Real Teen Lives Panel This Friday!

I’m so excited for ALA Midwinter this weekend–so many awesome librarians and writers in town? Aw yeah! And what better way to kick off the weekend than with a great YA panel featuring some wonderful contemp YA authors? The details39e45766-c4c3-41b0-b7e1-4eefd92fcb2d

Real Teen Lives Young Adult Panel
Friday, January 8th, 7pm 
at Brookline Booksmith
YA authors who are keeping it real–Marieke Nijkamp, Laurie Elizabeth Flynn, Emily Martin, Jen Malone, and I talk about crafting real stories for teen readers. Also book signing and hilarity.

Come say hi and chat with us about writing, books, and being real. Looking forward to an awesome start to a bookish weekend!

Friday Fifteen

Happy Friday, everyone! Tonight, I’ll be at Porter Square Books with a bunch of awesome YA authors, so come say hi, get some books signed, and chat with us about all things writing/reading.

And even if you’re not in the general Boston area, we can get the weekend rolling with a look at what I’ve been reading and writing in fifteen words or under:

ReadingFangirl by Rainbow Rowell
Brought back lots of good first year of college feelings. Also dig a fandom story.

Writing: “Fortunately, we’re accepting volunteers for the secret project.”
Hijinks in the WIP!

This Saturday, YA Panel at the Blue Bunny!

This Saturday (March 14, aka 3/14, aka Pi Day) at 4pm, I’ll be at Blue Bunny Books & Toys with four other awesome YA authors for a conversation about writing books for teens, the YA community, and (hopefully) our favorite kinds of pie. The details:

Young Adult Author Panel Discussion and Book Signing
Saturday March 14th, 4pm
The Blue Bunny Books & Toys
577 High St, Dedham, Massachusetts 02026

Check out the the Facebook event page for more details. In the meantime, some non-blue bunnies:

See you on Saturday!

Upcoming Event: YA Panel at Porter Square Books on July 17th!

Summer might seem like a long time away, especially for those of us in the Boston area who are still surviving the coldest/snowiest winter ever. Fortunately, I’m looking forward to a July 17, when I’ll be on a YA panel with several other 2014/2015 debut authors! The details:

Young Adult Author Panel Discussion
Friday, July 17th, 7pm
Porter Square Books
Porter Square Shopping Center, 25 White Street, Cambridge, MA 02140

Join YA authors Susan Adrian, Jen Brooks, Annie Cardi, MarcyKate Connolly, Trisha Leaver, Rachel Shane for a panel discussion, moderated by YA author Mackenzie Lee, as they talk about reading, writing, and the debut experience.

Porter Square Books is where I had the launch party for The Chance You Won’t Return and I’m so excited to be back there with a bunch of other lovely debut authors. Mark your calendars!

Upcoming Event: YA Panel at the Blue Bunny on March 14th!

Two cool things about living in Massachusetts: lots of awesome bookstores and a great community of YA and children’s writers and readers. These two things come together next month, when I join some favorite local YA authors for a panel at the Blue Bunny Bookstore in Dedham, MA. The details:

Young Adult Author Panel Discussion and Book Signing
Saturday March 14th, 3 p.m.
The Blue Bunny Books & Toys

577 High St, Dedham, Massachusetts 02026
Join YA authors Cara Bertrand, Kim Harrington, Annie Cardi, AC Gaughen, and Gina Damico for a panel discussion, Q&A, and some tasty treats.

I’m so excited to be part of such a great group. Plus, it’s March 14th, aka 3/14, aka Pi Day, so there may even be celebratory pie. What more could you want?

And since it’s an event at the Blue Bunny, that’s an excuse to share a bunny gif, right?

Hope to see you all next month!

 

Come Find Me at Buttonwood Books Tomorrow Night!

Tomorrow I’ll be at Buttonwood Books in Cohasset, MA (just outside of Boston) for a panel and signing with my fellow 2014 debut YA author the lovely Skylar Dorset!

Come for the discussion about YA writing, stay for the signing and smiles.

The details:

YA Author Panel and Signing
August 13, 7pm at Buttonwood Books
747 CJC HWY RTE 3A
Cohasset, MA 02025

The weather is supposed to be kind of gross, but hopefully by 7pm things will have calmed down. And what better way to spend a rainy day than by hitting up a local bookstore?

Wood Sculptures, Books That Make You Cry, and Writing Sympathetic Characters: A YA Panel in Barrington, RI

photo 1 (1)

The Panel!

Last night I was part of my first YA author panel, hosted by the Barrington Bookstore and the Barrington Public Library. Having grown up in Rhode Island, this was a really fun and exciting opportunity for me.

On the panel with me were Tara Sullivan, author of Golden Boy, Katie Cotugno, author of How to Love, Bianca Turetsky, author of The Time-Traveling Fashionista series, and Katie Davis, author of Dancing with the Devil. Our moderator was the wonderful Alyisha Foley, librarian and blogger and kidlit enthusiast. Alyisha had great questions, and I loved hearing my fellow panelists talk about their own experiences writing books for teen readers and about their own young reading experiences.

A few favorite moments from the panel:

  • All of us agreeing that middle/high school are so freaking hard and basically when you need books the most.
  • Also agreeing that sometimes spoken communication is hard–long live the text/email!
  • Talking about what why flawed characters are compelling and real.
  • Tara Sullivan sharing an ebony wood sculpture. (Made me flash back to all those good Habo and Kweli moments!)
  • Bianca Turetsky’s shoutout to the Baby-Sitters’ Club.
  • Getting to sign The Chance You Won’t Return for RI family and friends, including the parents of some of my friends from high school.

photo 2Thanks so much to Anika Denise and Barrington Books for organizing such a great panel, to the Barrington Library for letting us use their wonderful space, and to everyone who came out on a Wednesday night to hear us talk about the awesomeness of YA!

Tonight! YA Authors at the Barrington Public Library

My first panel event as an author is tonight in my very own home state of RI! I’ll be talking with fellow YA authors about how we became writers, what YA is for us, and more. The details:

Voice. Heart. Connection. An Evening with 5 Extraordinary Authors of YA Fiction
May 14th, 6pm at the Barrington Public Library
184 County Rd
Barrington, RI 02806

Thanks so much to Barrington Books for organizing this event and more as part of Children’s Book Week. If you’re in the RI area, make sure to check out this fantastic local bookstore. And come to the panel at the Barrington Library tonight!

Teen-Reads

Tanzania, Children’s Lit, and Book Cake: the GOLDEN BOY launch party

photo 7It’s not every Thursday night you get to wear an awesome t-shirt, see pictures of African wildlife, learn about Albinism activism, eat cake, and hear a reading of a debut novelist’s awesome book. Fortunately, last Thursday was that kind of night, thanks to the Golden Boy launch party at Porter Square Books.

Tara’s in my critique group, so I was really looking forward to this event. Plus, this was the first official launch party I ever attended. As a ’14 author, I made sure to make major mental notes. Tara did a fantastic job, so I definitely have a lot to add to my “to do” list. A few things from Tara’s launch I particularly liked:

  • IMG_3099Hearing Tara talk about her own childhood growing up all over the world and dealing with the accompanying social and medical issues (like almost losing her sight from the UV rays while living in Bolivia). I love hearing about author’s backgrounds and connecting their experiences to their work.
  • Seeing photos from Tara’s Golden Boy research trip to Tanzania. She showed us what would have been the map of Habo’s group and photos of the real life places that inspired his journey.
  • Tara reading aloud from Golden Boy and hearing the crowd react to the lovely writing. So excited for people to read this one!
  • The swag table, complete with bookmarks, info on how to help people with albinism, a Golden Boy guest book, and real African carvings like the ones Kweli makes in the book.
  • A delicious cake, complete with the Golden Boy cover. (Seriously, guys, what event isn’t made better by the addition of cake?)

So many people came out for the launch and were so enthusiastic. In case you couldn’t make it , here are a few more pictures from the launch party (photos either by me or–if they’re good photos–by Julia’s husband):

Swag table

Swag table

Fellow critique-ers and Golden Boy enthusiasts Lisa and Katie

Fellow critique-ers and Golden Boy enthusiasts Lisa and Katie

Walt and me, getting psyched with funny faces

Walt and me, getting psyched with funny faces

The beautiful cover cake

The beautiful cover cake

Tara signs books (eeee, author signings!)

Tara signs books (eeee, author signings!)

I had a blast and am psyched for lots of friends’ future launch parties. Now go read Golden Boy!

Links Galore

Links help us through Tuesday: