SPLIT!

Just got the Advanced Reader Copies (ARCs to those in the know) of my upcoming book from Walker, SPLIT, and they look totally fantastic!  This puppy won’t be out until March of 2010, but above is a sneak peak at the cover.   This will be my third hardcover from Walker Books for Young Readers, following Teen,Inc, and Rule of Won.

SPLIT takes a slighter darker tone gearing it more toward the older end of the teen readership.  It’s similar, in some ways to my first YA effort, the TimeTripper series from Razorbill.

The back cover copy puts it nicely: 

Wade Jackson had always felt split, his love for playing and writing music versus his ambition to do well in school.  But when his mother dies, this need for order competes with his desire to leave it all behind.  What follows is a split in consciousness that takes him to two very different worlds.

Told in alternating chapters that uniquely explore the butterfly effect of these two choices, SPLIT follows each Wade as he pursues what he thinks is the correct path.  One Wade continues working hard in school, pulling all-nighters to write a computer code he believes will save the world.  The other Wade pursues the dream of being a dive-bar singer, pulling all-nighters to party, gamble, and live on the edge.

But when these worlds begin to collide, each Wade will need to find a balance between control and abandon, order and chaos, life missed and life lost, in order to save himself.

That’s SPLIT in a nutshell!  More to come in 2010, which, by the way is shaping up to be a big year for me, publishing-wise.  In addition to SPLIT, I’ll have two other books out from major publishers.  Later.

Torchwood: Children of Earth

A brief recommendation for the science fiction fans among us.  I just finished watching the mini-series, Torchwood:  Children of Earth, based on the BBC series of the same name and found it to be a real treat.

It’s meant to be a “serious” version of Doctor Who, a show which I only enjoy on occasion because of the rampant campiness – I can personally only take so much of it at a time.

While some hint of the aforementioned campiness remains, the story is so nicely driven that in short order it becomes riveting.  The dramatic battery isn’t based so much on clever ideas for neat aliens or futuristic technology (though those are pleasantly present) but in a series of incredibly difficult decisions regarding the sacrifice of children.

Said decisions are not only made by our inhuman elected officials, but also by the main characters.

Can’t speak for the Torchwood series, since I haven’t seen it, but I can tell you that this mini-series had made me put it on my Netflix queue.  Pax!