a little more good news.

Listening To: Annabel by The Duhks
Line Obsession: "The poems became books that people passed from hand to hand. The books traveled over fences... and bridges... and across borders... soaring from continent to continent... until he had passed thousands of gifts through a hole in the fence to a multitude of people in every corner of the world." - from The Dreamer by Pam Munoz Ryan



Last time we met up, I announced that Scholastic (!!!) will be publishing my first novel, A Snicker of Magic. You can read that post here. The summary: I am so excited and grateful that I mostly walk around in a perpetual skip. The book will be out in the wild sometime in the Spring of 2014. Before we get back to our regularly scheduled shenanigans, I wanted to share just a bit more fun book news with you ...

I am thrilled to report that A Snicker of Magic will also be published in Italy and Germany!! :)

The Italian rights for A Snicker of Magic have sold to the chic and savvy people at Sperling.

The German rights for A Snicker of Magic have been snatched up by the swankified folks at ArsEdition!

When I think about seeing my book in languages that I can't even read, it makes my heart swell. In the best way. I can't wait to see what foreign editions will look like! If you'll allow me a moment to be kinda corny: I have always dreamed of visiting Italy and Germany someday. There's a certain sweetness in knowing my characters will get to visit both magical places, even if I never do. :)

Since I got the news about the foreign editions, I've been considering how my characters would react to that kind of info - the news that they get to take a little European roadtrip. I know you haven't met the characters yet, so you'll just have to work with me here:

But I picture Aunt Cleo - my beloved, yet wacky family matriarch - waltzing out of the airport and swooping her leopard print scarf around her neck. She'd push her over sized dark sunglasses up on her nose and holler, "I'm driving, y'all!" My fictional family hauls around town in a dumpy old van they affectionately refer to as The Pickled Jalapeno. Picturing the Jalapeño clunking through the Italian countryside, and weaving through the spires of Germany ... it makes me smile so much. I think the Pickle family will fit in just fine over there.

Thank you Sperling and ArsEdition! *hugs*

Both of these deals came through because of my lovely agent Suzie Townsend, who is, as you know, a caped crusader, and also Kathleen Oritz, who is a BOSS. Kathleen is responsible for all the foreign translation savvy at New Leaf. She also keeps a swanky blog right over here.

Thank you so much for making the day of the book announcement such a special memory for me. I was not expecting so many sweet comments, emails and tweets. A Snicker of Magic even got its first hashtag! :)

Every part of this feels like the sweetest gift. I can't wait to tell you more about the story - the music and the places and the little whims of memories that inspired it. I can't wait for you to meet the characters. And while I haven't seen the final cover, I have seen a sketch of what it will be like. My heart can't even hold all the happy. I can't wait for you to see it! It is whimsical and beautiful and vivid. I'm probably going to wallpaper my house with it. Seriously though, we'll have a big party on here the day I finally get to show you what it looks like. And, of course, I hope you love it when you read it. It's just a sweet little story, but I hope you find some magic tucked into the pages.

Thanks for taking this adventure with me. This is going to be a fun year! (And I promise not every post will be book-related. We'll keep talking other books and music and all manner of fun things. Next time, I'll tell you the story of my recent visit to a battlefield and how I thought a ghost was coming at me through the woods. Stay tuned! ;)

NOW! Tell me something sweet that's happend to you this week! Are you graduating? Gearing up for summer? Taking a fun roadtrip? Share your good news (or any news you want to share) down in the comments!