Merry Holidays To Me!!!

I recently got the news that five—count ‘em, FIVE!—of my very favorite authors in the whole wide world were willing to say some pretty amazing things about THE TAKING...leaving me, how do I say this? Speechless.

The first was one of the very first people who even read THE TAKING, Melissa Marr, International and New York Times bestselling author of the WICKED LOVELY series, LOKI’S WOLVES, GRAVEMINDER, THE ARRIVALS, and about a zillion other things. You can imagine I was nervous while she was reading it, so when she said this: 

"THE TAKING is an action-packed, heart-filled ride. I loved it." 

And I was all... 

And then, Kami Garcia, #1 New York Times bestselling author of UNBREAKABLE and coauthor of BEAUTIFUL CREATURES, had this to say: 

"Equal parts romance and suspense – THE TAKING is a sexy blend of conspiracy theory and Sci-Fi."

And you guys, just when I thought I couldn’t take any more, another super, amazing, fantastic blurb came in, this time from Melissa de la Cruz, New York Times and USA Today best-selling author of many critically acclaimed and award-winning novels for teens, including THE AU PAIRS series, The BLUE BLOODS series, and her new book FROZEN...not to mention my favorite new TV show WITCHES OF EAST END: 

"Kim Derting does it again! THE TAKING is an exciting, fast-paced thriller with an eerie and intriguing paranormal mystery at the heart of it. You'll want to read it as fast as you can and then DEMAND the next book NOW!"

I'm telling you, I almost exploded.

And then THIS came in: 

"Kimberly Derting is an amazing writer and a master storyteller. THE TAKING will have you hooked from the very first pages." –Richelle Mead, #1 New York Times & USA Today Bestselling Author of VAMPIRE ACADEMY series (which is coming to theaters February 14, 2014!), BLOODLINES series, and a ton of great adult titles, too! 

And finally THIS happened: 

“With pitch perfect prose, swoon-worthy romance, and edge-of-your seat suspense, THE TAKING kept me reading late into the night. This is Derting at her best!” – Alyson Noël, #1 New York Times Bestselling Author of THE IMMORTALS series, THE SOUL SEEKERS series, the RILEY BLOOM series, and so many more! 

Crazy, right!? I feel like the luckiest girl in the world right about now. 

Best. Christmas. Ever. 

CH-CH-CHANGES

You know how some changes are good, like say, when you get an unexpected raise? Or gaining that bonus hour of sleep when we set the clocks back?

And how some changes are, well, not so good. Like new Coke. Or Michael Jackson’s nose job. And then his other nose job.

Well, I just got news of one of those really, really, really good kinds of changes:

THE OFFERING (the final book in The Pledge trilogy), which was previously scheduled to come out January 7th, is now coming out an ENTIRE WEEK EARLY!!!!

That’s right, you heard me! THE OFFERING will be hitting bookstores and online retailers on December 31st! So mark your calendars, because in case you didn’t do the math yourself, that’s only 8 weeks away. And buying your copy of THE OFFERING is the perfect way to spend all those Christmas gift cards you’ll be getting. Just sayin ;)

Cover (and Synopsis) Reveal for THE TAKING

Today I’m sharing the cover (and the synopsis!) for my upcoming release with HarperTeen, THE TAKING.

I have been waiting months to share this cover with you guys, so I hope you love it as much as I do.

Friends, meet my cover-of-awesome:

In case you were wondering, those are fireflies...and yes, they are totally relevant, and I love-love-love that the cover designers decided to incorporate them, not only into the cover, but into the title!

So here’s what THE TAKING is all about:

A flash of white light . . . and then . . . nothing. 

When sixteen-year-old Kyra Agnew wakes up behind a Dumpster at the Gas ’n’ Sip, she has no memory of how she got there. With a terrible headache and a major case of déjà vu, she heads home only to discover that five years have passed . . . yet she hasn’t aged a day. 

Everything else about Kyra’s old life is different. Her parents are divorced, her boyfriend, Austin, is in college and dating her best friend, and her dad has changed from an uptight neat-freak to a drunken conspiracy theorist who blames her five-year disappearance on little green men. 

Confused and lost, Kyra isn’t sure how to move forward unless she uncovers the truth. With Austin gone, she turns to Tyler, Austin’s annoying kid brother, who is now seventeen and who she has a sudden undeniable attraction to. As Tyler and Kyra retrace her steps from the fateful night of her disappearance, they discover strange phenomena that no one can explain, and they begin to wonder if Kyra’s father is not as crazy as he seems. There are others like her who have been taken . . . and returned. Kyra races to find an explanation and reclaim the life she once had, but what if the life she wants back is not her own?

THE TAKING will be out April 29th, 2014 from HarperTeen, so mark your calendars and be sure to add it to your Goodreads shelf now!

Questions? Thoughts? Crazy-mad Love???

The YA Scavenger Hunt is On!!!

 EDIT:  The Hunt is now CLOSED! Good luck, everyone!!!


So if you've made it this far, I probably don't need to tell you how cool the YA Scavenger Hunt is, right??? But in case you don't already know, this is a fabulous sneak peek into what’s coming up in YA literature that runs from October 3rd - 6th.

Each author on the hunt is hosting another author’s bonus material (mine is out there on someone else's blog!) AND a link to the next step of the hunt.


At this hunt, you not only get access to exclusive content from each author, you also get a clue for the hunt. Add up the clues, and you can enter for our prize--one lucky winner will receive one signed book from each author on the hunt in my team! But play fast--this contest (and all the exclusive bonus material) will only be online for 72 hours!

Go to the YA Scavenger Hunt page to find out all about the hunt. There are THREE contests going on simultaneously, and you can enter one or all! I am a part of the BLUE TEAM--but there are also red and gold teams giving you a chance to win entirely different sets of books!

SCAVENGER HUNT PUZZLE

Directions: Below, you'll notice that I've listed my favorite number. Collect the favorite numbers of all the authors on the blue team, and then add them up (don't worry, you can use a calculator!).

Entry Form: Once you've added up all the numbers, make sure you fill out the form here to officially qualify for the grand prize. Only entries that have the correct number will qualify.

Rules: Open internationally, anyone below the age of 18 should have a parent or guardian's permission to enter. To be eligible for the grand prize, you must submit the completed entry form by Sunday, October 6th at noon Pacific Time. Entries sent without the correct number or without contact information will not be considered.

SCAVENGER HUNT POST

Today, I am hosting April Genevieve Tucholke. April digs classic movies, red-headed villains, big kitchens, and discussing murder at the dinner table. She loves in Oregon at the edge of a forest.

Her book, BETWEEN THE DEVIL AND THE DEEP BLUE SEA, is a gothic thriller romance with shades of Stephen King and f. Scott Fitzgerald, set against a creepy summertime backdrop. "Lavishly rendered, darkly romantic, and beautifully unsettling--Tucholke's debut isn't a book you'll soon forget." --Melissa Marr, New York Times bestselling author of the Wicked Lovely series

Find out more information by checking out her author website or find more about BETWEEN THE DEVIL AND THE DEEP BLUE SEA here!

EXCLUSIVE CONTENT

For April's exclusive content she's written the shortest gothic novel in the world ;)

 

The Mad Poet and the Sane Governess
By April Genevieve Tucholke

Chapter 1: Conclusion

            Once there was a poet who was mad and his wife was also mad and she lived in the attic but the poet fell in love anyway with a sane young governess who came to live at his turreted and secret-passaged mansion on the wild moors of Yorkshire.  One day the sane governess found out about the mad wife and killed her with a cursed dagger that she received from a strange priest who wandered the moors and sold secrets (and daggers).  Thus, the sane governess married the mad poet and they lived tragically and gothically ever after. 

THE END

I don't know why, when it's so obviously tragic, and of course gothic, but that makes me giggle. 

Don't forget to enter the contest for a chance to win a ton of signed books by me, April Genevieve Tucholke, and more! To enter, you need to know that my favorite number is 4! Add up all the favorite numbers of the authors on the blue team and you'll have all the secret code to enter for the grand prize! 

CONTINUE THE HUNT

To keep going on your quest for the hunt, you need to check out Amber Argyle, the next author whose site you need to visit!

And because I love giveaways, I've decided to do an additional (completely separate!) giveaway, so you have even more chances to win!

Just fill out the Rafflecopter below, and bam!, you're entered to win one of the four ARCs I'll be giving away. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Is THE PLEDGE Right for Your Classroom?

Teachers: Now that school is in full swing, keep in mind that THE PLEDGE makes a great classroom read. Not only is it on YALSA’s 2013 Best Fiction for Young Adult’s List, but there’s also a handy-dandy Ultimate Readers Guide that meets the Common Core State Standards. I mean, what more could you want???

A BACK-TO-SCHOOL BONANZA (aka. Giveaway Time!!!)

If you're not a mom then you may not even realize that back-to-school is a time for rejoicing. No more shuttling your kids from one daytime activity to another. No more endless hours of poolside supervision (you know, so your kids don't drown or anything). No more ceaseless choruses of "I'm bored" while Spongebob is looped endlessly on the TV.

Nope, that's all over. It's back to early morning wake-ups, carpools, lunch boxes, soccer games, and homework. 

But it's all good because for those precious few hours from the time our kids walk out the door in the morning until they crash back in at the end of the day, we have our houses back. And those few hours are so very, very quiet, and we can walk around knowing that if we can pick something up it will stay picked up. Heck, if we really want, we can even say curse words. Like, out loud.

In honor of this glorious season (whether you have kids or not) (heck, even if you are one of those kids), I've decided to have a giveaway!

I have this (a signed ARC of THE OFFERING, the third book in The Pledge trilogy)...

 And this (a signed ARC of Sophie Jordan's ah-mazing upcoming novel UNINVITED...Loved. This. Book!)...

And this (a finished copy of Madeline Roux's ASYLUM...which is crazy creepy!)...

All you have to do to enter this awesome Back-to-School Bonanza is follow the steps in the Rafflecopter to earn points:


a Rafflecopter giveaway

That's right, I've taken the thinking out of it for you (on the off chance you still have toddlers at home!). 

Now all you parents out there go reward yourselves for surviving yet another summer. Do something crazy, like taking a nap or something. You've earned it!

THE OFFERING HAS A COVER!!!

Remember when I said that I'd seen the cover for this last (and final) book of the Pledge trilogy, and that I LOOOOVED it?

Well now I'm sharing it with you, in all its beauteous glory....

Isn't it gorgeous? I mean...look at the blue? And the glow? And Charlie...???

I seriously...I just...love it!

 (And look at them all together. One big happy Pledge trilogy family!)

So...what about you? Do you love the new cover as much as I do???