Saturday, December 31st, 2011
LOSS will hit the shelves in less than three months. (Cue music!) I thought it would be fun to give you an idea of what to expect.
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!
Tags: Breath, Horsemen of the Apocalypse, Loss, Piers Anthony
Posted in Loss | No Comments »
Tuesday, October 25th, 2011
I am so behind the times. But then, my kids could have told you that.
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!)
Tags: Crossroads Blog Tour, Loss, Lucienne Diver
Posted in contest, Guest blog, Loss | No Comments »
Monday, September 12th, 2011
The amazing Anton Strout interviewed me on the inaugural episode of The Once & Future Podcast! Oh, yes, and he interviewed Charlaine Harris and the Paperback Dolls. I talk about lots of things, from my first failed novel to my stint in the Buffyverse to LOSS to tae kwon do…and more! Come listen!
The Once & Future Podcast
Tags: Anton Strout, Buffyverse, Charlaine Harris, Loss, Once & Future Podcast, Paperback Dolls, tae kwon do
Posted in Interview | No Comments »
Wednesday, August 31st, 2011
Look! Look, look, look!!!
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!
Tags: Billy Ballard, King Mita, Loss, Saundra Mitchell
Posted in Loss | 10 Comments »
Friday, July 15th, 2011
Psst. Want to know what will be on the LOSS 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?
~
I am so psyched.
For those wondering, LOSS will have a lot more worldbuilding than either HUNGER or RAGE. And there will be a lot more of Death in the book — including a whole other side of him. **rubs hands gleefully** LOSS is also significantly longer than either of the previous books — almost 20,000 words longer than HUNGER.
And the incredible Sammy Yuen will once again be doing the cover. **happy dance**
Guys. GUYS. I am so thrilled about this book! It’s due to hit the shelves in spring 2012; once there is an actual launch date and preorder information, I’ll blog about it.
Tags: Loss, Sammy Yuen
Posted in Loss | 4 Comments »
Thursday, May 5th, 2011
Yes, RAGE had a huge blog tour in April. No, I didn’t blog a lot about it (although I was pretty good about tweeting every day). Sorry, sorry, sorry. I suck. I was on deadline with LOSS.
Here’s a list of all the terrific sites I visited on the official RAGE Blog Tour, with their reviews of RAGE or their interviews with me, or my guest posts (whew!) :
Literary Escapism
Bitten By Books
The Compulsive Reader
The Book Smugglers
Presenting Lenore
Mundie Moms
The Story Siren
Book Faery
Bookworming in the 21st Century
Green Bean Teen Queen
The Neverending Shelf
Lauren’s Crammed Bookshelf <--- An A+ review!!! Yow!!!
In Bed With Books
Wicked Awesome Books
Confessions of a Bookaholic
Tales of the Ravenous Reader
Rebecca’s Book Blog
SciFi Guy
A Backwards Story
The Hate-Mongering Tart
Thank you again, everyone!
The good news: I handed in the draft of LOSS to my editor, on time! The manuscript (66,600 words) is much longer than either HUNGER (44,000 words) or RAGE (55,000 words). It looks like LOSS will be a spring 2012 publication. Rah! Details to follow when they are available.
The great news: RAGE had a terrific launch, with lots of amazing reviews, including this one from Mrs. Giggles, who says: “The vicarious beat down that leaves me feeling wonderfully bruised all over is the sign of a story that succeeds in reeling me in, emotionally and intellectually, and damn if it doesn’t feel great.”
**grin**
To everyone who has been reading and reviewing RAGE: Thank you, hugely. I hope you’ll enjoy LOSS even more! (Yeah, okay, you have to wait a year. Sorry about that!)
And hey: a new Post Mortem interview! The amazing Jeri Smith-Ready’s latest book, SHIFT, is now available ((DROOL!!!!!!!! CAN’T WAIT TO READ IT!!!!!!!!)), and her character Logan is interviewed by Death. Complete with playlist! Rah!
I’ll be at the Rochester Teen Book Festival next week, and I hope to see you there.
Tags: Jeri Smith-Ready, Loss, Mrs. Giggles, Rage, Rochester Teen Book Festival, Shift
Posted in Loss, Rage | No Comments »
Monday, December 6th, 2010
A wild and crazy fall? No doubt. Man, I haven’t blogged in forever. I think doing all those wonderful blog tours in October (every day!) temporarily short-circuited my blogging urge. But I’m back! Rah! And now, it’s time to play catch up.
Back in October, I showed a picture of Brian and Jen reading HUNGER on the bus to the Rally for Sanity and/or Fear. Here are more pictures of people with copies of HUNGER:
Here’s Julie, showing off her copy. So glad you enjoyed it, Julie!
And here is Neil Gaiman — my god of writing — holding up the copy that I sent him. A huge thanks to his phenomenal mystery aide, Cat Mihos, for the amazing picture!
If you send me a picture of you holding a copy of HUNGER, I’ll put it up on my blog.
Now that HUNGER has officially launched, and I’ve gotten past the initial wave of OMG OMG OMG AAAAAAAAAAH, I’m focusing on writing LOSS (think bullying, Pestilence, Alzheimer’s…and Robin Hood. I swear, I’ll make it work!), and getting ready for RAGE to hit the shelves in four short months. (Gulp.)
Speaking of RAGE, I’m thrilled that it’s a Junior Library Guild selection for spring 2011! I’ll have an updated cover posted soon — it’s the same as what I currently have on my website, but shiner, and with a fantabulous cover quote from the ever-amazing Heather Brewer. Her quote says:
“RAGE is raw and real, a truly dark, honest look at self-harm and teenage psyche. Kessler left me breathless.”
Last month, That Cover Girl interviewed me and cover artist Sammy Yuen about HUNGER and RAGE. Sammy’s interview in particular is a terrific read. Thanks again, That Cover Girl!
New stuff: there’s a new Post Mortem interview posted: Death talks to Laurel from Amy Brecount White’s lovely FORGET-HER-NOTS.
Amberkatze interviewed me on her blog — thanks, Amber!
Over November, more terrific reviews of HUNGER came in, including:
Icey Books
Wondrous Reads
The Diary of a Bookworm
Marie Loves Books
A Simple Love of Reading
Silent T’s Book Blog
Renee’s Book Addiction
CK2s Kwips and Kritiques
My Favourite Books
I once again want to thank all of the folks who have been reading and reviewing HUNGER. You all rock out loud!
GIVEAWAY: Lauren’s Crammed Bookshelf has a terrific review of HUNGER…plus an ARC giveaway of the book! Thanks, Lauren!!!
On Wednesday, I’ll be over at The Book Smugglers for my Smugglivus post…which happens to also be my birthday, so there may be a RAGE ARC giveaway. Maybe.
Whew. Note to self: When I don’t blog for a month, there’s a lot of catch up to do!
Tags: Amberkatze, Book Smugglers, Cat Mihos, CK2s Kwips and Kritiques, Heather Brewer, Hunger, Icey Books, Junior Library Guild, Lauren's Crammed Bookshelf, Loss, Marie Loves Books, My Favourite Books, Neil Gaiman, Rage, Rally for Sanity And/Or Fear, Renee's Book Addiction, Silent T's Book Blog, Simple Love of Reading, The Diary of a Bookworm, Wondrous Reads
Posted in contest, Hunger, Post Mortem, Rage | 2 Comments »
Sunday, October 24th, 2010
Sorry about the lack of update yesterday; too many things going on IRL, including still getting over being sick.  So, from yesterday…
Crossroads Blog Tour, day 8: Wolfy Chicks. Among other things, I talk about the best writing advice I’ve ever received.
Crossroads Blog Tour, day 9: The Here, The Now, The Books. My interview isn’t live as of yet, but have patience. It will be.
That’s it for now. I’m off to take the Precious Little Tax Deductions to religious school — family program morning, so no writing for me — and then back home for lunch. This afternoon, I hope to finally get some writing in…both on LOSS and on a shiny new project. Rah!
Tags: Crossroads Blog Tour, Crossroads Tour, Hunger, Loss, The Here The Now The Books, Wolfy Chicks
Posted in Hunger | No Comments »
Saturday, June 5th, 2010
Publishers Marketplace has officially announced what I learned last week:
Italian rights to HUNGER and RAGE sold to Newton Compton in a four-book deal!
Yes, this means I’m working on books three and four of the Riders’ Quartet. Working on Book Three right now. The working title is LOSS, and this time, the Horseman is Pestilence.
Rock on!
Tags: Horsemen of the Apocalypse, Hunger, Loss, Rage, Riders' Quartet
Posted in Hunger, Loss, Rage, Riders' Quartet | 6 Comments »
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