Monday, August 31, 2009

LOTS of Updates

Hey all,

Well, it's been a while since my last post -- I haven't had internet, and it's kind of frightening to realize how much I rely on it. Quitting cold turkey = no fun at all.

I have a whole slew of stuff to share, but first I'm going to start with a story.

My older sister left for her senior year of college on Sunday, so of course my mom drove her to school to help her move in, which was an all-day project. My younger sister and I stayed home, and while she was watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer, I decided to go out on the deck and enjoy the sun while I worked on Redemption. Her episode finished, Kendra came out to join me -- shutting the door behind her.

Naturally, us Kluvers (bright as we are) have only one house key. And naturally, this one house key was on my mom's keychain, in LaCrosse.

At first, Kendra and I thought we'd just hang out and wait for Mom to get back. I didn't have my cell phone with me, so it seemed the logical option. The minutes dragged by, turning into half an hour, then an hour, and then, sure enough, it started to get HOT outside.

Now, my mom was a basketball player, she holds the record in Minnesota for some track thingy, and my older sister, though she has no great interest in sports, is duly coordinated and capable. Kendra and I both missed out on that gene. Our attempts at resourcefulness saw us carry the wicker bench from the front porch and set it up the long way below the pantry window, which my mom had fortuitously left open that morning before she'd left. Kendra steadied it while I climbed on top with a reasonably pointy stick, which I used to poke several holes in the screen. I ripped the rest of it off and pushed the window up as far as it would go.

Utilizing my mad skills, I jumped up and squirmed through the opening, wheezing as the sill bruised my stomach (still got the marks!). Needless to say, it was not my most graceful moment (especially since I ended up with one leg inside and one foot still hanging out the window), and Kendra remains busy bemoaning the fact that she didn't have a video camera to record my ordeal. (I considered leaving her out there.)

At any rate, we survived, but trust me when I say this is something that would only happen to me and my little sister. (My mom wasn't happy about the screen.)

Anyway, now for the REAL updates, which are bountiful:

I did an interview with Stan and CV in the Morning on B 93.3FM -- thanks to everyone who made that possible!

I also did an interview with WUWM Milwaukee Public Radio "Lake Effect", to which you can listen here: Lake Effect Thursday, August 27. I'm about 20 minutes in. Thank you to Mitch Teich and everyone involved in the program!

Lauren Nemroff was responsible for a wonderful, much appreciated posting about me on Omnivoracious, which you can read here: Meet 16-Year-Old Author Cayla Kluver. It includes some exclusive content (pics of my notebooks, etc.). It's pretty cool, and like I said, I really appreciate it!

An AMAZING review of Legacy was written by Bailey Shoemaker Richards for Helium. Check the whole thing out here: Book reviews: Legacy, by Cayla Kluver. For now, here's an excerpt:

"Anyone who says teens can't write should meet 16-year-old Cayla Kluver..... Legacy is filled to the brim with wit, powerful writing and a spell-binding story. ..... Kluver's writing is impressive, fluid and focuses heavily on social customs and deep, complex characters; the skill of the writing and the resulting story make Legacy one book that any fantasy fan should pick up at the earliest opportunity."

Thanks SO much to Bailey; this review means a ton to me.

Also, the Q&A on my Facebook Fan Page discussion board is still going on -- feel free to hop in and ask me something!

I have a few more things coming up, notably a guest post on the Amazon Kindle blog, to which I will link as soon as it goes live. Until then, snatch up that bottle of shampoo, pretend its a microphone, and unleash your inner rockstar.

Cayla

(I just drank a Caffe Mocha from Panera, and it was very, very caffeinated, so I'm bound to unleash my inner rockstar in just a bit.)

Saturday, August 22, 2009

The Blogger Girlz Review

Hey all,

The Blogger Girlz wrote a wonderful review of Legacy on their site -- check it out and don't forget to subscribe to the blog!

Book Review: "Legacy" by Cayla Kluver

Thanks for dropping by, and love to Ella and the rest over at The Blogger Girlz.

Cayla

Friday, August 21, 2009

WEAU-13 -- Plus Remember the Giveaway Contest!

Hi everybody,

I've had an amazing couple of days since Legacy's release, and have been hopping all over the place, but I just wanted to update you on a couple of things.

First of all, I did another interview with WEAU-13, and the piece turned out great -- I really want to thank Meghan Kulig and Dwayne, as well as Judy Clark, for organizing it and filming it and doing such an amazing job. Here's the link to watch the clip that was on TV, as well as read the online article:

Teen author releases book through Amazon.com program

I also wanted to remind anybody who wanted to enter of the giveaway contest on LaFemme Readers for three advance review copies of Legacy, deadline August 30th (the winner will be announced on the 31st)!

3 ARC Book Giveaway of Legacy by Cayla Kluver

Other than that, I have been plugging away like mad on Redemption this week, so it is slowly but surely getting written! I've realized it's going to be hard to say goodbye to these characters once I'm done with it, but I'm also really excited to explore other projects. I'm also thinking about ways to spice up this blog... I've changed the layout a couple of times (forgive me, I just figured out how!), and I'm thinking of doing some kind of poll/quote of the week thingies. I shall contemplate and hopefully return with good ideas! If anyone has suggestions, by all means, do share.

Thanks much for stopping in,

Cayla

Monday, August 17, 2009

Pub Date and The Blogger Girlz!!

Hey guys,

First of all, got to get this off of my chest...

Legacy comes out in an hour and a half!!!!!!!!

Whew. Okay.

I'm obviously extremely excited, and again SO thankful to everyone and everything that helped me get here -- I'd copy my acknowledgments from the book into this post except I can't find them. But I want to thank David and Ace from ECP right now especially. And my mom, of course. She's my everything (I was about to say she's the reason I exist, but that seemed a tad too literal...).

Now for more news, I just did an interview with The Blogger Girlz over at their blog, so here's the link:

TBG Author Interview: Cayla Kluver

Much love to the lovely hosts over there. Keep in touch!

I'll be back again,

Cayla

Saturday, August 15, 2009

Chick Lit Teens Review

Hey all,

Here's the review Chick Lit Teens did of Legacy:

Legacy by Cayla Kluver

Thanks much again to everyone over there, and everyone over here!

Cayla

Friday, August 14, 2009

More Interviews!! (Plus Meet My Mom!)

Hey guys,

New interview posted on Chick Lit Teens -- thanks so much to the host! Check it out here:

Chick Chat: Cayla Kluver

Also check out parts 1 and 2 of my Today Show interview with WEAU-13, which I did with my mom. Loads of thanks to the anchor Judy Clark!

Today Show Interview: Cayla Kluver

I also just got back from Milwaukee where I taped two radio interviews, and I'll be back in a bit to let you know when they air and on what stations.

One more note -- Legacy comes out on Tuesday!! Order it online or ask for it in your favorite bookstore!

Thanks much for stopping by,

Cayla