between the lines

John Green On the Road

2012-02-01T12:14:00.000+11:00

It's a John Green kind of day here at BTL. First off: the excellent news that The Fault in Our Stars has gone into reprint in Australia - WOOHOO! Thanks to our local Aussie supporters for spreading the TFIOS word.

Secondly, how amazing is this video from John's hectic and wild US events tour. It's so great to see authors get the rock star treatment they deserve!

BTL Movie News

2012-02-01T09:46:00.000+11:00

It took only 20 or days for Hollywood to get moving on The Fault in Our Stars - and that's VERY quick for Hollywood.

It has been announced overnight that Fox 2000 have snapped up the film rights to The Fault in Our Stars. Now comes the daunting task of actually casting an Augustus and Hazel. With Nerdfighters everywhere on high alert, the pressure to adapt this 'damn near genius' (thanks Time magazine) novel is SUPER high. If you had to, who would you cast in a TFIOS adaptation?

This news also comes on back of word that Selena Gomez is moving away from the Jay Asher epic Thirteen Reasons Why and has recently optioned the film rights to Jandy Nelson's The Sky is Everywhere. Clearly, Selena is a YA book loving girl!

The TBR Shelf

2012-01-31T21:49:00.000+11:00

It's Tuesday - so that means (everyone together) THE TBR SHELF!

1. What's new on your Shelf?

2. What have you just finished on The Shelf?

3. What book are you most desperate this week to get on The Shelf?

BTL's answers: 1. Pages for a manuscript we can't name (and no, it's not The Golden Lily.) 2. A re-read of TFIOS - yes, it's still awesome and sad and uplifting. 3. We're actually keen to see final pages of Dark Eyes

Disharmony Cover Reveal...Coming Soon

2012-01-31T17:25:00.000+11:00

You might have heard whispers about it, maybe you were at BTL Live heard a quick preview. This June though, The Telling comes to life. Disharmony Book 1 by Leah Giarratano. This Thursday we exclusively reveal the cover here at BTL.

The January BTL Hot Clicks

2012-01-31T12:34:00.000+11:00

A quick snapshot of the Top 5 BTL Posts that got you clicking in January:

1. The Golden Lily: Bloodlines 2 Teasers

2. The Fault in Our Stars Quote Cards Ch 1

3. The Fault in Our Stars Quote Cards Ch 2

4. Cover to Cover: Black Dawn Morganville Vampires

5. The Fault in Our Stars Quote Cards Ch 3

BTL Couple Showdown - It's LOVE!

2012-01-30T18:12:00.000+11:00

As we head into the month of LOVE - February, in case you're confused - it's time to get all loved up. The YA world is FULL of couples that people love. From vampire fighting dashes with death, to dark and angsty high school wars, there is something for everyone. Of course, that means they need to face off against each other and prove their ultimate love in our BTL Couple* Showdown.

Firstly, like any good showdown, each couple needs an advocate. Someone to shout from the rooftops, spread the word, rally the troops and get people to adore their chosen favourites.

And we're handing the advocate reigns over to you - to apply simply email us at BTL with your chosen couple in the subject and 140 words on why they are your forever love!

*We're talking actual couples - so if a triangle/tension/unrequited-ness still exists and a person hasn't been chosen, the couple-dom withdrawn.

The Couples

Dimitri & Rose - Vampire Academy
Ethan & Lena - Beautiful Creatures
June & Day - Legend
Jonah & Taylor - On the Jellicoe Road
Shane & Claire - Morganville Vampires
Anna & Etienne - Anna and the French Kiss
Augustus & Hazel - The Fault in Our Stars
Lissa & Christian - Vampire Academy
Lola & Cricket - Lola and the Boy Next Door
Michael & Eve - Morganville Vampires

The Fault In Our Stars Quote Cards - Chapter 4

2012-01-30T12:17:00.000+11:00

Chapter 4 TFIOS Quote Cards - which are behind the jump for those wishing to remain spoiler free and of course, if you've missed them Chapter 3, Chapter 2 and Chapter 1.

And from the fan world of TFIOS, a fan-made mini The Fault in Our Stars book! Crafty fans are super impressive.

The Fault In Our Stars - The Headlines

2012-01-29T14:43:00.000+11:00

As is always the case, when a new book is released, lots of reviews, articles, interviews and reports flood our in-box. We thought we'd start a new series, The Headlines: a look at just a few of those reviews, posts, articles and more.

Kicking off The Headlines is The Fault in Our Stars.

Time Magazine 'The Topic of Cancer' - a sort of word play on the tropic of cancer which actually has nothing to do with TFIOS. Headline aside, the review is stunning but behind a paywall - the quote 'In fact, it is damn near genius' pretty much sums it up.

Technique (which bills itself as 'The South's Liveliest College Newspaper') 'Fault touching, transcends young-adult genre' - this headline could be a puff quote on its on but we love it for pushing TFIOS out of the young-adult genre. WORD!

Wall Street Journal 'A Prize Winner With a Poignant Sense of Loss' - a non-spoiler, this is what you're getting headline is good choice from WSJ. The review itself contains a mild spoiler, but still, is glowing.

Vancouver Sun 'A young girl slays inner demons while fighting cancer' - When newspaper headlines go bad! We think whoever created this headline, must have assumed a YA book is only ever going to be paranormal. A very respectful to no spoilers review that's overshadowed by its headline.

If you've reviewed TFIOS - post a link in the comments section, we'd love to see them!

Literally Covered

2012-01-25T18:06:00.000+11:00

Last week's Literally Covered had you divided - was it Rachel Caine's Black Dawn or Stephenie Meyer's Eclipse? Well congratulations to Team Black Dawn, you're correct. Shout out to Lux, who guessed correctly first.

What could this literal cover be?

News from the BTL Desk

2012-01-25T15:38:00.000+11:00

Look what just arrived from the printer! The long awaited Gabrielle Williams book hits stores on 22 February!

Aussie YA Week Flashback Read: Raw Blue

2012-01-25T12:12:00.000+11:00

When Kirsty Eagar's Raw Blue hit shelves in 2009, people weren't sure what to expect from this debut novelist. Very quickly though, the Eagar bandwagon started rolling. Every month, more fans began to read the dark and intense story of Carly and her troubles in dealing with a horrific past and her passionate love of surfing. Then it took on another level and US book bloggers came to party, with stunning reviews and Raw Blue praise posts, practically begging a US publisher to recognise this gem of a book.

'When Eagar’s talent for stunning prose meets a protagonist whom we love despite her best attempts to dissuade us, the result is a beautiful and lingering story that reinfuses life into us.' Steph Su Reads

'Kirsty Eagar writes in a raw, stark style that sneaks up like a building wave and crashes down on you with cascading emotion.' Forever Young Adult

In this Aussie YA Week flashback extract we meet a raw and distracted Carly, wild and desperate to forget a unknown memory that haunts her.

I decide to go the long way home, Wakehurst Parkway. I just want to drive. I want to smoke too, but that’ll have to wait. I’m no good at smoking and driving at the same time, the ash always comes back in the window at me and, besides, I like to take my time over a cigarette, make it an event.

Once through Seaforth and on the open road, I speed up to ninety, winding down my window. I push through to a hundred and ten, and the lights from the cars coming the other way blind me. I feel like I’m being sucked towards them, like you can be sucked over the edge of a cliff. I focus on the white line on my side of the road. The urge to let go of the wheel and just see what happens is compelling. If I live, I’ll wake to find myself in hospital. I won’t have to do anything, deal with anybody, talk, be scared anymore, because I will have become somebody else’s responsibility. And if I die, well then everything’s solved. No more being angry like this.

It’s so tempting. I frighten myself when I cross the bridge near the back of the lakes at a hundred and twenty. The bitumen is raised there and when I hit it at that speed, for a moment I think I’ve lost control and the car’s going to hit the side rail. But then I’m over the bridge and I brake sharply. I squeeze the steering wheel tight, leaning forward like Mr Magoo, really trying to concentrate on what I’m doing. I pass Garden Street, which is where I’d usually turn to get to Powderworks Road
and home, and turn off at the smash repairer’s, making my way through the back streets to the break.

I pull into the top car park and sit there in my car, smoking out the window, listening to the surf. It’s too dark to go down to the beach, just being near it is enough.

If I close my eyes I can imagine crashing. I see it in slow motion, like a crash-test dummy reconstruction where I’m the dummy. The Laser swerving across the road to hit a brick wall – the one near the sports grounds at the back of Seaforth – yellow bonnet crumpling, metal screeching, indicator
lights exploding and spraying orange glass. My neck whiplashes forward, the windscreen shatters and the car presses in around me like a cocoon. Tight, tight, tighter, the warmest hug in the world.

It scares me. I don’t want to do it. But sometimes I think it’s the only way I’ll be able to turn off what’s in my head.

Happy Release Day

2012-01-25T10:50:00.000+11:00

Welcome the world, Born Wicked and Jessica Rules the Dark Side. Congrats to Jessica Spotswood and Beth Fantaskey.

Which one will you read first?

The TBR Shelf

2012-01-24T21:57:00.000+11:00

Tuesday TBR Shelf time. The TBR Shelf is our weekly To. Be. Read (TBR) Shelf sharing session.

Tell us what you're reading?

1. What's new on your Shelf?

2. What have you just finished on The Shelf?

3. What book are you most desperate this week to get on The Shelf?

BTL's answers 1. Final finished copies of Outpost arrived! 2. Losing It by Julia Lawrinson, and it's an Aussie story for sure! 3. The French covers for Morganville have made us eager for Black Dawn.

The Fault In Our Stars Quote Cards - Chapter 3

2012-01-24T16:44:00.000+11:00

Chapter 3 for the TFIOS Quote Cards and in case you missed them: Chapter 1 and Chapter 2 are also available!

And from the world of awesome, we bring you a 'The Fault in Our Stars' fan song, created from some of the amazing TFIOS quotes. It's not plot spoilery but uses quotes from all over the book, so if you're holding strong then maybe don't click!

Bonjour Morganville Vampires

2012-01-24T11:14:00.000+11:00

Or should we say: Vampire City. Check out these amazing covers for the French editions of Morganville Vampires. Where do these covers sit for you in the Morganville cover world: Love, Hate or Wish You Spoke French?

Aussie YA Week Flashback Read: Looking for Alibrandi

2012-01-23T17:04:00.000+11:00

It was the book that started it all for Melina Marchetta and in the early 90's in Australian high schools, you were either a Jacob Coote or John Barton girl. In the middle Josephine Alibrandi, who is not only dealing with her feelings for both boys but handling with her final year at school, a returned father figure, a stormy relationship with her mother and secrets that frame who she is.

Aussie YA Week gives us a flashback to a sexy bus stop smooch with Josie and Jacob as they try and get their relationship off the ground. After a horrendous first date, they catch up at the bus-stop and try again; full of Australian shout outs including Harley's in Sydney and 'wagging school' (skipping school).

I sat at the bus-stop talking to my cousin Robert's best friend who goes to St. Anthony's. His bus came soon after and before I knew what was happening, Jacob Coote was sitting next to me.

'Who was that?' he whispered angrily.

'Jacob, get lost. That really upset Anna. You don't know how sensitive she is.'

'I'm sorry,' he said, grabbing my hand. 'Listen, we'll start over again, okay.'

I looked at his clear green eyes which always seemed so warm and sincere no matter how bad he looked at times. Eyes, my mother told me, never lie.

'Did you end up watching the movie that night?' I asked sulkily.

'No, I went and picked up a girl and screwed her brains out.'

I looked at him, unamused, knowing he was lying.

'That's what you want to hear, isn't it?' he asked.

'No, not really.'

'I went home,' he said gently. 'Satisfied?'

I looked around at anything but him and he leaned forward and kissed me slowly on the mouth.

'Another chance,' he said. 'We were both hot-headed and I said things I didn't mean. I'll never say them again. Cross my heart and hope to die.'

'And never lie again?'

He kissed me again and I looked around, embarrassed.

'People will see,' I said, stepping away. 'We're at a bus-stop.'

He grabbed my hand and squeezed it, looking pleased with himself.

'You'll have to come over again and redeem yourself with my mother,' I told him honestly. 'She was very unimpressed.'

He shrugged. 'I lived through it once.'

I hugged him quickly, noticing that the bus was approaching.

'I'll meet you at Harley's at four-thirty tomorrow.'

'I work.'

'Hell,' he cursed. 'How about after work?'

'Can't.'

'Wanna wag?'

I looked around, agitated. I didn't want to do things behind my mother's back but there was no other time to see him.

'Poison Ivy wouldn't wag.'

'You're not Poison Ivy. You're no saint, Josephine, so don't try acting like one.'

I covered my face and shook my head. 'Okay,' I said. 'Eight-thirty, Friday morning at Circular Quay.'

He looked excited and I was pleased. Captain of Cook High, leader among boys of the school community and voted sexiest male in the rebel St Martha's poll, and he was excited because I was going out with him.

He kissed me quickly this time and looked up when the bus stopped.

'I'll be waiting.'

I stepped on the bus, waiting for the person in front of me to pay.

'I'll take you to go and see that prejudice movie,' he yelled.

'Pride and Prejudice,' I called out. 'It's very romantic.'

I sat on the bus grinning from ear to ear, and wondered if I 'd have something interesting to confess at confession next quarter.

Aussie YA Week

2012-01-23T13:00:00.002+11:00

This week in Australia, we celebrate Australia Day - our official national day of Australia. YAY!

Looking for Alibrandi Flashback
Raw Blue Flashback

Of course, that means we're celebrating our AMAZING Aussie YA Authors this week at BTL - so tell us, who is your favourite Aussie author and what is your all time favourite Australian YA book?

BTL Challenge

2012-01-20T17:00:00.000+11:00

Another post theme coming out of retirement this week: The BTL Challenge.

For those without super long memories, each week, we offer you a BTL Challenge. You can join in, or not - it's completely up to you. The BTL Challenge varies wildly from reading and writing to cooking and stamp collecting (some people enjoy it!) We want to give you ideas that might inspire you to see the world differently, participate in or learn new things or just relax and have fun! If you want to participate in the BTL Challenge, feel free to post updates in the comments section/or on our Facebook page. We'll also be participating in each Challenge so you won't be alone!

The BTL Challenge: Finish It!

Yes, this sounds a little abstract and vague but that's why it works. It can be applied to anything! From finishing that book you are reading, to the back to school stationery shopping, to drawing the piece of art you've imagined to writing that fan-fiction piece you've had sitting on your computer. Finish It Challenge means you'll finish it and then enjoy the weight lifted off your shoulders!

So come on, let's get our BTL Challenge on - who is with us?

The Fault in Our Stars Quote Cards - Chapter 2

2012-01-20T12:42:00.000+11:00

We're back with TFIOS Chapter 2 Quote Cards and we're realizing very quickly, how hard it is to narrow down a chapter to just three choices! The dilemma - don't forget, if you've read The Fault in Our Stars and want to suggest quotes, fire away in the comments section below.

We'll continue to hide the quotes behind the link for those avoiding spoilers.

The BTL Question

2012-01-19T17:13:00.000+11:00

We retired the BTL question for a while - it was exhausted and needed a rest but it's back now, ready to delve into the minds of YA readers (with their permission of course) and find out interesting YA stuff!

The Sob-Fest Question

There is this little book out (The Fault in Our Stars, you might have heard of it?) that is making people cry A LOT at the moment. What book last made you cry? Have you cried unexpectedly while reading a book? Have you expected to cry and then no tears?

Share your tears and books in the comments below.

Literally Covered

2012-01-18T17:36:00.000+11:00

Welcome back cover guessers! Last week's easier cover: Born Wicked. Good work to our first correct guess: Sas!

What could this week's cover be?

Born Wicked Trailer

2012-01-18T15:36:00.000+11:00

Book trailers are all the rage these days but we've got to admit, the Born Wicked' trailer is pretty special!

The TBR Shelf

2012-01-17T17:33:00.001+11:00

Back to our regularly scheduled Tuesday TBR Shelf. The TBR Shelf is our weekly To. Be. Read (TBR) Shelf sharing session

Tell us what you're reading?

1. What's new on your Shelf?

2. What have you just finished on The Shelf?

3. What book are you most desperate this week to get on The Shelf?

BTL's answers guest starring our publicity guru Tina: 1. Tina's about to get stuck into Night Beach by Kirsty Eagar 2. Fever by Dee Shulman - which Tina loved! 3. After enjoying Born Wicked, Tina is now desperate for Book 2 - the waiting begins.

The Fault in Our Stars Quote Cards

2012-01-17T13:04:00.001+11:00

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a John Green novel is one of life's most quotable things. From his zippy banter to beautifully aching life questions, you're sure to want to highlight passages of text!

BTL to the rescue: TFIOS Quote Cards! We start with Chapter 1 and because we know many of you are yet to read, we're putting them behind the link so as to save any spoiler drama.

If you've read The Fault In Our Stars and want to nominate quotes for later chapters, jump into the comments section and let us know.

The Most Clicked BTL Posts of 2011

2012-01-17T11:44:00.000+11:00

2012 is already off to a flying start but we wanted to glance back and check out the BTL Hot Posts - our Top 5 Most Clicked Posts of 2011.

BTL Facebook Recap: Vampire Academy was a runaway clear favourite, with the post now BTL's most clicked on of all time. Coming in second place, was Part 2 of the series. The Recap will be back this for VA with the Frostbite coming soon.

News that Selena Gomez may take a role in Thirteen Reasons Why movie adaptation got you all very interested, coming at No. 3 of the most clicked this year. With no new word on the film, who knows if this is still true?

Bloodlines Teaser Trailer casting post was hugely popular at No. 4. As we know here at BTL, Richelle Mead fans are a vocal bunch and while not everyone loved our cast, we think they loved Bloodlines and that's the main point!

Rounding out the Top 5 was the PengTeen Awards: Vote Now option. The first ever awards were pretty popular all round, so expect to see them back and better than ever later this year!

What's in a name?

2012-01-16T17:14:00.000+11:00

Our old friend Will Shakespeare used to say, 'a rose by any other name would smell as sweet' or something very similar. We'd like to believe him but we've got our doubts.

Behind the scenes here at BTL, a lot is happening and coming soon is a MAJOR site revamp. The new look will be user-friendly, more interactive and basically the bells and whistles version of awesome. But it got us to thinking about our name: Between the Lines or BTL more commonly. Should we keep it? Do you like it? If we changed it, what could we change it to?

We want your ideas, thoughts and suggestions so fire away in the comments below!

YA to the Movies?

2012-01-16T13:08:00.000+11:00

BTL may have spotted a certain Hunger Games star on the streets of Melbourne yesterday (we'll admit it: we're Peeta peeps!). It did get us to thinking though: with so many YA novels in the process of possible adaptation, which novel do you NOT want to make it to the big screen?

It might be so epic that you think it's un-filmable, it might be that no actor in Hollywood could ever match the perfection of the character or it might be because the story itself is too brilliant, too amazing to ever be captured on screen the way it should be?

Sound off in the comments below.

Cover to Cover: Jessica Rules the Dark Side

2012-01-13T17:14:00.000+11:00

The sequel to the hilarious Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side is about to hit shelves, but first, which cover do you prefer?

L to R: AUS/US - Italian

Night Beach Trailer Reveal

2012-01-12T14:24:00.000+11:00

The Eagar-ly (get it!) anticipated Night Beach now has a most AWESOME trailer.

Who can't wait for 26 April, when Night Beach hits?

BTL Bullet Point Five: Jessica Spotswood

2012-01-12T12:26:00.000+11:00

It has been on our radar for so long, from the moment we saw the strikingly beautiful cover, to then talking with the lovely Jessica on Twitter; Born Wicked has been a hotly anticipated novel here at BTL. Dip into this extract to get a taste for the cursed Cahill sisters.

We cornered Jessica and set her the BTL Bullet Point Five challenge: Five Questions, Five Bullet Point Answers.

Where do you write?

On the loveseat in my office
Lying across my bed in front of the fan
At the coffee shop/wine bar in our neighborhood
At the other coffee shop with the fabulous scones
On the DC metro (scribbling out dialogue longhand, usually)

Five songs that inspired Born Wicked?

"You Could Be Happy" - Snow Patrol
"Roll Away Your Stone" - Mumford & Sons
"Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)" - Florence and the Machine
"Turning Tables" - Adele
"Almost Lover" - A Fine Frenzy

Five foods/drinks you like to consume while writing?

Earl Grey tea in the morning/afternoon
Berry or ginger tea at night
Cranberry-orange scones
Cardamom cookies
Popsicles

Five tips for aspiring writers?

Read as much as you can.
Learn to take constructive criticism without melting into a puddle of self-doubt.
Learn to give constructive criticism -- ask questions, try to see what the writer means to do, and analyze why the story does and doesn't work for you. I've learned so much by critiquing manuscripts for friends.
Surround yourself with friends who believe in your dreams and will have faith for you on the days you don't.
Never, ever give up.

Five key moments on your way to becoming a writer?

Age 11: I read Gone with the Wind, fall in love with it, and start writing my own dreadful knockoff historical romances.
Age 27: Sick to death of reading plays after studying theatre in grad school, I reread all my childhood favorites and then start reading new YA. I'm inspired to start writing again: a YA fantasy.
Age 29: After revising my manuscript four times, I start querying. I'm offered representation by my awesome agent, Jim McCarthy.
Age 29 1/2: While my first manuscript is on submission, I begin a new, alternate-history book about witches. Good choice, as the first manuscript never sells!
Age 30: The new manuscript, originally titled Thrice-Blessed, sells in a week in a major pre-empt to Putnam! I have a book deal!

Literally Covered

2012-01-11T21:28:00.000+11:00

We stumped a few people with last week's Literally Covered (you asked for it to be harder!), congrats to our first Anonymous poster - you were correct: Cinder.

We've scaled back to a little easier this week, any guesses?

TBR Shelf

2012-01-11T15:35:00.000+11:00

We're a day late! So today, Wednesday means sharing in BTL Nation. The TBR Shelf is our weekly To. Be. Read (TBR) Shelf sharing session

Tell us what you're reading?

1. What's new on your Shelf?

2. What have you just finished on The Shelf?

3. What book are you most desperate this week to get on The Shelf?

BTL's answers: 1. We can now reveal, the un-named manuscript was in fact, The Fault in Our Stars - A-MAZING! 2. Where She Went - Gayle Forman, too good 3. No Such Thing as Forever: Girl Hearts Boy.

Happy Release Day The Fault in Our Stars

2012-01-11T10:11:00.000+11:00

Welcome to world!

Let's Talk About: Legend

2012-01-10T17:53:00.000+11:00

The book is out, you've read it all and now you're dying to talk to someone about it. Well, BTL to the rescue! Welcome to Let's Talk About, our new series focused on talking about books that have been released and you've read reviews of but now need a good spoiler filled chat with fellow readers.

First book, Legend by Marie Lu, the story of June and Day. From very different worlds, they have no reason to cross paths-until the day June's brother, Metias, is murdered, and Day becomes the prime suspect. Now, caught in the ultimate game of cat and mouse, Day is in a race for his family's survival, while June tries desperately to avenge Metias's death.

For further discussion click through to BTL discussion points, which include spoiler question, if you haven't read Legend.

1. June and Day are so similar in their determination for their family, but from such different worlds. If June and Day's roles were reversed, would this have still been the same?

2. With dystopia being such a hot trend in YA, did the world building that occurs in Legend, work for you? How important is it for a dystopian novel to pay attention to that world building aspect?

3. How quickly did Thomas as a suspect draw your suspicion regarding Metias death?

4. Was killing Day's mother important to show how serious the Government was in it's efforts to control outlaws?

5. How upset will you be if Tessa is harmed?

6. What are you thoughts ahead of Legend 2?

Black Dawn: Morganville Vampires Extract

2012-01-10T13:00:00.000+11:00

The Black Dawn cover choice drove you all little crazy, with the split almost 50/50 for two choices. An easier choice today: do you read this amazing extract from Black Dawn: Morganville Vampires or not? [Far easier choice, we think.]

If you're not sure, why you should be excited for Black Dawn's release, then let our helpful hype checklist remind you.

Extract after the jump

CLAIRE

It would have been better if he’d screamed.

Michael Glass didn’t scream. Instead, he made a terrible keening noise in the back of his throat, arched his back, and began to flail violently inside his zipped-up sleeping bag. Fabric shredded under vampire strength, and insulation bulged out of the tears as he fought his way free, but even once it was off him he just kept . . . flailing.

Across the room, Claire Danvers bolted straight up to her feet, tripped over her own sleeping bag, and managed to catch herself against a wall just before she would have hit the floor face-first. Her heart was slamming too fast against her ribs, and she had the sour, helpless taste of panic in her mouth.

They’re here, was the only coherent thought in her head. She had to be ready to fight, to run, to react, but all she could think of was how utterly scared she was just now. And how helpless.

There were things out there in the world, things that vampires feared, and now those things were here. She was only seconds out of a very light, fitful sleep, but she knew that the nightmares had followed her effortlessly right into the real world. The draug. They weren’t vampires; they were something else, something that moved through water, formed out of it, dragged vampires down to a slow and awful death.

A week ago, she’d have laughed something like that off as a bad joke, but then she’d seen them come for Morganville, Texas. Come with the rains that never fell in this desert-locked, sunbaked town where the vampires had, finally, made their last stand.

Today she woke up with the blind and panicked knowledge that no matter how bad the world was with vampires in it, a world that held the draug was vastly worse. They’d come to Morganville, infiltrated stealthily, built their numbers until they were ready to fight . . . until they could sing their infinitely awful song that somehow, impossibly, was also beautiful, and irresistible. To humans as well as to vamps.

The strongest of Morganville’s vampires had gone up against it, and scored a few hits . . . but not without cost. Amelie, the ice-queen ruler of the town, had been bitten; without her, it was all going to get worse, fast.

Michael was still thrashing and making that terrible sound, and it came to her gradually that instead of cowering here while her brain caught up, she should go to him. Help him.

And then the lights brightened from dim to dazzling in the big, carpeted room, and she saw her boyfriend, Shane Collins, standing in the doorway, looking first at her, then over at Michael, who was still desperately struggling against . . . nothing.

Against his nightmare.

Claire pulled in a deep breath, shut her eyes for a second, then made the OK sign to Shane; he nodded back and went to their friend’s side. Michael was tangled up in the shredded remains of his sleeping bag, still flailing and, as far as Claire could tell, still dead asleep. Shane crouched down and, after a brief hesitation, reached out and put his hand on Michael’s shoulder.

Michael came awake instantly—vampire speed. In one blurred second he was sitting up, one hand wrapped around Shane’s wrist, eyes open and blazing red, fangs down and catching the light on razor-sharp points and edges.

Shane didn’t move, though he might have rocked back on his heels just a little. That was better than Claire could have done; she’d have fallen backward at the very least, and Michael would probably have broken her wrist—not intentionally, but sorry didn’t matter much when it came to shattered bones.

“Easy,” Shane said in a low, calm voice. “Easy, man, you’re safe. You’re safe now. It’s over. Nobody’s going to hurt you here.”

Michael froze. The red died down to embers in his eyes, and when he blinked it was gone, replaced by cool blue. He looked pale, but that was normal for him now. Claire saw his throat work as he swallowed, and then he shakily pulled in a breath and let go of Shane’s wrist. “God,” he whispered, and shook his head. “Sorry, man.”

“No drama,” Shane said. “Bad one, right?”

Michael didn’t respond to that immediately. He was staring off in the middle distance. She didn’t need to wonder what his nightmare had been about. . . . It would have been about being trapped in the Morganville Civic Pool, anchored to the bottom under that murky, poisoned water . . . being fed upon by the draug. Drained slowly, and alive, by creatures that found vampires as delicious as candy. Creatures that were, right now, invading and taking everything they could. Including every juicy vampire snack, straight to the bottom of whatever pool of filthy water they were hiding in.

There were, Claire realized, still tiny red marks all over Michael’s skin, like pinpricks . . . fading, but not quite gone. He was healing slower than usual—or he’d been hurt far more seriously than it had seemed. “Yeah,” he finally said. “I was dreaming I was still in the pool, and . . .”

He didn’t go on, but he didn’t need to; Claire had been there, seen it. Shane had not only seen but felt it—he’d dived in, unbelievably, to save lives. Vampire lives, but lives all the same. The draug had attacked him, too, and his skin had the reddish tint of broken capillaries to prove it.

Claire had a vivid, flashback-quality vision of the pool . . . that insanely creepy underwater garden of trapped vampires, tied down, stunned and helpless as the draug sucked away their strength and life. It had been one of the worst, most horrifying things she’d ever seen, and it had also outraged her on a very deep, primal level. Nobody deserved that. Nobody.

“It was real bad.” Shane nodded in agreement with Michael. “And I wasn’t in there nearly as long. You hang in there, Mikey.” He reached out again and squeezed Michael’s shoulder briefly, then rose to a standing position. “You feel the need to scream like a girl, let it out, dude. No judging.”

Michael groaned and rubbed his hand over his face. “Screw you, Shane. Why do I keep you around, anyway?”

“Hey, you need somebody to keep you humble, rock star. Always have.”

Claire smiled then, because Michael was starting to sound like his old self again. Shane could always do that, to any of them—a flip remark, a casual insult, and it was all okay again. Normal life.

Even when nothing at all was normal. Nothing.

Now that her panic was receding, she wondered what time it was—the room gave no real hint of whether it was day or night. They had evacuated to the Elders’ Council building, which—like most vampire buildings—didn’t much favor windows. What it did have was plenty of sleeping bags, a few roll-away beds, and lots of empty space; the vampires, apparently, were all about disaster planning, which didn’t surprise her at all, really. They’d had thousands of years in which to learn how to anticipate trouble and what to have together to meet (or avoid) it.

Right now, she, Michael, and Shane were the only ones sleeping in the room, which could have held at least thirty without feeling crowded.

There was no sign of their fourth housemate, Michael’s girlfriend, Eve. Her sleeping bag, which had been near Michael’s, was kicked off to the side.

“Shane,” Claire said, her fear getting another kick start. “Eve’s missing.”

“Yeah, I know. She’s up,” he said, “organizing coffee, believe it or not. You can take the barista out of the shop, but . . .”

That was, again, a tremendous feeling of relief. Shane made a profession of taking care of himself (and everybody else). Michael was a vampire, with all the fun advantages that came along with that in terms of self-defense. Claire was small, and not exactly a bodybuilder, but she defended herself pretty well . . . at least in being smart, careful, and having all the friends she could manage on her side.

Eve was . . . well, Eve liked to live on the edge, but she wasn’t exactly Buffy reincarnated. And in some ways her hard edges made her the most fragile of all of them. So Claire tended to worry at times like these. A lot.

“Coffee?” Michael asked, still rubbing his head. His hair should have looked crazy, but he was one of those people who had a natural immunity to bed-head; his blond hair just fell exactly the way it should, in careless surfer-style curls. Claire averted her eyes when he threw the sleeping bag back and reached for his shirt, because although he was always good to look at, he was seriously spoken for, and besides, Shane was standing right there.

Shane.

It came back to her in a dizzy rush, how he’d stopped her on the way into this place, in the faint dawn light. “I want you to promise me one thing. Promise me you’ll marry me. Not now. Someday.”

And she had promised, even if it was just their private little secret. She felt that shivery, fragile, butterfly-flutter feeling in her chest again. It was a fierce ball of light, a tangle of joy and terror and excitement and most of all, love.

Shane looked back at her with an intense, warm focus that made her suddenly feel like the only person in the world. She watched him walk toward her with a diffuse glow of pleasure. Michael was hot, no denying that, but Shane just . . . melted her. It was everything about him—his strength, his intensity, the off-center smile, the hunger in his eyes. There was something rare and fragile at the center of all that armor, and she felt lucky and privileged that he allowed her to see it.

“You doing all right?” Shane asked her, and she looked up at him. His dark gaze had turned serious, and it saw . . . too much. She couldn’t hide how scared she was, not from him, but he was the last one to think it was a sign of weakness. He smiled a little and rested his forehead against hers for a second. “Yeah. You’re doing just fine, tough girl.”

She shoved the fear back, took a deep breath, and nodded. “Damn right.” She ran her fingers through her tangled shoulder-length auburn hair—unlike Michael’s, hers had suffered from a night on the hard pillows—and looked down at her T-shirt and jeans. At least they didn’t wrinkle much . . . or if they did, it didn’t much matter. They were clean, even if they weren’t her own. It turned out there was a storehouse of clothing in the Elders’ Council building basement, neatly packed in boxes, labeled with sizes. Some of it dated back to the Victorian age . . . hoop skirts and corsets and hats, folded carefully away in scented paper and cedar chests.

Claire wasn’t sure she really wanted to know where all that clothing had come from, but she had her sinking suspicions. Sure, the older clothes looked like things the vampires themselves might have saved, but there were a lot of newer, more current styles that didn’t seem to fit that explanation. Claire couldn’t see Amelie, for instance, wearing a Train concert shirt, so she was trying hard not to think about whether or not they’d been scavenged from . . . other sources. Victim-y sources.

“Did you have nightmares, too?” she asked Shane. His arm tightened around her, just for a moment.

“Nothing I can’t handle. I’m kind of an expert at this whole bad dreams thing, anyway,” he said. And oh God, he really was. Claire knew only a little of how many bad things he’d seen, but even that was enough to spark a lifetime’s worth of therapy. “Still, yesterday was dire, and that’s not a word I bust out, generally. Maybe it’ll look better this morning.”

“Is it morning?” Claire peered at her watch.

“That depends on your definition..It’s after noon, so I guess technically not really. We slept for about five hours, I suppose. Or you did. Eve bounced about an hour ago, and I got up because . . .” He shook his head. “Hell. This place creeps me out. I can’t sleep too well here.”

“It creeps you out more than what’s happening out there?”

“Valid point,” he said. Because the world out there—Morganville, anyway—was no longer the semi-safe place it had been just a few days ago. Sure, there had been vampires in charge of the town. Sure, they’d been predatory and kind of evil—a cross between old-school royalty and the Mafia—but at least they’d lived by rules. It hadn’t been so much about ethics and morals as about practicality. . . . If they wanted to have a thriving blood supply, they couldn’t just randomly kill people all the time.

Though the hunting licenses were alarming.

But now . . . now the vampires were in the food chain. They’d always been careful about human threats, but that wasn’t the issue, not anymore. The real vampire enemy had finally shown its incredibly disturbing face: the draug. All that Claire knew about them was that they lived in water and they could call vampires (and humans) with their singing, right to their deaths. For humans, it was fairly quick . . . but not for vampires. Vampires trapped at the bottom of that cold pool could live and live and live until the draug had drained every bit of energy from them.

Live, and know it was happening. Eaten alive.

The draug were the one thing vampires feared, really and truly. Humans they treated with casual contempt, but their response to the draug had been immediate mass evacuation, except for the few who’d chosen to stay and try to save the vampires already being consumed.

They’d all tried—vampires and humans, working together. Even the rebellious human townies, who hated vamps, had taken a drive-by run at the draug. It had been a heart-stopping military operation of a battle, the most intense experience of Claire’s life, and she still couldn’t quite believe she’d survived it . . . or that anyone had.

Even with all that effort, they’d saved only three vampires from the mildewed, abandoned pool—Michael, the elegant (and probably deadly) Naomi, and the very definitely deadly Oliver. Then things had gone from terrible to awful, and they’d had to leave everyone else.

Except Amelie. They’d saved Amelie, the Founder of Morganville . . . sort of. And Claire was trying not to think about that, either.

“Hey,” Shane said, and nudged her. “Coffee, remember? Eve’ll be all sad emo Goth face if you don’t drink some.”

Again, Shane was the practical one, and Claire had to smile because he was completely right. No one needed sad, emo Goth Eve today. Especially Eve. “I could kill for a cup of coffee. If there’s, you know, cream. And sugar.”

“Yes and yes.”

“And chocolate?”

“Don’t push it.”

Michael had, by this time, gotten up and joined them. He still looked pale—paler than usual—and there was something a little wild in his eyes, as if he was afraid that he was still in the pool. Drowning.

Claire took his hand. As always, it felt a little cooler than room temperature, but not cold . . . living flesh, but running on a much lower setting. Almost as tall as Shane, he looked down at her and smiled the rock-star smile that made all the girls melt in their shoes. She, however, was immune. Almost. She only melted a little, secretly. “What?” he asked her, and she shook her head.

“Nothing,” she said. “You’re not alone, Michael. We won’t let that happen again. I promise.”

The smile disappeared, and he studied her with a strange kind of intensity, almost as if he was seeing her for the first time. Or seeing something new in her. “I know,” he said. “Hey, remember when I almost didn’t let you into the house that first day you came?”

She’d shown up on his doorstep desperate, bruised, scared, and way too young to be facing Morganville. He’d been right to have his doubts. “Yep.”

“Well, I was dead wrong,” he said. “Maybe I never said that out loud before, but I mean it, Claire. All that’s happened since . . . we wouldn’t have made it. Not me, not Shane, not Eve. Not without you.”

“It’s not me,” Claire said, startled. “It’s not! It’s us, that’s all. We’re just better together. We . . . take care of each other.”

He nodded again, but didn’t have a chance to reply because Shane reached in, took Claire’s hand from Michael’s, and said—not seriously, thank God—“Stop vamping up my girl, man. She needs coffee.”

“Don’t we all,” Michael said, and smacked Shane on the shoulder hard enough to make him stagger. “Vamping up your girl? Dude. That’s low.”

“Digging for China,” Shane agreed, straight-faced. “Come on.”

Claire could follow the smell of brewing caffeine all the way to Eve, like a trail of dropped coffee beans. It gave the sterile, funereal, windowless Elders’ Council building a weirdly homey feel, despite the chilly marble walls and the thick, muffling carpets.

The hallway opened into a wider circular area—the hub in the wheel—that held a huge round table in the center, which was normally adorned by an equally large fresh floral arrangement . . . adding to the funeral home vibe. But that had been pushed to the side, and a giant, shiny coffee dispenser had been put in its place, along with neat little bowls of sugar, spoons, napkins, cups, and saucers. Even cream and milk pitchers.

It was surreal to Claire, as if she’d stepped out of a nightmare and into a fancy hotel without any transition. And there, emerging from another door that must have led to some sort of kitchen, came Eve, with a tray in her hands, which she slid onto the other side of the big table.

Claire stared, because although it was Eve, it didn’t really look like her. No Goth makeup. Her hair was down, loose around her face and falling in soft black waves; even without her rice-powder coverage, her skin was creamy pale, but it looked movie-star beautiful. Natural-look Eve was stunning, even wearing borrowed clothes . . . though she’d found a retro fifties black pouf-skirted dress that really suited her perfectly.

She had a red scarf tied jauntily around her neck to hide the bites and bruises that Michael—starving and crazy from being dragged out of the pool—had inflicted on her.

She, and this setup, all looked a little too perfect. Shane and Michael exchanged a look, and Claire knew they were communicating the same thought.

Eve gave them a bright smile and said, “Good morning, campers! Coffee?”

“Hey,” Michael said, in such a soft and tentative voice that Claire felt her stomach clench. “You should be resting.” He reached for her, and Eve flinched. Flinched. Like he’d tried to hit her. His hand dropped to his side, and Claire couldn’t look at his face. “Eve—”

She spoke in a rush, running right over the moment. “We have hot coffee, all the good stuff—sorry I couldn’t get mocha up and running, but this place has a serious espresso deficiency . . . oh, and the croissants are hot out of the oven, have one.”

“You baked?” Shane’s eyebrows threatened to levitate right off his face.

“They were in one of those pop-open rolls, moron. Even I can bake those.” Eve’s smile wasn’t so much bright, Claire thought, as it was totally breakable. “I don’t think anybody ever used the kitchen in here, but at least it was stocked up. There’s even fresh butter and milk. Wonder who thought of that?”

“Eve,” Michael said again, and finally she looked directly at him. She didn’t say anything at all, only picked up a cup, filled it with hot, dark coffee, and handed it to him. He took it as he stared at her, then sipped—not as if he really wanted it, but as if it was something he was doing to please her. “Eve, can we just—”

“No, we can’t,” she said. “Not right now.” And then she turned and walked back to the kitchen, stiff-armed the door, and let it swing shut behind her.

The three of them stood there, only the sound of the door creaking on its hinges breaking the silence, until Shane cleared his throat, reached for a cup, and poured. “So,” he said. “Aside from the five-hundred-pound gorilla in the room that we’re going to not talk about, does anyone around here have half a plan on how we’re going to live through the day?”

“Don’t ask me,” Michael said. “I just got up.” The words sounded normal, but not the tone. It was as odd as Eve’s had been, and just as strained. He put his coffee back down on the table, hesitated, then took a croissant and walked away, back toward the room where they’d been. Shane started to follow, but Claire grabbed his arm.

“Don’t,” she said. “Nothing we can do about this, is there? Let him alone to think.”

“It wasn’t his fault.”

“I know. So does she. But she got hurt, and he did it, and that’s going to take time, all right?” She held Shane’s gaze this time, and he was the first one to look away. He’d hurt her before—more emotionally than anything else. And he hadn’t been in his right head-place, either. But sometimes explanations just didn’t matter as much as time. It was a hard lesson to learn, for both of them; it was going to be even harder for Michael and Eve.

God, sometimes growing up sucked.

“Okay, so it’s down to us, then. We still need a plan,” he said. He drank coffee, and she fixed hers up and gulped down a hot, bitter, wonderful mouthful. Next was the croissant, still steaming inside from the oven, and it was heaven in bread form, melting in her mouth. “No, strike that. We need SEAL Team Six, but I’ll settle for a half-ass plan right now.”

She swallowed. “Don’t talk with your mouth full.”

He did exactly what any boy—no, man—his age would do: he showed her a mouthful of mashed croissant, which was gross, then drank more coffee and showed her again. Gone.

“That is disgusting, and I will never kiss you again.”

“Yes, you will,” he said, and proved it by pressing his lips to hers. She wanted to squirm away, just to prove the point, but God, she loved kissing him, loved that his mouth was so warm and sweet and bitter with coffee . . . loved being so close to him now, teetering on the edge of the end of . . . everything. “See?”

“It wasn’t bad,” she said, and kissed him again. “But you really need to work on your technique.”

“Liar. My technique is awesome. Want me to prove it?” Before she could protest, his lips touched hers, and he was right about the proof. She slipped her hands under the loose hem of his shirt, fingers gliding lightly over the tensing muscles of his stomach, up to the hard, flat planes of his chest. His skin was like warm velvet, but underneath, he was iron, and it took her breath away.

Or so she thought, but when he skinned her Train T-shirt up and fitted his strong hands around her waist, pulling her to him even closer, she gasped against his mouth, moaned a little, and just . . . melted.

The hot, golden moment was sliced cleanly by a cold voice saying, “I can bear a great many things, but this is not one of them. Not now.”

Claire jumped back from Shane, guilty as a shoplifter. It was, unmistakably, Oliver’s voice, and it was coming from behind her. She hated round rooms. Too many ways people could come at you, especially sneaky, cranky vampires. She turned and faced him as he stalked toward them—no, toward the coffee, since he brushed them aside and filled a cup. She’d never seen him drinking it, but of course, he would; he owned the local coffee shop, Common Grounds. Or at least he had when there was still a Morganville that was alive and kicking.

Common Grounds, like everything else in town, was closed.

Oliver had always taken pains to present himself as human . . . maybe because he, of all the vampires, seemed the farthest from it. He was cold, unfeeling, acerbic, and sarcastic, and that was on a good day. It clashed with his friendly-aging-hippie vibe of tie-dyed shirts and jeans that he wore at the coffee shop, but he’d dispensed with all that now. He’d donned clothing that suited him, in a sinister and scary way . . . black pants, a black coat that must have been about a hundred years old, and a white shirt with a ruby pin where a tie would normally have gone. Except for a top hat, he could have stepped out of the turn of the last century. These, Claire felt, were his own clothes. No hand-me-downs for Oliver.

“I guess it’s pretty useless to say good morning,” Shane said.

“Especially as it’s neither morning nor good, yes,” Oliver replied, just shy of a snap. “Don’t try to banter with me, Collins. I am far from in the mood.” Claire could make out the red mottling on his pale skin, like Michael’s a souvenir of his time spent in that drowning pool. She wondered how he’d slept, if he’d slept. “As to plans, yes, I have one, and yes, it is under way.”

“Mind if we ask—?”

“Yes, of course I mind,” Oliver said, and this time it was a snap. There was a gleam of red in his eyes. He looked tired, Claire thought, and there was a flicker of something almost human in him. “If you wish to be of use, go find Theo Goldman and bring him to me. Now.”

“Theo?” Claire was startled, because she’d heard that Theo had gone missing, like many other vampires in Morganville . . . and she’d assumed he’d been in the pool. A casualty, when Amelie had resorted to throwing silver into it to kill the draug and their trapped victims with them. “Is he here?”

“If he was here, I wouldn’t ask you to find him, would I?”

Shane was doing that thing now, his posture getting stiff with challenge; he didn’t like it when Oliver treated her—or any of them—like idiots. But especially her. The last thing any of them needed today was to fight each other. They were working together—more or less—and that was how it had to be to survive this. So Claire put a hand on Shane’s arm to hold him back and said, in a very reasonable tone, “Do you have any idea where to look for him?”

Oliver’s hand trembled, just slightly, but enough to make the cup rattle lightly on the saucer. He, like Michael, still felt weak. That should have made Claire feel reassured, because he was usually so intimidating, but instead it made her feel extra vulnerable. “No,” he said. “I do not. But I require his presence, so you will find him.” He let a second pass and then added, without looking at either of them, “For the sake of the Founder.”

For Amelie. And there was a very slight change in his tone when he said it, something that almost seemed . . . softer.

“She’s worse,” Claire said. Oliver turned and walked away without responding, so she looked at Shane. “She’s getting worse, right?”

“Probably. Who knows with him?” But Shane had the same thought she did; she knew it. If Amelie died, they were at Oliver’s mercy. Not a good thing at all. He was a general, and when he fought wars, he liked them bloody—on both sides. “Maybe we should have left town when we had the chance. Just picked up and run for it.”

“And left Michael behind? And Eve? She wouldn’t have left him. You know that.”

He didn’t answer. She knew that Shane wasn’t someone who ran away, but he couldn’t help thinking about it—Morganville’s version of living a rich fantasy life. After a moment, he shrugged and said, “Too late now anyway. Where do you think we should start, if we’re supposed to track down Goldman?”

“No use looking at the hospital. It’s closed,” Claire said. “They moved all the patients out in ambulances and buses. And there are way too many places he could be. It’s not that big a town, but big enough to hide one vampire. He sent his family away, you know.” Theo, unlike most vamps Claire knew, actually had a family, and cared about them; it was very like him to be sure they were clear of the trouble, then stay behind himself.

“Can’t go close to the hospital anyway,” Shane said. “The whole area’s a no-go zone; the singing starts when you come anywhere close.”

The singing of the draug was not just eerie; it was deeply dangerous. It got hold of you, made you forget . . . and made you vulnerable to them. Claire nodded. “We’d better stay away from any water, too.”

“Toilets? Please say you don’t mean toilets, because this is rapidly turning into no fun at all. I mean, I like peeing on a wall as much as the next drunken redneck, but—”

“Chemical toilets,” she said. “Amelie had them brought over from some construction company. And please tell me you don’t pee on walls.”

“Moi?” He put his hand over his heart and did his best wounded-innocent look. “You must be thinking of some other uncouth jackass. Which makes me jealous, by the way.”

She would have played along with that, but the idea of the tap water made her suddenly realize that she was drinking the coffee in the cup in her hand, and she resisted a sudden violent urge to gag. “Uh, the coffee . . . ?”

“Made with the finest bottled water,” Eve said. She was back, and she’d brought cookies this time. “And these are sliced off a roll, so don’t think I’ve gone all Martha Stewart, Shane. The vamps stocked up on bottled water some time ago. I’m guessing it’s their version of survivalist training, if they’ve been worried about the draug for so long. All those plastic containers may be bad for the environment, but they’re really good for us right now. So . . . you’re looking for Theo?”

“So says Oliver,” Shane said, and stuffed a whole cookie in his mouth.

“Trust me, I work for Mr. Scary Guy in Charge, and you do not want to disappoint the man, even if you’re just pulling espresso shots. Especially not now. Besides, having Theo here would be a nice antidote to all this”—Eve gestured at the marble, carpet, dim lighting—“gloom. Theo’s cheerful, at least.”

He was, mostly. Although Claire thought that like all vampires she’d ever met—except Michael, and his grandfather Sam—Theo was essentially concerned about his own survival first. Once you accepted that was how vamps saw the world, it was a whole lot easier to understand what they would do, and why. Morganville, for instance. It was pragmatic, having this isolated town, which they controlled for their own safety. They were cruel sometimes, but they saw it as self-defense. . . . Let the humans get the upper hand, and the vampires feared they’d be killed, sooner or later. Claire didn’t agree with it, but she understood it.

Theo was . . . less pragmatic about that than most. Thankfully. And Eve was right. He would have a calming effect here, if he wasn’t floating somewhere in a pool of water being eaten alive.

Claire shuddered.

“Want to come with?” Shane asked, licking melted chocolate from his lips. Which was a little bit mesmerizing, actually. Claire had a dizzying impulse to help him with that, but she shook it off. Time and place, Claire, time and place . . .

“She can’t come with us,” Claire said, as Eve opened her mouth to agree. “Come on, Eve, you lost about two pints of blood last night. You’re not strong enough yet and you know it. You need rest.”

Eve’s mouth closed without making a comment, but she gave Claire a steady, cool look, as if she’d let her down by even mentioning what had happened. Although it was pretty clear that Eve, and Michael, were thinking a lot about it.

“Right,” Shane said in the silence. “That was awkward. Eve, you stay and . . . bake or something.”

“The hell I will,” she snapped back, way too tense. “If you don’t want me with you, maybe I’ll just grab a couple of Amelie’s boys and take them shopping for more weapons. We need to arm up, and we need to do it fast. That okay with you, or should I change into my pearls and an apron and die like a good girl?”

Shane held up his hands in surrender and took a step back. “I—have nothing to say.” Smart boy, Claire thought. “But if you go out, you take more than a couple of vampires with you, Eve. I mean it. Take Michael.”

“Well, you know what they say: less is more,” Eve said. She didn’t even comment on the Michael issue, but there was a stubborn, wounded look to her, and she didn’t meet Shane’s eyes.

“Right now, more is more, and much more is much better. You can’t dick around with these . . . things. You know that, right?”

“Oh, I know,” Eve said. Her dark eyes were filled with shadows, windows in a haunted house. “I was just thinking that it would be a good idea to start making weapons stockpiles around town. If we start a running fight, we need to be able to get to weapons when we need them.”

That was . . . a very good idea, Claire realized, and she nodded without speaking. Shane even looked respectfully impressed, which was an odd look for him; he wasn’t impressed by much. “Get silver,” he said. “If you can, knock over a jewelry store and get all the silver chains. We can break them up into pieces. Makes a good grenade.” Silver hurt, or killed, both vampires and draug. Shane sounded practical about it, but then, he’d spent his high school years being dragged around with his vampire-hating father. He probably knew more about killing vampires than anyone else in town . . . except the vampires themselves, of course. “It’s about the only thing that does work on these bastards. Talk to Myrnin about making more shotgun shells, too.”

Myrnin being Claire’s vampire boss—if a relationship that crazy could be called employer-employee, anyway. She was Igor to his Frankenstein. He had an underground lab and everything, which she’d managed to make a whole lot less creepy during her tenure with him . . . but not less chaotic. Myrnin was walking chaos, and a lot of the time that was fun.

Sometimes, not so much.

Eve rolled her eyes, now almost back to the old, carefree girl Claire knew. “Yeah, Collins, I wouldn’t have thought of Myrnin ever. Of course I’ll talk to him. He’s the only one who had his crap together before we went out the first time.”

“Hey!”

“Present company excepted, supposedly.”

“Better,” Shane said, and surprised her by suddenly enfolding her in a fierce hug. “Stay safe, all right?”

“Safe.” Eve agreed, and then held him at arm’s length, studying him with thoughtful intensity. “Huh. You don’t hug, you know. Unless you get hugged first.”

“I don’t?”

“Nope. Never ever.”

Shane shrugged. “Guess everybody changes once in a while.”

All of a sudden Claire was struck by how different they all were now. Eve had grown steadier, more thoughtful. Shane had taken his aggression in hand and was starting to understand it, channel it. Even open up a little more than he had.

Michael . . . Michael’s changes were more unsettling, less easy to appreciate, but he’d definitely changed. He was struggling not to change even more—not to drift further away from his lost human life.

As for Claire herself, she couldn’t say. She couldn’t tell, really. . . . She supposed she had more confidence, more courage, more insight, but it was hard to imagine herself from the outside like that. She just . . . was. More or less, she was still Claire.

Eve waved good-bye, hugged Claire hard—that was a typical Eve gesture—and headed toward the room where they’d left their stuff. Michael was in there. Claire hoped they could work out their . . . problems didn’t seem a strong enough word, and issues sounded too mundane. There wasn’t really a word for what was going on between her best friends, other than complicated.

laire grabbed coffee to go, wolfed down a couple of cookies—pre-mixed or not, they were hot, melty, and delicious—and followed Shane down another hallway. It might be, she thought, the one Oliver had used, but this place was confusing. If there were signs, they were visible only to vampires. But Shane took a right down an identical hallway, then a left, and then they were in another round room, this one with a massive barred door at one spoke of the wheel. The door also had guards . . . lots of them. Amelie’s personal detail, Claire thought, as she recognized some of them. They didn’t look as spotlessly turned out as she was used to seeing. The dark tailored suits were gone, and so were the sunglasses. Instead, they wore clothing from the same archival stores that she and her friends had scavenged . . . and she supposed that what they’d chosen at least indicated what period in history they were most comfortable with.

The two guards at the door, for instance. The taller, thinner one with the light hazel eyes and close-cut blond hair . . . he was wearing a chunky black leather jacket with spikes and buckles, and skinny jeans. Very eighties. His friend with the sharply drawn cheekbones and narrow eyes had on the tightest polyester pants Claire had ever seen, and a square-cut jacket to match, with a tight buttoned shirt in a loud earth-toned pattern.

“It’s like disco inferno up in here,” Shane muttered, and she smothered a laugh. Not that it mattered; vampires could hear that, and if they wanted to take offense, they would. But the seventies addict just smiled a little, showing the tips of his fangs, and the eighties dude couldn’t be bothered with that much response. There were more guards standing around the walls, still as statues. Most had chosen clothing that wasn’t so . . . retro, but one was wearing what looked like a gangster suit from the Prohibition era. Claire half expected him to be toting a violin case with a machine gun in it, just like in the movies.

“No one goes into the armory,” Disco Inferno said. He was apparently the spokesman for the door. “Go back, please.”

“Order from Oliver,” Claire said. “We’re to find Theo Goldman.”

“Yesterday,” Shane put in helpfully. “And we’d like to not die. So. Armory it is.”

“No one goes into the armory,” the vampire repeated, sounding bored now and staring over the top of Shane’s head, which was quite a trick even for a tall guy. “Not without authorization.”

“Which they have,” said a voice from behind the two of them. Claire turned quickly—she tended to do that now, when vampires talked behind her—and found that Amelie’s pretty blond vampire “sister”—not by family but by vampire blood, although she didn’t exactly get all of that relationship detail—Naomi was standing three feet behind them, having arrived in eerie silence. She smiled and bowed her head, just a little. She was still very formal, used to the manners beaten into her hundreds of years ago, but she at least was trying; it wasn’t a full curtsy or anything, not that such would have been practical with the khaki cargo pants and work shirt she was wearing. “I myself have spoken with Oliver. I am to accompany these two and help them locate Dr. Goldman.”

That held some weight. Disco Inferno and his eighties counterpart—Billy Idol?—did some heavy lifting on what looked like solid steel bars, plus a complicated lock, and finally swung the doors open for them. Naomi passed the two of them and looked over her shoulder with that same charming, though slightly awkward smile. “I hope that you do not mind me accompanying you,” she said. She had a bit of an accent, antique and French, and Claire could see that it had an effect on men in general, even Shane, who was more than a little anti-vampire in any form.

“Nah,” he said, “I’m good. Claire?”

“Fine,” she said. She liked Naomi. She liked that the ancient vampire was trying so hard to be . . . modern. And she liked that Naomi wasn’t, after all, attracted to Michael, as they’d all thought at first. “Uh, Naomi, do you know how to actually . . . fight?”

“But of course,” she said, and led the way inside. They entered a big square room, which was—and this, Claire thought, was no real surprise—stacked floor to ceiling with racks of boxes. Vampire paranoia really did have no limits. Naomi stopped at the first one and opened the hinged top of it. There were shotguns inside. She removed one, broke it open, and snapped it shut again with a practiced flick of her wrist as she smiled. “All vampires can fight,” she said. “I am less familiar with modern weapons, but blades do not work so well on the draug, as we found to our horror long ago.”

“What else did you use, the last time you fought them?” Claire asked. Naomi was opening another box. This one contained swords, and she shook her head sadly and let the lid fall shut.

“Courage,” she said. “Desperation. And a good deal of luck. Silver is the best charm we have, but it burns us as well. We’ve found nothing else that will hurt them but fire, which is dangerous enough for us too. . . . Ah.” She flipped back the lid on yet another box and lifted out something that looked big, clumsy, and complicated, with tanks and a hose. Definitely a Myrnin invention, judging by the brass ornamentation on it, but beneath that it looked sleek and industrial. “As you see.”

“What is it?” Claire asked, frowning. It looked a little like one of those rocket jet packs that the science fiction movies loved so much.

“That,” Shane said, taking it from Naomi’s delicate hands, “is freaking awesome.”

“Yeah, but what is it exactly?” Claire asked.

“Flamethrower,” he said, and huffed with effort as he lifted it to his shoulders like a giant backpack. It had quick-release buckles that he did up around his chest and over his shoulders. “So this will work on the draug?”

“Yes,” Naomi said. “But be very careful. The draug are not only hiding in water, they are liquid—and when you touch liquid with fire it becomes steam. They can survive in the steam, for a short time. If you breathe it in, they will kill you very quickly from within. Even the touch of them on skin in any form is dangerous, to humans or vampires.”

Shane’s enthusiasm for the flamethrower dimmed, but he didn’t take it off. That, Claire thought, was because there was something incredibly macho about walking around with flammable weapons that she would never quite understand. If she’d tried it, it would have just made her totally aware of how non-flame-retardant she was. “Right,” Shane said. “Keep it at a distance.”

“And watch where you aim it, please,” Naomi responded coolly. “I believe I speak also for young Claire in that. Fire is no great friend to humans in battle, either.”

Claire rejected the crossbows that she found in the next container—silver-tipped, but they wouldn’t do nearly enough damage. They’d just punch right through the draug, which had a body consistency somewhere between Jell-O and mud, except for the master draug, Magnus. He was plenty strong. Strong enough to snap necks, say—something Claire was horribly familiar with and tried hard not to think about. At all.

“What about fire arrows?” Claire asked. “Would they work?”

“Not very well. The draug’s nature will douse small fires. Only something on the order of what Shane is carrying will truly damage them. Even, say, bottles of gasoline and fire—”

“We call those Molotov cocktails,” Shane said helpfully. Mr. Mayhem.

Naomi gave him a blank look and continued, “—would not do much to slow them down. It would be as if you threw the bottle into water; most likely the flame would simply extinguish. Perhaps there might be some effect, but I doubt this is a time when you would prefer to experiment. There’s going to be little time to refine your techniques and tools in the heat of battle.”

“Well, I liked Myrnin’s shotgun shells,” Claire offered. “Has he made—?”

“More? Yeah. Found it,” Shane called, leaning over another open crate. He fished out a handful of shells and held them up.

“Are you sure those aren’t just regular . . .”

Shane silently flipped one to her. On the casing was drawn, in black marker, the alchemical symbol for silver. Definitely Myrnin, because only he would think to write a warning that nobody but the two of them could possibly read. “How do you know what this means?”

Shane looked faintly injured. “I make it my business to know everything about silver. And I saw your notes. I study up on everything when it comes to your boss, anyway.” There was a flicker of jealousy about that, but she didn’t have time, or energy, to consider it very much. Not even whether or not she liked it.

“There must be hundreds of shells in there,” Claire said wonderingly, as she leaned over the crate. Her hair, growing longer now, brushed over her face, and she impatiently pushed it back. It needed a wash, and that made her yearn for a shower, but cold-bottled-water rinses were all she could look forward to for a while. “I thought he used everything he had during the battle last night.”

“He’s worked straight through,” Naomi said. “Shut away in a room down the hall. He summoned guards to bring these here only an hour ago. I understand he has commandeered others to make these cartridges as well.”

When Myrnin worked that feverishly, it meant one of two things: he was desperately afraid, or he was in a severely manic phase. Or both. Neither was good. When he was afraid, Myrnin was very unpredictable. When he was manic, he was inevitably going to crash, hard, and there was no time for that now.

As if she’d read her thoughts, Naomi said, “He does need looking after, but it can wait until we find Theo.”

“Amelie’s that bad?” Shane asked.

“Yes. She is that bad, I’m afraid. If I still had a heart, it would ache for her, my brave and foolish sister. She should never have come after us. The law is the law. Those caught by draug are already dead. Rescuing us put all others at risk.”

Claire stopped loading shotgun shells into her messenger bag to stare. “She saved you. And Michael. And Oliver.”

“It doesn’t matter who she saved. The point is that she allowed herself, our queen, to be put at risk for others, and that is foolish, and emotional. The time of Elizabeth in armor is long over. Queens have ever ruled far from the battles.”

“News flash, lady. There are no queens anymore,” Shane said. He loaded shells in a shotgun and snapped it shut, then searched for a place to strap it on that didn’t interfere with the flamethrower. “No queens, no kings, no emperors. Not in America. Only CEOs. Same thing, but not so many crowns.”

“Vampires will always have rulers,” Naomi said. “It is the order of things.” She said it like the sky was blue, a plain and obvious fact. Shane shrugged and gave Claire a look; she shrugged back. Vamp politics were so not their business. “Come. We must find the doctor.”

Shane shook his head. “He’s the only one you have?”

“No,” Naomi said, “but he is the best, and the only one we have who has moved somewhat beyond medieval techniques of bleeding and cupping.” She handed Claire a shotgun and gave her a doubtful look. “You can shoot?”

Claire nodded as she loaded the cartridges. “Shane taught me.” Not that it was easy for someone her size; a shotgun packed a hard kick to the shoulder, and she’d always come away from practice bruised and aching. Naomi was even more frail, but Claire was willing to bet that it would be nothing for her.

Shane settled his flamethrower more comfortably on his shoulders. “Ladies? After you.”

“Rude,” Claire said.

“I was being polite!”

“Not when you have a flamethrower.”

Penguin BTL is REALLY excited for The Fault in Our Stars

2012-01-09T17:53:00.000+11:00

For those that remember, BTL Live Day also included a secret video that we made with the help of some awesome NerdFighters and Aussie YA bloggers, as a shout out to John and Hank Green ahead of the release of The Fault in Our Stars. It was wacky fun times and we now present the results!

The Fault in Our Stars Trailer

2012-01-09T10:53:00.000+11:00

It's almost here! 11 January (Australian release), and we couldn't be more excited. The achingly beautiful trailer for The Fault In Our Stars only adds to that excitement.

Literally Covered

2012-01-04T14:32:00.001+11:00

Everyone's favourite game of What Would a Cover Look Like If We Were to Take the Title Literally. Also known as: Literally Covered.

In 2012 we've stepped it up a notch, trying to make it a bit tougher. Take a guess at what book this cover might be for in the comments below.

Cover to Cover: Black Dawn Morganville Vampires

2012-01-04T11:01:00.000+11:00

L to R: UK/AUS - USA

Which Morganville Vampires cover do you prefer?

The TBR Shelf

2012-01-03T17:32:00.000+11:00

Tuesday means sharing in BTL Nation. The TBR Shelf is our weekly To. Be. Read (TBR) Shelf sharing session

Tell us what you're reading?

1. What's new on your Shelf?

2. What have you just finished on The Shelf?

3. What book are you most desperate this week to get on The Shelf?

BTL's answers: 1. Born Wicked finished copies - a very want to touch cover. 2. Cinder - it seems we're not alone in LOVING Cinder. 3. After those teasers, The Golden Lily for sure!

Author Meet Author

2012-01-03T13:16:00.001+11:00

A funny thing happens with authors, you forget they like to read too! But every now and then we're reminded that authors love to indulge in reading just as much as we do.

Via the magical world of Twitter, Marissa 'Cinder' Meyer and Marie 'Legend' Lu both expressed desires to read each other's work. Then Gayle 'Where She Went' Forman gave a major love shout out to Melina 'Jellicoe Road' Marchetta. A day of delight really!

It got us to thinking though, which author would you like to introduce to another author because you just know they'd get along famously and love each other's work? And since we're playing hypothetical, you can include long gone authors such as Shakespeare or Jane Austen.

The Golden Lily: Bloodlines Bk 2 Teasers

2012-01-03T11:30:00.000+11:00

Because Richelle Mead is made of awesome, she gave Bloodlines series fans an amazing Christmas gift - The Golden Lily teaser quotes! In case you missed them, here are the three quotes (which have no related context - we think?!).

Any ideas who said what?

2012 Preview - Night Beach

2011-12-19T13:23:00.000+11:00

Three Reasons We're Excited About Night Beach

1. Kirsty Eagar, people! In the gap between Raw Blue and Saltwater Vampires something big happened. People discovered the awesomeness that is Kirsty Eagar and got on board! Seriously, people in the US are campaigning to get her a publishing deal - that doesn't just happen to any old author.

2. If you liked Raw Blue, if you liked Saltwater Vampires then this is the perfect combination of the two. It's the now trademark, honest and raw emotion that Kirsty brings to her books combined with her talent to write about Australian surf that rivals Winton, in its ability to make you literally feel the sand, feel the waves.

3. The tension, oh the page turning tension! As the mystery of why Kane, who returns from his surf trip a changed man, deepens and his step-cousin Abbie tries to uncover more, you'll be up all night with the suspense driving you into the wee hours!

Night Beach
26 April 2012

2012 Preview - Black Dawn: Morganville Vampires 12

2011-12-16T10:36:00.000+11:00

Three Reasons We're Excited About Black Dawn

1. Its Morganville. Something is always happening in this helter skelter town when enemies are friends, friends are enemies and people very very rarely have one agenda. At the centre our favourite foursome, Claire, Shane, Eve and Michael.

2. Cliffhanger. Rachel Caine is probably the undisputed queen of cliffhangers - if you're reading Morganville Vampires, then you know to prepare yourself for the end and Last Breath was no different. The rules changed, people switched sides and bigger long term commitments were declared (no spoilers) which basically means, Black Dawn can't come soon enough!

3. Shane and Claire. The last two books have been tough for these two. Shane really let down Claire in Bite Club and spent most of Last Breath making it up to her. If you've read the last few pages of Last Breath, you know HUGE things went down for the always challenged couple.

Black Dawn: Morganville Vampires
1 May 2012

2012 Preview - Immortal City

2011-12-15T16:11:00.000+11:00

Three Reasons We're Excited About Immortal City

1. Angels are back! They never really went away but this new series brings Angels into a new murderous world. Of course, something so pure is always so easily corrupted so look for the shades of grey for these poor angels.

2. Celebrity. Author Scott Speer has some first hand knowledge in this world, as a music video director in the MTV world. What this does give him is real experience about the celebrity life and how these Angels are treated and admired and stalked. Interesting indeed!

3. The romance. At the heart of Immortal City is the connection between Maddy and Jackson. Together they have to battle not only judgements of others but a crime spree that could take his life.

Immortal City
2 April 2012

2012 Preview - Dark Eyes

2011-12-15T12:16:00.000+11:00

Three Reasons We're Excited About Dark Eyes

1. Alias comes to YA! If you were a fan of the spy caper TV series starring Jennifer Garner and its Russian backstory, then Dark Eyes is for you. Wallis Stoneman has serious questions about her upbringing and so she should.

2. A kickbutt heroine - Wally is totally awesome. She's not afraid to ask questions that lead her into danger and she pulls off some serious moves. The book has also been described as The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo for YA, and if Wally is anything like Lisbeth Salander, then hellz YEAH!

3. Klesko - this is Abe Mazur from Vampire Academy series, without the friendly and protective instincts for his daughter! Klesko is the kind of father you never want to have and he is ANGRY about Wally's mother and the fortune she stole from him.

Dark Eyes
28 March 2012

Preview 2012 - A Million Suns

2011-12-15T10:12:00.001+11:00

Three Reasons We're Excited About A Million Suns

1. Cliffhanger! Okay it wasn't someone literally hanging off a cliff, but Across the Universe left us on a real conundrum. How in heck were Amy and Elder going to solve the fact that the Goodspeed had fallen majorly behind schedule - like 250 years late!?

2. The great wide open. What Beth Revis did so beautifully in Across the Universe was capture the vastness of space, the feeling of isolation and yet at the same time, we felt the claustrophobia of being on Goodspeed, the walls almost closing in. We can only imagine she'll bring this same knack for space in A Million Suns.

3. Elder. He's the new leader of this massive ship, with a major problem on his hands and love interest who is a little shady on his recent actions. All this, topped with the fact he's been lied to for most his life and the population he leads sedated into submission. Good times!

A Million Suns
28 March 2012

2012 Preview - Losing It

2011-12-14T17:34:00.001+11:00

Three Reasons We're Excited About Losing It

1. A virginity pact. This is an honest and frank book about three girls deciding to lose their virginity before schoolies. Get ready for some teachers and librarians to hate it!

2. Julia Lawrinson of Bye, Beautiful and The Push, writes excellent girl characters that are real and relatable. These are characters you're going to care about within the first few pages.

3. It's funny and serious! This is no moody boring reflection on relationships, it's packed full of laughs and awkward moments yet still manages to tell a story about sex without moralising.

Losing It
28 March 2012

2012 Preview - Shiny Guys

2011-12-14T14:29:00.000+11:00

Three Reasons We're Excited About The Shiny Guys

1. Ward 44. Creepy psychiatric ward with visions that may not exists. Questions about what and who is real and what isn't? It's like a YA 'One Flew Over the Cockoo's Nest' but with cockroaches!

2. A mix of fantasy and realism that's being described as darkly original, Doug MacLeod is once again, testing the boundaries of awesomeness.

3. We always advocate never judging a book by its cover - BUT - come on, that is one creepy, eerie, cool cover.

The Shiny Guys
22 February 2012

2012 Preview - The Reluctant Hallelujah

2011-12-14T10:54:00.000+11:00

Three Reasons We're Excited About The Reluctant Hallelujah

1. Gab Williams is back! We LOVED the hilarious witty rom-com of Beatle Meets Destiny but it has been almost TWO years and we've been waiting, somewhat impatiently for the next book from Gab.

2. A wacky Weekend at Bernie's style roadtrip. A secret body in the basement. Parents missing. Final days of high school. Only Gab Williams could come up with such an imaginative plot like this, that sounds crazy but when you're reading feels normal and natural.

3. The hilarious characters Dodie and Enron and Coco share some pretty classic Williams zingy banter. She also creates a very adorkable leading man in Enron, who is all bumbling weirdness one minute and then decisive action man the next!

The Reluctant Hallelujah
22 February 2012

The TBR Shelf

2011-12-13T20:31:00.000+11:00

Tuesday means sharing in BTL Nation. The TBR Shelf is our weekly To. Be. Read (TBR) Shelf sharing session.

Tell us what you're reading?

1. What's new on your Shelf?

2. What have you just finished on The Shelf?

3. What book are you most desperate this week to get on The Shelf?

BTL's answers: 1. Cinder, the finished book - it's so pretty! 2. Our BTL Live notes 3. Dark Eyes by William Richter

2012 Preview - Outpost

2011-12-13T16:14:00.000+11:00

Three Reasons We're Excited About Outpost

1. Allan Baillie is an award winning author and even better, he's Australian. His books have been published around the world including Japan, Spain, Holland, Sweden and Germany. AB has international cred.

2. While it sounds like hard-core sci-fi, what Allan does best is take foreign worlds and make the characters in them seem real and intriguing.

3. A future in which people live on distant remote planets with fear of the greater unknown, an unstable surface and the sheer blackness of space always surrounding them. Creepy and with people training to go to Mars - a very possible future!

Outpost
25 January 2012

Jellicoe Road Map

2011-12-13T14:11:00.000+11:00

Melina Marchetta posted this amazing map created by her friend Anna on her site the other day and we just can't STOP staring at it! Jellicoe Road world is real.

2012 Preview - Jessica Rules the Dark Side

2011-12-13T12:03:00.001+11:00

Three Reasons We're Excited About Jessica Rules the Dark Side.

1. They're back. We always wondered how Jessica Packwood survived after marrying Lucius and moving from her farm life to Pennsylvania to the cold austere castle in Romania. Now, we get all those answers and more.

2. Lucius' emails. One of the funnier aspects of Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side were the hilarious emails vampire Lucius would send home, describing his modern day life. The emails are back and as usual Lucius' view on the world is pretty funny yet still endearing with his old world desire for Jess.

3. Politics. When you're at the top of the heap, a lot of people want to throw you back down. Jessica is certainly facing a court full of vampires who spread rumours, manipulate and try to overthrow their future King and Queen with a devious grin. Watch your back Jess!
Jessica Rules the Dark Side: 25 January 2012
First Chapter Extract

2012 Preview - Born Wicked

2011-12-12T18:01:00.000+11:00

Three Reasons We're Excited About Born Wicked

1. Witches! We've delved into the world of vamps, angels, demons and more but 2012 sees the rise of witches and with spells, covens, prophecies and so much more, the mythology offers so much for rich storytelling.

2. The Brotherhood! We're not excited by them, we're scared witless! This evil group is basically running everything and Cate, our heroine spends a good deal of time trying to hide her identity lest the Brotherhood find out.

3. Cate Cahill you rule! It's the 1800's but instead of freedom and choice that women begin to dream of; it's secrecy and survival and Cate Cahill is doing her best to protect her sisters. Cate's tough, determined and strong and is willing to sacrifice for those around her.

Born Wicked: 25 January 2012
Chapter One & Two Extract

2012 Preview - The Fault in Our Stars

2011-12-12T15:43:00.000+11:00

Three Reasons We're Excited About The Fault in Our Stars

1. It is John freakin' Green people! He of An Abundance of Katherines, he of Paper Towns, he of Looking for Alaska! He is one of the writers' you just KNOW will be good. Reliable and awesome!

2. In a world of series and trilogies and chronicles isn't it nice to know that TFiOS is a stand alone, single event, one book. We don't begrudge any series at all but sometimes it's just satisfying to finish a book and have it be the end.

3. 'Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel’s story is about to be completely rewritten.' Get the tissues out people cause this looks sad!

The Fault in Our Stars: 11 January 2012
Chapter 1 + 2 Preview

2012 Preview - Cinder

2011-12-12T12:35:00.000+11:00

Time to look ahead, mark the diaries and get ready for the YA epic year of 2012.

Three Reasons We're Excited About Cinder

1. It's Cinderella as a CYBORG! Enticing or what?! Reimaging fairytales is very IN right now but instead of being a gimmick, this story has heart and roots and honest reality to its characters.

2. Marissa Meyer - is cool bananas! She wrote Sailor Moon fan fiction, she has a fairy tale themed office and her beverages of choices often contain chocolate goodness! And even better, her writing is top notch.

3. The early reviews are GOOD! And that's not just us saying, it's bloggers, reporting good things too: 'The thing that most impressed me about this story is it’s scope. It’s dynamic, imaginative and creative.' Check out Inkcrush for the rest of this review

Cinder: 3 January 2012

BTL Live - A Wrap Up!

2011-12-12T11:12:00.000+11:00

You came, you saw, we locked you out!

BTL Live yesterday was our open house to have our Melbourne based bloggers and YA readers into Penguin to chat with Marie Lu and Gab Williams and then preview some of the exciting 2012 titles we've got coming.

First, our uStream chat with Marie Lu, which with an interesting time delay made us feel like we were communicating with her in a dystopian future! Still I think a few fan-girl crushes developed on Miss Lu as she talked about characterisations; who, in her real life resembles Day and June and the pressure of the next book after such an overwhelming positive response to Legend.

Then after a snack break (Tim Tams) Gab Williams sat in the chair live in person! It's been two years since Gab's last book Beatle Meets Destiny and so we were keen to know what she'd been doing. Writing books of course, but as many writers know, sometimes certain books just don't turn out the way you'd hoped. Still, we were SUPER impressed by the stories of Gab's husband who would make her do a chapter every day for The Reluctant Hallelujah - no ifs, not buts, no maybes.

Then after another snack break (we like to eat!) it was preview time. Don't worry if you weren't there, we'll be previewing all the titles this week on BTL but suffice to say, even in a room with smaller numbers, it's amazing to see how different people's tastes were. That's what we LOVE about young adult readers - you're all so varied and brave with your reading!

Then the VERY BRAVE bloggers stayed to help film our John Green shout out video! It was pretty hilarious and involved BTL locking everyone out of the building for a short while (thanks to our publicity friend who live just down the road who rescued us!). A MASSIVE thanks to those who stayed, they were asked to film so pretty random things but we think when it's cut together, it will make John Green laugh and think 'Australia is pretty awesome, I should go back there!'

We know there were sound quality issues for those streaming at home, and we're working on that for next time so hopefully you'll be able to hear and see it all loud and clear. Still, a HUGE thanks to all our bloggers and YA enthusiasts who came out on Sunday morning for our first ever BTL Live event - hopefully we'll be back bigger and better soon!

BTL Live

2011-12-10T15:01:00.000+11:00

You can watch BTL LIVE via uStream. Don't forget to submit your questions for Marie Lu or Gabrielle Williams on Twitter and Facebook or the comments below - we'll be answering as many as we can!

We start broadcasting at 11am Australian Eastern Daylight Saving Time, Sunday 11 December.

Marie Lu, will be joining us at 11.15am Australian Eastern Daylight Saving Time.

BTL Bullet Point Five: Marissa Meyer

2011-12-09T12:14:00.000+11:00

Sailor Moon fan FTW!

When we heard Cinderella reboot, we thought cool. Then we heard Cinderella with cyborgs reboot and we thought AWESOME! Early reviews for Cinder confirm that not only is this a winning idea but Marissa Meyer has written a page turning, entertaining novel to be VERY excited about. Of course, we had to give her the BTL Bullet Point Five.

Where do you write?

in bed
on the living room sofa
in my fairy-tale decorated office
at a local cafe
at the local wine bar (when the going is rough)

Five songs that inspired Cinder?

Invincible by Muse
All These Things That I've Done by The Killers
The Scientist by Coldplay
Sick Cycle Carousel by Lifehouse
Lucky You by Le Rev

Five foods/drinks you like to consume while writing?

vanilla lattes
caramel macchiatos
hot cocoa
wine
anything chocolate

Five tips for aspiring writers?

Read as much as possible.
Don't let anyone talk you out of a story idea. If you love it and want to write it, that's all that matters.
Read at least one good craft book. (My fav is "Plot and Structure" by James Scott Bell.)
Keep a folder of story ideas and write everything down, no matter how ridiculous. You never know which ideas will grow into something amazing.
Daydream, all the time. Non-writers might think it's laziness when we spend hours staring out windows, but those moments of mindless wandering are where the magic happens.

Five key moments on your way to becoming a writer?

Reading The Chronicles of Narnia (my first non-picture books) and being swept away.
Writing my first Sailor Moon fanfic and posting it online.
My college writing professor telling me my work had publication potential.
Waking up one night with a vision of Cinderella as part-human and part-machine.
Getting The Call from my agent, telling me we had an offer on The Lunar Chronicles.

BTL Live - Chat with Marie Lu & Gab Williams

2011-12-08T18:07:00.001+11:00

BTL Live is happening this weekend. And just because you're not in Melbourne, doesn't mean you can't attend!

With Marie Lu and Gabrielle Williams as our guest authors, we're sure you've got burning questions to ask or just want to watch so join us on Facebook and Twitter to ask question and hear from the authors.

We'll embed our uStream channels on BTL but for those early birds who want to prepare, you can follow BTL Live Channel and Penguin Authors Channel.

If you're tweeting along, don't forget to #BTLlive or @penguinbtl or post a question on facebook. We want to hear from YOU!

Sunday 11 December

Marie Lu - 11.15am Australian Eastern Daylight Saving time/USA East: Sat 10 Dec 7.15pm/USA West Sat 10 Dec 4.15pm
Gabrielle Williams - 12 noon Australian Eastern Daylight Saving time/USA East: Sat 10 Dec 8pm/USA West Sat 10 Dec 5pm

Meet Me Under the Mistletoe YA Character

2011-12-07T12:29:00.000+11:00

Christmas is a time of wishing and magic and often when love interests declare their feelings - at least, according to books, TV shows and movies.

This Christmas which YA character would you most like to meet under the mistletoe for a Christmas kiss?

The TBR Shelf

2011-12-06T17:53:00.000+11:00

Tuesday means sharing in BTL Nation. The TBR Shelf is our weekly To. Be. Read (TBR) Shelf sharing session.

Tell us what you're reading?

1. What's new on your Shelf?

2. What have you just finished on The Shelf?

3. What book are you most desperate this week to get on The Shelf?

BTL's answers: 1. The Shiny Guys by Doug MacLeod 2. The manuscript we still can't name - that had us up LATE!!!! 3. A Million Suns - we're so intrigued to know how Beth Revis' will fix the problems on Goodspeed.

Cover to Cover: A Million Suns

2011-12-06T15:36:00.000+11:00

L to R: US - UK/Australian

Which cover of the sequel to Beth Revis' Across the Universe do you prefer?

The Late Night Read

2011-12-06T13:04:00.000+11:00

It's the turning pages, the desperate to know, the can't wait until tomorrow to find out reading session. Last night BTL read until the early hours of the morning, tearing through a book we just couldn't put down.

We finished: exhausted, happy and content - looked at the clock and realised it was 2.15am! ARRGGHHH! Still, we don't regret it - the book was totally worth the late hour and although sleepy today, it's not tormenting us, wondering what happened in the end.

What is the latest you've ever stayed up to finish a book? What book was it? Was it worth it?

Presents for Your Favourite Characters?

2011-12-05T15:49:00.000+11:00

If you've been struggling with your Christmas gift list this year, how about adding some people to it, who can't return it, make a face or pretend to like it because their fictional!?

BTL wants to know: what would you buy your favourite YA characters this Christmas?

BTL's Christmas Gift List:

Anna and Etienne, plane tickets to Paris to relive their boarding school days
Claire Danvers - A month of peace and quiet with no drama in Morganville
Sydney Sage - A new car with a big travel coffee mug
Elder and Amy - A brilliant new scientist who could solve their space problems

Cover to Cover: Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side

2011-12-02T15:43:00.000+11:00

L to R: US/Australian - Italian

Which cover of Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side do you prefer?

First Chapter Preview: Jessica Rules the Dark Side

2011-12-01T16:02:00.001+11:00

We LOVED Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side by Beth Fantaskey - a hilarious and sexy look at dating a vampire and then finding out you're a vampire Princess yourself!

And the news that a sequel, Jessica Rules the Dark Side, was in the works filled us with excitment! We know, thanks to the awesome short story featured on Beth's website, that Jessica and Lucius did make it down the aisle but as is the case in real life, that doesn't mean happily ever after is easy.

To get you ready for the upcoming release, a first chapter preview of Jessica Rules in the Dark Side, out 25 January 2012, after the click.

Prologue

'Mother?'

The snow swirls around her, and she stands with her back to me, her body enveloped in a bright red cloak. Crimson . . . Mihaela's color. The queen who once ruled the Dragomirs looks like a splash of blood against the expanse of white, and yet she is as strong and substantial as the jagged Carpathian rocks that rise out of the lonely Romanian mountain where we always meet.

I step toward her, not understanding. Why doesn't she turn to greet me? 'Mother?'

And then Mihaela Dragomir does turn, her face obscured by the cloak. And in her hands she holds an object, something she presses against her chest the way a nun would cradle a cross. But Mihaela is no humble, pious sister, and that thing . . . It is no holy relic.

The stake . . . The bloodstained stake . . .

Lucius's stake, which he used to destroy his uncle—and which he'd once nearly used to—

'No! Never!'

Thrashing, fighting off something that seemed to press against my chest, I struggled to sit up and opened my eyes to see firelight flickering against stone, and for a second I wasn't sure where I was.

Gradually, though, my surroundings sank in. I was in Lucius's home—our home. In our bed. That pressure on my chest . . . it wasn't . . . it was just the heavy blankets that we always needed in his—our—huge, chilly bedroom, even though a fire burned in the fireplace.

Taking a deep breath, I stretched out my arm and rested my hand on his shoulder, reassuring myself that everything was okay. As long as Lucius was with me, I'd be okay.

Still, images from the nightmare came rushing back.

The stake, which I hadn't seen since the night Lucius pressed his fangs against my throat and recreated me as a vampire . . .

Why had I dreamed about it? And why had my birth mother—who would never harm me—been holding it?

I'd started dreaming about Mihaela back in Pennsylvania, and those dreams had become more frequent since I married Lucius and moved to Romania. It was like my mother, destroyed shortly after my birth, was trying to protect me as I tried hard to follow in her footsteps and become a ruler, relying on a journal she'd left for me for help. A posthumous wedding gift to guide me as I learned to be a princess.

My heart started beating faster again. Was I learning? I was trying . . .

Wriggling back down under the blankets, I moved toward Lucius in the massive bed—in which, as he'd once confessed, he'd probably been expected by the Vladescu Elders to take my life, conveniently removing his Dragomir bride from power and allowing the Vladescus to have unchallenged dominion over both our families. I kicked at the covers, sort of swimming through them, suddenly impatient to be right next to him.

Everything in his home—our home—seemed so big sometimes. Including the burdens.

Lucius slept on his side, facing away from me, and I pressed myself close to his back, feeling the coolness of his body. I shared that coolness, too, since he'd bitten me, sealing our fate and a decades-old pact that had decreed our marriage in the interest of stopping a war between our rival families. Pressing tighter against my husband—how weird that still sounded—I listened to his steady breathing, which always calmed me down when I got nervous. Lucius wasn't scared. He thrived on ruling the clans. That was what he'd been born and raised to do.

Or did he worry sometimes?

'Lucius?' I got up on one elbow and shook him gently, needing to see his dark eyes and hear his deep, reassuring voice. 'Lucius?'

'Yes . . . yes?' he mumbled. He rolled onto his back and fumbled for me under the covers, which were expensive and stiff and made me miss the soft, worn-in flannel sheets on my bed in Pennsylvania. But how could a princess ask for flannel ? 'Yes, Jessica . . . ?'

Resting my hand on his chest, I felt it rise and fall so slowly that I wondered if he had already fallen back asleep.

But I couldn't help asking in a whisper, so the guards outside our door wouldn't hear, 'What does it mean if a vampire dreams about a stake?'

Lucius didn't answer, and I realized he was definitely sleeping—probably exhausted from yet another day of struggling to unite our obstinate families—so I lay back down and nestled against him again. In response to the pressure of my body, he turned and pulled me close, so I could feel the entire length of his powerful warrior's body against mine, like a shield at my back.

High on top of that Romanian mountain, in the heart of a confusing castle that I supposedly governed but where I still got lost in the twisted corridors, the night got very still. Even the crackling fire seemed to get quieter. After a few minutes of forcing myself to forget about the nightmare, I started to drift off to sleep again, when suddenly Lucius muttered, barely whispering, his breath chilly against my neck, 'Betrayal.'

I stiffened in his arms. Was he answering my question or caught up in his own dreams? His own nightmares?

Even if it was the latter, that wasn't exactly comforting. Did my husband have disloyalty—treachery—on his mind? And Lucius, like all vampires, put great stock in dreams . . .

'Betrayal.' I said the word out loud, trying to make sure it was even what I'd heard him say. 'Betrayal.'

At the sound of my voice, which was soft but audible enough to break the profound mountaintop silence, Lucius, seeming to get restless, wrapped his strong, scarred arm tighter around me, so I was trapped against his chest.

I took his hand and tugged to give myself some space to breathe. He didn't let go, though, and I tried to move him again. Against my fingertips, I could feel another deep scar— an X on his palm that marked him as mine, cut into his flesh at our marriage ceremony—and his wedding band on his left hand. His dominant hand. The one he'd used to wield the stake when he'd held me in a very different way, in that same castle, not too many months before.

Chapter 1
Antanasia

Of all the grim chambers in the Vladescu castle—not counting the subterranean dungeons, of course—the one that served as a courtroom had to be the worst.

Like every other room aboveground, this one had a fireplace with a blazing fire, but the flames seemed more hellish than cheerful. They cast scary, shifting shadows on the gray rock walls and definitely didn't do much to warm up the stark décor, which consisted of a semicircle of benches for witnesses, a worn spot on the stone floor where the accused would stand, and a long table, where I sat next to Lucius in a hard, straight-backed chair. The Elders waited in similar seats on either side of us, all of the ten older vampires sitting remarkably still.

Shifting in my chair, I tried—and failed—to get more comfortable.

I should sue the people who designed the My Little Pony Crystal Rainbow Castle I played with in kindergarten. They led me to believe that castles were filled with rainbows and cupcakes and pastel-pink furniture. Not stone and fire and . . . blood.

Turning a little bit sideways, I tried to meet Lucius's eyes, but he was staring straight ahead, obviously preoccupied. He was also very still, except for his left hand, which absently rubbed his jaw right where he had a small scar. I knew that meant he was hiding tension, and the butterflies in my stomach got worse.

If Lucius is tense, how can I even imagine handling this?

My husband seemed to sense that I was getting very nervous, and he shifted his eyes just long enough to remind me, 'Don't freak out, Jess. We've talked about this. It's part of our duties.'

Well, Lucius had never used the phrase 'freak out,' but we had discussed how my new responsibilities included handing down justice, and sometimes sentences of—

'Let the accused come forward.'

I jumped as Lucius's commanding baritone suddenly echoed off the walls, and turned with a sinking heart to see that we had been joined by a vampire who stood at the back of the room, hands shackled and head hanging low.

He's a killer, I reminded myself as my mouth got dry. A bunch of witnesses saw him destroy my uncle Constantin Dragomir. And what I'm doing is just like serving on a jury. Regular humans do that all the time!

I glanced to my left, seeking reassurance that I wouldn't be alone in deciding the fate of the prisoner who was shuffling toward that pale spot on the floor. But my uncle Dorin—the only Elder I considered an ally—wasn't there, and I ended up meeting the gaze of Claudiu Vladescu, who smirked. Maybe at the growing panic that must have been apparent on my face—or maybe at the prospect of hearing testimony about a murder.

My stomach got queasier. Claudiu's just like his older brother, Vasile—another evil, vicious vampire, whom Lucius destroyed.

Although I knew I was squirming way too much for a princess, I turned to watch Lucius again, just as he said, in a steady voice that I couldn't imagine summoning if I had to speak, 'Tell your story to this panel, Dumitru Vladescu, and we will decide if you deserve mercy—or punishment.'

I should have given my full attention to the vampire who was about to fight for his life, but I kept watching my husband, who had stood on that circle himself just months before and fortunately been found not guilty of Vasile's death. Luckily, the majority of the Elders—not counting Claudiu, of course—had believed that Vasile attacked first, giving Lucius no choice but to defend himself.

I never let myself think about what could have happened at that trial, and was glad I hadn't even known about it until long after the verdict had been handed down.

I continued studying Lucius. How can he even bear to be in this room, let alone coolly direct everything? And if today's verdict is guilty, won't he have to . . . ?

'Speak,' Lucius urged his relative. 'This is your chance to save your existence.'

I heard both command and compassion in Lucius's order, but my cold blood suddenly felt like ice. An existence might really end today. I'm not just part of a jury. I'm the judge, and Lucius might be . . .

Fingers gripping my chair, I finally forced myself to face Dumitru Vladescu, who raised his head, so I could see his dark, terrified eyes, because if he was found guilty . . .

'No!'

I wasn't even sure I'd cried out loud, but the squeal of my chair as I jumped up probably drowned out my voice anyway. 'Excuse me,' I mumbled, bowing my head. 'I . . . I need to leave. I don't feel well . . .'

I couldn't look at Lucius as I stumbled from his side. And I certainly didn't look at Claudiu or the other Elders, who would be all too aware of why the American girl raised by vegans was rushing out of the room, nearly tripping over her long formal dress.

'Excuse me.' The Elders pulled in their chairs so I could pass behind them. 'Sorry . . .'

I knew that I was—again—hurting Lucius's and my chance of winning a crucial vote of confidence later that year, when the most influential Vladescu and Dragomir clan members would convene at a big summer congress of vampires. A vote that could elevate Lucius and me to king and queen. Yet I couldn't stay there, even if leaving doomed us to failure.

I practically ran past the prisoner, not looking at him, either. But as I hurried toward the door, I did catch the eye of one vampire I hadn't noticed before, even though I should have expected her to attend the trial of her father's killer. My cousin Ylenia Dragomir, eighteen, like me, small and wearing black, sat alone in a corner, blending into the shadows as if she didn't want anyone to see her face while she heard the story of her dad's murder recounted in detail.

I wasn't sure what the verdict on the prisoner would be, but I had never felt so guilty as when I left that room, letting down not just my husband, but the first friend I'd made in Romania.

BTL Christmas Cards: Rose & Dimitri

2011-11-30T16:49:00.000+11:00

As requested on Twitter, Rose and Dimitri themed BTL Christmas Cards.

Check out our other themes including: Matched, Power of Six, Morganville Vampires, Bloodlines, Anna and the French Kiss and Reading is Cool

Literally Covered

2011-11-30T10:31:00.000+11:00

Everyone's favourite game of What Would a Cover Look Like If We Were to Take the Title Literally. That name seemed way too long, so we call it: Literally Covered.

Take a guess at what book this cover might be for, in the comments below.

The TBR Shelf

2011-11-29T17:41:00.000+11:00

Tuesday means sharing in BTL Nation. The TBR Shelf is our weekly To. Be. Read (TBR) Shelf sharing session.

Tell us what you're reading?

1. What's new on your Shelf?

2. What have you just finished on The Shelf?

3. What book are you most desperate this week to get on The Shelf?

BTL's answers: 1. Rumpelgeist by Fiona McIntosh 2. A manuscript we still can't name 3. All the stunning Legend reviews make us want Legend 2 that much more!

BTL Christmas Cards: Matched

2011-11-29T16:02:00.000+11:00

As requested: BTL Christmas Cards in the Matched theme, which join Bloodlines, Anna and the French Kiss, Power of Six, Morganville Vampires and Reading is Cool themes.

Movie News: Legend

2011-11-29T11:33:00.000+11:00

Page to Premiere cornered producer Wyck Godfrey at the Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 1 premiere to quiz him about his next projects. What is he most excited about: Legend!

BTL GreenGold Competition

2011-11-28T18:12:00.000+11:00

We're totally, really, absolutely excited about publishing The Fault in Our Stars - you may already know this. John has toured Australia in the past, but we think he may need a refresher on why we're pretty AWESOME as a country and we NEED your help!

For the next two weeks BTL goes Green and Gold (get it? Because Australia's unofficial colours are green and gold). We want you to create your own Vlog Brothers' style clip, no longer than 1 minute, giving John a shout-out and sharing a cool, unique or interesting fact about Australia. How about our fascination with BIG things? Or what about our wildlife that can often be VERY scary? How about explaining how HUGE our country actually is? How about our Aussie YA authors and what books you'd recommend he read? This is your chance to be wild, wacky and creative!

All you need to do: film your segment, post it on YouTube and email us the link to btl@penguin.com.au by midnight, AEST Monday 12 December and if your video is included in our BTL Green Gold Clip - you'll win a copy of The Fault in Our Stars!

This competition is open to residents of Australian only. For full terms and conditions, click here.

Chapter One and Two: The Fault in Our Stars

2011-11-28T13:04:00.000+11:00

In case you need convincing on how awesome John Green and his novel The Fault in Our Stars (out in Australia, 11 Jan 2012) will be, how about having the first two chapters read to you? By the John Green? Sit back, listen and enjoy!

Or, if you like the old fashion reading way - head the extract here

PengTeen Prize Pack: Winner!

2011-11-28T12:00:00.000+11:00

After sorting through all the GREAT answers, we've finally reached a decision.

Congratulations to Shirley, who won the PengTeen Prize Pack.

Don't worry if you didn't win this time, we've got lots of awesome BTL prizes planned for 2012.

Happy Release Day

2011-11-28T10:41:00.000+11:00

It's a Happy Australian Release Day to Legend by Marie Lu.

Marie will be attending our BTL Live event thanks to the magic of the internet (sadly no Australian tour yet!) so make sure to have your Legend-ary (that never gets old) questions ready. And don't worry, you'll be able to tweet and facebook questions during BTL Live if you're not in Melbourne.

BTL Christmas Cards: Power of Six

2011-11-25T10:40:00.000+11:00

We return with another series of BTL Christmas cards. So far, we've had Anna and the French Kiss, Bloodlines, Morganville Vampires and YA Reading is Cool ones. Now The Power of Six celebrates the season.

BTL LIVE - 2012 Preview Day

2011-11-24T15:03:00.000+11:00

We've been hinting on Twitter for a few days about something BIG coming and now we can finally reveal - BTL LIVE is coming.

With some extra special guests including Marie Lu, author of Legend and Gab Williams, author of Beatle Meets Destiny and the upcoming The Reluctant Hallelujah, giveaways and prizes and a big preview of our 2012 YA book releases, this event will give you an opportunity to meet the people behind BTL but also meet fellow YA fans.

It will also give you a chance to be part of our #GreenGold video shout out - a competition you'll hear more about this Friday.

Don't worry if you're in other cities though, as we'll be live streaming segments of the event and you'll be able to ask our authors questions from Twitter and Facebook. More details to come.

REGISTER

As places are limited, you'll need to register and reserve your place - you can reserve multiple places for friends and family. Simply email us at: btl@penguin.com.au and you'll receive a confirmation email in return.

This is a FREE event.

DETAILS:

11.00am - Sunday 11 December
Penguin Books
250 Camberwell Rd, Camberwell - [map it here!]

Public transport options include: Trams 70, 72 & 75. The local train station is Camberwell with service details here.

YA Thankful

2011-11-24T10:57:00.000+11:00

Australian's don't celebrate Thanksgiving. However we are a thankful bunch, so let's take time and be thankful for YA. What are you thankful for in YA?

BTL's #YAThankful List

1. YA's Men: Jonah Griggs, Dimitri Belikov, Cricket Bell, Etienne St. Clair, Shane Collins and so many more. These fellas make us SWOON
2. Vampires, zombies, fairies and more. We love YA is afraid to GO there and readers enjoy it all the same. Its a judgement free reading zone and we LOVE it.
3. Community. The YA community is one big happy bunch, ready to support each other. While there a 'teams' and mega-fans of specific books; everyone is on the same team - reading is cool.
4. Stories: Which is weird of course, but actually, we love YA for creating countless new and original stories from dystopia wastelands to current day high school to war torn lives from the 1940's - YA continues to showcase the world we live in, with fresh and original eyes.
5. Authors: All of the above thankful points couldn't happen without the authors! We are so thankful for their creativity, their passion, their pushing through word count hell and deadlines looming to create the worlds for us to play in - THANKS AUTHORS!

BTL Christmas Cards

2011-11-23T17:15:00.000+11:00

We've got Anna and the French Kiss cards, we've got Bloodlines cards, we've got Morganville Vampires cards. Now, some BTL cards that remind your loved ones just how awesome reading is.

BTL Movie News: Beautiful Creatures

2011-11-23T13:41:00.000+11:00

Get your Caster spells ready and your Converse sneakers on because reports are surfacing that Alcon Entertainment are currently casting for Beautiful Creatures film.

Acquired two years ago, the film has been in development with director Richard LaGravenese currently at the helm. We think thanks to recent hype over other YA series and their successful film adaptations (*cough* Twilight & Hunger Games *cough*) that this might have put the wheels in motion. Hopefully this means good news for other YA novels in development such as Vampire Academy, Morganville Vampires, Legend and more.

Of course, we love to armchair cast here at BTL, so tell us who would you cast as Ethan, Lena, Alma and Macon?

Our suggestions: Ethan: Logan Lerman; Lena: Vaness Marano; Alma: Viola Davis and Macon: Donald Sutherland

The TBR Shelf

2011-11-22T17:52:00.000+11:00

It's Tuesday so it's time to share. The TBR Shelf is our weekly To. Be. Read (TBR) Shelf sharing session.

Tell us what you're reading?

1. What's new on your Shelf?

2. What have you just finished on The Shelf?

3. What book are you most desperate this week to get on The Shelf?

BTL's answers: 1. A manuscript we can't name 2. The PengTeen Awards votes! 3. Full copy of Disharmony (we've read the first 100 pages and we NEED more)

BTL Christmas Cards: Morganville Vampires

2011-11-22T11:58:00.000+11:00

To celebrate the YA festive spirit, we've created themed Christmas Cards. So far, we've had Anna and the French Kiss and Bloodlines. Now Morganville Vampires gets their very own special greetings.

Cover to Cover: There is No Dog

2011-11-21T17:43:00.000+11:00

L to R: US cover, UK/Australian cover

Which Meg Rosoff cover do you prefer?

The BTL Bullet Point Five: Marie Lu

2011-11-21T13:32:00.000+11:00

Possibly the coolest author pic ever, right?

It's the BTL Bullet Point Five! Our new author interview style, in which your favourite author get five bullet points to answer the questions you want to know!

Our first author, the fabulous and funky Marie Lu; her debut novel Legend is days away from release and we nabbed this budding superstar early. We've already told you the three key reasons we're excited about Legend's release and review round up has been impressive. Now meet the woman behind June and Day.

Where do you write?

Most frequently while lounging on the couch of my living room, with a corgi or two sleeping across my lap.
In my bedroom at the computer desk
At the local cafe
When desperate, in a hotel room (although I write very poorly in this setting).
When even more desperate, on an airplane (my absolute worst writing happens here!).

Five songs that inspired Legend?

"Heart of Courage" (Two Steps From Hell)
"They Don't Care About Us" (Michael Jackson)
"The Beginning Is The End Is The Beginning" (Smashing Pumpkins)
"If You're Out There" (John Legend)
"Run This Town" (Rihanna)

Five foods/drinks you like to consume while writing?

Lots of agua
Flaming Hot Cheetos
Almonds
Peaches
Red velvet anything

Five tips for aspiring writers?

Do not get easily discouraged by early rejections. Even by hundreds of them!
However, figure out why you're getting rejected. Then work on that issue(s).
Act professional at all times, especially when talking to industry pros and other writers. (Exclamation points and smiley faces seem to be okay, though. :) )
Early on, get used to editing your writing. Priceless, absolutely necessary, and even quite fun.
Have a few readers who will tell you honestly what they think about your manuscript.

Five key moments on your way to becoming a writer?

The very first time an industry professional ever responded enthusiastically to a full manuscript of mine. I vividly remember that exact moment, the email, and the person. (Cameron McClure, I love you forever!)
The very first time an agent called me to offer representation.
A day when I was fifteen, when I read a profile in the paper about teen Amelia Atwater-Rhodes getting a book deal, and figured out that real people wrote books (as opposed to...I don't know, library fairies). Hey, I was young and naive. :)
The day my current agent (the lovely Kristin Nelson) held an auction for Legend, my debut novel, which led to me joining the Penguins. (Yes, I cried.)
The very first time I saw a finished hardcover copy of Legend, sitting prettily on display at a book trade show. I could not stop touching that book.

BTL Christmas Cards: Bloodlines

2011-11-21T10:52:00.000+11:00

We're back with more BTL themed Christmas cards. After Anna and the French Kiss, we visit the world of Bloodlines.

The TBR Shelf

2011-11-15T19:26:00.000+11:00

Our weekly To. Be. Read (TBR) Shelf sharing session. Tell us what you're reading?

1. What's new on your Shelf?

2. What have you just finished on The Shelf?

3. What book are you most desperate this week to get on The Shelf?

BTL's answers: 1. Immortal City 2. Last Breath - PHEW! 3. The Fault in Our Stars.

GoodReads 2011 Choice Awards

2011-11-15T16:57:00.000+11:00

The PengTeen Awards may be over, but that doesn't mean the voting has to stop. GoodReads are having their annual Choice Awards and they're down to the semi-finals.

In the Young Adult - Fiction category, you'll find Between Shades of Gray, Whatever Happened to Goodbye and Lola and the Boy Next Door still in the race.

2011 Goodreads Choice Awards: Best Young Adult Fiction

Vote now for your favorite books!

In Young Adult - Fantasy & Science Fiction, Across the Universe, Goliath and Bloodlines are all still waiting for your votes!

2011 Goodreads Choice Awards: Best Young Adult Fantasy & Science Fiction

Vote now for your favorite books!

BTL Christmas Cards

2011-11-15T13:06:00.000+11:00

Sometimes it's really hard to capture the festive spirit mixed with your favourite reads. Never fear, BTL will have cards for every YA fan to share with loved ones.

Our first theme: Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins.

The PengTeen Awards Prize Pack

2011-11-14T18:16:00.000+11:00

The winners have been announced, the tears have tumbled, the joy shared - it's time for you, BTL-ers to partake in the action.

You have the opportunity to win the complete set of In Contention Titles from this year's PengTeen Awards. That is A LOT of books!

Simply email BTL and tell us in 25 words or less what your favourite book from the 2011 PengTeen Awards In Contention Titles was and why. This competition closes, midnight, Australian Eastern Daylight Saving Time on Monday 21st November.

*Please note this competition is open to residents of Australia only. For full terms and conditions including our Privacy Policy, click here.

Cover Reveal: The Reluctant Hallelujah

2011-11-14T15:46:00.000+11:00

It's the hotly anticipated follow up book from Gabrielle Williams, who wrote the delicious Beatle Meets Destiny.

PengTeen Awards: The Winners!

2011-11-14T11:04:00.001+11:00

In an almost clean sweep of the inaugural PengTeen Awards, Richelle Mead's fans proved that support for her books are everlasting and with Bloodlines taking a few victories, the new series is also capturing fans attention.

Richelle herself won Favourite Author in a landslide of 81% of the votes. She also won Breakthrough Author for Bloodlines, showing the new series is winning fans over from the VA world.

In a storming victory, Vampire Academy: Last Sacrifice won nine categories alone! Including Favourite Book with a staggering 70% of the vote; Favourite Cover; Favourite Boy Character: Dimitri; Favourite Villain: Tasha; Favourite Sidekick: Sydney; Favourite Scary Moment: Rose getting shot. Rose and Dimitri together won two awards, Favourite Couple and Favourite Kiss and Rose won the Favourite Girl Character with a massive 74% of the votes.

Bloodlines hinted at its potential power as a series with two key victories. Favourite Fight: Sydney & Adrian v Lee and the Strigoi. Proving the saying true that we love a man who makes us laugh, Adrian stormed home to victory with 46% of the votes for Favourite Funny Moment for his comments throughout Bloodlines.

Lest you think we didn't have any other winners, we did! Stephanie Perkins instant classic Anna and the French Kiss, won Favourite Breakthrough Book with almost 40%.

Melina Marchetta won the tightest race in the Awards, Favourite Aussie Author. She won over Alison Stewart, by just 1%.

And in the Readers' Choice - a DEAD HEAT! That's right, Richelle Mead fans and Cassandra Clare fans went head to head and came out EVEN. Last Sacrifice and Clockwork Angel each on 40% of the vote, share the Readers' Choice Award.

Congratulations to all our nominated authors and a massive thanks those who placed one of the thousands of votes we received. We hope you enjoyed the first ever PengTeen Awards and if you've got any suggestions for next year, feel free to post in the comments below.

BTL Challenge Update

2011-11-12T23:46:00.000+11:00

In the midst of the BTL Challenge - how are we doing?

BTL started the day off on zero word count score - not good. And at 10pm it was still the same and not looking good, so we held back the only weapon in our arsenal - food! More specifically; dessert. 1,350 words later, we think it proves the point - sometimes you've got to find motivation in strange places to keep writing and as we enjoy our chocolate desssert, we're feeling confident with just over 24 hours of hitting the 2,000 word count.

BTL Challenge: Write 2,000 Words for NaNoWriMo
Status: 67% - 650 words to go.

Bloodlines Book Club: Chapter 15 + 16

2011-11-12T10:19:00.000+11:00

SPOILER ALERT - Behind the jump are your Bloodlines Book Club questions for Chapter 15 + 16, so if you haven't read Bloodlines yet, maybe don't click.

Missed early Bloodlines Book Club, catch up with

Chapter 1 + 2
Chapter 3 + 4
Chapter 5 + 6
Chapter 7 + 8
Chapter 9 - 12
Chapter 13 + 14

Spoiler-y questions after the jump

Q. How important for Adrian's growth, do you think it is that Sydney treats him differently?

Q. The tattoo's influence touches on a theme in the greater VA/Bloodlines world. Spiritual and magically elements can affect who you are. Which characters do you think this is the most true for? For example, does the influence the spirit element has on Adrian make him who he is, or does it just enhance him?

Q. Controversy question: Rose's self-sufficiency as a person, held back Adrian's potential to achieve. True or false?

The BTL Challenge

2011-11-11T19:20:00.000+11:00

BTL Challenge is BACK!

Each week, we offer you a BTL Challenge. You can join in, or not - it's completely up to you. The BTL Challenge varies wildly from reading and writing to cooking and stamp collecting (some people enjoy it!) We want to give you ideas that might inspire you to see the world differently, participate in or learn new things or just relax and have fun! If you want to participate in the BTL Challenge, feel free to post updates in the comments section/or on our Facebook page. We'll also be participating in each Challenge so you won't be alone!

The BTL Challenge: Write 2,000 Words for NaNoWriMo

To celebrate NaNoWriMo we're bringing back our previous Challenge. NaNoWriMo is the National Novel Writing Month, held every November that encourages writers both amateur and professional to actually sit down and write that novel they've been planning to, dreaming of or are contractually obliged to.

So come on, let's get our BTL Challenge on - who is with us?

Morganville Vampires: Rachel Caine Q + A

2011-11-11T14:15:00.000+11:00

When Rachel Caine toured Australia in May to meet her Morganville Vampires fans, we made sure to corner her and ask the important Morganville questions including when will the series end, why vampires and who are her favourite characters to write.

Literally Covered

2011-11-10T17:15:00.000+11:00

It's back! Everyone's favourite game of What Would a Cover Look Like If We Were to Take the Title Literally. That name seemed way too long, so we call it: Literally Covered.

Take a guess at what book this cover might be in the comments section below.

The PengTeen Awards: Readers' Choice Award

2011-11-10T11:35:00.022+11:00

Phew! After two weeks of intense voting, the first PengTeen Awards voting round is now closed. After thousands of votes, we've got some calculating to do, with the winners announced Monday 14 November AEST 9am! As a savvy commentator noted, sadly fictional characters aren't available to accept their awards but we hope some of the winning authors' might be able to write some words.

We also did promise the Readers' Choice Awards - a category open to any book published in the last 12 months. After narrowing it down to the five most nominated titles, we now present the Readers' Choice for your voting. You'll have until midnight Sunday 13 November Australian Eastern Daylight time to select one of these titles and results will also be announced among the winners' on Monday 14.

Quizzes by Quibblo.com | SnapApp Quiz Apps

News from the BTL Desk

2011-11-09T21:12:00.000+11:00

We've been ITCHING for days to reveal this news and we can now finally announce that Penguin Australia will publish John Green's The Fault in Our Stars and even better, we're going simultaneously with the US in January 2012! BOO YA!

We're not even going to play it cool and pretend this isn't the coolest thing ever. We're John Green mega-fans here at BTL and bringing John into our BTL family is awesomesauce (we're totally claiming the seat next to him at the hypothetical BTL dinner table).

If you've never heard of John Green, consider these facts: he won the highly coveted Printz Award for his first novel. He co-wrote Will Grayson, Will Grayson with David Levithan. Only one million people or so follow him on Twitter and only 18 million or so have watched his YouTube channel, that he co-hosts with his brother. No big deal at all really.

Dip into the first chapter of The Fault in Our Stars, thanks to USA Today and then come back and say it with us - WE'RE EXCITED!