Erica O'Rourke

WIP Friday: Cartography Edition + Giveaway

So, one of the things I am currently working on is a map for the Torn Trilogy. Mostly because I love maps -- all the place names, and tiny overlooked streets, and possibilities -- I am a geek, is what I am saying, and there's no hiding it, so why not just let my cartography-loving flag fly?

But I kind of have a lot on my plate right now, and I'm looking for help. And as a thank you...I've got a little something for you:

That's right. BOUND ARCs. (I smile every time I say that. Of course they're bound. That's kind of the point of ARCs, is that they're bound instead of loose MS pages. I am easily amused by this sort of wordplay.)

However, I have exceedingly limited quantities of ARCs to give away. Like, three.

Now, you should know that my approach to giveaways is that they should require as little effort on your part as possible. I don't do elaborate point systems, I don't require photographic proof. I don't require you to retweet it or post it on Facebook or whatever. If I ask you to like my FB page and you tell me you do, I trust you. I don't even have one of those awful word verification things in the comments, because they're a pain.

But this time, to be eligible to win the ARC, you have to work for it.

The biggest part of the map project is compiling a list of locations in TORN and TANGLED. Some of them are made up, obviously -- St. Brigid's is fictional, but in my head I know exactly where it is. Ditto for Mo's house and The Slice/Morgan's. But there are plenty of locations in both Chicago and New Orleans that are real. And that's what I need help with.

To be eligible for the giveaway, find a location mentioned in the book, and leave the following information in the comments:

• Location
• Which book you found it in
• Page number

Furthermore, you need to be the first person to mention a location. I'll keep a running list at the bottom of this post, so you don't have to go through the comments, but it seems like the only way to keep it fair. For example, if you were going to submit St. Brigid's chapel, your comment would look something like this:

St. Brigid's Chapel; Torn; page 278

Easy, right?  The only places NOT eligible are the ones I mentioned earlier: Mo's house, St. Brigid's, The Slice/Morgan's. Everything else is fair game.

Other details:

• You can enter as many locations as you want, and each one will count as an entry in the drawing -- but enter each AS A SEPARATE COMMENT. Otherwise you will confound me and random.org.
• The contest closes at 9am CST on June 11th.
• As always, the contest is open internationally.
• The prize is an autographed ARC of BOUND, and a sneak peek of the map before it goes live.
• You don't have to retweet or FB or post about the contest, but I'm always very grateful when people spread the word.

Happy Friday, guys -- and thanks for your help!

Bacon Jam and Summer Plans

Today is my sister's birthday, and to celebrate (Happy birthday, sister-mine!) we are heading up to Madison, WI for the weekend. It's one of my favorite places in the whole world. I'll try to post some pictures over on my twitter feed so you can see our regular haunts.

Today is also cold and rainy -- it was 95 last weekend and now it's 55, and my natural reaction to this sort of temperature drop is to make something consoling and indulgent. I like cold, rainy, gray days, because nobody tries to make me feel guilty about staying inside where there are books and the internet and coffee and my bed, instead of going out into nature, where there are weeds and bugs. To celebrate the fact that I don't have to do battle with the weeds, I am making Bacon Jam.

Yes, bacon jam. This recipe really appeals to me, because the only thing better than sweet/salty food is sweet/salty/spicy food, but I have a long to-do list today and kids who don't appreciate spiciness the way I do, so I'm going with this version, which has the benefit of cooking unattended while I Accomplish All The Things. I'll keep you posted.

But the REAL point of this post is to give you a quick-and-dirty update about where I'll be this summer. (Other than Madison, which is not an official trip but an "eat lots of delicious things" trip.) The list isn't inclusive -- we've got a few more events in the works, but for now, this is where you can find me:

Printers Row Lit Fest
Chicago, IL
2:45 pm Sunday, June 10 (subject to change -- check schedule)
Panel Discussion: Writing Young Adult Isn't Writing Down

Lake Villa Library
2-4 pm, Sunday, June 17
Workshop: What's the Point of POV? (registration required; designed for teens)

Grayslake Library
Writer's Bloc: Camp NaNoWriMo Kickoff
August 30 (Registration required; grades 2-6)

Midwest Writers Workshop
Muncie, IN
July 26-28
I'm teaching multiple classes on YA, and the entire faculty is outstanding -- especially this brilliant agent.

The other thing we have going this summer, of course, is the launch of BOUND! I'll have giveaways starting this weekend, and other fun things planned, so stay tuned. And now I'm off to check on my bacon jam.

 

Three Guesses Where We're Going Today? (UPDATED)

...and the first two don't count.

 

(Your first hint.)

 

(This ain't my first time at the rodeo.)

 

(Rare footage of the elusive Kitty Maya.)

(We are not amused, says Per.)

 

Looks like fun, right? I envision the afternoon going much like this book, which is a favorite of ours.  The current plan is to bait the carriers with oodles of treats, since they're lazy, greedy little beasts. Other tips/tricks/advice are welcome.

 

Update: Mrs. Silverstein's advice (see comments) was spot-on! We lured Per in with treats, and she totally fell for it. Maya does not like treats, so we suited up, lowered her in, and trundled off to the vet. The verdict: generally healthy kitties, though we're going in again next month. I haven't broken the news to them just yet. I'm sure they're already plotting their revenge.

WIP Friday: In the weeds. Literally.

Remember how I said April was trying to kill me?

I was not wrong.

April almost did kill me, but it waited until May 1st to do so. Because I had let my guard down, you see. I survived speeding tickets, locking my keys in the car, multiple conferences, #gasleak12, various kid illnesses, and then April was over. I breathed a sigh of relief and went to a signing at the IRA convention. Four hours later, I was in bed, feverish and hallucinating for a solid week.

Suck it, April. I know you were behind this.

Now I'm recovered and enjoying a bit of a breather. We moved to this house a little less than two years ago, and I've spent the bulk of that time frantically writing and serving a wide variety of frozen pizza to my family. I'm enjoying making real food, and unpacking the boxes in the garage, and generally restoring order. Also, watching Sherlock. Bendedict Cumberbatch was my reward for surviving April. (This never gets old, btw)

Alas, it's not all fresh vegetables and fun with the labelmaker. Something had to give in the two years that I was writing the Torn Trilogy, and since I'm firmly convinced that Nature is out to get me, it was an easy decision. I ensconced myself in my office and ignored the backyard entirely.

In retrospect, this might not have been the best idea I've ever had.

  

(I told you nature was out to get me.)

Guys, I can't even. I CAN'T EVEN. They are taller than me. If I let Big Marshmallow into the yard, she gets swallowed up in weeds, just like that scene in Little House on The Prairie where Baby Carrie gets loose on the prairie and everyone runs around looking for her, thinking she's been swallowed up by some sort of sinkhole. Every time I think about it, I start to twitch. It's like living in the rainforest, if the rainforest was located just north of Chicago.

So, here is my plan. Fifteen minutes a day. I can do anything for fifteen minutes a day, right? Surely I can attack weeds for fifteen minutes, and then come in for a cookie and a bit of a lie-down. And once the biggest, prickliest, most vicious weeds have come out, I'm going to pay my kids to do it instead.

I always feel better with a plan. In the meantime, send cookies and iced tea. And bug spray. And sunblock. And maybe a lawn service. And a money tree to pay for the lawn service.

What are you doing this weekend? Please say it's more fun than weeding.

More Germany. More *swoooning* and *thudding*

I believe I showed you the German cover for TORN, yes? And we all agreed that it was pretty beyond our wildest imaginings, yes? And some of us (me included) thought...there is no way they can top that cover for TANGLED.

This is the absolute best way to be proven wrong:

 

(That's got to be Colin, right? Since he's wearing a workshirt?)

Oh, Germany. I love you so. If you guys need me, I'll be cuddled up on the couch with my German covers, telling them I love them both equally in their own special ways.

April Scavenger Hunt Winner

I was planning to put up a charming post with the winner of the April Scavenger Hunt right after I had my first cup of coffee. I had stayed up late working, you see, and needed a hefty dose of caffeine to form coherent thoughts.

Then I discovered that my oldest child had, sometime this morning, swapped the sugar in my sugar dish with salt. For April Fools' Day, you see. Which was YESTERDAY, you see. Which made my spit-take all the more entertaining.

(Related note: if anyone is in the market for an 11 year old girl with a large vocabulary and a knack for making scrambled eggs, email me.)

So, I am not exactly feeling clever this morning, what with the lack of sleep and the coffee that tastes like it was made of bilgewater and roadkill, and I am staring down the barrel of April that, I have on good authority, is trying to kill me.

The one bright spot in this is that we have a winner in the scavenger hunt! Thank you all for playing -- it is so much fun to see the comment notification emails come in, because I'm a bit pavlovian about such things. I'll be emailing all of the entrants their secret scene code later this week, and I'm also going to hide the comments on the post, so as to keep your email addys slightly less available to the universe. (This means you should not panic that you can't see your comment. They are there, just...hiding.)

ANYWAY.

*clears throat* *offers winning smile*

The winner of the Torn/Tangled prize package is...

MARISSA, from Beneath The Moon And Stars, who looks like a lovely person and would probably never poison her mother's coffee.

Thanks again for playing, guys! There'll be more giveaways here as BOUND's release approaches, and other fun stuff as well.

 

April Scavenger Hunt!

Welcome to the YA Scavenger Hunt! This tri-annual event was first organized by author Colleen Houck as a way to give readers a chance to gain access to exclusive bonus material from their favorite authors...and a chance to win some awesome prizes! At this hunt, you not only get access to exclusive content from each author, you also get a clue for the hunt. Add up the clues, and you can enter for our prize--one lucky winner will receive TWENTY signed books, one book from each author on the hunt in my team! But play fast: this contest (and all the exclusive bonus material) will only be online for 72 hours!

Go to the YA Scavenger Hunt page to find out all about the hunt. There are THREE contests going on simultaneously, and you can enter all three! I am a part of the BLUE TEAM--but there is also a red team and a yellow team. You can enter all three contests--which has a total prize bucket of SIXTY signed books!

If you'd like to find out more about the hunt, see links to all the authors participating, and see the full list of prizes up for grabs, go to the YA Scavenger Hunt homepage.

Directions: Hidden within my post is a single letter that is blue. Make a note of that letter! It's a part of a scrambled phrase. When you go to all the author sites of the blue team, you'll have all the letters you need to enter the contest. 

Entry Form: Once you piece together all the clues to the hunt, make sure you fill out the form here to officially qualify for the grand prize. Only entries that have the completed phrase will qualify.

Rules: Open internationally, anyone below the age of 18 should have a parent or guardian's permission to enter. To be eligible for the grand prize, you must submit the completed entry form by April 1st, at noon Pacific Time. Entries sent without the correct puzzle code or without contact information will not be considered.

Hello, Hunters!

I'm lucky enough to be hosting the AMAZING Cynthia Hand today. Here's a bit about her, if you've been living in a cave and haven't read the excellence that is UNEARTHLY.

Cynthia Hand is the New York Times bestselling author of the Unearthly series with HarperTeen. A native of southeastern Idaho, she currently lives with her husband and two small children in Southern California, where she teaches writing at Pepperdine University.

You can find out more about Cynthia by checking out her website, and learn more about HALLOWED here!

Here's a bit more about HALLOWED:

For months Clara Gardner trained to face the fire from her visions, but she wasn't prepared for the choice she had to make that day. And in the aftermath, she discovered that nothing about being part angel is as straightforward as she thought.

Now, torn between her love for Tucker and her complicated feelings about the roles she and Christian seem destined to play in a world that is both dangerous and beautiful, Clara struggles with a shocking revelation: Someone she loves will die in a matter of months. With her future uncertain, the only thing Clara knows for sure is that the fire was just the beginning.

In this compelling sequel to "Unearthly," Cynthia Hand captures the joy of first love, the anguish of loss, and the confusion of becoming who you are.

When we were asked to provide awesome bonus content for the hunt, Cynthia took the job seriously. She's given us an exclusive preview of a scene from Book 3 of the Unearthly Series -- it's so new, it doesn't even have a title yet! Enjoy!

(And after you read Cynthia's swoon-worthy bonus content, keep reading for a chance to win an additional prize package!)

BOOK 3 PREVIEW

There’s a sharp knock on the door, and we both jump. I run to open it. Christian’s standing in the hall wearing khakis and a blue dress shirt, sleeves rolled to the elbows. He smells like Ivory soap and shaving cream.

He holds out a bouquet of white daisies. “For you.”

Date mode, Clara, I tell myself. Now is not the time to do research with Angela.

“Thank you. Come in for a sec, and I’ll put these in some water.”

He follows me in. I rummage around for something to use as a vase, but the best I can find is a Big Gulp cup. I fill it with water and set the flowers on my desk.

Christian glances over at Angela, who’s suddenly produced her black and white composition notebook and is scribbling as fast as she can go.

“Hello, Angela,” he says.

“Hi, Chris,” she says, but she doesn’t stop writing. “Flowers. Very smooth.”

“Yeah, I try,” he says with a smirk.

“You know, daisies are supposed to represent innocence,” she says, looking up and quirking an eyebrow at him.

He looks at me. “You ready?”

“Yes.” I fight the urge to tuck my hair behind my ears. “Bye,” I say to Angela. “We’ll talk later, okay?”

She waves her hand at me dismissively, and I can hear her pen’s furious scratching even after I close the door.

#

In the parking lot I have to stifle a smile when Christian crosses to open the passenger door for me. He gives me his hand to help me climb into his truck.

“Thanks,” I murmur, and I try not to think of Tucker, of the way he always opened doors for me.

He jogs around and gets in, put the key in the ignition, but doesn’t start it. He turns to me.

“This is a date,” he says.

“Oh, good,” I say, “because I was wondering, what with the flowers and all.”

“And as a date, there are certain ground rules we need to go over.”

Oh boy. “Okay,” I laugh nervously.

“I will be paying for all of our activities this evening,” he begins.

“But—”

He holds up his hand. “I know that you are a modern, liberated, independent woman. I respect that, and I understand that you are capable of paying for your own meal, but I will still be paying for dinner, and whatever else. Okay?”

“But—”

“And just because I’m paying for dinner doesn’t mean that I expect anything from you. I just want to treat you tonight, and that’s all.”

It’s cute that he’s blushing.

“All right,” I fake-grumble. “You’ll pay. Anything else?”

“Yes. I’d like us to steer clear of all angel-related topics tonight, if you don’t mind. I don’t want to hear the word angel, or purpose, or vision, or any of our other special terminology. Tonight I want us to simply be Christian and Clara, two college students on a date. How’s that sound?”

“Sounds good,” I say. More than good, even. Normal people on a normal date.

It sounds perfect.

#

Are you swooning, Hunters? You should be swooning!

Now, on to the prize package. In addition to entering for the Scavenger Hunt Grand Prize Packages, (you caught the big blue letter, right?) you can also enter for a prize from me, which will include:

• signed copies of TORN and TANGLED
• swag (bookmarks and trading cards)
• a set of Verity's postcards to Mo (Notes From A Dead Girl)
  
• a sweet olive scented candle, because it smells like New Orleans
  

A random winner gets the prize package. All other entrants will get an emailed link to the secret page on my website, which has even more bonus scenes (and which will be periodically updated, so it's worth your while to check back now and again).

What do you have to do to enter? Comment below (make sure you include a valid email address) AND like my Facebook Fan Page. That's it!

Ready for the next stop on the hunt? Go check out Gina Linko!

We call it "the stinkeye"

Very quickly, before I turn the internet off and get back to the writing of many, many words, I wanted to share this with you all. We rarely post pictures of my kids (where you can actually see them) but the nice people at Readers' Entertainment asked me to do a brief post and picture about why I write.

Here's what I wrote. As you can see, Big Marshmallow is not a huge fan of strange people taking her picture.

http://www.readersentertainment.com/blog/2012/for-the-love-of-writing-author-erica-orourke/

Happy Tuesday, all. I think Tuesday is the new Monday, so just surviving until bedtime is a win for me.

Spring Scavenger Hunt is Here!

I am so thrilled to be participating in the Spring Scavenger Hunt! It was so much fun to hear from everyone last time around, and this Hunt promises to be even more exciting. We have sixty YA authors participating, and the amazing Colleen Houck and Beth Revis have been hard at work streamlining the Hunt to make it easier for you. (Click here to see a list of all sixty authors -- so many pretty shiny covers!)

To make the Hunt a little more manageable, we've split it into three teams of twenty authors each. That means THREE grand prizes (of at least twenty books) and you can enter all three, if you want to. I am on the Blue Team; so if you get lost along the way, you can go back to the original site and pick up where you left off.

 

 

You can get more details about the Spring Scavenger Hunt by clicking here or on the banner  below, but the most important thing to remember is this:

The YA Scavenger Hunt begins Thursday March 29th at noon PACIFIC TIME and ends Sunday April 1st at noon PACIFIC TIME. That gives you only 72 hours to complete the hunt!

 

 

Like before, I'll be offering a special prize here on the day of the hunt, and I'll have more about that later. But for now, I have a question:my bonus content for the previous hunt was an extra scene. This time, I'm taking a scene from one of the books and rewriting it from another character's point of view. And I'm curious: what scene from TORN or TANGLED would you like to see through someone else's eyes? Hit the comments and let me know!

 

Good luck, and happy Hunting!

WIP Friday: Luncheon Edition (And BOUND FAQ's)

WELL.

That was a bit of an unintended blog break, and to be honest, it's likely to continue for a bit longer. We have been smacked upside the head with all sorts of scheduling craziness on the home front, and last night I looked at my schedule for April, wept at how many days will require me to dress like a grownup, mistook April for May, and then had a panic attack at the number of days I'd double-booked stuff.

Rest assured, I didn't double-book. I just can't read a calendar.

Sometime next week, I'll post an update to the Event page, because I am going to be all over the place in April and it would be wonderful to see a friendly face. But in the meantime, here's the one that's most time-sensitive:

Barbara Vey's Reader Appreciation Luncheon
Tuesday, April 10th, 10:30 AM
Oak Creek, WI

Barbara Vey, among other things, is a Contributing Editor to Publishers' Weekly, author of the "Beyond Her Book" blog, and a huge, huge supporter of the romance community. She's hosting an AMAZING luncheon (details above) where you get to meet and mingle with thirty-eight authors from all sorts of genres and then have a sit-down lunch with one of the authors, so you can grill them all about what's happening in their next book. You'll get a ton of free books and swag, and most importantly, a good chunk of time to talk with your author.

(Is it likely I'll tell you some spoilers for BOUND? Anything's possible, guys.)

The reason it's time-sensitive is that you need to buy tickets, and they stop selling tickets on March 31st. It's a great event -- you get a bag full of books and swag, and all the proceeds go to support local libraries. So, come and have lunch with me! You can click the link above to find out more.

In the meantime, I have gotten a lot of questions about BOUND, and I figured now was as good a time as any to answer them. Ready, steady, GO!

Are you done writing BOUND?

Yep. Done writing, copy editing, proofing...it's finished!

When does it come out?

June 26th, 2012. (This summer!) Someone told me that on Goodreads, the release date is listed as sometime in October. This is incorrect, but I don't use Goodreads, so I don't know how to fix it. If you DO know how to, feel free to go ahead and change it.

You'll have ARCs, right?

Um...I don't know, actually. I hope so, but like 98% of things in publishing, this is not up to me. Rest assured, if I have ARCs, we'll definitely be holding giveaways.

How does it feel to have finished a trilogy?

Weird.  A little sad. A little exciting. I'll talk more about this in another post, I think.

Will you write more in this series?

I'm not currently planning on writing any more novels set in this universe, but I'll definitely be writing write some short pieces/extra content. Mo's story is done -- her journey is complete at the end of BOUND, so I don't envision writing another book about her. I do think it would be fun to write about some of the secondary characters, like Lena, or even Constance. I feel like Jenny Kowalski isn't done yet, either. But for now, I'm taking a break from the Arcs and Flats to play with some other stuff.

Do people die in this one?

Yep. Much higher body count in this book than the others.

Does Mo choose Colin or Luc?

Spoilers, sweetie.

Can't you tell us anything?

Three things:

• Mo's dad comes back from prison.
• Three months have passed since the end of TANGLED.
• As I mentioned on twitter last night, somebody's hipbones get ogled.

Questions? Hit the comments! Have a great weekend -- and I hope to see you at the luncheon!