If you’re still interested in getting an early read of Some Girls Are, there’s a giveaway going on over at GoodReads! 20 COPIES are available! Which is 19 more than I gave away when I did my ARC contest. Check it out here, enter to win and spread the word if you wanna. The giveaway ends on November 15th. And just so you know, I posted this as soon as I knew it was happening on my Facebook Page, which you should totally add if you want to be the first to know this kind of stuff (promise not to spam). It was also there that I first posted that The Uncommon Nonsense gave Some Girls Are an amazing (and spoiler-free) review that you can check out here. Thank you, Nicole!

I’m so thrilled to say Cracked Up to Be was nominated for a Cybil (Children’s and Young Adult Bloggers’ Literary Awards) in the YA category and let me tell you, it’s very humbling to see it alongside the works of so many authors I admire.

It is also really neat because long before CUTB was ever published, I was big lurker in the YA book blogosphere scene. I am not sure I will ever be able to articulate how much of a driving force it was in my own pursuit of publication, but it really was and that’s not something I’ll ever forget. Bildungsroman and Bookshelves of Doom were the very first book blogs I started following faithfully, and they were my launching pad into a community whose generosity and passion for Children’s/MG/YA fiction is truly a thing to behold, a generosity and passion that is greatly reflected in something like the Cybils.

And though I was often too shy to participate (this was obviously before I got my Lady Gaga sunglasses and was NEVER SHY AGAIN), that community was a constant reminder of why I wanted to do what I wanted to do. Basically, Children’s and Young Adult Bloggers ROCK. If there’s a novel you read and loved in 2009 (there are several categories), hit up that nomination form, pour yourself a glass of something bubbly, and toast all those who make the Cybils happen for the hard work they’ve done and continue to do in the name of books. I am looking forward to seeing it unfold!

In other news (I say that a lot, don’t I?), it’s been incredibly hectic around these parts. I am really behind on emails, and for that I apologize. I am (slowly) working on getting caught up. Progress on my next novel is going very well, which I’m sure has something to do with it. I am 135 pages into this story and it is making me happy even though I am fairly certain it is the darkest, grimmest thing I have ever written (hopefully!). When I am not working on my novel and gearing up for Some Girls Are’s release, among many other things, I have totally (FINALLY) started reading Eclipse. Oh my goodness gracious you guys what took me so long. I am almost 300 pages in and here are some initial thoughts:

Ugh, Jacob.

Jacob, you suck.

JACOB, I HATE YOU.

I am not even saying that from an I HATE WEREWOLVES place even though I do and I did search flickr forever in search of a NO WEREWOLVES image I could use to punctuate this post with only to find none (and what is up with that? There should be so many NO WEREWOLVES images floating around the internet I should have trouble picking the best one). Anyway, I don’t even know where to begin with how much I LOATHE Jacob right now, so I will just let this animated gif I saved from a Twilight-related ONTD post speak for me:

(~*Team Edward*~)