What's the Bloghound Reading? Yes - it's my ARCs!!!!!

It's hard to decide which is prettier, isn't it?  The bloghound or her book? I love them both!

YAY! my ARCs came today!!!!! For those not familiar with the acronym, ARC stands for Advanced Reader Copy.  The ARC is a paperback version of my book which is sent out to reviewers about six months before my release date. It is considered an uncorrected proof, so slight changes to the manuscript may occur prior to the actual printing of the hardcover, but in essence, it's a sneak peek of THE FAERIE RING.  Want to see more? ;-)

Here's the back:

Ohmygosh! I just about had a heart attack when I saw my picture on the back of the ARC!!! Needless to say - I had NO idea they were going to do that!!!! Thank goodness for Photoshop and removing wrinkles!!!!

And check this out:  They included all the blurbs from the fabulous people who read my advanced bound manuscript and offered comments: (THANK YOU!)

WAIT! there's more: (THANK YOU too!!)

and one final shot (because it's pretty! and I'm excited! :-)

Once again I'd like to thank my fabulous editor, Susan Chang, of Tor Teen, for being such a class act and making this journey to publication truly a dream come true. Honestly, I couldn't have asked for more.

Also, it's my father's 83rd birthday today and my daughter's 15th birthday is Sunday (Happy Birthday Dad and Carly!) so we are celebrating all sorts of things at my house today!

Thanks for sharing the journey with me!!

~Kiki

On Birthdays, Bound Manuscripts and Cake for Breakfast!

It's my birthday today so I always celebrate by having cake for breakfast. :D  That lovely little specimen shown above no longer exists because I have snarfed it down in celebration of sunshine (it's supposed to be 84 here today) and getting older. :D  I'm planning on more cake later in the day.  It's going to be one of those days...... *cackles with happy laughter*

In other, more interesting news, I have received Bound Manuscripts (hopefully you can hear the echo) which is a preliminary version of THE FAERIE RING, bound like a book. See below:

My lovely editor, Susan Chang, my fabulous agent, Kate Schafer Testerman and I are sending these little beauties out to authors and bloggers in the hope that we get some blurbs (short comments expressing undying love for the book) that we can put on my ARC's (Advanced Reader Copies) and eventually, the final book.

It's a little surreal to see these familiar words bound up in book form, and even more bizarre to consider *people* are hopefully reading and enjoying the story.  I might add that when I was writing this book, it NEVER occurred to me that some of these *people* might be reading my work one day. Ah - the power of a dream....

Anyway, that's it from here.  What's new with you?

Fantastic Editor: Susan Chang of Tor Books

Happy Friday Everybody!  I had the great pleasure of meeting my editor, Susan Chang, of Tor Books last Friday when she was in nearby Portland for a conference.  She is as beautiful as she is nice and such a talented editor!  We had so much fun talking about books and the publishing world at large.

Editing for seventeen years (she must have started when she was about 15!) she is now a senior editor at Tor and it clearly shows in the direction she has provided with my book, THE FAERIE RING.  She is so patient with debut author mistakes (or complete lack of knowledge in some cases - yikes!) and we've had a wonderful time digging into the story and making it better.   I feel so lucky to be working with someone with her expertise and loved getting the chance to meet her.  Yay for Susan!

Patience and Steampunk

Yay! I finally got to talk to my fabulous editor, Susan Chang, about THE FAERIE RING today and she was just as lovely as I imagined her to be. It's so exciting, yet surreal, to actually be talking to a real live editor about MY book.

I am, of course, READY to dive into revisions and get this party started, but alas, as with ALL things publishing related, speed is never involved. It seems there are several other books that need Susan's attention before mine and therefore, don't expect an editorial revision letter for a couple of months.

Oh.

Well, when opportunity knocks, I open the door, so I figure this is the perfect chance to write my NEXT book, which is going to be steampunk, set in London, approx 1895. The title is ENIGMA. My protagonist is Jack Bailey, commonly known on the street as Blackjack Bailey. He's up and got himself invited to attend the Westgate College for Boys, Academy for the Gifted. Head over to my website here and read the opening under "What I'm Writing Now."

My goal is to have a first draft done by the end of October. Want to come along for the ride?

How about you? What are you writing and when are you shooting to have it completed?

THE FAERIE RING to be published!

I've got FANTASTIC news to share! My awesome agent, Kate Schafer Testerman, has sold my debut novel, THE FAERIE RING, to Susan Chang of TOR Books! Here is a short blurb about the story:

London, 1871

Orphaned and living in an abandoned clockmaker’s shop adjoining Charing Cross railway station, sixteen year old Tiki picks the pockets of passing travelers to survive. Her efforts support not only herself, but her ‘family’ of orphans, including fragile five year old Clara.

When Tiki steals the Queen’s ring, she thinks she’s solved their problems. That is, until Rieker, a tough from the north end, shows up in Charing Cross and informs her that the ring is really a reservoir that holds an age-old truce between the world of faerie and man. Unless guarded, faeries will search for the ring and destroy it, as well as anyone who has knowledge of the ring’s location...

I am SO excited and can't wait to work with Susan on this book! Stay tuned for more details of my road to publication!