We Interrupt This Program…

One of my LEAST favorite interview questions has always been “Who would play ___ in a movie?”

This has been one of those” It’s not you, it’s me” issues, because ever since I started writing THE NEAR WITCH two and a half years ago, I’ve struggled. You see, I’ve never, ever, ever, been able to find my Cole.

Lexi is based on…

Wren has always been…

Dreska has a dash of…

But Cole.

Cole, with his haunted look and stone eyes…I’ve just never found anyone close.

But I found him! The hair’s not quite right, it needs to be straight and near black, but look!

My Cole!

(picture him about two years older)

Obligatory Near Witch Launch Party Recap Post (in Photos)

 

 

 

 

Brain Dead. Tour Done. Edits Large and Storm Cloud-Shaped.

I’M ALIVE!

A list!

1. Thank you all so, so, so much for making THE NEAR WITCH’s release and the tour and everything in the misty space around both an absolute adventure.

I am still floating on the seas of excitement and sleep deprivation.

2. The tour!

(taken by Marla, Starting the Next Chapter)

It was amazing, and exhausting, and amazing, and terrifying, and did I mention amazing?

(PW photo of the Day)

It was a homegrown tour, meaning Beth, Myra and I planned, organized, executed, and funded it all ourselves. The 8 stops and travel ended up costing each of us about $200, and I tell you that because we were lucky enough to get a good deal of notice, but also a good deal of “well, your pubs took care of everything, so…”

(taken by Carolyn, YA book buyer, Malaprops)

That’s simply not the case. Six months of hard work, planning, enthusiasm, and a lot of luck resulted in Ash 2 Nash’s success. We got featured in PW three times, had the opportunity to pick up guest authors at several stops, and were awed by the amount of enthusiasm from the online community.

You all made that tour.

(taken by Marla, Starting the Next Chapter)

3. Edits!

[insert nervous laughter here]

4. The Launch Party!

Because the Ash 2 Nash tour kicked off the day after NW hit shelves, the official narwhal and cakepop-laden launch party is THIS Saturday, from 5-7pm. You should come because, well, I ordered too many cakepops.

5. THANK YOU AGAIN.

This concludes this episode of “V is so tired she can hardly string sentences together.”

❤

OH MY GOD IT’S FINALLY HERE. LIKE, REALLY HERE.

There really are no other words.

Happy birthday, Book.

It’s been a long, long wait, but you are free.

All I ask today, lovelies, is that you spread the word. I’ve been waiting TWO YEARS to be able to say the words “MY BOOK IS OUT” and I’d really, really love if lots of us could say it. We can make a party of saying it.

If you’ve read THE NEAR WITCH, and could review it on places like Amazon, that would mean the world (since you can’t review until it’s IN STOCK).

Thank you for keeping me alive the last two years. To those who’ve stuck with me the whole time, and to those who are just joining, you have made this journey an adventure. You’ve made the bad bearable, and the good wonderful, and I wouldn’t be here, physically or emotionally, without all of you.

Belief is a contagious thing indeed.

Winners (!!!) and Thank-Yous (<3) and Final Thoughts (O_O)

I cannot believe the 7 weeks of giveaways have come to an end!!! I am going to go through giveaway withdrawal!!!

But before that happens! SOME WINNERS. There were 650 entries!!!

SWAG WINNERS!
Melissa Silva
Zareen
Melanie Beier

$25 B&N CARD!
Laura Koehler

THE COOKIES!
Maria (heartsbooks)

THE RED NARWHAL!
Kenzie (audacious)

D*H BASKET O’ LOVE!
Alisha Blanchard

GRIMM’S FAIRY TALES
Amanda (The Mortal’s Library)

The signed, first-edition copy of THE NEAR WITCH!
Ashlyn Rae

The signed, first-edition copy of THE NEAR WITCH (w/ notes)!
Bailey Hewlett

All winners! Please email me at vschwab at comcast dot net with your mailing info.

And now…

A message from our sponsors (aka me):

Lastly, a note. This is an excerpt from the Acknowledgements page of NW, to you:

“Belief is a contagious thing…

To the online community of bloggers, reviewers, and friends, for believing in me from the start, and for making me feel like a rock star when all I did was string words together.”

1WTNW or THE FINAL EPIC GIVEAWAY OF EPICNESS.

It’s Monday!!!!

And that means it’s time for…

THE FINAL EPIC GIVEAWAY OF EPICNESS!!!

(It also means my book comes out in a week, but I can’t handle that, so let’s focus on the giveaway).

Now, because of the EPICNESS, this giveaway will not last 24 hours. It will last ONE WEEK.

THE PRIZES (in no particular order):

**A Red Narwhal!!!

**A Batch of the Infamous Chocolate Cake Cookies!

**A $10 iTunes giftcard and NW playlist!

**A $25 Barnes & Noble giftcard!

**A basket o’ love from Hyperion including Mercy, From Bad to Cursed, Girl Wonder, Putting Makeup on Dead People, and Sharks & Boys!

**A book of Grimm’s Fairy Tales!

**THREE signed, first-edition copies of THE NEAR WITCH from my *personal* stash! <–3 winners

NOW, you might be thinking: HOW DO I GET IN ON THAT?

HOW IT WORKS:

All you have to do is ENTER. You have until August 1st at 9PM CST to do that.

So why enter now? BECAUSE YOU CAN ENTER EACH DAY. Some things, like pre-ordering, or blogging, you can probably only get points for once, but other things, like, oh, COMPLIMENTING SOMEONE, or CALLING A BOOKSTORE, or TWEETING*, etc. etc., you can get points for EVERY DAY.

The more points you have, the better your chance of winning something!

AND along the way I’ll be giving out swag prizes! This means at any point over the next seven days, I’ll randomly select a winner from the pool of entrants, and that person will win a signed bookplate, buttons, etc. I’ll do that AT LEAST TEN TIMES.

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW:

*This giveaway runs from Monday July 25th, 9AM CST to Monday August 1st, 9PM CST.

*Tweeting: You can earn points for tweeting up to five times per day BUT BUT BUT those tweets must be at least an hour apart. Simply fill out the form again for each tweet (you only need to put your name and check the tweet box).

*If you pre-order THE NEAR WITCH between now and release, and email me (vschwab at comcast dot net) proof, I will send you a signed bookmark. True fact.

*ALSO, you can now pre-order THE NEAR WITCH on KINDLE! Lots of people were asking, so there you go.

*We shall meet back here at 9PM on August 1st for a little vlog and a lot of winners.

*If you think of ANYTHING you think you should get points for, simply explain it in OTHER. I am generous.

Cheers, and may the odds be ever in your favor 😉

FRIDAY FLASHBACK *wiggles fingers and makes do-do-do-do noises*

(First, THANK YOU for all the feedback. I have figured out how we’re going to run this last giveaway, and I am EXCITED).

So, with NW ten days away (O_O) I have been doing a lot of THINKING. Mostly about the epic epicness of this online community (you) and how you’ve made the last two years, well, bearable, wonderful, and many other words I’ll use later.

And I thought to myself: Wow, V, we’ve come a long way. Like, literally. Two years is a long way. You could earn an MA in two years. Or, I don’t know, birth an elephant.

BUT THE POINT is that I end up looking back to me two years ago (ah the power of the interwebs).

And that brings us to your dose of FRIDAY FLASHBACK.

This one’s for those who HAVEN’T been with me since the beginning. THIS was the official beginning.

(Context! I made a statement, perhaps in jest, on Twitter––I was new to the beast that is Twitter––that if/when I got a book deal, I would dress up as a cupcake and answer questions. AND I DID).

In which I sign books and announce winners!

In which I sign my books for the first time!!

And proceed to sign my family’s table.

And show off narwhals.

And typo.

And muse on the magical quality of silver pens.

And make this face (O_O)

Oh yeah, and ANNOUNCE WINNERS!!! <–at the END of the vlog, should you wish to skip ahead. Some people asked for a signing vlog, so I made a signing vlog…

And I just wanted to say THANK YOU for the huge amount of squeeing and cheering and support yesterday over the arrival of all the books. Thank you for freaking out with me.

Also, as always, thanks for making this an EPIC giveaway.

CAN YOU BELIEVE.

That there’s only ONE more????????????

I can’t.

You rock.

Good night.

2WTNW – The YA Rebels Giveaway

THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED.

YOU GUYS.

Did you see how that 3 became a 2?? That’s means we’re at the TWO WEEK MARK. I can’t handle that. Next giveaway will be the ONE WEEK MARK, and that will mean single digits and lots of things I can’t think about so let’s FOCUS ON THIS ONE.

It’s Monday. In case you’re just joining us, Mondays around here (leading up to THE NEAR WITCH) mean GIVEAWAYS. Because giveaways make Monday suck less.*

This week’s giveaway is both grand and bittersweet. This giveaway is the biggest yet, but it’s also a goodbye. Because this giveaway is also my farewell to the YA Rebels. I’ve had so much fun being a part, and it was a really hard decision to leave, but a SANE V is a HAPPY V and a HAPPY V is better at giving things away.

THE PRIZES:

POSSESS by Gretchen McNeill (ARC with swag)
INVINCIBLE SUMMER by Hannah Moskowitz (finished book with swag)
THE NEAR WITCH by Victoria Schwab (pre-order of finished book with swag)
A TOUCH MORTAL by Leah Clifford (finished book with swag)
WITCH EYES by Scott Tracey (finished book, sent by publisher as soon as available, with swag)
WILDEFIRE by Karsten Knight (ARC with swag)

THE WINNERS:

ONE person will win the entire set of YA Rebels books and swag.

ONE person will win a batch of cookies and swag.

If there are more than 150 entries…

FIVE people will win signed, illustrated NW bookplates.

If there are more than 250 entries…

FIVE people will win signed, numbered sets of NW buttons (only 100 sets were made).

THE RULES:

1. Fill out the form!
2. Spread the word!
3. Smile.

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW:

1. This giveaway runs from 9AM cst Monday to 9AM cst Tuesday.

2. You can tweet up to 10 times for points. Just re-enter the form, marking your name and check the tweet box.

*It’s a statistical fact or something.

3WTNW – The Most Requested ARCs Giveaway

THIS IS NOW CLOSED.

Hey lovelies!!

It’s Monday, and that means it’s time for another giveaway!!

These giveaways, in case you’re just joining us, exist both to make Monday suck less, and to count down until THE NEAR WITCH hits stores!

This week’s theme: The Most Requested ARCs! And I’ve got three hot picks for you!

THE PRIZES:

ONE person will win THE UNBECOMING OF MARA DYER by Michelle Hodkin, SHATTER ME by Tahereh Mafi, GIRL OF FIRE AND THORNS by Rae Carson, and tons of swag!

Maybe, maybe, maybe, if we get enough entries, I’ll throw an ARC of THE NEAR WITCH in the mix. I felt a little narcissistic putting it into this particular giveaway, given the theme, but let’s see how it goes. Let’s call it GENEROUS. Generous is a prettier word.

FIVE people will win signed and hand-illustrated bookplates.

THE RULES:

1. Fill out the form!
2. Spread the word!
3. Hug someone.

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW:

The giveaways last only 24 hours, running from Monday, 9am CST to Tuesday, 9AM CST.

You can get points for tweeting up to five times during the day. Just fill out the form each time.

Go HERE to get the widget!

Don’t forget, only YOU can MAKE MONDAY SUCK LESS.