Laura Roecker on Copyedits

This is a direct quote from the email Laura sent me regarding copyedits. It should be noted that according to the bylaws of our sisterwriter relationship, Laura is responsible for all copyedits on manuscripts. This was negotiated shortly after it was determined that Lisa would always take the first stab at the document following editorial letters.

"I seriously feel like this copy editor should be paid a million dollars for having to look up things like Cleveland, OH sunset in January and addressing the fact that we don't know how to modify words correctly. Yikers. Who is this person???? And does s/he like cupcakes??? Copy edits make me feel like a failure."

We owe you an amazing ALA wrap up post and it's coming. With pictures and sparkles and maybe even a giveaway of some sort. Suffice it to say, we had an absolute blast and are SO SO SO excited to share some big news about the launch for The Lies That Bind and the new release date for The Hush Fund and and and....our heads just exploded.

More soon. XOXO

Pssst...Wanna Read the First 3 Chapters of The Lies That Bind?

You know you're just a tiny bit curious about what Kate and the gang are up to at Pemberly Brown. You'll have to wait until November 1st to read the whole thing, but you can get your hot little hands on the first three chapters right now. Just click here.

Happy Reading!

We're alive...sort of

We're knee deep in our first draft of THE HUSH FUND and it's kind of swallowed us whole for the time being. We have an August deadline, so posting will be spotty for the summer, but we'll keep you guys posted on our progress. In the meantime, I head to Twitter in between just about every sentance that I write to ramble and cyberstalk. So, if you want real-time updates on my new and improved procrastination methods, you can follow us over there.

In other news, if you're going to ALA we'll be there! That's right, the Roeckers are leaving Ohio! Alert the media and tell the Kardashians to watch their backs.  Click here to see where you can find us at the conference. We're planning on bringing some extra special, one-of-a-kind swag, so be sure to stop by the Sourcebooks booth for our signing on Saturday!

We've also heard rumblings of a tour with some fellow Sourcebooks authors this November. 8-cities, 3 awesome YA contemporary novels and some pretty convincing faux blue hair. We'll post details as soon as we know more.

And now, I must retreat back to the writing cave where it's dark but there's an endless supply of chocolate and Laura stands guard over my computer with a whip made of Twizzlers. More soon!

XOXO,
L&L

More from our resident young adult...

A couple weeks ago, we shared an interview with our incredible cousin Alex. Well today, we'd love to share her thoughts on getting to meet Laurie Halse Anderson as well as her award-winning song in response to the novel SPEAK. The coolest part about this entire project is the power of books. We felt it, Alex and her friends felt it and we hope you will too! Enjoy!

It was a normal school day. Except that most of my reading class and the eighth grade class were going to load up on two buses and get hauled ten minutes away to a college campus with an award-winning author waiting for us. So yeah, maybe not such a normal day.

The whole time during my lunch block, as I was eating my delicious orange chicken, all I could think about was how the next block I would be in was the auditorium. Where Laurie Halse Anderson was.

At first I didn’t see her, just walked in and sat on a folding chair. Once all my friends arrived, Isabella (part of my song group) pointed out an adult wearing a “There and Their. They’re not the same” shirt with glasses, and long brown hair; just sitting there looking bored. I looked up, and recognizing her from photos I shouted to my friends, “Guys, look! It’s Laurie Halse Anderson!” We all grabbed our favorite book we had brought written by her and ran up to her.

She was sitting at a desk, just off the side of the stage. No one else had noticed her, and offering our books and names she gladly signed our books, even though she wasn’t supposed to sign anything until after her speech. Thinking we were all that, we fluttered our freshly signed books at the rest of the anxious audience before sitting down. Then she started speaking; none of my friends and I noticed of course, we were too busy reading what she wrote. But we figured it out by all the clapping, whistling and shouting.

She. Was. AH-mazing. A natural born public speaker, completely at ease in front of a huge crowd. Everyone watched with their mouths hanging open as she revealed some of her scariest and most embarrassing secrets. Laurie was hilarious, and not at all shy to tell people what her opinions are.

At the end of the day, all the teachers, parents and students were herded back into the auditorium for the Award Ceremony. Having been previously informed that my group had got an honorable mention for our song, “Help Us Speak” inspired by Laurie’s book; Speak, we were all excited (My group; Toni Cameron, Isabella D’Urso, and of course, me). Needless to say, when they called our names and had us go up on stage in front of at least a thousand people and receive a check for fifty dollars, a book and handshake by Laurie Halse Anderson; we were shaking. Add a “Congratulations” from Laurie and it was one of the best days of my life. It only could have been better if Taylor Lautner was there.

And now for Alex and her friends' award-winning song!



And don't forget to check out what the rest of the Bookanistas are up to this week!

Nikki Katz has been hit by STRUCK

Katy Upperman adores AMEILA ANNE IS DEAD AND GONE - with ARC giveaway!

Jessica Love is thrilled by TRANSCENDENCE 

Christine Fonseca is celebrating the release of SURRENDER with a big giveaway!

Never Give Up, Never SURRENDER

I'm sure many of you already know this, but today is the release day for the amazingly talented Elana Johnson's new book SURRENDER. We've gotten together with some other authors to celebrate Elana and the incredible second book in the POSSESSION series.

Here's what Amazon has to say:

The thrilling and seductive sequel to Possession puts love on the line in a dystopian struggle for independent thought.

Forbidden love, intoxicating power, and the terror of control…

     Raine has always been a good girl. She lives by the rules in Freedom. After all, they are her father’s rules: He’s the Director. It’s because of him that Raine is willing to use her talent—a power so dangerous, no one else is allowed to know about it. Not even her roommate, Vi.

     All of that changes when Raine falls for Gunner. Raine’s got every reason in the world to stay away from Gunn, but she just can’t. Especially when she discovers his connection to Vi’s boyfriend, Zenn.

     Raine has never known anyone as heavily brainwashed as Vi. Raine’s father expects her to spy on Vi and report back to him. But Raine is beginning to wonder what Vi knows that her father is so anxious to keep hidden, and what might happen if she helps Vi remember it. She’s even starting to suspect Vi’s secrets might involve Freedom’s newest prisoner, the rebel Jag Barque….

LiLa's Take: The title of Elana's latest book has us waxing nostalgic about one of our most amazing writer friends. Elana befriended us way back when we were a couple of nobodies with a pile of rejections and a crappy query. Elana is one of those people whose kindness and generosity is contagious. She founded WriteOnCon, she wrote and queried tirelessly until all of her hard work landed her a dream agent and her dream publisher. She still takes the time to comment on blogs and support writers who are just getting started on their journey. Elana has never once surrendered, never given up, no matter what publishing has thrown her way. We are honored to know her and beyond excited to crack open our copy of SURRENDER.



And lucky for you, to celebrate, we've ordered three copies of SURRENDER and we're going to give away a copy to three commenters. Leave a comment about a time you never surrendered below and don't forget to enter the big, huge, epic contest over on Jamie Harrington's blog. Because it's awesome. Just like Elana.