Double the Awesomeness

It's been a busy week for my amazingly talented friends, so you get a double helping of excitement in this post:

First up is the book launch for Ally Condie's final book in the MATCHED trilogy: REACHED!

 

 My friend Stacey (who runs the My Pile Of Books blog) and I went to dinner first to celebrate my signing with Josh--yummy food and a wonderful friend = so much fun!

 Then we headed up to the launch party for Ally's final book! Ally is such a humble, kind, amazing person. It was so surreal to stand there in line, staring at the box set of all THREE of her books, and thinking about how far she's come since I first met her four and a half years ago, when I got to read MATCHED for the first time. It couldn't have happened to a better person. So happy for you Ally, hope you have a great time on tour! For an awesome recap of the night, check out Stacey's blog post HERE.

 They even brought the big bubble from BEA for us to get our pictures in, so here we are, trying to break free!

 Oh no! The Society took Stacey, now I'm all alone in the Uprising! If you don't already follow Ally, here's the link to her blog as well.

Okay, so that was awesomeness part the first. Ready for the second??




Feast your eyes on this:

My friend Jenn Johansson's book cover got revealed today! Isn't it totally creeptastic?? Scary and yet beautiful (those eyes!) all at once. It's perfect! Congrats Jenn! To learn more about her book and to follow her (both of which you should do RIGHT NOW) go to her blog HERE.



And now, for anyone still reading this... a BONUS bit of awesomeness:

Yep, that's Michael Phelps. My hubby got to hang out and chat with him last week on a business trip. Rough life, huh? Yeah, I agree.


Any exciting awesomeness going on for you or your friends this week?

Return of the Friday Four or Five

So, it's been a while since I've done this, but it used to be a regular feature on my blog. I figured I'd try to be better at doing it again. Here's what's on my mind today...

1. My third half marathon is tomorrow morning and I am really nervous. You'd think I'd be getting progressively less nervous for each race, rather than having it get worse. Well, you'd be wrong. I could barely sleep last night (which doesn't bode well for tonight, when I know my alarm is going to be going off at 3:30 am). Then Baby Girl decided to wake up at 6:30am. I'm tired, my stomach is all icky with nerves, and the race isn't even until tomorrow. Heh.

Me and my cute sister Lauren who I'm running the race with. She's a Speedy McSpeedster, so that might be a big part of why I'm so nervous... 

2. I went to Kiersten White's signing for ENDLESSLY at The King's English last night after our packet pick up. I can't believe her trilogy is done! So happy for her and excited to find out how Evie's story ends!

Me (looking like a giant, even though I wore flat shoes) and the hysterical and cute Kiersten White. 

Me (crouching down so I don't look like a giant again) and the wonderfully talented and super darling Natalie Whipple. Her book comes out in May and trust me, you want to put TRANSPARENT on your TBR list asap. It's SO SO good. 

Me, my cute sister, and Stacey from My Pile of Books (and my sweet friend)

3. I finally got a chance to read THE GIRL OF FIRE AND THORNS by Rae Carson. I'd heard so many good things about this book and it definitely lived up to the hype. I can't wait for the sequel to come out in September!

4. Thank you all for your amazing response to my last post. Your comments, tweets, rt's, FB messages, and emails meant more to me than I can express. It's so wonderful to know that we're not alone and that so many of us share the same emotions and struggles--and hopefully triumphs someday, too. So, again, THANK YOU SO MUCH!

5. Did I mention I'm nervous for tomorrow? And that I'm already exhausted? Heh, heh. Not good. Wish me luck.... pretty sure I'm going to need it.

So, tell me, what's on your mind today?

Not quite back yet...

Yeah, still in survival mode over here a bit. I actually showered, got dressed, AND had make up on before 10 am today -- with all three kids here and no help. That's probably a pathetic thing to get excited about, but for me, it was a victorious moment.

As for my writing? Um, pretty much nonexistant right now. But hey, she's only 3 weeks old as of yesterday, and most people take off 6 weeks from their jobs right? So the fact that I'm getting anything done is putting me ahead of the game. Or at least that's what I'm going to tell myself.

In the meantime, I have friends with great news and fun stuff happening:

Natalie Whipple got a book deal!!! WOOHOO!!! I'm so so SO happy for her. She has worked harder than you can imagine for this moment to happen. If you haven't already, make sure to go wish her well!

My friend Stacey's book blog My Pile of Books is celebrating its blogiversary, and she's going to be doing some great giveaways, so make sure and check it out!

There's more, but baby girl just started crying, so my time is up. :)

Reminder!

Go check out My Pile of Books today, where my good friend interviewed me about why I write YA, what books inspire me, and more!

So, anyone else going to the midnight showing of HP7 tonight? I know, I know, I'm crazy (as are all of my friends), but it sure is fun! Maybe I'll even post some pictures from our party for your viewing pleasure (horror?) tomorrow. Hmm.... Who else out there just LOVES Harry Potter?