Clue #1 for the Super Sekrit series

Lately I have been hinting of a big announcement coming up.  What is this announcement, you ask? It is the reveal of the next book in my Super Sekrit series!  The series that I haven't been able to talk about.  The series that was optioned with Universal Pictures before it was even written.



So, do I finally get to reveal the SUPER SEKRIT SERIES today?



Sadly, no.



BUT I do get to tell you when the announcement is!  The Big Reveal of the Super Sekrit series will be October 2nd.  And, to keep it fun and interesting, we want YOU to try to guess what the series will be about.  Basically almost nothing has been revealed about the sekrit series--plot, characters, conflict, anything--but every Tuesday, I will be giving out clues, hints, as to what the new series is about.  There will also be a giveaway at the beginning of the month.  All leading up to October 2nd and the Grand Reveal.



So check back every Teaser Tuesday for the next clue to the Super Sekrit series.  Big things are happening down the road.  Also, since today is Tuesday, you get your very first hint....now.



Clue #1 for the Super Sekrit series is:

HANG TEN

 

 

 



That's all you get today.  Let the comments, guessing, and speculation begin.  If you have any theories, wild or not, I'd love to hear them.  Return next Tuesday for Clue #2, and be sure to save the date for October 2nd.  In the words of Barney Stinson, it will be Legen...




Wait for it....




....DARY.






-Julie

Eternity Cure French cover

Just a quick: Oooooh....


Check out the stunning French cover for The Eternity Cure.


All together now: "Oooooooooooooooh."  *o*

And then there were two (chickens).

So, as some as you know from twitter, last week a pair of raccoons broke into my chicken pen and killed four of my flock of five.  I was devastated.  These were the girls I raised since they were chicks, and I remember them happily running around my office when they were growing up.

 

 

 

We managed to catch the horrid raccoons, but by that time, the damage had already been done.  I had one chicken left.  And she looked very lonely in the pen all by herself.

But the story has a somewhat happy ending.  This morning, we went to Tractor Supply's animal swap to find my chicken a friend.  And it so happened that someone was selling a whole flock of laying hens.  So after purchasing a chicken, I went home and introduced the girls to each other.  I know chickens are territorial and they have to get used to strangers, so I was prepared for a scuffle or two.  Happily, it didn't take long.  There was one bout where they had to decide who was the dominant chicken, and after that, well, see for yourself.

The new girl on the left is an Orpington hen.  She's not quite as friendly as my red (the red jumps up and takes food from my hand, and also sits on me sometimes) but we'll work on her.  Really, I'm just glad my girl has a friend now.  And that the stupid raccoons are gone.  Maybe in the spring, I'll have a new flock of chicks running around my office.  I'm thinking Bantums this time.

Julie




 

A box of rocks

So a few days ago, I found a box of rocks.


Not just any rocks, mind you.  Rocks that I had painted years and years ago.  Rocks that I'd forgotten I had.  They were my first attempts at rock painting, the precursors to the Grim rocks and the clay figures I do now.


So now I have a question.  Much as I was thrilled at finding these rocks again, I really have no place to put them.  And now that I have an Etsy shop, I have a place to sell said rocks...if anyone wants them.


Should I put the rocks up for sale on Etsy?  Would anyone be interested in a rock?  Check out the photos below for examples. 


Pet rock, anyone?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thoughts? What say ye?

Julie

The Iron Traitor arc winners

I am back from the #YeahYA tour!  It was exhausting, exhilarating, exciting and a total blast, but I'm completely wiped out.  I didn't take many photos while on tour, however, and the ones I did take are completely random, as seen below.

Perry, our mascot.

 

 

 

Baby mongooses (mongeese?) at the Central Park zoo.

 

 

 

 

This little guy was fascinated with my coke bottle.

 

 

 

 

Koi at the Omni hotel. The hotel had a massive pond throughout the lobby. It was awesome. And the best thing about it?

 

 

 

The koi followed you, because you could get fish food at the front desk to feed them.

 

 

Feeding frenzy!

 

 

 

 

Graceland.

 

 

 

 

My poor, smushed cupcake.  I'd been saving/hiding it at the Memphis event, but Karen Ann Hopkins accidentally knocked it over while taking pictures with fans. I still ate it.  It was delicious.

 

 

 

So, anyway, the tour was completely awesome, and I'd like to give a HUGE shout out to everyone who came to see us.  You guys are the reason we're authors, after all.  :)


NOW, if you're still hanging around, I guess you want to know the winners of the Iron Traitor arcs, right?  Notice I said winners, as in more than one.  Since there were so many who entered, I've decided to give away three arcs instead of one. 


The lucky winners are:

Vivien (deadtossedwaves@gmail.com), because she was the first to comment, and the first commenters NEVER win these kind of giveaways.  The next two were chosen completely at random, and they are:

Heather Kilpatrick (heatherkheartsbooks@gmail.com)

and

Angie (coffeeshopreads@gmail.com)



So congrats to the winners.  I will be emailing you soon, so be on the lookout for that.  Thanks to everyone who entered/commented/tweeted!  You guys are awesome.  :D


Julie 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Iron Traitor early giveaway

I promised a giveaway, didn't I?


Soooo, who's anxious to see what Meghan and Ash's son is up to?


Yes?  No?  Afraid?  (You probably should be afraid.  Very, very afraid, bwahaha.) 


Well, now's your chance to see what havoc Keirran is causing before anyone else.  To celebrate my shiny new Iron Traitor arcs, I have decided to give away one early copy of THE IRON TRAITOR, Call of the Forgotten #2.  As seen below.

The blurb:

In the real world, when you vanish into thin air for a week, people tend to notice.

After his unexpected journey into the lands of the fey, Ethan Chase just wants to get back to normal. Well, as "normal" as you can be when you see faeries every day of your life. Suddenly the former loner with the bad reputation has someone to try for-his girlfriend, Kenzie. Never mind that he's forbidden to see her again.

But when your name is Ethan Chase and your sister is one of the most powerful faeries in the Nevernever, "normal" simply isn't to be. For Ethan's nephew, Keirran, is missing, and may be on the verge of doing something unthinkable in the name of saving his own love. Something that will fracture the human and faery worlds forever, and give rise to the dangerous fey known as the Forgotten. As Ethan's and Keirran's fates entwine and Keirran slips further into darkness, Ethan's next choice may decide the fate of them all.


***


Excited?  Oh, and there is also an exclusive excerpt of THE FOREVER SONG, Blood of Eden #3, in the back of the book.


To enter, just copy and paste this to your Twitter or Facebook:  I want to win an arc of THE IRON TRAITOR from @jkagawa at juliekagawa.blogspot.com
 

Then leave your name and email in the comments below.  That's it.  (To be fair, just comment once, but feel free to RT or Facebook the giveaway as much as you like. )


Giveaway will run until July 19, and yes, it is international. 


Good luck!

-Julie

Hollywood, Universal Studios, and 2 dinosaurs (Part II)

Continuing my adventures in Hollywood...


So, after my agent and I had lunch at Citywalk, it was still a couple hours to my meeting with the Universal people.  So, we decided to kill some time by picking up Awkward author Marni Bates, who is also Laurie's client and lives in L.A., and going to see a famous Hollywood landmark.

So, after meeting Marni, we all piled into Laurie's car and headed into the hills.  Hollywood Hills, that is.


After many twists and turns up a tiny, narrow road (past some truly impressive mansions), we finally reached the place we wanted to be.  And me and Marni had Laurie take this picture:

And this one:

And also this one:

Now you might be wondering: what the heck are they pointing at?  As well you should.  Because, after Laurie had taken all those pictures, she suddenly said: "Oh, wait, did you two want me to include the ginormous huge landmark right over your head, too?"



Um, YES, Laurie, we did, in fact, want that in the picture, too!



SIGH.

There we go.  Though the excitement had worn off by that time.  Fear not, Marni and I teased Laurie the entire way back.  She'll never hear the end of it, and has vowed not to take anymore pictures for us.  ^__^ 


We love you, Laurie.  This much.  XD.

 

 

 

And then, we got slightly lost going back.  But fear not, I reached my hotel with enough time to change and wait for the car that would take me to Universal Studios and my meeting.


What went on in the meeting is sadly Top Sekrit, but everyone I met was super nice and super excited about the project.  Hopefully I will get to reveal it soon, but just know this: it is EPIC.


And then, all too soon, the meeting came to a close and I asked for pictures with everybody.  They were nice enough to oblige.

 

Me and Jeff Kirschenbaum, the freaking head of Universal Pictures. ( Me = *o* )

 

 

 

 

 

From left to right: Jeff Kirschenbaum, Sara Scott (Creative Executive and also uber important), a star-struck little author from La Grange, KY, Ainsley Davies (Director of Development for Chris Morgan Productions) and Chris Morgan (Director, and also the guy who wrote the scripts for The Fast and Furious franchise.)

 

 

 

After the meeting, I was still a little dazed.  But the surprises didn't end there.  Chris Morgan and Ainsley Davies took me on a tour of the Universal Studios back lot.  I got to sit in a golf car as Chris drove us around and pointed out cool and interesting things.  Such as:

The stage for The Voice.

 

 

 

 

The town square for Back to the Future. It's missing its clock because the original set burned down, but they recreated it with everything except the clock.

 

 

 

 

 

One of the many city streets used for filming.  There was also a really awesome Old West town, too.  The back lot of Universal is HUGE.

 

 

 

 

I think this set was used for Dracula or Frankenstein or something like that.

 

Part of the Old West town.

 

 

 

 

Part of the set for The Grinch.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Part of the set for War of the Worlds.  Apparently, during Halloween, they let people walk through this set and zombies come lurching out of the debris.  So cool.

 

 

 

Recognize this sign?

 

 

 

 

Here is the ride that goes with it.  If you look closely, you can see the shark that "attacked" the tour bus in the water there.

 

 

 

 

The original Bates motel.  The House is behind it to the left, and as we drove past, you could see the corpse of an old woman rocking back and forth in the window. 

 

 

 

 

The second dinosaur, right outside the Jurassic Park ride. And that concluded my tour of the Universal Studios back lot.

 

 

 

So that is the end of my adventures in Hollywood.  I got home exhausted but floating three feet off the ground.  And, if all goes well, that won't be the last I see of Universal or Hollywood, but even if it is, I'll have enough awesome memories to last a lifetime.  A huge thank you to everyone who brought me this far; I am truly grateful for all your support.

Now, let's keep our fingers crossed for a movie.  =)

-Julie