Netherworld cupcake (+giveaway!)

I'm still sick and running around like crazy to get ready for RT in LA next week, so in my absence, look! I was interviewed by the Spork of Doom (and I'm giving away a signed copy of MSTSteal too.) Click the link. Seriously. CJ's husband made a NETHERWORLD CUPCAKE!!! Complete with Crimson Creeper vines and what can only be a REAPER!

Winners!

I'm not going to post this week's weekly giveaway until tomorrow, because I'm not feeling good at the moment and I have a ton of work to do. But I do have a couple of winners to announce!

First, the winner of last week's Weekly International Edition giveaway is:

Sue S., who wrote: I would looove to go to Rome! Or anywhere in Europe! Heck, make it a Europe vacation!!

And the winner of the printed manuscript of my "Niederwald" story from the Enthralled anthology is:

Melanie Golden, who wrote: Awesome idea, Rachel! I’d love to get my hands on the story early. AWESOME!

Sue and Melanie, please email me (rachelATrachelvincentDOTcom) with your shiping information and your choice of prizes (listed here), and I'll put your prizes in the mail. Along with a ton of others I still owe people. ;)

Also, in case you haven't seen it, If I Die (Soul Screamers 5) is now up for preorder here for US readers and here for Canadian readers. I don't have any international release information for this one yet. Sorry.

Also, #1's posted a one page (information-lite, at this point) website for Blood Bound. There's no cover yet, and I still haven't posted the official blurb (at least, I don't remember doing that), but if you want a "feel" for the book, I think the site hits pretty close to home. Feel free to speculate about what the graphics might mean. I will read any comments, and I might confirm or deny things. Or, I might not. ;)

Want one?

I'm giving away a page proof copy of my Enthralled story ("Niederwald") here.

Enthralled antho!

I'm pretty sure the other Enthralled authors have all already posted this, but since I was offline last week, when we got permission to share, I'm just now finding time for a post. So, here it is: Enthralled, an anthology of road trip-themed paranormal short stories from an amazing group of YA authors I'm incredibly excited and humbled to be included with.



The lineup includes:

Claudia Gray
Carrie Ryan
Kami Garcia
Jackson Pearce
Rachel Vincent
Melissa Marr
Kelley Armstrong
Sarah Rees Brennan
Jeri Smith-Ready
Kimberly Derting
Ally Condie
Jessica Verday
Margaret Stohl
Mary E. Pearson
Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Rachel Caine

My contribution is called "Niederwald," and it's a Sabine/Emma short story set in the Soul Screamers world. Chronologically, "Niederwald" comes between My Soul To Steal and If I Die, which puts it somewhere in the aftermath of Sabine's arrival at Kaylee and Nash's school.

Niederwald is an actual town in Texas, which I've re-imagined for the purposes of my story. And it was fun!

Enthralled comes out Sept. 20 in the US. Preorder here!

Weekly giveaway part 5

This giveaway is now closed. I spent most of last week out of town, visiting friends and taking care of some non-writing business. Trying to, anyway.

I also spent all of last week offline, almost entirely. I checked my messages, but only replied to the urgent ones. So now I'm playing catch-up. Again. If you left me a question or comment somewhere, check back in the next couple of days for an answer. Unless you emailed it to me, in which case it'll take longer. I'm much faster on Twitter, Facebook, and Formspring.

I didn't intend for my vacation to go unannounced, but my deadline overlapped with my trip, and I wound up working for all of the drive and part of my time at my dad's house. Also, I didn't have time to mail last week's prizes or end last week's International Editions Giveaway, so I'm allowing all entries up to today. And now we have a winner!

Jay, who wrote: Id say English is my second language too but its the only thing i speak because i really suck at my mother-tongue :)

Also, Vida never claimed her prize from last week, so I'm drawing a second name from this week's entries. The replacement winner is:

Emmy Landeros, who wrote: English is my first language with Spanish being my second. I speak French near fluently and I'm learning Italian.

Jay and Emmy, please email me (rachelATrachelvincentDOTcom) with your selection from the prizes listed below. For a look at the foreign covers, click here. (Note: not all of those editions shown are in this giveaway.)

To enter this week's foreign edition giveaway, leave me a comment telling me where you went for your most recent vacation, or where you'd like to go, if you could go anywhere in the world. (I've always wanted to see Scotland and Venice!) One comment will be chosen at random and the winner will be announced on Monday. You must check into see if you've won and claim your prize, or I will redraw a winner next week.

Books up for grabs:

Australian My Soul To Take
Australian My Soul To Save
Australian My Soul To Keep
Australian My Soul To Steal (x2)
UK My Soul To Take (x2)
UK My Soul To Save (x3)
French My Soul To Keep (Sauve Mon Ame!) (x2)
US Kiss Me Deadly (YA antho)
Australian Stray
Australian Rogue
Australian Pride (x2)
Australian Prey (x2)
Finnish Stray (Kissatytto) (x2)
Norwegian Stray (Herrelos) (x2)
Swedish Stray (Herrelos) (x2)
Italian Rogue (il Graffio della notte) (x2)
Italian Pride (Il Graffio sulla pelle)

Please note that the Italian copies of Rogue were lightly damaged during shipping (dented spine). Also, two of the UK copies of MSTSave were slightly more lightly damaged during shipping (crimped cover, dented spine). I hate that that happened, but the books are still readable, so if you're looking for either edition...I have them.)

(Late) Weekly giveaway!

Sorry this week's giveaway is late. I got distracted. But, the good news is that there are now five new international editions to add to the list of available books!

But first, the winner of last week's giveaway is:

Debbie, whose comment began: "Personally, I don't like cliffhangers, but it is true that they bring me to the next book."

And, since Crystal Maki never claimed her prize, I'm redrawing a winner for last week's prize. The new winner is:

Vidia Trident, whose comment began: "After seeing the movie trailer for BEASTLY..."

Debbie and Vidia, please email me (rachelATrachelvincentDOTcom) with your shipping information and your selection of books from the list below.

To enter this week's foreign edition giveaway, leave me a comment telling me what second language you speak, or what second language you'd most like to speak. One comment will be chosen at random and the winner will be announced on Monday. You must check into see if you've won and claim your prize, or I will redraw a winner next week.

Books up for grabs:

Australian My Soul To Take
Australian My Soul To Save
Australian My Soul To Keep
Australian My Soul To Steal (x2)
UK My Soul To Take
UK My Soul To Save (x2)
French My Soul To Keep (Sauve Mon Ame!) (x2)
US Kiss Me Deadly (YA antho)
Australian Stray
Australian Rogue (x2)
Australian Pride (x2)
Australian Prey (x2)
Finnish Stray (Kissatytto) (x2)
Norwegian Stray (Herrelos) (x2)
Swedish Stray (Herrelos) (x2)
Italian Rogue (il Graffio della notte) (x2)

Please note that the Italian copies of Rogue were lightly damaged during shipping (dented spine). Also, the UK copies of MSTSave were slightly more lightly damaged during shipping (crimped cover, dented spine). I hate that that happened, but the books are still readable, so if you're looking for either edition...I have them.)

Also, if you're still with me at the bottom of this post, today's the last day to vote in the Blood Bound UK cover concept poll. I'm sending in the data tomorrow. Click here to see the concepts and vote.

Which do you like better?

Okay, guys, if you've ever wondered how book covers are designed/chosen, here's your chance to see the process in action. And to be a part of it. Mira UK, the UK arm of my adult publisher, has designed two possible looks for the cover of Blood Bound (Unbound book 1), my new adult series, which will debut in the US on August 23rd. And they want your opinion.

Note: while I have the US release date, I do not have a final US cover yet. And while I have these cover concepts from the UK, I do not have a UK release date yet. Sometimes, that's how it goes. :)

Another note: these are NOT the final covers. These are cover concepts--mock-ups intended to illustrate the general theme, colors, feel, and similar art of the projected final covers.

And a third note: The information gathered from this poll will help my UK publisher decide on a direction for the cover, but their decision will not be made entirely based on this data.

So here's what we need you to do, if you're willing.

1. Decide which cover you like best, and vote in the poll on the right.
2. Leave a comment here telling us why you picked the cover you picked. Feel free to comment on the colors, style, font, art, etc...

A little about the book:

In the Unbound world, promises--once sealed--have true power. Depending on how they're sealed, they can be anywhere from difficult- to impossible-to-break. The world is very big-city urban (no Shifters world forest scenes). The book is dark and violent, and the characters have complicated, intense relationships. And the plot is very twisty-turny.

For what it's worth, when I pitched the final concept for this book, I called it "Grownup Romeo and Juliet meets The Godfather."

Both the hero and the heroine get a POV (a first for me!) and while it's just as gritty (maybe more so) than my Shifters books, I would say the relationship ARC to plot ARC ratio is closer to 50/50 than the Shifters books, where it was (by my best guess) 30/70. Not that numbers can ever really define such concepts.

So, here you go. With that in mind (or just going on your first impression, if you'd rather) which do you like better? (I think you can click the image to make it larger.)

P.S. Thank you! From both me and Mira UK.

In response...

As many of my blog readers have already noticed, yesterday’s post about love triangles has sparked quite a bit of discussion, both on Blogger (the original post) and on Facebook in particular. I’m so thrilled by the discussion and I continue to encourage anyone with an opinion (on love triangles in general, or on the debatable existence of one in the Soul Screamers books in particular) to share it.

Please note, however, that yesterday’s post was not a statement (nor was it a hint) about the romantic relationships in future Soul Screamers books. I haven’t made such a comment, and I won’t, because I don’t want to spoil the books for anyone. It’s that rabid conjecture that makes books (particularly YA, in my opinion) so much fun.

However, there was a downside (for me, anyway) to the discussion. I woke up to a rather frustrating comment which, in my opinion, goes beyond the bounds of gracious discussion or disagreement. I’ve allowed the comment to be posted because I don’t believe in censorship, even to spare myself some embarrassment.

I’ve considered responding to the comment all day (though I’ve also been working, I swear!) and originally wrote a long response trying to explain the intent behind my original post. But I’ve deleted that response because I realized, after some wise counsel, that it’s not needed. I don’t need to defend myself for sparking discussion (something beyond “cute little anecdotes”) on my own blog.

But I have decided to respond, briefly, and I invite those interested to read the comment (which I’m pasting below) along with my own abbreviated response. This is what I have to say, and this is all I have to say. I hope you can all understand that.

From Anonymous to Rachel:

Honey I like your writing but I don't like your attitude. I don't think your
intent was to lecture, but your post seemed to me to have that tone. If I wanted
a lecture I'd go back to college for another degree. Stick to updates, the cute
little anecdotes and leave the condescending tone for your private blog not your
commercial one. It may be a blog, but there is a certain point after which you
overstep your authority as an author and become that know-it-all,
mightier-than-thou person no one wants to listen to.

You write for a younger audience. You're going to get a lot of whiny children, especially when you open yourself up in this sort of fashion. You need to learn when to brush it off and let it go.

Anonymous,

First, I’m sorry that you felt you needed to comment on my blog anonymously. There really is no need for that. I don’t hold grudges, I respect others’ opinions, and I try to give people the benefit of the doubt, especially on the internet, where it’s particularly hard to judge someone’s tone.

That said, I do resent being called “honey” by someone I don't know, and whose tone I can't easily interpret. I take offense on behalf of my readers, whom you've called "whiny children." My readers are not whiny, nor could most of them be classified as children; they're mostly teens and adults—intelligent, thoughtful readers who are both passionate and eager in their curiosity.

However, I would like to thank you for putting some things into perspective for me. The fact that a condescending anonymous comment on my blog is my biggest problem today reminds me how very fortunate I am, and I am grateful to you for that reminder.

And I am so incredibly grateful to the readers who have made this career—such a huge part of my life—possible. As always, you are welcome here, to question, to comment, to discuss, and even to disagree with me.

Thank you for reading.

Rachel

Rachel on love triangles (and why N/K/T isn't one)

Okay, let’s talk about love triangles.

I know, I know, everyone hates love triangles. Even people who don’t really hate love triangles say they hate love triangles, because liking them has become passé, or because you automatically associate them with a certain culturally pervasive YA vampire series and a marketing stragegy based on "Team This or That." But guess what? Love triangles have been around forever, and they certainly predate those ubiquitous vampire books.

And guess what else? In my experience, people hate love triangles like they hate cliffhangers. Most people say they hate cliffhangers, but those who are honest will then qualify their hate with the admission that cliffhangers do make them want the next book. Badly.

Don’t believe me? Go read the comments on my previous post. I asked people to comment on the subject of cliffhangers to be entered to win this week’s giveaway, and almost ALL of the comments are a variation of: “I have a love/hate relationship with cliffhangers.”

Ever notice how no one phrases that sentiment as a “hate/love” relationship? Think it’s a coincidence that the love always comes first? I don’t.

But back to love triangles. This isn’t my defense of them, I swear. In some cases, I like to read about them, in others, I don’t. It all depends on the execution. But then, just saying that is an admission that love triangles are contrived. Engineered by the author.

Don’t look so shocked. Everything in a book is engineered by the author. Also, wrestling is fake. This is entertainment, not journalism. Know how you can tell? Most authors have better grammar than reporters. (Notice I wrote “most.”)

It’s an author’s job to entertain you. To make you believe and feel things that aren’t real. How do I know when I’ve done that successfully? People start sending me emails with detailed analyses of the characters and their (sometimes poorly made) decisions. People start leaving me messages on Facebook and Twitter demanding I move up the release of the next book. (FYI, I can’t do that. Release dates are entirely up to my publisher.) People start sending me messages on Formspring asking what’s going to happen in the next book. (Sorry, I can’t tell you that. If I did, why would you read the book?)

And here’s what I’ve discovered since my first novel came out in 2007: no matter what the book is about, people will obsess over the romance.

Case in point: my own Shifters series. I didn’t write it as romance. I wrote it as urban fantasy. But the subject of more than ninety percent (Okay, I didn’t really do that math. It’s a very confident estimate.) of the email I get about the Shifters books is romance. While I was focused on the bad guys, and the mission, and the revolution, and the careful guidance of an entire society away from the dark side (oppression by a malevolent leader), you guys were constantly asking me “Who’s Faythe going to choose?”

Did I mind? No. At first, I was highly amused. Then I decided this whole development was one big compliment. Even people who professed to hate Faythe wanted to know who she was going to choose. People cared what happened to my characters. I must have done something right. Right?

But now the Shifters series is over and I’ve turned my attention to Soul Screamers (as well as Unbound, my new adult trilogy debuting this fall) and guess what’s happening? I’m getting those messages again.

“Rachel, who is Kaylee going to choose?”

I’d be lying if I said I didn’t know what those people were talking about. Kaylee does have choices. But then, most people do. If you were to dump your significant other right now, would you expect to spend the rest of your life alone? No? Then you have choices. Does that mean you’re currently in a love triangle? Probably not. So let me put forth a radical idea for people to chew over:

It’s possible—possible—that not every romantic development in a book or series is intended to grow into a love triangle. I’m just putting that out there, as food for thought.

Now, here’s why I don’t consider Nash/Kaylee/Tod to be a love triangle, based on what you've read through My Soul To Steal:

(SOUL SCREAMERS SPOILERS BELOW)

Reason the first: Kaylee doesn’t know Tod likes her. You canNOT have a love triangle when one of the sides of that triangle doesn’t know the other side is, in fact, a side.

Faythe, on the other hand, knew early on how Jace felt about her.

Reason the second: Kaylee is not being asked to choose between two love interests. She’s not caught in the middle with a guy tugging on either arm. Why not?

From the author’s standpoint, that’s because Kaylee is sixteen, and she’s been through some trauma. I think she needs time to decide how she feels about Nash without the added pressure/temptation of knowing that there’s another possibility.

From Tod’s standpoint…things are complicated. Does he like her? Yes. Does that mean he can come right out and tell her? No. She’s his brother’s girlfriend. His heart is being pulled in both directions. Loyalty to his own flesh and blood, or potential happiness for himself? You might even say that Tod is actually the focal point of this particular not-a-triangle, not Kaylee. He’s the one who has to make a decision, even if no one else knows it.

Does he always make the wise decision? No. Does he always mean well? Um…again, no. But in this case, yes. He doesn’t want to hurt anyone he cares about. So what’s a reaper to do?

By contrast, Faythe knew early on that she’d have to make a decision. In fact, she struggled with that decision for at least two and a half books. (Some might say more.)

Reason the third: The first word in the phrase “love triangle” is love. You can’t have a love triangle unless the focal point in that triangle loves the other two points—both of them—to a degree close enough to make the decision difficult. And that’s a simple love triangle. They can get much more complex, when each point loves both of the other points, or the love travels in one direction all the way around the triangle (Bob loves Sue, who loves Johnny, who loves Bob, or something like that.)

But here’s the deal: Kaylee and Nash are trying to work things out. They’re starting over (at the end of MSTSteal) to see if they can salvage what they had, after what they’ve been through. No guarantees from me either way. Sorry. (Okay, I’m not really sorry. I actually like teasing readers. ;)) And Kaylee and Tod…well, there is no Kaylee and Tod. As of My Soul To Steal, she doesn’t see him like that, because she doesn’t know how he feels. Because he hasn’t told her. Because she’s going out with his brother.

So how is that a love triangle, exactly? In my opinion (and you’re welcome to disagree with me, but you won’t change my mind), it’s not. It’s a struggling relationship and a third, silently interested party.

Could that change? Of course it could. Just like in real life.

Am I saying it will change? No, I’m not. Nor am I saying it won't. I’m saying that the relationships in the Soul Screamers series aren’t simple enough to fall into the rather pat label “love triangle.” And that’s without even mentioning Sabine.

And by the way, if you’re bored and have the time, go back and run the Kaylee/Nash/Sabine tangle through the three qualifiers above. Does it qualify as a love triangle? Did things just get a little more complicated?

Why yes, I think they did. ;)

Okay. Discuss!