In brief, this has been a very good week. On Monday, I turned in a big set of revisions for Book 2. The Replacement came out on Tuesday (!!!), and since then I’ve been very busy staring blankly at the TV and melting into the furniture a little.
Then last night, I signed books at the Mountains and Plains author reception (my first-ever signing of anything). It was a blast and I got to meet some really amazing booksellers from Colorado and its adjacent states!
Leading up to the book launch, a lot of great bloggers invited me to do interviews with them and now the interviews are starting to go up. Some especially fun ones are this one I did for Myra McEntire’s Friday in the Fort feature, this one at YA Highway, and this one over at Forever YA, where I talk about high school crushes, how I met D, and being the owner of the Worst Car Ever.
Brenna Yovanoff 
This weekend I plan to treat myself to reading your book, which I bought in all of its shiny glory when it came out on Tuesday. :)
Oh, thank you! (I *love* how shiny it looks in person)
It really is very shiny! After I bought it on Tuesday, I got back in the car and placed it in the passenger seat next to me, and the sun glinting off the cover nearly blinded me (it really did; I have to move it around to reduce the glaring). Thankfully, I was in the small parking lot of my local indie bookstore and didn’t back into anything or anyone else during the retinal burning. ;)
That is hilarious! Maybe they need to add a Driving Hazard sticker?
Ha! That would be helpful, but it would mar the pretty of the cover with its stickery warning. :)
I got my copy of THE REPLACEMENT on the release date (via pre-order on Amazon), which they never get to you on time. I was stoked ;) It’s so much prettier in person!
I’m wondering how the reality of it all is making you feel? I would have expected more flailing in this post. Or maybe at least a mention of how waking up on release day felt, knowing the world would now have your words in their hands.
Congrats Brenna!
You know, Maggie has been asking me for weeks if I was nervous yet, and then calling me an alien when I would tell her no.
Even though I’m usually pretty self-contained, I would have expected to be bouncing off the walls (at least on the inside), but the last set of revisions had me doing such long days that I think I short-circuited something. So, I’ve been sleeping a lot until whatever it is comes back. Even though I went and visited The Replacement at B&N on Tuesday, I think last night at the signing was the first time I actually sat back and was like wow, I wrote a book, and now here it is!
Well, I’ll be honest your calmness is oddly surprising. I mean it’s obvious you’re a level headed gal, but so is Maggie and she still goes all neurotic when her books are released and she’s had a lot more experience so one would expect you to have a bit of a similar experience. Clearly though, you are far more calm and collective than one would even know based on your writing alone (since we don’t truly know you like Maggie does).
Either way, I say that’s a good thing. You’re ready for the super popular world with no fear and believe me Brenna when I say you will be as big as Maggie and Maggie is going places so be prepared. Although, it appears you are :)
Regardless, I’m very happy for you much the same as I was for her on her latest release, but maybe more so for you on your first. I wasn’t around for her first and it’s very awesome to know you and see your success grow (as I know it will). I feel proud and happy for you all at the same time. And even though you are able to remain calm and cool, I hope still inside you’re squeeing with excitement over the realization that you’ve made it to the big times friend and it’s well deserved!
Thanks for saying this. It made me get really sentimental (I’m not a big freaker-outer, but I am secretly a huge sentimentalist).
I was actually thinking about this whole freaking out thing the other day and came to the conclusion (years late, probably) that I process rational information quickly and emotions very, very slowly. Basically, I’m usually good in a crisis just because I can’t process panic, so it goes in the Does Not Compute file for later attention.
Also, I just realized that this has happened before. http://brennayovanoff.livejournal.com/11342.html
You’re welcome ;)
Truthfully, being able to not process panic in a crisis situation is a rare and good quality. Most people instantly freak out and that’s how you get hurt or set yourself up for disaster.
Case in point: My fiance and I were driving on a long stretch of highway at 65 mph and suddenly the breaks wouldn’t work. Turns out the throttle string on the engine got hooked on the engine cover and wouldn’t release so instead of being able to slow down we were only going faster and we were approaching a red light. So when he said to me, “Babe, I can’t get the truck to stop!” My first thought was bail and I literally almost jumped out of the truck at 65 mph… Boy would that have been a dumb idea.
Interviews
I loved the interview over at ForeverYA! Your Ocean’s 11 team is boss! Also, that’s a pretty great story about your husband’s anonymous propaganda. It seems your life would make an excellent YA novel. Reading your blog–and stories over at Merry Fates–has really made me look more closely at the people around me. Congratulations on the release of “The Replacement”! I’ll definitely be reading it.
-Taure
Re: Interviews
I reallyreallyreally wanted to share that Forever YA one because they asked such great questions and I had such a good time coming up with answers!
great interviews! and i plan on reading the replacement all day tomorrow. i got it on release day and have been eyeballing it all week. i can’t wait for tomorrow!
I *love* it when reviewers come up with completely crazy questions! Sometimes, after answering a bunch of the same question over and over again, I would start to feel really boring, and then Forever YA comes along and I’m like, hey, look at me! I had a terrible car and my sister and I had a whole collection of my future-husband’s anonymous high school propaganda!
I picked up The Replacement on Wednesday. Love the cover! I will dig into it as soon as I finish reading Paranormalcy by Kiersten White.
A first signing has got to be surreal! Congrats!
So weird that, as Sarah pointed out above, I haven’t even been doing a good job of flailing! I’ve just been kind of sitting around like a lump, staring at things. Well, and finally having a chance to go grocery shopping again.
I think,sometimes, being lump has its advantage. Unless your a lump in mashed potatoes… I can’t tolerate those.
Grocery shopping is good! You should add it to your routine. ;-)
The Replacement is a wonderful book. I’m really looking forward
to your second novel.
Have a sneak peek for The Replacement’s Traditional Chinese
version cover:
http://tinyurl.com/26uvqp9
Alan
Oh, wow—thanks, Alan! Does this mean I can put it up on my website now?
I think so…it’s going to be published on Oct 1st in Taiwan.
(*happy* :p)
I’ll see if I can get a bigger photo from my editor.
I’m so excited for you. I sent you an email, but it may have got caught by the spam filter. I’ll get something signed by you one day. It’s cool that you’re not nervous. I think I would be. I get nervous everytime I’m a guest speaker. Hopefully The Replacement will arrive soon. I have to say your big news posts are always so tiny and calm. Happy writing and all the good stuff.
Simon, if it’s the email with the interview questions, I got it and am just a terrible, terrible corresponder. The questions are great and I’m about halfway through, so I’ll be getting them back to you soon! If it’s a different email though, definitely send it again!
Yes thats the one. I’ll be patient, seriously, no rush. Enjoy the excitement!
I just got this book today! :)
Literally, this book just came into the library this morning, and I got it around 6 pm today.
I already finished it; it was too good to put down.
Amazing work, I love the character of Tate.
Re: I just got this book today! :)
Thanks for letting me know! I love hearing that people enjoyed it, and of course, I love hearing that people love Tate :)
Can’t wait!!!! :0)
I’m getting mine tomorrow…or maybe the next day…or maybe the next day…We’ll see.
Re: Can’t wait!!!! :0)
I hope you like it! (I love your rage-filled icon)
Congratulations Brenna! The book is beautiful. I started it yesterday but quickly realized I was going to need to reserve a block of time to read this one straight through (it is clearly not a put-down-and-pick-back-up-later kind of book!) So I’ve reserved my whole Sunday for reading it!
Congratulations again! You definitely deserve all the fame and fortune that is coming your way from this awesomeness. ;)
Thank you so much! And I hope it turns out that I’ve contributed to a good Sunday for you (one of my favorite things is curling up on the couch and reading a book straight through)!
Omg congrats on anything! Can’t wait to read your book!!
Thanks!