Friday, July 17
GNF: Wedding Bells!
Here's a hint at what I'm wearing for at least part of the evening. I've got my something blue covered!
I'm really excited, and ready to eat red velvet cake! Happy weekend, everyone!
Thursday, July 16
Food! Glorious Food!
That's right. I'm That Woman, the one who won't eat everything put in front of her.
About two months ago, I underwent a food conversion. I read a sentence that struck me, something along the lines of, "You can't keep doing the same thing over and over again, and expect different results." Since I'd been doing the same thing over and over again (eating the poor on-the-run diet of writers who practically live in their basements) and getting the same results (slight weight gain, low energy, raging allergies, mood swings), I decided, 'Hmm...maybe do something...different?'
That's how I became a vegan.
Yes, I realize that's a radical change, when I could have tried something more moderate first like giving up one or two items. But why be moderate when you can be extreme???
You know what, though? It really hasn't been hard. I hadn't been eating much meat or chicken for years and while I would have thought the dairy would be hard, it turns out that eating soy cheese instead is a small price for not having a runny nose and runny eyes all the time.
And I really am not totally That Woman, meaning if you invite me over, I don't expect you to make anything special on my account. Really, people seem more than happy to let me eat the salad while they eat everything else.
The benefits so far have been substantial: decreased allergies, increased energy, less dramatic mood swings, a harder body without increasing my usual exercise, and yes, weight loss.
But do I think everyone else should do as I do? Nah. I'm not one of those. And I'll only keep doing it myself so long as it makes me feel good and happy. If it stops, I'll find something else. Maybe the All-Cookie Eating Plan will be next for me? Hmm... Now if only I lived closer to those vegan cupcakes someone posted here earlier this week...
How about you?
QUESTION OF THE DAY: GOT ANY DIETARY QUIRKS I SHOULD KNOW ABOUT BEFORE I INVITE YOU OVER FOR A PLATTER OF STEAMED MEATS?
Be well. Don't forget to write.
Monday, July 13
Cupcakes for many TFC celebrations!!!!!
Since the topic of the week here at TFC is food, I thought it would be a good day to post about cupcakes. Why? Because we have a lot to celebrate around here! Last Monday was Lauren's birthday. Today is mine and Linda's. Saturday is Melissa's wedding. ETA: (because how could I forget) Saturday is also Sara Hantz's birthday! Alyson's Immortals series is crazy successful. I got to meet Kay at the ALA conference (dude, I think that is totally dessert worthy!) and the list goes on. I mean have you read our Good News Friday posts lately?!?Sunday, July 12
My vacation wish list
Top of my list is to travel. I have so many places I want to visit (I'm lucky enough to have visited many countries, but there are so many more).
So.... where have I visited so far: UK (does that count I lived there most of my life?), New Zealand (I live here now), Australia, Portugal, France, Italy, Greece, Corfu, Rhodes, Ibiza, Israel, Turkey, Venice, Singapore, Hawaii, San Fran, Spain, Fiji.
Where do I want to go: Vietnam, China, Hong Kong, Japan, New York, Canada, New Caledonia, Egypt, Dubai, Barbados, Peru, Switzerland, Alaska, South Africa, Russia, Poland......
Okay, I'm sure there are many more places.
What about you? Where would you love to visit, and where's the most memorable place you've been?
Friday, July 10
More GNF!!!

Huge congrats to Lauren on her awesome review of CRAZY/BEAUTIFUL. I was lucky enough to read an early copy and I can definitely say that it's all that and more!
My good news this week is that BLUE MOON was released on July 7th (yay!), and that EVERMORE landed at #4 this week on the New York Times Bestsellers List for Children's Paperbacks making for 23 weeks in the top 5 (!!!), and it's at #103 this week on the USA Today list (up 5 from last week!)!
But what I'm really really excited about is the new website my publisher put together--a destination for all things IMMORTALS--and they did such a great job, I'm totally addicted, I keep sneaking back there when I'm supposed to be working! There are chakra charts, screensavers, wallpapers, a place to download your aura--and every time you click on a tulip you will hear an audio clip of a scene not contained in the book!! To check it out for youself just click HERE!
And don't forget to subscribe so you can be the first to know about any exciting IMMORTALS SERIES news!
Well, that's it for me--how about you--what's your good news this week?!
Have a fun weekend-
Alyson
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Good News Friday: Early Kirkus
How about you? Got any GNF to share?
Be well. Don't forget to write.
Thursday, July 9
Heading for ALA!
1. Meeting my fabulous editor. Really, I'm excited to meet the entire Egmont team. They're all completely fabulous. Gooooooo Team Egmont!
2. Getting to hang out with some of the Great Scavenger Hunt Contest librarians. What a terrific bunch of people! If you'll be there, we're meeting near the Egmont booth at 3:30pm on Saturday. Stop by and say hi!
3. Hearing Laurie Halse Anderson speak at the Margaret Edwards luncheon. I'm delighted that I'll be joining my editor and fellow Egmont author Julia Keller for the event.
4. Meeting two of my favorite YA book bloggers. (Waving to Chelsea aka The Page Flipper and Kristi aka The Story Siren.) Chelsea is the very first reviewer to have read The Cinderella Society, so that makes it double the fun.
5. Attending the Egmont launch party Saturday night at the Art Institute of Chicago. I've heard nothing but raves about their BEA launch party, so I know this is going to be a blast. Especially since I get to hang out there with my lovely (and funny) librarian friend Cathy.
6. Did I mention books??? So many great books to discover. I'm hoping to pick up a few ARCs of upcoming Great Scavenger Hunt Contest books so I can do some special giveaways for participating Hunt librarians. We'll see how I fare while I'm there.
Who else is heading to ALA? If you've been there before, what suggestions do you have for a first-timer?
Thursday, July 2
Twilight Goes to School
Did you know that Twihards can go to summer school in Forks? I am not kidding. You can read the article here.
This is my absolute favorite, though... Edward schooled by Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Enjoy!
Wednesday, July 1
Schools Out!!

For those of you who are click shy, that’s Alice Cooper singing the infamous, end of school anthem—"Schools Out." A song they used to play in heavy rotation back in my day, especially around mid-June.
The last day of school was always my favorite day of school. Sure I liked the new clothes, the sharpened pencils, and the nervous making anticipation that the first day would bring—but what I liked even more was ditching the books I had to read in favor of the books I wanted to read and swapping my school clothes for bikinis and flip-flops. Those three, long, glorious months stretched out before me like an overfed cat. Nothing but long days—warm nights—and, as the song says, “No more pencils, no more books . . .”
So tell me, what was your favorite day of school? First or last or somewhere in between?
Friday, June 26
Embarrassing Moments With Tyra Banks
It's Embarrassing Moments week on TFC, and I have to say that one of my most embarrassing moments of this year was when I went to a taping of the Tyra Banks show. I talked about it on my blog, but I'll relive the humiliation here, just for you:First of all, the three of us got sat in the front row, so Ty Ty was about five feet away from me and I can confirm that she has the smallest ankles you've ever seen. She's genuinely gorgeous, and her body is a great mix of not-too-thin curves.
Here comes the mortification: I got pulled up on stage to dance with the audience prep guy (who ruled and knew all the moves to Beyonce's "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)"). Unfortunately, I do NOT know all the moves to "Single Ladies." In fact, I know zero dance moves. Period. I'm one of those people who won't even get in the middle of a dance circle among friends, so I was totally red-faced. But I realized that if I fought it, it would just draw more attention to me (which I definitely didn't want) so I sucked it up and did some horribly doofy moves up there!
I'm really glad those 2 minutes are over. Confess an embarrassing moment of your own? It'll make me feel better.
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GNF!!!

So, during my morning blog hop I visited The Cafe and thanks to Lauren's post (see below!) I realized it was Friday.
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Good News Friday: The "Where's Alyson???" Edition
Where is Alyson Noel??? And why hasn't she posted her own GNF yet???
Friday, June 19
More GNF!!!


Huge Congrats to Lauren and Stephanie on their exciting news, and since it's GNF I figured I'd add some of my own!
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GNF: The Lauren Edition!
Here's mine for today, two new advance reviews for Crazy Beautiful:
A Curious Reader
Teens Know Best
It's making me happy.
How about you - any good news to share?
Be well. Don't forget to write.






