A Day with Shay

The best things in life are often unexpected. 2010 will go down as my favorite Halloween weekend on record because I was surrounded by family and friends at the Nightshade release party. I'll do full-party blogging soon (I'm waiting on all the pictures to come in), but I wanted to do a Halloween post about joyful surprises.

I was shocked by the number of people who drove long distances to come to party. Dear, dear friends came to surprise me including my high school English teacher, Mrs. Heisler, who always encouraged my writing dreams.

One of the best surprises of this entire experience, however, have been the new and wonderful friendships I've made through Nightshade. My awesome teams at InkWell and Penguin - the amazing YA authors I've met at conferences. And then there's Shay.
Actually he's Will Browning - the actor who brought Shay to life in the Shadow Days webisodes. Getting to know Will has been awesome because not only is he incredibly talented, he's also one of the loveliest people I've ever met.

I was honored that he came all the way from Florida to attend the Nightshade party. And (bonus!) he spent the weekend hanging out with my family and friends.

We took a tour of Minneapolis and St. Paul highlights and he took lots of pictures.

We carved pumpkins
and named them Bateman and Sebastian.
And he stayed up until 3 a.m. with me watching Labyrinth.
As an author, I thought there could be nothing better than having a talented actor portray one of my characters. I was wrong. What's even better is meeting a kindred spirit and making a friend for life.

Thanks for everything, Will!

Wishing all of you a Happy Halloween full of more treats than tricks!

And a huge thanks to DJ for sending me a picture of his pumpkin! Yay!!!

Who Wins Mister Wolf?

Heidi Zweifel! (@hmz1505) Thanks for giving Mister Wolf a new home :)

Thank you so much for all the fantastic pictures of Nightshade in the wild and for going out to hunt for your copy of the book. I will never be able to express how much it means to be that you guys are reading about Calla and her pack!

Some more awesome news: I have an essay appearing in the Wall Street Journal's Speakeasy blog about sex, censorship and young adult literature.

And tomorrow is the big day - the official Nightshade release party. Halloween is my favorite holiday so I'm thrilled we're celebrating Nightshade on the weekend of Samhain and having a costume contest.

I'd love to see you at the Red Balloon tomorrow at 7 p.m.

Tomorrow morning I'm picking up "Shay" from the airport. How cool is that?

Thank you again for making Nightshade a success!!!

In the News

So Nightshade has been in stores for about a week and for five days of that week I was at home with the flu. I'm finally making my way back into the world and getting to see and hear fun book buzz.

I had my first television appearance on KARE 11's Showcase Minnesota. And the St. Paul Pioneer Press featured Nightshade in their Sunday Life section.

I've been getting wonderful emails from readers - thank you so much for sending them. And I just learned that a Nightshade fan site is being created!!!

Check it out: http://nightshadenexus.com/

I've also had the chance to do some stock signings so if you're around Minneapolis you can find signed copies of Nightshade at Bookcase of Wayzata, the Borders at Rosedale, and Barnes and Noble at the Mall of America. I'll be signing stock at Borders Woodbury tomorrow.

Remember you have two days left to send me photos of Nightshade in the wild to be entered in the Mister Wolf prize pack contest.

And this Friday is the big day - Nightshade's official launch party at the Red Balloon Bookshop in St. Paul at 7:00 p.m. featuring a costume contest with special guest Shay Doran! I got my costume today and I am super excited about it - I think it may be one of my best ever!!! (Won't reveal what it is 'til after I have pics from the party.)

Continent Wild

I've been delighted to have reports of Nightshade captures from coast to coast! How exciting!

Here are pictures of Nightshade on the Upper West Side of Manhattan

And in New Jersey

Here's a picture from Los Angeles (Nightshade is in 3 places in this picture! Can you find all 3?)

Nightshade is not only running wild across the country, I've just heard the news that it will be published in Korea (Random House) and Hungary (Egmont) that brings us to 20 foreign territories!

And I'm thrilled to announce that Nightshade is today's book pick on Entertainment Weekly.

Hurrah!

Remember to tweet or post in the comments your encounter with Nightshade in the wild to be entered to win the prize pack featuring Mister Wolf! Entries will be taken through Wednesday, October 27!

The Hunt

Nightshade hits stores today!!! Are you ready?

Some folks who are most definitely ready are the lovely ladies at the Red Balloon Bookstore in St. Paul, MN, where on October 29 we're having my official book party. I can't wait!!!

Time for a contest!

Your mission, should you choose to accept it:

The week of October 19, hunt down Nightshade in your local bookstore and show me when you've captured the book! Share your picture of Nightshade in the wild in the comments here, on Twitter, Facebook or your own blog. Contest is open until Wednesday, October 27.

The winner will receive this extra special Nightshade prize pack, which includes:

Mister Wolf the puppet (recognize him from the photo above?)
Allegro Coffee's Vail Blend
Calla's favorite book, Watership Down
A journal in which to record your own stories
Three CDs that were oft played in the writing of Nightshade (TV on the Radio, Bat for Lashes, and Radiohead)
And 5 signed bookplates to share with your friends (or hoard, if you'd like)

Please note: While sometimes you can find books prior to their official publication date, Nightshade has a strict on-sale date of October 19 so don't go hunting until next Tuesday. The contest will be open from Tuesday October 19 to Wednesday October 27.

Good hunting!!

No Book is an Island

In the summer of 2009 I got the call that Michael Green at Philomel wanted my book. I think I may have blacked out for a second or two. I managed to contain myself because I was on the phone with Agent Richard and was, at that point, still concerned that I not be too weird around my agents.

Fast forward: October 2010

Tomorrow my debut novel, Nightshade, hits stores. Agent Richard and Agent Charlie now both now how absolutely crazy I am and seem to like me anyway. Michael Green is still my hero and Jill Santopolo, my editor, is not only brilliant - she's also my friend.

Nightshade started at Penguin but it's making it's way around the world thanks to Foreign Agent Lyndsey who is an absolute star.

I've had the chance to travel all over the country meeting librarians, booksellers, and readers and each place I've been makes me more thrilled about my book's release date. And the more I'm drawn into the writing and publishing world, the more I know this is a collaborative work of love and I am deeply indebted to Penguin, Inkwell, librarians, booksellers, and fans for bringing Nightshade to the wider world.

I will never have enough thanks. The Nightshade pack is growing - thank you for running wild with me.

Awesome Austin

I've ended up with an extra day in Austin due to an electrical failure on the plane I was supposed to take home. With this additional time on my hands I thought I'd take a moment to reflect on the fabulous that is the Texas Book Festival.

It's my first time in Austin and I must say: cool town. Lots of interesting people, amazing art, and great places to go. There's obviously tons going on all the time.

Including Santas on Segways (there was a huge line of them, and they had elves!)

After I took this Santa's pic, he gave me a candy cane :) (I'm not kidding. He really gave me a candy cane)

The Texas Book Festival has been great. It's wonderful seeing the downtown full of literary-minded folks. I was lucky to hang out with Heather Brewer and Kirsten Miller. Our panel was standing room only! And the signing afterward was a blast.

Then we had the Zombies vs. Unicorns panel. Usually I consider myself Team Unicorn, but we were assigned our teams upon arrival and last night I made an appearance on behalf of Team Zombie. And we rocked. Though Team Unicorn "won" I think it was just 'cause of Meg Cabot's sparkly cardigan - it was a bewitching cardigan.

I was very proud of Team Zombie. We made beautiful art together. Thanks to Heather Brewer's uber-minions for taking a photo! I composed and performed a haiku for my part:

Putrid flesh is vile
but none can match the force of
Eternal hunger

Since I didn't know which team I was going to be on I also had a Team Unicorn haiku ready to go, to which you guys get exclusive access

Steed, ever untamed
Crowned with a weapon, deadly spire
To pierce hearts or win them

Clearly I will take any opportunity to write paranormal haiku.

It's been a wonderful trip, despite airplane failure, and it was amazing to talk with so many readers. Thank you to everyone who came out and to the wonderful volunteers who made the festival run smoothly.

Oh, and Nightshade is in stores in 48 HOURS!!!!