I was too busy celebrating my book launch and stalking Barnes & Noble to post this earlier

My debut novel, a YA contemporary published by HarperTeen, made its way into the world on Tuesday. There was so much celebrating, Tweeting, Facebooking and Instagramming, I forgot to mention it here on my blog. So, a quick recap:

There were articles in newspapers about the pending arrival of my book! They appeared here and here and here. People I never met before or hadn't seen in years came out to my book launch party at The Hockessin Book Shelf on June 16, along with lots of friends and family. I signed books for two hours straight, stopping for about five minutes to say a few words (which were largely incoherent, I fear). 

Here are some photos of the festivities:

My daughter got a manicure to match my book!

I signed books! There were balloons!

And cake!

Lots of people showed up!

My husband and kids.

My daughter's friends.

My son's friends.

Teen readers who heard about my book and came by!

Old friends. 

New friends. 

My parents. 

It was tons of fun. Huge thanks to Rebecca Dowling of Hockessin Book Shelf for hosting the event. She was a lovely, calm presence and made everything run smoothly (even when I was running around flailing about cupcake placement). 

Best bookseller ever.

I had hoped to get straight back to writing the next day, as I am working on my second novel with HarperCollins and a deadline looms. But, first, I had to go see if BETWEEN THE NOTES had made it onto the shelves of the nearest Barnes & Noble. The kids and I headed out. I was nervous. What if they hadn't stocked it? My fears were put to rest, though, when I made my way up the Teen "New Release" section and saw not one, but TWO facing-out stacks of my book. Wheee!

My book! And, look at that empty space to the left.
Was there a third stack that sold already? 

I introduced myself to a store manager and she asked if I'd sign their stock. Which I did, of course:

Signing books at Barnes & Noble on Concord Pike in Wilmington

And that is my book launch story. I felt very full and happy yesterday, coming home from the Barnes & Noble. The publishing journey is full of ups and downs, of rejection and waiting and gnashing of teeth. But this week made it all worthwhile. 

Thanks to everyone for the friendship and support!

On Writing a Retelling: Q&A with Stephanie Oakes, author of THE SACRED LIES OF MINNOW BLY

As part of the Fearless Fifteeners group of debut authors, I've had the chance to read advance copies of other members' books being published in 2015. And let me tell you, it's turning out to be a great year for YA. So many novels have left me with all the feels, mouth gaping or heart racing. One I loved so much I contacted the author, Stephanie Oakes, and invited her to join me on my August book tour in Oregon and Washington. Here's a description of her book, released June 9 by Dial Books:

THE SACRED LIES OF MINNOW BLY 

The Kevinian cult has taken everything from seventeen-year-old Minnow: twelve years of her life, her family, her ability to trust.

And when she rebelled, they took away her hands, too.

Now their Prophet has been murdered and their camp set aflame, and it's clear that Minnow knows something—but she's not talking. As she languishes in juvenile detention, she struggles to un-learn everything she has been taught to believe, adjusting to a life behind bars and recounting the events that led up to her incarceration. But when an FBI detective approaches her about making a deal, Minnow sees she can have the freedom she always dreamed of—if she’s willing to part with the terrible secrets of her past.

The Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly is a hard-hitting and hopeful story about the dangers of blind faith—and the power of having faith in oneself.

I asked Stephanie if she'd share a little bit more about her book in a very brief Q&A (one question!). Here she is!

Q: Your novel is based on Grimm’s Fairy Tale, “The Handless Maiden.” Can you tell us what inspired you to create a modern version of this story, and describe how you made it your own, very unique tale?

Stephanie Oakes

A: I’ve been a fan of fairy tale retellings for a really long time. Some of my favorite books when I was a kid were the retellings written by Donna Jo Napoli. I would comb my local library shelves for those, and rejoice when I found a title I hadn’t read yet (some of my favorites include Crazy Jack, Zel, and Song of the Magdalene. Those books were absolutely formative to me). When I got a little older, my love of retellings didn’t fade. I read books like The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale and Deerskin by Robin McKinley, and the poetry of Louise Gluck. There was something so exciting about seeing a familiar story interpreted in new ways. I think retellings almost tell us more about an author than an original story does because we get to see their thought process—what they changed, what they kept the same, what they expanded on. It’s a little like getting to peek behind the curtain at a writer’s brain, and I loved the idea of that.

I knew when I first attempted writing a novel that I’d write a retelling, but it took a while to figure out how. I had recently heard of the fairy tale “The Handless Maiden” and it had been percolating in my mind. I knew I didn’t want to write a more typical fantasy retelling because I’d read so many of those and that approach had been handled so adeptly by many other authors. I decided to retell it in modern times. The most difficult part of this was taking the characters from the fairy tale—most of whom could fairly be described as stick figures—and turning them into real people who could actually exist. The dilemma was creating a situation in the modern world in which a devil-like man would order a father to cut his own daughter’s hands off. Eventually I struck on the answer—a remote and extremely strict religious cult—and the pieces more or less fell into place.

And one other thing that I love about retellings—if you’re familiar with the original tale, reading the book is a bit like going on a scavenger hunt. Anyone who’s familiar with “The Handless Maiden” will be able to read Minnow Bly and identify elements from the original tale—the pears, the angel, the king, the silver hands. 
_________

Thanks, Stephanie! This book left me in a state of awe. It was stunning and gut-wrenching and powerful and full of such amazing wisdom. I couldn't put it down. 

Find THE SACRED LIES OF MINNOW BLY at:

Indiebound  I  Amazon  I  Barnes and Noble  I  Goodreads

Or purchase your copy in person and get it signed at one of our book tour events in August! Details here: ya-tour.eventbrite.com

My Book Launch is Coming! My Book Launch is Coming!

My debut novel will be released into the wild (aka bookstores and libraries) on June 16! Want to come to the party? It's taking place at the Hockessin Book Shelf in Hockessin, Delaware, from 6-8 p.m. 

RSVP here if you can make it! 

Book Giveaway and Release Day Guest Post by Hilary T. Smith, author of A SENSE OF THE INFINITE

Today I'm very pleased to have my friend and pen pal Hilary T. Smith on the blog today to celebrate the release of her new YA contemporary novel, A SENSE OF THE INFINITE. It's a beautiful book that I fell in love with when I read an earlier draft of the manuscript, and I can't wait to own a final copy (and read it again and again). 

ABOUT THE BOOK

By the author of the critically acclaimed Wild Awake, a beautiful coming-of-age story about deep friendship, the weight of secrets, and the healing power of nature.

It's senior year of high school, and Annabeth is ready—ready for everything she and her best friend, Noe, have been planning and dreaming. But there are some things Annabeth isn't prepared for, like the constant presence of Noe's new boyfriend. Like how her relationship with her mom is wearing and fraying. And like the way the secret she's been keeping hidden deep inside her for years has started clawing at her insides, making it hard to eat or even breathe.

But most especially, she isn't prepared to lose Noe.

For years, Noe has anchored Annabeth and set their joint path. Now Noe is drifting in another direction, making new plans and dreams that don't involve Annabeth. Without Noe's constant companionship, Annabeth's world begins to crumble. But as a chain of events pulls Annabeth further and further away from Noe, she finds herself closer and closer to discovering who she's really meant to be—with her best friend or without.

Hilary T. Smith's second novel is a gorgeously written meditation on identity, loss, and the bonds of friendship.

Order it from Powell's, your local bookseller, Barnes & Noble or Amazon.

Here's a guest post from Hilary, reflecting on the bonds of an important friendship in her own life:

Author Hilary T. Smith

WHEN FRIENDSHIPS AREN'T FOREVER

One of the bittersweet aspects of writing A SENSE OF THE INFINITE was getting to pore over my own relationship with my high school best friend—a relationship that, although deep, transformative, and full of love and humor, nevertheless did not survive past our senior year.

P. lived between a peach orchard and the train tracks, a short bike ride from my house. In the summer we’d follow a dusty trail to a place we called the Grove of Serendipity, where there was a rope swing in the trees, and fireflies at twilight. We both took piano lessons; we’d both read piles of books. We were both scholarship students at a private highschool full of very wealthy, put-together kids who didn’t even seem to breathe the same kind of oxygen as we did; perhaps more important than having a lot in common with each other, was the fact that we had so little in common with everyone else.

P.’s life was frequently in crisis. Her mother had died recently, her relationship with her father was fraught, and she had become the main caregiver for her little sister. Her arms were covered in self-inflicted scars. Although she was exceptionally bright, the chaos of her day-to-day existence made it hard to hand in assignments, with the result that she always seemed to be teetering on the verge of academic disaster. She was a big-hearted, exuberant, funny and frustrating person, and I loved her with an intensity I’d never had for a friend before.

And me? Who was I? A classic nerd child, physically awkward and shy to the point of muteness, fluent in French and adept in music theory but timid in social interactions. Whereas P.’s monsters were big and obvious, mine were so stealthy I didn’t even have words for them, much less physical scars for other people to see. Over the years, I was sometimes jealous of her for this reason—the nature of her problems meant that teachers were always reaching out to help her, but I kept everything so tightly wrapped that it would have taken a professional psychic and possibly a polygraph machine to detect when I was struggling too.

Our first year of friendship, we formed a secret society whose sole mission was to collect as many thumbtacks and pushpins as possible from our highschool’s bulletin boards. We sorted them by color and kept them in a fishing tackle box that is probably still in my parents’ basement. At lunch, we’d go to the music practice practice rooms and play piano together, or to the library to pore over yearbooks from the 1970’s. Our conversations brimmed over with secrets and inside jokes, code words and made-up songs. I would have fought a tiger for her, and I know she would have done the same for me.

When I’ve tried to figure out why our friendship began to fade away, partway through senior year, I used to come up with a blank. There was no cataclysmic argument, no specific betrayal. Things just seemed to stiffen. A brittleness developed, seemingly out of nowhere, and neither of us had the words to call it out or talk about it. Slowly, we each began to transfer our time to other people, our attention to divergent interests and pursuits. The change was painful and frightening, but even in my attempts to bridge the widening gap, I sensed that it was unstoppable.

Near the end of the revision process for A Sense of the Infinite, I went to my ten-year high school reunion. I knew that P. would be there; I hadn’t seen her since I was a teenager. As the evening of the dinner approached, I felt more and more sick to my stomach. What would it be like to see her? Would it be terrible? Would the awkwardness that seeped into our last months together come right back? Would we talk about it? Again and again, I resolved not to go, only to bully myself back into it. Finally, I got in the car and drove to the highschool.

A few minutes after I arrived, I spotted her. My heart started pounding. This was the moment I’d been dreading ever since I’d gotten to town. She spun around—she was wearing a flowered dress and high heels—and beamed at me. “Hilary!” she shouted, and rushed over to wrap me in a hug.

We sat together at dinner and had a nice time. It didn’t feel like we were thirteen again, hurrying down the hall together with our arms linked. It didn’t feel like we were fifteen, meeting in the park on a hot summer day. I barely recognized this new, adult version of P. at all, although I remembered who I’d been when we were at school together. It felt like we were two birds who had shared a nest for a while before feathering into different creatures entirely. And that was OK. The end of that phase of our relationship wasn’t a great failure or a tragedy—it was part of nature. People aren’t static. We’re ever-changing, ever-growing, and death (whether of a relationship, a habit, or a personality trait) is a natural and essential part of that process. I’m grateful P. and I were there for each other when we were small birds, and glad that life called us both to fly away.

___________

To celebrate the release of A SENSE OF THE INFINITE, Hilary has kindly offered a signed copy for a giveaway. Enter the Rafflecopter below to win! (U.S. Only.)

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Celebrating One Month Until Release Date of BETWEEN THE NOTES with an ARC giveaway!

I'm giving away the last of my ARCs (advance reader copies) to celebrate the fact that it's only a month until BETWEEN THE NOTES comes out. (Cue Kermit flail!) 

Please enter to win! (Open internationally.)

And come see me, if you can, at one of my book events. I'll be celebrating my book release at a launch party in Delaware on June 16, and appearing at events on east and west coasts this summer and fall. Hope to see you somewhere along the way!


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I'll be at Books of Wonder in New York on June 20. Will you? (Please say yes. I'm dying to see you!)

I'm joining seven other Fearless Fifteeners (2015 debut authors) at Books of Wonder on June 20, where we will be talking about and signing our brand new spiffy YA novels! I hope you can come see us. Go here and let us know if you can make it! (Tickets are not required but we'd love to know if you'll be there.) 

A Debut Author's Guide to Planning Book Events

My debut novel, Between the Notes, will be released into the world in exactly two months. It's exciting, and kind of terrifying. Most nerve-wracking of all is the prospect of speaking in front of crowds (God, I hope there are crowds) at book events. I've scheduled several appearances—some solo, some with other YA authors. Now I'm trying to figure out how to make the most of them!

I went to author friend Evelyn Skye for advice. Evelyn guest-hosts events at her local independent bookstore, Kepler's Books in San Francisco. She agreed to share her insights. 

Every debut author's dream: A standing-room only crowd
like this one at Kepler's Books. 

Hi Evelyn! Welcome to my humble blog.

Thanks so much for having me, Sharon! I’m thrilled to answer questions about what makes a good book event!

Thank you! Like many debut authors, I've scheduled events. So, now I'm wondering: What role does a bookstore play in developing an event? What about the authors?

That’s a perfect question to start with, as I’m sure many authors (especially debuts) are wondering the same thing. Now, I can only speak to my experience at this one bookstore, but I imagine it’s similar at other indies. The people who work there love books and love authors, and they want to make your event as successful (and fun) as possible.

Sometimes, a publisher’s publicist will organize the book tour, and in that case, they will already have things in mind. For example, Marissa Meyer recently came through Kepler’s to promote Fairest, and that was part of a larger “Lunar Ball” book tour across the country, where there were costume contests and giveaways at each stop.

If your publicist doesn’t already have a set agenda for you, though, you can usually work with the booksellers to mold the event. 

On that note, what kind of activities can be included in a typical event?

All sorts of things! But first, you’ll need to figure out if you’re doing the event solo or whether you’re part of a panel. That affects how you budget your time.

If you’re solo, I’d estimate that you can keep your audience’s attention for about 15-20 minutes. After that, they’ll start to zone out (unless you are an especially charming sort, in which case, carry on!) In your 15-20 minutes, you could:

• give a presentation about a unique aspect of your book (Stacey Lee recently did a lovely, short bit on The Oregon Trail at her launch)
• talk about how you became a writer or where you got your idea for this book,
• show your book trailer if you have one,
• read a short excerpt (short is key, no more than 5 minutes, in my opinion, although some people say you could read for up to 15),
• play a game with the audience where you give away prizes (bookmarks or other small swag is great!) to anyone who asks you a question. 

If you’re on a panel, some of the pressure will be off of you. Of course, that means you won’t have all the limelight to yourself, but it also means you won’t have to entertain the crowd all on your own, either.

Evelyn Skye (far right) recently moderated a Kepler's Books event
with Maggie Stiefvater, Tessa Gratton and Brenna Yovanoff.

If the bookstore provides a moderator, then you really have it easy. The moderator will ask you scintillating questions and you’ll give witty answers. The banter will be so delightful that, before you know it, Jimmy Fallon will be calling you to appear with him and Justin Timberlake on The Tonight Show, where you’ll do a skit about your book, which will then go YouTube-viral. (At least, this is how I always envision it whenever I moderate events. J).

The bookstore will often expect you to have a moderator already, though, and in that case, you and your fellow authors should go in with a plan. Just like you’d have a program prepared if you were a solo act, your panel ought to know what it’s going to talk about. I like it when there is a theme or something that unites the books and authors. I don’t mean they all have to be contemporary authors or all fantasy books. It could be something like Stories that Came from Dreams or Writing Books Based in Personal Experience. Then fashion 5-7 questions around that theme.

To kick off, give everyone one minute (or less) to describe their book to the audience. Literally one minute or less. Then move on to the questions/program you’ve prepared, making sure that each author is conscientious of how much s/he speaks so that it’s roughly even amongst you. It not only keeps the audience engaged, it’s also fair to the others sitting up there at the table with you. Keep answers 1-2 minutes long, then let the next person speak. (Also, not everyone has to speak on every question/topic.)

At the end of the event (whether a solo event or a panel), it’s nice to give the audience a chance to ask questions, but keep it to just a handful. You can always offer to answer questions after the event, if you’d like.

And then comes autograph time!

What else can we do to make our events stand out?

Book-themed treats, anyone? I.W. Gregorio offered
these yummy cupcakes at her launch, based on
the book cover design for NONE OF THE ABOVE!

Personally, I love treats, especially book-themed ones! For instance, if your book features fortunetellers, you could bring fortune cookies. Or maybe your main character is obsessed with jelly beans, in which case, Jelly Bellys are in order. It doesn’t have to be expensive, but it can really add a personal touch and help your fans feel cared for and special.

(But make sure to ask the bookstore ahead of time. They may have policies about the kinds of food or drink you can bring. After all, they are in the business of selling stacks of delicate paper that are sensitive to sticky fingers. Buffalo wings and caramel apples are probably not allowed.)

But don’t feel pressure to bring food or swag if it’s not in your budget. This is about your books, and the people who come to the events are there for your stories, not for the jellybeans!

Any last advice?

Try to relax and have fun. You’ve written a book! People want to buy it! People want you to write your name on their skin and crowd surf with you! (Oops. I mean, they want you to autograph their books in the appropriate spot on the title page.)

This is a big moment in your career, and you should enjoy it. At the same time, it’s just one moment in your entire life, so don’t let it cause you too much stress. Just remember this:

You wrote a book. You’re amazing. Now let’s celebrate!

THANK YOU, Evelyn! 

Evelyn Skye is the author of THE CROWN’S GAME (HarperCollins/Balzer+Bray, 2016). She is also an event host at Kepler’s Books; Social Media Manager for SCBWI’s San Francisco region; and the ringleader of YA Lunch Break, a popular Bay Area book club. When she’s not writing, she can be found chasing after her daughter on the playground or sitting on the couch, immersed in a good book and eating way too many cookies. Evelyn is online at www.evelynskye.com and on twitter @EvelynSkyeYA.