Wishing you all a very

 MERRY
CHRISTMAS

and a

HAPPY NEW YEAR

filled with peace, joy, and books!

Epic Start to October

Did you hear that sound? Yep. That was my head exploding from the awesome that is October. So many amazing book releases! And exciting news.

A very BIG congratulations are in order for Becca Fitzpatrick and her major announcement yesterday on BLACK ICE, her first book after the completion of the Hush, Hush Saga. You can read all the juicy details here. Much more on that later.

Since there are so many great new releases this month I'm only going to focus on a few coming out now and save the later releases (FINALE, ICED, BEAUTIFUL REDEMPTION!) for a second  post. Now for the new release love...

October1
STEALING PARKER by Miranda Kenneally

I love this book. Being the awesome person that she is Miranda brought me advance copies of Parker and DEAR TEEN ME (another incredible October release. More gushing to come when I post on the last half of Oct releases.) to Becca's signing when we met up during a visit in DC. Such a great surprise! I'm a huge fan of Miranda's sharp tight writing and killer dialogue, and super realistic honest characters. She handles heavy topics with ease and nails the romance. Any author that can get me--an avid non-sports fan--to fall madly in love with stories that contain a sports theme is a genius. So excited for THINGS I CAN'T FORGET, coming in March 2013!

Equally exciting is Miranda's big announcement from last week...

Author of CATCHING JORDAN, Miranda Kenneally’s RACING SAVANNAH, about an underprivileged girl training to be a jockey while working in the barn at a high-stakes horse farm whose on-again, off-again relationship with the owner’s son has an upstairs/downstairs effect on race day, pitched as Downton Abbey in the South, to Leah Hultenschmidt at Sourcebooks Fire, in a good deal, in a three-book deal, for publication in 2013, by Sara Megibow at Nelson Literary Agency (world).

So much awesome to look forward to from Miranda. We all need to send her plenty of diet coke and Mexican food to fuel all the writing she will be doing. Congrats, Miranda! You're a rockstar.


October 2
THE MARK OF ATHENA by Rick Riordan

I'm way behind on my reading these days (lots of productive writing and critiquing happening so it's a good thing) so I'm actually at this very moment reading the book that comes before Athena, THE SON OF NEPTUNE. But I can't wait to get to this one. I adore all of Rick Riordan's books and know Athena will be another action-packed adventure full of mythical wars and characters you can't help but love.

I also love how long the length of each book in this series and the Kane Chronicles are. The more time I get to spend in the amazing worlds he creates the better!








October 2
KEEPER OF THE LOST CITIES by Shannon Messenger

My niece (and book buddy) read the advance copy  of Keeper over the summer and gave it rave reviews, so I'm really looking forward to reading this book. I don't even know where to begin...the great reviews I've been hearing for months, how awesome Shannon is with her pay it forward attitude and involvement in the writing community, her excitement over the book, the gorgeous cover, the description...so many reasons I can't wait to read KEEPER OF THE LOST CITIES.

Her second book, LET THE SKY FALL (this one is Young Adult) sounds equally amazing. And the cover featuring Becca's blurb? *Swoon*






October 2

THE SPINDLERS by Lauren Oliver 

Let me start by saying I love anything Lauren Oliver writes. Her stories are works of art and, whether she's writing about a girl navigating a secret underground world full of giant mice and insects or an epic romance to rival Romeo and Juliet, her writing style is magical. And like all of her stories, THE SPINDLERS has a timeless quality, a book you can see kids reading 100 years from now. (Shout out to my writing buddy Nisha for sharing her advance copy with me!) When Liza’s younger brother Patrick’s soul is stolen by the evil Spindlers, spider-like creatures who live underground, she knows she must set out on a heroic quest to the world below to rescue it. And that she does. Everyone will love this Alice In Wonderland meetsThe Underland Chronicles story. I can't wait until my son is a little older so I can read Spindlers to him.

 

The Beautiful BEAUTIFUL CREATURES Movie Trailer

As a huge fan of the books I was super nervous to see the trailer for the first time last night. But holy WOW. The music (Florence is always a perfect choice), using the Beautiful Creatures title font from the book, the setting--so fantastic! Now if I could just get past the fact that this Ethan (am I the only one who thinks he looks way older than a high schooler?) still doesn't fit with the Ethan in my head... 

Counting down the days to February!

A Contest You Can't Miss!

Susan Ee, author of the super amazing ANGELFALL (to say that I love this book is an understatement!), is running a contest right now, one you can't miss. It's easy to enter and the winner will get a signed Kindle Fire with Angelfall!

Is it totally selfish of me to not want to share the details so I have a better chance of winning? Ok, fine. I'll spill...you can find all the juicy details on how to enter here.

Good Luck!

+

My Pinterest Love Continues

I love Pinterest. I mean really, really LOVE it. Sure, I've had a lot of fun making the yummy recipes and stockpiling outfit ideas and decorating tips, and I swoon every time I look at my board of gorgeous writing inspiration pins. But lately it's the quote pins that have me most inspired.

Some of my favorites for writing motivation 



Image source can be found here



Image source can be found here



Couldn't locate a link for this one



Image source can be found here



Image source can  be found here



A contest for Middle Grade Writers

Do you write Middle Grade fiction? Do you have a finished manuscript? Are you excited? You should be! (I am!) because the latest "Dear Lucky Agent" Contest is all about Middle Grade fiction, and the amazing Sara Sciuto from Full Circle Literary is judging!

Stop by the Guide to Literary Agent for all the details on how to enter here.

Good Luck!

Best music video. Ever.

A great reminder

I feel very fortunate that I spotted a tweet from the fabulous Sarah Rees Brennan, author of The Demon's Lexicon series, Unspoken, and co-author of Team Human, when she shared some of the amazing advice from the equally fabulous Ally Carter, author of the Gallagher Girl and Heist Society books. 


Sarah shared this portion Ally's letter on her Tumblr page...


And the biggest piece of advice I can give you is this: take a sheet of paper and write down five things that would make you really, really happy in your career.  Then write down five things that would be “best case scenario” things.  And lastly write five “in your wildest dreams” things.


Keep that list.  Remember that list.  Because in this business the finish line is constantly moving.  One day you really just want an agent.  Then it’s a book deal.  Then it’s a bestseller.  Then it’s a movie.  Then it’s a castle next to JK Rowling’s.


In short, appreciate things as they’re happening, remember that once upon a time that thing was a dream of yours and that it’s still a dream for someone.  So be grateful every day.

Read the rest of Ally's amazing and insightful letter to Baby Author Me here 

Seriously, how great is that advice? Especially coming from someone who has seen such success and has an understanding of how things work in the publishing industry. I started my lists last night!

Mini photo recap of BEA 2012

I'm super late with my BEA (Book Expo of America) post but I wanted to share a quick overview of what I brought home, some of what I wished I had brought home, and our FallenArchangel excitement.

Taking a break from the Florida fun to read Prodigy.
It is BRILLIANT.

My recent vacation ( I just got home this afternoon) made it possible for me to devour two of my BEA books in the last week, so trust me when I say ORIGIN by Jessica Khoury and PRODIGY by Marie Lu are two books you must read this coming fall/winter. Two amazing stories full of gorgeous writing, fascinating characters, and killer plot twists. THE RAVEN BOYS by Maggie Stiefvater is up next.

Because I took too many last year I practiced some big time restraint this year and only brought home six ARCs/galleys, but I'm thrilled with what I got. What do I wish I had brought home? ALTERED by Jennifer Rush, THRONE OF GLASS by Sarah J. Maas and VENOM by Fiona Paul, just to name a few.

Small but mighty stack of ARCS from BEA 2012

Then there was the BIG excitement of being there for the live reveal of Becca's FINALE and hanging with Becca herself again. (We'll always have the crazy taxi ride and Red Lobster, girls!)

Giant banner that revealed the FINALE cover to the BEA crowd

Becca with the angels

Drew Doyon, the Patch cover model, happened to be in town
for work and made it in time to see the big reveal

FINALE banner at the Simon & Schuster booth

Angels chatting with the long line of fans waiting for Becca's signing

Jenn and Becca in line for a signing

So excited to see STEALING PARKER featured on
the Sourcebooks booth. Go Miranda!

Penguin booth

View from the bus on the ride home. Until next time, NYC!

JUNE!

Just thinking about typing this blog post makes my head hurt.
SO much planned. SO much awesome.


June 1
Husband comes home from a year-long deployment in Kuwait. This one speaks for itself!

June 2
We're (FallenArchangel) doing a fan event in Washington DC with Becca Fizpatrick!  Hanging with Becca and her fans IN PERSON. Email, Skype, Twitter etc. are great and all but nothing beats spending time with awesome people in real life. This will also be my 4 yr old's first time seeing DC so even though I used to live there, we're going to do it up old school tourist style with a night tour of the monuments and visit as many Smithsonian museums as we can fit in. Though I think he's most excited to meet Becca's sons after hearing they're Star Wars fans too. (No worries. He's been briefed on the dangers of wielding a light saber anywhere near the White House) If you're near the DC area please come and join us!

June 6
BEA! Ok, last year was a little rough when it came to getting from point A to B to C and back again and we had no idea what to expect. Insane. But this year we've got it covered. For starters, my sister and I are taking a bus into the city and only staying for the day. Then there's the freaking fantastic part about being there the day of Becca's FINALE cover reveal and signing, and more time with Becca! Veronica Roth, Stephanie Perkins, Kristin Cashore (and many other incredible authors) are signing that day too. Like I said, SO much awesome.

Me (left) and Jenn (right) on top of the Rock last year before BEA. SO cloudy
you couldn't even see the other buildings, or our faces!

June ?-?
Still working on exact dates but we're heading to Florida again for 7-8 days to spend time with the husband's family, hit Disney World, Clearwater Beach, and whatever else we decide to do. And I get to actually sleep past 6am and have long stretches of writing time. For the record, I'd totally rather skip the parks (yes, even Harry Potter) and spend that time at the beach. Battling hordes of sweaty tourists and standing line is so not my thing. Sitting in the shade of a big umbrella, digging my toes into sand as soft as baby powder, listening to the waves, reading a book, and watching husband and son build sandcastles--yes, please.

Nate soaking up the sun at Clearwater Beach last summer

June ?
One of my best friends, a friend I've known forever (even our moms were friends when they were pregnant with us) is due with her first child (a boy!) at the end of June. All of my childhood memories involve her and her family and she stayed the night at the hospital when my son was born. Also, her and her husband might be the nicest most generous people on the planet and will the best parents. Ever. I MUST be there when little man arrives.

I can't wait for the fun to begin. Bring on summer! 

But I'm still hoping May holds some awesome surprises too...

Here are some of the AMAZING books 

(with equally amazing covers) 

I've devoured lately...

(I highly recommend them all!)

A new look!

My super talented and amazing sister is working on an all new design for my website and I cannot wait to share it! So if you happen to visit http://www.rebeccalsutton.com/ please know that the information on my projects is very outdated and will be shiny and new (and current) soon. And I hope to have some other exciting things to share soon too!

Spring fever and a new project

Today is beautiful. The birds are chirping, the sun is shining, I didn't need a coat this morning! But since I live in Northeastern Pennsylvania and it's only mid-March, this spring weather can change in a heartbeat. Two days from now I could be shoveling snow. Still, I can't help that I have spring fever. It's just soooo nice outside and I can't wait to see all the leaf buds pop out and the nasty brown grass turn green.

Spring is all about renewal. There's the obvious renewal in nature, spring cleaning, swapping out the winter wardrobe for spring/summer clothes, but it also makes me want to start fresh in my writing. Lucky for me I'm at a point where I can start something new and I have two projects planned out to choose from. Both are MG (middle grade is usually ages 10 and up) and way out of my comfort range, a result of all the incredible inspiration I've gotten on Pinterest lately. I'll probably focus on the high fantasy since it terrifies and excites me so much. Dragons, magic, a deadly journey through a beautiful yet cursed land. Did I mention this is way out of my writing comfort range?

Here's the image that started it all...



Too good not to share...

DOWNTON ABBEY PAPER DOLLS!

complete with evil accessories

I think I'll print these two out just to torture them for all their evil deeds.

Watch out O'Brien, I've got a match with your name on it! And Thomas...



A shout out to Gretchen McNeil for sharing the link on Facebook. You made my day!



Click here to see the rest! (You MUST)

hint hint. I especially love one of Mary's accessories

Why January rocked my world

My reading depends on my writing. If I'm deep in a first draft I don't read much, soooo since I'm not in deep first draft mode I've had the great pleasure of reading my little heart out this month. They're three very different books but share one common trait.

They rocked my world.

First up, PANDEMONIUM by Lauren Oliver. I was thrilled to discover this book was every bit as amazing as DELIRIUM. Lauren Oliver continually blows me away with her ability to combine beautiful and magical writing with heart-stopping action.

Where do I even begin? Maybe with the fact that I read this nearly 400 page book in less than 24 hours? While my 4-year-old was home from school? (Yeah, I have no idea  how I managed that either)

I was exactly like an "uncured" in the book, crazed and infected with desire. Nothing could stop me from reading! PANDEMONIUM is the kind of story I pray every book I open will be. If you haven't read DELIRIUM then you must must must do it now so you can read this amazing follow up when it releases next month!

Stephen King's ON WRITING is for my fellow writers. I know I'm waaay behind on this one but in case you haven't read it--DO IT. Amazing. Raw and realistic advice and insight. I confess to never reading a single one of Mr. King's books (crazy, right?) so if it weren't for an awesome writing buddy of mine (yay Nisha!) reading excerpts to me at one of our tea/writing/chatting meetups I never would've picked this book up. And I am so very glad I did. I have the dried up highlighter and dozens of yellow flags sticking out of the pages to prove it.

Even though I absolutely loved reading about King's life and method of writing I can't say I'll plan on reading any of his novels (I just don't do horror). Still, I highly reccomend this book to anyone who writes or who is thinking about writing.

I can already tell this is one of those books I'll keep off the bookshelf so I can refresh my writer's brain as needed.

I've been slacking on my Twitter time lately but I was lucky enough to pop on one night and catch a tweet about ANGELFALL by Susan Ee. It caught my attention because this person said they were surprised at how many five star reviews this self-published book was getting and wanted to read it. I did a little googling. Gorgeous cover and 99 cents sale price?

Sold.

I wasn't looking to start a new book. I thought I'd snag it at the sale price and get to it when I had time. Then I read the first page. And the second...and the the third. I couldn't stop.

ANGELFALL takes everything you thought you knew about angels and rips it to shreds. With my massive TBR pile I don't have time to reread books but this is one book I have to reread. It's that good.

I cannot wait for this...