August is shaping up to be a pretty crazy month—a month filled with Various Things. Here are some of them:
1. We are finally allowed to talk about the Merry Fates anthology! It’s been a big fat gleeful secret for months, and now that I’m finally allowed to talk about it, I find that I have absolutely nothing to say except that I’m reallyreallyreally excited! Which lacks a certain element of human drama.
2. Speaking of human drama, I have my first official edit letter for Book 2! It is an excellent letter, and long, and it makes me ridiculously happy. (There’s just nothing quite like a really good edit letter. I can’t explain it. It’s like Christmas. Only with less wrapping paper to pick up, and more rending of hair and garments. What?—Writers are masochists. Everyone already knows that.)
2a. Why it is nice to have an edit letter: nothing keeps you from obsessing over the fact that you have a book coming out in a month like . . . working on a different book!
3. Speaking of the book that’s coming out in a month: You can now read the entire first chapter of THE REPLACEMENT here. Which makes it real. But I’m not going to think about that.
3a. (which wraps neatly back around to 2a.) Instead, I will focus on demons and moral ambiguity and kissing. If anyone needs me, I will be holed up in a coffee shop somewhere, revising aggressively and listening to this song 983 times:
Brenna Yovanoff 
1. I’m reallyreallyreally excited for this anthology. :)
2. It should also be noted that along with being masochists, writers are sadists (but only to a point).
2a. I reallyreallyreallyreallyreally want to read The Replacement. But at the same time I don’t want it to come out so soon, because there’s a big part of me that wants to read it as an arc reallyreally bad. But then, I just want to read it, sooo……ugh.
3. But then, oh look! A first chapter! But then I don’t know if I want to read this because I want to read it but I really want to read it with the rest of the book attached, and I’m so torn!
3a. Y’know, you didn’t even have to mention the moral ambiguity. You got me on the demons and kissing. :)
Sadists vs. masochists: this got me thinking. If you behave sadistically toward invented characters, which came out of your head and are therefore basically manifestations of your own psyche, does that make you masochistically sadistic? Am I over-thinking? I don’t know—probably?
Also, as far as ARCs go, I really, really do understand the appeal—really, I love ARCs. But there is a *reason* they are not final copies. Let me tell you about the ARC of The Replacement: there are continuity mistakes in there that make the fussy little copyeditor in my head *die* and not a little. Die A Lot. Specifically, I prefer to think of all the wonderful people in the world picking up my book and reading along happily, without being jerked out of the story by the realization that a certain secondary character has, against all reason, been sleeping in her gardening gloves.
I think for me, it’s because, I love my characters, but I love inserting all those little things that torture them (muahahahahahahaha!), but I think I really only LOVE them, if they contribute to the character significantly, like, they are who they are because this happened to them four years back, because they grew up like that. But then once it gets to the point where I figure something out, and now it NEEDS to happen, but I know that it will hurt the character A LOT, but I still can’t stop it so I am sad. And I will wince along with them. But I still love it. I’ll probably smile while I wince.
And it doesn’t stop me from wanting an arc. Y’know what? My grandpa has some gardening gloves. I’ll wear them to bed myself! We’ll start a trend! People can laugh if they want, but I don’t care. If they want me to care then they should care about something other than what I wear to bed! (Insert evil laugh here.) So there! :)
Yeah, you might want to take me to see that therapist now….. :)
OMG, that song is SO PERFECT for my own current writing music play list. YAY, thanks for sharing! I love it!
Also, YAY you’re working on a different book – I just wish it was coming out sooner than a million years from now (slight exaggeration, but that’s what it feels like) because I’m already eager to read it. Guess I’ll have to pass the time by reading The Replacement again :)
I’m glad you like the song—I am *enchanted* by it right now. And I’m so glad you liked The Replacement! If I stay on schedule, this new book should be out next fall. Needless to say, by then it will also have a title ;)
Just read the first chapter and am already engrossed and wanting more. Can’t wait for the real thing next month! :)
Yay! I was really happy that Penguin put up a whole chapter—I always need to read at least a few pages before I know if a book is going to be my thing.
I’m really looking forward to The Replacement. Good luck with that revision!
Thanks, Sarah! Head down and power through, right? I hope you’re on the mend and doing well :)
Ugh… I shouldn’t have done it. I opened the link to Chapter 1 and briefly scanned it thinking, I’ll wait. But then I thought, well I’ll just read the first paragraph. And now I’ve read the whole darn thing and September 21st can’t be here sooner.
I know you’re happily distracted with edits for Book 2, but really I think you have nothing to fear. If Chapter 1 can grab a hold of you so tight, something tells me your book will be a huge hit! I can’t wait for it :)
Oh, you’re making me smile stupidly big in a public place! I’m glad you liked the excerpt and I’m really glad that Penguin decided to share a whole chapter. I love being able to get a feel for a book, and that always takes me a few pages.
“…making me smile stupidly big in a public place!”
Good, I can imagine it and I love it ;) They’re usually the best kind of smiles!
And I agree, as hard as it is to wait for a book after being teased with a whole chapter I do like having the option to read a bit before buying. Amazon frequently reveals several pages of their books for preview and I use this feature all of the time. (BTW though, with or without the preview I would have bought your book. You’re one of those writers that you just know will be good.)
Just read the first chapter and had to tell you how much I love it. I love, love the way you write, and can’t wait to get my mits (with normal, 3-jointed fingers) on the whole book.
Thanks for letting me know—I’m really glad you liked it! And also glad that you only have the requisite number of finger-joints :)
BRENNA.
I am halfway through THE REPLACEMENT and it is SCARING THE LIVING HELL out of me. in a good way, because it’s creepy and awesome at the same time… i have to keep putting it down to digest what i’ve read.
i can see it as a film in my head, made by Alfonso Cuaron or Guillermo Del Toro….. it’s so Pans Labyrinth-esque :)
I LOVE IT <3 can't wait for the 2nd., :)
As someone who is *obsessed* with horror movies, this couldn’t make me happier! And yay for getting your hands on a review copy!
Your August definitely sounds crazy–and great. So many exciting things happening at once!
*bookmarks that chapter link to read later, since she is much too brain dead to read it properly now*
When it rains, it pours—and by rains, I mean rains PONIES!
Wait, that would actually be terrible. And this is much, *much* better than that.
Brenna,
Late coming in here, but congrats on the anthology! Oh and I saw the awesome review for The Replacement in the PW Weekly email newsletter I get.
Can’t wait to read your book! Good luck with edits (on book 2).
Thanks! August is the month for chugging along—and I cherish that PW review so hard :D
Thanks for stopping by to comment! I’m glad you liked The Replacement, and while I haven’t got anything new planned for Gentry just yet, I’m definitely mulling things over :)