Saturday Sights ~3~

Hello Great People of Elsewhere,

It's Saturday and as has been the tradition, I am bound to tell you all about the millions of awesome things I've seen since last week.

FIRST I am pleased to announce that Pottermore will, indeed, be open to all in April! I'm a Beta Tester and I've had a blast this past year, but I can't wait for those of you who didn't make the Beta window to  come and join me there. Let's be friends! In other Potter related news, you UK Wanderers will be pleased to know that Warner Bros. Studios is opening the Making of Harry Potter tour very, very soon! In fact, you can order tickets now, read about what they've got there to show you, AND see a few sneak peek pics of the exhibits on display! I don't know whether to be unnerved or thrilled by the fact that they're taking the magic away from the franchise, but I do know one thing: I wish I were in London so I could experience the tour, myself!

NEXT, it is my duty to alert you that voting for the Children's Choice Book Awards has officially opened up! You can vote for the book of the year, the author of the year, and the illustrator of the year should you wish to, and just in case you weren't interested before and need some persuading, in the teen category, these books are going head to head:

        

And these authors...

        

So it is now your responsibility to help your favorite reads and authors of 2011 to win! Go forth, my loves and vote!

NOW that that's over, I can tell you about this online shop called Gone Reading that sells book related merchandise like t-shirts that sport "Jane Austen for President" and book jackets that say "Take me to your reader..." It's pretty cool but what's even COOLER is that Reading Teen, a book blog I love and adore, has been given a special coupon code that allows you to get 25% off any purchase up until April 14th 2012. SO, with your parent's permission (or your own permission if you're 18 and up!), buy something! Apparently, their "after-tax profits" go toward funding libraries and reading-focused charities. How cool is that?!

ALSO, I feel the need to announce this because as soon as these books come out, we're going to be all over them like butter on toast, okay? So Claire Legrand whose debut novel, THE CAVENDISH HOME FOR BOYS AND GIRLS will be coming out THIS AUGUST!, has just announced that she's also sold her first YA novel, a retelling of the classic ballet, The Nutcracker, entitled WINTERSPELL. Guys. I cannot even begin to express how excited I am for it! This is what was announced about a month ago:

"Claire Legrand's YA debut WINTERSPELL, a retelling of the Nutcracker in which a seventeen-year-old girl journeys from 1899 New York City to the hidden land of Cane to rescue her father from a mad faery queen, only to find herself falling in love with a cursed prince... [sold] to Zareen Jaffery... in a two book deal...[!!!!]"

CAVENDISH is first, though, ya'll. And then THE OCTOBER YEAR. AND THEN WINTERSPELL. *excitement ensues*

And FINALLY! Here's some news for you Cassie Clare fans! Mundie Moms, another book blog that specialize in all things Cassie Clare, has just announced that Cassie has sold the rights to a trilogy called The Dark Artifices. They even posted a statement from The Washington Post that reads:

The first of “The Dark Artifices” books, currently untitled, will come out in 2015. According to a statement from the publisher, Clare, who placed her previous work in contemporary New York and Victorian England, will continue her tales of the Shadowhunters, a hybrid race “unseen but ever-present, our invisible protectors.”

“The series follows Emma Carstairs, the fiercest warrior and most skilled young Shadowhunter since Jace Wayland, and Emma’s sworn partner in arms, Julian Blackthorn,” the statement reads. “Despite Emma’s complicated feelings for Julian, the two must band together to investigate a demonic plot that stretches from the warlock-run nightclubs of the Sunset Strip to the enchanted sea that pounds the beaches of Santa Monica.”

Clare said in a statement that she was sure readers would love both her new and her established characters.

“I know readers will come to love Emma, Mark, Cristina and Julian just as they have loved Jace, Clary, Will, Tessa and Jem,” she said. “Readers have often asked what will happen in the Shadowhunter world after the events of the ‘Mortal Instruments’ and this series will give them a chance to find out.”

Yee-haw! For more information regarding it, check out the Mundie Moms article linked to above.

And that's it for this week, Lovelies. What do you think? The literary world is marvy, right?! Remember that this week on Elsewhere we're talking about ONE DAY. You know! That book that was made into a movie that stars Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess... No? You don't? Well my review will be posted tomorrow and in it, I will list several reasons why you might enjoy this one. Don't forget to visit the March Calendar so you can check out the prompts for this week's Wednesday Writes Challenge and in the words of John Green: Don't forget to be awesome. 

The April Calendar is going up some time today! Are you excited, because I'm excited. Let's do this thing called life!

Later!

Deserae
P.S. Before I forget there's this awesome YouTube channel called Feast of Fiction where Jimmy and Ashley prepare meals from their favorite books, shows, etc. And they teach you how to make it! So check it out, yo. For the children!