In Which I FREAK OUT!!!!

So . . . yeah, this is totally nothing but a self-serving post.:D In case you don't follow me on Twitter or Facebook, MTV.com is hosting an exclusive cover reveal for EARTHBOUND and there's a possibility I am just tickled out of my gourd!!!!!!!

Here's the link:

Yay!!!!!!!!!

*ahem* Yeah, that's all.:)

Ciao!

WINNER and Time Vortexes (Vortices?)

So . . . something weird happened last week. Last Monday I was walking down the sidewalk on my way home to announce a winner for the Lesley Livingston contest when suddenly a time lord (who looked remarkably like David Tennant) swooped down and carried me away! We had several amazing adventures that I can't tell you about (lest I have to kill you) but when David dropped me back onto earth is wasn't last Monday, but today! So a week of my life was sucked into some kind of time vortex, never to be seen again.

And that is why this announcement is a week late.

Honest! Do you doubt me?

*koffkoff*

Anyway, thank you everyone for reading and commenting on the STARLING giveaway! The winner is:

June G of Paranormalists! June, please drop me an email at aprilynne pike at gee mail dot com with you full name and address so I can get STARLING right in the mail to you!

I was going to tell you how my Thanksgiving went and how I managed to feed over fifty people at my house, but I can't, because that week of my life disappeared. *shifty eyes*

Ciao!

Lesley Livingston's STARLING, Q&A and Giveaway!

I am so excited to have a Q&A today with one of my very favorite authors, Lesley Livingston! (Seriously, if you ever get a chance to spend a bit of time with her, do it! You won't regret it!)

Lesley has a new book out--the first of a new series, yay!--called Starling and I am lucky enough to be one of the stop on her blog tour!

 So let's jump right it!

Hi Lesley! Nice to have you here. What? Oh yes, I am looking lovely today, thanks for noticing. Oh, I look brilliant and thin besides? Your eyes are clearly working very well. But enough about me, for the moment, we're here to talk about you. And your book! 

It's looking quite lovely today too.

So I'm just going to jump right into setting, which most people think is boring, but not when it's New York City. This is your second series set in NYC (which I am completely in support of.) I just wondered if there was a reason you are so drawn to that area. Other than the subway which, in my opinion, is borderline magical.

The subway is a magical mystery tour, isn’t it? I’m always a bit mystified—and pleasantly surprised—when I actually arrive at the destination I intended by that method. It’s all terribly esoteric and (I suspect) involves travel between dimensions.

As for the city? Ah… You know what they say Aprilynne (aside from saying you really are looking quite lovely today—which is true!). “New York, New York…” It really is a hell of a town. Which, for the purposes of this particular series, is enormously useful. With the WONDROUS STRANGE series, during my research phase I would routinely stumble across real, historical details of the city that struck me with wonder and awe. With STARLING, my research filled me with… well, eerie tingles and foreboding (and wonder and awe). The history of the city is crammed with obscure factoids and tangled tales that make it such fertile ground for telling the kind of stories that I do—especially when I manage to unearth (quite literally, in some cases) real historical details that lend themselves nicely to the idea that a kind of arcane mystical “Bermuda Triangle” exists right in the heart of the city! Very handy!

So let's talk about Mason. I actually see a lot of you in her--maybe that's just because I am lucky enough to personally know you. Or maybe I see similarities where they don't actually exist.;) In what ways do you feel similar to Mason and conversely, how are you different?

You must mean my staggering good looks, yes? Why thank you! I do see a slight resemblance… the sparkling blue eyes… um… the… raven hair… the… tall… er… personality! Yes! The tall, plucky, quiet-yet-intuitive, subtle-witted, determined, do-or-die personality. Or maybe it’s just the fact that we both really like to play with swords *evil grin*.

And on to our brave hero. Tell us how hot Fenn is. I mean, tell us what you think makes him a great compliment to Mason.

Oh. Um. Do you mean, like, in Scoville Units?

*waits here while readers unfamiliar with spicy pepper terminology take to the google-nets*…

I’m gonna say “Ghost Chile” hot!

*waits for more google-pedia-ing*…

Now, I might be somewhat biased but, then, I also have an advantage. The Fennrys Wolf tends to hang around in my head a lot so I’m fairly familiar with his hotness factor. But I think the thing that makes him a great match for Mason is, for one thing, he respects her—her skill and her spirit. He also appreciates her dry, quiet sense of humor (it’s a good match with his own) and her willingness to go out on a limb to help a (naked) stranger. Fenn might not remember much about his past, but he does know he’s previously screwed up in the relationship arena—that much he remembers (vaguely)—and he’s determined not to jeapordize his tenuous bond with Mason in the hopes that it could develop into something more. Of course… they both have to stay alive long enough for that to happen…

Norse mythology. It's just an area of mythos that we don't see often in the mainstream. Or if we do, it's been very European-ized, if you know what I mean. So it's fun to see it come to life in Starling. What is it that drew you to the Norse mythology and what is your favorite part of it?

I do know what you mean! And I’m glad you enjoyed STARLING’s take on it! There’s something so intriguing to me about Norse mythology’s cheerful fatalism. It’s the spiritual embodiment of a people that clearly reveled in life and living but lived in a very harsh and unforgiving environment. It’s Life and Death, hand in hand, whistling and skipping along (and hacking the heads off anything in their way!), and it’s bizzarely alluring in that respect. The fact that it celebrates and, at the same time vilifies a guy like Loki—and never really lets you know which one is the real deal—intrigues me. Also, if you’ve ever seen pictures from those Icelandic volcanic eruptions, the ones where the sky is literally exploding with fire, ice, thunderclouds, lightning and the Aurora Borealis all at the same time, you can begin to understand where a lot of the imagery of these tales comes from.

I just spent a few days north of the Arctic Circle here in Canada and the landscape is so evocative. The Northern Lights are bewitching and the sky is full of ravens the size of pterydactyls. It’s easy to begin to grasp the origins of these myths in a place like that. But what was really fun for me was being able to take those primal, muscular tales and transmute them and filter them through the lens of a thoroughly sleek and modern setting like New York City.

And last but not least, and I mean that quite literally--let me take a calming breath first--Lesley, the ending. Seriously? Are you trying to kill me? Do you at least feel bad for torturing me? And, at the very least, can you tell me when the second book will be coming out so I get my hot little hands on it?

Oh. Uh… oh yeah. Sorry, Aprilynne. I really really feel… dreadful. For that. Sorry. What? I am not grinning diabolically. It’s… uh… face yoga. All the rage.

Is August 2013 soon enough? How about if I smile charmingly when I say that…? And give you a cookie…

It’s a good cookie…

It’s chocolate…


It had better be one seriously good cookie. Good. Cookie.

While Lesley is off baking the best darn cookie ever, you can win a copy of STARLING!!! Super-duper easy (because I am doing a bunch of traveling and don't have much time, eeep!), please comment with some rendition of "This is my entry for the contest" below. You have until Sunday night at midnight (because that is when i am getting home from Las Vegas, not seriously, it will be about midnight . . .) to enter and I will ship this baby internationally, so it is open to everyone! 

Lesley, is that cookie done yet?

Ciao!

Life After Theft

I love this book.

I might love this book more than anything else I've ever written. And for those of you who don't really know much about it, it's got quite a story. And in celebration of the cover reveal that's coming up this week, I wanted to share the story of Life After Theft.

Which begins way back in November of 2006. Six months before I had any inkling I was going to write Wings I woke up with a first chapter, and a voice. I mean a writing voice, not like a voice in my head. Though some people do it that way too.:D I literally got up early (and if you know me you know how rare it is for me to do that voluntarily) and wrote a query pitch (yes, the query pitch is what came to me first, maybe it was the 300 agents I'd queried in the previous two years) and the first chapter.

I spent several days messing with this idea, but mostly it was just a query pitch, and a first chapter. For those of you who remember Miss Snark, the most awesome thing happened--she decided to hold what she called a Crap 'o Meter and she would read and give feedback on a . . . wait for it, wait for it . . . pitch and then first 500 words. I'm telling you, it was fate.

I was at a pretty down point in my writing journey; I had written three books, I had a couple of agents reading fulls after putting in a massive, massive revision that turned two of those books into one, but I was on my last round of agents and was looking into the yawning chasm with which all aspiring authors are familiar--the point at which you need to shelve your manuscript and start a new one. And I wasn't sure it was worth it.

Long story short, Miss Snark loved the pitch and the first 500 words and actually had an agent contact her asking for my information. I ended up signing with my agent (a different one) just a few weeks after that and Life After Theft got pushed to the back burner. But that one experience, having two agents not only approve of, but want more of my little book, gave me that jolt of confidence that the long, grueling query process had stripped away. Not to mention a ton of new blog readers. A big percentage of my long-term blog readers can be traced back to that contest. It was . . . a major light during a dark time.

Fast forward to six months later when no one wanted my book. The one I signed with my agent with. I was at the yawning chasm again! I had a choice--choose to believe blindly in my book and write its sequel (rarely a good idea, just sayin'), finish Life After Theft (which probably had three or four chapters at this point), or write something completely new.

I wanted to write Life After Theft, but sadly, despite having a query pitch, it really didn't have . . . oh, how to put this nicely? . . . a plot. So I decided to do something new. But writing the little bit that I had on Life After Theft made me realize something--I like writing teenaged characters. (The book my agent had shopped was an adult.) So even though it would ultimately be Wings that was both written and published first, it was Life After Theft that made me realize I wanted to write YA. And talk about a decision I have never once regretted!

So then Wings happened and revisions happened and deadlines happened. Life After Theft was slowly growing a plot, but every time the actually-contracted books came calling, Life After Theft had to go to the back burner.

By the time I finished the draft of Life After Theft that my agent sold to Harper, it had been just shy of three years since I'd started. By the time I finished edits and got a firm publication date it was two years later. Next month marks six years and when it comes out in April (well, April 30, so basically May :D) it will have been a six and and a half year journey.

Life After Theft means a lot to me--it's the book that gave me the confidence to keep writing, that helped me realize I wanted to write for teens, the first book that got me any attention in the publishing industry, the book I have fought for and refused to compromise on often enough that I worry my team thinks I've become a difficult author. It's what I think Beth Revis termed The Book of My Heart. This book has more of me in it that any of my other books including my upcoming Earthbound series. I. Love. This. Book. And I'm so excited that it is coming out soon(ish) and that I get to share the cover with you this week!

But be warned, this book is not like Wings. No, this book is pretty much nothing like Wings. Boy protag, first person, a little edgy. There's a ghost but I wouldn't call it fantasy, and there's kissing, though I wouldn't call it a romance. It's . . . it's something else entirely. So I'm letting you know before you pick it up, not to expect it to be like Wings. Because you will be disappointed. And I so very much do not want you to be disappointed by this book.:)

So, the whole point of this very long story is, as I've alluded, the cover reveal!! Which will . . . not be here!:D Melania Tolan of Fangs, Felines, Fins, and Fun Fiction is hosting my cover reveal with an ARC giveaway and a couple of teasers! (In fact, because I was supposed to have this post up yesterday, she's already got the teaser up there.;)

So go check it out!!!

Ciao!

Where I'll Be

This is a VERY IMPORTANT POST!!!! (hehe!)

Except it really is. I always feel bad when people say, "Oh, I live in XYZ, I wish you could come here!" and I was just there, but they didn't know it because I was bad about spreading the word. So the spreading is going to commence!:D

Here are some of the events coming up in the next several months where you can find me.

First and possibly the most exciting, I am going to be attending FAERIECON in Maryland next month!!!!! (No, I'm not excited about this in the least . . . .;))

Here is the FaerieCon website. You will note that there are several other amazing YA faerie authors including Julie Kagawa and Melissa Marr. In fact, we are doing a panel together where we will discuss if YA has become the new mainstream. (That's a panel *I'm* interested in listening to even though I'm on it!) This Con will run from Friday, November 9 through Sunday, November 11 just outside of Baltimore, MD. (The website is loading a little slowly today, be patient! I assume that means that millions of people are checking out the extreme awesomeness of the WORLD'S LARGEST FAERIE CONVENTION!!!)

The next couple events are not for four to six months, but I want to let you know ahead of time because early registration is required.:D

I will be presenting at the third annual Teen Author Boot Camp sponsored by the Utah Valley University in Orem Utah on Saturday, March 16th. There will be a ton of authors there like Shannon Hale and Janette Rallison, and also literary agent Amy Jameson. It is an all day class and workshop conference for teen aspiring authors and it looks like it is going to be amazing! (Check it!)  If you are a teen who wants to attend, be aware that the event is capped at 350 (up from 250 last year!) so don't wait until the day before to register. *wink* (Note, registration is not open YET! But be thinking about it.:))

For the second year, I am a presenter at The Romantic Times National Convention, and of particular note, am participating in the amazing Teen Day on Saturday, May 5th. This has become THE premiere Teen Book event int he entire country ya'all. Last year there were over seventy authors and as well as getting to meet and listen to them read, teach, make weird jokes (I'm looking at you, Ally Carter;)) and get some serious one-on-one time at the party, every teen also gets a goodie bag with a bunch of books (often ARCs that haven't been released yet!!!). Last year we had over 70 authors and gave away over 3500 books. This year there are over eighty authors and who knows how many books we can get together to give away!!! Seriously people, this event is in Kansas, but if you are close, or even kind of close, this is an event worth saving up and going to! Last year we had teens fly into Chicago for New york and California and tons of places in between! It is an amazing event and I am so excited to be a part of it AND as a bonus, to have it be the week that Life After Theft releases!!! Whoo-hoo!!!!:D

I am starting to get a few details about touring next summer, but really, that's over six months away, so you can't expect much. *wink* But these three events are going to crazily awesome!!!! (Awesomely crazy?:D) PLEASE COME SEE ME!!!!:D

Ciao!

Passion

I am a very passionate person. And before you stop reading, this a a very G-rated post.:D I don't mean the romantic kind of passion. (Although, well, that too.;)) I mean the drive that makes you obsessive about the things you love. When I like something (or someone, come to think of it) I tend to grab onto it and hold on for dear life. Sometimes I think I have too many things I get passionate about. Because passion takes time. It's one of the reason I haven't been blogging as much lately. I have a lot of things I am passionate about right now and it takes up bucketloads of time. (Oh, and I have to write two books in the next four months. That takes time too.:D)

I think I blog enough about my husband and children for you all to know that I am passionate about them. They are number one in my life and when I write my To-Do list, they come first. Before writing, before me, before blogging.:D But I have some new passions in my life too.

Running. I've always loved running. Well, with a caveat. I like running OUTSIDE. Treadmills? Please just kill me. Running on a treadmill is one of my least favorite parts about traveling, actually. You're more likely to find me on a stationary bike or even just doing some weights. The evil treadmill, grrrr!!! But running outside is one of my passions. I live about a half mile away from a running park and I can go any distance, any speed, any terrain, in that park. This may sound hokey, but my life is better because of that running park.:D No it's true. Running keeps me sane and about twice a week I come in from my run and wax lyrical to my husband about how much I love to run. I am actually running my very first race since . . . oh, I think it was a 5K in 2008 . . . and this is no 5k. I am running a Tough Mudder in Vegas next weekend and I am so incredibly stoked!!!!!! I am going out on a ten-miler tomorrow to prepare and am glad I have been training in the heat all summer since my team was assigned a noon start time in DEATH VALLEY. So excited! Also excited for it to cool down this fall so I can be somewhat less sweaty and disgusting when I get home every day.

Primal/Paleo. (The first link is to Mark Sisson's website, which I read, the second is to Robb Wolf's website, which I don't. I am much, much more a Primal girl, but Robb is supposed to be the premiere authority on Paleo, so, yeah, whatever.;)) I discovered this around the beginning of the year and eased into it slowly. But carnivorous me pretty much latched on to the concept from the beginning and I've been eating (and cooking!!!!! Another of my passions!!) this way since about March or so. And I have seriously never been so healthy or felt so good in my entire life. (It's not for everyone--I'm not trying to get you to try it, it's just monopolizing a fair bit of my time lately.:D) It gives me a chance to cook fun food (I get SO many recipes from this lovely lady here, at PaleOMG) and have learned how versatile things like coconut milk and almond flour can be. I will give this disclaimer, I tend to call myself Paleo minus the snobbery: I'm not a fanatic, I don't do the grass-fed thing, I like cheese, and stevia is my friend.:D But when I seriously feel awesome pretty much every moment of the day, well, that's something that invokes the passion in me. Also, be forewarned, you will probably see some pretty pictures of Primal-friendly food in the future.:D

Writing. I know this one should be obvious, but I have reawakened my love of writing!!! I think I have confessed before that I don't love revising. I love the results of revising (So. Much!) but the actual process is difficult and painful for me. (But necessary!!!!!!) I literally spent January through July revising. That's just the way this two-book a year schedule ended up working out. However, that means that I will spend August through January drafting!!!!!!!!!! Drafting is my favorite part and I am having SO much fun working on my new book (stand-alone, I really can't tell you much about it except that is is going to be freaking awesome!!!!) and next up is my sequel to Earthbound (which I also can't tell you much about except that it's going to be EPIC!!!!) Both of these books are making me super happy right now.

So basically, I have awakened a bunch of passions and started kids in school, and now have three kids in piano lessons instead of two, and . . . and . . . and . . .


THAT is why I have not been blogging.:D

I do have a couple little tidbits of news: Pub dates!!!! Life After Theft will be releasing April 30th, just in time for RWA Nationals!!! Earthbound will be publishing July 30, just after my birthday!!!! Whoo-hoo!!!!!!

Also, next week I will be doing an interview with the lovely Lesley Livingston for the first book in her new series, STARLING. I will also be giving away said book, so stay tuned!!!

Ciao!

How My Writing Schedule Works

I'm confusing people.

On Twitter, I mean. Which is understandable as it can sometimes be confusing place in general. However, what I mean is that people are getting confused about my books. In particular, this blog entry is prompted by a response to a tweet in which I said:

Synopsis for new Mystery Book of Mysterious Awesomness is done! Whew! Now I just need to finish chapter three so I can send it to my agent.

To which a follower immediately asked, "Besides Life After Theft and Earthbound?"

Thus, I see that I am confusing people.

To people who aren't in publishing it must seem pretty straight forward. You write a book, a couple of weeks . . . or maybe months later, it's out on shelves. I cannot tell you have many people I have had say to me at signings some variation on, "I can't wait for the next book! Please write quickly!" And then are shocked when I tell them, "Actually, the next book is done."

That's because the actual process of publication takes about a year. AFTER the book is written. When I was writing the Wings series, it was fairly straightforward. I could say, "Well, the next book is written and I'm currently working on edits."

But then I did two crazy things at the same time. One, I started a new series. (CRAZY!!!!!) Two, I decided to publish two books in one year, (EXTRA CRAZY!!!) and close together at that (MAXIMUM CRAZY!!). That means that this summer has been full of me tweeting quotes from Life After Theft (April 30, 2013) and Earthbound (June or July, 2013). But it's not because I've been writing them, it's because I've been editing them.

That means that I've just started drafting a new book that is expected to come out in . . . wait for it, wait for it . . . Summer 2014.

Well, no wonder you all are confused!!!

And to make matters worse, as soon as this one is done I will be drafting the sequel to Earthbound, also Summer 2014. Yes, in just under TWO years. Because that's how far ahead I have to work to not have deadlines destroy my life.

So here's how things are going to happen for the next little while:

Life After Theft April 2013
Earthbound June/July 2013
Mystery Book Summer 2014
Earthbound Sequel Summer 2014

Take all of those dates and subtract 18 months. That's when I'm writing them. Subtract a year, that's when I'm editing them.

That means that, because of the nature of our profession's calendar, we authors are terrible, shameless teases.:D But hopefully now when I am shamelessly teasing you, at least you'll know what the heck I'm talking about!

Ciao!

P.S. If you want to see the quotes you can look up the hashtags #lifeaftertheft and #earthbound ;)

Where's Aprilynne

Tentative schedule: I will be adding details as I get them! But PLEASE pencil me in on your calendars!!!:D


Dark Days Tour, Leg Two!

July 9: Left Bank Books appearance at 7:00 pm, St. Louis, MO, with Veronica Roth (INSURGENT), Dan Wells (PARTIALS) and S.J. Kincaid (INSIGNIA) This event is OFFSITE!!! It will be at the Ethical Society of St. Louis

July 10: Barnes & Noble appearance at 7:00 pm, Huntington Beach, CA, with Veronica Roth (INSURGENT), Dan Wells (PARTIALS) and S.J. Kincaid (INSIGNIA)

July 11: King’s English appearance at 6:30 pm, Salt Lake City, UT, with Veronica Roth (INSURGENT), Dan Wells (PARTIALS) and S.J. Kincaid (INSIGNIA) This event is OFFSITE!!! It will be at

Salt Lake City Downtown Library

210 East 400 South

Salt Lake City

July 12-15 (exact date and time t/k): Comic-con Appearance, San Diego, with Dan Wells (PARTIALS) and S.J. Kincaid (INSIGNIA)

Raven Boys Winner!

Wow, guys!! Thanks so much for entering my contest!! I don't think I've ever seen the comment numbers go up so fast! Clearly I picked the right ARC!:D

And without further delay, the winner of The Raven Boys ARC is Jessica Ring of Dark Stormy Nights!!!!!!

Jessica, please email me the following at aprilynne pike at gee mail dot com:

Complete Name
Address

Again, super easy.:D

If I don't hear from you in three days I will pick another winner because I really want this ARC to go to a good home!!!

Thank you everyone for your entries and comments!!!!!!

Ciao!

Long Time No Blog!

Okay, so, I admit, it's been a while. Every year when release time comes around I promise myself I'll do better at blogging. I'll post pictures of my tour stops! I'll talk about feedback from fans! I'll give quotes from the book!

What really happens is that I have spotty internet, I forget to take pictures at all, and quotes, what quotes? And, on top of that, I usually get a round of revisions and find myself under deadline.:D

But you all still love me, right? Right?

Well, I have lots of fun stuff today and I'll be finishing up with a giveaway! So read until the bottom.:D

So I've been a little closed-mouthed about the books (yes, bookS) I have coming out next summer, but everything has been announced and now I can tell you about them!!!!

First off, LIFE AFTER THEFT. This is a stand-alone that many of you have been literally hearing about since 2006. No seriously. I started this book in 2006 and it was a finalist on Miss Snark's Crap-O-Meter just before I signed with Jodi. People, this is the book of my heart. It is the story of a klepto-ghost and the boy who can see her and is a retelling of The Scarlet Pimpernel. It is sassy and sarcastic and I seriously Love. This. Book. It will be coming out in May of 2013 and I hope you all love it half as much as I do!! I got to see a cover comp a couple weeks ago and it is so entirely perfect!!!! (Which is fabulous because authors rarely have much, if any, say on their covers even though it is the one thing that reader will sometimes judge the book on.) SO excited for this book!!!!

The other book is the first book of my new series and it just got announced last week, which was so very exciting!!! Because I'm still trying to come up with how to describe it, I'll just quote right from the announcement: "#1 NYT bestselling author Aprilynne Pike's EARTHBOUND, the first novel in a new series about a girl who discovers she's a fallen goddess and must choose between the boy that she loves in this life and the eternal lover with whom she'll be able to access the powers that are her birthright." So yay!!!! This one has much kissing and magic and danger, and running away, also kissing.:D (Seriously, one of my edits literally said, "How about we add a full-on make out session here." Oh, yes.:D) I got to see an early comp from this book just yesterday and ZOMG I am SO excited!!!! It is fabulously gorgeous and I hope it keeps it's awesomeosity (yes, that's totally a word) as it goes through the process from comp to final!!!!


So yeah, two books next summer and, tentatively, two books the summer after that too!!!


Okay, giveaway time. I went to BEA very briefly last week and because I was traveling, I didn't have room to pick up very many ARCs. But I did manage to get one of the last copies of Maggie Stiefvater's The Raven Boys!! I know this ARC has been fairly high in demand this year, so as an apology for my INEXCUSABLE blog silence, I'm going to pass this one onto you guys!

Super easy rules, this contest is going to last a week since I suspect *koffkoff* some of you are not checking my blog very often since there has been no new content in ages. (I sowwy!!!!!) So comment and just say something like, "Uh, I'm, entering the contest." Super easy.:D This is an international contest, all are free to enter. Comment by midnight my time Monday, June 11th (JUNE 18th!  I meant June 18th!) and I'll announce the winner sometime next Tuesday. Sound good?


Excellent.


Go forth and enter.


Ciao!

Last one!!!!

Wow, this is the last spoiler before DESTINED releases in (EST) 8 minutes. But this is also the very last teaser I will ever post from the WINGS series. Wow. My little series all grown up and leaving the nest!!! *sniff* It really is pretty nostalgic. Here you go!!!!

They slammed doors and started walking toward the forest when Tamani stopped them, his face deadly serious. “David, Chelsea, as I said before, there have only been the barest handful of humans admitted into Avalon. But those who have . . . sometimes, they don’t come back. If you come with us into the forest, I don’t know what will happen. And I don’t know what would be worse—if they turn you away at the gate, with no time to get back to your car, or if they were to actually let you in.”

He held David’s gaze for a long time before David nodded once. Then he turned his eyes to Chelsea.

“I can’t stay here,” she said softly. “I would hate myself for the rest of my life.”

“Fair enough,” Tamani said, almost under his breath. “Then let’s go.”

Tamani led the way down the serpentine path, moving through the forest with such confidence and determination that Laurel and her friends almost had to run to keep up. Laurel knew there had to be sentries marking their progress, and around every corner she expected them to appear, as they had often done when she’d entered the forest with Tamani. But the woods remained eerily still. 

Ciao!

New Teaser

 ***Warning, this teaser is just a leetle bit spoilery***

“All my men are back there!” Tamani snapped, pointing into the green mist that filled the walled Garden. “And the sentries here are refusing to fall back. There’s no one to send. Unless . . .” His voice trailed off and he looked at Chelsea. “You’re fast,” he said.

“No,” Laurel said softly.

“Chelsea,” Tamani said, facing her fully. “I need you to run.”

Chelsea nodded. “I’m good at that.”

“Up this path, the huge gray structure on your right—covered with flowering vines, you can’t miss it—go in the front gates, right up to the main doors. If you’re fast—faster than you’ve ever been in your life—you can save them.”

“No,” Laurel said, louder this time.

Ciao!

Teaser the Next

I am behind on teasers!!! In apology, you get a long one.:D

Yasmine glanced briefly at Laurel and Tamani before lowering her voice. “I can do great things,” she said, so quietly Laurel scarcely heard. “You have told me for years, that I can and will do great things.”

“That is precisely why you must stay here,” Jamison said, lifting one hand to touch her face. “What we go to do now is not great—it is only necessary. It is more important now than ever that you remain alive so that you can do those great things. Avalon cannot afford to lose you, or all our efforts will have been in vain, in the very moment they are nearest to blossoming.”

Whether Yasmine understood Jamison’s cryptic speech or not, she nodded her assent, then turned to follow Marion, who hadn’t waited for her. Jamison’s eyes followed the two Winter faeries until they reached the Palace and were safely inside with their Am Fear-faire. Only then did he turn back to the group. “Come,” Jamison said, his voice choked as he led them down.

“There are . . . so many,” Laurel said to Tamani, as they followed Jamison, passing lines of sentries still marching up the path that led to the Winter Palace.

“Two hundred, give or take,” Tamani growled.

“Two hundred?” Laurel exclaimed, her breath catching in her throat. “Does she really need that many?”

“Of course not,” Tamani said.

Laurel hesitated. “Can Avalon spare that many?”

“Of course not,” he repeated, weakly. “Let’s go.”

Ciao!

Saundra Mitchell and her Contest of Awesome!!!

I have a guest blogger today! Welcome Saundra Mitchell! Her amazing historical supernatural The Springsweet came out yesterday. (It's the sequel to The Vespertine from 2011.:D)

So here she is to share a bit about The Springsweet and a contest!

Ciao!

"Do you know what I've missed since coming here? Books. I do miss reading novels, don't you?"

-Zora, The Springsweet

Pretty much every writer started out as a reader; now that we're writers, we can't help but write about people who love books. Sometimes IN the books. It's meta upon meta, but it makes perfect sense to us.

To celebrate books, Saundra Mitchell's blog tour is all about sharing two great things that go great together: books + free.

Today, you can enter to win a copy of Aprilynne's WINGS, and a signed set of Saundra's THE VESPERTINE and THE SPRINGSWEET. All you have to do is comment in this entry, and leave an e-mail address where we can contact you. (US & Canadian residents only, please.)

And tell us about your favorite book, too. Growing a TBR pile is the best gardening there is!

THE SPRINGSWEET
A Companion to The Vespertine
by Saundra Mitchell
Hardcover & E-book

From Harcourt

“A lovely historical romance takes readers back to the 1890 Oklahoma territory. (T)he author conjures a convincing picture of life on the Oklahoma prairie, painting an absorbing portrait of the landscape and of the people there. A high-quality, absorbing drama.”

– Kirkus Reviews, 02/01/12

It’s a long way from Baltimore to Oklahoma Territory. But Zora Stewart will go any distance to put the tragic events of her sixteenth summer behind her. So this city girl heads to the tiny frontier town of West Glory to help her young widowed aunt keep her homestead going.

When another Baltimorean shows up in West Glory, Zora couldn’t be more surprised. Theo de la Croix made the long trip out west hoping to court Zora, whom he has long admired from afar.

But Zora has developed an attraction to a rather less respectable fellow: Emerson Birch, a rough-mannered young “sooner” whose fertile land is coveted.

As Zora begins to suspect that there may be more than luck behind Emerson’s good land, she discovers an extraordinary, astonishing power of her own: the ability to sense water under the parched earth. When her aunt hires her out as a “springsweet” to advise other settlers where to dig their wells, Zora feels the burden of holding the key to something so essential to survival in this unforgiving land.

Even more, she finds herself longing for love the way the prairie thirsts for water. Maybe, in the wildness of the territories, Zora can finally move beyond simply surviving and start living.

THE SPRINGSWEET

is available at Indiebound |Amazon| Barnes & Noble

Saundra Mitchell has been a phone psychic, a car salesperson, a denture-deliverer and a layout waxer. She's dodged trains, endured basic training, and hitchhiked from Montana to California. She teaches herself languages, raises children, and makes paper for fun. She's the author of Shadowed Summer, The Vespertine, The Springsweet, and the forthcoming The Elementals and Mistwalker. She's also the editor of the forthcoming YA anthology Defy the Dark. She always picks truth; dares are too easy.

DESTINED Teaser

David stepped hesitantly back, but stayed close by his side, wedging a foot in front of the door as Tamani reached it. “Then let me come with you,” he said. “I’ll drive. You can sit and think for a while. Decide if this is really the right choice.”

“Oh, so now you’re the hero? Now that Laurel’s here to see you?” Tamani said, feeling the grip he had on his temper begin to slip. “Last night you left. You ran away instead of doing what needed to be done with Yuki. I’ve been doing what needs to be done for eight years, David. And I haven’t failed or run away yet. If there’s one person who can keep Laurel safe, it’s me—not you!”

When had he started yelling?

Ciao!

DESTINED Chapter One!!!

It took me all day, but at long last, here's DESTINED Chapter One!!!

Also, we have exactly three weeks left before DESTINED releases and I will be posting a new teaser that is AT LEAST a paragraph long every couple of days.:D So keep an eye out.

Chapter One

Tamani pressed his forehead against the chilly windowpane, fighting back a wave of exhaustion. Sleep wasn’t an option, not while the only thing between him and an angry Winter faerie was a thin line of table salt.

Tonight, he was Fear-gleidhidh twice over.

The old word was one he normally wore with pride. It marked him as Laurel’s guardian, her protector. But it had a richer meaning, one that went beyond the more traditional Am Fear-faire. Fear-gleidhidh meant "warden," and Tamani was charged with not only keeping Laurel safe but making certain she accomplished the mission Avalon had given her as a child.

Now he played prison warden too.

He looked over at his captive. Yuki’s chair sat on the scuffed linoleum in the middle of a thick circle of white, granular salt. She slept, her cheek resting on her knees, hands remained cuffed loosely behind her. She looked uncomfortable. Beaten.

Harmless.

“I would have given up everything for you.” Her voice was hushed but clear.

Not sleeping after all. And she could never be harmless, he reminded himself. The small white flower blooming from the middle of her back, marking her a Winter faerie, was proof enough of that. It had been over an hour since David cuffed her to the chair—an hour since Chelsea had exposed the irrefutable proof that she was, in fact a Winter faerie—and Tamani still hadn’t gotten used to the sight. It filled him with an icy fear he had rarely felt before.

“I was ready. That’s why I stopped you before you brought me inside.” Yuki looked up and unfolded her legs, stretching as best she could under the circumstances. “But you knew that, didn’t you?”

Tamani held his tongue. He had known. And for a moment he’d been tempted to let her make her confession. But it wouldn’t have ended well. Yuki would eventually have discovered that his affections were a sham, and then he would be at the mercy of a Winter faerie scorned. Better to cut the charade short.

He hoped he wasn’t deceiving himself about that. She posed a threat; he shouldn’t have felt any guilt about lying to her in the first place, much less now that he knew she’d been lying too. The power Winter faeries had over plants also made it possible for them to sense plant-life at a distance, so from the instant Yuki had met Tamani, she had known him for a faerie. Known Laurel, too. The Winter had played them all.

So why did he still wonder whether he’d done the right thing?

“We could have been so good together, Tam,” Yuki continued, her voice as silky as her rumpled silver dress, but with a malicious edge that made Tamani shiver. “Laurel’s not going to leave him for you. She may be a faerie on the outside, but inside she’s all human. David or no David, she belongs here, and you know it.”

Avoiding his captain’s eyes, Tamani turned back to the window and peered out into the darkness, pretending to look at . . . something. Anything. A sentry’s life was full of viciousness, and Tamani and Shar had both seen each other take extreme measures to protect their homeland. But always against an obvious threat, a violent attacker: a proven foe. Trolls were their enemy—had always been. Winter faeries were the rulers of Avalon, and though Yuki had deceived them, she’d never actually harmed them. Somehow, putting her in chains felt worse than killing a hundred trolls.

“You and me, Tam, we’re the same,” Yuki continued. “We’re being used by people who don’t care what we want or what makes us happy. We don’t belong with them; we belong together.”

Reluctantly, Tamani glanced at her again. He was surprised to see that she wasn’t looking at him as she spoke—she was staring past him, out the window, as if at some bright future she still imagined possible. Tamani knew better.

“There isn’t a door in this world that can be closed to us, Tam. If you vouched for me, we could even go peacefully to Avalon. We could stay there together and live in the palace.”

“How do you know about the palace?” Tamani asked reflexively, knowing even as he did that he was snapping at her bait. A barely audible sigh came from Shar, and Tamani wondered if it was directed at Yuki’s stupidity or his own.

“Or we could stay here,” she continued, calmly, as though Tamani hadn’t said anything. “Anywhere we wanted to go, anything we wanted to do, we could. Between your power over animals and mine over plants, the world would be ours. You know, the pairing of a Spring and Winter would work really well. Our talents complement each other perfectly.”

Tamani wondered if she understood just how right she was—or how little it tempted him.

“I would have loved you forever,” she whispered, bowing her head. Her dark, lustrous hair fell forward, veiling her face, and she sniffled quietly. Was she crying, or stifling a laugh?

Tamani startled when a knock sounded at the door. Before he could take a step, Shar moved silently to the peephole. Knife in his fist, Tamani tensed—ready. Was it Klea? That’s what everything was for—the circle, Yuki in cuffs—an elaborate trap to snare the scheming Fall faerie who might be trying to kill them.

And might not.

If only they could know for sure.

Until they did, Tamani had to assume they were a threat—a lethal one.

But with a shimmer of a grimace, Shar pulled the door open and Laurel entered the room, Chelsea close behind.

“Laurel,” was all Tamani managed to say, his fingers falling from the knife. Even after loving Laurel for as long as he could remember, and lately becoming something . . . something more, he still felt a leap of joy every time he saw her.

She had changed out of her dark-blue formal—the one she’d worn when he'd held her in his arms over a year ago at the Samhain festival, when he’d kissed her so passionately. It seemed so far away.

Laurel wasn’t looking at him; she only had eyes for Yuki.

“You shouldn’t be here,” Tamani whispered.

Laurel arched one eyebrow in response. “I wanted to see for myself.”

Tamani clenched his teeth. In truth, he did want her there, but his own selfish desires were at odds with his concern for her safety. Would he ever be able to satisfy both?

“I thought you were going after David,” Tamani said to Chelsea, who was still in her deep-red formal. She’d ditched her heels somewhere, so the bottom of the dress pooled at her feet like blood.

“I couldn’t find him,” Chelsea said, her lip quivering almost imperceptibly. She looked at Laurel, who was still studying their silent prisoner.

“Yuki?” Laurel said tentatively. “Are you okay?”

Yuki looked up, glaring at Laurel with steel and fury. “Do I look okay to you? I’ve been abducted! I’m handcuffed to a metal chair! How would you be?”

The Winter faerie’s venomous tone seemed to hit Laurel like a breaking wave and she took a step backward. “I came to check on you.” Laurel glanced at Tamani, but Tamani wasn’t sure what she wanted. Encouragement? Permission? He offered her a pained grimace and a tiny, helpless shrug.

Laurel turned back to Yuki, the Winter faerie’s expression unreadable, her chin held high. “What does Klea want from me?” Laurel asked.

Tamani didn’t expect her to answer, but Yuki met Laurel’s gaze and simply said, “Nothing.”

“Then why did you come?”

Yuki smiled now, a crooked, mischievous smile. “I didn’t say she never wanted anything. But she doesn’t need you anymore.”

Laurel’s eyes darted to Tamani, then to Shar, before returning to Yuki.

“Laurel, listen,” Yuki said, her voice quiet, comforting. “This whole charade is completely unnecessary. I’ll talk to you if you just get me out of here.”

“That’s enough,” Tamani said.

“Step in here and shut me up,” Yuki said, glaring at Tamani before turning back to Laurel. “I’ve never done anything to hurt you and you know I could have. I could have killed you a million times, but I didn’t. Doesn’t that count for anything?”

Tamani opened his mouth, but Laurel laid a hand on his chest, silencing him. “You’re right. But you’re a Winter faerie. You hid that, even though you had to know about us. Why?”

“Why do you think? The moment your soldier friends found out what I was, they chained me to a chair!”

Tamani hated that she was right.

“Okay, well, maybe we just need to start over,” Laurel said. “If we can all figure this out before Klea shows up, even better. If you could just tell us—”

“Tamani has the keys,” Yuki said, looking over at him, malice gleaming in her eyes. “Let me out of here, I’ll tell you whatever you want to know.”

“No deal,” Tamani said, doing his best to sound bored.

Laurel spoke to Yuki again, cutting them off. “It’s probably safest for everyone if—”

“No!” Yuki shouted. “I can’t believe you’re even a part of this! After what they did to you? To your parents?”

Tamani frowned; what did Laurel’s parents have to do with anything?

But Laurel was already shaking her head. “Yuki, I don’t like that they made me forget. But I can’t change the past—”

“Forget? I’m not talking about memory elixirs. What about the poison?”

“Oh, come on—” Tamani blurted.

Laurel shushed him. “Yuki, do you know who poisoned my father?”

Tamani was pretty certain of the answer, and he knew Laurel was too—it had to have been Klea. But if Laurel could convince Yuki to confirm their suspicions . . .

“Your father?” Yuki looked confused. “Why would they poison your father? I’m talking about your mother.”

Again Laurel looked at Tamani, and he shook his head with a tiny shrug. What was Yuki playing at?

“You don’t even know, do you? Big coincidence that the couple who happened to own the land around the gate just happened to be childless—waiting for a little blond baby to pop into their lives. How . . . convenient. Wouldn’t you say?”

“That’s enough,” Tamani said sharply. He should have guessed; more games. Yuki was just looking for ways to get them doubting themselves—and each other.

“They did that,” Yuki said. “Fifteen years before you even showed up on their doorstep, the faeries made sure your mother was baby-hungry enough to take you without question. They damaged her, Laurel. Made sure she could never have her own children. They ruined her life and you’re siding with them.”

“Don’t listen to her, Laurel. It’s not true,” Tamani said. “She’s just trying to get into your head.”

“Am I? Why don’t we ask him?”

Ciao!!

Foreign Rights Redux

So, my last post was long on narrative, short on detail. I had such a wonderful time in Italy! But it was, in the end, a business trip, and I thought I would say something about that. Besides, it's been a while since I talked about the business of writing. :)

Wings now has 32 publishers around the world, publishing in 28 languages--there are two English editions, two Portugese editions, two French editions, and a simplified as well as complex Chinese edition. Not every country has its own bestseller list, but I am aware of my books hitting bestseller lists in Brazil, Germany, and Italy for sure, and several of my international publishers indicated that the series is doing well all over the world. In fact, Illusions was on the children's bestseller list in Italy while I was there!

HERE'S A PICTURE!

(See all those Jeff Kinneys on there both above and below mine? Oh yeah.:))

Foreign rights is something I've talked about before. Some authors sell "world rights" to their publishers, and after that, don't give it much thought (except to post the pretty pretty covers on their websites!!!). Some limit the scope to "North American English" (so their publisher can only sell books in the U.S. and Canada). As I've said before, which rights you try to hold onto depends partly on where you think your book will sell, and partly on the terms your publisher offers--for example, if your publisher only offers 50% on subrights (honestly I've heard numbers all over the place, but 50% is not great), but your agent does them for 20%, keeping your world rights is probably a good idea

If you think your agent can sell them!

Fortunately, Writers House has a fabulous foreign rights team. Even so, early in my career I was warned that I should think of foreign rights as "found money" and I certainly shouldn't expect to collect royalties beyond my advances.

So that's sort of where my thoughts on the matter sat for a while.

Then one day I was talking to the hawt and fabulous Jamie Ford about his trip to the Frankfurt Buchmesse. He told me that he felt it had been a worthwhile experience for him, because he had several foreign publishers.

I thought, I have several foreign publishers...

But then Jamie went on to say that, for children's books, the real place to be was Bologna, Italy.

I thought, I would like to go to Italy...

The general tone of these international book fairs is very business-oriented. It is not like BEA where you have authors doing signings and all the publishers are giving away free books. In fact, very few authors go to these things because even if they have a lot of foreign publishers there's simply not much for an author to do. It's agents pitching books to publishers and making deals and just generally doing all the things agents do because authors can't, don't know how, or simply don't want to. It's one of those places where agents really earn their cut, and they seriously work like crazy. Like. Crazy.

Well, Jamie had inspired me, and I decided I would ask my agent her opinion. She passed along the idea to the foreign rights people, and they supported the idea. Supported it with a lot of exclamation points.:D

So I went to Italy!

My amazing sub-rights agent arranged for me to have a brief meeting with every single foreign publisher I have that attended the fair. In these meetings I had the opportunity to pitch books they hadn't already bought rights to (new books, but also, some of them have only purchased parts of the Wings series, for example), and got to hear about how my books are doing in their countries. It was super-productive for me, but again--if I didn't already have a bunch of foreign publishers, I can see how there wouldn't have been much for me to do there. As usual, Jamie was right. :D

I got to learn things like: there are no cheerleaders outside of America! Or few enough that most countries don't buy books about cheerleaders. I saw firsthand how many books that are popular in the United States are not very popular outside it... and vice versa. At least until there's a movie, then it pretty much gets popular everywhere. :) I got to learn a bit more about the workings of the industry and see some foreign rights agents in action.

So in addition to all the fabulous food, architecture, language, events, and ambiance... it was a very interesting business experience. I guess the only thing better than a trip to Italy... is a trip you can write off your taxes. ;)

Will I go back someday? Absolutely! Next year? No. The timing was perfect for this year because I had several new books to pitch. It will be a few more years before I have new books to pitch again. (Ah, the downfalls of writing mostly series-es.;)) But when the time does come, absolutely I would go back! In a second!

Now, I have to refocus and get my head back into launch season! Less than a month to Destined! So much to do! So little time! And I haven't given you guys nearly enough teasers... I think I should post the first chapter soon, don't you?

Ciao!

My Trip to Italy!!!!

So. Many. Pictures. You’ve been warned.

My trip actually started out with a two-hour layover at the Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris. It was rather futuristic-looking!



I didn’t get to stay long—Paris! I am coming back someday!!!!—but I did manage to grab a bit of lunch.



Brie and spinach quiche, cream of carrot soup, and a pecan tart. (Pastries, NOM!) Then it was off to Bologna where I had a dinner appointment that night. I needed a nap, but I had to go out and walk around a little bit first. Can you blame me? Bologna is gorgeous! I kept telling people all week that I loved being surrounded by so many old things because we just don’t have anything like that in Phoenix. Even the Native American and Spanish structures are mostly out of Phoenix. In Phoenix, a fifty-year-old building is “old.” So imagine my utter delight when one of the first things I saw was this!!!



Ruins in the middle of a busy neighborhood? No big deal.:D Seriously. Right there at the head of the Via Independenza! RUINS!!! I was very happy.

I went to a gorgeous restaurant with my Dutch publisher that had exquisite décor and even more exquisite food! (You’re going to hear a lot about food in this entry.:D)



Walked both to and from the restaurant on Via Independenza which is the busy street in Bologna. It (and most of the sidewalks) is topped by portici or arches because, although it did not rain while I was there, it apparently rains a lot.



And I got a huge kick out of the fact that the sidewalks are marble.



In other places the sidewalks were stone, but rarely did you see a cement sidewalk. All stones, bricks, and marble!

But this became my home away from home.



The agent center at the fair. The sheer number of books being pitched at the fair was rather intimidating. There are 104 agent tables and every table had about fifteen appointments each of the four days. Each. Table. It was amazing!!

And that’s just the agent center! On top of that, there were five enormous (think Costco-sized) halls full of booths upon booths of publishers. Like my German publisher, who had the first three books in their catalog as well as the first two on display.:D



Some fun sights from the fair—the long version of the red carpet.:D



Seriously, this carpet stretched for about a block to the entrance of the fair, and from there, it went all over the place, down aisles and corridors. They must have had about three miles of this carpet!

And every night my fabulous foreign rights agent, Cecilia, had a different publisher take me out to dinner. Which is how I landed here:



and here:



And on top of that, she let me accompany her to THE party of Bologna (The Dutch party—apparently it’s legendary and after attending, I know why!) which was at this gorgeous old manor with amazingly maintained décor.





And the food! Did I mention the food?



Profiteroles. These are like three of the best cream puffs you’ve ever had covered in the richest chocolate pudding ever made. And they were just at the Fair’s self-serve cafeteria. I may have eaten them two days in a row. *innocent look*



Breakfast. Our hotel put out an amazing breakfast every morning. Breakfast, most important meal of the day, so you should eat a lot, right? Right.:)

Then some traditional favorites:



Caprese (Tomatoes with fresh mozzarella and basil, topped with red vinegar and olive oil)



Ravioli stuffed with sausage in a cream sauce with Gorgonzola cheese.



Panna Cotta in caramel sauce. (The first thing I did upon getting home was find a good recipe for panna cotta. OMG SO GOOD!!!!!)

Despite the lovely time I had, I did go to Bologna to work, so for the first three days that’s mainly what I did. I spend all day pitching my next books to foreign publishers, subagents, and scouts. It was fun but exhausting. And I didn’t even have as many appointments as the agents did! Seriously, guys, a lot of work!

But once the fair was over (for me) I had a day to do what I wanted. On recommendation, I decided to get up early and go running to Studio Saint Luca, which is set high on a hill that overlooks the entire city. But in order to get there, you have to go through 660 portici that run down Via Saragozza and then up a very steep hill.

But first, of course, you have to get to Via Saragozza.:) So my run started with me going through Piazza Maggiore:



Normally filled to the brim with people, but empty at 7:00 in the morning. (Italians don’t rise early; no shops were open either.) It was nice to see the architecture completely uninterrupted.
After having to turn around once (I missed a road and got to go into a newspaper stand and ask for directions with my limited Italian and it worked!!!:D) I finally got there. The portici start before reaching this plaque:





But this is the point at which they stop being flat and start to climb.



(For wimps they did have a road.;))



And along the way were about a dozen little arched alcoves with old paintings in them! (Excuse the bars.)




Once you reached the top their was a gorgeous church and a gorgeous view!!!
Of the city:



And the hillsides:



And then it was time to go back down.



I made MUCH better time on the way down.:D

For lunch the lovely Jessica of Wings Italia:



came to join me for lunch and we went to have real Italian pizza at a place recommended to me by some of the people from my Italian publisher (Sperling and Kupfer) the previous night. And ya’all, it was amazing!



Also, huge! They recommended I try the classic pizza Margherita and it was fabulous! But when I go back, I will definitely try something bolder!

One of my favorite things about Italy were the beautiful Catholic churches. I’m not Catholic, but I enjoyed taking a few minutes to duck into just about every church I came across to have a few minutes of peace and quiet and to observe the amazing architecture. I have scads of pictures, but this is one of my favorites.



I loved just walking in Italy and seeing the old buildings. I like staying off the main road because I think you find better—and, let’s face it—more authentic things a little away from the crowds. (I can’t imagine being a tourist who never strays from the Via Independenza and the Piazza Maggiore, but apparently most of them don’t.) And when you don’t get off the beaten path, you don’t get to see things like this:



Or this:



And you might just miss something like this too!:D



However, speaking of the Piazza Maggiore, I did find this in the bookshop there.:D



But, alas, all good things do come to an end. 5:00 AM found me at the airport, ordering a glass of orange juice and a croissant. And this is what I got:



Blood orange juice! Never had it before! It was fabulous.:)

Then I proceeded to fly two hours back to Paris, and then 10.5 hours back to SLC where my family was with my in-laws. And, um, my feet were not happy with me. When I tried to put my shoes back on after landing, they barely fit!!!



Apparently your feet swelling on a long flight is common. Who knew? Well *I* do now.:D

Whew! So that is a really fast rundown of my trip to Italy! (And well, only about a fourth of the pictures I actually took.) It was amazing and wonderful and from both a personal and business standpoint, I’m so glad I went!!!! (And I can't believe you got this far!)

Ciao! (And yes, everyone does say that there.)