Lucky Seven

Thank you to Linda Budzinski for tagging me in this! If you don't know Linda, you should. You can find her on her blog or on Facebook.

Here's how it works: I have to turn to page 7 or 77 of my current work in progress, count down to the 7th line, and print the next 7 lines. Then I get to tag more writers. Sound like fun? I think so! :)

This is from page 7 of my YA contemporary WiP, GIRL IN TROUBLE.

Since I’m a new patient they want to know all about my medical history, and apparently the medical history of my entire bloodline. If my great-great Grandmother’s sister had a persistent hangnail, they want to know about it.

Once that’s all finished the nurse checks my blood pressure, temp and weight. Then Mom and I sit in a cold little room and wait for the doctor.

 

“Are you nervous?” she asks, putting her hand on mine. I take a deep breath and shake my head. It’s a lie of epic proportions.


So now onto the tagging! I'm going to tag Leigh Covington, Suzi Retzlaff, Lizzy Charles, Jessica Salyer, Jenny S. Morris, Monica Ropal, Susan Crispell, and Meradeth Houston.


Oh, and PS. I was over at the YA Nightstand's blog yesterday talking about fairy tales! Come say hello! :)

Happy Book Birthday to Annalisa!

For no reason whatsoever, Annalisa thought it would be fun to answer some of the questions that Jackie magazine asked the stars of the day (this example is from 1984 – and the victim was Johnny Marr from The Smiths). She will be answering one question on each of the random blogs taking part!

Question: If you were going to have something named after you, what would you suggest?

Annalisa's answer: A chocolate bar!

And my answer:

Oh! That's a good answer!
I'll say a cereal, one with marshmallows.

Congratulations on the release, Annalisa! I can't wait to read it!


Our Beautiful Child is available right now!  

“The Boathouse collects misfits. Strange solitary creatures that yearn for contact with the outside world, but not too much. They sit, glass in hand, either staring at the table in front of them, or at some distant point on the horizon.” 

… so says the narrator of Our Beautiful Child. And he’s been around long enough to know.

People end up in this town almost by accident. Ella is running away from her nightmares, Sally is running away from the memories of previous boyfriends and Rona is running away from university. Each of them seek sanctuary in the 18th century pub, The Boathouse; but in fact, that’s where their troubles begin.

Ella finds love, a moment too late; Rona discovers a beautiful ability which needs refining before she gets hurt; and Sally meets the captivating Murray, who threatens to ruin everything.

Three women. Three stories. One pub.

Links:

Website // Blog // Twitter // Facebook // Pinterest // Add to Goodreads

Guest Post: Theresa Paolo, and a Giveaway!

I'm excited to welcome the amazing Theresa Paolo to my blog today! Her newest book, (Once) Again comes out June 17th! I've read it, (I'm lucky like that) and I can tell you it is great!

I'm going to pass things along to Theresa, who's sharing her playlist!


First off a big thank you to Rachel for having me on your blog today!

I don't always listen to music while I write, but for some reason I couldn't listen to it enough when writing (Once) Again. I was constantly plopping headphones in my ears and losing myself in Josh's world. So many songs made me think of Josh and Kat as if I was hearing their soundtrack when I was drafting their story. Today I'm going to share those with you.

Nice choices, Theresa!

 

 

Josh will have to reconcile his past… In order to make Kat his future. After surviving a real-life nightmare, Josh Wagner is sent home from his dream college on crutches.

Bedridden and tormented by flashbacks, he’s just seen his world shattered and his baseball scholarship go up in smoke. Josh’s family hires a health aide to help take care of him, but when he opens the door, the last person he expects to see is his biggest regret…

Katherine Singleton is the only girl Josh has ever loved. Now, even though she’s only taking care of him because it’s her job, Josh is determined to win her back. But Kat had to move on after their breakup two years ago, and despite her feelings for Josh, a lot has happened since he left…

When Kat’s past comes back to haunt her, Josh decides it’s his turn to take care of her. But protecting her—and redeeming himself—will put Josh in the line of fire again. Will he survive this time?

 

You can add (Once) Again to your TBR list on Goodreads,

and Pre-order it on Amazon!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

IWSG

Happy Insecure Writers Support Group, everyone! It's the first Wednesday of the month, and you know what that means. (And if you don't, go HERE to find out more and sign up!)

Big thanks to Alex J. Cavanaugh and his wonderful co-hosts this month, C. Lee McKenzie, Tracy Jo, Melanie Schulz, and LG Keltner!

Everyone month we get together to share our woes and insecurities, and to give each other encouragement.




I've been trying to stay positive lately, focus on the sharing encouragement part, but it's not always easy. We all go through times of not feeling good enough, of feeling like we'll never be good enough. (That's why we have the group, right?) And I've been in that place a lot lately.

I don't think my goals are too huge, I'm not aiming to be an international best-seller or anything like that. I want to get an agent. I want to hold a book of mine in my hands. And some day I'd love to find a book of mine in an actual bookstore. But right now those goals seem too far out of reach. *sigh*

I'm trying to just not think about it. That's my plan. To write, write, rewrite, and not worry about the goals. To focus on the work, which I enjoy, of course, or I wouldn't be doing it. I'm trying to get wrapped up in my characters and their stories, and let all the rest of it fade away.

And most of the time it works. :)

 

What works for you? How do you keep away the doubts?

Decisions, Decisions, and an Announcement

So this last weekend I made a tough decision. Many of you have probably heard me talk about my YA zombie book at some point in the past. It's one I wrote for my husband, and may have given up on a long time ago if not for him.

 

This last month I received two offers on it, from two small publishers. After a LOT of thinking, I decided to turn them both down and self publish it. I've been thinking about self pubbing it for a long time, in fact I've already made a cover for it, and I decided this weekend that it's the right path for this book.

 

It's a bit scary, but at least I've done it once before now, so I know what to expect. And I have amazing critique partners who are willing to support me. (Seriously, I love you girls so much!)

 

 

So, on September 17th, I will be releasing

FLESH EATING ZOMBIES AND EVIL EX-GIRLFRIENDS.

 

Wish me luck! :)

Cover Reveal: Our Beautiful Child

I am very happy to be helping Annalisa Crawford with her cover reveal today!

One, because cover reveals are so much fun.

And two, because Annalisa is an amazing writer. Her writing is eerie, beautiful, and truly unique.

Plus, she's a pretty great person on top of all that!

 

So, without further ado, here it is!

 

Release date: 10^th June 2014         Publisher: Battered Suitcase Press

“The Boathouse collects misfits. Strange solitary creatures that yearn for contact with the outside world, but not too much. They sit, glass in hand, either staring at the table in front of them, or at some distant point on the horizon.”

… so says the narrator of Our Beautiful Child. And he’s been around long enough to know.

People end up in this town almost by accident. Ella is running away from her nightmares, Sally is running away from the memories of previous boyfriends and Rona is running away from university. Each of them seek sanctuary in the 18th century pub, The Boathouse; but in fact, that’s where their troubles begin.

Ella finds love, a moment too late; Rona discovers a beautiful ability which needs refining before she gets hurt; and Sally meets the captivating Murray, who threatens to ruin everything.

Three women. Three stories. One pub.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

I live in Cornwall UK, with a good supply of beaches and moorland right on my doorstep to keep me inspired. I live with my husband, two sons, a dog and a cat.

Despite my location, I neither surf nor sail, and have never had any inclination to try. I much prefer walking along a deserted beach and listening to the waves crashing over rocks. For this reason, I really love the beach in the winter!

Links:

Website // Blog // Twitter // Facebook // Pinterest // Add to Goodreads

Two Releases Today! :)

Today is release day for DON'T FALL!!! I'm so excited! (And nervous. Just ignore the nail-biting and paper-bag breathing. Okay? Thanks.)

 

In this contemporary retelling of Rapunzel, seventeen-year-old Anya leads a secluded life in a house on the edge of town with her adopted mother. She doesn't go to public school, 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 Anya is allowed to go alone, she takes a picture of a beautiful boy. Before long she's lying to her mom, and sneaking out to meet Zander. But Zander wants more than a secret romance. If Anya wants to be with the boy of her dreams, she's going to have to risk her relationship with the only other person she's ever cared about.

 

Little secret, Don't Fall actually ended up releasing a week early, and this happened:

 

 

I may have freaked out a little. :)

 

Rapunzel was always one of my favorite fairy tales, (from way before Tangled) and I really loved writing a contemporary retelling of it. I love Anya and Zander so much, and I hope others love them too! :)

Today is also the release of PERFECTLY MESSY by Lizzy Charles! It's super awesome that we get to share a release day and has been a lot of fun! We're even having a joint FB party tonight! We'll have lots of teasers, give-aways, and pics of desserts. :) You can join us HERE.

 

Popularity isn't everything it's cracked up to be. Justin Marshall knows this better than most. For the captain of the basketball team, small business owner, and son of Minnesota's next governor, life can get pretty overwhelming. But Justin can handle anything as long as he has Lucy, the girl who fell for the man he’s trying to be.

But for Justin and Lucy, finding time together proves challenging. Stolen kisses and whispered promises just aren't enough. That is, until scandalous photos of the couple are leaked to a press intent on creating a juicy scandal during Justin's dad's gubernatorial campaign. And when Lucy becomes fair play for the tabloids and gossip pages, Justin does the only thing he can to protect her: he breaks her heart.

For Lucy, junior year is everything she hoped it would be: new friends, second chances, and a boyfriend she can’t stop kissing. That is, until the boy she’s pretty sure she loves chooses the life his family wants for him, over her.

Now it’s up to Lucy to teach him what it really means to have everything. Because for Justin, being who everyone needs him to be just might cost him the one person he can’t live without.

 

Sounds good, doesn't it? I loved Effortless With You and I can't wait to read Perfectly Messy!

Happy Book Birthday Lizzy!

 

Don't Fall on Amazon & Goodreads.

Perfectly Messy on Amazon & Goodreads.

(Barnes and Noble coming soon!)