I'M A BIG FAN OF THE WORD 'ETCETERA'

holy crap i've been a bad blogger.

these past couple of months have been wonderful and amazing, but i can honestly say, with zero hyperbole, that i have never been busier in my entire life. and i mean, really, it makes you wonder what the hell i've been doing for the past 23 years if i have nothing to compare this to. but there it is. embarrassing truth and all.

i remember back before i had a book deal i used to read posts from published authors about their hectic schedules and these crazy deadlines they were always attempting to meet and everyone always seemed to be so tired and brain-pooped. it was buckets of sweat and frenzied eyes and DEADLINES! I HATE YOU, DEADLINES! I HATE YOU! DIE, DEADLINES, DIE! and i remember thinking, well damn, what i wouldn't give to have a deadline. i'd exclamation-point the crap out of it.

so it's strange.

i love my deadlines. i want to dip them in my tea and wear them around my neck and tuck them into bed at night. i want to knit them little pajama sets and take them to disneyland. if i ever complain about having deadlines i hope someone punches me in the face. so this is not a post about deadlines. it's not a post about anything specific. it's just an explanation that you probably don't even need (because you are very wise, very kind, very forgiving readers) about where i've been.

so basically, about 8% of the time i'm working on book stuff, and 92% of the time i'm trying to find my pants.* because really, true story, the mailman is always ringing my doorbell and i'm always like SORRYSORRYONESECONDPLEASE and i'm hopping around on one socked foot while trying not to slip on hardwood floors and running around like WAIT, I SWEAR, I LEFT MY HOUSE LAST WEEK I COULD'VE SWORN I HAD PANTS ON THEN

and the mailman is always like, um, yeah, ma'am? i'm just going to leave this outside the door.

(my life is so glamorous, guys. you can't even handle it.)

so that is where i've been. book stuff, pants stuff. i've also spent an extraordinary amount of time just staring at the dishes in my sink, wondering how on earth they got there and why they refuse to wash themselves. also, lately i've been buying most of my socks just to avoid doing laundry. it's kind of sad. @tanagandhi is always trying to be a good friend and she makes valiant efforts to dissuade me from taking the lazy way out, but i have to admit, i'm tempted every single day to buy a 24-pack of those really ugly men's sport socks from Costco. i figure 24 pairs of socks means i can spend more time on tumblr and less time measuring laundry detergent into a cup.

though i should probably stop confessing these things to you.

i mean, you guys? i trust. but my mom reads this blog and whenever i talk about things like not doing my laundry, i always ALWAYS get a call from her like "THAT IS DISGUSTING I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU HAVEN'T DONE YOUR LAUNDRY I AM SO DISAPPOINTED IN YOU I'M COMING OVER RIGHT NOW AND YOU BETTER HAVE TEA"

ahem.

basically though, i'm going to be traveling pretty much all of October. i'm barely going to be at home at all next month, which means i have to solve my pants and laundry situation before i go. it also means that i will probably continue to be a terrible blogger. in fact, if i'm being honest, i'll have to admit i'm probably going to be a terrible blogger... for a while. ahhhh i am cringing so hard right now.

but! here is some good news. i might not be on the tinterwebs, but, maybe you can come see me in person! because if you're going to be at the New York Comic-Con the weekend of October 13th, I WILL BE THERE! and you can come find me and my pants on a panel on Friday morning (details here), and then i'm doing a signing (giving away ARCs) at the HarperCollins booth shortly after (12:30-1:30pm). (AND YOU SHOULD TOTALLY COME! IT'LL BE LIKE I HAVE FRIENDS!)

speaking of book stuff, there are so many exciting things coming up in October in preparation for the SHATTER ME launch, so if you're ever curious, Harper has set up an official FB fanpage that they update regularly with teasers, upcoming info, and Other Very Cool Things that will be happening very soon. so there is that, too.

bottom line: there is a lot of stuff. but i just wanted to say thanks for being so patient with me. thanks for being so amazing and so supportive and thanks for all the tweets, the emails, the tumblr and facebook messages. thanks to all of you who've contacted me to let me know you've pre-ordered the book or reviewed it or even just entered contests to win it. you guys make this journey so much more fun. every single day i'm so ridiculously happy that the internet brought us together.

one last thing? i hope you know i haven't forgotten about you on this blog; the truth is i'm just afraid of putting out mediocre content. i still tweet pretty much every day, though. that's mediocre content allllllll dayyyyyy longgggg.

hehe.

heart you guys so much.


*i had to use a calculator to figure that out.