Halloween is my favorite holiday. I love that you can shrug off your everyday clothes and become anyone, or anything, for a night. I like to think of it as a dress rehearsal for the future, because our kids should have the option to become whoever they want in life. Of course, my kids dressed up as ghouls for Halloween, so it may be that their goal in life  is to play extras on the set of Walking Dead.

I'm a tad bit biased about this holiday, because it's my birthday as well. As I was growing up, my mom used to tell me: "On the day you were born, we knew you were going to be a sweet treat!" This was on the good days. On the bad days, it was: "We knew from the very beginning you were going to be a little witch!"

I'm sorry, Mom. I really, really am. I deserve to have the worst teenagers in the history of god-awful teenagers. Seriously. I'm not sure how she put up with me.

In early October, I was invited to a writing retreat in Sarasota with three lovely young adult authors. I can't tell you how wonderful it was to spend a weekend writing, brainstorming, and sending inappropriate tweets at one in the morning.
It was, quite simply, a blast.

In book news, I recently learned that ALL WE HAVE LEFT will be a Kindle monthly selection ($1.99) for the month of December. Woo-hoo!

Also, I received a nice review and write-up in The Horn Book Magazine. "This timely, ultimately hopeful story of love, courage, and human goodness when it matters most is a much-needed antidote to our era’s Islamophobia, fear, and the tense political and social conditions that young people are surely internalizing."
​
I've had so many people contact me who have been reading the story in their book clubs. I can't tell you how much I love that teens and adults are getting together and discussing this book!

On a more personal note, a teacher at my son's school pulled me aside to tell me that she was recently going through a rough patch, so much so that she wrote "faith and strength" and tucked the words into her prayer box. That same day she read the passage in ALL WE HAVE LEFT about faith and strength. By the end of her story, we were both crying.   THIS. Sometimes it feels as if I am writing in a yawning vacuum, and then moments come along that remind me exactly why I do this.

I'll leave you with this shot from one of my favorite places. This is where I come to regroup and center when things have gotten overwhelming in the real world. And they've gotten really overwhelming lately. So much anger. So much unhappiness. I hope that we can come together. I hope that we can remember what is important. Our kids are growing up in this world that we are making, and we owe it to them to get it right.

September was a busy, exhilarating month. So busy that it's taken almost until the middle of October to post about it!

The second week of September, I traveled with my two sons and my mom to New York City. I knew it was going to be quite an experience for my boys when they were impressed by the escalator at the airport. ("Can we do it again, Mom? And again?")

The second day we were there, I had the intense pleasure of strolling to Starbucks, picking up the New York Times, and seeing my book on the front page of the Arts Section. Heady stuff, that! 

As my boys had never been to NYC, we did all the normal touristy things: Times Square, the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, and the Empire State Building. My oldest son was co-opted into a street performance in Time Square-- a guy literally flipped over him. Did I get a picture of it? No. No, I did not.

​On Sunday, September 11th, fifteen years after planes crashed into the Twin Towers, we went to the 9/11 Memorial. I was crying, as were others, as we heard the chimes that marked the horrendous events of that day. It was a solemn, heart-breaking experience. 

I visited many bookstores and libraries while in the city, including the wonderful Books of Wonder and The Strand. So cool to see my book on their shelves!

I had the pleasure of meeting not only my wonderful editor, Mary Kate Castellani, but the entire Bloomsbury team who worked so hard to make ALL WE HAVE LEFT look beautiful inside and out! It was so nice to finally put faces to names.

On Tuesday, I traveled by train to the beautiful town of Westport Connecticut, where I met the wonderful staff of the Westport Library, as well as four lovely authors: Nora Baskin (Nine, Ten: a 9/11 Story), Gae Polisner (The Memory of Things), Jewell Parker Rhodes (Towers Falling), and Lauren Tarshis (I Survived series). It was an inspiring, moving discussion about healing through words. If you missed it, here's a link to the Facebook video below.        

Back at home, I received this beautiful drawing of the cover of ALL WE HAVE LEFT, as envisioned by one of the fourth-grade participants of a talk I did on 9/11.

​Murdock is getting bigger! At six months old, we have conquered potty-training and are now moving into the running-away stage. It's like raising a kid in fast-forward!

​​I'll leave you with this. It's a place I bike to in the morning, and it makes me happy. :)

It's a Flamingo! No, it's not. It's a Roseate Spoonbill. But for the first year that I lived in Florida, I told people that I was seeing flamingos. And yes, they looked at me like I was odd. Thankfully, I'm used to that. :)
August was an awesome month, and I've memorialized some of that awesomeness in pictures.

What on earth, are you asking? Well, this is me playing golf for the very first time...at least that I can remember. My husband swears we played golf in college, but I. DO. NOT. REMEMBER. There's a reason for this, I'm pretty sure. I am not spectacular at golf. Not at all.
​On a more interesting note, however, is the paw print we saw in one of the sand thingees. It's hard to tell by the picture, but it was huuuge, like panther-size. As far as I know, there aren't any endangered Florida panthers on our tiny island, but maybe they are sasquatching us. 

This one is just fun. I was on a doggy play date at a friend's house, and Murdock and Hattie were playing with her dog, Gem. They lined up (Murdock pushing and shoving in the back-- "it's my turn, it's my turn!") and then they jumped in one by one.

The first day of school. Somehow watching Murdock grow from puppy to dog has been reminding me of how quickly the kids are growing up.  When they were babies, I remember older people stopping me to tell me how fast it went by.
​They were right.

I do have book news! Something pretty exciting happened on August 9th. In case you weren't keeping score, ALL WE HAVE LEFT came out. Murdock kept me company as I fielded messages and posts. ​It was a beautiful day!

And this happened. Not only was ALL WE HAVE LEFT picked as an Amazon Book of the Month, it was also picked for the August YA Book Club. Color me excited!

This came home in my son's pocket, all wrinkled up and scribbled upon. I had almost forgotten ALL WE HAVE LEFT was coming out in the Scholastic catalogue, and he was pretty surprised when he saw it there. He raised his hand and told his teacher that it was his mom's book.
"Are you sure?" she asked.
"Uh, yes?" he answered.
​He still doesn't think she believes him.
 

And finally, I was interviewed for the School Library Journal. Only librarians and authors are geekish enough to get excited about this...and yes, I am a geek. Here's a link to the article if you want to get your geek on. :)

And of course, we have to have the requisite cute puppy picture. This is one of our favorite places to go on our boat, as it is a deserted piece of land right across from a bunch a gazillion-dollar condos. It's good fishing and usually pretty free of people. In other words...perfect. 

Like mother, like son! He has worked his way through Harry Potter and now has started on the Lightning Thief series.

And here you thought I'd managed to go through an entire post without a sunset picture. Nope, I snuck in one.
​
​I was just thinking that most of my pictures are on the beach, or on the boat, because...well, that's what we do for fun. BUT. But, I will have some pictures from an entirely different locale next month. See you then!

July was a crazy-fun month! The Fourth of July has always been my favorite holiday, and we spent it on the boat fishing and watching the firework shows. We always spend a lot of time out on the boat this time of year, so I have loads of pictures of sunsets. I always tell myself I need to stop taking pictures of sunsets, but when you see these, do you blame me??

Murdock is getting bigger and has finally found his sea legs. We still haven't conquered the potty-training thing, which is frustrating, but we work on it every day. I swear, in some ways it's like having a toddler again.

In our boat wanderings, we often see some pretty cool things. If you look real close, you'll see something strange about this tree. I tried counting them, but gave up!

There's also been some good book news this month. Fist of all, ALL WE HAVE LEFT comes out ONE week from today. It's been a long road, but I'm so happy it's almost here. I received my author copies a few weeks ago. They are so pretty!

The book has gotten a lot of love. Two starred reviews, and it's showed up on both Kirkus Review's and Bookish.com's list of must-reads for the summer. It was featured in Bookpage's August print edition, and I just found out that it's an Amazon Best Book of the Month, as well as on Bustle's list of Best Books of August.

​All very heady stuff and I'm very excited to share ALL WE HAVE LEFT with the world on August 9th!
​

It's been a spectacular June! I always love when my boys are off school; we've been taking some day trips and generally having a great time. On the book front, I found out that ALL WE HAVE LEFT received two starred reviews, one from Kirkus, and the other from School Library Journal. I also learned that ALL WE HAVE LEFT will be coming out in the Scholastic catalogue in September. So, yay me! 

We welcomed this sweet baby into our home and hearts. Hattie has taken Murdock under his wing and has been a wonderful big brother.

​Trish Doller and I participated in B-Fest at the Fort Myers Barnes and Noble earlier this month, and it was a lot of fun. We talked about our books--Trish's THE DEVIL YOU KNOW is not to be missed!-- did a treasure hunt, and wrote a story with the kids.

The boys and I went to the Everglades and did the tram ride to the Shark Valley Observatory Tower. We saw lots of wildlife, including a few gators, and learned so much!  

I participated in my very first virtual book launch for Nora Raleigh Baskin's excellent middle grade book, NINE, TEN. It was a wonderful experience--many people shared their stories of 9/11, and we talked about how fiction can help people heal after a tragic event.

I'll leave you with this sunset shot. We're planning on being out on the boat a lot this Fourth of July--I hope that all of you have a wonderful weekend!

All We Have Left by Wendy Mills (8/06/16)
Now:
Sixteen-year-old Jesse is used to living with the echoes of the past. Her older brother died in the September 11th attacks, and her dad since has filled their home with anger and grief. When Jesse gets caught up with the wrong crowd, one momentary hate-fueled decision turns her life upside down. The only way to make amends is to face the past, starting Jesse on a journey that will reveal the truth about how her brother died.

Then:
In 2001, sixteen-year-old Alia is proud to be Muslim . . . it's being a teenager that she finds difficult. After being grounded for a stupid mistake, Alia decides to confront her father at his Manhattan office, putting her in danger she never could have imagined. When the planes collide into the Twin Towers, Alia is trapped inside one of the buildings. In the final hours, she meets a boy who will change everything for her as the flames rage around them . . .

Interweaving stories from past and present, All We Have Left brings one of the most important days in our recent history to life, showing that love and hope will always triumph.
 
Advance Praise for All We Have Left
 “The author elegantly transitions between the gripping descriptions of Alia and Travis trying to survive and Jesse almost falling into the abyss of generational hatred of Islam. In doing so, she artfully educates readers on both the aspects of Islam used as hateful stereotypes and the ruinous effects of Islamophobia. With almost poetic language, the author compassionately renders both the realistic lives, loves, passions, and struggles of Alia . . . and Jesse . . . as both deal with the fallout of that tragic day. Both a poignant contemplation on 9/11 and a necessary intervention in this current political climate.” – Kirkus Reviews, starred review

​“Thoughtful, poignant . . . An important topic that deserves more dialogue than it receives. A moving portrait and important look at the lasting effects of one of our country's greatest tragedies.” –  Booklist
​

Nine, Ten by Nora Raleigh Baskin (6/28/16)
From the critically acclaimed author of Anything But Typical comes a touching look at the days leading up to the tragic events of September 11, 2001, and how that day impacted the lives of four middle schoolers.Ask anyone: September 11, 2001, was serene and lovely, a perfect day—until a plane struck the World Trade Center. But right now it is a few days earlier, and four kids in different parts of the country are going about their lives. Sergio, who lives in Brooklyn, is struggling to come to terms with the absentee father he hates and the grandmother he loves. Will’s father is gone, too, killed in a car accident that has left the family reeling. Naheed has never before felt uncomfortable about being Muslim, but at her new school she’s getting funny looks because of the head scarf she wears. Aimee is starting a new school in a new city and missing her mom, who has to fly to New York on business. These four don’t know one another, but their lives are about to intersect in ways they never could have imagined. Award-winning author Nora Raleigh Baskin weaves together their stories into an unforgettable novel about that seemingly perfect September day—the day our world changed forever.
 
Advance Praise for Nine, Ten
 
“Readers will have different reactions to the work depending on their ages and how much prior knowledge they bring to it. . . children may gain a small sense of the magnitude of the changes that day wrought on our world. Tense, disturbing, and thought-provoking.” – Kirkus Reviews, starred review
 
“A powerful account of how the events changed lives. . . . There are no graphic displays of violence; Baskin focuses on how her characters emerge wiser, worldlier, and more sensitive to others’ pain after surviving a profound and tragic piece of history.” – Publishers Weekly, starred review
 

 Songs are a touchstone for my memories. A familiar song can easily take me back to a specific time and place, releasing a flood of thoughts and feelings and emotions. On hearing about the passing of Prince, I felt a sense of sadness that was not only for a great artist whose time had been cut short, but also for my teenage years that stand out in my mind so vivid and bright. Prince’s songs were a soundtrack to my youth, a song list of joy, discovery and heartbreak.
 
I remember standing in the gym at my first high school dance, dressed in a jeans jacket and hoopy earrings, and thinking hairspray don’t fail me now. “Purple Rain” came on, and the guy I liked, the one I had been watching from the safety of my group of friends, came towards us, and my heart was beating he’sgoingtoaskme, ohgod, he’sgoingtoaskme. And then I could taste the disappointment as he asked another girl to slow dance instead. Someone touched my elbow, and there stood the guy who had given me a rose for Valentine’s Day in the seventh grade, and when he asked me to dance I said yes, and as we swayed together on the floor under the slowly swirling lights I thought I’ll never forget this moment…
 
I remember driving my car, blasting “Little Red Corvette,” and while my car wasn’t a corvette or red, I played the song over and over again as we circled Heritage Square, trying to gather the courage to stop and talk to that guy, or maybe that one, and ending up going through the McDonald’s drive-through just so we didn’t look stupid,  my friend squealing, he’s there, he's RIGHT there, and then realizing we didn’t have any money and having to order a cup of water much to the McDonald’s guy’s disgust…
 
I remember giving a party at my house,  blasting “1999,” but 1999 felt like it was so far off, like a millennium away, and everyone was laughing because someone had let all my birds out of their cages, and opened the Christmas presents under the tree, and even though I was thinking how am I going to explain this one to my parents, I didn’t care because all that mattered was right here, right now….
 
 I remember breaking up with a guy, and spending hours making mixed tapes, tears falling on the cassettes as I added “When Doves Cry” and REM, and Depeche Mode, and U2. I listened to “When Doves Cry” over and over again, that guitar solo and opening iconic beats reverberating through my entire body as I blasted the song as loud as it would go…
 
Prince is gone, and so are my teenage years. But the songs and memories remain, and  even though I’m driving a SUV now, booster seats and baseball gear in the back, whenever I hear “Little Red Corvette,” it takes me back to when all that mattered was right here, right now, and 1999 seemed so far away.

​“Where do you get your ideas?”

Every author has heard the question. We dread it, honestly, because no matter what we say, nobody is happy with our answer. I’m pretty sure some people wouldn’t be satisfied unless you told them that highly-advanced aliens beam the ideas from the Planet Bwaa, but shhhh, don’t tell anyone I told you. People want to think that there is something magical and inscrutable about the creative process; they seem to believe that authors have collectively taken an oath to keep the technique a secret from the uninitiated.

Why is there such a mystique about the idea process? Many authors will tell you that they stumble across story ideas like an Easter egg hunt designed for two-year-olds. They are lying right out there in the open for anyone to find, and we run around pushing the adorable McGillicuddy twins aside so we can fill our basket to overflowing. They are hiding in plain sight, in conversations we have with someone in the park, in a book, in a news article, in Facebook posts. They are the things that make us go “hmmm” and make us wonder, and want to know more.  

And like any child gazing down in delight at their full Easter basket, we can’t help but wonder what’s inside. What if the Easter Bunny decided to distribute winning lottery tickets, or million dollar bills? (It’s the Easter Bunny. You think he can’t make million dollar bills?) What if the furry bunny got hit by Santa’s sleigh back in December and was too injured to put anything at all into the eggs? The “what ifs” are endless and delicious, and way more fun than knowing for sure.

As an author, we know that not all ideas are the same. Some of them will be empty, all flashy and bright on the outside, but ultimately just full of hot air. Some will be serviceable, but boring, like last year’s gum drops that still taste okay, but really, Easter Bunny? Who wants the same idea that everybody else has already had? Some will be as chewy as a piece of Spearmint gum, gobbling up time and energy, but ultimately rendered tasteless and dull.

​But every once in a while, the prize is worth the hunt. Every once in a while you get rich, complex chocolate, with a beautiful caramel center that melts on your tongue and in your heart. It’s an idea that is rare and unique, and makes you want more, more, more!

In their quest for ideas, authors use the skills that every child will be using this Easter Sunday as they start out on their search for the elusive plastic eggs. 

Authors are hunters. For some it is an innate skill, something they have retained since they were children and gazing at the world with wide-eyed hope and curiosity. For some, it is a hard-won skill, this seeing possibilities and potential in the most ordinary of things. But however they came by the skill, authors are hunters of ideas, and we see these gloriously colorful idea eggs every day of our lives.

Authors are curious. We peer into the dark places that other people are afraid to go. We clamber through windows and climb the highest tree, because who know what we will find?

Authors are imaginative. We revel in the “what ifs,” the “how comes” and the “did you ever wonder…?”

And ultimately, authors are full of faith. Faith that the right idea is out there, if only we keep looking. Faith in ourselves that when we hold that precious idea in our trembling, cupped hands, we will be able to do it justice.

So as you take your children on their Easter egg hunts this Sunday, remember that ideas are not from the Planet Bwaa, but are lying out there for anybody to find, if only they knew how to look.

Ketterdam: a bustling hub of international trade where anything can be had for the right price—and no one knows that better than criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker. Kaz is offered a chance at a deadly heist that could make him rich beyond his wildest dreams. But he can't pull it off alone...

A convict with a thirst for revenge.

A sharpshooter who can't walk away from a wager.

A runaway with a privileged past.

A spy known as the Wraith.

A Heartrender using her magic to survive the slums. 

A thief with a gift for unlikely escapes. 

Kaz's crew are the only ones who might stand between the world and destruction—if they don't kill each other first.  
 
Not only was this chock-full of great characters, it’s got tons of excitement and action in a world that you can almost smell and feel. Seriously, the world-building in this book is incredible.  

Emmy just wants to be in charge of her own life.

She wants to stay out late, surf her favorite beach—go anywhere without her parents’ relentless worrying. But Emmy’s parents can’t seem to let her grow up—not since the day Oliver disappeared.

Oliver needs a moment to figure out his heart.

He’d thought, all these years, that his dad was the good guy. He never knew that it was his father who kidnapped him and kept him on the run. Discovering it, and finding himself returned to his old hometown, all at once, has his heart racing and his thoughts swirling.

Emmy and Oliver were going to be best friends forever, or maybe even more, before their futures were ripped apart. In Emmy’s soul, despite the space and time between them, their connection has never been severed. But is their story still written in the stars? Or are their hearts like the pieces of two different puzzles—impossible to fit together?

Readers who love Sarah Dessen will tear through these pages with hearts in throats as Emmy and Oliver struggle to face the messy, confusing consequences of Oliver’s father’s crime. Full of romance, coming-of-age emotion, and heartache, these two equally compelling characters create an unforgettable story.
 
One of the fun things of being an author as well as a reader is really paying attention to what, exactly, is drawing me into a book.  I absolutely love Emmy's voice, and the repartee between Emmy and her friends? Ahhh...gorgeous.

Any book blown you away recently?

This morning, Kady thought breaking up with Ezra was the hardest thing she’d have to do. This afternoon, her planet was invaded.
      The year is 2575, and two rival megacorporations are at war over a planet that’s little more than a speck at the edge of the universe. Now with enemy fire raining down on them, Kady and Ezra—who are barely even talking to each other—are forced to evacuate with a hostile warship in hot pursuit.
     But their problems are just getting started. A plague has broken out and is mutating with terrifying results; the fleet’s AI may actually be their enemy; and nobody in charge will say what’s really going on. As Kady hacks into a web of data to find the truth, it’s clear the only person who can help her is the ex-boyfriend she swore she’d never speak to again.
      Told through a fascinating dossier of hacked documents—including emails, maps, files, IMs, medical reports, interviews, and more--Illuminae is the first book in a heart-stopping trilogy about lives interrupted, the price of truth, and the courage of everyday heroes.
 
This is a crazy cool book. I don’t know how else to describe it. I was so impressed in HOW these two authors chose to tell this story. I wasn’t sure at first that I would be able to connect with the characters considering that the whole story is told through interviews and emails etc., but I was so totally drawn into this story. Plus, I’m a huge science fiction fan, so yeah, this book pretty much blew me away.
 
Any books blown you away recently?