Official Maria V. Snyder Blog

I really didn't know what to title this blog, since it's going to be a little bit of everything.  However, the reason I went with Trella is the obvious fact that OUTSIDE IN is out, and because  she is blogging about how to survive in her world over at Bitten By Books today (starting around 12:00 p.m. Central Standard Time).  As usual, there will be prizes for commenters.  I'm giving away a $50 Amazon gift card and a signed copy of OUTSIDE IN to a grand prize winner (open internationally) and five more signed copies to five runner ups :) Here's the link - the event's going on right now!:    http://www.bittenbybooks.com/37040/author-maria-v In other news, I'm nearing the end of TOUCH OF POWER.  I have until March 11th to finish and do a quite revision before handing it in.  It will go through a number of revisions based on comments from my editor, agent, critique partner and daughter (who reads my manuscripts with a red pen in hand ;).  The book is due out Ja

Readers have been emailing me that Amazon.com has shipped the books, but the book stores don't have their copies yet.  Amazon posted a February 15th release date, but my publisher considers it a March release, which means the last Tuesday of February.  Odd.  I'd suggest if you're planning on going out to purchase the book to call your local store and make sure they have a copy. I'm pretty excited to see this one in print.  So far, the reviews have been great and I've done a number of interviews with give aways.  I'll post the links below.  One has a cupcake sculpture and Captain Jack Sparrow as the interviewer (amazing and fun!). OUTSIDE IN will be released in the UK on March 18th and not in Australia until July 2011.  A note for my Australian readers - I have a new page on my website that has news and releases for my Australian edition.  Plus any big news that I might post, like a future tour, when I can ;>  Here's a link to the special page:  http

Many of you have heard I'm working on a new fantasy series.  It's actually due to my editor on March 1st and I really, really should be writing....  ;> For a few months now, the novel hasn't had a title.  I've been referring to it as the Healer fantasy or novel number nine (N to the 3rd power or cubed if you're a math geek...er...lover).  Finding the perfect title for a book is sometimes hard for an author and then when you add in the opinions of an editor, her boss, the imprint manager, the sales staff, the PR department, foreign offices, etc....  It makes it even harder.  Titles are important - many readers have told me the title caught their eye (same with book covers) and I appreciate the expertise my editor and all those others bring to the table. After a month of debate......drum roll please......novel number nine is now TOUCH OF POWER. Here's the cover blurb:  Laying hands upon the injured and dying, Avry of Kazan assumes their wounds and diseas

A couple weeks ago my family escaped the cold and snow and went down to the Caribbean for a cruise on the 2nd biggest ship on the ocean - Royal Caribbean's Freedom of the Seas.  The Oasis of the Seas is the biggest ship EVER (with the Allure in the same class).  I don't think we'll go on that size ship again.  The few perks didn't outweigh the downside of being on a ship with 3,634 others.  With that many people, we had to wait in line for everything and go to the theater 30 minutes early if we wanted a decent seat.  The dining room was noisy and busy with the wait staff rushing around.  For our next cruise, we'll probably return to the Voyager class size, which is one smaller than the Freedom class. One of the perks of the bigger ship was the Flow Rider - a place to surf.  However, the Flowrider had seats surrounding it so people could watch others wipe out.  As a spectator, it was fun to watch the competitions and when the sports staff demostrated (they're r