Hi! I'm Sarah, calling from the Campaign for Change...

Neighbor to Neighbor enables you to talk to other people about Barack Obama and his vision for the future of our country.

In all states, you’ll be able to immediately start calling potential supporters. Once you select a campaign on the right, you’ll get a list of voters either in your state or in an important battleground state. You can pick up the phone and get calling immediately. Or if you’d prefer to call while you’re away from your computer, you can print your list and come back to enter your results.

I spent the day making phone calls for Barack Obama to voters in Pennsylvania. I did it in my jammies, with my dog curled up next to me on the couch and, while I was nervous about the first few calls, I actually had a really good time. Lots of wrong numbers and answering machines, but I got a few people who are “already voting for my guy” and a few who are still thinking. I also had some great, vibrant conversations with McCain supporters—respectful, even fun conversations that ended with us agreeing to disagree, and celebrating the fact that “only in America…”

If you have time, you should do it. It couldn’t be easier.

Visit my.barackobama.com to get your own list of people in swing states. I promise, after an hour of phone calls, you’ll have renewed your faith in America.

On Book Trailers...

New media expert Daisy Whitney talks about the blossoming trend of book trailers here...what makes them good and new production companies cropping up to serve this market.

She also highlights Courtney Summers's trailer for the soon-to-be-released "Cracked Up To Be." Which I've been meaning to blog about, because it's awesome. I just ordered on Amazon. Because of the trailer:

photo of the day

i just bought a red umbrella. i wonder if it, too, is magic?

tea. the foundation of civilization.

i'm struggling.  procrastinating.  maybe i'm just out of practice.  but when you write about the regency, tea is where it's at.  this photo all of a sudden gave me hope.  hope that i can do this again.  that the first time was not a fluke.  that i can sell this book.  and it can be a success.  odd, isn't it, how a photograph can do that?  how a cup of tea, served with precision and ceremony, can overcome all that self-doubt that consumes authors?

give me a few hours, internet.  and i will give you a love story for the ages.  or, i will at least try. 

In which our heroine gets embarrassed...

Callie flopped back on the bed, pulling the coverlet over her head, willing the universe to strike her dead or, at the very least, infirm.

Poor Callie. Hot boys will do that to you.

move over plumber and six pack...

a great photo. via fivethirtyeight.com.

My First Interview!

This week, I had the privilege of being interview by Miss Emily Marshall over at Author2Author. Confession: I'm terrified of fouling up interviews and saying something stupid and/or lame. But Emily walked me through it and I think I have safely survived! She asked me some great questions...ranging from the Regency to The Season to Project Runway...three of my favorite topics, as you know!

Author2Author is a terrific blog...written by five YA/MG writers all at different stages in their personal writing journeys, Lisa Schroeder, Kristina Springer, Deena Lipomi, Emily, and Kate Fall. They do interviews, post about topics of interest to writers, highlight awesome book blogs and lots of other cool stuff.

If they're not in your feed reader...they should be!