Maiden Voyage Of The Godspeed - Get On Board

I've been anxiously awaiting this day, and although I wanted to spill the beans, I've kept a tight lip on today's post.  For those who weren't aware, today is the launch of the incredibly awesome Beth Revis' debut novel Across The Universe.  And her publisher - Penguin Young Readers Group - is launching this book with all the fanfare they can muster.  It is astounding to me how much effort they have put behind assuring Beth's book is a huge success, as it rightly should be.  Amazingly enough, Working My Muse has been selected (among a number of other blogs) by the Penguin Young Readers Group to help get this party started and I'm very proud to be a part of it.

To get things kicked off, I want to provide you all with a look at the Across The Universe trailer:

I absolutely love this thing.   The narration is awesome, and it tantalizes in just the right way.  It's a little short, to be sure.  But if you think Beth and Penguin would leave you with only that little bit, you'd be wrong.  Check out this exclusive interview with the amazing author Beth Revis herself:



This is really cool, and something I personally haven't seen for a book launch (though I guess to be fair, I have to mention I haven't exactly been a part of too many book launches either).  In any event, I love watching Beth talk about the labor of love that is her debut novel.  She's worked hard on this, and it's great to see all her hard work pay off in such a grand way.

But what is Across The Universe?  Rather than try to stumble through my own description, I'll let Beth's words do the talking:

Amy is a cryogenically frozen passenger aboard the vast spaceship Godspeed. She expects to wake up on a new planet, 300 years in the future. But fifty years before Godspeed's scheduled landing, Amy's cryo chamber is unplugged, and she is nearly killed.

Now, Amy is caught inside an enclosed world where nothing makes sense. Godspeed's passengers have forfeited all control to Eldest, a tyrannical and frightening leader, and Elder, his rebellious and brilliant teenage heir.

Amy desperately wants to trust Elder. But should she? All she knows is that she must race to unlock Godspeed's hidden secrets before whoever woke her tries to kill again.

Now if you haven't had the opportunity to check out Across The Universe yet and are still just thinking about picking it up, there's one place you absolutely need to visit:  http://www.acrosstheuniversebook.com/  This is an amazingly cool website where you can actually check out various parts of the ship and learn all kinds of awesome stuff about the Godspeed.  There are even a couple areas that are off-limits, something I found cool because that way the story isn't spoiled.

Being an IT guy, I have to say I am very impressed with the technical and graphical beauty of this web page.  The images are crisp, the links bring up relevant information quickly, and moving around the page is actually really fun.  If I had to pick my favorite area of the ship though (based on what I see on the page anyway), I'd have to go with the Engine Room.  The image that pops up is really intricate.  A lot of work went into just that one image, and I absolutely love it.  My wife's however, would be the Farm - because she likes cows LOL.  There is of course, the descriptions Beth has so nicely provided too.  Awesome job!

As a writer, I also have to say that I am so proud of and impressed by Beth.  I stumbled on her blog a while ago (back when I first started this writing journey) and I've always found that Beth has so much to teach us and inspire us with.  Since she was a teacher before becoming a full-time writer, I guess that makes sense.  And the Penguin Young Readers Group is treating her the way she should be treated - with excellence and an amazing level of support.

I'm going to try scheduling this post (something I've attempted - and failed at - in the past before) for 11:11 AM - which would be really cool if it works, y'know (1/11/11 11:11AM).  And though I usually don't post link-fests, this is one book I absolutely must jump on the bandwagon for.  Oh, and check out the io9 link.  They are posting a 111pg excerpt from 11:11 AM Eastern to 11:11 PM Eastern today.  You can ONLY find this at io9, so don't miss it.

If you're a Facebooker, you can hit the Across The Universe page.  Beth's page is must visit, and if you aren't following her blog yet, you definitely need to!  You can also catch her on Twitter (for those of you Tweeters out there - is that right?   I have no idea, I don't Tweet yet LOL).

Check out what else Penguin Teen has as well.  They have a main page, they're on Facebook, and Twitter too!

If you like the banner at the top of this post (which I think is awesome looking), hop on over to Novel Thoughts and thank Jeremy.  He did an wonderful job on it.

Most importantly however, pick up Across The Universe at Amazon or whatever your favorite retailer is.  Do it today.  Pick up an extra copy for a friend (because we both know you won't want to lend your copy out).  And head over to io9 to get a glimpse at the exclusive excerpt.

This has been a long post I know, but feel free to tell me what YOUR favorite part of the Godspeed is.  And if you've already bought the book, spread the love.  Beth is an amazing writer, and she deserves all the support we can give her.