Goodbye Summer and Other Stuff!

It's September now and almost Labor Day and this summer is officially over even if the calendar says it will linger a few weeks longer. Yesterday at Target they were already (already!) cleaning out the school supply section and moving in Halloween. I wanted some of those cheap two pocket folders but they were somewhere in an associate's shopping cart being moved and so that didn't happen. The world seems to be drumming its crazy drums a little harder as it always seems to do this time of year. The mall is filled with boots and sweaters and even though it's still 92 outside, I'm eyeing them and thinking, yeah. And let's not even talk about how Sbux has already begun hawking those pumpkin spice lattes…. because they have. They grocery store has pumpkin ceramic crap and Homecoming mums and holy hell, it seems to be fall.

In my little corner, I have finally finished IT WASN'T ALWAYS LIKE THIS, which is already up on Amazon and other places for pre-order and has a gorgeous cover that I can't show you for awhile but you will love, created by the amazing Christian Fuenfhausen, the genius behind the covers of many of your favorite books. (Paper Towns! 13 Reasons Why!) Mostly, finishing this book means that I have spent the past year writing furiously about immortality, star-crossed love, some clever bad guys, and what happens when you're stuck at 17. Plus America. Because there's always a sub text, you know. I LOVE this book. I can't wait to tell you more about it and as the fall progresses, I shall. And Soho Press will tell you, too. There's a whole plan involved and I loves me a plan.

Exciting news coming tonight and since I'm bad at secrets I will whisper Texas Book Festival and see if you figure it out.

Beyond that, I shall leave you with my summer highlights:

Hanging out in Chicago with family and friends and driving down Green Bay Road through the northern suburbs, Lake Michigan looming to the east and all those pretty houses and winding road and the mental classical music soundtrack that always runs through my head.  Eating the tomatoes I grew with my own hands! All twenty of them. Drinking vodka and pineapple. Some serious pool time once it finally stopped raining. Driving to Dallas and Austin, lovely road trips both. Spending a week living and teaching at The Writing Barn in Austin, sharing a tiny cabin with author Nicole Griffin and laughing our asses off at just about everything, plus getting up in the pre-dawn to write in our little spaces because when you live with another writer for a week and someone else is making your meals, all you need is coffee and a low light and you can just work til your fingers ache. Eating happy hour dinners at this place and that. Sometimes going to a weekday matinee and having popcorn for breakfast. (Okay, when you work from home, you can do that anytime, but somehow the summer seems the best time.) Fireworks watching on 4th of July. Finishing a book that I cared about deeply. (see above.) Finally figuring out how to write the other book I've been struggling with. Grilling burgers and sitting on the deck with a beer. (okay, in Texas we can do this almost all year long) Plotting the fall and spring because that's what I do.

Happy Thursday!

Holly Schindler FERAL Cover Reveal!!

Today I am honored to help my fellow YA Outside the Lines blogger and awesome YA author, Holly Schindler reveal the cover for her 3rd YA novel, FERAL, which is forthcoming from Harper Collins on 8/26/2014!! Check this out, you guys!!

Here's a little teaser about the plot!

It’s too late for you. You’re dead.

Those words float through Claire Cain’s head as she lies broken and barely alive after a brutal beating. And the words continue to haunt her months later, in the relentless, terrifying nightmares that plague her sleep. So when her father is offered a teaching sabbatical in another state, Claire is hopeful that getting out of Chicago, away from the things that remind her of what she went through, will offer a way to start anew.

But when she arrives in Peculiar, Missouri, Claire quickly realizes something is wrong—the town is brimming with hidden dangers and overrun by feral cats. And her fears are confirmed when a popular high school girl, Serena Sims, is suddenly found dead in the icy woods behind the school. While everyone is quick to say Serena died in an accident, Claire knows there’s more to it—for she was the one who found Serena, battered and most certainly dead, surrounded by the town’s feral cats.

Now Claire vows to learn the truth about what happened, but the closer she gets to uncovering the mystery, the closer she also gets to discovering a frightening reality about herself and the damage she truly sustained in that Chicago alley. . . .

With an eerie setting and heart-stopping twists and turns, Holly Schindler weaves a gripping story that will make you question everything you think you know.

Yes, I know!! I can hardly wait to read!

Want to know more about Holly? Get thee to her blog: www.hollyschindler.com

Want to pre-order FERAL? (and yes, you absolutely should!) You can do that here: http://www.amazon.com/Feral-Holly-Schindler/dp/0062220209/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1391182020&sr=1-1&keywords=Holly+Schindler+Feral

Want to add FERAL to your Goodreads? Do that here: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15782742-feral

I'm really excited about this one! Because I'm sensing a nine lives vibe here. And I can't wait to find out if I'm right!

Chicago Snow Memories: Or The Mouse that Froze

It's the first Friday of January, and if you're somewhere snowy and cold, I hope you're warm and dry and bundled up. Here in Houston it's in the 20's which for us is frigid, but it never lasts that long--usually. In Chicago where I grew up, it's snowing and snowing and then the ice will set in when it drops below freezing next week. My last winters in Chicago were like that-- endless snow, feet of snow, and then sub-arctic temps that freeze your eyeballs.

Chicago weather makes you tough. It was once so cold while I was walking to class at Northwestern that when I made the half mile or so, there were tiny icicles on my scarf where it had covered my mouth. Yes, the moisture of my breath had formed ice! On Lake Michigan, I saw waves freeze in mid-motion close to the shore.

Once I walked outside too soon after sucking on a menthol cough drop and my lungs seized up momentarily.

And then there was an endlessly cold winter my junior year at NU and all the houses in the sorority quad got a mouse problem because hey,  they needed somewhere warm and the interconnected houses were perfect. We put out these sticky traps that didn't work mostly…. Grossed out one morning to find an unfortunate and chilly rodent stuck to the yellow paper, I tossed it outside in the blizzard where he froze to death soon after. Mousicle. A cautionary tale for his comrades.

Chicago's a tough town.

Stay warm, dear readers.

Back to the Windy City

Went home last weekend--visiting Chicago family and also fortunate enough to sign THE SWEET DEAD LIFE at Anderson's in Naperville. It's a funny thing about me and Naperville, IL: my first teaching job after Northwestern was in that suburb (English, comp., and also I was the worst volleyball coach ever, which I can admit now even though my JV team won most of their games), and then some years down the road, my first novel, DREAMING ANASTASIA was published by Sourcebooks whose headquarters is in, yup, Naperville. And so here I was again, last Sunday, honored to appear at Anderson's, which is an amazing indie and was kind enough to invite me to sign.

Let me interject that I'm catching up on Vampire Diaries as I type this and I'm a tad tired of evil, angsty, troubled Stefan. And now… vampire amnesia. Oh Stefan. I am never tired of Damon. Like not ever. And I haven't caught up with The Originals yet, but eventually I will. Unless you think it's not worth my effort. Anyone?

Okay, back now:

Beach near where I grew up!

It was a good Chicago trip: cold enough for me to feel like a got a dose of actual fall and filled with family and food and wonderful friends and fans who came out to Anderson's and made me feel awesome while we talked Texas angels Jenna and Casey and what's to come with next year's THE A-WORD. I love that this series has a different take on angels. I love that my angels are grumpy and angsty and imperfect and something more than just vampire substitutes. And that many of the humans in the story have no clue that they're interacting with heavenly beings. And that at its core it's story of family as much as it's a mystery and a growing love story. Plus there was Lake Michigan!

Here are some pics:

Started the trip at SuperDawg, my favorite hot dog stand

Where I ate a SuperDawg and fries. (hot dog is buried under there)

Also, there's this on top of the place

Then it was on to Anderson's where my family came to hang! (Even though the Bears were playing)

And I talked about THE SWEET DEAD LIFE

And about angels and Soho Press and other stuff

And we captured my cousin Kurt's new shoes in the wild

And then I read a little.

A really good time was had by all!

Pumpkin-Palooza

It's still hotter than hell outside. Yes, I know - I live in Texas. What did I expect? Actual fall? I miss it sometimes, I guess. I don't miss Chicago snow up to my waist in the winter (and in fact am having periodic angst attacks about the fact that HAUNTED is set in Chicago and due out in February and Publicist Paul has been making sounds that sound suspiciously like "Joy. You'll come back here to your beloved Windy City when the next book is out. Bring a jacket." Not that I'm not beyond thrilled about that. Just that I remember what it's like to have ice build up on my scarf. While I'm wearing it.)

But I miss fall. The leaves turn colors here some years. And I can drive to other parts of the state and see some decent fall color. But mostly kids are sweating in their Halloween costumes and we often have the AC cranking on Thanksgiving. Last Halloween I was in Phoenix. Jake and Kellie and I carved the pumpkins in the photo above. The little pumpkin belongs to Bernie the wonder dog. But it was hot there, too.

The stores in the mall think it's fall. Sweaters and leggings and jeggings (does that word creep anyone else out?) and boots and booties and coats and hats, even.

Me - I'm sticking pumpkin in every recipe. Digging out my fall wreath with the scarecrows. And leaving my environmental footprint by turning down the AC enough to pretend I'm cold.

I've tried the pumpkin brownies. I'm about to put a can in a devil's food cake mix. The recipe swears this will work. I'm a pumpkin believer. Muffins next, I think. Maybe with that cream cheesy center thing? Is there such a thing as pumpkin soup? Has anyone made it? Is it edible?

Til next time...

HuffPo Rides Again

And for post two of the Dreaming Anastasia Road Trip, I present the more humorous version, which is up now on the Books Vertical on Huffington Post. Enjoy!
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/joy-preble/on-the-road_b_366799.html

Til next time...

Dreaming Anastasia Road Show

Me and the Chicago part of the Preble family at my Borders' signing. Do you see the HOT sign on the display of Dreaming Anastasia's?


Lou Malnati's pizza - just like Anne and Tess eat in an early chapter of DA

University Hall at Northwestern - the real building for the fictional setting of Professor Olensky's office in DA.

Award winning illustrator Larry Day, who was signing with me at the St. Mary's book fair in Riverside.

My little table at St. Mary's Book Fair.

Me at the John Cooper School Signature Series Event

Just back from Chicago events and before that the John Cooper School Signature Series here in The Woodlands, TX. Three days off from school, two book fairs, a teacher round table and a Friday the 13th book signing at Borders north of Chicago in Wilmette. In quick summation, I present the Dreaming Anastasia Road Show Highlights:

• Getting to listen to John Grogan talk about his dog Marley and book talking Dreaming Anastasia with anyone who stopped by my table.


• Flying to Chicago on a half empty plane and having row 19 all to myself. And what did I do with all this bounty? Spread out so I could grade Antigone tests. Oh the life a famous author!


• Visiting with the 7th and 8th graders at St. Mary's School in Riverside. What a great group you are! Plus Jessica and her team, including her husband who graciously brought back Diet Coke and warm oatmeal raisin cookies from McDonald's during the dinner lull.
• Getting to meet picture book illustrator Larry Day, who was great company during the above mentioned dinner lull at St. Mary's.


• Getting to visit my alma mater Northwestern and donating a copy of Dreaming Anastasia to the YA collection at the library.


• Driving along Sheridan road from Wilmette to Evanston and later along Lake Shore Drive to Hyde Park. Chicago cooperated with 60 degree weather. In November.


• Staying with my cousin Sara who is an amazing baker and has a freezer full of cookies and brownies and other crazy good stuff and seeing a bunch of other family, too.


• Getting to hang with college friends - for lunches, coffee, after one of my signings. Something about being with the people that knew you when that's sweet and humbling and just oh so right! Hard to be a diva when you're with people who have held your hair back so you could vomit...


• Reconnecting with the Chicago Preble's! You guys rock!


• Dinner with author @PattyJMurphy!


• Lunch with 2k9er's Fran Slayton and Susan Fine, and the ever fabulous best publicist ever @psamuelson01 - otherwise known as Publicist Paul. And did I mentiont that it was 60 degrees out that day? In November? In Chicago?


• The great Look What's HOT display of Dreaming Anastasia's at Border's in Wilmette for my signing - at which I read some, signed some, answered a bunch of questions, and even learned more about the story of the Dreaming Anastasia cover from Sourcebooks' own Kay Mitchell, who drove with Paul Samuelson and the intrepid Teddy Roosevelt all the way from Naperville in Friday night traffic to be with me.


• Hanging with teachers and the fab Angela at 57th Street Books in Hyde Park.

In short - Thank You! to readers, friends, family and to the Sourcebooks team that made the Dreaming Anastasia Chicago tour a reality!

Til next time...

SHSU Children's Lit Festival & YA Conference

Looking author-y in between Kelly Bennett and Janet Fox
SHSU grad student Katie Poland poses with me.

Kellly Bennett and Janet Fox with Janet's Faithful cover

Janet Fox and her SHSU grad student helper

Absolutely delightful time yesterday presenting at the Sam Houston State Children's and YA lit conference with Janet Fox (Faithful, Puffin, May 2010) Thanks to Dr. Holly Weimar for choosing us to be part of the program and to my cheery grad student helper Kathryn Poland for sheperding me around! And of course I'm always thrilled when I get to be a fan girl and Newbery authors! Specifically, the phenomenal Christopher Paul Curtis and Jacqueline Woodson, who were the keynote speakers and with whom I had the honor of eating lunch. (Let me say that when you are a newbie debut author, it is still shocking that someone lets you eat barbeque and cobbler with really famous people. In your own little guest author/presenter room. With all the other wonderful presenters such as author Kelly Bennett and some really cool librarians! While everyone else gets a boxed lunch in the cafeteria. I mean seriously - I had to pinch myself. Plus the cobbler was warm. And there was vanilla ice cream to put on top.

Purchased Woodson's If You Come Softly, which I had not read. It is a re-telling of R&J, black teen Jeremiah falls in love with white teen Ellie. It is so beautifully written that I don't have words for it yet. I have so much to learn about this craft! And Bud not Buddy, by Curtis is next on my list. Christopher Paul Curtis is another master of the written word, of storytelling, and just listening to him was an honor.

Onward this week to Chicago! I am very excited to get to see Publicist Paul and authors Susan Fine and Fran Cannon Slayton when I'm in town and very much looking forward to my events!

Thursday - St. Mary's Book Fair in Riverside

Friday - Signing at Borders in Wilmette, 7 PM

Saturday- Educator's Round Table at 57th Street Books in Hyde Park

Itching to tell you all more updates. But not quite yet.

Til next time...

HuffPo, Sharpies, and other News

Quick post this morning. So much work to do and then husband's birthday dinner later on. (Don't you love it when birthdays fall on weekends and you can have more leisurely fun rather than the "here's your cake, let's go do homework" kind of fun?)

If I haven't mentioned it, I'm an official Huffington Post blogger now, on their new books vertical. I am thrilled! Posted my latest- on paying your dues as a debut author - on Friday. You can read it here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/joy-preble/paying-the-debut-dues-or_b_339436.html Hopefully you will be amused. :)

Beyond that, if you're in Houston area, come join me up in Huntsville at SHSU's YA Lit Conference on 11/7. Janet Fox (Faithful, Puffin 2010) and I will be talking about on line writing communities, among other things, and also signing Dreaming Anastasia. Come say hi.

I'll also be a "local author" at John Cooper School Signature Series Event on 11/11 at the Waterway Marriott in The Woodlands. John Grogan (Marley and Me) is speaking! Plus it's a fund raiser for literacy causes. All worth the price of admission.

Chicago folks: SBooks is bringing me to town right after that. My bigger public signing is at Borders in Wilmette 11/13 7 PM. Hoping to rock the house on that one. Help me show them what this Chicago native now Texas girl can do! And if you're an educator, I'll be talking to teachers and then signing at the fabulous 57th Street Books (thank you Angela!) on 11/14 around 2 PM.

Beyond that, all sorts of other things going on, but this is not the post for them. Soon, though.

Happy November!

Til next time...

Ah, Chicago

Went to a family wedding in my hometown of Chicago over Labor Day. And now I'm back in the suburbs of Space City and it's - big shocko - raining yet again, and I'm panging with homesickness for the Windy City. But the weather was travel brochure gorgeous, the sailboats were out on Lake Michigan, the downtown streets were packed with the young and trendy, the wedding was terrific, my family was a delightful hoot, the Cubbies won (oops - against the 'Stros!), and I got to eat and drink 'til I was sorta stunned with excess. My kind of trip. Made up totally for the part where I left before the butt crack of dawn Saturday morning. (Even the most wonderful of events does not make me leap cheerily from my bed at 3:50 AM)

And Sunday morning - in between meals and celebrations - I rediscovered my adoration for the wedding announcements in the NY Times. If you've never indulged in this oddity, get thee to a local store or Starbucks next Sunday or go on line. How can anyone resist the lure of lines like"By June they had fallen in love while milking the farm's dairy cow"? I mean, seriously.

Til next time...