All Made Up

Give me reasons why!

2012-01-30T14:54:00.004-05:00

Starting today, the e-book edition of Cold Kiss is on sale for $1.99. As someone who got a Kindle for Christmas, and has already bought a bunch of books for $1.99, this seems pretty awesome. (The promo price is up on Amazon so far, and the others should have it changed later today.)

I need some help spreading the word, though, and that's where you come in. Tweet your reasons to read Cold Kiss with the hash tag #readColdKiss any day between now and February 27, and include me on the tweet (so I can see it!). On February 28 I'll choose one tweeter to win a $20 e-gift card to Barnes & Noble, which is redeemable online or in stores.

I have other good stuff lined up for this month, too -- interviews with my editor, Erica Sussman, and agent Sarah LaPolla of Curtis Brown Ltd., as well as interviews with Nova Ren Suma, author of Imaginary Girls, and Jessica Corra, author of After You, coming in 2013 from Dial.

Remember to @reply to me in your tweet so I can see it!

Friday Five, Playlist Edition

2012-01-13T15:40:00.000-05:00

Way back in the annals of time, when everyone used LiveJournal, something called the Friday Five used to go around. It was five questions to answer in the comments, and it was also fun, because who doesn't like taking a survey/quiz where there are no wrong answers?

I thought I'd do that here on Fridays, because a) see above re: fun, and b) I'd love to know some of you out there in the blogosphere a little better.

Today's theme is playlists. What did writers do before they existed? Was Jane Austen asking a random cousin to play something on the spinnet that sounded like good banter and vague sexual tension? Did James Joyce have a fiddler on retainer, to play the occasional Irish jig?

My playlists are most important when I'm compiling them, because that's when I'm really easing into the headspace of a new project. Setting the mood, figuring out the tone, lying around with my eyes closed, listening hard and watching the images behind my closed lids as the music creates people and pictures and places.

I finally have the first five songs for a new project I'm working on, and they're so perfect, I want to pet them and feed them cookies. I'm not going to tell you what the project is about, but maybe you can get an idea from these five songs.

1) "Paper Doll," Rosie Thomas

2) "Down by the Water," The Decemberists

3) "I'll Fly Away," Gillian Welch

4) "A Stor Mo Chri," Maura O'Connell

5) "Fallen From Grace," Mark Lee Scott

It makes sense in my head, honestly.

Share yours! Are you making a playlist for anything right now? Or just tell me your top five songs right now, because I always want new music to try.

Are you Cracked?

2012-01-09T12:15:00.003-05:00

Saturday night was the book launch for K.M. Walton's fantastic new YA novel, Cracked, and it was right here in my town at the equally fantastic Chester County Books and Music Company. (Seriously, it's my favorite bookstore ever, anywhere.) It's also huge, which is good because Kate's launch was huge! Clearly, everyone in town knows Cracked is well worth reading.

Here's what Cracked is about:

Victor hates his life. He’s relentlessly bullied at school and his parents constantly ridicule him at home.

Bull is angry. He’s sick of his grandfather’s drunken beatings. And he likes to take out his rage on Victor.

Determined to end it all, Victor takes a bottle of his mother’s sleeping pills—only to be disappointed when he wakes up in the psych ward. And his roommate? None other than Bull, whose loaded-gun effort at self-defense has been labeled as a suicide attempt. Things go from bad to worse—until the boys discover they might just have something in common: a reason to live.

And here's what the cover looks like, in cake form:

(In cake form! This is totally my kind of party.)

So many people came out to support Kate! Frankie Diane Mallis has the whole scoop (and much better pictures) on her blog today. (Including a "red carpet interview" with yours truly, which made me realize I really hate my glasses.)

Kate took time out last week to talk to me a little bit about Cracked, too.

Me: Is Cracked your first novel? Or your first novel to be published?

Kate: Cracked was actually the fourth novel I wrote, but it was the one that landed me my agent, and it ended up being the first to get published.

Me: Why Cracked? And why a male protagonist? What drew you to Victor and his story?

Kate: I wanted to explore a story from the points of view of two protagonists, two very different voices. A bully and his victim just sort landed in my lap after a bit of brainstorming, and Bull and Victor were born.

Me: Cracked is a realistic look at teen life, which I love. Do you read mostly contemporary YA, or do your tastes wander?

Kate: I read a wide variety of YA and adult fiction. But with that said, contemporary YA is definitely at the top of my list. Contemporary YA allows readers to experience the character’s story with intimacy and immediacy. I love that. As far as writing goes, getting inside character’s heads and telling their story is one of the most fascinating experiences I’ve ever had.

Me: What was the hardest part of writing Cracked for you? Conversely, what really flowed?

Kate: Honestly, none of my experience was hard. The story came easily and the characters started out fully formed. I wish all of my writing experiences flowed like that!

Me: What's next for you?

Kate: My agent sold another contemporary YA to Annette Pollert at Simon Pulse. I just received my line edits from Annette so my work is definitely cut out for me.

Many thanks to Kate for taking time to talk to me, and huge congratulations on a rocking book launch. I can't wait to dive into this book.

Fearless

2012-01-04T15:39:00.002-05:00

This picture sums up the way I want to tackle 2012.

It's a picture I love, because the perspective makes it look like the guy in the photo (incidentally, Brendon Urie, the lead singer of Panic at the Disco) just jumped from a plane or something. (He didn't. He also had solid ground to land on, although you can't see it here.)

But even though I know that, every time I look at this picture, I get that trippy little adrenaline rush. It's not easy to get me to jump off the high dive, and I really doubt sky-diving is in my future, but that doesn't matter. Everyone knows what it feels like to make a leap like that, of whatever kind, when your stomach turns over and everything goes buzzy and electric for a minute. It's a good feeling. And to get there, you have to let go of your fear of whatever you're leaping into, whether it's speaking in public or killing the nasty-ass spider in the kitchen or submitting your work for publication or telling someone you love them for the first time.

Fearless. That's the mood I want to go for this year, so I can make those leaps all over the place.

Jessica Corra and Erin Bowman (and a bunch of others) posted in the last few days about their "word of the year," and that's partly what inspired me. Because last year was ... hard. And good! And in between, and boring, and funny, and terrifying, and happy, like most years are, I think. What I want in 2012 is to face all those things with a little more courage, and maybe do some things I wouldn't have last year.

Another friend, the wonderful Lady of the Manners (whose book, Gothic Charm School: An Essential Guide for Goths and Those Who Love Them is a Harper book!), decided to make a playlist for her new year, and I love that idea, too. More on that tomorrow, since I have to figure out what the right songs will be for me.

Song suggestions gratefully accepted! And please share any stories of your own fearlessness. Inspiration is a very good thing.

It's happening!

2011-11-21T14:36:00.001-05:00

A reader is being born. A real reader, not just someone who's learned to read. The kind of reader who finds an author or a character or a certain kind of book and falls in crazy, overwhelming, blushing, stammering love.

My daughter has been reading for a couple years now -- she's almost eight -- and she's liked a lot of the books she's read so far. She had a close but not BFF thing with Junie B. Jones for a while, and she was fascinated when I read All of a Kind Family to her (so very other! to a kid with a DS and movies on demand). But she wasn't dying to read anything. I wasn't finding her curled up in her room with a book, or tripping over her feet because she was reading as she walked down to dinner.

But she discovered Judy Blume this week, thanks to the school book fair (and the fact that I hadn't bought her any of Blume's books yet). And she is IN LOVE, official, capital letters love. Specifically, so far, with Fudge-a-mania.

And I'm ... almost jealous. That moment when reading clicks for you, when you read a book and realize the voice is someone you know, someone familiar even if their circumstances aren't, someone who thinks and feels the way you do, and can take you places you never imagined -- that's a once in a lifetime thing. That's the prelude to the day when you realize you think about Harry and Hermione and Ron as real people, and you half remember having been to Narnia (even though you really haven't, of course), and you're screaming at someone in a Stephen King story to GET OUT OF THE BASEMENT, FOR GOD'S SAKE, and you can't think about Katniss's sister Prim without crying.

And that's pretty awesome for anyone, and especially for my kid. Plus, now I get to read Otherwise Known as Sheila the Great again.

Cold Kiss bonus scene!

2011-11-18T10:16:00.001-05:00

It's hard to let go of characters who've been living in your head for almost four years. There's so much more to tell. Not huge plotty things, necessarily, but those odd, snapshot moments that make up our lives--the day the cat got stuck behind the refrigerator, or the night you spent sleeping out in the backyard with your best friend, laughing and sick on too much Mountain Dew and a giant bag of Cool Ranch Doritos, or the day the boy you like looks at you across the cafeteria table, and really sees you for the first time.

This is one of those moments, from Cold Kiss.

***

“Let me cut it,”Danny says, running his hands through my hair as we sit in the swing on myfront porch.

He’s pushing itslowly with one bare foot—it’s May and weirdly sticky-hot already, and we havemy house to ourselves for the afternoon. Saturdays are usually for doingsomething—something more than sitting anyway—but it’s too warm, and everythingis hazed over, moving in slow motion.

“What do you knowabout cutting hair?” I elbow him in the ribs, or try to, but he twists away toofast and grabs my arm.

“More than you do.”His tone is lofty, smug, and I snort a laugh. He doesn’t know the first thingabout cutting hair, but I’m tempted anyway. My hair is so ridiculous, there’snot much that could make it worse.

Plus, I like it whenhe’s touching me, even when it’s nothing more than him tangling his fingers inmy crazy hair.

His legs are endless,stretched out in front of him, and his sweat-damp hair curls around his earsand at the back of his neck. I lean into him and tilt my head back against hisshoulder so he’ll lean down and kiss me.

He does, and I smileagainst his mouth. “Okay,” I whisper. “But if you really mangle it, I will end you.”

He grins, and tenminutes later I’m sitting on a stool in the middle of the kitchen, my hair wetand the scissors’ blades clicking together with terrifying speed.

“You’re not going allG.I. Jane on me, right?” I ask as another dark brown tuft falls to the floor.

His left hand issteady and warm on my shoulder. “As if,” he says, and bends down to press a softkiss behind my ear.

It’s one thing toomuch, too sweet, and I feel like I’m going to burst, everything I feel pushingits way to the surface. It’s happiness too big to contain, too bright and hotand delicious. Sometimes I can’t really believe I can have this, and I wish Icould turn around and hide my face against his chest so he won’t see how much Ilove him.

Halfway through!

2011-11-17T10:53:00.001-05:00

With NaNoWriMo in its second half now, some words of encouragement might be useful. These have always done the trick for me.

Meanwhile, I'm writing, too, and getting ready to post a new scene from Cold Kiss tomorrow. Come back then!

For the young who want to

Talent is what they say
you have after the novel
is published and favorably
reviewed. Beforehand what
you have is a tedious
delusion, a hobby like knitting.

Work is what you have done
after the play is produced
and the audience claps.
Before that friends keep asking
when you are planning to go
out and get a job.

Genius is what they know you
had after the third volume
of remarkable poems. Earlier
they accuse you of withdrawing,
ask why you don't have a baby,
call you a bum.

The reason people want M.F.A.'s,
take workshops with fancy names
when all you can really
learn is a few techniques,
typing instructions and some-
body else's mannerisms

is that every artist lacks
a license to hang on the wall
like your optician, your vet
proving you may be a clumsy sadist
whose fillings fall into the stew
but you're certified a dentist.

The real writer is one
who really writes. Talent
is an invention like phlogiston
after the fact of fire.
Work is its own cure. You have to
like it better than being loved.

Marge Piercy

Copyright 1980, Middlemarsh, Inc.
from THE MOON IS ALWAYS FEMALE
Alfred A. Knopf, New York

I still don't get why they sparkle, though.

2011-11-16T14:34:00.001-05:00

This piece on today's The Hairpin actually made me sit up straight and frown. And think.

I have a lot of feelings about the Twilight series, not all of them exactly flattering. I read the first book because I was interested, and it's hard not to follow the phenomenon, because hey, phenomenon. And I'll be the first to admit I owe Bella and Edward and Jacob and Stephenie Meyer a debt of gratitude. The Twilight series got a lot of people reading again, or simply reading more. That's a net good all the way around.

But Bella ... oh, Bella. I had so many problems with her. I wanted to shake her, and I wanted to explain the idea of stalkers to her, and I really wanted to enroll in some kind of course in basic not-falling-down-ness. I didn't like her, although I could sort of relate to her, if I thought about it (and high school) for a minute.

I didn't focus on that, though. Because Edward sparkled, and Edward was bossy, and I didn't much like him, either, so I stopped reading the books.

And yet, as Sarah Blackwood points out in the piece linked up there at the top, maybe there's more to Bella Swan than meets the eye. Wait, strike that -- maybe the point is that there's not more to her than exactly what we see. Bella may not be the girl we want to be, or want our daughters or nieces or friends to be, but in many ways she is the girl that we were, or the girl that we are, if you're a teen.

What do you think? Where do you stand in the pro/con Twilight debate?

And can we at least all agree it's a little silly that vampires sparkle?

Seeds

2011-11-15T16:49:00.001-05:00

Today's (very brief) blog is about one of my favorite parts of writing: the beginning.

Not the actual beginning, since opening sentences can be really hard to get right (or at least not overthink). But the very beginning, the minute the sperm starts burrowing into the egg. So to speak.

I have one of those, and it's such a good feeling. These are the happiest days for me, when it's all ideas and thoughts and lying on the bed in my pajamas with tea, eyes closed, imagining and scheming and plotting and wondering.

Making me happiest right now:

New characters who need names.
A whole new era to explore, which means LIBRARY TIME.
Taking the loose threads hanging off this idea and braiding them together into something that resembles a story.

Do you like the very beginning stages of projects? Or are you more comfortable when it's time to actually write?

Tightropes, and other things I'm likely fall from.

2011-11-14T10:40:00.001-05:00

So I didn't blog this weekend, like I was supposed to. NaNo adjacent, right? Writing every day in solidarity and support? Yeah, this weekend it wasn't happening.

I assume everyone participating in NaNo is writing every day, if only to make the 50,000 word goal (or whatever their particular goal is). My problem is that once you give me a rule, I want to break it. It's the three-year-old in me, I guess. The old "well, let's see what happens if I don't" thing ...

But it's also a matter of balance, for me. When I am working on a book, especially when I'm gearing up to make the last push, I eat, breathe, and sleep it. I drive it and wear it around the house and shove it in the oven for dinner. And that's sort of exhausting, in the end. All work, no play ...

My life isn't quite all play right now, with the followup to Cold Kiss off to copyediting. But I am trying to remember how to balance everything. Writing, kids, other work, promotion, the holidays (ack), and even some time with my husband in which I'm not looking at him from over the lip of my laptop. (I do sort of like him, you know.)

The thing I keep learning, over and over again, is that when I do step away, even if it's only from blogging for two days, for instance, I have much more energy when the time comes to go back to it. My brain needs some breathing time, some time when I'm not concentrating on anything more than laundry or why the cat needs to lick my hair to wake me up or HOW FREAKING AWESOME THE LAST HARRY POTTER WAS. (I'm late, I know, but man, it was worth the wait.)

First rule of writing, for me, always has to be: Do what works for you. And if that means giving your brain a day off, do it. If it means writing around the clock until you finish a scene or a chapter or even a sentence, do that. Simple.

How do you write? Every day? Every morning? In one place? Tell me in the comments -- it always fascinates me to hear how other writers work.

There is no blogging fairy.

2011-11-11T14:56:00.001-05:00

Even when your sinuses are attacking and you're bundled under the covers with tea and bad daytime TV. Meaning, I missed blogging yesterday. Demerits noted.

At the Chester County Books signing on Nov. 1, someone asked about my favorite recent YA books. Of course, I blanked, which happens to me pretty often. And then @Vi3tl3abe reminded me to blog about it (did you ask the original question? I can't remember), and so I am.

I came back to reading YA after a few years away around the time that Laurie Halse Anderson's Speak came out, and I was hooked (again).

Here's a (partial) list of some absolute favorites over the last few years:

Sweet Blood, Pete Hautman

A Great and Terrible Beauty, Libba Bray (and the following two books in the trilogy)

Wicked Lovely, Melissa Marr (and the rest of the series!)

The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins (and of course the two books to follow)

How I Live Now, Meg Rosoff

Thirteen Reasons Why, Jay Asher

The Replacement, Brenna Yovanoff

There are more (all veering between wildly realistic and gritty fantasy), but those are the big standouts. Ask me about any of them, and I'll respond in comments.

Next time, YA favorites from the mists of time, and why they're still worth reading.

* Also, if someone can tell me where tagging went on Blogger, I will send you (virtual) cookies.

I have a crush on you.

2011-11-09T17:18:00.001-05:00

I volunteered at the library at my daughter's school this afternoon, which I love to do. (Putting away the clean laundry, I hate. Shelving books? Hours of bliss. I have no idea.)

Libraries are the place where all my oldest friends live. Books I read as a kid, books you can't find on bookstore shelves anymore, books that have been handled and pored over and read and loved by hundred of other people. Libraries are also where I remember longtime author crushes, and sigh and stroke the spines of their books and wind up sitting down on the floor in the stacks, looking at them until someone trips over me.

I have more author crushes than I can name. (Crushes are great that way. You can have as many as you want!) There are the obvious ones, like J.K. Rowling and Joan Aiken and A.A. Milne, but there are so many others. Kevin Henkes, whose picture books are written just for me, I'm pretty sure. Lois Duncan, who was writing YA before we really called it YA; likewise Richard Peck, although he wrote middle grade books, too.

These are authors I would tremble to meet. And when I say "crush," I don't mean emulate. I just flat out love them and their work, and even years later, meeting one of them would make blush and stammer and probably an ass out of myself.

But that's part of why we write, isn't it? The idea that something we write will one day resonate with a reader that way, even if it's just one.

In the meantime, volunteer at a library. Any library -- they can all use help. And while you're there, visit your old friends.

Who are your biggest author crushes?

The biggest writing group in the world

2011-11-08T17:12:00.000-05:00

That's what NaNo is, isn't it? An enormous, international writers group. And everyone's doing (mostly) the same thing! Which is cool, because writing can get lonely, and having some like-minded people to talk to about it can be a lifesaver. NaNo even sponsors local meetups!

And that's what this post is about -- the joy of some face-to-face real-time interaction with other human beings.

Don't get me wrong. The internet has, literally, saved my life on several occasions. I'm shameless about my need for online communication on a daily basis (well, an all-day daily basis is probably closer to the truth).

But nothing beats once in a while being in the same room with other people. There's a different vibe to hearing actual voices, whether they're fighting to be heard or laughing, and seeing the expression on someone's face as she reads what you're written (or explains why your latest metaphor is a poor tortured creature begging to die). I'll give up the internet when you pry it out of my cold dead hands, but there's something about being in a roomful of people that gives me a total energy boost.

Last night, I got to do just that. I'd met some local YA authors at a signing here last week, and they invited me to join them! (Which is really generous and trusting, because writers/critique groups sometimes develop this precarious balance, and a new member is sort of like adding a third leg, or a dragon's tail. Although a dragon's tail would be sort of awesome, actually.) And we spent two hours talking about books, writing, publishing, and teen voices, which was exactly what I needed.

Try a writers group sometime. A real face-to-face one.

Do you belong to a writers group? Do you have a critique partner? Tell me what you like about it, or don't, in the comments!

It's November 7 already?!

2011-11-07T13:22:00.001-05:00

This is part of why I don't do NaNoWriMo, folks. I think it's a great idea (although I would argue that November is a crazy month to do it, leading into the holidays), but it's not really for me. I was going to start blogging as a NaNo-adjacent person (cheerleader, dubious voice of wisdom and encouragement, all around writing of any kind enthusiast) on the first of the month.

Yeah, that didn't happen. In my defense, I have this thing where you start new projects on Mondays or it feels wrong. Which is either my brain's way of procrastinating just a little bit longer, or ... just plain crazy.

Anyway! I've been watching the NaNo participants cheering each other on, settling down at their desks and/or keyboards, and making those words come, and I love it. Thinking about people all over the world, all doing the same thing, furiously typing, is pretty cool, you have to admit. As a friend of mine says, sometimes just doing it is the biggest problem, and getting out of your own way is pretty key. When you're working toward a lengthy word goal in one month, there's not a lot of time to ponder and self-edit and freeze up, right?

What I have planned to do (for the rest of the month anyway) is to blog every day. Might be long, might be short, but I could use some discipline myself, and this way I can feel (a little bit) like I know what you're all going through.

I have some interviews with writers and editors planned, some posts about the nuts and bolts of writing itself, and -- this is the fun news -- some director's cut scenes from Cold Kiss. Scenes that didn't make it into the book, and some all-new scenes, some from Danny's point of view, and some from Gabriel's!

(Okay, I admit it, I miss them all, so revisiting them is really just me clinging and hating to say good-bye, but that doesn't mean you all can't enjoy it, right?)

Stay tuned. And if I don't post tomorrow, someone smack me. Virtually, anyway.

Guest blogging

2011-10-21T13:23:00.000-04:00

The fantastic Nova Ren Suma, author of Imaginary Girls (Dutton), asked me to join a bunch of authors blogging on books that scare us. My favorite topic! One of them anyway (don't get me started on scary movies unless you have lots of time ...). I chose Rosemary's Baby, a classic for good reason.

This book is one that I would teach if I taught writing. For real! Levin is brilliant in this novel. Nothing that the reader doesn't need to know is included, and every clue that leads to the conclusion is right there, if you know where to look. Check out what I had to say here. And then comment! You'll score an extra entry in a big prize giveaway if you do.

Tour!

2011-10-20T14:52:00.000-04:00

Last week I traveled to five cities in five days, and youknow who I met? READERS. People who love books enough to come out and listen totheir authors talk about them. Amazing!

I run into so many people day to day who tell me they don’tread much, outside of the internet or an occasional magazine. I’ve always knownthose people existed, even if I don’t understand them. (Like, at all.) So lastweek, the Dark Days book tour with Claudia Gray, Anna Carey, Jocelyn Davies,and Kiersten White, was that much more amazing. Readers, everywhere!

(This is the part where I may gush a little bit.)

It was amazing to meet readers who either had already reador were dying to read Cold Kiss. Onereader brought me fan art! Another brought baked goods (many many points to her),and another brought some of my old romances for me to sign! I got to meet otherauthors, too, Brenna Yovanoff and Sara Ockler, and lots of writers and teachersand librarians.

It was a little like coming home in every new setting. Thesewere my people!

I didn’t count them all, but I was thrilled to meet everyone of them. Here are some things I did count, though:

1 nuclear engineer onthe flight home (bonus points for that one)
1 fish in my hotel room in Seattle
roughly 27 young, attractive, mostly blond doormenat the Four Seasons in Denver
1 body scan (I wonder if my bones look fat?)
2 super-secret toilets
2 huge soaking tubs
1 doorman who was a dead ringer for a youngStanley Tucci
1 forgotten phone charger
1 replacement phone charger provided by theadorable concierge in Huntington Beach
1 coat bought in Seattle (who doesn't bring a coatto Seattle, Denver, and Chicago in October? me, that's who)

Then multiply that by endless cups of tea, bottles of water, andHershey’s Kisses, and … well, it’s math I can’t do.

Next time: Why Claudia Gray makes me snort water up my nose, AnnaCarey’s unbelievable eyes, Kiersten White: tour pro extraordinaire, and makingJocelyn Davies laugh.

Live! On TV! I mean, the Internet!

2011-10-05T23:49:00.000-04:00

These days, it's almost the same thing, right?

Not that I ever wanted to be on TV. I'm one of those writers who created the cliche -- unless I have to be otherwise, I'm generally in my most comfortable clothes, with no makeup on, and squinting into middle distance because I forgot to put in my contacts and don't remember where my glasses are. Writing = NOT a performance art.

Of course, some authors are fantastic at speaking! Some of them deserve their own talk shows. Some of them have them! (Hello, Garrison Keillor.)

I, on the other hand, am a rambler. A babbler. The kind of person who should use note cards, if not a teleprompter, or at least some kind person off to the side who could poke me from time to time to stay on topic.

All of which is a really long, rambling (see?!) way to tell you that I'm going to be chatting live with the other Pitch Dark authors tomorrow at 5 p.m. So you can see for yourself how rambly and ridiculous I can be!

Follow the link for all the info you need to tune in.

I may even do my nails beforehand.

Cold Kiss: A Birth Story

2011-10-03T14:37:00.004-04:00

Cold Kiss is ababy I didn’t plan.

It feels that way, anyway. One night, one random remark, alittle bit of wine, and bam – conception.

I wasn’t entirely unprepared. I’d written books before, andpublished before, and even worked on the other side of the desk for years,wearing a couple of different hats (editorial assistant, freelance copy editor,freelance copywriter, acquiring editor). And that gave me perspective about theroad to publication that a lot of authors don’t have when they’re firststarting out.

Coming from it at that angle, Cold Kiss seemed like a bad idea. A book destined to be thetroubled child who would never move out, and steal my lipsticks and find myhidden stash of chocolate, and finally run off with some snarling guy on amotorcycle just to break my heart into even tinier pieces.

Here were the things stacked against me, as I saw it.

1) I’donly written for children or teens in limited ways, on both occasions under adifferent name.

2) Oneof those occasions was a ghostwriting gig, which sort of doesn’t count.Ghostwriting is all about imitating someone else’s voice, and writing his orher idea, not your own.

3) I’dwritten a couple of fairly steamy contemporary romances. Would YA publisherswant anything to do with me?

4) Cold Kiss is weird! Come on, there’s a zombie. And not exactly your traditionalhappy ending, either.

But my fantastic agent, Maureen, thought we could give it atry. No promises, she said. Especially no promises I could sell it on proposal(rather than a completed manuscript). I went back to brainstorming a fewromance ideas and taking freelance work, wondering what would happen, but notcounting any chickens. Not even lookingat chickens. We were a chicken-free household there for a while.

Boy, was I surprised. I’ve never been so glad to be wrong inmy life.

There’s a lesson in that. I was writing a book I desperatelywanted to write. A book I talked about so often and in so much depth, everyoneI knew was probably desperate for me to write it, too, just so I would shut up.

Young adult fiction was my first love. The first novel Iever completed is one of those highly autobiographical, highly embarrassingefforts that will live forever in a box under my bed. Children’s and youngadult books are some of my all-time favorites, and some of the books thatresonated deepest with me when I was growing up. YA is what I’ve always wantedto write, and Wren’s story was one that crystallized a lot of growing up for me(even though I did not ever bring a boyfriend back to life, thank goodness). I felt it in ways I’d never felt theromances I’d written, as much I love them.

Did that make a difference when it came time to submit it? Ithink so. Or maybe I’d just like to think so – it’s hard to tell. But I’llalways believe that writing from your heart makes a difference. If you believein the story you’re telling, your voice will be stronger, your characters will bequicker to come to life, and all of that does make a difference to anyonereading it.

And now, after two years that passed much more quickly thanI expected, Cold Kiss is actually outin the world. So I’m a proud mom, and I don’t even have to hide my chocolate.

Tomorrow's the big day!

2011-09-19T15:12:00.004-04:00

So today I am, of course, holed up on the bed with quilt and laptop, watching reruns of the S7 So You Think You Can Dance auditions on Ovation.

Um.

I'm trying to catch up on stuff, too -- emails, blog entries (hey, I can check that off!), laundry, and a million things that sort of got ignored while I was in the last ~~death throes~~ stages of revisions for the follow-up to Cold Kiss. Which comes out tomorrow! TOMORROW!

It's so unbelievable to finally say that. The day my wonderful editor offered for the book, hearing "Fall 2011" sounded like eons away. And now it's here! In stores! Online! With a cover and reviews and everything!

Feelings about this in random order:

FEAR

pure joy

pride!

jittery, bone-shaking nerves

EXCITEMENT

an incredible need to eat chocolate, and/or cake, or maybe both

Toss in some exhaustion, and I think that covers it.

And it doesn't stop there. I'm going on tour next month, and I'm all over the internet on a blog tour, and I'm hoping to set up some local appearances, too. All to celebrate a book I never thought I would actually get to write, about a girl who raises her boyfriend from the dead.

Incredible. There's another word for today.

What's my name again?

2011-09-12T20:19:00.000-04:00

I'm finishing revisions on the followup to Cold Kiss, doing a million other kid and house things, and coming off a weekend which included my oldest son's birthday and the sad anniversary of 9/11. I'm surprised I do remember my name, much less how to blog.

But so much is going on! The Dark Days blog tour started, and a copy of Cold Kiss (plus a short manuscript critique from me!) is being auctioned at the Read For Relief site, with all proceeds going to aid the Red Cross with victims of Hurricane Irene. (My fantastic, super-smart, adorable-as-hell editor Erica Sussman is also up for auction! Well, not her, but a critique from her. I think her husband and her cute dog would like to keep her.)

And there's a Dark Days trailer on YouTube! The Dark Days site has all of the tour information for next month, too. Check it out on Facebook. I'm going to five cities! FIVE. That's so weird and cool, I'm not sure I really believe it yet, to be honest.

I'm sure I'm forgetting something, since I forgot to put my kid to bed last night, and found her passed out with a book on the floor of her room. Did I mention I'm also up for Mother of the Year? BECAUSE I TOTALLY AM.

Stay tuned for another giveaway, a final teaser before the book comes out a week from tomorrow (I really don't believe that, even though I have all those gorgeous books right here next to me), and more fun stuff in the next few weeks.

First, though, more caffeine. Chocolate has caffeine in it, right? (I'm going to go with YES.)

Books!

2011-09-08T11:34:00.001-04:00

And some swag to give away, too...

See the lips down there? Blue lip tattoos, i.e. cold kisses! And some icy blue lipstick, too. For, uh, the zombie look? I don't know, but it seemed cool when I bought it.

And a few readers will be the lucky recipients of my weirdo impulse shopping! More on that soon.

Meanwhile, look at the Prettiest Book Ever (TM). True facts, people.

Giveaway time again!

2011-09-07T14:29:00.000-04:00

I've been writing so much content for the two blog tours I'm doing, and I have to say, the YA bloggers out there are really creative. Great questions! Even though no one yet has asked where to send my pony. I'll let it slide for now, I guess.

Meanwhile, new giveaway! A signed and annotated galley of Cold Kiss, along with some extra goodies! To enter (U.S. only, please) all you have to do is go to my Facebook author page and "like" it. Then leave a comment on my wall with your email address, and I'll be in touch with the winner on Saturday.

Easy, right? Right. Bring your friends, too! The more the merrier.

And now to go take pictures of my lovely finished copies of Cold Kiss, which got put aside last week during the Death Throes of Sinus Infection. (I asked my doctor, and she agreed that that was the official name.)

Teaser Tuesday

2011-09-06T12:55:00.000-04:00

Time for another teaser, and this time -- for real, barring natural disasters and acts of god and, like, another sinus infection -- there will be another giveaway, too! But first, read some more about Wren's growing feelings for Gabriel ...

“Wren,let me help, okay? I could do some research. I don’t want you to go throughthis alone. And I really don’t want you to get hurt.”

He’s serious, and everything about thedefined angles of his body is softer now. But I can’t help blurting, “God, whydo you care?”

He flinches as if I slapped him. “Isn’t itobvious? I noticed you before Ipicked up on your power, Wren.”

That shouldn’t feel as good as it does, abright hot pulse in my chest. It doesn’t matter if Gabriel likes me, and itreally doesn’t matter if I like Gabriel. There’s Danny to think about. AlwaysDanny.

I don’t know what to say, so I stand thereblinking instead, and finally Gabriel gives up and takes a step toward meagain. I don’t back up this time, even though I do have to tilt my head to lookhim in the eye. Why are the only boys who like me always so tall?

“I saw you,Wren,” Gabriel says, and his voice is so soft, a feather drifting on the air,that I close my eyes to listen. “I saw this girl with these dark eyes and thiscrazy hair and this fuck you look on her face, and I wanted to talk to you.”

I laugh and open my eyes. “Wow. Smooth.”

He smirks, his wide mouth twisting to oneside, and shrugs a little. “It’s true. You don’t look like everybody else, andthat’s a good thing.”

“At least the outside and the insidematch,” I say, and let myself move just a little closer. I can’t helpmyself——my life has become a series of balls I’m trying to keep in the air, andI can’t hold onto any of them long enough.

I want to hold on to Gabriel.

My hands find his forearms, and I tangle myfingers in the worn cotton of his sleeves. Another kick of energy washesthrough me, warm and bright, and the air shimmers around us. I want so much, somuch I can’t have, so much I’m not supposed to even think about.

But I stretch up anyway, trembling, hearingthe echo of Gabriel’s voice: I saw you. Isaw you.

Inever thought I wanted to be seen like that, so completely. I didn’t think itwas possible, after keeping so many secrets for so long. It’s amazing how goodit feels. 

     When I press my mouth to Gabriel’s, I canfeel the shimmer, taste it, sweet, mellow gold where our lips touch, aslow-blooming heat that twines around us like vines. And it’s so bittersweet,so much like that long-ago first kiss with Danny, I break away with a jerk. 

     “I have to go,” I manage to get out, andthen I’m scrambling, pushing away from Gabriel’s outstretched hands and thesound of his voice to grab my stuff and run. 

Check in later for details about the giveaway!

Just call me The White Rabbit ...

2011-08-31T13:03:00.000-04:00

I'm late again! Yesterday is sort of a blur at this point -- too many errands and too much catching up on too many things. (And apparently today is about too many Ts.)

But I do have another quick excerpt to share, and another giveaway to announce tomorrow! Read on ...

“So,” he finally says, and takes a deep breath. “You raised your boyfriend from the dead.”

I wince. “I had nothing to do that night?”

“Wren, it’s not funny.”

I groan and sink back into the sofa, tilting my head back to stare at the ceiling. There’s a stain on the plaster in the shape of a rabbit’s foot. Does that mean Gabriel is going to bring me good luck? I doubt it.

“I know it’s not funny, okay? I know exactly how funny it isn’t, and I’ve known since that night. It just hurt so much, Gabriel, you don’t even know. And I ...” I stop and twist my head to look him in the eye. “I’m not sure I really expected it to work, you know? I mean, I did, but I didn’t. And I definitely didn’t think about what would happen afterwards. All I wanted was to see him again, touch him again. When he appeared in the graveyard, I thought my heart would stop. I hadn’t even thought about what would happen next, you know? And now ...” My voice trails off in the silence, a little wisp of sound that shames me.

“Now you have your dead boyfriend living in your neighbor’s garage.”

Giveaway details to come tomorrow! In the meantime, I'm going to open the box of shiny new FINISHED BOOKS that just arrived. I wish I thought to kiss the UPS man.

And the winner is ...

2011-08-29T11:44:00.000-04:00

Athina! Expect an email shortly.

So many great comments! You guys are excited about a lot of great things. Thanks so much for entering, and apologies for the delay in announcing the winner -- between family stuff and Irene, the last few days have been a little crazy.

We didn't lose power for as long as we could have, and it turns out playing Lord of the Rings Monopoly by candlelight is not a bad way to spend an evening (especially when you're DESTROYING the other players with your awesome real estate purchases -- who knew Bag End and Farmer Maggot's could be such moneymakers?!). Reading, however, is better by booklight. Less flickery.

More excerpts and another contest to come this week. Stay tuned ...

It's still August, right?

2011-08-24T13:35:00.000-04:00

This has been the busiest month I can remember in ... a long time. I turned in the followup to Cold Kiss, then my son's best friend was here for a week. Then we had torrential rains and water dripping through the light switch in the kitchen, which is very much Not a Good Thing. My grandmother died, my brother went through a really hard time, and all of a sudden we're scrambling to get everyone ready to go back to school.

Some days I just want to curl up with a Project Runway marathon and Pirate Booty and a giant Hershey bar. Or two. But in the background of all that has been the incredible support I've found online and in person for the coming release of Cold Kiss.

It's still a little unreal to me that so many people are excited about the book, and that people who have already read it have liked it! It seems like forever ago that my agent called to tell me HarperTeen was interested, and now we're just weeks away from Cold Kiss on shelves. In actual bookstores! Not just the ones in my imagination! And I'm going on tour, with four fabulous authors. Tour! That's, like, rock star stuff. I'm still not sure I actually believe that one.

And with that rambling lead-in, I do have another giveaway to announce! It's easy, too. Simply take a look at my last post and leave me a comment (including your email address) telling me something you're excited for in the weeks to come. Doesn't matter what -- it could be a new flavor of Ben and Jerry's, or the next full moon, or Robert Pattinson actually turning into a vampire. Just tell me something that's going to make you happy.

Leave comments on that post, and on Saturday morning, I'll announce the winner of a signed galley of Cold Kiss, and a few special extras. I'll get in touch with the winner personally via email.

One note: U.S. RESIDENTS ONLY, please. Sorry about that, international friends, but I didn't know I'm not supposed to send galleys out of the country. Oops.

So enter! And tell your friends! And if you have extra Pirate Booty or Hershey bars, you know where to send them...

Another Teaser Tuesday!

2011-08-23T11:12:00.000-04:00

So it looks like I miscounted -- today is actually five weeks from the release of Cold Kiss. (Let's just call last week practice.) In celebration, another teaser! And later I'll announce a new contest ...

I slide into my seat in homeroom and nod at Meg D’Angelo, who still has her iPod earbuds in. She nods back, same way she does every morning——we’ve known each other since third grade, and she’s one of those sort-of friends, someone I hang out with at school when Jess and Darcia aren’t around.

Of course, I haven't seen them much at all since Danny died in July, and while Jess has gotten angrily vocal about it over the last few weeks, Darcia just stares at me sadly across the row that separates us in World Lit and sends me cryptic texts about new songs she likes or her little brother’s soccer games.

At least Meg doesn’t look at me like I’ve disappointed her.

I slouch down to get my French notebook out of my backpack while Mr. Rokozny calls roll. Madame Hobart is quizzing us on the imperfect tense today, and I fell asleep watching a rerun of some reality show before I even thought about studying.

I raise my hand silently when Mr. Rokozny calls my name, and it’s only when he pauses after Cleo Darnell’s name to say, “Gabriel DeMarnes?” that I look up.

Twenty-two pairs of eyes are trained on the kid in the very back of the room. Even Rokozny is squinting at him from above the morning’s roll. This far into October, it’s weird to find a new kid in homeroom.

“That’s me,” the boy says, and Audrey Diehl sits up a little straighter, head tilted in appreciation.

He’s tall——I can tell even though he’s hunched over his desk, because his legs go on pretty much forever, kicked out into the faded linoleum of the aisle. His hair is the color of clean sand, and even short it’s sort of messy. He’s all angles, planes, a geometry proof of a boy in a wrinkled yellow button-down and faded jeans, and when I drag my gaze away from the long, slender fingers splayed loose over his thigh, I blink in surprise.

Because even with everyone in the room checking him out, he’s staring right at me.

Teaser Tuesday! On, uh, Wednesday.

2011-08-17T10:56:00.000-04:00

Yesterday marked five weeks until Cold Kiss hits stores, which is still sort of unbelievable to me. To celebrate, here's a teaser from the beginning part of the book.

“What are you thinking about?”

It’s almost eleven, and Danny and I are lying on his bed, legs tangled together under an old blanket. I had to wait till Mom was asleep to sneak back to the loft tonight. I didn’t stay long the first time, after I let Danny soothe all the rough edges from running into Gabriel. This time Mom was in bed, the little TV on her dresser flickering softly in the dark. Robin was snoring in her room, one hand on Mr. Purrfect, her orange tiger. He blinked at me in the dark when I peeked through the crack in her door, yellow eyes cold and uninterested.

I never know what to tell Danny when he asks questions like that. Your funeral? The fact that Becker still hasn’t come back to school because one of his legs doesn’t work right, and he’s flying on painkillers most of the time anyway? The way Ryan can barely look at me anymore? How much I really hate running into your mom in town, and how often she still looks like she just finished crying?

“Wren?” Anxious, almost pleading. Needy. His fingers tighten around my arm.

“French,” I whisper, letting my lips brush the cool smoothness of his cheek. “Madame Hobart’s been on the warpath lately. And I still fuck up pluperfect conjugations.”

“I told you you should’ve taken Spanish,” he says, and he almost sounds like the old Danny when he laughs. “I think Mr. Hill is stoned most of the time.”

I can’t help but smile at that, because he’s right. Mr. Hill wears the same tie for days at a time, and blinks like a startled owl when anyone asks him a question. Danny was always talking about him, back when he was ... well, still in school.

And still alive, a voice in my head whispers.

More to come soon!

2011-08-06T14:57:00.000-04:00

With the sequel to Cold Kiss finally turned in, I am relaxing. Which means making peach cobbler, doing my nails, reading, reading some more, possibly fooling around with homemade henna (skin! not hair), and then reading some more.

Oh, and sleeping. There's been a lot of that. At least until I get my revision letter. Ahem.

In the meantime, the fabulous Dark Faerie Tales blog invited me to talk about what Wren would do if she were to turn up in a fairy tale or fable. One of my all-time favorites is "Bluebeard" -- dark and grim and bloody and scary! I figure Wren could totally deal. See what her "diary excerpts" as Bluebeard's wife say about the story!

Five commenters to the blog can also win a copy of Cold Kiss, which is pretty cool.

Now for the big decision -- Sun Kissed or Fuschia Power? The toes are already Green Apple. Hmm ...

Radio Silence, or A Giant Lack of Words

2011-07-11T11:06:00.000-04:00

My daughter is going camping with friends in three days. Ever since this was decided, just yesterday, we have talked about nothing else. No, wait -- SHE has talked about nothing else. For hours, constantly, enthusiastically. Last night, something snapped, and I told her that if she used up all her words now, she'd have nothing to talk about with her friends on the trip.

For a little while anyway, she clammed up.

(Caveat: I love my kid like cake, but she is a major chatterer. And sometimes I wish there really was a Cone of Silence.)

I've been in the same place, sort of. I'm finishing the followup to Cold Kiss, and that's where all my words are. All of them. I actually grunted at my lovely husband this morning when he asked if I wanted breakfast. New Book has taken All the Words.

Which is partly why I haven't been here, blogging and chatting and being social. I have no words! (I borrowed these from the book, and I'm hoping my editor will understand.)

But later this month, it will be two months until the release of Cold Kiss! And I will have things to say, and contests and giveaways to share, and I will have words again. (I hope.) So stay tuned!

And wish me words.

Not dead.

2011-05-24T11:18:00.000-04:00

Yet, anyway. Just busy writing the followup to Cold Kiss, and occasionally with my family, who seem to expect me to interact with them once in a while.

But tomorrow I won't be writing, or taking Barbie clothes away from the cat, or staring into the fridge and wondering why we have no cake. I'll be at Book Expo America!

BEA is the annual industry convention -- publishing's homecoming and coming out party and graduation all rolled into one. Everyone's there -- authors and editors and salespeople and librarians and bloggers and academics. It's a huge book love-in!

Even though I spent a lot of years working as an editor, this will be my first trip to BEA. I'll be signing copies of Cold Kiss with my lovely editor, @ericasussman, and with @jocelyndavies, author of the forthcoming A Beautiful Dark.

I'm a little bit excited, I have to say. And if my luck is good, I'll be grabbing some giveaways for future contests.

When I'm not impersonating @erin_bowman and @robisonwells, that is.

Sometimes a few words is all it takes.

2011-05-03T15:00:00.000-04:00

I'm still deep in writing the follow-up to Cold Kiss, and a lot of the time lately, I've got the brilliant Libba Bray's playlist on. (She's brilliant, trufax, but this is not really a recommended playlist unless you like to tear your hair ou out and rend your clothes.)

I've been trying not to listen (and to distract myself once in a while with weekly injections of Supernatural, Game of Thrones, and Justified, all of which are fantastic TV, but WOW, not light on the angst, either) and just keep plugging along. And it's working, most of the time. But nothing works better than a few kind words, let me tell you, and DJ from the blog DJ's Life in Fiction sent me some not long ago.

She's going to post her review closer to Cold Kiss's pub date (just ... counts on fingers ... four months now!), but she told me I could share a little bit of the review. This is my favorite part:

"At times, Cold Kiss read as a contemporary novel in the vain of Gayle Forman’s If I Stay. The balance between the paranormal aspect and the realism is wonderfully crafted."

I can't tell you how thrilled I was to hear that. Wren has paranormal powers, sure, but I wanted her to feel real, like a girl you would bump into at school or at the mall, a girl who is as worried about passing trigonometry as she is about handling the magic inside her. I was beaming when I got DJ's email, and when I need another hit, I go back and read it all over again. So go give DJ some love!

More to come soon, including news about BEA, giveaways, contests, and blog tours. Stay tuned!

Realer and realer ...

2011-04-21T11:28:00.000-04:00

Or more real. Whatever. I'm too pleased to worry about grammar today. The book seems real now! (Even if September still seems a world away.)

Look what I have! Beautiful galleys of Cold Kiss, as well as a cover spec for the finished book!

You can see the delicious holographic shimmer on the cover, too!(Also tulips from the backyard, which are also pretty happy-making.)

I'm still furiously writing the next book, but I'm working on a giveaway or two to come very soon ...

A bad blogger ... with really good news!

2011-04-15T12:28:00.000-04:00

I've been so deep in the new book that I'm barely raising my head lately to eat, much less tweet and blog. (An IV made of equal parts tea and cupcakes would be really helpful here, so anyone scientific out there ... get on that.)

But I had to share a piece of exciting news. (Prepare for a Sally Field moment here.) Kirkus reviewed Cold Kiss and really liked it!

To what lengths is it acceptable to go to hold on to someone you love?

Devastated by the premature death of her boyfriend, Wren enlists her natural magical abilities to bring him back—although even Wren has to admit that the Danny she has brought back is only a shadow of what he was in life. Desperate to keep what she has done a secret, Wren is forced to live a double life. ... Her plans are slowly unraveling when she meets Gabriel, a new boy who can read her thoughts and guesses her dark secret. ... Fast-paced and achingly real, this fresh tale hints at the danger that lurks beneath Wren’s spell without veering into the macabre. Driven by her selfish desires both to keep Danny and then to be rid of him, Wren is not a traditional heroine, but her character is ultimately redeemed by her decision to make things right no matter the cost.

A provocative romance rises above zombie conventions. (Fiction. 14 & up)

I'm so thrilled, I've been bouncing ever since my fantastic editor (@ericasussman) shared this with me. Writing is pretty solitary while it's happening, but the finished product is meant for others to read. And it's really hard to know if everyone (or anyone) is going to like what you've done. Reviews, in other words, are a pretty reassuring boost when they're like this one.

So ... I've been boosted! Thank you, Kirkus!

Now to start chewing my nails again and hope readers like Wren and Danny and Gabriel ...

Wren has something to show you.

2011-04-08T20:23:00.000-04:00

When I can figure it out, that is. And I did! I started a Tumblr, and you can find it here.

It's not really my Tumblr, though. It's Wren's.

And Wren, for those of you wondering, is the protagonist of Cold Kiss. (At some point, the name of the Tumblr may change to reflect that, but I'm sadly not that tech-savvy. Yet.)

So far, Wren and I are having fun with it. Tumblr is a great ~~way to while away the hours~~ ~~procrastinate~~ thing, especially when it comes to images. I have a little crush on it.

I'm still not calling it "The Zone."

2011-03-30T12:22:00.000-04:00

I crossed a line the other day. It's only a line in my head, but it's a big one.

On one side, anything can distract me from butt-in-chair, words-on-page writing. The way my nail polish is chipping only my thumb, and the idea that changing from My Auntie Drinks Chianti to Blue Me Away! will magically imbue my fingers with more speed, if not inspiration.

The sudden, urgent need to go to the grocery store to buy kale so I can make kale chips, which are supposed to be healthy and easy, truly a magical snack, even though I don't really like the idea of kale, or cooking.

An obsessive need to research the IMdB bios of the cast of Community because ... um, because.

A renewed acquaintance with my vacuum cleaner and toilet brush. Because writing in a clean house will be better than writing in a dusty, cat-hair-covered one!

Even I have trouble buying that last one.

To be honest, deadlines motivate me more than anything else. I need an end point, a fixed goal, or I can noodle around with words and ideas and failed scenes pretty much forever. But even deadlines aren't scary enough to keep me in my seat until something clicks, and I cross that line into the place where the cat could be horking up hairballs a foot away and I wouldn't be able to stop writing.

I'm there now, working on the sequel to Cold Kiss. Some days it's a little weird to raise my head and realize I'm not in the town where I went to high school, and it's not late December, and I actually have a husband, and kids, and a really serious need to take a shower and for the comfort of all involved put on a different sweater. And possibly eat something other than tea and dry Apple Jacks out of the box.

But I'm still not calling it "The Zone." Maybe ... The Fugue. Well, maybe not.

Sort of like a Dyson.

2011-03-23T14:11:00.000-04:00

Nova Ren Suma, author of the forthcoming Imaginary Girls (which I can't wait to read), tweeted this yesterday:

As a reader, I love the download-free-sample option on my Kindle. As a writer, I see how essential it is to have a BRILLIANT first chapter.

I used to be an editor. I know how important those first few pages are -- sometimes I wouldn't even commit to the whole first chapter if the first pages didn't really suck me in. (See post title. You really need the "proper amount of suction.")

Everyone's busy. You can buy a new song in under a minute right on your phone, and if you don't like it, you can buy another one. You can watch movies right on your computer, and the screamingly funny episode of Raising Hope you missed on Hulu. (Well, I think you can. I actually don't ever miss them.)

In other words, if the story isn't demanding that you keep reading in a clawing-your-shirt, look-at-me! way, a lot of readers are going to shut the book and go on to the next one.

Sometimes it's hard to remember that as a writer, though. You know what's coming. You know all of the gut-wrenching and scary and touching and funny things that are going to happen ... just later on. You know everyone should keep reading, because they payoff is going to rock!

But you have to make sure readers know that, right up front.

It's tough, because it makes it seem like every first chapter in the world should be full of explosions and Sophie's Choice style decisions and romance and a cliffhanger or three. And if every book opened that way, reading would get a little exhausting.

It's not always what happens. It's about how it's told.

You have that friend, I bet. The one who can tell you a ridiculous story about the thing with the squirrel and the broken toaster oven in the parking lot of a WalMart, and it doesn't matter that it's ridiculous, because the way she tells it is guaranteed to make you laugh, and gasp, and possibly cry a little. That's what will suck you in, every time.

That's your voice. And in the end, that's what will make your book impossible to put down, from page one.

In other news, guess who's considering rewriting her first chapter today? Go on, guess.

The first rule of Write Club ...

2011-03-14T13:22:00.001-04:00

is you do talk about Write Club.

I've known a lot of writers in my life (I used to be an editor, so it was pretty much my job), and the one thing writers like to do almost more than writing? Talk about writing.

And that's a good thing! Because writing a novel is really one of the most solitary things you can do. Knowing how other writers get it done can be everything from reassuring to surprising to inspirational (and sometimes terrifying, i.e. following the Jack Kerouac method is not usually recommended). The one truth? Nobody does it exactly the same way.

Last week Maggie Stiefvater had a couple of great posts about how she begins a novel. Some authors, like Jennifer Crusie, create elaborate visual collages to help them focus, and others work out a playlist to listen to. Some (very disciplined) writers write at the same time every day, and in the same place (those writers are Not Me). Some writers probably depend on a lucky tiara and a big strawberry milkshake before starting, or the giant poster of the guys from Supernatural as inspiration (this ... could be me, but I'll never tell).

The things Maggie said about knowing your characters and what story you're telling are important, at least for me. But I need a couple of other things before I start, and while I'm writing, too. They might not work for anyone else, and they might be kind of weird, but it's how I write. The most important thing for any writer is figuring out what works for them.

Here's a list of Amy's Strange Writing Habits, just for the record:

1) I need a title. It doesn't need to be the final one, but it can't be "Book About Wren and Gabriel." Until I come up with a working title, I can try to write, but that missing title is like a sore tooth or a really nasty mosquito bite.

2) I don't do collages (for me, that would be the gateway to months! of procrastination!), but I do collect what I guess you could call totems. Little tangible or visible things that remind me of the book or the characters. For Cold Kiss, I had a Fall Out Boy postcard with zombies on it, and a hand-sewn skeleton a friend sent (Christmas tree ornament size, although life size would have been AWESOME), and a notecard with a huge, bare tree in front of a full moon.

3) When I'm actually writing, lyrics tend to distract me (and the next thing you know I'm standing up, singing along into a hairbrush, or playing air drums), but I do make a note of songs or music that feels like the mood of the book. Then I make a playlist and listen to it in the car, or while I'm cooking (okay, baking cookies -- my husband usually cooks), which are good times to think about where the book's going.

4) I don't create really specific outlines. I have a friend who does, chapter by chapter, scene by scene, all ahead of time. I tried that exactly once, and by the time I was done I had zero interest in actually writing the book. I need a loose map, sort of a "Go west, author!" thing, with a few general landmarks to look out for along the way, but otherwise I make it up as I go along.

5) Some days I write best up on my bed, with the cats down at my feet, and music on. Some days I need to be given no choice but to write, which is when I actually head to the most crowded place I can. A Starbucks or something like it, where it's busy and noisy, and where there are so many distractions, it all fades into background noise and I can concentrate on the pages. I think the key there is that none of that busy and noisy is from people I know, namely children who are going to want more juice or to know why the cat makes that weird face.

Whatever works is the moral to the story. (I could add "slow and steady wins the race," but then I'd be cribbing from Aesop.) Also? Write Club is rarely as bloody as Fight Club. Which is good because I have a crappy left hook.

2011-03-07T10:31:00.000-05:00

This is Cortez.

About two years ago, Cortez showed up on our back porch. We'd seen him around the neighborhood for a few weeks -- he had no collar, and had the wary, lean look of a guy who was out on his own, sleeping rough and eating wherever he could.

He jumped into my husband's lap as if he was meant to be there, and pretty much just ... moved in. And we're happy to have him. (Even though we did name him after the Neil Young song "Cortez the Killer." If you have a mouse problem, Cortez will hook you right up, believe me.)

I didn't really want a cat. I'm allergic, so living with cats takes a little effort on my part, and I'm definitely more of a dog person. But Cortez was right there, patient and calm and a little mysterious, and it was hard not to pet him, and scratch him behind the ears, and feel a little proud that he'd chosen us to be his new family. (Spoiler alert: I am so ridiculously fond of him now, it's all a little goopy. We also now have another cat, Switch, so I'm beginning to question the whole "not a cat person" thing.)

The idea for Cold Kiss showed up the same way, although it landed in my lap instead of my husband's (thank goodness). I was talking with friends online, and the discussion turned, as it does, to vampires and werewolves and ghosts, and someone said, "One day there'll be a book where someone's got a zombie boyfriend."

And everyone laughed, and started talking about cupcakes and how Lost had taken a left turn into Totally Insano Land, and the moment was gone. But I couldn't shake it. In my head, there was a girl with a zombie boyfriend, and I had to figure out why.

At the time, I'd been writing romance (after years of editing it), but YA was my first love. My true love. The first book I ever finished writing is an embarrassingly autobiographical YA novel that will live forever under my bed, nestled in dust bunnies. I'd done some ghostwriting for a middle-grade series that was some of the best fun I'd ever had writing. And I thought, screw it, I'm writing this.

It was like coming home, even though "home" wasn't somewhere I'd really been yet. But writing in Wren's voice came so naturally, I knew I'd made the right decision. And HarperTeen actually liked it! So now I get to write another book about Wren, which is not something I'd ever anticipated.

The moral of the story is: sometimes stuff just shows up. Sometimes it's germs thanks to your second-grader, and sometimes it's bills thanks to the good people at the electric company, and sometimes it's that girl who was always mean to you in high school and now suddenly expects to be BFF on Facebook.

But sometimes it's a really cool cat who likes to curl up against your legs at night, and wake you up by licking your hair and putting one paw carefully in the center of your chest. (The hair licking is weird, I know, but it's his ... idiom, I guess.) And sometimes it's an idea that seems really far off your particular reservation, and you write it anyway.

Now if someone would just show up with a lifetime supply of cupcakes and a puppy ...

Cover!

2011-03-04T09:26:00.000-05:00

You should imagine me saying that in Kermit voice, complete with flailing arms.

Here it is! In all its gorgeousosity (hey, it could be a word one day)!

I want to pet it, just a little bit. It's so pretty! What do you think?

I need those sneakers.

2011-03-03T12:06:00.000-05:00

Since I'm still congested and miserable -- think "head about to explode like an overripe watermelon" -- all I have to share today is a little bit of happy.

Marcel the Shell, soon to be a book.

MARCEL THE SHELL WITH SHOES ON from Dean Fleischer-Camp on Vimeo.

I have a skull eraser in black Docs he might like to meet.

I swear, Wren had nothing to do with this ...

2011-03-02T12:16:00.000-05:00

Although if she had, who could blame her?

I've already seen a photo of this little guy with the caption: "I can haz brainz?"

(Note: I'm too sick and headachey to think hard about the rest of this story. I'll just say I really wish all shelters could be no-kill, but in the meantime, if you want a dog or a cat? Please adopt one from a shelter. Seriously. Listen to David Duchovny in those Pedigree commercials. He knows.)

Maybe tomorrow I'll give you a clue about what Wren and zombies have to do with each other ...

Not exactly a day to celebrate ...

2011-03-01T13:21:00.000-05:00

On this day in 1692, Sarah Good, Sarah Osborne and Tituba were brought before local magistrates in Salem Village, Massachusetts, beginning the Salem witch trials. (Um, see post title.)

But today also marks just about six months from the release of Cold Kiss! And if anyone could be accused of witchcraft, it's Wren Darby.

Not that she thinks of herself as a "witch." Magic isn't quite that simple or clear-cut in Wren's world, and when the book opens, she's still figuring out what she can and can't do, and why.

Which is a dangerous thing when you're grieving the death of the first boy you ever loved ...

(How's that for a teaser? More to come, when I'm not a) hacking my brains out, b) longing for a NYC bagel, and c) furiously writing the next book about Wren ... )

Someone's going to arrest me for parentheses abuse, aren't they?

In which Amy can't come up with a witty title.

2011-02-25T15:08:00.001-05:00

I'm in writing mode, working on the sequel to Cold Kiss (Fall 2011 from HarperTeen, and I should be able to share the cover soon, wheee!), and I'm also sick as a dog*. So blogging has fallen by the wayside again. Sigh.

In the meantime, though, I saw this post on io9, about YA dystopian fiction and why adults aren't so much on board (with adult books, anyway -- they're certainly reading the YA stuff happily).

I love dystopian fiction. LOVE. One of the books listed in the link to dystopian children's classics in the article is The Girl Who Owned a City, which I read when I was ten or eleven, and it fascinated me. A virus has killed everyone over the age of twelve, and the protagonist has to figure out how to keep herself and her little brother safe (and fed and sheltered).

We don't have to talk about how I sort of viewed it as a survivor manual, right? I was a slightly morbid kid, apparently.

But I think it's true that it might be easier to read a YA book about taking on The Man and changing a crappy, gone-to-hell world than it would be to read an adult version of the same thing. Or maybe not. I haven't read many adult takes on the trope ... which is the point of the article.

I do know that dystopias have figured in some of my favorite books lately, including The Hunger Games trilogy. (Katniss! Peeta! Gale! They got harder and harder to read because the stakes were so. incredibly. high. all the time, but for me the payoff at the end of Mockinjay was completely worth it.)

The nice thing is, I don't have to look for adult dystopias right this minute, because there are so many promising ones coming out, or out already, including Lauren Oliver's Delirium and Ally Condie's Matched and Lauren DeStefano's Wither.

But before I can read those, more writing! And more cough medicine. Yum.

* I've never understood that phrase. Dogs aren't usually sick! This is clearly one of those things I should look up.

Cupid's got my back.

2011-02-14T14:26:00.000-05:00

It's Valentine's Day! I'm not a huge fan of the Hallmarkization (it's a word, I'm pretty sure) of love, since I think it's better to tell people you love that you love them all the time, but I'm sort of obligated to celebrate since my parents' anniversary is today. (It's not really as romantic as all that, and a long story, but they have been married 45 years now, so they did something right.)

But I do have a friend who sits on my desk every day. He's one of a trio that I like to have around when I'm writing (or emailing, or goofing around on YouTube, or pretending I don't actually look at lolcats). This is them:

Laughing Buddha (he's my favorite), Cupid (thank you, Red Rose Tea), and Grrr Guy. (Okay, he probably needs a better name.) My mascots! Or something.

Wow, I really need to refinish my desk, don't I?

Song of the day

2011-02-10T14:15:00.000-05:00

I love this band. Their ridiculous name (Panic! at the Disco), their schizophrenic musical influences (the first album was techno-pop-cabaret or something, and the second was a fanboy's love letter to the Beatles), and their adorable lead singer, who I think might secretly be a Muppet and clearly needs to star on Broadway in something.

This is their new single; their new album is due out March 29. I can't stop listening to it! The song's sound is what I think a guy in Spin called "baroquetronica" and the video is all steampunky and Victoriana and absurd.

I'm suddenly very sad that the book I'm working on right now isn't set in some alternate 1890 where everyone has a steam-powered bustle and a cog phone in their buttoned boot and stuff.

Any reason for cake ...

2011-02-08T15:33:00.000-05:00

Hey, it's Seth Green's birthday! And that makes him ... quickly does math ... 37. Wow. That can't be right.

In my head, Seth will always be vaguely eighteenish, and also Oz from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which I'm sure he wouldn't actually like to hear. However! My brain, my rules.

And birthdays, as we all know, mean cake. And I like reasons to eat cake, so! Happy day, Mr. Green. Robot Chicken is awesome.

One down, eleven to go ...

2011-01-22T14:16:00.000-05:00

I finished the first of the books on my "already own them" to-read list, The Strain, by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan.

I don't know why I put it down last year -- distracted by something shiny, probably. It's actually a really fast read, once the whole cast is established, and the authors created a good group of people to follow into the next two books, and the big scary vampire apocalypse.

It's a quirky sort of hybrid -- there's an Old World, "back, foul beast!" (you have to make the sign of the cross there) feel to Setrakian and the lore about the creature who kicks off the current crisis, but there's also faux-scientific virus stuff about the way vampirism works. It makes for a pretty grisly threat, and these guys don't hold back when it comes to describing the developing vampires. (In fact, there were moments when I wanted to say, "Hold back, really! It's okay, I get the picture!")

These aren't your grandfather's vampires, that's for sure, and there was a weird Romero feel to a lot of it, i.e. vampire zombies! (Sort of.) And I ended up liking a minor character, rat catcher/exterminator extraordinaire Vasily Fet, a bit more than I liked Eph Goodweather, who is ostensibly the protagonist, but I'm still signing up for the next book, at least. I'm always ready for some apocalyptic (or post-apocalyptic) fiction.

What's my name again?

2011-01-15T12:01:00.000-05:00

I need a character name for a boy, and it's driving me nuts. Character names are something I get a little irrational about, and I wasn't much better when it came to naming the kids.

My middle kid asked me recently where his name came from, for a school project, and I took him through the whole thing (including his dad's streak of crazy when it comes to "No shortened names on the birth certificate!" Some people name their kids after superheros and cleaning products, but he doesn't like to think about that).

All I cared about was that I really liked "Ben." It sounds gentle and kind but strong to me, all admirable things. And I agreed with the other half that we would avoid Benjamin, because I really didn't want him ending up a Benjy, no matter how cute it might be on another kid. We were down to Benedict and Bennett, and since the latter seemed like less weight to carry, we went with that.

But now, even though no one calls him anything but Ben (and Benno, fondly, around the house), it matters that his name is "Bennett" and not something else somehow. There's a simplicity to it, and a kind of elegance (wow, I can hear Ben laughing his head off somewhere right now without knowing why) because it's slightly old-fashioned and polite without being too stiff.

In my head, anyway. But it's like the chicken and the egg -- did he grow into the name, or did we just pick the right one for him?

Naming characters is weird, because you *know* (or hope you know) the kind of people they're going to be, and you never really know that with a baby. (I mean, I'm sure Charles Manson's mom didn't look at him in diapers and think, "Oh yeah, crazy serial-murdering guy, that's my boy!") But at the same time, naming a snarky, scheming, boyfriend-stealing girl character Jezebel is sort of cheating, too. You don't want to give away everything right there in the character's name, and in the world of the story, you have to figure what parents would name their little girl Jezebel?! Nobody, that's who.

Which brings me back to the boy I need to name, who has been going by, um, BOY, so far. Back to the baby-naming books with me.

I hope he had something to cuddle with.

2011-01-12T15:48:00.000-05:00

On this day in 1967, James Bedford was the first person to be "cryonically preserved" (aka frozen like a popsicle).

I'm pretty sure it's not actually cold enough in this house that I'll suffer the same fate, but we'll see. I'm layering, and layering some more, and about to whip out the tattered old quilt to snuggle in, too.

It's possible I'm just a very delicate flower, but as much as I like the seasons (and the snow, sort of -- it's pretty!), winter gets me every time. Especially January.

Whoever invented hot tea (and hot chocolate and lattes) definitely didn't live in Bermuda, is what I'm saying.

Stories I'm not writing. (Yet.)

2011-01-10T16:31:00.000-05:00

see more Historic LOL

see more Historic LOL

see more Historic LOL

Song of the day

2011-01-05T10:56:00.000-05:00

Halfway through the first week back to Real Life after Christmas vacation, and I could use a kick in the pants. Something to pump me up, in other words.

This song is doing it so far today:

There's a little Springsteen in there, to my ear, which is awesome. Old school Springsteen, too, which is cool because (here's where I lose all my Jersey girl cred) Bruce's new stuff isn't really doing it for me.

Romance never dies!

2011-01-02T12:26:00.000-05:00

The art in this web comic is fantastic.

It's a little like those fantasies you have as a kid, where you wind up in the mall after hours and get to play house and try on clothes and roller skate through the food court. Except, with the whole world. The whole bombed out, apocalyptically destroyed world, but still.

So many ones ...

2011-01-01T15:38:00.000-05:00

I love auspicious dates. And 1/1/11 has that going for it, for sure.

It feels more important than just the beginning of another new year, like I should be doing something auspicious and meaningful and life-changing. Instead I'm ... sitting around in my pajamas, watching a Buffy marathon on Logo and wondering if there are any more Hershey's Kisses hiding somewhere, post-Christmas and stocking raiding. Hmmm.

To make up for it, I decided to pick up this poor neglected blog and dust it off, and to start with a post about something I've been meaning to do for a while. Which a friend had to kickstart me into doing, but we don't need to dwell on that, right?

This is her blog, and I love her idea -- read books you already own! Who among us doesn't have a to-be-read pile, right? Mine is ... pretty big. I can actually show some restraint when it comes to buying shoes or clothes or shiny things, but books? Not so much.

So here's my list, beginning with books I've started but haven't finished. I'm going to limit it to twelve, since library books aren't off-limits, and because I do have a book to write, too. (Hi, Awesome Editor, if you're reading this!) That's a book for each month, and also just about as much math as I ever like to do.

1) The Strain, Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan
2) The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, Stieg Larson
3) The Blue Girl, Charles de Lint

(There are other books I've started but put down, but these are the ones I want to finish first.)

4) Going Bovine, Libba Bray (I loved Libba's Realms trilogy so very very much. Read it, if you haven't.)
5) Beautiful Creatures, Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl
6) Jellicoe Road, Melina Marchetta
7) Christine Falls, Benjamin Black
8) Shiver, Maggie Stiefvater
9) Girls Like Us, Sheila Weller (This is a biography, of sorts, of Carole King, Joni Mitchell, and Carly Simon, and it looks fantastic.)
10) If I Stay, Gayle Forman
11) March, Geraldine Brooks (If it has something to do with Little Women, I'll read it.)
12) Fragile Eternity, Melissa Marr

And then there will be the roughly two zillion books coming out this year that I want to read. Um, whoo hoo? I'm going to try a "no buying a new book until one of the old ones gets read" rule, and whisper nice things to my library card, I guess.

Now to decide if I should read them in order ...

Okay, it's not lunch. But it's better!

2010-07-16T19:08:00.000-04:00

I love music. LOVE. I can never have enough music. I'm always looking for new bands or catching part of a song on TV and scrambling to Google it. I finally realized the other day that the song in the Bravo commercial was new Macy Gray, after two weeks of humming along.

So what I also love is Amazon's free MP3 of the day. Which is often more than just one song -- today I snagged a song called "Heart to Tell" by the Love Languages, and also a whole sampler album by the Benjy Davis Project, which the interwebs is a cool indie/college circuit band (and which, you know, also sounded really good -- sort of like Jason Mraz if he'd spent a little time in Alabama or something).

And it's FREE. (I mentioned it's free, right? Free! This amazes me.) So there's no guilt -- if I don't love it, or even like it much, I don't have to feel guilty about the $10 or whatever that could have been used on a book, or new nail polish, or even my kids' college funds (cough--badmom--cough).

This is probably where I should admit that iTunes and I had a brief and very stormy relationship, and it ... didn't end well. We still don't talk. And I use Amazon for a lot of things, even though I know Amazon has some issues and is another big corporate behemoth. When I can shop at an indie bookstore (or an indie anything store, really), I do. But when you live in the boonies and you don't even have a Trader Joe's or an Ulta (sob), sometimes you do what you have to do.

ANYWAY. My point is (was) that you can sample free tunes on Amazon! And I think that's cool, so I wanted to share.

Now you can all point out how I am, probably, the last person to realize this and make fun of me. It's okay. I don't mind.

Lazy, hazy, crazy.

2010-07-07T13:00:00.000-04:00

Heatwave, baby. It's stinky in the house, aside from the bedroom, where the A/C has reached tundra levels of cool.

But we now have a time-honored summer accessory -- the hammock. It's set up under an enormous, ancient, shady tree, and it's the perfect place to read. When I can shoo the kids out of it and demand my turn, that is.

I'm finishing Meg Rosoff's How I Live Now, which is brilliant and funny and frightening and sweet all at the same time (no mean feat in a book about war, let me tell you), and I'm a little bit in love with Daisy, the protagonist. I keep savoring it and putting it down because I don't really want it to end.

When I need a break from the book, though, this is what I see:

Yes, those are my knees, and my favorite ever pair of shorts. The day they self-destruct will be a sad, sad day, let me tell you right now.

Soon enough the book will be over, though. Of course, it's not like I don't have a million other books waiting to be read, but I'm really enjoying this one. I imagine Daisy and Piper would have had a lot of views like this, while they were walking through the English countryside.

It's all rock and roll to me

2010-01-09T18:49:00.000-05:00

I'm not sure whether to be mortified or proud that I've apparently created a budding fangirl. A six-year-old one, who told me today in the car (as we listened to Panic at the Disco on the way to the bookstore) that she would LOVE to meet the guys in the band. She's also announced to her father and her brother several times that she is a "Brendon fan, you know," when a Panic song comes on. (For those not in the know, Brendon is the lead singer. She likes to make sure it's Brendon singing, and sometimes has to check with me to make sure it's not Fall Out Boy, with Patrick Stump singing instead, because "they sound a lot the same, Mommy.")

She wouldn't have any idea about either band if it weren't for me, is the thing. And part of me knows I'm not exactly in their target demographic.

But then the other part of me (who likes to swoon a bit over Brendon's voice and snarl out Pete Wentz's lyrics, turned way up loud) says, "Screw it." And the six-year-old and I go back to dancing to "Sugar, We're Going Down."

Is this thing on?

2010-01-07T22:22:00.000-05:00

New year, new blog. When I start over, I like to do it right. (Humor me. I even took that picture!)

If you’re here, you probably know a little about me. If not, have some bullet points.

• I used to be an editor at a publishing house, a job that’s both more and less fun than it sounds.
• I’ve written romance, and mystery/romances, and a sort of women’s fiction novel that’s like a romance except that the couple in it is already married.
• I’ve written other things, too, some of it as a ghostwriter.
• Put it all together and I’ve been working in publishing, with books, for a pretty long time now.

Now, thanks to the lovely people at HarperTeen and my wonderful agent, I’m going to be writing something completely different – young adult fiction. It was my first love – my first novel was a young adult novel, and while it will live forever in a box under my bed, it’s still one of my favorite books I’ve written.

It didn’t have a zombie, though. The new book will.

But that’s a long way down the road! For now, I’m still writing it (and you’ll hear more about that as I ~~begin to pull out my hair, gnash my teeth, weep and rock in a corner~~ get farther into it). But I’ll also be here, talking about what I’ve read, what I’m watching, what I’m listening to, the absurd things kittens can into, and possibly what I had for breakfast (most important meal of the day, people, especially if it’s PopTarts).

For now, I’ll start with a book, and I’m even cheating a little, because it’s the first one I finished this year, but I started it in December. (Some things I can never do right.)

The book in question? Ink Exchange, by Melissa Marr, the second in her faery series.
I love these books. They’re exactly my kind of fantasy – set in our world, with another one overlapping (and perfectly described here). And the characters sound real to me, even the faery ones – everyone in these books has genuine feelings and motivations. Here, it’s Leslie, who’s dealing with the very personal consequences of a brother addicted to drugs. Irial, who has responsibilities beyond simply taking what he wants for himself. Niall, who knows his own dark side (and Irial’s) a little too well for his own comfort. It’s another complicated triangle, and I believed every minute of it.

What I like best about these books is that the characters, especially the faeries, don’t flinch from what they are – good and bad, light and dark. And Marr doesn’t flinch from allowing her characters to explore and feel everything that her readers might be, including sex, drugs, drinking, betrayal, violence, grief.

Here, I think the most compelling thing was that Leslie, with all her horribly valid reasons for wanting to shield herself from pain and fear, figured out how terrifying it can be to feel nothing but pleasure, and how it’s not actually that great to break off pieces of yourself (metaphorically speaking) that hurt.

I’m reserving Fragile Eternity – as soon as I pay my library fine.

All Made Up

Give me reasons why!

Friday Five, Playlist Edition

Are you Cracked?

Fearless

It's happening!

Cold Kiss bonus scene!

Halfway through!

I still don't get why they sparkle, though.

Seeds

Tightropes, and other things I'm likely fall from.

There is no blogging fairy.

I have a crush on you.

The biggest writing group in the world

It's November 7 already?!

Guest blogging

Tour!

Live! On TV! I mean, the Internet!

Cold Kiss: A Birth Story

Tomorrow's the big day!

What's my name again?

Books!

Giveaway time again!

Teaser Tuesday

Just call me The White Rabbit ...

And the winner is ...

It's still August, right?

Another Teaser Tuesday!

Teaser Tuesday! On, uh, Wednesday.

Radio Silence, or A Giant Lack of Words

Not dead.

Sometimes a few words is all it takes.

Realer and realer ...

A bad blogger ... with really good news!

Wren has something to show you.

I'm still not calling it "The Zone."

Sort of like a Dyson.

The first rule of Write Club ...

Cover!

I need those sneakers.

I swear, Wren had nothing to do with this ...

Not *exactly* a day to celebrate ...

In which Amy can't come up with a witty title.

Cupid's got my back.

Song of the day

Any reason for cake ...

One down, eleven to go ...

What's my name again?

I hope he had something to cuddle with.

Stories I'm not writing. (Yet.)

Song of the day

Romance never dies!

So many ones ...

Okay, it's not lunch. But it's better!

Lazy, hazy, crazy.

It's all rock and roll to me

Is this thing on?

Not exactly a day to celebrate ...