Happy Birthday Wolfsbane CONTEST!

I'm in the middle of an insane day, but I wanted to stop by and tell you all to go wish my fab critique partner, Andrea Cremer, a HAPPY BOOK BIRTHDAY! It's been over a year since I read Wolfsbane, and I'm still thinking about it! You NEED this book!

So, to help you out, I'm giving a copy away here on the blog! (You know I'd do anything for you guys, right? :p) Enter below by this Friday, July 29th (noon PST) to win a copy of Wolfsbane and a signed Original Sin! You know you want it! ;p

To enter, leave a comment below before noon Friday (PST). You must be at least 13 to enter. Open internationally. Also, don't forget to leave a way to find you in case you WIN!! One extra entry for Tweeting or Facebooking this contest. =)

Contest Central!

I feel like Contest Central lately. I love doing contests and sharing books I really love with all of you! I promised an EPIC Twitter contest when I hit 1313 followers there (@LisaDez), because Luc likes that number. I passed 1313 this weekend, so I'm plotting away. The contest will start later today and THERE WILL BE EPIC PRIZES!

I have two other contests going on RIGHT NOW here on the blog!

The first is my October Debut Contest. Enter to win a finished copy of Nightshade by my fab critique partner, Andrea Cremer AND a signed copy of Personal Demons by moi =)

 

The second is my Smart Chicks Contest for a signed copy of Melissa de la Cruz's Keys to the Repository AND a signed copy of Personal Demons, still by moi :p

 

But wait! There's more! Because I'm currently at 649 followers here on the blog. When I get to 666, also a number Luc likes, there will be another contest for EPIC prizes!!! So spread the word!



And also, check out The Bookish Type for an EPIC fall release blog event Fall Into Fantasy, featuring a month of posts and give-aways from Andrea Cremer (Nightshade), Kiersten White (Paranormalcy), Sophie Jordan (Firelight), Brenna Yovanoff (The Replacement) and yours truly. Wow!

October Debut Contest and Happy Birthday to PD Down Under!!!

Hey!! For those of you in southern California, I'm going to be hanging at the Orange County Children's Book Festival this Sunday from 1-4pm. I'll be on the YA stage from 2:15-2:30 and signing Personal Demons in the Author's Corner booth before and after! It's free and sure to be a blast! Lauren Kate, Becca Fitzpatrick and Maria V. Snyder (who I'm very excited to meet) will be there on the Stage too, so don't miss it! Also, the awesome Maria, who blurbed Personal Demons, is giving away a signed copy on her blog! Comment by Oct. 4 for a great chance to win!

So, it's October first!!! Time for another Debut Contest.

But...before I get to that, I need to throw this:

And set off some of these:

Because it's release day for Personal Demons in Australia!!! Just put a copy of Personal Demons right there in the little guys hands...I mean paws...or, whatever they are.

So, I'm celebrating the release of PD down under in the only way I know how. I'm giving away books!!!

Last month was a big one here. Not only did Personal Demons release, but so did The Duff by one of my bestest writing buddies, Kody Keplinger.

This is another big month, because my awesome critique partner, Andrea Cremer's book Nightshade releases in October. So, once again, I’m doing something a little different. Instead of getting a choice of Personal Demons or another October YA debut, October's Debut Contest winner will get BOTH books. It seems apropriate that they go together since our names are in each other's books. =)

 

Other than that, the rules are the same as all year. All you have to do to enter is comment on this post by noon (PST) on Friday, October 29th. Nothing fancy, you can just say hi or ask a question. (I love to answer questions, especially about my books!) In addition to commenting (for which you get one point) you can accumulate extra points as follows:

Old blog follower: +3 points

New blog follower: +2 points
Follow me on Twitter (@LisaDez) +2 points
Link to my contest post on your blog or twitter: +1 point
Dedicated post with link to my contest on your website/blog: +3 points
Add me to your blogroll: +2 points

Add up your points on your entry, and please remember to tell me how to find you (email address). And remember, there will be no rollover points. Points start new every month.

The winner will be chosen by the randomizer and posted on the blog after noon on October 29th.

Good luck!!!

Sweating It Out

I have to say, publishing is turning out to be the most severe roller coaster ride I’ve ever been on, with many more ups and downs then I ever could have imagined. Things that never would have even occurred to me end up turning me inside out. Like the thought of my very favorite author reading my book. There’s something a little nerve-wracking about that. And, honestly, it just never occurred to me that might happen.

But…my editor sent copies of Personal Demons off to some fabulous authors, one of which was my all time favorite author, Melissa Marr. Because all of these authors are so…well…fabulous, I’d convinced myself that they’d all hate my book. So when Melissa Marr, who is a major influence on my writing, recommended Personal Demons on her blog, I almost fell out of my chair.

Since then, we’ve gotten quotes from other fabulous authors, including this:

“Personal Demons is as scary—and sexy—a book as I’ve read in a long time.”—Claudia Gray, New York Times bestselling author of Hourglass



And this:

"Fun and entertaining...the fight for Frannie's soul isn't going to be easy, and the excitement doesn't stop. Good versus evil shouldn't be this much fun, but it is! A hot YA debut novel."—Maria V. Snyder, New York Times bestselling author of Fire Study

But my first blurb came from the amazing Andrea Cremer, whose Nightshade is destined for the NYT bestseller list. Most of you don't know her writing yet, but you will. Here's what she said:

"Lisa Desrochers' debut is fantastic, full of shivers, surprises, and sultry romance. You'll be laughing one moment and shrieking the next - such a great read!"--Andrea Cremer, Future New York Times bestselling author of Nightshade

(I added that last part :p)

So, I’m starting to breathe a little easer. Maybe my book doesn’t suck after all. Maybe it’s sort of okay. Or maybe even good. =)

Hope you all think so when you get to read it. :p

February Debut Winner!!!

Here it is! The moment you’ve all been waiting for!

But first, I got to hang out last night with those Beautiful Creatures, Kami Garcia and Margie Stohl. They are ROFL hysterical, so if you get a chance to see them, don't miss it. And I also met the FABULOUS Heidi R. Kling, who's Sea will most definitely be on my June debut list.

Ooo! And in other exciting news, my super-stupendous crit partner, Andrea Cremer, just got her Nightshade ARCs today, and she's sending one my way! Squee!!

Do you see what I'm doing here? Making you wait for it to build the suspense? Is it working?

Okay, so here we go...

*clicks randomizer*

We had 168 points accumulated by 42 entrants and the winner of my February Debut Contest, as chosen by the randomizer is:

Lisa and Laura!!!!

YAY!!! Congratulations!

*Throws virtual confetti* (cuz I don't want to clean the real stuff up)

Lisa and Laura have won the fabulous prize behind door number one! Which, actually, is their choice of one of the following:

A signed ARC or copy of PERSONAL DEMONS by moi (that’s me, in case you don’t speak French)
The Naughty List by Suzanne Young
The Dark Days of Hamburger Halpin by Josh Berk
Dirty Little Secrets by Cynthia Jaynes Omololu
A Match Made in High School by Kristin Walker

I’d love to see them thumb-wrestle over which one to pick. :p

Congrats you guys!!!

My March contest starts Monday. Here’s a sneak peek at my March debut picks:
Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver
The Body Finder by Kimberly Derting
Forget Her Nots by Amy Brecount White
The Line by Teri Hall

Check back in on Monday to enter! Good luck!

OMG! I won!!!!

I’ve waited for this moment all my life! I’d like to thank my director and my producer for all their dedication and hard w…what?

Not an Academy Award…?

*\0/* I’m so embarrassed.

So it’s a…?


Honest Scrap award? What’s an honest scrap? Are there dishonest scraps?

So, I’m supposed to…what?

Tell stuff about me? And it needs to be the truth? Are you kidding me?

All right. Starting over. *clears throat*

I’d like to thank my crit partner, Andrea Cremer (whose racking up foreign sales for her awesome book, Nightshade that will be out October 14th) for bestowing this prestigious award upon my humble self. Interestingly enough, it came in a roundabout way from my agent sister Sarah With a Chance, so I can’t pass it back to her. (though I might anyway)

The deal is that I’m supposed to tell you ten things about me and pass this award on to ten others, but since Andrea parted with protocol and only did five, I’m thinking two and a half would be good. Or maybe five half-truths, which I can probably handle.

Okay…so five mostly honest things about me.

1. I only watch sports on TV except *swallows hard* American Idol. I’m addicted even when everybody sucks. It’s like watching a slow motion train wreck.
2. I HATE to fail at anything, but if no one knows I never have to fess up, so not even my husband knew I was writing until I signed with my agent.
3. I’m not a doctor, but I play one on TV…oh, wait…no. I am a doctor. But I’ll have to kill you if you call me that.
4. I could live forever on nothing but skittles and Dr. Pepper.
5. I won’t swim in my pool at night without the lights on because I’m terrified of sharks. (There could be one in there, you know.)

It is now my very great honor to pass this award along to some awesome author bloggers:

Victoria Schwab
Paul Greci
Kristin Miller
Nikki Loftin
Debra Schubert

Sing something for me

I wanted to start my first post of my brand new blog off on a wicked (I can say that—I’m originally from Boston) positive note by sending a HUGE and ENTHUSIASTIC shout out to my crit partner, Andrea Cremer, who just signed a two book deal with Penguin! Woot! Look for her amazing Nightshade in late 2010! She was the first of us to prove my New Year’s Revelation wrong.

My news is also wicked positive. I’ve officially been writing for one year (so sing something for me) and am loving life. The truth is, the books just sort of write themselves. The only effort on my part is taking dictation and trying to keep up with the voices in my head. I went to the SF Writers Conference and the Big Sur Writers Workshop and got really fabulous feedback at both, so that was fun.

On sort of a whim I entered the SF Writers Conference contest with my first manuscript, Dusty Lane, and my submission finalled. (And shocked the hell out of me!) So, for kicks and giggles, I entered my new manuscript, Personal Demons, in a few contests this summer. I just heard from the first of those that I finalled there too. I’m starting to think maybe I don’t suck at this. So it’s pretty much been: writing, writing, writing—submitting, submitting, submitting—waiting, waiting, waiting. But it’s all good. Response has been very positive and I have several manuscripts (both Dusty Lane and Personal Demons) out with major (and majorly awesome) agents. So, while you’re singing for me, cross something too!

So a question for you… (yes you…the only one besides me reading this)

I can pick at a manuscript forever. When do you decide to quit? I’ve read agent blogs that say “when it’s perfect” but in my world, perfect doesn’t exist. I can edit out all the typos, grammatical errors, etc, but that doesn’t stop my characters from coming up with some new, really witty line that I have to add, or some really cool new scene from popping into my head in the middle of the night. When do you stop?