I’m not having a launch party for Fortune’s Folly, but this was the weekend I planned to do fun stuff to celebrate the book being out. And it really was an excellent weekend! I worked on my current writing project both mornings and got my daily quota in, had delicious Thai food for dinner on Saturday, watched Moonlight and LOST (and re-watched part of one of my all-time-favorites, Labyrinth, while cooking on Saturday), found my dog Charlie a new all-natural kibble that seems to have addressed his recent spate of stomach troubles (it’s made with herring, which somehow amuses me), went out to the beautiful woods at Dodge Point Park, visited the Coastal Botanical Garden (though sadly the tulips are still a week or two from blooming), had a tasty late lunch with my husband and good friends, and best of all: saw Fortune’s Folly in a real bookstore!

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I have the best coworkers! I was sitting at my desk near the end of the day on Friday (I’m a software developer) when I got an instant message from the Office Manager saying there was a meeting in the conference room. I assumed it must be someone’s birthday and we were having cake. But when I walked in I found the table decorated with color prints of the Fortune’s Folly cover, beautiful flowers, ice cream (they know me well) and a tablecloth to match my cover!

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I’m in the author spotlight over on AuthorsNow! today. Please stop over and leave a comment at the end of the interview (not here) and you might win a FREE autographed copy of Fortune’s Folly! Also, you will help me avoid feeling like an unpopular wallflower. As of this moment there are NO COMMENTS! Got to be good odds to win that copy, right?

And if you’re not tired of hearing about me or my books, you can also check out this interview over on the fabulous 2010: A Book Odyssey site. Author Alexandra Bracken (who has a fabulous sounding book coming out next year called Brightly Woven) had some wonderful questions for me. I talk about the names of the characters in my book, the research I did (and didn’t do), and share my sappy and geeky side.

First of all, thank you to everyone for the warm wishes yesterday. I really, sincerely appreciate it. Despite the fact that I spent most of my day working on documentation for my day-job and checking over our taxes, I had this constant-under-the-surface buzz of “my book is out!”. It was definitely a thrill to go onto worldcat and see all the copies of Fortune’s Folly making their ways into libraries around the country. Eeee! I love libraries! And of course I especially loved hearing about those of you who had copies arrive on your doorsteps, or who plan to go out and look for it in stores. I really hope you enjoy it!

On a related note, anyone out there looking to order some books (and it doesn’t even need to be Fortune’s Folly!) should check out this great 20% discount at Powell’s, a fabulous independent bookstore that you can order from online (they ship!). The offer only lasts until tomorrow though, so act quick!

Now that my book is out (I am working on suppressing the instinctive *squee* that follows that statement lest I run out of my lifetime allotment of exclamation marks) I am going to be stopping by the blogs of some of my very talented and gracious fellow debs from the Debut 2009 community to answer questions and talk about writing and life and my favorite pastries. In keeping with the themes of her own debut novel, My Big Nose and Other Natural Disasters, author Sydney Salter had me over recently as a “Guest Nose” to talk a little about beauty issues in fairy tales and Fortune’s Folly. You can read that over here.

There’s also a lot happening over at The Enchanted Inkpot this week. Check out Megan Crewe’s post about “Writing what you know”, and the interview with Elizabeth C. Bunce, author of the excellent and award-winning fairy tale novel A Curse as Dark as Gold (inspired by Rumplestiltskin!). Anyone can sign up to watch the community with livejournal, or you can subscribe to the feed in GoogleReader or other tools.

Lastly, if you love your local library, please consider telling them about the Great Scavenger Hunt, which I am participating in, along with a host of other middle-grade and YA authors. It’s free, and both librarians and participating kids can win prizes (including bookstore gift certificates and copies of books). There’s a flyer on the Library Resources page that you can print out and bring to the library to let them know how to sign up! Then kids can read books from the list, answer trivia questions, and be entered to win prizes.

I still can’t quite believe this day is here.

I remember when I was 12 or so, scribbling my first novel in a spiral-bound notebook in my room in NJ, dreaming of someday getting published. I remember reading wonderful novels and wishing desperately that I might someday write a book that meant as much to someone. I remember sending out a manuscript for the first time and being crushed by the disappointment of form rejections. I remember each of my now-trunked manuscripts, how much I loved writing them, and how I struggled with their imperfections. I remember my friend John casually inviting me to join a group of other writers doing this thing called NaNoWriMo back in 2003, and how I decided it would be a good opportunity to write this fun book I had at the back of my mind about a girl who tells a fake fortune and then needs to make it come true.

I remember feeling like giving up. I remember my friends who inspired me with their determination, and my family who always believed in me. And I remember finally selling FORTUNE’S FOLLY in March of 2007, half-believing it was all some sort of giant practical joke, delighted and overjoyed even though it wasn’t going to be published until 2009. It seemed so far away.

And now it’s here. Somewhere out in the world (I hope!) copies are being put out on the shelves of bookstores, arriving on doorsteps, being entered into library system catalogs. Pretty soon (I hope!) people will be reading it. Real kids. My relatives. My friends. Strangers.

It’s thrilling, and mind-blowing and makes me feel profoundly blessed. I am so very grateful to all my friends and family and to the other writers who have inspired me. And to Fortunata, for giving me her story to tell. I really hope you all enjoy it!