One More Day!

 It's one day until FINDING PARIS pub day!!
Even though the book is not 'officially' out yet, I have:

• Signed at Houston Teen Book Con
• Signed at Texas Library Association
• Book-talked PARIS with awesome Texas librarians
• Book-talked PARIS with awesome Texas teen readers
• Signed a few at Houston SCBWI conference

And been crazy excited for 4/21/15!!

FINDING PARIS Blog Tour coming soon through Jean Book Nerd!

http://www.jeanbooknerd.com/2015/04/finding-paris-by-joy-preble.html

FINDING PARIS Houston Launch Party at Blue Willow Bookshop 4/25/15 at 2 PM!

http://www.bluewillowbookshop.com/node/77664

Here are a few pics from TLA!

FINDING PARIS on the Harper Collins shelf!

signing! Aisle 7!

The YAHOUS go to TLA! (with Dotti Enderle, Jennifer Mathieu, Kim O'Brien )

with the every awesome Christina Diaz Gonzalez

And the ever clever Kari Holt

with the brilliant Julie Murphy, who shares our brilliant B&B editor with me

And authors Christina Mandelski and Amy Fellner Dominy (aka my partners in crime)

And lots more coming after that!

I'll have other things to say tomorrow, so stay tuned.

FINDING PARIS, coming 4/21/15 from Balzer and Bray/Harper Collins!!

Five for Friday

Last Friday in March! Now that is madness. (okay, a weak pun that vaguely alludes to basketball. Best I can do today)

1. Getting very excited for HOUSTON TEEN BOOK CON, which is coming up on 4/11! Here's the link: http://www.teenbookcon.org  I am absolutely thrilled that FINDING PARIS will be available for sale there early and exclusively! So yes, if you are in Houston and want to read two weeks before everyone else, come to Houston Teen Book Con! I am also insanely, fan-girl ecstatic that I am on the Truth About Love panel with Alexis Bass, Susan Colasanti, David Levithan (!!), Jen Mathieu and me!

2. Getting equally excited for TLA the following week, which for the uninitiated, stands for Texas Library Association. I am very honored to announce that I will be signing FINDING PARIS in the author area on Wednesday 4/15 from 11-12, courtesy of Balzer and Bray/Harper Collins, but my other publisher, Soho Press, is generously providing some stacks of  SWEET DEAD LIFE series to sign as well! Now that makes me so happy. My full schedule will be up in appearances soon, and also includes TT4L and the Texas Author Tea.

3. It is finally spring here in Texas. At least more or less. Of course the pine pollen has coated the world in a dusting of yellow, but even that seems to be fading. *sneezes*

4. Very excited for the debut of Meredith Moore's I AM HER REVENGE on 4/7! Click on the title and get a copy and we can read together! She'll be debut launching at Blue Willow Books on 4/4!  (and fyi, Meredith and I will be signing together on 5/2 at Murder by the Book. More on that soon.)

5. And in my iZombie report, I can say that episode 2 has kept me coming back for episode 3. Rose McIver continues to nail it as Olivia. The writing is clever, although definitely hits every trope beloved to my have CW shows. Still giving it 2 brains up!

Signing, Signing, Signing!!

So excited to for all that's coming up in the next few days! One of my favorite things to do as an author is to visit with readers. One of my second favorite things to do is to meet other authors. And I'm getting to do both all week!

Here's the details below. If you stop by, please tell me you're a blog reader so I can thank you! (Plus there will be candy! Lots and lots of candy)

Saturday April 14th

2-4 PM

Katy Budget Books

Signing and reading with CC Hunter

http://www.katybooks.com/event/cc-hunter-joy-preble

Wednesday April 18th

TLA

YART Texas Author's Tea

noon-1:30

with many amazing authors!!

YAHOUS (YA HOUSTON)

Reception at Pat Anderson's Overlooked Books Booth #2629

3-4

Snacks, Raffle for Basket of books/swag from the YAHOUS

(Joy Preble, Sophie Jordan, CC Hunter, Jenny Moss, Lynne Kelly, Dotti Enderle, Crystal Allen, Mary Lindsey, Christina Mandelski)

http://yahous.wordpress.com/

Thursday April 19th

TLA

TT4L

11-11:30

(at the Hilton Americas)

Signing Advanced Reading Copies of ANASTASIA FOREVER

Sourcebooks Booth #1902

2-3 PM

(Want to find out how the trilogy ends before anyone else? This is your chance!)

More coming in the next months as we approach August and the Anastasia Forever release!

But this is enough for now.

The Writing Life

The writing life gets to you sometimes. Cause really - although it may seem a romantic way to earn a living (or a piece of a living) it's really you, sitting at the laptop for hours on end making up stuff that sometimes works and sometimes gets sent back to you by your agent/editor/beta reader/critique partner/random person in line at Target with the basic commentary that it sucks and so do you and maybe you better get that application filled out for Walmart greeter. (not that that is a bad thing)

You learn to be heartened by the tiniest bit of good news. (My editor answered my email!) And you dash about the house thinking ah, they love me. It will be okay. And then, even though you swear you're above it, you stumble on a mediocre review or someone else gets a Newbery (even though you don't write middle grade and thus will never get the Newbery) and you think crap! What am I doing? I'm a poser, a fake. What was I thinking? And then you get a really good piece of news, but it has to remain secret for awhile and so you walk around thinking crap, I'd like to tell this really good piece of news so no one thinks I'm a loser who will never win the Newbery. Often these things all happen in the same day and sometimes in the same hour so that while you're writing and trying not to suck at it you're riding the writer life roller coaster and you forgot to take your Dramamine.

Or in the words of my Sourcebooks housemate, the witty and droll Geoff Herbach, "And then, for no apparent reason, things got better! And then worse! And then better!" Which pretty much covers it, wouldn't you say?

So the short of it is, it's best to let it all go and enjoy the ride. When you do, you realize that mostly, it's good stuff. Really. Or as we say in our house since I have spent a lot of years on public education where you learn to laugh at pretty much anything, "It's a good day when no one spits on you." (Cause in public education this can sometimes happen)

But to end on an upbeat, here's some good stuff:

• The above picture of PJ (Tricia) Hoover, me, and blogger/librarian Jen Bigheart at Greg Leitich Smith's release party for Chronal Engine this past weekend. Celebrating a new book is always the best!


• The book I'm writing and trying to finish this week. I love it. I really do. It's funny and very romantic. And it has kissing.


• Although I can't show it to you yet, Soho Press has created the best cover ever for THE SWEET DEAD LIFE which is coming out in May 2013. This is wondrous, people! Wait until you see it.


• Sourcebooks is having me sign advanced reading copies of ANASTASIA FOREVER at TLA in April! I am so stinkin' excited about this that you have no idea!! Thursday 4/19 from 2-3. If you want to find out what happens before everyone else, come to the show!


• My agent Jen Rofe is going to be here on Friday for Houston SCBWI! And I am very excited about her welcome gifts. All of which have a cowgirl theme. Cause, um, Texas!

So what's up and down with all of you, dear readers?

Five for Friday

1. And another observation about Lyla the basset/boxer: people talk to me now when I walk her. More specifically men talk to me. Men tell me about their dogs. Men tell me about the dogs that live with their ex-wives. Men walking their dogs stop and ask if our dogs can 'visit.' Stoner teenage sons taking out the garbage say (and this is an exact quote) "Dude, what the hell is that dog? I LOVE that dog."

2. Finishing a trilogy is a strange and wonderful and bittersweet experience. I have been writing some piece or another of Dreaming Anastasia since 2005. That is a long time. A lot of characters. Anne and Ethan and the gang have been cozied up in my brain for all those years. I think we will have to be pried apart with a crow bar. But we'll hang out for awhile longer, since Anastasia Forever is coming in August. And soon a gorgeous cover (i've seen hints... i'm excited) coming soon. More on this later.

3. Excited to be going to ALA today and at the Soho Press booth Saturday as they launch Soho Teen and I get to begin chatting about The Sweet Dead Life, which will be out in 2013 as part of Soho Teen's inaugural list. Let me just say that I love, love this book. And the others in the new imprint, too! Stay tuned.

4. Reading Catching Jordan by Miranda Keneally, a Sourcebooks 'sista author.' Jordan Woods is the star quarterback. Jordan Woods is also female. And then the love troubles begin, initially in the form of a new quarterback named Ty. A fun, fun read. After this, it's The Fault in our Stars, by John Green, which I've been sneaking pages of since I bought it earlier this week. I am in awe of John Green's writing in this book. Love, death, life... it's all in there. Beautiful and heart wrenching and funny all at once.

5. And speaking of John Green, it's possible there's still a restraining order from the fan girl hysteria that I squeaked his way when we met at TLA a couple years ago. I mumbled on so long and gushingly about how wonderful he was and such an inspiration and... eventually his eyes glazed over and we snapped a picture.

Back from TLA, Where Authors are Rockstars and a Haunted Giveaway CONTEST

TLA did indeed rock. And our new Sourcebooks Children's and YA Publicity Manager, Derry Wilkens (a Texas girl herself) rocks pretty hard, too! Got to hang with the Sbooks gang and author buds and mentors, eat great vegies at Threadgills and a piece of sweet potato/pecan pie and a killer cocktail at Moonshine Grill and bacon shrimp and cheddar grits at Bess's.... (most of that was in one day so please do not judge) Fabulous Texas writers were everywhere: Cyn and Greg Leitich Smith, PJ Hoover, Jessica Anderson, Kathy Whitehead, Janet Fox (who will always be an honorary Texan), Kelly Bennett, Dede Fox Ducharme (who is writing some amazing poetry these days) , Varian Johnson, Christina Mandelski, Crystal Allen, Dottie Enderle, Jenny Moss, Bettina Restrepo (I bow to her energy level!) and more. And I finally got to meet Rebecca Stead and tell her how much I adore her writing. Plus Ruth McNally Barshaw, whose doodles and drawings always make me laugh! (she is not a Texan, but that is okay)

If you came out to the Sourcebooks booth to say hi, get a book signed, get an "Authors are my Rockstars" tee shirt - thanks!

And let me say that I love being at TLA on teen day - packs of teen readers roaming the exhibit hall in search of books and swag. One group from Weslaco in south Texas had gotten on the bus at 2AM! And they were driving back later that day. That is book dedication!

I'm always thanking bloggers and librarians and this post is no exception: Jen Bigheart, Steph Pellegrin (Literary Lonestars), Michelle Flores (Windowpane Memoirs) Katie (Mundie Moms), and my Houston girl - Maria (Cari Blogs) - and many, many, many more. Plus librarians like Lois Buchman and the indomitable Terri Lesene (Professor Nana) - you rock the cause of literacy!

Of course, my Sourcbooks publicity peeps - Derry, Melissa, and Kay (who was back in Naperville but still an active presence) - make events roll smoothly and make sure I'm where I need to be when I need to be there.

And now the CONTEST!!

Wanna win a signed copy of HAUNTED and a HAUNTED t shirt??

Become a follower of this blog if you aren't already (and/or follow me on Twitter (@joypreble) and comment on the blog with an answer to this question: Why do you love book bloggers and librarians?

The best answers will go in the contest hat and winner will be chosen. I will post winner here on the blog and ask you to email me, so check back or I'll pick someone else!

Contest will be open through Friday 4/22 so enter now!!

Amazeballs: Or How Much I loved Houston Teen Book Con

Houston Teen Book Con was this past Saturday at Alief Taylor High School. If you weren't there, you missed the time of your life! Deb Caletti gave a moving key note about her love of books. The school was filled with librarians and students and readers of all sorts and stripes. 21 authors and graphic novelists hung out and chatted about books and reading and why we write and how we write and stuff we love. The ladies of Blue Willow - Girl Boss Valerie Koehler and the indomitable Cathy Berner, who has championed me and my books more times than I probably deserve - created the most wonderful event ever. A squadron of volunteers and librarians and the amazing Lisa Stultz made sure it all went smoothly. Plus there was ice cream. (which I didn't get cause I was signing. But that's okay!)

I will be flying high from this for days to come. My co-panelists -Rachel Hawkins, Saundra Mitchell, Stacey Kade, Andrea Cremer - you all rocked my world. Seriously - I love these women!! And Ben the Armadillo. I love Ben, too.

Okay folks. Gotta grade research papers. Gotta pack up for TLA. Gotta write book 3. Next time I'll tell you about SCBWI and my lovely editor Leah Hultenschmidt - who I got to meet in person this weekend! Very cool.

Come to the Sourcebooks booth on Thursday at 10 AM. I'll sign a book for you. Haunted or Dreaming Anastasia! Plus there'll be chocolate. But only if you get there early!

til next time...

And now the TLA pictures

If you ask, you receive! And so I did - pictures from TLA. Thanks to Tanya Adams at Follett for sending along the first one of me signing a few extra books for them and to Stephanie Pellegrin for the second one!

Me at the Follett Booth - right before they gave me the three chocolate bars
Me and Steph Pellegrin... and what's that book called again?

Tomorrow, I'll be interviewing Judith Graves about her debut, Under My Skin, so drop by the old blog to find out how things are going for her. Hint: Terrific!!

In future weeks I'll be revving up my hosting skills - hope to be telling you about Janet Fox's Faithful and Jen Dutton's latest - Stranded. And more after that, to be announced as I set them up. Definitely in the mood to pay it forward for awhile. And so I will.

Til next time...

Texas Librarians Rock: My trip to TLA

If you read this blog, you know that the good and bad of my world have quite collided lately ( ie - book 2 contract/thyroid cancer and surgery) So I really wasn't sure if I'd make TLA this year. (for the uninitiated - Texas Library Association conference) A number of weeks ago, my wonderful little team at Sourcebooks had arranged for me to sign Dreaming Anastasia at the Follett booth. The Follett folks have a huge booth, know all you wonderful librarians intimately and just put on a great show at conventions. I was thrilled! As I also comment regularly, when you're still lower on the author food chain, having someone tell you that they'll pop for your hotel room AND set up a signing where, it turns out, you get free dark chocolate bars when you're done, is a grand enticement. Of course, like everything else in my world lately, it pretty much arrived in tandem with the cancer diagnosis.

But here's the good news. I was able to go. Over 100 people lined up to snag numbers so they could get a book and say hi and have me sign. I ran out of bookmarks. I met people from all over Texas. Got to hang some with some of the other Texas authors I've come to know and love - my bestest pal Janet Fox - whose debut, Faithful, is coming out from Puffin very very soon!!; the always sweet and brilliant Varian Johnson; the indomitable Cynthia and Greg Leitich Smith; Kathy Whitehead (who makes great analogies about cows, just ask her) Bettina Restrepo and Dottie Enderle. Got to meet some new folks like Jay Asher (okay, I think we'd bumped elbows at some previous time but not really met) - who really has this crazy rock star following I can only dream about; and Jandy Nelson and Bethany Hegedus and many others. I watched a crazy herd of folks thunder in at 9 AM so they could get the coveted tickets to Suzanne Collins' signing later in the morning. Seriously - it was like the running of the bulls. But for good cause. If I hadn't already been seated at the Follett booth preparing to sign, I'd have joined them!

Got to bond some with dear husband who rearranged a lot to drive with me to San Antonio and even ran out to McDonald's Friday morning and brought back an Egg McMuffin and coffee because I was running late since I honestly move a little slower these days!

And I got to hang with the truly fabulous and kind Kay Mitchell from Sourcebooks who among other things, helps pick up my slack now that Publicist Paul has more YA authors than just yours truly. (that's what happens when you do such a great job Paul - they give you more to do!)

Mostly, I got to talk books with people who love them. Librarians put my book and all books into readers' hands and without them, I don't know where we'd be. No one seemed to notice that I still couldn't turn to the left without wincing. I wore one of my growing collection of trendy scarves to cover Mr. Scary Scar until it fades a bit. And before I left, I managed to snag an ARC of Maggie Stiefvater's Linger - which let me tell you is absolutely everything I hoped it would be! Werewolf nookie; werewolf angst... you're gonna love it.

Okay, so I forgot to take out my camera and have someone take pictures. But trust me on this - I was having a blast. And if I met you, I was delighted to talk Dreaming Anastasia and Haunted with you.

Upcoming on this blog - an interview with Class of 2k10 co-president, Judith Graves, whose debut paranormal, Under My Skin, is out NOW!!

Til next time...

Hey, hey - it's TLA

My pal Janet Fox (Faithful, Puffin, 2010) couldn't believe I'd never been to TLA. But 'tis true. I hadn't. So she graciously showed me the ropes this week and I am forever thankful. Because besides getting to see many of our 2k9 books featured in the various publisher's areas and hang out with very cool librarians and amazing authors of all sort - including Janet's friend, author Kathy Whitehead (Art from Her Heart; Looking for Uncle Louie on the Fourth of July) and my friend, author Dede Ducharme (Treasure in the Tiny Blue Tin), and of course the amazing and generous Austin power couple -Cynthia and Greg Leitich Smith (Cynthia's Tantalize sequel, Eternal is out now), I got to see Meg Cabot and Scott Westerfeld up close and personal, which if you're a writer type, let me say is like seeing rock stars. And I got a few minutes of one on one conversation time with John Green! Yes - Paper Towns John Green. Looking for Alaska John Green. The "oh I'm in awe of how amazingly funny you are on paper" John Green. Which is what happens when everyone else goes to the Bluebonnet Luncheon and you stay on the exhibit hall floor and wait until the very end of his signing time.

Til next time.