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(WestSide Books, Oct 2011)
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SkinWalkers: 
A fantastic day at OLA
OLA today was wonderful! And tiring. 
And feel-good.
The first thing I saw when I got to the Fitzhenry & Whiteside booth was my Canadian editor, Christie Harkin (it’s always lovely to see a friendly face), and then the beautifully arranged stack of copies of HUNTED!
I posed with Christie–but I still find having my photo taken slightly triggering, so it’s not the best smile. But Christie’s is!
I had SUCH fun at the Fitzhenry & Whiteside booth, signing HUNTED! In 25 minutes, we’d run out of all 100 copies of HUNTED! I couldn’t believe how fast they went, or that I’d had a long line! The people just kept coming! That was such a thrill, and I felt drunk on happiness for a while afterward. I think it was even happier for me because I’d had a fear that no one would come.
I also enjoyed speaking to each person, and I loved how when I’d offer a pen color, each person chose one and many enjoyed being offered the choice.
I wish I could see the whole line of people–they extended all the way on my right, and I was too focused on each person as they came up to me to look–but this lets me see some of them.
Then I walked around for a while with YA writer (and my friend) Lena Coakley. I also stopped by and got books signed by YA authors Marina Cohen, Sylvia McNicoll, and said hi to Mahtab Narsimhan at her signing (I’d already bought her book), and Teresa Toten (we were too late to get hers). It felt lovely to see writers and people who I like and care about with their books.
And then came the CANSCAIP book launch, where we each talked for three minutes about our books. Even though I’ve now done public speaking a number of times, I still get anxious beforehand each time, and sometimes scared. This time it was scared in the hour or so I had to wait to present HUNTED, my heart pounding and my hands sweating. I was glad to see I wasn’t the only anxious one; other YA writers I like and admire were also anxious. I was actually shaking while I was up at the podium speaking–BUT apparently I presented really well. Fellow YA writers Karen Krossing and Lena Coakley told me afterwards that I spoke beautifully and with emotion and good body language, that I didn’t seem nervous at all, and that what I had to say was interesting and real. It helped to hear that; I still find public speaking stressful. And I speak my emotional truths and the things that are important to me; I mentioned that for me HUNTED is analogy to cults or cult-like groups that oppress, and that it also addresses homophobia and racism, though not in a slam-you-over-the-head way–I think it’s SO important to write entertaining books that teens want to read–but in a tension filled, adrenalin-racing, gripping way. (Reviewers and teen readers have told me that once they pick HUNTED up, they can’t put it down. I love hearing that!) The person on my right (I think another librarian) also told me I’d been fantastic; it was such a lovely thing to have that reassurance. I find it hard to tell how I’m doing when I’m anxious.
And then, after I went back to my seat, a librarian behind me asked if we had HUNTED for sale today at OLA. I told her that we’d run out of books, and YA writer Karen Krossing, beside me, suggested that I sell the copy I had to the librarian, and so I did. That felt so affirming and lovely and reassuring–my talk had interested librarians, had reached people.
There was a large audience for the CANSCAIP launch, which I felt good about. I also got to hug YA writer Paul Yee again and talk with him for a bit–he’s such a lovely person. I also had people recognizing me as I walked through OLA, coming up to say hi to me, and telling me they’d read my books. It was a great day, full of good feeling!
Exciting news! STAINED to be published by Harcourt in 2013
I’m so excited!! Harcourt will publish my next edgy YA novel (tentatively titled STAINED) in 2013. In STAINED, Sarah, a teen with body image issues and a port wine stain, gets abducted and must find a way to rescue herself.
Like I did with SCARS and HUNTED, I drew on my abuse and trauma experience to write STAINED. I make all my main characters emotionally strong, and Sarah is no exception. She fights back.
I have the contract in my hands–it is SO cool to have that. And I’ve already been talking with Karen Grove, my wonderful editor at Harcourt. I love her insight, suggestions, and feedback; she’s helped me make STAINED an even stronger, more powerful book. I’m so excited about it, and can’t wait until STAINED is out and I can share it with you! (beaming and beaming)
Children’s & YA ebooks on sale or cheap, week of Feb 1, 2012
Megan Whalen Turner’s The Thief (Attolia)
Nothing is overdone and not a word is out of place in this auspicious debut,” wrote Kirkus in a starred review of Instead of Three Wishes, the first book by Megan Whalen Turner. Her second book more than fulfills that promise.
The king’s scholar, the magus, believes he knows the site of an ancient treasure. To attain it for his king, he needs a skillful thief, and he selects Gen from the king’s prison. The magus is interested only in the theif’s abilities. What Gen is interested in is anyone’s guess. Their journey toward the treasure is both dangerous and difficult, lightened only imperceptibly by the tales they tell of the old gods and goddesses.
Stupid Fast
Fifteen-year-old Felton Reinstein has always been on the smallish side, but in his sophomore year he starts growing…and growing.
During gym one day he smokes the football jocks in a 600-yard race. Felton has never been interested in sports, but there’s no doubt-he is “stupid fast.” As he juggles his newfound athletic prowess, his mom’s sudden depression, an annoying little brother, and his first love, he discovers a shocking secret about his past which explains why he’s turning out the way he is.
Cold Kiss
It was a beautiful, warm summer day, the day Danny died.
Suddenly Wren was alone and shattered. In a heartbroken fury, armed with dark incantations and a secret power, Wren decides that what she wants—what she must do—is to bring Danny back.
But the Danny who returns is just a shell of the boy Wren fell in love with. His touch is icy; his skin, smooth and stiff as marble; his chest, cruelly silent when Wren rests her head against it.
Wren must keep Danny a secret, hiding him away, visiting him at night, while her life slowly unravels around her. Then Gabriel DeMarnes transfers to her school, and Wren realizes that somehow, inexplicably, he can sense the powers that lie within her—and that he knows what she has done. And now Gabriel wants to help make things right.
But Wren alone has to undo what she has wrought—even if it means breaking her heart all over again.
The Chosen One
Thirteen-year-old Kyra has grown up in an isolated community without questioning the fact that her father has three wives and she has twenty brothers and sisters, with two more on the way. That is, without questioning them much—if you don’t count her secret visits to the Mobile Library on Wheels to read forbidden books, or her meetings with Joshua, the boy she hopes to choose for herself instead of having a man chosen for her.
But when the Prophet decrees that she must marry her sixty-year-old uncle—who already has six wives—Kyra must make a desperate choice in the face of violence and her own fears of losing her family forever.
A fan letter through snail mail
I just found out that my publisher received a fan letter for me, and is forwarding it. I LOVE that! I get reader letters through email and FB all the time, and I love them, they feel so good! I cherish them all. But getting an actual paper letter in a time when not many people write letters that way any more feels…pretty cool. They took time to write it.
Do you write letters (on paper) still? I do, occasionally, especially when packaged with something else like a copy of my book (though then it’s usually a short note), or a gift.
Tons of HUNTED freebies, including free short story ebook and teacher’s guide
Do you like freebies? I do. Especially when they’re book related! I hope you’ll dig into some of these freebies for my YA paranormal fantasy/dystopian HUNTED.
Have an ebook reader? Then you’ll want to download the free PinPoint: A HUNTED Bonus short story. You can get it on Amazon for your Kindle, on B&N for your Nook, or on Smashwords for most ebook readers.
Are you a teacher, or do you have a book club? Then you’ll probably want to download my free Teacher’s Guide. It’s rich and thoughtfully written by Deb Vanasse.
Want to read the first six pages of HUNTED? Read a mini bonus comic strip? Watch the book trailer? Easy, just click on the links. You can also choose which paranormal power you’d want in the questionnaire, see the playlist for HUNTED and listen to some of the songs, read and download the HUNTED “newspaper” article, and download more bonus materials. I hope you’ll check them out.
You might notice, if you click on the cover of HUNTED or the title, that I’ve changed the links to my new RedRoom bookstore. I’m trying it out instead of Amazon. RedRoom gives 15% of all the sales of an author’s own books to the author–something that sounds pretty phenomenal to me. RedRoom is author created, and so far it’s looking pretty good to me.
Got another wonderful review of HUNTED
I just got another fantastic review of HUNTED today! It’s SUCH a good feeling to read about people loving my book.
If you’re curious, you can check out the rest of my reviews for HUNTED.
One of my favorite quotes from HUNTED
As authors and as readers, we each have passages that we love in books for various reasons. This is one of my favorite quotes from HUNTED
“I want to chase after him, ask why he took such a crazy risk to give me a bar of chocolate. But I think I know the answer. You don’t feel much like living if you can’t be yourself.”
-quote from HUNTED
It really resonates with me–though it should, since I wrote it! (grinning)
My interview on YA Beyond
Today I’m interviewed on YA Beyond, where I talk about why I write, how I keep motivated, how I stay focused on my writing, and more. Hope you’ll check it out.
New Jane Yolen SCBWI Grant for Mid-List Authors
Jane Yolen has just started a new grant through SCBWI for mid-list authors/books, especially for authors whose books are important but might not be reaching a best seller status. Jane speaks, I think, in a lovely way about it though you’ll have to really turn up the volume to hear. What a fantastic thing for Jane to do!
The details aren’t up yet on SCBWI.org, but they will be.
In Toronto? Going to OLA? I’ll be there signing HUNTED.
In Toronto? Don’t forget–I will be at OLA this Friday, where you can have a chance to walk away with signed copies of HUNTED. OLA is being held at the Metro Toronto Convention Center.
I’ll be at the Fitzhenry & Whiteside booth 10am on Fri, signing HUNTED and giving away copies until they run out. Hope you drop by!
And I’ll be talking up HUNTED and giving away another signed copy along with a TON of other fantastic YA and children’s authors who will also be giving away a copy of their book, from noon until 2pm in the Expo Theatre (at the southwest corner on the Expo floor). The authors presenting there will include Lena Coakley, Megan Crewe, Mahtab Narsimhan, Maureen McGowan, Paul Yee, Karen Krossing, Teresa Toten, Helaine Becker, Karen Bass, and many, many more! And illustrators Patricia Storms, Bill Slavin. You can see the entire lineup here.
Come see us!
my 
