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Monday, December 31, 2012

2012 in Review

It's that time of year (the end) where everybody and there brother is posting some kind of reflective post. Of course I had to join the bandwagon. I mean, if all the cool kids are doing it . . . But, I do promise to keep it short and sweet. So here you have it:

Lets just say that 2012 has been one INCREDIBLE year! I don't even know where to begin, so lets start at the beginning, shall we?

I started 2012 with a half completed manuscript and the hope to someday see it in print. Twelve months later, I have 5 different published works, with a 6th coming out tomorrow (insert plug for DEVOTION here), including my debut novel (that half completed manuscript I was talking about).

I've set up a blog that people actually read (who knew?), a Facebook Page that people actually like, and a Twitter account that people actually follow (despite the fact that I'm still not 100% sure how to really use that site haha)

I've made a ton of new friends (authors, editors, publishers, and bloggers) that I can share my love of books with. So, to all of you--every last one of you that played a roll in making my 2012 so unforgettably fantastic-- THANK YOU!

I hope each and every one of you has an awesome New Year and a wonderful 2013!!!!


Friday, December 28, 2012

Devoted to Tempting you even more in 2013!

Who better to ring in the New Year with than a couple paranormal princes, and everyone's favorite PG heroine? That's right, Lucas, Jason, and Mel are all back to kick off 2013 like only they can. With the danger level cranked up to 10 and the hotness scale running even higher, what's not to love?



DEVOTION (Temptation #2) finally has it's release date, and it is: 
January 1st 2013!!!


Haven't read Temptation yet??? What are you waiting for? Get caught up  before the release of Devotion for only 99 cents!!! Temptation can be purchased from Amazon now, and is available free for Prime Members.


For everyone else anxiously awaiting what comes next for our Heavenly and Not-so-Heavenly hotties . . . here's a little hint!

(WARNING: Contains Temptation spoilers!!!!! )



Mel made her decision — chose her side — but that doesn’t mean the other side has given up on choosing her. Hell is still bent on adding a pure soul to their ranks any way they can, and Jason’s failure has put bigger bads on the task. With not only her life, but her very soul on the line, Mel must fight back with the help of one good-looking guardian angel and an ally no one expected. But can his word be trusted, or does he have more sinister motives?




Saturday, December 22, 2012

A Festive Treat

Ho Ho Ho
I hope you're all having a very merry holiday season. 
Here is my gift to you. 
Enjoy! :)






Thursday, December 20, 2012

What's cookin'?

I haven't blogged in a bit. Sorry about that. It's been kind of crazy around here with the blog tour and everything, but I want to keep you caught up on what I've got going on. So here it is . . .

At the moment, I am currently working on two different projects. First and foremost, let me address a question that I've been asked a few times now.

YES!!! There WILL be a SEQUEL to DISSIDENCE!

That's one of the projects I have going at the moment. More on that to come ;)

The other is a stand alone contemporary romance. It's entitled FIGHT OR FLIGHT. Due to some of the more sensitive issues it touches on, I feel more comfortable referring to this particular work as New Adult rather than Young Adult. It's the story of Emerson and Jay and follows them coming together, overcoming trauma, and learning to survive. There are several teasers posted on my FB page, including these:


Teaser 1:

“Can’t I help you?” 

“No.” He didn’t even bother opening his eyes to answer her. They’d already had this argument more than once, and he was just too damn tired to rehash it again now.

“Why not? You could obviously use some help.”

“Because.”

“I’m not a child, Jay. You’re gonna need a better reason than that.”

“Because you won’t make it here.”

“Why not? You live here.”

“That’s what you’re not getting, Em. No one lives here. You either survive here, or you die here. But, no one lives here. So, why don’t you just go on back home?”

“I’d rather die here.”

She said it without hesitation, and with so much conviction that it stole his breath away."


Teaser 2:

"One day he’d show her exactly who he saw when he looked at her. One day he’d make sure she saw it too. But for today, he would just hold her close and keep loving her enough for the both of them."


Teaser 3:

"Em was white as a sheet and clinging to the cheap porcelain sink like it was her last lifeline. The terror in her eyes forced Jay to choke back the anger threatening to consume him. More than anything he wanted to chase that son of a bitch down and squeeze the life out of him just for putting that look in her eyes, but she needed him now and she was already frightened enough.

“Hey. Em, it’s all right.” He inched into the bathroom slowly, knowing full well they were working with a ticking clock, but not wanting to spook her.

“Whe—where is h—he?” Her voice shook as badly as her body.

Jay shoved his hands in his pockets to keep from wrapping his arms around her. That probably wouldn’t have gone over so well just then. “Gone. He left. I think he’s calling the police, but we gotta go. Now.”

“He’s . . . He’s gonna find me. He said he’d find me. He said he’d find me and he’d—”

Her gaze drifted inward and he knew he was losing her. “Stop. Em, look at me.” No response. “Em!” Her eyes snapped to his with renewed fear and he silently cursed himself for startling her. “Listen to me, okay? I’m not going to let anything happen to you, all right? I’m getting you out of here. Right now. I just need your help, okay?”

She nodded silently and he could practically see her heart slamming against her ribs. She was more terrified than he could ever remember being in his entire life. After prying her hands from the cold porcelain he took her hand in his and coaxed her toward the door. She took a few hesitant steps before her right leg gave out."




Something else in the works is DEVOTION, the next novella in the TEMPTATION series. This one is finished... Mostly. Hopefully, I will have more news about a release date soon :) Until then, enjoy these teasers:


Teaser 1:

A conversation between Mel and her mom:
"Pulling out my cell, I sent her a quick text, ‘School was fine. I’m going to get some HW done now. C ya later.’

She must have been waiting for my message because in less time than it took me to open my math book, my phone chirped her reply, ‘Great, honey. Is Lucas there?’ 

Ever since she’d noticed we were spending time together again, she hadn’t stopped asking about him.

‘Yeah. We’re going to do our HW together and then get some dinner.’

‘Sounds good. You two are being careful, right hon?’ She also hadn’t stopped asking that.

I’d already heard three different versions of the birds and the bees, and if I was about to get a fourth, via text message, with Lucas sitting right across the table . . . Cripesaloni, shoot me now!

‘Yes mom. HW usually isn’t dangerous, but I promise to look both ways before crossing any math problems. Love u. Ttyl."



Teaser 2:


"When the ding alerted me that it was time to move on to stage two of what was probably the most epic endeavor I had ever attempted in a kitchen, I pulled the bacon from the microwave, while simultaneously reaching for the pan. Bad idea. The pan was about four inches closer than I’d expected, so instead of grabbing hold of the handle, my hand slammed right onto the hot metal surface.

“Son of a mother’s, brother’s, sister’s, uncle’s, puppy’s, kitten’s, mouse! Bah!” I jumped from foot to foot, trying to shake away the searing pain in my hand.

Lucas watched my display from the kitchen table, an amused grin plastered to his otherwise perfect face. “And the cheese stands alone?”

Ha-freaking-ha. He was a regular old comedian.

“Forget the cheese; get me an icepack, would ya?”

“Here, let me see that.”

Lucas took my hands in his, and gently pried my fingers away from the injury. An angry red burn ran the full length of my pinky finger. Lifting my hand to within millimeters of his mouth, he blew lightly on the scorched skin before softly pressing his lips to it. I hissed like some kind of demented cat in anticipation of the pain that any contact with the area would unavoidably cause, but it never came.

In fact, the blistering pain that had been there only moments earlier was also gone. I glanced down at the unmarred skin of my pinky finger and then back up at Lucas’ smiling face. He had literally kissed it better. There were some definite advantages to having an angel for a boyfriend."



Friday, December 14, 2012

Dissidence Dream Cast

Every time I read a book, I can't help imagining what the characters all look like. I'm sure it's the same for most of you. Well, it's no different when writing. In fact, it's probably even more detailed because these characters live in my head for SOOOO long. I feel like I know every last detail of them.

I was asked by a blogger to put together a dream cast for Dissidence to let the readers know how I picture my characters. To be honest, it's impossible to find anyone that will perfectly fit any of them. Mainly because they are individuals, as unique as any living person, and wouldn't it be weird to find you had an imaginary doppelganger living in some strangers head?! 

But I digress, I did the best I could and put together three actors that I thought came closest to portraying Kaleigh, Peter, and Connor. 



Here they are:

KALEIGH - Ayla Kell
I like her for Kaleigh because she has the right look, and there's something about this picture in particular that  just screams the perfect attitude to accompany the look :) 

CONNOR - Alexander Ludwig

















Connor was by FAR the hardest to cast. There just doesn't seem to be anyone that fits him perfectly, but this was as close as I could get. He's definitely got the muscle mass working for him. Just give him green eyes, and lose a little bit of that evil look to him (haha) and you've got a close Connor. 



PETER - Drew Roy


I think this one actually comes the closest to what I imagined. Just give him blue eyes and he makes a pretty perfect Peter :)



Now, I know most of you won't agree with my choices for whatever reason and that's fine. Actually, it's AWESOME because it means that you've thought enough about these characters to form your own impressions of them, and I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to see what those look like. If you can think of an actor that reminds you of any or all of the characters PLEASE post it in the comments section below!!! I really look forward to seeing what you all think of Kaleigh, Connor, and Peter :)

Monday, December 10, 2012

Makes Me Smile :)

A big thank you to the lovely ladies of Not Now Mommy's Reading for the awesome review of 'How We Came To Be'



How We Came To Be by Jamie Canosa may very well be my first Young Adult read. Correction: it is my first Young Adult romance. I don't count The Hunger Games because, well, the romance between Peeta and Katniss kind of took the backseat to the whole "fighting for your life" theme. 

I tend to be very apprehensive about reading Young Adult novels because I find it rather unnerving when I read about or even observe teens engaging in what I believe to be adult-like behavior (ie. tangled tongues, grinding hips, shagging, etc.).  Even after being badgered non-stop by my teenage daughters, I still refuse to budge on my stance on watching shows such as Pretty Little Liars and the like because there is nothing appealing to me about watching two teenagers go at it in a hot and heavy shower scene. Of course when I was a teenager, I'm sure said scene would have me giggling, blushing and swooning but as a mother of teenage girls - not so much. I say all that to say this - if the 'love scenes' in most YA are handled as beautifully as the ones in How We Came To Be, I fear I may have missed out on some amazing reads and have some catching up to do as I open myself up to a new genre.

Seventeen-year old Sara has a secret. Sadly, it's a secret that takes place in many homes. Sara and her younger sibling, Kevin, suffer abuse at the hands of their alcoholic father, a man left bitter after his wife abandons him and his children. Sara takes the brunt of the abuse since she often stands up for her brother. The only spot of sunshine in her otherwise dark days comes in the form of Ethan Harris, the school heartthrob who has had a crush on Sara since he's first laid eyes on her. Unwilling to expose Ethan to her broken life, Sara keeps him at a distance until an incident occurs that forces Sara to share her secret with the one person she's tried so hard to keep it from.

Ethan was such an amazing guy, in my opinion. I could only imagine the difficulty of his position - caring so much for Sara that he couldn't bear the thought of her enduring what she did and yet unable to intervene because he didn't want to betray her trust. I could just feel his anguish and utter helplessness. He possessed a maturity that I thought was well beyond his years and if there were any couple that I wanted to have a HEA - it was Ethan and Sara. The tenderness and care he showed towards her was so touching. This is a clean romance in that there are no actual sex scenes however, the intimacy these two shared by a simple caress or a meaningful look was so endearing to me. So very sweet. 

A fairly quick read that deals with an all too-real issue, How We Came To Be is a must read.


'How We Came To Be' is only 99 cents!!!!! Grab a copy today! 
Amazon (Kindle)

Saturday, December 8, 2012

5 Star Review for Dissidence

A big thank you to Kendall of Book Crazy for the review of Dissidence.


Rating: 5 Stars

Dissidence is now one of my favourite dystopian books! I loved everything about it! It had great characters, an amazing plot and also it was original! I have to say though that I had my own ideas about the plot when I got about 6 chapters in but I was so wrong! The plot surprised me with where it went because I wasn't expecting it but I loved it! Kaleigh Matthews was the main character of Dissidence and I really liked her! She stood up for what she believed in and I envied her for that! Peter was such an amazing friend to Kaleigh the whole way through this book but that was all he was with Kaleigh in my opinion was a friend! Conner was amazing! He was hot and protective and I just loved it when he called Kaleigh "Girlie".There is a love triangle in this book but the synopsis tells you that but I was Team Conner all the way through Dissidence! The ending was massive! My heart was in my mouth the whole scene! Jamie ended it perfectly though! She has me begging for the next book after the cliffhanger! The cover really suits the book and the plot!


Check out her stop on the DISSIDENCE BLOG TOUR here for an author interview, including my dream cast for Dissidence AND a giveaway!

Friday, December 7, 2012

Off Page Access: Kaleigh Matthews

In order to celebrate the release of DISSIDENCE and to kick off the blog tour in style, I decided to let you all get to know our heroine a little bit better. It wasn't easy, but I managed to twist Kaleigh's arm enough to get her to agree to an interview today. (For someone who exists solely in my head, she can be quite the pain in the butt occasionally).



Kaleigh, what do you think is your greatest achievement?

Does being the dumbest person on the planet count? It wouldn’t seem like it, but I’ve actually managed to accomplish quite a bit that way. Seriously, if there was a prize for stupidest person I would be hard core in the running for it, and that’s really saying something considering my world isn’t exactly top heavy in the brains department.


What is your happiest memory?

Probably something from my childhood, something with my mom and dad in it . . . Or, maybe the time I scared the pants off of Peter with a truly amazing clown costume. That was epic!


What would your ideal occupation be?

I haven’t thought much about it, really. Whatever it is, it most definitely would NOT involve a register. Or a pick.


What is your motto?

I’m starting to think that the motto of my life should be, ‘now what?’ Either that or ‘I have no freaking clue.’


What are your strengths/ weaknesses?

I have trust issues. Not sure if that’s a strength or a weakness, though. In my experience, not a lot of people deserve trust. The few people I do trust, though, definitely make me stronger. As for weaknesses . . . let’s just say a little time at the gym couldn’t hurt.


Rapid Fire:

Favorite Color: Purple

Favorite Food: French toast

Favorite Ice cream flavor: Strawberry

Favorite Sport: I’m not really a sporty kind of girl

Biggest Pet peeve: Blind faith. Oh, and whiners. I really hate whiners. If you don't like something, change it. Don't sit around whining about it! I'd better stop now before this turns into a full blown rant. Once I get going, even I can't stop myself. And don't even get me started on . . .

Oh, would you look at that. It looks like our time is up for today . . . thanks for stopping by, Kaleigh!



Hope you all enjoyed getting to know our opinionated heroine a little better. For more insights into the book (including an author interview, reviews, and dream casts) AND your chance to win an autographed copy of DISSIDENCE check out each stop along the blog tour. You can enter and get new tidbits each day.


Dec 8- Book Crazy 
Dec 9 - Author Jessica Sorensen
Dec 10- Books and Beauty (Author Janiera Eldridge) 
Dec 11- Wordpaintings Unlimited (Author Sherry Gammon)
Dec 12- YA Sisterhood 
Dec 15- Love Stories (Author Cyndi Tefft) 
Dec 16- Lisa's Reads 
Dec 17- Indie Supporter 

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Paperbacks Have Arrived!!!

For those of us that love the feel of turning a physical page, that new book smell, and rearranging our bookshelves like furniture... DISSIDENCE is now available in print!!!!!!



Grab your copy today at:

CreateSpace

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Dissidence is Making the Rounds!


Coming to a blog near you . . . The Dissidence Blog Tour. 

Look below for a complete schedule and be sure to check-in everyday for your chance to win a signed paperback copy of DISSIDENCE.


Dec 8- Book Crazy 
Dec 9 - Author Jessica Sorensen
Dec 10- Books and Beauty (Author Janiera Eldridge) 
Dec 11- Wordpaintings Unlimited (Author Sherry Gammon)
Dec 12- YA Sisterhood 
Dec 15- Love Stories (Author Cyndi Tefft) 
Dec 16- Lisa's Reads 
Dec 17- Indie Supporter