Madness is:

Trying to get writing done in the days before school starts. Yet, I AM MAD.
I'm almost a third of the way through FIND ME and I'm so freaking pleased with myself, I must be annoying my friends and family. I just love Mop and her story, her world so much.

As a result of writing while buying glue sticks and plaid skirts, I have let the blog slide a little. I was shocked to realize that I hadn't updated in two weeks - yikes. I will don the hair shirt and get out the cat-o-nine tails (mixing religious and pirate metaphors there, I think) as a penance, but in the meantime:

YA FEST GIVE AWAY
Over at Bucks County Writer's Group we're giving away awesomesauce signed books. SEE!

All this can be YOURS!
Just head over to the Bucks County Writer's Group site, comment saying 'i want a chance at swag' or something similar, and follow us, if you don't already. You have until the end of August to enter (please enter just once! GOOD LUCK!

BOOKS I WILL BE DIVING INTO AS SOON AS SCHOOL STARTS:
GIRL OF NIGHTMARES by Kendare Blake
TOUCHED by Cyn Balog
WHY WE BROKE UP by Daniel Handler and Maira Kalman

So when the weather crisps, the apples bake and the sweater weather returns triumphant, what books will you be curling up with?

Dog Days of Summer

Just when I was getting my writing groove on, I've got to dive back into my real life. Friend just had a baby, mom's coming to stay, work threw up on me. This is a long way of saying I've got a ramshackle post today!


YA Fest
Last Saturday, my writing pal Laura Campbell and I took a road trip to Easton PA for the first annual YA Fest. All I'm saying is that it better not be the last annual - because it was awesomesauce. Want proof? See this picture? I will be plastering this sucker all over the place.

Laura Campbell, Jonathan Maberry, me, Charles Benoit at YA Fest

I'll soon be posting more about the fest and the amazing writers who attended (in addition to Jonathan and Charles, Cyn Balog, Eve Marie Mont, Jennifer Hubbard, Michelle Zink - so many!) but for now I want you to know two things:
ONE: Bucks County Writers Group will be holding a contest at the end of the month to give away SWAG - signed copies of awesome books from some of the YA Fest writers. Details will go up this Monday here - so stay tuned.
TWO: You don't know how much of a fangirl you are until you stand in front of your fan-girl object munching (candy) zombie fingers. Just saying.

WriteOnCon is NEXT WEEK!
It's awesome. It's free. Last year when I participated, I got a partial and a full request. It's chock full of useful information and the faculty this year features the amazing Gennifer Albin. Did I mention the nija agents? I didn't? These are stealth agents that rummage around the forums looking for gold. Then when they find it, they direct message you for more pages/info. It's happened to me and it's a lovely, shivery feeling. RUN, don't walk to WriteOnCon. Oh, and even though it's free, I found the con so frigging useful, I donated money. You may be moved to do the same.

Girl Of Nightmares
I've been waiting for this book. The second I closed ANNA DRESSED IN BLOOD by Kendare Blake I realized I needed another fix. It's finally here. It's YA Horror, YA romance, YA How's-this gonna-end-happy-when-one-of-the-star-crossed-lovers-is-a-ghost? I don't really care, I just have to be along for the ride. Happy (belated) Pub Day, GIRL OF NIGHTMARES.