The Final Countdown (A Book Launch Story)

Hi there, Sugar here. And I have got a twitchy eye. Why? Because I’m stressed out. Forget about the multiple deadlines and the difficult day job, I’ve got a book coming out in a little over four months. And while I am over the moon excited, am I ready? Absolutely not. 

Saturday I spent the day with my CTRWA peeps and listened to Kristan Higgins give a great talk about how to prepare for a book launch. I listened to every word which is hard for me because I have severe case of self diagnosed ADD but I had trouble absorbing everything because the entire time I kept thinking oh S#@t I’m not ready. I’m never going to be ready. Book seller letters, and authors assistants and giveaways and swag and book signings and public speaking and workshops and blog tours and Facebook and Twitter and Goodreads and websites and newsletters and put me out of my misery.

I went home that night sobbing with all of that stuff swimming in my head. I think I feel the way all writers feel. If I can just get my book into the public’s hand they’ll like it, some will hate it, but a lot will like it. But how can I do that? I know realistically I can’t do it all. I don’t have money to hire an author’s assistant or to buy really cute swag.  There is no way in hell I’m going to be able to put together and manage a street team. I have no back list to give away, no legion of fans that I can ask to spread the word about me.

But instead of thinking about all the things I can’t do I started to think about the things I can do.

I can continue to write good books. Before anything else I will focus on this. I write because  I feel compelled to not because I need or want to.

I can update my Facebook fan page and Twitter daily. I sometimes have trouble with this. I can’t talk about my day job, or bitch about my mother. I don’t have any kids to tell cute stories about. I don’t have a cute boxing trainer that I can pant over. Hell, I don’t even have a pet, so I sometimes wonder if what I have to say is good enough. (I don’t mean to toot my own horn but I think I’m pretty damn engaging.) Check me out here.

I can spend my limited advertising money wisely. In DANGEROUS CURVES AHEAD my heroine is a wicked funny, ultra curvy fashion blogger/designer/shop owner. And if she were a real person she would be all over Full Figured Fashion week which is taking place in NYC June 17-21st.( PS I’m looking for some women to hit the sample sale with, if anybody is interested.) I’m researching taking out an ad in their program. Even if it doesn’t reflect in direct sales, I can get my name out there and let girls like me know I write books about girls like them. I can also take out targeted ads on Facebook and GoodReads without having to spend much of my hard earned cash.

I can look like the super sexy successful author I want to be. I’m shedding some of this extra coat of winter fat. (9 pounds and counting). This also includes buying new outfits which is no real hardship for me.

I can attend conferences. Look out Atlanta here I come!

I can take care of myself. I can eat healthier. Sleep better. Drink more water and try to not let the stress take anymore of my hair out. Because without me there are no books to launch. We ALL need to take care of ourselves!

So what do you do? What do you think I should do to help with this book launch? Any and all comments are welcome. 

Yummy Love: Interview with Author Kimberly Kincaid

Hello, Scribes Fans. Do you like food? Do you like love? Then I have the perfect author for you. Kimberly combines the two in her delicious foodie romances. LOVE ON THE LINE is available right now for a great price. But before you run out and buy your copy check out Kimberly’s great interview. 

1. How do you battle the doubt monster? Doubt Monster: the nagging feeling while writing, that your prose is terrible, you plot is silly, your characters are insipid and no-one in their right mind would read this drivel, let alone buy it.
Oh, Doubty and I go way back! I edit. A lot. And I do it as I write. Watching my drafts go from fumbling to fantastic (and they all start out fumbling) is really self-affirming. And it helps banish that doubt. I also have amazing critique partners who tell me straight-up what needs help.
2. Why Foodie romance? What drew you to it?

Honestly, I love to eat. I come from a big Italian family, and I married into a big Italian family. We have lots of food traditions, and I live by the mantra that “food is love”. It wasn’t a stretch for me to make my characters feel the same way.

3. What is the most surprising thing that has happened in your writing career?

I am continually surprised by the journey. But I think the thing that threw me the most was selling my Pine Mountain foodie series twelve hours before I left for Nationals last year. I can honestly say I was SO not expecting that phone call. It changed the whole trip for me!

4. What would you do if you couldn’t be a writer any longer?
Probably shrivel up, really. No, let’s see. I am a certified fitness instructor, so I’d likely be in mind-body wellness. As much as I love food, it takes some serious grace-under-pressure mettle to be a chef. I could never do it!
5. They say that every author has a partially completed, quite-possibly-terrible half a story shoved in a drawer somewhere. What is yours? What is it about? What makes it terrible? Would you ever consider picking it up and finishing it?
I can’t leave a story undone. Ever. So I actually have two totally completed, absolutely terrible books under my bed! My first manuscript ever, and my third (my second is the one that snagged my agent!) They’re terribly written—it was before I knew anything about craft or pacing or plotting or…well, anything. But I love them both because they remind me how to write because I love it.
6. Who are your favorite authors?
I hope there’s a lot of room on this list. Aside from my critique partners (Tracy Brogan, Jennifer McQuiston, Alyssa Alexander, Robin Covington and Avery Flynn), I adore Amanda Usen (fellow foodie author!), Susan Donovan, Bella Andre, Kieran Kramer, JR Ward, Kristen Callihan, Julie James, Louisa Edwards…honestly, I could go on all day!
7. What was your biggest mis-step in your writing career so far?
Probably that when I started writing, I queried too fast. I didn’t get the process of editing (and editing, and editing some more) before sending my manuscript out to agents. But I learned quickly!
8. Do you have a word related pet peeve?
The word “um” rattles me when spoken. And I could do without the word “whatever” for the rest of my life.
9. What is your junk food of choice?
I am going to totally out myself. Fritos. They are my crack. The big scoop-shaped ones, with a giant bowl of chili? I could eat that every day and die happy.
10. What’s the most dangerous or risky thing that you’ve done?
Despite being very outgoing, I am very cautious. I don’t like risks! No jumping out of airplanes for this girl. No bungee jumping. No tightrope walking. Just not for me!
11. What is your guilty pleasure? {Remember: this is a ‘G’ rated blog! }
Reading in the bathtub. I do it weekly. I just sit and soak and read til I turn pruny. It’s awesome.
12. What’s next for you? Upcoming projects? Life events? Anything you would like to share or brag about?
I have a companion novella to Love On The Line coming out in the early summer (title TBD, but it’s Jason’s story). I also have an anthology coming out in October with Kensington to kick off my Pine Mountain foodie series, called The Sugar Cookie Sweetheart Swap. Then the full novels will follow starting in early 2014. I’ll also be at RT in May and RWA Nationals in July. Come over and say hi!

Thanks for stopping by, Kimberly! If you want to learn more about her you can find her at these places:

www.kimberlykincaid.com

http://www.amazon.com/Love-On-The-Line-ebook/dp/B00BL77PKO/ref=pd_rhf_gw_p_t_1_H542

www.facebook.com/Kimberly.kincaid1

And on Twitter @kimberlykincaid

And if you still haven’t gotten your copy of LOVE ON THE LINE here’s an excerpt to convince you to run out and get one.

As soon as Noah got behind her, the smell of coconuts and warm sand filled his senses, delivering a crystal clear image to his brain. His heart slammed in his ribcage, and without thinking, he cupped Violet’s elbow and swung her around, so tight to his body that he felt her gasp as much as heard it.
“You were in my hospital room yesterday. Before I woke up.”
“I…I—”
But he barreled on, the memory as bright and vivid as if it had just happened a minute ago. “Your hair was braided, on your shoulders, and you were wearing a…a bracelet that sounded like wind chimes. You said the doctor was coming. It was you.”
The fan of her gold-tipped lashes fluttered wide, and the warm puff of her breath heated his cheek as she nodded. “I didn’t mean to intrude. I was looking for Jason, but I didn’t think you’d wake up.”
Noah shook his head to quell her apology. “It doesn’t matter,” he said, his resolve locking into place, and Violet went utterly still against him.
“It doesn’t?”
“No. You’re the first thing I’ve been able to remember since I got shot in the first place. In fact, you’re the only thing I can remember since I got shot.”

 Kimberly will be stopping by to answer all your questions. Please say hi!

Writer on a Deadline

Hi folks, Sugar here. I’m on a deadline. Book three in The Perfect Fit series is due April first and copy edits for DANGEROUS CURVES AHEAD are due Friday.  I’m writing like a mad woman.

© Andylim | Dreamstime Stock Photos & Stock Free Images

For those of you who have been on a deadline before you know how harrowing they be. I can barely think about anything else. Must write. Must get the words out. Can’t screw this up.

This is how my last few days have been.

Thursday- Manage to squeak out 1000 words after work before I collapsed. But I got a quote from a New York Times Bestselling author.

“Sugar Jamison’s Dangerous Curves Ahead is a funny, sexy, and touching debut — just delightful!” —Susan Donovan, New York Times bestselling author. (Very happy about that.)

Friday- Snow day! Woot Woot! Dug out my car and wrote 3,450 words. Not too shabby, but started writing things like urned instead of earned. And fisrt, firts and frust instead of first. No bueno.

Saturday- Wrote a whopping three words. Yeah, I know. I should have done more but I had my local RWA chapter’s monthly meeting to attend so I got very little done. But I did manage to get through thirty pages of copy edits.

Sunday- Went grocery shopping at 7 AM which was previously 6 AM due to day light savings time and then spent the WHOLE day writing. Got out 7,308 words and then my brain melted. I’ve never written that much in one day, and I might never write that much again, but I’ve got a lot of work still ahead of me.

Monday- Back to work. Hopefully when the day is over I can go home and write till I drop.

How about you? How do you handle deadlines?

Where Do You Get Your Story Ideas? Alison Stone Wants to Know

As writers, that has to be one of the biggest questions we get. Ah, I hate to sound cliché, but ideas are everywhere.

 
For my book Random Acts, I read an article about a young girl who had been pulled over for speeding. The police took her into the station and bullied her into signing an agreement to be a drug informant. A drug informant! This college student had never been involved with drugs. But in exchange for leniency for her speeding ticket, she was pressured to be an informant. Fortunately for her, her father was a lawyer. He not only went to the police, but to the media.

 
I then searched the Internet and learned this wasn’t an isolated incident. In 2008, a woman in Florida was killed when she was forced to purchase drugs undercover after being caught with a small amount of cannabis.

By now, my wheels were turning.

For my second book, Too Close to Home, I used an idea that had been bouncing around in my head for years—longer than I had been writing. I used to be a manufacturing engineer for an automotive parts supplier. As a twenty-some-year-old female engineer, I was well aware the guys on the floor liked to yank my chain. One guy told me that once someone drowned in one of the large tanks used in the manufacturing process. He claimed he was murdered in retaliation for a drug deal gone bad. I have no idea if “his” story was true or not, but in my story,Too Close to Home, drugs are smuggled through a manufacturing facility and into Canada.

 
Ideas can also be generated by thinking, “What if.” When I learned Harlequin Love Inspired Suspense was looking for more Amish stories, I started brainstorming. The Amish generally shun technology. How could technology wreak havoc in their Plain world? Then it hit me: What if a plane crashed in an Amish field? What if the heroine’s brother was killed in a single-engine plane crash in an Amish field and she has to go there to claim his body? What if while she’s there, the FBI hero starts asking a lot of questions?

This idea became Plain Pursuit which will be released by Harlequin in June 2013.

Here’s the blurb: When her brother is killed in a small Amish town, Anna Quinn discovers she’s an unwelcome outsider. But the FBI agent investigating the case is right at home–because Eli Miller was born and raised in Apple Creek’s Plain community. Eli left his Amish faith behind long ago, but his heart is rooted in a local cold case he can’t forget–a mystery with strange connections to Anna’s loss. Desperate to uncover the truth, Anna and Eli are faced with stony silences and secrets…secrets that someone wants to keep buried in the past.

 
It’s fun to see an idea grow into a book, then be summarized in a few-sentence blurb.
Once I was outside chatting with neighbors and one of them stopped, looked at me and said (in all sincerity), “This isn’t going to appear in a book, is it?”
I smiled and said nothing. I don’t make promises I can’t keep.

 
So tell me, If you’re a writer, where do you get your ideas?

Also, Random Acts, originally released in eBook format, is now available in print.

Blurb:Bitter experience left Danielle hesitant to open her heart. When a family crisis brings her home, the hard-nosed attorney is forced to face the man that let her get away. And that her sister’s accident was staged to mask a beating.
Though Patrick guards his heart, seeing Danielle again reignites their old flame. But no way will he bring her into his daughter’s life, not when her values on faith and family are so different from his own. Yet they must work together to bring a criminal to justice before everything is destroyed—including their second chance at forever.

Links for Random Acts:
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Random-Acts-ebook/dp/B00795G1X4/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1362254466&sr=8-2
Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/random-acts-alison-stone/1108890294?ean=9781609289386

ALISON STONE writes romantic suspense for Harlequin Love Inspired Suspense and Samhain Publishing. Her debut novel, Random Acts, was a finalist for the prestigious Daphne du Maurier Award in the unpublished inspirational category. Alison lives in Western New York with her husband of over twenty years and their four children where the summers are absolutely gorgeous and the winters are perfect for curling up with a good book—or writing one. Besides writing, Alison keeps busy volunteering at her children’s schools, driving her girls to dance, and watching her boys race motocross.
Website:www.AlisonStone.com.
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Alison_Stone or @Alison_Stone
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AlisonStoneAuthor
Blog: http://alisonstone.wordpress.com/

Forecast 2013…

How many of you take horoscopes seriously? I usually don’t. In fact I never read mine unless I have a newspaper in front of me which is never. But while cruising the internet this week I stumbled upon my 2013 forecast. I ignored the LOVE forecast and went right to the CAREER forecast. Like most writers I have a day job. Some days I love my job and my coworkers and everything is all sunshine and rainbows. And some days I rather shovel dog mess than go to it. But I go to it every day. Day in and day out. And sometimes the monotony, the red tape, the silly rules get to me. Sometimes the stress from my day job interferes with my night job, my writing which has morphed out of just a hobby into a full-blown passion/obsession.

So sometimes I day-dream about shouting, “TAKE THIS JOB AND SHOVE IT!” My dream is to be able to not only survive from my writing alone but to be able to live well. I would love to be able to travel and see new places and never be confined to the few weeks off I get during the year. Over the past couple of years I’ve been truly exploring starting over somewhere new. New job. New life. New opportunities. But starting over is extremely hard. New people. New problems. New worries. (I like to think of it as a quarter life crisis.)

Of course I wonder if it’s at all worth it. And then I came across my horoscope.Which came directly Yahoo! Shine via Astrology.com.

You have been promising yourself for years that you would break out of the comfort of the familiar to pursue something more satisfying on a soul level even if it meant sacrificing the security of a paycheck. Well now is the time, Taurus. Something infinitely more gratifying is waiting for you on the other side of your current status quo, it’s just up to you to make the leap.Don’t be afraid to invest in yourself and a brighter future instead of always anticipating the rainy day. Jupiter thinks big and is not afraid to take risks if it means greater gains. Where do you need to take a chance in order to tap into greater freedom, success and possibility than you have allowed yourself in your work and career? Is it because you are afraid you won’t make money? Put those fears to the test before June, and you just might be pleasantly surprised. Plus, you’re never one without a backup plan, or two. It’s not about doing something reckless but it is about doing something deliciously daring, Taurus.

I’ve never had a horoscope be so dead on to how I was feeling. It was kind of like I wrote it myself.

Now, I’m not making any major life changes for the time being but it definitely gave me to something to think about.

I want to know for you all…

What would your horoscope say if you wrote it? It could be love related, career related, or just about life in general. Maybe if we all wrote our own horoscopes we would accomplish exactly what we wanted.

2013, Here I Come

Hey, all, Suze here. This is my last post for 2012 and, frankly, I’d like to thank all those people who misinterpreted the Mayan Long Count Calendar.  I’m thrilled to still be here, and I’m glad all of you are too!

So, instead of talking about the Year in Review, I thought I’d talk today about the Year in Preview. I’m not talking about New Year’s Resolutions. Those tend to get shoved under the bed with the dust bunnies around January 10th or so. I’m talking about what I want my life to look like a year from now — here’s what I see. May I say, the view is pretty fine! Not in any particular order of importance:

I’m a published writer! Woohoo! I don’t know what form this will take: indie, digital-first press, or traditional, but you will be able to buy my book(s) before the end of 2013.

I’m in control of my health! I’m consistently making good food choices and exercising regularly. I may even have run that 5K. Catch me if you can!

I’ve finished two WIPs — great stories that have been sitting around and just need a few weeks out of my 52 to see the light of day.

I’ve finished (and sold!) at least one more new novel! 2012 was not exactly a banner year for me in the producing-new-words department. 2013 will see a huge jump in my lifetime word count, putting me closer to that magic 500,000 word mark.

I’ve made many cosmetic updates to my home environment. You know all those little things about your house that bug you and would be easy and inexpensive to fix, but always seem to get put aside? That tiny missing piece of molding? New paint needed in the dining room? Loose knob on one of the kitchen cabinets? That stuff is all taken care of in 2013. Sweet!

I’ve nurtured my relationships and friendships. Because without friends and family, life is pretty bleak.

What does 2013 look like for you?

 

End of Year Check Up…

Hi there, Sugar here. 2012 is almost over and I hope it was a good year for you. I hope you accomplished the things you wanted to. Writing-wise I accomplished a lot. Writing-wise it was a pretty awesome year for me. But it was a long year full of ups and downs and roller coaster emotions. Most of you know that I managed to snag a three book deal  with  St. Martin’s Press. In hindsight it seemed like everything happened so fast but when I was living it everything seemed to go excruciatingly slow. Here’s what my past year looked like.

December 2011

Started querying. Mostly rejections. One request for a full.

January 2012

Rejections, rejections, rejections. One more request for a full. One request for a partial.

February 2012

Rejections on partial. Rejections of queries. Some cursing. One request for a full. Two partial requests.

March 2012

Querying fatigue setting in. More rejections on queries and on partial. One request for a full. Two rejections for partials. Waiting for word back on the then four full manuscripts I had out.

April 2012

Rethinking this whole being a writer thing. I was tired of waiting. I was tired of rejections. The doubt monster had me in a nasty choke hold. One more request for a full. One offer of representation. Another offer of representation. SQUEEEEEE!

May 2012

Agent ,who I ADORE, asked me to cut down my manuscript from 100,000 words to 90,000 to make it more sell-able. (Grumble, grumble.) I went out on submission to the ‘BIG  6′ and romance giant Harlequin. Got my first rejection ON MY BIRTHDAY! Got two more rejections. Starting rethinking this whole being a writer thing again.

June 2012

I got a surprise offer from a smaller but still kick-ass publisher. Screamed like an idiot when I got off the phone with my agent. Two days later I got two offers from two of the ‘Big 6′ and was informed that I would be going to auction the next day. Was in shock. Was shaking. Was also at work when I found out. Kids in my class thought I was having a stroke. St. Martin’s Press (Macmillan) offered me a three book deal. I actually met my editor at CTRWA’s Fiction Fest long before I even thought about writing my book. It must have been fate because I don’t remember a single other editor that was there that year beside her.

July 2012

Contract negotiations. PM announcement.

August 2012

Contract negotiations

September 2012

Edits arrive. Rethinking this whole being a writer thing again. Contract negotiations finally finished!

October 2012 

Book 2 was due. Edits for book 1 due. Super hard. Super proud when I finished both of those things.

November 2012

MUST WRITE BOOK 3. Advance check came! Advance check went! But no more student loans!!!!!!!!! (Do you have any idea how expensive college is?)

December 2012

GOT A RELEASE DATE!!!!!!! Dangerous Curves Ahead will hit shelves on August 27, 2013.

Got my author photos taken. Probably a bad idea right after Thanksgiving, but they came out pretty good.

Tackled this whole social media thing. Amazon author page. Check.

Website updated again. Now it looks kinda professional. http://www.sugarjamison.com/

Got my Facebook page done. Please like me!

Got my cover art! Check back here soon for reveal.

Oh an I won my very first award!

Phew… That was a very long year. What did yours look like?

Me with the very prestigious MARGARITA!

Sweet Gratitude is My Favorite Attitude! by Author Jan Nash

Thanks for the blog invite to The Seven Scribes, Katy! It’s great to be here. My debut novel, POWERLESS CONSENT, is available at: (Amazon, B&N, and SMP) Pop over to my website www.janetnash.com for details on my book. Here’s a little hint: You’ll never talk on your cell phone the same!

Sweet Gratitude is My Favorite Attitude!

I decided to skip the standard author Q and A and chat about Thanksgiving, my favorite holiday.

So…Thanksgiving night, just before I slipped into my jammies and bellied up to my laptop, a flash of indigestion reminded me of how much I’d eaten. Turkey smothered in gravy, sweet potato casserole, crescent rolls slathered in butter, pecan pie…oh what a feast. Did I mention the second piece of pecan pie? Though decadent and yummy, my dancing taste buds weren’t the highlight of my Thanksgiving. What I savored most was spending dedicated time in gratitude. Ah, sweet gratitude is my favorite attitude.

Hubby and I make an extra effort to spotlight all our blessings during the Thanksgiving season. It’s become a treasured tradition. We focus on the simple, yet joyous things we normally take for granted and try to come up with creative ways to bless others. Here’s one…I’m so blessed to own an oven. I can bless a neighbor or friend by baking cookies. An added bonus is that a few cookies manage to fill my cookie jar. For me, focusing on how blessed I am always ignites a sense of fulfillment and serenity. And that night was no exception.

It didn’t take long for my happy thoughts to be interrupted by another Black Friday commercial. The chatter actually started around November 1^st.  Surely, you’ve heard all the buzz. Super sales, blowout prices, save up to 80%; stores open at noon Thanksgiving Day. All I could think about was what happened to celebrating and giving thanks with family and friends?  Don’t get me wrong, Christmas shopping rocks and who doesn’t like a great bargain? But couldn’t it wait until early Friday morning? I still wanted to savor the true meaning of Thanksgiving.

I didn’t want to end my favorite holiday as a Debbie Downer, so I started thinking of what would add to the Thanksgiving spirit. I know. A smile splashed across my face. What if instead of calling it Black Friday, we tagged it Blessed Friday, and spent the day blessing others instead of spending money? Oh, I liked that idea. Personally, I’m not a super shopper, so the Blessed Friday concept sang to my soul.

Either way, shop till you drop or pay it forward, I’m staying in the zone of my attitude of sweet gratitude.

Thank you, Lord, for the opportunity to blog!

Readers: What are you grateful for?

Leave a comment for a chance to win a free copy of my book, Powerless Consent.

 

 

 

Katy Lee here: Jan, you sure have blessed me with your post today! You put in words how I have felt all week.  I used to work in retail and the term “Black Friday” was thrown around by the back-office managers trying to make sure they didn’t end in the red for the year. It has since become a publicly used term and now an annual event, usurping the day President Lincoln deemed a special day to remember all of our blessings. It seems only right to spend the next day paying those blessings forward.

Jan, I am so excited to have you part of the Soul Mate Publishing family! Welcome!

And READERS: Don’t miss Jan’s latest book, Powerless Consent. Don’t you just LOVE the cover? Check it out here.

Powerless Consent

Kate Ballard thinks attending a gala on a luxury yacht honoring her old college friend will be the time of her life, but secret cell phone video threats to her family’s safety, and a hidden sniper force her into a world of deception and lies. Can her faith erase such horror? Though powerless, she relentlessly tries to outsmart her captor and return to the love of her life.

Her husband, Tom, refuses to accept his wife’s decision to leave and discovers that he must revisit his past. With the help of an unlikely ally, he finds evidence of theft and murder tucked away in an old storage locker. When his investigation starts to uncover the truth, he struggles with whom to believe. Will he trust his heart, or the deception before his eyes? One thing’s for sure, nothing can stop him from reuniting his family, not even a force as great as Invisible Surveillance.

 

My TOP 5 Indie Picks for 2012

Hey Scriblers, PJ Sharon here and as promised, this week I’m spreading some Indie love. As an independently published author, I’ve had the good fortune of meeting bunches of other Indies like me. Since I write YA (young adult) fiction, I read mostly in that genre, but there are plenty of excellent self-published authors of all kinds out there.  Here are my top five indie books I’ve read this year.

In the #5 slot, FREAKS OF GREENFIELD HIGH, by Maree Anderson.

Loved this story about Jay, a teenaged cyborg trying to fit in and fade into the background at a new high school. As she fends off the popular kids, deals with her new found “feelings” about Tyler, a boy who is as much an outcast as she is, and tries to stay hidden from the agency set out to find and destroy her, she discovers that being human is much more complicated than she imagined. This wonderful indie story got “discovered” on Wattpad, and is now being optioned for television in Canada! Go Maree! 

#4 on my list was RILEY’S POND by Harley Brooks

A sweet and steamy teen romance, this one kept me up all night. The main character, Riley Martin is the middle boy between two brothers—an older one who is the classic rebel, and a younger brother who is nearly perfect. But finding his own way gets complicated when he stumbles upon Taylor Wilson, a beautiful teenage girl who has a heap of her own trouble, and has found her way to Riley’s pond. Harley Brooks captures the angst of the teen boy in a voice that is real and engaging as he struggles with first love, and trying to be the son his parents expect him to be.

The #3 spot goes to RUNNING, by Patrice Fitzgerald

Not a YA! This fast paced political thriller had it all. I loved the main character, Catherine Young, the Vice president and newly-selected Democratic nominee, who gets a chance to prove herself when the President is hospitalized and she has to take over. But just as the White House is within reach, Catherine’s romantic entanglement from decades ago comes to light and someone is blackmailing the Vice President. Excellent debut novel and very well written.

My #2 pick is OFF LEASH, by Renee Pace.

OFF LEASH is the first book in the Nitty Gritty series by Pace, another Canadian author who proves herself a top notch Indie as she delves into the teen psyche without holding back. This story grabbed me by the throat and didn’t let go. An emotional read about a boy living in poverty with a drug addicted mother and a younger sister who is dying of cancer. When Jay is forced to get a job to help support his family, he takes up dog walking. Ollie, the pit bull, is a fabulous character and Pace does an amazing job telling the story from both Jay’s POV and Ollie’s. In an incredibly effective chapter by chapter POV switch, Ollie and Jay’s first person accounts are powerful and prove once again, that taking a risk on the page is as rewarding as taking a risk in life. I look forward to reading OFF LIMITS and OFF STROKE by this author.

AND MY #1 FAVORITE INDIE BOOK OF 2012 is PRIDE’S RUN, by Cat Kalen.

This YA paranormal is as different a werewolf story as one could get. Pride is held in captivity by an evil master—a man who trains the wolves to hunt and kill humans. To control them he starves them and threatens their loved ones. Pride submits to his demands to protect the others, until her master goes too far and expects her to breed with a wolf she despises. Her only option is escape. While out in the wild, trying to figure out how to free the others, she meets Logan, a young alpha with secrets and a mission of his own. I won’t tell you anymore, but this first book in the Wolf’s Pride series left me waiting impatiently for the next one, PRIDE UNLEASHED, coming soon.

Don’t feel bad if you are an Indie author and you didn’t make my short list. It probably just means I haven’t gotten to yours yet. So many great Indie books, so little time. I’m currently reading a traditionally published book by my friend, debut author Huntley Fitzpatrick, called MY LIFE NEXT DOOR. Congratulations Huntley. Another wonderfully written story!

 

Notice all these fabulous covers!

And speaking of covers, WANING MOON, Book One of The Chronicles of Lily Carmichael trilogy, will be exclusively revealed right here next week!

Have you read any outstanding Indie published books lately?

 

Real Virtue

Hidey-Ho Scribblers!  J Monkeys here.  I want to take a few minutes to review a book I read recently, Real Virtue by our very own Katy Lee. 

In the interests of full disclosure, I should probably tell you that (of course) I know Katy personally and count her a friend.  Unfortunately for her (and my other writing friends) I’m a particularly tough critic when it comes to their writing. I’m not really sure why that is.  Maybe it has something to do with the fact that I’m enough of a newbie for the mystique of the author to linger in my mind.  I’m having a hard time imagining that all these people I know who are getting published these days (go CTRWA!) are real authors.  Maybe I just haven’t met enough of my author idols to realize that they are real people, although it’s beginning to dawn on me.  Clearly, this is a maturity issue for me. 

Maybe like so many other folks out there, I hurt the ones I love the most.  Or maybe I’m afraid that they might not like my review and since I know them I don’t want to hurt their feelings.  With that in mind, let me say, friends, if I haven’t reviewed your book please don’t read anything into it one way or the other.  Seriously!

So, now that that’s out of the way, let me get to the heart of today’s post.  I really, really liked Real Virtue.  Now this is an Inspirational Romantic Thriller.  Yes, that’s a stew of genres, but in this book, it works.  The main characters are nicely conflicted, complex folks full of angst.  The plot is twisty and unpredictable.  And the text is informative about schizophrenia, addiction and woodworking, all without being preachy.  And the writing is very good.

I like romances and I like thrillers (the genre, not necessarily the song.  Click the link and watch the video – I haven’t seen it all the way through in several decades and the beginning is really weird!  What is he, some kind of were-zombie?  I didn’t have MTV as a kid, sorry.  OK, I’m 4 minutes in now…maybe I’ve never seen the whole thing…) but I honestly don’t read Inspirational romance.  Other people’s religions make me a little uncomfortable.  I mentioned my immaturity, right?  My hubby and I happen to both be lapsed Episcopalians and we plan to raise our kids in that faith just as soon as I manage to get up early enough on a Sunday morning to get to an as-yet-to-be-selected church.  We once went to a Lutheran church to see Hubby’s friend play in a touring Lutheran rock band.  I swear I was just waiting for them to roll a golden idol down the aisle, to guarantee our eternity burning in hell.  In case you don’t know, Episcopal and Lutheran are about as close as two religions can be and still warrant separate buildings.  Anyway, I have my beliefs and I’m perfectly happy with you having very different beliefs, just don’t try to convert me. 

So I don’t read Inspirational Romances.  But I must say, I really liked Real Virtue.  Katy did a fabulous job of instilling some of her characters with deeply held, Christian beliefs at their core, but she still made them completely accessible to crazy folks like me.  I honestly can’t wait to read her next book.

Today’s secret: This one should be shouted from the rooftops – READ Real Virtue by Katy Lee!

Today’s question: Have you ever read anything that changed your perspective on an aspect of your life?