carriejones

Random Links to Random Blogs about ENDURE

carriejonesbooks@gmail.com — Fri, 18 May 2012 09:39:51 GMT

So below are random links to blogs or news articles about my latest book, Endure.

If you are in Canada, there has been a wee bit of a distribution problem with the book (and some other books not written by me). That is totally fixed now. But it wouldn't have been fixed if Fans of Awesome Pixie Levels of Awesomedom had not told me about it. So, thank you.... You guys truly rock. And I say that in a making weird finger gestures, happy dance kind of way.

It's a little weird (in a good way) being a writer, and sometimes it's a bit lonely, and when you write a book you kind of get in this weird vacuum of wondering if anyone has noticed the book, and also if anyone has ripped it up and tried to flush it into the toilet, causing thousands in damages to their parents' homes. So, thank you all for noticing it, and for emailing me or messaging or tweeting about it.

Also, to whoever wrote the fanfic about Devyn? You rock to the infinite degree. You are like a rock star of awesome. xo

http://thebookcellarx.com/2012/05/endure-by-carrie-jones-blog-tour.html

http://allthingsurbanfantasy.blogspot.com/2012/05/top-10-list-carrie-joness-top-ten-signs.html

http://www.booklovingme.com/2012/05/review-endure-need-4-by-carrie-jones.html

Author Carrie Jones Closes A Chapter With 'Endure'
Wall Street Journal
... Pacifist teen turned reluctant warrior Zara White is back in “Endure,” the fourth and final book in Carrie Jones's best-selling fantasy series “Need.

Books with Bite: Review: Endure
By Savannah Valdez
Review: Endure. Title: Endure (Need # 4). Author: Carrie Jones. Publisher: Bloomsbury USA. Release Date: May 4, 2012. Book: Netgalley. "It's all-out war (and no-holds-barred romance) in the climactic conclusion to Carrie Jones's bestselling ...
Books with Bite

Books and Things: Endure (Need #4) by Carrie Jones
Endure (Need #4) by Carrie Jones. Zara is at the center of an impending apocalypse. True, she's successfully rescued Nick from Valhalla, but it simply isn't ...
melissawatercolor.blogspot.com/.../endure-need-4-by-carrie-jo...

The Violet Hour: Review - ENDURE (Need, #4) by Carrie Jones
Review - ENDURE (Need, #4) by Carrie Jones. Kindle Edition, 272 pages. Published May 8th 2012 by Bloomsbury USA Children's Books ASIN B007DD97M4 ...
www.violethourbr.com/.../review-endure-need-4-by-carrie-jon...

The YA Sisterhood: Endure by Carrie Jones
If you have not read this series and want something with a different species of paranormal—try the Need books by Carrie Jones. They focus on pixies (no, not ...
ya-sisterhood.blogspot.com/2012/.../endure-by-carrie-jones.ht...

The "Need" by Carrie Jones, Quiz: 10 questions by Jasmineluvsjb
Take the quiz to find out, your knowledge on the book Need. The first book in the series.: What organization does Zara work with?, Who taught her ho...
www.goodreads.com/quizzes/17118-need-by-carrie-jones-quiz

Great Nook Book Deal: Need by Carrie Jones (5/10/12)
Each day, Barnes & Noble offers a great Nook Book at a greatly reduced price. Today's offer is “Need” by Carrie Jones Today Only: $1.99 Regular Price: $5.99 ...
www.clippergirl.com/great-nook-book-deal-need-by-carrie-jo...

Magical Urban Fantasy Reads: Endure by Carrie Jones
My take: I was quite upset when I heard that Endure was the last book in the Need series! I thoroughly enjoyed these books, and Carrie Jones couldn't have ...
www.magicalurbanfantasyreads.com/.../endure-by-carrie-jones...

Bookish Novelties: REVIEW: Endure by Carrie Jones
Author: Carrie Jones. Publisher: Bloomsbury Children's Book. Format: EGalley ( Courtesy of NetGalley). Series: Need #4. Page Count: 272. Genre: Young Adult ...
www.bookishnovelties.com/.../review-endure-by-carrie-jones....

Endure by Carrie Jones | A Book in Hand
Evil pixies are ravaging Bedford, and they need much more than one great ... That was pretty heartbreaking but I love how Carrie Jones ultimately resolves the ...
abookinhand.com/?p=2298

Need- Carrie Jones- Main Characters by ~Kimbergrace on ...
Yes no Grandma betty but i cant quite imagine her. Nick looks kinda gay but im happy with the rest Need-Carrie Jones All of them belong to her.
kimbergrace.deviantart.com/.../Need-Carrie-Jones-Main-Chara...

Review + Interview: Endure by Carrie Jones - Letters Inside Out
Today here on Letters Inside Out I have my stop for the ENDURE by Carrie Jones tour. If you haven't read the Need series yet – check out the interview, ...
www.lettersinsideout.net/.../endure-carrie-jones/?utm...

Endure by Carrie Jones.wmv - YouTube
Endure by Carrie Jones.wmv. ForThoseAboutToRead. Subscribe Subscribed Unsubscribe ...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=KV4PALYwe4E

Endure by Carrie Jones - Tynga's reviews
By Tynga
Endure by Carrie Jones. Endure (Need, #4) Endure by Carrie Jones. Book Stats: Reading level: Ages 12 and up. Genre: Paranormal Hardcover: 272 pages. Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens Release date: May 8, 2012. Series: Need #4 ...
Tynga's Reviews

May Releases: Charlaine Harris, Veronica Roth, Rachel Vincent ...
By VampireBookClub
Beauty by Laurell K. Hamilton (Anita Blake novella) UF; City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare (The Mortal Instruments #5) YA; Endure by Carrie Jones (Need #4) YA; Hemlock by Kathleen Peacock (Hemlock #1) YA; Struck by Jennifer ...
Vampire Book Club

Need Series Trailer- Carrie Jones - YouTube
This is purely fan made. It is not an official movie trailer for the Need Series by Carrie Jones ...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=of8oyMnJ1p8

Living Fictitiously: Blog Tour: ENDURE (NEED #4) by Carrie Jones ...
Blog Tour: ENDURE (NEED #4) by Carrie Jones with Special Guest post. I am so super duper (yes, I know, cheesy. But oh so true) excited to have our special ...
living-fictitiously.blogspot.com/.../blog-tour-endure-need-4-b...

BLOG TOUR & BOOK REVIEW Endure by Carrie Jones @bwkids
About the Author Carrie Jones is the New York Times and internationally bestselling author of the Need series, as well as After Obsession with Steven E. Wedel.
foreveryoungadult.blogspot.com/.../blog-tour-book-review-en...

WinterHaven Books: Interview with Carrie Jones
I have adored the Need series from the get-go. The unique world that Carrie Jones has weaved, has been nothing short of entertaining and magical. If you have ...
winterhavenbooks.blogspot.com/.../interview-with-carrie-jones...

ENDURE DAY! And Celebration Book Birthday Baked Potato Soup!

carriejonesbooks@gmail.com — Tue, 08 May 2012 17:05:01 GMT

So, today is ENDURE's official US release day, and in celebration I am making baked potato soup from a recipe I adapted from all recipes.com

Let me explain something before I write the recipe:

I am neurotic. I am beyond neurotic, which is part of why I am a writer. I think that most people are neurotic, but I just happen to be totally open about it. So, this below is exactly how I will be making my Celebration Book Birthday Baked Potato Soup. Be warned, okay?

Also, it is posts like these that make sure that I will never run for public office again.

INGREDIENTS:

3 fake bacon strips, diced (The real recipe calls for real bacon, but I like pigs. A lot. Pigs are cute)

1 small onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon dried basil

1/2 teaspoon pepper

3 cups chicken broth (or fake broth or water if you think chickens are cute)

3 large baked potatoes, peeled and cubed

1 cup half-and-half cream (I used skim milk because I am trying not to look like a manatee)

1/2 teaspoon hot pepper sauce (I use more because according to a Dartmouth College graduate, I have the taste buds of a felon. I don't know what this means).

Shredded Cheddar cheese (I use whatever cheese I have because I am trying to one day be a mouse.)

Minced fresh parsley ( I never ever have this. Ever.)

DIRECTIONS:

Get a big thing that is metal. Put it on the stove. Try to make sure it is not a book award (Sometimes made of metal) or a car. A sauce pan or pot is good. Put bacon in it. Cook the bacon. If you are pig-free, you will have to add butter or something.

2. Save 1 tablespoon of the dripping/butter stuff, but move the bacon onto a plate. Let the bacon hang out. Tell the bacon it is your book's birthday. Hope that the bacon cares.

3. Using the same big metal container also called a pot, sauté onion and garlic in that dripping stuff until the onion loses its rigidness. Compare the onion to an evil reviewer. Imagine everyone who hates your book are pieces of onion. Look how mushy they are. Laugh in an evil pixie way. Look around to see if neighbors have heard you. Smell garlic. Remind yourself you are not a vampire even if your book has vampires in it. Be glad about this. Or not. It depends on if you are into blood.

4. In that same pot thing, add salt, pepper, basil, and flour. Mix it all up. Compare it to mixing up elements of your story line, your characters. Feel smart for a second.

5. Add broth and/or water. Boil it all up. Think about witches in Shakespeare. Realize your book baby is not Shakespeare. Stir and cry as this boils for two minutes.

6. Be terrified.

7. Worry everyone will hate your book.

8. Worry that everyone won't notice that your book was born.

9. Take a brief break to run and hug your book and tell that poor, little book that you love it no matter what.

10. Worry about your own mental health and wonder why you are a writer.

11. Bring your book into the kitchen with you. Prop it on the counter so it can watch you cook. Tell it that it is loved by you and that should be enough. Well, shouldn't it? Shouldn't it?

12. Add potatoes and the cream or milk and the hot pepper sauce. Realize that your soup looks like a soup. Realize that your book is all grown up. Realize that this is okay. Try not to worry that you will never write another book again. Just heat the soup. DO NOT BOIL IT THOUGH! The soup and your book are really done. They exist now.

13. Realize you should celebrate.

14. Wonder how to celebrate.

15. Take soup pot off the stove.

16. Put bacon on it. Put cheese on it. Garnish it with parsley if you are super fancy like that. Put some parsley on your book. Decide that this is celebration enough.

17. Eat.

The original recipe is here. It was submitted to All Recipes by Kristi Teague.

Freaking Out

carriejonesbooks@gmail.com — Mon, 07 May 2012 20:14:06 GMT

So, normal authors totally celebrate certain things like:

1. Existing
2. Finishing a first draft
3. Selling a book
4. Finishing the revision of a book
5. Did I say existing?

But the big, awesome thing they always celebrate (or most of them) is the actually Book Birthday! I always imagine other authors sort of doing the glam thing, walking their book down the red carpet that is magically in their homes, drinking champagne, eating oysters, speaking with Harvard accents.

Or, um... at least getting flowers or something.

But I am not one of those authors, I just realized. I may have realized this before, but my short term memory is not so good. And the reason I am realizing it now is that tomorrow is ENDURE's official US book birthday. And what am I doing? I am going to a meeting of police dispatchers, bringing the kiddo to school and making baked potato soup.
Scotty the dog says, "Dude. You forgot something."

Oh, yeah... and walking the dogs.

There is no super cool party. There is no champagne. There is no awesome red carpet.

And I am totally okay with that, although it would be cool to have a magic red carpet and everything. But I am so ridiculously grateful that:

1. I have sold any books at all
2. People have read any of them
3. That they've made lists and gotten awards

So, I am totally okay with no awesome celebration or flowers or hot movie stars sending me congratulatory tweets. Although, some extra Nutella would rock.

Anyway, I hope those of you who read ENDURE like it. I am very concerned about Zara and Issie and everyone else. I think they would be a little disappointed in me not partying it up. Shh... don't tell.

Friday Five

carriejonesbooks@gmail.com — Fri, 04 May 2012 16:30:50 GMT

For a long time there has been this Friday Five tradition on Livejournal, so I am TOTALLY going to indulge in that today.

FRIDAY FIVE SPECIAL EDITION or THINGS CARRIE IS FREAKED ABOUT

1. My book coming out.

2. My book coming out.

3. My book coming out.

4. Not hearing from my agent.

5. My book coming out.

Picture of above-mentioned book.

There is this video made by the local chamber of commerce that has quite a bit of dancing and stuff in it to an ancient rock song. It does show, however, the inside of a couple of stores that influenced settings in the NEED series. It also shows a lot of white retailers dancing. So, if any of you are super diehard, you can take a look. I’ve put it below. Be warned: Maine people are pale.

Should I do an actual video of the places that influenced NEED? Would people want to see that? *ponders*

Contest Winners

carriejonesbooks@gmail.com — Tue, 01 May 2012 15:58:16 GMT

Hey Everyone! Thanks for entering the ENDURE random winner contest. Yes, that is a brilliant name for a contest. If you missed it, it was here.

So I used random.org and the three winners are:

wildangel1974
Kayla Lampher
punkarella6

So, if you all could shoot me a message with your address then I will send you a signed copy.

And I think ENDURE is officially released in Canada today, so Happy Release Day Canadian Endure! xo Good luck to you!

And Happy May Day to everyone else. Rabbits.

Contest

carriejonesbooks@gmail.com — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 10:15:50 GMT

Ahem.

Yes, I know I have not posted since... ahem... April 8, and I am supposed to post once a week, but I was traveling in places with HORRIFYINGLY SLOW internet coverage. Honestly, it was like being in 1990 or something.

No excuse. No excuse.

Does it help if I say that while I was traveling I went to a National Show Choir Competition and my daughter’s show choir took second? Which is amazing for a tiny school from Maine.
*Picture by awesome mom Tami Pirie
It was not at all like GLEE. Just so you know. I was a bit disappointed because I imagined that there would be a lot of GLEE sort of magic involving hottie guest stars like Matt Bomer and boys wearing boy ties and girls never changing out of their cheer outfits. They were still awesome.

Does it help if I say I’m going to give away three copies of ENDURE randomly to people who post in the comments? I thought it might. You have until Monday, noon EST time to comment. If you are not a logged in person, make sure to check back and see if you won. Sometimes I have a hard time tracking people down.

Does it help if I say ENDURE is coming out May 8 in the US and right close to that in the UK?

Hm.... Does it help if I say this is what I woke up to this morning?

She knows how to work it. Seriously.

*In other exciting news, ENDURE will also be an audio book with Brilliance. YAY!
** And in even more exciting news (Well, for me it’s exciting), I got copies of the Romanian version of NEED yesterday. It was super cool.

*** And from the NEED BY CARRIE JONES Facebook page, which is run by my publisher:

Need, by Carrie Jones

18 April

We're so excited that the fourth and final book in the Need series is coming out that we want to do something special to thank you all for being the best fans ever! So we're offering free make-up bags and gold "pixie dust" makeup to the first 100 fans who pre-order the book and send us confirmation. All you have to do is pre-order ENDURE online or at your local bookstore, and then scan, photograph, or forward your receipt or confirmation email to teensusa@bloomsbury.com. We can't wait to get pixie-fied with you!

They are also having daily contests to win ENDURE, so you should totally go check it out.

When Your Cousin Dies on Easter

carriejonesbooks@gmail.com — Sun, 08 Apr 2012 12:21:54 GMT

Eleven years ago, my cousin Lisa died on Easter morning. She was in a car, and I honestly can’t remember if she was going to church or coming from church. I can’t honestly remember if she was heading to her mom’s house or her in-laws house.

All I can remember is this:

She was in the passenger’s seat on a highway in NH. Her bonus daughter was in the back seat. Her husband was driving. They crashed.

They crashed because he was drunk - really drunk.

I don’t have any pictures of Lisa on my computer. I don’t have any words to describe how awesome she was, but she was. She was nine years older than I was and she was beautiful and funny with long, honey-blonde hair and the fastest laugh in the world. She could make you laugh when you were crying. She could make you cry from laughing. She cared about people so much. She wasn’t a rock star. She wasn’t a person with a million degrees. But she was kind and funny and she would do anything to help people, always.

My aunt Rosie, who is dead now, too, always called her an angel and after she died, Rosie insisted that Lisa was with her, watching, touching her shoulder when she made spaghetti, comforting her all the time because Aunt Rosie needed the comfort ... the loss of Lisa was that big. Every once in awhile, Rosie would look up and say out of nowhere, “There’s my angel.” A lot of people thought she was a little weird, but I didn’t. I think she was right. I think Lisa was with her, watching her, trying to make her laugh through her tears.

This is my aunt. She was beautiful.

Lisa was beautiful, too. They were like champagne bubbles that always floated to the top no matter what happened. You could never hold them down. I think even death can’t. And in a weird way, on the 11-year anniversary of her death, I can kind of finally understand why Lisa died on Easter. Death just can’t hold some people. Thank God for that. We are so lucky to have so many people in our lives. I hope you all have a million trillion Lisas and Rosies in your lives, too.

xox - Carrie

ENDURE Spoilers

carriejonesbooks@gmail.com — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 20:24:48 GMT

So, it turns out that my last book in the NEED series, ENDURE, is coming out in about a month in the U.S. and I still haven’t seen an advanced reader copy, but I hear the book is actually real already....

And I’ve decided that it’s time for some more information about the book and that means... spoilers. Yes, spoilers.

1. Something explodes in the book. The book itself does not explode so there is no need for warning labels.

2. Fire meets ice. This sounds like a Pat Benatar rock song from the 1980s, I know.

When I was little, I thought my Aunt Patty WAS Pat Benatar because she was really kick-butt, and short, and kind of looked like her, but Aunt Patty insisted that she only owned a dance studio, and that it was not a secret cover for her true rock star identity.

I still don’t believe her.

3. Nobody eats strudel with a guinea pig or a manatee. I really love manatees, so I was kind of tempted, but I didn’t think it really worked with the whole story arc thing. Damn, story arc.

4. No characters from Hunger Games or Buffy or Twilight or Walking Dead or Harry Potter make any surprise appearances. Although, to be honest, I totally wanted to write in Professor McGonagall as a love interest.

I know she thinks she should be.

5. The book is about love, but not the kind of love that makes you think TEAM WHOEVER or inspires conjoined names. It’s about the other kind of love. There’s romantic love too, though. Don’t worry.

Bonus: I knew the very last line of the main part of the book from the time I first started writing NEED. :)

There! I hope that helps!

I’m going to go back into my hidey hole and be terrified about the book now. This is what I do. Not all authors are this neurotic, I swear. :)

Dear People in the Hotel Shuttle Van

carriejonesbooks@gmail.com — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 10:49:42 GMT

Dear People in the Hotel Shuttle Van,

I know that you are rich, white people of moderate good looks. I know that this has probably made you used to just sort of getting what you want and just expecting things to be about you and only you.

However, when you are late for the van that is bringing you AND OTHER HOTEL GUESTS to the airport where everyone must get to their airplane flights ON TIME, it would be cool if:

1. The first of your party of four didn’t show up to the shuttle three minutes late and then tell the shuttle driver you have “One more,” when you actually have three more and they are scattered throughout the hotel.

2. Didn’t yell at the youngest member of your party for making everyone late when he was the second person in the family in the shuttle.

3. Didn’t forget for ten minutes that people have cell phones exactly for this reason - tracking each other down when making EVERYONE in the shuttle late to the airport.

4. Didn’t finally get everyone in the shuttle 22 minutes late and have changed your clothes in this time somehow magically even though you were “really looking for everyone."

5. Didn’t keep saying over and over again, “It’s a good thing we already checked in. It’s a good thing we already checked in” when other people haven’t ... you know... checked in... because they were on time to the shuttle and expected everything to be fine.

6. You actually apologized for making everyone late.

Yeah. Shuttle People, you have made me cranky. That’s actually super hard to do. I can totally understand confusion and tardiness. I can’t understand thinking that the only people who matter are you and your people. It’s not cool. It’s how hate starts. It’s how wars start. It’s also how assault occurs in airport shuttles.

Oh, and stop yelling at your kid. He was the only one mortified by the whole thing. He is the only one who still has some compassion left. Try not to scream it out of him, okay? And yes, I did slip him a $20 and tell him to be strong. He’s going to need to be. He is only 9 and he has to live with you. I am ancient and I could barely stand you for 30 minutes. I don’t know how he will make it to 18.

Sincerely,

Me, the invisible person (it seems) who was also in that hotel shuttle.

Hmmm.......

carriejonesbooks@gmail.com — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 15:18:34 GMT

Do your dogs insist on sleeping together?

And then do they look guilty when you get evidence? Or is this just a thing my dogs do?

Nose Picking

carriejonesbooks@gmail.com — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 14:47:31 GMT

So... I have to admit something about myself. I try really hard to be a nice person, a nonjudgemental person. And sometimes I fail.

Disclosure time: I failed this morning.

How did I fail? Well, there was a man driving in a Subaru Impreza (the car of manliness) and he stopped behind me at the red light. I looked in my rear view mirror. And what did I see?

I saw nose picking.

It wasn’t just any nose picking. It was huge, horrible, nose picking.

And then I almost threw up.

Because that is what I do when I see nose picking. And I thought in my head, “YOU! MR MAN! YOU ARE YUCKY!” This was... um... pretty jerky of me. Who knows the reason for his nose excursion? Maybe he has issues... I don’t know. So I tried to put it out of my mind. I tried not to vomit and succeeded. I tried to make my stomach calm down. And then I stopped at another red light and what did I do?

I looked again! Seriously! I do not know what’s wrong with me. And this time... this time... He was digging in his ear!

I barely made it home. Just saying.

I am so sorry for all the people who are going to touch things that Mr. Nose Picker/Ear Digger touched. And for all of you thinking this is okay because he was in the privacy of his own car let me tell you:

1. His car did NOT have tinted windows
2. He was stopped at the red light. He wasn’t moving. Everyone looks at everyone when they are stopped. Don’t they?
3. THERE WAS A PASSENGER IN HIS CAR!!!!

*flails&dies*

Thank you for sharing this with me. Much better than $100 for therapy. Any of you guys have things that make you heave? Or just go... EW!!!!

Marsie says, “Ah.... humans.... disgusting creatures... Only good for their petting and feeding abilities. You have finally learned, Carrie. Finally learned."

Authors for Henryville

carriejonesbooks@gmail.com — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 11:11:07 GMT

So, a big cluster of my books are up for auction today at a site created by authors to help rebuild school libraries ransacked by tornadoes in Henryville. The tornadoes happened March 2. The town and the libraries are so hurt. Please help if you can. The link is here and below:

The winning bid gets:

*Need
*Captivate
*Entice
*After Obsession
*Dear Bully

I’ll sign them ALL and mail them to you. You do NOT have to live in the U.S. to win.

Thank you so much if you decide to bid on my books or others or if you decide to donate. The hashtag for this is#authors4henry

You can also donate funds directly to the Henryville library donorschoose.org project (link will follow when the school has it set up) & tweet your donation amount with as hashtag. You can also email your donation amount to authors4henryville@gmail.com

LINK TO BOOK AUCTION HERE!

Bid on a signed book

carriejonesbooks@gmail.com — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 17:25:11 GMT

So, I have signed a couple books for an online auction that’s going on RIGHT NOW!!!!

And the auction is for a local guy who is awesome.

And my books are currently about to be purchased for a mere $3!!! Surely one of you could cough up $4? Please.... Please....

It’s not the NEED series, but they are earlier books and also DEAR BULLY.

Anyways, it’s for a really great guy. And it’s really cheap.

From the site:

At a time when Bar Harbor is cold, frozen, and pleasantly quiet, a member of our community is waging his battle against Leukemia without health insurance. You may be personally related, acquainted, or a fan of Jacob Cuff’s music, but whatever the relation, you have surely crossed paths with this kind, gentle being during his 12 seasons of employment in Bar Harbor. From the kitchens of Café This Way, pulling vegetables for donation at the “Farm”, Open Mic at the Lompoc, slinging lobsters at the Fish house, and all the way to cover tunes at Bar Harbor’s Prom at Carmen Veranda’s, this time… Jake needs our help.

Uniquely fatigued while beginning a winter season in Avon, Colorado, Jake has been diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia at the age of 31. Acute Myeloid Leukemia progresses rapidly, and without immediate treatment, most sufferers die within two and a half weeks. Within days of diagnosis, Jake was put on an aggressive treatment plan. The challenge right now is the financial; having just topped $500,000 to date in chemo and radiation treatments, the hospital estimates a little over $2 million in medical bills when all is finished. Despite the diagnosis, attaining health insurance, regardless of pricey premiums, is the end goal.

When People Think You Are an Idiot

carriejonesbooks@gmail.com — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 14:29:47 GMT

So, there’s this radio show called Bob and Sheri - it is my secret desire to be a guest on Bob and Sheri and talk about books and get to listen to Bob be self deprecating, and sort of stare at Sheri and wish I was her.

Oh! Not a secret any more, huh? Whoops.

Anyways....

On the show today, they focused on when your loved ones think you are an idiot, and I have to say that my loved ones tend to think I’m an idiot. It’s not that they don’t love me. I think it’s just that they don’t trust my:

1. Memory
2. Cognitive Processing

For instance, Em, my daughter will look at every piece of food I try to feed her and say:

“Are you sure this isn’t expired?”
“You check the dates on this cracker box, right?”
“This is still good? You sure?”
“When did you buy this?"

To put this in perspective, I think Em has only vomited three times in her life. And she has never been food poisoned. She just doesn’t trust me to be capable of feeding her non-expired food, despite the fact that I HAVE NEVER EVER EVER FED HER EXPIRED FOOD! And despite the fact that I’m actually a super good cook if you ignore the random and occasional piece of dog fur that may occasionally appear in my bouillabaisse.

So... yeah... She thinks I am an idiot.

She also thinks that I don’t have any ability to discern between whether or not people are good intentioned or evil intentioned. She thinks I will be one of those 90 year old ladies who sends all their money to a nephew in Morovia who is in jail, despite the fact that I didn’t have a nephew or something. I think she might be right about this, actually. I mean I do stare at people with tails, and talk to felons on the phone, and make friends with people carrying guns in Wal-Mart. I basically have no self defense mechanisms.

So... how about you? Do you do things that make other family members doubt your intelligence? Am I (and Bob and Sheri listeners) the only people who do this? Basically, I am begging you here to make me feel better about myself.

And also - Do you think there’s any way I could ever actually be on Bob and Sheri? I know other authors aspire to be on Oprah. But I really like them. You don’t have to wear make-up on radio. That’s sort of a plus.

Book Winners!

carriejonesbooks@gmail.com — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 19:19:12 GMT

Hey!

The random winners of AFTER OBSESSION are:

Alexandra Day

Elizabeth Wood

Lotsatrebble

Sandy Hazlett

Ryan Elizabeth

and Sana Shams

I know I was only supposed to give two away, but so many people responded and I am a softie. I feel all guilty that everyone can’t win. THANK YOU SO MUCH for telling me about your obsessions. They make me feel so much better about myself. :)

So, if you won, could you contact me with your mailing address? I will also attempt to contact you as well. The best way to get me is either message me here or on Facebook.

x
C

Randomly Win A Book YAY!

carriejonesbooks@gmail.com — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 16:46:53 GMT

So, um... you know how I said that if I forgot to blog for a week, then I would randomly give away a copy of one of my books - signed, because I like to sign things....

Well. I forgot.

I have not blogged since Feb. 9 and it is now Feb. 27.

Sigh.

I am a bad, bad blogger person.

So in good news, School Library Journal has this to say about AFTER OBSESSION, which i co-wrote with Steven Wedel:

"Told in the alternating voices of Aimee (penned by Jones) and Alan (written by Wedel), this tale has it all: an eerie setting, a powerful romance, and a terrifying dark force. In spite of the slightly over-the-top showdown, Jones’s fans will devour this one, which, thanks to Wedel, offers a fresh male perspective.”

And the reviewer didn’t make us boyfriend/girlfriend in real life, which is awesome! YAY SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL! No offense to Steve, but he’s married and has like 87 kids or something.

So, in honor of this review, I am going to give away a free copy of AFTER OBSESSION to two random winners who post below in the comments telling me their current obsession, be it Emma Stone or Nutella or Hamsters on Mopeds...

Good luck!
I will close the contest on March 1 at noon, EST, which is my birthday and you do not have to live in the United States to win a copy.

Also, sorry for the blog failure.

The Cat Blogs

carriejonesbooks@gmail.com — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 18:11:26 GMT

Hello, This is Carrie’s cat, Marsie. Carrie is incapable of blogging this week because I have been sitting on her computer every time she attempts to blog. Why do I not want her to post?

Let me tell you, I am sick of her blogging about:

1. Dogs
2. Falling down on ice
3. Dogs
4. Random people she meets at the grocery store
5. The guy who dresses up like Bar Harbor Batman
6. Dogs
7. Car-deer accidents

“Carrie,” I say to her. “You should blog about writing or about your books or something supremely interesting... something like... oh, I don’t know... something like... mmmm....maybe...cats!"

And then she replies, “Marsie, honey, do you want food?"

Carrie obviously does not understand the language of cats. (Let me add here that cats are the greatest of all animals. You would never find us eating the poop of other species. Oh, no you would not.”

Sparty: What? The litter box is like a big lunch tray.

Dogs are gross.

So, I am taking over the blog today because I think it should feature pictures of the greatest of all animals, the queen species of mammals, the elegant, lovable, superior, glorious cats.

Random pictures of my awesomeness follow.
x
Marsie, the cat.

Obviously, I can’t get away from them.....

Sometimes I hide in the sink. I try to blend. I think it works...

Sometimes to keep them in line, I just pull out the secret weapon... I never unleash the nails, just the image of the paw itself strikes fear into their doggy hearts....

Yeah, you know it, baby.....

CARRIE! THIS IS A SPECIAL NOTE TO YOU! NO MORE DOG POSTS! DON’T MAKE ME TAKE OUT THE PAW!!

Random Person at Store

carriejonesbooks@gmail.com — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 20:51:44 GMT

Random Person at Store (standing in front of the freezer that holds all the butter and fake butter products): I am buying butter.

Me: That’s great.

Random Person at Store: Butter is better for you than canola oil or margarine.

Me (wondering about my choice of light butter and also wondering about what to say): Oh.

This is not a brilliant conversational choice.

Random Person at Store: You look a little dehydrated, dear.

Me (again with the brilliance): Oh.

Random Person at Store (walking off towards bread): Drink more water!

This is the weirdness that is my life.

My animals

carriejonesbooks@gmail.com — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 16:13:50 GMT

Because I have NO deep thoughts at all lately, but I swore that I’d blog every week, I’m going to take this opportunity to officially introduce you to the animals of the house.

This is Lyra, she is a solitary sort of cat, an introvert. She disapproves of blogging, and sits on all available manuscripts and laptops. She hates wet food.

This is Sparty and Marsie just after a snuggle session. They are CONSTANTLY having snuggle sessions and looking terribly guilty when caught out in their act of forbidden snuggle love. Note Sparty’s expression.

When a dog loves a cat, there are sometimes disapproving members of the household (AHEM LYRA), but let me tell you: It doesn’t stop them. Not at all.

And finally, we have Scotty.

Yeah, that is Scotty and my knee in my pj’s. :) So... yeah... Scotty? Check out his face. Yeah, enough said. Scotty loves any kind of love.

Studded Snow Tires, Vulnerability and the Web

carriejonesbooks@gmail.com — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 19:15:48 GMT

So, due to an unfortunate accident in my MINI Cooper, Kelly, I only just got my studded snow tires on. I live in Maine. It snows in Maine. And the MINI, which is awesome, is not the best on snow unless she gets all blinged out in studded snow tires, which help her grip the ice better or something.

This is a sexy image of a studded snow tire that came from the BMW blog site. Thanks BMW!

So, I went to the awesome place that switches out my tires and they were like, “Um... It’s the middle of January, Carrie. Why are you only doing this now?"

I appropriately shrugged, which I think is a totally okay response to such a question, but then they raised their eyebrows and I had to tell them all about not-hitting-a-deer accident to my hitting-a-deer accident and the rental car fiasco. And I babbled.

The people there totally think I’m a dork, but I’m okay with that because EVERYONE thinks I’m a dork, which is why I find it really funny when I get fan mail that says I am awesome. I always want to hug the people writing those emails and say, “Oh... honey... really.... no. I’m just not. No... I’m dorky, sweetie."

But that’s hard to do in cyber land. Only the people I know in real life know the true extent of my dorkiness. And this, of course, made me think about internet rumors and mistruths. And this makes me feel so badly for real celebrities. But it also just makes me feel badly for regular people on the internet. You know, the people who post YouTube reviews of books, or of themselves singing, or who even comment on a newspaper article or post on reddit.

And it made me realize the internet is a lot like love.

I know! I know! Hold on!

It’s like every time you open yourself to loving someone (or even loving them as a friend), you make yourself vulnerable. You have to chose wisely who you love. You have to be willing to be honest about who you are and that, of course, makes you TOTALLY vulnerable to them being a poop head and hurting you.

So, on the internet we don’t really have that choice. Like someone can post a review of a book and other people can spew hate because they don’t agree. They can criticize her looks or attitude or intelligence. Or someone can post their college acceptance letter on reddit, and someone else can blast their school choice and say they suck, and their school sucks, and why are they even proud at all.

So, I just want to thank everyone for being brave enough to think thoughts and write words and sing songs, to communicate those thoughts, to share those words, to sing dorky songs. I want to thank everyone who says supportive and kind things to other people. I want to say you’re awesome because you are.

Also, if anyone would like to remind me to take my studded snow tires off this April, that would be totally awesome, too. Why? Because we are a community and all of us are important to it - the dorks, the readers, the bloggers, the writers, the anonymous, the reviewers and even the people who get facts wrong.

Endure Cover,Teen Choice Awards, Rainbow List and I am not in Love with Steve Wedel - Ahem...

carriejonesbooks@gmail.com — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 15:44:20 GMT

So, last Friday or Thursday or something while I was in NH with my mom who had a heart attack, Bloomsbury officially released the cover of ENDURE, the last book in the NEED series. It appears in the US and UK in May - May 8th, I think.

What do you think?

*My mom is out of the hospital now, by the way, and being all spunky. YAY MOM!

Also, while I was gone, both AFTER OBSESSION and DEAR BULLY are up for Teen Choice Awards. You can vote here. Please vote.... please, please vote.

And in other exciting news, DEAR BULLY, is one of the books on American Library Association’s Rainbow List! Some other amazing books made the top ten!

*Also despite the fact that a random book reviewer says so, I am NOT in a relationship with the fantastic Steve Wedel, co-author of AFTER OBSESSION. He is married and way too cool for me. Although, I have to admit people making up hook-up rumors makes me feel almost famous or something. Score!

Martin Luther King, Jr.: Screwing Up is Normal

carriejonesbooks@gmail.com — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 18:52:05 GMT

When I was a kid in NH, the state refused to celebrate Martin Luther King Day. I was so embarrassed. I begged my mom to move.

She refused.

I thought she was ridiculous and terribly mean. I pretty much had a tantrum in my bedroom, threw my pillow around, packed my duffel bag and sleeping bag, and walked down the driveway, sputtering about how horrible she was. And she could find a job in another state. And it wasn’t such a big deal to sell a house.

And then I thought about what Dr. King said.

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.

And it’s hard to drive out darkness when you run away. And it’s hard to not feel powerless in fighting injustice when you can’t even vote, but you can. You really can. You can join organizations that fight against injustices. You can speak out when you see someone being bullied. You can make yourself into a beacon of light, and try to do as much as you can to promote kindness and love and grace.

You will screw up.

Screwing up is normal.

But to not screw up? To do nothing? That’s the kind of thing that will eat away your insides. As Dr. King said:

He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it.

During his life and since his death, a lot of people have tried to cast Dr. King in a negative light. I understand that. They are trying to discredit his message by picking apart his life. But that doesn’t work. No man, no woman, is perfect. But the things we believe in can be perfect, bigger than us. The things we believe in can be truths that resonate. Dr. King’s message and truths are like that. I am so glad he was here, so glad he was brave, and so glad that we chose to applaud that.

Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or in the darkness of destructive selfishness.

I am going to try harder to walk in the light of creative altruism. I will probably screw up a ton, but it’s worth it.

Deer Lessons...

carriejonesbooks@gmail.com — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 13:41:20 GMT

One of the many cool parts of being an author sometimes is that you sometimes get random packages in the mail from your agent and in them are things like this:

It’s the Indonesian version of NEED and the French advanced reader copy of AFTER OBSESSION.
They are inseparable. Seriously. All night long they’ve been murmuring into each other’s pages.

So, given this divine bit of goodness, you’d think I’d be in a happy mood, wouldn’t you? But I am not. Why? Because two days ago I killed a deer while bringing the Emster to school.

I was driving a rent-a-car. The deer had taken bath salts or something or was trying to recreate the classic video game FROGGER maybe, but he was just there. Right there. In front of the car. There was a horrible thud.

Em looked up. “Was that a deer?” she said.

I managed to pull over into a driveway of a local college and call the police department. Then I realized:

1. I am in a rental car
2. I am also still wearing my snowman pajamas
3. The deer isn’t quite dead.

And that was the worst part of it - the deer was suffering in a ditch on the side of the road. And it was my fault. I hit it. And I couldn’t make it better. I couldn’t make the suffering stop. And for lack of anything better to say - that just sucked. It sucked hard.

Then people kept pulling over to the side of the road, and whipping out their cell phones and calling the police too, because they didn’t want the deer to suffer.

The dispatcher told me she couldn’t believe how many calls she was getting about the deer.

And I kept thinking about how all these people were on their way to important places like work, or school, or doctor’s appointments, and that they all stopped. They all called. They all witnessed the deer. And it made me remember how good people can be sometimes. It’s important to remember that, I think, especially when people argue about politics on Facebook or bully or are sexist or are just randomly mean to random celebrities or people at Wal-Mart.

So I am going to try to focus on that again: On people’s goodness. Yes, we are all poops sometimes. But sometimes we can be brave. Sometimes we care. Sometimes the suffering of something else, something furry, something we sometimes even eat, can break our hearts in two.

I am so sorry I killed you, Mr. Deer. And thank you for reminding me about people.

Girlfriends Cyber Circuit Features: EILEEN COOK!!! cue applause

carriejonesbooks@gmail.com — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 12:01:33 GMT

Let me introduce you to the awesome Eileen Cook, my cyber sister, whose new book just appeared on book shelves! Happy book birthday, Eileen!

I asked Eileen some random questions. She was super nice and answered them in complete sentences! She is cool like that.

What captivates you?

I’m lucky in that I find many things captivating. The world is an amazing place if you take time to slow down and notice. When all else fails I love a good book. I am constantly amazed that even when we know that the book is fiction, completely made up, we still feel all these real emotions. We cry, we wonder why the characters don’t pull it together; we become invested in their lives. I think that’s amazing.

Do you have any super secret phobias?

It’s not so secret, but I hate spiders. One of my least favorite things is to walk into a giant spider web outside. I am always convinced the spider is still on me somewhere, most likely in my hair or laying baby spider eggs in my ear.

Would you ever fall in love with a werewolf?

I absolutely LOVE my dogs, but I don’t think I’d want to date anyone who was that hairy.

Tell me the goofiest thing you've ever done, or the bravest.

One of the bravest things I’ve done is travel in Europe by myself. It can be a scary thing to be somewhere when you don’t know anyone there, know where you’re going or in some cases even the language. I like knowing that I have the ability to sort things out on my own. It’s an added bonus that I like spending time alone. The one benefit of being a writer is that you always have a story going in your head, there’s always entertainment.

About the Book:

Isobel’s life is falling apart. Her mom just married some guy she met on the internet only three months before, and is moving them to his sprawling, gothic mansion off the coast of nowhere. Goodbye, best friend. Goodbye, social life. Hello, icky new stepfather, crunchy granola town, and unbelievably good-looking, officially off-limits stepbrother.

But on her first night in her new home, Isobel starts to fear that it isn’t only her life that’s unraveling—her sanity might be giving way too. Because either Isobel is losing her mind, just like her artist father did before her, or she’s seeing ghosts. Either way, Isobel’s fast on her way to being the talk of the town for all the wrong reasons.

About the Author:

Eileen Cook is a multi-published author with her novels appearing in six different languages. She spent most of her teen years wishing she were someone else or somewhere else, which is great training for a writer.

You can read more about Eileen, her books, and the things that strike her as funny at www.eileencook.com. Eileen lives in Vancouver with her husband and two dogs and no longer wishes to be anyone or anywhere else.

New Year’s Blogging Resolution

carriejonesbooks@gmail.com — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 16:43:44 GMT

So....

My New Year’s Resolutions are INCREDIBLY dull, because I am dull like that, but one of them is to BLOG EVERY WEEK. Seriously? I used to blog every day. I was a blogging monster, but now all I do is think:

1. Why would anyone want to read me rant about the lady at the grocery store who refused to say hi to me
2. Why would anyone care that I wore my shirt backwards AND inside out for five hours today before I noticed
3. Why would I care if anyone cares?

And it kind of became an existential nightmare of me pondering:

1. Existence
2. Self perception
3. Self worth
4. Culture
5. Nutella and Strudel
6. Hot male actors
7. Goethe

Not necessarily in that order. Okay. Full disclosure: Goethe always comes in last.

So, anyway, I am going to blog AT LEAST once a week, and I will hope people read it and comment, and not think I’m too goofy.

And if I don’t blog?

Hm....

Every week I don’t blog I will have to give a free book away to a commenter from the week’s previous post. There! That should motivate me, right?

So, um, here is a random picture I took of a moose that was behind my house on Monday. I took it with my cell phone. I am sorry it is so cruddy. But isn’t it cool?

He looked at us and then walked towards us and my daughter goes: He doesn’t think we are girl moose, does he?

And I was like.... Um.... Get ready to run.

But instead he just came over and made a cute moose noise and walked up my neighbor’s driveway. The police were there, too. That’s because the police here are awesome and they wanted to make sure the moose didn’t hit anybody’s cars or fall in love with my daughter or something.

The lesson here?

Moose are cool.

I hope you are all having a wonderful 2012!!