A year ago today, Cracked Up to Be sold. I can barely believe that it will be out in a few months (!), so you can imagine how much I believe this…

YOUR MOM SOLD!!!!!!


Er, I mean, the book formerly known as ‘Your Mom’ has sold. And for the contracts to come in and for me to be able to announce it on Cracked Up to Be’s sale anniversary is just icing on this awesomecake and no, I don’t believe it. But I guess it did happen! In the second last week of August, no less! And I was there!

It happened in the second last week of August right off the heels of the cover hiccup and I was there. I will never forget the 21st, even though it’s sort of a blur. First, I got a call from my editor to tell me they were doing a photo shoot for the new face of Cracked Up to Be and three hours later, my agent called to let me know my second book had sold. Six hours later, my hands stopped shaking. Okay, that’s a lie–it was seven.

When the contracts came in today of all days, I immediately emailed Amy and was like AMMMYYY THE CONTRACTS CAME IN IT IS CUTB’S SALE ANNIVERSARYY THAT IS SO FULL CIRCLE PLEASE CAN WE ANNOUNCE IT TODAYYYYY (I know! She is a saint!) and she checked with Sara and they both indulged me because they are both LOVELY.

As of this moment, the deal has not shown up on PM yet and there is the possibility it might not show up today and since I whined about how important it was to me to make this post today (uhm, please no one take from this blog entry that whining will get you things…), I am doing it without the official deal announcement. I’m the original rebel, bbs.

When the deal announcement DOES go up, however, it will say something like this:

Pitched as Mean Girls meets Heathers, Courtney Summers’s new novel SOME GIRLS ARE is a dark tale of high school rivalry in which vicious rumors and nasty tricks are the currency that buy you popularity or seal your fate at the bottom of the social food chain.

!!!

And even though it’s probably obvious at this point, it was sold to my fabulous editor Sara at St. Martin’s by my awesome agent, Amy at FinePrint!

Anyway. I’ve been thinking a lot about how I would write this entry, like, where to start. I wanted to maybe do an emoticon run-down of the whole deal a la Edward sleep-stalking Bella, then maybe write about how my book about girl-bullying essentially started bullying ME to the point where my goal was to write it and its goal was to make me cry repeatedly while I did, and then maybe I’d mention that Lori called it AGAIN but she still won’t give me the lotto numbers and then probably I’d end on some kind of joke, but.

To be honest, this is the first big thing that’s happened that I haven’t been able to share with my grandfather, who passed away about three months ago. He was one of my biggest supporters and whatever I pursued alway seemed to be enough for him, as long as I was happy. He meant the world to me and he was thrilled when Cracked Up to Be sold and he would’ve been thrilled about this too. I don’t think I’ll forget the feeling of holding the phone and realizing there was one person I wanted–and still very much want–to call and share this news with but can’t. And I find myself unable to blog around that…

So yes, that makes me very sad, there’s no denying it. But this is not a sad post! It’s a very, VERY happy one, because it also makes me grateful for the people I can share this with and what’s more, it reminds me how much kindness I’ve been dealt by those very same people. It never ceases to amazes me how it really does take a village, and to that end, I cannot imagine posting a blog entry announcing the sale of my second book without acknowledging these wonderful human beings and their part in it–because I certainly did not do this on my own:

My family and my friends. I don’t even know what I did to deserve them or the countless ways they make my life good. I am in awe of them. I love them more than Edward loves Bella. Which sounds so wrong and yet feels so right. Luckily they are my family and friends so they understand. O_O

Amy Tipton, who is a fantastic mediator, a miracle worker and she’s fierce–everything you want in an agent. She toughed it out with me on this book and believe me, it got tough. She must’ve looked at the same 50 pages 100 times and each time she did, she came back with a suggestion, question or thought that nudged me in the right direction. When I restarted the book from scratch, she read the newly written 50 pages 100 more times and every page that followed until there was a draft. I refuse to imagine navigating this crazy business of and about writing without her insights, guidance, enthusiasm, support, inspiration, wickedly sharp mind and just general AWESOME. Amy is brilliant and I’m so lucky she’s my agent. Everyone at FinePrint is great.

Sara Goodman. Working with Sara on Cracked Up to Be has been one of the most awesome and memorable experiences I’ve had and I am totally amped about working with her on Some Girls Are. Talk about lucking out twice. She’s funny, fun, sharp, creative, passionate and enthusiastic and basically a dream editor. Any author would be insanely fortunate to have her in their corner and I’m still pinching myself that she’s in mine. I love what I do and she makes me love it even more. Sara is amazing and St. Martin’s Press is a fantastic house and I’m very proud to be able to count myself among its authors.

YOU. All of you who have taken the time to follow this crazy ride on my silly blog, my twitter, everywhere–your comments and encouragements mean so much to me. Thanks for jumping in and I hope you’ll stay in. My blogging and writing compatriots, Blueboarders, everyone, thank you for sharing your ride with me, life and writing and both. You wonderful bbs make it so that I never have to look too hard for inspiration.

It’s really something to read that back to myself and know that I have much more than a book sale to celebrate. So thank you for letting me share this with you–the second time around!–and especially for helping me get there. You guys are THE BEST.

And so we have come ~*full circle.*~


Oh, and can I just say it’s going to feel REALLY weird retiring ‘Your Mom?’ Because it is. We’ve had a really good run, Your Mom and me. I mean to say, I’ve had fun with Your Mom. Once, I stayed up all night with Your Mom. I stayed up MANY nights with Your Mom, actually. Your Mom was a difficult, but rewarding experience, and overall, I had a great time.






WITH YOUR MOM.