Happy Red, White and BITTERBLUE Monday!

We’re sad to be bringing you our last Red, White and Bitterblue Monday, but so excited that Bitterblue will be out where all good books are sold from tomorrow!

Recently, the lovely Kristin Cashore wrote on her blog about the process of letting Bitterblue go out into the wild and we wanted to share her brilliant post with you here on the Gollancz Blog:

 A book release can be overwhelming. A lot of factors converge at once. Reviews, to be honest, don’t really faze me, but they do create a lot of swirling noise. There’s a lot of noise in general during a book release, and when you’re trying to ground yourself in what matters, noise can be decentering. Also, during a book release, a writer is transitioning from working alone in a room on an intensely private project to being the star of public speaking events :). Am I nervous about that? Sure. Nerves contribute to the release being overwhelming.

 But this morning, I managed to isolate, at least for a few moments, the reason why this release is extra hard. Unlike Katsa and Fire, Bitterblue is just a regular person. She doesn’t have any superpowers; she’s only got her own courage, smarts, determination, her heart. She feels vulnerable to me, more than Katsa and Fire ever did. And now she’s grown up, and it’s time for me to fling her out into the scary world on her own. It’s time for me to let her go. Maybe most painful, it’s time for me to accept that she doesn’t need me anymore.

 I am a little bit heartbroken; I am grieving. Yes, this is over an imaginary person. Mock me at will. I know that what I’m feeling is real.

 Thank you, dear readers who take my characters into your hearts. Whether you love her or not, whether you fight with her, feel indifferent to her, or become her best friend, I know Bitterblue will be okay, because she’ll be with you. That’s where she was always meant to be.

And because it wouldn’t be a Red, White and Bitterblue Monday without a little giveaway we’re going to give you a chance to win Graceling, Fire and Bitterblue. We’ve got three sets to giveaway. To enter send an email with the subject line: BITTERBLUE to competitions@orionbooks.co.uk by 11.59 on the 4th May 2012. Good luck!

Are you on Twitter? If so, join in the fun this afternoon as we giveaway copies of BITTERBLUE across our Gollancz and Fierce Fiction Teams. Follow @gollancz, @GillianRedfearn, @jon_weir, @gennmcmenemy, @ninadouglas, @fierceficion, @marcusgipps from 3:30pm for your chance to win! Good luck!