If you want to know what makes an author CRAZY happy, it's reading reviews like this one: best review ever. Jenna totally "got" NIL, on every level, and she wrote an incredibly well-articulated review.:) Similar crazy-making happy reviews? Go here and here and here. :)
Happy reading everyone! And good luck in the NIL Blog Tour giveaway! :) AND HUGE THANK YOUS TO EVERYONE WHO'S PRE-ORDERED NIL OR WANTS TO READ IT!!!!:)
ICYMI: I'm over at The Write Notes talking about the Top Five Songs Behind NIL. I'm also giving away a galley of NIL…with the vintage cover.:) Only 4 more days to enter!
The YA Valentines Winter Formal Blog Tour starts Monday! I'll be over at the lovely Nikki Wang's blog Fiction Freak--please come say hi!!!
And on Wednesday we're having a Twitter party!!!
This Wednesday, February 12th at 6:30 PM EST, I'll be hanging out with Sara B. Larson (DEFY), Bethany Hagan (LANDRY PARK) and Jen McConnel (DAUGHTER OF CHAOS), some of the sweetest and most talented debut authors around. We'll be chatting about books, embarrassing Valentine moments, and other fun things! There will be prizes! Virtual snacks! The hashtag is #YAValsFormal . . . come hang out with us!
Also have appearances coming up…will post about them shortly!:)
I'm over at All The Write Notes today sharing my top five songs behind NIL. Two are from Thad's point of view, two are from Charley's point of view, and one is from the island's point of view. (I'm also giving away a signed ARC of NIL so go check out the post!)
Here is where it gets freaky.
The song from the island's point of view is by a band called Pendulum. And the title? The Island (Part 1) Dawn.
Perfect, right? I KNOW. Just wait--it's gets FREAKIER.
Here's the thing: as I envisioned NIL, the island is the greatest antagonist of all. There's a definite Twilight Zone undercurrent to NIL. After all, how else do you pass out in a city parking lot and wake up naked in a red rock field?!
So seriously, how perfect are the lyrics to this song?
You arrive
In the rising sun
The hidden passenger
That I’ve been taking
Close your eyes
Let’s forget again
As you drag me down
I will take you in
What are you waiting for?
Just surrender here tonight
What are you waiting for?
As we go towards the light
When everything is said and done
To looking for answers if only one
Turn my back the urge has gone
Left with no reason we come undone
So perfect it's FREAKY.
Now here's where it gets super freaky. I got the idea for NIL in February 2010, while on a vacay in Hawaii. (You can read the full scoop here). Pendulum's album Immersion wasn't released until May of 2010. I'm not sure exactly when I discovered Pendulum, but I remember it was sometime that summer. I already had the entire first half of the novel written at this point--including the opening scene where Charley wakes up on Nil, which I wrote while in Hawaii back in February.
So this morning, when I was finishing up my ATWN post, I searched for a video of Pendulum's song The Island (Part 1) Dawn. And what I found blew me away. The opening was so much like the start of Charley’s Day One it honestly freaked me out a little. (Or possibly a lot. ;D) The girl even looks a little like Charley.
FREAKY.
See for yourself… I'M IN LOVE WITH THIS VIDEO. The end of the video has a twist that my book doesn't, so watch until the end…so worth it. (Plus, the girl in the video has clothes--if it was Charley she'd be running around naked and this is a PG rated blog. lol)
Here you go…the video that could *almost* be my book trailer:
Totally cool and creepy and FREAKY, right? To think Pendulum was writing/recording this song as I was writing NIL, and for them to have a similar vision. I think it's the collective unconscious as my fellow Valentine Paula Stokes recently talked about.
So there you have it. The music video that could almost pass for NIL's book trailer.
Thanks to everyone who entered January's #NILtribe giveaway! The Rafflecopter gods have spoken, and January's #NILtribe winner is . . .
Becky Wallace!!!
Congrats Becky!
But here's the thing: Becky has already read NIL. She's actually one of my CP's! Becky is as sweet as she is talented, and she's kindly offered her galley of NIL up to the #NILTribe.
So…let's do a Twitter contest!
Here's the deets:
The contest will be this Wednesday.
I'm going to ask a question on Twitter and post it using both the #NILtribe hashtag and the #WinNIL hashtag. RT and post your answer--be sure to use the #WinNIL hashtag so I can see it! :) The question will go live at 9 am (EST) and the contest will run until 9 pm (EST). Winner will be picked at random from all the #WinNIL entries! And the winner gets a signed galley of NIL!
I'm SO EXCITED to be part of CREED's cover reveal today!
I adore Lindsay Currie and Trisha Leaver--as friends, writers, and critique partners, and together they're the brilliant minds behind CREED. (I LOVE Y'ALL!!!! *sends all the hugs*). The duo are kind, funny, and smart…and did I mention FANTASTIC WRITERS? #TeamCleaver is a force to be reckoned with in the YA world…especially in the horror genre.
Here's why:
CREED – November, 2014 from Flux
Three days.
Three of us went in.
Three of us came out.
None of us even a
shadow of who we once were
(seriously--don't you have shivers already?! Knew it.:D)
About the Authors:
Trisha Leaver resides on Cape Cod with her husband, three children and one rather
excitable black lab. She spent most of her childhood living inside her own
mind, creating characters and stories that only a child's imagination
could dream up. She now spends her days breathing life into those
characters, writing realistic fiction for young adults. Today, Trisha is a
free-lance editor and a proud member of the SCBWI, YA Scream Queens,The Horror Writers Association, TheBookYards, and OneFourKidLit, a community of authors with debuts upcoming in 2014. More information
about her solo and co-authored projects can be found at the links below.
Lindsay Currie lives in Chicago, Illinois with one incredibly patient hubby, three
amazing kids and one adorable, but irreverent Bullmastiff named Sam. She
graduated from Knox College in the heart of the Midwest and has been writing
for as long as she can remember. She is a freelance editor for young
adult, new adult and middle grade fiction, and is a proud member of SCBWI,
The Horror Writers Association, The YA Scream Queens, The BookYard and OneFourKidLit, a
community of authors with debuts upcoming in 2014.
Dee Langley is seventeen and mere
months away from total freedom and a life where state social workers,
counselors, and foster parents don’t dictate her every move. She has spent
years trying to eke out a normal existence, hiding from her past and walking the
tenuous line between denial and self-preservation. A weekend away with her
boyfriend, Luke, and his brother, Mike, seems like the perfect opportunity to
forget and start over. Little does Dee know that she's just trading one hell
for another.
When an unexpected storm and a lack
of gas force their car off the road, Dee, Luke, and Mike find themselves with
no other choice but to wander into the nearby town of Purity Springs for help.
But it’s not good Samaritans they find, but rather complete and utter silence,
every store and every house abandoned. Forced to seek shelter in one of the
deserted homes, they uncover a disturbing book with explicit instructions on
how to correctly rear a child, complete with a hand written record of its use.
It’s not until the next morning, however, that they discover the alarming truth
– the town isn’t abandoned; it is populated by a deadly cult, and the leader,
Elijah Hawkins, has plans for the three of them. The group’s only hope for
survival lies in the hands of Elijah’s son, Joseph. But is Joseph really their
ticket to freedom or is his game just as deadly as his father’s?
But first you want to see the cover, right? I mean, it's why you're here. :)
So scroll down . . .
keep scrolling . . .
one more click . . .
BOOM.
HERE YOU GO! The epic cover of CREED:
AHHHHHHH!!! LOVE!!!! The spooky sky . . . the even spookier red letting. And that touch of turquoise in the title --what's that all about!? WANT! A creeptastic cover all around!!!
Congrats Lindsay & Trisha! Thanks for letting me be a part of your big day today!
Readers, what's your favorite thing about CREED's cover?
I'm super excited to announce my blog tour for NIL…put together by the AWESOME Nikki Wang over at Fiction Freak. Nikki is AMAZING and I lurrrve her. Check out this awesome banner:
I'm so honored to be on these blogs and am sending each blogger heaps of hugs and island love. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!! *GIANT ISLAND SMOOSH* Please stop by these blogs in the meantime and say hello!
But the island goodness doesn't stop there.
Today starts January's #NILtribe giveaway!
Up for grabs this month:
-A galley of SOMETHING REAL by Heather Demetrios
-Signed copies of ONE, TWO, and SOLVING FOR EX by Leigh Ann Kopans + awesome SOLVING FOR EX swag
-A hardback of Sara B. Larson's DEFY
-A signed galley of NIL + fun island swag
WOOT!
Entering is easy: just tweet a link to this giveaway (or post to FB) and use the #NILtribe hashtag. Bonus entry points to those brave enough to leave an island haiku in the comments below. Haiku must use the words NIL, island, naked, and coconut…not necessarily in that order.:) Anyone who shares a haiku in the comments will be eligible for some extra #NILtribe swag….to be picked out out the comments on January 27.
Quick note: This giveaway ends January 27, and is open to North American residents only. But remember an international giveaway for NIL is happening over at Badass Bookie. Pop over and say hi to Lisa--she's AWESOME!
