Cover Reveal For Lisa Amowitz's VISION

Today is the cover reveal for Lisa Amowitz's new book VISION, from Spencer Hill Press!

 

 

 

Isn't it awesome? I love the warmth and the subtle creepiness and tension

 

 BLURB!

The light is darker than you think…

When seventeen-year-old Bobby Pendell begins to have blinding migraines followed by frightening hallucinations, he fears there’s something wrong with him. Then murder rocks his sleepy town and the visions that put him on trail of a killer—also make him the prime suspect.

Bum bum BUM!!!!

I'm excited to snag my copy when it's available (May, 2014!), but until then, I can just mark it To Read on Goodreads!


WOO! Congrats Lisa!!

In Which I Say No To NaNoWriMo

Here we are, almost half way through October, which means we have just about 3 weeks until November 1st, which is, of course, the beginning of NaNoWriMo.

I've participated (and won) the last 4 NaNos, but this year it's looking more and more likely that I won't be able to participate.

One of the main reasons is that I'm gearing up for the MFA which starts in Jan. They want you to work on something new, and I know what I'm going to work on. And though I don't have an issue with starting that something new a little early, say, for NaNo, I don't think I'll be ready to go by then.
And I don't want to force it, and have something weird and effed up before I even start the MFA, you know?

I've been brainstorming some the last few weeks, but I know I won't be able to reaaaally start the brainstorming session until I've started to query All That Remains. And while I'm just about ready to go (could really go any day now, actually) it's still puts a bit of delay on things.

(briefly OT - I hit a MN SCBWI conference this weekend and it went awesome. Let's just say that maybe I had a MS review with an editor for a well recognized house and that maaaaybe they liked it. A lot. We'll leave it at that)

So. I just don't relish the thought of rushing things right now, which means NaNo will be taking a back seat this year for me.

Of course, who knows, maybe the brainstorming will suddenly all come together in the next two weeks and i'll be ready to go! I doubt it, because I have a vacation in there, but you  never know. I could always change my mind.

What about you? Are you NaNoing this year?

Friday Fun

All right, ape-friends! We've made it through another week, and we're that much closer to the wonderful holiday where we pork out.

I think you people call it Porksgiving or something. I dunno. I'm a dog.

Did someone say pork?

Anyway, onto the fun!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wednesday Weird: Louis Le Prince Disappearance

I know I've done strange bodies discovered before, but I think this is the first time I've done a missing person.

Today I'm blogging about Louis Le Prince. Le Prince was a 19th century french inventor who specialized in cameras. In fact, he was so good at it, that he actually created the true first moving picture.

That's actually a huge deal, when you think about it. So why haven't you heard about him before?

Because he vanished. From a train.

In 1890, Le Prince was traveling to America for new patents and to show off his newest invention. In Dijon, France, he checked his baggage, boarded a train bound for Paris and retired to his cabin.

That was the last time anyone saw him.

No one saw anything suspicious. His cabin was quiet and the windows were closed. But when the train reached Paris, not only was Le Prince gone, but his baggage (stored in a different compartment) as well. Both the train and the railroad were searched but Le Prince (and his luggage) were never found.

There are a couple of theories. Some people think his disappearance was a complicated suicide. But he was in the middle of a trip to show off his newest work and was both excited and proud.

Some people think his family ordered him to vanish due to money troubles.

There's also a theory that Le Prince's brother murdered him since he was the last one to see him (before he boarded the train).

BUT. One of the most popular theories is related to who Le Prince was in competition with.

Some super asshole named Thomas Edison.

I'm one of history's biggest dicks

If you don't know much about Thomas Edison, I suggest you do some research. The man was a complete dick, who frequently stole patents from other inventors, terrorized Tesla and electrocuted an elephant to death (you can find video footage of that if you'd like.)

Le Prince was in heavy competition with Edison. Edison blocked Le Prince's patents. Le Prince retaliated by forcing American camera designs to leak before they could secure European patents for them.

Le Prince's disappearance paved the way for Edison, who wasted no time in claiming all the credit for discovering motion pictures.

Quite a few investigators actually noticed this lucky convenience for Edison, but there was no proof to connect Edison to Le Prince's disappearance. And even if Edison was responsible, that still doesn't answer the question of how does a man vanish from a train?

In Which Sex & Violence Is Launched!

Saturday night was the book launch party for Carrie Mesrobian's Sex & Violence which I blogged about Here.

The party was at Addendum Books which is a little hole in the wall YA bookstore set inside another bookstore. True story, I've been to three book launch parties over the years and all 3 have been here. Crazy.

The bookstore was packed. I went with Twin and we met up with Hannah there. Twin and I did a quick headcount and there were about 80 people there for Carrie's party, so it definitely reached standing room only.

Carrie and guest of honor Norman Reedus. The fairy crown is also related to the book

There were Elmo cupcakes and red vines and strawberry milk and other decorations and foodstuffs from the book. And there was Cherry Lick! Which is a made up liquor the kids in the book drink. Cherry Lick was passed out to everyone because there was a drinking game during the reading.

Both Twin and I had already read the book, since I was lucky enough to win a copy a few months ago. Hannah had gotten her book and started reading it, but hadn't finished.

It's a great book, and it's even more fun hearing Carrie read a chapter aloud. The funny parts are even funnier when everyone's laughing.

Carrie Mesrobian, Normarn Reedus and editor for Carolrhoda Labs Andrew Karre

It was a fun way to spend a Saturday night.

 

Friday Fun

Hi ape-friends!!

Yvie here, to launch you into the weekend with a little bit of bloggy fun!

AND! This is the first Friday in October! Isn't that just delicious!

Fall has the best foods

Onto the fun!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mood Tiles

 

 

 

IWSG

First Wednesday of the month, which means it's time for Insecure Writer's Support Group.
(also, can you believe it's already October??)

 



I'm feeling pretty good right now. Just in a bit of a holding pattern, waiting to see if I need more revisions or if I'm ready to send All That Remains out into the query world.

I have a conference in two weeks, and I'll be meeting with an agent or editor to go over the first five pages, so I'm for sure not querying before then. After the conference, though, probably.

I'm a bit nervous, actually. Which is strange for me. Usually I'm just like "Pshaa, send it out into the world!" And I definitely have that attitude too, (I'm getting excited to query, you know? Zazzing up my query list didn't help) but also I'm like "but if I don't send it out, then I don't have to worry about it". 

Which is stupid. Because what's the point of spending all this time working hard on it if it's not going out? No point. And I know a lot of my worry will fade once I send it out and get some requests. Then it will be exciting (and nerve-wracking, too. But a different kind of nerves).

What about you? Have you been sending out your work?