Return to Books of Wonder

Hey there,

If you live in the New York City area, why don't you head on in to Books of Wonder on Thursday, November 11 @ 5 pm. I'm participating in a panel of fantasy/ adventure authors who are sharing our latest books and signing copies and saying 'hey' and stuff.

Here's a list of the awesome people you can meet there!

T.A. BARRON Merlin's Dragon: Ultimate Magic
DIANE ZAHLER The Thirteenth Princess
JAKE HALPERN World’s End
BARRY LYGA Archvillain
J.M. DeMATTEIS Imaginalis

and me... DAN POBLOCKI The Nightmarys

For more details, check out Books of Wonder's website:

http://www.booksofwonder.com/events111110.asp

18 W. 18th Street, NYC

Hope to see you!

~Dan

Help Me Create the Ultimate Nightmare!

Hello Everyone,

Last October, in celebration of The Stone Child's release, I presented a contest on this blog where I wrote a ghost story a day and asked you all to guess whether it was "real" or "fiction."

THIS YEAR, to say "cheers" to The NIGHTMARYS, my newest book, I'm doing something different.

I invite you to participate in my next writing project. I want to hear about your greatest fears, nightmares, and phobias.

In the comments section of this post, leave me a little story. It can be a description of your worst nightmare. It can be an experience that totally freaked you out or something you fear might happen.

At the end of the month, on Halloween, I will read through your comments, plucking elements from each to create one huge, epic Nightmare story which I will post on this site. And I will choose at random a commenter who participates to receive a signed hardcover copy of The NIGHTMARYS.

How's that for a Halloween surprise?

A couple caveats: to win, you must follow this blog. AND, if I feel like I'm not getting enough comments from you, dear readers, the game is forfeit. SO SPREAD THE WORD. If you want to help me write my next scary story... direct your friends to this site. And tell them to scare me!

Together, we can frighten the WORLD. Mwah-hah-hah!

All best nightmares,
Dan

Oh Look! A Nightmarys Giveaway!

Head over to Books and Literature for Teens if you want to win a free copy of The Nightmarys...

AND there's a great fat interview with moi, if you're into that sort of thing.

Click here:

http://booksandliteratureforteens.blogspot.com/2010/09/interview-with-dan-poblocki-and.html

Mom and the Nightmarys

So my sister forwarded me this pic from my mother and Bruce who had to go searching throughout Massachusetts to find a copy of my new book because she didn't want to order it online!


She found a bunch of copies in Framingham! Go Framingham! Go Mom and Bruce!

Ha!

xo

How I Spent The Nightmarys Release Day

Creating a book from idea to tangible product is a long, bizarre process.

Once the book is complete and is sent off to production by your editor, it is pretty much out of your hands. For The Nightmarys, this happened in fall of 2009. You have to just let it go... and then wait... and wait... and wait... And in the mean time, your editor sends you the preliminary cover art, and the final cover art, and eventually Advanced Copies of the book... Which is REALLY cool.

Then, if you're lucky, you start to hear from people who are interested in reading the book. Bloggers. Fans of other books you've written. Your best friends who want to pump up your ego... (thank you all!). This pretty much carries you along for the last few months as you continue to WAIT for the book to come out.

Last year, when The Stone Child was released, I was so overwhelmed, I didn't even know what to do with myself. There were so many ups and downs (mostly in my head) that by the release date, I felt like I was floating through life. David Levithan and I decided to share a book party at Books of Wonder (who were kind enough to host us). And it was a blast... But still, I was totally freaked out. It was surreal to finally see the book sitting on shelves around New York City.

This year, my prep for The Nightmarys release was more conceptual. I was connecting with people on line. I'd done a few events over the summer (a writing camp for kids, and a school visit) to help start getting the word out that the book was coming soon. I decided to wait for any sort of release date event - I've got some things in the works and will share as soon as they're finalized. So I decided to lay low.

I woke up, checked facebook, reminded everyone I know that the book is now available. Then I went to work and begged everyone there to go buy a copy! Ha. My friend Ethan met me for lunch to celebrate. We ate burritos and had a piece of cake. Then I met another friend in the evening for drinks and a trip to Barnes and Noble in Union Square. To my surprise, the store had quite a few copies prominently displayed! It was so fun to see it up there on the shelf. I grabbed all of them and asked the girl at the info counter if I could sign them. Before we left, I picked up a copy of Mockingjay (of course).

Down the street, I realized I forgot to take a picture in the store. So we ended up in the subway -- and he was kind enough to share the copy he bought for my modeling shot. We said goodnight and I came home.

It's weird... after such a long build-up and all the waiting... it's just another day. Which is nice in a way... Everything that comes next is unknown... and uncontrollable.

Anyway, I hope you're all able to find a copy of The Nightmarys. I'm really happy with the work we all did to make it happen. Let me know what you think!

All best (nightmarys),
Dan

The Most Important Day of the Year Has Come

That's right... after a LONG wait, The Nightmarys is finally available in stores and online today! Also, The Stone Child is being released in a beautiful paperback version from Yearling.

Get ready for the chill of fall and overcast skies by picking up copies of these books... or ask your library to stock them!

Wishing you all the best (nightmares),

Dan

NIGHTMARYS ARC TOUR

Are you a YA lit/ Children's lit blogger? Want a chance to review an advanced copy of my next book, The Nightmarys? Check out Good Golly Miss Holly's site to sign up! Hurry, first come, first served...

http://goodgollymisshollybooks.blogspot.com/2010/07/arc-tours-nightmarys.html

Signed Nightmarys Giveaway

Goodreads Book Giveaway

The Nightmarys

by Dan Poblocki

Giveaway ends at August 24, 2010.

See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Best Response Ever

I should preface this story by mentioning that I let my father borrow one of the advanced copies of The Nightmarys last weekend. Halfway through the week, he called me up to tell me how much he was loving it... which I thought was great. And then... tonight...

As I was making dinner I got a phone call. The caller ID told me it was my dad. I picked up and said hello.

This is what I heard: "You've got to be freaking kidding me!" Nothing else... No hi, howareya... just, "You've got to be freaking kidding me!"

I was like, "What did I do?"

"I'm totally freaking out right now..."

"Why?"

"Your book! I just got off the train and I'm walking home and there's this old man in front of me and he turned around and stared at me and then this streetlight just went out as I walked under it, and... it's the curse, isn't it?"

At this point, I had to laugh. "You're kidding, right?"

"No! There were so many scary scenes right after the next, and then, just when I thought it was over, it got scarier! I can barely breathe. And now I have to go home to an empty, haunted house."

Eek. I certainly didn't mean to do that to him! I apologized profusely.

He told me people are going to sue me for putting them through that...

Now, I really hope no one sues me when they read The Nightmarys, but I suppose if you like scary stories, you might like this one. At least, my dad thinks so!

Just getting excited for everyone else to read it starting in August! It still seems so far away...

Cheers,
Dan

Advanced Copies!

So excited! I got home last night to find a package from my editor. I was expecting page proofs (loose pages with all the mark-ups from copy-editing), and to my surprise, there was a little bonus.

You've probably already guessed what that was (see, I included a hint in the title of this post... also, there's that big picture right there). They sent me a couple advanced copies. Let me tell you, it's so much fun after all the work to finally see your words in actual bound-book form.

The cover illustration is still so creepy. The interior design echoes The Stone Child, but adds something new. I can't wait to share this one with everyone!

Cheers,
Dan

And here they are... The Girls.

Nightmarys Cover Art

Came home through the blizzard tonight to find a package from Random House waiting for me. My editor and designer sent me the final cover proof for my new book, The Nightmarys, which comes out this August. It's the first time I've gotten to see the back of the book, read the cover copy, and see my author photo (by my friend Nic).

Wow, is the image scary! It's the kind of scary that makes you want to hold it at a distance... or maybe put it in the freezer. I'm sort of shocked that this thing actually came out of my brain...

Can't wait until August!