city love cover reveal

Breaking book news! The cover of my ninth teen novel, City Love, was revealed yesterday on Hypable with a behind-the-scenes video of the cover shoot. I am beyond stoked to share this gorgeous cover with you.

City Love will be released on April 21, 2015. This is actually the first book of a trilogy. After writing eight stand-alone novels, I’m super excited to be working on a series.

Here’s the synopsis:

Sadie, Darcy, and Rosanna are living together in New York City the summer before their freshman year of college begins. With no parents, no rules, and an entire city to explore, these three girls are on the verge of the best summer of their lives.

Sadie is a native New Yorker. She is hopeful, romantic, and an eternal optimist who is ready to find her soul mate. Then she meets her dream boy: cute, funny, and quirky in all the right ways. The chemistry between them is unreal. Could he be the one?

Darcy is a free spirit from SoCal with rebellious tendencies and unlimited financial resources. Moving to New York City is just another adventure for her. Darcy wants this summer to be all about boy adventures—nothing serious. But how much fun is too much?

Rosanna leaves Chicago for NYC so she can put her past behind her and reinvent herself. The only thing standing in her way is the grand total of seventy-three cents she has saved. Then she meets a guy who wants to show her the glamorous side of New York—a side that she would never get to experience on her own. If Rosanna doesn’t resist, she may find herself in city love.

Told from alternating points of view, City Love captures the moments in each girl’s life when everything is thrilling, amazing, and terrifying all at once . . . in a way it will never be again.

City Love is available for pre-ordering on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and IndieBound. Its Goodreads page can be found here.

Lots of awesome City Love marketing things will be coming up over the next six months. Please stay tuned for all the funtivities!

do it anyway

TGIM! Here’s some Monday morning warm fuzzy inspiration to brighten your shiny new week.

Have people said your dream is impossible to achieve? Are they saying you’re crazy for even trying? I have heard negative stuff like that so many times about my goals I can’t even tell you. People have gotten so angry at me for daring to dream big that some of them have even yelled in my face how I was wasting my time on a dream that would never become reality.

They yelled how I would never find a one-bedroom in the West Village for $1,500. I found that needle in a haystack.

They yelled how I would never get a book published. My ninth book will be published next year.

They yelled how I was ridiculous for refusing to settle for less than a soul mate. After searching for a long time, I am with my soul mate now.

Super fun thing: achieving goals people told me would be impossible to achieve.

When people are mean/jealous/unsupportive about your goals instead of being excited for you, it’s usually a symptom of their own fear. Someone who is unhappy with their life might have a hard time being happy about yours. Their nasty ranting is about them and their issues, not you. So please do not let negative people discourage you from achieving your goals. Next time someone’s all negative in your face ranting how you can’t do something you want to do? How what you want to do is impossible and it will never happen and how dare you even try?

Do it anyway.

one world trade center

One World Trade Center from mini golf. Standing strong and proud and bursting with positive energy.

One World Trade Center from Hudson River Park. All glittery and glowing with the promise of a brighter future.

For those of you struggling to survive hard times, please remember this: Things can only get better from here. And they WILL get better.

Keep your hope alive.

happy birthday, john lennon

We miss you, John Lennon. And we will never forget your wish for peace.

You were not the only one.

be different

An important reminder from Above the Influence:

 

TGIM 🙂

 

are you my boyfriend?

Dude. My friend Anton just gave me the most perfect children’s book for grownups ever. Not even. The most perfect children’s book for all the single ladies.

Are You My Boyfriend? by Christina Bryza nails it. She must live here in New York City because the references to the emotionally unavailable boys and searching for a potential BF in cafes and bookstores is so New York. And the part about being exhausted after all that searching and wanting to go home and relax with some cookies? Christina gets it because she obviously lived it. Here she is with one of my fave illustrations:

This is the part where the single girl gets yet another invite to a couple’s celebration. She has tons of wedding and shower invites on her fridge. Ever been to a wedding without a plus-one? Yeah, it’s pretty devastating.

Snaps for Christina Bryza for showing that every confident, independent, healthy single girl has already done most of the work toward finding her soul mate. Now it’s just a matter of looking up.