Marketing Monday: Teri Brown and YA New York

Had to post about Teri Brown's fabulous release party...

And also, big thanks to YA New York for recommending the Violet series! Yay! She's one of the early readers of Violet in Private, and I'm so glad (relieved...) she liked it. I'm always insecure. (Um, like Violet is.) And reviewers, remember to get me your addresses so I can request a copy of Violet in Private for you... no guarantees, but I'll try! Happy Monday!

Reviewers: Early copies of Violet in Private

Reviewers, I need to know if you'd like to request an early copy of Violet in Private. Please email me with your address and a link to your site. We have limited copies, but my publicist will be sending them out in the next few weeks and I will try to get as many copies as I can out to you guys!Thanks! Happy weekend! Oh, and if anyone hasn't posted the widget yet... that's always a way to kiss up a little. Haha. There are various sizes and shapes below; just hit "share" for the code or to embed on a site.

Photo Friday: Fashion Show #2, Thank Yous and Contest Links

I got to go to the 2008 Annual Fashion Show for The High School of Fashion Industries in NYC last week. Standing with my friend Selena, who's a model, makes me feel like a milkmaid, but she just tells me that high schools have bad lighting (thanks, S).But anyway, can you believe such a cool high school exists? It does. And everyone there is fabulous. We even got to sit next to Malan from Project Runway (remember the guy with the bizarre accent? He has an even more hilarious laugh). So fun! Here are some shots from their amazing show, full of student designers and models (click to enlarge--camera phone, sorry!): PS-I want to give out a few flowers, just for weekend fun: Purple peonies to Cat for the birthday post! So sweet. Red roses to The Book Muncher, for the Violet by Design review! Dewy white daisies to Fresh Fiction for the fun review! Turquoise Tulips to HangProud and Lisa Fraser for profiling me! Pink pansies to my friend Tanesha, who just started styling bluefly.com's chic new counterpart: b*fly! Iridescent Irises to Jennifer Banash for the release of The Elite, the first book in her new series. Go here to win a copy! Puce posies to Reviewer X for her How to Be Popular contest... going on now! And, last but not least, bunches of bluebonnets to the fantastic Cynthia Leitich Smith, who's giving away a copy of First Daughter by Mitali Perkins, and many other prizes, including her own book Tantalize, which I need to read soon!

RIP YSL

Yves Saint Laurent, 1936-2008 With Catherine Deneuve, 1966 2008 Runway Ending with a smile

Author Meme

I got tagged by Alea the Pop Culture Junkie.... here we go!1. Who's your all-time favorite author, and why? This is an impossible question to answer. Can I get a witness? I mean, sometimes I'm in the brooding mood for JD Salinger, sometimes I want a little Sarah Dessen heartstring tugging, sometimes I'm in a dark and stormy William Faulkner mood and sometimes I just want to curl up with Mo Willems and Knuffle Bunny. And in between, I adore all sorts of other authors, too! 2. Who was your first favorite author, and why? Do you still consider him or her among your favorites? Probably JM Barrie because I loved, loved, loved Peter Pan when I was little. And yeah, I still do! Maybe because Young Adult authors have that "can't grow up" syndrome.... 3. Who's the most recent addition to your list of favorite authors, and why? Perhaps David Levithan. I was late to read him, but now that I've started, I can't stop. His books make me feel giddy about friendship and love. 4. If someone asked you who your favorite authors were right now, which authors would first pop out of your mouth? Are there any you'd add on a moment of further reflection? Carolyn Mackler, Sarah Mlynowski, E. Lockhart, all mentioned above... and upon further reflection I'd add Eudora Welty, Carson McCullers and Harper Lee. (Can you tell I used to bury myself in Southern literature, but these days I'm up to my eyes in teen novels?) Rules: Link to the person that tagged you, post the rules somewhere in your meme, answer the questions, tag six people in your post, let the tagees know they’ve been chosen by leaving a comment on their blog, let the tagger know your entry is posted. Done! Except that I'll say anyone who wants to do this meme can consider themselves tagged by me. Happy Tuesday.

Marketing Monday: Evan Handler

Recently, through the awesome author of Wake, Lisa McMann, I got to interview Evan Handler. You may know him as Harry (Charlotte's boyfriend) from Sex and the City, or as agent Harry Runkle on Californication (a fantastic show). Let me just say that Evan is smart and funny and awesome. His new book, It's Only Temporary, is his second memoir.To quote my own amazon.com review: "Evan Handler's second memoir is heavy, light, illuminating, infuriating, jaded and joyful. Finding his way in the world (again) after surviving an "incurable" cancer that hit him while he was an actor on the rise in his 20s, Handler muddles through relationships with a hard-boiled charm that won me over. It's a fantastic read." Anyway, the interview is about how even famous people have to hustle a little to promote their books... it's an enlightening interview for authors especially. Read it here. Enjoy! PS-Update: I saw the movie! It is just right and true to the show. I always wanted to be Carrie, but my friend Jeff once told me I'm more like Miranda, really, and that's true.

The Weekend To-Do List

1. Go to Shooting Stars and see if you won a marked-up copy of Violet on the Runway!2. Smile for me because I have a new book coming out next summer and I'll tell you more about it this coming week! 3. If you live in NYC and want to meet the How to Be Bad girls, head to Books of Wonder tomorrow (Sunday!), 18th Street between 5th and 6th, at 1 pm. I wish I were in town! (Those are the HTBB girls pictured: Lauren Myracle, Sarah Mlynowski and E. Lockhart--how adorable are they?)

Photo Friday: Libraries and a book I want to read

I'm feeling a lot of library love lately, so I thought I'd post photos (taken by phone--sorry so fuzzy!) of my local branch, which is two-and-a-half blocks from my apartment: And the big beautiful Grand Army Plaza branch in Brooklyn, which is about 15 blocks away (and where I spoke last month, which was fantastic--all the students had read Violet! Even the boys!): And finally, a book I'm looking forward to by Teri Brown (the premise just sounds awesome to me): Feel free to share a local library comment or anything about a book you want to read that's coming out soon (like I need more for my list... yikes). Happy Friday!

I love Amanda Lorber! Who's with me?

Do you guys watch MTV's The Paper? I do. Probably because I was a newspaper girl in college (yearbook in high school). And I'm making a declaration: I love Amanda Lorber.She's the sometimes bossy, often decisive, uncannily upbeat Editor-in-Chief on the show. Why do I adore her? She's left out of most social engagements with the other editors, she's mocked behind her back, she's ditched for homecoming with a "Sorry, I'm grounded" text... and yet she's still incredibly persistent in her pursuit for what's best for the paper. And she keeps her head up. Are there tears? Yes. Do feelings get hurt? Yes. She's human. But she's also a mostly optimistic person, and at 17 years old when you're getting dissed left and right, that's a huge feat. Yay, Amanda! I also think it's cool that she played Rizzo in Grease. The end.

Win-It Wednesday: Violet by Design

So last week I asked about titles, and found out about some great ones from you guys... I am especially excited about How to Ditch Your Fairy by Justine Larbalestier. That has to be high on the Best Title Ever list. And the winner of Skin by Adrienne Maria Vrettos is... Steph! Send me your address, S, and the book will wing its way to you! Now, this week I'm cheating slightly because I haven't finished reading the book I want to gift you next (re-gift, I guess--sorry!) but there is a contest running in the June/July issue of COSMOgirl! that goes on until June 30th and I'm telling you about it here. See that little text at the bottom of the page shown here? It tells you how to enter to win a copy of Violet by Design. So... click on the picture to zoom in... and go for it! (Bonus: Find your signature style at the same time.) And, as I always love, love, love all the comments during contest time, I also will give away a copy of Violet by Design (signed) to one commenter here. My question is: What sidekick character from a book should have a spin-off novel about them? I want to hear which best friend or boyfriend or parent or rival or lurking stranger you'd want to hear more from, for whatever reason. My answer: I think I'd like to hear Owen's back story from Sarah Dessen's Just Listen. He fascinated me. Winner chosen next Wednesday! And don't forget to enter this Shooting Stars magazine contest by Friday to win a marked-up copy of Violet on the Runway.