I got some BIG news lately, which is that the DIE FOR ME trilogy has yet another language. (It is presently translated into English, German, French, Norwegian, Turkish, Bulgarian, and Russian.) And the bigness of this is the fact that it is a market I’ve really wanted to have – not only is YA HUGE there, but readers from this country have been writing me for over a year asking when the books would be translated into their language. So…that news to come as soon as I sign my contract. All this to say…I’m so pleased.

Books-a-Million chose DIE FOR ME as one of their Most Popular Teen Reads, and are offering it on sale here.

The Summer YA Scavenger Hunt will be starting soon. And so many of you asked me to write a Jules POV for it that…I caved. Check back here August 1 for your first (and perhaps last) view ever inside the oh-so-yummy revenant’s head.

I have a couple of new events in my calendar, including Kansas City and Vegas (baby!) in 2013. Check them here.

And since I promised you photos with each post, here are a couple from my trip to Ireland. I took my kids to see the Street Performance World Championship in Dublin, which featured amazing shows like:

AJ James, who is balancing on a barrel while a little girl from the crowd throws knives at him.

...and even more amazing, after he convinced two big hairy dads from the audience to take their shirts off and wrap him in chains. (which he then escaped from)

And finally, I’m starting work on the copyedits to IF I SHOULD DIE, which is the last step (that I’m involved in) in the editing process. After this, the book is out of my hands…and in 10 months in YOUR hands! (Hurray!)

I just finished an idyllic week’s holiday in Dublin, staying with my artist friend Mags, and managed to fit in a quickie stop for an informal signing at Eason O’Connell Street. (Thanks to Eason’s Sheena and Hachette’s Siobhan Tierney for organizing.)

One of my favorite things is meeting people I’ve talked to on Twitter and FB in REAL LIFE. And amongst my readers who joined me at Eason were a couple of fans who have been super-supportive of the DIE FOR ME trilogy.

So here’s a big thanks to all who turned out, especially Nadine and Marina!

Marina and me at Eason (photo @punkdiva)

Nadine and me at Eason (photo @ratedrechelon)

And now, after drinking gallons of tea and eating kilos of scones, it’s back to Paris!

A few tidbits to catch you up on DIE FOR ME trilogy goings-on!

For my Irish friends: I will be doing an informal signing at Eason O’Connell Street on Wed. July 25 from 3-4pm. Stop by to say “hi” and get your books signed!

Next, I gave Yara of Once Upon a Twilight an exclusive Vincent POV piece that I wrote just before starting on UNTIL I DIE. It’s part of her 50 Shades of YA Boys contest. I also included a secret about Vincent that NOBODY KNOWS…and which won’t be addressed in Book 3. So be sure to take a look!

Also, catch my mini-interview with Kristi Belcamino, a mystery writer who has the same agent as me! (Hurray for Stacey Glick!)

I am once again participating in the YA Scavenger Hunt (taking place in August). Check out the details and teams here!

And because a blog post without photos is a sad sad thing, I’m going to start giving you pictures from my new life in Paris now that I’ve moved from the French countryside and am living here full-time. (If you follow me on Twitter, you already get regular Paris photos.)

From a party I went to last night on a boat on the Seine (they are called “les péniches“) parked right across from Notre Dame:

All of the boys had tragically hip beards, and I tried SO HARD to get you a photo of this guy’s outfit: shorts and a double-breasted suit jacket with shiny buttons.

I am totally putting this outfit on a character in my next book.

Here’s me being amused by all of the beards and hipness.

A shot of the inside of the boat…and most importantly…

the platter of macarons. And let me tell you…the pistachio flavored ones were DIVINE. I hope you enjoyed joining me at that little boat party on the Seine. More Paris events and photos to come. But first…

*runs for airport* *jumps on plane* *flies to Ireland*

What would you do if you sent in the final draft of your third book and had a few weeks before getting a copy-edited version back for changes?

[Hint: Your kids are with your ex and you have a whole week free. Your vacation isn’t until later in the summer, and you miss writing because it’s been awhile. But you need some inspiration.]

If I were you, I would phone up a writer friend and ask if you could hang out at his beach house where you could write all day, take walks on the beach, and then meet up with his friends and eat in restaurants at night. Does that sound like a good plan to you?

It did to me. So I phoned up my friend Nicolas, who is a French screenwriter with several fabulous TV series and films under his belt, and asked if I could hang with him at his house in Trouville, which is a beach town in Normandy, just a stone’s throw (if you are an Olympic shot-putter…okay, if you are Ironman) across the channel from England.

Because he is a total sweetheart he said yes, and here we are two nights ago after sampling the catch of the day in a seaside restaurant.

Me and Nicolas

And here is one reason that I knew that his house would be inspiration. (I’ve stayed here a few times before.) You look out his window and you see this:

You walk down onto the beach and see this:

You step out onto the balcony and get a natural blow-dry.

On my friend Nicolas's balcony in Trouville

You go out to eat, meet new friends, tell them your story, and they do that new friend thing where they shine a whole new light on your situation and help you see things in a way you couldn’t see before. (Nothing like a good knock over the head with harsh but true reality when you’re in a slump like this.)

[No new friend photo – they like their privacy. But one is a writer and the other is just plain old lovely.]

You feel like your life has turned a corner. You’re starting from scratch. You walk along the boardwalk and see this:

And you pass houses like this:

And you go back and write a few thousand words of a new book because your brain is refreshed and you are letting go of things that have been weighing you down.

With the mix of beauty and fresh thoughts, how could you be in this place and not be inspired? Go ahead. I dare you.

Now that I’m getting to know more authors here in France, I thought I’d feature one from time to time. And the first person I want to tell you about is Georgia Caldera.

Georgia was sitting on the other end of the signing table from Rachel Caine and me during the Welcome to Mystic Falls 2 conference, and both she and her vampire novel, Les Larmes Rouges (translation: “Red Tears”), looked so interesting I had to go over and introduce myself.

She had some illustrations from her book tacked up behind her and I commented on how amazing the artwork was. Turns out she did them too. So she’s not only a writer but also an artist. No, of course I’m not jealous.

*Amy draws stick figure* *is inordinately proud, and tapes it to the fridge*

Ahem, where was I? Oh yes…author AND artist…

Georgia’s book was so thick that with my slow-going French reading I was worried it would take me all year to read it, but when I saw that she had created an “Artbook” to go with it, I jumped at the chance to own some of Georgia’s work. And she, very sweetly, bought my book in return.

I took the book home and devoured both its images and the great quotes from the book that she chose to go with each one. And then, when I was at my reading at l’Antre Monde a couple of weeks ago, someone mentioned her and said that she had won the Prix Merlin – a French literary prize awarded for works of fantasy and supernatural.

So…if you read French, be sure to check out Georgia’s prize-winning vampire novel Les Larmes Rouges. And even if you don’t you must take a look at her Les Larmes Rouges Artbook, which is illustrated with gorgeous images like this:

Both can be purchased on her editor Editions du Chat Noir’s site.

Oh, and she had her picture taken with Ian too. 🙂

Check out Georgia’s blog and her book site, and have fun acquainting yourself with a prize-winning French YA author (and artist).

And a huge congratulations to Georgia for winning the Merlin Prize!!!