So Summer and Bird comes out in four days aiiiiiiyyyyyyeeeeeeeee.

NOT THAT I AM NERVOUS.

And a friend of mine has already bought a copy from some scofflaw bookshop in California, so it must be real. My own copies came as well:

In fact it's so real that I'm having a book launch in just over a week. If you're near Austin, please come join me at BookPeople at 7pm, Tuesday October 9 for a few tasties, some wine and champagne, silly bird decorations, a wee presentation and reading, a Q&A, and a book signing. I would love to see you there (and my event is the day after Rick Riordan's, so I need your help not to look too paltry in comparison).

(If you'd like to have a book signed at that event, it must be purchased at BookPeople, but you are welcome to come whether you're having something signed or not.)

In completely unrelated but also happy news, I've been nominated for a B. Iden Payne Award for my performance in boom this June. Sweet!

But lest you think my life is nothing but sugar-coated loveliness, I am still working on my second book, which gives me lots of opportunity for self-doubt and terror. Also, someone is playing the drums horribly badly very near my window, which is open for the first time in ages, because we are having a hint of fall (by "fall" I mean "it is under 80 degrees").

A hint of fall tips the balance -- my life IS all sugar-coated loveliness.

Katherine Catmull