Scholastic Book Club flyer

Note whose book I”m sharing the page with!!

To say I’ve been a little scatter-brained lately possibly understates it. The title of this post covers some of what’s going on, but not all of it. If I want to tack on a few of the other things vying for my attention, I’d have to add: Scholastic goodies, taglines, promo posts, and weather.

Tomorrow, my fourth book, The Inquisitor’s Mark, officially releases. There’s a launch party scheduled for this Saturday at the wonderful and amazing Hockessin Book Shelf – assuming we can squeeze it in between snow storms. Yeah, January in Pennsylvania/Northern Delaware. What a treat. I don’t want to complain too much, because I love to ski. But I do wish the snow would confine itself to the ski slopes and stay away from my book launch.

Editorial revisions are due for The Morrigan’s Curse in three weeks. I’m making good progress, but I’ve been highly distractible as all kinds of tantalizing things pop up online. Promotional posts have been going live, and I always want to stop by and say thank you. The Eighth Day has been turning up in Scholastic flyers (February TAB for example), and Scholastic Book Fair Canada created an entire skit to promote The Eighth Day, based on a scene from my book.

expansion packMeanwhile, the HarperCollins production team has outpaced me. I don’t have a final version of The Morrigan’s Curse to turn in yet, but they’ve already written the cover flap copy and asked me to brainstorm taglines for the front cover. It’s weird, but trying to come up with a catchy line that encapsulated the book totally derailed me from revisions for a weekend. I could not envision the story globally and also focus on the details of chapter revision. Luckily, my editors suggested a tagline we all liked, and I was able to turn back to the manuscript.

I’ve got my swag ready. My set of tattoos has expanded from 5 to 7, with Ambrose and Dulac crests added in honor of those new characters. And my daughter took all of the wonderful character sketches created by the talented Rachel Gillespie and designed an 8-day-week calendar for Transitioners. (I’ve got a limited number of those, but if they prove popular, I can get more. Plus I soon hope to have it downloadable from my website for kids who’d just like to print out a paper version.)

calendars

Also on my mind are two manuscripts I turned in to my agent – an old one that’s been newly revised and a brand new one. Sara got those promptly back to me with revision notes, so they’re waiting in queue behind The Morrigan’s Curse for my attention. As for the Shiny New Idea that keeps nudging me … it’s going to have to wait its turn. (Other than the opening line, which I already wrote: “You’re telling me I have to kill one of the kids?”)

I’m trying to keep up with writing and visiting blogs. As of now, I have no takers for First Impressions in February. If you’re interested, let me know ASAP.

And wish me clear skies for Saturday!