New Agent: Sara Crowe!

Exciting news... I have a new agent! And she's amazing. Let me tell you a little bit about Sara Crowe, of Sara Crowe Literary:

Sara Crowe, 

agent extraordinaire

• She's been in the publishing business for 25 years, including 8 in foreign rights. 
• She started out at The Wylie Agency in London! (I love this connection to UK since that's where I spend half of my time now!)
• She was a foreign rights manager at Trident Media Group, and an agent and foreign rights manager at Harvey Klinger, before becoming a senior agent at Pippin Properties.
• She founded her own full-service agency, Sara Crowe Literary, in 2023!
• She represents some of the most fabulous authors of children's, adult fiction and nonfiction, including Newbery and Printz medalists and honorees, National Book Award finalists, and New York Times bestsellers. 
• She's a dream agent.
• I'm really excited to be working with her!

If you want to learn more about her, or see some of the other authors she represents, you can visit her website here. And hopefully, this means I'll have new work published sometime soon, and I look forward to sharing that with you!

The Scenic Route to Finishing a Novel

Hello friends and readers! It’s taken me a while, but I’ve finally completed a new manuscript. This was made possible by the support and encouragement of my friend and writing partner, Erin Entrada Kelly, and by simply plodding along, dealing with the hand that life dealt me when my husband passed away in late 2017. I didn’t think I’d ever write again. I could barely even read. I focused on my kids, who were ages 13 and 18 at the time of their father’s death, and did my best to live life as fully as I could. My parents also passed away in 2020 and 2021. It was a difficult time, but I am fortunate to have wonderful friends and family—and readers!—who helped me through it all.

Today, I’m pleased to report that my kids and I are doing well. My son, Sebastian, graduated from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia with a degree in Music, Business, and Entrepreneurship, earning the Award for Excellence in Audio Electronics. My daughter, Anna, has completed her first year at American University in Washington, D.C., majoring in Environmental Studies, and is spending the summer as an intern with the arboriculture team at Mt. Cuba Center. And I have found a wonderful someone to share my life with, and he lives in England. Fortunately, I can write from anywhere, and Hugo’s work providing technical support for clients with Apple devices is also portable. I am now happily dividing my time between my home in Delaware and a small Cotswolds cottage in the village of Minchinhampton, UK. It’s been a lovely and unexpected adventure.

It was here in England that I finished the latest draft of a novel I’ve been working on for the past five years. I hope to tell you more about it soon, once I’ve successfully made my way through the fun process of finding a new literary agent and publisher. Stay tuned! 

Here are some photos from my life here in the Cotswolds!

Out for a stroll with Hugo. The Cotswolds countryside is gorgeous.

Public footpaths and stiles are everywhere.

Old phone booths have been turned into little sharing libraries.

New lambs! The fields are full of them.

My friend Erin came to visit.

The countryside really is gorgeous.

Cows everywhere.

We stopped to visit Tintern Abbey on our way home one day.

Our village threw a big Coronation street party. 

Support local indies when purchasing books online!

If you are ordering books online... please support your local booksellers! Go to their website to find out if they are shipping orders directly, or selling through bookshop.org or some other method. (Amazon is doing just fine on purchases of toilet paper and hand sanitizer and everything else imaginable... but local bookstores are suffering!) 

If you don't have a local indie but want to support one when you purchase books, here's the link to mine, the Hockessin Bookshelf. Purchasing from their page doesn't replace their regular sales from walk-in shoppers, but it's helping to keep them afloat during the Coronavirus lockdowns.

Stay home and stay safe, friends! 

Screen shot of Bookshop.org on April 23... look at all that money raised for local bookstores!

Paperback Party with Erin Entrada Kelly, May 19

The paperback of How to Disappear just came out from HarperTeen, so my local independent book store is throwing a little paperback party! It also features Erin Entrada Kelly whose novel You Go First is also out now in paperback. We'll be talking about the writing and publishing process, answering questions, and signing books! Come hang out. 

Speaking the Truth in YA: Three Conversations

NYC-area readers, writers, teachers, librarians, friends, anyone interested in meeting authors & learning stuff: Don't miss the NYC Teen Author Festival! I'll be appearing Saturday, March 30, 1-3 p.m. at the 42nd Street NY Public Library, Bartos Forum, as part of the SPEAKING TRUTH IN YA conversation with David Levithan. 

Conversation #1, 1:00-1:40 p.m. will feature Jessica Blank, Patty Blount, Amy Giles and Kody Keplinger

Conversation #2, 1:40-2:20 on March 30 will feature Rachael Lucas, Melissa Ostrom, Jenny Torres Sanches, Laura Silverman and me 🙂

Conversation #3, 2:20-3:00 on March 30, will feature @sarahbethdurst Sarah Beth Durst, Tiffany Schmidt, Natasha Sinel, Katrin van Dam and Ismee Williams.

All of the featured authors engage in the themes and forces that are shaping current teen’s lives, a range that includes politics, activism, gender, sexuality, neurodiversity, racial equality, parental control, medical ethics, & more, as well as the intersection of many of these.

Each author will read a short passage of “truth-telling” from their books, and then discuss how they approach the truth, including the challenges and rewards of doing so, and the necessity of both reflecting and questioning the issues we are currently facing as a society.

That's a lot of truth-telling! And it's only ONE of conversations that will be taking place at the New York City Teen Author Festival from March 24-31. Check out the whole schedule here: nyctaf.com 

I hope to see you at The New York Public Library on the 30th!

Don't Miss the NYC Teen Author Festival! (I'll be appearing Saturday, March 30 but there are tons more author events from March 24-31)

New York City readers (and anyone who lives close enough to get there for an event)... I'm coming to see you! 

I'll be appearing on Saturday, March 30, between 1-3 p.m. on one of three author panels discussing TRUTH-TELLING IN YA, moderated by the amazing David Levithan. My panel is at 1:40 p.m., but come for the whole afternoon! There are tons of author events all around the city from March 24-31. See the whole line-up of appearances here.

How to Disappear is coming soon... in paperback!

Hellooooo! Just a quick note to let you know that How to Disappear will be out in paperback on May 7, 2019, and you can pre-order it here and here and here and here. Of course, the hardcover version is still available all of these places, too.