Thank you all for bearing with our email issues of last week. We’re now back and raring to go, and what better way to celebrate being back in the world of communication by telling you all about our latest author signing?!

Please give a warm welcome to Amalie Howard!

We have signed her up in a two book deal (negotiated between Amanda and Liza Fleissig) and the first of these books will be coming out early in 2014. The book is called The Almost Girl.

About The Almost Girl:

Seventeen-year-old Riven is as tough as they come. Coming from a world ravaged by a devastating android war, she has to be. There’s no room for softness, no room for emotion, no room for mistakes. A Legion General, she is the right hand of the young Prince of Neospes, a parallel universe to Earth. In Neospes, she has everything: rank, responsibility and respect. But when Prince Cale sends her away to find his long-lost brother, Caden, who has been spirited back to modern day Earth, Riven finds herself in uncharted territory.

Thrown out of her comfort zone but with the mindset of a soldier, Riven has to learn how to be a girl in a realm that is the opposite of what she knows. Riven isn’t prepared for the beauty of a world that is unlike her own in so many ways. Nor is she prepared to feel something more than indifference for the very target she seeks. Caden is nothing like Cale, but he makes something in her come alive, igniting a spark deep down that goes against every cell in her body. For the first time in her life, Riven isn’t sure about her purpose, about her calling. Torn between duty and desire, she must decide whether Caden is simply a target or whether he is something more.

Faced with hideous reanimated Vector soldiers from her own world with agendas of their own, as well as an unexpected reunion with a sister who despises her, it is a race against time to bring Caden back to Neospes. But things aren’t always as they seem, and Riven will have to search for truth. Family betrayals and royal coups are only the tip of the iceberg. Will Riven be able to find the strength to defy her very nature? Or will she become the monstrous soldier she was designed to be?

The Almost Girl is a richly imagined story of defiance, courage, and heart. It is the tale of a girl who finds her own way on her own terms, a girl who won’t let what she is define her, and a girl who will sacrifice everything she is for the ones she loves. It is a story of someone who eclipses her predestined fate to become something more … something extraordinary.

About Amalie Howard:

Seventeen Magazine Summer Club author Amalie Howard grew up on a small Caribbean island where she spent most of her childhood with her nose buried in a book or being a tomboy running around barefoot, shimmying up mango trees and dreaming of adventure.

Twenty-Two countries, surfing with sharks and several tattoos later, she has traded in bungee jumping in China for writing the adventures she imagines instead. She isn’t entirely convinced which takes more guts.

She received a bachelor’s degree from Colby College in Maine in International Studies and French, and a certificate in French Literature from the Ecole Normale Supérieure in Paris, France. Travelling the globe, she has worked as a research assistant, marketing representative, teen speaker and global sales executive. She currently resides in New York with her husband and three children.

Visit her website at www.amaliehoward.com or follow her on Twitter (@AmalieHoward).

About the signing, Amalie Howard said: “I can’t even express how excited I am to sign with Strange Chemistry, the super-fierce YA imprint of Angry Robot Books. For one, they’re completely dedicated to publishing the best modern YA SciFi so I knew that my book had found the perfect home. On top of that, they’re young and strong and taking no prisoners, and I couldn’t be more thrilled to be a part of such a dynamic team!”

Strange Chemistry Editor Amanda Rutter said: “When I started reading The Almost Girl, I genuinely felt goosebumps. This novel is so special and Amalie is such a talent. I seriously cannot wait for the world to discover just how wonderful The Almost Girl is!”

Please give Amalie some love in the comments!