YA Author
It seems like just yesterday I was writing this poem and preparing for my debut novel to release. In reality it was 15 months ago.
But look at my book baby! It’s all grown up and in paperback form now.
And inside it are a few surprises:
1) A bonus short story from GYVER’S point of view
2) The first couple of chapters of BRIGHT BEFORE SUNRISE
If you see a copy in the ‘wilds’ of a bookstore, snap a picture and share it with me, please. Or, snatch it up and take it home with you 🙂
This gorgeous cover* (+ some fabulous new bonus content**) will be hitting bookstore shelves and online stores on January 14, 2014.***
I love it & hope you do too!
* I’m pretty sure it would be impossible for the design team at Walker-Bloomsbury to be any more talented!
**I’ll drop some hints closer to pub date about what that bonus content looks like 🙂
*** Yes, you CAN pre-order it already (IndieBound, Amazon, Barnes & Noble) AND, yes, I WILL gladly send you a signed bookplate if you’d like.
Send Me a Sign turns one today. I think this is a perfectly valid excuse for cake.
It’s also a perfectly valid excuse for a contest.
I’m giving away a copy of SEND ME A SIGN, an ARC of BRIGHT BEFORE SUNRISE, and assorted bookish swag.*
Good luck!**
Thank YOU, dear readers, for making this past year amazing, emotional, and entirely unpredictable. *blows kisses*
*Contest is open to U.S. and Canada. Thanks for understanding that international postage gets pricey!
** You can also enter on Facebook here:Â http://bit.ly/15LVXb6
Over the holidays my mother handed me a stack of papers to bring back to PA with me—“It’s your permanent record; thought you might want it.”
Um, yes! That thing that teachers and books and movies constantly cite as the paper trail* that will make or ruin your whole future—I was dying to get a look at it.
It turns out it’s mostly vaccine records and report cards and the various results of standardized tests. Other people’s may be wicked exciting, but mine was really disappointingly boring… which is surprising, because I was/am quite the hijinks-magnet.
EXCEPT for one little paragraph in the results of some IQ testing I had when I was in second grade…
Many of you may have heard me talk about my writing process: non-linear, no outlines, and I write the dialogue first (followed by the kissing scenes). Apparently this isn’t a new habit:
Today, the first day of 2013**, seemed like the perfect time to reflect on things that change and things that don’t.
So, while my writing technique hasn’t varied much since I was eight, a whole lot changed this past year. My first book hit bookshelves. I still get a rush each time I see it there. I still squeak out “Really?” in response to anyone commenting, “So, I read Send Me a Sign.” Maybe I should work on my poker face, because I had a high schooler respond, “Yes… Was I not supposed to?”
I have a hard time wrapping my head around dreams-coming-true.****
Last year brought me so many nights of lying awake because I’m too excited to sleep. Or too impatient to sleep. Or too nervous to sleep. Summary: there hasn’t been much sleep—(I’m hoping 2013 is the year of the pillow). But 2012 brought me many new friends: writers, readers, bloggers. And I’m grateful for each of them.
I’m not sure about 2013*****. I don’t have a book coming out this year; my next novel is slated for release in March, 2014. So there’s definitely some fear that all those “Really?” readers of Send Me a Sign will forget about me. There’s also a sense of restless that’s already creeping in—what is my goal for the year? What am I working toward?
My natural tendency is going to be impatience for 2014—and since I’m not okay with rushing through a year of my life to get to Bright Before Sunrise—I’ve decided my resolution will need to be slowing down, focusing on THIS moment, enjoying the now, and letting what’s-next? come at it’s own pace.
And, of course, writing more books: dialogue first.
*Yeah, they’re probably not on paper anymore, huh?
** Totally typed 2012 there… the habit usually fades out around May
***Yup, did it again.
**** I still go tiptoe in The Schmidtlets’ room sometimes at night and whisper, “Do you know I get to keep you?” Um, but in a totally non-creepy, momma-adoration way.
***** Nailed it first-try that time!
I’ve seen Send Me a Sign in book stores. I’ve seen texts and tweets and Facebook photos of other people’s copies. I’ve even seen a picture of my book in front of the Eiffel Tower (Thanks, Amy!)
It’s still hard to believe that this is real.
Perhaps most surreal of all was last Friday’s release party at Doylestown Bookshop. I’ve had a whole week to process it and beam at the photos, but I’m still in pinch-me mode. I’m still in teary-eyed gratitude mode.
Thank you to everyone who came to support me and Send Me a Sign. You are ALL part of my dream-come-true  ♥
Last night when I couldn’t sleep, I tried counting sheep, St.Matt’s snores, and the minutes until the local bookstores opened and I could go see Send Me a Sign in the wild.
When all that failed, I got up and wrote you a little poem:
 It’s the eve of release day, I pace at the sink.
This author’s not sleeping, not even a wink.
The Schmidtlets are dreaming, all snug in their cribs.
And St.Matt is snoring, despite my pokes to his ribs.
I could be sleeping, or blogging, or cleaning, or writing,
Instead, I am pacing, fretting, lip-biting
I’m full of impatience, excitment, panic, and glee
Tomorrow readers meet Gyver, Hil, Ryan, and Mi.
My book! In stores! It’s a dream that’s come true,
Look for the cover with dandelions. It’s pretty! It’s blue!
In swirly-whirly letters it says: SEND ME A SIGN.
And the pages, the story, I wrote them, they’re mine.
Tomorrow I share them, and they become yours,
Which is why I’m up pacing, wearing grooves in my floors.
Fine, I’ll go get in bed, it’s near the end of the night,
Not to sleep, but to read — I love my book light!
… Is it obvious yet that I was never a poet?
It’s been a busy week.
Actually, it’s been a *full* week — there’s a difference.
This week saw the sharing/revealing/posting of:
I felt like *I* couldn’t keep up with it all — so I certainly wouldn’t blame you if you missed some of this.
So, I conveniently linked everything above 🙂
Have a fabulous weekend!
But, really… I have one of these every year.
Want to know what’s MUCH bigger news?
After all, I’ve had 32 birthdays, but this is my first book trailer.
Click above to head over to MundieMoms.blogspot.com and watch the trailer — don’t forget to come back and tell me what you think…
…or else I’ll make you wear The Schmidtlets’ birthday crowns.
Now that you’ve seen the trailer, you’re practically salivating to read the book, right?
Well, have you heard how YOUR pre-order means I’LL donate $2 to cancer charities?
Simply:
1) Pre-order SEND ME A SIGN from the bookselling venue of your choice
2) Email proof of your pre-order to SendMeASignBook@gmail.com
3) Do a happy dance & get yourself some cake.
IndieBound * Doylestown Bookshop * Amazon * Barnes & Noble
Pre-orders through Doylestown Bookshop will be signed and include bookmarks/surprise swag.
If pre-ordering through Doylestown Bookshop, please indicate whether you would like your book shipped or will be attending the release party on October 5th .
If you have any questions, please email me at SendMeASignBook@gmail.com
Below is a blog post I’d written last August while working on edits on Send Me A Sign and dreaming of a time fourteen months from then when my book would be in bookstores.
It’s something I believed in strongly then—and that was before cancer went and made it personal, stealing someone very special from me this year. One of my former students, Morgan, passed away from cancer in January.
Morgan was a fighter. I’d like to follow her example and fight back too—and you can help. Read the details below or by clicking HERE.
As many of you know, my debut novel, SEND ME A SIGN, comes out in a month.
I’d like to make it obsolete – and you can help.
Now, before the publicity and sales departments at Walker-Bloomsbury have a collective heart attack, let me explain: Send Me A Sign is about a teenager with leukemia. It’s about a lot of other things, too: love, luck, music, friends, alliteration… but leukemia plays a large role. And did you know that leukemia is the most common form of cancer for young people?
If this were to change, if we could find a cure to this awful disease, then my this part of my book would be… obsolete.
Imagine if in five, ten, fifteen years, everyone who picks up the novel could say, “Wow, cancer. Remember that? I’m so glad we cured it.”
And here’s how you can help.
You were planning on buying my book anyway, right? Well, for every person who pre-orders my book between now and its release date, October 2nd, I will donate two dollars in Morgan’s memory to be split between two cancer charities: The Dear Jack Foundation and Sunshine Kids.
Here’s what you need to do:
1) Pre-order my book (links below)
2) Send me proof (photo of receipt, forward email confirmation of order, etc) to SendMeASignBook@gmail.com
3) Pat yourself on the back
Thank you for helping make my book obsolete. Thank you for helping me honor Morgan’s memory.
And thanks for reading it, too!
IndieBound * Doylestown Bookshop * Amazon * Barnes & Noble
Pre-orders through Doylestown Bookshop will be signed and include bookmarks/surprise swag.
If pre-ordering through Doylestown Bookshop, please indicate whether you would like your book shipped or will be attending the release party on October 5th .
If you have any questions, please email me at SendMeASignBook@gmail.com
Thank you to everyone who entered my ARC giveaway!
The two winners (picked by Random.org) are:
Congrats, chickadees! I’ll get those books in the mail right away!
For the rest of you — you’ve still got until 9/1 to enter the giveaway that Walker-Bloomsbury is hosting on GoodReads — and they have FIVE copies. Go enter and GOOD LUCK!
Also –make sure to stop by again SOON! There are some BIG things planned in the upcoming weeks (um, starting TOMORROW!)
