ACK!  Sorry guys, I just realized my post didn’t actually post!    Here it is!

So, guys, I have a pretty awesome surprise for you.  I know, I know, I keep taunting you about it, just spill the beans already, right?  Haha.  That wouldn’t be half as much fun.

I made a video (vlog?  video blog?  Whatever…), but…eh.  I’ll just tell you about it instead.  Are you ready?

Somehow (perhaps with my magical powers) I managed to get my hands on an ARC (so, more like authorly kindness than magic)…but not just any ARC.  I have a copy of my lovely friend Susan Dennard’s debut SOMETHING STRANGE AND DEADLY!!!

***SQUEE!!***

It’s beautiful and shiny and all I could do when I received it was stare and marvel at the amazingness of it all.  Then, naturally, I devoured the story in a single sitting.  Of course.  (Let me tell you, coolest reading experience ever.)  IT IS MADE OF AWESOME, people!  See?!

There’s something strange and deadly loose in Philadelphia…

Eleanor Fitt has a lot to worry about. Her brother has gone missing, her family has fallen on hard times, and her mother is determined to marry her off to any rich young man who walks by. But this is nothing compared to what she’s just read in the newspaper—

The Dead are rising in Philadelphia.

And then, in a frightening attack, a zombie delivers a letter to Eleanor…from her brother.

Whoever is controlling the Dead army has taken her brother as well. If Eleanor is going to find him, she’ll have to venture into the lab of the notorious Spirit-Hunters, who protect the city from supernatural forces. But as Eleanor spends more time with the Spirit-Hunters, including their maddeningly stubborn yet handsome inventor, Daniel, the situation becomes dire. And now, not only is her reputation on the line, but her very life may hang in the balance.

I will be doing my own review later on, but let’s just say that Daniel is perhaps the most swoon-worthy character ever, and Eleanor’s strength is unparalleled!

But what’s so exciting about this for you guys?  That’s where the fun begins.  You see, promotion is a big part of a book’s release, and so to help get the word out there about this amazing story, I’m going to host an ARC TOUR!

Yep, you read that right, an ARC Tour for SOMETHING STRANGE AND DEADLY!

Here’s the deal…I’ve got one book, and the only way to get some buzz going is to get people reading it.  So I’m “giving away” spots on the ARC tour.  Five of them to be exact.

FIVE!!  That’s a lot of chances to win and read this book before it releases in July!  (And even if you don’t win, you can pre-order it at Barnes and Noble, Amazon, and the Book Depository!)

How does an ARC Tour work?  Easy.  I choose FIVE winners, line them up, and we ship the book from one person to the next.  So, it’s shipped to you, you ship it to the next in line, etc.  After you read it, all I ask is that you take a minute to tell someone about it.  Blog it, Tweet it, put it on your Goodreads list, or just exclaim about it to everyone who comes within a three-foot-radius of you.  That’s what I do!    (The only people seeing your address will be me and the person shipping the book to you, so it won’t be broadcast into the stratosphere.)

Actually, the tour has already begun, and tomorrow you’ll all get to read the first review of SS&D over on Erinn’s blog, where there will be another chance to enter the contest! 

Just to top it off, you’ll get five chances to enter the contest this week!  Each day a different blog is going to feature Susan and SOMETHING STRANGE AND DEADLY, and she has even done a couple of guest posts for us.  I’ll be linking to them here every morning, so make sure you pay attention!

Now, what would an ARC Tour be without an author interview?    Susan was kind enough to answer some questions for me, so read on to see what she has to say about her experience with SS&D.

What would you say was your favorite part of writing SS&D?

Honestly, I think writing was a nightmare! My early drafts were so bad. Just BAD. But revising–now that’s where  I enjoy the book process! Rewriting and finally getting to the heart of the story I meant to tell, finally finding Eleanor’s voice, finally isolated how Eleanor finds her strength in the face of nightmares (zombies! Spirits! OH MY!)–I learned so much about myself during that process.

I know you did many revisions to the story, and I know revisions as a whole are not an easy undertaking, but did you have a round that stands out as the most difficult?  What helped you work through that?

The first round was probably the hardest in terms of work load. The story was just NOT the story I’d intended to tell. It was sort of fluffy, two-dimensional, and just…wrong. I wanted a dark story (I mean, people are dying–it’s not a “light” topic!), wanted a heroine that moved from a place of naivety to a position of experience. A place of  dependence to INdependence.

The final rounds (round ten? Twelve? SO MANY, CANNOT EVEN COUNT! ) were also extremely hard because I was so burned out on the story, so tired of revising, so SICK of going back through those 400 pages. BUT, I also knew the book wasn’t where it needed to be. It needed more polish, needed all loose ends and subplots tied up, needed a smash-bang ending, etc. So I kept on powering through until I felt I’d made the book the absolute best it could possibly be.   (And you did a fantastic job, by the way.)

Your journey through the publication process was fierce and fast, I know.  What was it like for you during the time of getting an agent and a book deal?

A WHIRLWIND! I was on vacation and barely had access to the internet when I was querying. I figured I wouldn’t hear from anyone for a while, so I sent out my queries and then went off to the south of France for a week…only to get requests for fulls the same day! Then a few days later, I got my first offer of representation.

Once I decided to sign with Nancy Coffey Literary, we went through a quick round of revisions, and two weeks later, I went on subs. I was pretty nervous, obsessively checking my email, trying to do ANYTHING but think of my book in editors’ hands.

Fortunately, I didn’t have too stress out too long. Harper made an offer six days later, and after a day of negotiations, I was an official HarperTeen gal!!

Honestly, I feel like my luck with that book all boils down to two things: how much I revised the book before I even began querying (I totally over-revised! But maybe my perfectionism paid off…er right?) and timing. The premise for Something Strange and Deadly was exactly what my editor was looking for at that exact moment, so it was all very “stars aligning”, you know? I realize exactly how lucky I am with all this!

Now, since you’ve only got a few more months before SS&D is out in the wild, what are you planning to do to celebrate?  Champagne for sure, right? 

Champagne for SURE! Haha. I have a very fancy-shmancy bottle that I’ve been saving for years for a “special” occasion…but I didn’t drink it when I got married, nor after I sold the book–they just weren’t special enough events! But perhaps the actual release will be special enough.

I think I’ll also try to have a launch party and just spend time with my family, friends, and writing buddies.  Something low-key, relaxing, and FUN! And perhaps with…steampunk costumes?!

That sounds like loads of fun, Sooz!  Thank you so much for contributing to our event this week, answering questions, and being generally awesome.

Here’s what you guys need to do…fill out the form below to enter the contest.  That’s it!  Easy as pie.  (It is only open for US residents though, sorry guys.  Shipping times and all.)

Now, if you’d like to help us get the word out, we’d really appreciate your tweets/blogging/facebooking or whatever method you prefer.  It’s not required, but tweeting will earn you extra entries.

I will be announcing winners next week!  Good luck!

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