The Woken Gods Archives - Page 3 of 4

Post-Weekend Update

3 Comments / Artsy, Blackwood, Books, The Woken Gods / By Gwenda / August 26, 2013

Time flies, my friends, and there is not enough of it. A few little things…

Blackwood's ebook is now on sale for the low, low, a-steal-really price of $.99p or $1.99 at Amazon and B&N. And if you buy from Amazon, you can add the audiobook for $3.49.

Handy links: Amazon US / Amazon UK / Nook

On to The Woken Gods, which releases in a week! Ack! I'll be at Joseph-Beth the evening of Sept. 3 at 7 p.m. to sign, read, and babble. Come out if you can.

If you participated in the preorder contest, your relic is winging its way to you as of today. I think these turned out pretty swell and they were lots of fun to do. I'm hoping you'll get them before you get your copies of the book, and do let me know if they don't show up in the next couple weeks. Here's a little peek at a handful as I took them to the mailbox:

(It ended up working out better to type the descriptions on labels and afix, because otherwise the postcards got destroyed on their way through the typewriter machine. You will also learn how you obtained said relics.)

Blog tourishness continues! I neglected to point to an interview with Red Reader Reviews last week that covered all sorts of topics, like how I'd spend my last day on Earth, my favorite quote, what animal I'd be (spoiler: a dragon!), etc. Check it out.
New review from Ashley at the A P Book Club. Snippet: "I'm always looking for a book where ancient mythologies are blended with contemporary settings. Take the Percy Jackson series. I loved those books, and I was kind of really excited to see that this was a book for fans of them. But honestly, I think Bond does it so much better. So I would definitely recommend this to anyone looking for something along the lines of Percy Jackson, but maybe a little more complex and a lot darker." *beams*

And last, but definitely not least, I believe at least a little bit of book money should be spent on a frivolous splurge (whenever possible), and so I might have procured the most insanely great custom e-reader cover ever:

Yay, Etsy. More anon, lovely people.

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The Continuing Saga…

The Woken Gods / By Gwenda / August 21, 2013

…otherwise known as the official unofficial blog tour for The Woken Gods stops over at Read My Breath Away for a Sophomore Spotlight interview, in which we discuss which of my characters I'd want by my side in a zombie apocalpyse and more. (Also, I'm serious about that bohemian utopia — or it could be a bohemian dystopia. Or the name of my next band: Bohemian Dystopia.)

My publisher is kicking in an international giveaway there, so go enter. AND the Pub Crawl giveaway (US-only, but for a signed copy) runs for another day or so. (Or, if you're lazy like me, you could just preorder. Even though the preorder contest is technically over, if a few more emails straggle in to the WokenGodsATgmailDOTcom, they'll almost certainly get relic postcards…I'm doing them this weekend.)

Tomorrow I promise another I Heart post here. It's been a busy bee kind of week, and though it appears the swarm of busy bees have settled in through next month, I'll do my best to post regularly here anyway.

The Continuing Saga… Read More »

Elsewhere!

The Woken Gods / By Gwenda / August 19, 2013

Today is a mad-dashing-around kind of day for me, but…

I'm delighted to be interviewed about The Woken Gods today over at one of my favorite blogs in the constellation, Pub(lishing) Crawl, by the thoroughly wonderful Amie Kaufman (whose These Broken Stars, co-written with Meagan Spooner, you'll be wanting to read later this year). Go forth and discover the story of many drafts and which trio of the dearly departed I'd like to close down a pub with.

Oh, and there's a signed copy giveaway to boot.

Elsewhere! Read More »

Thursday Hangovers

Hangovers, The Woken Gods / By Gwenda / August 15, 2013

Real posts soon, promise, but for now some links.
Golden Retriever Festival in Scotland. These photos are my new happy place.
Great piece by Michael Erard at The Morning News, "Rumors of Tribes": "I collected high school names using Twitter and Survey Monkey and came across “crumbsters,” a label for the popular kids, and the “queer cult,” for the semi-populars, though if awards were given out for creative crowd labels, the kids at one New Jersey high school in the mid-2000s might win for naming their popular crowd in the aftermath of a food fight that happened in ninth grade, when one of the most popular girls shrieked and generally overreacted after she was hit in the face with a flying chicken patty. The popular kids became known as “chicken patties.” "
The super-fancy Robin Wasserman interviewed Ann Patty, the editor who pulled V.C. Andrews from the slush pile. See also: an essay from Patty and a piece by Sara Gran and Megan Abbott in the Believer.
The fab Kelly Braffet wrote a great piece about persevering in the face of naysayers: "After school, I drove to the mall. Soon enough, as always, I found myself in the bookstore. There, surrounded by all of those lovely shelves, row upon row of lovely books, I realized: They hadn’t written themselves. People had written them. Clearly, writing books was not impossible. I was a person; therefore I could write books. And also, Mrs. Smith could go to hell."
A micro-lesson on the importance of varying sentence lengths.
Stephen Blackmoore and Chuck Wendig tackle the kinds of questions that usually get posed only to ladies, over at Whack! The results are hilarious.

The Woken Gods release day continues its approach:

Quick reminder that today's the last day to send the preoder proof if you want a relic typed up and sent to you via the mail. I'm really looking forward to doing these. *twirls fingers evilly*
A happy-making new review at SF Signal by Paul Weimer. Snippet: "In addition to Kyra as a character, the other feature of Woken Gods that really stands out to the reader is its creative use of mythology. Before reading it, I had expected the usual suspects of Greco-Roman mythology, or perhaps, if I was fortunate, a Norse Goddess or two thrown into the mix. … To my surprise and delight, the Gods we see in the Woken Gods are none of the usual suspects."

And a new pretty image et quote:

More soon!

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Quote Unquote

The Woken Gods / By Gwenda / August 10, 2013

So, Christopher kindly helped me fill in some text on several of these neato graphics with quotes from the new book… I asked him when I should start sharing them, and he said, a little pitifully, “Maybe now, since I worked so hard on them?”*

You reblogging/sharing, if you so choose, will make him happy too—and me, obvs—if you’re so inclined. I'm putting these at tumblr and pinterest, one a week through release (note helpful buttons below post).

Number one… *makes tah-dah arms*

*The computer with all the design software died, so we have to recreate all but this one tomorrow. Ack!

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Thursday Hangovers Et Things

2 Comments / Hangovers, The Woken Gods / By Gwenda / August 8, 2013

Could the moonshine cake be my new bourbon chocolates? I'm always looking for good regional cuisine mailing gifts for thank yous. (Via Cherie Priest.)
There have been lots of smart thoughts bopping around tumblr re:movies based on YA novels and movies featuring teen girls, generated by an excellent post by Ally Carter. One of my favorite responses so far is this one from Cassie: "What Twilight, City of Bones, the Hunger Games, and Divergent have in common is that they are about teenage girls, and to people who know about YA, about fiction, even just about stories, that’s really not that much, or even a notable similarity." Go read the whole thing, and go see City of Bones, obvs, because it is going to be AWESOME.
Would you like Boris Karloff's guacamole recipe? I would.
The delightful Myra McEntire speaks the truth about the importance of writer friends.
Genevieve did a wonderful post about eight notable silent films, focusing on the actresses at the heart of them. A great primer if you want to know more about the ladies of the silent era. I swooned. I love them so.
15 million-year-old whale skull found on banks of the Potomac. (You say whale, I say ancient god who looks like a whale. *g*)
The science of champers at Smithsonian: "The collapse of bubbles at the surface is Liger-Belair’s favorite thing about champagne. “Bubbles collapsing close to each other produce unexpected lovely flower-shaped structures unfortunately completely invisible by the naked eye,” he says. “This is a fantastic example of the beauty hidden right under our nose.” "
Photos of Shanghai 26 years apart. Astounding.
If you're into SoundCloud, you can get the whole first season of Radio Unbound here (including the ep with me reading from Blackwood).

And some The Woken Gods things:

The preorder contest is still going, of course, so watch video or read post! Then buy! Email! Get a postcard with a relic! Spread the word! Yay! (I'm really looking forward to writing these, and thanks SO MUCH to everyone who has already entered and who's signal boosted. Every book sold helps feed dogs et cat, so they thank you too.)
And soon I will be all everywhere guest posting and doing interviews and etc.; if you want to be a part of that, get in touch with me or the fabulous Caroline Lambe at Angry Robot/Strange Chemistry, and we'll do our best to accomodate.
Los Angeles area lovelies, I'm coming your way! My first-ever west coast event will be Oct. 13 at 2:30 p.m. at Mysterious Galaxy Redondo Beach. Calendarize and come out. And speaking of events, my Lexington ones for The Woken Gods are also now confirmed on the events page–so Kentucky peeps, come one and all.
A couple more happy-making advance reviews this week, including this lovely one from Torre de Babel, which you can read in English at GoodReads: "Behind an amazing cover lurks a well-crafted divine drama. If you like alternate realities and mythology turned true, you're guaranteed a heck of a good reading." Plus, Kyra and Anzu love. Yay.
Another nice one at the The Founding Fields: “A great, fast paced and fun novel that puts a new spin on the 'Gods Are Real' storyline that fans of the Percy Jackson series and other similar titles will love. … Kyra’s character is strong and awesome, and when this book hits shelves next month, you should certainly pick it up if you can. Young Adult readers will love this one.”
And Daphne at Winged Reviews put me among 'I'm seriously not worthy' company on her Tuesday top ten books she wants sequels to. *beam*

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(Nonphony) Preorder Mania!

2 Comments / Moving Pictures, The Woken Gods / By Gwenda / August 5, 2013

So, I think it's time for a little preorder contest for THE WOKEN GODS, which is out on September 3, less than a month! This is a contest where you win IF you preorder, basically. And I even made a video. If you are not the sort of person who delights in watching awkward author videos (or if you are!), the details are all below too.

The details…

Things to know about The Woken Gods relevant to the contest:

The book takes place in a world where the gods of ancient mythology awoke five years earlier, and is set in a transformed Washington, D.C. The magic of the gods has unpredictable effects on technology, which means more advanced forms of it often don't work in places like D.C.
For centuries, the Society of the Sun (no longer secret and headquartered in the Library of Congress) has been collecting relics, objects that hold divine magic and have specific effects. For instance, in the book there's a shoe owned by Vidarr from Norse mythology which bestows invisibility on the wearer and anyone they're touching.

The contest:

Pre-order anytime by midnight August 15 (UK or US) and you will receive a shiny The Woken Gods postcard with a relic and its story typed by me on a typewriter and signed. The first 25 people (and maybe a few more if I go nuts) will get a custom relic and can even pick their pantheon, and I'll choose a god and type up the specific relic for them. Everyone else will get a shiny postcard with one of a few relic stories I'll create specifically for this. Old school! Typewritten! In the mail!
Email proof of purchase of book or e-book to WokenGodsATgmailDOTcom, snipping out any private details and including your snail mail address, and we're good. If you order from an indie or local bookstore, I'll take your word for it*, and if you send me a picture I'll tweet about them (yay bookstores). Ordering links**:

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Indiebound | Powells

I wanted to do something a little bit different to reflect the book, and hopefully you guys are into it. And please do share the video and spread the word, if you're so inclined.

Also, hey, the book is starting to get some early reviews. Here's one from the weekend that made me happy:

Ink Scratchers: "I can't recommend The Woken Gods enough, the world, the writing, the action and the characters are all so awesome. This is a unique concept that you have to try even if you aren't a fan of the YA mythology genre. This book is political thriller mixed with mythology which doesn't sound like it should work… yet strangely they go together like cookies and cream."

*Unless you go out of your way to seem like a grifter…which seems unlikely, but just caveating.

**If you don't want the postal relic, but preorder anyway, well, that is just fine too, obviously. As is purchasing when it's out (or asking your library to order it). But I wanted to offer a fun thank you.

(Nonphony) Preorder Mania! Read More »

Two Quick Things

Excuses, Excuses, The Woken Gods / By Gwenda / July 2, 2013

Because that's all I have time for today, as I dig out from the mountain that…just a weekend away at ALA has left behind. What's that about? I do not know, except that I must climb it. A post about how fun ALA was (sooo much fun) is coming as well, but for today:

Yesterday I was over at Stacked, contributing to one of my favorite blog series–So You Want To Read YA? In which various people make recommendations of starting points for the uninitiated or the long-to-be-further-initiated. Check out my picks and argue in the comments, should you so desire. (You won't, of course, because all those books are wonderful. Obviously.)
And a reminder that you can comment on the cover reveal entry until midnight tonight to be entered for signed copies of Blackwood AND The Woken Gods.

*continues to run around like hair is on fire*

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Cover! Reveal! The Woken Gods!

39 Comments / The Woken Gods / By Gwenda / June 24, 2013

Hi there, everyone!

So, finally, today, the cover for The Woken Gods can be shown. I think it's a nice mix of the mythical and the modern, the old and the new, which I hope the book is too. And my HUGEST thanks to my publisher Strange Chemistry and all the bloggers participating in the reveal:

Birth of a New Witch
Civilian Reader
Daisy Chain Book Reviews
Totally Bookalicious
Fantasy's Ink
A Fantastical Librarian
The Pewter Wolf

*beams in your general direction* Visit them! And I'll add others as I catch them.

And the traditional bonus giveaway: If you'd like to win a signed copy of Blackwood and of The Woken Gods (as soon as it's available) say so in your comment here (email address required)–I'll count entries made until midnight on July 2, one per person. Let us know what you think!

Some of you might remember that this book was originally to come out in July and the eidetic might remember that the original synopsis and draft snippets were quite a bit different too. That's because I needed a little extra time to make this book what I wanted it to be. (And to figure out what that was. Remember all those stressed out, panicked revision tweets? They were about this, my rebellious heroine navigating scary trickster intrigue in a strange D.C. book.)

I hope you like the book, and pre-orders are always appreciated, from wherever you prefer to get your books. I also hope that if you're excited about it, you'll help spread the word as we travel from now to its release date September 3 (US) and 5 (UK). That extra time I needed means I now need all of you more than ever to help out in that respect. As any author will tell you, a second book is often even more important than a first. So, thank you all, again, for your support. You are amazing.

And now the cover (designed by Amazing15), with book description and a snippet to follow…

(Click to embiggen yet more)

ABOUT THE WOKEN GODS

Five years ago, the gods of ancient mythology awoke around the world.

This morning, Kyra Locke is late for school.

Seventeen-year-old Kyra lives in a transformed Washington, D.C., home to the embassies of divine pantheons and the mysterious Society of the Sun. But when rebellious Kyra encounters two trickster gods on her way back from school, one offering a threat and the other a warning, it turns out her life isn’t what it seems. She escapes with the aid of Osborne "Oz" Spencer, an intriguing Society field operative, only to discover that her scholar father has disappeared with a dangerous relic. The Society needs it, and they don’t care that she knows nothing about her father's secrets.

Now Kyra must depend on her wits and the suspect help of scary gods, her estranged oracle mother, and, of course, Oz – whose first allegiance is to the Society. She has no choice if she’s going to recover the missing relic and save her father. And if she doesn't? Well, that may just mean the end of the world as she knows it.

From the author of Blackwood comes a fresh, thrilling urban fantasy that will appeal to fans of Neil Gaiman, Cassandra Clare, and Rick Riordan.

"Unique, fast-paced, and rife with tension, The Woken Gods brilliantly pits loyalty against survival, trust against inevitability, and love against fear." – Carrie Ryan, New York Times bestselling author of The Forest of Hands and Teeth series

And how's about a little sneak peek? The prologue is behind the cut:

…

Cover! Reveal! The Woken Gods!Read More »

Cover! Reveal! The Woken Gods! Read More »

Happy Thing Of Today

The Woken Gods / By Gwenda / June 13, 2013

Hopefully, we are entering the season of happy things, as it will be book release time before you know it. (September!) Cover soon, I promise. But first, today I'm beaming madly because the book that almost killed me received a lovely blurb from an author I admire tremendously and generally think is the bee's knees.

New York Times bestselling author Carrie Ryan says: "Unique, fast-paced, and rife with tension, The Woken Gods brilliantly pits loyalty against survival, trust against inevitability, and love against fear."

*beams more*

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