Blog

COMING SOON:

It just may be the most fun contest that’s been run this year. More than a dozen of your favorite YA authors, an obsession with sweets, and a stunning array of prizes.

On Saturday, September 4th, details will be announced here.

Until then, here’s a hint:

So, I was taking a moment to think about all the wonderful stuff in my life, and one of the first things I came up with was the amazing people out there who like Claire de Lune! So, in honor of all of you, I’m declaring this Reader Appreciation Week.

If you’ve said something nice about Claire de Lune on the Internet (a review on Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, a blog, etc.,) post a link to your kind words in the comments. The first 35 commenters will get signed stickers/bookplates, and everyone who comments (even after number 35) will be eligible for a signed copy of Claire de Lune that I’ll give away at the end of the week!

Comments must be posted by 9 p.m. Eastern on Friday, the 3rd of September – and while I love and appreciate my international fans, this particular contest will be open to the U.S. and Canada only. I’ll be doing an international giveaway soon, so take heart if you live outside the U.S. – your turn is coming.

Yay for awesome readers!

People! SEPTEMBER IS NEXT WEEK! Do you know what that means? It means autumn is right. around. the corner. I am very excited about this. I am veryveryvery excited about this. Not only is it my most favorite season, it’s the time of year when I do my absolute best writing, and when it’s the easiest for me to write.

I love summer, don’t get me wrong. I actually don’t tolerate the cold very well (and yes, I realize that makes it ironic that autumn, when it finally cools off, is my favored time of year.) I love the heat and light and green lush humidity of an Indiana summer. But it’s also a thick, lazy sort of time. I have trouble focusing on getting the words onto the page. It’s like my story’s on its own personal beach vacation, too busy grilling burgers and splashing in the surf to get written.

I think that’s actually a good thing – I think that’s when the ideas and stories get fat. My imagination gets all sorts of food from summertime. I just can’t *access* it. It’s like watching the apples grow – you can see them there, on the tree, but trying to eat them before they’re ready’s just going to give you a stomach ache.

But then fall arrives. And the leaves change and the air gets that really clear, light-filled quality that comes with the sudden absence of humidity. There’s a sense of drawing in, of settling down. School starts. Night comes sooner. And all at once, the stories and ideas and words that were hidden behind the piles of too-abundant tomatoes and the nappish torpor of July afternoons? They’re READY. They start falling like those apples I mentioned before. As fast as I can write, they’re just *there*.

It’s happened enough times over enough years that now, come the start of September, my mouth is absolutely watering for those few easy months before winter sets in. And it’s ALMOST HERE. My sweaters and the fireplace and my writing fingers are at the ready.

I can see the stories packing up their coolers and shaking the sand out of their beach towels from here, and I can hardly wait.

The UK Claire de Lune contest has ended, and Dina has won – congrats!

Thanks to everyone who entered and voted. I really appreciate it.

Stay tuned . . . the next contest I announce is by FAR the biggest and best I’ve ever organized. You’ll want in on that one.

Trust me.

How have I not celebrated the release of Claire de Lune in the UK??? *slaps own wrist* It’s out out OUT as part of the fabulous launch of Simon Pulse on the other side of the pond.

Here’s the preeeeeetty cover:

Oh, you WANT one? Okay. I’ll give one away. Here’s how you can enter: go vote for me on the 2010 Debut Author List on Goodreads, come back, and let me know that you voted. Voila! You’re entered.

Unfortunately, I’ll only be shipping to the US or UK for this contest, but if you’re international, you’re welcome to enter as long as you have a shipping address in one of those two spots.

You’ll have until Wednesday, the 18th, to enter!

Have fun!

I am not much of a procrastinator. I don’t like the feeling of things hanging over me – I start scuttling, head ducked, shoulders up around my ears like some sort of subterranean crab. It’s uh-gly. On those rare occasions when I don’t have my nose to the proverbial grindstone, there are a few places on the Internet that I know I can always go for a (relatively) quick shot of should-be-working fun.

1) Catalog living – So. Sarcastically. Fantabulous. I can’t even look at the Pottery Barn catalogs that clog up my mailbox anymore – all I hear are Gary and Elaine.

http://catalogliving.net/

2) Slushpile Hell – Another tumblr site, and another oh-so-amusing read. I can’t believe people actually query this stuff. Poor agents. Poor editors. Lucky me, ’cause it’s REALLY funny from this end!

http://slushpilehell.tumblr.com/

3) Cakewrecks – Again, funny, right? If you haven’t noticed, I find funny things much more distracting than, say, The New York Times. Which is also good, don’t get me wrong, but guilty pleasure? Nah.

www.cakewrecks.com

Okay, there are more, but I’m done procrastinating for now. If you see me on Twitter, please slap me. I’m supposed to be writing.

The sequel contest is OVER and the winners have been NOTIFIED.

Didn’t win? Stay tuned. More fun contests are in the works. Thanks to everyone who entered – it was really fun!