Happy Birthday Hallowed

It's been a long but happy day. Hallowed is on the shelves! You'd think I'd get used to the idea, after all this time, but this year I was yet again struck dumb at the bookstore in sheer amazement that it was my. book. on. the. shelves!!!!! Wow. There's some sneaky little corner of my mind that still whispers, "Don't they know that you made this entire thing up? No, really. You made this entire Clara-the-angel-blood thing up. From your brain. That's all."

See? Don't I look dazed?

 And there was a HUGE pile of my books at the Idaho Falls Barnes & Noble, in preparation for Saturday's signing, and posters with my picture on them all over the store. Talk about surreal. . .

See the lovely display and the bunches of books?

Yup. That's me.



This is a day that I am truly thankful for all the wonderful, supportive people in my life, most especially my writerly-super-hero agent, Katherine, my kick-butt-and-take-names editor, Farrin, and my sounding-board-and-support-system husband, John. I couldn't have done any of this without you three. (come on, group hug!)

Now I have to go to sleep, because I am doing my first ever Author School Visit tomorrow morning. For someone who teaches writing for a living, I am surprisingly nervous. Wish me luck!

And thank you, all you readers out there, all you book bloggers, all you friends and neighbors and colleagues, all you fellow writers, for making me feel so loved and so important on this very fine day.