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Happy Friday, everyone!

What's everyone up to this weekend? I'll be working on the latest Canterwood book and reading. I just finished watching PRETTY LITTLE LIARS and OMG. So. Good! I've read every book except for the latest two and am re-reading the series with Kate. It's really, really fun to read books with a friend and have the same !!! reactions to certain parts.

Hope you all have a superfun weekend! :)

TGIF!

xoxo

Last night, I went to see ECLIPSE with Kate and Ross. We got to the theater around 11:50ish and it was already packed. We were almost about to leave because we didn't want to split up in the theater and three seats together were sooo not happening. Then, in a supersparkly way, three seats opened up in the front row. *freaks*

We grabbed the seats and the energy from the crowd was INTENSE. Screaming girls were all around and everyone was losing it. The majority of the midnight crowd at our theater? They were, without a doubt, Team Jacob. !!! Gotta admit, though, I was/am Team Edward, but ECLIPSE is my favorite book and it got me to a place of being torn between Jacob and Edward. It also was so well written as a possibility for a person (Bella) to be in love with two people.

The action in ECLIPSE was intense, the CGI was flawless (Edward's sparkle was fab), and I liked Bryce Dallas Howard as Victoria. More romance and Jacob/Bella time was definitely lacking for me as were more talking/intimate moments between Edward and Bella since they were going back and forth about being engaged. This is an instance where I felt the book was better than the movie. But I still enjoyed it greatly and can't wait for it to come out on DVD. It actually made me want to reread ECLIPSE while the movie is fresh in my brain.

I hope everyone who wanted to see it last night made it to theaters! :) Major hearts to K for going out with me and R for being awesome about seeing another Twilight Saga flick.

I Tweeted pics about everything yesterday AND as if ECLIPSE coming out wasn't enough, Barnes & Noble has released CITY SECRETS!! Yaaay for Canterwood Crest #9!

Just got back from the theater where I picked up three tickets for tonight's midnight showing of ECLIPSE. As long as the BFF is feeling up for a couple hours out, we're planning on hitting the show. I. Am. So. Freaking. Excited.

I've got my light blue "Team Edward" T-Shirt and Kate's wearing her "Team Jacob" shirt.


This is a superfun dream catcher keychain that came with my NEW MOON DVD. I offered it to Kate to match her shirt, but she just shook her head. I knew better than to ask if she'd like to use it, but I tried. :D Instead, I clipped it to my purse.

The theater is going to be CRAZY. It was superintense last time with guys and girls both getting into the vampires vs werewolves drama. There's lots of action in this movie, so I'm betting the girls will be dragging their secretly not-so-reluctant boyfriend along.
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Will take pics of the insanity if possible . . . Happy ECLIPSE release and I hope that everyone who's going tonight has so much fun!

Anyone else getting *ridicuously* excited about ECLIPSE? I am about to fangirl out. Seriously. It's my fave book of the four and I'm soooo ready for the movie! I'll be going in my Team Edward t-shirt with the BFF in her Team Jacob shirt. Yep, we're besties who agree to disagree on teams. :)

(Or, a totally random post on how I'm relaxing tonight . . .)

Watching New Moon

Doing my nails in Essie's "Bachelorette Party"

Then, reading Shadow Kissed

After that, I've got a list to make of things that need to be done before my Utah trip with K. Lots of things on the list. Starting with, obvi, writing. But tonight's for taking a break.

Although . . .

I'm getting superexcited about next month's release of City Secrets. It's crazy to think that it'll be my *ninth* book on shelves. It'll definitely be time for book-stalking when CS releases.

Happy Tuesday!

Happy weekend, Team Canterwood!

So sorry the blog has been quiet! My BFF has been in the hospital and feeling pretty awful, so it has been girl-time. We've been watching THE RICHES (adult content, please note), LAGUNA BEACH, GLEE, HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER, THE HILLS and a bunch of other fun stuff on DVD.

I just sorted through 600+ emails from you all and THANK YOU. I will respond as I'm able to and please know I read and appreciate every email. I love hearing from you! :)

The winner of the giveaway from Amanda Marrone is JOANNAH. I emailed you, girl, so look for that. :)

Off to work for a while. Hope you guys have a wonderful weekend!

xoxo

After an *insane* weekend of work, I've got a zillionish errands/things to do before leaving for Oklahoma City on Thursday morning with Kate. We're speaking together and separately at the Oklahoma Writers Federation Conference in OK City. Never been to OK, so should be fun!

I took the day off from work today and am doing so tomorrow except for a few minor things. Big huge thank you to Team Canterwood for sending e-mails, Tweets and Facebook messages about HOME SWEET DRAMA. You all ROCK! :) :) Tons of hearts!

Had a fun girls' night with Kate tonight. We took a gamble and dyed each other's hair. Turns out that we actually rocked it and we have a fun new color! It's still dark brown, but it has a hint of red and it feels very summery. People always think we're sisters and now we're like, "Yep. Gonna be getting that even more."

Time for Chinese food and a new GLEE episode!

I'm THRILLED to be participating in Operation Teen Book Drop tomorrow! So, my books aren't *technically* for teens, but I do have teen readers. And I'm putting my own spin on the program by making it an unofficial Operation Tween Book Drop. :)

Tomorrow, I'll be leaving autographed copies of TAKE THE REINS, CHASING BLUE and a few other books in the Canterwood series in various, random places in my neighborhood and in Manhattan. They'll also have a supercute Aladdin MIX postcard inside. You might find one on a park bench. Or the subway. Or a coffee shop. Or a picnic table. I'll be taking pics of drop off locations and posting them on my Twitter.

I'm encouraging YOU to do the same. Donate a book to a school, library or program that's in need of books for young readers. Huge thanks to Simon & Schuster for participating.

Happy OTBD! :)

Where did the weekend go, seriously? *scratches head*

Mine was busy with fun things, a little bit of work and hanging with BFF while we went to Macy's and got our nails done. It was kind of an we're (including R)-all-waiting-for-Monday couple of days. R was actually the one who convinced me to replace my ridic sneakers. So, Kate and I went to Macy's and petted shoes we couldn't afford if we combined our bank accounts. But we did find some killer heels and sneakers for K and two preeettty pairs of walking/exercising shoes for me. Kate and I decided we're going to start walking around our park soon (under the strict ruling that I'm somehow supposed to protect her from ALL nature.) and I sooo needed shoes. Pink and gray and pink and white Pumas. I heart them!

We hopped the train back home and later got our nails done. Now, this is soo picture worthy. I got mine done in honor of ALICE IN WONDERLAND in a shade called "Mad as a Hatter" by OPI.

Yes, it is an explosion of sparkles. Love. Love.

Must start writing now though I'm super distracted, so "working" might mean cleaning or mindless organizing. Or rewriting my to-do list for this INSANE month. But it's insane in a good way because it's something I'm really excited about--going to Florida (hello, 75 degrees!!) and presenting at a conference. Plus, BFF's coming and we're going to have fun. :)

Happy Monday!

Happy, happy Thanksgiving, everyone! I'm off to celebrate and hope you're all doing the same. :)

xoxo

Well, kind of. I'm playing with a couple of outlines, thinking about new ideas, cleaning and running errands. I went to my local B&N and signed stock. Check out my Tweets on my sidebar if you want to see a pic. They only had 1 copy of BEST ENEMIES, so that was cool.

Now we must talk Twilight and New Moon. Be prepared for girly craziness. :D

On Thursday, my theater was cool enough to show Twilight first, at 9:15 and then to show New Moon at midnight. I was freaking out all day and even only drank 1 Diet Coke so I didn't make BFF crazy with my already hyper state. One of our convos that day:

BFF: Are you totally spazzing?

Me: YES! But I only had one Diet Coke since, you know, I want to live and you'd kill me in my hyper state.

BFF: Ohhhhhhh, greeeat. (She was half-serious.) ;)

She told me to just go to our fave place for sparkly drinks and to calm down before she got there. I tried and spent 20something minutes talking to anyone near me, including my fave BR peeps, abt the night's awesomeness.

BFF arrived with a rose for me (again, pic on the Twitter feed) 'cause she knew tonight was a huuuuge deal for me. We talked Twilight/New Moon and eventually headed to the theater where we meet up with her boy.

Since I'd never seen Twilight on the big screen, I almost lost it when RPattz walked into the caf for the first time. It. Was. Awesome. Watching Twilight on a screen that size was like I'd never seen the movie before. I started thinking about where I was that time last year and remembered BFF had called me just before going to see Twilight at the same theater and telling me about it. Very cool that we got to see it together. Surreal.

Then...25 mins till New Moon. Everyone was ready. The theater was packed with all ages and lots of guys. (Most of whom were Team Jacob when they vocalized it in the theater.) The movie started and I thought hyperventilation might occur. But, you know, I stayed cool. Ish. ;)

The movie crowd was the best--there was cheering, sighing (longing sighs), and shout outs for Jacob or Edward.

The high points:

* Taylor Lautner (Yes, I put him first.) The kid thought he was going to lose his job after Twilight and he worked his butt off to put on 30 pounds of muscle to play werewolf Jake.

* RPattz looking as if he'd been dying without KStew during their separation.

* Alice driving the car through Italy.

* The fight sequence with the Volturi.

* Dakota Fanning killing it as Jane. Scary with the red contacts. And speaking of...

* New contacts for the vamps. Awesome.

* The special effects for the wolf transformations. I was a little worried, but they pulled it off quite well.

* The acting. Much improved.

Okay! Forcing myself to stop here. :) It's better, in a different way, than Twilight. I cannot wait for Eclipse. Where's my countdown clock?

Sooo...my fave holiday is almost here! Halloween!
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I'm into to cutesy, fun Halloween stuff. I *adore* IT'S THE GREAT PUMPKIN, CHARLIE BROWN and HOCUS POCUS. It's hilarious to watch Sarah Jessica Parker before she became SJP. Love. I DVRd those and also set mine to record INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE. I've always been too scared to watch it, but I think I'm ready. Trying to build up my tolerance for horror films. I also realllly want to see SLEEPY HOLLOW with Johnny Depp (my pirate-boy!) and Christina Ricci. Again, I was too scared to see it when it came out. I did have the soundtrack that I played on Halloween and that was freaky.

I was thinking about past costumes when I was a kid/teen. One year, I was a cowgirl with a (*cringe*) fringe skirt and button down pink shirt and cowboy hat. I also had a pair of killer cowboy boots and a belt that had a horse on the buckle.

Another year, I was Snow White. That was fun. Then I was Belle from Beauty and the Beast.

I was also (shocker) an English rider. I wore that to school for costume day.

One of my faves was a black cat. Ears, whiskers, black pants and a tail. Very fun!

Anyone dressing up this year? If so, what's your costume? If not, what was your fave costume?



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It's a double-post day because...

BEST ENEMIES is now shipping from several online bookstores! It might even be in actual stores now or very soon. I'll have to start stalking this weekend and check.

I'm *always* caught off guard by the early releases. That said, I'm still going ahead with the pre-planned schedule of release week festivities. It'll celebrate the official release date, so yay!

I'm still shaking my head over this entire thing. And by that I mean how my fifth book is out. It's an indescribable feeling when a book hits shelves. This was the first book that I finished writing in New York, so it has special meaning.

Very sparkly hearts to my BKBs who helped make this book possible. <3 Toasting you guys with Swarlos and the slap bet episode. :)

Blogging is going to be sporadic since I leave Friday morning for the Decatur Book Festival in Decatur, GA. It's going to be so much fun! I will, however, be vlogging and Tweeting from the event. I speak at 2:30pm on the Children's Stage. I'll be talking about all things Canterwood and am trying to make the talk funny/informative.

I'm also turning in RIVAL REVENGE on Thursday, so I'm responding to zero e-mails at this point. I'm not ignoring any of you (readers), I promise! I will e-mail you back as soon as I can. If you snail mailed me, I'll work on that soon too. Thank you so much for all of your notes! I do read and appreciate each one!

Back to editing...I don't want Editor Kate to throw the manuscript at my head. Or shred it into tiny pieces in front of me. Or cross out every page with a red Sharpie. It could happen, you know... ;)

Another day of crazy. Gotta write a zillion words (or my Excel sheet will continue to tell me that I will not finish RIVAL REVENGE until July 2010 (!!!). And if I don't pick up my laundry, the cleaners will probably keep it. I'm about to have to wear BFF's clothes that she left here the other night.

Usually, I'm very OCD about keeping things neat and clean. But empty boxes from Fresh Direct haven't moved since Monday morning, my sink is piled with dishes and I'm ignoring cleaning. Too focused on book.

BUT

Tonight is supersparkly because it's RA's birthday!!! There will be amazing food, drinks and fun--we *never* have a boring night out.

So, happy birthday, Ross! *throws confetti*

Okay, so Angelea at HorseGirlTV was cool enough to hook me up with a supercute HGTV t-shirt. Want to win it? Leave a comment here by Monday at midnight to enter. I'll draw a winner on Tuesday morning.

If you blog about or mention the contest somewhere else, leave the link in your comment and you'll get an extra entry. :)

After getting nails done with BFF, I ran over to B&N and saw...Triple Fault! Yaaaay! I signed all of the books and they have the cool green stickers that say "autographed copy." Love. Those.

I just stood there for a second and stared. Four books look kinda pretty. :)

I've got the weekend planned in a very crazy list-like way. Okay, more like an obsessive way, but moving on...My list looks something like this:



(Hee! Funny, right?! Although, I'm totally not into Jasper, but it's cute.)

* Barnes & Noble run. I'm going out of town soon and need a sparkly plane book. I'll take the book and will leave it in my suitcase until the trip. No reading of book until the trip.

At B&N, maybe they'll have copies of Triple Fault to sign. If not, perhaps copies of the other books that I signed have sold and there are new ones. If not? Devastation, LOL. Imagine if every single copy I signed a while ago is still there. Hmmm...maybe I don't want to know! :)

* Write a *massive* chunk of Rival Revenge. Like, a supercrazy word count goal that will have a reward at the end if I hit it. Reward? Undecided. Suggestions are welcome.

* Finish Crank. My first Ellen Hopkins book and I'm in love with her writing. Plus, if you follow her on Twitter, she's the NICEST person ever. Seriously.

* Walk around the park. Haven't done that in a while. Kinda thinking walking to the subway or friends' apartment doesn't count as exercise. Sad. But I'm already making excuses as to why I won't do this because I'm, you know, on a deadline and have to work. That makes it okay.

* Start and finish final edits on Little White Lies.

* Hardcore apartment cleaning.

* Judge more entries for Girls' Horse Club fiction contest.

* Reply to reader email.

And that's some of the list. What about you guys?

A quick note to say THANK YOU to Katelyn for sending me the first fan e-mail about TRIPLE FAULT. Katelyn, that was so, so sweet and Editor Kate and I loved it. :) You rock! Team Canterwood!

To everyone who has been asking--TF is available in some stores now (like Barnes & Noble), at Amazon and will be showing up everywhere else very soon. Thanks so much for already looking for it! :)

The Website for the 2009 Decatur Book Festival is up and fully functional!

Specifically, check out my presentation on Saturday. I'm also loving the gorilla on my page. Hee hee. Kinda awesome.

I'm excited to be presenting on the Children's Stage from 2:30-3pm.

Thanks so much to everyone at the DBF for having me. :)

Today, I'm going to be . Substitute that for a pink laptop.

I've got a writing date with Robyn and we're determined to consume lots of

I have to get my newest RIVAL REVENGE written.

Or else EK will send her posse after me.

No. For reals.

Happy writing!

When I got an e-mail from Angelea Walkup, I was sooo excited! Angelea is the host of HorseGirlTV and it's one of the coolest, most innovative programs for people who love horses.

To explain about HorseGirlTV, I'm borrowing this directly from Angelea's Website:

HorseGirlTV® is a forward thinking online series focusing on the positive aspects of the equine industry.

Mission
The mission at HorseGirlTV® is to educate the equine community while simultaneous entertaining and educating kids, families and mainstream audiences exposing the wonderful world of horses to the world thus enriching and expanding our industry. HorseGirlTV’s goal with is to continually create unique, quality equine entertainment for the wired generation! Tune in. Tack up.®

About Our Host
As a life long equestrian, Angelea (HorseGirlTV’s CEO or Chief Equine Officer!) has not only ridden and trained but she has successfully competed in Dressage through Grand Prix earning both her USDF Silver and Gold Medals. Angelea’s post university career found her behind an illuminated computer screen working in Internet technologies with online communities. She turned in her full-time keyboard with her companies successful acquisition by a major Internet brand and is now focusing her energies on maximizing the emerging world of new media for horse lovers.