Radio Silence

HELLO, DEAR FRIENDS.

Guess what time it is?

Well, yes, it is 5:00pm. Actually. And, yeah, I guess it's Monday, too. But it will also soon be something else.

PASSOVER!

If you do not know what Passover is, fear not. There is a super fun movie that came out in 1998 that sort of explains stuff.

Also this one called THE TEN COMMANDMENTS that is even older than ME but that I've never watched in its entirety because, hello, THERE IS NO SINGING.

Anyway, in light of this holiday, I will be off eating matzoh (which I really believe should be spelled matzah, FYI, since that's how it's pronounced) and being grateful that I don't have to witness a plague of locusts. Have you seen locusts? THEY ARE TERRIFYING. I thought about including a picture for you but I decided to spare you the nightmares. I grew up in South Florida and so we used to have these giant neon grasshoppers pop up in the backyard (locusts are apparently just what a huge swarm of certain types of grasshoppers are called, did you know?), and my childhood dog would eat them. So gross. But I digress.

So, yeah. I will be gone. So if you tweet at me and/or email me and/or attempt to contact me in any other way, I shall be unable to reply in a timely manner. And just wanted you to know that it isn't because I don't love you--because I do.

For all of my fellow Red Sea pedestrians (to quote Cassie Clare) celebrating along with me, have a chag kasher v'sameach. For everyone else, HAPPY MONDAY!

Cupcakes, Puppies, and Dark, Twisted Shiz

I was told recently that a Very Awesome Person was reading my blog. And I thought: OMG, I WOULD LOVE TO GIVE HER A CUPCAKE.

But she lives far away. So this is the best I could do.

But I could never, ever leave YOU out, dear friends! Because you are all Very Awesome People yourselves! So I would like to give you PUPPIES.

But puppies poop a lot, and you're all very busy, and also, I don't have any puppies at my disposal, because I really prefer grown-up dogs because of the aforementioned pooping thing. I once fostered four puppies all at the same time, and let me tell you, there was a lot of poop.

So this is the best I could do.

(I did not forget my promise re: my favorites. Coming soon. Swears. Be ready for some dark, twisted shiz)

HOW FUN WAS YESTERDAY?

THANK YOU for participating in my little rec-fest yesterday! I had a blast, and can't wait to hear if you love, like, or loathe my recommendations. And tomorrow, I'll post my all-time favorites that I didn't get a chance to recommend. 

Enjoy your Tuesday! And if you're in SoFla? Try not to melt!

Maybe it's time to change.

What do you read? YA? Horror? Non-fic? Romance? 

I say: change it up. 

Yes, I'm a YA author and I adore YA, and if you're reading this, you probably love YA too. I should probably be encouraging that love. And I am! But I think there's so much to be said for leaving your comfort zone. If I'd never left mine, I'd never have discovered Harry Potter. Hell, I'd never have written my first book. 

So venture out. Broaden your horizons. Even within YA, if that's where you're most comfortable. Because you never know what will inspire you. You never know what you might discover. Love romance? I dare you to read THE MARBURY LENS. Love historical fiction? I dare you to read THE DUFF. Love paranormal? I dare you to read LIKE MANDARIN. Love dystopian? I dare you to read THE ETERNAL ONES. 

And in this vein, I'd like to play a game with you. 

Here's how it works: you hit up the comments with the last three books you read. I will respond by recommending a book that I think will blow your mind, in a good way. If you want to read and post or tweet about the book I recommended? Not necessary, but AWESOME- I'd love to know your after-the-fact thoughts! And if this proves to be popular, I will definitely do it again. 

And now back to our regularly scheduled programming?

Well, not entirely. BUT, I do have a LOT to tell you about today.

First, this:

Which made me go like this:

I went to the YA Editor's Buzz Panel last year, and it was amazing to hear about the genesis and acquisition of stories like MATCHED and THE DUFF. And this year, if you'll be at BEA 2011, well, you'll get to hear more about MARA DYER, and the four incredible-sounding buzz selections detailed here. That link also explains what exactly these panels are, and this is an awesome written recap from last year's editor's panel. There's a companion author panel, too, during which an excerpt read from THE DUFF marked the first f-bomb ever dropped on a BEA stage. It was amazing.

And suffice it to say, I am PSYCHED.

I have a bunch of other incredible stuff lined up for BEA week, too. And some of it involves YOU, dear friends! But that post is for another day. Another day soon. But another day.

Because I want to tell you about some other things now. Like the winners of the jacket contest. All of your eerie coincidences were seriously eerie. Also, yes, I said winners. The past few weeks have been crazycakes and I've been an absentee author and that means I felt guilty which means more goodies for YOU! So the winners are:

Kari, who won a jacket proof and FALLOUT.

Penny, who won a secret prize pack of THREE awesome YA books. You'll find out which ones when you open it!

YAY!!! Guys, email me at mdhodkin@gmail.com with your mailing info and I'll make arrangements to send you your jacket proof AND books! On that jacket proof is a quote from the book that does NOT appear in the first chapter, by the way.

And since we're speaking of the first chapter, over four thousand people have now viewed it.

FOUR THOUSAND.

Who are you people? COME SAY HI I WANT TO BUY YOU ALL A COKE.

Also in related news: you asked for a smaller version of the widget, and you got it. To download and share, click here. When you click on "share this," there will be text on the bottom that says: "BLOGGERS, too big for your sidebar? Click here for a mini version." So, you know...click there.

And you know how sometimes I like to surprise people? Well, I've been perusing the internets and the sheer amount of MARA DYER countdown widgets amazes me on a regular basis (172 days, btw. AHHHHH). So I have decided that I am going to surprise a widget-bearer with another super secret excerpt of the book.

I'm going to do that in the next two weeks. And I'm going to run that contest on Twitter. I'll tell you more about it then, but meanwhile, if you think that sounds like an awesome prize? Installing the widget now couldn't hurt ;)

And that about wraps it up! But before I go, I just want to say thanks. For being so excited about the BEA buzz business. For saying such nice things about the first chapter. For downloading and sharing the kickass widget. Without you? This stuff wouldn't mean nearly as much.

So here, have a puppy:

(That would be Penny, one of my friend's foster puppies. Her mom, Lily, was abandoned by her owners while heavily pregnant, and my friend and the awesome rescue she works with took her in. Penny has two brothers and one sister, and they'll all be up for adoption when they're old enough! Click here to read more about them, see pictures, and watch the PUPPY CAM!)

Happy Friday <3