Earlier this summer, I received an email from Lisa Schroeder, author of books for kids and teens, discussing a new group she and Lindsey Leavitt were forming to celebrate contemporary YA fiction for the coming school year.
Even though the subject line said something like, "You're invited to join . . . !" my first thought was that I was being informed of this group because I write contemporary YA and could help spread the word. Which would have been great, too, of course. But a second read through the email helped me realize that the invitation was for me to become a part of this group of amazing authors, many of whom have written books that I've read and admired in the past few years.
I sent my husband a quick text about it before leaving the office and he wrote back something like, "That's cool!"
I drove home from work, thinking about The Contemps the whole way. By the time I pulled into my driveway, I was in tears. Dwayne turned off the lawn mower and ran over to me. "What happened?"
I buried my face in his chest and choked out, "Nothing."
"What's wrong? Why are you crying?"
"Just because . . . they wanted me. In their group!"
Sob, sob, sob, Sally Field at the Oscars, etc.
And now, today is finally the day! The Contemps have officially launched our website and we have Facebook and Twitter and Goodreads up and running, too. If you like contemporary YA, I hope you'll check it out and follow us. It's going to be a fun year with lots of great books to enjoy and discussions in which to partake!
P.S. One of our promises in our mission statement is to (over)share. Kind of like what I just did here. Ha!