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2019 is here and bookish things (will) continue to happen

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Welcome to my blog/website/platform everyone! 2018 has been quite a year! Thank you all who've stuck around as I've morphed from an anxious forthcoming author to an anxious published author. Plus, I'm now an anxious published author with another book on the way. And... an anxious published author who is writing more books and hopes to sell more books so that she can keep writing them. The cycle never ends.

I won't lie to you: it's tough, this author gig. But I'm grateful. And happy. But It's TOUGH. Putting your first book out into the world is an experience like no other. I thought doing PhD was tough. Haha. I mean, yeah, it was, but... putting a book out is a totally different jam. Like, it's indescribable (haha, but Katya, you're an author, I should be able to describe it! Nope. I refuse to).

Anyway, What The Woods Keep is out! YAY. It came out in the US on September 18th and then in Australia and New Zealand on October 1st. Czech rights have so…
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interview with Erin Cashman, author of UNCHARTED

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I'm beyond excited today as I get to publish this very special interview with the author of one of my absolute favorite 2018 books: Erin Cashman! 

Erin is the author of The Exceptionals as well asher latest novel, Uncharted - out now! 

I was intrigued by the Uncharted from the very first moment I glimpsed its cover and description. And I just knew then I was going to love it, and... I did! I mean, what I can say; this book is pretty much my 'catnip' of a story: a dark mystery, mysterious parents, secret societies, ancient legends brought out of the shadows and into the light, and a determined, uniquely voiced protagonist. I loved every moment!

And so I reached out to Erin and invited her to answer some questions about her writing, reading, and everything. 

Here it is:) Please check it out! 

Hi Erin, and welcome! As it's become a tradition on my blog, I start all my author interviews with this question: What was the book that influenced you the most when you were a child (an…
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OASIS is coming... get a first glimpse at its cover & description

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Are you ready???
I 
give
you
the
cover
of 
my
sophomore
book
coming
into
the
world
FALL 2019
TA DA! *
*
*
* *
* *



The oasis saved them. But who will save them from the oasis?


Alif had exciting summer plans: working on her father’s archaeological dig site in the desert with four close friends . . . and a very cute research assistant. Then the sandstorm hit.

With their camp wiped away, Alif and the others find themselves lost on the sands, seemingly doomed . . . until they find the oasis. It has everything they need: food, water, shade—and mysterious ruins that hide a deadly secret. As reality begins to shift around them, they question what’s real and what’s a mirage.

The answers turn Alif and her friends against one another, and they begin to wonder if they’ve truly been saved. And while it was easy to walk into the oasis, it may be impossible to leave . . .


Katya de Becerra’s new supernatural thriller hides a mystery in plain sight, and will keep you guessing right up to its terrifying conclusion.




You can add …
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interview with Lucia DiStefano, author of BORROWED

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Today I'm pleased to host this interview with a dear friend of mine, and a fellow 2018 debut Lucia DiStefano! Lucia's debut YA novel is BORROWED and I had a pleasure to read and review an early copy - and, WOW, this book, THIS BOOK. 

Have a read, and if you feel like it, leave your impressions and well wishes to Lucia's on her debut's publication in the comments. 
About BORROWED
Love, mystery, and danger collide in this new literary thriller with the dark heart of a Gillian Flynn novel and the lyrical prose of Jandy Nelson’s I’ll Give You the Sun.

A triumph of authenticity, grace, and nail-biting suspense, Lucia DiStefano’s ingenious debut is an unflinching, genre-bending page-turner.

As seventeen-year-old Linnea celebrates the first anniversary of her heart transplant, she can’t escape the feeling that the wires have been crossed. After a series of unsettling dreams, inked messages mysteriously appear on her body, and she starts to wonder if this new heart belongs to her …
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signed copies of WHAT THE WOODS KEEP now available in Melbourne bookstores

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Hey hey hey!

If you're in Melbourne, I'm excited to tell you that autographed copies of my debut are now available in the following stores (while stock lasts!):

[and if you're not based in Melbourne, scroll down to see some info on where to get signed copies!]


Hill of Content





The Little Bookroom




Ulysses (Sandringham)



Readings St Kilda



Dymocks Melbourne CBD



Dymocks Camberwell




Readings Hawthorn



I also plan to sign some copies at Dymocks Chadstone, at three central Sydney bookstores (Abbeys, Kinokuniya, and Dymocks Sydney) as well as (potentially) a couple of central shops in Geelong.

In the US... Maybe maybe maybe I'll sign in some LA bookstores this December. MAYBE. Also, maybe I'll sign in B&N Bakersfield, also in December. Keep an eye out for announcements here and on Twitter/FB/IG.

Thank you!
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Blog Tour stop for UNWRITTEN, Tara Gilboy amazing debut

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Can you imagine how excited I am to be taking part in Tara Gilboy's blog tour for her Middle-Grade debut Unwritten!? VERY. I'm very excited. 

I had a pleasure of reading an early digital advanced copy of Unwritten awhile back and I loved it. A lot. It's a very unusual book that deals with the matters of good and evil as well as our evolving identity. The book also asks the question of how much our nature and nurture define us. Plus, the protagonist's voice was absolutely mesmerizing - I simply couldn't stop reading!
So today, I'm so happy to publish my Q&A with Tara and share my ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ review of her debut. Plus, I was so thrilled to read Tara's book that I became its official blurber! As authors, we get asked a lot to 'blurb' new books and, even though I'm a debut myself, I was asked to blurb four books already (and I was happy to do it), but - to my knowledge - Unwritten is the first book that actually contains my blurb's words on its back…
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What The Woods Keep - Melbourne launch highlights!

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My launch day impressions, in no particular order:)

I'm so grateful to everyone who braved the first day of hayfever-inducing Melbournian Spring to come to the Readings Kids shop in Carlton to celebrate the Australian release of my genre-bending YA debut, What The Woods Keep! 

I was absolutely blown away by how many people attended, and it was a total thrill to see my dear friends, fellow authors, co-workers, friends from Twitter/IG and just a bunch of loveliest people ever who decided to come and support a debut author!
I'm so happy that Imprint/Macmillan decided to pick up my weird, eerie, hard-to-define book 2 years ago, after it was on submission for almost a year! THANK YOU! Erin Stein, you're a dream-maker! Rhoda Belleza, I'm so grateful I got to work with you, however briefly, and of course my editor extraordinaire John Morgan - your dedication and complete and utter love for this book knows no bounds. 

And, of course, I'm so grateful that Amy Tipton offered rep…
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