The Winner is...EVERYBODY

I'm sorry if the title of this post was misleading. Not everybody won my most recent contest. But to enter, you had to tell me (in some cases, it seemed more like admit to me) which artist you saw at your first concert. The randomly selected winner saw the Backstreet Boys in 1998, which is the tour featured in the video below.

Here they are, everybody, the Backstreet Boys singing Everybody.



And the winner of these seven autographed YA novels...

is...

Tara Lenhoff

Congratulations, Tara! To let us know where to send your books, email a shipping address to EmmaNelson4Ever@aol.com, the working email address of a character in The Future of Us. None of your books were pre-signed, so if you want to give any as gifts, let us know who each book should be made out to. And if they should all be personalized to you, that's great, too! (Personally, that's what I would do. But I'm selfish like that!)

And thank you, Kristina McBride, Elizabeth Scott, Jennifer Bosworth, and Cat Patrick, for donating  copies of your amazing novels to this contest.

If you entered but didn't win this contest, I urge you to read every one of the books pictured above. When you do, there's no need to email me your thoughts because I'll respond to you right now: You're welcome.

So Many Autographs, Just One Winner

It's time for another book giveaway! This contest involves five authors autographing books for one of you. Before I tell you how to enter the contest (it's so easy), let me tell you why I'm holding a contest for these specific books.

One of the coolest parts of being an author is being asked to offer quotes for soon-to-be released books. It's a huge honor! For this contest, we're giving away four books that I've blurbed. Three were debut releases from Jennifer Bosworth, Kristina McBride, and Cat Patrick. One is from an author who's been a favorite of mine for years: Elizabeth Scott. Each author has generously donated an autographed copy of their book that I blurbed for this contest. And since Kristina and Cat recently saw the publication of their second novels, they donated autographed copies of those as well!

Here are the covers of all the books you'll win, beginning with the author with the most recent release. How recent? One Moment's publication date is...tomorrow! (Struck, Miracle, and Revived all came out within the past two months.)

And because I'd love to see one of my books included in the same post as those above, I'll also autograph and send you a copy of The Future of Us:

So how do you win these seven autographed books? I'll randomly select one person (must be a resident of the U.S. or Canada) who comments on this blog post. In your comment, tell everyone about your first concert. Who did you see? If you haven't been to a concert yet, who would you love to see?

All comments must be submitted by 11:59pm (PST), June 27th. That's this Wednesday night. There's no need to leave your email address within your comment, just check back on Thursday to see if you've won. In that post, I'll let you know how to send me your mailing address.

My first concert? Well, I have two answers for that. The first group I actually saw perform was the cast of Kids Incorporated, back when I was a kid myself. That's right! I saw Stacy Ferguson before she was Fergie. Kids Incorporated played on a stage set up mid-field at Santa Anita Park (they race horses there when not hosting future members of The Black Eyed Peas).  But my first "big boy" concert, which I went to in high school on New Year's Eve with my friend and his sister, was Poison. It was during their Flesh & Blood tour (shown below).



That's right. Kids Incorporated and Poison. So? What's yours???

Here are the descriptions of all six books being given away in this contest.

ONE MOMENT:
Maggie remembers hanging out at the gorge with her closest friends after a blowout party. She remembers climbing the trail with her perfect boyfriend, Joey. She remembers that last kiss, soft, lingering, and meant to reassure her. So why can’t she remember what happened in the moment before they were supposed to dive? Why was she left cowering at the top of the cliff, while Joey floated in the water below–dead?

As Maggie’s memories return in snatches, nothing seems to make sense. Why was Joey acting so strangely at the party? Where did he go after taking her home? And if Joey was keeping these secrets, what else was he hiding?

THE TENSION OF OPPOSITES:
Two years ago Noelle disappeared. Two long years of no leads, no word, no body.

Since the abduction, Tessa, her best friend, has lived in a state of suspended animation. She has some friends, but keeps them distant. Some interests, but she won’t allow herself to become passionate about them. And guys? She can’t get close—she knows what it is like to really lose someone she cared for.

And then, one day, the telephone rings. Noelle is alive.

And maybe, just maybe, Tess can start to live again, too.

REVIVED:
A secret government agency has developed a drug called Revive that can bring people back from the dead, and Daisy Appleby, a test subject, has been Revived five times in fifteen years. Daisy takes extraordinary risks, knowing that she can beat death, but each new death also means a new name, a new city, and a new life. When she meets Matt McKean, Daisy begins to question the moral implications of Revive, and as she discovers the agency's true goals, she realizes she's at the center of something much larger -- and more sinister -- than she ever imagined.

FORGOTTEN:
Each night at precisely 4:33 am, while sixteen-year-old London Lane is asleep, her memory of that day is erased. In the morning, all she can "remember" are events from her future. London is used to relying on reminder notes and a trusted friend to get through the day, but things get complicated when a new boy at school enters the picture. Luke Henry is not someone you'd easily forget, yet try as she might, London can't find him in her memories of things to come.

When London starts experiencing disturbing flashbacks, or flash-forwards, as the case may be, she realizes it's time to learn about the past she keeps forgetting-before it destroys her future.

STRUCK:
Mia Price is a lightning addict. She’s survived countless strikes, but her craving to connect to the energy in storms endangers her life and the lives of those around her.

Los Angeles, where lightning rarely strikes, is one of the few places Mia feels safe from her addiction. But when an earthquake devastates the city, her haven is transformed into a minefield of chaos and danger. The beaches become massive tent cities. Downtown is a crumbling wasteland, where a traveling party moves to a different empty building each night, the revelers drawn to the destruction by a force they cannot deny. Two warring cults rise to power, and both see Mia as the key to their opposing doomsday prophecies. They believe she has a connection to the freak electrical storm that caused the quake, and to the far more devastating storm that is yet to come.

Mia wants to trust the enigmatic and alluring Jeremy when he promises to protect her, but she fears he isn’t who he claims to be. In the end, the passion and power that brought them together could be their downfall. When the final disaster strikes, Mia must risk unleashing the full horror of her strength to save the people she loves, or lose everything.

MIRACLE:
Megan is a miracle. At least, that’s what everyone says. Having survived a plane crash that killed everyone else on board, Megan knows she should be grateful just to be alive. But the truth is, she doesn’t feel like a miracle. In fact, she doesn’t feel anything at all. Then memories from the crash start coming back.

Scared and alone, Megan doesn’t know whom to turn to. Her entire community seems unable—or maybe unwilling—to see her as anything but Miracle Megan. Everyone except for Joe, the beautiful boy next door with a tragic past and secrets of his own. All Megan wants is for her life to get back to normal, but the harder she tries to live up to everyone’s expectations, the worse she feels. And this time, she may be falling too fast to be saved....

THE FUTURE OF US:
It's 1996, and Josh and Emma have been neighbors their whole lives. They've been best friends almost as long--at least, up until last November, when everything changed. Things have been awkward ever since, but when Josh's family gets a free AOL CD-ROM in the mail, his mom makes him bring it over so that Emma can install it on her new computer. When they sign on, they're automatically logged onto Facebook . . . but Facebook hasn't been invented yet. Josh and Emma are looking at themselves fifteen years in the future.

Their spouses, careers, homes, and status updates--it's all there. And every time they refresh their pages, their futures change. As they grapple with the ups and downs of what their lives hold, they're forced to confront what they're doing right--and wrong--in the present.

(I know, that last one sounds particularly awesome!)

Ithaca, NY

This past weekend, I spoke at the first annual Teen Author Fest in Ithaca, NY.

When I announced that speaking engagement, I was bombarded with messages saying I was going to love that town. And now that I've been there, I wish I had arranged to stay an extra day. Ithaca has so many beautiful creeks and waterfalls, quirky shops, and great places to eat.

Of course, I still got to meet three great authors!

We each spoke and answered questions for about 90 minutes. First up was Elisa Ludwig...

then Madeleine George...

then Shawn Goodman.

I spoke last, but between Madeleine and Shawn, a great student band played during lunch. Introducing...Bümph!

After the Author Fest, I strolled through The Commons in downtown Ithaca. As you may already know, I'm kind of a space geek. But I didn't know Carl Sagan had been a professor at Cornell (in Ithaca). In his memory, they built a scale model of the solar system, which begins downtown with the sun, and leads to the Sciencenter.

Here I am at the sun.

The hole in the structure represents the size of the sun. Over my left shoulder, you can sort of see the structure representing Earth (Mercury and Venus are out of frame). That structure also includes a sun-size hole, with a to-scale dot representing Earth placed in the middle. The structure itself is the to-scale distance between our planet and the sun. This solar system continues out to Pluto. Thankfully, they put too much work into the installation to remove Pluto when those dang scientists decided it wasn't a planet.

Then I took a trip to the Ithaca City Cemetery as research for a possible future writing project. As with anything spooky, it looks much better photographed in black-and-white.

ToysToysToysToysToys

Have you read through the nearly 200 comments left on my last post? If not, do yourself a favor and take the time. When you all told me about your favorite childhood toys, I was reminded of so many toys I had loved but nearly forgotten about. Some of your stories and descriptions were hilarious, and some very touching.

And seriously? There was a doll you could put in light to give her a tan?

Apparently so.



And the person who won all 10 bestselling children's paperback novels is...

Going to have to wait a moment.

UPCOMING APPEARANCE ALERT

If you're near Ithaca, New York this Saturday, I'll be speaking at their library's Teen Author Fest. Check out this website for more info. It's a full day of authors speaking (as opposed to writing, which is rather boring to watch), answering questions, and signing books.

Okay, now back to our regularly scheduled blog post.

The winner of One Direction: Dare to Dream, Divergent, The Book Thief, The Lost Hero, Thirteen Reasons Why, Matched, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, Out of My Mind, Between Shades of Gray, and Turtle in Paradise is...

Gallaghergirlxox

(hopefully not your real name)

Gallaghergirlxox (if that is your real name, I was only kidding) had a glow-in-the-dark Care Bear as her favorite toy. If she couldn't sleep, she held onto that Glow-A-Lot for protection. And Gallaghergirlxox's (I'm starting to enjoy typing that!) Care Bear loved having stories read to it.

To claim your prize, send your mailing address to EmmaNelson4Ever@aol.com (which is actually the email address of one of the main characters in The Future of Us, but she's letting me use it for this contest because she's awesome like that).

As a reminder, there will be another multi-book contest later this month. And for that contest, four authors will be autographing books for you.




Gallaghergirlxox!!! (I just had to type it one more time.)

ONE HUNDRED TH1RTEEN W3EKS

To celebrate Thirteen Reasons Why making it on the New York Times best sellers list for its 113th week (65/hardcover, 48/paperback), it's time for another giveaway!

 

 

This will be a random drawing, so there's no reason not to enter. None! Especially because the prize is something we all love...

BOOKS!!!

The winner will receive a copy of every book on the latest Children's Paperback best sellers list:

One Direction: Dare to Dream - Divergent - The Book Thief - The Lost Hero
Thirteen Reasons Why - Matched - The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
Out of My Mind - Between Shades of Gray -Turtle in Paradise

You may already own some of these titles (supposedly, they're all selling very well), but that makes the timing of this contest even better. Books make great gifts, and the holiday season is only six months away. I will, of course, sign your copy of Thirteen Reasons Why to whoever you'd like. And if you want me to sign any of the other books, that's cool, too. (How many people can say they have a copy of One Direction: Dare to Dream autographed by me? Those things are rare!)

To enter, all you need to do is leave a comment on this post, letting me know your favorite childhood toy. Then check back Tuesday morning to see if you've won. There's no need to leave an email address, just your name. If you win, I'll give you info on how to send me your mailing address.

Entries must be posted by this Monday at 11:59pm (PST).

If you don't win, keep checking back. There will be another contest later this month involving four authors and five books...all autographed.

Good luck!

Oh, and my favorite childhood toy?

Letters About Literature

Each year, the Library of Congress runs a Letters About Literature contest, asking students in grades 4 through 12 to write letters to authors. The students are to tell the authors how one of their books affected them. For this contest, the letters aren't actually mailed to the authors (which makes sense, because the rules state that the authors can be deceased), but the winning letters are posted online.

And one letter is to me!!!

(Thankfully, I still have the ability to read my letter
due to the fact that I'm not a deceased author.)

Almost 70,000 students from across the country submitted letters this year. Two letters from each category (grades 4-6, 7-8, 9-12) were selected as winners. Each winner got a $500 giftcard to Target (which partners with the Library of Congress for the contest), and each winner also got to choose their favorite library, which will receive a $10,000 grant.

What an amazing contest!

I've already reversed the contest and written to Amber-Nicole Watty to tell her how much her letter means to me. You can read her winning letter here. And if you're anything like me, you'll be crying by the time you reach the end.

Sun Prairie, WI

Earlier this week, I was in Wisconsin to speak at Sun Prairie High School. It was a beautiful school, with very different scenery around it than I had at my high school.

This visit broke a record for me. Seven back-to-back presentations, with a short lunch in the middle. I spoke each period so all English classes could attend. A lot of schools think I'm joking when I say I'll speak as often as they want throughout the day. But my favorite part of being an author is speaking with students, so I love when a school says, "Alright. You asked for it!"

(I won't get too graphic, but after my seventh presentation, plus a book signing in the library, I got my first real break of the day and waddled as fast as I could to the nearest restroom!)

Half of my presentations were in their amazing theater.

Every time I see a photo like the one above, it makes me sweat a bit. I absolutely love what I do, but I can imagine what I would've thought five years ago, seeing this image right before my book came out. "There's no way I can speak in front of all those people! I have stage fright!!!"

You'll get over it, dude.

Their school had a choir concert that evening, so half of the day was spent speaking in their library so students could rehearse in the theater.

Having students sit on the floor brought me back to my Assistant Children's Librarian days. It felt like storytime! The library media specialist suggested that I bring puppets next time, which is actually a great idea. I can bring a boy and girl puppet, then read from Thirteen Reasons Why or The Future of Us, and no one will get confused as to which character is speaking.

I signed a lot of books after school. Sometimes I signed pieces of paper so they students could paste them into books they had at home or would purchase later. Or, in one case, I signed a copy of The Illiad.

On my way to dinner, I walked through downtown Madison, which has a cool funky vibe. Here's a pic of the capitol building. Wisconsin has a special recall election coming up next month. Obviously, the governor is doing everything he can to keep his job. He even set up a street light in front of the capitol reminding voters to Go Right. (Did he use taxpayer funds for that light? What a hypocrite!)

I had dinner at the Wisconsin Union, at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. What did I eat? A bratwurst sandwich with sauerkraut and mustard (but absolutely no ketchup), obviously! I was there with Ms. Coller (library media specialist), Mr. Rouse (assistant principal), and his wife. They told me no one is allowed to leave the Union on their first visit without sitting in one of the oversized Terrace chairs. So I made Ms. Coller and Mr. Rouse sit on it with me.

The next day, I took a 4 a.m. shuttle to the airport, hopped on three flights, and made it home before noon. No matter how much fun I have at school/library/bookstore/conference visits, it's always nice to get home.

The Italian Edition!

The Spanish Edition!

Mini-movie and Interpretive Dance

There are a lot of great reader-created videos for Thirteen Reasons Why on YouTube. I used to frequently post my favorites here, but I became so busy writing and promoting The Future of Us that I had to stop checking for a while. Well, the other day I took a look again, and...wow!

This first video is longer than most, with some great camera work and beautiful acting.



The next video is the first dance interpretation of the book I've seen. It's fun to figure out which scene they're depicting, and the ending is so powerful.



Once again, my readers have both stunned and inspired me.

Thank you!

Portlandia

After my last book event, I had a nearly four-hour drive home. That left me with just enough time to grab 50 minutes of sleep before heading to the airport for my next event.

But this time, my family was coming with me! For some reason, Isaiah and I both look happy to be at the airport at such an early hour.

JoanMarie, Isaiah, and I were flying to Portland. I had two school events lined up, but we also have family there, so we arrived a few days early. We grabbed our rental car and made it to my nephew Ellory's marimba concert with mere minutes to spare.

Ellory is closest to the camera in the white shirt.

The video below is the end of a song Ellory wrote. (Yes, he's talented like that.) This time, he's playing the most elevated instrument on the right.

The weather in Portland was beautiful. Actually, for the first time, their weather was a bit warm for my ideal Portland experience. I like my Portland rainy! But it allowed us to experience more of their natural offerings.

Isaiah now likes to lead our hikes rather than be carried on them. And he's just getting the hang of blowing bubbles, so he adapted that new talent to blow dandelion seeds into the wind. We told him to make a wish each time he did that, but also told him he's not getting a full-size tractor for his upcoming half-birthday. (I tried reasoning with Mommy on that, but she's pretty set against it.)

Then it was time for the school visits. First stop was Ulysses S. Grant High School. What made this one of my all-time favorite presentations is that my niece Genevieve, a sophomore at Grant, introduced me! It was my first time speaking at a relative's school, and a wonderful experience for both of us. Especially me! You should've heard her very sweet introduction.

Here I am with Genevieve and Ms. Battle, the school librarian.

And here's the audience, made up mostly of the Class of 2015.

The stage remained partially decorated with scenery from their recent production of Hairspray. It was a bit odd seeing the following image whenever I turned to my right.

Then we took a break back at our hotel, McMenamin's Kennedy School. If you visit Portland, you need to stay there! It's a renovated elementary school, originally built in 1915. The rooms (once classrooms) even have the original chalkboards.

Then we ate dinner with our Portland family, where Isaiah played pool. (He's been into bowling lately, so he hopped up on the table and crossed the games together.)

Then it was off to Cleveland High School, where Ms. Quinn used Thirteen Reasons Why for their Community Reads program.

It was a great turnout.

They even had to set up overflow seating!

Back at the hotel, I opened the two goodie bags I received from the schools. The edible stuff, sadly, is almost gone.

But we'll be returning to Portland soon, I'm sure.

Not Yo Momma's Book Club

Sorry. The official name is Not Your Mother's Book Club, but it's so fun to find new ways to add Yo Momma to this blog. (Actually, I think that's the first time I've dropped a Yo Momma here, but I'm hoping to find more opportunities.) NYMBC organizes author events for Books Inc, an amazing chain of indie bookstores in California, and I was lucky to enough to join a panel of YA authors at their Palo Alto store.

The panel consisted of Kevin Emerson, Jandy Nelson, Cat Patrick, and me, with Daisy Whitney moderating. They named our event A Bucket of Awesome, and placed dozens of tiny metal buckets on the dessert table so people could fill them with goodies and munch during the event. Here we are, each dipping an authorly finger into a bucket, thereby filling it with awesome!

Kevin, Cat, Daisy, me, Jandy

Unlike my event a week earlier where I was on a panel with three authors I'd never met (though I now consider them all friends), this was a group of authors I've hung out with before. And that caused silliness to ensue immediately. (Hence, our fingers mingling in a bucket.)

The photo below was taken "backstage" as we waited to meet the readers. We had to wait backstage a little longer than expected so they could set up extra chairs. Yes, there were more people arriving than expected. (Do you know how awesome that makes authors feel? Our buckets runnethed over!)

(Sorry for that buckets runnethed over comment.
It didn't sound nearly that cheesy in my head.)

I've shown you photos pre-event and backstage, so here's one I took during the panel.

After the author introductions were over, I received a present from a co-panelist. Tired of reading my tweets and Facebook updates where I made fun of the Fifty Shades of Grey phenomenon, Cat presented me with my very own copy. But I'm not going to read it. I mean, I may glance at the first few pages to see what the big deal is, but then I'm stopping. I swear!

The panel was a lot of fun, thanks in large part to Daisy's great questions. And then it was time to sign books and pose for pictures.

Author Barry Eisler came out for the event, and it was a pleasure to finally meet him.

And an extra-special audience member in attendance was my agent, Laura Rennert.

After the last book was signed, I drove three-and-a-half hours home, slept for 50 minutes, then headed to the airport to fly to Portland, Oregon. There, I'll be giving two high school presentations. The best part is that my niece is a student at one of the schools, and she'll be introducing me!

And finally...

Yo, Mommas -

Happy Mother's Day!!!

Ontario, Too

Last month, I did a book event in Ontario, Canada. This past weekend, I was at Teen Book Fest in Ontario, California. When I asked readers on Facebook and Twitter to come to this lastest event, there was some confusion when I said it was in Ontario, CA. (CA can represent either California or Canada, and a few Canadians said they were happy to see me coming back so soon. So while I'm sorry for the confusion, at least the reaction was positive!)

I always enjoy being on author panels. Not only do you get the fun of interacting with an audience, but also with other authors. Though I was already familiar with what the other Teen Book Fest authors had written, I'd never met Josephine Angelini, Anna Carey, or Alexandra Monir in person. But after taking part in that panel, I hope we have a reunion panel every year! (Mostly because I'm sure it'd be hard to schedule a reunion every week. But if enough libraries want to try...!)

In this first photo, we're all opening our books to the pages we'll be reading. I was reading from Thirteen Reasons Why, which is hard to read aloud by myself, so Alexandra read with me.

The panel was so much fun. When it comes to discussing how authors start writing and eventually become published, this was probably the most diverse group of authors imaginable. Their "origin" stories were crazy-ridiculous!

After we spoke, there was Q&A with the audience, followed by a book signing. (We all signed books for each other, too!)

Then came the wall of photographers (which always looks a tad paprazzi-esque), and we also got some shots with the librarians and teens who helped organize the event.

Then we all went to dinner at Macaroni Grill, along with some of the library staff, Andrea from Mrs. Nelson's Toy & Book Shop (who sold our books at the event), and a spattering of family members. (Is that an appropriate use of spattering? If not, I apologize to any family members wrongfully spattered.)

Because I hate it when a good time ends, I invited everyone to Boomers, which was just down the road. They politely laughed, because of course I was kidding, right?

Well, whenever that reunion panel happens, we're following it up at Macaroni Grill...and then Boomers!

To watch some video from the panel, filmed by an audience member, check out:

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

Part 7

Speaking of panels...

If you're in the Bay Area this Friday (that's the California Bay Area, not the Canadian one), please stop by Books Inc. in Palo Alto and say hi!