BEA!

So guess what?
I'm going to BEA! YES! I KNOW!
I've never been before so I'm not sure what to expect. Any advice out there?

I'm very excited to take in the author signings and pick up some ARCs, but mostly I just want to meet people! So. If you're going, let me know!

Look for me and the fabulous Dawn Metcalf. We'll be taking it all in on Tuesday the 24th.

And if it gets to be a little overwhelming, or if my feet start to hurt, I'll just use it as an opportunity to people watch.

People watching is great fun.

Time to Edit

I spent my weekend stealing glances at my edit notes.
When they arrived on Thursday I printed them, read them all the way through and then promptly tucked them away where I could only see them from a distance.
I have to admit, they scared the hell out of me. But don't tell. Seriously, don't.

Now that I've had the weekend to, you know, ignore them, I'm feeling much better.

I'm so excited to get back into the world of Mystique. For the last few months I've been thinking about my other book, the book that is currently out in submission-land.
And time off is a very good thing.

My plan is to put together some brainstorming music, live inside my head for a few days and reread Mystique. I love when I can approach a manuscript with fresh eyes!
And then the writing begins. It will start off slow, and then take off once I feel like I know where I'm going and hopefully I will avoid that awkward, frightening period where I lose myself completely.
Believe me, you'll know if it happens. One day you'll see I've added a new post and when you click on my blog the entire screen will be filled with random words like, chompchompchompchompchompchompchompchompchompchompchompchompchompchomp
chompchompchompchompchompchompchompchompchompchompchompchompchompchomp
or,
icecreamisfunicecreamisfunicecreamisfunicecreamisfunicecreamisfunicecreamisfun
icecreamisfunicecreamisfunicecreamisfunicecreamisfunicecreamisfunicecreamisfun

and you'll think, huh, Shari must have lost it. I hope she's okay.

But don't worry. I'll be back with a shiny and newly revised manuscript that is much better than I thought it could be. (Hopefully.)
And I will be stronger and smarter and probably five pounds heavier because I can't write unless I'm eating chocolate. Or cookies.
Oh. And by the way. Starting today I am pretending it's fall. And that Christmas is coming. And that I live in Maine.
(You'll get it later, I promise.)

Spreading The News

Covers are a big deal when it comes to books, right?

Well, fellow Apocalypsie Leanna Renee Hieber's new cover for Darker Still: A Novel of Magic Most Foul has just been revealed!
Check out her blog post here. This book sounds awesome!

And I have a feeling I will be sharing more fabulous covers very very soon!!

When The Hype Is SOOOOO Worth It!

Okay. I just want you all to know how very excited I am to share this book with you. I know. Two book reviews in a row. But it has to be done.

About a month or so ago I learned that the first 100 pages of Divergent by Veronica Roth were online. Free! For me to read!
Now I have to admit my first thought was, why 100 pages? That seems like a lot!
And then after I read those pages I thought about how very cruel it was to release those 100 pages. SO. VERY. CRUEL!

I was totally hooked.

I don't know about you but I've noticed that lately there is a whole lot of book hyping going on.
I get all excited about the book and then it's released and it's okay, or good, or not so good.
But this book is sooo worth it!

I loved this book! LOVED! I finished it last night and I want to read it again. Yes. Seriously.
What did I love? Everything. Every last thing. I loved the beginning, middle and end.
And by the way... the end is amazing. AMAZING! I tell you! You want to know why?
Because it has one. You're not left hanging, staring at the last word on the last page thinking, wait! That's it? I have to wait a freakin' year for the next book? And then a few minutes later, while you're cursing the author and the editor and everyone involved in getting this book out into the world, you decide to bang your head against a wall because you're so sick of reading books where after two or three or five hundred pages you have no closure! NO CLOSURE!!!
Well. Let me tell you. Right now I feel like tracking Veronica Roth down (not in a stalkerish way of course, more in a friendly, "Hi! I loved your book!" kind of way) and giving her a huge hug and saying, "THANK YOU! You have renewed my love for trilogies! I can now go out and commit to a few more!"
A bit dramatic, I know. I get why trilogies are so successful. When you read a book you make friends. The characters develop inside your mind and become real and when you finish the book you don't want to walk away from these friends. You don't want to add them to your dusty and shelved pile of friends sitting on your bookcase. You want them to stick around a little bit longer, perhaps share a few more adventures with you. Right?
I love trilogies. I really do. But what I don't enjoy is when I feel like I've been manipulated into buying more books. I love when a story continues. Just give me a bit of closure!
I don't need to see her turn into a vampire after the first book, just don't leave me in the middle of the train ride home after surviving a televised fight to the death competition! I've been waiting to see her reunion with her family since the moment she volunteered to take her sister's place!
YOU KNOW?! That's really all I want!
Okay. I'm done.

Go read Divergent! No vampires. No cliffhangers.
Just a whole lot of awesome!

OH! You should all head on over to the Apocalypsies website to read my fellow Apocalypsie Jill Hathaway's interview with Veronica Roth.

I can't get enough of this book!