Some fun news!

So I have a couple nice things to share!

First: I got my author copies for THE GIRL WHO WAS ON FIRE this week and they're awesome!

For those of you who don't know, it's an essay anthology analysing the awesome that is the HUNGER GAMES, and I was super stoked to be asked to contribute seeing as I'm a pretty big fan of the series (on a side note, how exciting is it that they cast Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss?! Good choice and bodes well for the quality of the film I think).

Here's a description of the book:

"In The Girl Who Was on Fire, thirteen YA authors take you back to Panem with moving, dark, and funny pieces on Katniss, the Games, Gale and Peeta, reality TV, survival, and more.

• How does the way the Games affect the brain explain Haymitch’s drinking, Annie’s distraction, and Wiress’ speech problems?
• What does the rebellion have in common with the War on Terror?
• Why isn’t the answer to “Peeta or Gale?” as interesting as the question itself?
• What should Panem have learned from the fates of other hedonistic societies throughout history—and what can we? <----- that's my essay :)
  

The Girl Who Was On Fire covers all three books in the Hunger Games trilogy."

(other contributing authors are: Jennifer Lynn Barnes, Mary Borsellino, Sarah Rees Brennan, Terri Clark, Bree Despain, Cara Lockwood, Mitali Perkins, Diana Peterfreund, Elizabeth M. Rees, Carrie Ryan, Linda Joy Singleton, Ned Vizzini, Lili Wilkinson)

My essay is "The Inevitable Decline of Decadence" and you can read an excerpt from it over at the Smart Pop site.

There's also a contest going called (appropriately enough) The Reaping, where each day two books are given away and I may or may not be participating in said contest. Stay tuned!

So here is the book:

Here is the back cover:

Here is the intro to my essay:

And over at The Reading Zone you can check out a great review and a nice little mention that the reviewer "used [my essay] as an example in [her] classes!" Seriously, I don't know what could be more flattering than someone using my work as a teaching tool in class. Coming from a long line of teachers, I know what a big deal that is. So thanks so much to the reviewer!

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Second: And on another note, review copies of CORSETS & CLOCKWORK (the other anthology I'm in, this time YA Steampunk Romance) have been sent out and people have been saying some awfully nice things around the web. Here in particular is a sweet mini-review of my story, "The Clockwork Corset" that I just had to share with my thanks to the reviewer over at Reading Between The Wines Book Club (warning the site is a bit PG 13):

"The Clockwork Corset by Adrienne Kress

A beautiful tale about a girl who grew up on a house filled with clocks, the boy she grew up with and the promises that they made to each other. I really enjoyed Imogen (though not her name =P) and Rafe, the clockwork inventions he made and Imogen’s loyalty to him. It was a full story packed into a small space, 40 pages.

Rating – 4 (Loved it)"

So yeah! There you go for now :) . Will as always keep you posted and keep checking back in the next week for more Reaping news . . .