The Saturday Post: New Books, Deals, Trailers & Movies!

*Heidi R. Kling, the author of Sea, has revealed an exciting new book deal:

Young Adult SEA author Heidi Kling’s THE SPELLSPINNERS OF MELAS COUNTY, about a modern-day witch who must betray everything she knows to save her magic and her forbidden love, starting with WITCH’S BREW, to Coliloquy, in a ten-book deal

* Tempest by Julie Cross sounds like a very cool new time travel book coming out in January, but you can read the first four chapters for free online! Meanwhile, here’s more about the book:

The year is 2009. Nineteen-year-old Jackson Meyer is a normal guy… he’s in college, has a girlfriend… and he can travel back through time. But it’s not like the movies — nothing changes in the present after his jumps, there’s no space-time continuum issues or broken flux capacitors — it’s just harmless fun.

That is… until the day strangers burst in on Jackson and his girlfriend, Holly, and during a struggle with Jackson, Holly is fatally shot. In his panic, Jackson jumps back two years to 2007, but this is not like his previous time jumps. Now he’s stuck in 2007 and can’t get back to the future.

Desperate to somehow return to 2009 to save Holly but unable to return to his rightful year, Jackson settles into 2007 and learns what he can about his abilities.

But it’s not long before the people who shot Holly in 2009 come looking for Jackson in the past, and these “Enemies of Time” will stop at nothing to recruit this powerful young time-traveler. Recruit… or kill him.

Piecing together the clues about his father, the Enemies of Time, and himself, Jackson must decide how far he’s willing to go to save Holly… and possibly the entire world.

Cover reminds me a bit of Hush, Hush … no?

* Laika has snapped up the film rights to Wildwood by Colin Meloy & Carson Ellis, a new middle grade that just recently came out:

LAIKA, the Portland, Ore., animation studio behind the Oscar-nominated Coraline, has optioned film rights to Wildwood, the debut novel by Colin Meloy, lead singer of Portland-based band The Decemberists. Wildwood, which is illustrated by Carson Ellis and has just been published by HarperCollins/ Balzer + Bray, is set in an alternate version of modern-day Portland, in which a girl’s younger brother is abducted by crows and taken to an enchanted forest on the edge of town, and she embarks on an epic rescue mission. Travis Knight, LAIKA’s CEO, told Variety that he hopes to film all three parts of the projected trilogy.

* Check out the great book trailer for The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson, a book I absolutely adored (and will be reviewing soon):

* There’s also a new trailer for Dark Eden by Patrick Carman, and some cool links for you to check out:

Fifteen-year-old Will Besting is sent by his doctor to Fort Eden, an institution meant to help patients suffering from crippling phobias. Once there, Will and six other teenagers take turns in mysterious fear chambers and confront their worst nightmares—with the help of the group facilitator, Rainsford, an enigmatic guide. When the patients emerge from the chamber, they feel emboldened by the previous night’s experiences. But each person soon discovers strange, unexplained aches and pains. What is really happening to the seven teens trapped in this dark Eden?

DARK EDEN can be experienced in two ways. The series is enhanced by a downloadable app that enriches the elements of the traditional narrative through innovative story artifacts including still images, audio recordings, videos, scans, and text entries.

• Dark Eden Facebook Page
• Dark Eden Website
• Learn about the Dark Eden app & try it for free here for Apple/iOS or here for Android

* There’s also a pretty spectacular new promo for The Vampire Diaries season 3:

* A new trailer for The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn: Part 1 will be released next week, but in the meantime, you can check out a 15-second preview & look at the two new posters that were released this past week:

MTV Hollywood Crush also revealed this new image from the movie:

* And finally, this interesting article from The Guardian about how reading improves empathy:

The current research suggests that books give readers more than an opportunity to tune out and submerge themselves in fantasy worlds. Books provide the opportunity for social connection and the blissful calm that comes from becoming a part of something larger than oneself for a precious, fleeting moment

See the rest here.