Melissa C. Walker's Blog, page 48

Win-It Wednesday: Suite Scarlett + Scarlett Fever by Maureen Johnson

Last week's winner of Not Like You is... Brenda C! Send me your address, B. [image error] This week, I'm giving away a copy of two lovely books by the effervescent Maureen Johnson... Suite Scarlett and Scarlett Fever . I just got to read these over the weekend, while in the country (Hence that green field! Love green fields! Forgive my weird toes.), and I was totally enchanted by every chapter. I love Scarlett Martin and her escapades, not to mention her hilarious siblings, her gorgeous Hopewell Hotel home a...

Cover Stories: Life, After by Sarah Darer Littman

[image error] Sarah Darer Littman's latest novel, Life, After , came out last week. I've been looking at this gorgeous cover for six months, and I can finally share the story behind it. Here's Sarah:"Because one of the underlying themes of the book was that on 9/11, our country finally began to understand the kinds of terrorist threats that the rest of the world had been dealing with for decades, I wondered if they might incorporate the Twin Towers on the cover. The initial cover design did (below, right)."...

Photo Friday: ALA, DC and Swayze in Shoes

I had a ton of fun doing a panel at ALA last weekend in DC with (from left) Malinda Lo, Margaret Stohl (me) and Kami Garcia!

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And I made Dave jump in front of the Capital, despite the heat:

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Swayze, my cat, was wearing my shoes when we got back (should I submit this to lolcats?):

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Happy Friday!

Cover Stories: Pure and After the Kiss by Terra Elan McVoy

[image error] Terra Elan McVoy has some of the best covers I've seen, and I had to ask her to stop by and share some stories. Here goes:"Honestly, I had no idea about my covers. I am a writer, not a graphic designer or marketing specialist. So I decided to worry about what was going in between the covers, and to let the amazing geniuses at Simon Pulse do their magic. It seems to have worked out pretty well so far! "When I saw the mock-up of the hardcover for Pure (left), the first thing I thought was,'Gah...

Courtney Summers on Unlikeable Female Protagonists

The amazing Courtney Summers just wrote a great post "on unlikeable female protagonists", and I had to share a bit of it here (though you really must go read the whole thing).Basically, when people responded to one of her novels saying they loved the guy protagonist, who was not exactly a sweetheart, but hated the girl protagonist, also not sweet (they couldn't connect with her, she was cold, etc). So Courtney says:"I did a lot of navel-gazing soul-searching and I just kept getting annoyed...

Win-It Wednesday: Not Like You by Deborah Davis

Thank you guys for the 100+ BRILLIANT entries in the Name That Boat contest! I will be sorting through, parsing ideas and choosing winners soon. I love, love, love what you guys came up with. This week, the lovely Deborah Davis has offered to give away a paperback copy of her book Not Like You ! We did the Cover Story for the book here last fall (and I like the paperback better), so that will be the way you enter. Just tell me, in the comments below, if you like the hardcover (on the left) or ...

Eclipse: Report From the Premiere

[image error] My friend Charles is a producer in LA and he got to attend the Eclipse premiere last Thursday (his birthday). I was way jealous, but he promised to guest blog, so that won him some points. Here he is:"Last week, I got the chance to attend Summit Entertainment's MASSIVE Twilight: Eclipse premiere and party. The event took over all of LA's downtown NOKIA Theater LA Live and its large courtyard. The red carpet seemed a million miles long and hundreds of screaming fans were barely held behind met...

Cover Stories: Dark Flame by Alyson Noel

[image error] Alyson Noel's latest Immortals book, Dark Flame, is finally here! She's back to tell the Cover Story (read Cover Stories for Evermore and Blue Moon.)Here's Alyson:"Once again, I didn't have a cover concept in mind while writing Dark Flame, but since it's the fourth book in the series, I knew I'd be expected to provide some. So while I was writing, I was definitely on the lookout for various symbols they might be able to use, then my editor and I brainstormed a few additional ideas, which pret...

Photo Friday: Charlotte Sometimes

You guys know I love Charlotte Sometimes. The songs. The voice. The total package. Her new EP is available for free download here. Go get it!My friend Erin and I got to see her show earlier this week, and here's a pic of the three of us (Erin, Charlotte and me). Watch this video for a taste of her awesomeness (this is my favorite song on the new EP), and then go get that EP!PS-We're talking music over on Teen Fiction Cafe too. Come visit!PPS-I'm speaking at the YALSA annual pre-conference in D...

Cover Stories: Gamer Girl (paperback) by Mari Mancusi

[image error] Mari Mancusi's Gamer Girl has a really great Cover Story that I ran when the hardcover was released. Today, the paperback is coming out, and Mari has an update to the tale. Here she is:"It's been a year and a half since the original Gamer Girl came out in hardcover, though it's lived on throughout that time as part of both the Scholastic Book Fair and Book Club. (In fact, I think that's where the majority of my readers discovered it!) And I've realized the best thing about this cover is that...