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Please welcome the supersparkly Lauren Barnholdt! Lauren's here to dish all about her new book, DEVON DELANEY SHOULD TOTALLY KNOW BETTER, that comes out today. Happy release day, L!

Book summary:

Devon Delaney cannot believe she's lying again. But the thing is, she couldn't help it. Her new boyfriend, Luke, is talking to his (gorgeous) ex-girlfriend, Bailey Barelli (!!!), every single day in mock trial.

Devon couldn't just stand by and let him find out that she'd never dated anyone else before. Could she? Oopsie. Too late now. To show how totally unaffected she is by Bailey's obvious Luke hang-up, Devon invents a fake ex-boyfriend of her own: Greg. Fab! What could go wrong?

But it isn't long before Devon finds herself in the middle of another supergigantic lie. Can Devon come clean in time to keep the guy? Or will she lose everything due to another lie?

Bio: Lauren Barnholdt is the author of many books for teens and tweens, including TWO-WAY STREET, FOUR TRUTHS AND A LIE, and THE SECRET IDENTITY OF DEVON DELANEY. She lives in Boston with her husband.

Okay, here we go!

Pitch Devon as a Tweet! (140 characters or less, people who are not familiar with the awesome that is Twitter)

Devon’s lies get her in trouble again – will she come clean in time to keep the guy? Complete with some kissing and a brand new cell phone!

How are you and Devon alike and different? Break it down.

Hmm, Devon is fun, and I like to think I’m fun. She also likes the same colors and things I do – like sparkly cell phones and pink.

She’s thirteen, so, you know, we’re different in that sense. At least, I hope we are, hmm.

She’s a lot more self-confident and more outgoing than I was at thirteen. But she’s dramatic the way I was at thirteen. (I’m totally not dramatic anymore, la la la.)

You’ve been writing at coffee shops more recently. Fellow coffee shop writers understand the shortage of outlets. (So wrong!) Tell the truth, LB. Have you ever wanted to unplug someone’s lap top when he/she got up to grab an order? Or (*gasp*) have you already done so??

Jessica!! I would never do something like that!!!

Okay, I’ve totally wanted to. I mean, some people are doing things in coffee shops that are just.. I don’t know. Like, what if someone is playing video games? And I am under deadline? Shouldn’t that be more important?

Lately I’ve also noticed some people with their laptops plugged in, and they are just chatting away to other people, not even using their computer! Mostly, though, it hasn’t been a problem—I try to only go to places where there are enough outlets to go around.

Devon invents a fake boyfriend, Greg. Would you have ever been able to pull that off at your school?

Um, well….full disclosure: The first Devon book is based on something I did in junior high. So I guess, um, yeah, kind of.

I know (because I have people) that you and Editor Kate don’t get along AT all. Do you just cry every time you get an edit letter from her? It’s okay. This is a safe space.

I don’t cry, because I’ve been in therapy to deal with it. Plus last time I went to visit her, she gave me tons of amazing books, to sort of buy me off and keep silent about her torturous techniques.

Obviously, the above question was a total joke. Lauren and I share Editor Kate and she nicknamed us “Barnhart.” She recognized that we only need to go by one name, ‘cause we’re awesome like that. When do you expect Team Barnhart to dominate the publishing biz? (And don’t give away any secrets to the enemy camp…)

Classified. Barnhart would never give away any secrets on a blog --- there are spies everywhere!

There’s one tiny issue I have to bring up. The one that could one day cause a Barnhart-break up that would be splashed over every tabloid. You know where I’m going with this. Nick and Jess. You’re obsessed with them—totally fine—but I’ll still tell you that Robsten is better, la, la, la…Predict it for us, Lauren. Are Nick and Jess getting back together?

Sadly, no. But that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t!! They were so in love! Didn’t you see the episode of Newlyweds where Jess did laundry for Nick because SHE LOVED HIM SO MUCH? I just don’t see what went wrong.

Also, I don’t really get Robsten. Like, is that even happening? Or is he just obsessed with her? It’s so meta, like I totally picture him, like, watching over her on the set and stuff.. Crrreeeeepppppyyyy.

Favorite line from the book?

Can it be “favorite paragraph”? If so:

“Okay,” I say. “Point taken. But we’ve turned over a new leaf! I don’t have any secrets from you right now. You know everything that’s going on with me, and I want to know everything that’s going on with you. We’re BFF.” Mel doesn’t look convinced, so I rush on. “For example,” I say. “Last night at mock trial I made up a fake boyfriend, and now Luke wants to meet him.” I give her an encouraging smile. “Now you go.”

Knowing that you looove your iPhone, if we should see more of Devon, will she upgrade?

Hmm, I don’t think so. Devon’s parents hardly even let her get a flip phone, I don’t think she’s ready for such technology. It would probably get her into more trouble.

But if she did, it would be sparkly and pink.

Final question: Write your own question and answer it. Make it good. *pressure*

Would Devon from my book and Sasha from your book be friends? Totally! Except I think Devon might corrupt Sasha a little bit. Although I’ve heard that Sasha is totally ready to French kiss, and Devon isn’t quite there yet, so maybe they’d be bad influences on each other.

These just went up on Publishers Marketplace:

		August 12, 2009
		Children's: Middle grade		Jessica Burkhart's books 9-12 in CANTERWOOD CREST, the popular horse boarding school series, to Kate Angelella at Aladdin M!X, in a very nice deal, in a four-book deal, for publication in 2010, by Alyssa Eisner Henkin at Trident Media Group (NA).
		August 12, 2009
		Children's: Middle grade		PG Kain's THE GO-SEE CHRONICLES series, an insider's look at the fiercely competitive world of tween commercial acting beginning with "The Sea of Me," in which a girl who has grown up with her face on everything from diapers to drink boxes needs to become a new and improved version of herself in order to maintain her edge over a sea of look-alike rivals, to Kate Angelella at Aladdin M!X, in a three-book deal, for publication in Spring 2011, by Alyssa Eisner Henkin at Trident Media Group (NA).

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! :)

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!

Borrowing this from the Children's Bookshelf. This is for EK. Enough said. :)

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.

Blogging is about to get slowish (I think, anyway. Unless, R Pattz is spotted cuz then all bets are off!) because it's Insane Deadline Time and I'm feeling crazy behind. Which isn't really true. I'm not sooo behind, but it feels that way until I hit midpoint of the book. This is the panic stage of "Aahh! I better get words down or else!"

So, if I owe you an email (my reader girlies!) I'm sorry! I will respond ASAP, I promise. Thank you for writing me and I WILL write back. Just give me a little time or LITTLE WHITE LIES will be late and Editor K will confiscate my lip gloss until I finish it...that would be bad, ya know? :) There would be crying and Lip Smackers cotton candy withdrawal (my fave) and it would be sad.

Gotta get back to Sasha & Co., but I'll be blogging whenever I can. But know that I have to go into Manhattan on Wednesday. Yep. That means subway. And directions. And a high probabilty of something happening that's blog worthy.

Btw, thank you to Whitebrook Farm for blogging about the Girls' Horse Club fiction competition. (See blogger sidebar or old entry for deets).