Whew, we're home!

It's been an amazing week! I have so many thoughts and photos to organize, but I wanted to jump in here and apologize for the absence (I've tweeted a little, but forgot to say to check the sidebar for updates) and to follow up on that last post, wherein I was pinching myself with amazement that Arthur Levine was coordinating his tie to my hair for the National Book Awards ceremony!!! I mean, in what dreamland does that happen?

Apparently, in the same one that this happens . . .

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OH MY GOD!!!!! ARTHUR LEVINE DYED HIS BEARD PINK!!!!!!

hahahahahaha! How awesome is that????

Everything everything everything was completely amazing, and I WILL be back with more photos! In the meantime, huge congratulations to Phillip Hoose for his win, and to Claudette Colvin, who must be very gratified to have her tremendous story recognized in this way. And to my fellow nominees: it was so great to meet you all! And to the judges who selected my book for this honor -- Nancy Werlin, Coe Booth, Gene Yang, Carolyn Coman, and Kathi Appelt -- thank you from the bottom of my heart.

And now . . . back to playing catch-up (and in a few hours, getting H1N1 vaccines. Phleh.). If you've emailed me, please be patient. Though I was on the road with a new i-phone, I'm too spastic a one-thumb typer to have kept up with correspondence. I will get through the 500+ emails over the next couple of days :-)

And thank you so much for all the happy wishes. This has been an experience of a lifetime, and I love all of you here who were supporters of Lips Touch even before it had a shiny silver sticker on the cover. Mwah!

Oh, wait. Some linkies.

Winter Blog Blast Tour at Shelf Elf; interview with moi. Thanks, Kerry! I love your intro :-)

And Winter Blog Blast Tour interview with Jim at Seven Impossible Things; thank you Jules!

The Oregonian story on us from last Sunday. Thank you, Jeff Baker!

And the wonderful review of Lips Touch in the Cleveland Plain Dealer.