Cover Reveal for CLOCKWISE!

One of the most exciting writerly things that can happen to me is seeing one of my books launch out into the world. One of the NEXT most exciting things is seeing one of my friend's books launch out into the world.

I'm terribly excited to show you the cover for my friend Elle Strauss's new YA book, CLOCKWISE!

CLOCKWISE will be released first in e-book form, launching September 26 and then in print form in November. More to come on that, but first glimpses at cover art are so terribly exciting, so I wanted to share this for now.

If you want to know more about CLOCKWISE, here's the little one-liner:


Teen time traveler Casey Donavon accidentally takes her secret crush back in time. Awkward.

Sounds fun, right?!

And here's a link to find out more and read the first chapter.

Congratulations, Elle!!!

Friday Four

1. I know I've been MIA lately. I wish it was because I've been enjoying the sun that has finally arrived in B.C. Not so. Just busy with life.

2. I arranged for two guest posts over at The Contemps this week, and I have to plug them because they're both so good! On Tuesday, Eileen Cook stopped by to talk about what stresses her out and how she handles it. Who couldn't use an encouraging post about handling stress? *runs back over to read it again*

Then on Thursday, Amy Holder stopped by to tell us about her rebellious teen years--complete with adorable teen pictures of her!

3. I still don't have a final cover for NEVER ENOUGH to show you. Sigh. And I still haven't received copyedits. But I'm not so upset about that part, because I'm trying to come up with a new first page for the book before my copyedits arrive, and I'm having a heck of a time with it. I quite honestly have spent a few hours just trying to tabulate exactly how many versions of a first page I've had for this novel. I don't have an exact number, but it's definitely over 20.

4. I've been reading some amazing books lately. The most recent is STOLEN by Lucy Christopher. Here's a little teaser...



Hope you all have a great weekend!

Friday Four - My Ever-Exciting Life

1. I haven't been around in a while, but believe me, it's not because I have had nothing to talk about! My life has been a blur. Last week, this happened...

That's the gym where my husband used to work. Um, yeah. It was gutted by fire, and we've been very sad for the owners of the business, but that has also meant big changes for us. We're hoping the dust, so to speak, will settle soon.

2. It was also a difficult week for my family, as it would have been my dad's birthday as well as my parent's anniversary. They say that all the "firsts" are the most difficult, but the nice thing is our family is sticking really close together through these hard times. It would have been my parents' 47th wedding anniversary, which I think is awe-inspiring. I hope to follow in their footsteps.

3. I still don't have a cover to show you on book 2, but I'll say it again...SOON! In the mean time, I've been revising my outline for the companion novel I'm working on for LOSING FAITH. I'm looking for someone with some experience writing mysteries to look over the outline for me when I'm done. Any takers???

4. I finally got my contract in the mail for my second book. It's been in negotiations for many months. I've spent many hours looking over all the small print (all 15 pages of it!) because I want to understand more about the business. This is how it describes NEVER ENOUGH - A teen novel about a girl who idolizes her older (bulimic) sister. Ages 14 and up.

The part that made me laugh out loud (again) is this:

Not sure if you can read that or not, but if not, it says: Theme Park Rights - Reserved by Author.

Yes, to be honest, I would way rather have a theme park designed after one of my books than foreign languages, audio editions, or even a movie. I love theme parks. And when I told my agent about my excitement over this clause, this was her response: "Hmmm, the NEVER ENOUGH theme park. Where...all the rides induce vomiting after you eat!"

I love my agent.

Happy weekend to you all!!

Blogging To Do's

I feel like I've been out of the loop and a bit MIA on my blog lately. I'm still around, just really busy with RL stuff. I thought this would be a laid-back summer, as we didn't have many plans to travel this year, but it has turned out to be super-busy.

There have been some cool things that I want to blog about soon, and I thought I'd put them here as a bit of a To Do List (and a bit of a heads up that they're coming.)

1. Researching the serendipitous way: I've had opportunities lately to hugely expand my knowledge in areas that will help in writing some of my next books. I want to share a couple of stories and encourage you to look for learning in every situation.

2. I have a couple of upcoming workshops that I'll be teaching. One about your online presence, the other about grief in YA. As I'm putting these together, I'll share a few of the greater points on the blog here.

3. I've been reading lots of fabulous books! I can't wait to share a few recommendations and hear what you've been reading.

There's more, but as usual, I can't think of the other eight million things I hope to blog about. But those are a few to get me started. See you back here soon!