wanna see something AWESOME?

Fellow Balzer + Bray-er Gretchen McNeil is revealing her cover art today!!!

Here is POSSESS, due out August 23, 2011!

Isn't it cool?

Go tell her so!

THE LIAR SOCIETY winner!

And the winner of the awesome THE LIAR SOCIETY arc is...

DANYA at TAPESTRY OF WORDS

Congrats, Danya! I'll be in touch to get your mailing address!

And everyone else... pssst... I *might* just have a copy of DIVERGENT to pass on in a week or so...

THE LIAR SOCIETY giveaway

A couple of years ago, a few writers grouped together and formed the "Fab Five Scribes". I don't remember who introduced us all to each other (Sarah? Sam?), but the group consisted of:

1. Sarah Raasch
2. Samantha Verant
3. Lisa Roecker
4. Laura Roecker
5. and me

At the time, none of us were agented. None of us had book contracts. All of us were wrestling with YA manuscripts, critiquing one another's writing, and encouraging each other to keep going after every rejection.

I'll never forget a day last year when I emailed the Fab Five Scribes for help. I can't go into details about what I was going through, but it was a writer's worst nightmare. Lisa and Laura responded with an email that basically said, "This is the big moment for you. You can either give up or start over. Make the right choice."

And I did. I picked myself up, brushed off the dirt, and wrote the first version of SLIDE (then called OTHER PEOPLE). If it weren't for Lisa and Laura Roecker, I would not still be chasing this crazy dream.

It's my pleasure to be holding a copy of their book baby in my hands today. I have to admit, I teared up a little when I got the ARC in the mail. For a year, I'd been reading about Kate Lowry on their blog. I was completely intrigued by their premise--a girl receiving emails from her dead best friend?? Awesome!

THE LIAR SOCIETY totally blew me away. I was completely sucked into the mystery and stayed up late to read "just a few more pages", which of course turned out to be 100 more pages. I can NOT stress how awesome it is.

And I have a copy to give away this week!

To enter to win my ARC of THE LIARY SOCIETY, add up your points and include them in a comment below, along with your email address. The contest will end at midnight Eastern on Thursday. Winner will be announced Friday!

+1 for following
+2 for tweeting the contest
+3 for blogging about contest

Good luck! May the pink be with you!

drumroll...

The winner of the fabulous, signed A NEED SO BEAUTIFUL arc is...

Pam Harris!!!!!

Congrats! I'll be in contact for your mailing address.

Those of you who didn't win, don't be too sad... I have another awesome ARC to give away next week! Details on Monday.

Win an ARC: A NEED SO BEAUTIFUL

I am thrilled to present an interview with the lovely Suzanne Young, author of A NEED SO BEAUTIFUL! At the end, you'll find details on how to win this amazing book!

***
I'm sure you get asked this all the time and I could find the answer if I googled it, but since I'm made of lazy... Your concept is GENIUS! What gave you the idea?

I’d been thinking of A Need so Beautiful for about a year before actually starting it. I think originally I had this idea about the people around us, the people we meet for just a moment who totally impact us. And then they’re gone.

Once when someone close to me was sick, I felt really lost. I met this older woman while waiting in line, and we ended up talking for an hour as she listened to me cry. She gave me great advice and then told me to go home and be with the person I loved. I did. But after that, I actually thought—what if she was really an angel of some sort? The idea haunted my thoughts until I started writing A Need so Beautiful, and then it took on a life of its own.


I love your titles. Are they your original titles?

They are! And I’m so happy that I got to keep them. We’d been brainstorming other titles and then my editor came back and said, “We all agree. This is the perfect title for this book.” I was ecstatic.

The ending of the book left me fully satisfied but craving more... I know that's an oxymoron, but anyway. When is the sequel coming out? Are you finished with it? Will it be a three book series?

The sequel comes out summer of 2012, and I wrote book 1 as a standalone, making sure that it wasn’t left on a cliffhanger. I wanted to tell Charlotte’s story. Book 2 is really different, but I’m excited to watch it take shape in revisions. Not sure on a book 3 yet.


How do you balance all this writing and awesomeness with being a mom?
I’m lucky that my kids are getting a little older now. And they’ve learned that if mom is still in her pajamas in the afternoon, it must be a writing day. :-) But really, I write obsessively—for hours and hours at a time. And I do most of it while they are at school. And my crock pot has become my best friend.

Can you tell us a little about your writing and revision process? I'm hoping there was some revision involved in this book. It's just too perfect. I might have to stab you if there wasn't much revision.

I usually do my first drafts pretty quickly, but I was lucky enough to have an agent and editor that got A Need so Beautiful completely. This book felt more like an ongoing conversation than a huge revision. I’ve never had a better experience shaping a book. *whips out comb for knife fight with Jill*

Do you listen to music when you write? Can you tell us some songs that inspired A Need So Beautiful?

I do listen to music. Just recently I heard Iris by the Goo Goo Dolls and was like, Wow, this is perfect!! But while I was writing, I had a playlist. A few songs from it were:
Closer-Kings of Leon, Just Breathe-Pearl Jam, She Talks to Angels-The Black Crowes, and Go it Alone-Beck. But I should put together an official playlist of songs that go well with the story.

Okay, to win this frawesome ARC, add up your entries and leave them in the comments section, along with your email address!

1 entry = blog follower
2 entries = tweeted the contest
3 entries = blogged about the contest

The contest will end on Thursday at midnight Eastern. The winner will be announced Friday morning.

Good luck, everyone!

P.S. Did I mention it's SIGNED?? Yay!

P.P.S. There's a synopsis of the book a few posts down. Doesn't it sound amazing???

psssst

I don't know if I'm supposed to say anything, but today I glimpsed the SLIDE jacket comp. And. It. Is. Stunning. Dark and mysterious and elegant. I hope, before too long, I am able to share it with you.

Also, I have not one... not two... but three ARC contests in store for you! Plus author interviews! So check back next week!

*waves*