Veronica Mars + SLIDE giveaway!

Sadly, I did not see VERONICA MARS until 2009, when I was on maternity leave with Munchkin. It was a few months before I wrote SLIDE, and I think it had a huge impact on the tone and mystery elements of SLIDE. So it's really crazy (and flattering) that I'm seeing reviews cropping up that liken SLIDE to VERONICA MARS.

I've gotten permission to share some of the comments I've seen on Goodreads:

"Slide has a similar addictive, easy-to-consume quality [as Veronica Mars]... As I clicked through the pages on my kindle I couldn't help picturing the protagonist as a pink-haired Kristen Bell..." -Reynje 

"This is a book for fans of YA mystery, Veronica Mars, high school stories and for those wanting an addictive story with a lot of energy in it." -Nomes

"I've heard quite a few favourable comparisons to Veronica Mars, and it deserves them. I can see the similarities: we have a smart, snarky protagonist, sharpy witty dialogue, murder, mystery, and some pretty dark issues for a YA audience. But Slide is not derivative and, rather than being predictable, kept me guessing to the end. Exciting and fresh, Slide is utterly gripping and a total page turner. I loved this book." -Sarah (saz101)

I know, I'm totally tooting my own horn by sharing these reviews, but what I LOVE about them is they could feel the Veronica Mars influence. Dudes, I heart Veronica Mars. So hard.

Anyway, the point is that I have the first season of Veronica Mars that I want to give away, along with a signed copy of SLIDE. If you haven't watched this show, you absolutely need to. And then you can judge for yourself whether SLIDE lives up to the awesomeness that is VM.

Okay, I'm going to try this rafflecopter thing. If you choose to tweet, blog, FB, or post the SLIDE countdown widget, please include links in the comments.

Yes, it's international!



a Rafflecopter giveaway
Apparently that code for the SLIDE widget isn't working for some people. You can try this:


<script type="text/javascript" src="http://cdn.widgetserver.com/syndication/subscriber/InsertWidget.js"></script><script type="text/javascript">if (WIDGETBOX) WIDGETBOX.renderWidget('144ec5f9-6699-4f4e-b9ac-9888d46c42e3');</script>
<noscript>Get the <a href="http://www.widgetbox.com/widget/slide-hccb">Slide</a> widget and many other <a href="http://www.widgetbox.com/">great free widgets</a> at <a href="http://www.widgetbox.com">Widgetbox</a>! Not seeing a widget? (<a href="http://support.widgetbox.com/">More info</a>)</noscript>

Tell Some Lies Saturday

1. I've lost 50 pounds in the past three weeks on the Oreo and burrito diet.

2. My baby is totally sleeping through the night.

3. My house is spotless. All of the laundry is caught up, and there aren't Goldfish crumbs ground into the carpet in my living room.

4. I haven't recently spent hours and hours watching THE REAL HOUSEWIVES OF BEVERLY HILLS. But I absolutely adore Lisa.

SLIDE ARC Winner

Congrats to Benji at Non-Reluctant Reader!

I've decided to send signed bookmarks to all entrants, so I'll be emailing you all to get your contact information. If you want to help me out, you can send that info. to me at jillehathaway at gmail.

Thanks for entering, everyone!

Tell the Truth Tuesday

1. I'm in celebrating mode. Yesterday I typed THE END on my SLIDE 2 revision. There are still a few minor tweaks I need to make before I send it to my editor, but I am 99% finished. Which is YAY!

2. I took a couple of weeks off my diet. I know, not impressive--especially considering I only started it at the beginning of January. But I got sick and then my husband was in CANCUN without me, leaving me with a two-year-old and month-old. Some Oreos were necessary just to stay sane. Oh, and they are my official revision food. Carrot sticks just won't do. But I'm back in the game, as of today.

3. After a very spendy trip to B&N, I came home with a bunch of debut novels and A MILLION SUNS and ENVY by Gregg Olsen. Devoured ENVY over the weekend and loved it. What a brilliant concept... he's exploring some of the most scandalous crimes ever, only with a paranormal edge. Couldn't put it down, and can't wait for BETRAYAL.

4. I've been so busy with my revision, I'm way behind with interviews. So if I owe you one, know that it IS coming. Someday. And one of these days I really need to write my Dear Teen Me post.

5. I've lost my planner. This makes me CRAZY. I can remember most dates, but for the life of me I can't remember when my next dentist appointment is. I'm going nuts over here. Hoping it turns up when I actually get around to cleaning the house. With my revision and my newborn, the laundry has definitely been piling up.

6. If you haven't entered to win a signed ARC of SLIDE, assorted Apocalypsies bookmarks, and a signed SLIDE cover (with the old tagline--"Sometimes you can't look away"), hop down a post and sign up! Even if you don't win the big prize, you have a good chance of winning a signed bookmark.

Happy Tuesday, everyone!!!

Would you like a signed SLIDE arc?

New contest time! I'm giving away a signed SLIDE arc this week, along with a signed SLIDE cover and an assortment of Apocalypsies bookmarks (some are signed, some are not):

FRACTURE by Megan Miranda
BORN WICKED by Jessica Spotswood
THE GATHERING STORM by Robin Bridges
CINDER by Marissa Meyer
KISS THE MORNING STAR by Elissa Hoole
SEEING CINDERELLA by Jenny Lundquist

Here are the rules:

1) Add up your entries and post them in the comments, along with your email address so I can contact if you win.

+1 entry for being a blog follower
+2 entries for tweeting
+3 entries for facebooking or blogging
+4 entries for adding SLIDE on GR
+5 entries for adding the SLIDE countdown widget on your blog (code is below)

2) Contest is international.
3) Contest will end on Thursday night at midnight.
4) 20 runners up will receive signed SLIDE bookmarks!

GOOD LUCK!

Here's the code for the SLIDE countdown widget:

<script type="text/javascript" src="http://cdn.widgetserver.com/syndication/subscriber/InsertWidget.js"></script><script type="text/javascript">if (WIDGETBOX) WIDGETBOX.renderWidget('f22e9181-a4bf-41db-a67c-4c9a6bdd6dc2');</script>
<noscript>Get the <a href="http://www.widgetbox.com/widget/slide-hccb">Slide</a> widget and many other <a href="http://www.widgetbox.com/">great free widgets</a> at <a href="http://www.widgetbox.com">Widgetbox</a>! Not seeing a widget? (<a href="http://support.widgetbox.com/">More info</a>)</noscript>

SLIDE giveaway!!!

Hi, guys!

I know I owe you a real post, but I'm working hard on finishing the SLIDE sequel. More substantial posts in February, I promise!

In the meantime, here is a chance to win a copy of SLIDE on Goodreads!

Also, in case you didn't know, SLIDE is available now on Netgalley! (If you're not sure what Netgalley is, it's an awesome way for reviewers/librarians/booksellers to get electronic ARCs--definitely look into it!)

FRACTURE winners

The signed copy of Megan Miranda's FRACTURE goes to Megan at Book Brats!

10 signed bookmarks will be sent out to:

Rachel (librarian)
Latishajean
Miriam
Ifrah
Christina @ Twin Dragons
Andrea Newkirk
Hannah Lorraine
Llehn
Hayley Weller
Book Sp(l)ot


Thanks, everyone, for participating! I'll be contacting the winners for their mailing info.

I'm giving away a signed copy of FRACTURE by Megan Miranda!

Eleven minutes passed before Delaney Maxwell was pulled from the icy waters of a Maine lake by her best friend Decker Phillips. By then her heart had stopped beating. Her brain had stopped working. She was dead. And yet she somehow defied medical precedent to come back seemingly fine 

—despite the scans that showed significant brain damage. Everyone wants Delaney to be all right, but she knows she's far from normal. Pulled by strange sensations she can't control or explain, Delaney finds herself drawn to the dying. Is her altered brain now predicting death, or causing it? 

Then Delaney meets Troy Varga, who recently emerged from a coma with similar abilities. At first she's reassured to find someone who understands the strangeness of her new existence, but Delaney soon discovers that Troy's motives aren't quite what she thought. Is their gift a miracle, a freak of nature-or something much more frightening? 

For fans of best-sellers like Before I Fall and If I Stay, this is a fascinating and heart-rending story about love and friendship and the fine line between life and death.

Sound awesome? It is.

One of the most rewarding parts of this whole publishing experience has been getting to know some amazing writers. Shortly after I signed with Sarah Davies, she introduced me to another of her writers who had just gone through the monster revision experience that I was getting ready to start. Megan and I started corresponding via email, and soon we were sending 10-15 emails back and forth every day. Sometimes we sent each other snatches of writing to critique, but more often than not, we talked about our kids, what was for lunch, or what we were reading. It's strange to say that I've never met one of my best friends, but there it is.

That's why I had to jump up and down, shriek, and call my husband to come see when I spotted this in my local Barnes and Noble:

And I cried a little when I looked inside and saw this...

I am sooooo proud of Megan! To celebrate her big day, I'm giving away one signed copy of FRACTURE with a signed bookmark! Ten runners up will receive signed FRACTURE bookmarks! Usual rules, but I'll go through them below...

1) Post a comment below and add up your entries.
2) Include your email address so I can contact you if you win.
3) +1 entry for being a blog follower
+2 entries for tweeting
+3 entries for facebooking or blogging or tumblring or whatever
4) Contest will run until midnight Thursday. I'll post the winner on Friday.
5) Yes, the contest is international.

YOUNG ADULT movie

So on Saturday I escaped the house, spent the morning writing at the library, went to lunch with my sister, and then caught YOUNG ADULT starring Charlize Theron (written by Diablo Cody and directed by Jason Reitman).

For those of you who haven't heard of this movie, it's about this young adult ghost writer for a series similar to Sweet Valley High. She gets an announcement from an old flame who just had a baby with his  wife, and she decides she has to go back to her little nowhere town* (because she's from MINNEAPOLIS!) and save him from his terrible, boring life*. In the process, she comes across a dude who was kind of a geek* in high school and was assaulted in a terrible hate crime (even though he wasn't actually gay).

*All of these phrases are ones that the character would use, not me. Hey, I'm a big fan of the Kentacohut. But the main character in this movie is, um, not.

I'd read Roger Ebert's review before going to the film, so I kind of knew what to expect going in. Charlize Theron plays Mavis, a totally self-absorbed, unlikeable character, continually doing things that made me want to facepalm. But you know what? The movie worked. It was pretty genius how Diablo Cody set up Mavis to be someone you despised but kind of pitied at the same time. (On Twitter, I likened her to the people on Toddlers and Tiaras; it just makes me feel better about my own life when I'm watching--terrible, I know.) And there were actually quite a few times I was able to relate to her, sadly enough. Raise your hand if you got her Diet Coke in the morning habit. What, only me? How about her observing teenagers and being all like, "That's a great line!!!" Still only me? Huh.

There was one moment, toward the end, that I definitely connected with. Mavis is reflecting on her desire to win back her ex-boyfriend, and she says something like, "I was my best self when I was with him." And her friend, being the seriously awesome guy that he is, replies that isn't true. He reminds her that she had a heart-shaped mirror hanging in her locker and says that she spent so much time looking in that mirror, but she never bothered to look at him.

That really hit home for me. I started a diet this last week (I mean, who hasn't?), and I've spent a lot of time thinking about the college Jill (when I was thinnest). I tend to romanticize that girl, the one who spent hours upon hours in the gym and counting carrot sticks to put into little plastic baggies and carry to class. But that girl was so wrapped up in what she saw in the mirror, she didn't have time to look at the others around her. I hope that I've changed since then. Not that I don't want to be skinnier, healthier, a better example for my daughter. I do. But I don't want to go back to being that person. She wasn't the best me possible. I hope that woman is waiting for me in the future.

Tell the Truth Tuesday

1. I am blogging when I should be revising. Bad Jill!

2. Just took Munchkin to daycare and am reveling in the peace and quiet. Worth every penny! I've still got Little'un with me, but I should be able to get some work done while he's sleeping. Ahem, or I should be able to get some *sleep* done while he's sleeping.

3. A New Year, A New Diet. I'm not going to write some huge post that I'll have to take down later if I fail at this one. Let's just say I'm working at it.

4. Veronica Mars was on sale for $10 at Best Buy!!! Get thee to the store!

5. So. It's 2012. THE YEAR OF THE APOCALYPSIES!!! It's super weird to see those books start popping up on shelves! Don't forget to pick up CRACKED by K.M. Walton, CINDER by Marissa Meyer, and UNDER THE NEVER SKY by Veronica Rossi (soooooo gooooood)!