Author: Skye Melki-Wegner

Hi guys! I’m still editing Book Two, but I have a few quick snippets of news:

1. It’s competition time! The SciFi channel is giving away 15 signed copies of Chasing the Valley. The online entry form is available here: http://www.sftv.com.au/win/entryform.aspx?id=222

Alternatively, click the button below:

[button link=”http://www.sftv.com.au/win/entryform.aspx?id=222″ type=”big”] ENTER HERE[/button]

2. The Daily Telegraph (Sydney), the Sunday Times (Perth) and the Sunday Mail (Adelaide) have also published lovely pieces about the book:

3. I’ve just glimpsed Book Two’s cover roughs, created by Sammy Yuen (the trilogy’s amazing cover designer).

I’m incredibly excited about the design and can’t wait to reveal the final cover!

I’m in the Herald Sun newspaper (Melbourne) today! If you’re interested, grab a copy to check out the interview and laugh at my crazy photo.

In other news, I’m excited to say that we’ve chosen a title for Book II. I can’t announce the name just yet, but I can reveal it takes the form of a subtitle.

For example:

CHASING THE VALLEY: KERFUFFLE

(Well, obviously not ‘kerfuffle’, but you get the idea.)

I also received my edits for Book II yesterday. I’ll be busy whipping this manuscript into shape, so apologies if I’m slower than usual in replying to emails/ tweets over the next few weeks!

Last week, I participated in a Q&A session at the launch of Chasing the Valley. This video includes a few excerpts from the session:

In other news, I’m lucky enough to be ‘Young Adult Author of the Month’ at Dymocks! It was a lovely surprise to spot this in the catalogue:

Chasing the Valley has also been selected as one of the ‘Best Books of July’ on the Australian iTunes store:

And finally, Random House is running a competition to win one of TEN copies of the book: http://www.randomhouse.com.au/competitions/entryform.aspx?id=566

It’s certainly been an exciting week!

My publisher (Random House Australia) has produced some official Chasing the Valley wallpapers to download and use on your devices.

1. Click your chosen wallpaper to view the full image.

2. Right-click and save the image to your computer.

3. Install the image as your wallpaper (the details of this step will depend upon your device).

Hope you guys enjoy them!

Computer Wallpapers:

Phone Wallpapers:

Tablet Wallpapers:

Chasing the Valley was launched at Wheelers Hill Library on Wednesday night. It was a lovely evening and I’m so thankful to all the friends, family and colleagues who came along to support the book.

Special thanks to the lovely Sandhya from Monash Public Library Service and Mike from Dymocks Glen Waverley.

Here’s a photo gallery of the event. Click any image to enlarge:

Chasing the Valley cake!

Books for sale

Guests begin to arrive

Biplane table decorations

Cupcakes with mini books on top

Signing a copy of the book

Edible bookworms for each signed book

The queue for book signing

Cutting the cake

The cake at the end of the night. Yum!

I have a couple of public events coming up:

• My ABC3 interview will air on TV next Wednesday (10 July). It will be the second segment of a 6:30am breakfast show called Studio 3.

• I’m signing books at Glen Waverley Dymocks (Melbourne) this Saturday 6 July from 1:30pm. All are welcome!

* * *

In other news, reviews for Chasing the Valley are starting to appear online. I must admit that I was nervous about reviews, but I’ve been lucky enough to receive some lovely feedback from blogs and review sites.

Eg.

• “‘Chasing the Valley’ could be the next dystopian hit… [It] will leave you wanting more.”
  — Marama Whyte, Hypable

• “Action-packed and entertaining.”
  — Emily Gale, Readings

• “An insanely glorious blend of Steampunk Adventure and Dystopian Fantasy with a touch of Romance and the promise of a great series to follow. In other words… awesome!” — Sarah McDuling, Booktopia

• “[A]nother great young adult debut… Even as an adult I’m looking forward to book two.”
  — Jen, the Co-op Blog

Thanks again to all readers who have sent me emails or messages. It’s great to hear from you and it means a lot that you enjoyed the book.

Exciting news! Chasing the Valley has been selected as a “Kids & YA Highlight” for July at Readings: http://www.readings.com.au/collection/july-kids-and-ya-highlights

It’s also “Book of the Month” for July at Random House: http://www.randomhouse.com.au/books/book-of-the-month.aspx

And to top it all off, I walked into Collins at Fountain Gate and saw it in a bookstore for the first time (see pic).

All in all, it’s been an amazing day!

It’s been several years since I wrote the first draft of Chasing the Valley: a flurry of frantic words before my mid-year exams. Since then, I’ve finished my degree, traveled to Europe and New Zealand and drafted five or six other fantasy manuscripts.

Many thanks to those who have encouraged me along the way: family, friends, teachers and colleagues. Thanks also to my agents, Rick and Anjanette, and the amazing team at Random House.

And now (*insert drum roll here*), I can finally say it…

Chasing the Valley is OUT NOW!

Yesterday, the lovely Tracey Eldridge tweeted this picture:

Hey @SkyeOhWhy look what I just spotted!!! pic.twitter.com/Qa19BOYaiu

— Tracey Eldridge (@Tracey_E) June 29, 2013

//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

Tracey’s photo is my first glimpse of Chasing the Valley in a bookstore! The official release isn’t until tomorrow, but a few places are already offering the book for sale. Needless to say, I’m skipping around in excitement.

ONE day to go!

Although Chasing the Valley won’t officially hit bookstores until Monday, I’m excited to announce that the eBook is available early for Android, iOS, Kindle and Kobo.

You can purchase your digital copy through the links below. Happy reading!

Google Play:  https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Skye_Melki_Wegner_Chasing_the_Valley?id=krHWFOs9rrkC&feature=search_result#?t=W251bGwsMSwxLDEsImJvb2sta3JIV0ZPczlycmtDIl0

iBookstore (Australia):   https://itunes.apple.com/au/book/chasing-the-valley/id622404729?mt=11&uo=4

iBookstore (New Zealand):   https://itunes.apple.com/nz/book/chasing-the-valley/id622404729?mt=11&uo=4

Kindle:   http://www.amazon.com/Chasing-the-Valley-ebook/dp/B00BVR9WGY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1372152159&sr=8-1&keywords=Chasing+the+valley

Kobo:   http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/Chasing-the-Valley/book-XvhJz604aka-Eo0pAUYLWQ/page1.html