Good News!

Sorry for the long silence! I've been busy writing. I finished two first drafts in the last two weeks. One is the draft for the sequel to THE OTHER LIFE and the other is a secret project (nicknamed ALOMF).
BUT that's not the good news I wanted to tell you.
Here it is (from Publishers Marketplace):

Rights to Susanne Winnacker's THE OTHER LIFE, to Anja Schleicher at Heyne in Germany, in a two-book deal, at auction, and to Fernando Baracchini at Novo Conceito in Brazil, by Alex Webb at Rights People on behalf of Julia Churchill at Greenhouse Literary Agency.

THE OTHER LIFE goes international!

Brazil and Germany. *happydance*

Maybe I should start learning Portuguese and plan a visit to Brazil!

I don't need to plan a trip to Germany nor do I have to learn the language.

I live in Germany and German is my first language and my family doesn't speak English well enough to read my books in English, so it was very important for me that my book would be translated into German.

And Heyne? They are part of Random House and a fabulous publisher. They publish writers like Stephen King, John Grisham, Patricia Briggs (who writes the Mercy Thompson series that I loooove) and Julie Kagawa's Iron Fey series.

Long story short: I couldn't be happier.

Back from London!

I spent the last few days in London with my husband. It's only an one hour flight from where we live in Germany but it was only the second time that I was there.

I loved it. Not just because of the sightseeing but because I finally met my lovely agent Julia Churchill! I had lunch with her, my editor Rebecca and Anna from Usborne. And I had dinner with my amazing crit partner Tracy and her husband.

Meeting all those people reminded me again why I love publishing so much. The people are just awesome.

Before we arrived in London I promised my husband not to buy books because we booked our flight with Ryanair and they don't allow passengers to take lots of luggage. Well, I was determined not to get any new books but then I saw the book shop and went in. My husband got that resigned glint in his eyes when he watched me browsing the books. I managed to take only seven new books back home with me. That's not too bad, I guess.

Oh, and I finally had Fish & Chips!

Check out my guest post for The League of Extraordinary Writers! It's about aliens and apocalypse and X-Files!

Winners!!!

It's time to announce the winners of my blogversary contest!

*drum roll*

erica_henry

and

Hannah (quixotic_girl on twitter)

Please contact me at books@susannewinnacker.com and let me know your book choice and address. I'll be on vacation in London where I'll meet my agent and editor (YAY!!!!) in the next week and I'll depart on March 9th, so it would be good if you could contact me as soon as possible.

Cover Love: POSSESS by Gretchen McNeil

My fellow Apocalypsie Gretchen McNeil revealed the cover of her debut novel POSSESS yesterday. Isn't it gorgeous?

Here's the blurb:

Fifteen-year-old Bridget Liu just wants to be left alone: by her overprotective mom, by the hunky son of the police officer who got her father killed, and by the eerie voices which she can suddenly and inexplicably hear. Turns out the voices are demons--the Biblical kind, not the Buffy kind--and Bridget possesses the rare ability to banish them.

San Francisco's senior exorcist and his newly assigned partner from the Vatican enlist Bridget's help with increasingly bizarre and dangerous cases of demonic possession. But when one of Bridget's oldest friends turns up dead in a ritualistic sacrifice that mirrors her father's murder, Bridget realizes she can't trust anyone. An interview with her father's murderer reveals a link between Bridget and the Emim: a race of part-demons intent on raising their forefathers to the earth in human form. Now Bridget must unlock the secret to the Emim's plan before someone else close to her winds up dead, or worse--the human vessel for a Demon King.

Awesome, right? RIGHT!

Blogversary contest!

I started this blog almost a year ago on March 5^th 2010. That's a reason for celebration! And there's no better way to celebrate than a contest!

As a 2012 debut author, I want to support this year's debut authors. That's why I'm giving away 2011 debuts.

There'll be two winners. Each winner can choose one of the following books:

Unearthly by Cynthia Hand
XVI by Julia Karr

Across the Universe by Beth Revis

Timeless by Alexandra Monir

Warped by Maurissa Guibord

So Shelly by Ty Roth

Clarity by Kim Harrington

The Iron Witch by Karen Mahoney

Rival by Sara Bennett Wealer

Angelfire by Courtney Allison Moulton

The Liar Society by Lisa and Laura Roecker

A Touch Mortal by Leah Clifford

The contest is open internationally. Contest ends March 5^th (the anniversary of my first blogpost!). Winners will be announced on March 6th 2011.

Comment +1 entry
New blog follower + 1 / Old blog follower + 2
Twitter follower +1 (please let me know your twitter name)

Facebook friend + 1 (please let me know your facebook name)
tweet about contest + 2 (please tell me your twitter name or leave a link)
blog about contest + 3 (Please leave the link in the comments)

Maximum: 10 entries

Review: XVI by Julia Karr

I read this book as part of the Debut Author Challenge 2011.

Publication date: January 6th, 2011

Summary: Every girl gets one. An XVI tattoo on the wrist -- sixteen. They say they're there for protection.

Some girls can't wait to be sixteen, to be legal. Nina is not one of them. Even though, she has no choice in the matter, she knows that so long as her life continues as normal, everything will be okay. Then, with one brutal strike, Nina's normal is shattered; and she discovers that nothing that she believed about her life is true. But there's one boy who can help - and he may just hold the key to her past.

But with the line between attraction and danger as thin as whisper, one thing is for sure...

for Nina, turning sixteen promises to be anything but sweet.

Review:

A glance at the cover already tells you that turning sixteen and the tattoo accompanying that age aren't all sunshine and roses. In Nina's world when you turn sixteen you're allowed to have sex and that makes girls vulnerable to sexual predators who just have take a look at your wrist to determine if they'll have to face repercussions for assaulting you.

XVI is set in a future where Mars and Moon are colonized, people are vegetarians, commercials (verts how it's called in the book) blurt from speakers at every corner and the population is divided into tiers ( a modern caste system).

I love the dystopian world Julia Karr created, though I'd hate to live in it. Girls with the XVI on their wrist are like prey - feminism is dead. As a reader I was constantly worried for Nina. I felt her fear of getting the XVI tattoo and it added to the suspense.

It took me a few pages to get used to the slang Julia Karr created for her dystopian world but then I was so immersed in her world that words like FeLS, trannie, mannebots or NonCon became second nature to me.

XVI is a suspenseful read that makes you turn page after page. If you love dystopians, then this is a must-read. I can't wait for the sequel (I hope there'll be one!!).

Have you read XVI yet?

Jill's ARC Giveaway

Jill is giving away an ARC of THE LIAR SOCIETY by Lisa and Laura Roecker on her blog!
You have until Thursday to enter!
I can't wait to get my hands on that book. Who doesn't love a heroine with pink hair??? :D