This morning, my mom asked me why I hadn't updated my blog in a while, to which I responded, "YOU READ MY BLOG?!" But okay, she was right. I haven't updated in a while because ALL THE THINGS have been happening. Like:
My ARCs arrived! And I hugged them! And I took a billion and a half pictures of them! And I took selfies with them! And I cuddled them while I slept acted like a totally normal human being with them!
This is my name on a thing I wrote (I WROTE THAT THING IN THE PICTURE. LIKE I MADE THAT IN MY HEAD).
This is the spine on a thing I wrote (and also a viking rune, because vikings are cool)
This is the FREAKING GORGEOUS cover of a thing I wrote
This is a thing I wrote on my ACTUAL, PHYSICAL BOOKSHELF
This is my face and a thing I wrote. See those fingers?
I TYPED THAT BOOK WITH THOSE FINGERS.
(Yeah, I know I have toe thumbs. Don't stare. They're self-conscious).
Okay, time to get serious. I am so, SO happy and proud to announce (belatedly) that FALLING INTO PLACE was chosen as one of the ten titles featured in the
Indies Introduce New Voices program! Here's what they had to say about FALLING:
“In Falling Into Place, Zhang has composed such a fascinating and captivating investigation of character and humanity that readers will find themselves actively rooting for Liz, desperate for her to realize in time that taking herself out of life is never the answer.” —Sara Hines, Eight Cousins Books
UM. WOW. *DIES*
I'm also beyond excited to share that I'll be doing a panel at BEA this year with Becca Fitzpatrick, Amanda Maciel, and Kresley Cole. It's called "
It's Not Easy Being Teen," which is basically the most accurate statement ever. It'll be on Friday, May 30th from 11:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., so if any of you are coming to BEA, be sure to stop by! I'll also be signing afterwards.
Here's the description of the event from the BEA website:
How do you believably and authentically get into the mindset of a teen? It's simple to skew a voice too young or too old, or to underestimate the breadth of a high schooler's experience. These authors will talk what it takes to portray teens truthfully and the challenges they have faced both on and off the page. Listen in and meet: Amy Zhang (Falling Into Place), Kresley Cole, (Dead of Winter), Becca Fitzpatrick, (Black Ice), Amanda Maciel, (Tease).
*Yeah, okay, so there weren't actually any unicorns in this post. Sorry. Bait-and-switch or whatever, amirite?
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OKAY FINE.
Today is March 9th. Which means that there are:
6 months
184 days
4, 416 hours
264,960 seconds
...until FALLING INTO PLACE comes out and my head explodes. Wow. Like, I see the numbers and I have a vague concept that months/days/hours/seconds are divisions of time or something, but I can't actually wrap my head around the idea that this thing I made in my head is going to be...bound? On shelves? Available for purchase? In SIX MONTHS?!
I am terrified and excited and happy beyond words, and to celebrate, I'm going to do a love list, which is a non-exhaustive list of the things you love about a manuscript (inspired by my wonderful CP Mark O'Brien, who was inspired KK Hendin, who was inspired by Rachel, who was inspired by Stephanie Perkins).
FALLING INTO PLACE
voicemails
chalk drawings on the roof
scenic towers
flying
jumping off the swings
snapshots
countdowns
Newton
a 1967 Ford Falcon
being wrong
being right
being
hide-and-seek
gravity
bouncy balls
wire crowns
twenty-three missed calls
running through the rain
second chances
rolling
seven days
fifty-eight minutes
inertia
F = ma
equals
opposites
green sweaters
flute players
black eyes
the sky
tag
matching friendship rings
wishing
falling
cause and effect
blue
yes
BONUS:
the cover
the interior
MY COVER! IT'S MY COVER! ALSO A GIVEAWAY! AND MY COVER! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!
http://www.yahighway.com/2014/02/cover-reveal-and-giveaway-falling-into.html?m=1
HUGE thanks to the wonderful people at YA Highway, who not only hosted my cover reveal, but managed to put it together in, like, two freaking hours. If that's not a superpower, I don't know what is. And also to the amazing, AMAZING team at Greenwillow who designed this breathtaking cover. Can we just sit here for a minute and marvel at how amazeballs they are? Because HOLY CRAP THAT COVER.
AND ALSO ginormous thanks to my agent, who played fairy godmother/therapist/shoulder-to-whine-on/superhero/buttsaver this week (and every other week).
NOW GO LOOK AT THAT COVER. GO GO GO GO GO GO GO GO GO GO GO!!!!!!!!
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AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH IT'S SO PRETTY I'M GONNA DIE!!!!!
*deep breaths*
Seriously, though. I love everything about it. I love the physics equations in the background, even though I've spent the last few weeks staring at them and realizing that I forgot everything I learned in physics. I love the car falling and the road and the words. I love my name (DO YOU SEE MY NAME IN THE CORNER THERE BECAUSE OH MY GOD MY NAME IS ON A BOOK). And I love love love love LOVE the hand, because it's THE IMAGINARY FRIEND'S HAND!!!! AHHHHHHHH!!!!
Okay. Okay. So it's actually kind of funny that I'm having my reveal today, because it's exactly one day after the anniversary of my book. That's right. FALLING INTO PLACE sold on February 28, 2013. And in another one hundred and ninety-three days (that's ONE HUNDRED AND NINETY-THREE, 19FREAKING3) days, you'll be able to go to your bookstore and, like, TOUCH IT. AND HOLD IT. AND READ IT.
*brain implodes*
The life-changing, panic-inducing, holy-hell-it's-happening text from my agent.
