Now that the book is out, I feel like everything’s about to change. Actually, that has less to do with the book being out and way more to do with the book I’m writing now. Not to mention my whole life’s philosophy about what’s worth doing and what’s not and I’ll figure it all out eventually I’m sure, because I have to. I have a deadline.

Now that the book is out, it’s a very nice thing to be distracted by this deadline.

Now that the book is out, my socks still don’t match, if you were wondering.

Now that the book is out, I’m more sensitive, not less. I’m not reading reviews unless my agent or my editor or my publicist sends them to me. Or unless the reviewer emails me directly, which happened recently with a great review and I was thrilled about that. So, if there’s a review you see and think I will want to see it, you can tell me, but please don’t be cruel and send me mediocre or bad reviews to make me cry—because I will cry. Making writers cry is not nice and I suggest finding another hobby.

Now that the book is out, I can’t use Good Reads anymore. It’s too painful. The starring system bothers me, maybe because I’m not used to being graded—I went to a college without grades, and I went to a graduate school without grades, and I don’t understand the logic of grading a creative piece of work like you would a math exam. If Lolita is five stars, what in the world is everything else? Next to Lolita, I’d give myself half a star, a quarter star. Or think of One Hundred Years of Solitude… Talk about breaking the curve! I don’t know if I can ever star another book again, especially a book written by a writer I know, so I’ve stopped updating my reading list. If I get a friend request on Good Reads, I click “Accept” with my eyes half-closed and try not to look at my author page. Told you I’m sensitive.

(Btw, not reading most reviews or obsessing over Good Reads stars and Amazon ranks was advice given to me by one of my favorite writers. I am listening to her.)

Now that the book is out, I wonder what kind of writer people think I am. Some of you have read my short stories that I used to write for adults—I stopped writing stories; the submission process just takes too long, and I’m on that above-mentioned deadline, and writing YA has been so much more fruitful for me and is clearly what I should be doing instead. If you’ve read my stories, I wonder if DANI NOIR comes as a surprise to you. It shouldn’t; it’s all about the voice of who I’m writing, but I don’t know, maybe it does. And some of you, a very few, have read the opening chapters of the new book I’m writing, which is different from DANI NOIR too. I think the kind of writer I am is a combination of all three of those things, and there are very few people in the world who’ve read all that.

Now that the book is out, I’ve been getting this *massive craving* for ice cream.

Now that the book is out, I’m still collecting photos of it. Check out this one:

Now that the book is out, I feel a little bit naked.

Now that the book is out, I won’t be able to read it again because I will want to revise it. But at the same time, I’m happy with what it turned out to be. It is what it is. One night while I was home alone, I decided to record myself reading the first chapter out loud. The result is amusing—but the sound quality is too low and hisses, so if I want to put it on YouTube I’ll have to re-record with the sound levels up. It was very interesting. Have you ever seen and heard yourself read your own work? My voice doesn’t sound like me! And I make some strange faces!

If you are in New York City on October 11, you can hear me discuss the book and/or get it signed here.

And if this is your first time to my blog and you have no worldly idea what book I’m talking about, go on and check out the book’s website here.