Millions of Peaches

Sure, I could've titled this post with a line from The Devil Went Down to Georgia or Georgia (On My Mind) or one of those other brilliant songs about the largest pecan producing state in the world. But that would've been so obvious! Instead, I grabbed a line from the not-quite-classic but super-fantastic song by The Presidents of the United States of America. Peaches...check it out!

I finally made my first trek down to Georgia to speak at Kennesaw State University's Annual Conference on Literature for Children and Young Adults. I really didn't know what to expect, but I came away extremely impressed by their program. Many of the attendees are studying to become English teachers and their passion for literature is absolutely beautiful. It gave me goosebumps (in a good way!) to know that in the very near future their passion will be dispersed throughout the United States.

My day began in a break-out session where I had the opportunity to discuss ways those future teachers could use my book in their classrooms. Then I took a trip to Kell High School and spoke to a group of students (which is, by far, my favorite part of being an author). Unfortunately, I was having so much fun that I forgot to take a photo of the group.

Then I went back to KSU to deliver my keynote speech.


But just before I took the stage, they announced that Thirteen Reasons Why was named an Honor Book for the Georgia Peach Book Award. They gave me a beautiful hand-blown glass peach award, which I'll show you a little later.

But first, here are the men and women responsible for this event...with a few authors mixed in.


And here I am with Lisa McMann and Helen Hemphill.


I was reading Lisa's book Wake on the plane ride over, and I can't wait to get some uninterrupted time on the flight back to finish it. And after hearing Helen discuss the historical inspiration behind The Adventurous Deeds of Deadwood Jones, that book is definitely going into my to-be-read stack.

Later in the afternoon, as I was on my way to hear Jacqueline Woodson speak, I ran into Ms. Woodson...and she recognized me! I know, it's not very cool to be star struck, but did you hear what I just said? Jacqueline Woodson recognized me!

So yes, for the time being, I do feel pretty awesome.

Well, it's off to bed now. Goodnight, Peaches.



UPDATE:

Ms. Grove, the Media Specialist at Kell High School, just sent me the following photo from my visit to her school.


I think it's hilarious that, even though my presentation contains over 30 slides, I'm almost always photographed standing in front of Vanilla Ice! Seriously, go back up to the photo of my presentation at the university.

No 3-D Glasses Required

The editing of these trailers keeps getting better and better!

The Little Ones May Not Like My Book

This week, Publishers Weekly released a list of the bestselling children's books of 2009. The list is divided into four categories: hardcover frontlist (books released in 2009), hardcover backlist (books released prior to 2009), paperback frontlist, and paperback backlist. The books are then grouped together based on the number of copies sold.

Thirteen Reasons Why made the hardcover backlist category for books selling between 200,000 and 299,999 copies. There are a total of thirteen books in that group.

Thirteen? How interesting...

So, which book do you think has the least chance of getting read at your public library's storytime?

The Poky Little Puppy
Janette Sebring Lowery, illus. by Gustaf Tenggren
Golden, 1996 (288,295)

The Big Blue Book of Beginner Books
P.D. Eastman
Random, 2008 (260,143)

Mr. Brown Can Moo! Can You?
Dr. Seuss
Random, 1996 (253,277)

Thirteen Reasons Why
Jay Asher
Razorbill, 2007 (240,807)

Hop on Pop
Dr. Seuss
Random, 1963 (240,196)

I Love You Through and Through (board book)
Bernadette Rossetti Shustak, illus. by Caroline Jayne Church
Scholastic/Cartwheel, 2005 (227,024)

Are You My Mother?
P.D. Eastman
Random, 1960 (226,766)

Are You My Mother? (board book)
P.D. Eastman
Random, 1998 (222,752)

Disney Bedtime Favorites
Disney Press, 2007 (220,329)

Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed (board book)
Eileen Christelow
HMH, 1998 (211,017)

The Polar Express
Chris Van Allsburg
Houghton, 1985 (209,500)

Dr. Seuss's ABC
Dr. Seuss
Random, 1960 (208,359)

The Going to Bed Book (board book)
Sandra Boynton
Little Simon, 1982

If anyone does see a librarian reading my book at storytime, please take a photo and send it to me!

Guten Tag!

Tote Mädchen Lügen Nicht is nominated for a Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis!

Uh…what?

Dead Girls Don’t Lie is nominated for a German Youth Literature Prize!

Um…why are you telling us this?

Because that’s my book! The German edition of Thirteen Reasons Why is called Tote Mädchen Lügen Nicht (Dead Girls Don’t Lie) and I just learned that it’s up for a national award in Germany.


My book is nominated in the Youth Jury (Jugendjury) category, which means it’ll be voted on by youth book clubs in Germany.

When I found out about the nomination, I called my parents to figure out a little genetic family history. I’ve never been very good with fractions, but I’m fairly certain that I’m 1/8 German. Sure, some of the nominees are 8/8 German (or totally German), but I’m catching up! Since hearing the news, I’ve already begun learning a bit of German. For example, my initial reaction to the nomination was Heiliger mist!



A special thanks to René Kissien, a reader in Germany, for helping me to understand this nomination a little more…as well as correcting my German.

Spring 2010 Children's Books

I recently browsed through the Spring 2010 Children’s Books issue of Publishers Weekly. Based on the brief descriptions allowed for each title, here are some upcoming (or recently released) middle-grade and teen novels which definitely piqued my interest:

Cosmic by Frank Cottrell Boyce. Liam competes for a chance to go into space.

Falcon Quinn and the Black Mirror by Jennifer Finney Boylan. A boy attending a secret academy for monsters must figure out what kind of creature he is.

Fizzy Whiz Kid by Maiya Williams. New to Hollywood, Mitch wants to become a normal kid again after starring in a soda commercial.

Green by Laura Peyton Roberts. Lily discovers she is next in line to protect a clan of leprechauns.

Griff Carver, Hallway Patrol by Jim Krieg. A hallway patroller must combat crime and corruption at his new middle school.

Jekel Loves Hyde by Beth Fantaskey. Two teenage chemistry students recreate formulas from the classic Robert Louis Stevenson novel.

Little Blog on the Prairie by Catherine Davitt Bell. A girl attending a camp where everyone lives like 1890s pioneers manages to e-mail her friends.

Little Vampire Women by Louisa May Alcott and Lynn Messina gives this classic a blood-sucking twist.

The Mark by Jen Nadol. A girl with the ability to identify those who are marked to die attempts to change their fates.

A Match Made in High School by Kristin Walker. In a school marriage education program, everyone is assigned the wrong mate.

My Invisible Boyfriend by Susie Day. After creating a fake boyfriend, Heidi meets a real-life crush.

My Life with the Lincolns by Gayle Brandeis introduces a girl who believes her family is Abraham Lincoln's family reincarnated.

Palace Beautiful by Sarah deFord Williams. Two sisters become obsessed with finding out what happened to the owner of the mysterious diary they find.

Party by Tom Leveen. Eleven teens headed to the same California party take turns telling their stories.

Popularity Papers by Amy Ignatow. Two fifth graders try to crack the code of popularity.

The Returners by Gemma Malley. A boy having nightmares about concentration camps learns he is reincarnated and destined to recall past atrocities.

The Seventh Level by Jody Feldman. Will an unwitting class clown earn a spot in his school's exclusive secret society?

Shade by Jeri Smith-Ready. A teen is haunted by ghosts wanting her to make amends for their untimely deaths.

The Strange Case of Origami Yoda by Tom Angleberger. A boy whose classmates think he's clueless dispenses advice via an origami finger puppet.*

The Tension of Opposites by Kristina McBride. Tessa's life changes when her best friend returns after being held captive for two years.

The Wish Stealers by Tracy Trivas. After an old woman gives her a box of pennies stolen from a wishing fountain, Griffin must set things right.



*Not too long ago, in a galaxy identical to this one, I left a comment on a blog saying I loved the cover of The Strange Case of Origami Yoda. Or did I say I loved the story's premise? Actually, I don't remember what I said. But what I said isn't important! What is important is that a short time later, I got this in the mail...


Happy this made me, yes!

Totally Raddest ’80s Book Ever!

Last week, I was wasting time between appointments. I was hungry, but I hate eating at restaurants alone with nothing to do (other than eating, of course), so I popped into a pop-culture giftshop to see if they had any fun books to read while I ate.

They had a book called Just Can’t Get Enough: Toys, Games and Other Stuff from the ’80s that Rocked. I’ve always been a sucker for gimmicks and the cover of J.C.G.E. was designed to resemble a Trapper Keeper (including the Vecro flap!) so I had to get it.
I love fun books like this, but they’re often horribly written. Usually someone just comes up with an idea for a novelty book, figures they can trick some rather peculiar people into an impulse-buy (yes, I know what I just said), and they make a few bucks. But not this book! Along with great pictures, the writing is both hilarious and insightful about being a child in that most awesome of decades.

It’s nice to know we live in a world where someone can be in a business meeting, pitch “a ball with a face that’s got snot and pus pouring out of it,” and have someone respond with a resounding, “Yes!”

Almost every time I read a chapter, the authors basically summed up my experience with that toy or book.

Let’s be honest here. We all played with the game Crossbows and Catapults, but nobody actually played the game as it was meant to be played.

The book also includes many interesting tid-bits about where the products came from.

Regarding the creators of Garbage Pail Kids trading cards: While Spiegelman is best known for Maus, his critically acclaimed graphic novel about his parents’ true life experience during the Holocaust, his day job involved deciding whether Richie Retch or Luke Puke was a better name for a green-faced child vomiting up his guts.

I also learned about a game which I never played and which, apparently, none of the girls at school filled me in on. But now that I know about it, it makes me wonder how any girl made it out of the ’80s without being crushingly self-conscious (oh right, very few did).

Regarding Girl Talk: If you chose not to do a dare or answer a question, the punishment was to stick a little red zit sticker on your face and leave it there for the duration of the game. A zit sticker. On your face. As punishment. Hooray for the ’80s!

Yes, I have great memories from the ’80s. That’s where I spent my life between the ages 4 and 13 (with a few months of 14 thrown in). In fact, when I turned 23, JoanMarie threw me a surprise party with an ’80s theme. Everyone showed up downtown at Farmer’s Market all dressed up. Since it was a surprise party, I didn’t think I’d have to wear anything funny because I didn’t know about it ahead of time. But JM brought enough goodies to transform me into…Michael Jackson.

Two Insanely Cool Schools

It began when students at Shorecrest High School made the following video:



Shorecrest then threw down a challenge to nearby Shorewood High School to top them, so Shorewood created this:

(Yes, they filmed the entire thing backwards!)

This is one school rivalry I enthusiastically support!


Check out what the Shorewood clip looked like as it was being filmed by clicking here.

It Is What They Is

So? Whaddaya think of this Peanuts strip?

If you saw it in the newspaper, would you eagerly await the next installment of what happens between Linus and his blanket-hating grandma? Or would you think it was a waste of ink and paper?

Maybe you didn’t like it because you thought comic strips were supposed to make you laugh and this strip didn’t even make you chuckle. Or maybe you did chuckle, but the four panels also spoke to you on a personal level deeper than a punchline.

Maybe you’ve never liked Peanuts so you began reading this one expecting not to like it, and you were right…again. Or maybe this wasn’t your favorite Peanuts strip, but it reminded you of your childhood so you clipped it out and hung it on the fridge.

Personally, I love Peanuts. I love the way it’s drawn. I love the sometimes gentle, sometimes brutal, sometimes joyful, sometimes heartbreaking humor. I love the choice of words. I just love it!

But I also understand why some people don’t love it.

So here’s where I’m going to help some of you authors who’ve asked me for advice on how to deal with “stumbling across” negative things said about your book online. Even though many people love your book, the words of those who don’t are tearing you up inside.

After Thirteen Reasons Why came out, it took me a looooong time to get comfortable with the idea that not everyone was going to appreciate my book the way I thought it should be appreciated. One person may call it “quite possibly the best book I have ever read” and someone else may call it “a waste of my time.” One person may claim the book made her “treat people better and have more respect for myself” while someone else thinks it contains “no moral value whatsoever.” One person may say her “heart goes out” to Hannah while another person owns a heart which “could not feel any empathy towards her.”

Your part of the author/reader conversation ended the moment you turned in your edits. From then on, the only thing that will change about your story will be the people reading it. Their prejudices, their life experiences, and their understanding of the world will frame every single page they read. Every word! As they read each line of your story, that line essentially disappears from your book and moves into their head. (Scary, I know.) Your brain may have written the story, but their brain is going to interpret it based on however their brain is wired at the moment.

And there’s nothing you can do about it.

When you create a piece of art (a book, a painting, a song), not even one person will grasp exactly what you were trying to say. Art is way too personal for that. But when someone really doesn’t grasp what you were trying to say, well, that wasn’t really the person you created it for in the first place. And those people are out there. And they are going to judge your creation. You don’t have to like that fact, but you’ll be much happier if you get comfortable with it. Trust me!

Good reviews and good press are like security blankets. We shouldn’t really need those pieces of cloth to feel secure. The art is done. It is what it is. It is what everyone else thinks it is. Yes, it’s fine and wonderful to cuddle up with a security blanket sometimes. But this is a yin and yang world. The blanket-haters need to be out there, too. For some reason, taking your blanket makes them feel like they accomplished something.

But they didn’t. You did.

Discuss Amongst Yourselves (and I'll listen in)

On Thursday, I attended the monthly book discussion hosted by the Friends of Los Osos Library. In the past, they've discussed the likes of Shakespeare and Dickens. This time, they discussed...me!

For an hour-and-a-half, I listened in on some great analysis of scenes and characters from Thirteen Reasons Why. They also discussed the issue of suicide from teen versus adult perspectives. It was fun to hear their answers to questions asked by the moderator, and then get to chat about where certain ideas came from.

The moderator, Sue McGinty, is sitting closest to the camera.
She was a member of S.L.O.W. for Children,
mentioned in my acknowledgments page,
and helped critique an early draft of the beginning of my book.

If you haven't read 13RW and don't want a couple of important scenes spoiled, turn away right now!!! Better yet, go buy yourself a copy (and one for a friend), read it, then come back and read what I'm about to say.

The group was discussing the scene between Clay and Hannah in the bedroom. Was there anything Clay could have done differently, or would Hannah just keep insisting that he leave the room? If he had stayed, would Hannah still be alive?

Then one member of the discussion pointed something out. If Clay had stayed, and if the stop sign still got knocked down, Clay may not have been there when the elderly man needed help after the car crash. Maybe no one would have run to the man's house to tell his wife, who had a bad heart, that he was okay. If Clay had stayed in the bedroom, the elderly woman may have had a heart attack. So there were possibly two lives in the balance at that moment.

"Everything...affects everything."

In a book with so many what-ifs, that's definitely not one I had considered.

But from here on out, I'm telling everyone I did it on purpose!

I Can Almost Smell The Buttered Popcorn

This latest collection of fan-made trailers for Thirteen Reasons Why is one of my faves. Each trailer is very well done, but gets their vision across with very different types of video storytelling. We've got the Sims, a great mix of graphics and text, some wonderful original footage, then a mash-up of previously shot clips.









And I can't wait to see what these 13RW fans have cooked up.

One More State!

Thirteen Reasons Why recently won New Jersey's Garden State Book Award in the teen (grades 9-12) category. These state awards are my favorite because they're voted on by actual teens.

So let's tally this up. New Jersey holds 15 electoral college votes. Thirteen Reasons Why previously won teen book awards in Florida, Kansas, and Kentucky (27, 6, and 8 votes). In 2012, I'll be old enough to run for President...finally! If I can keep the teens in that state on my side just a couple more years, and since many of them will be able to cast their first votes by then, I could potentially have a chance at 56 electoral votes. Then I'd only need 214 more to win.

Thank you, New Jersey!!!

Okay, time to start preparing my campaign slogan.

We All Scream for...FREE BOOKS

The winner of Suzanne Young's The Naughty List and Lauren Oliver's Before I Fall is...

Missy Brewer

(her favorite ice cream is strawberry cheesecake)

You were chosen, thanks to the good people at random.org, to receive Advance Reader's Copies of these two books--plus a TNL postcard, bookmark, and sticker, as well as Ms. Oliver's autograph.

Congratulations, Missy!!! And don't be surprised if you find a few Thirteen Reasons Why bookmarks coming your way, too.

For the rest of you, thanks for entering. You've given me many new types of ice cream to try, and I'm sure they'll all be delicious. Except for vanilla ice cream mixed with...raw green onions???

Naughty Before I Fall

Raise your hand if you'd like to win some free books?

Wow! Okay, I didn't expect everyone to raise a hand, but that's great! I love enthusiasm.

This is a contest to win Advance Reader's Copies of two new books which have been getting a lot of buzz. The contest entry info is at the end of this post, but first, here's what you'll be winning:

Suzanne Young's The Naughty List was released last week and is the first in an extremely fun series. Not only will you receive the ARC (which is a collector's item now that the book is out), you'll also get three rare Naughty List items: a postcard, a bookmark, and a sticker. Yes, a sticker! After you read the ARC, you may still want to buy an official copy of the book so you can check out the acknowledgments page. There, you'll notice that a very recognizable name has been mentioned (at least, it's recognizable if you've ever checked out this blog).

Description of The Naughty List:

As if being a purrfect cheerleader isn’t enough responsibility! Tessa Crimson’s the sweet and spunky leader of the SOS (Society of Smitten Kittens), a cheer squad-turned-spy society dedicated to bringing dastardly boyfriends to justice, one cheater at a time. Boyfriend-busting wouldn’t be so bad . . . except that so far, every suspect on the Naughty List has been proven 100% guilty!

When Tessa’s own boyfriend shows up on the List, she turns her sleuthing skills on him. Is Aiden just as naughty as all the rest, or will Tessa’s sneaky ways end in catastrophe?

The Naughty List. Is your boyfriend on it?

Lauren Oliver's Before I Fall comes out March 2nd and is going to make my life so much easier. When people say they liked my book and are looking for a similar reading experience, I always toss out way too many ideas. Now I can just say, "If you liked Thirteen Reasons Why, you definitely have to check out Before I Fall." Your free ARC, should you win it, comes signed by Ms. Oliver!

Description of Before I Fall:

What if you had only one day to live? What would you do? Who would you kiss? And how far would you go to save your own life?

Samantha Kingston has it all: the world's most crush-worthy boyfriend, three amazing best friends, and first pick of everything at Thomas Jefferson High—from the best table in the cafeteria to the choicest parking spot. Friday, February 12, should be just another day in her charmed life.

Instead, it turns out to be her last.

Then she gets a second chance. Seven chances, in fact. Reliving her last day during one miraculous week, she will untangle the mystery surrounding her death—and discover the true value of everything she is in danger of losing.

To enter this contest, simply leave your name and your favorite type of ice cream in the comments section of this post by Wednesday, February 10 at 11:59pm PST. One name will be chosen at random, so check back on Thursday to see if you've won! (If you don't like ice cream, just pretend you love Ben & Jerry's Chubby Hubby and you'll stay on my good side.)

UPDATE
***THE CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED***

I'm Still Here

Forgive me, it's been a little over a week since my last post. Do I have a good reason for such tardiness?

Of course I do!

Let's see...

Well, I did spend the weekend at a men's retreat. That was a very inspirational couple of days and accounts for about forty-eight hours of my time. I met some great people there, went on some nice hikes, and...oh!...I got to sleep on top of a bunkbed for the first time in probably 25 years!!!

I watched the two-part season premiere of Lost, so that's where another three hours went. It would've been just two hours, but they started with a one hour special to remind everyone of what occurred the previous five seasons. And since this is Lost we're talking about, the refresher was a good idea since there's always so much going on and it's easy to get...well...lost. (The title of that show works on so many levels!)

What else...what else...

I made it to the gym a few times. Had the neighbors over for dinner (finally). Did the dishes. Did some laundry. Cleaned the toilets. Wait, no, I haven't cleaned the toilets yet.

Oops.

Okay, I'm out of excuses. I should've posted something by now and I'm sorry.

But stay tuned, because there's a lot coming up!

I'll tell you about a non-literary side-project that's all finished and ready to rock! I'll hold a contest to give away some great reading material. And if I get around to cleaning the toilets, I will probably just keep it to myself.

All About Me...at 9 1/2

While cleaning out my writing room today, I came across a Creative Writing assignment...from 1985!


For this fourth grade assignment, Mrs. Pryor assigned each letter a word, and then we wrote something about ourselves based on each word.


I obviously had a crush on her.


I still hate going to bed. In fact, I think I'll stay up and post this at 10:30pm...on a weeknight!


In a few years, he's going to love loud & screeching rock & roll noise.


Notice that the apostrophe is right above the S. I still do that!


Just yesterday, I was looking at the bright green hills and thick clouds, wishing I could fly around them.


And now, I'm posting an assignment from that year on my blog.

9 1/2 year old me: "What in the world is a blog???"

Two Happy Clips (totally unrelated)

Earlier this week, as I hope you all know, the ALA gave out its book awards. I woke up at 4am to hear the winners announced live and was very pleased by the selections. As far as the books I'd never heard about (which always happens with these things), I am now happy to know about them!

I didn't post anything on my blog following the announcements because I didn't feel there was anything I could add to the conversation...and I was just too dang busy reading what everyone else had to say!

But today I found this clip, and I wanted to share it with any of you who haven't seen it. I was just so moved by how happy (and maybe slightly dazed by the whirlwind) Rebecca Stead and Jerry Pinkney looked during their Today Show visit. This was taped just one day after they received The Big News. Be prepared to share in their joy!

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

And now, just because this trailer for an upcoming movie has my still hyperactive inner '80s-child flipping out, I present to you...

THE A-TEAM

King o' The Road

Today I finished reading the latest issue of Entertainment Weekly. Later in the day, while reading The New York Times, something odd caught my eye...

As mentioned in a previous post, I absolutely love Stephen King’s EW column, “The Pop of King”. His latest column is called Decoding Movie Blurbs. He translates what it really means when an ad claims a movie is “Delightfully funny!” or “Fun for the whole family!”

Uncle Stevie also offers this translation:

“One of the best films of the year!” This is the Mother of All Blurbs, most commonly sighted on TV and in newspapers around awards season. TRANSLATION: “It’s not.”

Got it!

But now check out this ad from The New York Times:

(Yes, it is awards season.)

Several times, I have purchased c.d.s, read books, and seen movies based on Mr. King’s recommendations. And he’s been right every time!

But now...which Uncle Stevie do I believe?

Worth 3,000 Words...At Least!

Eventually, a paperback edition of Thirteen Reasons Why will come out. One day. At least, that's what I'm told. I just don't know when. But when it does, it'll include a brand new author photo!

Now, I love my previous author photo. It has served me well. But I don't have hairs on my chinny-chin-chin anymore (there are also a few less on my scalpy-scalp-scalp), and I don't want to be one of those authors who makes an appearance and you immediately see everyone turn to the author photo in their book. You know they're thinking, "When was this photo taken?"

Several months ago, I went down to the UCLA campus with my friend, Rita Crayon Huang. Rita is a photographer as well as an up-and-coming children's book star, which is why I thought it'd be cool to ask her to take my photos. So we wandered around the campus looking for nice settings with good lighting. Apparently, it's all about the lighting! We took hundreds of pics and I chose three that I liked, each to be used for various functions.

The first photo below will appear in black-and-white, taking up the entire inside of the back cover in the paperback...when there is a paperback. The other photos will be used for interviews and to promote author appearances.

So? Whatcha think?






Thanks for the great photos, Rita! I am very proud to have them out there representing me.

And for any of you California authors or illustrators looking to have some photos taken, definitely contact Rita. She comes highly recommended.

UniBro

This is way too awesome to not tell you about.

Last week, my bro-in-law was in New Zealand attending Unicon XV -- the Unicycle World Championships and Convention. Corbin is now the unicycle marathon world champion!

Congratulations, Corbin!!!

He was much more than a little green slab of clay

Gumby!
He was once a little green slab of clay.
Gumby!
You should see what Gumby can do today.
Gumby!
He can walk into any book, with his pony pal Pokey, too.
If you've got a heart then Gumby's a part of you.

In case you haven't heard, Art Clokey died Friday morning. Mr. Clokey created Gumby, one of my favorite childhood cartoons. His animation style had such an influence on me, I wanted to be a claymation animator for a while. In fact, for a seventh grade art project, I created a short claymation cartoon featuring a magician who pulled a rabbit out of his hat then turned the wand on himself to make himself disappear. One day I'll digitize that film and show it you. (Yes, I used old school 8mm film, which you edited by splicing the film apart and then taping it back together. Very awesome!)

Several years ago, I had the chance to meet Mr. Clokey in person because he was a friend of a friend. I was so nervous -- starstruck! -- that I couldn't find the courage to ask for a photo.

But I did bring my Gumby for him to sign.


My signed Gumby is a permanent fixture on my writing desk, leaning against the foreign editions of Thirteen Reasons Why, with his arm around the topper of my wedding cake.