Life After Theft

I love this book.

I might love this book more than anything else I've ever written. And for those of you who don't really know much about it, it's got quite a story. And in celebration of the cover reveal that's coming up this week, I wanted to share the story of Life After Theft.

Which begins way back in November of 2006. Six months before I had any inkling I was going to write Wings I woke up with a first chapter, and a voice. I mean a writing voice, not like a voice in my head. Though some people do it that way too.:D I literally got up early (and if you know me you know how rare it is for me to do that voluntarily) and wrote a query pitch (yes, the query pitch is what came to me first, maybe it was the 300 agents I'd queried in the previous two years) and the first chapter.

I spent several days messing with this idea, but mostly it was just a query pitch, and a first chapter. For those of you who remember Miss Snark, the most awesome thing happened--she decided to hold what she called a Crap 'o Meter and she would read and give feedback on a . . . wait for it, wait for it . . . pitch and then first 500 words. I'm telling you, it was fate.

I was at a pretty down point in my writing journey; I had written three books, I had a couple of agents reading fulls after putting in a massive, massive revision that turned two of those books into one, but I was on my last round of agents and was looking into the yawning chasm with which all aspiring authors are familiar--the point at which you need to shelve your manuscript and start a new one. And I wasn't sure it was worth it.

Long story short, Miss Snark loved the pitch and the first 500 words and actually had an agent contact her asking for my information. I ended up signing with my agent (a different one) just a few weeks after that and Life After Theft got pushed to the back burner. But that one experience, having two agents not only approve of, but want more of my little book, gave me that jolt of confidence that the long, grueling query process had stripped away. Not to mention a ton of new blog readers. A big percentage of my long-term blog readers can be traced back to that contest. It was . . . a major light during a dark time.

Fast forward to six months later when no one wanted my book. The one I signed with my agent with. I was at the yawning chasm again! I had a choice--choose to believe blindly in my book and write its sequel (rarely a good idea, just sayin'), finish Life After Theft (which probably had three or four chapters at this point), or write something completely new.

I wanted to write Life After Theft, but sadly, despite having a query pitch, it really didn't have . . . oh, how to put this nicely? . . . a plot. So I decided to do something new. But writing the little bit that I had on Life After Theft made me realize something--I like writing teenaged characters. (The book my agent had shopped was an adult.) So even though it would ultimately be Wings that was both written and published first, it was Life After Theft that made me realize I wanted to write YA. And talk about a decision I have never once regretted!

So then Wings happened and revisions happened and deadlines happened. Life After Theft was slowly growing a plot, but every time the actually-contracted books came calling, Life After Theft had to go to the back burner.

By the time I finished the draft of Life After Theft that my agent sold to Harper, it had been just shy of three years since I'd started. By the time I finished edits and got a firm publication date it was two years later. Next month marks six years and when it comes out in April (well, April 30, so basically May :D) it will have been a six and and a half year journey.

Life After Theft means a lot to me--it's the book that gave me the confidence to keep writing, that helped me realize I wanted to write for teens, the first book that got me any attention in the publishing industry, the book I have fought for and refused to compromise on often enough that I worry my team thinks I've become a difficult author. It's what I think Beth Revis termed The Book of My Heart. This book has more of me in it that any of my other books including my upcoming Earthbound series. I. Love. This. Book. And I'm so excited that it is coming out soon(ish) and that I get to share the cover with you this week!

But be warned, this book is not like Wings. No, this book is pretty much nothing like Wings. Boy protag, first person, a little edgy. There's a ghost but I wouldn't call it fantasy, and there's kissing, though I wouldn't call it a romance. It's . . . it's something else entirely. So I'm letting you know before you pick it up, not to expect it to be like Wings. Because you will be disappointed. And I so very much do not want you to be disappointed by this book.:)

So, the whole point of this very long story is, as I've alluded, the cover reveal!! Which will . . . not be here!:D Melania Tolan of Fangs, Felines, Fins, and Fun Fiction is hosting my cover reveal with an ARC giveaway and a couple of teasers! (In fact, because I was supposed to have this post up yesterday, she's already got the teaser up there.;)

So go check it out!!!

Ciao!

Where I'll Be

This is a VERY IMPORTANT POST!!!! (hehe!)

Except it really is. I always feel bad when people say, "Oh, I live in XYZ, I wish you could come here!" and I was just there, but they didn't know it because I was bad about spreading the word. So the spreading is going to commence!:D

Here are some of the events coming up in the next several months where you can find me.

First and possibly the most exciting, I am going to be attending FAERIECON in Maryland next month!!!!! (No, I'm not excited about this in the least . . . .;))

Here is the FaerieCon website. You will note that there are several other amazing YA faerie authors including Julie Kagawa and Melissa Marr. In fact, we are doing a panel together where we will discuss if YA has become the new mainstream. (That's a panel *I'm* interested in listening to even though I'm on it!) This Con will run from Friday, November 9 through Sunday, November 11 just outside of Baltimore, MD. (The website is loading a little slowly today, be patient! I assume that means that millions of people are checking out the extreme awesomeness of the WORLD'S LARGEST FAERIE CONVENTION!!!)

The next couple events are not for four to six months, but I want to let you know ahead of time because early registration is required.:D

I will be presenting at the third annual Teen Author Boot Camp sponsored by the Utah Valley University in Orem Utah on Saturday, March 16th. There will be a ton of authors there like Shannon Hale and Janette Rallison, and also literary agent Amy Jameson. It is an all day class and workshop conference for teen aspiring authors and it looks like it is going to be amazing! (Check it!)  If you are a teen who wants to attend, be aware that the event is capped at 350 (up from 250 last year!) so don't wait until the day before to register. *wink* (Note, registration is not open YET! But be thinking about it.:))

For the second year, I am a presenter at The Romantic Times National Convention, and of particular note, am participating in the amazing Teen Day on Saturday, May 5th. This has become THE premiere Teen Book event int he entire country ya'all. Last year there were over seventy authors and as well as getting to meet and listen to them read, teach, make weird jokes (I'm looking at you, Ally Carter;)) and get some serious one-on-one time at the party, every teen also gets a goodie bag with a bunch of books (often ARCs that haven't been released yet!!!). Last year we had over 70 authors and gave away over 3500 books. This year there are over eighty authors and who knows how many books we can get together to give away!!! Seriously people, this event is in Kansas, but if you are close, or even kind of close, this is an event worth saving up and going to! Last year we had teens fly into Chicago for New york and California and tons of places in between! It is an amazing event and I am so excited to be a part of it AND as a bonus, to have it be the week that Life After Theft releases!!! Whoo-hoo!!!!:D

I am starting to get a few details about touring next summer, but really, that's over six months away, so you can't expect much. *wink* But these three events are going to crazily awesome!!!! (Awesomely crazy?:D) PLEASE COME SEE ME!!!!:D

Ciao!

Passion

I am a very passionate person. And before you stop reading, this a a very G-rated post.:D I don't mean the romantic kind of passion. (Although, well, that too.;)) I mean the drive that makes you obsessive about the things you love. When I like something (or someone, come to think of it) I tend to grab onto it and hold on for dear life. Sometimes I think I have too many things I get passionate about. Because passion takes time. It's one of the reason I haven't been blogging as much lately. I have a lot of things I am passionate about right now and it takes up bucketloads of time. (Oh, and I have to write two books in the next four months. That takes time too.:D)

I think I blog enough about my husband and children for you all to know that I am passionate about them. They are number one in my life and when I write my To-Do list, they come first. Before writing, before me, before blogging.:D But I have some new passions in my life too.

Running. I've always loved running. Well, with a caveat. I like running OUTSIDE. Treadmills? Please just kill me. Running on a treadmill is one of my least favorite parts about traveling, actually. You're more likely to find me on a stationary bike or even just doing some weights. The evil treadmill, grrrr!!! But running outside is one of my passions. I live about a half mile away from a running park and I can go any distance, any speed, any terrain, in that park. This may sound hokey, but my life is better because of that running park.:D No it's true. Running keeps me sane and about twice a week I come in from my run and wax lyrical to my husband about how much I love to run. I am actually running my very first race since . . . oh, I think it was a 5K in 2008 . . . and this is no 5k. I am running a Tough Mudder in Vegas next weekend and I am so incredibly stoked!!!!!! I am going out on a ten-miler tomorrow to prepare and am glad I have been training in the heat all summer since my team was assigned a noon start time in DEATH VALLEY. So excited! Also excited for it to cool down this fall so I can be somewhat less sweaty and disgusting when I get home every day.

Primal/Paleo. (The first link is to Mark Sisson's website, which I read, the second is to Robb Wolf's website, which I don't. I am much, much more a Primal girl, but Robb is supposed to be the premiere authority on Paleo, so, yeah, whatever.;)) I discovered this around the beginning of the year and eased into it slowly. But carnivorous me pretty much latched on to the concept from the beginning and I've been eating (and cooking!!!!! Another of my passions!!) this way since about March or so. And I have seriously never been so healthy or felt so good in my entire life. (It's not for everyone--I'm not trying to get you to try it, it's just monopolizing a fair bit of my time lately.:D) It gives me a chance to cook fun food (I get SO many recipes from this lovely lady here, at PaleOMG) and have learned how versatile things like coconut milk and almond flour can be. I will give this disclaimer, I tend to call myself Paleo minus the snobbery: I'm not a fanatic, I don't do the grass-fed thing, I like cheese, and stevia is my friend.:D But when I seriously feel awesome pretty much every moment of the day, well, that's something that invokes the passion in me. Also, be forewarned, you will probably see some pretty pictures of Primal-friendly food in the future.:D

Writing. I know this one should be obvious, but I have reawakened my love of writing!!! I think I have confessed before that I don't love revising. I love the results of revising (So. Much!) but the actual process is difficult and painful for me. (But necessary!!!!!!) I literally spent January through July revising. That's just the way this two-book a year schedule ended up working out. However, that means that I will spend August through January drafting!!!!!!!!!! Drafting is my favorite part and I am having SO much fun working on my new book (stand-alone, I really can't tell you much about it except that is is going to be freaking awesome!!!!) and next up is my sequel to Earthbound (which I also can't tell you much about except that it's going to be EPIC!!!!) Both of these books are making me super happy right now.

So basically, I have awakened a bunch of passions and started kids in school, and now have three kids in piano lessons instead of two, and . . . and . . . and . . .


THAT is why I have not been blogging.:D

I do have a couple little tidbits of news: Pub dates!!!! Life After Theft will be releasing April 30th, just in time for RWA Nationals!!! Earthbound will be publishing July 30, just after my birthday!!!! Whoo-hoo!!!!!!

Also, next week I will be doing an interview with the lovely Lesley Livingston for the first book in her new series, STARLING. I will also be giving away said book, so stay tuned!!!

Ciao!

How My Writing Schedule Works

I'm confusing people.

On Twitter, I mean. Which is understandable as it can sometimes be confusing place in general. However, what I mean is that people are getting confused about my books. In particular, this blog entry is prompted by a response to a tweet in which I said:

Synopsis for new Mystery Book of Mysterious Awesomness is done! Whew! Now I just need to finish chapter three so I can send it to my agent.

To which a follower immediately asked, "Besides Life After Theft and Earthbound?"

Thus, I see that I am confusing people.

To people who aren't in publishing it must seem pretty straight forward. You write a book, a couple of weeks . . . or maybe months later, it's out on shelves. I cannot tell you have many people I have had say to me at signings some variation on, "I can't wait for the next book! Please write quickly!" And then are shocked when I tell them, "Actually, the next book is done."

That's because the actual process of publication takes about a year. AFTER the book is written. When I was writing the Wings series, it was fairly straightforward. I could say, "Well, the next book is written and I'm currently working on edits."

But then I did two crazy things at the same time. One, I started a new series. (CRAZY!!!!!) Two, I decided to publish two books in one year, (EXTRA CRAZY!!!) and close together at that (MAXIMUM CRAZY!!). That means that this summer has been full of me tweeting quotes from Life After Theft (April 30, 2013) and Earthbound (June or July, 2013). But it's not because I've been writing them, it's because I've been editing them.

That means that I've just started drafting a new book that is expected to come out in . . . wait for it, wait for it . . . Summer 2014.

Well, no wonder you all are confused!!!

And to make matters worse, as soon as this one is done I will be drafting the sequel to Earthbound, also Summer 2014. Yes, in just under TWO years. Because that's how far ahead I have to work to not have deadlines destroy my life.

So here's how things are going to happen for the next little while:

Life After Theft April 2013
Earthbound June/July 2013
Mystery Book Summer 2014
Earthbound Sequel Summer 2014

Take all of those dates and subtract 18 months. That's when I'm writing them. Subtract a year, that's when I'm editing them.

That means that, because of the nature of our profession's calendar, we authors are terrible, shameless teases.:D But hopefully now when I am shamelessly teasing you, at least you'll know what the heck I'm talking about!

Ciao!

P.S. If you want to see the quotes you can look up the hashtags #lifeaftertheft and #earthbound ;)

Where's Aprilynne

Tentative schedule: I will be adding details as I get them! But PLEASE pencil me in on your calendars!!!:D


Dark Days Tour, Leg Two!

July 9: Left Bank Books appearance at 7:00 pm, St. Louis, MO, with Veronica Roth (INSURGENT), Dan Wells (PARTIALS) and S.J. Kincaid (INSIGNIA) This event is OFFSITE!!! It will be at the Ethical Society of St. Louis

July 10: Barnes & Noble appearance at 7:00 pm, Huntington Beach, CA, with Veronica Roth (INSURGENT), Dan Wells (PARTIALS) and S.J. Kincaid (INSIGNIA)

July 11: King’s English appearance at 6:30 pm, Salt Lake City, UT, with Veronica Roth (INSURGENT), Dan Wells (PARTIALS) and S.J. Kincaid (INSIGNIA) This event is OFFSITE!!! It will be at

Salt Lake City Downtown Library

210 East 400 South

Salt Lake City

July 12-15 (exact date and time t/k): Comic-con Appearance, San Diego, with Dan Wells (PARTIALS) and S.J. Kincaid (INSIGNIA)