BLOODROSE Tour

Want to keep the holiday spirit going and avoid the winter blahs? Come run with the wolves and celebrate BLOODROSE with me!
Check out the tour stops - I hope you can make it!!!

Friday, January 6: St. Paul, MN
BLOODROSE release party
7 p.m. Red Balloon Bookshop

Tuesday, January 10: Seattle, WA
7 p.m. Third Place Books (Lake Forest Park)

Wednesday, January 11: Huntington Beach, CA
7 p.m. Barnes and Noble Booksellers

Thursday, January 12: San Diego, CA
7 p.m. Mysterious Galaxy Books

Friday, January 13: Manhattan Beach, CA
4 p.m. Pages: A Bookstore

Tuesday, January 17: St. Louis, MO
7 p.m. Puddn' Head Books

Friday, January 20: New Orleans, LA
5 p.m. Octavia Books

Whirlwind

What a week! The Breathless Tour has been amazing thus far - thank you so much to everyone who has come out to see us. You guys are the best!
The only problem with the tour is that I've been so busy talking and signing that I haven't been able to take many pictures! Fortunately some awesome fans have been kind enough to share theirs with me.

Here are a few highlights:

In Denver I found a pegasus

In Salt Lake City I had a fish friend in my hotel room.
One of my absolute favorite moments was when the lovely Jennifer had me sign a book for her four-year-old daughter Morgan to be given to her on her sixteenth birthday. I was so touched I teared up!

Here is my youngest fan-to-be

You can also check out great pictures at the Breathless Reads Facebook Page

We're taking a little break, but on February 25 we'll be at Quail Ridge Books in Raleigh, NC!

In Good Company

Writing is a solitary endeavor and can leave you feeling a bit isolated at times. I think the publicity and marketing wonder teams at Penguin have just given we Breathless Reads authors a mental health boost in addition to a great way to meet readers. By the way: here's the poster we're all signing and I'm giving away (10!!) in the contest from the last post.

We've completed two stops on the tour and it has been such an amazing time. There is a fantastic recap of the New York event on Midnyte Reader's blog with lots of great photos.

If you were at one of the stops and want to share a blog post or pics just let me know (by email or in the comments), I'd be happy to post links!

Being on the road with other authors (especially authors as fabulous as Kirsten, Ally, Brenna and Beth!) is delightful. It's so much fun getting to know each person's quirks, hobbies, joys and struggles. It reminds me that one of the great joys of writing is how unique an art it is. Each writer must find her/his own process, tell her/his story in a way only that person can.

I can't thank all the amazing bloggers and readers who've come out to say hello. It is so fantastic meeting you and learning about your love of reading and writing!

Tomorrow we're at Tattered Cover (Highlands Ranch) in Denver and Saturday at King's English in Salt Lake City. Go west, YA authors!

Breathless Reads Tour

THIS WEEK!

Beginning Wednesday I'm off on the official Breathless Reads tour! (I'm also fighting a super yucky bug, so send health vibes so that I don't spread this plague around)

The authors of Matched, The Eternal Ones, Across the Universe, The Replacement, and Nightshade - that's Ally Condie, Kirsten Miller, Beth Revis, Brenna Yovanoff, and myself will be descending en masse for an event in each of our home cities. I cannot wait - it's sure to be a blast!

Our first stop is tomorrow night:

New York - Wednesday, February 9
Books of Wonder, 6 p.m.

And here's the rest of the schedule:

Minneapolis - Thursday, February 10
Hennepin County Public Library (Ridgedale Branch), 7 p.m.

Denver - Friday, February 11
Tattered Cover (Highlands Ranch), 7 p.m.

Salt Lake City - Saturday, February 12
King's English Bookshop, 2 p.m.

Raleigh - Friday, February 25
Quail Ridge Books and Music, 7 p.m.

I already held a contest to spread the word, but I'm doing it again - this time I have ten, yes 10!!, posters to give away. I don't have an image of the poster yet, but I'll put it up as soon as I have it. Each poster will be signed by all five authors. Just leave your name and a way to contact you in the comments below and you'll be entered (for those who entered the first time, you're already entered in this contest too)! Hope to see you soon!

Not About Lost

The blog/tweetosphere is run amok with reactions to the Lost series finale.
Me? Ummmm....I stopped watching Lost after the second season.
Gasp!

It's not that I didn't enjoy it, but I just didn't quite fall in love the way I need to if I'm going to remain loyal to a show.
For example, if you want to hear my theory about what happened at the season finale of Supernatural I'd be happy to share :)

Now that TV business is taken care of, this post has a two-fold purpose.

One to share a GIGANTIC thank you to my wonderful hosts and dinner companions of last week. I had a wonderful time and though it hardly seemed possible am even more excited about October now than I was before.

My last stop was Chicago - one of my favorite cities.
I love the river
and the architecture.
I even had the joy of being caught out in a thunderstorm. That's not sarcasm - I love being caught out in the rain; it imparts a pure ecstasy of life in the moment ;)

I'd like to thank in particular my teen blogger/readers who came to dinner. My soul sistah Zoe!I know - we really could be sisters?! Right? :)

Hallie - who told me she hid Nightshade under her pillow so she could sneak reads when she was supposed to be doing her homework! And Kristen whose blog I'm so excited to read :) Thanks so much for your enthusiasm and kind words about the series!!

The second purpose of this post is to ask a favor. I'm heading to New York tomorrow for BEA. It's my first book convention and I'm sure there will be tons to report, but I'd like to know what you would like to hear about? What BEA buzz should my blog posts send back yonder?

One last item of note: The Frenetic Reader is giving away an ARC of Nightshade! Hurry over for your chance to win :)

Topless at Starbucks and Other Adventures

Seattle. Great city - one of my favorites to visit.

I had such a wonderful time meeting fantastic book folks and noshing on scrumptious food. I'll be posting pics of the dinners as they are emailed to me (thanks Colleen!!!), but for now the city.

Rain had been in the forecast, but when I arrived sky and sea sparkled in the sun.

I was near Pike Place Market.

Where I snapped a photo of the original Starbucks - you might not be able to see it here, but the 'real' Starbucks mermaid is topless. To me that make sense, because shells? Hello chafing!

Of course there is always the beauty of the Pacific. I couldn't get a good picture, but you could see all the way to the mountains beyond the sound.

Seattle has special book significance for me. March of just over one year ago I got 'the call' in Seattle. I revisited the bronze plaque with the poem that spoke to me that day and still rings so very true. That this city was the first stop on my pre-publication tour might have made me tear up just a little :)