Prairie Brat Fights Back!

Guess what you can buy this very minute if you want to?

TADA!

It’s my Nellie Oleson book! By ME!

Remember Little House on the Prairie? Remember Laura’s arch-nemesis, rich little Nellie Oleson, with her perfect blond curls and her stuck-up expression and her parents’ store full of candy she could eat anytime she wanted?

Well, this is her story.

She might not have lived out in the middle of the open prairie in a house her Pa built with his bare hands, but she was a pioneer girl, too! And it isn’t as easy as it sounds to be the prettiest, richest girl in town…especially when a smart, sassy new girl shows up and steals all your friends. Plus, of course, there’s Nellie’s bratty little brother, a devastating plague of grasshoppers, and…THE LEECHES!

Anyway, I totally loved writing it, so I hope people like reading it! If you’ve read On the Banks of Plum Creek and are curious about the other side of the story, check it out. And here’s the link to the Harper page with a little more information. I also answered some interview questions about Nellie for Harper, so hopefully you’ll be able to find those there soon!

Yes, this one’s under a pseudonym, too, so you can find it next to “Wilder” on the bookshelf. “Williams” is the college I went to, and “Heather” is my sister’s middle name (my own, Tamara, was deemed too exotic — as if!), so there you go. Yay Nellie!

This means I should really update the homepage with all my new books, doesn’t it? Especially since Avatars 2 will also be out right before the wedding. DEAR OH DEAR! But I have programs and place cards and favors to make!

Plus we’re still waiting for 50 more RSVP’s. FIFTY! Yes, yes, I know, we gave them until the 15th to respond, but I run to the door every day at 2pm to get the mail, and today there weren’t ANY at ALL, which was MOST SAD. You know who hasn’t RSVP’d yet? MOM. I know! Dude! Hey, Mom, are you coming to the wedding? DON’T YOU WANT TO SEND BACK YOUR RSVP? I mean, I can’t put you in the spreadsheet until I have it (oh, yes, there are many, many spreadsheets, believe me). And I don’t know which entrée you want! Do you want me to just GUESS? (“Mom will have the All Brussels Sprouts entrée, please.”)

I mean, really, people who love us. Stop torturing the bride! The mail is the most exciting part of our day, unless Mad Men is on, in which case it’s the second-most-exciting part! Send back your RSVP tout suite!

And for those of you who have sent it back already, I love you madly, and you may have extra sprinkles on your sundae bar sundae at the reception. Did I say sundae bar? OH YES I DID!

That’ll make up for lame programs and place cards and favors, right?

OK, now I’ve made myself nervous, so I’d better go accomplish something. I hope you all had a wonderful Labor Day weekend! We spent it picking a father-daughter dance, arguing over whether my new favorite song (“Whine Up” by Kat DeLuna) is “girl music” (but Sabra and Neil danced hip-hop to it! doesn’t that automatically put it in a different category from “Heaven is a Place on Earth”? I THINK SO), and building a chuppah (hahaha! OK, correction: I spent it watching other lovely people, such as my fabulous brother-in-law, build me a chuppah). Yay!

More soon…

Quote of the Day:
Nellie Oleson: What’s so secretive?
Laura: Nothing.
Nellie Oleson: Whispering’s rude!
Laura: So is listening in on the people who are doing it!
— Little House on the Prairie TV show