If you’re like us, you can’t keep up with all the amazing books releasing every week. Read on to see what hits shelves this week. Don’t miss the author interviews and of course, the giveaway all the way at the bottom!
This Week’s Interviews
The Dark and Hollow Places (The Forest of Hands and Teeth #3) by Carrie Ryan
- From Goodreads: There are many things that Annah would like to forget: the look on her sister’s face before Annah left her behind in the Forest of Hands and Teeth, her first glimpse of the Horde as they swarmed the Dark City, the sear of the barbed wire that would scar her for life. But most of all, Annah would like to forget the morning Elias left her for the Recruiters. Annah’s world stopped that day, and she’s been waiting for Elias to come home ever since. Somehow, without him, her life doesn’t feel much different than the dead that roam the wasted city around her. Until she meets Catcher, and everything feels alive again. But Catcher has his own secrets. Dark, terrifying truths that link him to a past Annah has longed to forget, and to a future too deadly to consider. And now it’s up to Annah: can she continue to live in a world covered in the blood of the living? Or is death the only escape from the Return’s destruction?
How long did you work on this book?
I worked on The Dark and Hollow Places for about a year. I’ve found that to be fairly typical — a couple of months wandering around in the darkness looking for the story, a few months drafting, and then about half a year of going back and forth with my editor on revisions.
How was your journey to publication? Long, short, how many rejections?
I first started writing seriously, looking to publish, right out of college in 2000. That year I wrote two romance novels, queried one of them and got some requests but no offers. I then realized that I needed to take a step back and figure out what I wanted to be writing and also figure out what else I wanted to do in life since it can be so difficult to make a living with writing. For four years I didn’t write (I ended up at law school) and it wasn’t until I was practicing law full time that I realized my absolute dream was to become a writer and that I really needed buckle down if I wanted to pursue that dream.
In 2006 I created a 10 Year Plan to write, revise, submit books for ten years, hoping that at the end I’d be published (I chose 10 years because that way I couldn’t allow myself to get discouraged — I was in it for the long haul). In November I began The Forest of Hands and Teeth for National Novel Writing Month, a year later I began querying agents, received a few offers and several rejections, and then the agent I signed with, Jim McCarthy (totally awesome), sold Forest in a pre-empt over the weekend. It felt a little insane!
So all in all my path to publication was seven years (with some time off in there), three-plus manuscripts, probably 500k+ words that will never see the light of day, and plenty of rejections. But I’m nothing if not stubborn 🙂
What advice would you most like to pass along to other writers?
Remember to write and why you love writing. I think it’s easy to get caught up in the world and trapping of writing and forget to actually write. At the end of the day, it’s always about the words on the page. At the same time, writers can be really hard on themselves so I think we have to be gentle with ourselves — take days off, read widely, experiment.
What has surprised you most about becoming a published author?
That I’m actually a published author — that all of this is real. There are days I take it all in stride and then I’ll get an email from a reader or I’ll talk to my publicist about some upcoming promotion and it makes me step back and go, “Wow! I’m a published author! This is awesome!” There are always days that are more difficult than others and the challenges don’t disappear the moment you sign your first book contract. All the same, it’s a pretty cool feeling to realize you’re living your dream!
Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys
- From Goodreads: Lina is just like any other fifteen-year-old Lithuanian girl in 1941. She paints, she draws, she gets crushes on boys. Until one night when Soviet officers barge into her home, tearing her family from the comfortable life they’ve known. Separated from her father, forced onto a crowded and dirty train car, Lina, her mother, and her young brother slowly make their way north, crossing the Arctic Circle, to a work camp in the coldest reaches of Siberia. Here they are forced, under Stalin’s orders, to dig for beets and fight for their lives under the cruelest of conditions. Lina finds solace in her art, meticulously—and at great risk—documenting events by drawing, hoping these messages will make their way to her father’s prison camp to let him know they are still alive. It is a long and harrowing journey, spanning years and covering 6,500 miles, but it is through incredible strength, love, and hope that Lina ultimately survives.
How long did you work on this book?
Quite a while! It took me a year to initially write the book. But then I revised many times for my agent before the novel was shopped. After it sold I worked on several additional revisions with my editor.
How was your journey to publication? Long, short, how many rejections?
It was a bit of a winding road. I had completed a middle-grade mystery and had written only a few pages of Between Shades of Gray. An agent at Writers House saw both projects and advised me to shelf the middle-grade novel and put everything into Between Shades of Gray. I took the advice and am so grateful I did! As I mentioned above, I revised extensively for my agent. We received a dozen rejections over several months and then suddenly three publishers were interested.
What advice would you most like to pass along to other writers?
We all love whatever project we’re currently working on. But don’t be afraid to suddenly change gears and go in a different direction. Also, just because something doesn’t sell right away doesn’t mean it won’t. I received a lot of rejections and now the book has sold in over 22 countries. Hang in there!
What has surprised you most about becoming a published author?
Wow, there are so many things. If I had to name just one I would say the incredible and wonderful impact that an agent and editor can have on the flow of a story. I am deeply indebted to both my agent and editor for their insightful suggestions on the manuscript.
Bloodline Rising by Katy Moran
- From Goodreads: The Ghost is the fastest, most cunning young criminal in Constantinople. Skilled at lying and deceit, he has the power to twist the minds of men, bending them to his will. He is both invisible and invincible. Or at least he thinks so – till the day his father returns from the desert. A ruthless barbarian assassin, Essa is not pleased to discover that his wild son Cai has become the city’s most notorious thief. But sinister forces are moving against Cai and he finds himself captive on a trading ship.The Ghost no longer, he is now a slave. But luck has not deserted him completely – the ship is bound for Britain, the home his barbarian parents fled, long ago. When he becomes a slave to Wulfhere, prince of Mercia, Cai soon discovers that his Anglish masters know more about his family than he does – what secrets have his mother and father been keeping from him? As Cai sharpens his skills of subterfuge and persuasion, war threatens, and he must choose: will he use his phenomenal talents for good, or evil?
How long did you work on this book?
Bloodline Rising took roughly six months to write – well, the first draught, anyway. The editorial process took a bit longer.
How was your journey to publication? Long, short, how many rejections?
Long in some ways, short in others. I always wanted to be a writer and got a couple of rejections when I was in my late teens/early twenties. Then I shelved the whole idea for a while, went through Uni and got my first job (in publishing – I was still interested in books!). After a few years I decided to go back to writing. Once that had happened, my road to publication was very short. I signed my first book deal in December 2006 and my first book, Bloodline, was published in March 2008. During that time the book was edited, and the whole publishing process got started – cover design, sales, marketing, publicity.
What advice would you most like to pass along to other writers?
I’ve heard lots of other writers say this so I hate to sound cliched, but it really is best to write the book that you would love to read.
What has surprised you most about becoming a published author?
That I actually get to go out and meet loads of budding young writers on my visits to schools and libraries. I’d always envisaged writing as a solitary profession, but it hasn’t turned out like that!
Additional Releases
Wither (Chemical Garden #1) by Lauren DeStefano
- From Goodreads: What if you knew exactly when you would die? Thanks to modern science, every human being has become a ticking genetic time bomb—males only live to age twenty-five, and females only live to age twenty. In this bleak landscape, young girls are kidnapped and forced into polygamous marriages to keep the population from dying out. When sixteen-year-old Rhine Ellery is taken by the Gatherers to become a bride, she enters a world of wealth and privilege. Despite her husband Linden’s genuine love for her, and a tenuous trust among her sister wives, Rhine has one purpose: to escape—to find her twin brother and go home. But Rhine has more to contend with than losing her freedom. Linden’s eccentric father is bent on finding an antidote to the genetic virus that is getting closer to taking his son, even if it means collecting corpses in order to test his experiments. With the help of Gabriel, a servant Rhine is growing dangerously attracted to, Rhine attempts to break free, in the limted time she has left.
Invincible (Chronicles of Nick #2) by Sherrilyn Kenyon
- From Goodreads: Just when he thought things couldn’t get any worse… Nick Gautier’s day just keeps getting better and better. Yeah, he survived the zombie attacks, only to wake up and find himself enslaved to a world of shapeshifters and demons out to claim his soul. His new principal thinks he’s even more of a hoodlum than the last one, his coach is trying to recruit him to things he can’t even mention and the girl he’s not seeing, but is, has secrets that terrify him. But more than that, he’s being groomed by the darkest of powers and if he doesn’t learn how to raise the dead by the end of the week, he will become one of them…
Scorpia Rising (Alex Rider #9) by Anthony Horowitz
- From Goodreads: Scorpia has dogged Alex Rider for most of his life. They killed his parents, they did their best to con Alex into turning traitor, and they just keep coming back with more power. Now the world’s most dangerous terrorist organization is playing with fire in the world’s most combustible land: the Middle East. No one knows Scorpia like Alex. And no one knows how best to get to Alex like Scorpia. Until now. The chases have never been more intense, the fights more treacherous, or the risks so perilous to mankind. And this time, Alex won’t get away.
Giveaway
Want to win some of the books we’ve featured today? We have a copy of BLOODLINE RISING, THE DARK AND HOLLOW PLACES, and three copies of WITHER. To win, fill out the form below and leave a comment on this post. The contest is open to US residents. We’ll announce the winners on Thursday!
Happy reading,
The Ladies of ACP
