Sarah Dessen's Blog, page 58

Hello Michigan!

Are you in Michigan? If so, we interrupt this Wednesday morning for an important message from Borders:

Greetings Sarah Dessen fans,

Borders is seeking excited participants for a very special Borders Book Club videotaped discussion featuring Sarah Dessen and several lucky fans. We will be discussing her new book, Along for the Ride, which releases June 16th.

The taping date and time has been confirmed for Tuesday, June 2, from 8 AM ET to 1 PM ET in Chelsea, Michigan.

If you are in the Southeast Mi

writergrl @ 2009-05-05T08:04:00

Just a quick entry---between Sesame Street, which I love, and Barney and Friends, which I REALLY don't---to tell you about Melissa Walker's Release Week Covers Extravaganza! Melissa's celebrating the release of her new book, Lovestruck Summer (out today!) with a bunch of stories about book covers and how they came to be. I am flattered that Along for the Ride is the kickoff, so click over to check out the story of how we came up with the cover and other fun behind the scenes facts and info.

Also,

writergrl @ 2009-05-04T06:07:00

I spent most of my weekend listening to Ben Lee's latest album, The Rebirth of Venus, and pretty much just reminding myself how much I love him. (I mean, his music. I don't know Ben Lee, although you probably couldn't tell by the way I talk about him, like we are BFF.) Anyway, I've always loved his stuff. It just...I don't know, cheers me. There's something about his lyrics and the music that just makes me happy. He can be singing about something really sad and serious but even then something ab

The Friday Five!

1. The pollen is so bad here right now, I can't stop sneezing. And I don't even usually have allergies! If you look out the window at any given time, though, oak pollen buds are just floating past, shaking their yellow dust everywhere. We could really use a little rain, if only to wash everything off for a second or so. I've never seen so much pollen so early in the season. Is this another sign of global warming? Maybe we all going to sneeze ourselves out of existence? I wonder.

2. Speaking of di

Serenity now!

Okay, so I've written here lately about my efforts to relax more. Breathe, you know, be present, all that stuff. When that doesn't work, though, I have other tricks, like getting a manicure/pedicure. Here's my theory: even if I am a true hot mess, falling apart in all kinds of ways, I am convinced that if my nails look good, I seem like I have it all together. Myth? Probably. But you go with what works.

I think it's hilarious, though, that whenever I go to get my nails done and I'm looking for th

this and that

So here we are at Monday, after a long, hot gorgeous weekend. It's like we skipped spring entirely and went straight to summer....it was in the nineties both days, and I spent most of my time chasing my baby around with a tube of sunscreen, slathering her up. She will NOT wear a hat willingly this year (ah, for the days when she did whatever I wanted!) so sunblock is even more important than ever. I see a lot of Coppertone in my future.

Also this weekend, we convened a meeting of Sarah Dessen In

The Friday Five!

1. So it was a sad day here at our house on Wednesday night, when I watched Anoop Desai get voted off of Idol. It wasn't exactly shocking, as he's been in the bottom two quite a bit, but I still felt my heart sink when they called his name. He was such a good sport, though, thanking the vocal coaches (who does that?) and then saying right to the camera that, on the plus side, "Now I get to go back to Chapel Hill." Amen! Because he knows that even though he is sad, this is such a gorgeous place t

Busy, busy, busy, busy, there's so much to do...

The song quoted above is from one of Sasha's toys, a little table that plays music and teaches Spanish. It has been stuck in my head for DAYS now (the song, not the table). I am trying to pace myself, and be concise and organized, and not freak out. But it is hard with the "Busy Busy!" song playing over and over in my brain.

A year ago today, Lock and Key was released in bookstores. I was flying to New York for a party at my publisher's, being away from my baby for one of the first times, and mo

for once!

Okay, first off, I just have to comment on all the nice things you guys have said about what I consider to be my unfortunate high school hair days. Thank you for NOT mocking me. Personally, I think maybe I might do the bangs, but after the book tour, in case they are a disaster. And for those who have asked, the boy in the prom picture is named Jeff Jones and he was just the nicest guy ever. I am sure he will be thrilled if he ever finds out I put our picture up on the internet. Sorry, Jeff!

Spea

The week ahead

So it's Sunday night, we've had a great weekend, and yet as I sit here, I feel that weird Sunday night dread, like I used to when I was still in school. Which is so odd, because I don't have school tomorrow, just errands and email and everything else that makes up a typical day for me. Isn't it strange how some things from childhood just stay with you, even when you are sure you should have outgrown them? It's been awhile since I had somewhere I absolutely had to be each Monday morning, week aft