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Announcing the Girls’ Nightmare Out #TorChat!

Announcing Girls’ Nightmare Out!

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August spells the end of glorious summer days and the return of classrooms and assigned reading. What better way to celebrate the end of summer than with a Young Adult #TorChat, followed by a one-of-a-kind tour!

Tor Books (@torbooks) is thrilled to announce Girls’ Nightmare Out, a week-long event featuring three amazing YA authors: Lisa Desrochers, Kendare Blake, and Marta Acosta!

Girls’ Nightmare Out will launch with the August #TorChat, part of a monthly series of genre-themed, hour-long chats created by Tor Books and hosted on Twitter. The chat will take place on next Wednesday, August 15th, from 4 to 5 PM Eastern. As students all across the country try to squeeze in just one more fun book before picking up their textbooks again, we’ll be joined by Lisa Desrochers (@LisaDez), the author of the Personal Demons trilogy, whose final volume, Last Rite, was published in May; Kendare Blake (@KendareBlake), whose debut took readers and critics alike by storm and whose new novel, Girl of Nightmares, a genre-bending love story drenched in blood and terror, publishes in August; and Marta Acosta (@MartaAcosta), author of the popular Casa Dracula series, as well as her YA debut, the gothic Dark Companion, published on July 3, 2012.

The chat will be loosely moderated by Katie Bartow, the blogger behind Mundie Moms, a popular YA review site. Katie founded Mundie Moms in January 2009 as a place for fans to discuss their favourite YA novels. From there, it grew into a community of fans and reviewers discussing every aspect of YA fiction and chatting with YA authors. Follow the chat and join in by using the Twitter hashtag #TorChat!

In the week following the chat, Girls’ Nightmare Out will take to the road, with Lisa, Kendare, and Marta going on a week-long tour, hitting cities all across the country! Dates and details are on Tor.com.

About the Authors

LISA DESROCHERS burst onto the YA scene in September 2010 with her debut novel Personal Demons, which was an ALA/YALSA Popular Paperback for Young Adults nominee and a Library Journal “Fall First” selection. Desrochers second installment Original Sin was highly anticipated and received rave reviews. And now Tor is proud to announce the release of the conclusion to the thrilling, edgy Personal Demons series, Last Rite, published on May 5, 2012.

With the help of the powerful angel Gabe and demon-turned-mortal Luc, Frannie has been able to stay one step ahead of the forces of Hell. But when the demons killed Frannie’s best friend and destroyed her brother, they raised the stakes. If Frannie wants to keep her family and friends safe, she knows she has no choice but to go on the run. Their best defense is the power Frannie has been struggling to master, but her attempts to hone her skill go horribly awry. If Frannie doesn’t learn fast, the consequences could be devastating—even apocalyptic. What happens when you can’t outrun Hell…or trust the ones you love?

Lisa lives in central California with her husband and two very busy daughters. She has a doctorate in physical therapy and maintains a full time practice. Last Rite is the final installment in the Personal Demons series.

KENDARE BLAKE exploded onto the Young Adult scene with her debut novel, Anna Dressed in Blood. Enthralling New York Times bestselling authors, reviewers, fans, and bloggers alike, Blake adeptly weaves the familiar and the unexpected into a genre-bending, refreshing new take on paranormal romance. Now, she’s back with her eagerly anticipated sequel, Girl of Nightmares, publishing on August 7, 2012.

It’s been months since the ghost of Anna Korlov opened a door to Hell in her basement and disappeared into it, but ghost-hunter Cas Lowood can’t move on. His friends remind him that Anna sacrificed herself so that Cas could live—not walk around half dead. He knows they’re right, but in Cas’s eyes, no living girl he meets can compare to the dead girl he fell in love with. Now he’s seeing Anna everywhere: sometimes when he’s asleep and sometimes in waking nightmares. But something is very wrong…These aren’t just daydreams. Anna seems tortured, torn apart in new and ever more gruesome ways every time she appears. Cas doesn’t know what happened to Anna when she disappeared into Hell, but he knows she doesn’t deserve whatever is happening to her now. Anna saved Cas more than once, and it’s time for him to return the favor.

Kendare holds an MA in Creative Writing from Middlesex University in northern London. She lives and writes in Lynnwood, Washington. Anna Dressed in Blood was among NPR’s Top 5 YA Novels of 2011, ALA/YALSA’s Best Fiction for Young Adults 2011 as well as Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers 2011, and Kirkus Reviews’ Best Teen Books of 2011. It was also recognized by the Cybils: Children’s and Young Adult Bloggers’ Literary Awards.

MARTA ACOSTA is the award-winning author of the Casa Dracula series, all of which have hit #1 on Amazon’s Latino Author’s list. Now, Tor Teen is excited to announce the publication of her very first YA novel, the gothic Dark Companion, publishing on July 3, 2012.

Written as an homage to Jane Eyre, Dark Companion is a lush, romantic tale about an orphaned teenager who is chosen to attend an exclusive private school where things are not exactly as they seem. It was originally published on Scrib.com where it garnered over 25,000 reads and became the top YA novel on the site, which was reported by GalleyCat, the New Yorker’s blog, io9.com, and Publishers Weekly. Recently, it was chosen as a selection for the Las Comadres National Latino Book Club for August 2012.

Marta’s novels have been selected as Book Sense, BookPage Notable and Fresh Fiction picks and a Catalina Magazine Humor Book of the Year. In addition to writing fiction, she is a frequent contributor to the San Francisco Chronicle, Publishers Weekly and Contra Costa Times. Marta lives in the San Francisco Bay area with her family.

About #Torchat
#TorChat is a genre-themed, hour-long chat series created by Tor Books and hosted on Twitter. Guest authors join fans in lively, informative and entertaining discussions of all that’s hot in genre fiction, 140 characters at a time, from 4 – 5 PM EST on the third Wednesday of every month. Each #TorChat revolves around a different genre topic of interest, often of a timely nature, and strives to provide a new media opportunity for readers to connect with their favorite authors.

About Tor Books
Tor Books, an imprint of Tom Doherty Associates, LLC, is a New York-based publisher of hardcover and softcover books. Founded in 1980, Tor annually publishes what is arguably the largest and most diverse line of science fiction and fantasy ever produced by a single English-language publisher. In 2002, Tor launched Starscape, an imprint dedicated to publishing quality science fiction and fantasy for young readers, including books by critically acclaimed and award winning authors such as Cory Doctorow, Orson Scott Card, and David Lubar. Between an extensive hardcover and trade-softcover line, an Orb backlist program, and a stronghold in mass-market paperbacks, books from Tor have won every major award in the SF and fantasy fields, and has been named Best Publisher 25 years in a row in the Locus Poll, the largest consumer poll in SF.

Not at San Diego Comic-Con Sweepstakes

Tor/Forge Blog

Tor Books is heading to San Diego Comic-Con!

Image Place holder  of - 5We hope to see many of you there. Stop by Booth #2707 to say hi or to participate in one of our many events and signings.

But for those of you who couldn’t make it out to California, we wanted to offer you the chance to grab some of the same amazing swag and books that we’re promoting at #SDCC. To enter for the chance to win one of these five prize bundles, leave a comment on this post telling us one fabulous thing that you’ll be doing this week while you are #NotAtComicCon. Whether you’re fighting a clone army, rescuing damsels in distress (or princelings in peril), zipping across galaxies at light speed, or just conquering your laundry pile, we hope that you have a great week.

Here’s a look at the prize:

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And here’s a list of what’s included in each prize bundle:

  • Wheel of Time backpack
  • Signed copy of Redshirts by John Scalzi
  • Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake
  • The Battle of Blood and Ink written by Jared Axelrod and illustrated by Steve Walker
  • Dark Companion by Marta Acosta
  • Existence by David Brin
  • Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card
  • The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan
  • The Eye of the World: Graphic Novel: Volume 2 Based on the novel by Robert Jordan, written by Chuck Dixon, illustrated by Andie Tong
  • Eyes to See by Joseph Nassise
  • Gardens of the Moon by Steven Erikson
  • Girl Genius Omnibus Volume 1 by Phil Foglio and Kaja Foglio
  • Halo: Cryptum by Greg Bear
  • Halo: Glasslands by Karen Traviss
  • Inside Straight edited by George R.R. Martin
  • Johnny Hiro: Half Asian, All Hero written and illustrated by Fred Chao
  • Laddertop: Volume 1 written by Orson Scott Card and Emily Janice Card Art by Honoel A. Ibardolaza
  • Off Armageddon Reef by David Weber
  • The Omen Machine by Terry Goodkind
  • Passion Play by Beth Bernobich
  • Personal Demons by Lisa Desrochers
  • The Way of the Kings by Brandon Sanderson

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. You must be 18 or older and a legal resident of the 50 United States or D.C. to enter. Promotion begins July 12, 2012 at 10:00 a.m. ET. and ends July 16, 2012, 12:00 p.m. ET. Void in Puerto Rico and wherever prohibited by law. Please see full details and official rules go here. Sponsor: Tom Doherty Associates, LLC.

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Haunted Mansions and Eclipses

Tor/Forge Blog

Dark Companion by Marta Acosta

Written by Marta Acosta

One of the things I like best about my house is the light coming through all the windows, but yesterday evening, I sensed that the quality of light was odd. My husband said that it was probably just the fog rolling in, but I’ve lived in a fog belt all my life and this was different.

“No, it’s not fog. Something is wrong.”

Then my son mentioned that there was supposed to be a solar eclipse. I went outside and, indeed, the moon had blocked out the sun for a blazing “ring of fire” event. Jay Anderson, an eclipse expert, is quoted in the Los Angeles Times as saying, “That change in the lighting…lends a kind of other-worldly feeling to the environment that seems to be signaling that something is afoot.”

This uneasiness is one of the things I tried to evoke in my modern gothic, Dark Companion. On the surface, everything at Birch Grove Academy for Girls is beautiful and serene. However, Jane Williams, my main character, soon develops a sense of disquiet. Is she imagining things, or is someone really watching her? Why is she, a poor plain foster teen, suddenly the focus of so much interest?

Before I’d ever heard the term “gothic,” I was drawn to stories about poor young women who find themselves in isolated settings with people who keep secrets. In many gothics, including Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre, the large houses represent the wealth and power of their owners. Jane is excluded from the comforts of her uncle’s home and locked in the terrifying Red Room. She’s then banished to imposing and brutal Lowood Institution, where students are kept cold and starving. Jane believes that she’s finally found a haven at Thornfield Hall, but the house and its master have dark secrets.

A gothic heroine is invited to an isolated mansion specifically because she is so very all alone and without resources. She will cede authority to the new “protector” who provides her with food and shelter. Her desire for love can be used to manipulate her as well, and she’s easily dissuaded from her initial suspicions that all is not as it seems.

And, yet, these lonely girls are not completely subservient. It is in their nature to resent the entitlement of those who control them and to resent the injustices of life. This dynamic of class/power fascinated me as a girl. It always seemed that if the heroine could discover the secrets of the house, she could shift the dynamic. Small new houses can hold few riddles within their thin walls, but large ancient houses can possess a multitude.

The question in a gothic is: when will the poor girl gain the confidence to trust her instincts that something is very wrong?

Because sometimes there really is an eclipse.

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From the Tor/Forge July newsletter. Sign up to receive our newsletter via email.

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More from the July Tor/Forge newsletter:

Tor Books Announces Programming for San Diego Comic-Con 2012

Image Place holder  of - 29 Brandon Sanderson, John Scalzi and Steve Englehart as Comic-Con Special Guests!

This year at Tor’s Booth (#2707), we continue our popular *in-booth signings and giveaways, offering you a chance to meet your favorite authors up close and personal. This year we’re pleased to include the legendary

ORSON SCOTT CARD

author of New York Times Bestselling Ender’s Game, soon to be a major motion picture from Summit Entertainment!

Thursday, July 12th

  • 3pm – 4pm Tor Booth (#2707) New York Times bestselling author and Comic-Con Special Guest, BRANDON SANDERSON, will sign copies of The Way of Kings.
  • 2:30pm – 3:30pm Panel: The Dark Knight Rises: Is Batman Broken? Room 26AB
    Strong, smart, and heroic, he’s the Dark Knight we want on our side. But is Batman also out of his mind? Comic-con Special Guest, STEVE ENGLEHART joins Catwoman herself, Lee Meriwether, to discuss Bruce Wayne’s relationships, strengths and weaknesses. Does the Dark Knight have bats in his belfry?
  • 4:45pm – 5:45pm Panel: The Fiction of Halo 4, Room 6BCF
    Halo 4 heralds the return of one of gaming’s most iconic heroes, the Master Chief, in a new, epic sci-fi saga. Expanding and enriching the narrative, 343 Industries, panelists share how the development of stories across the GREG BEAR Forerunner saga, the KAREN TRAVISS Kilo-Five trilogy, Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn, Halo 4 Campaign and Halo Infinity Multiplayer have become connective tissue for Halo 4.
  • 5pm – 6pm Tor Booth (#2707) Bestselling, award-winning futurist DAVID BRIN, will sign copies of his new high concept novel Existence, his first major work in over a decade.

Friday, July 13th

  • 10am – 11am Panel: Art of the Thrill Kill, Room 24AB
    From psycho killers and sociopaths to the vast unknowable emptiness of deep space, these authors know that it takes more than just blood and gore to keep their readers awake at night. DAN WELLS joins other top horror and thriller novelists to discuss how they balance ratcheting suspense with perfectly paced creepiness to create stories that are both psychologically and atmospherically disturbing.
  • 12pm – 1pm Signing in the autographing area, AA09
  • 12pm – 1pm Tor Booth (#2707) Legendary science fiction author ORSON SCOTT CARD & co-author AARON JOHNSTON sign Invasive Procedures a taut science fiction medical thriller. Five lucky people will get a chance to receive a signed copy of Earth Unaware: The First Formic War set in the popular Ender’s series, on-sale July 17th!
  • 12pm – 1pm Spotlight on BRANDON SANDERSON, Room 25ABC
    Author, educator, and Comic-Con Special Guest BRANDON SANDERSON talks about his growth from a nonreader in his youth to become one of the most popular fantasy writers working today. Sanderson’s books include his own Mistborn trilogy and his continuation of the late Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Timeseries, which wraps up in January 2013.
  • 2:30pm Duo Paul & Storm join us in the Tor Booth (#2707) to serenade fans as they wait in line to meet New York Times bestselling author and Comic-Con Special Guest JOHN SCALZI! Then at 3pm, John signs copies of Old Man’s War, the book that launched his career!
  • 3:30pm– 4:30pm Panel: Epic Fantasy War, Room 6A
    Brandon Sanderson (The Way of Kings), joins the top names in fantasy fiction to discuss how the key to writing a real epic fantasy novel lies in the word epic-which doesn’t just mean ambitious in scale, scope, and size.
    5:00pm – 6:00pm Signing in the autographing area, AA09
  • 5pm – 6pm Tor Booth (#2707) DAN WELLS will sign copies of his the book that started it all, I Am Not A Serial Killer.

Saturday, July 14th

  • 10am – 11am That 70s Panel, Room 23ABC.
    STEVE ENGLEHART makes a Comic-con Special Guest Spotlight appearance on this panel. Get out your pet rocks!
  • 12pm – 1pm Comics Arts Conference Focus on STEVE ENGLEHART , Room 26AB
    Travis Langley (Batman and Psychology: A Dark and Stormy Knight) moderates a discussion of Englehart’s stellar career writing the adventures of Captain America, Silver Surfer, Doctor Strange, Coyote, Night Man, the Justice League, and dozens of other characters.
  • 12:00pm – 1:00pm Panel: The Naked Truth About Tarzan and Jane: The First 100 Years of Spectacular Tarzan Imagery, and One of Literature’s Best-Loved Couples as They Enter Their Second Century, Room 25ABC
    Bestselling novelist Robin Maxwell (Jane: The Woman Who Loved Tarzan) and author Scott Tracy Griffin (Tarzan: The Centennial Celebration) gather with illustrator Joe Jusko (The Art of Joe Jusko) to discuss these iconic literary characters. Join them for a presentation and Q&A session hosted by Jim Sullos, president of Edgar Rice Burroughs, Incorporated, the official licensing entity for Tarzan and John Carter of Mars.
    Room 25ABC
  • 2pm – 3pm Tor Booth (#2707) Iconic science fiction author GREG BEAR signs copies of Halo: Primordium, Book Two of the Forerunner Saga.
  • 12pm – 1pm Tor Booth (#2707) Father/daughter duo ORSON SCOTT CARD & EMILY SCOTT CARD sign copies of their first writing collaboration, Laddertop, Volume 1.
  • 3pm – 4pm Panel: A Wrinkle in Time, Room 23ABC
    From the far-flung reaches of the Milky Way to the mind-bending possibilities of time travel, let the authors of speculative fiction tell you what they see when they venture to other dimensions. With DAVID BRIN & ORSON SCOTT CARD.
    4:30pm – 5:30pm Signing in the Autographing area, AA09
  • 5pm – 6pm Tor Booth (#2707) STEVE ENGLEHART will sign copies of The Long Man.
  • 5:30pm – 6:30pm Spotlight Panel with JOHN SCALZI, Room 7AB
    Comic-Con special guest JOHN SCALZI (Redshirts) talks about his latest work, his upcoming novel, video game, and film projects, takes questions and generally tries to amuse the hell out of you for an hour. With him as moderator/interviewer/conspirator: Wil Wheaton (Tabletop). It’ll be the most fun you can have while respirating.
    3:30pm – 4:30pm Solo Autographing, AA18

Sunday, July 15th

  • 10pm – 11am Panel: Stunted Fools and Scary-Ass Clowns: Humor in Science Fiction and Fantasy Room 25ABC
    Join in for an irreverent hour celebrating sly wit and unholy humor with some of the most devilish quipsters, wisecrackers, and satirists writing today. JOHN SCALZI (Redshirts) plays ringmaster to some of the best SFF humor writers in the field.
    11:30am – 12:30pm Signing in the autographing area, AA04
  • 2:45pm – 3:45pm Panel: Heroes for the Middle Grade Reader: Books That Will Rock Your Socks Off, Room 5AB
    EMILY JANICE CARD (yes, daughter of THAT Card) teamed up with her famous father to write a science fiction manga, Laddertop, Volume 1 aimed at middle grade readers, and will join a panel discussing adventurers and unexpected champions that we can all cheer for.
    4pm – 5pm Signing in the Autographing area, AA09
  • 12pm Tor Booth (#2707) giveaway, The Omen Machine by New York Times bestselling author, Terry Goodkind.
  • 2pm – 3pm Tor Booth (#2707) giveaway, Dark Companion the YA debut of Marta Acosta.

Make sure to follow @Torbooks on Twitter for up to date information and last minute events!

All Tor Booth signings are on a first come first serve basis and while supplies lasts. Limit one book per person.

Waiting on Wednesday: Dark Companion Sweepstakes

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Marta Acosta’s Dark Companion doesn’t hit shelves until July 3, but we have a chance for you to win a copy now!

We have three copies to giveaway away. To enter for the chance to win one, comment below and tell us what your Waiting on Wednesday pick is this week.

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. You must be 18 or older and a legal resident of the 50 United States or D.C. to enter. Promotion begins June 6, 2012 at 10:00 a.m. ET. and ends June 13, 2012,12:00 p.m. ET. Void in Puerto Rico and wherever prohibited by law. Please see full details and official rules go here. Sponsor: Tom Doherty Associates, LLC.

Waiting on Wednesday: Dark Companion Sweepstakes

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For a while now we’ve been seeing this title come up in your Waiting on Wednesday picks. So now we’re giving you the opportunity to enter for the chance to win an advance reading copy of Dark Companion before it pubs!

We have three copies to give away. To enter for the chance to win one, comment below and tell us what your Waiting on Wednesday pick is this week.

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. You must be 18 or older and a legal resident of the 50 United States or D.C. to enter. Promotion begins May 23, 2012 at 10:00 a.m. ET. and ends May 30, 2012,12:00 p.m. ET. Void in Puerto Rico and wherever prohibited by law. Please see full details and official rules go here. Sponsor: Tom Doherty Associates, LLC.

YA Collection Sweepstakes

Sign up for the Tor/Forge Newsletter for a chance to win the following collection:

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About our newsletter: Every issue of Tor’s monthly email newsletter features original writing by, and interviews with, Tor authors and editors about upcoming new titles from all Tor and Forge imprints. In addition, we occasionally send out “special edition” newsletters to highlight particularly exciting new projects, programs, or events.

If you’re already a newsletter subscriber, you can enter too. We do not automatically enter subscribers into sweepstakes. We promise we won’t send you duplicate copies of the newsletter if you sign up for the newsletter more than once.

Sign up for your chance to win today!

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. You must be 18 or older and a legal resident of the 50 United States or D.C. to enter. Promotion begins April 30, 2012 at 12 a.m. ET. and ends June 8, 2012, 11:59 p.m. ET. Void in Puerto Rico and wherever prohibited by law. For Official Rules and to enter, go here. Sponsor: Tom Doherty Associates, LLC.

Also, don’t forget to check out our other sweepstakes!

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