Take a Bow Sneak Peek Week!!

Hello all! I'm SO excited for Take a Bow to finally be out. A little about the book: Take a Bow follows four students at the (fictional) New York City School of the Creative and Performing Arts. The book opens up as each student auditions for CPA then jumps ahead to Senior Year. I canNOT wait for you to meet Carter, Sophie, Ethan, and Emme. Seriously, I can't wait. And I'm happy to report that you don't have to wait until April 1-ish* to meet them!

I've teamed up with four wonderful sites - Mundie Moms, Novel Novice, Eve's Fan Garden, and PageTurners - for Take a Bow Sneak Peek Week. Starting Monday, February 27th, you'll get a chance to read the opening auditions of each character. The sites will have a special intro from me, the excerpt, and we'll even be doing Take a Bow giveaways! Here's the schedule:

Monday, February 27: CARTER - Mundie Moms

Tuesday, February 28: SOPHIE - Novel Novice

Wednesday, February 29: ETHAN - Eve's Fan Garden

Thursday, March 1: EMME - PageTurners 

THEN! On Friday, March 2nd, I'll be posting an excerpt from senior year on my blog. So by the end of the week, you'll have access to the first 30 pages of Take a Bow! (HUGE thanks to my publisher, Point/Scholastic, for letting us do this!)

I'm so proud of this book and am excited to share this special preview with all of you. I got an advance copy of the finished book and it's gorgeous (I'm allowed to say stuff like that because I have nothing to do with the design or production!). And as you can tell, it's love.

So now you have only a week to wait to start reading the beginning of the book! I hope you all enjoy Take a Bow Sneak Peek Week!

XO, Elizabeth

*Take a Bow does not have a "strict" on-sale date, so while we are saying that the pub date is April 1st, you'll most likely start seeing it in-stores late March. Hooray!

My January Reads

Happy February! (How did it get to be February?!?!?)

My New Year's Resolution is to read 50 books this year, about a book a week. So how did I do in January? Um, okay... I read three books! Not as much as I was hoping, but I was on a pretty serious deadline for two weeks so I wasn't able to read during that period. When I spend 10-12 hours in front of the computer working, all I want to do when I'm done is stare at a TV and turn into a zombie.

Without further ado, my January reads:

1) Twenties Girl by Sophie Kinsella - Sophie Kinsella is one of my favorite adult "chick lit" authors. Some fun facts: Penny's last name in The Lonely Hearts Club was inspired by the character of Rebecca Bloomwood in Sophie's Shopaholic series (which is also why Mrs. Bloom's first name is Becky). I went to one of Sophie's signings last year for Mini Shopaholic and picked up this book as well. It was so much fun. Basic premise: Lara is haunted by the ghost of her great-aunt Sadie, who makes Lara find her missing necklace before she can properly "rest in peace." The duo continually spar over clothes, guys, family - they don't see eye to eye on anything! It's parts comedy, romance, mystery, and family drama. Highly recommend!

2) Pretty Monsters by Kelly Link - This was my book group's January read. It's a collection of nine short stories. All the stories were very clever and extremely diverse. You have one where a guy accidentally digs up the wrong grave, another where a father and son are stuck in quarantine, then there's one with a magical handbag that contains an entire village inside it. I found myself wanting more at the end of most of the stories, which I think is a test of a great story!

3) Spirit Junkie by Gabrielle Bernstein - I went to a lecture given by Gabby on 11/11/11. I really believe in putting good intentions/dreams out into the universe. But sometimes I get caught up in the every day that I forget to take time out for myself to reflect. This book was a nice reminder to not give into fear, let go and forgive, not be afraid to ask for help, and to listen.

I'm not going to speculate on the books that I'm going to read this month. I already have five books set aside, but you never know what's going to happen! I'm going to Puerto Rico next week and plan on sitting by the pool and do nothing but read and relax for a few days so I've got my fingers crossed for lots of reading this month. Unless I'm hit with another deadline. Which is bound to happen sometime soon (let's just hope it's not when I'm on the beach!) 

That's it for my list. Have you read any good books this month?

XO, Elizabeth

Very Superstitious or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Listened to the Music

Hello everybody!

For those of you who have younger siblings, please be careful what you tell your far-too-impressionable siblings because seemingly innocent fibs can have lasting effects. Case in point: I saw Nada Surf in concert on Tuesday night, the same day their new album, The Stars Are Indifferent to Astronomy, was released. I pre-ordered the album, but was scared to listen to it on Tuesday. Why? you may ask. Don't you know, it's bad luck to listen to a band on the same day you're seeing them live.

Say what?

Um, yes. See, my older sisters took me to two my first two concerts, both in Milwaukee, which is about two hours away from where I grew up. And, for some reason, neither wanted to listen to Debbie Gibson and New Kids on the Block for the entire ride. So they decided to tell their sweet, naive youngest sister that it was bad luck to listen to those acts on the way to the concert. In fact, it was bad luck to listen to them that day at all. 

And I fell for it. Granted, I was twelve and going to my first concert and convinced that Joey McIntyre was going to fall in love with me, so best to not tempt fate.

But here we are all these years later...and I still don't like to do it. Even though I now know why they told me that. And I know it's stupid. I really do, but what if?

So then I had the Nada Surf dilemma, I wanted to hear some of the new album before the concert, but would I be okay if I did? Then I thought, Enough is enough, you know better, don't you? DON'T YOU?  So that morning, I downloaded the album (LEGALLY, paid for it and everything!) and listened...and nothing happened! My day went really well, the concert was phenomenal. The only bad thing was this super tall guy who decided to stand RIGHT in front of me, like six inches in front of me. I kept having to move over and then he moved over. That was annoying, but honestly, that was it. Tall guys at concerts are ALWAYS annoying!

So Eileen and Meg, thanks for the emotional scars, but I have finally accepted the fact that nothing bad will happen if you listen to the band you're about to see. At least, I think I'm finally over it. 

And to you older siblings out there, play nice! Your little sister or brother may one day be a published author and have the power to unfairly portray you in a work of fiction (although I'd never do that...but don't push me!).

XO, Elizabeth

P.S. - For those who are interested in Nada Surf (and you should be!), the concert I saw on Tuesday night at the Bowery Ballroom in NYC is online, you can watch it here. You won't see me though, as I was in the back apparently hiding behind a super tall and rude guy.

Viva la Resolution!

Happy 2012, everybody! I have a good feeling about this year, I just know it! First, Take a Bow will finally be out in the world. Second, um, do I really need another reason? Me thinks not.

Now that we've counted down to 2012, today starts the inevitable New Years Resolutions. Although I always start my resolutions on January 2nd. Who seriously wants to start exercising more on the 1st? I'm still tired from last night. I'm not doing the basic "eat better and exercise more" resolution this year, although I always try to do that. And I'm pretty happy that I was able to stick to last year's resolution of writing more thank you letters, actual handwritten letters.

This year I'm going to do something that'll help me with my increasingly stressful "to-read" pile that keeps growing and growing. My resolution is to read about a book a week: 50 books in 2012. I'm sure most people are thinking, "That's not hard, I read a hundred books a year!" Congrats to you! This, however, would be a big deal for me. I'm always woefully behind (I just finished The Help in October and over Christmas break finally read The Devil Wears Prada). 

So my goal is a book a week. And, to make sure I'm sticking to it, I'm going to blog each month about the books that I've read so I can share them with you. I might even do a giveaway or two, you never know!

I've already got my books lined up for this month. First I need to finish Sophie Kinsella's Twenties Girl that I started reading on the plane right home, then Spirit Junkie by Gabrielle Bernstein (figured it'd be a good way to start off the new year), Beauty Queens by Libba Bray (told you I'm far behind), The Daughter of Smoke & Bone by Laini Taylor, and my book club book, which I can't seem to remember what it is, which may be a problem... Of course I reserve the right to change this up, but these are the books I'm really hoping I get to this month. Oh my goodness, how on earth did it get to be January 2012?

So that's what I'm doing. Any good resolutions you're starting? Any books you recommend I add to my woefully overflowing pile?

May your 2012 be filled with joy and sparkle!

XO, Elizabeth