Turns out I’m doing NaNoWriMo this year.

Of course, I recently wrote a book in which a young Wrimo gets published, Afterworlds, and I’ve been close to the NaNo organization for a while. (I’m on their Writers Board, and here’s a pep talk I did for them.) But I’ve never technically done NaNo itself—writing the first draft of a novel in November.

But now I have this secret project due in early December, and I see that it’s a few days before Halloween. It’s all coming together! So I’ll be posting my word count and chugging along with the rest of you.

If you want to know more about the concept and the organization, click here.

Need some inspiration in telling your own story? Here’s NaNo’s Sarah Mackey speaking at NerdCon about why stories matter:

Zeroes is out now in the US, Canada, Australia, and the UK.

YOU CAN BUY IT IN ALL THE SHOPS. (See below for help with that.)

“Fresh and original superpowered abilities.”
—School Library Journal, starred review

“Intriguing protagonists and cinematic powers.”
—Kirkus Reviews

“With action, romance, and thorny ethical questions, it’s a book with a little something for everyone.”
—Publishers Weekly

A few cool things:

You can order SIGNED copies of Zeroes (and Uglies and Afterworlds) from Blue Bicycle Books now.

I have a few more appearances coming up. Click here for event details!

You can read the first seven chapters of Zeroes on Wattpad.

Here’s a sample of the audiobook, read by the lovely and talented Amber Benson:

Here’s an interview with me, Margo, and Deb on ABC Radio National.

MTV News did an interview with me, and released the character illustration of Crash. Click here to see. (And here are the illustrations for Flicker and Scam.)

And finally, a ridiculous number of buy buttons:

HARDCOVER
IndieBound
B&N
Amazon
Books-a-Million
S&S

AUDIOBOOK
Audible
iTunes
Amazon CD
Amazon Audible

EBOOK
Amazon Kindle
Apple iBooks
B&N
Google Play
S&S

More character illustrations coming soon!

I’m still on tour! Click here for details!

And now, here’s the second of six character illustrations by Jennie Gyllblad for my latest book, Zeroes.

His real name is Ethan, but his code name is Scam:

Click here for bigness

Omnisciently Manipulative Voice
Scam isn’t very good at speaking for himself, because he’s always had the voice to speak for him. He just opens his mouth, and it starts talking, saying whatever it needs to get Scam what he wants.

Alas, it doesn’t think very far ahead.

Here’s a passage from Zeroes:

      The guy walked with a steady purpose. He had an army-green duffel bag over one shoulder. Ethan let himself drift into his way until the bag slapped against him.
      ”Hey, watch it!” he said in his own voice.
      The guy spun to face him. He was a few inches shorter than Ethan, but twice as big across the shoulders. And he had no neck. The sort of guy who could crush you with an annoyed glare. His right hand dropped into a jacket pocket, like he was ready to pull a knife.
      ”Whoa.” Ethan backed away. “My mistake. Sorry about that.”
      The guy scanned Ethan. His eyes were piercing, way too blue. Almost electric. But a moment later he smiled, eased his hand out of his pocket and gripped Ethan’s shoulder. It was like being held up by a wall.
      ”Sorry, man,” the guy said. His voice was calm and low. “Did I hit you?”
      ”No problem. You missed, actually,” Ethan sputtered, fear beating in his chest. All he wanted was to be on the same side as this guy in his next fight. He let the voice take over. “Taylor sent me over to help you out.”
      That was one of the voice’s specialties. Names.
      The big guy paused, looking him up and down. Not smiling anymore.
      ”Taylor sent you?” An edge of disbelief in the low rumble of his voice. “How’s a squirt like you gonna help?”
      Ethan hated when this happened. The voice would get him into situations that only the voice could get him out of. Then he was stuck, listening and waiting. Letting it talk.
      ”Taylor said you were bad off last night. Wasn’t sure you’d remember the way to his house.” The voice sounded like it was making a joke, so Ethan tried to smile.
      The guy stared at him another moment, then laughed. Abruptly, like that was the stupidest thing he’d ever heard. “What a dickhead. I worked off that hangover in the gym this morning. How do you know Taylor?”
      ”My sister’s in his old army unit,” Ethan heard himself say, and cringed.
      Thing was, his sister really was in the army. Stuff could go really wrong when the voice told the truth. What if the guy asked for his sister’s name? What would the voice say then?
      But the guy relaxed, like he understood everything now. “So you’re family. Taylor wants you to join the team.”
      Ethan nodded, because it seemed like the right thing to do. “He said I should learn from the best.” The voice twisted his throat, like it was imitating someone. “‘Nobody better than the Craig.'”
      A low thunder of laughter spilled out of The Craig, who reached over and took Ethan’s shoulder again. The weight of his hand almost buckled Ethan’s knees.
      ”He tell you to say that? What a dickhead.” He shoved Ethan, sending him stumbling a few steps backward. “Come on. Car’s this way.”
      The Craig headed for a side street. Ethan took a breath and followed.
      Hell, maybe he could still get a ride home out of this.

Scam’s “voiceprint” background was created with a separate layer of paper cut-outs. Then it was flattened for scanning using this hi-tech process:

Click here for more about Zeroes. It’s out in Australia and the UK, and comes out Tuesday, Sep 29 in the US.

And here are some delicious buy buttons:

HARDCOVER
IndieBound
Amazon
B&N
Books-a-Million
S&S

EBOOK
Amazon Kindle
Apple iBooks
B&N
Google Play
S&S

Hey, I’m on tour right now! Click here for a list of appearances! In the meantime:

Below is the first of six character illustrations for my new book Zeroes, written with Margo Lanagan and Deb Biancotti. The image is by Jennie Gyllblad.

Her real name is Riley, but she goes by Flicker:

Click here for bigness

Collective Optical Hijack
Flicker can’t see through her own eyes, but she can borrow those of anyone around her. in other words, in a room alone she can’t see. In a room with a few other people, she can see quite a lot. And in a huge crowd, she’s almost omniscient.

All the Zeroes’ powers work this way: the more people around, the stronger they are. Crowd-sourced superpowers!

Here’s a passage from Zeroes to give you an idea of how Flicker’s vision-hijacking works:

Flicker was in the concierge’s eyes.
      His long fingers were scrolling a touchpad screen, his gaze flitting across requests from customers arriving in the next week. The hotel was filling up, thanks to the big Fourth of July display. Everyone wanted a room with a view of the old Parker-Meridian Hotel, which was scheduled for demolition during the show.
      Every minute or so the concierge looked up, scanning the lobby in a discreet and professional way. Perfect for keeping watch.
      Flicker saw herself in her wingback chair, her bright red dress easy to spot. But as she gave herself a smile, the concierge’s gaze slipped past her and came to a rest on a huge man strolling across the lobby floor.
      The concierge stared. It was hard not to. The guy was as wide as a door, all shoulders and thighs. He wore a shiny black t-shirt made from enough silk for a parachute. Five other big guys cruised across the lobby floor with him, a formation of battleships.
      A man in a Magnifique staff uniform came up and started talking to them, and the concierge’s eyes dropped back to his computer screen.
      Flicker sent her vision into the big guy’s eyes. She couldn’t hear anything from across the lobby, but it didn’t seem like a confrontation. The two were huddled close, the big guy’s eyes moving warily from side to side.
      The hotel staffer, a short man with a shaved head, held out his empty palm, and the big guy pushed a stack of twenties into it. In return, the staffer produced a hotel keycard and slipped it into the breast pocket of the big guy’s shirt.
      This was getting interesting. Flicker unfolded her cane and stood.

What I like most about Jennie’s work is that it combines illustration with collage. As you can see here, Flicker’s background is created with yarn and watercolor. So the characters are sort of like superpowered paper dolls.

Tune in over the next couple of weeks to see the rest of the characters. Click here for more about Zeroes.

It’s out now in Australia and the UK, and on Tuesday, Sep 29 in the US.

Below are all the public events for the 2015 Zeroes Tour. Cities include Sydney, LA, San Diego, Seattle, Portland, Fort Collins CO, St Paul, Lansing MI, Atlanta, Nashville, Cincinnati, Princeton NJ, and New York City!

Zeroes comes out Sep 29 in the US, Sep 24 in the UK, and Sep 23 in Australia. Click here for more about the book.

All three of us—me, Deborah Biancotti, and Margo Lanagan—will be at the following events:

LOS ANGELES, CA
Tuesday, September 29
7:00 PM
BARNES & NOBLE
1201 3rd St. Promenade
Santa Monica, CA  90401

SAN DIEGO, CA
Wednesday, September 30
7:30 PM    
MYSTERIOUS GALAXY BOOKS
75943 Balboa Ave
Ste 100
San Diego, CA  92111

SEATTLE, WA
Thursday, October 1
7:00 PM    
THIRD PLACE BOOKS
17171 Bothell Way NE
Lake Forest Park, WA  98155
 
PORTLAND, OR
Friday, October 2
7:00 PM   
POWELL’S BOOKS, INC.
Cedar Hills Crossing
3415 SW Cedar Hills Blvd
Beaverton, OR 97005

PORTLAND, OR
Saturday, October 3
Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association
Booksellers only. Details to come!
 
FORT COLLINS, CO
Monday, October 5
7:00 PM    
OLD TOWN LIBRARY
201 Peterson St
Fort Collins, CO  80524

ST. PAUL, MN
Tuesday, October 6
6:30 PM    
RED BALLOON BOOKSHOP
891 Grand Ave.
St. Paul, MN  55105

LANSING, MI
Wednesday, October 7 
7:00 PM        
SCHULER BOOKS & MUSIC
2820 Towne Center Blvd
Lansing, MI
48912                                                             

ATLANTA, GA
Thursday, October 8
7:00 PM
LITTLE SHOP OF STORIES
133A East Court Square
Decatur, GA  30030

NASHVILLE, TN
Saturday, October 10
Southern Festival of Books

11:30AM-1:00PM
Zeroes panel with Margo and Deb
Legislative Plaza Rm. 16

1:00-1:30PM
Signing at the Signing Colonnade
All three of us again!

CINCINNATI, OH
Monday, October 12
7:00 PM  EST
JOSEPH BETH BOOKSELLERS
Crestview Hills Town Center
2785 Dixie Hwy
Crestview Hills, KY 41017

PRINCETON, NJ
Tuesday, October 13 
6:00 PM
BARNES & NOBLE
3535 US Route 1
Market Fair
Princeton, NJ  08540

NEW YORK, NY
Wednesday, October 14
6:00 PM to 8:00 PM EST
BOOKS OF WONDER
18 W. 18th Street
New York, NY  10011

CHARLESTON, SC
November 13-14
YALLFest
Details to come!
(Me only. No Margo or Deb.)

A few FAQs about my tours:

Wait. What is Zeroes again?
My next book, written with Margo Lanagan and Deborah Biancotti. Click here for more info.

What happens at these book events?
We will talk for about half an hour, telling you all about how we wrote Zeroes. Then we will answer your questions (about anything, pretty much) for another 20 minutes or so. And finally we sign books. You can bring books from home, and our books will be available for sale. (Not just Zeroes, old stuff too.)

Can we bring lots of books to sign?
We will try to sign all your stuff. If you have a giant bag of books, it’s best to wait till the end of the line. Some bookstores may have stricter rules. I tend to ignore them, or will meet you secretly in the parking lot to sign your extra books, or cast, or pet wallaby.

How early should we arrive?
I’m not that famous. My events tend to have about 50-100 people. Just get there half an hour early, and you should be fine!

You guys aren’t coming to my city. Should I yell at you about this?
Nope. We don’t arrange out own tour. Publicists do it. Yell at them!

Can I cosplay, make a sign, or bring you a gift?
Yes, totally, and maybe. No edible gifts, please, and nothing big or hard to carry. Remember, I’m flying between all these cities!

You didn’t answer my question.
What am I, psychic? Ask it in the comments below!

The Uglies series has a new set of audiobooks out, with a new reader, Emily Tremaine. (Wolf of Wall Street)

Here’s a sample from Uglies:

And here’s a sample from Pretties. It’s the scene in which Tally and Zane first kiss!

Download your copies here:

Uglies
iTunes
Audible

Pretties
iTunes
Audible

UPDATE: My SDCC panel has already happened, but I’ll also signing on Saturday!

Place:
Mysterious Galaxy (Booth 1119)
Time:
SATURDAY, July 11
1:30-2:15PM

There will be free Zeroes samplers and many of my books for sale!
_____________

I’ll be talking about my next novel, ZEROES, at San Diego Comic Con next week, in company with my co-authors, Deb Biancotti and Margo Lanagan. We have our own panel to discuss the book!

We’ll have swag and chapter samplers there as well. The details:

“From Zeroes to Heroes”
Scott Westerfeld, Margo Lanagan, Deb Biancotti
Thursday, July 9, Noon
Horton Grand Theater
444 4th Ave.
San Diego, CA

Also I’ll be signing after the panel, 1:30-2:30, at the San Diego Convention Center Autographing Area, AA09. And Mysterious Galaxy will be on hand to sell copies of my books!

Please share this graphic with ALL YOUR SDCC-GOING FRIENDS!

Time Magazine has a cover story about ubiquitous plastic surgery this week, and I am quoted in my capacity as Author of Uglies and Fake Expert on Body Image Stuff.

Behold:

At Book Expo America, I spoke with Jessica Mazo about Zeroes, my next novel, cowritten with Deb Biancotti and Margo Lanagan.

Behold:

Readers of the Uglies series may remember Aya’s pal Moggle in Extras, a semi-intelligent hovercam that tracks her around, providing footage of her exploits for her feed.

It seems that someone has invented something similar, but called it Lily.

Lily, of course, uses rotors instead of magnetic lifters, and only has 20 minutes battery life. It costs $500 if preordered now before anyone has reviewed a real one, and will be twice that when it ships next February. (Buyer beware.)

Here’s the camera’s official site, and you can find tons of other articles around the web.

It’s not quite Moggle, but it’s proof of concept. And why wouldn’t we all want our own hovercam following us around?

(Thanks to everyone who sent me this!)

BONUS: My latest novel, Afterworlds, is only $1.99 in the Kindle store this month. Click here to check it out.