My next novel is the first in a seven-book series called Horizon. It comes out soon: January 17, 2017. (It’s already out!)

Horizon is about a group of kids who are in a mysterious plane crash. When they step from the wreckage, they find themselves stranded, at odds, and in a jungle full of strange and terrible creatures.

Basically, it’s a mix of Lost, Hatchet, and Lord of the Flies. Explosions! Survival! Who will lead them home?

The cover is pretty cool. My name, the title, and the “heat vision” layer are on a transparent jacket that you can take off. There’s another jacket under that, with the unblemished photo. And below that is another top-secret image on the hardback itself!

(Update: that cover didn’t work, production-wise, so we went with a beautiful foil jacket. Same art though.)

Horizon one of Scholastic’s multi-author, multi-platform series, like 39 Clues and Spirit Animals, which means three things:

1) The series comes with a big digital side: a community area for discussion and a game version for computers, phones, and tablets. You can sign up for the forum now, and read the first chapter!

2) If you’re still in school, you’ll be able to buy it in Scholastic’s book clubs and fairs. (Slightly cheaper. Less fancy cover.)

3) I developed the series, wrote the first novel, and outlined all seven of the books, but six other authors will write the rest. The second installment is by Jennifer A. Nielsen, with the other authors secret for now. (Trust me. There are some cool people involved!)

It was really cool, coming up with seven books’ worth of stuff, while also knowing I didn’t have to write them all. It’s kind of like juggling, except after I throw the balls up, someone else has to catch them. (Heh. Suckers.)

I’m a gamer from way back, in that I used to play D&D in the 1970s, so the game part of it has been a blast to work on. My characters are mostly members of a robotics club, a lot of whom are based on the smart, nerdy kids I first met around the gaming table.

Note that this book is middle grade, so it’s closer in age and feel to my Uglies books than, say, Zeroes.

Here’s some more about the series from Publishers Weekly.