rockets in the night -- a metaphor

⇑ That's House of Secrets, the book I co-wrote with Chris Columbus that you can win (signed by me) while supplies last!

To enter, just TWEET THE BOOK TRAILER:



You can tweet the trailer by clicking here.

I will pick two winners a week until I am out of books! Please note -- some winners will get hardcover books, some will get paperback "international" versions, and a few lucky winners will get UK editions. (Note: this contest IS open to international entries.)

Thank you and good luck!

This contest is now over! Thanks to all who entered!
⇑ That's the prize pack I'm offering for my contest: 1 House of Secrets advance copy (with special packaging), 1 Be More Chill, & 1 It's Kind of a Funny Story audiobook. All signed by me.

To enter, just retweet THIS LINK, which contains the first line of House of Secrets:

"Brendan Walker knew the house was going to be terrible."

I will pick one winner every week until April 19! Booksellers: you have preferential treatment because I like you. But other than that, winners chosen randomly!

WINNERS: 3/8 - @rlSPNfn; 3/15 - @theannieru; 3/22 - @NickGo; 3/29 - @rebeccajillian; 4/15 - @FluffingtonMan; 4/12 - @SammyStrikes; 4/17 - @AutumnElyzabeth

---

Now, I think a lot about first lines. I believe the most important thing about a book is its ending, because if a book starts off badly, but ends well, it leaves you redeemed and buoyant. But the second-most important thing is the first line.

( Collapse )

Thanks all who entered the House of Secrets contest!



This book is coming out April 23, 2013, but the 25 people who won this contest will get an advance copy in some special packaging.

We had more than 100 people enter this contest from all over the world. The challenge was to share a secret about yourself, something a stranger wouldn't know.... and the best (funniest, bravest, weirdest) secrets won House of Secrets.

If your name has a * next to it, that means I DO NOT HAVE YOUR MAILING ADDRESS. You need to contact me through Facebook or my contact page to give me your mailing address for me to send you a book.

Winners...

1. higgschrishiggs *
   I cry during nearly every episode of How I Met Your Mother.

( Collapse )

If you have a * next to your username, please be in touch with your mailing address to get your prize book!

UPDATE: the contest is open until Feb 1, 2013 has been extended to Feb 15, 2013!

Gremlins & Goonies creator Chris Columbus and I have a new book coming April 23, 2013: House of Secrets.



(Yes, the book -- which is the start of a series -- has a quote from "The Queen Herself".)

Would you like to get a free copy of House of Secrets before it comes out?

Sorry. Now I'm going really nuts with the fonts. To get your copy:

1. Tweet a secret about yourself hashtagged #HouseOfSecrets
   
   It doesn't have to be a crazy secret. It should not be anything that gets you into legal trouble. Just something a stranger wouldn't know. Example:
   
   



2. Show me the tweet
   You can either put "@ned_vizzini" in the tweet, or you can bring it to my attention via my Facebook or website contact form, or in a comment below.

That's it! Once I see your tweet, I will contact you for your address & send you a free advance copy of the book!

Numbers are limited, because I have 14 (count 'em, 14) 20 (I got more books!) books to give away.



G-g-go!

Now that the holidays are over, get yourself what you want. I compiled the following list for a website that didn't get a chance to run it because of the Sandy Hook massacre.

Top Teen Geek Gifts for Actual Geeks

1. Star Wars Princess Leia Dog Costume. $13.14 at PartyBell.com.
   
   Don't get this costume for dogs who are snooty. Like if the dog is only into the Original Unaltered Trilogy and hates the prequels even though she only saw Phantom Menace and those long-winded YouTube reviews with the droll narrator, she can wear a different costume. This is for dogs who are more open-minded and cool about the whole thing. But not if they're fat, because the XL sizes are sold out.


( Collapse )

After I moved to Hollywood and started working in TV, I got health insurance and dental through the Writers Guild -- but there were about two years where I didn't see a dentist at all, and one of my teeth hurt. So this past summer, my wife Sabra Embury, who was on a LivingSocial kick, found me a "special offer" for a dentist.

Now, LivingSocial calls what they do "special offers." But really they're coupons.



So yes, I went to a dentist with a coupon.

( Collapse )

I usually tell people that my first piece of writing was the essay "Horrible Mention" which appears in Teen Angst? Naaah...:



I wrote "Horrible Mention" when I was 15; it was printed in New York Press in May 1996. I remember the moment I saw it. I was in a pizza place by Stuyvesant High School and I looked at my name in print and had an out-of-body experience. I felt a whirlwind of pride and fear and shame: pride that I had done something, fear that I would never do it again, and shame that I didn't deserve it.

Now, when people ask, "What is it like to publish a book?" or "What was it like to have your book become a movie?" I tell them that the real thrills all happened in 1996, in that pizza place.

But that's not entirely true.

Because there was a precursor to "Horrible Mention."

There was my letter in Marc Spector: Moon Knight #36:


March, 1992

( Collapse )

Thanks everyone who has stepped up and bought my new book The Other Normals!



Here are my scheduled events for October. I hope to see you this month!

Completed events:

• LA Teen Author Reading Night
  
  • when: Thursday, 10/25/12 done!
  
  
  • Thank you Cecil Castellucci for having me at this great event!
    


• Weekend Reading: The Other Normals at Mysterious Galaxy Redondo Beach!
  
  • when: Saturday, 10/20/12 done!
  
  
  • Thank you Mysterious Galaxy!
    


• Goodreads Live Video Chat with Ned Vizzini
  
  • when: Saturday, 10/6/12 done!
  
  
  • Thank you everyone for making this event a success! 155 people attended and there was a spike in Other Normals activity during and after the event!
    


• The Other Normals at Los Angeles' Renowned Book Soup
  
  • when: Wednesday, 10/10/12 done!
  
  
  • Thank you everyone who came! What a fun night!
    


• THE OTHER NORMALS in-booth signing at New York Comic Con
  
  
  • when: Saturday, 10/13/12 done!
  
  
  • Thank you everyone for making Comic Con spectacular!
    

Thank you for your support and I hope to see you soon!

I have a new book out called The Other Normals!

Well, it's not technically out yet, not as I write this, but it will be out in a week, so I'm starting to just consider it out and deal with the consequences. It's like turning 29. It's best just to assume that you're 30 and move on.

I have three giveaways I'm doing for the book that involve prizes for YOU:

1. #TheOtherNormals Camp Mortification Hashtag Contest
   
   The Other Normals is about summer camp (as well as swords -- and growing up) and it's based in part on my summer camp experience. I had some bad times in summer camp and have horrible stories like this one:
   
   
   
   But I know I'm not the only one. So for this contest:
   
   
   1. Tweet your most mortifying summer camp memory @ned_vizzini and tag it #TheOtherNormals (the memory can be in the form of a picture, a vlog, a tweet, a blog, etc.)
   
   
   2. The 10 best (worst) memories will get a SIGNED HARDCOVER of The Other Normals with a personal response to your memory from me.
   
   
   Good luck!



2. The Other Normals Choose Your Own Adventure Twitter Game
   
   Kaitlin Pike has created an amazing Other Normals Twitter Game that plays like the old Choose Your Own Adventure books!
   
   
   
   Here's how it works:
   
   
   1. Tweet "@OthrNrml start" to start playing.
   
   
   2. The game will interact with you through your "@ Connect" tab. Follow the prompts.
   
   
   3. As with life, most paths end in death! But if you manage to beat the game, take a screenshot and tell me and you will get a FREE SIGNED BOOK.
   
   
   Credit for the coding of the game goes to:
   
   
   Kaitlin Pike
   @kcpike
   http://kcpike.com/
   
   
   She wrote about its construction here. Good luck!



3. The Just-Tweet-"#TheOtherNormals" And-I'll-Send-You-A-Bookmark Contest
   
   Just send out a tweet tagged #TheOtherNormals and then tell me about it (through Twitter, Facebook, or my contact page) and I will send you a free signed handsome Other Normals bookmark:
   
   
   
   Quantities are somewhat limited. My time is very limited because I am going to Hawaii for the filming of Last Resort, the new show in ABC that I am writing for! But I will get your your bookmark.

When It's Kind of a Funny Story came out, I started signing it "Rock on, be strong" because I thought it sounded mellifluous.



I'm signing The Other Normals "Choose your venture." Because I've been lucky enough to choose mine, and I don't think I'm particularly smart or worthy.

Enjoy the book!

UPDATE: I am out of book prizes for this contest! The prize for this contest is now a handsome signed Other Normals bookmark.



Okay so we are a month two weeks away from the release of my next book The Other Normals!



I am running a contest to promote the book.

Call it the Other Normals / Beyond the Wall Banner Giveaway Contest (because that's easy to say). To enter:

1. Take this gif banner code and put it anywhere on your blog:
   
   <a href="http://nedvizzini.com/writing/#ton"><img src="http://nedvizzini.com/images/banners/Other_Normals_300x250.gif"></a>


2. Comment on this blog entry with a link to the blog where you put the banner


3. You will win a signed copy of Beyond The Wall, the anthology I contributed to about the Game of Thrones books:
   
   
   ...But it'll look even better than that, because I will personalize it for you and spell your name right and everything.
   
   • Copies are limited so please enter now to guarantee your prize!
   
   
   • As always with these things, I pay shipping because I'm like that.

Thanks for entering! There's lots of other stuff going on but I'm not going to be able to talk about it until next month because book promo waits for no human.