Hey all! I'm Joy Preble, author of the Dreaming Anastasia series, the second of which, HAUNTED, is on shelves right now along with the eponymous (love that word!) first book, DREAMING ANASTASIA, which came out in '09 from Sourcebooks Fire. The third and final book of the trilogy is slated for Fall '12 and although the title is still being finalized, I think we have settled on ANASTASIA FOREVER, which I very much love. (the working title, which you have seen in various places including my own blog, had been Again and Again, but I'm crushing on the new title because it ties us back to the first. Stay tuned for the final decision!I have loved writing this series because it combines many of the things I adore: paranormal elements, a smidge of historical fiction, the sad tale of the Romanov family, Russian folklore (because it's sad and creepy and not at all happy), a mysterious and handsome hottie (that's Ethan in the series), and a kick ass girl hero - which is Anne. But as much as I've loved writing these books, I'm so excited to get book 3 out there next year and let you find out how it all turns out! Lots of juicy romance in this book, lots of great Anne and Ethan moments... plus a new folkloric character, Koschei the Deathless (who, btw, also plays a role in my British pal Sarwat Chadda's Dark Goddess!). And some time travel... and a body switch... and a fabulous fight scene in Chicago's Millennium Park!!
I hope you are all intrigued now and as thrilled as I am.
Additionally, I am happy, happy to announce that I have another paranormal in the works: THE SWEET DEAD LIFE -- about a sixteen year old stoner who returns from a fatal car accident as his dying sister's guardian angel and solves a vast family mystery -- will be out from the new Soho Teen imprint of Soho Press in Spring 2013. Wanna sneak preview? (who doesn't like sneak previews?) Then go here for the Soho Teen sampler (you'll have to click on the sampler link) which is now on line. You'll get to read about 30 pages of each of 6 books, including Sweet Dead Life, which is the 5th of the 6 in the sampler and preceded by a page about the project!
When I'm not writing, you can find me traveling (we just came back from Montana, Wyoming and Yellowstone National Park), reading, hanging with family and friends, going to the movies and currently finding a dog to adopt. (more on that soon!) I grew up in Chicago but I've been a Texas girl for awhile now (with a fave pair of cowboy boots to prove it) and you might catch me at my favorite Houston haunts: drinking a latte and eating deeeelicious cake at Empire Cafe on Westheimer, eating dim sum at one of those crazy palace size places on Bellaire, catching a movie at the venerable River Oaks theater and then deciding which Starbucks to go to since there are two at that corner, one on each side of the street!
And of course, coming up with spookilicious fun right here at Teen Shiver!
And now that I've told you my favorite places to hang out -- let me know yours. Comment on this post and tell me where you like to hang out or drink coffee or whatever. I'll enter everyone who comments and two lucky winners will win signed copies of HAUNTED! Let me hear from you!
Dang. Jealous of this giveaway haha. And im so excited for your latest sale! :) congrats!!
ReplyDeleteSo nice to meet you, Joy (although I think we're already pals on GoodReads)! You have such GORGEOUS book covers. I'll tweet this giveaway. Oh, and as for great dogs ... if you can find a lab, snatch it up. They're WONDERFUL family dogs. :) Congrats on the newest sale!
ReplyDeleteI love you Joy! Don't know if you remember me but I met you at the Teen Book Con in Houston. My mom stole your book from me and she love it.
ReplyDeletePlace I eat and hang out??? Hmmm, I know this sounds weird but I love to hang out in either my mom's kitchen or my mother in laws kitchen. Both of them are great lovely ladies that I love and adore. They always give me a snack to eat while I wait for them to cook and we always talk about books. They asked me what new books are out, what I've read, what authors I met, etc.
I'm glad that I have people to talk too about books. And it's funny cause when I see them again, they always ask," So what happen in the book. I need to know." I laugh as I begin telling them how the book ended.
OMG! Congrats on your Soho sale!!! They're lucky to have your crazy-awesome talent! :)
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness! I live in Houston too!!! I love the River Oaks theater. They have THE best caramel popcorn and great indie movies. Have you been to chinatown? There's this little ice cream place there that's AMAZING! It's west of Bellaire.
ReplyDeleteHi Joy !
ReplyDeleteI like to hang out at the usual suspects--Starbucks and Panera. Panera is really comforting.
When I was in college I used to love to go to this coffee shop Main Street Coffee or Crossroads Coffee. There were so many hipsters . . .lol. It was such an eclectic group of people and the coffee was delicious.
*off to read Teaser*
Congrats!!! HAUNTED sounds incredible awesome!!! I don't drink coffee but my favourite place would have to be...well I guess it would be anywhere my family and friends are. I get home sick quite easily so I like to spend most of my time at home. I'm not much of an "outdoors" person LOL. Oh well you know what they say home is where the heart is.
ReplyDeleteI also love the library. I can spend hours there. It feels so good to be surrounded by books and book lovers!
Thank you for the incredible giveaway!!
Congrats on the new book! I love the covers for your books, they're beautiful!
ReplyDeleteMy favorite places to hang out are, at the library (because I study/read a lot) plus for some strange reason I love the smell in libraries, and with my family playing board games or cards.
Thank you for doing a giveaway!
Congrats on the new book deal!! With work, a 3 yr old, and life it's hard to get away, but when I do I love meeting friends at Starbucks for coffee or even for cupcakes at Celebrity! in Houston. I do love to travel, though I don't get to do it much now.
ReplyDeleteHow did you like Montana? I've been to Missoula a couple times to see my family, love the summer weather up there.
If I had to pick my favorite place to hang out and read that I've been is a rose garden in Salzburg, Austria that I had the chance to visit MANY years ago.
Really, any quite place with windows and a comfortable chair is my ideal place to get lost in a book.
I so, so love this book cover! So gorgeous. And sounds so great.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite spot was a place I used to go when I lived in Natchitoches, LA. It was a bookstore/coffeeshop & they had cozy seats, coffees, desserts, & a cat! I miss it so much! More so when the lady at my local coffeeshop gives me the stink eye for staying too long. Grrr...
Thank you!
andreat78@yahoo.com
Congrats on the book, looks great and can't wait for the next one!
ReplyDeleteI've never really been one to hang out in shops or drink coffee for that matter. My favorite place to hang out is in my living room where there is no TV and everyone can just come sit around and joke around. Family and friends and more always welcomed. I also like to runaway there and read a good book.
Cathy
boriquaprincess@hotmail.com
Love the cover! Sounds like a good book. I'd love to read it.
ReplyDeleteI haven't hung out in so long its pitiful (other than my couch). There is this coffee place here call The Frothy Monkey I've been trying to get to for weeks, sounds like a hang out spot. Thanks for the giveaway!
NaKesha @ Totally Obsessed
Congrats on the new book! I love the covers for your books, they're beautiful!
ReplyDeleteMy favorite places to hang out are, at the library (because I study/read a lot) Thanks for the giveaway! rogcaprino at hotmail dot com
Oh boy! Two of my favorite things! Coffee and contests! Haha! I'd love to win a copy of Haunted. By the way, The Sweet Dead Life sounds great! I also am happy to announce that I've awarded Teen Shiver with the One Lovely Blog Award! Yay! Congrats Texas peeps! Details are over here. I can't wait to hear about what y'all will be doing next!
ReplyDeleteOh, and I love to hang out and drink caramel macchiatos at this wonderful music/bar/coffeehouse near my college campus. It's called Satori. But when I'm at home, I go to Latte Da, which is inside a family owned bookstore. Both places are particularly awesome.
ReplyDeleteI live in Maryland and work in Baltimore. There is cafe near the water in the inner harbor that has the best hot chocolate and French pastries called Bonaparte, it's worth checking!
ReplyDeleteThanks for saying hi everybody!! I wish there were more than two signed book prizes, so stay tuned for another contest... maybe when I get ARCs of the third Dreaming Anastasia book! But the two people that the contest hat has chosen to win the copies of HAUNTED are: Andrea and Jaskirat!! If you could both email me at joypreble at gmail dot com with your mailing addresses, that would be awesome! And to everyone else, it was awesome hearing from you and finding out where you like to hang. Go Teen Shiver!!
ReplyDelete