First of all, to those who came to the launch party last night at The King’s English, thank you so much! It was such a lovely night and I am still floating. Readers and booksellers are awesome. Being able to see all of you and talk with you has made my year. And thank you also for all your kind comments on the post yesterday! I am very grateful for your support of CROSSED.

I have a few links for you today! The first is to a post I wrote for NaNoWriMo’s Young Writers Program. I hope all of you doing NaNoWriMo are having a wonderful second day. It’s such an exciting month!

Also, I posted about working with an editor here at the Story Siren’s blog. This is one of the questions I get asked most frequently so it was great to sit down and really write it all out. The Story Siren is having a giveaway (thanks to Penguin for providing the copy of CROSSED and other goodies)! There are quite a few entries on her blog, but guess what? If you head over here to yesterday’s blog post at the Matched Department, there are many less entries for the same prizes (only 4 entries right now, instead of 200+). Just want to help you increase your odds…

I’m currently in San Francisco and can’t wait for the events this afternoon and evening! Will I see some of you there?

photo credit Brook Andreoli

Today, to mark the release date of CROSSED, I thought I would write a little bit about all the people who helped me get this story down on paper in its earliest form, before I could even send it off to my agent and editor: my family.

Without my family, I could never have written any of my books, but this one in particular required the help and love of every last one of them and I am deeply grateful.

CROSSED belongs to my parents, who took me to the canyons every weekend of my childhood, who said, “Here is a beautiful place; we will walk with you through it.” They have walked with me through many canyons, and they are the ones who take care of my kids whenever I am out of town so my husband doesn’t have to miss work. My father is the one who first challenged me to write a book, and my mother is a professional artist who showed me that discipline and inspiration are both required to create.

CROSSED belongs to my brother, Nic, who read so many drafts I lost count and who tirelessly answered questions about fish, streams, and the outdoors. He also inserted scathing comments throughout the text, which I can’t repeat in a public forum (WHERE did my baby brother learn such profanity?!?), but they always made me laugh and made me think. More than any other reader, Nic challenges me to get over myself and get into the story.

CROSSED belongs to my sister, Hope, who also read multiple drafts with cheerful good humor, even when she was the midst of her freshman year of college and all of the parties/studying/late nights that entails. One of the qualities Hope has is her essential kindness, and she brings that to everything she does and makes you feel better about your book, your self, and any kind of world that could produce someone like her.

This book belongs to my sister, Elaine, who once again went through several drafts (but, thankfully for her sake, not as many as MATCHED). Like Nic, she tells it like it is, and that kind of honesty is what a book often needs. She’s always willing to talk me through the low points and rejoice with me during the good moments, even when it requires driving across the entire state to a launch party (can’t wait to see you tonight!).

This book belongs to my cousin, Caitlin, who came every Tuesday and Thursday morning from the fall of 2010 to the fall of 2011. Without those hours I never would have finished this book. She cheered me on and took such good care of my kids. Her gentleness, grace, and absolute good humor made us all feel like, “Yes, we can do this!” even when there seemed to be mounting evidence to the contrary.

This book belongs to my sons, who make me feel everything in life so much more deeply. Without them, I would be an entirely different person and writer. They are, of course, the reason for everything.

And, of course, this book belongs to my husband. I knew, the first day I met him and saw that smile, those kind eyes, that he was someone extraordinary. Someone truly good. All that has happened in those years since–grad school, three kids, seven books, many shared joys and sorrows–has only affirmed everything I thought in that first meeting.

And I couldn’t have written CROSSED without you, my reading family–all of you.

I posted last year on the release of MATCHED, and in that post I said that the book now belongs to you, the readers. That is, of course, also true of CROSSED. The book always belongs to each reader individually. When you read it, you make it yours and you make it come alive in a way that it never has before. Each reader brings something special and different to a book and enriches the story. I am so grateful to all of you readers.

We’re kicking things off today over at The Matched Department, and the topic is the meaning of Cassia’s name. I discuss it more in-depth in this post than I ever have anywhere else. AND, you can comment on the post to enter to win a copy of CROSSED, among other goodies.

Come on over and check it out! And many thanks to The Matched Department for participating in the tour!

I haven’t been posting much lately, but I have been writing guest posts like mad to prepare for the CROSSED Blog Tour. For the next few weeks, beginning tomorrow, the release day of CROSSED(!), I’ll be posting every weekday on other sites (and linking to them here, of course). I had so much fun writing the posts. In them, I share new info about CROSSED and answer some frequently asked questions and lots of other things.

And HAPPY HALLOWEEN! I’m too lazy to dress up, but I make my kids a spooky feast and take them trick-or-treating and then we all have caramel popcorn and watch Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were Rabbit and it is one of my favorite days of the year. And I hope it is a great day for you too.

I had to post the link to the CROSSED trailer again. I love this trailer so much…

One week until CROSSED is out in the world. I’ve been working on a slew of blog entries for the official blog tour, and I will be sure to post links to those as they come up. And don’t forget to brush up on your Matched Facts. Many thanks again to Penguin Teen for putting them together!

I’m so excited to head out on tour (for the full schedule, click here) and hopefully meet many of you! The official launch party is Tuesday, November 1, at The King’s English. And before that, THIS VERY WEEKEND, I will be speaking and signing at the St. George Book Festival on Saturday, October 29th. We’ll have early copies of CROSSED on sale there and at the Barnes and Noble signing afterward. Click on the Events page for more info.

Also, the event on November 12th at the Provo Library for the Provo Library Teen Book Fest is going to be epic. I don’t use this word lightly. They are renowned for creating fantastic events and I hear rumors there will be a Cassia in a green dress in the crowd. Also stations for signing, etc. You need a (free) ticket to attend and they are giving books away to the first 500 teens in attendance. I’ll be giving the keynote at noon, followed by signing and a panel. Dystopian authors Robison Wells, Elana Johnson, and Kristen Landon will also be presenting and signing. For the full schedule, and more info, click here.

Thank you for reading the blog, and for your support of the series!

Awesome news! The official trailer for CROSSED is up, exclusively at ew.com. I am dying to know what you guys think. This trailer is beautifully done and I love it–and I think it’s the perfect transition from MATCHED to CROSSED.

I also have some truly unbelievable news. MATCHED was chosen as one of YALSA’s 2011 Teens’ Top Ten Books. This award means the world to me because MATCHED was nominated by teens, voted for by teens, and ultimately selected by teens across the country as one of their Top Ten favorite titles. As a former high school English teacher, I can’t imagine a more awesome honor than this. Thank you, thank you, thank you to all the teens who nominated and voted for MATCHED. I am very grateful and thrilled.

UPDATED 10/28: I have just heard from my publisher that there will NOT be early copies of CROSSED available at the Barnes and Noble event. Still waiting for confirmation on the Book Festival. I am SO sorry/bummed about this. But I will sign any and all copies of MATCHED and also bookplates for you to put inside of CROSSED when it does come out. I also have some fun news for those of you who live in the southern Utah area. I’m presenting at the St. George Book Festival on October 29th and doing a signing afterwards at the Festival, and then again a bit later at Barnes and Noble. But here is the really fun part: I have confirmed with Penguin that they will ship CROSSED a few days early to those two events. So if you come, you can get CROSSED before its release date. This is so exciting for me because I’m from southern Utah and because the Outer Provinces are based on that area, so it’s really fun to talk about the book and see it go out into the world right from where it began, so to speak. More info on these events here and here. (If you click on the second link you’ll have to scroll down in the left sidebar for info on where/when I’ll be presenting.)

We are getting closer and closer–less than two weeks left now! Woo hoo!

I’m on my way to Providence, Rhode Island to speak at the NEIBA Fall Conference. In fact, I’m writing this post in the Salt Lake City Airport, which has free wi-fi, which I LOVE. (Other airports, take note!)

The release date for CROSSED is getting closer and closer. And I thought this would be a good time to tell you another song from the playlist. (For the other songs I’ve mentioned, click on the “crossed playlist” category.)

The song Doubting Thomas by Nickel Creek, is a song that I listened to when I was editing Ky’s chapters in particular during the early drafts. It’s a very “Ky” song–although I picture his voice sounding a little more rough, maybe more like Brandon Flowers of The Killers.

I can’t wait for the launch, which is just three weeks away! Remember, if you can’t make the launch, The King’s English Bookshop is taking orders for signed copies. I will personalize them, too–just let them know when you order what you’d like the books to say.

I’ll be back soon. I’ve been to Providence before, but it’s been years. My son is jealous that I get to go to the smallest state in the USA. Any ideas of what I should do while I’m there? Besides work like crazy on my manuscript?

Also, I’ve responded to all the comments on the last post. Thank you so much for your kind words–and for re-reading MATCHED!

The lovely folks at Penguin Teen have declared October to be “Re-Read Matched Month.” And I will say that it is a great idea to re-read MATCHED to be ready for CROSSED because the story picks right up again in Chapter 1 of CROSSED.

To celebrate Re-Read Matched Month, Penguin Teen has made an awesome tumblr of Matched Facts to help refresh your memory. They’ve posted a bunch already and will be adding a new fact each day up until the release of CROSSED. You can find the tumblr here, with the most current fact at the top. Scroll down to see more (the ones that are marked SPOILER are spoilers for those who haven’t yet read MATCHED, but won’t ruin anything for CROSSED). So, if you can’t re-read the book, this is a fast way to remind yourself of some key facts!

There are also Matched-related discussions taking place over in the Re-Read Matched in October forum on Goodreads.

In other MATCHED news, the MATCHED paperback made the New York Times Bestseller List (Children’s Chapter Books) for paperbacks, debuting at #5 its first week out and staying on at #7 this past week! Thank you all so much for your continued support of this book. I got to sign copies of the paperback for the first time last week on the Smart Chicks Tour and it was so much fun. That cover is gorgeous. I love the added green and shininess.

Speaking of the Smart Chicks Tour, it was a really lovely experience. Though I was only gone for about 24 hours and didn’t get to see/talk with the other authors nearly enough, it was so fun to hang out with them even for a bit. And MANY THANKS to all of you who came to the event. I loved meeting each of you. And Portland is GORGEOUS.

While at the Smart Chicks tour event, I got to meet the AWESOME Audra, who runs one of the fansites (the-society.net). She is giving away some great MATCHED swag over on the fansite right now, so head on over to enter! I have links to the fansites in the sidebar and they are amazing. Sometimes they know things before I do! So if you haven’t checked them out yet, be sure to do so.

Also, I’ve chosen the winner of VARIANT (via the random number generator)! It is Jessie Humphries! Congratulations, Jessie!

I hope you are all having a wonderful October so far. This is the best month in a lot of ways–best month for running here in Utah, best month for being outside during the day and then curling up with a book at night, best month for apple cider and pumpkins on porches. Happy fall!

BIG NEWS.

We received our first major professional review for CROSSED and it is from Kirkus. And it’s a starred review!

(!!!)

I am giddy, giddy, giddy about this. Here is a little of what they had to say:

“Cassia and Ky grapple with secrets, wilderness and the tumultuous meanings of love in the second installment of this addictive, layered dystopic trilogy…

“Both rich and easy to digest, this will leave fans hungry for the third book.”

They said more nice things, too, but I didn’t include them JUST IN CASE there are those of you who prefer to avoid all things spoilery.

I am absolutely thrilled. CROSSED is the most personal book I’ve written, for a variety of reasons. I care so much about these characters and their story and the setting–I had to get it all right, and it took a lot of work. My editor, Julie Strauss-Gabel, was patient and wise throughout this collaboration. I’m deeply grateful to her.

November 1 is coming up so quickly…less than a month left before CROSSED is out in the world. I can’t wait!

I’m trying to think of the first time I met Robison Wells and I don’t think I’m positive about when it was. The inaugural Whitney Banquet, when I was enormously pregnant? It had to be before then but that’s my first concrete memory of talking with him, although I’d known about Rob for a long time before that. I’d been reading a group blog in which he participated and always found his posts hysterically funny/incisive (you can find an example here).

At the time, Rob and I were both writing for regional publishers, and I remember when I talked with him I thought, “This guy is going places.” And when I read his books, I knew it too. We exchange manuscripts (he was supremely helpful with CROSSED in particular) and, when I read VARIANT a yearish ago, I was blown away. So clever. So interesting. The kind of book that kept both my husband and me up all night reading it.

It’s a fast-paced, exciting, twisty, intelligent book that takes place at a boarding school where all is not as it seems. And that’s really all I’m going to say. I don’t want to spoil anything for you. Part of the joy of reading this book is starting on page one without any preconceptions and just going along for the ride with Benson, Rob’s fantastic main character.

To celebrate Rob’s upcoming release, I’m giving away a hardcover copy of VARIANT. To enter, you need to leave a comment (just one!) here that includes:

*your name
*a way to contact you if you win
*the freakiest name for a boarding school you can think of (yes, I’m going to make you work just a tiny bit for this)
*you get an extra entry if you blog about it AND post the link in your comment

Contest is open internationally and you need to comment by midnight (MST) on Tuesday, October 4th (Rob’s release date). And if you are lucky enough to live near the King’s English, they’ll be hosting Rob’s launch party on Thursday, October 6th at 7:00 p.m.

Congratulations, Rob!!