On May 8, NYC’s Books of Wonder hosted a launch party for Amy Plum’s second book in the Revenants series, “Until I Die”. She was joined by local authors Jocelyn Davies, and Kristi Cook, along with plenty of macarons, and European candies to complement the evening’s Paris theme.
The lighting in BOW leaves a bit to be desired, but they are there, I promise! š
Amy read a selection from her new book, and spoke a bit about the world of the Revenants. Followed by more book discussions from Jocelyn and Kristi. All 3 are lovely women, and amazing authors that I highly recommend catching in person if they come to your town.
In fact, I missed Amy in 2011 after a transportation snafu, but was excited to finally meet her during her second book tour trip to NYC. Amy was actually one of the very first authors I ever interacted with on twitter, back when I first started this blog!
Macarons! They were delicious.
Amy and I. Finally, we meet!
I haven’t had a chance to read Until I Die yet, but I’m hearing it’s even better than Die For Me. I can’t wait to check it out!
Die For Me, by Amy Plum, is another book I first heard about a few months ago via excited chatter from authors I follow on Twitter. It sounds quite different from anything else currently available in the genre, which is so refreshing!
āIn the City of Lights, two star-crossed lovers battle a fate that is destined to tear them apart again and again for eternity.
When Kate Mercierās parents die in a tragic car accident, she leaves her lifeāand memoriesābehind to live with her grandparents in Paris. For Kate, the only way to survive her pain is escaping into the world of books and Parisian art. Until she meets Vincent.
Mysterious, charming, and devastatingly handsome, Vincent threatens to melt the ice around Kateās guarded heart with just his smile. As she begins to fall in love with Vincent, Kate discovers that heās a revenantāan undead being whose fate forces him to sacrifice himself over and over again to save the lives of others. Vincent and those like him are bound in a centuries-old war against a group of evil revenants who exist only to murder and betray. Kate soon realizes that if she follows her heart, she may never be safe again.”
So far, Die For Me seems to be flying under the radar of a lot of book bloggers. I have a feeling once it’s published, it’s going to be huge. You can’t beat the combination of supernatural mystery, a cute boy, and PARIS! And as for that supernatural element I mentioned? It’s ZOMBIES. Revenant is French for “one who comes back”. Creepy! But these aren’t your traditional zombies:
“I was drawn by the undead angle because, as a historian, I loved the thought of giving my characters backgrounds based in recorded history. But how could a zombie be attractive? How could a teenage girl fall for one without being worried that he would gnaw her face off during their first kiss? And what about that ultimate turn-off-y odor of decomposing flesh? I laughed my way through scenario after scenario before deciding I would have to come up with my own monster. And that is how my revenants were born.
I started writing the book with only a general idea of what my monsters were. As the story progressed, I honed the concept until the mythology began to come together and make sense. When I got stuck on a question like āwhy do they do this certain thing over and over again?ā I would put on my tennis shoes and walk a few miles until it came to me. And it always came. It felt like I was uncovering something that already existed. I just had to be open to āreceiving” it.” Via Amy’s Author FAQ
It’s like Anna and the French Kiss, meets Night of the Living Dead!
In this jealousy inspiring video (check out that library!) Amy tells us a little bit more about the book:
Not only does Die for Me sound like the perfect story to get me out of my “so many YA paranormal novels have become repetitive” funk, it comes out the week of my birthday. I know at least one present I’ll be asking for!
Die For Me is the first in the Revenants trilogy, and will be released May 10th by Harper Teen.
Pre-oder the book at Amazon.
Learn more about Amy and Die for Me here.
Or follow her on Twitter.
Bookshelf Lust 