You can win a signed copy of THE VESPERTINE and THE SPRINGSWEET at every single stop– and when I stop at an author’s blog, you can win their book too! When I stop at a bloggers’ place, you can win one of their favorite books!

After the tour ends, you’ll be able to come back here and enter to win signed copies of THE VESPERTINE and THE SPRINGSWEET, as well as an illustrated copy of Christina Rossetti’s GOBLIN MARKET, a blue lampwork necklace, a lover’s garden packet, and a Tea Forte sampler.

All you have to do at any stop is share what’s on your TBR pile, and leave your contact info. Special note– only one stop, at Sarah Rees Brennan’s blog, is open to international entries. All others are United States and Canada only. All prizes will be announced and awarded at the end of the tour.

So dang, let’s get started!

4/12 – Hosted by Sonia Gensler, giving away a copy of her THE REVENANT.
4/13 – Hosted by Michelle Zink, giving away a copy of her A TEMPTATION OF ANGELS.
4/16 – Hosted by the Mundie Moms, and giving away a copy of Cassandra Clare’s CLOCKWORK ANGEL.
4/17 – DEBUT DAY!!! Hosted by Beth Revis, and giving away a copy of her A MILLION SUNS.
4/18 – Hosted by Aprilynne Pike, and giving away a copy of her WINGS.
4/19 – Hosted by Sarah Rees Brennan, and giving away a copy of her THE DEMON’S LEXICON.
4/20 – Hosted by The Story Siren, and giving away a copy of Marissa Meyer’s CINDER.
4/23 – Hosted by Myra McEntire, and giving away a copy of her HOURGLASS.
4/24 – Hosted by Christine Johnson, and giving away a copy of her CLAIRE DE LUNE.

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt | Barnes & Noble Book Depository

Powell’s |  Amazon | B*A*M

1) Second chance to get a first look at that cover. I can totally brag on the cover because I had nothing to do with it. That was all the brilliant people at Houghton– and they made sure the pretty foil came along to the paperback release. *floves*

2) It’s one of the 4 for 3 books on Amazon today, which means you could get DIVERGENT, PAPER TOWNS and MATCHED, and THE VESPERTINE would be free!

3) It contains the first chapter of THE SPRINGSWEET. So if you want to get a peek at the first chapter of Zora’s book a month early (it comes out April 17th!) it’s right there in the back of the paperback of THE VESPERTINE!

I’m giving away 5 signed copies of THE VESPERTINE today. All you have to do is tweet:

The Vespertine is officially out in paperback today!http://www.indiebound.org/book/9780547721934 #vespertine

Zest Books

October 31, 2012

Paperback original, $14.99

Edited by Miranda Kenneally and E. Kristin Anderson

Edited by Dear Teen Me blog founders Miranda Kenneally and E. Kristin Anderson, the letters in Dear Teen Me cover a range of topics, including physical abuse, body issues, bullying, friendship, love, and enough insecurities to fill an auditorium. Your favorite YA authors dissect critical moments from their own young lives, and offer advice and guidance to their teenage selves.

Featuring letters from Carrie Jones, Ellen Hopkins, Cynthia Leitich Smith, Sara Zarr, Beth Fantaskey and more- including a letter by me, “This Is Not Your Story.”

I’m wicked thrilled to have stories from all of these extraordinary authors. It’s a collection that’s already kept me up nights reading, and I can’t wait to share it with you.

Or maybe you can’t wait to share with me– you could be the 18th author in this anthology! More on that in a moment. First, fantastic authors ahoy!

Sarah Rees Brennan is the author of the The Demon’s Lexicon trilogy, a series about demons, magicians and two very troubled brothers. The first book was an ALA Top Ten Best Book and received three starred reviews. Most recently she is the author of Unspoken, the first in The Lynburn Legacy trilogy, a Gothic mystery with imaginary friends who turn out not to be so imaginary, and co-author with Justine Larbalestier of the Team Human duology, about a girl who isn’t very impressed by vampires. She lives in Dublin, Ireland, which she uses as a base for her adventures, and she blames Diana Wynne Jones for her incurable fantasy addiction.

Tessa Gratton has wanted to be a paleontologist or a wizard since she was seven. She was too impatient to hunt dinosaurs but is still searching for someone to teach her magic. After traveling the world with her military family, she acquired a BA (and the important parts of an MA) in gender studies, then settled down in Kansas with her partner, her cats, and her mutant dog. Visit her at tessagratton.com.

Rachel Hawkins is the author of the NYT Bestselling Hex Hall series from Hyperion, and Rebel Belle (Putnam 2013). She was born in Virginia and raised in Alabama. This means she uses words like “y’all” and “fixin’” a lot, and considers anything under 60 degrees to be borderline Arctic. Before deciding to write books about kissing and fire (and sometimes kissing while on fire), Rachel taught high school English for 3 years, and is still capable of teaching you The Canterbury Tales if you’re into that kind of thing.

Christine Johnson grew up in, moved away from and eventually came home to Indianapolis, Indiana. She lives there with her husband and two kids in a creaky old house that is disappointingly un-haunted. Christine is the author of Claire de Lune, Nocturne and the forthcoming The Gathering Dark. You can find her on the Internet at www.christinejohnsonbooks.com.

Valerie Kemp is an award-winning independent filmmaker from Michigan. She has been writing stories ever since she first learned how to write. After challenging herself to turn a too complex screenplay idea into a novel she fell head over heels in love with writing YA. Valerie loves to travel and when not writing screenplays or novels, she can be found shooting music videos, reading voraciously, and possibly hanging out in foreign country. You can visit her online at www.valeriekemp.com.

Malinda Lo is the author of several young adult fantasy and science fiction novels, most recently the forthcoming Adaptation. Her debut novel, Ash, a retelling of Cinderella with a lesbian twist, was a finalist for the William C. Morris YA Debut Award, the Andre Norton Award for YA Fantasy and Science Fiction, and the Lambda Literary Award. She lives in Northern California with her partner and their dog. Visit her website at www.malindalo.com.

Myra McEntire is the author of timeslip novels Hourglass and Timepiece. She lives in Nashville with her husband and two sons. She likes to make stuff up.

Sarah Ockler is the bestselling author of young adult novels Twenty Boy Summer, Fixing Delilah, and Bittersweet. She loves to defy the dark by staying up all night in her Colorado home writing, reading, and/or thinking about cupcakes. When she’s not busy defying any darkness or licking chocolate batter from a spoon, she enjoys taking pictures, hugging trees, and road-tripping through the country with her husband, Alex. Sarah loves hearing from readers and invites you to connect with her on Twitter, Facebook, and at www.sarahockler.com.

Jackson Pearce is the author of multiple books for teens, including Sisters Red, Sweetly, Fathomless and Purity. She currently lives in Atlanta, GA, and– despite what she writes–admits she is sometimes afraid of the dark. You can find her online at www.jacksonpearce.com.

Critically-acclaimed, internationally best-selling author Aprilynne Pike has been spinning tales since she was a child with a hyper-active imagination. At the age of twenty she received her BA in Creative Writing from Lewis-Clark State College in Lewiston, Idaho. When not writing, Aprilynne can usually be found out running; she also enjoys singing, acting, reading, and working with pregnant moms as a childbirth educator and doula. Aprilynne lives in Arizona with her husband and four kids; she is enjoying the sunshine.

Dia Reeves, author of Bleeding Violet and A Slice of Cherry, is a librarian and lives in a suburb of Dallas, TX. Her family, however, grew up in East Texas and has inspired her with many tales of the area. The fact that she writes gory, psychotic, romantic, surreal books about happily maladjusted teens who live in East Texas is in no way a reflection on her family. Or is it?

Beth Revis is the New York Times bestselling author of the young adult science fiction novel, Across the Universe, as well as several other short stories set on the spaceship Godspeed. A former high-school English teacher, Beth drew inspiration for her novels from her students and their lives—although she took the claustrophobic feeling of being trapped in a small town and enclosed her characters on a spaceship instead. Beth currently lives in rural North Carolina with her husband and dogs, and she believes space is nowhere near the final frontier. You can find out more about her at www.bethrevis.com.

Carrie Ryan is the New York Times bestselling author of the critically acclaimed Forest of Hands and Teeth series as well as several short stories.  Her first novel was chosen as a Best Books for Young Adults by the American Library Association, named to the 2010 New York Public Library Stuff for the Teen Age List and selected as a Best of the Best Books by the Chicago Public Library.  A former litigator, Carrie now writes full time and lives with her husband, two fat cats and one large dog in Charlotte, North Carolina. You can find her online at www.carrieryan.com.

Jon Skovron is the author of Struts & Frets and Misfit, both published by Amulet Books. He lives with his two sons outside Washington, DC. You can visit him at jonskovron.com.

Courtney Summers lives and writes in Canada.  She is the author of This Is Not a Test, Fall for Anything, Some Girls Are and Cracked Up to Be. Visit her online at courtneysummers.ca.

And of course, I’m in there too, but that’s sort of the ultimate expression in nepotism. I know the editor, I am the editor, I know the editor, I am the editor! /end Chinatown reference.

Finally, you could be the author of the 18th story in this collection! We’re teaming up with Figment, and while the details are still top-secret, I can tell you this: we’re having a writing contest to fill that last slot.

One of the best things about my job as a screenwriter for Fresh Films was the chance to bring new, teen filmmakers into the fold. I wanted to do that in fiction too. HarperTeen and Figment are up for the challenge, and I can’t wait to share the rest of the details.

If you want to be one of the first to know, you can sign up here to get info the second it’s available. And in the meantime, feel free to poke around the Defy the Dark website. There are excerpts from all the stories already available, but I do apologize in advance. No more tastes until next summer!

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