2011 Wrap-Up, Anniversary, and 2012 Changes

Greetings, YAtopians!  And welcome to our One-Year Anniversary post! It’s hard to believe that a year’s gone by since the eight of us came together (thanks to Kelley Vitollo). At that time we were eight unpublished, mostly unrepresented writers full of hope and aspirations. Leigh Fallon and I both had “secret” contracts with HarperTeen at that point but were sworn to silence. None of us had any idea what 2011 would hold. It turned out to be quite eventful for our lot. Here are some of our contributors’ highlights:

Kelley York’s YA thriller, HUSHED, was picked up by Entangled Publishing and became available December 6^th.  Reviews for her debut have been amazing!

Kelley Vitollo obtained representation with literary agent Ethan Ellenberg. Her YA contemporary romance is currently on sub, and I have very high hopes for her in 2012. J She also joined a new contemp blog called For the Love of Contemporary. I’ve got to brag on my bestie here for a minute. Kelley completed two YA novels in 2011, along with a collab novel, another novel completely rewritten, and two adult novellas!

Sarah Nicolas became an intern for Entangled Publishing, and she won a spot as a YA Rebel contributor. She’s rocking the cyber world, and I think she’s one to keep an eye on in 2012. I’m expecting huge stuff from this awesome girl!

Sharon Johnston’s short story, GROWTH, was published in THE BASICS OF LIFE. She took 2^nd place in the Australian Literary Review’s YA short story competition, and has been invited to write alongside Michael White for THE LIFE AND TIMES OF CHESTER LEWIS anthology.

D.J. DeSmyter’s YA paranormal romance, HUNTED, was picked up by Pendrell Publishing and became available August 9^th.

Leigh Fallon’s YA paranormal romance, CARRIER OF THE MARK, was a BEA Buzz Book, and became available October 4^th, followed by releases in Italy, Poland, UK, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand with deals signed for further releases in Turkey and Brazil in 2012. She signed a contract for the 2^nd in the series, which will be available late 2012/early 2013. Leigh joined the Supernatural Underground blog, and signed to be part of a compilation of dark retellings of Mother Goose stories for 2012.

Chanelle Gray accepted representation with literary agent Victoria Marini in January, and sold her novel MY HEART BE DAMNED to Mitchell & Morris Publishers (kNight Romance imprint) in September, to be published October 2012.

Wendy Higgins’s urban fantasy romance, SWEET EVIL, was revealed for publication on May 1^st, 2012. I (sorry, it’s weird to talk about myself in 3^rd person) also completed two novels this year - the sequel to SWEET EVIL and a separate, stand alone book.

YAtopia has been a lucky charm for the eight of us this year! We can’t wait to see what treasures 2012 holds.  We’d love to hear about your 2011 successes and your hopes for the New Year!

2012 Changes/New Posting Schedule:

Due to the craziness of life, but our desire to stay together, we’ve decided to each post once a month instead of twice. There might be contests and special features to look out for between posts, but otherwise here is our new schedule:

Date - Blogger

1^st - Wendy Higgins

4^th - D.J. DeSmyter

8^th - Leigh Fallon

12^th - Kelley York

16^th - Chanelle Gray

20^th - Sharon Johnston

24^th - Sarah Nicolas

28^th - Kelley Vitollo

Please join us on January 25th for a chance to pitch to editors from Entangled Publishing!
Thank you for your support this first year! We love you!

Hugs, Wendy