Thank you SO MUCH to the many wonderful book bloggers who have hosted me these past few weeks! Following are links for the final stretch:
7/30: Teens Read and Write
7/31: Steph the Bookworm
8/1: Fire and Ice
8/2: Hooked on YA Books
8/4: Lauren's Crammed Bookshelf
8/5: The Book Vixen
8/6: In Bed With Books
8/7: The Bookologist
Have a great weekend!
7/29/10
Siren in the News!
Want to learn more about me and how Siren came to be? Check out this great article in The Southampton Press!
http://www.27east.com/story_detail.cfm?id=290737&town=Southampton
http://www.27east.com/story_detail.cfm?id=290737&town=Southampton
7/26/10
Siren in Australia!
I just received my very first foreign edition of Siren and was so excited I had to immediately take—and share!—pictures. This is the Australian/New Zealand edition, which will be published by Penguin Australia next month. As you can see, they used the same image as the US version but played with the title font. I think it looks amazing, and I can't wait to hear what readers overseas think of Vanessa's story!
7/22/10
Around-the-Web Tour, Week 2!
We have another great lineup of blog visits this week! Here they are:
7/22: One Book at a Time
7/23: YA Book Queen
7/24: Read Into This
7/25: The Book Scout
7/26: The Story Siren
7/27: Musings of a Reader Happy
7/28: The Neverending Shelf
Thank you again to my lovely hosts!
7/22: One Book at a Time
7/23: YA Book Queen
7/24: Read Into This
7/25: The Book Scout
7/26: The Story Siren
7/27: Musings of a Reader Happy
7/28: The Neverending Shelf
Thank you again to my lovely hosts!
7/19/10
Ruby's Slippers Now (mostly) Available!
Ruby's Slippers, about a sweet 12-year-old who moves with her mother from rural Kansas to live with her grandmother somewhere WAY over the rainbow in Coconut Grove, Florida, releases tomorrow! But since it's already shipping from online outlets, and since I saw it at my local Barnes & Noble over the weekend, I thought it was okay to announce its release today.
A few fun things about Miss Ruby Lee.
First, way back when I proposed this story to my editor, it featured another significant character: Elvis. That's right, the King of Rock was originally supposed to play a very large role in Ruby's story because her mother was supposed to be obsessed with him and his music. But when my editor read the sample pages, she loved the story of Ruby, her mother, and her grandmother, but found the Elvis parts distracting. Which was exactly how I felt writing them; I'd get so engrossed in everything else I'd have to remind myself to throw in an Elvis reference. So, my editor, being the very wise woman that she is, suggested that I continue the story without him. And thank goodness for that!
With Elvis gone, the book needed a new title. The original was All Shook Up, which no longer worked for obvious reasons. I came up with The Yellow Brick Road to Coconut Grove, which I thought was great but others at Simon & Schuster felt was too long. My editor offered Ruby Slippers as a play on Ruby's favorite Converse sneakers, and I proposed tweaking that to Ruby's Slippers so it suggested more about her journey. Everyone agreed this title was the winner. And it inspired the adorable cover, which I LOVE.
Finally, I'm thrilled to report that Ruby's Slippers was selected for the Scholastic Book Club and Fairs! Anyone who knew me as a little girl knows how much I loved the SBC; I'd spend hours analyzing the flyer before deciding which books to spend my saved weekly allowance on, and count down the days until those books arrived. So the fact that Ruby's Slippers joins The Melting of Maggie Bean and Maggie Bean Stays Afloat in receiving the honor of inclusion is very, very exciting.
I hope you enjoy!
A few fun things about Miss Ruby Lee.
First, way back when I proposed this story to my editor, it featured another significant character: Elvis. That's right, the King of Rock was originally supposed to play a very large role in Ruby's story because her mother was supposed to be obsessed with him and his music. But when my editor read the sample pages, she loved the story of Ruby, her mother, and her grandmother, but found the Elvis parts distracting. Which was exactly how I felt writing them; I'd get so engrossed in everything else I'd have to remind myself to throw in an Elvis reference. So, my editor, being the very wise woman that she is, suggested that I continue the story without him. And thank goodness for that!
With Elvis gone, the book needed a new title. The original was All Shook Up, which no longer worked for obvious reasons. I came up with The Yellow Brick Road to Coconut Grove, which I thought was great but others at Simon & Schuster felt was too long. My editor offered Ruby Slippers as a play on Ruby's favorite Converse sneakers, and I proposed tweaking that to Ruby's Slippers so it suggested more about her journey. Everyone agreed this title was the winner. And it inspired the adorable cover, which I LOVE.
Finally, I'm thrilled to report that Ruby's Slippers was selected for the Scholastic Book Club and Fairs! Anyone who knew me as a little girl knows how much I loved the SBC; I'd spend hours analyzing the flyer before deciding which books to spend my saved weekly allowance on, and count down the days until those books arrived. So the fact that Ruby's Slippers joins The Melting of Maggie Bean and Maggie Bean Stays Afloat in receiving the honor of inclusion is very, very exciting.
I hope you enjoy!
7/16/10
Around-the-Web Tour, Week 1!
Whew! The days since Siren's official release have been so filled with fun and excitement, this entire week has felt like one big party!
And what makes a great party even better? Hosts (or hostesses!) with the most (mostesses?). Over the next few weeks I'll be visiting some of the best book blogs the writing and reading community is lucky enough to have, and chatting with bloggers about Siren, writing, and more. The first lineup is below; I'll post the second next week.
THANK YOU to my lovely hosts for having me! It's an honor!
7/15: A Good Addiction
7/16: Mundie Moms
7/17: Reading Rocks
7/18: Bookalicious
7/19: Potter, Percy, and I
7/20: So Many Books, So Little Time
7/21: Booking Through 365
Have a great weekend!
And what makes a great party even better? Hosts (or hostesses!) with the most (mostesses?). Over the next few weeks I'll be visiting some of the best book blogs the writing and reading community is lucky enough to have, and chatting with bloggers about Siren, writing, and more. The first lineup is below; I'll post the second next week.
THANK YOU to my lovely hosts for having me! It's an honor!
7/15: A Good Addiction
7/16: Mundie Moms
7/17: Reading Rocks
7/18: Bookalicious
7/19: Potter, Percy, and I
7/20: So Many Books, So Little Time
7/21: Booking Through 365
Have a great weekend!
7/13/10
Merry Christmas in July!
I have to say, I didn't sleep very well last night. It felt a little like Christmas Eve, because I knew when I woke up, the best present ever would be waiting: SIREN's official release!
The idea for Siren started percolating two summers ago, but I didn't know what would become of it. While I was a fan of supernatural/paranormal reads, I'd never tried writing in that genre before and wasn't sure I could. Fortunately, when I ran the idea by my agent, the lovely and oh-so-wise Rebecca Sherman, she didn't chuckle, give me an affectionate, electronic pat on the head, and suggest I keep brainstorming. Instead, she said the idea, while unexpected, had potential, and that I should run with it. So I did. Nine months later, Siren sold at auction in a three-book deal to super-editor Regina Griffin at Egmont USA.
Many wonderful things have happened since then. Rights to the trilogy have sold in several foreign territories, Audible will release audio versions of all three books, and Costco has picked up the first title...which means the next time you need to load up on paper towels and toothpaste, you might find spooky silver eyes looking back at you from the book table! Siren has also received some lovely reviews, which you can find on my regular website (www.triciarayburn.com).
So in a way, the entire last year has felt like Christmas. And I want to thank Rebecca, Regina, everyone at Egmont and Writers House, my friends and family, and my fabulous readers for making these gifts possible.
As I said in Siren's acknowledgments, I'm a lucky girl.
The idea for Siren started percolating two summers ago, but I didn't know what would become of it. While I was a fan of supernatural/paranormal reads, I'd never tried writing in that genre before and wasn't sure I could. Fortunately, when I ran the idea by my agent, the lovely and oh-so-wise Rebecca Sherman, she didn't chuckle, give me an affectionate, electronic pat on the head, and suggest I keep brainstorming. Instead, she said the idea, while unexpected, had potential, and that I should run with it. So I did. Nine months later, Siren sold at auction in a three-book deal to super-editor Regina Griffin at Egmont USA.
Many wonderful things have happened since then. Rights to the trilogy have sold in several foreign territories, Audible will release audio versions of all three books, and Costco has picked up the first title...which means the next time you need to load up on paper towels and toothpaste, you might find spooky silver eyes looking back at you from the book table! Siren has also received some lovely reviews, which you can find on my regular website (www.triciarayburn.com).
So in a way, the entire last year has felt like Christmas. And I want to thank Rebecca, Regina, everyone at Egmont and Writers House, my friends and family, and my fabulous readers for making these gifts possible.
As I said in Siren's acknowledgments, I'm a lucky girl.
7/9/10
My Very First SIREN Store Sighting!
Four days early!!
Appropriately, I found it out at my local Borders, where I spent many, many hours working on the first draft!
Appropriately, I found it out at my local Borders, where I spent many, many hours working on the first draft!
But It's So Pretty!
Given my rather intense feelings about scary sea creatures, one might wonder why I don't just stay off the beach completely.
Here are several reasons.
Have a great weekend!
Here are several reasons.
Have a great weekend!
7/8/10
Real-Life Scary Sea Creatures Series, Day #5: Whale's Tale
FIVE days till Siren's release! I can't believe it's so soon!
In other hard-to-believe news, three months ago a young humpback whale washed up on an East Hampton beach. Reports claimed it was sick and had separated from its mother, and for days it languished onshore as curious onlookers took pictures. This photo's courtesy of Newsday/AP:
And this is a perfect example of my complicated relationship with the sea. Because while the idea of this 30-foot-long creature and I bumping into each other underwater terrifies me, I thought this was the saddest story ever. After a few days, when the poor thing hadn't miraculously gotten better and swum away, passed on its own, or passed with the help of oceanography experts, I couldn't even check the news anymore. It was too sad.
Do I want to swim with humpback whales or other scary sea creatures? No. But do I think they're beautiful? Majestic? Awe-inspiring? Absolutely. As long as they stay in their world and I stay in mine, we're good.
All that said, there is one sea creature I'd willingly swim with—in a pool, surrounded by trained professionals.
How cute is he??
In other hard-to-believe news, three months ago a young humpback whale washed up on an East Hampton beach. Reports claimed it was sick and had separated from its mother, and for days it languished onshore as curious onlookers took pictures. This photo's courtesy of Newsday/AP:
And this is a perfect example of my complicated relationship with the sea. Because while the idea of this 30-foot-long creature and I bumping into each other underwater terrifies me, I thought this was the saddest story ever. After a few days, when the poor thing hadn't miraculously gotten better and swum away, passed on its own, or passed with the help of oceanography experts, I couldn't even check the news anymore. It was too sad.
Do I want to swim with humpback whales or other scary sea creatures? No. But do I think they're beautiful? Majestic? Awe-inspiring? Absolutely. As long as they stay in their world and I stay in mine, we're good.
All that said, there is one sea creature I'd willingly swim with—in a pool, surrounded by trained professionals.
How cute is he??
7/6/10
The Final Countdown & Real-Life Scary Sea Creatures, Day #4: the Montauk Monster
Siren hits shelves one week from today! That's super exciting and kind of scary at the same time.
But what's REALLY scary? This:
Dubbed the "Montauk Monster," this pretty little thing washed up onshore two summers ago and quickly became the talk of the town—and beyond. Major news outlets—including CNN and FOX News—picked up the story, and for weeks people around the globe tried to figure out what grotesque, unidentifiable sea creatures were plaguing the South Fork of Long Island. Rational guessers thought it wasn't a sea creature at all but rather a poor dog or raccoon. Others were certain it was exactly what its nickname suggested: a monster. Careful analysis was done by researches, scientists, wildlife experts, you name it. No verdict was ever reached.
Yet another reason to stay on the beach!
For more about the Montauk Monster, click here!
But what's REALLY scary? This:
Dubbed the "Montauk Monster," this pretty little thing washed up onshore two summers ago and quickly became the talk of the town—and beyond. Major news outlets—including CNN and FOX News—picked up the story, and for weeks people around the globe tried to figure out what grotesque, unidentifiable sea creatures were plaguing the South Fork of Long Island. Rational guessers thought it wasn't a sea creature at all but rather a poor dog or raccoon. Others were certain it was exactly what its nickname suggested: a monster. Careful analysis was done by researches, scientists, wildlife experts, you name it. No verdict was ever reached.
Yet another reason to stay on the beach!
For more about the Montauk Monster, click here!
7/2/10
Read SIREN and Win Goodies at the Romantic Times Blog!
Want to read the first chapter of Siren eleven days before its official release? And possibly win a fabulous Egmont beach bag filled with Siren, Shadow Hills, Raised by Wolves, The Dark Divine, AND a $40 Sephora gift card??
If so, check out the Romantic Times Daily Blog here!
If so, check out the Romantic Times Daily Blog here!
Real-Life Scary Sea Creatures Series, Day #3: Breaking News!
So, not only are sea creatures real AND scary, they're also major news.
For example.
Late yesterday morning, just after I'd wrapped up my jellyfish post, I was cruising along the Internet when I came upon a story with the following terrifying title:
SEA MONSTER FOSSIL FOUND IN PERU DESERT.
And unfortunately, this wasn't some sort of science-fiction, alien-abduction, conspiracy-theory-type website. It was CNN. The sea monster piece was its top story, placed front-and-center on the main page. I tried to be reassured by "Fossil" and "Peru" since they implied that said creature was a thing of the very distant past and a very distant place, but I was far too distracted by "Sea" and "Monster."
According to the article, it was three times the size of a modern-day killer whale. The fossilized skull was ten feet long. The teeth were so big they were initially confused for elephant tusks; their size suggests that the creature fed on other huge sea creatures, like baleen whales.
Here's an artist's rendering of the monster at lunch:
Do I think I might run into one of these while swimming in Long Island waters? No. But it makes me wonder: If we didn't know about this particular sea creature, what other ones do we have yet to meet?
To read the CNN story, click here!
For example.
Late yesterday morning, just after I'd wrapped up my jellyfish post, I was cruising along the Internet when I came upon a story with the following terrifying title:
SEA MONSTER FOSSIL FOUND IN PERU DESERT.
And unfortunately, this wasn't some sort of science-fiction, alien-abduction, conspiracy-theory-type website. It was CNN. The sea monster piece was its top story, placed front-and-center on the main page. I tried to be reassured by "Fossil" and "Peru" since they implied that said creature was a thing of the very distant past and a very distant place, but I was far too distracted by "Sea" and "Monster."
According to the article, it was three times the size of a modern-day killer whale. The fossilized skull was ten feet long. The teeth were so big they were initially confused for elephant tusks; their size suggests that the creature fed on other huge sea creatures, like baleen whales.
Here's an artist's rendering of the monster at lunch:
Do I think I might run into one of these while swimming in Long Island waters? No. But it makes me wonder: If we didn't know about this particular sea creature, what other ones do we have yet to meet?
To read the CNN story, click here!
7/1/10
Real-Life Scary Sea Creatures Series, Day #2: Beware the Blob!
Two summers ago, I was determined to break my no-swimming-at-the-beach rule. It was hot. The water was cold. And as I mentioned yesterday, I love to swim, but besides the crowded pool at the local YMCA, which I didn't belong to, there was nowhere else to go. Also, I thought my fear of all sea creatures was a little extreme. After all, eastern Long Island beaches are busy, and no one ELSE was being attacked.
I decided to start small, with a bay beach in Sag Harbor. The water there was usually as flat as glass so I thought I'd be able to spot potential sea creatures before they spotted me. And if I didn't, I was confident the lifeguards would reach me in no time, since the beach itself was so narrow.
I was ready. I couldn't wait to dive on in, face my fear once and for all, and tell all my friends and family that I'd finally done it. I looked forward to the countless days of happy swimming that would surely follow.
The night before my big jump, I took a walk through town. Along the way I passed over the Sag Harbor bridge. The view's lovely, as you can see:
Unfortunately, the view from the bridge that night wasn't quite so pretty. Because instead of sailboats and swimmers and sea grass, I saw this:
A red lion's mane jellyfish. Only there wasn't just one. There were THOUSANDS. Maybe more. They sloshed together, covering the harbor in a massive, quivering, gelatinous blanket.
Now, this wasn't the water I'd planned to swim in, but it was close. (In the bridge picture above, the water I wanted to face my fear in is just on the other side of the trees.) And to my credit (maybe? a little?), I still went to the beach the next day. I was still determined; I even went in the water up to my knees. But it wasn't long before I saw one red jellyfish. And another. And another. They weren't bigger than six inches in diameter...but what if they were just the bait? What if they were there to trick me into going deeper, until I reached THIS?
Unlikely? Perhaps. But not impossible.
So I retreated to my beach chair, defeated once again!
**In my defense, there really was a sudden, unusual jellyfish invasion that summer. Every week there were new stories about new sightings in the local papers!**
I decided to start small, with a bay beach in Sag Harbor. The water there was usually as flat as glass so I thought I'd be able to spot potential sea creatures before they spotted me. And if I didn't, I was confident the lifeguards would reach me in no time, since the beach itself was so narrow.
I was ready. I couldn't wait to dive on in, face my fear once and for all, and tell all my friends and family that I'd finally done it. I looked forward to the countless days of happy swimming that would surely follow.
The night before my big jump, I took a walk through town. Along the way I passed over the Sag Harbor bridge. The view's lovely, as you can see:
Unfortunately, the view from the bridge that night wasn't quite so pretty. Because instead of sailboats and swimmers and sea grass, I saw this:
A red lion's mane jellyfish. Only there wasn't just one. There were THOUSANDS. Maybe more. They sloshed together, covering the harbor in a massive, quivering, gelatinous blanket.Now, this wasn't the water I'd planned to swim in, but it was close. (In the bridge picture above, the water I wanted to face my fear in is just on the other side of the trees.) And to my credit (maybe? a little?), I still went to the beach the next day. I was still determined; I even went in the water up to my knees. But it wasn't long before I saw one red jellyfish. And another. And another. They weren't bigger than six inches in diameter...but what if they were just the bait? What if they were there to trick me into going deeper, until I reached THIS?
Unlikely? Perhaps. But not impossible.
So I retreated to my beach chair, defeated once again!
**In my defense, there really was a sudden, unusual jellyfish invasion that summer. Every week there were new stories about new sightings in the local papers!**
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
.JPG)
