I’m now blogging at http://lbardugo.tumblr.com and I hope you guys will come join me there. (This site will stay up for a bit while we figure out what to do with the old posts.)

I’m going to miss this format and my little wordpress blog, but my fall travel schedule is crazy enough that I had to transition to tumblr or put the blog on hiatus entirely. (Plus, the “ask” box at tumblr is kind of my new favorite thing. Come by and ask me questions! About anything! Within reason! It’s fun!)

Many, many thanks to all who have commented here. Now onward to the tumblrama!

Five Good Reasons to Read at Andersons Bookshop, 7pm

With Susan Dennard, Veronica Roth, Dan Krokos, Me, and Erica O’Rourke.

We have a limited number of SECRET CONTENT booklets to give away that feature deleted scenes, alternate POV scenes, new pages from upcoming sequels. My contribution? TWO NEVER BEFORE SEEN GRISHA POSTERS!! (You only get one and you can’t pick which one so don’t get grumpy.) I’m not going to reveal the art just yet, but they are BEAUTIFUL. Only 240 to go around, first come, first serve, so get on in there early. Details here. (And don’t worry, even if you can’t attend the event, you can still order signed books online and get the secret special treats!)

If you are coming out to Andersons, in addition to the secret special content, I’ll have Shadow and Bone swag on hand, including the official nail polish (so purty). AND I’ll have a few limited edition Darkling buttons (we only made 100 and I’m quite stingy with them) for any fans who go above and beyond.

And… WORLDCON!!!

If you want to know why I’m so bloody excited about WorldCon, click here.

My schedule:

1. In September, I’ll be visiting Germany for the first time to visit the Harbourfront Festival in Hamburg to celebrate the launch! SO. MANY. WOOTS.

2. Can I just say that I love the German cover? I’m not sure it could be more different from the US version, but it has this lovely retro feel and there’s something so haunted in Alina’s expression.

3. My wonderful German publisher is doing a little scavenger hunt for their bloggers, and they sent me this to put up on the blog:

“Das Problem mit dem Verlangen ist, dass es uns schwächt”, flüsterte er und ließ die Lippen über mein Kinn gleiten. Vor meinem Mund hielt er inne. Und dann – ich konnte es schon fast nicht mehr ertragen – drückte er seine Lippen endlich auf die meinen.”

“The problem with wanting,” he whispered, his mouth trailing along my jaw until it hovered over my lips, “is that it makes us weak.” And then, at last, when I thought I couldn’t bear it any longer, he brought his mouth down on mine.”

I hope to have some new giveaways and awesome art to share with you soon in honor of Shadow and Bone going into its THIRD PRINTING. Woots!! *tosses confetti*

For now, I hope you’ll check out my appearance on The Big Pull Podcast with host Kurt Mattila, Brent Woods (American Dad), and Mike DiMartino (co-creator of Avatar: The Last Airbender and Legend of Korra– OKAY??). I’m not going to lie, I was REALLY nervous and there’s a lot of giggling.

Part 1 on iTunes or here

Highlights include:

We debate The Dark Knight Rises vs. The Avengers, female villains, and we discover that Brent really digs Voldemort.

I explain the word “squee.”

Favorite Quote: “The ladies love Loki… and his pointy, pointy hat.”

Part 2…

Okay, here’s the thing. I don’t think I can link to this segment here because it is just  NOT SAFE FOR WORK. Lots of swearing, bizarre and salacious Bane imitations, and the discussion of… um, blue appendages in The Watchmen. I sing. Twice. This is what happens when you put a bunch of nerds in a room and feed them wine.

Highlights include:

Fanfic and the appeal of the badboy, the possibility of a Wonder Woman movie, and the Man of Steel trailer.

Mike and I bond over our love of the Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson.

I try to make sense of the claim that my book shares themes with 50 Shades of Grey.

If you want it, you’ll have to go hunt it down for yourself.

*** CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED!! WINNER WILL BE ANNOUNCED ON AMIE KAUFMAN’S BLOG ON FRIDAY 7/27! ***

All week, we’re celebrating the launch of Susan Dennard’s Something Strange and Deadly with amazing one-day giveaways.

The winner of yesterday’s SSaDOutbreak giveaway is Sara M.! Make sure to contact Kat Zhang to nab your ARCs of ORIGIN by Jessica Khoury and SKINNY by Donna Cooner.

For my giveaway, I wanted to focus on the unique historical setting and steampunk style of SSaD. Susan Dennard’s 1876 Philadelphia is a city bristling with new technology and necromancy– think corsets, brilliant inventors, society parties, and, of course, the walking dead.

Armed only with a parasol, how does one take out a zombie?

Words to live by.

So, today and ONLY TODAY, you have the chance to win

A black lace PARASOL inspired by heroine Eleanor Fitt

and

A QUERY CRITIQUE from agent Joanna Volpe of New Leaf Literary.

Yes, that’s right. Not only can you stay out of the sun in high Victorian style, you can have your work critiqued by a fabulous agent who not only reps me and Susan Dennard, but also (ahem) Veronica Roth.

You have two ways to enter:

1. Leave a comment below.

2. Tweet about this giveaway using hashtag #SSaDOutbreak and #parasol

Suggested tweet: Today only! Win a #parasol and query critique from agent Joanna Volpe!! Join the #SSaDOutbreak at http://wp.me/p1fTUr-wl

Please note: This giveaway is US only. Entries close at MIDNIGHT, so get on it!

The winner will be announced tomorrow on the next stop of the blog tour, so be sure to check back. Here’s what’s still ahead:

- Friday 7/27: Amie Kaufman chats about SS&D and love interests
- Monday 7/30: Marie Lu takes a look at SS&D and action
- Tuesday 7/31: Susan Dennard announces the grand prize winner!
In the meantime, don’t forget to enter the grand prize giveaway for a chance to snag some epic prizes– an amazon gift card, highly coveted ARCs, crits from authors Erin Bowman and Sarah J. Maas and agent Joanna Volpe, and more! For details on how to enter, click here.

* Despite my love for all things Batman, I was dreading watching this film. The trailers made it look so unrelentingly bleak, and with a running time of almost three hours, it felt like a pretty miserable way to celebrate my friend Morgan’s birthday. Well, turns out I not only have to eat my hat but my cape and cowl as well, because I LOVED IT.

I think this is because, more than any of the Batman films, it felt most true in spirit to Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns. This was the graphic novel that brought me back to superhero comics as a teen. Say what you will about Miller, but I think this book was for me what Watchmen seems to be for everybody else. It was bloody and brutal and sad and so effing human. Also, goofy 80s sunglasses.

* Bane’s accent seemed really over the top, like a punchy Sean Connery imitation. Also, when the bat symbol caught fire and he said, “Imposhible!,” did anyone else want to shout, “Inconceivable!”?

* Catwoman. When Hathaway was cast, I wrote about the Kitty Conundrum here and my response to this Catwoman is basically a good-natured shrug. I love that Hathaway played with caricatured female response and male reaction to that response. I love that Nolan made her insane heels functional if not utilitarian. I guess I just hoped that he would dirty her up a little.

Anarchy descends, yet Catwoman is still rocking a shiny blowout and a perfect red lip? I get that her glamor is basically DC canon (though Miller went to town on her in a totally depressing way), but I don’t get why everyone else gets dragged into the muck and she stays so… glossy.

There’s also nothing scary about her. If she’s meant to occupy a morally gray area and she doesn’t mind using guns or making mayhem, why doesn’t she feel like more of a threat? I suspect there’s a point to be made here about femininity, evil, and the grotesque, but for now, I’ll settle for saying that, one of these days, I’d like to see a genuinely terrifying super villainess on screen.

(Sidenote: Though she’s not strictly super, I’ll be curious to see what happens with Angelina Jolie as Maleficent. But after the whole Grendel’s Mom fiasco, I’m keeping my expectations in check.)

UPDATE: I will be doing two signings, and appearing on a marvelous panel.

1. SATURDAY, 1:00 to 2:00pm

(I don’t know how I lucked onto this panel, but I hope to get in some quality fangirling before anyone realizes I crashed the party.)

Signing to follow at Sail’s Pavilion (1:30-2:30pm, area AA09). I’ll have lovely swag to bestow here, too.

Going to be there? Let me know on twitter or leave a message below so I can keep an eye out for you. (I can also guarantee that I’ll be prowling around anything remotely Game of Thrones related.)

6/4  Bookalicious Sorry guys, the matryoshka manicure set has already been given away, but you can still learn a bit more about the Darkling on this guest post.

6/5  Fantastic Book Review A post on how the European/Russian style schism informed the look and feel of Shadow and Bone.

6/6  Playlist post at Wondrous Reads (UK) Lyrics and links to some of the music that inspired the Grisha Trilogy

6/7  Mocha Latte Reads Tongue Twister: The perils and pleasures of constructing the Ravkan language

6/8 Paperback Dolls Learn more about the Grisha Orders and check out some awesome new Grisha art from Adam Watkins

6/9 I show off the crazy messiness of my bookshelves at the Overflowing Library

6/10 SciFiChick I don’t know what possessed me, but I reveal excerpts from the dreadful fantasy novel I started writing at age 12

6/11 Interview at Realm of Fiction (UK) Who would you most like to cross the Fold with?

6/12  Mermaid Vision Playlists Part 2- Character specific songs for Alina, Mal, and the Darkling

6/13 Gollancz (UK) Sticks and Stones: My Approach to World Building

6/14  The Book Muncher Seven Reasons to Travel to Ravka

6/15  Serendipity Reviews  (UK) Big Break Interview on landing a wonderful agent and the road to publication

6/16  Karin’s Book Nook Just what is a kefta? Dress like a Grisha.

6/17  I’d So Rather Be Reading Q&A

6/18  Once Upon a Bookcase (UK) The Appeal of the Badboy

6/19  A Q&A with the Fable Faerie

6/20  Willa’s Ramblings Interview: Willa and I talk inspiration and process

6/21   Falcata Times Game of Thrones as Game Changer

6/22   Cuddlebuggery Kat and Steph put me through the paces.

6/23  The Hiding Spot Q&A with Sarah including title trauma, my secret past as a beer girl, and my favorite words.

6/24  Watercolor Moods I bust out my makeup artist brushes for some Grisha beauty tips

All the love in my drowsy, happy heart,

Lb

Author Jenn Rush’s Alternate Cover for Roguish featuring the Darkling

But before we get crazy, let’s tie up some loose ends.

1. Big thanks to all who entered the Title Bout Giveaway! (UPDATE: We have a winner! Congrats to @HippieLouise!) Also, apologies. I’ve been swamped with pre-launch craziness and haven’t had time to respond properly to all of the kind comments about Shadow and Bone and the new series titles, but I just want to say how much they meant to me. THANK YOU.

2. If you didn’t win, pop over to Jenny Martin’s blog for your chance at an INSANE Ravka-themed prize pack. Fancy soaps! Lux nail polish! A B&N gift card and an ARC of Shadow and Bone! So many treats! (Seriously, I wonder if I can enter under a pseudonym. I want those polishes.)

3. RAFFLE UPDATE: Books of Wonder has sold out of the posters of Keith Thompson’s map, BUT if you pre-order this week, you’ll get a SIGNED copy of Shadow and Bone AND you’ll be entered to win one of 20 extra posters.

I think that’s all of our business. While I’m traveling, I’ll be taking a little break from posting here, but I’ll be stopping by some wonderful US and UK blogs on the official blog tour. We’ll have Grisha beauty tips, kefta style, playlists, cocktail recipes, plus posts on fantasy and world building, AND some very cool new Grisha art! You should be well and truly sick of me by month’s end