Happy US Book Birthday to THE FEARLESS! + Giveaway

Today, THE FEARLESS is published in the US by Delacorte Press in a beautiful hardcover. I couldn't be more thrilled with how it looks, and I really hope that US readers love it as much as I do.

There's already been some great reviews coming in. The School Library Journal called it 'A fast and fun read… Action packed' and Publisher's Weekly said 'Pass (ACID) creates a vivid post-apocalyptic world, subverting several familiar zombie tropes.'

Also, I'm going to be taking part in a fantastic blog tour, arranged by my fab publicist at Random House. There's interviews, guest posts and giveaways galore, and it starts on Monday 20th May. Here's the full lineup:

All this is worth celebrating, methinks. So I'm giving away 5 signed copies of the book right here on the blog - all you have to do is enter via the Rafflecopter giveaway below!

Please note - the giveaway is US-only and ends on Tuesday 12th May at 12am Eastern Time.

Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Giveaway Winners!

I have consulted random.org and it tells me the winners of the signed copies of THE FEARLESS are…

@_Sandra_R_ and Laura Mary! Hooray!

Congratulations to both of you. Please email me at emmapassauthor@emmapass.com so I can arrange to send them to you.

Signed prettiness!

The #FearlessHalloweenGiveaway is now closed!

Thanks to everyone who entered. I'll be announcing the winners on Monday, so watch this space.

In the meantime, dear blog readers, please could you send some good thoughts to G-Dog? He's pulled a muscle in his back and is feeling a little sorry for himself. He's a lot more mobile today, though, so hopefully it won't be long before he's back to his usual silly self!

Also biscuits. Biscuits would be good.

The Blog Lives! And a FEARLESS Giveaway

Hello!

A while ago, I announced I was moving this blog to Tumblr. I really like the format and the immediacy of that platform, but having dipped my toe in the water, so to speak… I've realised it's not for me. I don't have time to keep up with it – like Twitter and Facebook, you have to post and interact there regularly for it to be worthwhile. So I've decided that, just in time for Halloween, I'm bringing this blog back from the dead! [insert spooky ghost noises here] And I've given it a bit of a facelift, too - what do you think?

What have I been up to while this blog has been in stasis? Well, several exciting things have happened. I'm still sworn to secrecy about two of those things, but I'll share when I can. What I can tell you is that THE FEARLESS has been nominated for the 2015 CILIP Carnegie Medal - my second nomination in two years. To say I'm thrilled is an understatement.

I'm also working on some new book ideas, but again, they're top secret at the moment. I'm fairly superstitious about my new ideas, and always think if I talk about them too much it will jinx them, so I'm keeping quiet for now. Sorry!

In between writing and the day job, I've been doing plenty of workshops and events - this week, I ran a teen writing workshop at Wirksworth Library, and also took part in a panel discussion and author Q&A at Lincoln High Street Waterstones with Kerry Drewery and Zoe Marriott. Despite suffering from a horrible cold, I had the BEST time. Fellow authors Kendra Leighton and Rebecca Mascull came along to cheer us on and it was so lovely to meet and chat to everyone. One girl told me that THE FEARLESS made her cry all the way through, and another that ACID is the book that's made her want to write dystopian. Sometimes, when I'm struggling through my first (or second, or third, or tenth…) draft, wondering if anyone will ever want to read the words I'm trying to get onto the page, writing can feel like a lonely and frustrating business. To hear such passionate responses from readers really makes me feel like it's all worth it!

A big thank you to Giles, Kirsty and all the staff at Waterstones Lincoln for looking after us so well. BTW, they have limited amounts of signed stock AND swag from all three of us, so if you're in the area, hurry down and grab some before it sells out!

Finally, to celebrate the blog revival and Halloween, I'm giving away two signed copies of THE FEARLESS. It's dark and gruesome and simply perfect for this time of year, so if you want to win a copy, leave me a comment below and/or follow me on Twitter and tweet about this post with the hashtag #FearlessHalloweenGiveaway. The giveaway is international and entries close on Friday 14th November.

Happy Halloween!

Guest Post and AWESOME giveaway - the INSOMNIA Pre-Order Blog Hop with Jenn Johansson!

Today, I'm welcoming fellow Lucky 13 Jenn Johansson onto the blog! Jenn's debut YA thriller, INSOMNIA, is out on 10th June from Flux, and is also being published in Italy (Newton Compton) and Germany (Heyne Fliegt). Read on to find out more about INSOMNIA and which part of it Jenn enjoyed writing the most, plus you can enter an epic pre-order giveaway!

Her eyes saved his life. Her dreams released his darkness. 

After four years of sleeplessness, high school junior Parker Chipp can’t take much more. Every night, instead of sleeping, he enters the dreams of the last person he’s made eye contact with. If he doesn’t sleep soon, Parker will die.

Then he meets Mia. Her dreams, calm and beautifully uncomplicated, allow him blissful rest that’s utterly addictive. But what starts out as a chance meeting turns into an obsession; Parker’s furious desire for what he needs pushes him to extremes he never thought he’d go. And when someone begins terrorizing Mia with twisted death threats, Parker’s memory blackouts leave him doubting his own innocence.

My favorite part of writing Insomnia

 There are so many things that I love about writing, but one is a more recent discovery. My first book wasn’t a thriller. I thought I wanted to write paranormal or contemporary, something a little more mainstream. I fought the surge of excitement I felt every time things got scary or intense. I tried to love writing the kissy scenes, I really did—but it’s just not in me. I love me some creepiness. I love the cathartic release after a scary book has tied me in knots and it finally lets go. And I love writing intense scenes. Everything a reader feels when reading a particularly tension filled scene, I feel while writing it. My pulse pounds and my head spins. My fingers ache from being held too tightly around a pen or over the keys. There have even been times when I’ve freaked myself out so badly over a particularly suspenseful scene that I had to walk away before it became too much. It’s incredible. It’s exhilarating. It’s a true rush.

Insomnia helped me learn to embrace the rush. 

J.R. JOHANSSON is a young adult thriller author published with Flux & FSG/Macmillan. She has a B.S. degree in public relations and a background in marketing. She credits her abnormal psychology minor with inspiring many of her characters. When she's not writing, she loves reading, playing board games, and sitting in her hot tub. Her dream is that someday she can do all three at the same time. She has two young sons and a wonderful husband. In fact, other than her cat, Cleo, she's nearly drowning in testosterone. Find her on Twitter, her blog, website, Tumblr, Facebook and on Goodreads. 




Thanks for such a great post, Jenn! And now, drum roll please…

Preorder INSOMNIA from any of these retailers:

Book Depository

Indiebound

Books A Million

Barnes & Noble

Amazon

Why? Because if you do, you could WIN a NookHD 16GB with a blue case! Enter the INSOMNIA Pre-Order Rafflecopter giveaway here:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Want To Win A Signed Copy of ACID?

Well, you can! I'm giving one away as part of the Mega Author Allsorts giveaway, where one lucky person could win 20 books in total, including other exclusive signed copies and proofs. And I'm giving away another copy over at Daydreaming Bookworm, where I also talk about the world of ACID and what helped and inspired me to create it.

Both giveaways are international, so if you live in the US and can't bear the thought of waiting until next year for ACID, you could be in with the chance of getting an early read!

Good luck!

Reviews, News and Twitter Trends!

2 weeks and 4 days to go! Yes, I am starting to freak out slightly at the thought of my book being out in the world… so it's been reassuring to see some great reviews for ACID starting to come in.

Eventide Reads said: This is one brilliant action adventure story. Perfect for fans of fast paced action and for those who love some Dystopian… If you liked books such like City of Bones, Throne of Glass or Divergent/Insurgent, I suggest you check this book out when it comes. It's not to be missed!

Daydreaming Bookworm said:

With a bad ass heroine like Lara Croft and a fast paced plot like Anthony Horowitz's Alex Rider series, ACID is one debut that you definitely must keep an eye on when it comes out!

And over on Goodreads, Kirsty at The Overflowing Library said: A fab story, a kick-ass heroine and nail biting read set in an all too realistic world which will keep you on the edge of your seat from the first to the last page.

Woo-hoo!

In other news, my new group blog, Author Allsorts, has officially launched - hooray! Head on over there to see the full list of Allsorts on our Authors and Illustrators page. We're also running a MEGA book giveaway, with a prize pack of 20 books to go to one lucky winner, including a signed copy of ACID. The giveaway is international and runs until the end of April, so if you haven't already, head on over there now to enter!

Books I'm excited about at the moment: Fletcher Moss's THE POISON BOY, which released last week, and Kit Grindstaff's THE FLAME IN THE MIST, which is out on Tuesday. Can't wait to read these - they both sound SO good!

Other stuff I'm excited about at the moment: there's going to be ACID postcards in cinemas! I'm not sure which cinemas, but if you see Jenna when you're out and about, please tweet me a photo (@EmmaPass)!

And finally… The Lucky 13s took part in a Book Blitz on Twitter yesterday, where people tweeted page numbers at us and we tweeted lines from our books back. If you want to see all the awesome, look for the hashtag #bookblitz. At one point, we were the top Twitter trend in the US!

Probably the only time I will trend in anything, ever.

Happy weekend, everyone!

Author Allsorts The Third - And An AMAZING Giveaway!

Hop on over to Author Allsorts to meet the last batch of authors - including me! We’re a group of UK-based picture book, children’s and YA authors and illustrators who’ve got together to blog about what we do and why we do it, and launched on Monday. You could also win 20 – yes, 20 – books in our mega launch week book giveaway! It's open internationally and the prize pack, which will go to one lucky winner, includes exclusive signed proofs and books from some of the Allsorts themselves, including a copy of ACID!

The survey and giveaway are now closed!

Thank you so much to everyone who entered. I've had over 80 people fill in the survey, which is incredible! So now I need to go away and do maths. Yikes. Expect possibly inaccurate results, plus the winners of the giveaway, here on Wednesday!

In the meantime, here are some cupcakes, because you are all awesome.