Joy Preble's Blog, page 21

Congratulations to HANNAH J! Rafflecopter has chosen you as the winner of the CAGED GRAVES t-shirt! I will let Dianne Salerni know and soon your prize will be on its way.

And only one more day (see previous post) to win a SIGNED COPY of SOLSTICE by PJ Hoover! Global Warming meets dystopian meets mythology meets Piper and two very hot guys. You must read this! And if you enter, you might get it for free!

And a few more for Thursday:

1. Almost done reading the galley of Dancer, Daughter, Traitor, Spy by Elizabeth Kiem, out later this summer from Soho Teen. I love this book. Russian spies! Bolshoi Ballet! Brighton Beach! A love triangle! A crumbling family! Many layers in this story of Marina, who is living a privileged life training with the Bolshoi in Russia before the fall of the Soviet Union... until her prima ballerina mother uncovers terrible secrets about germ warfare testing gone wrong and everything in Marina's world crashes. Put this one on your TBR list. Trust me.

2. Next up after that will be RUMP, by Liesl Shurtliff,  a re-telling of the Rumplestiltskin story. You have to read a book that starts with this line: "My mother named me after a cow's rear end."

3. Excited about this coming Sunday's event at The Woodlands Barnes and Noble, here in Houston. A Texas Teen Panel with me, Mary Lindsey (Ashes in the Waves and also the Shattered Souls series) and  PJ Hoover (SOLSTICE ). We will talk about setting books in Texas and writing paranormal fiction and other stuff.  And there will be candy. Come on by this Sunday, 6/23 at 2 PM. It's at The Woodlands Mall.

4. And I have seen new covers for the paperback of THE SWEET DEAD LIFE as well as for next year's THE A WORD. I have been sworn to secrecy. But I am telling you that I am in cover love. I can hardly wait to show you!!

5. Also, my Bravo channel enablers, Lisa and Laura Roecker have a new book coming in just a couple weeks: THIS IS W.A.R.--- and I will be talking about that next week and also hosting the Sisters soon. I am so excited!! Country Club. Murder. Revenge. Oh yeah, I LOVED this book. More soon.

6. And speaking of Bravo, I am still on board for Long Island Princesses. The train wreck that keeps on pulling me in. But Lisa and Laura Roecker and I are still in mourning for the cancellation of Gallery Girls, so the void had to be filled.

7. And finally,  remember that Sourcebooks and Amazon have put the DREAMING ANASTASIA series on sale! You can get the e-book of DREAMING for only $1.99 and both HAUNTED and ANASTASIA FOREVER for $2.99. I posted about this a couple posts back ('The One Without the Animated Bat') and the sale is still happening. So spread the word.

More soon...

Today I have the extreme pleasure to welcome PJ (Tricia) Hoover, whose YA dystopian with a mythological twist SOLSTICE just hit the shelves today from TOR books! Full disclosure, Tricia is a fellow Texas writer. I have made her guest room my second home since I seem to be in Austin every five and half seconds these days. She is funny and a fellow Star Trek nerd. She has a kickass collection of nerd t shirts that one day I will STEAL FROM HER CLOSET. If you want to see them, she posts pics regularly. Her family is equally rocking, including the two tortoises. It’s Tricia who decided that a group of us would appear regularly at Austin Comic Con. She is the only one who could convince me to wear an evil mermaid costume for 3 days in a row. She appreciated my geeker joy when I got five minutes of chat time with James Marsters (aka Spike from BTVS). I reciprocated during her photo op with Kevin Sorbo.
BTW—Make sure you read to the end! Tricia’s giving away a signed copy of SOLSTICE!
Tricia’s official bio reads like this:
P. J. Hoover first fell in love with Greek mythology in sixth grade thanks to the book Mythology by Edith Hamilton. After a fifteen year bout as an electrical engineer designing computer chips for a living, P. J. decided to take her own stab at mythology and started writing books for kids and teens. When not writing, P. J. spends time with her husband and two kids and enjoys practicing kung fu, solving Rubik's cubes, and watching Star Trek. Her first novel for teens, Solstice (Tor Teen, June 18, 2013), takes place in a global warming future and explores the parallel world of mythology beside our own. Her middle grade novel, Tut (Tor Children's, 2014), tells the story of a young immortal King Tut, who's been stuck in middle school for over 3,000 years and must defeat an ancient enemy with the help of a dorky kid from school, a mysterious Egyptian princess, and a one-eyed cat. For more information about P. J. (Tricia) Hoover, please visit her website www.pjhoover.com.
And here is the quick summary for SOLSTICE – which I have read and absolutely adore! Yes, Tricia Hoover has made global warming pretty hot in other ways, too –and yes, I’m thinking of Shayne and Reese the two love interests vying for main character Piper as she realizes that she is a much different girl with a much different backstory than she realizes… and that the increasingly hot temps in Austin are just possibly her fault…
Piper’s world is dying. Each day brings hotter temperatures and heat bubbles which threaten to destroy the Earth. Amid this Global Heating Crisis, Piper lives under the oppressive rule of her mother, who suffocates her even more than the weather does. Everything changes on her eighteenth birthday, when her mother is called away on a mysterious errand and Piper seizes her first opportunity for freedom. 

Piper discovers a universe she never knew existed—a sphere of gods and monsters—and realizes that her world is not the only one in crisis. While gods battle for control of the Underworld, Piper’s life spirals out of control as she struggles to find the answer to the secret that has been kept from her since birth—her very identity….An imaginative melding of mythology and dystopia, Solstice is the first YA novel by talented newcomer P. J. Hoover.
Now let’s hear from PJ Hoover herself!
Joy: Your stories and even your blog title have a focus on mythology. Tell us about that.
PJ: I adore mythology. It started back in sixth grade when I read that book, Mythology, by Edith Hamilton, and it never went away. I love those tales of epic quests and heroes. And I find studying and comparing mythologies from around the world fascinating. I guess that’s why I always find a way to use it in my stories. And the blog title? That’s because so many things in our modern society have their basis in mythological beliefs, most people don’t know about them, and that’s just cool.

Joy: Where did the idea for SOLSTICE come from?
PJ: Well, it came about first and foremost from my love of mythology. So many people were writing fairy tale retellings, but as much as I love fairy tales, I didn’t want to jump into that playground. I wanted to hang out in a playground much closer to home. I started thinking about myths. But instead of a retelling, I wanted to write about what came after the myth, and that’s where the idea for Solstice came about.

Joy: Piper is torn between two hunky guys, but those characters have a great purpose than just the traditional love triangle. Can you tell us about Piper's love interests.
PJ: Well, without spoilers, maybe the best way is to contrast them.Shayne is all about responsibility.Reese is all about breaking the rules.Shayne is willing to wait for what he wants.Reese is likely to grab whatever he wants with no care to what happens as a result.Shayne has a deep bond with Piper.Reese can’t control himself around Piper . . . and she can’t control herself around him either.Shayne has a temper.Reese understands the value of chocolate.The guys are so different, and that’s what made writing both of them so much fun in Solstice!

Joy: For those unaware of the story of Persephone, could you give us the quick, down and dirty version?
PJ: Sure! We’ll go with the traditional version.Girl is very innocent. Girl never leaves her mom’s side. Until (you guessed it) one day, girl’s mom stops watching for a moment. Evil god comes and steals girl away. Evil god takes girl to Underworld. Never wants her to leave. Tricks her into eating food, thus binding her to the Underworld. Mom is mad. Crazy mad. But King of the gods, makes everyone happy, having girl split her time between her mom and evil god. The end.
Joy: How did you decide the near future Austin in global warming details that build the world?
PJ: Why Austin? Because I live here! It’s a great city and one I know well. Why the near future? Because of the “what happens next” aspect of the myth. There was no other logical conclusion.
Joy: I'm going to meet Piper for the first time and I ask you to tell me about her. What would you say?
PJ: You totally might think Piper’s meek, based on how her mom controls her every move. But give her an inch of freedom, and watch out! All bets are off. Piper will surprise you (and herself) every chance she gets.
Joy: The one or two sentence SOLSTICE elevator pitch. Quick! What do you tell that Hollywood movie scout!
PJ: Solstice is a futuristic story, set amid a global-warming devastated world, about an eighteen-year-old girl who opens a mysterious present and discovers a world of mythology she never knew existed. And then the world really turns crazy.
Joy: What's next for PJ Hoover?
PJ: I have a middle grade Egyptian mythology book coming out in Fall 2014. It’s called Tut: My Life as an Immortal 8thGrader, and it’s about King Tut who is fourteen, immortal, and living in Washington D.C. with his one-eyed cat, Horus, when his crazy uncle from 3000 years ago shows up and is out to get King Tut. I am so excited for it to be published!
 Lightning Round
-- M&M's or Twizzlers?M&Ms!
--unicorns or zombies?Hobbits J
--favorite guilty pleasure TV?Star Trek
--book(s) for a desert island?The Silmarillion
--favorite breakfast foods?Sunnyside-up eggs and bacon. And coffee. Never forget the coffee.
--wine or whiskey?Red wine, dark and dry
--fave myth?Cupid and Psyche
--a song that reflected the high school you?D’yer Mak’er by Led Zeppelin
 **Joy's note: Zep is the BEST BAND EVER*

Want to know more about PJ Hoover? Check out her WEBSITE
 AND NOW!! Want to Win a signed copy of SOLSTICE? Enter here! 
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Today I am welcoming the delightful and brilliant Dianne Salerni, whose new historical and spooky YA CAGED GRAVES came out on May 14th, the same day as THE SWEET DEAD LIFE! 
As you will see in our interview, Dianne and I have known each other since we were both debut authors in the inaugural Sourcebooks Fire YA imprint. We met at the Sourcebooks Fire launch party at Books of Wonder in NYC, where we were treated to the musical renderings of Tiger Beat, the only all YA author band, with our then editor Daniel Ehrenhaft on guitar and Libba Bray singing vocals. I know, right?!
Here’s the summary of CAGED GRAVES:The year is 1867, and seventeen-year-old Verity Boone is excited to return from Worcester, Massachusetts, to Catawissa, Pennsylvania, the hometown she left when she was just a baby. Now she will finally meet the fiancé she knows only through letters! Soon, however, she discovers two strangely caged graves . . . and learns that one of them is her own mother’s. Verity swears she’ll get to the bottom of why her mother was buried in “unhallowed ground” in this suspenseful teen mystery that swirls with rumors of witchcraft, buried gold from the days of the War of Independence, and even more shocking family secrets.
You had me at Verity’s name and at ‘rumors of witchcraft,’ Dianne!!
Dianne at Sarah Ann's caged graveAnd here’s Dianne’s bio:
Dianne K. Salerni is an elementary school teacher living in Chester County, Pennsylvania with her husband and two daughters. Dianne's first novel, We Hear the Dead (Sourcebooks 2010), recounts the true story of Maggie Fox, a teenaged girl credited with the invention of the "séance" in 1848 and the founding of spiritualism as a nineteenth century phenomenon. A short film based on We Hear the Dead and titled The Spirit Game premiered at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival. Her second novel, The Caged Graves, out now with Clarion Books, is inspired by a real historical mystery in the mountains of Pennsylvania. She is currently working on a middle grade fantasy series for Harper Collins, with the first book, The Eighth Day, due to be released in the Summer of 2014.
And now for a little conversation with Dianne. Read to the end (of course you will!) because Dianne is also doing a giveaway for a CAGED GRAVES t-shirt. Pretty awesome!
Dianne and me at Books of WonderJoy: You and I met when we were both part of the inaugural list of Sourcebooks Fire—me with DREAMING ANASTASIA and you with WE HEAR THE DEAD. Tell us what’s been going on since 2010!
Dianne: I spent a big chunk of 2010 writing THE CAGED GRAVES, revising another historical/paranormal novel, and looking for an agent. I signed WE HEAR THE DEAD in 2009 un-agented, but I realized I had no negotiation skills and really needed professional advice. It took several months and many revisions of my new manuscript, but I was lucky to land with Sara Crowe of Harvey Klinger, Inc. Her first sale for me was actually the second book I sent her, THE CAGED GRAVES. Since then, I’ve written another historical and then ventured into a contemporary fantasy which Sara sold in a 3-book, pre-empt deal with HarperCollins, putting all my other projects on hold.
Joy: Both WE HEAR THE DEAD and THE CAGED GRAVES can be categorized as historical fiction. What draws you to this genre?
Dianne: I find history fascinating. There is so much (in our self-centered technological hubris) that we’ve forgotten about our past. For instance, did you know that the railway and public transport system in our country used to be far superior to what we have now? When my grandfather was 10 years old, he could travel by trolley from his rural town to a larger town fifteen miles away for mandolin lessons (yes, mandolin). Today, there is NO way to travel between those towns except by car.  A small boy could not do it alone, like my grandfather did in the 1920s. In some respects, we’ve gone backwards!
When you add a little bit of spooky alongside our forgotten past, you have an irresistible combination (for me).
Joy: I know there’s this great story behind the idea for THE CAGED GRAVES, and in fact you just wrote about it for Huffington Post.   Can you tell us the brief version of the real life graves that inspired your new novel?
Dianne: These two caged graves are located in an abandoned cemetery near Catawissa, Pennsylvania. They are maintained by the local historical society, which has been unable to uncover a satisfactory explanation for them. The graves belong to two women who were sisters-in-law. They died within a couple days of each other in 1852. Suggested explanations for the cages include protection from grave robbers or animals, pure decoration, and other, weirder, and more paranormal reasons. No one alive today knows the real answer.
Joy: How would you describe Verity Boone?
Dianne: Verity is an outspoken and strong-minded 17-year old girl (by 1867 standards) who returns to her hometown after being raised by distant relatives for 15 years. She is coming home to take part in an arranged marriage to a young man she knows only through letters. She expects that everything will go her way: Her homecoming will be joyous and romantic, her fiancé will be charming, her father will be welcoming, and she will impress the rural townspeople with her sophisticated city ways. Of course, nothing goes as planned, especially when she discovers her mother is the subject of malicious rumor and buried in a caged grave outside the cemetery grounds.
Joy: Give us the down and dirty elevator pitch for THE CAGED GRAVES. Why should we read it?
Dianne: THE CAGED GRAVES is a mystery and a romance in a historical setting. Verity’s arranged marriage is the 19th century equivalent of meeting somebody online and then discovering they aren’t what you expected. And when Verity digs into her family’s history to vindicate her mother, she uncovers ugly secrets – jealousy, greed, and murder.
Joy: You and I chatted some about the balancing act of teaching, family, and writing. How do you do it?
Dianne: Sometimes, I do it badly. I get my teaching, grading, and planning done, and I get my writing done, and my family is very patient with me when they have to pick up the slack. I absolutely couldn’t do this without the full support of my husband – who cooks dinner and cleans and chauffeurs the children so I can write. And when my husband travels for work, my daughters pitch in. They are my pit crew and my biggest advocates.
Joy: Your previous novel WE HEAR THE DEAD has had some thrilling film developments. Can you talk about that? Can we all come to Cannes with you?  If we ask nicely?
Dianne: Ha! I wish I could have gone to Cannes myself! WE HEAR THE DEAD was adapted into a 10 minute short film called THE SPIRIT GAME. It premiered at Cannes in May of this year, and the producers will be pitching the premise of the film as a potential television program about the three Fox sisters who ran a séance business in the 1850s. They are, supposedly, frauds, but one sister’s uncanny ability to envision the darkest secrets of their clients reveals a true supernatural power. The movie trailer is available HERE
Joy: What’s coming next for Dianne Salerni?
Dianne: Next up is a departure from ghosts, historicals, and teens. I am working on a Middle Grade contemporary fantasy series for HarperCollins.  The first book, THE EIGHTH DAY, is about a 13 year-old boy who discovers an extra 24 hours between Wednesday and Thursday – and a mysterious girl hiding in the house next door who exists only on that secret day.
THE EIGHTH DAY is expected to release in the Summer of 2014. A synopsis can be found HERE – and I’d like to note that my husband whipped up a last minute trip to Mexico last summer, just so I could climb the Sun Pyramid of Teotihuacan as research for the conclusion of this book.
Lightning round:
Twizzlers or M&Ms?     ~M&Ms without a doubt. I have no interest in Twizzlers.Ghosts or witches?    ~Ghosts every time.
Favorite guilty pleasure TV?   ~SUPERNATURAL. I love to ogle, um, watch those Winchester boys.*Joy’s note: Oh the Winchester brothers. Austin author Cynthia Leitich Smith has a similar opinion. Just ask her. It took me awhile to stop seeing the one as Dean from Gilmore Girls. But once I did…
Perfect summer day?   ~Sitting by my goldfish pond, with the pool nearby in case it gets too hot, writing on my laptopBook(s) you’d take to the desert island?    ~Oh crap. Can I bring my Kindle? Please don’t make me choose!!!Wine or whiskey?  ~Whiskey for sure.Favorite ghost story/movie?     ~ This is going to seem weird, but I’ve got to pick THE GHOST AND MR. CHICKEN, with Don Knotts (1966). It’s got a haunted mansion with a murder/suicide story, a painting of a beautiful woman pierced in the throat with gardening shears (the painting bleeds!), a secret passage behind the fireplace, a tower room, and an organ that plays by itself. What’s not to love?!
*OMG, Dianne—My brother and I loved that movie! Also Don Knotts in The Amazing Mr. Limpett, which is not a ghost story but is right up there with Finding Nemo in our book!  Also, let me add here that another movie, without Don Knotts, that I love is THE GHOST and MRS. MUIR, which as a kid I found to be deliciously romantic. (I didn’t use that phrase as a kid. But if I did, I might have said that.)
Want to know more about Dianne? Check out her website: http://www.highspiritsbook.com
Want to win a CAGED GRAVE t-shirt? Enter here!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

I like to think of my first book -- and eventually first series, DREAMING ANASTASIA (Sourcebooks)--as the 'little book that could.'

In many ways, back in September, 2009, it was ahead of the curve: Like so many series and books that came after it and very much like Marissa Meyer's CINDER and SCARLET and the rest of the forthcoming LUNAR CHRONICLE series, it reimagines a set of fairy tales, in this case the Russian stories of Baba Yaga the witch, Vasilisa the Brave, the doomed rusalka and the immortal guy of soul jar trope fame, Koschei the Deathless. It does so within the context of a modern day girl named Anne whose life and journey in many-- but not all-- ways parallels Anastasia Romanov's and the hapless hero Ethan who begins the series with a temporary case of immortality.

Or as recent reviewer Jason Gallaher, writing at YABooksCentral about the series, says: IT'S THE ONE WITHOUT THE ANIMATED BAT!

I'm good with that. It is the one without the bat. And it is -- like CINDER, which I recently read and adored,  in case you're wondering what's sparking this discussion--an ambitious and often complex series in its attempts to meld three different sets of fairy tales characters that were previously unconnected, with a historical family that met great tragedy. There is the central mystery of Anastasia, but there are also interconnected mysteries of Anne's family and the rusalka's family and Ethan's family and Viktor's family and the witch Baba Yaga's backstory and Anne's own hero's journey. Plus a romance with Ethan! Which is a lot. And (yup, like CINDER, where Cinder and Kai both narrate), there are alternating points of view, in this case in 1st person. So the stories unwind and twist and turn.

And oh yeah, did I ever mention that the whole series was largely influenced by my story telling hero, Joss Whedon? That Buffy and Angel and the reverse fairy tale concept -- because yeah, Anne is the strong one in this series and Ethan falls for the bad guy's tricks way too often even though he is a blue-eyed handsome hottie with bangs falling over his eyes-- all that was a HUGE influence on my first series. That Whedonesque mixture of humor and angst -- that's what I wanted to bring you. And it was a labor of love.

Lately my focus has been on THE SWEET DEAD LIFE, just out now on May 14th from Soho Press.

But your first book baby is always your first.

And while many, many thousands of readers have read DREAMING ANASTASIA (for which I humbly THANK YOU)m  I'd like to try an experiment, but I need you, gentle reader!

I would love to get a new group of readers to discover DREAMING ANASTASIA, HAUNTED, and ANASTASIA FOREVER (all from Sourcebooks)

I would love you to spread the word. How will I know? My Amazon numbers will tell me, among other clues.

And just to help you along, my other wonderful publisher SOURCEBOOKS and the lovely folks at Amazon are offering the e-book of DREAMING ANASTASIA as a Kid's Kindle Deal for only $1.99 from today 6/13 - 6/23! Plus, HAUNTED and ANASTASIA FOREVER kindle e-books are only $2.99. Yes, you can read the ENTIRE 3 book series for under ten bucks! Just CLICK HERE !

So spread the word. Try something new. If the Amazon numbers roll enough that I know you're buying-- and hopefully reading-- I will do a series of AMAZING GIVEAWAYS!! You really want this to happen. Trust me!

Russian Fairy Tales. The Romanov Tragedy. A love story. A kick-ass girl hero and a hapless boy hero who's been around long enough to know better, but he never does. A bad guy with many secrets. The wholesale destruction of many iconic Chicago landmarks. Plus kissing! And Chicago style pizza. And even some ballet. And more kissing.

But NO ANIMATED BAT.

You gotta read the DREAMING ANASTASIA series. Seriously.
JUST CLICK HERE

Under 10 bucks for the WHOLE THING.

Go back up there to the link. JUST DO IT.
HERE

All sorts of great shenanigans brewing here.

It is officially summer because I got my pool pass yesterday! The great thing is that you can use any of the pools in our community, some of which are normal pools and others of which are like a mini water park. Perhaps it is time for that Lazy River...Tomorrow, I will be joining authors Cynthia Leitich Smith, PJ Hoover, Janet Fox and author/editor Deborah Noyes for an author hangout chat on the Candlewick Google+ Hangout Page. Cyn talks about it HERE, giving all the deets. You do have to sign up for Google+ to participate, but if I could do it,  you know it's easy!Got two awesome reviews yesterday for THE SWEET DEAD LIFE! Both Jack and Jill Magazine and School Library Journal have given TSDL their stamp of approval.  You can read the Jack and Jill review HERE.And here is part of the SLJ review. I am so thrilled! This colorful tale of Texas teens vs. comically juvenile adults moves quickly and is never short on laughs… Preble's narrator is spot-on, and readers will relate to her as she speaks, acts, and behaves like a 14-year-old. Although several questions are left unanswered, they don't detract from the story; if anything, they lend credibility. After all, some subjects are too complicated for a cookie-cutter ending. The Sweet Dead Life is a great addition to any collection. ~School Library Journal
Coming later this week:It's the One Without An Animated Bat: A reprise of the DREAMING ANASTASIA series to celebrate Amazon's Kindle special. Starting 6/13, for the next couple weeks, you will be able to buy the e-book of DA for $1.99 and HAUNTED and ANASTASIA FOREVER for $2.99 each. Spread the word!

As the Roecker sisters and I know, there is no place in pop culture so low that we won't go there. In fact, we don't consider it low at all, our Bravo habit-- which is also shared by many other spectacular humans such as S&S art director Lucy Cummins who is a walking Wiki of Housewives trivia, something I discovered with great glee while we waited for her luggage when I was her ride to the SCBWI conference.

In related matters, my husband was not allowed to watch TV on school nights when he was growing up. You'd figure I'd have gotten over the shock of this by now, but it still comes up -- as things in long term marriages tend to do. (This includes but is not limited to: "Those shoes need to be thrown away" and "Why is it you won't eat cherry tomatoes?" and other thrillers)

So... in case you are at the edge of your seat wondering what shows I'm obsessed with lately, summer version:


Waiting, waiting, waiting for the new season of Covert Affairs, which doesn't start up until July. I cannot express enough, my love for this show. Annie and Augie and Eyal and... if you are not watching this spy show, YOU MUST. (in related matters, some day I need to catch up on The Americans. I loved the two eps I watched. But I have a job, people! I have books to write!)Am somewhat invested in the new season of RHONJ. Why? Because you just can't turn away. At least I can't. I CAN'T! (and where is RHONY? Andy Cohen, get on this)On the fence about Long Island Princesses. So far, I'm in for the season. Because really they had me at "Girls weekend with Shabbat dinner and then huge fights" And I do want to find out what happens with the one who stole everyone's boyfriend when they were in high school. Plus they live at home and LIKE IT. I am fascinated and repelled at the same time.Catching up this summer with GAME OF THRONES -- books and HBO show. We don't have HBO. Yes, I know - we're the only ones. Whatever. I LOVE this show. I am late to the party. Just don't talk to me about it until September.AWKWARD -- season finale coming. God, I love this show. LOVE. Thank you MTV.The Glades on A&E -- watched for first time. I'm not obsessed, but I like it. Quirky enough for me.There is more.... of course there is more.
But I have revisions to do. 
WHAT ARE YOU WATCHING/OBSESSED ABOUT?

Yes, I just went there. But I live here. I get to.

THANK YOU to Blue Willow Bookshop for such a lovely Houston launch of THE SWEET DEAD LIFE this past Saturday! And THANK YOU to my friends and fellow authors (including many of our fabulous Houston SCBWI chapter) and to the librarians and bloggers and fans and book lovers who came out to fill the house and make sure that ALL THE BOOKS SOLD OUT! You humble and honor me.

Now Soho Press and I hope you read THE SWEET DEAD LIFE and that Jenna's story resonates with you. Like all stories that mean something to me, this one is, at its core, about love. Not romantic love this time, but the love we have for the people we care about and the things we do for them. It is about unlikely heroes and siblings and the family we make for ourselves when the one we're given screws up. And yeah, it's also about angels and the battle between good and evil. There is a larger mystery at foot and somehow the Samuels family has stumbled into it. More will be revealed next year in THE A WORD. Jenna's journey has only just begun. And on another level, it's about a fourteen year old girl-- an age where we are powerless and know it-- whose brother sacrifices everything for her. And still annoys the hell out her, which is as it should be.

Plus, okay, it kind of sometimes skewers the wasteland that is the suburbs. But only sometimes.

If you'd like someone else's take on it, my friend and fellow SCBWIer, Vonna Carter, just posted THIS.

Okay. Let's have some pictures, shall we?
Reading from SWEET DEAD LIFE
With my youngest readers... good little sleepers My very first beta reader for the ANASTASIA series, former student and Houston actress Kara Ray
Making some point... Awesome cookies from Posh Cookies Jennifer Matthieu and Chris Mandelski duked it out over angel trivia
Blogger and Media guru Maria Cari Soto makes me smile So many great Houston authors/SCBWIers, including Dede Ducharme, Sophie Jordan, Vicki Sansum,  Chris Mandelski, Crystal Allen, Vonna Carter, Kathy Duval, Jennifer Matthieu, Suzanne Bazemore, Dotti Enderle, Kristin Rae, Jessica Capelle, Amy Rose Thomas, Laura Ruthven, Tina Wissner

And of course none of this would be possible without my partners in literary crime, the team at SOHO PRESS: Publisher Bronwen Hruska, Senior Editor Daniel Ehrenhaft, Publicist Meredith Barnes (a former Houston girl), and the rest of the gang including editor Juliet Grames, who create beautiful books with their authors and curate their lists with care and thoughtfulness and a nimble brilliance that takes my breath away. I only hope to live up to your high level of expectation.

As I've written many times in many venues, I ADORE Houston's Blue Willow Bookshop. Valerie Koehler and Cathy Berner and the staff have truly helped make my career. I literally wandered in with a galley of DREAMING ANASTASIA back in the summer of 2009 and thrust it at them, having little hope that they would read it much less CHAMPION MY CAREER. Along with Houston's other amazing indies, including Murder by the Book (a topic for another post later this month), Blue Willow is an oasis of literacy. They are tiny but mighty. You come in. They talk to you. They hand sell you books. They support authors in every possible way. They provide newsletters and take trips to NYC so that they can bring their readers the best of what's out there. And tomorrow will be my third time to sign at the store. I am not kidding when I say that when something exciting happens in my career, Valerie and Cathy are just about the first people I think of telling.
Last night, in an offsite venue, Blue Willow hosted one of my favorite authors, Sarah Dessen, who writes about life and love and summer and the courage it takes to change the path you are on. I was thrilled to finally meet her! (and so star struck that I did not say anything other than "It's a pleasure to meet you." Not, hey, I'm a Houston author. Or hey, "Just Listen" is my favorite of your books. Or even, "Hey, it's your birthday today and it's also my son's birthday and while I know you don't care, I think that's kind of cool." Nope. Didn't say any of that. Sarah, if for some off chance you read this, I LOVE Just Listen. I read it first because a student was reading it. And then I couldn't put it down. And then I read everything else you have written.) Tomorrow, Saturday 6/8, Blue Willow Bookshop is hosting the Houston Launch of THE SWEET DEAD LIFE (Soho Press) - a book that is a new step in my career and one that I'm very, very proud of. I just picked up some delicious cookies for the occasion: And there will be cowboy boot coozies and angel trivia and I will probably get misty-eyed because I never in a million years believed that someday this would be happening the way it has. Here is the link to the event:http://www.bluewillowbookshop.com/event/joy-preble-1
If you are in the Houston area, I'd love to see you!Til next time!

In not exactly random order:
Me and the 'best son ever' - at ALA MW in Dallas1. Today is Jacob Preble's birthday-- best son ever (yes he's our only one, don't worry)--who is endlessly funny and brave and sarcastic and loyal and pretty darn smart too. Yeah, I'm his mother. I can say stuff like that. Happy Birthday!!!!!!!!!!!
2. Award for the best politician name ever -- a name so wonderful I wish I wrote it-- goes to Shadrach McGill, whose wife was all over the 'nets yesterday telling strippers to stop sending pictures to her husband on Facebook. 
3. I've been noticing news headlines the past few days that just blow me away-- and not in a good way: This morning's Yahoo headline: Why Do Finnish Babies Sleep in Boxes? ( I know there's actually an interesting story under there, but STILL)And a couple days ago our local Houston CBS affiliate announced a girl's fight to wear pants under her graduation gown rather than the school required dress as "Lesbian Wants to Wear Pants." Seriously, CBS? This is what that story boils down to for you?
If you have any you like, please shout them out, people.
4. So excited to see Sarah Dessen tonight through Blue Willow Bookshop! She is my LITERARY IDOL!! I have read all her books. And somehow never been to one of her events. Tonight!!
5. And totally THRILLED for this coming Saturday's Houston launch of THE SWEET DEAD LIFE (Soho Press) at Blue Willow Bookshop on Memorial at 2 PM. There will be cookies! And cowboy boot coozies! And angel trivia. And me! And the lovely ladies at Blue Willow who as I have written about many times have helped build my career!! http://www.bluewillowbookshop.com/event/joy-preble-1And when you click on the link, you will see that my name is RIGHT UNDER SARAH DESSEN'S!!  This makes me ridiculously happy. *flails muppet arms*
Must write now. I am starting a NEW BOOK! Right this very second.
Up soon-- Dianne Salerni and her new book CAGED GRAVES!!

It was time.

Back in 2008 or so when I had sold DREAMING ANASTASIA and realized that yes, I was an 'official' author now, I begged my friend the computer teacher at the high school where I was teaching English to be my webmaster. Actually, that's an overstatement. I don't think I knew the word webmaster. I asked her to help me set up a domain name and block out SOMETHING. And the original Joy Preble dot com was born. A basic site. With my bio and eventually a picture and eventually stuff about a book!

Over the past few years, it's grown, that little site. Three more books and an anthology and the nice stuff people have said and the workshops I present and all the other stuff it should have. We added a little here and there and it grew along with me.

But like I say, it was time.

New book this month -- part of a new series with a new publisher.

And so...

Thanks to Little Willow of Rock the Rock (who is also Little Willow of Bildingsroman/Slayground), I present JOY PREBLE DOT COM 2.0--- the new look!!!

I LOVE IT!! I hope you do, too!

Click on over HERE