Morning came fast and furious for the Digital Team and our set up for an all day clinic to do social media training with our Harlequin authors at 8am on Wednesday.  Now for some backstory: I’ve been hounding and threatening extinction to asking people in the shipping and receiving department here at the Disney Dolphin for the past TWO days to locate the Kobo Readers we were going to use for the door prizes for this particular session.  We also needed entry forms for the draw and a banner. 

But without eReaders OR ballot forms etc, we were forced to make do.  Without turning a hair,  Malle improvised with a plastic envelope and some handy slips of paper repurposed as entry ballots and we soldiered on.  I’m not kidding when I say that I have three Front Desk Managers on speed dial on my phone by now, and I have to say that Todd of the Disney staff was outstanding in his assistance.  He even provided substitute prizes courtesy of the resort in lieu of the Kobo Readers until they arrived.  Which of course they did, just about ½ an hour before our session ended and all was well….phew!

Angela James leading the session on eReader Devices

Jenny Bullough and a happy Kobo Reader prize winner

The group of us then took a much needed break, and decompressed (which is a fancy word for putting our feet up and letting our hair down)  We had a great time helping many of our authors get a handle on how to manage their online presence and share tips on best practices on Twitter, Facebook and elsewhere.

And then before we knew it, it was time to attend the “Readers for Life” Literacy Signing at 5:30pm.  This is something that you really can’t quite describe and has to be experienced to be believed.  I took my teenage daughter with me to finally show her the reason WHY mummy comes home from conference every year without a speaking voice. 

Jayne’s daughter meeting her idol Maria V. Snyder, author of the Study series for MIRA and more recently of Inside Out for Harlequin TEEN.

Now all of the authors are sitting alphabetically at tables in this ENORMOUS ballroom, so it’s simply a matter of picking who you want to sign your book, and navigating to the correct spot in the room.  I’m really bad at this, since it seems I can’t navigate more than three steps before being hugged by an author whom I’ve come to know through participation in our Online Community here at eHarlequin.  After all we do have over 200 authors blogging in our network of blogs, forums and events!

Here’s a picture of me and Robyn Carr who sold out ALL her books early, but as a courtesy to her readers, was staying until the bitter end, just in case there were readers bringing their own personal books for her to sign.  So you know, she’s not the only one of our authors that shows this kind of appreciation for her readers, and THAT is the reason why Harlequin authors are unlike ANY others!

Until tomorrow and a surprise update…

Jayne

by Olga Kwak, Harlequin Digital

Maria’s daughter, Jenna, shows us how to enjoy Inside Out.

Yesterday we launched the official trailer for Inside Out, Maria V. Snyder’s new release from Harlequin Teen. Jayne, our fabulous Community Manager arranged a debut that spanned the book blogger world. Here’s a selection of the blogs involved in the launch:

La Femme Readers
Ellz Readz
All Things Urban Fantasy
The Book Butterfly
Janicu’s Book Blog
Fantastic Book Review
Frenetic Reader
Fiction Fanatic
Page Turners
Reading Rocks
Pirate Penguin’s Reads
The Story Siren
WORD for Teens
Teen Blips
YA Reads (Inside Out is the BOOK OF THE MONTH for April, thanks YA Reads!)
VodPod.com
Today’s Adventure
Parajunkee’s View
Presenting Lenore
YABookNerd
Monster Librarian
eHarlequin Community
Paranormal Romance Blog

Thanks to everyone who participated in our book trailer launch!

Editor’s Note: Today we launch the book trailer for Maria V. Snyder’s brand new release from Harlequin Teen, Inside Out. Maria V. Snyder will credit her daughter, Jenna, for  keeping her in touch with the teen mind. Happily, though, her characters and Jenna lead very different lives. After all, Jenna doesn’t live in the future, or in a world filled with magic. But she does cast a critical eye on the pages (hot off the printer!) and is willing to give some advice to her mom when it’s needed. We asked them the same questions to see how much they are alike—and exactly where the differ. But before you read their responses, have a look at the spooky new trailer.

If you could live 500 years in the future would you?

M: Yes. I’m curious what technology and society will be like by then. Will they even be recognizable? Or will we cast aside all the technology and our frantic stressful lives and return to living simply? It would be fun to find out.

J: Yes, because it would be really cool to see all the new inventions and improved world.

What would you be if you lived in the lower levels of Inside?

M: I took the scrub quiz that’s up on the Inside Out website, and found out I’m most suited to be a Hydroponics scrub since I enjoy working with my hands, don’t mind dirt under my nails and like watching things grow Probably good qualities for a Care Mother as well.

J: I would be a Care Mother because it would be nice working with little kids and helping them.

Why do you think the need for family is so important even here?

M: People are social creatures. We need others to talk to, to commiserate with, to celebrate with, and to help. In the world of Inside, the Pop Cops and the Trava family know that people are stronger when they’re linked in groups and form bonds. They strive to keep everyone separate and to instill jealousy between the uppers and lowers so they wouldn’t band together.

J: Families are important everywhere. They help and support you. Without a family you would be very alone and everyone should have someone close to them who can help.

Living in crowded conditions leaves no privacy. How would you cope with that?

M: I’d probably be like Trella and hide out in the air ducts whenever I was overwhelmed. I’d probably also be more quiet about my thoughts and feelings – it would be bad enough everyone knew everything I was doing – I wouldn’t need them knowing what I thought or felt over a situation.

J: To cope with the crowded places, I would try to always find a corner to stand in or
live in because I don’t feel as crowded if I’m in a corner.

What qualities of Trella do you see in yourself/your daughter?

M: I think Trella and I are both persistent. As a writer, I receive a ton of rejections for my stories and story ideas. My first book, Poison Study was rejected a bunch of times, yet I didn’t give up. I kept sending out the manuscript until the book found the right editor and publisher I also stick with a project until it’s done – no matter how crazy it gets. Which is the same with Trella. As the stakes get higher, she stays the course and is very determined and stubborn.

Trella and Jenna are similar is a number of ways. They’re both intelligent and both have long brown hair Both would go out of their way for a friend. But while Trella doesn’t bat an eye at breaking a few rules, Jenna wouldn’t. She’ll probably get mad at me for saying this (good thing we answered our questions separately), but Jenna is a by-the-book, law-and-order type. If her teacher tells her to do X, Y and Z – that’s what she does. She’s an excellent student and very easy to coach, because she listens. But ask her to do Y, Z and X and she won’t – or if she does, she’ll get a stomach ache.

J: There isn’t really that many connections. But I see the one same quality in Trella, Opal, and Yelena, they all have the same tone to me. They are all somewhat sarcastic to me. But I don’t see Trella like my mom – she is too nice.

Visit the official Inside Out website for a FREE sneak peak of Chapters 1-3!

Maria V. Snyder’s Glass Trilogy is a series filled with magic and intrigue, and the lovely people at MIRA in the United Kingdom wanted to create an online widget to introduce it to new readers.

What’s a widget, you ask? Well, it’s a whatchamacalit! Or a doodad…or more technically: a digital content box that updates in real-time (so you don’t have to do anything to it! Just let it do its thing!) Widgets contain neatly organized (and shiny) applications and content chosen by the user to share with others.

Want to see what I mean?

Now that is a good-looking widget. It’s packed with information: character synopses, an author bio, pictures, videos and upcoming news! You can share it on Facebook, MySpace, through email and lots of other online social media outlets.

Kudos, MIRA UK!

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