Posts Tagged: afterlife

AFTERLIFE tour dates reminder, and Lucas doll winner!

Posted on March 6, 2011 | 3 comments

We have our fourth and final winner of the EVERNIGHT doll — a miniature Lucas is now the property of Jensine S.! Congrats to Jensine, who had a very eloquent entry about why Lucas should be hers, though tons of you had great reasons. Some of those included:

1) He would be a source of inspiration to never give up.

2) He would be well taken care of, as indeed he sorely needs just after HOURGLASS.

3) He would serve as protector against any possible incursion by hostile vampires.

4) He’s hot.

5) He would fuel rich fantasy lives. (Is that the same as the above entry?)

6) He would make any room more splendid. (A Lucas goes with everything.)

What would he make of all this? I think it’s time for a Lucas interview!

From Destiny S.: “Lucas, if given the choice again, would you become a vampire by choice rather than lose Bianca to the wraiths?”
Lucas: “If that was the only way — yeah. But I think I’d make her swear to stake me before I woke up.”

From Ellen C.: “Lucas, exactly what went through your head the night you saw Bianca drinking Erich’s blood on the roof of Evernight?”
Lucas: “I nearly lost it. I mean, I was already so crazy about her — Bianca was the most amazing girl I’d ever known. Ever. And the thing was … I felt like I was living a normal life for the first time. Like I was getting to just be a guy and be with a girl and actually get to act on how I felt instead of being a fighter every second. So when I realized she didn’t have anything to do with “normal” — I don’t know. At first I felt really betrayed. But I also knew right away that she wasn’t just a monster. I knew some of what Black Cross had always told me was a lie, but I didn’t how much or what it meant. So I didn’t know where the hell my head was for a while. I got over the betrayal first; it’s not like I wasn’t keeping my own secret, you know? Beyond that, all I knew was that I had to get back to Bianca again.”

From Camille: “What’s the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear Bianca’s name?”
Lucas: “Her smile.”

From Kirsten B.: “I would ask whether he truly thought that his situation living freely with Bianca in Hourglass would last, or if he had any idea of what was to come.”
Lucas: “We were making it up as we went along — I knew that from the get-go. But I truly thought I could take better care of her than that. It all just got so damned complicated so fast.”

From Anne H.: “What is so horrible about becoming a vampire?”
Lucas: “First off, you’re dead. Second, you want to drink blood. I’ve tried drinking blood. Remember? It’s disgusting. Third — and this is the main part — I’ve seen a lot of vampires who know how to handle what they are. I’ve learned that’s possible, now. But I’ve seen plenty of vampires who don’t. They become monsters like Charity. They take pleasure in being cruel. They kill. I’d rather be dead than turn into that.”

From Eniyah W.: “Lucas, at what exact moment did you finally decide that you were so deeply in love with Bianca?”
Lucas: “I don’t know if it comes down to ‘deciding,’ but I realized it on Christmas Day that year. Black Cross doesn’t exactly make a big deal out of the holidays. I was imagining how different things would be if I were with her, how it would finally feel like the kind of Christmas I’ve seen in movies, and I just didn’t give a damn whether she was a vampire or not. And I knew that could only be love.”

From Aurora M.: “Lucas, is it better to follow your heart or your head?”
Lucas: “Follow your heart, but use your head along the way.”

From Jackie M.: “After all the pain & suffering, has it been worth to be with Bianca?”
Lucas: “Absolutely. I’d do it all again. I’d just plan further ahead next time.”

**

I hope to get all the dolls in the mail to you guys tomorrow morning (I just got them from the designer last night), but it might be when I return — the tour is coming up fast, and there’s still much to do! AFTERLIFE is coming out Tuesday! Want to know if I’m coming to your area? Check out the dates below!

Tuesday, March 8
Phoenix, AZ
7:00 PM
Reading/Q&A/Signing
Changing Hands
6428 S McClintock Drive
Tempe, AZ 85283

Wednesday, March 9
San Diego, CA
7:00 PM
Reading/Q&A/Signing
Mysterious Galaxy
7051 Clairemont Mesa Boulevard
San Diego, CA 92111-1040

Thursday, March 10
Dallas, TX
6:00 PM
Reading/Q&A/Signing
Barnes & Noble
Stonebriar Center Mall
Frisco, TX 75034

Friday, March 11
Charlotte, NC
4:30 PM
Reading/Q&A/Signing
Park Road Books
4139 Park Road
Charlotte, NC

Thursday, March 17
Minneapolis, MN
7:00 PM
Reading/Q&A/Signing
Dark Days of Winter event w/ Kimberly Derting and Courtney Allison Moulton
2100 North Snelling Avenue
Roseville, MN

Friday, March 18
Chicago, IL
7:00 PM
Reading/Q&A/Signing
Dark Days of Winter event w/ Ellen Schreiber, Kimberly Derting and Courtney Allison Moulton
123 West Jefferson Ave
Naperville, IL

Saturday March 19
Miami, FL
7:00 PM
Reading/Q&A/Signing
Dark Days of Winter event w/ Kimberly Derting and Courtney Allison Moulton
265 Aragon Ave
Coral Gables, FL

I can’t wait to meet you guys there and to hear what you think of AFTERLIFE!

It’s a Sunday, and you may have noticed — I’ve not posted about The Artist’s Way. Though I continue leading the group, I wasn’t getting much FB from you guys. Is this of interest to any of you? Even a couple of yeses will get me posting again; just let me know.

Now, in a great hurry, I shall pack.

EVERNIGHT doll contest #4, plus Bianca interview

Posted on February 27, 2011 | 2 comments

First of all, congrats to our next winner — Sarah C., who will be taking home the Bianca doll! She has three nifty outfits: Evernight Academy uniform, formal dress and wraithly jammies (complete with coral bracelet, which is pretty important.) (The doll has these, I mean; I cannot speak to the number of outfits Sarah C. has, nor whether her jammies are of a wraithly nature or not.)

This means we have a few interview Qs for Bianca:

From Rachelle: “Does being in that same outfit (the pjs) make you crazy? Personally if it was me I’d be extremely upset that everyone would see me in my embarassing pjs every time they look at me.”
Bianca: “Well, it gets kind of old. When I turn myself corporeal, I can put on other clothes, but they just fall to the ground when I disappear, and then, boom, pajamas again. It could be worse. At least the pajamas are comfortable. What if I had to wear a strapless bra for eternity? That would suck.”

From Wendy: “Bianca, when you first came to Evernight, did you ever picture yourself where you are now? Why or why not?”
Bianca: “Never ever ever ever ever. That’s true in some bad ways — I never imagined I could be a wraith, or have Black Cross after me, and I definitely never thought I’d be separated from my parents … well, ever, but especially not as unhappily as this. It’s true in some good ones, too, though. I know I’m stronger and tougher than I used to be; I stand up for myself more, and for the people I love. And I never imagined having anyone like Lucas in my life.”

From Rebecca: “In the end would you still have risked everything to be with Lucas, even though you betrayed your parents?”
Bianca: “That’s not an easy question to answer. Well, I mean, it is — yes, I would — but I would have tried harder to get other answers first, and to try to get both Lucas and my parents to understand each other. I don’t know if I would’ve made any headway; possibly the only person in the world more stubborn than my parents is Lucas Ross. But I would feel better knowing I had really tried, and I would feel more like maybe they understood. That’s the worst part about being away from my parents like this — feeling like they’ll never understand me or accept the decisions I made.”

From Cristal: “Well, hello, Bianca, how are you doing today?.. Thank you so much for doing this Interview. I wanted to ask you, if you had a time machine, would you go back in time to change anything that has happened to you from EVERNIGHT to HOURGLASS, and if yes, what would that be?”
Bianca: “How polite you are! I’m doing very well today; once you’re a wraith, you’re pretty much okay on the average day. If I had a time machine, what would I change? I think I’d go back to the beginning, tell Lucas that I knew about him being Black Cross and start trying to find a way to meld our worlds together before Mom, Dad and Mrs. Bethany turned him into public enemy number one. I’d warn Courtney about Charity, too; I mean, I didn’t like Courtney much, but nobody deserved that. And I’d definitely figure out a better way for us to escape from Black Cross. Everything got so out of control afterwards!”

From Alejandra: “Until now we’ve seen how your unconditional love for Lucas has overcome every possible (and impossible) obstacle, but do you think it will also overcome the problems that are about to come after HOURGLASS, and will you do all it takes to save him?”
Bianca: “I don’t know how we get through this — I honestly don’t. It’s like all our worst nightmares have come true at once. But I am not giving up. Lucas is my only constant in a world that seems like it’s gone crazy. I will never give up on him, and I know he won’t let me go either. We’re finding our way through some dark times, but we’re doing it together.”

From Eibhlin: “If Lucas didn’t exist, would you have received Balthazar’s affections for you?”
Bianca: “… wow, I’m not sure. Probably yes. Would we really last, though? I don’t know. It might just have been incredibly hot for a little while… there are worse things. But, happily for me, Lucas does exist.”

From Andrea: “Do you believe in love at first sight like when you saw lucas after he tried to “save” you in EVERNIGHT?”
Bianca: “Since meeting Lucas, I think I have to believe it! But it takes so much more than that first sight to hold on to that love, and to find out who it is you really care about. I think only time can tell whether love at first sight is true. I think ours is.”

**

Only one more doll remains — and that’s Lucas! He and his crossbow long for a new home. And we have only a week and a half until AFTERLIFE comes out in the US! So surreal. Let’s find this Black Cross hunter a home, shall we?

Lucas Doll Contest

1) Send me an email with the header “Lucas Doll Contest” or something similar, at evernightclaudia at gmail dot com.
2) In this email, tell me why Lucas belongs in your home and no one else’s!
3) Also tell me a name and address I can use to send Lucas to you if you win. (And yes, I’ll ship anywhere.)
4) Do all of this before Sunday, March 6, when I will pick the winner!

I realize I owe you guys an Artist’s Way post from last week; the conference I was attending didn’t leave much free time for getting the information online. I’ll try to make up for it tomorrow.

AFTERLIFE — it’s almost here!

EVERNIGHT doll contest #3!

Posted on February 20, 2011 | 2 comments

Sorry this is coming out so late, guys, but as you may know, I’m on the road this week … on a (personal only) trip to Southern California. If you are in SoCal, you know that I somehow managed to arrive here in time for cold winds, torrential rains and flash flood warnings. Do I have great timing or what? (What I do NOT have is an umbrella. I do sometimes take packing light to an unfortunate extreme.)

The conference I’m attending here has been tremendously fun but also tremendously busy, which is how I come to be posting this contest at midnight on Saturday. But! You still get a week to enter, and both Bianca and Lucas still wait to to find homes. So how do you enter?

1) Send me an email at evernightclaudia at gmail dot com, with the subject line “Doll Contest #3” or similar.
2) In this email, tell me what you’d do at the beach when it’s raining!
3) Also tell me whether you’d like the Bianca doll or the Lucas doll, and give me a name and address to use so I can mail your doll to you if you win.
4) Do all this before Saturday, Feb. 26, when I’ll pick the next winner!

We’re SO CLOSE to AFTERLIFE I can almost taste it! Did you see the tour dates on my website (www.claudiagray.com)? If not, check them out, US guys — I can’t wait to meet you!

(And I’ll have a couple new international trips to announce very soon …)

Doll Contest News, plus interview Qs and the Artist’s Way!

Posted on February 10, 2011 | Comments Off on Doll Contest News, plus interview Qs and the Artist’s Way!

First of all, the first doll claimed was Raquel, and her bad-ass vampire hunting self is going to the lucky Averi A.! Congrats, Averi! Raquel will be making her way to you soon, assuming the postal service doesn’t try to confiscate her weapons.

If you didn’t win this time, don’t despair: Three more dolls need homes! And we’ll get that contest started soon — but first, there are some interview questions that need answering. You guys asked SO many terrific questions that I want to get to plenty of them, so I’m just going to “interview” each character as his or her doll is given away. Which makes today “Raquel Day.”

(Note: Spoilers for EVERNIGHT, STARGAZER and HOURGLASS below!)

From Averi: “Do you think that you will be the next Buffy the Vampire Slayer; is that your MO?”
Raquel: “Buffy was banging vampires all the time. I’ll pass, thanks.”

From Precious: “What is it like being a member of the Black Cross?”
Raquel: “Well, at first it was kind of awesome. I was so sick and tired of being scared all the time, you know? Black Cross finally gave me a way to fight back. Plus, I got to be with Dana, which was and is definitely awesome. But lately — since all that stuff with Bianca and Lucas — I don’t know. I guess I’m wondering how much we’re supposed to give up. Maybe it’s too much.”

From Paz: “Now that you know that Bianca is a vampire/wraith. Will you try to look past that and still be her friend?”
Raquel: “Seeing as how I kind of totally turned her in and nearly got her and Lucas killed, I figure there’s no chance she’ll ever forgive me. So that kind of kills the friendship, huh? But I’d do it a lot differently if I had it to do over. Of course, I don’t.”

From Aranxta: “Raquel, how do you manage to always stay so strong and brave??”
Raquel: “Me? Brave? I feel like I’m scared to death half the time. But you just have to be strong enough to keep going anyway; if not, whatever it is that’s trying to keep you down — it wins.”

From Melanie: “If someone wrote a biography about you, what do you think the title should be?”
Raquel: “BAD MAMA JAMA. Okay, that’s silly. But I’d take it. Given how I’m feeling about Black Cross lately — maybe DOUBLE-CROSSED.”

From Harman: “Raquel, you sort of found your soulmate at/in blackcross, what do you think of her?”
Raquel: “Dana’s the best person I’ve ever known. She’s totally courageous — you should ask her about staying strong and brave sometime. She knows how to fight every evil supernatural thing out there, because she’s grown up in Black Cross — but she doesn’t let Black Cross think for her. Plus, she’s hilarious. And gorgeous. I still can’t believe I’m lucky enough to have her in my life.”

From Eniyah: “Raquel, deep down do you really, really love being apart of an exhilarating group such as Black Cross?”
Raquel: “Exhilarating? Try eating oatmeal for 30 days straight and see how exhilarating you think it is then. I admit, though – they really have taught me how to fight, and I’m grateful for that.”

From Jennifer: “It seems like you’re pretty psyched and gun ho about being a slayer but what do you not like about it?”
Raquel: “The early mornings. Oatmeal. Not knowing who to believe or trust. What they did to Bianca and Lucas. Also, oatmeal. Feeling like Dana and I never get any time to ourselves. The kind of cult-like mentality of the whole thing. And did I mention the endless, endless oatmeal?”

From Monique: “In the first books you were so scared to do anything; you didn’t talk to many people. What made you overcome your fears and join the Black Cross team?”
Raquel: “Well, I don’t know if I ever would have had the guts to leave Evernight Academy if it hadn’t been on fire at the time. That kind of simplified things. Once I learned there was actually a group of people out there dedicated to fighting the supernatural stuff that used to scare the hell out of me, though, I was in. … Maybe I should have asked a few more questions first.”

From Camille: “What would you do if the time comes that you have to kill Bianca?”
Raquel: “Oh, my God. I could never do that. Not ever. I mean, it freaks me out that she’s a vampire — I know they’re evil — but I just couldn’t. Don’t make me even think about it.”

**

Bianca, Patrice and Lucas will answer the great questions you guys sent for them in weeks to come. Beginning, shall we say, next Wednesday, February 16, when I’ll give another doll away! What are the rules for entering this time?

THE RULES:

1) Send an email to evernightclaudia at gmail dot com, with the subject header EVERNIGHT doll contest #2 or similar.
2) In this email, tell me your single favorite scene from the EVERNIGHT saga so far.
3) Also give me a name and address I can use to mail your doll if you win (and yes, I’ll ship anywhere in the world) — and tell me which of the remaining three dolls (Patrice, Lucas or Bianca) you’d most like!
4) Do all this before next Wednesday, when I’ll pick the winner at random, and answer some more interview questions.

Good luck, everyone!

(By the way, if you need to remind yourself of how awesome these dolls are, check out the original post. And for those of you who have asked: Balthazar will wait for his own doll when he gets his own book … in other words, only one short year from now. So keep watching this space!)

Now, because I somehow forgot to post this on the weekend:

The Artist’s Way, Week One: Recovering a Sense of Safety

Not every week speaks to everyone in the same way, when it comes to this book. Some weeks, the program is really dealing with an issue that strikes home; other weeks, it’s not anything you particularly need to hear.

That’s what this week was to me. It’s mostly about identifying the people who have discouraged you from being creative, but I have to say … almost nobody has ever done that. I’ve had the odd flame for some fanfiction I wrote, or a bad review or two on Amazon, but those are just nicks and scratches. This chapter is mostly about administering to the wounded, to people who have really been told that they have no creativity or that it’s a waste of time for them to express it. I know there are a lot of people for whom that’s true, and I’m glad they have the tools in this chapter to help them get past that.

But I wouldn’t say this was a waste of time for me. The chapter doesn’t ask us to only look for the people who discouraged you; it also asks who encouraged you. And I’ve been so lucky and fortunate to have people who believed in me all along the way. I really believe a sense of gratitude is one of the key ingredients of happiness, so reconnecting with that in a big way was amazing.

Onto next week, and “A Sense of Identity” —

The AFTERLIFE countdown begins! (new contest!)

Posted on February 3, 2011 | 1 comment

Can you believe the release of AFTERLIFE is only six weeks away? Me either! But it’s past time we got some contests started. I have a few slightly different prizes this time, and I’m curious to see if they’re prizes you’ll enjoy. What are they?

Well, thanks to my web designer — and custom doll enthusiast — Tara, they are Evernight Academy dolls.

Check it out:

Bianca:

Bianca

Lucas:

Lucas

Raquel:

Raquel

Patrice:

Patrice

How fabulous are they, right? And each of them comes with multiple outfits, so you can have Black Cross Lucas:

Lucas

Or Autumn Ball Patrice:

Patrice

Or even wraithly Bianca:

Bianca

But they ALL have Evernight Academy uniforms (even with the little crest! Isn’t that awesome?), so that’s guaranteed. They could wear regular Barbie-and-Ken clothes, should you wish to costume them to your heart’s content at home.

I hope you guys think these are as great as I do. I’m going to give all four dolls away — one doll a week — via contests. Each week, you’ll be asked to choose which of the dolls you’d like to win; I’ll pick a winner at random, so there’s no telling which dolls will go first and last.

CONTEST RULES:

1) Send an email to evernightclaudia at gmail dot com, with the subject header “EVERNIGHT Doll Contest #1 or similar.”

2) In this email, give me the name and address I should use to tell me where to send your prize if you win (and yes, I’ll ship anywhere).

3) Also in this email, tell me which of the four dolls you’d like, and include an interview question for that character. For instance, if you love the look of vampire hunter Raquel, you could ask, “Raquel, do you feel bad about what you did to Bianca in HOURGLASS, or do you stand by your decision?” Except not that one b/c I just gave it to you. (Also, feel free to enter once for each doll you’d like, up to four times, once for each doll; repeat entries beyond that are uncool.)

4) Do all this before Thursday, Feb. 10, when I’ll pick the first winner.

Bonus: I’ll answer several of the questions you send in for each of the characters during the subsequent week!

Good luck to everyone!

The Artist’s Way: Getting Started

Posted on January 30, 2011 | Comments Off on The Artist’s Way: Getting Started

So, as I’ve discussed here previously, I have just begun leading an Artist’s Way group at my church. For the next three months, way more people from my church than I ever dreamed would be interested, and I, are going to go through the 12 weeks of the program laid out by Julia Cameron in her book THE ARTIST’S WAY. The program helps “unblock creativity” — in other words, it helps people prioritize creativity in their lives, remove their inner censors and embrace that amazing creative energy that’s pent up inside.

When I first did the program, more than a decade ago, I hadn’t written a word in three years. Now I’m a full-time novelist … which might make you wonder, like one person at my church, about why I feel the need to do it again. I mean, it worked the first time, right? And it did. But I’m interested to see how different the experience will be to me now, and I think it’s important for professional writers to remain connected to the primal enjoyment of/passion for writing. That can be difficult to hold onto with the pressure of deadlines, reviews, tour dates, etc.

For each week of the program, I’m going to post here about some of the basics of THE ARTIST’S WAY and what it’s like for me this go-round. If you’re interested in following along, I suggest getting a copy of the book (it should be available in most new and used bookstores, all online venues and in most libraries.) There are lots of essays/extra tasks/etc. that the book lays out, which I think are key to success. But I’ll share a little bit each time, starting this week with —

“The Basic Tools”

Each week of THE ARTIST’S WAY has separate tasks, a separate function within the program. But there are two things you have to commit to throughout the entire twelve weeks:

1) The Morning Pages

Every morning — I mean, every single morning — very early in your day (as in, before breakfast, not before lunch) — you need to write three pages.

Three pages of what, you ask? It doesn’t matter. Journal the day before. Start a short story. Recount the dreams you remember from the night before. Write a letter to the imaginary friend you forgot about when you turned six. There’s literally no wrong way to do it. If you can’t think of anything to write, just put down, “I can’t think of anything to write” over and over until you fill three (full notebook size!) pages.

What purpose does this serve? Well, there’s no one purpose, just as there’s no one way to do the pages. Some people end up working on something creative; others use it as a way to vent the emotions that otherwise tangle them up throughout the day. What’s important is doing some writing so early on that your day hasn’t had a chance to interfere. As you keep going, in about week three or four, chances are you’ll start to see what the pages are going to do for you.

2) The Artist’s Date

Once a week — every single week — you must go out and do something that is (a) totally new to you and (b) potentially interesting for you, for two hours. And you must go alone.

It can be an art exhibit. It can be rollerblading. It can be a walk down a street lined with old Victorian houses you always thought were pretty as you drove past in a hurry. It can be a cooking class. ANYTHING … as long as it interests you and is unfamiliar to you. By providing your mind with repeated new, stimulating experiences, you are waking up your imagination. Filling the well, as Cameron calls it.

And why go alone? Because that way, you can’t filter the experience through someone else. Your thoughts have to be free to wander — to make new connections. You have to move at your own pace, free of anybody else’s expectations.

**

Not only do these tools have intrinsic value, but they also help you fight one of the oldest enemies of creativity: The belief that you don’t have the time. What you’re usually saying, when you say that, is “I don’t think it’s important enough to make it a priority.” Doing THE ARTIST’S WAY helps you stand up and say that creativity is a priority for you. You learn to find the time.

Next week, I’ll go over the topic for week one — “Discovering a Sense of Safety.”

And Tuesday, I’ll be announcing new tour dates, plus new contests leading into the impending release of AFTERLIFE!

VACATIONS FROM HELL contest winners!

Posted on January 26, 2011 | Comments Off on VACATIONS FROM HELL contest winners!

And who are the many, many lucky winners of autographed copies of VACATIONS FROM HELL? First, the Aussies! Congrats to Kamsajini T., Ashling H., Stacey B., Terril-Lee F., and Millie T.! But there’s lots more of you, too: Way to go, Amy C., Gina L., Lea K., Elizabeth K., Jamie T., Nicole B., Laurel F., Ala T., Angela L., and Dawn D.! Hope all of you enjoy your copies and all the paranormal stories within.

I just returned from New York City, where I met with my publishers to talk about all the good stuff coming up, mostly about FATEFUL in the fall (when werewolves meet the Titanic, the fun never ends), a little about BALTHAZAR (who wants to guess what color his cover is going to be?) but also about the release of AFTERLIFE … which is only six weeks from today. Actually, I’m getting this posted after midnight, aren’t I? So five weeks and six days from today. Leading up to AFTERLIFE’s release, I’m going to be having tons more contests, interviews and fun stuff, so stay tuned.

But we’re going to start tomorrow, because it’s after midnight, and I’m just so grateful not to be on a plane. 😀

ETERNAL contest winners announced!

Posted on December 8, 2010 | Comments Off on ETERNAL contest winners announced!

Congrats to Royce Anne V., Kimberly S., and Patrycja R! Each of them will be receiving a signed copy of the vampire romance anthology ETERNAL.

This was one of my favorite contests — your answers were really ingenious, and all the EVERNIGHT characters would be touched by how thoughtful you guys were. Kimberly feels that Bianca needs a new pair of tennis shoes, considering all the running around she has to do. Royce Anne would give Ranulf the HUNGER GAMES trilogy boxed set, because she thinks his take would be interesting (you and me both!) Patrycja plans to go the extra mile and hand-make a tie-dyed T-shirt for Vic, which he would appreciate very much.

Because I’ve seen a lot of questions on FB and Twitter lately, an update on what I’m working on now: AFTERLIFE is written, done, out there, getting printed; I hope to post an excerpt for you guys in the new year. FATEFUL (aka WEREWOLVES ON THE TITANIC) is written and edited, and will be making its debut on September 13. (That ship is always unlucky, isn’t it?) Currently I’m writing BALTHAZAR, about the life, death and subsequent adventures of one Mr. Balthazar More; although this novel is obviously connected to the EVERNIGHT series, it’s more of a stand-alone than a fifth book. (I consider Bianca and Lucas’ story complete with AFTERLIFE.)

And soon I will have many tour dates to announce! MANY. In March alone, I’ll be in Chicago, San Diego, Phoenix, Dallas, Raleigh, Minneapolis, and a city in Ohio to be designated later! I’ll also be attending Book Expo America in NYC this May, and the ALA conference in New Orleans this June. That doesn’t even get into the September tour dates for FATEFUL, which are still up in the air at present. I’ll post more event details as we get closer to the dates. Can’t wait to meet you guys there!

AUTUMN GIVEAWAY EXTRAVAGANZA Contest #7 starts today!

Posted on October 13, 2010 | 4 comments

First, I should announce the winners of Contest #6: Congrats to Jaime A., Lisa S. and Astrid R. They wanted to room with the easygoing Dana, the interesting Bianca and the creative and artistic Raquel, respectively, so no squabbling over room assignments next year at Evernight Academy. That’s a relief. They’ll each be getting a copy of the vampire romance anthology ETERNAL straight from the publisher, BenBella.

This week I’m in Vancouver, where I will have dinner, as promised, with the winning bidder in the Nashville Flood Relief auction earlier this year. I’m really looking forward to meeting her, and it’s been fabulous to visit up here, too. Vancouver, you are the only city on earth that wears more black than New York, and I salute you for it. I also salute you for the incredibly high number of dogs I’m seeing on the streets. I get to vicariously enjoy all sorts of dogs. Especially pugs. Good times. When not traipsing around dog-watching, I’m hard at work on the outline for BALTHAZAR. So it’s a big week!

But it’s not so busy that I can’t get AUTUMN GIVEAWAY EXTRAVAGANZA Contest #7 off the ground!

Three fabulous books could be yours for the taking, all very different, all very fabulous:

1) THE DUFF, by Kody Keplinger. Bianca Piper’s cynical attitude helps disguise the insecurity she feels about being her group of friends’ DUFF … “Designated Ugly Fat Friend.” It also helps her give class jerk Wesley as good as he gives, matching him insult for insult. But when hormones overcome hostility — and Wesley turns out not to be so awful after all — she’s about to find out if the DUFF can get the guy in the end (if he’s worth getting). Smart, funny and sexy!

2) I AM NUMBER FOUR, by “Pittacus Lore,” IF THAT IS YOUR REAL NAME. Ahem. This hot science fantasy title is going to be a big movie early next year, but you know you want to check the book out first. Nine kids came to Earth to hide from the alien race hunting them down; three of them have been killed, so far. Doesn’t feel good to be Number Four, aka John Smith, who’s trying to lead an average life in Ohio. Suspenseful and mind-bending stuff.

3) MATCHED, by Ally Condie. This is one of the most anticipated YA releases for fall, but you can get the ARC in your hot little hands first. Cassia lives in a futuristic dystopian world where everyone is told what to do, what to be and whom to love. But when she goes to be “matched” with her eternal partner, she’s shown not one image, but two. Will anyone believe her? Is the guy they’re pushing her toward really the one she belongs with forever? Or does Cassia need the freedom to explore her own heart?

Three awesome books, three lucky winners. How can you be one of them? Check out the contest rules!

1) Send me an email at evernightclaudia at gmail dot com, with the subject line “Contest #7”. In this email, also include the name and address I can use to send your prize if you win — and yes, for this one, I will ship anywhere.

2) In this email, tell me which of the three books you’d like … or just put, “surprise me.”

3) Do all this before Monday, October 18, when I’ll choose the winners at random.

Good luck to all, and stay tuned — we’re getting closer to Halloween, which means we’re getting closer to the AFTERLIFE ARC giveaways —

Facebook facts, and just being in touch generally

Posted on September 6, 2010 | Comments Off on Facebook facts, and just being in touch generally

As many of you know — just shy of 5000 of you, to be more exact — I have a Facebook account as Claudia Gray. But unfortunately, I have almost maxed out my friends there, so I am now unable to friend people back. 🙁 However! I now have the Official Claudia Gray Fan Page, which you can like/follow/etc. Right now I am responding to comments on both the CG account and the fan page, but within a few weeks, I’ll transition to talking mostly on the fanpage. So stay in touch!

Also: While I try to respond to everything sent to me via my website and the address there (at least I do now — the first couple years while I had the day job were pretty short on time!, I don’t generally answer FB or MySpace private messages. There’s a LOT of mail to get through, so I stick to the stuff that comes through the website, particularly as the social networking sites are so spam-heavy. If you’ve been trying to get through some other way and gotten no response, try emailing via the website.

Right now, I’m in Sydney, visiting some friends and family here before I head back to the USA. Once I return and get over the jet lag — I had none on the way over, but that probably means I’m due for double on the other side, right? — we’ll have more author interviews, more US tour dates, and some awesome ARC giveaways. Which will include, oh yeah, AFTERLIFE. I’m so excited to finally start letting this book out into the world.