StuckInBooks is approaching 400 followers!

I'm so excited that my blog is approaching 400 followers.

I decided to prepare for the celebration by attending a book signing by Sarah Dessen in Denver this last week.

She was at the Tattered Cover in Highland Ranch. She read the first three and half pages of her new book "What happened to Goodbye". We heard about how having a baby has changed writing for her. It's a lot harder now.

She only writes for an hour and half each day, between about 3:30 and 5:00PM. When she tries to write more than that, she just hits the wall. The time may seem strange but it comes from when she worked two jobs. The was the only time she had to write. Now it just feels write.

She is most like Halley from "Someone like You" when she was in high school but there may be a little of her in all of her characters.

Character names are very important to her. A lot of times that's where her story begins. She considers the name and what kind of people would name their child that name. The story blossoms from there.

Her tenth book and her latest book, "What Happened to Goodbye" had a rocky start. She said it was the hardest one she has written. After writing it, she threw out the entire second half because she didn't like it. She re-wrote that second half in a mere month and a half.

She graciously signed books for a very long line of people talking to each and posing for pictures.

SO the exciting news for the blog is that when StuckInBooks reaches 400 followers, I will be giving away a signed copy of Sarah's book "What Happened to Goodby". It should be very soon. YAY!

On a side note, I met Katie for Katie's Book Blog during this event. Very excited to meet a fellow blogger. You should so check out her blog