DRINK SLAY LOVE Movie Viewing Party

Photos of the vampire-themed treats from my recent celebration of the #DrinkSlayLove movie premiere!  We had Buffy Brownies, The Count's Cookies, Edward Cullen Cupcakes, Vampire Donuts..... and of course, in honor of Pearl, plenty of mint chocolate chip ice cream!

I just learned that the movie is now available On Demand!  So if you missed it last weekend, you can watch anytime within about a month of today, either via your cable box, mylifetime.com, or the Lifetime app.

ETA: For those of you who don't have cable, it's now also available on iTunes!

 

Based on the novel by...

Thanks so much to everyone who watched the DRINK SLAY LOVE movie last night!!!  You all SLAY!!!

I had such an amazingly awesome and totally surreal night!  Is it possible to have a dream come true when you didn't even know it was one of your dreams?  #DrinkSlayLove

Thank You!!!

I am in tears. Good tears. Thank you to the cast and crew of the DRINK SLAY LOVE movie. You brought my book to life brilliantly. I feel so honored and grateful.

And thank you to everyone who watched! So happy you met Pearl, Jadrien, Evan, Bethany, Antoinette, Matt, Zeke, & everyone!!!

DRINK SLAY LOVE Movie Premieres TONIGHT!

I love the fangs so much!!! Drink Slay Love movie premieres TONIGHT 10/9c on Lifetime!!!

Less than 24 hours!

Less than 24 hours now until the Drink Slay Love movie airs! Eeeeeeeep!!!

Commercial during Project Runway!

Just saw a Drink Slay Love commercial while watching Project Runway!!! #LifeGoalUnlocked #PageToScreen

2 Days to DRINK SLAY LOVE Movie!

THE KISS!!! #DrinkSlayLove #PageToScreen

 

3 Days to DRINK SLAY LOVE Movie!!!

Pearl (Cierra Ramirez) and Jadrien (Gregg Sulkin) share a moment in the #DrinkSlayLove movie. Just three more days until it premieres on Lifetime!!! Eeeeeeee! #PageToScreen

4 Days to DRINK SLAY LOVE Movie!!!

Eight years ago, I dreamed up a sun-loving vampire named Pearl. This Saturday 9/16 at 10pm ET/PT on Lifetime, the fabulous Cierra Ramirez brings her to life! I can't wait! Just four more days!!! #PageToScreen #DrinkSlayLove

 

Tearing up while setting the DVR...

Never before have I teared up while setting the DVR.......

In July 2009, I started brainstorming a quirky story about a kickass vampire girl who reluctantly develops a conscience. In September 2011, that story became a book. In May 2015, I got a call from my agent that a producer wanted to option that book for film. In August 2016, to my amazement and giddy joy, they actually started filming it. And this morning, I set my DVR to record it. Surreal, absolutely surreal.

The DRINK SLAY LOVE movie premieres on Saturday, September 16 at 10pm ET/PT on Lifetime.  Please spread the word and set your DVRs! #PageToScreen #DrinkSlayLove

Teaser Trailer for the DRINK SLAY LOVE Movie!

There's now a TEASER TRAILER for the upcoming TV movie of my book DRINK SLAY LOVE!!!!!  Hee hee!  The movie premieres on Saturday, September 16 at 10pm ET/PT on Lifetime, stars Cierra Ramirez (Freeform's "The Fosters") and Gregg Sulkin (Marvel's "Runaways"), and is executive produced by Bella Thorne (Freeform's "Famous in Love").

 

DRINK SLAY LOVE Movie Air Date!

Eeeeeeeeee!!!!! The TV movie based on my YA book, DRINK SLAY LOVE, just got an official air date!  Premieres next month -- Saturday, September 16 at 10pm ET/PT on Lifetime!!!

 

DRINK SLAY LOVE Movie!!!

So excited to share the news that my book DRINK SLAY LOVE is going to be a TV movie!!!!!  It will star Cierra Ramirez (Freeform's The Fosters) and Gregg Sulkin (MTV's Faking It) with Bella Thorne serving as co-executive producer!  Sepia Films and Just Singer Entertainment started filming this week, and the movie will air on Lifetime in 2017!  Eeeep!!!!!!!

Here are some articles covering the announcement:

http://www.ew.com/article/2016/08/24/bella-thorne-produce-lifetime-vampire-flick

http://deadline.com/2016/08/bella-thorne-drink-slay-love-lifetime-movie-cierra-ramirez-star-ya-vampire-1201807510/

http://www.teenvogue.com/story/bella-thorne-gregg-sulkin-post-breakup-movie

http://variety.com/2016/tv/news/bella-thorne-lifetime-drink-slay-love-1201843752/

http://www.avclub.com/article/lifetime-thirsts-more-teen-vampire-and-robert-durs-241611

http://www.joblo.com/horror-movies/news/bella-thorne-to-produce-the-ya-vampire-flick-drink-slay-love-133

http://www.bustle.com/articles/180545-bella-thorne-will-produce-a-vampire-film-featuring-a-female-edward-cullen-type-im-totally

http://www.justjaredjr.com/2016/08/24/cierra-ramirez-bella-thorne-to-produce/

http://www.dreadcentral.com/news/185026/bella-thorne-producing-lifetime-adaptation-drink-slay-love/ 

BEA 2012 Trip Report

This week, I spent Tuesday and Wednesday at BEA (BookExpo America, an annual publishing industry convention in NYC) and have decided that next year, I am going to create a pre-BEA training regimen so that when the convention ends, I won't feel as if I've been pushed through a colander.  It will involve tote-bag-carrying exercises, an endurance test in which I stand for as many hours as I can handle, and an obstacle course in which many people swing heavy bags of books at me as I try to walk down a narrow passageway.

Despite the achy feet and shoulders, though, I love BEA.  I think the best thing about it is that everyone in the whole vast enormous conference center has one thing in common: a love for books.

Here are a couple photos that I took:

First, because I know at least someone is wondering, here are the books that I carted home.  (The sideways one with the title you can't see is a wonderful picture book called The Tiptoe Guide to Tracking Mermaids.)

And here is my view from my hotel room.  Notice the itty-bitty moon in the morning-blue sky.  This view was rather magical, and I half expected to see dragons curled on top of all the water towers or chimney sweeps dancing with Mary Poppins...

Here is Tim Gunn.  Not because I met him.  (I didn't.)  But because he's Tim Gunn, and I totally want to install him in my writing room and have him say, "Make it work," at key moments.

Lastly, here are me and Clifford.  Clifford didn't say much, but I had so many great conversations with so many fantastic people that it more than made up for Clifford's silence.

I failed to take any pictures of my signing, but thank you to everyone who came!  I signed lots of copies of Drink, Slay, Love, gave away lots of Vessel bookmarks and postcards, and had a blast!

And to those of you I missed seeing at BEA, so sorry I missed you! 

Can't wait for next year!  After my training regimen, of course.

2012 NYC Teen Author Festival

If you're in or near NYC...

This week is the NYC Teen Author Festival!

It runs from March 26th to April 1st, includes tons of panels and readings, and culminates in a massive multi-author book signing at Books of Wonder. You can see the full schedule here.

I'll be participating in two of the events:

Wednesday, March 28th
42nd St NYPL*, Bergen Forum, 6-8pm
Things Fall Apart: World Building and World Destroying in YA

Chris Shoemaker (moderator)
Anna Carey
Sarah Beth Durst
Anne Heltzel
Jeff Hirsch
Andy Marino
Lauren McLaughlin
Lissa Price
Jon Skovron

* Yes, the one with the lions! I love those lions.

Sunday, April 1st
Books of Wonder, 18 West 18th Street, 1-4pm
Our No-Foolin' Mega-Signing at Books of Wonder

Sixty-five authors will be signing in shifts throughout the afternoon. My shift is from 1-1:45pm and includes the following fabulous authors:

Jennifer Lynn Barnes (Every Other Day, Egmont)
Matt Blackstone (A Scary Scene in a Scary Movie, FSG)
Caroline Bock (LIE, St. Martin’s)
Jen Calonita (Belles, Little Brown)
Anna Carey (Eve, Harper)
Susane Colasanti (So Much Closer, Penguin)
Andrea Cremer (Bloodrose, Penguin)
Gina Damico (Croak, HMH)
Emily Danforth (The Miseducation of Cameron Post, Harper)
Jocelyn Davies (A Beautiful Dark, Harper)
Sarah Beth Durst (Drink, Slay, Love, S&S)
Elizabeth Eulberg (Take a Bow, Scholastic)
Gayle Forman (Where She Went, Penguin)
Natasha Friend (For Keeps, Penguin)
Kim Harrington (Perception, Scholastic)
Barry Lyga (I Hunt Killers, Little Brown)
Daisy Whitney (The Rivals, Little Brown)

All of this is organized by the incredible David Levithan.

I'm really, really excited for these events. If you're in the area, I hope you'll come!

Drink, Slay, Love in Australia and New Zealand!!!

Some cool news... Drink, Slay, Love is now available in Australia and New Zealand!!! The AUS/NZ edition, published by Allen & Unwin, was released just last week!

I absolutely love the idea of Pearl (my protagonist) going someplace that I have never been. It feels... magical. One of the things that I always say at school visits and other book events is that being a writer is the closest you can get in this world to being a wizard.

I know, I know, that sounds totally cheezy. But I 100% believe it. When you write, you are trying to cast a spell that will take someone out of his/her life and pull him/her into a world that doesn't exist. You're trying to achieve a moment of telepathy, to put a dream from your head into the head of someone you've never met (and may never meet) purely by your choice of words on a page. You're trying to take a stranger on a journey.

I love that Pearl has now journeyed to Australia and New Zealand!

In case you're curious, the cover of the AUS/NZ edition is similar but not identical to the US cover. Check it out:


If you're in Australia or New Zealand, please do keep an eye out for Pearl! I believe you should be able to find her in Angus & Robertson, Dymocks, or whatever your local bookstore is. And if you see her, please say hello for me!

Happy journeying, Pearl!

My Novel in Pictures

Imagine that this is a sixteen-year-old vampire girl. Absolutely gorgeous. Absolutely evil.


One night, she's feeling peckish. So she goes to the local ice cream store. Snacks on the ice cream boy.


She finishes and then notices that across the parking lot, between the dumpsters, there's a unicorn...


She mocks the unicorn for its sparkling shininess. When she's bored with that, she turns to go home. And the unicorn stabs her through the heart.


That's where Drink, Slay, Love begins.

This reenactment is courtesy of the Avenging Unicorn play set, a gift from my fantastically awesome agent, Andrea Somberg. It comes with four different horns and three figures to impale, including a mime.


It's entirely possible that this is the best thing anyone has ever given me. I'm thinking of bringing it to my upcoming events.

Speaking of which... here is my schedule for the next two weeks:

On Thursday, Oct 20th, I'll be participating in the Earthsea Group Read at the Center for Fiction in NYC. A slew of writers, actors, and others will be taking turns reading A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin as part of the Big Read honoring Le Guin. It will be streamed live online.

On Saturday, Oct 22nd, at noon, I will be reading and signing at Books of Wonder, a fabulous children's bookstore in NYC, with six other fabulous authors: Alison Goodman, Jeff Hirsch, Jon Skovron, Scott Westerfeld, Maryrose Wood, and Gabrielle Zevin.

On the following Friday through Sunday, Oct 28th through Oct 30th, I will be at the World Fantasy Convention in San Diego, CA. Schedule TBA.

The unicorn and I hope to see you soon!

Drink, Slay, Love Playlists

It is a truth universally acknowledged that vampires love music.

Okay, my vampires love music. When Pearl (my vampire "heroine") hops into a stolen car at the start of Drink, Slay, Love, the first thing she does is switch the radio to "Bohemian Rhapsody."

"I can drive," Jadrien offered.

"I’m sixteen," Pearl said. "By human laws, I’m allowed." She flashed him a grin as he climbed into the passenger seat. It occurred to her that she’d never driven with Jadrien in the car. He was in for a treat. She stuck the key into the ignition and turned the car on.

The radio blared to life, country music.

Pearl winced and flipped the station. She stopped on "Bohemian Rhapsody." Smiling, she cranked up the volume. Shifting into drive, she said, "Seat belts."

"I’m immortal," he said. "Why do I need a seat belt?"

Pearl floored the gas, and they whipped through the parking lot. Jadrien grabbed the door and the dashboard to brace himself.

"Cute," Jadrien said.

"Always," she said.

"Do you know how to drive?" he asked.

"Sure," she said. "This one is the gas."

A bunch of people have asked me about the music in Drink, Slay, Love. So in case you're interested, here's the full list of music in the novel, in the order in which it is heard:

"Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen
"Don't You Forget About Me" by Simple Minds
"Bloodline" by Slayer
"Paint It Black" by the Rolling Stones
"Greensleeves" (traditional)
"People Are Strange" by the Doors
"Celebrate" by Kool and the Gang
"Blood Roses" by Tori Amos
"Bela Lugosi's Dead" by Bauhaus

You can listen to the songs here.

I listened to a longer playlist while I wrote Drink, Slay, Love. (My normal iTunes library just didn't cut it. For instance, "Puff the Magic Dragon" by Peter, Paul, and Mary... not exactly the right mood. So I created a playlist just for working on this novel.) In addition to the songs above, here is my writing playlist, in no particular order since I listened to them on shuffle:

"They" by Jem
"Ramalama (Bang Bang)" by Roisin Murphy
"Walkin' on the Sun" by Smash Mouth
"A Little Less Conversation" by King Junior
"Rockstar" by Nickelback
"Fable (Rave Mix)" by Robert Miles
"Stray Cat Strut" by Stray Cats
"Don't Let Me Get Me" by Pink
"Terra Firma" by Delerium
"Walkaway Joe" by Trisha Yearwood
"Footloose" by Kenny Loggins
"Sweet Sangria" by Tori Amos
"Mesmerizing" by Liz Phair
"Black Horse and the Cherry Tree" by KT Tunstall
"All or Nothing" by Athena Cage
"Calling All Angels" by Train
"Pretty Little Thing" by Fink
"Combat Baby" by Metric
"Somebody to Love" by Queen
"Can't Fight the Moonlight" by Leann Rimes
"Mambo No. 5" by Lou Bega
"Blood Roses" by Tori Amos
"Mad World" by Adam Lambert
"Not Ready to Make Nice" by Dixie Chicks
"Who Will Save Your Soul" by Jewel

You can listen to these songs here. (Note: the rave version of "Fable" wasn't available on Playlist.com so I included the original version. Ditto with "A Little Less Conversation.")

Enjoy!

More Trade Reviews of Drink, Slay, Love

Over the weekend, two lovely new trade reviews of Drink, Slay, Love appeared!!!

School Library Journal
Gr 9 Up -- How refreshing to find a stand-alone vampire book with a real twist. Pearl is a typical teen vampire-typical in her world, that is. She is heartless and mostly evil, thinking of humans only as snacks and toys. Then she meets a unicorn, who stakes her with his sparkly horn. When she awakes, she finds that things have changed a bit - for starters, she can now be in sunlight without bursting into flames, and she has started to develop something unthinkable -- a conscience. Timing is bad for Pearl -- her family has just been chosen to host the fealty ceremony for the king of the New England vampires, and she has been nominated to provide the feast in the form of local high school students. The story has plenty of great setups, and Durst does not disappoint in her follow-through. There's catty and dark humor, romance, blood, danger, and, of course, there's the unicorn, whose secrets are revealed. The story transitions easily between the vampire and human world, creating characters, settings, and situations that are quite believable and often funny while still maintaining a respectable level of darkness. Fans of vampire fiction will be pleased to find this one on the shelf. -- Angela J. Reynolds, Annapolis Valley Regional Library, Bridgetown, NS, Canada

VOYA
Pearl is a typical teen vampire, avoiding sunlight and preparing to become a full-fledged vampire following a ceremonial feast with the vampire king. One night, after enjoying her regular snack of an ice cream shop clerk's blood, something downright...magical occurs. A unicorn appears from behind a Dumpster, piercing her with his horn. Pearl recovers from her injuries, but oddly, she can now endure the effects of sunlight. Her family seizes this opportunity to enroll her in the local high school to lure her new classmates to the vampire king's feast as snacks. As Pearl acclimates to high school life, she becomes less bloodthirsty and more concerned about her new human friends. She joins forces with several erstwhile vampire hunters and a were-unicorn, and finds herself at a defining crossroads as the feast of the vampire king approaches. Offering a nicely skewed twist on the teen vampire genre, this book features a young bloodsucker enduring a crisis of conscience that causes her to be torn between the traditional vampire way of life and that of a normal high schooler. Pearl is an engagingly written, deeply flawed character, and readers will enjoy her sarcasm-fueled search for the unicorn that altered her life. There is a bit of romance and the requisite love triangle of supernatural beasts, but Pearl is a strong female character who does not lose herself to her suitors. This book will likely appeal to young horror fans who enjoy a snarkier, smarter, distinctly less sparkly brand of vampires. Reviewer: Sherrie Williams

Yay!!!!!

The Best Present Ever

Every September, I embark on a grand quest to find a birthday present for my brother John that could win the title of Best Present My Brother Has Ever Gotten. Current record holder (purchased by our mother) has held the title for the last twenty-one years.

It was a box of cereal.

Specifically, it was the sugariest cereal ever sold (or at least that our local grocery store sold). We had a strict no-sugar-as-the-first-ingredient policy in our house, and this gift skyrocketed to the number one spot with ease.

For twenty-one years, no one has beaten the sugar cereal. Until now. (I dare to hope.)

I had dedicated Drink, Slay, Love to John. (Drink, Slay, Love is my latest novel. It's about vampires and were-unicorns.) So for this year, since his actual birthday was the same week as my book birthday, I sent him a signed copy of Drink, Slay, Love, as well as a plush vampire doll that makes slurping sounds when you press it against someone's neck...


... and also a can of unicorn meat that has a dismembered unicorn doll inside.


I am crossing my fingers that this entry FINALLY beats the cereal. But I'm having second thoughts. Perhaps I should have also tossed in a set of Uni-Corn-on-the-Cob holders:


Or a taxidermy unicorn:


Or perhaps an Edward Cullen manllow (half-man, half-pillow -- it watches you while you sleep):


Or maybe what I REALLY should have given him is this:


What's the best birthday gift you've ever gotten/given?