Tomorrow morning, Wednesday, the National Book Foundation will announce the finalists for this year’s National Book Award. I’m excited for those writers out there who know, right this minute! that they are finalists and keeping the secret until it can be revealed to the world tomorrow at noon, EST. Is it you? I’m remembering that feeling of bewildered happiness and not being able to sleep and the generosity of other writers who had been there, like Laurie Halse Anderson who gave me her number so she could walk me through what to expect and Gregory Wolfe who also made himself available for consults and did his best to advise me on what to wear. And I’m telling you now that if it is you, I’m here and at your disposal. You can follow the National Book Foundation on Twitter.

The Teen Read Week panel tonight was fun—a smallish crowd, but that makes it conversational, more like a fireside chat, if you will. I’m always impressed with my fellow local authors and feel lucky to be among them. Ann Dee Ellis and her husband should just keep making babies, because the results are so adorable! I grabbed a bite with Mette Ivie Harrison after, and we had a good talk about the writing life and all that goes with it. Then I got very tired and came home, made the mistake of not slipping straight into bed and onto the sleepy train, and am now wide awake and blogging. Many thanks to SLCPL panel organizer Brooke, and everyone who came out.

What better way to celebrate Teen Read Week than with a free book? Well, this is your lucky day*, because Alan Gratz is giving away Something Rotten. Wait, that doesn’t sound as enticing as it should. Alan Gratz’s first book in the Horatio Wilkes series, Something Rotten, is now available as a free online read and the second in the series, Something Wicked, goes on sale on Thursday. This free free read is only available until November 30th! Which is plenty of time, really. And as long as you’re hanging around Alan’s site, you can catch up with his Project Runway posts. (But only if you don’t mind reading an episode preview!) The finale is tomorrow night. Whew!

*Of course you know that you can get free books every day at your local library! Isn’t a public library, like, the greatest invention in the history of the universe? Yes, it is. Much better than sliced bread.