As promised, here is the title I revealed at Hooray for Books in Virginia this afternoon:
Eek!! Look at the pretty! And it’s BLUE! Anyone who knows me will know how absolutely thrilled I am by that fact. 😀
I can’t share anything but the title right now, but know that the full cover is coming soon! May 30th during Book Expo America, to be exact. Stay tuned for more details as I get permission to share them!
When I woke up this morning, my phone was already desperately blinking at me, filled with messages and alerts from Twitter and Facebook. Friends and family and colleagues had started early in the morning spreading the word about my debut novel’s birthday. It was an amazing feeling and as the morning wore on, the posts kept coming, poring in so quickly it was (and still is) impossible to keep up!
There are so many people who deserve thanks for their part in this process, but there are several that I feel the need to call out here.
My sister Haley has always been my first and biggest fan. She’s the kind of fan who remembers my books better than I do and brings me presents because they remind her of an old story that, at this point, will NEVER see the light of day. She’s already read Sing Sweet Nightingale more times than anyone but me and my wonderful editors and even sat with me in my bedroom one weekend while I read the entire 105,000 word book to her. Her enthusiasm for what happens next in my stories is one of the things that keeps me writing quickly, wanting to get her the next chapter as soon as I can.
Although Haley may be the first true fan of my writing, my mom, Corey, was always the first real fan of me. No matter what I thought I wanted to do, she was there supporting me in it. Driving me to dance classes and dress rehearsals and competitions when I was little, helping me with homework, encouraging my hobbies–she did it all. Most importantly, though, my mom believed wholeheartedly that I was exactly the person I should be, no matter how weird that person was. I couldn’t have asked for a kinder, smarter, more supportive mom and a lot of how Dana Teagan relates to Mariella in Sing Sweet Nightingale comes from how amazing I know my own mother would be in that situation.
All of my friends have been fascinated by and supportive of my writing aspirations, but Lani Woodland has literally been there since the beginning. Like Haley, Lani has read almost everything I’ve ever written and been one of the first people I call when I get stuck or things go wrong. Or when things go right! Without Lani, Sing Sweet Nightingale would not have been born. It also wouldn’t have found such a loving home with Danielle Ellison and Patricia Riley at Spencer Hill. Thank you for everything, bestie!
And then there’s Spencer Hill. Danielle and Patricia jumped in to my corner from day one. They took my vision for The Dream War Saga, pulled out the bits that I didn’t know wouldn’t work, and helped me put the whole thing back together into a shape that was even better than what I’d started with. My wonderful editresses have been crazy perfectionists who demanded more than I thought I was capable of. They have been cheerleaders, publicists, and, best of all, friends. I cannot imagine this series in any other hands and I am so thankful that Lani introduced me to Danielle and the rest of my Spencer Hill family. They have put SO MUCH WORK into this series already and we’re only now publishing the first book. What I’ve learned over the past eighteen months or so, though, is that they’re brilliant and, most importantly, they’re almost always right. I adore my editresses and I honestly do not know how to thank them enough for everything they’ve done and everything we have yet to accomplish together. <3
My agent, Danielle Chiotti, has been invaluable for the past year. Helping me keep my head when edits overwhelmed me, guiding me through revisions, teaching me all the things I didn’t know, and generally going WAY beyond what is technically required of a literary agent. She’s proven herself ten times over and I am so lucky that she chose to take me on. Even more so, I’m SO looking forward to working with her over the coming years!
There are so many other people who have played small but extremely significant parts in my life over the past few years. The team at Spencer Hill who have been working behind the scenes for eighteen months to make sure this book was perfect–Kate Kaynak, Cindy Thomas, Britta Gigliotti, Rich Storrs, and so many others! My fellow SHP/SHC authors–A.R. Kahler, Sarah Guillory, Dahlia Adler, the Rock sisters Joanne and Karen, Megan Whitmer, Mary Gray, Rachel Harris, and Kelsey Macke–have been nothing but supportive and generally wonderful! And then there have been friends like Asja Parrish and Taylor Thompson who willingly gave up their free time to read a new draft of my book or bloggers like my fabulous Dream Team and everyone who volunteered their time for the blog tour hosted by Jamie and Rachel at Rockstar. It’s amazing how many people have already been a part of Sing Sweet Nightingale‘s life and it’s completely mind boggling how many more people are about to join the party now that the book has been released in to the wild.
Thank you to absolutely everyone! This day has been wonderful and all of you have played a part in that.
The fabulous Jamie and Rachel at Rockstar Book Tours have organized a phenomenal two-week tour for the release of Sing Sweet Nightingale! Monday through Friday for the next two weeks, you’ll find two posts a day–one review and one interview or guest post. And, guys, some of these guest posts are pretty fun!
Below is the full schedule of events so you can follow the fun! Please help me celebrate the birth of my first book baby by visiting these phenomenal blogs and entering the giveaway for an annotated copy of Sing Sweet Nightingale!
Thank you to Jamie and Rachel at Rockstar, all of the sweet bloggers who volunteered their time and their websites, and to all the readers who jump on board! This should be a fun ride! 😀
Tour ScheduleWeek One:
3/3/2014- Bookish Things & more – Review
3/3/2014- Bibliophilia, Please – Interview
3/4/2014- Lola’s Reviews – Review
3/4/2014- A Backwards Story – Guest Post
3/5/2014- YaReads – Review
3/5/2014- Addicted Readers – Interview
3/6/2014- Once Upon A Twilight – Review
3/6/2014- The Unofficial Addiction Book Fan Club – Guest Post
3/7/2014- Seeing Night Reviews – Review
3/7/2014- The Irish Banana Review – Guest Post
Week Two:
3/10/2014- Chasm of Books – Review
3/10/2014- Lost in Ever After – Interview
3/11/2014- The Demon Librarian – Review
3/11/2014- Paulette’s Papers – Guest Post
3/12/2014- Poisoned Rationality – Review
3/12/2014- The Best Books Ever – Interview
3/13/2014- Spiced Latte Reads – Review
3/13/2014- Dark Novella – Guest Post
3/14/2014- A Dream Within A Dream – Review
3/14/2014- Parajunkee’s View – Interview
So, on Wednesday night of this week, I came home and found a package sitting on my front step. Within the package was this:
SING SWEET NIGHTINGALE IS A REAL THING!
I knew that–I mean, of course I knew it would be real at some point–but this week was the first time ever I got to hold a printed, bound, and finished copy in my hands. Seeing the book like this and being able to flip through the pages makes it slightly more real that other people, people I don’t know and might never meet, will soon be able to do the same thing. I’m in awe and a little scared of that truth. And so, of course, because that truth does terrify me more than a little, it got hammered home in the awesomest way this morning when another 2014 debut author Rebecca Petruck tweeted this fabulous picture from the American Booksellers Association’s winter conference:
THAT IS SO MANY COPIES! I tried to count and I lost my place too many times and eventually gave up but WOW! Apparently Rebecca found them in galley hall (which sounds like a place I could spend hours). I’m not even sure I know how to process seeing that many copies of my book all at once. For the second time this week, I believe I might have succumbed to a state of shock. O.O
Soon, Sing Sweet Nightingale will be available on NetGalley and in paperback form through my publisher Spencer Hill Press. And then, not too long after that, it will be available EVERYWHERE.
And hopefully people will feel the need to tweet me pictures of sightings when that happens. 😉
Want to check out the first chapter of Sing Sweet Nightingale? For a very limited time, you can!
Spencer Hill Press posted the first chapter last night and it will remain available until 10 PM EST tonight. It’s a little scary that my baby is peeking its way into the big wide world, but I will have to start getting used to the idea! And, so far, everyone has loved it, which is so amazing. So, go read and then come back and tell me what you think!
Also, don’t forget that SSN is available for preorder!
Buy it from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble |
Book Depository | Books A Million |
You can also add this book on Goodreads.
I come home from work today and it’s a typical Monday. When I check Facebook, however, things suddenly get a little more interesting. My day went from blegh to OMG REALLY?! in about three seconds all because of this post:
I had no clue! It’s true, though! My book is now up for preorder (paperback only so far; ebook links to come!!). It’s not only up, it’s up all over the internet! Have a favorite store? You can probably preorder it there. For the sake of convenience, though, LINKS!
Buy it from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | Books A Million |
Now I’m going to go try to forget I know it’s possible for people to buy my book. Really. The less I think about it, the saner I’ll be in March when it actually releases! 😉
*runs off flinging glitter*
I’ve heard more than a few times that you better love writing to make it a career. Having started to make it my career, all I can say to that is YES. SO TRUE.
Even voracious, lifelong readers don’t always know what goes in to producing a single novel. Just on the editorial side. It’s intense. It’s brutally intense. So much so that you will probably end up on the verge of printing your entire book just so you can rip it up, throw the pieces into a trash can, and then burn it all. Or maybe that’s just me…
Sing Sweet Nightingale is now completely through line edits and sitting in the copyeditor’s inbox, waiting for them to go through and tell me how bad I am at commas (which I already know). After one or two copyediting passes (I’m honestly not sure), then page proof, and then, I think, galleys? That is the point in time when I’ll actually be able to hold a book that I wrote in my hands. Something with a cover and a pretty layout and my name on multiple pages and OMG. I think I might start freaking out soon. And it’s not even here yet!
While I’m waiting on revisions on another project and copyedits from Spencer Hill, I’ve been jumping between reading and working on two different contemporary projects. Mostly, though, I’ve been trying to give my brain a little bit of a break before the insanity begins again with book 2 of The Dream War Saga.
So that’s it! That’s what’s happening in my life. Preparing for more edits and also for my upcoming trip west for the Vegas Valley Book Festival! I’m especially excited about that trip because I get to see my bestie Lani and my friend Vivi Barnes, whose book Olivia Twisted is out soon! If you’re going to be in the area, I hope you’ll swing by the festival on Saturday. I will have bookmarks to sign and maybe a copy or two of Doorways to Extra Time to give away.
And now, back to my regularly scheduled programming. Otherwise known as the day job… >.<
It’s finally here! Happy book birthday to Doorways for Extra Time! If you already preordered it, THANK YOU! If you haven’t, the wait is over! Buy it now and download the ebook or have the paperback shipped to you ASAP.
As promised, I have one last snippet to share with you from my story, “Whatever it Takes”:
This is what it must be like to have your life flash before your eyes. Everyone I’ve ever met exists here, and their faces and words pass me by in an instant. But then I begin to see places I’ve never been, people I’ve never seen, and hear words I don’t understand. Trying to focus on it all at once increases the pressure in my head until I worry my brain might explode out my ears, so I relax and let it pass me by, concentrating only on the moment I want to find.
Everything blurs past faster and faster, and I feel like I’m falling. I think my eyes are open, but everything is black.
Want to look back at the other snippets? Links, then!
Hopefully, those of you who buy the book and read the story will come back and tell me what you think! Also, my giveaway is almost up! Enter via the Rafflecopter link below and once a month we’ll pick a winner starting in the beginning of September. The entries will be good for all five drawings. Good luck!! 🙂
Buy it from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Books-A-Million | IndieBound
Add this book on Goodreads.
I am always forgetful. If I don’t do something right when I’m thinking about it, I forget. Which explains why the post for Friday never went up and I didn’t realize it until today! On the plus side, that means I’ve accidentally saved a snippet for release day! So, today you get snippet number five and tomorrow I’ll get to post snippet six. Worked out well, I think. 🙂
Still interested? Read on!
I light the candles and the incense, meditate while chanting foreign-sounding words, and lie down on my bed, concentrating on the exact time I want to go back to. I pour all my energy into that thought and the image of a clock stuck at exactly 10:05 PM on Friday, October 19th. Keeping that image in my head, I close my eyes and focus.
Time isn’t a line or a circle or any 2-D object, Aisling had written. It’s more like you’re standing inside of a sphere of constantly flowing energy. When you find that center, you can reach out and touch any part of your life.
I imagine a ball of bluish-white light. I concentrate solely on that image and hold it in my mind. I do nothing but concentrate.
I wake up the next morning in exactly the same position.
Tomorrow details will go up about my giveaway, but there’s still time to enter to win one of five copies on Goodreads! The Dragon Con launch party is a go, but unfortunately I won’t be there. Travel arrangements and a place to sleep kind of fell apart. It would have been fun, though! And I know some of my fellow contributors will be there. Track them down if you can!
The updates to thedreamwarsaga.com go up this weekend with a playlist for Sing Sweet Nightingale and character bios from “Whatever it Takes” and I can’t wait until people get to read the book! So exciting!
Pre-ordering is almost over, but you can still pick up a copy of Doorways to Extra Time from one of the stores below:
Buy it from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Books-A-Million | IndieBound
Add this book on Goodreads.
Today, I’m jumping right in to the fun stuff. Snippet number four!
“The time jump won’t work the first time you try it,” Aisling says as she rings up my supplies.
I watch the total growing higher and higher with a knot in my stomach. If this doesn’t work, how am I going to explain spending all this money to Mom?
Aisling snaps her fingers in front of my face. “Hey! It won’t work the first time. It may not work the tenth time, but it will work eventually if you keep at it. Maybe not for as long as you hope, but you should be able to get half an hour. An hour at most. Luckily, when you’re dealing with time, it doesn’t matter when it works or how long it works for, as long as it does.”
Oh the tricks of time travel! Will Valari be able to make it work? And if she does, will it solve her problems or leave her with more of them?
Less than a week now until people will have their copies of Doorways to Extra Time! There’s still time to enter to win one of five copies on Goodreads! And the appearance I mentioned at Dragon Con? Well, my publisher is hosting a super-cool invitation only party on September 1. My presence at this party and the convention is still contingent on me finding somewhere to sleep over the weekend, but you may see my editors walking around that weekend! 🙂
My first giveaway on my site will happen next week, so make sure you come back to celebrate the release with me! Also, don’t forget to check thedreamwarsaga.com later this month for the first extras from the series including a playlist for Sing Sweet Nightingale and character bios from “Whatever it Takes”!
Buy it from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Books-A-Million | IndieBound
Add this book on Goodreads.