It scares me to share before everything is totally and completely official (think signed contracts), but Publishers Marketplace announced my foreign deal last week, so I feel like I should too. I mean, it is my book, right? 

So, here goes . . .

ONE MOMENT sold to Usborne and will hit stores in the UK next year! Which means I should see another cover, and I love cover art, so that's super fun and exciting. Not to mention that my book will be on shelves in a completely different country. And I think that means I should take a little holiday to the UK to just see it all in person, don't you?

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Kristina: We all know writers love to read. List a few books you love so much you wish you'd written them.

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This whole author gig is such super-cool fun. It can be difficult, sure, when I'm hit with a huge editorial letter and I sit down to begin a major revision. Or when I'm in a waiting stage, wondering if my agent or editor will like my new idea, fancy rewrite, or even my simple revision to a tricky scene. But even the hard times are fun, because the hard times are just another sign that I'm in the game and making my way toward another published book. And, in case you didn't know, holding a real book in your hands, one that you have slaved over for too many hours/days/months to count, is one of the best feelings in the world. 

So is seeing your cover for the first time! While I've seen a few versions of the cover for my upcoming release, I just received the final. It's fancy. And beautiful. And it has a sparkly little blurb from the amazingly talented Cat Patrick, author of FORGOTTEN and the upcoming REVIVED, who is super-cool herself. And a little sparkly, too (but not in the vampire sense). 

   So here it is! What do you think?   

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“So. Where do you get your ideas?”

I’m asked this all the time, as if I might have some magic formula. It’s funny, because at any given moment I might be tossing around ten different ideas for my next book. The problem for most authors isn’t finding inspiration, it’s figuring out which inspiration to grab hold of and take to the next level. Which means there’s a question behind that where-do-you-get-your-ideas question. When people ask where an author gets an idea for a novel, what they really mean is this:

“How do you know you have an idea that’s strong enough to take from that first glimmer of inspiration and see it through to a finished manuscript?”

Now that is the real question. And if you had the chance to ask every author out in the world, you might hear a different answer from each one. But here are the things that cue me in.

I know I have an idea strong enough to take from that first glimmer of inspiration and see it through to a finished manuscript when:

1. I can’t sleep because the characters won’t stop talking to me and scenes from the book are continuously looping through my mind.
2. I pitch the idea to my agent, and she's silent and contemplative for only a few moments before telling me to work it.
3. I look forward to vacuuming, folding laundry, dusting, cleaning the bathrooms, etc, because mundane chores make for the best brainstorming sessions.
4. My husband looks at me during a meal and says, “Stop writing,” when really all I’m doing is staring out the sliding glass door and into the backyard. (He knows me too well, because in those moments, I’m usually far away from my family, watching my characters unfold some new secret twist to the book forming in my head.)
5. I get that fluttery feeling of excitement when I know I have some quiet time alone with my computer.
6. The ideas flow, from one to another, without frustration setting in.
7. I forget to eat, avoid answering the phone, put off cleaning the house, and overall drop out of life because I’m so taken by the story that I have to keep writing.
8. I wish I had a super computer in my brain that would type as fast as I think because it would allow me to finish a first draft in 33.7 minutes.
9. I start talking to my characters . . . which looks an awful lot like me talking to myself, and probably makes others wonder about my sanity.
10. I lose time. Life keeps going on around me, but I’m oblivious because I’m off in story land making my way through another string of events that feel real, but aren’t. Unless maybe, in some parallel unverse, they are . . .

Bottom line, I know I have an idea worth writing if the story and characters simply take over my life. It’s not a lightning bolt effect, more like a slow seeping into my brain, a take-over that I’m so taken by, I don’t quite notice. When that happens, it’s not a question of if, or even when, I’ll write. The process has already begun. And like so many things in my life, with this, I must surrender my control. 

(For the record, the inspiratio

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Summary:

Jill MacSweeny just wishes everything could go back to normal. But ever since her dad died, she's been isolating herself from her boyfriend, her best friends--everyone who wants to support her. And when her mom decides to adopt a baby, it feels like she's somehow trying to replace a lost family member with a new one.

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This is me at the Ohioana Book Festival - Fall 2011 - talking about my debut novel, The Tension of Opposites.

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So, it's been a crazy year, with my debut novel releasing May of 2010, and trying to find the right next book to work on. Even more crazy - trying to write that next book just the right way (Do I kill Joey? Or not? Or maybe? Or . . . hmm.). I've been a very neglectful blogger, but I've been working hard. I'm happy to report that my second book, One Moment, another contemporary YA that is totally unrelated to my debut, is scheduled for a June 2012 release date. I'm nearing the end of my revision stage, will have the book off to copy edits by the end of July, and have seen a close-to-final cover (which I can't wait to share!).

Topping off all of the above was another fun milestone for that first year of publication. At the end of May, almost exactly one year after the release of The Tension of Opposites in hardcover, the paperback found it s way into the world. The cover is almost identical - though it has a shiny new blurb from Jay Asher (which I LOVE!).

In honor of the release, I thought I'd post the trailer one more time, just in case you haven't yet seen it.




Hopefully I'll find my way back to make another post soon. But I can't make any promises . . . I'm brainstorming ideas for that next book, and I might just get swept away . . .

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It's me. Here. Finally.

Been a while, huh? 

I must apologize. I've been such a bore. But my apology must be short. I don't have much time.

I've been steeped in revisions on book two, currently titled One Moment. I suppose I should refer to my efforts as a rewrite instead of a revision, because that's more appropriate in this case.

Details? Sorry, I can't share. Except to say that I've resurrected a character named Joey. I'm kind of glad he lives instead of dies. It's been nice to meet him. Kind of. He can be a bit of a jerk, you see.

As soon as I submit this baby, I'll be back. I have lots to share.

Hopefully I'll have some fun pictures for my next post. For now, you don't want any visuals. Trust me. It's been an ugly few weeks of little sleep and full days in PJs. But I'm almost to the ending. So I'll see you again soon :)

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On October 19, 2010, just one day after Jay Asher celebrated the third birthday of his NYT bestselling debut novel, Th1rteen R3asons Why, I was fortunate enough to spend the day with him. He was in my home town for a visit at my local library, and emailed me to see if I wanted to hang out during the afternoon. Which means I got to spend a day (or part of one) with Jay Asher! And not from a seat in a crowded room while he addressed a bunch of people. I'm talking park bench here. Just. The. Two. Of. Us. Joined, of course, by all of the characters in our heads, and all the people we've met along the long paths we each took to publication. It was one of those holy-freaking-crap moments that you only dream of – hanging out with one of your all-time favorite authors - only it was actually coming true. (I’ve had several of those dream-come-true moments in the last few years, and hope to continue the trend.) Here's photographic proof . . .

Jay and I . . . (let me pause to point out that I’m calling this man “Jay” instead of “JayAsher”!) anyway, Jay and I stopped at Starbucks on our way to one of the most scenic outdoor hangouts in town, Cox Arboretum. The leaves are changing here in Ohio, and since it's the peak week of the season, I wanted to take him to one of my favorite spots. (Yes, this was a bit selfish, I will never again visit Cox Arboretum without thinking of the totally inspiring conversation we had there. FYI, this is the place we filmed several scenes from my book trailer last year.) At Starbucks, after treating me to my first ever Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate (delish), Jay talked about meeting Chris Crutcher - one of his favorite authors - after Th1rteen R3asons Why was published, and how crazy it was to feel like an actual peer of this talented man he's admired for years. Standing there in Starbucks (still a little star-struck that I was actually hanging out with JayAsher) with that word "peer" ringing through my head, nothing felt real. Can I now consider myself an actual peer of Jay Asher's? I tried to gather myself, and think I only made a few flubby blunders with my words, which should come out right since I work with them all the time, but come on, now, I was talking to JayAsher.

As we drove to the arboretum, Jay said all kinds of wonderful things about my debut novel, which made me feel a little like I was dreaming again. I knew he'd read the thing - he blurbed it for crying out loud - but there was something very surreal about sitting in my car with him, listening to him praise my characters, plot, and pacing.

We walked through the arboretum and found a spot on a bench right in front of a little pond. The air was chilly, but the sun and hot chocolate kept me warm. The sky was the most perfect shade of blue. At least I think so . . . as soon as we sat, I was sucked away from all that into this bubble of writing talk that was supercharged by the experiences of the man in front of me.

We talked and talked and talked. This is when I really started to relax, when we began to discuss all the things that led us to that moment on the park bench: books and writing and revisions and covers and editors and agents and rejections and conferences and titles and inspirations and each other’s books and pressure and fun and routines and so much more. The great part is that he seemed as interested in my story as I was in his. I love this part of hanging out with other authors - digging into the stories about writing our first novels, and asking questions about current WIPs.

When royalty checks came up, I said the first thing tha

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Want a signed copy of The Tension of Opposites? If so, check this out: I donated one copy to Swati Avasthi's charity auction (more info below); all you have to do is click on the link provided to place your bid!

View ALL the wonderful items that have been donated - writer friends, you may be especially interested in some of the manuscript and query critiques.

Bid on a signed copy of The Tension of Opposites.

To honor National Domestic Violence Awareness month, author Swati Avasthi has combined a blog tour for her debut novel, Split, with a charity auction. Over 40 authors, agents and editors have donated manuscript critiques, personalized books, and more to an online auction that anyone –reader, writer, booklover -- can bid on and buy.  All proceeds go to the Family Violence Prevention Fund. In addition to the auction, Avasthi is donating $1/comment on her 26-stop, month-long blog tour, coordinated by Kari Olson at Teen Book Scene. If we reach the goal and cap of $250, Swati will double the donation to the Family Violence Prevention Fund.  The CDC estimates that one in four women will experience intimate partner abuse during her life and UC Davis estimates that a child who grew up witnessing abuse is four times as likely to perpetrate abuse, 25 times more likely to commit rape and 6 times more likely to commit suicide. Family Violence Prevention Fund has some great initiatives, including Coaching Boys Into Men and Start Strong, that are about breaking the intergenerational cycle and preventing abuse.  So, follow the tour, get stuff you want, and make a difference.

A huge thanks to Swati, who is doing an amazing thing here, raising awareness and offering her creative talents to improve the lives of others. That makes for one very special person.

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Sometimes, I have these moments where it hits me, fresh, like I'd forgotten, that I'm really an author now. And those moments are so very cool. Author visits, where I can actually speak to people who have read my book are the best. I was honored to visit a novel writing class at Wright State University last month, and surprised to learn that my book had been required reading. (I'm really an author now!) But some of the best moments have come when I'm sitting all alone, checking emails. One such moment was when I learned from my editor that I had been nominated for YALSA's Best Fiction for Young Adults list.

You might wonder why I'm reflecting on all of this right now. Well, I've recently had two monumentally cool I'm-Really-An-Author moments. And it's time to share.

The first, and possibly most exciting to date, is that I received my very first author blurb. From one of my all-time favorite authors, Jay Asher, who wrote the incredible book Thirteen Reasons Why. If you haven't read it yet, you must. Like, right now. Well, after you finish this post. Because you have to check out this lovely blurb . . .

"Tense! The constant push and pull of friendship, pain, love, and jealousy is beautifully drawn. A definite must read." – Jay Asher, author of the New York Times bestseller Thirteen Reasons Why.

How sweet is that?!

And, just yesterday, I learned that The Tension of Opposites has been nominated for the Cybils YA list. The Cybils awards are given each year by bloggers for the year's best children's and young adult titles. Which means, I'm Really an Author Now! Totally surreal!

On another very exciting note, this week I finished the first draft of my next book. The end is a little messy and needs to be polished up, then I'll print the entire thing and read it all the way through with as little interruption as possible. Which means the draft is almost ready to submit to my agent for feedback (a step that I both love and hate at the same exact time). Yet another reminder that, you guessed it, I'm really an author now.

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I had a blast this past week at the Smart Chicks Kick It Tour's Dayton, Ohio stop. Met a panel of wonderfully talented authors, and a few bloggers too. The presentation was engaging and fun. For those of you who weren't able to join, here's a video with snippets from the evening. You'll see me and Kristi from The Story Siren at the beginning.