News

Mar

Celebration

Hi! OMG. Thank you all so, so much for being excited for me and BORN WICKED. Thank you doesn’t seem like nearly enough. I feel very grateful to have such amazing friends and to be part of this wonderful, welcoming YA writing community. To celebrate, I’d like to have a giveaway: 1st prize: a dozen cupcakes from Georgetown Cupcake 2nd prize: a bouquet of your favorite flowers from FTD 3rd prize: any book of your choice that you’ve been coveting from Amazon (’cause I have free shipping through Amazon Prime) The method to my madness: In BORN WICKED, Cate finds herself attracted to the new gardener. There’s a scene where she tells him she wants to find out all the little things about him: what his favorite flower is, his favorite food, his favorite book. All you have to do is leave me a comment telling me what your favorite flower,...

Mar

Cramazing Good News Revealed

Jessica

So, almost three weeks ago, THIS happened. Putnam Kids Ponies Up for YA Debut In a high six-figure world rights deal, Arianne Lewin, executive editor at G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers, bought three books by Jessica Spotswood, including the debut novel Born Wicked (formerly called Thrice Blessed). Agent Jim McCarthy at Dystel & Goderich brokered the deal for Spotswood. Born Wicked, set in what the publisher calls “a world of tea parties, engagements, and elegant dresses,” follows the Cahill sisters, a trio of teen witches who must hide their powers in order to save themselves from being shipped off to prison or a mental ward. Spotswood, who is from a small Pennsylvania town, lives in Washington, D.C. That’s the book formerly known as THRICE BLESSED. My most favorite thing I’ve written. I’m still in shock. Happy, happy shock. I love this book so much. It was an absolute...

Mar

Old Stories

Jessica

What stories do you tell about yourself that aren’t true anymore? I’m bad at traveling. That’s one of mine. The last time I took the Meyers-Briggs test, I was about as J as you could be. Schedules, familiar routines, lists: I like them. But with travel, there’s always the unknown factor. No matter how much you plan, a certain amount of spontaneity is necessary. It used to terrify me. School trips to Europe. Vacations with my family. Band trips to Disney World. Even post-college vacas with the Bril Playwright Husband (then Reporter Boyfriend). It all made me so, so anxious. Which lead, charmingly, to upset stomachs and minor panic attacks, and the warring desires to schedule every minute or just stay in the hotel and take a nap. Of course, I was also dealing with undiagnosed anxiety. And I was thirteen, or sixteen, or twenty-two. I haven’t traveled much in...

Mar

I ♥ Monday

Jessica

And on a Monday, no less! ♥ CLARITY by Kim Harrington. A girl with a psychic gift, from a family of psychics, must work together with her ex and the skeptical detective’s son to solve a crime–for which her brother is the prime suspect! The gorgeous cover and that hook both made me eager to read this debut, and it didn’t disappoint. Clare’s a fantastic heroine: smart, resourceful, funny, and feisty. Not perfect–she makes mistakes and then admits when she’s wrong. The mystery kept me guessing throughout, and the pace was fantastic. There’s a love triangle, but it’s not the focus of the book, and both boys are appealing; I don’t know myself which one I want Clare to end up with. I can’t wait for the next book in the series, PERCEPTION! ♥ THE VESPERTINE by Saundra Mitchell. Amelia’s sent to Baltimore for the summer season to land a husband,...

Mar

In the Meantime

Jessica

Hi! Sorry for the silence. I’m waiting totally impatiently to be able to share the CRAMAZING good news with you guys. Tomorrow? Possibly? Hopefully? Which I just learned I can’t do for a few weeks yet. But it’s for a cool reason, so *puts on Hat of Patience* (which is pink, with tassels, in case you’re wondering). In the meantime, here are some things I’m ♥ing today, just for fun. ♥ The new Adele album 21. I think my favorite song is “Turning Tables.” I love these lyrics: Next time I’ll be braver. I’ll be my own savior. It gives me chills. ♥ Where She Went by Gayle Forman, the sequel to If I Stay. It’s my favorite read so far this year. The kind of book that finds its way inside your bones, that’s so beautiful it bruises. There are books I read, more and more lately, deconstructing as I...

Celebration

Cramazing Good News Revealed

Old Stories

I ♥ Monday

In the Meantime

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