I will tell you:

She was writing. Wow, was she writing.

But she’s back now—I am, me—and this is what’s on my mind:

• The Lit Auction to help a writer fight cancer without health insurance is in its final wave—and you can still bid on manuscript critiques from YA author Nina LaCour (who wrote one of my favorites, Hold Still) and Alexander Chee (who wrote another one of my favorites, Edinburgh), among other writers and other prizes, oh and including, uh, me. Here’s a direct link to the bidding page on ebay—you’ll find that I’m auctioning off a critique of up to 30 pages of middle-grade or YA fiction. Please consider bidding to help a good cause. And see my earlier post if you want more info about the auction itself.  The auction ends tomorrow (Sept. 16)!

• If you have plans to attend this year’s Woodstock Film Festival that starts in Woodstock, New York, at the end of this month, I hope you’ll attend the book event to celebrate the publication of River of Words: Portraits of Hudson Valley Writers. I’ll be there, among other writers, and I’ll be reading a tiny bit from Dani Noir—it’s film-related, promise. The event is on Saturday, October 2, at 1pm, and here’s an easy link where you can order tickets. And here’s the book’s website, so you can read more about it.  I’m looking forward to being a part of the event and celebrating the book, but also? I get to see my mom! I miss my mom. So I’m especially excited for that.

• Speaking of excited, and what’s on my mind, and did you really expect me not to mention this? I’m really excited for Imaginary Girls. I mean, seriously, really, crazy excited. Thank you to the bloggers who have emailed me to say they were interested in reviewing the novel, whenever ARCs become available. As I’ve said, I am keeping a list to pass on to Penguin when the time comes, so if you’re a book reviewer and you’d like to be on that list, do let me know. Also, WAIT TILL YOU SEE THE COVER. It’s still not time to show yet, but when it is, I’ll be revealing it here for sure!

• Oh, and one last thing. If you’re in New York City and love good writing, you should go to Sigrid Nunez‘s reading tomorrow night: Thursday, Sept. 16, at 7pm at the Barnes & Noble on 82nd Street and Broadway. Her new novel Salvation City “follows the intersection of society’s collapse and the devastation of a doomed first love”—doesn’t that sound amazing? But, more, I worked with Sigrid Nunez in workshops as a writer, and I can honestly tell you she is a generous, inspiring, deeply wise and smart teacher, mentor, and writer. I’ve loved her writing since I read A Feather on the Breath of God, her debut (STUNNING), and I cannot wait to read the new book. Even if you can’t go to the reading, do pick it up!  Here’s a link to the event tomorrow.

• I have to add a fifth bullet point, if only because I love fives, and because I need things to be in odd numbers, just for comfort reasons really.

What have I missed since I’ve been drowning in writing, anything besides Jersey Shore episodes and Mockingjay (I still have to read it, travesty, I know) and Freedom, which I’ll probably read, too?