An Annotated Excerpt of Under the Surface PLUS Hardcover News!

I’m SO excited to share this with you based on popular demand… 40+ notes on the opening to Under the Surface.

Hi friends, I hope you’re doing well! In today’s newsletter, here’s what we’ll cover:

1. Under the Surface news (hardcover features, preorder gift, JLG, & Kirkus)

2. Book 5 writing update

3. Under the Surface annotated prologue & first chapter (PAID 🔒)

1. Fun news about Under the Surface

Under the Surface will have fancy foil art under the jacket and a three-page map

Here’s a sneak peek of both, courtesy of my editor; I’ll be able to send you much better images once I have my author copies in-hand. These details will be on EVERY hardcover, no matter where you preorder/buy the book.

Preorder gift update

I’ll be announcing the gift on my Instagram on Monday—exactly 3 months before launch—and then I’ll send you a dedicated email about it in mid-June. Though… I mean, we all know I’m bad at keeping secrets, right? So if you want to see it now, here it is. 🤪

Under the Surface is a 2024 Junior Library Guild Selection

AHHHHHHHHHH! Libraries were a huge part of my childhood, so much so that when I got my driver’s license at sixteen, the very first place I drove myself was to my local library. So to get this kind of support from the JLG is incredible, and I can’t wait for teens across the US to be able to pick up the book of my heart at their local library. If you want to know more about the JLG and what it means for authors, I wrote up a post about it on my website here.

But also… can I be super real for a sec? I’m not the kind of author who gets these things. My first three books never got JLG, IndieNext, starred reviews, never got a special edition, never hit a list. So when I saw an email pop up from my editor “JLG Offer” I thought, no way. Maybe I didn’t read that right. Maybe I hallucinated. But then I opened the email, and it was real, with a zip file with a Photoshop file for the gold badge and everything.

This book feels different from my others. It was so much harder to write—it took me to such a dark place (literally since I visited the catacombs for research lol, and figuratively), and I rewrote it TWICE in developmental edits—and by the time I turned in the final draft I’d oozed into a puddle on the floor.

But the way early readers have responded to it, going viral, getting THIS from JLG… I don’t know. I don’t want to count my chickens before they hatch, but I’ve got all my fingers and toes crossed that this story reaches the teens I wrote it for, the teens who find themselves lost in darkness but deserve to feel HOPE and joy and all the good things. But no matter how things ultimately go, I’m incredibly grateful to the JLG for this recognition. 🥹

Kirkus loved Under the Surface

In case you’re not familiar, Kirkus is a trade reviewer notorious for writing scathing or snarky book reviews—getting one is something of a rite of passage for authors—but fortunately, they loved Under the Surface, calling it “A nonstop thrill ride.”

Here’s a longer excerpt from their review: “From teen drama to suffocating nightmares, this book takes readers through twists and turns in the maze of tunnels beneath Paris. Urban’s prose is absorbing, leading readers through frightening scenes at a breakneck pace. Ruby’s narration of her harrowing journey is fast-paced and exciting.” HOORAY!

2. A writing update on Book 5

I’ve sadly had some hiccups in my personal life that’ve slowed me down, but progress is progress and I’m technically 1/3rd of the way to my target word count goal. In fact, I’m 50k words in!

But let me tell you… trying to promote a book that’s about 3 months from launch WHILE ON DEADLINE with another book is pure chaos, even without the life hiccups. I’ll have more thoughts on this on the future, but that’s a topic for a newsletter after I’ve turned in this draft.

3. Under the Surface annotated prologue and first chapter 🔒

I’m SO excited to share this with you based on popular demand… 40+ notes on the opening to Under the Surface.