Amanda Hocking

Lately, I’ve been going to bed at night, and getting up in the morning, and it sucks. Normally, I go to bed in the morning, and get up in the early evening. This is how things should be.

I can’t even explain it, but being away during the day just isn’t for me. The days seems to take forever and they’re boring and I get restless and confused. During the night, everything makes so much sense.

In another life, I was probably a bat. That would explain so much.

Before I get to the fabulous cover for the final book in the Watersong series, I thought I should mention that the first two books – Wake and Lullaby – will be available in trade paperback for the first time on April 16, 2013. Thus far, they’ve only been out in hardcover, and I know some people prefer the feel of paperbacks. Right now, the pre-order for the Wake paperback is only $5.55 at Amazon and $5.37 at Barnes & Noble, so if you haven’t picked it up yet, you seriously should. (The ebook for Wake is also only $2.99).

Lullaby will also include the short story Forgotten Lyrics in the back. It’s already out as an ebook, but since it’s so short (some people have called it a novella, but it’s actually shorter than that), it’s not really feasible to release it on its own. By including it with paperbacks of Lullaby, it was a way to get it out to people who don’t enjoy ereaders or reading on their computers. And if you’ve already purchased Lullaby, you’ll be able to check it out from the library more easily (I know that not all libraries are lending ebooks yet). Plus, the events in Forgotten Lyrics really tie into some of the answers in Tidal, so it’s the perfect time to read it.

Now onto the big reveal. Elegy – the fourth and final book in the Watersong series – finally has an official cover and a release date. Elegy will be out August 6, 2013. (The third book in the series Tidal will be out on June 3, 2013). The description for it is a bit spoilery, so I’m hiding it in blue for most of you that haven’t read Tidal. But if you have, or you don’t mind a hint at what’s to come, just highlight and read away.

Now that Gemma holds the key to breaking the siren curse, the stakes have never been higher. At last, a future with those she loves—and a romance with Alex—is close enough to touch…but not if Penn has anything to say about it. Penn is more determined than ever to have Daniel for her own and to destroy Gemma and Harper along the way, and Penn always gets what she wants. Now a final explosive battle is about to begin, and the winner will take everything Gemma holds dear.

So what do you think of the cover? I love it. It was between this one and another one, and while they were both great (Lisa Marie Pompilio at St. Martin’s does AMAZING work), I liked this one a bit more, and I hope you guys like it too.

After having the last two book have different characters on the cover (Lullaby has Harper, and Tidal has Daniel and Penn), it seems like perfect symmetry to have Gemma on the cover. It started with her on Wake, and it ends with her on Elegy.

Also, I mentioned it before, but I’ll say it again: “Night is Cold” by Civil Twilight is the theme song to Elegy. The song fits so perfectly, it’s insane, and I listened to it on repeat while writing.

If you follow me on Twitter, you probably saw the link I posted yesterday, but in case you missed it, here it is: Terri Tatchell Aims to Make the Trylle Novels Her Next Movie Project.

You should read the whole article for all the details. But here’s the breakdown:

In early 2011, Terri Tatchell (the co-writer for District 9) approached me about adapting the books for a movie, and I told her yes. As a fan of her movie, I was especially excited about her working on it.
She contacted Media Rights Capital, and they bought the rights to all three books in the trilogy. (Here is the article in the NY Times talking about the deal: here.)

In my emails with Terri, I feel like she’s the absolute best person to adapt it, and she understands my vision for the series. She’s far more brilliant than I am. I sold my rights to MRC because I trust them and Terri, and I’m certain they’d do a better job on it than I ever could.

Terri is set to produce the movies with Simon Kinberg, and they’re hoping to have picked the director within the next few weeks. They’re also hoping to start filming this fall in Canada (with the worst case scenario being filming in the spring).

All of this sounds good, and it seems like things are moving on track. But when it comes to the movie industry – which is notoriously finicky – I won’t be 100% sure that the movie is going to be made and released until the day it finally premieres. However, I am cautiously optimistic about things right now.

As of this point, though, a director has not been picked and nobody has been cast. I would like to once again reiterate that I have no idea when/where casting will be done, nor am I going to choose the actors/actresses. I get a lot of emails/comments about people wanting to audition, and honestly, I’m the wrong person to talking to about that.

 So there’s all that. That’s what I know for now, and as I soon as I know more, I promise to update you all.

Since my last blog post, a lot has happened – namely, I was sick. And not sick with one, not two, but three seperate illnesses. (Well, to be fair, the doctor isn’t completely sure that Illness Two and Illness Three weren’t connected, since he’s not completely sure what Illness Three is.)

From last Friday to Sunday, I slept. Like literally, I was slept roughly 20 hours a day to combat pain. Then on Sunday, I began to feel better. Until the flu hit me, and I was laid up with that until Wednesday. I was awake more after that, but I did not like it.

From Thursday until Saturday, I enjoyed three glorious, pain-free days, and I spent time hanging out with friends who were celebrating a mass of March birthdays, including one who was visiting from out of the country.

I will say this – despite being sick for the better part of a week, I managed to feel good on the days when the fun was happening. For once, my body seemed to work in my favor.

And then on Sunday, I ended up in Urgent Care with the most severe pain of my entire life. Fortunately, the pain stopped, and the doctor told me it’s nothing serious. But I need to follow-up with a regular doctor to find out what exactly it was. But let me assure you – it was not pleasent.

However, my week in illness wasn’t a total loss. I caught up on some shows. I finally watched the third season of Downton Abbey (which led to a crying jag between throwing up). Also, I’m totally shipping Mary/Branson for Season 4. Anybody else on board with me on that? I should watch shows at the same time other people watch them, so we can talk about them.

I also finally started watching Game of Thrones, too. I have not read the books, and I most likely won’t read them until the series is over (I do the same thing with True Blood and Dexter). I’ll read books before I watch the movies based on them, but series are so much longer and take different liberties, I’d rather just wait until the viewing is all done to read. It’s how I roll.

Anyway, I’m loving GoT. I’m into season 2 now (I was sick a lot last week), and Peter Dinklage is so fantastic. Zoe Winters and I were discussing some issues we had with season 1, but in general, I’m loving it. Very addicting.

I haven’t had a chance to dive into any of the suggestions you’ve sent me for books from the last blog (I mostly watched TV when I was sick, but I did get into some Fear Street), but I plan on checking out some of them, so thank you for all the great tips. If/when I do read them, I’ll let you know what I think. I plan on starting I Hunt Killers tonight, followed by False Memory.

Someone on Twitter asked me why I don’t talk about what I’m reading much.

There are a couple reasons for it. One is because when I’m reading, I’m not on Twitter. When I watch TV, I am on Twitter, hence the amount of tweets about what I’m watching. Writing, sleeping, reading – no twitter. Watching TV, waiting in line, researching – lots of twitter.

The other reason is that I feel weird about talking about the books I read, especially the YA ones. I can’t explain it, but I’m always afraid that me saying, “Hey, I like this book” will suddenly downgrade the book and make people less likely to buy it or want to read it. True story.

I guess what I just said that is that I think everyone thinks I suck, and by me saying I like it, they will also think it sucks.

This doesn’t hold true for TV or movies, becuase I don’t write them. If I did write for television or movies, I probably would never recommend them either. I’m basically saying that I think you all think I’m a terrible author, and I don’t want to taint good books with my terrible authorness.

Oh, the neurosis of me. It’s such a constant thrill.

But anyway. I’m trying to make a point of talking about what I read. Because I do read. A lot. And many of the things I read, I think other people will enjoy too.

So here are some books I’ve read lately:
– The Sandman by Neil Gaiman – Still working my way through it. I love it so much but I’m breaking it up, reading different books in between. I’m up to volume 6 so far.
-Mind Games by Kiersten White – I was excited about this one, rightfully so, and James would be very good friends with Loki (if there were ever some kind of Trylle/Mind Games crossover, which there won’t be)
-Because I Said So by Ken Jennings – I love Ken Jennings, and I love random facts. So this book pleased me very much.
–Aquaman Vol. 1: The Trench (The New 52) – My friend Matt laughed when I told him I was reading this, but you know what? It was good. So there, Matt.
–Fated by Alyson Noel – I didn’t realize the second book Echo is already out, so I ordered that one, but I haven’t got it yet, but the sooner it gets here, the better.
-The Casteel Saga by VC Andrews – I don’t know why. I don’t know why at all. I started reading it, and then, it was like a compulsion, and I had to finish the series. I don’t know why.
–Cycle of the Werewolf by Stephen King – I actually read this years ago, lost my copy (somewhere in all the moving after my parents’ divorce, along with so many of my other books, records, and action figures). It holds up well, though. I don’t even like werewolves, but this is good stuff.

But I’m actually looking for book suggestions. What I’d really like to read is a stand alone YA horror/paranormal romance. I love series, I read a lot of series, I write a lot of series, but I’m just in the mood for a stand alone or two, and I’m actually having a hard time finding any that appeal to me.

I’m fine with people dying, but I don’t want it to be super sad. (Ever since I totally bawled while reading Where the Red Fern Grows, I’ve sworn of super sad books. Although, I inexplicably cried a lot when I read Salem’s Lot. But I don’t know why.)

I’m also interested in reading a western, again preferably YA, and if there were elements of paranormal or horror or sci-fi, that would be a huge plus.

Also any YA books from the 80s would be awesome. Especially horror or paranormal or even just straight up romance. I just bought a whole stack of Fear Street books, and I’m super psyched to dive into them.

Right now: I’m about to go read Damned by Chuck Palahniuk, even though it’s been on my shelf for ages. I kept forgetting it existed apparently, but now I’ve remembered and I will read it. So if you have suggestions, I’d love to hear them.