Cynthia Hand's Blog, page 11
January 30, 2011
FAQ and January Bookplate Giveaway
Hi y'all.
It's been a long while since my last post, but I have excuses, of course:
Excuse A) I have been super busy launching my book and going on tour (more pics and recaps of the tour to follow soon.)
Excuse B) I have been SUPER busy working on edits for Book 2
Excuse C) On top of that, I just starting teaching for the semester at Pepperdine, a novel-writing class this time. My students rock, by the way, but then they always do.
Excuse D) I am still a mom and a wife and a home-owner, and I have to keep everybody in my family alive and fed and in clean underwear and my house from getting up and crawling away. This, regrettably, takes a lot of my waking hours.
So pick your excuse. But I promise, a time is coming pretty soon where the book will be done and the semester will be rolling along smoothly and then I will start playing CATCH-UP in a major way, starting with this blog.
Until then, I wanted to answer a few frequently-asked questions:
YES, there is going to be a sequel to Unearthly! I swear, I get like four or five emails a day asking me if there's a sequel. YES! See Excuse B! Oh so yes! There will also definitely be a Book 3, and quite likely a Book 4, so stay tuned.
The sequel does have an official title, but I'm not allowed to announce it just yet. I love the title, though, and it's the title I wanted almost all along for the book.
The sequel will be out, if all goes according to plan, in January 2012. I realize that this is a horribly long time to wait. I sympathize. But that's just the publishing industry. One year between books is pretty standard, or so I'm told.
I may be biased on the subject, but in my not-so-humble opinion, Book 2 will be worth the wait. :)
On to the second most asked FAQ: Will Unearthly be available as an ebook?
YES! There will be an ebook copy of Unearthly available, I swear. And SOON. I love brick and morter bookstores so much, and I love real, printed copies of books even more, but I have to admit that getting an ereader revolutionized the way I read. So I am extremely happy to know that Unearthly will be an ebook very soon. I promise, the second it's available I will be shouting it from the rooftops.
Question 3: When will you come to my city so you can sign my copy?
This is the part where I sigh wistfully. I would love to come to your city and sign a copy for you. But it's complicated. You might have noticed the basketball-sized lump on my belly if you've seen any of the current photos of me. Yes, folks, I'm creating a life right now. A girl, who I am oh-so-excited to meet. But the one drawback is that they won't let me go on an airplane after this week.
So, at least until early summer, I think, I'm grounded. I am doing a couple of events in the area, one in Los Angeles at Flintridge Books on February 13, 4pm. And the other sometimes in February at Pepperdine--we're still working out the details. But that's about it for a while.
So, if you want me to sign a copy of my book, one awesome thing you could do is to participate in my Bookplate giveaway. Here's how you do it:
1) Go to your local bookstore and take 2 pictures, one of Unearthly on the shelf in all its booky glory (make sure we can see the other books around it, too, as part of the fun for me is seeing what company I'm keeping), and one of you holding the book.
OR if you purchased your copy of Unearthly via the internet, simply take a picture of the book is some kind of humorous situation. Like this:
Sigh. I love this photo. Two girls fighting over my book. What author wouldn't love that?
Ahem, anyway, take a funny Unearthly picture!
2) Email me the photos, along with your name, address, and the name/location of the bookstore where you took the photos. My email address: writercynthiahand@gmail.com
THEN, I will:
3) add your photos to my Unearthly on the Shelf! compilation, which I will post to my blog sometime in late February.
4) mail you a bookplate, (I had these printed special and they are all purply beautiful) which I will sign so you can put it in your copy of Unearthly and therefore have a signed copy even if you can't make it to a formal signing! I also tend to throw in a signed bookmark, just because I can.
5) choose three (3) of these entries at random and mail them a signed and doodled upon (meaning, my little comments and pics in the margins every now and then) copy of Unearthly in hard cover.
Be patient with me on this one. I might not get to the actual mailing part for a couple of weeks, see Excuses A-D, but I will get to them. I am also extending the deadline for my giveaway to February 15, so you still have a couple of weeks.
Now I'm back to working on my excuses. . .
It's been a long while since my last post, but I have excuses, of course:
Excuse A) I have been super busy launching my book and going on tour (more pics and recaps of the tour to follow soon.)
Excuse B) I have been SUPER busy working on edits for Book 2
Excuse C) On top of that, I just starting teaching for the semester at Pepperdine, a novel-writing class this time. My students rock, by the way, but then they always do.
Excuse D) I am still a mom and a wife and a home-owner, and I have to keep everybody in my family alive and fed and in clean underwear and my house from getting up and crawling away. This, regrettably, takes a lot of my waking hours.
So pick your excuse. But I promise, a time is coming pretty soon where the book will be done and the semester will be rolling along smoothly and then I will start playing CATCH-UP in a major way, starting with this blog.
Until then, I wanted to answer a few frequently-asked questions:
YES, there is going to be a sequel to Unearthly! I swear, I get like four or five emails a day asking me if there's a sequel. YES! See Excuse B! Oh so yes! There will also definitely be a Book 3, and quite likely a Book 4, so stay tuned.
The sequel does have an official title, but I'm not allowed to announce it just yet. I love the title, though, and it's the title I wanted almost all along for the book.
The sequel will be out, if all goes according to plan, in January 2012. I realize that this is a horribly long time to wait. I sympathize. But that's just the publishing industry. One year between books is pretty standard, or so I'm told.
I may be biased on the subject, but in my not-so-humble opinion, Book 2 will be worth the wait. :)
On to the second most asked FAQ: Will Unearthly be available as an ebook?
YES! There will be an ebook copy of Unearthly available, I swear. And SOON. I love brick and morter bookstores so much, and I love real, printed copies of books even more, but I have to admit that getting an ereader revolutionized the way I read. So I am extremely happy to know that Unearthly will be an ebook very soon. I promise, the second it's available I will be shouting it from the rooftops.
Question 3: When will you come to my city so you can sign my copy?
This is the part where I sigh wistfully. I would love to come to your city and sign a copy for you. But it's complicated. You might have noticed the basketball-sized lump on my belly if you've seen any of the current photos of me. Yes, folks, I'm creating a life right now. A girl, who I am oh-so-excited to meet. But the one drawback is that they won't let me go on an airplane after this week.
So, at least until early summer, I think, I'm grounded. I am doing a couple of events in the area, one in Los Angeles at Flintridge Books on February 13, 4pm. And the other sometimes in February at Pepperdine--we're still working out the details. But that's about it for a while.
So, if you want me to sign a copy of my book, one awesome thing you could do is to participate in my Bookplate giveaway. Here's how you do it:
1) Go to your local bookstore and take 2 pictures, one of Unearthly on the shelf in all its booky glory (make sure we can see the other books around it, too, as part of the fun for me is seeing what company I'm keeping), and one of you holding the book.
OR if you purchased your copy of Unearthly via the internet, simply take a picture of the book is some kind of humorous situation. Like this:
Sigh. I love this photo. Two girls fighting over my book. What author wouldn't love that?
Ahem, anyway, take a funny Unearthly picture!
2) Email me the photos, along with your name, address, and the name/location of the bookstore where you took the photos. My email address: writercynthiahand@gmail.com
THEN, I will:
3) add your photos to my Unearthly on the Shelf! compilation, which I will post to my blog sometime in late February.
4) mail you a bookplate, (I had these printed special and they are all purply beautiful) which I will sign so you can put it in your copy of Unearthly and therefore have a signed copy even if you can't make it to a formal signing! I also tend to throw in a signed bookmark, just because I can.
5) choose three (3) of these entries at random and mail them a signed and doodled upon (meaning, my little comments and pics in the margins every now and then) copy of Unearthly in hard cover.
Be patient with me on this one. I might not get to the actual mailing part for a couple of weeks, see Excuses A-D, but I will get to them. I am also extending the deadline for my giveaway to February 15, so you still have a couple of weeks.
Now I'm back to working on my excuses. . .
January 4, 2011
THE BIG DAY
So, the day has finally come. Happy Birthday, Unearthly!
I opened my eyes this morning to that deep silence that only comes with snow, and sure enough, it was snowing in big fat flakes outside.
Happy sigh. Call me crazy, but I am an Idahoan at heart. Winter should have snow. Yesterday when I left Long Beach airport it was 54 degrees and raining. When I landed in Idaho Falls it was 4 degrees below zero. That's nose hair cold. And I went, brrrrrrr, le sigh.
So back to this morning. I bundled up and headed over to Barnes and Noble. In the doorway I was greeted by a big sign announcing my reading on Thursday (7pm!)
The whole time I was in the store with this half-shocked surreal feeling. My. Book. On. The. SHELVES!!! It was in the New YA section, the YA paranormal romance section, in a big stack on a table marked For Teens and, to top it off, it had its own special display! I could not stop staring at it. Seriously. My book on the shelves.
Honestly I'm still a bit speechless.
My book on the shelves!!!!
I opened my eyes this morning to that deep silence that only comes with snow, and sure enough, it was snowing in big fat flakes outside.
Happy sigh. Call me crazy, but I am an Idahoan at heart. Winter should have snow. Yesterday when I left Long Beach airport it was 54 degrees and raining. When I landed in Idaho Falls it was 4 degrees below zero. That's nose hair cold. And I went, brrrrrrr, le sigh.
So back to this morning. I bundled up and headed over to Barnes and Noble. In the doorway I was greeted by a big sign announcing my reading on Thursday (7pm!)
The whole time I was in the store with this half-shocked surreal feeling. My. Book. On. The. SHELVES!!! It was in the New YA section, the YA paranormal romance section, in a big stack on a table marked For Teens and, to top it off, it had its own special display! I could not stop staring at it. Seriously. My book on the shelves.
Honestly I'm still a bit speechless.
My book on the shelves!!!!
December 31, 2010
Books I Read in 2010
Happy New Years, everybody!
As is my tradition, today I made a list of all the books I read in the year 2010. This year, I was surprised when I counted it up and discovered that I'd read roughly 56 books this year, most of them YA (although a few of them parenting, lol, you can tell I totally have a toddler). That's a little more than one a week.
When I told my husband this number, he said, "wow, I thought you'd read a lot more books than that." I don't know if that was a snarky comment on our Kindle bill or not, hee hee, but I felt the same way: I thought I'd read way more books than one a week. But maybe it only feels that way because this year I re-read a lot of the books I read last year, but didn't add them to the list.
I'm a fast reader. I usually devour a book in one day. Kindle is a very, very dangerous and well-beloved item in our house.
So, without further ado, the list:
1. Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher (awesome book to start the year with, one of those books I was jealous I didn't write)
2. The Giver by Lois Lowry (a classic, which I loved, and immediately devoured the series)
3. Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry
4. Messenger by Lois Lowry
5. The No-Cry Sleep Solution for Toddlers and Preschoolers : Gentle Ways to Stop Bedtime Battles and Improve Your Childs Sleep by Elizabeth Pantley (because my son was having this thing where he wouldn't stay in bed!)
6. Drinking Coffee Elsewhere by ZZ Packer
7. The Shell Collector by Anthony Doerr (re-read--this is one of my fave story collections of all time, and this year I used it for my Writing for the Professional Market Class)
8. Best American Short Stories of 2009 edited by Alice Sebold (awesome collection, read for class)
9. The Dark Divine by Bree Despain
10. The Dead-Tossed Waves by Carrie Ryan (sequel to one of my faves last year, The Forest of Hands and Teeth. I loved that one. I really, really liked this one.)
11. Wondrous Strange by Lesley Livingston (took me back to my actor days doing Shakespeare. Nice take on fairies)
12. Angelology by Danielle Trussoni (I am REALLY SUPER picky when it comes to angel books (can't imagine why :)) and for some reason I totally could not get into this one, but it might have just been the wrong book at the wrong time this go around. I will try it again this year. . .
13. Voices of Dragons by Carrie Vaughn (refreshing to have a story about dragons)
14. The Body Finder by Kimberly Derting (LOVED this)
15. Beastly by Alex Flinn (also love a good retelling of an old story, of which Ms. Flinn is the queen, after Ms. McKinley, of course)
16. The Princess and the Snowbird by Mette Ivie Harrison
17. The Help by Kathryn Stockett (had to see what all the fuss was about, and I read it and understood exactly what all the fuss was about. An amazing book.)
18. Spells by Aprilynne Pike (got my copy at a signing I went to in Idaho Falls. Came home that night and stayed up reading it.)
19. Mudville by Curtis Scaletta (a book recommended by Aprilynne Pike at her book talk the next day. A baseball book, which I enjoyed.)
20. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins (who doesn't love a little Hunger Games?!)
21. Fire by Kristin Cashore (a companion book to Graceling, which I loved. And I loved it maybe even more.)
22. A Kiss in Time by Alex Flinn
23. Strange Angels by Lili St. Crow (awesome, edgy and powerful book, I thought)
24. Dead in the Family: Sookie Stackhouse novel by Charlaine Harris (meh. I usually love Sookie books, but this one. . .meh)
25. Anne of Green Gables series by L.M. Montgomery (this was like .95 on Kindle, for the whole series! I read the entire series again in about a week, totally got my Anne fix!)
26. The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender
27. Bad Girls Don't Die by Katie Alender (best YA ghost story ever. I met Katie at the Smart Chicks tour, and she's awesome!)
28. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins (ah, the end. I was a bit shocked by the violence in this one, where it didn't really stand out to me in the others. Collins is MEAN to her characters, yikes.)
29. Firelight by Sophie Jordan (It had me at that wonderful opening chapter with the flight of the dragons.)
30. Paranormalcy by Kiersten White (laughed my butt off the whole way through this one. Reminded me of Buffy in a big way. Loved it.)
31. Halo by Alexandra Adornetto (see again my note on angel books, but I was amazed at how accomplished this book was for having being written by a 17-year-old. Really solid angel mythology, too.)
32. Angel Star by Jennifer Murgia
33. Linger by Maggie Stiefvater (sequel to Shiver, which was one of my top 5 last year. Very good sequel, didn't have me on the edge of my chair the way I was through Shiver, but enjoyable through and through.)
34. I am Number Four by Pitticus Lore (Sigh. I read this and thought it was pretty good. Then I found out that it's a product of James Frey's exploting'young-desperate-writers-because-he's-ruined-his-own-name scheme. Felt instantly a bit yucky for having paid money for this book.)
35. The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson (Great book, with a powerful, imaginative premise.)
36. Many Waters (reread) by Madeline L'Engle (Th is one of the books that inspired me to write about Nephilim in the first place. Re-read it this year when I discovered it was on Kindle)
37. Fat Vampire: A Never Coming of Age story by Adam Rex (funny!)
38. The Scorch Trials by James Dashner (not so funny. . .but pretty good for a sequel)
39. If I Stay by Gayle Forman (Oh lord, I bawled my eyes out at the end of this book. It was beautiful.)
40. Blue Moon by Alyson Noel
41. Evernight by Claudia Gray (superstar and fellow Dark Days author! It was a superstar kind of book)
42. Ink Exchange by Melissa Marr (lerrrrrves Melissa Marr. Got a signed copy at the Smart Chicks tour)
43. Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro (This book sheared off the top of my head and dumped a million thoughts into it. Amazing. I could just keep chanting amazing.)
44. Guardians of Ga'Hoole collection by Kathryn Lasky (reminded me of Redwall, and I loved. Didn't love the movie, where they condensed the first 3 books down into 90 minutes!)
45. The Unidentified by Rae Miriz
46. Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare (I think this is Clare's best book to date, and she's written a lot of great books)
47. Angelfire by Courtney Allison Moulton (although fellow Dark Days writer, and debut. Courtney is a joy, and this book is a wild ride and a joy to read.)
48. Nightshade by Andrea Kremer (Loved this one, so smart and with such great setting! I love books with great setting!)
49. Rampant by Diana Peterfreund (Okay, so I am saying the word LOVED a lot--it's been a good year for books. But this one I LOVED in all caps, and it had me brooding about those darned wily unicorns for days afterwards.)
50. Pegasus by Robin McKinley (I loved this one, was totally engrossed, until the book came to a screeching halt in the middle of the story. I actually looked up her website to see if there was a sequel, which I knew there had to be. Turns out she had written this giant like 700 page tome and just cut it in half. I felt cheated by this, somehow. I'm sure there's a blog post of mine coming on this topic.)
51. Torment by Lauren Kate (haven't quite finished this one, but I'm liking it so far.)
52. Fun and Educational Places to Go With Kids in Southern California by Susan Peterson (for those times when I'm not writing like a madwoman)
53. Desires of the Dead by Kimberly Derting (Great book. Great sequel! Also fellow Dark Days author)
54. Once in a Full Moon by Ellen Schrieber (and another fellow Dark Days author, who I am so excited to meet this January. A fun read!)
55. The Book of New Family Traditions: How to Create Great Rituals for Holidays and Everydays by Meg Cox
56. Matched by Ally Condie (and I closed out with maybe my favorite book of the year. I LOVED in all caps with lots of !!!!!!)
Phew. That's a long list. And, as I mentioned, it's been a great year for books--I liked most of what I read.
My top picks, in no particular order:
Matched
Rampant
Thirteen Reasons Why
If I Stay
Never Let Me Go
The Dead-Tossed Waves
Fire
Paranormalcy
Now I'm off to work on my own sequel. . .
3 DAYS, 13 hours, 12 minutes until Unearthly. Don't forget to read my last post about my bookplate giveaway!
As is my tradition, today I made a list of all the books I read in the year 2010. This year, I was surprised when I counted it up and discovered that I'd read roughly 56 books this year, most of them YA (although a few of them parenting, lol, you can tell I totally have a toddler). That's a little more than one a week.
When I told my husband this number, he said, "wow, I thought you'd read a lot more books than that." I don't know if that was a snarky comment on our Kindle bill or not, hee hee, but I felt the same way: I thought I'd read way more books than one a week. But maybe it only feels that way because this year I re-read a lot of the books I read last year, but didn't add them to the list.
I'm a fast reader. I usually devour a book in one day. Kindle is a very, very dangerous and well-beloved item in our house.
So, without further ado, the list:
1. Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher (awesome book to start the year with, one of those books I was jealous I didn't write)
2. The Giver by Lois Lowry (a classic, which I loved, and immediately devoured the series)
3. Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry
4. Messenger by Lois Lowry
5. The No-Cry Sleep Solution for Toddlers and Preschoolers : Gentle Ways to Stop Bedtime Battles and Improve Your Childs Sleep by Elizabeth Pantley (because my son was having this thing where he wouldn't stay in bed!)
6. Drinking Coffee Elsewhere by ZZ Packer
7. The Shell Collector by Anthony Doerr (re-read--this is one of my fave story collections of all time, and this year I used it for my Writing for the Professional Market Class)
8. Best American Short Stories of 2009 edited by Alice Sebold (awesome collection, read for class)
9. The Dark Divine by Bree Despain
10. The Dead-Tossed Waves by Carrie Ryan (sequel to one of my faves last year, The Forest of Hands and Teeth. I loved that one. I really, really liked this one.)
11. Wondrous Strange by Lesley Livingston (took me back to my actor days doing Shakespeare. Nice take on fairies)
12. Angelology by Danielle Trussoni (I am REALLY SUPER picky when it comes to angel books (can't imagine why :)) and for some reason I totally could not get into this one, but it might have just been the wrong book at the wrong time this go around. I will try it again this year. . .
13. Voices of Dragons by Carrie Vaughn (refreshing to have a story about dragons)
14. The Body Finder by Kimberly Derting (LOVED this)
15. Beastly by Alex Flinn (also love a good retelling of an old story, of which Ms. Flinn is the queen, after Ms. McKinley, of course)
16. The Princess and the Snowbird by Mette Ivie Harrison
17. The Help by Kathryn Stockett (had to see what all the fuss was about, and I read it and understood exactly what all the fuss was about. An amazing book.)
18. Spells by Aprilynne Pike (got my copy at a signing I went to in Idaho Falls. Came home that night and stayed up reading it.)
19. Mudville by Curtis Scaletta (a book recommended by Aprilynne Pike at her book talk the next day. A baseball book, which I enjoyed.)
20. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins (who doesn't love a little Hunger Games?!)
21. Fire by Kristin Cashore (a companion book to Graceling, which I loved. And I loved it maybe even more.)
22. A Kiss in Time by Alex Flinn
23. Strange Angels by Lili St. Crow (awesome, edgy and powerful book, I thought)
24. Dead in the Family: Sookie Stackhouse novel by Charlaine Harris (meh. I usually love Sookie books, but this one. . .meh)
25. Anne of Green Gables series by L.M. Montgomery (this was like .95 on Kindle, for the whole series! I read the entire series again in about a week, totally got my Anne fix!)
26. The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender
27. Bad Girls Don't Die by Katie Alender (best YA ghost story ever. I met Katie at the Smart Chicks tour, and she's awesome!)
28. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins (ah, the end. I was a bit shocked by the violence in this one, where it didn't really stand out to me in the others. Collins is MEAN to her characters, yikes.)
29. Firelight by Sophie Jordan (It had me at that wonderful opening chapter with the flight of the dragons.)
30. Paranormalcy by Kiersten White (laughed my butt off the whole way through this one. Reminded me of Buffy in a big way. Loved it.)
31. Halo by Alexandra Adornetto (see again my note on angel books, but I was amazed at how accomplished this book was for having being written by a 17-year-old. Really solid angel mythology, too.)
32. Angel Star by Jennifer Murgia
33. Linger by Maggie Stiefvater (sequel to Shiver, which was one of my top 5 last year. Very good sequel, didn't have me on the edge of my chair the way I was through Shiver, but enjoyable through and through.)
34. I am Number Four by Pitticus Lore (Sigh. I read this and thought it was pretty good. Then I found out that it's a product of James Frey's exploting'young-desperate-writers-because-he's-ruined-his-own-name scheme. Felt instantly a bit yucky for having paid money for this book.)
35. The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson (Great book, with a powerful, imaginative premise.)
36. Many Waters (reread) by Madeline L'Engle (Th is one of the books that inspired me to write about Nephilim in the first place. Re-read it this year when I discovered it was on Kindle)
37. Fat Vampire: A Never Coming of Age story by Adam Rex (funny!)
38. The Scorch Trials by James Dashner (not so funny. . .but pretty good for a sequel)
39. If I Stay by Gayle Forman (Oh lord, I bawled my eyes out at the end of this book. It was beautiful.)
40. Blue Moon by Alyson Noel
41. Evernight by Claudia Gray (superstar and fellow Dark Days author! It was a superstar kind of book)
42. Ink Exchange by Melissa Marr (lerrrrrves Melissa Marr. Got a signed copy at the Smart Chicks tour)
43. Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro (This book sheared off the top of my head and dumped a million thoughts into it. Amazing. I could just keep chanting amazing.)
44. Guardians of Ga'Hoole collection by Kathryn Lasky (reminded me of Redwall, and I loved. Didn't love the movie, where they condensed the first 3 books down into 90 minutes!)
45. The Unidentified by Rae Miriz
46. Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare (I think this is Clare's best book to date, and she's written a lot of great books)
47. Angelfire by Courtney Allison Moulton (although fellow Dark Days writer, and debut. Courtney is a joy, and this book is a wild ride and a joy to read.)
48. Nightshade by Andrea Kremer (Loved this one, so smart and with such great setting! I love books with great setting!)
49. Rampant by Diana Peterfreund (Okay, so I am saying the word LOVED a lot--it's been a good year for books. But this one I LOVED in all caps, and it had me brooding about those darned wily unicorns for days afterwards.)
50. Pegasus by Robin McKinley (I loved this one, was totally engrossed, until the book came to a screeching halt in the middle of the story. I actually looked up her website to see if there was a sequel, which I knew there had to be. Turns out she had written this giant like 700 page tome and just cut it in half. I felt cheated by this, somehow. I'm sure there's a blog post of mine coming on this topic.)
51. Torment by Lauren Kate (haven't quite finished this one, but I'm liking it so far.)
52. Fun and Educational Places to Go With Kids in Southern California by Susan Peterson (for those times when I'm not writing like a madwoman)
53. Desires of the Dead by Kimberly Derting (Great book. Great sequel! Also fellow Dark Days author)
54. Once in a Full Moon by Ellen Schrieber (and another fellow Dark Days author, who I am so excited to meet this January. A fun read!)
55. The Book of New Family Traditions: How to Create Great Rituals for Holidays and Everydays by Meg Cox
56. Matched by Ally Condie (and I closed out with maybe my favorite book of the year. I LOVED in all caps with lots of !!!!!!)
Phew. That's a long list. And, as I mentioned, it's been a great year for books--I liked most of what I read.
My top picks, in no particular order:
Matched
Rampant
Thirteen Reasons Why
If I Stay
Never Let Me Go
The Dead-Tossed Waves
Fire
Paranormalcy
Now I'm off to work on my own sequel. . .
3 DAYS, 13 hours, 12 minutes until Unearthly. Don't forget to read my last post about my bookplate giveaway!
December 29, 2010
The launch (5 days away!) and my new master plan
So, according to my fabulous new countdown widget, I can see that right at this moment I have 5 days, 13 hours, and 7 minutes until Unearthly hits the shelves. I am already starting to get that breathless feeling. This is actually going to happen. Wow.
Monday I am flying to Idaho Falls to have a launch party at my hometown Barnes and Noble, which is actually mentioned on page 218 of Unearthly. The party/signing/hugfest will be Thursday, January 6, at 7pm. I am so excited to get to see everybody, and to share in this amazing, life-changing time with them, and even more than that, I am super excited to see teens and actual readers from my community, so please, if you live nearby, drop by and see me and get a book signed!
I will be having other signings and doing other events over the next couple of months, so please see my website News page for the schedule. Yes, I have a brand spanking new website (you may have noticed I also have a brand spanking new matching blog design), and I love it!
I am also concocting a new master plan of how to connect with readers who won't be able to make it to any of my events. Here's how it goes, all through the month of January:
1) Go to your local bookstore and take 2 pictures, one of Unearthly on the shelf in all its booky glory (make sure we can see the other books around it, too, as part of the fun for me is seeing what company I'm keeping), and one of you holding the book.
2) Email me the photos, along with your name, address, and the name/location of the bookstore where you took the photos. My email address: writercynthiahand@gmail.com
THEN, I will:
3) add your photos to my Unearthly on the Shelf! compilation, which I will post to my blog in stages, with a big final post sometime in early February.
4) mail you a bookplate, (I had these printed special and they are all purply beautiful) which I will sign so you can put it in your copy of Unearthly and therefore have a signed copy even if you can't make it to a formal signing!
5) choose three (3) of these entries at random and mail them a signed and doodled upon (meaning, my little comments and pics in the margins every now and then) copy of Unearthly in hard cover.
Sound good?
Monday I am flying to Idaho Falls to have a launch party at my hometown Barnes and Noble, which is actually mentioned on page 218 of Unearthly. The party/signing/hugfest will be Thursday, January 6, at 7pm. I am so excited to get to see everybody, and to share in this amazing, life-changing time with them, and even more than that, I am super excited to see teens and actual readers from my community, so please, if you live nearby, drop by and see me and get a book signed!
I will be having other signings and doing other events over the next couple of months, so please see my website News page for the schedule. Yes, I have a brand spanking new website (you may have noticed I also have a brand spanking new matching blog design), and I love it!
I am also concocting a new master plan of how to connect with readers who won't be able to make it to any of my events. Here's how it goes, all through the month of January:
1) Go to your local bookstore and take 2 pictures, one of Unearthly on the shelf in all its booky glory (make sure we can see the other books around it, too, as part of the fun for me is seeing what company I'm keeping), and one of you holding the book.
2) Email me the photos, along with your name, address, and the name/location of the bookstore where you took the photos. My email address: writercynthiahand@gmail.com
THEN, I will:
3) add your photos to my Unearthly on the Shelf! compilation, which I will post to my blog in stages, with a big final post sometime in early February.
4) mail you a bookplate, (I had these printed special and they are all purply beautiful) which I will sign so you can put it in your copy of Unearthly and therefore have a signed copy even if you can't make it to a formal signing!
5) choose three (3) of these entries at random and mail them a signed and doodled upon (meaning, my little comments and pics in the margins every now and then) copy of Unearthly in hard cover.
Sound good?
December 21, 2010
Unearthly on the shelf
This has to be quick, since I am still cracking, but I have to take a minute to WOOHOO about a couple of things:
First, Unearthly is on the shelves in Australia! I vaguely knew about this, but yesterday I was pleased as punch to receive these photos from a fan, showing my little book on the big bad shelf. Here they are:
Here Unearthly is featured on the YA Recommended Reading Shelf. I'm sensing an angel theme. . .
And here it is in the regular YA section. I like that the heading on the shelf is Teen Spirit.
What a rush, to see my book on the actual shelf! And only 2 weeks from today, I'll be able to see it there in person! Woohoo!!!
Ahem. So, second thing--my official HarperTeen trailer is live!
Woohoo again!
Now back to cracking. . .
First, Unearthly is on the shelves in Australia! I vaguely knew about this, but yesterday I was pleased as punch to receive these photos from a fan, showing my little book on the big bad shelf. Here they are:
Here Unearthly is featured on the YA Recommended Reading Shelf. I'm sensing an angel theme. . .
And here it is in the regular YA section. I like that the heading on the shelf is Teen Spirit.What a rush, to see my book on the actual shelf! And only 2 weeks from today, I'll be able to see it there in person! Woohoo!!!
Ahem. So, second thing--my official HarperTeen trailer is live!
Woohoo again!
Now back to cracking. . .
December 20, 2010
Cracking
I just received my first round of notes on Book 2 from my editor, which means, while it was nice seeing the light of day up here on the sunny surface for a few weeks, now I've got to dive down again. Back to the cave. And, like with my revisions of Unearthly, there are wrecking balls crashing through the carefully-constructed house that is my book, which is painful but necessary, even more necessary than last time.
Because this book has to be wonderful.
Here's why: This is a sequel. In my lovely editor's words, it has to be fabulous, in some ways even more fabulous, than Book 1.
Something that has kept me up nights is Richelle Mead saying, after she read my book and gave me that wonderful blurb, that she was laying awake at nights wondering what would happen next. As in Book 2. A few days ago, Melissa Marr tweeted that she was definitely going to read my Book 2. Melissa. Marr. These people, in my world, are rock stars. And they are waiting for my Book 2. As are the tons of readers who have read Unearthly and then promptly bombarded me with emails about how there has to be a Book 2, where's Book 2?, when's Book 2 coming out?, we can't wait for Book 2!!
No pressure or anything. :) It's a nice problem to have, my dad keeps reminding me. Yep. It's the kind of problem you dream about, as a young writer. And Unearthly leaves some definitely unresolved issues. Yes, I'm aware. Let me tell you about the first draft, which ended on the line, "Come with me." on page 427. Talk about cliffhangers.
So. Back to the writing I go. I've found that I always go through a seriously emotional process when I get notes back: first, I mourn. I wallow. I cry and feel stupendously sorry for myself. Then I rage. I contemplate killing off characters just because I can't think of how to deal with them anymore. I doubt everything. I seethe with anger, because my book, which I worked so hard on, is not perfect. Not even close to perfect.
And then I get over it. I accept that the book is flawed, that I, as a writer, even with all my fancy degrees and know-how, am deeply flawed. I tell myself what I tell my students: real, gut-wrenching, wrecking-ball revision is what separates the amateurs from the professionals. I remind myself that I trust my editor. I look back over the notes. I see the wisdom in what she's telling me. And then I get cracking.
Right now I am still cracking on Chapter 1, which is slow progress, but the book is shaping itself up in my mind and the first chapter of a sequel is a very tricky thing, dangit!
This whole revision process is complicated, this time around, by the fact that Unearthly hits bookshelves in 2 WEEKS!!! And I still have my website to finalize, swag to get organized, a gazillion interviews to do and a tour to prepare for. ( I am still stoked, so freakishly excited, about going back to my hometown of Idaho Falls for the launch! Not to mention the Dark Days tour!) Plus there's Christmas and family and finals week at Pepperdine.
This takes the word BUSY to a whole new level. There have been times over this past week where I've wanted to scream, to no one in particular: Just. Let. Me. Write!!!!!!!
Again, nice problems to have. This is also the part where my dad says something like "houses are built by putting in one nail at a time," and everybody in my life, my husband, my parents, my friends, all start chanting, "You can do it!" (Thanks, everybody in my life.), except my son.
He just wants to know why he can't have a candy cane for breakfast.
Because this book has to be wonderful.
Here's why: This is a sequel. In my lovely editor's words, it has to be fabulous, in some ways even more fabulous, than Book 1.
Something that has kept me up nights is Richelle Mead saying, after she read my book and gave me that wonderful blurb, that she was laying awake at nights wondering what would happen next. As in Book 2. A few days ago, Melissa Marr tweeted that she was definitely going to read my Book 2. Melissa. Marr. These people, in my world, are rock stars. And they are waiting for my Book 2. As are the tons of readers who have read Unearthly and then promptly bombarded me with emails about how there has to be a Book 2, where's Book 2?, when's Book 2 coming out?, we can't wait for Book 2!!
No pressure or anything. :) It's a nice problem to have, my dad keeps reminding me. Yep. It's the kind of problem you dream about, as a young writer. And Unearthly leaves some definitely unresolved issues. Yes, I'm aware. Let me tell you about the first draft, which ended on the line, "Come with me." on page 427. Talk about cliffhangers.
So. Back to the writing I go. I've found that I always go through a seriously emotional process when I get notes back: first, I mourn. I wallow. I cry and feel stupendously sorry for myself. Then I rage. I contemplate killing off characters just because I can't think of how to deal with them anymore. I doubt everything. I seethe with anger, because my book, which I worked so hard on, is not perfect. Not even close to perfect.
And then I get over it. I accept that the book is flawed, that I, as a writer, even with all my fancy degrees and know-how, am deeply flawed. I tell myself what I tell my students: real, gut-wrenching, wrecking-ball revision is what separates the amateurs from the professionals. I remind myself that I trust my editor. I look back over the notes. I see the wisdom in what she's telling me. And then I get cracking.
Right now I am still cracking on Chapter 1, which is slow progress, but the book is shaping itself up in my mind and the first chapter of a sequel is a very tricky thing, dangit!
This whole revision process is complicated, this time around, by the fact that Unearthly hits bookshelves in 2 WEEKS!!! And I still have my website to finalize, swag to get organized, a gazillion interviews to do and a tour to prepare for. ( I am still stoked, so freakishly excited, about going back to my hometown of Idaho Falls for the launch! Not to mention the Dark Days tour!) Plus there's Christmas and family and finals week at Pepperdine.
This takes the word BUSY to a whole new level. There have been times over this past week where I've wanted to scream, to no one in particular: Just. Let. Me. Write!!!!!!!
Again, nice problems to have. This is also the part where my dad says something like "houses are built by putting in one nail at a time," and everybody in my life, my husband, my parents, my friends, all start chanting, "You can do it!" (Thanks, everybody in my life.), except my son.
He just wants to know why he can't have a candy cane for breakfast.
December 7, 2010
The Dark Days and Tour Dates
Okay, so watch this. Go ahead, I'll wait. . .
Yep, it was awesome, wasn't it? The first time I ever watched this I sniffled a little. And every time I've watched it since then, I've got the chills. It's very, very cool--super surreal, as a matter of fact-- to be part of something like this.
28 days until Unearthly hits the shelves!
So. The time has come to announce tour stuff. Keep checking back, as this will change, but as of today, I will be going to these places on these dates:
January 6, 2011, 7pm: Barnes and Noble, Idaho Falls, IDAHO. This is a signing (my first signing!) but really, in my mind, a launch party, my dream location to launch my book from, as Idaho Falls is my hometown and a key scene from Unearthly takes place there (in fact, there is mention of this particular Barnes and Noble, even, on page 218 of my book). So, if you're in the area, please come out and I will sign copies of my book and try to appear authorial and dignified and not jump around all crazy and squealing. I don't know if I'll succeed. Come share this day with me!
January 14, 2011, 4pm : Copperfields Bookstore, Petaluma, CALIFORNIA (near San Francisco). This is the first Dark Days of Winter event, with me and the fabulous Ellen Schreiber. I can't wait to meet her!
January 15, 2011, 2pm: Borders Bookstore, Redmond, WASHINGTON (near Seattle).
Dark Days event, with Ellen Schreiber and--squee!--Kimberly Derting. I am a huge fan of The Body Finder and can't wait to read the next book, Desires of the Dead.
Sometime at the end of January/beginning of February : I will do a reading/signing at Pepperdine University, in Malibu, CALIFORNIA. Still working out the details. Stay tuned.
February 13, 2011, 4pm : Flintridge Books, Los Angeles, CALIFORNIA. This is a Writer2Writer event with me as the guest speaker.
And that's it for now! I am so excited about it, so eager to meet my readers, meet these amazing other authors, and just stoked to be out there in the real world with my book.
See you there!
Yep, it was awesome, wasn't it? The first time I ever watched this I sniffled a little. And every time I've watched it since then, I've got the chills. It's very, very cool--super surreal, as a matter of fact-- to be part of something like this.
28 days until Unearthly hits the shelves!
So. The time has come to announce tour stuff. Keep checking back, as this will change, but as of today, I will be going to these places on these dates:
January 6, 2011, 7pm: Barnes and Noble, Idaho Falls, IDAHO. This is a signing (my first signing!) but really, in my mind, a launch party, my dream location to launch my book from, as Idaho Falls is my hometown and a key scene from Unearthly takes place there (in fact, there is mention of this particular Barnes and Noble, even, on page 218 of my book). So, if you're in the area, please come out and I will sign copies of my book and try to appear authorial and dignified and not jump around all crazy and squealing. I don't know if I'll succeed. Come share this day with me!
January 14, 2011, 4pm : Copperfields Bookstore, Petaluma, CALIFORNIA (near San Francisco). This is the first Dark Days of Winter event, with me and the fabulous Ellen Schreiber. I can't wait to meet her!
January 15, 2011, 2pm: Borders Bookstore, Redmond, WASHINGTON (near Seattle).
Dark Days event, with Ellen Schreiber and--squee!--Kimberly Derting. I am a huge fan of The Body Finder and can't wait to read the next book, Desires of the Dead.
Sometime at the end of January/beginning of February : I will do a reading/signing at Pepperdine University, in Malibu, CALIFORNIA. Still working out the details. Stay tuned.
February 13, 2011, 4pm : Flintridge Books, Los Angeles, CALIFORNIA. This is a Writer2Writer event with me as the guest speaker.
And that's it for now! I am so excited about it, so eager to meet my readers, meet these amazing other authors, and just stoked to be out there in the real world with my book.
See you there!
November 16, 2010
News from Carlsbad
So, all this time that I was in my writing Carlsbad Caverns, I accumulated a bit of news. We're seven weeks out from Unearthly's release on January 4th, and it seems like every few days something amazing happens. Reviews are pouring in like crazy on Goodreads, people are pre-ordering the book on Amazon, and all kinds of fun stuff like the completion of the book trailer is happening in the meantime. So keep checking back, because these things are all going to go live very soon.
The rights to Unearthly have sold in a number of foreign countries, bringing the total list up to:
Germany
Portugal
Spain
Poland
the UK
and Australia/New Zealand, which will publish in January as well, with this lovely cover:
Squee! I love my US cover oodles, but the Aussie cover really took my breath away! Just look at that smoky forest!
This past week a few of the big reviewers have run their reviews of Unearthly, and they've all been positive.
Kirkus Review said:
After receiving visions of saving a teenage boy from a forest fire, 16-year-old Clara Gardner (one-quarter angel-blood), her half-angel mother and her younger brother relocate from their suburban California home to Teton County, Wyo., so Clara can find this mysterious boy and realize her angel purpose. Despite the ever-growing surge of angel stories and its hefty length, this solid debut novel stands out with even pacing, fully developed characters, vivid descriptions of the West's rugged beauty and Clara's independent spirit. As she learns more about her gifts and angel lore—particularly fallen angels known as Black Wings—from her evasive mother and a fellow angel-blood classmate, Clara struggles with her mother's expectations of her purpose (is she just a heavenly puppet?) and her desire to acknowledge her human side (does she have any control of her own life?), as well as her feelings for both Christian, the boy from her visions, and rodeo star Tucker. The cliffhanger ending, with an unexpected twist, leaves plenty to ponder until the sequel. A divine supernatural romance. (Paranormal romance. YA)
And Publisher's Weekly also gave Unearthly a STARRED review, which is beyond awesome.
To top it off, my author page on HarperTeen went live this week.
I've sent my draft for Book 2 to my editor now, which means I'm no longer caught in the tunnel vision of writing all the time--so I can actually pay more attention to all this stuff. I know I've said this before, but it's incredibly surreal. Yesterday I was chatting with fellow debut writer Courtney Allison Moulton, whose book Angelfire is coming out this spring from HarperTeen, and she said, "When are we going to wake up?" I knew exactly what she meant. This feels like the best dream ever.
Now to catch up on my emails. . .
The rights to Unearthly have sold in a number of foreign countries, bringing the total list up to:
Germany
Portugal
Spain
Poland
the UK
and Australia/New Zealand, which will publish in January as well, with this lovely cover:
Squee! I love my US cover oodles, but the Aussie cover really took my breath away! Just look at that smoky forest!This past week a few of the big reviewers have run their reviews of Unearthly, and they've all been positive.
Kirkus Review said:
After receiving visions of saving a teenage boy from a forest fire, 16-year-old Clara Gardner (one-quarter angel-blood), her half-angel mother and her younger brother relocate from their suburban California home to Teton County, Wyo., so Clara can find this mysterious boy and realize her angel purpose. Despite the ever-growing surge of angel stories and its hefty length, this solid debut novel stands out with even pacing, fully developed characters, vivid descriptions of the West's rugged beauty and Clara's independent spirit. As she learns more about her gifts and angel lore—particularly fallen angels known as Black Wings—from her evasive mother and a fellow angel-blood classmate, Clara struggles with her mother's expectations of her purpose (is she just a heavenly puppet?) and her desire to acknowledge her human side (does she have any control of her own life?), as well as her feelings for both Christian, the boy from her visions, and rodeo star Tucker. The cliffhanger ending, with an unexpected twist, leaves plenty to ponder until the sequel. A divine supernatural romance. (Paranormal romance. YA)
And Publisher's Weekly also gave Unearthly a STARRED review, which is beyond awesome.
To top it off, my author page on HarperTeen went live this week.
I've sent my draft for Book 2 to my editor now, which means I'm no longer caught in the tunnel vision of writing all the time--so I can actually pay more attention to all this stuff. I know I've said this before, but it's incredibly surreal. Yesterday I was chatting with fellow debut writer Courtney Allison Moulton, whose book Angelfire is coming out this spring from HarperTeen, and she said, "When are we going to wake up?" I knew exactly what she meant. This feels like the best dream ever.
Now to catch up on my emails. . .
November 9, 2010
Pressing SEND
Yesterday I turned in a draft of the as-of-yet-untitled Book 2 (yes, for those of you who have just finished Unearthly and have been fretting over it, there is a sequel) to my lovely editor, F, at HarperCollins. It was quite the emotional experience when I pushed SEND. It took me back to this same week last year, when I sent F my first revised draft of Unearthly.
Here is one of the most important things I learned this past year:
I am extremely lucky/blessed to have an editor like F, who, in this crazy-busy day and age in the publishing world, still takes the editing part of her job so seriously. F has a gazillion things on her plate at any one time, (seriously, a GAZILLION) but she never loses sight of the book. She doesn't say, "okay, good enough," and move on to the next item on her to-do list. She stays with the book, with me, until the book is as finely crafted as it can possibly be.
Last year when I turned in a draft of Unearthly to Farrin, I thought it was pretty good. It was all polished up, in my mind.
I had no idea how much better it would become. It is worlds better. And that's all because of F.
I heart F.
So as I pressed SEND this time, I was so excited, because I knew that this new book was about to get the benefit of F's discerning eye and amazing brain. And I got so emotional about it, because I know that it's about to go from something "good enough" to something wonderful.
Pressing SEND also was a big relief because it means, at least for a few weeks (until I get my first round of edits back from F), that I can have my life back. You know how I talked about "the cave" before, the place where writer's mysteriously disappear to when they are working on their books? I have been in the Carlsbad Cavern of writerly caves this past couple months. As evident by my lack of blogging. Or emailing people back. Or doing dishes/laundry/pretty much anything else. All my time and energy has gone into WRITING. THIS. BOOK.
And now it's out of my hands for a little while. Le sigh. Now I can have afternoons at the park with my son. And homecooked dinners again. And time to knit, because it's getting cool out, (as cool as it gets for Southern California) and my fingers always get the urge to knit this time of year.
Take a deep, cleansing breath with me, won't you?
Here is one of the most important things I learned this past year:
I am extremely lucky/blessed to have an editor like F, who, in this crazy-busy day and age in the publishing world, still takes the editing part of her job so seriously. F has a gazillion things on her plate at any one time, (seriously, a GAZILLION) but she never loses sight of the book. She doesn't say, "okay, good enough," and move on to the next item on her to-do list. She stays with the book, with me, until the book is as finely crafted as it can possibly be.
Last year when I turned in a draft of Unearthly to Farrin, I thought it was pretty good. It was all polished up, in my mind.
I had no idea how much better it would become. It is worlds better. And that's all because of F.
I heart F.
So as I pressed SEND this time, I was so excited, because I knew that this new book was about to get the benefit of F's discerning eye and amazing brain. And I got so emotional about it, because I know that it's about to go from something "good enough" to something wonderful.
Pressing SEND also was a big relief because it means, at least for a few weeks (until I get my first round of edits back from F), that I can have my life back. You know how I talked about "the cave" before, the place where writer's mysteriously disappear to when they are working on their books? I have been in the Carlsbad Cavern of writerly caves this past couple months. As evident by my lack of blogging. Or emailing people back. Or doing dishes/laundry/pretty much anything else. All my time and energy has gone into WRITING. THIS. BOOK.
And now it's out of my hands for a little while. Le sigh. Now I can have afternoons at the park with my son. And homecooked dinners again. And time to knit, because it's getting cool out, (as cool as it gets for Southern California) and my fingers always get the urge to knit this time of year.
Take a deep, cleansing breath with me, won't you?
September 21, 2010
Smart Chicks Really Do Kick It
I have been writing. Writing, writing, writing. Book 2, Book 2, Book 2. And sometimes talking about Book 2 to my husband, who patiently listens and even throws in his two cents occasionally as I try to work out my novel's issues out loud with him. And writing some more. And dreaming about Book 2. And listening to music that particularly inspires me for Book 2. And researching stuff I need to know about for Book 2, the rodeo, for instance. And talking into my voice recorder, which mostly happe...
