Cover teaser-- A CURSE OF ASH AND IRON

It's nearly here! 

The cover reveal for A CURSE OF ASH AND IRON is tomorrow!!!! After everything I've been through with this book, I am relieved to finally have a cover. And, people, it is AWESOME.

The reveal will be Tuesday, Jan. 27 on YA Books Central's blog, at noon EST. There you will also find a giveaway-- enter to win one of THREE posters of the cover art, signed by me! 

One hour later, the cover will go live on my own blog and about 20 other blogs owned by people who signed up to help with the reveal. 

Meanwhile, I have a little teaser for you all. Just a bit of the cover to whet your appetite. Ready?

That's all you get until tomorrow! Be sure to check my blog and YA Books Central and look around the web for the WHOLE picture! 

Bye 2014...Hello 2015!!!

It's that time again...end of the year, where we all reflect on what happened over the last 365 days and look toward what we hope to achieve in the next 365.

2014 was pretty good to me. We were all in good health, no one had surgery or broke anything. We lost a few friends and family along the way, but overall the year was happy. I felt terrible when my book didn't come out when it was supposed to because the publisher closed. It was sad and upset my apple cart a bit, but...

There definitely have been worse years.

In 2014, I ...

-- Got a new job
-- Went to a convention I've never been to, in a state I've never been to
-- Hit most of my regular events and got to spend time with friends and con-family/writing-family!
-- Got a NEW book contract
-- Had a short story accepted into an Alice in Wonderland-themed anthology. Look for the official announcement and cover reveal later THIS WEEK!

So really not terrible.

2015 is already looking up, though. So far the plans look like this...

-- A CURSE OF ASH AND IRON will release in late Spring from Curiosity Quills. Cover coming soon!
-- BEWARE THE LITTLE WHITE RABBIT, the Alice anthology from Leap Books, will release in April
-- Hopefully can pull off hitting all my regular Spring events (Balticon, Maryland Faerie Festival, NJSCBWI conference)
-- Launch party!!!! (need to get working on that soon!)
-- DISNEY!

We will be hitting the Magic Kingdom in July. My son's reward for four years of Honor Roll, and he's worked for it. Now that the holidays are over I need to get back to planning.

And hopefully I'll finish the other two books I'm working on in the meantime.

I have high hopes for this year, but it will be BUSY. I also joined a new gym, which will open in mid-January, and I must try and make time to actually GET there. I've been slacking off since the new job.

I hope you all had a great holiday season, and my wish is that all of you have a GREAT 2015!!

Fall is coming, and the wheel turns again...

Hey all!
A week ago, more or less, was supposed to be the release date for A CURSE OF ASH AND IRON. The day came and went, and I guess I would have been sad, except that the closing of Strange Chemistry was not the end of my book.

I posted this on my blog, but I want to spread the word!

So not the end! Just a new beginning. Yay!

Publishing is like....

Well, last month I was bemoaning the delay on my cover art for A Curse of Ash and Iron.  The week after that post, I got the call that Strange Chemistry, the imprint that was going to publish the book, was being cut. 

My contract was canceled, effective immediately, and my rights were returned to me.

No book. Just like that. It happens.  Things like this always seem to happen to ME, though. I mean, I thought back over my career, and I'm like a walking cliche of every publishing nightmare that can happen. I've had editors who left in the middle of a book. I've had series canceled mid-series because the publisher decided to no longer publish that kind of book (though I was able to find a new publisher for the rest of the books, which was good). I've had my troubles with agents. And now I've had a book orphaned by the publisher closing. And you know what?

I'm okay. I mean, I was upset at first. Really, really upset. Mostly because I had spent some money in order to promote the book last Spring. But that's okay-- I had fun doing it, and it wasn't that much. I had also booked a trip to the MidWest to sign ARCs at a convention, two weeks after the publisher closed. Which ended up being really fun, and a nice vacation for my family too. We made the best of it. I had a ball at that convention, promoted other books, and hopefully made some new fans in a new place. And I got some new ideas for video blogs. I had begun to plan the launch party, but fortunately hadn't solidified those yet.

It could have ended up much worse, in the end. I have a completely edited manuscript that is just waiting for a new publisher. While I was promoting it pre-publication, the book got some following on Goodreads. When the publisher made the announcement, there was an outpouring of support for the authors and their books. When a new publisher comes along, I'll make sure those people know that the book is still alive.

It is what it is, as they say.

Meanwhile, I also had an extremely awesome time at the annual NJ SCBWI conference. I gave two workshops on query letters, which I hope were helpful. I met some new friends, hung out with old ones. I sat in on an excellent workshop by children's author Katie Davis (who is the BOMB) about how to EXPLODE my writing career with video. I already love using video, but it was a great workshop on how I could be using it in different ways, with some cool new resources for me to try. I came home and started playing around with Movie Maker, and I'm going to spend some of my summer playing with these new toys. I even made a new book trailer for A Curse of Ash and Iron to use when we re-sell the book.

And my agent already has it out on submission again, so no worries.

I am making movies and video blogging a lot more. I'm also working on a Welcome video for my website. I even have my own YouTube channel: Christine Norris's YouTube Channel, which I've had for awhile but was only using it as a space to put videos before they went on my blog. Now I need to make a video to get subscribers. I'm having a blast, and working on more books, and in general...Moving On!

Publishing is a weird business, and sometimes you've just got to go with the flow.

Ah the ups and downs of publishing..

Hallo my freaky darlings!

It's been a long month. Last month I spent three weekends in a row on the road, doing promotional stuff. It was all fun, but tiring when you have to return to a five-day-a-week full time job too. Especially when you just started said job. It was a rough start, but now we're almost to summer and things are quieting down. I love being a school librarian, but yanno, if I had the means to just write and promote all the time, and travel all over to do it, I'd be there.

So now I'm turning toward the next things on the agenda. I have the NJSCBWI conference coming up on the 27th, and then CONvergence over Independence Day. I'm starting to really work on promoting A CURSE OF ASH AND IRON. The manuscript has been edited, and copyedited, and turned over for proofreading. July will bring ARCs and the book being sent out on NetGalley for pre-publication reviews. I am setting up my fall appearance schedule a little bit.

I have a place in mind for the launch, which will be a Victorian tea party of sorts, and I think it will be at a local tea house. Super fun!

But, as with every endeavor, nothing goes perfectly. We make plans, God laughs, or whatever. Whether it's Mercury in retrograde, or Murphy's law, or just my luck, I don't know. But I'm still waiting for the cover. I have the cover reveal scheduled for June 19th, but I will have to push it back unless I get the cover today or at the latest tomorrow. The publisher is upset at the delay as well. I don't know the reason, but these things happen. I trust the artist, the awesome Steven Meyer-Rassow, will make it everything I want and it will be awesome.

And as much as I want the cover reveal to happen, more pressing is getting promotional swag made up for those above-mentioned upcoming appearances. I NEED to have something for CONvergence. I'm sure I'll have the cover before then *crosses fingers* and if needs be I can get Staples to print them same day. It'll be tight, but totally not a major crisis. Do you hear me? NOT. A. CRISIS.

Maybe you can all light a candle that the cover comes in time for the scheduled reveal? Pretty Please?

Just another day in the exciting world of publishing! LOL.

Post weekend week

Hey gang!

I spent the weekend at the Steampunk World's Fair. It was SUPER fun, and I took some great pictures. But I came home beat. I was planning a photo blog, but the weekend and the workday caught up with me.

So next time. Promise.

Meanwhile, I should have the cover for A CURSE OF ASH AND IRON soon. There will be a BIG cover reveal. As soon as I have details, I'll post.

Later!

A day late and a dollar short; What's in a Name?

 

I was supposed to blog yesterday. But a bunch of stuff kept me from it -- mostly family gatherings and the editing. I spent most of last week's downtime in the editing cave, getting edits done for A Curse of Ash and Iron.  I am so glad it's done! One step closer to the big day! 

Still waiting on the cover, hope to see it soon.

So I'm a little late in posting my blog. What I wanted to blog about this time is titles. Book titles.

I have published six books up to this point, and never had to change a title. Until now. I'd heard about authors having to come up with new titles for their manuscripts after they sold. I've seen them go through lists and lists of options, tearing their hair out to find one that both they and their publisher agree on.

I can sympathize.

For the first time ever, I had to change a title. It wasn't that the original title didn't fit, it was that the title had already been used. And let me back up a minute. Titles can't be copyrighted. You can have as many books with the same title as you want. No one has the market on a title. BUT, the title that I submitted the manuscript under had already been used by this guy named Neil Gaiman. Maybe you've heard of him? Anyway, his book is an anthology and so different, the editor thought there would be some confusion or that it would take away from MY book.

So the hunt for a new title began. It was difficult at first, because the manuscript had had the old title for YEARS, and it was hard for me to think of it any other way. I mean, I can't say I was 'attached' to the title, it had to go. When I started writing it, I had no title. I came up with something totally ridiculous first, when I took the first 30 pages to a Mentoring Workshop, and then I came up with what I thought was the PERFECT title. And then we had to change it.

My agent and I tossed around a few ideas, having to do with masquerades, and theater, and other themes in the book. Editor shot them all down. I think I went through three lists before we came up with A CURSE OF ASH AND IRON, in early January.

Which was good, because we couldn't announce the deal without a title. Overall it was fairly painless, and now I can say that I'm one of those authors who has had to change a title!

And now, A Curse of Ash and Iron has really grown on me :)

Life at 900 Miles Per Hour

It's been pretty busy around these parts of late. Not really with the new book, though we've sent out some electronic galleys to writers in order to gather some cover blurbs.Giving them time to read the book while they do all of THEIR own writing stuff. I thank them for whatever effort they can give.

I've been writing, of course, though it seems to be going slowly. And I've been doing a lot of other stuff for book promo, all the pre-pub stuff that needs to be done. Mostly booking appearances. My May looks like a maniac's calendar. So far I am booked at the following places:

May 10-11: Maryland Faerie Festival
May 17-18: Steampunk World's Fair
May 24-26: Balticon

If this isn't enough, there's also a chance of my heading up to BEA the weekend after Balticon, just to hang out with other Strange Chemistry people and maybe meet my editor, Amanda. We'll see if that happens. These events above, I'm mostly doing promo for the book -- handing out postcards and bookmarks, and maybe some other goodies if I can get my crap together. I need something really cool. But since the cover isn't ready yet I can't quite do that. Hopefully soon!!! Once that cover comes out, I'll be doing a cover reveal at YABC and all over the place!

Oh, and at Balticon I'll also be launching GASLIGHT AND GRIMM, a Steampunk anthology coming from Darkquest Books, where I have a story, as well as (hopefully), Alma Alexander's new YA book RANDOM, and the new Steampunk YA, ALI BABA AND THE CLOCKWORK DJINN, both coming from Palomino Press.

THEN, I'll be on faculty for the NJSCBWI conference at the end of June. And finally, I'll be at CONvergence July 3-6. Or mostly July 4-5, since the 3rd and 6th will be travel days. Now, at THAT convention I WILL be signing ARCs of the new book, stationed at the Strange Chemistry book in the dealer's room. There may even be some kind of SCB reception/meet-the-readers kind of thing. Not sure yet.

Yes, the schedule is packed. And somewhere in there I will also be working on the launch party for A CURSE OF ASH AND IRON, which looks like it will probably be in a Haddonfield, NJ in September, and then booking up some signings after that, before I go to the Baltimore Book Festival at the end of Sept.

And, if that that wasn't enough, in the middle of all this...I got a new job. I haven't really been talking about it too much because it sort of happened in Slo-Motion. First I sent a resume, then I had an interview, then another...then I got the offer, then I had to wait for their school board to approve me, then I had to submit my resignation at my old job and give my notice. Now it's all paperwork to be finished.

I am really happy about the new job. I will miss the people and the kids where I am now, but in the end it's the right choice for me for about a million reasons. Older kids and older kid books (its a K-8 school). Structure. Dependability. All kinds of other things that would take another ten pages to explain. It's not any closer to my house, the money is slightly less, but in the end it's what I need to do.  And, of course, the timing is terrible. I'll be starting right in the middle of state testing, right at the end of the year...and right before my writing life goes from 0-60mph in about 2 seconds. I start April 30.  I know, I must be an idiot, but this is the way it had to go.

I WILL make it. I won't bail, or fall. And in July, I will sleep. And sleep. And hopefully have enough of the new books done that I can spend the summer revising and turn them in in the Fall. Sigh.

Moving along...

So it'a been a month since the big announcement about A CURSE OF ASH AND IRON. Now that the confetti has all been swept away and the balloons deflated, I'm in that limbo between acceptance and publication. Waiting for edits, waiting for a cover. Hurry up and wait. And also, do a whole bunch of stuff.

What am I doing now? Let's see, lining up appearances, getting things in order for when I DO have the cover (so that I can make promo stuff), and just basic pre-promotional craziness. Trying to line up a venue for the LAUNCH PARTY. I'm SO having one. A big one. With cake. And possibly glitter.

There's all this STUFF that has to be done, most of it through emails and twitter. Things I do know will happen is that the book will be on NetGalley. It will have a Goodreads giveaway. In addition to my regular yearly appearances, in July I AM going to CONvergence, a four day SF/F convention in Bloomington, MN, so that I can sign ARCs and meet more Strange Chemistry authors. I have never traveled so far for a con, but I've never had a publisher who would have ARC's for me to sign either.

I am also going to be at the Steampunk World's Fair in Piscataway, NJ, handing out promotional stuff. Exciting!

What's left? Making video blogs, and arranging blog tours and interviews, and all that other stuff. And working on the next book, of course.

I've done all this before, but this time it's different because this publisher is really bigger than any of the others I've worked with. They're not HUGE, but they have a marketing person (who I've met, he's awesome), and a publicity person whose job it is to see the book and I get as much exposure as possible. The publisher has over 1,000 people subscribed to their newsletter. They use Random House to sell and distribute their books (and they can put books on store shelves). They will be sending the book to the BIG reviewers. No guarantees but at least it will get there.

I feel so much less stressed this time around. I'm still working my butt off, and will continue to do so. I mean, there's no BEA this year, no ALA booth. The publisher isn't doing those yet. But they're big enough that I feel I am on the path to something great. Oh, and this novel sale also qualifies me for PAL membership in SCBWI and SFWA. Which may not mean a lot to most of you, but it means LOADS to me.

Meanwhile, the book is up for pre-order on Amazon, and people have ALREADY bought it. Squee!!!

We interrupt your regular blog for this MAJOR announcment

Yes, normally this is Kim Baccellia's day to blog. She has graciously offered to switch days with me so that I can make my HUGE announcement.

I can hardly believe it's true myself, actually, but I've known about it for two months, I just haven't been able to say ANYTHING about it until today. I've been squeeing about since Thanksgiving, and NOW I can FINALLY tell everyone!!

I sold a manuscript. Well, not ME, but my AWESOME agent, Jordy Albert. SHE sold it to....

Strange Chemistry Books!!!

This is AMAZING to me. This is by far the biggest deal of my whole career. First of all, this is an advance paying, agent-only (except during open door periods) publisher. Second, they are putting the book out in ebook, print, and audio. I'm SUPER excited about the audio book. Third, they are based in the UK, so the book will be out in the US, UK, and Australia (I believe) ALL at the same time.

They are distributed in the US by Random House, so this is my VERY best chance at having bookstore placement!!!

I cannot even begin to tell you how very excited I am about this. Oh, wait, I guess you want to know about the book, huh? This is the Steampunk Fairy-Tale Retelling/Historical Fantasy that I've been trying to sell for YEARS, I think. It's had a LONG journey. It used to be called Smoke & Mirrors, but for some very good reasons we had to find a new title. And I think I like the new one even better.

A CURSE OF ASH AND IRON.

Isn't it awesome?? So NOW, I can announce that A CURSE OF ASH AND IRON will be released by Strange Chemistry Books in JULY 2014.

JULY!!
Maybe I might turn into a YA Author You've Heard Of after all :)

PARTY TIME!!!!