Really an Author!

Sometimes, I have these moments where it hits me, fresh, like I’d forgotten, that I’m really an author now. And those moments are so very cool. Author visits, where I can actually speak to people who have read my book are the best. I was honored to visit a novel writing class at Wright State University last month, and surprised to learn that my book had been required reading. (I’m really an author now!) But some of the best moments have come when I’m sitting all alone, checking emails. One such moment was when I learned from my editor that I had been nominated for YALSA’s Best Fiction for Young Adults list.

You might wonder why I’m reflecting on all of this right now. Well, I’ve recently had two monumentally cool I’m-Really-An-Author moments. And it’s time to share.

The first, and possibly most exciting to date, is that I received my very first author blurb. From one of my all-time favorite authors, Jay Asher, who wrote the incredible book Thirteen Reasons Why. If you haven’t read it yet, you must. Like, right now. Well, after you finish this post. Because you have to check out this lovely blurb . . .

"Tense! The constant push and pull of friendship, pain, love, and jealousy is beautifully drawn. A definite must read." – Jay Asher, author of the New York Times bestseller Thirteen Reasons Why.

How sweet is that?!

And, just yesterday, I learned that The Tension of Opposites has been nominated for the Cybils YA list. The Cybils awards are given each year by bloggers for the year’s best children’s and young adult titles. Which means, I’m Really an Author Now! Totally surreal!

On another very exciting note, this week I finished the first draft of my next book. The end is a little messy and needs to be polished up, then I’ll print the entire thing and read it all the way through with as little interruption as possible. Which means the draft is almost ready to submit to my agent for feedback (a step that I both love and hate at the same exact time). Yet another reminder that, you guessed it, I’m really an author now.