A recap of mischief managed and more to come.

(Photo by Vania Stoyanova)

Oh my goodness, I’ve been such a delinquent blogger.

The last couple weeks have been a whirlwind. From the Nashville launch party on the 1st, where I got this AMAZING gift…

(My Little Ponies modified into Mackenzie and Wesley from THE ARCHIVED)

…to an amazing Malaprop’s event on the second, where I made this face, which apparently I make a lot…

(Photo by Vania Stoyanova)

…I was home for a mere two and a half days before heading to NYC.

NYC involved a school visit, a Teen Author Reading Night, and the scariest part…a SOLO EVENT.

A SOLO EVENT.

AT BOOKS OF WONDER.

I was terrified that no one would come (solo events are scary, because it’s all on you, and this was my very. first. one) and then the day before the northeast was hit with a MASSIVE WINTER STORM and I spent most of the hours leading up watching the weather and resigning myself to the fact I’d be making book forts with my housemates.

And then the feared hour came, and…people came.

Like, a lot of people came. Between publishing professionals–editors, agent friends, author friends–and bloggers, and friends of friends, enough people came that they had to sit on the floor and gather at the back, and little by little my fear dissolved (or at least, stopped showing), and from what I’ve been told (I have a REALLY hard time remembering what comes out of my mouth when I’m nervous), it was a wonderful event. Goodness knows, I had a BLAST, and spent the rest of the day giddy from relief and joy.

(Photo by Nova Ren Suma)

The next day, I said goodbye-for-nows to my housemates and city friends, and trained out to PA to hang out with one of my closests, Tiffany Schmidt, and prep for the epic shenanigans of the following day.

On Monday, Tiffany, K.M. Walton, April Lindner, Jonathan Maberry and I trekked to a middle school, a high school, a library, and then a bookstore!

One of my favorite moments was encountering an uber fan at the high school. She sat down in the audience and proceeded to say, “Oh my god, oh my god, I’m sitting across from Victoria Schwab. Hi Victoria Schwab, oh my god this is cool…” and it was kind of the most adorable thing ever.

Over all, it was an exhausting, delightful day, and the greatest highlight probably came at the final event, at Children’s Book World, when a nun came up to me, clutching THE ARCHIVED, and said she’d heard about me because of Neil Gaiman on Twitter. That might have been the coolest collision of elements ever.

And the next morning it was back to the airport, and home, where I promptly got sick (this ALWAYS HAPPENS ARGH).

I also came home with a cover for the ARCHIVED sequel (I cannot wait to show you), a new book idea (I cannot wait to write it), a notion of what VICIOUS’s cover will look like (I cannot wait to see it),

One of the things that made the NYC/PA trip so delightful was that it was the first time in nearly six months I didn’t have multiple books on multiple looming deadlines. What a joy to be able to breathe and savor the experiences rather than fretting about how to steal an hour to work.

So, what’s next? Well, this weekend I will be in St. Louis for what might be the coolest event yet. You guys, I’m at the St. Louis County Library on Saturday night…with Ally Carter.

ALLY FREAKING CARTER, KIDS.

I can’t even.

Like.

What.

In the meantime I’m loading up on vitamins and minerals and chicken soup. And hopefully the next time I post, I’ll have some insightful things to say, but at the moment, I’m still a little flaily from NYC and a little sick from this stupid cold, so forgive the recap of mischief.

OH OH. Before I forget. The YA2U campaign ends TOMORROW, so if you haven’t entered your city yet, do it!!! The pie chart on the site has shifted A LOT this past week!

LASTLY, I just want to say thank you. I know I’ve been saying it a lot lately, but it doesn’t diminish its propriety. THE ARCHIVED has been out three weeks now, and the continued influx of reviews, ratings, pictures, and messages has brought so much light to my life.

Carry on, lovelies.