Indianapolis Youth Literature Conference
February 25, 2012
Central Library
40 East Saint Clair Street
Indianapolis, IN 46204
Panel: Use Your Local Authors!
10:00am – 10:50pm
With Mike Mullin, Julia Karr and Christine Johnson
Signing: 12:00pm – 1:30, 3:50pm – 5:00pm

BREATHKEPT is a book that’s so special to me. You might remember me talking about it here in the blog in 2010. Y’all, I love BREATHKEPT. I love it with all my heart. I love the setting, I love the characters, I love the story.

This book earned me a new agent, and gave me so much hope when I was afraid I might never have another novel in me. Well, I did, and I’m so excited about the next four books (!!) I have coming out in the next two years.

I want to share this special novel with you, to thank you for hanging in and hanging out for all this time. You can download it for free right here. A very happy holidays to you and yours. May you have a joyous, prosperous new year in 2012!

Teens Read Week event # 2!!  I’m excited to appear with Julia Karr (XVI) and Josie Bloss ( BAND GEEK LOVE, FAKING FAITH) to talk about our books, and about becoming writers. As always, we’re open to any questions you may have about writing, books in general, our books in specific and awesome teens who read.

Books will be available for purchase, and if you already own copies, don’t hesitate to bring those by so we can sign them. (For me, that definitely includes your copies of Truth and Dare and Dear Bully!) Please do join us in Bloomington on Thursday, October 20th!

Teens Read Week with Julia Karr and Josie Bloss
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Monroe County Public Library
303 E. Kirkwood Ave.
Bloomington, In 47408
7:00pm – 9:00pm
(Books will be available for purchase)

Teens Read Week with Julia Karr
Monday, October 17, 2011
Hamilton East Public Library – Fishers Branch
5 Municipal Drive
Fishers, IN 46038
6:30 p.m
(Books will be available for purchase)

If you’re nearby, I hope you’ll stop by. It’s totally free, and I’ll be at your service if you want to talk about my books, writing in general, writing in specific, publishing, or soup. You guys know how I love soup!

And, as an extra bonus, you will get to see what color my hair is now. Muahahahhahaha!

There WILL be books for sale (and at a discount even!) Hardcovers of The Vespertine will be $14 and paperbacks of Shadowed Summer will be $7. They do request that you bring cash only, please. And of course, if you already own one of my books, I will be happy to sign those as well! (Including copies of Dear Bully and Truth & Dare!)

Kokomo-Howard County Public Library
Sunday, September 18th, 2011
2.30pm – 4.30pm
220 N. Union St.
Kokomo IN 46901

Which is why Erin Bowman, Caroline Richmond, Tracey Neithercott and Sarah Enni put together Read for Relief. They’re raising money for the Red Cross for Irene relief efforts, and they’ve had an amazing collection of auctions to bid on. I’m excited to offer up the very first ARC copy of The Springsweet.

But that’s not all! This prize pack includes a signed train pass, a Lover’s Garden Seed Collection from American Meadows, a classic tea collection from Tea Forté, a lampwork bottle pendant, a signed hardcover copy of The Vespertine and a signed ARC of The Springsweet (coming April 17, 2012!)

And to sweeten the pot, if bidding on this item at Read for Relief passes $200.00*, I will give away another prize pack containing the same items on my blog. You can bid on this prize here. The bidding will close on Sunday at 10:00PM EST, and hey, if you don’t want to bid on my auction, there are TONS of really amazing things on offer including full manuscript critiques, book packs, signed books, jewelry and more.

Please come check it out and help those who didn’t get a miss from Ms. Irene!

*Winner of the auction must actually pay for the auction prize, for this offer to be valid!

If you’re nearby, I hope you’ll stop by. It’s totally free, and I’ll be at your service if you want to talk about my books, writing in general, writing in specific, publishing, or soup. You guys know how I love soup!

I hope to see you this Sunday!

YALLFest 2011 will bring twenty top young adult writers from all over the country to historic downtown Charleston, S.C., for two days of seminars and panels. Events at the College of Charleston, Fri., Nov. 11th, and Blue Bicycle Books on Sat., Nov. 12th.

This festival is a spin-off from last year’s successful Capital Bookfest, which drew more than 5,000 people to the Downtown Public Library and Blue Bicycle Books.

Friday: College of Charleston will host master classes, panels and seminars for area college and high school students to work with top YA authors in intimate round-table sessions.

Saturday: an all-day YA extravaganza of Blue Bicycle Books. Besides the main event of seven (count-em!) hourly panels with three writers each, there will be readings on the side stage, book signings, a food truck rodeo, a vendor bazaar, live music, prizes for kids’ micro-fiction contests, Window Wheel of Fortune, and more.

All events during the day are free and open to the public, and the Festival will come to a close with the…

YA SmackDown, Saturday night, an “all-star jam” with teams (Team Dystopian, Team Supernatural, Team Southern Gothic, etc.) of our visiting YA authors competing for Lowcountry glory in storytelling games. (This event will be ticketed — kid-friendly prices).

Hope I get to see you there!

THE SPRINGSWEET

It’s a long way from Baltimore to Oklahoma Territory. But Zora Stewart will go any distance to put the tragic events of her sixteenth summer behind her. So this city girl heads to the tiny frontier town of West Glory to help her young widowed aunt keep her homestead going.

When another Baltimorean shows up in West Glory, Zora couldn’t be more surprised. Theo de la Croix made the long trip out west hoping to court Zora, whom he has long admired from afar.

But Zora has developed an attraction to a rather less respectable fellow: Emerson Birch, a rough-mannered young “sooner” whose fertile land is coveted.

As Zora begins to suspect that there may be more than luck behind Emerson’s good land, she discovers an extraordinary, astonishing power of her own: the ability to sense water under the parched earth. When her aunt hires her out as a “springsweet” to advise other settlers where to dig their wells, Zora feels the burden of holding the key to something so essential to survival in this unforgiving land.

Even more, she finds herself longing for love the way the prairie thirsts for water. Maybe, in the wildness of the territories, Zora can finally move beyond simply surviving and start living.

“I didn’t think YA historicals could get better than The Vespertine. The Springsweet proved me wrong. This is a gorgeous, unputdownable book that will stay with you long after it’s through. Saundra Mitchell just gets better and better.”

- Sarah MacLean, NYT and USA Today best-selling author of The Season and the Love By Numbers series.

“The Springsweet will steal your heart. Zora is a wounded heroine who had me cheering as she rediscovers the strength she thought she’d lost. Blend in a smoldering, yet refreshingly subtle hero, and add a twist of magic and you have a perfect romance in the Old West with another of Saundra Mitchell’s signature rich and nuanced historic settings!”

- Aprilynne Pike, #1 NYT best-selling author of the Wings series

“With Saundra Mitchell’s trademark evocative and gorgeous language, The Springsweet takes us across the plains, where the people thirst for love just as the land thirsts for water. I never wanted this book to end!”

- Carrie Ryan, NYT best-selling author of The Forest of Hands and Teeth series.