Upcoming Author-y Events

Here goes!

1) This Saturday, December 1st - I'll be handing out Bruised postcards (with invites to my book launch) at the 6th Annual Santa Clarita Arts & Literacy Festival. If you live in the area, please stop by and say hi. I'd love to see you! BONUS: Laurisa White Reyes (Rock of Ivanore) will be doing a reading and signing.

2) January 26-27, 2013, I'm doing two book signings at ALA Midwinter in Seattle with fellow Amulet author Cat Winters (In the Shadow of Blackbirds). Exact dates and times to come. BONUS: Tom Angleberger (The Strange Case of Origami Yoda) will be at ALA, too!

HIGH AND DRY Sells to Amulet Books

My second novel, a Young Adult mystery called High and Dry, sold to Maggie Lehrman at Amulet Books!

Here is the fancy Publishers Marketplace listing, 'cause it ain't real till PM announces it:

Author of BRUISED Sarah Skilton's HIGH AND DRY, set in a California desert town in which a high school soccer player is framed for a stranger's near-fatal overdose, blackmailed into uncovering a missing flash drive, and pressured to throw the big game, all while trying to win back the girl of his dreams, again to Maggie Lehrman at Amulet, in a nice deal, for publication in 2014, by Sara Megibow of Nelson Literary Agency (World).

I've lived in L.A. since 1999, so it was only a matter of time before I tried my hand at a sun-soaked mystery.

Did you know?
Living in L.A. eventually turns you into a private detective.

Huge thanks to my agent Sara Megibow, my beta readers, the Writing Night peeps, and my friends and family for their support. I'm thrilled to be working with Maggie again.

It's been enormously fun researching mysteries, and I hope you enjoy reading High and Dry as much as I enjoyed writing it!

Thanksgiving Giveaway: Five-Book Prize Pack, Contemporary YA!

This year I'm grateful for so many things. Most of all, I'm grateful for the birth of my beautiful son, my husband Joe for being a terrific dad and supportive partner, and our parents for helping us out in every conceivable way. (Waves to both sets of Mom and Dad.) Publishing-wise, I'm grateful to the four authors who read and blurbed* my debut novel, Bruised, which comes out March 2013.

To thank them, I'm giving away copies of their latest books, plus a signed ARC of Bruised, over at YA Books Central, starting today and going through Mid-December.

I highly encourage you to enter the give-away so you can read their amazing books! They are my contemporary YA heroes, and I can't thank them enough for their kind words, below:

"The kind of book that keeps you up late at night and lingers long after you've turned the last page. Imogen's struggle in the aftermath of trauma is brutal in a raw, beautiful way. I loved everything about it."
—Trish Doller, author of Something Like Normal

"Raw and real, Bruised is an important read for all teens, especially those who feel they’ve lost their way. This beautiful book sows the true power of sports."
—Miranda Kenneally, author of Catching Jordan and Stealing Parker

"A powerful, gripping portrait of one girl's struggle to survive a violent tragedy... Sarah Skilton brings her heroine to a place of self-forgiveness and healing with extraordinary realism and humanity."
—Mariah Fredericks, author of The Girl in the Park

"A poignant look at a family groping to come together; an offbeat romance with charm and heat; and a heart-rending but ultimately triumphant story of a girl reclaiming her life. Absolutely absorbing!"
—Ann Stampler, author of Where it Began

Have a wonderful and safe Thanksgiving holiday, with lots of pumpkin pie!

*most awkward word of all time?

Super Cheesy Post About Dreams, Etc.

Today, the Spring 2013 Abrams Kids' catalog went live.

Abrams is a publishing house known for its breathtaking artwork (their byline is "The Art of Books Since 1949"). Flip through the catalog and you'll see why.

When my agent Sara and I accepted the offer for BRUISED in 2011, my editor Maggie sent me a lovely welcome basket of books, as well as the latest Abrams Kids catalog. I immediately began dreaming of seeing my cover listed in those pages. I still have that first catalog, and a subsequent one I swiped while in New York two summers ago. They're on my bookshelf, and soon, they'll be joined by a third!

Thanks for letting me gush without irony today.

Kidlit Cares & YA for NJ - Helping Out Victims of Hurricane Sandy

Love to read?

Want to help out victims of Hurricane Sandy?

Head over right now to Kate Messner's Kidlit Cares auction (many bids close tomorrow, 11/9).

If you've missed the chance to bid, check out Kieran Scott's YA for NJ Facebook Page for updates on their brand-new auction, set to launch November 16th. As of this afternoon, more than 80 amazing YA and MG authors are donating signed books.