It’s been a little while since I’ve blogged about my upcoming figure skating novel, SUGAR AND ICE (due out from Walker/Bloomsbury December 7, 2010!) and there’s some very cool news to share!
My editor recently sent me the first of the journal reviews from Booklist, and it was a great one!
"Messner is awfully good at individualizing what might otherwise be stock characters, especially Claire, whose eagerness and apprehension come in equal measure. Of course, the (sometimes) glamorous world of figure skating doesn’t hurt for drawing readers, and even those who don’t know their double toe loops from their single salchows will enjoy reading about what it takes to make it on the ice… Satisfying and likely to have wide appeal."—Booklist
Oh, I hope they’re right about that wide appeal. Also…that note about individualizing characters? It made me smile in a big way, since I spent many hours of revision, making sure all those skaters felt real.
I also learned that SUGAR AND ICE will be a Junior Library Guild selection! I’m so excited about all the copies that will be available to kids in schools as a result of that.
Plans are taking shape for a snow-sparkled book launch event at Lake Placid’s fantastic indie, The Bookstore Plus, perfect because the book is set in Lake Placid, with much of the action taking place at the Olympic Center. If you live in the Adirondacks, I’d love it if you’d put December 11th on your calendar! More to come on that soon…
And finally, SUGAR AND ICE has its own Facebook page now. You can click here and "Like" it if you’d like updates on an ARC giveaway (coming soon!), launch events ,and more.
There’s a final cover now, too, which I just love-love-love.
I just love the colors and the way Joe Cepeda, who did the cover art for THE BRILLIANT FALL OF GIANNA Z. as well, captured Claire’s spirit just perfectly. December 7th can’t come soon enough!
