Amy Plum's Blog, page 38

Keep in touch

This is a special blog post for Goodreads friends, just letting you know that even though I'm not as active as I would like to be on Goodreads OR on my blog, I tend to post at least once a day to Twitter
http://twitter.com/iHeartRevenants

and Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/amyplumfanpage

So please come follow or "like" me there if you want more frequent updates.

Note to self: need more clones. Not enough time in the day!

Contests Contests Everywhere

So you want a contest? How about TWO CONTESTS? I have decided to add the SPONSORSHIP contest to my already-running TAKE A REV TO SCHOOL contest. And, as usual, these contests are international. Here are the deets:

The TAKE A REV TO SCHOOL CONTEST involves your posting to my FB page a photo of you holding DIE FOR ME while you stand next to a French teacher. "Whaaaaaaa..huh" you say? Well, as you know D4M is packed chock-full of references to life in France, and I would be pleased as punch if French teachers began recommending it for that reason to their students. If you're still confused, or if you just want the rules, go HERE. Prizes: EVERY ENTRY wins a signed bookplate. And randomly chosen prizes include an ARC of INCARNATE, an ARC of SHATTER ME, and an ARC of UNTIL I DIE. Deadline: Sept. 30! *Being a very hard contest, there will be very few entries, so you stand a HIGH chance at winning a prize*

SPONSORSHIP CONTEST: each time you get someone who is not already following me on FB (facebook.com/amyplumfanpage) or Twitter (twitter.com/iheartrevenants) to follow or "like", you will win one entry into my SPONSORSHIP contest. There is no limit on entries. Once both my Twitter and FB followers reach 2000, I will have a randomized drawing. To enter, just post a comment here with 1. your name, 2. whether you sponsored on FB or Twitter, 3. the friend you're sponsoring's FB or Twitter name*, so that I can check to see if they did, indeed, just join follow. (Sponsors for people who unfollow and then follow again will be disqualified.) Prizes: a signed ARC of UNTIL I DIE (once it is out), a signed copy of DIE FOR ME, a hardback copy of HUSH, HUSH, 20 signed bookmarks (20 separate prizes), 2 Eiffel Tower keychains with a J (for Jules – I'm out of V for Vincent ones!), and 1 Eiffel Tower charm with a pink heart. That is a LOT of prizes!!!

The prizes, not including ARCs of UNTIL I DIE and bookplates, displayed on my wrinkled tablecloth.

So go find a French teacher, or start checking to see which of your friends is not yet following me, and begin racking up the points for my contests! Ready, set…you're gone!

*The fine print: a sponsored person does not receive a point for their own name, but they can then start sponsoring other people to earn their own points.

Amy Plum's Daily Devoirs: The Superpower Dev

While you were eating breakfast this morning, a man in a suit walked through your front door and, before disappearing in a puff of smoke, informed you that you had just been granted the superpower you always wanted. You're going to use your superpower for good, of course, but before that you want to have a little fun with it to test its limits. What do you do?

What's a Dev? Find out here!

The Writer's Husband

I am about 20,000 words into Book 3 of the Revenant series. That would normally mean that I'm about 1/4 done. (DIE FOR ME was 83,000 words and UNTIL I DIE is 87,600.) But since this is the last book in the series, I might have to pack a lot in and make it a little bit longer. We'll see.

In any case, counting my first, unpublished, book this is the fourth book I've written. And I'm starting to see a pattern in my writing habits. One of which is that during first draft I get a raging case of insomnia. In fact, that might actually happen during second draft too, but I can't remember right now because I'm so freaking sleepy.

It seems like my husband is also starting to see a pattern. As you can see from this morning's breakfast conversation.

Me: Stumble out of guest bedroom and flop myself down at the table

Laurent: Sets coffee in front of me. "Was I snoring last night?"

Me: "No, it's just that I had this idea, so I got up and didn't have anything to write on, so had to go downstairs. And once I was down there I was wide awake. And I didn't want to write because I thought that would keep me awake all night. And once I start writing all night it just gets to be a…" Search for words but can't find them because my brain is still in the guest bedroom.

Him: "…downward spiral…"

Me: "Yeah, that. So I did all of last week's New York Times crossword puzzles. And then I sat and thought for about an hour. And then I read The Summoning. And I finally fell asleep around four thirty."

Him: "Well it's about that time of the year again."

Me: "What, Autumn?"

Him: "No. First draft."

This is my office during first draft. By the time I'm done,

that calendar on the corkboard will be full.

Amy Plum's Daily Devoirs: The Hand Grenade Dev

I found this (empty) hand grenade in an abandoned building on our property when I was cleaning it out to become my office. (I live in a tiny town of 1300 people in the middle of the Loire Valley, which was part of occupied France in WWII.) Tell me how it got there.

What's a Dev? Find out here!

Desert Island Supply Co.

I have been trying to think of ways to give back to my community. I've got that covered here in my tiny French town, by volunteer work I do at the local preschool. (I spend Thursday mornings singing songs and teaching basic words in English.) But I wanted to do something in my writer's capacity back in my home country.

I've donated signed books and other treats to charity auctions, but didn't have any kind of long-term plans. And then I heard about a program in my hometown of Birmingham, Alabama. I'll let it introduce itself:

The Desert Island Supply Co. is a nonprofit creative writing program for kids in Birmingham, Alabama. Our mission is simple: to give kids in the Birmingham area more opportunities to write.

Inspired by programs such as 826 Valencia and the Austin Bat Cave, DISCO offers free workshops and writing booths at libraries, museums, community centers, community gardens, and wherever else writing can be done.

DISCO also works with local schools and teachers on individual projects and needs — everything from preparing 10th graders for a state writing test to conducting slam poetry workshops.

Sounds good, right? Well, it sounded even better during my Skype chat last week with founder Chip Brantley.

He explained that DISCO is still a relatively new project that could use volunteers and donations and a helping hand with their new space. (In fact, if you're in Birmingham and are free this Sunday, they need help building a giant paper-mache tentacle and a driftwood raft.)

Check out the space they're setting up – it's in Birmingham's Woodlawn neighborhood and just happens to be sandwiched between two schools that they work with:

Awesome, or what? I'm just picturing where the raft and the giant tentacle will go…

So I thought that maybe…just maybe…they could use an Alabama girl who is an ocean away but who's dying to help out. I told Chip what I had in mind, different things I could offer to the program, and he came up with some additional ideas, and in the end we basically did a virtual handshake and he told me I was on the team.

So while I'm waiting to do something important and advisory that I need to put my important-looking-glasses on for, I thought I'd just start by spreading the word.

If you're in Birmingham, check Desert Island Supply Co. out at this week's Eat, Drink, Read, Write Festival, where they're doing a Food Stories storytelling event Wednesday night. If you're not, check out their site anyway. You can donate even if you're not able to volunteer.

Or maybe this will inspire you to find a similar writing and/or literacy program in your area that you can get involved in.

Community is what life's all about, and programs like DISCO's offer the perfect way to participate.

UNTIL I DIE

The countdown has already started for UNTIL I DIE (8 months away!), and although I will be adding its link to the Books page at some point in the future, I decided to group all information about it into a page in my Extras list.

So for all of you who missed the teasers that I've been leaking on Facebook and Twitter, I am grouping them together on that page. Also as soon as dates, summaries, and the cover reveal, I will add all of those in. So here's the link, or when you check back you can go directly to my Extras page and click it in the item list.

Enjoy!

It Gets Better

I made a video yesterday concerning a topic that means a lot to me. I was going to try to paraphrase it for the blog, or to even write an explanatory note, but I think the best is to let the video speak for itself. If you know anyone who you think this message would help, please do pass it on.

Hugs to you all,

Amy

Amy Plum's Daily Devoirs: The Guerre Dev

La Guerre est un Fleau

I found this inscription in Cannes, carved into the side of a building that dates from 1925. The French-English translation means "War is a scourge." Create the person you think commissioned this relief and tell me the story behind it.

What's a Dev? Find out here!

Amy Plum's Daily Devoirs: The Arctic Dev

Everyone always talks about what you'd bring to a desert island. Well, you are going to be stuck for an indeterminate amount of time by yourself in the Arctic. You will be supplied with an igloo, clothes, blankets and basic foodstuffs. What else will you bring?

What's a Dev? Find out here!