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:

OFFICIAL JACKET COPY: PLAYING HURT

Now that PLAYING HURT has officially gone to the printer's, I wanted to share another official: jacket copy!

Here she is:

Star basketball player Chelsea “Nitro” Keyes had the promise of a full ride to college—and everyone’s admiration in her hometown. But everything changed senior year, when she took a horrible fall during a game. Now a metal plate holds her together and she feels like a stranger in her own family.

As a graduation present, Chelsea’s dad springs for a three-week summer “boot camp” program at a northern Minnesota lake resort. There, she’s immediately drawn to her trainer, Clint, a nineteen-year-old ex-hockey player who’s haunted by his own traumatic past. As they grow close, Chelsea is torn between her feelings for Clint and her loyalty to her devoted boyfriend back home. Will an unexpected romance just end up causing Chelsea and Clint more pain—or finally heal their heartbreak?

JACKET COPY FOR A BLUE SO DARK

What started out as a few lines of illegible handwriting on some scratch paper is now a novel nearing the end of development. Yup, that’s right, A BLUE SO DARK is in the last stages of proofing and is soon to head to the printer!


…The novel also has its own jacket copy—“jacket” being used figuratively, since the book’s coming out as a paperback. Here’s the official description:

Fifteen-year-old Aura Ambrose has been hiding a secret. Her mother, a talented artist and art teacher, is slowly being consumed by schizophrenia, and Aura has been her sole caretaker ever since Aura’s dad left them. Convinced that “creative” equals crazy, Aura shuns her own artistic talent. But as her mother sinks deeper into the darkness of mental illness, the hunger for a creative outlet draws Aura toward the depths of her imagination. Just as desperation threatens to swallow her whole, Aura discovers that art, love, and family are profoundly linked—and together may offer an escape from her fears.