Category Archives: Spencer Hill Press

Look what I got in the mail today!

Guys, for the first time EVER, I held a real book with my name in it somewhere. Words I wrote! In my name!

This is hugely exciting! Like, for serious. I love the cover of this book, especially because I have always had a thing for Dali and the clock in the center reminds me of The Persistence of Memory. Even better than cool covers, though, is opening the book and seeing this:

SEE THAT?! My story is second! SECOND! I mean, fourth if you count the two introductions, but still! That’s pretty good placement. Also, I’d like to direct your attention to the page numbers. Yes, I did manage to write a 21 page story and still slap the label “short” on it. According to the word counts for the Hugo Award, “Whatever It Takes” technically qualifies as a novelette. But for the purposes of the anthology, we’re still going to call it a short story.

Even better than all that, is flipping to page 7 and getting to look at the opening page of my story:

Only 11 days until people will have their own copies of Doorways to Extra Time! Until then, I’m going to hug mine and pet the cover and flip through the pages about a million times.

On a last note: Anyone who gets a copy and reads my story, come back and let me know what you think!! 😀

Counting down to release day! 11 days!

Leave a reply

Getting closer and closer, everyone! Only 11 days left until Doorways to Extra Time releases and, with it, my story “Whatever it Takes“! Details are still in the works for my personal giveaway program, but… soon! Don’t forget, though, there’s still time to enter to win one of five copies on Goodreads! Also in the works, a possible appearance at Dragon Con later this month, which would be more than a little epic. I’ll let you know once I’m 100% positive I’m going to be there.

Today I’m posting another peek at “Whatever It Takes” and there are still four more to come! These posts will also be cross-posted on thedreamwarsaga.com where, later this month, you’ll be able to find a list of songs that remind me of Sing Sweet Nightingale as well as the character bios I mentioned on Wednesday!

doorwaystoextratime Now for snippet number two:

My mother always told me that you could make anything happen if you wanted it bad enough. Anything, she promised.

Problem is, even she thinks what I want is impossible.

The one thing I want is to change a night I can never get back. The night I could’ve saved him. I want that chance more than I want food, water, and air combined, but everyone tells me it’s impossible. “There’s no use crying over spilled milk.” “You can’t unring a bell.” “Those who walk looking backward fall behind.” It all translates to one thing: you can’t change the past, so don’t bother trying.

Do you get the feeling she’s going to try anyway? Cause I do. 😉

I forgot to add these last time (which is very silly of me!) but, just in case you’re interested in picking up your own paperback or ebook version of Doorways, check out one of the fabulous sites below! And come back on Monday for another look into “Whatever It Takes.”

Buy it from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Books-A-Million | IndieBound
Add this book on Goodreads.

The final website move is done!

Leave a reply

Champagne Clink (c) Roger Kirby

Yay! Thanks to massive amounts of help from my friend Patrick, my errors have been fixed and both websites (byericacameron.com and thedreamwarsaga.com) have been moved to my new servers! At this point, there should really only be design changes. I think. I hope. If anything else does change, I think it will be behind the scenes stuff that (hopefully) won’t be noticeable from the world wide interwebs.

In other non-website news, yesterday was pretty fun. I got my hair cut and re-dyed and it’s OMG RED now! I love it. It’s pretty fabulous. Also, ALSO, when I came home from the salon, there was a package waiting for me at home! I had absolutely no clue what it was since I didn’t remember ordering anything. And when I opened it up I saw why. I GOT MY FIRST SET OF SING SWEET NIGHTINGALE BOOKMARKS!

Thanks to my awesome publisher Spencer Hill for the surprise! I have so many pretties now and no idea what to do with them yet! EEK! Once I figure it out, though, I’ll let you know.

That’s all for now! Time to go back and work. On a book or on day job stuff, I’m not sure… but I know I have something I should be doing… 😀

An interview and a little bit of news!

2 Replies

Microphone (c) Acuzio

A while back, I received an email from the wonderfully sweet Amy Trueblood over at Chasing the Crazies. Which is an awesome title for a site. Amy asked if I would be interested in participating in a series of interviews she has been doing called Writer Odyssey Wednesday (W.O.W. for short). Of course, my answer was, “YES, PLS. WHERE DO I SIGN?”

The idea that I’ve finally reached the point where I can legitimately be included in a series like this is still a little strange. My debut release is nine months away (250 days, but who’s counting?). It feels like forever. In fact, it’s so far away that it still doesn’t seem real. But that’s just in my head, apparently. To other people, I’m already there. I made the deal, signed the contract, and am officially an author with credits to my name. Wow is right.

So, I agreed! Amy sent me a list of great questions and now you can read both those questions and my answers! I talk about my strange relationship with querying, how I found my glorious editors at Spencer Hill and my wonderful agent Danielle Chiotti, as well as a little bit about Sing Sweet Nightingale and the process of writing it and finding it a home. Click here to see!

In other news, this morning I sent a new book to my wonderful agent Danielle! It’s the second in a contemp series I co-wrote with my bestie Lani Woodland and I cannot wait until these books find a home and I get to share more details about them. I adore these characters and this world and everything about writing them. It’s FUN. There’s a lot to be said about partnering on a book with someone, too. Especially someone I get along with and work with as well as Lani. co-writing is probably not for everyone, but if you find the right partner, it’s divine.

In other other news, I’m heading back to Manhattan next week!! For the first time ever, I’m going to spend the Fourth of July in the Big City. Of course, that’s not the purpose of the trip, but it’s still convenient timing. I’m actually going in celebration of my sister’s 25th birthday and my cousin’s wedding (she’s getting married at the BRONX ZOO! How freaking cool is that?!). The reason for the trip doesn’t matter, though. I still get to spend an awesome week in New York City with people I love. I even get to drop by the Upstart Crow offices and meet some more of the interns and agents in person. So many fantabulous things packed into one trip! If you’re not already following me on Twitter or Facebook, go fix that! I’ll be posting about my trip on those two places more often than on my blog. Easier to access on the go!

That’s all for now! I’ll check in again soon. 🙂

More from BEA. This time with video evidence!

3 Replies

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

4 Replies

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:

My editresses introduced me and my cover designer Jeremy West

Jeremy and I drew the curtain back to reveal SSN!

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!

Asja and I at Prospect Park in Brooklyn

Whatever It Takes

Leave a reply

My short story Whatever It Takes is in this anthology. The story is set within the world of The Dream War Saga, but only tangentially connects to the series itself. A good peek into the Dream War universe, Whatever It Takes is available for pre-order now!

Everyone wishes they could get an extra hour in the day. But what if you could?

What if you had a special device that gave you an extra day every week? You could use it to get ahead at work… unless your boss had it too.

What if you knew a spell that gave you an extra hour every day? You could use it to correct a mistake… or make a new one.

What if you could just stop time? You could accomplish a myriad of wonders… if you only knew how to get time started again.

Time loops and time travel, time apps and time outs, time machines, time merchants, and more can be found passing through these doorways into worlds where time can be spent like money… or where extra time can only be bought at a terrible price.

With stories and poetry by Jody Lynne Nye, Walter Hunt, Erica Cameron, Martin Feekins, Anthony Francis, L.M. Graham, R.E. Gofstein, Melina Gunnett, Betsy Miller, Susan Mittman, Brenda Monguez, Jenny More, Ira Nayman, Errick A. Nunnally, Kate Saturday, Gayle Schultz, Rich Storrs, Keshia Swaim, Aimee Weinstein, and Trisha J. Wooldridge, Doorways to Extra Time presents twenty twists on the idea that if we only had a little extra time…

We’d have to deal with the consequences.

Edited by Trisha J. Wooldridge and Anthony Francis

Buy it from:
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Books-A-Million | IndieBound

My first book shaped baby has a face!

Leave a reply

No matter how many times I stare at this cover, I cannot get over how much I love it. Jeremy West did a fabulous job and I’m so thrilled that I can now share the beautiful face of Sing Sweet Nightingale with the world!!!

Also, ALSO, I can finally share more information about the story! That tiny bit of the story doesn’t tell you anything, but now I have an amazing back cover copy to show off!

Mariella Teagen hasn’t spoken a word in four years.

She pledged her voice to Orane, the man she loves—someone she only sees in her dreams. Each night, she escapes to Paradise, the world Orane created for her, and she sings for him. Mariella never believed she could stay in Paradise longer than a night, but two weeks before her eighteenth birthday, Orane hints that she may be able to stay forever.

Hudson Vincent made a pledge to never fight again.

Celease, the creature who created his dream world, swore that giving up violence would protect Hudson. But when his vow causes the death of his little brother, Hudson turned his grief on Celease and destroyed the dream world. The battle left him with new abilities and disturbing visions of a silent girl in grave danger—Mariella.

Now, Hudson is fighting to save Mariella’s life while she fights to give it away. And he must find a way to show her Orane’s true intentions before she is lost to Paradise forever.

AND, as if that wasn’t enough, my cover designer Jeremy and his videographer brother Jeffrey put together a great video interview during our visit to NYC! Watch below and find out more about the design process, the book, and us!

Did you hear? My cover is coming next week!

2 Replies

Yeah, okay, I may have already posted about this, but I’M SO EXCITED! I leave for New York on Friday, but next week, this happens:

Jeremy West did SUCH a fabulous job designing this book and I am so thrilled that his work will be gracing the face of my books. You guys, it’s coming soon! SO SOON! We can actually count down the days now! There are only ten of them left! EEK!

Okay, I need to go back to work before I hyperventilate. O.O

ONLINE COUNTDOWNS

Covers and BEA!

Leave a reply

Just in case you haven’t heard yet, the cover reveal for Sing Sweet Nightingale is coming soon. In fact, it’s coming so soon that counting down to that date doesn’t involve three-digit numbers anymore!

There are only 15 days until I get to share my cover with the world! And, to make this already exciting event even more awesome, the first people to see the cover are going to be with me at BEA in New York! We have a lot of really cool things planned, so mark your calendars for May 29th, 2013. My book will get a face and I may or may not have (okay, fine. I will definitely have) something pretty to give away to commemorate the occasion.

Check back here for more details as soon as I’m cleared to share them. I hope you love the cover as much as I do!