Updates and Giveaways

It has been a WHOLE MONTH since SOMETHING STRANGE AND DEADLY released! Where does the time go?! Well, happy birthday to my little book.

It has also been quite a while since I last posted, and I’m dreadfully ashamed. In my defense, a lot has been going on and I was without internet access for most of it. So much stuff has been happening, in fact, that I’m just going have to do an old fashioned list post here to catch you all up…

1. Today is a day of GIVEAWAYS on Twitter! To celebrate the book’s 1 month birthday. 🙂 All you have to do is RT my tweets to be eligible to win. Some of the items I’m giving away today include:

  • Limited edition Aim for the Knees t-shirt (starts at 8:00 AM and 5:00 PM
  • Signed copies of Something Strange and Deadly (starts at 11:00 AM and 3:00 PM)
  • Limited edition Aim for the Knees necklace (starts at 2:00 PM)

2. Events, events, EVENTS. There are so many on the horizon, I don’t know what to do with myself. The first up is next Anderson’s in Chicago on Thursday, Aug. 30th. I’ll be signing with Veronica Roth (DIVERGENT), Erica O’Rourke (TORN), Dan Krokos (FALSE MEMORY), and Leigh Bardugo (SHADOW & BONE). There is some exclusive content action going on for this event, and you can learn more about it all here.

The first convention I ever attended--when I was 13! Awesome, huh? It's SO MUCH FUN.

The next days–Friday, Aug. 31 and Saturday, Sept. 1–have me with Sarah J. Maas (THRONE OF GLASS) at Dragon*Con in Atlanta, GA. We’ll both be on panels as well as wondering the crowds, indulging our nerd passions.

Wednesday, Sept. 5th is ANOTHER multi-author event, this time in Asheville, NC at Malaprop’s. I’ll be with Sarah J. Maas, Meagan Spooner (SKYLARK), Gwenda Bond (BLACKWOOD), and Beth Revis (ACROSS THE UNIVERSE).

Finally, to wrap up this little Southeastern tour, I’ll be in my hometown of Dalton, GA on Sept. 10th and 11th. First for a school visit (500 seventh graders, ALL AT ONCE. I am terrified.) and then for a Post-Launch Party at the Dalton Freight Depot! Learn more about that party/event/signing here.

3. I also attended 2 events since I last blogged. A wonderful signing at a small town Barnes and Noble and then a teen meet-up/movie night with a nearby library. It was SO MUCH FUN.

4. Hubby, dogs, cats, and I moved. Yes. It’s true. We moved. Again. Why? Because the Frenchman has a job. This job takes us places. And–in case you haven’t already noticed–we are no longer in Germany. I adored my time in Europe, but I’m glad to be home. Although, my new office is a DISASTER. So many BOOKS, so little shelf space.

4.  Since I last blogged, I also read some amazing novels. Specifically: GUSTAV GLOOM by Adam-Troy Castro, SCARLET by Marissa Meyer, and BOUND by Erica O’Rourke. They were all fantastic. Seriously. And BOUND? Seriously the best finale to a trilogy I have ever seen in YA. I can’t stop thinking about it.

I am one beautiful man, don't you think? Susan wants to write a story featuring a smexy hero who looks like me, but alas, she's working under 2 tight deadlines. Next year, perhaps. I'll be waiting.

5.  I also did copyedits for A DARKNESS STRANGE AND LOVELY (the sequel to SOMETHING STRANGE AND DEADLY). They were painless enough, and afterwards, I was rewarded with a glimpse of the book’s final cover–mwuhahaha–and I think we might be seeing ARCs in the not too distant future (though the ARCs won’t be available for reading yet).

6. I wrote 12K in a novella that I cannot yet share the details over. Suffice it to say there is a very high likelihood it will be available sometime next year. Now, to just write the remaining ~10K. :-/

7. I saw the latest BATMAN movie and TOTAL RECALL. Guys. GUUUYSSS. THE DARK KNIGHT RISES is probably the best movie experience I have enjoyed all year. It was just…perfect. And Joseph Gordon-Levitt is officially my newest celebrity crush. ♥ TOTAL RECALL was also awesome, but primarily because Colin Farrell and Kate Beckinsale are wonderful actors.

8. I started making my own bread. Writing about all this healthy living inspired me to stop being lazy about my bread. It was so easy to get “good” bread in Germany, but I needed a new approach. So I gave the famous 5-minute artisan bread a try, and WOW. So easy. So delicious. I highly, highly recommend it.

9. It was my sister’s birthday. She turned 25. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LIL SIS! ♥

10. Oh, and also to celebrate today’s book birthday, Laura Wardle has kindly hosted me on her blog for an interview and GIVEAWAY! Don’t miss it. 😉

So there you have it. Lots going on. I have a feeling I’ll be absent over the next few weeks thanks to all the traveling, BUT I hope I can at least share pictures. Keep your eye on Facebook. 😉

And now, YOU TELL ME! What have you guys been up to? I feel so out of touch.