INK Book Birthday!

It's heeeereeee!!

INK is out in the wild today!! Thank you to everyone who helped make it happen! I'm so excited to share INK with all of you. :D

Get your copy now!

Amazon

Amazon Canada

Barnes & Noble

Chapters

Kobo

BAM

Zola Books

Summer Events 2013

This Tuesday, INK will be out in the world! I want to thank you all so much for your support. I'm really grateful and excited to share the world of the Paper Gods with you. ^_^

I'm so thrilled to have the opportunity to do some book-related traveling this summer! Below are the events I have planned. I hope to see you there! ♥

Toronto, ON

July 6, Indigo Yorkdale, 12pm - INK Launch and Tanabata (Japanese Star Festival) celebration

July 7, Brampton Chapters (Market Hall),  2pm - #YeahYA Harlequin TEEN Author Fest

Richmond, BC

July 17, Chapters Richmond, 5-8pm - Teen Author's Night with Elsie Chapman, author of DUALED, and Jeyn Roberts, author of DARK INSIDE.

Seattle, WA

TBA - mid July to early August

Calgary, AB

Aug 9-11, When Worlds Collide Readers and Writers Festival

Aug 16, Chapters Chinook, 5-9pm

I hope you all enjoy INK, and looking forward to seeing you on tour! ^_^

お楽しみにしてください♥　Hope you look forward to it!

INK Blog Tour and Giveaway!

It's only THREE days until INK is out in the wild! After all this time, I really can't believe it. I'm so excited to share the world of the Paper Gods with you and can't wait for you all to read it!

In the days leading up to launch, don't miss the INK blog tour! It's going on now, and here are the prizes you could win:

- a finished copy of INK (Paperback or ebook, your choice)

- this cute onigiri (rice ball) bento box (you can choose either color)

Photos from Bento & Co.

Photos from Bento & Co.

- a package of rainbow picks to up the cute factor of your new bento

Photo from Bento & Co, pink bento not included

The bento box and picks are from Bento & Co, which is based in Kyoto. I'm not affiliated with them in any way--I'm just a happy and frequent customer of theirs. ^_^

TOUR SCHEDULE

                                       June 20 – Bookcase to Heaven (Tour Kick-off)

Becky's Barmy Book Blog

Birth of a New Witch

June 21– Total Travel

Girls in Capes

Tar Heel Bibliobabe

June 22 – Cover Bound

The Fairytale Nerd

The Soul Sisters

June 23 – Book Scents

The Quiet Concert

Rondo of a Possible World

June 24 – Jassie

Gypsy Reviews

June 25 – FlutterealFlight

Priscilla Shay

The Bookaholic Blurbs

You can enter the giveaway at  any of the tour stops. And it's open internationally!

Hope you enjoy this fun countdown to the launch of INK! ^_^

火曜までに！ Until Tuesday! ♥

BEA 2013 Schedule

Hey guys! I hope to see you at BEA, so to make things easier, here's my schedule!

I'm signing in the Harlequin booth (#1238) Friday, May 31 from 11:30am-12:30pm, and also Saturday, June 1st, from 10:00am-11:30am.

Other than that, I'll be wandering, so if you spot me, be sure to say hi! I will have INK bookmarks with me to hand out if you'd like one.

Can't wait to see you there ^_^

Matsujun sends his love.

じゃあ、水曜までに！Until Wednesday!

SHADOW on Wattpad

Hey guys!

So last week I had to change the SHADOW giveaway, and promised the explanation and some good news this week, so here it is!

SHADOW is going to be FREE and serialized on Wattpad! Every Tuesday and Thursday, new chapters from the novella will be uploaded for you to enjoy.

So...no waiting until June 1st. You can start reading SHADOW tomorrow!!

I know, Apple Bloom. I feel the same!

I've been waiting so long to share SHADOW with you, and I can't wait for you to start reading it!

What does this mean for the giveaways and teasers? Well, obviously, SHADOW is free, so no need to give it away. Or, in another light, YOU'RE ALL WINNERS! And you'll be getting new teasers every Tuesday and Thursday....they'll just be chapter-length. :D

Don't fret--there are two blog tours coming up for INK, each with fabulous prizes. And I hope you will join me on Wattpad for this exclusive first peek at the world of The Paper Gods!

Follow me on Wattpad here!

See you tomorrow for the first part of SHADOW!  

お楽しみにしてくださいね♥ Hope you look forward to it!

SHADOW Teaser #2

Welcome to the second of the SHADOW Teaser Tuesdays! I'll be sharing a teaser every Tuesday until June to celebrate the upcoming prequel to INK.

SHADOW is an ebook novella written in both Katie and Tomohiro's POVs.

Here's the summary:

Meet two teens whose worlds are about to change forever in this paranormal Young Adult novella, a prequel to Ink by debut author Amanda Sun…

Katie Greene’s worst nightmare comes true when her mother dies, and she’s devastated to learn that she will have to leave the only home she’s ever known. Desperate to find where she belongs, she must decide if she has what it takes to start a new life across the ocean.

For Yuu Tomohiro, every day is a nightmare. He struggles to control his strange ability, and keeps everyone at a distance so they won’t get hurt—even his girlfriend, Myu. At night, a shadow haunts his dreams, and a mysterious woman torments him with omens of death and destruction. But these haunting premonitions are only the beginning…

I will also be giving away a preorder of SHADOW every week until launch!

SHADOW is ebook only, so here's how it will work:

1) You must be able to receive some format of ebook.
2) You may choose the retailer the preorder is from. I will contact you by email to discuss.
3) You are responsible for finding out whether you can receive the ebook download in your country, from that retailer, and that it will work on your device. If not, I will have to award the giveaway to another winner.

The contest is open internationally as long as you are able to receive the ebook copy and I'm able to send it. I don't mean the rules to be restrictive, but rather to avoid any disappointment. Thanks for your cooperation! :)

Okay, so with that out of the way, let's move on to today's teaser!

Teaser #2

Katie

It’s not like you expect people to die. You somehow think they won’t, that life will just carry on the way it is now. You get too comfortable.
 
And then life shatters, and you pull the shards around yourself so you can pretend it’s all fine.


Pre-order SHADOW from: Amazon / Amazon (CAN) / B&N / Kobo

Pre-order INK from Amazon / Amazon (CAN) / Chapters Indigo / B&N / Books a Million

a Rafflecopter giveaway

SHADOW Teaser #1

Tomorrow is May 1st, which means only one month until SHADOW is out! For the next five weeks, I'll be sharing a teaser every Tuesday to celebrate the upcoming prequel to INK.

SHADOW is an ebook prequel novella written in both Katie and Tomohiro's POVs.

Here's the summary:

Meet two teens whose worlds are about to change forever in this paranormal Young Adult novella, a prequel to Ink by debut author Amanda Sun…

Katie Greene’s worst nightmare comes true when her mother dies, and she’s devastated to learn that she will have to leave the only home she’s ever known. Desperate to find where she belongs, she must decide if she has what it takes to start a new life across the ocean.

For Yuu Tomohiro, every day is a nightmare. He struggles to control his strange ability, and keeps everyone at a distance so they won’t get hurt—even his girlfriend, Myu. At night, a shadow haunts his dreams, and a mysterious woman torments him with omens of death and destruction. But these haunting premonitions are only the beginning…

I will also be giving away a preorder of SHADOW every week until launch!

SHADOW is ebook only, so here's how it will work:

1) You must be able to receive some format of ebook.
2) You may choose the retailer the preorder is from. I will contact you by email to discuss.
3) You are responsible for finding out whether you can receive the ebook download in your country, from that retailer, and that it will work on your device. If not, I will have to award the giveaway to another winner.

I hope that's clear. The contest is open internationally as long as you are able to receive the ebook copy and I'm able to send it. I don't mean the rules to be restrictive, but rather to avoid any disappointment. Thanks for your cooperation! :)

Okay, so with that out of the way, let's move on to today's teaser!

Teaser #1

Tomohiro

I used to think there was something wrong with me, that I needed medication or serious therapy. Like my mom—Kaasan always took a bunch of different pills for her nightmares, though she tried to hide them until she thought I was upstairs.

Now I know. There’s definitely something wrong. And it’s not something I can fix with any drugs.


Pre-order SHADOW from: Amazon / Amazon (CAN) / Barnes & Noble / Kobo

Pre-order INK from Amazon / Amazon (CAN) / Chapters Indigo / Barnes & Noble

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Ad Astra 2013 Recap

Ad Astra was held April 5-7, and it was a whirlwind kind of weekend! I was on five different panels, and I competed in the masquerade as well. There were lots of great friends, old and new, some wonderful conversations, and a lot of fun was had by all!

 I arrived on the Friday in my Eilonwy cosplay. She's the "forgotten" Disney princess, from The Black Cauldron, and it was great fun being her for a day. ^_^

And my bauble lit up!

I was on a panel with Kelley Armstrong and librarian Joel Sutherland on the topic of Dystopic YA. Such a great discussion to start the weekend!

And then, Friday night...time for Disney Karaoke! Eilonwy doesn't have a song, so I sang Colors of the Wind, lighting up my bauble at the appropriate time. :)

This Snow White was an incredible singer and cosplayer.

 And, as we all joked, Storm Trooper, the newest Disney princess:

 

He was also our fab karaoke DJ.

 Saturday I wore my Rosa Farrell of Final Fantasy IV cosplay:

  

And started the day bright and early with a panel on The Changing Face of YA Fiction with Kelley Armstrong and Timothy Carter. So great! We talked about diversity in YA, the influence of gaming-culture and non-western storylines, and what we'd like to see more of in the future. It was also my first time moderating, which was nerve-wracking. I went with two pages of questions written out, but in the end all went well. :)

Then I met up with Lance Schonberg (Writing Dad) and his very cool daughters, in their amazing Steampunk outfits!

I had the pleasure of meeting Writing Dad (Lance Schonberg) at World Fantasy Con. He and his daughters and putting together their own Podcast, Cyborg Bunnies Review, so look out for that coming soon!

And they made their own outfits, and their own weapons. Don't they look amazing?

I also had the chance to see my lovely friend Tanya Gough, author of ROOTBOUND:

Click to add to your goodreads!

We went for a tasty Japanese lunch (mmm curry rice!), where I drew a bit of a stare in my cosplay. Oops... ^_^

Afterward it was time for the Cosplay and Photography Walkabout, where we got some great photos:

Better still if I had a better camera :)

 Then another panel--Writing YA Fiction--with Kelley Armstrong and Joel Sutherland. And then a mass author signing! I got to sit in a room with fantastic authors including Rob J. Sawyer, Ben Bova, Jim Butcher, Lesley Livingston, J.M. Frey, Kelley Armstrong, Julie Czerneda, and many many others that caused me to fangirl. :D

The ARCs I signed, and behind them, the water I spilled everywhere.

Then it was time for the masquerade! There were awesome book-inspired and game-inspired creations:

She even LIT UP.

Link can't lift the hammer. Maybe if he wears the Iron Boots?

And I won this!

Best in Class and Best Workmanship, as well as the Amano Award of Elegance on stage. Yippee!

Things wound down on the Sunday, but there was still a great attendance for my last panel, Writing Beyond Your Boundaries with Derwin Mak. Good times!

What a fun convention! I definitely needed a nap after.

I'll finish with my cosplay on the Sunday, and a picture with my daughter:

Pegasisters 4 life! XD

Thanks, Ad Astra 2013! See you next year!

UK Cover Reveal

So some of you may have noticed a different cover of INK floating around on NetGalley.

For those of you haven't seen it yet, may I present the UK cover of INK:

 

So pretty.... *pets screen*

It's funny how not much has changed, and yet it has its own distinct feeling. I really like the vertical treatment of INK, and the splotchy pink and black in my name. It's a really elegant cover, I think.

I hope you guys like this cover as much as I do! I think both the US and the UK covers are really striking in their own ways.

If you haven't yet, don't forget to add INK to your Goodreads! :D

And, you can pre-order your copy here!

In Which There is News!

Hey guys! So, I have some fun things to share with you. I'm hoping to have a blog post up on Ad Astra soon, too, with some awesome pics, but first...this newsy post.

So, first item...

It is seven weeks tomorrow until SHADOW is out.

Yay! I have some fun things planned for a countdown to the prequel, including preorder giveaways, teasers, and fun extras. So I hope you look forward to that! ^_^

Coming June 1st!

Second and biggest news...I'm going to BEA! And I will sign books for youuuu!

First I was all:

And then the jumping started:

 And now I'm kind of in this mode:

YAY!

I will have a schedule for you guys closer to the date, but I can't WAIT to hear who's going and meet all you lovely bloggers and readers and people!

I will be bringing Tomo-pony with me, of course. So make sure you come by and say hi to us!

Tomo-pony is the MLP form of Tomohiro from INK. Yes.

For those of who you can't make it to BEA (and I wish you could!), I will do my best to tweet and keep you guys involved, and hopefully the fun SHADOW extras will help! And Armchair BEA. That's how I attended last year. ^_^

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you look forward to the SHADOW goodies starting soon! ♥

SHADOW Reveal and Ad Astra

Lots of fun news to share this week!

First of all, we had the cover and plot reveal for SHADOW, the ebook novella prequel to INK:

Meet two teens whose worlds are about to change forever in this paranormal Young Adult novella, a prequel to Ink by debut author Amanda Sun…

Katie Greene’s worst nightmare comes true when her mother dies, and she’s devastated to learn that she will have to leave the only home she’s ever known. Desperate to find where she belongs, she must decide if she has what it takes to start a new life across the ocean.

For Yuu Tomohiro, every day is a nightmare. He struggles to control his strange ability, and keeps everyone at a distance so they won’t get hurt—even his girlfriend, Myu. At night, a shadow haunts his dreams, and a mysterious woman torments him with omens of death and destruction. But these haunting premonitions are only the beginning…

GAH. I absolutely LOVE this cover and hope you do too. The art team really took into consideration the story and tone of SHADOW, while keeping the look consistent with INK. I feel so lucky to have a team that really understands my work and can present it like this. ^_^

SHADOW is out June 1st, and is available for preorder so far at Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Or you could add it to your Goodreads:

 Ad Astra Con

In other news, I will be at Ad Astra in Toronto next weekend from April 5-7. I will have bookmarks and possibly some ARCs. I will also be doing a reading---from both INK and SHADOW--and some panels as well.

Where to find me:

Friday, April 5

7 pm - Dystopic YA panel
Kelley Armstrong, Amanda Sun, Joel Sutherland

Saturday, April 6

10 am - Changing Face of the Paranormal in YA Fiction
Amanda Sun, Kelley Armstrong, Timothy Carter

2 pm - Writing Fiction for Young Adults
Kelley Armstrong, Amanda Sun, Joel Sutherland

3 pm - 2nd Annual Cosplay and Photography Walk About
Cliff Goodman, Amanda Sun

4:30-6pm - Autograph Session (don't miss all the great authors at this!)

Sunday, April 7

11 am - Writing Beyond Your Boundaries
Amanda Sun, Derwin Mak

1-1:30 pm - Reading from INK and SHADOW

 

Hope to see you there! I will be tweeting from the event too, so make sure to drop by even if only online ^_^

お楽しみににしてください♥

Hope you look forward to it!

ABA WI8 Adventures & Shenanigans

This weekend I had the privilege of attending ABA Winter Institute in Kansas City, Missouri. I had never attended such a large and awesome gathering of booksellers before. They are truly made of awesome, and they were all there for the same reasons--we love books and want to share and provide each other with good reads! You can't go wrong with such a fantastic crowd.

Have pink suitcase and Starbucks, will travel.

I arrived in Kansas City on Saturday, just after a huge storm hit the city. It made for very scenic views from the hotel room, though!

The awesome view from the hotel. Union Station!

I had some free time before meeting some booksellers for dinner, so I decided to explore KC. I went straight for the Sea Life Aquarium.

Sharks!

Rainbow jellyfish!

And adorable rays that make friends with me!

Sunday morning ABA kicked off with a fantastic talk from Malcolm Gladwell:

Talking about success, failure, and geek girl basketball teams.

Then it was a traditional KC Barbecue lunch!

Yum.

And then the author's reception! I had the pleasure of meeting MIRA author Jason Mott, whose book THE RETURNED sounds incredible! Seriously, guys, you'll want to read this one. Plus he's a fantastic guy. Funny, kind, and terrified of spiders like me. ^_^

Lookit all those ARCs O_O

Then people started to file in. So many awesome authors in one place! And even better, it was so great to meet booksellers who are passionate about great books. Hurray!

Setting up for the Author Reception

I also had a chance to go the art museum in KC, and they had an exhibit on Chinese and Japanese ink wash painting, which inspired INK and The Paper Gods.

The biggest ink and wash painting I've ever seen. Twice this length!

Totally related to INK. I promise.

And this looks like it could be Tomo's desk from INK!

I had a great time in ABA and met some wonderful people. And got some fantastic ARCs in the process! Heads up - I will be doing a giveaway at some point with some of these ARCs, possibly including an INK ARC, so stay tuned! ;D

Thanks for going on my photo tour. If you went to ABA WI8, hope you had a fantastic time too! And if not, hope you had a glimpse into my adventures and shenanigans this weekend!

では、またね♥
See you next time!

Sneak Peek - INK Interiors!

I'm so excited to share this post with you guys.

So as some ARCs of INK have been circulating around the blogger and reviewer community, you may have been hearing a few hints about the interiors of INK. Today, let's pull back the curtain and have a sneak peek of some of my favorite designs inside the book. :)

I love the detail that has gone into INK's interiors. Every choice speaks to the content and tone of the book.

Let's start with the chapter headings:

Ooo. 

If you're wondering, the cute cartoon background is my handkerchief map of Kyoto.

Lovely cherry blossoms, dripping down to the first line. How much do I love this? It's beautiful with a touch of the sinister, which perfectly captures the world of INK. That sense that things are unraveling, that everything could fall apart before your eyes, comes across thanks to the dripping ink sketch.

Speaking of which, did you know there are sketched illustrations in INK?

Yes! I know! There are some gorgeous illustrations that go along with the story of INK. Here's a close-up of one of them. How much do I love that they took sketches mentioned in INK and turned them into actual book illustrations?

Okay, let's talk about one of the most exciting details, which has been popping up in Twitter feeds lately.  

YES -- INK HAS FLIP ANIMATIONS!

Here's one. And when you flip the pages, the bird flaps his wings. O_O

I know, right? So cool! And even the flip animations are relevant to the plot!

SQUEE!!!

Okay, before we go, I'm dying to share INK's lovely spine. It's had a few blog appearances as bloggers photographed what was in their mailbox that week, but here's another look if you haven't seen it yet:

LOVE. I am such a happy author. 

I can't thank the Harlequin TEEN team enough for the incredible detail they've paid to INK. The beauty and danger live side by side in the art, and really capture the essence of the book.

INK is out June 25, and the prequel, SHADOW, will be out June 1st. 

Have you added INK to your Goodreads yet? :D

     

   

     
   

 

 
 
Hope you look forward to it!
お楽しみにしてください♥