Beth Revis's Blog, page 59

I May Have to Do This Tomorrow Just to Get Work Done

In Charlotte Tonight: Trends in YA Literature

If you're in the area, you're invited to an evening panel with authors, bloggers, and a literary agent!



What: WNBA Panel on YA Literature





When: Tuesday, February 15, from 6:30-8:00pm





Where: Quail Hollow Estates Clubhouse, off Park/Johnston Road, 7301 Quail Meadow Lane, Charlotte, NC





Who:



Snow Wildsmith, moderator: A writer, book reviewer (mostly graphic novels), and former teen librarian. Snow has served on several YALSA committees: Great Graphic Novels for Teens, Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults, and the 2010 Printz Committee. http://www.linkedin.com/pub/snow-wildsmith/9/b1b/b98
Tracey Adams: Tracey is a Children's and YA Literary Agent with Adams Literary. http://www.adamsliterary.com/aboutus/tracey/tracey.html
Beth Revis: Beth's book Across the Universe (her first published work) was just released this month. She is a former high school teacher.http://www.bethrevis.com/
Carrie Ryan: Carrie is the author of the YA trilogy The Forest of Hands and Teeth (a NYT Bestseller), The Dead Tossed Waves, and The Dark and Hollow Places (coming in March 2011). http://www.carrieryan.com/
Lois Moss: Lois is a book blogger and photographer whose reviews and pictures can be found at Lotus Rising: http://lamoss.blogspot.com/.


Hope to see you there! There will be books available for purchase by both Carrie and myself, and it should be a pretty interesting discussion!

Breathless Tour: Salt Lake City Stop!

My Favorite Things about the Salt Lake City Stop:o.O <--My face when I saw how big the auditorium was, and then:
O.o <--My face when I saw how many people filled up the auditorium.
This one was mean, but I didn't intend it to be. One of the audience questions was, "Is it hard to get published?" and I burst out laughing like a hyena. I'm sorry, questioner! I wasn't laughing at you, I was laughing at me!!
My Favorite Things about Salt Lake City Library & The King's English Bookstore:

What. A. Beautiful. Library. 
It was kind of cool how I saw it--I missed it while driving in, and then the driver took us to the parking deck. When we exited the elevator, we were right in front of the library, and it was all shiny and pretty from the sun.
Also: At the parking deck, as we were getting on the elevator, this girl walked out, tapping on her phone. It was totally Elana Johnson. So I said her name, she looked up, and we both started screaming and jumping up and down like crazy people.
Tickets! The King's English gave out tickets (that looked like bookmarks) for people to organize the signing--I thought it was cool that they were so unique in this, and several people had their tickets signed. Very neat.


Some WOW Moments:ELANA FREAKING JOHNSON CAME TO THE SIGNING!
HEATHER FREAKING ZUNDEL CAME TO THE SIGNING! 
COLLEEN FREAKING HOUCK CAME TO THE SIGNING!
Presents!!! (I am easily bought)
Ally gave all the girls on the tour a BEAUTIFUL necklace with a charm that says "breathless" and a gem that matches our cover. Holy wow. 
Heather gave me a boat from Thailand that has KOI FISH in it!!!
Some wonderful charming girls who were just adorable gave all of us great bracelets that they made themselves--beads (color coordinated with our book covers) that said Aloha BR!




Buy Signed Books of All Members of the Tour from The King's English Here!

Don't Forget to Enter for a Signed Poster Here!

Meanwhile...if you were at the event and took pics, I'd love copies! Please email me--I'll post them here with a link to you, if you'd like. I have a feeling my mother won't believe any of this has actually happened unless I show her pictures :D

And don't forget: if you're tweeting, use #breathlesstour 

Next event: Raleigh, NC! Come to Quail Ridge Bookstore on February 25th from 7:00-10:00pm. Details here.

Breathless Tour: Denver Stop!

My Favorite Things about the Denver Stop:Danika, the teen interviewer. She was PRECIOUS. She had a cute little reporters notebook, had prepped questions for each of us, took brilliant notes, and she even had business cards. Business cards!!!! It was too cute for words.
Audience questions--once again, I was just blown away by how thoughtful the questions from the audience were. It was wonderful to really think of new answers and share with everyone.
My Favorite Things about Tattered Cover:

The enticing displays. We all got a little lost just walking through the door because there were so many neat and beautiful display tables of books.
The tile in the bathroom--the tiles were different book covers! I think I scared a lady because I spent so much time just staring at the tiles in the bathroom.
Friendly friendly friendly people. One of the people who worked there CLAPPED when we came in! Judy moderated the whole event wonderfully, and I really just felt surrounded by love. These were some great, down-home friendly people, and I totally appreciated that.
Tattered Cover also gave all of us gifts: bookmarks engraved with our names and the date. I cried when I got mine. No lie. 




Some WOW Moments:BECCA FREAKING FITZPATRICK CAME TO THE EVENT!!!!
Brenna was to my left and saw Becca first and did a little yelp of joy, and then when I saw who it was I nearly fell out of my seat!!! 
One of the people in attendance (LemonLight) had drawn out bookplates for each of our covers. They. Were. AMAZING. Such detail--she had really read through the books and picked out things in them that would emphasize the story. In mine, Amy was holding herself as if she were cold, and Elder stood over a canopy of stars. Really: amazing. Just truly beautiful. 




Buy Signed Books of All Members of the Tour from Tattered Cover Here!

Don't Forget to Enter for a Signed Poster Here!

Meanwhile...if you were at the event and took pics, I'd love copies! Please email me--I'll post them here with a link to you, if you'd like. I have a feeling my mother won't believe any of this has actually happened unless I show her pictures :D

And don't forget: if you're tweeting, use #breathlesstour 

Next event: Salt Lake City! Come to the SLC Library from 2:00-4:00pm. Details here.

Breathless Tour: Minneapolis Stop!

My Favorite Things about the Minneapolis Tour Stop:Picture time! Everyone was so friendly and wonderful, and I particularly enjoyed the girls who kept taking pictures with us--it was so much fun to take "just one more" :)
Being totally stumped. One of the questions from the audience was "What's one question you're never asked, but you wish you were." All five of us just sort of looked at each other, stumped, and it took us quite a bit of time to come up with an answer!
(For the record: my answer was, "I wish people would ask if there are any Easter eggs hidden in the book." There are! Also, if you need the password, look here...)
My Favorite Things about the Hennepin Library & Red Balloon Bookstore:The GORGEOUS glass front building--so very pretty, especially as the sun set and the glass sparkled.
Mochas! I am easily bought: provide me with caffeine, and I'm yours.
Naomi, our teenage moderater, was so sweet (and had the cutest glasses.)
I adored how the library made sure to get some swag for their book clubs and made such an effort to get the teens in the area involved. Much appreciated!
The audience questions were fantastic! I loved how everyone took time to come up with such thoughtful questions and were so patient with us as we tried to answer them well. 


Some WOW Moments:One audience member was from China! He was visiting America for only ten days, and he chose to spend one evening with us--that was so amazing to me. 
TWO different readers (one of them was one of our hosts) were named Amy! That always makes me smile.


Buy Books of All Members of the Tour from The Red Balloon Here!

Don't Forget to Enter for a Signed Poster Here!

Meanwhile...if you were at the event and took pics, I'd love copies! Please email me--I'll post them here with a link to you, if you'd like. I have a feeling my mother won't believe any of this has actually happened unless I show her pictures :D

And don't forget: if you're tweeting, use #breathlesstour 

Next event: Denver! Come to the Highlands Ranch branch of the Tattered Cover from 7:00-10:00pm. Details here.

Breathless Tour: NYC Stop!

My Favorite Things about the NYC Tour Stop:

COOKIES!!!!!
These lovely ladies-- @irisheyz77@danijohns @jenlam26 @nikkayme @daniellebunner --made me COOKIES!!! There were some (c) Victoria Schwab cookies and and AND SNICKERDOODLES. *dies of bliss* That was really about the awesomest thing ever.
Agent and editor and Penguin peeps time
By far, the biggest thing I love about NYC is the ability to see the people who made my dreams come true. It was especially awesome because:
I got to celebrate with margaritas AND wine
I got to put a name to a face (hi Casey! hi Erin!)
I got to talk about edits with my editors in person
Basically I spent the whole time with them grinning like an idiot
My Favorite Things about Books of Wonder:



The super-super-super cute cafe in the front. Did I mention cute?
The perfect cup of coffee: I needed it, and the wonderful Jennifer provided the BEST coffee.
Art: beautiful bookish art surrounded us the entire time. So cool. I sat near a whole Shaun Tan corner and it was amazing.
Such friendly people! It was so wonderful how nice everyone was.
A magical setting--this is SUCH the kind of whimsical bookstore I'd have loved to have gotten lost in as a kid. Wish I could have wandered the aisles more!




Some WOW Moments:



GAYLE FREAKING FOREMAN CAME TO THE EVENT!!!
It was such a fangirl moment. SUCH A FANGIRL MOMENT. She came through the whole line, and I just stared, possibly slack-jawed and drooling, to be in her presence. Holy freak, that was Gayle Foreman!!!!
So many bloggy friends! I can't even name you all, but it was just stunning to see you and put a name with the faces and blogs I've been reading forever. I <3 you guys. I want to name you all individually, but I'm terrified of leaving someone out and inadvertently offending you. 




Buy Signed Books of All Members of the Tour from Books of Wonder Here!





Don't Forget to Enter for a Signed Poster Here!





Meanwhile...if you were at the event and took pics, I'd love copies! Please email me--I'll post them here with a link to you, if you'd like. I have a feeling my mother won't believe any of this has actually happened unless I show her pictures :D





And don't forget: if you're tweeting, use #breathlesstour 





Next event: Minneapolis! Come to the Hennepin County Library from 7:00-10:00pm. Details here.

Bookanista Feature: Angie Smibert's MEMENTO NORA

I'm gonna switch it up now for the Bookanista post today: today, I'm not only featuring a fantabulous book (MEMENTO NORA), but this post is also a part of a book tour! With prizes involved! :D



First, lemme tell you a little bit about the book and why you should rush out and buy it as soon as it hits shelves (April 1st). MEMENTO NORA is the debut by Angie Smibert, a fellow Leaguer. Check out the official book webpage here.



First, there's the cover. Lookit. It's pretty darn stunning--and, I think, fits the tone of the book very well. There are subtle details in it that I loved even more while reading the book (such as the font for Angie's name--very fitting for what Nora becomes a part of).



But of course, the inside is the important thing. I thought a LOT about what I could say about MEMENTO NORA that would explain why I read it obsessively in two nights, and this is the best I could do:



Of all the dystopian worlds in print, this is the one that I think is most likely

 to happen in our society.  

Which should both intrigue you and terrify you. Look, I adore HUNGER GAMES, but I'm not sure if we ever would really get to that point in our world. Things would have to change drastically before America becomes Panem. A lot of apocalyptical dystopians require...the apocalypse--some huge event that will happen in the future to make everything different.



But MEMENTO NORA is the kind of book that I think could happen, in our world...very, very soon. We don't need President Snow, we don't need the moon to get knocked closer to Earth, we don't need A-bombs to wipe out the population. We just need our world to get just a little more of everything it already is, and MEMENTO NORA could actually happen.



Memento Nora Blog Tour



In Nora's world, one pill will erase negative memories, and Nora must decide whether she wants to keep all her memories, including the bad ones, and what price she's willing to pay for it.



Angie's gathered together a group of writers to share their memories--and if you comment on each stop of the blog tour, you'll get points for a drawing of the awesome prize on the right. Details for the contest are here.



Which means...I have to tell you about my most spit-your-Coke-out-through-your-nose-laughing-at-me memory.



Be warned: it involves underwear.



In college, I was working as a RA, and one of the events that I coordinated in the dorm was a trip to the local ice skating rink. First, let me tell all you Yankees out there with your hockey and your frozen ponds and your ability to drive in the snow: people in the South do NOT tend to know how to ice skate. We don't have naturally frozen ponds, we don't have our own skates, and we are terrified of ice.



So perhaps an ice-skating event was not the best choice for me.



But I did it--and I got fifteen or twenty people to follow me to rink. We're all just slip-sliding on the ice, holding onto the side like six year olds at the roller rink for the first time. Anyone who picked up any speed would crash into the wall or purposefully fall in order to stop. We were...bad. Bad. But for the most part, we were having fun.



Except this one girl.



She was a sweetheart, and very shy, and the only reason she was even AT the event was because I'd talked her into it. And she. Was. Terrified. I had skated around the rink maybe five times before she'd worked up the courage to stand in skates. Five more times before she'd actually taken the three steps to the ice from the bench.



I skate up to her.



"What's wrong?" I ask.



"I'm scared of falling," she says in a very tiny voice.





"Don't be scared!" I say cheerfully. "None of us are good; we're all going to fall! Just get out here and have fun!"



She shook her head; she was sure that if she fell, she would become the laughingstock of the whole rink. Nothing I said could convince her otherwise. She grabbed the side of the rink and teetered onto the ice, but she look petrified and miserable the whole time.



So I decided to take action. I purposefully staged myself to skate in front of her--and fell. On purpose. I'm talking flailing limbs, crashing into the ice, just a full-out, total wipe out. A huge, everyone-look-at-me, crash.



Which actually kinda hurt.



But everyone saw me fall--including the scared girl--and she saw that nothing bad really happened. I smiled and made a joke of it and got up and kept skating, and everything was fine. She ventured away from the wall, and soon she was having a good time and laughing along with everyone else.



There was a lot of laughter, actually.



And soon I noticed that the laughter followed me all around the rink.



Surely my fall wasn't that funny? I kept skating, wondering at what people were laughing at. And pointing at. And then I realized.



They were laughing at my butt.



Because when I had wiped out so totally on the ice...my pants had ripped. My butt--covered in embarrassingly bright blue underpants--was hanging out of my pants for everyone on the rink to see. This was not a minor tear in the fabric. The entire seam was open and everything was showing.



No good deed goes unpunished (or unclothed) indeed....



Hope you all enjoyed laughing at my expense! Be sure to comment to this blog post for a chance to win a MEMENTO NORA prize pack, and go to Angie's site and comment for a second entry! Each week, a new blogger will have a new memory to share, and you will have another chance to comment and rack up more entries! Next week, Bettina Restrepo, author of ILLEGAL will share her memory on Angie's blog.





For more Bookanista Posts, go here:



Elana Johnson raves over BIRTHMARKED
LiLa Roecker is going bonkers for BETRAYAL 
Christine Fonseca is dizzy for DELIRIUM  
Shannon Messenger features WHERE SHE WENT plus an ARC Giveaway!  
Carolina Valdez Miller is loco for LIKE MANDARIN 
Beth Revis is remembering MEMENTO NORA  
Jessi Kirby is sweet on XVI 
Shana Silver is pumped for BUMPED  
Carrie Harris gets hexed by HEX HALL 
Rosemary Clement-Moore is enraptured by WARPED 
Katie Anderson covets the cover of Myra McEntire's HOURGLASS 
Corrine Jackson is dazzled by I AM NUMBER FOUR 
Stasia Ward Kehoe leaps for LEVERAGE 

What is Success?

So one of the cool things happening here in moose land is every night, we ask one question and everyone answers it. Things like, "What things do you love to see in a book?" or "What are you strengths and weaknesses as a writer?" It has been edge-of-your seat interesting (no sarcasm here; I truly find it fascinating to see what people are saying.)







Last night, the question was: "How do you define success?" As in: at what level do you need to be at to feel that you're successful?



Everyone here at the retreat are at different stages. Some of the answers were ones I could see in myself, past, present, and/or future: to make a living from writing, to be published, to see a book on the shelf, to get a meaningful piece of fan mail, to be able to make a lifelong career as a writer. Some were amazingly touching and beautiful and revealing. We laughed, we cried, and I made inappropriate jokes (as usual).



I was one of the last to go. Originally, my answer was to "write words that make me happy." There are a few projects--Across the Universe being one (and AtU Book 2 not being one)--that have been, literally, joy to write. Working on a book that is more torture than joy makes me miss that.



But there is also joy in completing the terror, and there's happiness in hard work, so that's not entirely my full answer.



I almost said I wanted to have more of the same: this has been an amazing year, one I wouldn't mind repeating a la Groundhog Day, but that seems...limiting to want to have the same thing, even if it's wonderful.



In the end, I said this: I spent ten years writing, but not feeling proud of being a writer. I hate now that I let lack of publication negatively define me, but there you have it. So, this is how I will define my success: that I spend at least ten more years in which I can proudly call myself a writer.



What about you? How do you define success for yourself?

Contest! Signed Breathless Reads Poster

You know what? A thank you video isn't enough. It's just not. I should totally give you guys some prizes!



So, as many of you know, I'm heading out for tour on February 9th (meanwhile, I'm currently in Branson with moose other writers on a retreat: I expect hilariously embarrassing pictures to follow). And Penguin's sending me with four other TOTALLY AMAZING authors! There's Kirsten Miller (THE ETERNAL ONES), Brenna Yovanoff (THE REPLACEMENT), Andrea Cremer (NIGHTSHADE), Ally Condie (MATCHED). And me.



It's called the Breathless Reads Tour (find out more about the title here) and I'm still looking over my shoulder saying, "Who, me?" I cannot believe how lucky I am to keep company with these ladies.



 I've read all their books, and....wow. WOW. (If you want to get a signed copy of one, Ally's holding a contest for it here.) And if you need some convincing of how amazing these books are:







And because Penguin knows how to properly throw a party, they have made some super-awesome posters to go along with the tour, and the first 100 or so people who show up at the tour stops are going to be able to get a poster--and get each of us to sign it (if they want). So, if you are going to be in the area, you should TOTALLY come out to our stops to (a) I can meet you and (b) you can get a poster. For more information on the tour stops, you can check it out here or here.



Wanna see the poster? Of course you do. It's...breathtaking (swidt?).











But that's only five cities. And I know that's a long (crazy-long) drive for many of you. So....I asked Penguin if I could give away a signed poster on here. And Penguin said, how about ten?

That's right.

TEN.

And all you have to do is sign up below before Valentine's Day, and we'll randomly draw ten names and send them a poster--signed by ALL the authors!

Since Penguin's doing this for everyone, I thought it would be nice to thank them by getting some more followers on the Breathless Reads Facebook Page. So, if you have a Facebook and don't mind liking awesome books, give them a like here, and I'll give you one extra entry into the drawing. 





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This is What You Missed Last Night

Last night, Jackson Pearce (who is amazing with all things tech) coerced, forced, held at gunpoint kindly asked some of us on the retreat to do a live chat.



It. Was. Awesome.



If you've never used Livestream (I hadn't), don't be afraid of it--it's just like IM or Twitter--you type in questions, and then the author (who is on a video screen) answers them. On screen. Which is really cool.



Anyway, you want to see this. If you missed it, we're doing one a night through the 8th. 8pm, EST. Different authors every night, 3-4 authors every night. You don't want to miss it!



Related side note: Would y'all like me to do that on my own sometime?