New Blog

Hello! I am now blogging at:

www.justinachen.blogspot.com

Check out my latest musings and adventures there. Thanks!

Homework

Nothing is stranger than being someone's homework assignment. Really. Nothing. Some authors are surprisingly blase about this: "Justina, you'll get used to it." I don't think so.

I am homework.
I am someone's grade.
This is weird.

A librarian sent me this student's work:


So, students, I promise to update the FAQ on my website this summer so that finding info is easier than ever. And remember: the picture of me getting my hair washed in China from an earlier blog post was purely for informative purposes. Not for reports. I will be horrified if anyone uses that photo in a report. HOR-RI-FIED.

Incidentally, to the above student: A+

My Birthday Thoughts

Today's my birthday! I used to consider it a bummer to share my big day with Income Tax Day. But now I know the twinning of those events is really a blessing in disguise because the people who truly love me can never forget April 15.

As those same peeps know, this has not been the best year of my life. I am grateful for my children, family, friends, readers, and the team or professionals who've become my surrogate family, assembling around me to guide me through these last 6 tumultuous months.

So as I blow out the many candles on my cake tonight, I won't be wishing or regretting, but thanking:

Thanks for being patient and gentle with me.
Thanks for emailing me when you've read my books and letting me know that my humble words have touched you.
Thanks for helping me see the beauty in everyday blessings.

We only have to look to find beauty. And sometimes, as I learned with the sea turtles on the Big Island this last week, we have to look behind us, too.

But today, I am looking forward, not behind, to a wonderful year of healing and adventures. And quite possibly both.

North of Beautiful Blog Stop: Teen Book Review

Welcome to the last day of the NORTH OF BEAUTIFUL BOOK BLOG TOUR! A huge shout out to Mitali Perkins (author of Secret Keeper and readergirlz soul sister) for arranging this week for me.

If you want to dish about Beauty and the Neurotic Woman (oh, does that sound like me and you?), then check in next week when I visit Beauty Bloggers and a few Booksters.

For today, I drop in on the ever-popular, ever-insightful Jocelyn over at Teen Book Review. Answer the question Jocelyn poses on today's blog, and you can win yourself an autographed copy of North of Beautiful.

Here's a sneak peek at our chat:

Jocelyn: Travel (one of my favorite things!) is also important in this novel. What do you think makes travel an important experience, in general?

Justina: Traveling is a crash course on life: logistics (how do I get from here to there?), survival (are you going to starve or try the fish eyes?), resilience (can I can trek for another kilometer?), resourcefulness (okaaaay…so the train was canceled. Now what?), tolerance (got it...so when they tell me I’m fat, it’s actually a compliment!).

For the full interview, check out www.teenbookreview.wordpress.com.

North of Beautiful Blog Stop: Archimedes Forgets

Welcome to the third day of my North of Beautiful Book Blog tour, this time with the fabulous Sarah Rettger who so beautifully champions indie bookstores. (Speaking of which, I'd like to give a shout out to Mitali Perkins for creating the Kids Heart Authors program, uniting 40 indie booksellers and 160 authors / illustrators to make Valentine's Day memorable in New England. She inspired Kirby Larson to spearhead the same program here in Seattle.)

Be the first to answer Sarah's posted question on Archimedes Forgets, and you'll win an autographed copy of North of Beautiful.

Here's a tidbit from our chat:

Sarah: Did you start geocaching before it became one of Jacob's hobbies, or did it move from the book into the rest of your life?

Justina: Years ago, I had read about geocaching—high tech treasure hunting using a GPS—in an article. It later occurred to me that geocaching could be symbolic of Terra’s controlling mapmaker of a father who tries to box her into a grid and the boy who uses maps to break open her world. So in the name of research, I bought a GPS, created an account at www.geocaching.com, and hauled my kids on an expedition. We were hooked!

To read the whole interview, please visit Sarah's blog at www.sarahrettger.blogspot.com.

NEXT UP

Feb 5, Thursday
Bibliophile with Jennifer Rothschild
www.tushuguan.blogspot.com

Feb 6, Friday
Teen Book Review with Jocelyn Pearce
www.teenbookreview.wordpress.com

North of Beautiful Blog Stop: Shelf Elf

New postergirl for readergirlz, Shelf Elf, is hosting me on the second stop of my North of Beautiful Book Blog tour. Be the first to answer Shelf Elf's posted question, and you'll win an autographed copy of North of Beautiful.

Here's a tidbit from our chat:

Shelf Elf: Your novel is a bit like Terra's artwork, since it is almost a "story-collage" of rich and surprising subjects: port-wine stains, geocaching, the art of coffee tasting, cartography and international adoption. I'm interested to understand how you began to make a story out of all of those topics.

Justina: North of Beautiful is a patchwork quilt of several epic journeys. (Read: several manuscripts that never came to fruition.) So much research I’ve done over the years for other potential stories finally made it into a book! For instance, I had been working on a non-fiction book eight years ago and interviewed the coffee buyer for Starbucks, Mary Williams.

To read the whole interview, please visit Shelf Elf's blog at www.shelfelf.wordpress.com.

NEXT UP
Feb 4, Wednesday
Archimedes Forgets with Sarah Rettger
www.sarahrettger.blogspot.com

Feb 5, Thursday
Bibliophile with Jennifer Rothschild
www.tushuguan.blogspot.com

Feb 6, Friday
Teen Book Review with Jocelyn Pearce
www.teenbookreview.wordpress.com

NORTH OF BEAUTIFUL: Book Party on Feb 1!

Please celebrate my third novel, North of Beautiful today when it hits the shelves. What better way to celebrate than a party?

Where: Barnes & Noble in Bellevue, WA, 626 106th Ave. NE, (425) 451-8464

Why: North of Beautiful, of course!

When: Sunday, February 1, 3-5 p.m.

If you can’t make it to the party, but still want the book, pop into your favorite bookstore or order it from www.bn.com, www.amazon.com, and www.indiebound.org. Drop me an email at justina [at] justinachenheadley [dot] com by Feb. 14, and I’ll snail mail you an autographed bookplate.

Tell the world what True Beauty really means!

Just shoot a 90-second video describing what’s truly beautiful to you—your friends, your family, your world, your favorite book, yourself!

Load your video on YouTube and you could win great prizes, including a cool iPod Touch! PLUS, Justina will donate $10 for every uploaded video (up to $1,000) to Global Surgical Outreach to help fund facial surgeries for kids in the third world.

Here's what to do:

1. Shoot your 90-second video and post on YouTube.

2. Send a link to north [at] marthabee [dot] com and we'll upload it to the North of Beautiful channel.

3. Get your friends to vote on your video!

4. Check out all the rules on Justina's website!

www.youtube.com/northofbeautiful