Have you ever been super excited about something? Counting down the days or the sleeps until a birthday, or Christmas, or a special holiday?    If you have then you’ll understand what I’m feeling at the moment, as I count down the days (and the sleeps) until my new book Worse Things comes out on  May 1.

Let’s pause for a moment and gaze admiringly at the amazing cover, created by illustrator Sarah Davis and the amazing team at Walker Books Australia.

Worse Things is my fourth verse novel, and so as I thought about fun ways to prepare for, and celebrate, its release, I wondered if I could also somehow celebrate the first three. See, it’s been 11 years since the first one,  Pearl Verses the World was released, 10 years since Toppling and six years since Roses are Blue. So you might not have even been alive when the first one was published and, if you were and you have read it, it might have been quite some time ago.

So, here’s my plan. In the weeks leading up to Worse Things’ release, I’m going to have a read-along of the other three – one each week. What’s a read-along I hear you ask? It’s when lots of people (well, I’m crossing my fingers there’ll be lots) read the same book at the same time and talk about it.

How will we talk about it? I’ll be posting each day here on my blog, and answering questions here; I’ll also be running a Facebook live each week on my author page and again  you can drop in and ask questions – live. But that’s driven by me. I’m also asking you to talk about the book – through chatting on my social media or, in any other way, including your own Instagram, other social media, or blog. I’ll share more ideas in the lead up.

So, how can you get involved?

1. Grab a copy of one or more of the books. You might already own a copy, and, if you’re in Australia, there’s a good chance your school library of local library will have a copy. If you’d like to buy copies, pop into your local bookshop, or they are available online. American readers, if you’d prefer there are US editions of  Pearl Verses the World and Toppling, and UK readers, although the titles are different, Pearl and John and Dom are the same books inside.
2. Follow my page on Facebook. This is not my personal page where I post what I had for breakfast, but my author page where I share stuff about my books, my writing, and other reading related stuff. You can also follow me on Instagram or on Twitter.
3. If you are a teacher with a class who reads one of my books during this time, I have a few slots available for Skype sessions and, in Perth, a few slots for class visits, to chat directly about one of the books. Contact me to discuss.
4. If you have a blog or podcast and would like to chat about one of the books, or run some other cool related thing, again, let me know.
5. Get ready to hashtag. The hashtag for the whole event will be #readwithsally. To talk about one specific book, you can also use these: Pearl Verses the World #pearlvworld,  Toppling #toppling , Roses are Blue #blueroses and  Worse Things #worsethings.
6. If all of this is too much, I’d love if you’d just cheer me (and my books) on from the sidelines, even if quietly. Launching a new book is exciting but it’s also a tiny bit terrifying, so every little bit of goodwill helps!

Thanks for reading this far and thanks in advance for celebrating with me and whatever way you can. Drop back soon to see what else I have planned. In the meantime, I’d love you to comment and tell me about a time when you were counting down the days till something exciting.