This blog is four years old. Four years. We’re approaching three million visitors. Dun dun dun. Say that with me in a Dr. Evil voice, okay?
Three million visitors.
I thought about doing another huge “million” milestone giveaway, but I’ve already got the HUGE Compulsion Prize Vault giveaway going on, and there are going to be more big things afoot for the Compulsion launch, which is coming up in six weeks.
Instead of celebrating the next million, this time, I want to reflect on how amazing this industry is, and how much things have changed in the past four years that it’s taken me to get published. That seems like forever, doesn’t it? Yet it doesn’t feel like very long.
First, the whole publishing landscape is different. Ebooks were looming large on the horizon four years ago, and everyone was promising the demise of the printed format. There were many more bookstores. There were many fewer books. Dystopian was a dawning blip on the radar. Twilight movies were in theaters and that’s all people were talking about.
Well, not all. The last of the beautiful, beautiful Wicked Lovely series, one of my favorites, was out that year.
Want to Know How Much Things Have Changed?
In six weeks, my own book is going to be out in the world, and I’m doing two events with Melissa Marr, the author of Wicked Lovely and other phenomenal books. How mind-blowing is that? Melissa’s got a new thriller set in the South, that comes out today.
Happy book birthday to Made for You!
Melissa and I are going to get together to chat with readers and writers in the Northern Virginia area about “Southern Kisses and Spanish Moss” — sultry romance and southern boys, in other words, each with a side of danger. Check out the events on the Compelling Reads tour.
But in the meantime, check out her book below. I’ve been lucky enough to read it, and you won’t be disappointed. Want to talk about delicious boys? Phew! There is a giveaway going on for Made for You here.
Made for You
by Melissa Marr
Hardcover
HarperCollins
Released 9/16/2014
Bestselling author of the Wicked Lovely books Melissa Marr’s first contemporary YA novel is a twisted southern gothic tale of obsession, romance, and murder. A killer is obsessed with Eva Tilling. Can she stop him, or will he claim her?
When Eva Tilling wakes up in the hospital, she’s confused—who in her sleepy little North Carolina town could have hit her with their car? And why? But before she can consider the question, she finds that she’s awoken with a strange new skill: the ability to foresee people’s deaths when they touch her. While she is recovering from the hit-and-run, Nate, an old flame, reappears, and the two must traverse their rocky past as they figure out how to use Eva’s power to keep her friends—and themselves—alive. But while Eva and Nate grow closer, the killer grows increasingly frantic in his attempt to get to Eva.
For the first time, New York Times bestselling author Melissa Marr has applied her extraordinary talent to contemporary realism. Chilling twists, unrequited obsession, and high-stakes romance drive this Gothic, racy thriller—a story of small-town oppression and salvation. Melissa’s fans, and every YA reader, will find its wild ride enthralling.
Purchase Made for You at Amazon
Purchase Made for You at IndieBound
View Made for You on Goodreads
Another Birthday and a Final Chapter
Also in the course of those four years, one of the finalists in our very first Pitch to Query contest here on the blog has sold and published a complete trilogy with HarperCollins. Kat Zhang’s gorgeous Hybrid Chronicles trilogy, comprised of What’s Left of Me, Once We Were, and Echoes of Us finishes today. I remember beta reading the first book and being blown away by the premise and the writing. The fact that the series is over, that’s mind-boggling. It’s going to be such a bittersweet good-bye for me.
Happy, happy book birthday, Echoes of Us! I can’t imagine how Kat is feeling today, but my thoughts are with her. And to celebrate, I’m going to giveaway a signed set of Hybrid Chronicles hardcovers. See below, guys. You won’t want to miss this chance to win!
GIVEAWAY: THE HYBRID CHRONICLES
What’s Left of Me
by Kat Zhang
Signed Hardcover Giveaway
HarperCollins
Released 4/15/2014
I should not exist. But I do.
Eva and Addie started out the same way as everyone else—two souls woven together in one body, taking turns controlling their movements as they learned how to walk, how to sing, how to dance. But as they grew, so did the worried whispers. Why aren’t they settling? Why isn’t one of them fading? The doctors ran tests, the neighbors shied away, and their parents begged for more time. Finally Addie was pronounced healthy and Eva was declared gone. Except, she wasn’t . . .
For the past three years, Eva has clung to the remnants of her life. Only Addie knows she’s still there, trapped inside their body. Then one day, they discover there may be a way for Eva to move again. The risks are unimaginable-hybrids are considered a threat to society, so if they are caught, Addie and Eva will be locked away with the others. And yet . . . for a chance to smile, to twirl, to speak, Eva will do anything.
Purchase What’s Left of Me at Amazon
Purchase What’s Left of Me at IndieBound
View What’s Left of Me on Goodreads
Once We Were
by Kat Zhang
Signed Hardcover Giveaway
HarperCollins
Released 9/17/2013
“I’m lucky just to be alive”
Eva was never supposed to have survived this long. As the recessive soul, she should have faded away years ago. Instead, she lingers in the body she shares with her sister soul, Addie. When the government discovered the truth, they tried to “cure” the girls, but Eva and Addie escaped before the doctors could strip Eva’s soul away.
Now fugitives, Eva and Addie find shelter with a group of hybrids who run an underground resistance. Surrounded by others like them, the girls learn how to temporarily disappear to give each soul some much-needed privacy. Eva is thrilled at the chance to be alone with Ryan, the boy she’s falling for, but troubled by the growing chasm between her and Addie. Despite clashes over their shared body, both girls are eager to join the rebellion.
Yet as they are drawn deeper into the escalating violence, they start to wonder: How far are they willing to go to fight for hybrid freedom? Faced with uncertainty and incredible danger, their answers may tear them apart forever.
Purchase Once We Were at Amazon
Purchase Once We Were at IndieBound
View Once We Were on Goodreads
Echoes of Us
by Kate Zhang
Signed Hardcover Giveaway
HarperCollins
Released 9/16/2014
To change the world, I may lose everything
All Eva ever wanted was the chance to be herself. But in the Americas, to be hybrid—to share your body with a second soul—is not tolerated past childhood. Now Eva and Addie, her sister soul, are constantly on the move, hiding from the officials who seek to capture them. But the tide is changing. A revolution is brewing, and people are starting to question the hybrids’ mistreatment.
Then Marion, an ambitious reporter, offers Eva and Addie a daring proposal: If they go undercover and film the wretched conditions of a hybrid institution, she will not only rescue them, she’ll find a way to free Jackson, the boy Addie loves. It’s risky, and Eva will have to leave Ryan and her friends behind, but if she succeeds, it could also tip the scales forever and lead to hybrid freedom.
As Eva and Addie walk into danger, they cling to each other and the hope of a better future. But the price they might pay is higher than they ever could have imagined.
Purchase Echoes of Us at Amazon
Purchase Echoes of Us at IndieBound
View Echoes of Us on Goodreads
