VICIOUS movie news, ALA schedule, July signings, and a London meetup!

Hello, lovelies! I just got back from a couple weeks abroad, and have multiple books and a speech to write, so this is going to be brief, but I have things to share! * #1.

VICIOUS MOVIE UPDATE!

In case you missed the news, VICIOUS officially has its screenwriter!!! There are still many steps between here and the silver screen, but this is a vital one, and I’m SO excited to welcome rising star Alexander Felix to the VICIOUS team! Details HERE. * #2 I’m heading to ALA’s annual conference at the end of this month! I am so terrified excited! It’s my first time at ALA, and it’s going to be a doozy. I’m on an SFF panel with a legendary crew, doing signings for both VICIOUS and THE UNBOUND, and even giving a speech (!!!) at the Literary Tastes brunch hosted by RUSA, which named VICIOUS their best fantasy. If you’re coming to ALA, I hope you’ll track me down and say hello! My events: –In-booth signing of THE UNBOUND. Saturday, June 28th. 10:30AM–11:30AM. Disney*Hyperion Booth #0603. –SF panel. Saturday, June 28th. 4:30PM–5:30PM. Alongside Jo Walton, Douglas Preston, Terry Goodkind, Wen Spencer. –Literary Tastes brunch. Sunday, June 29th. 8:00AM–10:00AM. Alongside Tessa Dare, Daniel Brown, Christopher Buehlman. Room N258. –In-booth signing of VICIOUS. Sunday, June 29th. 11AM–11:30AM. Tor Booth #0532. * #3 I’m going to be doing a couple of group signings in July! One in St. Louis, and one in Memphis. These will be, as far as I know, the last events I do before heading overseas for a year, so if you’re in the vicinity, I hope you’ll come! Details: Thursday, July 17th. St. Louis, MO. Hosted by Left Bank Books. Time/Place TBA. The cast: Philip Siegel, Paula Stokes, Lindsay Cummings, Bethany Hagen, Heather Brewer, Cole Gibsen, Sarah Bromley, Lydia Kang, Victoria Schwab, Whitney Miller, Courtney Stevens. Friday, July 18th. Memphis, TN. The Booksellers at Laurelwood. 6pm. The cast: Philip Siegel, Paula Stokes, Lindsay Cummings, Robin Bridges, Victoria Schwab, Courtney Stevens, Lydia Kang, Whitney Miller. * #4 I’m going to be appearing at LonCon in London this August, and the lovely Daphne over at Winged Reviews thought it would be cool to put together a meet-up, since I’ve never done an event in the UK! The details are still being sorted, as I wait for my official con schedule, but if you’re interested in being part of the meet-up, contact Daphne (Twitter: @wingedreviews). * And now, if you’ll excuse me, I must go and write a scene in which a girl with a knife takes down an entire pirate ship.

The VICIOUS movie deal: what happened, what it means, and what it doesn’t.

Hello, lovelies!!

So, yesterday, after months and months of hope, development, and waiting, this went up on Deadline Hollywood:

Before I go any further, allow me to get this out of my system: AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Okay. Deep breaths. Onward. As many of you have guessed, this is the reason (or at least a large portion of the reason) I flew out to LA this past October.

The deal was already underway, and while I was out there, I had the immense pleasure of meeting not only my film agent (the incredible, and incredibly patient-with-V, Jon Cassir) but also EVERYONE involved on this deal.

Ridley Scott’s company, Scott Free, have been absolute champions of VICIOUS from the very beginning. They were one of the first producers to vie for the project, and have fought for it at every single stage so far.

Getting to meet Allison, my acquiring producer, has been an absolute highlight of my journey so far. You guys, when the article says that Allison “brought in the book” that is an understatement. She discovered VICIOUS, and she championed it in-house with infectious excitement, and none of this would be happening without her. She is hungry and she is brilliant and I want to draw hearts on her picture. These are my feelings.

And Story Mining. Story Mining itself may be new on the block but it’s made up of powerhouse players. I got to have brunch with Jeffrey and Evan in the penthouse of an extraordinarily posh building in Beverly Hills and I still haven’t fully recovered. These gentleman are savvy, passionate, and smart, and getting to sit across from them and nervously eat a croissant while they talked about my book–my characters, my world–is something I can’t even describe. They GET IT.

Everyone involved GETS IT and while I’m obviously over the moon to have a film deal, I want to try and stress how important it is to have people on board who aren’t just making a power play, or collecting a project “just in case”, but are well and truly committed to the narrative. In that respect, I feel incredibly blessed.

Now, the down and dirty.

VICIOUS has been optioned. What this means is that the involved producers/production companies have essentially bought the exclusive right to make the movie for the next couple years. If they need more time, they can buy more time.

For those who don’t know, a film option does NOT mean VICIOUS will necessarily be coming to a theatre near you. There are still so. many. doors. to unlock, to pass through. Screenwriters and scripts and directors and casts and such. And none of those doors are in my control. This door wasn’t either. All that I have done–all that I could do–was write the book.

What it DOES mean is that a team of producers believes in the project enough to take the first and vital step in that direction. As with book publishing, there are many, many doors a project needs to get through, but this is the first one, and having the opportunity to cross this threshold is immense, to say the least.

One of the coolest parts of this deal is that it’s not with a studio. It’s with a financier. Often producers pair up with studios (Fox, WB, Lionsgate, etc) and while that’s awesome, the fact is that studios are huge, and take on a massive amount of content, and then the vast majority of that content simply, well, sits. Waiting.

But having a financier attached, and specifically an amazing, energetic financier like Story Mining (these are the guys behind the upcoming Outlander tv series!), means that VICIOUS has a better chance of progressing through the next few doors. It still means we need green lights, but it also means that VICIOUS can be sold to a studio before production OR after, which is an immense luxury. Scott Free and Story Mining have a unique partnership…that is to say, they came together FOR this project. And that’s a great thing.

Will VICIOUS become a movie? I don’t know. I like to proceed with extreme caution where these kinds of hopes are concerned (see: things out of my control). But while I can’t tell you what will happen next, I can tell you that everyone attached to VICIOUS believes in this project. They are passionate about the story, and about Victor and Eli, Sydney and Serena, and I could not ask for more.

If you have any questions, comments, etc. leave them below!

Two more steps on the path to world domination.

Hey, lovelies!!

Two very, very cool things have happened for VICIOUS in the last week, aiding my little supervillain book in its climb to world domina–I mean success.

First, last week, Publishers Weekly named VICIOUS one of the Best Books of 2013!!!!

I was shocked and humbled, to say the least, and really, really excited.

And then!!!

I woke up this morning to learn that VICIOUS had made the official ballot in the Goodreads Choice Awards. I was completely speechless.

I just can’t even. You can’t see it in the screenshot, but I’m in that category with Neil Gaiman and Brandon Sanderson.

If you want to go vote, you can click HERE.

I know I’ve said it before, but I have to say it again. I’m not lying when I say that every step counts. Every review. Every purchase. Every tweet. Every spread word, and shouted word, and whispered-in-a-library word. It all counts. Some books come into the game with hundreds or thousands of voices already behind them, but most come with only a few, and if they’re lucky, those few are loud.

I have felt so very lucky, because even when VICIOUS did not have many voices, those voices were loud. They continue to be loud. And people seem to be listening.

So thank you.

Thank you to everyone who takes the time to be a voice, because I hear them, and others hear them, too, and it really does matter.

Life update! Finished drafts, trips to LA, and THE UNBOUND approacheth.

Agh, I’ve been such a bad blogger! So sorry, lovelies. But it’s obviously time for a life update!

Two weeks ago I found myself at New York Comic Con, and had the surreal opportunity to promote VICIOUS and THE ARCHIVED at the same time. Between the back-to-back signings, and the panel alongside epic authors like Lev Grossman and Kami Garcia, I was equal parts exhausted and exhilarated.

(Photo credit: Viking Books…I’m the one with horns)

I was also ON DEADLINE.

A week and a half ago, I finished the draft of my 7th book (9th if you count the two that will never be published). The book still has no title, and it recently got pushed back (only 3-4 months) to make sure I have the time to make it the strongest book possible. But having a first draft feels like a major accomplishment right now, especially in the midst of so much travel and strange and awesome and distraction.

Here’s a few visual hints about the project:

I cannot wait to say more 😉

Anyway, the day after I finished my draft, a film crew flew out on behalf of Scholastic to shoot footage of me for the official Book Clubs and Fairs DVD, yet another first, and another surreal experience in a season dedicated to the new and humbling. They were absolutely lovely, and I am still processing the fact that EVERYDAY ANGEL’s trailer, complete with my commentary, will be in every single classroom pre-fair. Because of my inclusion in the promo materials, it also means that EVERYDAY ANGEL itself will be guaranteed in every. single. fair. Which is just…wow.

Two days after the Scholastic shoot, I drove up to St. Louis to see two of my best friends, toast to finished drafts, and do a signing at a bookstore (Subterranean) where I worked for a semester during my time at WashU. It was a much-needed sanity break.

And then, the day after I drove back to Nashville, I set out for Los Angeles.

I’m not allowed to talk about WHY I went to LA yet (hopefully soon) but suffice it to say, it was a surreal and humbling experience. And in addition to all the secret-y work meetings, I was invited to the Bad Robot offices. *dies* Yes, Bad Robot, as in JJ ABRAMS’ PRODUCTION COMPANY. I snagged this photo from the waiting room:

The offices are as strange and cool and secretive as the man at their helm, and I am still geeking out about the experience. I also totally stole a button from that jar.

(T’s are being crossed and i’s dotted in other parts of LA, and I’m hopeful I’ll be able to share the AMAZING NEWS soon. In the meantime, apologies for being a tease.)

And now, at last, I’m home. For the rest of the fall, in fact, aside from a jaunt to Charleston for YALLFest in a couple weeks (I hope to see some of you there! In addition to paneling, I’ll be signing all three books, THE NEAR WITCH, THE ARCHIVED, and VICIOUS).

In other news, my glorious writing chair came. Behold:

It is a 1920’s style Georgian Wingback, and it cost a fair portion of my soul, but I’m convinced it will be my red violin, and follow me through time. One day I’ll live in a little Scottish apartment and the chair will be my only piece of furniture and it will still feel like home.

And finally, THE UNBOUND.

You guys, THE UNBOUND comes out in 3 MONTHS. I cannot even handle that. I’ve been so caught up in VICIOUS things, the release has snuck up on me! One of the reasons it’s been so stealth on the approach is because we are not doing ARCs.

Before you start BOOing, or making rude gestures, or pouting, here’s what I have to say: there are only 3 months till release, and you probably wouldn’t have time to read the ARC anyway :p But seriously, it was a decision made by the entire Disney team, as well as myself, and I stand by it.

I hope you’ll stand by me.

The success of THE UNBOUND is more important than ever, and I need you with me.

Also, you will have a chance to read the book early, if you want to. We’ll be giving away a very select number of access buttons to a full digital copy, mostly through giveaways and twitter contests, so if you snag one of those, you’ll be able to download a full e-arc.

ALSO.

In only a matter of days (on November 8th), the first 100 pages of THE UNBOUND will go up on Netgalley. It will be auto-approved, so all you have to do is click the download button. As with book 1, no pressure, if you’d rather read it all at once, but if you DO want the sneak peek, it’s yours.

And the only thing I’ll say about those pages is that there is a lot of Wesley in them. There is a lot of Wesley Ayers in the whole book, for that matter. I teasingly said on Twitter the other day:

Annnnnd I think that’s everything right now. I’ve officially caught you up.

Looking ahead:

November promises to be a daunting month.

I’m revising the second book in the EVERYDAY ANGEL series, and will soon be revising an adult project as well. Additionally, I’m hoping to log between 25,000 and 30,000 new words, though I haven’t decided yet where they’ll go. I have two projects I’m currently enamored with, both in the bony stages, and would love to put some meat on each. One I’ve been planning for more than TWO YEARS, and feel like it’s finally time to start.

Regardless, I will try to be a better blogger in the month ahead! And hopefully the next time I blog it will be with NEWS.

Cheers, lovelies.
~V

Introducing the VICIOUS forum!

Hey lovelies!

VICIOUS is officially on shelves, and as I lurk around the internet, watching people read, a few things have become evident:

–People have some very strong Victor feels (I approve)

–People have some very spoilery questions

–People who’ve read it/are reading, want to TALK to other people who’ve read it/are reading.

SO.

I took a few minutes to build a forum for this purpose!

You can access the forum by clicking the picture above or going HERE.

There you can talk about the characters, pose questions to other readers–and to me, in the Ask V.E. Schwab tab–post VELI fan fiction, discuss superpowers, etc. etc.

I didn’t make this for me, I made it for you, and will only be commenting on that author forum, to keep the space solidly reader-focused.

Anyway, I hope you’ll take advantage of the forum, and become a member of this VICIOUS little community. And please spread the word!

So you want VICIOUS trading cards (and missed the pre-order campaign)…

Okay, lovelies.

I’ve been trying to decide what to do about the trading cards. They were a reward for pre-orders of the book, but now the book is out, and people are finding it, and then the cards, and wanting them.

Which left me with a dilemma.

On the one hand, I can’t simply change the offer from pre-order to order because it’s not fair to all the awesome–seriously, hundreds of awesome–people who pre-ordered.

BUT.

I love these cards, and have A LOT of them, and want to share them with you.

SO.

Here’s what we’re going to do.

If you buy the book (online or digitally), read it, review it–on Amazon, BN, Goodreads, etc–and send a link w/ the review to viciousveschwab at gmail dot com, I will send you a set of trading cards 🙂

Sound fair?

I think that’s fair.

VICIOUS IS HERE. (And I have so many feelings.)

It’s a surreal thing, the day when a book ceases to belong to YOU, and instead belongs to EVERYONE.

It’s a happy, sad, strange, wonderful, surreal thing.

And today, I experienced that mix of emotions for the third time, when VICIOUS officially hit shelves.

I’m supposed to let go now, to give my morbid little book up to the world and step away, and tug my skin–everything I pulled away to write and rewrite–back together, nice and tight around me.

I have never been so ready, and so not ready at the same time.

I am ready to share, of course. But not to let go. And I don’t think I ever will be, not with this book.

I miss my characters. I miss my world. And I’m so excited that other people can now discover it, and in a way I will be able rediscover it through them. Rediscover what it feels like, meeting Victor and Eli, Syd and Serena. The rush, the thrill, the shock, the surprise.

VICIOUS is the only book I re-visit, not as an author, but as a reader. Like saying hello to friends. For nearly three years, they were my friends. Still are, somewhere in my head.

Confession: on bad days, I write new scenes. Ones that take place after VICIOUS, little fragments of a story I hope one day I get to share. For now, it’s mine. But then again, so was VICIOUS 😉

Anyway, VICIOUS is out there now. I hope you’ll go and find it. Give a read. Say hello to my old friends. Maybe they’ll become yours, too.

All my love.

V

VICIOUS IS NIGH!!! (and other things you should know)

Lovelies. Lovelies. I can’t even…

*breathes deeply, composes self*

VICIOUS comes out in 5 DAYS. As in, in 5 days, it will be everywhere. On shelves. On doorsteps. The whole nine yards.

In 5 days I will write a post with a lot of feelings (if you’ve not watched this vlog yet, it should serve as a good intro to the feels that will spill across this blog on Tuesday: ). But it’s not Tuesday yet, so we shall hold off on those feelings.

In the meantime, a few orders of business!

I’m getting ready to head to New Orleans (for the very first time) to participate in the SIBA (Southern Independent Booksellers Association) trade show! I can’t wait to look at graveyards and talk to awesome indies and read to them from VICIOUS (!) and eat beignets. I’m really, really ex

1. Author copies!

Prettyyyyyyy:

One day I will have enough author copies to build a throne.

2. NEW YORK COMIC CON!

I will be going to NYCC this year for both VICIOUS and THE ARCHIVED!

On Saturday, I’ll be on a pretty epic panel called ODE TO NERDS, but I will also have TWO in-booth signings, one for THE ARCHIVED and one for VICIOUS.

Yes, that’s right, on Friday I will sign THE ARCHIVED in Disney’s booth (10:30-11:30) and then VICIOUS in Tor’s booth (12-1) and you can come and get FREE COPIES OF BOTH and get them signed by me and such and it will be a blast. More details (such as time of day) to come on that front.

3. A new blurb!!!

I am so humbled to announce that VICIOUS picked up a NINTH blurb this week, from an absolute force:

“V.E. Schwab’s Vicious is the superhero novel I’ve been waiting for: fresh, merciless, and yes, vicious.”

—Mira Grant, New York Times bestselling author of Blackout

*swoon*

4. So VICIOUS is about to hit shelves. What does that mean? What can I do? How can I help?

This is something I will try and address more next week, but I wanted to say briefly now that a book release is 75% OMG AWESOME and 25% TERRIFYING and I might have actually gotten those statistics reversed.

So much work goes into a book–so much work went into THIS book–and the moment when you have to let go, when it ceases to be yours and becomes everyone’s, is utterly terrifying. All you can hope as an author is that people love it, and that they love it en talk about it, because we live in a word-of-mouth era. Talking about books sells books. One voice in one ear can multiply more than anything.

All I would ask as we head into next week is that, if you’re so inclined, you spread the word. Tell one person about VICIOUS. Hell, tell two! I wish I could explain how much power you have now.

Even when it seems like a book doesn’t need your help, like it has the voice and the steam it needs, I cannot stress enough that a book is like a coal-driven train, in that it needs constant fuel.

I’ve felt incredibly blessed by the voice given to VICIOUS so far, both by PW, and by my amazing blurbers, and by you. But it’s still incredibly scary, and you live in this place of “blow on the coals! Blow on the coals!” So if you have even a single breath of air to spare, it would mean the world if you could use it to tell someone about VICIOUS 🙂

Until next week, lovelies!

❤

In which our intrepid heroine is strapped to a roller coaster.

Hi there, lovelies.

Only a few days into September, and it’s already proving to be a month of immense highs and lows.

Lows first. We lost our beloved golden, Sammy, yesterday. This came after losing Mitzi only a short number of weeks ago. Sammy was 13. Mitzi was 18. They defined my childhood, and their absence is immense. It’s heartbreaking, going to the vet with a dog, and coming back with only a collar, and I’m trying to hold on to the good instead of the sad in this summer of loss.

But there is a lot of good to hold on to.

VICIOUS comes out in 18 days. I don’t even know how to mentally handle that. To be measuring in days instead of weeks or months makes my heart ache in a totally different way.

Four years ago–almost exactly–I sold my first book. Today, I got to take this picture:

Because today, I got to hold VICIOUS in its finished form. I don’t have the words (I suppose they are all in these books) to explain.

The entire back cover of VICIOUS is blurbs.

And Tor, which has been so amazing and supportive from the start, is running a giveaway on their website for TEN galleys of the book, each with trading cards, and if you’d like in, you only need comment HERE.

Another spot of good to hold on to: this week, VICIOUS was named an Amazon Best Book of the Month. Again, speechless. Totally speechless.

More cool/exciting/terrifying things are happening, but of course, I cannot talk about them yet. Of course. It is a tease, I know. I cannot tell you who I’ll be paneling with a NY Comic Con, though it’s insane. I cannot show you new covers, though I’ve seen them. I cannot talk about new book deals, though they exist. I cannot share awesome opportunities just yet. Not yet. Stick with me awhile. ❤

In the meantime, I have a book due Monday, and should probably get back to writing it, but as always, lovelies, I adore you. Thank you for riding the roller coaster with me.

“Warm Up” is here!!! And you can read it for free on Tor.com.

That is how I feel Because it’s HERE! “Warm Up” is HERE! No, it’s not VICIOUS (yet) but it’s the first glimpse into the VICIOUS world, and that makes it all feel very real and WHEEEEE.

What is it?

“Warm Up” is a short story that takes place before VICIOUS.

What’s it about?

It’s been 297 days since David died–and came back.

He may have survived the avalanche, but the aftermath has been far worse. His wife moved out, taking his son with her, and a devastated David hasn’t left his house since, terrified of the mysterious new power that followed him home from the ill-fated expedition.

After months in seclusion, David’s ready for a fresh start, and ventures out, determined to keep his power in check. But David’s power isn’t the one he needs to worry about.

Where can I read it?

You can read the story for free on TOR.COM, or download it through Amazon and keep with you forever.

And please, please, if you read it (it’s only 15 formatted pages), rate and/or review! It seriously matters. To me. To Tor. To me.

Backstory?

I wrote “Warm Up” while in Scotland, in an Edinburgh cafe called SPOON to be exact, sitting across from the marvelous Rachel Hawkins.

I’d been wanting to write it for months. You see, VICIOUS is a supernatural/sci-fi/superpower story with rules, and I wanted to give you a glimpse of those rules, a look into the world, without spoiling ANYTHING about VICIOUS. Which is harder than it sounds.

I was also really inspired by the opening scene of Inglorious Bastards. Not the content so much as the tension, the idea of walking very slowly through a tense moment, waiting for the strings to break because you know they will.

I so hope you enjoy!