And the winners are . . .

Thank you all for entering the CHOSEN cover flat give away! Your entries were *amazing* and I asked Editor K to pick 5 random numbers to choose our winners.

I'll be sending each of you an e-mail or Tweet, so be on the lookout for it.

So, congratulations to the winners:

Crlnhrd

Emily >.>

hanfuller7@yahoo.com

Sam Newman

Kaitlin

CONGRATULATIONS!! :D

Win awesome Gelly Roll pens!

Anybody interested in PRIZES? In CHOSEN, the main character, Lauren, is obsessed with pens. (Um, as am I and Editor K). Lucky for us, Sakura, the makers of the fabulously cool Gelly Roll pens as well as many others, gave me four sets of pink and purple pen to give away to Team Canterwood! Yay!

Each pack of three are "ice cream smooth" and they have a glitter pen, a metallic pen and a medium pen. So, if you win, you'll get three pink rose pens and three purple violet pens. Total win! :)

Want to enter? Here's how:

If you're a US resident, leave a comment here and tell me what your fave Canterwood book is and why. :) You'll get TWO extra entries if you Tweet, blog, Facebook, vlog, etc., about the release of CHOSEN. Just tell me in your comment here if you did any of those things and give me a link. You must also leave me a way to contact you.

The contest closes on May 5th at 8am EST. I'll email the winners within a week, so be on the look out for an e-mail from me. Good luck to everyone who enters!

Thank you, Sakura, for your generous give away prizes. For more on Sakura's fun Gelly Roll pens, visit www.jellyroll.com.

Enter away!

Chosen out early! :D

Ahhhh, those magic words! IN STOCK! Yaaay! That means Amazon (and BarnesandNoble.com) are shipping copies of CHOSEN! I looove it when they come out early. It. Is. So. Exciting.

Photograph Copyright © 2010 Monica Stevenson

And, I'd like to welcome Lauren, (in photo above), who is making her debut in this super special.

Let me know when you get your copy!

Chosen cover flat contest!

CHOSEN OUT MAY 3RD

Hooray CHOSEN release that's coming up next week! In honor of this *very* sparkly Super Special, I think a giveaway is in order.

Anyone interested in winning a signed cover flat of CHOSEN? (That's the cover of the book without the actual book inside. Just like the image above.) :)

I've got FIVE signed copies to give away. Here's the deal: if you're a US resident, leave a comment here. Tell me why you're THE ultimate Canterwood Crest fan. :) I'll draw five winners at random. If you're on Twitter and Tweet about the contest, make sure to Tweet at me and it'll count as an extra entry. Also, it counts double if you blog, Facebook or use the Internet in another way to tell your friends about the release of CHOSEN.

The contest ends on Friday, April 29th.

I'll announce the winners the following weekend or week. Be sure to leave me a way to contact you in case you're a winner.

This book is extremely special to Editor K and me--we infused so many of our fave products, colors, traits, cities, etc., that we both agree it's out favorite book in the series. Thank you, Team Canterwood, for allowing me to have my first Super Special!

xoxo

Let's address some rumors

There has been some chatter online (forums, blogs, etc.) about why dominate hasn't been released, why Canterwood is taking longer to come out, etc.

I realize you guys on Team Canterwood don't know, so of course you're going to wonder. I would, too!

First, Canterwood is no longer on a bi-monthly publication schedule. This was a choice made by my publisher which I agreed to. Writing a book every 6 weeks was a killer and with the books coming out every 4 months instead of every 2, the product will be that much better.

Second, Editor K is seriously ill. Like, we have to go out of state to a special hospital ill. She is going through a medical crisis where her life is at risk. Because of this, we have postponed dominate until she is well. Dominate is not something I would ever write on my own--it's a collaboration with my writing partner and the product will not be ready until Kate is feeling better and I am ready to write it with her.

I know some of you are frustrated and wondering what happened with dominate. I understand (I do!), but nothing comes before caring for and being with my bestie in a time of need. I hope that's something you can understand.

We will get dominate to you as soon as we can, but for now, our main focus is what it should be: getting Kate well.

I hope you all can understand and hope that during this time, you can send thoughts of well-wishes to Editor K. She deserves them more than anyone.

xo

Initiation cover

Cover copyright © 2010 Simon & Schuster. Photo © Monica Stevenson.

My supercool designer, Jessica Handelman, sent me the hi-res version of the INITIATION cover. Yay!! Click on it to see a bigger version. I love, love it and our new models are so fun. I don't want to give away the character names yet, but the model in the front is Dayton and the model in the back is Kyra. Editor K and I weren't able to make this shoot, but from everything we heard the models were awesome and I think it shows in the cover.

Are you getting ready for the release of CHOSEN? It's almost here!

2 weeks till Chosen!

It's kind of crazy to think that CHOSEN officially releases in two weeks. Canterwood books have been known to pop up in book stores a week to a week and a half early, so I wouldn't be surprised if some of you start to find it soon.

I am incredibly proud of this book. It's 295 pages of pure sweat, all-nighters, crazy revising and mile-long outlines. Just when Kate and I had thought we'd finished the book, we realized there were LOTS of things we wanted to change. And with a deadline that couldn't be moved, we had to do them fast. Kate stayed up with me for 2 nights in a row, yes, 48 hours of no sleep, to help me edit CHOSEN to make it a true Super Special.

I can't wait for everyone to read it!

Love and thoughts to UB's family.

Might be MIA

Just a heads up, I'm going through some serious personal issues and might be offline for a while. I will do my best to blog/Tweet/celebrate Chosen's release as I can, but I wanted to let Team Canterwood know that I might be offline for a little while in the future.

Much <3 to you all!

Brooklyn girl, baby!

I opened the door expecting to have a package from UPS with stuff from work or something I'd ordered online. Instead, a nice guy asked for Jess Ashley and handed me a vase of flowers.

Kate and Ross got me flowers for my two year anniversary in New York. According to the card, I'm now a "true New Yorker."

Wow.

Sometimes, it feels like I've been here for ten years. Sometimes, a week. I still get lost on new trains, still go the wrong way when trying to find strange buildings and still Google Map any new place I go and hand draw a map. But I'm not afraid of going to new places.

I used to be.

When I first moved here, the only place I felt that I knew how to get back and forth from without having to worry was to S&S. I would get on the train at 7th Avenue, put on my headphones and ride the 45-ish minutes into the city. And that's not to mention how long it took me to feel comfortable to play my iPod because I was sure the conductor would change the route with a message that the train was going to the Bronx or somewhere far away. I was convinced I'd get lost and never find my way back to Park Slope again. (Not being a drama queen--I was serious!)

But now, it's almost as if I instinctively know how to get home. And home for me is the best place to be in the entire city. I'm happiest when I'm in cozy socks, yoga pants, a PINK t-shirt and doing anything--or nothing at all--with my bestie.

If you passed me on the streets, you'd probably think I was a tourist. I've always got my BlackBerry out and am taking pictures of everything. I wear Brooklyn hoodies, a "Gaga for Brooklyn" (she's performing on May 27 for GMA, btw . . . )T-shirt and it'll soon be warm enough for me to wear my "I love New York" shirt. I know that it's not "cool" to do that when you live here, but I don't care. I haven't gotten past the giddy stage of living in the city that never sleeps.

I'm a Brooklyn girl and proud of it!

Much love to all of my Brooklyn family and friends who have supported me here. I love you all.

2 years!

Tattoo says it all! :)

Pretty nails! (Excuse the annoying won't-go-away underline


Eclipse! (I Heart R Pattz)


Fa, la, la, la, la!

Snow day in the Slope

RPattz filming REMEMBER ME

Girls lookin' good on NYE

Sasha on the subway

Knicks at MSG!

Models at a Canterwood shoot

#24

4th of July

Apt day one

The summer spot

My train stop

Some pics of the park

And, one day, I would like a pink brownstone.

Proud New Yorker of two years!

Prizes, anyone?

So the time is faaast approaching! Chosen, the first EVER Canterwood Super Special, hits stores on May 3rd. The books usually release early, so I'm guessing it'll be out in about 3ish weeks.

Anyone interested in winning a superawesome secret prize that I'll reveal soon?

Rules are SUPER simple:

The first *THREE* people (US residents only, sorry!) to e-mail me a pic of themselves with their copy of CHOSEN and have parental permission (I need an e-mail from your parent's address giving the okay) will win. I'll only use your first name and age in the blog post if you're a winner along with your photo of you with CHOSEN. Remember, you can't win unless I get parental permission.

So, be on the look out for it and many, MANY more fun giveaways to come around the release of a beyond special book.

Much love.