Congrats Christian!

Congrats to Christian McKay Heidicker on his latest deal with Simon & Schuster! From Publishers Weekly:

Christian Trimmer at Simon & Schuster has acquired Christian McKay Heidicker‘s YA novel Throw Your Arm Across Your Eyes and Scream. Pitched as Pleasantville meets Cloverfield, the novel follows 15-year-old Phoebe, daughter of the woman who was carried to the top of the Empire State Building by King Kong, in a world where the horrors of 1940s and 50s sci-fi movies are everyday occurrences. Publication is planned for summer 2018; John M. Cusick of Folio Jr. / Folio Literary Management brokered the deal for world rights.

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You can find Christian online at http://www.cmheidicker.com/ and https://twitter.com/cmheidicker 

Get his debut CURE FOR THE COMMON UNIVERSE at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Indiebound, and check it out on Goodreads.

“A plugged-in young adult comedy about the pain of unplugging… perfect for teen gamers and readers who are fans of Jesse Andrews and John Green.” (School Library Journal)

“Heidicker’s debut crackles with twitchy energy… this is a fun, absurdist romp through gaming culture, populated by zany characters and a quest narrative worthy of its own game.” (Booklist)

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Heidicker’s CURE a Most-Anticipated YA

So excited to see Christian Heidicker’s CURE FOR THE COMMON UNIVERSE on Barnes & Noble’s 26 Most Anticipated June Young Adult Books!

Literally minutes after a real (!) live (!) girl (!!) agrees to let him take her on his very first date, screen-addicted Jaxon’s dad and stepmom drag him off to video game rehab. There, he must earn one million points over the course of four days in order to win his freedom in time to go on his date—which will require interfacing not with pixels but with actual humans.

“A plugged-in young adult comedy about the pain of unplugging… perfect for teen gamers and readers who are fans of Jesse Andrews and John Green.” (School Library Journal)

“Heidicker’s debut crackles with twitchy energy… this is a fun, absurdist romp through gaming culture, populated by zany characters and a quest narrative worthy of its own game.” (Booklist)

Pre-Order out CURE FOR THE COMMON UNIVERSE at Amazon, Indiebound, and Barnes & Noble, and check it out on Goodreads.

You can find Christian on twitter, too.

Thanks for the Trouble Book Launch

It’s coming! To the Strand! February 22nd!

Come join Tommy, pal and fellow-author Adam Silvera, and a whole host of brilliant human beings at the book launch for Tommy’s second novel, THANKS FOR THE TROUBLE…

 

“Tommy Wallach, Brooklyn-based musician and author of the best-selling We All Looked Up, comes to the Strand for a night of stories and songs to celebrate his brand-new novel! Thanks for the Trouble is a story of first and last loves that blurs the line between real and make-believe. Tommy will be in the Rare Book Room to discuss the characters, the story, and how it all came together with Adam Silvera, fellow chart-topping author of More Happy Than Not.”

Check out the event page on the Strand’s website to get your “ticket” (a copy of THANKS FOR THE TROUBLE). I’ll see you there!

February Reads!

Congrats to Sharon Biggs Waller, Tommy Wallach, and Michelle Modesto– all three are on this awesome list of Barnes & Noble’s 30 Most-Anticipated February Reads. 

 

About the books and their authors:
You can pre-order Sharon Biggs Waller’s THE FORBIDDEN ORCHID (Viking) on Amazon, and Barnes & Noble, or check it out on Goodreads. You can also find Sharon at her website, on Facebook, and on twitter.

Check out Tommy Wallach’s THANKS FOR THE TROUBLE (Simon & Schuster) on Goodreads, and pre-order on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Indiebound. You can also check out WE ALL LOOKED UP on Goodreads. Order now at Barnes & Noble, Amazon, or Indiebound.

And finally, you can pre-order Michelle Modesto’s amazing debut REVENGE AND THE WILD (Balzer & Bray) at B&N, Amazon, and Indiebound, and review on Goodreads. You can also find Michelle on her website and on twitter.

 

 

 

Thanks for the Trouble’s 3rd Starred Review!

Congrats to Tommy Wallach!

From School & Library Journal: “VERDICT A unique and compelling tale. The narrator’s hilariously crass but poignant voice is sure to intrigue even the most reluctant of readers.”

Check out THANKS FOR THE TROUBLE on Goodreads, and pre-order on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Indiebound.

You can also check out WE ALL LOOKED UP on Goodreads. Order now at Barnes & Noble, Amazon, or Indiebound.

Christian Heidicker, Hannah Moskowitz, and Kat Helgeson on HuffPo’s YA Trends List

So cool to see Christian Heidicker’s CURE FOR THE COMMON UNIVERSE and Hannah Moskowitz and Kat Helgeson’s GENA/FINN on Huffington Post’s YA Book Trends list. Check it out…

5 Exciting YA Book Trends to Look for in 2016

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Check out CURE FOR THE COMMON UNIVERSE (Simon & Schuster, June 2016) on Goodreads, or preorder at Amazon and IndieBound.

And GENA/FINN (Chronicle Books, April 2016)! Goodreads, Amazon, B&N.

MANIC PIXEL SCAVENGER HUNT WINNERS (AND FER REALS COVER REVEAL)!

Today we announce the winers of the #manicpixel scavenger hunt and #CureFortheCommonUniverse cover reveal giveaway! And now here’s Christian…

Welcome back, scavengers! Glad you survived that crazy, pixelated city.

It would be exhaustive to list everything discovered on the CURE cover, so I’ll just name the top ten things I didn’t even know were on there (and a few that made me chuckle):

1. “Six barber-pole swords”
2. “A man reading a love letter written with invisible ink”
3. “A lucha libre parade float falling in the street” alternately “Just the sweetest, fattest, blue-haired little baby chubbo that better end up on a t-shirt or I’m going to scream and cry at the same time. Scry? Cream? Hmmmm.”
4. “A camouflage helicopter blasting David Bowie music (obviously)” alternately “the Quad City DJs copter blasting tunes to the neighborhood”
5. “1/10 of a robo-squid”
6. “The bottom of someone’s leg, wearing a purple-striped sock. This person must be a giant.”
7. “Two happy green tripods talking about the upcoming presidential election (they’re both rooting for Trump).” alternately “A couple of gleeps having a sweet convo”
8. “A rather muscular wrestler standing under a purple umbrella with his favorite child (everyone has a favorite).”
9. “A potted succulent on a balcony.”
10. “That yellow dog head is totally licking its own eyeball.” alternately “A dog-head sculpture. Maybe it’s a vehicle… If people ride in these, do they stick their heads out the window?”

And, of course, they can all by seen now, by you, in full, on the no-longer-pixelated CURE FOR THE COMMON UNIVERSE cover:

Add on Goodreads.

Preorder on Amazon this weekend.

This eye candy of a book was pitched by John Cusick, bought by Simon & Schuster Teen, edited by Christian Trimmer, and designed by Greg Stadnyk with art by eboy. I feel obscenely lucky to work with such talented people and to have such a jaw-dropping luscious cover. I only hope the words inside live up to it.

As my friend Korey Hunt, who actually came up with the idea for a story about a video game rehab in the first place . . . MISCHIEF SCAVENGED.

But that’s not why you’re here.

You’re here to see if you won one of our five elite prizes, which, to remind you, look like this:

Ooh, look! The cover isn’t blacked out anymore!

Our five Manic Pixel Scavenger Hunt winners are . . .

1. Krys McCintyre
2. Yamille Mendez
3. Annette Weed
4. Alicia Van Noy Call
5. Tim Campbell

The Cotton Floozy will get stitching and Simon & Schuster will get printing and we’ll hopefully have your stuff out to you by December.

Thank you for hunting. I hope you enjoy the inside of the book as much as I enjoy the outside.

See you in June,

Christian McKay Heidicker

P.S! Thanks to all of the bloggers who participated: Christian Trimmer, John Cusick, Elana Johnson, Jennifer Bardsley, Valynne Maetani (friend and agent-getter), Brooke Lark (who designed my website and shot the prizes!), Carol Lynch Williams (who taught me a thing or eight about writing), and finally, Marie Davis Brian, The Cotton Floozy, who made the embroidery-posing-as-cross-stitch that elicited just as much drool as the cover, and whose company I misspelled several times throughout the blog because I’m not accustomed to using the word floozy.

Editor’s note: Both spellings (floozy and floosy) are acceptable, but there’s only one acceptable place to order top quality embroideries: http://www.cottonfloozy.com

CURE FOR THE COMMON UNIVERSE Cover Reveal and Giveaway Starts Today!

Today the #CureForTheCommonUniverse Manic Pixel Scavenger Hunt and Giveaway continues! Take it away Christian…

WELCOME TO THE MANIC PIXEL SCAVENGER HUNT!

LET’S GET SCAVENGING!

This is it, folks. This is your chance to easily win the CURE prize package:

An ARC of Cure for the Common Universe and an embroidery of ‘Nobody Puts Princess in a Castle’ from The Cotton Floozy!

Oo. Aah.

For a chance to win, just participate in the Manic Pixel Scavenger Hunt.

Oh, look, here’s a pixel now!

What do you see?

Write down your findings from this and the other pixels at any or all of the other blogs (listed below) and email them to me at cmheidicker@gmail.com or message them to C.M. Heidicker on Facebook.

For every three things you send, I’ll put your name in the hat (or my jeans pocket) again and again and again, and then I’ll draw five names out of the hat (pocket) and send prize packages to those people.

Go! Get started! Win it! Win it all!

Valynne Maetani

Carol Lynch Williams

Elana Johnson

Christian Trimmer

John Cusick

Brooke Lark

Brooke Kelly

The Cotton Floosy

#cureforthecommonuniverse #manicpixel

(I hope you’ll take some time to explore the amazing blogs.)

(I also hope this means that more than just my mom will participate.)

Tune in tomorrow to find out if you’ve won!

Happy Scavenging!

Go check out the book on Goodreads!

Prepare to be cured June 2016.

CURE FOR THE COMMON UNIVERSE Cover Reveal and Scavenger Hunt!

Today client-extraordinaire and brilliant author Christian Heidicker takes over the blog for this awesome cover reveal scavenger hunt and giveaway. Take it away Christian…!

Hello, everyone. My name is Christian McKay Heidicker.

WELCOME TO THE CURE FOR THE COMMON UNIVERSE COVER REVEAL AND SCAVENGER HUNT!

Whew. That’s a mouthful. Let’s try . . .

MANIC PIXEL SCAVENGER HUNT!

There. Better.

You may be asking yourself, where’s the cover? I came here to see a cover.

Okay, first, have I told you how nice your hair is looking today?

And second, the cover isn’t here.

CURE’s cover art is a little intense to take in all at once, so for everyone’s safety, I’ve divided it into nine pieces (er, pixels) and spread them across the internet.

WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS TO US?

To make a scavenger hunt, of course. What’s the use of a book about a kid going to video game rehab if there isn’t some gaming first?!

Also, this will be your chance to take in all of the juicy (potentially scandalous) details of the cover before it’s fully revealed.

The art is reminiscent of books like I Spy or Where’s Waldo, so this scavenger hunt will work just like that . . . except instead of finding a cats eye marble or some seemingly friendless chump in a red and white striped sweater, you’ll receive ACTUAL PRIZES.

ACTUAL PRIZES!

Five lucky winners will receive a signed ARC (advanced reading copy) of CURE FOR THE COMMON UNIVERSE (cover obscured for obvious reasons) AND an embroidery of one of the phrases from the book, hand stitched by the extremely talented Cotton Floozy.

GAH! I WANT THAT. HOW DO I WIN?

For every three things you discover hidden in the nine pixels and email to cmheidicker@gmail.com or message to C.M. Heidicker on Facebook, I’ll enter your name again . . . and again . . . and again. (There’s a lotta stuff on that cover.)

EXAMPLE:

Subject: Manic Pixel Scavenger Hunt

Dearest Christian,

I found:

1. A puppy made of garlic cloves
2. A bottomless bowl of undercooked breadsticks
3. A Christmas tree wearing lipstick
4. Amelia Earheart’s monocle
5. A bottomless bowl of overcooked breadsticks
6. A Who*

*(Objects not actually on cover, but no less interesting than what’s really on there.)

THAT’S IT!

So, no, the cover is not here. But fear not! Tomorrow, I’ll be posting their whereabouts on this blog and at www.cmheidicker.com. (You can also follow them with #cureforthecommonuniverse and #manicpixel.)

Tomorrow, the Manic Pixel Scavenger Hunt begins!

In the meantime, go check out the book on Goodreads!

Again, the cover is exquisitely complex, and in my personal opinion, AMAZING. It was designed by Greg Stadnyk with art by eboy (that of Miley Cyrus fame).

Prepare to be cured, June 2016.

Congrats to Kat Helgeson on Her Debut Deal!

Huge congratulations to the wonderful Kat Helgeson on her debut young adult deal! From Publisher’s Weekly:

Catherine Laudone at Simon & Schuster has acquired Kat Helgeson‘s young adult novel, Bidder’s Choice. The story follows two teens entangled in a cutthroat school tradition: a prom date auction. Publication is set for summer 2017; John Cusick of Folio Jr./Folio Literary Management brokered the deal for world rights.

BIDDER’S CHOICE is Kat’s first solo project. GENA/FINN, co-written with Hannah Moskowitz and told entirely in texts, chats, and blog posts, is coming in Winter 2016 from Chronicle Books. Check it out on Goodreads, and find Kat on her website and twitter.