Well, I generally keep news behind my News link, but sometimes it deserves noisier mention. When I learned yesterday that Fire won the 2009 Cybil for YA Fantasy and Science Fiction, I was surprised, proud, and downright teary! It surely does feel nice. (In case you don’t know, the Cybils are the Children’s and Young Adult Bloggers’ Literary Awards — check them out.) Thanks a gazillion to the YA Fantasy/SF panel! And congratulations to all the other winners and finalists — especially my fellow YA F/SF finalists: Candor, by Pam Bachorz; The Demon’s Lexicon, by Sarah Rees Brennan; The Dust of 100 Dogs, by A.S. King; Lips Touch, Three Times, by Laini Taylor; Sacred Scars, by Kathleen Duey; and Tiger Moon, by Antonia Michaelis.

More news, this time regarding European appearances: I have tentative plans to be in Bologna, Amsterdam, Antwerp, Madrid, Barcelona, Lisbon, Paris, and Épinal, France at various points this spring for book events. If you’re in any of those locales, stay tuned; I’ll provide more info once my plans are finalized.

Also, if you’re in the New York area, I’ll be at Symphony Space on Sunday, February 28 at 1pm for the Thalia Kids’ Book Club. Learn more and purchase tickets here.

Now, if anyone’s looking for me, I’ll be in the garden thanking my fairy godmother and asking her if there’s any danger of apokolokyntosis.

(BTW, more good news: 100% of poll respondents love Spike. Amazing!)