New York Times!!!

I have news!! I'm so crazy happy and excited and overwhelmed and just flat out giddy to announce that the paperback of The Forest of Hands and Teeth just debuted at #8 on the New York Times Best Seller List!!!! HOLY COW!!  Even more awesome and cool is that Cynthia Leitich Smith also debuted on the list at #5 for her book Eternal!  How wonderful that we get to share this experience together!!

Here's how it all went down... I was racing around Greenville with my mom all day Wednesday picking up some last minute things for the The Dead-Tossed Waves tour (like a suitcase, socks, shoes) and I finally got in the car to drive home around 4:00pm.  Since I'd been out of town for a long weekend with JP, I called my friend Diana to chat and catch up during the drive.  About five minutes into the call I saw a 212 number flash on my screen and said something like "Oh, that's New York calling - I should get this" (I still always get such a thrill when I see the 212 number - lol).  I figured it might be my publicist calling to chat about release details or whatnot.

Nope, it was my editor Krista.  So here's the thing -- I know that a call from your editor around 5ish on Wednesday afternoon/evening often means one thing: the NYT list released and they're hopefully calling with happy news.  I've had some great friends go through this but it never ONCE crossed my mind this could be the reason for Krista's call.  NOT ONCE!

This was the gist of the call:

Krista: I have some good news!

Me: Ooh exciting!  What? (thinking that perhaps she got a review or numbers or something fun).

Krista: Guess who's a New York Times Bestselling Author?

Me: Who? (thinking it odd that she'd call to tell me about another author of hers hitting the list).

Krista: You are!

Me:  What?!?! NO!

Krista: Yes!

Me: No!  What? You're kidding.  That can't be right.  Trust me, that isn't right.

Krista: (laughing) It's true!  You're number 8!

Me: No way!  What?  No.  I don't believe you.
Krista: Yes!
Me: NO! What?!  NO!!!  Seriously?  OMG!

This went on for a while until I basically started screaming and almost sobbing and having a hard time catching my breath while going 80 mph down the interstate.  Stunned doesn't even begin to capture the feeling.  Neither does euphoric or elated.  It was just one of those pure states of emotion where I felt like my body might explode in a burst of happy light.  

And then I got to call my friends and family and let them know and hear them scream like I had!  Honestly, being able to share the news with so many people who've supported me and loved me through it all was just about one of the best feelings ever (and included serenades from the back of a taxi :)  I can't thank my friends, family, agent and editor and publicist and everyone else at Random House Children's Books enough for all their support and encouragement and just awesomeness!  And thanks to y'all and all readers and booksellers and buyers and teachers and librarians -- I'm honored and grateful and so amazingly thankful!

So that's my news!  My pinch-me-can-this-really-be-true news!  I made it home and JP took me out to dinner to celebrate with champagne and I've been floating ever since!  Incredible amazing feeling!

And that's just part of the awesome week it's been!! On Monday RHCB released the book trailer for The Dead-Tossed Waves and I think it's stunning!  The kiss -- oh that kiss -- is just sooooo perfect and hot!

I feel so lucky to now have to fantastic trailers for my books!  Thanks RHCB!!!

Also cool: Random House has set up a fan page for The Dead-Tossed Waves on facebook - you can find it here.

I still feel like I'm running around like a chicken with my head cut off trying to get things in order before I leave for the tour on Sunday (squee!!!).  I have to do fun things like get taxes in order, iron clothes and pack!  But I'm just so excited and smiling and crazy happy!  More squeees!!!

Thanks all of y'all for sharing this with me!!!  And thanks for buying my book!!  I can't wait to meet so many of y'all in person during the tour!

(Just a note that Friday is the last day to pre-order signed copies of FHT and DTW in order to have them shipped on release day!  You can keep ordering after that but if you want them personalized they won't ship out until the end of March when I get back into town to sign them (likewise with any SASEs I get after I leave for tour on Sunday).)