The cover for my adult debut, THE TRANSFORMATION OF THINGS -- out 11/2/10 from Avon/HarperCollins!
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Changing Hands Signing
Yesterday, I did a signing at the fabulous Changing Hands Bookstore in Tempe, AZ, where I got to meet some really great Phoenix area readers, including the very cool blogger, I Heart Monster. I didn't realize it at the time, but she recorded my reading, and she did an awesome job. So if you weren't able to be there, you can watch her video. I talk a little bit about THE LIFE OF GLASS and read three short sections from the book.
Jillian Cantor Book Signing Event from I Heart Monster on Vimeo.
Monday, February 15, 2010
Blog Tour Giveaway Winners
Thank you so much to everyone who entered my blog tour contest! I enjoyed all of your e-mails, and it was so nice to hear that so many people are looking forward to reading the book!!
I used random.org to help me select the winners, and if you are one of the winners you should have received an e-mail from me. Please respond so I can get you your prizes.
The Grand Prize Winner of signed copies of THE LIFE OF GLASS & THE SEPTEMBER SISTERS & Two Glass Spirit Stones is: Kate of The Neverending Shelf
The two runners up, both winners of a signed copy of THE LIFE OF GLASS are: Carol M. and Leann
Congrats to all the winners!!
I used random.org to help me select the winners, and if you are one of the winners you should have received an e-mail from me. Please respond so I can get you your prizes.
The Grand Prize Winner of signed copies of THE LIFE OF GLASS & THE SEPTEMBER SISTERS & Two Glass Spirit Stones is: Kate of The Neverending Shelf
The two runners up, both winners of a signed copy of THE LIFE OF GLASS are: Carol M. and Leann
Congrats to all the winners!!
Sunday, January 24, 2010
The Good and The Bad
THE LIFE OF GLASS will be out in just over two weeks, which means two things for me right now: One, my blog tour & awesome blog tour contest start to-morrow!!, and two, I’m in the midst of prime review time for the book. This means nearly every time I open up my e-mail I’ve been seeing another Google alert with yet another review on there.
I’ve blogged before about reviews, about how waiting for that first one is one of the most nerve-wracking things I’ve gone through as a writer. And I’m not sure it’ll ever get any easier for me. This is my second book, so I’ve been through this once before (doesn’t matter, still not any easier.)
I’ve been really fortunate to have received a good number of glowing reviews for THE LIFE OF GLASS so far, including, some gorgeous pre-publication blurbs from Beth Kephart and Cecilia Galante, very, very nice reviews from both Kirkus and Booklist, a review from BookPage that was so beautiful it made me cry, and, just today, amazing reviews from both The Compulsive Reader and The Shelf Elf.
And yet, I have also seen one or two that are not so glowing. I understand that not everyone is going to like my book, and honestly, I’m okay with that. There are plenty of books I love that other people don’t and vice versa. But it is still hard to read and brush it off and forget about it, because even if I get 50 glowing reviews and one bad one, it’s the bad one that sticks in my head far longer. Why is that?
I’m not sure. Maybe it’s because a book, words, something I created is, in a way, a part of me. Every compliment feels personal, and every negative comment, even more so. Or maybe it’s some sort of deep seeded insecurity – I hang onto these negative comments, this little voice in the back of my head wondering, wondering, could it be . . . right?
One thing every author knows is that we can’t (or we shouldn’t) respond to negative reviews, and I don’t. Ever. Which is sometimes hard when I see things written about my books that are just plain factually inaccurate or completely misread. Which is hard because sometimes a book feels like a child, who you might want to defend (even if you should really just let them battle it out on the playground themselves.). It’s hard because, also, deep down, don’t we really all crave positive feedback? Don’t we all want people to like us, to like anything that’s a part of us?
My point is, I guess, that having a book come out, being in the midst of all these reviews is like being on a merry-go-round with constant ups and downs and highs and lows. There are moments when I read a review so lovely that it brings tears to my eyes, and moments where I read things that just make me feel pretty awful.
Someone recently suggested to me that I just stop looking, that I turn off the Google alerts and just look away. I have other things to do. Other books to write and revise. But I can’t stop looking. Good or bad, I feel like I need to know.
The funny thing is, I did not sit down and intend to write this post. I intended to write about my blog tour (the details of which, I will, I’m certain, bombard you with over the next three weeks!) But just before I opened up my blog, I logged onto Goodreads, and there I saw some new reviews and ratings of both THE SEPTEMBERS SISTERS and THE LIFE OF GLASS. And there I felt compelled to check them out. And there I saw that someone who I knew in high school – not someone who was a friend or an enemy but just an acquaintance -- gave one of my books a low rating. She is, of course, entitled to her opinion. But as she left only a rating and not a review, I began to wonder, why she didn’t like the book? Or, was it me she didn’t like – had she hated me back in high school and I hadn’t known? Did I ever really talk to her in high school? I couldn’t remember.
Coming up in the next three weeks, you’ll be able to read a bunch of interviews and guest posts and reviews of THE LIFE OF GLASS, and you can learn a lot about me and how I came to write this particular book and what’s up next for me as a writer and how I feel about beauty. But today I give you this, a glimpse into what’s going on in my head, as my book is about to journey into the world.
I’ve blogged before about reviews, about how waiting for that first one is one of the most nerve-wracking things I’ve gone through as a writer. And I’m not sure it’ll ever get any easier for me. This is my second book, so I’ve been through this once before (doesn’t matter, still not any easier.)
I’ve been really fortunate to have received a good number of glowing reviews for THE LIFE OF GLASS so far, including, some gorgeous pre-publication blurbs from Beth Kephart and Cecilia Galante, very, very nice reviews from both Kirkus and Booklist, a review from BookPage that was so beautiful it made me cry, and, just today, amazing reviews from both The Compulsive Reader and The Shelf Elf.
And yet, I have also seen one or two that are not so glowing. I understand that not everyone is going to like my book, and honestly, I’m okay with that. There are plenty of books I love that other people don’t and vice versa. But it is still hard to read and brush it off and forget about it, because even if I get 50 glowing reviews and one bad one, it’s the bad one that sticks in my head far longer. Why is that?
I’m not sure. Maybe it’s because a book, words, something I created is, in a way, a part of me. Every compliment feels personal, and every negative comment, even more so. Or maybe it’s some sort of deep seeded insecurity – I hang onto these negative comments, this little voice in the back of my head wondering, wondering, could it be . . . right?
One thing every author knows is that we can’t (or we shouldn’t) respond to negative reviews, and I don’t. Ever. Which is sometimes hard when I see things written about my books that are just plain factually inaccurate or completely misread. Which is hard because sometimes a book feels like a child, who you might want to defend (even if you should really just let them battle it out on the playground themselves.). It’s hard because, also, deep down, don’t we really all crave positive feedback? Don’t we all want people to like us, to like anything that’s a part of us?
My point is, I guess, that having a book come out, being in the midst of all these reviews is like being on a merry-go-round with constant ups and downs and highs and lows. There are moments when I read a review so lovely that it brings tears to my eyes, and moments where I read things that just make me feel pretty awful.
Someone recently suggested to me that I just stop looking, that I turn off the Google alerts and just look away. I have other things to do. Other books to write and revise. But I can’t stop looking. Good or bad, I feel like I need to know.
The funny thing is, I did not sit down and intend to write this post. I intended to write about my blog tour (the details of which, I will, I’m certain, bombard you with over the next three weeks!) But just before I opened up my blog, I logged onto Goodreads, and there I saw some new reviews and ratings of both THE SEPTEMBERS SISTERS and THE LIFE OF GLASS. And there I felt compelled to check them out. And there I saw that someone who I knew in high school – not someone who was a friend or an enemy but just an acquaintance -- gave one of my books a low rating. She is, of course, entitled to her opinion. But as she left only a rating and not a review, I began to wonder, why she didn’t like the book? Or, was it me she didn’t like – had she hated me back in high school and I hadn’t known? Did I ever really talk to her in high school? I couldn’t remember.
Coming up in the next three weeks, you’ll be able to read a bunch of interviews and guest posts and reviews of THE LIFE OF GLASS, and you can learn a lot about me and how I came to write this particular book and what’s up next for me as a writer and how I feel about beauty. But today I give you this, a glimpse into what’s going on in my head, as my book is about to journey into the world.
Monday, January 18, 2010
Upcoming Events
THE LIFE OF GLASS will be out in three short weeks, and, if you've noticed my absence from this blog it's because I've been literally swamped working on promotional materials, interview questions, and oh yeah, revising two other books that I've got in the works! But I've got a lot of exciting things coming up that I wanted to take a moment to share.
On January 25th (next Monday) I kick off my three-week blog tour, starting with an interview over at Lauren's Crammed Bookshelf. You can find the complete tour schedule on the left sidebar or on my website here. In addition to having some great interviews and guest posts during the three weeks, I'll also be running a cool blog-tour contest where you'll have the chance to win signed copies of my books and fun prizes!
If you're in Arizona, I'll be doing a bunch of in-person events starting in February (Click here for the complete schedule.) And here's the invitation to my B&N signing on 2/20. If you're in Tucson I hope to see you there!
On January 25th (next Monday) I kick off my three-week blog tour, starting with an interview over at Lauren's Crammed Bookshelf. You can find the complete tour schedule on the left sidebar or on my website here. In addition to having some great interviews and guest posts during the three weeks, I'll also be running a cool blog-tour contest where you'll have the chance to win signed copies of my books and fun prizes!
If you're in Arizona, I'll be doing a bunch of in-person events starting in February (Click here for the complete schedule.) And here's the invitation to my B&N signing on 2/20. If you're in Tucson I hope to see you there!
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Twitter Contest
I'm having a Twitter contest to give away two ARCS of THE LIFE OF GLASS!! It's super-easy to enter. All you have to do is retweet my contest tweet by Friday 12/18 to enter, which you can find here. I'll pick two winners at random on Friday. Each retweet gets you one contest entry, and you can enter as often as you'd like!
Sunday, December 6, 2009
The First Review
As a writer, I've come to learn that there are few things scarier than waiting for reviews. This is true whether it's a "review" from my agent or my editor who is reading my draft for the first time and offering notes, or even a "review" from an editor who might be considering buying a new book from me, a review that will come in the form of an offer or a pass letter. I always find it nervewracking, waiting to see what other people will say, how they will react to a book that I love, that I have poured my life into for a significant period of time, that I have revised and edited and labored over, a book filled with characters that I love enough to feel like they are real, true, important people in my life.
A very wise author friend told, just around the release of The September Sisters last year, that not everyone was going to love my book. No matter what. People have opinions, and they like different things, and of course, there are plenty of books that other people love that I don't. And that's okay. But still, when it's your own book, it's hard to remember this. Waiting for reviews is scary. Especially that first review.
Which brings me to the point of this post: I got to see the first review for THE LIFE OF GLASS this week. When I saw the e-mail in my inbox from my editor, with the subject heading "Booklist Review," I kind of wanted to throw up. I was dying to know what it said, but terrified to see it. Up until that moment, up until right then, the book still felt like mine and only mine, but once I read the review, once I read what probably thousands of other people would, I'd see the book differently. I'd see it through someone else's eyes.
I sat there for a few minutes just staring at it, before I got the courage to open it and see what it said. And then I read it, and it was lovely. All of it, every single word.
Among other nice things Booklist said: "Themes of memory, beauty, and secrets come together in this thoughtful, uplifting book. . . a gentle portrait of a girl growing through her grief."
I read it. I read it again.
And then I exhaled.
A very wise author friend told, just around the release of The September Sisters last year, that not everyone was going to love my book. No matter what. People have opinions, and they like different things, and of course, there are plenty of books that other people love that I don't. And that's okay. But still, when it's your own book, it's hard to remember this. Waiting for reviews is scary. Especially that first review.
Which brings me to the point of this post: I got to see the first review for THE LIFE OF GLASS this week. When I saw the e-mail in my inbox from my editor, with the subject heading "Booklist Review," I kind of wanted to throw up. I was dying to know what it said, but terrified to see it. Up until that moment, up until right then, the book still felt like mine and only mine, but once I read the review, once I read what probably thousands of other people would, I'd see the book differently. I'd see it through someone else's eyes.
I sat there for a few minutes just staring at it, before I got the courage to open it and see what it said. And then I read it, and it was lovely. All of it, every single word.
Among other nice things Booklist said: "Themes of memory, beauty, and secrets come together in this thoughtful, uplifting book. . . a gentle portrait of a girl growing through her grief."
I read it. I read it again.
And then I exhaled.
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