ENJOY!!!....

To celebrate the release of CHASING BROOKLYN and the paperback version of FAR FROM YOU, I'll be signing books and reading at the Clackamas Barnes and Noble Tuesday, January 5th at 7:00 pm.

Not only do I have a NEW hardcover YA novel, CHASING BROOKLYN, being released on January 5th (which will have a very nice review from Kirkus in the December 15th issue), but I also have a new paperback book being released. 

Twitter was all a flitter last night with...unhappiness. And I want to talk about it, and yet, I really don't. Because, as I told someone there yesterday, where our focus goes, energy flows. And I'm not sure I want to fuel the fire anymore. So, instead, you get a list of happy things. Happy Thing #1 that I did yesterday - I made cupcakes with my friend Suzanne Young. Her novel, THE NAUGHTY LIST, comes out early February and it is really fun and cute. Teens are going to eat this one up, I'm telling you!

 
for now anyway!

Want a peek at what the revision process is like for me?

I know, I know, SCARY!!

Are you brave? Really, really brave? I'm warning you, watch at your own risk.

If you think you can handle it, My Revision Medley pretty much summarizes the entire process.

On Tuesday, I posted about a book angel project.

It didn't go quite as well as I hoped, but that's the way it goes sometimes. All you can do is try.

Fortunately, we did have at least ten people who entered, and thanks to everyone who entered, I appreciate it! A few of you didn't leave a name in your comment, so unfortunately, I couldn't put you in the drawing. Sorry!!

Since I was hoping to get to at least $100, I will be donating $50.00 to each of the two organizations - the Oregon Food bank and the Oregon SMART program.

Here are the book angels, including one from Myspace who entered, in no particular order:

Car
tina238567
Stephsureads
HeatherKB
Dawn_Metcalf
richlayers
dani_bookwork91
newport2newport
A Dark Pixie
kporterbooks

Book Angels, please send me an e-mail at farfromyoucontest at gmail dot com with your mailing address, and I will get the book out to you. Please note I will be shipping it book rate, which is slow but less expensive, so don't be alarmed if it takes awhile for the book to get to you! In your e-mail, please let me know if you would like me to personalize the book for someone specifically. Otherwise, the book will just be signed. Also - if you have someone in mind who is 11-12, and not 13+, and you would rather have a signed copy of I HEART YOU, YOU HAUNT ME to give to that person, I have of a few of those too. Just let me know - first come, first serve.

I look forward to hearing about your book angel experience via your blog or via e-mail so I can post it here on my blog. And remember, one person can win three fabulous ARCs for their creativity (WINTERGIRLS by Laurie Halse Anderson, IF I STAY by Gayle Forman and YOU ARE HERE by Jennifer E. Smith.)

Thanks!!

My young adult novel, FAR FROM YOU, poses the question, do you believe in angels?
I do. And in that spirit, I’m hoping to find ten people willing to be book angels.
What is the Book Angel Project? An opportunity for ten people to give my book, FAR FROM YOU, to a person or organization who will benefit in some way from the gift.
How does it work? Comment below if you would like to be in the drawing to be a book angel. If you are one of ten people selected, I send you the book. Your job is to turn around within 7 days of receiving the book and give it to someone with no strings attached. When you do, take a picture of the event (or video tape it if you're feeling especially ambitious) and blog about it within 48 hours.
You cannot give the book away on-line. I want this to be a personal experience, where you hand the book to someone. And please get it on film, so we can all share in it! Don't worry, you don't have to give the person's name receiving the book if the person wants to remain anonymous.
I’ll point my blog readers to your blog entry once you’ve blogged about the experience.
AND, if you don't have a blog, no worries! You can write up the blog post, send me the picture, and I'll blog about it here!
Can I give it to anyone? Yes! However, my hope is that the books will go to people or organizations who will really appreciate them. Maybe someone who is having a hard time right now due to the economy. Maybe someone who has lost a loved one. Maybe a library with very few new books because they have such a small budget. Or maybe you decide to do something really interesting and give it to a complete stranger. You know, you could go to the local unemployment office and give it to someone there. There are lots of possibilities!
I hope a few people will be creative! As an added bonus, I will have three judges choose one book angel to receive an extra gift - THREE ARCs of some highly anticipated books. They are WINTERGIRLS by Laurie Halse Anderson, IF I STAY by Gayle Forman, and YOU ARE HERE by Jennifer E. Smith. How do you get this extra gift, you ask? By being extra creative in how the book is given away and/or making the blog post about the experience something REALLY special. It's kind of like getting asked to the prom. Some guys just take you on a date and slip in the question between the appetizer and dinner. Another guy rents a knight costume and shows up on a horse and hands you a scroll with the words, My princess, will you go to the prom with me? Either one is fine. But one went to a lot more effort. And so, I want to reward that extra effort.
That’s it? Well, no. To make it more interesting, for every unique individual who comments and volunteers to be in the book angel project drawing, I will donate 50 cents to the Oregon Food bank and 50 cents to the Oregon SMART program (Start Making a Reader Today). To make sure the book angels follow through, I’ll make the donations after 8 out of 10 of the book angels have blogged about the experience. This is to ensure that people do as they are supposed to and don’t just simply keep the book for themselves.
Can I read the book before I give it away? I suppose this is really for you to decide. But please know this - my intention is that the person or organization will get a shiny, new book. It won't be nearly as special if you give someone a book with a pizza stain on page 42.
What if you get like 500 comments? Then I’ll write two checks for $250 each. But come on. 500 comments? No way! But hey, prove me wrong. And just in case you do prove me wrong, $500 is the max.
Why are you doing this? So many people are having a hard time right now. I want to do something. I realize a book isn't going to bring someone a job who may need it or put food on the table. But maybe it'll bring a smile to someone's face. And maybe seeing that person's smile will make other people smile. And of course, helping out worthwhile organizations is something we should all be doing, if we can.
Anything else I need to know? US Residents only please. Keep in mind this is a young adult book and is appropriate for teens ages 14+. Would an adult like this book? I think so. :) Also, if you are an author and you want to throw in one of your own books to give away, that's fine! Or even if you aren't an author and would like to give away more than just my book, it's all good. The more, the merrier!
Comments will be accepted through midnight, Thursday, February 26 (EST). On Friday, February 27th, names of the ten book angels will be posted. When you comment to this post, please make sure I have a way to contact you. I'm also posting this on my Livejournal blog. Enter either here or there, but not both. And, I think that's it! Thanks for reading and for participating, if you choose to do so!!!