Books

I'll be at the Writer's Block Festival in Louisville on Saturday. I'll be doing the following panel in the Green Building Gallery:

1-2:15: Younger Games:  The Pleasures and Pitfalls of Writing Young Adult Fiction

Young adult fiction is hot! Consider the recent Twilight and Hunger Games series, which have been enthusiastically received by both young and adult readers. Join our versatile panel of contemporary young adult fiction writers:  Gwenda Bond (Blackwood); Katrina Kittle (Reasons to Be Happy), and Kelly Creagh (the Nevermore series) moderated by YA novel and short story writer, Matt Jaeger (The Creation of Lilith Pomegranate and The Care Takers). Our panelists will discuss their writing lives and the challenges and the benefits of writing fiction for a young adult audience.

Copies of Blackwood (and everyone else's books) will be on sale courtesy of the wonderful Carmichael's, and I believe I'll be signing at their spot in the Green Building at 2:30, right after the panel. (If that time changes I'll post here. But books should be on sale all day, and I'm happy to sign copies whenever so approach at will.) If you're in the Louisville area, come out and say hi. Most festival events–including the panel–are free to attend.

A few other things:

• Leo Elijah Cristea review: "Bond writes a compelling, addictive story that merges together so many genres it’s difficult to really call it one or the other: with elements of romance, mystery, the supernatural and even horror, Blackwood is a unique, exciting story that kept me glued to the page. It is an engrossing, detailed story that is deliciously written and marks Bond as a writer to look out for." (Another review I want to marry!)
• Book Angel Booktopia review by Jenni: "I really enjoyed this book, it incorporated the legend of the Lost Colony well into a contemporary setting blending the past with the present cleverly. The way the plot twists and turns keeps the book exciting from start to finish, there were a couple of moments that left me feeling completely surprised."
• Much Loved Books review of the audiobook: "The narrator of Blackwood made it interesting and kept me entertained. I even forgot a few times that it was just one person doing all the voices for the characters. I loved her accent and the different tones she uses to get across the emotion the characters are feeling."
• The LOVELY Megan Whitmer says nice things and is giving away a signed copy of Blackwood over at her blog.
• The Cynsations giveaway is also still going.

And one last link that is too interesting and important not to share:

• "Gender Balance in YA Award Winners since 2000" over at Lady Business. Fascinating analysis.

The delightful Ria at Bibliotropic has just posted a new interview with me. She asked some good, tough questions about Blackwood and animals in books and living in Kentucky and immortality and what's next on the novel horizon from me. Check it out.

(And, yes, it's been added to the Giant Master List.)

Thanks to E.C. Myers for alerting me to this glow-inducing Blackwood shout-out from extraordinary writer and bookseller extraordinaire Kate Milford in the latest YA for Grownups column at the Atlantic. (Read her work, seriously.)

The list is "Teen Reads Better Than 'Fifty Shades' " (which, yes, some cheeky people have pointed out is probably most of them…), described thus:

"With a nod to the "sexy" books that got us started down this road—especially the Judy Blume canon, and especially Forever—this time, we offer up some contemporary books in which Y.A. authors are broaching adult-ish topics in ways that are not just sexy but also are just plain good writing, doing it, we dare say, better than the hyper-popular E.L. James.  "Some do have actual love scenes like Daughter of Smoke and Bone, Shiver, and Graceling," explains Angulo Chen, "but others are all about the emotional connection of being in love for the first time and giving in to those feelings of passion for a really breathtaking kiss, or an old-fashioned snogging session." With the help of her and some of our favorite Y.A. experts, we came up with a few recent and upcoming teen books to consider post-Fifty Shades. We're calling them the steamies."

Or "swoonies," which is probably more applicable to Blackwood, since the romance is more of the emotional connection, awkward moments, and nerdy conversation variety. Still, it makes me so happy to have it included. Anyway, go check out the whole thing! Seriously fine company. Friday made.

As you probably already know, there are a slew of excellent books coming out today–Libba Bray's The Diviners, Rae Carson's The Crown of Embers, and Malinda Lo's Adaptation (which I just praised in the most recent issue of Locus), to name three. I'll be snapping up copies and you should, too. And if you're local to Lexington, the one and only Libba Bray will be at Joseph-Beth tonight at 7 p.m. to kick off her book tour. We'll be there with bells on (well, not really, because that would be weird and possibly loud).

On the Blackwood front:

• I did a Cover Story for the excellent Melissa Walker's blog, in which you can get a peek at a piece of the art brief and hear about the first draft of the cover.
• Fantasy's Ink review: "I loved the dreary and sombre feel of the book, the plot had me from the beginning and it was a haunting take on the mystery of The Lost Colony." (Love the reviewing style at this blog–she breaks down and rates each major story element. Also, *beam.*)
• Always Lost in Stories review: "I loved how the two main characters Miranda and Phillips had to get past their fears and how they grew and changed throughout the book, especially how they grew to trust each other and rely on each other. I love a story with a slow building romantic sideline to it, and this book fits in with that." (Yay!)
• Bibliotropic review: "If you’re a fan of creative and geeky YA paranormal tales, this is definitely one to check out." (Note: Slightly spoilery. I'll be doing an interview to run here soon as well.)
• The Eloquent Page review: "The story does have a nicely creepy X-Files-esque vibe that is present in the entire narrative, this sets a good tone. The pacing works and the final reveal fits snuggly within the confines of the rest of the story…. If you enjoy supernatural teen dramas liked Teen Wolf or The Vampire Diaries then I think that Blackwood may be the book for you."
• I keep hearing (cough) good things about the audiobook, which is happy-making.
• Finally, today's the last day to enter the giveaway at Nova Ren Suma's as part of her Fall Debut Series: Handmade, supercute duct tape rose swag pen, signed copy of Blackwood, and some bonus bookmarks. Open until 8 p.m. EST.

Weekenders, that is. I'm sure many of your daily papers have weekend entertainment sections and so does our Herald-Leader. I went out to get a hard copy, and must admit to a moment of surreal geek-out, because I have secretly always wanted to be in the Weekender, repository of cool arts news.

Surreal. Completely. And one last reminder: launch partyness will be happening at The Morris Book Shop (conveniently located in Chevy Chase) at 6 p.m.ish tomorrow night. An alchemical symbol made of donuts is in the works and you don't see that every day, now do you?

And Christopher just took this screenshot of the front page of Kentucky.com. EEP. (Typo in the buy line keeping me humble. But, hey, the important thing is that the link still works. Who knows how long it'll be like this? But holy. crap.)

And if you're not in Lexington, but are going out bookshopping this weekend, please keep Blackwood in mind. First week sales are always good, and it should be in many shops (because the Random House sales team are rock stars), but asking for it in ones where it isn't is always encouraged. (Ditto in the UK. And also consider release sister Kim Curran's Shift.) Buying a copy for yourself or your favorite teenager is also encouraged and makes kittens frolic through meadows (one kitten frolics per copy!). Also, I just discovered the Powell's site shows what's in stock in their stores as well as the warehouse. Had a moment of utter delight that my book is at Powell's stores–including two copies in the Airport store apparently (PDX visitors, you would be my favorite if bought and/or photographed these).

And lovely tweet I woke up to this morning: 

@gwenda you are featured on a Books Every Teen Should Read table at B&N. 😀 twitter.com/IBlogYouRead/s…

— Celine (@IBlogYouRead) September 7, 2012

YAY. As a first-time author, I cannot tell you how much I appreciate any and all support (and photos like this!). It's a very at-sea feeling this week, and you have made it awesome. I'm already completely overwhelmed and grateful. You guys are The Best.

A few new reviews and a guest post:

• Bibliophile Support Group review: "Here, Gwenda Bond provides us with a new story and likable leads that aren’t whimpering romantics or unrealistically stoic. Blackwood is an impressive, dark, yet undeniably fun, debut!"
• A Dream of Books review: "‘Blackwood’ is a terrific addition to the young-adult genre. Absolutely captivating, I loved not only the growing romance between misfits Miranda and Phillips but also the danger and intrigue of the events which unravelled on the island. The book was different to anything else I’ve read in recent months and Gwenda Bond is certainly an author I’ll be keeping my eye on."
• And the one and only Jenny Davidson, a favorite author and blogger of mine, is entirely too kind: "It definitely had something of the feel of my favorite Margaret Mahy novel The Changeover; both main characters and geographical settings are especially well-rendered." (I will take something of that feel and glow and glow, since I am not worthy.)
• And, last but not least, other people's books! I recommend five of my favorite literary heroines at Wondrous Reads.

Thanks to everyone who's sending me the Roanoke story (hat tip to Tiffany, who saw it first yesterday before the NYT picked it up) about a potential clue embedded in one of John White's maps: 

Theories abound about what happened to the so-called Lost Colony, ranging from sober scholarship to science fiction. Some historians believe that the colonists might have been absorbed into American Indian tribes. Other explanations point to darker fates, like disease, an attack by Spaniards or violence at the hands of Indians. The wild-eyed fringe hints at cannibalism and even alien abduction.

…

The analysis suggests that the symbol marking the fort was deliberately hidden, perhaps to shield it from espionage in the spy-riddled English court. An even more tantalizing hint of dark arts tints the map: the possibility that invisible ink may have marked the site all along.

The funny thing is (MINOR SPOILER) White's art and letters actually are a source of coded clues in Blackwood. Next thing you know, alchemists are going to be up in this business!

Dark arts, indeed.

p.s. You better hope my books aren't coming true, because the one I'm writing now… Let's just say, it wouldn't be good.