News
There's still time to enter
Lisa McMann's contest as well as
Kelly Parra's contest (in fact, Kelly's isn't doing so well right now, so please enter!!).
Also, if you're missing my reviews, go
here to check out my review of The Awakening by Kelley Armstrong! Most of my reviews this month will be happening over there on the side blog, so be sure to follow me or bookmark the page!
Bio
P.J. Hoover is the author of The Emerald Tablet and its forthcoming sequel, The Navel of the World, due out this October. The final book in the trilogy, The Necropolis, will be out in Fall 2010. P.J. has a master's degree in electrical engineering from Virginia Tech. She currently lives in Austin, TX with her husband, two kids, Yorkshire Terrier Cissy, and two sulcata tortoises, King Tort and Nefertorti.
Guest BlogFirst, a huge, Happy Anniversary to Book Chic! Two years sticking with anything is fantastic—especially something like blogging where thought and interaction are actually required.
Reviews. So here's my history of reviews in a nutshell:
1) Wrote THE EMERALD TABLET.
2) Signed a three book contract.
3) Joined The Class of 2k8.
4) Never gave reviews any thought at all. Yes, call me ignorant, but really, I never read reviews, and never, ever thought about receiving them.
***Commence talk amongst The Class of 2k8 about who's reviewing what and wanting to read each others' books***
Realization hits that other human beings will actually be reading THE EMERALD TABLET. This is one of those panic-setting-in moments when my heart starts to pound, and I wonder what the heck I am doing actually publishing a book. Ack!
But there's no turning back now.
5) Begin following and reading reviews of other books. Begin getting requests for my ARCs by reviewers. Still, as I have no ARCs yet, this is not a problem.
6) TLA 2008 - ARCs of THE EMERALD TABLET are handed out. People are actually holding my words in their hands. And they begin to get mailed.
Silence falls. Nobody has read it. I'm safe.
And then I get an email from someone who picked up an ARC, read it, and actually liked it. This was a turning point for me. Someone with no face has read my book and has bothered to let me know. WOW.
7) Read some really bad reviews of other books online. Panic again hits. OMG. What if someone hates it!
And then the panic settles, and I realize if this is the worst that will happen, I can handle it.
By now, ARCs are getting into the hands of reviewers. And I realize these reviewers are some of the nicest people in the whole world. They aren't getting paid to review books. They're doing it because they want to promote reading and kids' books across the world. They ask for books, they read them, and they want to talk about them. How cool is that?
So now a brief mention on interviews. Pretty neat when someone has not only read my book, but they want to ask me questions, also.
Book Chic had my number one favorite interview question ever:
In the spirit of the season, what's your favorite Halloween candy?
Yes, I realize this question has nothing to do with writing or with THE EMERALD TABLET, but it has to do with me. Like how cool is it that someone wants to know something so fun about me? (And it's the candy corn, BTW.)
My second favorite interview question came from Saundra Mitchell, author of Shadowed Summer:
So, not to open a can of worms or anything, but- Bob Brier v Zahi Hawass- your take. Was Tutankhamen murdered, or was the Boy King just an unfortunate victim of pre-modern medicine? Like she researched me on my website and tailored her questions just for me.
So I want to make a huge thank you to Book Chic and the whole community of blogging reviewers and interviewers. You guys rock! Without you, what would we authors do? You're priceless and will never be replaced, no matter how much the industry or technology changes.
Thank you!
Contest
P.J. has graciously offered up a hardcover copy of The Emerald Tablet and an advance copy of The Navel of the World to one lucky commenter! All you have to do is leave a comment below by Sunday, June 14 at 8pm EST. I will notify the winner by Myspace email that night. Good luck to everyone!