VOYA Reviews THE LAST CHANGELING!

Hey everybody! I have a fabulous review to share with you today. This one comes from VOYA, and I'm not even going to pull specific quotes, because I love the whole thing!

When Taylor meets the beautiful and mysterious Lora, he has no idea who she really is—princess of the Unseelie Court who has fled her tyrannical, dark-faerie mother on a quest to align herself with the Bright Queen and begin a rebellion to change the course of faerie history forever.  Lora holds many secrets, but all Taylor knows is that he is falling in love with her and beginning to see past the darkness of loss and shame of feeling blame for the tragedy that has befallen his little brother. Yet, as Lora encourages Taylor to befriend the outcast students of Unity High and lead them to reevaluate what it means to claim one’s identity, she also has a plan for her own future… a plan that could be lost if she too falls in love.

Told in alternating chapters from the perspective of Taylor and Lora (known as Elora in her faerie realm), The Last Changeling weaves mystery, romance, and high school drama to speak to a variety of issues, including sexuality, social hierarchies, and parental failings. The central characters and their burgeoning romance melds with the fantastical elements in intriguing ways, but the cast of secondary teen characters are especially interesting, allowing for a story that will not only keep readers on the edge of their seats, but challenge them to think about identity in new ways.—Meghann Meeusen.

Thanks for reading!

<3

Want your own copy? Pick it up here:     Powell's     Amazon      IndieBound      Barnes & Noble

DARK FAERIE / BRIGHT FAERIE GIVEAWAY!

In honor of THE LAST CHANGELING's approaching launch (November 8th!!!!), and the wonderful Halloween season, I'm hosting a giveaway, complete with a signed copy of THE LAST CHANGELING, Dark Faerie and Bright Faerie masks, buttons, bookmarks, and stickers!!! 

The Grand Prize Winner will take home their choice of the Dark Faerie Prize pack, complete with Dark Faerie mask, Dark Faerie button, LAST CHANGELING button, stickers, bookmarks and a signed copy of THE LAST CHANGELING: 

Or the Bright Faerie Prize pack, complete with Bright Faerie mask, Bright Faerie button, 

THE LAST CHANGELING button, stickers, bookmarks and a signed copy of 

THE LAST CHANGELING!

Three Runners-Up will win buttons, stickers and bookmarks!!

Here are the masks closer up!

Dark Faerie Mask:

Bright Faerie Mask:

About THE LAST CHANGELING:

A Kingdom at War . . .

Elora, the young princess of the dark faeries, plans to overthrow her 

tyrannical mother, the Dark Queen, and bring equality to faeriekind. All she has to do 

is convince her mother’s loathed enemy, the Bright Queen, to join her cause. But the 

Bright Queen demands an offering first: a human boy who is a “young leader of men.”

A Dark Princess In Disguise . . .

To steal a mortal, Elora must become a mortal—at least, by all appearances. 

And infiltrating a high school is surprisingly easy. When Elora meets Taylor, the 

seventeen-year-old who's plotting to overthrow a ruthless bully, she thinks she's found 

her offering . . . until she starts to fall in love.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This contest is U.S. only, but watch my Twitter feed for international swag giveaways! 

And, of course, you can pre-order the book here:      

Powell's          Amazon          Barnes & Noble      IndieBound

<3

Publishers Weekly review of THE LAST CHANGELING

You guys!! Publishers Weekly reviewed THE LAST CHANGELING!!!

Here's what they had to say:

"Elora and Taylor take turns narrating their backstories and illuminating their growing attraction amid more typical teenage problems like preparing for prom and not quite fitting in. Pitcher (The S Word) includes some topical material, including discrimination against gay students and a lecherous coach who ogles the cheerleaders, but spends far more time on the blossoming (and taboo) sexual tension between Elora and Taylor." 

And the kicker: they called it an 

"enjoyable, erotically tinged romp"

a phrase so scintillating, it kinda makes me want to do this:

(Hopefully, if I start dancing, you'll dance with me)

Thanks for stopping by!

<3

Kirkus Review of THE LAST CHANGELING!!!

Awesome news! Kirkus reviewed THE LAST CHANGELING (yes, THE Kirkus!!) 

Check it out:

THE LAST CHANGELING

by Chelsea Pitcher

A faerie princess on a quest falls for an appealing teen who's grieving a recent loss. The Bright Queen's riddle sends her after a "leader of men" into the human world, where, to evade enemies from the Dark Court, she changes places with a dead girl. A changeling, she encounters Taylor, 17, and accepts his offer of refuge. Estranged from his parents following his brother's death, he now lives above the family's garage. He's equally alienated at school despite his good looks and soccer prowess, but Elora's arrival changes everything. In alternating narration, they chronicle their deepening mutual attraction. At night, she recounts her story, disguised as a fairy tale, but keeps her quest a secret. By day, they attend his high school, where Elora enrolls as a transfer student and continues her search, since Taylor doesn't fit her specifications. (The homophobic jerk on his soccer team's another story.) They find kindred spirits among the gay-straight alliance's smart, appealing social outcasts. It's a combustible combination—in a good way. If the plotting's occasionally far-fetched and Elora's story and character a tad derivative, Taylor compensates. Not your standard-issue, paranormal-romance hero, he's a believable teen with a sense of humor who doesn't notice his room's messy until a girl sees it. A series opener with appeal for fantasy fans, especially those at home with faerie conventions (think Seelie and Unseelie courts). (Fantasy. 13-18)

* * *

I'm so excited they liked it, especially Taylor! You can also check out the review on their official page here. Thanks for stopping by!

<3

THE LAST CHANGELING: ARC and SWAG giveaway!!!

Hello darlings!!! In a little over two months, my new YA urban fantasy releases into the world!!!! THE LAST CHANGELING is all about forbidden love, faerie revolutions, and taking a stand against injustice, whether it's in another realm, or closer to home. In celebration of the book's upcoming release, I want to give you presents! Specifically, a shiny new ARC of THE LAST CHANGELING and a bunch of beautiful swag! 

Here's some info about the book:

A Kingdom at War . . .

Elora, the young princess of the Dark Faeries, plans to overthrow her tyrannical mother, the Dark Queen, and bring equality to faeriekind. All she has to do is convince her mother’s loathed enemy, the Bright Queen, to join her cause. But the Bright Queen demands an offering first: a human boy who is a “young leader of men.” 

A Dark Princess In Disguise . . .

To steal a mortal, Elora must become a mortal—at least, by all appearances. And infiltrating a high school is surprisingly easy. When Elora meets Taylor, the seventeen-year-old who’s plotting to overthrow a ruthless bully, she thinks she’s found her offering . . . until she starts to fall in love. 

And now . . . 

THE PRIZES!!!

1 Grand Prize Winner will receive a signed ARC, bookmarks, and three different buttons!

3 Runners Up will receive a LAST CHANGELING button pack, including the Bright Faerie/Dark Faerie buttons, and the official THE LAST CHANGELING button!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Pre-Order:   Powell's    Amazon     B&N

U.S. contest.
Hair flowers not included.

Happy 1-Year Anniversary to THE S-WORD! Here's a giveaway!!!

Hey darlings! In celebration of THE S-WORD's one year anniversary (WHAT?! It's been a YEAR?!) I'm giving away ARCs of two YA novels that deal with the incredibly important issues of bullying and suicide.

Entering is so easy! All you have to do is follow me on Twitter and RT this tweet. THAT'S IT! This contest is U.S. only, and if you're already following me, you're already one step ahead of the game!

And thank you to everyone for making THE S-WORD's first year so amazing!!!

<3

Diversify Your Shelves!

Hello darlings! Today I get to reveal part three of the #WeNeedDiverseBooks campaign, a project that’s near and dear to my heart! Part three is called “Diversify Your Shelves,” and it’s all about taking a personal approach to promoting diversity in literature.

What, exactly, does that mean? Is this maybe something we’ll do for a week and then go back to buying books by old white guys?

Well, no. “Diversify Your Shelves” is a continual celebration of fabulous diverse literature, by fabulous diverse authors. Checking out what books we have on our shelves, and seeing how we might diversify them, is just a jumping off point.

There's also going to be a “Diversify Your Shelves” chat on Saturday, May 3^rd at 2PM EST to discuss our favorite diverse books and authors! Use the #WeNeedDiverseBooks hashtag to join in!

But wait! Why is this so important?

Well, there are lots of people blogging about this more eloquently than I, like here, here, here, and here, but some of my biggest reasons are:

Because, at every conference I or my writer friends attend, there are kids asking why they can’t find books with characters who look like them, either on the cover or in the pages.

Because the same thing happens at book signings, except there the kids are saying they’ve always wanted to get into writing, but don’t think they’ll be successful because they’re people of color.

Because queer kids are still killing themselves over being different (or being told that they’re different) and the greater representation they have in books, the less alone they’ll feel.

Because awesome genres like YA wouldn’t exist if we hadn’t moved away from the old, white dude model of literature and started reading stories written by ladies. Diversify Your Shelves is a continuation of that principle—hearing all stories from all voices.

Because it’s 2014, but we still keep seeing all-white panels at book festivals, or even all-white male panels (in genres vastly dominated by women!) and that’s kind of insane to me. Diversity shouldn’t be the exception. It should be the norm.

And because, at the end of the day, when I look at my shelves, I think:

I can be better.

I can do more.

And I’d love for you to join me.

So, without further ado . . .

Let’s Diversify Our Shelves!

           

Here’s how it works: this weekend, May 3rd and 4th, we’re all going to head out to our local bookstores* to pick up books by fabulous diverse authors. (Need recommendations? Check out the May 3^rd #WeNeedDiverseBooks chat!) Then, once you’ve returned home, snap a photo of your new diverse book(s)** and post it as a comment below! And if you want to get really creative, you can take Before and After photos of your bookshelves: Before, when they weren't too diversified, and After, when you've added in books by fabulous  PoC authors, queer authors, and authors with disabilities! Woot! 

This Monday, May 5th, one lucky winner is going to win FIVE BOOKS OF THEIR CHOOSING out of the choices below!!! And every week throughout the spring, a new winner will be chosen to receive two fabulous diverse books! Woot!

But wait, it doesn’t stop there. Remember when I said “Diversify Your Shelves” was a continual celebration? That means any time you buy a book from a diverse author, or featuring a diverse character, snap a picture of that book and post it to Twitter with the #WeNeedDiverseBooks hashtag! We’ll retweet you, and help spread the word about what diverse books people are buying! And by participating in the “Diversify Your Shelves” movement, you’ll be showing publishers the kinds of books you want them to buy, showing conference organizers which authors you want to see on panels, and helping tweens and teens find representation in books! Which, really, is the awesomest prize of all!

REMEMBER: THE WINNER OF THE PRIZE PACK WILL BE CHOSEN MAY 5TH!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

UPDATE: OneFour KidLit is offering their own "Diversify Your Shelves" giveaway HERE!!

*Obviously, not everyone has the money to “Diversify Their Shelves” at this particular moment. That’s okay! Because stopping by the library and having them order a book by a diverse author, or even sending them an email about your interest in diverse books, can make a big difference in the “Diversify Your Shelves” movement! You can even snap a photo of a certain section in your local library, and then snap another one after they’ve ordered more diverse books for you! That way, you’ll not only be diversifying your own shelf, but you’ll be diversifying the shelves for your entire neighborhood! Go, you!

**Don’t worry, e-book lovers! You can totally enter the contest too. Just snap a photo of your reading device with the book’s cover showing (or a screenshot of the purchase), and you’re good to go!

We Need Diverse Books!

Hey lovelies! Lately there's been a lot of talk about how to promote diversity in publishing. How can we get more diverse books into stores? How can we see our favorite diverse authors at conferences? WHAT DO WE DO?!

Well guess what? A new and fabulous campaign is starting, called "We Need Diverse Books," and we'd love for you to join us! Check out the post below, and join us May 1st-3rd for lots of exciting ways to help promote diversity!

Recently, there’s been a groundswell of discontent over the lack of diversity in children’s literature. The issue is being picked up by news outlets like these two pieces in the NYT, CNN, EW, and many more. But while we individually care about diversity, there is still a disconnect. BEA’s Bookcon recently announced an all-white-male panel of “luminaries of children’s literature,” and when we pointed out the lack of diversity, nothing changed.

Now is the time to raise our voices into a roar that can’t be ignored. Here’s how:

On May 1^st at 1pm (EST), there will be a public call for action that will spread over 3 days. We’re starting with a visual social media campaign using the hashtag #WeNeedDiverseBooks. We want people to tweet, Tumblr, Instagram, Facebook, blog, and post anywhere they can to help make the hashtag go viral.

For the visual part of the campaign: 

• Take a photo holding a sign that says “We need diverse books because ___________________________.” Fill in the blank with an important, poignant, funny, and/or personal reason why this campaign is important to you. 
• The photo can be of you or a friend or anyone who wants to support diversity in kids’ lit. It can be a photo of the sign without you if you would prefer not to be in a picture. Be as creative as you want! Pose the sign with your favorite stuffed animal or at your favorite library. Get a bunch of friends to hold a bunch of signs. 
• However you want to do it, we want to share it! There will be a Tumblr at http://weneeddiversebooks.tumblr.com/ that will host all of the photos and messages for the campaign. Please submit your visual component by May 1^st to weneeddiversebooks@yahoo.com with the subject line “photo” or submit it right on our Tumblr page here and it will be posted throughout the first day. 
• Starting at 1:00PM (EST) the Tumblr will start posting and it will be your job to reblog, tweet, Facebook, or share wherever you think will help get the word out. 
• The intent is that from 1pm EST to 3pm EST, there will be a nonstop hashtag party to spread the word. We hope that we’ll get enough people to participate to make the hashtag trend and grab the notice of more media outlets.
• The Tumblr will continue to be active throughout the length of the campaign, and for however long we need to keep this discussion going, so we welcome everyone to keep emailing or sending in submissions even after May 1^st.

On May 2^nd, the second part of our campaign will roll out with a Twitter chat scheduled for 2pm (EST) using the same hashtag. Please use #WeNeedDiverseBooks at 2pm on May 2nd and share your thoughts on the issues with diversity in literature and why diversity matters to you.

On May 3^rd, 2pm (EST), the third portion of our campaign will begin. There will be a Diversify Your Shelves initiative to encourage people to put their money where their mouth is and buy diverse books and take photos of them. Diversify Your Shelves is all about actively seeking out diverse literature in bookstores and libraries, and there will be some fantastic giveaways for people who participate in the campaign! More details to come!

We hope that you will take part in this in any way you can. We need to spread the word far and wide so that it will trend on Twitter. So that media outlets will pick it up as a news item. So that the organizers of BEA and every big conference and festival out there gets the message that diversity is important to everyone. We hope you will help us by being a part of this movement.

<3 <3 <3http://weneeddiversebooks.tumblr.com/