books and beignets and bloggers, oh my

I'm off to New Orleans,

heck yeah dude,

I'm headed to ALA.

Gonna chill with friends,

and get some books,

and eat my very first beignet.

Are you coming too?

I hope we meet--

come find me on Saturday!

At Tommy's Wine Bar

there's a blogger party

hosted by YA Highway!

If you can't come,
I'll miss you so.
But we'll hang out another day.

Plus, I'll be back next week

with pics and stories,

and probably some stuff to giveaway :)

If you tell me your mouth isn't watering at this picture,
I'll call you a liar.
Just sayin'

Clearly, I'm no poet--trust me, I know it.

Wait.

Okay, stopping now.

For reals.

Knowing you just read that poem is embarrassing. If you can even call it a poem. My cheeks are burning. Seriously. But I ran out of time. So that's what you get.

Don't ditch me.

*begs*

*clings*

Anyhoo. I'm super psyched to go to New Orleans. It's my first time :) Catch you dudes on the flip side.

xo

HAPPY SUMMER . . . Don't worry, you didn't miss the SOLSTICE

Yeah, okay, so. You must have been hearing for the past couple months that "summer is coming." And yes, today summer is HERE! But that's not what all the chatter has been about.

The summer that's coming--and is ALSO available today (and has been for a couple weeks) is in Solstice by PJ Hoover.

Piper’s world is dying. Global warming kills every living thing on Earth, and each day brings hotter temperatures and heat bubbles which threaten to destroy humanity. Amid this Global Heating Crisis, Piper lives with her mother who suffocates her more than the chaotic climate. When her mother is called away to meet the father Piper has been running from her entire life, Piper seizes an opportunity for freedom.

But when Piper discovers a world of mythology she never knew existed, she realizes her world is not the only one in crisis. While Gods battle for control of the Underworld, Piper's life spirals into turmoil, and she struggles to find answers to secrets kept from her since birth. And though she’s drawn to her classmate Shayne, he may be more than he claims. Piper has to choose whom she can trust and how she can save the people she loves even if it means the end of everything she’s ever known.

Also:

1. It's 2 dollars and freaking 99 cents. I mean, really. That's like skipping a breakfast sandwich at McD's for ONE day--and you might get wrapped up enough in Solstice to forget those pesky hunger pains. 
2. It's a delicious mixture of dystopian and mythology. Which is unique and AWESOME. Oh, and there's definitely some mystery sprinkled in.
3. Piper is smart, fun, and inquisitive.
4. The boys are hot. And . . . um . . . dangerous.
5. Hello, FAST-PACED.

Today is the first day of summer. And Solstice is a fun summer read. So. Go out and get you some, bia. 

Still not convinced? Watch the trailer.



See? ENOUGH SAID. Why are you still at my blog?

Either hop over to visit PJ: http://pjhoover.blogspot.com/

Or, even better?

Go download a copy :) (Amazon, Barnes & Noble)

And happy first day of summer!! 

A NEED SO BEAUTIFUL winner

We have a winner!!

Now, usually I like to drag these posts out . . . but I'm at a writing retreat this weekend, so I'll make it brief. (PS. Cristin Terrill, Cambria Dillon, Ricki Schultz, and Lola Sharp are so. much. fun.)

Anyhoo.

The winner of my ARC of A Need So Beautiful is BLISSFULRAINS!!

Congratulations!!!

Send me an email with your mailing address and I will ship the book asap!!

xoxo

Ah, WisCon. Heart of my heart.

In some cases, I'd say a picture's worth way more than a thousand words. This is one of them. 

One of the cases, I mean, not one of the pictures. 

Because, um, there are multiple pictures. 

Enjoy!

Late night dinner with:
Derek Molata
Jacqueline Koyanagi
Brad Beaulieu
Holly McDowell
Taking the pic: Carolina Valdez Miller (see her gorgeous face below)

Siiiiingin' in the rain.

Not really.

But we could have been.

Still smiling, despite having just learned that we can't purchase alcohol past 9 in Madison . . .
At approximately 9:15.
Dagger.

How much would Apple love this photo? iPad. iPhone. Macbook.

Derek reading from his AMAZEBALLS manuscript.
Trust me, you would have LOVED it.

Holly's turn to read! And her book is completely fabulous as well.
Seriously. Love. Love. LOVE.

SUSHI. 'Nuff said.

<3 There are no words.
Which is hard for a writer to admit.

Miss you.

So there ya have it. I added a few more photos to facebook, if you want to see. And, seriously, if you write SF/F, you should definitely consider adding WisCon to your schedule next year.

How was your weekend? Anything fun and exciting happen? Have you been following the Wall Street Journal article thing? (If not, check . out . these . links.) (Or the #yasaves hashtag on twitter. The responses from this community have been absolutely amazing.)