The Friday Five!

February 28, 2025

1. You guys: it’s the last day of February. Wait, WHAT? I know as you get older time feels like it passes more quickly, but this month was gone in a blink. Not that I am complaining. (I am not complaining!) The days are getting longer, stretching a bit more each day. It’s like hope in real life and, as I have said here so many times before, hope is everything. Bring on the light! And the flowers. (These were courtesy of my wonderful neighbors.)

   

2. Speaking of time passing too quickly, my daughter had another college visit this week. (Just writing that I feel a bit lightheaded. Hold on. Okay.) This one was unique in that it was UNC-Chapel Hill, which is, um, where we live. Where my parents taught when I was a kid. Where I went and later was a lecturer myself. (Just writing that I also feel lightheaded, but for different reasons. Maybe I need to drink some water. But I digress.) It was my intent to not share ANY of this with our tour guide or anyone else, although when it came time to say where we’d traveled from it was impossible to avoid. Honestly, it was really interesting to see this place I know so well as if I had no familiarity with it whatsoever. I did, however, tell my daughter that at some point we will return for the Sarah Dessen tour, which will include the place I skateboarded as a kid while waiting for my parents to finish their classes, the church where I went to preschool (right by the music building) and my old office in Greenlaw Hall, which just happened to be two doors down from my dad’s. There’s local, and then, well, there’s me. Clearly.

3. What is it about scammers and their fabrications that is just SO fascinating? Not sure but for some reason I seem to be immersing myself in the subject. Not only have I been racing my way through Apple Cider Vinegar on Netflix (which is sad while also so compelling) but I also just finished reading Cover Story by Susan Rigetti, which takes the Anna Delvey thing as a jumping off point before leaping to its own thing altogether. Also in books, this week I read Dolly Alderton’s Good Material, which is just as awesome as you’ve heard. AND I got an early copy of Annie Hartnett’s latest, The Road to Tender Hearts, out in April. I get to be in conversation with her at Flyleaf Books! I will be STARSTRUCK but try to hold it together.

4. We were given a box of Thin Mints this week by someone who had bought up a bunch. I can not overemphasize how this has improved my quality of life. Never underestimate the power of cookies. Especially when paired with coffee. *dips* *chef’s kiss*

5. Recently I got a request for a book donation, which sent me out to my garage to see what I had to give. I used to have a LOT of copies of my books. When you publish one, you get a certain amount as part of your contract. At the beginning of my career it was maybe twenty-five? It went up a bit from there, maybe to 30-40. But people always seem to think you get as many copies as you want, which was not the case (at least with me, if this is different for other authors I will go ahead and just be embarrassed and move on). Anyway, I have given away much of my collection, as it’s much better for the novels to be in a library or someone’s hands than gathering dust in a box. What remains is the most random glimpse into my career, at least so far. A sampling:

   

   There is a story behind each of these stories. From my first book, That Summer, which was published when YA still was firmly under the umbrella of Children’s Books and the covers showed it. To the most recent, The Rest of the Story, which is proof how much has changed. Then there’s the flip book I STILL hear about people finding as teens, plus the BOM (what used to be a galley) of Dreamland. Mandy Moore on the cover of How To Deal, Emma and Bel on a foreign edition of Along for the Ride. Another double-edition from only a couple of years back and, finally, one of the few remaining hardbacks of This Lullaby, which I have kept back just for me. As I find myself on the verge of a new chapter (so to speak, and we’ll see) I’m so grateful for all of these and the people who made them possible. Even in moving on, you can look back. You have to. How else will you know how far you’ve come?

   Have a great weekend, everyone!