Taylor Swift Creativity Challenge!

If you want to focus on creativity and self-growth in 2025, I made a 13-week challenge using Taylor Swift-themed Bingo cards!  

PDF of the first five weeks HERE.

Still working on themes for a couple weeks (Evermore and TTPD) and prompts for the later albums, so let me know if you have ideas!

#TaxonomyofYALove Giveaway

Hi there! I wrote a book called A TAXONOMY OF LOVE about a boy named Spencer who uses taxonomies to make sense of the world, so I thought I’d explain a little more about what taxonomies are and why I think they’re so awesome.

Taxonomies are a way to classify every living thing in the world, from sea monkeys to honey badgers.

I’m a scientist by day, so making the taxonomies was really fun for me. I love the idea of facts fitting inside of each other like nesting dolls and being able to see how everything is interconnected. I liked getting to take abstract ideas and organize them using this system, like “A Taxonomy of Reasons People Leave” or “A Taxonomy of Almosts.”

I think Spencer is drawn to taxonomy because he feels like, “If I can’t figure out where I fit in, at least I can figure out where everything else fits.”

I thought it would be really fun to create some YA-related taxonomies and see other people’s taxonomies, so…giveaway time!

How to play: Post your own YA-themed taxonomy on Twitter or Instagram with the hashtag #TaxonomyofYALove by December 31st. They can be as simple or as complicated as you want (see examples below), and could include your favorite YA book boyfriends or the 2018 books you’re most excited about or which Harry Potter ships you cannot abide. I’d love it if you tag me at @rachael_allen (Twitter) or rachael.stewartallen (Instagram)!

What you win: A chance at an annotated copy of A TAXONOMY OF LOVE. (You know you want to know top secret stuff about my mom.)

Thanks, y’all! I can’t wait to see what people come up with!

            xo, Rachael Allen

Example Taxonomies!

#KidlitForAleppo Final Stats

I was feeling pretty powerless when I emailed my friend, Dana Levy, last week. I kept reading stories about Aleppo and feeling so very much like I wanted to do *something* to help, but at same time, I kept wondering, what can one person really do in the face of tragedy that large?

After some rapid-fire emails back and forth and some even more rapid-fire postings in kidlit spheres around the interwebs, #KidlitForAleppo was a go. Dana explains it all so much more eloquently than I ever could in this post. (Side note: Do you see why I'm friends with her?)

Since then, we've been blown away by the response from this community. We never expected it to grow into anything so large, and it's a testament to how open hearted and passionate all of you are. The final stats for #KidlitForAleppo are:

100+ authors/editors/agents/kidlit people
150+ donations
$4000+ raised for The White Helmets, Doctors Without Borders, International Rescue Committee, and other organizations doing work on the ground in Aleppo.

IN TWO DAYS. It's unbelievable, and I know I haven't even captured all the numbers, and they're probably much larger.

A huge thank you to everyone who offered prizes, donated funds, or took the time to signal boost. Thank you for pushing through that feeling of powerlessness and Doing Something. I can't tell you how grateful Dana and I are. You are all amazing human beings, and we are so proud to be a part of this community.

I'm going to end with Dana's words because I like them so much.

The whole “light a candle instead of cursing the darkness thing” — it can feel pointless. After all, one candle doesn’t feel like much. But when everyone lights a candle…

Well. The light gets brighter, that’s all.

I think the light just got a whole lot brighter.

Ten Characters I'd Name My Car After

Top Ten Tuesday - a meme from The Broke and the Bookish

This weeks topic is: Ten Characters I'd Name A Child/Dog/Cat/Car/Etc. After

I've had my car for a year now, and it still doesn't have a name. So, when I saw that this week's Top Ten Tuesday was YA characters I'd name my [something] after, I was like, yep. We're doing this. The contenders are below. And here's a photo of my car just so you can get a feel for her personality.

1. Mary Carlson: I just read GEORGIA PEACHES and adored it, and I'm not going to stop talking about it ever. Mary Carlson is the greatest, and her mix of sporty and feminine totally suits my car.

2. Prim: I don't know that my car is really a "Prim", but doesn't it just sound so dang cute?

3. Bellatrix: Because my car is badass. And she might have an evil streak. And Bellatrix is a really cool name.

4. Blue: Okay, so maybe this one is a little too obvious seeing how my car is, in fact, blue, but whatever, SIMON AND BLUE FOREVER!!!

5. Renesme: I kid!

6. Cricket: Cricket Bell is my favorite book boyfriend. And bonus: Cricket is a funny play on my car being a "bug". 

7. Neek-neek: If you know what this is from, you win all the things.

8. Flare: The invisible cheetah from THE MISADVENTURES OF THE FAMILY FLETCHER and just a great name all around.

9. Kestrel: BAMF.

10. If there's something better I haven't thought of, you let me know!

#30mdare 2015!

Do you want to write ALL THE WORDS this holiday season? Yes. Yes, you do. And the best way to make that happen is by playing #30mdare (it's basically a word count Christmas miracle).

How #30mdare Got Started

In 2013, Rebecca Petruck launched a spontaneous writing challenge during the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day for a bunch of us from OneFour KidLit, a collective of MG and YA authors whose books debuted in 2014. We “dared” each other and anyone else who wanted to play to write the most words during 30-minute writing sprints with winner choosing the others’ Twitter avatars. And there were some doozies! In five days, fifteen of us wrote a total of 53,000 words. (See the Publishers Weekly article here.)

Last year was even better/stronger/faster with 38 participants, 74, dares, 6 manuscripts completed, and 242,296 words. Let's just pause for a second to let that number sink in. 242,296. That's a lot of words.

It would be fantastic to break 100,000 words again and encourage even more participation so writers everywhere can leap into 2016 feeling as energized and inspired as we all did last year. Please spread the word via your blogs, social networks, critique partners, and other friends.

THE DEAL

Official Week: 12/26/15 – 12/30/15, beginning at midnight, ending at midnight ET (for you Night Writers and non-ETs)

A Dare: Anyone may moderate, but a minimum of three must sprint together.

Check the #30mdare hashtag on Twitter to check if anyone is about to launch a dare. If not, put the call out that you would like to sprint at X:XX and see if you get any takers.

I plan to lead several dares a day. Twitter: @rachael_allen. Also keep an eye on Kaye M. @gildedspine, Jaye Robin Brown @JayeRobinBrown, Christina Farley @ChristinaFarley, Pat Esden @patesden, and Elizabeth May @_ElizabethMay in particular, though all will use the #30mdare hashtag, so you should be able to find a dare anytime. And remember you may always lead one yourself!

Dare! The moderator will call the official Start/Stop of the 30-minute writing sprint, collect the word counts, and declare the winner. The winner will choose an avatar for the others in his/her dare.

Avatars: Must be “worn” a minimum of 12 hours or until your next dare. Avatars should be funny, embarrassing, or both—but not indecent or otherwise inappropriate for a group of mostly kidlit authors! (You know who you are, stinkers!) 

IMPORTANT! Moderators please immediately post your date/time, participants, word counts, and a link to the assigned avatar to the shared spreadsheet! This is ESSENTIAL for those who wish to win fame and the right to crow outrageously on social media. Let’s hit 100,000, dare-junkies!

I'm making the spreadsheet public so that anyone can jump in to moderate a dare and update the spreadsheet info. Here is the link for everyone to check stats and add information.

Winners!

Winners of the following categories will be featured in a #30mdare 2015 wrap up blog post and receive the adoration of the people:

Highest total word count 

Highest single-dare word count

Most dares completed

Most dares won

Completed manuscript!
Your personal avatar will be photoshopped with a crown to use at will.

Funniest dare avatar (to be determined by a not impartial panel of judge(s))
Your personal avatar will be photoshopped with a mustache to use at will. (There may be daily or otherwise multiple winners.)

HONOR SYSTEM: The dares and prizes are for fun, and most of us are proud to wear silly avatars (except that one time because Jaye Robin Brown is Ee-Vill). Nothing we do here is worth building up bad karma! Simply have fun and be inspired.

Let’s make this a #30mdare Holiday Blitz of Awesome!

Also - a huge thanks to Rebecca Petruck for A) thinking of this, B) taking the helm on it the past two years, and C) letting me use her blog post and spreadsheet as my templates. She rocks and so does her book STEERING TOWARD NORMAL, and you should totally follow her on Twitter here: @RebeccaPetruck

#BFFdraft

Hi there! I’m a YA author, and I wrote a book about four girls banding together to get revenge on the football team. (It’s like Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants takes on a football patriarchy! Yay!) Along the way, there’s a girls-against-boys scavenger hunt and all kinds of shenanigans, but most importantly, these girls develop a take-on-anything, life-changing kind of friendship.

My best girl friends are some of the most important people in my life – they’re brilliant and hilarious and I love them forever and ever. They’re exactly the kind of people you want in your BFF circle. And so are the girls in THE REVENGE PLAYBOOK.

Which got me thinking…We should totally do a BFF draft!

And in case you’re like “Wait. What?” - here’s how you play:

On June 16, 2015, use the hashtag #BFFdraft to talk about who you’d want in your ultimate BFF group. You can pick YA characters, celebrities, girls who are doing cool stuff to make the world a better place, girls who are already your besties. Anyone. But it’s not like a fantasy football draft where once someone gets picked, no one else can have them. (So, don’t worry. You can all be best friends with Taylor Swift.) You can also talk about what friendship means to you and what you look for in someone you #BFFdraft.

Then tweet your picks, or post a photo of you and your BFF on Instagram or Facebook, or a gif of a celebrity pick on Tumblr, all with the hashtag #BFFdraft. If you have room to add #RevengePlaybook too, that would be wonderful, but if you need those extra characters, I totally get it :)

Some examples:

Want to help spread the word? That would be awesome! Here's a link to Thunderclap (you can pick your social media platform, and Thunderclap will make sure your post goes live the day of the event): http://thndr.it/1ML4mSM


Or you can tweet or share the following on June 16, 2015:

Who would you #BFFdraft (YA character, celebrity, girl you already know) to be in your BFF crew?  http://rachaelallenwrites.blogspot.com/2015/06/bffdraft.html  #RevengePlaybook

Why I love #yafeministchat

There's never really been a name for the type of young adult books I love most. The books with female characters you're dying to be besties with. The ones that make you want to stand up tall because just reading them makes you feel proud to be a woman.

In my head, I've always called these books "girly YA," but I'm usually afraid to say that out loud, let alone tweet it. I'm scared of the backlash. You know, the "Calling a book girly makes it seem different - less than - other books! Labels like that alienate male readers! They should all be called contemporary! Pink covers are the devil!" backlash.

And those are excellent points (well, except maybe that bit about the pink covers - I do love a good pink cover), BUT. The books I'm talking about ARE different from a lot of contemporary YA. And they don't even have to be contemporary (A GREAT AND TERRIBLE BEAUTY by Libba Bray is one of my favorites). So what is it about these books that makes them so special?

1) Female relationships take the forefront. Girls are shown navigating relationships with their friends, sisters, mothers.  

2) Issues of particular importance to girls feature prominently (beauty, rape, eating disorders, female sexuality and double standards). I'm not saying these issues can't be important to boys too, but they affect girls more forcefully.

3) There's some element of girls against the establishment, women challenging the status quo.

4) The main character, at some point during her character arc, has an “I am woman. Hear me roar.” moment. A young woman finding her voice for the first time is incredibly powerful, and it's something I love reading about.

5) Shenanigans, including but not limited to: sleepovers, séances, singing into hairbrushes, shopping, dancing, makeover montages, pranks, games of never have I ever, pacts (bonus points if said pact is made over a Cosmo a la SHUT OUT by Kody Keplinger), and just, in general, fun. Because I firmly believe that you can change the world and have fun at the same time.

This is what I think, and these are the types of books I'm looking for. But I've mostly just fretted over the fact that "girly YA" maybe wasn't the best label, and searched harder for them on Goodreads. And that's precisely the problem with NOT having a label for these books. If you don't acknowledge that they're different - beautifully, wonderfully, life-changingly different, it makes it harder for the people who want and need them to find the books that are going to expand their hearts and change their world views.

So, to whoever thought of #yafeministchat, THANK YOU. Thank you for giving a name to the books I love. Thank you for providing a forum where I can discuss them with my friends. Because the book recs alone are making my year.

Waiting on Wednesday: LIARS, INC. by Paula Stokes

I'm super excited for another book by Paula Stokes because THE ART OF LAINEY was so. Much. Fun. Check out the cover and blurb for her next book:

For fans of Gone Girl, I Hunt Killers, and TV's How to Get Away with Murder.

Max Cantrell has never been a big fan of the truth, so when the opportunity arises to sell forged permission slips and cover stories to his classmates, it sounds like a good way to make a little money and liven up a boring senior year. With the help of his friends Preston and Parvati, Max starts Liars, Inc. Suddenly everybody needs something and the cash starts pouring in. Who knew lying could be so lucrative?

When Preston wants his own cover story to go visit a girl he met online, Max doesn’t think twice about hooking him up. Until Preston never comes home. Then the evidence starts to pile up—terrifying clues that lead the cops to Preston’s body. Terrifying clues that point to Max as the murderer.

Can Max find the real killer before he goes to prison for a crime he didn’t commit? In a story that Kirkus Reviews called "Captivating to the very end," Paula Stokes starts with one single white lie and weaves a twisted tale that will have readers guessing until the explosive final chapters.


Are you freaking out yet because I am FREAKING OUT. I need this book! The cover is gorgeous, creepy, evocative, and the premise. Love. I get chills every time I read the part about Max hooking Preston up with a cover story and Preston never coming home. So, yeah, I'm going to be devouring this book in approximately 6 days.

Waiting on Wednesday: NOT OTHERWISE SPECIFIED by Hannah Moskowitz

There are a lot of reasons I'm excited for this book.

1) I love Hannah Moskowitz books like a fat kid loves cake. (My thoughts on Invincible Summer and Zombie Tag.)

2) So many people who don't normally get to see themselves in books are going to be able to identify with Etta. And I think lots of people can identify with not feeling like we fit exactly. Plus, diversity on the cover, FTW!

3) I love reading about ballet even though I'm not a ballerina.

4) I love when people who are very different teach each other things and grow together.

Etta is tired of dealing with all of the labels and categories that seem so important to everyone else in
her small Nebraska hometown.

Everywhere she turns, someone feels she's too fringe for the fringe. Not gay enough for the Dykes, her ex-clique, thanks to a recent relationship with a boy; not tiny and white enough for ballet, her first passion; and not sick enough to look anorexic (partially thanks to recovery). Etta doesn’t fit anywhere— until she meets Bianca, the straight, white, Christian, and seriously sick girl in Etta’s therapy group. Both girls are auditioning for Brentwood, a prestigious New York theater academy that is so not Nebraska. Bianca seems like Etta’s salvation, but how can Etta be saved by a girl who needs saving herself? 

The latest powerful, original novel from Hannah Moskowitz is the story about living in and outside communities and stereotypes, and defining your own identity.


Okay, I just realized NOT OTHERWISE SPECIFIED came out yesterday, and I'm a dumbass. But also, YAY! That means I can buy it RIGHT. NOW.

Waiting on Wednesday: WRITTEN IN THE STARS by Aisha Saeed

For today's Waiting on Wednesday post, I'm super excited to share a book by fellow Atlanta YA writer, Aisha Saeed. If you're a local too, you should definitely stop by her launch party Sunday, March 29th, at 7 p.m. at Little Shop of Stories! I'll be there with my copy of WRITTEN IN THE STARS!

This heart-wrenching novel explores what it is like to be thrust into an unwanted marriage. Has Naila’s fate been written in the stars? Or can she still make her own destiny?
 
Naila’s conservative immigrant parents have always said the same thing: She may choose what to study, how to wear her hair, and what to be when she grows up—but they will choose her husband. Following their cultural tradition, they will plan an arranged marriage for her. And until then, dating—even friendship with a boy—is forbidden. When Naila breaks their rule by falling in love with Saif, her parents are livid. Convinced she has forgotten who she truly is, they travel to Pakistan to visit relatives and explore their roots. But Naila’s vacation turns into a nightmare when she learns that plans have changed—her parents have found her a husband and they want her to marry him, now! Despite her greatest efforts, Naila is aghast to find herself cut off from everything and everyone she once knew. Her only hope of escape is Saif . . . if he can find her before it’s too late.


Why I can't wait for this book: I love reading books with rich and gorgeous settings, and I love learning about other parts of the world. Plus, Naila definitely sounds like the kind of girl I want to get to know better!

YA Contemporary Scavenger Hunt!

Today I get to be part of a YA Contemporary Scavenger Hunt - which is pretty amazing because A) if you know me, you know I love Scavenger Hunts and B) my next book is about girls banding together to beat the football team at their annual scavenger hunt. Thanks Katie and Montana! I also get to host an interview and giveaway with Tiffany Schmidt, which is very exciting because her books sound so freaking good!

Interview:

What was your inspiration for writing Send Me A Sign and Bright Before Sunrise?

Both of these novels started with characters. 

With Send Me a Sign I wanted to explore a character who was superstitious and thrown into a situation where her life felt out of her control. So those superstitious beliefs became her coping mechanism. I also wanted to write a story that went against a lot of the cancer tropes that felt very prevalent to me. So I wanted Mia to be very flawed instead of saintly, scared and selfish instead of stoic and sacrificial, a Person with cancer vs. a Cancer Patient.

Brighton in Bright Before Sunrise developed in reaction to a lot of the Mean Girl/Queen Bee cliches that are so common in literature and film. I wanted to create a female character who was popular not because she was manipulative or cruel, but because of how well she adapted to others’ expectations for her. I wanted to explore a character that’s so busy being a people-pleaser that she’s lost sight of what she wants for herself. 

And I wanted to pair Brighton with someone who would see right through her exterior and challenge her — so that was my inspiration for Jonah, the new boy in school who sees all the different versions of Brighton she presents to different people. He decides this makes her incredibly superficial and fake. Of course, the more he dislikes her, the more determined Brighton is to win him over…

Oh wow, I love books that take a more careful look at Mean Girls/Queen Bees, so I'll definitely be reading that one! Out of all of your characters, which one do you relate the most to? 

Brighton. Like her, I’m also plagued by an inability to say no. (gah, it’s only two letters, why is it so hard?) And I definitely spend far too much time worrying about being nice or if I’m liked. I’ve never managed to develop that ability to not care. And while writing Bright Before Sunrise didn’t cure me of this, it’s certainly made me much more aware of my Brighton-esque tendencies. I’m a work in progress :)

But, like Bright, I also truly love helping other people and cherish my relationships with my friends and family (even when they’re driving me nuts!).

Are there are there any other YA genres that you'd like to eventually write in? 

My next novel, HOLD ME LIKE A BREATH (book 1 in the ONCE UPON A CRIME FAMILY series) is a romantic thriller about crime families that traffic human organs. So, while there’s no magic or paranormal elements, it’s a fairy tale reimagining and a thriller, which are both fun new challenges for me.

After that… who knows :) 

If you could have dinner with any three authors, who would they be?

JK Rowling. 

Jane Austen

Louisa May Alcott

What 2015 release (or releases) are you the most excited for right now? 

Amy Spalding’s KISSING TED CALLAHAN AND OTHER BOYS

Courtney Summers’ ALL THE RAGE

Ally Carter’s WE ALL FALL DOWN

What advice would you give to aspiring authors? 

Read! Write!  A LOT. And plan to continue to do both of those things forever. (If this idea isn’t appealing to you, then you probably don’t really want to be an author! — to me it sounds like the Best Thing Ever. It’s ‘work’, but also my favorite type of fun.)

But, it’s also my job, so it’s not all snuggling up with books and coffee. While you’re reading and writing, start educating yourself on publishing too. There are so many great resources on the web — take the time to read through them. Join local (or online) critique groups. Focus on your craft. Challenge yourself. Accept that you’ll hear no more than yes, and that there’s not such thing as a ‘perfect book’ — there’s always, always room for improvement and revision. 

Buckle up and be patient — because publishing is a game of hurry up and lots of waiting. It’s a roller coaster of emotions and luck and chance—it’ll break your heart and make you cry from happiness. It’s the best thing ever—but it’s not easy. And it can’t happen without putting words on a page. So… go start writing and reading. 

What do you like to do when you're not reading or writing? :)

Run

Bake 

Snuggle down with my Schmidtlets & puggles

Binge-watch TV shows with St.Matt

Travel

Giveaway!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Book Summary: 

When Jonah is forced to move from Hamilton to Cross Pointe for the second half of his senior year, "miserable" doesn't even begin to cover it. He feels like the doggy-bag from his mother's first marriage and everything else about her new life—with a new husband, new home and a new baby—is an upgrade. The people at Cross Pointe High School are pretentious and privileged—and worst of all is Brighton Waterford, the embodiment of all things superficial and popular. Jonah’s girlfriend, Carly, is his last tie to what feels real... until she breaks up with him. 

For Brighton, every day is a gauntlet of demands and expectations. Since her father died, she’s relied on one coping method: smile big and pretend to be fine. It may have kept her family together, but she has no clue how to handle how she's really feeling. Today is the anniversary of his death and cracks are beginning to show. The last thing she needs is the new kid telling her how much he dislikes her for no reason she can understand. She's determined to change his mind, and when they're stuck together for the night, she finally gets her chance. 

Jonah hates her at 3p.m., but how will he feel at 3 a.m.? 

One night can change how you see the world. One night can change how you see yourself.

Author Bio:

Tiffany Schmidt lives in Pennsylvania with her saintly husband, impish twin boys, and a pair of mischievous puggles. She's not at all superstitious... at least that's what she tells herself every Friday the thirteenth.

SEND ME A SIGN is her first novel. BRIGHT BEFORE SUNRISE will follow in Winter, 2014. The ONCE UPON A CRIME FAMILY series begins with HOLD ME LIKE A BREATH in 2015. You can find out more about her and her books at: TiffanySchmidt.com, TiffanySchmidtWrites.Tumblr.com or by following her on Twitter @TiffanySchmidt.

Other Novels:

Send Me A Sign, Hold Me Like a Breath (coming 2015)

17 FIRST KISSES Launch Party!

My launch party for 17 FIRST KISSES was last night at Little Shop of Stories, and it was so much fun! I'm so grateful to everyone who came out and so lucky to have such wonderful family and friends! And to live in an area with such a fantastic local bookstore!

Here are some photos, courtesy of Ross Laver:

Zack and I doing a reading together - he read the boy parts for me :)

A cake with my book cover on it! Does it get any better than that? (Thanks, Mom!)

Signing books! (This was so surreal!)

Ansley is practicing for her very own book signing.

Me and my mom.















I have no idea what terrifying thing is happening on the other side of the camera.

Me and my grad school girls.















Xander loved the reading.















Mom, Xander, and Micah. (And my sister in the background. I think she looks like the 17FK cover model!)















Hannah, me, and Dad.















Ansley chowing down on some cake!

Days 14 and 15 of the 17 days until 17 FIRST KISSES countdown. Other posts here.

First Kiss Friday - 17 FIRST KISSES giveaway!

Hi! Today for First Kiss Friday, I want to hear about your first kisses! So, tell me in the comments, link to your blog, or hit me up on Twitter with the abridged version. The first five responders win a signed copy of 17 FIRST KISSES and a lip gloss :)

The kiss can be your very first kiss, your first kiss with your boyfriend/girlfriend/partner, any first kiss you think would be fun to share! I'll be sharing mine with RT Book Reviews on Tuesday, June 17th. And here are some previous First Kiss Fridays to get you started.

ETA: I don't want people to be discouraged if the contest fills up fast, so the best story will also win a signed copy + lip gloss + something awesome I will think of.

Open to US and Canada.
Day 13 of the 17 days until 17 FIRST KISSES countdown. Other posts here.

Interview and First Kiss Story with Susan Hawk!

Hey guys! 

I'm so excited because today I get to interview my fabulous agent, Susan Hawk! She saw something in my book and helped me revise it until it shined (she sent me a five page revision letter full of great ideas and happy faces - I love her!). And then she sold my book to the amazing Jen Klonsky at HarperTeen. So, basically, she makes all my dreams come true, and if you have an awesome book, you should be querying her right now! 

And if that wasn't enough to keep you reading, Susan is going to tell us a first kiss story (YAY!). And now, on to the interview :)

What do you look for in a book?

I want to be moved!  There are lots of ways to do that – make me laugh, make me think, make me cry.  But no matter the reaction, I want to feel something; I’m looking for books that make an impact on me. 

Is there anything you're particularly excited to see at the moment?

See above.

Just kidding!  Other than what I described above, I am especially focused on finding more great YA and middle grade novels right now.  Earlier  this year, I posted on The Bent Agency blog about what I’m looking for:http://jennybent.blogspot.com/2014/01/susans-2014-wish-list.html. 

In addition to that list, lately I’ve been craving:

-          A novel in verse that’s FUNNY

-          A YA Joy Luck Club

-          A middle grade contemporary with siblings that have a good relationship, that isn’t all about arguing and funny quips

Oh, I would love to read a YA Joy Luck Club too! Next question - what's the best book you've read recently?

Aside from your new novel you mean?  GUYS: you are going to LOVE Rachael's new book -- it's sooooooo good!  I don't want to give too much away before it's out, but stay posted!

If you're looking for something you can read right now, try Grasshopper Jungle by Andrew Smith.  I loved the wild mix of things that this book is – romantic and tender, funny, sexual, honest – all that wrapped up in a crazy end of the-world-as-we-know-it adventure.  I loved how inventive it is, how clearly this is a book that only one person could have written.

Aw, thanks, Susan! And I've been hearing great things about Grasshopper Jungle. I will definitely be picking that one up. Next - who is your book boyfriend and why?

I don’t know how many people know this book, but I fell IN LOVE with Peaceable Sherwood from The Sherwood Ring by Elizabeth Marie Pope (who also wrote The Perilous Gard), in high school and am in love with him still.  Don’t let the cover of this book scare you off!  It’s a total pleasure from start to finish – alternating between present day Peggy, who’s spending the summer at a creepy old family mansion in New York state, and Peggy’s Colonial ancestor Barbara.  Barbara visits Peggy as a ghost to tell her the story of her romantic past, and how she fell in love with a young British spy, Peaceable Sherwood, right under the eye of the Revolutionary Army, quartered nearby.  Dashing, daring, witty Peaceable!  No one can catch him, no one except for Barbara, of course.  How could anyone resist?

I haven't read that one, but Peaceable does sound quite dashing :) (Side note: I love that name!) And now for the last question (and my favorite!) - do you have a first kiss story you can share with us?

The first time I met H was at a friend’s house.  He didn’t live here, was at grad school in Boston and visiting for the weekend.  To celebrate his visit, our mutual friend decided that a group of us needed to read a very long novel (exactly what it was escapes me, for reasons that will become clear shortly) out loud to each other, from start to finish, all night long.  From the minute I saw H, I couldn’t stop noticing him.  Noticing the way he laughed, the way he read, the way his eyes sparkled, the way he sat in a chair!  He was mesmerizing.  I felt a connection.

That connection was solidified when we realized, the next morning, that we were the only two to fall asleep before the reading was over.

But the next day he went back to Boston, and I went on with things in NYC.  Six months rolled by and my friend mentioned that H was coming back for the summer.  By that point, I was putting all my energies into a different guy.  Yet everywhere I went, H was there, part of the group – in the park, at the corner bar, backyard party.  And every time, we spent most of the night talking to each other.  He started calling me and we’d stay on the phone for hours.  Finally, he suggested that we go out, just the two of us.  Of course, it was the night before he was leaving New York. 

Once again we spent the night talking and laughing and I realized how much I didn’t want him to leave the city, but I couldn’t tell what he was thinking.  Finally, we had to go.  In a burst of nervous anxiety, I bounded to the corner and flagged a cab, thinking that I’d dart away before any awkward handshake goodbye ensued.  I threw open the heavy cab door, almost knocking H over, and just as I was about to duck in, he grabbed my hand, pulled me close and kissed me.  I can remember the feeling of his lips on mine to this day.

Luckily, his kisses don’t live only in my memory.  H and I will be married for twenty years, next September!

Awww, I love this story! I love that she noticed "the way he sat in a chair" and also I think stop-you-before-you-get-in-a-cab kisses are the height of romance :) I hope you guys have as much fun reading this interview as Susan and I had doing it! Thank you so much, Susan!

Day 12 of the 17 days until 17 FIRST KISSES countdown. Other posts here.