Aug 10th

Vesper: The Cover!

Vesper: A Deviants Novel

Here is the final, pre-blurb cover for VESPER, the first book in my new YA series Deviants. It comes out at the end of January/early February. And I LOVE this cover. Like, a lot.

I haven’t been blogging much since I’ve been dealing with an annoying leg infection for like a month and a half, but I’ve been cheered up the past few weeks by tons of awesome book bloggers featuring Vesper as a book to watch in 2011 (or, at least, as one that has a cool cover). Look at all these awesome people: Dark Faerie Tales, Once Upon A Review, Extreme Reader Book Reviews, Reading Addict, La Femme Readers, The Good, the Bad, & the Ugly Reviews, The Bookologist, Tynga’s Reviews, and Angieville.

I’ve no doubt that the rising number of people adding Vesper to their to-read lists on Goodreads is because of these bloggers, so yay! If you haven’t added Vesper as to-read yourself, it’s never too late! Oh and if you want to casually vote on my book in those list of 2011 books it’s on, I won’t mind, promise.

Lastly, Kelsey over at the fabulous The Book Scout blog did the very first interview with me about Vesper for her Introducing 2011 series. You can read it here.

And now I need to run off and continue living the glamorous life of a YA author, which involves me doing the dishes and then elevating the wonky leg. I hope you guys love the cover for Vesper as much as I do!

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Jun 8th

Books Books Books

Oh mah god, how can a whole month DISAPPEAR? I swear just yesterday it was the beginning of May. Now it’s nearing the middle of June, which is lame ’cause I cannot stand the heat. At all. And it’s getting hot. I dream of getting one of these:

Future Fan

That circle blasts AIR. Without the use of blades. Is that not the coolest, most space agey thing EVER? But until they’re not HUNDREDS OF DOLLARS I’ll just deal with my janky, old, regular fan. Even if it does get super dusty.

Anyway, so the past month disappeared because of, as always, book stuff. The days all fly by fast and furious, especially since I’m working on the sequel to Monster Slayers at the exact same time I’m writing Deviants book 2. Two more different books I can not imagine, for realz. My mind can barely contain all the madness. So let’s see what’s gone down lately….

Monster Slayers at B&N

  • Yes, we totally picked the pen name “Lukas Ritter” so it’d be shelved next to Rick Riordan’s books. It was a coincidence that both Monster Slayers and Red Pyramid came out on the same day though.
  • Monster Slayers is also my first eBook! Honestly, I never really paid attention to eBooks because I’m a freak who needs to feel pages, and who wants my house built entirely from hardcover novels one day, but knowing that my books are available on, like, Kindles and Nooks and shiz kind of makes me want to get an eReader. You can get the Kindle version on Amazon, or get the ePub format one at the Sony eReader site. Much like the crazy blade-less fan above, this makes me feel like we’re in Star Trek.
  • Remember The Death and Life of Emily Cooke, the first book in the Deviants series? Of course you do, I’ve been talking about it since forever. Well, this is the book of a million titles. Originally it was called Wildeside. Then it was The Savage Files. Then The Vesper Files. Then, at long last, the Emily Cooke title. And all was well and good . . . until a few weeks back I learned that marketing at HarperCollins wanted a new title. Something shorter and punchier. We were happy to oblige, and thus the book became (bum ba da!) Vesper: A Deviants Novel. I love the new title because it allowed me to dig through the text and make some changes that I think added some really cool connotations to the overall mythology of the series. But, uh, since you haven’t read word one yet, that probably doesn’t mean much.
  • The new title needed to be decided on quick because Vesper is going to become an ARC any day now! Recently I received the galley pages for the advance readers copy, which filled me with glee since it was the first time I got to see the manuscript in a format other than a plain Word document. You can check out some photos I snapped in my Facebook album. And if you really want, you can strain your eyes to read the first couple paragraphs of the book…
  • I also got the cover for the ARC and ohmigod, it is so damn cool. I can’t post it because we’re getting the finished cover anytime now, but judging by the text only version I was sent, the final cover is gonna rock, like, super hard.
  • The ARC cover revealed to me that the official release date for Vesper: A Deviants Novel is January 25, 2011. That’s only six months away! That kind of blows my mind, even more than the space fan.
  • In a few scant weeks I’m being flown to Washington D.C. by Wizards of the Coast to sign Monster Slayers at ALA. I’m a little bit scurred because I’ll have to fly on a plane all by my lonesome and probably rent a car and all that, but I’m excited to sit down in the always-awesome Wizards of the Coast booth and meet the publishing folk and librarians who stop by. My back has been killing me lately (ugh, so out of shape), so I may not walk around much . . . though I may not be able to resist the allure of free ARCs everywhere.
  • Finally, in a little more than a month I’m turning 28. TWENTY-EIGHT. Oh lawd, how did I get so old? I started working at writing professionally when I was 18 — I was a right little upstart filled with hubris and big plans. I decided I would be published by 21 and afterward become world famous. I sort of hit then first part of that goal (I was published right before I turned 23), but now I look back at wee little me and say, “Oh man, I wish I still had your thick, luxurious hair.” And also, “Haha, teenage me! If only you knew the work to come. If only you knew.” I’ve been working as a writer in publishing for a decade now, and it’s only now that I’m having the big-ish releases I dreamed of. So note to anyone reading this who wants to be an author: settle in for the long haul, or don’t settle in at all. Seriously.

And I think that’s all. Man no wonder the days are flying by all fast and furious. What’s worse is all this writing stuff is keeping me from the important things like playing Prince of Persia, Alan Wake, Picross 3D, and The Sims 3: Ambitions. Don’t my editors and agent know there’s important virtual work to be done? My Sims author isn’t going to sit down and write his novel all by himself, now will he?

Until next time….

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Apr 27th

Return of the Book Pimper!

So I don’t know if I mentioned it before, but I have a book out in a few weeks called Monster Slayers by “Lukas Ritter.” Have I mentioned it? I can’t recall. I’ve been so mum on the subject.

Okay, yeah, no, it’s been full force pimping lately. An endless gale of pimp whooshing into your homes via computer screen. I’m basically that cardboard cutout of The Critic from the show The Critic saying, “Buy my book!” over and over again. But it’s my first hardcover release! It’s exciting! EXCITING!

Anyway, so it’s time for another weekly dose of Monster Slayers/Lukas Ritter news round up!

Several months back I was tasked with writing a short story based on Monster Slayers that takes place before the book. The resulting story, “Training Day,” is now on the Wizards of the Coast website. Click on the cool picture to check it out!

Monster Slayers: Training Day

The story was posted alongside a neat D&D game that I had no idea was being created. Written by Wizards editor Susan Morris, The Heroes of Hesiod game is FREAKING ADORABLE. It’s based on the “Training Day” short story, includes characters from the Monster Slayers books, and you are rewarded with CANDY. This is designed as an easy D&D game for kids ages 6 and up and as such includes cute little beholders and dragons to fight. I am totally gathering five friends to play this. Click on the baby monsters to check it out:

Monster Slayers: Heroes of Hesiod

And lastly, the first part of the interview I did with my editor Nina Hess is now online to read. We basically went back and forth Interview magazine style, which was a lot of fun. This first part deals with more general talk about Monster Slayers and how it came to be. The second part, which will be posted next week, goes into the nitty gritty of how we work together for those interested in the editor-author relationship. Follow the plush bouncing beholder to read part 1:

Beholder

And that’s it for today’s Monster Slayers promo blitz. Now I must dash off to lunch with a friend so I can come back and (gulp) actually work on writing a book for once.

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Apr 22nd

Meet Lukas Ritter

My editor at Wizards of the Coast–Nina Hess–and I recently did a back and forth interview about working together on Monster Slayers that’s going up in several parts in the coming weeks. She started off with an intro to my alter-ego Lukas Ritter by detailing how we came to work together seven years ago. Check it out!

Out of the Slush Pile: The Tale of Lukas Ritter

There have also been a few reviews popping up for Monster Slayers from the copies of the ARC that went out. Here’s a couple totally chosen at random that are in no way being excerpted solely because they were positive:

“Lukas Ritter weaves a magical tale that will keep young readers entranced by the story.”
- Reading Review (I should note that the reviewer mistakenly thinks this book takes place in the Dragonlance world; it does not.)

“With non-stop action and adventure, unique monsters, and a bit of magic, this is an exciting story for young and old alike.”
- SciFiChick.com

Thanks, randomly chosen reviewers! I’ll leave you guys with a sneak peak at the cover for Monster Slayers 2, since it’s too cool not to share. The full thing is TOTALLY AWESOME and I’ll post it as soon as they let me!

Monster Slayers 2 Snippet

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Apr 20th

Box o’ Books

I was woken this morning by my doorbell ringing. Anyone who knows me well knows I’m a total night owl and always sleep in, so I had to jump out of bed, fumble for my glasses, throw on clothes, re-throw on my shirt since it was on backward, and run for the door.

The FedEx guy was already back in his truck and about to drive off, so I yelled out, “Excuse me! Excuse me!!” He didn’t hear. Then, disheveled and looking like a crazy person, I shouted “Heeeeeeeeeeey!” That got his attention (which saved me a trip to the FedEx depot) and I got this:

Box o' Monster Slayers

That would be a box full of the finished copies of Monster Slayers! Look how shiny:

Monster Slayers

I also got two great blurbs.

James Dashner BlurbKA Applegate Blurb

Hmm, now what to do with all these copies. Maybe a contest is in order….

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Apr 11th

A Brand New Site!

It’s been forever and ever, but I’m back with a brand new web site! And that’s ’cause I have new books! So click on the Books tab above to read about them! Or not. I mean, I know we all have busy lives.

Anyway, 2010 has been a busy year for me as I gear up for upcoming book releases. The past few weeks have been a flurry of adding web site content and putting on my “Lukas Ritter” persona to write the sequel to Monster Slayers, which we’re currently called Monster Slayers: UNLEASHED. My first suggested titled–Monster Slayers: Snakes on a Boat–was apparently not gonna work, even though the cover is gonna feature a medusa on deck of a ship. Which is gonna look frikkin’ awesome because the artist is the same as for book 1: Jesper Ejsing.

And of course Deviants stuff has been happening at a quick clip ever since I got my editorial letter in January. The first book–The Death and Life of Emily Cooke–has been revised, copy edited, and is now about to be out and about as proofread layouts. Which means very soon I’ll have Advanced Reader Copies (ARCs) to share! Oh, and share I will, because I know some of you who have been waiting literally three years to read this thing.

I’m also excited because HarperCollins is gearing up for a photo shoot for the cover. For my book. So fancy, right? I have no idea what the cover will look like yet, but I’m gonna post the heck out of it once it’s ready.

Deviants also recently sold to Blanvalet, the German-based sci-fi & fantasy imprint of Random House, back in February. The German-language editions will be published in paperback sometime after the US and Canada release, under the name J.M. Sampson. This is my first foreign sale and, considering I’m of German heritage and was born in Germany, it seems fitting!

And that’s about it for now. Now that I have an actual blog up and running I’m going to post more often, so keep an eye out!

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Oct 26th

Monster Slayers!

(This was originally posted on my LiveJournal page.)

I’ve been writing for the Mirrorstone Books imprint of Wizards of the Coast for years and years; in fact, I consider them the folks who “discovered” me.  So I’m proud to say I have a brand new book coming out from them — in hardcover! — this May.  I actually wrote it under a pen name, but that was only for marketing purposes.  I even dedicated it to myself — my real self, that is — just as a little joke.

The book is a middle grade adventure novel based on the Dungeons & Dragons world.  In the beginning it all seems like standard D&D adventure fare, but as the characters and readers will discover, not everything is as it seems…  I’ve described the book as Hunger Games and The Truman Show meet Dungeons & Dragons, so infer from that what you will!

Let me present to you Monster Slayers by “Lukas Ritter”:

Monster Slayers

This is an early-ish cover and there will be some changes before release of the finished book, but this is the cover of my very first ARC!  In fact, soon I’ll have copies of the ARC to send out.  If you’re a book reviewer or an author willing to blurb — or know anyone who is — let me know and I’ll get a copy sent out to you!

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Oct 12th

Back, With Good News

(This was originally posted on my LiveJournal page.)

It’s been basically a billion years since I last wrote a public update on here.  But trust me when I say you didn’t really want to read much about my life the past year — all dull all the time, I must say.

However, today I have some good news to share!  This deal memo was posted in Publisher’s Marketplace today:

“Jeff Sampson’s debut THE DEATH AND LIFE OF EMILY COOKE, about a teen girl who, in evading a murderer, discovers that she and her classmates are very dangerous thanks to genetic engineering, to Kristin Daly at Balzer + Bray, in a six-figure deal, in a three-book deal, by Michael Stearns at Upstart Crow Literary (NA).”

For those who aren’t familiar with Balzer + Bray, they are an imprint of HarperCollins.

So yes, this is pretty darn exciting!  This isn’t technically my debut, since of course I’ve written several work-for-hire books in the past, but it is the debut of a book that is 100% me and where I want to go with my writing in the world of YA.  The book is geeky and funny and full of action, but at its center is the story of a shy teen girl facing the troubles that come with growing up.  No exact release date yet, but we’re looking at sometime in 2011.

Some of you may remember this book was once called The Life and Death of Emily Cooke and was with Mirrorstone Books, but was canceled a little over a year ago due to a corporate decision by their parent company.  So I’m glad to say that upsetting situation led to an even better, bigger deal, and that the book itself also got the chance to become bigger, better, and deeper than it was to begin with.  Nina Hess, Stacy Whitman, and everyone else at Mirrorstone were and are very supportive of this project, and I hope I do them proud.

Speaking of Mirrorstone, I should also add that I have a new book coming from them as well, this one in May 2010.  This book, called Monster Slayers, is my mid-grade take on Dungeons & Dragons meets The Hunger Games meets The Truman Show.  I wrote it under the pen name “Lukas Ritter,” but that’s not because I’m disowning the book — it’s more a marketing thing than anything else.  I should have the finished cover and ARCs soon, and I’ll be sure to update here with details on this book and The Death and Life of Emily Cooke as more become available.

It’s been a rather tumultuous year, but I’m glad to see things turning around for the better.  And I’m excited for everyone to finally be able to read these books!

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