Kimberly Pauley

Gung Hay Fat Choy & Happy VDay & Still Sucks reviews…

Woot! Well, it was fun yesterday meeting up with Kristin Walker and Kristina Springer for the signing in Bolingbrook. I managed to NOT eat a lot of chocolate, which was great (am officially down 15 lbs. now! Just 15 more to go!).

Yesterday was also the Chinese New Year (Happy Year of the Tiger!), so Gung Hay Fat Choy!

I got two awesome cool pieces of news today. One, the first review of Still Sucks to Be Me from Sarah at YA Librarian Tales! She liked it! Whew!

Honestly, the second book thing is much more nerve wracking than the first book thing. Because now people have expectations. And they write me about them. Which is cool, but obviously I can’t meet everyone’s expectations of what should happen since Mina kind of does her own thing. Half the time, I can’t stop her. Okay, more like 99% of the time. So it’s really great to finally hear from someone that they like it! And they think it’s funny! Whoo!

AND I got this super-awesome-wonderfulness of a blurb from the oh-so-cool Margot Adler (of NPR fame):

Of all the Vampire novels I have read, Sucks to be Me was my absolute favorite.  It was smart, original, with a lovely, honest heroine, and it was laugh-out-loud funny. I almost fell out of bed laughing at one point. I couldn’t wait to get a hold of the sequel, Still Sucks to be Me. When it came out, I devoured every page. For those who love the genre, yet are tired of tragic, Byronic lugubrious vampires, this is truly a unique and hilarious read. —Margot Adler, author of Drawing Down the Moon.

That just seriously made my day. I <3 Margot!

So now commences the waiting as I wait to hear how other authors and reviewers feel about the book…

(and yes, people, I will very soon be announcing some contest-y type things…because I love you. You know I do.)

Tags: still sucks to be me
Posted in Books, Reviews | 1 Comment »

So, you're a blogger and you wanna review Still Sucks to Be Me…

So I’ve got this big shiny box full of ARCs of Still Sucks to Be Me. Some of them are earmarked for my fellow author peeps. And there’s a few I’m reserving for a special fans-only contest (coming probably in March), but some need to go out to book bloggers. I’d started a list but then lost it in The Great Computer Transfer of ‘09 (read: I got a new MacBook for Christmas, but it didn’t like my old e-mails). So…I thought I’d try something I’ve seen a lot of other authors do…

If you’re a book blogger / reviewer and you’d like an ARC of Still Sucks to Be Me to review, here’s what you gotta do…send me an email at kim @ kimberlypauley.com (remove spaces) or fill out the contact form and tell me:

• Your name
• Your blog / site URL
• Link to your review of the first book (Sucks to Be Me)
• Anything else you’d like to tell me (like why YOU should get an advance copy)

I’ve got a limited supply, though my publisher will also be sending some out.

As an added thing…remember back when Sucks to Be Me came out and I had an online launch party where I featured other authors and their books for two weeks? And gave prizes? Well, this year I’m planning something similar, but I want to feature book bloggers / reviewers…so anyone I send out an ARC to, I’m gonna be interviewing you too and featuring you on my blog during the month of May.

UPDATE: This is basically ongoing until I run out of ARCs…(and I just got some more…)

Tags: arcs, review copies, still sucks to be me
Posted in Books, Giveaways | 7 Comments »

The Advance copies of Still Sucks to Be me are HERE!

Woot! My book baby is here! Well, the advance copies anyway, so I’m one step closer to holding my second book in my hot little hands. They look awesome!

Still Sucks to Be Me ARCs

Did I mention I was excited??

Tags: advance copies, arcs, still sucks to be me
Posted in Books | 8 Comments »

Sucks to Be Me & Still Sucks to Be Me T-shirts for Charity!

Vampire Squirrel from Still Sucks to Be Me

Okay, this is too cool! I got the go ahead from my publisher to do this (yay!) after I’ve been hearing for a while from people how much they’d love a T-shirt with batty on it! Woot! Now introducing the Sucks to Be Me T-Shirt shop (provided by Spreadshirt)!! All proceeds from sales will be donated to Open Books, a local literacy charity.

And even cooler? I’ve designed some of the shirts with BRAND SPANKIN’ NEW stuff from Still Sucks to Be Me! Check out the vampire squirrel, for instance! Or the Official VRA (Vampire Relocation Agency) wear!

And if there’s a particular shirt you’d like with a particular design, just let me know. I’m happy to make anything for you that you want (that I’m able to do).

Please feel free to pass on the shop: http://stbm.spreadshirt.com — ALL proceeds go to charity, so you can even feel good about wearing batty…like you wouldn’t already!

(all graphics designed by the incredible Emi Tanji!)

© Wizards of the Coast, LLC.   Images used with permission.

Tags: bat graphic, bat t-shirts, sucks to be me
Posted in Books, Just for Fun | 6 Comments »

The Still Sucks to Be Me Cover !! Woot!

I am very, very excited to show you the cover for Still Sucks to Be Me, which will be released on May 11th!! The main color this time is blue, instead of red. Note Mina’s eyes!! Let me know what you think!!

The Still Sucks to Be Me Cover!!

Tags: cover, still sucks to be me
Posted in Books | 23 Comments »

Sucks to Be Me…now in audio format!

Just saw that Sucks to Be Me is now available as an audio book via Audible! I knew it was coming, I just didn’t know exactly when. I think it even shows up on Amazon too.

If you do listen to it, let me know how it sounds! I have to see if I can get a copy!

Tags: audio book, sucks to be me
Posted in Books | 1 Comment »

Still Sucks to Be Me now on Amazon! Whoo!

So I was on Amazon for an entirely different reason (I promise) and noticed that they’ve got Still Sucks to Be Me listed now! It’s not out until May 11th and they’ve got the title slightly wrong, but Woot! all the same. And apparently you can pre-order it! I think at least one person already has since the book has a ranking (I’m pretty sure you don’t get a ranking until at least one copy has been ordered). So that is total and utter coolness.

In bookish news, my editor went back and forth with me one more time with some teeny little changes, but I think it is finally all done. Whew. I now honestly have more sympathy about finding typos in books. They’ve always bugged me but it’s amazing to me now that no matter how many times you (or your editor or the copyeditor) go over a book, you always find something. I hope nothing made it through, but if you find a typo when you read it, I’M SORRY! I SUCK! I DID MY BEST!

In other related news, we had a photo shoot this past weekend and I should have a new official author photo coming soon. Which is good considering my last author photo? Um, totally me long-arming the camera all by myself and snapping a picture. This time there were PROFESSIONALS involved (the Souder Photography folks, to be exact).

Am really excited to see the photos of The Max, honestly. He’s way cuter than I am.

Random Still Sucks to Be Me tidbit of the day: the name of a teacher and the principal in the book are the names of one of my favorite teachers of all time (Jennifer McCoy, now McNeal) and the vice-principal (Mr. Fleming) from where I went to high school in 11th and 12th grade.

Tags: still sucks to be me
Posted in Books, Just for Fun | 2 Comments »

First chapter of Still Sucks to Be Me!

Hey! Woot! I got the okay from my editor to post the back copy and first chapter of Still Sucks to Be Me! Yippee! So you can check it out: the back copy is on the official Still Sucks to Be Me page on the site (I replaced what I had there originally, the teaser stuff from the paperback of Sucks to Be Me) and the first chapter is posted separately. Would love to hear what you think!

Unless you hate it. Then, eh, you can keep it to yourself.

Tags: excerpt, first chapter, still sucks to be me
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The Current Status of Still Sucks to Be Me…

Just in case you were interested

I got the copy edited version of the book yesterday and I’m doing a final proof of it this weekend. Monday it will go back to the publisher for the typesetting.

I’ve heard that they made some modifications to the cover of the Advance Reader Copies, but I haven’t seen it yet. As soon as I can, I’ll post up a picture of the cover (and other stuff!). I do know that the main color on it will be blue…at first it was red, like the first book, but they wanted to make sure that people glancing at it realized it’s not the same book! Which makes sense to me.

Oh, and right now it looks like the exact release date will be May 11th! Which is really cool since my fav number is 11!

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Still Sucks to Be Me release date moved up!

Okay, just got the most awesome news today! The release date for Still Sucks to Be Me has been moved up from August/September to May 2010!! Woot!

Apparently it was the sales folks at Random House who wanted to move it up (Mirrorstone distributes through Random House) and I say “Bless ‘em!” Am very excited! Would totally turn a cartwheel if it wouldn’t (likely) kill me!

Tags: release date, still sucks to be me, sucks to be me sequel
Posted in Books | 5 Comments »