- Congratulations to Jandy Nelson, whose wonderful book The Sky Is Everywhere is out today, and I am so excited for you lucky people who get to read it for the first time. I adored this book. See Jandy’s site for a lovely little book trailer and what people are saying (scroll down). Here’s what I said: “Jandy Nelson’s story of grief somehow manages to be an enchantment, a celebration, a romance—without forsaking the rock-hard truths of loss.” And, the narrator, Lennie, plays the clarinet just like I did as a kid and teen. Bonus! It’s one of those books you want to hug to your chest when you’re finished or, like Sonya Sones said, marry.

- Congratulations also to Varian Johnson on the release of Saving Maddie, a book I’ve not yet read but am very eager to, because, hello, preacher’s kid, mysterious bad girl, reconciling faith and family. Follow Varian’s blog and go on tour with him; today he’s in the Author’s Tent with Melodye Shore.

- Debbi Michiko Florence has kicked off a new blog series—Coffee Break Tuesday—in which authors share a bit about their writing lives and paths to publication. When you’re looking for inspiration or company, check it out. The series kicks off with a few words from yours truly.

- I continue to encourage you to subscribe to Poets & Writers if you don’t already. This month, there’s a great profile of Sam Lipsyte (The Ask) and a masterful essay on the poetry of John Donne by William Giraldi. Both are only in the print edition, but you can read some of the issue’s content online. I love this quote from Lipsyte:

“One of my big revelations…was that nobody cares whether you write your novel or not. They want you to be happy. Your parents want you to have health insurance. Your friends want you to be a good friend. But everybody’s thinking about their own problems and nobody wakes up in the morning thinking, ‘Boy, I sure hope Sam finishes that chapter and gets one step closer to his dream of being a working writer.’ Nobody does that. If you want to write, it has to come from you. If you don’t want to write, that’s great. Go do something else. That was a very liberating moment for me.”

- I’m interviewed at Moonlight, Lace, and Mayhem, displaying my ignorance of all things Irish. And here’s a nice review of OWL at 60secondrecap.

- If that isn’t enough for you, I did a podcast interview with the International Reading Assocation’s ReadWriteThink blog while I was at NCTE this past fall. If the podcast is half as great as the conversation felt at the time, I think you will like. Many thanks to Jennifer Buehler for the time and care she put into this. (Teachers: I actually think there may be some potential classroom use for this and/or the video I made for Holly Cupola’s blog.)

Visual aids and purchase links—show some love to an author today by buying a book! If not one of these, something else you’ve been wanting…

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Me and Varian at TLA 09. Pre-bangs.