Today is my birthay. It’s also the Superbowl. And the New England Patriots are playing, my hometown team. So, as you can imagine, EVERYONE around here is excited for the game. Including my son. Who came into my room this morning and yelled, “Superbowl!” And when my husband said, “What’s today?” my son again yelled, “Superbowl!” And then I laughed and he said, “Oh, yeah, happy birthday, mom.”

I’m taking a backseat to the Patriots and football today. But I’ll have an awesome day, with some hours spent alone at the bookstore writing, then onto a Superbowl party at my best friend’s house and an ice cream cake. If I’m lucky, I’ll even win the Superbowl pool I’m in and take home some cash.

All in all, a super day.

Looks like the infamous Puxatawny Phil saw his shadow, which means more weeks of winter. The truth is, though, our winter here at Boston has been so freakishly mild! Hardly any snow, which is so sad. I believe in seasons.

And a season is coming to an end – the season of writing the book that would not be finished! I thought I’d finish WHEN YOU LEAVE months, even over a year ago. Then I started writing in earnest and the story started coming together. I truly believed I’d finish it by my birthday – which is this Sunday. What a great present! But I don’t think that’s going to happen. Probably two more weeks until I send it to my agent and start my next project. So the writing ground hog saw his shadow to, and that means a few more weeks of writing.

In my next book a painting plays a role. It’s not a HUGE role, not like it’s an art heist or a tremendously famous painting at the center of the story, but it is important.

The story begins at the Museum of Fine Art in Boston. And even though this is not a book about art or artists or museums, I knew that a painting would have meaning to the story. I knew the type of painting I wanted – the style, the colors, the era, the level of awareness of the artist. But on my visits to the Museum of Fine Arts I never found the exact painting I had in mind. I didn’t want the artist to be a household name. I didn’t want the piece to be too easily labeled as belonging to one school or another. I wanted the piece to leave a lot up to interpretation.

So, I started my search for the perfect piece of art. Sure, I could have made it up, but that felt like cheating. I also wanted readers to actually be able to see the piece, to know it really exists. And then, after weeks and weeks of searching, I somehow found it. Not only was it visually perfect, the name of the piece was so right I couldn’t have done better if I made it up myself.

So here it is – The Way Back to Before by Moe Brooker. You can even see a video of the artist in his studio here. It’s very cool listening to Mr. Brooker talk about his art, to watch him put paint to canvas. And finally, after two years thinking about this painting and having it in my writing, I decided to email Mr. Brooker and say thanks. Thank you, Moe Brooker, for putting on canvas a picture that goes so well with my words.

Lucienne Diver’s next novel in her Vamped series is out! And, as if the description below didn’t have you running out to get FANGTASTIC already, just check out this music video for her books. So, what’s the next installment in Lucienne’s series all about? Check it out below!

Gina Covello would rather be working on her manicure than missions for the Feds’ paranormal unit to which she’s been recruited.  That changes when a group of killer kids takes out a family in the sunshine state and disappearances begin to plague the lifestylers who only play at the kind of existence our fanged fashionista leads.  She and her crew are sent undercover into the vampire clubs…which turn out to be run by real vampires.  While Gina’s BFF Marcy hangs with the steampunk-styled Burgess Brigade that seems to have spawned the killer kids, Gina herself is supposed to get in good with the fanged fiends behind the scenes, even to the point of playing double-agent, offering to hand over her powerful boyfriend Bobby.  Her playacting threatens to become a bit too real when she discovers things about her spy handlers that make her wonder whether she’s truly on the right side of the battle between Feds and fangs.

Those are the first lines to my five YA books. I love first lines. They truly are the first things I write when starting a book, even though I don’t write the subsequent chapters in chronological order. I skip all over the place, writing something for chapter 15 before I even know what chapter 10 will say. But I can’t even begin to see the story without hearing the first line.

I knew it was too good to be true. This line from PLAN B sums up Vanessa – she’s someone who has her life planned out with little margin of error, until she finds out something that turns her carefully planned world upside down. And she’s not very happy about it or equipped to deal with the consequences.

There are two problems with being the daughter of a best-selling etiquette guru. In THE BOOK OF LUKE Emily has been raised to be polite, to be well-behaved, to do what’s expected. Until a series of events help her decide that it’s time to stop being so nice.

I closed my eyes and inhaled just long enough to recognize the first sign of summer. I really enjoyed this first line from LOCAL GIRLS. The book takes place on the island of Martha’s Vineyard. So you’d think she’s inhaling the expected signs of summer – the ocean, the flowers, the fresh breeze. Only she’s inhaling the smell of a dead skunk by the side of the road – a scent that only a native islander would associate with summer, not the lovely scents the tourists chose to remember from the island.

I don’t play tennis with Jessie anymore. In RICH BOYS the main character, Winnie, has a best friend, Jessie. The story starts and ends in basically the same place, the tennis courts where Jessie teaches kids to play tennis. The story starts at the beginning of summer and ends at the end of summer. I liked the idea of having the story start and end at the same location, sort of bookends to all the change and turmoil that happens in the middle.

I still wonder if she knew. Haley is haunted (albeit not literally) by an incident that takes the life of one person while saving the life of another in my latest novel, WHEN YOU LEAVE. Everyone is telling Haley to move on and forget what happened, but it’s not that easy – especially when Haley makes choices that she has to keep secret or risk losing the “normal” life everyone expects her to resume.

Oh, I just love writing first sentences! Can’t wait to begin the next ones!

Fellow GCC’er Eileen Cook has a new book out! And I do mean just out, because yesterday was its official publicaiton date! UNRAVELING ISOBEL has been called “”thrilling and creepy, super sexy, and so very hilarious.” And don’t forget “spine-tingling” and “fast-paced.”

Read on and see what everyone is talking about…

Isobel’s life is falling apart. Her mom just married some guy she met on the internet only three months before, and is moving them to his sprawling, gothic mansion off the coast of nowhere. Goodbye, best friend. Goodbye, social life. Hello, icky new stepfather, crunchy granola town, and unbelievably good-looking, officially off-limits stepbrother.

But on her first night in her new home, Isobel starts to fear that it isn’t only her life that’s unraveling—her sanity might be giving way too. Because either Isobel is losing her mind, just like her artist father did before her, or she’s seeing ghosts. Either way, Isobel’s fast on her way to being the talk of the town for all the wrong reasons.

It’s 2012 and, although I don’t usually make New Year’s resolutions, I’ve decided to list the things I shall accomplish in the first three months of this year (thinking about all 12 months is just too much for me.

1. Finish my book. I’m so close, I’m actually thinking three more weeks and I can send it to my agent.

2. Finish the short story that picks up where THE BOOK OF LUKE ended. So many people have emailed that they’re waiting for this, so that is second on my list.

3. Colntinue writing the book I’ve started working on with a collaborator. We have three chapters so far, so it’s time to pick up the pace!

4. Do a better job of blogging.

5. Attend an event for writers. I’m very bad at this, as I’m usually very busy and don’t have much free time, but this is something I hope to achieve before the end of March.

So there it is! Five things to do before March. Only 90 days to get it all done!

Wishing all a very merry Christmas and a new year filled with joy and dreams.

Just in time for Christmas, Laurie Stolarz’s new book, DEADLY LITTLE VOICES. Find a description of Laurie’s new book below, and then enter her contest!

Camelia Hammond thought her powers of psychometry gave her only the ability to sense the future through touch. But now she’s started to hear voices. Cruel voices. Berating her, telling her how ugly she is, that she has no talent, and that she’d be better off dead. Camelia is terrified for her mental stability, especially since her deranged aunt with a suicidal history, has just moved into the house. As if all of that weren’t torturing enough, Camelia’s ex-boyfriend, Ben, for whom she still harbors feelings and who has similar psychometric abilities, has started seeing someone else. Even her closest friends, Kimmie and Wes, are unsure how to handle her erratic behavior.

With the line between reality and dream consistently blurred, Camelia turns to pottery to get a grip on her emotions. She begins sculpting a figure skater, only to receive frightening premonitions that someone’s in danger. But who is the intended victim? And how can Camelia help that person when she’s on the brink of losing her own sanity?

And there’s a contest!! Listen to what Laurie has to say about it:  “In keeping with Touch series tradition, in celebration of the release of DEADLY LITTLE VOICES, I’m launching my annual “winner-gets-to-have-a-minor-character-named-after-him/her” contest!  The grand prize winner will get to have a minor character in DEADLY LITTLE LESSONS, the fifth and final book in the TOUCH series named after him or her.  Other prizes include autographed book copies and the opportunity to have original work appear on my web site, Facebook, and Twitter pages.  OFFICIAL RULES and GUIDELINES for this contest are on my website, under NEWS.  ALL ENTRANTS MUST SIGN A RELEASE FORM, DOWNLOADABLE FROM WWW.LAURIESTOLARZ.COM/NEWS.html.”

Boy, I love finding new books that I love (which, hopefully, leads to a new author I love and lots more books to read). I just finished THE DAY BEFORE by Lisa Schroeder and can I just say, loved it!

I sing the praises of Sonya Sones because her books (which are written in verse) are freaking fantastic. I became a huge fan but I wasn’t sure if it was just Sonya’s books or the writing style or verse or what. So I decided to try another one, which is where Lisa’s book come in. THE DAY BEFORE is written in verse and let me tell you, I didn’t want it to end.

Yes, technically, books written in verse are poetry. And you know, I’ve never really considered myself a big fan of peotry because half the time I have no idea what it is I’m supposed to be getting from the poem (so it makes me feel really dumb). But a book in verse is entirely different. The only way I can describe it is this: imagine boiling a pot of salt water until all the liquid goes away and the entire solution has been reduced to the most potent part – the salt. Well, that’s what reading Sonya and Lisa’s books are like to me. Every single word matters. Just the most vital parts are left and they’re so great.

Please check out THE DAY BEFORE (I just purchased another of Lisa’s books but haven’t read it yet) or any of Sonya’s books. I promise, you will not regret it!