More on Books of Wonder!

Posted on by December 10, 2009
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As promised, details of my trip to and event in New York! Many thanks to Deva Fagan for sharing her photos! 🙂

It was a very short trip — working around my day job, I flew in Saturday night, promptly crashed at my hotel in Newark, and then took the train into Manhattan Sunday morning. Did some Christmas shopping for Chris that I cannot say anything more about as he sometimes reads my blog, grabbed some lunch at Grand Central Station, and then headed over to Books of Wonder for the event.

I was immediately greeted by an immense display of all our books, which nearly made me squee out loud on sight. Then I went around back and saw the looooong table set up for us.


(All of us — Neesha Meminger, Jon Skovron, Michelle Zink, Deva Fagan, Sarah Cross, Kate Messner, Shani Petroff, and me — at the table with our books.)

I’d hung out most of my fellow authors back in May when I came down for BEA, but I was excited to meet Deva and Kate for the first time:

I was especially happy to get to talk to Deva in person as we’ve been friends and critique partners online for at least six years now, we figure. Hopefully it won’t be that long until we see each other again!

We started off by each reading a short section from our books:

And took several excellent questions from the audience. Then things got less formal as people started coming over to the table to get their books signed and chat with us. *waves to everyone who stopped by*

Afterward, a bunch of us went out for an early dinner with some family and friends included, and then I had to hop on a bus back to Toronto. Wish I could have stayed longer! I’ll do my best to make it back to the US sometime next year.

Signed books, giveaways, and other good things

Posted on by December 8, 2009
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1. If you weren’t able to make it to the NYC Books of Wonder event on Sunday, never fear — you can still get a signed copy of GIVE UP THE GHOST! Just stop by the store and pick one up. Sorry to have missed those of you who couldn’t make it. We had a ton of fun! 🙂 You can see a few pics over at Kate Messner’s blog — hope to have more to share soon.

2. My author spotlight is now up at Author’s Now! and you can win a signed copy of GHOST just by commenting!

3. My end of 2009 giveaway is accepting entries for another week, so if you’d like to win a pack of great books or a 3-chapter critique, check it out!

4. Our new house is officially ours in less than a week! I’ve gotten everything sorted out (I think) and can’t wait to move in come January.

5. I’ve been given permission to share — GHOST has gone into 2nd printing! Many many thanks to everyone who’s picked it up, blogged about it, or otherwise spread the word. I’m so grateful to all of you.

What’s new with all of you?

Event reminder!

Posted on by December 4, 2009
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No time for a Five today, because I’ve got to pack for my trip to New York tomorrow! In case you haven’t heard, me and seven other amazing Debs will be appearing at Books of Wonder on Sunday:

Click here for details.

I hope to see many of you there!

Flashback: Friend Trouble

Posted on by December 3, 2009
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February 14, 1996 (Megan is 15)

Well, gotta call N now and see what she thinks.

Which is basically nothing. She didn’t think it really mattered which in a way kinda ticks me off. I mean, she talks about X twice as long and I don’t say, well, I don’t think whatever really matters. I might say I don’t think it means something (in regards to whether he likes her or not), but saying it doesn’t matter is like saying it doesn’t matter to her. And it wasn’t like she was saying it so I shouldn’t let it bother me. She said it like she wanted to get on to some other topic. Don’t get any ideas neither — I’d only discussed it with her for about 5 minutes or maybe ten. It just annoys me. She never seems to care about my confusion over B but she expects me to explain everything about X to her and to listen to countless pointless stories about him…

Maybe I’m ignoring things I’ve done and forgotten but it seems like when I don’t want to do something for her, she’s all self-righteous like “I would do it for you” but when she actually has to do something for me she doesn’t want to.

I’m probably totally misinterpreting this, but oh well.

—

An Introduction to Flashbacks
The Flashback Cast
The Flashback Timeline

End of 2009 Giveaway!

Posted on by December 2, 2009
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To celebrate the end of one awesome year, I’m holding one last giveaway! I know you’re all busy with holiday preparations, so I’m keeping it simple.

Prize #1: Three books of magic and the arts. I love fantasy, and I love creativity in all its forms, so I’d like to share with you three books that include both.

Fortune’s Folly by Deva Fagan, which combines fairy tale motifs with themes of storyteling, and fashion! 😀

Wondrous Strange by Lesley Livingston, revealing a magical side of Central Park and a young woman’s love for theater.

Lament by Maggie Stiefvater, full of faeries and music and difficult choices.

Prize #2: A three-chapter critique of a novel manuscript. Best for young adult speculative fiction (fantasy, paranormal, science fiction), but I’m happy to offer my thoughts on adult, MG, and other genres, as long as you accept those aren’t my areas of expertise.

How to enter:

1) Post the Give Up the Ghost book trailer and a link to this giveaway on your blog/Facebook account/Myspace page/website/etc. Just needs to be public so I can confirm it’s there. If you’ve posted the trailer in the past, all you need to post is a link to the giveaway.

(Visit the YouTube page to get the embed code.)

2) Comment here with a link to the place you posted the trailer (now or previously) and the link, and let me know which of the two prizes you’d like to win! You can enter to win both if you post the trailer and link two different places.

And that’s all there is to it!

Entries must be received by Tuesday, December 15th at midnight EST. Giveaway open to anyone in the world.

End of year giveaway thoughts

Posted on by December 1, 2009
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I’ve been thinking it’d be fun to do an end-of-the-year giveaway, and mix it up a little in terms of the prize(s). So I’m turning to you all — what sorts of things would you be interested in winning? Fill out the poll below, and/or leave suggestions in the comments if there’s something awesome I haven’t thought of. 🙂

If I were to hold an end of year giveaway, what would you be interested in winning (pick as many as apply)?
A partial manuscript critique (3 chapts)
A full manuscript critique
The opportunity to name a character in my next book
Give Up the Ghost swag
Books
A book-related gift certificate
Some other thing (explain in comments)
  

With a little luck, I’ll have the giveaway up tomorrow!

Five books I can’t wait to get in 2010

Posted on by November 27, 2009
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(in order of release date)

A Conspiracy of Kings by Megan Whalen Turner – Possibly my favorite YA series of all time, and I’ve had to wait three years for this fourth book, so you’d better believe I’ll be at the book store bright and early on release day to find out what Eugenedies, Sophos, and the rest of them have gotten themselves into now.

This World We Live In by Susan Beth Pfeffer – Life As We Knew It was one of my favorite books read in 2007, and now we get to find out what happens after for Miranda and her family. I suspect it’ll be heart-wrenching, but that won’t stop me from grabbing it as soon as I can.

The Magic Thief: Found by Sarah Prineas – I adored my introduction to Conn’s world in Stolen, was intrigued by the twists and turns of Lost, and now am eagerly awaiting the chance to find out how this exciting trilogy will wrap itself up.


(picture from Catching Fire as none available for Book 3)

Hunger Games Book 3 (no title at present) by Suzanne Collins – Speaking of exciting trilogies… I suspect this is the most anticipated YA novel of 2010, and for good reason. After the cliffhanger ending of Catching Fire, waiting until the fall to find out who survives, who doesn’t, and where District 13 will take us is torture.


(picture from The Treasure Map of Boys as none available for Real Live Boyfriends)

Real Live Boyfriends by E. Lockhart – I finish every Roo book desperately hoping there will be another, so I can spend more time with her awkward yet incredibly charming self. So it was to my great joy that I found out she’s getting a fourth book, even if I have to wait until the end of 2010 to get it!

What books are you most looking forward to pick up next year?

Flashback: Little Things

Posted on by November 26, 2009
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June 1995 (Megan is 14)

It is amazing how the tiniest thing could weigh on my mind so much. I keep remembering his hand was shaking when I was trying to help him with his math. The shaking of a hand comes to express the whole nervousness I feel around him. And, somehow, that little thing has become proof that he feels the same way. Such a little thing.

Words cannot express the feeling when you finally have something that proves more than anything really could something you’ve wanted for so long. Just the fact that he called as soon as he woke up, well, I just have to smile.

—

An Introduction to Flashbacks
The Flashback Cast
The Flashback Timeline

The other kind of Friday Five

Posted on by November 20, 2009
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My bookish Friday Fives will be returning next week, but I figured after the two reading guides yesterday I’d done my bit for this one. So, what’s up with me this week?

1) If you want to discuss GHOST with fellow readers, Bitten By Books is featuring it in their Daily Book Chat.

2) Final call–come meet me, grab some swag, and get a book signed at Chapters – Barrie tomorrow between 2pm and 4pm!

3) For the first time ever, my favorite contestant from the beginning has become America’s Next Top Model. Is this deeply important news? No. But it makes me happy. 🙂 Go redheads!

4) Okay, I don’t actually have five separate things, because my life for the last week has been consumed with…

5) Chris and I have bought our first house! We are so excited and looking forward to moving in sometime in January. Check out the pics here! (Let me know if the link doesn’t work.)

What’s new with you this week?