New Year's Eve giveaway!

[This contest is now closed. Check back for the next one!]

Happy New Year's eve! My best friend and her family drove 9 hours to spend the holiday with us. We have an evening of junk food, movies, and Rock Band. We're having chips and Ro-Tel, triple chocolate brownies, cupcakes, and a couple of different salty snack mixes. Plus dinner.

What are you doing tonight? (I'm eating junk and celebrating the release of My Soul To Save.)

What is your best memory from 2009? (Mine is either launching the HQ Teen line or vacationing in D. C. before/after RWA.)

What are you looking forward to in 2010? (I'm looking forward to the release of SHIFT! And MSTKeep!)

Tomorrow, I'll pick one commenter (at random) to win his/her choice of any book I have in print. You have unItl midnight, central standard time. Start commenting!

Release day!

Today is shelf day for My Soul To Save! Which means that even though the release isn't officially until January 1, you should be able to find it on shelves all over the US and Canada today!

I'm honestly not sure where the time has gone. It feels like My Soul to Take came out just last week, and my head's kind of spinning with how fast everything else has happened. But I like that head-spinning feeling. Kind of like I'm floating... ;-)

Anyway, today is all things Soul Screamers for me. So if you're unfamiliar with the book, here's the blurb:

When Kaylee Cavanaugh screams, someone dies.
So when teen pop star Eden croaks onstage and Kaylee doesn't wail, she knows something is dead wrong. She can't cry for someone who has no soul.

The last thing Kaylee needs right now is to be skipping school, breaking her dad's ironclad curfew and putting her too-hot-to-be-real boyfriend's loyalty to the test. But starry-eyed teens are trading their souls: a flickering lifetime of fame and fortune in exchange for eternity in the Netherworld—a consequence they can't possibly understand.

Kaylee can't let that happen, even if trying to save their souls means putting her own at risk….

And the trailer, in case you haven't seen it...

The images of the three main characters in the trailer are pretty close to how I picture them (Nash is the least accurate, and Tod needs more curls), but in case you're curious, here's how I pictured Addy and her sister Regan:

(The actresses are Taylor Momsen and AnnaSophia Robb, both of whom are probably too old to play the part now, but I like these images. ;-))

If you want something else pretty, check out the My Soul to Save page of my website for a Windows Media version of the trailer, a MSTSave wallpaper, and a first chapter excerpt!

And if you're unfamiliar with the series, here's what came before MSTSave:

This is the free e-novella prequel. You don't have to have read it to understand the novels, and in fact, I wrote it after I'd written the first three books in the series. But I do like the story, which shows an event mentioned in My Soul to Take. (Click the image for a blurb.)

This is the first novel in the series, which came out in August. It should be available everywhere! (Click here to order; click the image for a blurb.)

MSTSave trailer!

I'm still on vacation. Mostly. ;-)

But I have a release in a couple of days and two short stories due soon, so I'm kind of working in the background, as I munch holiday goodies and read. So today I have a goody for those of you who don't get my newsletter and haven't already seen it.

The My Soul to Save trailer!





You can watch it in HD, but if you do, I'd suggest pausing the video until it loads completely. And, of course, feel free to share. ;-)

Also, the My Soul to Save page of my website has a downloadable wallpaper with the original cover art (the full image, before it was changed), which I absolutely love, as well as a Windows Media version of the trailer and a first chapter excerpt. ;-)



And in case you haven't seen it, here is the widget from HQTeen...

Browse this book

Add to your site

Buy this book

Coming soon: an excerpt from SHIFT!

Gingerbread 2009!

Okay, after three days of baking, assembling, and decorating, Gingerbread House 2009 is finally done!

Here is the dough, rolled out and ready to be cut. It's homemade, of course. Which reminds me--next year I need a bigger mixer. I don't think my current one can take another year of hardy gingerbread dough. ;-)

Here are some of the pieces in the oven. The window cutouts are filled with crushed cherry Lifesavers. I usually use Jolly Ranchers, and I'll be going back to those next year, because the Lifesavers turned out to be opaque. ;-(

Here the house is, assembled but undecorated. Since we don't actually eat it, I use a simple, very thick frosting made from powdered sugar and milk.

And here is the final product. Candy used: mini-candy canes, cherry Andes mints, wingergreen Lifesavers, Twizzlers pull-n-peel, Holiday M&Ms, little round red and green peppermint hard candies, and yogurt-covered pretzels.

Here's the side view.

And the other side.

What do you think? What are your holiday traditions?

Holiday baking...

[The Soul Screamers giveaway is still going on here!]

My holiday baking has begun! I went shopping and had lunch with a friend yesterday, and came home armed with colored sugar, sprinkles, and edible pearls, as well as bunches of candy for... Christmas Gingerbread House 2009!

Today I'll make the dough and #1 will cut it out, then we'll bake it. Tomorrow, I'll make frosting/glue and we'll assemble. Number one is designing the blueprints (yes, blueprints) during his spare time today!

Here are a couple of our past Christmas houses...

And look what I made this morning! (Did I mention I hit the Williams Sonoma store yesterday?) Sun and moon shaped pancakes!

I also made several dozen vanilla spritz cookies (the cookie press kind) shaped like Christmas trees. I love cookie press cookies. ;-)

I hope everyone else is having a great holiday break!

Soul Screamers giveaway!

[This contest is now closed. Check back soon for the next one!]

I am thrilled to report that I turned in the revisions for MY SOUL TO KEEP on Friday morning, and I am now on vacation for two weeks. Sort of. Mostly.

I won't be writing any fiction until after the new year (I have two short stories due in short order), but I will be doing guest blogs and interviews in preparation for the release of My Soul to Save on Dec. 29. And giving away a bunch of stuff.

Starting now.

But first, late next week I'll be posting the brand new, shiny trailer for My Soul to Save. But you can see it on Monday night, if you subscribe to my newsletter. Don't subscribe yet? Click here to remedy that:




Now for the giveaway!

I'm trying a new form for my giveaway this time, hoping it'll be easier to count the entries and draw the winner, because counting through a couple hundred entries by hand isn't much fun. So please bear with me while we try this out.

Up for grabs: one signed copy each of My Soul to Take and My Soul to Save, the first two novels in the Soul Screamers series.

This entry is open to international shipping. Entries must be received by 11:59 pm (Central) on December 23rd, 2009. To enter, all you have to do is fill out the form with your name and email address. It's really that simple, no work required.

However, you'll get an additional entry if you do any or all of the following:

• Subscribe to my newsletter (or already subscribe)
• Post about this giveaway in an acceptable online forum (NOT another author's discussion group or blog)
• Post the MSTSave countdown widget on your blog or an acceptable online haunt. (Not another author's discussion group or blog)

YA winners!

Okay, the YA giveaway closed last night, and we got waaaaay more entries than I expected, considering that it was open only to young adults and only to US and Canadian residents. I expected about 20. I got 125. So thanks so much to everyone who spread the word!

The winners (chosen by random number generator) are:

Colleen, who whose comment began...
"I loved My Soul to Take, and I read about this giveaway on The Story Siren. "

And...

Jenn (Books At Midnight) whose comment began...
"Jenn, 15
I also heard about this from the Story Siren's YA connection."

Wow. Looks like a bunch of you read the Story Siren!

Colleen and Jenn, please email me (RachelATrachelvincentDOTcom) with your full name and shipping address. And Jenn, since you're under 18, make sure to get a parent's permission before giving me your address.

Thanks so much to everyone who entered! My Soul to Save is now only 12 days from its official release, which means you'll probably find it on most shelves next week. (Bookstores typically put them out as soon as possible, to keep from cluttering up their storage.) Which means I'll be commencing full-scale panic just as soon as I turn in revisions for My Soul to Keep.

One last thing before I take Kaci and Nyx to the vet for their shots...

The trailer for My Soul to Save is finished, and I think it looks pretty good! I'll be including it with my newsletter on Monday, before I post it online, so if you want an early peek, click here to sign up for the newsletter.

And check back in tomorrow for another giveaway!

Where I'll be today...

[Note: Today's the last day to enter the YA only contest, if you're between the ages of 13 and 20. Click here for details.]

Okay, I'm officially behind on everything. No really. Everything. I owe my revisions to my editor, I owe books to winners and reviewers, I owe interview answers to interviewers, I owe Christmas cards to friends, I owe my mother a phone call...

It just never ends. And I've evidently dropped off the face of the Internet in the last week, unless you're on Twitter. And there couldn't be a worse time for it, considering that My Soul to Save comes out in two weeks.

So, I promise to try to be a better blogger. Even before the new year.

But for the moment, here's what's going on:

• Elie has an interview with me and an Immortal giveaway here.
• I'm participating in Harlequin's Open House Host Party all day today in the Mira/Luna/HQN forum, found here. Drop in if you want to chat! (Note: You must register to participate)
• I'm also participating in the Kimani Tru/Harlequin Teen live chat tonight at 6pm (Central). Click here at that time to chat.

Other than that, I have soooo much work to do. But if I owe you something, I swear it's coming very shortly... ;-)

YA giveaway

[This contest is now closed. Please check back for the winners...]

Okay, this is a first for me, and I'm not sure how well it'll work out, but here goes:

This giveaway is open to young adults only. That's people ages 13-20. Because of holiday shipping concerns, this one is open to U.S. and Canadian residents only.

I realize that with these restrictions, I probably won't get many entries, and that's fine. I want to give actual teenagers a chance to win this YA book. So please, if you know a teenager who might be interested, let him or her know.





Up for grabs: finished copies of My Soul to Save (Soul Screamers, book 2)

Number of winners: 2

To enter: leave a comment in this post, including your first name and age and how you heard about this giveaway. One entery per person.

Because I'm very serious about internet safety, there are a couple of do-nots:

• Do not leave your last name
• Do not leave your address
• Do not leave your email address
• Do not leave the name of your school, town, mascot, etc...

This giveaway is open until 11:59 pm (central) on Wednesday, Dec. 16, 2009. Check in the next day to see if you've won.

If you win and you're under 18, you must get a parent/guardian's permission to email me with a shipping address.

Okay, let's give this a shot... If you qualify, start commenting!

ARC winner

The random number generator has spoken, and the winner of my only ARC of My Soul to Save is:

Scott Romanski

This may be a first, for two reasons. Scott was commenter #2 and he's a guy. I'm not sure either of those have ever happened in one of my giveaways, because I typically get well over 100 entries (170 this time) and they're almost all from women.

So, Scott, email me (rachelATrachelvincentDOTcom) with your mailing address, and I'll put your ARC in the mail.

Oddly enough, I got my author copies on Friday, so I now have finished copies of the book to give away! So check back tomorrow for another chance to win. Tomorrow's contest will be for teens/young adults only, so if you know any who might be interested, please let them know to check in here this week. As much as I love my adult readers (and I really, truly do), I also really want to connect with the target audience for my young adult series. ;-)

But there will be more giveaways open to all ages soon!

One final note: Page (a reader who's been with me almost from the start) says she received a pre-ordered copy of MSTSave from Amazon this past Friday! That's a full 3 weeks early, which is bothersome on some levels (which have nothing to do with readers), but exciting because it looks like you'll be able to get a copy before Christmas, if anyone's looking for a gift for a teenager. Or an adult who reads YA. As I do. ;-)

Pretties!

I have pretty things today!

First of all, my author copies came in! See?

Now I have bunches of finished copies of My Soul To Save. And I have to say, in person, these are beautiful. I was pretty fond of the original cover, so I'll admit to having misgivings when it was changed, and on the screen, the colors look kind of dull. But in person, they look amazing.

What you can't see in these pictures is the texture and the foil. The title and the Soul Screamers logo are both raised. But my favorite part (which you can just barely see in the picture) is this: you see how the word "Save" is repeated over and over in a word ribbon, wrapping around Kaylee? It's also repeated across the black part of the cover, in glossy black print, which continues onto the spine and is repeated on one corner of the back. That glossy black on black is such a cool little detail!

Unfortunately, my acknowledgements and dedication were somehow left out of the book, which is disappointing. But those who helped, you know who you are! ;-)

Also... last night I made a widget! Here it is. Feel free to steal and post. And to click on the excerpt button, to read part of chapter one. The excerpt starts about a third of the way through chapter one.

And thirdly, #1 made this awesome banner last night, which you're also free to use. I'm hoping he'll have a chance to make a couple of other sizes soon.

Anatomy of a (rewritten) scene

[You still have two more days to enter the current contest, and don’t forget to vote for your favorite urban fantasy covers here!

Also, Tynga has a new interview with me here, if you’re interested…]

For the last couple of days, I’ve been working on a new first chapter for MY SOUL TO KEEP. It needed a stronger opening, and I realized that giving it a new setting would allow me to introduce the important secondary characters faster and more naturally. But for me, completely rewriting a chapter/scene is sometimes even harder than writing it in the first place, because I have trouble picturing the events happening any way other than they originally happened. This is only complicated by the fact that I needed to keep some of the dialogue and descriptions. (Though they wound up being tweaked too.)

So here’s how I do all that...

I work with four documents open:

• The manuscript marked up (in Word) that my editor sent back
• The separate revision notes she also sent
• My working copy of the manuscript
• A new document, which will serve as my blank canvass.
• (Oh, and Twitter and Email, but those don’t count.)

First, I take my working copy and open the clipboard (so that it’s visible on the screen), which will enable me to keep multiple clips of text and past them out of order. (If you don’t open the clipboard, you can only past the last thing you captured.)

Then I go through the chapter and copy the bits I need to keep into the clipboard. I don’t cut them, because I try to keep an intact version of the original on hand, just in case.

When I’m sure I have all the snippets of dialogue and description I might possibly need, I move over to the blank document and open the clipboard there, where all my snippets have been nicely transferred. (I love Word!) Then I start the new version of the first chapter, pasting in the dialogue and description as needed.

It sounds simple, and it is in theory. But in practice, it can be a nightmare. I wound up using very few of those snippets verbatim, so I pretty much wrote the entire chapter over from scratch. But it’s done now, and I just sent it to my editor for a quick opinion. To make sure I’m on the right track.

Now I work on the rest of the manuscript while I wait…

More news, and an ARC!

[This contest is now closed. Please check back for the next one.]

I have more bits of news today!

First, Shift is going to be released simultaneously in the US and the UK, so those of you in England shouldn’t have to wait or pay enormous shipping this time! In fact, you may get your copy earlier than those in the US this time, because Mira UK puts their books out the Friday before the typical US Tuesday release. ;-)


Second of all, Stray and Pride are going to be reprinted. This is the third printing for Stray, but I’m especially pleased that Pride is going back, because I really didn’t think that would happen. Also, this time I have the opportunity to correct typos, so if there’s one that’s been bugging you in either Stray or Pride, send me an email (rachelATrachelvincentDOTcom) with the page and line number, and I’ll send it in. We have to move quickly with these though. Just a couple of days. ;-)


And… My Soul to Save comes out officially on Dec. 29, and will probably be on the shelves 1-2 weeks before that, so it’s time to start the promo in earnest.


My awesome editor has sent me her personal ARC of My Soul to Save (since I only got one this time) so that I can host a giveaway. So listen up—this is your only chance to win a signed ARC of My Soul To Save. Ever. Anywhere. If you want it, leave me a comment in this post telling me what teen you’d like to introduce to the Soul Screamers series.


And if you don’t know any teens (‘cause that question’s bound to come up) tell me where you first heard of the Soul Screamers series.











Details:

• This giveaway is open for worldwide shipping.
• Comments must be received by 11:59 pm on Sunday, Dec. 6, 2009.
• You must check back the next day to see if you won; I won’t track you down.
• Please don’t leave your email address in the comments.

Okay, start commenting!

You're not gonna believe this...

Today, I have some random excitement.

First, I turned in Alpha last night. That's right, it's off my plate until I get the revision notes. Now I have a matter of days to revise My Soul to Keep and get it turned in, then I hope to take the last half of December completely off. We'll see if that actually happens...

Second, on Friday, ABC's 20/20 featured a story about "real life" vampires, including an intro about vampire movies and books. And one of the books they showed a closeup of was... My Soul to Take. Yup, you read that right. Here's the proof (It's about a minute into the clip):

http://abcnews.go.com/video/playerindex?id=9194316

I find this both awesome and hilarious, for several reasons.

• Awesome because it's national television, and even though it was just a millisecond shot, maybe it'll stick in the subconscious of a few book buyers this holiday season!
• Hilarious because My Soul to Take isn't about vampires. In fact, there's nary a bloodsucker in it. It's about bean sidhes (banshees). ;-)
• Both awesome and hilarious because ABC didn't tell either me or Harlequin that they were going to show my book. Thus the randomness. ;-)
• Both awesome and hilarious because my mother was actually watching the broadcast live and called to tell me, very excited. But I couldn't verify it, so I hadn't mentioned it to anyone but my dad and my CP. So, score one for Mom!

Also very cool: The Eternal Kiss was also shown!

Third bit of random awesomeness: my covers are up for no less than five awards in the (first annual) 2009 Urban Fantasy Cover Art Awards.

• My Soul to Take is up for Best YA Cover, Best Debut Cover, and Most Unique Cover
• Shift is up for Most Anticipated Cover for 2010
• And the entire Shifters series is up for Best Overall Covers in a Series.

Although, I have to say, there's some pretty stiff competition in each category. Isn't Hush, Hush just the most gorgeous cover ever? (Haven't read it, but I love the art!)

To vote or see the other nominees, click here. And I believe one voter will receive a prize, so don't forget to fill out the form!