SUPER SECRET ROMANIA PROJECT

Remember AGES and AGES ago when I went to Romania? Remember when we had that fun contest where you guessed where Shardas was? And he was in Bucharest and Sigisoara (can't spell that) and Sinaia? That was awesome, right? Then remember how I didn't talk about it for a looong time?

Well, guess what? I'm going to start talking about it again!

See, I came home from Romania in spring of 2010 and I really did write a book, using my travels as research. But then . . . I sort of sat on that book for a while . . . and that 'while' became four years. Because Super Secret Romania Project was so different from anything else I'd done, my editor and I kept pushing it aside. First because I wanted to finish my Twelve Dancing Princesses story arc, and get rid of the King Under Stone once and for all. Then there was a Castle, and that Castle needed some griffins. And then one day I was talking to my new editor about some story ideas and what to write next, and I said, "Or we could dust off SILVER IN THE BLOOD, ha ha!" and she said, "What's that?" And I found out that I had been sitting on that manuscript for so long that my trip to Romania had fallen into myth at my publisher, and people didn't even know if I'd managed to write a book about it or not.

But I did!  A book that I, personally, love so much that I'm about to wax biblical:

For thus the manuscript was duly brought out of hiding, and dusted off, and inspected from all angles, and lo, it was as good as I remembered. And my editor and I did work upon it, and we did love ye story.  But behold, it was very different from all previous books. And my editor said, "We should do something totally different with this cover."  And I did say, "Oooh, yeah."

And a choir of angels sang....

And thus we see this cover of this Advanced Reader Copy. Which I will soon be giving away, once I can think more clearly thereon. And the book may be procured July 7th, 2015, and is for Young Adults, and those who are Young Adults At Heart.

And furthermore: Check out the EVENTS page here on ye websyte, for there are book tour dates for THURSDAYS WITH YE CROWNE.

Summer Reading Recap

Hello, all!

I hope you had a wonderful summer! I'm guessing it was far more restful than mine! Nevertheless, I did manage to get some reading done. I think I challenged myself to read sixty books. I don't know where I pulled that number from . . . wishful thinking, I suppose! The reality is . . . Fifty-four! Not bad, right? I've read 97 of the 160 books I've challenged myself to read this year, but according to Goodreads, I'm still ten books behind schedule. Le sigh.

Before I give you the list, let me tell you that I am awaiting final details of my October book tour for THURSDAYS WITH THE CROWN! I will post those events soon!  I do know that I will launch the book one day early, on October 6th! It goes on sale officially on October 7th, but that is Baby Girl's birthday, and I am not THAT terrible of a mother... The launch party will be at The King's English in Salt Lake City on Monday, October 6th at 7 pm! I can also confirm that I will be at the Provo Library on November 13th at 7 pm, for the Utah Valley launch, so there's two options already for you, Utah!

I can also confirm that there will be special Barnes & Noble editions of THURSDAYS, which have maps of the Castle on the endpapers and a bonus short story at the end!

And in YA book news, my long-awaited Romania book, entitled SILVER IN THE BLOOD, will be out July 7th, 2015! Advanced copies are coming, and you know I'll do giveaways and show you cover art and all good things as soon as I can!

Now, the summer reading books!

From Memorial Day weekend to Labor Day I read:

1. Peyton Place, Grace Metalious*
2. Midwinterblood, Marcus Sedgwick
3. The Chapel Wars, Lindsey Leavitt
4. Farthing, Jo Walton*
5. Words of Radiance, Brandon Sanderson
6. Treaties, Trenches, Mud, and Blood, Nathan Hale
7. Dreams of Gods and Monsters,  Laini Taylor
8. And Then There Were None, Agatha Christie
9. Searching for Sky, Jillian Cantor
19. The Rosie Project, Graeme Simsion*
20. My Real Children, Jo Walton*
21. Open Road Summer, Emery Lord
22. Gidget, Frederick Kohner
23. Silver in the Blood
24. In Darkness, Nick Lake
25. Fool Me Twice, Mandy Hubbard
26. Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 1: Cosmic Avengers
27. Jim Henson's The Labyrinth, A.C.H. Smith
28. Shadow on the Mountain, Margi Preus
29. Tuesdays at the Castle (read this aloud to my kids)
30. Silver in the Blood
31. No Graves As Yet, Anne Perry
32. Bad Monkey, Carl Hiaasen*
33. Silver in the Blood
34. Landline, Rainbow Rowell
35. The Silkworm, Robert Galbraith*
36. Rogues, edited by George R. R. Martin & Gardner Dozois*
37. The Glass Sentence, S. E. Grove
38. Wish You Were Italian, Kristin Rae
39. The Night Gardener, Jonathan Auxier
40. Charlotte's Rose, A. E. Cannon
41. One More Thing, B. J. Novak*
42. Silver in the Blood
43. Life on Mars, Jennifer Brown
44. The Chocolate War, Robert Cormier
45. Little Women and Me, Lauren Baratz-Logsted
46. Skink- No Surrender, Carl Hiaasen
47. Iron Hearted Violet, Kelly Barnhill
48. Wednesdays in the Tower (aloud to the kids)
49. I'll Give You the Sun, Jandy Nelson
50. Kingdom Keepers: Disney After Dark, Ridley Pearson
51. The School for Good and Evil, Soman Chainani
52. Chasing Power, Sarah Beth Durst
53. Blood of Tyrants, Naomi Novik
54. Double Whammy, Carl Hiaasen*

* - Solidly for adults, sensitive readers be warned.

Yes, that's right, I had to read my own book, Silver in the Blood, three times this summer, start to finish, as part of the editing process. No, that never got old, I love that book! On the other hand, some of these books were not my favorite. But let's not dwell on that! Let's talk about the ones that were my favorite(s)!

For grownups: The Silkworm (if you are not reading J. K. Rowling's alter ego, Robert Galbraith, you are missing out), Landline (older teens might like this as well. Some swears.), and My Real Children (in which Jo Walton again wows me with her excellence). The Rosie Project was darling and hilarious!

For teens: If you love fantasy, please treat yo'self to Brandon Sanderson's epic Stormlight Archive series. Words of Radiance is book two, book one was The Way of Kings. They are magnificent. Also, why are you not reading Naomi Novik's Temeraire books? Blood of Tyrants is the second-to-last, the first was called His Majesty's Dragon. They are must reads for fans of historical fiction and/or dragons. Both these series are for adults, but there is no reason a teen couldn't read them. Also, just for teens: I'll Give You the Sun should win all the awards this year. Midwinterblood was last year's Printz winner, and it deserved the medal! Chasing Power by my girl Sarah Beth Durst comes out soon (I got an advance copy), and if you like X-Men, you are going to love this!

Middle grade readers: The Night Gardener is wonderful and creepy and I want it to get awards. And Charlotte's Rose was absolutely wonderful. It's the story of a young girl (based on real events) emigrating from Wales to Utah with the early Mormon pioneers. She agrees to carry a newborn baby whose mother has died, and walks across the plains with the baby strapped to her back. Funny, harrowing, and heart-warming!

So, what did you guys read that I need to know about? Tell me in the comments!