Talking about Blackwell (& sharing the cover of LOKI'S WOLVES)
HISTORY:
In 2005, I started writing a book for my then-12-year-old daughter, Asia (who is now freshman at university!). That book sprung from a short story ("The Sleeping Girl & The Summer King") I wrote in 2004 (which is now published in my Faery Tales & Nightmares collection). The story became a novel (Wicked Lovely) & then a book series & then had short stories and a manga series and a film option.
My son Dylan isn't much for "kissing stories," so when he turned 12 (two years ago) he wanted to know where HIS book was. He wanted "more monsters, less kissing."
At the time I'd been talking to my friend Kelley Armstrong about our plan to co-author.
Kelly has boys of the same age, and she also had written a YA series for her daughter.
My husband's family is from South Dakota.
My husband's last name and his family mythology are Norwegian. I spent far too much time learning Norse myth bc of my panic that our kids would only get MY family myth heritage.
So . . . Kelley and I decided to co-author a trilogy about 12-13 year old kids dealing with the Norse end-of-times story, Ragnarok. My son & his friends came up with a list of titles: Loki's Wolves, Odin's Ravens, & Thor's Serpent. Kelley's kids & my kids gave us critique notes. Kelley's agent & my agent sold the books. It's been very much a case of friends & family during the creation process.
NOW:
The first book in The Blackwell Pages goes on sale in the US, Canada, UK, Ireland, Aus, & NZ in May 2013. Today, we get to share our US cover with you. On the cover are Matt (whose pov Kelley writes) and Laurie (whose pov I write). Geekily, we had the shield designed according to researched symbology, and extra-geekily, we had actual shields made in the traditional Viking way.
We love the cover. (Thank you, dear team at Little, Brown!)
Right now, the second book is written, & the third/final book will be started next month when we are on retreat. We actually write the books when we are in the same building. It's an odd process in which she writes when the sun is in the sky, & I write when the moon is out. She writes Matt, and I write the others' (Laurie & Fen in Book 1). Our process works well, but more importantly, our sons are pleased :)
OTHER:
The series will also be available in these places at some point after May 2013:
In 2005, I started writing a book for my then-12-year-old daughter, Asia (who is now freshman at university!). That book sprung from a short story ("The Sleeping Girl & The Summer King") I wrote in 2004 (which is now published in my Faery Tales & Nightmares collection). The story became a novel (Wicked Lovely) & then a book series & then had short stories and a manga series and a film option.
My son Dylan isn't much for "kissing stories," so when he turned 12 (two years ago) he wanted to know where HIS book was. He wanted "more monsters, less kissing."
At the time I'd been talking to my friend Kelley Armstrong about our plan to co-author.
Kelly has boys of the same age, and she also had written a YA series for her daughter.
My husband's family is from South Dakota.
My husband's last name and his family mythology are Norwegian. I spent far too much time learning Norse myth bc of my panic that our kids would only get MY family myth heritage.
So . . . Kelley and I decided to co-author a trilogy about 12-13 year old kids dealing with the Norse end-of-times story, Ragnarok. My son & his friends came up with a list of titles: Loki's Wolves, Odin's Ravens, & Thor's Serpent. Kelley's kids & my kids gave us critique notes. Kelley's agent & my agent sold the books. It's been very much a case of friends & family during the creation process.
NOW:
The first book in The Blackwell Pages goes on sale in the US, Canada, UK, Ireland, Aus, & NZ in May 2013. Today, we get to share our US cover with you. On the cover are Matt (whose pov Kelley writes) and Laurie (whose pov I write). Geekily, we had the shield designed according to researched symbology, and extra-geekily, we had actual shields made in the traditional Viking way.
We love the cover. (Thank you, dear team at Little, Brown!)
Right now, the second book is written, & the third/final book will be started next month when we are on retreat. We actually write the books when we are in the same building. It's an odd process in which she writes when the sun is in the sky, & I write when the moon is out. She writes Matt, and I write the others' (Laurie & Fen in Book 1). Our process works well, but more importantly, our sons are pleased :)
OTHER:
The series will also be available in these places at some point after May 2013:
- Brazilian Portuguese / Publisher: Rocco
- French / Publisher: Milan
- Russian / Publisher: Exmo
- Vietnamese / Publisher: Le Chi
- Thai / Publisher: Amarin
- Romanian / Publisher: SC Leda
- Polish / Publisher: Wilga
- Complex Chinese / Publisher: Sharp Point