Cecil Castellucci's Blog

Over Comic Book Legal Defense Fund page there is an Educators Guide for SOUPY LEAVES HOME out on Dark Horse Comics

[image error]

 

[image error]

Hockey Noir:  The Opera coming at you in May 2018

Montreal May 3&4  Tickets here

Toronto May 10 & 11 Tickets here

Today is my book birthday! DON’T COSPLAY WITH MY HEART (Scholastic) is out today! Cosplay! Comic Cons! Nerdery! Boys! Heart! Angst! Comics!  You can get it at an indie store near you!  Or Powells!  Or Barnes and Noble!  Or Amazon!

[image error]

Soupy Leaves Home comes out 4/19 in comic book stores and 5/2 in bookstores.  here are some events planned!

[image error]

 

April 19  Alakazam Comics, Irvine, CA  SOUPY LEAVES HOME comic book day release 

6-8PM with Jose Pimienta

April 22, 23  LA Times Festival of Books

Saturday 4/22

12:00PM  Young Adult Graphic Novels: Drawing You In – Young Adult Stage

3:00PM Teens Go Rogue: A Star Wars Panel – Young Adult Stage

5 PM signing at Mysterious Galaxy Booth

Sunday 4/23 

TBD signing at Mrs. Nelson’s Books

April 27 Skylight Books SOUPY LEAVES HOME book launch! with Jose Pimienta 7:30 PM

April 29 Y’all West Fest 

April 30  RuPaul’s Drag Con reading Odd Duck

May 5  Blast Off Comics, North Hollywood, CA Free Comic Book Day

May 12-13  TCAF  Toronto Comics Arts Festival
Debuting SOUPY LEAVES HOME and tabling with Jose Pimienta

May 27 Rancho Cucamongo Library for Star Wars Fan Day

September 23-24 Thought bubble UK
DC’s Young Animal spotlighted.

Welcome to YA Scavenger Hunt! This bi-annual event was first organized by author Colleen Houck as a way to give readers a chance to gain access to exclusive bonus material from their favorite authors…and a chance to win some awesome prizes! At this hunt, you not only get access to exclusive content from each author, you also get a clue for the hunt. Add up the clues, and you can enter for our prize–one lucky winner will receive one book from each author on the hunt in my team! But play fast: this contest (and all the exclusive bonus material) will only be online for 72 hours!

[image error]

Go to the YA Scavenger Hunt page to find out all about the hunt. There are SIX contests going on simultaneously, and you can enter one or all! I am a part of the GOLD TEAM–but there is also a red team, a gold team, an orange team, a red team, and an indie team for a chance to win a whole different set of books!

If you’d like to find out more about the hunt, see links to all the authors participating, and see the full list of prizes up for grabs, go to the YA Scavenger Hunt page.

SCAVENGER HUNT PUZZLE
 
Directions: Below, you’ll notice that I’ve listed my favorite number. Collect the favorite numbers of all the authors on the GOLD TEAM, and then add them up (don’t worry, you can use a calculator!).
 
Entry Form: Once you’ve added up all the numbers, make sure you fill out the form here to officially qualify for the grand prize. Only entries that have the correct number will qualify.

Rules: Open internationally, anyone below the age of 18 should have a parent or guardian’s permission to enter. To be eligible for the grand prize, you must submit the completed entry form by APRIL 9th, at noon Pacific Time. Entries sent without the correct number or without contact information will not be considered.

AMY MCNULTY!



[image error]

Today, I am hosting   AMY MCNULTY   on my website for the YA Scavenger Hunt!

Amy McNulty is a freelance writer and editor from Wisconsin with an honors degree in English. She was first published in a national scholarly journal (The Concord Review) while in high school and currently writes professionally about everything from business marketing to anime. In her down time, you can find her crafting stories with dastardly villains and antiheroes set in fantastical medieval settings.

Amy’s newest book is BALLAD OF THE BEANSTALK.  A YA Romantic fairy tale.  I love a good retelling!

 
Find out more information about BALLAD OF THE BEANSTALK by checking out Amy’s author website or find more about her book Ballad of the Beanstalk here (it’s only .99 until April 18!)  Or check the book out over at Goodreads!    You can also find her on the inter webs at Watpad /  Twitter / Instagram / Facebook

EXCLUSIVE CONTENT

[image error]

Here’s a little about the book:  As her fingers move across the strings of her family’s heirloom harp, sixteen-year-old Clarion can forget. She doesn’t dwell on the recent passing of her beloved father or the fact that her mother has just sold everything they owned, including that very same instrument that gives Clarion life. She doesn’t think about how her friends treat her like a feeble, brittle thing to be protected. She doesn’t worry about how to tell the elegant Elena, her best friend and first love, that she doesn’t want to be her sweetheart anymore. She becomes the melody and loses herself in the song.

When Mack, a lord’s dashing young son, rides into town so his father and Elena’s can arrange a marriage between the two youth, Clarion finds herself falling in love with a boy for the first time. Drawn to Clarion’s music, Mack puts Clarion and Elena’s relationship to the test, but he soon vanishes by climbing up a giant beanstalk that only Clarion has seen. When even the town witch won’t help, Clarion is determined to rescue Mack herself and prove once and for all that she doesn’t need protecting. But while she fancied herself a savior, she couldn’t have imagined the enormous world of danger that awaits her in the kingdom of the clouds.

A prequel to the fairy tale Jack and the Beanstalk that reveals the true story behind the magical singing harp.

 

I always love how an author gets inspired. Amy shares her PINTEREST INSPIRATION BOARD with us.  Look how pretty!

[image error]

 

Thanks, Amy! For sharing a sneak peek of your process with us!

And don’t forget to enter the contest for a chance to win a ton of books by me, CECIL CASTELLUCCI, and more! To enter, you need to know that my favorite number is 39. Add up all the favorite numbers of the authors on the GOLD TEAM and you’ll have all the secret code to enter for the grand prize!

As an extra bonus, I will be doing an extra giveaway of SOUPY LEAVES HOME (or any of one of my other books, stock depending).  Three winners!  Since Soupy is about train hopping, just leave a comment with your fave train voyage story.  Winners will be picked at random.


CONTINUE THE HUNT
 
To keep going on your quest for the hunt, you need to check out the next author! DAVID MELLON

Tweet #YASH

[image error]

 
 

Last night twelve YA authors gathered at Skylight Books to do a reading from books for young people that highlight resistance, protest and activism.

[image error]

It was a very moving and powerful evening and I was thrilled to put the event together with author Diana Wagman.  It was cosponsored by PEN USA.

We compiled a list of books that we read from as well as other books with activism as a resource for those who are looking for good books for young people that have these themes.  YA Resists Reading List

[image error]

Happy Valentine’s Day!  I have a new kissingle comic out today on Emet Comics as part of their Fresh Romance series.  It is written by me and illustrated by Irene Koh and Sarah Searle.  You can download it at Comixology or Emet Comics for $1.99

It’s a love story that spans decades!  And it has outer space in it!

[image error]

Shade, the Changing Girl is now out on DC’s YOUNG ANIMAL imprint

[image error] [image error] [image error]

You can order it at your local comic book shop.

We’re three issues in and it’s exciting how people are connecting with it.   I’m loving all the fan art!  I’m collecting what I see over at pinterest.

Here’s some nice things.  VOX named it one of the best new comics of the year.

Multiversity named me and my Shade co-conspirator Marley Zarcone as Breakout writer and artist of the year.   They also named it a best new series of the year.

Geek named it a comic you should buy.

And I love this review of issue three by Graphic Policy 

I’ll be at the Salt Lake City Comic Con this weekend.

Here’s my schedule:

Thursday, September 1, 2016

1:00 pm to 2:00 pm

Writing for Teens :: 255F

3:00 pm to 4:00 pm

Signing :: Shadow Mountain – Booth 1807

Friday, September 2, 2016

10:00 am to 11:00 am

Writing Science Fiction: An Inside Look at the Art of Creating the Fantastic :: 251A

6:00 pm to 7:00 pm

Romance in Science Fiction, Fantasy, & Horror :: 251A

7:00 pm to 8:00 pm

Star Wars Books: Writing the Force :: 255C

Saturday, September 3, 2016

10:00 am to 11:00 am

Teen Author Boot Camp: Girl Power: Writing Strong Female Characters :: 255B

11 am to 12 PM I’m with Her-o: Black Widow, Captain Marvel, Princess/General Leia & Aveda Jupiter: Girl Creators Talk Girl Heroes and Why They Matter

, 250A

12:00 pm to 1:00 pm

Signing :: Shadow Mountain – Booth 1807