A few weeks later, my dining room table was covered with color-coded index cards – each main character got her own color, and every index card represented a different scene – and the outline of my novel was clicking into place. I loved the idea of having three very different women come together unexpectedly to share an apartment in New York City, and form a close friendship.

Tomorrow, my third novel will be published, and I’ll get to watch as Cate, Renee and Abby – the lead characters in my new novel These Girls – venture out into the world. So far, I’m thrilled to say, their reception has been a good one: Ladies Home Journal magazine calls it “chick lit with grit” and These Girls has made it onto Elle magazine’s must-do list. Rights have also sold in Australia, China, and Poland.

What I’m most pleased about, however, is that some early readers have said These Girls has given them a new appreciation for their own female friendships. I love the idea that we can have “chosen sisters” in our lives – women who are our sisters in every way but biological ones – and I’m blessed to have a few such women in my life, too.

Here’s a short video trailer for These Girls that I hope you’ll enjoy. I came up with the concept while thinking about those great outtakes from the movie “When Harry Met Sally,” in which couples talk about how they met. I thought it would be fun to interview real-life friends about their relationships, and model a video on those clips from one of my favorite movies. What I never expected was that I’d have to pause during the interviews because some of these women brought me to tears with their incredible stories of friendship!

Click here to view the embedded video.

I hope you enjoy reading These Girls, which will be on shelves at bookstores nationwide tomorrow as well as available for order on-line. If you do plan to purchase a copy, I’d be so grateful if you’d consider doing so this week, as early sales are critical to a book’s success. And as always, please drop me a note at sarah@sarahpekkanen.com anytime. Many thanks, and happy reading!

xoxo,

Sarah

Just a quick note to let you know that Simon&Schuster/Atria Books released my second original short estory today – and it’s on sale for just 99 cents! There’s also a neat bonus: My new story, titled “Love, Accidentally,” will also come with the first chapter of all of my books – including These Girls, which won’t be released until April. If you get a chance to read it, I’d love to hear what you think!

Here’s a description of “Love, Accidentally:”

From the author of The Opposite of Me and Skipping a Beat, an original eBook short story that shows whom we fall in love with may be the biggest-and happiest-accident of all. Ilsa Brown wasn’t expecting a little, injured dog to lead her to the love of her life. But within months of their first meeting on a street corner in L.A., she and Grif, the dog’s owner, are engaged. Things between them are so blissful that Ilsa is stunned by the tension that erupts during their visit to Chicago to meet his parents, where she discovers that Grif’s old girlfriend, Elise, is still woven into his family. What Ilsa needs to know before she can walk down the aisle is whether Elise is still in Grif’s heart, too.

Featuring a character from Sarah Pekkanen’s original eBook short story All Is Bright, Love, Accidentally is surprising and heartfelt. It’s a story about taking chances and choosing hope, and discovering what it means to love someone-and to let go of someone you love.

The story is available only for ereaders, but I’ve learned it’s incredibly easy to download Kindle apps for your computer (seriously, I’m scared of everything computer-related but spell-check, and I did it in about 60 seconds, which means it should take you more competent people approximately 1.2 seconds). Here’s the link to download that app:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/ref=kcp_ipad_mkt_lnd?docId=1000493771

I hope everyone is well and that you stay warm (unless you’re somewhere tropical and toasty, in which case I’m insanely jealous. Not to the point of, say, wishing you’d get a sunburn – more like a petulant pout.)

If you’d like to see “Love, Accidentally” for a Kindle, here’s the link: http://www.amazon.com/Love-Accidentally-ebook/dp/B005UDIA4U/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1323802345&sr=1-1

And Nook readers can see it here:
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/love-accidentally-sarah-pekkanen/1106580643?ean=9781451674347&itm=1&usri=love%2c+accidentally

Happy Holidays!

xoxo,

Sarah

About ten minutes later, my day began improving fast. I saw a review of Skipping a Beat in my hometown newspaper, The Washington Post. Now, usually there’s an unspoken rule that your hometown paper will savage your book – and everyone you know will read it: That cute guy who dumped you in 10^th grade, your neighbors, your parents, and all your friends. They’ll either helpfully point out the bad review, or feign ignorance – “Book? What book? Oh, your book. Um, I might’ve seen somethingabout it in the paper…”

But the review was good! The Washington Post wrote, “In this intelligent and entertaining novel, Pekkanen shows how quickly – in the skip of a heartbeat – everything can change. The questions her heroine faces about love, money and fate may be timeworn, but Pekkanen inserts enough humor and psychological insight to elevate the plot beyond the expected. She also offers a delightful slice of life inside the Beltway.”

I was sighing with relief and happiness when an email popped into my in-box with the news that Oprah – OPRAH! – has picked Skipping a Beat as one of her “Titles to Pick Up Now” in the April issue of her magazine.

I’m verklempt. I’m also insanely grateful to you all. You are my core group, the folks who signed up for my newsletter so we can experience all of this together. I can’t thank you enough for that. Nice reviews are wonderful, but reviews don’t get people giddy about books. People like you, who talk about books and connect with authors and spread the word, are the ones making magic happen.

Many of you have told me you’ve bought copies of Skipping a Beatfor a friend or sister or mother. This week, I’m going to sign, inscribe, and send out bookplates for any of you who would like to give away Skipping a Beat as a gift. Just email me with the address and name of the person for the inscription. And if you want to give it as a gift to yourself, then I say you deserve it! It’ll probably take 3-4 weeks for me to send out the bookplates, but I promise to do each and every one personally so it will make a beautiful gift. A bookplate is like a fancy sticker with designs that I sign and inscribe – then you attach it to the inside of the book cover and voila! A personalized book. I think they’re nicer than traditional signed copies, because the bookplate sets off the signature and inscription. Send your email to sarah@sarahpekkanen.com and remember to include your mailing address and the name for the inscription.

Many, many thanks again for everything. You guys are the best!

xoxo,

Sarah

In exactly a week, my second novel, Skipping a Beat, will launch in bookstores. I can’t quite believe I just wrote those words, even though I’ve seen a finished copy of the book – held it in my hands, paged through it, and yes, even kissed it (having surrendered all of my dignity when I had children, I’m not embarrassed to admit anything these days, even my attempts to out-wail the Bee Gees in my minivan).

I’m overwhelmed by the reception so far, from endorsements by some of my favorite writers, like Something Borrowed author Emily Giffin, who calls the book “original, soulful and engaging,” to Jen Lancaster, author of Bitter Is the New Black, who says it’s “masterful… with an ending that will leave readers breathless.” Reaction from booksellers is so positive that Skipping a Beat went into a second printing a full month before publication, something that took my breath away and forced me to reach for a restorative bar of chocolate. It’s a Doubleday Book Club pick, and rights have sold in Italy and Australia.

And it’s all because of you. A widely discussed topic in publishing is that no one is quite sure how a book becomes successful – big ad campaigns don’t always work and gorgeous covers don’t make a book take off. The only thing proven to make an author a success is word of mouth. And man, are you guys incredible! You’ve been spreading the word like crazy, posting your own reviews on Facebook, sending me encouraging emails, and introducing friends to my novels. I can never thank you enough!

Not to sound too “Bachelor”-ish, but because you’ve been with me on this amazing journey, I wanted to thank you by putting together a fun sweepstakes this week. When you order Skipping a Beat from any retailer – like amazon.com, indiebound.com, etc – on or before Friday, February 18, and email the receipt to contest@sarahpekkanen.com, you will be entered into a sweepstakes for these prizes:

• $25 gift certificate to Starbucks
• Save a homeless dog! I’ll donate $100 to the animal charity of your choice (in honor of my rescue lab Bella, who kept my feet warm while I wrote)
• Signed copies of The Opposite of Me and Skipping a Beat and a copy of my short estory All is Bright
• Win the Steve Madden shoes from my book trailer – I’m giving away two pairs (size 7 or 8 only)
• Pick 3 books you’ve been dreaming of reading, and I’ll buy them for you
• $35 Sephora gift card
• 20 Hummingbird Bakery Cupcake notecards with recipes
• Grand prize:  A spanking new ereader!

If you’ve already purchased Skipping a Beat, just email me the receipt at contest@sarahpekkanen.com and you’re entered. If only everything were this easy – like, say, hitting those Bee-Gee falsettos.

Once again, thank you all from the bottom of my heart (I’m not sure why the bottom of one’s heart is more meaningful than other areas, but let’s go with it) for your friendship and support. It means more than I can say. Without you, I wouldn’t be writing books.

Oh – and if you have any tips on how I can be less nervous during the coming week? Please email them to me at sarah@sarahpekkanen.com – I need help!

xoxo,

Sarah

This month, I’m giving away a book that is close to my heart…. it’s an advance galley of Skipping a Beat, my second novel. I can’t believe it’ll be in bookstores on February 22! With my first novel, we had twenty months between the time my editor bought the manuscript and it ended up on shelves, and everything seemed to move so slowly and painstakingly. But with Skipping a Beat, we’re whipping through the process in half that time.

Here’s the premise of Skipping a Beat:

Julia Dunhill, a thirty-something party planner, seems to have it all. Married to her high school sweetheart and living in a gorgeous home in Washington D.C., she imagines her future unfolding very much as it has for the past few years, since she and her husband Michael successfully launched their companies. There will be dinner parties to attend, operas to dress up for, and weddings and benefits to organize for her growing list of clients.  There will be shopping sprees with her best friend, Isabelle, and inevitably those last five pounds to shed.  In her darker moments, she worries that her marriage has dissolved from a true partnership into a façade, but she convinces herself it’s due to the intensity of their careers and fast-paced lifestyle.

So as she arranges the molten chocolate cupcakes for the annual Opera benefit, how can she know that her carefully-constructed world is about to fall apart? That her husband will stand up from the head of the table in his company’s boardroom, open his mouth to speak, and crash to the carpeted floor… all in the amount of time it will take her to walk across a ballroom floor just a few miles away. Four minutes and eight seconds after his cardiac arrest, a portable defibrillator jump-starts Michael’s heart. But in those lost minutes he becomes a different man, with an altered perspective on the rarified life they’ve been living and a determination to regain the true intimacy they once shared.  Now it is up to Julia to decide — is it worth upending her comfortable world to try to find her way back to the husband she once adored, or should she walk away from this new Michael, who truthfully became a stranger to her long before his change of heart?

We just finalized the cover, which you can see a larger version posted on my Facebook page and am about to put up on my website, and I’m curious to hear what you all think. My editor sent me three choices, and she and I instantly agreed on the one we liked best.  The art department tweaked it a few times – originally there were flowers around the bench – and I think they nailed it, especially because Emily Giffin’s quote is more prominent now. Emily has been one of my favorite authors ever since I read “Something Borrowed” (which is about to become a movie starring Kate Hudson) and I’m thrilled she is putting her support behind Skipping a Beat.

It feels strange to be in publishing at this moment in time. A few short years ago, I was lugging my laptop everywhere, including to playgrounds and kiddie movies, dreaming of someday seeing my book in stores. Now I’m still promoting my first novel, The Opposite of Me. I’ve finished up Skipping a Beat and am starting to do interviews for it. And I’m deep into the writing of my untitled third book, the story of three very different women who become roommates in New York. It doesn’t have a title yet – I am criminally bad at titles; I think my editor might start pressing charges against me if I continue to suggest them. But for some reason, it’s coming faster than my previous books. Some days I can barely type quickly enough, which is so unusual. Normally, I need to bang my head against the keyboard to shake the words loose.

I’ve got a theory on that, for anyone interested in the process: My agent pushed me to outline this book on index cards. For The Opposite of Me, I had a very general outline that consisted of scribbled notes in the margins of my favorite plotting book (Plot & Structure, for any interested writers out there). For Skipping a Beat, I outlined a bit more – I had index cards tacked up on a bulletin board, but even though I knew how the book would end, I didn’t exactly know how I’d get there. The middle was a big mystery to me, even as I wrote it. Someone recently compared this method of writing to driving with a man. You’ll take a bunch of wrong turns, you won’t be allowed to ask for directions, and you’ll be in a foul mood by the time you arrive – but you’ll eventually get there!

But I have a deadline for my third book- it needs to be delivered to my publisher on May 1- so I want to make sure I don’t go down too many dead-ends. I’m really hoping I didn’t jinx myself by talking about how quickly it’s coming. Tomorrow, I’ll probably be banging my head against the keyboard again, cursing myself (“You had to brag about how fast the writing was coming, didn’t you, idiot?”)

But in the meantime, I want to give away that galley. The name my webmaster pulled from random.org is Karen from Marysville, Washington. Karen, just send me your mailing address viasarah@sarahpekkanen.com and I’ll ship out Skipping a Beat and the Godivas – don’t worry, I’d never forget the Godivas – right away.

If you haven’t already, please like my page on Facebook, where I do frequent book giveaways.

Happy Fall!

So there we were: me, my agent, and Greer Hendricks, the editor I was dying to work with. Greer edits the best writers in my genre – Jennifer Weiner, and the authors of The Nanny Diaries, to name just a few – and I wanted to show her I could do whatever it took to become one of her authors.

At one point she turned to me and asked, “Do you think you can write a book a year?”

“Definitely,” I said.

“Great,” she said, breaking into a smile.

(My agent, who was chatting with someone else who’d come into the meeting, missed this exchange. When I told her about Greer’s question later, my agent briefly morphed into Ari from “Entourage” and barked: “What’d you tell her, doll? You told her you can write one a year in your sleep, right?”)

It wasn’t an empty promise. I knew most successful commercial authors whip out a fresh book annually, and that publishers value authors who can meet deadlines. I wouldn’t mess this up, I vowed as I sat down to write. I’d take off a few months of maternity leave, then wear the baby in a sling as I typed away.

And now for the good news: I didn’t mess it up! My second book, Skipping a Beat, will be in stores in late February – almost exactly a year after my debut. It’s already up for pre-sale on amazon.com, which seems surreal and crazy and fun, all wrapped into one.

As I swelter through the sticky month of June, it’s hard to imagine that I’ll be bundled up in a winter coat when I get to see the finished product. But by now I’ve learned there are so many necessary steps between writing a manuscript and turning it into an actual novel. Right now, Skipping a Beat is being scrutinized by a copy-editor, who will make sure that every comma is in place, and that larger structural issues flow seamlessly. I was really impressed by the level of detail copy-editors attend to: Mine pointed out that in the beginning of The Opposite of Me, I mentioned it was a certain day of the week (maybe a Tuesday, but I can’t remember for sure). The copy editor went through the whole book, counting up days and nights, and figured out that I’d incorrectly stated toward the end of the book that it was a Saturday, when it should have been a Sunday. Meanwhile, a designer is busy creating a cover for my book, and bound copies of the manuscript are being made up for the sales force to read, so that they can encourage booksellers to place orders. It’s been fascinating for me to learn about the business side of publishing as well as the creative aspects.

A bit about Skipping a Beat: it’s similar in tone and genre to The Opposite of Me, but the story is totally new. It’s about a woman named Julia Dunhill who discovers that her husband has turned into a completely different man after a sudden, shocking medical trauma – and now he wants to rewrite all of the rules of their marriage. Julia, who sees pieces of her life in scenes from the world’s great operas, has three weeks to decide if she should stay with Michael or leave him.

I’m hoping all of you get in some time on a beach – or at least in a lounge chair in your backyard – this summer, and I want to give you the perfect book to sink into while you relax: Fly Away Home by Jennifer Weiner. I snatched up an early copy (technically, I begged my editor for it), and it’s fantastic – funny and poignant and just compulsively readable. I’ll pre-order it for you on amazon.com and have it delivered, piping hot out of the oven, as soon as it is published in early July. And Godivas. Can’t forget the Godivas (as if!)

The winning name picked by Random.org is Angela from Saskatoon, Canada. Just email your address to sarah@sarahpekkanen.com and I’ll arrange for delivery of your goodies.

Have a happy June!
xoxo,

Sarah

It’s a gorgeous spring day, and I’m sitting on my front porch with my laptop, thinking over the past month. When I sent out March’s newsletter, I was so excited yet nervous about the launch of The Opposite of Me. I couldn’t wait to see my book in stores, and I hoped I’d get some nice reviews and, more importantly, a few notes from readers who identified with characters in my novel.

Writing is such a solitary process, and most writers are pretty critical of themselves (my brain apparently rents space to tenants named Self Doubt and I’m Going to Mock Your Metaphors). So when you send a book out into the world, all you can do is hope. Hope that people pick it up in stores, when there are so many other books vying for their attention. Hope that someone likes it – and that they recommend it to a friend or two. Hope that you get a chance to publish another book someday, because the whole process – even the crazy-making times, like when your plot is twisting itself into knots and you can’t quite remember why you ever thought that you, of all people, could actually write a book- well, it can be frustrating and all-consuming and yet somehow, it’s also the most fun you’ve ever had.

(Self Doubt is wondering if that paragraph above makes any sense, and is gently saying, “Really, don’t you think people have stopped reading by now?”)

Anyway, I’m thrilled to say the events of the past month have exceeded my dreams: The Opposite of Me is now a USAToday”notable” book, and won 3.5 out of 4 stars from People magazine.Redbook picked it as a must-read for March, and Cosmopolitancalled it “sweet, smart and funny.” And, in no small part thanks to the incredible generosity of author Jennifer Weiner – you can read about what she did here – the book is in a third printing!

It’s all so incredibly exciting, and made even more so because my publisher just bought my second book, which I’ve written, and my third book, which I have not started yet. But the notes I’ve saved to go back and re-read aren’t from book reviewers: They’re from real people who took the time to write to me after something in my book touched a chord within them. I never knew so many women had sister stories like the ones I described in The Opposite of Me, and I’ve been grateful to learn about how these real-life women relate to my novel.

I hope my next book strikes a similar nerve. We don’t have a title for it yet, but I can tell you it’ll be published in Spring of 2011. Though the story is very different, it’s told in the same voice as The Opposite of Me, with humor and heart (at least I hope so – Self Doubt thinks that sounds a little pompous). Here’s a bit more about the book: 34-year-old Julia Dunhill wakes up one day to discover her husband, Michael, has turned into a completely different person because of an extraordinary experience. Julia – who also sees pieces of her life reflected in the world’s great operas – has three weeks to decide if she should stay with Michael… or leave him to begin a new life on her own.

Before I go (because my second book is already through the first round of edits and I need to get to work so we can hustle it out in less than a year), I wanted to name the winner for this month’s raffle of a book and some Godivas. The name my webmaster picked using random.org is Erika D. from Connecticut. Erika, please pick any book published by Washington Square Press, a division of Simon & Schuster – I’m kind of partial to them, seeing as they published my book and all- and I’ll ship it right out to you.

And if you’d like more chances at winning free books, you might want to consider checking out the fan page for my novel. I’m giving away two books a week for the rest of the month!

Happy reading – and thanks to all of you for coming along with me as I go through the publication process. I appreciate your support more than you know!

xoxo,

Sarah

First, a little background on how all of this got started: I’m fascinated by the behind-the-scenes workings of the publishing industry, and one thing I’ve learned is that sites like Amazon.com take notice of good pre-pub sales and recommend that book more frequently to shoppers. Early on-line orders also spike interest from other booksellers – which all combine to give a debut author a much-needed boost.

I know there are a lot of books competing for your attention. So, what’s in it for you if you order The Opposite of Me on 3/3? Excellent question; you’re clearly a savvy consumer. Here are my raffle prizes:

• A small, sleek HD camcorder from DXG USA’s Pro Gear line for 2010, which retails for $300.
• A gift bag containing five hot new Simon & Schuster releases.
• Five high-end, cotton t-shirts from Heart Threads Clothing. You pick the size, color and secret message printed on the inside of your shirt and worn close to your heart. Five winners!
• A 30-minute phone consultation in which I’ll explain, step-by-step, how I got signed by a literary agent and publisher. This will include an editorial critique of your manuscript of up to 40 pages. If you’re not interested in writing a novel, you can gift this prize to anyone you choose.
• This last prize is one a character in my book, Lindsey, would especially like:  A $35 gift certificate to MAC cosmetics (Lindsey is a fan of their eyeshadow) and a gorgeous red bustier from Affinitas Intimates. It would probably look best on a woman, but we won’t pass judgment if the guys want to win it.

But that’s not all. Now for the even bigger news… I’m proud and honored to announce that #1 New York Times bestseller Jennifer Weiner, author of seven blockbusters including Best Friends Foreverand In Her Shoes, which was made into a major motion picture staring Cameron Diaz, is supporting The Opposite of Me by holding an incredible giveaway of her own! Please visit Jen’s website atwww.jenniferweiner.blogspot.com for the details of how she is giving a free, autographed copy of one of her books to every single person who orders The Opposite of Me on March 3 only, until she runs out of books – which she says won’t be for a while (yes, you read that right – you get a Jen Weiner book! And you! And you! And you over there in the corner!) Jen is my favorite author, and I’m blown away by her generosity – or Jenerosity, as we’re calling it. She’s a huge success, and now she wants to reach out and help a debut author because she remembers the feeling of waiting for your first book to come out – and I’m the lucky one.

So, to recap:

1. Buy The Opposite of Me on-line on Wednesday, March 3 from places including Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com, andPowells.com
2. Email your receipt to me at sarah@sarahpekkanen.com and put CONTEST in the subject line.
3. Then mosey over to Jen’s website atwww.jenniferweiner.blogspot.com and read about where to email the same receipt to get a free, signed book by Jen Weiner.

I’ll notify you on Friday if you’re a raffle winner.

If you’d like to read the first chapter of The Opposite of Me, aRedbook magazine book club pick, there’s a link on the main page of my website, www.sarahpekkanen.com. Thank you so much for considering this and for supporting the launch of The Opposite of Me!

Here’s what others are saying:

“With her smart, soulful novel, author Pekkanen explores the place where self and sisterhood intersect.”
- Redbook magazine, March book club pick

“It’s warm, it’s whimsical, and it’s a winner (already translated into three languages).”
- Courier-Mail (Australia)

“Fresh, appealing…. Both sisters are fully realized-flawed but likable, and the story is at turns funny and poignant.”
- Booklist

“We like SpongeBob Squarepants better.”
- Sarah Pekkanen’s kids

xoxo,

Sarah

I feel immensely pregnant right now.

No, dear God, not that kind of pregnant (having popped out three boys in recent years, the shop, shall we say, is closed). It’s just that the months leading up to a book release feel a lot like gestation. “How much longer for you?” an author asked me recently. I rubbed gentle circles on a galley copy of my book and said with a maternal smile, “Six weeks.” And just like the crazy, frenzied, nesting woman I become in the months leading up to birth, I’m starting to take on the persona of a hyper, wild-eyed debut author. Am I doing everything I should be doing to help nudge my book into the hands of readers? Am I doing too much (no one likes people who try too hard, cough-Heidi Montag-cough).

Some of the ancillary events that come along with publishing a book have been fun – but surreal. I’ve been doing photo shoots and interviews, writing guest blogs and preparing to film a trailer (more on that next month). And I’ve been introducing myself to booksellers and making a fabulous impression, as always. The other day I popped into Borders to buy a few books, and I had my two older boys and their buddy along with me. After chatting with the woman at the information desk, I mentioned my novel, trying to ignore the howls of laughter coming from the boys. She asked me if I wanted to do a signing at the store, and I gently and lovingly kicked one of my sons (he was rolling on the floor, laughing at something) and told her I’d be thrilled to do one. I finally extricated myself from the conversation to see what was making the boys giggle and realized they’d commandeered a Borders computer and were perusing books with the word “poop” in the title. There were more than you might expect, by the way.

Oh, here’s something fun: I just got the cover of the Spanish edition of The Opposite of Me. The cover and title are different (They’ve dubbed it, A World Between You and Me), and it’ll be out in July. And I’ve got a bunch of readings lined up, mostly in D.C., Maryland and Virginia for now, that you can check out on the events page of my website if you’re in town and interested. Be forewarned: I’m going to try to get everyone to go out for drinks afterwards. They’re not giving me an epidural for this birth, so I figure a shot or two of vodka is a fine substitute.

Time for my monthly giveaway of Godivas and a book. The name my webmaster drew is Erin from Honolulu, Hawaii. Erin, just email me via the link on my website atwww.sarahpekkanen.com and I’ll send the goodies your way! Are you all as ready for Spring as I am?

xoxo,

Sarah

I’m going to be really brief, because I know how busy you are during this time of year – and if you’re not busy, would you mind popping over to my house and lending a hand? Just open that bag of cookies from Trader Joe’s and crumple the edges a bit so I can pass them off for homemade when I put them in gift bags. I’ll be back next month with a chattier update, but for now I wanted to spread a little holiday cheer by giving one of you a book and some Godivas (hey! I said put the cookies in the bags. I see you eating them!)

Okay, the name my webmaster drew for this month’s winner is … Heather R. from Ontario, Canada. Heather, just drop me an email via the contact link on my website,www.sarahpekkanen.com, and I’ll rush the goodies to you. You can pick any book by my publisher, Atria, a division of Simon & Schuster.

If you didn’t win this month, I’m also giving away a galley of my upcoming novel, The Opposite of Me, on my group author’s blog. If you’re so inclined, pop over towww.thedebutanteball.com and leave a comment on my post dated today, (Tuesday Dec. 22), and I’ll pick the winner of my galley on Christmas Eve.

See you next month!

xoxo,

Sarah