Happy Birthday Girl

Whenever I think about turning 30, I immediately think of Friends and The One Where They All Turn 30:




I also think about the movie 13 Going On 30. "30, flirty and thriving!"




There isn't much about turning this milestone age that has me freaked out. I love birthdays too much to have any negative feelings over it. The only thing that seems weird to me is that now, for the first time in my life, I will have to look at the next age group in Bazaar's "Fabulous At Any Age".

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I know a lot of people make goals when they have birthdays and list things they want to accomplish. Well, I want to do something a little different. I'm going to tell you what I've accomplished already:

*I've played the clarinet for a majority of my life.
*I still play in an orchestra and recently started playing bassoon in a band.
*I played in Carnegie Hall in 2001.
*I coached a swim team for five straight summers. The most difficult and most rewarding job ever.
*I graduated from UMW in 2002.
*I got a masters degree in 2008.
*I get along with my family...like freakishly well.
*All of my baby cousins know me.
*I did a fashion photo shoot for my brother's store and some of the pics actually look good!
*I am not selfish**
*I taught middle school band as a long-term sub and didn't kill anyone (including myself).
*I own every Brad Pitt movie there is.
*I can make people laugh.
*I played tennis in high school even though I got cut the first time I tried out.
*I played with the Air Force Band once in high school.
*I have a lot of friends.
*I've seen a gazillion bands live.
*I've spoken Spanish in Puerto Rico.
*I am happy
*etc.
*etc.
*etc.

So yeah, yay for me!

XO,
SVR





*So not a fluke I chose this cover:)
**Of course I am sometimes! "Sometimes" is key.

Linger

I absolutely loved Shiver and recommend it to everyone!


In Maggie Stiefvater's Shiver, Grace and Sam found each other.  Now, in Linger, they must fight to be together. For Grace, this means defying her parents and keeping a very dangerous secret about her own well-being. For Sam, this means grappling with his werewolf past . . . and figuring out a way to survive into the future. Add into the mix a new wolf named Cole, whose own past has the potential to destroy the whole pack.  And Isabelle, who already lost her brother to the wolves . . . and is nonetheless drawn to Cole.

At turns harrowing and euphoric, Linger is a spellbinding love story that explores both sides of love -- the light and the dark, the warm and the cold -- in a way you will never forget.

Comes out in stores everywhere July 20th. Pre-order here.

Enter to win an advanced review copies of LINGER, Sisters Red, The Dead-Tossed Waves, and The Replacement on Maggie's blog.