Erin Soderberg Downing's Blog

Woo hoo! It's done. My very first romantic comedy for adults is here, and you really should go and buy it! (If you're an adult, that is. There is some mature content, so don't get this one if you're into my tween books. Seriously, you would not enjoy it.)

CHEATING ON MYSELF is a novel I've been working on for the last few years, and now it's finally available for YOU to buy and read and recommend to all your friends. I really hope women everywhere love this one. Please let me know what you think if you read it!

Here's the description:

What happens when good enough just isn't enough anymore?

Stella Dahl assumed her life was as good as it was ever going to get. But after twelve years with a man who's more a habit than husband material, she walks out on her bland existence, determined to start over. Goaded by her friends and a group of crass retirees she befriends at water aerobics, Stella plunges back into the dating pool. After a few false starts, she meets Joe, the sexy banjo player in a popular children's band. He's cocky, a smirking flirt, and a musician...everything she's not looking for in a guy. Even still, she begins to fall - hard.

Just when Stella is beginning to think she could find true happiness, a family tragedy turns her world upside down. As she tries to hold together everything that's crumbling around her, Stella starts slipping back into old habits - and away from Joe. Soon, she begins to wonder: Is she really destined for anything more than a life that's good enough?

For fans of Jennifer Weiner and Kristan Higgins, Cheating on Myself is a touching, laugh-out-loud romantic comedy about starting over and finding your happily ever after.

It's been just over two years since my last YA romance (Kiss It) was published. Now, I can finally announce my next YA romance - a novel that I'm over-the-moon excited about. NONE OF THE REGULAR RULES is a story I've been working on for about a year and a half. It's a novel with sexy romance, great friendships, troubling families, and difficult choices. In my opinion, it's the best YA novel I've ever written. And the cover....oh, the cover. Thanks to Vania Stoyanova at VLC Productions for a gorgeous photo and design!

NONE OF THE REGULAR RULES will be published as an e-book exclusive sometime in the next few weeks. I decided to publish this book as an e-book, because the majority of my YA sales have been online in the last few years - I apologize to any of my readers who don't have e-readers or phones without book apps. I don't want to exclude anyone, but I'm trying something different this time and hoping for the best!

If you are an e-book reviewer/blogger and would me to send you a review copy of the book, please be in touch via email (erin at erindowning.com). I'd be happy to get you a copy.

And please visit my website for a free preview of the first three chapters now! www.erindowning.com/none.html.

I've read a lot of books this year. Way more than I thought I would, given that I had a full-time job most of the year, I had/have full-time kids, and met two big writing deadlines. But even in a busy year, I find that I go in spurts, sometimes reading nothing for months (usually while I'm in the midst of writing a first draft) and sometimes reading four books in a week (when I finish a first draft). This year was that kind of year. I read some real duds (in fact, for the first time in my life, I closed up a few books after only a few chapters), but I also read a few superstars. These were the most notable highlights of my year - I may be forgetting some great ones, but these are the books that really stand out:

Perfect Chemistry - Simone Elkeles
This was recommended to me by readers of my own books, and I'm so glad I took the advice to read it. Perfect Chemistry is one of my favorite books of all time. I wrote a blog post about it here.

The DUFF - Kody Keplinger
With the abundance of paranormal teen fiction, I haven't been reading as much contemporary realistic fiction and this book arrived on my night stand just when I needed it the most. I'd been reading too much un-funny paranormal whining, and this book about a smart, sassy girl and her perfectly ordinary (no superpowers) romance saved me from dying a humorless paranormal death.

Before I Fall - Lauren Oliver
This book was gorgeous. I loved the real characters, beautiful imagery, and exceptional plotting. Books never live up to the hype for me, but this one did and then some.

Dirty Little Secrets - CJ Omololu
This book had me hooked like no other book has in a long, long time. The story was so touching and shocking and riveting that I stayed up way too late to finish it.

Hex Hall - Rachel Hawkins
Hilarious, silly, and flirty. This was the first book I begged my new Disney-Hyperion editor to send me when they bought (my book) ECLIPSED earlier in the year, and this is one of the big reasons I'm proud to now be a Hyperion author. Rachel Hawkins is "amazeballs."

On the Jellicoe Road - Melina Marchetta
This is the kind of book that really intimidates you as an author. It's such a well-written, intricate story with amazing emotional depth - there was sometimes a little too much angst, but the romance was so touching that I overlooked it.

I also read the first-draft of Robin Wasserman's Book of Blood and Shadow, which will make the 2012 best-of list. And sometime before the year is out I will buy and read Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins, and suspect it will make this list as well, but for now, these are my 2010 highlights. What am I missing??