The only problem was I wasn’t sure how I’d frame such an entry. How to Write an Unlikeable Female Protagonist? Uhm, that would be awfully presumptuous of me and besides, I don’t think writing an “unlikeable” girl protagonist is all that different from writing a “likeable” one. Also, there’s the issue that Parker and Regina seem to be more liked than they’re hated, so have I even written an unlikeable protagonist? Or maybe I shouldn’t say readers actually like them, so much as they understand them? Also, if I write unlikeable too much it stops looking like a word and my God that is tragic, why would anyone make me do that to a word.

So THAT is why I haven’t written a blog entry on the topic: the actual writing of an unlikeable main character is less complicated than talking about writing one. But still, I get questions about and relating to the likeability of my female protagonists.

Readers seem to want to know why:

1. I would make Parker and Regina so unlikeable and
2. Do I really believe anyone would suffer their company willingly (like Chris, Jake and Michael) and
3. Do I think readers (or anyone) should like them

These are pretty great questions. If you don’t want to read the rest of this entry, the short answers are 1) because I wanted to 2) yes and 3) that’s up to the reader and there you go.

Before I wrote Cracked Up to Be, I wrote another YA novel. It had two POVs–a boy named Peter and a girl named Margot–and, get this, it was written in third person. The book got me so close to representation, there is a whole story there about how I pulled my hair out, but never mind that.

So it got rejected a lot. And what all the rejections seemed to come down to was that people liked Peter and hated Margot. SURE, there may have been massive other problems with the novel but to cope with the sting of (literally) hundreds of rejections, I needed to pinpoint what they all had in common and then uh, get defensive about it. So Margot was what they had in common. She was cold. They couldn’t connect with her. I took the manuscript out and reevaluted it, wondering if I could make her more ‘likeable’ (whatever that means). But when I read it, I had a problem: I liked her and I didn’t think I could change her.

(Just so you know, Margot spent the first half of the book hating her perfect boyfriend and wanting him to die. Then in the second half he DID and then she was like, “Oh man.” WAT is unloveable about that, I ask you.)

So I did a lot of navel-gazing soul-searching and I just kept getting annoyed because my thoughts decided to circle in this way: WHY DO GIRLS HAVE TO BE NICE ALL THE TIME THEY CAN BE MEAN AND ANGRY AND GENDER STEREOTYPING MUCH ARGH. Just. Like. That. I was bothered that the behaviours that are supported, loved, celebrated or romanticized in male characters would be, I thought, rejected in female characters because we have the perception that girls are sugar and spice and everything nice (er, not that I think wanting your significant other to DIE is an inherently male characteristic).

We are HARD on girls.

And please don’t mistake me: I’m not saying we’re not hard on guys at all, or that male characters aren’t held to their own set of ridiculous standards but I am writing an entry about writing unlikeable female characters, so. Anyway, just imagine a character like Sutter Keely (whom I LOVE) and Holden Caulfield (who I dream of repeatedly punching in the face) as girls. How do you think they would be received?

Or how about: imagine a girl who is outwardly hostile to her love interest, has violent tendencies, invades his personal space, and is just generally inappropriate. Like, you know–stalkery. I see a lot of that lately with male characters, and the implication is I’m supposed to think that’s hot. A lot of people DO think that’s hot in fiction, apparently, but I don’t know that we’d be encouraged to think the same thing if the aggressor in question was female.

I think that entire paragraph could turn into a conversation in itself and I’m sure someone can come along and passionately refute what I am saying etc. but I’m just telling you what got me to the point of wanting to write about and then actually writing a character like Parker. I was contemplating double standards, it was making me angry and I decided I wanted to write the meanest, most unlikeable female protagonist I could think of, because nuts to it all. Part of this also falls under the larger umbrella of why I like to write–I am interested in provoking strong responses, whether they’re positive or negative. The last thing I want is for someone to walk away from my books feeling indifferent (I think lots of writers feel this way).

The choice to return to an unlikeable protagonist with Some Girls Are was also informed by everything I’ve detailed above, perhaps even more so because girl-bullying is such a taboo topic. No one wants to believe the extremes girls will go to to make each other miserable. Like Rachel Simmons, I believe that the expectation that girls must be ‘nice’ abets their aggressive behaviour. I think girls can be physically violent (you wouldn’t–or maybe you would–believe how many times I was told by interested parties that if I was writing a book about girl bullies, they could not be physically violent with each other because girls are only aggressive psychologically).

Part of writing Some Girls Are was gathering up all these ideas of how girls are ‘supposed’ to bully each other and wanting to write against them. I’ve talked about why I needed to write Some Girls Are on a personal level, but so much of Some Girls Are grew out from–SPOILERS–the scene with the girls on the side of the road because I was told girls would never, ever behave that way because… girls. Just. Don’t. (Psh.)

Making Regina a former mean girl who grapples with and indulges in and, at points, enjoys her mean girl tendencies (whether it’s right or wrong) was a no-brainer for me. I wanted to make a difficult story more difficult; not only in the interest of challenging readers (hopefully) but to challenge myself. I think having Regina be a nice girl/accidental target would have been an easy, safe choice to make. I identify with Regina a lot but her instinct is different than mine. Exploring that was not always easy, but that is what made it rewarding. That’s what’s in it for me when I make these kinds of choices. That’s a lot, in my opinion.

Do I really believe that anyone would willingly suffer the company of my main characters? Would they really have a Chris, Jake and Michael inserting themselves into their lives? The answers to both of these questions, for me, is yes. I can think of about eighteen million jerks (yes MILLION) I know IN REAL LIFE who are surrounded by incredible support systems, who have love in their lives. I don’t hesitate in my answer. People are complex and it is never as simple as “bad people should have no friends, good people should.” (I don’t think Parker and Regina are bad people, though.) I think it’s realistic, I think it’s possible. Of course!

I sometimes think the reason people approach me with the question is because they (and I do this too) struggle with the idea of who deserves and doesn’t deserve that kind of support… when really, how much someone is given–regardless of how nice they are or aren’t–in terms of love and support isn’t up to us, unless we’re the ones doing the giving.

That is why reader response fascinates me; being told by people exactly what they think Parker and Regina do and don’t deserve is probably one of the most gratifying things I’ve experienced in having these books published. I don’t think anyone is wrong in what they feel about either of those girls, whether they hate them or they don’t. But I love when they feel strongly about it and I love when they feel strongly enough about it to tell me.

Finally, do I think readers should like Parker and Regina? As I said, that’s up to the reader and that’s all there is to it. As I said, I have hopes that people will respond to my work whether they like it or hate it (indifference is what terrifies me!), but the last thing I will do is tell someone how they should respond. There are no “right” or “wrong” ways to feel about Parker and Regina.

So. That is what I have to say about writing unlikeable female protagonists.

OH WAIT! I just read an interview with hilarious comedian Louis CK and he talked about likeability and I wish I’d just smacked this quote up instead of this entry BUT OH WELL, this is what he said:

“Well, I think “likability” is an overused word. I don’t watch people ’cause I like them; I watch them because they’re compelling. Sympathetic is a little different. It’s like I understand this person, and I never know quite what they’re going to do and I’m really interested in what they might do next and they feel real to me. That’s, I think, way more valuable than likable. Likable just thins you out…”

I love that man. UGH he is in Toronto in July and I won’t get to see him! Sob, sob. Wait what were we talking about again?

PS Eddie in Fall For Anything will be my first non-mean girl character. MAYBE SHE WILL BE THE MOST UNLIKEABLE OF THEM ALL! Who knows!

I can’t wait to find out.

photos © Sarah D.

How cool is that?! Thank you so much, Sarah. Also: it is official-official. My books are more well-travelled than I am.

Speaking of Some Girls Are, Angie of Fat Girl, Reading, a blog worth bookmarking and keeping on your radar, gave SGA an incredible review that made my day. On top of THAT, she’s giving away her copy of the book. All you have to do is comment for a chance to win. Check it out here! And since this entry is turning out to be somewhat of a round-up of book news, recently, I’ve done interviews with the wonderful Briony Williamsom and at the awesome Confessions of a Book Geek and you can read them here and here respectively. Thank you for having me on your blogs, ladies!

I’ve been getting a few emails lately asking me about Fall For Anything and why there’s no page up on my site. Well, now there is! You can check it out here. There’s not much there at the moment–just a vague teaser and the promise of more information.

ALTHOUGH I DID GET TO SEE THE COVER ON MONDAY!

Aaaah. I can’t show it to you yet, but oh my God, you guys, it is my most favourite cover of them all. And I felt passionately about the two before it so what I’m saying is I might explode of passionate feelings about the cover of Fall For Anything before I can actually reveal it. For reals. I am trying to figure out if I can hint anything about it just to calm some of my passionate feelings. Hmm. WELL. It is a different cover from the last two! And, where the focal colour (is that what I should call it? I did not go to school for this, guys) for Cracked Up to Be was green and Some Girls Are was red… the focal colour for Fall For Anything is NEITHER OF THOSE COLOURS.

/tease

In other news, I am trying desperately to unlock Princess Rosalina on Mario Kart for Wii. It is making me homicidal. BUT I’M GETTING CLOSE.

Oh and I’m writing too.

But mostly, you know. Mario Kart.

I hope you are all having a wonderful week, people!

It was pretty exciting.

But it was not the most exciting thing that happened to me in the last month (I don’t like those things so much anymore, though). I have missed you, Internet! Thank you for being patient with me while I scrabbled to meet an incredibly intense deadline, fell drastically behind in emailing and blogs and thank you in advance for your continued patience as I scrabble to catch up.

I have to say, the best thing about my absence was some stuff happened so I’ve got blog entry material. I HAVE THINGS TO TELL YOU! That doesn’t happen often as we all know.

So the first exciting thing is that Fall For Anything is DONE. Done, done, done! Okay, copy-edits and first pass pages are all on the horizon but it’s pretty much done. When I can share more–plot summary, cover, release date and whatnot, I will. But the main thing is that it’s finished and that is a very nice thing to type. I got chills.

The second exciting thing is I’m thrilled to report Some Girls Are has been nominated for YALSA’s Best Fiction for Young Adults and it is a nominee for their Quick Picks for Reluctant Readers. So cool! And it’s in very good company. And speaking of Some Girls Are, it’s now available for a few e-readers, so if you’ve been waiting for it to come out on the Kindle or the Nook, it’s here…

When I wasn’t working on Fall for Anything (or ‘Eddie’ as I call it 99% of the time, for it’s main character), I was preparing for the OLA’s (Ontario Library Association) Forest of Reading/Festival of Trees. Last October (LAST OCTOBER! Where is time going?) I announced that Cracked Up to Be was nominated for the White Pine Award. On May 12th, the nominees gathered for the Festival of Trees at the Toronto Harbourfront Centre. It’s a HUGE event that takes place over two days and thousands of readers visit and interact with authors.

It was an incredible day. I was up at four AM and on the road shortly thereafter so I could arrive in Toronto by 9:30. When I arrived, I got a badge with my name on it and a green ribbon and I had to note that because I <3 green. I met Pam Bustin first, (the author of Mostly Happy, which went on to win the White Pine–congratulations, Pam!) who is lovely and energetic and then directly after breakfast in the green room, I went to my signing tent which I shared with Susan Juby and Tim Wynne Jones, who were both very friendly and engaging and very cool and looked like they knew what they were doing at all times (which I envied!).

And then it was time to go onstage! Sabrina Jalees MCed the event and she was so hilarious we (mostly) forgot about the cold. And then the authors were paraded (literally!) onstage. Each author was accompanied by two people. One person holding a sign with the authors’ name on it (my sign holder’s name escapes me but she was a really nice girl–thank you!) and your speaker, who introduces you very kindly (thank you, Mel!) and then oh my goodness, the author has to speak. Which I did. And I didn’t fall down or nothin’ so that was awesome.

(Any day I don’t fall on my face is awesome.)

So, in short: a GREAT day. I want to thank everyone who worked hard to make it all possible and to make it run so smoothly. I can only imagine how much planning goes into an event that huge, but from where I was sitting it was flawless. I got to meet so many wonderful librarians and volunteers and readers and authors and I feel truly grateful to be in such a wonderful community.

And then the four hour drive home!

The next day, I gave three talks to teen readers about writing and publishing at a Voices of the Forest event at a local (for me!) education center, along with the wonderful Lesley Livingston, Pam Bustin and Susan Juby. I was incredibly fortunate to have my talks attended by awesome readers and writers who asked great questions and were just–I know I’m using a lot of positive adjectives in this post but they all apply! They were great, cool, awesome, nice. And now I must make use of this space to thank Pearl H., who tirelessly organized the event, but was unable to attend it. THANK YOU, PEARL! I’m sorry we didn’t get to meet.

So that was also a great day. And after the talks, we got the keys locked in the car and had to get a man with a coat hanger to fish them out so that was pretty exciting too.

SO MUCH EXCITEMENT!

Andddd that is what has happened in my neck of the woods since I cruelly abandoned this blog to uhm, do those things (I can’t emphasize enough that if you want up-to-the-minute news, you can get it if you follow me on Twitter). I am so going to spend June reading, relaxing and getting caught up on, well, everything and thinking hard about what book I will write next after Fall For Anything. Also maybe blogging more regularly? (Ha ha ha!)

Basically, I’m briefly deadline and outside-obligations free, so THE WORLD IS MY OYSTER.

And what I would really like to know is–

How are YOU?

AND please stay tuned because later this week, I’ll be posting an interview with the amazing Anna Jarzab, which will include a giveaway for her debut, All Unquiet Things, which I absolutely loved.

I have some news:


1) Some Girls Are is a nominee for YALSA’s Best Fiction for Young Adults (!!!)

&

2) The title of book 3 has been made official. It will be called FALL FOR ANYTHING. No release date yet, but I will be spamming everything up just as soon as I have one, no doubt.


Here is more news: I am on a major deadline for FFA and I have lots of work to do, so I must away for a couple months (well, “away” in the sense that I am going to try to strike that balance between working like mad and also staying visible enough that people still remember my name COURTNEY WINTERS remember it also I told that joke like three weeks ago on Twitter, rock). Imagine me under a book and the only way to get out from under that book is to WRITE LIKE I HAVE NEVER WRIT BEFORE! I apologize for the absence that has seem to defined so much of the first half of my 2010–I truly feel bad for my lack of participation in my usual internet haunts–but it must be so.

That said, I need you to know these things:

So stay tuned for my interview with Anna Jarzab later this week! THERE WILL BE A GIVEAWAY! How can you go wrong?

And that’s it.

OH WAIT! One more thing!

HOLD ON, COURTNEY. BACK THE TRUCK UP, you are saying. THAT AS EXTRAORDINARY. HOW DID THIS COME TO BE?

Well, Internet, I will tell you.

First, I am a big fan of Survivor. SINCE SEASON ONE. And then some people invented Twitter. Flash forward to I don’t know how many years it has been, to January 7th, 2010. I had just woken up from a nap. It was a day like any other, except it was not quite day. It was early evening. It was an early evening like any other. I logged into Twitter and checked my @ replies, where Adele of Persnickety Snark (who is also having a blogoversary celebration which I contributed to here–happy anniversary, Adele!) tells me that JEFF PROBST now has a twitter.

I immediately made it my new goal in life to get Jeff Probst to tweet hello to me on Twitter. And questioned how that could happen. And THEN! The wonderful Catt AKA The Dreamer Reader tweeted to get the ball rolling.

And then I questioned whether or not Twitter would make a dream come true (SPOILER: IT DOES).

MEANWHILE, Scott Tracey (whose novel WITCH EYES, which I can’t wait to read, comes out in 2011 from Flux) dubbed my new goal in life Project #sayhitocourtney. And then so many wonderful folks chimed in, asking Jeff Probst to say hello to me (THANK YOU WONDERFUL FOLKS).

CAN YOU BELIEVE THE AMAZINGNESS OF TWITTER? I always have. May this story make you doubters see the light.

And then I think an hour went by.

(TOTAL ELAPSED TIME: AN HOUR)

… And then, THIS MAN, Internet:

Photographic proof:






WHAT? YOU WOULD LIKE A CLOSER VIEW, YOU SAY?

HERE IS A CLOSER VIEW:

Internet, between THAT and the release of this:

So Some Girls Are had an incredible release week and I have to thank everyone who tweeted, Facebooked, emailed, called, and blogged about it. To wake up to that was totally overwhelming and I don’t think I can say thank you enough. THANK YOU! Quite a few reviews of Some Girls Are came in this week and I promised I’d do a round-up in my blog entry. Thank you to everyone who took the time to read it and review it:

I really hope I am not missing anyone. If I am, accept my apologies as it has been Quite a Week and don’t hesitate to let me know and I’ll add it here ASAP! As always, I put all reviews on the Some Girls Are page and try to stay on top of sharing them on my Facebook Page.

I was also lucky enough to share release dates with Lisa Schroeder and Dia Reeves, whose novels Chasing Brooklyn and Bleeding Violet, respectively, also came out. I am looking forward to reading Bleeding Violet and I devoured and LOVED Chasing Brooklyn–it was brilliant! I posted my review on GoodReads here.

So that is how epic my week has been, Internet! Next week won’t compare. Sad but true.

I want to tell you about Annika. Annika, who is awesome/wry/hilarious/clever/cool (or AWHCC for short), and who also has an AWHCC blog right here, HAD A BABY. Annika and I originally shared release dates. Her, for her little girl and me for Some Girls Are. Annika clearly won this race because uhm sharing release dates also makes it a race? Or maybe because when you have a baby this adorable, YOU WIN. EVERYTHING. Anyway, this is BRILLIANT NEWS, INTERNET! And I am so happy for her and her family. Congratulations Annika, Will and big brother Sam and welcome Grace! In truth, I think these four people are strong contenders for Coolest Family on This Planet right now, and I mean that.

Hmm.

DEAR ANNIKA, WILL, SAM & GRACE,

Leave a little cool for the rest of us, Gawd.

Love, the Internet

DEAR INTERNET,

On January 1st, 2010, I woke up and discovered that this book:

I was majorly shocked. When I first found out Cracked Up to Be was nominated (and many thanks to Robin Prehn who nominated it in the first place–thank you so much, Robin!), I blogged a bit about how I felt about the Cybils and why Children’s and Young Adult book bloggers are so important here. To be on the longlist was exciting and this is just beyond…. beyond! Beyond anything I expected and I truly cannot believe it at all. Cracked Up to Be is in some incredibly humbling company. Thanks to Team Cybils ’09 for all their hard work! They do an incredible job. My favourite part of the Cybils is that it’s a fantastic representation of the passion and care that makes this community so amazing to be part of.

So that was a really nice way to ring in the new year, to say the least.

GUESS WHAT ELSE, INTERNET! Tomorrow, this book comes out:

Do you know, I cannot believe THAT either. January is turning out to be quite unbelievable. It feels like yesterday I was in the throes of a massive revision for Some Girls Are. It really, really does. I don’t know what to say about that, but January 5th was the day I clung onto when I was quite certain Regina’s story would never see an end, whilst my editor and my agent and my wonderful friends and family insisted that it would. In the event that the 5th flies past me–as all days seem to have been doing lately–I just want to say THANK YOU to everyone who has been so supportive and encouraging every step of the way and if you read it (and I really think you should and I am ENTIRELY UNBIASED), I hope you enjoy it.

Even though “enjoy” seems like a really strange word when it comes to a book like Some Girls Are. I hope you CRINGE. CRINGE LIKE YOU HAVE NEVER CRINGED BEFORE. But I hope you like it while you are hopefully cringing like you never cringed before.

Related news: I uploaded the last of the video teasers to my youtube account, and you can watch them all on a playlist right here.

Happy 2010, internet! I think it is going to be a good year!

Love,
Courtney

Life is hectic! I am typing this at 12:27 am and in like 15 hours, I will begin preparations for my Christmas Eve dinner menu. On the 23rd. I could probably make it less work if I enlisted more people to help me, but that’s impossible because it’s less fun when you have to share the glory of an amazing meal with someone else. JUST JOKING.

… Or am I?

In the time since I last wrote, Internet, Some Girls Are got a starred review from Publishers Weekly! I was stunned. They called it a “very real story,” that is “frightening and effective,” also, “every emotion is palpable.” I still am stunned, actually. PW also said I took mean girl stuff to a “a new level of nasty” and I have to admit I am DYING to put that on my business cards that don’t actually exist, but only if I can put it like this:

Courtney Summers: “A new level of nast[a]y.” – Publishers Weekly

Can I do that? Probably not, right? Mostly because I am looking at it now and I am not sure it makes sense in that context, but oh well. Some Girls Are has also been getting a positive reception around the blogosphere, which I am really thrilled about. I have been diligently posting them on my Facebook page (there are also some giveaways happening right now, heads up!) and to the Some Girls Are page on site, if you want to check them out.

In Cracked Up to Be news, two things. First: it’s now available audible! As soon as I discovered this I… signed up for an audible account and bought it. NOT GONNA LIE, I wanted to hear it. It seems like a majority of authors who have their books released on audio can’t listen to them but uh, I quickly discovered I am not one of those authors! I listened to it. I listened to it A LOT. You guys, Parker is kind of really mean! And that this is a revelation for me surely means Khristine Hvam did an EXCELLENT job with the narration and made a terrific Parker. If audio books are your thing, CUTB is now an option.

And the second thing is that a year ago today Cracked Up to Be was released!

That is really, really crazy when I think about it. In the entry I wrote when it was released, I said, “Preparing Cracked Up to Be for publication was a bigger adventure than I could have anticipated or hoped for. Thank you for that.” And now, 365 days later, I can tell you having Cracked Up to Be out in the world was a bigger adventure than I could have anticipated or hope for too, and I thank you for that as well. Seriously, THANK YOU. I can’t really express how I feel about but I think this gif comes close:

So last Friday, there was an Editor Appreciation Day! Friday was a blur of holiday season related crazyness, so while I regret not being able to post my editor appreciation ON the day, I think it’s sort of fitting to do it on the one year anniversary of Cracked Up to Be’s release.

I can’t tell you what an impact my editor, Sara Goodman, has had on my writing. I’ve had the extreme good fortune to work with her on two books now, and her insights always give me the opportunity to improve myself. It is incredibly exciting to work with someone who brings out the absolute best in you. Her enthusiasm and passion for the written word is contagious and the way she listens and communicates is a thing to behold. Also, during Some Girls Are edits, she would not let me pass off a few subpar pages as my attempt at being “post-modern.” See? Sara doesn’t let me get away with stuff like that! Seriously, Sara is a GREAT editor and I appreciate her more for this than this paragraph can convey. Thank you, Sara. You are awesome.

In other news, I’ve been lucky in the reading department. One good book after the other! Check out my GoodReads reviews for these awesome books and then immediately go forth and add them to your To-Read Lists: The Line by Teri Hall, All Unquiet Things by Anna Jarzab and Imagining Canadian Literature: The Selected Letters of Jack McClelland.

And finally, before I post this and start preparing to prepare for the next few Christmassy days:

St. Martin’s Press did a GREAT job.

And on that note–at 1:21 am in the morning–HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO YOU AND YOURS, INTERNET!

I will be back here, blogging, when I am done stuffing my face with the food what I made with the rest of my family! Ah, holidays.

My agent’s guidance, support, cheerleading, keen eye, belief in my work, patience, listening, savvy, passion and communication has made all the difference in this crazy/overwhelming/fantastic business of writing. Cracked Up to Be was going to be my last attempt at trying to get published before going on hiatus and looking into more practical pursuits. I didn’t want to stop, but I was really starting to think seeing my books on shelves wasn’t in the cards…

I remember querying my agent, I remember getting the full request in my inbox, I remember getting her email about wanting to discuss representation. My heart totally stopped. I remember that initial phone conversation, hanging up and telling my mom, “I want Amy to be my agent.” And very shortly after that, she was. Two years later, here we are!

I will always be grateful for my agent’s belief in Parker’s story, in Regina’s story, in the books I’m working on now. I wrote and dreamed of being published. Amy was obviously instrumental in making that dream a reality. She put my books into the hands of an incredible editor, who I also love working with, and now those books are being read, which is something I may never quite believe but will always be so grateful for. It’s changed my life! That alone makes it really hard to articulate just how much I love working with my agent and how much I appreciate her. What words could do someone who has made that kind of positive impact justice? None. But I will tell you that one of my absolutely favourite parts about finishing Some Girls Are was putting Amy’s name on the dedication line.

Amy, thank you for all the hard work you do on my behalf.

For a list of participating blogs, check out this entry at Lisa and Laura’s blog, and to all those hard-working, awesome agents out there, this is for you:

Oh, look! It is another Some Girls Are video teaser for your viewing pleasure!

Introducing Kara, one of the most sick and twisted individuals I’ve ever had the pleasure of writing…

Speaking of Some Girls Are ARC giveaways, the wonderful Steph of Steph Su Reads is also hosting one. Her giveaway ends on December 25th and is open to International Entries. Go here to find out more. Steph also gave Some Girls Are an incredible review here and then generously took the time to interview me and ask great questions here. Thank you, Steph!

Some Girls Are also got an incredible vlog review from Kody Keplinger here. Kody is the author of THE DUFF (Designated Ugly Fat Friend) coming out next Fall from Little Brown’s Poppy imprint. I am SO looking forward to reading it and I’m thrilled she liked SGA. Thank you, Kody! And finally, Loretta Nyhan gave Some Girls Are a glowing rec here. Thank you, Loretta!

And that is all the Some Girls Are news that is fit to print.

You guys, I don’t want to alarm anyone but I think all of this stuff going on might mean I have a book coming out in less than a month.

!!!

I have not seen New Moon yet.

I know.

SOON.

Okay, that is not REALLY the MOST important news, but I like to give the Twilight Saga a certain GRAVITAS when I blog about it, in case you haven’t noticed. Here is a picture I drawed recently. It is sort of Twilight related, but mostly it is art:

Stupid werewolves aside, I released the fourth teaser trailer for Some Girls Are. Check it out:

On Tuesday, I gave my first ever talk to high schoolers about writing and publishing! I was pretty nervous–full of anticipation!–but it went really well, in my humble opinion. I was lucky enough to be speaking to a really engaged group of teenagers who were great listeners, open to discussion and asked fantastic questions at the end. Thank you so much to all at CHSS, for making me feel so welcome! You are the standard to which I will hold all future audiences to and I don’t know if you’ll ever be topped.

AND THEN, before that Tuesday and after that Tuesday, some more great blog reviews of Some Girls Are came in! And all of them are spoiler free, so I’m going to share them with you. Man, I’m getting really amped for release, y’all (so soon!). So the fabulous Gail, at Ticket to Anywhere, gave SGA an incredible teaser review here! It also contains the Some Girls Are playlist–I’m so thrilled she asked for it and incorporated it into her post. Thank you, Gail! So if you want to know what you COULD listen to while you read SGA, you should check it out.

The ever-lovely Tiffany Schmidt (who is a fantastic teacher and kindly gave me some dead-on advice about speaking to high school students because she is so cool and She Knows About Such Things) said positively glowing things about Some Girls Are here and her review totally got to me, in the best way. Thank you, Tiffany!

The wonderful Bobbie of Muse and Vent reviewed SGA on her blog yesterday, here. She said, among other things, “This book isn’t comfortable to read. It will make you ache. It will make you think way too much about things you probably don’t want to think about and haven’t thought about in a long time.” And my face was :D when I read it. Thank you, Bobbie!

And finally, the awesome Adele at Persnickety Snark gave SGA a vlog review! You can watch it here or RIGHT HERE ON THIS BLOG because I can’t resist embedding it because omg you guise:

Anyway, thank you Gail, Bobbie, Tiffany and Adele for the lovely reviews! I can think of no better segue into SGA ARC giveaway deets, except maybe a picture of a werewolf with its head on fire.

01) Be from the US or Canada
02) Comment on this entry (AT MY WEBSITE–not on Facebook, LJ etc) by December 10th
03) On December 11th, I will put the names into a hat and randomly draw the winner
04) I will email the winner/announce them on my blog (24 hours to get back to me, or I redraw)
05) Fin.

And if you’re feeling very generous, you could help spread the word by sharing this on a PLETHORA of social networks. Like Twitter. Just click the SHARE button on the bottom of this entry and go to town. Super easy! I mean if you wanna. But you should know I would appreciate it and so would he:

TEE HEE HEE!