TWO DAYS UNTIL HELL RISES

For some reason, at this exact moment, one of my neighbors is blasting French accordion music out of his/her window and into my rainy New York street. So basically, I now feel like I am living in an artist’s garret in early 20th century Paris, a la Moulin Rouge.

My neighborhood is weird. People walk their cats on leashes. One of neighbors is constantly throwing out TVs. They sell Styrofoam plates of homemade pancakes at my local grocery store. A block down, you can buy an entire lamb, head and all. My arch-enemy Mr. Sofite circles the block once every ten minutes playing that annoying song. (I have done extreme things to get away from that truck and its infernal song. Like go to Scotland to live in a castle during the winter. Really. I actually cited that as a reason when I applied for a residency there.)

Devilish materializes on shelves in two days. In just two days, you can own your very own Jane Jarvis! Scott Westerfeld said there were sightings of his new book, The Last Days, at bookstores, and our books are coming out on the same day, with the same publisher. So it’s possible that some Devilishes went out at the same time. Has anyone seen one? Please let me know!

And I am still here, working on Girl at Sea, which means that I am not allowed to leave. But here are some reports from the world of my desk.

WHAT I AM LISTENING TO OVER AND OVER AND OVER AGAIN (besides French accordion music)

Black Cherry by Goldfrapp
Supernature by Goldfrapp

(Clearly, I like Goldfrapp.)

And today I bought The Life Pursuit by Belle & Sebastian. I have a feeling this is going to be on for the next 70 hours or so.

THINGS THAT WILL BE HAPPENING

There will be a DEVILISH GIVEAWAY at some point in the next few days. Watch this space for details!

At some point I will leave the house and record a PODCAST, so you will be able to listen to me ramble on about something. Again, details will be here.

I’ve started listing details of some of the appearances I’ll be doing for Devilish “High School is Hell” tour. In some of the cases, the dates keep getting shifted around. But here’s one for absolute sure: I’ll be at the Brooklyn Book Festival on September 16, from 2-3 PM, with Famous Authors Scott Westerfeld and Justine Larbalestier. (Oscar Gingersnort will be visiting from London and floating around in the crowd. Find him and get a prize!*)

WHAT I HAVE BEEN DRINKING

Ginger tea, and Diet Coke with slices of lemon shoved in through the top of the can. Thanks for asking!

STRANGEST THING THAT ARRIVED IN MY MAILBOX TODAY

A pen with my name on it. Some company actually took the time to print my name on a pen and send it to me, in the hopes that I would buy more. It has a little cartoon of a man jumping back and his hat flying off, and a bubble that reads: “This pen once belonged to . . .”

THE BIGGEST THING ON MY FLOOR RIGHT NOW, ASIDE FROM THE RUG AND ANY PIECES OF FURNITURE

The same massive map of Europe I used while writing 13 Little Blue Envelopes. I keep having to jump over it, and every time I think, “I am jumping over Europe! I am a giant!”

PICUTRE THAT MOST ACURUATELY CAPTURES MY PARANOID VIEW OF THE OCEAN

I’ve never denied the fact that I am a total and utter coward when it comes to the ocean. Which is kind of funny, considering that I am currently writing a book called GIRL AT SEA. This is pretty much how the ocean looks in my head:




*he really will be there, but there is no prize. I just wrote this to scare him.