A Gift From Emily B.

Auntie Em I've never been very good at birthdays. My cards and best wishes tend to always be at least a little bit belated. So it's no surprise that I'm two days late in wishing Emily Bronte a happy 196th birthday. But my wishes are no less sincere. Especially since she's the one who has given me a present: There it was in my mailbox over the weekend, a box of the new paperback edition of Catherine , my Young Adult novel inspired by Wuthering Heights , looking every bit as spiffy as I could have hoped. (It hits the bookstores on August 19th and is available for preorder now at Barnes and Noble and BAM! ) So happy birthday, Emily Bronte, and thanks for the inspiration. You may be almost two hundred years old, but in my heart you'll never be a Brontesaurus.