Mindy McGinnis Gets Polar Vortexed

Mindy was trapped in her home for six days recently, and decided to do a little Truthing via her Ask box on Tumblr.

Get Ready to be BLINDSIDED!!!

Wow--it's a big week for us here at the Thirteeners. We got to celebrate the awesome release of WARRIOR (by Ellen Oh) on Tuesday, and now here it is Thursday and we get to celebrate another sequel:

Yep--it's BLINDSIDED, the sequel to TRANSPARENT, by the ever fabulous Natalie Whipple!!!!! (I know--I can't believe we already get to read it either. Hooray for less than a year waits!)

If that adorable cover doesn't already have you dying to get your hands on a copy, here's the official summary from goodreads:

Three months after Fiona escapes from her father's syndicate, all seems well in her tiny town of Madison, Arizona. She and Seth are happy together - apart from the teensy fact of Fiona being jealous that Seth can see through her invisibility - and her family and friends are safe. But when the local syndicate and even the Army show up, it's clear there's more going on in town than she could ever imagine. It seems like these huge powers are interested in the old Radiasure factory - could they be reproducing the infamous drug that caused mutations? - and everyone suspects Fiona of knowing more than she should. As Fiona and her friends try to cover their tracks, they discover that they do have some dangerous knowledge. Though at first determined to stop anyone from remaking Radiasure, Fiona learns a secret that could change everything, including her invisibility. Torn between her own desires and the greater good, Fiona might be too blindsided to see the real villain coming

AHHH--ARE YOU AS EXCITED AS I AM??????????????????????????????????????????????????

If you want to get your hands on a copy, here's some handy links:

amazon

The Book Depository

And if you would like to order a SIGNED copy, you can call and order one from the King's English--but you'll want to act fast on that one. The launch party is tonight!

The King's English
801-484-9100

HAPPY BOOKDAY, Natalie! 

A WARRIOR has arrived!

Do you guys know what today is????????

Yes, it *is* the last day of 2013 and New Years Eve and all that jazz--but even more exciting than that: IT'S WARRIOR'S RELEASE DAY!!!!

Yes--that's right. The awesome sequel to PROPHECY is finally hitting stores today (side note: holy crap--I can't believe our group has now reached the point of sequels. Seriously, WHERE does time go?) And if that gorgeous cover doesn't already have you desperate to read, here's the official summary from goodreads:

First an outcast, now a hero. 

But her fight rages on. 

Kira, the yellow-eyed demon slayer who fiercely protected her kingdom—and the crown prince—has been proclaimed the Dragon Musado of the prophecy. With the defeated the evil shaman. 

But it wasn’t enough.

Hansong is in chaos. The Demon Lord’s minions have infiltrated the city, treason is brewing among the military ranks, and Kira is buried by the overwhelming loss of her parents. She’s also plagued by the annoying feelings that blossom whenever she’s around Jaewon. But she is determined that nothing will stop her from finding the second treasure needed to fulfill the Dragon King’s prophecy. Not even the army of half-breed demons hot on their trail. If only she could learn to trust others… 

Her father always said one person can change the world. Will it be Kira?

Sounds epic, right? And if you are as eager as we all are to get your hands on a copy, here's a few handy links to help:

amazon

barnes & noble

books-a-million

Indiebound

The Book Depository

HAPPY BOOKDAY, Ellen! 

And happy shopping to everyone else. We'll see you in 2014!!!

A Helping Hand for 2014

Wow, I can't believe it's our last Friday the 13th in 2013--where has the year gone????

Don't worry, we'll be back in January with more truths and dares and public humiliation. But as we move forward into a new year, we thought it might be fun to do something a little special for the 2014 Authors who are about to enter the madness of their debut year. We know how crazy and awesome and stressful the book-launching process can be, and we wanted to share one piece of advice we've learned through our own adventures and experiences.

So, inspired by THIS post, we give you: Thirteen Helping Hands!

From Erin Bowman:

(Author of TAKEN and FROZEN)

From Elsie Chapman

(Author of DUALED and DIVIDED)

From Brandy Colbert

(Author of POINTE)

From Renee Collins

(Author of RELIC)

From Alexandra Duncan

(Author of SALVAGE)

From Jenn Johannson

(Author of INSOMNIA and PARANOIA)

From Mindy McGinnis

(Author of NOT A DROP TO DRINK)

From Shannon Messenger

(Author of LET THE SKY FALL and LET THE STORM BREAK. Also KEEPER OF THE LOST CITIES and EXILE for middle grade readers)

From Ellen Oh

(Author of PROPHECY and WARRIOR)

From Megan Shepherd

(Author of THE MADMAN'S DAUGHTER and HER DARK CURIOSITY)

From April Genevieve Tucholke

(Author of BETWEEN THE DEVIL AND THE DEEP BLUE SEA and BETWEEN THE SPARK AND THE BURN)

From Kasie West

(Author of PIVOT POINT, SPLIT SECOND, THE DISTANCE BETWEEN US, and ON THE FENCE)

From Natalie Whipple

(Author of TRANSPARENT, BLINDSIDED, HOUSE OF IVY AND SORROW, and RELAX, I'M A NINJA)

There you go, 2014ers! We wish many happy launches and lots and lots of sales!

If you aren't already following the awesome 2014 debut group blog, make sure you check them out HERE. 

Fandom Confessional With Natalie Whipple

I'm back! With my usual antics in hand—no crying like last time, I promise, even if this is another truth.

In Defense of InstaLove

by Mindy McGinnis

I know, you're probably looking at the title and thinking that there's no way Mindy is the author of this blog post. Mindy, who is so clearly acerbic and a downright instigator when it comes to the demise of the HEA. But, I think this makes me the perfect person to write in defense of insta-love in YA, because you can rest assured that I'm not being reactionary in regards to my own book. (You'll notice that Lynn and Eli don't ever say, "I love you." Why? Because- ick).

So, with that pre-disposition of ick in mind, I can still honestly defend the presence of insta-love in YA. Because even though I'm an old, bitter, cautious woman now, I haven't always been. Yes, Mindy used to fall in love, often and easily, just like the vast majority of teens everywhere... which is who YA is being written for in the first place.

Yes, teens fall in love quickly. And there's plenty of evidence to show that they really can't help it. This article from National Geographic regarding the maturation of the teen brain goes into detail regarding their risk-taking, but the last section focuses on how their changing brains function socially:

The teen brain is similarly attuned to oxytocin, another neural hormone, which (among other things) makes social connections in particular more rewarding. The neural networks and dynamics associated with general reward and social interactions overlap heavily. Engage one, and you often engage the other. Engage them during adolescence, and you light a fire.

Yep, it's true. Love is just better when you're young. Their brains are chemically predisposed to fall in love, and anyone who spends more than the average amount of time around teens can attest to this. They enter into emotionally-drenched connections with someone they truly believe is their soul mate in December, then discover in February that it's actually the girl from English class they're into. And the truth is - they probably are. I don't think it diminishes the weight or value of their love to fall into it so easily and so quickly when they are biologically predisposed to behave in this manner.

What I don't like to see in any genre is insta-love that happens as an excuse for lazy writing, with zero spark between the characters and a simple forced-upon-the-reader: These two are in love now. Fact. Most of the time when I see people complaining about insta-love it's because the writer didn't sell the relationship, not because the relationship shouldn't exist in the first place.

My other beef has nothing to do with insta-love, it's insta-stability. I firmly believe teens do fall in insta-love, but they also fall out just as quickly. It's when I see teens portrayed as meeting their one-and-only and being-blind-to-all-others-for-an-extended-period-of-time-with-no-question-of-the-happiness-that-will-extend-into-eternity that I start to get a bit pissy.

Sorry, I don't buy that.

In fact, I don't care how old the characters are.

______________________________________

Mindy McGinnis is a YA author and librarian. Her debut, NOT A DROP TO DRINK, is a post-apocalyptic survival tale set in a world where freshwater is almost non-existent, available from Katherine Tegen / Harper Collins September 24, 2013. She blogs at Writer, Writer Pants on Fire and contributes to the group blogs Book Pregnant, Friday the Thirteeners, From the Write Angle, The Class of 2k13, The Lucky 13s & The League of Extraordinary Writers. You can also find her on Twitter, Tumblr & Facebook.

And Now...WE Dare YOU!

FOUR of the Friday the Thirteeners - Kasie West, Natalie Whipple, J.R. Johansson & Renee Collins - are at the Vegas Valley Book Festival this weekend!

So this week, WE dare YOU to come endure the craziness that is us! We will all be on panels and have signings tomorrow (on Saturday). You can find more information on the Festival site here.

Stop by and say hello! We DARE you!

Kasie West take the dare!

So yeah, the little girl wasn't supposed to be a floating head. I swear when I recorded it, more of her body was there. Ha. So that was fun. Thanks Riv Re (from Rivreads.blogspot.com) for the dare! If you'd like to leave us a dare (or truth) click on the Truth or Dare tab above.