Swati Avasthi's Blog, page 4

Congrats to Caroline Starr Rose!  You'll have an ARC of Jame's lovely book your hands very soon.

Thanks to all who entered! If this was any indication of Jame's forthcoming success, I'm sure she is grinning from ear to ear.

I suppose the downside of the doing a drawing is that there is only one winner.  Sorry to all who didn't get it. The only consolation I can give you is that in one month you can buy it!  I know I am pre-ordering my copy.

To win Jame Richard's fantastic Three Rivers Rising, enter here for a signed ARC!  Kirkus gave it a starred review.

I suspect this book will be big once awards roll around.  In fact, it has already won a Pen New England and the Susan P. Bloom Discovery Award.

Some details:

Sixteen-year-old Celestia spends every summer with her family at the elite resort at Lake Conemaugh, a shimmering Allegheny Mountain reservoir held in place by an earthen dam. Tired of the society crowd, Celestia prefers to s...

I had some misgivings about release day.  My theater background means that opening night is a big deal:  you get your first audience, get your first feedback, and of course, you get to see the performance how it was meant to be seen.

But releasing a book is different.  And I was worried it would be a little anticlimactic.

My day started out with the highlight.  My 8-year old daughter invited me to join her in her classroom to celebrate the release.  I was a little worried about talking to seco...

Little refresher:  Heather Bouwman and I co-curate the Loft's Second Story Reading Series.  We feature MG and YA authors and pair them up so that readers can come for their favorite and discover another author.  We've been having a blast at these.  
This time we are doing book giveaways!  You'll have a chance to win Emmy and the Incredible Shrinking Rat, Emmy and the Home for Troubled Girls, and The Secret of Zoom.  But that's not all.  You could also win Elvis and Olive or an ARC of...

Remember when I went to Boston for ALA Midwinter?  I met Jame Richards whose debut novel, Three Rivers Rising , is coming out on April 13th.   Before I went, I was lucky enough to get an ARC of the novel.  I was eager to read it because of its beautiful cover, because Jame is a Class of 2k10 member, and because she is published by Random House, like me.

So, as soon as it came in the mail, I opened it.  I'll admit, then I kind of groaned, discovering it is a novel in verse.  And, it is historica...

More to be excited about.



Plus that, it's a whole 2 weeks aka fourteen days aka 336 hours until the actual release.

I was just writing a thank you email to the editor at Listening Library who acquired Split as an audiobook.  I wanted to let her know how much I've appreciated the communication with all the great people who have been working on it, including this interaction with award-winning actor Joshua Swanson.  While searching for the link, I stumbled upon something.

If you want a sneak peek, or rather, a sneak sound bite, click here to hear to an excerpt.

After hearing Joshua embody Jace's voice, I ended...

Split was selected by an Indiebound book seller to make the Spring 2010 Kids Indie Next List.

Sweet. Very, very sweet.  I'm so honored.

Sweeter: Also included were fellow 2k10 class members Irene Latham and  Jennifer Hubbard.  Not to mention Alison McGhee, whose work I adore.  So I'm in excellent company.

Sweetest:

"At age 16, Jace Witherspoon has finally fled from the home of his violently abusive father. With only the return address on an envelope slipped to him by his mother as he left, he tr...

I'd say at least 50% of the time I say that I'm a YA author, the adult I'm speaking to looks down for a second and then sheepishly back at me.  And then says something along the lines of "I actually read a lot YA myself."

YA is not just for kids.  And why should it be?  As most people who read YA know, the genre has blossomed in the  last 15 or 20 years, turning from didactic, simplistic fiction into nuanced, complex fiction.  The genre has evolved from Saturday-afternoon special to what...

Come ask them at Random House Buzzers.  Or, come play at the polls, write from your own experience... So stoked to be there and chat.  And you'll earn Buzz Bucks

I'll be here all week (and next, if fact).  Don't forget to tip your waitresses.