SKY JUMPERS giveaway, link to MG questions, and SJ's origin

I am buried so very, very deeply in my revision cave, it took hours to climb back out! (Only not really. I'm actually just below the surface-- there's still a blog tour to write posts for and kids to get ready to go back to school this week and dinner to make, you know?) Anyway, how about a few updates?

I'm thrilled to announce that there's another giveaway of a SKY JUMPERS advanced reader copy (ARC), and it's also open internationally! There's a link to enter just right over there ----> in the sidebar.

Speaking of SKY JUMPERS... The American Booksellers Association just unveiled their list of Best Books for Children of 2013, and SKY JUMPERS made the list! (In case you were wondering, yes. This is what I use to get me over that feeling when I cross something off my to-do list, and realize that there are five more things on it than there was an hour ago...)

Yesterday I did a Q&A live forum event for WriteOnCon. I had so much fun! Everyone asked some very insightful and helpful questions. If you missed it and want to read through the questions and answers, you can right here, in the WriteOnCon forums.

Ever wondered what was the inspiration behind Sky Jumpers (including the soaring through the air that you see on the cover)? I've posted my origins story over at the Crowe's Nest.

3 Months Until Release: News, Full Jacket Reveal, and FIRST ARC GIVEAWAY!

I interrupt the regularly scheduled MG post (which will be back next Monday, I swear) to bring you 3 MONTHS UNTIL RELEASE DATE HAPPENINGS!

Holy frijoles, guys. I got my book deal almost exactly 19 months ago. Hitting the three month countdown is sort of.... unreal. And exciting. And slightly terrifying. And fun.

First, a little update.

• I'm nearing the end of second round edits for book 2. I had heard that book 2s were a beast that would try to kill you in both your waking and your sleeping hours. I knew that. Still, though, I kind of just figured that my beast was going to be a cute little meerkat, poking his head up out of his hole to greet me every morning, and we'd get along swimmingly. Turns out, it's a Balrog and we've been battling for an eternity, and it's still unclear who's going to win. (Although I'm telling you right now, it's going to be me.)

• If we are friends on facebook, then you might've seen this a few weeks ago when I posted it, but it still gives me a thrill every single time I think of it, so I'm going to share it here, too. The American Booksellers Association chose 22 titles spread across all categories to be promoted in independent bookstores all across the country as part of their Celebrate Debut Authors with Indies program. They chose a total of four middle grade titles to push, and mine is one of them. Guys-- I can't even. I am still blown away and cry happy tears whenever I think about it. You can read the article from the ABA here.

• I am going to ComicCon International in San Diego in a few weeks! In one of those miracle all-the-puzzle-pieces-come-together moments, I also get to go with my hubby and our three kids. It's a geek family's dream come true. (Except for my middle child who isn't a geek, and who is a little weirded out by the fact that we're going. We're hoping to convert him to geekism on this trip.)

Enough news. Let's get to the full jacket reveal! Have I mentioned how much I love my art director (Nicole De Las Heras) and my cover artist (Owen Richarson)? They rock my world. Go ahead and click on this baby and make it huge. These guys made every square inch of it awesome. It's even more amazing in person, because it's embossed-- Sky Jumpers is raised the most, and then Hope, Aaren, and then the mountains. And the title has a special treatment on it that makes it shine in the light. When my editor sent me a jacket, I petted it for like 30 minutes straight.

And now, time for a giveaway! ARCs (Advanced Reader Copies) of Sky Jumpers have been rare, and for a while, I wasn't sure I'd be able to give one away. I was so excited when I found out I'd get a few more copies, because I've been dying to share it with you guys. You've made this journey so incredible! I love hanging out with you all, even if we may never actually see each other in person. :'o) Sad, I know, but this one is a U.S. only giveaway. I will do everything I can to do an international giveaway soon.

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Have an awesome week, everyone!

Let's update each other, shall we?

Hi hi hi! Long time no see! How was your New Years? What did you do? We did with our kids the same thing my parents did with us growing up--- we ate homemade pizza, played board games for many, many hours, and toasted the new year with sparkling cider at midnight. I love it every bit as much as I did when I was a kid.

Since it's been so long, how about we update each other? I'll start. (Or you can skip down to the comments, and you start.)

SKY JUMPERS Book 2

Last week I turned book 2 into my editor. There are a lot of factors that make book 2s difficult--- someday I might post about that. Needless to say, there are times that I thought it might kill me, and there's an incredible weight lifted to have it turned in. It makes me want to tackle everything I've been putting off all at once. :)

Goal: To never finish a book so close to deadline again. Especially if that deadline is January 1.

Cover

Just in case you're wondering how everything is going with my cover... it's coming along nicely. :) My editor and my cover team rock beyond the telling of it, and have been working so hard for the past ten months to get it just right. Cover illustrator #3 (yes, number THREE) is working on it now, and I'm telling you, this is going to be the one. I've seen his first color sketch, and it's incredible. I can't wait for it to be finished! And don't worry that you might miss the reveal. Trust me-- I'll be shouting about it from the rooftops.

Goal: Patience. I've had my book deal for 14 months so far... what's a couple more?

Blog

My poor, poor neglected blog. Sometimes I'll go into my stats and see that people click through all the page tabs at the top, and I cringe. Those puppies haven't been updated in a year and a half! It's a little embarrassing.

Goal: To get back to posting regularly, reading blogs, and revamping all those things on my blog that are in good need of a revamping. Or, in some cases, an initial vamping.

Website

Getting an actual website is my current focus, and I'm so excited to jump into it! I have no idea what I'm going to do just yet, but I'm voting for something awesome. Anyone have any tips? Suggestions on what to include or who to use? Author websites you've seen that you love? I'll take it all.

Goal: To make peggyeddleman.com rock. And have it do something other than just lead you back to here. ;)

What's new with you? Did you set any goals / resolutions? (Or are you anti-New Years resolutions? I totally understand that, too.) And are you as in the mood to do all those things on your to-do list that you've been ignoring as I am?




photo credit: Leo Reynolds via photopin cc

Hi! **waves sheepishly** I'm not dead.

image by dev null
via Flickr Creative Commons

And I haven't been an absent blogger because don't I love you, or because I haven't missed you all like crazy, either. After being gone from blogging for what felt like the entire summer, let's update each other, shall we? If you want me to start, keep reading. If you'd like to start, feel free to scroll right down to the comments first.

I made it through content and line edits! I did round one edits in the spring, but my editorial letters for rounds 2, 3, and 4, each complete with line edits all came during the summer. It was tough, but I'm done! And right now, my manuscript is in the hands of a copy editor.

My kids made it through what has arguably been the MOST BORING SUMMER EVER. (Apparently stressful deadlines for me = no fun for them.) And they went back to school today! I now have kids in three different schools, with six different drop off / pick up times. 7:45, 8:15, 9:05, 2:15, 2:45, 3:30. Crazy much? Maybe just a little. Benefits to having the most boring summer ever? My kids are actually, for the first time ever, mentally ready (and possibly even a little bit excited) for school to start. Huzzah!

I recently okayed my author bio, wrote my dedication, and worked on my acknowledgements. :'o) I haven't finished them, though. Holy hardness-- they're tough! So much more difficult than I anticipated. Oh! And I made a book trailer! Aaaand I can't show you for like ten months. But it's awesome! (You're just going to have to trust me on this one for now.) It was crazy time consuming and had to happen right during crazy deadlines for edits in order to be used at list launch, and possibly made me a little crazy,  but it's done. And my agent is going to use it to pitch my book to foreign editors, which makes me crazy happy. Plus, in ten months from now when I'll probably be crazy busy, I'm going to take a few minutes to sit down, kick my feet up, and be so glad I'm not in the middle of making a book trailer.

I actually worked on book 2 this past weekend! I went to a writing retreat and got SO MUCH DONE. I'm still living off the high from accomplishing so much. Especially because I'm generally a slow drafter, so what I got done in 2 1/2 days amounts to 7 good weeks of writing. For a moment, though, I didn't think it would happen. I was wandering outside the resort, talking and plotting (because I plot best when I wander. And it's even better when I do it chatting on the phone with someone than when I'm just talking with myself...), and I saw this:

I took this with my phone, standing directly in front of our place, looking at the Park City mountain that's so very close to us. That stuff in the background? Those aren't clouds! They're the first billows of smoke from a massive forest fire. I thought for sure we'd be evacuated. The writing gods smiled down on us, and we forged on.

I swear, guys, I am back, and I plan to blog like I love it again. Because I really do. I figured I'd do a few industry posts, too. I think it's so good to know what you're getting into every step of the way, and the best way to do that is to read about the same things from different people. Things are just so vastly different between publishing houses, between genres, age groups, editors, authors-- it's good to hear all of it. So I think I'll post this week on List Launch--- the thing I knew the least about when I got my book deal. Plus, I think I'll post on how to have a successful writing retreat, because it could've just as easily become a chat-a-thon as a write-a-thon.....

So tell me what you've been up to this summer! You don't have to write a post-length comment, of course. It is, after all, my fault I haven't been around to see what you've been doing. But if you do decide to leave a post-length telling of your summer, I am so VERY okay with that.