Kelley Lynn & Jenny S. Morris Interview

Kelley Lynn and Jenny S. Morris are two of my favorites ladies. They're great writers, and a whole lot of fun. Their new book, Road to Somewhere, came out this month! Here's a bit about it:

New! From Bloomsbury Spark, a sunny story of discovery and sisterhood.

A road trip. A singing competition. And super-hot cowboys.

What could be better?

For Charlie, a post-high school road trip isn't just a vacation, it's life changing. While her parents think she's helping a friend move, a chance at fame is the real reason to grab her best friends and drive to L.A. But when her super annoying, uber-responsible, younger sister, Lucy, has to tag along, it isn't quite the summer of fun she imagined.

Add in a detour to her grandparents' ranch in Texas, and between mucking the stalls, down-home cookin', and drool-worthy ranch hands, this could just turn into the best, and most complicated, summer of their lives.

 

Sounds good, right? And now on to the interview:

 

Do the two of you have a sister, or sisters? How does your relationship with them compare to Lucy and Charlie's relationship?

Jenny: This is a loaded question for me. LOL. I have 3 sisters (and 3 brothers if you want the full picture). There was a lot of bed sharing going on when I was growing up. J What’s funny about RTS is that Kelley and I both picked the sister order that we’ve never been. I’m the youngest girl, although I do technically have a little brother, but I’m not sure he counts. I was probably more like Lucy growing up. Looking up to my sisters. Being the fifth wheel. Awkward around boys. And we got along for the most part.

Kelley: Yup. I have one sibling and she is a younger sister. It’s funny, my sis just got done reading the book (I’m mean like that and didn’t let her read it before it came out…haha) and she said that Charlie, the older sister in ROAD TO SOMEWHERE, reminded her a lot of me. So Jen’s right. We decided to write from the point of views of people we’ve never been. And boy was it fun. (Just FYI, my sister really liked what I did with Lucy’s character… J)

What's the most annoying thing your sister(s) do/have done? For me, it was my little sisters stealing my clothes. All the time! Seems silly now, but it drove me nuts. Lol.

Jenny: Ha! That’s funny. Since I was the younger sister, I was the clothes stealer. J Gosh, I’m trying to remember what annoyed me the most. My two older sisters really were a lot older than me so I didn’t do much with them and they moved out of the house when I was still young. I guess it would be always telling me to do my chores when my mom was gone. LOL. I HATED cleaning.

Kelley: My sister? Annoying? Actually, she found me much more annoying than I found her growing up. She’s a very organized person and knows what she likes. I’m very much ‘go with the flow’. Honestly, we got along quite well, and we still live together in our condo, so I guess we’re doing pretty good. Haha

As an adult, what do miss the most about living with your sister(s)?

Jenny: Going outside and playing until dark. J Talking in bed until my dad would yell us to be quiet and go to bed. Visiting my grandparents together and sleeping on the pullout couch. (And again talking in bed until Grandma K would yell at us to be quiet.) All my sisters live far away from me, so I kind of just miss being able to see them in general.

Kelley: Well…I still DO live with my sister! I’m really lucky to have her as a roomie. (We live with our cousin too.) We know each others strengths. (Hers is cooking, mine is cleaning.) And since we love each other we can say whatever needs to be said and then move on. But I have found that even though we live together, we still need to carve out time to DO things together. We’re in the midst of planning a sister’s weekend to Chicago J

And finally, if you could take a road trip anywhere, where would you go? (And would you bring your sister?)

Jenny: The Grand Canyon. I’ve always wanted to drive there and silly me never did when I lived in Phoenix. Not sure about the sister road trip. LOL. Can they all just meet at the docks and go on a cruise together? Haha.

Kelley: I actually took a road trip with my sister and our two cousins to New York City this past summer. It was so fun. If I were to go on another one with them, I think I’d want to drive up and down the Pacific Coast. Maybe rent a Corvette or something. Then we could also stop and see Jenny S. Morris. J (And on our way back we could stop in Minnesota and see Rachel! J

 That would be awesome!

Thanks so much for having us Rachel!!!

 

Thanks for stopping by!!

 

You can find Road to Somewhere on Goodreads, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble.

You can find Kelley on her website, and on Facebook.

And you can find Jenny on her blog, and on Facebook.

The Real Thing Cover Reveal!!

The amazing Cassie Mae has another truly awesome book coming out. (Seriously, truly awesome.)
But I'll let her tell you about it in her own words.



So, this book... it's about this girl.

And she loves her online time.

Her phone is her buddy.

And her favorite app is her Kindle, because she also LOVES to read.

Read a lot.

Then there's this boy.

He's best friends with this bookworm girl.

He sort of has a thing for her.

But, he's also got major anxiety.

And isn't sure how to make a move.

So when they end up rooming together for the summer, this guy tries to get this girl to put the screen away long enough for him to win her over.

But of course, it's not easy to unplug. Especially for an internet junkie.

Hmm... that girl sounds pretty familiar ;)

And here's the hawt cover for it! 

And here's the actual blurb, and not my picture version :)

Eric Matua has one friend—his best friend and childhood sweetheart, who needs a place to stay for the summer. Mia Johnson has thousands of friends—who live in her computer. Along with her email chats and Facebook notifications, Mia also devours romance novels, spending countless hours with fictional characters, dreaming of her own Romeo to sweep her off her feet. When she starts receiving supersweet messages from a stranger who thinks she’s someone else, Mia begins to believe that real love is possible outside her virtual world.
When the two friends become roommates, Mia finds herself falling harder than she ever thought she could. But Eric keeps his desires locked away, unsure of himself and his ability to give his best friend what she deserves in a boyfriend. As her advances are continually spurned, Mia splits her time between Eric and her computer. But she soon realizes she’s about to lose the only real thing she’s ever had.

About Cassie Mae :)

Cassie Mae is a nerd to the core from Utah, who likes to write about other nerds who find love. She’s the author of the Amazon Bestsellers REASONS I FELL FOR THE FUNNY FAT FRIEND and HOW TO DATE A NERD, and is the debut author for the Random House FLIRT line with her New Adult novels FRIDAY NIGHT ALIBI and SWITCHED. She spends time with her angel children and perfect husband who fan her and feed her grapes while she clacks away on the keyboard. Then she wakes up from that dream world and manages to get a few words on the computer while the house explodes around her. When she’s not writing, she’s spending time with the youth in her community as a volleyball and basketball coach, or searching the house desperately for chocolate.

My Writing Process

My Writing Process – Blog Tour

 

Hello! I was tagged by the lovely and talented, Theresa Paolo. Thanks, Theresa!

Theresa is a YA and NA author who doesn't want to admit she's no longer a teen. Repped by Brittany Booker. Her NA novel, (NEVER)AGAIN, came out last fall from Berkley (Penguin.) She's currently working on the sequel, (Once) Again.









Before I answer Theresa's questions, I also want to thank everyone who voted on my cover for DON'T FALL! The winner will be revealed soon!

 

1)     What am I working on?
Right now I'm working on a YA about two cousins who end up stuck together. They currently aren't sure they want to trust each other, but things should be looking up soon. ;)

2)     How does my work differ from others of its genre?
I guess the thing that makes my writing unique is the same thing that makes everyone's writing unique. My voice and my experiences. All our works are touched by our own personal view of the world.

3)     Why do I write what I do?
Because it's fun! I think teens aren't as jaded as some adults. Even when things get dark in YA, they're usually left off with hope in the end. Plus it's just such an exciting time in a person's life.

4)     How does your writing process work?
Well, I have four little kids so I write when I can. Sometimes that's for a half an hour in the afternoon while Wallykazzam is on, sometimes it's at night when they're all sleeping. And I have to admit, it's not always every day. The next step is reading it over myself and making sure I don't hate it, then I send it off of my awesome cps. :)

I'll be passing this along to Jenny S. Morris and Susan Bishop Crispell. Two super awesome writers!

Jenny is a YA Author repped by Jamie Drowley of Inklings Literary Agency. Her YA novel, Road to Somewhere, was just released this month!

Susan writes magical realism (adult and YA). Her debut novel, Love and Cupcakes, released in Jan 2014 from Swoon Romance.

Covers, and More Covers! Vote for Your Favorite!

We received so many beautiful entries for the cover contest for my YA novel,

DON'T FALL. Seriously, there are some crazy talented people out there.

You guys, I wish you could see them all. It was difficult to narrow it down to a top three, but they did and now you get to vote for the winner!!

Don't Fall

by Rachel Schieffelbein

Release Date: May 27th 2014

Swoon Romance

 Seventeen-year-old Anya leads a very secluded life in a house on the edge of town with her adopted mother. She doesn't go to school, but instead has a private tutor. Her over-protective mom keeps her so sheltered that she doesn't even have a best friend. 

But Anya doesn't seem to mind. She has her books, her photography, and her daydreams, and would do anything to please her mom. Until one day at the library, the only place she's allowed to go, she takes a picture of a beautiful boy.

Before long she's lying to her mom, and sneaking out late at night to meet Zander. But Zander wants more than a secret romance. If Anya wants to be with the boy of her dreams, she will have to risk her relationship with the only other person she's ever cared about.

Swoon Romance wants you to help them decide the cover for Don’t Fall!  They have three lovely cover options for you to choose from.  Please vote below on your favorite cover!

Which cover do you like better?

Option #1

Option #2

Option #3

Poll Maker

Option #1: Designed by Taylor.ink, photograph by Beth Mitchell

Option #2: Photographed and designed by Laura Lanning
Option #3: Designed by Anna Zaffke, photo from Shutterstock.by  Aleshyn_Andrei

 

 

So you can see them a bit bigger:

 

 

Let me know what you think! Thanks! :)

Cover Reveal: OVER THE OCEAN

Today I'm revealing the cover for OVER THE OCEAN, an NA novella

written by my alter-ego, Georgia St. Mane.

 

I think it's adorable and I hope you guys like it as much as I do!

 

 

When Bree meets Logan, and hears his oh-so-sexy British accent, it's lust at first sight.

Bree thinks Logan feels the same way, especially when they're snuggled up on her couch with his tongue down her throat. But when Logan decides that getting into a relationship when he only has a few months left in the States is a bad idea, Bree agrees to be "just friends." 

But every time he flashes his swoon-worthy smile, complete with dimples, Bree has a hard time keeping her thoughts in the "friend zone."

 

You can add OVER THE OCEAN to your TBR list on Goodreads.
Release is March 28th!

Also, I want to give a shout-out to Leigh Covington, who is back in the blogosphere!
So go give her a warm welcome-back. :)

And tomorrow I get to show you guys the finalists in the cover contest for DON'T FALL, my YA novel from Swoon Romance. So come back tomorrow to cast your vote!

Thank you to everyone who helped out with today's reveal!

WIP: The Movie Winners!

My apologies for this post going up late! I messed up my scheduled posts. (Big surprise.)

 

Big, big thanks to Kyra Lennon for co-hosting this with me!

It was a lot of fun. :)

And thank you to everyone who participated!

I loved finding out more about your characters and your WIPs!

(Kyra and I each picked a winner at random.)

 

 

And now, without further ado, my winner is

 

Elizabeth Seckman!

 

Head over to Kyra's blog to see her winner as well. :)  

Cover Reveal: Prom and Prejudice

Congratulations to Stephanie Wardrop

on the reveal of the fourth and last installment in her enovella series

SNARK AND CIRCUMSTANCE. 

 

 

 

 

Georgia Barrett is beginning to realize that her arch-preppie lab partner, Michael Endicott, is not at all the snob-hole she once thought. Too bad Georgia doesn’t see him for who he really is until he starts dating a poised and polished senior.

Georgia knows she should settle for his friendship, especially since telling him how she really feels would mean risking losing him altogether. But her heart tells her a chance at love might just be worth dropping her trusty shield of snark. And Georgia’s determined to find out.

 

It's the last in a list of great covers:

 

 

 

 

Don't forget to add PROM AND PREJUDICE on Goodreads!

IWSG

It's the first Wednesday of the month (seriously, how did that happen?) and that means Insecure Writer's Support Group! I love IWSG, if you aren't already signed up for it, you should do so now. You can find more information about it here.

A great big thank you to Alex J. Cavanaugh, host and founder, and his awesome co-hosts today, Tina Downey, Elsie, Elizabeth Seckman, and Julie Flanders!



Currently I'm finding myself too busy to have time to get insecure! Unless of course it's insecure about whether I'll ever finish all the things I need to get done in the next couple months!

So today I'm going to give you words of advice from people smarter than me. :)

So keep writing! Keep learning, and keep enjoying what you're creating.

Happy IWSG day!