skylark
Ask A Question (#4): What inspired you to write SKYLARK?
Apr 19, 2013
Mary O. and Bookwyrm16 both asked, “What inspired you to write SKYLARK?”
What a great question—inspiration is so hard to pinpoint! For me it comes from everything around me, from the people I talk to to the books I read, the music I hear, the movies I see. But for SKYLARK, I can actually point to a single moment that inspired the idea for the world, which then led to everything else. (Read more…)
Ask a Question (#3): How did you come up with Nix’s character?
Apr 15, 2013
This question deals with a character in SKYLARK–there are some mild spoilerish parts in this answer! Nothing major gets revealed, but if you’re as anti-spoiler as I am and you haven’t read SKYLARK, be warned!
Carolina S. asked, “Nix is positively my favorite character! How did you come up with him?”
It’s funny–Nix is genderless, but almost everyone uses a gendered pronoun when they talk about the character, because we’re not used to saying “it” to describe sentient, animate creatures. More people seem to call it a “him,” but I’ve definitely come across plenty of people who call Nix a “her!”
For those who aren’t familiar with SKYLARK, Nix is a pixie–which, in Lark’s world, is the name for little mechanical insect-like creatures that the Institute uses to spy on its citizens. When Lark escapes, Nix tracks her, and after she incapacitates it, it’s forced to become her reluctant ally.
Nix started out as sheer necessity. As I was writing the first draft of SKYLARK (which was then called THE IRON WOOD, but that’s another story) I was just ripping along at a great pace until Lark escaped the city and was out in the wilderness. Completely alone. I realized she had no one to talk to and no one to interact with, and while there are a lot of amazing books out there which handle this situation beautifully, it wasn’t actually what I was going for. So I decided she needed a companion (aside from Oren, who she meets later). (Read more…)
Ask a Question (#2): What was the process behind naming SKYLARK?
Apr 12, 2013
Amie Kaufman and I are running a MASSIVE giveaway with swag and ARCs from over twenty YA authors in order to kick off our brand new joint newsletter. Be sure to go check it out!
Katelyn L. asked, “What was the process behind naming SKYLARK?”
The original title of SKYLARK was THE IRON WOOD. That was the title I’d called it from the very beginning. I don’t outline, but I do usually have a pretty good idea of where a story is headed, and I knew where Lark was going when she escaped. So that was the title of the manuscript when I queried and signed with my agent, and that was also the title under which the book sold.
Signing Schedule and Updates!
Feb 01, 2013
It’s been a busy couple of months on my end, and I haven’t done much updating here outside of the Write Space series. I like looking at other authors’ desks (and giving away their books) a lot more than I like talking about what I’m doing, though, so that suits me fine! Be sure to check out the two current contests, where you can win the whole ACROSS THE UNIVERSE series by Beth Revis, and where you can win a signed copy of TIME BETWEEN US by Tamara Ireland Stone.
Tomorrow I’m leaving on a mini signing tour, and I hope I’ll get to see some of you guys along the way! I’ll be hitting up Malaprops in Asheville, NC, Fountain Bookstore in Richmond, VA, Hooray For Books in Alexandria, VA, and Politics and Prose in Washington, D.C. The best part about all of it is that I’m going to be chatting with and signing alongside some absolutely kickass YA authors, including Beth Revis (ACROSS THE UNIVERSE), Megan Shepherd (THE MADMAN’S DAUGHTER), Lenore Appelhans (LEVEL 2), Jodi Meadows (ASUNDER), and Victoria Schwab (THE ARCHIVED).
Event Schedule
Click here to see my event schedule over the next week–be sure to come by if you can! Hanging out with other people who love books, whether they be authors, aspiring writers, readers, or just plain quiet folks who like the smell of binding glue… well, that’s just plain guaranteed to be a good time. (Read more…)
SKYLARK Audiobook Extravaganza!
Nov 15, 2012
So maybe it’s not really an extravaganza, but I really like that word, and it’s my book, so I’m writing it anyway. You can’t tell me what to do!
Okay, maybe I’m a little excited here. But it’s for good reason, I promise! If you came here looking for In Search of the Write Space, the bad news is that there is no TWS post this week. The good news, though, is that I’m taking a break so that I can share some TOTALLY AWESOME NEWS: the SKYLARK audiobook is now available in the US from Recorded Books! EEEEE! (Read more…)
Podcast Interview about SKYLARK!
Oct 04, 2012
It’s been quite a week on my end of things. Amie and I got copyedits on THESE BROKEN STARS last week and just handed those in this morning, which means now I’m wandering around trying to remember what I’m supposed to be doing with myself. The answer is “back to work on SHADOWLARK,” but making that transition is always a little rough. My two series are so different in terms of style, story, focus–I love them both, but switching between the two makes my brain go ping! So the next few days will involve a lot of listening to my SHADOWLARK playlist (it’s all instrumental and therefore likely very boring for most of you unless you’re a soundtrack junkie like me) and going for long walks while staring off into space. Hey, some stereotypes about writers are stereotypes for a reason! (Read more…)
Signed Copies of SKYLARK!
Aug 26, 2012
So, you want a signed copy of SKYLARK, you say? Well, in case you don’t want to track me down in true stalkerish fandom (and, uh, please don’t do that) here are a couple alternatives!
Oh, what a week(s) it’s been…
Aug 10, 2012
You guys may have noticed I’ve been a bit quiet lately. Well, there’s a lot of reasons for that. The biggest one is that this happened last week:
SKYLARK is in stores now! (Read more…)
SKYLARK bookplates are in! (And they’re awesome.)
Jul 18, 2012
Today on the SKYLARK blog tour I’m over at Cuddlebuggery, doing an interview the likes of which you’ve never seen before. Check it out now, and enter to win a copy of SKYLARK!
SKYLARK hits stores in two weeks. TWO WEEKS. People have asked me how I’m doing, whether I’m totally panicking or totally excited. And the truth is, I don’t really know how I’m doing. Perhaps “in shock” or “in denial” would be closest to the truth. I’m just sort of doing my thing, while in the background this OTHER thing, this bookish thing, this huge thing I can’t look at directly, is happening in two weeks.
At any rate, I wanted to celebrate the two-week-away date by showing you guys some SUPER AWESOME SWAG that I just got in, and have been dying to show you all…
SKYLARK Bookplates!
These are the bookplates that you can win as prizes in the SKYLARK swag giveaways, as well as in my own SKY’S THE LIMIT Contest for SKYLARK. And though I do say so myself, they’re pretty freaking awesome (click below for a bigger view).
The SKY’S THE LIMIT Contest for SKYLARK!
Jul 05, 2012
Today is my birthday. Last year on my birthday I held a contest to celebrate in which I gave away free books. This year, I decided to continue in that tradition… but the difference is, this year I can give away MY OWN BOOK. International folks, be sure to read on—everything except prize levels 2 and 3 are open internationally!
So, without further ado, let me introduce…
The SKY’S THE LIMIT Contest for SKYLARK!
So cheesy it hurts, I know. But I’m excited, and if you keep reading, I think you will be too. This contest was in a big way inspired by the amazingly awesome Beth Revis, and the Epic Contest of Epic that she held for the release of ACROSS THE UNIVERSE. She gave away 100 prizes, some big, some small, and some completely epic.
Well, I wanted to put my own twist on it. What makes this contest unique, you might ask?