Okay, I KNOW this is a super late recap of some of the summer coolness that took place in super-hot August, but I have to share the fun event that was the End of Summer Middle Grade event at the Book Spot in Round Rock, Texas.

The books these friends wrote are AMAZING! Tara Dairman‘s All Four Stars, Rebecca Behrens‘ When Audrey Met Alice, K. A Holt‘s forthcoming Rhyme Schemer, and Jennifer Ziegler‘s Revenge of the Flower Girls all hold a spot on my bookshelf and in my heart.

From left to right: Tara Dairman, Rebecca Behrens, me, Kari Ann Holt, and Jennifer Ziegler.

We played trivia games, ate unicorn cake, and visited with the audience.

The audience included my utterly lovely and wonderful stepmom, Katherine.

A special treat was getting to meet Rebecca Behrens, who wrote an amazing book I got to blurb, and who happens to be represented by my agent! So we’re agent-sisters, and she is every bit as lovely in person as she is on the page.

New Leaf Author Selfie!

If you want to get a signed copy of any one of the books we spoke about (with the exception of Kari’s, which comes out in a month!), I know The Book Spot has some signed stock. So, go get some of those holiday gifts bought, and support a great indie bookstore!

Cool fact: Our picture got picked up by the Publisher’s Weekly roundup! Check it out. We look very fancy, yes?

Now, back to work! All sorts of exciting things going on here. Secret things, that will soon be official!

The writing of a book, especially a book that is intensely personal and meaningful like Nightingale’s Nest was for me, is only the beginning.

After the drafts, and the revisions, and the copy edits, and the worrying whether people will “get it” or like it, or even bother to review it… comes the promotional phase.

This is a difficult time for a writer. Suddenly, you are expected to be a marketing guru, a machine for creating memorable blog posts and funny tweets about the book, a constant advocate for it online and in person. It can be exhausting. For my debut novel, a funny/scary fairy tale re-imagining, it was all a roller coaster. But I didn’t mind the exhaustion, and I loved even the parts of that year that terrified me.

With Nightingale’s Nest, I was at a loss as to how to promote it effectively and appropriately. When something comes from that deep down, from so far inside you that the words seemed at times during the writing to come from somewhere… permanent, it’s hard to joke about it, or tell people why they should buy it, or even tell people what it’s about. “Would you like to read my book” in this case really means “Would you like to see my heart?”

And yet. Promote the book I have done, and will continue to do. But I’m doing it differently. I’m talking to librarians and teachers in person, and telling them some of the secrets in the book – and some of the hard truths of where it came from.

And I’m celebrating the places the story came from – both personal, and physical, where I did the writing of most of this book, the high desert of New Mexico.

And that means I took a book tour through New Mexico and Colorado, and celebrated this book alongside new friends and dear friends…

Authors Jenny Goebel, Tara Dairman, Ingrid Law, and me with my favorite 11 year old reader!

…some with their very own books to celebrate…

Kimberley Griffiths Little, author of the stunning novel Time of the Fireflies, and also the Nicest Person in New Mexico.

… and in groups of young writers, who amazed me with their own stories and talents…

Best idea yet! Young writer’s workshop at Beehive Books in Santa Fe. These kids were AMAZING.

… and took along one of my greatest treasures, and favorite sparks in this world…

Who could that masked man be?

We rode roller coasters, real ones…

First Roller Coaster for him!

Twisting coasters have nothing on a Kirkus review!

to go along with the roller-coaster-scary drop in the stomach that happens any time an author appears in a town far from home, not knowing who may show up…

Look at all those books at the Boulder Bookstore! Very Fancy Indeed.

and I spent time remembering why I do this job, and why I write books that break my heart to write, as well as make me laugh and smile.

Palo Duro, on the way home.

I do it for the beauty of it.

And for the fun.

I hope you had as full and lovely a summer as I did. Now, I have to get on that roller coaster again! The next story that came knocking is a doozy. Hands in the air, get ready for the drop… go!