Ghost scents have arrived! + Giveaway

You all remember I told you about the ghost scents that were being made to go with the book? Well guess what! They’ve now available. Check out the amazing job SuperBad did with the bottles (you’re seeing the name of the scent through the perfume; the outside of the label shows a bit of the cover and the title of the book):

SuperBad is offering each of the scents on its own, or a full set along with a copy of the book, at her Etsy shop. She’ll also be putting up sample sets for those of you who like to try before getting a whole bottle.

To celebrate, I thought I’d do a quick giveaway! Giveaway now over. Congrats to the winner, Julia Karr!

The winner will receive either a full bottle of the scent of their choice OR a complete set of samples (five scents).

Entering is easy: Just take a look at each of the scents and comment here letting me know which one sounds most appealing to you!

Additional entries:

+1 Tweet about the ghost scents with a link to the Etsy store.
+1 Mention this contest (with a link to the post) in your tweet or an additional tweet.
+2 Post on your blog about the ghost scents with a link to the Etsy store AND my website OR my Amazon listing.
+1 Include the picture above in your post (please save to your computer rather than using my URL).
+1 Mention this contest in your post along with a link to this post.

Like I said, this is a quick giveaway–only open until noon EST on Saturday (Sept 12th). I’ll draw the winner Saturday evening!

GIVE UP THE GHOST now in stores… in Canada!

That’s right! Two weeks early, GIVE UP THE GHOST is already showing up in Canadian stores. And I have photographic proof:


(at the Eaton Centre Indigo)


(in very good company at the Yonge & Eglinton Indigo, where a very kind staff person got them from the back and put them on the shelf so I could take this picture)

It’s popping up at Chapters and Indigo stores across the country, and should start showing up in your local indies, too! So keep an eye out. 🙂

American folks — sorry! The only store I know of that has GHOST in stock so far is The Strand in NYC. But that doesn’t mean it hasn’t turned up anywhere else. If you see it, let me know!

And remember, the first person to send me a picture of GHOST on the shelf in their local store gets a signed copy!

Five Awful Things to Eat

The BFG by Roald Dahl — The poor big friendly giant has only one thing to eat in Giant Country: the “extremely icky-poo vegetable” called the snozzcumber. When Sophie takes a nibble it, she can’t help but spit it out. “It tastes like frogskins! And rotten fish!” And you thought spinach was bad.

Sixth Grade Secrets by Louis Sachar — Nearly two decades after I first read this book, I can still remember cringing when Laura gulps down a raw egg to try to restore her secret club’s very sensitive treasures. And the worst thing is, it doesn’t even work.

Mudville by Kurtis Scaletta — Roy’s dad is a very creative chef. Spam manicotti! Green bean chili! Spinach surprise! No wonder Roy is so often tempted to skip dinner. Think he’s just being picky? Try them for yourself, then. 🙂

Models Don’t Eat Chocolate Cookies by Erin Dionne — I still feel queasy remembering the horrible concoction of ingredients (mayo, vinegar, and tomato juice, just to name a few) that Celeste mixes together in an effort to make a diet drink. And Celeste felt pretty queasy, too, as her gym teacher’s shoes can attest!

Skin Hunger by Kathleen Duey — The wonder of a fresh apple after days of near starvation is an amazing thing. But when that’s all you have to eat for days on end, they might as well be snozzcumbers. And Hahp doesn’t hold back in his descriptions of what such a diet does to his digestive system. I dare you to eat an apple right after finishing this book and not grimace.

All right, readers. What’s the worst food you’ve ever read about?

Flashback: Mixed Signals

December 16, 1993 (Megan is 12)

There was a dance last Friday. I didn’t dance with anyone. X danced with some guy. She swore to God that D had been looking at me but I’m not sure I believe her.

On Wednesday I found out that D is going out with Y. That night was the junior concert. We sang “Masquerade” and “Amigos Pera Siempre.” D said hi to me in this whiny voice that I hate. He said hi to Z the same way. I don’t take it as a complement.

T told me she thinks he likes me but I don’t know. I mean there’s the fact that he’s only talked to me when no one can really hear him and that my friends and I have seen him looking at me and then there’s the whiny voice and Y and [another girlfriend] and all the girls he dances with and all the times he’s looking at someone else.

An Introduction to Flashbacks
The Flashback Cast
The Flashback Timeline

Do you need industry connections to get published?

For the past week, over at my writer blog, I’ve been polling authors to try to determine whether personal connections in the publishing industry are necessary if you want to get a (fiction) book published. To consider this question, I asked authors about their experiences with the first book they sold, agent representation, and the editor they sold to.

Any of my readers here who are aspiring writers themselves, or just interested in the publishing industry, might want to check out my post on the results of that post. You may be surprised!

Feel free to discuss here or there. 🙂

Writer at Work: Launch plans

I’m going to be celebrating the launch of GIVE UP THE GHOST in a couple of different ways. I’ll be having a launch party in a local bookstore (which of course all local people will be invited to), which’ll be happening a couple weeks after the book’s out, and I’d like to do something to celebrate with people online on or shortly after the release date as well (you all will be invited to that!).

This being my first book, I’ve never done this before. And I’d like to make both events as fun as possible. So, dear readers, this is where I turn to you!

In-person launch parties: What do you like to see happen at a launch party? I’ll definitely be signing books, but what else–a reading? A talk about the writing of the book? Swag to grab? Some sort of giveaway? Q&A? What have you seen at other launch parties that you really enjoyed? Any tips on what not to do?

Online launch parties: What do you like to see happen at an online launch party? I’m thinking I’ll open up a Chatzy room for an hour or two so people can come and talk with me and each other. Maybe there should be a separate chat (or time period) for people who want to discuss the book after reading, so that those who don’t want to read spoilers can leave/skip that one? I’ve heard of people doing giveaways during chat but not sure how that works. Anything else you’ve seen at online launch parties that you enjoyed?

Your thoughts are much appreciated. 🙂

Friday Five: Thieves & Robbers

Ronia, the Robber’s Daughter by Astrid Lindgren — Loved this book as a kid. Two feuding robber clans, capable of both great humor and great cruelty, and their robber children.

The Thief Lord by Cornelia Funke — Scipio uses his thieving to help fellow children in need, and is particularly distinctive in that he mostly steals from himself. 😉

The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak — What better thing could there be to steal than books? Especially when it’s through those books that the thief learns how to read, and then write her own story.

The Magic Thief by Sarah Prineas — Conn’s thieving ways get him into heaps of trouble, but from his charmingly straight-forward narrative, you can’t help seeing he always means well.

The Attolia series by Megan Whalen Turner — Last but far from least–I adore these books. Mostly because of Eugenides, the first book’s titular Thief, who is probably the most skilled thief ever written and fantastically clever in many other ways as well.

Your favorite literary thieves? Share!

A picture’s worth…

Look what was waiting for me when I got home today!

(Please excuse poor image quality–this is what becomes of taking a picture via mirror in an artificially lit room.)

Now let me tell you what your pictures are worth. GIVE UP THE GHOST has already been spotted in stores. The first person who sends me a picture of it on a bookstore shelf or table gets one of those copies I’m holding, signed of course.

The winning photo has been received! Thank you to Kate!

Flashback: Death and Fame

September 1, 1997 (Megan is 16)

Princess Diana died in a car crash Saturday night in Paris. It was all over the front page, and everyone’s talking about it. The paparazzi were chasing the car. That’s the only part I find very sad. That they don’t even care; their souls are sucked out of them… Everyone’s saying how horribly sad it is Diana died. I think it’s sad someone died, but I never knew her so it doesn’t affect me so much. Funny how no one mentions the chauffer or the man she was with, both of whom also died. It’s like her life was more important. This is what you get when you’re famous, your life is worth more than everyone else’s. It’s sad to think some people would, given the choice, save Diana over a member of their own family, or a friend.

[My cousin] told us about a rafting trip she and a bunch of friends went on in Quebec. When they first got there, they went swimming in this spot by the river where they’d gone swimming before, in the several other times they came down with their school. One of the girls got caught in the current and swept downstream. The others tried to get the owners of the place to help, but they said it was none of their business. The kids tried to use the phone to call the police; the Quebec police wouldn’t do anything, and then the owners kicked them off the phone. The pay phones were out. The police didn’t come for five hours and only then because the owners called about one of the kids, who was really upset and being disruptive.

They found the girl’s body three days later. She didn’t even make it to the Star.* That is sad.

*a major newspaper

An Introduction to Flashbacks
The Flashback Cast
The Flashback Timeline