WordPress 2.7 is hot!

Man, I’m sorry I have been so MIA, guys. I’m going to use the weekend to (hopefully) catch up on everything. Revisions demand nearly all of my attentions whilst simultaneously kicking my ass, which makes it surprisingly easy to not update my blog, comment on other people’s blogs or respond to emails in a timely fashion. And so on. If you have contacted me, I will be getting back to you soon. I’m looking forward to catching up on everyone’s blogs this weekend and seeing how you’re all doing. Sorry once again and thanks for your patience, bbs!

In other news, check this out:

That is what a MASSIVE BOUQUET OF SKITTLES from the ~*ever sparkly*~ Emily Hainsworth looks like. That is what a massive bouquet of skittles from the ~*ever sparkly*~ Emily Hainsworth looks like while I am giving it the thumbs-up in my fuzzy blue housecoat which has been responsible for so many static electricity shocks I am surprised it has not permanently changed the rhythm of my heart.

Anyway, Emily conspired with my sister to get me a MASSIVE BOUQUET OF SKITTLES in celebration of Cracked Up to Be’s release, which she must also realize means she CONSPIRED TO MAKE ME CRY, because I was like, “Ooooh ~*sparkle tears*~,” when I got it and those tears continued to roll down my face as I stuffed it. With Skittles. THANK YOU, EMILY. I am still not done them yet, but rest assured, I’ve been working on it. Hardcore.

Cracked Up to Be received incredibly positive reviews from The Story Siren and Pop Culture Junkie! Read Kristi’s review here and Alea’s review here. I don’t know if I will ever get used to the idea of Cracked Up to Be being read, but I’m completely humbled by the thought that has gone into these reviews and it’s super gratifying when someone ‘gets’ yer work. Much thanks, Kristi and Alea! Everyone check out their sites now. I am addicted to them.

I had a fun interview with Arya, which you can read here! She has also has some fantastic interviews up with Holly Black and Mandy Hubbard and more are on the horizon. If you are an interview junkie like me, keep an eye on her site. Two interview related head’s up: I will be doing an interview with the awesomely awesome Susan Adrian very soon and we will be giving away a copy of Cracked Up to Be, so keep an eye out for that. On the 20th, there will be an interview with me going up over at Innovative.

ALSO, apparently Cracked Up to Be has begun shipping from Chapters! Aaah! I know this because I made my family order copies from various online bookstores and they did it because of the knife I had in my hands when I told them to. Yay!

Also, I’m super pleased to be a part of AuthorsNow!, which is a community of debut authors created by the incredible Cynthea Liu. Go there and your To-Read list will grow substantially, I promise! It’s a fantastic resource and site for those of you who want to keep on the pulse.

In other news, I finished New Moon. I haven’t given my ~formal review~ of it on GoodReads, and I didn’t really have a total Tweetcapade about it because of my revisions (this is probably a good thing), though I tweeted my thoughts on it every now and then. It’s these two that really sum up the whole book for me, in case you were wondering:

courtney_s new moon, ch. 24 condensed: bella: I WANT TO SPEND ETERNITY W/YOU AS A VAMPIRE. edward: only if you marry me. bella: WOAH. SLOW DOWN THERE. about 13 hours ago from web

courtney_s bella: THREE IN FIVE VAMPIRE MARRIAGES END IN DIVORCE, EDWARD. I READ IT IN A PAMPHLET AT THE VOLTURI HQ WHILE YOU WERE PETTING MY FACE. about 13 hours ago from web

Needless to say, I cannot wait for Eclipse, which I won’t be touching until after revisions. Which means I have to be strong like Edward, when he is trying not to eat Bella. Yaaay.

(TEAM EDWARD!)