FINALIST FOR FOREWORD MAG'S BOOK OF THE YEAR

Yes, we take a break from our regularly-scheduled PLAYING HURT programming, for this incredible announcement:

A BLUE SO DARK is a finalist for ForeWord Magazine's Book of the Year! Check 'er out here.

ROCKIN' READERS #2 + AUTHOR & CHARACTER INTERVIEWS

I repeat: my readers ROCK! Patty at Yay! Reads posted this cool pic of the moment PLAYING HURT (and my letter filled with illegible serial-killer-style chicken scratches) appeared:

Check out her post here—and be sure to follow! Patty’s incredible.

Also, Alisia Leavitt’s got a brand spankin’ new author interview, and Andye at Reading Teen’s got an interview with none other than Clint Morgan himself, one of the dual protagonists in PLAYING HURT! (I really love the character interviews. Seriously. Love.)

…In the meantime, I’m on a mad rewrite. Hoping to get this thing cranked out by the end of the week and bounced back to my agent. Send me good writing vibes!

MY READERS ROCK

I'm totally serious. My readers are the best. First of all, Amaterasu Reads is hosting a Philippine Tour for PLAYING HURT...and even put together this super-cool banner to advertise:

And...speaking of tours, Readers Unite is also hosting a Canadian Tour...

And this hit my inbox over the weekend—an incredible fan letter from Jessica in NY; Jessica graciously allowed me to share her words:

"Hello holly! My name is Jessica, and I'm a freshman in highschool. I went to the book store wednesday and picked up a copy of playing hurt, and I instantly wanted to buy it! I finished it yesterday! I just wanted to tell you that it was by far the best book I have read! I'm going back to read your other novel too!! I'm so excited to get that one started!! I can't wait till you come out with more books!!-much love! Jessica"

What author's not going to get excited over that?

...Of course, Aura would be a bit peeved if I didn't mention a fantastic review of A BLUE SO DARK went live at Lost For Words, along with a giveaway of the book!

COUNTDOWN WIDGET: THE NEW CHRISTMAS TREE (+ PLAYING HURT SNEAK PEEK & GIVEAWAY!)

I'm seriously beginning to think the post-release countdown widget is a little bit like the post-Christmas Day tree. I had such an incredible time (excitement running amok) looking forward to PLAYING HURT's release, it pains me a little to take my widget down.



...I know I must, though. So...know it's with a little sadness that I'm removing it from my sidebar...



But: Cool stuff abounds: Mundie Moms is hosting a giveaway (and a top-10 list of some of my favorite love songs)! And, you can catch a sneak peek of PLAYING HURT at Only Sexy Books Allowed!

PLAYING HURT REVIEW

And the Teen Book Scene Tour rolls on...Kari at A Good Addiction just posted her own review of PLAYING HURT this morning...a lovely review...

And by "lovely," I mean both positive and beautifully written. You should absolutely check it out.

PLAYING HURT B-DAY PARTY, A BLUE SO DARK GIVEAWAY, + SELLING YOUR BOOK

My kitchen smells like flowers and there’s a song in my heart. Yep, PLAYING HURT’s release has been incredible—how cool was yesterday’s Twitter book birthday?

Also: don’t hesitate to check out my guest post, “Costumes, Glitter, and Blank Checks: What it Takes to Sell Your Book” at the Parking Lot Confessional.

And, my firstborn, Aura, stopped by Lost for Words for a character interview…Be sure to get in on the A BLUE SO DARK giveaway!

Also, check out my post on the Writer’s Digest Blog (“5 Ways Writers Kid Themselves,”) which includes a chance to win a copy of A BLUE SO DARK and PLAYING HURT!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, PLAYING HURT!

It’s here, it’s here, it’s here! PLAYING HURT’s official birthday!

To celebrate, I’m hopping all over the web today. You can check out the story of my path to publication and tips for children’s writers at One Writer’s Journey. Or, if you’re itching for some swag, you can enter to win a PLAYING HURT button (and a personalized note from the author) at Adventures in Children’s Publishing.

…And: be sure to check out the excerpt of PLAYING HURT, which has just gone live at the Flux website!

I also had to share this, in my post at YA Outside the Lines: the moment my author copies arrived! (Excitement ran amok…)

GUEST POST, INTERVIEW, REVIEW (ON THE EVE OF A BIRTHDAY)

I've got another book birthday coming up...tomorrow, in fact! Yep, March 8, PLAYING HURT will be officially "born."

Of course, this means that I spent the weekend sending out 200 mailers (and more emails), while organizing distribution of author copies of PLAYING HURT, putting together posts for my own PLAYING HURT Blog Tour, and juggling revisions of a yet-to-be-acquired novel.

I’m telling you, in all seriousness, anyone who thinks writing is a leisurely occupation is (as we say here in the Ozarks), a stark-raving idgit.

…But you know who makes it all worth it? You guys. My incredible bloggers. I just want to give you all enormous bear hugs.

…Speaking of: A guest post went live today at Reclusive Bibliophile, in which I comment on how hard it is to write a publishable novel before you’ve gone through the development process yourself.

Flux, my publisher, also put up a hot-off-my-computer interview.

And—just so my first baby doesn’t get too jealous of all the attention my newborn is soaking up, a review of A BLUE SO DARK can be found at The Serpentine Library.

...See you guys tomorrow: On PLAYING HURT's birthday!

ON MY VIRTUAL TOUR...AND PLAYING HURT GIVEAWAY!

On a pretty (yet, slightly windy) day last September, I hopped in the car with the idea of taking my readers on a tour of some of the landmarks that show up in both A BLUE SO DARK and PLAYING HURT. The result is the fun video below:

Read Sam, Read! is hosting both my guest post on the subject of book trailers (anybody else think a trailer can run the risk of outshining a book—the same way that, say, a video can sometimes outshine a song?), and she’s hosting a giveaway!

Get yourselves on over there; check out the post and enter to win!

ADVICE ON REJECTION, MAJORING IN ENGLISH...AND...A PLAYING HURT SNEAK PEEK!

Several super-cool guest posts are live right now…Katie at Call Me Crazy is running my advice to those of you who wonder if you’re wasting your time majoring in English (you’re not)…Check out that fantastic blog header at Call Me Crazy—great quote there from somebody who wrote a book called A BLUE SO DARK.

Donna at Bites is also running my advice on getting through rejection (and I know plenty about rejection—7 ½ years of it)…

And—drum roll, please—as part of the Teen Book Scene tour, Books Complete Me is now running a sneak peek of PLAYING HURT!

Thanks to Donna, Katie, and Cindy for having me over at their incredible blogs…

PLAYING HURT GRATITUDE

Guys, guys, guys, guys, GUYS! Expecting a package from Amazon to hit your doorstep? You’re not the only one…

This morning, Amazon listed PLAYING HURT as having only 7 more copies in stock (more on the way, of course). PLAYING HURT doesn’t even “officially” release until March 8!

Who’s responsible for this incredible turn of events? You. My bloggers. I can’t begin to tell you how much I truly appreciate and love you guys…

RABBIT, RABBIT! (+ INTERVIEW AT I JUST WANNA SIT HERE AND READ)

I repeat: "Rabbit, rabbit!" (supposed to bring you luck in March, you know)...And we all know I've got reason to want to be lucky in March! PLAYING HURT's official release date is one week away (but is already "in stock" at Amazon)!

This is such a fun interview: I Just Wanna Sit Here and Read is hosting an interview with Chelsea, one of the protagonists in PLAYING HURT. I loved this interview...gave me a chance to get back in Chelsea's head. It felt incredible to get to hang out with her again.

BLURB PLAYING HURT

In of the start of the blog tour hosted through Teen Book Scene, and in honor of the impending official release of PLAYING HURT (which is March 8…the book is actually in stock at Amazon right now, though!), I’m putting out a call for blurbs!

I was so, so, thrilled and honored by the fabulous blurbs I received from you all for A BLUE SO DARK (so much so, I decided to build a new page on my website called “Praise” to show them all off), I had to repeat the process for PLAYING HURT!

The link will stay live (I’ll be putting it on the sidebar, just as I’ve kept the call for BLUE blurbs on the sidebar), but I’m so excited, I wanted to start spreading word now…

As soon as you gobble PLAYING HURT, you can blurb it here! Thanks in advance…can’t wait to read ‘em!

READY, SET, GO: ENTER FOR A CHANCE TO WIN A SIGNED COPY OF PLAYING HURT

I so loved the Local Leg of the PLAYING HURT Blog Tour! I got a chance to stop at all my fantastic local bloggers’ blogs...and I got to chat a bit with the incredible Sarah Ockler...what a trip.


And now that I’ve made all five stops, the contest is officially underway—you can now enter to win a signed copy of PLAYING HURT!

The entire tour is recapped below. Make your own stops to each post. While you’re there, leave comments and link to your favorite post(s) from Twitter, Facebook, etc. Then fill out this form; he (or she) who racks up the most links and comments will win a signed copy of PLAYING HURT—this is the first giveaway signed copy of my second novel!

Local Leg:

GreenBeanTeenQueen,
The Juniper Breeze,
One Sparkling Star,
Another Book Junkie,
Sarah Ockler.

You can enter to win here. The contest will officially close March 5!