THE UK COVER OF VICIOUS!!!

OMG you guys.

OMG.

It’s so completely different from the US cover, which I adore with fiery heart, but I love it so very, very much. It’s dark and punchy and movie poster glorious, and my main character, Victor, looks like an arrogant badass, which is essentially what he is and ngghhhhhhh.

I just.

I think the thing I like so much about these covers–the US and the UK–is that they are both clearly influenced by comic book culture, but in totally different ways. And that is just pretty damn cool.

ALSO! In case you didn’t hear my squees around the internet on Monday, VICIOUS GOT A PW STAR!!!!!!!!

“Schwab’s characters feel vital and real…In a genre that tends toward the flippant or pretentious, this is a rare superhero novel as epic and gripping as any classic comic.”

It’s my first starred review ever and I can’t stop smiling.

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SO. MUCH. VICIOUS. NEWS.

Announcing the VICIOUS prequel short story, WARM UP!!!

While I was over in Scotland, I had the chance to write a short story! My first official one. My editor and I wanted to give readers a glimpse into the world of VICIOUS without spoiling anything from the book, and WARM UP was born! The full pitch for WARM UP will go live closer to the story’s release on Tor.com this August, but in the meantime, check out the gorgeous cover art. The amazing art director over at Tor, Irene Gallo, was able to get my cover illustrator, Victo Ngai, to do the art!!

VICIOUS is now up on Netgalley!

Well, let me be clear, 115 pages of VICIOUS are up on Netgalley! If you want to get a taste of the book, wet your feet, whet your appetite, whatever turn of phrase you like, hop on over and request!

Also it will make my heart happy. Like, really happy. And happy hearts are more likely to give away goodies.

Also also I KNOW it’s only 115 pages. I know. We went through this with THE ARCHIVED, but lovelies, we saw such a marked difference in sales, and Tor and I want to make sure people go buy the book so that I can, you know, have the chance to write more books. AND if you don’t want to read the preview because you’d rather read the whole thing in September, that’s totally fine, too. I just want to make sure that the people who WANT a sneak peek have that option!

If you’re on the fence at all–I know I have a lot of YA readers who aren’t sure what I sound like writing as V.E.–I highly encourage you to try the sample! It’s a really good indicator.

And to everyone, it would make me so happy if you hit REQUEST over on Netgalley, and/or spread the word about it being up there. The publishers, they watch these kinds of things.

DID YOU KNOW…if you pre-order VICIOUS, you get trading cards?

It’s true! If you pre-order VICIOUS and email proof to viciousveschwab at gmail dot com, a gorgeous complete set of trading cards–yes, including the author card–will arrive in the mail! This opportunity will run all the way up to release, but the online price of the book might go up, so keep that in mind!

Last but not least, giveaway winners!

The winner of the VICIOUS arc is…
–hollybindurham

The winners of the VICIOUS trading cards are…
–Disquietus
–Nicole de Leon
–Lauren Thoman
–ellemoe
–Kayla Keefer

Yay!

In summation.

There’s still one piece of really awesome VICIOUS news coming, but I’m not allowed to announce it yet, so for now I’ll just say THANK YOU.

Thank you for being awesome and thank you for all of your excitement so far and for continuing to build that noise in the coming months. We all know how important your voices are, and I’ve felt them there, cheering with me ❤

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. ❤ 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 :)))