I'm so excited to announce a cool giveaway contest with one of my favorite Tumblrs, Fashion by the Book.

Fashion by the Book creates cool outfits inspired by book covers, and now you have the opportunity to try that out yourself. Entries can either be inspired by the book cover or by Ophelia. One winner in each category will receive an ARC of Don't Touch and a pair of evening gloves like Caddie's. Visit Fashion by the Book for all the details!

And while we're talking giveaways, HarperTeen's Goodreads giveaway of 10 ARCs of Don't Touch ends in just three days!

I haven't been great about keeping track of links that feature Don't Touch, but I promise to be better. Here are some of my favorites from the past few weeks!

Kody Keplinger of Disability in Kidlit interviewed me, asking some tough, thoughtful questions about writing OCD and my own experience with it. I really enjoyed this interview and send extra-special thanks to Corinne Duyvis, author of Otherbound, for setting it up and to We Need Diverse Books for sharing it around!

Young Adult Hollywood featured Don't Touch as a Most Anticipated Book! I'm honored.

I visited Nikki Wang at Fiction Freak with a Get Your Debut On feature. I played the Essence Game with Caddie and Peter and found out a lot about how they see each other.

Back in June, The Bookish Owl spotlighted Don't Touch with a roundup of some nice Goodreads reviews.

School Library Journal said Don't Touch “Offers a good look at Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and other anxiety disorders." They also included Don't Touch in this roundup of What's Hot in YA . . . I was excited to see several fellow VCFAers and OneFour Kidlit peeps there as well!

And Kirkus Reviews said Caddie's "story effectively highlights how anxiety disorders and the stigma of mental illness affect teens," calling it "An insightful look at anxiety disorders and letting go of fear."

I'm on vacation with the fam--Mom, Dad, and sis--which means we're all sharing a pret-ty small space at the beach. But one of the escapes is this amazing swing bed on the porch. My sister took this picture through a window (so, really, there's no escape, but this time I didn't mind).

As you can see, I was reading E. Lockhart's We Were Liars--quickly, because it's soooo compelling. It's kind of the perfect book to read on a family vacation, even when your digs aren't quite as resplendent as the Sinclairs'. For me, this book wasn't about "the twist"--I loved it but didn't read it as a twist. Without worrying about that, it's still mysterious and driven and full of consequence, and yes, it made me cry, but the dogs helped me through.

I'm happy to announce a new event with some fellow OneFour Kidlit types--a YA Panel with Lindsay N. Currie & Trisha Leaver, co-authors of Creed, and Natalie C. Parker, author of Beware the Wild.

We'll be at Anderson's Bookshop in Naperville talking YA and chatting about our books. Can't wait!

Don't Touch has a beautiful new Epic Reads Book Club Guide. It might be spoilery, so read the book first, then discuss!

That's right, friends! Don't Touch is exactly eight weeks from release.

And in honor of this, I'm celebrating with a Don't Touch Fear Annotated ARC Giveaway!

What is an annotated ARC, you ask? Why, it's one with little notes all over it from me letting you in on inspirations, some of the changes that will appear in the finished book, background stories, and general goofiness. Here's a sneak peek, about my high school theater's tradition of eating Gummy Worms for good luck before a show . . .

I'll be giving away TWO annotated ARCs via Rafflecopter in the Don't Touch Fear Annotated ARC Giveaway. Each leg of the contest will be open for two weeks. This contest is open to US and Canada only as my shipping budget is dwindling.

Don't Touch is all about fears that keep us from connecting to other people and following our passions. I'm on a personal vendetta against fear, so I'm curious to hear about your own battles against fear--the glorious triumphs and the still-working-on-its alike! How has fear touched you, and how have you sent it packing?

There are several ways to win. You can like me on Facebook, follow me on Twitter, or Tweet about the challenge, but I'm hoping you will choose to share a story--you can do that with a comment here, on a reblog of the Tumblr post about the giveaway, or in your own blog post about a time you stood up to fear.

Best of luck!

Exciting news! I have two newly scheduled book launch events.

Whether or not you're able to make it to one of these events, these are also great places to pre-order Don't Touch and support a couple of excellent independent bookstores!

Some of my goofy theater friends got together for a Memorial Day BBQ and managed to sneakily film this in my presence without me catching on. Victoria R. Golden asked these nuts what they thought my book was about--and a few even came close.

For the record, Don't Touch is definitely not about:

1. magical powers
2. superpowers
3. genetic sticky-skin defects
4. a galactically imperialistic female president with genocidal tendencies
5. katanas
6. leprosy
7. hobbits
8. vampires
9. crime-fighting mummies
10. teenage natural history enthusiasts
11. fried chicken
12. Lithuania
13. Mega Man
14. Romeo & Juliet

Though it may include:

1. a discussion of superpowers
2. gloves (albeit not lace ones)
3. theater as an outlet to let "feelings out into society"
4. a crush on a boy in a play
5. a gay teen (though not one who has problems with touching)
6. a reference to time travel
7. love
8. fighting
9. Alabama
10. coming of age
11. divorce
12. OCD
13. Shakespeare
14. moving, world-changing genius (according to my excellent friends who have not yet read the book)

Two exciting cover updates have come about that I haven't yet shared here.

For starters, Don't Touch has a new, darker look. 

Personally, I love it! What do you think? I've gotten a glimpse of the full jacket design as well, and I couldn't be happier.

Also, my short story, "The Game of Boys and Monsters," which will release October 7th as a digital short with HarperTeen Impulse has a cover now!

When you write a short story, you don't think about cover art, but it makes sense for digital shorts. The cover holds the story's place on the digital shelf! And this is a longish short story (40 pages), a novelette some might say.

I think the cover perfectly captures the story's tone and contains some nice thematic imagery as well.

And if you'll notice, my name is in the same font on both covers. No, I don't think I've ever loved a font so much as that one.

Check out this Periodic Table of Epic Reads! I've read a lot of these, but I've already seen Crossroad Reviews treating it as a reading challenge. EPIC indeed!

I've always wanted to be an element.