top five – zen edition

I cannot be more excited that March begins on Sunday. February is always brutal. February is my least favorite month, filled with sharp winds and astonishing below-zero temperatures and a profound absence of leaves. But this year has been particularly harsh. The good news is that we survived! We’re leaving February in the dust. Spring starts in 21 days. Life is good. Don’t let the door hit you on the way out, February.

So yeah. Feeling pretty Zen about things today. Which is why I’ve whipped up a top five (not enough for a top ten, but going with the flow is part of being Zen) to fit the mood.

1. We are getting so much closer (see what I did there?) to the release of City Love! The first book of the trilogy comes out on April 21. Advance copies are on the move. Some book bloggers and giveaway winners have emailed me pretty pics of their ARCs…including the shiny star confetti that came with!

That confetti makes me so happy. I mean, confetti in general makes me happy. But pulling a shiny new book out of an envelope with shiny star confetti? Takes the experience up a notch. And being gifted with confetti is way better than Ship Your Enemies Glitter. I hope everyone who’s reading City Love early is enjoying the book!

2. More ARC giveaways are coming up, but I wanted to share something special from the giveaway I did for Random Acts of Kindness Week. Super friendly neighbor and dedicated reader Catherine S. decided to spread the city love on campus by giving out bright, colorful flowers with warm fuzzies attached. The photos she posted on Twitter made me so happy I wanted to share this one with you:

One of the City Love giveaways my publisher is doing in March is all about showing your city love with some artistic flair. I’m really looking forward to seeing your entries! In the meantime, please show your #citylove and spread the #citylove on social. Beautiful scenes from your city, inspiring images, reasons why you love where you live or can’t wait to live in your dream city, new things you notice when you look up…all are welcome. Use the #citylove hashtag so I can retweet you on my Twitter and repost you on my Instagram.

3. Want to see the best Zumba choreo out there? And me busting a move all over it? Here’s a clip from my Zumba class with master instructor Kara Doyle. Kara is pretty in pink up front. I’m in the Keep Calm tank all up in the camera’s face. If you want to see me looking even more dorktastic, here I am shaking it in this hilarious Vine. Because, really, what’s the point of the Internet if not to embarrass myself in front of the entire world?

4. There is a fragrance that smells like vintage paperbacks.

5. I will leave you with this gorgeous graphic by reader Kare Hui.

The Now from Waiting for You returns in City Love. Actually, you’ll see several familiar things from my previous books in City Love…including characters. Oh yeah. We’re taking this literary party up a notch.

Wishing you a peaceful, reflective weekend filled with moments of Zen ❤

booty time

What did I do yesterday? Oh, just swing by the astonishingly gorgeous new HarperCollins offices to film an author video for City Love. I cannot even tell you how super cute this video is going to be. Of course I had the opportunity to let my dorktastic freak flag fly, which you will get to witness in all its glorious colors sometime in March (which begins this Sunday thank god).

Before we started filming, I got to meet the beloved Margot and Aubry of Tea Time with Team Epic Reads. You guys. They did a cameo for the video. And they let me dance with them!

I KNOW. They are so adorable I can’t even. I was telling them how much I loved their whole dancing with authors thing and they totally let me werk it with them. They even let me select the music. There was no way I was passing up booty time with Tea Time stars, so I requested Booty (the version featuring Pitbull, just FYI, which I believe to be the supreme version).

So yeah. Shiny new author video. Dancing with Margot and Aubry. And this is my job.

Grateful every single day ❤

two months to go

City Love will be out two months from today!

 

We’re getting ready for the April 21 pub date with a super fun author video, a sidewalk chalk initiative, more giveaways, and spreading the #citylove on social. I’ll be starting national book tour events in April. Here are the events confirmed so far. Please stay tuned for my complete book tour schedule to be posted soon.

Want to pre-order your copy of City Love? You can find pre-ordering links, the synopsis, reviews, and a cover shoot video here.

Show your city love, friendly neighbors ❤

fave in canada

Spotted: Favourite Author banner in Chapters:

 

Thanks to Amanda Pedulla of Stuck in YA Books for documenting at her local Chapters in Thunder Bay, Ontario!

Love you right back, Canada ❤

publishers weekly on city love

The Publishers Weekly review of City Love is in:

City Love
Susane Colasanti. HarperCollins/Tegen, $17.99 (336p) ISBN 978-0-06-230768-2
In this first installment in a series set in New York City, readers will feel the strong, vibrant pulse of city life as Colasanti (Now and Forever) traces the romantic encounters of three incoming college freshman, who are as enamored with their West Village neighborhood and newfound independence as they are with the boys who steal their hearts. New York native Sadie, thrilled to be away from her “constantly hovering” parents, thinks she’s found her soul mate in Austin, a senior who shares her dream of becoming an urban planner, but his elusiveness is troubling. California transplant Darcy is drawn to a street magician but having been spurned once, she is afraid to let her feelings get too deep. Meanwhile, idealistic Midwesterner Rosanna is inexplicably attracted to a man who works on Wall Street and stands for everything she abhors. The book ends before resolutions are found, so readers will have to wait for the next book to find out whether love conquers all. Ages 14–up. Agent: Emily Van Beek, Folio Literary Management. (Apr.)

Yay for feeling the “strong, vibrant pulse of city life.” 🙂

city love twitter giveaways

Happy Random Acts of Kindness Week! What better way to balance the negative energy of harsh February than with a flood of positive energy in the form of kindness? Sadie from City Love (and So Much Closer) adores this week. As a member of her local Random Acts of Kindness group, Sadie is all about spreading the #citylove with warm fuzzies and being the first to step up when she sees someone who needs help.

To celebrate this wonderful week, I’m giving away three advance copies of City Love on Twitter!

City Love is sort of a love letter to New York City. But City Love is also a love letter to your city. It’s about the infinite possibilities all around us. It’s about the people who make a city what it is, people who help improve their communities with kindness. For this week’s giveaway, I’m asking everyone to share their photos, artwork, images, quotes, and any other inspiration that shows how we can give back to our community by spreading the love. Spread the #citylove and show your #citylove to enter the giveaway. Everyone who posts inspiration for kindness with the #citylove hashtag and follows @susanecolasanti on Twitter during Random Acts of Kindness Week will be entered to win. And yay, this giveaway is international 🙂

How to enter the giveaway:

1. Follow me on Twitter.

2. Show your #citylove by tweeting inspiration for kindness. This can be a photo of an act of kindness you do or see in your city. It can be an act of kindness from another community. It can be your own words of wisdom, encouragement, or motivation to inspire others to be kind. It can be your original artwork or an existing image that inspires kindness. Or even an inspirational quote that will encourage everyone to spread the #citylove. Any example of kindness is welcome.

3. Your entry MUST include the #citylove hashtag and @susanecolasanti to be counted.

Giveaway rules:

1. All entries must be tweeted during Random Acts of Kindness Week, February 9-15, 2015. Entries must include both the #citylove hashtag and @susanecolasanti.

2. Three winners will be announced on Twitter on February 16, 2015.

3. Each winner will have until February 23, 2015 to email me their full name and mailing address. My email is susanecolasanti at gmail.

4. This giveaway is international. Anyone may enter.

5. Entries to this giveaway are unlimited. You may enter as many times as you’d like.

Show your #citylove, friendly neighbors!

top ten, after deadline edition

Win! Book two of City Love has been turned IN. Which means I have some time off while my editor reads the manuscript. These are the first days off I’ve had in a super long time. So of course I’ve been tackling a to-do list that got crazy while I was on deadline. Must add to list: relax.

Life after deadline also means I get to write another top ten blog post and include all the fun stuff I’ve been wanting to tell you about. Fun stuff like…

1. City Love comes out in two months! Hard to believe that April 21 is almost here. Especially now that we’re dealing with stark, cold, unrelenting February. Submitting book two of the City Love trilogy was a good way to retaliate against February rolling in. That and warm chocolate chip cookies. You can typically find me hiding out under several fluffy blankets for the entire month of February, a sort of hibernation involving many mugs of green tea and many piles of good books. But I have decided to own this February. Wintry mix has nothing on me.

So instead of hiding out during my least favorite month, I will be looking forward to the release of City Love on April 21. You can read the synopsis and find pre-ordering links on the City Love page of my website. Please stay tuned for lots of related funtivities and my book tour schedule. The events page of my website is always the best resource for where you can find me at upcoming book events. More events will be added soon when the final tour schedule goes up, but so far events in New York, Houston, Dallas, Chicago, and Charleston have been confirmed.

2. In other book news, the first book blogger review of City Love is up! Thanks to Confessions of a Bookaholic for this sweet review. Five hearts ❤

3. Those of you who’ve been reading this blog for a while may remember that I bought an apartment in 2012. Then I did a gut renovation and was psyched out of my head over every detail (fixtures! floors! faucets!). What is more fun than drooling over before-and-after photos of gut renos? Not much. That’s why I shared my own before-and-after photos of my place with you. The links to all of those home life posts can be found here. However, setting up a sweet space does not mean I don’t continue to dream bigger. Which involves more drooling over gorgeous apartment pics. Like my future bathroom at 432 Park Avenue.

Any view that makes the Empire State Building look small is a view I wouldn’t mind having. Plus this place is a steal at only $82 million! Like I said. Always dreaming big…

4. Did you see Wild? I did and was blown away. Wild is an outstanding movie on its own, but what makes it even more amazing is that it is based on a true story. Cheryl Strayed is a perfect example of how you can become the best version of yourself by turning negative experiences into something immensely positive. Cheryl is a role model to us all. And Nick Hornby (who you can catch me rogue fangirling over in 2009 here) wrote the screenplay, so hello film perfection!

5. Speaking of role models, Mean Stinks is spreading the #citylove by collecting your ideas and mantras to help stop girl-to-girl bullying. You can submit your theories, insight, and visuals here. One idea that I use when I hear a group of girls talking trash about another girl (who is usually their friend)? Retaliate against the negative energy by bringing positive energy to the conversation. A good way to diffuse girl-on-girl trash talk is to speak up and defend the girl being dissed. Saying something nice about a person who is being attacked can have a huge impact.

6. How hard was I book nerding over this fortune?

A house without books is like a room without windows. Word.

7. Feeling bummed about New Year’s Resolutions you’ve already broken? You are not alone. Check it: 90% of New Year’s Resolutions are broken by January 15. Ninety percent, yo. The good news is that you can make resolutions any day of the year. Including today! The best way to break a bad habit is to replace it with a good one. But on average, people fail seven times before trying to break a habit. Do not let that scare you. Do not give up. Keep working for it and you WILL succeed. When you feel the urge to do whatever that bad habit is (A), have a plan ready for a replacement routine (B). Plan on telling yourself this: If I feel like doing A, I will instead do B. Eventually B will become part of your new lifestyle and A will be a thing of the past. Work it and own it, you rock star.

8. My daily email from NPR had the best subject: Look Up. That is so City Love. And you know it’s one of my main mottos.

 

NPR just ran a week of challenges on New Tech City involving your phone. Actually, your lack of phone. The challenges were all about putting the phone away and experiencing real life as it happens. Snaps to this NPR segment for encouraging everyone to put the phone away and see the world through your own eyes. To be in the moment. To enjoy the Now.

9. This.

10. Finally, I’ll leave you with this screenshot from the City Love cover shoot video. Remember this when you are feeling dark and twisty. Remember this when you are feeling alone. Most of all, remember this when you want to give up.

 

Never, ever give up.

Much love. xoxo

nyc teen author festival 2015

The NYC Teen Author Festival 2015 schedule is up! The magnificent David Levithan, possessing all the skills of a master magician to whip these events into shape every year, has gathered a ton of teen authors for funtivities the week of March 16. As always, this festival will be legen…wait for it…dary. Legendary!

Here’s where you can find me during the festival:

Thursday, March 19, 2015 – 7:00 pm
WORD Bookstore
126 Franklin Street
Brooklyn, NY 11222

Sunday, March 22, 2015 – 1:30-2:00 pm
Books of Wonder
18 West 18th Street
New York, NY 10011

And here’s the full schedule with a complete listing of authors and events.

Hope to see those of you in the New York area there 🙂