HAPPY BOOK BIRTHDAY, SPARK!

It's release day for SPARK, a piece of magical realism about star-crossed lovers, righting history, and escaping your own perceived "flaws," perfect for those who are drawn to the theater:

ANNOUNCING THE TITLE AND RELEASE DATE FOR MY NEXT YA!

I'm thrilled to announce the title and release date for my next YA!

THEM'S FIGHTIN' WORDS

Before Christmas, my brother and I started brainstorming what our pro-fighter (boxing, wrestling, etc.) names would be. (This was one of those car-ride conversations...) I decided mine would be Lightning Bolt Larry. (Got a nice ring eh?)

...So my brother took it upon himself to make me a shirt bearing my fighting name. To wear, of course, when I need to attack some new writing job.

Right now, I'm attacking my editor's notes for my forthcoming YA. And man, do I mean attack. I've already slashed 30K words out of it. Ouch.

Back to work!

HAPPY RELEASE DAY, FERAL!

Jake and I are thrilled to wish FERAL (one of this week's PW Book Picks) a happy book birthday!

We also want to take the time to thank everyone celebrating with us: the blurbers and reviewers, the blog tour hosts, librarians, and booksellers who have shared their excitement and helped spread word of the book leading up to the release. 

Thank you!

To show my appreciation, I'm giving away a signed copy of FERAL.  The giveaway runs until September 2.  Good luck!



a Rafflecopter giveaway

SNEAK PEEK OF FERAL - RELEASING NEXT WEEK!

We're growing ever closer to the release of my next YA, FERAL.  In fact, the book releases a week from tomorrow!  To celebrate, here's the final sneak peek of the first chapter:


Be sure to pre-order your copy to make sure your copy arrives as soon as possible following the release.

FERAL - SNEAK PEEK!

I'm delighted to share a new sneak peek of my forthcoming FERAL:


Pre-order FERAL from your favorite outlet.

FERAL RECEIVES STARRED REVIEW IN PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

I've been tweeting about it all week: FERAL has received a STARRED REVIEW in PUBLISHERS WEEKLY!  I had to reprint the entire review here:

 "Opening with back-to-back scenes of exquisitely imagined yet very real horror, Schindler’s third YA novel hearkens to the uncompromising demands of her debut, A Blue So Dark, with its gut-wrenching portrait of mental illness. This time, the focus is on women’s voices and the consequences they suffer for speaking. Claire Cain was an award-winning high school journalist in Chicago when she was beaten nearly to death for a story. Serena Sims lost her life while pursuing a lead in the more confined purview of Peculiar, Mo. Their stories intersect when Claire’s father’s sabbatical lands her in Peculiar just in time to discover Serena’s body, surrounded by the eerie feral cats that infest the town. Schindler avoids cardboard character types—yes, there are jocks, princesses, and nerds, but the author reveals them as people squeezed into their labels, not defined by them. And while there are touches of romance, both good and bad, adolescent hormones don’t define the plot, either. This is a story about reclaiming and healing, a process that is scary, imperfect, and carries no guarantees. Ages 13–up. Agent: Deborah Warren, East West Literary Agency. (Aug.)"

FERAL BLOG REVIEW

This review for FERAL recently went live on Goodreads, and I had to repost.  I'm incredibly grateful I get to be an author during an era when I get to be a fly on the wall, listening to discussions of my work.  (And nothing is more satisfying, to an author, than reading intelligent, thoughtful reviews.)  One of the most important things I'm learning from blog reviews is who my readers are. (For my YA work, it's older teens and adults who enjoy the YA genre, as well as readers who tend to enjoy or gravitate toward character-driven books.)  Understanding both what works and who is at the other end of the "conversation" I'm having with each novel (that's what a book is, I think: a conversation between author and reader) continues to make me a better writer.  

From Jenuine Cupcakes:

This book is creepy.

You should read it.

With the lights on.

Holly Schindler warned me before I started reading FERAL that it wasn't like any of her other books and she was right. It's fast-paced, mind-twisty with engaging story-telling, compelling characters, and descriptions that draw you in and make you feel as if they are happening to you. *shudders*

Like any good mystery, each time I assumed I knew what was going to happen next, something else would happen to throw me off. And there were quite a few moments where I was on the edge of my seat wondering, "WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON?!"

Okay, so maybe hiding under the covers is more like it, but whatever. Don't judge.

The ending left me satisfied and the mystery itself was something that could have easily been pulled from today's headlines.

I generally shy away from books with a high creep factor, they tend to give me nightmares, but I'm glad I gave this one a chance! You should too.

FERAL: A READING + PRE-ORDER

In honor of Indies First Storytime Day, I'm posting a first-ever sneak peek reading of FERAL!  Watch the video below to hear the opening pages of my next YA (and first mystery / thriller):



Now that you've whet your appetites, be sure to pre-order FERAL, in order to ensure that your copy will arrive as soon as possible!  (In honor of the spirit of Indies First Storytime Day, I would of course encourage you to order through your own local indie bookstore, which can be located through IndieBound.)  To order from any major or indie retailer, or to locate your local indie stores through IndieBound, click here.

DEAR BLOGGERS - FERAL IS YOURS

Yesterday, I sent my notes on the first-pass pages for FERAL to my editor.  This was my last chance to make any changes to the manuscript. 

I have to admit, I had a funny feeling sending the book along yesterday.  You'll be hearing more about the journey FERAL took from first draft to publication in the next few months, but I initially drafted the book a decade ago, as an MG novel.  Claire, my protagonist, has gone through about a hundred name do-overs and personality revamps; she's changed more than any MC in any of my books, actually. 

Now, though, I have to let her go.  Claire's not mine anymore; she belongs to my readers and bloggers.  There's a slight sadness to letting a project go, but there's also a new excitement to it, too.  Claire's yours; I hope the journey you'll take with Claire as a reader will be every bit as fulfilling as mine was as a writer.

Can't wait to introduce you...

FERAL FIRST-PASS PAGES + UPDATED JACKET COPY

I'm now deep in the midst of reading the first-pass pages for FERAL, due out this August.  (Actually, it's first-pass for HarperCollins, but last-pass for me.  This is my last chance to rake my fine-toothed comb through the manuscript.  Copyedits are always such a nerve-wracking and exciting process...)

FERAL also has an updated jacket copy on Goodreads, which is slightly different than the jacket copy released during the FERAL reveal...Gotta say, I love the new copy:

The Lovely Bones meets Black Swan in this haunting psychological thriller with twists and turns that will make you question everything you think you know.

It’s too late for you. You’re dead. Those words continue to haunt Claire Cain months after she barely survived a brutal beating in Chicago. So when her father is offered a job in another state, Claire is hopeful that getting out will offer her a way to start anew.

But when she arrives in Peculiar, Missouri, Claire feels an overwhelming sense of danger, and her fears are confirmed when she discovers the body of a popular high school student in the icy woods behind the school, surrounded by the town’s feral cats. While everyone is quick to say it was an accident, Claire knows there’s more to it, and vows to learn the truth about what happened.

But the closer she gets to uncovering the mystery, the closer she also gets to realizing a frightening reality about herself and the damage she truly sustained in that Chicago alley….

Holly Schindler’s gripping story is filled with heart-stopping twists and turns that will keep readers guessing until the very last page.

COVER REVEAL - FERAL

My next YA, FERAL, releases with HarperCollins August 26, 14.  Though it'll be my third YA, it will also be my first thriller, first mystery, as both the cover and jacket copy reveal:

It’s too late for you. You’re dead.

Those words float through Claire Cain’s head as she lies broken and barely alive after a brutal beating. And the words continue to haunt her months later, in the relentless, terrifying nightmares that plague her sleep. So when her father is offered a teaching sabbatical in another state, Claire is hopeful that getting out of Chicago, away from the things that remind her of what she went through, will offer a way to start anew.

But when she arrives in Peculiar, Missouri, Claire quickly realizes something is wrong—the town is brimming with hidden dangers and overrun by feral cats. And her fears are confirmed when a popular high school girl, Serena Sims, is suddenly found dead in the icy woods behind the school. While everyone is quick to say Serena died in an accident, Claire knows there’s more to it—for she was the one who found Serena, battered and most certainly dead, surrounded by the town’s feral cats.

Now Claire vows to learn the truth about what happened, but the closer she gets to uncovering the mystery, the closer she also gets to discovering a frightening reality about herself and the damage she truly sustained in that Chicago alley. . . .

With an eerie setting and heart-stopping twists and turns, Holly Schindler weaves a gripping story that will make you question everything you think you know.

~

Be sure to pre-order FERAL or add it to your shelves on Goodreads. 

 

I can't WAIT for August to get here...

FERAL COVER REVEAL COMING FEBRUARY 13

Just a week after the release of my debut MG, THE JUNCTION OF SUNSHINE AND LUCKY, the cover for my next YA, FERAL, will go live.  I've got 118 bloggers participating in the reveal; the cover and the official jacket copy will be visible across the web this Thursday (and, of course, it'll also be found here, at Novel Anecdotes).

Until then, a teaser video:

CALLING ALL BLOGGERS - COVER REVEAL FOR MY THIRD YA, FERAL

My third YA, FERAL, is set to release this summer...and I'm calling on my fabulous bloggers to help spread the word!  I'm now organizing a cover reveal, which will take place on 2/13.

All you have to do to participate is fill out the form below.  I'll shoot you the image, to be posted on your blog on lucky 13!

If you have trouble with the form, contact me directly at writehollyschindler (at) yahoo (dot) com. 

REVISION HEAVEN

So I'm in the midst of working on rewrites for FERAL, my next YA (forthcoming from HarperCollins).  And all I can say is that I am in absolute heaven (revisions are my absolute favorite part of the process). 

I also figure that being up to my eyebrows in revisions means I'm going to need plenty of Springfield-Style Cashew Chicken (such good writing fuel...it's right up there with coffee).  If you're not familiar with Springfield-Style, it's one of our claims to fame here in the Queen City.  It's even got its own Wikipedia Entry!

Photo taken from Lucy's website...It's probably still my fave place to get the dish here in town.

 

And I'm back to work (I say with complete and utter joy)...

I'VE SOLD MY THIRD YA NOVEL!

There just aren't enough exclamation points in the world for this one: my next YA novel is on the way!




That's FERAL, forthcoming from HarperCollins...Commence screaming with excitement...