Five for Friday! And IWALT Bookmarks!

So Soho Press is still keeping the cover for next year's  IT WASN'T ALWAYS LIKE THIS under wraps as best they can. ARCs are sneaking into the world to early readers/blurbers, and the come January to everyone else. But they approved these awesome bookmarks, created by my friend and writing partner Kristin Rae!

Yeah, they're pretty awesome and they hint so nicely at the cover while still not giving it away, so look closely! Very excited!

And in #2, a quick photo recap of last week's Texas Book Festival which was supremely awesome and such an honor to be part of!

Catching some sun with capitol behind us with me, A.G. Howard, Cory Putnam Oakes, Mari Mancusi, PJ Hoover

Our Blood is Thicker than Water panel in the signing tent: me, Heather Demetrios, Renee Watson

And yes, that is Margaret Atwood. 

Meeting fellow Soho author and all around awesome author and human and very tall guy, Adam Silvera

3. It is still summer in Houston. It should move on to Fall. Like NOW.

4. Looking forward to Comic Con Austin and then McAllen Book Festival and then some time to just write, write, write.

5. And between all the above and a brief jaunt to Florida to just hang on the beach in Ft. Walton where it's just you and the white sand and the birds and the sea turtles and it's heaven, I am also now getting better from strep throat/sinus infection. But yeah, it was worth it! 

Five for Friday

Did you know next week is Valentine's Day? Already?!

And with that out of the way, the Friday five:

1. Huge congrats and awesome sparkly things to my friend and amazing author Crystal Allen, who was chosen as the Thurber House Writer in Residence for this coming summer! This is a huge honor and Crystal is wonderful writing coach and teacher, as well as the author of lovely MG/tween-ish titles HOW LAMAR's BAD PRANK WON HIM A BUBBA-SIZED TROPHY and THE LAURA LINE, both from our mutual publisher, Balzer and Bray/Harper Collins. Read more about it HERE

2. Author lunches. With cake. And industry talk. Went to one yesterday and I'm feeling recharged and focused. And not just because of the cake. Writing is such a solitary activity. It's easy to be neurotic some days. Most days. Well, maybe that's just me, but I don't think so. Anyway, it's always a true gift to hang out with other people who are battling the same battles.

3. Okay, so maybe possibly Scandal has jumped the shark for me with this new #saveOlivia plot. Because seriously? The most powerful man in the world is afraid of the VP and all his crazy machinations? Not working for me. Not even as over the top satire, which I don't think Shonda Rimes means it to be. If you do, Shonda, then, okay. Cool. Your dialogue is still stunning. But the plot is the kind of thing that I fear my editors would toss back at me and say, really? I was, however, relieved that Olivia was able to get a clean outfit and have her hair blown out. Although honestly, I like Olivia's hair when it's gone rogue. Just clean it up and it's just fine. But I know that's not Olivia. Which is a whole interesting discussion of its own, perhaps for another day.

4. So excited for two other author friends! The very kind and very talented Michael Northrop has a new series out, TOMB QUEST, from Scholastic. And book one, Book of Dead, just debuted on the NYTimes Bestseller's List! Hooray!!! You can grab a copy at your favorite bookstore. Or one of my favorites, Blue Willow: http://www.bluewillowbookshop.com/node/76350

And the delightful Cory Oakes from Austin has a new middle grade out from Sourcebooks, DINOSAUR BOY! http://www.bluewillowbookshop.com/node/77457

5. Getting excited for two upcoming book festivals: Montgomery County Book Festival, north of Houston in The Woodlands will be 2/21. I get to hang out with a bunch of my favorite authors and bloggers and readers and librarians. And the two keynotes are both authors I admire so greatly: Ellen Hopkins and Andrew Smith. So hooray for that! Then on 2/28, it's off to Corpus Christi for the first ever Teen Book Fest by the Bay!

And now that I just spilled my coffee, I'd say it's time to go.
Happy Friday.