For a Mara lover like myself, today held an exciting surprise…the cover reveal of the sequel, THE EVOLUTION OF MARA DYER. Love these gorgeous covers! Now, this is exciting for many reasons, but most of which is that it means we’re getting closer to actually being able to read the book! Well, as close as October 23rd (six months from now!) can seem anyway.

But in addition, we’re getting some info! I was lucky enough to meet Michelle a couple of times when she was in Chicago for events, and she is one of the nicest people I’ve ever met, and also very good at keeping secrets. Every time I would ask (in as many subtly different ways as I could) about what comes next, her response was, “All I can say is that there will be a Mara 2.” And that’s it! So for me, any information is good information to keep the anticipation and excitement going to Mara Dyer.

And here’s a clue what we’ll get with The Evolution of Mara Dyer:

Two days after Mara
walks into a police station in Miami at the close of The Unbecoming of
Mara Dyer, she is committed for psychiatric treatment for what her
parents believe is a mental breakdown. But what seems like a
hallucination to everyone else is a chilling reality for Mara. Someone
from her past has discovered her strange, disturbing secret and that
someone wants her to pay. But she’s about to discover that the price is
more than she can bear.

Dark and thrilling, suspenseful and
passionate, The Evolution of Mara Dyer will have readers breathlessly
turning pages to find out what will become of Mara Dyer next.

 I, for one, can’t wait to get my hands on THE EVOLUTION OF MARA DYER!

And today, right here, you get to meet Michelle Hodkin, gracious and fabulous author of THE UNBECOMING OF MARA DYER, who answered a fast five questions about Mara and her writing. A little something to tide you over until you can read Mara’s story tomorrow.


What prompted you to write this story?
The short answer is that I was inspired by true events. The long answer is going to be posted on www.maradyer.com. Until then, all I can say is:  

Did anyone or anything in your own life inspire any of your characters: Mara, Noah, Daniel, Jamie?
But bits of myself definitely make it into each of the characters. I’d
have to say, though, that I’m probably the most like Jamie.
Foul-mouthed, brutally honest, and pretty obnoxious. But a super loyal
friend. 

How long did it take for Mara to go from idea to book? How many revisions did you go through?
Ten months from the first words until the day I submitted it in late
March. Probably two significant rewrites and three additional
significant revisions before my editor even got her (capable and
brilliant) hands on it. 

What do you hope readers take away from this book?
Honestly? I just wanted people to have fun reading it. But I wouldn’t be
sad if it made even one person re-think the (silly) idea that pit bulls
should be banned from towns, cities, states, and even countries. That
will seem kind of random if you haven’t read the book  

What’s next for you as an author?
The sequel to THE UNBECOMING OF MARA DYER, which comes out in Fall 2012!

Thank you so much, Michelle!!! 

Don’t forget to check out this week’s other Mara Mondays offerings and comment away to be entered in Lori’s contest at Pure Imagination. And get make sure you get to the store to get your hands on Mara tomorrow!
Vy’s Blog 
Pure Imagination

 

And remember to check out this week’s other Mara Mondays offerings and comment away to be entered in Lori’s contest at Pure Imagination.
The Secret Life of a Avid Reader – Miami post
Greads – Quote graphics post

It’s been three months since I first posted my
review/thoughts on THE UNBECOMING OF MARA DYER, so I wanted to share it
again for those of you who may have missed it, and to remind you of all
of the reasons that you want to get your hands on this book when it
releases next week!
  *This review originally posted in June. 

OK…I
know this is a really early review, but I needed to process my thoughts
about this book – and that’s why I have a book blog – to share my
thoughts!

10. You’ve already heard a lot about it, so you’re curious to see what all the buzz is about, but want the chance to go into it with an open mind and have your own experience with it before hearing too many more opinions.

9. Why would you want to wait any longer to get your hands on a copy? I’ve only been talking about my slight obsession with this one since June!

8. You want to dedicate the weekend of October 1st to reading this book (because you won’t be able to put it down once you start).

7. You appreciate complex characters in your books.

6. You’re willing to suspend your disbelief and feed a little dissonance in your mind while you read for a quality reading experience of a mystery/psychological thriller – and you don’t mind a little magical-paranormal and romance thrown in with it.

5. You’re a fan of multi-genre books that keep you on your toes. This one will alternately make you want to rant, rave, yell at, question, shake, and hug the main characters throughout the book.

4. You really want to finally meet Noah Shaw (trust me on this one)!

3. You want to find out who Mara Dyer is, and can get behind an unreliable narrator. Oh, and you appreciate some snark with your main characters.

2. You love reading books that surprise you, make you think, make you smile, make you afraid, make you feel, make you crave more, right?

1. You definitely want to make sure you have this one right away so the shocker of an ending doesn’t get spoiled for you!

and a bonus 
1/2. Michelle Hodkin is hosting a pre-order contest where you can win an annotated ARC, t-shirts, signed bookmarks, cover art posters, or a Nook! See all the details on her blog. That is definitely worth a pre-order!