First and foremost, I need to take a moment and offer my condolences to the city of Boston. I lived in Boston for a few years after college. I know exactly how much the marathon means to the city, how the day is a holiday and celebration. The entire incident left me saddened and shocked. I used to work just two blocks away from where this happened. I’ve walked that very path up Boylston toward the Boston Public library many, many times.
While something like this will never make sense to the vast majority, I still believe that most people are good at heart. I really do. Just watching footage of so many people running toward the explosions to help the injured is proof of this. I hope everyone is safe and well and recovering today. My thoughts are with you, Boston.
That said, it’s finally release day, which almost feels a little trivial in the wake of yesterday’s tragedy. I’m going to keep this short and sweet, but I wanted to remind you all of a few things:
I’m so, so, so excited to see TAKEN in your hands! If you happen to pick up a copy of TAKEN this week (or any time in April), pretty please with sugar on top tweet, tumble, or instagram a picture of you with your book and tag it #TakenWithTAKEN. It will seriously make my day/week/month. And you could win a bunch of books in the process, which will make your day/week/month. (Official details here.)
LAUNCH PARTY — THIS SATURDAY
If you live in/near northwest Connecticut, I will be at the Canton B&N this Saturday (4/20) to sign copies beginning at 1pm. I would love, love, love to see you there. If you are an internet friend and I fail to recognize you, please remind me of who you are (username, avatar pic, etc). I’m really bad with faces and often need reminders. I promise it’s me, not you. ;)
LINKS OF POTENTIAL INTEREST
I’ve been hopping around the internet lately for interviews and guest posts and the like. If you’re interested, here’s a quick run-down:
» I stopped by Literary Rambles for an author interview
» Nova Ren Suma interviewed me as part of her 2013 Anticipated YA Debut series
» The YA Highway girls invited me to chat about my jump from designing to writing
» My gals on Pub(lishing) Crawl are graciously giving away a finished copy of TAKEN
I’m sure I’m forgetting a few things–the excitement of debuting has turned my brain to mush–so expect more mini-updates from me in the future.
And lastly: a super huge thank you to anyone and everyone who has supported my writing journey. You know who you are. My name might be on the cover of the book, but I couldn’t have done it without you cheering me on and holding my hand. Thank you, thank you.
I’m now off to celebrate release day with a massage. (I have never, ever booked one of these for myself, but I figure I deserve it today.) And then I’m hitting up the bookstore. I’m still not sure I’m emotionally prepared to see TAKEN, in person, on a shelf. Let’s hope I don’t burst into tears…
If you guys see copies in the wild this week, please tweet me pictures! Seeing them never gets old.
<3
