Uncovered: Forever by Maggie Stiefvater (UK)

I think this is my favorite UK cover for a Wolves of Mercy Falls book yet! Maggie Stiefvater shared this cover for Forever, the third book of the trilogy, this afternoon. The rose and the rain or tears... I had no words when I saw it.

The US cover is amazing as well, and it's my favorite of those covers. In a head to head match up I'm not sure whih cover takes it. It's just too close to call. For now I'll say UK, but I guess I'll have to wait until I see

 the finished copies to make the final call.

What does everyone else think?

In Maggie Stiefvater's SHIVER, Grace and Sam found each other. In LINGER, they fought to be together. Now, in FOREVER, the stakes are even higher than before. Wolves are being hunted. Lives are being threatened. And love is harder and harder to hold on to as death comes closing in.

Coming July 12, 2011 from Scholastic.

Uncovered: The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

Michelle Hodkin unveiled the cover of her debut novel The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer earlier today and it's beyond gorgeous! I wanted to read it before, but now I cannot wait to see what's inside.

Tell me what you ladies and gents think... (But honestly, how could you not love it?)

Mara Dyer believes life can’t get any stranger than waking up in a hospital with no memory of how she got there. It can.

She believes there must be more to the accident she can’t remember that killed her friends and left her strangely unharmed. There is.

She definitely doesn’t believe that after everything she’s been through, she can fall in love. She’s wrong.

Coming September 27, 2011 from Simon & Schuster.

Author Insight: Sold or Sell Out?

How much of a manuscript are you willing to change at the request of an agent or editor? Would you change it if it meant a certain distributor or book club wouldn't offer your book otherwise?

"Ah, the age-old question.  :-)  If I agreed with a change suggestion and felt it would improve the story in a meaningful way, I'm always game to change it.  If it's a change I don't agree with, I'll talk to my editor and explain my concern.  It's a difficult thing to balance – trying to keep your publisher happy while also maintaining the integrity of the work as you created it – but it's a natural part of being under contract." - Kay Cassidy, author of The Cinderella Society.

"I will change everything, if it still keeps the story the way I want it. There's a difference in writing and story. If it's a matter of writing--the tense, the voice, the POV--that doesn't matter. If it's a matter of story--the meat of what I'm trying to say, the moral or theme or idea--that's what can't change, at least not significantly. It's the story that makes the book, not the writing." - Beth Revis, author of Across the Universe.

"The art of editing is a talent separate from writing. As a first-time author, I felt it wise to defer to those with experience in the publishing business, and in the end, my agent and editor provided extensive and excellent feedback that resulted in a much tighter plot and a better novel. I’m willing, as a team, to make whatever changes are necessary to produce a salable book. As for editing to avoid rejection by book clubs or distributors, my answer is a qualified “no.” Obviously, I’d prefer for my novels to remain as true to my original vision as possible, but a writer who is unwilling to adjust to the sensibilities of a fickle marketplace is of little value to a publisher and typically dooms himself to a stubborn insignificance." - Ty Roth, author of So Shelly.

"The only thing I wouldn’t change in Dirty Little Secrets was the ending. The only thing I won’t change in my new paranormal series is the name of one of the main characters. Pretty much everything else is up for discussion." - Cynthia Omololu, author of Dirty Little Secrets.

Hearts at Stake winners

The five winners of autographed copies if Hearts at Stake by Alyxandra Harvey...

Lisa R.

Kelly M.

Alexa

Lindsay C.

Leslie G.

Congratulations ladies! I will get your books in the mail shortly. Thanks to everyone who entered. Keep an eye on the sidebar for more contests.

Resolutions for the Double Uno

Last year I only made one resolution because it was the one thing I desperately wanted to focus on. It was: Write daily.

Well, I did it. No matter how exhausted, peeved, or uninspired I was I wrote something. Sometimes the words just flowed. Other times, usually after deadline at the newspaper,  I struggled to get out the obligatory sentence before crawling into bed.

This year I'm going for more...

1. Write daily - I'm going for this one again. It was an awesome exercise last year, and it helped me to get a lot done. Hopefully I'll be able to avoid begrudgingly opening a word document at  midnight or later when all I want to do is sleep, but if that's what I have to do then I'll do it. Bring the pain.

2. Be an early riser - Mornings and I do not get along. I know you wouldn't believe this for the number of time I've dragged myself out of bed at three or four in the morning to get in the car and go to events, but I will take any opportunity I can get an extra five minutes of sleep. My goal is to be up by 6:30 a.m. on weekdays. The benefit of this is that getting to work early on non-deadline days means I get to leave early.

3. Finish the novel. - Yes, I'm making it official. If I say it publicly then it's real. It's out there. The novel that has been malingering for months will be done in 2011. It's close right now, but I'm determined to have the ending done by March 1. (Oh boy. I just set a date, didn't I?)

4. Schedule more blog posts. - Even if I have content well in advance of the day I plan to post a blog I will wait until the night before to actually format it in Blogger. This year I'll be making a concerted effort to prepare a bit more and schedule posts in an effort to make better use of the time that I have.

5. Remember how to write real letters. - In a week one of my best friends, Monica from Bibliophilic Book Blog, leaves for Korea. She's being shipped out to do her super-secret military duty elsewhere and I'm going to miss her so much! My plan is to write her  lots of letters during the year she's away. No, not emails. Real, handwritten letters. I'm leery of setting a number, but two letters a month seems reasonable.  

6. Exercise more and lose weight. - I'm not setting a hard and fast goal on weight loss because I haven't made a real, focused attempt at exercise since I started having problems with my ankles swelling and popping. I can say that the goal is to exercise three times a week, which means I have to be at the gym by 7 a.m. and back home by 8a.m. so I can get to work on time. As far as the actual weight loss I'd like to by 20 lbs. lighter be BEA.

That's it for now. I'm spending this weekend getting my house, my books, my writing files, and everything else organized so that I can start the first full week of the new year off in style. It's time for a new less frazzled, more organized me.

A year gone by...

I am never a girl lacking for words, and yet words cannot describe my 2010. It's been an extremely long time since I felt like I was really in my element because most of the friends I see day to day don't share my passion for stories, both reading them and writing them. This year I was among so many avid readers and well-read intellectuals that I felt truly myself for the first time since early high school.

I'm not sure how I am going to recap the awesomeness that was this year in one post. I don't think I can do it justice because I've attended dozens of outstanding events and met so many amazing people, many of whom have become good friends and have been overwhelmingly positive influences on my life. So to all the bloggers, authors and book lovers I met this year - Thank you! You are truly a special breed.

I don't mean to forget anyone in this post, but I know I will, so forgive me now. I will do my best to cover it all though! Cut for an obscene amount of photos...