Winners! News!

Thanks to everyone who sent pictures of Nightshade in paperback! Getting your comments, tweets, and Facebook posts made me so happy!

Here are the two randomly selected winners:

Amy

Dani_Nguyen

Email your address to andreacremerwrites@gmail.com to claim your prize :)

And because I just received a fabulous box of FINISHED Wolfsbane, instead of a pre-order you'll get a shiny, signed hardcover in the mail! Woo hoo!

In fifteen days Wolfsbane hits stores. I can't wait!! I am dying for you to know what's happening to Calla and her pack. I'm also really excited for you to meet a new cast of characters who play pivotal roles in the series.

Leading up to Wolfsbane's release and continuing through its first week in stores I'm thrilled to announce that Mundie Moms is hosting the official Wolfsbane blog tour. From July 19 to August 9 you can find interviews with me and with characters from the book. At each stop you can enter for a chance to win Nightshade and Wolfsbane!

One more quick squee-filled announcement - the official 2011 San Diego Comic Con schedule has been released! I'm on two panels - one on Magic and Monsters at 3 - 4 p.m. on Thursday and the second is What's Hot in YA from 10 - 11 a.m. on Sunday. If you'll be at Comic Con I hope I'll see you at one or both panels.

More Answers!

Since there were so many awesome questions for the contest I'm going to post answers over the course of several blog posts. FYI if your question doesn't get answered it's because I couldn't answer it without spoilers and I have a strict no spoiler policy.

So my question is what inspired the names of Calla and the other characters in Nightshade?

I spend a lot of times on character names - I have to love the way the name sounds, it has to fit his or her personality and the meaning of the name usually has significance as well. Calla's name is related to her coloring - white blond hair and golden eyes, like a Calla lily, it also reflects the conflict in her life. She's a warrior, but too often she's expected to be delicate, like a lily and she hates that.

How the frak did you come up with the idea for this wickedly awesome and totally random yet justified contest?

So glad you liked it - I hold once monthly Q&A's on the blog and it seemed like it would be a fun twist to make it into a contest. I also love Battlestar Galactica - so thanks for the reference :)

How are you balancing teaching, promotion, and writing?

I was a plate-spinner in a past life. Of course I'm kidding. I have no idea. I think I'm juggling - I hope to make it to balancing some day.

When I read Goodreads reviews of Nightshade I found two reviews using Twilight as a sort of comparison/reference. In my mind that can turn people onto your novel or off of it. What do you think about being compared to other novels (not just Twilight but anything)? If you had a quote on your front novel saying for fans of _____, would you want that or would you rather a quote just talk about how good "your" novel is without name-dropping?

Great question. I'm delighted when Nightshade comes up in the context of any book readers are passionate about - and the more passionate a reader gets the more strong reactions to a novel or series can be, positive or negative. Comparisons are impossible to avoid and I don't mind them as long as they are gracious - opinions of books are subjective, so I think someone could love Twilight (or any other paranormal) and also love Nightshade or they could like one book and not the other. The most I can hope for is that when readers pick up Nightshade they are drawn into Calla's story and her world on its own merits.

If you could have any mythical creature for a pet, what would you choose and why?

A pegasus because I love horses and I'd love a horse that I could ride or fly on. I would have gone with dragon, but I just worry about how much control it would really have over that whole fire breathing thing.

If Nightshade is made into a movie(yay!),whom would you cast as the leads and why?

I actually did a separate blog post on this. You can see my picks here!!

Not About Lost

The blog/tweetosphere is run amok with reactions to the Lost series finale.
Me? Ummmm....I stopped watching Lost after the second season.
Gasp!

It's not that I didn't enjoy it, but I just didn't quite fall in love the way I need to if I'm going to remain loyal to a show.
For example, if you want to hear my theory about what happened at the season finale of Supernatural I'd be happy to share :)

Now that TV business is taken care of, this post has a two-fold purpose.

One to share a GIGANTIC thank you to my wonderful hosts and dinner companions of last week. I had a wonderful time and though it hardly seemed possible am even more excited about October now than I was before.

My last stop was Chicago - one of my favorite cities.
I love the river
and the architecture.
I even had the joy of being caught out in a thunderstorm. That's not sarcasm - I love being caught out in the rain; it imparts a pure ecstasy of life in the moment ;)

I'd like to thank in particular my teen blogger/readers who came to dinner. My soul sistah Zoe!I know - we really could be sisters?! Right? :)

Hallie - who told me she hid Nightshade under her pillow so she could sneak reads when she was supposed to be doing her homework! And Kristen whose blog I'm so excited to read :) Thanks so much for your enthusiasm and kind words about the series!!

The second purpose of this post is to ask a favor. I'm heading to New York tomorrow for BEA. It's my first book convention and I'm sure there will be tons to report, but I'd like to know what you would like to hear about? What BEA buzz should my blog posts send back yonder?

One last item of note: The Frenetic Reader is giving away an ARC of Nightshade! Hurry over for your chance to win :)

Onward

Last day of the pre-pub tour and I'm headed for Chicago.

Milwaukee was a blast. I had such a great time meeting wonderful book sellers and librarians while enjoying a lovely view of the art museum. I only wish I was here long enough to visit the collection!

While I've been traveling, some fantastic reviews of Nightshade have popped up. Check out what Addicted 2 Books and Super Reader Girl have to say about the story!!

Happy weekend :) Here's my fave song of the moment - Broken Bells, The Ghost Inside:

The Box

It's here!!!

The box.And I have in my possession beautiful, beautiful ARCs about which I have bad and good news.

First, the bad:

I cannot show them to you.

Why?

Okay, this is part of the good.

Penguin is so excited about the cover (it really is beautiful) that they are doing a special 'Reveal' in March. I'm thrilled about this plan, but it also means that I have to keep the ARCs and the cover hidden until the Reveal takes place. (Yes I've decided that in this case Reveal should be a proper noun.)

More good:

In answer to Eric's question: What do you do with ARCs?A few things.
1) First I will be crouched over them, staring at and cuddling them, crooning "Yes, my preciousssssssss." I expect this to last about a day. Maybe two.Anyone attempting to interrupt said behavior risks dragon attack.

2) They will be bestowed upon my family and close friends whose labors of love made the ARCs' existence possible in the first place.
3) I will be holding Contests on the blog to give them away (these will begin AFTER the Reveal). So watch for future giveaways of signed Nightshade ARCs!!!
I still have fuzzy brain resulting from a lingering cold, but I think the mood boost created by the ARCs appearance will help me recover more quickly!

Wilderness Survival Tips

The Wild. It's big, it's beautiful, it's scary, it's exciting - and NIGHTSHADE is out in it.

Penguin thrilled me by printing special edition ARCs for the ALA Midwinter meeting and giving them out to conference attendees. I'm just starting to receive tweets and notes from the lovely people who got a copy and are reading it, which is so freakin' amazing I think my head might explode. Thanks so much to those of you who've written to tell me how much you love NIGHTSHADE!!!

Since the book is in the Wild, I think it would be wise to establish my author's guide to wilderness safety (a.k.a blog rules now that NIGHTSHADE is circulating).

ANDREA'S WILDERNESS SAFETY GUIDE (New Blog Regulations)

Be prepared. [To bite your tongue - NO SPOILERS]

NIGHTSHADE is full of twists, turns, shocks, and head-spinners. Please don't ruin the experience for anyone else by posting questions or comments that reveal the plot. Any spoilery comments will be eaten [deleted].

Respect wildlife. [Be nice to other books]

As NIGHTSHADE peeks out of its den and makes its first forays into the deep, dark woods there are many other critters on the same journey. Writing books is a labor of love (and pain) and taste varies widely. When commenting, it's fine to say "NIGHTSHADE reminded me of, or it creates excitement like," but please don't trash other authors or books by way of trying to give me a compliment. That only makes all the woodland critters sad.

Don't feed the animals. [Be nice to each other]

Along those same lines, please keep comments respectful. Good books should engender strong reactions. That's great! But please respect your fellow writers, readers, and the blogging community by playing nice at all times. Which means:

NO

YES

If you wander off the trail, call the Ranger outpost. [Ask the author!]

Although I will patrol the blog for spoilers, I'm always happy to answer plot/character/world questions via email. So if you do want to discuss/ask/learn more about NIGHTSHADE and think you can't ask here, please send a message to andreacremerwrites (at) gmail (dot) com

Most importantly, enjoy the spectacular (I hope) sights and sounds!

As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, this was a small, special run of ARCs. Official ARCs will be printed this spring, and at that time I host contests/giveaways - I can't wait!

My Awesome Editor Jill (aka Carrie)

Did a great interview on the Throwing Up Words blog. Thanks for the NIGHTSHADE shout out Jill!