Amy Plum's Blog, page 45
January 25, 2011
The "I ♥ You" Valentine's Day Contest: Date Change
FEBRUARY 4!!!
(3 weeks was just TOO LONG!)
This means that the winner will have the book in their hands on Valentine's Day. Which is much more fun!
Good luck, everyone!
The "I ♥ You" Valentine's Day Contest: Win an ARC of DIE FOR ME
I promised you a chance to win an ARC of DIE FOR ME that you wouldn't have to pay a penny for (much less $338)! And here it is: the I ♥ You DIE FOR ME VALENTINE'S DAY CONTEST! (Because I ♥ my readers and there are too many of you to send flowers.)
The two ARCs and The Hat
I will give away two SIGNED ARCs: 1.) the U.S. HarperTeen version will go to readers in the U.S. or Canada 2.) the U.K. Atom version will go to readers anywhere else in the world (yes, even if you live in Bora Bora).
You can put your name in the hat a total of 3 times:
You get 1 point for following me on Twitter ( http://twitter.com/iHeartRevenants )
You get 1 point for "liking" my FB fan page ( http://www.facebook.com/amyplumfanpage )
You get 1 point for leaving a comment here, telling me what comes to mind when you think of Paris. It doesn't have to be complicated – 1 word is fine!
The only one that is OBLIGATORY is #3, because, along with your Paris musings, you have to tell me where you live (e.g. which ARC you would win) and how many points I should give you. That way I can check FB and Twitter to see if you are there and add up your points!
So to recap: 1 point for Twitter, 1 point for Facebook, and 1 point for blog comment. BUT you have to tell me which of these you've done in the comment or I won't know! (Like my revenants, omniscience is not one of my superpowers!)
I will draw the winners from the hat on Valentine's Day, and if I'm feeling extra inspired that day I will make a video of the drawing and post it here. (Which means I will actually have to use the hat for dramatic effect…but you're worth it!)
Good luck!
January 20, 2011
Keeping a 12-year-old Up All Night
Those of you who contacted HarperCollins for an ARC of DIE FOR ME have probably discovered that they're being kept under strict wraps: my publicist is waiting until the last possible moment to send it out. And the only ones I've sent out—besides the first signed ARC, which went to the winner of the charity auction—were to my grandma, my two teenage nieces, and my six Beta readers.
Knowing this, my best friend and Beta reader Kim (who is not only my son's godmother, but the creator of Oprah's favorite brownies) emailed me a couple of days ago to ask if her 12-year-old niece, Ellie, could read her copy. She made Ellie's case by saying, "She is 12, a Harry Potter/Twilight fan, and wants to be an editor when she grows up." *this is where i melt* I had to say yes.
Kim sent me that note on Jan. 17 and gave the book to Ellie the next day. Ellie's mother Carol wrote me the following morning to say:
"Just wanted to let you know that Ellie started DIE FOR ME last night at 9 and finished it…she doesn't know when she went to bed! A message from Ellie: SHE BETTER BE WRITING ANOTHER!! IT'S AMAZING and WE ARE BUYING HER BOOK ASAP!!"
You can imagine how that made me feel. I got all teary reading the message to Laurent off of my iPhone. (I'm getting all teary typing this now!) Because not only did a twelve-year-old enjoy my book, but she stayed up all night to read it! Which totally reminded me of my 12-year-old self buying a flashlight with my babysitting money so I could read under the covers after lights-out.
A couple of hours later, a message came through from Ellie's mother on my iPhone:
"Okay, she is reading it AGAIN! I think she wins an award for quickest turn around to read your book a second time!"
And later that evening, "Well since I last wrote you, she finished DIE FOR ME for the second time! I peeked in on her earlier this afternoon and she had a silly grin on her face. I asked what was up and she quoted 'We're Zombies!'…I've got to read it now!"
I can't think of a better compliment than a 12-year-old book-lover staying up all night to read my book and then reading it again THE NEXT DAY. Now I've got my armor against any less-than-flattering reviews. Because ELLIE LOVED MY BOOK. And that's enough for me.
12-year-old Ellie, DIE FOR ME's youngest fan!
January 17, 2011
DIE FOR ME mentioned in SciFi Now
This is the first mention I've seen of DIE FOR ME in the press, besides the Publisher's Weekly articles announcing the American and German deals. And I have to say…I really don't mind those Twilight comparisons! Check out SciFi Now's article here!
January 14, 2011
U.K. Cover Reveal for DIE FOR ME, Little, Brown/Atom
Are you guys ready? This is a squee-worthy moment…I just want you to be prepared. Here is the cover that Atom (Little, Brown) U.K. is using for DIE FOR ME:
Except instead of "Strapline Running Just Here" the actual ARC says "Available May 2011″. Now keep in mind, this is the ARC cover – they're still going to tweak it. (As if it isn't already too beautiful to be tweaked??!!)
And here (swoon) is the blurb on the back cover. *Amy passes out on her kitchen floor"*
I am so in awe of the artwork – and will let you know as soon as I find out on Monday WHO DID IT! (Because they NEED to be mentioned!)
What do you think?
Where I Ran to for Writing Week
My week-long writing getaway is over. And since I am sitting in the Paris airport, jetlagged and bleary but far, far away from temptation, I can now tell you I was in…
New York!
And the reason it was a secret is because I have so many friends in the city, and would have been tempted to spend all of my time with them instead of doing what I was there to do: start the second draft of DIE FOR ME, Book 2.
So why didn't I just go somewhere I don't have any friends and thus escape temptation completely? Because I love New York. I don't just heart it, I love it passionately. New York and Paris are my Twin Cities of Love – my affection divided equally between the two (and for very different reasons). And even if I spent most of my week holed up in the Batcave with my MacBook and didn't have a lot of time to wander, just being there fed my soul.
SO there's that. And then there's the fact that my friend Lisa was in Panama for the week and offered me her amazing apartment (aka my Batcave), which is exceptional for New York because it has a tiny back yard that I couldn't even see because of all of the snow.
And then there's the fact that—major score—I finally got to meet my lovely and enthusiastic publicist Elyse, and be introduced to "The Two Christinas" in Harper Children's marketing group, AND (most importantly) discuss Book 2 with my editors Tara and Melissa.
Of course I used the opportunity to eat bagels, Mexican food, and uni (sea urchin), all of which you can't get in my 'hood of the Loire Valley. And my suitcase is now packed with: Poptarts, Neosporin, 2 Elmo videos, Zhu Zhu Pet racetracks (the bribe for the kids), Vitamins, tons of Kiehl's products, a little shopping I did at Allsaints, a hand-knit hat, hand-knit texting mittens, ski jacket and pants, two of those magnetic key boxes that you stick under your car, and a whole bag of goodies from Rickey's (fake eyelashes, eyelash curler, etc.). All of these either because you can't get them where I live in France or because they're a lot cheaper in the States.
So in my next post I'll I tell you all about my New York literary adventures, which were less scary and more fun than last time, and didn't end up with me crying in a drag queen bar.
But I just want to say to Suzanne, Claire, Brett, Etienne & Marlene, Christine, Romain & Karin, Pascale & Sirap, Tom & Reza, Anna & Venesius, Laura and Vivienne—I am sorry for not contacting you. But I know myself, and as soon as the words, "Let's meet up" had left your lips, I would have been on the subway, coming to see you.
I will be back in June, when Book 2 is a finished manuscript, after my signings in Chicago and Portland. Launch party, anyone?
January 12, 2011
The countdown begins!
Yesterday marked exactly 4 months until DIE FOR ME's U.S. and U.K. release. FOUR MONTHS! I can barely believe it. (Especially since I've personally been counting down since November 2009, when I got my book deal with HarperCollins!)
HarperCollins just sent me my 4-months-until-your-book-comes-out present: my very own author microsite with lots of fun facts, essays, list of my favorite authors, and more treats! I hope you enjoy - here it is!
January 6, 2011
Four Libraries and a Funeral
LIBRARY ONE
When I was in fourth grade, I brought a book home from our school library. My parents took one look at the back cover and ordered me to take it back: there were witches in it, and as far as they were concerned witches were a banned topic. (Witches being in league with the devil, of course, and the devil being a very real and dangerous presence for my religious family.) The book was Madeleine l'Engle's A WRINKLE IN TIME. I didn't read it until I was twenty.
Of course, the witch-book-ban made me extremely curious about a subject I hadn't previously cared about. I decided to investigate it further. One balmy Alabama Saturday, I rode my bike to the school parking lot and stepped up into the possibility-laden sanctum of the Bookmobile. Surprisingly, its collection was large and varied enough to contain a book on witchcraft.
I returned home and spent the next couple of weeks studying every word of the comprehensive tome, learning about Wicca and the power of nature. There was a little bit about the devil, and I read these sections with the thrill of approaching the forbidden. However, all in all, I was disappointed that there were no spells that could make you fly on a broom or turn someone into a toad. I decided that, with all of the botanical knowledge necessary, herb gathering and the like, witchcraft was too labor-intensive for me. Finally, I dug the book from its hiding place under my mattress and returned it to the Bookmobile.
LIBRARY TWO
Apparently in the 1970s parents didn't know about sun protection. At least mine didn't, because for two summers in a row, upon arriving in Destin, Florida, I played the entire day on the beach, got sun poisoning, threw up all night, and then spent the rest of the week in bed with a fever and blistered skin.
Which would have been pretty awful if it hadn't been for a tiny public library a few blocks away from our beach house. I checked out the maximum number of books, took them back to my room, and escaped the pain of burnt skin against sand-infested sheets (no matter how much you brushed it out, the sand was everywhere) by plunging into someone else's non-itchy universe. As soon as I finished my allotted stack of books, I was right back amongst the shelves, selecting my next collection of pain medication.
For two summers in a row, the Destin library was a haven for me. It not only fed my mind, but was a balm for my physical suffering, and provided consolation as I watched the other children frolic on the beach.
LIBRARY THREE
Our neighborhood library held a book-reading contest every summer. Cards tallying participants' points were kept behind the check-out desk, and a poster hung above it announcing the top scoring children's names. The conscientious librarians made sure that no one cheated by reading books that were below their skill level.
One summer I read through the library's entire stock of Barbara Cartland romance novels…one a day. My parents must have been too distracted to censor at that point, because I was only eleven or twelve. I read like a girl on a mission. Which is exactly what I was. Because up there on the poster, one position above my name, was that of a boy who somehow out-read me every single year. I'll call him Damian.
I did everything I could to beat Damian. I even took a correspondence course on speed-reading one year, just to prepare for that summer's competition. But it did me no good. Damian won every single summer. I hated him for his superior reading speed. I suspected him of cheating. I spent bitter moments wondering if he was bedridden…if he ever went outside…if he was some kind of freak of nature that didn't even need sleep.
In all of my summers in the book-reading competition, I never beat Damian. But I did read almost every novel in the entire library, even though some were way too difficult for me. I learned to speed-read while lying on my bedroom floor, with the dictionary open next to my book.
So for my good vocabulary and staggering number of books read during my childhood and adolescence, I have Damian and my neighborhood library to thank.
LIBRARY FOUR
To hide the fact that I still loved picture books as a wise and world-weary adolescent, I would occasionally accompany my five-year-old brother to the children's section of the Homewood Library and read out loud to him. (At a library-respecting whisper-level, of course.)
One day while he was valiantly trying to escape my literary ministrations I was approached by a woman who asked me if I babysat. "I'm twelve," I responded. "You look much older," she gasped. I nodded. Already 5'6", I got that a lot. "Well, I noticed how good you were with your brother. Can I ask your mother if you could babysit for us?"
And that is how I got the job that carried me through my teenage years until I left for university. Babysitting for the Freemans paid for the books I mail-ordered through the Literary Guild. It provided fodder for a short-story that I wrote in college about getting stuck while sliding down their laundry shoot. (Which is what you get when you hire a twelve-year-old to babysit. I managed to climb out before the parents got home.) And it allowed me to meet some of the only people I knew who not only weren't in our church, but were part of a different belief-system, thus providing me with a fresh worldview.
If it weren't for the unique climate of a library, one where a frazzled mother could approach a girl she saw reading to her brother, I would never have been offered that chance to broaden my cultural horizon.
THE FUNERAL
I received an email from my U.K. editor Little, Brown yesterday. It was a plea from The Reading Agency, a charity that has a special partnership with public libraries and a simply-stated mission: "to inspire more people to read more".
British local authorities must make a decision in a few weeks (February 2011) as to what public services to cut in order to save 29% of their budget. Libraries risk being downsized or even closed. People are being asked to urge their authorities to think about the importance of libraries as they decide on the cuts.
The Reading Agency says, "…local authority decision-makers need to be reminded of the important evidence base for libraries' educational importance. Their work with readers builds people's literacy levels, educational attainment and employability. It builds confidence, self esteem and well being." To which I say, "Amen, sister! Preach it!"
For those in the U.K. who feel strongly about libraries, you're urged to go to http://alangibbons.net and www.voicesforthelibrary.org.uk.
If you're not in the U.K., please pass this message along to your British library-loving friends.
In the letter Miranda McKearney, the Director of the Reading Agency, asked authors to blog about what libraries mean to them. This post is my response.
Libraries have served many roles in my life, all of them dynamic and positive. The Bookmobile was my search engine. The Destin library was my hospital. The neighborhood library was my college-level vocabulary course. The Homewood Library was my employment office.
Wherever you are, U.K. or elsewhere, I encourage you to think about the role libraries have played in your life. Get involved in your local library. Go there to read a picture book. Or hire a babysitter. And let everyone know how much you value this incredible gift. Free books. For everyone, no matter what age or socio-economic level. It's an institution to be cherished. And protected.
January 4, 2011
Short Video Where I Say "Hi" and Introduce DIE FOR ME
Here is a video that I made for my HarperCollins author microsite. Then I found out it was too long/big of a file for that interface. So I'm posting it here instead. Et voila, my film debut! 
