GCC presents Carrie Jones

No, in case you're wondering I'm not dead, I've just been distracted by grumpy children Who Are Going Back to School Next Week. Phew!!!!!!!!! Anyway, I've managed to lock them in a closest for half an hour so I can get some blogging done - okay, not really because they figured out how to pick the closet locks years ago!!!!!!

The truth is that they are happily playing outside which means we can talk about the ever-adorable Carrie Jones and her new book Captivate, which is the sequel to her NYT bestselling book, Need (which is still on my tbr pile but is going to be devoured Very Soon!!!!!!). Anyway, how great does this book look? For a start the cover seriously rocks and the story sounds just as amazing!!!! Here is the skinny:

Captivate:

Zara and her friends knew they hadn't solved the pixie problem for good. Far from it. The king's needs grow deeper every day he's stuck in captivity, while his control over his people gets weaker. It's made him vulnerable. And now there's a new king in town.

A turf war is imminent, since the new pixie king, Astley, is moving in quickly. Nick nearly killed him in the woods on day one, but Zara came to his rescue. Astley swears that he and Zara are destined to be together, that he's one of the good guys. Nick isn't buying it, though Zara isn't as sure -- despite herself, she wants to trust the new king. But it's a lot more than her relationship with Nick that is at stake. It's her life -- and his.


What People are Saying About NEED and CAPTIVATE:

“If you asked Stephen King and Stephanie Myers to co-author a book, they would come up with NEED.” – Justine Magazine.

"An exciting venture filled with nasty evil creatures,
nail-biting action and heart-pounding romance." 
—teenreads.com

“Romance, suspense, and a very clever heroine 
make this a must-read!” —Toledo Blade

"Genre fans will enjoy the sizzle between Nick and Zara 
as well as the paranormal cast." —PW

“This book is for fans of Holly Black and Melissa Marr… fairy lovers crowd in! It’s got some really good reviews coming in already. We’re talking a love story people, with fairies - please, who would not buy this? So look out!”— Annette’s Book Blog

"Jones masterfully blends paranormal fantasy, suspense, and romance to craft a new supernatural tale that is certain to appeal 
to fans of dark urban fantasy like Marr's Wicked Lovely and paranormal romances like Meyer's Twilight books. A likeable cast 
of engaging and interesting characters combine with a plot that grabs readers and refuses to let go." —VOYA

"A fast-paced novel worthy of the fantasy greats, 
Need will take you for a ride." —VOYA, teen reviewer

About Carrie Jones:
1. Carrie can not drink coffee. It makes her insane. Do not give her caffeine.
2. Carrie is very responsive to loving strokes on the hair, kind of like a puppy. However, do not do this without asking first unless you are a ridiculously handsome man or an editor who is about to offer her a trillion dollars for the first draft of her novel.
3. Carrie is secretly really, really shy even though she’s pathetically outgoing in person. She has a very hard time calling people. So, if you want to talk to her, make the first move. And, if you’re her in-Maine female best friend, Jennifer, do NOT get mad at her because she is so bad at returning emails.
4. Carrie sometimes wears mismatched socks, if you do not think this is cool, do not tell her. You will hurt her feelings.
5. Carrie really, really wants you to like her books. Please like her books. PLEEEAASSSEEEE. She’ll be your best friend forever. That is, if you want a friend who is shy about calling and emailing and who wears mismatched socks and can’t drink caffeine and likes being pet on the head. Hhmmm….
6. Carrie is not above begging.
7. Carrie, like Belle in TIPS ON HAVING A GAY (ex) BOYFRIEND drinks Postum. It’s for the same reason, too.
8. Carrie loves Great Pyrenees dogs. They are huge and white, and furry and it looks like they have white eyeliner and mascara on, which is way too cute. Do you have one? Send a picture!
9. Carrie lives in Maine. She has a hard time with this in the winter. It is bleak in Maine in the winter. Imagine everything shades of gray and brown and no green anywhere except for in people’s noses. This is Maine in Winter. Maine in summer is the best place in the world, so it’s a trade-off. Feel free to invite Carrie to your house in the winter, but not if it’s in Greenland, Canada, or anywhere north of Florida. Forget that. She’d still probably come.

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Because it's Thursday

OMG I just watched Aliens in the Attic with the kids and it was ridiculously funny. Has anyone seen it? Honestly, I think I have the brain capacity of a ten year old kid (which in fact would make me a genius) because I seriously laughed out loud at this movie. Especially when Nana and the evil boyfriend did some matrix/kung fu fighting. Genius stuff!!!

Anyway, I'm just about to go and do a couple of blog posts and I have a GCC tour coming up with the ever adorable (and slightly concussed) Carrie Jones, but in the meantime the awesomely cool Charlie Charters' debut book Bolt Action is up for pre-order in the UK (and most other online bookstores) so don't forget to check that out.

I'm also getting ridiculously excited about the American Idol starting tonight in NZ. For those of you who don't realize I am a massive Idol fan - in fact pretty much any reality tv show that has singing or dancing in will have me hooked. And now the first chapter of my new book awaits me, not to mention those two blog posts that annoyingly enough will not write themselves!!!!!

Finally, for writers. If you've ever struggled with character arcs then you must go and read Julie Cohen's blog where she has up a series of posts on this exact topic. Not only is Julie and lovely and talented writer but she's also a very talented teacher as well (and trust me not all great writers have the knack of teaching craft) so this is something you don't want to miss. Retweet this button on every post blogger

Excuse me while I scream

It's been a very trying day today and perhaps no co-incidence that it's week five of the summer holidays. My son has done his best to drive us all crazy - not to mention making himself unhappy in the process. Anyway, all writing plans for the week have pretty much gone out the window but at least the sun is shining and that has to be a good thing, right?

Not much else to report. I managed to cry myself through the Golden Globes and then again when I rewatched the Buffy episode when Joyce Summers died. Let's just say that I was a puffy eyed freak monster the following the day (and not in a good way either in case some of you are thinking that puffy eyed freak monsters are cool). In some slightly better news has anyone else heard the rumours that not only will Neil Patrick Harris will be staring in an episode of Glee but that Joss Whedon will be directing it. Oh please let it happen.

I just finished reading Fire by new literary crush Kristin Cashore. I didn't love it quite as much as Graceling but it was still amazing!!!! I had planned to go back and hit my tbr pile but now my Rita books have come through so I'm reading them instead. I got a fabulous haul and there are five that I'm dying to read and three others that all look good as well so I feel like I did really well!!!!!

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Whoops

Today I was a bit excessive with the whole domestic goddess thing so now I intend to sit and watch television and do nothing to help counter balance the effect. Even worse, I find the more I clean the dirtier everything else starts to look, which is probably why I try and ignore cleaning things very often!

Not much else to report. The lovely new idea finally has a plot and a character arc so now I just need to sit down and write a proposal for it - and perhaps find a jazzy title while I'm at it!!!!! I'm now halfway through Fire by Kristin Cashore and might be becoming slightly obsessed by these books - especially since I discovered that number three is going to be about Queen Bitterblue. If you haven't read them yet I can heartily recommend them to everyone. Definitely one of my fav books since The Hunger Games.

Finally, I'm blogging over at Teen Fiction Cafe today if you'd care to swing by and say hi! Retweet this button on every post blogger

Some random thoughts

Do you realize it's been three weeks since I even opened my laptop? Even more amazing, my brain hasn't exploded and I've haven't done any excessive cleaning either. Of course I have been playing around with a pretty new idea and I'm determined to get into some sort of shape before I turn my attention back to my second Djinn book. And actually while I've been researching my new idea (I use the term researching very loosely for those who were thinking that I was suffering from some sort of strange disease) anyway, as I was saying before I rudely interrupted myself, I've accidentally stumbled across a whole heap of new and juicy Djinn goodness which I'm sure will somehow make its way into my manuscript.

Not much else to report, though my lovely e-buddy Joanne Rendell did post this cool photo on facebook. Don't I look pretty there on the shelf hanging out with the likes of Ally Carter!!!!!!!!!!

Bookwise I am completely consumed by Graceling by Kristin Cashore. Has anyone else read it? I'm halfway through and am just dying with the love. It's amazing. I think if I had a Grace it would be to locate and consume chocolate no matter where it was hidden. Not quite as impressive as being able to kill someone but it's all I've got!

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GCC presents Eileen Cook

Trust me when I tell you that there is NO better way to kick off the new year than by reading a new Eileen Cook book, and what do you know? She has a new one out. Doncha just love how the universe works?

Anyway, for those of you who don't know Eileen's writing then seriously, you need to get with the program because she is awesome, funny and completely adorable (and no, she's definitely not paying me to say this stuff!!!). Eileen is the author of Unpredictable and What Would Emma Do? and her new book is the gorgeously titled Getting Revenge on Lauren Wood.

I'm excited already since I'm a girl of extremes who is a great believer that badness must be punished (preferably in a humiliating fashion) so the whole concept of this book totally works for me!!!!!! Anyway, here is the skinny:

Popularity is the best revenge.

In the final weeks of eighth grade, Lauren Wood made a choice. She betrayed her best friend, Helen, in a manner so publicly humiliating that Helen had to move to a new town just to save face. Ditching Helen was worth it, though, because Lauren started high school as one of the It Girls--and now, at the start of her senior year, she's the cheerleading captain, the quarterback's girlfriend, and the undisputed queen bee. Lauren has everything she's ever wanted, and she has forgotten all about her ex-best friend.

But Helen could never forget Lauren. After three years of obsessing, she's moving back to her old town. She has a new name and a new look, but she hasn't dropped her old grudges. She has a detailed plan to bring down her former BFF by taking away everything that's ever been important to Lauren—starting with her boyfriend.

Watch out, Lauren Wood. Things are about to get bitchy.

Aren't you just dying to read this book already? Well you can can since Eileen has kindly put up the first chapter on her website. Anyway, for the last time before I sit down and figure me out some new questions, I've put Eileen through her paces. Here's what she's got to say for herself!

1 How did you first get the idea for your current book?

The book was inspired in part by rereading The Count of Monte Cristo. It’s such a great revenge tale with secret identities, romance and betrayal between best friends. It made me think how things would play out if the story were to take place in a high school. Right then I was off and running with a story.

2 I often say that everything I know about writing has come from Buffy. Is there any movie/tv show/book/author that you think has helped your writing career?

Let’s be honest- Josh Whedon is a god. I am not sure if there is a particular inspiration for my writing career- but I am a huge believer in that you can’t get too much creative input. I think everyone should read widely- read something you never expected to pick up. Go see a foreign movie with subtitles or a museum show. You never know where creative inspiration will come from.

3 What's a normal writing day for you?

There is very little in my life that is normal. I find that I’ve never gotten into a set routine as I tend to be more of a go with the flow kind of person. You can usually count on me spending too much time checking various blogs, reading email and going to visit Cute Overload before settling in to get things done. okay, so you know as an Internet floozy I now feel compelled to go and visit Cute Overload myself and see what it's all about!!!

4 The best blooper I've ever done as a writer was when I had my heroine hand the hero something. Problem was they were sharing the same body at the time! So to help lessen my embarrassment, I'd love to know what your best writing blooper is and did someone catch it before your book went into print?

I misspelled therapist as the rapist, which is technically spelled correctly so spell check didn’t catch it. One of my early readers asked me why the characters’ dad wasn’t in jail since he was a sex criminal and that was how it was caught. Eeeeeeek!!!!!

5 And now for the big question. Zombies - love them, hate them, couldn't eat a whole one? Enquiring minds want to know

Shaun of the Dead- one of the best movies of all time. This means I’m going to have to go with loving zombies. We are as one!!!!!

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Favorite writing advice of 2009

As a few of you eagle-eyed observers might have noticed, I'm not a big one for talking about the craft of writing. Mainly because I'm fairly sure that no one could possibly benefit from my haphazard, patched-up, slightly-insane writing style. However, I'm more than happy to listen to other people talk about craft. In fact one of my favorite things is going to conference and reading How-to books.

Of course over the years I've noticed that not everything we learn sinks in straight away. Take for example 'showing not telling'. Now this is something that most new writers come across quite early on. However, I bet lots of money (okay $2.25 since that's all I have in my purse right now) that most new writers don't 'really' know what it means. I know in my case, I had to write about four manuscripts before I suddenly understood how to apply it and make it work for me.

Thankfully in of those lovely cases of serendipity the advice I learnt this year from the divine Mary Jo Putny at the RWNZ conference in August couldn't possibly have come at a better time.

Someone asked Mary Jo how she handled bad reviews and her answer was simple: 'I didn't write the book for you.'

I didn't write the book for you.

I love it! After all, we're all readers here and we know how subjective and fickle reading taste can be. Personally I'm not a fan of the Twilight books but obviously not everyone shares my opinion on that, which is totally fine. However, I've always struggled to turn this enlightened approach inward to my own reaction to getting a bad review. Until Mary Jo Putney came along.

I didn't write the book for you.

So to anyone who is published and is freaking out at bad reviews, or for unpublished writers who are still looking for an agent and editor, please remember Mary Jo's words of wisdom. Not everyone is going to love it, but that's fine because you didn't write it for them. You wrote it for the readers who will love it.

This was definitely the most empowering and liberating piece of writing advice I learnt in 2009. What about everyone else? Any tips that stood out for last year?? Retweet this button on every post blogger

Happy New Year

I don't like to show off, but here in NZ it's already 2010 and by the way the sun is shining, I can just tell it's going to be a fabulous decade!!!!!!

Anyway, sorry it's been so quiet here. My husband and children are all off for the summer so we've been out and about doing things. However, I do tend to tweet more than blog (gotta love bite-sized chunks of streams of consciousness) so if you're not following me on twitter or facebook, then make sure you do so you can find out all sorts of little gems of wisdom from me!!!!!

2009 ended up being a pretty good year for me. Zombie Queen of Newbury High came out in the US and Australia/NZ and went into a second print and not only did I finish my next YA book, Fairy Bad Day but I also got a three book deal for my new mid-grade series. I also ended up totally nailing my resolution to cook nicer food for my family. I know, the Queen of Burn can finally cook. In fact two days ago I even made chocolate caramel slice (and introduced my kids to the joys of condensed milk!!!!!) so I think I can give that resolution a big tick off the list!!!!!

Another goal I achieved was that I managed to read 51 books last year. I was pretty happy about that since my reading time has been cut considerably thanks to kids, writing and a part-time job at the library. I've also got to thank those of you who urged me to use Goodreads because I love it and it's definitely the easiest way for me to keep track of what I've read!

For 2010 I've got a whole list of new goals which I'm pretty excited about - most of them relate to writing but some of them are more personal ones (such as don't stuff three blocks of chocolate into my mouth at once because apparently it is very unattractive!!!!)

So how about everyone else? What's 2010 got in store for you? Any resolutions? Retweet this button on every post blogger