Links of awesome

Big, big thanks to all of my reader girlies who are reviewing Triple Fault--thank you! The reviews, especially at Barnes and Noble, are so much fun and I heart you guys! I can't say enough how much I appreciate it. Also, I owe MANY of you e-mails and since I'm going out of town next week, it might take me a little longer to e-mail back. But I will! :)

Got a couple of links to share:

The fab and supercool Mara at Whitebook Farm reviewed Behind the Bit. Thank you, Mara!

Terra is an extremely nice person and I've been talking to about the Decatur Book Festival. She did a blog post about Canterwood. Terra is also from Little Shop of Stories--so go check out her bookstore.

Happy Wednesday!

Best. Readers. Ever.

I usually don't blog on the weekends, but I had to! I asked my readers for help (leaving reviews of Triple Fault on book seller Websites of their choice in return for a super sparkly signed postcard) and you guys responded like I never expected. I mean, I know I have the most amazing, loyal readers, but your notes about Triple Fault (that's *technically* not even out yet!) have been so, so lovely. I appreciate every one and if I owe you a postcard, it'll be in the mail next week. Keep 'em coming and I'll keep visiting the post office. :) I appreciate EVERY review and Team Canterwood is AWESOME!

Yaaay!

I had a busy weekend. Some of the things accomplished:

Edits on Little White Lies

Wrote 12 new pages of Rival Revenge (and hey, it's not even 6pm. There's still time for more!) There's a story behind this, btw. On Friday, I had this convo with BFF:

Me: So, I want to get 70 new pages this weekend.

BFF: That's great--totally good goal. And you're taking Saturday off, right?

Me: *blinks* How can I if I want to write 70?

BFF: *you're-an-idiot stare* I thought you said 7 pages.

Me: No, 70.

I realized soon after that convo ended that 70 a) was insane and b) wasn't gonna happen. So I missed my goal. But oh, well. I'll be happy if I hit 20 pages for the weekend.

Edited the first 30 pages of RR on paper

Cleaned my apt

Read some manuscript pages aloud to friends' felines--not sure if they liked some parts, but you know, I'll rewrite.

Sent a half-dozen e-mails to schools in Baltimore about author visits.

So many of you were also working this weekend. Update me!

Stock signing (or book stalking) at Barnes & Noble

After getting nails done with BFF, I ran over to B&N and saw...Triple Fault! Yaaaay! I signed all of the books and they have the cool green stickers that say "autographed copy." Love. Those.

I just stood there for a second and stared. Four books look kinda pretty. :)

Thanks, Katelyn!

A quick note to say THANK YOU to Katelyn for sending me the first fan e-mail about TRIPLE FAULT. Katelyn, that was so, so sweet and Editor Kate and I loved it. :) You rock! Team Canterwood!

To everyone who has been asking--TF is available in some stores now (like Barnes & Noble), at Amazon and will be showing up everywhere else very soon. Thanks so much for already looking for it! :)

Triple Fault is here! (Early, I know!)

This is a super sparkly day because...



is shipping! Well, it's shipping from Barnes & Noble and that means it's going to start releasing in other places very, very soon!


Now that it's my fourth book, I'm like, sure, I'm still new at all of this



Totally kidding. Unlike Captain Jack, I don't expect you to have heard of me. But maybe you know about Canterwood Crest. If not, to recap:

It's about a girl who
and adores her horse.

There's also a and they might

It's the fourth book in a series of twelve for tweens from Simon & Schuster's Aladdin MIX.

I feel like this:
(EK and Jess)

This book is incredibly special to me for various personal reasons. I know people think I might say that with every book, but it's totally true for this one.

And okay, I wanted to tell this entire post with Twilight avatars and graphics, but uh, I restrained myself. :)

Hearts and sparkles to everyone who made this happen! Now I'll be watching for it be available in other places. Book stalking will begin soon! Ha. :)

Yaaay Triple Fault!

Teaser video for Triple Fault

A short teaser for TRIPLE FAULT (Canterwood Crest #4)! :)

Win an early copy of Triple Fault!

I just gave away a signed copy on the Canterwood Crest forum, but I think it's time for a blog giveaway! Triple Fault comes out on August 11, but I know some of you JUST can't wait. :)

So, to enter, leave a comment here, on my LiveJournal or in both places. Tell me why you want a copy of Triple Fault! :)

You have until Sunday, July 26 to enter.

Boring rules:

I'll ship only to US addresses and you must e-mail me within a week to claim your prize. I'll have all of that info when I announce the winner. Good luck!

New vlog! Chapter one of Triple Fault

I decided to read the first chapter of TRIPLE FAULT! This was the third take because my BlackBerry kept going off and like the addict I am, I refused to turn off the volume even while shooting this vlog, LOL.

Hope you guys like it! :)

First chapter of TRIPLE FAULT

Want to read the first chapter of TF? You can right here!

And thank you sooo much for all of the notes, emails, Tweets, etc about my good news from yesterday. It means a lot to have the support and go Team Canterwood!

I'm off to Manhattan in a little while...might vlog on the way. Or while I'm there. Not sure... :)

Hello, TRIPLE FAULT!

Look at what EK made for the book! <333s it!

The back featuring Callie

And, my girl, Sasha Silver. The Trio appears to be plotting something...

I was on my way out the door and I ran into the FedEx (UPS?) guy. He had copies of TRIPLE FAULT and I had to pet them before I left. I carried one with me on the train and took pics of it in the seat next to me. I went to meet the lovely and scary smart Donna Freitas for coffee. We had a blast talking books, Buffy and Gilmore Girls. She totally rocks. When I got to the coffee shop, I sat on a bench outside 'cause I was early. I posed TF on the bench to take a pic and Donna came out and caught me in mid-snap. I was like, "Yes, I'm taking a pic of my new book on this bench. Don't judge me." :)

This book is super special to me on a personal level. I cannot wait for it to be on shelves.

August 11, people!! Yaay!

Editseditseditsedits

I'm totally engaged in edits right now for TRIPLE FAULT (CC #4). Yes, book four. I almost can't comprehend that sentence.

Interesting things I've noticed about this round of edits:

I manage to eliminate favorite words from my writing. Then, I come up with new ones. :) In CHASING BLUE, I was obsessed with "grinned." It was everywhere. In TRIPLE FAULT, I'd finally manged to ditch "grinned," but I tossed in two new words--"so" and "sooo." They *might* appear thousands of times. Okay, okay, not thousands, but enough to cause me to smack myself in the forehead when I reread my edited manuscript.

Chapter titles are so (Ack! The "s" word again!) one of the most difficult and most fun things to write. I heart them.

I might have to go back and read my own books to refresh my memory on certain events. Is that lame? I feel as if I should remember the things that happen in my own books! :D

Writing mean girl lines is my fave part and it's easy. That might say something about me...

And, finally, never stuff your edit letter with your precious handwritten notes to self in a cabinet and forget where it is. You might panic, tear up the house and then want to stab yourself in the eye with a pink pen when you recover the letter hours later.

My fear of emailing EK a hot mess

First, I need to round up a few links!

We've got:

A review of Take the Reins from Mara at Whitebrook Farm. Thanks, Mara! :)

An interview up at Harmony Book Reviews. Thanks again, Harmony!!

A guest blog at Presenting Lenore. I did a Letterman-style "Top 10 Things I've Learned About Writing" list. Thanks for letting me stop by, Lenore!

And now, back to my little writing corner. I'm *almost* finished with TRIPLE FAULT.

Probably a week or so until it's done. Then it gets sent off to Editor K. But my OMG-I-so-suck cycle begins just before I email the draft. :) Hitting the send button to email my book off to EK or Agent A is still sooo hard! I pull up Hotmail, attach the file, sit, stare and then close out the window. I open the Word doc, scan a few pages and then convince myself it's really time to let it go. So, Hotmail comes up again and I reattach the file. There's pacing, glossing of lips, eye rolling at myself and then I finally press send.

Then?

Nooooo! Why did I press the button?! It wasn't ready! Take it back!

But, of course, I can't take it back. I force myself to close the laptop and walk away. I remind myself that EK and AA haven't said, "JB, you just emailed us a hot mess. You're fired." before, so the draft might be okay.

Yes, that's my process. :)

Yay, 2009!!

Happy 2009!! Woo! Last night, Kellie Pickler hosted the festivities on ABC with Ryan Seacrest.

Even NYE spirit couldn't make her any less annoying. Sorry, Kellie! But seriously.

2009 is finally here!! It's a fresh start and I'm sooo excited about this month.

~*~TRIPLE FAULT UPDATE~*~

Yesterday: 8 pages written
1 leftover gingerbread man consumed
1 glass of sangria
4 different pens used for notes (pink, purple, blue and green)

And so it begins...

I'm starting the first draft of TRIPLE FAULT this morning. Like, now. Right now. OMG. There's always that moment (okay, more like day) of panicked "I can't do this! I forgot how to write a book! I'm supposed to do what?!"

Happens every time I start a book. But it's okay. It keeps things interesting and I'd rather be freaked out instead of all "Whatever. I can so do this because I'm the best writer ever." That would be boring!

Lucky for me, I had my Writer Freakout yesterday in anticipation of starting TF today. So, I'm ready. I've got my trusty outline, a sparkly pink pen for notes, cinnamon bun flavored coffee and fuzzy purple socks. You know, all things a writer needs.

Wish me luck! *

Cover Copyright © 2009 Simon & Schuster. Photo © Monica Stevenson.

Settling into outline mode

The blog might (or, you know, might not) get a little quiet over the next couple of days while I attempt to avoid the Internet and work on the TRIPLE FAULT outline. Plus, I reaaalllly need to do more work and less Internet because of...well...something awesome that I'll share quite soon! *excited dance*

:)

Thanks to everyone who commented on the TAKE THE REINS video. Glad you all like it!

TRIPLE FAULT (Canterwood Crest #4) cover reveal!

I'm completely engrossed in copy edits for CHASING BLUE today and I just took a break to, ahem, stalk myself on Amazon. What did I see? The cover for TRIPLE FAULT (Canterwood Crest #4)!!

So, there you have it! :) Isn't it lovely? It just might be my favorite cover for the series, but I say that for each one.

Back to copyediting with my violet Crayola colored pencil...