top five, officially fall edition

So I can no longer deny it. It’s officially fall. This is the last day of September and the trees outside my window turned light green when I wasn’t looking and the annual pumpkin spice craze has begun. Although I heard that maple is the new pumpkin spice this fall. I could not be more thrilled over this joyous news because I love maple. But yeah. Someone was even wearing a puffer yesterday, which is completely unacceptable. Save winter for winter, people!

While I was slaying my 2017 Year on Fire like a #girlboss, there were a few late summer things I didn’t get a chance to share here. Like…

1. That time I went into the new Amazon Books across from the Empire State Building and found the 50th Anniversary Edition of the book that inspired me to become an author and its endpapers were THIS.

2. That time Jason Segel followed me on Twitter when he had 2.4 million followers but was only following 374 people, which totally meant that I was on Jason Segel’s radar. Maybe he saw my reference to Nick Andopolis in…wait, which book did I put that in again?

3. That time I looked up and saw X marks the spot. Major city love feels.

4. That time I was clinging to the last vestiges of summer and posted a final summer love, sisterhood, self-discovery City Love trilogy giveaway on Goodreads, which you can still enter here.

5. That time I spent the first morning of fall the same exact way I spent the first morning of fall last year: up on my roof, soaking in the lingering summer breeze.

Now it’s all about transitioning into the fall portion of 2017 Year on Fire. I can’t wait to share everything I’ve been working on this year with you. I can’t wait for my next books to come out. I can’t wait to taste my first maple treat of the season. But while I am buzzing with sweet anticipation, I will be enjoying the journey. Looking up. And feeling the city love.

Wishing you a spectacular fall, friendly neighbors! xoxo

sixteen years

We will never forget.

We will never forget them. And we will never be broken.

city love magic

You guys know how obsessed I am with non-coincidences, right? Well this one that happened a few weeks ago dominates.

A non-coincidence is what I call it when a mind-blowing event occurs with a probability of about 0%, indicating that the Universe is bringing people together for a reason. Earlier this summer before Forever in Love came out, my friend Anton and I went to the High Line to film that City Love trilogy tour video. Then we had dinner after, and it was one of those perfect New York City summer nights where we had Manhattan to ourselves with the best outdoor table at an Italian restaurant we love. Positive energy was in the air.

We were walking down the street after dinner when I heard a girl behind me say, “Are you Susane Colasanti?” I turned around expecting to see an old student because that happens now and then and every time it does I am psyched out of my head because a.) I love connecting with my old students and b.) it’s fun to see how they look and hear what they’re doing all these years later when they are these grown people working it.

But she wasn’t an old student. She was a reader from Mexico who was here on vacation, and I was her favorite author whose books she’s been reading for the past ten years! That’s why she recognized me. Shout-out to Adela, who was city love magic in action. Big city, small world.

As we were talking, a lady came up to us asking for directions, but her English wasn’t every good. Of course she spoke Russian because I was with my friend Anton, the one friend I have who speaks Russian! Her wallet was stolen and she was trying to find her way to a friend’s place. The Universe totally brought us together on that corner in a non-coincidence. What was the probability of a reader visiting from Mexico recognizing me on the street, and then a Russian woman coming up to us while I’m with my one Russian friend? Like 0%.

Or the time I actually did run into an old student on a random corner…and 30 seconds later another old student of mine comes up to us. I thought they were together. But they weren’t. They were a year apart in high school, but they recognized each other. I was like, WHAT. Is. Happening. I run into a student from 12 years ago, and then a student from 11 years ago comes up to us at the same time? On the corner of I Am Never In This Neighborhood and WTF?! Probability = 0%.

And then there was the time my ex and I went to dinner and I was telling him how earlier that day I waited at this computer repair place for three hours and didn’t even get to take my laptop home, I had to go back whenever they called and who knows when that would be, and the guy at the next table came over to ours. Dude. He was the owner of that computer repair place. He gave me his number. He said to call the repair place first thing in the morning and my laptop would be ready for me right away. Probability of being on deadline back in the day when I was in between desktop computers and having dinner at the same exact place as the owner of the shop that was holding my laptop hostage, who just happened to be sitting at the table next to mine? Zero.

That’s the thing about non-coincidences. Something bigger than us is happening here.

You attract the kind of energy you put out into the world. The more positive energy you put out there, the more non-coincidences will happen for you. Not to you. For you. Because you shape your own life with every thought, word, and action.

Wishing you epic non-coincidences. ❤

top five, heart eyes edition

1. You know when you’re having a Twitter chat and S.E. Hinton drops in?

Turns out the author of my fave teen novel loves elephants as much as I do! In the chat, we were talking about things we will be forever in love with. I said how I will be forever in love with elephants because they’re my spirit animal. As I was posting, I saw S.E. Hinton’s RT of an elephant with some zebras and a giraffe. So of course I had to RT her RT…and there you go. This is the kind of connection with an author I admire that would have blown my mind when I was rereading The Outsiders for the zillionth time as a teen. Yay technology!

2. Speaking of The Outsiders, who remembers this slammin look from 1983?

I mean. C. Thomas Howell was killing it with the popped collar and Izod sweater. And that hair. I have so much love for this movie poster I can’t even. My tattered old copy of the book has this cover, the best cover of all the editions IMHO.

3. Throwing it back to the 80s, I played the violin from 7th grade to 12th grade because I loved the challenge of developing the skills specific to playing a string instrument. There was all this snobbery the orchestra nerds had over the band geeks. Mastering a string instrument requires finesse. Meticulous finger placement. Methodology of bowing. String instruments are nothing like wind instruments, where all you have to do is press buttons or cover holes or whatever. That was our philosophy, and we stuck to it, scoffing whenever some percussion player bragged about his new drum riff. Ah, memories.

I also just love how string instruments look. How they are made. Their parts and pieces. In a way, string instruments are like people.

4. What else do I love? So. Many. Things. Like how at my old place in the West Village and at my new place in Gramercy Park, a personal mourning dove has made friends with me. He sits in a tree outside my window.

If you searched “mourning dove” on this blog, you would probably come up with like 23 results of me talking about how the mourning dove hoo makes me so happy. Seriously. It’s one of those sounds that instantly elevates my mood, no matter what. And look how puffy and cute this guy is! Bliss.

5. THIS.

This is why I’m here. This was the inspiration for my City Love trilogy, which just came to an end with Forever in Love. This is why I moved to New York City 21 years ago, and why I will be forever in love with this magical place, glittery with infinite possibilities.

Here’s to your city love, wherever it may be. ❤

city love trilogy cover models

How much do I love behind the scenes stuff? SO much. Which is why whenever I get to see photos of the models on my book covers, I’m obsessed. You can’t quite see the models’ faces on the City Love trilogy covers. But now you can!

The City Love trilogy models were en fuego. They had the right look, the right clothes and accessories, and their poses were on point. Gustavo Marx, the cover photographer, shared some fun outtakes from the two-day photo shoot. The first day was on a rooftop in Brooklyn to capture the Manhattan skyline in the background. The second day was on a pier near the Brooklyn Bridge.

The City Love cover models were adorbs. They looked super comfortable together as Sadie and Austin, and I love the look of their clothes and sunglasses here.

They played around a little. With the Empire State Building in the background.

Brilliant cover designer Erin Fitzsimmons went with different outfits for the cover. They were still hot.

Speaking of hot, this photo shoot went down over two days in the summer of 2014 during a crazy heat wave. Erin said she didn’t know how the models weren’t drenched in sweat. After seeing how cool they look in these photos, I suspect that models may have anti-sweat superpowers.

Lost in Love is my favorite cover of the three. And these were my favorite models. Darcy and Jude were totally represented.

Love the clothes. Love her topknot. Love how she looks like Keira Knightley. Just. Freaking. Love.

And the lighting at sunset? Stunning.

The backlighting is so gorgeous, and that radiant shine of the sunlight on the water made the Lost in Love cover stand out.

The Forever in Love cover is a bit different. The models’ faces are the most visible. The focus is the sharpest. And the pose is super romantic. Ironically, Forever in Love is the least romantic book of the three, but we didn’t know that back in 2014! Back then I had no idea so much devastation would come crashing down at the end of the trilogy. But as this trilogy unfolded, I knew I needed to push my girls harder so they could push themselves out of their comfort zones. If you want big changes in your life, you have to make big changes, and that doesn’t happen when you’re stuck in a comfortable routine.

This girl looks like Brooke Shields here.

Rosanna and Donovan, of course. D is looking extra preppy here. And on the cover with that watch! But it was a good way to distinguish the unique characters.

HarperCollins did a behind-the-scenes photo shoot video you can watch here. You can watch my City Love trilogy tour featuring locations from the books on my YouTube. And Forever in Love can be ordered from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, IndieBound, or your local bookshop.

Happy summer reading, friendly neighbors! xoxo

full-circle in the park

As always during a book release week, I’m doing giveaways of Forever in Love here and there. Like this giveaway on Amazon. But Epic Reads is giving away the entire trilogy! With five winners! Their giveaway runs until July 24, and it’s open to residents in the US and Canada. You can enter here.

The final City Love trilogy tour video is up.

I did videos at five different New York City locations from the books, and tied in a theme from the books at each location. The final tour stop is Washington Square Park, which brings it back full-circle from the first chapter of the trilogy. Even filming the video was a full-circle moment because there was a magician performing who looked a lot like Jude, and in that first chapter of City Love Sadie and Rosanna are walking through the park and they stop to watch Jude perform. They just don’t know he’s Jude, because Darcy hasn’t even arrived yet and…well. No spoilers. PS That boy running through the fountain was not choreographed, but was amazing.

Thanks to everyone who made Forever in Love release week a blast. Your warm fuzzies, excitement, and support of the trilogy means so much to me. I will be forever in love with your positive energy, friendly neighbors. Shine on ❤

xoxo-
Susane

girl boy stuff

SO THIS HAPPENED.

I have been a hardcore Blake Nelson fangirl ever since I discovered Girl in 1994. I was in college and it was in the adult section because we really didn’t have a teen section yet except for a few sorry shelves in the children’s section and I could not even wait for another Blake Nelson book to come out. But that was before, like, the internet, and way before socials, so there was no way to just contact Blake directly and be like, “Do you have another book coming out?” I stalked the area where I found Girl for a long time afterwards. No new books were ever there.

Years later when YA was established, you can imagine how stoked out of my head I was to discover that Blake Nelson had several books on the shelves. They are all amazing and brilliant and I highly recommend you read each and every one of them.

For the past 10 years of my author life, I have been hoping to be on a panel with Blake. And then BOOM! My Forever in Love book launch event happened at Books of Wonder, the best indie bookstore in New York City that has hosted all of my City Love trilogy launch events, and we were finally on a panel together. Perfect timing so we could celebrate shiny new Boy and fresh faced Girl.

Basically? Don’t stop believing.

What else. The City Love trilogy tour videos are rolling out on my YouTube. The third location is 43 5th Avenue, the building where Sadie, Darcy, and Rosanna are sharing an apartment together the summer before college. Which was also the dorms where Felicity Porter and her friends lived on Felicity! This building was University of New York (which doesn’t exist IRL) student housing, so I brought it back in the trilogy as UNY student housing again because Felicity is one of my Top Five Fave Shows and hopefully the trilogy has some Felicity feels.

The theme is resilience. Story of my life.

More soon. xoxo

forever in love today

Today is here! Today is here!

Forever in Love is out in the world!!!

For those of you who missed the billboard I rented about it, Forever in Love is the final book of my City Love trilogy. You can find it on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, IndieBound, or at your local bookshop.

Speaking of online booksellers, if you read Forever in Love and enjoy it or have read City Love and/or Lost in Love and enjoyed those, would you kindly consider sharing your review online? Your opinion matters to me and to others. Those bright stars attract new readers!

I’ve been doing online Q&As with giveaways this week. Tomorrow, July 12, I will be answering your questions all day in my Goodreads Q&A group. On Thursday, July 13, I’ll be doing a Twitter chat 7-8pm EST. Everyone who asks a question will be entered to win a signed copy of Forever in Love, two winners per event. My goal is to answer as many of your questions as possible, but I usually don’t get to them all. A remaining one that made me smile is this:

Q: What are your Top Five Reasons to Love the City Love trilogy?

A: The summer before college, New York City, finding your people, embracing change, and dreaming big beyond fear. Oh, and summer love.

To show you what I mean, I am rolling out videos all week of my City Love trilogy tour. Each tour stop features a location from the book, and I tie in a theme from the books at each location. Of course the tour had to begin at the High Line.

Stay tuned to my YouTube for more tour videos rolling out this week!

Thanks to everyone who has read the City Love trilogy and is excited for this final book. I love connecting with you on socials, and am eternally grateful for your enthusiasm and support. You are why I write.

Forever in love with the infinite possibilities the future holds…

xoxo-
Susane

top five, feeling the city love edition

There has just been so much city love in the air here in New York. Whether it’s chilling up on my roof on sunny mornings in the 70s listening to Dear Sugar podcasts (back for a new summer season!) (and can I just say how on-point Cheryl Strayed is with the advice every. single. time?!), or walking down my street doing errands when I pass by Books of Wonder and see that two of my fave authors are doing an event right that second so I serendipitously get to attend, or having refreshing blended mint lemonade granitas at Westville with good friends visiting from LA, or just listening to the mourning dove in the tree outside my window hoo while I’m writing…it’s been a beautiful end to springtime.

Here are some more city love examples.

1. The tagline of City Love is Look up. Anything is possible. When you look up, you notice beauty you’ve never seen before. You view history. You welcome connections, which invites possibility. One thing I love about looking up is spotting old-school signage on buildings here in downtown Manhattan. Like this one for manicure sets:

Not only do I love the physical signage, the faded lettering in vintage fonts of the 20s and 30s, but it’s fun to imagine the New York of that time, back in the day when the now apartment building was a factory or warehouse. The mix of old and new on every block here is dope.

2. I was on the High Line, my fave place in New York, the other evening filming part of a City Love trilogy walking tour I’ll be posting in July when Forever in Love comes out. It was one of those perfect springtime New York nights…gorgeous weather, good vibes, dazzling sunset. Another thing I love about New York along with the mix of old and new, which you can totally see around you every step of the High Line you take, is the mix of country and urban. The High Line has tons of spectacular vegetation, which I love against the backdrop of city life:

3. This.

Yet another reason why I love the High Line. Happy Pride Month!

4. We filmed another City Love trilogy walking tour video at Bubby’s across the street from where the High Line begins. If you’ve read City Love or Lost in Love, you might remember that Sadie loves Bubby’s. And that Rosanna is obsessed with fresh watermelon juice, which she cannot get enough of at Bubby’s and nearly falls off the stool in a total state of euphoric bliss. I loved sitting at the bar, enjoying watermelon juice and geeking out over the Pac-Man decorations:

Bubby’s was really loud, but I think I yelled loudly enough to be heard in the video. We’ll see…

5. Guess what arrived?

The first copy of Forever in Love! And yes, it has a printed case underneath the jacket like the other two books in the trilogy. Forever in Love comes out on July 11, but you can pre-order a shiny new copy now on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, IndieBound, or from your local bookshop.

Wishing you glittery city love vibes all summer long ❤

10th annual nyc teen author festival

Has it really been 10 years since superstar David Levithan organized the first NYC Teen Author Festival? A whole freaking decade?

Apparently.

Get ready for the 10th Annual NYC Teen Author Festival, happening March 18-26!

Dude. SO many fabulous authors will be at this thing it’s unreal. I mean, just look at the full schedule of events. How amazing is that?

If you are in the New York City area the weekend of March 25-26, you can totally find me at the festival. Here’s where I’ll be:

Saturday, March 25 – 7:00-9:00 pm

McNally Jackson Books
52 Prince Street
New York, NY 10012

What Is a Love Story? panel with Kayla Cagan, Susane Colasanti, Pete Hoffmeister, Adam Silvera, Sarvenaz Tash, Maggie Thrash, and Nicola Yoon. Moderated by David Levithan.

Sunday, March 26 – 1:30-2:00 pm

Books of Wonder
18 West 18th Street
New York, NY 10011

10th Annual Ginormous Signing! With a ridiculous amount of authors! Which you absolutely do not want to miss!

Hope to see you at one of these events, friendly neighbors! xoxo