lboylecrompton

You may recall a while back I wrote a letter for the awesome Dear Teen Me site. It was so much fun I've written another one and this time I talk about THE PINK CAR! You should go read it.

Posted over at Emu's Debuts today about the awesomeness of getting fanmail!

My first two weeks as a published author have been ah-mazing and I'm beyond thrilled over the support Blaze has been getting! Rather than clogging everyone's facebook feed for the foreseeable future, I decided to do a small round-up of some fun spots that are featuring Blaze online. Come and visit All the Places! (And there's a surprise book trailer in there somewhere!)

My awesome launch party got a mention in Publisher's Weekly!! Squeee! Those are my lovely cousins Annie and Emma all superhero'ed up for the party.

There aren't even words to describe how grateful I am to the friends and family (and fans!) who made my launch super-special!! B&N sold out of books and tolerated our rowdiness and I couldn't have asked for a better way to usher Blaze into the world! Thank you all!! A few pictures of the pink-infused fun!!












The BLZ RLZ chick is my awesome Sis visiting from Cali and yes, the pink in my daughter's hair is permanent. We author-moms can be pretty cool about that sort of thing. 

When my daughter turned five I remember she woke up the day of her birthday, looked down at her sleeves and said to me, "Well, my pajamas still fit." It was one of those adorable moments when reality is outrun by expectations. I'm reminded of this here on the morning of my debut book launch. Sure, I woke up early and then couldn't get back to sleep. Sure I'm looking forward to doing a bunch of 'Squeeing' online over Blaze's arrival. But I know that today will in many ways be just another day. There have already been sightings of Blaze in the wild. I've efficiently wallpapered the internet with the image of my book cover. The book has already been getting lots of love over at goodreads from bloggers who read early copies. And so launch day itself feels sort of anticli--
*Ahem* Nevermind all this crap about significance and expectations! What I really want to say is, Squeeeeee!!!! My book, my book, my book is out today!!! The book! That I wrote! Squeee!!! This is my book's birthday!!
It's nice that my pajamas still fit. Now they're officially being worn by an Author. (You didn't think I was getting dressed today just because it's my launch day, did you?)

My actual finished copies of BLAZE have arrived! The Best Mate was there to capture my reaction. Um, can you say, "SQUEEEEE!!!!"

And the best sort of tour! I'm on a blogging tour as I sit here in front of my computer in my jammies. This author gig is pretty cool! Here's an example of just one of my tour stops over on Chapter By Chapter:

I will, inevitably need to change out of my jammies at some point and head to actual bookstores and libraries around New York. Mark your calendars and if you feel like changing out of your jammies come and visit me! Or, for the perfect compromise - we can all wear Pajama Jeans! You do own a pair of Pajama Jeans, right? Erm, me neither*.

February 6th I'll be at the Jefferson Market Branch of the NYPL for Teen Author Reading Night at 6:00pm. My first reading! In NYC! Woot! 

Feb 7th @ 7:00pm join me for my Super-Fun Launch Party at the Westbury Long Island Barnes and Noble. There will be cake. 'Nuff said.

March 2nd @ 4:00pm I'll be doing a signing with Kimberly Sabatini, the author of Touching the Surface at Inquiring Minds bookstore in New Paltz. We're calling it 'The Girls With Swirling Hair Event.'

Hope to see you at one (or all) of these! Please don't make me change out of my jammies for nothing. 

*I'm lying

I've been a busy writer-bee this past month. When I finally emerged from my revision cave last week it was only to discover that I'm woefully behind on... everything. Despite a wonderful family pitching in, the housework was so out of control that holiday preperations weren't even on the radar. And thus was born... the Laundr-tree!!!

Step One: Begin with a sizable pile of laundry. For those of you stalled on this step - go choke on some eggnog. For those of you who glanced at a corner and replied, "Okay, got it," you are my people. Proceed to step two.

Step Two: Put that ugly Christmas sweater to some good use and camoflage that pile. You may either stop at this step, or else skip it entirely. This project doesn't have hard and fast rules, and if you haven't realized it yet - I'm no Martha Stewart. In fact, I should've probably opened with the disclaimer that I'm completely unqualified to give homemaking advice. 

Step Three: (Optional) Steal the lights off the neighbor's bushes and spread them ever so gently over the pile. For those looking to give it that little bit of extra - add an angel to the top of the pile.

Step Four: Throw on some holiday tunes and relax! I present to you... The Laundr-tree!! Look how festive it looks at night.