Angel Kiss Launch!

For anybody living in or close to Co. Kildare, the Angel Kiss launch will take place:

Thursday May 5th 2011 at 6.30 p.m.

in Barker & Jones Bookshop

2 Poplar Square, Naas, Co. Kildare.

Special guest is YA author Claire Hennessy! 

I'll be signing copies of Angel Kiss on the evening. 

All welcome!

Above are my launch invitations, designed by my wonderful friend Elizabeth Maybury.
 (They're bookmarks!)

I've got my dress, I've got my shoes, I'm SO looking forward to it! 

Talking YA at the Mindfield Festival

I'm taking part in an event at the Mindfield Festival in Dublin this Saturday April 29th

called 'New Readers: Gritty Realities'. Myself and other YA authors Anna Carey, Sheena Wilkinson and Bridget Hourican will be discussing the phenomenon of teenage fiction. 

Mindfield will be held in Merrion Square and has a 'vibrant programme of fully-interactive talks, readings, debates, workshops and much more, covering a full spectrum of culture including architecture, literature, slam poetry, technology, gaming, climate change, social entrepreneurship, fashion, art and design.'

Tickets can be purchased for the entire festival or for individual events,

More info about the event here

Angel Kiss Giveaway!

*giveaway now closed *

Hey Everybody,

I'm giving away a personalized signed copy of my debut novel Angel Kiss, which will be published on May 5th by Puffin's teen imprint Razorbill, to one lucky blog reader! Also included in the giveaway is a can't-be-bought-anywhere Puffin tote bag!

To be in with a chance to win, you must:
1. be a follower of my blog (you can follow with google/twitter/bloglovin etc).
2. send your name and email address to laurajanecass@gmail.com (put 'giveaway' in the subject line).
If you're under 16 make sure you get permission from a parent or guardian! :)

It's one entry per person and a winner will be picked at random. The giveaway is open internationally and the closing date is Monday May 2nd at 1pm (GMT).
Good luck!

*giveaway now closed*

A Little Update...

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Hello Everybody!

I've been in my writing hideaway for 20 days now, and it's going okay. I've got all my deadline essentials: pretty stationary, giant hoodie, music, and Gilmore Girls DVDs. There's a TV here but I've banned myself from it. I find watching the news and/or programmes I haven't seen before too distracting when I'm in extreme writing mode, and yet I like to watch maybe an hour of something a day to take my mind off plot problems and generally stop myself from going mental. Hence the DVDs. I've seen all the Gilmore Girls episodes loadsa times so they're not distracting at all.  Kinda reminds me of when I was learning to drive, and I couldn't have the radio on because I found listening to new music or people talking too distracting. But my car was so old it couldn't play CDs, just cassettes, and the only cassette I find could in our house was The Eagles Greatest Hits. I'd have 'Life in the Fast Lane' playing whilst driving 30 mph and panicking whenever I came to a roundabout. It soon got to the point where I couldn't concentrate without The Eagles. Mysteriously my friends stopped asking for lifts...

Speaking of music, here's my writing retreat playlist!  The following tracks are the ones I've had on repeat so far.

Young Americans - David Bowie
What a tune. I think at one stage last week I was actually dancing round my printer to this... I need to get out more.

If I Ever Leave This World Alive - Flogging Molly
My brother got me into these, I LOVE this song.

Don't Believe a Word - Thin Lizzy

I listen to lots of Thin Lizzy when I'm writing this series, it will become apparent why if you read Angel Kiss :)

Long Live - Taylor Swift
I'm still buzzing from seeing Taylor Swift live, she was so good. This is a really uplifting one!

Open Doors - Josh Ritter
Went to see him play in Dublin at the weekend, such a great gig.  I'm an extreme Josh fangirl.

What's your favourite band? I need some new suggestions! :)

P.S. It's only 15 days till Angel Kiss is out! Madness!

Thoughts for a Thursday

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"Every heart is a package tangled up in knots someone else tied."

Josh Ritter

I'm going to see Josh Ritter this Saturday! Cannot wait! He's one of my favourite musicians and his lyrics are just amazing. He has a novel coming out this year too, I reckon it's going to be great. 

YAY!

They're here! My copies of Angel Kiss are here! I went up to Penguin to collect them this morning and have been celebrating ever since.  I've spent a lot of time staring at the book and admiring it...

And seeing how it looks in various places around my room. 

And my brother has been taking lots of pictures of it:

My brother holding Angel Kiss

Me looking deliriously happy 

My Grandad reading Angel Kiss!

Champagne! 

My Mam and I

 *clink*

It's out in exactly four weeks, on May 5th.

I'm so excited!