Time for a Change

Hi all! This blog has always been a bit of a lost cause, and it's been mostly for news and updates on the books. I've redone my website in more of a blog-esque fashion, so it's time to say farewell to this one.

From now on, you can find all the news about me and the books at my new and improved website.There's also more to see, with extras that I'll be adding to and a lot more information overall.

You can also find me chatting away daily on my writing blog, Fiction University. (This is the one to go to if you're after writing advice)

Thanks to all the folks who came (and will still come) by to say hello. Come join me at the new place!

Janice

I'm Doing a Workshop: How POV Can Cure Your Common Writing Problems

I'll be doing a writers workshop on April 9 at FoxTale Book Shoppe in Woodstock, GA. While it's aimed at those writing for teens, the techniques are the same so writers of adult work can also benefit.

WORKSHOP FOR WRITERS OF YOUNG ADULT FICTION
View to a Skill: How Point of View Can Cure Your Common Writing Problems
Instructor: Janice Hardy, Author of The Healing Wars: The Shifter and The Healing Wars: Blue Fire (Published by Balzer & Bray/Harper Collins)

WHEN: SATURDAY, APRIL 9, 1pm-5pm
COST: $60
WHERE: FoxTale Book Shoppe, 105 E. Main St., #138, Woodstock, GA 30188

As young adult fiction continues to grow as a writing genre, so does the demand for quality, publishable writing. If you are currently writing young adult fiction with an eye towards publishing, you will not want to miss this unique opportunity to work with an expert in the field. Join novelist Janice Hardy for this half-day workshop that focuses on how point-of-view can fix commonly seen problems in your manuscript: telling, not showing, info-dumping, back story, weak character goals and motivations, low stakes, and more. Bring those frustrating sections of your book, and work with Janice to get inside the head of your character and help you get your story moving in the right direction. So that workshop participants can get the most out of this period of instruction, the class will be capped at fifteen attendees. Sign up today by linking to www.foxtalebookshoppe.com and registering online, or call FoxTale at: 770/516-9989.

Come Down and Say Hello

For those in the Atlanta,GA area, I'll be speaking and signing books at the Avenue Forsyth Barnes & Noble on February 26, at 2-3pm, so come on down and say hello.

It's during B&N's Exceptional Child Week, which is a week-long event from February 26 - March 4 that celebrates local schools, reading and books. I was there last year and had a great time. They really put on a wonderful show with lots of fun things for guests to see and do.

Wonderful News!

I'm delighted and excited to anounce that The Pain Merchants (the UK version of The Shifter) is on the shortlist for the 2011 Waterstone's Children's Book Prize! The winner will be announced February 9, 2011.

This is so very very cool.

The Shifter (US version) also got some love of its own and has been nominated for the 2011-2012 Truman Readers Award. The winner there will be announced April 2012.

So far, 2011 is starting off on a pretty darn good foot.

Book Fair Fun

You know, you'd think I'd be better about updating these things, but it always slips my mind. I might have to make that a New Year's Resolution this year. Remember to update the blog about events!

I'll be at Barnes & Noble this evening at the Otwell Middle School Book Fair. It's open to everyone, and supports the school, so come on by, say hello, and get some books. They don't even have to be mine, though that would be nice.

Barnes & Noble
The Avenue Forsyth
Building 200 Suite 252
410 Peachtree Pkwy
Cumming, GA 30041
From 6-8pm

Meet Me in Gainesville

For those of you in the Gainesville, GA area, I'll be at Hall Book Exchange this Saturday at their 24-hour Read-A-Thon. I'll be appearing from 2-3pm.

Saturday, October 23, 2010, 2-3pm
Hall Book Exchange
1854 Thompson Bridge Rd.
Gainesville,GA

The Blue Fire Travelling Launch Party: The Story

The Traveling Launch Party was a success, and fun was had by hopefully all. I know I had a great time. Night One was at Fox Tale Books, a wonderful independent bookstore in Woodstock, GA. They had the window all done up with my books and blue sparkle stuff and it looked really cool.

We walked inside and were greeted by yet another display. And yes, seeing my books in the windows and on display like this totally rocks.

After a bit of socializing with the Foxes (the lovely gals who own the shop), it was time to set up the food and get ready for the guests. I had planned quite the spread for the evening, with some yummy snacks and a cake.

The cake. Funny story here. I went to Publix with the book jacket in hand and asked if they could put it on the cake. The conversation went something like this:


ME: Can you put this on a cake?
BAKER: Yes, but we're not allowed to due to copyright.
ME: It's my book, for my book launch party.
BAKER: -stares at me dubiously-
ME: -flipping open the cover- See? There's my picture. I can show you my driver's license.
BAKER: Let me ask someone. -goes to speak to head baker, both return-
HEAD BAKER: We can do it, but you'll have to write a letter giving us permission.
ME: Okey dokey.


I wrote the letter and everything worked out. It's nice to see that they take copyright images seriously, but it cracked me up that I almost didn't get my own cover on a cake!


Guests started arriving, we joked and laughed and ate, then the Foxes tossed me up in front of everyone to talk about the book and writing in general. We had a great discussion, lots of good questions were asked, and they had to drag me off stage so I could sign books and let folks go home.

Day two sent us to Barnes & Noble, for a more traditional book signing. I recruited my neighbor and a few of her friends to do hair braiding and face painting for the kids, and set up shop in the back.

We also had some chairs set up so folks could hang out and chat after they got their books signed, and we had a nice informal mini-party going on all morning. The girls even went poaching for children when the face painting slowed down and brought back more customers. Spiders were big, and there were lots of cheeks with arachnids on them.

I got to meet some other bloggers and readers (Hi Kritsa!) face to face, and see some bloggers and readers I've met before, who even drove in from another state to see me! (Hi Sarah, and Kayelee!) It's always fun to meet folks I "see" online and put a person to the name.


We wrapped up and went home, tired from all the fun, but in good spirits. Next time, I need to remember to take more pictures.


Next signing is over at:


Saturday, October 23, 2010, 2pm
Hall Book Exchange
1854 Thompson Bridge Rd.
Gainesville,GA

They're doing a 24-hour read-a-thon for charity, so if you're in the area, stop on by that day.

Blue Fire Traveling Launch Party

For those in the Georgia area (or who will be in the area at the time, or are looking for an excuse to visit the Atlanta area--road trip anyone?), I'm having a weekend launch party for the release of Blue Fire. It starts Friday night, then continues on Saturday.

Date: Friday, October 8, 2010
Time: 6-9pm
Place: Fox Tale Books
105 E Main St
Woodstock, Georgia 30188
(770) 516-9989

Food, fun, and prizes! Part party, part book signing, hang out with me and other folks who love books.


Date: Saturday, October 9, 2010
Time: 11am
Place: Barnes & Noble
The Avenue Forsyth

Building 200 Suite 252
410 Peachtree Pkwy
Cumming, GA 30041
770-781-0867

Hair braiding and face painting, prizes, book singing and author meet and greet.

Come to one, come to both (they're different in nature), but stop by if you can!

The Paperback Version of The Shifter is Out

And it dawned on me I forgot to post that here! My bad. I blame finalizing Shifter 3.

Sister. Healer. Deadly Weapon.

Nya has a secret she must never share.

A gift she must never use.

A world she must never question.

And a sister whose life depends on her doing all three.

Fifteen-year-old Nya is an orphan struggling for survival in a city crippled by war. She is also a Taker—with her touch, she can heal injuries, pulling pain from another person and storing it inside her own body. But unlike her sister Tali and the other Takers who become Healer’s League apprentices, Nya’s skill is flawed: she can’t push that pain into pynvium, the enchanted metal used to store it. All she can do is shift it from person to person, a dangerous skill that she must keep hidden from forces occupying her city. If discovered, she’d be used as a human weapon against her own people.

Rumors of another war make Nya’s life harder, forcing her to take desperate risks just to find work and food. She pushes her luck too far and exposes her secret to a pain merchant eager to use her shifting ability for his own sinister purpose. At first, Nya refuses, but faced with some difficult choices. As her father used to say, principles are a bargain at any price, but how many will Nya have to sell to get Tali back alive?

You can get it here:
HarperCollins
Barnes & Noble
Amazon
Borders
Indie Bound 


And if ya happen to need some blog filler this week, feel free to copy this post and share! (grin) 

Game Time

I have my very own game now.

Escape From Baseer!

Play if you dare...

Okies, in all seriousness, this is kinda cool. HarperCollins has an Awesome Adventures site where they've done games for a lot of their titles, and quizzes and stuff.I just might lose the rest of my afternoon here.

As a gamer girl myself, I'm jazzed to be part of the geekdom.

A New Quiz!

There's a new quiz up for Blue Fire. I got to help write the one for The Shifter, but this time the folks at Harper did it on their own.

I find it a little disturbing that I missed a question. How can I miss a question on my own book?

Those Harper folks are sneaky.

The book's not out yet, but I wonder how many people can guess things right just because they know the characters and can figure out what they'd do.

I Wanna Be a Paperback Writer...

And now I am! I got my copies of The Shifter in paperback yesterday and they look so cool. They don't officially go on sale until August 31, but I imagine they'll be shipped out any time now so it's possible you'll find some in the stores earlier.

Do You Know Nya?

I love trivia quizzes, and my publisher has a fun little one up where you can test your trivia teeth and see how well you know The Healing Wars.

Take the quiz!

So Many Covers

I'm excited because I finally have final covers of the UK and German editions of The Shifter and Blue Fire. They look fabulous, and all are so different from each other. I also thinks is hysterical that all three book ones have different titles, but all book twos are the same.

The US Hardcover of The Shifter

The UK Hardcover of The Pain Merchants

The UK Paperback of The Pain Merchants

The German Cover of The Healer

The US Hardcover of Blue Fire

The UK Hardcover of Blue Fire

The German Cover of The Blue Fire

Aren't they awesome? Granted, maybe I'm biased here but I love every one of them.

Vipers Hiss!

On Wednesday, I got to spend the day over at Vickery Creek Middle School. I had a great time and even got to meet someone who has the same name as my husband. There were quite a few budding authors in the group, and those folks are always extra fun to meet. Not only are writers just plain awesome (though admittedly, I might be biased here) but they always ask the best questions.

One gal even came up with a great idea as to why Nya can't shift pain into animals! (Something I've never had her do since I can't bear the thought of hurting animals). Fur! Nya needs skin to skin contact and animals have fur to block it. Isn't that cool?

Since the school year is coming to a close, I won't be visiting any more school until the fall. I suspect it'll be pretty quiet for me until Blue Fire comes out, so you probably won't see my doing any more appearances until then. But if I do, I'll be sure to let y'all know!

Go Go Grizzlies

I spent all day yesterday over at Piney Grove Middle, and let me tell you, I had a great time. School visits are one of my favorite things to do as a writer, and I always enjoy talking with students and answering questions.

I think the most popular questions were about my eel, Eelbert, so I'm going to have to get some photos of him for the website. (My husband thinks I should do a live web cam and have EelTV, but I think that's a lot of ask of the little guy)

There's was some excitement as well. A fire drill got us all up and out the door the first session, but we hung around outside and chatted. I met a fellow World of Warcraft player (even if he was Horde) and met some gals who would make good Nyas one day. (I have your notes!)

All in all, it was a terrific day, and a big thanks to media director Kim and the Grizzly Gang at Piney Middle for inviting me over!

The Results Are In

Well, I see from A) the selections on the poll and B) the small number of responders, that keeping this blog news and events only isn't going to disappoint anyone.

For those who were looking for writing stories, I talk about writing and the publishing biz on my other blog, The Other Side of the Story. That will be my main blog for now on.

In the next few weeks, I'll be rearranging things here so news is easier to find, and update the things I've been meaning to update for so long. Adding all the reviews, interviews, guest posts and whatnot, creating an easy spot for visitors to leave messages and so forth.

Let Me Ask You...

I'm going to be overhauling the blogs and website in the next few weeks, and I'm unsure what to do with this blog. It's not a blog I post to daily, because honestly, I just don't know what to write about. My writing blog I post to almost daily, as I can talk about writing forever. But here? I'm at a loss. Do you guys really care about my day to day life? Pictures of the cats? Stuff that strikes me as funny? I've never been a journal keeper, so I'm not sure what to say even if I did post daily.

I don't want to abandon the blog completely, because I like having a venue to chat with readers and let them know what's going on with me and the books. But I also don't want to bore you guys to tears with stuff no one really cares about. Since I don't think everyone who comes here wants to hear in-depth stuff about writing, it doesn't make sense to just combine the two blogs. But if this one becomes a simpler "news and the occasional event" blog, I'm okay with that. Folks can always leave comments and I read all of those, so I can still keep in touch with everyone.

So, I've put up a poll for the next two weeks to see what visitors want to hear about. You can choose as many as you want, but if you can pick the top two, that would be great, as I'd know the most important things. Feel free to expand in the comments section, or offer suggestions if I don't have it on the poll.

And hey, if you guys have ideas about stuff you'd love to see on the website, let me know. It's been up about a year now, and I've learned a lot about what I need and what readers like.

Anything I can do to make the site or blog better?

I'm all ears.

A Couple of Fun Interviews

I was interviewed over at the Debut Authors Blog recently, so pop on by and peek around.

You can also hear me share my geek side at the gaming blog Grinding to Valhalla.

And I'll have the next book challenge post up today. Just been one of those weeks where I haven't had much time to post!

2010 Book Challenge #7 & 8

This week started a long run of Kate Brian's "Private" series books. I'm a big fan of these, so seeing them all lined up on the shelf makes me very, very happy. And better still, when I went to get the cover images for the blog, I found out that book #11 Scandal, comes out tomorrow! (squee!).

Inner Circle
By Kate Brian
Ages: 14+

The Private series is a fun suspense/drama mix that centers around Reed, a blue-collar gal who gets a scholarship to Easton, one of the top boarding schools on the East Coast. She's way out of her league here since almost every student is super rich or famous, or both. The dorm to be in is Billings House, and the "Billings Girls" are the creme de la creme of the already fabulous. Reed will do anything to get into Billings, and let me tell you, these girls really make her work for it. I don't want to go too much into what this particular book is about so as not to ruin the series for anyone picking it up, but there's always a juicy mystery or two going on (frequently involving a murder), and Reed gets herself into some crazy situations. This series is definitely a PG-13 one though.

Legacy
By Kate Brian
Ages: 14+

If I wasn't already a huge fan I might have been put off by this one. I've always liked Reed, even though she doesn't always make the choices I think she should, but in this one, she really turns into an unlikable girl. (The stuff she does to her boyfriend, Josh! Ack! How could she?) I strongly suspect that was Brian's plan, though, and now that Reed has learned that absolute power corrupts absolutely, she'll start her hard road back to being the likable her and correcting the mistakes she made this book. Although ow she's going to get out the mess she lands in at the end of Legacy is beyond me.

This week's books:
Ambition, Kate Brian
Revelation, Kate Brian

I also have a book to read for someone in my crit group, so there's a good chance I won't get either of these read this week. But I'm still reading, only something that won't be published until next year or so. (It's the second book to a series a friend of mine just published this past January, (Servant of the Underworld) Aztec noir. Very cool stuff.

And I heard about another cool book this morning that I threw on my wish list, called The Line, that sounds like it's right up my alley.

Future books:
Paradise Lost, Kate Brian
Privilege, Kate Brian
Black Angels, Linda Beatrice Brown
Jhegaala, Steven Brust
The Princess Diaries, Meg Cabot
Princess in the Spotlight, Meg Cabot
Princess in Love, Meg Cabot
Heist Society, Ally Carter
Empire, Orson Scott Card
A War of Gifts, Orson Scott Card
Deep Dark and Dangerous, Mary Downing Hahn
Deadtown, Nancy Holzner
Crank, Ellen Hopkins
Mainspring, Jay Lake
How to Ditch Your Fairy, Justine Larbalestier
Tomorrow, When the War Began, John Marsden
Gods of Manhattan, Scott Mebus
Hellgate London - Exodus, Mel Odom
The Adoration of Jenna Fox, Mary E. Pearson
The Scent of Shadows, Vicki Pettersson
How I Live Now, Meg Rosoff
Holes, Louis Sachar
Wicked, Sara Shepherd
Games of Command, Linnea Sinclair
The Harrowing, Alexandra Sokoloff
It's Kind of a Funny Story, Ned Vizzini
Uglies, Scott Westerfield
Spin, Robert Charles Wilson