Team Canterwood reader with Initiation

As part of the INITIATION contest, here's an entry! Connie with Initiation! Her mom sent the photo and gave me permission to post it. Thank you for being a part of Team Canterwood, Connie!!


Happy Sunday, all! Busy writing COMEBACK. :)

xoxo

3 NEW cover reveals! Plus, extra special surprise!

#16 MASQUERADE

 Clare and Lauren

#18 ONE (See cover #15 in yesterday's post)

 Clare and New Girl

Holiday special! HOME FOR CHRISTMAS

Clare and Lauren 

I have the full covers and they're GORGEOUS. Thank you so, so much Jessica Handelman, Monica Stevenson and my fabulous models. Many hearts!

So, ready for *another surprise*? The real life model who plays the New Girl on the right side of cover #18 is on Twitter! She's a big fan of the series and was soooo excited when she was booked to model for the covers. We've exchanged several emails and Tweets and she's the sweetest girl. I'm not going to give up her character name yet, but . . . wanna follow her on Twitter? Find her here! Let's show her some love and welcome her into the Canterwood family! :)

Canterwood cover reveal!

I'm soo excited to be able to share the cover of Canterwood Crest #17 (JEALOUSY) with you! :) I have three more covers ready to be shared as soon as I get them. I can't wait and I hope you love this one as much as I do! We've got Lauren on the right and a new (!) character on the left. And doesn't Whisper look gorgeous?!

Thank you to everyone at Simon & Schuster for creating such a lovely cover that embodies the Canterwood spirit.

Happy weekend!

xoxo

Initiation's almost here! I think it's time for PRIZES!

**I added a new way to enter below!

It's almost heeeeerrrreeee!! (Can you tell I'm excited? Cuz I'm not. I mean, why would I be freaking out that Team Canterwood gets INITIATION tomorrow?! :D)

Some of you have already found it in stores (thank you, booksellers!) and a lot of you haven't yet. Whether you've grabbed your copy or not, I think it's time to party with prizes! How else are we supposed to welcome Lauren to Canterwood?

In honor of book number lucky 13, I've got some fab stuff (my faves!) up for grabs. Check it:

That's right! We've got AMAZING Hair Tinsel and Gelly Roll pens. (Thank you to everyone at Hair Flairs and Sakura of America for offering up these fantastic prizes.

(Here's a pic of me from last January wearing dark purple tinsel. I was signing a book for our very own Jill (<3!)--the model for Sasha.) :)

The prizes up for grabs:

4 winners will receive:

2 packets of different color Hair Tinsel and either pink or purple Gelly Roll pens (all Tinsel and pen colors chosen by me at random)


1 GRAND prize winner will receive:

Your choice of a 20 minute phone call or 20 minute Skype session with me!  We'll both work out a date and time via e-mail. :)

You must be a US resident to enter. Sorry, international readers!! Winners will be drawn at random and notified via e-mail. So be sure to leave yours!

You have TWO WEEKS starting tomorrow to do one of the following (some options will be worth extra entries!):

* (Worth 5 extra entries) Review INITIATION on Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com or another book seller site. Put the link in your comment. 

* Post a comment here about what you liked about Initiation after reading it

* (Worth 3 EXTRA entries) Send me a photo of you and your copy (it can be a paperback or Nook, Kindle, etc., of Initiation. I will NOT post the photo on my blog unless I have parental permission.


* (Worth 2 EXTRA entries) Post about INITIATION on your blog, Twitter, Facebook, etc. and leave the link in the comments, Tweet it to me, or tag me on Facebook. 


* Post a comment here about how long it took you to finish Initiation

* (Worth 2 EXTRA entries) link to this blog post via your Twitter, Facebook, blog, etc!

* (Worth 4 EXTRA entries) Create something at Polyvore for your fave CC character! 


* (Worth 5 EXTRA entries) Make a YouTube (or other video hosting site) video about Initiation. You can review it, talk about what you liked/didn't like, send a shout out to other members of Team Canterwood--whatever you like! Get creative! :) *Please DO NOT email me the video because the file size will fill my inbox and then I won't be able to receive your messages* Put the link to your video in the comments section of this post. 


* And . . . 6 EXTRA entries go to the person (judged not by me, but by an impartial Internet friend) who gets the most creative about celebrating Initiation's release day. 


The contest closes on Monday, January 16, at 11:59pm EST. I will e-mail the winners on January 17, so be sure to check your email! 


Good luck to all!

Now, other stuff:


Among other places, you can find copies of INITIATION at awesome places such as:

Barnes & Noble

Amazon

Indie Bound

Powells

Books a Million

I've been thinking a lot today about all of Team Canterwood and how lucky I am to have such a wonderful, amazing, intelligent group of readers. It makes me teary when I think back to the first e-mail I ever received about someone liking TAKE THE REINS. I can't believe the very first book will be out for three years later this month.

Wow.

I would not be able to live my dream as a writer without EACH and EVERY one of you. Your messages keep me inspired, even on the darkest, tough days. I wish I could hug you all and be able to come up with better words than "thank you" for everything you've given me and the Canterwood Crest series. It would not continue without you.

I wish you all a very happy New Year! I've got copyedits to finish on POPULAR and then I'm starting to write COMEBACK. :)

Much love and cheers to 2012!

xoxo

Win a signed copy of Initiation!

So . . . anyone interested in winning a copy of INITIATION? (Out Jan. 3rd). :) If so, I'm giving away TWO signed copies!

The rules are easy:

You must be a US resident

You have to comment on THIS post and leave your email address so I can get in touch with you

Your comment topic is: "How are YOU going to celebrate Initiation release day?" :)

You get extra entries if: you reblog about the contest, tell your friends about Initiation (I trust you!), Tweet, Facebook, or do whatever you like to let other people know about it's release. If you leave what you did in your comment, I'll add it as an extra entry.

Two winners will be drawn at random at midnight on Monday. Good luck! I'll email the winners the next day. :)

xoxo

A ten year old secret

I've been so welcomed into the online community--not just by writers and publishing people--but by teens, tweens and all types of fabulous people I never would have met without my blog. :) I consider you all friends, and I think it's time I share a ten year old secret with you.

I felt the need to do so now because of the volume of mail I've been receiving from wonderful readers who "want to look like me." I feel like a total fraud. Like I am portraying a false image of what they should aspire to look like. Readers who sent me this mail do not know what I've done to my body to look how I have in the past.

I've been struggling with anorexia since I was fourteen. Maybe even a little before then. For me, it was never a "I want to be skinny and then I'll be pretty!" it was a control issue. My home life was chaotic, I had no control and with food, I had the power. I chose what I ate, when, how much.

Over the years, my weight fluctuated depending on how things were at home. I reached my lowest, scariest weight in April 2009.  By then, my body was severely damaged. My hair was falling out, I was growing soft, thick hair on my arms in an effort to keep my body warm, I had more cavities than any religious teeth brusher should have. I fainted. Several times. I was freezing all of the time. Nosebleeds were part of my day. I had no energy.

I moved to NYC, determined to change my habits. I tried and failed. I tried again, failing. Finally, last fall, I saw how much it was hurting someone I loved. She told me she was scared that I'd have a heart attack, that my organs would start shutting down, or something worse would happen. I'd known, all along, that this can happen with anorexia, but I was deeply in it. Those options didn't seem real. But hurting her did. As my best friend, she said I had to change. I had to fix this--either one more try on my own or check into a treatment center.

I was terrified. I didn't think I could do it and I balked at the idea of treatment. But I went online, ordered a dozen Ensure weight-gain drinks, forced myself to start eating meals, and veeeerry slowly, a change happened. I worked so damn hard. You'd think gaining weight is easy.

It isn't.

I had a couple of minor set backs, but nothing even remotely close to the weight I had been. The weight I'd been while standing outside a bar in 2009 and a man walked up to me and said I needed to eat a burger.

Now, it's not a daily struggle. I think about it from time to time, but I will never go back to the place of making my already ill best friend worry that I'm going to starve myself to death. If I'm feeling like old habits might be creeping up, I talk to her about them. Honesty is saving me. My face isn't hollow anymore. My hair stopped falling out. My premature wrinkles stopped forming. I went from a barely A-cup to a C-cup. (And I love it!!) I love my body and feel so confident with it. There's no going back.

I wanted to share this because I know so many young girls, guys, and women are going through it. Mostly, I want to say to my readers--you do not want to look like me. Maybe the me now who is healthy. But not the old me. I will never go back. I say that with absolute certainty. If you're struggling, know that you can make it. We can--and are--fighting this.

xo

Lady Gaga & Greyson Chance

What's everyone up to this weekend? Anyone getting in the Christmas spirit or totally over it? I walked down an avenue block last night after picking up food and so many gorgeous lights and displays were up. I'm like a little kid--they make me SO happy. I live in a very diverse neighborhood and it's interesting to see how each culture decorates for Christmas. There was a Puerto Rican parade today that went down my street, though, I don't think it had anything to do with Xmas. ;)

I'm totally bumming around this weekend. Recovering from post-finishing a book hangover. Next book--COMEBACK--isn't due until March, so I've got some time to chill. I intended to start working on a project today, but chose to read (Ruthless--Pretty Little Liars #10), Teen Vogue, Glamour and some other fun mags lying around.

(CHECK those shoes! I'd *never* be able to stand in them!)

Did anyone catch yesterday's Ellen? Lady Gaga and Greyson Chance we on. First, I adore Greyson! Kate and I saw him the very first time he appeared on Ellen singing "Paparazzi." She discovered him singing that on YouTube, brought him on, signed him to her record label and well, you probably know more than I do about him now. ;) He's such a cutie!

It came full circle for him because he got to meet the artist whose song he played that got HIM a record deal. :)

I loved Lady G's "Marry the Night" performance. She also had some of the best one liners I've heard from her. I've always been insanely inspired by her work ethic. The song, too, is about making the choice to commit to your work or give up. She's barely a year older than me and the girl works hard. She said, "People ask me when I'm gonna take a vacation. I'm like, 'I didn't get into signing to sit under a palm tree.'" That's kind of how I feel about writing. I'm "married" to my work because I love it so much. I'm happy to work long hours (except when my wrist or arm hurt! Bleh!) and I want to put everything I have into what I'm doing. That's for you guys--the readers--Team Canterwood.  

Here's her performance if you want to watch. :) Fill me in on what you're all up to this weekend!

xoxo