Crazy Little Thing Called Love

I’m so crazy-excited about Corey Ann Haydu’s upcoming novel Life By Committee, that I even blurbed it. It’s not out until next month (May), but here’s what you’re going to get when it does arrive on shelves:

Secret: I kissed someone else’s boyfriend.
Assignment: Do it again.

Like most who find Life by Committee, Tabitha is a little lost. Her best friend has ditched her, her Vermont town is feeling way too small, and she’s falling head over heels for a guy named Joe—who already has a girlfriend. Just when Tab is afraid she’ll burst from keeping the secret of Joe inside, she discovers Life by Committee. The rules of LBC are simple: Tell a secret, receive an assignment. Complete the assignment to keep your secret safe.

Tab likes that the assignments push her to her limits, empowering her to live boldly and go further than she’d ever go on her own. But in the name of truth and bravery, how far is too far to go? Perfect for fans of E. Lockhart and Jennifer E. Smith, Life by Committee is a fresh, vibrant novel about the power of wanting, the messiness of friendship, and the truths we hide and share.

It is a fantastic, honest, surprising book, and I know you are going to love it. I had a terrific conversation with Corey when her book OCD Love Story came out, so as the final post in the ongoing Criminal conversations this month, I asked her to talk about the craziest thing she’s done for love. As usual, she surprised and delighted me with her masterful response:

25 Things I’ve Done for Love:

1. Changed out of a skirt that he deemed too slutty.
2. Stayed home on NYC Saturday nights waiting for a phone call back in the days when phone calls were things you had to stay at home and wait for.
3. Not eaten.
4. Eaten everything.
5. Gone to see The Lord of the Rings on opening night.
6. Left the Upper East Side studio apartment with marble pink walls and a slanted floor.
7. Stood in the playground during recess with a dopey grin on my face, blushing while he wished me a happy birthday.
8. Gone mute after being wished a happy birthday.
9. Thrown my keys on the ground in a middle of a fight that hurt too much.
10. Thrown my phone on the ground in the middle of a fight that hurt too much.
11. Thrown my hair dryer on the ground in a middle of a fight that hurt too much.
12. Used my best friend’s Facebook account to check on his relationship status after we broke up and I blocked him.
13. Lied about staying at a friend’s house when I actually was staying at his house because his parents were away and the idea of being alone in a house overnight was too powerful to give up.
14. Said no to a summer in Vermont.
15. Said no to two years in Oregon.
16. Gone to Oregon for too many weeks.
17. Taken a lot of trains to Pennsylvania.
18. Driven in a friend’s car without a license in the middle of the school day to spend time together.
19. Stopped talking to anyone after ten at night because he said so.
20. Stopped talking to anyone after I talked to him at night because he said so.
21. Stopped going to holiday parties because he said so.
22. Listened to “The Boy I’m Gonna Marry” on repeat on the subway from the Upper East Side to Soho every day for a month.
23. Listened to “Gives You Hell” on repeat walking my dog around Prospect Park every day for two months.
24. Become a different person.
25. Become the person I was before I tried to become a different person.