Haven Giveaway!

We welcome today Kristi Cook to talk to us about her debut YA novel,
Haven! Be sure to leave a comment to be entered to win a copy!

Hi, Kristi, could you please tell us a little about your writing background and how you made your first sale?

Kristi: I've been writing adult historical romance for a while now, with my first sale in 1994, but over the past five or six years, I've mostly been reading YA, so I started a YA manuscript "for fun" between my contracted books. I finally got up the nerve to show the first few chapters to my agent a few years ago, and she was really excited about the project. It took me a long time to finish it--again, working between contracted books--but when I did, my agent finally started subbing it, and I was beyond thrilled when it sold to Simon Pulse!

Wonderful! Readers and writers often like to get a behind the scenes peek of an author's writing routine. It would be great if you could please share your typical writing day schedule.

Kristi: Oh, man...I *wish* I had a typical writing day. I've got two elementary-school aged kids, and in theory I want to write while they're off at school, but more often than not, I'm just not in a writing mood until nighttime. So for me, it's a little writing here, a little writing there, a lot of running kids back and forth to activities, and some really late nights!

Please tell us about your novel, HAVEN, and what we can expect from your characters.

Kristi: HAVEN is set at the Winterhaven School, a fictional boarding school in New York's Hudson Valley where all the students and faculty possess psychic gifts. Violet McKenna transfers to the Winterhaven School hoping to hide her gift of precognition from the world, like she's always done, but is pleasantly surprised to find that she fits right in at her new school, psychic powers and all. She's quickly welcomed into a tight-knit group of friends, and is immediately intrigued by Aidan Gray, a mind reader whose secrets go far deeper than she realizes. But soon she starts having visions of Aidan's death--and realizes that she's the one who kills him. As their attraction grows, things grow more complicated...and lots of secrets come out!

Great! What's up next? Do you have another project in the works? If so, please tell us about it.

Kristi: Right now I'm working on the sequel to HAVEN, which is still untitled--it will probably be out late spring 2012!

Would you like to close with a writing tip?

Kristi: The best writing tip I can pass on to anyone is to keep writing--that no effort is wasted. Writing is like any skill; it takes lots and lots of practice, and the more you write, the better you get at the craft. Also, don't expect your path to publication to be like anyone else's--everyone's journey is different, and there's no "right" way. I know writers whose very first manuscript sold, and I know writers who wrote a dozen manuscripts before they sold. There are pros and cons to both, believe it or not.

Thanks so much!

Now for our readers. To win a signed copy of HAVEN, simply leave us a comment telling us this: if you were a student at the Winterhaven School, what psychic gift would you like to have?

Best of luck and check back to learn the winner on Monday, April 25th.

The Heads-Up on HAVEN!

YA author Kristi Cook's debut paranormal YA, Haven releases from Simon Pulse on on February 22nd, but the excitement has already begun!

If you are a Facebook user, you can join the Haven page (and learn how to be entered to win one of five personalized, sign copies).

If not, click here to read an excerpt.

Let us know if you like it! (And remember, you heard it here first...)