Reading Writing Rachel: REBEL BELLE COVER!!

I heart this book so much. It is seriously the funniest, but also the swooniest, YA book I’ve read in a long, long time. I’m sorry y’all have to wait till Winter 2014 to read it, but it’s going to be so worth it.

therealladyhawkins:

Sorry to clutter your feed this morning, BUT this just came in, so naturally, I had to show it ASAP. BEHOLD, the cover for my April 2014 release, REBEL BELLE! I will blather below the pic to save you scrolling.

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I love it, y’all. I love EVERY LAST THING ABOUT IT. I love that it’s a THING cover…

I stole this cute picture of me, Richelle Mead, and Melissa de la Cruz from Richelle’s blog. (Even I look pretty good in it, and not totally delirious from heat and foot pain.) I love how Richelle and Mel match! This was from the Fire & Ice luncheon Penguin hosted to celebrate the fourth book in Richelle’s Bloodlines series (THE FIERY HEART! WHICH IS SO AMAZING I LOST A FULL DAY OF A FOUR-DAY MEXICAN VACATION TO DEVOUR IT!) and the first book in a new sci-fi/fantasy series Mel is writing with her husband, Mike, called FROZEN, which you will love because magic+dystopia+dragons! (Get it? Fire & Ice? Fiery Heart/Frozen? You get it.) I had the extreme pleasure of getting to moderate a conversation between Richelle and Mel, and it was delightful and fun. One of the highlights of my BEA experience this year. 
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I stole this cute picture of me, Richelle Mead, and Melissa de la Cruz from Richelle’s blog. (Even I look pretty good in it, and not totally delirious from heat and foot pain.) I love how Richelle and Mel match! This was from the Fire & Ice luncheon Penguin hosted to celebrate the fourth book in Richelle’s Bloodlines series (THE FIERY HEART! WHICH IS SO AMAZING I LOST A FULL DAY OF A FOUR-DAY MEXICAN VACATION TO DEVOUR IT!) and the first book in a new sci-fi/fantasy series Mel is writing with her husband, Mike, called FROZEN, which you will love because magic+dystopia+dragons! (Get it? Fire & Ice? Fiery Heart/Frozen? You get it.) I had the extreme pleasure of getting to moderate a conversation between Richelle and Mel, and it was delightful and fun. One of the highlights of my BEA experience this year. 

Clearly I need to go out of town more often, because when I do, great things arrive for me in the mail! Like, say, The Lord of Opium, which is the sequel (long-awaited) to Nancy Farmer’s critically acclaimed and award-winning (seriously: it won the National Book Award, and got both Printz and Newbery honors) novel The House of the Scorpion. And ALSO!!! My buddy Leila Sales’ third book, This Song Will Save Your Life! If you haven’t read Leila’s other two books, Mostly Good Girls and Past Perfect, you had better get on that immediately. They’re really well written, and also hilarious. I can’t wait to finish this interminable Dan Brown book (early verdict: the New York Times review was way too kind and reading it is mostly like, you know, if a Rick Steves guide could give you nightmares about overpopulation) so I can dig in!
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Clearly I need to go out of town more often, because when I do, great things arrive for me in the mail! Like, say, The Lord of Opium, which is the sequel (long-awaited) to Nancy Farmer’s critically acclaimed and award-winning (seriously: it won the National Book Award, and got both Printz and Newbery honors) novel The House of the Scorpion.

And ALSO!!! My buddy Leila Sales’ third book, This Song Will Save Your Life! If you haven’t read Leila’s other two books, Mostly Good Girls and Past Perfect, you had better get on that immediately. They’re really well written, and also hilarious. I can’t wait to finish this interminable Dan Brown book (early verdict: the New York Times review was way too kind and reading it is mostly like, you know, if a Rick Steves guide could give you nightmares about overpopulation) so I can dig in!

It’s all happening! Speaking of BEA, here is where I’ll be: Friday, May 31 – 10 AMBook Expo America – YA Author Buzz PanelJavits Center – Uptown StageWith Rainbow Rowell, Amy Rose Capetta, Sara Farizan, and Cristin Terrill Friday, May 31 – 2:30 PMBook Expo America – Random House in-booth signingBooth #3940 I will also be moderating a conversation between Richelle Mead and Melissa de la Cruz at Penguin’s Fire & Ice party on Friday. It’s an invitation only gathering, but if you were invited and plan to attend, I’ll see you there!
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It’s all happening! Speaking of BEA, here is where I’ll be:

Friday, May 31 – 10 AM
Book Expo America – YA Author Buzz Panel
Javits Center – Uptown Stage
With Rainbow Rowell, Amy Rose Capetta, Sara Farizan, and Cristin Terrill

Friday, May 31 – 2:30 PM
Book Expo America – Random House in-booth signing
Booth #3940

I will also be moderating a conversation between Richelle Mead and Melissa de la Cruz at Penguin’s Fire & Ice party on Friday. It’s an invitation only gathering, but if you were invited and plan to attend, I’ll see you there!

I myself have been idiotically told that I write “awful” books because the people in them are unpleasant. Intelligent readers do not confuse the quality of a book with the moral rectitude of the characters. For those who want goodigoodiness, there are some Victorian good-girl religious novels that would suit them fine.

— Margaret Atwood on “likable” characters. Clearly this is a topic on which many authors have a lot of pent up rage. (via bennettmadison)

While I identify with the rage surrounding the “likeable” character debate, especially insofar as it relates to male characters v. female characters (and/or male authors v. female authors), I must say for the record that I would be friends with every one of the protagonists in my novels (people frequently noted to be “unlikeable” in reviews and such). Not sure if I could write them if I didn’t think they were cool to hang with for like three years at a stretch (or longer).

Happy Monday—Entertainment Weekly has the exclusive cover + excerpt reveal of my buddy Alex Bracken’s NEVER FADE, book 2 in her YA near-future thriller series that started with THE DARKEST MINDS. I was lucky enough to read an early draft of NEVER FADE and I can tell you it’s just as heart-pounding (and heart-wrenching) as THE DARKEST MINDS—actually, way more so. 
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Happy Monday—Entertainment Weekly has the exclusive cover + excerpt reveal of my buddy Alex Bracken’s NEVER FADE, book 2 in her YA near-future thriller series that started with THE DARKEST MINDS. I was lucky enough to read an early draft of NEVER FADE and I can tell you it’s just as heart-pounding (and heart-wrenching) as THE DARKEST MINDS—actually, way more so.