Heidi R. Kling's Blog: Witch's Brew (Spellspinners 1) Launched!, page 5
January 17, 2014
Flowers in the Attic (Based on True Events!?)
Since I snuck this book under my covers as a young teen, I’ve always theorized Cathy’s story was based on true events. This in-depth article confirms my early thoughts as it peers into the gothic life of the author behind our favorite attic.
January 15, 2014
LJ Smith to Write More VAMPIRE DIARIES!
She just posted this to her Facebook:
I’m very pleased to finally be able to make this announcement. I apologize for having kept all of you waiting so long, but getting everything finalized took longer than I initially thought it would. As some of you probably know, Amazon has launched a new area called Kindle Worlds. This is a place where people can write fan fictions based on certain books, movies, shows, games, and music. The Vampire Diaries is one of the series that Amazon has obtained the license to include in their Worlds. This means that I can continue to write my version of The Vampire Diaries. (Remember, these books are written as fan fiction and are not part of the official series.)
The Evensong arc will pick up more or less where Midnight left off and takes place in an alternate world from the official books that follow Midnight. The three books in this arc are Paradise Lost, The War of Roses, and Into the Wood. The first novel, Paradise Lost, and the first part of the second novel, The War of Roses, will be available
January 23, 2014.
See the countdown clock on the home page of my website for how long until the books are launched!
Also available on January 23, 2014 is my new bibliography/booklist, which is much easier to I understand (I think; most of the actual work was done by the invaluable Christina Crowley) than the old versions.
I’m dedicating these new Kindle Worlds books to my readers, worldwide. Thank you, friends, for your many messages of kindness and appreciation. I would also like to thank Amazon for all its enthusiasm and consideration in publicizing this new series. Amazon, you rock!
Before anyone asks the burning question, I’ll answer it: no, this is not the end of The Vampire Diaries series, but if all goes well and my readers wish it, I will continue writing fan fiction books in this series to the endgame. That’s what I have planned.
January 14, 2014
malindalo:
diversityinya:
jsgabel:
POPSUGAR has the exclusive...
POPSUGAR has the exclusive first look at Nina LaCour’s new novel - EVERYTHING LEADS TO YOU!
From the interview, Nina LaCour says:
"I wanted to write a love story between two girls that wasn’t about coming to terms with one’s sexuality or coming out. There are so many good books that deal with the complexities of both of those aspects of falling in love, but there aren’t enough YA lesbian romances where the characters are already out and accepting of themselves, where the story is simply about two girls falling in love. I think it’s important that young readers — all readers, really — find representations of all kinds of love in their books."
I love Nina’s books and Nina is a wonderful person too! Plus she and her friend made the trailer for Adaptation so I’m personally invested. :)
Love it. Congrats, Nina!
January 9, 2014
Can you find me in my Senior Class Photo?
HINT: I’m the one with AquaNet bangs. ;)
January 6, 2014
Stay warm out there, guys!
Stay warm out there, guys!
January 1, 2014
Thrilled to unveil the cover + title of my third Spellspinners...
Thrilled to unveil the cover + title of my third Spellspinners of Melas County title, DEVIL’S FROST, which debuts January 21, 2014 with darker magic and dangerous alliances. I’m so excited for you guys to read it. :D
Check out our epic giveaway here.
Cheers to a magical 2014!
December 21, 2013
lalondes:
So. Ned Vizzini has committed suicide. And this fact...
So. Ned Vizzini has committed suicide. And this fact of his death, that it was by his own hand, weighs so, so heavy on the grief that I am feeling right now.
I am not the first young person to write, today, about how It’s Kind of a Funny Story kept me breathing during some of the darkest moments of my adolescence. I will not be the last. This is Ned’s legacy: he tossed a bright, orange-and-white ring to us drowning kids and pleaded with us to stay afloat. And we read his words, and we understood, and we eventually made our way to shore.
I was thirteen years old when I read Funny Story for the first time. I was still living in Vancouver. I picked it up at the Chapters on Broadway and Granville and cautiously paged through the first couple of chapters right there in the store. I put it back on the shelf. The very next week, my family took off on a vacation to the east coast. We stopped into a Barnes & Noble in New York City, and I found a copy and read a few more chapters. It wasn’t until Kramerbooks in Washington, D.C., that I decided, finally, to buy the damn thing and bring it home. I’ve kept it with me ever since.
It’s a special book. I truly don’t believe that a more accurate portrait of a young person’s depression exists in literature, with the exception, maybe, of The Bell Jar. And the great, unspeakable tragedy of The Bell Jar is now the tragedy of Funny Story.
The book opens, as you can see above, with sixteen-year-old protagonist Craig musing that it’s “so hard to talk when you want to kill yourself.” The last page, by contrast, is a cacophony of verbs, spat out in a breathless staccato, ending with a clarion call to “live, live, live, live.” I think I must have read that page alone a hundred times now. It got me through high school. It got me through my parents’ divorce. It got me through the end of friendships. Once, in the tenth grade, it kept me from a suicide attempt.
And there, I think, lies the most important lesson: survival is not a temporary state. Healing does not necessarily have a delineated beginning and end. You have been sad before, and you will be sad again; what matters is how you interact with your sadness. You have to be kind to yourself, and gentle. You have to surround yourself with people who love you, and you have to love them in return. Every day of your life is a fight, and it helps to have allies.
Ned Vizzini was once asked what he hoped young adults would take away from Funny Story, and he said this:
What I would like young adults to take away from It’s Kind of a Funny Story is that if you’re feeling suicidal, call a hotline. Suicidal ideation really is a medical emergency and if more people knew to call the suicide hotline we’d have less suicides.
In Ned’s memory, I will reiterate his words: if you are feeling suicidal, or depressed, or anxious, talk to someone. Call a hotline. I’ve posted a list of helpful numbers here.
Don’t keep quiet. Ask for help. You are not alone.
Live. Live. Live. Live.
Live.
December 18, 2013
I'm really confused about the tagline for the TFIOS movie. "one sick love story" seems to make a joke of their cancer, and the entire story. is there more of an explanation...?
1. I did not write the tag line. To the many of you who love it, I say, “I did not write the tag line.” To the many of you who don’t, I say, “I did not write the tag line.”
2. These things are not my decision. It’s not my movie, or my poster. I don’t know how to make movies or movie posters.
3. That said, I like the tag line. I found it dark and angry in the same way that Hazel is (at least at times) dark and angry in her humor. I mostly wanted something that said, “This is hopefully not going to be a gauzy, sentimental love story that romanticizes illness and further spreads the lie that the only reason sick people exist is so that healthy people can learn lessons.” But that’s not a very good tag line. I like the tag line because it says, literally, the sick can also have love stories. Love and joy and romance are not just things reserved for the well.
3a. That said, I might be wrong. I’m wrong all the time.
4. What matters most to me is that you’re seeing Shailene as Hazel and Ansel as Gus for the first time, and it seems like people are (mostly) pretty happy with what they’re seeing, which is what I was anxious about.
5. Also, a major Hollywood studio released a movie poster in which the female romantic lead has visible evidence of her disability, which is damn near unprecedented, and I’m thrilled they put her face—and her cannula—on the poster.
btw, you can get a copy of the poster by donating $25 to the Project for Awesome. 100% of the proceeds go to the charities chosen by the nerdfighter community during the p4a.
(And if you hate the tag line, I’m sorry! You can put duct tape over it or something?)
Witch's Brew (Spellspinners 1) Launched!
WITCH'S BREW is book 1 in a multi-book series about estranged witches and warlocks, as they fig ...more
- Heidi R. Kling's profile
- 457 followers
