Twitter Chat Tomorrow (and other cool things!)

I'm excited to announce that tomorrow night, (Thursday, December 13th) I will be participating in a twitter chat hosted by the Mundie Moms and featuring some awesome YA authors!

Here are the details:

Who:

• Courtney Allison Moulton (@CAMoulton) author of the ANGELFIRE trilogy.
• Susan Dennard (@stdennard) author of SOMETHING STRANGE AND DEADLY,
• DJ DeSmyter (@LifeinFiction) author of HUNTED,
• David James (@DJamesAuthor) author of LIGHT OF THE MOON,
• and me, aka @valeriekwrites (!)

If you haven't noticed, there's a theme going on here. Most of us are from Michigan.

When: Thursday, December 13th at 9 PM EST - (It will last about an hour.)

What: Twitter chat - We will discuss our work, answer writing questions, giveaway stuff, and generally have fun!

Where: Under the hashtag #MundieChat

Which brings me to that other cool thing I mentioned. It appears that DEFY THE DARK has a release date - JUNE 18, 2013 - and IS AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER!! *dies* And my name is even on the listing! I'm going to be in a real live book! With a hardcover and everything!

You can pre-order it right now, in both hardcover and paperback, from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and The Book Depository!

So, how are these two things connected? Well, I'll be giving away two hardcover copies of DEFY THE DARK during the chat - one which I will ship internationally. And I will even sign them, you know, if you want. So, be sure to come join in the fun tomorrow! (Learn more about DEFY THE DARK at DefyTheDark.com.)

DEFY THE DARK News! Get Published!

Back in January I announced that I was going to be published(!) alongside some of my MOST FAVORITE authors in the HarperTeen anthology DEFY THE DARK, edited by Saundra Mitchell but I couldn't tell you who they all were. Well today I can spill the beans. And what's more, I can also share with you the exciting contest that could make YOU the eighteenth author!

So, first things first, here are the authors appearing in DEFY THE DARK:

• Sarah Rees Brennan
  
• Tessa Gratton
  
• Rachel Hawkins
  
• Christine Johnson
  
• Valerie Kemp (eee!)
  
• Malinda Lo
  
• Myra McEntire
  
• Saundra Mitchell
  
• Sarah Ockler
  
• Jackson Pearce
  
• Aprilynne Pike
  
• Dia Reeves
  
• Beth Revis
  
• Carrie Ryan
  
• Jon Skovron
  
• Courtney Summers
  

So you see why my head basically exploded when I found out.

BUT that's not even the best part, because HarperTeen and Figment have teamed up to hold a contest to find one more story for the anthology. That's right. YOU could have YOUR STORY published alongside those AWESOME WRITERS! The details aren't all out yet on just how the contest will work, but you can sign up here at Figment to be notified the moment they're released.

You can also learn more about the DEFY THE DARK, the writers, and see sneak peeks of their stories at the newly launched DEFY THE DARK website. The sneak peek at my story, STILLWATER is here, you know, if you're interested.

New Year, New News!

So this is something I've been sitting on for months. Partly because I kept waiting to wake up and find out it's not true. Partly because I wanted to make sure I dotted all my i's and crossed all my t's. And honestly because I was painfully nervous about putting it out in the world and seeing what the reaction would be. So what is this news, you ask?

You might remember this announcement from author Saundra Mitchell about the new anthology she's editing, DEFY THE DARK, a few months ago. Here's a little more info:

DEFY THE DARK is an all-new anthology coming Summer 2013 from Saundra Mitchell and HarperTeen. It features 17 stories by critically-acclaimed and bestselling YA authors as they explore things that can only happen in the dark.

So here's the thing. One of those 17 authors is me. I know. I can't believe it either! My short story, STILLWATER, about a town that's just... not quite right (and kissing), is going to be published. In a book. By HarperTeen. Right next to some of my ALL-TIME favorite YA authors. It still feels like it's not really happening.

Me with my publishing contract!

I can't give you the full list of authors yet (trust me, it will blow your mind), but here's a little taste of the authors who have also announced or posted that they're contributing:

• Sarah Rees Brennan
  
• Tessa Gratton
  
• Malinda Lo
  
• Saundra Mitchell
  
• Dia Reeves
  
• Beth Revis
  
• Jon Skovron
  
• Courtney Summers
  

And that is just the tip of the amazing author iceberg. Basically, if I could have hand-picked a group of authors to all be in one anthology, this would be that group. When I look at the full list, I sort of feel like I stumbled into someone else's surprise party.

And so as 2012 gets started, I just want to say to everyone out there who might be reading this and feeling frustrated with their own progress, IT CAN HAPPEN TO YOU TOO. I'm living proof that if you keep working hard on your writing, put your heart in it, and put yourself out there, someone will recognize it. They really will.

Being invited to contribute to this anthology was the last thing I expected. It was one of those dream goals I hadn't even put on my list yet because I felt I had so many other things I needed to accomplish first, before I could even dare to imagine it. And now here I am, hoping to survive the apocalypse and make it til Summer 2013!

There will be much more exciting news about DEFY THE DARK coming in the future - including one really awesome surprise. And I'm still trying to figure out what to do to celebrate and share the love. But for now I just want to say thank you to everyone in the YA writing community who has ever taken the time to share their journey, because without all of your blogs and forums and tweets I would still be trying to figure out how to get started writing a book. I hope that my little bit of good news can help spur you on your path to your own.

I'll do a post later on about how I managed to finally get over my fear and actually write the story. (It was not pretty.)

Also, if you haven't yet, go congratulate my CP Kristi V. Helvig on signing with an agent!

Music Monday - The WTF? Edition

I was totally planning on posting Glee's tribute* to me but then I stumbled across this gem from Norway featuring... well, everybody (and by "everybody" I mean semi-famous stars of the 80s and 90s). I'm not sure how old this promo is, but at least a couple of people in it are no longer with us - most notably Leslie Nielsen and Steven Gately from Boyzone. It is sort of randomly awesome. Particularly the way the merge the actual singing of some stars with way over the top dubbed in voices for others.



I've heard that in some countries they are a few years behind in US tv shows and movies, but judging from the "stars" and the movies and tv shows they note them for being famous for, it appears Norway is a couple decades behind. Like say, 1992.


*"tribute" is in the eye of the beholder, and this beholder chooses to see it as such, thankyouverymuch.

Friday Five (minus four)

So yeah I could only come up with one thing for today, but it's a winner!


I think this might be the most awesome book ever. I'm totally going to use it to spice up my ms! Some of my favorites:

- "His gaze was as soft as a caress." (Who cares if it makes sense? It sounds pretty!)

- "The smoldering flame she saw in his eye startled her." (It would startle me too!)

(Thanks to Awful Library Books for making me aware that this book exists!)