YA Highway
Chapter by Chapter
Book Nerds Across America
Confessions of a Bookaholic
Mundie Moms
League of Reluctant Adults
Lauren’s Crammed Bookshelf
Literary Escapism
Book Monsters
The Compulsive Reader
Diary of a Bookworm
Paperback Dolls
Books Make Me Happy
The Book Smugglers
Deadline Dames
I Swim for Oceans
Presenting Lenore
The Story Siren
A Backwards Story
The Book Faery
Wicked Awesome Books
Tynga’s Reviews
Bitten by Books
The Book Cellar

Thank you, awesome bloggers and blog visitors! I’ve had a blast on the LOSS blog tour, and I hope you have too.

NOTE: The LOSS cover poster giveaway is still going at some of the blogs — please check to see which ones. And remember: all commenters who win a LOSS cover poster are automatically entered into the grand prize drawing: one lucky person will get all three books — HUNGER, RAGE and LOSS — signed by me, as well as the opportunity to name a character in the fourth and final book in the Riders of the Apocalypse, BREATH. I plan on picking the grand prize winner this Sunday, April 1. (No foolin’!) So this is your last chance to comment on the LOSS blog tour (not here — I mean, sure, go ahead and comment here, if you want, but for a chance to win, it has to be at the participating blogger’s sites as part of the LOSS blog tour). Good luck! And thank you again for helping me celebrate LOSS.

[Image from the amazing MaryAnn at Chapter By Chapter!]

LOSS hits the shelves on March 20, 2012, and a terrific group of bloggers are participating in a book tour! Along with guest posts from me – each on a different topic – and a few interviews, many of the bloggers will also be posting reviews of LOSS (for better or for worse!). Check it out…including the giveaways and grand prize!

SCHEDULE OF LOSS BLOG TOUR STOPS: (links to be added when the tour arrives at the blog below)

March 5, 2012: Guest post at YA Highway
March 6, 2012: Review and guest post at Chapter by Chapter
March 7, 2012: Guest post at Book Nerds Across America
March 8, 2012: Interviewed by Total Bookaholic
March 9, 2012: Review and guest post at Mundie Moms
March 10, 2012: LOSS giveaway at the League of Reluctant Adults
March 12, 2012: Guest post at Lauren’s Crammed Bookshelf/podcast with Literary Escapism
March 14, 2012: Podcast posted at Literary Escapism
March 15, 2012: Review and guest post at Book Monsters
March 16, 2012: Guest post at The Compulsive Reader
March 17, 2012: Guest post and review at Diary of a Bookworm
March 18, 2012: Interviewed by Paperback Dolls
March 19, 2012: Guest post at Books Make Me Happy
March 20, 2012: Guest post and review at The Book Smugglers/Giveaway at the Deadline Dames
March 21, 2012: Review and guest post at I Swim for Oceans
March 22, 2012: Guest post at Presenting Lenore
March 23, 2012: Guest post at The Story Siren
March 24, 2012: Review and interview at A Backwards Story
MArch 25, 2012: Guest post at The Book Faery
March 26, 2012: Review and interview at Wicked Awesome Books
March 27, 2012: Review and interview at Tynga’s Reviews
March 28, 2012: Guest post and live Q&A at Bitten by Books
March 29, 2012: Review and guest post at The Book Cellar
March 30, 2012: Recap!

At each stop on the blog tour, I will be giving away a copy of a small poster of the LOSS cover (which is utterly gorgeous and once again designed by the amazing Sammy Yuen) to a random commenter.

PLUS!!! All poster winners will automatically be entered into the grand prize giveaway: signed copies of HUNGER, RAGE, and LOSS…**and** getting to name a character in BREATH! Grand prize winner to be picked on April 1, 2012. (No foolin’!)

Hope to see you on the blog tour!

Top 10 Things To Know About LOSS

10. LOSS is about a boy named Billy Ballard, the most bullied kid in tenth grade.

9. LOSS is also about Pestilence, the White Rider, one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.

8. Some people refer to Pestilence as the Conqueror — and you get to find out why!

7. The cover depicts arrows and a crown, both of which are important to the White Rider.

6. You get to see more of Famine and War and all the steeds.

5. One of LOSS’s subplots focuses on coping when a loved one suffers from Alzheimer’s — and a portion of proceeds from the book will be donated to the Alzheimer’s Association.

4. There’s a hat-tip to Piers Anthony in LOSS.

3. LOSS is very different from both HUNGER and RAGE — and yes, you can read it as a standalone without having read the two earlier books.

2. LOSS is peppered with foreshadowing about BREATH, which I’m writing now. AND…

1. LOSS shows a a lot more of Death — including an entirely different side to the Pale Rider.

~

I’ll be making LOSS posters, as well as more HUNGER and RAGE posters. Everything should be available by February!

Today I’ve been spending a lot of time with my personal superhero, Heather Brewer (Vlad! Joss! KAYA!!!), whose hair looks even MORE awesome than before. And I heard Andrew, as well as Cheryl Rainfield, Paul Yee, and Lauren Myracle on a terrific panel — then met Cheryl and hugged her fiercely, because she is That Awesome.

And Heather introduced me to Laurie Halse Anderson. I didn’t faint! I did babble about how much SPEAK meant to me. And I gave her an ARC of LOSS. OMG. FANGIRL SQUEE!!!

Tonight’s the big Anderson panel with Heather, Amy, David Levitan and a number of other authors. Can’t wait to go! And tomorrow is the breakout session with Heather and Amy. Rah!!!

Okay, okay. Back to writing!

Today is Day 4 of the awesome Crossroads Blog Tour!

Here is the official press release, posted on the amazing Judith Graves’ blog. In sum, 15 authors (including yours truly) are doing blog tours from October 22 through October 29. What do readers get out of this, besides a chance to be introduced to new-to-them authors and learn more about authors they already knew? As Judith says, “Participating bloggers will give away ghoulish amounts of SWAG donated by the authors, as well as inscribed copies of books by touring artists and a chance to win a Skype author visit from bestselling author Rachel Vincent.”

Cool, eh?

I’m touring with the fabulous Lucienne Diver! Here is our schedule:

October 22 – Narratively Speaking

October 23 – Electrifying Reviews

October 24 – Just Your Typical Book Blog

October 25 – Late Bloomer Online

October 26 – Book Faery

October 27 – Confessions of a Bookaholic AND A Simple Love of Reading

October 28 – Book Swarm

October 29 – Kid Lit Frenzy!

Want to know why else you should participate in the Crossroads Blog Tour? You could win this:

LOSS

That’s right — LOSS ARCs have arrived!!! And one of them will be given away at the end of the Crossroads Blog Tour!!! So check out the official info, and go meet some terrific authors and bloggers. (And me too!)

“Jackie Morse Kessler has a keen eye for capturing the awkward uncertainty of adolescence, which she wraps quite deliciously in a coating of mystery, fright, and suspense. LOSS is a treat for readers, a one-of-a-kind, twisty turny carnival ride through Billy Ballard’s struggles and triumphs. I loved this book.”
—Andrew Smith, author of The Marbury Lens

“I lost sleep to finish this, and I’m not sorry at all. Jackie Morse Kessler’s prose illuminates an ancient, disintegrating king as poignantly and effortlessly as it does a bullied teen; it’s easy to see ourselves reflected in Mita’s grief and Billy’s desperation. LOSS is whip-smart and elegant, a truly worthy companion to HUNGER and RAGE.”
—Saundra Mitchell, author of The Vespertine

“Gritty and raw with powerful truths. An addictive read.”
—Sophie Jordan, New York Times bestselling author of Firelight

Thanks so much, Andrew, Saundra and Sophie!!!

And really, if you haven’t read The Marbury Lens, The Vespertine, or Firelight (or Sophie’s latest, Vanish)…what are you waiting for? Also, Andrew’s new book, Stick, will hit the shelves in October. Preorder your copy at fine bookstores near you!

The Once & Future Podcast

The third book of the Riders of the Apocalypse series is officially coverfied. Many thanks once again to the incredibly talented Sammy Yuen and the terrific folks at Harcourt/Graphia!

Did you notice the spiffy “Riders of the Apocalypse” logo? Didja? Didja? **happy dance**

Here are more cover tidbits:

Back cover copy:

Fight back.

Fifteen-year-old Billy Ballard is the kid that everyone picks on, from the school bullies to the teachers. Things change drastically when Billy learns that years ago, he’d been tricked by Pestilence, the White Rider of the Apocalypse. Now it’s Billy’s turn to wield Pestilence’s Bow and spread sickness through the world. He uses his new power to lash out at his tormentors . . . and accidentally causes an outbreak of disease. Horrified by his actions, he wants nothing more than to be rid of the Bow. For that to happen, Billy must track down the previous White Rider, who is hiding in a place where even Death cannot go.

Billy’s search takes him across the centuries: from ancient Phrygia, where a man called King Mita agrees to wear the White Rider’s Crown; to a mighty forest, where Pestilence plans to cheat Death; from the docks of Alexandria, where plague is packed into cartons of grain; to the Children’s Crusade in France, where the White Rider learns a truth that will break him. By the time Billy finds the man who had tricked him so long ago, the White Rider is completely insane—and is poised to unleash a plague that would make the Black Death look like a summer cold. And only Billy can stop him.

Does one bullied teenager have the strength to stand his ground—and the courage to save the world?

And a terrific blurb from author Saundra Mitchell:

“I lost sleep to finish this, and I’m not sorry at all. Jackie Morse Kessler’s prose illuminates an ancient, disintegrating king as poignantly and effortlessly as it does a bullied teen; it’s easy to see ourselves reflected in Mita’s grief and Billy’s desperation. LOSS is whip-smart and elegant, a truly worthy companion to HUNGER and RAGE.”
—Saundra Mitchell, author of The Vespertine

You can preorder LOSS at Amazon, your favorite local indie via Indie Bound, Books-A-Million, Barnes & Noble and the Book Depository.

I’ve got to say…it might have taken me 22 drafts to write, but I truly believe it was worth it. I hope you think so too!

What is Albacon, you ask? It’s a local fan-run SF/F convention that celebrates science fiction and fantasy books, flicks and TV. But hey, it’s not just epic fantasy and space opera; it’s urban fantasy and paranormal romance and military SF and horror and almost any sub (and sub-sub) genre in the SF/F field. It celebrates fiction for adults and fiction for teens. There are panels and workshops and vendor booths galore. There are banquets and costumes and (rumor has it) a keynote from yours truly.

Albacon is very laid back. It’s a fun, low-pressure sort of convention, run and attended by terrific SF/F fans and authors who love the genre. And hey – there’s a bar. Woot!

Programming is being finalized, but I’m crossing my fingers that there will be:

• A panel on the worlds of Joss Whedon. And that’s not just because I wrote a short comic set in the Buffyverse! Give me Firefly. And Doctor Horrible. (Dollhouse? Erm.) And yeah, Buffy and Angel and the Scoobies.
• A favorite monsters panel, be it vampires, werewolves, zombies, ghosts, or something completely different. Me? I’d vote for demons. Some people might say “Death,” but any character that looks like Kurt Cobain just can’t be a monster, sorry.
• A writing-focused day of workshops that cover a broad array of topics (OMG, I’ve lapsed into Business Speak!), including queries, the changing author/agent relationship, the realities of e-SP (electronic self-publishing), spicing up nooky scenes, choreographing an action scene…really, my hope for this sort of thing is almost endless.
• Hey, if I’m fantasizing, I also hope that Matt Damon will be there. And Nathan Fillion. And Neil Gaiman.

And hey, I mentioned there’s a bar, right? (That part’s not a fantasy. That’s a fact. Bars at SF/F are mandatory.)

Registration is cheap, the authors and fans are awesome, and hey, you need something to do in October. Come to the thriving metropolis of Albany, NY, and hang your hat at Albacon.