I know . . . I know I need to update these blogs more frequently (Erg!). Working on it. Maybe if I wasn’t addicted to the Yahoo Daily Sudoku puzzle (Curse You Five Star Puzzles!) Or maybe if I wasn’t juggling five online classes right now. . . .

Anyway, this post comes to you in five parts (Nerdfighter joke):

1) Congratulations to John Green for his new novel, Paper Towns, debuting at number FIVE on the Times Bestseller list, AND for the movie option. You . . . are On Fire! Best Wishes!

2) I’ve made the difficult decision not to participate in NANOWRIMO (National Novel Writing Month) this year. Among the daily Sudoku’s and classes, I’m trying to wrap up a new YA I’m working on, and thirty days of mad writing in addition to this is not conducive to a healthy mental state. I hope to be in a better place next year so I can try again, because believe me, last November was EXCELLENT! I’m sending good vibes to all of you committing to write 50,000 words in 30 days. You can do it!

3) I *love* connecting with old friends, and am amazed how the internet makes it all possible. Since I write YA books I’m constantly aware of my inner teen self (both then and now). Though I have *many* things I would change about those years if I could, I’m glad to have “re-friended” people who knew me “way back when.” And no, I’m not writing about you . . . unless you were mean to me. ;)

4) I finally have a release date for One Wish: April 24, 2009! My understanding is that ARCs (Advanced Readers Copies) will arrive on my doorstep in a few weeks! I plan to take pictures and post! (If I can figure out how.) I’m also a new member of the 2009 Debutantes on Live Journal (http://community.livejournal.com/debut2009/) who have *a lot* of fun things planned in the upcoming year. The Debs are all debut writers with MG or YA books coming out next year, and I’m *so* happy to join them!

5) Though my list of “books to read” is growing at a pace I cannot seem to keep up with, I was thrilled to hear my favorite author (Sarah Dessen--www.sarahdessen.com) has a new book, Along for the Ride, due out in 2009. Because really, I can’t wait two years between genius novels.

That’s it! Back to grading and writing!

Love,
~Leigh~