Category: News

I’m popping up to Sydney later this month for an event at The Children’s Bookshop in Beecroft. Would love to see you there!

http://www.randomhouse.com.au/events/skye-melki-wegner.aspx

DETAILS:

Find out about our biggest books for 2014 from publisher Zoe Walton and meet authors Skye Melki-Wegner, Belinda Murrell and illustrator Tony Flowers. Plus we’re recruiting for the Random House Book Buddies program – come along to hear all about it.

Pizza, cupcakes and drinks provided. Everyone who RSVPs will get a special gift. Plus there are 10 fabulous lucky door prizes to be won!

Time: Wednesday, January 22 2014, 2:00pm
Venue: The Children’s Bookshop
6 Hannah Street Beecroft
Tickets: FREE! But RSVP essential to 02 9481 8811 or staff@thechildrensbookshop.com.au

First things first — Happy New Year! Hope that all my lovely readers have a fantastic time in 2014.

Of course, today is special for me for another reason too. It’s time for Chasing the Valley 2: Borderlands to officially hit the bookshops. Hooray!

It’s such a thrill to walk into a shop and find my series on the shelf. This is my first sighting of Borderlands in a bookshop (at Dymocks Glen Waverley):

2013 was a HUGE year for me. I’ve loved working with the awesome team at Random House. Not only did my first book come out, but I was also lucky enough to experience my first TV and radio interviews, school talks, library visits and even a book launch party.

It’s hard to believe, but 2014 is going to be even bigger. Not only is Book 2 out now, but Book 3 is only six months away! (As Teddy Nort put it: ‘If I’d known the party games were gonna be that full on, I would’ve brought my croquet mallet.’)

Thanks for all your support in 2013. I truly appreciate every email, tweet and review. It means so much to me to hear that people are enjoying the series.

Hope you all have fun reading Borderlands and have a blast in 2014!

Well, 2013 is almost over and Chasing the Valley 2: Borderlands is almost here! I’m thrilled to share the book’s first official review, from Sarah McDuling at Booktopia.

Here’s a taste:

“Refreshingly original, wildly imaginative and basically just really, really GREAT, the Chasing the Valley series is best described as steampunk-fanstasy-adventure. The first book was a magical rollercoaster ride and this one is even better.” — Booktopia

 

You can read the full review here: http://newsletters.booktopia.com.au/2014/01-january-ya-buzz.html

Borderlands is also ‘Book of the Month’ in the Booktopia YA Buzz newsletter. Hurrah!

Time for an exciting addition to yesterday’s news. Not only is the Borderlands eBook available early, but the physical paperback has already been spotted in a few bookshops!

Although the official release is still 10 days away, the lovely Tracey Eldridge spotted the book in Melbourne and sent me this tweet with a picture:

Book 2! I know what I’ll be reading this weekend @SkyeOhWhy pic.twitter.com/yrh9vgUpVa

— Tracey Eldridge (@Tracey_E) December 20, 2013

Thanks so much for letting me know, Tracey!

My grandparents also spotted the book for sale, so it seems to be popping up early in a few places. If you’re after a copy for Christmas, it might be worth checking your local bookshop.

In other news, I opened up The Age newspaper today to find a lovely review of Chasing the Valley staring back at me. I was so surprised I almost spilled my coffee.

It feels like Christmas is here early!

Wow, what a day! This is rather unexpected, but the eBook of Chasing the Valley 2: Borderlands is now available for purchase from several outlets. If you prefer to read eBooks than paperbacks, you can pick up your copy now.

iBooks: https://itunes.apple.com/au/book/chasing-valley-2-borderlands/id703314251?mt=11&uo=4

Kobo: http://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/chasing-the-valley-2-borderlands

Amazon Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/Chasing-Valley-Borderlands-Skye-Melki-Wegner-ebook/dp/B00F3RABHW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1387488750&sr=8-1&keywords=chasing+the+valley

In other news, Chasing the Valley has snuck onto a few more ‘Best of 2013’ lists!

In addition to the ‘Top 10 of 2013’ from Bookworld (http://www.bookworld.com.au/best-of-2013), it has also managed to snare a spot on these lists:

• Dymocks ‘The Best Books of 2013’ — http://www.dymocks.com.au/VirtualStore/LandingPage.aspx?Store=promo2&N=184+4294967292
• Kobo ‘Best Teen Reads of 2013’  — http://store.kobobooks.com/Collection/australian-best-of-2013
• Angus & Robertson ‘Best Kids Books of 2013’ — http://www.angusrobertson.com.au/best-kids-books-of-2013
• Booktopia ‘The Ultimate Top Twelve Young Adult Reads of 2013’ — http://newsletters.booktopia.com.au/2013/12-december-ya-buzz.html

Hooray!

I’m skipping around in excitement today. Why? I can finally share some great news: the Chasing the Valley trilogy has been picked up for publication in Germany and Brazil!

First up, I love Germany. I was lucky enough to visit the country last year and had a wonderful time. Here I am playing tourist in Rothenburg:

I’m also thrilled about the deal in Brazil. Although I haven’t yet had the fortune to visit Brazil, my grandpa lived in Rio for a while during his youth. He can’t wait to read the books in Portuguese!

My lovely new publishers are DTV Junior (Germany) and Editora Fundamento (Brazil). I’m so excited to see what they do with the trilogy!

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!