a month until matched! and other items

I meant to post this Saturday, and then I had all these cute little people to get into costumes and to make spooky feasts for, so up it goes today.

There is only a month left until the release of MATCHED!

I am so excited. Everything has happened so quickly (this time last year, we hadn't even sold the book to Dutton/Penguin yet). And yet I still can't wait for November 30th. I've seen the hardcovers and they are beautiful. I've never had a book come out in hardcover before. It's so satisfying to knock on the book and hear that "thunk" and crack the spine when you open the book for the first time.

The launch party for MATCHED will be at The King's English Bookshop in Salt Lake City on Saturday, December 4th, at 2:00 p.m. And this is the first time I've ever had an official launch party for a book! I can't wait.

So what am I going to do to keep myself busy until then?

Well, there's the sequel. Some of you thought from my last post that I was talking about the sequel when I told my husband I was writing the worst book in the world. That quote was actually from an earlier book. But I am working really hard on the sequel. I've been writing it for a year now and I want it to be the best it can be.

Also, I get to go on a mini-tour! Next week I'll be in Chicago, Nashville, Philadelphia, and Boston for some bookseller teas. I am over the moon about this. It's a chance to meet with and talk to the booksellers who actually put books in people's hands. But it's such a fast trip (five days for all four cities!) and it's booked so solid that I think I'm going to miss out on seeing awesome friends and also two of my husband's sisters and their darling families (they live in Chicago and Boston). I think the solution is that I will just have to come back. (Thanks in advance again to my mom for coming to help out while I'm gone!)

And this past weekend, in addition to all the Halloween fun, there was the incredibly excellent Teen Book Fest at the Provo City Library. Wow. What an incredibly well-run event (shout out to Gene Nelson and Courtney Lowe of the library). And Scott Westerfeld was a great speaker. If you are in the area, you must try to go to this next year!

And also I have three small boys of incomparable cuteness to keep me doing things like assisting in homework, making sandwiches, playing blocks, reading books, washing tiny footed pajamas, etc.

And a quick two-day trip to Florida for ALAN/NCTE, which I kind of can't believe is happening. I always wanted to go to NCTE as an English teacher, and now I'm going as an author. It's funny how life works sometimes.

And Thanksgiving with my awesome family (my husband and kids of course, and also my dad, mom, sisters, brothers, nieces, nephews, grandma) coming up at the end of the month. We have a lot to be grateful for this year.

November 30th is going to be here before I know it.