Pre-order AUTOFOCUS, send me proof, get cool things! YAY!
Category: books
Photography Challenge: 1
My second novel, AUTOFOCUS, comes out this summer. In it, Maude is a budding photographer. Whether it’s her trusty DSLR or phone camera, she’s always trying to capture moments. She wants to find ways of making moments immortal, in a way, since finding anything on her birth mother is nearly impossible.
Since photography is a huge part of AUTOFOCUS, from now through its release I’m going to have a different photography challenge each month. And each month I’ll choose a winner who will receive a signed ARC of the book. Sound fun? I hope so!
Photography Challenge 1:
Maude loves taking pictures with her best friend Treena. She calls them buddy shots (a selfie is when you take a picture of just yourself, a buddy shot is when you take a picture with your buddy.) Take a buddy shot with your BFF. It could be an old picture or new. It could be a friend, a relative, a pet even.
To enter: Tweet photo to me (@laurengibaldi) with the hashtag: #autofocusbuddyshot
Open to US/Canada through February 26th. GOOD LUCK!
Book Trailer
It’s here! It’s here! Check out my book trailer for THE NIGHT WE SAID YES!
More information, and the exclusive reveal, can be found on the B&N Teen blog.
As mentioned in the post, it was so much fun filming. My actors were great, the location was fantastic, and I’m so happy with the final product. (Big shout out, again, to my friend Joe who filmed/edited/scored the entire thing. And, yes, I realize it was filmed during the day, but have you tried filming at night? It’s not easy. Still, I think it gets the feel of the book across pretty wonderfully. I’m so happy!
Here are some photos from the shoot of my adorable and wonderful cast.
And here’s me looking extremely short next to them. Hi!
AUTOFOCUS
I know it’s been a while since I’ve last written, and I apologize for that. But…I come with exciting news! When THE NIGHT WE SAID YES sold, it was a two-book deal. Well, I can now discuss my second book!!
My follow-up to THE NIGHT WE SAID YES is called AUTOFOCUS. It follows a girl as she searches for information about her long-deceased birth mother, and, along the way, wonders if who we are is determined at birth, or if we can change as we grow.
You guys, I’m so excited about this book. It came as a random idea I had one day–I saw a girl going to an unknown city looking for answers. I kind of went from there, and the book came to be. I’m so thrilled my editor picked up this story, and I can’t wait to share more about it!
AUTOFOCUS is another YA contemporary, and, no, not a sequel to THE NIGHT WE SAID YES. It’s tentatively scheduled for a summer 2016 release with HarperTeen.
Books Read in 2014
Here they are, the books I read in 2014! My typical goal is 50, but with a new baby this year and writing/editing books of my own, that proved to be…difficult. Still, I think I conquered a lot.
(* = book not yet released)
- DRAMA HIGH by Michael Sokolove
- PAGE BY PAIGE by Laura Lee Gulledge
- THE SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK by Matthew Quick
- MAN MADE BOY by Jon Skovron
- BOXERS by Gene Luen Yang
- SAINTS by Gene Luen Yang
- THE TRUTH ABOUT YOU AND ME by Amanda Grace
- ROOMIES by Tara Altebrando and Sara Zarr
- THE SPECTACULAR NOW by Tim Tharp
- SEPTEMBER GIRLS by Bennett Madison
- THE IMPOSSIBLE KNIFE OF MEMORY by Laurie Halse Anderson
- DUDE, YOU’RE GONNA BE A DAD by John Pfeiffer (I know, I know…)
- THE ACCIDENTAL LIFE OF JESSIE JEFFERSON by Paige Toon
- A USER’S GUIDE TO NEGLECTFUL PARENTING by Guy Delisle
- THE PROMISE OF AMAZING by Pamela Druckerman
- BRINGING UP BEBE by Pamela Druckerman
- BEBE BY DAY by Pamela Druckerman
- WHAT I THOUGHT WAS TRUE by Huntley Fitzpatrick
- HIDDEN: A CHILD’S STORY OF THE HOLOCAUST by Loic Dauvillier
- WHAT TO EXPECT WHEN YOU’RE EXPECTING by Charles J Lockwood
- SEX CRIMINALS, VOL 1: ONE WEIRD TRICK by Matt Fraction, illustrated by Chip Zdarsky
- THE HAPPIEST BABY ON THE BLOCK by Harvey Karp
- WE WERE LIARS by E. Lockhart
- THIRTEEN WEDDINGS by Paige Toon
- BABY LAUGHS by Jenny McCarthy
- EVERYTHING LEADS TO YOU by Nina LaCour
- FORGET HOW YOU FOUND US edited by Nathan Holic (with a chapter by ME!)
- THIS ONE SUMMER by Mariko Tamaki
- OPEN ROAD SUMMER by Emery Lord
- CONVICTION by Kelly Loy Gilbert*
- MY HEART AND OTHER BLACK HOLES by Jasmine Warga*
- DENTON LITTLE’S DEATHDATE by Lance Rubin*
- SIMON VS. THE HOMO SAPIENS AGENDA by Becky Albertalli*
- STARBREAK by Phoebe North
- LOST AT SEA by Bryan Lee O’Malley
- SECONDS by Bryan Lee O’Malley
- IN REAL LIFE by Cory Doctorow
- PAPER AEROPLANES by Dawn O’Porter
- HAWKEYE, VOL 1: MY LIFE AS A WEAPON by Matt Fraction, illustrated by David Aja, Javier Pulido, Alan Davis
- ISLA AND THE HAPPILY EVER AFTER by Stephanie Perkins
- HAWKEYE, VOL 2: LITTLE HITS by Matt Fraction, illustrated by David Aja, Steve Lieber, Jesse Hamm, Francesco Francavilla, Matt Hollingsworth
- THIN SPACE by Jody Casella
- BETTER OFF FRIENDS by Elizabeth Eulberg
- THE RISE OF AURORA WEST by Paul Pope
- MS. MARVEL: #1: META MORPHOSIS by G. Willow Wilson
- ON THE FENCE by Kasie West
- BROWN GIRL DREAMING by Jacqueline Woodson
- YES PLEASE by Amy Poehler
- SHE IS NOT INVISIBLE by Marcus Sedgwick
- MY TRUE LOVE GAVE TO ME, edited by Stephanie Perkins
- A manuscript by my friend Joe
- A manuscript by my friend Jennifer
In all, YA beat out any other category (obviously), followed by graphic novels (some really great ones this year). Non-fiction primarily revolved around being a mom, which is not surprising. I also read a ton of picture books, which I didn’t list. (SO many beautiful ones! I must point out, specifically, THE ADVENTURES OF BEEKLE: THE UNIMAGINARY FRIEND, which both L and I adored.) So what are my reading goals for this year? More plays I think and more adult fiction. I don’t see either happening, though, because have you seen the amazing YA books coming out in 2015? Specifically by debut authors?
Exactly.
Happy reading!
