what I’m reading this month: A Need So Beautiful by Suzanne Young

My friends keep writing books that make me cry.

Bitches.

This month’s culprit is Suzanne Young, with her new novel A NEED SO BEAUTIFUL. Here’s the blurb:

We all want to be remembered. Charlotte’s destiny is to be Forgotten…

Charlotte’s best friend thinks Charlotte might be psychic. Her boyfriend thinks she’s cheating on him. But Charlotte knows what’s really wrong: She is one of the Forgotten, a kind of angel on earth, who feels the Need—a powerful, uncontrollable draw to help someone, usually a stranger.

But Charlotte never wanted this responsibility. What she wants is to help her best friend, whose life is spiraling out of control. She wants to lie in her boyfriend’s arms forever. But as the Need grows stronger, it begins to take a dangerous toll on Charlotte. And who she was, is, and will become–her mark on this earth, her very existence–is in jeopardy of disappearing completely.

Charlotte will be forced to choose: Should she embrace her fate as a Forgotten, a fate that promises to rip her from the lives of those she loves forever? Or is she willing to fight against her destiny–no matter how dark the consequences?

I can say without any spoilers that it is an extremely touching story that left me blubbery. Suzanne makes you truly feel and understand the characters, and Charlotte’s relationships with her BFF, her boyfriend, and her family are beautifully and believably portrayed. I felt like I was reading about real people.

So check it out! A NEED SO BEAUTIFUL is simply a wonderful, wonderful book, and I cannot wait for the sequel.

AND THE WINNER IS

SECRET AGENT IVANA GETCHA

aka Lyn.

LYN email me your address and how you want your copy of The Naughty List personalized and I will let Suz know! (grace.gracetopia at gmail dot com)

Thanks to everyone who entered! More copies are in the mail to me as we speak, so I’ll be doing another giveaway soon!

And once again, congrats to Suzanne on publishing her first book!

(wowwww exclamation points much? oh well, Suz deserves them!) (!!!)

New York + SCBWI + Suzanne and Sophie = Win

So let’s see if I can adequately describe this weekend I had.

First, a reminder: Enter to win Suzanne Young’s debut, THE NAUGHTY LIST! I was with her at her first signing yesterday, at the SCBWI conference in New York, and the book SOLD OUT. Here’s a pic of Suz IN ACTION:

I’ll be drawing a name Wednesday night. (I don’t remember what day I said in the original post, but I am hereby declaring it to be Wednesday.)

So yes, SCBWI.

It was everything I could have hoped for and more. First, Sophie and I prepared for our big surprise entrance—Naughty List shirts! We didn’t quite bring Suzanne to tears (which was my ultimate evil goal) but I like to think we came close. Here we are with our shiny new signed copies:

(btw, I am blatantly stealing all these picture’s from Suzanne’s blog—check it out!)

So we spent the first day hanging around with Suz while she did her awesome conference blogger thing. Afterwards, Soph and I hiked back to our hotel through the bitter bitter cold, stopping partway to enjoy some classic NY diner food. Yummmm.

Sunday was just me, because Sophie had to go home to “go to school” or some BS like that. I spent the afternoon with Suz while she did her first ever book signing. People loved her! And there were so many who were so upset when the book was gone. THEN, I ended up at lunch with some truly fantastic people who I am going to keep anonymous so I don’t feel like a name-dropping heel. But wow, I felt like a rockstar.

Unfortunately, come mid-afternoon it was time to catch the sketchy Chinatown bus home. Nobody was having phone sex this time, so it was a much more enjoyable ride than the last time I took Lucky Star to New York. (At least, for me.)

So. A couple of things I took away from SCBWI:

1. I want to be a writer. The conference basically reignited my desire. Being around writers and industry people in general is always a good spark, but I think this time it just made it… tangible? somehow. Like, oh yeah, THIS is the dream you’re shooting for, Grace. It is real, it doesn’t just happen to people in the movies.

2. The authors I had lunch with gave me some reassuring words about heavy subject matter in YA fiction, and I was just generally encouraged to keep going. It was wonderful.

3. I really want to go to SCBWI LA. Can I afford this? Probably not. Can I dream? Yes.

So, thank you to everyone I met who was so awesome, especially to Suzanne. I had a truly fantastic weekend.

(P.S. Here’s the official SCBWI blog if you want the real low-down.)

happy weekend!

Thanks to everyone entering to win a signed copy of Suzanne Young’s THE NAUGHTY LIST! If you haven’t already, scroll down to the next post. You have til Thursday.

I’m currently in New York City (in a hotel room that is basically a sauna–wha?), will be off to see Suzanne sooooon! Right now she’s live-tweeting the SCBWI NY conference. Also waiting for my hotel-mate to awaken. Considering throwing pillows at her, but that’s kind of rude, isn’t it?

So. I’ll be NY until Sunday night, having adventures, if anyone needs me.

win a signed copy of THE NAUGHTY LIST

As mentioned yesterday, my friend Suzanne Young‘s first novel is about to be published—it’s already available via Barnes and Noble! (sneaky, B&N, very sneaky)

Since I am about to see the fabulous Suz in New York City, I thought this giveaway would be a SIGNED, PERSONALIZED COPY of The Naughty List.

As if being a purrfect cheerleader isn’t enough responsibility! Tessa Crimson’s the sweet and spunky leader of the SOS (Society of Smitten Kittens), a cheer squad–turned–spy society dedicated to bringing dastardly boyfriends to justice, one cheater at a time. Boyfriend-busting wouldn’t be so bad . . . except that so far, every suspect on the Naughty List has been proven 100% guilty!

When Tessa’s own boyfriend shows up on the List, she turns her sleuthing skills on him. Is Aiden just as naughty as all the rest, or will Tessa’s sneaky ways end in catastrophe?

The Naughty List. Is your boyfriend on it?

I know, right? You want to read this. (Okay, so some of my geektastic friends who come here for the Star Wars may not want to read this, BUT THE REST OF YOU!! Want to read this.)

To enter the drawing for this book:

If you were in a secret spying-on-boyfriends society, what would your secret agent name be???

Answer in the comments! I will draw a winner on Thursday February 4th (release day!), and the winner will have to email me the name they want the book signed to.  (As well as, you know, an address to mail the book to. Postage is on me.)

Let the games begin!

awesome things happening to awesome people

These two weeks belong to my dear friend Suzanne Young. First, BIG NEWS #1:

Suzanne Young’s A NEED SO BEAUTIFUL, in which a 17-year-old discovers that by performing the good deeds that her body compels her to, she will disappear into the Light and be forgotten, but by fighting “the Need,” her fate could be even more dire, to Donna Bray at Balzer and Bray, in a two-book deal, in a pre-empt, by Jim McCarthy at Dystel & Goderich Literary Management (World English).

And IN BIG NEWS #2, 8 days from now her debut novel, The Naughty List, is released! (BUY HERE)

You know how people always say, “This really couldn’t have happened to a nicer person?” IN THIS CASE IT IS TRUE.

Congratulations, Suz! You deserve every bit of this.

COMING TOMORROW: A CHANCE TO WIN A SIGNED COPY OF THE NAUGHTY LIST RIGHT HERE AT GRACETOPIA!! Stay tuned.