Happenings

So summer is in full swing now and I'm spending most days with two little girlies by my side doing fun summery type stuff. It's hard to find time to work right now, but I'm squeezing it in late at night and when I can. But with GATED set to debut in less than two months now (eep!) there will be happenings from time to time that I will post here to keep y'all in the loop. Here's what's happening right now:

I'm helping to judge a writing contest for teens for the New York Times--I know, CRAZY, right? I'm excited but also completely nervous because I am the only newbie Random House author who's judging. The other judges are brilliant and have novels--PLURAL--under their belts. Here's the list of the other authors so you can better understand my jitters:

Adele Griffin

Matt de la Peña

Daniel Kraus

Robin Wasserman

GULP. Is that an awesome list or what?! Here's the contest link in case you want to go check it out (or if you're a teen and want to take a stab at it): http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/06/14/what-interested-you-most-in-the-times-this-week-19/

Also, a chapter sampler of GATED just went up on Random Buzzers! If you've been curious about my little ol' book, now's your chance to get a sneak peek! Go here to check it out: http://www.scribd.com/doc/147831105/Gated-by-Amy-Christine-Parker#.UbuJJGvD_IV

Last, but certainly not least, GATED got a good review from Publisher's Weekly. It's not up for viewing to nonsubscribers just yet, but I'll let you when it is.

That's it for now, but keep checking in. In the next few weeks leading up to GATED's debut EXCITING things will start to happen!

Review of GATED

GATED just received a starred review from Kirkus! I couldn't be more thrilled. If you have a subscription, you can go see it now, if not the review will be up for free at the end of July. Still pinching myself on this one!

More GATED news!

So I have some more news on the GATED front. My release date has now been officially moved up to August 6, 2013! Just two months until this book is out in the world, eeep!

Also, foreign rights have now sold to Turkey. This means GATED will be published in two countries besides the USA (Germany has bought rights too.)

I have my first official book signing! I will be at Inkwood Books in Tampa, Florida on September 14, 2013 to talk about and then sign GATED. There will be giveaways, food, and other fun. If you're anywhere close by, I'd love for you to make plans to be there!

The Latest Happenings

Today I am doing one final polish on the book proposals for my option book with RHC while my oldest kiddo is home sick with a cold. Now that summer's just around the corner it's finally hitting me that GATED is going to be on book shelves in less than four months. It's suddenly much more real that people will be reading this book because people already are. Book bloggers are posting pics of GATED arcs in their Twitter feeds and I've sent my own personal arcs out to author friends I know to read and sign yearbook style. My book is slowly going out into the world and I couldn't be more thrilled...and nervous...but mostly thrilled. Now I'm trying to drink in every moment as it comes because I know that my time as a debut is now well under way and that it is fleeting. I will be a YA debut just this once. So I've made a scrap book for myself with everything from the first emails from my agent saying that she loved the book and wanted to represent me, to the first blog interviews I did, and the offer email from RHC. It's ony been a little over a year and already it's fun to go back and see how far both the book and I have come. We've both grown and become more solidly what we're meant to be. The journey was scary and exhilarating and so much fun. I can't wait to see what comes next!

Oh, and also....some more NEWS!

1. GATED was chosen to be a part of the American Booksellers Association's "Celebrate Debut Authors with Indies" program this fall. Indy bookstores have my heart, so I couldn't be more pleased or honored! You can read the official announcement here.

2. The Random House "It's a First! Fresh Fiction from New Voices Fall 2013" catalogue is up at the Randombuzzers site. You can read an excerpt from GATED and find out what my extremely aweseom editor, Chelsea Eberly, loves about it!

NEWS!!!!!

Just a quick post to say that I have some news! GATED just sold to DTV in Germany! It's slated to be published there in Fall 2014.

Since Last I Blogged....

It's been a long time. *hangs head in shame*. I keep promising to blog better, but I still have these long jags where I don't blog at all. The truth? I'm not so good with the balancing. I tend to get hyper focused on one or two things and let others go completely. This blog is one of my regular sufferers. So I think I'm overdue for an update.

Here's what's been happening:

1. Texas Writer's Retreat: I left my family for FIVE WHOLE DAYS to go hang out in Texas and it was AMAZING!!! Basically, I started the whole experience by flying into Austin and within half an hour of getting there, jumping into a cab with Gretchen McNeil and Anna Carey to go get some killer Mexican food downtown! They were so easy to talk to and so fun that I forgot to be the nervous newbie writer altogether. I basically just sat there smiling like a fool going "this is my life now" WEIRD.

Here are some of the highpoints:

--Watching Myra McEntire sing Shoop by Salt and Peppa.
--Talking serial killers and all things dark and twisty with Brenna Yovanoff (so nice to talk about all the creepy and not have the other person look at you funny)
--Listening to Gretchen McNeil sing opera
--Reading reviews for some very dirty, very disturbing books on the boat dock out loud with most of the group. Two words: timetraveling toilet. A key object in one such book.
--Nightly talks where we discussed our goals, fears, and firsts (in and out of publishing).
--Eating ALL THE FOOD. Seriously. These ladies were good cooks. One of my very favorites was Tara Hudson's jalepeno chicken. SO GOOD. We actually compiled all the recipes at the end and I've made most of them since I got back.

Here's a pick of me with the lovely Gunning for Awesome ladies, my closest writerly buddies--we're missing five of us: Lacey Edwards, Lori M. Lee, Deborah Hewitt, Ruth Steven, and Gemma Cooper, but someday hopefully I'll have a complete group photo. For now, this is (left to right: Corinne Duyvis, Stephanie Winklehake, Michelle Krys, Amy Tintera, Kim Welchons, Moi, and our fearless leader, Natalie Parker).

In this picture if you look carefully you'll see Carrie Ryan on the extreme left, Brenna Yovanoff and then Tessa Gratton with their backs to the camera, Victoria Schwab, Beth Revis, and Bethany Hagen


2. ARCS!!!!!!: I got GATED's arcs last week in the mail. Yippeeeeee!!!! SO completely cool to see my story in book form for the first time. This was quickly followed up with a giant stomache ache when I realized that a ton of authors I admire A LOT were now going to read it. And then there are the reviewers, eeep!


3. First Pass Pages: I've been going over GATED one last time this week and it's very cool to see how it's been refined and polished until it shines! Can't believe how close things are getting now!

4. Book Proposals: This is where I write down all my shiny new ideas and hope that my editor loves them. I'm dying to hint at what they're about....Buuuuut I think I'll keep it secret just a wee bit longer. CREEPY. That's all I'm going to say, but of course if you know me then you aren't surprised by this.

Next up?  Getting in shape for my book's release because whoa, all this "butt in chair" business has me less than camera ready. I think I've eaten my body weight in Pull n Peel Twizzlers the past few months. Seriously.

Writer's Retreat, Eeeek!

In exactly three days, gulp, I will be heading to Texas for a writer's retreat with twenty-one other amazing authors!!! I can't even believe it!! Out of all the great things that have happened since this time last year, this is probably one of the biggest for me. It's a chance to hang out with some of my closest online writer friends and to meet some authors that I've been a fan girl of ever since I started writing. To give you an idea of why it's so awesome, here's the list of people who're going.

Brandy Allard, @BrandyAllard
Anna Carey, @AnnaCareyBooks
Rae Carson, @raecarson
Corinne Duyvis, @corinneduyvis
Sonia Gensler, @soniagensler
Tessa Gratton, @tessagratton
Bethany Hagen, @Bethany_Hagen
Tara Hudson, @thudsonwrites
Emily Kate Johnston, @ek_johnston
Michelle Krys, @michellekrys
Gretchen McNeil, @GretchenMcNeil
Myra McEntire, @MyraMcEntire
Amy Parker, @amychristinepar
Natalie C Parker, @nataliecparker
Amy Plum, @AmyPlumOhLaLa
Beth Revis, @bethrevis
Carrie Ryan, @carrieryan
Victoria Schwab, @veschwab
Amy Tintera, @amytintera
Kim Welchons, @Kim_Welchons
Stephanie Winkelhake, @StephieWink
Brenna Yovanoff, @brennayovanoff

I know, CRAZY, right? The weirdest part? A few years ago some of these authors were on a very similar retreat and held a live video chat to talk about their upcoming books and I was sitting in front of my computer watching thinking how very cool is that? All of those authors hanging out together talking about writing....and now I'm on the same retreat. *faints* Just goes to show you how different your life can become in a very short period of time and how sometimes the stuff you wish for COMES TRUE.