inspiration
The Skylark Trilogy is Complete…
Oct 01, 2014
Order your copy of Lark Ascending:
Indiebound | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository
Today was the release of the final book in my Skylark trilogy, Lark Ascending. Any book launch is a hugely emotional thing—years of work boiling down into one single day, when you send this thing you’ve created out out of your blood and your tears into the world to sink or swim on its own. But releasing the end to a trilogy is even weightier for me, even more overwhelming. I first started telling this story over five years ago and when I think back to where I was five years ago, it’s astonishing how much in my life has changed.
Back then I had just decided to try, really try, for the first time, to fulfill my dream of becoming a writer. I had the support of my family, my friends, and my soon-to-be co-author, Amie Kaufman; I had the knowledge gained from the six-week fiction-writing crash course Odyssey; and I had a nagging idea for a world and a character that wouldn’t leave me alone. I had my ideas and I had my keyboard, and all I really wanted was a chance to see where they’d take me.
Five years later… now, by the end of this year, I’ll have five books on the shelves. I’ve moved countries twice, moved states, attended conferences I never thought I’d get to attend, met and signed with authors—fellow authors!—I’d always dreamed of meeting, and received letters and emails from fans around the world that never stop amazing me, never stop reducing me to a blubbering, emotional blob on the floor. I still wake up at least once a week thinking “…I’m an author. That all actually happened. Is this really my life?”
And yes, there’s bad with the good. This is a rough, rough industry, not for the faint of heart. It’s impossible to come through five years of it totally unscathed.
But, at the end of the day, the most important things haven’t changed. I’ve still got my friends, my family, the support network that lets me keep doing this. And I’ve still got my ideas, and I’ve got my keyboard, and I’ve still got my chance to see where they take me from here. And that’s all I need.
Order your copy of Lark Ascending:
Indiebound | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository
Rather than write a long(er) reflective post about today, I will just put here what I wrote at the end of my acknowledgments in Lark Ascending:
I was on my way back from a book festival the other day and I finally realized why these acknowledgments were such a struggle for me: I wasn’t thanking who I really wanted to thank. Though Skylark certainly wasn’t written in a vacuum, it was written privately; and, to a certain extent, Shadowlark was as well. But by the time I got to the third book in this trilogy, I wasn’t writing it just for me anymore, or even for me and my publisher.
I was writing it for you.
You, who stays up late at night, reading by flashlight. You, who write to me after you finish each book. You, who I’ve never met, and perhaps never will meet, but for a few shared moments spent in this book. It’s your enthusiasm for this story and these characters that has kept me going and pushed me to finish this trilogy. I couldn’t have done it without you. And I mean that from the bottom of my heart.
So thank you.
In Search of the Write Space: Meagan Spooner
Sep 18, 2013
Funny Friday: Jennifer Lawrence on Artistry
Aug 02, 2013
I’ve decided to start a new “series,” if I can call it that, where I post funny things that are tangentially related to writing and/or books. Even if the relation is all in my head. As always, my posts will probably be sporadic, but who doesn’t need a little more funny sometimes?
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Here’s Jennifer Lawrence to tell us about her motivation as an artist. This is one of those “it’s funny because it’s so absolutely true” moments. (Read more…)
Ask A Question (#4): What inspired you to write SKYLARK?
Apr 19, 2013
Mary O. and Bookwyrm16 both asked, “What inspired you to write SKYLARK?”
What a great question—inspiration is so hard to pinpoint! For me it comes from everything around me, from the people I talk to to the books I read, the music I hear, the movies I see. But for SKYLARK, I can actually point to a single moment that inspired the idea for the world, which then led to everything else. (Read more…)
In Search of the Write Space: Aimée Carter
Feb 27, 2013
Cover Reveal for THESE BROKEN STARS!
Feb 20, 2013
Did you come here looking for In Search of the Write Space? Well, too bad. You’re getting something different today. There are still book to be won, though. Oh, are there ever books to be one.
Guys, it’s finally here. It’s FINALLY HERE! The cover for THESE BROKEN STARS is live today–RIGHT NOW! I could show it here in all its glory, but where would the fun be in that? Instead, Amie and I have gathered six awesome bloggers to share in the reveal. Visit each blog to see the gorgeous cover, and enter on each to win one of SIX advanced reader copies, the very first to roll off the presses! Plus, check out the unique content on each blog for more about our upcoming book. (Read more…)
The Kindness Project: Caine’s Arcade
Jun 13, 2012
About The Kindness Project:
Too often kindness is relegated to a random act performed only when we’re feeling good. But an even greater kindness (to ourselves and others) occurs when we reach out even when we aren’t feeling entirely whole . It’s not easy, and no one is perfect. But we’ve decided it’s not impossible to brighten the world one smile, one kind word, one blog post at a time. To that end, a few of us writers have established The Kindness Project, starting with a series of inspirational posts.
Caine’s Arcade
Today’s post is a simple one. It’s about kindness to a child simply because he’s doing a good job of being a child. Meet Cain, a 9-year-old boy whose dream is to own an arcade. And meet Nirvan, the guy who thought it was about time he had some customers. (Read more…)
Farewell, Book Two… and Hello Africa!
May 15, 2012
Today I head to Africa for two and a half weeks. There’s not much I can coherently say about this, because if I try to describe how excited I am I end up just running around in circles until I collide with the wall. Suffice it to say: I’m psyched.
A lot has been going on lately—so much so that I haven’t even had time to pay attention to the Africa trip. Prepping for BEA in June, where SKYLARK is one of five YA Buzz Books, has been awesome. I’ve been getting my first few out and out fan email for SKYLARK, which is even MORE nuts. Trying to set up guest posts and interviews and giveaways for the months leading up to SKYLARK’s release is entirely new territory for me. My spectacularly awesome writing partner, Amie Kaufman, and I, have finished our second round of revisions on THESE BROKEN STARS.
And sitting pretty at the top of the list, one of the hardest things I’ve ever done: finishing the sequel to SKYLARK. (Read more…)
The Kindness Project: The Cost of Kindness
May 09, 2012
About The Kindness Project:
Too often kindness is relegated to a random act performed only when we’re feeling good. But an even greater kindness (to ourselves and others) occurs when we reach out even when we aren’t feeling entirely whole . It’s not easy, and no one is perfect. But we’ve decided it’s not impossible to brighten the world one smile, one kind word, one blog post at a time. To that end, a few of us writers have established The Kindness Project, starting with a series of inspirational posts.
The Cost of Kindness
I think that childhood often teaches us to be cruel. When you’re a kid, kindness is rarely rewarded, not in reality. And you’re too inwardly focused to understand the impact you have on others.
When I was in middle school I was in a specific track of classes that contained the “smart kids.” The rest of the school were the self-proclaimed “dumb kids.” And the dumb kids hated the smart kids. I remember reading during lunch one day when a group of “dumb kids” came over and took my book, which was about dragons, and made fun of me for it. (Read more…)
Title Change for Wrecked, and GIVEAWAY!
Apr 02, 2012
WRECKED was one of those working titles that stuck. At first it was kind of a joke–one of our earliest readers often teased us about our book MASSIVE CRASH–but we came to really like the double meanings in it. Yes, it’s about a (space)shipwreck, but it also describes the processes that the characters go through, and how everything falls apart so easily.
But it’s also a very simplistic title, and doesn’t quite convey everything we’d like it to about the book. Yes, it’s a science fiction story, but it’s also a romance, and it’s also a survival tale, and it’s also a story about two people breaking out of the fates and lives pre-determined for them. So with a ton of brainstorming, and a lot of help from the brilliant folks over at Disney-Hyperion, WRECKED now has a brand spankin’ new title!
So without further ado, our new title is… (Read more…)