News and Events and Giveaways, Oh, My!

This coming Friday, I'm delighted to be visiting Book Passage in Corte Madera to meet with their teen reading group, Must Be 14, to discuss MANOR OF SECRETS.  The event will begin at 6 pm, and I've heard rumors there will be tea and scones!

On Thursday, April 10, I will be doing a special one-day giveaway of an ARC of BRAZEN, just for fun.  All day (until midnight EST), you can leave a page number in the comments of the blog, and I will reply with just one sentence from that page.  Every comment will count toward the drawing!  Looking forward to seeing you there!

And right now, Penguin is offering FIVE galleys of BRAZEN to entrants on Goodreads.  The giveaway ends April 1.

Finally, the most fun I've had so far this year was also the rainiest weekend California has seen in a long time.  I was invited by the Canyon Hills branch of the Anaheim Public Library to give a book talk and was utterly blown away by the welcome I received.  I got to have dinner with some lovely ladies from the Friends of the Orange County Libraries, a personal tour of Founder's Park in Anaheim, and an enthusiastic, inquisitive crowd at the book talk.  I can't thank all of them enough.

Founder's Park Carriage House

The library hosted an Edwardian
hat contest in honor of
MANOR OF SECRETS.

Many, many thanks to Margaret Cargo for extending the invitation, to Cynthia Hicks, the head librarian at Canyon Hills, the Friends of the Library, and all of the people who ventured out on that cold, wet day!

Launch Party!

The publication of TARNISH is only a week away (eep!) and I went to my local independent bookstore today to finalize plans for the launch party.

This year, I'm doing something a little different.  My dear friend, and sister YA Muse Talia Vance and I are joining forces for a double launch party at the Avid Reader in Davis, CA on Saturday, June 22 at 4 p.m.

Talia's book, SPIES AND PREJUDICE, came out today and I am delighted to be able to share a podium with her.  We'll be talking about books, answering questions and playing Reading Roulette, as well as giving away galleys of upcoming novels from both of our publishers, Penguin and Egmont.

So if you're in the area, come by and say hello!

And have a slice of cake. :)

Literary Weekend!

This past weekend, I met up with authors and book bloggers at the Palo Alto Litquake festival at the Oshman Family Jewish Community Center.  The weather was gorgeous, the festival fun and free and casual and the conversation amazing (aren't they all when they're centered around books?)

I spoke as part of a panel with authors Corrine Jackson (IF I LIE), Veronica Rossi (UNDER THE NEVER SKY) and Talia Vance (SILVER), moderated by the amazing Pan Van Hylckama-Vlieg, known as Bookalicious Pam to the blogging world, but also a literary agent with Larsen Pomada.  We talked books and the publishing process, and answered the truly difficult questions like "If you went to Hogwarts, which house would the sorting hat put you in?" My answer? Hufflepuff. Because I'm kind of unsortable, and it's the place where people who haven't quite decided where their place is yet.  Veronica would be my roommate. :)

Talia Vance, Corrine Jackson, Veronica Rossi and me.
And no, we didn't color-coordinate on purpose!

We were joined by some members of the amazing Northern California book blogging community and dinner afterwards included lively discussions of our favorite books...

Debbie (@DebWorldofBooks) Nancy (@RavenousReadr) Tara (@tarataterbeans)
Mindy (@bookluvrmindy) Jaime (@arnoldjaime13) and Pam (@BookaliciousPam)

The most exciting part of the day was seeing all of our books together, being sold at the event by Books, Inc.  Corrine's isn't officially published until tomorrow, and Talia's will be in stores on September 8, but we got early pickings (and of course I had to buy both!)

Upcoming Events!

On Sunday, August 26, I will be speaking with a panel of YA authors (Veronica Rossi, UNDER THE NEVER SKY, Talia Vance, SILVER and Corrine Jackson, IF I LIE)  for the Palo Alto Litquake festival.   We will be talking about genre and writing and answering questions.  Books will be for sale courtesy of Books, Inc. (including early copies of SILVER and IF I LIE!)  Stop by and like the Facebook page for updates of the event.  Our panel is from 4 to 5 pm, but there are a lot of great events, so come early and enjoy!

The four of us will be speaking again on September 29 at 2pm at Bay Books in San Ramon.  This event will be relaxed and intimate - a real chance to get to know us better!

On October 25 and 26, I will be speaking with the YA Muses (Veronica Rossi, Talia Vance, Bret Ballou and Donna Cooner, author of SKINNY) at the Your Best Book workshop in Charlotte, NC.  We hope to do a bookstore event in Charlotte, too, so stay tuned!

On Saturday, November 3, I will be with some of my Class of 2k12 siblings - J. Anderson Coats (THE WICKED AND THE JUST), AC Gaughen (SCARLET), Lynne Kelly (CHAINED) and Jennifer Shaw Wolf (BREAKING BEAUTIFUL) at the YALSA Literature Symposium in St. Paul, talking about The Next Big Thing in Author Visits.  Can't wait to mingle with some of my favorite people - librarians.

On November 15, I will be at Book Passage in Corte Madera, launching the anthology DEAR TEEN ME with authors E. Kristin Anderson, Marke Bieschke, Stacey Jay, Mike Jung, Katherine Longshore, Erika Stalder and Mariko Tamaki.  We will be speaking briefly about our essays and our other books.

Hope to see you soon!

Weekend Recap!

I grew up in a small town.  After  two years away, I returned to finish my college education in the same small town.  I return on a regular basis to see my family, visit friends and spend hours on the (empty!) beaches listening to the waves.  Even though I haven't lived here for fifteen years, I still consider Humboldt County my home.

So when I discovered that GILT was going to be made into an actual book, I went to my favorite Humboldt bookstore and asked if I could do an event.  

The Booklegger in Eureka is a used bookstore.  Their shelves are full of classics and literary novels, romance, comic books, photo books, garden guides and rare, intriguing titles that scream to be taken home.  The owner, Jennifer McFaden, has amazing taste in literature.  And she remembers me from when I was in college, working at the bakery next door, and coming into the store on my lunch break, poring over exotic guidebooks and the travelogues of Paul Theroux, Colin Thubron and V.S. Naipaul.  Even after five years in England, she remembered me.  That's the sign of a great bookseller.

This past weekend, the Booklegger had a GILT-fest.  Jen, Amy and Nancy spent the morning cutting out Henry VIII paper dolls, clothing them in finery and decorating the front window with them.  In the afternoon, I went next door to pick up a cake I had ordered from Ramone's Bakery (yes, where I worked during college!) and discovered that the decorator had hand-drawn the book's title on the top with such intricate detail it took my breath away.  

The best part of the afternoon was the crowd.  Sure, there weren't a lot of people there.  But those who did come made the entire event a party.  The mother of one of my oldest friends showed up - having already read the book - and asked careful, interesting questions.  My high school prom date was in town just for the weekend for his father's 80th birthday and took an hour to spend with me, asking questions about history and writing.  And the man who taught me how to pull a perfect shot of espresso at the bakery next door, and who filled my college years with music singing with local band Small Fish (and who happened to be in town for his father-in-law's 75th birthday!).  And the booksellers.  And people I didn't even know.  It was intimate, awe-inspiring and so much fun.  I love doing readings and talking about writing and books, and have had some amazing experiences, but this, I think, was my favorite so far.  Memorable and humbling.  

So if you're ever in Eureka, California, stop in at the Booklegger - I can almost guarantee you'll find a book you want to read (I left with seven on Saturday).  And grab a cappuccino at Ramone's next door.

San Francisco Here I Come!

Tomorrow night, I will be at the YA author party of awesomeness hosted by Not Your Mother's Book Club at Books, Inc.  It looks like it will be a fabulous night, and I promise to try my best not to fangirl (too much).

Check out the list of authors who will be there (and dare me not to fangirl!)


Malinda Lo
CJ Omololu
Jandy Nelson
Heidi R Kling
Cheryl Herbsman
Cory Jackson
Lewis Buzbee
Tamara Ireland Stone
Lynn Hazen
Amy Reed
Ingrid Paulson
Kristin Tracy
Corina Vacco
Stacey Jay
Avery Williams
Veronica Rossi
Lisa Desrochers
Veronica Wolff

Hope to see you there, too!