24

It's after midnight, which means we're in the last day before BLOODROSE hits stores. I'll admit that I have very mixed feelings about BLOODROSE going into the wild. On the one hand I'm thrilled that the final book of the Nightshade series will be in readers' hands. I can't wait until you see what happens and I hope you revel in the adventure as much as I did.

On the other hand I cried a lot (seriously, a lot) while writing this book. It's a journey coming to a close. And while there will be more stories set in the world of Nightshade, this particular story does have its ending. That's a bittersweet reality that I'm still coming to grips with.

In the last hours before BLOODROSE arrives, there are a couple of things I want to mention.

1) My post about endings. It's the best answer I can offer about everything that happens.

2) My donation to Defense of Wildlife. Your support is invaluable: Here are the details for what' I'm doing: Because I'm committed to advocating for wolves, I've decided to tie in BLOODROSE to this action: for every picture of a reader and her/his new copy of BLOODROSE that is sent to me via email, Facebook, or Twitter I will make a $2 donation to Defenders of Wildlife.

And to up the stakes: If in its first days of release BLOODROSE climbs into the top 10 of the Barnes and Noble (and remember that B&N has an exclusive edition with additional content!) and/or Amazon rankings I'll up that donation to $3 per picture.

And finally: Because BLOODROSE is book 3, Nightshade moves from the New York Times Chapter Book list to the notoriously-difficult-to break-into Series list. If BLOODROSE hits in the top 5 of the NYT series list I'll increase my donation to $5 per picture.

I encourage you to support wolves and spread the word about the risks of taking gray wolves off of the endangered species list. I hope you're as excited as I am for next Tuesday. Thank you so much for sharing Calla and the packs' journeys with me!

Final BLOODROSE Teaser, plus Saving Wolves!

One week! BLOODROSE is on sale in ONE WEEK!

It's a good thing the holidays keep me busy lest I be tearing my hair out waiting for January 3 to arrive. (Okay, I'm still tearing my hair out a little bit, but not as much as if it hadn't been the holidays).

Here is the last teaser before next Tuesday's release:

"One thing." He leaned down to whisper in my ear. "One thing that I'd always been afraid of. I still am."



As you've read the Nightshade series I hope it's been obvious how much I respect and admire wolves. They are beautiful, intelligent creatures with complex social relationships. If you follow environmental news, you may already know that gray wolves were recently delisted from the endangered species list. I'm deeply troubled by this decision. Humans and wolves have an ugly history; one that drove wolves to the brink of extinction. Since the delisting, wolf hunts are already being organized in Minnesota and across the country. Killing a wolf is not a sporting act. Wolves live in deeply connected communities. To kill a single wolf is to disrupt a family, a social system.

Because I'm committed to advocating for wolves, I've decided to tie in BLOODROSE to this action: for every picture of a reader and her/his new copy of BLOODROSE that is sent to me via email, Facebook, or Twitter I will make a $2 donation to Defenders of Wildlife.

And to up the stakes: If in its first days of release BLOODROSE climbs into the top 10 of the Barnes and Noble (and remember that B&N has an exclusive edition with additional content!) and/or Amazon rankings I'll up that donation to $3 per picture.

And finally: Because BLOODROSE is book 3, Nightshade moves from the New York Times Chapter Book list to the notoriously-difficult-to break-into Series list. If BLOODROSE hits in the top 5 of the NYT series list I'll increase my donation to $5 per picture.

I encourage you to support wolves and spread the word about the risks of taking gray wolves off of the endangered species list. I hope you're as excited as I am for next Tuesday. Thank you so much for sharing Calla and the packs' journeys with me!

Abundance

Happy Autumnal Equinox (Mabon) - night will soon outpace daylight, but I love this crisp, thrilling time of year where the air is alive and summer's carefree frolicking gives way to the steady rhythms of harvest.

Today I passed 5,000 followers on Twitter. That's still rather mind-bending to me and I'm so excited that so many friends here and on Twitter have joined me on this writing journey. To celebrate I'm holding a 5K follower contest and giving away 5 prize packs! 5 is a special number to me at this moment - not only do I have 5,000 Twitter followers but tomorrow I celebrate 5 years of marriage to my wonderful husband! So much to be thankful for!

In addition to a signed paperback of Nightshade, the prize packs include items that inspired Nightshade: Watership Down by Richard Adams (Calla's favorite book), Sandman by Neil Gaiman (Shay's favorite graphic novel), Zum Bar Sandalwood Citrus soap (From the first time I smelled this soap I instantly knew it was reminiscent of Ren's scent), and a blank notebook so you can begin, or continue, your own writing journey.

To enter: Tell me in the comments (or in a tweet) something that inspires you, if you're leaving your entry in the blog comments be sure to include an email where I can contact you. Winners will be randomly selected on Monday, September 26 so you have through the weekend to enter.

Thank you so much for being a part of my writing life - it means so much to have you here!

While I'm Away

I'm on rare vacation w/ the hubby and whilst I'm away here's some fun news!:

NIGHTSHADE is in the running for YALSA (that's the YA division of the American Library Association) Teens' Top Ten for 2011. I'd be ever so grateful if you'd stop by their site to cast a vote for NIGHTSHADE!!

WOLFSBANE is in this week's print edition of Entertainment Weekly, has spent two weeks on the NYT bestseller list, and it's #7 on the Publishers Weekly bestseller list! Woo hoo!

Wishing you a wonderful week and here's a wolfish pic I took while gallivanting around Portland last evening.

Earth, Us

It's Earth Day!

Despite the fact that Mother Nature seems intent on keeping winter going in Minnesota until May, I still love her. In honor of Earth Day 2011 I thought I'd round up some salient articles that I hope will make us all more aware, concerned, and involved in protecting this precious resource that is our home.

Canada, which occupies some stunning bits of the planet, has compiled this Earth Day assessment.

The Huffington Post has rounded up 9 Earthly books you should read. On this list is The World Without Us - a book I love!

The Wilderness Society offers links to volunteer opportunities.

As a person who loves the wilderness, and wolves in particular, on this Earth Day I want to raise awareness about Predator Defense. Often villainized and mischaracterized predators are an essential part of ecology and deserve our respect and protection from exploitation and the ever-present threat of extermination. This topic is especially worrying given that Congress has voted to de-list wolves from their endangered status.

Earth Day should make us sit up and pay attention to the crises that threaten our fragile planet, but don't think about the environment today and take it for granted tomorrow. We are not guests here, we are made of and sustained by this planet. To abuse, poison, and destroy the earth is to rend our own flesh and break our own bones.Today is just the starting line but the race - upon which our lives depend - is only beginning.

The Hunt

Nightshade hits stores today!!! Are you ready?

Some folks who are most definitely ready are the lovely ladies at the Red Balloon Bookstore in St. Paul, MN, where on October 29 we're having my official book party. I can't wait!!!

Time for a contest!

Your mission, should you choose to accept it:

The week of October 19, hunt down Nightshade in your local bookstore and show me when you've captured the book! Share your picture of Nightshade in the wild in the comments here, on Twitter, Facebook or your own blog. Contest is open until Wednesday, October 27.

The winner will receive this extra special Nightshade prize pack, which includes:

Mister Wolf the puppet (recognize him from the photo above?)
Allegro Coffee's Vail Blend
Calla's favorite book, Watership Down
A journal in which to record your own stories
Three CDs that were oft played in the writing of Nightshade (TV on the Radio, Bat for Lashes, and Radiohead)
And 5 signed bookplates to share with your friends (or hoard, if you'd like)

Please note: While sometimes you can find books prior to their official publication date, Nightshade has a strict on-sale date of October 19 so don't go hunting until next Tuesday. The contest will be open from Tuesday October 19 to Wednesday October 27.

Good hunting!!

Questions, Answers, Quirks!

New blog feature: Questions, answers, and hopefully not too much yammering by me.

Add more questions in the comments, section and I'll update the post to answer them throughout the day. Don't be bashful, ask away :)

Here's one to start us off:

Tricia asks - I'd like to know when you became enamored of wolves. Did you see any in the Northwoods or find them in the pages of books?

I've yet to see a wolf in the wild, though it's one of my life goals. Considering the success of wolf reintroduction in Minnesota and Wisconsin there's a good chance I'll be able to make that goal happen. My dad has seen wolves in the woods by my childhood home, so here's hoping. I was a girl who liked watching National Geographic and Nature as much as My Little Pony; I had several of the episodes memorized and I always loved features on wolves. Julie of the Wolves was one of my favorite books growing up. Wolves were mysterious, intelligent, graceful - embodying both ferocity and restraint. From age 5 to probably 10 I would imagine I had a wolf companion who followed me around, chasing after any car I was in, walking with me through the woods - acting as friend and protector. And I thought I would definitely someday have a husky, because that was the closest you could get in the dog world to having a wolf. (Now I have a pug and a border collie. Go figure.)

Lisa asks - When will you be able to share your cover art?

I could answer this question, but then I'd have to kill you. And, dear Lisa, you are much too valuable of a crit partner to waste. And, just to twist that knife a little more, the cover is awesome.

Kiersten asks (azillion questions, so we'll take them one at a time) - Why don't you like the Beatles?

Okay, here's the deal. It's not that I hate the Beatles, it's not that I don't appreciate their music, or more importantly, the contribution they made to music. I am a music lover. I listen to music constantly. I create soundtracks for all my books. But music has to transport me, it has to grab hold of me and not let go. I have very eclectic taste, listening to everything from hip hop to Chopin, but the Beatles' music has never swept me away. And I resent that it's forced down my throat. This past year, when the Beatles' song book went public, was a tough time for me...

Tricia asks - How long was Nightshade incubating before you wrote it?

Nightshade took me by storm, or rather, Calla did. This book started the way most of mine do with the vision of a character, or that character's voice taking hold of me. Calla showed up in November 2008, while I was finishing up one of my 'practice' novels (see next question). I knew she was a girl and that she was a wolf. I knew she was in trouble. I wandered around wondering 'who is she?' And then when browsing in the bookstore - one of my favorite past times - I came across these lines from a Margaret Atwood poem: 'Not you I fear but that other, she who walks through flesh, queen of the two dimensions.' And that was Calla. I knew she was strong, a leader, and that those very things about her life were coming unraveled, plunging her existence into chaos. The story unfolded from that point. I wrote it in between Thanksgiving and Christmas 2008 and knew it was the book.

Kiersten asks - How many books did you write before you got your book deal?

Writing novels resulted from a blunder involving myself and a horse named Romulus in June 2008, which left me with a broken foot and orders to stay grounded for another eight weeks. It was the summer I turned 30 and my head was full of "what do I really want out of life?" quandaries. I'd always loved writing, but had never given myself permission to pursue it seriously. To me, writers were like rock stars - that was a life you could dream, but not have. The horse accident made it so I had lots and lots of time to think (and not walk), so I turned to writing. Once I started I couldn't stop. I wrote three 'practice' novels before I wrote Nightshade, and the rest is history.

V. S asks - Have you ever dreamed of your characters?

Considering how wacky and vivid my dreams are, I'm surprised to answer 'no,' but I keep expecting to. I have had dreams that I write down as potential ideas for a story, but I haven't yet had a dream that involved characters I was currently writing or in a finished work. But like I said, I'm kind of just waiting for it to happen.

Laura asks - How do you find time to blog?

Blogging is like writing to me. I enjoy it and I can do it relatively quickly. It's always been easy for me to throw myself into things I care about and get them done. I have a hard time finding things to do that I don't like, such as laundry...which I should be doing right now.

Kiersten asks - If you could pick one place to live--knowing you'd have to live there for the rest of your life--where would it be?

I have two answers to this question. My first instinct was to say I'd go home, by which I mean Ashland, Wisconsin. I love Ashland. I love visiting. I think it would be a lovely place to live. But then I remembered that the reason I don't live in Ashland is because it is a four-hour drive to the nearest international airport, and I love to travel.

So my revised answer is San Francisco, which competes with New York and London for my favorite city, but of the three I think I'd like living in San Francisco the most. I love the idea of amazing, fresh produce all year and the scent of the Pacific Ocean rolling in with that thick, sea fog.

Lisa asks - When did you consider yourself an author?

The author/writer distinction irks me a little because it feeds into the whole 'oh you're a writer, what a nice hobby, my brother-in-law is writing a book too, blah-de-blah-blah.' That said it's a good topic of discussion because it does come up a lot in writerly circles. I use writer and author interchangeably now - though I didn't use that label publicly until my book sold mostly to have a clear distinction for readers of the blog, my web site, etc. Many, many people don't realize how hard writing is, that as much as a writer loves her/his work, it is still work. Hard work.

Kiersten asks - Why is your hair so pretty?

Aww shucks *blushes*. Answer - some sort of miracle granted by the powers that be because A) I have no patience for styling and thus B) anything more complicated than a blow dryer becomes a tool of destruction in my hands, but in addition to said miracle, there is also the skill of Brent at Moxie

Brigitte asks - How do you manage your ideas?

Whenever I have an idea I open a new Word document and start writing whatever inspired the idea, whether that's an opening scene, a character description, some dialogue, a short synopsis. I have a folder full of those ideas (backed up on a flash drive) so I can develop them further as I choose. I'll be discussing some of these fledgling ideas with my agents later this week!

Kiersten asks - What if you had to pick one place to vacation for the rest of your life, and you could never vacation anywhere else, ever?

Tuscany. I love the climate, the food, the people. I spent the first week of January in Tuscany four years ago and it was heaven. I would be heartbroken if someone told me I could never go back, so that tells me it should be my vacation spot.

Yvonne asks - Have you ever had trouble with word counts? Too many...not enough?

Fortunately, no. My thoughts are based on observations, but there's competing advice out there on this topic. Word counts matter when you're pitching a book as a debut novelist (whether it's in person at a conference or in a query letter). Counts vary by genre, but generally if you're hitting over 100,000 as a first time author you run the risk of having the agent in question assume you're an overwriter because most novice writers are overwriters. Learning how not to overwrite is a huge part of making the jump from writing pretty well to writing as a craft (a big part of this process is adverb slayage, but that's just the tip of the iceberg). Word counts also change a lot in the revision process. The Nightshade manuscript that sold was ~85,000 words, the final ms that will be published in October 2010 is over ~100,000.

The trick to word counts is to take that phrase literally; to be worth keeping in the ms. each WORD must COUNT. Use the words you need to tell your tale well. And that usually means a few thousand less than you wrote.

Rid yourself of chaff. Have no mercy. The additional 20,000 words of the ms that happened after my book sale were completely new scenes added after awesome editor Jill and I discussed the revision strategy, not just tweaking that added a word here and there throughout the novel. Take-away lesson: if your editor tells you to add stuff, have at it, but if you're the one clinging to that longish word count, for your book's sake let go. It's those pesky words here and there, extras, and hangers-on that need to be eliminated to give you the cleanest manuscript possible.

A great post on word counts is here. If you read the guidelines and think "there's no way I could cut that much out of my 300,000 beauty," repeat after me: You are overwriting, embrace the delete key.

Kiersten asks - And finally, how DO you survive living in a place where you have to wear...shudder...SOCKS?

Are you implying that you own no socks? Does no one in your family own socks? I am intrigued by this possibility. And in answer to your question: if you want to visit sometime between November and April you'll understand why socks are imperative. It also helps if you purchase socks that are either very silly, and thus have an entertainment factor involved, or very fuzzy and thus make your toesies feel snuggled. (But I do prefer the barefoot glory that is June, July, and August.)