Trading Posts

I thought some of you might be wondering about these acronyms (MBA, GLIBA) that have been keeping me busy of late.

The American Booksellers Association (ABA) has many regional branches and around this time of year these branches hold their annual trade shows.

Tradeshows are neat because they are full of people who love books so much they've made a career out of it. Booksellers get together to talk about how to best sell books, how to use new media, publicity tactics, and they get to meet authors. That's where I come in - I've been making the rounds at trade shows to talk about NIGHTSHADE. It's so much fun because I get to talk about my book to people who are really excited about getting it into the hands of readers.

And wow do booksellers know their readers. One of my favorite parts of the show was at my signing table and having booksellers ask me to personalize NIGHTSHADE for a loyal customer or beloved niece/nephew who they are certain will love the book. That's so exciting and wonderful!

I signed a lot of books (there were probably five more boxes on the floor behind me). Thanks so much to the amazing Allison, of Penguin publicity, who was my buddy for the show. She rocks.

This weekend I'm headed to Austin for the Texas Book Festival. This event is of a different sort than the trade shows as its much more oriented towards the readers than the book sellers.

I'm also going to be in a Zombies vs. Unicorns face off. I cannot wait.

Here I Am!

I'm getting ready to head to Michigan for GLIBA - hooray! I love meeting booksellers :)

This week I was delighted to spend time on the blog of Brenna Yovanoff (yay, her awesome debut The Replacement is a New York Times bestseller!).

As I'll be traveling and not posting you can stop by and see my guest blog and interview if you should miss me. I miss you too!

Booksellers Rule!

You'll be seeing me here and there on the blogosphere as we're within two weeks of Nightshade's publication. (TWO WEEKS!!!!! The waiting is killing me!)
So I don't go mad, I'm going to focus on things that make me happy. Talking to people about Nightshade makes me very happy and I'm getting to do a lot of that lately.

Last weekend I was thrilled to participate in Anderson's YA conference in Naperville, Illinois. But my events kicked off before the conference began.

First I got to meet amazing readers at a pre-publication dinner.

They let me talk a lot

And we had so much fun (and delicious chocolate cake!)

The next day I visited schools. Despite my trip to the principal's office, I had an incredible time talking with students.

And they gave me flowers! Wow!
Then it was on to the conference. I love writing/book conferences because it means I get to hang out with other authors. YA authors are ridiculously fun to hang out with. I finally got to meet Kiersten White, who has been my 'virtual' friend for a while now. I love Kiersten! Her book, Paranormalcy, hit the NY Times bestseller list. Congrats, Kiersten!!

I also got to hang out with the super awesome David Levithan and John Green. I was on a panel with Antony John - his book Five Flavors of Dumb is fabulous - and Kirsten Miller (you've already heard me rave about Eternal Ones).
The next two weeks I'm heading to Michigan and Texas to talk more about Nightshade. Thank goodness. I need the distraction. Waiting is so hard!

Lights, Camera...

Action!!!

The Breathless Reads Video has arrived: Visit MTV's blog to see the premiere.

Don't forget you can see the other stills on my fellow authors' blogs:
-Kirsten Miller: http://theeternalones.wordpress.com/
-Ally Condie: http://www.allysoncondie.com/
-Brenna Yovanoff: http://brennayovanoff.livejournal.com/

And you can download the song "Breathless" by Miggs (heard in the commercial) on the Breathless Reads site.

Can't wait to hear what you think :)

Also - it's October! Only 19 days 'til Nightshade hits stores!!!

News to Leave You Breathless

Exciting announcement!

As you may already know, Nightshade is one of five books Penguin selected as Breathless Reads. I've already featured two of these books, The Eternal Ones and The Replacement, on this blog and I can't wait to tell you all about Ally Condie's Matched (I'm waiting until a bit closer to the book's release date).

Now MTV is premiering the Breathless Reads trailer on their web site this Friday, October 1. You'll have to wait until Friday to see the video, but to give you a sense of what's to come here's a still from Nightshade's portion of the trailer:Isn't it cool?!!

To check out the other stills from The Eternal Ones, The Replacement, and Matched visit author's web sites.
-Kirsten Miller: http://theeternalones.wordpress.com/
-Ally Condie: http://www.allysoncondie.com/
-Brenna Yovanoff: http://brennayovanoff.livejournal.com/

And you can find links to all the blogs on the Breathless Reads Tumblr: http://thepenguinfive.tumblr.com
Excerpts of all Breathless Reads titles (The Eternal Ones, The Replacement, Nightshade, Matched and Sapphique) are available for download on the Breathless Reads website (www.breathlessreads.com).

Don't forget to visit again on Friday when I'll post the link to the video!

In Which I Am A Fortune Teller

Remember a few days ago, when I posted about censorship in support of Laurie Halse Anderson?

In that post I mentioned a guest post I'd written for Page Turners Blog about book banning and how I expect Nightshade to be challenged at some point.

The past few days I've been in Naperville, Illinois for Anderson's YA conference. I had the best time ever - the Anderson's staff are phenomenal! It was amazing and I'll be posting more about that soon. Prior to the conference, I had the great pleasure and honor to visit local school and talk about writing.

Before my very first presentation, however, I was taken to the principal's office (I'm 32 and that was my first time being sent to the principal's office!) and told that a parent had objected to my being there because of the content of my book.

Now I realize I had very recently written that I expected this to happen, but I have to say, I wasn't prepared for an objection to come on my very first school visit. Being a school visit n00b I was already nervous and getting this news was a bit like a punch in the gut. Fortunately as soon as I got on stage and started talking about how much I love writing, all that ugly noise faded away. The students were phenomenal. They asked fantastic questions and were so enthusiastic. It reminded me of why I love talking to young readers and why no matter who objects I will always continue to SPEAK LOUDLY about the issues I believe in.

It's officially Banned Books Week now and to celebrate I'll be giving away a handful of banned or challenged books by authors who are heroes of mine. Stay tuned!

A Quality of Light

I anticipate this time of the year like no other, and it's not just because we're now within a month of Nightshade's release date. It feels not unlike fate that my debut novel will be published at the heart of autumn, my favorite season and the one in which I feel the most myself.

I couldn't imagine living in a part of the world where the seasons didn't change. There's an energy to the shift that never fails to fill me with wonder. One of my favorite characteristics of autumn is the way light changes.

Spring's light sparkles, like dew on newly sprouted leaves. It's full of promise and makes me giddy. Summer's light is pure power - it warms you up and exhausts you at the same time. But autumn's light is subtle. It slides through leaves, rolling over them, seeming to almost paint them with the waning sun's very shades of gold and rust. It gleams and lingers. Walking in my neighborhood, surrounded by autumn's glow I experience profound contentment. I hardly know how to describe it, only that it makes me feel a rightness with the world unlike any other.

Today is Mabon, the autumnal equinox. The light will slip slowly into darkness from now until the Winter Solstice, reminding us of life's mysteries and the hidden workings of the spirit world. May the magic of this season bring you wisdom and joy.

Riddle Me This

There's a very attractive young man living alone in a creepy mansion in Vail, Colorado. Loud, inexplicable crashes keep waking him up at 5 a.m.

Who's he gonna call? (Hint: The Ghostbusters are unavailable)

You!
You might have noticed around the interwebz that in the six weeks leading up to NIGHTSHADE's release Shay has joined us in the world. He's just moved to his uncle's mansion, Rowan Estate, and things are getting a little strange there.

You can check out his blog posts and talk with him on Facebook. You can also watch his web series on You Tube.
Yesterday, with the help of online friends, Shay solved a puzzle that was keeping him out of the locked library. He hasn't yet gone in - his uncle told him to stay out of that room - but he's thinking about it.

As Shay learns more about Rowan Estate and its history, there will be many more puzzles for him to solve. And you can help him do that.

If you're interested in being part of the story (and yes, that means the official prequel!) send an email to nightshade@campfirenyc.com and you might receive a very special present in the mail. Please note: the mailings are limited in number, so sending an email does not guarantee you'll receive the present, but it gets you in the running.

Even if you don't receive one of the limited edition mailings you can still be part of the mystery by helping Shay out online.

The secrets of Shay Doran's Shadow Days are becoming more and more sinister. Can you help him solve the puzzles before it's too late?

Winners Galore

Wow - we've had an awesome spate of contests on the blog recently and today is the day to announce all the winners.
Let's start with the most recent and work back in time. (Hooray for blog time travel!)

Yesterday I was delighted to host a contest for Lisa Desrochers' debut PERSONAL DEMONS. It's in stores today - go get it :) Don't forget to stop by Lisa's blog today for more chances to win.

The winner of the PERSONAL DEMONS prize back is:

Claire Dawn

I also was able to spend some time talking with Brenna Yovanoff about her debut THE REPLACEMENT (in stores September 21). I love having awesome authors visit the blog. What fun!

Winners of THE REPLACEMENT are:

Casey (A Bookish Type)
&
April

And finally - for announcing the appearance of Shay Doran in our world, the winner of NIGHTSHADE is:

Jessica from A Great Read!

Congrats to all the winners :) If your name was selected please email your mailing address to andreacremerwrites (at) gmail (dot) com

Thanks so much to everyone for entering. It's a great fall for books. And if you haven't stopped by to meet Shay yet, please check out his Facebook page and blog. Believe me, he's really going to need your help in the next few weeks. Don't leave him alone in that big mansion!

Buzz!!

Holy Hand Grenades! I blinked and somehow passed 400 followers!! Heya everyone and thanks for being here :)

I hope you enjoyed all the fun hearing about Brenna Yovanoff's awesome debut The Replacement!

Now that it's September, we're in the final countdown to Nightshade's arrival. Eek!! And woo-hoo! I cannot wait 'til October 19.



I'd be worried that I won't be able to handle the waiting - patience is not a virtue I can claim. Fortunately I'm really, really busy until the release date. If you're looking for something to do and want to say hey I'll be at Anderson's YA Conference in Naperville, Illinois, the Great Lakes Independent Book Sellers Association Conference in Dearborn, Michigan, and the Texas Book Festival in Austin!

It all leads up to the Nightshade release party on October 29. I can't begin to tell you how excited I am that we're having the party Halloween weekend. Halloween is my favorite holiday and has incredible significance to Nightshade's plot.

The party is at the Red Balloon Bookshop in St. Paul and of course you're all invited. We'll have cake and libations AND a literary costume contest.

Plus, there's a special guest of honor: Shay!
That's right. If you haven't heard yet. Shay Doran has stepped out of Nightshade's pages and is spending some time with us in the real world. And he's coming to my party. Hooray!

If you can't make it to St. Paul, you can still meet Shay, comment on his blog, send him Facebook messages, and even text him. Check out www.shaydoran.com for details.

Shay's trying to adjust to life in his new home, Rowan Estate, and it's not going very well. Too many things that go bump in the night aren't letting him get settled in. He's going to need your help figuring out how to deal with the weirdness. And if you help him, you have a chance to become part of Nightshade's world. Shay's adventures over the next six weeks will become part of the official Nightshade prequel I'm writing: Shadow Days. Stay tuned for more details and be sure to keep Shay company!

Welcome again to my new followers, thanks for being here - exciting times ahead!

Secrets Revealed!

Last week on Facebook and Twitter I mentioned my travels for a secret mission. Today I'm thrilled to be able to share my exciting news with you!

In the lead up to Nightshade's release Penguin has something AMAZING in store for you:

You know that steamy love triangle the reviews have mentioned? Here's your chance to check out one-third of it! (Sorry Team Ren, Guardians don't do social networking ;) )

One of Nightshade's main characters, Shay Doran, has stepped out of the book's pages and into the world.

http://www.shaydoran.com/

Yes - you heard that right - Shay just moved to Vail, Colorado and he's looking for some new friends!

For the next six weeks you can spend time with him as he settles into Vail and tries to figure out what's what in his new home, Rowan Estate. Not only will you be able to read Shay's blog and Facebook updates, but he's also creating a web series so you can explore the mansion with him. As you might suspect, things aren't always what they seem at Rowan Estate and he's going to need your help. Don't let him get lonely in that enormous, empty house!

More details to come, but for now: CONTEST!

Spread the word about Shay's Facebook page and his blog - tell me where you've linked, tweeted, or posted about it in the comments below - and you'll be entered to win a signed Nightshade ARC!

http://www.facebook.com/shadowshay

I'm taking entries until Tuesday, September 7!

September is here, bringing Shay into our world...it's just the beginning.

(Re)Write!

Do you remember the childhood rhyme:

Pete and repeat are sitting in a boat
Pete falls out, who's left?
Repeat

And it begins again. Oh the joy.

I've gotten into the habit of responding to the question: How long did it take you to write Nightshade, with this - I wrote it between Thanksgiving and Christmas of 2008.

Stop. Rewind. Let's clarify and I'm accepting fault here for any misconceptions my pat answer may have created. I wrote the FIRST DRAFT of Nightshade between Thanksgiving and Christmas of 2008. I continued revising that draft on my own from January through March of 2009. With my agents from March to June of 2009 and with my editor from August through October 2009. That first ecstatic draft required a lot of refining.
A while ago I did a post for The Tenners about how not to get published. Here's a relevant excerpt about first drafts vs. revised manuscripts:

Another familiar moment in the writing life: you've done it. You've written a masterpiece! It is so beautiful and it's all yours!! In fact, you decide it's so very, absolutely perfect in that moment after typing the last sentence that you need to send it out to your dream agents NOW. Revisions are for wimps, right?

Wrong. Along with not finishing (and don't you DARE query before you've finished, and I mean really finished!!), querying too early will get you NOT published. I attended a writing conference where Jane Smiley gave a keynote. At one point she said "the first draft of what you wrote is perfect and wonderful, because you wrote it." She was being sincere and her comment encapsulated the joy that is the creative process of writing as well as the unbelievably ecstasy of accomplishment when you finish your novel. But the "perfect" is a moment for you and you alone.

You should celebrate. You did it! But you should NOT query. Think of it as a Gold Rush moment. You're alone, panning in a river and you hit it. The mother load! Wow!! That's fantastic. But no one wants your unformed lumps of golden goodness until they've been heated up and melted down and transformed into a beautiful piece of jewelry. Right? Don't send your lumps of gold out. Wait until you learn how to refine them into something everyone can appreciate.

I'm bringing this up because saying I wrote Nightshade in a frenzied four weeks is probably setting a bad example. That first four weeks was my Gold Rush moment, but months of work after that first milestone transformed my shiny lump into a finished piece.

Writing is the beginning. Rewriting brings the real payoff.
Speaking of rewriting - one of my best debut buddies, with whom I've had the joy of sharing revision chills, thrills, and spills - has a wonderful book hitting the shelves today. If you don't have Kiersten White's Paranormalcy on your radar, hunt it down in a bookstore as soon as you can.
You'll be bleepin' sorry if you don't :) It's hilarious, thrilling and glittering, sparkly fabulous. Happy Book Birthday, Kiersten!

A Sense of Place

I'm often asked what inspired me to write Nightshade. In the case of this trilogy, the inspiration was Calla, a character whose story had to be told. But this story is something new; I wrote Nightshade between Thanksgiving and Christmas of 2008.

Love of writing is something that's been with me much, much longer.When I think about what inspires me to write I always go back to where I'm from. Recently I had the chance to take a trip to my hometown and was reminded once again why I love it.

The South Shore of Lake Superior is exquisite, but remains undiscovered in many ways.
It has a quality of wildness that lends itself to creative sparks.The landscape itself holds secrets, memories, and histories that evoke storytelling.
My writing also thrived because of the unwavering love of my wonderful family (that's my mom watching the island during our ferry ride. Hi Mom. Thanks for being you!!)
Places inspire me, but none quite as much as that very place where it all began.

What inspires you?

Cover Grrrlz

Time to announce the winners of the WOLFSBANE cover contest. Thank you so much for your entries - you are all so talented!I've selected two winners, each of whom will receive a signed NIGHTSHADE ARC.

The winning covers are:

Khelseaand Denis
Khelsea and Denis please email your mailing address to me and I'll get your ARCs sent!

It was so hard to choose the winners - all the entries were fabulous. Thank you so much to the runners up for their amazing covers:

Lorena
CrissiEmily
Adriana
Your creativity and beautiful designs made me so happy!

The official WOLFSBANE cover is under wraps for now, but your awesome ideas are great substitutes until the final image can be revealed.

A Real Book!

Two months from today Nightshade hits bookstores! I can't think of a more appropriate day for the Fed Ex guy to deliver this:
Yes!!! It's the Nightshade hardcover! My book EXISTS (it is living in warehouses until October).
There was much jumping and shrieking and happy dancing. It is so beautiful. It has rough cut edges that make it look like an aged, secret, mysterious book.
Here it is naked (gasp!)
Look at the purple!
I'm so happy :)

Why I Leave You Hanging

Today's post is about cliffhangers - my books: they haz 'em.
I've been over the moon about the wonderful reviews coming in for Nightshade. Thank you so much to the thoughtful readers taking time to share their thoughts on my book - I can't tell you enough how much I appreciate it. It's hard to believe that Nightshade is actually being read by real people (other than my mom, hi mom!) and that they like it! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

I'm flattered that so many reviewers and tweets talk about how much Nightshade leaves readers dying for book 2 - Wolfsbane. If you haven't heard it already, I'm here to tell you it's true; I leave you hanging by a thread at the end of book one. While it means the world to me that the end of Nightshade leaves readers so excited for Wolfsbane, I want to assure I didn't create a cliffhanger for the sake of being cruel.

Endings have been on my mind lately because I'm finishing up book 3 - Bloodrose - the only book of the three which does not end on a cliffhanger because, well, it's the final book of this trilogy. Also because Mockingjay, the ending we're all biting our nails to read, will soon be here!!! The conclusion of Catching Fire was one of my favorite, screech-inducing, cliffhangers ever. I guarantee I'll be up all night reading the night the Hunger Games finale is out.

I'm here to tell you that I don't write cliffhanger endings just to torture readers until they get their hands on the next book. Cliffhangers bring about the end of one plot arc while teasing into the beginning of the next. Nightshade, the trilogy, is a tale that spins out the lives of characters over the course of three novels. Each book has its own plot arc but all three arcs come together to create the entirety of the story - with each novel coming in around 400 pages, should all three installments come at once, you'd have a 1200 page novel. Though such books exist, breaking up the characters' journey into three connected, but distinct, pieces is a lot more manageable.

So I hope you'll forgive me when I string you along - I hope you'll find the wait well worth it, and know that there's a method to my madness.

Some News

I have very exciting news to share!

The American Booksellers Association just published their Autumn Indie Next List. What's an Indie Next List you say?

It's this: "The list features the top 10 titles for the autumn publishing season and an additional 48 selections, spanning all age groups. The Kids' Indie Next List is compiled based on nominations from independent booksellers nationwide."

And Nightshade is #3 on the list!!!!!Happy! Happy! Happy!

And thank you, thank you, thank you to the wonderful booksellers for your enthusiasm for Nightshade!! I cannot wait until it's on the shelves of your stores.

Speaking of independent bookstores, I can also officially announce that the Nightshade publication party will take place at the Red Balloon Bookshop in St. Paul, Minnesota on Friday, October 29 at 7 p.m. and since that's Halloween weekend, the party will have a costume contest! I'm so excited :) If you're around the Twin Cities or feel like making a trip to Minnesota, please stop by!

I'm Melting, I'm Melting!

While I enjoy sunshine, I wasn't built for heatwaves. My skin burns to a lovely tomato red in less than 60 seconds on a hot day. We're in the middle of a doozy right now. A week in the mid to high 90s with heat indexes well over 100 degrees.

This sort of weather renders me listless and spacey. I'm working on a super sekrit Nightshade-related project right now, which I will soon be able to share with you, and I keep forgetting to attach documents or links to emails and correspondence because the heat renders my brain power to about 60% of it's normal function.

I consider fall my favorite season with spring running a close second. Dealing with this extreme heat, and knowing that in six months I'll be blogging about extreme cold (though I prefer the latter), I realize I'm something of a Goldilocks when it comes to weather.

But I swear I'm not just being fussy - I simply don't function right in this heat; it's like my body and mind are on strike, demanding a week at the lake instead of life as usual. The only upside is that hot days brew up awesome thunderstorms on some nights.

How's summer working out for you? And do you have no-fail ways to beat the heat? I'm relying on popsicles and iced coffee.

In Which I Am Opinionated

I generally consider myself to be a peaceable person, but a few things make steam come out my ears. At the top of the list: bigotry, sexism, and misogyny.

If you want to peer into my brain for a few minutes - stop by the Book Faery's blog to check out my guest post on sexual double standards in fiction, plus you have the chance to win a Nightshade ARC!

And don't forget to submit your designs for the Wolfsbane cover contest.

Contests Galore!

August has gotten off to a great start! We're three months out from NIGHTSHADE's release and a new month means a new ARC giveaway!

First - I want to draw your attention to two ongoing contests.

1) You still have a chance to enter Em's Reading Room contest to design a NIGHTSHADE t-shirt. The winner will receive their t-shirt, a NIGHTSHADE ARC, & an ARC of MATCHED by Ally Condie (I've read it, it's phenomenal!) Stop by Em's blog to enter :)

2) I just passed 1,000 followers on Twitter and am hosting a giveaway there through noon tomorrow (Friday). To enter just post a tweet that includes #nightshade I'll draw a random winner from all the entries. The name drawn wins an iPod shuffle pre-loaded with the playlists of the NIGHTSHADE trilogy.

And here's the August contest for the blog:

As I mentioned last week, the cover shoot for WOLFSBANE just took place. I cannot wait until I can share the cover, which won't be for a while. There's a lot of work that occurs from the shoot to the final cover image.Here are a few images to give you a hint of what's to come:


Thanks so much to Suza Scalora who creates such amazing images.

Linda from Penguin will bring together the final design - she is so talented. And great at picking leaves!
Also make-up artist Elsa who transformed the lovely Amber (Amber Gregory is represented by Ford Models) into Calla!


And huge thanks to Editor Jill for snapping all these photos so we could have a glimpse of the cover in process :)

Since we have to wait a while for the official WOLFSBANE cover I thought I'd ask you to lend your creative talents to help us pass the time.

This month's NIGHTSHADE giveaway of 2 signed ARCs will be a cover design contest!

What would your design for WOLFSBANE's cover be?

When you create your image, email the file to me at andreacremerwrites (at) gmail (dot) com

I'll post the entries and will select two winners who will receive a signed NIGHTSHADE ARC. Please be respectful of copyright as you create your images. I can't wait to see what you come up with!

The contest will be open for two weeks, closing at midnight on Thursday, August 19.