Guess who managed to leave her keys in her car this morning while at the allergist's office?

Yeah, that's right.

Luckily for me, I hadn't LOCKED THE DOORS.

Talk about embarassing, and thank goodness my car is so old and hideous-looking (my husband claims it's held together by dirt and bumper stickers, and he's probably, oh, 80% right*) that no one would ever want to steal it.

And before I head off to put a note in my car (I'm thinking "KEYS!" should do it), here are a few links...

Jay Lake has a great post about getting your first book contract and how it's "...only the very beginning of a lengthy and complex process that hopefully lasts the rest of one's life. It's not the end game, it's the first rung of an entirely new set of ladders." (Be sure to read the comments too!)

Agent Jennifer Jackson offers her take on Jay Lake's post--again, there's some great stuff here.

Agent Kristin Nelson talks about the publishing industury, deals, and time

If you're a teenage writer, be sure to check out the 2008 PUSH Novel contest!

*okay. He's 95% right.

As some of you might know, last year I ran a contest when Bloom came out, and I gave away an iPod and a bunch of bookstore gift certificates. I'd like to do something similar for Perfect You, but I'm not sure what the prizes should be.

So, I figured who better to ask than you? What kind of prizes do you like to see in contests that authors run?

Tell me what YOU'D like to see in a contest, and you could get the young adult novel of your choice (it just has to be in print, and under $20 US) for free! Just comment (or email me at elizabeth at elizabethwrites dot com) with your thoughts about contests--and the book you'd like to have--by midnight EST on Friday, January 25th, and then I'll draw four names at random, and each of those four people will get the book they want! Though you can only reply once, you can reply no matter where you live (I will ship books overseas), or if you've won something from me in the past.

And congrats to last week's winners: Morgan, Erin, Danielle, and Lindsay!

Links:

David Louis Edelman blogs about writing novels in a two-part series over at Deep Genre

Trashionista reviews Bloom

The American Library Association recently announced its Young Adult Library Services Association awards--including the Printz and the Best Books for Young Adults, and I'm happy (and shocked!) to say that Bloom has been named a Popular Paperback Pick for 2008!

(yay!!)

Okay, sorry, had to get that out of my system. Now, how about some links...

Jennifer Donnelly, author of A Northern Light, The Tea Rose, and The Winter Rose (all great reads--I think A Northern Light is one of the best historical YAs ever) talks about her first book sale. It's a truly lovely story, and powerfully inspiring to boot.

The Rejecter talks about second book worries -- as someone who has their second book coming out this year, this one was very interesting reading for me.

Ditto for Kit Whitfield's post on Secondbookitis (I also enjoyed Whitfield's post on "the enemy within," or as I like to call it, my internal "you suck!"-o-meter)

And finally, Jeff VanderMeer wrote a novel in two months. Here's how he did it.

I got the idea for this week's contest from this morning's extremely bizarre weather. One minute, it's clear and sunny and the next--bam! Snowing so hard the snow is actually coming down *sideways* (I know!)

Anyway, it got me thinking, and I'm wondering--what do you like better, snow or sun? (I vote for snow myself, but that's because I a. sunburn so easily and b. don't like sweating)

So let me know what you prefer--sunny skies, or loads of snow?--by commenting here, or by sending me an email (elizabeth at elizabethwrites dot com) Replies must be in by midnight EST on Friday, January 18th, and then I'll draw four names at random and send each of those four people a book! Though you can only reply once, you can reply no matter where you live (I will ship books overseas), or if you've won something from me in the past.

Books I'll be giving away are: The Sweet Far Thing by Libba Bray, Does Snogging Count as Exercise? by Helen Salter, Before, After, and Somebody in Between by Jeannine Garsee, and I Heart You, You Haunt Me by Lisa Schroeder.

In other news, I love my husband, but I DO NOT love the cold he's given me. It's this horrible thing where I don't have any really bad symptoms, and yet I feel like complete rubbish.

However, I do have a couple of interesting links to share before I toddle off to watch the snow fall:

Go here to find out all sorts of fascinating information on Publishers Weekly review process. Total. Must. Read.

Can't wait for Sarah Dessen's latest, Lock and Key? Well, Amazon is running one of their little "buy together" things with her book and Perfect You--as this is undoubtedly the ONLY time my name will ever be linked to Sarah Dessen, one of the undisputed masters of the YA genre, and--well, could you pass up mentioning this??? (Okay, maybe you could. But I can't!! Which is probably what you expect from someone who uses !!! like water)

And now I really am off to watch the snow fall...and naturally, it's slowed to a trickle. Figures! Fickle weather. Now I know why no one blogs about it. (Well, that and most people think weather is boring. Not me--I mean, take one look at a tornado and believe me, weather is no longer boring EVER AGAIN)

P.S. Congrats to last week's contest winners: Leighanna, Renee, Diamond, and Sarah!

file under: nap, needed

This morning, I went to brush my teeth, and realized I put toothpaste on a USB drive.

Yes, for real.

Obviously, I've got it going on in spades today! (Thankfully, the USB drive is okay. And I did manage to brush my teeth with an actual toothbrush. But still.)

Last week I talked about how I was asked to list my favorite books of 2007 for Bildungsroman, and it got me thinking...and now I want to know what *your* favorite books of 2007 were!

You can tell me all about the books you loved by commenting here, or by sending me an email (elizabeth at elizabethwrites dot com) Replies must be in by midnight EST on Friday, January 11th, and then I'll draw four names at random and send each of those four people a book! Though you can only reply once, you can reply no matter where you live (I will ship books overseas), or if you've won something from me in the past.

Books I'll be giving away are: Beastly by Alex Flinn, Hacking Harvard by Robin Wasserman, Go Figure by Jo Edwards, and Hot Lunch by Alex Bradley

And congrats to last week's contest winners: Jordyn, Mary, Chelsea, and Maryam!

Today I want to talk about the newest love in my life:

My electric toothbrush.

I'm not kidding. I got it over the holidays, and you would have thought I'd been given license to run around in one of Amazon.com's warehouses picking out all the books I want when I opened it. (confession: that is my ultimate dream present. Me in a warehouse full of books? You'd never get me to come out!)

But it's so great! It's got a timer, so you have to brush your teeth for a full two minutes before it shuts itself off, and it's got some sort of race car motor in it, so when I'm done brushing my teeth, I actually have that "just got out of the dentist super clean teeth" feeling. You know the one I'm talking about. And I get to have it without the extended session with that metal scraper thing!

My husband finds my new love a bit strange, but then he never has to spend 3/4 of his dental appointment time getting his teeth scraped. (He just gets cavities. I swear half his teeth are just fillings at this point.)

Now that it's 2008, I've updated my site a little bit, and you can read more about my next novel, Perfect You, which I'm thrilled to say was blurbed by Melissa de la Cruz and Susane Colsanti. I have been waiting *forever* to share that news, and now that I can, all I can say is YAY!!!! And keep an eye open for a contest where you can win awesome books by both authors.

I also have some links to share:

Elizabeth Bear talks about her writing "job" and plans for the future--Bear is one of the few authors out there who blogs regularly and openly about her writing process--and her writing plans/goals.

Sarah Monette follows up on her recent Storytellers Unplugged post about genre conventions with this wonderfully written account of how she realized she had to take them out of her novel in progress

Bildungsroman asked twenty young adult authors to name their favorite books of 2007. Participants include Deb Caletti, E. Lockhart, and more, including yours truly.

Justine Larbalestier has a fantastic post about revision -- this one is a print-and-save must read, and goes into my list of essential on-line writing essays

Bildungsroman reviews Perfect You

Happy New Year! and a contest!

Well, 2008 is here (yay!) and I'd love to hear all about your resolutions! I only have one, and that's to try and worry less. We'll see how I do (she says, worrying. ha!)

Anyway, what do you want to accomplish this year? Tell me your resolutions, either by commenting here (make sure you leave me a way to contact you) or by sending me an email at elizabeth at elizabethwrites dot com, and you could win a free book!

I'll be taking comments and emails up until 9 AM EST tomorrow, the 2nd, and then I'll draw four names at random and send each of those four people a book! Though you can only reply once, you can reply no matter where you live (I will ship books overseas), or if you've won something from me in the past.

Books I'll be giving away are: The Luxe by Anna Godbersen, Dramarama by E Lockhart, The Morning Gift by Eva Ibbotson, and Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin

Happy New Year!!