Rin Chupeco's Blog, page 3
April 10, 2018
February 26, 2018
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June 11, 2017
October 25, 2016
THE GIRL FROM THE WELL & THE SUFFERING Short Story and Giveaways!
October 13, 2016
THE SUFFERING Giveaways on October 25!
Over the last couple of years, roughly 85% of the questions I get from readers include: is there gonna be another book in your The Girl from the Well series? Please let me know if there’s another book out! Will this be a trilogy? Does this mean Tark and Okiku’s story is over? I was hoping for more!
The bad news: As of now, there won’t be a new The Girl from the well novel coming out, and will currently remain a duology.
The good news: On October 25, 2016, I WILL be releasing a new The Girl from the Well short story in this blog, just because I can and also a big thank you to readers who’ve enjoyed traveling with Tark and Okiku over the last three years!
Even more good news: As a big thank you again, I’ll be offering some giveaways to commemorate as well! (and also, Tark, Okiku and I just love Halloween.)
What I’m giving away:
Handmade dolls of our resident ghost girl! (Perhaps a Tark doll, too? Would anyone be interested in a Tark doll?)
Handmade teru teru bozu dolls! (many Japanese shrines have paper versions of these when they want to pray for rain)
A paperback of THE SUFFERING!
And another ARC of THE SUFFERING!
Wait. An ARC, you say? But The Suffering came out last year!
Yep, but this ARC has a little something in it – a running commentary and margin notes / thoughts about the book that didn’t quite always make it to the final print! These will have a few explanations of why I wrote things a certain way, and other things that are probably not very useful in the greater scheme of things, but hopefully interesting nonetheless!
This is the only ARC I’ll be giving out with my own notes on it, so this will be a pretty unique item!
Giveaways will be on both Twitter and on this page! The Twitter giveaways shall commence / be announced on October 24, 2016. The short story and blog giveaways will be published here on October 25. All shall run until the end of Halloween on October 31!
June 3, 2016
What’s happening at Book(dot)con & the Barnes and Noble Teen Book Fest!
Some happy news!
Book(dot)con is an online convention started by Diana Sousa where authors can talk about writing, characters, and stories, and conduct workshops! The first ever con will be held online from June 19-20. 2016, and all you need to do to attend is have internet access!
I’m going to be on two panels: “Blending Genres” on June 19th, where I’ll talk about mixing horror and action, American ghost stories and Japanese lore, and “Culture and Faith” on June 20th, both held on 11AM (EDT) / 4PM (GMT). If you can’t make it, they’ll be recording every panel for you to access later on!
For more information, check out http://booksdotcon.tumblr.com/ and https://twitter.com/booksdotcon for more updates!
Next up: Barnes and Noble will be giving away like a bazillion (okay, fifty) posters of THE BONE WITCH for their first National Teen Book festival, happening across all of their 350+ branches at once from June 10-12, 2016! Hop on over to your nearest Barnes and Noble branch for more information!
May 4, 2016
The Bone Witch : Hypable’s Cover Reveal + more Info!
My editor emailed me the cover mock-up to this last year.
Yes, last year.
That was how long I’ve been sitting on my hands with this information and this cover. Totally worth it.
Behold! The fruit of my loins. Mind the thigh gap.
LOOKIT HOW PRETTY IT IS. The shiny gold filigree, the lonely girl on the rock, the SKULL.
Hypable had been kind enough to do a cover reveal yesterday, also a first for me (ignore the unflatteringly then-pregnant me in the author profile). And while it does make mention of the book’s basic plot and themes, some people might want more specifics. Here are some answers I’m willing to give up.
What kind of heroine is Tea?
I have a penchant for antiheroes, as you might have noticed in previous books. Tea Pahlavi is definitely one of those.
Where does THE BONE WITCH take place?
In a fantastical version of Middle East / Asia. It’s somewhat influenced by the Ayubbid dynasty (some of you historical buffs might recognize this as the time when Saladin ruled. He was also known for his Crusades war against Richard the Lionheart, who admired him despite being opponents). This was considered by some to be a very liberal period in Middle Eastern history, which has by now been overshadowed by the political turmoil in the region today. Politics will be important in the series, so there’ll be variations of culture here and there that will be briefly touched beyond the two main countries The Bone Witch revolves around, from dynasty-style mountain nations to Wahhabism-ridden desert kingdoms.
It’s also heavily influenced by Zoroastrianism, by the concept of “light” versus “dark” (a belief very familiar to most today, even if Zoroastrianism itself has nearly disappeared). Tea practices the “dark” side of the magic common in the books, which is why bone witches like her are feared. ‘Asha’, a name commonly applied to witches in the books, is a Zoroastrian term meaning ‘light’ and ‘truth’. ‘Daeva’, the term used to describe some of the grotesque creatures roaming the lands, is another Zoroastrian concept that means “false gods” of “gods who must be rejected” – the antithesis to ‘asha’.
Can you give us more specifics about the plot?
THE BONE WITCH is made up of two intertwined stories, so to speak. One takes place in the present, where a bard recounts his experiences with an exiled asha he meets on a lonely beach of skulls. The second takes place in the past, where the same asha tells of her rise within the ranks of the gilded community of spellbinders who takes her in to be trained. But there is more to her than she first appears, and the unsuspecting bard might soon play a far bigger role in her story than even he realizes.
Have I mentioned that antiheroes are my thing?
What else can we expect from THE BONE WITCH?
Geisha-esque girl fighters and strategists wielding powerful magic and throwing shade.
Male counterparts who dress in black and kick ass.
Undead gigantic demonic beasts that do not die for long, no matter how many times you kill them
Bone witches who can CONTROL undead gigantic demonic beasts, albeit not indefinitely
Unexpected bonds between a sister and the now almost-indestructible dead brother she kinda sortof accidentally resurrected (who still maintains a surprising sense of humor about the whole thing)
A couple of guys who can forge people new hearts to wear (and will be pretty important in the next book, which I am working on atm) —
— because almost everyone LITERALLY wear their hearts around their neck
Goodreads page found here. And once again, thanks to a lot of you guys who’d been excited for this book, and my apologies for taking so long to provide more details!
March 28, 2016
YASH Spring 2016 Contest!
Yes – we’re doing it again!
HOW DOES THIS WORK?
This bi-annual event was first organized by author Colleen Houck as a way to give readers a chance to gain access to exclusive bonus material from their favorite authors…and a chance to win some awesome prizes! At this hunt, you not only get access to exclusive content from each author, you also get a clue for the hunt. Add up the clues, and you can enter for our prize–one lucky winner will receive one book from each author on the hunt in my team! But play fast: this contest (and all the exclusive bonus material) will only be online for 72 hours!
Go to the YA Scavenger Hunt page to find out all about the hunt. There are SIX contests going on simultaneously, and you can enter one or all! I am a part of the ORANGE TEAM–but there is also a blue team, a gold team, a red team, and much more, for a chance to win a whole different set of signed books!
If you’d like to find out more about the hunt, see links to all the authors participating, and see the full list of prizes up for grabs, go to the YA Scavenger Hunt page.
SCAVENGER HUNT PUZZLE
Directions: Below, you’ll notice that I’ve listed my favorite number. Collect the favorite numbers of all the authors on the red team, and then add them up (don’t worry, you can use a calculator!).
Entry Form: Once you’ve added up all the numbers, make sure you fill out the form here to officially qualify for the grand prize. Only entries that have the correct number will qualify.
Rules: Open internationally, anyone below the age of 18 should have a parent or guardian’s permission to enter. To be eligible for the grand prize, you must submit the completed entry form by Sunday, April 3rd at noon Pacific time. Entries sent without the correct number or without contact information will not be considered.
Scavenger Hunt Post
Today, I am hosting author extrordinaire LEAH KONEN, on my website for the YA Scavenger Hunt!
Leah Konen is a graduate of The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she studied journalism and creative writing. She’s the author of THE LAST TIME WE WERE US (May 2016, Harper Collins/Katherine Tegen Books), THE ROMANTICS (Fall 2016, Abrams), and THE AFTER GIRLS (2013, Adams Media/Merit Press). She lives in Brooklyn with her fiancé and their dog, Farley.
You can find her at: Twitter | Web site | Facebook
Find out more information by checking out her book on Amazon!
EXCLUSIVE CONTENT
A passionate summer love story about a girl, her childhood best friend recently released from juvie, and the small-town lies that have kept them apart. A teen romance debut with a dark edge.
Leah Konen’s THE LAST TIME WE WERE US Playlist!
***Ever wondered about how authors get inspiration for their novels? For Leah, it’s all about the music. Here’s a list of songs that would make up a THE LAST TIME WE WERE US soundtrack!
THE LAST TIME WE WERE US Playlist
1. Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels) by Arcade Fire
2. Heart Skipped a Beat by The xx
3. Katie Queen of Tennessee by The Apache Relay
4. Dreamy Bruises by Sylvan Esso
5. Forever by HAIM
6. I Will Wait by Mumford & Sons
7. When U Love Somebody by Fruit Bats
8. Home by Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros
There’s at least another 888 reasons to read Leah’s book, so go check it out!
And don’t forget to enter the contest for a chance to win a ton of signed books by me, Leah, and more! Remember my favorite number – add up all the favorite numbers of the authors on the red team and you’ll have all the secret code to enter for the grand prize!
CONTINUE THE HUNT
To keep going on your quest for the hunt, you need to check out the next author!
And just like all previous YASH I’ve hosted, there’s more prizes to be won!
A GIVEAWAY!
People who successfully complete the hunt already gets the chance to win a signed hardback copy of THE SUFFERING. But I’m also hosting my own personal giveaway below where you get to win more swag! THREE winners will get the chance to win the following:
Signed bookmarks!
Two of the three winners will receive a handmade ghost keychain with signed tags!
And one even luckier winner will win a little Okiku ghost doll! (Let me know if you prefer her with a keychain or just as a doll!)
Sign up using the Rafflecopter below!
If I get a lot of entries, I might even add more winners!a Rafflecopter giveaway
November 24, 2015
New Book Deal: The Bone Witch
After what feels like an eternity, I can – finally! – make my big announcement:
And yes, this is the book I’d referenced in previous blogs called The Tea, after my protagonist’s name.
Is this another horror book?
It’s more of a magical fantasy with some slivers of Persian / Asian / Zoroastrianism culture. But it has magical ‘geishas’, a lot of monsters and corpses, and an anti-heroine (though you might have guessed that last one from the book’s description). Incidentally, one of the main characters is also technically dead, but that doesn’t stop him from doing whatever he wants. It also has a lot of bezoars and jewelry and clothes and Runic magic.
Will this be a series?
Yup.
Can you tell me a bit more about the book?
When we were coming up with “X meets Y” comparisons, I had pitched it to my agent and editor as a “magical Memoirs of a Geisha meets The Name of the Wind” which, I think, is fairly accurate – if, you know, geishas could channel runes and raise the dead. And excepting that my story’s protagonist, Tea, is a little more spitefully proactive than Kvothe is.
Where can we see more of this?
Goodreads page | official site
You know what this calls for? Cat high five gifs.
**Header image in this entry and in the official site is NOT the Bone Witch’s official book cover. It’s just that I had Photoshop and a high respect for True Detective.
