Exciting News!

I have some very exciting news to announce!

I'll let these do the talking: http://www.deadline.com/2013/02/rebecca-serle-sells-ya-novel-series-to-poppylittlebrown/

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/rebecca-serle-author-rosaline-sells-425171


Every book means something to an author. You spend so much time with them, their characters, their world. You fight your way through. You get to the other end. It's nothing short of magic. But there are some books, some very special ones, that once they're written, the fighting has only just begun. This series has been that for me. I wasn't sure if it would ever see the light of day. There were people who didn't think it would work. There were a lot of revisions. There were a ton of frayed nerves. There were years. But then, on Monday, everything changed. I have never been more excited to share a project with you. I have never, ever, fought harder for a creative vision. I love this one. I love all the work that is behind and all the work that is ahead. And I can't wait to introduce you to this new world so that we can begin to explore it together...

Stay tuned ;)


XO,

R

Happy Valentine's Day!

Whether you are a Rosaline or a Juliet this year I wish you a very, very happy love day!

XOXO,

R

Friendship

It is a snowy, snowy night in NYC and I am sitting here thinking about friendship. Specifically, a friendship I have lost. Friendship is a huge theme of my novels. It is often, if not always, more important than the central love story. What we are talking about here is sisterhood. The few people we meet along the way who we never want to be parted from. My friendships, to me, are epic. They have narratives-- where we met, what our first date was, how long we've been together.

It happens, sometimes, that someone falls out of our lives. For reasons beyond (or perhaps due to) our own abilities we are separated from a dear sister. It is sad. I have been sad. I think of this lady a lot. She was the inspirations for so many of the wonderful, loyal, fiercely loving characteristics of Rosaline's friends in WHEN YOU WERE MINE. I am so grateful for the time we got together.

I believe nothing is finite, and everything is fluid. I believe we are capable of forgiveness beyond our wildest dreams. I believe in the impossible. I also know how important acceptance is. How, right here and now, this is where we stand.

I have never been very good at change. My friends are better at it. They know it, too. I am always wanting what was, for us to be the way we were. Sometimes I wonder why. Things are so much more wonderful, now. We are older, we are wiser. We do not bicker the way we used to. We respect each other more, we love each other deeper. And yet--

Nothing is the way it used to be. I miss that sometimes. I miss you.

XOXO,

R

The Vampire Diaries (Vulture)

Hey Guys!

I wanted to take a moment to post the link for my new column over at Vulture-- that's right, y'all-- NYMag just became Team Stefan! (I kid, I kid)

Vulture has hired me to do their weekly recap of The Vampire Diaries and since Gossip Girl's reality index got me through my first four years in New York, I am beyond honored. Last week was super fun, and I think it will continue to be great.

http://www.vulture.com/2013/01/vampire-diaries-recap-stefan-v-damon-round-one.html

I hope you'll join me over there as we pit Salvatore against Salvatore!

XX,

R

New Year

2012 has been a great one for me. I published my first novel, When You Were Mine. I sat on a panel at Comic Con (!) I even saw The Counting Crows AND Justin Bieber in concert (seriously, guess what I am most excited about?) The New Year is kind of a big deal for me. My birthday, like Rosaline's, is January 2nd, and therefore in many ways, all of my years begin again in the same period of time. Another year of life, another year of MY life.

I was hanging out last night with two of my friends. They are 19, but they still let me pretend I am cool. So many New Years and birthdays have passed since I was there age and even so, I don't feel grown up yet. And I think that is thanks to all of you. I get to keep talking about being young, figuring it out, about first love. I get to keep giggling and laughing and swooning over cute boys (here's looking at you, Efron). Sometimes people ask me why I write YA novels and I can't give a better answer than this: we have fun.

Thank you for a wonderful, lovely, exciting, dream-making 2012. Here is to an even BETTER 2013.

xoxo,

R

I don't know what to say.

I don’t know what to say. I have heard those words so many times over the past few days. We don’t know what to say. Nothing seems adequate. We feel guilty for going about our lives, we feel guilty for our sadness—after all, we did not lose someone. I want to talk about gun control; I don’t want to talk about the shooter. I want to read everything about those children, to honor them, and yet when I see their faces, I cannot clear my eyes.

This tragedy has touched us all.

I don’t know what to say.  I don’t know what to say, so I will write.

I am a children’s author. I believe in words. I believe in their power—to inspire, to reflect, to love. I believe in their worth. I believe in their power to heal. Particularly stories for young people. Many of my fellow authors like to talk about how redemptive children's literature is. That it is hopeful, and that makes it not only lovely to read, but also to write. It gives us faith. The words make us believe-- we can do better, we can love deeper, all is well. 

I've seen so many words since Friday. News articles and blog posts and headlines. Some have made me cringe, some have made me cry. Some seem to lack pure motive, others have been simply snapshots of anguish. All have tried, in some way, to make sense of this. We have used the only tools we have.

And yet, they fail, too.

Words are not adequate. Everything is insufficient. There is so much.

But we need to try, I think. We must keep talking, keep writing, keep sharing. We must keep stumbling over words, using the wrong ones, forgiving each other for it.

Someone asked me yesterday how it is possible that so much evil exists in the world. I try not to believe in evil. I believe in people who have strayed very, very far from love. But how could we classify Friday’s events as anything but?

I do not know. But I know that word has power, and that is a start. Because if evil has power, so does love. And I believe, I know, that love is greater.

I love you all, and I hold you closely now.

Xoxo,

R

12 Days of Questions!

I'm doing 12 Days of Questions this holiday season over on twitter!

Tweet me @RebeccaASerle and ask me anything! Publishing, writing process, my favorite type of peanut butter-- whatever! I promise to respond. 12 days. 12 questions-- ask away!

And if you don't have twitter, feel free to leave your Q here and I will get back to you in the comments.

xoxoxo,

R