Thursday, August 06, 2009

OMG, it's August...


We’ve just finished a massive heat wave in the Pacific Northwest, where last week temperatures were in the 100’s. I found myself jumping in the lake as often as I could and slathering on the sunscreen just to walk to my office. Totally out of my routine, it was hard to do much of anything besides trying to stay cool. We just don’t have much air conditioning out here…

But now that the heat has passed, I’m like…. wow – it’s August! That means that the release of my debut novel Never Cry Werewolf is less than 30 days away. Holy crap.

It’s funny when I think back to writing the book during a cold winter a few years ago. My life has changed so much. Back then, I was still living in the country with my ex-husband, and some of the book I wrote on an Alphasmart, a little word processor I could take in the truck. In particular, I remember writing a scene in the camp counselor’s office when Austin and Shelby get busted for straying from the camp bus. We were driving through the town of Arlington, Washington – crossing the big river flat used for farming and the sky was threatening snow. I wrote the descriptive sentences about the office having a stuffed fish trophy and the desk with the massive brass eagle statue on it. I was cracking myself up as usual, describing the crazy camp counselors, especially Cynthia Crumb, who loved to play songs about lunchmeat on her guitar.

So, anyway… now, here we are with less than a month to go and it feels a little surreal. Publishing a book isn’t nearly what I thought it would be. The journey has been a little long for me, and a little winding, but I really can’t wait. Some good things are happening. A lot of teen bloggers have loved the book. A distributor called Brodart has interviewed me for their featured author article in their newsletter. HarperTeen has built a super cute author site for me on their publisher site. I’m starting to get some dates scheduled for booksignings, etc.

But it somehow doesn’t feel real yet; maybe it won’t until I see the book on the shelves. And then I will know that my childhood/adult dream of being an author has finally come true.

So… obviously, I can’t wait for September 1st - release day.

What are you excited about this fall? School? New books or movies coming out? Or, do you hate to see summer go...? Tell me what you will miss about the end of summer, or what you love about the coming crisp days of fall…

Hugs,


Heather
www.heatherdavisbooks.com
Never Cry Werewolf ~ HarperTeen Sept. 2009
The Clearing ~ HMH April 2010

7 comments:

TinaFerraro said...

Heather, I am so excited about the release of your book. I've had a copy pre-ordered for a quite a while, and as you know, I even heard mention of it from a panel of editors last year at a writer's conference.

Otherwise, I'm all about the weather getting cooler...fall is my favorite season for that reason.

Kelsey said...

Congrats, I can't wait to read Never Cry Werewolf when it's released. (:

Kelsey
(kelseythebookscout@gmail.com)

Iris Black said...

The book looks great! Can't wait to pick it up!

And I'm looking forward to this fall- next Friday in fact! I get to move-in to my dorm at my new high school! Yay!

Iris
http://irisblack-author.blogspot.com

Tynga said...

I hate seeing summer go as we only had a handfull of nice weather up here in Quebec. We had rain almost every days =/
I'm excited about fall though for all the good release, So you Think you can Dance Canada starting this Tuesday and Fall = Hockey season begins soon!

Heather Davis said...

You guys are fall lovers, all right. Hockey and new TV, totally good reasons to love fall.

Iris, congrats on moving into a new dorm -- I love that moving in feeling. That makes me want to write a book about moving into a dorm... hm.. good idea! :)

And thanks for the sweet congrats -- it means alot that you guys are excited!

Cara King said...

Have to chime in and say I love my alpha! On top of all its other good qualities, I can repeatedly drop it on its head, and it still works. :-)

PV Lundqvist said...

A longer gestation than a baby. I hope the delivery is all joy and met expectation.