Judith Graves's Blog, page 20

Crossroads Tour SWAG

I just spent a few hours organizing the amazing Crossroads Blog Tour SWAG packages that will be mailed out to our 16 participating bloggers. See the full list on the Crossroad Tour page (image on the sidebar). The Crossroads headliners, 16 debut and established young adult paranormal fiction authors, were more than generous. We have handmade necklaces, bracelets, paranormalish bookmarks, magnets, buttons, postcards, bookbags, tees…and MORE!

Here's a pic of the goods taking over my kitchen (I-spy: can you spot my pup, Willow?)

And one of the packages all ready to be mailed out tomorrow:

You won't want to miss this tour. It's one of a kind and it's happening this October 16th. Get your GOREgeous self on board. This Halloween – meet us at THE CROSSROADS…dun…dun…dahhhhhh…..

New CHAPTERS for Under My Skin

Well, it’s official, Under My Skin is now available in Chapters stores across Canada. Wowza. That feels pretty darn cool. The only thing cooler would be to have my friends out there in readerland help me hunt down copies and take a few pics of UMS out there in the wild.

That’d be you guys.

So……a special Halloween/gothic-ish thank you gift will be sent your way if you find a copy of UMS in your Chapters travels and snap a quick pic. You can email it to me, or comment on my website: judithgraves.com with a link to the pic.

Happy hunting!

New CHAPTERS for UMS

Well, it's official, Under My Skin is now available in Chapters stores across Canada. Wowza. That feels pretty darn cool. The only thing cooler would be to have my friends out there in readerland help me hunt down copies and take a few pics of UMS out there in the wild.

That'd be you guys.

So……a special Halloween/gothic-ish thank you gift will be sent your way if you find a copy of UMS in your Chapters travels and snap a quick pic. You can email it to me, or comment on this post with a link to the pic. Happy hunting!

Help BFF's Kasey and Gillie, plan the perfect Hallowwen Party

BFF's Kasey and Gillie from Freaksville plan to celebrate Halloween, the girls' (and mine, too) favorite holiday. They want to have a posh paranormal party.
But, they need your help planning the gig.
Every week the dynamitic duo will post one item they found to help decorate their party. Here's how you can help, in the comment section post something that will complement their décor. On Halloween, I'll place everyone that left a comment into my witches' caldron and draw one lucky winner for a...

My How Drafts Change…

I was shuffling through my iTunes playlists and found this little gem. About 2 years ago, I had this blog (long gone) where I would post podcasts of early UMS drafts. A few members of my band at the time, Rustic Charm, helped me record the intro tune and they even did various "voices" for characters in the book. I still LOVE you guys!

Anyway, it was one way to spend a few hours in the summer and listening to the first chapter….wowza, so much has changed. Okay, like most of it. Alright, so the only similarity is that in the published version of UMS, Eryn is spelled with a "y" (an inside joke for me, poking fun at how I was originally going to spell "hunter" as "huntyr" to make the story more gothic) and that she's running in the first scene. Not all of my stories have gone through as many changes as poor UMS, I have one book I've been working on for a few years and the first line will NEVER change….it's too damn funny. Also, recording yourself reading your work aloud is an excellent way to pick out wonky sentences or dialogue that falls flat.

I thought I'd post a short clip of the UMS old draft podcast…if anything it gave my husband a few laughs and now he's going around the house, dramatically saying "Under My Skin….chapter 1″. Sigh. Hmmm….maybe I'll redo this baby over Christmas break. Get the band back in action…you never know…

Click on the link below to play the podcast:

UMS chpt1 Teaser

October Cool Beans

This author touring is heady stuff. I've been chatting with schools who have booked me through the YABS Taleblazers Lit Fest. I'm thrilled they took a chance on a newbie to the touring circuit. The librarians are doing a fantastic job of prepping classes before I arrive (a key component to the success of an author visit). One teacher is reading Under My Skin aloud to her grade 9-10 students, which made my October "cool beans" list. Though I must ask her if she glossed over the smooches.

Other cool beans, I just found out that Tanya Huff will be joining my panel at the Edmonton Pure Speculation Sci-fi/Fantasy Conference on October 23rd. TANYA HUFF….Canadian author of the Blood series, featuring the spunky Vicky Nelson….which was then made into the show, Blood Ties. I powered through both seasons of Blood Ties on DVD and loved it - if you need a vamp fix, get your mitts on either the books, or the show. She's got a cool beans blog too: http://andpuff.livejournal.com/

The Crossroads Blog Tour is about to kick off, I just have to get the author post schedule out to the 16 eager bloggers. If you're looking for FREE swag and FREE paranormal (young adult) books, you'll have many opportunities to enter during the tour. For full deets: The Crossroads Tour.

If I haven't mentioned it before, I have this obsession with decorating my office in gothic/creepy stuff. I discovered a non-essential item I HAD to purchase or DEATH would soon become me. Check out these haunted portraits. Actually, anything at The Grimm Brother's online store is to DIE for.

Seriously, can October get any better? Oh yeah. It ends with Halloween!

Winter WordsWorth: Teen Writers Camp

I'll be presenting a few workshops for young Alberta writers this February.

Here's a cool poster for the event:

UMS Giveaway Contest

Hey guys, wanna win a signed copy of UMS? There's one up for grabs on the Authors Now website. Just click HERE and comment to enter. Contest runs to September 28th.

SWEET Giveaway Contest: The Great YA Bake Sale

YA author of Claire de Lune, Christine Johnson, has organized one SWEET giveaway. I just HAD to participate - my sweet tooth wouldn't let me do otherwise. Here's Christine's message with all the deets:

It's here, it's here - The Great YA Bake Sale of 2010!

It all started when I realized that YA authors seem to have one big thing in common - an obsession with sweets and baking.

That gave me an idea. I started calling (well - okay, emailing) around and ended up with more than a dozen kind...

Cover for Second Skin!

(Note: crossposting this from my website: www.judithgraves.com)

I'm pleased to share the cover for SECOND SKIN, the next instalment in the Skinned series. I love the bloody drama of it all. ;) And if you look closely, you'll notice a guy's face in one of the blood splatters. There is a girl splatter on the back cover as well - which you'll see when you buy the book, right? (wink, wink, nudge, nudge) I've also included the current blurb which might change a bit before printing. Whatcha thinks?

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