The One with All the Feels

Guys.

I don't even know how to begin this post.

Except, well... like this:

The LOSING IT paperback released yesterday in the U.S. (and Canada and a few other places!), and it has all just been so wonderfully overwhelming. Thank you so much to everyone who went out and bought the book, and SUPER thanks if you sent me a picture like this one from Sara in Virginia. 

You guys rock like the rockiest of all rockstars... yeah. Um. I love you guys and clearly don't have the words to properly articulate it. Between the pb release and all the pre-orders of FAKING IT, I'm pretty much a messy, embarrassing ball of feelings. 

And to show my love, I'm extending the LOVE LETTERS contest I posted about a few weeks ago. Essentially-- the contest works like this. You get one entry each time you share the love about LOSING IT. That love can be tweeting a picture of the book in a bookstore (like the one above). It can be making a blog post, tweet, or facebook post about the book. It can be a review posted to Amazon or B&N or Goodreads. It can be pretty much ANYTHING. I'm all about the creativity. Like check out this awesomeness from blogger Eileen... 

AND... you can post your love letter in as many places as you would like with one entry for each one. Just make sure you send me proof in the form of a link or picture to losingitloveletters@gmail.com or it doesn't count. Originally the contest was scheduled to end at the end of February (aka tomorrow), but I've decided to extend it through the end of LOSING IT'S first week on sale. The contest now ends Monday, March 4th at 12:01 AM EST. I'll be giving signed books and fun LOSING IT themed merchandise like the "Stop! Cats!" Panties. :) The contest is INTERNATIONAL, so if you're jealous of the people buying the book in the U.S. when you can't... here is your solution! 

Well, folks. That's all I have. 

Except, you know, my complete and utter love for you all. 

In Awkward <3, 

Cora

P.S. Check out this New Girl gif I found. I died laughing because, well, Jess is so awkward like Bliss and well... the rest is obvious if you've read the book. 

The One with the Present (and more news!)

Just popping in to give you all a bit of news!

First off, don't forget! LOSING IT comes out in paperback in the U.S. this Tuesday, February 26th! It should also be available in other countries that my U.S. publisher distributes to like Canada, the Philippines, etc. I'm so very excited to see this book out in the world! If you see the book in your local store on Tuesday please do tweet or facebook me a picture! I've already heard a few reports of the book being out early in a couple places, so keep your eyes peeled!

Look! Even the spine of the book is pretty. :D It's not too late to win your very own signed copy in my international Love Letters contest. You can get entries for posting a review on a blog or Amazon, for facebooking or tweeting, or even by telling people about the book in person! And you can enter as many times as you'd like! Check out the contest post for more info. 

ALSO, Rights to LOSING IT have sold in France! Whoo-hoo! Here's the announcement from Publisher's Marketplace: 

French rights to Cora Carmack's LOSING IT, to La Martiniere, in a three-book deal, at auction, by Donatella D'Ormesson, in association with Kathleen Ortiz at New Leaf Literary & Media, on behalf of Suzie Townsend.

So exciting!!!


And lastly, I'm giving you all fair warning that I might be a little absent over the next few weeks. I'll try to keep up replying to your tweets and facebook posts (which I love by the way), but I'm working really hard on Kelsey's book, and will likely spend most of my time holed up in the writing cave! But to make up for it... I'm going to give you a present, in the form of a tiny little snippet from Kelsey's book, which I'm working on right now. I'm still working on the first draft of this, but thought you all might like a sneak peek:

Warm skin brushed against my arm, and I shivered when he whispered, “I didn’t realize you weren’t alone.”

“I didn’t realize a little competition would scare you.”

A laugh rumbled in his chest. “Do I look scared, Princess?” 

Don't forget! I'll be posting another snippet from Cade's book, FAKING IT (releasing June 4th) when we hit 2000 followers on Facebook!

The One Where We Meet Max

Okay my lovelies! It's reward time! Because you all are awesome, and we hit 1500 likes on my Facebook page, it's time for another teaser from FAKING IT!


This time I've picked something from Max's POV. Here's what the FAKING IT cover copy says about her:

Mackenzie “Max” Miller has a problem. Her parents have arrived in town for a surprise visit, and if they see her dyed hair, tattoos, and piercings, they just might disown her. Even worse, they’re expecting to meet a nice, wholesome boyfriend, not a guy named Mace who has a neck tattoo and plays in a band. All her lies are about to come crashing down around her, but then she meets Cade.

For Cade's book, I purposely wanted someone very different from Bliss. Where Bliss was tentative and funny, Max is bold and sarcastic and hardened. She doesn't over-think things, and in fact, sometimes doesn't think through her actions at all. Well, enough of me blabbing about her. Time for her to say hello.

Here's a brief snippet from FAKING IT: 

Cade coughed, and then groaned. I moved closer and wrapped an arm around his waist. His hard body pressed into mine, and the heat of him seeped into my skin. His brown eyes met mine, and there were volumes written in his expression. Those volumes contained words that terrified me, but I couldn’t look away.

"I'm sorry," he said. His eyes closed, and he teetered towards me. His forehead pressed into my temple in a gesture that felt sweet and familiar. He swallowed, and I could feel every imperceptible change in his body.

I held tighter to him and asked, "What could you possibly have to be sorry for?"

"I'm getting blood on you."

I laughed. "Only you would apologize for something like that, Golden Boy."

His eyes were open again, and they locked on mine. He wasn’t laughing. He shook his head. "I meant I was sorry for kissing you."

With his forehead pressed against mine, the sight of him filled up my vision. There was nothing else in that moment, but him. And he… he reminded me of music. Of the way singing made me feel. Like I was falling and flying, freedom and fear.

Without thinking it through, I said, “Don’t be. I’m not.” 

I'll release another teaser when we hit 2000 likes! And I've already got a good one in mind. :)

The One with the Panties

Yep. You read that right. PANTIES. 

Okay, let me back up a bit. 

Hey, it's Valentine's Day!  Whoo-hoo!  (Or Boo! Depending on your mood). 

And I have a SUPER fun, SUPER special giveaway for you guys. 

Now, most of you have already read the book, so I didn't want to give away an e-book copy. And I already have a contest going to win signed paperbacks. So, I decided to do something a little different.

At least one winner will have his or her choice from the LOSING IT Merchandise below. Here's what's up for grabs:

Stop! Cats! Boy brief underwear :)

a FLABBERGASTED T-shirt

And for the Valentine's Hater's-- A Kelsey-inspired flask

There you go ladies and gents! A unique Valentine's Giveaway! I DARE another author out there to giveaway panties and flask in the same event. *DARE*

Giveaway ends at 12:00 AM EST on 2/18. International. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The One with the Reveal

Guys... I cannot even begin to express how much I love you all, and how exciting you guys have made... well, my life.

The U.S. Paperback of LOSING IT releases in two weeks and one day. In two weeks and one day, I will find my book in a bookstore. WARNING: My twitter feed that week might consist of pictures of me with the book in every bookstore I can find. If you enjoyed LOSING IT, I would be honored if you would buy a print copy for your book collection. You can pre-order it now.

You can also enter my LOVE LETTERS contest for the chance to win a signed copy (open internationally).

And now, on to thing you really want. The cover of Cade's book FAKING IT. I've been very secretive about this book. I didn't let anyone read it before I sent it in to my editor, and I've told you all next to nothing about it. But the secrets stop now!

So firstly, you might be wondering what this book is about? Well... here goes:

FAKING IT by Cora Carmack
releases 06/04/2013 from William Morrow Paperbacks

Mackenzie "Max" Miller has a problem. Her parents have arrived in town for a surprise visit, and if they see her dyed hair, tattoos, and piercings, they just might disown her. Even worse, they're expecting to meet a nice, wholesome boyfriend, not a guy named Mace who has a neck tattoo and plays in a band. All her lies are about to come crashing down around her, but then she meets Cade.

Cade moved to Philadelphia to act and to leave his problems behind in Texas. So far though, he's kept the problems and had very little opportunity to take the stage. When Max approaches him in a coffee shop with a crazy request to pretend to be her boyfriend, he agrees to play the part. But when Cade plays the role a little too well, they're forced to keep the ruse going. And the more they fake the relationship, the more real it begins to feel.

SQUEEEE!!! So now that you know what it's about, check out this AWESOMEPANTS cover! 

It's just so pretty. *pets the pretty*

It's okay... you can pet it, too. 

BTW... this book comes out on my BIRTHDAY! Can you say BEST. BIRTHDAY. EVER. 

The One with the Contest: LOVE LETTERS TO LOSING IT

Who's ready for an EPIC CONTEST of AWESOME? 

EDIT: I had a lot of confusion about the contest, but this can be as simple as you want it to be. All you have to do is post something positive about the book pretty much anywhere, and then send me proof in the form of a link or picture. You can post on facebook or tweet. You can post a review on Amazon or Barnes and Noble. You get an entry for each post that you make. So if you leave a review on Amazon, B&N, iBooks, Kobo, and Goodreads-- that's five entries and all you have to do is copy and paste. Leave any questions in the comment section at the bottom.  EDIT FINISHED :D

Let's start with the prize! 

I'll be giving away AT LEAST four signed, personalized copies of  the U.S. Paperback of LOSING IT. And I might increase that number or add other special prizes if we get a lot of participation! 

So... you guys interested? 

Want to know how you win? 

Well... here goes: 

Step One: 

Write a "love letter" to LOSING IT. This love letter could be just a normal review posted on your blog or Amazon or Goodreads. Or it could be something simple like your favorite quote, a funny gif or photo, etc. The "love letter" can really be anything you want it to be as long as you include the TITLE, AUTHOR, and RELEASE DATE (in Paperback 2/26/13). For UK and Australian readers, you can put the new UK Paperback release date: 3/28/13! This is an international contest, so readers from all countries are eligible to participate. If you're unsure what date to put on yours either ask me or just put the U.S. date to be safe. :)

EDIT: Now that the book has been released, no date needed! Just put available now or something along those lines. 

Here's an example by of a LOSING IT love letter by awesome fan (and soon to be author) L.M. Augustine:

What I thought before reading LOSING IT by Cora Carmack:

What I wanted to do to the author after reading:

LOSING IT by Cora Carmack: Available on 2/26/13 in Paperback! 

Step Two: 

Post your love letter. If your love letter is a review, you can post it on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Goodreads, iBooks, etc. You can post your letter on your blog or facebook. It's as simple as copying and pasting. You can also print hard copies and post it on your campus message board, the community board at your local coffee shop, or just pass it out to people on the street. Or if you're really hardcore, you can go into an apple store and put your love letter as the background on every device. :D You get one entry for every time you post, and you can post as much as you want! You don't have to stick to one letter either.(Note: Please only post your letter on your own Facebook page, blog, etc. We don't want to annoy anyone by spamming them). 

Step Three: 

Send in your proof! You can send a link if your love letter is posted online or a picture if you posted it in real life. Email your proof to losingitloveletters (at) gmail (dot) com. Please send each entry in an individual email if possible. 

So... to recap:

1. Make a love letter (Don't forget to include title, author, and release date)

2. Post it. 

3. Send in your proof to losingitloveletters (at) gmail (dot) com. 

Possible step 4: Win a signed, personalized copy of LOSING IT! 

I'll be giving one copy to a random entrant, one to the most creative letter, one to the most creative posting location, and one to the person who posts the most (again, no spamming). If we get a lot of participation, I might just increase the number of copies I give away. I'm all about sharing the love. :)

This contest will run through 12:01 AM Monday March 4th. So you have plenty of time to share! 

And if you need another example of  how to participate, check out this hilarious video by Super!Fan Ana... 

And here's some icons for the event. Feel free to snag. :)

Please help me spread the word! You guys are the best! 

In Awkward <3, 

Cora

EDIT: 
Frequently Asked Questions: 

Q: Can I post my letter on Twitter?

A: Absolutely! You can even post it multiple times. However, I'm going to limit the number of times you can count a twitter letter to 5 times. Same goes for Facebook. BUT... after those five times, you can always craft a new letter. :)

The One Where YOU Can Participate!

HELLLLOOOOOO out there!

GUESS WHAT?

I just saw the final cover for Cade's Book-- FAKING IT!!! It is *fans self* so gorgeous!  *DANCES*

And.... not to be redundant, but GUESS WHAT ELSE? 

We're revealing the cover to YOU ALL in ONE WEEK! 

And you can help! If you have a blog, I'm holding sign-ups below for those who want to participate in the Cover Reveal. Just fill out the form, and I'll contact you with more information!