Book Me, Catching Up. . . with lots of links!

CAKE!! Because, CAKE!!!

Me, recently, posing for the webcam before a Skype visit
(It's how I check my hair ;))

Been a busy few weeks, with the paperback release of THE SUMMER OF LETTING GO.

Seems the paperback has made its way to many Barnes & Noble shelves around the country which is a great thing.

Hoping it finds its way to some reading lists as well. And a reminder that if it finds its way to YOUR summer book club list, I will happily Skype in to your book club meeting of five readers or more. You can contact me through my website if you want more information.

Anyway, to celebrate the paperback release, I threw an awesome (if I do say so myself!) Palooza at the Huntington Public Library.

Despite it being one of the first sunny and warm weekend days of the year, we had a pretty full house and an extraordinary group of kids who stayed for the WHOLE event, from 90-Second Read Aloud through the book sale & signing, through the tween & teen only Writers Workshop!

It was a four-hour day -- not sure I'd ever make it that long again, though it flew! -- and the kids all seemed to have a good time.

This awesome animoto video was made by teacher extraordinaire Kristen Picone who brought so many enthusiastic students to the event, it truly blew all us authors away!

https://animoto.com/play/bVwluaELhTTuxLYm20l00w

Those are some lucky kids in HER class!!!

That's Kristen with some of her students!

Here are a few photos from the event. If you want to see more, you can find the link to the whole album on my Facebook author page HERE.

Matt Blackstone, reading from SORRY YOU'RE LOST
a perennial favorite of mine

A student, ready with the bell! All those other hands up,
waiting for their turn with the Power of the Bell!

Listening to readings. . . 

Tracey Baptiste, THE JUMBIES

Charlotte Bennardo, BLONDE OPS

me, reading from SUMMER about kissing. . . 

Me, with the extraordinary Lynda Mullaly Hunt of
ONE FOR THE MURPHY's and FISH IN A TREE...
who drove 6-hrs round trip to be with us for the day!!!

Huge thanks again to the eight wonderful authors who shared the day with me including those pictured above and: Henry Clark, THE BOOK THAT PROVES TIME TRAVEL HAPPENS; Sarah Darer Littman, BACKLASH; Selene Castrovilla, MELT; Kat Yeh, THE TRUTH ABOUT TWINKIE PIE!

I've got a few more events planned and some more writing workshops I'm teaching both locally and not so locally, but maybe local for you! 

First, TOMORROW, I will be at the Fourth Annual AUTHORS UNLIMITED Festival at St. Joseph's college in Patchogue, NY. Promises to be a fun day with lots of awesome authors, so if you're local, PLEASE join us!

Then, coming up in July, I will be teaching a one-night Novel Writing Workshop at the Walt Whitman Birthplace. Please pre-register. The cost is subsidized and a mere $15. 

Also, coming up in October (and I'm super excited about this . . . though I still hope the time passes slowly as I need my summer and my open water swim season to last!!), I will be one of three instructors, along with the incredible Amy Ferris (!! Who I'm going to finally get to meet in person!) and Beverly Donofrio at the PEEC Women of Our Words Writing Retreat. I think if you register before June 1st, there's an early bird special!! So call soon!

Working on some other summer book plans, including to return to the amazing EIGHT COUSINS bookstore in Falmouth, MA. 

Me, showing my section in 59 Reasons. . . !

And, of course, our fourth (!?!?) summer of Teachers Write! Is that possible? Word about start dates should be coming soon! In the meantime, if you haven't heard, Kate Messner's amazing book, 59 Reasons to Write, based on the virtual summer camp program is out now! And if you're thinking about joining this summer, do make sure to join our Facebook page. . . lots of information gets shared there!

So many good things. 

Braved the water on April 18th with two other hardy pals!!!

Anyway, that's all the book catching up to do for now. In the meantime, if you need me, you know where to find me. Some harbor off the Long Island Sound. Already been in... it was freezing, but grand!!!

Thanks for reading here and there any everywhere!

xox gae

THE SUMMER OF LETTING GO Karma or Coincidence? Countdown (Amy Ferris)

For Pete's sake, if you've read this intro already, just scroll down to Amy's breathtaking post! 

As many of you know, THE SUMMER OF LETTING GO, my second novel for young adults officially comes out March 25th from Algonquin Young Readers.

THE SUMMER OF LETTING GO tells the story of almost-16-yr-old Francesca “Beans” “Frankie” Schnell who, four years ago witnessed her baby brother, Simon, drown. Guilty and broken, Francesca has hunkered down in the shadows of her life, resolved to play second fiddle to her dead brother’s memory and to her best friend Lisette, a blonde bubbly beauty Francesca lives vicariously through. That is, until she meets a young boy named Frankie Sky who bears an uncanny resemblance to her brother. Frankie brings humor and hope to Francesca’s life, but are all the similarities between Frankie and Simon merely wishful coincidences, or could he be Simon’s reincarnation?

Curious coincidences abound in THE SUMMER OF LETTING GO —not only the overlaps between Simon and Frankie Sky, but also Bradley’s gift to Francesca, Bradley’s bird sighting, and the ties to the statue of  Saint Florian (sorry, you'll have to read to know what these are ;)). Midway through the story Francesca starts to think these events can’t really all just be coincidences, but maybe are “something bigger and magical at work.”

Have you ever experienced strange events that seemed like more than coincidence and made you wonder if fate was at work or that soul and or reincarnation exist?

Throughout the month, I've decided to pose that question to friends, some writers, others bearing other artistic talents, for a brief account of their own experience with karma, kismet or a mystical connection. I leave you to answer the question, “Karma or coincidence? Random or something more magical at work?” 

I hope you find these stories as intriguing and lovely as I do.

- gae

Today I have the stunning, glorious, amazing Amy Ferris (can you tell that I dig her?).

Amy is the author of the poignant and hilarious Marrying George Clooney, Confessions from a Midlife Crisis, and co-editor of Dancing at the Shame Prom, which is making its way up my must-read list so not-fast-enough.

Amy's breathtaking story completely breaks my "make it brief" rules, but there's not a sentence I could cut, so I share it with you in all its Amyesque glory.

Gary didn’t much believe in the afterlife.

He didn’t.

He wasn’t a spiritual type.

He didn't believe much in coincidences.

He played the stock market, and often described events and people in ‘market’ terms.

He believed in living in the moment, being completely and utterly true to his word, and living life fully. He was cool and sexy and rode a motorcycle, and owned a hugely successful bar (actually two) in New York City and had a bunch of young and sexy girlfriends - as in ‘gold bullion digging’ young, sexy girls - who didn’t have a clue how lucky they were that they were with him, because, well, he had a wonderful big gigantic heart. They didn’t care much about that because what they saw was the long hair, and the sexy face, and the gorgeous eyes, and the Harley Davidson that was parked outside the Bar, and of course, they saw the Bar with the cash register that went ca-ching, ca-ching, ca-ching, ca-ching every single minute on every single night, particularly on Friday and Saturday nights when you couldn’t even get into the Bar because it was so crowded. I asked him once, while a few young sexily clad women were draped all over him, what it felt like to be Mick Jagger, he said, “Good, real fucking good. This pays dividends.”

Gary died in a motorcycle accident. 

But before he died in a motorcycle accident, he went to the Caribbean, where his boat capsized and he was all alone, literally, in the middle of the ocean, clinging to both his life for four days, and a new found God, and it appeared that God found him, and he, Gary, said he remembered so much while his skin was literally baking in the sun: every nuance of his life flashed in front of him. He begged for forgiveness, he screamed at injustice, he wept at his horrible relationship with his parents, he was pissed at himself that he let the one girl he loved get away, he was out-loud livid that two of his close friends screwed him out of money, he was grateful that he could build a bar, and refurbish all the rooms in his gorgeous townhouse with his bare hands, he was deeply appreciative that he was generous and kind and that he truly deeply loved life. And he also, while baking in the sun, remembered that a psychic told him that he would die before he was fifty, and that in fact his death would be categorized as two fold, because he would actually “die twice.”

“What fucking bullshit. No one can die twice.”

He swore that the psychic ‘broad’ was completely nuts, “a fucking fruitcake.”

So, while he was both clinging to life and the capsized boat, he made a deal with God, to let him live just a little longer so he could make sure that he said good bye properly to all the folks he loved.

He lived just another year or so.

Big and bright sun, public domain. By Allison Breskin. 

And in that year or so he prayed every day to God, he went to church, he became a born-again, he found peace and faith, he gained weight, and met a woman who was close to his age and had some poundage, and one could even categorize her as an Earth Mother, and what was most beautiful about her was in fact her spirit and her laugh and the lines around her eyes. I told him she was the sexiest woman he had ever been with. “Yeah,” he said, “This one’s a triple AAA rating.”

And in that year or so, he managed to tell everyone he loved that he loved them all dearly and with all his heart. And a few folks who screwed him royally, he told them to rethink their lives. And a couple of the girls who draped themselves over him, he managed to tell them to stop hanging on to men, stand tall, and don’t give it away to some schmuck who has a wad of money, and no intent on ever getting married.

He was killed in a motorcycle accident. Coming home from Long Island on one of those long crazy summer weekends.

He would tell you, if he were alive, that yes, that was in fact called two fold, and the first time he died – clinging to life on a capsized boat – that in fact it was he who saved himself, but he gave all the credit to God, because he made a deal, and Gary never reneged on a deal.