Learning to Swear in America cover reveal

[Style]

Style, this is the first book! It just takes that long to get them published. I started querying to find an agent in April, 2013, signed with my agent in October, 2013, revised with her, and she sold it in August, 2014. Its release date is July 5, 2016.

Don't mean to bore you guys with the dates--just thought it might be interesting to see how long it takes.

And yes, it's YA (young adult)--you have a good memory! YA is meant to be for teenagers, but since you don't change the writing any--you don't restrict vocabulary or anything, you just keep the book moving a little faster, kind of like you would with a thriller--more than half the people who read YA are adults. The only rules about writing YA are that the main character needs to be young (mine is 17), and that you have to end with at least a tiny sense of hope.

Course in mine, an asteroid's hurtling toward Earth, so...

P.S. And Dan is in the acknowledgments!

WOW! I did read a couple of YA books by Harlan Coben and enjoyed them. Is your book humorous? The cover looks like it and I remember you being quite the wit with some of your posts. Give us a little of the plot, please...

[Katie]

The plot...hmm. There's an asteroid coming in--not a planet killer, but it's set to squash southern California. (Sorry Dan.) NASA borrows a seventeen-year-old physics whiz from Russia to help. He meets an American girl and realizes that, while he's trying to save other people's lives, he doesn't really have a life himself. Then his life takes a turn for the worse--and the asteroid does, too.

There is a bit of humor in it--or at least I think so. ;-)

Oh, and Dan answered all sorts of questions for me--from snails to earthquakes to California rooftops. He was super helpful. (Thank you, Dan!)

[momckee]

Katie on your book cover you start off with three fingers held up, then there are two, and the third pic there is something covering the other fingers, is it possible that the third part is where there is just the middle finger or am I mistaken?

[Meg]

Katie on your book cover you start off with three fingers held up, then there are two, and the third pic there is something covering the other fingers, is it possible that the third part is where there is just the middle finger or am I mistaken?

That's how I take it...it's a countdown and the 1 is with the middle finger raised.

[Dan M.]

Oh, and Dan answered all sorts of questions for me--from snails to earthquakes to California rooftops. He was super helpful. (Thank you, Dan!)

Always glad to help!

[Deanie]

Well, I'm adding it to my list of Books To Read In 2016! The list already has Alex Kava, Alex Berenson, Patricia Briggs, C. J. Box, Steve Hamilton, Faith Hunter, Adrian Magson, and Kelley Armstrong on it. Now it'll have Katie Kennedy, too.

[momckee]

Well, I'm adding it to my list of Books To Read In 2016! The list already has Alex Kava, Alex Berenson, Patricia Briggs, C. J. Box, Steve Hamilton, Faith Hunter, Adrian Magson, and Kelley Armstrong on it. Now it'll have Katie Kennedy, too.

[Katie]

Wow, Deanie--thanks! That's good company!

Mo, yes, I think that's definitely the effect the cover artist was going for. And I got my ARCs a couple days ago! ARCs, ensmallened.jpg

[Style]

Katie - when you get all famous and stuff, will you still be our friend???

[Katie]

Katie - when you get all famous and stuff, will you still be our friend???

Ha! Yeah, you may have to wait a little for that, Style--don't go holding your breath. But definitely we'll be friends.

[Meg]

I just got my copy of this Katie!! It's at the top of my TBR pile.