Hey, girls! I’m starting a new feature here on my blog called “Question of the Week.” As you know, I’m not able to answer every letter I receive, although I do read them all! Since girls often ask similar questions in Dear Luna, I’m going to answer common questions here in my blog, which will get girls the answers they need even when I can’t respond to individual letters. Remember, the best place to go with technical questions is help@newmoon.com, and the best place to go for advice is Ask a Girl.

Today’s question is: When will the new stickers and avatars be available on New Moon?

I know girls are excited about the possibility of new stickers and avatars, and you’ve submitted some beautiful artwork! When our editors find a sticker or avatar submission on the site, they save it and send it to our engineers, who make the drawing useable on the site as a sticker or avatar. Our engineering team is small, though, and our list for them is very long! Their highest priority is making sure the site continues to work well for our users. Making new stickers and avatars is like a “bonus” project for when other projects are finished. Because we can’t predict exactly what will come up on the site for our engineers to work on in the future, we can’t predict exactly when new stickers and avatars will be released, either. But we haven’t forgotten, and our editors will continue to collect your submissions! (To learn how to submit a sticker or avatar, click here).

Some other common questions:

Why did you put photos on the covers?

Why are there so many mentions of the website in the magazine?

What can I do if I’m having trouble with Girl2Girl Talk?

Tonight I chatted with girls in Luna’s Chatterbox. I love having the chance to talk with girls in RealTime! If you missed the chat, you can read part of the transcript to get caught up. Also, check the chat calendar to see when I’ll be chatting with girls again!

We have so many great chats lined up this week! Tomorrow night, we’ll be chatting with Rachel Simmons about her new research and book, The Curse of the Good Girl. She’ll be talking about how being “nice” can sometimes be harmful to girls. Rachel has also written about girl bullying in her book, Odd Girl Out. You can read New Moon Girl member Sofia’s review here. But that’s not all — on Thursday, we’ll be chatting with Pulitzer-Prize-winning author Jane Smiley about her new book for girls, The Georges and the Jewels. Check out these chats and more in Luna’s Chatterbox!

Happy autumn!

Today, September 22, is the autumnal equinox. The autumnal equinox marks the halfway point between the summer solstice (the longest day of the year) and the winter solstice (the shortest day of the year). On the autumnal equinox, the lengths of the day and of the night are exactly the same. Many people also consider September 22 the official start of autumn.

People around the world celebrate the autumnal equinox, usually as a way to welcome the harvest. The first full moon after the equinox is known as the “harvest moon,” since farmers would often harvest all night long by the moon’s light. Another tradition started by the equinox is setting scarecrows out in the fall; some ancient religions created these “straw men” to represent the God of the Harvest.

How will YOU welcome autumn? You may want to drink hot apple cider, build a scarecrow, or work on your Halloween costume. Also, check out some great autumn poetry by New Moon Girls members Maggie, Ivy, Abigail, and Rane/Jane. And if autumn is NOT your favorite season, you may sympathize with Anne’s poem, “Down with Autumn,” or Haley’s poem, “Autumn Beast.” Love it or hate it—share your views on NewMoon.com!

Tonight moderators Lacey and Shari hosted a chat in Luna’s Chatterbox with Elizabeth Walters, author of  “A Letter in the Mail” — the Body Language article about periods for the September/October issue of New Moon Girls magazine.  Girls came to the chat with their questions about puberty, and Elizabeth answered as many of them as she could. If you weren’t able to make it to the chat, you can read the transcript here. You can also ask your questions about puberty at the Body and Feelings message board on NewMoon.com. Remember — ALL questions are OK, and if you’re wondering something, other girls probably are, too. We love it when you speak up!