Erica O'Rourke

Another Signing, WIP Friday, and Liars.

Happy-Almost-Easter, if Easter is your thing! I mentioned this over on Tumblr, but I will be signing on Thursday, April 24th, 7pm, at Read Between The Lynes (Woodstock, IL) with some amazing authors: Mindee Arnett and Stacey Kade!

 

As I mentioned in this post, we'll also be signing in Hoffman Estates on Saturday, April 26 , but the event in Woodstock will be a ton of fun! We'll be chatting about books and writing and pretty much anything else that comes to mind, as well as answering questions and passing out swag, and wielding my usual silver sharpie.

On the WIP Friday front, this image says it all:

 

I'm revising Dissonance 2, and while I try not to be too precious about my writing and revision process, these pens are non-negotiable. Alas, they are also Big Marshmallow's favorite pens in the world, and they are not cheap, so I bought a box and now have to hide them in my TARDIS cookie jar. Which means there is no space for cookies. But one must suffer for one's art, I suppose.

When I'm not revising, I'll be reading THIS amazing book. I'm even going to force myself NOT to peek at the ending, which is a herculean effort. Wishing you all a wonderful weekend filled with good books, no matter what or how you celebrate!

 

WIP Friday: Snuffly Edition

First of all, my heart goes out to everyone affected by Sandy -- it's a terrible, terrible tragedy, and the road back is going to be a long one. If you're looking to help, here are some ways:

The Red Cross: You can click here to donate online, or text REDCROSS to 90999 to donate to Disaster Relief for an instant $10 donation. Click here to get more information about donating blood.

This auction, spearheaded by children's author Kate Messner, is offering some amazing prizes, with the proceeds to benefit the Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund.

Hang in there, East Coast.

In less-urgent news, I am knee-deep in revisions on DISSONANCE, which means I will not be doing National Novel Writing Month. I am also knee-deep in germy children, and so I am going to dispense to you My Advice For Winter Months With Petri Dishes Masquerading As Short People.

Ginger tea. Lots of it. With honey. Lots of it. If you have a lemon lying around, throwing a few slices in wouldn't be a bad idea, but it's not essential. We happen to be fond of this brand, because it's easy to find, but if you're feeling particularly granola, just slice a bunch of ginger and throw it in some boiling water. I don't know why it works so much better than regular tea, but it does. Ginger tea cures all manner of cold-weather ick, especially those things that are viral and hence won't respond to antibiotics.

Which is why my kids are getting industrial quantities of it today. Mama has work to do.

 

 

WIP Friday: Office Edition

Reminder: There's still time to enter the BOUND In The Wild Contest and win a custom cuff bracelet!

i've talked before about the fact that my office is located in our laundry room. This has many benefits: there are some unusually large windows, lots of space, and a long counter. And I like the smell of laundry soap. Also, people tend not to come in that often, as I am likely to make them fold laundry or scoop the cat litter if they interrupt my work.

On the downside, this place has more spiders than Harry Potter's cupboard. Also, while I had a fair amount of drawer and cabinet space, I had no shelves, which meant my books were overtaking every other room in my house, and my kids are in that stage of old-enough-to-read-but-not-old-enough-to-understand. The answer, of course, was to install shelves. Lots of shelves.

By far the best shelves I've found are the Elfa system from The Container Store -- they're flexible, clean-lined, strong, and insanely easy to install. (True story: When I was eight months pregnant, I installed an entire closet, shelves, and drawer unit all by my princess self, despite the fact I couldn't see my feet. It is THAT EASY.)

So, after Boyo installed the top track (I am not allowed to hang things on the walls, because SOMEONE is very picky about what anchors we use) I got to work. And behold:

Time assembling shelves: One hour

Time arranging books JUST SO: One week.

It's not done, of course -- these are only the books from my room, so I still have to go through the rest of the house. But the sight of all those beautiful books, some of them unread, some of them old friends, makes me both happy and inspired.

Some closeups:

My UK editions of Harry Potter, which my children kept stealing. MITTS OFF, CHILDREN. There's also some of my favorites YA books: A Wrinkle In Time, The Changeover, and The Only Alien On The Planets, and my first Marauder's Map mug, which...my kids chipped. This is why we can't have anything nice, internet.

And here's MY books! Including the lovely, lovely German edition of TORN, which gets to face out so I can stare at the prettiness while I work. (Also, my beloved copy of Garner's, which is a lifesaver during line-edits. If you don't have a copy, you should.)

Like everything else in our house, the office is a work in progress, even two years after we've moved. Finishing a project like this, though, really makes the space feel like it's mine. I can't imagine why I waited so long.

So...what's on your shelves?

WIP Friday: Epilogue Edition + Giveaway Winner!

If you've been here for a while, you know that I have a hidden page on my regular website which can be accesssed in one of two ways: typing in the top secret URL, or by scanning the QR code on the back of Torn Trilogy swag. And if you've gone to that secret page, you've read the epilogue to the series, which I cleverly designed so as to give you a glimpse of Mo's future without being spoilery.

I'll be swapping that scene out soon, and thought it was high time to let everyone read it, especially now that the trilogy is concluded. So if you're looking to see what happened once BOUND was over, I present to you...

AFTER

(I've tested it, and I think the link will work even if you're not logged into FB, but if you have problems, let me know. I won't fix it, because I'm clueless about Facebook, but I have PEOPLE, and they will make it all better.)

Now, I am a person who loves spoilers. You can tell me how a book or series ends and it doesn't diminish my enjoyment in the slightest, but many people don't feel that way. So, while I'd love for you to comment or share or discuss or whatever, if you've finished the series and you know which guy is in that scene, please don't give away the ending for others.

In the meantime, I also promised you a giveaway winner: Sarah @ The Book Life!

Sarah's essentials include: Multiple pairs of sunglasses because one always breaks, and good books. Clearly, she is Good People. Congrats, Sarah -- I'll be contacting you via email!

The gorgeous swag I've been waiting for has arrived, so we'll be having another giveaway next week -- but in the meantime, have a great weekend, all!

WIP Friday: In Need of Summer Songs

So, I've probably mentioned this, but BOUND comes out on Tuesday. TUESDAY! The mind, it boggles. TORN came out almost exactly a year ago. I sold the series almost exactly TWO years ago. The fact that it all wraps up in four more days is a little startling.

(Feel free to order it from Amazon or B&N or the Independent Bookstore of Your Choice, by the way.)

Meanwhile, I am whacking my way through the to-do list, getting everything prepped and ready for the launch: the playlist, maps, contests, maybe even a little extra content. And it strikes me that while I certainly have a soundtrack for the book, which you'll see next week, I don't have a soundtrack for this summer. I love a good summer soundtrack -- something with a mix of styles and artists and moods, for lazy mornings and brilliant sweaty days and nights out with friends and stargazing. It's a tall order, as you can see.

Right now, the list is comprised almost entirely of The Lumineers, and while I feel strongly that I could listen to their album nonstop for the next ten weeks and never get tired of it, not everyone in my house feels the same way.

 

Help a girl out -- what are YOU listening to this summer?

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.

WIP Friday: Willpower Editon

In 120 minutes, I get a biscuit.

(Wallpaper from Wisecraft. Thanks, Blair!)

WIP Friday: Souvenir Edition

Despite my best intentions, I didn't take enough pictures of New York on my recent trip. But here's are some of my favorites:

New York Public Library Side Door. Fancy!

Delicious sushi. Honestly, some of the best I've had. And later, a crab cake sandwich with fennel on top and homemade potato chips.

 

Creepy head statue in the lobby of my hotel.

 

Purl Soho!

I'd been dying to visit Purl, and my dear friend Jen indulged me. This is where I bought many of my souvenirs, including yarn for the two younger girls and high-end felt for the oldest, who does not like to wear knitted things. This, by the way, breaks my heart.

 

Big Marshmallow, however, likes knitted things very much. As evidenced by her demand that I turn her yarn into a hat. A pink hat. A pink pointy hat. Right this very minute.

Done and dusted, kid.

As for myself, I've gotten into the habit of buying teacups on my trips, and I found the perfect one at a Japanese bookstore.

Something about the patterns reminds me of the subway signs.

I am already anxious to go back.

WIP Friday: TANGLED Cover!

Apologies for the blog/twitter/facebook/tumblr/telephone/textmessage silence. I am working feverishly on BOUND, the third book of the Torn Trilogy, so that I can revise it. I loathe the drafting. I love the revising. The fact that I am still doing the former and not the latter means that I am, frankly, unfit for society right now.

BUT! People have been writing and asking me all kinds of questions about TANGLED. Most of those questions center around three things:

• When is it out? (February 2012. Technically, January 31st, but that's close enough.)
• Do you have a cover? (Yes.)
• Mo ends up with (insert boy's name here), right? RIGHT???? (BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.)

 

Okay, that last one was kind of mean. To make it up to you, I'll revisit question two:

YES! I have a cover!

They are planning on adding some fancy-ish effects to the title, but those will only appear on the hard copies, obviously. The tagline is a bit hard to read here, but it says, "Deception takes practice," which I love, because it sums up this book perfectly, and because I am a dork who loves literary allusions.

You know what else I geek out about? Fonts. And as it turns out, this font...is the same one that was used for movie adaptation of The Golden Compass. This makes me ridiculously happy, because those books are among my all-time favorites. A tenuous connection, but I will take what I can get, you know?

In case you haven't seen it, here's the back cover copy for TANGLED.

Constance started to keen as the air around us began to thrash and twist, the caustic scent of ozone burning my nose. As I watched, her dark gold hair began to lift and kink into knots.

“I’m here. It’ll be okay.” It was the last thing I said before my best friend’s little sister went supernova in the second-floor girls’ bathroom, taking me with her.

A month ago, Mo Fitzgerald risked her life to stop an ancient prophecy and avenge her best friend's murder. Now, she only wants to keep her loved ones safe. But the magic—and the Chicago Mob—have other plans.

Mysterious, green-eyed Luc is back, asking for help—and a second chance. Colin, her strongest protector, is hiding a shocking secret. And inside Constance, the magic is about to go terribly wrong. Tangled in a web of love and betrayal, Mo must choose between the life she's dreamed of and the one she's destined for.

 

I really love this book, guys. I can't wait for you to read it. And now I'm going to go lock myself in my office again, because if I don't, you'll NEVER get the answer to question three. In the meantime, if you have other questions, leave them in the comments, and I'll answer them next week.

WIP Friday: TARDIS required

This month is moving WAY too fast.

 

We have four more boxes of ornaments to hang.

 

And if Matt Smith was included, so much the better.