YA Author Stacey Kade

Okay, I have many, many things to update you on, but because I have revisions due to the sequel to G&G in just under a month (YIKES), I’m going to stick to the basics.

First, the release date for The Ghost and the Goth has changed…It’s moved up a week to June 29! That means, *deep breath*, my book will be out in just SIX short weeks.

Second, I’m going on book tour! Actually, a whole bunch of Hyperion authors are. I’m part of the unREQUIRED READING Tour with Kristen Tracy, Brent Crawford, Elizabeth Rudnick, Daniel Waters, Brendan Halpin, and Emily Franklin. The tour has its own page up on Facebook and rumor has it, we’re going to be given a couple of those Flip video cameras to record our experiences on the road. This should be very interesting!

Third, here are the tour dates so far:
TOUR:
- June 18: Davis Kidd, Memphis (Waters, Rudnick, Franklin, and Halpin)
- June 18: Keplers, Menlo Park, CA (Tracy, Kade, and Crawford)
- June 19: Books & Books, Coral Gabels, FL (Waters, Rudnick, Franklin, and Halpin)
- June 21: Pudd’nHead Books (Tracy, Kade, and Crawford)
- June 21: Little Shop of Stories, Atlanta GA (Waters, Rudnick, Franklin, and Halpin)
- June 22: Anderson’s, Naperville, IL (all authors)
- June 23: Watermark Books, Wichita KS (all authors)
- June 24: Books of Wonder, New York, NY (all authors)
- June 25: Reception at American Libraries Association Convention, Washington, DC (all authors)
- June 26: Politics & Prose, Washington DC (all authors)

I think there are more dates to be added soon, and times as well!

I need to get back to revisions now, but I hope to see you all out on the road in just a few weeks!

Book Two–still operating under the title of Princess Poltergeist–is now officially turned in. Yea!!! I’m very proud of myself because this is the first book where I was under contract with a REAL deadline. I’m really happy with how it has turned out so far–my editor is awesome and will surely have suggestions to make it even better.

While I’m waiting for edits, I’m attempting to “relax.” I don’t relax well, honestly. And things are about to get rather busy, promotion-wise for G&G, so it would be good if I could take advantage of this momentary lull. But…not so much.

So I’m playing around with a few new ideas–unrelated to the Alona and Will trilogy–and letting notions for the third book in that series simmer also.

It’s always strange to be at the beginning of something again. I know, logically-speaking, that at the beginning of G&G, I started as I usually do–a curiosity about the story that won’t let go and the urge to see if I can do it, if I can tell this particular story.

In remembering it now, though, it seems it always felt like, “Yeah, this is going to work!” In truth, I suspect I was having fun trying it and felt a connection to the story, which made me want to see it through to the end.

So that’s what I’m trying to make myself keep in mind. I’m playing, writing pages to see if they will go anywhere or not and trying not to worry about whether they do or don’t. If I’m having fun, odds are, it’ll be worth it one way or another.

One of my previous day-job managers, who is writer as well, said that the uncertainty, the unsureness of whether you can write a particular project, is good. It’s an incentive. I didn’t understand that at the time. Now, I get it. I’m always looking for ways to challenge myself, improve my writing or explore different facets within it.

*****
Other stuff:

–Just picked up Hex Hall by fellow D-H author (and Tenner, I think) Rachel Hawkins. It is just awesome! Shaping up to be one of my favorite books so far this year.

–LOVE, LOVE, LOVED Some Girls Are by Courtney Summers. Kept me riveted.

–Only two more Fringe DVDs and then I’ll have to move on to a new show on Netflix because Season 2 isn’t out yet. Any suggestions?

–We saw Up in the Air (the George Clooney movie) and Percy Jackson this weekend. Up in the Air was kind of depressing, as I’d expected, but Anna Kendrick deserves all those nominations she’s been getting. (Also, I totally called the “twist” that everyone was talking about, much to my husband’s annoyance.)

Percy Jackson was…eh. I felt like they’d meant it to be like Harry Potter 1, but cast the actors like they were from Harry Potter 5, does that make sense? The actors seemed too old for some of the stuff that was going on. I don’t know why they didn’t cast younger, other than the heart-throb factor. Other than that it reminded me a lot of Clash of the Titans (the original), which only reinforced the idea that the new version of Clash of the Titans (now with MORE Sam Worthington goodness) is going to be fabulous!

You guys, I have seen the cover for G&G–and it is GORGEOUS! Seriously, it’s like they were able to see inside my head and replicate exactly what I was thinking of when I wrote the book. It’s THAT good.

I love the models they found and the expressions on their faces are just perfect! Even the way they’re sitting is exactly right.

I love it. I want to print it out, put it under my pillow, and fall asleep with it there. No kidding. I keep pulling it up on screen, just to stare at it longingly.

But…here’s the bad part. I can’t share it yet.

So, as much as I’d love to go into Alona’s smirk and Will’s fabulous cheekbones…I can’t. Because you would have no idea what I’m talking about. Yet. And that’s just not fun.

But I’m so very excited I just had to share that news. So, I’m sorry for the tease and thank you for your patience!

Other stuff…

–Thanks to an article on Time.com (scroll down to #2 on the list), I went out and bought a movie called Carriers. I’d never heard of it before, but it has the new Captain Kirk in it (Chris Pine) and that alone was enough to raise my interest. And you guys? If you’re into the scary, post-apocolyptic (but no zombies) story thing, this is the movie for you. It was incredibly well done. What I enjoyed the most was the idea that maybe survival isn’t everything, which is kind of what they’re implying. You live, sure, but at what cost? Your humanity?

It actually made me cry when it wasn’t making me jump out of my skin.

Plus, there’s crazy drunkeness, breaking into creepy abandoned condo buildings, stealing cars and many other things we’d all probably do if the rest of the world disappeared.

–Did you watch the Golden Globes on Sunday? I was so excited to see RDJ win for Sherlock Holmes. And his speech, in my opinion, was the best of the night. I must admit, I was also thrilled to see The Hangover win. And not just because I adore Bradley Cooper, though I do. That movie was the best of the summer, in my opinion. It was refreshingly non-PC, borderline offensive in some places, and cringe-worthy at times, but also laugh till you cry funny and an interesting take on storytelling. To that point, I would argue that, structurally, it’s set up like a mystery, which is quite different and one of the things I really liked about it. Have you seen it? Would you agree with that statement?

–And finally, the new show on the CW, Life Unexpected, was really, really good. Originally, I wanted to see it just because it stars Shiri Appleby, one of my Roswell favorites. But then I learned more about the story and that only increased my interest. And darn, if it didn’t come through and meet or exceed my expectations. Like I need one more show to watch, especially on Mondays, which around our house is referred to as “Castle-day.” You can check out what Mo Ryan, one of my favorite TV critics, had to say about the show here.

Woohoo, look at me go! Two posts in the same month!