I know many of you sadly cannot be in Toronto for my launch party on Feb 20th, but that doesn’t mean you can’t join in the launch festivities! I’ll be hosting an online launch party for The Lives We Lost on Facebook throughout the day on Feb 12th: Right here!
Stop by to chat about the trilogy, win books and swag, and make merry. 
And of course you can invite your friends to join in if you’d like. Hope to “see” you there!
Yes, The Way We Fall is out in paperback today! If you’ve been meaning to pick the book up but never got around to before, now is the perfect time. You can be all caught up on the story in time for book 2 next week.
Even if you’ve already read The Way We Fall in hardcover, I can think of a few reasons it may be worth grabbing the paperback too…
1. You can get a copy with the beautiful updated cover, one that will match The Lives We Lost.
2. The paperback edition includes the first chapter of The Lives We Lost, for those who can’t wait one more week to find out what happens when a certain person returns to the island.
3. Buying the paperback in a store shows an interest in the series, which means that store is more likely to stock copies of The Lives We Lost and book 3 for you.
4. Buying the paperback anywhere gives you entries in the Fallen World Street Team Giveaway, if you’re a member of the street team.
5. I don’t actually have a reason 5, it just feels like a more round number than 4!
Whether you pick up the paperback or not, in honor of its release, I will answer any and all questions you might have about The Way We Fall in the comments (as long as the answer isn’t too spoilery for the rest of the series)! Wondered why a character acted the way they did? Why a particular event came to pass? Why I made a specific choice in telling the story? Ask away!
Also feel free to bring up topics you’d like to discuss with other fans of the book.
Thank you everyone who entered the giveaway for one of my early copies of The Lives We Lost! I’ve been so impressed by your enthusiasm, and it was hard to pick a winner. But in the end, I had to go with Miguel, who not only made a very excited gif-filled Tumblr post, but also offered four beautiful The Way We Fall cover re-designs to show his love for the trilogy.
These two are my favorites. Doesn’t that girl make a perfect Kaelyn?
You can see the others here.
Thank you, Miguel! And don’t worry, everyone else. There will be many more chances to grab a copy! Not least of which is the Fallen World Street Team giveaway, which is ongoing for almost another month.
You might have heard that my first author copies of The Lives We Lost arrived a couple days ago. Photo proof:
I thought possibly my blog readers might appreciate getting their hands on one of those copies… I don’t need all three for myself, especially considering I’ve got a whole box on the way.
So here’s the deal! If you’d like an early finished copy of The Lives We Lost (which I will sign and personalize for you or whoever you wish), all you need to do is express your excitement about the book in some way. Tweet about it. Blog about it. Tumblr or Facebook post about it. Use your words however you like. Use photos, gifs, and/or art if you want. Be creative! The only rule is you must include a link back to this giveaway, and/or the main Fallen World trilogy page.
The creative part matters, because one week from today, I will take a look at all your expressions of excitement, and whichever reader does the best job of convincing me they really want this book will win it!
You have until January 27th. Express away, and link me to your entry in the comments!
(Open to readers worldwide.)
I’m pleased to invite you all to the launch party for The Lives We Lost!
When: Wednesday February 20th, 7pm – 9pm
Where: No One Writes to the Colonel, 460 College St. (just west of Bathurst), Toronto, ON
What: Reading. Books sold and signed (both The Lives We Lost and The Way We Fall in paperback). Swag given away. Refreshments and cash bar. And for those worried about what to do if a real apocalypse arrives, demonstrations of survival techniques from the Highlands Wilderness Training Institute.
RSVP: On Facebook or in the comments.
Hope to see many of you there!
Something only my earliest critique partners know is that the first draft of Give Up the Ghost started with Cass preparing to go to prom while talking with Paige — an extended version of the scene that now appears in the last chapter of the book, ending with her reminiscing about how she came to be planning to go to prom at all, and looping back to what is now the beginning of the book.
The technique of starting with an intriguing or tense scene from the end of the story before going back to show how it all began is a well-loved one. Heck, Twilight does it. But it didn’t end up feeling right for GHOST. The risk with giving away part of the ending is you leave the reader knowing something that’s coming, so that part of the ending can no longer be a surprise. Basically, the suspense created by wondering how the character will get there has to be greater than the suspense lost by knowing where they’re going.
Now I have a new idea that might start at the end. I love the idea of using this particular scene as the opening. But I’m also wondering if it’s definitely worth the risk.
So I’m curious to hear: How do you feel about books that start with a glimpse of the end? What makes that work or not work for you? Any favorite examples?
Those of you who’ve been waiting for the paperback of The Way We Fall may have noticed that the release date started sliding around the beginning of this month. It was originally supposed to be out this past Tuesday. Unfortunately, there was an error in the original printing, so Hyperion has had to do a new run to make sure the books look the way they’re supposed to, which has set everything back a few weeks. The new release date is February 5th, which still gives you a week to read before book 2 is out! Or just a week to look at this lovely cover, if you’ve already read it…
To celebrate the paperback release, I’ll be having an open discussion in which you can ask every and any question you might have about the book — and I’ll try to answer all of them as thoroughly as I can (without spoilers for the rest of the trilogy). So if you were wondering why I made a certain choice with the story or why a certain character did what they did, stop by this blog on Feb 5th and we’ll chat about it!
A new year is upon us! The Way We Fall comes out in paperback with its lovely updated cover in less than a week, and the second book in the trilogy, The Lives We Lost, will be out in a little more than a month. Which means it’s time for me to call the Fallen World trilogy fans to action!
Many of you awesome people have already joined my street team, and will be receiving the list of street team activities shortly. But there’s always room for more! Readers from all around the world are welcome. If you’d like to sign up for the Fallen World Street Team, just enter your email address in the form below.
If you need extra incentive beyond a love for the books, here it is. The two people who complete the most street team activities, and two street teamers chosen by random draw, will receive the following prize pack:
-Signed hardcover of The Lives We Lost, with five notes (different in each copy) giving background about what’s going on in the story, info on why I made the choices I did, or other behind the scenes secrets.
-Signed paperback of The Way We Fall.
-Signed hardcover of Give Up the Ghost.
-A short excerpt from the beginning of Book 3. (not pictured)
-A The Way We Fall journal and pen.
-A survival pack including hand sanitizer, a water bottle, and a mini first aid kit.
-An iTunes giftcard you can use to buy songs from the unofficial soundtracks, or any other music to keep you going on long journeys. (not pictured–ecard)
-A personal thank you in the acknowledgements of Book 3.
Of course, I want to show my thanks to all my street teamers. So all active street team members will receive a signed bookplate, bookmark, and magnet, and have their names added to a thank you list on my website (unless you’d rather not)!
And street teamers get extra entries in future giveaways, as well as first dibs on new ARCs and donations to giveaways on their own blogs.
Sound good to you? You have until February 26th to join in! Sign up and I’ll send you the activity list ASAP.
EMF Web Forms BuilderThis blog has been pretty quiet this month, not just because of the holidays, but also because I got my editorial letter for Fallen World book 3 at the very beginning of December. So I have been hard at work over the last few weeks, revising the book into the best possible trilogy end I can make it. And since I just finished up (this round — there’s another to come) today, I thought I’d share a little of the process.
I love computers. They are wonderful devices that make many things possible! And I do almost all of my writing, rewriting, and revising on my laptop. But before I send a new draft to my editor, I always print the manuscript out and go over it with red pen. For some reason it’s harder to miss typos and awkward wording on printed paper than on the screen. And there’s a funny sort of pleasure to crossing out unnecessary lines and noting corrections in red ink.
I don’t go easy on myself. Here are a couple of representative pages — and remember, this is polishing things up after I already finished the main revision:
It’s a rare page that has no red on it at all. My books aren’t perfect, and they will never please everyone (as with any book, really!), but I’ll be damned if I’m not going to get them as close to my idea of perfect as I can before I allow them out into the world.
So… I have just one ARC of The Lives We Lost left unclaimed. One ARC which is the only way you will get a physical copy of the lovely original cover:
One ARC which I am giving away as a holiday present to one lucky reader!
Open to readers anywhere in the world, for one week, and I’ll do my very best to ship it so it gets to the winner before Christmas (though I can’t promise, because the mail system gets a little chaotic during the holidays). Even if it’s a little late, you’ll still get it more than a month before the book is released!
Here’s a bunch of ways you can enter:
Good luck!