Amy Plum's Blog, page 18

4-Author Easter Egg

Once upon a time there were four authors on book tour who were hanging out in a hotel room sipping champagne and coming up with ideas that got sillier with each glass. They were cracking up about something—I think it had to do with “burning loins”—and one of them said, “We all have to use the phrase ‘burning loins’ in our next book.” And once that was agreed upon, someone came up with an even better phrase that would prove even more difficult to use.

And guess what? They all put it in their next book.

There is a phrase—2 words, to be exact—that exists in DREAMLESS (Josephine Angelini), ARISE (Tara Hudson), DESTINED (Aprilynne Pike), and IF I SHOULD DIE (me).

I’m not talking random 2-word groupings like “he said” which you can find a bazillion times in any book. I’m talking about a really obscure exclamation. And we were all able to get it into our final drafts without someone editing it out. (Unlike the word “wereboar” which 5 author-friends and I had agreed to use and which got edited out of JUNEAU.)

I was talking to someone about what our little stunt should be called, and they brought up the term “Easter egg.” Wikipedia defines Easter egg as “an intentional hidden message, inside joke, or feature in a work such as a computer program, movie, book, or crossword.”

So voilà—Josie, Tara, Aprilynne and I have an Easter egg hidden in our four books. If you think you know what it is, write me on amy at amy plum books dott com, and if you are right I will officially proclaim you a HAPP Superfan and send you something. (I don’t know what…it’ll be a surprise.)

And if you ever see the word “wereboar” in a YA book, just know that it was part of a scheme cooked up in the French countryside by 6 authors plotting paranormal world domination. (This is where you scream and run for your lives.)

Character interviews

I am working on the “extras” for the US paperback version of IF I SHOULD DIE, and a lot of you requested interviews with different characters. Well, now’s your time to ask ANYTHING you want of ANYONE in the books (or of me)! Picture me sitting in a room with Vincent, Jules, Kate, Georgia, Ambrose, Charlotte, and the rest of the crew. And then ask your questions of any of us.

You can ask a total of 3 questions. Put them all in the same comment, please. Tell me who you are asking, and then ask the question in as non-complicated form as you can.

I will choose between your questions to write up an interview, and we can make it REALLY interesting, it may be included in the Extras!

And I will randomly choose from all of the comments 1 person to win a signed copy of IF I SHOULD DIE!* I will leave comments open until Tuesday morning, May 28, Paris time. Now’s the time…ask away!

*UK paperback edition

Reviews

Like I’ve been sharing with you on FB and Twitter, the wonderful reviews are pouring in for IF I SHOULD DIE. And I can’t even tell you how gratifying that is. Because, quite basically, what one hopes for is that the more they write, the better they get. And all of the reviews for Book 3 of the DIE FOR ME series have been better than those for Books 1 and 2. I can only say to that one thing: HURRAY!!!! *dances around the room* *a few times*

First of all, I have to thank the bloggers, who have been overwhelmingly gushing about IF I SHOULD DIE. Bloggers share their very personal opinion of the books they choose to spend time on, so their praise is especially valuable to me.

But across the board, the big scary critics have been giving IF I SHOULD DIE great reviews. And I have to say, that is the most heartening thing in the world. I shared with you Kirkus’s review, RT Book Reviews’ review, and New York Journal of Books’ review.

But here is the most recent, from Booklist—a review that I really respect:

If I Should Die.

Plum, Amy (Author)

May 2013. 416 p. HarperTeen, hardcover, $17.99. (9780062004031).

“Plum’s Revenant trilogy comes to an end, but not without suspense, bloodshed, a horrific zombie war, death, reanimation, and romance. Kate sheds her high-school facade to concentrate on her relationship with the bardia and their war against the numa. But first she must help find a way to rescue Vincent’s spirit from the evil Violette, who has tricked him, killed him, and burned his body. Her challenge is to find the funeral urn called a thymiaterion, interpret its seven symbols, and thus unlock the ancient secret to his reembodiment all before Violette absorbs his power permanently. Can she do it? Find out in this swashbuckling final episode with plot twists and unexpected revelations.”

Isn’t that so exciting? I feel like hugging everyone I know, and even some that I don’t.

Thanks to ALL of you who have shown so much enthusiasm and support throughout the series. I feel so honored and grateful for all of it.

*this is me hugging all of you*

Amy

Signed Bookplates Offer Extended for IF I SHOULD DIE

I’ve gotten several requests in the last couple of days, so I am happy to announce that the signed bookplate offer will be extended to include reviews for DIE FOR HER and IF I SHOULD DIE.

If you haven’t already seen them, here they are. Aren’t they pretty? The drawings were done by Johanna Basford, the Scottish artist who drew the swirls on the cover of DIE FOR ME and UNTIL I DIE.

My gorgeous bookplates are produced by BookPlateInk.com

And this is what it will look like inside your book:

The plates are my gifts to anyone who writes an Amazon and/or Barnes & Noble review for DIE FOR ME, UNTIL I DIE, DIE FOR HER and IF I SHOULD DIE. Just send me an email to amy attt amy plum books dottt com (take out the extra “t”s, add appropriate punctuation, and squish everything together) telling me what your Amazon and/or B&N user name is and your mailing address, and I will send it to you.

Don’t worry, you don’t have to write a novel-unless you want to. Just a sentence is fine! And let me make this very clear – you can leave WHATEVER review you want. I am not buying positive reviews here. Just say what you thought of the book(s), and that’s good enough for me!

You can receive a total of 8 bookplates – four for the 4 books on Amazon and four for the 4 books on B&N (which means 4 for you and 4 for a friend if you wish), and the offer is international. The offer is good until I run out of bookplates!

Thank you all for your enthusiastic support!

IF I SHOULD DIE Book Birthday

TODAY IS THE DAY!!!

IF I SHOULD DIE officially releases today in the U.S. That means that it is worldwide in English as of today. And I can’t even tell you how excited that makes me!

You can order IF I SHOULD DIE here.

Both Kirkus and RT Book Reviews gave it fabulous reviews, and I’ve been getting testimonials from my loyal readers who either got an ARC or bought it last week from the U.K. where it released May 3.

So I just want to say THANK YOU to everyone who has read and loved the DIE FOR ME series. Thank you to all of you who spread the love and told your friends and family about the series. And thank you for your enthusiasm for this final book in the DIE FOR ME universe. I hope it meets all of your hopes and expectations!

Above all, thank you for accompanying me on Kate’s journey from mourning daughter to strong kick-assedness. May we all learn to love like she does.

IF I SHOULD DIE blog tour

I can’t believe my FINAL blog tour for the DIE FOR ME series is starting! And Katie at Mundie Moms (one of my favorite bloggers) is organizing it.

What that means is that you can go to Mundie Moms’ website and see the list of sites who are hosting each day of the tour so that you can follow along. And on that page (link above) you can sign up to win THE GRAND PRIZE:

All three books of the series along with the limited edition* bookmarks!

Today the tour starts over at Fangirlish, with a guest post written by Jules about his favorite spot in Paris.

And all of this book-touring is to celebrate the release of IF I SHOULD DIE (May 2 in UK, May 7 in US)!

If you have not ordered the book yet, you can now. Here it is on Indiebound, Barnes & Noble, Amazon, hardback on Book Depository (worldwide), paperback on Book Depository (worldwide), Amazon UK, and Indigo (Canada). I know I’m leaving places out, but my fingers are going to sleep.

And if it’s nice out where you live, walk to your nearest indie bookstore and buy a copy. That way you get exercise PLUS romance, action, thrills, death (okay, only 1 person you know ends up permanently dead)!!! (There was a spoiler here. It’s gone now. )

I hope you love the book. I hope you love the tour. I hope you still love me when it’s all over and I’ve dealt out all of the HEAs I’m going to deal. (No, not everyone gets a happily-ever-after. This is not Hollywood.)

Thanks for following my blog tour. Enjoy!

*limited edition in this case just means I’m running out.

IF I SHOULD DIE street teams

Now that the end of the DIE FOR ME series is in sight (2 weeks away: May 2 in UK, May 7 in USA), I want to ask for your help in spreading the word about IF I SHOULD DIE.

If you live in one of the countries where IF I SHOULD DIE will be sold in English and you are either a:

librarian
bookstore employee
member of a reading group
someone who is willing to go to your local bookstore or school library and request that they carry IF I SHOULD DIE…

…I would like to send you some IF I SHOULD DIE bookmarks to hand out / display / wear as a bracelet / whatever will allow people to see them. If you are none of those things and just want a bookmark, don’t worry – I will be giving them away once the book is out.

Just write me an email (my address is on my Contact page, 3rd paragraph) and let me know your situation and how many you think you could use, and be sure to include your mailing address, and I will do my best to get them to you pre-release!

And I just want to thank you all for being so supportive and enthusiastic about DIE FOR ME’s world and characters. I never imagined that one of my favorite parts of being a writer would be communicating with my readers. And here you all are – so lovely and wonderful and totally picking me up and encouraging me when I hit a hard patch. (It’s true. When I feel like I’m writing complete crap, I just pull out some of your fan letters and they give me instant courage.) Thank you for sharing my love for Kate, Vincent, Jules, Ambrose, Georgia, Charlotte, Arthur, Genevieve, Papy & Mamie, Gaspard and even stick-up-his-butt Jean-Baptiste. (I can’t believe there’s a Team JB out there!)

I would hug you all if I could,

Amy

CONTEST MONDAY features Sonia Gensler

After skipping Contest Monday last week, I’M BACK with some loot for you from Sonia Gensler.

Sonia was one of the 21 authors at last month’s Texas writers retreat. I had never met her before, but our friend-in-common Tara Hudson had been planning to set us up, knowing that we’d get along. And, since Tara’s psychic (okay just really smart) we did!

These were the girls I shared a house with at the retreat. Sonia’s telling a story way far on the right, and her enraptured audience is (from left) Tara Hudson, Natalie C. Parker, Myra McEntire, and the back of Anna Carey’s and Tessa Gratton’s heads. (And yes, we’re eating red velvet cupcakes made by Gretchen Mc Neil. I can’t even tell you how amazing the frosting was.)

I had actually heard of Sonia a while ago because her first book was called THE REVENANT, and I was like, “I hope they don’t repeatedly die saving humans from preternatural death!” Luckily, it wasn’t anything about undead superheroes in France.

Here’s the cover of her (award winning!) book, which is a Victorian ghost story set in a Cherokee girl’s school in the old west. It was praised as “a compelling ghost and love story” by Booklist, “eerie and suspenseful” by Publishers Weekly, and “stunningly taut and entirely compelling” by The Bulletin.

It sounded so good that I’ve actually ordered a copy (just waiting on Amazon France to deliver). (You can too…right here.)

But the above-mentioned loot is in celebration of her upcoming book,

THE DARK BETWEEN, which is a YA Gothic mystery and hits shelves in just four months: August 2013. Just read the description:

At the turn of the twentieth century, Spiritualism and séances are all the rage—even in the scholarly town of Cambridge, England. While mediums dupe the grief-stricken, a group of local fringe scientists seeks to bridge the gap to the spirit world by investigating the dark corners of the human mind.

Each running from a shadowed past, Kate, Asher, and Elsie take refuge within the walls of Summerfield College. But their peace is soon shattered by the discovery of a dead body nearby. Is this the work of a flesh-and-blood villain, or is something otherworldly at play? This unlikely trio must illuminate what the scientists have not, and open a window to secrets taken to the grave—or risk joining the spirit world themselves.

The Dark Between, a supernatural romance about the powers that lie in the shadows of the mind, is perfect for fans of Sarah Rees Brennan, Alyxandra Harvey, and Libba Bray.

It’s available for pre-order here. (I can’t wait to read it!)

So today I have 4 signed DARK BETWEEN bookmarks for you. All you have to do to qualify is discover more about Sonia on your own.

Follow her on Twitter.

Follow her on FB.

Become a fan on Goodreads.

And then tell me below which you did. Each earns you 1 name put into the hat, and I will draw 4 winners in 24 hours. (International).

I think Sonia’s the best, so I bet you’ll enjoy getting to know her and her fascinating books!!

DIE FOR HER success!

Dear DIE FOR ME readers…thank you from the bottom of my heart for buying SO MANY copies of DIE FOR HER!!!

My editor gave me the 1st week sales number yesterday, and it made me so happy! And I’ve been getting so many notes from you about how you love Jules’s story.

Writing the novella was optional—it was an “only if you want to” situation. Now I’m very glad I decided to do it. MERCI to all of you for your dedication to the DIE FOR ME series. I’m truly touched. *hugs everyone reading this*

UNTIL I DIE is out in paperback: with Extras!

I am so pleased to tell you that as of today, UNTIL I DIE is out in paperback!

And the Exclusive Extras that we chose to include are:

Songs to Die For: The Official Until I Die Playlist

Kate’s Favorite Things (books and movies)

Who’s Your Bardia Boyfriend? Quiz

Immortal Inquiries: An Until I Die discussion guide

“When I Died”: Relive the final moments of Until I Die from Vincent’s point of view

Sneak Peek: An excerpt from If I Should Die

You can order your own copy here! The whole thing was fun to do, but writing what happened just after the end of Book 2…(as in, when ________ _________ his body) from Vincent’s point of view, was AWESOME!!! I hope you enjoy it!!