The ANGER IS A GIFT paperback edition is out May 7, 2019!

Hello, readers! I’m so thrilled to announce that there will be a newly-designed paperback edition of Anger Is A Gift released on May 7, 2019. Here is the stunning new cover this version is getting:

Today, you can now pre-order the paperback of Anger Is A Gift from your favorite online outlets and bookstores just in time for the holidays.

IndieBound
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Books-A-Million
iBooks
Audible (The audiobook is narrated by ME!!!)

I cannot thank all of you enough for the continued support of me and this book. Please keep an eye on this space for updates about possible bonus features in this edition; you can also find out where I’ll be appearing throughout 2019 in support of Anger on my Tour page.

I want to send a special thanks out to all the educators and librarians who have supported my debut. It has been surreal to see how far this book has traveled and how many classrooms it is now in. Y’all are actually TEACHING my book, and it blows my mind. Thank you for helping to make my dream come true. If any educators are interested in bringing Anger or me to their schools, please check out my School Visits page for more information.

Lastly: book #2. It’s coming. You’ll learn more about it in the new year, but I’ll say this: It is nothing like my first book, and I cannot wait to tell you all about it.

Happy holidays!

—Mark

I will be a guest at CrossingsCon 2019!

I am thrilled to return to my third CrossingsCon, which will be held in MONTREAL next summer!

This is going to be my first CrossingsCon where I will be FREE FROM SPOILERS, so I'm eager to finally get to participate in everything. You can find more information about the con (and purchase memberships) at CrossingsCon.org.

I will be participating in panels, signings, a couple readings, and some workshops. One thing I love about the con is how varied the programming is, so I'm eager to talk writing and craft alongside geeking out about Nita, Kit, and the many, many books and characters of the Young Wizards universe. This is also going to be MY VERY FIRST CANADIAN CONVENTION! How exciting!

I hope to see many cousins there! 

My LeakyCon schedule is live!

Friends! I am so excited to get to return to my forever favorite convention, LeakyCon, which is in Dallas, TX this year! 

As many of you know, LeakyCon was the first convention I was ever invited to as a creator, so this community holds a special place in my heart. This is also the very first year I am officially a LeakyCon Lit Track Guest, joining eight other authors this weekend in Dallas. This is, as far as I'm concerned, a very meaningful achievement as an author, so I AM VERY EXCITED, OKAY.

Copies of Anger is a Gift will be on sale all weekend and you'll have THREE chances to get it signed. In order to get your books/stuff signed, you MUST reserve a FREE ticket here. My three sessions are located under CELEBRITY AUTOGRAPHS AND PHOTOGRAPHS in the right colum.

If you'd like to find me during LeakyCon, here's where I'll be:

Friday, August 10

10:15am: Civil Rights and Segregation in Harry Potter - Charms Room A130/131
12:45pm: Mutual Kinship and Respect: Race in Harry Potter - Divination Room A115/117
3:15pm: Genre Writing - Devil's Snare Room A302/303
5:00pm: Autograph Signing #1 w/Anna-Marie McLemore - Zonko's Autograph Area (RSVP here.)

Saturday, August 11

10:15am: This is America - Mirror of Erised Room A309/310
11:30am: Queerness in Harry Potter - Mirror of Erised Room A309/310
2:30pm: Autograph Signing #2 w/Anna-Marie McLemore - Zonko's Autograph Area (RSVP here.)
3:15pm: Representation in Harry Potter - Mirror of Erised Room A309/310
4:30pm: Dumbledore Pro and Con - Phoenix Room A201/202

Sunday, August 12

10:15am: Found Families - Charms Room A130/131
11:45am: Autograph Signing #3 w/Anna-Marie McLemore - Zonko's Autograph Area (RSVP here.)
12:45pm: LGBTQIA+ Representation in YA - Phoenix Room A201/202

I can't wait to see a whole bunch of you I haven't seen in a couple years. ONWARDS!

I'm bound for Readercon this week!

Hello, friends! After a few weeks home, it's time for me to head to Boston, Massachusetts (specifically, Quincy!) to attend one of my new favorite cons, Readercon! I have a busy schedule and I'm thrilled that this will be the very first convention I am attending as an author, which means I have ACTUAL AUTHOR THINGS TO DO. It's so exciting!

Copies of Anger Is A Gift will be available for purchase in the dealer's room all weekend, and here's where you can see me. I will have a few copies of Anger to give away this weekend, too, so you'll just have to show up to see if you can win one at the following panels/appearances:

Friday, July 13

12:00pm: How I Wrote Anger Is A Gift - Blue Hills
2:00pm: Autographs - Autograph tables

Saturday, July 14

12:30pm: Reading (From Book #2) - Salon B
2:00pm: I Love It! Now Rewrite it - Blue Hills
3:00pm: Kaffeklatsch - Steven Masts
8:00pm: A Most Readerconnish Miscellany - Salon 5

I hope to see many friends and familiar faces this weekend!!!

My schedule at TheBookCon!

I'm so thrilled to attend TheBookCon for the very first time at the end of my tour!

Image by Rakeem Cunningham | rakeemc.com

I'll have a busy weekend, so here's where you'll be able to find me on Saturday and Sunday, June 2-3: 

Saturday

10:15 - 11:30am: Fierce Reads Breakfast - Ticketed ONLY - Macmillan Meeting Room

12:30 - 1:15pm: The Game of Nanofictionary: Authors Telling Tiny Stories Live - Room 1E07

1:15pm - 2:00pm: Boostagram Photobooth - Tor Booth #2444/2445

Sunday

11:30 - 12:15pm: Voices In and Out of This World - Room #1E16

1:30 - 2:45pm: Tor Teen Meetup & #NoBounds Signing Party - Macmillan Meeting Room 2446, connected to the Tor Teen booth @ 2444/2445

I hope to see some of y'all there! You can check out the entire Tor Teen schedule and lineup here. Enjoy!

ANGER IS A GIFT is out today

Friends, today is perhaps the most important day of my life:

I am now a published author.

Today, Anger Is A Gift is now available wherever books are sold. I encourage you to find your local independent bookstore to get the book, and IndieBound is a fantastic research to find one near you to either pick up the book and order it through them. The audiobook should also be out, and I am thrilled that I got to record my own audiobook, so you will hear my voice reading the book!

I am immediately heading out on tour after my NYC launch at The Strand's Rare Books Room with Tiffany Jackson and Dhonielle Clayton. My first author tour will take me across the US, and this is just the start for the promotion of Anger. I will be at TheBookCon immediately after this trip, and Tor has posted all my appearances at the convention! 

If you are inclined to help out, reviews on Amazon are very beneficial to new authors, so please submit a review on Amazon. 

I am eternally thankful to the many people who helped make this happen. My acknowledgments were written nine months ago, so I didn't get a chance to thank everyone. If you played a part in making Anger Is A Gift a reality: thank you. To my friends at Tor and Tor Teen; to my NYC writing crew; to the We Need Diverse Books folks; to the Mark Does Stuff community; to everyone who believed in me and supported me in any way.

This is as much your success story as it is mine. Thank you. I am forever grateful, and I cannot wait to give you more stories. 

Mark

I'll be at the New York Teen Author Fest!

New York City friends: my first public appearances in support of Anger Is a Gift begin in JUST A WEEK. All of these events are free and open to all, so I hope to see many familiar faces soon. 

  Schedule!

       All appearances are free / open to the public.

My schedule for New York Teen Author Fest is as follows:

Friday, March 23: Queer Voices in YA! 2:00pm - 2:50pm

(With Arvin Ahmadi, Kheryn Calendar, Billy Merrill, Sam J. Miller, Sarah Moon, and Will Walton; moderated by David Levitahn)
Location: 42nd St Branch NYPL Library, South Court

Saturday, March 24: 2018 Debuts 4:10pm - 5:00pm

(With Alisa Kwitney, Derek Milman, A.M. Rose, Julia Rubin, Nisha Sharma, and Ashley Woodfolk; moderated by Leila Sales)
Location: 42nd St Branch NYPL, Bartos Forum

And finally: Tor Teen and I are giving away ARCs of Anger Is a Gift after each of these panels. If you'd like an early copy signed by yours truly, we'll have a LOT of copies to give out!

Hope to see y'all soon!!!

My schedule for HELIOsphere is now live!

New York friends! My next major appearance in 2018 will be at HELIOsphere in Tarrytown, NY! Just under an hour from Grand Central Terminal, you can join me for an intimate weekend of science fiction, fantasy, and writing, as I am one of the Guests of Honor this year!

The full programming schedule has been posted, too, but here's where you'll be able to find me:

Friday

5:00pm: Are We In a Golden Age of Queer SF/F? - Ballroom 2
8:00pm: Hogwarts House Party - Ballroom 6

Saturday

10:00am: Book #2 Reading!!! - Sleepy Hollow Room
11:30am: Dealing With Rejection as a New (Or Even Old) Writer - Ballroom 4
2:30pm: From Prophets to Profits: The Extraordinary Voyages of DS9 - Ballroom 5
4:00pm: Books and Brews Session - Ballroom 6
5:30pm: Guest of Honor Interview - Ballroom 5
10:30pm: Mark Reads Chuck Tingle - Sleepy Hollow Room

Sunday

2:00pm: Science Fiction & Social Justice - Ballroom 2
3:45pm: The Secret Joy of YA - Ballroom 4

I will have ARCs of Anger Is a Gift to sign throughout the con. I'm not telling you where I'll be giving out each of the copies, so you'll just have to show up to try and get one!!!

I hope to see some of y'all next weekend!
 

Welcome the new cover art for ANGER IS A GIFT

Today is a very special day in the journey of my debut YA book, Anger Is a Gift. I was so thrilled with my initial cover, and felt privileged that Tor Teen gave me something I loved so very much. I was sitting in my barbershop when the Paste Magazine article revealing the cover, title, and publisher for Anger dropped, and it was—and will always be!—one of the best days of my life. I have been working so hard on this book, and all that dedication and perseverance had finally paid off. 

As things sometimes go in the publishing industry, we have made the decision to go in a different direction for the cover art. After much work by my talented and fabulous Tor Teen colleagues, I can now reveal that I have blessed by the cover gods… twice.

Behold: the brand new cover for Anger Is a Gift.

This cover was designed by Bay Area artist, Chris Koehler. I am thrilled that this now firmly roots Anger’s cover in Oakland with the iconic Tribune Building in view. As you read the book, you will get to experience the beauty and importance of downtown Oakland through the eyes of Moss Jeffries and his friends. I attended multiple protests on the very street where this cover is set, and it is a perfect match for the emotional and empowering story of Moss. 

This book is set to come out amidst a national conversation about student activism and weapon use on campus. It’s surreal watching it happen; Anger was born out of my desire to explore my own experiences with police forces on high school campuses, becoming an activist while still a teenager, and learning how to join with fellow students to fight for what’s right. It is unfortunate that this is all relevant again, nearly 16 years since I graduated high school. That’s one reason I love this cover so much: it conveys a sense of hope more than anything else. It’s my desire that Anger inspire kids everywhere to join a long tradition of student activism and to feel supported while doing so. 

I am additionally thrilled that Adam Silvera (HISTORY IS ALL YOU LEFT ME, THEY BOTH DIE AT THE END) has provided such a meaningful blurb that now sits on my cover:

"ANGER IS A GIFT is an explosion of fury and revolution. Mark Oshiro's beautiful and brutal debut proves that not only can anyone be a hero, but great change comes when the heroes work together." 

He joins Marieke Nijkamp (THIS IS WHERE IT ENDS, BEFORE I LET GO)

"Raw, unflinching, and full of heart, ANGER IS A GIFT is a masterpiece."

and Kelly Jensen (HERE WE ARE, IT HAPPENS, Book Riot)

"An essential book to read alongside THE HATE U GIVE and DEAR MARTIN."

in support of this book. I am eterntally grateful for them!

I am so happy that I can share this with all of you, and that Tor Teen has gifted me AGAIN with such a wonderful cover. There is going to be a DELUGE of news in the next three months to publication date, so keep an eye out here and on Twitter.

I’m so excited to be on this journey with all of you.

My schedule for Confusion 2018!

I am very pleased to return to the Detroit area for the first of two confirmed appearances in 2018. ConFusion is one of my very favorite conventions, and keep an eye on my Twitter at the end of this weekend for a story of WHY it's so important to me.

In the meantime, here's my schedule for the weekend!

Friday

3:00pm: Writers and Fundraising for Charity (Isle Royale)
9:00pm: Mark Reads 18+ Reading (Petoskey)

Saturday

11:00am: Last Exit Before the Worst Timeline (Petoskey)
4:00pm: Signing! (St.Clair)
5:00pm: Making Money in Fandom (Petoskey)
6:00pm: Mark Oshiro Reading, from both Anger Is a Gift and my next work (Isle Royale)

Hope to see some of y'all there!