Booksellers Rule!

You'll be seeing me here and there on the blogosphere as we're within two weeks of Nightshade's publication. (TWO WEEKS!!!!! The waiting is killing me!)
So I don't go mad, I'm going to focus on things that make me happy. Talking to people about Nightshade makes me very happy and I'm getting to do a lot of that lately.

Last weekend I was thrilled to participate in Anderson's YA conference in Naperville, Illinois. But my events kicked off before the conference began.

First I got to meet amazing readers at a pre-publication dinner.

They let me talk a lot

And we had so much fun (and delicious chocolate cake!)

The next day I visited schools. Despite my trip to the principal's office, I had an incredible time talking with students.

And they gave me flowers! Wow!
Then it was on to the conference. I love writing/book conferences because it means I get to hang out with other authors. YA authors are ridiculously fun to hang out with. I finally got to meet Kiersten White, who has been my 'virtual' friend for a while now. I love Kiersten! Her book, Paranormalcy, hit the NY Times bestseller list. Congrats, Kiersten!!

I also got to hang out with the super awesome David Levithan and John Green. I was on a panel with Antony John - his book Five Flavors of Dumb is fabulous - and Kirsten Miller (you've already heard me rave about Eternal Ones).
The next two weeks I'm heading to Michigan and Texas to talk more about Nightshade. Thank goodness. I need the distraction. Waiting is so hard!

In Which I Am A Fortune Teller

Remember a few days ago, when I posted about censorship in support of Laurie Halse Anderson?

In that post I mentioned a guest post I'd written for Page Turners Blog about book banning and how I expect Nightshade to be challenged at some point.

The past few days I've been in Naperville, Illinois for Anderson's YA conference. I had the best time ever - the Anderson's staff are phenomenal! It was amazing and I'll be posting more about that soon. Prior to the conference, I had the great pleasure and honor to visit local school and talk about writing.

Before my very first presentation, however, I was taken to the principal's office (I'm 32 and that was my first time being sent to the principal's office!) and told that a parent had objected to my being there because of the content of my book.

Now I realize I had very recently written that I expected this to happen, but I have to say, I wasn't prepared for an objection to come on my very first school visit. Being a school visit n00b I was already nervous and getting this news was a bit like a punch in the gut. Fortunately as soon as I got on stage and started talking about how much I love writing, all that ugly noise faded away. The students were phenomenal. They asked fantastic questions and were so enthusiastic. It reminded me of why I love talking to young readers and why no matter who objects I will always continue to SPEAK LOUDLY about the issues I believe in.

It's officially Banned Books Week now and to celebrate I'll be giving away a handful of banned or challenged books by authors who are heroes of mine. Stay tuned!