Into that world inverted...

Today was a very peaceful day for me. Restful. Serene. I have not been on a plane for twenty-four hours.

'Surely,' you might say to yourselves with a puzzled frown, 'Surely, Sarah, that is a common state of affairs?'

So you might think.

On Friday I flew from Dublin to London, where I had a photoshoot for Company magazine. It was held in a laundrette: I was told they once held one in a biker bar. It was me, a lady who sells ceramics, and two other ladies who run a boot camp, and the idea was all to be extremely glamorous and strike fabulous poses, offset by the ordinary surroundings of a laundrette.

Of course not being the glamour model type, I instantly made some terrible mistakes. As for instance, I assumed that the elderly lady whisking her clothes out of a washing machine was involved in the photoshoot.

SARAH: Do you just have to take the clothes in and out all day?
OLD LADY: *HORRIFIED STARE*
SARAH: Oh right. Right. Sorry, I understand.
OLD LADY: *eyes soften*
SARAH: You have to stay in character, right?
OLD LADY: *RIGHT BACK TO HORRIFIED STARE*

The other ladies in the photoshoot were, to use an eighties phrase, stone cold foxes, which was intimidating, but the wonderful magazine people made me look quite nice. I was in a rather daring red corset dress, which I believe only horrified the elderly lady more: all she wanted was lemony fresh laundry, and she was accosted by a minx with a plunging neckline and eyelashes that were black as my sinful heart.

Afterwards I just missed meeting orexisbella to my woe, and then caught up with Cassandra Clare and our friends Josh and Clary.

Everyone was very taken aback by my upswept hair and impeccable eye make-up. And by the way I entered the room.

SARAH: STOP. PAUSE. ADMIRE ME.
EVERYONE: *stare*
SARAH: This is the most glamorous I will ever be. I hope it was good for you.

They thought it might be the start of a whole new radiantly lovely me, but I woke up the next day with my usual Scared Hedgehog do, and that dream died.

Saturday we got the plane from London to Scotland.

We arrived in Glasgow and upon entering my hotel room I discovered a man directly below my window playing a bagpipe. 'Yes, I realise this is Scotland,' I told the air. 'No need to overdo it: you have made yourself perfectly clear.'

At the Borders in Glasgow we were welcomed by the awesome booksellers, who gave us GIFTS. Chocolate and one pink and purple sock monkey each! I was so delighted.

SARAH: ... CASSIE. I have a NOTION. Our sock monkeys.
CASSIE: Yes?
SARAH: THEY SHOULD FIGHT.
CASSIE: Uh, I think my sock monkey is a pacifist.
BOOKSELLER: All sock monkeys are pacifists.
SARAH: Not my sock monkey. I see the light of battle in his button eyes.

My sock monkey's button eyes searched for new worlds to conquer. I named him Alexander. As Cassie refused to name hers, I named him Gandhi.

Everybody agreed that I should not bring Alexander out to meet our awesome audience. I feel this was a mistake.

Nevertheless we had a fabulous event! Cassie was poised and winning: I mostly told crazy stories and aired ridiculous theories about books. We passed around a box for questions called The Demon's Instrument's Question Box, and I read out from The Demon's Covenant and Cassie read out from The Clockwork Angel, as they are both not yet published and thus thrilling and secret.

Afterwards we gave out copies of the first chapters. I was meant to have a system, but I forgot it completely and sort of vaguely waved copies at people. I apologise if someone feels robbed because they did not get a chapter!

Also my lovely Scottish cousin came by and gave me a box of chocolate.

SARAH: Aw, thank you!
CASSIE: Whoa, did that girl give you chocolates?
SARAH: Yes, she's... (pause) She's a big fan.

Oh, the evilness of me!

I like Scotland a lot. Sock monkeys, chocolate, book lovers and excellent questions, what is not to love?

The answer: bagpipes.

The next day, I flew from Glasgow to Dublin, where I re-packed my tiny bag, collapsed in a heap, had my first kaffee klatsch with some awesome students, and then flew back to London where I attended Cassie's London party. I was primed to put up my hand and ask her ridiculous questions, but unfortunately there were too many fans with great questions, and also she refused to call on me.

I met many great people there as well, and also had an opportunity to harass Maureen Johnson, which I enjoy doing.

SARAH: You should write a book. Set in Dublin.
MAUREEN: I should get the boat to Ireland and have an adventure!
SARAH: Yes! You should stay with me. We could have cereal fights.
MAUREEN: Explain yourself. If the plan is not sufficiently crazy, I will not agree.
SARAH: You take the plastic bag of cereal out of the cereal box. You open it, fill it with milk, and then tie the bag up again. Then, you hit each other on the head with your bags of cereal until the bags EXPLODE.
MAUREEN: ... Agreed.

Sales continue steady but not up for the US Demon's Lexicon: remember to harass your friends and your genetically engineered to read household pets, so as to get the next part of Sorcerer and Stone next week! In the meantime, The Demon's Lexicon just sold in Indonesia and the Czech Republic, so give me five and let off some fireworks in a remote location out of doors!

Tomorrow I give a talk with two other lovely author ladies about Demons, Fairies and Ghosts which may turn into an all-out fist fight. I could say that I will not start it, and the madness will not be entirely my fault, but I don't like to lie to you guys.

The day after Cassie and I fly back to Dublin, where we will have another Fabulous Event at 6:30 16th July, with readings and advance chapters and shenanigans, definitely crazy stories and perhaps a secret, ninja sock monkey appearance. Also there will be Mortal Instruments T-shirts and badges with Demon's Lexicon ravens and 'Of course Nick had to get rid of the body' on them.

I like my badges. My mother wears hers to the tennis club. They look at her with suspicion, these days. Who is Nick, they wonder to themselves, and where, oh where, is he putting the bodies?

Until next time, I hope you will be betting on me to win in the Demons, Fairies and Ghosts fist fight. If some canny librarian youtubes it, you can rely on me to provide you with a link.

The contest for an early copy of The Eternal Kiss is closed: thank you all so much for entering! It is deeply, deeply appreciated. I had so much fun seeing everyone's pictures! People with weapons! People dressed up as Mae! It was horribly difficult to choose.

The winner is: demon circles, fever fruit and talismans - drawing summoning circles at three a.m. is my new definition of hardcore.

The winner of another advance copy of The Eternal Kiss, which I obtained by probably nefarious means: Sin, fever blossoms and a demonic penguin.

Email me at sarahreesbrennan@gmail.com, you guys.

Trying to choose honourable mentions actually made me collapse under the sheer weight of awesomeness, but I admit to a particular fondness for Mae in Sydney.

This Friday I will be heading off to the UK to do a number of things, like a photoshoot (Oh God, 2859 pictures of The Distressed Wombat Face) and a debate on Ghosts, Faeries and Demons. I will naturally be arguing on the side of the demons. Evil wins again!

I will also be doing two Lexiglass events. (I made up the name, so I keep gleefully using it at every opportunity...)

The Lexiglass Event
July 11, 2009: Glasgow, Scotland, 3pm
Borders Glasgow. 98 Buchanan Street, Glasgow, G1 3BA
Signing and appearance with Cassandra Clare, who will be launching City of Glass in the UK

The Irish Lexiglass Event
with Cassandra Clare
July 16th 6:30 PM
Eason
40 Lower O'Connell Street, Dublin 1, Ireland

Then there are some plans for appearances in the US.

For a start, I will be attending Comic Con in San Diego, July 23rd to the 26th.

Events there will be as follows:

Friday, July 24 Panel

12:30-1:30 Future Fond Memories Room 3

Panelists: Michael Spradlin (KEEPER OF THE GRAIL: THE YOUNGEST TEMPLAR); Michael Reisman (SIMON BLOOM: THE OCTOPUS EFFECT ); Sarah Rees Brennan (THE DEMON’S LEXICON); James Owen (THE INDIGO KING); Mary Pearson (THE ADORATION OF JENNA FOX), P.J. Haarsma (THE WORM HOLE PIRATES OF ORBIS 3); and Alyson Noel (BLUE MOON: THE IMMORTALS).

Moderator: Maryelizabeth Hart, Mysterious Galaxy

1:30 - 2:30 Signing in the convention's autograph area.

The morning of Saturday the 25th, I will be signing in the Every Picture Tells a Story booth, exact time to be announced.

And for the rest of Comic Con, I will probably be wandering around going 'Oooh, look, a Wonder Woman costume!' and being extremely happy about the weather, so come say hey to me!

Now, I know quite a lot of writers called Sarah. It is, as I have pointed out to my mother while explaining my preference for 'Esmeralda,' a fairly common name. At this stage I believe Sarahs might be numerous enough to take over the world.

Before we do that, though, we're having a Sarah Signing in New York.

1.00 pm - 3.00 pm, Sunday August 2nd. Books of Wonder, 18 West 18th Street, New York, NY 10011.

Sarahs will include me, our fearless organiser Sarah MacLean (the Season), Sarah Cross (Dull Boy), Sarah Beth Durst (Ice, Into the Wild) and Sarah Ockler (Twenty Boy Summer) with more Sarahs to be announced!

Other US appearances will be in early October, and the details will be enormously awesome, but I cannot tell you them yet!

At all appearances I will have stuff like bookmarks, gel pens, cheery yet insane smiles, and little giveaways of the first chapter of The Demon's Covenant.

And since this post has been all about announcements, something for the rest of you. I would tell a story about my life, but telling stories like 'Yesterday my flatmates found me sticking Post-its ON MY OWN FACE' is too shameful. So instead...

( Frequently Asked Questions about The Demon's Lexicon: GIGANTICALLY HUGE SPOILERS )

If you have other questions, pray ask them and I will answer them! I will add to this post as I go.

So to open with the bad news, sales are steady but missed the mark, so we will not have Part 2 of
Sorcerer and Stone this week. With luck, next week! Tell all your friends, family and genetically modified household pets who know how to read.

And now for the good news!

The winner of the Demon's Lexicon Thanks for Linking Back Prize Pack is inbedwithbooks - email me at sarahreesbrennan@gmail.com with your address for shiny knife charm, books and all.

The winner of Shiver is wednesdayschild.

And the winner of Ice is lotuseyes. Both of you email me with your addresses at sarahreesbrennan@gmail.com as well!

For those who did not win but really liked the sound of Ice, Sarah Beth Durst is giving away another copy here.

PSA to all jonesing Australians: The Demon's Lexicon is already on shelves at Kino's and Galaxy.

And to the rest of you, who kindly did not point out that uh, I put up a post that said 'Happy July' on the last day in June, I was... uh... totally testing you. Yeah, that's it.

But today is July, and we decided to give out one free signed book a day as well at the two seven-book prize pack, starting with Saundra Mitchell's Shadowed Summer, so escaping with the Seven could work out well for you.

Good news for me this week: The Demon's Lexicon trilogy just sold in Israel! Hooray, demons in the Holy Land!

More good news for me: I got two more Starred Reviews. I am so pleased the people reading Demon's Lexicon are liking it! The reviews are generally full of spoilers, but here are snippets:

Give this to horror and fantasy fans alike, but don't give away the ending - Bulletin, Starred Review

Even teens who don’t consider themselves genre buffs will appreciate the solid writing, fast-paced plot, and sense of authenticity that Brennan gives to the shadowy world between ordinary, modern-day London and the otherworld of demons and magicians. Readers will clamor for the next book in this trilogy. - School Library Journal, Starred Review

I have performed the Dance of Stars. Small breakable objects in my house have met their doom.

And some more stuff for you guys: you might notice the truly awesome icon I am using, which is made by the fabulous orexisbella. There are more extremely cool icons and wallpapers up here now!

One of which is now mine.

( Check Out My New Computer Wallpaper )

It inspired this conversation between me and my poor agent.

SARAH: ... Ask Simon & Schuster if I can have Tyler's (cover model's name is Tyler) number.
KRISTIN: I certainly will not, shameless girl. I know why you want it.
SARAH: Or his email address, that would be fine too.
KRISTIN: I know exactly what this is about, and your behaviour is ENTIRELY INAPPROPRIATE.
SARAH: But I just know having him in a kissing booth at my signings would be wonderful for sales!
KRISTIN: Dear Sarah, try to be less of a pimp, you do not have the chest hair for it.
SARAH: A BOY. KISSING. It is MARKETING GENIUS.
KRISTIN: I'm going to go now.
SARAH: My genius is so misunderstood.

So six of my friends and I were discussing US and UK covers one day, and we compared and constrasted and generally came to very few conclusions about the difference between US and UK covers. We were focusing on young adult covers, as we're all young adult authors, and I thought it might be interesting to share some of our waffling here. Possibly even enlightening!

Okay, it was all Saundra Mitchell's idea and anything enlightening was probably said by her, and definitely not by me.

But as a reward for listening to my babbling, we thought we could give away seven books at once.

In the US, I think young adult fiction is seen as slanted more towards adults, whereas in the UK young adult fiction is seen as slanted more towards kids: with the landslide success of Twilight everywhere this is changing as we speak, but for now I've noticed that in the US teen sections are kept quite separate from and sometimes far away from the children's section, and in the UK they tend to be together and quite often to blend.

So, there's the question of different audiences for the US and UK people.

There's also the question of different sensibilities: I know a couple of US covers that were changed because 'that's too sexy for the UK market.' This overlaps with the question of audience, but might also have something to do with notions of propriety this side of the pond. ;)

And there's the question of timing. Some of us have always loved young adult fiction - for instance, you can try prying my copy of Margaret Mahy's The Changeover out of my cold, dead hands - but it cannot be denied it's exploded in recent years, and especially since Twilight, though there were signs of its rising popularity well before that. And Twilight had a much slower start in the UK than the US - possibly due to their very different covers. So I think the UK is less certain of young adult fiction: it has lots of experiments in style.

One example of such experimentation is a book I know of that was sold as straight-up YA fantasy in the US, was sold as YA fantasy with a different UK cover, and at the same time as adult fantasy with yet another different UK cover and a different title. This was deeply confusing for me. I very nearly bought the same book twice.

( UK Covers on the Left, US on the Right, and Jump! )

Now, having seen so many US versus UK covers, you probably have opinions. You probably have favourites.

I cannot hear them. (NO. SERIOUSLY. PLEASE DO NOT TELL ME. SERIOUSLY, PLEASE DO NOT.) Books are not significantly like our children, as selling one's children in the marketplace is frowned on by many. But book covers are like our children's faces in a way - they mean a lot to us, and we don't have control over them. They're also marketing tools, so people should feel free to express their opinions on them: but doing it to the author is liable to just make the author collapse in a tragic heap of smelling salts and brandy. (Medicinal, of course!)

I would like to hear anyone's thoughts on the trends in covers on both sides of the pond, possibly how US covers sometimes get new covers in paperback but never adopt the UK ones, and how the UK industry often changes to the US covers to see what will happen. I'd also like to hear guesses on what the UK covers of the other three of the seven debaters - Saundra Mitchell of Shadowed Summer, Sarah MacLean of The Season and Sarah Cross of Dull Boy - would look like.

But if you want to pick favourites, good news, that's how you win seven books at once!



Go here to vote for Team US or Team UK, and possibly win either the seven books in the UK package complete with UK covers, or the seven books in the US package complete with US covers.

It is Thursday, and this is the first installment of My Big Idea.

My Big Idea is as follows: I put up a short story to celebrate every week sales reach a certain (modest) number, to thank readers for buying hardcover, and as a show of faith that blogs and free content make a difference.

People who link to the short story get entered for a draw for a Prize Pack (this week's is a Demon's Lexicon signed book, a UK edition of Holly Black's Valiant, a selection of bookmarks and an Irish silver knife charm). Links from book bloggers count as extra, as I think book bloggers are awesome.

This story is set in the universe of The Demon's Lexicon, but it doesn't spoil you for any of it: it's the back story of one of the characters.

People who know me may not be surprised to learn that my short story got a little long. Next part out (with luck and good numbers) next week. Hope you enjoy!

( Sorcerer and Stone, 1/2 )

It occurs to me that I said I was not giving away any books in June, and yet have already stolen from one of my friends in order to give away a vampire anthology in return for pictures of Demon's Lexicon!

And a rule worth breaking is a rule worth jumping up and down on repeatedly.

Advance Reader's Copies make me generally happy, because they are books, and they come to me early, and I love them. But then I find myself getting edgy, because - what did I do to deserve lovely, lovely early free books? Should I not support authors by buying them?

Therefore, I came up with a solution! Give away Advance Readers' Copies, therefore both forcing myself to buy my own copies and doing a Good Deed.

So this lying liar who lies is giving away Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater and Ice by Sarah Beth Durst, two chilly treats upon a summer's day.

The fact I have an ARC of Shiver is almost miraculous.

Maggie Stiefvater asked me if I'd like an advance copy of her first book Lament, I said 'OHMIGOSH yes' and the copy arrived: it was before bound ARCs had been made, and so super special. I was delighted to get it! I decided to take an afternoon off and go to the park.

Oh, SELF. How many years have you lived in Ireland?

There I was, lying on my stomach in the grass happily falling for a minor character, when of course the heavens opened and wind and rain pelted down in my direction. The pages went flying and I shrieked my head off and grabbed at them wildly.

Picture this:

A PARK: weather stormy
A GIRL (shrieking and running around searching for papers): LAMENT! LAMENT!
SPECTATORS: We realise that this is unfortunate, but we were not actually expecting her to scream in mourning.

I went home and wept into half a soggy manuscript, both saddened not to have more of James the Beloved Minor Character and because I was now convinced Maggie Stiefvater would hate me.

MY FRIENDS: Just tell her what happened.
SARAH: TELL HER THAT THE BOOK BLEW AWAY? Nobody will believe that!
SARAH: So... uh... Maggie... not sure how to tell you this but uh... the book blew away?
MAGGIE: Huh. I would not normally believe this, but it is a totally ridiculous thing to happen, and since it's you, your story does check out.
SARAH: Ridiculous things happen to me daily, it's true.
MAGGIE: Hey, you want an ARC of Shiver?
SARAH: Ohmigosh yes.
MAGGIE: And you won't let it...
SARAH: I SWEAR TO GUARD IT WITH MY LIFE.
MAGGIE: Just read it indoors, that's all I'm sayin'.

Mostly with books I'm giving away, they're already out, and I figure, well, I'll put spoilers under a cut, and people who click instead of going out and buying the book want to be spoiled! But it is not actually possible to buy these books, so I thought I would go with a different method of talking about them: focusing on the details about them I found cool and unusual! And thus saving people who cannot wait from themselves. And also dwelling fondly on the things that don't get much attention in reviews.

So all right, Shiver in overview: A Girl. A Werewolf. It is Fate!

I may have already mentioned Minor Character James in Lament, because he was my favourite! Now I have Strong Views on minor characters. I like them. I want to like them: I want them to have full lives outside the protagonists, to have all sorts of things going on besides the protagonists, I want them to be believable and often I want them to be awesome.

In some most excellent books, the supporting characters are my favourites: Felicity Worthington from Libba Bray's A Great and Terrible Beauty (the aristocratic blonde in a feisty redhead's novel), Stefan from Patricia Briggs's Mercy Thompson series (the Scooby Doo van-driving vampire in a werewolf-filled world) and Valefor from Ysabeau Wilce's Flora Segunda books (soul-stealing gender-bending butler in a feisty redhead's novel).

My favourite from Shiver is Isabel 'Did That Werewolf Just Eat My Chihuahua OH HELL NO' Culpepper. You may have seen such blondes as Isabel as Regina in Mean Girls and Sharpay in High School Musical.

... Or you may currently be judging me for my movie-watching habits, and that's fair.

I have always liked mean blond people myself. I'm not sure why: probably Colin from The Secret Garden ruined me at an early age. So I approved of Isabel from the get-go. But like all minor characters should, Isabel has a lot going on besides being that girl you didn't like at school: she's smart, she's brave, she's sensible, she's the planner, and she has lots of sisterly devotion. I'm such a sucker for familial relationships. It may be an even bigger weakness than the mean blond people.

The mystery of how I got Ice is less mysterious.

SARAH: Gosh I hear you're editing Ice gosh I sure do love fairytales gosh I sure do love Beauty and the Beast gosh I sure do love-
EDITOR: If I send you Ice, will you be quiet?
SARAH: RESULT!
SARAH: ... I make no promises.

Ice in overview: A Girl. A Giant Magical Polar Bear. It is Fate!

Something I have Views on besides minor characters is the heroine's life. Namely, she has to have one besides the hero. (And obviously, you know, vice versa, fair's fair. I do not personally demand that my boyfriends spend their time crafting shrines to me in all my glory as I read, rock out to country music and construct elaborate theories about long-past historical events.)

Cassie lives on a research station in the Arctic. She tracks polar bears all by herself, she wants to do undergrad science courses remotely so she doesn't have to leave the station, and she has a T-shirt that says 'ALASKA - WHERE MEN ARE MEN AND WOMEN WIN THE IDITAROD.'

I believed in Cassie's passions and hobbies, and that made me invest in her as a person and in her romance. Another writer who does this marvellously is Robin McKinley: she did baking in her vampire novel Sunshine and beekeeping in her high fantasy Chalice, and I looove it. Though it does mean that there exists in this world a vampire novel which makes me totally ravenous.

There is naturally a lot more to both Shiver and Ice than Isabel and the Arctic, but you will have to read them to find out! Hands up who wants one of them - two winners will be picked randomly, and announced later this week, possibly when I put up a short story in accordance with My Big Idea, if that works out!

And of course, I would love it if you talked in the comments about minor characters you have loved, and heroes and heroines with fascinating hobbies.

Today is the day of my Irish book launch, everyone! I am completely nervous, especially as My Family will be there: loving, supportive and in my mother's case, possibly adjusting my neckline. Wish me luck!

Before I tell you all my Big Idea (TM) I have a couple more links for you, otherwise known as Sarah Rees Brennan, ladies and gentleman, wittering all over the internet.

We Are Walking Over Bones: Building A Magical England - me talking about world-building.

Not actually me at all, but look - my book is the header for my German publishers' website! I love it, and my German publisher. (Can anyone tell me what it says...? ETA: It says 'Summon the demons, but control them! The amazing debut of a young fantasy author. Breathtaking suspense with Sarah Rees Brennan.' Kids, summon demons! I like Random House Germany's style. :))

I was also embarrassingly pleased by this lovely review at Tor.com, which is full of spoilers, do not click if you have not read!

And finally, over at bittenbybooks.com, who have also given me a wonderful review, we're having an interview, online Q&A party, and giveaway with goodie bags. Live Now!

Now for My Big Idea.

As we all know, these are tricky economic times, and one of the luxuries about the place are hardback books. Which makes this an extreeeeemely nervous time for me as a New Writer who nobody knows of to buy. (Well, aside from you guys, for whom I am deeply and always thankful.)

However it would be pretty yucky of me, not to mention rather dull, to wander around playing on my tiny violin to the tune of 'Buuuuuy myyyy book.' Nobody likes the tinny sound of that little violin, anyway.

But I thought I could do something else that is proactive, and rather fun.

I have My Sources of knowing how the book is doing, and I thought I could keep track. (ETA: This only applies to the American/Canadian hardcover, as it is the only one I know how to get numbers for.) And if one week the book is at a certain number (which I will tell a friend, who will not allow me to cheat, and which will not be too high because, well, hard times, I am not with the crazy optimism) then I will write and put up a short story.

Next week, if it's the number again, the same.

Next week, the same.

Another week, number drops, I don't write a story, no harm, no foul.

I am a little nervous about this idea. Partly because I fear if I implement it, I will never sleep again. Partly because I fear it will look like holding people hostage for my short stories, or something.

But I did think that it might be fun, and a way to celebrate good numbers should they happen, and as a thank you to people which might be nice for them. And as something that might make people think 'Hmmm, I need a gift for someone - oh hey, it would be also be good to have something to read next week' and 'Maybe I'll wait for paperback - oh wait, I could probably use something to read in the office next week, maybe I'll pick it up now' which might be nice for me.

Plus some more people might come along and go 'oh hey, story' and then 'I would like a new story plus I might like the book, to the Batmobile, away!' And that would be nice for everyone, even Batman.

So possibly all-around a win.

Plus I am firmly of the opinion that free content 1) sells books and 2) is awesome, and thought it might be a good way to prove this.

So that's what I'm doing, starting now. The first short story may be up this day week!

I am currently thinking, though different opinions are welcome, stories would be set in The Demon's Lexicon universe but contain no spoilers, as I love my tiny extremely nice fandom and how everyone's trying not to spoil the Australians and others who can't get it. If you'd like different kinds of stories, please tell me so! If you have specific ideas on what kind of stories in The Demon's Lexicon universe you'd like, please tell me that too.

In fact, any ideas on My Big Idea, I would love to hear.

All right, so I have many many nice things to show you guys, and wish to present them in an organised fashion.

Organisation is not really my strong suit, as the Durham Lass became forcibly aware as she entered my bedchamber yesterday so we could watch True Blood together.

DURHAM LASS: Is this meant to be like, an obstacle course with vampires as the prize?
SARAH: Vampires would be a good prize.
DURHAM LASS: I almost tripped on a rogue fruit pastille there. I WAS ALMOST DEAD FROM FRUIT PASTILLES.
SARAH: Well, they can be very dangerous if you don't have the expertise to handle them...

So first things first, for those of you who have already read the book and want more/haven't read the book but might still be interested, what the heck - go here and click for the Original First Chapter of The Demon's Lexicon. As you can see, it is totally different from the actual first chapter, which I thought might be interesting. I hope you guys will enjoy it!

Some of you expressed a wish for downloadable bookmarks, so here's a bookmark and some avatars handily available. I am going to put up wallpapers too, I think!

Now I promised you free books, and here's the first: Demon's Lexicon giveaway, plus scroll down to see the already-mentioned playlist and AN INCREDIBLY SPOILERY INTERVIEW, with hints for Demon's Covenant.

Me, talking about writing and publication and the spaces between and among other things, an interview where I confess what I eat with ketchup on it.

On the subject of not books but art (but secretly still books) the unrelentingly awesome orexisbella commissioned art for the four main characters of The Demon's Lexicon from draykonis, and I wanted you all to see, because she did a spectacular job.

And while on the subject of awesome art, I cannot even tell you how much I laughed at these two pictures of our heroes fighting vicious monsters.

'Sarah,' my readers may say sternly at this point. 'You have indeed delivered on your promise of many links. But, some of us already HAVE The Demon's Lexicon, and would like a DIFFERENT free book. Also, you have delivered very few vampires.'

And this is true.

I have spoken of the Eternal Kiss vampire anthology, and all the awesome authors in it, before. It's not out until July, but I have, uh, obtained an Advance Reader's Copy.

Okay, I'll tell you how.

SARAH CROSS, or SAVVY: Hi, Sarah! I was just at Book Expo America, where they give away free books!
SARAH: Must you mock me with free books I do not have? I call that cruel.
SAVVY: Yes, that's why I enjoy it. But also I have something to tell you! I got a copy of The Eternal Kiss! I'm so excited it has stories by Holly Black and Kelley Armstrong and-
SARAH: And me.
SAVVY: And Karen Mahoney and Cassandra Clare and Rachel Caine and-
SARAH: AND ME.
SAVVY: Oh yeah. Well, I can't wait to read it.
SARAH: Can I have it? I want to give it away.
SAVVY: No you cannot have MY BOOK. Don't give away things that DON'T BELONG TO YOU. Thief! Thief-
SARAH: So I'm just going to go put up the contest on my livejournal now. Thanks, Savvy.
SAVVY: WILL NOBODY STOP THAT THIEF?

I wish to do a Contest for the Eternal Kiss ARC I have stolen liberated, as follows. Pray put up a picture of The Demon's Lexicon - with you, in a weird place, in a bookshop, riding on the back of a baby elephant, wherever - and link me to it!

You can use the same pictures for the DL photo contest here - then you could have TWO prizes.

You may be unconvinced that you want the ARC of The Eternal Kiss. I could convince you with an excerpt from Holly Black's The Coldest Girl in Coldtown, which is one of my favourite short stories in all the world - except I don't actually own any of those words, and might be fed to killer cats if I decided to use them.

Probably an excerpt of my own is okay though, so here's a snippet from my story Undead Is Very Hot Right Now, featuring a vampire in a boyband.

( Undead Is Very Hot Right Now )

If you think vampires might indeed be a good prize, show me some pictures!

This week I have spent touring around England - visiting schools in London, Bath and Yorkshire. I also had a most excellent launch party in London, where I met squillions of fabulous people and was given lovely presents. I started eating my cookies on the train ride home.

SUSAN: You are not eating cookies given to you by strangers!
SARAH: I am not. I am eating cookies given to me by awesome people. There was a forcefield around my event, you see. It meant only awesome people were allowed in.
SUSAN: ...
SARAH: If you don't believe me, explain why the whole place was filled with awesome people?

Ladies and gentlemen, she could not.

Which is not to say that I did not suffer from my usual round of terrible embarrassment.

There was a giant poster of The Demon's Lexicon cover in the window, which all admired. Then it was suggested that I should have my picture taken with it.

Then it was suggested that perhaps I should give Nick a kiss.

No, I said. Absolutely not. I would feel VERY UNCOMFORTABLE. I totally refuse.

So of course...



I thought that school visits were going to be rather terrifying, but they turned out to be great fun! I talked to classes full of most awesome students about books and movies and defeating evil overlords, and I threw sweets at them and read out bits from my book and told them all the terrible stories I have about myself.

... Okay, I did almost take a girl's eye out with a packet of fruit pastilles, but apart from that. In one school there was even a girl who read this journal, which felt like having a friend there.

Naturally, my rashness got me into trouble again.

BOYS: Will you sign a postcard?
SARAH: I will sign anything and anyone!
BOYS: In that case... will you sign my chest?
SARAH: No. Absolutely not. I would feel VERY UNCOMFORTABLE. I totally refuse.

So of course I did. I hope the police are not coming for me.

Since I am still not all that coherent, I do have goodies for you elsewhere.

Pictures of Attractive People, or Inspirations and Influences of The Demon's Lexicon

Playlist for The Demon's Lexicon

I am still terrified as to how the book is going to do, and whether people will like it, and whether I will do a Good Job as An Author, but I had a brilliant time on my English tour. So - thank you, England!

We are doing a readthrough/online release party for The Demon's Lexicon right here, right now! Come join us!

Password is zombieboyfriend.

On release day I went out with my best people, and we toasted the book by moonlight at the side of the canal. My fabulous publisher sent champagne, my fabulous best friend sent flowers in red and gold to match the US cover, and the delivery man bearing these gifts was under the mistaken impression that I must have had a terrible fight with my boyfriend.

DELIVERY MAN: Ah, love, he's sorry! Forgive him!
SARAH (sunnily): I will.

I did not want the delivery man to be sad about my imaginary romantic woes on that day.

Some of the comments here and on marmalade_fish have almost made me cry. In a good way!

My sister and brother, however, keep my feet on the ground.

GENEVIEVE: I'll probably read your book. After I read Twilight.
SARAH: I am your sister!
GENEVIEVE: Your book isn't a MOVIE.
SARAH: Well, no.
GENEVIEVE: Starring ROBERT PATTINSON.
SARAH: All that you say is true, but I still feel betrayed!

I brought Saul my audiobook, so that he could listen to it in the gym. He proposed a deal: he would listen if I would watch his new show, The Inbetweeners, with him. It is a tale of the hideously embarrassing lives four English schoolboys lead.

SARAH: Oh those poor boys. Oh those poor poor boys. *cries*
SAUL: No, it's funny... Do you not want to watch any more?
SARAH: No keep playing it! Maybe their lives will get better!
SAUL: I think you might be missing a point, here.

Mostly I am still too overcome to make much sense, but do not fear, I still have many tales written for you in the time when I was coherent!

As coherent as I ever am, that is.

The Exclusive and Extremely Embarrassing Full Story of My First Kiss

I have also done a couple of interviews with friends:an interview with speculative casting and an interview with another hapless adventure of mine.

This Saturday at 4 pm GMT, we're having an online Demon's Lexicon release party/readalong/Q&A here. The password is zombieboyfriend. ;) Rumours that I plan to wear a tiara the whole time may be entirely accurate.

And this Sunday I fly away to London, to begin my tour in England. Which is both thrilling and terrifying - I keep inventing scenarios like getting lost on the moors where eventually, starving, my publicist will have to eat me in order to survive.

The tour starts Monday the 8th, Murder One Film Club, 101-106 Leonard Street, Shoreditch, London EC2, at 6:00 pm. 7:30 pm we will be showing HELLBOY - if you'd definitely like to see the movie, email trisha @ murderone.co.uk for a place.

I will be there. And I will try to be here, blogging about my adventures on tour.

... Hopefully nobody will be eaten. But you never know.

I am afraid I am much too incoherent with joy and panic to provide you with real content in this blog post: however, I have prepared content for you elsewhere!

I have among other things, the tale of how I was mistaken for a knife-wielding lunatic.

On my lovely agent's blog, Getting Hacked Six Days Before Release Day.

And some hopefully fun interviews!

What this post is really for is for the comments: The Demon's Lexicon is officially out today, so if you've read it or you're reading it, here is your discussion thread! Talk to me about questions/thoughts/your outrage at the shocking lack of marshmallows in the book here.

Or if you would like to talk about the book away from author-gumming-up-the-works, discussion is going on here!

Pre-emptive warning for masses and masses of spoilers in the comments.

It is June, and tomorrow I will be a happy but nervous wreck. But before I do finally stumble right into publication, I wanted to make a final stumbling towards publication post.

Several people have asked 'But how did you write this book?' And I found this question a little puzzling, since I wrote the book the same way I'd written more than twenty others: sitting propped up on four pillows in bed when I should have been sleeping, curled up in front of the television with my friends or my family, sitting outside on a beach or under a tree, on the sly when I should have been working. I've been writing my whole life: it's what I do.

I told the hopefully-funny incidents of researching the book, being mistaken for a health inspector or an overenthusiastic fan of mechanics or a knife-wielding lunatic (well... I haven't actually told you that story yet, but I have no doubt I will). But I finally figured out that people might mean: what did you feel when you wrote it, what were you doing as you wrote it. Who were you, while that book was happening?

And that question I can answer. I suppose it starts with me returning from New York. I'd loved that city, and returning home I felt displaced: I wasn't sure what the next step in my life was going to be. I ended up moving to England at the end of the summer to do an MA in publishing and writing, and then to work part-time in a library to see whether librarianing might be what I wanted to do (all I knew was, it was going to be something to do with books) and also to keep me in toasted cheese sandwiches.

The summer before England, though, I was at rather a loose end. I missed New York, was feeling dubious about my future, and I was having personal problems that, well, do not belong on the world wide web. But they meant that I couldn't write.

I do not know how people who do not write cope at all. Without having characters and stories to think about at all my odd moments, I go sort of crazy with boredom. Apparently the Marquis de Sade wrote on the walls of his lunatic asylum in blood. I go jogging.

I never, ever go jogging otherwise. My parents were extremely alarmed. 'Fine! Fine! I'm feeling fine!' I'd tell them, and then I'd go running out on the beach, running and running until I was exhausted and the buzzing urge to write something faded, because I could not think of anything to write.

It was August or late July, and I was collapsed on the sofa while my father watched a very dull documentary. And then something about it caught my attention: my head came up, and after it was over I had a few images in my head. I went upstairs to the computer and started to use wikipedia in a flailing sort of way, sure that I was onto something and not quite sure what: I ended up, among other things, reading essays on Stephen King's Pet Sematary. In the morning my sister Gen came in and stared at me. 'Have you been here all night?' she asked warily. 'Is it morning?' I asked vaguely, drawing something. '... What is that?' she continued. 'Is it a sheep?' My drawing skills are legendary. I have all the artistic ability of a squirrel who has fits. 'It's a demon's mark!' I said triumphantly. 'Oh...' Gen said. 'Right.' She looked at me, a little doubtful, but Genevieve is much more used to having a sister chained to a computer than jogging on the beach. 'Have fun,' she concluded, and went off to eat breakfast.

I was so relieved and so happy just to be writing again, I was in kind of a frenzy. This was not so great for my friends, who I was due to go on a trip with to London. We walked about museums with me scribbling on random envelopes. I sat outside Westminster Abbey and told them all the new stories running around my head. We unexpectedly encountered a naked stranger in our hotel room, and even this did not really shake me from my writing haze. At one point in a bar, the Durham Lass edged us a little away down the bar, and instead of saying 'Sarah, you are a lunatic, put down your pen, we are on holiday' she talked patiently and at length with me about timelines as I made notes on a bar napkin. 'Thank you,' I said at the end, a little calmer. 'I'll name a character after you.'

She just smiled and nodded, bless her. (I did name a character after her.)

I was well into chapter four by the time I moved to England and to live with Penelope, one of the Seven Wonderful Flatmates of the World. We were living in quite a small town near England, and I did not click with the place in the same way I had with New York. It took me a while to make friends. Eventually I did make them, and in the end England was wonderful, but I was a little lonely at first. But I was writing again, so it didn't matter: taking the train down to Salisbury on the weekend to research, scribbling by the side of the cricket pitch near our flat, playing insane amounts of country music, which Penelope never pointed out in some countries probably qualifies as flatmate torture and grounds for eviction. In January I finished the first draft, and said in a dazed way 'I'm done.'

I wasn't, of course. There were rewrites to get started on almost immediately, and while I was doing those midnight madness and my addiction to agents' blogs impelled me to query Kristin Nelson, and then she asked to see a few chapters - and then a while later the whole thing, and then she offered to represent me. But, she said, she'd like me to do some more rewrites, and she knew I had another offer of representation. Which I did - I hadn't queried anyone else, but a very excellent agent for a friend of mine had been so extremely kind as to express interest, and she send she'd send the book out to editors right away. Either way I would have been in great hands, but - well, I loved the thoughts Kristin had, and I wanted my book to be the best book I could make it. I signed with Kristin and spent some more months rewriting, and have never regretted that.

I was so excited about signing with an agent. Every time I'd started a book since I was a kid, I thought: well, maybe this one is the one, and of course I was thinking more and more. Maybe, just possibly, this one would be published, and even if it wasn't I knew Kristin would stick with me as I wrote more books until one was. I would plan things out with Penelope, who is pretty much a chain-smoking angel.

This book had a protagonist probably only I would like, and gay characters, and no eternal romance to speak of. I was fairly sure it wasn't commercial. If this book got published, of course it would be very small, but I could build on that, and then maybe in about ten years I might be doing quite well...

So the book went out to editors. 'Sales are slow in summer' said Kristin. 'Buy a lot of ice-cream. Prepare for a long wait.' I did. Penelope was in Greece at the time, but my English friends (and a couple of my friends visiting from America, which was wonderful timing!) rallied around. I bought ridiculous amount of raspberry sorbet ice lollies. I was set for my long wait.

The book went out Tuesday. An editor called Kristin with an offer Thursday. There were more offers. I listened to what Kristin was saying with polite bewilderment. I freaked out with a couple of my friends, one who called from America and stayed on the phone for about a million hours telling me soothingly about fairytales. I wondered what I was going to do with all that ice-cream.

I was much too overwrought to sleep in my bed. I went and lay down on the kitchen floor. I possibly caught a couple of hours napping with the toaster as a pillow. The sun came up and it was all sinking in, and the sky was turning violet and pink and gold.

Like all dreams come true, it came with stress, panic and terror as well as incredulous joy: the move back to Ireland, the fretting over whether I could edit the book well enough, which I could control, and what else I could or should be doing, and about things like covers which of course I couldn't control much at all, but I worried anyway! In the midst of a million different feelings, I have felt extremely grateful: to my agent and editor and publisher for both taking such a chance with me, and to my friends, who have been unbelievably amazing: comforting, advising, occasionally whacking me with whatever was to hand (teapots, books, one very upset salmon) and to you guys. I have had an astonishing sounding board which most first-time writers don't have: I've used this blog to talk about my life and its various mishaps for years, and when I got my agent and especially when I got my book deal the congratulations just poured in. One of the things I miss the very most due to the recent hideous hacking is losing all the kind words on that post. And people reading the stumbling towards publication posts I started putting up have come with me on a journey that I really needed companionship on: this blog meant that at cons, there were some strangers I could chat with, that waterbird came to my signing at the London Book Fair and brought me brownies, and that when this journal was deleted hanelissar and many others rushed to help me.

Thank you all very much for that. Tomorrow the book comes out, and I am scared and exhilarated and thrilled and still, very grateful. Whatever happens next, I have had amazing moments on this journey with you - and right now I feel like I'm lying on the kitchen floor again, with the sky turning violet and pink and gold.

So in the run-up to Tuesday, I find myself often on the fainting couch, taking such deep breaths that I may end up inhaling my editorial letter.

In an attempt to ward off all the terrors to come (They'll change their mind! They'll accidentally put your cover on Betsy the Duck's Delightful Day Out! All of the books will be stolen by rogue ninjas!) I wished to make a post about the book stuff I wanted to tell you all about!

Go here to listen to a sample of my audiobook, if you'd like! I was so pleased they hired someone English for it, as everyone in the book has an English accent (more or less, and aside from the Irish guy) and an American accent would have felt wrong. So I was listening happily, and then James Langton My Very Fine Audiobook Reader started doing voices, and I was totally gleed out by the respectively snarly and rueful voices of the boys.

Also, some people have been pointing out that I should surely have some Irish events. And I do! I have a launch, and two other events.

The Irish Launch of The Demon's Lexicon
June 18th, 6:30 PM
Eason. Level 3 Unit 12-14 Dundrum Town Center,
Sandyford Road, Dundrum, Dublin 14, Ireland.

Morning Event
June 15th, 10:30 AM
Hughes & Hughes
Ground Floor, The Pavilions Shopping
Centre, Swords, Co. Dublin

The Irish Lexiglass Event with Cassandra Clare
July 16th 6:30 PM
Eason
40 Lower O'Connell Street, Dublin 1, Ireland.

So if you are in Ireland around any of those times, I will be there. I have a great love for Eason's and for Hughes and Hughes, since they have both made me their June Book of the Month, and thus become my favourite bookshops.

In the UK, my events are as follows:

The London Launch of The Demon's Lexicon
MONDAY, June 8, 6:00 pm
Murder One Film Club, HOME Club,
101-106 Leonard Street
Shoreditch, East London
6:00 pm - Meet & greet and book signing
7.30 pm - Showing of HELLBOY

The Lexiglass Event
July 11, 2009: Glasgow, Scotland, 3pm
Borders Glasgow. 98 Buchanan Street, Glasgow, G1 3BA
Signing and appearance with Cassandra Clare

So I will be in both those places at the appointed times, clutching my pearls.

I am not kidding about those pearls. I have a big fake pearl necklace with a Betty Boop cameo hanging from it, which I bought in Paris.

SINEAD: Ahaha, look at that, how ridiculous, who would ever wish to own such a thing?
SARAH: Indeed, ahahaha! Excuse me, I need to go into that shop for a totally unrelated reason.

People who are stateside and might possibly like to see me, there may be things going on in San Diego and New York in late July, but the for-real tour is taking place in October. For one of the most awesome reasons in the world, which I cannot discuss yet.

KIND INQUIRERS: How will we find your book?
SARAH: Good question, good question! On shelves.
KIND INQUIRERS: Uh... we presumed. But where?
SARAH: In the shops!
KIND INQUIRERS: YOU HAVE TWO SURNAMES. WHICH DO WE LOOK UNDER?
SARAH: ... oh yes there is that.

In brief, I will probably be under B: that's the way I learned to shelve in the library I worked in. The rule seems to be: if it's double-barrelled it goes under the first surname - Tim Wynne-Jones goes under W, if it's not it goes under the second - Diana Wynne Jones goes under J. Which is not to say mistakes are not sometimes made! Blame my mother for keeping her name, and not wanting it linked up.

It is not the first time this has caused me problems. During many a fire drill at school, when we were all lined up alphabetically, someone would fail to see me where I should be in the R spot, and then there would be a mad dash to save me from possible flames.

Meanwhile I was generally calmly reading a book while in the B spot. Whenever I remember my schooldays, I remember them as a lovely, peaceful time. I don't understand why my teachers and classmates seem to recall them so differently...

Several more book things: on Tuesday I will put up a discussion posts here, and there are lots of different discussion posts on marmalade_fish!

And on Saturday 6th June we will be having an online readthrough/book party/chat, during the entirety of which I will be wearing a tiara. I will link you to this on the day!

Also, a book club at the Kitchener Public Library chose my book for its poster, which I think is very cool, so I wanted to show you.



I did not know that people in book clubs got advance copies of books! My childhood was so deprived. But I was still thrilled, and sent them all signed bookplates like this one shown in the contest post - I sign along the sword. Isn't that brilliant?

And - that's everything, I think! I am absolutely scared to death, but looking forward very much to the coming weeks.

... I do hope people are prepared to start carrying me around on this fainting couch, mind you.

So, a few weeks ago my friends offered me free advance tickets to see Star Trek. I laughed and refused: I had never been able to get through a whole episode of Star Trek.

But I kept hearing about how awesome the new movie was, and so I thought, well, I could use a break from restoring my livejournal.

And then it was awesome. And I wanted to write a parody.

I said to myself, 'Self. No. You have a thousand things to do. Your book comes out in five days. Self, I am warning you.'

So obviously, and without further ado, here is my Star Trek parody.

( Star Trek, or Once You Go Vulcan... )

Other parodies can be found here

I was not the person who discovered the heinous crime. I am extremely thankful for that.

I was in fact in the shower when the hideous news arrived, singing (in this time of crisis, let us be perfectly honest) Mindy McCready's 'Oh, Romeo' and blinking coconut-scented bubbles out of my eyes as the phone rang. 'Heavens to Betsy, who is calling me at this hour, do they expect me to form coherent sentences?' I thought to myself.

On the phone was my friend Bob, telling me my livejournal had been hacked into. This led to me going to the sofa and curling up with Salome the macbook for an hour. Had someone painted my portrait at this time they would have called it 'Young Woman In Hysterics. And Fluffy Pink Towel.'

It was not long before I discovered that my primary and business email had been hacked into as well, and I had no way to access it.

Had it been me who made the discovery, given that I have all the tech savvy of a small bewildered lizard, at this point I would have completely collapsed. I would certainly have been aware that I should seek outside assistance, and would probably have taken my phone and tried to dial while hysterical.

SARAH: presses random buttons
PHONE: Good morning.
SARAH: SAVE ME!
PHONE: This is Domino's Pizza Parlour. What do you want on your pizza?
SARAH: I NEED HELP!
PHONE: ... You need help on your pizza?

I was very lucky. My friends all leaped into action like an army of trained tech ninjas. As such, I have decided to give them titles. Eimear the Bold, Charlotte the Gentle, Chiara the Resourceful and Bob the Extremely Tall told me exactly what to do, and soon recaptured my email and my livejournal for me.

At that point I discovered that all my emails and contacts had been deleted, along with the seven years' worth of posts and comments on my livejournal. Not only that, but given timing and other details that I (tech savvy of a lizard!) do not understand, it looks likely that this was malicious.

I have absolutely no idea why anyone would want to hurt me like this. (Why people might want to thump me in the back of the head for laughing like a hyena during a movie, well, that's less of a mystery.) I feel crushed, dismayed and a little tottery on my feet still, but can only resolve to be brave like my ninja friends.

Some people may have wondered whether this was a joke or some strange flight of fancy of mine: let me be very clear. I love this livejournal, and respect and value those who read it, far too much to dream of ever doing such a thing. I don't make jokes like this.

I am in the process of rebuilding my livejournal, with help from marmalade_fish, especially the brilliant hanelissar, and have hopes that I will recover quite a lot, though all my emails and comments are lost forever.

But I do not wish for this post to be a completely tragic one, so I have brought you some wonderful links to make up for the awful ones posted by the hacker before!

Despite the horrible difficulty finding Dull Boy in the shops, I received several wonderful entries for my contest, and I thank everyone who linked me very much for doing so! narutootaku won my heart completely with her most excellent picture of herself with Dull Boy, flying through the sky! She also added a much-appreciated review of the book. Please email me at sarahreesbrennan@gmail.com, narutootaku, and I will send you a signed copy of The Demon's Lexicon at once!

In other contest-related news, could shewhohashope and sweet_fallacy send me their addresses to sarahreesbrennan@gmail.com again? Their copies of Dull Boy were delivered to me late, and I did not have the chance to send them before this.

I racked my brains to think of another cool link to give you, and then I remembered something! I am really looking forward to a show called The Vampire Diaries, coming out this autumn. It's based on a series of books by LJ Smith, and LJ Smith was my Twilight - she wrote the books I went crazy for when I was a teenager. My favourites were the Dark Visions series, but I haven't actually read them since I was a wee thing as I am a little scared they will read differently to me now. However, I still remember enough to be able to summarise the backstory of The Vampire Diaries for you.

STEFAN: As befits the angsty hero of a series about vampires, my interests include poetry and the arts, and my fragile vampire girlfriend Katherine.
DAMON: My interests include drinking, gambling, wenching and annoying my little brother. Speaking of which, hello Katherine.
KATHERINE: I have decided to make you both vampires, and live with both of you in eternal vampiric bliss.
STEFAN: Live with... I'm sorry, what are you trying to imply...
DAMON: WHEN I SAID I WAS UP FOR ANYTHING, THIS IS NOT WHAT I MEANT AT ALL.
KATHERINE: Well, if you won't give me eternal vampiric bliss, I am offing myself. That'll show you! Then you'll weep in each other's arms!
STEFAN AND DAMON: have a duel
KATHERINE: Or not.
STEFAN: Oh my God, Damon, we're vampires! The undead, the damned, utterly doomed to endless torment. What do we do, what do we do?
DAMON: It's okay, Stefan. I have a plan.
STEFAN: Hurrah, what is your plan?
DAMON: TO MAKE YOUR LIFE AN ETERNAL MISERY.
STEFAN: lives centuries of eternal misery, drinking the blood of pigeons
DAMON: That's what I'm talkin' about.
STEFAN: Time to reinvent myself as an American high school student, who plays on the football team and has just met a girl who looks uncannily like his lost love. What is this feeling? Is it... happiness?
DAMON: Oh, Stefan. Why do you do these things to us both? It gives me no pleasure to hurt you.
STEFAN: ...
DAMON: Ahahaha, who am I kidding! Hurting you is awesome. Speaking of which, hello Elena!

Without further ado, here is The Vampire Diaries trailer. I hereby vow to watch, and possibly write affectionate parodies of, every episode.

Fun links of skies and vampires entirely aside, I must say this: I have had countless kind emails and offers of support since this madness started this morning, and I thank you all so much for them. The unkindness of the internet, however staggering, cannot measure up to its awesomeness. It has been and remains, my lovely audience, a pleasure to be here.

My livejournal and email were hacked: I am most terribly sorry if you followed any links given.

I am now back in control, thanks to several of my friends leaping to my aid. Thanks everyone for your patience!

My livejournal and email were hacked: I am most terribly sorry if you followed any links given.

I am now back in control, thanks to several of my friends leaping to my aid. Thanks everyone for your patience!

The winners of Dull Boy are to email me at sarahreesbrennan@gmail.com at their earliest convenience:

sweet_fallacy
shewhohashope

The extra winners of signed copies of Dull Boy should email Sarah Cross at dullboybook@gmail.com. She saw all your comments and felt stricken with pity. She has a good heart, under all that evil and pink.

beckylevine
aidenfire

There is another Sarah Cross and Dull Boy related contest on, which is that if you put a picture of yourself and Dull Boy, or Dull Boy in a fun place, up and link me to it, I will choose one of the entrants and send you an advance signed copy of The Demon's Lexicon. Currently there is one entry, so your odds are excellent!

Since that is the prize, I thought I should show it to you. When my US author copies arrived, I admit I did a terrible thing: I seized a knife, ripped open a box and then tore my cover right off. I truly love my US cover, but I received a cover flat (an imitation cover, subject to change) of it a while ago, and have been keeping it on my copy of Generation Dead and pretending it was my book, so I have got used to it. I was dying to see my Secret Cover in real life.

I love it so much, it is hard for me to express to you. My name and the title are written on the spine as if in the metal used for the blade!

Since I am rendered incoherent, I decided to use someone else to display the four editions currently in my possession. My friend Helen knew perfectly well how my mental state would devolve in the weeks (two weeks! Just in case any of you are interested, people are planning release day meet-ups here) leading up to publication, so she sent me a little helper. She sent me a Jane Austen Action Figure.

( Winners. Swords. Jane Austen )

So a month or so ago, someone asked me when I was doing my monthly book giveaway. 'Uh,' I said, with my usual quick wit. 'I don't think I... do I do that?'

I looked back, and saw that I do it pretty often. And it struck me as a nice sort of idea, for this year anyway. Aside from in June, when I will clearly be much too insane to use the post office, but I have a plan to make up for that in July.

So to kick off my May giveaway of Dull Boy by Sarah Cross, I have to explain something about superheroes.

I've just never been that into them. Leaving aside the fact that I cannot seem to get into comics because they are largely picture-based and I am a word fiend, superheroes always seemed to be either brave true sweet decent white bread guys, or a huge parcel of issues in their best brooding tights. I like people to have relationships with each other, and well, Batman doesn't seem to be a people person.

The X-Men always seemed promising to me, but never quite gelled, perhaps because there was still too much focus on brooding in costume. Do not ask me to speak of the recent Wolverine. Never have I seen a man pose so much. So many people yell at him 'You're not an animal!' and I spent all my time expecting a photographer to leap out and offer the contrary opinion: 'Yes! Yes, just like that. Rawr. Flex for me some more. You ARE an animal, baby, yeah!'

So let me tell you the story of the only superheroes movie I ever loved. If you have seen Sky High and loved it as I did, there is no more to be said. Sarah Cross's Dull Boy is just like that, and you want it now!

If you have not seen Sky High, I have a tale to tell you.

I am a huge fan of cheesy things. I love Disney musicals and country music. I love Taylor Swift. I love The Secret of Moonacre. Sometimes people think I love these things ironically. This is not the case! I simply love them.

So I was in college, going to the movies with a friend. I was in the mood for cheese, she isn't really keen on adult-rated things, so we chose a movie about a school of superheroes called Sky High. I was just expecting to be mildly amused, but I ended up loving it.

( Sky High: one reason to watch )

Sky High gave me everything I wanted from a superheroes story: the nice guy hero who is both flawed, humble in a believable way and part of a real team, a heroine who was actually strong and actually had a lot of things on her mind besides the hero, a cast of most excellent and hilarious supporting characters, and naturally a handsome rival turned friend with parental issues and many other issues - more issues than Vogue.

'Now,' I thought to myself, 'If only that was a book.' Because books are my best thing. I often wish other things were books.

When I met Sarah Cross - sarahcross - on debut2009, I heard that her book was about superheroes. I did not think of Sky High. I just thought it was too bad.

I liked Sarah Cross's style from the first. She just had this air of innocence about her, under which facade lay pure evil. That appealed to me. I remember an incident at the Castle, when Jen Barnes and I were wrestling. (I forget why.) Jen kept an eye on Sarah Cross, who was sitting wearing pink in an armchair, looking small and dismayed by this sudden eruption of violence in the castle library. I could see that Jen trusted Savvy to help her if things got out of hand. Then I pinned Jen on the floor. Jen cried out for help.

Sarah Cross tossed her head back and laughed a single, terrible laugh.

It was a very special moment for me.

So acquainted with Sarah Cross's dry wit and secret yet supreme evil, I was looking forward to Dull Boy quite a bit. I knew hers would be a brain I'd like to holiday in. But still... superheroes.

Some of us in the Debs like to get together and play something we call The Game. That's when we go to chat and pick out random numbers, and copy and paste a line from our books from that page. It only makes the waiting more unbearable is a great game! So while we were playing the Game, I noticed that Sarah Cross had copy and pasted a little something about someone called Jacques.

AVERY (the hero of Dull Boy): It takes me all of two seconds to recognize him.

Jacques is the guy with the Jaguar. Casanova with a driver’s license. And . . . superpowers?

I feel about as tense as Darla looks. Sophie’s friend or not, I don’t want him here. I don’t want to see her hug him hello, or laugh at anything he says that I’m sure won’t be funny . . . and I definitely don’t need a demo of his badass force-field-invisibility-bulletproof-better-than-mine powers.

His eyes travel the room until they land on me—and lock.
SARAH: Wait wait wait! ARE YOU TELLING ME THAT THERE IS A HANDSOME RIVAL?
SAVVY: He also wears jewellery, and has some mommy issues.
SARAH: I LOVE HIM ALREADY. Give me another excerpt with Jacques in it!
CARRIE: Uh, Sarah, those aren't really the rules of the-
SAUNDRA: Shh. We find it best to let her have her way.
AVERY: I’m glad I don’t have super senses; I seriously don’t want to know what they’re saying. Much more satisfying to invent a conversation for them.

Sophie: You should be nicer to Avery. He’s cute and his power is awesome.

Jacques: You’re right. I’m so ashamed. (weeps)

So I admit it, I was originally in it for Handsome Jacques.

But then Dull Boy gave me what I'd forgotten I wanted: nice guy hero Avery, who is losing all his friends because they don't understand why he's suddenly so lame and who is genuinely funny and geeky, and whose super strength means that he has to let himself get beaten up by a school bully. A cast of most excellent and hilarious characters, including Darla who has a RIP Marie Curie T-shirt and whose power is being in charge, and artistic manga-loving Sophie who is planning costumes for everyone. And the heroine (or the girl who I may have just DECIDED is the heroine due to how awesome she is) Catherine, the furious barista who both scorns and terrifies Avery, and yet also goes for the school bully after him with claws of homicidal fury.

Sky High in a book, and yet totally its own thing as well. So, in celebration of one of my youthful dreams being realised and of Dull Boy's release date, I have two copies of Dull Boy - who wants them?

(Actually, I have three. But you can't have mine.)

Edited to Add: So my US authors' copies just arrived in the post. This seems like fate, and I would love to do something nice for Sarah Cross on her release day, so if people would put up on their blogs a picture of themselves and Dull Boy, or Dull Boy in a fun place, and link me, I will put those who do in a hat, and send one of them a signed early copy of The Demon's Lexicon.