A new blog . . . and Book Four!

Very soon, in a few weeks, I should have moved from this Blogger blog to a new, downloadable Wordpress format. I'm really excited about it. It feels a little like I'm graduating. Which is kind of cool, as a grown up, to still have things to graduate to.

I hope I don't eat my words, and find out it's just too hard to hook the reigns around that self-hosted Wordpress stallion. But it will be so cool, so I'm up for the ride!!

I've been completely buried in Book Four--which is a good thing. I'm really enjoying it. So odd for me, though, that Book Three is still not out yet. When you're all caught up on Erec's latest I'll feel a lot better. :}

Luv, Kaza

CONTEST #2!!

I have been LOVING the contests on the forum page of ErecRex.com! The fiction contest in November was a blast. The submissions were great, and now there is some really fun reading up on the forum for everyone! The first prize went to an Erec Rex fan fiction story about Balthazar Ugry that was amazingly good.

Now, in January, there is a three part ART contest with some really great prizes including posters, tee shirts, and even something one of a kind: the first five chapters of Book Three printed off my printer, personalized to the winner, and signed by the author (me!)

The contest includes an Original Art, Fan Art, and Movie sections, and the submissions so far have blown me away. :}

On the writing front, Book Four, The Three Furies, is going great. It should be done as a first draft by the end of this month!

Love to you all, and GREAT New Year ...

Kaza

Happy Holidays!!!!

I hope that you and your families all have a great holiday season! It's been a really incredible one for me. I think my best gift was that my favorite audio reader in the world is recording Erec Rex this weekend - as I'm writing this! His name is Simon Jones, and he's done The Thief Lord, The Bartimaeus Books, and the Charlie Bone series, among many others. He once played Arthur Dent in Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy!!

Let's all make this new year our best one yet. I'm not sure yet what resolutions I'll pick, but maybe this time I'll follow them a little longer!

Enjoy, and have a fantastic one. :}

Love always,

Kaza

A Travelling Blog Award!

How cool is this! I just got a pass-around award for The Coolest Blog from Melissa at Bibliophile's Retreat! This was a definite honor to me, because I love Bibliophile Retreat blog. Thank you, Melissa!

Now, as a Butterfly Award winner I have the privilege of choosing up to 10 more blogs I'd like to nominate. If you are nominated, here are the rules:

The rules of the Butterfly award are:
1. Put the logo on your blog.
2. Add a link to the person who awarded you.
3. Nominate 10 other blogs (or fewer if you don't have time to do 10).
4. Add links to those blogs on yours.
5. Leave a message for your nominees on their blogs.

1. I nominate first James Dashner's blog, The Dashner Dude. James is the author of The 13th Reality, of which I have an autographed copy (and he has autographed copies of mine :}) I love to read James' blog - it's all about the real ups and downs of an author, which I can appreciate!

2. Chris Rettstatt has a fun blog, interviews lots of authors, and is an author himself! It doesn't hurt, of course, that he did a great interview of me (ahem!) Lol. Check out Chris Rettstatt's blog and also his books - he's the author of the Kaimira series!

3. Maybe this one should be first, but Kaleb Nation's blog is primo. Another author - Kaleb's book is coming out in Fall '09, Kaleb shares my same book agent, Richard Curtis (who is awesome.) And his blog is the absolute best. So funny and full of great homemade vids. Enjoy!

4. Kaleb wins twice with The Twilight Guy. How creative can you get, Kaleb? And what an awesome response this blog has had. Too cool.

5. Fanatic Space Blog is a definite winner. This is a fun, well-organized blog with lots of great info about fantasy and fandom. Well done!

6. Stephanie's Confessions of a Bookaholic should win for the gorgeous art alone - but is also chock full of great book reviews. Definitely worth checking out!

7. It is so cool to meet people all around the world. I know a great blogger in the Philippines, and love what she's done there. You should look at her blog Into the Wardrobe and get a taste of a fantasy and book fan's blog from around the world!

8. You like books? You like funny? You like cool blogs that make you smile and want to read more? Well, check out A Fort Made of Books (I love the name.) The blog author also reviewed books for a big Harry Potter fansite.

I could keep going, but I better stop here. Thanks to all the bloggers out there!!

Luv, Kaza :}

The FIrst Contest - Check it out!!

WOW, it's been a while since I've posted to my blog. It feels so good to be back!!

What have I been doing all this time, you may ask:
Well, it's really flown by so fast, because I've been about as busy as I've ever been in my life. Not only have I been traveling, visiting schools and conferences, and working on Book Four, Erec Rex: The Three Furies (working title,) but some big changes have been going on with the Erec Rex series.

Bigger and Better
The fantastic publishing giant, Simon and Schuster, bought out the Erec Rex series in an exciting (and rare!) eight book deal. This portends great things for the series, as this publisher is equipped to take the books to new and greater heights. They are also putting out audio books for Books One and Two in April - I can't wait to hear who will be reading my work! How fun. And, to make things even sweeter, the series continues to pop up in more and more countries around the world.

The Book Three Release
On the other hand, all things come with a price. This is worth it, I assure you, but there is now a delay in the release of Book Three, Erec Rex: The Search for Truth. This is because the new publisher will be re-releasing the first two books this coming April, which, of course, pushes the Book Three release back.

I assure you that it will be worth the wait! :}

CONTESTS for you!
During the wait, however, there is something fun to do on the ErecRex.com site for you and for me! I'm so excited about a series of contests - think the contests that Erec had to do during The Dragon's Eye - which will be posted on the forum site of the web page.

The first contest is being run now, through the month of November. It's a writing / fan fiction contest. All you have to do is post your own original story on the forum fan fiction page during the month of November and you are qualified to win.

PRIZES!!!!
The First Place winner will receive author signed hardcover copies of The Dragon's Eye and The Monsters of Otherness, plus a signed music CD.
The Second Place winner will receive a signed hardcover copy of The Dragon's Eye

Future contest winners will win other things including advance copies of Book Three!

I hope to see you all writing this month!!

Love always,

Kaza

Erec Rex hits Japan!

I just got the Japanese versions of the first two Erec Rex books from Japan - they are beautiful! There are only a few English words, like Erec Rex on the covers and my name on the backs, and the title pages in English inside. Luckily I know someone from Japan who translated a bit for me. It sounds like the story inside is the same (well, except for a few words like "howl" changed to "the sound a wolf makes," I guess things that don't translate directly.) But the titles are different! The title of Book One is The Magic Eye of the Dragon, and Book Two is The Birth of the Dark Prince. Wow - that's a change!! It actually may read The Arrival of the Dark Prince - it wasn't clear.

The books are SO beautiful - more than you can tell from the pictures. They're big, too, and they have dust jackets over soft covers. I love the art! This is Book Two - The figure in front with the eyes coming out in his face is obviously Baskania - but such a cool looking Baskania! I love the way his long fingernails are poised around Erec Rex. Notice Erec's hair - straight in front, and curly in back...!

This is Book One - check out Bethany's outfit!! It's hard to see here, but there is an awesome dragon curved around behind them. They're holding a scepter - very cool!!


Can't wait to see the art from more countries as it pops up! Here is the Thai version, they used the same artist as the American version. It looks SO cool, I love it -

Hello Thailand!

Where to start?
So much has gone on since my last blog. Maybe that's why I haven't posted for a while! I had an excellent trip to Arizona, but more of that later. That was such a great journey that it deserves it's own post. So now I'll talk about something really cool that has been really fun . . .


A live webcam interview in Thailand!
As you may know, Erec Rex is coming out in many countries around the world, which is so exciting! One of the cool things is getting to meet some great people in other countries. For example, I got to do a live interview in Thailand, via a webcam, during the release / launch of Erec Rex at the Bangkok Book Fair! Because of the time difference, it was from 2:00 - 3:30 AM here, so I was a bit out of it, but it was still a blast.

A new Erec Rex website
The Thai publisher put up an awesome Thai Erec Rex website that you should really check out. I love the opening page - wow!! The flash and graphics are great, and even though I can't read the language, it's still fun to see and look for the few English words that pop up here and there.

The Bangkok Book Fair
I am so amazed and impressed with the release of Erec Rex in Thailand. All I can say is, I want one of those scepters! They had a picture of the Erec Rex cover set up so people could take their picture as Erec in front of the cover, holding a scepter. The scepters were exactly like the one on the book cover - that was incredible. Check it out here.

Even more . . .
The people dressed up as Erec, Bethany and King Piter were so cool, too! Erec actually has one green eye, and hair that's straight in front and curly in back. Bethany's dress is patched like in the book! I love it.


So for now, sweet dreams. If I ever get back onto Eastern time it will be a miracle.
Enjoy!!
Love,
Kaza :}