DEFY Launch Party Recap

I can't believe it's been a week since DEFY officially released! Between that and SonB's 5th birthday, it's been a whirlwind!

That was an amazing day--everything I dreamed it would be and more.

I woke up to the dulcet sounds of my daughter's fire alarm beeping at 4 am because the battery had died or something. My husband fixed it, and went back to sleep. My brain had switched on and there was no hope for me. So I got up and went to the gym at 5:20 and began responding to all of the amazing tweets and messages that had already begun to show up. Seriously, you guys MADE my day with all of your excitement for me and my book.

As I said, it was also my son's birthday, so I went home from the gym and prepared for his "surprise party." He informed us the night before that he wanted a surprise party, but I reminded him we'd already planned his party for that Saturday. So he compromised by letting us know it would be okay if we just surprised him in the morning. He told us, "When you hear me stomp my feet, that's your cue to hide in the kitchen and when I come downstairs you can all jump out and yell surprise!" So we complied with his wish. The only problem was that when we heard him get up, we all hid, but....he didn't stomp. Apparently he wanted to draw out the suspense. Eventually we heard the sound of velcro as he strapped on his shoes. Finally, there was stomping. We all ducked back down behind the island again (except for my 2 1/2 year-old daughter who kept hiding in the pantry). Well, to make a long story short, twenty minutes and a few charley-horses later, he finally came down so we could jump out and yell SURPRISE!

We did go to lunch for him, to help him feel like it was a special day for his birthday and not just Mommy's book...but my family surprised me and gave me a card and two very beautiful, special necklaces. My sister came up with the idea and my dad had them made--to match my book cover. Basically, I started crying in the middle of Sweet Tomatoes.

I rushed home to get ready for my big night, and to meet my friend, CP, and agency sister Katie Purdie because we had a very special person to pick up from the airport....

 My amazing agent, Josh Adams, flew out for the launch party!! I'm still blown away that he did that. We had a lovely, delicious dinner and then it was time to get set up for the big launch party!

 There he is--my incredible hubby, hard at work getting everything set up!

 Josh was so kind--he didn't forget my little guy's birthday. He brought him some books--which he LOVES by the way! (Yes, he insisted on wearing the crown he got at preschool all day so that everyone knew it was his birthday.)

I couldn't believe the emotions I felt as my family, friends, neighbors, authors, and even some people I didn't know personally, came to support me and to get copies of DEFY signed.

And then it was time. Whitney, from The King's English, introduced DEFY and turned the mike over to me. I started off great--for about fifteen seconds. I couldn't even get through "I can't believe I'm standing here--that this is really happening" without doing this:

(That's my I'm trying-and-failing not to cry face.) It really was just so overwhelming. I've been coming to events at TKE for years and years, but always as a supporter, dreaming of the day that it would hopefully be my turn. I just couldn't believe I'd finally made it.

 I was able to regain control of my emotions and continue, thankfully. I even read a snippet of my "premature baby" story from my Little Mermaid notebook (to prove that my bio is true!). We had a few minor snafus...such as the internet going out at the end of my Power Point presentation when I was supposed to show a little clip from FRIENDS. Cue: STALLING.

 As part of that, I had my cute little five-year-old come up so we could sing Happy Birthday to him. I wasn't sure if he'd come up or not, but he jumped right up and stood by me. That's huge for him! Of course, he sat there messing with his lip the whole time, but he stood there and I think it made him really happy. (Notice the hubs frantically working on the computer next to us...) We finally did get it to work and I was able to finish.

 I gave Josh a little gift to try and show him my appreciation for all that he has done for me... (still can't believe he came!)

 And then it was time to head over to the bookstore for the actual signing! Apparently they sold out of my books that night. That is just...wow. Thank you everyone for coming. From the bottom of my heart (or my full-sized aortic pump for those of you who were there), I can never thank you enough.

 My mom and two of my cute sisters! Some of my biggest supporters!!!

 Two more sisters on my right and a cute family friend on my left!

My sweet mother-in-law who has been so excited for me!!

 Katie, Josh, and me--team Adams Lit!!

 This guy is the reason why I get to hold this book in my hands. SO incredibly grateful for my agent--for believing in me and for getting DEFY into the hands of Lisa Sandell, my editor. I am so unbelievably lucky to work with her. All the years of heartache and struggle were worth it to get to work with both of them.

 My amazing parents. They have always believed in me and encouraged me to go for my dreams. I love you both!

And last, but certainly not least, my husband. He has never stopped believing, never stopped encouraging me, never stopped dreaming with me! He is my biggest supporter, my best friend, and my soul-mate. I'm so grateful for him and that we finally get to celebrate this moment together!

After the signing we got some dessert at The Dodo (YUM) and then called it a night. It was a dream come true.

And now it's back to real life! The day after a launch party is kind of like the day after Christmas....x10, lol! So thank you for all of your continued tweets, messages, texts, and emails--every single one means SO much to me and makes me so incredibly happy!!

Now to celebrate the release of DEFY, I'm offering a very special giveaway! Up for grabs:

 An ARC of THE SHADOW PRINCE by Bree Despain!!! Guys, this book is SO good. And the cover got changed, so this is basically a limited edition. I kind of want to keep it, but instead, I'm going to be nice and share it with one lucky person!

But that's not all! I'm also giving away a signed copy of BLINDSIDED by Natalie Whipple!! (the sequel to the fabulous TRANSPARENT)!! Such an AWESOME duology--trust me, you want this book!

To enter for you chance to win, follow the directions below and may the Rafflecopter odds be ever in your favor!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

TRANSPARENT Cover love!!

You guys!

My friend, the amazingly talented, wonderful Natalie Whipple has given us all a reason to celebrate the fact that it's Monday. She gave us this:

Isn't it AMAZING???!?!!!!

This book is incredible (is it on your TBR pile yet? Have you pre-ordered it yet? NO?? GO. Do it. I promise you'll thank me!) and the cover is just perfect.

I'm so excited for you Natalie! I can't wait for you to get to share your awesome book with the world!

Now go over to her blog and tell her congrats! :-)

Storymakers 2012 recap

I can't believe Storymakers 2012 is already over! It seemed SO far away when I signed up for it, and now it's done. I wish I could have gone to more of it than just Saturday, but I'm glad I got to do at least one day. My friends Kasie, Natalie and Jenn taught a couple of classes, there were some amazing agents and editors there, Renee was in town... it was just totally made of awesome.

Renee and I even got asked if we were sisters! I took that as a compliment since she's so pretty. Plus, I love all four of my little sisters, and I love Renee, so she totally can be my honorary sister. :-)

 Jenn, me, Renee, and Kasie. (Natalie had already gone home - the poor thing is not only about to have a baby any minute, she had kidney stones!) They totally rocked their classes, and it's always so much fun hanging out with all of them. Love all these ladies (and the ones at dinner in the picture below, as well). There was a lot of love this weekend, heh.

 Dinner after the conference with so many fabulous people, including Kasie and Kiersten White's rockin' agent, Michelle Wolfson. She's so hysterical-- and the tiniest little spitfire you'll ever meet. She's seriously tough, people. Even though I'm like a foot taller than her, I'm a little bit afraid that she could beat me up. Not that she ever would. But she could. Anyway, we were all laughing so hard. It was such a fun night.

I also got to hang out with Holly Root earlier in the day--she's seriously so beautiful and really funny. Somehow we ended up swapping stories about our awkward stages in life, among many other things. And man does that girl know how to pack efficiently! She's awesome, I'm so glad I got to meet and talk to her.

I also got to meet and talk to Molly O'Neill, the editor for the Divergent series (among many others), and she, too, was so nice and fun to get to know. She's even introducing me to a Weird Al Yankovic remake of the music video to "my" song. (My name is Sara, I'm sure you can guess which one.)

It was such a great opportunity to meet these incredible professionals in the industry and I'm so glad I was able to get to know each of them a little better. (And I even made Michelle's twitter feed as one of the "glamorous" GIANTS in the back of the car on the way to the restaurant hehe.)

Kasie and Michelle. Aren't they both too cute? Love 'em.

Okay, recap (and gushing) is over. Basically, it was awesome. Meeting new people, learning about the craft, hanging out with friends, being surrounded by people who love writing and books as much as I do... A little slice of heaven.

Can't wait for next year!

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. :)

Elana Johnson's signing!

I was lucky enough to attend the book launch/signing for Elana Johnson's POSSESSION last week at The King's English in Salt Lake City. Since I ended up in the ER the next day, and on bedrest since then (see last post), the timing couldn't have been more perfect.

Elana and me before her speech

I can't believe the crowd that was there--it was astounding! But then again, I shouldn't be surprised, since she is so amazing, and so well loved. It was a triumphant wonderful night for her, and I couldn't be happier for my friend!

Me and Natalie Whipple

I also got to see so many author friends, like Natalie It was such a fun night. :)

Stacey (MyPileofBooks) and me

Congrats again Elana! Wishing you tons of success in the months and years to come. :)

Carrie Ryan isn't as dark or hollow as you might think...

Okay, so I honestly knew she wasn't dark or hollow, but since her book is called THE DARK AND HOLLOW PLACES, well... I was glad to know for certain that she is actually funny, and smart (a former lawyer!), and inspiring. I was lucky enough to go with Natalie Whipple to see her and get her new book signed last night. I'm so excited that more and more YA authors are coming to SLC to do signings! It is so fun to get out, meet new authors, and see all of my author/writer/book blogging friends in the community.

James Dashner (not only are they friends, they share the same editor), Carrie Ryan, Me, Natalie Whipple

Like I said, I adore going to author signings. I love meeting them, learning about their journeys--well, just learning from them period. Carrie was so inspiring. (Plus she is an absolutely amazing author. Her way with words is absolutely breathtaking. Who else could make a book about zombies into something so beautiful?)

She has an amazing story, but I won't give you all the details here. One of the biggest points she made that stuck with me is to make a plan, and stick with it. She made a ten year plan: she told herself she was going to write a book a year, and revise it, and submit it (be it to agents or editors) every year for ten years. Her goal was to be a full time author by year ten. She reached her goal around year six or seven. (hopefully I got the details right, I'm going off memory.) She (and I) firmly believe in the power of writing goals down, and doing what it takes to make them reality. If you haven't yet, go make some short and long term goals, and write them down. Then do what it takes to make it happen.

Beyond being smart and inspiring, she really lived up to Kiersten White's claim that she's funny. We were laughing the whole time. If you have the chance to see her, I highly recommend it.

Also, she may burn a book and then give it away.

Huh? Yeah, she used I AM NOT A SERIAL KILLER by Dan Wells to block the projector while she was talking, and when she picked it back up she'd burned the cover a little bit. I ended up winning it (woohoo!) and Dan was there, so he personalized it for me. Here's what he wrote:

"Sara - this book was personally burned by Carrie Ryan. Dan Wells."

I love book signings.

What day is it again?

So, I'm going along, la la la. Go to the gym, showering before 11 am (woohoo! major accomplishment!), making lunch, cleaning the kitchen, entertaining my kids, thinking about my WIP. Obsessing over how much I wrote yesterday (1500 words for an outline to map out the rest of the book since I was on page 135 and thinking, "um, what should happen next to get me to _____?"; and between 3-4k words on the mss). I am happy about that, but at the same time want it to go even faster. Also, I've spent a good chunk of my day daydreaming of the amazing dinner I get to have tonight. Free meal at Benihana (my FAVE restaurant) for my birthday! But my birthday isn't until Saturday you say? I know, but they changed their policy and now their free birthday meal certificates are only valid Mon-Thurs. Stinketh, but what can I do? So we're going tonight.

And then it dawns on me. Today is Wednesday. Last night I was supposed to do my blog post for today. But in the midst of trying to write and then falling asleep out of pure exhaustion a quarter to who-knows-when, I FORGOT.

Hence, in place of a real post, you get this. A strange, rambling recap of why there wasn't a real post. But may I direct you to a few other amazing posts that are more worthy of your time? Kiersten White's last two posts have been incredible, and worth reading over and over. Check them out here. Also, Brodi Ashton also has a great post you should check out on writing what you DON'T know. And as always, Natalie Whipple's post today is super amazing.

Have a great Wednesday, and don't salivate too much thinking of all the amazing food I'm going to be gorging myself on--I mean, eating--tonight.