Where I've Been

Thanks to Carol Moore of the Water-Blog for the photo.

So, yeah, I've been a tiny bit MIA from my blog(s) here. Apologies.


Here are just a few of the reasons why:

• I am STRUGGLING with revisions on my possible next YA. Yes, in all caps and an angry red font;

• I have had a few medical weirdo things happen which have kept me running to doctors, including an allergic reaction to Cipro that covered my body scalp to toe in itchy rashy red hives, and, you know, the other part where I thought I was having a *coughs* heart attack (but thank goodness wasn't);

• It is the end of the school year which is a notoriously busy time for my (all) kids and I have been running them places, helping them with final papers, getting son one set for college (?!?!) and driving son two to and from friends', golf, etc.

• I have been trying to devote myself to some anti-bullying work which feels important and right to me, but has taken up a decent chunk of my free time. Most of it I have done through participating as a mentor/support on this amazing Stand for the Silent facebook page started by the incredible whirlwind of a man named Kirk Smalley whose son killed himself at age 11 after being bullied insufferably for too long. 

• I have been dealing with the next phases of my next YA, THE SUMMER OF LETTING GO, including obtaining clearances, copy edits and early marketing stuff (author photos, Q&A, author essay, etc.) and, YES, I've seen a sneak peek at a possible cover! EXCITING!!!

and, last but not least. . .

THE OPEN WATER SEASON has started with a bang, or at least with some rocking and rolling water conditions. https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10151944021590299&set=vb.128827940504281&type=2&theater

So, there you have it. Ima busy. But, any day now, I'll be back here with a vengeance, since Teachers Write! is about to start and I'm bringing back Friday Feedback, so stay tuned!

xox gae

p.s. this is a pretty extraordinary review of THE PULL OF GRAVITY by a librarian now working in Hong Kong. If this Top 15 list doesn't make you want to read my book if you haven't, I don't know what will.

Second Anniversary Celebration: Cupcakes or . . . Cooties - Edited to Announce winner

(*this post has been edited to add drawing winner video at bottom...*)

So, for those celebrating with me all along. . .

today is it! 

The Second Anniversary of the day 

THE PULL OF GRAVITY came out!

Hardcover, computer and me

*tosses confetti!*

But, um, instead of celebrating with cupcakes and a winner for the drawing, I am, um, going to the doctor to find out what kind of cooties I have. 

Yesterday, I developed some kind of weird rash all over and puffy eyes that I think may be Dengue Fever.

Would you believe Valley Fever?

Whatevs. I have some weird shit going on and I need to sort it out.

Once I do, I will be back with a drawing for a signed ARC of THE SUMMER OF LETTING GO.

Until then, tell one friend about THE PULL OF GRAVITY. Better yet, tell two friends.

More soon!

- gae

p.s. and the winner of a signed ARC is . . .

Day Last, Second Anniversary Celebration

upside down me.

So this is it. The last day of my hmmtyeth days of celebrating my first two years in print.

Two years ago tomorrow, THE PULL OF GRAVITY was released.

Mary Engelbreit once said, "Time flies whether you are having fun or not."

Though this writing/publishing gig is certainly hard, and can be a heartbreaker at times, I am having fun. I really am living one of my dreams.

Of course, another dream is to return to Italy (where I honeymooned), cruise around Cinque Terre

i once cruised around this on a glorious day...

and then stay in the Hotel San Pietro in Positano (which I still cannot afford).

The hotel is down there in that rock.

But, I digress.

These past two years have really been a dream come true.

me, two years ago, on May 10, 2011
at the famous Strand bookstore NYC
(my book is above my head),

I truly treasure every reader, every reviewer, every blogger, every librarian, and especially every teacher who has thought highly enough of my book and story to bring it into their classroom.

And I'm grateful for the people who helped bring the book to life, from the extraordinary Frances Foster and Susan Dobinick, to the copy editors and cover artists, to Becky Terhune on the hardcover, to Lauren Burniac and graphic artist Ashley Halsey who helped bring that eye-poppy paperback cover to shelves!

And to my pal, Rick Kopstein who, for the price of a diner meal, always makes me look good in my author photos, not always the easiest feat.

I thank each and every one of you from the bottom of my grateful heart.

- gae

p.s. tomorrow, I will draw a random name from the comments to this series using a highly scientific method and will send someone a signed Advance Review Copy of The Summer of Letting Go when they're available in October. So, today is the last day to comment and enter. US residents only. So sorry. But shipping is prohibitive. :)

xox

Day almost there, Second Anniversary Highlights

The Teen home page on Amazon last night
pointed out to me by the blogger who runs PEACE LOVE TEEN FICTION
(I love and adore her!)

Just a few more days celebrating the second anniversary of The Pull of Gravity. On May 10, I'll randomly draw a name from the comments to these posts and that person will win a signed ARC of The Summer of Letting Go in October.

So, the best part about being published?

It's the people, baby. It's the connections.

For starters, the YA community is incredibly supportive. I've made some truly lifelong friends. They are talented, driven, and hard working. They are funny, silly and full of life.

me with Cat Patrick at TBF last year. Her new book
The Originals came out yesterday.
Yeah, I may have doctored the photo a little.

me with Geoff Herbach, whose third and final in the
Stupid Fast series came out yesterday, I'm With Stupid.
No, I didn't doctor this one at all. Really.

And, the teen readers are so much fun to engage with and so full of enthusiasm for what we do.

It's the Skypes and the school visits and the library book clubs.

From Advance review copy to paperback, hardcover in between.

It's not the books. They're just the beginning.

It's the people, baby.

xox gae

Day Next, Second Anniversary Highlights - Pie-in-the-Sky Movie Stuff

This is my book.

I remember when I saw the hardbound cover for the first time, I thought:

Wow, it looks like a movie poster.

(Of course, I also thought, Why is Justin Bieber on my book cover? And, Why does "Nick" have braces?!? And, Why isn't there a troll doll on my book cover?!? but those thoughts aren't important right now. . .)

Little did I dream at that time that someone would ask me for movie rights to my little story. But, alas, they did. They have. They are. Working on a movie, that is.

I've not talked much about it here or there or anywhere, mostly because anyone who has ever been through a book-to-movie deal knows that it is VERY pie-in-the-sky to get from option to actual film. A LOT has to happen to get there. And it could take years.

Still, it is one of the coolest things to ever happen to me and I have faith in the guys who are working hard to make it happen. They love my little book and are trying to stay close to the original story while giving it big-screen appeal.

The first page.

We shall see. We shall see. . .

But, yes indeed, a highlight!!

Day Whatever - Second Anniversary Highlights

So, not only can I not COUNT, but I actually can't remember the real date of my book release anniversary.

All along I've been saying May 11th, when it occurs to me it's really May 10th.

Ah, well, what's really in a date anyway? Time is fluid. Arbitrary. Fleeting.

All that matters is whether there are cupcakes and gifts* to celebrate.

Here. Have some cupcakes:

The Pull of Gravity cupcakes for my paperback release party
which, like many things this year in NY got
weathered out. And, yes, I ate them all. What of it?

Come to think of it, I've not only lost count of days and dates, but now I've also lost count of highlights. Did I mention this teacher or that? Did I mention this awesome day, or this Skype visit, or this lovely little review over here?

The truth of it is, nearly all of it is a highlight. Nearly every book moment of the past two years has been good.

Like the day I walked in to the Center for Fiction. Me. New York City. The Center for Fiction, NYC.

pretty, yes?

inside, with the 8th graders. . .

Or this evening at the Dolphin Bookshop in Pt. Washington with some of my really awesome YA-writer pals:

l -r, me, Christopher Grant, Lena Roy, Nova Ren Suma, Michael Northrop,
Arlaina Tibensky and Matt Blackstone. Wearing our book faces. 

Or, this and many others at the Huntington Public Library which has been such a HUGE support of me and my writing. Thanks HPL!

from l - r, Matt Blackstone, Christopher Grant,
Nova Ren Suma, me and Selene Castrovilla.

more tomorrow, whatever that day may be!

xox

* re: gifts: All you have to do is leave a comment to be entered to win a signed ARC of The Summer of Letting Go (due in or about October. US residents only.)

Day Another - Second Anniversary Post

Mrs. Stanley's class. Fourth Grade.
Can you find me? 

Barbara Stanley.

Mary Ann Schilling.

Jessica Treadway.

What do these three women have in common?

They were three teachers who helped me to become the writer I am today.

I mean, truly helped.

I mean, where-would-I-be-without-them? kind of helped.

Mrs. Stanley was the first teacher who marveled at my 9-yr-old writing, who nudged me to step out of the rhyming poem box and write free-form, who distinctly made me feel creatively special.

Mary Ann Schilling was my creative writing teacher in high school.  It was an angsty time for me and she went out of her way to not only let me know that my writing was good and special, but that my take on life was important and mattered and was worthy of being expressed however I chose to express it.

A good teacher's note:
". . . the honesty is there -- keep working with it --
otherwise writing is pompous and phony!"

You can see a few more photos from my high school journal I kept for her class, here: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.606170666064387.1073741826.100000143780625&type=3

And, Jessica Treadway, an amazing writer (and published author) in her own right, who was my creative writing teacher in college at Boston University, probably one of her first years of teaching.

Her most recent award-winning short story collection,
Please Come Back to Me.

I could actually show you the skilled, encouraging and sincere feedback she gave me on pieces of my writing, except I'm too lazy to go get them down from my closet and photograph them. (forgive me, Jessica!)

Two things in common for me about these three teachers:

a. I am NOT a saver, but I have kept all their handwritten notes/assessments of me and my writing from that period of time,

b. I distinctly remember how each of these three women made me feel when I showed them my writing. I can remember the exact feeling of someone thinking what I did was valuable, worthy and special.

Through my book -- and the magic of facebook -- I have been back in touch with each of these extraordinary women. I am grateful for them, grateful for the chance to thank them, and grateful for the lasting connection. This has most definitely been a  highlight of my first two years in publication.

more tomorrow!

gae