Across the World Tour: The Laura Part of LiLa

What Is All This?

To celebrate the launch of Across the Universe on 1-11-11, we're going Across the World with guest posts of adventures from all over the world! This is all a part of the Across the World Tour. First, read the world adventure below. Then, click through to the adventurer's blog to find a letter.

Why a letter? Because the letters--when unscrambled--form a password. And the password opens up the secret page (LOOK for it above). And on the secret page is lots of goodies--secret information about the origins of the book, hidden Easter eggs, and...a entry form to win a prize of a signed ARC of Across the Universe, star swag, and MORE.

Today's Adventurer


I know you've heard of LiLa. LiLa is the abbreviation for Lisa and Laura Roecker. These girls are the fantastic sisters behind the blog Laura and Lisa Write (isn't that the cutest background?) and they are a part of the uber-generous WriteOnCon. Oh, yeah, AND they are the joint minds behind the new 2011 YA mystery novel, THE LIAR SOCIETY. Hey, guess what. I've read this novel. AND IT IS AWESOME. You will not guess the end. I guarantee it. THE LIAR SOCIETY is "a quick-witted mystery starring a private-school sleuth with attitude and pearls who receives an email from her dead best friend" and will be available in March from Sourcebooks Fire.

This line from their bio is so great I have to steal it word for word: "Laura watched Lisa read by nightlight and fell in love with books because her big sister said she should." Isn't that sweet? Laura got a degree in Middle Childhood Education, and I envy all her students.

Laura in Australia

The summer after graduating from college, my parents surprised me with a ticket to visit my then boyfriend (now husband) in Australia. He “studied” in Sydney for 6 months with a direct view of Bondi Beach. In one word, the trip was heaven.

I remember being annoyed with my boyfriend during the 5 month separation (for multiple reasons) but pics of him with newly shaggy hair and his use of all sorts of strange Australianisms borderline put me over the edge. When he picked me up at the airport, I almost didn’t recognize him. My boyfriend had been replaced with a thin, tan, long-haired surfer-dude. It was kind of scary. But I quickly learned how easy it was to embrace the culture of Australia. Everything was so refreshingly laid back. Grocery stores stocked five choices of cereal as opposed to 50, stores closed early in the evening, dads in business suits picked kids up from school, bare fee t were permitted everywhere. It was clear that Australians worked to live as opposed to lived to work. They helped me realize that there’s so much more to life than a paycheck. I guess being a few steps away from Bondi Beach will do that to a girl.

On one of our adventures, we traveled to Daydream Island in the Great Barrier Reef. I’m not gonna lie. I kind of looked like a child-bride on her honeymoon, but the trip was amazing. We saw kangaroos in the wild, visited Whitehaven Beach where the sand felt like stepping on clouds, snorkeled for the first time and imagined getting married at the chapel. We felt like actual grownups and I loved every second of it.

My last adventure before leaving was learning how to surf. It’s funny because now I’ll barely step foot in the ocean because I’m so much more afraid of the unknown—rip currents, big waves, getting eaten by a shark. But it didn’t even cross my mind then. We suited up, paddled out on boards and gave it a whirl. I was terrible. I never actually stood for longer than a second, but I laughed so hard my stomach hurt and I guess that’s all that matters.

It took a lot of convincing to get me home. I changed my plane ticket a few times, but eventually boarded for the ridonkulous 20+ hour voyage back to the states and back to reality. I absolutely love living near my family and being a thirty minute drive from my sisters, but if my husband proposed a move to Australia, I think it’d be pretty hard to turn down. If nothing else, we’re hoping to one day relive our adventure down under. And when we do, I’ll have someone to meet for coffee! Catherine Drayton, our agent, lives and works from Sydney. I can’t imagine why…

Go Across the Blogosphere!

The adventure's not over yet! Go to LiLa's site to find the first letter in the password to the secret page. Collect all the letters in the first two weeks of November for a chance to win a signed ARC, star-swag, and pin-buttons!