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After a quick morning stalking of the bookstores, it looks like RIVAL REVENGE (Canterwood Crest #7) is indeed out in many stores. It has a technical release date of 1/26, so it's always fun when bookstores release early. My local B&N says they have copies and I think that'll mean a stock signing this weekend. I have the *nicest* people at my B&N and I love going there.

Book. Number. Seven. Wow. At this time last year, TAKE THE REINS (CC #1) was about to release and I was FREAKING OUT. The series was set at four books and I was doing promo for TTR and writing CHASING BLUE. Now, it's hard to believe there are going to be 12 books. Thanks so much to the awesome reader girlies for backing the series and being on Team Canterwood! Also, hugs to the team at S&S--you guys rock.

And, of course, the books would be, well, superboring, unsparkly and just eh without Editor K, Kate Angelella. Angelella is spelled T-A-L-E-N-T-E-D, btw. Writer, editor, author-wrangler--she does it all. :)

Yay RIVAL REVENGE and I can't wait to go book stalking.

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?

Since the blog was taken over by awesome giveaways (winners will be announced after the final deadline for entering has passed), I haven't been able to blog about personal stuff for a while. For example...last Tuesday, I went to my first ever Knicks game at Madison Square Garden! It was a pre-season game against the Celtics and it was sooo much fun. The crowd was excited and the entire atmosphere was energized. The entire experience of hot dogs and nachos only added to the awesomeness. Plus, we won! :) I've seen MSG on TV before and it's sooo much better in person. It's just insane. I kept saying, "OMG! I'm at MSG!" like a total dork. :)


These are the sparkly cups that you get when you order drinks. Love. Them. Was jealous of BFF's sparkly cup and wanted my own. Now I've got some! They're actually glittery, which is hard to see in the pic.

Going to see another Knicks game this Saturday on Halloween! BFF and I are coordinating our outfits. She's wearing blue tights and I've got orange ones. Knicks colors and also very Halloween appropriate. I can't wait for the train ride home because (or so I've heard) there will be a zillion people in costume on the train. Can't. Wait.

Editor K is a super star. (Duh.) A book she edited, THE ROCK AND THE RIVER, by the fab Kekla Magoon was named one of the Top 10 First Novels for Youth 2009 in the fiction category. This is so well deserved and it's exciting news! Check out the link here!

Also, a quick reminder that giveaways start *tomorrow*! I've got so many cool things lined up from awesome sponsors who are excited to be a part of Team Canterwood. Check out the blog tomorrow for your chance to enter to win the first prize.

Again, yaaay EK and Kekla!

Guy of Awesome Kaleb Nation hooking us up with THIS:

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. :)

This is a super sparkly day because...



is shipping! Well, it's shipping from Barnes & Noble and that means it's going to start releasing in other places very, very soon!


Now that it's my fourth book, I'm like, sure, I'm still new at all of this



Totally kidding. Unlike Captain Jack, I don't expect you to have heard of me. But maybe you know about Canterwood Crest. If not, to recap:

It's about a girl who
and adores her horse.

There's also a and they might

It's the fourth book in a series of twelve for tweens from Simon & Schuster's Aladdin MIX.

I feel like this:
(EK and Jess)

This book is incredibly special to me for various personal reasons. I know people think I might say that with every book, but it's totally true for this one.

And okay, I wanted to tell this entire post with Twilight avatars and graphics, but uh, I restrained myself. :)

Hearts and sparkles to everyone who made this happen! Now I'll be watching for it be available in other places. Book stalking will begin soon! Ha. :)

Yaaay Triple Fault!

Right now, I feel like I've consumed ALL of these:


Because...

My amazing editor, Kate Angelella, who is a total , has decided that she's willing to put up with my overly caffeinated phone calls, Twittering in her presence and my obsession with R Pattz and has asked me to write books 9-12 in the Canterwood Crest series!!

Dance party! :)

This means Sasha and friends get to ride on for four more books!

To everyone who made it happen (again!!) I'm so, so grateful and am thrilled to have all of you on Team Canterwood! Aladdin MIX = awesome.

I'm in total shock right now and can't even find the words to express how happy I am to be able to continue the stories of Sasha and her friends. I *never* thought I'd have twelve books. Never. And it would not have happened without the amazing, continued support of people who've backed me all the way.

I looked back through my blog and my last book deal was in December. So many things have changed since then, but my intense love for my books hasn't. If anything, it has grown because of the wonderful fans who love the books and show it!

And this time last year? I was squeeing on the phone with EK when she sent me the cover for TAKE THE REINS, my first book.

Insane.

*breathes*

The books will continue on the bi-monthly pub schedule, so stay tuned for dates, covers and all of that fun stuff coming soon.

Again, I want to thank Kate for working side-by-side with me on this crazy schedule, for loving the books as much as I do and for listening to all of my insecurities and being the first one to know that I can do this. I'm beyond grateful to you for everything.

I started writing LITTLE WHITE LIES (Canterwood Crest #6 (SIX! *falls over*) yesterday. I Tweeted (stupidly, LOL) that I was going to stay up all night writing and hit 5k before I went to sleep.

Didn't happen. I wrote 500 words and stopped for the night. I needed a few hours to absorb outline changes and just think about where I needed to go with the book.

Today, I got started late and hit my stride. I had one of those rare "OMG" writer moments where I sat back and actually said, "Oh. Whoa. Wow. Um." out loud. One of those crazy-talking-to-yourself writer moments where you actually start to cry like an idiot for no reason.

But a few things hit me full force:

* I'm writing book freaking six. S-I-X. There was a time when I thought I wouldn't be able to write one book. Not one. Just short articles, nothing book length. And I'm not saying this to be like, "Oh, wow. Look. You've written five books." I'm saying this because so many writers e-mail me and say they're sure they can't write a book but so want to. That they can't write past a few pages. I used to think that too.

* I'm in love with a character. A character that I didn't fall for until twenty minutes ago. And I'm hard core crushing. (And man, I'm sooo gonna regret posting this part 'cause EK will read it and never let me forget it when I tell her my new love interest. As if she needs another thing to hold over me, LOL.)

* This is the first book I've ever written in New York and it'll be my only first book in NYC. It feels sparkly just for that reason.

* I'm not the writer I was when I wrote BEST ENEMIES. Not better, not worse (I hope!). Just not the same.

* Everything and nothing has changed. Everything in my life has changed. Nothing in my character's lives has. They were all there--waiting for me to come and move things for them. I'm almost annoyingly giddy to be back to Canterwood (I sound like a student, LOL) and into writing.

And not just writing.

Writing that I love.

There's a difference.

And it took a while for me to find it again. But I have.

Okay! Sappy much? Seriously. :) As you were.

On a whim, I read that Robert Pattinson was filming REMEMBER ME on 8th Street and University in NYC. I was like, "Do I go, or not?!" I wasn't going to go and then everyone was telling me, "Go! It's R Pattz!"

I hopped on the F and forty minutes later, I was walking around looking for Rob. I walked for about twenty minutes and didn't find him. I was getting discouraged and then I decided to walk a different way.

And then...there was a MASSIVE crowd of girls (and some guys) and I KNEW I'd found the right place.

So, enjoy the pics and video of Rob's latest project. Yay!

The video's still processing, so the quality's a little wonky. It shall improve once it's fully processed!

June 5, 2007 was the day my first book deal was announced in PubLunch.

April 5, 2009 was the day I moved to NYC.

June 5, 2009 is the one-month mark that I've had my own apt.

Guess 5 is my lucky number, huh?

I can FINALLY make the announcement I've been wanting to share!

....

What a weekend! I edited all day Saturday then met up with fellow Aladdin MIXer Nova for dinner. We'd met before for, seriously, five seconds and finally had time to sit and chat. Nova's awesome and her book DANI NOIR (Sept '09) is killer. We'll be going out again soon, I'm sure. :)

I came back to my apt and had a mini-celebration for the VIP papers that I got in the mail that day. I should be able to make a GIANT, HUGE, SUPERAWESOME announcement on my blog on Tuesday.

Today, I was supposed to meet Aly at 11 for brunch. I left early and grabbed the F. But then...announcements started that there was a 9/11 simulation going on and due to the smoke, my train was going to be rerouted to the G or stopped at W 4th St. or something very confusing.

*panic*

People on the train were mad.

Tourists were confused.

Then, people heard "smoke in the city" and thought there was a real fire.

You get the idea.

I hopped from the F, to the R, possibly to the A and the 4 (?) and ended up going to Queens. Then back to home. Then on the way to Manhatten. My train stopped underground for a looong while.

There were cops.

And nervous people. But I was determined to make it to brunch and Aly!

I finally used my subway skills (read: Roy's NFT) and figured out how to make it to the correct stop.

And, guess what? Only 20 mins later. Bad, but not as bad as I'd feared. Take that, subway!

But Aly was super cool about it and we had a fab brunch--hello, Belgian waffles and sparkly drinks--then went shopping at Forever 21. Very amazing. I got the cutest earrings and necklace after consulting Aly--the Princess of Accessories. We had fun shopping and being girls. I made it back home without getting lost. WHEW. I'm so done with the subway till Tuesday.

My computer wouldn’t connect to the wifi at a local café, but I found a great signal on the steps outside a veteran’s memorial. It’s gorgeous outside, so yay! My Internet and cable/DVR is being hooked up on Wednesday and I. Cannot. Wait.

The apartment (!) update:

On Thursday night, Roy and Kassie (the awesome friends) met me at my sublet and helped me move a bunch of stuff over to my new apartment. Roy lugged my insanely heavy suitcase down three flights of stairs after just moving it in the Friday before. Super sweet, huh? So, we got to my apt and while I unboxed/hooked up the TV/DVD player, Roy and Kassie started hanging curtains.

When Roy brought out his drill, there was most def a little-boy like gleam in his eye. Boys and power tools, you know? It even has a name. Mmm hmm. I was like, “OMG. Must not touch or will surely end up in ER.”

There was drilling.

No one was harmed.

And Kassie put up the curtains.

They warmed the apartment instantly and it went from a space to starting to feel like mine. We toasted with champagne and I went back to my sublet for the last night. When I went to sleep, I was thinking about how it was the final night I was going to sleep in someone else’s space without having my own. I was nervous and excited all at the same time.

On Friday morning, my bed arrived from Macy’s. Major excitement—I could finally sleep over in my apt! I ran around all day Friday and moved over the last bit of my stuff, got a few groceries and unpacked. By 10, I was passed out. Best. Night’s. Sleep. Ever.

I think it’s because I finally knew I was in the right neighborhood. I’d been in this general area for a month before moving over to a new side of town for a week during the sublet. I could have stayed there through mid-June, but I got super motivated to get my own place early. I’d missed the neighborhood and wanted to find a place. NYC is huge, yeah, but having friends just streets away and having a great neighborhood makes it feel so much smaller.

I got soo lucky to find this place. (Warning: About to go off track and launch into the “how I found my apt story”) Last Sunday, I was having brunch at a fun café with Kassie and Roy. For about a week before, I’d been using Craigslist to search for an apt and had found another sublet that started in June and would last for a year, but I wasn’t sure if it would definitely work out or not. Roy mentioned that realtors were open even though it was Sunday and because it was a gross, rainy day there might be fewer people walking around to see the realtors.

After brunch, I walked down one of the main avenues that had at least 15 realty places. I went into the first place I saw—a local owned realty company. I told the realtor what I was looking for and what my price range was. He almost started to laugh when I told him what I could afford in the neighborhood I wanted. Then, a look crossed his face and he started shuffling through papers on his desk.

He said someone had just brought him a listing in the neighborhood that I wanted that was JUST over my price range, but he could still show it to me. Maybe the price could be negotiated. I texted Kassie and told her I was going to see a place and told her the address. By chance, she and Roy were minutes away getting coffee and they said they’d stop by for backup.

On the way over, the realtor told me about the place and said it was probably already gone because of the price and location. I crossed my fingers and hoped that it would be nice and available.

The realtor showed me around and told me the details. When Roy and Kassie got there, I was trying to be cool, but I was totally freaking out. I looooved the place and had to get it! I kept making the, “OMG, this place is awesome eyes!” at them every time the realtor looked away. I was such a dork.

At the end of the meeting, I told the realtor I wanted the place and he had to call the landlord to make sure it was still available, try to get the price down, do the official paperwork, etc, etc. I went back to his office and filled out an application.

But it wasn’t mine yet. I decided to keep walking down the main avenue to keep visiting realtors and telling them what I wanted.

I was laughed out of at least five places after that, which Kassie had warned me would happen. I heard:

You want to pay that for this neighborhood?

You have to pay Manhattan prices here.

You’re totally wasting your time.

Hahahaha.

I visited eight or nine more realtors before going back to my sublet. No luck anywhere else. I couldn’t sleep that night because I wanted the apt so much.

I got the call on late Monday morning that everything had been approved and I could get the keys and sign the lease.

In. Freaking. Sane.

If Roy hadn’t said that realtors were open on a Sunday, I would have missed the place. For sure.

(End of the “how I found my apt story”). :)

Last night, Roy and Kassie came over for a housewarming party. They brought a gorgeous plant that I will try super hard not to kill. We ordered out, had drinks and Kassie revealed the night’s movie choices. ‘Cause she knows me *so* well, she picked scary movies. Um, yeah. I have a thing about scary movies—they freak me out! And she knows it. Love her. But she gave me an out—we could also start season one of Buffy, which I’d never seen but had been wanting to.

But nope, I decided to be brave. We started the movie, The Uninvited, which turned out to be more hilarious (in a bad acting/awful dialogue) sort of way. The “scary” movie turned into a mock-fest and we gave up on it after half an hour. Buffy is waaaay better.

The night was a total blast and it felt amazing! The first weekend in my apt is pretty fab and very, very sparkly.

Yup! Actual pics of my first studio apartment!! I got the keys today (OMG!) and cleaned out the cleaning supply section at CVS. The apt was already super clean, but since I'm a neurotic freak, I had to sweep, mop, wipe down every surface, etc.

So.

Exhausted.

Seriously.

But the studio looks gorgeous and everything inside is completely brand new. Awesomeness. I start moving stuff over tomorrow and will take things over little by little. I've still got my sublet for a while, so there's no pressure to hurry and get out. But...I really want to get to my place. All of the goods (furniture, bed, kitchen stuff) are on the way.

Yesterday, I went to Macy's (9 floors of shopping temptation) and spent a couple of hours picking a bed. I tested almost every mattress (the sales guy prob loved that) and kept calling my friend for her opinion on what brand/size, etc. It's a big investment and I wanted to pick a great bed.

And shocker, but I had no clue what I needed for a kitchen or how to even get started. My awesome friend linked me to everything I needed (heart her) and I just clicked and ordered.

Tomorrow, I've got to move stuff over and awesome friend is bringing other awesome friend #2 with power tools to hang curtains. I might have to take pics of this. It could be interesting. :)

Cable/Internet will be hooked up in the middle of next week, so of course, I'm super excited about that. At least I have Internet at local cafes to use until then.

I'm ridiculously excited/nervous about my own place. But I already feel at home in that neighborhood because I know it and love it. Some of the coolest things? Groceries delivered to your door and laundry service. I really do love that. Very much. :)

I'll keep posting progress pics when I can. I'm crazy-busy packing and moving stuff over, but it's such a big deal that I want to keep documenting it.

Back to packing...

(Yep, I'm blogging twice today. Just because.)

The day I moved to NYC! :)

I'd been going back and forth with the decision since my first visit to NYC in January. That visit was an eye opener about what life could be like in NYC and things were never the same after I went back to Florida. I wanted to move to New York, but was scared for a million reasons. February through April was the most difficult and intense three months of my life. Many things were going on and, for a while, I lost myself while trying to sort through them.

After lots of debating, conversations with people I trusted to help me with the decision and thinking about where I wanted my life to go, I moved.

And I haven't had a second of regret.

Not one! For me, it was never about moving to this big city to party non-stop and have fun. It was about starting my life and having the best possible shot at moving forward both personally and professionally. The perfect opportunity was offered and if I hadn't taken it, I would have regretted it--as dramatic and soap opera like as it sounds--for the rest of my life. True.

I've been here for three weeks and I've learned a lot. Some of the most important things?

* Being scared is okay. Letting fear stop me isn't.
* Food in NYC can be delivered at all hours. To the front door. And I've loved all of it.
* Life can't be all about work 24/7.
* Shopping trips in the middle of the work day are sometimes necessary.
* I can't survive without good friends.
* I didn't die when I tried sushi.
* There are two people that I can talk to about anything. Who's the lucky one?
* I will not end up in Coney Island instead of Manhattan when I get on the subway.
* Cars will not always stop even if I have a walk-signal.
* Veronica Mars is only the most awesome show ever.

And, the most important one:

* Family is what you make it.

That's key.

I've rewritten this post a dozen times and am glad to finally blog about it. It's another step forward and that feels great. NYC is a fresh start for me and I get more excited every day that I'm here.

Saying "thank you" to T and HC for all of the above is lame. It's beyond a thank you at this point. I'm a writer and I don't even know what to say here. Just <333s.

:)

OH! I can't forget about the sparkly, fun stuff...

I can't talk about NYC without bringing up two awesome places that I've been recently. Stir and Southern Hospitality. I went to Stir on Friday night with friends and we had so much fun. The music was perfect for dancing and having fun. The place had such a great atmosphere with a DJ, awesome lighting and the best drinks. Ever. So good. The glasses were rimmed with pixie sticks or crush Jolly Ranchers. Amazing. We're going back this Friday with another friend who happens to take dance classes (like hip hop), so I'll probably try to get her to teach me a few new moves.

I went to Southern Hospitality a couple of weeks ago and loved it. The cool part? It's co-owned by JT. Yes, Justin Timberlake. I looked around the entire time just in case JT decided to show up. It could happen. The food was fab and I adored their mac and cheese. Yum. Plus, their drinks are also super fun and so good. The vibe of the restaurant was great--perfect for a weekday night out after one of those days at work.

Okay, that was my break from BEST ENEMIES. Back to it!

Yesterday, I went shopping at Victoria's Secret for PINK shirts with friends. I found *the* most awesome shirt (couldn't find a pic on VS's Website, but trust me) and it's super sparkly. It's light blue with a blinged-out rocket Popsicle with a bite missing on the front. On the back it says something like, "I will make you melt Pink."

It's gorg.

So, anyway. It was warm yesterday and I couldn't resist wearing this awesome shirt under a light wrap sweater to run a few errands. I met up with my friend and we're walking down the street when a guy starts pointing at my shirt. I'm like, "OMG!" but we keep walking.

And then, he steps closer while still pointing at my shirt and reaches toward me as if he's going to touch the Popsicle. He does.

O.
M.
G.

I was in total shock. Lucky for me, my friend gave the guy a look that meant she'd break his fingers if he touched my shirt again (she would have taken him down, for real!) and told him that wasn't cool. I mean, I know the shirt was awesome, dude, but don't touch it.

And that's my story for the day.

Now back to editing.