Category Archives: Young Adult Fantasy

Playing Catch-up

How has it been over a month since I last posted here?  There’s been a lot going on.

In late May, I got to geek out at Balticon.  Sword and Verse was a finalist for the 2017 Compton Crook Award, presented at Balticon, so it was exciting to connect with readers!  I spoke on 2 panels: “SFF Resistance” and “Women in the Business”, and got to hang out with Meg Eden, author of Post-High School Reality Quest.

 

 

I spent most of May and June working furiously to finish revising the sequel to Sword and Verse.  (I swear I’ll be able to announce the title soon!)  It’s now turned into my editor, and it’s a big, scary, exciting book that I am truly proud of.

In mid-May, I attended Awesome Con in Washington, D.C. – it’s a great big ball of fun!  I spoke on a panel about worldbuilding in fantasy and sci-fi with Meg Eden, Tobie Easton, Lisa Maxwell, and Nik Korpon.  What a huge, fantastically engaged crowd!

The crowd at the Awesome Con worldbuilding panel. Wow!

 

More exciting stuff that happened this month:

The cover of the Spanish translation of Sword and Verse was revealed.  Isn’t it a beauty?

The Spanish title, Tinta y Fuego translates to “Ink and Fire”.

I also got to see the draft cover of the first book in my “Little Hands Signing” baby board book series, Nita’s First Signs, and it is wonderful.  The series comes out from Familius Press in 2018, and I can’t wait to share it with families!

 

And coming up:

On Tuesday, June 27 at 1 PM, I’ll be doing a reading and Q&A at the Towson Library in Baltimore County, MD.  Hope to see you there!

The following week I’m headed to Los Angeles for the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators national conference.

And hopefully I’ll put in lots of words on my next work in progress!  Isn’t summer supposed to be relaxing or something?

 

 

 

 

A New SWORD AND VERSE Extra

It’s a grey and rainy day here in the Midatlantic, so it seems like a good day to share an extra! This one is from Mati’s point of view, and it takes place just before, during, and after the very first scene in Sword and Verse. (Warning: this story has MAJOR spoilers for Sword and Verse, so don’t read it if you haven’t read the book yet.) In this scene, we get to meet Tyasha ke Demit before her execution.

Without further ado, I give you…

Eyes Open: A Story from the World of Sword and Verse

 

2016 Debut Authors Bash – and a brand-new SWORD AND VERSE story!

Debut-Banner

I’m so excited to be participating in the Debut Authors Bash, hosted by YA Reads!  Check out the complete schedule to see extras, interviews and more from your favorite debut authors!

My stop on the tour was hosted by Carly at Across the Bookiverse, and I was thrilled to share “Iron and Silk”, a short story from Jonis’s point of view about his first attempt to recruit Raisa to the Resistance.  You can read it here.  There’s a giveaway too, so click on the link above to enter!

Read “Iron and Silk” here.