After getting nails done with BFF, I ran over to B&N and saw…Triple Fault! Yaaaay! I signed all of the books and they have the cool green stickers that say “autographed copy.” Love. Those.
I just stood there for a second and stared. Four books look kinda pretty. 🙂
🙂
This is a super sparkly day because…
is shipping! Well, it’s shipping from Barnes & Noble and that means it’s going to start releasing in other places very, very soon!
Now that it’s my fourth book, I’m like, sure, I’m still new at all of this
Totally kidding. Unlike Captain Jack, I don’t expect you to have heard of me. But maybe you know about Canterwood Crest. If not, to recap:
It’s about a 
girl who 
and adores her horse.
There’s also a 
and they might 
It’s the fourth book in a series of twelve for tweens from Simon & Schuster’s Aladdin MIX.
I feel like this: 
(EK and Jess)
This book is incredibly special to me for various personal reasons. I know people think I might say that with every book, but it’s totally true for this one.
And okay, I wanted to tell this entire post with Twilight avatars and graphics, but uh, I restrained myself. 🙂
Hearts and sparkles to everyone who made this happen! Now I’ll be watching for it be available in other places. Book stalking will begin soon! Ha. 🙂
Yaaay Triple Fault!
Right now, I feel like I’ve consumed ALL of these: 
Because…
My amazing editor, Kate Angelella, who is a total 
, has decided that she’s willing to put up with my overly caffeinated phone calls, Twittering in her presence and my obsession with R Pattz and has asked me to write books 9-12 in the Canterwood Crest series!!
Dance party! 🙂
This means Sasha and friends get to ride on for four more books! 
To everyone who made it happen (again!!) I’m so, so grateful and am thrilled to have all of you on Team Canterwood! Aladdin MIX = awesome.
I’m in total shock right now and can’t even find the words to express how happy I am to be able to continue the stories of Sasha and her friends. I *never* thought I’d have twelve books. Never. And it would not have happened without the amazing, continued support of people who’ve backed me all the way.
I looked back through my blog and my last book deal was in December. So many things have changed since then, but my intense love for my books hasn’t. If anything, it has grown because of the wonderful fans who love the books and show it!
And this time last year? I was squeeing on the phone with EK when she sent me the cover for TAKE THE REINS, my first book.
Insane.
*breathes*
The books will continue on the bi-monthly pub schedule, so stay tuned for dates, covers and all of that fun stuff coming soon.
Again, I want to thank Kate for working side-by-side with me on this crazy schedule, for loving the books as much as I do and for listening to all of my insecurities and being the first one to know that I can do this. I’m beyond grateful to you for everything.
Happy almost 4th of July, everyone! I’m out for a blog break as of today, but will be back next week. 🙂 Unless, you know, something crazy happens that I HAVE to blog about. I’m so excited that it’s my first 4th in NYC. Last year, I was sitting on the trunk of my car with my brother watching neighborhood fireworks. This year? Who knows!
Tonight, I’m hitting Stir with friends and I’m beyond excited.
Have a fab holiday weekend!!
I started writing LITTLE WHITE LIES (Canterwood Crest #6 (SIX! *falls over*) yesterday. I Tweeted (stupidly, LOL) that I was going to stay up all night writing and hit 5k before I went to sleep.
Didn’t happen. I wrote 500 words and stopped for the night. I needed a few hours to absorb outline changes and just think about where I needed to go with the book.
Today, I got started late and hit my stride. I had one of those rare “OMG” writer moments where I sat back and actually said, “Oh. Whoa. Wow. Um.” out loud. One of those crazy-talking-to-yourself writer moments where you actually start to cry like an idiot for no reason.
But a few things hit me full force:
* I’m writing book freaking six. S-I-X. There was a time when I thought I wouldn’t be able to write one book. Not one. Just short articles, nothing book length. And I’m not saying this to be like, “Oh, wow. Look. You’ve written five books.” I’m saying this because so many writers e-mail me and say they’re sure they can’t write a book but so want to. That they can’t write past a few pages. I used to think that too.
* I’m in love with a character. A character that I didn’t fall for until twenty minutes ago. And I’m hard core crushing. (And man, I’m sooo gonna regret posting this part ’cause EK will read it and never let me forget it when I tell her my new love interest. As if she needs another thing to hold over me, LOL.)
* This is the first book I’ve ever written in New York and it’ll be my only first book in NYC. It feels sparkly just for that reason.
* I’m not the writer I was when I wrote BEST ENEMIES. Not better, not worse (I hope!). Just not the same.
* Everything and nothing has changed. Everything in my life has changed. Nothing in my character’s lives has. They were all there–waiting for me to come and move things for them. I’m almost annoyingly giddy to be back to Canterwood (I sound like a student, LOL) and into writing.
And not just writing.
Writing that I love.
There’s a difference.
And it took a while for me to find it again. But I have.
Okay! Sappy much? Seriously. 🙂 As you were.
On a whim, I read that Robert Pattinson was filming REMEMBER ME on 8th Street and University in NYC. I was like, “Do I go, or not?!” I wasn’t going to go and then everyone was telling me, “Go! It’s R Pattz!”
I hopped on the F and forty minutes later, I was walking around looking for Rob. I walked for about twenty minutes and didn’t find him. I was getting discouraged and then I decided to walk a different way.
And then…there was a MASSIVE crowd of girls (and some guys) and I KNEW I’d found the right place.
So, enjoy the pics and video of Rob’s latest project. Yay!
The video’s still processing, so the quality’s a little wonky. It shall improve once it’s fully processed!
June 5, 2007 was the day my first book deal was announced in PubLunch.
April 5, 2009 was the day I moved to NYC.
June 5, 2009 is the one-month mark that I’ve had my own apt.
Guess 5 is my lucky number, huh?
I can FINALLY make the announcement I’ve been wanting to share!
….
For real!
In February, I got an email from a producer at Breakthrough Entertainment who said she’d like to discuss the books. I passed her info to Agent A and they immediately started talking. While I waited, I tried not to get too excited because I knew how slim the chances were to have this email lead to a yes.
But it did! Cross your fingers that you’ll one day see Canterwood on-screen! I’m so grateful to have this option and thank you sooo much to everyone involved.
Yaaay! 🙂
What a weekend! I edited all day Saturday then met up with fellow Aladdin MIXer Nova for dinner. We’d met before for, seriously, five seconds and finally had time to sit and chat. Nova’s awesome and her book DANI NOIR (Sept ’09) is killer. We’ll be going out again soon, I’m sure. 🙂
I came back to my apt and had a mini-celebration for the VIP papers that I got in the mail that day. I should be able to make a GIANT, HUGE, SUPERAWESOME announcement on my blog on Tuesday.
Today, I was supposed to meet Aly at 11 for brunch. I left early and grabbed the F. But then…announcements started that there was a 9/11 simulation going on and due to the smoke, my train was going to be rerouted to the G or stopped at W 4th St. or something very confusing.
*panic*
People on the train were mad.
Tourists were confused.
Then, people heard “smoke in the city” and thought there was a real fire.
You get the idea.
I hopped from the F, to the R, possibly to the A and the 4 (?) and ended up going to Queens. Then back to home. Then on the way to Manhattan. My train stopped underground for a looong while.
There were cops.
And nervous people. But I was determined to make it to brunch and Aly!
I finally used my subway skills (read: Roy’s NFT) and figured out how to make it to the correct stop.
And, guess what? Only 20 mins later. Bad, but not as bad as I’d feared. Take that, subway!
But Aly was super cool about it and we had a fab brunch–hello, Belgian waffles and sparkly drinks–then went shopping at Forever 21. Very amazing. I got the cutest earrings and necklace after consulting Aly–the Princess of Accessories. We had fun shopping and being girls. I made it back home without getting lost. WHEW. I’m so done with the subway till Tuesday.
Jessica Burkhart 