Blackwood

So, remember I put up that big laundry list of stuff yesterday and was all: That's everything! Nothing more to see here. Turns out, I lied. Because Blackwood is on this: 

io9 Fall Preview: This Fall's Must-Read Science Fiction and Fantasy Books

In fact, it's right there at the top of the list. *faints* (Thanks so much to io9, seriously.)

I apologize if this is incoherent, for I seem to have forgotten to take allergy medication this morning and have had less coffee than normal. AND I got less sleep than normal, because I was completely wired after the fabulous party put together by regional Random House rep extraordinaire (and generally wonderful person) Eileen so I could meet and hang out with booksellers from our three biggest local bookstores (how lucky is Lexington to have Joseph-Beth Booksellers, Morris Book Shop, and Barnes and Noble? very) and a few other excellent bookish types and talk Blackwood. There was a giant powerpoint presentation projected on the wall with slides from the pinterest board and of the book cover (!) and I signed many copies of the book. (Psst: Other Strange Chemistry authors, lots of your galleys were given out as well! Excitement!) At any rate, a super-super fun evening with a bunch of wonderful people.

Which is meaning a super-drowsy Friday…

But there are still more relevant links. My cup runneth over.

• Feeling honored by and swoony about this First Look at Heroes and Heartbreakers by Victoria Janssen: "The fantastical mystery of modern-day disappearances on the site of such a famous historical disappearance kept me turning the pages, but what I enjoyed most in this novel were the characters." <3
• PW covers the launch of Strange Chemistry and Soho Teen for yesterday's Children's Bookshelf.
• The Ranting Dragon put Blackwood at 4 (and Shift at 9, plus more fabulous company like Malinda Lo's Adaptation and Rae Carson's The Crown of Embers) on its Top 30 Most Anticipated Speculative Novels Released in September (plus awesome graphic).
• A very nice review at Ink Scratchers by Jade: "One of the best parts of this book was the romance, both Miranda and Phillips were fantastic characters on their own but when you put them together they make an awesome team. This is a relationship that develops slowly, considering how fast-paced this book is in places the development seems real."

I like that Miranda and Phillips are getting the romance love today. It makes me happy. But it's a little ironic, because I'm representing Team Stomp (aka action!) over at Rabid Reads today in the epic Stomp vs. Romp contest. I channeled Dear Aunt Gwenda to give five tips for surviving an action sequence. Excerpt: "No, if you have to be a villain, make it epic. Be the worst you possibly can–burn books of poetry, wear a false mustache and twirl it regularly, and remember the number one rule of villainous fashion (aka “Black is always the new black”)–and maybe, just maybe, you’ll get to survive two, three, maybe even a series’ worth of books."

Go read and vote Stomp if you're so inclined. There is also a giveaway you can enter for a signed copy of Blackwood. (Winners of other signed copies of Blackwood, they're coming as soon as my author copies show up…so VERY SOON. I resisted the impulse to steal copies last night…barely.)

Hope you guys all have an excellent weekend.

Okay, I was going to put up my WorldCon schedule and a reminder about the Chicago event today, but I'm leaving that till tomorrow or Monday. Because this is something I'm superexcited about.

Blackwood is going to be an audiobook!

That's right, lovelies, if you prefer to listen to your books, you'll be able to get Blackwood that way simultaneously with its release the first week of September. You can read the full press release from Angry Robot at the link above, but AudioGO will be doing the Strange Chemistry and Exhibit A imprint books, starting with Blackwood and Shift. I have known about this for a little while, so glad to be able to announce it.

The Blackwood audiobook will be voiced by Stephanie Cannon, whose samples are amazing AND who–in addition to acting and voice work–is also a professional stiltwalker. (Those of you who know my love of all things circus will understand how happy this makes me.)

A few other cool things:

Blackwood and Shift side by side in the latest SFX! It's real, guys, we actually made books! twitter.com/strangechem/st…

— Strange Chemistry (@strangechem) August 23, 2012

• SFX review! I'm honored for the book to be beside my release sister Kim Curran and her excellent Shift. You can embiggen the photo to read the whole reviews, but I kind of want to marry the part about "Bond's sassy prose"–I have always wanted to have sassy prose. *beams*
• I also kind of want to marry this review by Ole Imsen at Weirdmage's Reviews (which, btw, is in-depth, but not spoilery in the least):  "This is a great debut novel by Gwenda Bond, and it is a novel that deserves a place on the shelves of any Fantasy fan. And for those that are partial to Young Adult, this is a must buy."
• A couple more reviews: Josh at Rabid Reads ("Recommended if you like a tempestuous and criminal read redolent of salt-spray") and by Kevin Holtsberry at Collected Miscellany ("I think anyone who enjoys YA – particularly the paranormal romance side – will enjoy this debut.  It has a nice blend of action, mystery and romance and is creative and witty without trying to hard to be cute"). (I so appreciate all the guys who've read and reviewed the book–who says men won't read a book with a romance and a girl on the cover?)
• And thanks to everyone who spread the word and/or checked out Blackwood's excerpt this week (it has almost 1400 views as I post this–holy cats! nerves!).
• There's also a new short "Amazon Exclusive" essaylet on Blackwood's Amazon page about my inspiration for the book and how it came together.
• And, last but not least, while I was on the road last week I neglected to point to a new interview at Manga Maniac Cafe. (Question five was tough–this was a fun interview to do.)

For those who have asked: Blackwood's official release date is Sept. 4 in the U.S. and Sept. 6 in the UK. I do not know if copies will leak out early–except in Chicago next weekend–but please do send photos if you spot one. Eek!

And that's it for now, except to wish Amanda and everyone else on the other side of the pond a great launch party tonight at the British Museum. Go Team SC!

Or something, because, honestly, I have these moments where I go: THIS IS REALLY HAPPENING. I HAVE A BOOK COMING OUT .

And the rest of the time I feel like it's all imaginary.

The Strange Chemistry website has gotten a beeYOOtiful redesign from web guru and magican of all things technical and marketing and etc. at Angry Robot Darren Turpin. And today they've put up excerpts from all four the first SC books, including Blackwood. (This would be one of those moments where it FEELS REAL.) I'm attempting to embed it here, but you should go look at 'em all, like, share, if you feel so moved, etc.

(EEK! I hope you guys enjoy!)

Something else that makes it feel scarily real? Holding an actual copy of the book. Like so:

Some other quick links:

• New happy-making review from Tsana's Reads and Reviews: "I really loved both the main characters in this book. They work well together, playing off each other as equals. Rather than having one be the damsel in distress, both had different talents which together help them save the day." (Yay!)
• And two more happy-making reviews: from Strangely Literary ("I think teens will enjoy this new tale and many of them will become intrigued with the history of Roanoke Island when they read the novel") and from my fellow SC author Sean Cummings ("…a breath of fresh air for those of us who are dead dog tired of brooding vampire boyfriends and shape-shifting were-things"; note: I can't wait to read Poltergeeks).
• And, last, a fab list of YA novels set on islands by Kelly Jensen, who was kind enough to include Blackwood. I have a complete thing for island books, and immediately noted the ones here I haven't read.

The fabulous Kelly Jensen of the excellent blog Stacked invited me to be one half of a dual guest post that's up today on new-to-YA publishers–I'm talking about Strange Chemistry and my experience with them and Amy Spalding talks about hers with Entangled Publishing. A snippet from my portion:

Once Amanda started reading submissions, in the book went and we heard from her not that long after–she wanted it and she was really excited about it, though the Editorial Board (dreaded by all writers) still lay ahead. But the ed board said YES. Hallelujah, heavenly choirs, the usual. As a debut author at a small publisher, you can’t expect a “shut up, you’re buying this round” deal. BUT that’s also true as a debut author–or a midlist one, for that matter–at many larger publishers. Giant deals are far fewer than it seems. Really. 

So, a mix of my personal story and some publishing talk. Go thither to read the rest.

A few new things!

Although the book isn't officially out until September 4 here (and September 6 in the UK), my first event is this week. If you're in driving distance of Roanoke Island (or lucky enough to live down in the Outer Banks), come out! I'm super-excited about this one, and will be tweeting and photo-blogging and things on the way and while we're there, and possibly Christopher and I will even manage a little travelogue video when we return (with some expert assistance from our too-kind friend Mandy, if it happens). (Maybe the hashtag will be #CROATOAN? Oh, I think so.) Here's the details:

Thursday, Aug. 16 from 1 p.m.-4 p.m.: Blackwood Pre-Release Signing at Duck's Cottage Downtown Books (105 Sir Walter Raleigh Street) in Manteo, N.C.

The bookstore has been so wonderful to work with, and I'm told there's a chance there may be a couple of exciting drop-ins from local folks…in costume(!). Fingers crossed, though no promises can be made. (Updated: Eleanor Dare and John Borden from The Lost Colony show will be in the house at 1 p.m. Yay!) But I can tell you that regardless the New World Festival of the Arts will also be going on downtown that day, so fun.

There's a post about all the places I'll be for the next month at the Strange Chemistry blog. (And, of course, here.)

Some new Blackwood reviews (with some leetle spoilers, if you care about that kind of thing–but nothing too spoilery):

• Publishers Weekly weighs in with a nice review: "Bond has created an engaging mythology and mystery involving alchemy, curses, and past lives." (Whew!)
• Official SFFWorld.com review from Rob Bedford is a recommend and I especially loved this: "Miranda’s a girl on whom a younger version of myself might have had a crush." (Yay!)
• The full Locus Magazine review by Faren Miller has also been posted online. (Meep!)

And the T-shirts arrived!

That's it for now. More soon!

The YA Scavenger Hunt winners have been posted over at the main site, along with many individual winners.

Computing the results of my bonus contest was harrrd work here, taking a group effort. It started with Hemingway helping read the numbers of entries from the desk:

And that was only the beginning…

(Warning: Gratuitous pet photos ahead. Viewer caution is advised.)

…

Everyone’s A Winner (+ Gratuitous Pets)Read More »

That would be waking to this lovely tweet featuring my beaming editor holding a finished copy of Blackwood!

Look what just arrived in the office: The VERY FIRST Strange Chemistry books, direct from the printer!yfrog.com/es5palpdj @gwenda

— Angry Robot Books (@angryrobotbooks) August 6, 2012

And then beaming editor Amanda sent along a fabulous review of Blackwood by Faren Miller in this month's Locus (!). An excerpt: 

"Offbeat and imaginative, Blackwood mingles past and present, dark forces with a hint of pulp SF, along with many kinds of drama — from Shakespearean revenge to an amphitheater show where the island’s legend is just an entertainment for passing tourists. Whether viewed as young adult, genre mix, or a first novel, it belongs with the year’s best."

*falls over dead*

Less than a month now until the official release.

*jumps up and down*

As you were.

p.s. One more pointer to the Waterstones interview for the week-day crowd.