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. 

Give the gift of books... PLUS signed book plates and bookmarks from me!

Hi there! If you purchase one of my books (Between the Notes or How to Disappear) to give as a gift this holiday season, and would like to make it extra special... I will send you a personalized, autographed book plate and a set of bookmarks to include with the gift!

Just email a proof of purchase and tell me:
1) the name of the gift recipient
2) which book(s) you are giving
3) your name and mailing address

Here's a link to a bunch of places where you can order my book. (My first choice is always to support local booksellers who will order anything you want on request... so if you have one of those, do that! My local indie is Hockessin Book Shelf, for instance, and I just email them here and say, "Can you order this book for me?" and they email me back when it comes in.)

I'd love to open this internationally but the postage would kill me, so I have to make this U.S. only for the most part. HOWEVER, I will mail bookplates and bookmarks to the first 10 people outside the U.S. who email their request. 

Happy holidays everyone, and thank you so much for reading and supporting my books!

Finding joy amid the grief

Hello friends and readers. I’ve been away from the blog for a while, and before I jump back into my usual bookish news, I thought I’d let you know what's been going on. It’s not a happy story, I’m afraid. 

My husband, Rich, passed away suddenly at the end of November. We had been happily married for 21 years, dated for three years before we got married, and were friends for ten years before that. It has been hard to imagine life without him, and to in fact be living it. He was such a huge presence—full of life and love and energy. He was so eagerly looking forward to what was ahead for our family, in his work and my writing, everything that our children, Sebastian and Anna, would do in their lives, and everything we would do together. His obituary was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to write (which I only managed with help from my friend Betsy). It made me realize how fortunate I was to have had him in my life, and for our children to have had him as their father. I think he would’ve been surprised to see how much he’d accomplished in his short life, and how well he was loved. We miss him terribly, but we are trying our best to keep doing what made us happy, what made him proud, and what he would’ve loved doing with us.

I'm finding joy in my children... my son Sebastian is a musician (vocal and guitar) and he continues to perform and audition for colleges and share his music. My daughter is a dancer, and has immersed herself in that art, both performing and doing choreography. 

I’m finding joy in the books of friends... seeing my critique partner Joy McCullough’s historical novel in verse, BLOOD WATER PAINT, approach its release date with rave reviews is a source of considerable happiness. I am uplifted by all the bookish good news of so many friends. 

I’m finding joy in seeing my own books make their way in the world. HOW TO DISAPPEAR is featured in Scholastic Book Fairs this season, and many of those readers are finding their way to the special Instagram I set up for the main character, Vicurious. It's been lovely to connect with them. The book has also been translated into Polish, Italian and French so far... and it's fun to see readers sharing pictures of the foreign covers. 

Many wonderful friends from the YA community have reached out to me, to share their condolences and offer help, and I'm so grateful for that. I do feel surrounded by love and support. It's a tremendous help. 

I hope to be writing again soon. I had started working on a new book before Rich died, and that story is changing a bit, but I'm excited to dive back into it. I know who it will be dedicated to, and that motivates me. 

Thank you all for being here. You are a source of joy for me, and I'm grateful to have you.

Goodreads Giveaway!

Want to win a copy of How to Disappear? I'm giving away three hardcover copies on Goodreads. Open internationally. Enter by December 8! 

Goodreads Book Giveaway

How to Disappear

by Sharon Huss Roat

Giveaway ends December 08, 2017.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter Giveaway

Bringing Vicurious to Life (IRL!)

During the process of writing How to Disappear, I spent a lot of time on Instagram checking the same hashtags that the main character, Vicky, explores in the novel. As Vicurious, she reaches out to followers who feel #invisbile and #ignored, who have #socialanxiety and #depression and just want to be #seen. 

To connect with readers and let them know they are #notalone, I decided to bring Vicurious to life by creating a real Instagram for her. Below is a visual of a few of the Vicurious posts I’ve created so far. It took a while to find my model, make a wig and put together the costume, do some photo shoots, and then learn Photoshop well enough to create some images of Vicurious living vicariously! So, I started with some text posts, like the one which references Vicky’s “Terror List.” Then I ventured into current events to throw her into some exciting events.  

Next up… I’d love to get readers more involved in the content, providing suggestions of places and events they want Vicurious to visit, and even their own photos. I’ll also use the Vicurious account to post fan art and graphics, and hopefully become a place where people with social anxiety can find their people and make new friends. 

Visit her @vicurious on Instagram!

#PubforPR - Help us raise money for Puerto Rico hurricane relief, Auction open through Oct. 5th

Members of the publishing community have come together to raise money for hurricane relief in Puerto Rico. There are many wonderful items and services up for auction—for writers, readers, teachers and librarians—including manuscript and query critiques, writing retreats, book bundles, Skype visits and more. Visit the PubforPR website for more information!

ALL of the money raised will go directly to these two organizations:

Unidos por Puerto Rico (United for Puerto Rico) is an initiative funded by Puerto Rico’s First Lady, Beatriz Rosselló, to assist Puerto Rico in its relief efforts for the victims of hurricanes Irma and María.

ConPRmetidos is a Puerto Rican organization dedicated to developing Puerto Rican communities and industries across the globe through the assistance of Puerto Ricans abroad. They have created a relief fund to help Puerto Rico with hurricanes Irma and María.

My donation to the auction is featured in this book bundle of contemporary YA novels. Go here to bid, and thank you so much for supporting this cause.

Two book festivals this weekend (Sept. 23-24)!!!

I'll be at Barnes & Noble Christiana Mall on Saturday, and Baltimore's Inner Harbor on Sunday.

Saturday's B-Fest is full of events for teens, including an author panel I'll be on at 3 p.m. AND, if you mention the Delaware Festival of Words, a portion of proceeds from your purchase will go to the festival. So please come by and help us raise funds for our 2018 event.

And on Sunday, I'll be joining a YA author panel for a fun game of "Whose Book Is It Anyway?" at the Baltimore Book Festival, on the Inner Harbor. Book signing to follow! 

San Francisco, here I come!

I leave for San Francisco today, and I'll be with Jessica Taylor at Linden Tree Books on Sunday, September 17. We'd love to see you there!

I went to the National Book Festival and it was awesome! Here's why:

Here's a little recap of the incredible day I had at the National Book Festival in Washington, D.C. on Sept. 2. 

1) There were tons of amazing authors there. On the teen stage alone, that included Sabaa Tahir, Nicola Yoon, Melissa de la Cruz, Sandhya Menon, M.T. Anderson and Angie Thomas. Here's the crowd:

That's Angie Thomas, author of The Hate U Give, up there
in the middle. I was in the way back. She was amazing.

2) There were two Children's stages featuring authors. I caught a little bit of A.S. King's talk about her middle grade novel Me and Marvin Gardens, which has a great message about caring for our environment. I also saw Ronald L. Smith, author of Hoodoo, The Mesmerist, and the forthcoming Marvel comic origin story, Black Panther The Young Prince. The children's stages were super cool with fun bean-bag-filled seating areas:

Hi Ron! The kids loved you!

3) When I wasn't listening to these amazing authors, I was in the Pavilion of States, where my book was chosen to represent Delaware. I appeared at my state's booth for two stints which lasted a total of five hours, and it was a blast. This area was packed (the whole festival was packed) with kids and parents and teachers and librarians, all participating in a map activity where ether go to each state to get their map stamped, and also get other fun stuff... including How to Disappear bookmarks! I have five different designs that feature quotes from the book, so it was fun to see which were the favorites. (#1-"It Feels Good to Be Seen." #2 - "You are not alone.") SO. MUCH. FUN. 

See what I mean about it being packed? That center aisle
was mobbed. With READERS! So awesome. 

These lovely teens had already read HOW TO DISAPPEAR and
stood at the corner of the booth telling everyone how great it is!
I LOVE THEM! 

Here I am with Patty Langley of DE Division of Libraries
and her lovely niece Christina.  

I don't know this woman's name but when she read about my book at the booth,
she hurried off to buy it at the store and came back to have it signed.
She told us it was the last copy! Sold out! WOOT!

I signed lots of bookmarks, and the kids had such beautiful names,
I started writing them in my notebook. Inspiration for
future book characters! Aren't they lovely?

HOW TO DISAPPEAR is... appearing now in a bookstore near you!

Four thumbs up from booksellers
at Hockessin Book Shelf!

HOW TO DISAPPEAR is officially out in the world, and I couldn't be happier with how it's been received so far! 

First, the book launch party was a success, despite the weather trying to ruin everything. We had planned to have the event at a mostly-outdoor location, and those plans were dashed at the very last minute when rain decided to stick around longer than expected. So, we scrambled to send out change of location notice, put up signs, and headed back back to the fabulous Hockessin Book Shelf. Thankfully, people still came! Here are some photos to prove it!

Here I am with Maggie Thrash, author of HONOR GIRL and the
STRANGE TRUTH series. Maggie hosted my Instagram story
for the evening, and did her "being generally awesome" thing.

My son, Sebastian (left), performed some sweet tunes with his friend Max.

People! Waiting for me to sign their books! AHHHH!

I signed for two hours straight! I forgot the names of people I've known for years! 

Love these people. Launch party photos by Nico Carver.

Then it was off to Bethany Beach Books the following evening, where I was a roadside attraction. Hahahaha. Thankfully I had company of the lovely Amanda, aka "Bookish Hollow," a YA book blogger. It was fun to chat with people strolling the main drag, a block from the boardwalk. I signed lots of books that night, to people who bought them on the spot and as well as some additional stock for the store... so if you're in the area and want a signed copy, they've got 'em!

I met some lovely teens. And many other... interesting people.

With my sidekick for the evening, the lovely Amanda Warren.

With my beautiful, 13-year-old daughter Anna (center) and her friend Annie.

And readers posted some lovely reviews. Here are a couple of excerpts, with links to the full posts:

"One of my top 5 YA books of 2017 and a mandatory read for parents, teachers and administrators, this story of social anxiety, depression and the lure of social media to replace real life is frighteningly real." – Kate Olson, The Loud Librarian Lady

"I laughed, I cried, I swooned, but I also found myself relating to so many of the things Vicky did and felt... I only have praise for this lovely story of a girl, who while trying to escape herself, she finds herself." – Kiersten Kozbial, We Live and Breathe Books

I also stopped by the Barnes & Noble store on Concord Pike in Wilmington, and they asked me to sign their stock. So of course, I took photos:

More news to come soon! Please check my events page to see where I'll be next. I just added an event for San Francisco in September! 

Two Giveaways to Celebrate HOW TO DISAPPEAR... featuring OwlCrate, plus six of my favorite authors!

How to Disappear comes out on Tuesday, August 15th! To celebrate, I'm hosting not one, but TWO giveaways. 

GIVEAWAY #1
(The Pre-Order Giveaway)

If you pre-order How to Disappear by August 14th, send your proof of purchase to HowToDisappearPreorders@gmail.com, and you'll be entered for a chance to win an OwlCrate box, a $100 gift certificate to the bookstore of your choice, plus swag. (And EVERYBODY wins the swag... a set of bookmarks and a signed bookplate.) See details here. Open internationally!

GIVEAWAY #2
(The Gratitude Giveaway)

On the back cover of How to Disappear, you will find blurbs by six of my favorite authors. They are talented writers and some of the loveliest people  I have ever met. I just adore them all. 

I'm so grateful for their kind words, and I can't begin to thank them except to tell everyone I know how much I love THEIR books. So, to celebrate my own book's launch, I'm going to celebrate their books as well with a BONUS GIVEAWAY! 

Enter the Rafflecopter below to win YOUR CHOICE of their books. (And if you want a different one of their titles than the one featured here, I'm cool with that. I will order and mail ANY book by any of these authors to the winner of this giveaway.)

OPEN INTERNATIONALLY! Enter to win HERE:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!