Happenings

Join me on Sunday, June 28 at my other blog home, We Love YA, when Walker Books author Dee White drops by as part of her cybertour.

In Dee's latest YA, LETTERS TO LEONARDO, fifteen-year-old Matt dreams of being an artist, just like his late mother. But when his supposedly dead mum sends him a birthday card, Matt’s life becomes as complicated as a Pollock painting. He finds solace in writing to the only person who could possibly understand what he's going through - Leonardo da Vinci.

Dee's got a spooky story for us to kick off our dream theme this week. Be sure to comment at We Love YA for your chance to win a copy of LETTERS TO LEONARDO.


In other news, my fab critique partner, Stephanie Kuehnert, is just weeks away from launching her second novel for MTV Books, BALLADS OF SUBURBIA. It’s an intense read about a bunch of kids whose stories resemble a ballad. The choruses echo mistakes they make again and again, while in the verses they try to make sense of it all. In July, I'll be guest blogging at Steph's place, and you could win new music and a T-shirt from one of my fave bands. Please check back for an exact date.

Cyber Crimes

Ever been caught talking about someone behind their back, only to find that person was standing behind you listening to the whole rant? Imagine the cyber equivalent, say bagging out your boss in an email and accidentally sending the email to everyone in your company address book. That one email could then be spammed to the entire universe by the day's end.

Or featured in a book.

UK author Chas Newkey-Burden has compiled a whole book full of embarrassing e-correspondence.

I'm no stranger to email and blogging disasters, as some of you know. I wrote an email intended for my sister but it somehow ended up in the inbox of an agent I'd once e-queried. It almost made me want to disconnect from not only broadband but from the world in general. But I can now talk about this "learning experience" without becoming violently ill.