Friday Five

One
I'm getting so excited about the Read for Relief auction! We've gotten such an awesome response from the authors, agents, and editors we've approached. Frankly, I'm a bit verklempt at how willing people want to help! Hugs to all!

Two
The auction opens on Monday and we have some really neat items that I'm tempted to bid on! You can win stuff like:

• A signed galley of LOLA AND THE BOY NEXT DOOR by Stephanie Perkins
• A group critique from the lovely gals at YA Highway
• A critique from HarperTeen editor Erica Sussman 
• And tons more stuff from authors like Suzanne Young and Saundra Mitchell, as well as agents like Joanna Volpe and Sara Crowe! 

Be sure to check out our website come Monday!

Three
On the editing front, I'm almost finished with my revision! Huzzah! And after this revision...I get to tackle another revision before sending it to my readers! Joy!

After slogging through the dreaded middle of my manuscript, I'm finally feeling excited about my book again. With this revision, I've been trying to think Big Picture things, and one idea I really want to focus on is the logistics of war. Specifically, are there rules when you instigate a revolution? Or will you do anything to see that your revolution succeeds? Even if it means killing women and children?

As you can tell, I like to write about very light and funny topics!

Four
On the reading front, I hope to tackle these books that I got from the library. (Aliens on Vacation on the left, and The Sky is Everywhere on the right.) I haven't read any middle grade novels for awhile so I'm pretty psyched to delve into Aliens on Vacation!

Five
On the traveling front, I am unfortunately not traveling anywhere but my little sister Kristy is! She's in Nanjing, China right now for her study abroad and I. Am. Jealous. Here are a couple pictures she sent me that make me tingle with the travel bug.

The countryside!

The crazy mountains!

Huh?

But I must say that Kristy's description of Nanjing is not exactly endearing me to the city:

Getting settled in China. It smells like trash most of the time. My friend and I watched a child poop on the ground outside of the restaurant we were eating at. Then his dad came and scooped up the poop with playing cards. Still finished my fried rice. It's been cool here. 

Mmmm, lovely!

So what are your big plans for the weekend? I'm just hoping this rain lets up a bit so I can finally see the sun again!