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(Roman Holiday’s THE LONG WAY HOME, my anthem and TRACKED’s theme song, btw.)

This past week has been amazing, and I’ve been heartened by all the well wishes about TRACKED, but something’s been gnawing at me.

I didn’t do this alone.

I wrote a book, sure. I set out on a journey, but all along the way, there were people who picked me up when I fell down or got insufferably weary or couldn’t see my way through. There were people who carried me.

• My husband, Chris, who always, always encouraged my crazy dream and put strong arms around me, protecting me from the relentless monster of self-doubt. When I thought about giving up, he bought me a Macbook and Scrivener. When I vowed to quit, the week before I sold, he told me I couldn’t, no way, no how.
• My incredible agent Sara Crowe, who is tireless and responsive and so capable and kind. She is my champion, a true rock star agent who believed in me even when I couldn’t.
• My editor Heather Alexander, the fiercely cool Penguin who saw something in Phee, my Han Solo girl, and took a chance on her.
• My best friends Caron and Rosemary and Candy and Sally and Alex and Kate and Amber, and everyone at DFW Workshop who read book after book and who were never too busy to encourage or spur me on.
• My family, who didn’t laugh when I said I wanted to be a writer, especially my father, who’s been with me the whole way, vicariously chasing the dream, getting just as choked up as his sentimental daughter.
• My writing friends, online and off, who have been comrades in arms–Kendra and Bryan and Erin and April and Claire and Jamie and PJ and Janet and Julie and Lindsay and the Austin Girls and the Houston Horde and the DC Mafia so many, many more. If you’re reading this, the odds are good that you belong on this list, too. I haven’t forgotten that.
• My first agent, Mary, who taught me so much, when I was just an embryo writer, still trying to find my voice.
• Lastly, the infamous, mercurial Mr. Happenstance, who taught me that a good deal of luck–finding the right person at the right time–can make all the difference.

Thank you. Thank you for kicking me in the butt and inspiring me with your brilliance and saying kind things and tweeting me up. I can’t tell you enough how grateful and lucky that makes me feel. You’ve allowed me to be ridiculous and maudlin and silly, and now I get to celebrate and give you presents! So stay tuned, people of awesome, because I am already cooking up a MONSTER GIVEAWAY with lots of insanely rad prizes–a menagerie of carefully curated ‘must haves’ I know you’ll wantsssss, PRECIOUSSSSSS.

Until then, tell me. I’d love to hear about the people who carry YOU.

I’m certainly not unique in declaring that I’m an enormous fan of Audrey Hepburn.    I feel like I’ve grown up with her.  First, at 11 years old, when I was introduced to her by way of Funny Face.

Then again in high school when I watched Roman Holiday for the first time and felt that there really wasn’t a more perfect ending in all of Hollywood than the ending of that movie.

Breakfast at Tiffany’s was next, inevitably.  As an adult, I found Wait Until Dark and it had me looking over my shoulder for weeks.

Fast forward to today and I have the pleasure of telling you all about JUST BEING AUDREY, a picture book biography of Audrey Hepburn, on-sale today.  Written by Margaret Cardillo and illustrated by Julia Denos, this follows Audrey’s life from her childhood in war-torn Europe to her film career through her role as a UNICEF ambassador.  Here is a lovely example of the interior text and art (though it doesn’t do the gorgeous spreads justice, of course):

In addition to checking out JUST BEING AUDREY, I’d recommend the movies Funny Face and My Fair Lady to get kids started on Audrey’s legacy.

And don’t forget to “like” the JUST BEING AUDREY fan page on Facebook: share your favorite Audrey Hepburn movie and enter to win a signed print and a copy of the book!  Winner will be chosen at random this Friday.  (And make sure to read others’ responses – they’re entertaining and fun!)