I've Fallen In Love!

I don't know how many of you guys know that one of the greatest passions in my life is musical theatre. I grew up doing theatre, I did it in high school and college, and have been everything from in the chorus, to playing Eliza in My Fair Lady, Ado Annie in Oklahoma, dancing as Cherry in Paint Your Wagon, and directing Oklahoma (again) a few years ago. I have often wondered if I shouldn't have gone to New York City to try out for Broadway instead of going to college; I'm that serious about it. I haven't been on the stage for years (I had a vocal injury about six years ago that literally took me five years to fully recover from) and now that I'm good as new, I start thinking about trying to find time to do it again. It may never happen because of my schedule as an author, and even contemplating that makes me sad. I. Love. Musical. Theatre. To the point that seeing a really good performance reduces me to tears. I cannot even explain how much I adore a good musical!

So why has it taken me so long to listen to the soundtrack to Wicked? Because I'm stubborn, quite frankly. I don't like buying into things just because there is a ton of hype. In fact, I tend to rebel against hype. Everyone, and I mean everyone, loves Wicked. They rant, they rave, and quite frankly, I just wasn't that interested in something people were ranting and raving about. I know, I know, it's dumb. But I have been hearing snatches of the music here and there (one of the dance teams up by my brother's school has a dance to a Wicked medley and I've been to several of his performances/competitions this year.) And so when I left on my trip to my mom's last week I had my husband put it on my ipod and I listened to it on the way up.

Three times.

One right after the other.

And I'm sure people who drove past me thought I was having a nervous breakdown. A grown woman driving down the freeway crying her eyes out. Yes, yes, that was me.

This is a gorgeous musical. When I got to my mom's house I had to have her explain the story to me, and I've listened to it again two or three times since I've been here (which is saying something since I don't like to revise with music in my ears. So this had just been during my down time.)

Now, everyone who I have talked to talks about how great and wonderful the singer who plays Glinda is. But I gotta tell you, I was WAY more impressed with Elphaba. IMO not only is she the better character, technically, her music is harder. I was entranced by the lyrics, so many internal rhymes. Simplistic lines that sound easy, but I know couldn't have been. And the subtleties. I mean, everyone is lying in this musical! I also was struck by how few solos there are in Wicked. In a lot of musicals, there is, of course, a story, but the score is set up in such a way as to highlight the individual singers. This one isn't. Almost every song is about highlighting two singers. Also, the casting was really amazing. Generally, you want to get two singers whose voices blend well. But in this case, they purposely got two singers whose voices are very, very different. Why? Because they sing unison so often, with the harmony lines sounding almost dissonant and having way more punch to them! Brilliant! Seriously, I was so impressed by the vocal interplay.

So raving aside, (yes, I've become one of THEM!!;)) I spent a lot of time thinking about my series while listening to Wicked. Not because the two story lines are in any way similar, but because the characters are all so flawed. Perfect characters are boring. What makes characters interesting are their flaws and how they do or do not overcome them. One of the hard things about writing a series is that you have to make your characters flawed enough to be interesting, but redeemable enough to make people still root for them. And then you have to keep that up through the course of multiple books!

I have such hopes for my fourth book. I am so pleased with the ending I've chosen and I hope readers will be too. But while listening to Wicked I came to the realization that it won't matter to readers if they get the exact ending they want, so long as they get an ending that is right, and satisfying and can move them emotionally. I want that last book to sing. In really an almost literal sense. I want my last book to be Wicked. To move people the way this music moved me.

And man, have I got my work cut out for me. *hugs her ipod*

Ciao!!

The Edits Are In!!!!! (+ Tour schedule)

I TURNED IN MY EDITS YESTERDAY!!!!!!!!!

*sigh of relief*

Edit are hard. Worth it about a million times over, but hard.

So here's what's coming up in the next couple of weeks as we ramp up for the release of WINGS!!

First, here's my tour schedule thus far. (These are just the basic locations; if you would like addresses and time, please click here to go to the calendar section of my website. You can click on any event to get the full details!)

May 5th- Changing Hands Bookstore, Tempe, Arizona

May 6th- Mrs. Nelson's Toy and Book Shop, La Verne, California (near L.A.)

May 7th- Anderson's Bookshop, Naperville, Illinois (near Chicago)

May 8th- Borders, LaGrange, Illinios (also near Chicago)

May 12th- Barnes and Noble, Idaho Falls, Idaho

May 14th- The King's English, Salt Lake City, Utah (The reading and signing is at 7:00, but I am also having my official launch party at about 5:30, with cake and Sprite and lots of mingling! I would LOVE to see my Utah friends there! Everyone is invited!!)

May 16th- Provo Children's Book Festival, Provo Public Library, Provo, Utah

May 19th- Barnes and Noble, West Jordan, Utah

May 21-23- CONduit, Salt Lake City, Utah (I don't have details on this one yet.)

June 5th- Barnes and Noble, Portland, Oregon (Part of the Supernatural Summer tour with Kim Harrison, Claudia Gray, and Kelley Armstrong!)

June 6th- Borders, Redmond, Washington (Also part of the Supernatural Summer tour with Kim Harrison, Claudia Gray, and Kelley Armstrong!)

June 23rd- Orem Public Library, Orem, Utah

I have a few more events planned in June, July and August that are not official yet, but I'll keep you updated once I get confirmation.

Also fun, Harper has created a really beautiful microsite for me that should go live in the next couple of days. You'll be able to find it here!

In strange news, I am getting ready to start Twittering so I can do little updates from tour. (The only thing rarer to find on tour than a full night's sleep *Ha!* is an internet connection. So I will be relying on my iPhone and Twitter!) However, someone has already decided to be "Aprilynne Pike" along with a pic of my UK cover. So once I rule out anyone at Harper as the person who reserved that name, I'll be reporting it as impersonation and yoinking it back.:D However, if you are looking for me on Twitter and find "Aprilynne Pike" . . . um, yeah, it's not me. YET!! But it will be!!:D So once I get that all straightened out, I'll let you know where I am on Twitter too!

I'm also doing a ton of revamping both my blog and my MySpace, so I'll be posting links to those too. (This is what happens when I do revisions! I fall behind on everything else!!!:))

Okay, so this is the business-y post, I'll actually be posting again in a few minutes . . . okay, probably closer to half an hour, with something more interesting. So till then, enjoy the boring-ness.;)

Ciao!!!

A Real Reader

I have to say, industry reviews are nice enough. Often online reviews are nicer. But nothing is nicer that a great review from a real, bonafide reader. I was lucky enough to get such a review last week and wanted to post it because it was so wonderful. It came on a kind of bad day and it put everything in perspective to me. It doesn't matter what cranky industry reviewers think. Ultimately, what matters is what readers think. I write for readers. To be quite frank, I don't expect to ever win a writing award. I'm not that kind of writer. Awards don't matter that much to me. But readers? *Smile* They matter the most.

So a huge, enormous thanks to Rebecca D. for this amazing review.


To be completely honest, what grabbed my attention when I picked up Wings for the first time was the quote by Stephenie Meyer on the front cover: “Wings is a remarkable debut.” I had adored Meyer’s Twilight saga, and was disappointed when the series concluded. I was therefore excited to find a book she seemed to hold in such high regard. I started Wings on a long flight from Boston to London as a way to distract myself from the fact that I usually hate flying. But as soon as I started reading Wings, I found that I just absolutely could not stop. For the three hours it took me to read the book, I did not look up once. I was oblivious to the time passing, to the old man snoring next to me, even to the fact that I was on the plane. The story completely sucked me in. I was immersed in the main character, Laurel’s world, and even when I finished, closing the back cover, checking my watch and realizing with a jolt that three hours had somehow managed to pass, I was not yet ready to leave behind the characters I’d already come to think of as friends. In those short three hours, I managed to fall in love with a new set of a characters and a new world. Wings tells the story of Laurel, a girl who must learn to accept a fairy tale world she does not believe in when she discovers that she is actually part of that very world. During the search for this new identity and her quest to find her real home, Laurel must face harrowing situations that threaten not only her own life, but also the lives of her parents, of David, her sweet biology partner and best friend, of Tamani, the strange but gorgeous faery who knows hidden secrets of Laurel’s past – secrets that even Laurel is not aware of, and the life of the mystical world Laurel is fighting to save and protect.Though told in third person narrative, Pike proves to be as much of a master in revealing Laurel’s point of view as Meyer is in portraying the thoughts of Bella Swan. Reading the story, I often felt like I was listening in on the intimate confines of Laurel’s mind. Beautifully crafted with its entangled web of mythology and real life, Wings is gripping, startling, and utterly wonderful. In a literary age that has now seen both the finales of Harry Potter and Twilight, the Wings series is poised to become the next book to transform our world."

Seriously, how awesome is that?

Thank you so much, Rebecca. I'm glad I could save your plane ride, because you certainly saved my day. No, my week. Probably my month.:)

I don't post a lot of reviews here, good or bad because, well, I don't want this blog to scream "Look at me, look at me," too much. But this one was special. I hope you enjoyed it.

Ciao!

Noses, Boys, and Disasters, Oh My!

Yes, in fact, BlogTour2009 is back! It's been a while. Sarah Ockler (Author of the upcoming 20 Boy Summer from Little, Brown)was so kind as to happen to schedule me for very little blog touring while I've been working on my revisions. And she didn't even know when they were coming. Very serendipitous of her, don't you think?;)

So please welcome Utah's own Sydney Salter who I have met and actually had lunch with! Yay! Her book is entitled My Big Nose and Other Natural Disasters.

I managed to get an ARC of this book, and I have to say, the voice had me hooked on about page two when Jory says, (something like) "I stood up, pulled my pajama bottoms out of my butt, and went downstairs. Because admit it, isn't that always the first thing you do to your pajama bottoms when you stand up?

A bit about My Big Nose (other than pajama bottom wedgies . . .): Seventeen-year-old Jory Michaels wakes up on the first day of summer vacation with her same old big nose, no passion in her life (in the creative sense of the word), and all signs still pointing to her dying a virgin. In spite of her driving record (it was an accident!), Jory gets a job delivering flowers and cakes to Reno's casinos and wedding chapels. She also comes up with a new summer goal: saving for a life-altering nose job. She and her new nose will attract a fabulous boyfriend. Jory survives various summer disasters like doing yoga after sampling Mom's Cabbage Soup Diet, enforced-mother-bonding-with-crazy-nose-obsessed-daughter night, and discovering Tyler's big secret. But will she learn to accept herself and maybe even find her passion, in the creative (AND romantic!) sense of the word?

And now the lovely wonderful Sydney herself!!

Sydney Salter held a variety of jobs before becoming a full-time writer, including her brief stint delivering pies and flowers, wrecking vans, and destroying wedding cakes in Reno, Nevada. Sydney now lives in Utah with her husband, two daughters, two cats, and two big Bernese Mountain dogs. She loves reading, writing, traveling, and, of course, baking and decorating cakes (but not driving them anywhere).

(Also, I love this picture of her. She looks so casual and happy and I LOVE that bridge!!!!)

No BlogTour is complete without the Feasty Five!

*ahem* No really, I have to clear my throat. I have this stupid cold hanging on. *hack*

AP: What kind of soda does (would) your MC drink?


SS: Anything diet--with her weight-obsessed mother that's all she can find in the fridge. And she's not about to spend her Nose Fund on something like soda!

AP: Talk about your paycheck going right up your nose. *snickers* Okay, I admit, I've been waiting this whole post to make that joke!! *Note, Sydney does not look amused . . . . :D* What is your MC's favorite kind of flower? How about yours?

SS: Daisy. Read and find out why! I like daffodils myself.

AP: Oh yes, that's a fun part! Does your MC believe in magic? Do you?

SS: Well, at one point she does wonder about being cursed by a fairy. I've had a few magical moments...

AP: Would you like to expand on that last statement??

SS: *crickets*

AP: M'kay, moving on . . . Superman or Batman?

SS: Superman for sure!

AP: Ha! One who goes against the tide! Give us one line from your book. You don't even have to give it context.:)

SS: Although I had to admit that eight hours of sleep a night for a year had done nothing for my beauty--if anything, it had made my brain simply more alert and aware that I lacked beauty or any other distinguishing features, skills, or appealing qualities.

AP: *dies laughing* Okay, this is seriously a hilarious yet strangely touching, very irreverent book!! Because my book is aimed at a younger audience, I do need to throw in the disclaimer; I would recommend this book for no younger than about 14 because there is casual drinking and drug usage as well as a hilariously accurate awkward sexual encounter. (That every adult should read!) Aaaaaand disclaimer over.;)

You can find Sydney at www.sydneysalter.com and her book here.

Sydney also has an amazing-looking book coming out in September called Jungle Crossing about Mayan myth and Culture as discovered by a teenager on vacation in Mexico. Check it out here!

*psst* She also had several things coming down the pike that I can't tell you about yet . . . but they sound awesome!!!!!

Ciao!

It's a Real Book!!!!!!

*This post contains graphic and gratuitous photographs of both jacketed and unjacketed books. Proceed at your own risk!*

;)

I got sample copies of WINGS yesterday!!!!

When the printers print their books, they generally send a few ahead so the publisher can see what the finished product is going to look like. The rest wend their way slowly to the US via (I read this somewhere????) a big boat. Yay!

Well, my samples got to Harper this week. Not all publishers share their samples with their authors (for various reasons) but I'm glad that Harper does. So yesterday the UPS guy came to my door (at eight o'clock! I LOVE my early UPS guy!!!) with three copies of my book. Not the ARC. The. Real. Thing. Check it!

I have been so anxious to see what they did with the inside cover. There's been kind of a trend lately of having a picture (like a second cover) under the jacket and I know some people really love it, but I don't. Also, I was a little concerned the book would be bright pink. Now, I love the pink on my cover, it really works well! But no guy is going to carry around a bright pink book through the halls of junior high. And probably not high school either. So when I saw a plain black book with sparkly pink foiling on the side, I was way excited. Simple, elegant, just the way I like it!


And the spine; my next favorite part! Now, I received cover flats almost six months ago so I knew the spine was going to look like this, but I love it so much I was happy to see it anyway!! (Also, there's something about my name being horizontal that I just love!!!)

The back is more of the lush, dark, watery blue.


And the front is the image you guys are used to seeing, but with a more purplish wash than the ARCs and and a little more accentuation of the curve of the petals that make the wing shape.

*sigh* Yay!

The other fun thing I got was a copy of my signed first editions. Remember the 1350 pages from about two months ago? I got to see how they turned out!!!

I get a pretty sticker. *Aprilynne= Easily Amused . . . *


And look! It really does look like I signed the whole book instead of a big (big, big) stack of title pages!! Cool!!

So yeah, there may have been some happy dancing and some petting of books, and there was definitely some smelling of the books. (Seriously, there is nothing like the new book smell of YOUR BOOK!!!! *squeee!!!*)

So things suddenly shifted into real mode yesterday My book is real; it's in big stacks on a boat on it's way to New York. Then it will head all over the country where it will be in real stores and with any luck, people will buy them!!! Whoa!!!

I think I need to sit down . . .

Okay, coming up, next week I will be posting my tour schedule. It's already up on my website, if you're curious, but I'm going to post it here too because I would love to find out if any of you guys live in the cities I am going to because I LOVE meeting blog readers, SO MUCH!

(That and I have heard so many stories of debut authors basically reading to the bookstore employees and maybe one other person, so, yeah . . . I'm afraid of that!:D)

I'll be posting a link to my microsite that Harper is launching soon (There's an awesome contest!). I also have some fun posts planned on pre-release jitters and stress and the challenges of writing a sequel.

Ciao!