Monday, November 29, 2010

To everyone who has gotten in touch....

I woke up this morning trying to think of a way to say thank you....
....to everyone who has written to me through http://www.kathleenduey.com , facebook, twitter, etc. I have been trying to answer each one of you, and have to finally admit that I am probably too far behind to ever catch up.
Ever.

It’s amazing. YOU are amazing. I have heard from people all over the US and Canada, the UK, France, Germany, Poland, the Philippines, Australia, New Zealand, Russia, Belize, Brazil, Mexico, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Morocco, Turkey, China, North Korea, Chile, …and all of you will get a link to this message soon. If you have written me from a place I have not mentioned, contact me, and I will add it.

If you want updates on my work once or twice a year, please email me:   kathleen duey at earthlink dot net. You will be the first to know what’s up next and how it’s going. I start almost every day by reading messages from readers. Your letters are a treasure. They make me write better (and sometimes faster). What you have written makes me smile and laugh and sometimes cry.

It’s always wonderful to hear someone say they love my books. People write to me asking questions about Sadima, Hahp, Gerrard, and all the others in ways that make me feel like they are people we both know and sometimes worry about. The city of Limori is very real to me, too, and yes, I do know more about it than I will ever fit into three books.

Thanks to everyone who thinks that a book about Eridies might be interesting. It might be. To everyone writing to ask about Russet: I am accumulating entries again will post them soon.  http://russet-one-wing.blogspot.com/

I love to hear from teens who say they hate reading but they liked my books anyway and stayed up late because they couldn’t stop reading.

Older Adults have written to tell me that even though the books are for Young Adults, they stay up too late reading them too.

LOTS of people have suggestions as to how Somiss needs to die. All I can say is, we'll see...

Librarians often say there are waiting lists for the books! School librarians write to say the added them to their collections and hope the censorship loving parents don’t notice.

One teen reader, recovering from a terrible accident, wrote to tell me that the books took her “out of the hospital, away from the pain". Another girl thanked me for the Eridians and said that her friends were like that, they carried as much of her sorrow as they could. Teen book clubs have written asking me really deep questions about the stories and the characters. I have recently gotten Skype and look forward to being part of book club and library discussions.

Some people write to ask WHERE TO BUY THE BOOKS.
In the US:
Most bookstores carry them and any bookstore can order them for you and have them in a few days.
Indiebound http://www.indiebound.org/ is a portal into the wonderful world of America’s independent booksellers. Type in the book title upper right and you can order it from a local bookstore in your area. All the online stores carry the books: Amazon, Barns&Noble, Borders, etc.

Internationally: Skin Hunger and Sacred Scars have been translated into:
German: http://bit.ly/h9w1S2
French: http://www.castelmore.fr/
Polish: (coming soon)
UK English (ok, not really translated, but some expressions and words changed)

If you want UK English versions of *any* book: http://www.bookdepository.com/
They have fair, low prices, and ship to most of the world... free.

Thanks for all the people who have written to tell me there are no ebook versions yet. I know. There will be, probably in 2013.

Everyone (almost) asks me when the third book will come out. After a LOT of interruptions (some of them self-inflicted) I am writing all day every day on book three. As soon as it tells me its name, I will tell YOU. I hope to finish it (including the revisions, etc, by the end of summer 2011. After that, it will take most of a year to produce the hardcover. I know. I apologize. I am trying hard to make it incredibly good.

Valid Excuses:
1. These are complex books and the details take time.
2. I have had to write other things, including books for younger kids, which I also love doing.

Whines:
1. I want the last one to be so good that I am afraid of it, a little. Which doesn’t sound like a very good excuse for taking so long, but it is, in an odd way.

Thank you ALL for writing to me, thank you for reading this. I send you all my very best wishes and may the coming new year bring you all good things.

15 comments:

guenhwyvar132 aka Jenn said...

Thank you for taking the time to make the last book great. Sometimes with serires I find they start out amazing, but sadly go downhill as the series progresses due to an author trying to reach a deadline that is too soon. I would rather wait then be disappointed.

kathleen duey said...

Jenn,

I have have written several simpler (for much younger readers) projects this year, but A Resurrection of Magic is complicated, intricate. Thank you for saying this...

angelarene said...

You take all the time you need for Book 3! I have no doubt it will be wonderful :)

kathleen duey said...

Yay for patient people. Also the impatient ones who seem to mostly write through http://www.kathleenduey.com (No clue why that is?? Less public?)

Writing is a lonely gig much of the time, so people getting touch to say just about anything is lovely and helpful.

AlexaG2795 said...

You can't believe how eager I was to read that post. I have been up all night reading Sacred Scars for the third time. It just seems to get better each time. I have to say, I don't really think Somiss should die. He should live forever and suffer for what he has done. He's just that evil. I've began liking Gerrard more and more. He's so witty and ingenious. Sadima is a total sweetheart, and defined one of my favorite female book characters. Thank you for writing these amazing books, and I can't wait for the third one :)

Music and Faries 2795 said...

You don't know how eager I was to read this post. I have been up all night re-reading Sacred Scars for the third time. It just seems to get better each time. I have to say, I don't think Somiss should die. He should live forever and suffer for the evils he has done. Or become a slave. I don't think he'd like that very much. I also want to say I absolutely love Gerrard. He never fails to make me laugh at his sheer genius and wit. I think that under all of that bravado, Hahp is truly a kind person. He seems to really care about those at the Academy, and I like that. Sadmia is a total sweetheart, and I absolutely adore her. I hope she ends up with the perfect man. (Thomas maybe? Or maybe even Hahp or Gerrad.) Thank you so much for writing these brilliant (and very unique) books. They make my day so much better every time I read them.

kathleen duey said...

Alexa, I am sure you thought one of your posts didn't get saved or something, but I am leaving both versions up because you said such nice things! Thanks for all your kind words. I am not sure what will happen to Somiss yet, but he has made so many people hate him...turned something amazing into something terrifying...!?

sammia said...

omg i so glad to hear the 3rd book is coming out i hope your done by mi birthdayy that would be a realli good gift hehe!plus 3 is my favorite number soo iknow the book will be good...but i love hahp an gerrad they have nothing in comman but they would be realli great friends i dont want somiss to die he is a interesting player in the book you know i reallli hope sadima get her memory back too!but i have a quick question what happen at the end of the book with hahp an gerrad an the rest of the boys did somiss want them to kill luke im confused if you can tell me that would be great!oh an will frankil ever see sadima again i hope soo it sad that they never saw either after the cave part..but you are a very good writer yooour realli unique in you story makes me want to read more of your other stories

angela cerrito said...

I understand & agree with taking the time to work out the details and pour yourself into book 3...It will be worth the wait.

I hope you'll make time for dancing in LA ... I hope to go this year and would love to see you!!!

XO
Angela

kathleen duey said...

I will be there, almost certainly, and I look forward to seeing you, too. I would love to break bread and have a real conversation!!

Anonymous said...

I found your first book by chance at the library and adored it! I finished book two yesterday after a day and it was even more amazing! I searched google immediately to find out when the next one was coming out =D Not many books have ever interested me so much! Thank you =)
Lara

erica said...

wow i cant wait till your 3rd book comes out your books are amazing but i hve a quick questio soo if u can please answer that would be great...ok does somiss secretly like sadima and will sadima get her memory back(pretty please answer back hehehe)

kathleen duey said...

I am so happy that you like the books and that you are excited for the third one. And I love that you wrote to me here!!! To answer your questions: I think Somiss was attracted to Sadima at first, yes, but he has such a twisted obsession with magic and over all the years that pass, he falls deeper and deeper into that...


I don't know about Sadima's memories, yet. She has lived so many lives, hiding in South End, changing her looks so people don't realize she isn't aging...if magic fades with time,or if someone can help her, I think there is a chance she will remember some things at least.

Thanks for writing to me! I am working on the third one now and it is taking turns I would never have guessed. It will seem strange when I do finish. I feel like I have been living in Limori a long time...

Kersheys said...

I don't think I can say how surprised and happy I was that time you contacted me when I made such a short review of Skin Hunger (one which I still feel did not fully give you your due). You've taken so much of your time to write and speak to us that it's marked you quite differently in my eyes as compared to other authors. I thank you for that!

A Resurrection of Magic is a series I appreciate the more times I read it and while I am so excited for the third that I cannot put it into words, I think I'll just repeat what I had replied to that email of yours those many months ago. "No rush". I will wait for however long it may take :)

(You may also suggest http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/ as I believe they ship free (!) to any country, excluding possible import tax.)

kathleen duey said...

I am a reverse paranoid. I think all of you lovely people are trying to make me happy. Encouragement is priceless when a book is being born. Thank you all so much!


Kersheys: :0)