Archive of ‘This & That’ category

FALL 2015 TOUR

by

WalkOnEarth-finalOulá! Here are my fall tour stops for Walk On Earth A Stranger.

I’m especially excited because I get to bring some friends with me, so each stop features an author or two whose books I think you might like.

Am I coming to your city?

 

September 22 – 7 PM
Menlo Park, CA (near San Francisco)
Kepler’s Books
*Featuring Stacey Lee, author of Under a Painted Sky (Penguin Random House)

September 23 – 7 PM
The Woodlands, TX (near Houston)
Barnes & Noble at The Woodlands
*Featuring Sophie Jordan, author of The Uninvited series (HarperTeen)

September 24 – 6:30 PM
Nashville, TN
Parnassus Books
*Featuring Victoria Schwab, author of The Archived series (Disney/Hyperion)

September 25 – 7 PM
La Grange, IL (near Chicago) ←New location!
Anderson’s Bookshop
*Featuring Joelle Charbonneau, author of The Testing trilogy (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
*Featuring Sarah Prineas, author of Ash & Bramble (HarperTeen)

September 28 – 7 PM
Phoenix, AZ
Changing Hands Bookstore
*Featuring Erin Bowman, author of Vengeance Road (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)

My Panel Schedule for Legendary ConFusion

by

I’ll be in Detroit this weekend for Legendary ConFusion. Here’s my panel schedule. I hope to see some of you there!

Bechdel, Mako Mori, and the “Strong Female Character”

Who:     Rae Carson, Sandra Tayler, Mike Underwood, Christian Klaver
When:   Friday, 6pm
Where:  Southfield

A female character is not strong just because she can kick someone in the head.  What are the limitations of the Bechdel Test (2 female characters have a conversation about something other than a male character)? How does the Mako Mori test come into play? And when did the notion of a “strong character”–meaning a rounded character with agency and a backstory–get replaced by simple physical strength?  How does all of this apply beyond female characters and move into representations of other marginalized groups

Reading with John Klima and Rae Carson

Who:     Rae Carson, John Klima
When:   Saturday, 5pm
Where:  Warren

Does my world need an economy?

Who:     Rae Carson, Cherie Priest, Ron Collins, Brian McClellan, Ferrett Steinmetz
When:   Saturday, 7pm
Where:  Southfield

Worldbuilding can be fun, daunting, and everything in between. One of the aspects that can have a drastic impact on the course of the story is the fantasy economy. As a discipline, economics is often seen as boring in the extreme, but in practice it informs such fantasy staples as warfare, diplomatic relations, crime – organized or desperate, and nearly any other conflict one could choose to name. The fantasy economy is fundamental, and here is how to do it right.

Dystopia is the New Vampires

Who:     Rae Carson, Sarah Zettel, Aimee Carter, Courtney Moulton
When:   Sunday, 11am
Where:  Southfield

But what’s the new dystopia? Trends in YA fiction.

Fall 2013 Tour Schedule

by

My final fall tour schedule is live! This is a LOT of information, and I apologize for giving you so much to wade through, but I wanted everything in one place for easy reference.

Am I coming to your town?

 

The Epic Journeys Tour with author C.J. Redwine:

8/27:  Nashville, TN / Parnassus Books / 6:30 pm

8/29:  Columbus, OH / Cover to Cover Children’s Books / 6:30 pm

8/30:  Indianapolis, IN / Barnes & Noble / 6:00 pm

8/31:  Naperville, IL / Anderson’s Bookshop / 2:00 pm

 

Dark Days Tour with Sherry Thomas, Mindy McGinnis, Madeleine Roux, and Michelle Gagnon:

9/25: Las Vegas, NV / Barnes & Noble Northwest / 7:00 pm

9/26: Highland Ranch, CO / Tattered Cover Book Store / 7:00 pm

9/27: Houston, TX / Blue Willow Bookshop / 7:00 pm

9/28: Austin, TX / Austin Teen Book Festival / All day

 

Dark Days Tour with Mindy McGinnis and Amelia Kahaney:

10/8: Dayton, OH / Books & Co. / Time TBD

10/9: Cincinnati, OH / Joseph-Beth Booksellers / Time TBD

 

Buckeye Book Fair

11/2: Wooster, OH–All day

 

YALLFest—Charleston Young Adult Book Festival

11/9: Charleston, SC—All day

(The keynote convo with Veronica Roth and me is a ticketed event. So is the closing “Smackdown.” You can buy tickets here and here. We expect to sell out, so don’t hesitate. The rest of the festival is FREEEEE!)

 

BTW, I love meeting friends from Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, etc., so be sure to introduce yourself to me!

Announcing the “Epic Journeys Tour” (and giveaway)!

by

THE BITTER KINGDOM is almost here! I’m so excited to finally be able to share the conclusion to the Fire & Thorns trilogy. (I wrote a trilogy! I can hardly believe it!!)

I’m just as excited to announce that I’ll be going on tour during THE BITTER KINGDOM’s release week along with author pal C.J. Redwine, whose novel DECEPTION releases the same day. We’ll be hitting four stores in the Midwest, from Nashville to Chicago.

Why are CJ and I going on tour together? Well, for one, our books come out on the exact same day from HarperCollins. For two, we like each others’ books. For three, we think hanging out together is a kick in the pants. We’re calling it The Epic Journeys Tour to reflect (slight spoiler…) what our characters endure in these books. Also, we’ll be journeying ourselves. Epically. And by “epically” I mean “by car.” That’s right, Internet, this is a ROAD TRIP. I imagine it will be a lot like Thelma & Louise. Except with less debauchery and death.

Don’t our books look nice together?

BitterKingdom COMP

DeceptionCover2

To celebrate, I’m giving away an advance reading copy of THE BITTER KINGDOM. Just fill out the form below. If you win, and you are interested, I’ll throw in the first two books of the series as well. CJ is giving away copies of DECEPTION at her site too, so be sure to go over there and check it out. Open to U.S. and Canada only, folks. (Sorry, international peeps. But I’m planning an international giveaway later, so stay tuned!)

Here is our schedule for the EPIC JOURNEYS TOUR. We’d love to see you there!

Parnassus Books in Nashville, TN on 8/27 time TBD, but most likely evening

Cover to Cover Children’s Books in Columbus, OH on 8/29 at 6:30pm

Barnes & Noble in Indianapolis, IN on 8/30 at 6pm

Anderson’s Bookshop in Naperville, IL on 8/31 at 2pm

a Rafflecopter giveaway

THE KING’S GUARD

by

The King’s Guard, a new e-novella in the Fire & Thorns universehas a cover!

Description and cover below. Available July 30!

Hector of Ventierra is the youngest commander of the Royal Guard in his kingdom’s history. But before he was lord commander, he was a lowly squire. In this short fantasy novella, set in the world of The Girl of Fire and Thorns, Rae Carson introduces readers to Hector before he became the man Queen Elisa fell in love with. The King’s Guard also includes a teaser chapter for The Bitter Kingdom, the conclusion to the Fire and Thorns trilogy.

At fifteen years old, Hector is the youngest squire in the most elite military force in the country. And his first day is disastrous. Everyone assumes the only reason he was recruited is his close personal association with King Alejandro, not because he’s really earned it.

But Alejandro needs Hector for a secret mission, one that gives him the chance to prove to everyone—including himself—that he is worthy to be a Royal Guard. Hector must break into the ancient Fortress of Wind to retrieve something so important that the kingdom’s future depends on it. What Hector finds in the fortress will stretch his bond of friendship with his king near to breaking. And it will prepare him to become the fearsome warrior and lord commander Elisa will never let go.

A riveting prequel to Rae Carson’s epic and acclaimed Fire and Thorns series.”

KingsGuard hc c

Blurbs for The Bitter Kingdom!

by

 

I am so, so pleased to finally be able to share a couple of amazing blurbs for The Bitter Kingdom, the third and final book of the Fire and Thorns trilogy, which will be released on August 27, 2013.

“What’s a blurb?” you ask. It’s when someone Important or Influential reads something and likes it enough to say an Official Nice Thing about it. Like an endorsement. Except not paid. Unless you count undying gratitude as currency. Which I do.

Anyway, two authors whom I respect immensely, both as writers and human beings, have said Official Nice Things about The Bitter Kingdom, and here they are:

“What a conclusion to a spellbinding trilogy! The Bitter Kingdom cements Rae Carson as one of the best fantasy authors to grace the shelves. I love this series to pieces, and so should you.”

 – Marie Lu, New York Times best-selling author of the Legend trilogy

“The perfect conclusion to one of the most brilliant modern YA fantasies on the market today. Readers will love this whole series, and while I didn’t want to leave Elisa’s world, The Bitter Kingdom hits all the right notes. This is YA fantasy as it should be.”

– Beth Revis, NewYork Times best-selling author of the Across the Universe trilogy

Aaaahh!!! *flail* Marie Lu and Beth Revis!!! I’m so excited and grateful and blown away. Thank you so much, ladies.

To celebrate, my publisher will be giving away an advance copy or two of The Bitter Kingdom tomorrow. Stay tuned…

COVER!!!

by

The Bitter Kingdom has a release date and a cover! The final book of the Fire & Thorns trilogy will be published on August 27, 2013. (We’ll just pretend that it didn’t sneak out on the internets last week and that I haven’t gotten two dozen emails/tweets/Facebook comments asking about it…)

I’m so excited to share the final chapter of Elisa’s story. Things get CrAzY in book 3. Notice the ICE and SNOW and PINE TREES? Those are not-subtle hints about what happens.

You can pre-order at Amazon and Barnes & Noble. In the meantime, though, you can tide yourself over with The Shattered Mountain, a digital-only story about Lady Mara that will be released a whole lot sooner on March 26.

Anyhoo…Here it is:

 

Free Short Story!

by

Hey, everyone. I have plunged into the wild, wild world of self-publishing and made a previously published short story available for FREE*. Yay, free stuff! “Dangerous Voices” is a high fantasy story that first appeared under a different title in Weird Tales Magazine, #345 waaaay back in 2008-ish. I’ve since cleaned it up a bit and given it a cover, and now you can all read it.

Here is a description, followed by links where it can be downloaded, followed by the cover:

Errik has been a prisoner–and alone–for a long, long time. He lives for the moment each day when the window of his dungeon cell shines a bit of light onto his bearded face. But everything changes when he gets a new neighbor–a young girl with a voice as beautiful as the springrise. 

They both know the rules: No singing. No speaking. Voices are dangerous. But they can’t help themselves. And soon enough, Errik begins to remember himself, why he’s here in this dark place, and why his captors will stop at nothing to ensure his silence.

Download at:

Barnes and Noble

Sony

iTunes

Amazon (*Not free yet. Amazon doesn’t give authors the option of posting something for free, but they’ll eventually “price match” the other retailers. In the meantime, feel free to download it elsewhere or just hang on for a bit. I do not want anyone to have to pay for this!)

Smashwords

Kobo (It hasn’t appeared yet, but soon, I hope!)

And here is the lovely cover, thanks to Jenn Reese at Tiger Bright Studios:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Enjoy!

Fall Tour Schedule

by

The Crown of Embers comes out in less than a week! That means it’s time to hit the road. I’ll update as I learn more, but here’s what we have so far. If you come to one of my appearances, please introduce yourself. Be sure to remind me if I know you from Twitter or Facebook–I’ll probably recognize your name and/or handle!

Rae’s Schedule:

Sept 20, 6:30 pm
Columbus, OH
Signing and launch party for The Crown of Embers at Cover to Cover Children’s Bookstore.

Sept 29, all day
Austin, TX
Austin Teen Book Festival, signing & panel: “We’re Not In Kansas Anymore,” with Libba Bray, Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl, Leigh Bardugo, and Sarah Rees Brennan.

Oct 4, all day
Minneapolis, MN
Heartland Fall Forum, signing and “moveable feast.”

Oct 12 – 14
New York, NY
ComicCon New York—panel and signing, info forthcoming.

Oct 17, 7:00 pm
Upper Arlington, OH
Central and Southern Ohio SCBWI, featured speaker

Oct 20, all day
Cincinnati, OH
“Books by the Banks” book festival

Oct 26, 6:30 pm
Columbus, OH
Ohioana Book Awards reception & panel

Nov 3, all day
Wooster, OH
Buckeye Book Fair

Nov 18 – 20
Las Vegas, NV
NCTE/ALAN Conference. Panel info TBD.

I get to write 3 more books!

by

Woke up this morning and discovered that certain news had made its way all over the internet already (I love living in the future):

From Publishers Weekly Deals for June 18: “Agent Holly Root at Waxman Leavell closed this deal, and said the new trilogy is ‘a sweeping and romantic fantasy’ that follows a teenage girl whose magical ability to find gold puts her in a dangerous position during the American Gold Rush.” (Click link for full article.)

So, yep. Another epic fantasy trilogy, except this one is set in one of the most epic moments in American history. I grew up in California’s Gold Country, and the place has always seemed magical to me, with its rolling hills and twisted oaks and rushing rivers. I can’t wait to get to know it even better.

The series is as-yet-untitled, though I’ve been referring to it as The Goldscryer Saga in my head. But it’s a long way off, and I have the Fire & Thorns series to finish, so I’m leaving the details for later. For now I’ll just say that, like the Fire and Thorns trilogy, these books will feature magic, romance, adventure, and a teen girl determined to find her own way.

I have a vague memory of sobbing incoherently to Agent Holly when she called me with the news, which may seem a little odd, because I’ve been through all this before, right? But for me there was something very special about Book Deal #2. It means that maybe, just maybe, I’ll have a career at this gig. Which is everything I wanted all along.

Also, I love my publisher. I’m so glad they are stuck with me for 3 more books!

Speaking of career, please excuse me while I run off to finish writing The Bitter Kingdom. Hope you’re all having an amazing summer.

1 2 3 4