Susanne Winnacker's Blog, page 10
August 15, 2011
Want to win an ARC of THE OTHER LIFE?
Lenore Appelhans (author of upcoming LEVEL TWO) interviewed me on her awesome blog for Dystopian August and I'm giving away one ARC of THE OTHER LIFE there. And the giveaway is international! So read my interview and enter!
August 8, 2011
Cover reveal The Other Life!
The cover of The Other Life:
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And here's the blurb from goodreads:
Sherry and her family have lived sealed in a bunker in the garden since things went wrong up above. Her grandfather has been in the freezer for the last three months, her parents are at each other's throats and two minutes ago they ran out of food.
Sherry and her father leave the safety of the bunker and find a devastated and empty LA, smashed to pieces by bombs and haunted by 'Weepers' - rabid humans infected with a weaponized rabies virus.
While searching for food in a supermarket, Sherry's father disappears and Sherry is saved by Joshua, a boy-hunter. He takes her to Safe-haven, a tumble-down vineyard in the hills outside LA, where a handful of other survivors are picking up the pieces of their 'other lives'. As she falls in love for the first time, Sherry must save her father, stay alive and keep Joshua safe when his desire for vengeance threatens them all.
I couldn't be happier. Usborne did a fabulous job. Isn't the bleeding butterfly deliciously creepy???
July 27, 2011
The Other Life in The Bookseller!
Isn't that exciting?? I grinned like a maniac when I saw it!
Here's the scan of the Bookseller page!
And you can even catch a glimpse of the cover!!! (see it there beside Wither??)
The big reveal of the final cover will be soon! So stay tuned. I can't wait to show it to you!
And that red butterfly? Isn't it perfect for business cards and other things...like earrings or, you know, a necklace?
Hehe. So you see. I simply had to browse the internet for jewelry with butterflies after I saw the first draft of the cover. I might even have bought blood-red nailpolish.
You know what all this means? We're getting closer to The Other Life's release and soon there'll be ARCs and that means contests in the near future!
So watch this blog if you want to win ARCs of The Other Life!
July 14, 2011
Vacation Impressions!
And I met my lovely crit partners!
Here are a few pics:
My crit partner Tracy and I! We met at a baseball game. Tracy invited me! She's lovely like that!
From right to left: Shari ( my crit partner and fellow Apocalypsies member, her book Mystique hits the shelves next year ), Leanna Renee Hieber ( also an Apocalypsies member, her book Darker Still hits the shelves this November) and I. We met in New York during a Teen Author Reading.
I - looking at the breakfast menu of our hotel in Newport.
The beach in front of our hotel.
The bed in our hotel room.
My husband (he's sitting in that pic. He's usually more than a head taller than me...lol) and I at the end of the baseball game. Orioles vs. Cardinals. That's Camden Yards in the background. The game was fun, though my husband and I don't know anything about baseball. I'm not even sure if it's being played in Germany.
Dinner with the White House in the background! (that illuminated little building in the background.)
Me again in Washington.
On top of the Empire State building!
I think you all know what that is behind me!So much fun!!!
July 12, 2011
Official Publication Date!
It's February 1st, 2012!
Somehow that makes it feel more real!
Only 202 days until The Other Life hits shelves!!!
June 22, 2011
Resolution-Update and Photos
The first half of 2011 is almost over, so it's time to take a look at my resolutions for the year to see how I've been doing.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />
Reading
· Read the 20 books I listed for the Debut Author Challenge 2011.
Update: I've read 6 of the books so far (XVI, Timeless, Warped, Divergent, Across the Universe, The Near Witch). I've fallen behind. Need to read more debuts in the second half of 2011!
Read more books than in 2010 (more than 45). This resolution might interfere with the two following resolutions...
Update: I've read 36 books so far. If I keep it up I'll definitely reach my goal!
Writing
· Write the sequel to THE OTHER LIFE
· Write secret novel. Let's call it ALOMF. (I'm soooo excited about that one)
Update: I wrote both books. Yay! Reached my goal early!
Personal
Clean the house more often
Update: Umm...let's not talk about this one...
Use the WiiFit to get fit
Update: I've been using the WiiFit now and then. Need to work out more often! BUT I lost 14lbs since the start of the year, so yay!
I spent a few days in <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Stuttgart last week and it was lovely! Here are a few photos:
There's a new group blog of debut sci-fi authors. It's called BRAVE NEW WORDS!
I'm leaving for my vacation tomorrow. Almost 3 weeks touring the east coast! I'm not looking forward to the 8-hour flight but apart from that I'm super excited!
June 6, 2011
Summer time!
That means I'm spending less time online and more time outside! Like in the zoo!
Oh, and I thought it was time for a new styling. New haircut!
Enjoy the summer! In less than three weeks I'll be on vacation for a few weeks. I can't wait. Blogging probably won't happen unless there's news.
May 30, 2011
Focusing on the bad
Sometimes it's easy to forget what's good in our life, what we've achieved. We forget how to be happy.
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Instead we focus on the bad, on every failure, every weakness.
There was a time in my life when being happy seemed out of reach.
I've been always particularly good at focusing on everything bad in me and my life. That's been something that came and increased with my eating disorder and sadly it didn't go away when I defeated the bulimia almost two years ago.
Bad habits are hard to break. Especially if that particular bad habit had time to fester over 12 years. I don't often talk about the negative aspects of my life, much less my bulimia. It's part of my wish to appear perfect in public. Because showing weakness makes you a failure, right?
So not right. But most of the time I can't see that.
Tonight's different. Maybe because it's <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />2 a.m. and I should be asleep.
Anyway.
My eating disorder started when I was 12 and the following 12 years, so half of my life up to that point, bulimia dictated my life. Being perfect, not only physically, was my main driving force. The numbers on my scale in the morning determined if I spent the day despising or tolerating myself. And every evening the scale decided if I spent the night lying awake, hating myself. That was my life for 12 years. It was everything for me and at one point I couldn't even imagine being without the bulimia no matter how self-destructive it was because how can you give up something that's been a part of you for half of your life? It seemed impossible but I knew I had to find a way to defeat the bulimia because my body was shutting down. It was tired of the throwing up, the inflamed throat, the stomach aches. I wanted to stop but I didn't know how.
And then came the writing.
It turned out to be my savior.
Writing became my safe-haven.
It made me happy, gave me fulfillment and filled the hours that I'd previously spent with eating, throwing up or counting calories.
But like with everything in my life, I couldn't just do it for my own enjoyment. I wanted more. I wanted it to be perfect. I wanted to be perfect because anything less would be unacceptable.
And for a while everything seemed to be good.
But once you've reached a certain point, you want more and you expect more from yourself.
You think maybe perfection is in your reach.
Perfect can be dangerous.
Everyone has a weakness, even if we don't like to admit it, much less hear it from someone else.
I let my fear of failure, my fear of my own weakness, ruin the happiness I'd found in writing. What had been my safe-haven became the source of my anxiety, increased my feelings of inadequacy. And I let it. Without a fight.
But you know what? That's over now.
I will get my safe-haven back. I will find happiness in my writing again. I will fight for it. Because it's worth it.
Sorry for the rambling post. I really should be sleeping. 2:30 a.m. by now.
May 10, 2011
Tuesday's Top Ten
But anyway, today you'll get my top ten movies (umm...problem is I couldn't just choose 10):
1. Kill Bill
2. Ice Age
3. Bad Boys
4. Ocean's Eleven
5. Alien
6. Lethal Weapon
7. X-Men
8. Men in Black
9. The Silence of the Lambs
10. Die hard
11. Lord of the Rings
12. Waterworld
13. Indiana Jones
14. Mission Impossible
15. Pirates of the Caribbean
The list could go on and on. I love movies. Especially movies with action, blood, humor and high stakes. I'm not the romance movie type of girl. I think my husband's very glad about that!
Btw, I got a glimpse at a cover draft for THE OTHER LIFE yesterday!!! I can't wait to share it with you!
May 9, 2011
Help Write Now Auction!
I want to point out two special items you can bid for:
1. A prize pack from the GotYA girls. We're offering 50 page manuscript critique + a query critique + a 10 page manuscript critique from Claudia Gabel, editor of Katherine Tegen Books, an imprint of Harper Collins + books.
Doesn't that sound awesome??? You can still bid for it!
2. Apocalypsies package! What's offered: A 50 page crit from 5 Apocalypsies + a query crit from 5 Apocalypsies + a synopsis crit from 4 Apocalypsies + an ARC of STARCROSSED + a 10 page manuscript crit from editor Stacy Cantor Abrams (Walker Books).
Amazing, right? You should hurry because there isn't much time left to bid!
