Thursday, March 10, 2011

On finishing a series

Okay, so I missed Teaser Tuesday - oops!  Before I get to the meat of the blog, announcements first!
  1. Don't forget to enter for a chance to win one of 10 signed ARCs of The Dark and Hollow Places! The giveaway ends this Sunday, March 13th!
  2. I'm headed out on tour!  Over the course of many weeks I'll be in Miami, Chicago, Cincinnati, Salt Lake City, Phoenix, Los Angeles, Spartanburg SC and Austin!  I'm so excited for all of these visits and would love to meet y'all in person!  Here's the whole schedule!
  3. Teaser Time!!  The first TWO CHAPTERS of The Dark and Hollow Places are up online!  Click here for the Chapter Sample from Random House Children's Books (link opens a .pdf file).
  4. And not to forget about the recent release of The Dead-Tossed Waves paperback, I shared five bits of trivia about that book on Suvudu here.
  5. The fantastically wonderful and NYT/USA Today/International bestselling author, Rachel Caine, blurbed The Dark and Hollow Places which thrills me to no end!!  She wrote:
"Carrie Ryan has penned a story of the undead that magically, unexpectedly transforms into a painful, beautiful, aching story about life. I can't say it more plainly than this: I loved it. I wish I'd written it." - Rachel Caine, bestselling author of The Morganville Vampires
I can't believe that The Dark and Hollow Places comes out in 12 days.  TWELVE DAYS!!  It's funny because I've been asked a lot lately how it feels to have this series draw to a close which is a tough question to answer.  First of all, I still have some short stories set in that world coming out this year but also... I feel like since I finished writing the book in 2010 that it ended a long time ago.  I'm already excited about what comes next!

But honestly what it feels like is this... have you ever just focused on one day and then the next and suddenly you look up and a week or a month has gone by?  That's what the release of The Dark and Hollow Places feels like.  I've been putting one foot in front of the other and suddenly... the series is done.  It kind of snuck up on me!

The past couple of days I keep looking up and realizing... soon I'll have three books on the shelf.  THREE BOOKS!  And there will be more coming (not in this series, but more!).  This is a dream come true!  Sure, I wanted this to happen, I've worked for this to happen, but when I sat down to write The Forest of Hands and Teeth over four years ago (actually, 1589 days to be exact since I have the email I sent to myself when I thought of the first line) I never every thought I'd be here.  I dreamed I would one day make it here... but I probably wouldn't have taken the odds it would have happened like this :)

So how does it feel?  Overwhelming.  I think that's one reason that I can only lift my head up from the day to day and look around every now and again because otherwise I'll be stunned into inaction.  I feel too lucky, almost as if it isn't fair.  There's still so much more ahead of me that I'm crazy excited about, but sometimes it's nice to sit here and realize... wow.  Three books.

And I wouldn't be here without y'all, so thank you!

Now to put my head back down and motor through the rest of my looming to-do list :)

9 comments:

David Kazzie said...

congrats. I started reading this blog just before FHT was published, and it's been fascinating to watch your career unfold.

you're an inspiration to all lawyers who want to be ex-lawyers!

heidi said...

So proud of you!!!

Tammy Blackwell said...

I love, love, LOVE the FHT series and thought that DHP was a completely perfect ending. I can't wait to see what you send our way next!

Carolyn Abiad said...

I guess it's like Christmas - plan, plan, plan and then, WOW! You get to unwrap your very own shiny new book! Congrats! Have a great time touring the country. :)

Stephsco said...

I'm just getting started on The Forest of Hands and Teeth, and hopefully I can finish before your signing appearance in the Chicago area in a few weeks. Your book comes well recommended broadly across the internet.I had no idea there were 2 other books - now I'm really looking forward to the book!

Anonymous said...

you made all of this happen.
i wish I will be able to say that too, one day

Congrats and thank you for those books on my "favourites bookshelf" :)

Trisha Leigh said...

Congrats, and I absolutely can't wait. Your books are some of my biggest inspirations, and you've done a beautiful job penning a story that translates beyond these words and characters.

Can't wait for DHP. Cheers!

Jenny S. Morris said...

I am blocking out my day on 3/22/11. No really, I am on vacation that day. I read FHT a few months before DTW came out and FELL in love with Mary's world. I can not wait to read DHP!!!

Unknown said...

So very happy for you Carrie! And very, very happy that you decided to write about what you wanted to write about! Zombies...becuz you have created an awesome story. I am rereading "Forest" before meeting you in Cincinnati! Again, Congrats and wheres the movie? LOL