antigoddess Archives - Kendare Blake

Posts Tagged ‘antigoddess’

ANTIGODDESS paperback cover!

They're here! The fancy schmancy new clothes the Goddess War books will be wearing! Okay, so it's just the first one, the paperback cover for ANTIGODDESS:

antigoddess-cmp-tpb-5

Thoughts? I like the way the owl in the nearest branch is staring at Athena. I like to imagine he is saying, "Yeah, thems my feathers. Comin outcha ya throat. And your ribs. Andja eye-balls." Because I like to imagine he has the same voice as the CPR instructor from Family Guy.

I also enjoy how the "G" seems to have gone right on ahead and stabbed somebody. Which is what a true G would do.

Back yesterday from Florida and a lovely school visit with extremely talented and thoughtful students. My howdy, they know how to do some mean charades in Delray Beach.

Slice of non-writing life: my beloved car, affectionately named 'Spot' was sitting in a mall parking lot the other day minding his own business, when someone jumped the curb and smashed into him, killing him instantly. Spot, you will be missed. Thank goodness that his car buddies, a small plastic Moose named "Goat", and a hand-painted wooden snail named "Frank N. Furter" were not harmed, or I would have been forced to rage out on the lovely gentleman who was not obeying traffic laws.

I'm kidding. Don't road rage on anyone, obviously. That shit is dangerous.

Also unrelated: read an article while waiting at the airport about how some dude wrote an article saying girls with short hair were damaged. Deranged. Abrasive. Because long hair is obviously attractive to men and a girl who would chop off those sexytimes locks is clearly not in the right state of mind.

That article seemed like linkbait, but still, to the guy who may or may not really feel this way, there are lots of mature responses. But this is mine:

How bout you shut your stupid face, guy who doesn't know about the hundred or so reasons someone will do something to their hair!

Besides, if we're going to question hair choices, why not start with the rat tail? Offensive to rats? Or just turtlenecks? Discuss.

Twelve Days to Book Release.

No movie quote today. Not next week either. I'll get back to them, but for now I'm going plainspeak.

Antigoddess comes out in twelve days. Right about now is the part where I feel like I should be doing more than whatever it is I'm doing. It's hard to sit back, and let go, and understand that right about now is when it's all out of my hands. Right about now, all I can do is not flip out, and thank people for giving Antigoddess a try.

Or, I could summon favors from the dark demon gods of Nor.

Hmm. Perhaps later.

On the 9th or the 10th, when Antigoddess actually comes out, I'm going to post a contest type thank you thing. The prizes will be three advance (way WAY advance) reservations for ARCs of ARISTEIA (Goddess War #2), and feather bookmarks, and some kind of treat, and I'll name a character after you or a friend, and/or I'll put your pet in a book.

I don't know what the entry rules will be, but rest assured it will be something that will give me great joy while I'm on the road. I'm selfish like that.

Now I'm off to hide for another 12 days. Luckily, there's been a lot of stuff lately that's good distraction from pre-release anxiety. Like the Bat-Fleck. What the fuck, Chuck? I don't care if Matt Damon endorses you, I shall cross my arms and scowl until I'm sitting in the theater and hear the first strains of your gritty Bat voice. Then I'll probably forget about the whole thing. Because you can't be worse than Clooney.

I love Clooney, but he was the least Batmanny of all of the Batmen. And that includes Adam West.

There was also that Miley Cyrus on the VMA's thing, which I guess was distracting, but now I keep seeing that face she made everywhere. And close ups of her butt.

Oh yeah, I finally saw one thing in the previews for INSIDIOUS 2 that actually looks interesting: the part where Patrick Wilson has a lamp and the guy says there's someone in front of him saying "He's got your baby! He's got your baby!" This thing at the 2 minute mark. But they already fooled me into seeing INSIDIOUS based on one cool thing from the trailer:

This red thing. What is that thing? I want it.

So nice try, Insidious 2. But I can only be fooled once or twice or more.

A new catson! And ANTIGODDESS ARC giveaway with swag! (Ends Friday, July 12th.)

So this is a long and rambling giveaway post. I should probably break it out into more than one, but being the infrequent blogger I am, this is how it goes. First off, we had a minor freak out last week when we thought Tybalt was losing weight. There were several possible explanations for this (having his fangs removed, a recent food change, stress) however, I immediately assumed he was dying the horrible death of the dead. After much obsessing, and a knee-jerk vet appointment he never made it to, we determined the likely culprit was all of the above, plus being lonely after losing his cat brother, Mojo Jojo this winter. The solution? A new catson. Everyone, meet Tyrion Cattister:

Originally, we were told he was a girl, so his name was Cersei Cattister. But then we brought him home and I noticed, well…nuts. I said, "better change his name to Tyrion." And Dylan said, "Those aren't nuts; she's a girl." And I said, "Listen, I think I know cat testicles when I see them." And then neither one of us knew what to do with that statement. Tyrion and Tybalt (we didn't do the "T-Y" matching thing on purpose) are getting along famously, after some fangless hissing. And I become skeptical that Tybalt was ever losing weight in the first place, because that kitten makes him look enormous, and his fat ass is putting my legs to sleep as I type this.

The one thing you can be sure of with a name like Tyrion Cattister, I'll never put him in a book. Which leads me to hint at another contest I'm running at the time of ANTIGODDESS' release. I'm running out of pets to put in books, is what I'm saying. I'm going to need to mine yours. It will be the "can I put your pet in my books?" contest.

But for now, let's segue into THIS contest: an ANTIGODDESS ARC with signed feather bookmark!

There are 2 ARCs up for grabs. I had three, but someone had a reading-related tragedy, and I was moved to help. So these are the last 2 I've got.

NOT SO FAST THOUGH!

First, you have to listen to my history lesson to find out how to comment. Why? Because, I'm a jerk, that's why.

In Antigoddess, there is a lot of allusion to the Trojan War. It's one of my favorite subjects, and the three goddesses at the heart of the story factor in pretty large in The Goddess War. Just in case you're unfamiliar with how the Trojan War started, here's a quick refresher:

One day, the gods were hanging around on Olympus, doing whatever the frick they do when they're not wreaking havoc or boning each other, and the goddess Discord (who nobody liked to hang out with because…well, discord is unpleasant) tossed a golden apple at them with a tag marked "To the Fairest."

For whatever reason (fruit shortage?) all the goddesses went Belieber crazy over the apple, until it came down to a final three: Athena, Hera, and Aphrodite. But how do you determine the fairest goddess of all?

Easy. You make a mortal teenage boy judge them like cows. I guess.

This unlucky chap was Prince Paris of Troy, who you are probably familiar with because of the famous story of Helen of Troy, or because of Orlando Bloom's butt cheeks in the film, Troy. Unfortunately for Paris, instead of allowing him to judge them fairly for their…er…fairness…each goddess offered a bribe.

Athena promised him he would become a great hero, and have great glory on the battlefield.

Hera promised him riches, and a vast kingdom.

Aphrodite promised him the most beautiful woman in the world.

He chose the hot chick, and as a result, pissed off Hera and Athena, and they pretty much ruined his life and the lives of his whole family. Killed his dad, had Achilles murder his brother Hector, sister Cassandra taken as a slave and murdered later (though she was sort of screwed already…as outlined in Antigoddess). Troy fell, chaos reigned, Aphrodite made the apple into one super-sized and very heavy earring…

SO, HERE'S HOW TO ENTER! Put yourself in Paris' place. Who would you choose, if you were offered the bribes? Why? Would you choose Athena's offer? It would be way cool to be a hero, to have a great destiny and kickass adventures. What kind of hero would you be?

Would you choose Hera's riches and power? Maybe spend your days Kardashian-ing it up poolside?

Would you choose the most beautiful girl, or boy? Snag yourself a…a…man, I'm out of touch. Who passes for hot these days?

This giveaway is international, and you can enter for multiple entries: comment below, comment on the ANTIGODDESS Facebook entry, Tweet the contest mentioning @KendareBlake, or comment at the GoodReads mirror post. I'll draw two random winners next Friday, July 12th. Good luck, and I look forward to your answers 🙂

At a Daiye spa for a week (BEA, Klindt’s, events, nap time.)

I think the quote from Zoolander is something like, Derek to Matilda: "You can't just come in here, demanding sex and then changing your mind, telling someone they've been at a day spa for a week…."

That's how I feel, after returning from my first Book Expo America and my second YA Day at Klindt's Bookstore in The Dalles, Oregon. Not the demanding sex part. Or the changing my mind part. But like I've been at a day spa for a week. Invigorated. Refreshed. Jelly-legged. With a sort of warped sense of what time and day it is.

Book Expo was terrific. Only there for a blink of an eye, but long enough to be wowed by librarians at a librarian's dinner, blown away by the kindness of people who stood around in a long line for me to sign just one copy of ANTIGODDESS, (wish I could have talked to each one much longer), have a few too-short visits with my publicist and great editors at Tor (my editor, Mel, was struck down by strep throat. Felt terrible for her. Strep throat sucks like a sucker.)

For everyone who has asked about Anna Dressed in Blood movie news, I don't have any. I did meet with Meghan Hibbett, who runs Fickle Fish Films with Stephenie Meyer. It was way cool, and she is way fun, and such a fan of the book that she went as Anna for Halloween last year. The wait for the movie will be long, but I have no doubt it is in good hands. I mean come on, she likes Game of Thrones and Fringe. She told me stories about reading Anna at the same time as Stephenie, and I listened and thought, "this is a person who is enthusiastic enough about Anna Dressed in Blood that she wants to create it again in another medium." It was a brief walk in crazy weirdsville.

Then it was off to YA Day at fabulous Klindt's bookstore in The Dalles. I love that store. Now, back home, ready to get back to work. It's time.

In the upcoming weeks, I hope to have stops nailed down for the ANTIGODDESS tour this September. It's strange, getting ready for this new thing. Getting ready to talk about Cassandra and Athena. I love them both for different reasons. One day when there's more time, maybe I'll write about why. I certainly hope I can think of something to say to anyone kind enough to come out for a tour stop, or there will be just a lot of improvised dance.

You don't want to see my improvised dance.

ANTIGODDESS ARCs are here! So I’m giving some away!

So, this title is pretty self-explanatory. I have ARCs of ANTIGODDESS, and I'm giving some away. Three of them, this first round. I'll do a second round later, when I'm not so frazzled in between travel and can think of something fun (for myself) to do with it.

Here's a crappy photo to serve as physical proof of their existence:

Here's how to enter! First, qualifications. 1. Be a reader. Are you a reader? Excellent. Then you are kickass, and have an unalienable right to walk shoulders back and nose to ceiling.

Now, for the actual how: Leave a comment here. And/Or at the official ANTIGODDESS Facebook page. This gives you the ability to enter TWICE. And I would so much appreciate if you would like the page. Never done one of these here Facebook pages for the books before. Anna has one, but someone else set it up, and that is awesome.

Wait, wait, there's more how. In your comment, you have to tell me your favorite deity. Can be a Greek god, or their Roman counterpart, or Egyptian, or Hindu, or Norse, or whatever. It can be She-Ra. She totally counts. It can be Batman. Why not? But if you say The Wonder Twins, there will be debate.

Three ARCs are up for grabs. I hope you enjoy the read. I hope you enjoy it enough to recommend it to others, or ask your local library to stock it. If you happen to enjoy it enough to pre-order, remember I'm doing bookplates for everyone who emails me with their order info (not like credit card info or personal stuff, just where you ordered!) to kendareblake@yahoo.com. US only, because, postage. Which reminds me.

This giveaway is US only. Winners will be randomly drawn on Thursday, May 9th!!! And thank you so much, for wanting to give ANTIGODDESS a try.

I want a name, I want it so it can cut glass, you know, razor sharp. (Celebration! Announcements!)

Those of you film aficionados will know that the title today is from Boogie Nights, when Mark Wahlberg is trying to choose his porn name. I picked it for a reason. Hang with me.

But first, I finished a book today. Pretty much right now. ANTIGODDESS 3, in the can. And I will whoop and holler about it, because it is freshly finished, and I always allow one day for it to feel perfect before I go back and fix everything that is inevitably wrong with it. Later, my editor will fix everything else. Four times or so.

But today! Today it is perfect! It is rock solid, going down to Chinatown perfect. If that is a thing.

So, to celebrate, I'm going to announce some stuff, because why not. How about some trilogy titles? So I no longer have to call the books ANTIGODDESS 2 and ANTIGODDESS 3? See why I chose the "razor sharp" name-related movie quote? Hanging with me pays off.

Okay, so, *drumroll* the second book is officially titled:

ANTIGODDESS 2: The Return of Dirk Diggler.

and the third is:

ANTIGODDESS 3: The Revenge of Chest Rockwell.

Not really. But that would be awesome. Book two's title is actually ARISTEIA. What the hell is an aristeia? Well, I'll tell you. It's the moment in an epic poem like The Iliad where a hero has their finest, bloodiest battle. Like an exhibition of badassery. A time when they've never killed so much before, or killed it so very, very dead. When they're untouchable. When they're almost gods.

Book three is called FATALISTE. Because…because…because it's a pretty word, and I like it. Not everything has to be super deep, you know what I'm saying?

Another bit of announcement, the Goddess War series will release pretty quick. Very little time between books. Maybe six months, or eight. Excellent. I hope you enjoy lots of books, flying at you.

And another bit of announcement: the Goddess War series has been picked up by my UK/AZ publisher, Hachette/Orchard! I think they're releasing about the same time! And also, should be in Greece! And Anna Dressed in Blood and Girl of Nightmares are headed to Greece! Which is great, because I love Greece. There are many photos of me doing posing like fine Greek statues or mugging it in front of the Acropolis. Souvlaki rules.

And just one more thing. If you have pre-ordered ANTIGODDESS already I want to say thank you. So if you have, and would like a signed bookplate and/or doodle, please email me at kendareblake@yahoo.com with your name, address and doodle requests, and tell me where you pre-ordered from. Fair warning, I doodle for crap. But I'll do it, if you want it. Expect stick figures. This is limited to US only residents, because, well, Postage!

Also, this is not to entice people to pre-order if they weren't going to. It's just meant as a thank you, for those supporting my writing, and wanting to read it, and helping the Goddess War get a running start. There will be a formal pre-order/release week thank you contest running later on. Those of you who request bookplates now can still enter that one. You just won't get two bookplates. Unless you order two copies of ANTIGODDESS. I'll do a bookplate for every copy.

I probably don't have to say this, because you guys are excellent, but no being sneaky and getting bookplates for an old copy of Anna or Girl of Nightmares. I might do that at some point, but this one is just for ANTIGODDESS pre-orders.

PS, those wondering what the H a bookplate is, it's a square sticker that I can personalize and sign, and you can stick it in your book to make it a signed copy.

ANTIGODDESS cover roundup!

I've never done a cover reveal before. Not really. With Anna and Girl I just slapped them up on the old Livejournal and called it a day. But I enjoy seeing cover reveals for other books and reading about how the cover came to be, etc, so since bloggers are excellent I thought I'd try to a blogger reveal. But I'm still slapping it up on the old Livejournal (which seems to have undergone a makeover, though I doubt that will matter to the goat much):

Hello, little owl eyeballs.

And here's a list of blogs, and what they're doing:

IceyBooks – Girl of Nightmares US Giveaway

Novel Sounds – I made an ANTIGODDESS playlist

Cuddlebuggery – Crazy interview and hilarious fake covers, plus US giveaway (Anna and Girl)

Peace, Love, Teen Fiction – I do something weird here (so nothing new) and talk about the cover like I fell into it. ALso, International Giveaway, because the Penguin fears no post offices!

Chick Loves Lit – Reveal by the excellent Shanyn, who is still too scared to read my books.

The Book Rat – Grabby hands Spike and an inappropriate story about Anna and ANTIGODDESS's Lady Problems

Kari's Crowded Bookshelf – Interview and talk about how I came up with the title.

Birth of a New Witch – Reveal

That's most of them. Others should post later, but all are amazing and I am grateful for their willingness to feature the cover! I hope you like the cover, and more importantly, what goes underneath it.

In sad news, my uber old flip phone finally broke this week, forcing me to get one of those new fangled smart phones. RIP, old, loyal phone I could drop in the pool and never charge….the new phone I have named Charizard. Because it's a willful dick.

I Know You Are But What Am I? (I’m done, that’s what I am. ANTIGODDESS 2 in the can.)

So, I guess take that Pee Wee Herman. I don't know why I used that quote. It's not like I've recently watched Big Adventure or anything. I did just recently watch The Lost Boys, but I couldn't make "Death By Stereo" work in any sort of context.

Back on track, ANTIGODDESS 2 is in the can. And by that I mean, first draft done. Now it'll sit for awhile and I'll tackle all the things about it that I know already need to be fixed. Smoothed. Rewritten entirely. This makes me think of lots of things, like alcohol, and video game-type rewards. But mostly it makes me think about the act of finishing a book.

Finishing a book. And not reading one. But writing one. As National Novel Writing Month hits its stride, I imagine soon a lot of people will be experiencing this particular phenomenon. And it is a phenomenon. A big, huge, stinking, crazy, important deal. But it's also very solitary. For a lot of us anyway. Even if a novel ends with an explosion, with a pile of bloody bodies, all it ends with in this world is that last keystroke. That last quiet mouse click. No ticker tape parade. No alarms sound. And then, in the silence, that thing you've been working with so closely, that you've been living and breathing and obsessing for such an intense period of time, is over.

It's weird, is all I'm saying. And I hope it always stays that weird. Although I do wish I was back in London this year, as today is Guy Fawkes Day, and instead of burying myself in pasta like I'm going to in about thirty minutes, I could walk up to Alexandra Palace with a bottle of bubbly and pretend all those splendiferous fireworks were for me.

Good luck to all in their NaNo and non-NaNo endeavors. Celebrate the completion of every work well. But don't forget to feel the weird. The weird is important too.

Should be seeing some cover art for ANTIGODDESS 1 soon. Very excited. There's a fun little story about more "lady problems" on the cover. And, Anna Dressed in Blood is releasing next week in Germany. Neat.

Parting piece of random: the resurgence of Furby popularity has given me horrifying flashbacks of Bret Easton Ellis' LUNAR PARK. If you've read this fantastic piece of fiction, you know why. If you haven't, well, what the heck?

My foot hurts. Can I go to the nurse? (The Big Easy, and The Big Apple.)

The quote is from Clueless. When poor Miss Geist is asking for feedback from the class and that's all she can get out of Elton. Because Elton, was a butt.

I don't know why I'm using it. Maybe because I just got back from vacation, and a trip to the Brooklyn Book Festival, and now I've got post-vacation malaise. I should be getting back to work, but I just want to raise my hand and ask to go to the nurse. Where I could lay on one of those nice, quiet cots all through the math test. Ah, memories.

Anyway, vacation was a blast trip to New Orleans, with my brother, my best friend (who he's been dating for a long period of disgusting time) and of course, my husband Dylan. I hoped for great Creole cooking, beignets, a ghost tour, a fortune telling, relaxing days, booze, and perhaps being dragged around by a mule. I got almost all of that.

And, we all got tattoos. For many years, I've wanted to get a tattoo of part of Hector's speech from Book 6 of the Iliad. After I wrote ANTIGODDESS, I told myself that if the book sold, I could get it. And then if the book didn't sell, I guess I didn't have to have a needle repeatedly jammed into my back, so…bright side? Anyway, the book sold last year, and now I have the tattoo, in Greek, commemorating the series.

Dylan got the Ghostbusters symbol. I like to pretend that it's commemorating the Anna series, even though it isn't, and Cas would really be annoyed.

In book world, I got to see my agent in person, and got a tour of the Tor offices in the Flatiron Building. I also got to see the first (and rejected before I ever saw it) cover of ANTIGODDESS. It was striking, and bold, but the team was right. Even though it was a beautiful cover, it wasn't quite right for this particular book. So, they've gone back to the drawing board, which has moved the release date from August 2013 to September. I hear they should be coming up with something else very soon.

I also may have made an obscene gesture during a panel discussion…but that's neither here nor there.

Got a shiny ARC of BREAKING POINT by Kristen Simmons. Jealous? I'm not letting it go either. Because I, like Elton, am a butt. Or I might, because I'll probably need someone to gush to about it before February. And now, my foot hurts. Can I go to the nurse?

If You Ask Me, Ren Is a Total Fox

Well nobody asked you. Ren is not a total fox. I love me some Kevin Bacon, but not in THAT way.

Why the Kevin Bacon quote? Because at dinner the last night I was at the Decatur Book Festival (prepare for namedrops) with Jackson Pearce, Margaret Stohl, David Levithan, Dan Krokos, Vicky Alvear Schecter, Rebecca Stead, Vaniya Stoyanova and Barry Lyga, the conversation briefly wandered onto Kevin Bacon's junk.

It was a long table. I didn't hear much of it. But it was about the nude scene from Wild Things. And I guess…congratulations are in order? So, congratulations, Mr. Bacon. But you're still not a fox.

THIS IS THE BOOK TOUR POST. Just a brief recap. I'm going to work backwards and start with Decatur.

It was excellent. I ate pork cheek tacos. It sounds like a mean meat, but fear not, I have done penance with several vegetarian meals since then. Got to hang out and listen to presentations by the incredible authors listed above. Got to talk at some excellent schools where I may or may not have said some naughty words, and am very sorry about that teachers it just slipped out. Hammed it up on stage and got to tell my long awaited turtle-saving story. Ah yes. I am a turtle saver.

THE GIRLS NIGHTMARE OUT TOUR WITH LISA DESROCHERS AND MARTA ACOSTA!

I'm so glad I had these ladies to hang with. They're amazing. Read the Personal Demons series and Dark Companion if you haven't. And then tell me how Dark Companion is, because I haven't read it yet either, but after hearing Marta read from it I'm dying to.

Highlights: Ferris Buellering around Chicago with Marta while Lisa feverishly worked on TOP SECRET projects in her hotel room. Relaxing over post event drinks and swapping war stories. Librarians dressed up as ANNA:

In short, it was cool and I was glad to meet everyone. I'm out one more time in two weeks at the Brooklyn Book Festival, where I'll be paneling with Andrea Cremer, Malinda Lo and moderated by Jessica Shirvington. Then I'm huddled over a screen feverishly completing ANTIGODDESS #2.

Hard to get back into the swing of writing. I had to take all of July off from it to get ANTIGODDESS through edits. Now the book keeps showing me flashes of possibilities and they're all sort of upsetting. But there's no telling where it's going until it gets there.

I will finish this book by November. I will. (I won't.)

But on a personal note, I must. Because we are losing one of our catsons to liver cancer, and I'm going to be pretty much out of commission for a bit after that. I'm hoping he'll make it through the holidays, but who knows. It's not Tybalt. It's his brother, Mojo Jojo. Mojo is one of those weird cats who plays fetch and knows what the word "no" means. And actually respects it. So…not really a cat at all.

Oh crap, almost forgot. If anyone is reading this from the UK, and is wondering when Girl of Nightmares will come out there, I'm pretty sure it's in June.