Earlier this week on Twitter, I mentioned that I would soon have to announce some good news and bad news. This is the bad news portion.
Unfortunately, due to circumstances beyond my control, Deadly Sweet Lies, book two in the Dream War Saga, will not be releasing next week. The release date has been pushed back to December 1, 2015.
On the plus side of this good news, I’m getting a pretty new cover for the book! One that I will hopefully be able to share with you before the end of the month!
I know that there has been a long wait in between the release of Sing Sweet Nightingale and Deadly Sweet Lies. I genuinely apologize and hope that you all continue to bear with me. Sometimes the publishing machine moves slowly and sometimes it takes a while for all the kinks and quirks to be worked out behind the scenes. We’re trying very hard to make this book the best it can be. Thank you so much for waiting with me.
It has been amazing watching this cover pop up all over the internet. In fact, I was so enthralled by that happening that I forgot to post it here! Which is such a ridiculous fail I can’t even begin to comprehend how it happened! I’m making amends now:
Nadette Lawson knows when you’re lying.
Every night for the past two years, the Balasura have visited her dreams, enticing her to enter their world. And every night she’s seen through their lies. Now, they’re tired of playing in the shadows and they begin to stalk her in the waking world. It’s no longer just an invitation; if Nadette doesn’t join them, they’ll take her family. Forever. She needs help, and the haven she’s seeking may be just out of reach.
Julian Teagan is a master of deception.
To survive, he has to convince the world his mother isn’t useless, that everything’s fine, otherwise he’ll lose what little he has left in this life. He knows the lying won’t be enough to keep him and his mother in the shadows, but it’s all he knows. The only light of truth is Orane, a Balasura who sees past Julian’s facade and challenges him to face the darkness.
Then Orane is killed, and Julian learns his mentor was far from innocent. The Balasura have hunted children like him for centuries, and their next target, Nadette is his one chance at finally being a part of something real. If Julian can just convince her to trust him…
So, a few things. It may be obvious by now that this next book is not going to be told from Mariella and Hudson’s points of view. Instead, I get to introduce you to characters only tangentially mentioned in Sing Sweet Nightingale. Not only introduce you, but let you dive inside their heads and live there for a while!
I am very excited about this fact, but knowing it made it so hard to bite my tongue these past few months when people told me how much they couldn’t wait to see more from Mariella and Hudson! Our two narrators from SSN aren’t disappearing, but book 2 lets us see their world expand. We’ll meet new people, go new places, learn new things… it’ll be like summer camp! Kind of. Not really.
I can’t say much more about the book now, but I can tell you that my publishers and I have plans to release some really special deleted scenes from Sing Sweet Nightingale over the summer and also give you the option of meeting DreamWeaver in the short story “Whatever It Takes” if you haven’t already read the story from the Doorways to Extra Time anthology. There will be more, but details are still in the works. Check back every so often for news as I can share it!
Until next time, lovelies!
*dives back into her massive pile of works in progress*
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
