More Books for Boston

So, if you haven't read the original post and would like to donate, please read that post here: http://www.acgaughen.com/blog/2013/4/25/books-for-boston.html

I want to thank Glass House Press for donating TEN copies of THE KEEPER OF THE BLACK STONES--that's enough to use for a class set or a reading group and that's just awesome. Thank you!

Also, most of the books you can see above were donated by the incredibly generous attendees of the NESCBWI conference this past weekend. We received 29 books this weekend alone!

Books For Boston

I hardly know where to begin. I wasn't at the marathon, but friends were. Family. Loved ones. Everyone made it through unscathed.

The manhunt happened disturbingly close to me, but again, no one I know was hurt.

That doesn't mean that my city has made it through unscathed. That doesn't mean there isn't a tremendous amount of work and healing to be done.

I've spent a lot of time wondering what my place is in all of this. Should I donate money to the One Fund? Should I be contributing to charity auctions? Should I find a role for the non-profit I work with to play in all of this?

Those are all amazing answers, and I commend the people who want to help via those routes. But I remember being a senior in high school as the Twin Towers were hit, and I remember what it felt like to be old enough to understand and young enough to feel utterly lost, to feel all my security gone, to feel any semblance of faith in the world torn away from me.

The Boston Marathon is a family event, and the amount of small children that saw this and were impacted by this is unimaginable. By now most of us have heard about Martin Richards, an eight year old boy that died in the blasts. His family are deeply in need of support and healing, and I know the One Fund will make great strides in helping them.

But for his friends, his classmates, his community, I can only imagine what it feels like to explain this to a child. To have to talk to a child about what terror really means.

I think there's something else I can do. And maybe it's simplistic, and maybe it's not, but it's the one thing that felt like an honest, organic choice to me. And that's books.

I can't give the children of Boston their safety or their faith back. But I can give them a place to escape, and imagine, and dream again, because that's what books always have been and always will be. They are a beautiful and sacred space of healing and love.

And I'm hoping you'll help me.

I'm going to donate as many books as I can to the Boston Public Library and to Martin Richard's school, Neighborhood House Charter School. Any books! Right now I plan to give middle grade books and younger to NHCS and YA and older to the Boston Public Library, so all books are welcome. All subjects are welcome.

If you're an author, and would like to donate a copy of your book, please sign it and instead of your usual inscription, write a message of hope, courage, or resilience. Please don't mention the attack, or the losses, or the scars Boston now bears.

If you're not an author but would like to donate a book, I absolutely welcome the donation. Please do the same and write a message of hope, courage, or resilience inside the book.

Please email me at acgaughen @ gmail.com and I'll give you my address for mailing.

Maybe we can help Boston heal in a really small way. I appreciate the help, and I would really appreciate it if you pass this along.

Much love xx

SO Excited

I have TWO pieces of really good news to share.  One that I'm super excited about, and one that is so beyond super exciting, it's like reenergizing my life.  Not even joking. 

1.  SCARLET is on the cover of Booklist magazine!  

AND they named one of ten best Historical Fiction for Youth!!

Now, I can say this because I both love my cover and had nothing to do with how gorgeous it is...but Scar makes a pretty good cover model, am I right? 

For those of you that aren't familiar, Booklist is a publication from the American Library Association, and many public and private libraries have subscriptions, so if you have a chance, go check it out!  I will definitely be petting the cover a little and I hope you can join me. 

2) Well, the second piece of news is both totally un-book-related and yet in a lot of ways has everything to do with my writing.  Readers of this blog know (sometimes by what I'm writing, sometimes by my absense) that I'm a busy girl.  I work with the outstanding non-profit Boston GLOW; I write and write and write, and I work full time.  I feel like I've been stretched across multiple canoes and instead of joining together to form one big boat, they're all slowly drifting apart beneath me, and I'm about to fall in the water. 

Well, I don't want that to be the case.  So I've been thinking a lot in the past year about how I really bring all these things I care about together and synthesize a more effective and happy future for myself. 

The answer I came up with:  I don't really have a great answer.  But I do know where to find it.  So let's amend that to I don't really have a great answer YET. 

But I knew it was somewhere within the education field.  Whether its teaching or developing more programs to get the arts to young people as a way of effective empowerment and enrichment, I'm not sure yet.  But like I said, I knew it was education. 

So I applied to the Harvard Graduate School of Education.  And I got in. It's not legit until you have a sweatshirt...

So the super exciting next phase of my life will be taking place in Harvard Square for the next year (weirdly full circle because my friends and I used to think it was THE COOLEST to hang out in Harvard Square when we were teens.  NewburyComics4Life).  And I can't even tell you how excited I am to be working with these peers, these teachers, this school.  I feel open and electric in a way that I haven't in a long time, and really, what's better than that?  NOTHING. 

So I'm REALLY excited.  And of course, in the middle of this, I will be writing Scarlet 3 and finally getting to share with you the TITLE, COVER, and ACTUAL BOOK of Scarlet 2, soo...I'm pretty sure this will be the best year ever. 

Who's with me? 

xx

Upcoming Visits!

Two book signings/readings I have coming up:

THURSDAY, MARCH 21st:

FRIDAY, APRIL 5th:

This and That

So I tend to avoid Goodreads on the most part, but I saw this.

OH HEY!  That's Scarlet #2--and people are already adding it!!  Like a LOT of people!  Guys--I'm so thrilled that people are excited for the sequel and are already bemoaning the time it will take for it to be released! 

So, I decided to answer some questions that I've been getting from lots of people. 

WHEN IS SCAR 2 COMING OUT??!

I don't have a firm date on that, but it will be in the VERY BEGINNING of 2014--I know 2014 sounds like it's insanely far away, but it's really only 9 months at this point, so expect to see SCAR 2 in 10 or 11 months.  Hopefully!

WHAT IS THE TITLE?! 

I don't know that either!  But if you have suggestions, feel free to leave them in the comments! 

WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN?!?

That will be the fun part of READING IT, but I'll tell you a few things...

1.  Like SCARLET, it will be taking place in Nottinghamshire, but it's winter time so Scar, Rob and the boys won't be able to camp out in Sherwood anymore.  I wonder where they'll end up...

2.  My favorite part of writing this series is blending the most famous parts of the Robin Hood legend with real history and Scarlet's own unique story.  Expect the infamous archery contest to make an appearance!

3.  There are a few new characters that I'm SUPER excited about--including but not limited to Eleanor of Aquitaine and Allan a Dale.  WHOOO!  You have no idea how fun these guys were to write and how much I LOVE putting my own spin on a woman like Eleanor of Aquitaine. 

4.  There may or may not be a Robin-Scarlet kiss.  Finally.  Maybe.  No promises.  ;-)

And while I'm at it, the paperback just came out, and you can enter a giveaway over here ---->

Enjoy! 

PS: This just happened.