This book:

An invisible, uncrossable physical barrier encloses the Unified States. The Line is the part of the border that lopped off part of the country, dooming the inhabitants to an unknown fate when the enemy used a banned weapon. It’s said that bizarre creatures and superhumans live on the other side, in Away. Nobody except tough old Ms. Moore would ever live next to the Line.

Nobody but Rachel and her mother, who went to live there after Rachel’s dad died in the last war. It’s a safe, quiet life. Until Rachel finds a mysterious recorded message that can only have come from Away. The voice is asking for help.

Who sent the message? Why is her mother so protective? And to what lengths is Rachel willing to go in order to do what she thinks is right?

I had the distinct pleasure of reading The Line late last year. I’d been looking forward to it ever since the deal announcement went up in Publishers Marketplace. The one line summary hooked me: “set in the near future, when an invisible, physical barrier exists between the Unified States and Away, examining a girl’s choice to risk crossing not just the barrier, but the lines her protective mother has drawn for her in order to keep her safe from a destructive, controlling government…” It got my mind whirring immediately. I set myself up for this book BIG TIME, consequently. And the best part? It didn’t disappoint.

One of the first things that struck me about The Line–one of the first things I loved about it–was the style. There’s something very fairy tale amazing and wonderful about it. Take a look at this opener: “It seemed to Rachel that she had always lived on The Property, though this wasn’t true. Her mother, Vivian, said they moved there when she was three years old, but Rachel didn’t remember. To her, The Property was home.”

Do you see what I mean? I could hear the words in my head, read in this soft and gentle reading-you-a-fairy-tale type voice. It lulled and eased me into this incredible story… with a VERY sinister edge. And that’s what I loved about The Line the most. The setting, the world, the prose offer all these sharp contrasts. Comfort. Discomfort. That you could feel this gentle fairy tale vibe INITIALLY, but that it offshoots directly into this darkness and doesn’t shy away from it–all while being fantastically consistent–is my favourite thing about this book. It’s like a storm is brewing. Brilliant.

Rachel is the perfect kind of protagonist to feed these contrasts to the reader. I loved her questions about The Line, Away, The Government, the reality of being brave juxtaposed against desire to be brave, reconciling what you can do with what you should do, great questions of right/wrong (by the way, this book is going to inspire some great questions and discussions in younger and older readers alike). The Line is about a time and place that is not safe and scary and feels unnervingly possible.

The pacing of The Line is brilliant. I could feel myself being wound tight, knowing the pay-off was going to leave me saying DAMN, and that is exactly what happened. I got wound tight, but I didn’t even realize how much until I hit that last page and then I was like whoa, DAMN. But I mean that in the best way possible. And then I closed the book and I was like DAMN again because the pacing and the tension was just that PERFECT.

I can’t freaking wait for it sequel, Away.

ON THAT NOTE, I think you should read this book so we can anticipate the sequel together! And I will be happy to put one into your hands with a GIVEAWAY! You’ll find out what you need to do to be entered to win after you read this awesome interview with Teri, who was kind enough to endure my questions and bounce back with fabulous answers. Are you ready? Here we go!

I got the idea while I was sleeping–yes, that’s right–I had a dream. (Take a moment to groan in disgust and throw something in my general direction if you hate it when writers say that.)

It was just a scene really—a scene where a young girl was sitting in the corner of a room, a room where all the walls were made of glass. It was night, and there was a rain storm, the kind where the rain is coming down so hard that it cascades down the glass in sheets, and makes everything outside look wavery and vague. The girl was looking out into the night, trying to see, but the rain and the dark made it impossible. The girl “felt” scared in my dream, but she really wanted to see whatever she thought was out there in the dark. There was a flash of lightning, and something–I didn’t see what–was illuminated. The girl gasped, and when she gasped, I sat straight up in bed, shocked into wakefulness.

I thought about that scene for days, because I don’t generally have dreams like that, where nothing is familiar or at least signifies something familiar. I wondered why that girl was sitting in a glass room alone at night. I wondered what she saw outside when that lightening struck. I wondered why she was so afraid.

I wondered what world that was, that I had seen in that dream. And I started to write about what I thought that a world like that might be like.

I am going to cite this as an example of why all writers NEED TO SLEEP! Sleep is working. Tell us about The Line’s journey to publication.

You know, I tend to think of it as pretty straightforward—get agent, agent sells book, do revisions, blam, pubbed. But I think that may be because having it published was not a primary goal in my life. It never was quite that straightforward when I really think about it, and I was so lucky in so many ways.

I love your writing style. It had such a (dark) fairytale-like quality about it. Can you talk about that choice–did that voice come to you, or did you have to find it?–and what it was like to write The Line?

I think that was just my voice. I didn’t have to look for it. It just felt like it worked for what I wanted to say in the story.

It really did. I really enjoyed watching Rachel evolve as a character. As she became more politically aware, more informed, she also became more critical of her mother’s choices. She had to reconcile with them. This also helped her choose her own course. Can you tell us about developing Rachel as a character? Are you at all like Rachel yourself?

You really hit the nail on the head about Rachel in your review of The Line, when you said that it raised questions about “the reality of being brave juxtaposed against desire to be brave, reconciling what you can do with what you should do.”

Rachel, in the beginning, thinks that doing the right thing is easy. She brands her mom as a coward because she doesn’t understand what risks her mom is weighing. She’s sure that she would make different choices than Ms. Moore did when she was faced with her own, terrible dilemma. As the story progresses and Rachel learns more about what is at stake for different characters, she also starts to learn that nothing is quite as simple or easy as she thinks, and I loved exploring this part of her growth and change.

I think I am like Rachel in some ways, in that I do still think, lots of times, that doing the right thing is simple and easy. And then I actually get to a place where I am tested, and I learn all over again that it ain’t so simple or easy. But I still believe with all my heart that, difficult or complicated as doing (heck, just identifying) the right thing may be, it IS necessary. We all need to strive toward doing whatever that right thing is in our own lives, at every moment.

Well said! I think one of the most disturbing and brilliant things about it was how possible the future in The Line scene. Can you tell us about the worldbuilding?

As far as building the world, I wanted it to be a world that the reader could envision happening without too much of a stretch from where we are now. It all sort of came organically from the idea that things change so quickly, right before our eyes, and suddenly we are in a world we hardly recognize. For me, this seems so clear. I now live in a country where I can’t take a nail file on an airplane. I can’t drive across a border into a friendly, neighboring country without (usually) being detained at that border because I was born in a country outside the United States. My government has given itself the right spy on me for almost any reason. And that list goes on and on and on. Are these necessary trade offs? Does my safety as a human being depend upon them? Those are the kinds of things I was thinking about when I built the world in The Line.

Hmmmmmmm.

I really enjoyed the political edge in The Line. I think it’s written in a way that is incredibly accessible without being preachy. Even though certain characters had certain leanings, I never felt like you were speaking for the characters, which I think is a difficult but brilliant thing to pull off because it gives the readers a chance to develop their own opinions about it (nicely done, is what I’m saying!). I think younger and older readers alike will get a lot of discussion out of it. How difficult, or not difficult, was it to incorporate topics like politics and government–was it hard to keep your authorial voice out of the picture?

Wow, thank you, Courtney, for those kind words. I really tried to write a story that would raise some questions for people, without really answering those questions. During my very first classroom visit (Hello St. Matthew’s 7th Grade class!) the questions the kids had were brilliant and led to just the kind of discussion I hoped The Line would stir. The adults I know who have read the book seem to be having those same sorts of discussions. It’s very gratifying to get that kind of feedback.

Who were your favourite characters to write?

Ms. Moore, hands down. Because she is all of it–all of life. The hopes, the dreams, the fear the loss, the resignation, the bitterness, the resolve, and the renewal of possibility. She was a ride. And I loved her crotchety old self.

Mrs. Moore was one of my favourite characters. I loved her. And I LOVE your cover. It’s so eerie, very foreboding. Can you tell us about how it came to be/how involved you were in the cover process?

I was about as involved as most writers, which is to say not very. But I was very happy with what the people who do that work came up with! I think I got really lucky!

Any hints about the sequel to The Line, Away? Tell us what’s next for you!

None. Not a single hint—but it’s been fun to write! Next for me? More writing.

I tried. :) I can’t wait to see what happens in Away! Where can we find you on the web?

www.terihall.com

Thanks, Teri!

Thanks to you, Courtney, for taking the time to talk about The Line.

So I do the night owl thing and yesterday I woke up (in the afternoon) to a flurry of @ replies on Twitter (my Twitter is active when my blog is not!) and emails and notifications in my inbox asking me WHY WASN’T I AWAKE and when I read why it was so urgent that I be awake, I was not really sure I was awake anymore.

I always make that joke about possibly of being in a coma when I get good news but the thing about that is it isn’t a joke because when I get good news I do really honestly have that fear that I am actually dreaming it and when I wake up it will be very sad. Also I have a fear that because I have received good news something terrible is about to happen to me but ENOUGH about the weird way my brain works.

This means a lot to me. Being nominated meant a lot to me (thank you to Robin Prehn for the nomination!) and being a finalist was beyond anything I expected. I spilled coffee on myself after I found out Cracked Up to Be won. I was excited and thrilled and shocked and my hands were like AAAAH! [THROWS COFFEE]. I don’t usually love spilling hot coffee on a shirt I am planning to wear for the rest of the day but I did yesterday! Thank you to everyone who has emailed, tweeted and messaged their congrats. You made me cry. Lots.

And I’m humbled. What can I say about authors like Michelle D. Kwasney, Brent Crawford, Natalie Standiford, Julie Halpern, Justina Chen and Laurie Halse Anderson that has not been said? They are a fantastically talented bunch of authors and what they bring to the YA table is inspiring and it makes me want to work harder, to make absolutely sure I’m giving my best when I sit down and write. Honestly, I feel that way looking at all the nominated titles. It is an incredible list of books. In short: YA/kid’s lit authors are freaking awesome and that is that. CONGRATS to all nominees, finalists and winners.

And The Cybils themselves. I cannot IMAGINE what an undertaking it is, but what it does for this community, for books, is incredible. Team Cybils!: you are a wonderful bunch of people and your time and your passion makes all the difference. It must be hard, but also fun. But also HARD. Thanks in particular to the YA Fiction Panel. 2009 was a great year for YA books and I came out of it with a lot of favourites, personally, so I can’t begin to guess what the judging and selection process feels like (and that goes for every panel), and to do it all in a limited amount of time, ohmygoodness basically. I hope you are patting yourself on the back right now. Also putting your feet up and indulging in something DELIGHTFUL. As a reader and writer, thank you for the work you do.

And not to be nostalgic every time I bring up the Cybils but, as I said earlier in the year, I will never be able to articulate how much of a driving force the YA blogosphere was in my own pursuit of publication. Once I knew I was writing YA–something I’d always loved to read–blogs like Bookshelves of Doom and Little Willow’s Bildungsroman (my very first book blogs–I will never forget this!) were my introduction to this community…

And though I lurked for quite a long time, Willow and Leila’s passion and interest and opinions of books for and about YA audiences helped inform ME as someone who wanted to write those books, and directed me to other bloggers who were also passionate and interested and informative. This helped me connect, to work hard, and that made a significant difference for me and my writing and it continues to, and when I think of the Cybils, I always think of this. I love the way the the book blogging community has evolved and continues to inform and connect and engage readers and writers out of a sheer love of books. I have a great deal of respect for it.

Thank you.

And now back to writing, but I do not know how I am going to make my characters miserable when I am feeling so happy.

THIS COULD BE A PROBLEM.

From Publishers Marketplace:

SOME GIRLS ARE and CRACKED UP TO BE author Courtney Summers’s gritty story of one girl’s attempt to make sense of her father’s untimely death, to Sara Goodman at St. Martin’s, in a two-book deal, by Amy Tipton at Signature Literary Agency (World English).

So I have known about this since December and I’ve spent all that time since uhm trying to meet my deadline, but also trying to figure out what to say when I was given the okay to announce it.

BASICALLY:

I am grateful to Amy, who got this ball rolling in June 2007, and keeps it rolling. She is a true advocate and I love working with her. I love how she makes me think outside the box. I’m absolutely THRILLED I get to continue working with Sara and St. Martin’s Press. Over the course of two books, Sara’s magical editorial eye (seriously it is actually magical) has helped me grow as a writer and I can’t wait to shape books 3 and 4 (!) with her. I am especially grateful to my family because living with a writer is hard and to my friends because boy do they put up with a lot, especially when I am complaining to them about how my family doesn’t understand how hard it is to be a writer.

Nothing in this business is a given. I feel very fortunate to be part of this awesome YA community. It astounds and humbles and inspires me every day. I don’t have ENOUGH thanks for all the people who make it what it is and I’m so glad I will have the opportunity to share more of my crazy stories with you. And I hope you will consider reading them when they come out! And I must also thank you so so much for the support you have shown Cracked Up to Be and Some Girls Are.

THANK YOU.

I am very excited about this third book and I will be excited about book four too, just as soon as I know what it is about. But book 3, I can promise (at least at this point), is pretty dark and it is about how grief is not a beautiful thing.

I can’t really say much else about it at this point except maybe that I would HATE to be a character in a Courtney Summers novel.

Hee hee hee.

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!

Please take a look around, get acquainted with everything! I hope you love it as much as I do, because I absolutely love it. Once again the talent behind this hot new look was Dale Mugford and Duane Storey AKA the masterminds that run BraveNewCode. If you’ll remember, I’ve chronicled my experiences working with them in the past and basically everything I said there is still true but also they are even more awesome.

I KNOW.

I’ve been thinking a lot about job satisfaction lately because… uhm, I was goofing around on youtube and somehow stumbled upon Craig Ferguson’s really touching eulogy for his father, where he talks about how his dad emphasized the importance of job satisfaction all through his life (I know right now everyone is like wait what where did this blog entry just go BUT STAY WITH ME) and anyway, one of my favourite things about working with BraveNewCode is constantly getting the sense of two people who have real job satisfaction. They take their work seriously, they enjoy it, they are passionate about it, they believe in and take pride in what they do and what they put out there and all of this informs their approach to their clients, the way they communicate, the way they listen, they way they code and the way they design. And that truly makes all the difference. I cannot recommend them highly enough. THANK YOU, Dale and Duane!

In other news, last week totally got away from me, which is boo because last week was pretty awesome. Last week was pretty awesome, because, among other things, Some Girls Are got a starred review from Kirkus!!! Which–you know. I will probably die before that sinks in. They said it “will make readers cringe,” (best pull-quote ever!) and called it “powerful and compelling.” Kirkus, I am thrilled you think this of my book. Kirkus, I might have cried when I saw that you did. (I totally cried.)

Also, the Facebook Only Some Girls Are ARC giveaway is going on RIGHT NOW. Here is what you have to do if you’re not in on this yet and you want to be: 1) add my Facebook page (if you haven’t) 2) write ‘I want SGA!’ on its wall. Simple! Winners will be announced on Wednesday. As I’ve said before, this will be my only ARC giveaway that is open to international entries (sorry). And if Facebook Only contests are not your thing, stay tuned because I still have three more ARCs to give away.

MEANWHILE, here are some things that are making me QUITE HAPPY right now:

1) CK Kelly Martin released the first chapter of her forthcoming release, The Lighter Side of Life and Death. Oooh my God, I can’t wait. I am an unabashed CK Kelly Martin fangirl and One Lonely Degree was one of my favourite releases of 2009. You can read the first chapter here (the last paragraph and the last two sentences are just BAM–how am I expected to wait for this book? Random House, that is cruel!!!). And check out the trailer, it’s awesome:

3) Look at what Annika made! It is lovely.

4) I feel like a heel, but when I posted the second teaser videos for Some Girls Are, along with the second chapter, apparently the videos weren’t working for everyone, though they were working for me. Tye, from The Book Gryffin was one of those people and she PAINSTAKINGLY went to GREAT LENGTHS to explain to me ONE TWEET AT A TIME what problems she was having and then patiently waited while I fiddled with everything until it worked. I believe Jonathan Zittrain when he talks about how the web encourages random acts of kindness. Tye, I cringe to think of how much time of yours I took up, but I appreciate that you gave it to me and helped me solve that problem.

5) My friend Whitney started a photoblog with her brother, Josh, called Melvin. It is fantastic and makes me itch to pick my camera up again. You should follow it for a dose of visual inspiration.

6) AW YEAH