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Okay, this ones for all the aspiring writers out there...



This past weekend I gave a talk at the Moore College of Art Alumnae Reunion. Moore is my alma mater and it was an honor and a pleasure to be able to share my experiences and wisdom with my fellow alumnae, and I think it went pretty well although to be honest I don't remember much of what I said.

What I think I meant to say:

Hello, you

Look, hearts and stars and cupcakes! Also a horse with a horn on it's head.

There are many many many many many many many reasons not to like Valentine's Day:

1. If you're in a relationship, you feel pressure to do something special.

2. If you're not in a relationship, you feel pressure to be in a relationship.

3. Some people feel the need to show off things they received from their

I'm often asked, "Why did you want to become an author?" And the answers are pretty simple:

1. I love writing stories.
2. I love drawing.
3. Having a job doing what I love has always been my goal.

But there's a lot more to being an author than just writing and drawing stories. I go to schools and libraries and bookstores and conferences and I get to meet readers and teachers and other authors

First things first...

I AM SO SORRY THAT I'VE BEEN THE WORSTEST MOSTEST NEGLECTFULLEST BLOGGER EVER!!! But I have excuses! Beautiful, glorious excuses!

Excuse #1: I was workingworkingworkingworking

I realize that to the outside world, it kind of looks like I just sit around in my pajamas all day watching old episodes of Star Trek*. This is not entirely untrue. But I'm also writing and drawing

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Howdee, Houston!Ìý



After bidding a fond farewell to my brother and his family (and stealing all their grapes) we left Dallas and hit the road for Houston.



Best photo I could get from the speeding Huh Huh Ruh of a gigantor roadside sculpture of Sam Houston.



This was my first time at the Tweens Read Festival, and something I learned very quickly was that the amazing people at Tweens

ÌýMark and I are excited to be in Dallas! Anya has doubts.


I am writing this from my brother's house in a suburb of Dallas. That's Dallas, Texas, mind you, not Dallas, Pennsylvania, which apparently is a place that exists.




ÌýLook, they have an official tee shirt and everything.

Yesterday we got up at the absurd hour of You Really Don't Want To Know O' Clock and made our way to the

These guys have a really impressive amount of hair.


Okay guys, I'm about to go on a RANT. This happens every now and then, and tonight as I was ranting my husband suggested that I put it on the blog because it's a rant that my readers might be interested in.

Earlier today an extremely popular song came on the radio. I'd heard it a few times before, but this was the first time I really

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WHUT??? New paperback covers?



Yes, surprised cat! New paperback covers! We thought it would be fun to do something that would distinguish the paperbacks from the hardcovers, especially since the paperback version of Words of (Questionable) Wisdom will be coming out soon. What do you think?





ÌýOooooooooh.




Aaaaaaaahhh!




Ohhhhhhh!!!

Also, just now I've learned that there

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Hey, look, it's my editor, Maggie! I don't actually get to see her that often, but I'm pretty sure this is an accurate depiction of how she dresses to edit.

Hello! This is Maggie, Amy’s editor at Abrams Books. A few weeks ago, Amy and Publicist Overload Morgan asked me to write a little bit for the blog. I agreed right away before even stopping to consider that I didn’t have any ideas for

ÌýActual readers reading my actual books!!!

Dear readers, if you are squeamish about things like phlegm you may want to not continue reading, because I'm about to tell you all about it. A LOT. There will also be descriptions of all the great books and authors and readers that I hob-nobbed with yesterday at the Princeton Children's Book Festival, but mostly I'm going to whine about how sick I