Showing posts with label audio. Show all posts
Showing posts with label audio. Show all posts

Thursday, December 13, 2012

Some Frequently Asked Questions

It's finals week for me, so this is going to be brief, but I thought I'd post the answers to a few questions that I am receiving A LOT lately. So here goes:

About Radiant

Q: I plan to buy Radiant this week. Can I get that special autographed something you talked about in your last post?
A: Nope. That was last week only. But, fear not, I will be running an even cooler promotion for the pre-orders for Boundless, so check back soon.

Q: I don't have an ereader, so I can't read ebooks. Will Radiant ever be available as a real, physical book?
A: Um, no. The deal I made with HarperCollins is for the ebook only. But if you have a computer, you should still be able to read ebook files. Click here for Amazon's Kindle For PC information. Also, a lot of libraries these days are loaning out ereaders and ebooks, so check your local library.

Q: I live in the UK. Will Radiant ever be available for me?
A: Yes. I checked today and it still isn't up on AmazonUK, but my editor tells me that it should be VERY SOON. Keep checking.

Q: I live in Australia, same question.
A: I don't know yet. I don't think it's available now. But I do think that possibly stuff is in the works to make this happen. Sit tight and I will update you when I know anything.

Q: Why is Radiant so short?
A: Because it is a novella, not a novel. Actually, Radiant is what used to be the first two chapters of Boundless, supplemented by Angela's point of view. It's around 70 pages, which is about as long as a novella can be and still call it a novella. It's meant to be short! I like to think of Radiant as a little Unearthly snack, whereas Boundless is a three-course meal!

Q: Why isn't the hot guy I'm rooting for (insert Christian/Tucker here) in Radiant?
A: Radiant is about what happens between Clara and Angela during their summer in Italy. It doesn't have much of the hot guys because neither of the hot guys go with them to Italy. However, there is one entire significant scene in Radiant with Christian in it (a flashback) and a bunch of little flashes of Tucker all throughout. And there is a NEW HOT GUY in Radiant. And he strongly resembles Orlando Bloom. Is all I'm saying.

 

About Boundless

Q:When does Boundless come out, again?
A: January 22, less than 6 weeks away!

Q: I heard that Boundless is not being published in the UK. Is this true?
A: Sort of. The publisher who published the UK versions of Unearthly and Hallowed decided not to pick up Boundless, so there won't be a special UK edition with a different cover from the US like there was with Unearthly and Hallowed. However, you can still buy the US edition in the UK. (Click here to go to the UK Amazon page, for instance.) And my agent is hard at work finding a new UK publisher.

Q: What about Australia and New Zealand?
A: Yes! Boundless is being published separately in Australia! It's coming out even earlier than it is in the US, on January 2! Click here to be taken to the Boundless Australia page. There will also be a Boundless ebook available in Australia.

Q: Will Boundless be available as an audiobook?
A: Yes! It will! And it will be narrated by the lovely Samantha Quan again! I don't know when it will be available yet, but I am guessing shortly after Boundless is released as a hardcover. I will announce it as soon as I know anything!

Q: Goodreads lists Boundless as being 320 pages. Why so short?
A: Because Goodreads is wrong. Boundless is the longest book I've written to date--I think somewhere in the ballpark of 450 pages. It's big boned.

Q: Clara better end up with Tucker(/Christian) or else!
A: That's not really a question, is it? Of course, the second grader in me wants to say, "Oh yeah, or else what?" But here's the thing I really hope for you, as a reader: that you will judge the book, not by which guy Clara is smooching in the end, but by the person she is in the end of her journey. Yes, there is love she finds along the way, and there are choices she makes, but I'd like to think that the romance doesn't define her. (Also: please don't hurt me. . . )

Q: I'd like you to sign my copy of Boundless, but you aren't coming to my town. What can I do?
A: I am going a lot of places this year, and I'm sure there are more announcements on that front to come, but if I'm not doing any appearances near you this winter, you can buy signed and personalized copies of all of my books from Diesel Bookstore. Here's the manager's email, to make your request: cheryl@dieselbookstore.com. This is the bookstore email, not my email, just to clarify. You can also call Diesel at 310-456-9961. I go into this store regularly to sign copies, but please remember that I will be on tour this winter, so there might be a week or so between when Diesel gets the request and when I will be available to come in and sign, so please be patient.

Q: Will you do an interview/guest spot for my blog post?
A: I am doing an extensive blog tour this winter with Mundie Moms (yay!) and will probably also do a few separate interviews with people who request stuff through my publicist, not to mention the marketing stuff that HarperTeen has planned for the Dark Days. So, in January/February: probably not. Last year around the launch of Hallowed I wrote more than 20,000 words worth of interview answers. That's 1/4 of a novel, and it takes just as long. So, probably not. Although when things slow down for me a bit in March and April I might consider it. Try me then.


Wow. That was a lot of questions. Not so brief, then. But I hope it helps.

Now I must go back to grading papers. Please leave any further questions you have about Radiant or Boundless in the comments, and I will try to answer in a timely fashion.

Sunday, December 2, 2012

In Which I Inundate You With News and Cool Stuff

Hello, y'all! I've haven't been around the blog much in the past couple of months. I was tired. Then I was sick. Then tired again. Then sick again. It was a lot of sick and tired.

This is what happens when you finish a series.

But there's a lot happening in the next few weeks, and I have to get off my butt now and tell you all about the great stuff that's coming:

1) RADIANT! Is coming out! In 2 days! To celebrate (and because it feels kind of weird that this is ebook only, therefore my fans won't have anything tangible in their hands when they buy this book, I am going to do a little promotion. THIS WEEK ONLY, buy or pre-order a copy of RADIANT, take a screenshot of your screen confirming the purchase (here's an awesome page with instructions on how to take a screenshot, if you don't know), email me (writercynthiahand@gmail.com) the pic along with your mailing address, and I will send you a little autographed special something. So you will have something to hold in your hands.

note: If you buy on Amazon, there is a little tab where you can email me saying you purchased the book directly, if you don't want to go through the trouble of messing with the screenshot, but please remember to add your address to the email.

Here's my screenshot. Yes, I just bought my own ebook. I may have to give myself an autographed special something now.

2) BOUNDLESS is coming out, in like 50 days! I will be having a special promotion for that too, but I'll tell you about that later.

3) TOURING! I will be doing a whirlwind of touring this winter for Boundless. Check my events tab for the full details, but in a nutshell I will be going to:
Salt Lake City (UT)
Idaho Falls (ID)
Boise (ID)
New York City (NY)
Huntington Beach (CA)
Decatur (GA)
Cary (NC)
Cambridge (MA)
Washington D.C.
Redondo Beach(CA),
Thousand Oaks (CA)
Jackson Hole (WY)
Kansas City (MO).
And that's just what I know about so far!

4) UNEARTHLY is dirt cheap right now! (Well actually, it might be cheaper than dirt. I mean, have you seen the prices of high-quality dirt these days? I'm just saying) Ahem. The ebook version is only 2.99 for the next few weeks, so if you haven't started the series yet (or you know someone who you think would like it), now is a very good time!

5) HALLOWED is coming out as a paperback. . . the day after Christmas! However, it's not a hard release (meaning that the bookstore can put it out whenever they get the shipment) so you could check before Christmas if you want to give it as a gift (or buy it with Christmas money, which is what I always do. . .). You can pre-order the paperback here. Here's the link for the Hallowed audiobook, if you know someone who likes to listen to the story.

Wow, I'm kind of light-headed after all that shameless self-promotion. I should go do the dishes now. There's nothing that will put you in your place in the universe faster than scrubbing dirty dishes.

*Rolls up sleeves.*

Signing off.

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Title for Book 3

I've been a bad blogger. People are always asking me how I juggle all the balls in my life: writer, author, mother, wife, professor, blogger, housekeeper, laundress, cook, dishwasher, etc, and my answer is always the same:

I am always dropping one or two of the balls.

Blogging is a ball that's been left on the floor for a while now. I hope to pick it up again soon. Right up there with housekeeping. :)

Right now I'm on the road, a combination research/publicity/family vacation kind of trip. This past week I've been at Stanford, interviewing students and hanging out the way I did with Jackson Hole High School when I was writing Unearthly and Hallowed. I lived near Stanford a few years ago, and worked at the Stanford Cancer Center as a "social science research assistant" for a while there, so it's a pretty familiar place, but let me tell you, going there with the writer's cap on, trying to understand the university the way Clara would see it as an incoming freshman, has been so fun and and the same time overwhelming! Special thanks to Estella Go, especially, for showing me around and answering all my endless questions! You rock!

On Thursday I did a signing at Not Your Mother's Book Club with Brodi Ashton and Bree Despain, which was awesome. I love those ladies. We laughed. A lot. And Brodi occasionally went completely blurry, she's so quick-witted. See, here's the proof. And here's me in my new purple glasses trying to sound like I know what I'm talking about. It was awesome.

Later this week I'm off to The Dalles, Oregon for an awesome event with 11 other writers on June 2. See the sidebar for details.

And then I'm headed to Boise for a couple of days and then to my dad's mountain house to revise Book 3 while my dad takes my son on long tractor rides.

Oh, wait.

I don't have to call it Book 3 anymore.

It has a TITLE.

And I've been given the green light to tell you that title!

So I suppose I should get on with it!

Okay, here's the definition:


adjective
having no bounds infinite or vast; unlimited: His ******** energy amazed his friends.

limitless, endless, unbounded, inexhaustible, illimitable. 

Can you guess?

What's that you say? Stop stalling and just tell us? You've been scrolling down frantically ever since you saw the subject line of this post.

Okay, okay. 

The title is (deep breath)

Boundless


I am so happy with this title. Like all of my titles, I like that it works on multiple levels, each that can be applied to what happens in the book. Because what happens in this book is VAST, people.

Yay titles!


BOUNDLESS is still (fingers crossed) on schedule to be released in January 2013. I know that's a long ways off, but I still need some time to tinker with it.

In honor of this big reveal I also want to share a song that inspired me as I wrote this book.




Sigh. I love this song. When I listen to it I always imagine it being sung to Clara by Christian AND Tucker, alternating with the lyrics.

Here are the words:


I'll sing it one last time for you
Then we really have to go
You've been the only thing that's right
In all I've done

And I can barely look at you
But every single time I do
I know we'll make it anywhere
Away from here

Light up, light up
As if you have a choice
Even if you cannot hear my voice
I'll be right beside you dear

Louder louder
And we'll run for our lives
I can hardly speak I understand
Why you can't raise your voice to say

To think I might not see those eyes
Makes it so hard not to cry
And as we say our long goodbye
I nearly do

Light up, light up
As if you have a choice
Even if you cannot hear my voice
I'll be right beside you dear

Louder louder
And we'll run for our lives
I can hardly speak I understand
Why you can't raise your voice to say

Slower slower
We don't have time for that
All I want's to find an easy way
To get out of our little heads

Have heart, my dear
We're bound to be afraid
Even if it's just for a few days
Making up for all this mess

Light up, light up
As if you have a choice
Even if you cannot hear my voice
I'll be right beside you dear


Sigh.

Uh oh. The kids are awake now. Time to go.

Oh, but there's one more bit of news:

THE AUDIO FOR HALLOWED IS NOW AVAILABLE. Click here for the Audible.

And now I go back to juggling.