July Theme: Baby, You're a Firework! (Lisa Graff)

I love watching fireworks on the 4th of July. Always have, ever since I was a little kid. They are colorful and pretty and a little bit scary, and the best part is, they come just once a year. It's my favorite sort of celebration.

Authors don't always get a lot of chances for Big Celebrations. Even when one of our books is finally published (the most exciting event in any author's career!), we don't get fancy movie premieres, like actors or directors do. We have to make our own fireworks. That's why I'm such a big fan of the book launch party. It's a chance for friends and family to come together, eat yummy food, drink (a little too much?) wine, and simply celebrate the fact that a new book exists in the world and that, yeah, that's a pretty wonderful thing.

This month I* was lucky enough to have a book party of my own--with my co-author, Martin Leicht, that is--for our brand new book, MOTHERSHIP. (Now available at a bookstore near you!) The book is super-goofy and fun, about a 16-year-old girl in the year 2074 who--because she is (whoops!) pregnant--is forced to spend her junior year of high school at the Hanover School for Expecting Teen Mothers . . . which just happens to be in space.

The party took place at Books of Wonder in New York City, which is one of my favorite bookstores ever. And boy, do they know how to throw a party! We went all out with three kinds of cupcakes . . .

. . . with a pregnancy theme to them . . .

We had several friends, both of our agents, and our fabulous editor help us read/act out a scene from the book, and we had a science-fiction and pregnancy-themed trivia contest, where we gave out some awesome prizes. (Who wouldn't want a DVD of Alien or Juno??) And of course there were lots of books involved . . .

Probably the best part, though, was getting to see so many friends and family, and sharing the spotlight with my partner-in-crime, Martin. Here we are signing books together . . .

The night couldn't have gone any better, even if it had ended with actual fireworks. A big thanks to everybody who came!

*Since I typically write middle-grade fiction, I decided to use a pen name, Isla Neal, for this book, which is the first in a young adult sci-fi trilogy. You can find my blog post about the decision here.


P.S. Check out our super-awesome book trailer! (And, if you feel so compelled, "like" the Mothership fan page on Facebook, for updates and giveaways.)