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*

Hooray! Witchy paperbacks hit shelves, and “The Ash-Born Boy” goes up online!

I’m back in the states, jetlagged and just in time to celebrate!

Not only does THE NEAR WITCH come out in paperback TODAY, but, to celebrate its release, “The Ash-Born Boy” is finally up over at Disney*Hyperion’s website!

AND OMG YOU GUYS.

LOOK AT THE SHINY BANNER ON THE HOMEPAGE.

JUST LOOK AT IT.

And the short story now comes with a shiny summary:

Before he came to Near…
Before he met Lexi…
Before they faced the witch…
Who was the boy named Cole?

Follow us to Dale, a city on a hill, where in a matter of days fire will devour everything. Meet the Lord and Lady, and their son, the boy destined to inherit all…until everything turns to ash.

It’s time to learn the truth behind the stranger’s story.

Now, a note.

If you’ve already read THE NEAR WITCH, “The Ash-Born Boy” is guaranteed to change the way you see Cole.

And if you haven’t read THE NEAR WITCH yet, don’t worry, “The Ash-Born Boy” won’t spoil anything!

And if you want to wait and read THE NEAR WITCH first, don’t worry! Cole’s story will stay up on Disney*Hyperion’s website. It has its own page and everything 🙂

BUT I hope you’ll help me celebrate by taking a look!

And if/when you do read “The Ash-Born Boy” I hope you’ll post your thoughts over on Goodreads!

Also! Don’t forget that in the back of the paperback itself, you’ll find the first chapter of my new book, THE ARCHIVED, which doesn’t come out until January!

BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY…

Thank you. Thank you all so, so much for sticking with me, for helping me shout and cheer and for being absolutely incredible. You are my sanity and my support and my favorite part of all this madness.

*falls over*

In which I explain a bit about my two new book deals!!

First, to recap:

Root Doubles Down for Schwab

Agent Holly Root, of the Waxman Agency, sold, nearly simultaneously, an adult novel as well as a YA one for her client Victoria Schwab. In the YA sale, Abby Ranger at Disney-Hyperion took world English rights to the currently untitled sequel to Schwab’s forthcoming The Archived (which Ranger also acquired); in The Archived a teenage girl tries to uncover the secrets behind a supernatural library. In the second deal, Root sold world English rights to Schwab’s adult debut, Vicious, to Miriam Weinberg at Tor. Vicious, about two best friends whose college experiments to create supernatural abilities wind up turning them against each other, is planned for fall 2013.

TWO DIFFERENT BOOK DEALS OKAY DEEP BREATH LET’S TALK.

FIRST, THE ARCHIVED is going to have a sequel! There are no words for the excitement over here. And relief. You see, THE ARCHIVED was never really meant to be a standalone. The nature of that book’s deal was strange and wondrous, in that the deal came first, and I chose the book to fill it second. The world of THE ARCHIVED is vast and so is Mackenzie Bishop’s story, and I never thought I could fully tell it in one book. And now I won’t have to!

That said, I’m a very, very strong believer that when you have a series, each book should have its own complete arc, so the book hitting shelves in January does, you know, HAVE AN ENDING. But I’m so, so, SO happy that my publishing family over at Disney*Hyperion believes in me and in these books and wants more of them!!

I know that all I’ve really said about the first book is “Buffy + The Shining + If I Stay” or “The Archived is about a library where the dead are shelved like books,” but in the next few weeks I’ll get to reveal both the cover (!!!) and the jacket copy (!!!) for THE ARCHIVED and I am just all excited punctuation marks over here.

SECOND, I wrote an adult book! And I can finally reveal the real title for the long-time code-named project, VAGABOND PUPPIES!!!! It’s called VICIOUS and it’s got super powers and villains and all these awesome things, and I am OVER THE FREAKING MOON that you guys will actually get to read it!!

This was the book that I wrote for ME, when I needed a break from deadlines, something to disappear into. This was a project I didn’t tell ANYONE about–not even my agent!–until it was nearly done. And the more I wrote, the more I fell in love with it, and the more I desperately wanted to be able to share it, and the more afraid I was that I wouldn’t get the chance. It’s a strange little beast of a book, a comic book without pictures, a violent twist on heroes and villains, and I was terrified that no one would love it like I did. So when it went on sub this spring and sold to Tor, I pretty much LOST MY SH*T.

So this means that next year I will have TWO books out, one in winter and one in fall, and then the winter after that I’ll have another! What happens after that remains to be seen 😉

Thank you all so, SO much for all your incredible messages of love and support across the internet. I’m just thrilled to be able to write more books!!

AHHHHHH BOOK DEAL NEWS!!!!!

EEEEEEEEEEE.

CLICK HERE TO GO TO PUBLISHER’S WEEKLY TO READ THE NEWS!!!!!!!!

Explanations to follow, but for now EXCLAMATION POINTS WHEEEEE.

And ALL THE LOVE to my incredible agent Holly Root, and to my wonderful editors, Abby and Laura at Disney*Hyperion, and Miriam at Tor. I am beyond thrilled to continue to grow with D*H (3 books! It’s like a family!), and ecstatic to launch my adult career with such a fabulous house.

[ALSO: YES, VAGABOND PUPPIES = VICIOUS!!!]

EDITED TO ADD: Reactionary rocking out video, in which I dance to “We Are Young” by Fun. You have to supply music :p

THE BIG NEAR WITCH PAPERBACK SECRET…REVEALED!

The first paperback secret was that I would be signing at BEA.
The second paperback secret was that the entire first chapter of THE ARCHIVED would be in the pb.
And now, the third and final paperback secret is…

THE ASH-BORN BOY.

What is THE ASH-BORN BOY? Let’s look back almost a YEAR to a convo I had with the awesome folks over at Disney*Hyperion.

*wiggles fingers and makes TARDIS-esque noises*

Publisher: Okay, your next book will come out in Jan 2013.

Me: Yay! But…but that means I won’t have any new work out into 2012.

Pub: You’ll have a paperback release!

Me: But nothing new…

Pub: Well, Jan 2013 is kind of like the 13th month in 2012.

Me: But I feel like I should have SOMETHING new. For readers. You know, a gift. A thank-you for sticking with me…Could I write them a story? We could put it up on the Disney*Hyperion website when the paperback releases on May 15th!

Pub: Sure! But what kind of story do you want to tell?

Me: *mischievous smile* I KNOW JUST THE ONE.

There’s one question I get asked more than any other.

Who was Cole, before he came to Near?

For those who’ve yet to read The Near Witch, there is a stranger that comes to Near. His name is not Cole. The main character, Lexi, gives him that name when he refuses to tell her his, when he refuses to tell her anything about his life before setting foot in her village. Over the course of the book we learn pieces of his past, but so much of it is never told.

And that’s why I decided to write THE ASH-BORN BOY.

“Who was Cole?” people ask me.

And so, on May 15th, when the paperback of The Near Witch goes on sale, I’m going to answer that question. THE ASH-BORN BOY is a novella that will go up on Disney*Hyperion’s website, www.un-requiredreading.com. There’s a note with the link posted in the back of the paperback, too.

THE ASH-BORN BOY will have a permanent URL on the site, but if for some reason it ever comes down, I will make sure it’s always up online. It will remain available. And most importantly, it will always be FREE.

This is my gift to readers. It is my thank-you to everyone who’s found me, shared this journey, stuck with me, cheered for me and for my books. I hope to be able to give you many more, but I know I can give you this.

🙂

Oh, oh, and if you’re interested in pre-ordering the paperback of THE NEAR WITCH (since I’m still waiting for final, final word that it will be in B+N…I mean, I think it will, I hope it will, but nothing’s sure and oh the stress it burns), it’s currently up for only $6.74 (!!! 25% off!! Free shipping!!) HERE on Book Depository. And you can of course pre-order it now or buy/order it later from any of your local indie or chain stores. THE NEAR WITCH, like all books, needs your love (ahhhhh it sounds like a phone-a-thon, doesn’t it!? Where are my celebrity callers?). Anyway, NW needs your love, since I hear the author has a narwhal-buying problem. And a book-buying problem. And a cupcake-buying problem…though, really, how can anything involving the purchase and devouring of cupcakes be considered a problem??

ANYWAY.

I’m so, so excited to be sharing THE ASH-BORN BOY with you!!!!!!

Angsty kittens, Dr. Horrible, THREE giveaway winners, and The Archived.

Random List of Random Things!

1. So, I’m in between rounds of edits on THE ARCHIVED (see #6) and furiously working on a project called ANGST KITTENS. ANGST KITTENS, incidentally, is listed in the “Other Projects” section of this blog, but it’s basically a story, not a book, and that’s about all I’m saying right now. The point is I’ve been working on it. And by working on it, I mean it’s been punching me in the face repeatedly and calling me mean names. But such is the creative process…I think.

2. ANYWAY, in the course of being punched in the face repeatedly by a word document, I’ve neglected to pick a Give Thanks Giveaway winner! So let’s do that. And due to the amazing entries, I’m picking THREE winners, so…

Carissa Thomas, you win a signed and narbooked copy of The Near Witch!

and

Amy at Tripping Over Books, you win a signed and narbooked copy of The Near Witch!

and

Hannah Courtney, you win a signed and narbooked copy of The Near Witch!

I seriously wish I could give EVERY SINGLE ENTRANT a signed and narbooked copy. Your answers were positively inspiring. With Christmas around the corner, there will be more opportunities to win.

3. In the course of the giveaway, Denise Z asked if there is a way to order a signed copy of The Near Witch (I hear they make good Christmas presents)! The answer to that: I signed a TON of copies at Books of Wonder in NYC, so you should contact them. I am not 100% certain they ship books, but I imagine they do. Let me know…

4. I saw a community theater production of Dr. Horrible. As someone who can recite THE ENTIRE WEBSHOW, it was amazing. Joss Whedon has been one of my heroes for a looooong time, but I didn’t realize until recently that he’s also a major inspiration. VAGABOND PUPPIES (not real title) was totally inspired by Dr. Horrible’s Sing-a-long Blog. Only it’s not funny or light or a musical, but hey, that’s the way inspiration works. A seed, not a full tree.

5. At some point I am going to accept the fact that, while I can be a FUNNY writer, I do not write about FUNNY things. I will leave that to my friends. I had a moment yesterday when I wondered if I could insert a little levity into ANGST KITTENS, which is basically ANGST SADFACE KISSING ANGST PAIN ANGST HORROR MOAR ANGST. And…well. Yeah.

6. THE ARCHIVED – This is my next novel. It comes out January 2013. I am soooo freaking excited that it’s almost 2012 because at some point in 2012 I WILL BE ABLE TO TELL YOU MORE ABOUT IT. And there will be, you know, ARCs and stuff :))

Give Thanks Giveaway

Hey lovelies!

I’m back in Nashville for Thanksgiving, and thought I’d do a quick and easy giveaway.

It’s open from:

–NOW until Friday the 25th, 9AM.

In keeping with the season, this is a GIVE THANKS giveaway. All you have to do to enter is:

–LEAVE A COMMENT telling me who/what you’re thankful for, and spread the word in at least ONE way.

And you could win:

–A signed, NARBOOKED (it’s a stamp with a narwhal reading a book) copy of THE NEAR WITCH.

+

Only, like, FIVE people have ever had their NW narbooked. So, cool, yeah?

See? It’s easy! Ready? GO.

***

AN ASIDE:

I’ve been watching Avatar: The Last Airbender, and there is a striking resemblance between an Appa and a Persian kitten. Just saying.

To NaNo or Not, Giveaway Winners, and Tweenalicious Treats

1. It’s the most popular question right now:

ARE YOU DOING NANO???

Here’s the thing.

I move to New York in, oh, FOUR DAYS. I’m there for a grand total of six days before I head to YALLFest, then I’ve got a few days to return and settle in before a Books of Wonder signing and a housewarming party, then three days before I jump home for Thanksgiving, and then…oh, November’s over.

Here’s the other thing. I just finished drafting my second book for the year, am expecting round two of edits on The Archived any week now, and am feeling at once inspired and overwhelmed by the quantity of shift in my life at this moment, both the potential and the actual.

So to answer the question I’ve been asked rather frequently, no, I will not be doing NaNo.

Or at least, not exactly.

I’ll be using the month of November (dear god, I almost wrote October) to DO WORK. But the nature of that work simply isn’t measurable by wordcount. I have a project to refine and send off to the agent, a few proposals to write, and yes, a bit of drafting for a project whispering in my ear, but it’s all a bit wibbly wobbly :p

My hope, though, is that I can siphon off some of the massive quantities of energy and discipline being exercised by OTHERS during the month of November, and consequently be a productive human being. And to that end, I’ll do my best to keep the blog as angst-free (or at least low-angst) as possible, and provide inspiration and cheer to those of you throwing yourselves into the NaNo pit! So, yeah, stay tuned for pep.

2. Giveaway winners!

Here are the winners (the first part of the emails, to confirm) and the prizes!

Lizzie (claireellegirl) ←critique!

Christine (christine.dunbar) ←Signed NW!

Christie Syphrit (gryvon) ←Candy!

Melanie Leeson (Sweet.Intensity2) ←ARC of ATM!

Frunchezzcuh (hellgirl_fran) ←Hocus Pocus!

And because of the awesome number of entries, I threw in a second signed NW!

Cassandra (irrelevantheart) ←Second Signed NW!

Winners, please email me at vschwab at comcast dot net to claim your prizes ASAP!

3. And now, your moment of random.

I was flipping through an issue of M (aka TWEENALICIOUS) in the grocery store, as you do, and I came across this!!!

There might have been some SQUEEING in aisle 6.

And on that note, I must go pack and repeat these words over and over: I will not panic because panic is unproductive. I will not panic because panic is unproductive. I will not panic…

“WFC Recap!” OR “Once upon a time Neil Gaiman hugged me…”

World Fantasy Con was an EXPERIENCE.

I got to meet a whole new set of readers and writers, had the pleasure of putting online profiles and books to faces for Tiffany Trent, Malindo Lo, Sarah Beth Durst, Cindy Pon, and many other lovely authors, sat and talked with wonderful publisher and editor-mate Cinda Williams Chima, and stumbled like a bumbling fangirl through an introduction to Holly Black, the awkwardness of which is sure to live in infamy.

I listened to Cindy Pon, Marlene Perez, Karen Healey, and Tamora Pierce talk about growing readers, and Holly Black, Patrick Rothfuss (!!) and others talk about not-so-fair folk (fae). I sat in the front row with Kiersten White and Shannon Messenger and listened to Neil Gaiman read short stories and poems.

I got to see my incredible agent, Holly, and probably talked far too much. And I got to have dinner with Holly, her husband, and the incredible Rae Carson.

I only had one not-so-lovely experience (aside from the food, which was inedible), and that happened Saturday night at my panel on metafiction, when I got on stage only to have a co-panelist take one look at me and ask me if I was in the right place, explaining that the panel on stupidity (it was real, btw) was in the other room.

But what happened Sunday morning more than made up for all of it.

Let me set the scene.

It’s the last day of WFC. I’ve attended panels, and been on one, listened to Neil Gaiman read, and be interviewed, and had him pass by my table at breakfast, but I’ve yet to meet him. And to be honest, I’m okay with it. I feel so lucky to have had the other experiences that it’s fine. I’m good.

And then I find out that he’s having an extra signing (he couldn’t get through everyone in the 3 hours of allotted signing time. And I think, “You know what? I’m going to get my books signed.” I’d brought my two favorites all the way from Nashville, and carried them around in my bag all weekend, just in case.

I get up, grab some breakfast, and head over to the signing venue a full hour before the doors open. I stand in line and chat and eat and wait and try not to panic. We’re led inside in groups of ten, into a hall, and at the end of hall is a table, and that’s where he’s signing.

It’s quiet.

A few words are being given and taken here and there, but for the most past people are waiting and Neil Gaiman is signing, and I’m starting to freak out about what I’ll say…if I manage to say anything.

And then ot’s my turn.

“Hi,” I say, and the word is barely a whisper so I add, “I’m a huge, huge fan.”

Neil Gaiman honors me with a warm smile and sets to signing, head bent over my books.

“And,” I add, “Um…I’m afraid I’m the one whose followers were nagging you a bit on Twitter––“

His head pops up, and he smiles, and says, “It’s you!” And then… “I’ve got to give you a hug!”

And he does.

Neil Gaiman stops signing and stands up and wraps me in a hug. And then more words happen, though I’m not terribly sure which. Basically I laughed and apologized for my followers’ persistence (I love you ALL), and he smiled and said it had gotten to be quite funny, and that they were certainly very devoted and and and…more words.

My hero, my planet, the kind I orbit and aspire to be like, talked to me. He hugged me and he smiled and he laughed and he talked to me.

I feel dizzy (and admittedly a bit tired, since it’s 5 in the morning and I’m sitting in an airport) but mostly I feel driven.

Thank you all so much for helping make this silly girl’s dream come true.