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Yes--it's true!
After quite a long delay, Let the Storm Break (Sky Fall #2) is finally hitting the world in paperback form!!!!
Even better: it has the stunningly beautiful new cover. I seriously can't stop staring at it:
Even EVEN better? It has this in the back:
Why yes, yes that IS the first THREE chapters of LET THE WIND RISE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
AND LOOK AT HOW PRETTY IT LOOKS WITH THE NEW PAPERBACKS OF LET THE SKY FALL!!!!!!!!
Also: make sure you mark those calendars for 4/26/16, when you'll finally get to read the end of Vane & Audra's story in LET THE WIND RISE. It's getting SO CLOSE!
(Oh, and for those wondering about launch parties and events and whatnot--I promise, I have LOTS of updates on all of that coming in the next month or two--as well as the LTWR pre-order giveaway. Stay tuned!)
Hey guys!
I know it's been a while since I've given you any Sky Fall series news--so I intend to make up for all of that today with ALL THE EXCITING THINGS!!!!
You've been so wonderfully patient waiting for book 3 (thank you, thank you, thank you!), and I promise, I'm working hard to make it worth every second of that wait!
The first step of that comes today, when I finally get to show you the AMAZINGLY BEAUTIFUL COVER FOR BOOK 3--and the title, which I love soooooo much!
(And make sure you stick around after that, because there are other exciting things in this post!)
Okay, here we go:
***
***
***
TA DA!!!!
I HAVE NO WORDS FOR HOW MUCH I LOVE THIS COVER!!!
(AND I AM INCAPABLE OF TALKING ABOUT IT IN ANYTHING OTHER THAN ALL CAPS)
So, in case that isn't loading--or you're just too busy staring at the SHINY GORGEOUSNESS to notice (in which case:
look away from the shiny for just a minute!)--the title of LtSF #3 is
LET THE WIND RISE.
And I know some of you might be thinking the style is a little bit different than the other covers--you're right. We tried really really
really hard to land on something that would match with the other covers--and it does have enough similarities that it "passes" (even for me and my perfectionist ways). But at the same time, the whole series is getting a shiny new look for the next wave of paperbacks, which means I have two more amazing covers to show you today!
I know redesigning is scary for fans of a series--it is for authors too, trust me. Especially since my other covers were so incredibly beautiful. Fortunately my publisher was super-committed to landing on something I loved every bit as much as the originals--and then they went ahead and outdid themselves and gave me something I actually love even more. (shhh---don't tell the other covers. I'll always love them too, but these? THESE? O.M.G. Honestly? These are the covers I always pictured in my head as I wrote the books, and I can't believe they're going to be a real thing)
But don't just take my word for it. Look at the pretties:
The windmills!
Audra in pants! (!!!)
Gavin making a cameo on the right hand side.
For me, this is what I think of when I talk about the books--Audra at the wind farm, showing the world she's a force to be reckoned with. I cannot WAIT to hold one of these paperbacks. There will be tears--trust me.
*sniffles just thinking about it*
And I'm not done yet. Here's the incredible cover for book 2, where Vane gets to be like, "excuse me, I'm a force to be reckoned with too! LOOK AT MY DEADLY WIND SPIKE"
Ahhhh--*goes into awesome overload*
And just because I'm a nerd, I made a handy graphic so you can see them all side by side, to get a feel for how freaking gorgeous the whole trilogy is going to look together once the new paperbacks are out:
Anyone else notice how the text moves up--almost like it's rising (MUCH LIKE THE THIRD TITLE?????)
Just me? *is the nerdiest of all nerds*
I know some of you are probably wondering when the new paperbacks will be available, and at the moment the answer is...I'm not totally sure. I'm guessing Spring of next year, but in the meantime fear not. The previous covers (which really are still very beautiful) will be remain available.
And, that's all for now. I know some of you were probably hoping I'll end with the flap copy for LET THE WIND RISE, but sadly for that you'll have to wait a bit longer. I'm still drafting the book right now--but don't worry, I WILL finish in time.
So in the meantime, go back and stare at the lovelies!!!!
Wow, I can't believe we're already to Black Friday weekend--seriously where has the year gone??????
But deadline panicking aside (MEEP!), it's also time for my annual Black Swagday Giveaway!!!
Since this is the time of year where everyone has gifts on their minds--and I personally feel that signed books are THE BEST gifts anyone can give--I have a nice handy way for you guys to make your gifts even more special.
If you buy any of my books (Keeper of the Lost Cities, Exile, Everblaze, Let the Sky Fall, and/or Let the Storm Break) this weekend--which just so happens to be the biggest shopping weekend of the year, between Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, and Cyber Monday--and fill out the form at the end of this post, I will send you the corresponding swag pack below.
If you buy any of the KEEPER books, I'll send you this (for each book purchased):
And in case you can't tell, that's:
- a signed (and personalized) bookplate
- 4 Team Stickers
- 1 5x7 character art print (featuring the awesome illustrations by Courtney Godbey)
(*whispers* if you buy more than one KEEPER book, I *might* throw in some other goodies as well... #justsayin')
And if you buy either of the SKY FALL books, I'll send you the corresponding swag you see in this pic (for each book purchased):
So if you buy Let the Sky Fall you'll get:
- a LTSF signed (and personalized) bookplate
- a LTSF bookmark
- a LTSF sticker
And if you buy Let the Storm Break you'll get:
- a LTSB signed (and personalized) bookplate
- a LTSB bookmark
- a LTSB sticker
All of this swag is exclusive--only available here--and hand signed by me!
And there's no limit on how many I'll give away. Everyone who fills out the form between now and 11:59 pm pacific time on Monday, December 1, 2014 WILL get the swag. I'm also not requiring proof of purchase. If you say you bought it, I believe you. But remember, every time you lie, an alicorn's poop stops sparking AND WHAT WOULD THE WORLD BE WITHOUT SPARKLY POOP??????
It also doesn't matter where you buy the book (though supporting your Local Indie Bookstore guarantees you a life of sunshine and happiness) or if you buy the paperback or the hardcover (ebooks and audiobooks count too!). And you're welcome to buy as many books as you want! (Just make sure you fill out the form separately for each book, so I know to send you more prizes).
Giveaway is also open internationally!!!
**Please note** This giveaway ONLY applies to books purchased between 11/26/14-12/1/14, and does NOT include books previously purchased. Of course I super-appreciate if you've bought my books before now, but I've also done previous giveaways for many of those purchases that you would've had a chance to take part of (sorry if you missed them). So this is only for new purchases, and if you are desperate for the swag you could always buy a book to give as a gift (what better gift could there be, really? Plus then you can get your friends/family/teachers hooked on the books so you have someone to talk about them with) and keep the swag for yourself--I won't tell! :)Um... I *think* that covers everything--but if I missed something, of course feel free to ask any questions you may have in the comments.
Here's the form you'll need to fill out (and if it doesn't load for some reason, go
HERE)
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Wow, I can't believe LET THE STORM BREAK's launch day is finally here.
These last few years have been a crazy whirlwind of a ride (see what I did there? Yeah, that probably won't be the only wind pun in this post) and I can't believe my fourth book (second in my YA series) is now hitting shelves. No wonder I haven't slept in 2 years!!!
ahem.
Anyway, I know you all have so very many books you could choose to read, so I wanted to do something to show how much I appreciate those of you who give that time and love and support to Vane and Audra and all their adventures. (and the haboobs!)
So I've put together a very special giveaway, with three very special prizes, I think you're really going to love. Here's what's up for grabs:
In case you can't tell, whan't you're looking at are signed hardcovers of LET THE SKY FALL and LET THE STORM BREAK, all featuring original artwork drawn by me. Three winners will win one of each book, which can be signed and personalized if they would like*
*If you're wondering if you can request which drawings you win specifically, the answer is unfortunately "no." That would make things way too complicated. But I promise, they all look awesome, and I made them each different so you'd know you have a prize that's truly unique.
Since these are very special, very time consuming prizes for me to make, I want to make sure they go to true fans of the series. So like I've done in the past, I'm going to make you guys put in a *little* extra work to enter--but I've still done my best to also keep it as simple as possible. So here's the details.
To enter, you MUST complete these two simple steps.
STEP NUMBER ONE:
You must either:
- Post a review of LET THE STORM BREAK on amazon / goodreads / B&N / youtube / your blog or website / ANYWHERE ELSE YOU POST YOUR REVIEWS
- Tweet / Instagram / FB / tumblr / google+ / ANY OTHER WAY YOU ATTACK THE INTERNETS with a photo of LET THE STORM BREAK somewhere in the wild (could be your own personal copy in your hands, or a shiny copy on display in a store or library--doesn't matter to me. And if the store you go to is sold out, you can always request they bring in another copy. In fact, I would love you FOREVER for doing that!)
- Tweet / Instagram / FB / tumblr / google+ / ANY OTHER WAY YOU ATTACK THE INTERNETS with your own Sky Fall series fan art (Anything goes here--feel free to be as creative as you want.
You only have to do one--though you are welcome to do as many as you want. I'll reward you with an extra entry for everything you do (and every social media platform you post it on)--you'll just need to tell me what you've done so I can count your entries accordingly. Which brings me to:
- Fill out the form at the bottom of this post, along with links to anywhere you posted the pictures/reviews. Form must be filled out by 11:59 pm pacific on Tuesday, March 18th, 2014*
*I'm giving you more time for this contest, because I know some of these things might be slightly time consuming (especially the reviews, since you'd probably, yanno, wanna read the book first) So I'm giving you two full weeks to enter.
Step two is an absolutely essential step, because it's the only way I will see your entry. So don't forget to fill out the form. And International entries ARE accepted.
I'm pretty sure that's everything, but if I missed something you are welcome to ask in the comments.
Okay, here's the form! And if you can't access it for some reason, click
HERE.
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Wow--I can't believe this day is finally here!!!
I mean, I knew it was coming. I watched the numbers on my countdown widget slowly tick down to today. And I just did this five months ago with KEEPER, so you'd think I'd be more prepared for the nervous/excited/giddy/overwhelmed feeling that comes with launching a book into the world. But LET THE SKY FALL is ... special.
This was my "just for me" book. A project I started simply because I needed to fall back in love with writing. I had no plans to publish it. I didn't even tell anyone I was writing it. But the story kept growing, and the characters were so real, and the world became so vivid that I eventually reached the point where I felt like I HAD to share it--and amazingly enough, my agent and editor agreed.
Fast-forward to today, and suddenly the book I initially wrote "just for me" is now no longer mine.
That's the beautiful, magical, terrifying thing about this process. Once a book launches into the world it no longer belongs to the author. We had our time to play and explore and dream. Now it's time to hand it over to you. So... *sniffles* ... here you go...
I hope you love Vane and Audra as much as I do. And I hope their story lives up to the amazing support you all have given it.
There's no possible way to express my gratitude for everyone who's blogged / tweeted / tumbled / pinned / facebooked about their excitement for this book. Nor will I EVER be able to properly thank my amazing publisher, Simon Pulse, who have not only given it the most gorgeous cover ever (seriously, holy hotness, Batman!) but who have given so much love and energy to this project.
And to any of you who buy/read, or tell your friends that they need to buy/read, well... imagine this is me, hugging you:
A book is nothing without readers. Thank you so much for giving this story life! And if you're still on the fence about buying/reading, well... I give you THE PUPPY DOG EYES:
Also: if you're in SoCal, PLEASE come hang out tonight at the Launch Party. I will have prizes! And exclusive swag necklaces! And DESSERTS! 7pm at Mysterious Galaxy Books, San Diego. Full event details
HERE.
Holy cow, you guys!
We are one month away from the release of LET THE SKY FALL.
ONE MONTH!!!!
(and not even a full thirty-day-month, since February is a weird short month, but I'm trying not to think about that because it TRIGGERS THE SHANNON PANIC!!!)
(ahem)
ANYWAY, since this is a brand new series in a brand new age category, I wanted to do something a little bit special to celebrate the release and thank anyone who takes a chance on me and my little YA. So I've put together a special Pre-Order Promotion/Giveaway where everyone wins something!!!
Yes, that's right, EVERYONE!!! (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
And I wanted there to be as many prizes as possible, so I'm doing tiers of prizes--ALL of which are open internationally.
Here's the breakdown:
EVERYONE who pre-orders a copy of LET THE SKY FALL and fills out the form below before 11:59pm pacific time on 3/4/13 will win this:
a signed LTSF bookmark AND a signed LTSF bookplate, (which can also be personalized)
(and pardon my lame photo skills--they're even prettier than this in real life)
Additionally, I will draw TWENTY-FIVE lucky winners (yes, 25!!!) who will ALSO win one of these:
Special LTSF scrabble tile necklaces handmade by me
(again, the picture totally doesn't do them justice--and yes, they include the chain!)
And finally, one especially lucky grand prize winner will ALSO win a $50 amazon or B&N gift card (winner's choice)!!!!!
(I... don't have a picture of that because it's kind of boring to look at)
(BUT ITS FUN TO SHOP WITH!!!!)
Even better? I'm NOT making everyone email me proof of purchase in order to enter. That's WAY too much work for everyone. So the ONLY person who will have to email me proof of purchase will be the grand prize winner (who will have 7 days to send it to me after I notify them that they're the winner.) Everything else will be on the honor system. But PLEASE don't cheat and fill out the form if you haven't pre-ordered the book. Every time you do that a cupcake fairy loses her sparkle and HOW COULD YOU DEPRIVE THE WORLD OF SPARKLY CUPCAKES????
Also, I know that some of you lovely, lovely people may have already pre-ordered LTSF, and I would certainly never want to punish you for that (in fact, I *kind of* want to hug you). So if that's the case, you are welcome to fill out the form. All pre-orders count!
I ... think that covers everything. But if I missed something feel free to ask away in the comments. And THANK YOU guys for all the awesome support. Methinks it's going to be a crazy month and I am so glad I have you with me.
((BIG SMOOSHY GROUP HUG))
Okay, here's the form. And if for some reason it isn't loading, click
HERE. Remember, you HAVE to fill it out if you want to win the prizes (and, yanno, pre-order the book). Don't just leave a blog comment, it won't be counted with the entries!
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Sorry it's been another quiet blogging week for me. I'm on another TIGHT deadline for LTSF #2--but I will hopefully be done with that next week or so and then MAYBE things really will get back to normal around here.
In the meantime I have some super-important Shannon Event Updates (well... I guess they're only Super-Important to those of you brave enough to attend a Shannon-Event. But I'm going to pretend you're ALL on the edge of your seats right now)
First--AND MOST IMPORTANTLY--the time and location of the LET THE SKY FALL launch party has CHANGED!!!! (this is why I should always have my publicist arrange things for me, she does such a better job!)
It's now going to be at one of my favorite independent book stores (I'm kind of geeking out about it because I've been to so many awesome events there): Mysterious Galaxy Books!!!
Here's the official deets--FOR REAL THIS TIME, I PROMISE!
LET THE SKY FALL Launch Party
Tuesday, March 5, 7:00 pm
Mysterious Galaxy Books
7051 Clairemont Mesa Blvd., Suite #302
San Diego, CA 92111
858-268-4747
I really hope some of you will be able to come. I promise rambling and embarrassing Shannon gestures (which will look super dorky in all of your pictures.) Plus prizes. AND YUMMY THINGS. So you live in SoCal, please come. And bring your friends. GRAB STRANGERS. ;)
ALSO, for any of you who are writers, here's another event I have coming up that I highly, HIGHLY recommend you consider attending:
Big Sur Children's Writer's Workshop
This is seriously one of the best Writer's Conferences I've ever been to--and I've been to a LOT of conferences. If you're a writer and you want to improve your craft, THIS is the place to do it
. They have a very unique format where you get to round table workshop actual pages from your drafts with agents, editors, and authors. I went in 2011 as an attendee and got some key feedback that made a huge improvement in LTSF and I'm sure is part of why it sold, so I'm SO honored that I'll be on the faculty this year. Yes, it is a tad pricey (though considering the rate includes your room and your meals it's actually one of the more affordable writers' conferences) but it's seriously worth every penny. Registration info is
HERE. Faculty details are
HERE.
And don't forget, I have some awesome events this weekend--it's not too late to decide to come. Here's the event info:
Young Adult Writing Conference:
When: Saturday, January 26th, 8:30am - 3:00pm
Where: Dobson High School
1501 W. Guadalupe Rd, Mesa 85202
For prices and registration info (plus a list of the full faculty) go HERE. When: Saturday, January 26th, 4:00pm
Where: Changing Hands Bookstore
6428 S McClintock Dr. Tempe, Arizona 85283
Attending authors: Tom Leveen, Cecil Castelluci, Amy Fellner Dominy, Shannon Messenger, Suzanne Lazear, Janni Lee Simner, Kevin Emerson, Erin Jade Lange, Lisa McMann, Suzanne Young, James A. Owen, C.J. Hill (aka Janette Rallison), Laura Ellen, and Lisa Schroeder
Mother-Daughter Book Party
When: Sunday, January 27th, 2:00pm - 4:00pm
Where: Flintridge Bookstore & Coffeehouse
1010 Foothill Boulevard ~ La Canada, CA
Cost: $5 for a ticket that covers both mother & daughter
(and gets you $2 off your first book purchase)
Attending authors: Joan Bransfield Graham, Leslie Margolis, Robin Mellom, Shannon Messenger, Lin Oliver, Jenn Reese, and Joyce Lee Wong
For more info, email Catherine Linka at: catherinel (at) flintridgebooks (dot) com
And one LAST thing to mark your calendars for (yes, I have a LOT of events coming up) is a signing/author panel I'm doing with my awesome agent-brother Chris Howard (ROOTLESS) and the lovely and hilarious Debra Driza (MILA 2.0) at the end of March. Here's the deets:
Wednesday, March 27th, 7:00 pm
Mysterious Galaxy Books
7051 Clairemont Mesa Blvd., Suite #302
San Diego, CA 92111
858-268-4747
Come hang out with us, I predict epicness. I mean, Chris has a British accent and Debra has pink in her hair--need I say more???
Okay, that's it for now--though I have some other events in the works and will update as soon as they're confirmed. Hope to see some of you guys there!
Every year I like to put together a month by month look at writing journey over the past twelve months. But thanks to the draft of doom (WHICH I FINALLY TYPED THE END ON LAST NIGHT!!!) I'm a couple of days late with this. OOPS. But hey, if anything sums up the craziness of my 2012 writing year, it's that!
(and btw, you can find 2011's post
HERE 2010's post
HERE and 2009's post
HERE)
THE SECRET IS OUT!!!
It's hard to believe there was a time period where you guys didn't know about LET THE SKY FALL--but there was. I sold that series in early July 2011 and sat on the secret for SEVEN MONTHS while we figured out contracts, and--most importantly--the title. My agent didn't want to announce until we'd landed on the book's final title and, well, let's just say getting there was a PROCESS. Apparently I write hard to title books. But it was worth the effort because I LOVE that title. And I finally got to share the news with you and let everyone know why I'd been whining so very much about deadlines. I had a LOT of them. But I was sure I would have NO PROBLEM hitting them. Oh naive Shannon, you were so cute!!!
Sequels are... fun?
I'd already started the sequel to KEEPER OF THE LOST CITIES, but... it was going slow. REALLY slow. So slow, in fact, that I only had about half of the book written, and I'd roughly mapped out my year to have the first draft done and turned into my editor by March 1. CUE PANIC. The worst part was, I didn't know why it was taking me so long. I wasn't procrastinating (well, more than I ever do). I had it all plotted out in my head. But every time I opened the draft, I froze. I was also starting to discover how very much more work there is to this publishing thing besides just drafting. There's copyedits. And first pass pages. And marketing. And I had it all happening x 2 and it was seriously starting to pile up and freak me out. My editor and I talked and she assured me that it wouldn't mess things up if it pushed into April, and I tried to tell myself it would all be okay. I just needed to relax and remember that I loved my job and was super lucky to get to share both of my series with people. And there were plenty of things to remind me how awesome publishing is, a major one being: I got my first ARCs of KEEPER!!! Holding a real version of my book for the first time was pretty much the most exciting thing ever.
If you can't tell by that subtitle, the whole writing KEEPER 2 thing wasn't going any better. I felt like the ending was running away from me, and no matter how many chapters I added I wasn't getting any closer. And I was seriously getting scared. Writer friends assured me that Book 2 Woes were normal. But I felt like I was drowning. Which made for a very bipolar experience because there were also EXCITING THINGS happeneing. KEEPER got blurbs from two of my absolute favorite authors (yes, I totally cried) and foreign rights on both of my books were selling and all kinds of crazy internal marketing things were happening and it was feeling very much like, Wow, THIS IS SO AMAZING AND SO TERRIFYING AND HOW DID MY LIFE GET SO CRAZY??? Debuting is a wonderful, confusing, stressful, impossible-to-wrap-your-head around thing.
So, it was April. And I still didn't have a draft. My wonderful, long suffering editor had told me it would still be okay pushing into May, but I knew that I absolutely COULD NOT go any longer than that. I still had another book to write that year. And I knew the delay had to mean something was WRONG. I just couldn't figure out what it was until one day when I was driving (I do my best plotting behind the wheel) and a song came up on my iPod that gave me an EPIPHANY. The good news was: I FINALLY KNEW HOW TO WRITE KEEPER 2. The bad news was: Without realizing it, I'd been writing KEEPER 3, and the story was running away from me because it wasn't ready to be told. I had other stories I had to tell first. So I... had to throw away at least half of what I had and start all over. The only thing that calmed the panic was that I FINALLY had a plan. I FINALLY knew what I was doing. I just had to do it in a very tight space of time. So I basically didn't sleep or leave the house for 2 weeks while I wrote about 2/3 of a very very very long book. Yes, it was as tiring as it sounds.
Turning in your first book 2 is a SCARY thing. It's the first time you give your editor something they bought without ever seeing, and yeah, there are all kinds of voices in your head wondering what will happen if she hates it??? In my case those were multiplied by like, 50, partially because, well... I'm me and I'm paranoid. But mostly because I'd written a completely different book than what I'd told her I was going to write, and I had no idea what she would think. Luckily, she LOVED it. I actually do too. After all the grief that book gave me, I'm pretty darn proud of it. Though it still needed work. A LOT of work. Like, 8 page revision letter work. So back to the writing cave I went. I also had the reality of 2 series at once start to sink in as covers and blurbs and all kinds of other madness started happening for LET THE SKY FALL. It was seriously awesome, but also made me realize how many different ways I had to use my brain when it came to writing/promo, and well... I'm not sure I have enough brain to spare! :)
It gets REAL
June began the two month period that looking back I call the, "I should be writing" months. I had my revision letter. I had my plan for how I was going to solve the issues. But... there were so many other CRAZY EXCITING THINGS that I let distract me from working as hard as I should have been. Like going to NY for the first time for my first ever BEA. Or a couple of weeks later when I was at ALA in Anaheim. There really are no words for those experiences. They're just so humbling and amazing and yeah, a little scary. Huge towers of KEEPER ARCs went out into the world, and even though I love my book--and I knew many others would too. I also knew that no book ever has EVERYONE love it. So the whole concept of reviews and criticism became a very big reality, and I found myself a bit scared to go online (I still am, honestly) because I didn't want to let any of that negativity creep into my writing process.
Okay, now its REALLY GETTING REAL
The thing about releasing a book is, it builds. The closer you get to release, the more THINGS are happening to try and get the buzz going and get people excited. And when you're doing it for the first time it's all very thrilling and confusing and exhausting and terrifying (especially when it's happening for 2 series in 2 age categories coming 5 months apart). Ads were popping up places, as were reviews--even though I was trying to avoid them. Contests had to be run. I had Comic Con to attend and launch parties to plan and my first early fan emails were coming in and it was all so very distracting, that once again I was not focusing as much on the most important part of an authors job: writing books. Which brought me to the end of July with a draft only about a 1/3 of the way revised and an August deadline. Reaping what you sow--not fun.
Long Books FTW!
The first half of the month was basically: reviserevisereviserevise. I had a LONG, messy book to clean and not a lot of time. So I worked on it every second I had. Brought my edits with me everywhere. And FINALLY got it done. Only problem was, somehow in all that revising I'd made the book longer--and it was already pretty darn long. I turned it in, telling my editor tell me where to cut and I will. But the funny thing about wordcount is, there are no real rules. The book turned out to be exactly as long as it needed to be. Even better? It was DONE. I couldn't believe it. I thought for sure I had another revision to power through (in fact, I'm sure that will never happen again). But miraculously, other than a couple tiny tweaks, the book was done. MY FIRST SEQUEL WAS DONE!!!
Changing gears
I'd love to say that I got to celebrate finishing KEEPER 2 with some much needed time off. But alas, thanks to the months I'd wasted, I had to jump right in to the other sequel I owed my editor, which we'd agreed I'd have to her by November 30. That... wasn't a lot of time. But I was sure it would be easier this time. After all, I'd written a sequel now. I knew what to expect. I was pro at this. Once again, Naive Shannon was so very adorable!!! Especially since I was also thinking it would be easy to get in the habit of working while traveling. I had all kinds of events on my calendar between the end of September and the end of October--but surely it would be easy to write on the plane and go back to my hotel room and get work done right? RIGHT??? Spoiler alert: not so much.
October
IT'S HERE!!!!! ITS HERE!!!!
Honestly, October is kind of a blur. 2 days into the month my dream officially came true and shiny copies of KEEPER were placed on shelves for all the world to buy (well, if they wanted to. Here's hoping they want to). There really is no way to describe the feeling. I still don't think I've processed it. But that's probably also because I had so many launches and signings and events and school visits. I think I was only home about 12 days all month. It was AWESOME. Getting to meet with actual kid readers is hands down the BEST part of this job. But... it's also a bit tiring. And horrible for my writing schedule. It takes a LOT of discipline to stumble back to your hotel room after traveling all day and get to work--and apparently I was not very disciplined. I did finally get a bit better about it toward the end of the month. But... it was a little too late.
Once again, I was way behind. Part of it was everything else I had going on. But I knew it was more than that. The story just didn't want to be told. (Have I mentioned sequels are hard? THEY ARE!!!) I was less than a month away from my deadline and I had barely a quarter of the book written. And I hated pretty much every word. I'd love to say I had another epiphany that made it all come together, but LTSF 2 wasn't that cooperative. It DID tell me I needed to delete about half of what I had--which was so much fun!!! (not). But after that, it still fought me every step of the way. It would give me tiny glimmers of guidance, and then get all stubborn and murky again. I tried to fight through. But no matter what I did, I couldn't catch up. So once again I had to go to my ever-patient editor and beg for more time (have I mentioned she's AMAZING???) Luckily she gave it to me. Though I still knew it was going to be tight.
December
VICTORY (a day late--but still!!)
December was pretty much a repeat of November, with the added desperation of I CANNOT MISS THIS DEADLINE. I went dark on the blog. Started staying up late and then getting up early. Email had to be ignored. Housework too. I pretty much lived in my sweatpants and batman shirt with my hands chained to my laptop. I'm grateful you guys were willing to put up with me (and dude, my poor husband). It took every single minute I had--plus one extra day (SIGH). But I made it. A little after 11pm on 1/1, after the three longest drafting days of my life, I FINALLY typed "the end" on LTSF 2. It still needs a LOT of work. But it's done. I did it! I wrote 2 books in one year (well, one year + one day--but work with me people that is pretty darn close)!!!!
:)
Now I know why I'm so tired--it's crazy seeing it all spelled out that way. The good thing is, I can see my mistakes and hopefully plan a bit better for this year because wow was some of that stressful. AWESOME too. But wowza. I would like to sleep at least a *little* more in 2013. I guess we'll see how it goes. Either way it'll be an adventure. Especially since I have TWO books releasing this year. MEEP!!!!
Oops--deadline brain Shannon TOTALLY forgot I had a winner to post today. And an extra important one too since uh, they're winning MY BOOK. #Shannonfail
ANYWAY um, without further ado, the winner of the shiny ARC of LET THE SKY FALL is....
Yay!
*tosses confetti*
If that's you, please email me at SWMessenger (at) hotmail (dot) com with your mailing address and I will have S&S ship off your prize.
For everyone else--thank you SO MUCH for your amazing enthusiasm for LET THE SKY FALL and for posting the widget on your blogs (which you can still get
HERE--and remember, it has WIND FX!!) and all around being super awesome. I promise I will have more ARC contests and swag contests in the new year.
In the meantime, S&S is currently giving away FIVE shiny ARCs over on Goodreads, so if you haven't entered over there--what are you waiting for???? Go
HERE.
Hope everyone had a lovely weekend!!!
Hey--so, remember that time when I fell into the deadline cave and didn't blog or tell you guys about anything important for like a month???
Yeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaah. Oops.
(though hey, I did share the super-awesome widget for LET THE SKY FALL and host an ARC Giveaway. If you missed that, go HERE)
But never fear, I am going to catch you all up today in a chaotic, rapid-fire mass of information overload!!! You. Are. WELCOME!
Okay, so first: I AM OUT OF THE DEADLINE CAVE TODAY!!!
Yes--it's TRUE!!! I probably shouldn't be, because ... well... hitting this one is gonna be tight. But I couldn't pass up an opportunity to visit some amazing kids at an awesome school. And then tonight, I'll be at Barnes & Noble for a book fair. So if you live in the San Diego area--PLEASE COME!
Here's the deets:
When: TONIGHT
Time: 6:00pm - 8:00pm
Where: Barnes & Noble Oceanside
2615 Vista Way Oceanside, CA 92054
760-529-0106
What's awesome about these book fair signings is that they're super casual. You just hang out whenever you want for as long as you want. So if you have any time between 6 and 8, come come come! I'll have swag! And awkward hugs! And we can talk about cats and cupcakes!!!!
(Who doesn't want to be a part of that???)
Also: KEEPER GOT AN AWESOME REVIEW FROM BOOKLIST!!!!!
"A large and varied cast of supporting characters and an intriguing premise contribute to make this an exciting start to a promising series." ~ Booklist Reviews
Yes, there was a lot of squealing and jumping around the house when my editor sent that. Trade reviews are SO SCARY. So YAY BOOKLIST!!!!
ALSO, also: LET THE SKY FALL SOLD TO TAIWAN!!!!!!!
I know--I couldn't believe it either. But here's the official PM listing to prove it:
It's SO crazy knowing my book is going to be in yet another language I can't read. My job is so cool sometimes!!!
ALSO ALSO also: (I told you, I have forgotten to tell you ALL THE THINGS): KEEPER OF THE LOST CITIES IS GOING TO BE AN AUDIO BOOK!!!!!
(And dude, I cannot tell you how excited I am to hear my book read by a narrator. Talk about epic!!!)
I don't know when it will be released--the author is always the last to know these things. But the contract is signed and it is HAPPENING. Coming from Audible. I'll post more details as soon as I have them.
ALSO ALSO ALSO also:
KEEPER HAS BEEN NOMINATED FOR A YABC Choice Award--and *I've* been nominated for favorite middle grade author. Now, obviously you don't HAVE to go vote for me. BUT... if you decide to I will pretty much love you forever. Plus everyone knows that when you vote for me or KEEPER a unicorn burps up a magical sparkly cupcake of awesome, and really, who doesn't want that to keep happening???) NO pressure, of course, but if you would like to vote, go
HERE.
AND--last but not least--a special offer from me to you. See, last Saturday was Bring Your Kids To The Bookstore Day--and I'd planned a special way to reward people for participating by offering special swag packs to anyone who bought KEEPER. And... then I forgot to post about it.
I know.
Major #Shannonfail.
Halfway through the day I did finally remember and sprinted to Twitter and FB to get the word out--and a bunch of people did see and take me up on it. BUT, since then I've heard from some who were sorry they missed it. And that's TOTALLY my bad. SO, I'm doing it again this weekend. (And hey, if you want to start it today, that's fine too.)
If you buy a copy of KEEPER between now and 11:59pm PST on 12/9/12, email me at SWMessenger (at) hotmail (dot) com with your mailing address and I will send you a special swag pack that includes shiny things like signed, personalized book plates and stickers and limited edition art prints. I don't need proof of purchase--I am willing to go on the honor system. And while of course it would be awesome if you supported your local Indie--it doesn't matter to me where you buy it.
Swag packs will go in the mail early next week--I promise--so you should definitely have them in time for any celebrationish things you need. And of course if you have any questions, ask away in the comments.
Annnnnnnnnnnnnnnd... I think that's everything. I mean, my brain is kinda shot these days, so it's possible I'm forgetting something. But that covers all the big stuff. Except to also add a huge THANK YOU to you guys for bearing with me through all my crazy deadlineishness. I promise, I WILL get things back on track soon. Once LET THE SKY FALL 2 quits kicking my butt and keeping me up half the night and otherwise making me very very aware that SEQUELS ARE HARD!!!
Ahem.
And now... back to drafting. Hope to see some of you tonight!!!!
Okay--don't go into shock, but I AM ACTUALLY POSTING ON MY BLOG. (I know, I know--I said don't go into shock!)
Sadly, this does not mean I'm out of the deadline cave. I'm still very much trapped in that dark, stressful place for at least another few weeks. But the good news is: I snuck out into the light because I have something SUPER AWESOME to share with you guys--and a contest too! (so you'll want to stick with me to the end of this post)
See, I don't know if you realize this, but LET THE SKY FALL is launching into the world in LESS THAN 100 DAYS!!!!
I know to some of you that might sound very far away--but trust me, that is SOON. Like holy crap, there aren't enough exclamation marks in the world to convey how soon that is!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Personally, I'd been planning to commemorate the impending countdown to LTSF's launch with a panicky, exclamation mark filled post (hey, kinda like this one) wherein I stressed about ALL THE THINGS.
Fortunately though, the lovely people at S&S had something MUCH more awesome planned (this is why authors shouldn't be in charge of these things). And so, I give you: THE MOST SHINY AWESOME COUNTDOWN WIDGET I HAVE EVER SEEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Make sure you click the play button in the top right--THERE ARE WIND SOUND FX!!!!
(and if, for some reason, that isn't loading right on your screen, you can also find it
HERE)
Equally exciting--or maybe even MORE SO--is that S&S has also built a super-awesome microsite for LET THE SKY FALL, which they will be adding all kinds of cool things to in the months to come. And to start off the fun, they have the first four chapters online for you to read. Click
HERE to check that out.
And of course this wouldn't be a proper celebration without a contest. SO I'M ALSO GIVING AWAY AN ARC OF LET THE SKY FALL!!!!!!!!!!
I want to make this really nice and easy for everyone (especially myself, given the whole DROWNING IN DEADLINES thing). So to enter all you have to do is leave a comment on this post by 11:59 pm pacific time on Saturday, December 8th. I'll draw one random winner and post their name on Sunday, December 9th. That's it--that's all you have to do. And international entries are welcome.
HOWEVER, I know some of you might wish there were a way to increase your chances of winning. So I will also give FIVE extra entries to anyone who posts the widget on their blog. I don't need a link--if you say you did it I trust you. But make sure you let me know that you did so I can give you your extra entries.
Ready?
Set?
GO!!!!!!!
Wow, I am SO BEHIND on updating you guys about all the STUFF and THINGS that have turned the last few months / weeks / days (who can tell anymore--it all feels like one big never-ending blur--kind of like this sentence!) into a whirlwind of AIYEE!!!!!!!!
(and warning, there will be a lot of exclamation marks in this post!)
First up: LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This is me, at the SIBA Trade show in Naples, Florida last week, signing one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen--FINISHED COPIES OF KEEPER OF THE LOST CITIES!!!!!!!!!!!!
I still don't really know how to process it. I had no idea that's what I'd be doing there, and then I got to the signing and they were unpacking all these beautiful, shiny hardcovers and it was like EXCUSE ME WHILE I HAVE A MOMENT HERE, PEOPLE! It's amazing I didn't cry! (and yeah, I totally did later in my hotel room when I got to really page through one)
While I was there I also got to do a super fun panel with Adam-Troy Castro, Ellis Weiner, and Irene Latham:
(Huge thanks to Irene for taking the picture, which I totally stole from her awesome blog)
AND, I got to have one of those, "wow--this two series at once thing is REAL" moments when I had to change badges to say "Shannon Messenger:
Let the Sky Fall" and sign these:
*stares at the stack of ARCs, trying not to worry about people hating them...*
I've also been really bad about announcing the events I have coming up, so let's fix that right now! I have two events this weekend that I'm SUPER excited about:
Bridge to Books
September 15th, 10:30am
McKinley School, 325 S. Oak Knoll Ave., Pasadena, CA 91101
A middle grade event with Lisa McMann, Margaret Peterson Haddix, and Helen Stringer. Admission is free and books will be available to purchase on site from Once Upon a Time Bookstore. But you will need to register online. Info can be found at bridgetobooks.org.
SCIBA Children's Books and Literacy Brunch
September 16, 10:30 am
Hilton San Diego/Del Mar
I'm so honored to be a speaker, along with the amazing Jenny Han & Siobhan Vivian and Diane Lang. Full event details can be found HERE.
I've also updated my Appearances page, so you can find all the details about all the other things I have coming up
HERE.
Another thing I've been TOTALLY remiss about is revealing EXCITING FOREIGN THINGS!
In case you can't read that, the quick sum-up is: Germany, Spain, Italy, and Brazil! I seriously don't know how to wrap my head around the fact that my books are going to be published in languages I can't understand, but I am so honored and humbled and grateful at the warm welcome my characters have gotten. And should I have any more news on that front I promise to keep you guys posted.
Hm... I'm pretty sure that catches you up--and even *I'M* sick of me and all my giddiness by now--so I think that's enough for today.
But I will be revealing something else--something I am SO INSANELY EXCITED ABOUT on Friday so check back for that. And thank you for reading all of this and sharing in my excitement.
In fact I want to take a second to thank all of you for your amazing support and patience with me. I know I've been a bad blogger, and I know I've gotten really bad about replying to comments and emails and lost touch with so many of you. But I promise I'm still here and I'm still reading everything you guys say and I am hoping to get better about some of those things soon because I really miss interacting with you guys. In the meantime, THANK YOU for understanding and supporting me and generally just being there as I try to keep my head straight through all of this crazy chaos. (also: come hang with me on Twitter--that's the one place I'm pretty good about staying current with my replies).
I knew this year was going to be an adventure and I'm trying to keep up with it all as best as I can. But I really appreciate you all sticking by me as I muddle through. I know I'm not doing it all perfectly, but I'm trying my best. And I could not do this without you guys!
((BLOG HUG!!!!!!))
Last week I rediscovered an AWESOME website I'd forgotten about--and then proceeded to spend WAY too much time playing around. So then I was like crap, I better turn this into a blog post to try and justify the time I wasted ohhh, I should share this fabulousness with my followers so they can have fun too!
And no, I'm not talking about the My Little Pony creator--though THAT is an awesome waste of time too. I'm talking about wordle! Check out the word clouds I made for my books:
This is from the text of KEEPER OF THE LOST CITIES:
And this is from the text of LET THE SKY FALL:
So if you can't tell, wordle takes the most commonly used words in any text you want and makes them into a cloud. Which can actually be a very useful writing tool.
It's not all that helpful when you're doing an ENTIRE BOOK like I did for these, since the only words that repeat on that level (especially with how freakishly long my books are) are usually the character names, "like" (I love me my similies--plus my characters are Californians) and a few other key elements of the book. (for instance, "wind" is in LTSF's since, well... they control the wind).
But it can be VERY useful to make word clouds for your individual chapters--especially when you're in the early drafting stages. Not only will it help you spot writing tics like excess sighs (one time I discovered that a character liked to "chuckle" too much) but it can also help you figure out if your themes are reading through. If none of the words connected to the theme are showing up in the wordles, odds are you aren't bringing it out enough.
I could keep rambling about their usefulness but I have a feeling most of you have already clicked away to start making wordles of your own--and I can't say I blame you. They're ridiculously addictive (I will NOT be confessing how many I've made). And if you haven't hopped over there yet--what are you waiting for? Play away!
And if you discover something cool, come back and share in the comments. WE CAN HAVE A WORDLE PARTY!!!!*
*arguably the nerdiest party that could ever exist.
Hey guys!
Just a very quick post to let you know that it's my week over at Friday the Thirteeners today. I'm tackling another truth this time, and sharing some of the disastrous titles I suggested for LET THE SKY FALL (you can also find out the original title we sold it under)
Hope over HERE if you want to check it out!
And if you missed it on Wednesday, I'm giving away 20 lovely LET THE SKY FALL bookmarks over HERE. Still time to enter--don't miss your chance!
Have a great weekend!
Not sure if you saw this on FB or Twitter already, but yesterday I reached another crazy milestone. After three very long, marathon reading/working days, I made it through my LET THE SKY FALL 1st pass pages and fed-exed them off to S&S.
*jumps up and down*
*sniffles*
*collapses*
Turning in 1st pass is always (and by "always" I mean, yanno, BOTH times I've done it now) a strange mix of giddiness and terror (plus a healthy dose of exhaustion). It's my last chance to change anything from the ARC to the final copies people will buy, and when I turn it in I'm officially done with my work on the book. S&S will still be keying my changes in and proofreading a few more times. But for me, it's kind of like this:
Months and months and months of my life (and waaaaaaay more hours than I ever want to think about) have been poured into the book trying to make it as perfect as I can get it. I've read it eleventy billion times. Questioned and stressed and obsessed over every single word (no, really, I have friends who will back this up). And now... my work is done. All that's left to do is share it with you guys and hope it doesn't let you down.
Which is a SCARY and SUPER AMAZINGLY EXCITING thing. So I thought it called for a small celebration.
I don't think I've shown you guys the GORGEOUS bookmarks
Keary Taylor designed for me:
Front Back
Aren't they AMAZING?????
And it's high time to give some away! (And they're even SIGNED)
I'm giving away 20--yes TWENTY--to lucky random commenters.
*tries not to worry that she will not get twenty comments*
If you would like one, leave a comment on this post by 11:59 pm Pacific Time on Saturday, July 28th. I'll draw 20 random winners and post their names on Sunday, July 29th. International entries welcome!
So... yesterday THIS happened:
And a day later I still have no words. Because really--THERE ARE NO WORDS!!!!
None.
Zero.
I mean... how do you... ?
I can't even...
Yeah.
Just... whoa.
WHOA.
*stares*
*stares more*
*still staring*
I wasn't going to mention it or talk about it or draw any attention to it because...
a) That's rather hard to do without words
b) It feels sort of... ookie.
Like hey guys--LOOK AT THIS. Like I'm complimenting myself somehow, even though I'm not the one who wrote the ad or knew it was coming or had anything to do with it. It's just weird posting such an indescribable thing being said about me. Well... said about my books. But I mean, I did write them so it's indirectly about me--but it's more about my books I guess. Gah--I'm rambling, aren't I?
*goes back to staring*
But apparently a bunch of you guys saw it in Shelf Awareness and noticed it and contacted me about it to make sure I'd seen it (HUGE thanks to all of you who tweeted or emailed me links) and I started to worry that I'd seem a little... ungrateful if I didn't mention it. Which I would never want.
So I'm posting it.
And rambling awkwardly about it.
And you can't see it but there's been a whole lot of twitching and fidgeting and deleting things as I've tried to put enough words together to make this awkward post.
And I'm still having second thoughts about posting it (especially since I also feel like I probably haven't said anything coherent). But I'm posting it.
*clicks schedule before she can change her mind*
And now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going back to staring.
It's highly possible that I'm the last person in the blogosphere to do a BEA recap--but even a few days later I'm still trying to process the absolutely amazing experience.
I wish I had taken more pictures, but thanks to my hectic schedule I didn't have a lot of time. So here's a few of my favorites--some of which I've shamelessly stolen from Twitter/FB (so if one of these was taken by you, THANK YOU!), and I'm posting them in order, so you can sort of feel like you're reliving it all with me (and warning, I did a LOT, so this will be a LONG post! Brace yourself).
Sunday:
After an awesome afternoon of real NY pizza (SO GOOD) and a matinee of NEWSIES (EVEN BETTER) I headed to the Hudson Terrace for the S&S Teen Blogger Preview, a private YA-related event featuring me, Lenore Appelhans, Jenny Han, Tonya Hurley, Carmen Rodrigues, and Siobhan Vivian--all of whom were every bit as lovely, funny, and amazing as you'd expect them to be.
I wish we'd taken a group shot of all of us, but instead all I have is photos of me during my interview time:
Jenny asked the BEST questions and made the event so much fun--even if I did totally mishear her at one point and answer that I wanted to marry Nagini (the evil snake from Harry Potter) (yeah... don't ask--it was a total Shannonfail).
I've been to dozens and dozens of these kind of events, so it was SO SURREAL to be on the "author" side of the experience, waiting in the green room, being up on stage--oh, and this:
The GORGEOUS display S&S did behind the bar with all of our covers. I still have a hard time believing that one of those is MY COVER for MY BOOK with MY NAME. It's kind of amazing I didn't jump over the bar and hug it.
S&S also gave out goody bags with all of our ARCs, plus the coolest LET THE SKY FALL swag EVER:
It's a battery powered fan WITH A WIND PUN ON THE LABEL!!!! I <3 S&S so much.
Monday:The day started cold and rainy, so I spent the morning racing to Macys to find tights to go with my dress so I wouldn't freeze that night. Then it was off to the S&S Building to meet with Liesa Abrams, my editor--and to meet even
There are a lot of surreal, exciting, amazing, unbelievable moments on this crazy journey I'm on (and thank goodness because they help balance the hectic, sleepless-night-inducing, terrifying ones). But yesterday was a BIG one.
I wish I could show you the absolutely GORGEOUS ARCs for LTSF that my amazing publisher sent me--but alas, I'm not allowed to since we haven't revealed the cover (which I am ALSO dying to show you). But I can't stop staring at them. Nor can I stop staring at my bookshelf, where BOTH of my books are now on display, which is so incredible I am having a hard time wrapping my head around it.
And then, there was this inside the ARC:
I ... I can't believe I already qualify for an "also by Shannon Messenger."
I also can't believe that these crazy stories that filled my head and refused to leave until I wrote them down are slowly making their way into the world. I've already gotten some amazing, tear-inducing emails from some early readers telling me how much they enjoyed it. And after BEA a LOT more people will have them.
It's scary and stressful and half the time I feel like there's an avalanche coming for me and I'm going to be clobbered any second. But I also get to hug my book--MY BOOK--and dance around with it and take embarrassing pictures to send to my agent and editor (oh, you know you'll do exactly the same thing!). And that is worth every single second of the stress--and then some.
So if you need me, I'll be twirling with my ARCs like the biggest nerd on the planet. And then diving back into book 2!
(Also, I'll be at Mysterious Galaxy tonight for the YA or Bust signing with Stephanie Perkins, Gayle Forman, and Nina LaCour. If you're in the area I hope to meet you there!)
I know I promised to tell you how I ended up with a YA book deal to announce, and I'm going to TRY to explain today. But I'll be honest: it *kinda* happened by accident.
Not sure if you remember, but a couple of months ago I posted
a very honest account of the incredibly long, incredibly stressful process I went through when I was revising KEEPER OF THE LOST CITIES. I couldn't seem to get that book right, and with each new revision I piled more pressure on myself, to the point that I actually felt nauseous every time I opened the draft.
I also had insomnia pretty bad back then and I found myself spending the many sleepless nights thinking about a crazy idea. Two teenage characters with a very YA story to tell--not something the middle grade writer in me ever thought I'd attempt. But one night at 4am one of them said something so funny I crawled out of bed, grabbed my laptop, and typed those words because I wanted to see them in print.
And I just kept going.
I poured out six pages in a massive brain dump and then tumbled back to bed and FINALLY fell asleep.
I reread them the next morning expecting them to be laughably horrible. But I was surprised to discover that they were actually the best six pages I'd written in a LONG time. Not because they were perfect--far from it, actually. But because they were MINE.
I'd spent so many months revising KEEPER, trying to figure out how to make OTHER PEOPLE happy with it, and all that stress and pressure had stolen the joy from writing. I needed to make it FUN again, and to do that I needed to write just for ME. And so, my secret project was born.
I worked on it in my free time, or when I needed a break from a hard scene in KEEPER. I didn't take the draft seriously. I didn't tell anyone what I was doing. I just wanted to let the characters tell their story the way they wanted to, without thinking about market trends or rules of craft, because no one besides me was EVER going to see it. It was just my pet. My baby. My sanity keeper.
But somewhere along the way I started to find my YA voice and the story started to feel like it was working and I caught myself thinking,
I might be onto something here.
I tried to talk myself out of it, but the feeling wouldn't go away and eventually I sent some chapters to my trusted readers in an email titled:
am I losing my mind?????? And was stunned when they all came back at me with: I LOVE THIS!!! (plus a lot of, wow--you're writing YA???--to which I was like, I know, WHAT AM I DOING????)
Which meant it was decision time. If I was really going to do this then... I needed to maybe start taking it more seriously. Like, actually revise it a bit. But I made myself a deal:
I was not going to put any pressure on it. I was just going to do the best I could and see what happened.
About halfway into the draft I decided I should probably clue Laura into what I was doing, make sure she didn't think I'd completely gone off the deep end. So I sent her the first nine chapters and went more than a little stir crazy waiting to hear back. And when I finally did, she said:
I love these pages and wished I had more! This is a wonderful beginning. I'm so excited to see where this goes.
Fueled by the rush of OMG SHE LIKES IT--SHE REALLY LIKES IT I cranked through the rest of the draft faster than I ever thought possible. I revised it and sent it to readers--and they loved it. I revised based on their feedback and brought it to a conference, where I got some intense but awe
So... remember that time I kept a BIG secret from you guys for five months???
Well...
I *kinda* did it again...
Messenger’s YA Novels Get Six Figures at S&S
Laura Rennert of Andrea Brown Literary Agency sold North American rights for Shannon Messenger’s debut young adult novel, Let the Sky Fall, and a sequel. The six-figure deal went to Liesa Abrams, executive editor at Simon & Schuster for the Simon Pulse imprint. Let the Sky Fall, slated for March 2013 publication, is about a 17-year-old boy who has no idea how he survived the category five tornado that killed his parents. Though his memory has been erased, he is haunted by dreams of a beautiful, dark-haired girl. Now, years later, he finds out the girl is real: she’s his guardian sylph, an air elemental, who harnesses the power of the wind.
(You can see the complete article
HERE)
And from Publisher's Marketplace:
68 Comments on The Announcement you probably never saw coming..., last added: 2/2/2012
Yay! Yay! Yay! So very excited for you, Shannon! Happy Release Day!
CONGRATULATIONS!
Too bad I still need to wait about 3 weeks to get your book, since I live in Indonesia. Already can't wait to read your book, Shannon!
Happy release day! =D
I lurve your huggy picture! :)
Awesome puppy dog eyes, congratulations on your release day!!
I can't wait until my book gets here, and when it does, I will be hugging it to! I hope you have a super fun day; you deserve it! :D
YIPPEEEEE! I can't wait till my copy arrives! And Shannon, you look adorbs in those pictures :D Happy book birthday, girl!
I'm so happy for you! Not just because I've met you multiple times, won an ARC and bother you on twitter. But because it is a really, really, good book. And it's so different from Keeper. But still very Shannon.
The hugging picture continues to be my favorite.
Congratulations, Shannon! Can't wait to get my copy! :)
You work those puppy dog eyes!! LOL!! Awwww but you don't need to!! Look at your GORGEOUS book!! CONGRATULATIONS!!! All the best Shannon! Take care
x
Congratulations!
Those puppy dog eyes are simply cute...and sad for it looks like you were about to cry.
but I cannot wait till I receive this book! (Since i already ordered it for 2 day shipping from Amazon).
If I already love the cover, I will LOVE this book!
You are positively ADORABLE! I'm so excited for you.
Also, my Scott is loving EXILE, and Molly is begging him to read faster. Meanwhile, I try to wait patiently (hah!) for my turn. :)
You need to be able to levitate like David Blaine to properly emulate that cover.
Just ordered it today! I'm so excited to meet you at the Yappiest event at the end of the month! :) So happy for you! Ahhh I hope I get it soon so I can read it! :D
Happy Release Day! Thanks for sharing the emotion and pure awesomeness of this day, Shannon. Congratulations!!
I am screaming wordlessly in excitement!!!! But quietly because I'm still at work. YEAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.
Congrats! So happy for you.
Congrats on all your success!
Happy Book Birth Day... how exciting. I love your photos - hugging your book as though it is your child that you're sending off to school for the first time.
Big congrats!!!! Loving those photos... Can't wait to read it!
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Congrats on this wonderful accomplishment! How exciting that this book started out just for you and now we all get to read it! I am looking forward to reading it soon. Best of luck! So happy for you. :)
~Jess
So cool!
Yay! I am impatiently waiting for my book. Loved the tease of the first few chapters on-line and can't wait to read more. :)
CONGRATS on your book release! : )
Finished it and it is great! Working on my review now :) Love. Love. Love.
Congratulations to you!!!!
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