In which I finally spill what VICIOUS is about and share what people are saying!!

Yesterday Tor.com did an amazing piece on VICIOUS, complete with sketches, design snapshots, and the gorgeous finished product you see above.

And here today, as promised, I get to share the catalog copy for the book, as well as some blurbs that just make me want to lie down and make floor angels.

First, after months of *mumblesuperpowersmumble* I can finally tell you WHAT IT’S ABOUT.

THE PITCH:

A masterful, twisted tale of ambition, jealousy, betrayal, and superpowers, set in a near-future world.

Victor and Eli started out as college roommates—brilliant, arrogant, lonely boys who recognized the same sharpness and ambition in each other. In their senior year, a shared research interest in adrenaline, near-death experiences, and seemingly supernatural events reveals an intriguing possibility: that under the right conditions, someone could develop extraordinary abilities. But when their thesis moves from the academic to the experimental, things go horribly wrong.

Ten years later, Victor breaks out of prison, determined to catch up to his old friend (now foe), aided by a young girl whose reserved nature obscures a stunning ability. Meanwhile, Eli is on a mission to eradicate every other super-powered person that he can find—aside from his sidekick, an enigmatic woman with an unbreakable will.

Armed with terrible power on both sides, driven by the memory of betrayal and loss, the archnemeses have set a course for revenge—but who will be left alive at the end?

AHHHHHHHH! <–Sorry, that is how I feel finally being able to share.

AND!

I get to share some seriously amazing blurbs, too.

Ready?

BLURBAGE:

“A dynamic and original twist on what it means to be a hero and a villain. A killer from page one…highly recommended!”
—Jonathan Maberry, New York Times bestselling author of Marvel Universe vs The Avengers and Patient Zero

“Schwab gathers all the superhero/supervillain tropes and turns them on their sundry heads…. I could not put it down.”
—F. Paul Wilson, New York Times bestselling author of the Repairman Jack series

“Vicious is dark and intricate and daring, twisting back and forth through time and morality and life and death until you can’t turn the pages fast enough. I loved it.”
—Dan Wells, author of I Am Not a Serial Killer

“Utterly brilliant. Schwab takes the notion of superhero fiction and bashes it on its head. If you like it dark, then prepare to be thoroughly entertained.”
—Jackie Morse Kessler, author of the Riders of the Apocalypse series

VICIOUS REVEALED!!!

LOVELIES!!!

The time has come to unveil my first adult book, VICIOUS!

Tomorrow on the blog I’ll be telling you more about the book (cough pitch cough) and revealing some of the seriously amazing blurbs!!!

But today, head over to Tor.com (excuse me while I swoon) for a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the cover, and of course, the finished product!!!

CLICK HERE!!!

Shenanigans (Late Night Edition)

I’m standing in my kitchen covered in flour and cinnamon and sugar after deciding to bake some bread.

I got back from laser-tagging it up (as you do) and thought, “Hey! You know what my life is lacking? Cinnamon raisin bread!” And then I got halfway through making it, which turns out to be two hours later, and I decided to finish it up in the morning, so WIN for Future V and BOO for Present V who has to clean up the kitchen.

And blog.

I felt like blogging.

So hello!

A few things of note.

Thing #1, in case you missed it!

Ooooooh, shiny. You can find the synopsis for the above shiny on its dedicated little tab above under BOOKS.

Which brings me to thing #2!

A new blog design! I was in the mood for a change, and couldn’t fit in a tattoo or a haircut so I thought, “Blog redesign!” I think it’s pretty swanky. And it allows me to sport BOTH of my names

Which brings me in a roundabout way to thing #3!

The cover reveal for VICIOUS is nearly upon us! At first I thought it would be today but the powers-that-be wanted to do shiny things that take time so now it will probably be early next week! I see this as an opportunity to spread the awesome out a little

Which in some way brings me to thing #4!

Redesigning the blog was actually a rather surreal experience, because as I was creating the little tabs under the BOOKS label I realized OMG I HAVE BOOKS PLURAL. And then I had a moment about that. Sometimes moments just kind of sneak up on you (like I did on 30+ children tonight at laser tag right before I PWNED THEM WITH MY SKILLZ)* and the act of listing my books, both those on shelves and those on their way was a punch to the gut, if punches to the gut came with pleasant feelings, too. I just had to sit very still for a few minutes and catch my breath.

Which brings me rather directly to thing #5.

Thank you. For everything you’ve done. For buying the books, of course, but also for sending me notes/emails/DMs/messages telling me you believe in me, or that X or Y or Z made you feel A or B or C, or that you follow me because of blank, or for any and all the things you say and do that make me feel good on bad days and great on good ones. Every bit of success belongs to you as much as me and I will never, ever, ever stop being grateful.

/Late night ramblings.

The sequel to THE ARCHIVED has a title!!!! And it’s…

Lovelies!

After holding my tongue for months, I can finally tell you that the second book in the ARCHIVED series has a title! And believe it or not, it’s not THE ARCHIVED #2! Or ARCHIVED…AGAIN.

Are you ready?

It’s…

That’s right, book 2 is called THE UNBOUND. And there’s your little sneak peek at the color palette for the book

First off, let me just say that I’m so nerdily (totally a word) excited that we get to continue the book/library motif in the titles! AND on top of being bookish and awesome, this title fits the book so well. Many thanks to my editor, Lisa, for coming up with it!!

Now, I know you might be thinking, didn’t THE ARCHIVED just come out??? It’s so early to talk about sequels! Well, my publisher has a new 2 catalog/year schedule, and the catalog for September–March is being revealed now, and since I’m a January title, it means you get to see my pretty things alongside the fall list

Now, lovelies, the excitement is just beginning! Tomorrow, the COVER (!!!) and JACKET COPY (it’s spoiler-free!!) will be revealed on YABC–YA Books Central–so be sure to follow me on Twitter because you’ll know I’ll shout that joy from the rooftops when the post goes live.

In the meantime! A few quick myths I’d love to dispell, since they pop up like roaches in a Brooklyn flat.

Myth #1: THE ARCHIVED is a dystopian novel.

Truth: I have no idea where this idea is coming from. I don’t think it’s coming from me. And while I have nothing at all against dystopian novels, I haven’t written one yet! THE ARCHIVED is probably best described as a supernatural thriller. It’s not set in the future, or even an alternate world. It’s set in modern day USA. The idea is that the Archive exists in the here and now, most people just don’t know about it. So nope, not dystopian! If Mackenzie Bishop existed solely in the Archive, as compared to living in the real/mundane world from which she accesses the Archive, then you could begin to create an argument that the Archive is a flawed–if not failed–utopic system. But not as it is. Nope. Sorry kids. So if you see this myth creeping bug-like around the internets, squash it

Myth #2: THE ARCHIVED is the sequel to THE NEAR WITCH.

Truth: Nope. THE NEAR WITCH was my first novel, and a standalone. THE ARCHIVED is the first book in a series. There is no connection whatsoever between Near and the Coronado. Not that a meeting of Lexi and Mac, or Cole and Wes, wouldn’t be fun But let’s keep those two worlds apart.

Myth #3: VICIOUS is the sequel to THE ARCHIVED.

Truth: Wrong again. VICIOUS seems to be causing a swell of confusion, so allow me to set a few things straight. VICIOUS is my first adult novel. It comes out this September! September 24th, to be exact, with Tor Hardcover. I am over the moon about this book, but you probably haven’t heard me talking much about it. That’s mostly because adult publishing moves at a different pace than YA, so where I get my cover/pitch a full year before a YA book hits shelves, these things come together roughly 6 months before release in adult. Different schedules means different timing. But the time is now upon us, and you’ll hear my talking much more frequently about it! So no, it’s not a sequel to anything, it’s a new book.

The other reason you might be confused is that I’m not writing it as Victoria Schwab. I’m writing it as V.E. Schwab. V.E. Schwab is not a secret identity by any means. My blog is veschwab. My twitter is veschwab. Everywhere I’m on the internet I’m actually listed as veschwab aka V.E. Schwab. I’m not endeavoring to hide! It’s just that I have a number of younger readers (THE NEAR WITCH being lower YA) and I’d rather they not automatically reach for my gory supervillain book because they see my name. Also, to be very honest, I’m aiming for world domination here, and sometimes it pays to be shelf-stealthy, especially in a branch of the industry that is largely male. I’m having a blast proving that young ladies such as myself can write as sick and twisted as the rest of the writer race, but it serves me best if my initial impression is of my book, not my gender.

In cheery news, the cover for VICIOUS is going to be revealed SOON. As in, a matter of days! So, whee!

Myth 4: Victoria feeds on reader tears.

Fact: Oh, well, this one is actually true.

Myth 5: Victoria thinks Earl Grey tea is an abomination to the senses.

Fact: Also true. Seriously, kids. Don’t get me started.

That concludes this installment of myth-busting! And I hope you guys like the title as much as I do!! I’m so excited to tell you more about THE UNBOUND in the coming months!

Catching up, Horn Book, German Near Witch, FAQ, and the Mum makes a video!!

Hi, lovelies!

35 days till THE ARCHIVED. Oh my. Oh my. Oh my. The next blog post will be the ONE MONTH GIVEAWAY and it is epic and might involve some of my favorite books of the year, ARCHIVED preorders, and a key worth signed books FOR LIFE. Just saying.

But we’ll get there on the 22nd. Let’s talk about now.

I emerged from the deadline cave this week, alive if not unscathed. I turned in the latest draft of THE ARCHIVED #2 a few short days ago. I not-so-affectionately refer to this book as SOUL KILL, and anyone who follows me online knows that it has lived up to its nickname in the past few weeks. I had a full hour (well, 45 minutes) of freedom before diving BACK into the revision cave for another book (the first of the chapter books I’m writing for Scholastic).

In other, far more interesting news, fun things happened during my (relative) return to the living!

First, Horn Book loved THE ARCHIVED!!!

From their review: “…both poignant and intellectually piquant…[Schwab] writes of death, sorrow, and family love with a light, intelligent touch and inventive vigor.”

Wooo!!! I’m still waiting on a few of the others, but I’m thrilled to put this one up there with the Kirkus love.

Also, APPARENTLY MY BOOK EXISTS OMG HOLD ME.

This is not my hand, but this is my book. The real, FINISHED book. I can’t wait to get my author copies so I can 1. roll around on top of them, and 2. take more photos/a video so we can all savor the material glory (also, the reason my name looks darker is because it and the key are both spot-glossed, so it’s harder to photo them evenly). ALSO apparently the endpapers inside are GORGE and ugh why is it not in my hands, lovelies??? SOON.

ALSO! I got my very first foreign cover for THE NEAR WITCH!

It’s the German edition (my German publisher, Heyne, will also be publishing THE ARCHIVED!) and I am mildly obsessed with it. The title is VERFLUCHT!!! It means CURSED.

Agh I love it. It’s so very different from the US cover, and so loud and paranormal-y and there’s a kid in the woods and ughhh yes.

*pets*

Also! FAQ!

That section of the blog has been updated thanks to your influx of awesome, random, and awesomely random questions! Just click the little tab at the top of the page to go there and learn things. Topics include tea, narwhals, Doctor Who, and sword canes.

LAST AND BEST. THE MUM! ON CAMERA!.

You guys, after FIVE YEARS of trying to coax the Mum to make a video, I finally convinced her to make one for my Making History series!!! Please, please show her some love! The wonderful Emily over at Emily’s Reading Room is hosting her video, as well as a giveaway.

To watch THE INFAMOUS MUM, click HERE.

And don’t forget to swing by the Youtube channel HERE and see the other histories. This week is #14!! Crazy.

And now…

And now, lovelies, I must retreat back into the revision cave. But I want to know how you’re all doing. <3 Leave your thoughts after the beep.

In which I reveal THE ARCHIVED’s full jacket art and blurbs!!! And say thank you.

Lovelies!

I have something incredibly shiny to share with you today..the final jacket for THE ARCHIVED. That means two flaps, a front cover, a back cover, a spine, and two blurbs that make me a little weepy.

First, thank you thank you thank you to designer Tyler Nevins, editor Abby Ranger, and the amazing folks over at Disney*Hyperion for creating this masterpiece.

HERE WE GO.

*DIES*

*REVIVES*

NOW LET’S BREAK IT DOWN.

The front flap, complete with sexy tag line and jacket copy. And OLD WALLPAPER OMG. The book is set in the Coronado, an old hotel-turned-apartment-building, and it’s got these little touches, like old wallpaper. Hence my dying a little over the detail.

The finalized cover, brighter and creepier and all-around MORE EPIC.

The spine, which, like the flaps, HAS OLD WALLPAPER OMG and is just incredibly TOUCHABLE-looking.

The back cover. OKAY. Let’s just talk about the background, and then we’ll get to the amazing blurb-y goodness. The background depicts the top floors of the Coronado, the primary setting of the book, AND THERE ARE GARGOYLES. And those gargoyles are ENTIRELY RELEVANT TO THE BOOK. This whole jacket is full of details that MATTER TO THE STORY. It makes me so, so happy, because I know that often covers do NOT match books, but this one matches in every single way.

NOW. THE BLURBS. *dies*

“As gorgeously written as it is brilliantly inventive, The Archived is that rare book that grabs you by the heart *and* the mind, not letting go of either once you’ve turned the last page. It’s earned a permanent spot on my Keeper shelf.”
–Rachel Hawkins, New York Times best-selling author of the Hex Hall series

And…

“A page-turning plot, a setting that haunted my dreams, and breathtaking prose. Truly a masterful, dark, beautiful novel.”
–Ruta Sepetys, New York Times best-selling author of Between Shades of Gray

You guys. I’m SUCH a huge fan of both these authors, and I couldn’t have asked for better quotes.

Lastly, the back flap, with its new bio and its delicious details

There you go.

The jacket art and blurbs for a book that ate my soul many times over, a story I dreamed of seeing as a book, a book I dreamed of seeing as a series. My excitement for this jacket and these quotes is eclipsed ONLY by excitement of sharing the thing between the covers with all of you.

Lastly, I just want to thank you–ALL of you–for your excitement so far. It is such a lifeboat.

I know we still have a few months to go (they’ll pass quickly, I promise! It’s nearly October, which is the 10th month in 2012, and January is the 13th), but your enthusiasm, your pre-orders, your posts and tweets and messages and word-of-mouth, those things not only help the book, they help me. They help me keep my chin up on bad days, when the weight of the things out of my control and the stress of what-ifs and what-if-nots and the fears of failure–and things worse than failure–eat at my sanity. Your excitement is what keeps me afloat.

In the acks of THE ARCHIVED, I say, “To the online community, for its constant love and support.
To the readers, who make every bad day good and every good day better.”

And I really, really mean that.

Thanks for the hugs, and the cheers, and the happiness, and the hope.

AAHHHHH! THE ARCHIVED COVER AND JACKET COPY REVEALED!!!

LOVELIES, THE DAY IS HERE!!!!!!!!

THE ARCHIVED.

COVER.

REVEALED.

You can click on any of the images above or the link below to go over to the Mundie Moms and see the cover that has completely stolen my heart and soul and rendered me a blob of giggle and squee on the floor. But then you have to COME BACK because I have a GIVEAWAY for you.

Okay, go see!!!

CLICK ME.
CLICK ME.
CLICK ME.
CLICK ME.

Are you back??

AHHHHH ISN’T THE COVER AMAZING YOU GUYS GAHHH I JUST. I JUST. AND THE WORDS ON THE BACK AND I JUST.

*deep breaths*

OKAY.

Onto the shiny giveaway thing!

What is it, you ask?

WELL.

It’s a KEY.

But it’s no ordinary key. You see, in Mackenzie Bishop’s world, keys don’t just mean the difference between locked and unlocked, captured and free. They can mean life or death. Keys matter a great deal.

And in keeping with that, as we get closer to release, I’m going to be giving away keys.

The keys are redeemable; there are different kinds and sizes, and they are worth different things, some as small as swag, some much bigger. The bigger the key, the better the prize. To give you an idea, the last key I’ll give away, right before release, is redeemable for a signed, finished copy of each of my books…for life.

(Incidentally, the first five people to come see me sign at BEA will get small silver keys, each redeemable for a complete Archived swag pack.)

But today, I’m giving away the very first of the big keys.

This antique French key is redeemable for ONE of the following:

A. a Skype visit for your school, library, class, or book club, including three signed books!

B. a cupcake date for you and a friend, my treat (you can either come to my city, or wait for me to sign in yours)!

C. A signed narwhal plush, and a personal vlog-o-gram (designed for the shy among us)!

And the key will NEVER EXPIRE. You can redeem your prize whenever you like. Or you can hold onto the key and see if I one day go all Suzanne Collins or something, and then cash in ;p

So, HOW DO YOU WIN?

Simple. So, so simple.

As you can see in the form, you get entries for tweets, fb posts, blog posts, and pretty much EVERY OTHER WAY you can think of to spread the cover love! This giveaway will last until NOON EST on Friday, and the winner will be announced that afternoon along with a behind-the-scenes look at the cover shoot!

In summation: !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

*collapses*

The paperback cover of The Near Witch!

I was going to wait to share this until early spring, when I get to share some other exceedingly cool news, but since Amazon went and put it up NOW, we shall spread out the sharing of things, and have the cover now, and the other cool stuff later

So! Here’s the paperback cover!

Don’t you LOVE it?!?!

Okay…so maybe that’s not the REAL paperback, but it is a brilliantly funny cover done by Jeremy and Jeffrey West, along with Travis Pearson.

Here’s the hardcover, for reverence:

And here’s the real paperback cover:

I genuinely LOVE it.

1. They stacked the type,
2. put my name at the top,
3. and made it BIGGER (which is always immensely flattering),
4. AND they took some of the lovely filigree and made it gray so it would pop, which
5. offers a stronger visual frame for the cover, and yeah.

There you have it!

As we get closer to the paperback release — MAY 15, 2012 – I will share TWO pieces of EPICALLY AWESOME NW NEWS.

But for now, I shall let you enjoy these two covers, and wish you a happy holidays ))

YOU GO, TYPE-LOVING COVER DESIGNERS.

Okay, so it’s come up on this blog a few times, but my degree is in design. To be more specific, cover design. More specific still, typography. So I’m a bit of a type geek.

And to be honest, I’ve always gravitated more toward the aesthetic of adult literary covers because of their use of typography. Much as I love the content of YA, cover-wise it hasn’t been one for playing with type (I am making generalizations here, and of course there are exceptions).

And I get it.

I get that it has to appeal to teens (not JUST teens) and the best way to do that is a photographic cover (especially one with a dead girl in a dress, apparently). The vast majority of YA covers, even the GORGEOUS ones, don’t play with type. They pick a nice, solid font, and place it front and center. Sometimes they add swirls, or a bit of filigree…:

…but it’s fairly safe. Lovely, but static. I picked three covers for popular upcoming titles, but the MAJORITY of books out there–fantasy and realism alike, though I’ve noticed there’s MORE willingness to play in realism–will fit the mold. The key is, there’s little to no interaction between the type and the image (have you seen Zombieland? That’s an AMAZING example of the type interacting with the environment). And that’s okay, it’s a balancing act. The type is there to be lovely without overshadowing the image. And I like them.

But I LOVE typographically active covers. Which is why I’m SO, SO, SO happy to see a handful of YA covers going in that direction!!!

I don’t know what’s guiding this. I suspect it’s publishers wanting to generate more crossover appeal, though I suppose it could be a genuine interest in exploring typographic potential, but whatever it is, I LOVE IT.

So this is my plea to cover designers, publishers, and the people who make the big decisions: be daring! I’m not saying to get rid of the dead girls/girls in dresses, I’m just saying I’d LOVE to see this kind of thing continue!!

ETA: Megan Crewe showed me THIS LINK to an awesome list on GR!

TEA TIME. Rebecca Maizel + INFINITE DAYS.

TEA TIME is my brand new interview series!

That sounds kind of fun, doesn’t it? Does it make you want a scone? Some finger sandwiches? Now I’m hungry…

Anyway, I am lucky enough to kick things off with awesometastic (I don’t know WHY WordPress insists that isn’t a word) Rebecca Maizel, author of the incredible INFINITE DAYS.

First, before we even begin, LOOK AT THE COVER.

You know how I feel about covers. This is one I even mention in my cover art vlog. And and and INFINITE DAYS officially comes out TOMORROW!!

For the full pitch, head on over to the GoodReads page! Or, you can read another one over on the Amazon page. But be sure to come back!

Now, onto the interview!

*

1. Hey Rebecca, thanks for kicking off the Tea Time series! Give us the essence of INFINITE DAYS in as few words as possible.

The essence…hmm. I would say when you sit down to read Infinite Days, Lenah will make you feel, awake. Everything is new to her, even the smell of cookies and coffee. Oh, woops. This isn’t a few words. I stink at this.

Okay, take two:

Sensual
The moment right before you kiss. Those seconds right before the lips touch – that’s what Infinite Days feels like.

2. Oh, well put! Now tell us a bit about YOU.

Former bartender. Former radio DJ. Bichon Frise LOVER (my dog Louie is a person, I swear.) Favorite items include: my printer, Stop and Shop seltzer water, coffeeeeeeee and very pointy pens. Purple ink or black.

3. Mmmm pens. I do love pens. Pilot V5 Precise are so nice too….Oh, sorry! So, the journey is different for everyone, so much so that I don’t think there is a normal path to publication. Give us a glimpse into yours.

It took me eight months to write, ID. It came out of a very visceral place, a place that commanded that I write Lenah’s story. I queried a publisher looking for unsolicited manuscripts. The agent came next. It was backwards but I’m a firm believer that a well written query can open the doors to publication.

ID wasn’t my first book, I wrote a lot of fiction and creative work before IDays. That’s the thing, you need to keep writing every day. You need to believe that the piece you are working on matters, even if no one ever sees it.

4. What has been your favorite part of the publication process?

Writing. Lame answer, I know. But seriously! That I get to wake up every day and write is an amazing, amazing, thing. I’ll never get over how incredible it feels.

5. What was your favorite part of writing ID?

When Lenah’s voice came to me for the first time. I couldn’t write fast enough, I couldn’t get her words onto the page quick enough!

6. Villains. Really, what more do I need to say? They rock. Give me your favorite villain.

Dolores Umbridge – Harry Potter # 5. I have never wanted to jump through a book and THROTTLE someone so badly.

7. YES. YES A THOUSAND TIMES UMBRIDGE HAUNTS MY DREAMS WITH KITTEN PLATES… Okay, most important question of all. Favorite kind of cupcake?

ANYTHING buttercream. Or chocolate. Chocolate buttercream!?

Mmmm, delicious.

And a delicious book, kids. Go forth and purchase!

If you have ANY comments or questions for miss Maizel, she has agreed to answer them, so post them in the comments section!