advance copies

Which book am I kissing this week?

The Something Like Fate galley! No way! I wasn’t expecting the galleys to be printed this early, but it’s so awesome that they are. It sounds like the friendly neighbors in sales and marketing are planning a lot of fun stuff for this book. I love that they’re excited about getting the party started! As part of the fabulousness, the always awesome Penguin will be sending galleys to book bloggers and reviewers.

To be added to the mailing list, you can send me an email at friendly.neighbor [at] hotmail.com. Please include the following information in your email:

Your name
Your complete mailing address
A link to your website or blog

Galleys will only be sent to book reviewers in US and Canada. I’m not sure when they’ll be sent out. It might not be for a few months, since the Something Like Fate pub date is May 18. But you should submit your request soon, as the offer is only good while supplies last.

The party has officially started. Woot!

5

1. Can I just tell you how good Love Happens is? If it’s playing near you and you’ve been considering going to see it, definitely go. It was refreshing to see Aaron Eckhart not playing an a-hole. I’ve always liked him, especially during his twisted Neil LaBute In the Company of Men days. Jennifer Aniston’s character reminded me of Christian Slater in Bed of Roses, this 90s film I adore that never got the attention it deserves. I’m strongly recommending Love Happens, and not just because that was an alternate title for When It Happens. Warning: You will fall in love with the fluffy parrot and immediately want to go out after the movie and get your own fluffy parrot.

2. Before the movie started, there were previews for so many upcoming good movies I can’t even. I seriously cannot wait for It’s Complicated. Put together Meryl Streep, Steve Martin (love him!), Alec Baldwin, John Krasinski (still my #1 husband, despite rumors of a possible engagement), and a bunch of other awesome people, and you get a magical movie experience that will linger for weeks. Oh, and it’s by Nancy Meyers. Enough said. But there’s more. Whip It! comes out soon, along with Did You Hear About the Morgans? In that one, Sarah Jessica Parker and Hugh Grant go into a witness protection program. Which could go either way, now that I think about it. Precious (based on Push) looks amazing, but my heart shattered just watching the preview. I have a feeling it’s going to be like Boys Don’t Cry – a brilliant film that I can never watch again because it’s too haunting.

3. Speaking of SJP, some Sex and the City movie filming took place right before I left for the islands. I was walking back from Rite Aid when I noticed that Carrie Bradshaw’s stoop was being washed, ladders and other official looking equipment were scattered all around, and movie filming notices were posted all down the street. Question: If Carrie’s stoop is part of the new movie, does this mean that Carrie and Big are over?

4. A cute box set of three Sarah Dessen books is out. I went hunting for it at the big Union Square B&N and found this:

Her box set chilling with Take Me There in the Noteworthy section! I am honored.

5. After unbearable anticipation, I finally cracked open the last season of The Office. I’ll just say this for now. Jim and Pam at the rest stop in the rain? Perfection.

cover love

Thanks to everyone who commented with warm fuzzies about the Something Like Fate cover! I am just so excited about this book. It’s sort of wild talking about an upcoming book so far in advance, especially considering that Waiting for You just came out in May. But that’s the world of publishing, always looking ahead. Kind of like how I am about life in general.

I was really impressed to see that several book bloggers had already picked up on the cover, like, not even a week after it was released. You guys rock. You’re right about the synopsis not being posted yet. However, as many of you have guessed, the story deals with a lovers’ triangle. It’s amazing how much a finger touch can say. When we get closer to the pub date, I’ll post pics of the cover models so you can see how cute they are. That boy is hot. He’s already shown up on two other recent teen novel covers. My editor went to the photo shoot and conferenced with the models, telling them a bit about the book and their characters. I don’t know how she did it, but those models totally feel like my characters, even from the back. You can check out the studio where the photo shoot took place.

The cover’s not the only exciting part of the Something Like Fate book jacket. The spine has this gorgeous watercolor pattern that will totally pop on the shelves. And guess what? The When It Happens and Take Me There paperbacks have been revamped, so all of my books will now have this cool watercolor pattern in different color themes! I can’t wait to see them all lined up together. But that’s not all – my paperback covers have been revamped, so now they all have a uniform look. The same cover images were used for the repackaging, but now all the covers have pretty new fonts, enhanced colors, tag lines, embossing, and something called spot gloss, which I am so excited to see. When these editions are released in a few months, I’ll post the covers here. I’ll also be running contests for you guys to win some.

One last thing about Something Like Fate: The pub date has been finalized as May 18, 2010. This is a strict on-sale date, which is an awesome thing to have with a book. It means that all bookstores should definitely have the book out on that date. There will also be a Something Like Fate floor display, so you know what that means. Even more contest opportunities in the house! And with the strict on-sale date, all of the floor displays should be out at the same time as well. Now I just have to think up a fantastic new floor display contest…

catching up

The thing about taking a vacay when practically everyone else is going back to school and getting their serious post-summer regimen on at work and such is that you miss some things. So today, I just want to catch up on some stuff that’s been happening.

Last night, the preposterous Emmys with their endless commercials reminded me of why I’ve never owned a TV. How can there be that many commercials now? I don’t remember commercials being anywhere near that bad back in the day. A few of my boys and shows were nominated, so I had to make a TV viewing exception and take control of SP’s big screen. I should have known better. Why oh why do I always hope things will be different? Look, I have much respect for 30 Rock and Tina Fey. I am a fan. Smart, hilarious, sharp, awesome on so many levels – all that. But Steve Carell, Jemaine Clement, Rainn Wilson, The Office, and Flight of the Conchords were all nominated, and none of them won? Really? Something is not right with that picture. Steve Carell is so overdue for an Emmy I cannot even tell you. And no win for Rainn? Excuse me, but which character is more brilliant than Dwight Schrute? They were robbed! At least Jon Stewart got the attention he deserves. Not much of a silver lining, though.

Speaking of nominees who were robbed, I was stoked to come home to a pile of mail with David Letterman on the cover of New York magazine. My love for Dave is all sparkly rainbows and puffy hearts. I was so obsessed with Late Night in junior high that I used to tape it and watch it after school, recording all of his Top Ten lists in a special notebook. Just one more item I wish I hadn’t thrown away before I left for college.

Tomorrow is the autumnal equinox. I find this impossible to believe. I know I’m always like, Wait, it’s July? No way, I’m still on April! But this is serious. My time perception issue is getting worse. It feels like June to me. I don’t know how to fix my problem, or even if I should classify this as an official problem. Maybe it just means I’m enjoying life (which, within the realm of my entire life, is a relatively new thing). Well. On a related note, it’s Climate Week!

Most importantly, another September 11 has passed. My friend Stephen usually visits so we can walk to Ground Zero and take part in certain rituals. Our annual walk to Ground Zero symbolizes the walk to the Twin Towers we, thankfully, never took in 2001 as planned. This is a day I will never forget. Not only because our lives were saved, not only because the magic of the Towers drew me to New York, but because I live close to where they stood. I rebuild them behind my eyes every day. And every day, I thank the Universe that I am still here. I’ll leave you with this photo of us from last year. To me, it looks like hope.

santorini, finally

For so long, I’ve been hearing that Santorini is the most beautiful place on Earth. But nothing could have prepared me for how amazing it was.

First of all, the view from our hotel room was spectacular:

Santorini is the result of a volcanic eruption. The island is a circular formation that’s actually the rim of an old volcano, with many exposed rock layers along steep cliffs. Which means to get up or down the cliffsides, taking an alarmingly fast cab ride zinging around sharp curves is pretty much the only option. You could Google “Santorini caldera” to get an idea of the vast awesomeness of these cliffs. Homes were carved out of pumice in a uniform style, all curved and white with highlights of Aegean blue. Here’s the town of Oia:

Our hotel had one of the top five infinity pools in the world. If you don’t believe in love at first sight, then you really should have seen me with that pool. I spent every morning / early afternoon by it in my lounge chair. I don’t know how to swim, but I clung to the edge of the pool so you could see what it was like:

The food was very fresh. I was totally getting my nutrients on:

Santorini is known for its beautiful sunsets, like this one:

I had to be pried from Santorini, crying like it was the last day of summer camp. We had a serious connection. However, it was good to visit some other Greek islands as well. Paros contained many cats. The cats come up to you with sharp eyes, scavenging. We ended our trip with a visit to Mykonos, where I procured some mati items. Mati means eye, and it protects against the evil eye, which is the collective negative energy. Mykonos also has a famous large pelican named Petro. Actually, there are three large pelicans, so it’s a collective Petro:

So now I’m back, with two weeks of life to catch up on. For now, I’m celebrating the last day of summer with a rainbow snow cone. Cheers, everybody!

something like fate

My next book, Something Like Fate, will be released on May 13, 2010. I am beyond excited to share the cover with you:

What do you think?

I think this cover is hot. My publisher even did a photo shoot for it, which is a rare thing. And an awesome thing, because these models are my characters. Even from the back, I can tell. It’s unreal. The designer (you rock, Jim!) just finished the book jacket. It is so gorgeous. I seriously cannot wait for you to see it.

I’ll tell you about the photo shoot and some other fun stuff when I return from the Greek Islands. I’ll be on vacay there for the next two weeks. As I’m not sure what the Internet access will be like, I don’t know if I can blog before I get back. But I will try my best to post a few photos from Santorini. I’ve been hearing that Santorini is the most beautiful place in the world for years, so I’m psyched to immerse myself in all the beauty. The forecast is almost identical for every single day – high of 80, low of 70, low humidity, totally sunny. Yay yay freaking yay!

Enjoy these last two weeks of summer! For those of you going back to school, I hope you have an incredible year.