Living Your Five is Live!!!

LIVING YOUR FIVE IS HERE!

We know, we know... we've been hinting about it for weeks. The super secret project of Kay Cassidy, Tera Lynn Childs, Becca Fitzpatrick, and me. The #fivers hashtag. The Founding Fiver badges. The huge top secret contest. So many secrets!

Good news. The secret's out.

Join us for the worldwide launch of Living Your Five! Living Your Five is an online community dedicated to changing our world one person at a time. You don't have to cure the world of cancer or banish world hunger in a single day. It's about working together, each of us taking one more step every day. It's about knowing what you care about--what you're passionate about!--and stepping away from the sidelines of your life to make your mark on the world.

To celebrate the launch of the official Living Your Five web site, we're even hosting a contest with awesome daily prizes and a MEGA grand prize all courtesy of our Founding Fivers! Find out all the details at www.livingyourfive.com.

We're ready to change the world. Now it's up to you.

Will you watch from the sidelines or join us on the ride? (Come on, join us--we know you want to!)

Fivers

I'm a Fiver.

So is she.

And she.

And she.

Are you??

Find out soon . . .

Have a good weekend everyone!

A

:-D

Very Exciting SHADOWLAND news!!!

First, the cover:

Second, the new release date:

November 24, 2009!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Cheers Everyone!!!

Alyson

xoxo

It Don't Come Easy

(Yup- Ringo Starr!)

So, in an effort to keep this blog humming along despite the fact that the brain juices are running low (see post below), I came across this cool, book-related meme today over at Magical Musings and figured I'd play along! And, hopefully, you'll decide to play along too because that would make it even cooler!

So, here are my picks-- be sure to leave yours in the comments!

- What book(s) made you a better writer?

STORY by Robert Mckee changed my life. Took me from unpublished to published. SAVE THE CAT by Blake Snyder is one I turn to again and again--the Beat Sheet is insanely useful!

-What book(s) made you cry?

The first book to ever make my cry was CHARLOTTE'S WEB--I sobbed like a baby! After that, I seem to remember shedding a tear or two over BASTARD OUT OF CAROLINA and THE LOVELY BONES. I know there are others, I can be quite the cry baby, but those are the ones that spring to mind.

-What book(s) made you laugh until you were in tears?

I will never forget reading David Sedaris's ME TALK PRETTY ONE DAY on a flight from NYC to LA. I was practically falling out of my seat laughing, luckily the seat next to me was empty! Chrisitopher Moore and Nick Hornby always inspire these kinds of hysterics as well!

What book(s) made you feel like you could conquer the world?

Well, I don't know if they made me feel like a world beater, but Judy Blume's books helped me through a tough adolescence--they made me feel more equipped to handle my problems. She is a huge inspiration to me!

What book(s) have you read three times or more?

WUTHERING HEIGHTS, DEENIE, CATCHER IN THE RYE, FRANNY AND ZOEY, REBECCA, BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY'S . . .

What book(s) kept you up all night reading?

Hmm, off the top of my head, Elizabeth Scott's LIVING DEAD GIRL- spare, haunting, and I couldn't put it down! Oh, and last night I skipped watching TV (my afterwork treat!), so I could finish Rebecca Stead's WHEN YOU REACH ME--wonderful!

What book(s) do you want to read again?

I want to read THE LOVELY BONES again before the movie comes out, I'd like to read Paul Coelho's THE ALCHEMIST again- a truly lovely tale . . . oh, there's lots of books I'd read again and again, but there are also lots I still need to read for the first time around!

Okay, now it's your turn!! Sing it out in the comments!

Have a great day everyone!

A

xoxo

Smart Chicks Kick It!!!!

The blog title above is not a song title (though it should be!). It's actually the first of those very exciting announcements I was dying to share with you!

Coming to a city that may or may not be near you--next September 2010-- YA authors Melissa Marr, Kelley Armstrong, et moi are kicking off the:

Smart Chicks Kick It Tour!!!

Details are still in the making but so far we got:

6-8 Cities
6 Authors/City

Our Tour, Our Way
Author tours are usually organized by the publisher. All we have to do is show up, which is great, but we started thinking maybe we'd like to try something different. Organize our own tour, just the way we want it. Pick the cities. Pick the authors. Organize the events. So, in Sept 2010, we'll do just that.

It's Your Tour, Too
Setting up our own tour is great. But it's not really about us. It's about the readers--getting out and meeting them. We'll be looking for input from readers to help us make this the kind of tour they want, too. And because we can't get to every city, we'll also be setting up a virtual tour component. We're still in the planning stages, but watch this page for more details.

Appearing at every stop:
Kelley Armstrong
Melissa Marr
Alyson Noël

Appearing at one or more stops:
Rachel Vincent
Mary Pearson
Jeri Smith Ready
Kimberly Derting
Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Carrie Ryan
Mary Pearson
Jackson Pearce
Jess Verday
And more to come . . .

I can't even tell you how excited I am to be part of this--and will keep you updated as the details come together!

Have a great day everyone!

Alyson