Class of 2k11 Launch!

I'm excited to announce that the Class of 2k11 has launched today! For those of you who don't know what the Class of 2k11 is, we're a group of 19 MG & YA debut authors (including me) who have come together to support and help promote one another and our books through our debut year - 2011! The 2k groups were founded in 2007 and have been renewing every year with new authors, new books, and lots of fun!

We've been preparing for our launch for about a year now... and after all we've shared, I consider the authors in this year's group to be among my best writerly friends. I hope you'll check our site out HERE to see just how awesome the other members & their upcoming books are. Better yet, join our blog where you'll get updates on contests, activities & news through the year! Even better, If you sign up to our newsletter (at the bottom of the "home" page), you'll be entered in the drawing to win 23 (yes, 23!!!!) Class of 2k10 books - mostly signed!

So, what are you waiting for? Please head on over and check out the Class of 2k11!

Website Launch Celebration Giveaway Winners!

Thanks to everyone who helped me celebrate my website launch! I rounded up the (200+) giveaway entries, and used the interactive fruit machine at classtools.net to help me randomly select these four winners to receive a $30 Amazon gift card:

Elie @ Ellz Reads
Jen D. @ Unedited
Cindy @ Princess Bookie
Nicole @ One Significant Moment at a Time

One of these four winners will also win a signed ARC of The Lipstick Laws (as soon as it's available) plus a fun assortment of TLL goodies. Without further ado, the ARC winner is:

Jen D.

Congrats to all the winners! I will be in touch shortly with prize details. To everyone who didn't win this time around, I plan on holding many more giveaways in the coming months (including more TLL signed ARC giveaways)... so there will be plenty more chances to win!


Speaking of more giveaways, please be sure to come back this Monday (the 23rd) for an interview with Janet Fox, where you'll have a chance to win a signed copy of her book, Faithful! Isn't this cover stunning?!

Cool New Sites

As I wait for my own author site to make its debut (I promise, it's coming...), I'd love to share some other great new sites for your cyber stalking pleasure:


First, if you're a fellow writer/author, you'll want to check out the new book tour site called The Teen Book Scene, created by book blogging extraordinaires Kari (from A Good Addiction) and Kelsey (from The Book Scout). Not only are these girls awesome, they've mastered the art of online book tours and author promotion. If you're looking for a free way to help promote your (YA or MG) book, be sure to contact them to set up a tour!



In author news, Carrie Harris just launched her fantastically freaky WEBSITE. Check it out for yourself to get in on all the monster mania. If you sign up for her NEWSLETTER, you'll be entered for a chance to win an ARC of Bad Taste in Boys & a poster of the very cool homepage illustration... and who in their right mind wouldn't want a poster of a monster prom? That's prime dining room art right there.



But the author news doesn't stop there... Gae Polisner , another fellow 2k11er, also launched her fabulous AUTHOR SITE not too long ago. Check it out for the inside scoop on The Pull of Gravity (her 2011 YA debut) and her other writing endeavors.




Finally, have you ever wondered which famous writer your writing compares to? Take this fun QUIZ to find out. Word on the street is that it's had over 100,000 hits in a single day. Sounds like a lot of people are curious to see what their own writing stacks up to. And yes, I admit I took the quiz... several times. I got a different answer with each entry, ranging from Chuck Palahniuk to James Joyce. Not sure if that means the quiz isn't accurate or my writing has multiple personalities (or maybe both?), but it's a fun experiment nevertheless. If you try it, be sure to tell me which writer you get.



**Come back this Friday for an author interview & signed book giveaway with Kristin Walker**

I'm Baaaack...

Did you miss me? Because I missed you... each and every one of you. I feel like we have a lot of catching up to do.

"Soooo....what is up? What's the 411? What has everybody been up to? What's the hot gossip? Tell me everything. What have you guys been listening to? What are the cool jams?"

The first person to tell me what movie and character this above quote is from will get an extra entry (if you choose to participate) in my upcoming contest. Yes, I DID say contest! You didn't think I was lying when I told you all I was planning a contest for April, did you? Well, shame on you if you did! Check back Tuesday, the 20th, for my first official contest. You must be a follower of my blog to enter... and you must love cheese. Okay, cheese actually has nothing to do with it, but I thought it would sound more "official-like" with two entry rules. More to come...

On the author front, my fabulous web designer, Denise Biondo, is working on my website drafts as we speak... er, type. Sometime soon my author website will be up and this blog will be one of its internal pages. If you're one of those types who's not fond of change, I'm warning you now that my blog template WILL BE CHANGING (the horror!) when my full website is up and running. Hence I may not be able to post all the various blog awards you've given me anymore (thank you for the awards!!). That said, I have several more awards that I want to acknowledge and post now, but I won't be passing any more on because there are too many great blogs to choose from, and to be honest, figuring out who doesn't already have the awards I want to pass along makes my eyes cross. For the love of uncrossed eyes, I hope you all understand. If, however, you want any of my awards, let me know, and I'll be happy to pass them along to you.

Without further ado, I shall acknowledge the awards now...

I'M SENDING BIG THANKS TO:

Medeia Sharif for the Awesomesauce Award and the Super Comments Award! Medeia also tagged me in a fun Q&A blog post which I will be participating in and posting at some point in the future...





D.L. Hammons at Cruising Altitude for the Sunshine Award



and....

Claire at Points of Claire-ification for the From Me to You award and the Soulmates Award!





Claire had to invent a fictional fact about each person she chose to pass the Soulmates Award onto. Since I won't be passing it along, I thought I'd at least share the awesome fact Claire invented about me: Amy Holder's the current Chocolate Diving Champion of Pennsylvania. To win this title she dove into 6 feet of chocolates to retrieve a teddy bear, with a time of 15.26 seconds.
Hahahaha! I love it!

Thanks again to all the wonderful bloggers who've passed along blog awards to me!

Make sure to come back on Tuesday to check out and participate in my contest!