Author: Skye Melki-Wegner

Today is December 1st.

What does that mean? Well, it means I should get a wriggle on with my Christmas shopping.

What else does it mean? Borderlands (Chasing the Valley #2) is exactly one month from hitting the shelves! Hurrah!

A couple of days ago, I received my first copy in the mail. It’s such a thrill to hold the physical book in my hands:

Here’s a scan of the back cover. Click the image to check it out!

(Spoiler Warning: If you haven’t finished Book One, the blurb will spoil things a bit.)

One month to go!

The awesome folk at Bookworld have announced their “Top 10 Books of 2013” picks… and Chasing the Valley managed to sneak onto the list!

http://www.bookworld.com.au/best-of-2013

It also managed to swipe a spot on their “Best Kids Books of 2013” list:

http://www.bookworld.com.au/best-kids-books-of-2013

In other news, Chasing the Valley 2: Borderlands is now available for pre-order from many bookshops. The eBook can also be pre-ordered from many outlets (Kindle, iTunes etc.)

Borderlands will hit the shops on January 1st — less than a month and a half to go!

Tonight I was lucky enough to speak at Rowville Library. I spent half my childhood at this library, where the wonderful librarians helped to fuel my love of books and writing. It felt very much like coming home!

I had a fantastic time chatting about my journey to publication and I’m so thankful to the librarians (including Rose, Inger and Maryanne) for inviting me back.

Also, thanks to the lovely readers who came out to listen to my blathering! It was such a thrill to meet you all.

Hi guys! Want to hear me blather about books, writing and Chasing the Valley?

I’ll be speaking at Rowville Library on Thursday 7th November at 7pm. If you’d like to come and say hi, ask a question or get your book signed, I’d love to meet you. I’m always excited to meet readers!

DATE: 7th November 2013
TIME: 7pm
LOCATION: Rowville Library (Stud Park Shopping Centre, Stud Rd, Rowville, VIC, 3178)

Rowville Library:

PHONE: 03 9294 1300

WEB: http://www.erl.vic.gov.au/main/page.php?m=152

Rowville is a suburb east of Melbourne. Here’s a map:

Hope to see you there!

I’m super excited to announce that Chasing the Valley is now available in large print and braille editions! Click here for more information:

http://www.readhowyouwant.com.au/catalog/books/29260/Chasing%20The%20Valley%20by%20Skye%20Melki-Wegner.aspx

In other news, Borderlands is now only 100 days away and the back cover blurb is up on my website. If you’d like a hint of the plot, you can check it out here:  https://skyemelki-wegner.com/book2

Without further ado, it’s time to reveal the cover of Borderlands (Chasing the Valley #2):

Click the cover to view it in High Resolution. If you zoom in, you can even make out Lukas’s proclivity markings!

Just like Book One, this cover was designed by the super talented Sammy Yuen. Here’s how the books will appear together:

I absolutely love this cover and can’t wait to hold the book in my hands!

My awesome publisher (Random House Australia) recently blogged about the process of choosing a book cover — and they used Chasing the Valley as their example!

I find cover design fascinating, so I love this article. It reveals several alternatives for Chasing the Valley and explains the selection process. As you’ll see, the cover could have looked quite different.

Check it out here:
http://www.randomhouse.com.au/blog/book-buddies-chasing-the-valley-cover-poll-1893.aspx

Yesterday I received the typeset pages for Book Two. This is my first glimpse of the text with proper fonts and internal formatting. Now it’s time to check for errors and make any final changes before the book goes to print.

I’m also hard at work on Book Three’s structural edit. Exciting to think that by this time next year, all three books will be published!

To celebrate National Bookshop Day, I recently participated in a flashmob sing-along at Readings. The mob included many authors and illustrators, as well as great musicians. It was a fantastic day and I was lucky enough to meet some lovely Melbourne authors.

Can you spot me in the crowd? (Hint: Look for the pale scarf/ dark hair on the right edge of the screen at 1:33 – 1:36 mins. Yep, gotta be quick to catch it!)

Yesterday I was lucky enough to participate in the show Published or Not on 3CR, hosted by the lovely Jan Goldsmith and David McLean. We had a great chat about Chasing the Valley and it was exciting to learn how a radio station functions.

If you missed the live broadcast, you can listen to the interview online: http://www.3cr.org.au/publishedornot/podcast/published-or-not-22082013

Time to reveal Book Two’s title!

I’m excited to announce that the book will be called… BORDERLANDS.

The book will be published in January 2014 by Random House Australia. More information is coming soon.