First Knicks game

Since the blog was taken over by awesome giveaways (winners will be announced after the final deadline for entering has passed), I haven't been able to blog about personal stuff for a while. For example...last Tuesday, I went to my first ever Knicks game at Madison Square Garden! It was a pre-season game against the Celtics and it was sooo much fun. The crowd was excited and the entire atmosphere was energized. The entire experience of hot dogs and nachos only added to the awesomeness. Plus, we won! :) I've seen MSG on TV before and it's sooo much better in person. It's just insane. I kept saying, "OMG! I'm at MSG!" like a total dork. :)


These are the sparkly cups that you get when you order drinks. Love. Them. Was jealous of BFF's sparkly cup and wanted my own. Now I've got some! They're actually glittery, which is hard to see in the pic.

Going to see another Knicks game this Saturday on Halloween! BFF and I are coordinating our outfits. She's wearing blue tights and I've got orange ones. Knicks colors and also very Halloween appropriate. I can't wait for the train ride home because (or so I've heard) there will be a zillion people in costume on the train. Can't. Wait.

Halloween is almost here! Let's talk costumes.

Sooo...my fave holiday is almost here! Halloween!
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I'm into to cutesy, fun Halloween stuff. I *adore* IT'S THE GREAT PUMPKIN, CHARLIE BROWN and HOCUS POCUS. It's hilarious to watch Sarah Jessica Parker before she became SJP. Love. I DVRd those and also set mine to record INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE. I've always been too scared to watch it, but I think I'm ready. Trying to build up my tolerance for horror films. I also realllly want to see SLEEPY HOLLOW with Johnny Depp (my pirate-boy!) and Christina Ricci. Again, I was too scared to see it when it came out. I did have the soundtrack that I played on Halloween and that was freaky.

I was thinking about past costumes when I was a kid/teen. One year, I was a cowgirl with a (*cringe*) fringe skirt and button down pink shirt and cowboy hat. I also had a pair of killer cowboy boots and a belt that had a horse on the buckle.

Another year, I was Snow White. That was fun. Then I was Belle from Beauty and the Beast.

I was also (shocker) an English rider. I wore that to school for costume day.

One of my faves was a black cat. Ears, whiskers, black pants and a tail. Very fun!

Anyone dressing up this year? If so, what's your costume? If not, what was your fave costume?



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Catching up on a busy Monday

Wow, so many of you have entered the contests--that's awesome! Keep checking last week's posts and be sure you've entered all of the giveaways. It was a great week to celebrate the release of BEST ENEMIES. Yaaay!

I wanted to share a new interview with pix and a vlog. Check here at the Girlz Like Me Website. Thanks so much to Taylor for conducting a fun, professional interview.

I spent the weekend in Balto with K, R and A and we had sooo much fun! We were at a wedding for our awesome friend and the reception was at a super cool comics museum. I was seated at the Strawberry Shortcake table--so cute!

The next couple of weeks are going to be insanely busy as I finish the draft of HOME SWEET DRAMA and start editing it. I've also got several speaking gigs, so I've got to make extra time for those and check over my presentations. As soon as I get the draft finished and turned in, I'll start responding to reader girl e-mails as they've come in. :)

Last, check out the all new Aladdin MIX site. It's adorable and I love it!

PS-Someone emailed me and said she's going as Sasha for Halloween. She asked if Sasha would wear orange nail polish. ABSOLUTELY! :)

Enter to win an I Love Horses bag!

The final giveaway for the launch of BEST ENEMIES is an "I Love Horses" bag from Girls Horse Clothes. This hunter green bag is super cute!

To enter: leave a comment here, on LiveJournal or in both places by Friday, October 30th at noon. I'll draw a name and will post the winner next week, so be sure to check back or leave an e-mail address in your post so I can contact you if you win.

If you want an extra entry, blog about the contest, Tweet about it or get creative and publicize it another way. Leave me the link in your comment and it'll count for your extra entry. (I'll only mail to US addresses, sorry!)

Thank you, thank you to GHC and all of the sponsors who've offered up amazing, fun prizes over the past few days. This has been one of the best releases ever! Yaaay!

A brief interruption :)

Just a quick announcement--tomorrow's giveaway will be the last! But remember to go back and enter any you've missed since the deadlines are all varied. There's still plenty of time to enter. A sincere thank you to all of our sponsors who provided amazing, fun products. Yay!

There's sooo much to blog about that I've left out because I've been super busy and I wanted the focus to stay on the give aways.

But next week, look for posts (with some pics!) of my first Knicks game at Madison Square Garden. Plus, a post about my hilarious (oh, snap) dress shopping experience with Aly. But we DID end up finding gorgeous dresses, so it was totally worth it.

I'm off to Baltimore tomorrow for a wedding. Going to try and get editing done on the way there, but we'll see how that goes...

Enter to win a Girls Horse Clothes gift certificate!

Today's amazing giveaway is from our friends at Girls Horse Clothes! They're giving away a gift certificate for a horse top of your choice! Check out their Website and see what they've got.

To enter: leave a comment here, on LiveJournal or in both places by Thursday, October 29th at noon. I'll draw a name and will post the winner next week, so be sure to check back or leave an e-mail address in your post so I can contact you if you win.

If you want an extra entry, blog about the contest, Tweet about it or get creative and publicize it another way. Leave me the link in your comment and it'll count for your extra entry. (I'll only mail to US addresses, sorry!)

Thank you so much to GHC offering this sparkly prize! :) I'm so excited that BEST ENEMIES officially came out yesterday and thanks so much to everyone who's as excited about it as I am.

Win a fab bag and stickers!

Today, Paula from BE A GIRL TODAY has generously donated this supercute bag, postcards and stickers!

To enter: leave a comment here, on LiveJournal or in both places by Wednesday, October 28th at noon EST. I'll draw a name and will post the winner next week, so be sure to check back or leave an e-mail address in your post so I can contact you if you win.

If you want an extra entry, blog about the contest, Tweet about it or get creative and publicize it another way. Leave me the link in your comment and it'll count for your extra entry. (I'll only mail to US addresses, sorry!)

Paula, thank you so much! :)

Enter to win an English Princess t-shirt!

We're still celebrating the release of BEST ENEMIES, which, so happens to be today!! Yay!

Today's giveaway is this ahhhh-dorable English Princess t-shirt from Dana's Doodles!! (You'll be able to choose your size.)

To enter: leave a comment here, on LiveJournal or in both places by Tuesday, October 27th at noon EST. I'll draw a name and will post the winner next week, so be sure to leave a way for me to contact you if you win.

If you want an extra entry, blog about the contest, Tweet about it or get creative and publicize it another way. Leave me the link in your comment and it'll count for your extra entry. (I'll only mail to US addresses, sorry!)

Thank you so much to Dana for sponsoring this awesome contest and go enter! :)

Win a supersparkly charm clip!

All right! Today is the first of three giveaways from Girls Horse Clothes! Want to win this supersparkly clip with adorable charms? I looove this because it reminds me of Sasha's special charm bracelet.

The rules:

Leave a comment here, on LiveJournal or in both places. You have until next Monday, October 26 at 8am to leave a comment. After that, I'll draw a winner and will announce it shortly after! Please be sure to leave an email address or way for me to contact you in your comment. :) (I'll only ship to US addresses.)

Thank you to Girls Horse Clothes for sponsoring this giveaway! :)

Congrats, Karly!

And...the winner of a signed copy of BEST ENEMIES IS...Karly!! Congratulations! I've already send an email to the address provided, so if you didn't get it, shoot me one at jess_burkhart @ hotmail dot com.

Check back tomorrow for another chance to win a super cool prize!

Also, the Canterwood Crest site has been updated with some new stuff so head on over and check it out.

Shout out to Jobros0913 for sending me a link to JSYK. There's TONS of awesome New Moon and R Pattz info on the site, plus other fun tween gossip/entertainment. Very cool!

Thank you, Team Canterwood!

(Vid processing will be complete soon then quality will improve) :)

Don't forget to enter to win a copy of BEST ENEMIES below!

Win a signed copy of Best Enemies!!

Want to win a signed copy of BEST ENEMIES? You can! Leave a comment here, on LiveJournal or in both places by Sunday at noon. I'll draw a name and will post the winner on Sunday. If you want an extra entry, blog about the contest, Tweet about it or get creative and publicize it another way. Leave me the link in your comment and it'll count for your extra entry. (I'll only mail to US addresses, sorry!)

Goood luck! :)

As if you didn't already know...

Editor K is a super star. (Duh.) A book she edited, THE ROCK AND THE RIVER, by the fab Kekla Magoon was named one of the Top 10 First Novels for Youth 2009 in the fiction category. This is so well deserved and it's exciting news! Check out the link here!

Also, a quick reminder that giveaways start *tomorrow*! I've got so many cool things lined up from awesome sponsors who are excited to be a part of Team Canterwood. Check out the blog tomorrow for your chance to enter to win the first prize.

Again, yaaay EK and Kekla!

Currently engaged in...

writing this. That is all. :) Go #8!

Oh, and a random tip--do not grab a hot pole in your apartment to see if it's really on. A tap of a finger would be plenty if hot pole is indeed on. If this was a Tweet it would end with #aptfail

Equine Affaire in W. Springfield

I'll be at the Knight Equestrian Books booth signing Canterwood books on Saturday, November 14th. I don't have times or more details yet, but I've had a few people ask if I'm going. That's a yes! :) I'm excited about attending Equine Affaire since I've never been. It should be fun and I hope to see lots of you there. More details to come.

Now, to try and drag myself out of bed and from under my electric blanket. *cozy*

Coming next Friday...prizes!

Next Friday, October 16, kicks off giveaway days running through October 23 to celebrate the release of BEST ENEMIES (CC #5).

BE comes out on October 20, so I'm starting early by giving away a signed copy of BE next Friday. More sparkly prizes will follow! So, be sure to check back often then and enter to win some fun, cool stuff.

Happy Friday!

Maybe I should buy stock in Red Bull

Been slow going on HOME SWEET DRAMA today. I had a bunch of errands today and then I haven't been able to get back into the draft. I'm still ahead of schedule, which is great, but it's just an off day. Grr. And, plus, I forgot to get Red Bull when I went out. *annoyed*

I did, however, successfully make Lauren Barnholdt's pumpkin spice latte recipe. It wasn't that complicated and it tastes soooo good. I've got an addiction to the ones at Starbucks, but refuse to keep paying that price for coffee. I'd rather spend the $$ on other stuff!

Speaking of Team Barnhart, we're meeting up with Ross and The Boy (Lauren's Boy) for sparkly drinks at Cowgirl when LB comes to NYC tomorrow. I've never been to Cowgirl, but everyone says it's amazing. I can't wait.

Back to the draft...

Welcome, Best Enemies!

It's a double-post day because...

BEST ENEMIES is now shipping from several online bookstores! It might even be in actual stores now or very soon. I'll have to start stalking this weekend and check.

I'm *always* caught off guard by the early releases. That said, I'm still going ahead with the pre-planned schedule of release week festivities. It'll celebrate the official release date, so yay!

I'm still shaking my head over this entire thing. And by that I mean how my fifth book is out. It's an indescribable feeling when a book hits shelves. This was the first book that I finished writing in New York, so it has special meaning.

Very sparkly hearts to my BKBs who helped make this book possible. <3 Toasting you guys with Swarlos and the slap bet episode. :)

D-I-S-T-R-A-C-T-I-O-N

Oh, yeah! It's everywhere. :) I was, uh, reading an unauthorized bio of R Pattz this afternoon when I should have been, you know, writing. Then, a friend sent me his manuscript that I've been *dying* to read. I started to read it and then had to use it in my write then reward system. So, I've got to write 500 words before I can read another chapter of it. 2500 words need to go down today and my evil Excel chart tells me my grand total is 269 so far. Eeeep. But I'm ready to go now!

Btw, on Friday, look for an announcement about all of the fun things to come to celebrate the October 20th release of BEST ENEMIES. Yaay! There will be *tons* of sparkly prizes. Woo! Also, if you won a signed copy of BE from the giveaway, it went in the mail yesterday. Hope you enjoy it!

Home Sweet Drama progress

The blog has been a little quiet because I've been working hard on the draft of HOME SWEET DRAMA. I'm 30 pages in and and I usually really get going around page 50. The first 50, for some reason, are always the hardest. It feels like an uphill climb where I'm not sure if I can make it. Even at book eight, I'm crazy paranoid like, "Whoa. What if I can't write another book?!" But then the rational side kicks in and I go back to my chapter by chapter outline and know what I have to do.

So things are moving ahead on that. I typed 9 pages yesterday (eh, but whatever!) and want 10 today. I think it's possible just because of the amount of caffeine I'm about to go out and purchase. :)

Going to be purposely cryptic because it's necessary, but I got the most amazing gift yesterday. BFF got me a signed copy of this author's second book. I'd read the first book and actually wrote on the pages, put sticky notes in the margins and got more out of this book than any other I've ever read. Holding the new book with a note to me inside was so special. So. Amazing.

Anyway...

Will vlog soon! I'm planning to read the first chapter (and likely the second) of BEST ENEMIES. I can't believe it'll be out so soon. Yay!

Ready, set, type!

I Tweeted this pic yest, but in case you don't have Twitter I wanted to share it. That's the BFF's cat who watched me work yesterday. She's usually attracted to my handbrace that I wear when I type. And when I say "attracted," I mean she attacks it and then falls in love with it when I take it off and put it on the couch.

Got 10 pgs typed yesterday--not even close to what I wanted (*bangs head*), but I'm starting again now and we'll see what happens. Every bit of housecleaning that can be done is complete so I can't be distracted with any of that. Lame, right? But that's become my "I can't work because I have to sweep/mop/do dishes, etc" even though it's not necessary. Things are sparkling now so no excuses. I've got coffee and Diet Coke on my bedside table and have my twinkly Halloween lights plugged in, which makes me happy.

Btw, I talked about it on the Canterwood forum, but if you notice on Amazon.com or B&N that there's a different pub date for Rival Revenge (#7)--it's true! The book is coming out in January instead of Feb. Very cool because it comes out on Jan 26 and my birthday's on Jan 29. Fun week!

Off to work!

PS- NaNoWriMo starts next month!! Who's doing it? If you are, friend me! :)

Blog post up at Girlz Like Me

I was lucky enough to be interviewed by the fab and supercool Taylor and her sister Allie. Taylor is a 12-year old homeschooler who started an online magazine. I'm so impressed by her and the site is so cool. Here's a link to the blog post and I'll be sure to post another link when my interview and shout out vlog go up. :) Taylor posted a blog entry about our interview and included a few cool pics.

Thanks so much to everyone at Girlz Like Me!

I'm still at my friends' apt on a writing spree. I got a superlate start (2:30something) and it took forever before I hit my stride. But words are accumulating now and I'm going to see how much longer I can keep it up. The Thai food, Red Bull, Diet Coke, coffee, and Twizzler (thanks, AlyCat!) helped. :)

How I wrote ALL day--not!

Last night I decided that today I'd get up super early, write a lot and then keep writing. Umm...yeah. Didn't happen today. Instead, it went something like this:

6am: Evil alarm on Blackberry. I snooze it for 5 mins.

6:05am. Evil alarm on Blackberry. Snooze for 5 more mins.

The next time? Reset for an hour. Will try again at just after 7am.

7am still a no-go.

I finally start moving around 8-something, only to fall back asleep until 9:40. Twenty minutes before an interview with Taylor at Girlz Like Me.

I wake up, panic and try not to sound as if I'd been sleeping when I called her at 10am. Of course, I totally did.

The rest of the day? I grabbed the R to Target and spent waaay too much time in the Halloween aisle. Plus, I needed winter clothes 'cause I've been borrowing hoodies from BFF and I found some awesome stuff including 2 pairs of boots. One for dressy stuff (with heels) and the other for walking to the subway. The subway steps are crazy icy in the winter (I was in NYC for a few days in Jan) and slipping is not an option.

I somehow ended up with enough stuff that I couldn't take the train back. Hello, taxis waiting outside of Target. Love them.

I got back and it was just after 2. Spent the rest of the day trying on clothes and, um, hanging the twinkly Halloween lights I got. I meant to go to the post office to mail books, postcards, etc to winners, but I missed them. They're closed tomorrow, so you guys will get your stuff put in the mail on Monday.

Tomorrow is hard core lock down day. It's supposed to pour/storm all day and to prevent myself from being distracted in my own apt, I'm going to my friends' apt and am planning to shut myself inside and write, only stopping for an occasional Red Bull or meal. The plan is to be out the door at six or earlier if I can be super-awesome. *wills self to make it happen* :)

How's everyone's weekend?

Interview with HorseGirlTV is live

My video interview with HorseGirlTV is live! So much fun and big thanks to Angelea, Janice and everyone else involved. Check it out here: http://www.horsegirltv.com/blog/?p=929.