The Living came out yesterday!! I wasn’t able to announce it on the actual on-sale day because I was speaking at a middle school in Ohio, and a high school in Ohio, and the Youngstown chapter of IRA. This is the first time I’ve ever done a speaking engagement on the day a book

I’m in Seattle this whole week, visiting a couple schools per day. The visit is sponsored by Seattle Public Library. Here’s a shot of their architecturally famous (infamous?) downtown branch (talk amongst yourselves): Sometimes I get to hang with the big bad high schoolers, like these guys from Chief Sealth High: Other times I’m

On November 12th, The Living hits bookstores. This is very exciting to me. I’ve never spent so much time working on a novel, and I’m very proud of the way it turned out. The protagonist, Shy Espinoza, is my guy. If you’d like to get a sneak peek of Shy and The Living, Random

I’m super excited to be participating in my first-ever National Book Festival in Washington DC this weekend. I’ll be speaking on Saturday, September 21 from 1:20pm – 1:50pm, followed by a signing. Can’t wait to check out presentations by Paolo Bacigalupi, Matthew Quick, Margaret Atwood, Don DeLilo, Lisa McMann and Juan Felipe Herrera. More information

When the reviews start rolling in, a book begins to feel like a real thing to me. It’s moving out into the world. Folks I don’t even know are turning the pages — it’s nerve wracking and exciting and alive. Here are the first two reviews for The Living (thanks for the kind words

I’m back in the Brooklyn Writers Space today, eating a four-day old Parisian almond croissant. It tastes goddamn amazing. I bet it’d be even better in a week. Did you know Paris baked goods age like wine? It’s true! Okay, maybe that’s nostalgia talking. The point is, I just got back from a seven

The summer is almost over, and I’m about to take a full on writing vacation. I’m not typing a damn word of fiction for an entire week. Seriously. . . . Okay I might take a couple notes about my upcoming revision of The Hunted (which is the sequel to The Living). Oh, and

Fifteen hundred writers and illustrators gather in LA every year to talk kids books and publishing and process. That’s a lot of people. I attended SCBWI LA on the slick a few years ago — when I helped my editor (for about fifteen minutes) present on voice — but this year I was invited

It wasn’t easy to get to North Carolina. I spent all of Monday at JFK. My first flight was cancelled and I never made it onto my severely delayed second flight (even though I was the first name on the standby list and Delta agents assured me I’d get a seat) (yep, still bitter).

As many of you know, I have a new novel coming out this November, THE LIVING. (You can read more about it here and here.) And I’m really excited about it. The main character is Shy. I mean, that’s his name. Shy Espinoza. I’ve been hanging out with Shy for a couple years now,