The Magazine

Cinderella: Ninja Warrior is featured in the summer issue of The Magazine! Read by hundreds of thousands of Canadian kids. :)

Just heard this. Will be running to a news stand to buy a copy, ASAP. :)

And how funny that the "Kind of Like" comparable they use is Sleeping Beauty: Vampire Slayer.

Space Cadet

I seem to be forgetting a lot of things lately. To many things on my mind? Not enough?

Last evening I had a ticket to see a screening and discussion of Double Indemnity as part of the CBC/Tiff "Books on Film Club" and forgot. Around 5:30 or 6:00 (would have still been plenty of time to get home, grab ticket, and rush over to Tiff Bell Lightbox... I thought, Hmmm... maybe I'll go see a movie.

Went to see the new Pirates of the Caribbean movie, mostly because it was the one starting. Was bored, bored, bored, bored. Not sure why. Was it just my mood? Did others enjoy this movie?

Bursting out All Over

I've been all over the interweb these past few weeks and haven't been doing a great job of keeping up with it all. Why can't time stop for a day so I can get caught up?

That said, today, I'm thrilled to be featured on NYT Bestselling author Cynthia Leitich Smith's blog Cynsations as part of her New Voices program.

I'm also blogging at the Chick Lit Writers of the World about how Hollywood stereotypes female friendships and how much I liked Bridesmaids.

And there are still some giveaways going on, too!

Black and Blue Ink Enter by June 8th

Books, Thoughts and a Few Adventures Enter by June 1st

To Read or Not To Read Enter by June 3rd

Red House Books Enter by June 3rd

Books at Midnight Enter by June 3rd

My Chaotic Ramblings Not sure of deadline. Still open today.

Cornucopia of Reviews Enter by June 5th

The Book Rat Enter by May 31st

Debbie's Book Bag

I'm a guest today on Debbie's Book Bag! And she's doing a giveaway.

Check out the very nice review she gave to Sleeping Beauty: Vampire Slayer. :)

Did I mention how much I love book bloggers? :)

Did I include enough smiley emoticons in this post? ;)

Blog Tour

I'm on tour! Well, a virtual one. One where there are fewer hotel rooms and plane rides. :)

Stop by and say hi if you have a chance. I'll make it worth your while. Many of the stops feature giveaways. :)

It continues through the end of the month, but here are this week's stops.

May 10

Tasha A Trillion Books  Interview

Katie A Book Obsession  Giveaway

Jazz About Books Blog   Review  (Love this review. :)

May 11

Irena This Miss Loves To Read  Interview & Giveaway

May 12

Kristen Seeing Night Book Reviews  Interview & Giveaway

Jenny Dreaming of Books  Interview & Giveaway

May 13

Debbie Debs Book Bag   Giveaway & Guest Post

Stella Book Lovers  Interview & Giveaway

Thanks so much to the fabulous Ginger and Mana at Silver Dolphin Books and to Premier Virtual Author Book Tours for setting this up for me. Thanks to to all the book bloggers. I <3 book bloggers.

Talking about Twisting Tales

I'm thrilled to be guest blogging at the Indigo Teen Blog today. (For those of you not in Canada, Indigo is the biggest bookseller in Canada.)

The wonderful editors there asked me to talk about the process of updating the fairy tales and adding reader interaction.

I'd love it if you stopped by! Indigo Teen Blog!

Is Hanna YA?

I saw Hanna last week. Definitely a story I wish I'd written. Totally up my alley in terms of the kinds of stories I'm trying to write writing right now....

But it got me thinking about what makes a book or movie Young Adult vs adult. It's not just about the age of the protagonist. I've seen discussions on the topic before that made sense to me and if memory serves the differentiations had to do with the themes explored etc. but I don't think there are any obvious answers. It might be "you know it when you see it" and it might simply be a marketing decision. Some books, like the Harry Potter series and Twilight and The Hunger Games are clearly YA in my mind, but they get read by a ton of adults. But not all YA stories appeal to adults.

And I think with this current "hot trend" in YA a lot of books/stories are being released as YA that five or so years ago would have been published as adult books, regardless of the age of the protagonist.

Some books that come to mind that have kid protagonists but feel more like adult books to me include: Room, and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night, and The Book Thief. I recently bought a new YA, Between Shades of Gray, that I'm really looking forward to reading, and I suspect it might fall into that category, too. Certainly the topic feels adult to me, even though it was on the teen shelf at Indigo. (Thanks to new writer friend, Angela Cerrito, for pointing me to this book. Angela's debut novel The End of the Line has just been released, BTW. Angela's book it has a thirteen y/o protagonist but an adult sounding subject. Cannot WAIT to read.)

But back to Hanna and whether it's YA. I did a post a while back about True Grit and how I thought it was kind of crazy that it was being marketed as an adult Western, with Jeff Bridges and Matt Damon as the stars, when clearly, to me, it was a young adult story with Hailee Steinfeld as its star...

Another book and movie that just sprang to mind is The Lovely Bones. I loved that book. LOVED it. And although the main character was young (and dead) I thought of it as an adult book. But I'll bet if it had been first released now, instead of in 2002, that it would have been released as YA. And they marketed the movie as YA, didn't they? And it kind of bombed as a movie. I admit I haven't seen it, which is shocking because I see a lot (a ton) of films and was really looking forward to that one, until I started hearing negative things. Did they tame it down while trying to make it more of a teen story?? Does anyone know?

And then there's Hanna, with the same wonderful lead actress as The Lovely Bones, Saoirse Ronan. And while this story is clearly about a teen girl, and has fairy tale elements to it... To me it was completely an adult story.

Not sure I fully understand why I think this. Can't wait to discuss.

Anyone else seen Hanna? Thoughts? We've been talking about this over at DWT if you want to join the discussion there.

Another Giveaway!

Today, I'm being interviewed on The Qwillery and giving away another book. Stop by there, if you'd like a chance to win.

And here are photos of a couple more book sightings.

In other news, once a month I meet up with a lovely group of Toronto-(and environs)-based middle grade and young adult writers. We've dubbed ourselves #torkidlit. You can follow us on Twitter or check out our Facebook page.

Torkidlit was started by the lovely and fabulous Claudia Osmond, author of SMUDGE'S MARK, but much of our energy/organization is owed to the equally fabulous author/illustrator Debbie Ohi, also known as Inkygirl.

Debbie made a video this week to show our support for the people of Japan. (Coincidentally, the past several months we've been meeting in a fabulous Japanese restaurant...)

Release -- The Aftermath

So, the books are actually out in the world. For realsies.

You want proof? I'll give you proof.

This is at a local indie bookseller.

Irony is I'd been trying to get up the courage to go into said bookstore and tell them about my books, hoping that they wouldn't just scoff. I never expected to discover they actually had ordered the books and had them on display. On a table!!!

Thanks to SIL Kate for making the discovery and taking the pictures for me. :)

If you're still hoping for a chance to win a book, stop on by the fabulous Claudia Osmond's blog today: Where the (not-so) Wild Things Are. She's having a Maureen McGowan Monday. How awesome is that?

And the winners are...

The winners of books are:

Marilyn Brant and Lexie@BookBug

The first one to contact me gets first pick on whether she prefers to receive Cinderella: Ninja Warrior or Sleeping Beauty: Vampire Slayer!

Thanks so much to everyone who stopped by to visit this week. You made my release week very special.

And I know I promised some more info about Sleeping Beauty... It's still coming, I promise.

Also, this week I'm going to be visiting some other awesome blogs.

Monday I'll be at: Claudia Osmond's blog

Tuesday I'll be at: Marilyn Brant's Blog (Total coincidence she won a book. I used a random.org. Honest.)
And at:                  Linda Gerber's Blog

Further info about my adventures in blog land will be updated on my Keep in Touch page on this blog and my Page at Get Lost in a Story.

If you didn't win a book this time, there will be more chances!

Inside Scoop on Cinderella: Ninja Warrior

Yesterday, one of my fabulous fellow bloggers at Get Lost in a Story, debut author Donnell Ann Bell, interviewed me. Below is an excerpt from the interview with some insider information on how CINDERELLA: NINJA WARRIOR came about.

Donnell: Maureen, I just have to say I love fairy tales. You're talking to a person who has watched The Little Mermaid at least 15 times. When you described to me the story adaptation that brought about CINDERELLA: NINJA WARRIOR, I made the decision right then and there to pick up this book.

You take the tried and true Cinderella fairy tale, in which the message to little girls is, let the prince save you. You, however, turn it into a kick-butt heroine who can darn well save herself. Love your message. What inspired you to create this version?

Maureen:  Thanks, Donnell. When I was asked by the editor to take a shot at writing a proposal for a Cinderella story with a choose-your-own-adventure element, I jumped at the chance. But because the idea had come from the editor, I worried that I wouldn’t be able to tell the stories the way I wanted. The editor assured me I’d have complete creative freedom. To test her assertion, I asked, “Can there be ninjas?” She said sure, and the rest is history.

I also liked the idea of “fixing” some of the elements of the traditional stories that bothered me. For example, the original Cinderella character was too much of a victim for my taste, waiting around for a handsome prince to save her. I wanted to create a strong heroine who was doing all she could to save herself. I also never liked the idea that the prince needed a shoe to recognize her the day after supposedly falling in love, or that he fell in love with her because of her beauty—beauty which he doesn’t recognize the next day when she’s out of her fancy dress. What kind of message does that send to modern young readers about love or their self-worth?

Donnell: Not much of an esteem builder at all. I so agree. Would you say the theme is still good vs. evil, or do you see something else in the storytelling?

Maureen: The traditional fairy tale themes of finding true love and good vs. evil are definitely in CINDERELLA: NINJA WARRIOR, but other themes in the story include: believing in yourself and seeing through the superficial to what really matters—the person inside.

Donnell: You have a prince in disguise and a fairy godfather. Will you tell us about those switches and what inspired those roles?

Maureen: I made the decision about the godfather right from the start. One of the first things that popped into my mind as I started working on this book, (after ninjas), was the line, “Hi, I’m Fred, your fairy godfather.” It just struck me as funny. 

That line, minus the word “fairy”, ended up in the book. (He’s actually her real godfather, not a fairy.) But he has a magical secret, too… and that element is something I discovered organically while writing the opening pages.

The prince in disguise was a happy accident while writing—when he showed up at the door, I realized the messenger bringing the invitations to the ball wasn’t who he said he was—but in hindsight that element was essential to the story. I wanted Cinderella and the Prince to fall in love, so I needed to get him into the story well ahead of the ball—especially since, depending on the readers’ choices, Cinderella doesn’t necessarily go to the ball. The prince-in-disguise element also nicely ties together with the theme of seeing the true person inside.

Tune in Friday for the scoop on SLEEPING BEAUTY: VAMPIRE SLAYER.

Release Week Party and Giveaway!

My, how time flies!

This time last year, I was still working on my two debut novels, Cinderella: Ninja Warrior and Sleeping Beauty: Vampire Slayer, and now they are both being released--on the same day!--to launch the Twisted Tales series!

The official release date is April 1, 2011, but they are already shipping from some online retailers. I can't wait to actually see/hold one myself and/or hear that someone has spotted one in the wild! If you see a copy in a store, please let me know! Even better, take a picture and send it to me. :)

In spite of the long and twisty road I took to this point (worthy of any challenging fairy tale fraught with evil witches) I'm not letting the April Fool's Day release date temper my excitement. Tune back on Friday to find out whether the joke's on me. LOL.  I might tell some of the twisty tale that day.  :)

In the meantime, here's what the publisher and some fabulous bloggers/reviewers have said about the first two books in the Twisted Tales series.

SLEEPING BEAUTY: VAMPIRE SLAYER

In this thrilling story full of adventure and romance, Sleeping Beauty is more than just a lonely princess waiting for her prince—she's a brave, tenacious girl who never backs down from a challenge. With vampire-slaying talents that she practices in secret, Sleeping Beauty puts her courage to the test in the dark of night, fighting evil as she searches for a way to break the spell that has cut her off from her family. In a special twist, readers have the opportunity to make key decisions for Sleeping Beauty and decide where she goes next—but no matter the choice; the result is a story unlike any fairy tale you've ever read!
Sleeping Beauty: Vampire Slayer is an entirely new type of fairy tale–one that will keep today's kids guessing and offer them hours of magical fun.

"If you’re just a fan of retold fairytales, then Sleeping Beauty: Vampire Slayer is exactly what you’ve been looking for." Maianka Verstraete of I <3 Reading

"It's a fairytale full of teen angst, comedy, romance, mystery and adventure! The 'choose a path' option was brilliant and made the book a lot of fun. I will be looking at other works by this Author and look forward to any other writing she has coming out." - Kristi Stern of The Book Faery

"Once upon a time a story comes along that makes your heart soar and transports you to a world filled with royalty, magical beings and immortal creatures. Sleeping Beauty: Vampire Slayer is one such story."  -Aobibliophile of Aobiblioshpere


"This was a wonderful new twist on the Sleeping Beauty fairy tale. ... Lucette was one butt-kicking vampire-slaying princess."  -ReaderGirl of NightOwl Reviews

CINDERELLA: NINJA WARRIOR

In this fast-paced story full of adventure and romance, Cinderella is more than just a servant girl waiting for her prince—she's a tough, fearless girl who is capable of taking charge of a dangerous situation. Seeking to escape the clutches of her evil stepmother, Cinderella perfects her ninja skills and magic talents in secret, waiting for the day when she can break free and live happily ever after. In a special twist, readers have the opportunity to make key decisions for Cinderella and decide where she goes next—but no matter the choice; the result is a story unlike any fairy tale you've ever read!

"An extremely funny, enjoyable and entertaining read that doesn’t take itself too seriously, and brings a fabulous twist to a well-known fairytale."  Majanka Verstraete of I <3 Reading

"My favourite princess made even stronger, it couldn’t be better!  A world filled with magic with love being the strongest magic of all.  A wonderful concoction of Maureen McGowan: a retelling of Cinderella mixed in with wizardry, martial arts, and choose-your-own-adventure!"  Tien of Tien's Blurb

"I was never fan of Cinderella to tell you the truth. But this book...oh my...! I wish the original stories were like that! Forget the sweet cliché love story and the poor girl. Here we have witches, championships, warriors, villains and even dragons! How awesome is it?" Yiota of Splash of Our Worlds

PARTY PLANS

All week at Get Lost in a Story we'll be celebrating the books' release. 

Stop by there, every day this week, for up to FIVE chances to win one of four books -- 2 of each.

SPECIAL SECRET GIVEAWAY!

In addition to the drawing on Get Lost in a Story, I'll give away two additional copies to commenters on this blog. That's right. If you comment here, and every day on Get Lost in a Story, you'll have even more chances to win. :)

Thanks for stopping by to help me celebrate!

Giveaway Over

Well, that was fun!

My first foray into Goodreads Giveaways and it was kind of exciting. Just the thought of over 1600 people, most of whom I don't know, entering a contest to win a copy of my ARC was thrilling.

Goodreads picked the winners last night and it got even better!

Two of the winners are people I know. Kwana Jackson and Christine D'Abo!

Like I said... 1602 entries. Maybe 20 of them I knew, (scanning through the entries), Goodreads picks randomly and I know 2!

How fun is that?

Congrats to all the winners! I'll be sending your ARCs out very soon.

ARC Giveaway!

I'm giving away 10 Advance Reader Copies for Cinderella: Ninja Warrior.

Win and you can get a copy of the book before it even comes out!)

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Cinderella

by Maureen McGowan

Giveaway ends March 23, 2011.

See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Dead on Delivery

No, not me. :)

Today, I'm interviewing the fabulous Eileen Rendahl over at Get Lost in a Story.

Come on by to chat with Eileen and get a chance to win her fabulous new urban fantasy, DEAD ON DELIVERY.

Letters From Home

Happy, happy release day to Kristina McMorris, whose fabulous book, Letters From Home, officially hits stores today.

Have you ever seen a more gorgeous cover?


Chicago, 1944. Liz Stephens has little interest in attending a USO club dance with her friends Betty and Julia. She doesn't need a flirtation with a lonely serviceman when she's set to marry her childhood sweetheart. Yet something happens the moment Liz glimpses Morgan McClain. They share only a brief conversation - cut short by the soldier's evident interest in Betty - but Liz can't forget him. Thus, when Betty asks her to ghostwrite a letter to Morgan, stationed overseas, Liz reluctantly agrees.

Thousands of miles away, Morgan struggles to adjust to the brutality of war. His letters from "Betty" are a comfort, their soul-baring correspondence a revelation to them both. While Liz is torn by her feelings for a man who doesn't know her true identity, Betty and Julia each become immersed in their own romantic entanglements. And as the war draws to a close, all three will face heart-wrenching choices, painful losses, and the bittersweet joy of new beginnings.
 

I met the lovely Kristina when we were both finalists for the Golden Heart competition in 2007, her with this very book. I couldn't be more excited for her. Seriously. Go out and buy this book. Now. :)

Got ARC?

Look at what came in the mail today!!

A lovely box of ARCs for Cinderella: Ninja Warrior!

Will have to dream up some great giveaway ideas.... Hmmmm...

Interviewing Molly O'Keefe

Today, I'm thrilled to be hosting RITA® Award winning contemporary romance author, Molly O'Keefe, who just happens to be, not only one of my valued critique partners, but also one of my closest friends. In addition to her RITA® win, she's also won two RT Reviewers' Choice Awards as well as numerous other accolades. She's has 18 novels published by Harlequin and two fabulous longer romances coming out from Bantam Dell in 2012.

For the full interview, check out the Get Lost in a Story blog. 

His Wife For One Night

February 2011

ISBN 9780373716883

Jack McKibbon knows the score when he offers to marry his best friend Mia Alatore. He's fixing a bad situation for her—that's all—they aren't making a real life together. She wants to stay on the ranch and he's got his studies and inventions elsewhere. Still, this arrangement is a good deal for both of them.

Until that one night…

A sexy interlude with Mia makes Jack rethink their relationship…and their future. But all his plans grind to a halt when she asks for a divorce. Once upon a time, Jack might have agreed. But now that he knows the chemistry they share, he's not giving up a second chance to be with his wife.

ABOUT MOLLY

Molly O'Keefe has always known she wanted to be a writer (except when she wanted to be a florist or a chef and the brief period of time when she considered being a cowgirl). And once she got her hands on some romances, she knew exactly what she wanted to write.

She published her first Harlequin romance at age 25 and hasn't looked back. She loves exploring every character's road towards happily ever after.

Originally from a small town outside of Chicago, she went to university in St. Louis where she met and fell in love with the editor of her school newspaper. They followed each other around the world for several years and finally got married and settled down in Toronto, Ontario. They welcomed their son into their family in 2006, and their daughter in 2008. When she's not at the park or cleaning up the toy room, Molly is working hard on her next novel, trying to exercise, stalking Tina Fey on the internet and dreaming of the day she can finish a cup of coffee without interruption.

To read the full interview, check out the Get Lost in a Story blog. 

Interviewing Anna Humphrey

Today, I'm interviewing the lovely, Anna Humphrey, author of RHYMES WITH CUPID and the upcoming MISSION (UN)POPULAR.


Anna Humphrey is the author of RHYMES WITH CUPID (currently available) and MISSION (UN)POPULAR (due out June 2011)—both books for teens. She lives in Toronto with her husband and kids. 

I've been lucky enough to meet Anna in person through the fabulous @torkidlit tweet group. Follow our hashtag. :)

ABOUT THE BOOK 

RHYMES WITH CUPID from HarperTeen is the story of a girl who finds romance despite her best efforts not to.

After a terrible heartbreak last Valentine’s day, Elyse Ulrich has sworn off dating as well as celebrating the February 14th holiday. Both things are a problem, though, since:
a) she works at a gift & stationery store, surrounded by annoying singing Cupid dolls, tacky heart-shaped balloons, and sappy cards with poems that don’t even really rhyme.
b) she ends up meeting Patrick, who works in the same mall and is her new neighbor and her driving instructor and is really cute and incredibly charming… which might be okay except for the whole ‘sworn off dating’ thing…

Elyse isn’t interested in putting her heart on the line. But with Valentine’s Day approaching, she finds out that avoiding Cupid’s arrow is a lot harder than she expected.



To read the full interview, click here: Get Lost in a Story.

Celebrating the good stuff

I'm celebrating the good stuff over on Drunk Writer Talk today!

What's your good news?