News

1. Whew! I don’t know about all of you, but this week has been a total whirlwind for me. Just crazy busy, plus my husband had the flu. When it rains, it pours. Or spikes a fever. He seems to be on the mend, though, which is great as long as my daughter and I don’t come down with the same thing. Sometimes I feel like we are just a circle of sickness, passing germs around and around. If it finally gets warm, will all the colds and flu magically disappear? I can only hope. And oh, how I am.

2. One reason this week was so busy was that I was doing promotional stuff, gearing up for the paperback release of What Happened to Goodbye on April 9th. On Wednesday, I went to speak in the media center of East Chapel Hill High, which was super fun. I hung out with a bunch of girls while they ate lunch, talked about writing and my books, and eyed their nachos and donuts with a barely disguised longing. (We did NOT have nachos as a lunch option when I was in high school. I wish!) I always love going back to the local high schools as I gear up for tour, as it’s a good way to get used to speaking in public again. I feel like I’ve been under a rock for, well, the last two years or so. Except for my gig in Pittsburgh back in January, I’ve basically just been writing, tweeting and playing Princess Car Crash with my daughter. Now, though, it is about to be ON. It’s like training for a race. You have to start slow, condition yourself, and be sure to remember to stretch. Also, naps are crucial. Always.

3. Another thing I did this week was my first Twitter chat with PenguinUSA for their online book club, which is discussing What Happened to Goodbye. It was from 7-7:30 last night, and we happened to have a babysitter, so I had a dilemma. Do I cancel my sitter, or try to do the chat while out in The World so I can enjoy a dinner with my husband? I decided to get all cavalier and try the latter. So I packed up my Macbook and my portable hot spot and headed out to City Kitchen, one of our favorite restaurants. Our waitress was one of our babysitters, so she was totally okay with me working from her table. We ordered apps, enjoyed a glass of wine, and then I powered up and joined the chat. It worked! I was cooking along, typing like crazy, while my husband ate his hanger steak. Occasionally, he picked of piece of my pizza and held it out to me so I could grab a bite. Teamwork! He also documented me as I was working:

Anyway, the chat was SUPER fun. The next one is this coming Thursday, April 4th, again from 7-7:30 pm EST. The hashtag is #readpenguin. I think I will try to stick closer to home, as I don’t want to tempt fate. Yes, this living on the edge for me. I am such a rebel!

4. One thing that came up during the chat—-and during just about every Q&A I do, online or otherwise—is whether I will ever consider doing a sequel to any of my books. I understand why people ask. There are SO many good series in YA that readers almost expect a follow up. But the truth is, I like to think that my characters are fine where I leave them on the last page of the novel. And I worry any sequel I tried to write just wouldn’t live up to expectations. This is why I orginally began bringing characters back from previous books, as  a way of thanking people for WANTING sequels, and trying to do something sort of like that. When I was asked this question last night, though, I happened to mention that if I ever did do a sequel it would be to This Lullaby, and that I’d actually started one a couple of years back and got scared. Which is true. The pressure! Dex and Remy! I mean, come on. But people got SO excited hearing this, I was crazy flattered. Maybe, maybe. Someday. But for now I’m at work on another book. Never say never, though. I do love me some Dexter. How much fun would it be to get to spend a whole other book with him? Hmmmmm.

5. Finally, I will admit here to being a bit of s superstitous person. I won’t open an umbrella anywhere NEAR inside, avoid cracks whenever I can, and knock wood pretty much constantly. Also, I do a lot of magical thinking, I think because as a writer I never know if I’m going to have a good work day or a totally terrible one, so I try to control it by saying things like, “If I make this wastebasket shot, today will be the day I figure out that scene that’s making me nuts.” Because of this, I will also do just about any ritual that anyone says might work for, well, anything. Which is why I ordered a St. Joseph statue yesterday. Let me explain. We have an investment property that has been on the market for almost a year now. It is gorgeous, with new appliances and floors and an addition, in a great location close to UNC. But for some reason, we haven’t had even a good nibble. I was lamenting this yesterday when my Twitterverse suggested the St. Joseph thing. Apparently if you bury a statue of him upside down by the For Sale sign, facing the house, and say a prayer, you have a much better chance of selling. Will this work? I don’t know. But I am going to try. Another suggestion we had from our painter was that we let a live chicken loose in the house’s yard to scare away bad vibes and “cleanse” the property, but that seemed a bit extreme, even for a magical thinker like me. So St. Joseph it is. You never know, right? Can’t hurt….

Have a good weekend, everyone!

1. Okay, it’s March 22nd and right now, it’s 25 degrees outside here. That is TWENTY-FIVE, as in below freezing. This time last year I was in New York and it was WARM and I was wearing a sleeveless shirt. I swear! I know everyone has been complaining about this so I’ll keep my rant short, but honestly, Spring, REALLY? (Cue Seth and Amy voices here.) REALLY? All I can hope is that when Spring does arrive, running late and flustered, it will be so apologetic it will be extra gorgeous and lovely for us, just to make up for the inconvenience. It’s the LEAST it can do. Really.

2. In book news, I am SO EXCITED that Penguin USA has chosen WHAT HAPPENED TO GOODBYE for their @PenguinUSA Twitter Book Club Pick this month. You can get all the info here. Also, there is a sweepstakes to win a collection of my books, which you can get more information about on Facebook via this link. I’ll be doing three chats about the book with @PenguinUSA:

March 28th
7 PM EST/4:00 PM PST (goes until 7:30 PM)

April 4th
7 PM EST/4:00 PM PST (goes until 7:30 PM)

April 11th
7 PM EST/4:00 PM PST (goes until 8:00 PM)

The hashtag is #readPenguin. I am so excited! And limbering up my fingers now, as the last Twitter chat was like running a sprint. With hurdles. But so fun.

3. In reading news, I am SO excited that one of my favorite authors, Jill McCorkle, has a new book out this coming week. It’s called LIFE AFTER LIFE and you can read all about it (and see tour dates) here. Disclaimer: Jill is my friend, and was also one of my first creative writing teachers at UNC. When I was in her class in the early 90’s, I babysat for her daughter. That SAME daughter babysat for my baby when she was an infant. (We believe in keeping things in the family around here.) That said, I have always LOVED Jill’s writing. It’s a Southern voice, but a NEW kind of voice, and this is her first novel in several years, since the fantastic CAROLINA MOON. (Although her short stories are amazing as well.) If she’s coming near you, you should definitely check her out. You won’t regret it.

4. Speaking of things I love, this week is the official beginning of the NCAA Tournament and true March Madness. I filled out my bracket on Wednesday, going with my tried and true method of a mix of rankings, teams people I know are fond of and all out guessing. As a true UNC fan, I of course had to pick my team to cut down the nets in Atlanta in the final, even though I know we are a BIT of a long shot. (Okay, super long shot.) I also picked Gonzaga for the final game, mostly because they are a number one seed AND I had a student years ago who was totally obsessed with them. She had not grown up with the team, but started being a fan in high school, and she had even written a partial novel about her obsession with them. Years ago she was a finalist in some ESPN College Ball Super Fan competition for her Zags. I think her name was Ashley, and wherever she is, I’m thinking of her this week. I know she is PUMPED. This is what I love about college ball. It’s not just about the games, but so much more. Bring it on!

5. I’m writing this entry from an oil change place, as my car gets serviced. I am fully humiliated that I, the wife of a total car person, was so overdue for an oil change that the guy who checked me in basically clucked his tongue at me. Whoops. This is just one of many things I have fallen behind on lately, along with answering emails/phone calls, doing laundry and getting my tax stuff organized. I also run late now. I used to ALWAYS be on time, if not early, and now I am That Person who shows up ten minutes past the appointment time, flustered and apologetic. (See Spring, above.) And I haven’t even really BEGUN to promote my two book releases yet! It might get ugly, folks. But I want to say here how much I appreciate everyone who asked last week that I please not let this blog fall by the wayside among the chaos. In this Twitter/Tumblr/Texting world, I think it’s easy for me to assume that no one has time to read this much content anymore. You guys said otherwise, so I’ll keep showing up here on Fridays. Even if it means I am blogging about my guilt over late oil changes. Next week will be better? I hope?

Have a great weekend, everyone!

1. I am starting this entry at 7:39am, fully knowing that I will probably finish it around 3:30. In the time between, I’ll be adding to/editing it from my car as I sit in front of preschool, in the Whole Foods parking lot, and my office. This is how I blog lately. Writing I have to be in one place, or at least ideally, and I can’t do it in five or ten minute increments. I just don’t ever hit that point where it’s actually happening otherwise. But blogging is different. Like Twitter, it can be bits and starts. I’m sitting here, explaining this to you, as my daughter is literally PULLING me away from my laptop because she wants me to go play upstairs. It’s no wonder I feel like I have no actual attention span anymore. Who has time for that? In related news, I’m going upstairs now.

2. Now it’s 10:57, and my whole day’s gone askew because my kid’s sorta stuffy nose blew up into a full fledged cold JUST before we left for preschool. So now I have no idea how this blog entry is going to get done, because I lost three hours of time. Oh, well. So it goes. Motherhood has taught me a lot of things, but being flexible (or trying to be flexible) is probably the biggest. I used to have all day and still complain about not having enough time, so it’s not like everything’s changed. I managed to have an important business conversation WHILE playing princesses today, which was a mean feat, if I do say so myself. But not something I try to do on a regular basis. No point in pushing my luck.

3. Okay, now it’s 12:37. (Just keeping you updated.) Most of you have probably already heard the GREAT news about the Veronica Mars movie. Thanks to a great pitch on Kickstarter (you can watch it here) Rob Thomas, the creator, managed to raise the 2 million he was aiming for IN ONE DAY. Longtime readers of this blog (and you guys know who you are: you remember my Livejournal) know how I was obsessed with this show back when it was on. It was creative and funny and smart and just flat-out awesome. I mourned when it was canceled, my grieving only abated by the hope that maybe there MIGHT be a movie someday. And now there will be! Let the speculation about plot and script begin. All I am saying is that I REALLY hope Max Greenfield, who was on VM and now plays Schmidt on New Girl, makes an appearance. That would be nirvana for me.

4. 1:02. (This one and the preceding I am writing between bites of lunch, and thanks to the TV show Franklin, which is keeping my kid occupied between bouts of whining.) On the reading front, this week I started THE CRANES DANCE by Meg Howrey, which has been on my To Read list for ages. It’s a novel about two sisters who are ballerinas, competitive, and very different, and so far I’m loving it. The voice is REALLY original, and I love all the behind the scenes stuff about the ballet world, from mangled toes to all the parts of Swan Lake. On audio, I finished Domenica Ruta’s memoir WITH OR WITHOUT YOU, which is about her relationship with her dysfunctional mom, and how it led to her own addictions. Very compelling. I’m about to start listening to Piper Kerman’s ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK, which is soon going to be a Showtime series by Jenji Kohan, who made Weeds. So I am excited about that. Plus I still haven’t even CRACKED the Vanity Fair with Taylor Swift on the cover yet. Again: no time!

5. 3:04 pm. Lastly, it’s been a stressful week around here concerning my little rooster Frank, who has been ailing. Regular readers will remember that Frank and I have a BIT of a tense relationship: he’s kind of like Cato to my Clouseau, if you remember the old Pink Panther movies. He’s my nemesis, but in a fond sort of day. (You can see proof in the videos I put up of us waging battle, which are here and here.) Anyway, Frank is a total prickly pear, but he’s OUR prickly pear, and a few weeks back something (a possum? raccoon?) got into his cage, scrapped with him, and messed up his leg. He’s not been right since. He can’t stand up on his own and got totally weak, which was hard to see considering how tough he normally is. My husband and his co-worker Will have been nursing him back to health, carrying him out gently each morning and propping him next to the food, then returning him to the coop in the evening. And he DOES seem to be getting better, although he still can’t get around at all. We’re hoping it’s just an injury and not permanent, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed. I’ll forever blame myself for kicking/nudging him when he was coming at me, even though my husband swears it had nothing to do with it. Still, though. STILL.

Whew! Blog post done. See, and it only took eight hours! THIS is why I worry I can’t keep this blog going much longer, or may have to switch over to a smaller Tumblr one. But I can’t worry about that, because my kid is whining and the phone is ringing. So, later. Maybe?

Have a good weekend, everyone!

I’m so excited to announce the dates for my tour for the paperback of WHAT HAPPENED TO GOODBYE in April. There may be a few changes, but I’m told these are pretty set:

April 16th: Flyleaf Books, Chapel Hill NC 7pm

April 17th: Books and Books, Miami FL 7pm

April 18th: The Booksellers at Laurelwood, Memphis TN 6pm

April 19th: Anderson’s Bookshop, Naperville IL 7pm

April 20th: Barnes and Noble, Huntington Beach CA 2pm

April 21st: LA Times Book Festival, Los Angeles CA Panel at 12pm, signing at 1pm and 3pm

April 22nd: Third Place Books, Lake Forest Park WA 7pm

April 23rd: Book People, Austin TX 7pm

If I’m not coming near you, never fear: I’ll be touring again in June for THE MOON AND MORE and hitting a bunch of other cities. Stay tuned!

1. Okay, I am SUPER EXCITED that I got the go ahead to announce my April tour dates for this Five. Yes! This is for the paperback of WHAT HAPPENED TO GOODBYE, which will be in stores on April 9th. Here’s where I’ll be (there may be SOME changes but I’m told this is pretty solid in terms of plans):

April 16th: Flyleaf Books, Chapel Hill NC

April 17th: Books and Books, Miami FL

April 18th: The Booksellers at Laurelwood, Memphis TN

April 19th: Anderson’s Bookshop, Naperville IL

April 20th: Barnes and Noble, Huntington Beach CA

April 21st: LA Times Book Festival, Los Angeles CA

April 22nd: Third Place Books, Lake Forest Park WA

April 23rd: Book People, Austin TX

If I’m not coming near you, never fear: I’m doing another tour in June for THE MOON AND MORE and I’ll be hitting a bunch of other cities. (And by hit, I mean visit. I would not hit your city, I promise.)

2. In other promotional news, I did my first Twitter chat this week. I was VERY nervous because I knew it would be fast and furious and also because my internet out here in the country is a bit wonky, subject to cutting out at any moment. Between answering questions in less than 140 characters AND making sure to include the hashtag #TheMoonandMore, it was pretty intense. But so worth it! Especially because at one point, my chat was trending. I have proof and everything!

And I am in good company. I mean, Duck Dynasty? I’ll take it.

3.  If you’ve read Just Listen, you might remember this quote: ““Music is a total constant. That’s why we have such a strong visceral connection to it, you know? Because a song can take you back instantly to a moment, or a place, or even a person. No matter what else has changed in your or the world, that one song says the same, just like that moment.” I totally had this happen to me last night on the way home from dinner with my husband. This song came on the radio that I hadn’t heard in, easily, ten or fifteen years. It was from a Pink Floyd album I listened to all through my senior year of high school, which was a pretty miserable time for me. Okay, totally miserable. I honestly try NOT to listen to that music anymore but it does take me right back to this raw, awful place. But there it was, on the radio, and just like that, I was seventeen and so hurt and weird and scared. Boom! I put my hand on my face and my husband said, “Are you okay?” I said, “Yeah.” Because now, all these years later, I AM okay. Then, not so much. It does get better. But all it takes is a song, apparently, to remember when it wasn’t so good. (If you care to listen, the song is “One Slip,” and it’s here.) Personally, I’m going to wait a little while before I listen to it again.

4. There is truly NOTHING better than when you find a book that is SO GOOD you can’t think about anything but reading it. That happened to me this week with Maria Semple’s WHERE’D YOU GO, BERNADETTE. I’d seen that it made a bunch of Best Of lists, and heard some good buzz, but I was honestly blown away by how amazing it was. It’s the kind of book you can’t even do justice by describing, other than to say it’s written in this unorthodox way, is wholly original, and you will NOT want to put it down. It’s what I call a “Clear Your Schedule” book, that addictive. (Gone Girl was the last book I read that was like that. I lost a lot of time, but it was totally worth it.) Anyway, now I totally have a crush on both this book AND Maria Semple, who is not on Twitter, which is a good thing because if she was I’d be totally fangirling all over her. I will confess to sending a fawning email to her Facebook page. Hey, when something is good, you’re pretty much obligated to spread the word. It’s like a rule.

5. Big happenings here in Chapel Hill tomorrow: it’s the UNC-Duke game, and we’re playing at home. I am already nervous, which shows you what a basketball nerd I am. Last night, at dinner, I was sitting next to a guy who was joking about how he had two tickets to the game for sale. I wish! Truth: I have lived in Chapel Hill since I was three years old. I grew up on campus, skateboarding in The Pit and doing cartwheels outside of Greenlaw Hall while my dad taught his classes. Then I WENT to UNC, and later returned to teach there myself. I have never lived anywhere else. And I have only been to ONE basketball game. ONE. I’m embarrassed to even admit that, but there it is. We just never had access to tickets, and I got comfortable watching from home or at the houses of friends. But SOMEDAY I am going to get to a UNC-Duke game. My friend Jenny Han and I are trying to figure out how we can get on list to be considered for season tickets. I would go to every game! I’d stay until the buzzer no matter what the score! I would scream my lungs out! It will happen. I’m determined. But in the meantime, I will be here on Saturday, biting my nails and screaming loud enough to probably be HEARD at the Dean Dome. Bring on March Madness!

Have a good weekend, everyone!

1. It’s March! Hooray! And yes, it still feels like winter, and we may have some flurries this weekend. But by the end of the month, it will be beginning to feel like spring, and that is all that matters. Personally, I am already pretending it is spring if not summer. For example, this week I got a pink pedicure. And I am already looking at flip flops online. It’s all in the MINDSET, people. Although I draw the line at bathing suit shopping. Too early. Always too early.

2. Last night, we had another parenting first: the head wound. My kid is pretty tough in terms of injuries: since she started walking, she was running, and once running, doing a lot of falling. She’d totally faceplant in the living room, then jump up and announce “I’m okay!” before taking off again. So we’ve gotten a bit used to the quick recovery. Then, last night, we’ve just settled in at date night out when my phone rings. It’s my babysitter, so immediately I am nervous. I can hear my daughter wailing in the background, which sends me into a panic. Apparently she tripped and knocked her noggin on the bannister, and was at that moment bleeding quite a bit. I don’t even remember the drive home, just that my husband kept reassuring me that he was a BIG head bleeder as a kid, and usually it’s not nearly as bad as it looks. Okay, then. We get home, rush inside, and sure enough, there IS blood but the cut/bruise is small and already clotting up. My daughter is teary and worried we are mad at her for having to come home (sob!) my babysitter is nervous SHE is in trouble, and honestly I’m so relieved I can’t even speak. This morning, aside from a tinge of red in her hair, she’s good as new. This is all par for the parenting course, I know, but still, it’s not easy. I would consider a helmet if I didn’t know that sounded crazy. Maybe a nerf hat or something?

3. Regular readers of this blog know that I am a big fan of nonfiction on audio, memoirs in particular. This week I finished listening to 17 hours of GOING CLEAR, a nonfiction book all about the Church of Scientology. It was VERY thorough and interesting, especially since I knew next to nothing about the church other than, you know, Tom Cruise and John Travolta belong to it. As someone who was raised without religion for the most part, all faiths seem kind of foreign to me, but this one in particular, with the outer space element, was intriguing. I swear I learn SO much since I joined Audible. Not that it wasn’t fine listening to classic rock while I drove around. But learning WHILE traveling? Bonus!

4. I’ve been saying here for awhile that things are HAPPENING in terms of my upcoming book releases, although I haven’t had much I can share with you just yet. It’s kind of like a plant that is busy growing beneath the dirt, but you just can’t see how hard it’s working until it pops out and shows itself. (Long metaphor, but you get the idea.) Anyway, coming up this week I’ll be doing a  Twitter chat (details to come, super soon!) AND there’s been a redesign for the landing page of Sarah-Land, where you can access ALL my social media links in one convenient place. Personally, I think it’s gorgeous and I don’t even know if I’m supposed to share it yet but I am doing it anyway. If I get in trouble, it will be totally worth it. Also, have already endured a head wound this week, so….

5. Okay, this has been a LONG entry already and it’s freezing here in the preschool fellowship hall. Also, whole head wound thing yesterday has me too tired to be any more creative. So I will just leave you with this gratuitious picture of my dogs:

Sorry. And, you’re welcome.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

1. Another week, another blog post written in the preschool parking lot. This time, however, I’m supposed to be snapping pics of myself WHILE doing this, for use in some promotional videos/materials for the new book. I’m as much of a fan of the selfie as anyone, but this is NOT easy. Plus I think I look totally weird holding my phone out to the side and blindly hitting the shutter button, hoping to capture SOMETHING that looks like what I am actually doing. As if all the other parents at preschool didn’t think I was weird enough already.

2. In other news, our trip to Austin was GREAT. My husband made the time he was aiming for in the marathon (3.5 hours) I ate a TON of good food, and I got to see the Landing Strip club, albeit from a distance, which was featured in Friday Night Lights. Also, I got a bobblehead armadillo, which look so much like a rat from a distance I moved it over to my office so as not to scare guests. I love it because all I have to do is flick him, and he agrees with anything I say. The POWER!

3. As I mentioned, Austin has AMAZING food. Tex Mex, barbecue, Polynesian-Asian fusion and bacon-wrapped deep fried Hot Dogs (yes, really). For me, though, it will forever be remembered as the place where I first tried the gloriousness that is fried chicken and waffles. There’s a place here in Durham that does this and is delicious, but I have never been. So when we were in the marathon waiting place and they had this up on the buffet, I could not resist. Even though it was, you know, 9am. I mean, the waffles make it breakfast food, right?

4. I know I said this last week, but attending marathons( and being at the finish line especially) is really inspiring to me. Because I had a five year old in tow who protested whenever I tried to drag her on any walks other than to toy stores or places with cookies, I didn’t get to check in with my husband at mile 5, 10, 20, etc. So we just saw him at the finish. It had been a long morning already, trying to get my kid to cooperate, battling the crowds, and, you know, eating chicken and waffles (Okay, that last part was a snap.) So by the time we climbed onto our seats on the bleachers near the finish we are overdue for a nap and kind of cranky. But then we settled in, and the music was playing, and the guys with the microphones were shouting people’s names and encouragement as they came in. Every few minutes someone in the crowd around us would burst out screaming and clapping, cheering on their person as they passed by and under the finish banner. People were crying, slapping hands as they ran past, pumping their fists. It was so awesome. (There was also the guy who finished, then stepped right in front of us and threw up five times in a row, which was NOT as fun to watch, but whatever.) We’d been tracking my husband on the mobile app, so we knew when to expect him, and when we saw him we screamed his name and jumped up and down. He was so focused he didn’t even see us. However, he did not throw up, so I call that a win. Anyway, it was really life affirming to see so many people reaching a personal goal, one right after the other. It made me think you can really do anything you put your mind to. And that’s always a nice thing to remember.

5. Finally, there was ANOTHER great inspiration this week: Robin Roberts returned to Good Morning America, five months to the day after her bone marrow transplant. Regular readers of this page know I am obsessed with GMA, and Robin is kind of like my pretend BFF (but in a friendly way, not a scary/stalkery one). Plus, one time when I visited, she let me sit it George Stephanopoulus’ chair!

Anyway, I bought the People cover with Robin on it and read it on the plane coming home from Austin. She was so positive and spiritual in her tweets and FB messages, but it was clear from article that she had some rough, hard times during the prep for her transplant and the recovery. I talk here a lot about my celebrity/pop culture obsessions, and how I love the Housewives and FNL and Amy Poehler. But Robin: she INSPIRES me. I kept thinking about her, in fact, as I watched all those people, some cheering, some grimacing, some crying as they finished the marathon. Whether your race is public or private, you’re the only one who can run it, and sometimes that takes more than you think you have. But all that really matters is somehow, you keep going. I’m going to think of her the next time I’m up against something that seems too much to handle. One foot in front of the other, over and over again, all the way to the finish.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

1. I’m writing this in the midst of trying to pack for our trip to Austin. We leave early tomorrow and I am SO far from prepared it’s laughable. Or maybe cry-able. Or laugh UNTIL you cry. Whatever, I don’t have time to figure it out as I am NOT READY. Somehow between Valentine’s Day and our normal chaos, I put off until today getting things organized and now it’s coming at me like a tidal wave. Plus my kid insisted on “helping” pack her own suitcase, which means that along with her clothes and allotted two stuffed animals there is now all OTHER kinds of things in it, like a lunchbox and a tiara and an old baby blanket she hasn’t used in ages. Clearly, she inherited her packing skills from me. My husband will do his later tonight and it will take him fifteen minutes, tops. Honestly.

2. In other news, I think I am the last person in the world with super slow internet. As I write this, I have two other tabs still trying to connect. And that’s a GOOD day. I love so much about living in the country: the wide sky and stars at night, the quiet, deer walking through the yard, lots of room for my kid to run and play. But some days, especially when I’m trying to do something important like, you know, look at GIFs on Tumblr, I wish I lived closer to town so I could have a cable modem. Also, pizza delivery would be nice, but I’m not trying to be picky here. We have DSL, because it is all that is available, and every time I am someplace else with regular fast internet it’s like I’m a caveman seeing civilization. Wow! Look at that! Maybe, someday, cable will come out this far. Or maybe we’ll get to some technology change where you just have to THINK about the internet and it appears. In the meantime, I will just hope a chubby squirrel doesn’t jump on the phone line as I’m writing an important email. And wait patiently for those GIFs, which I shouldn’t even be looking at anyway, because I’m supposed to be working. Ahem.

3. Speaking of work, this week I did started a blog tour to give out some new info about THE MOON AND MORE, which will be published June 4th. We kicked everything off over at the amazing Forever YA, which provided the first fact AND links to all the other blogs I’ll be popping up on. You can get the full list here. And coming up in early March, I’m going to be doing a Twitter chat, so details on that when I get them. Be prepared for me to clog your feed. You have been warned! I’ll try to be nice about it, though. That’s the line between promotion and being obnoxious. I am trying to walk it carefully. (OH and I hope those squirrels stay off the lines that night. Maybe I can throw some food in the yard to distract them?)

4. In other animal news, I continue to battle with my little bantam rooster, Frank. My husband and his co-worker Will usually deal with the chickens, and both Frank and our big rooster, Foghorn, don’t really mess with them that much. But since I’m not in the coop too often, Frank always takes issue when I turn up to get the eggs. I’ve taken to recording his behavior so I can show my husband exactly what I am having to put up with, so I have documentation when I someday end up punting Frank across the coop in self defense. This is my second video, and as you can see, he is not backing down without a fight. And once he IS strutting off, he’s talking so much smack in chicken language it’s ridiculous. I get enough flack from the world. I do NOT need it from my own rooster. See what I mean here. (And FYI, I do NOT kick him in this video, even though I say I am going to. I only nudge him with my foot so he WILL NOT ATTACK ME.)

5. I’m really excited to cheer my husband on while he’s running the Austin Marathon this weekend. It’s his fifth one (I think?) but the first I’ve seen in ages, and the first time my daughter and I have accompanied him. He’s always nervous and stressed about the race, but as someone who gets to just tag along I LOVE the whole marathon experience. For a treadmill runner like myself, it’s like hanging with rockstars. But while I can’t relate to wanting to run 26.2 miles unless my life depended on it, I do like the connection between running and writing. I’ve talked about it before, the idea that books, at least for me, are marathons and not sprints. You can have a strong start and a slow finish, or the reverse, or anything in between. You will have times when it comes easy and feels great, and others where you literally don’t think you’ll make it another page or step. And support from others is key, although in a race it’s with clackers and cheering and for me, with writing, it’s my husband patting me on the back when I’m in a defeated spiral, or my agent reminding me I freak out Every Single Time, or even all of you here, asking when another book is coming because you’re excited to read it. There’s a lot to be said for a single, “You can do it!” That’s what I’ll be yelling when my husband and anyone else who might needs it passes me by on Sunday. I’ll be using my clacker, too.

Have a good weekend, everyone!

1. I’ve written here before about  how February is not my favorite month. Nothing personal, we just don’t mesh. Maybe it’s the cold, or the gray, or the cold and gray. But I must have angered February, because last week was a real kicker. My husband AND daughter both got sick over the weekend (with a stomach bug and cold, respectively) and I was playing double nursemaid. Also, I am highly suggestible and paranoid when it comes to stomach bugs, so I was convinced that at any moment I, too, would be felled like a giant oak. Clorox Wipes and soap and water were my besties, let’s just put it that way. I wiped down everything, constantly, including myself. If I could have worn a hazmat suit, I would have. Everyone’s better now, thankfully, although I am still exhausted. I’m determined, now, to make nice with this month. After all, next week is Valentine’s Day. Which means chocolate! Which is not cold or gray. Ideally.

2. As I write this, the internet is buzzing with expectation for the SNOWPOCALYPSE and the BLIZZARD OF ALL TIME, which is about to hit the Northeast. They’re calling it Nemo, which is weird because when I hear that name I think cute orange fish, not travel nightmares, snowplows and shoveling driveways. There’s something contagious about storm panic/prep, though. Even though it’s doing NOTHING here (but being, well, cold and gray BUT THAT IS OKAY, FEBRUARY!) I have this urge to hunker down, make a big pot of mac and cheese  and nap. There is a certain comfort to being snowed in, or at least there WAS until I had a rowdy, energetic five year old to entertain. Gone are the days when I could, you know, eat carbs, crash, and watch Bravo marathons while the white stuff piled up outside. Now it’s all about Keeping Her Busy Without Making Myself Crazy. I keep telling myself, though, that a time will come when she’ll want to be only with her friends and spend most of her time in her room on the phone (or mind-meld, or whatever technology will rule by that point) so I need to soak this time up. Still, I miss those marathons. Hopefully Bravo will still be around and kicking in ten years.

3. The Moon and More, my next book, will not be out until June 4th, but things are starting to pick up  nonetheless. Some review copies have gone out, some ARCs to librarians and bloggers, and the folks at Penguin are busy cooking up all kinds of fun stuff that I’ll be able to tell you about as things get closer. It’s starting to feel more REAL,which you would think would not be that exciting since this is the eleventh time I’ve done it, but it TOTALLY is. The lag time between finishing a book and seeing it released allows for LOTS of time for neurotic types like me to obsess, agonize and just generally tie myself up in knots. The best thing to do at this point, at least for me, is to start another book. It just allows me to cut the cord that much more, so to speak. It’s not that I’m done with The Moon and More: it hasn’t even started yet. But it’s shifting, as we speak, into another phase. Like this week, I got to listen to some auditions for the audiobook, which is always fun. Also sort of bizarre, and I am not used to hearing anyone read my stuff aloud but, you know, me. It’s hard to let go! I have to admit, I’m so weird about all this I can’t even imagine how I’ll take my kid heading off to kindergarten in the fall. Jesus. Better start putting money aside for extra therapy NOW.

4. Another thing that happens as a book release nears is I have to find that sticky balance between doing necessary promotion and being obnoxious. This is not easy, as of course I WANT to tell people about my book and extra stuff that has to do with it, but I also hate it when someone bombards me with so much ME ME BUY BUY MY MY BOOK BOOK that I want to do exactly the opposite. Social media makes this even stickier. If someone, say, reads this blog, follows me on Twitter and Instagram AND Tumblr, they might get sick of hearing about the book fast. Lately I’ve been trying to figure out where Facebook fits in with all of this. I have a Facebook account under Sarah Dessen, as well as a Sarah Dessen page, but I am UBER slack about checking/updating them. To me, Facebook is more for friends and family, while everything else is for, you know, everyone else. But I know a lot of authors use FB for their professional stuff as well. I guess I’m wondering if you, kind reader of this blog, look for authors on FB or if it’s more for your friends/family, like I use it? The last thing I want to do is make everyone sick of my book before it’s even out. But at the same time…ugh. I think I need a dance break or something.

5.

Ah, that’s better. You can only think about work for so long before you just NEED to see a picture of the Nard Dog from The Office busting a move in an elevator. If you’re in the Northeast, be safe this weekend! Hunker down and watch some Bravo for me. Don’t forget the mac and cheese!

Have a good weekend, everyone!

1. I’m writing this from the fellowship hall of my daughter’s preschool, which is big and quiet and has super fast internet, so it’s quickly become one of my favorite satellite offices. Downstairs, her class is having their annual Hibernation Day, and I’m pretty much in sugar shock from the cuteness. It’s the best tradition: every year at this time, there’s one day where everyone wears their pajamas to school, they put out big tents everywhere, and the preschool director makes pancakes for snack, tossing them high in the air as she does so. It’s just so freaking sweet, and it makes me realize how much I’m going to miss this place next year when my kid moves on to kindergarten. Is it weird that I am super anxious about the transition to Real School? I am trying not to pass this nervousness onto her, but at times I wish she could stay super little forever. Ah, the tug and push of parenthood. Never easy. I think I’d feel better if I was in my pajamas.

2. Last night, we went out with our friend Heather to a local restaurant. Heather’s a bartender at  one of our favorite places, Peccadillo, and basically knows EVERYTHING about wine. I am on the other end of the spectrum. I love wine, and basically will drink just about anything you put in front of me, from Ernest and Julio to a forty dollar bottle. I am clueless when it comes to all these terms Heather was using to describe these various reds we were tasting, not to mention how she was able to sense a difference in the wine after it had been open awhile. They were all lovely to me, but again, my standards are low. I guess. Someday I will learn about wine, just as I will get more gourmet with my food and learn another language. I just need, you know, some spare time. Where is that, again?

3. Speaking of food and drink, the Superbowl is this weekend. I am not a football fan, but I love any excuse to eat and imbibe, and this is basically the pinnacle of allowed gluttony. Case in point: on GMA the other day, they were making a 47 layer dip that I first saw featured on Buzzfeed. They were literally assembling it in a food prep BUCKET, the kind I remember from my restaurant days. Which prompted my husband, who is always drawn to GMA when they are featuring animals or food, to say, “I just don’t know about a snack you have to eat from a bucket.” True that. Still, I was intrigued. But how do you even dig DOWN 47 layers? NO chip can take that! Personally, I’m planning chili for Sunday, along with maybe some pigs in a blanket and nachos. But there is still time for more of a menu. Okay, now I’m hungry. Moving on…

4. As I write this, I am waiting for word about my cousin Deborah, who, if all goes well, will be getting a lung transplant today. She’s been on the list for a long time, and we got the word early this morning that they’d received the call. Her sister, my cousin Erika, just had two transplants in the last year for the same condition, pulmonary fibrosis, a disease that causes scar tissue to build up in the lungs. I’ve always been an organ donor, and seeing what miracles have happened for my family because others have made the same choice has been really enlightening. Of course, a lung becoming available is only the first step: it has to be viable, the transplant must go well, and there is recovery and the fear of rejection. But for now, I am just thinking the best thoughts I can for Deb and praying for her family. If you have a second to do the same, I know it would be much appreciated.

5. Finally, we are in the final days of counting down to our big family trip to Austin, TX, where my husband is running the Austin Marathon. This is his fourth one (I think?) but the first my daughter and I have tagged along on since she was born. Marathon prep is NOT for wimps. For the past few months, he’s been doing these daily runs, with a few off days, and SUPER long runs on Sundays (last week, 23 miles. TWENTY THREE!). It makes him achy and cranky and he’s stressed about his times, but he still swears he’s doing it for fun. Really? I will never truly understand the runner’s mentality, which is why I am a treadmill-while-watching-Bravo-long-run-is-three-miles kind of gal. Which is just fine. I don’t have tattoos, either: that’s this thing as well. But I AM excited about Austin, where I have been twice for work but never for fun. If anyone reading this has good suggestions for what to do with an active five year old there—preferably near downtown, as we won’t have a car—please leave a comment. I am thinking Duckboats, but am not sure of anything else. Any and all TX native advice is WELCOME. Thanks in advance!

Have a good weekend, everyone!