Hey Book Club members, want to win a call to your book club from little ol' me? Then you should definitely enter Simon & Schuster's CALL ME BOOK CLUB SWEEPSTAKES! Not only can you win 25 free books for your book club, but you can also receive a phone call from one of the six participating authors, Kate Brian (aka moi), Lisa Schroeder, Lisa McMann, Deb Caletti, Angela Johnson or Elizabeth Scott! To enter, all you have to do is click the link below and fill out the entry form. Easy peasy! So start thinking up some burning questions for your favorite author. You just might get to ask them!
Right, so Sunday was, like, the best day EVER as more than 60 Young Adult and Middle Grade authors hit BOOKS OF WONDER in New York City for five straight hours of signing books, chatting with fans, taking pictures and basically gushing all over each other. It was incredible to meet so many fans of both the KATE BRIAN books and the KIERAN SCOTT books. It reminded me there's one good reason to write under multiple names . . . more readers!!! Shout outs to Jackie, Kimberly, Gail, Renee, Amari and all the other cool girls I met that day!
But the other cool thing, for me at least, was getting to hang out with my writerly friends as well as meet a bunch of incredible writers I'd never met before. When I first arrived DAVID LEVITHAN was running around like a madman distributing name tags and trying to make sure everyone who was supposed to be there was, in fact, there. ELIZABETH SCOTT and GAYLE FOREMAN were hanging out by the door, grabbing the authors as they came in to collect money for a gift for the aforementioned DL. There was a huge line all cued up for MAGGIE STIEFVATER as the rest of us looked on in awe, but we managed to cut through the crowd to sing Happy Birthday to COE BOOTH, who blew out her candles in one try. SARAH BETH DURST was chilling with a smile on as always, just waiting for her turn to sign, and then in ran JENNY HAN with mere seconds to spare as NATALIE STANDIFORD stood by, taking it all in. I still had some time before the S's were up, so I ran down to a cafe a few blocks south to meet up with SARA SHEPARD for a late lunch, and when we got back COURTNEY SHIENMEL greeted us with her ridiculously warm smile, while over by the cafe MICHAEL NORTHROP was cracking up everyone in earshot. Soon we had to get down to signing, where I got to meet the incredibly sweet SHANI PETROFF who was seated in the next chair. Then, as I was signing, ELIZABETH EULBERG, SARAH MLYNOWSKI, RACHEL VAIL, AIMEE FRIEDMAN, WENDY MASS and LYNN WEINGARTEN all stopped by to say hello (thanks for the water Lynn! I owe you $2!), and afterward I finally got to meet the fabulous SIOBHAN VIVIAN, a writer I've ALMOST met so many times in the past we've been like two ships constantly passing in the night. Here's a pic of Lynn, Aimee, me and Sara, taken by Natalie!
It was honestly the most fun I've had in a really long time, and I'm already looking forward to next year's event, where I plan to sign copies of SHE'S SO DEAD TO US! I hope to meet YOU there!
Things have been so entirely hectic around here that I haven't even gotten to blog about my awesome experience at FIELDSTONE MIDDLE SCHOOL's CAREER DAY, which was already two weeks ago! I will share the photos and fun soon, but right now I have to make sure you all know about the SECOND ANNUAL NYC TEEN AUTHOR FESTIVAL going on this week in, well, New York City. There are a bunch of awesome events, including various panels on writing, lots of readings and even a concert given byTIGER BEAT, the only all-ya-author band in the world! That I know of anyway.
For my part, I will be participating in the FIVE BOROUGH READ this Thursday am in STATEN ISLAND, baby! I'll be reading from my upcoming book SHE'S SO DEAD TO US, so if you're one of the lucky schools that's field-tripping to the WEST NEW BRIGHTON library that morning, you'll get to hear some of it before it hits stores.
I'll also be participating in the HUGE signing at BOOKS OF WONDER (18 W. 18th Street) on Sunday 3/21. There will be 77 authors signing their books throughout the day. My particular slot is from 4:15 to 5, and I feel lucky that I'm going to be there with a few of my friends, including Elizabeth Scott, Courtney Sheinmel and Sara Shepard. (It's alphabetical. Catch that?)I hope to see you there!
For a full list of events, times and places, check out the official TEEN AUTHOR FESTIVAL page on facebook: NYC TEEN AUTHOR FESTIVAL!
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