IT’S TRUE! THE LONELY HEARTS CLUB SEQUEL IS COMING! HOORAY!

Dear readers, I’m beyond excited that I can finally shout it from the rooftops: I'M WRITING A SEQUEL TO THE LONELY HEARTS CLUBS!!! It was announced today in Publishers Weekly Children’s Bookshelf:

David Levithan at Scholastic has purchased North American rights to Elizabeth Eulberg's We Can Work It Out, a sequel to The Lonely Hearts Club. In addition, Eulberg will write three short stories about Penny Lane Bloom to be released online prior to the sequel, in which Penny Lane must balance her role as leader of The Lonely Hearts Club with having a boyfriend – with the added complications of her Beatles-obsessed parents trying to take over her sister's wedding and a run-in with the ex that broke her heart. Publication is planned for spring 2015; Rosemary Stimola at Stimola Literary Studio brokered the deal.  

For months I’ve had to bite my tongue and say things like, “Well hopefully someday I’ll write the sequel…” when in fact I’ve been working on it! Now I don’t have to hide this awesome news anymore. YAY!

But I also know this announcement might raise some questions, so I’m going to do my best to answer them.

Why do we have to wait until Spring 2015? That’s so far off!

Yes, it is. But I’m still writing the book. I’ve been waiting years to be able to tell the continuing story of Penny Lane Bloom and her Lonely Hearts Club so I want to take my time writing the book that my wonderful readers deserve. Plus, you don’t have to wait that long for another book by me: Better Off Friends is coming February 25^th!

Three short stories? What does that mean? What will they be about?

I’m writing three original short stories that will be published electronically FOR FREE prior to the release of We Can Work it Out. I can’t say much about the stories yet (since I haven’t written them!), but will announce more details when I can.

I live outside the US, when will I get to read We Can Work it Out and the short stories?

Here’s the short answer: I don’t know.

Here’s the long answer: I’m still writing the book. This is basically how foreign releases work: The author writes the book and works with her editor, then the book is shared with foreign publishers who decide if they want to publish the book and when it will be published. I’m really hoping the foreign publishers of The Lonely Hearts Club will want We Can Work it Out (and the short stories), but it isn’t up to me. As soon as I have information on foreign release dates, I’ll share it, but it won’t be for awhile as I’m still writing the book (do you see a theme here?). 

BUT I WANT IT NOW.

I know. But don’t forget about BETTER OFF FRIENDS! Which has an awesome new-ish cover! (Foreign release dates for Better Off Friends to be announced when I get them, but it will be out in Spanish and German languages with others hopefully to follow.)

That’s all I can really say on THE LONELY HEARTS CLUB SEQUEL at this point. There’ll be much more information closer to the release date.

I do want to thank all of you who have asked me about a sequel over the years. It’s been a dream of mine to write it, and I wouldn’t be able to do it without the support you’ve given me and Penny Lane these past few years. Thank you for wanting me to write more – I’ve got the best job in the world and it’s because of readers like you.

Now back to writing We Can Work it Out! Believe me when I say Penny needs my help…

XOXO, Elizabeth

BETTER OFF FRIENDS cover!!

Hello all! I'm beyond excited to share with you the awesome cover for BETTER OFF FRIENDS* (coming February 25, 2014 - mark your calendars!).

AND! Here's the description of the book (from Point/Scholastic):

For Macallan and Levi, it was friends at first sight. Everyone says guys and girls can't be just friends, but these two are. They hang out after school, share tons of inside jokes, their families are super close, and Levi even starts dating one of Macallan's friends. They are platonic and happy that way.

Eventually they realize they're best friends -- which wouldn't be so bad if they didn't keep getting in each other's way. Guys won't ask Macallan out because they think she's with Levi, and Levi spends too much time joking around with Macallan, and maybe not enough time with his date. They can't help but wonder . . . are they more than friends or are they better off without making it even more complicated?

From romantic comedy superstar Elizabeth Eulberg comes a fresh, fun examination of a question for the ages: Can guys and girls ever really be just friends? Or are they always one fight away from not speaking again -- and one kiss away from true love?

I CANNOT wait for this book to be out. While I'm proud of all my books, I'm especially proud of this one. My editor thinks it's my best yet, and I kinda trust his opinion, being David Levithan and all... 

And to my lovely foreign language readers, I'm happy to report that I've already signed contracts for BETTER OFF FRIENDS to come out in GERMAN and SPANISH, with hopefully more languages to follow. While I don't have any information on when the book will be out in Germany, Spain, and Latin America, I promise to share when I do!

Oh, and I am going to require you all to now only refer to me as "romantic comedy superstar Elizabeth Eulberg" - Scholastic has declared it and it shall be so. Just like Sir Paul McCartney or Dame Helen Mirren. KIDDING!

I hope everybody enjoys the last dwindling days of summer (for those who haven't gone back to school yet). I'm sending you all lots of love. Can it be February 25th already?

XOXO, Elizabeth

*I updated this post to show the new, final cover - hope you love it!

My 2013 reads so far!

Hello everybody! My apologies for being MIA on my blog. That usually means that I'm busy traveling or writing. I hope people will be happy to learn that it's the latter. I've been busy working on two different books (that's in addition to Better Off Friends which is coming in March 2014). One of the books is something that I've been wanting to write for a long time, so I'm doing that during my "free time" and not sure what will come of it. The other book is one that I'm pretty much bursting at the seams to tell you all about, but unfortunately I have to wait on that... 

I've also been busy reading some great books. As those of you who follow my blog may remember, I did a reading challenge last year. I didn't make a resolution to read fifty books again, but did decide to keep track just for fun. 

I did want to single out a few books. There are two books on writing that I read to help me with the one project that's very different from what I've done in the past: See Jane Write and Save the Cat. I've never read any "craft" books before and both were extraordinarily helpful. Save the Cat basically changed how I approached this one story. There's a "beat sheet" used in the book and I used that to replot the book and it helped make it so much better (I hope!). I highly recommend it to anybody out there who is stuck plot-wise or just needs to re-focus.

Also, there are two books on this list that haven't come out yet. Two Boys Kissing, by my dear friend and editor David Levithan, is just as inspiring and beautiful as you'd expect his books to be. And readers with a good eye will see why I FREAKED OUT in public while reading this one scene. That's all I'll say, for now. The other book is by debut author Emery Lord, Open Road Summer. I was asked to read this for a possible blurb, and I absolutely loved it and was honored to do so. Put this author and book on your radar now!

So below are the twenty books that I've read so far. I'm actually not that far away from where I was last year so I might just make it to fifty yet. Who knows! Crazier things have happened, like me trying to write two books at once!

1. Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl*
2. Beauty Queens by Libba Bray
3. Gorgeous by Paul Rudnick
4. The Summer Prince by Alaya Dawn Johnson
5. City of Bones by Cassandra Clare*
6. Just One Day by Gayle Foreman
7. Captain Underpants and the Revolting Revenge of the Radioactive Robo-Boxers by Dav Piley
8. Out of the Easy by Ruta Sepetys
9. All You Never Wanted by Adele Griffin
10. See Jane Write: A Girl's Guide to Writing Chick Lit by Sarah Mlynowski and Farrin Jacobs
11. Save the Cat by Blake Snyder
12. Invisibility by Andrea Cremer and David Levithan
13. Bond Girl by Erin Duffy
14. Legend by Marie Lu*
15. Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead by Sheryl Sandberg
16. Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell
17. Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple
18. From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by EL Konigsburg*
19. Open Road Summer by Emery Lord (coming April 15, 2014)
20. Two Boys Kissing by David Levithan (coming August 27, 2013)

 *denotes book club book

I'm currently reading Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walters, then I have to debate between my insanely huge to-read pile. What's on your to-read list?

XOXO, Elizabeth

Revenge of the Girl with the Great Personality e-cards!

Hello readers! I hope your spring is starting off on a shiny new track. I've been a bit under the weather since I got back from my vacation in Paris and London, but hey, I got to go to Paris and London so no complaints here!

As you may have seen on Twitter and Facebook, my publisher did these fabulous e-cards for Revenge of the Girl with the Great Personality. I thought I'd put them all up in one place for you to see (and share - feel free to copy and put up wherever!). 

Non-Photogenic

Popularity

Pretty Girls

Dating Guide

(I wouldn't mind if there was a guide for Clueless Adult Girls!)

And my personal favorite (and my favorite chapter header):

Primpin'

Oh how much I laughed when I came up with that one. I crack myself up sometimes!

That's it for now! Hope you enjoy the e-cards (and the book!). 

XOXO, Elizabeth