obviously, I have a thing for them. And I do!)

I hope to see a bunch of you at these summer conventions. And I hope I'll see the rest of you here online. :-)

Happy July, everyone!

Make Good Commencement Addresses

"Be wise, because the world needs more wisdom. And if you cannot be wise, pretend to be someone wise, and then just behave like they would."

With so many schools reaching the end of term, the Internets are buzzing about this year's best commencement address: Neil Gaiman's to the University of the Arts. 

It stands out, of course, because most commencement addresses are abominable. 

I don't remember a single thing about mine — not the speaker, nor anything he or she said. I assume it was boring. I assume it was too long. I assume I used those minutes to daydream about the graduation cake I was going to eat when I got home. (Maureen Johnson wrote a great post about this just today.)

But . . . 

Good ones. They DO exist. And they're always worth revisiting.

My favorite commencement address is J.K. Rowling's to Harvard in 2008 about failure and imagination. (Can you imagine speaking to Harvard about failure? How gutsy!) I still watch it every few months (with a box of tissues), because so much of what she says is worth being reminded of.

This, especially, always resonates:

"It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all — in which case, you fail by default."

I also love Steve Jobs' Stanford commencement from 2005, now something of a classic for bringing back the Whole Earth Catalog's farewell message: "Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish."

But I like this part just as much:

"Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle."

If you haven't watched either of those speeches, go forth.

And if you have yet to watch Neil's, go forth again! Zen Pencils made a wonderful comic — "Make Good Art" — from the most quotable bit, but this was also smart stuff:

"When you start out on a career in the arts, you have no idea what you're doing. This is great. People who know what they're doing know the rules, and they know what is possible and what is impossible. You do not. And you should not . . . If you don't know it's impossible, it's easier to do. And because nobody has done it before, they haven't made up rules to stop anyone from doing that particular thing again."

I also enjoyed the address This American Life host (and nerdy dreamboat extraordinaire) Ira Glass gave to Goucher College this year. Not as many people are talking about it — that's what happens when you go against Neil Gamain ;-) — but it's both hilarious and poignant:

[NOTE: The sound on that video sucks. But it's worth it.]

A choice quote:

"As your parents catch up to you, don't be a dick."

There's also an anecdote about the time his grandmother met Adolf Hitler. I won't spoil the story itself, but it ends with this thought:

"We lurch forward in our lives. We try this. We try that. We make the best guesses that we can based on what we believe at the time, and it is entirely possible that a Goucher grad — that you or you or you — will get the chance to change the world and kill Adolf Hitler, and you will miss it."

But . . .

"When you get your chance to remake the world, when you get the chance to change everything for yourself and hopefully for others, too — when you get your chance to shoot Adolf Hitler — you will know what to do. That's my wish for you."

In the spirit of this post, I'd like to give a shout-out to my cousin Emma, who just graduated from high school, as well as all of the other recent graduates who happen to be reading this. The post-graduate world? It's AWESOME. I'm so happy for you!

I'll leave you with Neil Gaiman's final words:

"Now go and make interesting mistakes. Make amazing mistakes. Make glorious and fantastic mistakes. Break rules. Leave the world more interesting for your being here. Make good art."

Ray Bradbury, 1920-2012

"Love. Fall in love and stay in love. Write only what you love, and love what your write. The key word is love. You have to get up in the morning and write something you love, something to live for."

"You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you."

"You fail only if you stop writing."

And . . . my favorite interview with the master:

Thank you for changing the world, Ray. Thank you for seeing it.

* * *

The randomly-drawn winner of my Seize the Story giveaway is "Anna (not of And The French Kiss fame)." HA! How awesome. Check your email, Anna!

More giveaways coming soon.

Giveaway! (Teen Writers Edition)

Today's free giveaway is for the latest edition of Victoria Hanley's Seize the Story (Prufrock Press Inc., 2012). Here is the publisher's description:

Do you wish you had a published writer's secrets at your fingertips, ready to help you achieve your goals of publication, success, and the chance to be the next great teen writer? In Seize the Story: A Handbook for Teens Who Like to Write, Victoria Hanley, award-winning author of young adult fiction, spills the secrets for bringing action, adventure, humor, and drama to stories. All of the elements of fiction, from creating believable dialogue to exciting plots, are laid out clearly and illustrated with examples taken straight from story excerpts by excellent writers. The book is packed with writing exercises designed to encourage teens to tell the stories that are theirs alone.

In addition, other published authors of young adult literature share their insights about the writing life. Teens can gain firsthand advice from accomplished writers T. A. Barron, Joan Bauer, Hilari Bell, Chris Crutcher, David Lubar, Lauren Myracle, Todd Mitchell, Nancy Garden, and many more.

I'm one of the book's featured authors (YAY!), so I received an extra copy that I'd like to pass along. 

To be eligible for this giveaway:

(A) You must be a teenager.

(B) You must be interested in creative writing.

This giveaway is open internationally. To enter, please leave a comment here on this post (on my actual blog, not Goodreads or anywhere else that's being served by a feed) that includes your email address. I'll randomly select a winner in my next post . . . whenever that is. It could be tomorrow, could be in three days, could be in a week. So enter now!

And good luck!

UPDATE: This giveaway has ended. Thank you for the interest!

Let the giveaways begin! (Librarian Edition)

Due to a mix-up, Cricket's shirt is a different color on the audio book. I like it!

I have BOATLOADS of awesome giveaways for you this month. First up! These freebies are specifically for librarians in the United States.

(My apologies, everyone else. Your giveaways are coming soon.)

Would you like an audio edition (CDs) of Anna and the French Kiss AND Lola and the Boy Next Door for your library collection?

To qualify:

(A) You work for a public library in America. Not a school library, sorry.

(B) Your library has an established collection of books-on-CD.

(C) Your library does NOT already own an audio edition of Anna OR Lola.

If you qualify, please leave a comment here on this post (on my actual blog, not Goodreads or anywhere else that's being served by a feed) with the name of your library and your email address. This giveaway is first come/first serve, and winners will receive BOTH of my books on audio for their collection. 

UPDATE: I'm out of audio books. Thank you for the interest!

I also have a few remaining German editions of Anna and the French Kiss. (I gave away the rest to actual Germans and Austrians on Twitter a few months ago. If you like free stuff, and you aren't following me on Twitter, you should probably be following me on Twitter. Just saying.)

If you work in an American library — public, high school, or university — that has a collection of novels in Deutsch, and you're interested in a free copy for your collection, please let me know in the comments and leave your email address.

UPDATE: I'm out of German editions. Thank you for the interest!

Thanks and danke!

Links for everyone! Links for writers!

OMG LOKI I KNOW RIGHT.

As always, there are so many things I want to tell you about! But I'm still post-travel running around in circles. In the meantime, please enjoy some linkage.

[UPDATE: Mary sent me this link that explains the above picture. Adorable!]

FOR EVERYONE:

• "Icelandic politician moves 30-ton boulder onto his property so he can hang out with elves." The elf thing is one of the many, many reasons why Iceland is my favorite country.

• This assassin bug wears its victims' corpses as armor. Yeah. I'm totally stealing that for a future fantasy villain.

• YA author Stephanie Kuehnert wrote this moving piece for Rookie (my favorite!) about surviving bullying.

• "How to be a fan of problematic things" provides some much-needed advice.

• If you like cute comics about The Avengers, you should definitely be following Noelle's Tumblr.

FOR WRITERS:

• "Publishing is not all six-book mega-deals and twenty-year olds winning national book awards." The INTERN's healthy reminder is a must-read for struggling novelists.

• Never respond to a bad review. Unless you are MCA.

• Agent and bookseller Jennifer Laughran put together a comprehensive guide to bookstore events for published authors. As a former bookseller and current author, I found myself nodding enthusiastically in agreement throughout this entire post.

• Jennifer also wrote this helpful post about what information authors should include on their website to help booksellers.

• The discussion about race in YA literature is, thankfully, fervent and loud. Author Sarah Ockler wrote a good one here.

• "Ten Things I've Learned from Anne Lamott." Lamott is the author of Bird by Bird, the ultimate modern creative-writing classic. This is an excellent refresher.

• The Guardian wrote an important piece about why authors need to respect their followers.

• S. Jae-Jones, editorial assistant at St. Martin's Press, has a great article (featuring gifs of David Tennant) that explains what's happening inside a publishing house during the dreaded acquisitions process. The basic idea? LOTS. Lots is happening. 

(Published authors, have you thanked your editor lately?)

(THANK YOU, JULIE!)

Advice From One of My Role Models

"And remember that a no is free. Ask for what you like, and get used to being turned down. Rejection is hard, but to get acceptance you have to put up with a lot of rejection. If you really like something, don’t ever think, Can I do this? If you think Can I? you won’t. You have to say, "I’m gonna do this, and nobody’s gonna stop me!" But you have to believe that, you can’t just say it. It might take really a long time, because people never say you’re good at first. Or if they do, you’re a flash in the pan and it’s over."

— John Waters, Rookie interview

YA OR BUST! We're coming for you, Seattle!

Nina, Gayle, and moi at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books

Tonight — Thursday, April 26th — is the last night of our YA OR BUST! tour. We've been having a blast, and if you live in the Seattle area, I hope you'll join us:

Roosevelt High School: 7-10 p.m.

1410 NE 66th St.

Seattle, WA 98115

(hosted by University Bookstore)

Gayle Forman!

Nina LaCour!

Stephanie Perkins!

A few quick, unrelated notes:

• I am not attending BEA (nor any of the BEA-related festivities) this year. I was listed on their website by mistake. I'm sorry. I'm bummed about this, too.

• "The 21 Absolute Worst Things in the World" Jarrod and I used to find number fourteen in our apartment in Atlanta. I'm far from squeamish, but . . . yiiiiiiiick!

• I MIGHT have purchased a creepy Edward Cullen wedding doll.* And MAYBE I was encouraged by Kiersten White. And it's POSSIBLE we will take pictures with it next week when she visits me in Asheville.

Speaking of . . .

I have one additional superspecial event next week. I'm on a panel with local YA authors Beth Revis and Megan Miranda, PLUS Kiersten White — Her first appearance in the South! — at Malaprop's in Asheville, NC at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, May 1st.

And thank you to everyone who has come out to support Penguin's YA OR BUST! tour. We love you. Seriously, we do. You have been hilarious, kind, and generous audiences. We are so lucky to have readers like you. Rock on.

* No offense to book Edward Cullen, who I find quite dreamy.

YA OR BUST! Afternoon in Petaluma

Chartreuse Ladies: Jess Rothenberg, Nina LaCour, Moi

Coffee Shop Terrarium Lion

Our Beautiful Welcome at Casa Grande High School

Gayle working on Just One Day — out next spring!

Goooorgeous, right?

Jess and Her Fiancée

VISIT US ON THE REST OF OUR YA OR BUST! TOUR:

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

University of Southern California

Signing: Mrs. Nelson’s Bookstore Booth #747 @ 12:00 p.m.

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

Roosevelt High School
1410 NE 66th St.
(hosted by University Bookstore)
7:00-10:00 p.m.

Available via Feedburner

Happy Passover/Easter/Spring! Love, Unsettling Window Display

I've finally hooked this bad boy up to Feedburner.

("Bad boy." That will never happen again. I'm sorry.)

If you'd like to follow this blog via reader and/or email, the new links are in the right sidebar. And if you'd like to see Easter bunnies FAR creepier than the one in my neighborhood (of course you do), you should visit this post on Laini's blog.

Also, I think I've made my comments here threaded. At last.

Also also, I'm excited to bring you this happy update: Bully got a PG-13. 

HURRAH!!!

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? ;-)

Where To Find Me

Moi and Beth Revis (photo by Erin Brethauer)

I've been feeling scatterbrained for the last few months, thus explaining my recent absence from these parts. But no worries. I still love blogging, and I'm still here!

While I continue to cross off items (loooong overdue) from my to-do list, here are two places where you can find me elsewhere right now:

(1) Local authors/friends Beth Revis, Megan Shepherd, and I were interviewed for the Asheville Citizen-Times about The Hunger Games. It's a positive article about YA literature and the YA community, which is . . . refreshing.

(2) One of my role models, the wise and talented Sara Zarr, interviewed me for her This Creative Life podcast. It was only her second episode, and I'm honored to have been asked. Sara and I discuss some of the uglier aspects of writing professionally — burnout, failure, envy — but in a way which, in the end, I believe is also quite positive.

I met Sara last November in Chicago, and I remember actually grabbing her arm as she was about to get into a taxi and blubbering and stuttering about how much her work means to me. Ah hem. This is NOT how I would recommend introducing yourself to ANYONE, but, thankfully, she must have recognized something in my eyes, and we went out for coffee. Ha!

(Thank you for taking a chance on me, Sara.)

I'll be back here on the blog later this week with a TON of new tour dates. Happy Wednesday, everyone!

Please Consider Signing This Bully Petition

Today in heartbreaking news:

The upcoming documentary Bully has been given an R rating, keeping it from the people who need it the most. Teenagers. The full story is here, and it contains a petition to lower the rating so that the film can be shown in schools.

While I'm sadly skeptical that a petition can change the rating, I . . . don't know what else to do. Teens need to see this film. My hope is that if it gets enough signatures (the goal is 100,000), at least it might earn another discussion with the MPAA. At least more people will hear that this film even exists.

Watch this trailer. Think about the boy who says, "I feel kind of nervous going to school, because I like learning, but I have trouble making friends."

And then please, please, please consider signing the petition.

If you're a YA blogger, author, agent, editor, etc.: I sincerely hope you'll spread the word about this film. It needs our voices.

Picture Book Heroes

MAN ALIVE, I love children's publishing.

Maurice Sendak — Maurice! Sendak! — had a two-part interview with Stephen Colbert this week. If you missed it, well . . . I don't want to spoil the funny, so you'll just have to watch it. The only thing I will say is that it's the best Colbert interview in the history of Colbert interviews.

Here's part one:

           

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Grim Colberty Tales with Maurice Sendak Pt. 1
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor & Satire Blog Video Archive

And here's part two:

           

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Grim Colberty Tales with Maurice Sendak Pt. 2
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor & Satire Blog Video Archive

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!! I wish I could hang out with him. He would be such an awesome dinner guest.

And to prove the new generation is equally hilarious and clever and wonderful — despite what Mr. Sendak may say, ha! — here's the trailer for Mac Barnett and Adam Rex's upcoming meta-picture book Chloe and the Lion:

(Thanks for sending that to me, Kiersten!)

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.

Resolutions + ISLA News

Hello, friends!

Ahhhhhhhhhh. 

I love a new year. The first of January is the ultimate fresh start, yes? I love the resolutions, the empty calendars, the feeling that this year — this year — will be a great one.

The key to resolution-making is, of course, modesty. In high school, my lists were lengthy and zealous and could basically be summarized as "become perfect." (Exercise every day. Eat healthy. Sit up straight. Read Sartre. Become fluent in Tibetan. Stop farting. Etc.) Now I aim for achievable.

I don't normally share my resolutions, because the process feels somewhat like wish-making on a birthday candle, and everyone knows that birthday wishes must be kept private in order to come true.

But . . . it's not my birthday. And this does feel like a different sort of year.

So here they are:

HOME RESOLUTION: Beautify one room in my house per month. I've already started, and my January room is the guest bedroom. I'll show you the before-and-afters in a few weeks. (I love before-and-afters, don't you?!?) I want to fill my everyday life with more beauty.

WORK RESOLUTION: Tap into a second market. I'm extraordinarily grateful to have such TREMENDOUS support in the online YA communities (thank you, thank you, thank you!), and I'd like to broaden Anna and Lola's audience into the adult romance market. I'm currently scheming.

PERSONAL RESOLUTION: I was inspired by this TED video (which was inspired by the work of Morgan Spurlock) to try something new for thirty days. I'm starting with a resolution regarding my work habits, but I love the flexibility and freedom of this plan. I also hope to spend one month drawing every day, another taking a daily walk.

Now . . . I realize that many of you have already skipped ahead and are searching for the news about Isla and the Happily Ever After. I wanted to start with the resolutions, because the news I have somewhat ties in.

Bear with me for another moment.

Last year was hard for me. Very hard. So hard that I don't talk about it publicly — and what I have shared with you (mainly here on my blog) is only the tippy-top of the dangerous iceberg. I will try to say the following in the most simple manner possible.

Finishing Lola was the hardest thing that I have ever done. It left me mentally, physically, and spiritually barren. I was close to quitting . . . everything. It's taken me a long time to recover, and I'm only feeling like myself again now, about six months later. As I've learned with many hard situations in life, the only thing that can really heal a person is time.

What I'm saying is this: I need more time.

And my publisher has been kind enough to grant it to me.

Isla and the Happily Ever After is officially a 2013 release. Much of the novel is written, the cover has been shot, people are excited, but . . . it is not yet ready for the world. I could give you the book this fall, and it would be a good book, but I do not believe that it would be a great one.

 

It's still missing the heart, the love, the passion. I haven't had the opportunity to do the research that I enjoy. To do the multiple drafts and critiques and daydreaming and brainstorming. Those things that make good books great, those things that require time.

I spent much of last year feeling pained and disappointed in myself that I am not a fast writer. My original career goal was to release one book a year for my first five years, and after that I would become an every-other-year author.

But my brain doesn't work like that.

I am not happy when pushed to such extremes. My rigorous schedule turned something I love into something that made me miserable. I remember telling my editor last spring that if the process of writing Isla was anything like the process of writing Lola, then Isla would be my last book. I couldn't and wouldn't go on like that.

The good news is that this sort of over-dramatic sentiment, while true, is the sort that escapes one's lips when one is simply tired. When one needs time to heal.

I made a promise to myself, a resolution, to NEVER work to that extreme again. And, because of it, I have been healing. And I'm falling back in love with my craft.

I'm not sure what month in 2013 that Isla will be published. Again, time will tell. But I am so grateful for my husband, my agent Kate, my editor Julie, my friends, family, and everyone at Dutton and Penguin for being so supportive of this decision. It was not an easy one to make. I absolutely feel as if I am disappointing you, my readers.

So I want to take this opportunity to state very, very clearly: I was the one who pushed back my release date. Not my publisher. They have only been kind and understanding. I made the decision.

I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I hope — in time — you'll understand.

Happy New Year. I hope 2012 brings you happiness and good books.

xoxo,

Steph

EDITED TO ADD, AFTER READING YOUR COMMENTS: I should have stated my work resolution more clearly! While I have tentative, way-in-the-future plans to write in the adult market, I was actually referring to getting my young adult novels in the hands of more adult readers.

Cricket! My Sweet Cricket!

 ♥ ♥ ♥

Holy #$^%, you guys. THIS ILLUSTRATION of Cricket Bell by Simini Blocker.

I never, ever, ever show pictures of what my characters look like, because I don't want to spoil what's in *your* head, but . . . I had to break the rule for this one.

Because this is *my* Cricket.

Ohmystars, Simini. You have made me a deliriously happy author!

(I am dying. DYING.)

National Gingerbread House Competition

♥ My new holiday computer wallpaper ♥

My town (Asheville, NC) is lucky enough to host the National Gingerbread House Competition, and last night, Jarrod and I checked out this year's entrants. I won't bore you with the winners, but here are my favorites:

Adult category: Très Parisian! Très jolie!

Teen category: Rainbow food truck! Figgy Puddin!

Youth category . . .

WAL-MART! SECURITY CAMERA! HA HA HA!!!

That One Time Mayim Bialik Held My Book

If you want to know what it's like to win at life, it's when your friend Sasha emails you a picture she took of Mayim Bialik holding your book, and you're like "HOLY CRAP, MAYIM BIALIK IS HOLDING MY BOOK."

Not only is Mayim on two of the greatest pop-culture shows of all time — The Big Bang Theory and, of course, Blossom (which I watched religiously as a preteen) — but she has a freaking PhD in neuroscience! Also, she's classy. And adorable as proved by the above picture.

The picture in which she is holding my book.

Thank you, Sasha (and Mayim!), for making my heart feel as if it were made of sunshine and kittens and ice cream sandwiches. :-)

NOVEMBER: In Pictures

Before

After

John Hodgman and Lookalike Husband

Chicago, The Bean

Chicago, graffiti

Chicago, window display

Thanksgiving (the first of three!)

Special thanks to this post from Laini, which taught me how to make my pictures bigger on Blogger. I can't believe this upgrade has been available for ages!