The #RT16 YA Spooky Slumber Party is about to start! Will I see you there? ?
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The RT16 YA Spooky Slumber Party
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Category Archives: Events
YA Book-tionary at RT16
This should be such a fun event! I can’t wait for April!
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More from the #RHSLitFest!
More from the #RHSLitFest! The whole day at Riverdale has been full of meeting fun students with interesting questions and wonderful art! Can’t wait for day two tomorrow!
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Hanging out with Kyle Prue!
Hanging out with @kyleprueofficial at the #RHSLitFest! Great to be back at Riverdale High School again.
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Look at all the great GMSYAC16 authors!
Look at all the great #GMSYAC16 authors that #DeadlySweetLies is hanging out with! Such a great time visiting this school! ?
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Website News and Changes
I updated SO MANY THINGS on my site today. I added a bunch of events I’m going to be attending in 2015, posted all of the deleted scenes that were part of last month’s blog tour (plus one extra), and updated a bunch of links that weren’t working right! Go me!
Also, for those who may notice, I have redirected what was once thedreamwarsaga.com to my author site because I was getting very bad at keeping both sites up to date on…well, anything really. If you try to go to any page on thedreamwarsaga.com, it’ll shoot you over to the main page of my site. GOOD NEWS THOUGH! Literally everything that was posted on that site is now included on my main author page. I think this makes it easier on me and you. Hopefully you agree.
And that’s it! I’m going to sleep now.
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Halloween Book Trail
Welcome to the next stop on The Woods trail of Zoraida Córdova’s Halloween Book Trail! I got to answer some fun questions about Halloween and desert islands and fear and all sorts of things. Check it out here and then continue on your journey through The Woods!
If your MC went trick or treating, what would they dress up as and why?
The last time Mariella went trick or treating it was in sixth grade. She and K.T. teamed up and they went as Antony (Mariella) and Cleopatra (K.T.). They made pretty much everyone treat them like royalty all week and everyone called them Tony and Cleo for the rest of the year.
Hudson didn’t go trick or treating much as a kid, but J.R. thought Halloween was amazing. The October before J.R. died, Hudson took him trick or treating for the first time. J.R. dressed up like Hulk—Hudson even painted the kid entirely green for the occasion—and he picked out Thor for Hudson. Since Hudson’s hair is so short, J.R. insisted on a wig. This insistence came in at the last minute so the only one Hudson could get was meant for young girls and was therefore too small for his head, too long, and had bangs. It looked ridiculous on him but it made J.R. happy and that was pretty much all that mattered anyway.
What scares the pants out of you?
Honestly, the intangible is more frightening to me than the tangible. And I’m not talking about ghosts. Spiders and heights and small, dark places are all less frightening to me than betrayal and abandonment. Those concepts and actions can do much longer lasting damage than a lot of other things worth being afraid of.
Do you legit believe in ghosts and things that bump in the night? (We won’t think you’re cray)
I’ve never seen anything, but yes! The universe is too vast and complex for there not to be things that we haven’t seen or can’t understand. What I don’t think is that any of it exists in the forms we have stories about. Vampires, werewolves, quasi-corporeal ghosts, etc. all may be based in something real, but most of that probably comes from the collective imaginations of humanity. Speaking of the human collective, the theory of universal consciousness is something I’m pretty much 100% sure is real.
If you were stranded on a deserted island or haunted house, what number are you to die and how?
Probably first. And it would be some stupid accident on my part or the fact that I exercise, like, never and am incapable of pulling myself up should I fall through broken floorboards or over a cliff or off a roof or something. Or, since I know nothing about shooting guns, I’ll misfire and hurt myself. Really, don’t trust me when things go to hell. I am not the person you want with you in a horror movie or zombie apocalypse or even on a deserted island.
What magical/supernatural creature do you secretly want to be?
I’ve never had an extremely strong desire to be a magical/supernatural/mythological creature (it seems like the cons really outweigh the pros most of the time; I would possibly make an exception for having the Gift out of Tamora Pierce’s Tortall world), but there are a few I would have loved to meet and/or have. Pegasus has always fascinated me as have fairies (the tiny, spritely ones, not the evil, manipulative ones). What I’ve really always wanted, though, is a dæmon out of The Golden Compass. I would jump on a chance to visit that world and meet my dæmon in a heartbeat!
Want to continue on the trail? Next up is our fantastic hostess Zoraida Córdova! Visit her blog and study up! There will be a quiz. 😉
My uber busy release weekend!
Even though it’s kind of expected, I didn’t do an official launch party for the release of my debut novel Sing Sweet Nightingale. Instead, I had a whole release weekend of events! It was busy and crazy and so many levels of amazing I don’t even know how to describe it.
Plans for this weekend o’ awesome began last year when my editress Danielle Ellison warned me to block out the weekend of March 8th. “You’re going to be in Virginia,” she said. Since I had no reason to protest, I didn’t! I started making plans to join my editress, her bookstore One More Page, and the Arlington Central Library at Washington Lee High School in Arlington, Virginia for the inaugural NoVaTEEN Book Festival.
Turns out that it was going to be more than just the festival! On Friday, I joined Diana Peterfreund at Yorktown High School in Arlington, Virgina to talk to two different groups. Since this was my first ever school visit, I was really nervous, but it went so well! The kids were respectful and interested and they asked good questions. Lelia from One More Page Bookstore in Arlington coordinated the event for us and she was so sweet! All in all, it was a great morning.
Saturday was the main event, NoVaTEEN Book Festival at Washington Lee High School! It started with a keynote speech by the incredible Phyllis Reynolds Naylor at 10 and ended with a group signing at 4. In between were larger panels in the school’s auditorium and smaller sessions in several of the nearby classrooms. I joined Jon Skovron and Lea Nolan for a “breakout session” at 11 where we spent a lot of time discussing the different constructs of hell and then I got to sit back and listen to other people talk for a couple of hours before my own main-stage panel! At 3, I joined fellow debut author Elle Cosimano and veteran Victoria Schwab along with moderators Elisa Nader and Aimee Agresti for a discussion on Bad Boys and why they’re so amazingly attractive. I got to talk about my early love for the rogue George Cooper from Tamora Pierce’s Alanna series and what makes the difference between a bad boy and a villain. Somehow, I didn’t make a fool of myself, so I call the whole day a win!
Sunday, I headed to Alexandria, Virginia for a solo signing and talk at the cutest bookstore: Hooray for Books! During the event, we revealed the title for The Dream War Saga, book 2: Deadly Sweet Lies. The staff was fantastic and I hope I get to go back there soon!
And then, Monday, my mom, my uncle, and I spent the afternoon at the International Spy Museum while I played #iSpy with Marni Bates on Twitter. It was a blast!
So now, pictorial proof:
Arriving in DC!
It snowed a few days before we landed. This was all that was left when we arrived.
But my Uncle’s backyard looked a lok more wintery!
These are the FIRST finalized copies of SSN I ever saw! And they were at my Uncle’s house waiting for me!
Hanging out with my mom and my uncle in Maryland
Mom practicing piano at my Uncle’s house
When your mom comes with you on a school visit, you get pictures like this. Here I am arriving at Yorktown High! 😉
Another picture in front of Yorktown
The super-cool Diana Peterfreund joined me at Yorktown
Lelia from One More Page coordinated our visit for us and she was so sweet!
Talking to a class at Yorktown
More from Yorktown!
I’m thinking this was misplaced because I don’t see an exit O.O
In front of Washington Lee for NoVaTEEN!
Everyone thought this was fabulous!
I got to meet my Agent-Sister Elisa Nader! She’s wonderful <3
They got me gluten free pizza! Because they were so sweet
I got to hug these two during NoVaTEEN! Sarah Guillory and Danielle Ellison are two of my SHP loves <3
My book for sale at NoVaTEEN
Waiting for a panel to start during NoVaTEEN
At the end of the day was the Bad Boys panel
I got to share the stage with Elisa Nader, Elle Cosimano, Victoria Schwab, and Aimee Agresti
Signing after NoVaTEEN
I was so lucky my mom didn’t mind hanging out all day!
All of the authors who participated in NoVaTEEN. A GREAT group!
The authors and the organizers! Thank you for all your work!
Such a nice display set up at Hooray For Books!
I got my own little corner of the store at Hooray For Books
We revealed the title for book 2 at Hooray For Books: Deadly Sweet Lies
I was even in the window of the store!
The staff at Hooray For Books gave me a present! They were so sweet <3
Out to lunch before the Spy Museum!
We visited the Spy Museum on Monday at the recommendation of Marni Bates
The elevator makes you look EVIL!
Part of the Spy Museum. I bought a copy of this in the gift shop.
I also bought these in the gift shop. 😀
But that’s not all!
I flew home Tuesday morning, grabbed lunch, rushed to work, made my students write essays because I didn’t have anything else prepared for them, rushed home, jumped online, and did an hour-long live chat with the girls from Reading With Me! We gave away prizes and I answered a lot of questions. But don’t worry! Even if you missed the live event, you can still watch the whole video on YouTube! Or by clicking play on the video below:
Phew! Now I’m home and a little sad because all of those awesome things are over! But now I get to start working on my thriller work in progress again and then jump into edits on DEADLY, so I’m pretty sure I’ll be able to keep busy! 😉
I just want to say one last thank you to everyone who made this weekend so special. There’s far too many people to list individually, so just know that if I saw or spoke to you this weekend, you’re part of the list. Thank you so much! <3
More from BEA. This time with video evidence!
So many people weren’t able to come to see my cover reveal because New York is expensive and far away, but with technology, that doesn’t matter! I can bring my cover reveal to you!
This video is thanks to my lovely publishing-sister Joanne Rock. And, seriously, THANK YOU, JOANNE! I never think about recording moments like this until they’re long gone and then I wish for years that I had pictures or, better yet, video. Only thanks to my friends and family at Spencer Hill did I come away from this rather momentous day with anything to remember it by (other than a really cool poster!).
And now, unfortunately, back to the grind. My life is not nearly as glamorous as it looks in that video. 😉
Looking back at BEA2013
It’s been a week since I came back from New York, but my head and my heart are still wandering around Manhattan and jumping on the 3 to Brooklyn. I have an intense love for that city, so I hate leaving as much as I love visiting. Last week I posted about the two covers I now have and the pre-order information for the anthology containing your first peek into the world of The Dream War Saga, but I couldn’t bring myself to post about BEA. Thinking about it just reminded me that it was over. And that is sad. I told myself that I was waiting on a video of the reading portion of my cover reveal, but that’s a lie. Well, half lie. I am waiting on that, but it’s not like I can’t post without it. So I will. Now.
It wasn’t until 8 am the morning of my cover reveal that my editresses decided I would read. Seriously. They called me just before 8 that morning and said, “We thought it would be a good idea for you to read your first chapter.”
CUE THE BEGINNING OF MY FREAK OUT.
The next five hours were a slow descent into the kind of trembling, twitching nervousness I haven’t felt in years. My friends Asja and Alex literally had to drag me away from the Spencer Hill booth the half an hour before my reveal to try to distract me. Alex tried the biceps of the Ellora’s Cave models and Asja tried books, glitter, and bubbles, but nothing worked. Somehow, I made it back to the booth in time to wait for the actual countdown to begin.
It wasn’t all bad, though. I got to meet some of the other SHP authors like the Rock sisters! They’re so sweet! My wonderful NY-roommates Sarah Guillory and Megan Whitmer were both there to support me as well as so many other awesome, amazing people! Like my glorious editresses Danielle and Patricia. The presence of actual people waiting to see my cover and hear me read was… well, daunting comes to mind!
But I didn’t pass out! Instead, these things happened:
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| My editresses introduced me and my cover designer Jeremy West |
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| Jeremy and I drew the curtain back to reveal SSN! |
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| We took pictures with the cover model, Kit, and the SHP group behind SSN |
And then I started reading the first chapter of Sing Sweet Nightingale. Like, out loud. To PEOPLE! Well, it was really only the first seven pages because the first chapter is kind of intense and also intensely long, but they’re INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT PAGES. Things happen. Things that, apparently, make people cry during author readings.
Yes, you read that right. More than one tear was seen during my reading and it made me want to cry happy tears of my own!
When you write something, it becomes important to you. The characters and the moments in their lives matter. Will that translate to a reader when they pick up the book? Did you pick the right words to get the emotion across? The happiness, the sadness, the pain, the joy, the whatever they’re feeling at the time–did it work? Seeing their reaction first hand made all my shaky nerves worth it. The failure nerves before the reading began and the OMG I CAN’T BELIEVE THAT HAPPENED nerves from after.
I did it, though. I didn’t pass out and my words were intelligible and I didn’t cry while I was reading (which I actually worried I would, considering the section I was reading) and people liked what I read and the cover we showed them and I just… It’s so hard to describe. I’m still in the middle of edits, so the reality of other people seeing and reading and understanding my obsession with The Dream War Saga universe feels so far away and impossible. But it’s not! It’s already happening!
I met so many wonderful bloggers while waiting in line to grab books and even, while I was at a really amazing City of Bones event, met a fantastically sweet book buyer and blogger from Austin and her twin sister who KNEW WHO I WAS! Talk about surreal. They even asked me to autograph my business cards! Which I gladly did. My first ever autograph! I was so lucky to be standing in line next to them so I got to give them hugs and realize that there are people in other parts of the world talking about my book!
The rest of the time I spent in NY, though, was just for the hell of it. I got to spend time with some friends I don’t get to see nearly as often as I would like and was able to spend Memorial Day eating yummy food, phenomenal ice cream, and laying in the sun at Prospect Park with Asja. And I can’t wait to go back!
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| Asja and I at Prospect Park in Brooklyn |