take me on a photo tour

Since Take Me There takes place in my neighborhood, I thought you might like to see what everything looks like to Rhiannon, Nicole, James, and their friends.

Go to the Take Me There photo tour!

laundry & bliss

Some of you have asked what I did yesterday to celebrate my book release.  Did I have a party?  Or do something majorly huge?  Actually, no.  That seems like a lot of fuss for one little book.  So here are some of the exciting things I did instead:

1.  Went to the gym.
2.  Did laundry.
3.  Cleaned.

In way more exciting news, friendly neighbor Steph S. has conducted an interview with me for her high school newspaper, Mill Stream.  You can read it here.

Thanks to Tirzah at The Compulsive Reader for a great month of fun and games!  She announced the winners of book copies.

There’s a town in New York actually called Bliss.  How cool is that?  Even cooler:  A wind farm has been established there.  Wind turbines rock.  You can feel their energy just by looking at them:

take me there is out!

Today is the release date of Take Me There.  Woo-hoo!

The Barnes & Noble floor displays will be out by June 10.  So if you happen to find yourself in the teen section of your local Barnes & Noble, I would be absolutely thrilled to receive a photo of you with the display.  I’m creating a collage of friends and neighbors from locations near and far because I do stuff like that.

You can win signed copies of Take Me There and When It Happens, plus have your writing published in my next book!  Check out my contest details here.  You have until the summer solstice (June 21) to send me your totally brill entry.  Rock on.

sailboats (two fours)

My last YA reading adventure was Eric Luper’s Big Slick.  What a fun ride it was!  I can’t imagine any boy not digging this story.  It even sparked my interest in Texas Hold ‘Em, but I’m sure I’d have about 73  tells if I actually played that game.

It was also fun to get my copy of Big Slick at the Strand with Eric when he was recently here for a busy day.  Fortunately, he was not too busy to have a granita (the most delicious coffee drink ever; I can even get mine decaf) with me at my fave coffeehouse, Joe the Art of Coffee.  Then we went to the Strand (the most amazing bookstore in NYC) and found copies of our books.  Here we are being all mysterious.  Or something.

I could have stayed there for hours discussing the teen and children’s books, but he was already late for a meeting (I hope you blamed that on me, Eric!).  It’s always good to see Eric, particularly because he takes such excellent care of my Colasanti Tree.

Recent photo!  Doesn’t he look so happy?  I know my tree will be thriving for the rest of spring and all summer long.  Over and out (a ten and a four).

in which the universe brings evan rachel wood

The Universe knows that I’ve wanted Evan Rachel Wood to play the main character in the movie version of When It Happens for years.  And today, Evan was brought to my door.

Well, technically she walked past my door.  Woody Allen was filming his Summer Project 2008 on my street today and she’s in it.  Oh, and if you happen to see this movie and notice someone in yoga pants and an “I [lip symbol] NY” T-shirt looking all sweaty and gross from the gym walking down the street behind a girl with a dog, that’s me!  Or if you see that person getting packages from her mailman, still all sweaty and gross from the gym, that’s me again!  Anyway, I left a copy of my book for Evan because that is what you do when the energy of the universe delivers your fate to your door.  You open the door and let fate in.

Open the door!

fork

When I’m feeling particularly geeked out, I say “fork” when I’m done with something.  As in “stick a fork in me, I’m done.”  Here are some things I’m done with.

1.  The revision of book three is done.  Moving on to my draft of book four after a short staycation.

2.  First order of business during my staycation:  Season Two of Friday Night Lights.  Dude, I’m already done with the whole freaking season.  That show is like the most delicious potato chip can’t-watch-just-one-ep phenomenon.  My only complaint is that it was too short.  Question:  Given the writers’ strike, what’s going to happen with the current season of my shows (which I hear has been wrapping up recently)?  Will there only be nine eps of The Office?  That’s just sad.

3.  My search for the ultimate cupcake blog is over.  Cupcakes Take the Cake is it.

4.  Coffee Talk topic:  Are New Yorkers rude?  Conclusion:  No.  We walk very quickly and may accidentally bump into the occasional tourist, but we’re great with directions.  Let’s get over the myth and be done with it, as explained in this Smithsonian article, “You Got a Problem With That?”.

5.  This isn’t a Friday Five.  It’s fork.

creative visualization

Is it just me, or is May zooming by at an alarming rate?  Same with 2008, which is suddenly almost half over.  Wild times.

Today at The Compulsive Reader, I am the guest blogger!  I decided to write about creative visualization, which is something that’s been with me since I was little and didn’t even realize what it was.  It’s helped me get through some really hard times.  And since it’s also the title of my blog, I thought you might want to know what creative visualization means to me.

Tirzah’s contest winners will be announced next Thursday, so check out The Compulsive Reader’s simple contest entry deets to win copies of When It Happens and Take Me There (found at the end of her book review).  The deadline to enter is next Wednesday. Good luck!

more summer blog blast tour

The Summer Blog Blast Tour marches on!  Today, Barry Lyga is interviewed at A Chair, A Fireplace & A Tea Cozy.  I cannot rave enough about his seriously impressive novel, Boy Toy.  It’s intense, fast-paced, reflective, funny, and goes places that should be visited but rarely are.  Plus, he can write 600 pages in, like, two days.  Barry was here in New York recently and I got to spend some time walking around the nabe with him.  Then we had pommes frites:

Also, the incredible Elizabeth Scott was interviewed Monday at Bookshelves of Doom.  Elizabeth is totally amazing.  She has three book releases this year and two slated for next year.  Way to work it and own it!  The plots of her next two books, Stealing Heaven and Living Dead Girl, are absolutely fascinating.  I can’t wait to read them!

See the whole SBBT schedule here.

little willow blog blast

It is a great honor to be interviewed on Little Willow’s blog today.  Little Willow is an essential expert in the world of YA lit.  She compiles, conducts, and creates more book reviews, author interviews, awesome lists, and teen novel commentary than you can believe.  If you don’t know from her site, get your butt over there yesterday.

My interview is part of the Summer Blog Blast Tour, organized by Colleen at Chasing Ray.  Here’s the SBBT schedule for this week.  Definitely check it out!

my first official contest!

Yay, it’s my first official contest to win copies of Take Me There and When It Happens!  Woo-hoo!  For extra fun, check this out:  The ultimate winner of this contest will have their writing published in my third book.

Dialogue lovers, this one’s for you.  Because the contest winner will be the person who writes the best dialogue (no more than three sentences) for a particular scene.  And it’s not just any scene.  This is the crucial last scene, in which the main boy character asks the main girl character to the junior prom.  Six months early (it’s currently November and the prom isn’t until May).  Here’s the sitch:  He’s a boy who’s liked this girl (both juniors) for years without her knowing, but now she knows.  He sat behind her in eighth-grade physical science and overheard her talking to her best friend about the prom, so he knows she’s been looking forward to it for a long time.  Now he’s finally asking her to go.  He’s revealing his true feelings, holding nothing back.  What magic words does he use to make her say yes?

These sweet prizes can be procured:

1.  The ultimate winner will have their dialogue published in my third book, Waiting For You, which will be released next summer.  The winner will also receive a signed copy of Take Me There.

2.  The first runner-up will receive a signed copy of Take Me There.

3.  The second runner-up will receive a signed copy of When It Happens.

The contest rules are simple:

1.  Entries must be received by the summer solstice, June 21.

2.  Email all submissions to me at friendly.neighbor@hotmail.com

3.  Enlighten me with your spectacular talent!

Winners will be notified by June 25 and posted here.  If you are a winner, I will email you for your address.

Thanks to SP for this totally brill idea.  You are a work of genius.