1. Whew. That’s all I can say on this particular Friday. Oh, wait, I can also say this: THANK YOU SO MUCH! Because of all the support from you guys, the readers, THE MOON AND MORE will hit the New York Times Bestseller list at #3. HOORAY! The list is REALLY hard to make these days so it means even more than ever before that I got a spot there. My cup runneth over. Seriously. It just keeps hitting me as I’m walking around and I get all wobbly. Although that MAY be the fact that I am still totally sleep deprived. I finished up my events in San Francisco Monday night, left very early Tuesday morning and flew all day to get back in time to put my daughter to bed. Then it was right back into the routine the next day, with day camp drop-off and pickup and grocery shopping, before heading off to Cary for an event at the Barnes and Noble there. Then on Thursday I was running on fumes, trying to keep moving because I knew if I stopped at any moment I’d just fall asleep standing up wherever I was. And, um, that moment came this morning, at about 9:15 am, when I had a million things to do in my office but instead fell back into bed and slept for two hours. I’m planning for a repeat performance once my babysitter arrives this afternoon. But it’s working! I can see the dark circles subsiding, slowly, and I’m slightly less scary to look at. Ah, sleep. The original Miracle Drug.

2. Another lingering effect of being gone so much is that my daughter now refuses to let me out of her sight. She is, as my husband keeps saying, “A stage 5 clinger,” just like in Wedding Crashers. I literally had to peel her off of me to go to Cary the other night, and that was just for a couple of hours. Oh, the tears and trembling lower lip and those little hands locking around your waist! I know I just have to keep proving to her that I AM here and not going anywhere, at least for awhile. (In less than two weeks, I head to ALA in Chicago, but that’s for just two nights, which is NOTHING after all this other travel. Not that I am telling her this. Yet.) It’s like an ongoing trust exercise, proving that if I go to the bathroom I WILL, in fact, return momentarily. But until she is convinced, she’s coming with me. Just to be on the safe side. It’s a little crazy but I have friends with older kids who are dealing with indifference and eye-rolls most of the time who tell me I should soak it up. So I am.

3. I can’t even begin to tell you guys how great the last two weeks have been, though, aside from the homeside heartbreaks. THE MOON AND MORE got the best welcome ever, and I LOVED meeting so many amazing fans and readers across the country, from D.C. to Boise to California. Wow. I got so many letters, which I am carefully pouring over now, as well as cupcakes and necklaces and just the kindest words, ever. I was especially struck by Angelene, who did nail art of all the things I love: my book, my home state of NC, GMA, coffee and Colby Realty. So freaking cool:

 

Did I mention I’m in awe of you guys? Well, I can’t say it enough. Whenever someone came through the line and told me that my books had some small part in getting them through high school, it was all I could do not to get choked up. Because I felt that way about reading, and music, back when I was that age. I was barely getting there, day after day, but I DID get there, with the help of some great characters whose creators I never got to thank personally. For all those people in the media out there who say teens these days do nothing but go on Instagram and play with their phones, you are WRONG. Girls are still reading, and reading a LOT. They’re out there. I saw it with my own eyes. And I am so, so grateful for that.

4. Speaking of writing, this week my editor Regina Hayes and I did this really cool piece for Slate.com about our joint process for seeing a book from draft to publication. We emailed back and forth all through Memorial Day weekend, just talking about all the books we’ve done together (seven in all!) and THE MOON AND MORE. I always say I have former editors the way other people have ex-boyfriends. Some left me, I left others, and with some it was mutual. But Regina is, and always has been, my Just Right. We have SO MUCH fun together and I admire her so much. It was really cool to think back on all those books and the work we put into them (although we had to wrack our brains a bit, seven is a lot!). I think these days, when self-publishing is such the rage, people can think maybe editors aren’t as crucial as they once were. I can’t speak for anyone else, but I’d be NOWHERE without someone to help me clean up and hone my messy first, second and even third drafts. It’s pivotal. Every single time.

5. As I said, I’m done with events for awhile. My next one is Wednesday, June 26th at Quail Ridge Books in Raleigh, followed by ALA. So it’s not a full stop right now as much as a pause, but a really nice one. I have never so looked forward to organizing drawers and busting out my labelmaker as I get settled back in and do some post-tour super decluttering. (There is something about being on book tour that makes you want to Make Changes In Your Life: not sure what it is, but happens each and every time.) All this travel, and new places and faces, was fun. But it is SO good to be home. As I said above, I feel like it’s all kind of one big blur of turkey wraps (which I ate for breakfast, lunch and dinner, sometimes all three on the same day) and views from airport windows. Now I’m fixing peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for my kid, and watching my husband and Will, the guy he works with, stroll leisurely down the driveway with a pellet gun to take out a few of our thousand or so voracious squirrels. The garden is coming in like crazy, and we have enough eggs in the fridge for as many deviled ones as I chose to make. But I know once I’m rested up (someday) I’ll feel a bit wistful for everything I just did. Highs and lows, I guess. And other things….

 

 

Have a great weekend, everyone!

1. Okay, so this has been SUCH a wild week I didn’t event GET this Five before now, Saturday morning. I don’t even know where to begin. I did my local kickoff fo THE MOON AND MORE on Monday evening at the Regulator in Durham, the book was released the next day AND I also hit the road. Whew! I’m actually writing this from the airport Saturday morning, waiting to catch a flight to Boise. Then it’s two dates in the San Francisco area and HOME. But for now, a recap. First, of course, there was my moment on GMA Live, which I STILL can’t believe actually happened. But it did! Then I headed to DC, where I had a great event with Politics and Prose, and the next day to Boston, where a ton of folks turned out my event in Natick with Wellesley Books. I even got an amazing necklace for a pre-birthday gift from reader Shana. LOVE.

It even has the first couple of lines printed on real pages inside, so I’ll never forget them. Nice!

2. Then, on Thursday, it was my birthday. I mean, seriously: book release AND turning 43 all in the same week? That’s just crackers. Anyway, I woke up in Boston, got a sweet video of my kid wishing me a happy birthday, then headed to the airport to fly to Houston. While I was sitting at the gate, I got a happy birthday text from my friend Cap at GMA, saying I should watch the crowd that morning during the show. I panicked, as was nowhere near a TV, but then spotted a sportsbar open for breakfast. I asked the bartender to switch the channel to GMA (I’m sure she thought I was nuts, but whatever) and then totally shrieked out loud (confirming her hunch) when I saw this right before the 8am hour began:

I love my GMA friends. Have I ever told you that before? (A joke: I know I talk about it WAY TOO MUCH.)

3. In Houston, I had a great event with Blue Willow books. I was a little sad to be away from my husband and kid on my birthday—it’s the first one I’ve spent without her since she was born, and without my husband since I was eighteen—but the folks at the bookstore and my Penguin rep Jill made sure I got a proper celebration. Also some of my loyal readers brought me cupcakes and cards, which just confirms what I already knew: I have the best fans ever. Here’s me with my Penguin pal Jill, and the red velvet cupcakes she brought me:

 

I ate one before bed that night. And I am NOT EVEN SORRY. (Although I did somehow manage to get frosting all over my phone screen while doing so. I’m a bit sorry about that.)

4. Then it was off to Cincinnati, where I had a fabulous event last night at Joseph-Beth. It was so totally summer themed, with leis and beach toys, that I could almost SMELL the suncreen and hear the waves. (I would normally be at the beach right now, for my birthday/anniversary week, so it isn’t so hard for me to visualize this.) Plus they had the BIGGEST sign for THE MOON AND MORE ever:

They told me I could have this to take with me, but 1) I couldn’t fit it in my suitcase and 2) I couldn’t imagine trying to convince my husband that I needed to hang it up somewhere in the house. So I gave it to this lovely reader instead, who I KNOW will give it a good home.

During the event, while I was signing, a girl came up and wondered if she could ask me something. I said sure, thinking it was probably about writing or the book. But she said, “I wondered if you have any advice on getting through high school.” People: my heart just ached. Because that was SO ME, back at that age. I just wanted to know if there was something, ANYTHING, I could be doing to make things easier. I didn’t even know the right thing to say, but I tried anyway. I told her that I totally understood. That is would be okay. That even if things were great now, high school was short and life was LONG. That she’d made it, and maybe even have some good stories to tell. And I told her to hang in there. And then when she left, I swallowed hard, cleared my head, and smiled at the next person in line. But man. I won’t forget that anytime soon.

5. So now, as I said, I am on my way to Boise, ID to do an event today, Saturday the 8th, at Hastings Bookstore at 3pm. I’m writing this from the sky somewhere between Cincinnati and Salt Lake City, where I have a connection. Never been to Idaho and am EXCITED to see what it’s all about. This trip has been so fun, but also tinged with homesickness now and then. It’s always about the highs and lows, right? I have a birthday wish from GMA, but my kid sobs uncontrollably when I leave for the airport. So many amazing readers who are so kind to me, but then my husband texts me a picture of my dogs and my heart pangs. But I know that I’ll be home soon, with so many great memories I can pull up during those hard writing days when I feel like I want to tear my hair out. And really, I have a job I love, and for that I am forever grateful. The best, though, is when my two worlds collide, work and home, in the best way. Like this:

Thanks to you ALL for the comments, tweets and reblogs on Tumblr during this fun, crazy week. I’ve got three events left on this tour, including today’s. Get all the info here.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

1. I’m starting this Five on Thursday morning, as I am en route to the airport. I’m going to New York for BookExpo America, the big publishing convention that is always tons of fun. And hectic. Which is why I think tomorrow, when I am scheduled basically from 10am until I go to bed, will NOT be the ideal time to be trying to blog. Just a hunch. Once I get to NYC today, I’m going to a fancy party (thrown by People magazine, OMG, regular readers KNOW how excited/nervous/insanely neurotic I am to be invited)  and then to the great panel I am a part of at the Barnes and Noble in Union Square. Before I do any of that,  however, I have to go to the Disney Store in Times Square, because I promised my kid I would. Have you been to this store? Even for Times Square, it’s intense. My teeth start chattering from all the stimulation. The things I do to go out of town, I swear.

2. Speaking of my kid, I totally put her through the ringer this week. First, on Tuesday, we went in for her kindergarten shots. I didn’t tell her about this until we were almost at the doctor’s, which was good because she immediately burst into tears. Luckily it was only two, and they did them quick. A trip to Target and all was forgiven. (Yes, I  too am sensing a parenting pattern here.) Then yesterday, it was the dentist to get a cavity filled. This was NOT quick and we both cried. I actually broke a sweat, it was that traumatic. And yes, I MIGHT have taken her to the toy store afterwards. Hopefully we are in the clear now for a little while. I don’t think my wallet (or our house, bursting with STUFF) can take any more appointments.

3. Of course, I am already a nervous wreck even without all this, because, you know, MY BOOK COMES OUT ON TUESDAY. Oh, my goodness. I’m so scared and ready, all at once. These last couple of weeks, waiting for the pub date and all this traveling to begin, have been excruciating. I kept trying to put it into words, without any luck, until I remembered going to marathons with my husband and watching all the runners in the last few minutes before the start. Everyone’s been training forever, and people are just waiting, jumping up and down, stretching, SO ready to just DO THIS. That’s how I feel right now. Like that starting gun can’t fire soon enough. Thank goodness I am going to do some work stuff right now or I might just explode. Nobody wants that.

4. Okay, so now I’m in NYC and it’s Friday. It’s like time travel! Anyway, so far my trip here has been AMAZING. I got here yesterday, then immediately went to brave the Disney store (see Bribery of my Child for various things, above). I tweeted I was en route there, then did a little browsing before I bumped into Jaclyn and her mom, who were in the area, follow me on Twitter, and came to say hello. They were headed to my panel that night at the B&N Union Square, but we got to hang out a bit in the Monsters Univeristy section of the Disney Store anyway. Then I did my shopping, scoring some plush Princesses for my daughter and a Phineas and Ferb playset for me and my husband. (We can’t wait to set Doofenschmirtz up in the dollhouse with Aurora.) Then it was back to the hotel to get ready for the People mag party. I was nervous about my outfit:

But my friend Jenny Han gave it a thumbs up, so I went for it.

Because of my panel, I could only stay at the People mag party for about a half hour, which I spent scoping for famous people. I saw Elizabeth Gilbert of EAT, PRAY, LOVE and Melissa Joan Hart. But the biggest score for me was meeting amazing author Jami Attenberg, whose book THE MIDDLESTEINS was one of the best I’ve read in ages:

I was nervous. But she was SO nice. If you don’t follow her on Twitter (@jamiattenberg) you are missing out. Then it was OFF in a mad dash (car ride) to the B&N, where I had a great time talking with Richelle Meade, Andrea Cremer, Rick Yancey and Marie Lu in front of about 350 of our best friends. Thank you to ALL that came out. You guys rock. Then I went back to my hotel, ordered a burger, and basically fell asleep while eating. No pictures of that. You’re welcome.

5. And now, it’s Friday, and I’ve spent a lot of the day dealing with my website, which is either under attack from spammers (still) or currently inhabited by gremlins. We’re not sure. Anyway, I’m just HOPING this post goes up and you can find it. This is not a good week for the site to be down, but oh, well. Maybe it’s just feeling anxious, too.While my awesome website guy Mark was dealing with things early this morning, I distracted myself by walking down to Times Square to catch a bit of GMA. They were getting ready to head to Central Park for a concert, but I got to say hello to Robin and Josh. Then I had some time to catch up with my friend Capp, a GMA stagehand who thinks my obsession with the show is hilarious. We met about a year back when I was in the studio and fangirling like crazy and she  just rolled her eyes. Anyway, she’s been so nice, getting me in and giving me some inside scoop like us fans always want. We shot this pic as I left:

Okay, now to see if I can post this without spammers making the site implode. Fingers crossed…

Have a good weekend, everyone!

 

 

 

1.Okay, people: my pub date is getting SERIOUSLY close. In fact, this time next week I’ll be at BEA in New York, having already done this amazing event that I still can’t believe I am a part of:

If there is a JPEG image, it must be really happening, right? So that’s Thursday night. Friday I’m running around and have a big party thrown by my publisher, and then Saturday it is off to the Javits Center to sign books. (If you are attending BEA, I’ll be in the autographing area at Table 5 from 10-11am.) After that, I head home for a couple of days before THE MOON AND MORE’s big release event at The Regulator Bookshop in Durham on Monday, June 3rd at 7pm. The next morning, I fly out to DC to begin the tour. WHEW! To see full tour details, go here. I am so excited and totally nervous and may be having a BIT of a problem settling down, even this far in advance. I better try, though. Because once it all starts, I’ll be goinga million miles an hour. Whee!

2. Speaking of the new book—and fair warning: I’ll be doing a LOT of that in the next few weeks—this week the trailer for it was revealed over on MTV’s Hollywood Crush. Check it out here. It’s always really cool to see how someone else chooses to explain your book, and this was a particularly cool way. And, of course, it made me want to go to the beach. One of the downsides of this busy travel summer is that I haven’t yet been to Emerald Isle, and I don’t even know if I’ll GET there before my kid has to start kindergarten in the fall. I’m trying not to think about this, as I’m basically already having shrimpburger withdrawls, but every once in awhile a picture will come up on my iPhoto screen saver like this:

 

And I just so SIIIIIIGGGGGGHHHHH. I have to find a way to sneak there, even if it’s just for the day. I mean, look at that!

3. It’s not just work that is busy right now. On the domestic front, we have milestones aplenty, and I keep getting all emotional. First off, my kid got her first loose tooth this week. What? How is that even possible? It’s one of the front ones, and we have a daily Tooth Watch going to check its progress in falling out. I feel like I was just comforting her as a baby as those were coming IN, and now she’s losing them? What the heck is going on here? At the same time, today is the last day of preschool. I am sniffling just typing that. We’ve been SO lucky to be at such a great school for three wonderful years, and I have a feeling I will be a weeping mess when I do my last pickup there in a few hours. If you want to see the truly great and wonderful in the world, look no further than preschool directors and teachers. The ones we’ve been lucky enough to have are SUCH rock stars. I wish I could drag them all to kindergarten with us. (No, I really do: if I could, somehow, without breaking laws, I totally would.) I know this is how it is all supposed to go. Babies are born, they get teeth, teeth fall out, they start school, that school ends. But nobody told me it would be so hard on ME. Whoa.

4. I have no way to move into this next item other than to say this: it has been the earworms of ALL earworms the last few days. (And yes, I am including that one Taylor Swift song I can’t even speak the name of aloud or it becomes stuck in my head for at least a month.) I may have written here before about this one show my kid discovered at the beach one year called MAKING FIENDS. It was on a cartoon network, but I don’t really think it’s actually for kids. It’s about this evil little girl named Vendetta who holds her whole town, Clamburg, hostage to her bad deeds. She has a giant hamster for a sidekick and only eats beef jerky, clams and grape punch. The whole show basically revolves around her relationship with this other little girl, Charlotte, who is as sunny and cheerful as Vendetta is dark. It’s so twisted and nuts, and there’s this one song that is in one of the early episodes called “Why Don’t We Pretend to Be.” My kid knows it by HEART, which is hilarious considering it has lines about telemarketers and CEOs, and she has no idea what those are. But she sings loudly and proudly anyway. You probably will do.  Fair warning. If you want to take the risk, enjoy.

5. Finally, today is the start of Memorial Day weekend AND the official beginning of summer. You all KNOW summer is my favorite season (see number 2, above) but not JUST because of the beach. There’s also flip-flops and daylight until practically bedtime and, of course, the FOOD. Only in summer can I justify a popsicle as a full meal, even breakfast. But regular readers also know that for me, summer is ALL about deviled eggs:

 

(These are from a few summers back. They don’t appear to have paprika on them, yet. But I am sure they did before they were devoured.) I’ve been asked before for my deviled egg recipe, but the truth is, I don’t really have one. I just boil eggs, peel them, then halve them and mash up the yolks. Then I add low-fat mayo, yellow mustard and sweet relish, going by instinct after all these years, plus salt and pepper to taste. Then I fill up the halves, sprinkle them with paprika, and eat. The funny thing is I am NOT someone who cooks without recipes: this is the only thing I can make that way. Which means something. Although I’m not sure what, nor do I care, because I can’t stop looking at that picture. YUM!

Have a great (and safe) holiday weekend, everyone!

1. Full confession: I am writing much of this Five on Thursday night, because I just KNOW how nuts this week has been and I expect nothing less from Friday tomorrow. Also, my kid is actually ENTERTAINING HERSELF (I know!) so I better make the best of it while it lasts. We had so much crazy happening here this week. My daughter got sick, with only two weeks of precious preschool left. Our dishwasher, the old soldier, finally gave up the ghost after 13 years of service. Plus my husband was getting ready to leave for the track, with me left in charge of the child, dogs and chickens, including our littlest ones, who apparently keep escaping. Uh-oh. I’ll let this GIF that was made this week for me by Twitter friend and follower Haley sum it up:

Yeah, that’s pretty much it.

2. I also realized that week that even though I have been talking about it here nonstop and on Twitter pretty relentlessly, there are still some people out there that didn’t realize I have a new book coming out next month. (I know: you are NOT these people. But bear with me, I have to do this.) Anyway, we have a new listing put together of all my tour dates so far, along with the links for each store. Some of the events are ticketed ones, so be sure to find out what’s planned for YOUR place before you go. Here’s the updated list:

New York, New York

Barnes & Noble – Union Square, 33 E 17th St – Thursday, May 30, 7 pm (This is a group event: see more below in #3!) 

 

Durham, NC

The Regulator – 720 Ninth St – Monday, June 3, 7 pm

http://www.regulatorbookshop.com/event/2013/06/03/day

 

Washington DC

Politics and Prose – Great Hall, Martin Luther King Jr. Public Library

901 G St., NW– Tuesday, June 4, 7 pm

http://www.politics-prose.com/event/book/sarah-dessen-moon-and-more

 

Natick, MA

Wellesley Books – The Morse Institute Library, 14 E Central St –

Wednesday, June 5, 7 pm 

http://www.wellesleybooksmith-shop.com/event/sarah-dessen

 

Houston, TX

Blue Willow Bookstore – West Houston Community Center, 725 Bateswood –

Thursday, June 6, 7 pm

http://www.bluewillowbookshop.com/event/sarah-dessen-0

 

Cincinnati, OH

Joseph-Beth Booksellers – 2692 Madison Rd – Friday, June 7, 7 pm

http://www.josephbeth.com/KidsEvents.aspx

 

Boise, ID

Hastings – 7500 Fairview Ave – Saturday June 8, 3 pm

Does not appear to have event listings

 

Pleasanton, CA

Towne Center Books – 555 Main Street – Sunday, June 9, 2 pm

http://www.townecenterbooks.com/events.html

http://www.townecenterbooks.com/townecenternews.html

 

San Francisco, CA

Books Inc. – Opera Plaza, 601 Van Ness – Monday, June 10, 7 pm

http://www.booksinc.net/event/sarah-dessen-books-inc-opera-plaza

 

Cary, NC

Barnes & Noble – 760 SE Maynard - Wednesday, June 12, 7 pm

http://store-locator.barnesandnoble.com/event/4390234

 

Raleigh NC

Quail Ridge Books & Music – 3522 Wade Ave – Wednesday, June 26, 7 pm

http://www.quailridgebooks.com/event/sarah-dessen-moon-and-more

 

Falmouth, MA

Eight Cousins Bookstore - 189 Main Street - Tuesday, July 23rd, 3 pm

Not listed yet

For you booksellers, I’ll also be at BEA signing on Saturday, June 1st. And we’re in the process of adding a date in Asheville at Malaprops, one of my favorite NC stores, later in the summer. Stay tuned!

3. So I was already SUPER excited about my trip to NYC for BEA in a couple of weeks, for lots of reasons. First, BEA is a great convention for booksellers and publishing folks and anyone who works with books, so it’s always a blast. I haven’t been since two years ago, when I got to speak at the Children’s Breakfast and met Julianne Moore. Oh, did I mention that?

I think I might have.

Anyway, I knew I was signing books on Saturday June 1st AND going to a super fun party my publisher was throwing the night before. THEN I got invited to a party where, no joke, I think there might be celebrities. YIKES! It’s on Thursday night, the 30th, so I was already obsessing about what to wear (don’t want to look like I’m trying too hard, but also want to look cute, you know the drill) and everything else, like what if I see a Real Housewife? (I have it on good authority a few of them were at this party last year). Anyway, I was pumped. THEN I found out  that the very same night, but later, I had been invited to be part of a super rock star YA panel at the Barnes and Noble in Union Square with Rick Yancey, Andrea Cremer, Marie Lu AND Richelle Mead. I mean, hello! I am not sure how I ended up on this panel as these people are SUPERSTARS but I am going to keep quiet and hope nobody notices the error. So I get to (maybe) see celebs AND do an event at this awesome star with rock star writers, all on the same day? There is not enough punctuation to convey my excitement. Seriously. I won’t even try. *squeals*

4. In other news, tonight is the series finale of The Office. Regular readers of this blog remember when I first discovered this show on DVD, then got totally hooked. The Jim and Pam romance, as it built, just about killed me (in a good way). I will admit to not watching AS devotedly the last year or so, but only because we’ve stopped watching a LOT of things because we go to bed so early. (It’s not you, TV shows, it’s my early-rising kid.) But I’ve been tuning in the last four or so eps, as well as watching older ones on my DVDs and I know I will be WRECKED at the ending, even if it’s so well done. I just don’t do well with finales. I hate saying goodbye! At least I know I am not alone:

(images from Television Without Pity, thank you!)

Edit: Okay, it’s Friday morning now, and I DID watch The Office retrospective AND finale. And I cried. I think I’m going to miss Jim and Pam, and everyone else, a lot more than I thought I would.

5. As I said, I’m picking up this Five on Friday morning, around 8am, which is total meltdown time around here. My kid needs to go to preschool in a half hour, the dogs are barking, and I’m trying to juggle it all along with breakfast and blogging and everything else. I can VAGUELY remember a time when my mornings were leisurely, just me eating my breakfast and watching GMA while my older animals (now passed) snoozed peacefully at my feet. But it was long ago. Now, mornings are like being shot out of a cannon, and the day pretty much follows suit. Plus, my husband is away, so tag-teaming isn’t even an option. The bottom line is right now, I am SO APPRECIATIVE of my husband and all he did, and is going to do in a couple of weeks, while I do book tour. I love my job and love meeting my readers, but the flip side is someone has to hold down this crazy fort. Two weeks from today I’ll be waking up in NYC, starting up BEA and then the tour the next week. But for today, as crazy as it is, I am glad I am here doing my part while HE gets a much deserved break. Even if my kid is jumping on her trampoline and I’m still mourning the loss of my butterfly Havaiana flipflops, which puppy Goose got when I had my back turned. (They were silver. I loved them.) It takes a village. Sometimes, and in our case, a small city. But even in the midst of chaos, I wouldn’t have it any other way. Although a bit more sleep might be nice.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

 

1. Okay, I know that I say this every Friday, but this week has been CRAZY. For all the regular reasons—two dogs recovering from surgeries with a billion pills to force down them each morning, Teacher Appreciation Week at preschool, the day-to-day chaos—but also because on Wednesday, I flew up to Chicago for a do-over for a school visit that I was scheduled to do during the paperback tour for WHAT HAPPENED TO GOODBYE. It was at Granger School in Aurora, which was closed on the day I supposed to come back in April because the roads were all flooded from a crazy bunch of rain. People, honestly: I have never had such a nice welcome in my LIFE. We pulled up and the girls were all waiting, waving ruler flags with pictures of my books. They gave me flowers and CHEERED as I walked up to the front doors. I mean, HELLO! How often does that happen? Then, in the media center, they had ALL my favorite things waiting for me:

Yes, that IS Sriracha Chips, Hershey’s Special Dark with Almonds nuggets, and Carolina Blue cupcakes. Also pics of GMA and my beloved Tarheels. Do they know me, or what? The visit itself was GREAT, the girls were so amazing and asked incredible questions, and the staff and teachers made me so grateful there are such amazing people teaching in our public schools. Yeah, it was pretty much an all-on lovefest. Here’s a collage that the fabulous librarian who set ALL this up, Ms. White, made:

Bottom line: I felt loved. BIG TIME.

2. In other exciting news, this week I was finally able to share this SUPER big secret I’ve been having to keep for a few weeks now. Regular readers of this blog—especially those who were with me all the way back at LiveJournal—will remember how obsessed I was with the show Veronica Mars when it was on. I watched every season, swooned over Logan Echolls and was basically pushing it on everyone I met, insisting they join the cult with me. (So to speak.) Then I was one of MANY people who contributed to the Kickstarter to fund the VM movie, which I am so excited about I pretty much can’t even stand it. So imagine how I felt when I found out that I’d been invited to speak at the Austin Teen Book Festival in September with none other than Rob Thomas, who CREATED the show. WHOA. (I actually didn’t believe it until I saw it on the official website, but look, here it is.) Anyway, I’m SO excited both to read Rob’s YA book RATS SAW GOD and talk with him about books IF I can even look at him without dying of fangirling. We’ll see how that goes.

3. The other big thing happening around these parts this weekend is graduation at UNC, as well at NC State AND Duke. It is a weekend of caps and gowns and out of state license plates and crowded restaurants, as well as feeling of both accomplished and bittersweet. Two of my rock star babysitters are graduating, one to graduate school and the other to a great job, so I am so happy for them, but sad for us because they will be SO missed. It is the downside of hiring college girls and considering them family: they always have to move on. I won’t be attending graduation this weekend at Carolina—in fact, I will be avoiding campus and downtown like the plague, as we locals do—but I will take a moment on Sunday morning to wish the class of 2013 well. What a big adventure to be beginning. Hang on!

4. Also happening this weekend: Mother’s Day. Is it weird that I still associate this day with MY mom, as well as my mother-in-law and my husband’s grandmother, and don’t think about myself at all? I guess a habit of 37 years is hard to break. Which means I’ve been rushing around today getting gifts together, planning how to wrap them, and generally forgetting totally that I, too, am a mother. (Which is shocking, considering that this morning my kid put this crazy beaded necklace on me, which I forgot about until I was out at Sam’s Club, looked down, and discovered I was still wearing it. Whoops.) I’m sure my husband and daughter have something planned, but honestly I got the best gift already today, when my kid looked at me and said, “You look beautiful, pretty face.” I mean, come ON. Who needs a card when you have that?

5. Finally, I have to share this one last thing about my IL school visit. During this paperback tour—and whenever I do events—I love to do Q&A. It’s MUCH more fun than me just babbling on, although I can totally babble, it’s like a strength of mine. But questions are more fun all around. I can usually count on getting the same ones each place, like, “Where do you get your ideas?” (Everywhere and anywhere) and “What’s your favorite book you’ve written?” (Can’t pick, but have a soft spot for This Lullaby) and “What advice do you have for someone who wants to be a writer?” (Read and write as much as you can). Every once in awhile, however, I get one I haven’t heard before, and that happened yesterday at Granger Middle. This girl raised her hand and said, “If you had to pick one of your boy characters for your daughter to date, who would it be?” And I was STUMPED. My daughter? She’s only 5! She won’t be dating until she’s 30 at least (if my husband has any say it it, anyway). But still, I had to answer. The easiest reply was “Not Rogerson from Dreamland,” but that’s sort of cheating, so I really thought on it. In the end, I went with Wes from THE TRUTH ABOUT FOREVER, because I would want her to be with someone who didn’t expect or even want her to be perfect. But really, Dexter or Owen or Dave or Nate…they’d all be just fine with me. I mean, what mom WOULDN’T want to have hand-created the boy their daughter went out with? Sadly, I don’t think this will be an actual option when my kid is older, unless science comes a LONG way. Luckily, I still have some time. Although it is flying. Hug your mother this weekend! She probably needs it.

 

Have a great weekend, everyone!

1. Sometimes, I have no one to blame but myself for chaos. This weekend, and today, are a prime example of this. Did I need to schedule an early morning school visit AND try to drop my dogs at the vet/kennel for surgery/boarding AND head for an out of town wedding, all at the same time? Of course not. Am I trying to do this? Well, yes. It’s working out as well as you’d expect. There’s actually something a bit more manageable about total craziness that is my fault versus, say, the universe’s or someone else’s. There’s a sense of derring-do involved, this feeling that I am challenging MYSELF to a super double-dog-dare. (Ha! Double-dog, two dogs, two surgeries…get it? Oh, what is WRONG with me?) It’s like buckling myself into a roller coaster by choice but still screaming my lungs out: it’s all me. So I’ll just leave you with that image. Me, open-mouthed, screaming. Nice, right?

2. Speaking of chaos, I finally get to share some video proof of the regular, daily kind around here with this video that we shot here at my house back in February. It’s about THE MOON AND MORE, and writing, but also features cameos by my kid, dogs and chickens. It’s a family affair, this kind of hectic. We had so much fun shooting this, but of course now all I can see is that my shirt looks wrinkled and I think I look very JOWLY. (Is that even a word?) But my kid is cute and so is Goose. I just regret that the footage of Frank, our late little rooster, didn’t make the cut. I miss him, but he’s surely terrorizing everyone up at the big chicken run in the sky. You do get a quick glimpse of Foghorn, though, and as usual, he is GLORIOUS.

3. As I said, both of my dogs are getting procedures done today. Coco has to have an ultrasound and possibly a kidneystone removed, and Goose, well…he’s getting what we’ve been referring to politely around here as “the snip.” People, it is time. He’s past six months and we’re not the sort who breed our dogs, plus we’re hearing from the doggy day care/socialization class he attends once a week that he’s been getting a BIT frisky with the other dogs. All of them, male AND female. So in he goes. It’s so stereotypical, but my husband is taking this harder than I am. He keeps sighing and apologizing to the dog, who gets confused because normally we are yelling at him for doing things like chewing the rug, tearing apart the plants on the deck, and barking nonstop for no particular reason. He cannot understand why we are suddenly so solicitous, and I think he’s getting suspicious. See, now I feel bad too. Poor Goosie! But it really is for the best. Spay and neuter your pets! It’s for the good of everyone!

4. This week has been all about re-entry for me, as well as planning for my next tour, which is coming up in June. (Hope to have solid dates/details for you about that next week, fingers crossed!) Between doing promotion for the paperback of WHAT HAPPENED TO GOODBYE and gearing up for the release of THE MOON AND MORE, you’d think that the last thing I’d be stressing out about would be trying to write the NEXT book. Well. Again, I do this to myself. Why oh WHY have I spent much of this week staring at my computer, feeling like a total failure because my book in progress isn’t clicking the way it should be? I’ll tell you: because I can’t catch the hint that I need to just let it rest and come to me in its own time. Truth is, waiting for a book release is really nervewracking. Even if it’s number eleven, as it is in my case. I feel terrified and excited and worried and exhilirated and COMPLETELY out of control, so I do things that make me feel like I have my act together. Like organize drawers, and shop for shoes, and try to write. But if a book isn’t ready to be put down on the page yet, it’s just not ready, even if I think I am. So I’m really just spinning my wheels and putting myself into MORE of a panic, which helps no one. Man, I wish I wasn’t so neurotic. But I’ve always had a sneaking suspicion that it is not only part of the job, but a REQUIRED part. Oh, well. For now, I will just try to breathe. That’s all you can do, right?

5. Okay, so now it’s almost 11:30 and everything is done (I think) and we’re in the car setting out for a wedding in the mountains. Earlier this morning I got to do a GREAT school visit at Carrboro High, where I met the most awesome group of girls (and their librarians!):

They’re posing with these great posters that my publisher sent me, which I feel VERY rock star signing for some reason. Although it is not very rock to star realize that you forgot your kid’s Nice Shoes for the wedding you are now en route to. Whoops. I can only hope that’s the worst thing I forgot after this crazy morning. Bring on the weekend!

Have a great one, everyone!

1. Hi there.

Okay, so I’m home, after that blur/whirlwind that was the week long paperback tour for WHAT HAPPENED TO GOODBYE. Good gracious. I had no idea how tired I was until I hit my own bed, and I’ve done pretty much nothing since but stay there and plan when I can get back in it when I DO actually have to get up. What a great trip, though. I mean, there were the crazy wake-up calls (one night, in Seatttle, I went to bed at 10pm and had to get up at 2:30am, whoa) and some running for planes (I was SO glad I finally started wearing flats when traveling) and more turkey sandwiches/wraps than I can count (they are my go-to when traveling, as they are at every airport/hotel and hard to mess up). But there were also SO many great and enthusiastic readers, people who waited in line and brought me potato chips and sweet letters and just made every bit of the trip so amazing. I have said it before: I have the BEST readers. You guys rock.

2. Last week’s Five I wrote in the car going from Chicago to my hotel in Naperville, IL. This one, I am back at my satellite office, i.e. the fellowship hall of the church where my kid goes to preschool. After my event at Anderson’s in Naperville (which was FANTASTIC, even if it was actually—gulp—snowing when we left, what the heck?) we headed off to sunny CA to an event in Huntington Beach. This one was especially cool because my brother, sister-in-law and nephew were in attendance, and I’d been gone long enough to be SO happy to see some more family. I had a great crowd, so many amazing girls, as well as a few boys. One was Alex, who patiently attended with his girlfriend and some other friends and toted their books:

Also in Huntington Beach, I finally got to meet the fabulous Jessi Kirby, fellow YA author (MOONGLASS, and soon to come, GOLDEN). We share both an agent and a love of wine and potato chips, and she brought me an AWESOME care package, which I pretty much scarfed down as soon as I got back to the hotel. I love meeting  Twitter friends in person!

3. Then from HB it was off to LA for the LA Times Festival of Books. I LOVE this festival, as it is so fun AND a great place to scope out celebrities (which regular readers of this blog KNOW I love to do). I was keeping my eyes peeled, to put it mildly. Right after I arrived in the greenroom, I saw Maria Semple, author of WHERE’D YOU GO, BERNADETTE, a book I read recently and loved SO much I’ve basically become a zealot about it. I did not want to embarrass myself…but I had to go up and gush. So I did. Was not bold enough to ask for a picture, so you’ll just have to imagine me all flushed and stammering. I’m sure it’s not that hard to do. Also spotted in the greenroom: Nia Vardalos of My Big Fat Greek Wedding AND—wait for it—Molly Ringwald. I pretty much died when she walked behind me, with one of her little boys in tow. Later I ended up in the bathroom at the same time they were there and I complimented him on his shoes. He was very polite. I was pretty much dying. I mean, MOLLY FREAKING RINGWALD? Whoa. I was MOST excited, however, about finally meeting The Fug Girls, Heather and Jessica. If you’re a fan of their site, Go Fug Yourself, you know how truly awesome and funny they are. We’ve been Twitter friends for ages, but again, it was AMAZING to meet in person. Although I was a little nervous about what I was wearing:

That’s author Abby McDonald on the left, and the Fugs on my other side. SO FUN!

I had a great panel with some awesome fellow YA writers, then went off to two signings in a row. When I was done, I had to bid farwell to my publicist Elyse, who had been traveling with me from Chapel Hill onward. It was hard! She’d been my partner in crime (and turkey sandwiches)!

I’m beginning to realize how tired I look in a lot of these pictures. Haggard is another word that comes to mind. Oh, well.

Before I left LA, I HAD to make one more stop. I’d heard the hype, and wasn’t sure it would live up to it. But I was NOT disappointed:

Yes, friends, I finally got to try In-N-Out. It was AMAZING. I had a cheeseburger, animal style, and wolfed the entire thing down in about two seconds. Pure bliss. Hooray!

4. From LA it was onto Seattle, where I did a great school visit and met some of John Green’s biggest fans. Literally: when I mentioned his name, they gasped, audibly. Luckily, they liked me, as well (and I kind of envied their uniforms, in all honesty):

I had a little bit of time to walk around downtown Seattle (and had an amazing apple from the Pike Place Market, delicious) then it was off to an evening signing at Third Place Books, where I had two readers show up in the coolest t-shirts ever:

I think I need one of each. Just saying.

5. The next day was my 2:30 am wakeup call, then a flight to Austin via Phoenix. When I landed in Texas, I headed to my last school visit. I’d like to just say this: everyone should, at some point in their lives, be greeted with a sign like this one:

I did a great meet-and-greet with a small group (there was ice cream!) and got some awesome questions. Again, envying the uniforms:

Then it was off to speak to a bigger group, and by big, I mean HUGE. I had to use my panorama function to really do it justice (and you can see my fab Penguin rep, Jill, in the corner);

From the school, I had a bit of downtime, then headed to Austin’s famous BookPeople for my last signing. I have no pictures, but only because I was too tired to even work the camera function on my phone. Take my word for it: it was GREAT. And then I was done! I had planned to go out in Austin for a celebratory margarita and some Tex-Mex, but instead I went back to my hotel, ate a turkey wrap and fell asleep with the TV on. Ah, so glamorous.

The next day, I headed HOME, via Atlanta. As I got closer and closer, I could barely stand the fact that I’d be seeing my family again so soon. Sitting in Chapel Hill rush hour traffic about ten miles from my house, my husband sent me this picture, proving I was not the only one waiting:

She’s pretty much not let me out of her sight since. I feel the same way, though.

And there you have it! I know I am forgetting names and some places, but forgive me: as I said, I am TIRED. Hard to believe I’ll be doing another week in June. I think I should start banking sleep, like, yesterday. Better get on that.

Thanks to everyone who came out and made me feel at home, even when I was so far from what I know. You guys are the best. Have a great weekend, everyone!

1. This was the week that WHAT HAPPENED TO GOODBYE came out in paperback!

It was a very exciting day on Tuesday when the book hit stores. People were tweeting me pics of the displays, which was awesome, and my lovely publisher sent me a box of macarons that were SO FREAKING AMAZING. (I had never had a macaron before. I thought they were the same thing as macaroons, the coconut desserts, but they are NOT. I had a salted caramel one and it basically changed my life. But I digress.) And now, starting on Tuesday, I’ll be doing a book tour to support the paperback. This is my first paperback tour EVER, plus I am doing school visits, which I haven’t done in ages. (You can see the dates and stops here.) So it will be crazy busy, with visits in the morning and bookstore events in the evening and very early morning flights and a different city every day and and….BREATHE. Plus it’s going to be the longest I’ve ever been away from my kid. So if you come out and see me and I’m a little tired looking, be kind. Please?

2. Also this week, this happened:

I have to back up a little bit. Back when I was in college, People magazine was my biggest indulgence. I saved up all week so I could buy the latest issue, then would sit down and read it cover to cover while eating a box of Super Snax, my favorite snack mix. (Just writing that, I am now CRAVING Super Snax. I wonder if they still make it? Hmmm.) I always wanted to subscribe to People but it was REALLY expensive for me at the time. Anyway, fast forward to this weekend, when people began tweeting me pics of this full page ad for my books in the latest issue. It blew my MIND. I mean, all those years ago, stuffing my face with snack mix, I NEVER would have imagined that someday I’d see my books in the same publication. It’s just insane. But in the best, most wonderful way.

3. Also this week, I did my last Twitter chat for #readpenguin. There were three in all, each on a Thursday night. Because we happen to have a Thursday night sitter, and I was not about to give up that opportunity, I did each of the chats at one of my favorite restaurants, City Kitchen. They have super fast internet there (yay!) and incredible pizza (double yay!) so it was a total win-win. My babysitter Bianca, who also works there, was very kind about letting me work from her table. So anyway, last night, for the full-hour chat, I got there only to find there was a big charity event happening, complete with a fashion show. The runway was right by our table! So there I am, madly tweeting and trying to eat bites of pizza while models posed right beside me. It was so surreal. Almost as weird as the People magazine thing. Plus, it totally made me think of That Summer and Just Listen and the Lakeview Models. Worlds colliding! Whoa.

4. This week also involved another milestone: I enrolled my kid in kindergarten. I showed up at her future school with all my forms, met the principal and the nurse, and filled everything out. Then, I went out to my car and cried. I am SUCH a sap. But OH MY GOD how is it possible that she is already going to start Real School? I feel like I was just swaddling her and giving her a pacifier. It totally made me feel sorry I hadn’t had another baby, just so that part wouldn’t be totally over for good. But then, the next day, she threw an EPIC tantrum about what she wouldn’t wear to school, going all Diva on me, and I thought, “Nope, I think I’m good.” So there’s that. But still: kindergarten? *sniffles*

5. Finally, Spring has finally sprung around here, and you know what that means: chickens. Okay, maybe not for everyone, but for us, when the weather turns nice, we start thinking about poultry. It’s that time, when we need to add to our flock, which is good because our little chickens are dwindling quick. First, my frenemy Frank, YouTube star, passed away, which was heartbreaking. Then we lost another one unexpectedly the other day. We’re down to three, and it’s getting harder and harder to explain to my kid why everyone is suddenly going to heaven en masse. Of course, things are hectic enough without adding MORE animals to the mix, but we don’t like things dull around here. Apparently. My husband was musing about getting some black australorps this morning, and I fully expect that when I return home in a few hours he will have acquired some. Well, at least it’s never dull. And look how pretty they are!

Have a great weekend, everyone!

1. This week, to put it bluntly, kicked my behind. It’s bad enough when my kid is sick. Throw in my husband also down with flu-like symptoms and then ME going under, and it’s a full on DEFCON 5 situation. There were points on Sunday and Monday night, around 3:30am approximately, where I wondered aloud to the Universe why, oh why, it was out to get me. We were all a hacking, sneezing, snotty mess. It sounded like a TB ward around here (with the Franklin theme song in the background). Finally, on Wednesday, my husband’s cough began to subside. Then we found out my kid had an ear infection, which explained why SHE was still so miserable. A few doses of pink bubble gum medicine and she was sleeping through the night. YES! Then I started to stop coughing. YES YES! Now we are ALL officially on the mend and the world is a brighter place. Or at least our little corner of it. Whatever, I’ll take it.

2. This week, the awesome Laurie Halse Anderson announced that she’s teaming up with the publisher of her book SPEAK, MacMillan, to raise money for RAINN, the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network. If you’ve ever read SPEAK, you know what at amazing story it is, and for years it’s helped survivors of sexual abuse in their healing process. Just a ten dollar donation allows RAINN to aid one survivor in getting the help they need. And if you give $75, you get a signed copy of SPEAK! What’s not to love about that? You can get all the info (and see Laurie in a video discussing all this) by going here.

3. In other news, I’m having to start thinking seriously about my tour for the paperback release of WHAT HAPPENED TO GOODBYE, which begins a week from this coming Wednesday. Yikes! Regular readers of this blog know that I am sort of a neurotic freak when it comes to packing for trips. (Okay, fine, total neurotic freak.) But I think anyone would be challenged by a week-long tour that involves stops in Miami, Chicago and Texas. I mean, how to even plan for those kind of climate changes? Also, I don’t think I’ll have time to send out laundry at all, which means…the big suitcase. And I always feel judged with the big suitcase, especially when I know authors who tour with only a carry on, somehow. I know enough to plan for layers, but between school visits AND bookstore events, I’m going to have to have a lot of options that fold down SMALL. Oh, I’m already getting all nervous thinking about it. Maybe I should just bring a stack of caftans? Muu-muus? Onesies? Um, maybe not.

4. Last week, I mentioned how much it means to me that my character Dexter, from This Lullaby, is such a reader favorite. People always pick him in their top two or three of my boys, as he was honestly probably the most fun character I’ve ever gotten to write. I think I’ve mentioned here before that I took Dexter’s name from a local musician here in Chapel Hill named Dexter Romweber. THAT Dexter was several years ahead of me in high school and one of those people that everyone knew by sight if not by name. When I was in college, in 1990, he was in a band called The Flat Duo Jets, and that’s when I really started getting into his music, not just the local myths about him. Anyway, when I needed a name for a boy in a band who played guitar, it just seemed perfect. My Dex is forever on the page, but Dexter Romweber is, well, all over YouTube, as well as still playing regularly here in Chapel Hill. I went to see him the other night, in fact, at a local bar with my husband, and he played as a special surprise at my last birthday party. (I.Died. I truly, truly did.) Anyway, in the interest of sharing where things come from, I wanted to post a link to this clip from a documentary that was made about Dexter Romweber a few years back called Two Headed Cow. It shows The Flat Duo Jets performing on David Letterman AND has some great commentary from Jack White and Cat Power, among others. If you’re intrigued, there are lots of other performances you can find online. Or just come to Chapel Hill, hit The Kraken some weeknight, and be prepared to be awed.

5. Finally, in my OWN appearance news, my fab publicist Elyse has given me the go-ahead to post the dates for my June tour for THE MOON AND MORE that are now confirmed. This is not a full list, as details are being worked out for a few others, and I’ll be updating them as I can over on my News and Appearances page. But for now, here you go. I’m so pumped. I cannot WAIT to get out and talk about this book!

Monday, June 3, 7pm
The Regulator
720 Ninth St
Durham, NC 27705

Tuesday, June 4, 7 pm
Martin Luther King Jr. Public Library with Politics and Prose Bookstore
Great Hall
901 G St., NW
Washington DC 20001

Thursday, June 6, 7 pm
Off-site event with Blue Willow Bookshop
West Houston Community Center
725 Bateswood
Houston, TX 77079

Friday, June 7, 7 pm
On-site event with Joseph-Beth Booksellers
2692 Madison Rd
Cincinnati, OH 45208

Monday, June 10, 7pm
On-site Not Your Mother’s Book Club event with Books Inc.
Opera Plaza
601 Van Ness
San Francisco, CA 94102

Wednesday, June 26, 7 pm
On-site event with Quail Ridge Books & Music
3522 Wade Ave
Raleigh NC 27607

This year, on my birthday, I won’t be dancing to Dex but hanging in Houston with the folks from Blue Willow. And it will be AWESOME, I just know it.

Have a great weekend, everyone!