Sunflowers for Tina

 

It fills my heart to see the love spreading through the blogging community today.

 

Goodbye, Tina.

 

You touched many people and you will be missed.

 

 

IWSG: Making Goals

It's Insecure Writers Support Group day! Thank you to the amazing Alex Cavanaugh and his wonderful co-hosts, Laura at My Baffling Brain, Mark Koopmans, Shah Wharton, and Sheena-Kay Graham!

If you aren't familiar with the IWSG you should go check it out. It's a wonderful, wonderful group full of amazingly supportive writers.







My insecurity this month is setting goals. I'm very behind in my writing, summer was so crazy busy with four kids. But I'm hoping to catch up now that my older two started school yesterday. But I'm worried that having slowed down, I won't be able to catch back up.

So I'm trying to push myself, give myself a goal and make myself stick to it. I want to finish my YA ms by October first. I should be able to do this. This should be an attainable goal. I just need to make it happen.

 

Easy peasy, right? ;-)

 

 

So how about you? What are your insecurities this month?

The Real Thing Release Day!!!

It's release day for The Real Thing by Cassie Mae! Woo hoo!

I seriously loved this book. It's hilarious! Plus, in typical Cassie Mae fashion, it's also touching and romantic and basically all kinds of good things. :)

And now. . .

Time to party!

The Real Thing releases today (whoop whoop!) and Cassie's giving away a swag pack full of goodies.

The Real Thing postcards
A froggy loofah
Oh the Places You'll Go! by Dr. Seuss
Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss
The Real Thing Samsung Galaxy S3 Phone Case
A Cassie Mae pen
A collection of select Cassie Mae/Becca Ann signed books

Rafflecopter right below the excerpt and book details :)

*********************************************************************************

“All right, all right,” he says, smiling and holding his palm up to stop me. Tomato juice is dripping from the top of his head down his cheeks, getting caught in the smile lines by his mouth. I can feel it running down my face, too, and I should be gagging, but I’m not.

I open my mouth to tell him how cute he looks even with juice all over him, but a light ploof! hits the center of the tub between our bodies, and I stare down at my froggy loofah, now covered in red.

“Oh no!” I frown, plucking the sponge up by the froggy’s arm, then looking up to the shower caddy over Eric’s head. Our splash war must’ve knocked my poor froggy right off his little perch. “My loofah.”

“That’s what it’s called!” Eric slaps the top of his knee, getting more juice on both of us. “I’ve been staring at that thing since you moved in, trying to remember what the hell people call it.”

A small bubble of laughter escapes through my slight frown. “Why?”

“That thing is creepy.”

I gasp. “It is not. It’s cute.” My lip pokes out as I look at the juice soaking into the blue frog’s face. “And now it’s ruined.”

He takes the loofah from my fingers, an adorable pinched look on his face.

“I don’t know how you can wash yourself with this,” he says, pulling at the leg poking from the big green sponge part.

“It’s soft on my sensitive lady parts.” I laugh as his face goes red again. I expect him to drop the loofah back in my hand—or throw it at me—but he doesn’t. He keeps pulling at it as if it’s the weirdest, yet most fascinating thing in the world.

“Is it really ruined?” he asks, tone suddenly nowhere near his usual playfulness. He actually looks worried about my sponge.

“It’s like a buck, Eric.” I adjust in the tub again as the juice creeps into nooks and crannies of my body I had no idea existed till now. “I can get another one tomorrow. Maybe an even creepier one just for you.”

I try to wink, but I’ve never been good at that. He sort of laughs, but his eyes go back to the froggy. He runs his thumb over the eyeballs, wiping the juice from it. I thought I knew Eric pretty well. But as I watch him stare at my loofah, head slightly cocked to the side, I realize I have no clue what he’s thinking. And that’s totally okay. The anticipation of finding out is better.

“Only a dollar?” His eyes lift to mine.

“Or two. Depending on where you go.”

His lips purse and he nods, then plunges the sponge into the juice. Before I can smack him for that, he pulls it from the bath and wrings it out over my head. My jaw drops to my knees.

“Oh, you are so dead.”

*********************************************************************************

Buy Me!

In this electrifying novel from Cassie Mae, two close friends surprise themselves by shifting from platonic love to sexual attraction.
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.
Advance praise for The Real Thing
“Cassie Mae is awesome! The perfect balance between laugh-out-loud funny and achingly poignant, The Real Thing is the ultimate escapist read. I didn’t want it to end!”—Lauren Layne, author of Isn’t She Lovely
“Watching two best friends figure out how to fall in love makes The Real Thing a summer read of swoon-worthy perfection.”—Jolene Perry, author of The Summer I Found You
“Cassie Mae’s The Real Thing made me want to close out every social media app and electronic device I have, but I couldn’t manage to stop reading!”—Rebecca Yarros, author of Full Measures

About the Author

Cassie Mae (who dawns the name Becca Ann on occasion) is the author of a few hundred... okay, maybe not that many... books. Some of which became popular for their quirky titles, characters, and stories. She likes writing about nerds, geeks, the awkward, the fluffy, the short, the shy, the loud, the fun.
Since publishing her bestselling debut, Reasons I Fell for the Funny Fat Friend, she has published and sold books to Random House, Swoon Romance, and Spencer Hill Press. She has a favorite of all her book babies, but no, she won't tell you what it is. (Mainly because it changes depending on the day.)
Along with writing, Cassie likes to binge watch Teen Wolf and The Big Bang Theory. She can quote Harry Potter lines quick as a whip. And she likes kissing her hubby, but only if his facial hair is trimmed. She also likes cheesecake to a very obsessive degree.
You can stalk, talk, or send pictures of Dylan O'Brien to her on her Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/cassiemaeauthor

****************Giveaway!******************

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Zombies are Coming!

It's cover reveal day for FLESH EATING ZOMBIES AND EVIL EX-GIRLFRIENDS!

 

I'm so excited to share it with all of you! It's creepy and dark and just right for the book.

 

So without further ado, here it is!

 

 

 

 

Erwin is in hell--- Locked in his high school with his ex-girlfriend, her new pain-in-the-ass boyfriend, and a handful of others while zombies claw at the doors trying to fight their way in.

The bright light in the dark is Sylvia, whose strength helps hold Erwin together

when everything is falling apart.

When they realize the school is no longer safe,

Erwin is determined to keep the group together and get them all to safety.

But he can’t save everyone.

 

 

 

 

Release day is September 17th.

Don't forget to add it to your Goodreads list!

IWSG: Not Enough Time!

It's the first Wednesday of the month?! How the crap did that happen? This summer is going far too quickly!

If you aren't familiar with the Insecure Writers Support Group, and you're a writer, then you should go check it out right now! It's pretty much the best thing ever. A time for writers to tell other writers about their insecurities, (and we all have them in spades!) and get loving feedback from people who get us.

The IWSG was created by the amazing Alex J. Cavanaugh, writing ninja and friend to writers everywhere. His awesome co-hosts for today are Sarah Foster, Joylene Nowell Butler, Lily Eva, and Rhonda Albom!




So, what's bugging me lately? Oh geez, what isn't? There's no time to finish anything. I'm falling behind in all my goals. And I'll never be a successful writer. :-P

It's been a very busy summer. Our local theater group, (which I'm on the board for) is putting on Legally Blonde the Musical. It's been very fun, but a lot of work! I'm doing costumes for the show, and performing a couple small parts.

 

 

 

That's me driving the golf cart as Elle's drunken mother.

 

 

I also leave for Canadian Nationals the day after the show ends. I can't bring my computer, because my husband will use it to watch the classes I'm in on the live feed, but I do plan to bring a notebook and will hopefully get some writing done.

 

I'm also bringing a couple books I've been wanting to read, so that's fun too. :)

 

Here's hoping that once all this is done I can get back on track with my writing and eventually finish the YA ms I'm working on, (which I love!)

 

How about you guys? How is summer treating you? Are you finding time to write?

 

Cover Reveal Sign Up

I'm getting so excited to publish my YA zombie book, FLESH EATING ZOMBIES AND EVIL EX-GIRLFRIENDS! I have an awesome, creepy cover, which I will be revealing August 15th!

 

Erwin is in hell--- Locked in his high school with his ex-girlfriend, her new pain-in-the-ass boyfriend, and a handful of others while zombies claw at the doors trying to fight their way in.

The bright light in the dark is Sylvia, whose strength helps hold Erwin together

when everything is falling apart.

When they realize the school is no longer safe, Erwin is determined to keep the group together and get them all to safety. But he can’t save everyone.

 

 

If you are interested in helping out with the reveal, I would really, really appreciate it! You can sign up here.

You can also add FLESH EATING ZOMBIES AND EVIL EX-GIRLFRIENDS to your TBR list on Goodreads!

IWSG: Brain Freeze

It's Insecure Writers Support Group day! Yay! A day for writers to pour out their insecurities to other writers, the only people who know how their feeling and can really help.

Thank you to Alex J. Cavanaugh for creating the IWSG, and for just generally being awesome. A better person this writing community could not find.

Also, big thanks to Alex's cohosts this month, Krista McLaughlin, Kim Van Sickler, Heather Gardner, and Hart Johnson!





Here's the problem, I know I should be writing but I'm not. I'm grumpy when I don't write, and happy when I do. I know this. And yet. . . Some days I just can't seem to motivate myself to get started. There are kids running around me all day being loud and needing stuff, you know, like lunch. And come evening I'm exhausted and just want to hang out with my husband and watch Law and Order.

So. . . how do I regain my focus? My drive? Actually, sometimes driving helps. I can't listen to music while I write, but listening to music in the car often times gets my creative juices flowing. In the car my characters start having conversations in my head. Don't know why, but it's true.

The other thing that helps is just freaking doing it. Just forcing my "butt in chair." Rereading the last scene I wrote and then writing what happens next. Usually the transition is awful, I don't know what I want to say so it all comes out crap. But then something happens and the characters take over and things start to come more easily. (And going back and fixing the crappy parts is what revisions are for, right?)

How about you? Do you ever get in writing funks? What do you do to get out of it?

PS. I want to apologize for having turned Captcha back on. I know it's a pain, but I've been getting a ridiculous amount of spam. Mainly for things pertaining to a piece of anatomy I don't even have. So I'm going to turn it back on for awhile. Sorry for the inconvenience. :(