Let's talk about email

I am excited to say that both WAKE (paperback) and FADE made the NYT Bestseller lists this week, both at number ten. That's ten weeks for FADE. Pretty cool milestone. Also, FADE made it onto Publishers Weekly's list as well for the second time.

Also exciting? Check out the FUNKY cover for the UK/Australia edition of WAKE. I think it comes out in November!




It was a fun week, no? However, the week was frustrating, too. My email was acting up. Behaving badly. Very naughty. But it appears to be working again. The sad thing is that I lost about a week's worth of fan email. So if you wrote to me through my website form anytime from April 7 - 13, please feel free to write to me again and I'll try to respond as quickly as I can.

If you wrote before April 7 or after April 13, I have your email, I just didn't have a chance to respond yet. I'm running about a month behind. Thanks for being patient.

Let me answer a few of your burning questions now:

1. I have not sold movie rights yet. I don't have any control over making a movie. I write books, Hollywood people make movies. If someone from Hollywood wants to make a WAKE movie, I will be sure to let you know.

2. GONE is the third and final book in the WAKE trilogy. It will come out next spring, likely February or March. I will not post a summary of it until I have one, and then I will. No, I don't know when that will be. :) I will also post the cover when I have it.

3. I have been suddenly inundated with requests for book donations for auctions, charities, library fundraisers, and other worthy causes. I love to donate books. I'm generous and like to help people. However, I am running out of books, money for postage, and time to do mailings and stand in line at the post office. I'm really sorry.


Also, I have to ask you a favor.

If you've written an email to me, and I've written back, I'm probably in your address book. And when you forward your chain email/jokes/etc to your entire address book, you send it to me (and all the other authors you've ever written to). This? Is not fun for us, especially when a lot of you do it. Please don't send us your junk mail. I know you didn't realize you were doing it, and it's okay. But now you know. Thank you for taking me out of your address book! :)



Thanks all!

Congratulations to Hosanna Kabakoro!

She is the winner of the Fund Your Dreams Essay Contest, where S&S and I asked, "What is the greatest obstacle you've overcome?"

Read Hosanna's essay here.

Hosanna will receive $1000 for her efforts.

Thanks again to all who entered!

xo
Lisa

The winner of the Greatest Obstacle Essay contest has been notified.

I spoke with the winner just a few minutes ago via phone. We have some formalities to conduct over the next days and weeks and of course we will be asking for permission to post the winning essay on the Simon & Schuster website. All I can say is that the winning essay really blew me away. I'll let you know where you can find it as soon as I have that information - it might be a few weeks.

Thank you all for your patience. This contest was much harder to judge than I could have ever imagined, and I couldn't have done it without the help of Bess and Venessa at Simon & Schuster, who did all the hard work.

Thank you to all who entered. It was incredibly moving to read all of your stories. Thank you for putting your hearts into this contest. I am in awe of everything that you've overcome, and I'm so proud of you. Keep writing. You are wonderful.

Regarding the Greatest Obstacle essay contest...

We've narrowed the entries down to about 10. I hope to be choosing a winner in the next 24 hours, and then Simon & Schuster will notify the winner. I don't know exactly when this will happen.

UPDATE (4/7): I still don't have a winner, but I'm working on it very hard. I'll tell you right now, there is no easy choice here. You should all feel very proud about your work.

Thank you for your patience.

Cincinnati

Well, now. The Joseph Beth signing was another tremendously lovely and good-looking crowd that contained some fabulous people, including Alice Pope and some LOVELY bloggers whose names I will not mention because I'm not sure if their attendance at this event has been made public yet. But we had a terrific chat with them.

Yesterday was somewhat dimly lit, it appears, in Miss Spoobin's journey. There are sure to be other better photos out there soon of Miss Spoobin in all her glowing glory, but my camera was perhaps behaving poorly because I have neglected to personify it. Er...him.

At Mother of Mercy High School, a fabulous place, Miss Spoobin meets English teacher Mr. B:




And here is Miss Spoobin with school alum Mary who came to the event just to see us.


Finally, Miss Spoobin takes an historic view and a delicious meal at the Rookwood Bar & Grill, where we sat in a kiln with friends Ken and Janelle.


I didn't have an opportunity to take any photos at the signing, so if anyone has any, please let me know.

Heading out to West Chester soon, and then it's on to NYC, woo!

Cincinnati and NYC

My computer tells me it's 3:41 a.m. I think I may have to change computer to Eastern Daylight Savings Time to make myself feel awesome about being awake at this hour.

But.

If I can get me a glass of good old ice cold Midwest tap water, I will be a happy woman. Growing up in Michigan has some excellent benefits.

*waves* to mommy and daddy up north, just one state away.

Okay, so. Today.7pm, Joseph-Beth in Cincinnati.

Saturday, 12:30, B&N West Chester.

Please come!

The hotel manager (David, who rocks) at the Clift Hotel in San Francisco said I could keep Miss Spoobin, so she will be with me as my special guest.

Tales of (Miss Spoobin in) the City

(with apologies to Armistead Maupin)

Business first:
Copperfield Books in Petaluma tonight at 7!

And then. I hook back up with Cassandra Clare and we'll appear in Cincinnati Friday and Saturday.

Then Cassie and I will meet Elizabeth Scott in NYC Sunday, and Cassie and I will do a final library event on Monday.

Tour details here.


In other very important news, I have acquired a friend.

It was in the wee hours of Sunday night that I had a hankering for the world's most perfect food: peanut butter. I was delighted to have a Walgreen's across from the hotel, so I scouted around and to my delight, I found a jar of creamy JIF, my favorite. Bought it and back in my hotel room, I opened it up.
It smelled delicious.

And then.

I realized I didn't have anything in the room with which to eat it. And so I did what all teen authors would do: I tweeted about it.

Meanwhile, I had called room service for ice, and when it arrived, there it was.

A spoon.

Yay!

All was good in the world.





The next morning, as I packed up for my school visits, I realized that if I left the spoon in the room, housekeeping would take it. And then I would have tragedy in my life once again.

Well, so, I borrowed the spoon, and it traveled with me to school. Of course I tweeted and someone asked me what I'd named her (because she is obviously female).

"Miss Spoobin."

That's what I said. And that is her name.

After that, I got another spoon with room service, and then another and another. I began to hoard them. I have a slight problem, I know.



Can you tell which one is Miss Spoobin? She glows just slightly, of course.

On my travels, I realized just how lonely I was getting because I began showing Miss Spoobin to my new friends. We took photos.

Have you ever heard of the Flat Stanley Project?


This is kind of like that. My friend Daniel sent me his Flat Stanley a few years ago. We took him to pan for gold.





I digress.

Here are some places Miss Spoobin has been, besides the peanut butter jar.

Deer Valley High School:



With radio station host Jim Foster:



Lunch with my friends (who brought me wonderful little individual cups of my fave pb so I can carry them in my purse):



At Clayton Books:



Capuchino High School with Books, Inc. and the You Say Read, We Say Party Book Club:


To my friends in Cincinnati and NYC who want a photo with Miss Spoobin, well, I don't have an answer for you yet as to whether she will be accompanying me. I am not a thief (not anymore, anyway), so I will find the manager of the hotel and ask if I might purchase Miss Spoobin.

Wish me luck.

UPDATE:
Hotel manager David just said I can keep Miss Spoobin! Yay, I love David!