Holly Cupala's Blog, page 2

DBAW at Epic Reads Book Club? Wahoo!

Cruise over to Epic Reads this month where they are featuring DON'T BREATHE A WORD at the book club for the whole month (yay)!
They will have exclusive content, videos, discussion questions, and other fun stuff, including a DBAW giveaway.
In a Like, Try, Why post, ER compares DBAW with Simone Elkeles' PERFECT CHEMISTRY. Why? "In addition to harsh truths about abuse and street life, there is also a steamy romance between an unlikely pair." Nice!
I just signed up for a profile, so let's be friends! Find me here.
Thank you, Epic Reads!

Happy book birthday to Denise Jaden!

Denise Jaden's second novel, NEVER ENOUGH, launches today, and I can tell you that it's an intense, heartbreaking, hopeful novel. Here's my "official" blurb on the inside cover:

"A poignant look at sisterly devotion and heartache woven into a sweet tale of first love and a girl coming into her own."

Denise made a very cool video with lots of quotes and cameos from your favorite authors to celebrate the release:




She's also doing a big event today with prizes and goodies, oh my!

I hope you'll check it out, and stop by Denise's blog to congratulate her and find out where to get the book!

DON'T BREATHE A WORD is now part of the Hunt!

Hey, libraries, schools, and readers - DON'T BREATHE A WORD has now officially been added to Kay Cassidy's very cool Great Scavenger Hunt Contest!

Voila, the DBAW challenge!

Here's the deal: school and public libraries can enroll in the program, and by reading books and answering trivia questions, you and the library can win awesome prizes! Like bookstore gift cards and signed YA books and swag! Read all about it here.

I created a fun quiz for DON'T BREATHE A WORD, with questions like "What does Joy want her street power to be?" and "What is Creed's real name?"

You can also take the TELL ME A SECRET challenge!

Thanks again, Kay, for inviting me to participate. And GOOD LUCK, readers!

Portland, Here I Come!!!

I have two upcoming events in the Portland area - Oregon folks, I hope to see you!
Saturday May 5 at 2pm
Joëlle Anthony and Holly Cupala at Powell's!
Powell's Books At Cedar Hills Crossing
3415 SW Cedar Hills Blvd, Beaverton, OR  map

Joëlle will be launching her new YA, THE RIGHT AND THE REAL, and I'll be in Portland for the first time signing DON'T BREATHE A WORD! We'll have readings, prizes, signings, and (rumor has it) chocolate!


Saturday May 12 at 1pm
DON'T BREATHE A WORD signing at A Children's Place!
A Children's Place
4807 Northeast Fremont Street Portland, OR  map

Join me for behind the scenes secrets, swag, and lots of fun in beautiful Portland, OR. I might even bring some DON'T BREATHE A WORD lemon cake (Joy's favorite)...


Bring your friends! Your neighbors! Your neighbors' friends! Your friends' neighbors!

THE RIGHT & THE REAL: cool stuff (and I'm headed to Portland!!!)

Check out the trailer for my writer-bud Joëlle Anthony's THE RIGHT AND THE REAL, a gritty, funny book about a girl who is kicked out because her dad joins a cult:



I got to be an early reader for R&R, and here's my totally uncensored, unpolished reaction:

"Joëlle, I am the slowest reader known to man, but I was totally sucked in by R&R. I wasn’t able to put it down! I loved it."

Read it! You'll love it, too!

Buy at Powell's, BN, Amazon, your local indie


OH and this is super exciting: I get to join Joëlle for a RIGHT & REAL/DON'T BREATHE A WORD event in Oregon on May 5th!!!

Saturday, May 05, 2012 02:00 PM

Powell's Books at Cedar Hills Crossing, Beaverton, OR

From Joëlle Anthony, author of Restoring Harmony, comes the teen novel The Right and the Real (Putnam), which follows 17-year-old Jamie after she is kicked out of the house for refusing to join the church of the Right and the Real and must find a way to survive on her own. In Holly Cupala's novel Don't Breathe a Word (Harper Teen), Joy is suffocating from severe asthma, overprotective parents, and an emotionally-abusive boyfriend when she escapes to the streets of nearby Seattle and falls in with a "street family" that teaches her to use a strength she didn't know she had.

Hope to see you!

Creepy Crows in Don't Breathe a Word...

(I've been meaning to post this forever!) This is the TED Talk that inspired Asher's obsession with crows and their uncanny corvid smarts:

Joshua Klein on the Intelligence of Crows



Pretty amazing!

TELL ME A SECRET auf Deutschland!

Wie erstaunlich (how amazing)! TELL ME A SECRET is now available in German, published by Baumhaus Verlag and translated by Christina Pfeiffer. They did a gorgeous job with the cover! And I think, just maybe, they were influenced by the art in the trailer we made for TELL ME A SECRET (which I think is awfully cool):




I even have my first review in German! The reader called it "anspruchsvolles und sehr nachdenkliches" (complex and very thoughtful). Thank you!

You can get a German copy here!

Kind of a Very Big DIY Friday

I've been a bit MIA for the past month or so after a major life event...here's a pic from the DBAW launch party...can you guess what? ;)


Several Fridays ago, we made one of the most amazing, gorgeous DIY things yet. It's been kind of an eventful winter! (And this might explain why I'm a bit behind on a few things, including blogging...!)

So what's new with you?

DON'T BREATHE A WORD Trailer Winners!

Thanks to everyone who spread the DON'T BREATHE A WORD trailer love and entered the DBAW Trailer Launch Party contest!

Music by our friends at Splashdown, illustrations by Realm Lovejoy, and produced by my sweetie Shiraz!
And now for the prizes!
FIVE GRAND PRIZE PACKS: Melanie L., Christina C., Caitlin, Lisa, and Nina!
TEN RUNNER-UP PRIZES: Alice, Mara, Alix, Ayla, Mel, Lauren, Tess, Maddie, Troy, and Liza
And thanks to everyone who bought Don't Breathe a Word at this linkto get bookmarks and stickers!


Thank you so much to all of you for your amazing support of Don't Breathe a Word. Many hugs!

BN chooses DON'T BREATHE A WORD for Top Teen Picks!

Wow, this is amazing news for a little contemporary amidst a lot of bigger books - Barnes & Noble chose DBAW as a Top Teen Pick this month! Thank you, B&N, and thank you to readers for loving it!

Here's a pic my dad took in my hometown! :)


Send me a pic of DBAW on your local BN shelf and win one of our super-cool DBAW sticker bookmarks!

Tag me on Facebook here or via Twitter, then contact me here with your mailing address!