2014

I can't believe it's already the last day of 2014. This has been a long, weird, happy year for me, marked by some major life moments and a lot of change. It was my debut year! Seeing THE LOST PLANET hit bookshelves--that little book I plugged away at in 2010, determined to finally finish something--has been surreal and exciting. I'm so grateful to everyone who worked with me, helped me out, and cheered me on during that time.

And speaking of major life moments, it was around this time last year that I found out I was having a baby, though it was less like oh surprise we're having a baby! and more like thank heavens something finally worked! That whole experience ate up a lot of my attention this year, and in August we welcomed a sweet little girl into our lives. She is the happiest, giggliest baby I've ever seen, and we are having so much fun with her. The best part is how she makes everything we do matter a little bit more because we're always conscious of the fact that we're shaping her childhood memories. Christmas this year = awesome.

Of course, not everything was peaches and starshine in 2014. We got bumped out of the house we were renting and had to scramble to move across town. My husband stepped back from his career for a bit to make some long-overdue changes. With everything that was going on, I got really frazzled and lost the ability to focus well for a very long time, meaning that everything took me ten times longer than it should have. I read little. I wrote even less. For the first time in my life I was unable to get simple tasks done not because I was procrastinating, but because I actually never got the minutes I needed to empty the dryer or answer an email or put the leftovers into the fridge. It's crazy-making. (And just lolololol that I thought I could join in NaNo this year. L. O. L.)

But just in the past month or so, I've started to get my groove back. I'm learning how to make time for myself again. I've been writing more, skipping around on multiple projects and feeling creative joy instead of stress. Regular reading might actually be a possibility again. I'm heading into 2015 with a healthy, happy family, and high hopes for what I can accomplish this year. I can't wait to watch my daughter grow and change (so fast!). And to start things off with a bang, January 2015 will bring the publication of my sequel, THE STOLEN MOON (aka the book that nearly broke me). I'm proud of this book and excited about the great early reviews it's getting, and I can't wait until it's out in the wild. I'll post news very soon about the launch event.

Wishing you all a happy, safe, and successful 2015!

Cover Reveal Day!

Happy Thursday! I hope you're all enjoying the summer with beach visits and popsicles and lazy days spent reading. I'm so happy to have made it to July after three and a half weeks of travel and an accelerated move across town. I survived! We're all settled into our home, the cats approve of their new digs, and I can finally hunker down and prepare for the arrival of our newest family member next month. New words like Dreft and diaper pail are starting to make their way into my vocabulary, and I'm rearing and ready to start this new phase.

But let's get to the main event, shall we? Today the cover for my second Lost Planet book, THE STOLEN MOON, is being revealed over at the YA Buccaneers!! Hop on over and check it out: http://www.yabuccaneers.com/blog/2014/7/9/cover-reveal-the-stolen-moon-by-rachel-searles. To celebrate, I'm also offering up a future ARC of the book. I haven't gotten them yet, but when I do, the winner will be at the top of my mailing list. Writing this book was an experience I'll never forget, and I'm really pleased with how it turned out. I can't wait to share it with the world in January!

Goodbye, 2013! And a great Booklist review!

I'm a little nostalgic about saying goodbye to 2013. It's been a good one for me, in many ways. As a writer, I got to announce my first book deal, see that book come to life with a fabulous cover, and have some exciting new experiences like signing ARCs at BEA in May. I got to see my book translated and published in Spain. And I wrote a second book, both an accomplishment and a huge learning experience. Hey kids, writing books is hard!

On a personal level, it was a rewarding if somewhat stressful year. In April my husband and I moved to a new home, and while we're still just renting for now, it was a great change to go from the tourist-packed Venice boardwalk to a clean, quiet neighborhood just a mile down the road. We took two big trips, one to Israel and Turkey to visit friends and family, and one vacation driving from Budapest to Rome with friends. We just closed out the year with a weeklong stay in Wisconsin and Michigan, visiting my family and getting our fill of snow for the coming year or two...or five.

2014 is going to be a big year. Big. Huge. For one, it's my debut year! I know I only get one of these, so I hope to enjoy it as much as possible. I'll be announcing my launch party shortly, along with some tour info. But besides writing, there are some potential big changes brewing on the horizon, hinting that 2014 might be one heck of a year. I'm excited (and not a little nervous) to see what all happens in the next twelve months.

And now I'm thrilled to close out the year on a happy note, as THE LOST PLANET just got a wonderful Booklist review, calling it "perfect for younger teen sci-fi fans." I'll post the full review below. Have a safe and happy New Year's Eve, and all best in 2014!

The Lost Planet.

Searles, Rachel (Author)

Jan 2014. 384 p. Feiwel and Friends, hardcover. (9781250038791).

Terrifying monsters, cold androids, and intriguing mysteries abound in Searles’ first novel. Chase Garrety awakens on a planet he doesn’t know and with a face he doesn’t recognize, his life up to now a complete blank. But his amnesia is far from his biggest problem: the only thing he can remember is a secret message, but what does it mean? Who is it for? His adventure across the planets of the Federation garners him new friends, old enemies, and more problems than he knows what to do with. Even though Chase is confused from the second he wakes up, his need to find out his history makes him easy to cheer on. Comparisons to Star Wars are not out of bounds, as this intergalactic escapade races on at an exciting pace. This fun, adrenaline-filled story is perfect for younger teen sci-fi fans. There could certainly be another installment to this story since Chase’s exploits aren’t easily put to bed, but The Lost Planet has a solid, satisfying conclusion. Let’s hope Searles has more up her sleeve.
— Stacey Comfort

Some Updates of a LOST PLANET Variety

We're about two and a half months away from the publication date of THE LOST PLANET--it's going to be a real book soon! Everything has gone so quickly that I can't believe it's almost here. The awesome people at Macmillan are cooking up some exciting plans for promotion, and while we're busy getting ready and finalizing details, I'm sure January is going to sneak up on us like a ninja.

Today I have some fun news to share. First, Publisher's Weekly put up their review of THE LOST PLANET, and it's a good one!

Link

Secondly, THE LOST PLANET is coming out in Spain next Monday, the 18th. Yes, next Monday! I'll be toasting that day with some good Codorniu cava. Here's the cover of EL PLANETA PERDIDO (I just love saying that):

Finally, if you can't wait to get a peek inside THE LOST PLANET, you're in luck! Macmillan will be releasing a free excerpt of the first five chapters next month. You can find information for pre-ordering here. 

That's all my news for now! Happy Monday!

A Quickie Update

I haven't been blogging much as there's a deadline looming in my near future, but this week I'm up in the Bay Area on a work trip for my day job. Sitting alone in my hotel room at night is making me stir crazy, so I thought I'd hop online for some quick updates.

First and most exciting--we've sold translation rights for THE LOST PLANET in Spain! This is my first foreign sale and I'm so thankful to New Leaf's incredibly awesome subsidiary rights director, Kathleen Ortiz. I'm super excited to share my book with Spanish readers!

Last weekend was the summer SCBWI conference in Los Angeles, which was a blast as always. This was my fourth year attending, and I couldn't help but marvel at the changes that have happened since that first conference:

Year 1: clueless writer with a completed mess of a manuscript and no friends
Year 2: aspiring writer with a manuscript in revisions who'd started to make a few new friends
Year 3: querying writer who had just received an offer of representation the day before the conference
Year 4: soon-to-be-published author with a two-book deal!

These days I don't attend the conference so much for the content being offered as for the chance to spend time with "old" writer friends and make new ones. I also hosted the always-delightful Ghenet Myrthil at my home and had a ton of fun getting to know her better. And as an added bonus, my agent was on the faculty this year and I got to spend a bunch of time with her, which was so awesome. I seriously still have to pinch myself some days because I can't believe I get to work with her. She's the best!

I'm spending the weekend in beautiful San Francisco with my husband, but starting next week I'm going to be on a mega-tight schedule and will probably not be blogging for a while. So enjoy the rest of your summers, and I'll see you on the other side!

In which I get to show you...MY COVER!!!

Today I am absolutely hyperactively excited to share with the world the cover for my debut THE LOST PLANET!

Here it is!!!!

Isn't it FABULOUS?!! The gorgeous artwork was done by the very talented Jason Chan, and I have to say, the first time I saw it, it completely blew my mind. Actually, the first time I saw it, I was at an eye appointment without my glasses, peering at my phone with my -9.5 vision, and it still BLEW MY MIND.  I had no idea what to expect with my cover, and I'm so very, very happy that the artist and the brilliant people at Feiwel and Friends came up with something that captures the spirit of the book so perfectly!! Tell me what you think in the comments, I'd love to hear!

In other news, I also received these lovelies in the mail yesterday:

Real live ARCs!! (ARC = advance reader copy, for those who may not know...an uncorrected early version, not the final hardcover!) I may have spent a little time yesterday staring at them...and may even have taken a whiff or two of the pages. Book smell! My signing time at BEA is Friday the 31st from 11-12, so if you're going to be there, do come by and be sure to introduce yourself!!

Friday Tidbits

Happy Friday! I've got a few things to share with you all today:

My well-traveled elephant bush at its new home

First off--check it out! My book is available for pre-order on Amazon! This is very surreal to me.

Second, the BEA autographing authors list is out, and if you scroll down far enough you'll see my little name! Yes, I will be signing ARCs of THE LOST PLANET at BEA this spring! Right now this is kind of terrifying to me, but I'm sure it will be fun. I just feel bad for whoever the poor soul is that ends up first in line, because I can't promise I'll sign much more than a line of shaky chicken scratch on that first copy.

Third, it's not ready quite yet, but soon I will be launching my new website! I've been working with a very talented web designer who specializes in author's sites, and I'm very excited about what he's come up with. I can't wait to share it, so keep an eye out for changes ahead.

The move went smoothly and we're finally settled in our new home, although the garage is still full of unopened boxes. I've been made to promise that I will sort through my books and give all the inessential ones away before our next move. As I slowly put them all back on their shelves, I have to admit that this seems like a reasonable demand. But today is not for unpacking--today is for celebrating because some of my very favorite writers are on their way over as I type for a Friday mini-retreat. Huzzah! *scampers away to fire up the coffee pot*

NEWS!

If you happen to subscribe to the Publisher's Weekly Children's Bookshelf newsletter, you might have seen this little tidbit earlier today:

AHHHHHHHHHH I AM SO EXCITED TO BE ABLE TO SHARE THIS!!!!! My book is going to be published by Macmillan!!!!!

We got our first offer about two weeks after we went on sub, so I've been sitting on this news for a few months. Remember my post about flying to Turkey for a family emergency? Yeah, that's when the auction was going down, a testament to Why You Want To Have An Agent, because while I was a jetlagged, dazed, rambling mess, my fabulous agent was handling everything like the amazing pro she is. I am SO grateful to her and the awesome New Leaf team for giving me great support and advice on a really big decision. Since then everything has been going really fast--like, greased lightning fast--and I've been having a great ride with the excellent people at Feiwel & Friends. I'm SO happy to be there!

My friend Jack is going to help me sum up my feelings on everything:

Happy news!

It is my absolute delight to announce that I am now represented by Joanna Volpe of New Leaf Literary! Joanna reps some really excellent authors like Veronica Roth, Kody Keplinger, Susan Dennard, and Leigh Bardugo, and I can hardly believe that I get to work with her!

For those of you interested in how this came about, the answer is: massive amounts of serendipity. Joanna has actually been closed to submissions for a while now--you may have heard how she recently opened her new agency? But back in May she offered a full manuscript critique by random drawing to anyone who pre-ordered a copy of Leigh Bardugo's SHADOW AND BONE from Books of Wonder in NYC. I was all, Hey, a fabulous signed book and a chance at a great critique? I'll buy a ticket in that lottery! And then holy crap, I won! I won't share the chat I had with my CP Liz when I got this news, because it's about 85% shocked profanity. I was so thrilled.

Like most (all?) writers, I am a daydreamer. I imagined how cool it would be if she read my book and loved it. I didn't realistically expect this to happen--it wasn't like she'd requested material from me, you know, on purpose. So when I got her email asking if we could set up a phone call, I told myself, Don't get your hopes up, lady! Maybe she just wants to tell you in person that your story is crazypants!

But instead she told me she loved it, and she offered me representation. And then my head exploded.

I've been busting my tail on the same book for a long time, revising and tweaking until I wanted to club myself unconscious rather than open that doc again. I've learned a ton from the entire process, and I wouldn't even be close to this point if it weren't for all my awesome critique partners. And for SHADOW AND BONE--which, by the way, is an *excellent* book. Buy it, read it, love it!

And Leigh Bardugo, if you ever read this: I think I owe you a drink.