Rachel Vincent

New online home!

2011-07-06T10:09:00.000-05:00

In case you missed it, I'm no longer blogging at Blogger. My new online home is: http://rkvincent.wordpress.com/

Also, I have a shiny new website. If you've been to my site before, you may have to refresh your browser to purge the cached copy.

The end. Kind of.

2011-05-20T13:49:00.005-05:00

I am sorry to say that after five years here at this url, I'm leaving my Blogger blog. Blogger has just become too unreliable and too difficult to work with.

If you're interested in following me to my new online home, I can be found on Wordpress here. And today, there's a big new announcement here, so please go take a look.

I'll leave this up for a while to redirect traffic, and I hope to see lots of you there.

Winner!

2011-05-18T09:56:00.006-05:00

Sorry for the delay in posting the winner of last week's international edition giveaway. Blogger was down on Friday, so I couldn't post, then this week just got away from me. And on that note, Blogger STILL won't let me publish from my computer. I'm having to compose on my desktop, then publish the entries from my iPad. I can't highlight in compose mode, and I can't paste in compose mode. This is ridiculous, Blogger! As soon as I have time, I will probably have to abandon my Blogger home for Wordpress, which I've been avoiding for years.

Grrr!

But, on the bright side, there is a winner, and her name is:

Katrina W, whose comment began, "Hey Rachel, Im glad that you have found a happy medium..."

Katrina, please email me (rachelkvincentATgmailDOTcom) with your name and your choice of book from the following list.

~~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 (x3)
UK My Soul To Keep (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)

Rachel opens her big mouth...

2011-05-12T10:37:00.000-05:00

Last night after I finished my wordcount goal, I watched Burlesque. I admit it, I'm a sucker for "country mouse goes to the city" kind of stories. And I think Christina Aguilera's voice is beyond amazing. So it's no surprise that I loved the movie. And I also may have made the mistake of suggesting on Twitter that I could fantasy-cast the entire Shifters series using only Burlesque actors.

Alas, I was wrong. There are no children to speak of in the movie, so Kaci went uncast, as did Karen, because I couldn't find anyone who fit the bill for her. But here's what I came up with:

Katerina Mikailenko as Faythe. I don't think I've ever seen her in anything else, but I think she'd just about do it!

Not my top choice of all-time, but Michael Landes as Marc. To be fair, I tried to find a shirtless picture of him, since Jace is showing a little skin below, but the only one I could find of Michael shirtless also showed him in his underwear, and...well...he didn't look to be in mid-shift, so that felt inappropriate. ;)

Possibly my favorite choice of all-time, Cam Gigandet as Jace. Can't you just see it? I can totally see it. In HD.

Eric Dane as Greg. (I know he's a little young, but with that gray streak, he just looks the part!)

And possibly Sarah Mitchell as Manx.

Alas, I couldn't find roles for Christina Aguilera, Cher, or Stanley Tucci (one of my favorite actors EVER), but I am considering writing one for Tucci. Even if it never sees the light of day.

So, I (kind of ) met the challenge. Anyone else feeling brave? What movie could you cast the entire Shifters series from?

Trying something new (+giveaway)

2011-05-10T10:16:00.007-05:00

When I first started writing novels, back in 2005, about a year and a half before my first sale, I typically wrote 4,000+ words a day. Every day. I wrote my first three novels (355,000+ words) in ten months. I was fast. Not super-human-fast (Rachel Caine holds that title in my head), but pretty fast. And I was consistent.

I was also...not as good a writer as I am now. Seriously. I didn't even know that dialogue from two different people should go in two separate paragraphs. I didn't know when to start a new paragraph. I didn't know that you didn't have to show every single moment of the main character's day. Every single day. I was new, and inexperienced, but here's the thing: I was having fun. Writing was my recreation. My me-time. My escape.

There was no burnout. No carpel tunnel or neck aches from sitting in the wrong position. I looked forward to every single moment I spent writing.

Now writing is work. It's my day job. I still love it, and I know I'm one of very few people in the world who get to do what they love for a living. I wouldn't give it up for anything. But the shine has worn off. I've spent too many years doing nothing but writing and the related, non-writing parts of the job. (And by the way, if you're not a writer and you don't live with a writer, you probably can't IMAGINE how much time those parts take up.)

The thing about writing for a living is that there's no way to leave your work at work, because you work at home. You live with the work. Until you've met your deadline (and mine overlap one another all year long), you feel guilty for doing anything other than work. You get emails about work twenty-four hours a day, from all different timezones. Yes, you can let them wait, but then they pile up until your inbox resembles one of those over-the-top cartoon monsters from an episode of Scooby-Doo. And it WILL eat you alive, once it catches you. And it will catch you.

The stress caught up to me a few months ago. Nothing catastrophic. No drama. I just discovered that I didn't always love sitting down to write anymore. And I'd lost all perspective. I couldn't tell whether what I was writing was any good anymore. And finally, I figured out that all I really needed was some free time. Time spent doing nothing in particular, with no expectations put on me, even from myself. (And the most stressful of expectations usually come from yourself.) But my deadlines (which are always a good thing, because they mean you're employed) don't leave time for a vacation.

So now I'm trying something new. I got the idea from Jeri Smith-Ready, on Twitter, though she probably has no idea that she inspired me. Instead of sitting down every day knowing I have to write between 3,000 and 4,000 words before I can go to bed, a prospect which stresses me out lately, I've started tackling my daily writing goal in short spurts. (Those publishable words, btw, are much harder to come by than those just-for-fun words I could slap on the page back in 2005.)

I'm doing several 1 hr/1,000 word sprint sessions per day. Yesterday, I did three and a half of them, and wrote more than 3,700 words. Yup, I did my entire wordcount goal in 3.5 hours. Which left plenty of time for laundry, a mile on the treadmill, and four (count them--FOUR) episodes of Firefly, which I discovered only last week.

So far, this plan has been working out perfectly. I meet my goal. I have free time. I am not stressed. I think it's psychological. I don't have to write 3,000 words. I only have to write 1,000. Then I do it again, after lunch, or a TV show, or some other kind of non-work break. Whatever the reason, so far it's working. And the key to that, by the way, seems to be knowing what needs to be written before you sit down with your timer.

Okay, that's it for the work update today. Now, I really need to get rid of some of the foreign editions taking up space on my shelf. If you want one from the list below, leave me a comment telling me what your passion is. What do you do to relax, and would you want to do it for a living if you could (assuming you're not already)?

I will draw one winner at random on Friday, and that winner may choose from the books below. Recently added to the list are three copies of the UK version of My Soul To Keep.

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 (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)

Edit: I don't resent my job. I LOVE my job, as I said. This post is just about finding a way to STAY in love with my job. To avoid burnout.

Goddess Test winners!

2011-05-06T13:47:00.003-05:00

Okay, we have a winner! Or, rather, two winners. The first will get a signed copy of The Goddess Test, straight from Aimee Carter. The second (overseas) winner will get an unsigned copy, from me. ;)

Drumroll....

The US/Canadian winner is: Hannah A. W., who wrote, I do have many Greek Mythology characters/storylines that I like, but I'm going to take this opportunity to speak of a different character, from Egyptian mythology. Bastet!

The international winner is: kara-karina, who wrote, This book is on my wishlist, so I hope the contest is international as I'm in UK.:)

Winners, please email me (rachelkvincentATgmailDOTcom) with your name and shipping information, so we can put your prizes in the mail.

Thanks so much to everyone who entered! And check back in next week, when I will resume the weekly giveaways!

At last!

2011-05-04T13:56:00.004-05:00

People have been asking for the Blood Bound cover for several months now, and today I finally get to post not just the US cover (top), but the UK cover (bottom) as well. And since I'm posting the full cover for both, you can see the differences in how the two different marketing/art departments view the book.

Blood Bound is the book I've previously described as "Romeo and Juliet meets The Godfather." It's very dark and kind of twisted. Oh, and for those who have been asking me what Liv is, she is a Tracker. Kind of like a paranormal bloodhound. She finds people who need to be found. Most of whom don't want to be found. If Blood Bound were a movie, it'd be rated R for L, V, and SC. This is NOT YA.

Blood Bound will be released simultaneously in the US and the UK on August 23, and as you can see, the art for the two versions is very different. They each also have slightly different back cover blurbs, and I find it fascinating to see which aspects different branches of the same publisher chose to highlight.

If you remember the poll held here a few weeks ago, you'll notice that the UK cover artist took note of the opinions and notes left by the readers, and I have to say, I love the coloring on this version. The reds and the golds. The interlocked rings in the title on both versions have significance in the story, as does the cityscape on the UK version. And I LOVE the tagline at the bottom of the UK version!

For what it's worth, the US is marketing the series as paranormal romance and the UK is marketing it simultaneously as urban fantasy. I personally think it's somewhere in between. Liv and Cam each get their own POV, like a romance, but both of those are in first person, which is fairly common in urban fantasy. The next book in the series, Shadow Bound, will be told by a different set of characters, as is common in romance series, but all of the books are plot/worldbuilding-heavy. So I guess I'll let the readers classify the novel/series however they want, once the book is out.

So...opinions? Comments? Preferences? Questions?

P.S. Spell check isn't working today, so I apologize if I've missed any typos.

Meet Aimee Carter!

2011-05-02T10:19:00.007-05:00

This giveaway is now closed. Thanks to all who entered!

[Update: I completely forgot that this giveaway was supposed to be limited to US/Canadian residents, and since that was my mistake, I'm going to throw in a second copy of Aimee's debut, which I'll personally ship to one international winner. Of course, it won't be signed, unless you want me to sign her book. ;)]

It's been a while since I've had a guest on my blog, and I couldn't think of a better way to resurrect the idea than by inviting my fellow Harlequin Teen author Aimee Carter over for an interview. And Aimee has graciously agreed to give away a signed copy of her debut novel, The Goddess Test for one lucky commenter!

Rachel: Hi Aimee! Thanks so much for participating in my little interview! And for offering a prize!

Aimee: Hi Rachel! Thank you so much for having me!

Rachel: First of all, our mutual editor tells me your name is not pronounced like “Amy.” Could you please clear that up for me so I can stop making a fool of myself every time I mention you? ;)

Aimee: You’re not making a fool of yourself at all, don’t worry! Technically my name is pronounced “ah-MAY,” but so many people call me “Amy” that I don’t even think about it. So if you want to stick with “Amy,” that works for me!

Rachel: Thanks! Now on to the questions!

So, the Persephone myth! One of my favorites. Have you always been a fan of classical mythology? Do you have a favorite myth or deity?

Aimee: I’m a huge fan of classical mythology and have been since childhood. One of my favorite books when I was a kid was D’Aulaires’ Book of Greek Myths, and I used to pore through it again and again. The myth of Hades and Persephone always fascinated me, not necessarily because of what happened to Persephone, but because I wondered how lonely Hades must have been to have to force someone to marry him and keep him company. As I learned more about Hades – that he wasn’t the evil god that pop culture depicts him as, and that he really did love Persephone – I began to look at that myth in a different way. Hence The Goddess Test, which is really more of a sequel to the myth than a retelling, since it’s about Hades finding a new Queen of the Underworld after Persephone leaves him. As for favorite deities, I’d have to say Athena – she has brains, beauty, courage, and an independent streak a mile wide. Can’t beat that!

Rachel: Goddess Interrupted, the first sequel, is scheduled for February 2012, right? Are you continuing with the same myth in the sequel, or will you be updating another? Any hints? Have you seen the cover yet?

Aimee: Yep, Goddess Interrupted is scheduled for February 2012! The sequel incorporates several other myths, though none are strictly a retelling. They’re more like callbacks to the original myths. It’s hard to give hints without revealing the whole plot, but I will say that there are several new characters, including a few mentioned but not seen in the first novel, and their corresponding myths play a role. I’ve seen the first version of the cover, and it’s utterly gorgeous.

Rachel: Did you always envision this as a trilogy? Did you plot all three books at once?

Aimee: I originally wrote The Goddess Test as a standalone novel, actually, though I was aware that it could be extended into more books if it came to that. It was only after I signed with my agent that I really sat down and did a loose outline of the next two stories.

Rachel: Now for some quick, fun either/or questions about your taste in fiction:

Love triangle or one true love? – One true love! Though I can’t say no to a good love triangle.

Brooding, strong and silent type, or quick-witted funny man? – Brooding, strong and silent type, but only by a hair.

Paranormal, contemporary, historical, or some combination of the three? – I have an odd love for historical, but I will read anything that catches my attention regardless of genre.

Super strength or telepathy? – Telepathy.

The truth hurts, or the truth will set you free? – The truth will set you free while going at you with a meat tenderizer.

Rachel: And now let’s talk about writing/publishing:

The Goddess Test is your debut, right? What’s surprised you most about the publishing industry so far? –

Aimee: Definitely the amount of creative freedom I’ve been allowed so far. I don’t know if that’s a typical experience or not, but our mutual editor is so wonderful and so receptive to ideas, and the Harlequin Teen team is so respectful. Before all of this, I’d heard over and over again that once you sign with a publisher, you lose all control, but I’ve never once felt that way. And I’m extremely grateful for it.

Rachel: I have to agree, our editor is awesome, and I've experienced that same creative freedom! Is there any aspect of writing for publication that turned out to be exactly like you expected?

Aimee: I’d spent years hearing about how supportive writers are of one another, and I’ve made so many wonderful friends in the writing community so far. It’s really helped me feel like I’m a part of things, and while I’m a very little fish in a very big pond, it’s nice to be able to wave at the other fish and not feel like a fool.

Rachel: What’s your favorite part of the process? (plotting, rough draft, revisions, edits, etc…)

Aimee: It’s a tie between plotting and revising. I love the rush of first outlining an idea and seeing it turn into something tangible, and I absolutely adore revising and editing. For me, it’s a chance to correct the mistakes in earlier drafts and really make the story the best it can be, and I love the rush of pride that comes along with finishing those revisions. Of course, that’s completely shattered in the next round of edits, but it’s nice while it lasts. For me, the most difficult part about writing is the rough draft.

Rachel: Are you making any appearances for this first release? –

Aimee: I’ll be doing a signing in Lansing on June 2 with Leah Clifford, Lisa Desrochers, and Courtney Allison Moulton, and there is also at least one other appearance in the works around the beginning of August. I’ll be sure to post more on my site (http://www.aimeecarter.com/) when everything is confirmed.

Rachel: I hear you’ve sold a second trilogy to Harlequin Teen! Congratulations! Anything you can tell us about that? –

Aimee: Thank you so much! The first book is called Masked, and it’s a dystopian series set in a future America ruled by a rigid ranking system. It’s about an orphaned girl, Kitty, who is surgically altered to replace the Prime Minister’s assassinated niece. Unfortunately for Kitty, she must deal with the dead girl’s secret life, her fiancé, a growing rebellion and a kidnapped heir, along with the knowledge that the Prime Minister will kill to preserve his own secrets. It’s action-packed, and I’m extremely excited about it.

Rachel: Wow, that sounds awesome, and I love dystopian, so I'll probably be bugging our editor for an early copy. ;) Thanks so much for answering my questions!

Aimee: Thank you so much for having me, Rachel!

-----

Now, readers, if you're interested in a signed copy of The Goddess Test, leave Aimee a comment here telling her which is your favorite mythological (it doesn't have to be Greek)diety/myth/concept/human character, etc... Or, if you're unfamiliar with mythology, just tell Aimee how awesome her hair looks in her official author photo.

I'll draw a winner at random on Friday and will announce the winner's name here.

Please note: You MUST check back in on Friday to see if you've won and claim your prize.

By popular demand...

2011-04-30T18:16:00.003-05:00

Several people have asked me to post the Soul Screamers character Q&A, so here it is, cross-posted and compiled from Facebook:

(Please note: I am not currently answering any more questions from the characters' points of view. I may do more later, but I'm done for now.)

Warning: the following Q&A contains spoilers from both My Soul To Keep and My Soul To Steal. Proceed at your own risk.

Q: Levi, How did you become a reaper?
Levi: I died.

Q: Brenden, will you ever tell Sophie how her mom died?
Brendon: I hope Sophie never finds out what really happened. She deserves better than that.

Q: Kaylee, Will you ever be able to forgive your dad completely?
Kalyee: For leaving? I already have. For family dinner Sundays? The jury's still out.

Q: Sabine, if [...] this whole situation were different, do you think that you might even like [Kaylee]?
Sabine: She's alive, isn't she?

Q: Nash, how much would you give to get [your memories of Kaylee] back?
Nash: I would give anything to get them back.
Tod: Too bad that's not an option...

Q: Tod, will you ever tell nash [how you really died]?
Tod: There are many things I'd like to say to Nash but that isn't on the list.

Q: Sabine, what brought you to the high school that Nash and Kaylee goes to?
Sabine: I brought me there. You think I'd sit around and wait for that to happen on its own? Haven't you been paying attention?

Q: Harmony, do you blame Kaylee for Nash's addiction?
Harmony: No. I think there's enough blame to go around on that one, and I certainly bear my share. But pointing fingers helps nothing.

Q: Nash, if you could go back in time, what would you change and why?
Nash: I wouldn't inhale.

The best laid plans

2011-04-28T15:36:00.007-05:00

Alternate title: Rachel Underestimates the Internet. Again.

So, the plan was to reveal the cover for If I Die in the middle of May. But because the universe likes to keep us on our toes (and the Internet likes to see me fall on my face, evidently), the BEA book catalogue beat us to the punch. And we weren't the only ones caught unaware. ;)

But, it's hard to be upset over something so exciting, so (cue drum roll...) I give you the final cover of If I Die, which was just emailed to me an hour ago:

Click on the image for a larger view. And please, if you like it, let me know, and let the folks at HQTeen know. They'll be posting it shortly. We really value opinions, especially from readers, and those help shape the direction of future covers. ;)

Playing Catch-up again...

2011-04-28T10:49:00.006-05:00

Sorry for the recent blog drought. As usual, I'm kind of swamped with deadlines (fortunately) and it's become so much easier to do a quick Twitter or Facebook update than to sit down and compose a longer blog entry, especially when Blogger is so often a pain to work with. (A couple of weeks ago, Blogger was stripping all the hard returns from my posts, which was infuriating and time consuming.)

Also, I haven't really had much news lately. But today it occurred to me that the little bits of news sometimes add up. So here's a rundown of what's coming up:

Next month, I'll be at Book Expo America in NYC and my editor tells me that in addition to signing ARCs of If I Die (which I've known for a while), I'll also be signing ARCs of Blood Bound. I'm very, very excited about this, and more than a little nervous. It's a new series, and it's very different from either my Shifters or my Soul Screamers worlds, and as eager as I am to be putting something new out into the world, I know that there are going to be people who like the Shifters series better (Soul Screamers is YA, and thus a completely different beast, IMO). It's already found its fans, and that's as it should be. But I'm hoping that the Unbound series will be able to stand on its own too, with both new and existing readers.

For those who have been asking about the new covers, I still don't have a final version of either the If I Die or Blood Bound covers, but I'm told that HQTeen will be showing off the If I Die cover around the middle of next month, in advance of the signings at BEA. I have seen the art (though not the final cover) and it is undeniably beautiful.

I have no idea when I'll be able to share the Blood Bound cover. But you'll see it as soon as I have permission. ;)

And now for some International release news:

The covers for the German translation of the Soul Screamers series are up, and the books are up for preorder from Amazon and straight from the publisher. I really love the British cover art, which the German editions are also using. Also, I love that the books are numbered in Germany. I get LOTS of questions in the US about what order the books should be read in.

Also, Rogue is up for pre-order in Sweden, Finland, and Norway. And My Soul To Steal (La rose et l'ombre, "The Rose and the Shadow") is up for preorder in France, but I haven't seen a cover for that one yet either.

If you're still with me after such a long post, check back in soon for an interview with and giveaway from HQTeen debut author Aimee Carter!

Character Q&A (and a winner)

2011-04-20T09:07:00.002-05:00

And...once again I forgot to post the winner of last week's International Edition Giveaway. So here's the winner, better late than never:

Orlandovacationchef, whose comment began, "I met Brent Weeks, author of The Night Angle Trillogy and Black Prism when he came to Orlando to do a book signing. "

Orlando, please email me (rachelkvincentATgmailDOTcom) with your real name and shipping information and the book you've chosen from this list, and I'll put your prize in the mail, along with several others I still owe people.

Since it's already the middle of the week and this entry is already destined to be long, I'm not going to host an International Edition Giveaway this week, but they will resume next week, so check back then for another chance to win.

Yesterday I didn't want to blog about the same old stuff (completely forgot I had a winner to announce) so instead, I did a character Q&A on Facebook. I know those of you not on Facebook were left out, and I'm sorry about that, but the Q&A was impromptu, so no one really had much notice. And for those who missed it, I'm going to post the questions I chose and the answers from the Shifters characters below.

The Soul Screamers Q&A is still going, in case anyone not on Facebook wants to submit a question. You can leave them here, or in the original Facebook note. Here's how to play:

You may ask any of the Soul Screamers characters a question in the comments and I'll pick one per character to answer, later today. Unless we get more than one really awesome question for a specific character, in which case, I reserve the right to answer more than one.

Rules:

1. You must address the characters directly.
2. It won't do any good to ask them about something that hasn't happened yet in the Soul Screamers world, because none of them can see the future. Except maybe Avari. But he doesn't answer questions for free, unless your question highly amuses him, so good luck with that one.
3. No X rated questions.

And, here's the spoiler warning:

BOTH THE COMMENTS IN AND THE CONTENT OF THIS POST (BELOW THIS POINT) CONTAIN MAJOR SPOILERS FOR THE SHIFTERS AND SOUL SCREAMERS SERIES. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK.

Here are the questions the Shifters characters answered on Facebook yesterday:

Q: Faythe, who's the best kisser, Marc or Jace? I'd rather ask who's best on another level but I don't think I can say that here lol

Jace: How 'bout I answer that one...

-----

Q: Michael, it is possible you could "infect" your wife [...] it seems an option so you could have children. Has that occured to either of you?

Michael: I would NEVER intentionally infect Holly. Ever.

-----

Q: Kaci are you gunning for a chance at jace now?? You know 18 is not toooooooo far away ;)

Kaci: I'm spending spring break with his Pride. And I don't have to be 18. Faythe was only 16 when she and Marc first--

Faythe. Eighteen! You have to be eighteen.

Marc: Thirty.

-----

Q: Manx when will u say yes and marry Owen and how is baby DES??

Manx: I cannot answer a question that has not been asked. But I think he will ask. And then, I will answer.

Des is healthy and beautiful. He is sitting up now. And pulling hair. He smiles when Owen talks to him.

-----

Q: Marc, is there any part of you that is still not over the Faythe-Jace thing?

Marc: I wake up with her every morning. That's all that matters now.

-----

Q: Jace, is there really any point in asking about the colour of your underwear when it's more likely you aren't wearing any?

Jace: You're right. That would be a pointless question. ;)

-----

Q: Owen, plan on popping the question to Manx anytime in the near future? We're all dying for a wedding...

Owen: Great! Now she's going to think it was *your* idea!

-----

Q: Karen, you said your husband was your true love. If you you had the chance to be with your Live Wire again would you?

Karen: My live wire is still with his true love, and I wouldn't come between them for anything. Even if that were not true, I would rather live with Greg's memory than with anyone else in the world. I am where I belong, in the home he built, with the family we raised.

-----

Q: Faythe, do you have any regrets?

Faythe: Of course. I regret keeping secrets. I regret hurting people I love. I regret not killing Dean when I first had the chance. My dad was right about that. But changing anything I did then would mean potentially losing everything I have now.

Memory is bittersweet. Regrets and what-ifs are pointless. I look forward. And I keep walking.

In the middle of the night...

2011-04-12T10:20:00.004-05:00

Last night, I stayed up too late and when I went to bed, instead of succumbing to sleep, my mind started writing a story. Something completely unconnected to anything I've written before. It was really weird. The lines just started playing in my head, along with the images. So I decided I'd better write them down.

At one am, I got up and connected my Mac keyboard to my iPad, so I wouldn't have to fire up my computer. (One advantage of my iPad is that it's instantly there and ready to go.) Exactly an hour later, I had exactly 2000 words. Again, it was really weird.

I was so tired while I was writing that one of the characters evidently named herself after a minor from Fallout 3.

I have no idea if this story will go anywhere. Goodness knows I don't have time for another novel right now. So maybe it'll be a short story. Not that I have time for that either, unless I'm willing to give up an hour of sleep in the middle of every night. But at least for that hour, I was kind of obsessed by this idea, this girl, and the incredibly tough choice she's facing. So maybe we'll meet again, this middle-of-the-night story and I. Or maybe not.

--------------------------

I've been promising this week's International Edition Giveaway for two weeks now, so this is me finally living up to my word! To enter this week's giveaway, leave me a comment telling me who the last author you met in person was, or which author you'd most like to meet, if you've never met one. (I've always wanted to meet Stephen King, but I'm fairly sure I'd make a total fool of myself!) One comment will be chosen at random and the winner will be announced on Monday. You must check back here 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 (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.)

Also, next week I will have a different kind of giveaway. I have a couple of Enthralled ARCs and books signed by Kelley Armstrong and Melissa Marr from RT last week!

Back from LA!

2011-04-11T11:36:00.005-05:00

I'm back, after nearly a week in LA for the 2011 Romantic Times Booklover's Convention! I had such a great week! I spoke on panels, signed books, participated in the Teen Day speed dating and speed reading, then ended this year's convention at the Teen Day party, where a couple hundred readers were given bags full of books, as well as the opportunity to wander around the room and get most of those books signed on the spot. Teen Day was a huge success, and I hope it happens again next year. ;)

But as much fun as all that official stuff is, I always look forward to conference/convention season for the opportunity to get caught up with a bunch of friends I rarely see in person. And inevitably, I meet someone new! This year, I got to hang out with a bunch of people I met on last year's Smart Chicks tour, as well as many, many fellow authors I already knew. I also got to put some faces to several Facebook/Twitter friends for whom I only knew screen names before.

There were lots of high heels, lots of coffee, several group dinners, and lots of familiar faces. I got to hear excerpts read aloud from Holly Black, Carrie Ryan, Anne Aguirre, Rosemary Clement Moore, Jennifer Lynne Barnes, Cassandra Clare, and Sarah Rees Brennan, all of which were awesome. That was one of the highlights for me--hearing the authors read their own work. (I also read from IF I DIE.)

I took home lots of books, including some signed by Kelley Armstrong and Melissa Marr, which I'll be giving away here soon. I also wound up with several ARCs of the ENTHRALLED anthology, but I was too distracted to actually get it signed by the 11 authors who were actually at RT this year, though I signed half a dozen of them myself.

I also forgot to take pictures. I think I took, maybe...two the entire time. And those were on my phone.

Anyway, I'll be posting this week's contest here tomorrow, but in closing my RT recap, I have to say that I am constantly and repeatedly awed by what an amazingly open and inclusive writing community I am blessed to have found. Particularly the YA community, which was heartily represented at this year's RT. (There was an unfortunate shortage of adult urban fantasy authors this year, for the most part, though I did see several I know or recognize, and many who write both YA and adult.) Every time I turned around, there was another smiling face or a friendly voice calling my name. Thank you so much, to everyone who kept me company!

In other news, I'm told after the fact that there were, in fact, IF I DIE bookmarks in the Teen Day giveaway bags, but that the cover they show is not the final version. That's the cover that is on the ARCs (I'll be signing them at BEA next month in NYC) and I'm hoping not to find it online before the official reveal, which should be coming up in the next few weeks. ;)

Romantic Times 2011

2011-04-04T07:52:00.006-05:00

Tomorrow, I leave for L.A. Am I ready? Not even close. But I have compiled my schedule. Here's where I'll be next week, and what I'll be doing.

(And for your convenience, here's the master schedule for Teen Day and the Teen Day Facebook page!)

URBAN FANTASY: Worldbuilding in Urban Fantasy
Date: Wed, April 6, 2011
Time: 01:00 pm - 02:00 pm

Bestselling urban fantasy authors discuss designing characters/creatures, new directions in urban fantasy, research and how to build and manage the details of fantasy worlds that will sustain a series and draw readers in!

Captain: Richelle Mead
Moderator: Jackie Morse Kessler
Panelists: Kelley Armstrong, P.N. Elrod, Rachel Vincent, Jaye Wells

YOUNG ADULT: The Never-Ending Story: YA Series and Sequels
Date: Wed, April 6, 2011
Time: 04:45 pm - 05:45 pm

Successful series dominate the YA market, but selling and writing a series comes with a unique set of challenges. Join four bestselling series writers as they talk about the appeal of series to a teen audience — and how to keep readers coming back, book after book, without losing your sanity somewhere along the way.

Moderator: Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Panelists: Melissa de la Cruz, Stacey Kade, Carrie Ryan, Rachel Vincent

Giant Book Fair
Date: Saturday, April 9, 2011
Time: 11am-2pm

I believe I'll be signing Alpha and My Soul To Steal, and whatever anyone else brings me to sign, of course.

TEEN DAY
Date: Saturday, April 9, 2011

2:30-3:30 AUTHOR SPEED-DATING (Session 1) Lightning fast rounds of small-group conversation with some of our phenomenal Young Adult authors. NOTE: Sign-ups required. Seating is limited.

AUTHORS: Richelle Mead, Alyson Noel, Ally Carter, Rachel Vincent, Margaret Stohl, Mari Mancusi, Simone Elkeles, Colleen Houck, Nikki Carter, Jennifer Lynn Barnes

3:45-4:45 pm AUTHOR SPEED-READING (Session 2) Meet more authors in this continuation of Author Speed Reading with a host of Young Adult authors will read very short excerpts from their latest and future books in these timed YA fiction readings.

AUTHORS: Sarah Rees Brennan, Holly Black, Cassie Clare, Ann Aguirre, Carrie Ryan, Rosemary Clement-Moore, Jennifer Lynn Barnes, Kristi Cooke, Kim Derting, Rachel Vincent

6:00-7:30 pm TEEN PARTY A lively, fun Teen Party will follow the sessions and lots of giveaways are planned. At the party you’ll meet YA panelists as well as all of the YA authors who signed at the book fair. FREE Gift Bags filled with goodies to the the first 250 TEENS who register as well as music and refreshments! Swag Bags will only be given out to adults if there are any left after ALL THE TEENS HAVE RECEIVED THEIRS.

Heading to LA!

2011-04-01T10:05:00.005-05:00

Yes, I forgot to post this week's giveaway. I'm sorry. I'm made of fail this week. I'm still sick, plotting multiple books, and getting read for RT next week. Speaking of which...

For most of next week, I'll be at the Romantic Times Booklovers Convention in Los Angeles. If you're in the area and would like to meet hundreds of authors in one place, the mass book signing on Saturday is open to the public for just $5.00.

And, for the first time ever, after the signing is Teen Day! I'm so incredibly excited about this, and all the awesome authors who will be there. There will be workshops, and readings, and a couple of rounds of author "speed-dating," which is always fun.

Attendance is $25 dollars, and you can buy your ticket at the event. And the first 250 teens who enter will get a bag full of books!

So, since I'll be gone next week, we'll resume the international copy giveaways when I get back, I promise. And hopefully I'll be done with this awful cough/cold/plague by then.

Netherworld cupcake (+giveaway!)

2011-03-31T14:22:00.001-05:00

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!

2011-03-28T09:57:00.003-05:00

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?

2011-03-25T11:40:00.001-05:00

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

Enthralled antho!

2011-03-22T09:50:00.003-05:00

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

2011-03-21T10:11:00.007-05:00

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)

(Late) Weekly giveaway!

2011-03-09T09:02:00.003-06:00

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?

2011-03-03T08:07:00.003-06:00

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.

Decide which cover you like best, and vote in the poll on the right.
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...

2011-03-02T12:29:00.003-06:00

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)

2011-03-01T09:20:00.003-06:00

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!

Pre-orders and a winner

2011-02-28T13:46:00.004-06:00

I have the winner from last week's giveaway and the new giveaway is posted below, but first, look! BLOOD BOUND is up for preorder at Amazon! There's no cover or description yet, but this is the book!

It's also at B&N!

Blood Bound will be my eleventh novel to hit the shelf, and this part never gets old. ;)

Okay, now for what you really want to hear...

The winner of last week's International Copies Giveaway, selected by random number generator, is:

Crystal Maki who wrote, "Last week I read iron Witch, Secrets and Shadows (13 to life 2) Out for Blood and Unearthly."

Crystal, please email me (rachelATrachelvincentDOTcom) with your shipping information and the book you'd like from the list below, and I'll put your prize in the mail.

This week's giveaway will run through the weekend, and again, the winner will be announced on Monday. To enter, leave me a comment telling me how you feel about cliffhangers at the end of a book (NOT at the end of a series). Love 'em or hate 'em? And if you hate them, don't they still bring you back for the next book?

Giveaway rules… One entry per person You MUST check back in on Mondays to see if you’ve won. I don’t have time to track down winners, so they’ll have to claim their own prizes. If you don’t claim your prize by the following Friday, you’ve missed your shot and your book goes back into the pot. Open to international entries, of course. Each book will be signed by me. (Or someone cooler, if I can make that happen) Here’s the list of prizes you can choose from:

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)
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)

Don't tell me what I already know...

2011-02-22T08:28:00.004-06:00

As promised, today I have a craft post. But first...

Disclaimer: I am not an expert; I make no such claim. You are free to disagree with me now, as always. Your disagreement invalidates neither of our opinions. The following is my opinion about a writing technique that doesn’t work for me.

I am a writer. I’ve been doing this professionally for several years now. My first novel (Stray)sold in 2006 and came out in 2007. In the years between, it’s become very difficult for me to take off my “writer’s hat” and read books for pleasure, because I now see the technique behind the story. I see plot devices, contrived events, character archetypes (and often stereotypes), faulty grammar, and sometimes just plain awkward phrasing.

Have I done some of that myself?

I’ve done ALL of that myself, at one point or another. I'm probably still doing some of it--it's much easier to catch these things in other people's writing than in your own. My flaws have been pointed out to me. A lot. Which is probably why I see them so easily now in other things I read. And, like most writers, I have pet peeves. Does that mean I hate authors/books that utilize my pet peeves? Of course not. Sometimes I realize I've used my own writing pet peeves, and that gets on my nerves far worse than when someone else does it.

Today I’m going to talk about one of my worst writing pet peeves. There’s probably a technical name for it, but if so, I’m unaware of it.

[Confession: I’m not a trained writer. I have a BA in English and I taught high school English for a short while after college, but I took no writing courses in high school or college, beyond the required freshman level composition classes. I didn’t even take technical writing. (I was afraid I’d die of boredom or come to hate writing.) The VAST majority of both my major courses and my electives were lit classes. Well, that, and philosophy and women’s studies classes. Yes, I was one of THOSE students. ;) But the point is that what I know about writing, I’ve learned from the generous help of an awesome mentor when I was first starting out, and from experience. Trial and error. The patience of my editor, who probably used an entire package of red pens on the ROGUE manuscript, teaching me to tighten my prose. THANK YOU, MARY-THERESA!]

That said, today’s writing pet peeve is: The character who explains stuff to a character who already knows this stuff, just so the writer can get information across to the readers. (This happens in movies all the time too, and in fact, this post was prompted by a movie I saw this weekend.) Sometimes it goes something like this...

“Bob, as you know, Immortal Remains is the world’s premier slain-vampire-dust
collection company in the world. We were established in the year 1286, in a
small Hungarian village that was first overrun by vampires, then by vampire
hunters, until it was nearly buried by the dust of the dead, prompting the
Lightbright brothers to offer their disposal services to the world in an
historic attempt to combine selfless good deeds with the concept of a free
market economy. As you well know.”

Sometimes, it’s a little more subtle than that. But the point is that there is almost never a good reason for one character to tell another something s/he already knows. This is just plain lazy writing. (I know, I’ve done it too.)

So, how can a writer get background information across to the reader? There are many ways, but one of the most common (and the most effective, when done well, IMO) shows these scenes through the eyes of a character unfamiliar with the world. That way, as this character learns about the world around him or her, so will the reader. And it doesn’t have to (and in fact, shouldn’t) come all in one long speech/lecture, like the made-up illustration above. No matter how it’s delivered, backstory (and world building) should be spread throughout the story, not throw in like one great blood clot of information, guaranteed to halt the flow of the plot.

Also, especially in stories told in first person, the narrator can just come out and state things in the narration. Not large blocks of information, but short, straightforward bits are fine. Like this.

“Make sure you clean your nozzle, rookie,” Mina said, then flounced off with her
skirts raised an inch off the sooty ground, leaving me standing in a pile of
recently-dead vampire. Mina Harker was the most experienced vamp dust vaccumer in the industry, and I’d hated her for as long as I’d known her.

See? We know Mina’s position in the industry, and that the narrator hates her. And no one had to tell anyone something s/he already knew.

Okay, that’s it for now. I’m off to practice what I preach. ;)

Weekly giveaway

2011-02-21T13:31:00.004-06:00

The winner of last week's International copies giveaway, selected by random number generator, is:

Victoria, who wrote: "Not doing anything today. Yesterday hubs took me out for a bite to eat - lots of chocolate was involved :)."

Victoria, please email me (rachelATrachelvincentDOTcom) with your shipping information and the book you'd like from the list below, and I'll put your prize in the mail. I have several other things to mail out too, so if you've sent me a book to be signed or I still owe you a prize, it'll go out tomorrow.

This week's giveaway will run through the weekend, and again, the winner will be announced on Monday. To enter, leave me a comment telling me the last book you read, or your current read.

Giveaway rules…
One entry per person
You MUST check back in on Mondays to see if you’ve won. I don’t have time to track down winners, so they’ll have to claim their own prizes. If you don’t claim your prize by the following Friday, you’ve missed your shot and your book goes back into the pot.
Open to international entries, of course.
Each book will be signed by me. (Or someone cooler, if I can make that happen)

Here’s the list of prizes you can choose from:

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)
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)

Reminders

2011-02-17T09:26:00.003-06:00

Yesterday I posted the first sizable excerpt from BLOOD BOUND at the Deadline Dames site. Click here to read it. The book isn't up for pre-order yet, but it should be soon. The book is scheduled to be released September 1, 2011 in the US. I have no information on possible foreign releases yet.

Also, if you haven't yet entered, there's still two days left to enter this week's giveaway. Click here for details, including a list of what you could win.

Okay, that's it for today. I'm going back to work!

Where I'll be in 2011

2011-02-15T09:39:00.003-06:00

First, I found out yesterday that Alpha is a finalist in the Australian Romance Readers Awards, in the "Favourite Sci-Fi, Urban Fantasy or Futuristic Romance" category. I'm so thrilled for the nomination, and tickled to be included in such fantastic company, including that of my own fellow Deadline Dame Keri Arthur, an Aussie herself.

Also, did I mention how tough the competition is? Take a look.

And since it's nearly spring (at least, it feels like it here in San Antonio) and things are starting to fall into place, here's where I know I'll be traveling this year:

I will be in LA for the Romantic Times Booklover's Convention the second week in April of this year. This will be my seventh time at RT, and it may be my last for a while. I'll be on two panels this year, one on the Urban Fantasy track and one on the YA track, and I'll be participating in the very first Teen Day, which will be Saturday, April 9, after the mass signing.

Information for Teen Day:

Special Saturday Teen Day Pass (11:00am to 7:00pm)
$25.00 for Adults (for Book Fair, Workshops, and party)
$25.00 for a Teen PLUS one adult (for Book Fair, Workshops, and party)
If a teen comes with 2 adults then charge the 2nd adult 15.00

• 11am-2pm—Book Fair
• 2:30-5:30pm —workshops
• 5:45-7pm— Party

There will be workshops, Speed Reading, Speed Dating, & the party.

Note: if you're in the area, the mass signing is open to the public and you can attend just the signing (HUNDREDS of authors--both adult and YA--will be in attendance) for a small fee, without having to pay for the entire convention. I highly recommend it.

Also, it looks like I'll be at Book Expo America in NYC this May, signing both Alpha and ARCs of If I Die at the Harlequin booth, on Tuesday, May 24. It'll be a short, whirlwind trip to New York, but as always, I'm looking forward to it. Especially considering that THERE WILL BE ARCS OF IF I DIE!!! Four months early!

So far, that's all the travel news/plans I have for this year, though it's possible I may decide to go to RWA National in NYC, in early July. If so, I'll update that information here and on the Appearances page on my website.

My Zombie Valentine (+ giveaway)

2011-02-14T09:15:00.004-06:00

Look what #1 made for me!!!

This’ll make a lot more sense if you go read my guest post on the Borders True Romance blog this morning. Leave me a comment there telling me what you’re doing for Valentine’s Day (or anti-Valentine’s day) for a chance to win a signed copy of Alpha. But stay tuned here, too, because there’s another giveaway in this post.

So, in ~~trying to find my desk~~ glancing around my office, I couldn’t help but notice that foreign editions of my books are starting to take the place over. And in glancing around my blog, I noticed that I haven’t done a giveaway in a while. My solution to both problems is to throw them both together.

From now on (until I run out of foreign editions) I will be hosting a giveaway on my blog every week. The prize will be the winner’s choice of the remaining foreign editions from the list below. The giveaway will run from Monday through Friday of that same week, and a winner will be drawn on Friday and announced the following Monday, along with the new giveaway.
To enter, you’ll have to leave a comment in the post. Sometimes there will be a question to answer. Sometimes not. My blog; my rules.

Speaking of rules…

One entry per person
You MUST check back in on Mondays to see if you’ve won. I don’t have time to track down winners, so they’ll have to claim their own prizes. If you don’t claim your prize by the following Friday, you’ve missed your shot and your book goes back into the pot.
Open to international entries, of course.
Each book will be signed by me. (Or someone cooler, if I can make that happen)

For the first weekly giveaway, here’s the list of prizes you can choose from:

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)
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)

Obviously, this list will change as prizes are chosen. It will also expand, as I receive new foreign editions. (I’m expecting copies of various books from the UK, France, Italy, Germany, Turkey, Finland, Sweden, Norway, and Australia)

To enter this first weekly giveaway, tell me what you’re doing for Valentine’s Day this year. Or what you’re not doing. (Keep it clean, please.) Also, go enter the giveaway at the Borders True Romance blog for a chance to win a signed copy of Alpha as well!

Rachel, on plotting

2011-02-11T11:42:00.002-06:00

Today, I am plotting. For me, this is the hard part. Okay, very little about writing for publication is easy, but for me, the story is almost always the hardest part, which is why I'm always surprised to hear from someone telling me that plotting is my strength. And yes, this has actually happened. Multiple times.

To be fair to myself, I think I've gotten better at plotting since I started. Part of that is due to the fact that I'm no longer writing Shifters stories. I love that so many people liked Faythe and/or her world/family, but honestly, in my attempt to keep her world from straying (Ha! A pun!) into the too-familiar territory of vampires, witches, and werewolves, I actually limited my own options. There are only so many fight-the-power stories I can write, when that power never changes. In short, Faythe's world was pretty limiting for me. Claustrophobic, at times, at least in regard to story lines.

The Soul Screamers world, however, is wide open. There are so many kinds of creatures (still no vamps, witches, or werewolves) that I feel like I could easily take plots in any of about a million different directions. And, of course, Kaylee's world is actually two worlds: ours, and the Netherworld. Endless combinations of scary/creepy/funny/sad/exciting. It's like a plot buffet. And I'm kinda...starved. ;)

The Unbound world, so far, is completely different than anything I've ever written. On the surface, it seems a little confining in that it has no creatures at all, and no alternate hell dimension. But the deeper I dig into that world and into the characters' backgrounds, the more I uncover. The more I discover to write about.

For me, plotting is like playing a giant game of connect the dots--only you have to make up the dots. Those dots can be anything. A cool world-building concept, a character attribute, or even a single word. Yesterday, I spent about an hour in various online dictionaries, thesauri, and reverse dictionaries, studying the etymology of words I'd considered using to define a new concept. And in that hour of building and deconstructing words, I uncovered several more dots I hadn't even known I was missing. They fit so well, it was like they were always supposed to be there. Like I'd subconsciously left blank spots for them, knowing my conscious mind would eventually stumble over the right ideas.

But again, ideas do not a plot make. The plot comes in when you figure out how to piece those dots (ideas) together. It's about connecting concepts in a rational (yet hopefully unpredictable) way.

That's been one of my goals over the last few books (the most recent two of which aren't out yet). Unpredictability, without stomping all over reader/genre expectation. I think it's going well. But I won't know for sure until next year, when my latest efforts have hit the shelf and reviewers have had a chance to point out all my brand new mistakes. ;)

But for now, plotting continues to be both a frustrating and rewarding process. So far, anyway.

It may be time for some new Post-its...

Did you see?

2011-02-03T13:31:00.003-06:00

In case you missed it, yesterday I posted the (unofficial) plot summary for IF I DIE at the Deadline Dames. The release date is October 1 in the US and Canada, and I'll be posting the blurb and a placeholder cover on my website soon. Because people are starting to ask.

People are also starting to ask variations of another certain question about IF I DIE, and all I can say is that you people have a one-track mind! Wait for the book! ;)

I got my revision letter for IF I DIE last Friday and I spoke to my editor about the edits yesterday, so to day I officially start the revisions, and I'm SO excited. This was such a fun/traumatizing book for me. I've reread it twice since turning it in (something I NEVER do) and I'm still delighted with it. I hope readers will be too. ;)

More pretties!

2011-02-01T07:48:00.005-06:00

Okay, how pretty is the UK cover for My Soul to Steal? (Thanks to Natashya for tracking it down, and to Jenny for sending it!)

I swear, it feels like I'm finding new international covers almost daily lately, but I think this may be my favorite one so far. (I think it's out in July.) I love how well it fits with the other UK covers and how the colors still coordinate with the US covers. I'm not sure why there's a butterfly (other than that it's pretty) but I must admit that I'm now tempted to write some kind of deadly butterfly creature into the Netherworld, just so I can fully claim this image as MINE! ;)

Thanks, Mira Ink, it's gorgeous!!!

FYI, here are the other UK covers:

Also, I now have confirmation (thanks again, Natashya!) that the Soul Screamers books will be coming out in Germany starting with MSTTake this October (2011) and it looks like they'll be using the UK cover art. So, yay Germany! MSTTake will be my first German release. ;)

And, I found this online yesterday when I was ~~wasting time~~ taking a break from the BLOOD BOUND revisions (due today!) It's the Italian cover for Pride (Graffio sulla pelle), out Feb 25, 2011.

Soul Screamers bonus content

2011-01-31T07:55:00.003-06:00

Today, I'm up early to finish revisions on BLOOD BOUND (the new adult book), which are due by EOB today. On Friday, I got revisions for IF I DIE. When it rains, it... you know. ;)

The good news is that the revisions on IF I DIE look pretty simple. A new opener with a better hook, some clarification/explanation on the climactic chapters, and an expanded ending. Evidently I left a little too much of a cliffhanger. But my editor's reactions to certain events in the book are very...encouraging. This book is a game changer (I know I keep saying that, but it's still true!) for nearly every character in the series.

Are some people going to be mad? Probably. Are some people going to be happy? Definitely. Am I going to get more of that mail that reads, "I laughed/cried/covered my eyes/threw the book/yelled at people who aren't real!" Almost certainly.

Comments from my editor, in the margins of IF I DIE:

"Wow, Sabine's dialogue must be fun to write!"
"I've wanted to see this for a long time!"
"Wow! Wasn't expecting that..."
"So very cool!"
"Awww! Heartbreaking!"
"I'm tearing up!"
"Definitely creepy..."

In case you can't tell, I'm having SO much fun with the Soul Screamers books, and IF I DIE may be the funniest, saddest, most shocking one yet. IMO. ;)

And yes, I'll post the back cover blurb as soon as I'm sure it's final.

On another topic, #1's been working on my website a bit this weekend, and on Saturday he posted something pretty awesome on the extras page. It's a flash-run version of the Netherworld Survival Guide (penned by Alec during his time in the Netherworld) that was printed as bonus content in the back of the UK edition of MSTTake. Click the small image on my home page, and you'll be directed to the guide. It may take a minute to load.

Once it's loaded (it'll look like a file folder), click and drag the center of the folder to open it. The corners of the pages will curl when you hover over them. Again, click and drag to flip the pages. Careful, though. They can be ripped out. If you accidentally "drop" a sheet, reload the page and you should be good to go.

Cool, huh?

Chicks Kick Butt antho (& more)

2011-01-27T09:37:00.004-06:00

My books continue to be way better traveled than I am! It looks like Stray will soon be out in Sweden, Finland, and Norway, all with the same cover art (a different crop of the art from the US/UK Alpha).

There are also rumors that My Soul To Take will be out in Germany soon as "Mit ganzer Seele," but I have yet to confirm that one, beyond the Twitterverse and Amazon.de. Either way, I find this one fascinating, and a little embarrassing. Tod means "death" in German. I knew that when I wrote the books. That's why I picked his name. But I never thought the books would actually get translated into German. I wonder how weird that will be for those who read it in German?

Also, yesterday Tor unveiled the cover for Chicks Kick Butt! My Abby/Shifters short story is in this one, along with an amazing lineup of other authors/stories. Here's the cover and official blurb:

CHICKS KICK BUTT edited by Kerrie Hughes & Rachel Caine ...(6/11 Tor)

Chicks are awesome & never more so than when they are kicking some serious vampire/werewolf/demon/monster butt. Chicks Kick Butt is an anthology that features one of the best things about the urban fantasy genre--strong, independent, and intelligent heroines who are quite capable of solving their own problems, and slaying their own dragons (or demons, as the case may be).

New stories from Rachel Caine, L.A. Banks, Rachel Vincent, Karen Chance, Lilith Saintcrow, Cheyenne McCray, Susan Krinard, Jeanne Stein, Jenna Black, Elizabeth Vaughan, Carole Nelson, Douglas, P.N. Elrod, Nancy Holder

And...yesterday I spoke to students at O'Connor High School in Helotes, Tx (practically in my backyard) and had a wonderful time. These kids are smart, funny, curious, and enthusiastic. They remind me why I wanted to write for teens in the first place. Their librarian Sheryl is now officially one of my favorite people ever, and that has nothing to do with the gorgeous cake she had made, or the posters, or the giveaways, or the crowd she pulled in, including English teachers and even a couple of parents.

Okay, it has to do with all of that. Thanks Sheryl, and O'Connor, for making my first school visit an event to remember!

FAQ (with foreign release trivia)

2011-01-24T08:37:00.003-06:00

January was going to be my vacation month. I was going to do nothing but read for pleasure, watch Netflix, and fiddle around with this new idea in a non-deadline-y, non-stressful way. I was going to sleep in, go beg my hairdresser to do something with my hair, and maybe try out the new mixer I got for Christmas.

Guess what didn't happen.

To be fair, I did finish all four seasons of Prison Break (LOVED the first, was bored by the fourth), attain hard-level skills on the Rock Band keyboard, start learning the pro keyboard, and make it to level 20 in Fallout New Vegas (#1 and I share a character). And I have been working on this new idea. But for all practical purposes, my vacation ended when I started edits on BLOOD BOUND last week.

So, now I'm doing revisions on BLOOD BOUND, critiquing for my CP, working on the new idea, and plotting out the sequel to BLOOD BOUND. I'm starting to feel busy again, which is nice. Still, something must be done about my hair. ;)

Also, I've been answering questions. Tons of them, on Facebook, Formspring, and Twitter. I mostly get release-info questions on Facebook, plot-related questions on Formspring, and ... well, everything on Twitter. I don't mind answering questions. In fact, I like it. It makes me feel interesting and loved. But if you don't mind maybe glancing through what I've already answered before asking your question, that would be awesome. On Blogger, you can just choose the Q&A category from the list on the right. On Formspring, just scroll down (but beware of spoilers).

And, finally, here are a few of the most common questions I've been getting lately, for your convenience. ;)

Is IF I DIE going to be the last Soul Screamers book? I don't know. It's the last one I'm currently contracted for. It's an open ended series, so I could totally write more, but that all depends on sales. The end of IF I DIE is... well, it's the biggest, most shocking thing that's happened in the Soul Screamers world so far. I wrote it so that, if need be, I can end the series there. Or, if I get a chance to write more, the series can take off in a whole new direction.

When can we see the cover for BLOOD BOUND/IF I DIE? Sometime after I see them. Neither book has a cover yet. I have seen a cover concept (a mockup of the general idea) for BLOOD BOUND but it's made with stock images and still has one of the previous titles ideas. So it's no where near final.

When will [insert book title here] be available in my country? Again, I don't know. The publishing industry is a very large, complicated beast, and every writer's/book's journey is different. In my case specifically (this won't hold true for most other authors), both Mira Books (the adult imprint I write for) and Harlequin Teen are divisions of Harlequin, and when we sold my books to Harlequin, we sold them what's known as world rights.

What that means is that Harlequin has the right to publish (or not publish) or to sell (or not sell) my books in any other country in the world. Harlequin is huge. It has divisions in many other countries (UK, France, the Netherlands, Turkey, etc...) so some of my books will be out by Harlequin in places where they have offices. But Harlequin may also choose to sell publication rights to other publishers in countries where they can't publish my books themselves. Or even in countries where they can. For instance, there is an HQ arm in Turkey, but my books are coming out in Turkey through Pegasus (which publishes Becca Fitzpatrick, PC Cast, Stieg Larsson, etc...) not through Harlequin Türkiye.

Here's the other thing: they don't routinely tell me where or when my books will be out in other countries. Most of the time, my editor doesn't even know. Seriously. I found out about my Turkish editions when the translator found me on Facebook. I found out about the French and Italian editions of Stray on Twitter. I discovered the Finnish edition of Stray through a Google Alert just this past Saturday. Rumor has it Stray will soon be in Norway, but I can neither confirm nor deny that rumor, because I have no insider information.

But I can promise you that when I find out about a foreign release, I will announce it. So here's where my books are currently (or soon to be) available.

Stray: US, Canada, UK, France, Italy, Australia/New Zealand, Finland, and Turkey.
Rogue: US, Canada, UK, France, Italy, Australia/NZ, and Turkey
Pride, Prey, Shift, Alpha: US, Canada, UK, and Australia/NZ
Soul Screamers: US, Canada, UK, Australia/NZ, and France

Also, please note that often the foreign editions of books look very different from the US editions, and they often have radically different titles. Examples:

(US, Finnish, French, Italian, Australian)

Notice that the Finnish Stray uses cover art from the US version of Alpha. The Australian covers do something similar after Stray, and the Italian edition of Rogue uses the cover art from the US edition of Shift.

In Finnish, Stray is called "Catgirl." In Italian, it's "Claws of the Panther." In French, Stray is "The Claws of the Night," which, coincidentally, is also what they call the French translation of the old Wes Craven movie Nightmare on Elm Street. Amazon.fr seems to think I wrote them both. ;)

By some other odd coincidence, Craven's latest horror release was called My Soul To Take. Weird, huh?

Guess who just arrived?!

2011-01-21T09:50:00.002-06:00

Last May, I had a layover on my flight to New York for BEA. When the plane landed and the flight attendant said we could turn on approved electronic devices, I turned on my phone to find a text message from my best friend of nearly a decade. It was a picture.

It was a pregnancy test, with two lines.

That's it. No note.

Last night, she gave birth to a beautiful baby boy, her third child, her second son, and a guaranteed heartbreaker. And I'm not just saying that because she named him Jace. (His middle name was chosen to honor his late maternal grandfather, and I get teary just thinking about that.)

I wanted to be there yesterday sooo badly. I checked my phone obsessively for messages. I texted her husband all day (didn't want to bug her with texts during labor...). I sent flowers. I pretended I was being productive, when really I was imagining the new baby. And finally, he arrived. The new (again) daddy texted me a picture during dinner.

So my good news for this week is that baby Jace arrived, happy and healthy, a beloved brother, son, nephew, and grandson from the moment of birth. He could not be more adorable. He could not be more loved. And he could not be in better hands.

Congratulations, Kim!

From the mouths of babes...

2011-01-18T10:03:00.003-06:00

Over the holidays, an adorable little person in my life asked me an interesting question: “Why are there so many words that all mean the same thing?”

It’s difficult to explain to a young child about nuance, emphasis, etymology, colloquial and formal use, and regional dialect. But his question fascinated me and made me think about the way I (and others) use words. About how I agonize over individual phrases in a manuscript, determined to use the best possible combination of words to express not just the meaning I want to impart, but the tone.

As a writer, it’s my responsibility not to settle for just words that "will do." If I have to say the phrase, “They'll know what I mean,” I know I’m not doing my job. Not expressing myself to the best of my ability. Instead of relying on my own communication skills, I’m relying on the reader to guess my intent. And that’s doing both the reader and my work a disservice. It’s implying that nothing beyond the one-dimensional meaning of the words is important, and unless you’re writing technical instructions, that’s rarely the case.

So I told this lethally cute little bundle of curiosity the truth, as best I could. I told him that words have power, and the more of them we know how to use, the more power we have. I told him that we were lucky to speak a language with so many synonyms because the more ways there are to say something, the more clearly we’re able to express what we’re thinking.

“Imagine if the word ‘big’ had no synonyms,” I said. “If that were the case, you could tell me you were reading a big book, but I’d have no idea how big that book really is. It could be big compared to a Little Golden Book. Or it could be big compared to Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows.”

“But Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows is huge!” the child said, and I nodded.

“Some might even call it gigantic, or enormous. Big doesn’t quite seem to cover it, huh?”

The child smiled at me, then promptly lost interest in the conversation. But I didn’t. And I’m kind of hoping that maybe—just maybe—I’ve created one more budding logophile.

P.S.

Unbound FAQ

2011-01-11T10:17:00.004-06:00

Wow. My readers are awesomely perceptive. I like it. ;)

Yesterday I released the first bit of news about my new adult series debuting this fall (if you missed it, the announcement is here) and it seems some of you picked up on the fact that I left a few things out.

Yes, I mostly talked about world-building. And yes, I only talked about a couple of aspects of that world-building. And no, I didn't go much into the other paranormal aspects or what the characters are/do. That's because my editor asked me not to give too much away, and I'm not really sure how much is too much. But what I will say about a person's word being his or her literal bond (the original kernel of thought for my world-building) is that it's not as simple as a pinky promise. Not every promise is binding, and of those that are, there are varying degrees of strength for these bonds. Thus the title, BLOOD BOUND.

I gave a vague plot summary because while we had a working back cover copy (plot summary) a few months ago, the book itself took a bit of a turn from the original projection, so we may have to rewrite that cover copy and I'm not sure how much Mira Books will want to give away there and how much they'll want to hold back.

Some common questions I've been asked since the announcement:

What POV is the book in? Right now, it's dual 1st person POV, alternating irregularly from Olivia to Cam. That could change. I've never done more than on POV on a novel, and if my editor thinks it would be better to change it, I'll change it during the edits.

What are the characters (re: paranormal abilities/species)? They are human+. But not anything you'd know from other books or movies. That's all I can say right now.

Will BLOOD BOUND be available in electronic/audio formats? I can't swear to it, but based on the fact that all my other books have been and the Unbound books are with the same publisher, I would guess that yes, they'll be available in those formats. Though I couldn't say when.

What do you mean by "twisted?" Will it be too gory for me? Regarding physical violence and gore, Unbound is no more "twisted" than the Shifters series. Maybe less. IMO, BLOOD BOUND is more emotionally/psychologically twisted.

When can we see the cover? Some time after I see it. If it's done yet, I haven't heard. So we're in for a bit of a wait on that.

Questions I'm not prepared to answer yet:

Will sequels be written from the same POV(s) or from different characters' POV(s)?
How many books will there be in this series?
When will they be out in the UK (France, Italy, etc...)?

I can't answer any of those yet because it's simply too early. I haven't even truly plotted out the second book yet. My editor hasn't finished reading the first book yet. To my knowledge, no one else at Mira has even seen the manuscript yet. So it's a little early to talk about sequels and foreign sales, at least in this particular case.

What I can say is that if sequels do take different POV(s), which is a possibility, the main characters from BLOOD BOUND will have much more than cameo roles.

Okay, did I cover everything?

Also...THANK YOU all so much for the enthusiasm. I was really nervous about the announcement, and you've all made me feel so much better. ;)

Okay, here goes...

2011-01-10T16:37:00.003-06:00

Okay, I know some of you have been waiting awhile for me to reveal some details about my new adult series. That time has come. But first let me apologize for the wait. I’m kind of nervous about this. These new books are a very big departure from the Shifters series, and an even bigger departure from the Soul Screamers series.

Part of the reason I’m nervous is that while my blog following isn’t huge, usually when I make an announcement (new sale, list placement, new cover, etc…) it finds its way to many other parts of the internet, which then bounce back to me through Google Alerts and forwards from friends and readers. I don’t mind this. I like it, in fact. The more the word spreads, the better my chance of reaching new readers. Which will improve my chances of selling more books and (hopefully) getting to be a writer for the rest of my life.

But those echoes of my own words online also remind me how very big a place the internet is, and how nothing ever truly disappears once it’s appeared online. So if I phrase this announcement badly, it’ll follow me. It will be referred to, questioned, analyzed, criticized, and (hopefully) enjoyed. So please bear with me and keep in mind that because my editor hasn’t even had a chance to read the whole book yet, we’re still in the very early editorial stages, and some things could change, including names, titles, and world-building details.

That said...here goes:

Series name: The name of the new series is “Unbound.” As in, “An Unbound novel, by Rachel Vincent.” Or something like that.

Title: The first book, currently scheduled for September 1, 2011, will be called BLOOD BOUND.

I know, I know, there's already a Patricia Briggs novel of that name. (I read it years ago. It was awesome.) But because my novel is coming out years after hers did and because the subject matter of my book is NOTHING like hers, I’m not anticipating much title confusion. My original working title for the book was “Bound In Blood,” and we went through literally a dozen or more title possibilities with the awesome people at Mira before finally deciding (unanimously, as far as I know) that nothing else captures the feel and subject matter of this book better than BLOOD BOUND. So, BLOOD BOUND it is.

Genre: The Unbound series is paranormal. It’s a little more romance-heavy than the early Shifters books are, and about in line with romance/relationship content of the last couple of Shifters books.

Audience: The Unbound books are intended for adults. As my editor said, BLOOD BOUND is “twisted.” (Is it wrong that her quote makes me smile? ;)) If this first book is any indication, these books will be very dark and gritty, violent, and tense, but with some humor (mostly dialogue) to take the edge off.

The world: The idea behind the Unbound world-building is simple. The execution is a little more complicated. For me, it all started with the cliché “a man’s word is his bond,” then grew to include, “the pen is mightier than the sword” and the concept of “word of mouth.”

“What…” I thought, as I was brainstorming, “…if those clichés could be taken literally?”

What if a person’s word really was his or her bond? What if, once given, a promise could never be taken back? Would you be more careful what you say? Wouldn’t we all, if we were bound to our words?

Then I took it a step further. If the spoken word carries that much power, how much more would the written word carry? What about words written in (or sealed in) blood? What about words written in (and sealed in) flesh? Tattoos and graffiti take on a whole new meaning, huh?

Needless to say, once I headed down that thought-path, the world-building exploded—there’s much more to it now (but I’m not going to give you any more just yet). The story lines grew from the world-building possibilities and conflicts. The characters developed based on the experiences they would've had, growing up in this world.

The bad guys are bad (twisted, according to some…), but they have very human motivations.

The good guys are…not exactly wearing white hats. But the innocent are still innocent, and someone has to fight for them. (This may, in fact, be the only thing Shifters has in common with Unbound.)

The characters:

Olivia Warren owes her friend Anne a favor. Anne needs someone found and brought to a very quick, private justice.

The catch? Olivia must work with Cam Caballero to complete this favor. The problem? Cam is Olivia’s ex—the man prophesied to either kill her or die by her hand. It's a tense reunion, at best.

As Olivia and Cam chase their target through public streets, private lives, and a dangerous criminal underworld, everything they thought they knew comes into question. In the end, they can only be sure of three things…

No one can be trusted.
Everyone’s lying.
And someone’s going to pay.

-----

Okay, what do you think? Anyone interested?

I'll be answering questions on my Facebook page over the next couple of days, when this post is cross-posted there. Feel free to come read/ask... ;)

Catching up (& winners!)

2011-01-07T07:44:00.002-06:00

Wow, I haven't blogged in a while. In fact, I've hardly been online at all since I turned in the first book in my new adult series on Tuesday. That's right, I TURNED THE BOOK IN!

This is cause for celebration, at least for me. As the first in a new series, this book was extra hard to write, because both the characters and the world building are all new. And it was extra, extra hard to write because it doesn't use any already established mythology that readers may be familiar with. I made it all up. Which means I had to explain every single element of this new word, either through narration, dialogue, or action. And I only had three months, from the day I started the first draft to the day I turned the whole thing in. And those three months included three major holidays, necessitating travel and days off.

But, I got it done. Eight weeks (or so) for the rough draft, and three more to polish, send to CP, and repolish. And when I turned it in, the manuscript weighed in at a healthy 114,000+ words. I'm sure my editor will have suggestions, but for now, I'm pleased. The story is very twisty-turny, and full of secrets, and drama, and bloodshed. Also, betrayals, and bad guys, and rampant loss of free will. And the book is now in possession of a brand new twist ending you're all either going to love or hate. Or love to hate.

Either way, the manuscript is out of my hands for the moment, and I have a little time before the next one's due, so I'm working on something NEW. And also EXCITING! And...totally top secret.

I know, it probably seems like I haven't revealed any real information about what I'm doing lately, but I swear it's coming. I should have covers and back cover synopses for both IF I DIE and the new adult ms soon. And, of course, I'll share when I can...

For now, I'm working on this new secret project, watching a Prison Break marathon, and answering a ton of interview questions for my UK blog tour. Which is kind of cool. My Soul To Take came out in the UK on the same day My Soul To Steal came out in the US, so I'm promoting both at once, and I'm seeing a resurgence of reviews for MSTTake, as a result of this new release. And since blogs know no international barriers, I'm hoping to reach more US readers too, with the UK blog tour. ;)

Now, I must apologize for my complete failure to announce winners. I owe people books. And here's who I owe...

Winner of the New Year's contest (hosted on the Deadline Dames blog) is:

Kyrstin S., who wrote:
"This year I married my best friend and we’re working towards making our lives together forever. "

Congratulations, Kyrstin, on both the marriage and on winning your choice of an ARC of MSTSteal or an Australian copy of either Rogue or Pride.

And the winner of the New Release contest is:

Lexie, who wrote:
"I would LOVE to win the Soul Screamers series!"

Kyrstin and Lexie, please email me (rachelATrachelvincentDOTcom) with your shipping information, and I'll put your prizes in the mail!

Thanks so much to everyone who entered, and again, I'm so sorry for the delay in posting the winners!

UK Copies!

2010-12-30T14:45:00.003-06:00

Look what just came in the mail!!! UK copies of My Soul To Take! And I have to say, I really love this edition of the book.

I love how the color scheme matches the US covers, but the image is completely different. I think that both versions (the US and the UK) capture different elements of the feel of the book, and I could not be more pleased. Also, I love that the UK versions show the Netherworld fog that surrounds everything when Kaylee's crossing over. Love!

And...look what's in the back of the UK version!

I wrote the Netherworld survival guide a few months ago and was thrilled when Mira Ink asked if they could print it in the back of the books. It'll be up on my website soon (we're working on the graphics) but for now, it's exclusive to the UK copies of the books. The only downside is that you won't actually be introduced to Alec (the character whose journal the pages are taken from) until the third book (My Soul To Keep).

And, the UK version has a sneak peek at the first two chapters of My Soul To Save, which will be out in the UK in February.

-----

Also, if you missed it yesterday, here are the contests I currently have going on, one of which ends tomorrow!

New Release contest - post My Soul To Steal trailer and release info and enter to win your choice of a complete signed Rachel Vincent series
New Year's contest - tell me what 2010 accomplishment you're proud of and enter to win your choice of Rogue (AU version) or an ARC of My Soul To Steal.

Soul Screamers link-up

2010-12-29T09:58:00.002-06:00

Today I have a ton of work to do, so I offer up some yummy link salad.

Contests:

New Release contest - post My Soul To Steal trailer and release info and enter to win your choice of a complete signed Rachel Vincent series
New Year's contest - tell me what 2010 accomplishment you're proud of and enter to win your choice of Rogue (AU version) or an ARC of My Soul To Steal.

Guest blogs:

I blogged about Kaylee and Sabine here
I blogged about "Reaper" here

And, evidently there's a My Soul To Steal widget! Who knew! Feel free to share!

Blog Widget

Browse

Buy

New Release contest!

2010-12-28T11:15:00.003-06:00

I hope everyone had a great holiday! I took a couple of days off for Christmas, though I worked in the car on the way to and from my dad's house in Dallas. At least, until I got car sick and my laptop battery died. Fortunately, those seemed to happen at about the same time. ;)

For Christmas this year, Santa brought both an Xbox Kinect and the Move accessories and software for our PS3. Evidently the goal is to get me up and moving before my lower half becomes molded into the shape of my office chair. And I love both systems!

The good news? I am currently undefeated on both the virtual soccer field and the gladiator ring. The bad news? I seem to have damaged my right rotator cuff by viciously stabbing and jump-attacking #1 in the Colosseum. Good thing I have this manuscript to polish while I'm recovering from my video game injury. ;)

Aside from that, do you know what today is? Well, it might be the official shelf date for My Soul To Steal. It's one of the dates, anyway. And if you haven't been able to find it on the shelf yet, you should be able to by Jan 1, in the US, Canada, and Australia.

To celebrate, how 'bout a contest?

Up for grabs: Winner's choice of

The complete Soul Screamers series to date + a copy of the Kiss Me Deadly antho, containing the "Fearless" short story. All signed and personalized.

Or...

The complete Shifters series, American editions. All signed and personalized.

How you can enter:

On or before Jan 4th, 2010, post the My Soul To Steal trailer on your blog or Facebook page, along with the cover blurb, a release announcement, and a link to at least one site where a copy can be purchased legally. Then come back here and leave me a link to where you posted in the comments.

The code for the trailer and the official cover blurb are below. Interested? Start posting!

Official blurb:

YOU WANT MY SOUL AND MY BOYFRIEND?

Trying to work things out with
Nash—her maybe boyfriend—is hard enough for Kaylee Cavanaugh. She can’t just
pretend nothing happened. But “complicated” doesn’t even begin to describe their
relationship when his ex-girlfriend transfers to their school, determined to
take Nash back.

See, Sabine isn’t just an ordinary girl. She’s a mara,
the living personification of a nightmare. She can read people’s fears—and craft
them into nightmares while her victims sleep. Feeding from human fear is how she
survives.

And Sabine isn’t above scaring Kaylee and the entire school to
death to get whatever—and whoever—she wants.

I DON'T THINK SO.

Gingerbread House 2010

2010-12-23T09:44:00.004-06:00

[Yesterday at the Deadline Dames site, I posted my year-end list of accomplishments and invited readers to share theirs in the comments to enter my end-of-year reader's-choice giveaway!]

With a deadline, a new release, and the holidays, I'm super-busy this month, but last night #1 and I made time to assemble and decorate our annual Christmas gingerbread house. He gets credit for the design and most of the construction. He's getting really good at it.

Since we were short on time, we went with a simple, classic looking design. It's Santa's House! (Our idea of it, anyway...)

As you can see, this year he used wooden supports to keep the pieces in place while the frosting cement dried. Smart, huh?

I make and roll the gingerbread, make the frosting, and help decorate. This year's house has a large front picture window made of crushed cherry Jolly Ranchers baked into the house. The left side has three more windows, two made of apple Jolly Ranchers, and one more of cherry. Festive, huh?

The ground of this year's house is Rice Crispy treat, molded directly onto the custom base while it was still warm.

This year we used gumdrops for bushes, peppermints for roof tiles, and pull-apart Twizzlers and red hots to line the roof.

Here you can see how transparent the windows are. That's one of my favorite parts. There's also a green licorice belt walkway lined in old-fashioned peppermints, a white-fudge pretzel fence, and candy-cane gates.

We shook powdered sugar all over for snow, and #1 carefully made frosting icicles hanging from the roof.

Here, from the side, you can see the actual North Pole (a giant candy-cane stick) and the side windows.

So, what do you think? What are your holiday traditions?

Release day chaos.

2010-12-21T10:09:00.005-06:00

Okay, I'm officially confused. I cave to the mystery that is book release dates. Do you hear me, publishing world?! I give!

The official release date for My Soul To Steal is January 1. Usually books get shelved early in a lot of places, which is what I expected. Except that according to Chapters (Canada), Amazon and Barnes & Noble, today is the official shelf date for MSTSteal. Which would be awesome, except that Amazon says it is ALREADY OUT OF STOCK! How is that possible?

To further complicate things, Borders, and Books-A-Million list it as a December 28th release and still have it up for pre-order. As does The Book Depository (international shipping) and Mills and Boon Australia, which lists it as a Jan 1 release.

So, to make this long story a little shorter: Sorry, but I don't know when My Soul To Steal will be available. Maybe today. Maybe Dec 28th. Maybe Jan 1. Your only sure bet for today is Barnes & Noble in the US and Chapters (Indigo) in Canada.

And...

To add just a teeny bit more to the confusion, I've just discovered that Mills and Boon (Australia) is releasing Prey in AU with an altered version of the US/Canadian cover from Alpha. I have no idea what they're planning to do with the Shift and Alpha covers down under, but I can't wait to see them!

MSTSteal Trailer!

2010-12-20T10:14:00.004-06:00

The good news: I finished the new adult manuscript early on Thursday and took a long weekend off. Completely offline.

The bad news: things piled up in my absence and I still have to rewrite this new manuscript before I can turn it in. So...I'll be busy over the next week or so, in addition to the holidays.

But...I really meant to post this earlier, but with everything going on, I forgot. And since the official shelf date of My Soul To Steal is TOMORROW (yeah, how did I miss that?!?), without further ado, I give you the My Soul To Steal trailer:

You can also see it in HD on my website or at YouTube.

Feel free to re-post (in fact, I'd love that!) and maybe mention that tomorrow's the shelf date (as opposed to the official release on Jan 1), just in time for Christmas!

Okay, back to the grindstone. Whatever that means. ;)

So...close...!

2010-12-16T07:12:00.005-06:00

I worked all day yesterday and added 5,000 words to the new adult manuscript, which pushed the novel past the 100,000 word mark--and busted my wordcount progress bar wide open. That means the novel's done, right? What else could a busted wordcount meter mean?

Sigh. All that broken bit of html means is that the book will be a little longer than I'd intended. But I'm almost there. In fact, I got up extra early to finish the book, which I need to do before noon, because this afternoon is dedicated to finding something shiny/flattering/awesome to wear to #1's office holiday party tonight. (Yes, that IS a half-day exercise in futility.) Because evidently the official writer's uniform (PJs, jeans & tee, or well-worn sweats) won't cut it when there will be other real, live people present.

To reward myself for an awesome, productive day of writing, I watched the season finale of The Walking Dead with #1 last night (it was a little anti-climactic--the CDC guy wasn't as evil as I wanted him to be) and this morning, I feel like I could be a cast member. Of the undead variety. Pretty sure my skin is sagging and greenish this morning from exhaustion.

But...work goes on. You'll know I've finished the book when you hear that scream of ~~relief~~ joy echoing across the planet later today.

Wish me luck!

Live chat today!

2010-12-15T09:05:00.006-06:00

Today I'm REALLY hoping to write the final fight scene in this new adult book, leaving only the final wrap-it-up chapter for tomorrow.

96,034 / 100,000
(96.03%)

***

In other news, the My Soul To Steal trailer is finished!!! It should go up online very soon, and I think it's gorgeous! Number 1 has outdone himself, and I can't wait to show it off. ;)

***

Also, though, I'm going to be dropping in on the Harlequin Community Open House 2010 post party. I'll be in the HQN/Mira/Luna post party room (my adult books are published through Mira) with JT Ellison, Lindsay McKenna, Nicola Cornick, and Robin D. Owens. And rumor has it there will be a couple of prizes given out.

The post party is a drop-in event going on all day today until 7:00 pm Eastern, in an attempt to accomodate people in various timezones.

Also, from 7-8 pm eastern, I'll be doing a live chat with Harlequin Teen & Kimani TRU authors Artist Arthur and Mara Purnhagen. We'll be chatting with readers and answering questions about our YA series, and I KNOW there will be prizes at this event, because I donated a copy of My Soul To Steal.

You have to be a member of eHarlequin to attend either event, but joining is easy and I'd love to see you there. And as a bonus incentive, I'm considering announcing the name of my adult series and the title of the first book in the adult post party. But only if someone actually shows up. ;)

Facebook ARC contest today!

2010-12-13T10:45:00.003-06:00

I'm within 10,000 words (less than 3 days' work) of finishing the new adult novel, so I'm going to be scarce online for the next few days while I push this thing through to the end.

Crunch time, you know.

But...

On Saturday, I gave away 10 ARCs of My Soul To Steal on Twitter with a trivia contest. It went really well. Since the contest was live, I got the shipping information instantly and mailed all the prizes THAT DAY. So today I'm going to repeat that with 3 of my remaining 6 ARCs on Facebook.

The three trivia questions will be asked one at a time, two hours apart, and the first correct response wins. So have your Soul Screamers books/novellas ready. I don't care how you get the answers (look it up, Google, ask a friend, make a wish) but if Saturday's trivia is any indication, you'll have to be pretty fast.

Now, FYI, the questions will be asked at the following times (in San Antonio, where I live), spread out in an attempt to include more people:

Q1: 2:00 pm Central (Convert to your time zone by entering your city here.)
Q2: 4:00 pm Central (Convert to your time zone by entering your city here.)
Q3: 6:00 pm Central (Convert to your time zone by entering your city here.)

I will ship internationally and anyone can win, except for those who've already won a copy or read a digital copy.

Where can you go to play the trivia game? My facebook page.

You do not not have to be a blog/Twitter follower and I'm not sure if you have to "like" the Facebook page to comment, but yes, you DO have to be a member of Facebook to play. Sorry. I can't help that. Twitter and Facebook are where I get the most traffic/have the most followers, so the first giveaways are on those venues. But I will still have 3 more ARCs to giveaway elsewhere tomorrow, so stay tuned if you can't access the Facebook contest.

Questions? You have approx. 3 hours to ask me... ;)

Winners!

2010-12-10T09:10:00.003-06:00

Okay, the random number generator has chosen winners for both ARC contests that closed on Wednesday, and the winners have been notified via email. But here they are, just in case:

The winners of the MSTSteal ARC giveaway are:

Stephanie M.
Kellye F.
Natasha R.

And the winner of the "Reaper" trivia ARC giveaway is:

Clarisse

Congratulations to the winners, and thanks so much to all who entered!

If you didn't win, don't worry. I'll probably be giving away some more finished copies in the next couple of weeks, leading up to the release. And My Soul To Steal is already up for pre-order just about everywhere!

In other news...my December is totally made of crazy this year. It's like life has decided I don't have enough balls to juggle already, so it tossed on a few more. So here I stand, feet spread for balance, gamely tossing balls back up in the air, trying to watch everything all at once, knowing I'm going to drop something and dreading the moment it smashes on the ground.

Chief among those (at least, at this point) is finishing the rough draft of my new adult novel. Regarding plot, I'm almost done. There's nothing left but the big reveal (in the middle of that now, and boy is it a doozy), the big fight scene, and the denouement (the final clarification or resolution of a plot ). Then the first draft will be done. But it will gain words on the rewrites, when I add the bits of worldbuilding that still need to be blended in and that one scene I've put off writing for a month.

Right now, I'm at the point in the big reveal where Big Things are being revealed (not just explained) to one (baaaaad) character by one of the viewpoint characters, and I'm not really sure in what order the details should come. So for now, I'm just throwing them in there and hoping I'll have the clarity to sort it all out later. That's sometimes how the first draft goes.

So far, here's where it stands.

85,497 / 100,000
(85.5%)

Yesterday was insane (rush, rush, rush!) so I only made half my wordcount. Must do much better than that today. Wish me luck!

One more time!

2010-12-08T09:49:00.004-06:00

[This contest is now closed. The winner will be announced shortly.]

First, today's the last day to enter to win one of three ARCs of My Soul To Steal. I'll be mailing out the prizes (and everything else I still owe other people) at the end of this week, so don't forget to check back in tomorrow to see if you've won. Though I'll also be emailing the winners privately.

Also, today's my day to blog at the Deadline Dames and I'll be posting a short excerpt from My Soul To Steal, so skip on over there to check that out. (And while you're there, wish Dame Jackie a Happy 40th Birthday!!!)

Also at the Dames site, I'll be announcing the winner of the MSTSteal giveaway I hosted there two weeks ago.

But up for today...another ARC giveaway! This one is a one-day-only, quick-n-dirty contest, but it does require a little bit of work--you have to fill out the entry form answering one question. The catch? You have to have read "Reaper" to answer the question.

The good news is that "Reaper" is free. Here's a list of the places you can find it in various formats. I'd hoped to have it up in PDF on my site before this giveaway, but #1's been unavailable to load it for me so far (but look for that very soon, if you haven't already read it).

You can enter this contest even if you've entered one of the others, but you may only win one of them. And yes, the giveaway is international, but it ends at 11:59 central tonight! To enter, fill out the short form below!

In case you were wondering.

2010-12-07T10:00:00.002-06:00

This is why I write:

I write for the moments in a story that make me catch my breath. Those moments of epiphany or catharsis. The big reveal. A stunning realization. An emotional purge so raw it bleeds, and my heart bleeds with it. I write for the tears and the triumph. I write for the moments that haunt me. For the moments that make me believe.

I write for the scenes that can’t wait to be written. The scenes that keep me awake past all reason and fatigue. I write for the scenes that pour from my fingertips through the keys and onto the screen in a flow of inspiration so pure and fast I get caught up in the current and emerge miles from where I dove in.

I write because I love it, even when I hate it. I write when the words fight me and must be pulled from the muck of exhaustion one at a time, then painstakingly polished and set into place. I write because not writing is no more viable an option than not breathing, and I’m fairly sure the two are linked in me, one fueling the other, their roles alternating as the need arises.

That is why I write. In case you were wondering.

Who wants an ARC (3 winners)

2010-12-03T09:20:00.004-06:00

[This contest is now closed. The winners will be announced shortly.]

First of all, Alpha and the entire Shifters series have been nominated for Best Female Cover and Best Series Covers respectively! This is the second year (I believe) that the Shifters series has been nominated, and the competition is pretty fierce! Click the image below will take you to the fine print and a list of prizes that can be won by voting, and it'll also link to the voting ballot.

Spread the word! Vote! Post the graphic!

Also, as I said yesterday, the fine folks at Harlequin Teen found a bunch more ARCs of My Soul To Steal and sent them to me, because we had such a great demand for the one I gave away last month. So here's a second chance! (And yes, the giveaway is open to international entries.)And this time, I'm giving away three of them! To enter fill out the form below...

Still looking for "Reaper?"

2010-12-02T09:13:00.004-06:00

[Edit: I'm told there's a free Kindle app for PCs, so those without a Kindle can download Kindle ebooks! Not sure if that helps those overseas or not.]

I don't feel good today, and all I really want to do is lie in bed and watch Pandorum again. Alas, there is work to be done and evidently, if I don't write this book, no one else is going to do it for me. No substitutes allowed. Who knew? ;)

But first, in case you haven't already seen it, "Reaper" is out, and it is free!

I've had some complaints from people overseas (FYI, I'm in Texas, USA) that they can't get the Kindle format (or one of the others), or they can't get their format for free. I'm sorry about that. Unfortunately, there's nothing I can do about international availability and I don't know when that availability will change. But..."Reaper" is available in PDF format and that should be readable anywhere in the world, so long as you read English and have Adobe (the free version). It will be up on my site just as soon as I receive the file from my publisher, and it will stay free on my site forever, even after the other sites/formats have to start charging for it.

So, here's where you can find it, in various formats:

Harlequin Teen - Adobe, microsoft, and mobipocket formats. If you can, please go get it here. This is my publisher, and they've indulged my wish that "Reaper" be free, and they've been awesome in promoting it. Also, when you buy books direct from the publisher ("Reaper" is free, but the others aren't), you ALWAYS get a discount over retail.
Barnes & Noble - "Reaper" is currently free on the Nook, which I find very cool!
Amazon.com - if you have a Kindle, here's where you can get "Reaper" for free.
Books on Board - They have it in several formats, but they seem to be charging for most of them. Not sure why. But if you don't have an ereader, this is a good way to go, because BoB has a free PDF, which doesn't require a reader or any software, other than the free version of Adobe
Books-A-Million currently has "Reaper" listed at $2.99 in several formats, including Sony, Alex, and Onyx. I'm not sure why they're charging for all formats, but there's nothing I can do about that. Sorry!
Borders doesn't appear to be carrying "Reaper." Not sure why. Fortunately, you can find it at all of the links above!

In other news...I didn't quite make my November writing goal, which is disappointing. However, I did make very good progress in the book and am currently on track to finish, rewrite, and have it turned in Jan 1. May have to work through the holiday, though.

Here's where the new adult book stands:

74,539 / 100,000
(74.54%)

And here's my November progress:

58,159 / 65,000
(89.48%)

Given two more days, I would have easily made it, but November ends when it ends. Now to finish the book!

And, last of all, I got a box full of leftover ARCs of My Soul To Steal! Check back in tomorrow for a giveaway!

"Reaper" is here!

2010-12-01T13:14:00.002-06:00

Today, I have a guest post up at the HQ Paranormal blog, talking about "Reaper," which is out today! And it's free in several formats, here!

I'm also answering questions about Soul Screamers and "Reaper" at the HQTeen Facebook page, and to celebrate the "Reaper" release, they're giving away a copy of each of the first three Soul Screamers books! All you have to do to enter is leave me a comment/question on the appropriate wall post.

Opinions?

2010-11-30T09:13:00.004-06:00

First, I have a question for you guys: how many of you have read My Soul To Keep and would be interested in a live chat with me (and each other) about a particular issue from the book? I'm finding two different prominent opinions about the way the book ended, and I'd love to discuss. If you've read it and would like to chat, please let me know in the comments!

-----

If you haven't already seen them, there are TWO chances to win an early copy of My Soul to Steal at the Deadline Dames right now. The first is at the monthly Readers On Deadline feature (this month's prompt image is awesome!) and the other is just a regular giveaway, found here. You have until this Wednesday at 11:59 pm (Central) to enter.

-----

In other news, tomorrow I'll be chatting with readers at the HQTeen Facebook page for the "Reaper" launch party. You can go there now and leave questions!

-----

So, it turns out that having no home internet is good for my productivity. So good that I almost wish #1 hadn't reestablished our home network, because the temptation to surf the internet every time I'm at a loss for a particular word is unbearable for me. ;)

I didn't actually get started writing yesterday until around noon, and still managed 4,171 words. It's not enough to put me back on track for my November goal of 65,000, but it does put 60,000 words well within reach for today. If I don't get distracted. And I'm pretty happy with that, considering the three days I took off for a holiday roadtrip.

Here's where the new adult novel stands:

70,834 / 100,000
(70.83%)

and here's where I stand on my November goal, with one day left:

54,454 / 65,000
(83.78%)

Don't forget to click the image below to check out my CP Rinda Elliott's progress, as we cheer each other on!

I'm back!

2010-11-29T21:37:00.003-06:00

[This is the entry I wrote earlier today, but couldn't post because I had no home internet.]

I'm back, after a quick holiday trip to Dallas, then central Oklahoma, and I have to admit, I didn't do much work. But I did get caught up with my family, eat lots of turkey and ham, and strike up an iPhone game of Words with Friends with my dad, who's sure to beat me quickly and viciously. But with a smile. ;)

If you haven't already seen it, there are TWO chances to win an early copy of My Soul to Steal at the Deadline Dames right now. The first is at the monthly Readers On Deadline feature (this month's promp image is awesome!) and the other is just a regular giveaway, found here. You have until this Wednesday at 11:59 pm (Central) to enter.

I have a couple of interactive Q&A type online events scheduled for this week, so stay tuned if you'd like to chat!

And, of course, "Reaper" comes out officially this week!!! I've already heard from a bunch of people who read it early on the free PDF from Books on Board, and so far the reviews are mostly very positive. I will admit that it was very hard to write Tod from his own POV (we're used to seeing what he says through Kaylee's eyes, not what he feels and thinks through his own), so I'm nervous about the reactions. Which is normal.

And...I got my author copies of My Soul To Steal not twenty minutes before I left for Dallas last week. See!

I'll be giving a few of those away in the next month leading up to the official US/Canadian/AU release!

Unfortunately, with all the holiday excitement, my progress on the new adult novel did not soar this weekend. But it is still moving along, after the brief hiatus. Here's where I stand on the new adult novel:

66,693 / 100,000
(66.69%)

And here's my progress toward my November goal:

50,283 / 65,000
(77.36%)

It's not looking like I'm going to make my November goal, though I did make the typical NaNo 50,000 word mark. I'll keep chugging along, though, in spite of that embarassment.

Don't forget to click below to check out my CP Rinda Elliott's progress toward her goal!

On one hand...

2010-11-29T10:09:00.002-06:00

The cable guy just left my house. Fortunately, he looked nothing like Jim Carey. The good news is that I have TV again, so I can watch last night's Dexter over lunch. The bad news is that I won't have access to my home internet connection until #1 gets home from work and can reset everything that got unset when the cable guy rebooted the system. Which means I can't post the blog post I wrote this morning, because I have no way to get it from my laptop to the Internet. Thank goodness for 3G, or I wouldn't be able to check email or write this quick blog from my iPad.

The other good news is that without my main Internet connection, I'm sure to get lots of actual work done today! Wish me luck!

More later, when I have my home network back!

I'm ready for my cape!

2010-11-23T14:40:00.005-06:00

Yesterday, I was superwoman! Okay, not really. I just got a lot done. I made my wordcount goal (barely, but that counts!), cleaned three bathrooms, did thee loads of laundry, and baked sugar cookies from scratch. With my very first royal icing. See!

(Sorry the picture is sideways. It won't cooperate.)

Since this was my first try at the royal icing, I'm considering these a practice run. I'm still working on getting the "flood" icing to the right consistency and my hands aren't incredibly steady, so my piping is kind of...shaky. But not bad for the first time, right?

I haven't finished decorating them yet, but in the pic above, you can see some "flooded" (filled in with the thinner consistency icing) and others only outlined. No detailing yet, except for the edible pearls.

The nice thing about royal icing is that it dries hard, like a candy shell, so the cookies can be stacked without messing up the frosting. But I have a long way to go before I'll be giving any of these away.

-----

Unfortunately, today hasn't been quite so productive. Errands this morning and several things on the business side of publishing this afternoon have kind of gotten in the way. So I'll be offline most of the rest of today to write, and after that for the holiday. But I'll also be working on something kind of fun (assuming I can pull it together) for when I get back next week.

Here's my progress on the new adult novel so far:

62,113 / 100,000
(62.11%)

And here's where I stand on my November goal:

45,703 / 65,000
(70.31%)

Don't forget to check out my CP Rinda Elliott's progress on her November writing goal by clicking the image below!

What if you didn't know vamps eat people?

2010-11-22T09:39:00.005-06:00

"Reaper" the new Soul Screamers online novella will officially be out in nine days, and my plan was to post one short quote a day on Twitter and Facebook until the release. But (surprise!) there is no need for that now. It looks like my publisher and Books on Board have teamed up to offer an early look (read: the entire novella). So "Reaper" is now available for free in PDF format from Books on Board.

They're currently charging for the other formats (as was everyone else, when I last checked) but my understanding was that it was going to be free everywhere for at least a little while, so I'm still checking on that. But for now, you can read it early by clicking on the link above, though I think you need to sign up for a Books on Board account to do so.

In other news, I'm continuing to tap away at the new adult manuscript. I'm pleased with how it's going so far, but in nearly every chapter, I've had to leave myself a note to go back and establish another little bit of worldbuilding earlier. This is frustrating, but normal in the first book of a series, because I'm actually learning about the characters and the world myself, throughout the process of writing this first manuscript.

During the rewrites, I'll go back and incorporate the bits I didn't know yet when I wrote the manuscript, then, during critiques and revisions, my critique partner and editor will let me know whether or not my worldbuilding is clear and interesting. They will also point out the parts that are rough or confusing.

This is one of the most difficult manuscripts I've written, because it doesn't rely on any established creature lore. When you pick up a vampire book (for example--I'm not writing vampires), no matter what liberties the author has taken, you know that at its heart, it's a story about one person (kind of) who feeds off other people. That goes for literal vampires, psychic vampires, and even real-world social parasites, like the family moocher. The reader goes into the story with some idea of what to expect.

But in my new series, there's no mythology to use as a basis, which means that readers will pick up this book with absolutely no idea what to expect, other than what s/he reads on the back cover. On one hand, this is good: no preconceived notions.

On the other hand, it's quite a challenge. Since the reader brings no foundation of knowledge into the story (for example: the universal understanding that vampires eat people), s/he will know only what I tell him/her throughout the course of the book. My job is to make sure this new world makes sense, is fun to read about, and fleshes out the story, rather than defining it.

No pressure, right? ;)

And, of course, that brings with it a whole new set of worries, which I've already analyzed ad nauseum. I figure some people will say I've successfully avoided writing the same story and characters over and over. And others will say that this series isn't enough like the Shifters series, and therefore isn't what they expected/wanted from me. And yet others will find small similarities between these characters and any other characters I've ever written (after all, they all have EYES! and NOSES!) and decide that means that I can only write one kind of story/character.

Wow. With all that rolling around in my head non-stop, it's a wonder I've written as much of it as I have. Fortunately, most of the time, these ~~bits of insanity dripping on me like Chinese water torture~~ doubts don't usually hit while I'm actually writing. They wait until I'm eating, or watching TV, or trying to sleep to drive me nuts. ;)

But for the record, here's where the book stands:

59,079 / 100,000
(59.08%)

And here's where my November writing goal stands:

42,669 / 65,000
(65.64%)

Click the image below to see how my CP Rinda Elliott is doing on her November goal. We're keeping each other company and keeping the craziness at bay. ;)

Pie!

2010-11-19T09:24:00.006-06:00

Unfortunately, my progress on the new adult novel was abysmal yesterday. I only wrote 1,400 words, which is less than half my goal. I HAVE to make up for that today, even though it's a Friday. No Rock Band until my goal is met.

But on the bright side, I did successfully roast a whole chicken (raw chicken is SO gross--they stuff the viscera inside!) and serve it with three (count them--three!) side dishes. And I served this for dessert:

Yes! The crust was a total success!!! (Thanks, ceosanna from LJ for the link to the recipe!)

For those who've asked, it's an apple pie. Normally I make the filling from scratch, but since the purpose of this pie was to practice the crust before taking it to my family's holiday get-together, I bought store-bought filling this time. 'Cause I have very little free time. (And we'll just pretend I NEVER HEARD #1 say the store-bought filling was as good as mine.)

But the crust is 100% from scratch. Also for those who've asked, I made the leaf cutouts with these:

And I baked the pie in this:

Isn't that a gorgeous pie plate?! Both the plate and the crust cutters are from Williams Sonoma.

Alas, today involves almost all work and almost no baking.

Here's where the new adult book stands so far:

53,410 / 100,000
(53.41%)

And here's where I am on my November wordcount goal.

37,000 / 65,000
(56.92%)

Click here to check my CP Rinda Elliott's progress toward her goal. She probably didn't waste time baking yesterday. ;)

About the drama

2010-11-18T09:23:00.003-06:00

For some reason, this morning I can't get Internet Explorer to work on my desktop, so I've borrowed #1's desktop for the purpose of blogging. And because his keyboard feels really weird, I'll be turning this thing off very shortly and will move to my laptop for today's work.

But since IE is obviously working on his computer, and TweetDeck is working on mine (so I know my internet connection is fine), I'm very suspicious of viruses. Which makes me both worried and angry. ;(

In other news, I failed at a pie crust yesterday. I don't understand this. I have yet to find anything else that I absolutely cannot bake, but I fail at pie crusts over and over. But the other day I bought a BEAUTIFUL set of pie plates and I'm determined to take some very pretty pies to my family's Thanksgiving get-together. So I'm either going to have to master the art of the flaky pie crust in the next week or break down and buy some roll-out pie crusts. Again.

*My inner baker hangs her head in shame.*

Anyway...

Yesterday I skipped the section of the book I was having trouble with and went straight for the drama. Drama always makes for strong, rapid wordcount for me, which is one of the reasons I love writing YA. There's so much legitimate drama in adolescence, and even more so in paranormals, because you really might die, or the world really might end any moment.

My new book isn't YA, of course, but there is some drama, and finding that drama has put me back on course with the novel. I'll have to go back later and fill in the bits I've skipped, but for now, all is well. This book seems to want to be written out of order.

Here's where the novel stands at the moment:

52,010 / 100,000
(52.01%)

And here's my progress toward my November word count goal:

35,610 / 65,000
(54.78%)

I finally passed the halfway point, but I'm going to have to kick into super-high gear to allow for the holiday.

Click below to see how my CP (Crime partner, or critique partner--you decide) is progressing toward her November goal:

Looking for the hammer

2010-11-16T13:49:00.003-06:00

[If you've been meaning to check out the Soul Screamers series, there's an interview and a My Soul To Take giveaway here.]

I've run in to a problem with the new adult novel I'm working on. It's a plot problem #1 calls the "find a hammer" problem. And here's why...

Several years ago, when I was writing Stray, #1 had time to read everything I wrote, and when he got to the scene in Stray where Faythe was looking for the key to the lock on Abby's cage, he set down the manuscript (that was back when I used to print them) and said, "Why would she waste so much time looking for a key when she could just bust the lock off with a hammer?"

Basically, he was saying that I'd made the solution more complicated than it needed to be. Why spend 3000 words of the novel looking for a key, when I could spend about a hundred looking for a hammer.

Unfortunately, in that instance, the activity (looking for a key) was, in part, something for Faythe to be doing while she had an important phone conversation. I couldn't get rid of the phone call, so I altered it so that she was looking for a key--or preferably a hammer.

Well, this time, when I replace the search for a key with the simpler search for a (metaphorical) hammer, I wind up losing the introduction to an important character. A character we're going to need to have met before her purpose in the story becomes obvious.

Which means I now have to find a new way to introduce this character. And until I do that, evidently, the words won't flow well.

Grrr...

So, here's where the book stands so far:

47,970 / 100,000
(47.97%)

And here's my progress toward my November goal of 65,000 words.

31,570 / 65,000
(48.57%)

As you can see, I'm less than halfway there, even though the month is more than halfway over, and I'll have to take several days off for Thanksgiving and my family's holiday get-together. And no, I can't do much work in the car. Stupid motion sickness...

So, hopefully I'll be able to figure this hammer mess out this afternoon and make up for some wordcount loss tonight. Wish me luck!

Also, check out my CP Rinda Elliott's progress on her November goal below:

"Reaper" PSA

2010-11-14T10:30:00.005-06:00

I'm popping in on the weekend with a quick alert/reminder for Soul Screamers readers...

It's come to my attention that "Reaper" is up for pre-order for the Nook at Barnes & Noble. Which would be cool, except that it's listed with a price of $2.99. That will eventually be the right price at e-book stores, but for the first few months, "Reaper" will be free in most formats, in most places. And it will stay free in PDF format on my website. That was the whole point of the story.

Back in May, at BEA, I pitched the "Reaper" novella to my editor with two goals in mind. First, I wanted to tell the story of how Tod died and was recruited as a reaper. Second, I wanted to offer it to the readers for free, just like we did with "My Soul To Lose" in '09. I wanted it to be a sort of gift to my current readers and a free sample to those who may not have tried the series yet. Though I will admit, it's mostly the former. There are characters and events referenced that will make a lot more sense if you've read the previous books.

My editor (and publisher) was kind enough to indulge me. Though they can't offer the story for free forever (overhead costs include professional editing, proofreading, typesetting and formatting, electronic distribution, and cover design), it will be free initially (and permanently, on my website).

One more note:
People are probably going to slam me for saying this, but I want to be clear...

"Reaper" is a novella. NOT a novel. When "My Soul To Lose" came out in '09, I got tons and tons of very angry reviews slamming it not because of the content or writing, but because readers were "fooled" into thinking it was a full-length novel and were angered by the length. Even though the story was FREE.

I can't control how novellas are listed on Amazon or other e-book stores. All I can do is try to make it clear here that "Reaper" is not a novel. It's a novella, about 17,000 words in length. (The "average" novel is closer to 100,000 words.) So please don't download it expecting a full-length Soul Screamers novel.

Okay, PSA over.

Here's a quick rundown of things you might want to know about "Reaper."

It is narrated by Tod
It takes place (mostly) after "Fearless" (the Sabine novella in Kiss Me Deadly) and (mostly) before "My Soul To Lose."
I will be posting mini-quotes from the novella on Twitter and Facebook.

-----

Writing progress:

Here's where I stand on the new adult novel.

44,098 / 100,000
(44.1%)

And here's my progress toward my November goal of 65,000 words.

27,698 / 65,000
(42.61%)

As you can see, I still have a way to go, so now I'm off to work!

Click below to check out my CP Rinda Elliott's progress toward her goal:

MSTSteal ARC winner!

2010-11-11T14:26:00.003-06:00

I don't have a writing progress update for today, mostly because I've made negligible progress since yesterday. However, #1 was off today, so we did some Christmas shopping and went to the movies to see Red. Which was awesome! How could it not be, with Bruce Willis, Mary Louise Parker, Morgan Freeman, and John Malkovich. The script was awesome (and funny!) and the action was totally over-the-top, in the best way. Red was what The Expendables wanted to be. Seriously.

Now for the news everyone's been waiting for! The winner of my last ARC of My Soul To Steal is:

Sarah Farr! Ms. Farr has been notified via email, and I'm going to give her several days to claim her prize. Should she fail to do so, I will draw another name.

A huge thanks, by the way to everyone who entered the drawing. I'll be holding a couple more when I get my author copies, and of course, My Soul To Steal is available for pre-order just about everywhere, including B&N, Borders, IndieBound, Book Depository, and Amazon.

Wanna see?

2010-11-10T14:13:00.003-06:00

I blogged at The Deadline Dames today with a photo-excerpt of My Soul To Steal, so click here if you're interested!

-----

Also, today's the last day to enter to win my last ARC of My Soul To Steal. There's just over 700 entries so far (wow, you guys blow me away!) and I really wish I had another one to offer up, but I don't. However, I should have author copies in a month or so, and I'll be giving away several more then. ;)

-----

Writing Progress:

I didn't get a chance to blog yesterday, so this is actually my progress for the past two days combined. The novel currently stands at:

39,924 / 100,000
(39.92%)

And my progress toward my 65,000 word November goal is:

23,524 / 65,000
(36.19%)

So, I'm chugging along, but still have a long way to go.

Click below to check my CP Rinda Elliott's progress toward her goal.

Oooh, shiny!

2010-11-08T08:51:00.003-06:00

[If you haven't already, click here to enter to win an ARC of My Soul To Steal!]

So, I wasn't going to work this weekend. My daily goal is designed to let me take weekends off and preserve my sanity. But then #1 said, "But wouldn't it be nice to get ahead?" And he had a point. Especially considering the upcoming holidays. So I did put in a little bit of work this weekend.

But I also watched several movies and played a couple of video games with #1.

Also, the Williams Sonoma catalogue arrived on Saturday, and just FYI, the Williams Sonoma catalogue=total time suck. We spent at least a couple of hours (total) staring at the shiny pictures and composing wish lists. (Why don't *I* have soup bowls shaped like pumpkins?) But, you (and my editor) will be happy to hear that this morning, I left the catalogue downstairs, so I can't be tempted by it.

What? They have a website? Uh oh.

-----

ARCs of My Soul To Steal are making their way into the world, and the first reviews are good! Also, they're spoiler-free. And zero calories.

Mary at Bookhounds
Lani at LaLa Land

-----

Writing update: After a Friday + weekend total of almost 5000 words, here's where the new book stands.

34,388 / 100,000
(34.39%)

And here's my November total so far:

17,988 / 65,000
(27.67%)

Not bad for the first week, I think. But unless disaster strikes, things should be ramping up this week!

Click below to find out how my CP Rinda Elliott did this weekend!

Why I may be the crazy cat lady.

2010-11-05T09:07:00.006-05:00

Unfortunately, I still don't have the official all-clear to shout my new series titles (one for the series as a whole, the other for the 1st novel) from the rooftop yet. My emails obviously don't sound quite desperate enough. Maybe it's all those exclamation points (in honor of my new French cover!!!).

But here's what I can tell you so far: this book is driving me nuts. I mean, crazy, in the sense that people now pause on my sidewalk to point and whisper, "That's where the crazy cat lady lives." And they're not far off. I have cats. See?

Why is this novel driving me crazy? Because I'm writing it from two different points of view. (FYI, I'm pretty sure that's abbreviated as PsOV, not POVs. Right? Or is that further proof of my craziness?) I've never tried a multiple POV book before, and my conclusion after having written almost 1/3 of one now? Multiple points of view (PsOV) just means there's more than one voice in your head. Thus, the crazy.

I'm far from sure this multiple point of view thing will actually work out. My editor asked me to try it, and I said I would. So I did, and it turns out I suck at it. So I called her and said, "Hey, it turns out I suck at multiple point of view, so I'm taking the second point of view out, 'kay? Oh, also, this book isn't turning out much like the book I proposed. How much trouble am I in?"

I was seriously stressed about both of those issues, but she took it all in stride.

Then I decided that I needed that second point of view, to be able to properly tell both sides of the story. So I gave it another shot. And it turns out that I'm not as bad at multiple points of view (PsOV) as I thought I was. But who knows. I might spend the entire revision process changing it all back to a single POV (PsOV).

So, there you go: everything you ever wanted to not-quite-know about my new series. ;)

---

Here's where the novel stands, after writing 3,205 words yesterday:

29,558 / 100,000
(29.56%)

And here's where my November writing goal stands:

13,158 / 65,000
(20.24%)

My critique partner (and partner in wordcount crime) Rinda Elliott had an interesting day yesterday. Click the button below to read about her progress (and how she nearly burned down her house.)

Chuggin' along...

2010-11-04T09:16:00.004-05:00

[If you haven't already, click here to find out how to enter to win my only ARC of My Soul To Steal!]

I barely made my writing goal last night. Lucky for me, barely counts. ;)

Here's where the new book stands, after an addition of 3,053 words yesterday:

26,353 / 100,000
(26.35%)

And here's how I stand on my November writing goal, after three days:

9,953 / 65,000
(15.31%)

Looks pretty good so far, I think. Except that I don't get to work much on the weekends. Real life, you know. And this weekend, that includes Christmas shopping, because my extended family is having its holiday get-together/gift exchange over Thanksgiving weekend. A full month before Christmas. Which is awesome (I'm so glad I have the kind of family that gets together once or twice a year, without fail), but that also means that--with the seven hour drive each way--there will be 3-4 days at the end of the month in which I won't get a word written.

(I can't work or read in the car--motion sickness.)

So I'm trying to plan ahead. But the stupid book keeps getting in the way of...its own creation.

Why? Because it's the first book in a brand new series, with brand new characters and brand new world-building. And I don't really know the characters or their world like I should yet. I'm getting to know them. But that means I'll have to go back during the revisions and rewrite the entire beginning of the book to adjust for the stuff I didn't know back when I wrote it.

And unlike most of the NaNoers, I don't have the luxury of aiming for quantity over quality, with the understanding that the book will need a massive rewrite later. By the time the book is finished, my "later" will consist of two weeks (if I'm lucky) in which to rewrite, have the book critiqued, and rewrite it again before it's due. So I'm trying to strike a balance between quality and quantity. And sanity. ;)

This book is due Jan 1, 2011. Boy, am I looking forward to the new year. ;)

Click below to see my critique partner Rinda Elliott's progress in our partnered not-NaNo. She made her goal too!

A new French cover!

2010-11-03T09:51:00.007-05:00

[If you haven't already seen it, scroll down the previous post to enter the My Soul To Steal ARC giveaway!]

I've been searching the internet daily for the last week or so, and look what I finally found! The French cover for My Soul To Keep! They're calling it Sauve mon ame, which translates roughly to "Save my soul!" With an exclamation point! My first cover with an exclamation point! I feel like I should use a bunch of them now!!!

The book comes out in France on December 1!!!!

Anyway, exclamation points aside, I think the cover's beautiful! I love the continuity with the wavy, sparkly things trailing from her eye on all three covers, and I'm fascinated by how the French covers transpose the colors from the American covers for books 2 & 3. (The US MSTSave is green and the US MSTKeep is purple, but it's the opposite in France.)

In case you don't remember, here are the first two, available now!:

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November writing update:

Here's my progress on the novel overall, after writing 3,784 words yesterday:

23,300 / 100,000

And here's my progress toward my November writing goal of 65,000 words:

6,900 / 65,000
(10.62%)

I have no idea why the progress bars don't show up right in my Blogger posts. Sorry.

Click below to see my critique partner Rinda Elliott's progress in our partnered not-NaNo. She made her goal too!

Who wants an ARC? [Edited]

2010-11-03T09:25:00.004-05:00

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

As promised, here's the My Soul To Steal ARC giveaway. Just fill out the form below, according to the following rules:

One entry per person
If you're under 18, you must have your parents' permission to give me your shipping information, if you win
Entries must be received by 11:59 pm (Central) on Wednesday, November 10, 2010

And yes, the giveaway is open worldwide. If UPS will ship to you, you can enter!

Okay, start entering!

Why I'm not doing NaNo...

2010-11-02T10:47:00.004-05:00

[I know I promised to give away an ARC of My Soul To Steal today, but I have to push that back by one more day, in order to post what's below. But look for the contest tomorrow. I swear, this book wants a home. ;)]

Why I'm not doing NaNoWriMo:

NaNoWriMo is National Novel Writing Month--a November-long challenge to writers to try and write 50,000 words in one month. It's a sort of group-incentive program.

It's been going on longer than I've been writing, and I've always wanted to participate, but I've never been able to, and it doesn't look like I ever will. And here's why.

The timing's never been right for me. Unless you've "won" a previous NaNo event, you have to start a novel from scratch on Nov. 1, and as a contracted writer, that's impossible for me. I'm always already in mid-novel on Nov. 1, and my deadlines are too tight for me to set that novel aside and work on a side project for an entire month.
I can't commit an entire month to just one novel. I inevitably get edits or revisions during November and am forced to divert my attention from the novel I'm actually writing.
In order to prove that you've actually written 50,000 words in the month of November, you have to upload your novel to be verified by the staff. They'll let you scramble the words first (they even provide directions for this) but for a writer who's paranoid about spoilers from her brand new series leaking out, this doesn't work for me.
50,000 words in a month is actually under my natural pacing. I aim for a chapter a day, which is 3,000+ words per day, five days a week. Which is 60,000 words per month, bare minimum.

But, I love the idea of NaNo, and I love the camaraderie. So my critique partner Rinda Elliott and I are going to do our own private version. We don't have a name for it yet (suggestions?) but we're going to hold one another accountable and post our daily progress, with links to one another.

Starting today.

Yesterday, I started with 16,400 words on my novel (the first in my new series, which I hope to be able to announce soon). I wrote just over 3,100 words.

Here's my progress on the novel, overall:

19516 / 100000
(19.52%)

Here's my progress toward my November goal of 65,000 words:

3116 / 65000
(4.79%)

Rinda made her goal too! So far, so good!

Haunted Gingerbread winners!

2010-10-31T21:54:00.002-05:00

And the results are in! We got four entries in the Haunted Gingerbread contest, and I love them all. And that's why I've decided to award four prizes--three category winners, and one grand prize. Here they are:

First up is this one from ticeyx, which wins the prize for "Most Colorful." I love the red! Ticeyx, how did you do that? Fruit rollups? I also love all the little pumpkins and skulls. Please comment and tell us how you did those, as well as the ghosts on the roof!

Ticeyx wins a signed copy of Alpha!

Hannah sent in this gingerbread lighthouse, which wins the "Most Unique" category. Love the spiders, and the lighthouse actually lights up!

Hannah wins a signed copy of Alpha!

Jemma sent in the adorable house above, which takes the prize for "Most Traditional." My favorite feature from it is the frosting spider and web, hanging over the front door. Nice work!

Jenna wins a signed copy of Alpha!

And the Grand Prize winner (a signed copy of Alpha and the Godiva chocolate lollipops) is this gingerbread model of the Lazy S Ranch! But for the record, it was chosen not for the subject matter but for the detail! Red barn, circle drive, green frosting grass, windows with bars, Lazy S gate made of Tootsie Rolls, and even the licorice werecats (Faythe and Marc, I'm told) sharing their Halloween pumpkin. Number 1 and I love it!

Thanks to all those who entered, and if you wish you'd had time, you might get a second chance. I'm thinking of doing another one this winter. ;)

Winners, please email me (contestsATrachelvincentDOTcom) with your shipping information, and I'll put your prizes in the mail...

This is how we do it...

2010-10-31T10:42:00.005-05:00

[Note: today's the last day to send in your entry in the Haunted Gingerbread contest! I'll be posting them and announcing a winner tonight!]

This will probably come as no surprise, but I like Halloween. It's a great excuse to dress up and make creepy treats. I don't cook, but I do bake. And carve. And toast. And frost.

Here's some of what we did for Halloween this year!

This is what my yard looks like this year. You can see that the skeleton kicked out part of the flower bed border when he clawed his way up from the earth. ;)

This year's pumpkins! It's always hard to get a good shot of them lit. Mine is on the left, and #1's is on the right. Mine is from a pattern, his is freehand. What do you think?

And, of course, we cleaned and toasted the pumpkin seeds using this recipe.

I got the meringue bones recipe here, but I forgot to take a picture of them baked, and now they're all gone! They taste like a cross between cotton candy and toasted marshmallows--so good! And they melt in your mouth, after the initial crunch. I'm making some meringue ghosts this afternoon. ;)

And, of course, our gingerbread house. It's homemade and the design is original (courtesy of #1). People have been asking about the frosting I use. Confession: I make a very simple frosting of powdered sugar and milk, and I make it thick. It doesn't taste very good, but we're not going to eat it anyway, and it holds well. We apply it with a cookie press frosting tip attachment, then smooth the "mortar" with a finger.

These are our blood clot cupcakes. The frosting is supposed to be tinted to look like gray matter, but we forgot to do that. So #1 added the veins! The recipe is here. Gross, huh? ;)

Interviews and giveaways...

2010-10-29T09:47:00.002-05:00

First, there're still two more days to enter the Haunted Gingerbread contest! Click here for details.

Second, here's a list of the recent guest blogs I've done, and several of these contain questions I haven't answered before, while others are glimpses of how I spend my spare time, and what books/movies scare me (ya know, 'cause of Halloween).

And...I just got Australian copies of Rogue! So I'll be giving those away soon. But even before that...

Next week, after I announce the winner of the Haunted Gingerbread contest, I'll be giving away ONE ARC of My Soul To Steal. And it'll be a plain, old, fill-out-the-form giveaway, super easy. So get ready!

FYI

2010-10-27T08:59:00.003-05:00

Blogging as an author is an interesting challenge. Some days there's nothing going on. Some days, there's so much going on that I'm afraid of overwhelming people with one long, rambling post full of updates. But more often, there's something going on, but I'm not yet free to share or comfortable with sharing it online.

This has been the case a lot lately. So I've been pretty quiet online, but between real life, the Alpha release, and starting my new adult series, things have been pretty chaotic behind the scenes.

So I'm going to take this opportunity to answer the two questions I'm getting most often. Then I may ramble a bit. ;)

Q. Will you write any more Shifters books?

A. I honestly don't know. I hadn't planned on it, even after getting many, many requests for more. (So glad people want more, though!) And I can say for sure that Faythe's story is over. I know a lot of people wanted to see her settle down with her chosen mate and start a family, but the thing is this: that was never the point of the novels for me.

Do I see her doing that after the final page of Alpha is closed? Yes. Maybe not immediately, and maybe not in the stay-at-home capacity, but yes. I do eventually see her with a family of her own. But I don't want to write it. The story I envisioned for Faythe has reached its conclusion, and I'm very happy with it. So please feel free to picture her in your head as the world's most bada$$ mom ever. I know I am. ;)

On the other hand, I have not decided against a spin off. But I haven't decided in favor of one either. I do have an idea for one, but I have not proposed it to my publisher, for a couple of reasons. First, I don't have time to write a spin off series right now. I'm pretty swamped, at least for the next few months. And second, I need to know that I can make it in adult fiction without the Shifters series. I don't want to be that proverbial one-trick pony. (I'm counting the Soul Screamers series as a separate one-trick pony because it's YA.) I need to know that I can do something else.

Q. Why haven't you told us what your new adult series is about?

A. Because I'm not very far into it yet. The Shifters and Soul Screamers series both sold with books already written. (Stray and Rogue, for Shifters, MSTTake and an outline of MSTSave for Soul Screamers). But this new series sold based on...nothing. Well, nothing but the theory that I could come up with another adult series idea, based on the fact that I'd done it before.

And I did come up with another adult series concept. The concept was approved by my publisher months ago, the release has been scheduled, the back cover synopsis has been written, and cover design has already begun. But because of Soul Screamers deadlines, I just started the manuscript for this new book a couple of weeks ago. And it's been slow going so far, because I'm getting to know brand new characters and a brand new world (it's our world, plus some).

I've spent a lot of time rewriting what I'd already written, refining the characters and expanding the world building. I've been figuring out details that were vague in the concept proposal but now need supporting details. This stage of the process for me is very time consuming, yet shows little quantifiable progress. Which is very frustrating.

So, hopefully it's obvious that until now, it's been too early for me to tell you about this book. That would have been like trying to tell you what pattern a kaleidoscope shows, only to have it change on the next turn. And the confusion from that would have been magnified by the fact that news spreads very quickly on the internet, and it seems to evolve with each retelling, like that "telephone" game we played as kids.

But I'm now waiting for the official green light on my latest (and hopefully last) big concept adjustment, and when (and if) that comes, I'll do a whole post about this new series. Shouldn't be long. Unless my publisher doesn't like it. And if that's the case...well, you won't see much of me for a while, because I'll look a bit like a mad scientist, only with an ergonomic keyboard, rather than test tubes and beakers. ;)

Monster House 2010

2010-10-25T09:29:00.005-05:00

Okay, here, finally, is Monster House 2010:

We actually finished it last week, but I wanted to wait until the last week of October to post it. Features of note/ingredients:

candy corn roof tiles
Tootsie Toll fence
fall colored M&Ms and Reeces Pieces leaves on a gingerbread tree
licorice trim
marshmallow creme pumpkin patch
Cocoa Rice Crispy treat molded into place for the "fall lawn"
ghost Peep occupants

The house's eyes/front windows are made from yellow Tootsie Rolls rolled flat and cut into shape.

From the side, you can see the family graveyard on the hill, and the ghost currently haunting it. ;)

And here's a close-up of the tree. The design was #1's and I'm so glad it worked! It fit together like a puzzle with minimum trimming and stood up perfectly!

Above are the two parts of the 3-D puzzle tree (plus tombstones) before they were baked.

And, of course, the naked gingerbread, which makes it easier to see the design. ;)

So, how's your haunted gingerbread coming? There's still one more week to enter the contest!

Censorship vs. Spoilers

2010-10-20T09:14:00.004-05:00

[Warning: this note contains complete honesty]

I hate censorship and hate deleting comments (even when people track me down and comment here just to tell me they hated my book; yes, it happens, and I have no idea how I'm expected to respond). But I hate spoilers even more, so in the past couple of weeks, I've had to delete several comments from my blog, and several more from Facebook, because they contained spoilers.

If you want your comment to appear here, don't put spoilers in it. This is Official Blog Policy, people. I should probably write that in the sidebar somewhere...

So, for the record, anonymous poster from this morning, your comment wasn't rejected because you were disappointed in Alpha (that's your right, and this is me making sure your voice was heard), but because you mentioned half the plot points in the book. That's not fair to people who haven't read it yet.

Okay, now let's move on to the fun stuff!

Two new blog tour stops, this time from the UK blog tour my UK publicist set up:

Fluttering Butterflies has a guest post from me in which I list my favorite horror films (suitable for Hallowee viewing!), complete with pictures! Yes, horror movie images. Don't click if you don't want to see...
Book Chick City has a guest post from me, wherein I talk about black cats and Halloween, and she gives away 5 shiny copies of Alpha (unsigned, straight from the publisher, I believe). So if you haven't gotten your copy yet, head on over! You could win one!

Gingerbread update

2010-10-18T08:41:00.006-05:00

I seem to have stumbled into some kind of alternate reality wherein time...disappears. Or runs too fast, or something. Is this the Netherworld? Have the monsters been replaced with deadlines, interviews, guest blogs, and email? Not that any of those things are monstrous, but sometimes they pile together to form one big, scary creature called Obligation, which devours time (not just free time, but All Time) and leaves nothing but a vague blur of recollection.

Seriously, though I have no idea how it got to be mid-October, and even though I've already turned in two books, a novella, and two short stories this year, and promoted four novel releases, I feel like I've accomplished nothing. And I still have one book to go this calendar year.
Anyway, while I fight to get caught up, here are a few updates:

Foreign releases:

Pride comes out in Australia on November 1.
My Soul To Keep comes out in France on November 20 (Sauve mon âme! - dès le 20 novembre). No cover yet. If you've seen the cover for Sauve mon ame, please let me know!
My Soul To Steal comes out in Australia on Dec. 1, though I haven't actually been able to find a link for this one.
My Soul To Take comes out in the UK on Jan 1, 2011, but again, no link.

Gingerbread update:

My Haunted Gingerbread House construction has begun! Yes, it's a long process, because...did I mention I'm short on time? ;)

As usual, the design is by #1. Here's a shot of his original sketch and the cardboard mockup. The mockup is to make sure that the pieces will fit together like we think they will. And after it's together, he takes it apart, and we use the pieces as templates for the dough. (Note, we don't actually eat the gingerbread, so we're not too worried about germs. ;))

This is naked gingerbread. AKA, the assembled, but still undecorated house. This year, it sits on a "fall lawn" made of chocolate rice crispy treat, molded to the custom wooden platform. There's a tree, but it's not assembled yet. I'm holding my breath on the tree this year, because it looks kinda fragile. I'll post more pictures when the whole thing is done.

Also, don't forget the Haunted Gingerbread contest, going on until Halloween!

And...just 'cause...here's a picture of my front flowerbed, all decorated for Halloween. Note how the skeleton has busted through the brick border. And yes, that's the tombstone that usually sits in my office. ;)

Pride in Australia!

2010-10-14T09:17:00.003-05:00

Looks like Pride comes out in Australia next month! Like Stray and Rogue, it'll be in trade paperback. And like Stray and Rogue, they've used the same cover art, but with a different crop and a solid black background. What do you think?

Australian editions

US editions

Also, if you haven't already, click here to see if you won an Italian or Australian copy of Stray (only one has been claimed so far), and click here to check out the Haunted Gingerbread contest!

Haunted Gingerbread contest!

2010-10-13T08:04:00.006-05:00

I'm not sure how October has rolled around so quickly this year (probably because I've been buried in deadlines and travel for the past few months), but it's here, and you know what that means...!

Gingerbread! No, it's not just for Christmas!

Every year, #1 and I make a Haunted Gingerbread House (except for last year, when we were still busy unpacking from the move to San Antonio) in October and a traditional gingerbread house in December. As you can see from the pictures below, we started off with some pretty simple designs and progressed to our current level of crazy.

2006, our first Halloween themed house. More like a shack, right?

2007. By then, we'd really gotten into the spirit. Number one was drawing blueprints and etching patterns into the dough. And cutting custom platforms for the house.

2008's house was a gingerbread replica of the Amityville Horror house. I think we over decorated it, so I'm posting a picture of it in the nude, so you can see the architecture.

I made this year's gingerbread dough on Monday and it's in my fridge right now, waiting to be rolled out, cut, and baked tonight. The plans are drawn up, and there's a cardboard model of the house sitting on my kitchen counter. (#1 takes his gingerbread design seriously. ;))

So...how 'bout a contest?

Send me a picture of your Halloween-themed gingerbread house, and you'll be entered to win a signed copy of Alpha and a three-piece set of Godiva chocolate lollipops.

Rules

-The gingerbread house does not have to be complicated, but it cannot come from a kit.

-Everything in the picture must be edible (but you don't have to actually eat it)

-Pictures must be received by October 30, 2010

-Pictures (max=2 per entry) should be sent to contestsATrachelvincentDOTcom

Pictures of all entries will be posted on Halloween day, along with the winner's name. (Winner to be chosen by #1)

Now, I realize this contest requires a little work, and I know that means we probably won't get many entries. But for me, that's a win/win. If no one enters, I get to keep the chocolate! ;)

Italian and Australian copy winners!

2010-10-13T07:40:00.002-05:00

First, let me apologize for the delay in posting the winners of the US and Australian versions of Stray. I turned in IF I DIE last week and have been mostly offline since then, trying to recuperate enough to start the first book in my new adult series. This deadline is pretty tight (though I should get a pretty good break after that), as was the last one, and I'm trying to make sure I do some pretty serious relaxing between books, to avoid burnout.

But, I'm back now, with some winners' names and a new contest!

First, the two Italian version winners are:

Annarella, who wrote,
"I am Italian and would be nice to review the Italian release :)"

And...

Felly, who wrote,
"this year i recently made friends with a forgein exchange student from italy..."

And the two Australian version winners are:

van_pham who wrote,
"I would love to win an Australian edition!"

And...

BreiaB, who wrote,

"I would love the Aus edition. I wish I could speak Italian but alas I do not."

Winners, please email me (rachelkvincentATgmailDOTcom) with your shipping information. I have a big pile of stuff to mail this afternoon, so if you get your info to me today, your prize will probably go out today.

To avoid confusion, I'm going to post the new contest in a new post, so be sure to check that out too!

Anyone speak Italian?

2010-10-06T08:15:00.005-05:00

Thie contest has now closed. The winners will be announced this afternoon!

I have some foreign editions of various books that I need to give away. I always keep one copy of each, but right now, I have two extra Italian editions of Stray, two extra Australian editions of Stray, and two extra Australian editions each of MSTTake, MSTSave, and MSTKeep.

I'm saving the YAs for giveaways closer to the release of MSTSteal in January, but I'd like to give the copies of Stray away now. So if you're interested, please let me know in the comments which edition you'd like, Italian or Australian. And please, if you want the Italian editions, let me know if you actually speak Italian or intend to give it to someone who does. Or if you're an Italian-language reviewer or intend to give it to an Italian-language reviewer. I'd really like those two to go to someone who can actually read them. ;)

The content of the Australian copies is the same as the US/UK copies, but the format is very different. For comparison, here's the Australian edition next to a US edition. The AU book is trade size (as opposed to mass market) and very, very sturdy, with good-size print. But it won't match the US editions of the books.

So, if you want one, comment here and let me know which one you want. Except for trying to find people who speak Italian, the winners will be chosen at random. I'll draw two winners for each edition and announce them here on Friday!

Alpha winner!

2010-10-04T09:23:00.003-05:00

I'm sorry about the delay in posting the blog tour contest winner. This has been a crazy-buzy week for me, and I'm still on a couple of deadlines, so I'll be scarce for a couple more days. But then I'll be back, and blogging with renewed vigor. That's the plan, anyway. ;)

But for now, the winner is:

Victoria, whose favorite quote was:
"I was expected, of course, but apparently I was expected to come crawling on my hands and knees, bleeding and scared, begging for mercy." From pg 247 of Alpha

Victoria, please email me (rachelkvincentATgmailDOTcom) with your shipping info, and I'll put your book in the mail, along with several other things I still owe people.

The blog tour isn't quite over, and I still owe a couple of people guest posts. I'm so sorry they're late, and I can't thank everyone enough for being patient with me. I've never been quite so swamped before, and I'm looking forward to a very short break before I dive into the first book in my new adult series (details to come soon!).

Also, if I can just say, so far the reviews for Alpha are awesome! Overall, the best I've ever gotten. I'm getting tons of emails, messages, and tweets, and I can't thank you all enough for your enthusiasm. It's overwhelming, in the most amazing way. I'm so thrilled and relieved that people seem to like the way I've ended the series. Thank you all so much!

Okay, back to work...!

Q&A--come play!

2010-09-29T12:32:00.004-05:00

Today I'm answering questions and giving books away at Bitten By Books, who just gave Alpha a 5 tombstone rating!

Alpha is out!

2010-09-28T09:31:00.004-05:00

Today's the day! If you haven't already, you should be able to find Alpha in your local book store today, if your local book store is in the US, Canada, or the UK. And it should be available as an e-book in most formats on October 1st. And it'll be an audio book very shortly too. So, lots of ways to read Alpha, and I hope you like it!

Also, the Blog tour contest is still going on, and I've added new stops to the list, so make sure you scroll down and check that out if you haven't already.

And if you've already read Alpha and would like to discuss, there's a spoiler thread open on my discussion group, The Pride. But do not go in there if you haven't finished the entire series. Spoilers abound, and they will ruin the book for you. ;)

Alpha blog tour and giveaway! [updated]

2010-09-24T10:34:00.004-05:00

Here's a list of stops on the Alpha blog tour, all of which contain either a guest post from or a mini-interview with me. They should also each have an exclusive one-line teaser from Alpha. If you find one that doesn't, you might want to mention it in a comment at that individual blog stop.

- The Wayfaring Writer
- Jessica Rabbit's Corner (Note: this site contains adult-only images, though my interview is rated G ;))
- Chronicles of a Henchwoman
-A Great Read
-Drey's Library
-Tynga's Reviews
-Lale on Lit
-Escape Between The Pages
-The Cozy Reader (with giveaway)
-Kalayna Price
-A Bookworm's Haven
-Coffee Table Press (Q&A)
-The Bibliophilic Book Blog
-Nice Girls Don't Read Naughty Books

If I've missed any of the blog tour stops, please let me know. And if your blog is one of the stops and you didn't get your mini-excerpt, please let me know.

Now for some giveaway fun!

- Up for grabs: One signed copy of Alpha

- How you can win: Go to the Alpha blog tour events listed above, then come back here and tell me your favorite one-line teaser in the comments. Feel free to guess who said it, or what it means. But no actual spoilers, please.

- One entry per person.

- The deadline to enter is 11:59 pm (Central) on October 1, the official Alpha release date. And that means that there will be more blog tour stops between now and then, so you can pick a favorite now and enter so you won't forget, or you can wait and read them all, then enter at the last minute. ;)

Okay...go!

Off stage...

2010-09-23T10:36:00.003-05:00

Okay, today I have a few last things from the Smart Chicks tour. (Tomorrow, look for more Alpha release madness!!!!)

Up first are some pictures I stole shamelessly. Because it's hard to take pictures of yourself. ;)

This is me and Kelsey at the Woodlands signing, in Houston. Isn't she adorable!

This is me and Natalie at the Vroman's signing, in Pasadena. Natalie made my head swell with all her kind words, I swear! And yes, evidently I only wear black. Ever. ;)

This is me standing on the table at the Woodlands signing, to throw a souvenir shirt over the shelves to part of the crowd that couldn't see or hear us. And in retrospect, I wish I hadn't stuffed quite so much stuff into my pockets. I look...lumpy. ;)

Next is this video I shot with Kami Garcia's camera, as we were finishing up lunch at PF Chang's in Pasadena. Every last one of these ladies is hilarious, and they were so much fun to hang out with. In order pictured: Kami Garcia, Kelley Armstrong, unknown waiter, Vania (our official photographer) and Margie Stohl. I, of course, am narrating in a brilliant ploy to avoid being on camera. ;)

Thanks for the video, Kami!

Honored

2010-09-22T08:20:00.003-05:00

I'm at the airport in San Diego, waiting to board my flight to Dallas. My part on the Smart Chicks tour is over, and I am sad. I didn't take many pictures, because Vania, the official tour photographer seemed to have that covered, and i hope to be able to post some of her pics soon. But for now, you can see them on Twitter, by following @reveriebr or @smartchickstour or just about any of the other touring authors, including me.

I've had the BEST time on tour. Like, the best time EVER. If you get a chance to go to one of the remaining stops, go. For real. The tour is very casual and the energy level of both author and audience is unbelievable. The authors throw swag into the audience and raffle away prizes including ARCs, tour shirts, and random special treats. They answer sometimes embarrassing, always funny questions, do a Q&A lightning round, play Sarah Reese Brennan's Marry/Shag/Cliff game and give away a huge basket full of books from every single Smart Chicks author, even the ones not on every stop.

Then they sign things. Books, shirts, printable posters, memory books, Kindle cases, bookmarks, paper, etc. In Pasadena, we even signed one young man's stomach. (With his mother's permission.) He's kinda infamous now. :)

So, this tour is so much fun, for everyone involved. Most of the stops have had more than 300 attendees, and Kelley Armstrong and Melissa Marr have done so much work to put this together, along with the other authors, who helped schedule, design swag, Tweet, blog, video, and probably a million other bits of promo and organization I'm probably leaving out.

But the best part for me, other than getting to meet and sign for hundreds of fans in a three-stop span, was getting to see my writer friends again. Most of us already knew one another before the tour began (though several I met for the first time on this tour), and getting to hang out together again and share the tour experience, as well as advice, support, and some serious laughs, is beyond awesome. We ate most meals together, shopped together, went sightseeing together. We shared cars, and plates, and Tylenol, and crazy stories. I've connected with existing friends and made new friends.

And I signed a ton of books.

At the risk of speaking prematurely, since the tour isn't over, congratulations, ladies! You made it happen, and I am so honored to have been a part of it.

On the road again...

2010-09-20T10:25:00.002-05:00

I'm in my hotel room in LA and I have to say, I'm feeling really peaceful. I have the next few hours to work on IF I DIE, with room service coffee and perfect silence. I'm gonna get stuff done. Then this afternoon, I'm going shopping with the Smart Chicks before tonight's event at Vroman's. Then tomorrow, San Diego!

Last night I had a blast with some of the other (very funny) smart chicks. We got dinner, checked out Vroman's outdoor venue, and goofed off in Target, shopping for incidentals.

I'll try to post pictures from the tour, but it's much easier to post them to Twitter on the road than to Blogger, so if you're interested, check out the Smart Chicks Twitter feed, or my personal one. Or follow reveriebr, our official photographer.

In other news, before my flight even boarded yesterday, #1 called to tell me that three new ARCs of MSTSteal had arrived, minutes too late to bring with me. So I'll be giving those away after Alpha has made it's way into the world.

IN 8 DAYS!

Yes, ALPHA comes out in 8 days!

I'm behind on interviews and guest posts I've promised people because I'm slammed (and out of town) but i swear I'll make them all up shortly.

Okay, I think that's it for today! I'm off to write the IF I DIE climax. Wish me luck!

Winner; blog tour

2010-09-17T12:43:00.005-05:00

Sorry for my recent absence. I am absolutely snowed under with work. All at once, I am trying to finish IF I DIE, do copy edits on "Reaper," do revisions on "Neiderwald" (my story in the Smart Chicks antho), keep up with the Alpha blog tour, and get ready for my trip to CA next week for my last two stops on the Smart Chicks tour.

On top of that, I've also been writing bonus content for my website and the back of the UK edition of the Soul Screamers books and brainstorming cover stuff for the first in my new adult series, which will be headed to its cover conference very, very soon.

So, to make up for my disappearing act, today I have the winner of the Alpha trailer contest as well as some more pictures from the Smart Chicks tour!

First up, the contest... Thanks to all who entered! More than 160 of you posted the Alpha trailer to help me spread the word, and many of you posted it multiple places, and I can't thank you all enough!

And the winner, selected by random number generator, is... Brandy, whose entry began,
"I am super excited to read this and also incredibly sad to say good bye ..."

Brandy, please email me (rachelATrachelvincentDOTcom) to claim your prize.

-----

Now for some more pics from the Smart Chicks stop at the Woodlands: click here to see the amazing shots taken by Vania, the official tour photographer.

-----

Alpha blog tour!

Here's a list of interviews I've done so far in the Alpha blog tour. I'll be updating it frequently:

- The Wayfaring Writer

- Jessica Rabbit's Corner (Note: this site contains adult-only images, though my interview is rated G ;))

- Chronicles of a Henchwoman

My 1st tour stop! [Edited]

2010-09-15T10:38:00.005-05:00

Edit: for pics, check out my Deadline Dames post from today.

Wow, last night's Smart Chicks event in Houston was crazy awesome! The final count was around 400 (at least, that's what they told me) and after the Q&A, giveaways, and Holly Black's lightening round, we signed books until after 11pm.

And yes, I stood on a table, in case you've seen the pictures online. But I wasn't the only one. Melissa, Holly, and Margie also stood on tables--I was just the first to cave to the impulse. :) And that was just because the crowd was so big that half the people were standing several aisles away and could barely hear us, much less catch the prizes being tossed into the crowd. I was just trying to keep it fair! :) but the awesome Holly Black took it to a whole new level by hosting the question lightening round from the table top.

For me, the best part of my trip to Houston, other than meeting all the awesome readers, was seeing Holly, Melissa, and Kelley again, and meeting Margie, Kami, and Cassie for the first time in person. So. Cool.

I took pictures and video but I can't upload it until I get home...

Until then it's still a work day for me. I have to work on IF I DIE, answer tons of interview questions, finish some bonus content for the UK Soul Screamers editions, and think seriously about the covers for my new adult series, which is up for its cover meeting next week.

Thanks to all who came to see us in Houston, and I hope to see even more of you next week in California!

Hey Houston!!!

2010-09-14T16:55:00.003-05:00

Tonight I'm in Houston for the second Smart Chicks tour stop (my first) and after having lunch with most of the other authors on this stop and hearing all about last night's event in Houston, I'm really excited about tonight!

Tomorrow, I'll be back at home for a few days, finishing up IF I DIE and preparing for the Alpha release before I fly out to California for my last two stops on the Smart Chicks tour. It's a crazy busy and exciting month for me and part of me wants it to last forever, while my exhausted writer half is ready for a break.

Check back tomorrow for pictures!

Smart Chicks Tour!!!

2010-09-12T10:28:00.003-05:00

The Smart Chicks Kick It tour starts tomorrow!!!

This tour has been seventeen months in the making, and I can't believe it's finally here! I don't even have words for how excited I am for my three stops, and I can't wait to meet readers, and those of my fellow authors I haven't already met in person.

Just a note from our fearless leaders (Melissa Marr and Kelley Armstrong, both of whom I adore):

We are getting last min news that a variety of stores are requiring 1 book purchased on site. Suspect most of you will be buying at least one book at each event. SORRY [this is] late, but I just got the note 5 min ago. Please check the website of the store you will attend for any other last minute notes. Hope to see you soon!

And, if you're going to be attending one or more of the stops, check out these downloadable posters you can print and have signed by the authors.

Also, several of the authors will have a few ARCs of their upcoming books to give away (Melissa Marr and Rachel Caine, I think). Unfortunately, I don't have any ARCs of MSTSteal to give away, but I do have Soul Screamers tee shirts for whoever asks for them, until supplies run out. ;)

Not sure where we're going to be? Here's the schedule:

September 13th, 2010 7 PM @ BOOKPEOPLE, Austin, TX
Kelley Armstrong, Melissa Marr, Alyson Noel, Holly Black, Rachel Caine & Cassandra Clare

September 14th, 2010 7 PM @ B&N THE WOODLANDS, Houston, TX
Kelley Armstrong, Melissa Marr, Alyson Noel, Holly Black, Cassandra Clare, Kami Garcia & Rachel Vincent.

September 15th, 2010 7PM. @ The Refuge (13150 Memorial Dr). Hosted by BLUE WILLOW, Houston, TX
Kelley Armstrong, Melissa Marr, Alyson Noel, Holly Black, Sarah Rees Brennan, Margaret Stohl & Cassandra Clare

September 16th, 2010 6 PM @ Plantation Commons (105 Plantation Cove, Gluckstadt). Hosted by LEMURIA BOOKS, Jackson, MS
Kelley Armstrong, Melissa Marr, Alyson Noel, Holly Black, Cassandra Clare, Jessica Verday & Sarah Rees Brennan

September 17th, 2010 7PM @ Scottsdale Civic Library Auditorium, hosted by POISONED PEN Scottsdale, AZ
Melissa Marr, Alyson Noel, Kelley Armstrong, Holly Black, Sarah Rees Brennan & Kimberly Derting.

September 18th, 2010 6 PM @ Menlo Park Library, Hosted by KEPLERS, Menlo Park, CA
Melissa Marr, Alyson Noel, Kelley Armstrong, Melissa de la Cruz, Margaret Stohl, Kami Garcia & Kimberly Derting

September 20th, 2010 6 PM @ VROMAN'S, Pasadena, CA
Melissa Marr, Alyson Noel, Kelley Armstrong, Rachel Caine, Melissa de la Cruz, Rachel Vincent, Margaret Stohl & Mary Pearson

September 21st, 2010 6 PM @ Encinitas County Library, hosted by MYSTERIOUS GALAXY, San Diego, CA
Melissa Marr, Alyson Noel, Kelley Armstrong, Mary Pearson, Rachel Caine, Rachel Vincent, Carrie Ryan, Margaret Stohl & Kami Garcia.

September 22nd, 2010 7 PM @ Wentz Concert Hall at North Central College, Hosted by ANDERSON'S Naperville, IL
Alyson Noel, Kelley Armstrong, Melissa Marr, Jackson Pearce, Jennifer Barnes & Carrie Ryan
NOTE: for this event, it is free with the purchase on one book by a featured author or $5 without purchase.

September 23rd, 2010 7 PM @ BOOKS & CO AT THE GREENE, Dayton, OH
Alyson Noel, Kelley Armstrong, Melissa Marr, Jackson Pearce, Jennifer Lynn Barnes & Kami Garcia.

September 24th, 2010 7 PM @ JOSEPH BETH Cincinnati, OH
Alyson Noel, Kelley Armstrong, Melissa Marr, Jennifer Lynn Barnes, Jeri Smith-Ready, & Margaret Stohl

September 25th, 2010 2 PM @ CHAPTERS BRAMPTON (52 Quarry Edge Drive) Brampton, ON
Alyson Noel, Kelley Armstrong, Melissa Marr, Melissa de la Cruz, Jeri Smith-Ready, Jennifer Lynn Barnes, Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl

Alpha trailer and contest

2010-09-08T10:04:00.004-05:00

[The contest has now ended--stay tuned to see the winner! And of course, you may still post the trailer. ;)]

Okay, I think we're finally ready to show off the Alpha trailer! The HD version is too big to post here, but you can click through to Youtube to watch it there, or you can watch it on my website.

And, of course, I promised another giveaway, so here goes!

Since we've already had a couple of easy, raise-your-hand-if-you-want-one contests, this one's going to require a little work. (Mwa ha ha ha!)

What's up for grabs: an early, signed copy of Alpha.
How you can enter: post this trailer on your blog, Facebook page, LJ, etc... and leave the link in the comments section. Direct links only, please. That means leave a link to the particular post where the trailer is embedded, not a link to your entire blog. If I can't find it, the entry doesn't count.
Deadline: Wednesday, September 15, 11:59 pm (central)

Note: This contest probably has your best odds yet of winning a copy of Alpha because while it's easy to leave a comment or fill out a form, posting something online requires a little time and effort, so this one will get fewer entries. Which increases your chance of winning if you do enter. ;)