The Tell Me a Secret secrets

When Holly Cupala asked a number of writers to share a secret to help celebrate the launch of her engrossing first novel, Tell Me a Secret, I said (because I adore this woman) sure, having zero idea what I might actually say when the recording light of my computer eye went on.

Something, in the end, got said, a small secret revealed, but far, far better in this secret-revealing video are the pearly somethings unveiled by writers ranging from Melissa Walker to Lisa Yee.  Check it out.

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Tell Me a Secret/Holly Cupala: Reflections

Bad girls are never bad girls to begin with; maybe it's not fair to bullet them bad at all. They are girls who grow up taking risks and diverging, girls who don't trail down expected paths. They leave questions behind, and secrets, always.  They leave parents and sisters and boyfriends.

With her engrossing, fast-moving debut novel, Tell Me a Secret, Holly Cupala (a most cherished readergirlz) pulls back the curtains on the life a so-called "bad girl" named Xanda left behind—the vacancies that erupt, the questions that go unanswered, the growing up that has now been left to Xanda's younger sister, Rand.  Rand is an artist, she's smart, she's a good soul.  She's also pregnant and confused, suddenly running with the wrong crowd, not sure who she can trust, who she can turn to.  High school can savage a girl with self-doubt, and savages abound in this well-drawn cast of characters.  Rand finds allies in the most unexpected places. She learns, too, to trust herself.

Cupala has a terrific knack for capturing the bang and bruise of the high school in-crowd, not to mention the terrible power of gossip.  She keeps her story ratcheting forward but never at the expense of character development.  She delivers, with Tell Me a Secret, a high-octane tale.  It's going to have people talking all summer.

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Juarez and Secret Angels

In a March 23rd article in the Christian Science Monitor, Sara Miller Llana wrote of a father named Adrian Cadena whose son was one of the 15 murdered in Juarez in January, while attending a birthday party. Adrian's son had hoped to play soccer, Llana writes, in college. Today his dad, living through his grief, "has put his energy into volunteering for the local team, cleaning parks, and raising money through barbecues and carwashes" in an attempt to help those who remain. "There are thousands of boys left behind," the author quotes Mr. Cadena. "We have to focus on the survivors."

Juarez, one of the bloodiest cities in the world, sits opposite El Paso, one of the most peaceful cities in the states. It is home to children like the gorgeous one pictured here. It deserves its cessation from a chaos spawned by warring drug cartels. It deserves our attention.

Today I would like to thank two angels who are helping to spread word about a book I wrote based on a trip I took to Juarez five years ago. The first is Holly Cupala, whose novel (and the early buzz is great), Tell Me a Secret, is due out from HarperCollins in June. She interviewed me about the making of Heart; the conversation is here.

The second person I'd like to thank is the secret agent angel who has set up a Facebook Fan page for Heart. She knows who she is. We'd love you to hop on board so that you'll get early news of coming contests, reviews, and content.

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