COMIC TEASER: ONE by Leigh Ann Kopans

Did you guys know that ONE by Leigh Ann Kopans comes out tomorrow?!

TO. MORROW.

It's only a DAAAAAAAY UHHHHHHH WAAAAAAY!

I hope you've seen the AMAZING comic teasers for Leigh Ann Kopans's ONE floating around the interwebs. I'm lucky enough to host one on my blog! Here's the very last one!

Find a full list with links to the other installments of this series on the author’s blog:  www.leighannkopans.blogspot.com

Or follow the author on Twitter @LeighAnnKopans for daily updates!

About ONE (a novel by Leigh Ann Kopans:)

Release date: June 11, 2013 

When having two powers makes you a Super and having none makes you a Normal, having only one makes you a sad half-superpowered freak.

It makes you a One.

Sixteen-year-old Merrin Grey would love to be able to fly – too bad all she can do is hover.

If she could just land an internship at the Biotech Hub, she might finally figure out how to fix herself. She busts her butt in AP Chem and salivates over the Hub’s research on the manifestation of superpowers, all in hopes of boosting her chances.

Then she meets Elias VanDyne, another One, and all her carefully crafted plans fly out the window. Literally. When the two of them touch, their Ones combine to make them fly, and when they’re not soaring over the Nebraska cornfields, they’re busy falling for each other.

Merrin's mad chemistry skills land her a spot on the Hub's internship short list, but as she gets closer to the life she always wanted, she discovers that the Hub’s purpose is more sinister than it has always seemed. Now it’s up to her to decide if it's more important to fly solo, or to save everything - and everyone - she loves.

Add ONE to your Goodreads and learn more about the author here: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17251203-one

ONE SWAG!! Win Elias's sweatshirt!

Hey loves!!

Did you know that ONE by Leigh Ann Kopans comes out TUESDAY?!

I can't wait for everyone to be able to read this book. A strong heroine who doesn't NEED the beautiful boy she meets, but sees the strengths he brings out in her. A super smart girl who's been told her goal is impossible, but refuses to give up on it. And, oh my, Leigh Ann's gorgeous words.

My love for Elias VanDyne, the love interest in ONE, is PRETTY WELL DOCUMENTED in the twitter archives. He's a favorite--charming, sweet, compassionate, and hot. (Plus glasses. And tall. And happy to complement Merrin's life rather than be its entire focus.)

I want to tell you about a couple of my favorite scenes from the book involving Elias and Merrin but I CAN'T because I don't want to spoil anything. But after you read it, because EVERYONE SHOULD, come back and talk to me about it. 

Just trust me, if you haven't already met Elias, you're going to fall in love with him when you do. In fact, he's in the YA Crush Tourney this year, the #5 seed in the Indie Category. Louisse at the Soul Sisters blog is hosting him!

In honor of one of my favorite book fellas, I'm giving away Elias's basketball sweatshirt!! (Size XL, because for real, he's tall, y'all.) THIS IS THE COOLEST PIECE OF BOOK SWAG EVER, YOU GUYS.

It's super roomy and soft and comfy because MAYBE I PROBABLY TRIED IT ON AND SORT OF SNUGGLED WITH IT FOR AN INAPPROPRIATELY LONG AMOUNT OF TIME.

RIGHT?! Don't you want this? It's so perfect. When Leigh Ann told me about this sweatshirt, I immediately wanted it. But because I am a VERY NICE PERSON, I am not even keeping it for myself. 

To enter: 

Leave a comment on this blog and...

1. If you've read ONE, tell me what you love about Elias, OR if you haven't read ONE, tell me who your favorite book boyfriend is and why.

2. Leave your twitter ID, OR if you're not on twitter (first off, WHY would you not be on twitter?!) leave me some other way of contacting you.

3. Add ONE to your Goodreads list (HERE!)

4. You don't have to follow my blog but it'd be super sweet if you did.

I'll use random.org to choose a winner from the comments. This giveaway will close Sunday, June 16, at 12pm NOON EST.

Good luck! I'll just be over here cuddling with this sweatshirt til one of you wins it.

ALL THE SPARKLES AND HAPPY SMILES!

My beautiful friend Kelsey Macke announced her BOOK AND ALBUM EXTRAVAGANZA TODAY! There is really nothing I can say about it that isn't perfectly done by her blog and vlog except that you have NO IDEA how excited I am for this amazing and innovative project and it is going to be INCREDIBLE and basically I am SO HAPPY TO KNOW HER.

Things to Note:
1. We share a publisher. (WORD UP SPENCER HILL PRESS/SPENCER HILL CONTEMPORARY!!)

2. We share an editor. (DANIELLE ELLISON RULES THE WORLD!)

3. I am actually marrying her and our husbands are just going to have to deal because I need her in my life for always.

ZOMG we are totally Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, right?

(Side note: If you don't watch Kelsey's vlogs every week, you should. They have such great information for writers plus she's HILARIOUS and SMART and ALL THE THINGS. So go here and subscribe to them so you won't miss out. Thank me later.)

#WriteClub's Got the WRITE MOVES!

Hey guys!! Remember a few months ago when I talked about #WriteClub? That fun little idea has really taken off and become something much bigger than I ever would've expected. People join in every Friday night from all over the world, and writers in other countries have even started up their own #WriteClubs to suit their time zones a little better.

I've seen a few blog posts discussing how much people love #WriteClub (like this one by the lovely J. Elizabeth Hill, and this by sweet Tamara A. Wood). I'm so happy that this random Friday night thing has become so important to all of us, and how we all have our little twitter party every week. I regularly see tweets thanking @FriNightWrites for helping them finish a draft or stay motivated or not jump off a bridge because they were stuck on a word or WHATEVER. Writing can be a pretty lonely job, but the little community we have through #WriteClub rocks my world.

SPEAKING OF COMMUNITY AND ROCKING MY WORLD....

There are about 900 people following @FriNightWrites. When we reach 1000 followers, Darci, Angi, Beau, Carey, Sarah, and I are going to LIP SYNC FOR YOU! (In a video montage, which will be tweeted and shared for all eternity.)

The six of us each picked a song that we thought would be fun. Here they are, with links to youtube videos!

Bust A Move by Young MC
Eye of the Tiger by Survivor
Men In Black by Will Smith
Right Here, Right Now by Jesus Jones
Shoop by Salt n Pepa
Story of Us by Taylor Swift

And NOW, since we're all friends here, you guys get to pick the song! Think carefully guys. What song do you most want to see us make fools of ourselves to? Vote in the poll below!

You can only choose one! The poll will close Saturday, February 23, 2013, at 3:00pm EST.

What Song Should We Lip-Sync To?

Thanks so much for voting!! Feel free to spread the word around the twitterverse! The quicker we reach 1000, the quicker you'll get to see us show our sweet moves!

You guys are the best. I love getting to hang out and write with you every week. See you Friday night!

GIVEAWAY! The Archived by Victoria Schwab

Several months ago, I heard that the lovely Victoria Schwab had a new book coming out in January 2013 called The Archived. As soon as I read the blurb, I was basically obsessed. See for yourself.

Imagine a place where the dead rest on shelves like books.

Each body has a story to tell, a life seen in pictures that only Librarians can read. The dead are called Histories, and the vast realm in which they rest is the Archive.

Da first brought Mackenzie Bishop here four years ago, when she was twelve years old, frightened but determined to prove herself. Now Da is dead, and Mac has grown into what he once was, a ruthless Keeper, tasked with stopping often-violent Histories from waking up and getting out. Because of her job, she lies to the people she loves, and she knows fear for what it is: a useful tool for staying alive.

Being a Keeper isn't just dangerous-it's a constant reminder of those Mac has lost. Da's death was hard enough, but now her little brother is gone too. Mac starts to wonder about the boundary between living and dying, sleeping and waking. In the Archive, the dead must never be disturbed. And yet, someone is deliberately altering Histories, erasing essential chapters. Unless Mac can piece together what remains, the Archive itself might crumble and fall.

In this haunting, richly imagined novel, Victoria Schwab reveals the thin lines between past and present, love and pain, trust and deceit, unbearable loss and hard-won redemption.

I mean, right?! I love this concept so much. SO MUCH, that I pre-ordered as soon as possible and then promptly forgot that I'd pre-ordered it. I ran to the bookstore this week when it released to buy my own copy.

For those of you keeping track at home, this means I have two copies now. Which means one of you is about to capitalize on my scattered brain.

So let's talk about this giveaway. Since a person's history plays such an important part in this book, I want you guys to tell me something funny/interesting about YOUR history in the comments. I'll use random.org to pick a random comment for the winner. It'd be super great if you follow me on twitter (@meganwhitmer) and follow this blog....but I'm not gonna make it a requirement.

I'll go first!

I was just reminded of this story tonight, so I'll tell it. It's an Embarrassing Megan Moment. A couple months ago, I went to Knoxville to hang out with Sarah Blair, Angi Black, and Megan Orsini (Um, this was AMAZING on all the levels).

So you guys know how I can't hear very well? (If not, you haven't watched my first vlog.) So this kind of thing I'm about to tell you happens a lot more often than I care to admit.

At the hotel, I'd just arrived and we'd all done the squealing and hugging and professed our undying love for each other. Someone knocks at the door, and I open it. There's a super nice maid there, letting me know that they hadn't cleaned our room because the Do Not Disturb sign was on the door. Very sweet. Then she says something else and before my brain processes it, I reply, "I'm Megan."

She stared at me long enough for me to realize she had not been introducing herself. She was asking if we needed towels.

SHE SAID, "Do you need more towels?" AND I SAID, "I'm Megan."

WHAT IN THE ACTUAL?

I don't know guys. But I'll never live that one down, as evidenced by the following....

Okey dokey. Leave a comment with quick story from your history, and make sure you leave your twitter handle or email or some way for me to contact you if you win!

This giveaway will close at 11:59pm EST on 

Monday, January 28, 2013. 
THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED.

ALSO! I'm opening this up to international readers as well--however, if you win and the shipping is absolutely insane, I reserve the right to send you the e-book instead....just fyi (and if that happens I'll pick a second (stateside) winner for the physical book.)

Update 1.29.13:  Random.org chose #2 as the winner, and the second comment belongs to @boundiali! I'll get in touch with you about sending you the book!

To everyone- this was such a fun giveaway. I loved reading your stories and getting to know you a little more in the process. We'll do it again soon.

Between + Spencer Hill Press = LOVE 4EVER

First off, back on October 24 I was like, "I'm gonna do a vlog every week!"

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Past Me is so cute.

Alrighty. If you were on Twitter Monday night, you got to experience the most incredible thing with me. I announced that my book, the book that I've been working on forEVER and have rewritten a silly number of times all because I'm so addicted to the characters I can't let them go, is actually going to be published.

And here's how it all went down.

Last summer, I pushed through the third complete rewrite of BETWEEN. It was a major one--changing from past to present tense and getting rid of a couple of main characters. I sacrificed a LOT of sleep, and finished it just in time to post pages in the WriteOnCon forums. (That was the first time I'd ever participated in WriteOnCon--if you never have, DO. It's a completely free online writing conference. I cannot possibly say enough good things about it.)

Based on the pages and query I posted in the forums there, I received a few requests from agents and editors to read the full manuscript. I sent it off to them, and waited. In the meantime, I'd also sent the rewritten draft to a few beta readers. As their feedback started rolling in, I started revising again.

The rejections came in slowly. "Too fast-paced." "Not fast-paced enough." "Not for me." "Fairy stories are out." (I take serious issue with calling my book a "fairy story" but WHATEVER.)

And then I got a rejection from Danielle Ellison with Spencer Hill Press, with a (heh, fairly lengthy) list of the reasons they were rejecting it. Now, we all know it's super fun to see a long list of the problems in your manuscript, right? But at the same time, it was sooooooo awesome to see, right in front of me, what they did and did not like.

Luckily, many of the problems in the email were things I was already working on in the latest revision (because my critique partners are BOSS, right?!) So I emailed Danielle and thanked her for the specific feedback because I was working on revisions and the notes would be so helpful.

It was just a rejection. And all I said was thank you. I didn't expect to hear anything else.

But then Danielle emailed me back, telling me to resubmit after I finish my revisions.

So then I forwarded all of that to Leigh Ann and we were all, "HOT DAMN! That's sort of an R&R!"

When revisions were finished around mid-November, I sent the new and improved manuscript to Danielle and sent out queries to agents from a few contests I'd entered. And then I didn't send out anymore. I'd queried a previous version of BETWEEN (3 drafts ago), and while the current BETWEEN is way different from that one (in that I'd feel completely comfortable re-querying agents with it), I just....didn't want to. I decided that for this particular book, I wanted to go with a small press or self-publish. (And I'll do a separate post on why.)

As you already know- I heard back from Danielle in December with an offer on BETWEEN, and I signed my contract right after the first of the year. Then I waited for what seemed like an eternity for it to post in Publishers Marketplace.

I don't have the patience to make it bigger. You know what it says anyway.

So then finally, FINALLY, I was able to announce it on Twitter. And then Twitter exploded.

It. Was. Awesome.

So many of you have been with me since I entered my very first contest with BETWEEN (A Cupid contest, February 2012), and you've all been so great--whether you've read my book, helped with my query, or just cheered me on through lots and lots of revising. I love the little community we have, and how we're all there for each other to share in the highs and lows that come with this crazy thing we all decided to do with our lives. Thanks so much for being as awesome as you are. I can't begin to tell you how much you guys mean to me.

And now for the numbers.

Query Stats: (Across all drafts, obviously...)
I used Querytracker for everything. I love that site and can't recommend it enough.
Total queries sent: 52
Partial/Full Requests: 6
R&Rs: 2
Offers of Rep: 0
Offers of Publication: 1 (YAY!)

AND HOLY MOTHER OF ALL THAT IS PRETTY MY BOOK IS ON GOODREADS. Click here to go gaze at that beautiful page.

Love you guys.

Ok, I admit it.

I am a terrible blogger.

I mean, I think I do okay blogging with YA Misfits and HerKentucky, but when it comes to this blog right here? I can never think of anything to talk about.

For whatever reason, blogging just seems like a lot of work to me--maybe because I'm doing so much writing and revising on my book lately, the idea of sitting down to write one more thing is just really unappealing. Plus, I feel like I have to have some sort of plan so the blog post will make sense. I end up spending WAY too long thinking about it, finding links, editing, revising, and DEAR GOD I MIGHT AS WELL WRITE MORE ON MY BOOK.

But I like having my own little blog here, in the event that I do have something to say.

SO- in order to keep things active over here....I'm going to start vlogging weekly. Just a quick update to talk about whatever I want. Vlogging comes more naturally to me anyway, because I like to talk (as you are all WELL aware) and when I start rambling and going off topic in a vlog, it doesn't seem as bad as when I do it in a blog post. It's just part of my charm!

I'm also hoping this'll be a good way for me to set goals. I figure if I tell you guys my plan, you can all bust me on it if I don't reach the goal for the week. With that in mind, here's the first weekly update!