Dream Come True Alert: Shelf Awareness

It's been a great launch week, with good news every day, and today's is a excellent capstone for the week. I've been a big fan of Shelf Awareness for several years. It's a great source of information about publishing, bookselling, and the whole world of bookdom -- and in today's issue, I'm the Book Brahmin, answering all sorts of questions about my reading habits past and present.

And, no joke, I've been waiting for someone to ask me my favorite line from a book for years. You'll have to read the Q&A to find out what it is.

Find that answer, and all the others, here. 

I'm on the road!

On the road and in the air and across the tracks... yes, book tour has begun. And it started off right with an unexpected upgrade to first class. And also coney dogs in the Detroit airport, which I love. Kind of overwhelmed with everything going on, but this will be a great week meeting readers in my home state of Iowa as well as Chicago, where my publisher is based. Onward!

 

One more week...

Eek! Only one week until THE MAGICIAN'S LIE comes out! I heard it's been spotted on the shelves already at Costco, and shipping early from Powell's, but the "real" launch date is next Tuesday, January 13. Did you know in some cultures it's Tuesday the 13th, not Friday the 13th, that's considered unlucky? Well, thank goodness ours isn't one of them!

Two quick highlights that rolled in over the break:

  • TML was named one of "Three Books for a Long Winter Weekend" at Oprah.com. Seriously, just the word "Oprah" in association with my book gives me rolling goosebumps from head to toe. Oprah! I may faint. They call it "The mystery more bewitching than a crackling fire."
  • There are only a few more days to enter the Sourcebooks giveaway at Goodreads -- nearly 1000 people have entered! That's pretty amazing! You should add your name to the list. 

Cannot believe how much exciting stuff is happening around here. Next Tuesday seems very far away, but I bet it'll be here in a blink.

Happy Holidays!

Well, we're entering the last couple of weeks of the year, and the holidays are coming fast and furious. Here's hoping for a wonderful, festive season, with safe travels and cozy warm beverages for everyone!

So the blog will be quiet for the next couple of weeks, but when January comes, things are REALLY going to be happening!

In the meantime, stop by the Events and Honors pages -- some super-fun stuff there, and more to come.

See you in 2015!

Great news: Indie Next!

Hard to put into words how MASSIVELY EXCITING this is, but The Magician's Lie has been named to the Indie Next list for January 2015. Books are nominated and voted on by indie booksellers across the country, and the list is circulated to every bookstore in the American Booksellers Association. It's a BIG DEAL and I cannot BELIEVE how lucky I am to have my book chosen. AMAZING!

Here's the list of titles, on the ABA site.

And here's what they say about The Magician's Lie. YAY!

“Macallister’s debut novel is historical fiction that blends magic, mystery, and romance. In turn-of-the-century America at the height of stage magic’s popularity, the renowned female illusionist Amazing Arden must convince a young police officer, Virgil Holt, of her innocence in a murder that looks suspiciously like one of her most famous illusions gone wrong. As Arden’s story unfolds over the course of the night she spends in police custody, the reader, as well as Officer Holt, must decide if she is telling the truth or if this, too, is part of her act.” —Meagan Albin, Breakwater Books, Guilford, CT 

The Magician's Lie is a Midwest Connections Pick!

As I put it on Twitter: this is ALL CAPS NEWS.

TML is a Midwest Connections pick for January 2015! I have been so thrilled with how independent bookstores all over the country have been embracing TML so far, and this is such an amazing honor, especially given how near and dear the Midwest is to my heart.

This means that if you live in the area covered by the Midwest Independent Booksellers Association -- Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin, and part of Michigan -- you've got a very good chance of seeing TML in your local indie. Yay!

If you haven't read TML yet, a large part of the action is set in Janesville, Iowa, with some pivotal action in Chicago, and mentions of towns from Davenport to Okonomowoc. So this is very much on Arden's, and my, home turf.

Check out the pick info on the MIBA site (thank you, MIBA!!) here.

Back from Heartland Fall Forum

Had an utterly wonderful time at my very first regional trade show for booksellers. The Heartland Fall Forum is a joint show for bookstores in the Midwest and Great Lakes areas, and I met SO many wonderful booksellers there, not to mention other wonderful authors, whose books I am now totally dying to read.

And it never hurts to see one's book prominently displayed, does it? I love this cover more every time I see it, still.


Click here for the Publishers Weekly writeup on the event (which even mentions TML, yay!)