News blog of Fallenarchangel, the official Hush, Hush saga fansite
*Banner created by the fabulous Sandy with credit to Smoko-Stock for stock photos

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

January's Featured Fiction - Chasing Brooklyn by Lisa Schroeder


CHASING BROOKLYN hits bookstores on January 5th!

Restless souls and empty hearts

Brooklyn can't sleep. Her boyfriend, Lucca, died only a year ago, and now her friend Gabe has just died of an overdose. Every time she closes her eyes, Gabe's ghost is there waiting for her. She has no idea what he wants or why it isn't Lucca visiting her dreams.

Nico can't stop. He's always running, trying to escape the pain of losing his brother, Lucca. But when Lucca's ghost begins leaving messages, telling Nico to help Brooklyn, emotions come crashing to the surface.

As the nightmares escalate and the messages become relentless, Nico reaches out to Brooklyn. But neither of them can admit that they're being haunted. Until they learn to let each other in, not one soul will be able to rest.

Visit our Forum to discuss. Details on GiveAways coming soon!

Featured Fiction for December - Q&A with Lisa McMann

We bring our December Feature of the WAKE Series to a close with a "Question and Answer" with author Lisa McMann.

Our thanks to the FallenArchangel Forum Members who submitted questions and to Lisa for taking the time to answer them. (Note: the Q&A took place before Christmas)

Do you have anything special planned for the holidays?
This year we are going to be as traditional in our Christmas day as possible. Since all our family lives elsewhere, we often are traveling or enjoying the holiday away from home. This year we are staying in Arizona for a cozy family time, just the four of us. Really looking forward to it!

And would you mind telling us one for your favorite things about the holiday season?
My husband tends to have several days off from work in December and that has been a lot of fun having him around the house. Also, work in publishing tends to slow slightly, which gives me a bit of a break just at the right time before the big push to the finish line for my February book release and tour. The holidays are a great time to take a breather.

Submitted by Brttmclv
What gave you the idea for this story? The dream thing? How did that come about? (Because it's WAYYY cool. Lol.)
I got the idea for the plot from a dream I had about being able to see into my husband’s dream. The characters (Janie, Cabel) we formed through years of my own reading – I ‘ve always loved the underdog and I tend to give my characters lots to overcome. I think that’s what makes characters interesting.
How long did it take you to write this? (Because I love asking authors that.)
I wrote the rough draft of WAKE in seven very long days. Then spend a few months polishing it up. Most novels take me about five weeks to write now, plus months for editing.

Submitted by Anya
What does your writing process look like? Outlining, revising, completion etc...
I don’t outline unless someone makes me. I write straight through, start to finish, and I write cleanly but sparsely. Rarely do I have to cut – most often I have to fill in.
What inspires you most?
Nature and heroic news stories of teens doing incredibly unselfish things.
What do you have to have beside you when you write? Something special to eat etc...
Diet Coke in the morning. Ice water in the afternoon. That’s about it.
Where do you write?
In the green chair by the slider door.
When do you normally write? In the morning, at noon or at night?
I write when my kids are in school, roughly 8:30-3:30. If it’s going well, I’ll keep going as long as I can.
How long did it take you to get Wake published?
I wrote it in summer 2006, got my agent in fall of that year, he sold it to S&S in Jan 2007. It published March 2008.

Submitted by Spidermonkey19
Have you always wanted to be a writer or was it something you had to find?
I pretty much always wanted to be a writer. At least since about 4th grade.

Submitted by Danidlion
Which book out of the three has been your favorite/most fun to write?
This is a tough question. I love them all in different ways. WAKE was probably most exciting because I really felt like I had something cool in mind. Discovering the characters was really fun. I loved writing FADE because I didn’t know what was going to happen to Janie until I was well into that story, and when I figured it out, it blew me away. Writing GONE was hard, but it was terrific watching the characters grow and get through some tough stuff.

Submitted by Nikkayne
Was it hard to let go of the characters after you finished writing Gone?
It was hard, yes. But I feel like they’re still there somewhere, growing up without me. It was sad while I was writing, but it was definitely right.
Do you think you'll ever revisit any of the characters from Wake Trilogy?
Not a day goes by that someone doesn’t ask me this. People really seem to want a book from Cabel’s point of view, similar to the short story I offer on my website. I don’t know…I have no plans to write one at this point. But I won’t rule it out completely.

Submitted by svp
Will Carrie ever be able to move on from Carson's death or will she be haunted by what happened to him for the rest of her life?
I think people who have gone through what Carrie went through never truly get over it. But it’s not a central theme in the books after the story resolves in WAKE.
Oh, and I don't know if this is spoilery or not but is Captain's husband somehow important in Gone?
No.
Because during the graduation scene in Fade, Janie looks at him but then looks away but she's not quite sure why. If i'm making something out of nothing, then just ignore the last question. Clearly i'm analyzing way more than is healthy. Ha! Yes, you probably are. I think that Janie is realizing that Captain’s married, and suddenly wondering if Captain’s husband knows anything about her. She’s feeling self-conscious there.

uprobablydontknowme
What are some of your favorite books to read? (besides ur own)
I wrote a list of recommendations recently and posted it as a note on my Facebook page. Feel free to befriend me and check it out! It’s here.
Thanks to Lisa for writing this series and to Simon & Schuster for sponsoring the 5 copies of WAKE & FADE which we gave away earlier this month.
http://www.facebook.com/#/note.php?note_id=206533873408

Monday, December 28, 2009

Free WAKE Download

The WAKE Series by Lisa McMann is our Featured Fiction for December. We are pleased to provide you with this invitation from Lisa McMann & Simon and Schuster. Enjoy! (Note it expires on December 31!)


Best of 2009

Lots of Sites / Blogs are coming out with their Best of 2009 Lists. Here are some that include HUSH, HUSH. (We will be adding to this list so be sure to check back)

Barnes & Noble
Best Teen Books of 2009... #1 Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick!!

Mindful Musings (voted on by Readers of Mindful Musings)
Top 10 Books .... #3 Hush Hush
Top Authors .... #2 Becca Fitzpatrick

Just Your Typical Book Blog
Top 10 Books .... #2 Hush, Hush

Chick Lit Teens
Top Books of 2009...#8 Hush, Hush

Fire and Ice
Top Books of 2009...... includes Hush, Hush

The Book Cellar
Top 15 Books of 2009.....#2 Hush, Hush

The Undercover Book Blog
Best Cover...Hush, Hush

Read This Book!
Top YA Couples of 2009.....Nora & Patch

Wondrous Reads
Top Book Covers of 2009.....#1 Hush, Hush

PageTurners
Pixie's Favorite Cover.... Hush, Hush
Stacey's Favorite Books..... #4 Hush, Hush

Mundie Moms
Top 5 Reads of 2009, among Katie, Stacey & Andreas top pics....Hush, Hush

If you know of any "Best Of" lists that include Hush, Hush or Becca Fitzpatrick please let us know about them. Email us at admin@fallenarchangel.com so we can include them on our site / blog. Thnx

Sunday, December 6, 2009

Becca Fitzpatrick Chatting with Bitten by Books

Becca will be chatting with Bitten by Books on Tuesday. We will post more details about the time soon.
Go here to RSVP for the chat and be entered to win a RCA Small Wonder Digital Camcorder.

Friday, December 4, 2009

We Are OFFICIAL and We Are Celebrating!

FallenArchangel, in conjunction with Simon & Schuster & Becca Fitzpatrick, is celebrating our designation as the OFFICIAL Hush, Hush Fansite!

All day today, Friday, December 4, we will be giving away copies of HUSH, HUSH (courtesy of Simon & Schuster) and FallenArchangel Bookmarks on Twitter. Follow @HushHushFan and stay tuned throughout the day for your chance to win.

We are also giving away several copies of HUSH HUSH at random to NEW Forum Members. In order to qualify you just have to register to be a forum member anytime today (Friday, December 4). All NEW members who register on December 4 by midnight EST are automatically entered.

Featured Fiction of the Month



We are excited to kick off a brand new feature on FallenArchangel.com.
Featured Fiction of the Month
December's feature is WAKE/FADE/GONE
by Lisa McMann.
Visit our Forum for
information on give-aways,
an opportunity to ask
Lisa McMann questions
and for discussions on the books.

Thursday, December 3, 2009

It's true...we really did meet Becca!

We promise our delay in sharing our meeting with Becca isn't due to lack of enthusiasm. Not even close. It was amazing! Becca is amazing! She even posted about meeting us on her blog. You can check that out here. Pretty cool to read that she felt the very same we did about hanging out. We aren't just two crazy fans. lol OK, well maybe a little, but we're pretty normal most of the time.

So here's a recap of how our fabulous day went.

We live about two hours from Philadelphia so in order to make it downtown for 8:30 we left around 5:45 AM. Ugh, considering Jenn and I both typically stay up into the wee hours of the morning this was a scary prospect, but it was much easier than I thought considering we had a darn good reason for waking so early. The trip went by so fast it literally felt like we had been in the car for half an hour (or five minutes as I said in my massive exaggeration) and we made it to the convention center/hotel area in plenty of time. Note that I said plenty of time. That was until we realized we were waiting in the lobby of the wrong hotel! In case anyone is wondering there are two Marriots next door to each other in downtown Philadelphia. Which unfortunately meant we were a few minutes late for our first meeting of the day with the fabulous Emily Meehan, Executive Editor at Simon and Schuster, who worked with Becca to bring HUSH, HUSH to the world.


Luckily Emily was still waiting for us in the right hotel lobby so we got to sit and chat with her for a bit. I have to admit, as someone who dreams of becoming a published author myself, meeting an actual big time editor had me a bit nervous, but she was wonderful and even thanked us for creating a fansite for HUSH, HUSH. Thank us? Emily is the one that deserves a big thank you considering she acquired HUSH, HUSH. Book Divas featured Emily's thoughts on just that. Check that out here. It's so fun to hear how much she loved the book at first read too. Becca is one lucky lady to land in the hands of such an incredibly talented editor who loves her story just as much as we do. So just to recap, Emily pretty much rocks.

It was all so exciting that I'm not sure who popped in next, but after chatting with Emily for awhile we had two more guests appear...the author herself and Anne Zafian, VP, Deputy Publisher at Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing. We'll get to Becca last, but meeting Anne was an awesome surprise. She stopped by and said to Emily, "Are these the Fallenarchangel ladies?" To which we all said "Yes!" So fun hearing ourselves called that. It was incredible to hear from Anne on all the inside stuff on how ARCs (advanced ready copies) work, including the huge amount they had for HUSH, HUSH, and her thoughts on our site. Anne was wonderful. And while we would have loved to have more time with both Anne and Emily, who were down to earth and fun to talk to they had to run, but just having the chance to meet them in person and know how much they appreciate Fallenarchangel. com was amazing.

Emily, Becca, Anne


Once it was the three of us we immediately started chattering about just about everything you can imagine. Of course there was the obvious HUSH, HUSH stuff and writing, but we talked about our kids, husbands, (only nice things of course) and food. We got so busy talking right off the bat that we forgot that we had planned to eat breakfast together! Luckily we were in downtown Philadelphia so we walked outside and a block away was the Reading Terminal Market and can I just say WOW. That place is out of this world. I've been to Philly plenty of times and never made it there, but it's definitely on my list of places to visit again. The three of us were slightly overwhelmed at the endless rows of vendors with everything from sushi to cupcakes and everything in between. And I mean everything. Just WOW. Needless to say, we grabbed some tasty pastry type treats and headed back to the lobby (which was a pretty swingin' place packed full of all sorts of teachers, writers and publishing folks) and continued talking about everything under the sun.

You'll be happy to hear that we managed to make time for Becca to sign some of the beautiful and sparkly HUSH, HUSH posters to stash away for future contest prizes. As tempting as it was Jenn and I refrained from hording them and I assure you we will be giving them away at some point, so keep your eyes open for that. Ahh, and then there was the attempt to shoot a video with the three of us saying hello to all of you. *takes a break to laugh hysterically* Yeah, that didn't go so well, but it sure was a hoot. Jenn and I are trying to salvage something to post but in case we don't, just know there were several factors involved that made it a bit challenging...no one to hold the actual camera which meant one of us had to run away from it and up to it while it was filming, several moments of laughter during the "serious" parts, and my personal favorite, the fire alarm going off. (no worries it was a false alarm, though we did gather Becca's things in a hurry and took off for the fire exit)

Jenn, Becca, Rebecca

Becca was kind enough to show us how to get over to the massive (and I mean MASSIVE) exhibit portion of the conference where the publishers were set up before she met her mother in law for lunch. Again, WOW. I've never seen so many teachers or books in one place! We didn't stick around long but one of the fabulous folks at the Simon & Schuster booth gave us her pin that said "I can't keep it HUSH, HUSH. Ask me why." Love it!


So as you can see the day truly was perfection. Being that I'm an aspiring writer I think its safe to say that it was more exciting meeting these three incredible women than it would be meeting a movie store or super famous musician. And though Jenn was in heaven at our last visit to Philly when we saw and got the autographs of the band Blue October, she's right there with me.


A special thank you to Anne, Emily and Becca for taking the time to meet with us and for your support, excitement, and oh yeah, bringing us HUSH, HUSH.

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Urban Fantasy Cover Art Awards - Vote for HUSH HUSH!!

HUSH HUSH has been nominated, in several categories, for the Urban Fantasy Cover Art Awards.

Best YA Cover

Best Male Only Cover

Most Unique Cover

Best Debut Cover


Go
here to learn about the awards and prizes (available for voters).


Click
here to VOTE!
Please vote for HUSH HUSH and tell your friends to as well! Note: All votes must be cast by December 30, winners will be announced on January 1, 2010

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Simon & Schuster Australia sharing the HUSH, HUSH love

Hey guys, sorry we haven't had much posted in the blog here. Craziness all around with the holiday and life in general (good stuff!) but to get back in the swing of things here's a video S&S in Australia made showing how they made the most of the big time crowds out to see New Moon by putting on some awesome black angel wings and handing out copies of HUSH, HUSH.

Love it!

When Jenn and I went to the midnight premiere of New Moon I saw a girl walking through the lobby with a copy of HUSH, HUSH in her hands. How exciting!!! I think reaching out to all the Twilight masses is brilliant because for all the fans looking for a new story to keep them up at night with a bad boy to steal their hearts, HUSH, HUSH is it. And just in case you haven't read it yet, I can promise you they are very different stories. The only similarities I see is that they are both awesome books with a good girl falling for a bad boy.

Now check out this video. How fun!