Cover Reveal: MY HEART BE DAMNED

TA-DAAAAA!

How awesome is this cover?!

Here's the summary:

If you're a Hunter, there are only three things you must know about the Damned. The Damned can't lie, can't live without a body, and can't leave you alone.

Amerie Carter has the blood of a Hunter, unfortunately. She is one of a rare line of women who, upon her sixteenth birthday, will come into extraordinary powers used to hunt the Damned; escaped souls from Hell who take up residence in human bodies. It's supposed to be her sweet sixteen, but Amerie has never dreaded a day more, and her worst fears are confirmed as the celebration turns tragic when her mother is killed.

Grief-stricken, Amerie vows to never hunt a day in her life. She's determined to hide behind normalcy, attending school, hanging out with her friends and working an after-school job at The Hut. All Amerie wants is to be left alone. But try telling the Damned that. The harder Amerie tries to ignore her powers, the more the Damned come looking for her.

When an attack leaves one of Amerie's friends in the hospital, and endangers the lives of her fellow students, she knows she has no choice: Hunt or Be Hunted. Thankfully, the gorgeous, secretive, and so-off-limits Marshal offers to train Amerie to take out her supernatural enemies. But training with Marshall means lying to her friends, her family, and confronting the mysterious circumstances surrounding her mother’s death.

Amerie soon discovers she’s not the only one with something to hide; Marshall's secrets might kill her before the Damned get the chance.

For a chance to win some awesome prizes, hop on over to CHANELLE'S BLOG!

MY HEART BE DAMNED will be available Fall 2012 from KRP.



Happy Australia Day!

Winner: FROI OF THE EXILES

I had so much fun with this competition! Thanks so much for all the entries.

Without further ado, the winner is...

MARIEKE!

Congratulations!!! I've sent you an email :)

And don't forget, you can pre-order FROI here.

RTW: Required Reading

If you haven't entered my competition to win a signed copy of FROI OF THE EXILES by Melina Marchetta, please CLICK HERE. (International).

Road Trip Wednesday is a "Blog Carnival," where YA Highway's contributors post a weekly writing- or reading-related question and answer it on our own blogs. Just answer the prompt on your own blog and leave a link in the comments on YA Highway.

I read these books in Year 12:

       

I would have liked to have read these books:

          

What about you?

RTW: Writing Superpowers + An Exciting Announcement!

If you haven’t entered already, please CLICK HERE to win a copy of FROI OF THE EXILES by Melina Marchetta. (You won’t be disappointed by this book. Guaranteed.)

Here’s the exciting news:
Melina was kind enough to contact me today and offer to SIGN THE BOOK for the lucky winner!

And I have something to tell you about Melina. Not only is she omgsuperhumanlytalented (Hello, ON THE JELLICOE ROAD!), but she is also just an altogether gorgeous, generous lady. And I’ll tell you why. I know she’d never want anyone to know this, but I was so bowled over by her generosity that I feel it’s important for me to say. Melina told me not to buy the book for the competition. Instead, she wanted to send me the copy for the winner. How amazingly generous is that?!

So thank you, Melina. And good luck everyone!

 

 
And now onto YA Highway:

 
Road Trip Wednesday is a "Blog Carnival," where YA Highway's contributors post a weekly writing- or reading-related question and answer it on our own blogs. Just answer the prompt on your own blog and leave a link in the comments on YA Highway.
 
This week's topic:

 

What are your writing and publishing superpowers -- and what's your kryptonite?

I think I share the same superpower with lots of other writers.

What is a characteristic we all share?

MOTIVATION.

There are people who write bits here and there, but claim they have trouble finding the time. Then there are those who make the time. Little snatches at breakfast. Snips on the train. At lunchbreaks. A few minutes before bed.

And that’s my superpower. My determination to keep writing, even though there are a million other things to do.

And my kryptonite?

Doubting myself.

(Luckily I have some awesome writer friends to help me never to wallow!)

Win: A Signed Copy of FROI OF THE EXILES by Melina Marchetta

My lovely agent sister, Mindee Arnett, is superamazinggenerous and has inspired me to hold a BOOK GIVEAWAY! (You really should go follow Mindee’s blog HERE. Her awesome book THE NIGHTMARE AFFAIR is forthcoming from Tor Teen.)

Being a Sydney girl myself, I thought what better book to give away than a copy of FROI OF THE EXILES by the fantastically talented Melinda Marchetta, who is also from Sydney? (Go Aussie YA!)

FROI OF THE EXILES was released in Australia on 3rd October, 2011, but will not be available internationally until March, 2012.

Here’s the blurb and the Aussie cover:

Blood sings to blood, Froi . . .
Those born last will make the first . . .
For Charyn will be barren no more.

Three years after the curse on Lumatere was lifted, Froi has found his home - or so he believes.

Fiercely loyal to the Queen and Finnikin, Froi has been trained roughly and lovingly by the Guard sworn to protect the royal family, and has learned to control his quick temper. But when he is sent on a secretive mission to the kingdom of Charyn, nothing could have prepared him for what he finds. Here he encounters a damaged people who are not who they seem, and must unravel both the dark bonds of kinship and the mysteries of a half-mad Princess.

And in this barren and mysterious place, he will discover that there is a song sleeping in his blood, and though Froi would rather not, the time has come to listen.

Gripping and intense, complex and richly imagined, Froi of the Exiles is a dazzling sequel to Finnikin of the Rock, from the internationally best-selling and multi-award-winning author of Looking for Alibrandi, Saving Francesca, On the Jellicoe Road and The Piper's Son.

THE PRIZE:
I’m giving away one signed copy of FROI OF THE EXILES by Melina Marchetta. It is the sequel to FINNIKIN OF THE ROCK. The winner will receive it before the end of 2011. (Unless the postal system gives me headaches!)

HOW TO ENTER:
Leave a comment on this post with your name and email address.
+ 1 entry - Follow my blog
+ 1 entry – Follow Mindee’s blog
+ 1 entry - Tweet about this competition
+ 1 entry - If someone mentions that you have referred them here

DETAILS:
Competition is international.
Entries close 1st December, 2011.

National Novel Writing Frenzy!

So it’s 30th October and you’ve signed up for NaNo. First of all, congratulations! It’s a big deal to dedicate a whole month to bashing out 50,000 words. And it’s pretty exciting to know that you’re joining heaps of other writers worldwide! So, YAY!

As a writer who used to struggle with getting that first draft down, I’d like to share with you some (hopefully useful) tips on how to get to the end of the fifty thousand.

#1 – OUTLINE
I know, I know. This doesn’t work for everybody. Some people like their plot to flow organically; others enjoy the challenge of not exactly knowing where their story and characters are headed. For me, I like to have an outline from start to finish. I don’t mind if there are sections of the plot that aren’t mapped out, but I feel that knowing the beginning and the end helps to avoid the big omgIdon’tknowhowtofinishthissucker and, to a lesser extent, omgIhavetodelete30,000ofmy50,000words.

#2 – LOOK AHEAD
Try not to re-read what you have written during NaNo. It will depress you. It will make you stop. It will cause you to doubt your writing ability. It might make you throw in the towel. So yeah. Don’t do it. Just keep writing.

#3 – WRITE THE SCENES THAT ARE CALLING TO YOU
I often wake up with a burning desire to write a climactic scene at the end of my story, or a particularly nasty fight scene, or a smushy-smushy first kiss scene. I know it might seem wrong to skip about whilst writing, but I say: Write what you’re feeling at a certain time. Words come out so much easier that way. It takes less time to write those paragraphs. And, I daresay, if you were to plod on through an uninspired (but in chronological order) scene, it would probably take you ages to finish… and may well suck and feel forced.

#4 – SET A TIMER
Sprints work. There’s something scary and thrilling about a countdown. There’s something wonderful and inspiring about fulfilling your word count in a designated time! So do it. I dare you.

#5 – UPDATE YOUR WORD COUNT… A LOT
It’s fun and motivating. Include every last word. (Not just thousands). Tell yourself that you’ll have that cup of tea, watch that TV show, read that book etc. after you have made your personal word count goal. Woot.

#6 – HAVE FUN
It’s not the end of the world if you get behind on your 50,000. You’re not a failure. You have more words than you did at the beginning. That’s cause for “Hooray!”, right? I see NaNo as an excellent springboard to get your story rolling. And all those studies about habit forming? Perhaps you’ll be unable to stop yourself from writing well into December, too!

GOOD LUCK!