Five Things - the Quick Version!

1. 25 days until Pub Date - July 1!!! It doesn't seem *that* long ago that it was a year away. My, how time flies! It's interesting that the book was chosen to launch right before the July 4th Independence Holiday.

2. The final chapters in The Healing Spell take place during the Independence weekend. Those final scenes include danger by shotgun, a wedding, a death, a confession, a traumatic event, and a cute boy. But not in that order.

3. It helps to write a new book while you're waiting for pub dates and news!

I wrote one this past year, CIRCLE OF SECRETS that was under contract, just started another one ( a Victorian Paranormal Thriller that I'm quite excited about and just finished drafting Chapter Two) and I'm in the throes of planning a third one at the same time I'm writing the paranormal - a MG set in Bayou Bridge, Louisiana. Scholastic wants a companion book to THE HEALING SPELL, and they want the same timeless feel of THE HEALING SPELL. It's going to be about mother's and daughters and ghosts and secrets and friendship.

4. My awesome Scholastic publicist is helping me plan book party launches. I have 4 so far lined up. Announcements next week for times/dates/places! Fun, fun, fun!

5. Gotta start writing my book launch TALKS. Nervousness! But the past couple of weeks I've been reading some fantastic posts on Shrinking Violets Promotions, one of my favorite blogs, about book tours and book talks and tips for how to survive without freaking out and crawling under a table. REALLY GOOD STUFF in this post two weeks ago, too!

And Here's a FAB interview about public speaking and promotion from Maggie Steivfater on Shrinking Violets.