Happy almost-February! I really like this month. I do. There are fun family birthdays, and treats, and it’s short and spring is coming.

This is one of those newsy-type posts…

First of all, MATCHED was named to YALSA’s list of 2012 Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults. You can see the full list here. I love YALSA!!! Remember when MATCHED made the 2011 Teens’ Top Ten List and my life was made?

Second, I want to thank all of you for your support of both MATCHED and CROSSED. MATCHED has been on the New York Times bestseller list for paperback for 18 weeks running now, ever since its release, I believe. And CROSSED spent 7 weeks on the hardcover list, among many Lego books and also Brian Selznick. This significantly increased my nine-year-old’s opinion of me.

Third, I have updated the Events page. Due to some family circumstances (no, I am not pregnant), I am really limiting events this spring, and so I just have one scheduled–a visit at the Holladay Library, which has been in the works for months. I would love to see you there!

Finally, I have some giveaways and author interviews scheduled for February. It should be a most excellent month. Come back soon! And I think I need to make these cookies.

The first fun thing is this video (and song) above, DESERT SYMPHONY, by Shaye Scott/The Piano Guys. My sister Elaine sent me this and said, “This makes me think of CROSSED” and then I watched the video and boy, does it ever. I cried about ten times while I was watching it. I think we have a new addition to the CROSSED playlist! And please, if you love this song, purchase it to support the artists.

Second, some have been asking if I have any signings scheduled. I’ve just added one on December 17th at the Orem Public Library at 2:00 p.m. (for more info, click the Events page). This will definitely be my last signing of 2011 and I’m not sure when I’ll have one in 2012, so I’d love to see you! And I will just be one of many authors there (Brandon Mull, Bree Despain, Robison Wells, more TBA)…so it’s going to be a lot of fun.

Third, I found out that CROSSED was chosen as a pick for the Winter 2011-2012 Kids’ Indie Next List. This list is complied by independent booksellers across the country and it is SUCH an honor to be selected. Many, many thanks!

Fourth, we’ve had some great industry reviews (from Publisher’s Weekly, VOYA, School Library Journal) coming in for CROSSED. I’ve (finally) added CROSSED to the Reviews page and so I’ve added some of the details there.

And, last of all, I have some reallyreally awesome news. MATCHED is now a #1 New York Times Bestseller! We hit #1 on the paperback list for children’s chapter books, and CROSSED is holding strong at #5 over on the hardcover list. This is the kind of thing that does not happen without you the readers (obviously!). I am deeply grateful to you for caring about this story. To all of you who have taken the time to post positive reviews, to share the book with a friend, to e-mail me, etc.–THANK YOU.

Next week I’ll be back with my annual post about all the books I’m giving for Christmas. I can’t wait!

This is a pretty long playlist because I was writing this book for a year and a half, so I had a lot of time to find good songs. While I don’t listen to music while I’m writing, I do listen to it when I’m editing and often I’ll listen to songs before I start writing to get me in the right mood (and to transition me from mom-of-three-with-messy-house to writer). Most of the time, I find these songs after I’ve written the part in the book to which they connect; in the case of Bruce and Neil they were, of course, known to me before I started writing.

I often thought of this as Ky’s book as I wrote it (though the story certainly belongs to Cassia and Xander too), and I think that is really reflected in the playlist for the book–lots of songs about searching, loving, and becoming.

Anyway. I wanted to wait a little bit so that you had a chance to read the book BEFORE you listened to the songs, as they’ll mean more then…and CROSSED has been out for three weeks…and I can’t wait any longer! And please, if you enjoy these artists’ work, BUY their songs to support the arts and music.

1. Empty by Ray LaMontagne
The melancholy and beauty in this song made this the #1 most-listened to song while I was writing CROSSED.

2. A Dustland Fairytale by The Killers
There’s a such a story in this song, and the chorus is unbelievable.

3. Edwin’s Tale–1862 by Peter Breinholt & Big Parade
The perfect song for Ky as he’s out in the decoy villages, and for anyone left behind.

4. Violet Hill by Coldplay
The mention of snow is especially perfect for the book. It’s what I picture playing in the background during Chapter 3.

5. Blue Lips by Regina Spektor
One of the songs I discovered at the very end of editing CROSSED. I especially like the part where she sings about “all the pictures in his mind” because that’s how Ky thinks. And the blue references throughout the song have a lot of resonance for the color blue, which is emphasized in this novel.

6. Doubting Thomas by Nickel Creek
I’ve always thought of this song particularly as Ky’s song, because it’s hard for him to believe sometimes that someone like Cassia could really love him.

7. The Ghost of Tom Joad by Bruce Springsteen (the version w/o Tom Morello)
This song has haunted me since it was first released back when I was in high school, and it kept coming back to me as I wrote Ky’s journey during CROSSED.

8. Keep Breathing by Ingrid Michaelson
This song felt like what Cassia would be thinking/singing to herself as she searched for Ky.

9. Yazala Ambambuti by Samite
Simply beautiful.

10. If I Should Fall Behind by Bruce Springsteen
This one makes me cry just about every time. You can picture the farmers in CROSSED gathering around a campfire to sing it. (And how great is it that it’s Bruce and his wife singing to each other?)

11. Sinner’s Sonnet by Andrew Whitman
A great song about searching and love.

12. The Climber by Neil Finn
His voice and the words are lovely, but it’s the background that really gets me every time.

13. Captain of a Shipwreck by Neil Diamond
My all-time favorite Neil Diamond song. This song is not just something Ky would sing to Cassia, but I also think of it as a song that Xander would love.

14. Crossfire by Brandon Flowers
For me, this song really fits Chapter 35 and how Ky is feeling then.

15. Set the Fire to the Third Bar by Snow Patrol and Martha Wainwright
Ky and Cassia, maps, poems, trying to find a way to each other in spite of everything. In spite of themselves.

16.In for the Kill by La Roux
How Cassia feels near the end of her book when she makes her decisions about the Rising and about Ky.

17. The Rising by Bruce Springsteen
If you’ve read the book, you’ll know exactly why I picked this song.

18. This Hard Land by Bruce Springsteen
See above.

19. Roll Away Your Stone by Mumford & Sons
A last-minute addition to the playlist, but it’s the perfect Sisyphus stone song. And everything about it fits Ky in this book.

20. Every Time It Rains by Charlotte Martin
There’s a particular scene near the end of CROSSED that this fits, but it also calls back to things that happened in MATCHED and to what will happen in Book 3. It’s the ideal song to end the playlist.

And I often listen to a soundtrack or two as well. This time, it was the soundtrack to HERO by Tan Dun.

I hope you enjoy the playlist, and have a WONDERFUL Thanksgiving!!!

Author Beth Revis (who I’ve been able to hang out with both on the Breathless Reads and the Smart Chicks tour, and who is a lovely person and wonderful writer) interviewed me today for the last stop on the CROSSED blog tour. And she asked some great questions and I ended up telling her all kinds of things, like how I managed to get my husband to like me when all the other girls in the dorm thought he was cute too. Beth and her wily ways! I really appreciate her taking the time to do this interview when I know she is VERY busy with her own work!

This blog tour has been so much fun for me, and I hope you’ve enjoyed it too. Now I’ll quiet down a bit after all these weeks of constant posting. But, next Tuesday, the 22nd, I’ll be posting my official CROSSED playlist, so I hope you’ll check back for that too!

Today’s post is also brought to you by a blogger from the United Kingdom: Dead Book Darling. Thank you so much for participating in the tour, Kay!

Tomorrow is the very last day of the blog tour (and it is a fun one, so be sure to check back)! I can’t believe it. Many, many thanks to all who have participated and been so generous, and to Penguin Teen for providing the books and items for the giveaways, and to the wonderful Anna Jarzab who organized it all!

The blog tour goes international today over at Wondrous Reads (Jenny is a lovely blogger who is based in the United Kingdom). Many thanks for letting me visit! Today, I talk about what a typical day is like for me at home. I’m afraid it’s not very glamorous, but it’s all true.

The Society.net has today’s post–which is about my top five favorite books, movies, etc. It was a really fun one to write, and they have a giveaway too! Many thanks to The Society for letting me stop by.

Also, fellow author Bree Despain (the DARK DIVINE series) is doing a really wonderful fundraiser for charity over on her blog. Come here to check it out!

Tomorrow, Saturday November 12th, I’ll be presenting the keynote address at the Provo Teen Book Fest at the Provo Library. More info on the Events Page and at Provo Library’s website (this is a ticketed event).

Elana Johnson, Kristen Landon, and Robison Wells will also be at the Teen Book Fest presenting. And guess what. Today’s guest blog is about a road trip through the country of CROSSED over at Rob’s blog. This was such a fun interview. Many thanks to Rob for coming up with the idea and for letting me visit!

I’m in Atlanta! For the last stop on the CROSSED tour! Can’t wait to visit Little Shop of Stories tonight (Thursday, November 10th) at 7 p.m.

And, today’s blog tour stop/CROSSED giveaway is over at Novel Novice. It’s the second part of the post about the importance of painting/the visual arts in the story of CROSSED. Many thanks to Novel Novice for letting me stop by!

CROSSED just debuted at #2 on the New York Times Bestseller List for Children’s Chapter Books.

!!!!!

And MATCHED is over on the paperback list at #6.

!!!!!! again!

Many, many thanks to you the readers who care about this story and series and who have made this possible. I am so very grateful and thrilled. THANK YOU!!!