Cinda Williams Chima

Monday, August 19, 2013

The Enchanter Heir Tour!

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I look forward to meeting you all as I travel around the country, schlepping books, bookmarks temporary tattoos, and other swag. One of the best parts of this job is meeting readers and other booklovers including booksellers, fellow authors, and librarians!

If I'm not coming to your "neck of the woods" as my mother would say, fear not! If you'd like to pre-order a signed copy of The Enchanter Heir, contact my local indie, The Learned Owl, and they will fix you right up. Info is here Please let them know on the order form to whom you'd like it personalized.

Austin, TX

Austin Teen Book Fest

Saturday, September 28, 2013

The Austin Convention Center,

500 E. Caesar Chavez St.

Austin, TX 787011485

austinteenbookfestival.com

See 40 awesome authors of books for teens!

College Station, TX

Author Appearance and Signing

Barnes & Noble Booksellers

Sunday, September 29, 2013, 4 p.m.

711 Texas 6 Business

College Station, TX 77840
(979) 764-8955

http://store-locator.barnesandnoble.com/event/81020

Houston, TX

Author Appearance and Signing

Blue Willow Bookshop

Monday, September 30, 2013, 7 p.m.

14532 Memorial Drive
Houston, TX 77079

Phone: 281.497.8675

http://www.bluewillowbookshop.com/

Salt Lake City, UT

Author Appearance and Signing

The King’s English Bookshop

Tuesday, October 1, 2013

1511 South 1500 East
Salt Lake City, UT 84105
801-484-9100

http://www.kingsenglish.com/

Provo, UT

Author Appearance and Signing

Provo Public Library

Wednesday, October 2, 2013, 7 p.m.

550 N University Ave Provo, UT 84601
(801) 852-6650

http://www.provolibrary.com/

Los Angeles CA Area

Author Appearance and Signing

Mysterious Galaxy Bookstore

Wednesday, October 3, 2013, 7:30 PM

2810 Artesia Blvd., Redondo Beach, CA 90278

310-542-6000

http://www.mystgalaxy.com/mysterious-galaxy-redondo-beach

Portland, OR

Wordstock

Saturday, October 5, 2013

Oregon Convention Center

777 Northeast Martin Luther King Junior Boulevard

Portland, OR 97232

(503) 235-7575

http://www.wordstockfestival.com/

Seattle, WA

Author Appearance and Signing

Third Place Books

Monday, October 7, 2013, 7 p.m.

17171 Bothell Way NE, Lake Forest Park, WA 98155

http://www.thirdplacebooks.com/

Bellingham, WA
Author Appearance and Signing
Village Books
Tuesday, October 8, 2013, 7 p.m.
1200 11th St Bellingham, WA 98225
(800) 392-2665
http://villagebooks.com/

Minneapolis, MN

Author Appearance and Signing

The Red Balloon Bookstore

Wednesday, October 9, 2013, 6:30 pm

891 Grand Ave St Paul, MN 55105
(651) 224-8320

www.redballoonbookshop.com/

Cincinnati, OH

Books By the Banks

Saturday, October 12, 2013, 10 am to 4 pm

Duke Energy Convention Center

Cincinnati, OH

http://booksbythebanks.org/

MILWAUKEE AREA APPEARANCE ADDED!
With YA authors Kami Garcia, Margaret Stohl, and Rachel Caine
Monday, October 14, 2013, 6:30 p.m.
Brookfield Square Mall Barnes & Noble
95 N Moorland Rd C1, Brookfield, WI 53005

Hudson, OH

Author Appearance and Signing

The Learned Owl Bookshop

Tuesday, October 15, 2013, 6-8 p.m.

204 N Main St Hudson, OH 44236
(330) 653-2252

http://www.learnedowl.com/

Wooster, OH

The Buckeye Bookfair

November 2, 2013, 9:30 to 4 p.m.

Fisher Auditorium, OARDC Campus, Wooster, OH

http://www.buckeyebookfair.com/

Charleston, SC

YALLfest

Saturday, November 9, 2013

Blue Bicycle Books, the American Theatre, Charleston Music Hall, Upper King Street, Charleston, SC

Dozens and dozens of your favorite YA authors eating pie and talking books!

http://yallfest.org/

Friday, August 9, 2013

A KIRKUS STAR! TIME FOR ANOTHER ENCHANTER HEIR ARC GIVEAWAY!

Well, now. More than a week has passed since my last giveaway, and a lot has happened. The rain stopped, I had a fantastic birthday, and The Enchanter Heir got a starred review from Kirkus!

Here's an excerpt:

...the twisty narrative works, propelled by the deft characterizations of tortured, frustrated, desperate Jonah and fierce, feral, determined Emma and held together by the ubiquitous soundtrack of the blues, both literally and metaphorically. Chima orchestrates a world gravid with smoke and grit and sudden death, throbbing with hopeless longings, messy affections, festering resentments, passionate hungers, inevitable betrayals, and miraculous flashes of beauty and grace.

A smoldering story soaked in tears, sweat and blood, constantly threatening to blaze into an inferno. Spellbinding.

Whoa. Fans self. I also received more Enchanter Heir ARCs from my publisher and my first actual copies of The Crimson Crown paperback (coming your way October 1.)

And, so...I think it's time for another giveaway!

Here are the deets! I'm giving away signed Enchanter Heir ARCs and swag to three lucky winners. Begins tonight at midnight, ends in seven days. If you won before, please give somebody else a chance to win. U.S. only!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Incredible Enchanter Heir ARC Giveaway!!

Vacation is over and it's rained for 15 straight days. What can I do to cheer up?
I know!! I'll have a giveaway!
Now, what do I have that people might want? Well. I DO have some advanced reading copies of The Enchanter Heir. And bookmarks. And temporary tattoos...

The Enchanter Heir is the fourth book in the Heir Chronicles, but it is a companion book. This means that you do not have to have read the first three books in order to enjoy this one.

Jacket Copy
They called it the Thorn Hill Massacre-the brutal attack on a once-thriving Weir community. Though Jonah Kinlock lived through it, he did not emerge unscathed: like the other survivors Jonah possesses unique magical gifts that set him apart from members of the mainline guilds. At seventeen, Jonah has become the deadliest assassin in Nightshade, a network that hunts the undead.

Emma Claire Greenwood grew up worlds away, raised by a grandfather who taught her music rather than magic. An unschooled wild child, she runs the streets until the night she finds her grandfather dying, gripping a note warning Emma that she might be in danger. The clue he leaves behind leads Emma into Jonah's life-and a shared legacy of secrets and lingering questions.

Was Thorn Hill really a peaceful commune? Or was it, as the Wizard Guild claims, a hotbed of underguild terrorists? The Wizards' suspicions grow when members of the mainline guilds start turning up dead. They blame Nightshade, bringing tensions between the groups to a head.

Racing against time, Jonah and Emma work to uncover the truth about Thorn Hill, amid increasing concern that whoever planned the Thorn Hill Massacre might strike again.

The Deets
I'll give away advanced reading copies of The Enchanter Heir with related swag to THREE lucky winners (U.S. entries only.)

You MUST enter using the Rafflecopter entry box below. There are 3 ways to qualify: Tweet about the giveaway, Like my CindaWilliamsChima Facebook page, or comment on this blog.

If you DO win, I do hope you'll post an honest review/comment post on Goodreads, Amazon, Shelfari, Twitter, LibraryThing, or your school bulletin board, but I am not the review police.

Contest ends July 14th at midnight. Good luck, everyone!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Friday, June 28, 2013

Running in the Rain with Lobsters

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I’m the kind of person who gets caught in the rain a lot. I don’t know if it’s related to some sin I committed in a previous life, or perhaps a lack of proper obeisance or ritual in this one. All I know is, the weather gods are out to get me.

So we’re in Denali National Park, AK, and we’re trying to get in a hike, but the weather is saying, “Dare ya.” it’s been thundering and grumbling all day, punctuated by brief bursts of fat raindrops. Our raingear is, of course, back in our room.

When we visit the park service’s sled dog kennels, the thunder intensifies. During the sled dog demo, the sky shakes loose enough raindrops to drive some viewers out of the stands. We hold our ground, but I’m convinced that we’ll be drenched before we get back to the bus.

But, no. After a bit of bluster, the rain backs off again. So, finally, we head into the woods, but by now it’s getting late. After just a mile, we’re chased back to the Visitor’s Center by the threatening weather, the voracious mosquitoes, and the risk that we’ll miss the last bus.

Back at the lodge, we decide to cross the road to buy provisions at the little grocery there. I worried, though, that, having made it through the day more or less dry, we were going to be caught in a downpour between the store and the lodge. At least, that way, the suspense would be over.

But, no. We make it back to the lodge unscathed. Still, I am uneasy. This is not the way things go for me. I can’t shake the notion that the weather gods are elbowing each other, snorting with suppressed glee. Wait till you see this!

We go to the restaurant next door for dinner, and find there’s a forty-five minute wait. The hostess hands us one of those restaurant pagers, inexplicably shaped like a lobster. Who knew lobsters were native to Alaska?

I weigh the lobster in my hand. “If I go back to my room and do some work, will the pager work in there?” I ask.

The hostess nods, so I carry the lobster back to my room, accessed by an open-air second floor gallery. It’s a stiflingly hot night in Alaska, where air conditioning is non-existent. Many of my neighbors have their doors open. It resembles a big-city tenement in July, populated by confused tourists.

Lightning blazes, thunder crashes, and the skies finally open up. The rain comes down in torrents, and at that moment, the lobster goes off. In fact, it has a hissy fit.

Now, most of these restaurant pagers are content with flashing lights and vibration. This one does all that. Plus, It literally roars.

So I run out the door of my room, carrying the roaring lobster, and streak down the gallery, pelted by rain, past a dozen open doors. The occupants of the other rooms gape at me, an apparition drenched in rain, reeking of mosquito spray and sweat, clutching a roaring lobster. And the gods laughed.

Whatever it was I did, weather gods, I am so sorry.

Friday, June 14, 2013

How Bookstores Are Like Greenhouses

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So the other day I’m wandering the aisles of a large garden center—you know, one of those places that sells knick-knacks and bric-a-brac, clothing and scented candles and patio furniture (always 50% off) alongside the garden tools. I have a specific list of plants I’m looking for—this new garden was in a partly-shaded, often boggy spot, and I did my homework ahead of time.

The place was huge, with what seemed like acres of plants in color-coordinated pots. Still, I wasn’t having much success. I couldn’t quite fathom the organization of the perennials, and I couldn’t locate anything on my list.

While I was poking through the irises, seeking Siberica, a young man begins scooping them up and loading them on a large cart. “Hey,” I say, “where are you going with those irises?”

“We’re putting them on that table over there,” he says, pointing.

“Oh. Is it okay if I look through them?”

He shrugs. “I guess so.”

I continue the hunt—Germanica, Germanica, dwarf Germanica. He continues loading the cart. Finally, I say, “Do you know if you have any Siberian iris?”

“I’m new,” he says. “Let me get somebody.”

He comes back with another young man in tow, bearded, a little scruffy-looking. He pulls out two tired-looking Siberian iris for my inspection.

“I was hoping for white,” I say. “I have a lot of purple.”

“These are the only ones we carry,” he says, with a bitter smile. “You can have any color you want, as long as it’s purple.”

“Never mind,” I say. “There are some other things I’m looking for.” I show him my list. “Belamcanda lily?”

He looks at the list, looks at me, leans in close. “You know, if you want to get something nice, you should go to Bremec’s,.”

Bremec’s is a small, locally-owned greenhouse, and a bit of a drive.

“They have a great selection of hard-to-find plants, and they’ll be in better shape,” he confides. “See, around here, all the plants are the same.”

I blink at him, confused.

He glances around, then says, “All plants need the same watering schedule, the same light, the same soil and fertilizer, know what I mean?”

“Ah,” I say, “well, that’s where I made my mistake. I thought I needed to find plants that like wet feet. And here I come to find out that any plant will do.”

His lips twitch. “Exactly.”

“Well,” I say,” thanks for your help.”

“Don’t mention it,” he says, turning away. I’m sure he means that, literally. I wonder how much longer he’ll last.

It reminded me of that scene in the movie, Miracle on 34^th Street, where the Macy’s Santa tells the mom where she can find the toy her son wants at a good price. And it’s not at Macy’s.

I’ve been in bookstores, too, where everything comes down from corporate, from what books they carry to how they are shelved. Where the booksellers—who know their clientele—are obviously frustrated. It doesn’t have to be that way. Bookstores are a lot like greenhouses, in that many of the people who choose to work there aren’t hoping to get rich. They do it out of love—a love of books. And the chance to spend time with others who share that passion. So imagine what it’s like to find yourself working for people who don’t.

Those lovers of books and plants and art and music and fine foods can the brick-and-mortar stores’ biggest assets—they are the ones who understand that books, and plants, and people are not all alike.

Friday, May 24, 2013

NYC and the DALLES, OR!! Coming Your Way!

NYC and the DALLES OR

I’m Coming Your Way!

Greater New York!!

I’ll be at BEA 5/29-30/13

BEST OF BOOK EXPO EVENT at

BOOKS OF WONDER

Wednesday, 6 to 8 p.m.

I'll be signing with authors Alethea Kontis, Kevin Emerson, Patrick Carman,

Carolita Blythe, and Joelle Charbonneau

BEA SIGNING THURSDAY, 2 PM, TABLE 3

The Disney Publishing Worldwide booth #1721 will have ENCHANTER HEIR galleys, tattoos, bookmarks, and other swag. Don’t Miss it!!

Hey, Oregon!!

Crossing the Continent to be at

KLINDT’S BOOKSELLERS YA EVENT!!

Saturday, June 1, 11 AM to 3 p.m.

315 E 2^nd St

The Dalles, OR 97058

Phone: 541-980-3355

http://www.klindtsbooks.com/calendar_events/394-young-adult-ya-book-signing-event

I’ll be among TWELVE AWESOME AUTHORS: Mike Mullin, Rae Carson, Tina Connolly, Virginia Euwer Wolff, Graham Salisbury, Jill Williamson, Kendale Blake, Danielle Myers, Crystal Beran, Phil Duncan, Katie Kacvinsky, and Graham Salisbury.