Wow.  I can't believe it's Friday again.  Actually, right after I typed that, I had to pause and double-check, It is Friday, isn't it?  Yes, it is!  HAPPY WEEKEND! 

My husband is out-of-town, and I made the huge mistake of watching CRIMINAL MINDS reruns last night.  Around ten o'clock, and thoroughly freaked out, I went to the freezer to dish out some leftover birthday cake, and lo and behold, a pound of ground beef was sitting on top of the birthday cake.  I experienced one of those severe goosebumps moments.  Since I'm going vegetarian, I haven't purchased meat since December, and yet here was this POUND OF HAMBURGER sitting on top of my cake.  I immediately thought there was probably some psychotic killer hiding out in the basement, and the meat in the freezer was a sign that he was going to come up at any minute and kill me.  

After locking myself in the bedroom, and sending frantic emails to my neighbor that I was pretty sure there was a killer in my basement, I was able to reach my husband at his hotel...turns out he put the meat on top of the birthday cake.  GAH!  All that panicked stress...and it's all CRIMINAL MINDS' fault!  And my husband's! 

On to other stuff.  I'm leaving again Monday morning for the second leg of my tour.  This time, I'll be touring with Lisa McMann - YAY!  Her books are so creepy and psychological, and I'm dying to find out what she's like in person.  Maybe she's just as twisted as I am :)

I've got all of the below info posted on my website, but I'm figuring it can't hurt to post it here as well.  If you're in the area, come on out!  We (I'm speaking for Lisa now) would love to sign your books, chat with you, and tell you insider secrets about our books.  Yes, this is a bonus of coming to our signings...you get to hear (and sometimes see) things that we don't post online! 

February 9, 7PM

Changing Hands

6428 S. McClintock Dr.

Tempe, AZ 85283

February 10, 7PM

Barnes & Noble

2615 Vista Way

Oceanside, CA 92054

February 11, 7PM

Mysterious Galaxy Books

7051 Clairemont Mesa Blvd, Suite 302

San Diego, CA 92111

February 12, 4PM

Mrs. Nelson's Toy and Book Shop

1030 Bonita Ave.

La Verne, CA 91750

February 13, 11AM

Sam's Club

7480 Carson Street

Long Beach, CA 90808

February 13, 3PM

Borders

6510 Canoga Ave.

Canoga Park, CA 91303

Hey guys!

Seven years ago, on this very day, I showed up for my first day of Writing in Depth, the online writing course where I started writing HUSH, HUSH!  The writing classes were a birthday gift from my husband because today, February 3, is...MY BIRTHDAY!

I'm thirty, flirty and thriving...plus one. 

To celebrate, I thought I'd post two things. First, the opening paragraph to HUSH, HUSH, as it looked seven years ago. Second, my favorite clip from Thirteen Going on Thirty (or in my case, Thirty ONE!)


The paragraph:

Trying to keep my eyes off the front of the room, I walked into first hour biology. The letters S-E-X, each three-feet high, were printed in pink chalk. Pink!

At my side, Vee Sky rolled her green eyes and for the millionth time I thought: just like cat’s eye marbles. She is like a cat in many ways.

McFarland thinks he can teach me something I don‘t already know?” she said, cocking her head at the cloudy pink letters.

I laughed. But I knew her heart was pounding from doing laps around the possibility of learning more about sex. She is a virgin and so am I.


The movie clip:

Five minutes ago, I was cleaning the kitchen, and somewhat absently thinking about my blog, and that's when I got the idea to post this poll.  I know I'm not GREAT about blogging (I'm busy writing - this is a good thing!) but I'm trying to do better.  Far more people check my blog now than, say, six months ago, so I think it might be kind of interesting to see what you guys are looking for, and what you'd like to see more of. 

So I present to you today...a poll!  

Happy Friday, everyone!

I'm taking the weekend off from editing CRESCENDO, to give myself a little clarity and distance before I head into the final stretch of revisions, and thought it might be a good time for a, ta-da, blog post.  A Friday Five blog post.  I don't think I've done one of these in a while, and I miss them!  

5.  I can't believe lindsey_leavitt 's PRINCESS FOR HIRE comes out in the UK NEXT WEEK!  I was lucky enough to read the book last year, when it was still in manuscript form, and it is so fantastically hilarious!  Hee!  I'm laughing just thinking about it.  Lindsey and I are swapping sequels right now, and I'm having the best time back in Desi's world.  I keep thinking, "Why can't I write funny like this?!?"  CONGRATS, Lindsey!!!


4.  I just decorated my very first bundt cake!  Shannan and Stacy over at Girls in the Stacks told me my visit to Texas wouldn't be complete without one, and lo and behold, a cake arrived on my doorstep today!  It's red velvet - my all-time favorite cake!  YAY! for Nothing Bundt the Cake and YAY! for Shannan and Stacy!  Thanks so much, guys :)  Actually, I'll stick a picture in!  Trust me, the cake pictured in the instructions looked a lot better, but I'm cutting myself some slack because a) I'm not a professional, and b) My 3 yr. old helped.  Uh, now that I'm getting a good look at it, it kind of looks like a sea urchin!  HAHA!   


3.  Speaking of Girls in the Stacks, while I was in Dallas, they came to one of my signings and did a little video interview with me.  I was so nervous!  Video is scary!  But by the end we were laughing so hard because we were having so much fun!    Here's the video!

Interview with Becca Fitzpatrick from GITS on Vimeo.

2.  Shoot.  I think I'm running out of five things.  Gah!  Why am I so boring!  I'm going out on a real date with my husband tonight.  Does that count?  Since I'm counting down the hours, I'm pretty sure it counts.  A nice, quiet, relaxing dinner out.  Hurry up, six o'clock!  

1.  Let's end this Friday Five with a plug for Fallen Archangel.  Are you a HUSH, HUSH fan?  If you are, and you haven't joined the fansite Fallen Archangel yet, you're missing out on lots of HUSH, HUSH goodness!  

Have a great weekend!

Becca 

Oh man, you guys.  I am SO SORRY it has taken me forever to post this.  You guys all deserve a dozen roses for being so patient with me.  As I mentioned earlier, it was incredibly hard to pick just one name for my CRESCENDO character-naming contest.  But in the end, there was one entry that kept floating back to me, and never failed to make me smile.  I figured that was a good sign of a winning name.  Plus, it's just a little bit cheesy, and we all know just how cheesy my sense of humor is.  Actually, when picking the name, I kept hearing Vee's voice in my head saying, "Pst!  Babe!  Choose that one!! " 

Are you ready for the name?

~Drumroll~

ECANUS - submitted by T.J.!

This is what T.J. said in his submission: "An interesting name I came across for a story I was writing a while back is Ecanus. He is supposed to be an angel for writers; ensuring originality and perseverance to see your artistic creations through till the end!"

So there you have it.  Ecanus will be making his debut in CRESCENDO.  He actually has a pretty interesting role...

-Becca

Hey, all!

I'm back home in Colorado!  As you can probably imagine, I have a bazillion things I need to catch up on.  I promise I'm going to try to put a dent in my email, and get back to as many of you as I can.  I'm also going to do laundry, play with my kids and work more on my CRESCENDO edits - yay!  But even though I'm massively behind on everything, Texas was so worth it.  Y'all were AWESOME!  Thank you so much for coming out, for being so enthusiastic and fun, and a special thank-you to those of you who brought gifts.  I feel all spoiled now!  You guys are The Best Fans I could ask for.  XOXO!

I've posted lots of tours pics on my facebook page, and Fallen Archangel has posted on their website.  But here's a couple just for fun:

Hey, y'all!  (I figure I can say y'all as long as I'm still in Texas!)

Wow.  I've done a REALLY bad job of updating my blog throughout the tour.  If it makes any difference, I've been a lot busier than I expected.   Maybe on Sunday, when I'm back home and life has settled down, I'll write up a nice long post on everything that happened this week.  Sound good?  In the meantime, Fallen Archangel has quite a few pics posted - thank you to everyone who submitted pics!  Fallen Archangel is so on top of these things, and as you can see, I am not. 

Speaking of tours, I have some maybe-ish news about future places I'll be visiting.  Everything is still in the works, which means I shouldn't even be bringing this up, but I am so excited about the possibility of visiting these places that I can't keep quiet!  In fact, I had a dream about one of these places last night.  And I so want to tell you what I saw in this dream, but my publisher reads this blog, and if I spill, well, they might change their minds and not send me.  So it's hush-hush for now.  (See my self-restraint in motion.)

What else happened this week?  While I didn't get much writing done (er, any, actually) I did hear some fantastic foreign sales news.  The awesome and hard-working Ms. Lyndsey at InkWell informed me that HUSH, HUSH has now sold in 31 countries.  Can you believe it?  Because I sure can't!  Someday in the not-so-far future, teens in Israel, Greece, Romania and Lithuania will be reading Patch and Nora's story.  That, to me, is beyond incredible.

I think that's everything!  Before I go, I just wanted to say THANK YOU to everyone who has taken time out of their busy lives to come see me in Texas.  And thank you to everyone who made quite a trek to do it - maybe next time I'll be able to stop in San Antonio and College Station, and save a few of you a long drive :)

One more event today at the Barnes & Noble in Webster, Texas, at 2PM.  If you're in the area, come on out! 

-Becca



 



 

Hey, guys!

I have a couple minutes this morning, and thought I'd share a pic from last night's event at Legacy Bookstore.  Thanks so much to everyone who came out - you guys were such a fun audience!  And thanks to Shannan and Stacy who stayed late to interview me, and then put up with all my silliness :)


The rest of last night's pics are posted on Fallen Archangel - check 'em out! 


Also, I have another event tonight, so if you're in the area, please swing by!  Details right here:

January 20, 6PM

Reading & signing

Barnes & Noble, 2060 Stonebriar Center Mall

Frisco, Texas

Finally, some fan art.  Meet Patch and Nora!  Thank you, Letoya, for the beautiful gift!




Becca

First things first.

THINGS I LOVE ABOUT TEXAS (so far):

1.  The weather is toasty warm.  No winter coat necessary!

2.  The food is excellent.  Yum. 

3.  The waiters here in Texas, it seems, have astute powers of observation.  At dinner, my waiter hadn't been talking to me for more than thirty seconds, when he asked, "Where are you from?" 

I hesitantly answered, "Colorado.  Why?  How did you know I'm from out-of-state?" 

To which he replied easily, "You don't look like girls in Texas." 

Hmm.  Now I'm wondering what girls in Texas look like...


Quick reminder that I'll be at Legacy Bookstore tomorrow for a reading and signing.  Here's the official info:

January 19, 7PM

Reading & signing

Legacy Bookstore, 7300 Dallas Pkwy.

Plano, Texas
 

If you're in the area, I hope to see you!  Also, Fallen Archangel will be posting pics from my tour on their website all week.  If you come to an event, and take a picture, email it to them at: Admin AT fallenarchangel DOT com and they'll post your pic on the site! 

And many, many thanks to all of you who've already told me you're coming - can't wait to meet you!!

Becca

 

Hey, guys!

Happy Sunday! 

For those of you who've been emailing and posting inquiries about CRESCENDO's character-naming contest, you'll be happy to know I've finally selected the winning entry!  I've contacted the winner, and should be able to announce ALL THE DETAILS very soon!  Thank you, thank you to everyone who entered.  In the end, over two thousand people entered.  CRAZINESS!  I never expected such an amazing response.  I can't tell you how much fun I had going through each of the entries and seeing your creativity at work.  There were so many names I adored, and it really was such a tough decision.  Thanks again for making my job so much fun!  

I can't wait to reveal the winning entry!

Stay posted...

Hey, guys!

After being informed that over 130 people came to the chat on Fallen Archangel Monday night (which was beyond cool, btw), and after noticing the rise in emails I receive asking if I'd be willing to share general writing tips, and now that I finally own a camcorder and have figured out how to upload video to my computer...I started thinking maybe I'd create a vlog along the theme of A Day in the Life of a Writer.  The basic concept would be to haul a camcorder around with me throughout the day, and give my blog followers a glimpse into what it's like to be a writer.  In fact, if I'm super organized, and get the camcorder's battery charged before I leave on tour next week, I might even bring the camcorder along.  That way you'd all get a behind-the-scenes peek at what touring is REALLY like.  Which of course, you'll get to experience right alongside me, since I have no idea what touring is really like.  What say you?  Does this sound like a good idea?

Also, Simon & Schuster Canada is at it again.  Remember the chalk drawings they did on the streets of Toronto a few months back?  Well now they've created a HUSH, HUSH friend tagger for Facebook.  I've been having fun with it all evening on my own Facebook page, haha!  Go HERE to snag the tagger for your own FB profile.  Or, if you're friends with me on Facebook, feel free to tag yourself on my page!

Well, I think that's everything.  I've got another 15 minutes or so before bed, which means I should probably STOP blogging and go do something productive...like eat ice cream.

Nite.

Becca

Hey, all!

I meant to post this earlier!  But if you happen to stumble across my blog in the next hour or so, and want to join me for a writing chat on Fallen Archangel, please do!

This chat is for writers - published, unpublished, just starting out, whatever!  I'll be answering your questions about writing and publishing in general. 

Feel free to come lurk, or to ask questions.  Everything gets underway at 9PM EST right HERE.

-Becca

Hey, guys!

Happy Sunday!  Hope everyone had a fab weekend.  I spent most of Saturday editing CRESCENDO and prepping for my upcoming school visits.  Yes, school visits!  Scary stuff.  But I'm hoping if I prepare this far in advance, I'll come up with something that's not entirely boring...

Anyway, the purpose of this post is to let you know that my editorial letter for CRESCENDO arrived Thursday night, and I'm going into the revision cave.  It's kind of unbelievable to think one year ago, I was editing HUSH, HUSH, and now here I am, doing the same thing all over again with CRESCENDO.  For better or worse, this means I'm going to be devoting all of my free time to edits (I want to finish on time.  Er, as on time as I can, considering I'm already a little behind schedule, ha!)  SO IF YOU EMAIL ME, AND I DON'T RESPOND, PLEASE DON'T GET MAD!  I'm not ignoring you.  I'm simply trying to make CRESCENDO as good as I can while I still have time.  

Finally, HUSH, HUSH won Cover of the Year at All Things Urban Fantasy!  Thanks so much for all the votes!  My first, and probably only award, and I love it very much!!

Becca

Hey, guys!

Did everyone have a happy New Year?!  I had all these wild plans of staying up late and ushering in 2010 with a bang...but fell asleep shortly after 10pm.  The good news is, this meant I was wide awake by 7am this morning, and made it to spinning at the gym.  Go me!  

So, good news.  Great news, really.  I found out today that HUSH, HUSH won a few awards in the Urban Fantasy Cover Art Awards, hosted by All Things Urban Fantasy, including:

*Best YA Cover
*Best Male Only Cover
*Most Unique Cover
*Best Debut Cover

YAY!!!  Thanks so much to everyone who voted - you guys know you're awesome, right?  Just in case you've forgotten, I'll say it once more.  YOU GUYS ROCK IT TO THE MAX!

If you want to see the results, they're posted HERE.  Lots of truly beautiful covers, including THE DARK DIVINE by breedespain and FRAGILE ETERNITY by melissa_writing 



According to All Things Urban Fantasy, there's going to be one more big showdown between all the winners in each category to claim the title of Cover of the Year.  Very cool.  The contest is open internationally, and everyone who votes will be entered to win a copy of the Cover of the Year 2009 book. 

Now you know I would never pressure/bribe/cajole anyone into voting for HUSH, HUSH, but if you wanna...

Here's the LINK. 


Hope everyone had a fab New Year!
Becca

I know I said you wouldn't hear from me again until 2010, but this is too good not to share. Watch and enjoy. And see if you can spot me giving advice (which I used many times while writing HUSH, HUSH, ha!)

I just realized it's been over 2 weeks since I posted.  Nice.  I'm really on top of things here.  If it's any consolation, I've been having a fun holiday season doing other highly important things like...

SLEDDING!

And shopping.  And eating.  And refining my Lego-building skills.  And cooking!  Lots of cooking.  Speaking of which, I'm about to log off and head into the kitchen to whip up some veggie dip and chocolate fondue for tonight's New Year's Eve party!  Holy freak.  It's almost 2010. 

But before I go, I wanted to squeeze one last post into 2009.  I have five things, and then I swear you won't hear from me again until 2010.

1.  The CRESCENDO character-naming contest ends TONIGHT at midnight.  All I can say is holy cow, you guys have been amazing.  Last I checked, I had over 2,000 entries.  I'm hoping to have a winner announced by January 15, 2010.  Oh, and on an interesting note, the most common name suggestion I've received is Aiden.  Lots of people want a character named Aiden in CRESCENDO, it seems.  (For those of you who have no clue what this character-naming stuff I'm talking about is, go HERE.)  

2.  Speaking of contests, I've teamed up with The Lateiner Gang Book Reviews Spot to provide one lucky reader with a brand new Barnes & Noble Nook and accessory pack. Contest is open internationally, and runs through February 5, 2010!  I'm pretty sure I don't have to say this is a contest you don't want to miss!  Details can be found at: The Lateiner Gang Book Reviews Spot

3.  One of my Twitter followers informed me that HUSH, HUSH is one of Barnes & Noble's Best Teen Books of 2009!  Yes, I'm screaming over here. The full top twenty list is available HERE.   

4.  Tour dates and cities.  I've posted my January HUSH, HUSH tour info on my website, and I'm more than happy to say that next month, I'm going to Texas!  I'll be doing events in Plano, Frisco, Houston, and Webster.  I haven't been to Texas since I was 13 years old, so I'm just a little bit excited by this.  Then, in February, I'm going on tour with Lisa McMann of WAKE, FADE, and GONE.  We're going to have a blast, and we're looking forward to meeting readers and fans in Tempe, AZ, Oceanside, CA,  San Diego, CA, La Verne, CA and Long Beach, CA.  Wow.  It's going to be awesome!  Thanks TX and CA for having me!

5.  Finally, I couldn't wrap up 2009 without saying THANK YOU to all the booksellers, librarians, teachers, readers, and awesomely awesome teens out there who've made 2009 so exciting and special for me.  What a year.  Thank you, thank you.  Here's to wishing you the brightest and best in 2010.  

NOW GO PARTY!

 

I've mentioned how much I love the ladies behind the HUSH, HUSH fansite, Fallen Archangel, haven't I? They managed to hunt down Patch, and got him to send a holiday message to fans. Enjoy, and Happy Holidays!




Want to know more about Patch? Visit Fallen Archangel's Cover Week Here.

Hey, guys!

A couple of things to tell you about tonight.

1. Fallen Archangel is hosting a cool chat for writers (unpublished, published, or hoping to be published). I get quite a few emails asking for writing tips, my publication story, how to get an agent, etc. Well, now I can answer these questions all in one place. If you have questions about the writing process, this is your official invitation to join me and Fallen Archangel for a night of writerly chat!



2. I stumbled across some cool HUSH, HUSH casting videos on YouTube. I can't tell you how much fun I had watching them! Thanks to everyone who made them - you guys rock! Here are a few I found:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDlRedIwSyo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYFd8s6mMvU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NqnahYg_UPE


3. Reader Girl Reviews is collecting new and used books to donate to Home Base Youth Services. If you're looking for a way to give back this holiday season, please consider donating! For more information on how to donate, contact Reader Girl at readergirlreviews at gmail dot com.

'Night!

Becca

Hey, guys!

I wanted to let you know about an auction going on right now for a one-of-a-kind, marked-up copy of HUSH, HUSH. A few months ago, I was contacted by bloggers Chelsea (The Page Flipper) and Lauren (Shooting Stars Mag) to see if I wanted to be a part of a charity they're doing through First Book called Leave a Mark. You can read First Book's inspiring story here, and you can read more about Leave a Mark here. The short of it is, Chelsea, Lauren and several authors are teaming up to provide books to children in need.

Here's how you can participate. I've spent the past several weeks marking up a first-edition copy of HUSH, HUSH with notes, explanations and even a few top-secret lines from CRESCENDO – lines that haven't been released anywhere else. This copy of HUSH, HUSH is up for auction at First Look right now. If you know of a HUSH, HUSH aficionado who might enjoy owning this particular copy, send them over to First Look to bid on the book. Here's the link. One hundred percent of the profits from Leave a Mark go to First Book.

Becca

Hey, all!

Wow. It feels like I haven't had time to sit down and write a real blog post in forever. So this is my attempt at a Real Blog Post. Let's see if I remember how!

Saturday I drove down to Englewood, Colorado to take part in the Englewood Public Library's Author Series panel. My first official panel! I was there with fellow authors Leslee Breene, Ronald Cree, and Robert Spiller. We answered all kinds of questions, including: How do you get a story idea? How do you get an agent? What is a query letter? and Why fallen angels? Okay, I was the only one who answered the last question.

Here's a pic of us:

After the panel, I got to meet some teen writers from Littleton. Were there author panels when I was a teen? I have no clue. My publicist at Simon & Schuster and I always joke that authors never visited our schools, let alone our towns. (I grew up in Nebraska and she grew up in Montana). I still can't believe there wasn't a single author who didn't want to do a school visit in North Platte, Nebraska! We had corn! And blizzards! And bird-size mosquitoes! Nebraska is the good life, guys.


Speaking of Nebraska, did anyone watch the Nebraska-Texas game on Saturday? Ugh. Let's not talk about it...

Let's see. What else? We've been getting more snow here in Colorado than we possibly know what to do with. I'm actually cool with it, and I will be, through Christmas. After that, I will be sick of snow. It no longer looks beautiful after Christmas. It looks cold and hard and unrelenting. It reminds me that I will not run outside in shorts and a tee for many, many months.

In book news, I've been having a lot of fun chatting with fans and readers over at Bitten by Books. I'll be there again tomorrow morning, so if you haven't stopped by, please do! I've also had a few more foreign sales: Bulgaria, Czech Republic and Turkey. It is absolutely insane to think HUSH, HUSH will be in Bulgaria someday. I love it!

Also in book news: fellow Tenners breedespain fabulousfrock and lindsay_eland10 have books coming out in a couple weeks! I'm so excited! I'll be posting more about their books soon.

All right. I think that's it. I'm going to catch White Collar on Hulu.com, which is helping tide me over until Burn Notice returns...

-Becca