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

Often, Things End

I have just finished a re-read of Nora Ephron's I Feel Bad About My Neck. I think it's more moving than I Remember Nothing, and more ominous, even though that makes no sense at all. She wrote I Remember Nothing while she knew she was ill. I Feel Bad About My Neck was before.

Even so.

I am a tremendously over-emotional person. I believe this is, in large part, what makes me a good writer. It is certainly what makes me try to be one. Writing helps sort some stuff out. It always has. Whether it's indirect or direct. Whether you see it, like in When You Were Mine, or whether it bears no resemblence to my life at all (except a few ex references. Those are real).

It's therapy. Word. word. word. word. I write. I get through the rocky beginning, and the endless, desert of a middle. I find the sweet ending, sort of. Most of this sucks. Most of it won't make it.

I will edit, and edit, and further edit, and edit some more. And then I will stand on my head, and do everything I just said but backwards, playing scrabble. It's all very confusing. It involves a lot of copy and pasting. A lot of sad, sad cutting. A bit of crying. A few bad decisions. A few breakdowns. One come to jesus moment. MAYBE two, if there is chocolate.

And then I get here.

Finishing a book is a strange experience, but I think you can relate. You have finished books. You have set a world down you've just spent time inside, and said goodbye to it. It's not always easy. Sometimes you don't want to leave just yet. But it's time. It's over. 

Every time I read Ephron I find myself totally perplexed at her ending. Not the fact that she's not here, although that is deeply perplexing, the most perplexing of all. No, what I mean is the fact that she was incredibly unsentimental about goodbyes. The woman who wrote the defining romantic comedies, whose love stories will live on for generations and generations (my sentimentality is really showing itself to be a fault of mine, here), didn't have a particularly emotional disposition. She was no-nonsense. She was onward.

There are so many things in life that end. Romance, and friendship, and trust, and even faith, sometimes. Stories are just one of them, but for tonight, for me, they are what matter.

That is all (for now).

(and yet)

xo,

R

BELIEVE

Last night Jess Rothenberg and I saw Justin Bieber at Madison Square Garden. It was epic, you guys. Three crazy hours of awesome-ness. The Wanted and Carly Rae opened for him, so we were dancing before The Biebs ever took the stage. He was amazing. The only thing I can compare it to is a Britney Spears concert I saw when I was in high school. The way that kid can dance, and move, and the way the show is set up--- such an awesome ride. We had a blast.

For those of you who don't know, Jess and I have a long-standing Bieber tradition in our friendship. In fact, Never Say Never was the first official friend date we ever went on. We cried through the movie together (please, like you haven't), and after that became fast buds. We ALSO said we'd see him someday in concert-- and last night was the night. As Leila Sales likes to say: The thing about us is, we do what we say we are going to.

Enjoy the pics! And, well: #believe ;)

xoxoxo,

R

 Us too!

 Countdown! Scream at the minute mark!

 He flew in on ANGEL WINGS!

 Throw your heart up.

www.jessrothenberg.com

When You Were Mine goes global!

Check out the GORGEOUS cover to the French edition of When You Were Mine-- isn't it pretty?

And have a happy thanksgiving, everyone!

Book 2 Teaser!

Okay, you guys, here it is! I am BEYOND excited to introduce you, for the very first time, to the world of my new novel. This is an UNOFFICIAL teaser (which means it was written by yours truly), but it is editor- approved :)

I can't wait for you to read this one, and in the meantime, sound off! Let me know what you think in the comments!

Most great works of literature have a hero at their core, but this story is an exception. 

Mcalister "Caggie" Caulfield has, thanks to her famous last name, grown up in high-society, New York life. Her family is well known in Upper East Side circles--although lately it has been more for things Caggie would like to forget, than remember.

Last May Caggie saved a girl's life, but nothing is as it seems. Caggie is still reeling from the death of her younger sister last January, the subsequent destruction of her relationship with high-school boyfriend, Trevor, and the way in which her family has since fallen apart. When mysterious Astor shows up on the scene--- fresh from London, with a complicated past--- Caggie thinks he just might be the rescue she needs. But in a world where she's been branded a hero, Caggie will soon discover that no one can save you---not until you've saved yourself. 

Post Sandy Post!

Hey Guys!

What a week! As I'm sure you all know Sandy did a number on our lovely city. I live downtown, and I will never forget some of the things I've seen in the last few days. Black buildings, zero streetlights, candlelit delis. It was like being in that movie I Am Legend! (Or any dystopian YA read, really :) In fact, I think the general root of my panic may have come from that book Life As We Knew It. No one else shared my complete conviction that we would run out of food and have to live on mattresses in the middle of kitchen.

ANYWAY.

I am now on the Upper West Side, which I have long suspected to be paradise, and is, in fact, awesome. Open restaurants! Running water! Lights! Heaven.

I hope you are all doing okay, or at the very least, hanging in there. I am reminded this week of all things that matter: friends, community, good food, warmth, and-- a great story.

I've certainly had my share of all this week.

XOXO,

R

Me and JK

Last night Leila Sales and I saw JK Rowling. This is one of the remarkable things about living in New York---  Ms. Rowling was doing ONE US appearance, and it was in my town. Getting tickets wasn't easy. It involved a lot of frantic online stalking, and two 1:00 am nights-- but we got them! We were two of the lucky few to see JK in all of her glory--- and she was glorious.

I know we all have our own versions of how Ms. Rowling has affected us. We picked up her books at a moment where we really needed a friend, we grew up with Harry. We were Hermione or we fell in love with Ron. We watched her rise to dizzying fame. We saw her do midnight readings from castles and we looked on, thinking that what she had done was truly (there is no other word for it)-- magical.

Here is my story:

I, like many people my age, came to Harry Potter when I was thirteen. I had just started high school and I was nervous, and scared. I was happier in fictional worlds than my real one, at that time, and Hogwarts never ceased to disappoint. Book one I read under my desk as a freshman. If I didn't have someone to talk to, that was okay, there was a whole world waiting in those pages.

Books two and three found me with someone to share them with! I was making my way through high school, and making friends. Book four I took with me to college. I set Harry down on my little shelf, sandwiched between “Wuthering Heights” and “Nine Stories.” I turned to him that first night my parents left, the first night I spent alone in my new dorm in my new city. Book five and I was making my way through USC, settling into a degree in creative writing. If my path hadn't always been clear (it had) it was now: I was going to be a writer.

Book six and I was leaving for Europe, graduating, packing my things, saying goodbye to friends and heading off for Edinburgh--- a city I had decided on because, you guessed it, JK calls it home. Every cafe I wrote in, I imagined her there--- I imagined her walking in. What I'd say to her if she did. What do you say to someone who has influenced your life (so, so many lives) the way she has? What do you say as an aspiring author, longing for some word of wisdom to let you know, eventually, it will all be okay? That it's worth it? 

Book seven and I was a newbie in New York. I was heartbroken, broke, twenty-two and lost. I remember leaving a bar of friends to go to Barnes and Noble at midnight on July 27th, 2007. I stayed up all weekend to read. I refused to let Harry go, and when I came to the end, saying goodbye was even harder than I had anticipated. 

But I didn't say goodbye. I went back to Edinburgh four times--- on each trip, waiting for her around a corner. Hunting down her haunts (you know, in a non-stalkery way), soaking up the Harry-ness of that city--- the place that inspired a world that inspired the world. I re-read Harry. I fell in love with Emma Watson and Rupert Grint and Daniel Radcliffe. I shared the book with friends. 

On the night the final movie was released JK Rowling gave a speech--- do you remember this? She stood on the stage in Trafalgar Square, where they were premiering the film, and she told us (I'm getting choked up writing this) that "Hogwarts will always be there to welcome you home." 

Last night, I met her. I said "thank you," and she said "thank you," back. I have spent fifteen years wanting that moment. Fifteen years wondering what I would say, if I ever met her. If I ever got the chance to be in the same room as the woman who had inspired so much. Two words ended up being all that was needed. 

Thank you, thank you. What else is there to say? 

XOXO, 

R

The Vampire Diaries is BACK!

And I have totally lost my mind...again.

I still blame all of you for getting me involved in this mess to begin with. Life was so much simpler before Elena, Stefan and Damon...sigh.

Anyone who knows me (or follows me on twitter) knows that I am a huge TV fan. And some of you have asked which shows I watch (besides our beloved vampires). Here's my list:

The Vampire Diaries
Gossip Girl (because I'm a big believer in finishing what you start)
Modern Family
Up All Night
New Girl
Nashville (I think this one is gonna be a keeper!)
How I Met Your Mother
The Mindy Project (for now)

Tell me-- what shows do you guys watch? What's your tivo (or hulu) time look like?

XOXO

r

Office Hours-- mark your calendars!

Leila Sales and I have come up with what we hope will be a fun new tradition: office hours! 

The details: 

We will be at one our favorite coffee shops (Newsbar at 11th and University) from 12-2 pm on Sunday, November 4th-- come talk to us! No book selling, no readings, no panel-- just us, having coffee (hot chocolate) with you. Have questions about the writing process? Come chat! Want to know what we use on our hair? We'll spill! Ask us anything--- just don't ask us to do your math homework. 

Hope to see you there! 

XOXO, 

R

Dear (Teen) Readers

Disclaimer: I just came back from seeing The Perks of Being A Wallflower. This could get corny.

I loved the movie. I thought it was poignant and nuanced and just...powerful. I cried. I totally bawled, actually. And that line when Paul Rudd tells Charlie he could write a book one day? On the floor.

I had a teacher like that. I had many teachers like that. I'm also old enough to remember when Paul Rudd wasn't a teacher, but the dorky (hot) college kid in Clueless. The people who handed me those books, who never closed an after-school door, who told me if I wanted to, I could do it, too--- they're the reason I am here, now, writing to you.

And that's all well and good, but the reason Perks struck me was not because Stephen Chomsky wrote that book, about his experience, and then made it into this movie. It was because it reminded me of what it's really like to be that young. Correction: of how hard it is to be that young.

I spend a lot of time in the brain of seventeen year olds. I poke my head into their surroundings, and I try to envision the way they see life, love. The way they see themselves. But I'm going to let you in on a little secret: I get it wrong. I forget. I over romanticize. Because I'm not seventeen anymore. Somewhere over the course of when I experienced the things I wrote about in When You Were Mine, and published that book, it happened. I grew up.

I'm a nostalgic person by nature, and I often mourn the loss of youth. I have a life now-- one that I built. It's real. It's mine. It is filled with both the wonderful and mundane: excellent friends, travels, bills, laundry, deadlines. I suppose what I'm saying is this: I am happy, but I am not infinite. Not anymore.

I'm not saying I miss it.  Honestly, If someone wrote me a check for twenty million dollars I wouldn't go back. It was awful. I felt like I was constantly getting it wrong. I felt so misunderstood. I felt so terribly alone. But it was also so short lived.

As I watched Emma Watson lift her arms through that tunnel tonight my breathe caught in my throat. It was beautiful, and tragic, terrible and exhilarating. And that's youth. That's what it means to be seventeen.

I am sorry that sometimes I forget that. I am sorry that sometimes I make it seem, or sound, easier than it is. But do me a favor, okay? Just for a moment look around, and remember this. Hold your eyes wide open. Take it in--- all of it. Because someday it won't be like this. It will be better, I promise you. You'll know more, you'll forgive easier, you'll be kinder--- to others and yourself. But you won't be seventeen.  

I'm off to continue revising. I'm writing a new one for you--- something I hope will keep you company in the meantime.

xoxo,

R

High School Ruminations

Hawaii was great, you guys. I got to spend time with my family, go to the beach, and visit some of my favorite childhood spots (yep, I grew up there!)

Some of you may not know that I based San Bellaro High off of my school, Seabury Hall. We, too, had a Cooper House, rolling hills, and ocean views. It's fun to go back now and remember what life was like when I wasn't writing about that place...but living there. I spent more time in the library than Rosaline does, and I was far more concerned with grades than parties, but somewhere around that green, green campus is a seventeen year old girl who is just trying to figure it out-- that we share.

There is also that little balcony above the courtyard. Did you think I conveniently made it up? It's real!

Tell me--- are there any secret spots at your high school? What will you miss about being there, or, if you're already gone, what do you? (And, of course, feel free to share what you will be happy to leave behind!)

XO,

R

When You Were Mine vid!

Check me out talking When You Were Mine! (And let me know how it is--- I can't get up the nerve to watch it :) Hence the pic.


http://www.aol.com/video/rebecca-serle-on-her-novel-when-you-were-mine/517476584/

Hope you're all having a great week! I'm on vacation in Hawaii--- pics soon!

XOXO,

R

In case you didn't hear...

I am in Ravenclaw!!

I got sorted on Pottermore last night and wow--- crazy experience! Have you all done it yet? If not I seriously recommend getting involved. I thought for sure I'd be in Hufflepuff but the more I read about Ravenclaw, the more I realize--- I ended up exactly where I'm supposed to be!

What house are you all in? Tell me! And let's compete for house points online ;)

XO,

R

Best Of Summer

Summer is officially over, and while I shed a tear for the fading sun (and beach seaosn), I look forward to fall (my wardobe is better).

But before we say goodbye for good I wanted to do a little memory hit parade of the summer. I have a feeling this is one I'm going to remember.

May-- my debut novel When You Were Mine is released into the world! Best. Month. Ever.

June-- I attended my first-ever ALA where I HUNG OUT WITH DEB CALETTI!

July-- I went to Comic Con! I will never forget that trip. An incredible experience I really, really hope to have again.

August-- I got to go to my very own book club and hear the amazing ladies of FYA discuss WYWM-- talk about a bucket-list moment.

In between book stuff there were weddings and beach weekends, lots of laughter and SUN!

Next up? Hawaii for 10 days and then, you guys, I'm going to DISNEYWORLD! Planning a girl's weekend with one of my besties :)

Just because summer is over, doesn't mean the magic has to end.

Tell me-- what's on your summer Best Of list? And what are you looking forward to in the fall?

XOXO,

R