IT'S A CELEBRATION!!!

THE NEAR WITCH IS FINALLY THROUGH EDITS AND ON TO COPYEDITS.

I AM SO FREAKING HAPPY.

I have been editing this book for 9.5 months. Longer than a pregnancy. It has been A JOURNEY. My editor has been challenging, and motivating, and inspiring. My agent has put up with many spazzing emails.

AND IT IS FINALLY DONE.

I am planning a WEEK O' DEBAUCHERY. It involves booze, and cupcakes, and sleep. That's how I roll.

DID I MENTION THE BOOK IS FINALLY DONE?

*dies*

SO HAPPY. I FEEL REAL!!!!

This makes me SO IRRATIONALLY HAPPY.

Many people have asked me in the past few months where my PM listing was, did they miss it, why wasn't it up, was it going to be up, or something to that effect.

Well, it's FINALLY HERE.

FROM PUBLISHERS MARKETPLACE:
April 11, 2010

Children's: Young Adult

Victoria Schwab's debut novel THE NEAR WITCH, a darkly romantic original fairy tale set on enchanted moors where children are disappearing from their beds at night, and a 16 year old girl must protect a mysterious boy whom the villagers accuse of kidnapping, to Abby Ranger at Disney-Hyperion, for publication in Summer 2011, by FinePrint Literary Management (world English).

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

A NOTE: I feel like I'm trying to double up on my YAY! and *HUGS* and OTHER FORMS OF DIGITAL ENTHUSIASM because most of the time when people first announce their book deal they show the PM listing with it, but I had to wait on mine for various reasons, and I know it should seem like no surprise/no big deal after eight months of edits...but this is A BIG DEAL for me. It makes it seem REAL. It's an official declaration.

It's like, in the south, we have debuts, where you're introduced to society. This is my debut, my introduction, and I feel like I've finally, truly joined the party.

And I've NEVER been able to sum up NW in one sentence. I marvel.

It's almost like she's real!

This AWESOME picture is one of three done for me as a gift by the incredible Vania, (the others will find their way into future posts) and it's Lexi from The Near Witch!! And oh my, it is PERFECT. It's hard to see but she's wearing leather boots under her skirt, and those are soo perfect, too.

What a way to kick off the new year, and certainly give me a great much-needed edit boost.

So, it is indeed a new year. Let's usher it in right.

Before I forget, The Elevensies would like to wish everyone a wonderful New Year!

Personally, this year I want to be more present. I want to find balance, I want to be productive, driven. Sure I've got some concrete goals (finish two more novels, read 75 books, either go to grad school or move to NYC, etc) but most of all I just want be as present as possible. I want to live each day with my eyes open.

Whatever your goals, I hope that 2010 brings with it many wonderful surprises.

The Witching Year!

Midnight might be the Witching Hour, and fall might be the Witching Season, but there's no doubt 2011 will be the Witching Year!

In case you haven't heard, there are THREE YA books (so far) (two from FLux, one from Disney*Hyperion) slated for 2011 with "Witch" in the title.

Scott Tracy's WITCH EYES

Karen Mahoney's THE IRON WITCH

and my own THE NEAR WITCH!

Now, what makes this Witching Year so awesome is that all three books are SO different. We've got gay witches in a romeo and Juliet scenario, a teen girl labeled a witch because of the markings on her, and a village where witches are those who can control the natural world.

2011 is going to be magical :)

A Tweet is Worth a Thousand Screams

So, I'd like to recap today's editing by showing you my tweets from the past few hours.

sksjflsdkjfaldsjfalkdsfja...@#$@#$. 8 hours ago.

I'm physically afraid to walk away from my edits, in case I have NO idea what I'm doing when I come back. 5 hours ago.

Need an editing break. An episode of Castle seems appropriate. 4 hours ago.

Ah, hello Work. I see you waited for me. 3 hours ago.

UGH. 2 hours ago.

WHY DOES THIS SCENE INSIST ON SUCKING? 2 hours ago.

I love how I somehow think refreshing my inbox will make the scene better. 1.5 hours ago.

Have resorted to hot chocolate. Desperate times. 10 minutes ago.

Yeah. :\

Busy Beginnings!

Hell, Fall! I'm so happy to see you. Feel free to announce yourself in Nashville with some cool weather and perhaps even some changing leaves if you feel up to it.

A few cool things to kick off Fall!

1. My friend and fellow writing team member SCOTT TRACEY got a two-book deal today with Flux!! Isn't that awesome? You better go congratulate him, AFTER you're done here.

2. I have started my edits. Yes, that was fast. Yes, I have my work seriously cut out for me, and yes, I did spend several hours wandering aimlessly around the house murmuring to myself "it will be okay." I am still murmuring. But I'm ALSO cheering on the inside, because these edits are going to make this book (hopefully) squee-worthy. Future me, the one NOT facing the edits, is squeeing.

3. I'm still working on my Q & A. I need a couple days to get my head back in the vicinity of my shoulders and then I will post the answers to all the wonderful questions that did not make the cupcake video cut.

4. I am loving this song right now. Thank you, Emily, for suggesting this. (And I am working on a NW playlist, fyi, but that also goes under the category of "Oh dear god let me where has my head gone and is it coming back??")

Stunned.

I'm not going to be one of those authors that gloats, or says lookie lookie all the time, but you'll have to forgive me, because this is a first. 

GO HERE.

This post just MADE MY LIFE. The Dreamer Reader featured me on a WoW (Waiting on Wednesday) post. My book doesn't come out until 2011, and she featured me, and she basically made me want to cry with joy. This is still such a surreal thing, to have someone besides my family/agency/editors talking about this book. It was so unexpected and wonderful...

I'm going to go smile myself to sleep now. 

What is THE NEAR WITCH?

A few people have asked about NEAR WITCH since I mentioned the book deal, so I'm posting a rough pitch here. 

There’s an old ghost story in the town of Near. It tells of a witch that lived on the edge of the village, and gobbled up all the darkness, and sang the hills to sleep, and loved the children almost as much as the garden she kept beside her house.

Sixteen-year-old Lexi Harris, the daughter of a tracker, has heard the stories her entire life, first from her father, and then from old Magda and Marta, who might be witches themselves. Everyone loves to tell the story, but everyone knows a different ending. Some say that the Near Witch blew away on a gust of wind. Others tell of darker things. Of murders and curses and buried bones.

To Lexi, they’ve always been stories, nothing more. But when a strange and silent boy walks into the village of Near, and then the wind begins to lure children from their beds at night, she starts to wonder if there’s any truth in them. Could the Near Witch be more than a ghost story?

Some Very Nice Words for NEAR WITCH

Someone said something nice about NEAR WITCH!!

My good friend SUSAN ADRIAN read NW last week, and here in her blog post on worldbuilding she mentions it!

But the most recent book that knocked my socks off with worldbuilding? Sorry, peeps, but most of you can't read it yet.

It's called NEAR WITCH, and it's by my good friend Victoria Schwab. If you liked HUNGER GAMES and UGLIES, and you love to be immersed in a world so real you can breathe it? Watch for Victoria.

Go and see her full post HERE.