Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Authorial catch up!

I apologize for not blogging more frequently! It's been a crazy busy month!

I had a fabulous time at the Gaithersburg Book Festival with Jessica Spotswood, author of Born Wicked. We talked about world building, outcast females, girl power, research and books we love. It was a great time!

I also had a author hero worship moment when I got to meet both Walter Dean Myers and his son Christopher Myers. Guys if you don't have We Are America in your bookshelves, you should! It is beautiful and brilliant and the illustrations by Christopher Myers is gorgeous! It should be right next to Harlem, which you should have in your bookshelves also! After introducing myself to them and mentioning that we had the same editor, the brilliant Phoebe Yeh, I was rendered speechless. It is not every day that you meet the National Ambassador for Young People's Literature and his talented illustrator/author son. 

I got to hear Mr. Myers speak and he was amazing! Funny, sincere, eloquent. It was such a pleasure. And then I got to go home where I found that my oldest had been playing around on her Instagram account and had made this photoset of me during my panel discussion. 
All I have to say about that is - Hey!

Friday, May 17, 2013

Gaithersburg Book Festival!!

Tomorrow - Saturday, May 18th - is the Gaithersburg Book Festival!

And I'm so proud to say that I'm going to be speaking there! I'll be speaking with my friend Jessica Spotswood, author of Born Wicked (a book Oldest adores, btw), at 2:15 in the YA Pavilion. If you are in the area, I really hope you can come by! We will be talking about worldbuilding, strong females, and outcasts.

And then at 3pm - I'll be signing in the author's tent. I really hope some people show up so I won't be lonely! ;o)

So if you are anywhere in driving distance of Gaithersburg, I really hope you will come and say hi! The festival has amazing authors there and is a Don't Miss event!!

Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Young Critics Club and Fan art!

Ok so I blogged earlier this year about going to meet this awesome kids book club called the YOUNG CRITICS CLUB at the Perrot Memorial Library in Greenwich, CT, that's been in existence for 30 years. It was one of the best experiences I've had as a new author and I just loved going up to CT and meeting the librarians and all the kids. So imagine my surprise and my happiness to receive an email letting me know that PROPHECY had been chosen a favorite book by the Young Critics! Here's the link where you can see what amazing company I'm in! I'm very honored and happy to be chosen by the Young Critics who are just an amazingly smart, bright, funny, well read group of kids! Thank you Young Critics!

I'm also going to share some amazing fan art that I've been sitting on lately! How cool is this job that I get fan art from kids? I just love this!!







Seriously, how gorgeous is all this? I just love getting fan art! I think I'm going to have to make a gallery page on my website for all of it!!

Tuesday, May 7, 2013

INSOMNIA Pre-order Blog Hop!!

Today I'm really happy to host my dear friend J.R. Johansson for the debut of her fantastic thriller INSOMNIA. I've read this book and let me tell you, it's AWESOME!


 
INSOMNIA -->
Her eyes saved his life. Her dreams released his darkness.
After four years of sleeplessness, high school junior Parker Chipp can’t take much more. Every night, instead of sleeping, he enters the dreams of the last person he’s made eye contact with. If he doesn’t sleep soon, Parker will die.
Then he meets Mia. Her dreams, calm and beautifully uncomplicated, allow him blissful rest that’s utterly addictive. But what starts out as a chance meeting turns into an obsession; Parker’s furious desire for what he needs pushes him to extremes he never thought he’d go. And when someone begins terrorizing Mia with twisted death threats, Parker’s memory blackouts leave him doubting his own innocence.
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“The perfect blend of everything I love in a story. I hope a sequel comes soon!” –James Dashner, New York Times bestselling author of THE MAZE RUNNER

 So not only is Jenn going to share with us the insider scoop on INSOMNIA, we also have this fabuluos opportunity to win a brand new HD Nook!! And let me tell you something, I have an HD Nook and I ADORE mine! All you have to do is pre-order the book and you get a chance to win one! 

And now here's Jenn with an insider's scoop into her mind and INSOMNIA!
 
J.R. Johansson: 

I’ve had a fascination with dreams ever since I was a little girl. In elementary school, I had a recurring nightmare that aliens were attacking our house and I was running through it in the dark. Lights flashed through the open windows, the curtains blew in the wind. I was alone and couldn’t find anyone. I heard grinding metal and gears outside as I searched for my family. I got to my mom's room and finally found my big brother sitting next to the dresser. I curled up next to him, and held his hand, but when I looked up at his face, I saw him staring blankly ahead and knew he was dead. The door to the room swung open, banging against the wall, and I woke up.

It was the same every time and I had it at least once a week for over a year. Even remembering it now gives me a shiver. It seemed weird to me that I never actually saw the aliens, but I still knew they were there and I knew they were coming for me. When writing INSOMNIA, I figured it was time for me to take on my own nightmare. Addie has a dream halfway through where she’s in a park, with a heavy mist and she hears grinding metal somewhere that she can’t see…but she doesn’t run, and she is confident that whatever happens next, she can handle it. I’ve never had the nightmare again, but if I did, I hope I’d be more like Addie this time and kick some dream-alien's trash.

Thanks Jenn! So now here's your chance to win a fabulous HD NOOK! Good luck!!


a Rafflecopter giveaway

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J.R. JOHANSSON is a young adult thriller author published with Flux & FSG/Macmillan. Her debut, INSOMNIA is coming June 2013. She has a B.S. degree in public relations and a background in marketing. She credits her abnormal psychology minor with inspiring many of her characters. When she's not writing, she loves reading, playing board games, and sitting in her hot tub. Her dream is that someday she can do all three at the same time. She has two young sons and a wonderful husband. In fact, other than her cat, Cleo, she's nearly drowning in testosterone.

Jenn’s Links -
INSOMNIA on Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12260608-insomnia
 
Pre-order Links –
Amazon - http://www.amazon.com/Insomnia-The-Night-Walkers-Johansson/dp/0738735930/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1352960177&sr=8-1&keywords=insomnia+by+j.r.+johansson

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