TRANSCENDENCE Cover Reveal

So there have been several versions of this going around the web the past few weeks, but I'm happy to say that this is the final version of Transcendence, out June 5:


Ta da! Love how Griffon and Cole are portrayed on the cover - they're exactly as I imagined them to be and the crazy title font almost makes it look like it's moving.

I've been told there aren't that many ARCs (advanced reader copies for my non-pub industry friends) out there...want to win one? Head on over to these three blogs: Stalking the Book, Unputdownable Books or Wicked Awesome Books and comment on any of the posts (one entry per person) and we'll draw two ARC winners on March 14th.

Hope you love Transcendence as much as I do!

Where Am I?

I've been a very bad blogger. For the two of you who still pop by to check in from time to time, I apologize. Here's a little summary of where things stand right now:

* TRANSCENDENCE is coming! It will be out on June 5th and is available for pre-order from the usual locations - Barnes and Noble, Amazon, Powells and IndieBound. In many cases, it can be cheaper if you preorder, so feel free to order it before the release date. It should arrive on June 5, so we can all party together.

* If you're looking for an ARC (an uncorrected proof for my non-industry friends), I'm told they should be going out soon - everything is handled by my publicist at Walker/Bloomsbury, so contact them if you're interested. They are also up on NetGalley if you want an ecopy.

*The cover that is on the internet right now isn't the final cover. I love the couple on the cover and I'm not sure how much it will change, but we'll hopefully have a final reveal here in the next few weeks. For those of you in my real life, no the boy isn't my son (although he looks a lot like him and J hates it - hehehe).

*There will be lots of fun and special things happening around the release date in June. Stay tuned for giveaways, playlists and special extra chapters just to tease you a little more.

*I've been asked if there will be a release party. The answer is probably. Most likely in the same place that we had DIRTY LITTLE SECRETS here in my hometown, but nothing has been finalized. I'm not planning on touring at this point, but will do some local bookstores here in Northern California.

*We're revamping the website to include all of the special TRANSCENDENCE features as well as a new FAQ for DIRTY LITTLE SECRETS (I see what all of you Google search when you're trying to finish your homework!). This should launch sometime before the book, probably in May.

*I've turned in the manuscript for the sequel and am waiting for edits. As much as I love TRANSCENDENCE, I love the sequel just as much. We don't have a final title right now (it's up on Goodreads as FATED, but it will be renamed), but hopefully soon. It will be out in June of 2013. Can't wait!

*Just to pass the time (and because I think it's an awesome idea), I am working on a new book that's not associated with the TRANSCENDENCE titles. More on that later. Maybe.

If I haven't been here in awhile, you can always find me on FACEBOOK and I spend a ridiculous amount of time on Twitter (@cjomololu). Follow me on Twitter and you'll know more about me than you ever wanted to.

Thanks for dropping by!

And the Winner Is.....

MELINDA! (mbuttars83) You get the ARC of DITCHED, some bookmarks and super cute punk fairy tattoos.

Winners of the bookmarks and tattoos are:
Allison
Heidi
Small Review
Julie@My 5 Monkeys
Pam Harris

Congratulations to all of you!!!

Send your actual mailing addy to cyn@cjomololu.com and I'll get your prizes right out to you. If you didn't win, look for DITCHED on sale in January!

Giveaway-DITCHED by Robin Mellom

This is one of my very BFF's Robin Mellom:


Why yes, that is Gordon Korman in between us, but that is another story for another day. Robin is cute and smart and funny...all of the things that would make me hate her if I didn't like her so much. She also wrote a book called DITCHED that is coming out on January 10.

Justina Griffith was never the girl who dreamed of going to prom. Designer dresses and strappy heels? Not her thing. So she never expected her best friend, Ian Clark, to ask her.

Ian, who always passed her the baseball bat handle first.

Ian, who knew exactly when she needed red licorice.

Ian, who promised her the most amazing night at prom.

And then ditched her.

Now, she must piece together stain-by-stain on her thrift store dress—exactly how she ended up dateless…with only the help of some opinionated ladies at the 7-Eleven. But to get to the whole story, Justina will have to face the boy who ditched her. Can losing out at her prom ultimately lead to finding true love?

I'm always afraid to read books written by friends of mine. What if I don't like it? What if I have to avoid the subject every time I see them? Lucky for me, DITCHED is AWESOME, because otherwise it would be hard to just fake my enthusiasm for the next couple of years. And it is. Awesome. Fun and funny, quirky and poignant in all the right places. The premise is new and the writing is great - nobody else could make time spent in a 7-11 so riveting. I was dying to find out what happens to Justina and Ian and the end made me say awwww out loud.

Robin gave me one of her precious ARCs and has authorized me to give it away to one of you lucky blog readers. She also sent me some of the cool custom punk fairy tattoos (you have to read the book for this part to make sense), so in addition to the book, I will give away tattoos and bookmarks to 5 additional readers.

Comment before midnight on December 1st and I'll draw a random winner of the ARC and five more winners for the tattoos and bookmarks. You don't even have to say anything funny - just leave your name for the drawing. This international contest is open to anyone over the age of 13.

Cover Lovin'

I don't think there is any email subject line that can stop a writer's heart faster than "Here's your cover!". Most readers don't realize that authors aren't in charge of their covers and in many cases don't have any say at all. I'm happy that my publisher has kept me in the loop about my cover and often asks for my suggestions. Hopefully, we'll have a final cover to reveal here soon, but in the meantime, here are some of the covers that have been released in the past few weeks that I just love:










The only thing I can safely say about the cover for TRANSCENDENCE is that it won't have a girl in a pretty dress on the cover. Not because I'm against girls in pretty dresses, but Cole is more of a jeans-and-Vans girl. At least until book 2.

And....Done!

Ah, the two sweetest words in the English language - The End! I got to type those this afternoon and I feel like exhaled for the first time since late August.

The stats:

Days it took to complete first draft: 71
Length of first draft: 84,704 words
Average words per day: 1,193
Days skipped: 0
Days that I wanted to skip: 68
Coffee consumed: 177.5 large ones
Head-Desk sighs of frustration: countless
Number of times Naive by The Kooks was listened to: 234.3
Emergency email/texts to my support system (aka Daisy Whitney): 45 (approx)
Number of those occurring after midnight: a lot

At the end of the process, this is what the back of my sad, worn notebook looks like, full of food stains and coffee splotches:



And this is the infamous cork board, all filled up and happy:


So what's next? Well, tonight I'm going to sit down and watch my DVR'd episodes of Modern Family, Big Bang Theory and Hoarders. Tomorrow, I'm going to open the file to page 1 and start all over again, taking out the horrible parts and adding in some (hopeful) brilliance. If past experience is any guide, I'll probably take out several thousand words, but end up with about 10k more than I have now. Chapters will get switched around, threads will be deleted and expanded and characters may or may not survive to the final draft.

Yeah, in other words, the hard work has just begun.

So...How's It Goin?

As of this minute - 78,713 words and counting, or 259 pages for the normal people in the audience. Which means I'm about 10k from the end of the first draft of this book! I'm on Chapter 28, and I know what's going to happen for the next two chapters, which is always a relief. I have to say, forcing myself to sit down and write 1k every day has really worked, better than anything else I've ever tried.

I'll keep you posted when I type those two magic words that start with T and E. At which point I get to start over on page 1 and make it good.