The Demon King Named to YALSA'S Best Fiction for Young Adults 2011!

Check out the list here. I'm honored to be rubbing shoulders with some really great books (not sure that metaphor is totally working, but, oh, well, I'm excited!

Audio Book News

The Demon King Shortlisted for 

ALSC Notable Recordings List

 The Demon King audio book (from Recorded Books, narrated by Carol Monda) has been nominated for the Association for Library Services for Children’s Notable Recordings list. The final selection will be made at the ALA midwinter meeting in San Diego January 7.

For more info visit http://www.alsc.ala.org/blog/?p=1938.

The Exiled Queen Audiobook Coming 1.23.11

In response to several queries, The Exiled Queen audiobook, also narrated by Ms. Monda, is set for release January 23, 2011.

The Exiled Queen Awarded Kirkus Star!

Kirkus says, “Duty, love, expedience and revenge fuel the labyrinthine intrigues of this second entry in an epic fantasy series…Riveting.”

Translation News

French Translation: Le Roi Demon

The Seven Realms Quartet
French and Polish Translations
For the Francophones among you, a French translation of The Demon King (Le Roi Démon) is scheduled for release in November by Castelmore, a new YA imprint of Bragelonne. You’ll find more information on that here.

Galeria will release the Seven Realms series in Polish translation.

The Heir Chronicles
Dutch, Indonesian, Turkish, and Polish Translations
Having already bought the Seven Realms series, Luitingh has purchased rights to a Dutch translation of the Heir Chronicles.
Matahati will offer an Indonesian translation, Pegasus will publish in Turkey, and Galeria in Poland.

There’ll be more news to come on The Exiled Queen release and author tour.

APPEARANCES AND NEWS!

UPCOMING EVENTS

Come meet me at Mac’s Backs Books!!

Mac's Backs Books on Coventry
 Author appearance and signing

Saturday, March 13, 2010, 4-6 p.m.
1820 Coventry Rd.
Cleveland Heights, OH 44118
Tel: 216-321-2665

Ohio Council of Teachers of English Language Arts (OCTELA)
Keynote Speaker

Spring Conference 2010
March 27-28, 2010
Doubletree Hotel Worthington
175 Hutchinson Avenue,
Worthington, Ohio 43235

More information at http://www.octela.org/newoctela/newspconf.html

Children’s Book World (Philadelphia area)
Author Event and Signing
April 6, 2010, 7:00 pm
17 Haverford Station Rd.
Haverford, PA 19041
http://www.childrensbookworld.net

IN OTHER NEWS

El Rey Demonio

The Demon King is being released in Spain by Ediciones B. 

Here’s the cover, which uses the same art as the US version. 

 

Webpage Updated

www.cindachima.com

If you haven’t visited my webpage lately, well, you know, better go there! It’s newly updated and revamped (thanks Webmaster!) with info about The Exiled Queen, upcoming events, and more resources for writers. Check out my new document, Getting Started in Writing for Children and Teens (PDF) available for download on the site under Resources/Tips for Writers.

The Problem with Princesses

I’m ambivalent about princesses.
When I was a girl, my mother made me a princess costume one year for Hallowe’en. I was a princess, and my sister was an angel (this likely represented some wishful thinking on my mother’s part.)
My princess costume was tasteful gray satin with cathedral sleeves and a velvet bodice, and included a tall, conical princess hat with a scarf flying from the top. I almost immediately lost the hat, but I wore the dress all through winter and spring. I wore that dress until I could no longer shoehorn my growing self into it.
In recent years I was a regular patron of medieval dinners. Did I dress as a serving girl, or even a member of the burgeoning middle class? Oh, no—why squander a perfectly good opportunity to wear princess bling? I mean, princesses rule. Or they should.
But in traditional tales, princesses are too often passive creatures: waiting for rescue by someone else; held captive in towers, and enchanted by witches (and not in a good way). The archetypical princess is beautiful, kind-hearted, delicate and swoony. They spend a lot of time dreaming of their one true love, who miraculously turns out to be a prince—or at least a knight who can be polished up.
When a knight wins a kingdom, a princess is thrown in to sweeten the deal. They are often the equivalent of the winner’s purse when it comes to valiant quests, witch hunts, etc.
Sometimes I find myself rooting for the witch.
Princesses should be powerful figures, yet so often they are not--in literature, drama, and film, anyway. These days we have fire fighters and police officers, not firemen and policemen. But there are no princepersons. Princess is one of the few jobs that have retained that gender-specific title—perhaps because princes and princesses have had very different roles. Princes make things happen; princesses have things happen to them.
One of the viewpoint characters in the Seven Realms series is a princess. I almost cringe when I have to say that in my elevator speech. No, not that kind of princess, I want to say. Raisa is a kick-butt princess, frustrated with the expectations and restrictions of court life. She is the heir to the throne, and she intends to seize control of her future and create change in her queendom.

While she knows how to navigate a ballroom and salon, she spends much of her time in leggings and deerskin overshirt, hunting with her father’s clan relatives. This princess carries knives, and she knows how to use them.
For example, Raisa is attacked in an alley by a drunken assailant. After disabling him with streetfighting techniques, she presses a knife to her attacker’s throat.
“You touch me again, you arrogant Ardenine swine, and I swear on the blood of Hanalea the warrior, I will geld you. Do you understand?”

One of my readers described Raisa as a playgirl—and she is. Like many a princeling before her, she intends to play the field before she makes a political marriage. She is a cynic when it comes to love—at first, anyway.
NEXT: Princess Central

The Exiled Queen Coming September 28, 2010

I've been getting a lot of requests for information about the sequel to The Demon King. Since my website is under construction, I thought I would post a sneak preview here on my blogs.

This is the preliminary cover art. It will be used on the galley of The Exiled Queen, but is not the final version.

 Below is a draft of the flap copy for The Exiled Queen. WARNING: If you've not read The Demon King, there be spoilers below! Proceed at your own risk!!

Haunted by the loss of his mother and sister, hunted by the powerful Bayar family, Han Alister makes a devil’s bargain with the clans. If they sponsor his schooling at Mystwerk  Academy at Oden’s Ford, he will become their magical sell-sword against the power-hungry Wizard Council.

Han and his clan friend Fire Dancer undertake the dangerous journey south through war-torn Arden. Once in Oden’s Ford, it doesn’t take long for the smoldering feud between Han and Micah Bayar to kindle into flame. After several attempts on his life, Han knows he has to find a way to defend himself.

In the magical dream world of Aediion, Han meets the mysterious Crow, a wizard with a long-standing grudge against the Bayars. Crow offers to tutor Han in wizardry in exchange for his help. Han agrees, once again forced into a bargain he hopes he won’t regret.

Meanwhile, Han’s friends Fire Dancer and Cat Tyburn struggle with their own demons. Dancer is determined to become a clan flashcrafter, despite his charmcaster status. Cat carries a load of guilt, as the only survivor of the slaughter of the gangs in Ragmarket and Southbridge.

Resuming her disguise as gently-born Rebecca Morley, Princess Raisa ana’Marianna travels with her friend Amon Byrne and his triple of cadets to Wien House, the military academy at Oden’s Ford. There she hopes she will find both temporary sanctuary from a forced marriage and the education she needs to succeed as the next Gray Wolf queen.

Much of Raisa’s education takes place outside of the classroom. As she mingles with students of all classes from throughout the Seven Realms, she forges the kind of friendships that don’t happen amid the cut-throat politics of the Gray Wolf Court. She also struggles to deal with her attraction to Amon—an attraction he seems determined to discourage. 

When Han Alister asks the girl he knows as Rebecca to tutor him, she agrees. The streetlord turned wizard with the complicated past fascinates her, and he makes it clear the interest is mutual. But Han blames Queen Marianna and the Bayars for the loss of his family. As their relationship deepens, Raisa suspects that if Han knew her true identity, he wouldn’t want anything to do with her.

Good News Headlines!

The Demon King Releases in the UK February 4 and Australia March 1!

The Demon King is named to the Indie Next Winter 2010 List!

The Demon King is named to the Lone Star Book List 2010!

I’ve been gone a while, so time to catch up on some news. The Demon King is pubbing in the UK from Harper-Collins Voyager with this cover

Which is the same art as the Dutch version.

This is my second book to make the Lone Star list (The Warrior Heir was on it) and my first book to be named to the Indie Next list. Here’s a shout out and thank you to independent booksellers and librarians in Texas!

The Ecstasy

I’ve said it before. Author tours are The Agony and the Ecstasy.

Monday night was The Ecstasy.

When language arts teacher Beth Duncan of Vista Academy is on a mission, it is impossible to say no. I had corresponded with Beth several times over the past year and arranged to send ARC’s of The Dragon Heir to her middle school students for their review. When Beth found out I was touring for The Demon King, she emailed me and said, “How can I get you to come to San Diego?” I put her in touch with my publicist, who wisely made it happen.

So Monday I arrived at Vista Academy in Vista, Ca to find that Beth had mobilized the entire school (it seemed) to make me welcome. I presented to the 6th, 7th, and 8th graders. (where's the author?)

Her videography students filmed an interview. I toured their annual haunted house, which this year was loosely planned around an Heir Series theme, with forests and castles and a dungeon. The students paint all the sets and play scary roles during the haunting. Here I am with Vista students in the dungeon!

That evening, Beth and her co-conspirator, Lisa Haynes, the Community Relations Manager of the Oceanside Barnes & Noble, had put together an awesome event—an author signing/masquerade/Halloween party.

I signed with author Alyson Noel, whose Immortals series is OWNING the bestseller list. (I felt like I was opening for the Rolling Stones.)

Here are me, Beth, and Alyson at the signing table.

There was a special Demon King menu in the café, featuring the Seven Realms Seven Layer Bar and Dancer’s Dare Hot Apple Spice Cider and Raisa ana’Marianna’s White Chocolate Mocha. Yum!

Lisa was dressed as a Clan Matriarch in a gown and feathered headdress. The rest of the staff and many of the attendees dressed up, too. Me? I was dressed as a YA author at the end of a long tour. Thanks to Beth, Lisa, and everyone for making this happen!!

Road Warrior

OK, so I’m nearly at the end of my official Demon King author tour, and I’m realizing that all my good intentions of blogging every day, posting photos, etc., and basically immortalizing every fantastic moment were as optimistic as the Official Author itinerary:           

2 p.m: Visit six bookstores in the Greater Toronto area, sign stock, return to hotel and relax, have early dinner, and leave for seventh bookstore for evening event at 6:15 pm.                                   

Ha!

Tips for Other Authors

1.     Never leave for the airport in flip-flops without checking the weather report.

2.     Never approve an itinerary that includes the phrase “check out of hotel at 5 a.m.”

3.     Never wear the same jacket at every event because your spouse will post up event photos on the website and you will be so busted.

4.     Never iron clothing in the hotel room because I don’t want to have to do it.

5.     Never present to high schoolers at eight a.m. If you do, don’t wake them up.

6.     Plan an answer to the question, “How much do authors make?” Practice keeping a straight face.

The Author Tour: The Agony and the Ecstasy

Today I went to see Neil Gaiman speak at the Cleveland Public Library’s Writers and Readers series. We arrived a half hour early, to find the police directing traffic and every seat taken. Latecomers were shuffled to an “overflow room” where we could view the proceedings on a large TV. Mr. Gaiman did stop in to the overflow room before his presentation to visit with us in the cheap seats. He was totally witty and charming. I was sitting on the floor, so I took a photo of the underneath of his chin.

Back in the auditorium, he read from his two most recent books, and then took questions and answers. He told one story of signing a woman’s arm, and she went next door to the tattoo parlor and had it tattooed on permanently.

After the presentation, the book signing line stretched out of the auditorium and out the door. Fans were limited to one item signed apiece: book, poster, or body part.

As my husband and I were leaving, I said, “Well, that was kind of like one of my signings.”

Or maybe a hundred of them put together.

When your first book is released, you have an event in your hometown, and you notify everyone on your contact list—even the spammers and the hair stylist you used to go to before you quit your day job.

Your relatives and friends all turn out, just to see if it’s really true or if it’s just one of those stories you’re always making up.  Some of them even buy your book, so they can leaf through and see if they’re in it.

But the prurient curiosity of friends and relatives will only get you through that first release party.  Believe it or not, they have a limited appetite for literary events. At best, they’ll attend one per book. At worst, they’ll change their email addresses and disconnect their landlines. If you manage to reach them, they say, “Another book? Didn’t you just write one?” “Well, yes, a year ago.”

            So you need fresh meat, er, a fresh audience. That’s the time to go on tour.

Every newbie author wants/expects/dreams that her publisher will send her on a national book tour. We imagine ourselves being squired about by limousine and private plane, being met by legions of adoring fans, chatting with Oprah about our difficult childhoods and how we ran over policemen, and otherwise basking in the glare of media attention.

In reality, attendance at author events can be unpredictable at best. Unless, of course, you are Neil Gaiman. If you are Neil Gaiman, you could plan an event at a crossroads in the dead of night and make every effort to keep it a secret and still hundreds would show up, each carrying a copy of Sandman.

I’ve spoken to audiences ranging from the librarian and her sister up to hundreds. The hundreds are usually in schools, which the law says you have to go to. And as long as you’re sitting there, here’s an author.

I did an event in Oberlin when The Warrior Heir was released. The Heirstone series is set in a small town, Trinity, Ohio, which is modeled after Oberlin. As it happened, my weaving guild was meeting in Oberlin that Saturday, so they all came over for the signing. A few other people trickled in, too.

Afterwards, the bookseller said, “Well, that was a good turnout.”

“Why?” I said. “How many usually come for an author event?”

“None,” she said.

I must admit, I have had some wonderful events, at schools, libraries, book festivals, and bookstores, where some combination of literary karma and the power of determined librarians and booksellers resulted in a wonderful audience of readers. I love meeting readers—even one. I feel so in context.

So.  For the first time, my publisher is sending me on an official book tour beginning next week. You can also find out where I’ll be at my website. I am really excited and nervous and eager to meet you all. Even the librarian’s sister.

           

           

The Demon King Book Tour

Well, here's the tour so far. We are supposed to add dates in San Francisco. I posted the events on Google Maps and will update as needed. You can view details here or here.

Hope to see some of you at these events!!


View

NOH SCBWI Conference

This past weekend I participated in the Northern Ohio Society for Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators conference, planned by co-chairs Laurie Knowlton and Vicki Selvaggio, with their committee of volunteers. They had a record turnout of over 155 attendees (they had to cut off registration.)
Editors attending were Margaret Miller from Bloomsbury Children’s Books, Harold Underdown, author of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Publishing Children’s Books, and Elizabeth Bewley from Little, Brown Books for Young Readers. Tim Gillner, Art Director from Boyds Mills Press handled the illustrator track. Authors included Andrea Cheng, Kathianne Kowalski, Bonnie Pryor, and me!
I presented a workshop called “Ensnaring the Wary: Engaging the Middle Grade and Young Adult Reader.” The two hours flew by (for me, anyway, and hopefully for the participants).

I always seem to have too much information to present. My university students used to accuse me of vomiting information on them. I shared that story with the workshop. Afterward, someone wrote that she was never so happy to be vomited on! (!) I don’t know that I can quote that on my website!
I showed off my sample copy of The Demon King. Gorgeous!

Between the workshop and manuscript critiques, I didn’t have the opportunity to attend the other breakouts, which looked awesome. Harold presented a great, upside/downside overview of the current state of the publishing business, and Elizabeth Bewley spoke in general session on writing for teens. Margaret Miller’s presentation on working with an editor made us all want to work with her!
Conference attendees ranged from newbies exploring the world of children’s lit for the first time to multi-published experts. Laurie asked attendees to group by geographic area so critique groups could be formed to carry on the journey.
I had a great time reconnecting with friends. I’m still smiling!

Cover Story

In my last post, I discussed the controversy regarding misleading book covers.

I’ve been so lucky with my covers. All of them have been designed by the genius Elizabeth Clark at Disney-Hyperion; the cover art for the last three were done by illustrator Larry Rostant .

I’ve been to bookfairs where I’ve seen teens walk by, spot my books on display, and make that sharp turn we all hope for (toward me, not away). You can’t ask for more than that.

With The Warrior Heir, there was a huge controversy about roses on the cover (which I like to refer to as The War of the Roses). The question: Would boys buy a book with roses on the cover?? Even one with a big sword in the middle?

If so, what kind of roses were the most macho? These?

Or these?

In the end, the book designer made the decision to leave the roses off.

With The Wizard Heir, my editor came to me and asked, What ‘s an object we can put on the cover, you know, like the sword? And I couldn’t think of any. The wizards were using amulets, but they were mostly nondescript stones with runes on them.

Well, my editor said, could you put in a wizard staff or something? I couldn’t picture Seph McCauley walking around with a wizard staff. So I gave one to Gregory Leicester.

Did you know these things went on?

By the time I wrote The Dragon Heir, I knew enough to be thinking ahead. Dragons, I thought. Dragons were always good on a cover. So I put the Dragonheart on a cool dragon stand.

With The Demon King, the book design was tricky. As the first book in a new series, we wanted a design that would tell my current readers to pick it up, that it was a book by an author they knew. But we wanted it to be different enough that people would realize it was a new series. I want to attract new readers without disappointing fans of the Heir Chronicles.

We thought a landscape background would set it apart.

That didn't seem atmospheric enough, so

They revised the layout to be more similar to the Heir Chronicles, and added the text, A Seven Realms Novel, to let readers know they were onto a different series. I just received the proof of the final cover, all foiled and spot varnished. It’s gorgeous.

The important thing is—when a book cover makes a promise, the book must deliver. Or nobody’s happy.

KEWL

HEIR CHRONICLES BOX SET
The Heir Chronicles Box Set will be released September 1. It’s all three Heir books in paperback in a nifty box. I just like looking at it.

DEMON KING TOUR

Events are being finalized for my first ever author tour to promote The Demon King. Here are a few preliminary plans:

-October 2: Great Lakes Independent Booksellers: Authors Feast, Renaissance Cleveland Hotel, Cleveland, OH
-October 11: 2pm Hudson Library and Historical Center, Hudson, OH
-October 12: 7pm Joseph Beth Booksellers, Legacy Village, Lyndhurst, OH
-October 13: 7 p.m., Westlake Porter Library’s Westfest program, Westlake, OH and school visit, Burnesan Middle School
-October 17-18: Denver, CO events to come
-October 19: 7pm Chapters.Indigo, Yorkdale Shopping Centre, Toronto, Canada
-October 20: event to come
-October 21: events with University Bookstore, Seattle, WA
-October 22: events with Third Place Books, 17171 Bothell Way NE, Lake Forest Park, WA 98155
-October 23: 7pm Powells Books, 3415 SW Cedar Hills Blvd, Beaverton, OR
-October 24: Event to come
-October 26: school visit, Vista Academy, Oceanside, CA & 6pm Barnes & Noble, El Camino North Shopping Center, 2615 Vista Way, Oceanside, CA 92054

German Cover for Das Erbe des Damonenkonigs -- Das Amulett

The German edition of The Demon King pubs in October as well. I've been working with the German translator, Susanne, via email. Usually her questions have to do with the words I made up. Her first queries related to herbs used by clan healers and streetgang members:

• Deathmaster mushroom
• Sulfur lily
• Razorleaf
• Maidenweed
• Maiden's kiss

Some of them had to do with thieves' cant -- the slang that thieves use. I found an online Thieves' Cant dictionary that I used to provide a vocabulary for Han and members of the Ragger and Southie street gangs. Words like

• Flimper: someone skilled with a garrotte
• Darbies: wrist chains or cuffs
• Hempen Widow: someone whose spouse was hung for a crime

Anyway, here is the German cover.

Final Cover for The Demon King

We have a final cover for The Demon King, my new high fantasy novel, which comes out October 13! The first chapter is posted on my website at www.cindachima.com.