2015 was a wild, jam-packed year.
It left me tired, and breathless, and ever so grateful.
And as 2015 was winding down I was finally able to finish the  draft of THE BEAUTY OF DARKNESS, Book 3 of The Remnant Chronicles! Hooray!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Milestone achieved!
Here's a Flipagram (My first one! Are you on Flipagram?) which gives you a quick glimpse of 2015--and what it's like writing a first draft while a whole LOT of other stuff is going on!
Deep. Breath.
THANK YOU to all of you who helped make 2015 an amazing year.  I loved that I got to meet so many new fans, and reconnect with old ones! And continued thanks for your blogs, tweets, instagrams, book tubes, and all the ways you spread the word about The Remnant Chronicles and embraced Lia, Rafe, and Kaden's world. YOU are the best.

And now 2016 is starting out with a bang!
MORRIGHAN, my e-novella which is a prequel to The Remnant Chronicles, is out on January 12!!! I'm very excited!  It's an ebook and there are lots of places where you can preorder and download it. My publisher has more information HERE on the remnantchronicles.com site.

I hope you love this tale the way I do. It started out as a short story, but then the characters of Morrighan and Jafir took hold of my heart, and a hundred pages later I was still engrossed in their world and lives. I learned their secrets, their hopes, and their sorrows even as I wrote the story. It was both heartbreaking and a joy to watch it unfold.

MORRIGHAN, is about the girl Morrighan, who is the namesake of Lia's kingdom, and also about Jafir, a boy from a clan of scavengers, two young people trying to survive on their own terms in a world that has been devastated by disaster. When they meet, history is changed forever, both for them and all the kingdoms of the Remnant yet to come.

Before borders were drawn, before treaties were signed,
before wars were waged anew,
before the great kingdoms of the Remnant were even born
and the world of old was only a hazy slate of memory told in story and legend,
a girl and her family fought to survive. And that girl’s name was Morrighan.
​

 So to celebrate a new year and two new books on the horizon, I think it's time for a giveaway! Don't you?  
Enter for a chance to win one prize package that includes:
One signed paperback of
​The Kiss of Deception
One signed map/poster
Remnant Chronicles Stickers

Go #TeamLIA!

Thank you for marking your calendars for January 12 and the e-novella MORRIGHAN!

​Happy New Year all! I hope the coming year brings you peace and the best kinds of challenges.

​XO

Putting it out there right now--this post is all about wild THANKS!!!

While on tour I got the incredible, amazing news that THE HEART OF BETRAYAL made the  New York Times Bestseller List!!!!! 

So . . . to all the fans who blogged, shouted, tweeted, shared, and spread the news in all possible ways--and of course read The Kiss of Deception and The Heart of Betrayal--YOU made it happen!
THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And THANK YOU to my amazing publisher who made this book so beautiful and touchable and sent me out on tour to meet face to face so many awesome fans, booksellers, and librarians. It was so much fun to talk with you and hear your thoughts (and hunches, hopes, and guesses) on Lia, Rafe, Kaden, and the Remnant world!

And special THANKS to these bloggers who just hosted my blog tour! Many of them still have giveaways going on, so go visit their sites--and learn some insights too!

Tale of Ravenous Readers - Playlist for The Heart of Betrayal
Two Chicks on Books - An improved menu for Lia
Too Fond of Books - Interview
Eater of Books - Character Names
Step into Fiction - Review
Fierce Reads Tumblr - Pinterest Visuals for the Remnant Chronicles
BookiEmoji - Geographic Inspirations
My Friends Are Fiction - #TeamLia
A Perfection Called Books - Vendan Culture
Stuck in YA Books - Review
FictionFare - Review
Belle of the Literati - Literary Heroines

Also, THANK YOU to all these bookstores who hosted me on tour! There may still be signed books available at some of these stores if you'd like a signed copy. Check with them!

Books of Wonder, New York NY
Anderson’s Bookshop, Naperville IL
Watermark Books, Wichita KS
Tattered Cover Aspen Grove, Littleton CO
Kepler’s, Menlo Park CA
Books Inc, Burlingame CA
Barnes and Noble, Mira Mesa CA
Mysterious Galaxy, San Diego CA
Blue Willow, Houston TX
Barnes & Noble, Irving TX
BookPeople, Austin TX

THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!

Now . . . back to work!

XOXOX

Tomorrow is the big day! 

The Heart of Betrayal will be here!

THANK YOU to all of you who have been shouting out, sharing your excitement, and spreading the word for this book. I am enormously grateful!

Lots of things happening this week to celebrate! I will be leaving on tour--both real and virtual.  Some awesome bloggers will be hosting me at their sites (thank you!!) with all manner of insights and tidbits about The Heart of Betrayal.  And there will be giveaways! The schedule is posted below. I hope you will drop by their sites and leave a comment!

I am also hitting the real road.  First stop, Books Inc. in Burlingame, CA for a launch party! The celebrations will continue at more stores and venues including Comic Con in San Diego. See that full schedule below too!

Sending you flowers and cheers and all kinds of thanks for your support!!  XO

The tour continues to launch THE HEART OF BETRAYAL on July 7! I'm so excited!! Here's the schedule of coming stops and events. Swag! Sweets! Secrets! More guests and moderators! Awesome bookstores, libraries, and SDCC! The only thing missing is YOU! But you'll be there, right?!!!

Can't wait to see you!

And here's a few pictures from previous stops and events . . .

. . . there will also be a drawing at each stop on the tour and ONE lucky attendee will win this custom designed charm made just for The Remnant Chronicles world! It's about five inches long, and let me tell you, it's gorgeous. I'm hanging mine from a belt loop, or maybe a necklace--or maybe both!

While on tour, I'll be explaining the symbolism behind the elements in this "remembrance chain," specifically how it plays out in The Heart of Betrayal.


So . . . *drumroll* to help spread the word and kick off the tour, I am giving away one of these beautiful charms here, along with a signed paperback of The Kiss of Deception! All you have to do to enter for a chance to win is:
1. Leave a comment on this post.
2. Follow me on Twitter and share the tweet in the Rafflecopter entry form below.

One winner, and yes, open to international!

TOUR STOPS . . .
Celebrating  June 2nd publication of The Kiss of Deception paperback!

Sunday, June 7 -  4pm
Books of Wonder, New York NY (with YA author Marie Rutkoski!)
Tuesday, June 9 -  7pm
Anderson’s Bookshop, Naperville, IL
Wednesday, June 10 -  6pm
Watermark Books, Wichita KS (with YA author Bethany Hagen!)
Thursday, June 11 -  7pm
Tattered Cover Aspen Grove, Littleton CO
Friday, June 12 -  7pm
Kepler’s, Menlo Park, CA (with Book Blogger Nancy Sanchez!)

More stops to celebrate July 7th publication The Heart of Betrayal!

Tuesday, July 7 -  7pm
Books Inc, Burlingame, CA
Wednesday, July 8 - 7pm
Barnes and Noble, Mira Mesa CA
Thursday and Friday, July 9-10
San Diego Comic Con - more details to come!
July 11 and 12
SoCal appearances To Be Announced!
Wednesday, July 15 -  7pm
Blue Willow, Houston TX
Thursday, July 16, times to be announced
Irving Public Library Summer Event, Panel and Teen Party, Irving TX
Friday, July 17 -  7pm
BookPeople, Austin TX (with Book Blogger Mundie Moms!)

I REALLLLLY hope I get to meet you at one of these events!

XO

Three months from today The Heart of Betrayal will be out!
To celebrate, let's give away some stuff!  Here's how it's going down.

In The Remnant Chronicles there are three major kingdoms: 
1. Morrighan
2. Dalbreck
3. Venda
There is a coat of arms for each kingdom depicting their strengths and histories. You can see all three of them on the map inside the book and also here on the Coat of Arms page.
The elements in each shield tell a story of their own.
Besides the major kingdoms in The Remnant Chronicles, there are nine Lesser Kingdoms. They are:
4.   Gastineux
5.   Cortenai
6.   Eislandia (hidden on map, just to the left of the Infernaterr)
7.   Gitos
8.   Terquoi Tra
9.   Azentil
10. Cruvas
11. Candora
12. Reux Lau

Like most kingdoms, the Lesser Kingdoms have their own histories and strengths, from the great fishing vessels in Gastineux, to the mystics of Terquoi Tra, to the questionable black market traders of Reux Lau--and everything in between--farmers, fisherman, metalsmiths, miners, musicians, loggers, artisans, hunters, and more.

So here's the scoop . . .
To enter for a chance to win the giveaway all you need to do is, in the comments below:
1. Choose your kingdom!

2. Choose your role. Are you a royal? An artisan? Poet? Merchant? Scholar? Thief? Soldier? Spy? It takes all kinds to run a kingdom.

3. List two attributes or objects that might appear on your personal coat-of-arms. A book? A heart? A pen? A mask?

4. Follow me on Twitter and share tweet in Rafflecopter entry form below

And what's at stake in this prize package?  All of this:
A signed copy of The Kiss of Deception, AND an ARC (advanced reading copy) of The Heart of Betrayal, AND the map poster, plus Remnant button, bookmark, and stickers!
And there will be TWO winners! Yes, open to international!

Example entry. If Eben were entering, his comment would look like this:
1. Venda
2. Assassin in training
3. Knife, horse.
And then Eben would follow me on Twitter and share the tweet!

*A fun bonus:  Once the contest is over and winners have been announced, I will pull a random kingdom out of a hat.  Anyone who chose that kingdom in their comment will get a signed bookmark and #TeamLia sticker!

Good luck!

XO