1. Guys. Guess who gets to be on a panel at Comic Con in NYC?

By far one of the coolest things to ever happen to me. I guess I should wait until after I go before I say that? Nope. Don’t need to wait. Mark Hamill is going to be there. Jason Mamoa. Kim Harrison. Brandon Sanderson. Tahereh Mafi, whose SHATTER ME just shattered me, really… gah!!! I’m. So. Pumped!!!

2. Have you seen the book trailer for THE UNBECOMING OF MARA DYER? Amazing! That’s how you do a book trailer. Congratulations to Michelle Hodkin, who is a great person & class act. I can’t wait to read MARA next week!

3. Quotable Friday. This week, my husband’s words from a few days ago. Spoken in one of many recent pep talks given to encourage me through the pressure of deadlines for one book, marketing demands for another. I thought this was quite smart (but don’t tell him I said that.)

You can’t teach experience.

Some things you have to just slog through and figure out on the fly. And there’s a certain release in that. I don’t know how to handle much of what doing. Learning as I go. Bungling about a little, but I’ll figure it out. And so will you. Here’s to learning as we go, everyone.

4. Finally, for no particular reason, I give you Ivan.

Hi guys. Another week, huh? Hope it’s been a good one for you.

1. Today, I’m over at BRAVE NEW WORDS shining a spotlight on my favorite scene in UNDER THE NEVER SKY. Curious? Check it out.

2. MY FRIENDS ARE AWESOME - (That sounded mean. I didn’t mean it to be mean. I’m sure your friends are awesome too.) It never gets old seeing your friend’s name in Publisher’s Marketplace. Donna Cooner and I met in a critique group almost two years ago. She had just signed with an agent and I was in awe of her. I still am. Her writing is funny and heartbreaking and so gooood. It’s a thrill to see other people recognize her incredible talent. Here’s the announcement for her recent UK sale:


Donna Cooner’s SKINNY, about a girl whose obesity and negative thoughts stand in the way of her dreams of becoming a singer and finding love, until she begins a long, hard journey of self-discovery and reinvention culminating in gastric-bypass surgery, only to find that love was never dependent on her size, to Stella Paskins at Egmont UK, in a two-book deal, for publication in Fall 2012, by Julia Churchill at the Greenhouse Literary Agency. 

Fellow Apocalypsie Miranda Kenneally’s next two books were announced in the same bulletin. Here’s a brief snippet:


Miranda Kenneally’s PLAYING PARKER, about a 17-year-old girl and the inappropriate relationship she develops with the school baseball coach, and BAD, BAD THING, about a teen girl with strong Christian beliefs who can’t get over the role she played in helping her best friend get an abortion.


I can’t wait to read Miranda’s debut CATCHING JORDAN. Really, really can’t wait. YA + Football + Romance = Awesome. I know it. How can it not? Also. Have you seen the cover? LOVE it.

CATCHING JORDAN drops December 1st. Congratulations, Miranda!

Finally, two Apocalypsies’ film deals were announced as well. I talked about Tamara Ireland Stone’s deal last week. Congrats to Dan Krokos for selling rights to his YA Thriller FALSE MEMORY to RKO Pictures. This is another book I can’t wait to get my hands on.

What a week, Apoxies! I’m so proud to be part of such a talented group.

3. BLOG TOUR – A shout out to Kari Olson for coordinating a blog tour for UNDER THE NEVER SKY through The Teen Book Scene.  I’ll post more details when I have them. Thanks, Kari. I can’t wait!

4. QUOTABLE FRIDAY – Last week, I went for inspirational. This week, we’re going craft. We’re going nuts and bolts, people. A reminder to me, and to you if you need it, about writing emotion. This is from CHARACTERS, EMOTION & VIEWPOINT by Nancy Kress.

In fact, naming emotions is usually a poor way to portray them. Even when authors say something like “Fear gripped him,” the abstract naming is supplemented by other, more visceral techniques. This is because the aim is not to label the emotion; it is to make the reader experience the same emotion the character does.

Now go forth and don’t name emotion, convey it.

ps. I’m feeling happy. Are you?

Van Gogh, Self Portrait 1889

Hi, all.

This week was all over the place for me in terms of writing productivity. I had a few days that were killer, and a few that were utterly wasted. So for Quotable Friday, I’m sharing one of my favorite quotes about persistence in art. It comes not from a writer but a painter, who also happened to be quite eloquent, as I think you’ll see:

“But on the path I have taken now I must keep going; if I don’t do anything, if I do not study, if I do not go on seeking any longer, then I am lost. Then woe is me. That is how I look at it; to continue, to continue; that is what is necessary. But you will ask: What is your definite aim? That aim becomes more definite, will stand out slowly and surely, just as the rough draught becomes a sketch, and the sketch becomes a picture, little by little, by working seriously on it, by pondering over the idea, vague at first, over the thought that was fleeting and passing, till it gets fixed.”

Those are Vincent Van Gogh’s words in his letters to his brother, Theo.

Next week–or probably sooner–I will work seriously. I will ponder and go on studying and seeking. I will continue. Because Vincent is right: that is what is necessary.

I hope, wherever your passion lies, that you choose to continue too.

Have a great long weekend.

And do try, if you can, to move like Jagger.

1. Y’all are leaving the nicest messages in the comments below, and via email, about wanting to read my book. I’ve heard from old high school buddies (Hi Adam and Rae!), writing friends (Hi Aimee, Elizabeth, Janis!), internet friends (Hi PB and Beth!) and people who are new (Hi everyone else! Welcome and hope to see you back.) Thank you for your support, guys. I so appreciate it. Good luck to all who have entered to win the ARC!

2. I’m going to try a new feature on Fridays and share some of my favorite quotes, on writing most often but occasionally about other things.

Here’s one of my favorites to kick things off. This comes from agent and writing guru Donald Maass’s book WRITING THE BREAKOUT NOVEL:

Every protagonist needs a torturous need, a consuming fear, an aching regret, a visible dream, a passionate longing, an inescapable ambition, an exquisite lust, an inner lack, a fatal weakness, an unavoidable obligation, an iron instinct, an irresistible plan, a noble ideal, an undying hope… whatever it is that in the end propels him beyond the boundaries that confine the rest of us and brings about fulfilling change.

Great, huh?

Have a great weekend, everyone!