Entries tagged with announcements

Current Mood: jubilant

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TOUCHING INDIGO is a GO!

An example how a synesthetic person might see ...

The book of my crazy, mixed-up heart, the book I have spent the last three years of my life weeping and gnashing and tearing my hair out over, the book my agent (bless him) has loved with a mad passion ever since he read the first page back in 2007, and been determined to find a publisher who would love it as much as he did --

That book, ladies and gentlemen, has sold. Touching Indigo, a paranormal YA novel which I like to describe as Girl, Interrupted meets A Mango-Shaped Space* by way of The X-Files, will be published by Orchard Books UK some time in mid-2011.

I am delighted to continue working with the same UK publisher who has been so supportive of my faery books, and excited to find out what ideas my lovely editor Sarah will have for shaping and refining Touching Indigo into a book that (I hope) will delight my readers as well.

*capers about gleefully, showering Mint Smoothies upon the general populace*

And thanks to all of you who've followed this book's journey from the beginning and cheered me on along the way -- I don't know how I could have done it without you.

* Although as many of you know, I got the original idea for Indigo in the mid-90's, long before Mango came out. But it's a lovely little book and worth reading.

Current Mood: ecstatic

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I CAN HAS PUBLICATION NAO?*

Or to put it more elegantly:

KNIFE/HarperCollins OTP!!!!!

No, wait, let me try that again. *clears throat*

I am delighted to announce that my contemporary fantasy novel Knife has been acquired by HarperCollins US in a two-book deal, and will be published by them in 2009 or early 2010, with the sequel Wayfarer to follow in another year or two's time. Many thanks to my wonderful agent Josh Adams, my savvy and enthusiastic new editor Catherine Onder, and all the dear friends and faithful critiquers who helped me make this dream a reality.

I know that a great deal of work still lies ahead before I can hold a published copy of Knife in my hands, and that there will be days when I am frustrated and discouraged and wondering what ever made me think I could make it as a professional author. But right now I am simply and enormously happy.

Now tell me, dear f-list, because I am just that lame: WHAT SHOULD I DO TO CELEBRATE?

--
* Apologies to

cesario for the lapse into lolcat, but I trust I may be forgiven under the circumstances.

Current Mood: busy

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Calling all writers within driving distance of Toronto...

SCBWI CANADA EAST SPRING CONFERENCE

Location:
Saturday June 23, Barrie, Ontario, Kempenfelt Conference Centre
Just 10 minutes from downtown Barrie or 40 minutes north of the Hwy
400/401 intersection

Featuring:
* Agent Stephen Barbara from the Donald Maass Agency, NY talking about what an agent does, do you need an agent, how to get one. He acquires YA and middle-grade novels plus adult literary fiction and nonfiction. [Yes, he does fantasy/SF -- Ed.]

( More Details )

*** If you'd seriously plan on coming please drop Lizann a note at lflatt@muskoka.com or ra@scbwicanada.org as soon as possible. We need to judge attendance numbers because we will have to cancel if it doesn't look like we can cover our costs. ***

Anyone else interested in this? James and Erin? *dangles shiny new agent*

Current Mood: exhausted

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This one goes out to the one I love...

In this case,

lizbee, who is having a birthday (or will have had, by the time she gets this, because she lives in the Antipodes where time runs counter-clockwise and people walk about upside-down). Thank you, Liz, for *mumblemumble* years of beta-reading, crackfic (and non-crack fic), long rambling AIM conversations, parcels in the mail (even though some, sadly, did not arrive), living in JKR's brain, and mutual assured fangirling. Plus just being a delightful person and a wonderful friend that I dearly hope to meet in person one day.

And now that I think of it, it is also the birthday of another splendid person and enormously talented writer,

yahtzee63. So:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, lizbee and yahtzee63!

*collapses*

Current Mood: content

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Oyez, Oyez

Be it known that as of this evening, I'm going on a fannish sabbatical of sorts. I hesitate to call it "gafiating", but it has something of that flavour, I suppose: I've decided to cut back drastically on my fandom participation in the interests of getting my priorities in order. Spending more time with family, trying to get back into a consistent habit of prayer and Bible study (something which has gone all to pieces over the last few years since I had kids), hammering out another draft of my original novel... that kind of thing.

I'm not defriending anybody, but for the next few weeks I won't be reading or participating in forums or communities, and I may not be able to keep up with everything that's happening on my f-list. So if you'd really like my comments or input on something, you might want to drop me an e-mail or try and catch me on IM.

Don't worry, though, I'm not planning to disappear entirely. I'll still be posting, here and on

rjanderson_blog, and I'll be on IM -- possibly even more than I have been for the last little while, since Actually Talking To People In Real Time is one of the things I'd like to do more of. I just thought it only fair to let you know that if you're holding your breath waiting for another Snape essay, or the sequel to "Galatea", or more of my scintillating (ha) Doctor Who reviews, you should probably relax before you turn blue and explode.

Okay? Okay.

Coming soon to

rjanderson_blog: A review of

jamesbow's just-published YA fantasy novel The Unwritten Girl.

P.S. Just to make sure people don't get worried, this isn't a flounce or anything. Fandom has done me no wrong, and I'm not mad at anyone in it. It's just all shiny and distracting, and I need to knuckle down and concentrate on other things for a bit, is all.

Current Mood: accomplished

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Phew! and Hooray!

Well, I was right about it being labour...

Paul Nathan
Born September 7, 2005 at 11:20 a.m.
8 lbs., 12 oz.
57 centimetres long

Born in our ensuite bathroom's corner tub, though I did most of my labouring just walking around the house. Anyway, he's healthy, strong, and sleeping peacefully as I type. Pictures have been taken and will be forthcoming, I just didn't feel like hobbling back to the bedroom to get the camera just now.

Thanks so much to all of you who prayed and sent good wishes! The labour was fast and intense and I ache all over, but as you can tell from the fact that I'm sitting up and typing, I'm doing very well.

"Give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good; His mercy endureth forever."

x-posted to

pregnant,

naturalbirth,

september_05, and my own journal.

Current Mood: indescribable

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Oooooohkay.

I think I'm in labour, guys. Those who want more details (what, are you nuts?) can check out my latest post at

pregnant. Well-wishes and prayers appreciated.

Current Mood: jubilant
Current Music: The Waterboys - Further Up, Further In

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Calloo callay!

Semagic has suddenly taken it upon myself to remind me of birthdays for a change -- how useful! -- so best wishes of the day to

jblum, always one of my favorite Doctor Who writers and an all-around charming fellow. As it happens, you share a birthday with my oldest brother, so that will be easy for me to remember in future.

And to all the other people whose birthdays I have missed recently by virtue of using Semagic instead of the LJ Portal, please accept my apologies and belated congratulations. Congratulations also to

lydaclunas and

rose_in_shadow, both of whom will be graduating from university soon.

Now, for the big news...

KNIFE IS FINALLY FINISHED!!!

The really major edits, anyway. In response to the editor's recommendations and some excellent critical feedback from first-round betas

yahtzee63 and

shoebox2, I've rewritten large chunks of the text, rearranged others, and added about 15,000 words to the story in total.

Now I'm throwing it out to the second-round betas (the ones who've read the book in earlier drafts) in hopes of catching and fixing any remaining gaffes. But comments from folks like

cesario and

rose_in_shadow, who are reading the re-edited version as their first experience of the book, have been on the whole quite positive, so it seems unlikely that the next round of changes will take very long. All of which means that I should be able to send the ms. out by no later than the end of May, Lord willing -- the thought of which makes me very happy.

I shall end with what has to be one of my favorite reviews of Knife ever, from

cesario's comments on Chapter Sixteen:

It's more than a love story with wings now, it's like creepy conspiracy spy thriller anarchist stuff. It's the bomb.

This pleased me enormously, which probably says something about my deep inner weirdness, but as Eeyore would say, there it is.

Current Mood: ditzy

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I am SUCH an idiot...

I've been trying for the past two months to get my expired membership on the Outpost Gallifrey forums to reactivate. Only today, after much frustration, did I realize that the whole time I'd been giving them the WRONG E-MAIL ADDRESS and that their activation e-mails were going to the old account that I had prior to our move in November.

This is not quite as stupid as it might sound given that I am accustomed to always responding to registrations with my Pobox forwarding alias rather than my direct ISP address, which has always worked fine for me before but for some reason seemed to be unacceptable to Outpost Gallifrey. But still, you'd think I would have clued in before this...!

Oh, and since there seems to be some confusion on the matter after my last post, IT'S A BOY. Not a girl, nor, alas (to my children's considerable disappointment) a baby dragon. :)

Current Mood: chipper
Current Music: lots of sploshy bath sounds

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O IM Buddies, Where Art Thou?

I have TEH NEWS to impart. Don't get too excited, mind you -- it's not about the book, it's just about the baby (heh, just).

I shall be on around 9 p.m. EST tonight. Page me!

P.S. Somebody tried to page me and I accidentally rejected you while in the middle of typing something else. Didn't even get to glimpse the name. Try again?