Evan Reeves's Blog

Holiday Sale! IF I STAY only .99 cents!

It's been awhile, everyone! I wanted to announce that If I Stay is currently on sale for only .99 cents for the next two days. Have a look!

http://www.amazon.com/If-I-Stay-ebook...

Also, I'll be making some announcements soon on the latest work. I'm excited! I will definitely be posting more in the upcoming month or so. Keep on the look out. =)

Spotlight Saturday

The awesome Lori of She Reads New Adult featured me in one of her Spotlight Saturdays. Here is the link, where you can learn some random stuff about yours truly:

http://networkedblogs.com/Pwtrd

But for those of you who would rather not click links and stuff, I've posted my answers below. Enjoy!

Here are 10 random facts about Evan Reeves:

1. Contrary to popular belief, I'm actually a lady.
2. I stand at roughly 4'10”. In fact, I have a younger sister who is taller than me...she's 9.
3. Speaking of siblings, I'm the oldest of ten kids. I'm also the favorite, and the coolest. Success.
4. I studied Secondary Education (English) at a staunch, Pentecostal university. I should add that I'm not all that religious. As I'm sure you can imagine, those were a very special four years of my life.
5. My mom used to make me attend every horrific sport-oriented summer camp you could think of, because she didn't like us sitting around and watching television during summer vacations. As an uncoordinated introvert, this was a nightmare. I'm still not over it.
6. My two favorite things in this world: Coffee (aka. Nectar of the Gods), and Claudio Sanchez's hair. Seriously, though. I drink coffee like it's water.
7. One time, in High School, I was sent to the front office for throwing a banana at an ex-math teacher's classroom door. Because life just isn't fair sometimes.
8. True Story: I was once grounded for yelling, verbatim: “That's bogus.” Although, I never actually sustained a grounding. Favorite Perks.
9. One of my favorite pastimes, when I'm not watching a favorite show (Aqua Teen Hunger Force) or film (V for Vendetta) is going on Goodreads and laughing at the reviews for 50 Shades of Grey/Darker/Freed. I also thoroughly enjoy anything involving my pretend-husband, Keanu Reeves.
10. If I like you, and you bug me enough, I'll find a way to wedge you into one of my stories. If I don't like you, and you bug me enough, I'll likely find a way as well. But you probably won't like your character.

And 10 random facts about If I Stay

1. I take bits and pieces of true-to-life characteristics from friends/acquaintance and stick them in the characters.
2. I enjoy incorporating aspects of contemporary culture/Pop Culture into my work. Music and film, for example.
3. The leading lady, Gemma, was originally inspired by an early Isla Fisher.
4. The leading lad, Ben, was inspired by a superhotohmygod real-life English professor that I was lucky to learn from. He was a lot smarter than I will ever be. And a lot hotter than I could ever possibly portray.
5. Really, though. This guy was so ridiculously good-looking that the girls would line up outside of his classroom just to wait and watch him walk down the hallway. It was awesome. I may or may not have been one of those girls.
6. No, we never had an sort of inappropriate relationship (insert sigh). Strictly student/teacher.
7. I went ahead and created a soundtrack for the novel. Yep, I went there. I'm one of those guys.
8. Brandon, Gemma's best friend, is based off of a good friend of mine. I promised that I'd include him in my next work (years before If I Stay was ever even thought of). I don't break my promises.
9. The book is meant to exist as a stand-alone. I would only consider writing companion novels if enough people asked me to do so. Note to readers: if you want something, ask me. I listen.
10. If I Stay isn't meant to necessarily be a light, silly, romantic read. Yes, there's light moments. Yes, it's quite romantic. And yes, I like to think that I succeeded in being comical. However, I purposed to write something with a good smear of depth to it. All in all? I just hope you enjoy it.

Urgent and Important Update...Kind Of

So I'll be honest here - I'm not some big shot, hugely successful debut author. My success, which I suppose to some extent I would label as 'success', has been humble.

That said, I took a look at my placement on Amazon, and noted that even though I still have a ways to go until I reach the top 100 in the Paid Kindle store, I'm at #80 in Teen/Contemporary listings. Take a look for yourself (really, before it disappears or something):

http://www.amazon.com/If-I-Stay-ebook...

Anyway, I just thought it was sorta neat. It made me happy, and I thought I'd share the happiness. Now, making it to the legit Top 100 would be something else - but we'll see. Someday over the rainbow, maybe.

In addition, I'd like to announce my new pretend-boyfriend. Move over Jay Baruchel and Keanu Reeves (okay, maybe not Keanu Reeves) here's Bo Burnham. Behold his hilarious Vine compilation. And also the fact that I obviously have no social life.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7WMWrN...

(0:20 kills me every time)

If I Stay (The Soundtrack)

Yeah. I'm one of those guys. The kind of guy that soundtracks their book.

Except I'm a girl. Not that it matters. But yes, If I Stay has a soundtrack. A soundtrack that I thought I'd share, just in case a few of you out there might be interested.

Note: I don't actually listen to Justin Bieber. Alright. That's a lie. I do, but I don't actually enjoy it. And I will not divulge whether the second part is a lie or not.

So without any further ramblings, here is the soundtrack to IF I STAY:

1. Lady Gaga - Bad Romance:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrO4YZ...

2. Justin Bieber - Baby:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kffacx...

3. Metric - Collect Call:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFRWk2...

4. Carly Rae Jepsen - Call Me Maybe:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWNaR-...

5. Deep Blue Something - Breakfast At Tiffany's:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ClCpf...

6. The Shins - Phantom Limb:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OkITsv...

7. Ben Folds - Jesusland:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7F5-Ud...

8. Lady Gaga - Paparazzi:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2smz_...

9. The Church - Under the Milky Way:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzD7j4...

10. Joy Division - Love Will Tear Us Apart:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vTivwj...

11. Frou Frou - Let Go:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13WAhl...

12. Phillip Glass - Knee Play 5:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CYK-O...

13. Aha - Take On Me:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djV11X...

14. The Shins - Pink Bullets:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XBabo...

15. SafetySuit - Find a Way (Ben + Gemma's Song. Aw, shucks):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IE-cOG...

And there you have it. Now, you certainly shouldn't feel obligated to go through and listen to every single track. That said, I did purpose to place specific tracks in specific spots for specific purposes. Specifically.

That said, enjoy. And again, thank you. Times a million.

Edit: And also, this -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xP1-oq...
(aka. the greatest video on the internet ever)

If I Stay is officially LIVE.

So after uncurling from my ball of anxiety last night, I made a decision. That decision, after much back-and-forth, was to release IF I STAY a little earlier than planned. Reason being? I had no real reasons for waiting around until the end of August. It was just a date that sounded nice.

Dates aside, I would be lying if I said that I wasn't nervous. That I'm still not nervous. I am. I worry about crickets, and on the flip side, I worry about this blowing up in ways that I didn't expect, or can't even begin to imagine.

Ultimately, though. I just hope you guys enjoy it. I hope that you love my story and characters as much as I love them. I hope that I succeeded in a creating a worthy read.

So there you have it, ladies and gents. IF I STAY, I'm anxious/excited/thrilled/nauseous/michaelbaysplosion to announce is officially LIVE.

Link below:
http://www.amazon.com/If-I-Stay-ebook...

Enjoy. And beyond that: Thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Facebook?

So I'm a little late in the game when it comes to the whole social networking thing. But! I did want to announce that yes, I'm officially on Facebook. Currently, this about sums up how I feel whenever I look at my page:

http://seenive.com/v/949118725477564416

It would be A-Mazing if some of you would spread this around. Obviously, you don't have to. But it would be super awesome if you did.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Evan-R...

I should have done this sooner, no doubt. But we'll see what happens!

One Week!

Or 7 days. Whichever!

Also. Guys. I'm sorry, I'm sorry. But seriously, I'm so excited for this I can barely stand it. Click below to have a look:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...#!

ROMEO AND JULIET ROMEO AND JULIET ROMEO AND JULIET ROMEO AND JULIET ROMEO AND JULIET.

I know, yet another adaption. Zefferelli did it. Lurhman did it. Now this gent director by the name of Julian Fellowes is making his mark.

You know, it's a funny thing. When I was younger, I absolutely abhored R + J. I didn't view it as a love story. I didn't like Romeo. I didn't like Juliet. Even though I was at that age where most teen girls were totally swooning over one of the arguably most loved Shakesperian works of all time, it never did much for me.

Fast forward to now. I'm in my mid-twenties, I've had a few serious relationships (two at roughly four years a pop, to be exact) and I've learned a few things about love, growing up, sacrifice, responsibility, and the likes. Which I suppose now is what has given me a greater appreciation for stories like Romeo and Juliet.

Do I think that R + J was meant to portray two kids who were destined to love each other forever and always? Of course not. They were star-crossed, after all. It's a story about teenagers. It's a story about youth. And when I really think on it, and think about how fantastically screwed-up young love can make you when you're smitten and vulnerable and totally caught up in those teenage-feelings, I believe that Shakespeare actually did some justice in capturing just utterly insane young love can be.

Spoiler: they both die at the end.

Salinger (2013)

"Writing a book is a horrible, exhausting struggle. One would never undertake such a thing if one were not driven by some demon."

9 days.

And this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_oUHn...

Motivational

10 Days!

PS: Vine is officially consuming an ungodly amount of time in my daily life. I hate it. But I love it, too. I love it so much.

http://seenive.com/v/947980354248163328

I Fell In Love With Your Profile Picture...

...but you look nothing like your profile pic, girl.

11 DAYS UNTIL IF I STAY! This pretty much sums up how I'm pre-celebrating:

http://seenive.com/v/957045244103376896

As you can see, I'm excited. Are you excited? I'm excited. Feel free to spread that excitement via whatever blog you might have or social networking you might use.

So I'm sure you guys have heard about Vine by now. It's pretty much one of the greatest things to ever come about from the internet like ever. Anyway, one day I stumbled across (or more like stalked, but whatever) the page of one of my favorite musicians, Brendon Urie.

His humor played a lot into the inspiration of one of the main characters in IF I STAY. I won't tell you his name, because trust me. You'll know on the first freaking page. And you'll also probably be like: oh, that's some subtle homage. Not really.

Anyway, anyway. If interested, here's his Vine page for you to peruse and get some idea as to my personal favorite character's personality in IF I STAY. Needless to say, he's hilarious and awesome. Kind of like me. Except I'm neither of those things.

http://seenive.com/u/926626524482912256

Note: the Positive Hardcore Thursdays are my favorite.