DIE FOR ME is out in Turkish! And Google Translate tells me that the title reads as “DIE FOR ME”, so no fancy variations in this version. You can check out its page in Turkish here.
Turkey is really high on my list of places I want to go. I think a signing would be a REALLY good idea. Maybe for Book 3 since Constantinople/Istanbul appears in one of the revenants’ back-stories. (Ooh – did I just give you a teaser for BOOK 3? I think I did!)
And just for your viewing pleasure, check out this paragraph:
Amy Plum, paranormal üçlemesinin ilk kitabı olan Benim İçin Öl’de (Die For Me), Amerika’da anne babasını trafik kazasında kaybedince, ablasıyla dedelerinin yanına taşınmak zorunda kalan Kate ile onun saf güzelliğine tüm benliğini kaptıran yakışıklı Fransız genci Vincent’ın ruhlara işleyen aşklarını anlatıyor.
I can’t even tell you how crazy it is to see my name in a paragraph with all of those Turkish words. *pinches self* I actually read it out loud, just for fun. I’m very glad no Turkish people were around to hear.
Thank you Lauren Abramo (my super-duper foreign rights agent) and Arkadas Publishers for bringing Kate and Vincent to Turkey!
Claire Merle, author of THE GLIMPSE, Faber June 2012
I can’t even say how excited I am to introduce you to a debut YA author who I’ve become friends with.
I met Claire Merle at the Paris SCBWI conference last December, and we clicked right away. I was so happy to meet a Paris-based author because most of my other writer friends are a whole ocean, or at least an English channel, away. Plus, we have in common the fact that we’re both married to a French guy and are raising two young kids in the French system. PLUS, she too is a Young Adult writer AND is really really nice. I felt like I had hit the author-friend jackpot.
When she told me about her book THE GLIMPSE, which will be published in the U.K. by Faber & Faber in June 2012 (and she’s waiting to hear about publication elsewhere), I thought, Wait until my readers hear about this!
Here’s the synopsis:
In a near future, society is segregated according to whether people are genetically disposed to mental illness. 17-year-old Ana has been living the privileged life of a Pure due to an error in her DNA test. When the authorities find out, she faces banishment from her safe Community, a fate only thwarted by the fact that she has already been promised to Pure-boy Jasper Taurell.
Jasper is from a rich and influential family and despite Ana’s condition, wants to be with her. The authorities grant Ana a tentative reprieve. If she is joined to Jasper before her 18th birthday, she may stay in the Community until her illness manifests. But if Jasper changes his mind, she will be cast out among the Crazies. As Ana’s joining ceremony and her birthday loom closer, she dares to hope she will be saved from the horror of the City and live a ‘normal’ life. But then Jasper disappears.
Sounds fabulous, right? And then, just a few days ago, Claire told me about the most awesome contest that she is holding for U.K. teens. And I thought I could call on you, my readers, to spread the word about Claire’s event—whether you’re in the U.K., the U.S., the Philippines, or anywhere else in the world…my THE GLIMPSE contest is international.
So on this CONTEST MONDAY, I’m giving away something really special. A collector’s item. A signed copy of DIE FOR ME’s original American ARC – the one with the Kate-in-a-Boat cover!
This is a points-based contest, and the number of points you earn is the number of times your name goes into the virtual hat of Randomizer.org to win the prize.
1 point: Tweet the following “CONTEST!! Plus meet @ClaireMerle, author of upcoming YA THE GLIMPSE & find out about her book trailer auditions here: http://bit.ly/wxTQLc”
1 point: (freebie) leave me a comment on this blog just saying “hi” if you only want 1 point, or giving me the links and/or info about the other points I should give you.
That is 8 points you can earn in all. The contest is open internationally and will end in exactly 48 hours (Wednesday at 11am Paris time).
SO…what is Claire’s amazing idea? Her publisher, Faber & Faber is holding auditions for the lead role in her book trailer. U.K. citizens between ages 13-18 have until February 20 to send their audition video. You can find the audition script and instructions here.
And for your viewing pleasure, here is the contest video!
Good luck to everyone with my THE GLIMPSE contest, and I can’t wait to see who will be chosen as the actress for Claire’s trailers!
I am thrilled to announce that Polish rights for the DIE FOR ME trilogy have been sold to Weltbild! Yet another language for me to learn to say “Thank you” in.
Only five months to go until Un-DIE is released! And a very few Advance Reader Copies (ARCs) have begun to be sent out to sales reps and book reviewers in the United States. However, it was discovered after-the-fact that a 1 1/2 page section was accidentally dropped in the printing process.
Of course the problem will be fixed by the time the actual book is published in May. But in the meantime I got special permission from HarperCollins to reveal the dropped text here on my blog. And to celebrate the fact that I am actually allowed to share a sizable section of text, I made a video of me reading it which you can see just below the passage.
And here is your sneak peek at (what starts as) an everyday scene with Kate and Vincent. For those who have an ARC, this begins at the beginning of Chapter 6.
***
Before meeting Vincent, my days all seemed to speed by like one of those passage-of-time visual metaphors in movies that show pages falling off a calendar. But lately, every day seemed significant: The first time Vincent met my grandparents. The first movie date (Holy Grail, where Vincent earned major points by quoting the best bits in English right along with me). Our first New Year’s together.
Today was my last day of freedom before school resumed post-holidays, marking exactly one year and one semester to go before my high school education was officially over. Which made it another significant day. So of course I planned on spending it doing the thing I loved most.
I flitted down our building’s creaky wooden staircase with a feeling of elation buoying my footsteps. The whole day stretched out in front of me like a new country to explore. With my favorite person.
I caught sight of him as soon as I stepped out the door. Shaking my head in disbelief, I jogged to the park across the street and pushed through the metal gate.
“What are you doing? I thought we were going out for breakfast,” I laughed, pointing at the picnic blanket he was lying on, with wicker basket and thermos by his side.
“You can’t get much more ‘out’ than this,” Vincent responded, his eyes hidden by mirrored sunglasses.
His languid smile did its regular job on me: It was as if an invisible hand took my insides and squeezed. Hard. It happened every time. And it made me wish that I could freeze-frame the moment and stand there feeling that delicious, squeezy feeling for the rest of my life.
Inhale and then exhale, I reminded myself. I tore my gaze away from his face and noticed that he was cocooned in a warm coat, wool scarf, and knitted cap, with his dark hair waving out from underneath. He lay back on his elbows, propped on the blanket that was spread across the frozen grass.
“Let me get this right. We’re having a picnic in January in the freezing cold?” My breath came out in a warm puff of mist as I stood above him, hands on my hips.
He pulled off his glasses, and the amusement in his eyes warmed me more efficiently than a bonfire. “I thought we could have a day of doing things we’ve never done before. I’ve never had a picnic in January. Have you?”
I shook my head and, bemused, sank down onto the blanket next to him.
“Perfect,” he concluded. “Since it has to be something that neither of us has ever done, this totally counts.”
I glanced at the people walking by: mainly businesspeople carrying briefcases and backpack-wearing tourists out for an early start. They all stared at us as if the park was a circus and we were its freak-show headliners, and a few laughed out loud. Vincent said, “I hope you don’t mind spectators,” and then leaned forward and took my face in his hands, kissing me.
“I think I can deal.” I grinned, and then shivered as he let me go.
I did a cover reveal of Loewe’s German cover of DIE FOR ME a couple of weeks ago on FB and Twitter. Here is it in all of its Art Nouveau glory:
I mean gorgeous, right? For me, it is swoonworthy. I am totally in love. So imagine my surprise when someone sent me the cover of Loewe’s 2012 catalog today. Wanna see?
Hmm…looks kinda familiar, non?
And then you open the catalog and right after the editorial there is a 6-page spread on DIE FOR ME! It just so happens to be THE FEATURED BOOK in their 2012 catalog! !!! !!!!!! (If those aren’t enough exclamation points to fully convey my feelings, then you might just want to stick your head out the window. That distant squeeing you hear? It’s coming from my little corner of France.)
Here’s the spread:
And, as if that’s not enough excitement for one day, there is a FREAKING MINI-BOOK that they’re going to be giving out in stores! You can see it in all of its gorgeousness here.
