YA for NJ Auction

This week dozens of authors are auctioning off autographed books, Skype visits, school visits, and lots of other goodies to raise money for the Community Food Bank of New Jersey.  After Hurricane Sandy, the resources of the food bank were tapped...this auction helps to feed a community that's been devastated in the wake of that storm.

As part of this eBay auction, I'm offering autographed copies of Royally Crushed and Sticky Fingers.  If you'd like to see all of the great items being auctioned, check out the listing right here.

Thanks for helping support a fantastic cause!

Book Club Discussion Questions: Royally Crushed

Since the release of Royally Crushed, which includes all three books in the Valerie Winslow trilogy, I've received a number of e-mails asking me to post discussion questions for book clubs and reading groups who've selected the book.  I've also received several e-mails asking for ideas for book report topics.

First, I want to say THANK YOU for choosing Royally Crushed for your book club or book report!  Second, here are the promised questions.  Feel free to add your own in the comments.  I'd love to see what topics have captured your interest.

Book Club Discussion Questions:  Royally Crushed

1)  In an early scene in Royally Jacked, Valerie and her friends are smoking behind Wendy's.  Cigarettes come up again later in the story.  While we often see characters smoking in fiction, it's not usually in a romantic comedy meant for teens. Is it ever appropriate for teens to smoke in fiction?  Does the fact that Royally Crushed is comedy change your answer?

2)  The entire series (Royally Jacked, Spin Control, and Do-Over) is told in Valerie's point of view.  How might the story have changed if some scenes were written in Georg's point of view?

3)  It's clear in the early chapters of Royally Jacked that Val thinks of herself as open-minded; she even states that she doesn't care whether a person is gay or straight.  However, Val has obvious issues with her mother's sexuality.  Is Val as open-minded as she thinks?  Do her issues stem more from the divorce itself than from the fact her mother is gay?  Would her distrust of her mother have been any different if her mother left her father for a man?

4)  Schwerinborg is a fictional German-speaking country.  Did it seem real to you?  What about the descriptions made it seem that way?

5)  Who is the better match for Valerie in the long run, David or Georg?  Is she better off alone?  What makes you feel that way?

6)  In Spin Control, Valerie's mother and Gabrielle drop her off at a PFLAG (Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays) meeting without telling her about it first.  Was this appropriate?  Was it a valuable meeting for Valerie?  Were the situations and reactions of the others attending the meeting reflective of the real world?

7)  Royally Crushed is a lighthearted romantic comedy, yet the characters deal with some serious issues in the story (divorce, relationships, sexuality, politics, media.)  Is it appropriate for such issues to appear in a romantic comedy, or should these issues always be addressed in a serious manner?

8)  How does the media change the nature of Valerie and Georg's relationship?  Do you think they should be more open with their friends at school?

9)  How does Valerie's relationship with each of her parents grow and change over the three books?  There are times where she's confused about each of their actions, times when she's angry, and times when she appreciates them.  Are her reactions appropriate?

10)  Some of the communication between Valerie and her friends is via e-mail.  Many YA books have e-mail exchanges between characters.  Does it change the nature of the story when some interaction between characters is in person and some is online, and they can't see each other's faces?  What do you think of e-mail exchanges in fiction?

11)  The author wrote a bonus short story, Reality Check, for readers of Royally Crushed who wanted to see more of popular character Jules Jackson.  What do you think of "bonus" chapters in books?  What about the new trend of publishers posting prequels to popular series?

Major New York Booksigning Next Week

This coming Tuesday, June 28, I'll be in New York City signing copies of Royally Crushed and chatting with readers alongside a few hundred other romance and YA authors (yes, you read that right...a few hundred!) This is a great opportunity to get an autographed copy of a book you've been dying to grab--maybe the latest by Nora Roberts or Meg Cabot?--or to buy a special gift for a friend. Best of all, proceeds from the event support literacy charities in New York as well as ProLiteracy Worldwide.

The event takes place in the Broadway Ballroom of the Marriott Marquis hotel on Times Square. It runs from 5:30 - 7:30 PM, and there is no admission charge. The only cost is the cover price of whatever books you decide to purchase.

For a complete list of participating authors, visit the Romance Writers of America Literacy Signing information on the RWA website.

This event is an annual one (in a different city each year) and it's a TON of fun. Please come and say hello. Bring a camera, bring your friends, and be ready for a great time!

Great Company

Royally Crushed is now available in bookstores everywhere!  Not only do I have the photographic evidence, the book is keeping very good company:

That's Royally Crushed in the dead center of the Bellingham, MA, Barnes & Noble New Teen Fiction section.  (See the princess holding the frog?)  A couple books to the right of Royally Crushed is the newest from one of my favorite authors, Jennifer Echols.  (Tip:  Forget You is phenomenal.  Grab it if you haven't already!)  Above my Royally Crushed and to the right is Lauren Oliver's Delirium (check out the way the cover reflects in the photo.)  Also on display are Clarity, The Vespertine, Anna and the French Kiss, Matched, Vixen, and a bunch of other great reads.  Needless to say, several of these titles went home with me.  I also signed all the store copies of both Royally Crushed and one of my earlier titles, Sticky Fingers.  So if you want an autographed copy, the Bellingham Barnes & Noble is your spot.  I visit the store frequently, so I'll continue to sign books as they arrive.  (Thank you, Bellingham B&N!)

If you have a sighting of Royally Crushed, send your photos my way--I'd love to see them!  In the meantime, don't forget that there is a FREE bonus story called Reality Check for fans of Val Winslow, the main character in Royally Crushed.  You can get your free read right here.  It's my way of saying thank you to those of you who take the time to visit your local bookstores and libraries.  Without your love of books, it wouldn't be possible for so many great stories to end up on the shelves.

Royal Wedding, Royally Crushed, and a FREE Read

This morning's broadcast of Good Morning America had not one, but two full-length segments on the upcoming royal wedding (who's designing Kate Middleton's dress? who will be the high bidder when they auction off the lingerie she modeled at a charity event back in 2002...and caught Prince William's eye?)  I can only imagine the coverage of the upcoming wedding in the UK, given that it's all the rage right now here in the US.  Just in the past week, I was e-mailed a link showing the official commemorative coin for the wedding (I think it's hideous...as will be discussed in the next blog!), and saw that an official British royal wedding website was launched to provide royal-watchers with up-to-the minute news, photos, and videos in the run-up to the event on Friday, April 29.

If you need a dose of royal romance and don't want to wait for the London wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton, mark your calendars for March 22.  Simon Pulse is releasing Royally Crushed, a 3-in-1 edition of my Valerie Winslow series (the entire trilogy is Royally Jacked, Spin Control, and Do-Over.)

To celebrate the upcoming release of Royally Crushed, I've written a bonus short story called Reality Check about Val's combat-boot wearing, Frosty- and Ho Ho-addicted friend Jules Jackson.

Many of you have written to me since reading the very first Valerie book, Royally Jacked, asking if there would ever be a story for Jules.  Now there is!  It's written completely in e-mail format and tells the story of what happens when Jules finds herself falling for a guy.

Reality Check is now available as a free read, right here, on the Smashwords website, and can be downloaded in a number of formats that will work on your computer, Kindle, Nook, Sony reader, or even as a PDF file so that you can print and read at your convenience.  I hope you enjoy it!

In the meantime, feel free to post your thoughts on the royal wedding to comments.  Will you watch?

Book Report Time

You probably came across today's blog because you did a Google search using the term "Book Report" and then either "Niki Burnham" or the title of one of my books.  Since I can only assume you typed in those phrases because you're actually writing a book report, I hope you find today's blog useful.

I decided to write about book reports because I can pretty much guess what time of year it is by the subject lines that pop into my e-mail inbox.  If I'm getting e-mails with headers such as, "Help! Book Report on YOU!" or "Royally Jacked Questions" or "Sticky Fingers--Very Important!" I know that it's the week before Thanksgiving (when many book reports seem to be due), one of the last two weeks in February (ditto) or the week before April break.  Such is the cycle of the school year and projects.

While I am truly flattered that you chose one of my books for a report (I'm going to assume you chose it, because if you were assigned the book and didn't want to read it, I don't want to know), and I am glad you took the time to find my website and e-mail me, it's not the best way for you to get information for a book report. 

First off, book reports usually have a due date.  My inbox doesn't, so when I'm traveling or on deadline, it's easy for me to get a few weeks behind on reading and responding to e-mail.  By the time I see your e-mail, it's quite possible your deadline will be long past.  Second, if I answer one person's book report questions I'd feel obliged to answer them all, and I don't have time to write, eat, AND answer book report questions.  (I'll admit it, it's mostly because I like to eat.)  Finally, there are a lot of questions I can't answer, even if I want to answer them.  "What's the theme of Goddess Games?" is a question only you, as a reader, can answer.  And I couldn't begin to tell you about symbolism.  Again, these are for the reader to interpret.

That being said, I don't want to leave you frustrated!  There are a few things you can do to help with your reports:

   1)  If you're writing about a specific book, go the main page of my website and click on the link for that book.  There is an excerpt (which you should have already read, since you have the book and read the whole thing) and a section called Behind The Scenes.  The Behind The Scenes might be helpful to you. 

   2)  You can go to the About Niki page of the website to find out more about me.  Anything that you see there is fine to use in your report.  There is more biographical info on the Press Kit page, but that requires downloading a PDF file.

   3)  There is a page on the site called FAQ with answers to common questions about each book, about my writing process, and about where I get my ideas. 

   4)  You can always search this blog by clicking on the keywords at the bottom of posts.  That will bring up all the other posts on that topic.  To help you, I put the titles of all my books in the keywords at the end of this post.  Click the one you want, and it will bring up every blog about that book.

Hope you find that helpful!  Again, as much as I wish I could explain themes and motifs, if I took the time to answer every e-mail I receive about book reports, it would mean that no more books of mine would be published, because I wouldn't have the time I need to write them and would miss my own deadlines.  Which, in turn, means I would not eat.  (Did I mention that I like to eat?)  I work hard to meet or beat my deadlines, just as I know you work hard to turn in your book reports when they're due.

However, if you think this is rather uncool of me and that an author should simply write your book report for you (because admit it, some of you who have e-mailed me in the past were hoping for this!)  I urge you to check out author Pete Hautman's website.  He's the author of several phenomenal books you may have already read, such as Godless, Blank Confession, and Hole In The Sky.  Pete has an entire page of book reports ready to go, right here.  I think you'll get a better grade if you follow my suggestions, rather than going for Pete Hautman's reports, but that's your call.  Good luck!

Royally Crushed

Happy news this week:  my publisher, Simon Pulse, has decided to re-release all three books in the Valerie Winslow series (which includes Royally Jacked, Spin Control, and Do-Over) in a single volume with the new title Royally Crushed.

Royally Jacked, the kick-off book to the trilogy, was an ALA Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Readers and was named to the New York Public Library's list of Books for the Teen Age.  As you can imagine, I'm thrilled to see these books released as one volume (especially in time for the royal wedding in England...how fun is that?)

Best of all, the book also has a gorgeous new cover.  What do you think?

If you've had a hard time finding any of the books in the series, or were waiting to get one until you could get all three to read at once, this is the volume to grab.  It will hit store shelves on March 22.  In the meantime, if you'd rather pre-order online, here are links to booksellers now offering the book:

•  Amazon.com
•  Barnes & Noble
•  Books-A-Million
•  Borders
•  Buy.com
•  IndieBound

Note:  Some booksellers have the wrong cover art displayed...if you click on on one of these links and it displays a cover that says Take A Chance on Me, that's still Royally Crushed.  Some websites are still updating to show the new cover (which I adore!)