NEC Conference and Magic’s Child

My roommate from the NEC Conference, Marley Gibson, has some pictures up on the blog Books, Boys, and Buzz today, so if you want to see more costume party snaps, click here.

Here’s the picture of Jennifer O’Connell and me, in all of it’s grainy, blurry goodness (thanks, Marianne).

It was a little bit awesome to be at the NEC Conference, since that’s where the whole SSG ball got rolling. There, Marley pitched my book to an editor sitting at her dinner table. By the end of the conference, I had a bunch of requests and didn’t even know it. Within a week and a half, I had an agent, and within two more, I had a book deal. (Four years, four manuscripts, and three weeks, huh?) All weekend long, I kept hearing, “Oh, you’re the one.” Too funny.

On the plane flight home, I read Lauren Baratz-Logsted’s new YA release, Angel’s Choice, in one sitting. It was riveting. I actually sat on the plane while people were getting off because I wanted to finish it before I moved. Highly recommended. (Weird, though — Amazon shows it with a different cover than the one I have.)

Also recommended is this week’s book giveaway, Magic’s Child. This novel is the thrilling conclusion of Justine Larbalestier’s debut trilogy, Magic or Madness. It’s the story of Reason Cansino, an Australian girl born with magic in her blood who has to make a terrible choice: use her magic, and die young, or refuse to do so, and go insane. Justine’s books have won a ton of awards, which you can read about here and when I got my hands on an advanced review copy of this book, here’s what I said:

“The Magic or Madness trilogy is a rare treat: a naturalistic glimpse of a world in which magic is a dark gift indeed. Magic’s Child concludes the series with Larbalestier’s signature style of bewitching images, heartbreaking choices, and of course, the beauty of math. (Or, as Reason would put it, maths.)”

You can also download a free Magic’s Child screensaver on the Penguin website.

And now, you can win a SIGNED copy of Magic’s Child right here on the blog. Simply leave a comment and I’ll draw a winner on Friday. Good luck!