Becca Fitzpatrick

1.  T.V.   Can I just say how deliriously happy I am that Felicity broke up with Ben, and later, with David?  And good for Noel sneaking a kiss out of Felicity over Thanksgiving.  It's like season one . . . all over again!  Thanks again, Jess, for recommending this show. 

2.  Books  I picked up My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult for book club.  Oh, and I picked up a box of Kleenex to go with it.  And I absolutely cannot wait to see the movie.   

3.  Gardening   Remember how I said I'm planting my first-ever garden this year?  Little carrot sprouts are already appearing.  I can't believe it.  It's like a miracle.  They're actually growing.  I feel so . . . triumphant.    

4.  Surreal writing news  HUSH, HUSH sold to Piemme in Italy!  To celebrate, my husband took me out for some seriously awesome gelato.  I still remember the first time I had gelato.  I was visiting my sister in Baltimore and she swore cantaloupe gelato was the best thing I would ever eat.  Of course, I was seven months pregnant and loving just about everything I put in my mouth . . . but still.  I have fond memories of cantaloupe gelato.  

5.  ARC news  ARCs (advance reading copies) of HUSH, HUSH are coming soon.  Super soon.  If you'd like to be entered in a drawing to win a signed ARC, don't forget to register HERE.    

  

It's always nice when good news comes at the end of a day when I seriously feel like the worst mom ever.  This morning, I took the boys to Super Target and my six year old wanted to ride tummy-down on the bottom of the shopping cart (surf board style).

6 year old:  Come on, Mom.  Please?  Please let me ride on the bottom of the cart. 

Me:  No.  It's dangerous.  

6 year old:  Dad let's me do it.

Me:  I'm not Dad.

6 year old:  Pretty please?  I won't get hurt.  I promise.  

Me:  No.

6 year old:  (Pouts) This is so boring.  I never get to do anything fun.    

Me: (Wondering if maybe Dad really is cooler ) Fine.  Ride on the bottom of the cart.  Just make sure to keep your hands up so I don't run them over.  

Well, fifteen minutes later as I was wheeling toward the check-out counter, the shopping cart wheel caught and my 6 year old started screaming at top volume.  I ran over his fingers. 

Note to self:  I am the worst mom ever. 

But then, in an awesome twist of events, my day got so much better.  First, my editor emailed to say my book is going to copy edits!  I really have no clue what copy edits are, but I promise to give the scoop as soon as I know.  (Actually, I've heard copy edits can be nightmarishly overwhelming, so I'm choosing to pretend I have no clue what they are).  

And then . . . I found out Bookfolio in Korea bought HUSH HUSH!  How awesome is that?  Actually, it's very awesome because maybe, just maybe, I can use this as an excuse to travel to Asia!      

Korea or bust, baby! 

Happy Thursday all!

Okay, Veronica Mars is killing me.  I haven't been this excited about a show since ALIAS.  My husband was in Denver until late last night, which meant I had the TV all to myself . . . so, yeah.  There went my one-episode-a-week goal!  Now that I have a few more clues, I'm thinking Weevil and Lilly were secretly and romantically entangled, and Lilly was killed because someone found them out.  ACK!  The mystery!  It's killing me!  In a wonderful, wonderful way. 

   

Also, I have some cool and exciting news!  DENMARK bought the rights to HUSH HUSH!  Kudos to the awesome people at InkWell who've made all these foreign sales happen.  I <3 you.  And I <3 Denmark!      

I'm closing the contest because amynash correctly identified this country:



Taiwan!  Global Group Holdings will publish HUSH HUSH in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao.  Congrats, Amy!  I'll put your $10 iTunes card in the mail tomorrow. 

Thanks, everyone, for playing!  I laughed painfully hard at the answer "Texas."  You know who you are ;)

Hi, all! 

I have some exciting news - HUSH HUSH sold in another foreign country!  It still shocks me that I'm even part of this writing community . . . I've wanted this dream for so long . . . and here I am selling around the globe.  Anyway, enough of the mushiness.  Just feeling particularly grateful today for some reason.  

So here's the deal!

To celebrate my recent sale, I'm holding a CONTEST.  I'm giving away a $10 iTunes card (can you tell I have a stockpile of these?) to the first person who correctly guesses which country HUSH HUSH sold in last week.  I'll even make it easy(ier) by posting an aerial view of the country HERE:




Hmm.  Do I screen comments?  I don't really see a reason to . . . except I know I'd be less likely to make a guess if I knew the rest of the world could see how horrible I am at geography!  So, yes.  Let's definitely screen comments.

Good luck!

-Becca

ETA:  We have a winner, but she doesn't own an iPod, so she's graciously bowing out.  I want to add, some of you are very, very close!  

I'm (obviously!) excited to announce that The House of Books in Holland will be publishing HUSH HUSH!  Anyone know how to say Holland rocks in Dutch? 

 

Happy Friday, everyone! 

Not quite sure why I have The Beatles stuck in my head.  Maybe because I'm deeply entrenched in revisions.  

And I've been working like a dog.
It's been a hard day's night, I should be sleeping like a log.
But when I get home to you, I find the things that you do
Will make me feel alright. 

To spare you a detailed rehash of today's revisions, I'll keep it short and sweet . . . with a photo.  They say a picture's worth a thousand words.  Basically, this is how I feel about my story right now:


This is a good thing, yes?  I can't fix it until I tear it apart.  Today I had lots of fun tearing things apart.  We'll see how I feel tomorrow when I try putting things back together.  


Moving on . . . I have some GREAT news!  Media Factory in Japan bought HUSH, HUSH!!!  I seriously can't wait to see the Japanese cover.  I have a feeling it's going to be awesome. 



Finally, lest you think all I do is write, I have physical proof that I did NOT work last night.  The girls and I had a little Christmas party and a gift exchange.  I stayed three hours and only thought about my story once.  See?  I'm human after all.  

As you can imagine, I'm grinning.  And dancing about, hugging inanimate objects--like my sofa and bookshelf.  Goldmann, a division of Random House, will publish HH in 2010, followed by a sequel in 2011.  I know I've said this before, but I feel like I'm a part of the best industry in the world.  Thanks for letting me share my exciting news - and Happy Holidays to everyone!  

Drumroll . . .

HUSH sold in France!  I had an email chat yesterday with my French publisher, and LUCKY pretty much sums up how I feel.  AWESOME works, too.  Ditto with ECSTATIC.  

My husband is on the verge of sedating me.  I sat up in bed this morning (a few minutes before six) and shouted, "HUSH IN FRENCH!  FOR REAL!  HUSH IN FRENCH!" 

 

Most of my blues are because the wind is gusting at, oh, I'd say 70mph right now. Winter is coming hard and fast, Fort Collins style. Too bad you didn't get the pleasure of laughing at me as I attempted riding my bike into the wind this morning.

On a brighter note, I went out to lunch yesterday with friends.  (I'm on the right, in the black-and-white scarf.)  I was a Mad Writing Woman this past summer and missed out on a lot of girl outings. It was nice to reacquaint with humans and see faces that don't resemble a computer monitor . . .

last week if I'd known how long it would take before I could announce my news.  After all that expectation building, I'm hoping my news doesn't disappoint--I certainly think it lives up, and then some ;)  Without further ado . . . 

I'm going to be published in the UK!!!  By Simon & Schuster!!!

I'm beyond excited to work with S&S on both sides of the Atlantic, especially regarding the effectiveness of a joint marketing and publishing strategy.  I received an email from my US editor this morning gushing about my UK editor, and I can't say enough how lucky I feel to be working with such fantastic editors.  I have my own personal guardian angels watching over me ;)

Last night I woke up long before dawn and thought about my future.  Obviously I'm not a crystal ball and I have no idea what's in store, but the thought of connecting with readers around the world was enough to keep me awake the rest of the night.  Of course we write books for ourselves, but I think most of us write for others, too.  That's why we seek publication.  We hope our readers are challenged, entertained or maybe even changed by our stories.  Because that's the root of all fiction, isn't it?  Change.