Lost In Translation. . .

So, the countdown begins-- in just one month CRUEL SUMMER will be in stores--yippee!! And as the sun is just absolutely blazing outside, making for yet another bee-u-ti-ful Laguna Beach day, my thoughts have turned to summer as well. Summers present--love my new Havianas flip-flops!-- and summers past--seven of them spent in Mykonos, Greece which spawned the idea for CRUEL SUMMER.

And while the beaches were dreamy and the town was magic



there were definite challenges to overcome too--one of them being the language barrier.

I never actually studied Greek, never became anywhere close to fluent. But once I'd memorized how to sound out the letter combinations, I learned to read it by watching old episodes of 90210 on TV (everything was subtitled back then, and Greek is phonetic--gave a whole new spin to the Brenda/Dylan/Kelly love triangle), and I learned to speak it by listening--(the first word I learned how to say was: Jerk! But only because I heard it all the time!). And as far as I thought I'd come, communicating in my own form of Grenlglish, looking back, I'm afraid I might've actually sounded like this:

"Colby Empress physicist is hunting nervy to her prizewinning season yet—until her parents end to split and beam her to springy with her “crazy” aunty Tally on a tiny Hellenic island. Stranded in a external locate with no radiophone phone, Colby fears her …"

THAT, dear reader, is the summary for the Cruel Summer Book Trailer as shown on a German site. Seriously. To see for yourself click HERE.

But despite the pure gorgeousness developing outside, I goofed off all weekend, so it's back to work for me. But I don't feel bad about since I know there'll be more days like this. That's one of my favorite things about summer-- the succession of beautiful days!

What about YOU? What do you like best (or worst!) about summer?

And The Winner Is . . .

The winner has been chosen for the CRUEL SUMMER advanced reading copy giveaway!

Wondering if it's YOU???????

Click HERE to find out!

Happy Weekend Everyone!

Teens' Top Ten

Hey Everyone-

I just learned that SAVING ZOE has been nominated for YALSA's annual TEENS' TOP TEN list and I am totally psyched!!

Just being included with so many amazing authors, like: Stephenie Meyer, PC and Kristin Cast, Scott Westerfield, Holly Black, Melissa Marr, Meg Cabot, Libba Bray, etc. etc. (see the full list HERE) is exciting beyond words!

Final voting takes place online, during Teen Read Week, October 12-18, 2008.

Have a good weekend everyone!

Shiny Happy World

So I subscribe to this "Daily Tip from Dr. Weil," which means every morning I'm greeted with an e-mail featuring a topic on healthy living. Yesterday's was about optimism, and it went like this:

"Did you know that pessimism has been linked to a higher risk of dying before age 65? On the other hand, expressing positive emotions, such as optimism, is associated with a variety of health benefits: lowered production of the stress hormone cortisol, better immune function, and reduced risk of chronic diseases."

And then there's Dr. Wayne Dyer who says (paraphrasing):

"One of the most important decisions you'll ever make is whether or not you choose to live in an abundant universe."

All this talk about optimism, reminded me of an author panel I participated in last year where one of the guests in the audience asked if we YA authors feel compelled to write "up" endings, and if so, why would we chose to do such a thing when life gives you anything but. Isn't that a little unfair to our teen readers?

Yikes!

Well, the truth is, I do feel compelled to write "up" endings, but mostly because I believe in them. And while my life hasn't always gone in the exact way that I'd hoped, I truly believe that every single experience has prepared me for the next one, and more importantly, those same experiences (especially the not-so-good ones) brought the opportunity for growth.

In other words, I guess you could say that I'm a fervent believer in silver linings.

Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Tony Kushner says, (again, paraphrasing), that:

"Providing hope is a moral obligation."

And while I'm not always big on defining what is and isn't moral (it's a charged word meaning different things to different people) I like the quote. Providing hope is important. Robbing someone of hope is criminal.

And that's why I've decided to move HERE.

Or at least visit as often as possible. Because in a world where a simple spring shower turns into STORM WATCH 2008!!! I'd like to hang in a place that keeps it real, keeps it simple, and keeps it, well, positive.

And on that note, I leave you with this-- enjoy!

Happy Thursday Everyone!

It's a cruel--cruel summer

Not only did it serve as title inspiration for my May release, CRUEL SUMMER, but I still love this song ( are you listening iTunes?? Get this song available for download already, sheesh!)-- and here's why:

I met these girls once, a long time ago at a club in LA--they were very nice!

Oh, and the cover flat recently found it's way to my door, which means it's all starting to feel very real!



Happy Earth Day Everyone!

Promo Week!

It’s promo week over at the Teen Fiction Café, so I’m blogging about CRUEL SUMMER, premiering the book trailer, and giving away an ARC (advanced reading copy) to one lucky winner, and bookmarks and signed bookplates to anyone who wants them!

Just click HERE to join all the fun!

Hope to see you there-

A

I Rocked the Drop!

The deed is done! I headed over to Laguna Hills High School and Dropped a signed copy of SAVING ZOE--



And now I'm just hanging around waiting for that Myspace chat to begin . . .

Hope to "see" you there!

Reader's Choice

Climbing out of a paranormal haze (working on the outline for the next EVERMORE book) to say that the lovely Brooke Taylor called me today to tell me that SAVING ZOE is a finalist in the National Reader's Choice Awards---Yippee!!!

I'm totally psyched--but a little sad that I missed Brooke's call because she's really cool!

Okay, back to work--
As you were. . .

More Swag!

Downloads--get yer free downloads!

Doing a little house cleaning over at alysonnoel.com--freshened up the front door, and added some new wallpaper with enough left over to share! So please stop by and help yourself-- all you have to do is click HERE.

Have a good day everyone!
A

Weekend Update

So, I had a great time yesterday, participating in the Taft High School PASSPORT TO READING event


Where I caught up with friends, hung out with the funny, sweet, and talented, Debby Garfinkle, and spoke with some really great students about the publishing process. Everything that happens between the initial idea that sparks the story, to the final product--the book on the shelf-- with lots of visual aids to illustrate the journey.



After that I met up with the amazing, Jessica Brody, whose poised to make her author debut, and who also happens to be so cute, so talented, so sweet, so funny, so smart, so nice, so gifted, so genuine, you can't help but like her. I was lucky enough to get an early peek at her debut novel, THE FIDELITY FILES (coming June 10), and I'm telling you, it's so good-- I could barely put it down. It's about this girl who works as an infidelity inspector, and then, well, why not click HERE to watch the best book trailer you've ever seen (seriously), and read more about it!

Later that evening, my husband and I met up with some friends for a special premier screening of the TV show, GHOST WHISPERER, which was so fun to watch on a movie theater sized screen. Then after the credits rolled, the show's executive producers, writers, directors, costume designers, set designers, actors- including Camryn Manheim, David Conrad, and that hunky young new guy who plays Camryn's son (sorry, his name escapes me, but just know he's even hunkier in person), and, of course, the amazing James Van Praagh, took the stage where they engaged in a really fun and super informative Q&A.

And best of all--well, aside from hanging with friends and having fun, it totally qualified as research! I swear, ever since I started writing my EVERMORE books, the research gets better and better!

But since today is turning out to be far more humble, and hardly worth writing about, filled with all manner of laundry and other household "to-dos," I'll just go about my business, and try not to bore you with the details!

Happy Sunday everyone!
A

PS- Oh, and I wanted to add that for those of you looking for autographed copies, yesterday I stopped by the Barnes & Noble in the Westside Pavillion, chatted with the super friendly and knowledgeable staff (seriously, like the nicest, most helpful employees evah), and signed multiple copies of LAGUNA COVE, KISS & BLOG, and SAVING ZOE!

Swag & Stuff

So, I'm excited to say that my May release, CRUEL SUMMER, is now on up on my website! Just click HERE to gawk at the cover and read an excerpt-- and stay tuned because soon-- very soon- there will be a booktrailer and free downloads too!

Also, the swag is in--


Dual sided CRUEL SUMMER and SAVING ZOE bookmarks-- along with signed bookplates! And all you have to do to get yours- is send a self addressed stamped envelope to:

Alyson Noel
14 Monarch Bay Plaza, #186
Monarch Beach, CA 92629

Oh, and, my publisher has a cool new website for all of their authors - you can check it out HERE.

And, last but not least, this Saturday, April 5, 2008, I'll be participating in the annual PASSPORT TO READING at Taft High School. My session is scheduled for 11:00 AM. I'll be discussing my road to publishing, the step by step publishing process (with visual aids!) , taking questions, and signing books!

Hope to see you there!

These Books Changed My Life

I'm blogging over at TEEN FICTION CAFE today, talking about the wonderful books that changed my life. And I'm hoping you'll come on over and tell me about the books that changed yours!

Love!

So the other night I was lying on the couch, channel surfing, when I came across Paul and Ringo, along with Jon and George's widows, Yoko and Olivia, as wells as Guy Laliberté (the Cirque du Soleil founder), all being interviewed on Larry King Live.

And I dropped the remote and settled in.

Apparently, it was the one year anniversary of the Cirque du Soleil LOVE show over at the Mirage in Las Vegas, and if you haven't seen this show and you're headed to Vegas, all I can say is-- GO!

I'm a huge Cirque fan, (and a Vegas fan too!), and I've seen everyone of their shows. And while I'm hard pressed to pick my absolute favorite, as a big time music lover, I have to say, there's something incredibly sentimental about this particular show.

I saw it last May, just a few months after it'd opened, during a trip to Vegas with some family and friends to celebrate my husband's b-day. And I'm not afraid to admit that I actually got a little choked up about half-way through the performance. Because not only is it an amazing visual feast, it's also about the power of music, not just to chronicle our lives, but to actually CHANGE our lives. And so, yah, all that called for a tissue!

But watching them on Larry, sitting so casually and joking around, I couldn't help but think- "My God, what must it FEEL like to be one of THEM?"

And shortly after, when Larry asked if they ever had to pinch themselves, they responded with the usual jokes. But later, (I think it was Paul) who admitted it had all been pretty incredible, and sometimes required a pinch.

As a little kid, I wanted to marry Ringo, then later changed it to George. What about you? Who was your favorite Beatle???