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Friday, November 28, 2014

A SALE AND A BOOK TRAILER!

This week has been a busy one. There is a lot going on in KATE TRIUMPH-land.

First things first... KATE TRIUMPH is currently on sale over on Amazon. You can pick it up for $0.99!! $0.99 I tell you!!

And!!

The excitement continues...

We are currently working on the KATE TRIUMPH book trailer!! Continue to check back here for updates and teasers and stuff.

Here's a photo from the set... =)


SOOO EXCITING!!!

Hope you all had a Happy Thanksgiving!! =)

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

News! Updates and Giveaways!!

Sorry for the radio silence. I was away in Texas and just got back last night. While I was gone some super awesome things happened and I wanted to share them with you!!

First: KATE was written up in the Huffington Post!! YES!! I KNOW! You can find that awesomeness here!

There have been a few contests going on around the internet to win an ebook of KATE. You can find some here:

Giveaway at My Book Addiction!

Giveaway at Mythical Books!

Giveaway at Happy Tails and Tales!

Giveaway at Literary Winner!

Giveaway at Chosen By You Book Club!

Giveaway at Bibliophile Mystery!

And!! You can also enter to win a paperback over at Goodreads! Enter here!!

OH!! And KATE made it on TV!! Watch it here!!

And for all of you who prefer epub files you can also find KATE TRIUMPH on Smashwords!!

Remember!! Reviews are very important!! =)


Now I'm off to continue working on the next KATE!! More news coming soon!! =)

Thursday, October 23, 2014

MUSIC AND BOOKS

A story always begins with an idea, but for me that story won't get written without a soundtrack. I can never start writing until I have the "feeling" of the story just right. That feeling basically sets the mood and foundation of the story and helps me get ideas whenever I'm feeling stuck. For KATE TRIUMPH my "feeling" song was "23" by Blonde Redhead. I knew as soon as I heard it that it would be played over and over again until the beginning was just right.

And as for the rest of the story, here's a list of all the songs that contributed to the making of KATE TRIUMPH: (in alphabetical order)


Amandine "For all the Marbles" 
Animal Collective "My Girls"
Beirut "Elephant Gun"
Blonde Redhead "23"
The Cinematic Orchestra "To Build You A Home"
The Decemberists "The Crane Wife 3"
Feist "1234"
John Mayer "Say"
My Morning Jacket "Touch Me I'm Going to Scream, Pt. 2"
The New Pornographers "The Bleeding Heart Show"
Peter Bjorn and John "Nothing to Worry About"
Silversun Pickups "Lazy Eye"
Stars "Look Up"
Stars "Take Me To The Riot"


Enjoy the music! And I hope you enjoy KATE!

Tuesday, October 21, 2014

HOW TO MAKE IT THROUGH YOUR BOOK BIRTHDAY

Last Thursday KATE TRIUMPH officially made her debut into the world. There was much joy, some crying and a whole lot of sugar consumed. Like, a lot a lot. I have learned that the only way to make it through a stressful/exciting moment is to eat Nutella straight from the jar.

Here's proof:


This is the big bottle, people, not the small one. It was full on Thursday. A few days later I need to buy more.

And just because a bottle of Nutella doesn't look all that celebratory I visited this place:



And brought some home. (No photo because they didn't last very long)

Now that KATE TRIUMPH is alive and out in the world here is where she is currently residing:



She is very happy there.

OH! And this happened: 


Yes. I totally made the news feed with JK Rowling. Here is the link. No, I won't be visiting her at her castle, but I'd love to visit Scotland. I've always wanted to go there. Like, ALWAYS. 

I hope you all enjoy reading KATE TRIUMPH!! Now off to write the next one. =)

Tuesday, October 14, 2014

CONFESSIONS OF A DEBUT AUTHOR

On Thursday, October 16th (two days from now!!!) my YA Paranormal debut, KATE TRIUMPH will be out in the world. Two days. Two days is not a very long time. However, the story of how this book came to be a debut is rather long.

I'll give you the short version.

About eight years ago I got the idea that I wanted to write a novel. I've always thought about writing, I'd written countless short stories and such, but never had I attempted to write an entire book. While I was writing it I thought about publishing it. Of course I did. I thought about getting an agent and an editor, and having people buy it and read it. I hoped that it would sell. I remember my husband would try to keep me grounded by telling me how statistically difficult it was to get a book published and I would smile and say, "Yes, but I believe."

And I did. A lot. 

Then one day (not very long after I'd finished writing my second book) it sold. And I thought, this is it. I'm an author.

The road of my debut book had many twists and turns. But eight years later I have a physical copy of my book. And it is real. And I still have hope.

It isn't all that easy writing a book. And it's even less easy selling it. But I'm proud of what I've accomplished, and this Thursday I hope you will all help me welcome KATE into the world. And read it too. =)

Tuesday, October 7, 2014

THE STORY BEHIND KATE TRIUMPH

There's always a story behind how a book came to be, whether the idea came from something the author witnessed, or heard, or simply imagined.
This story of mine started with a name. I was working on something entirely different, something that was keeping me up until four in the morning. I remember going to bed, listening to the birds waking up and chirping, and thinking how my daughter would be up soon as well. But I couldn't sleep. My mind was still reeling with all the things I had just written and all the things I had yet to write. And then somewhere in the back of my mind came this noise. It was more distracting than the other thoughts and ideas, to the point of annoyance.

Weird, right? Yeah, I know.

But it eventually got louder and louder until I stopped thinking about the other stuff and gave it my complete attention. And there it was. A name. Not just any name, but a strong name.

KATE TRIUMPH.

This name pushed all the other words and ideas right out of my head.

KATE TRIUMPH.

I eventually fell asleep, but I knew a name like that would stick around awhile.

The next morning I told my husband about this name and asked him what he thought it meant. He's used to my weirdness so he didn't roll his eyes or ask me to see someone professionally, instead he thought about the name with me.

I told him with a name like that she had to be a super hero. He told me he agreed, and then for the next few weeks we plotted and brainstormed and eventually decided that with a name like KATE TRIUMPH she'd have to be the daughter of James Bond. Not like the real James Bond, but someone similar to James Bond, someone like Andrew Shore.

And... that is how KATE TRIUMPH came to be.

On October 16th KATE will be out in the world. I hope you all enjoy her like I do. I hope you see her strength and feel her compassion the way I do.

To me, KATE TRIUMPH is a super hero. Her story has yet to give me peace. It grows in my mind even now.

***NEWS FLASH!!***

Coming soon!! KATE TRIUMPH is getting a book trailer!! Check back here for more details!!

Isn't that exciting??!!

Monday, September 29, 2014

FIRST CHAPTER OF KATE TRIUMPH!!

Thought I would share an excerpt from KATE TRIUMPH. I'm so excited for you all to read it!
You can also read the chapter on Goodreads.

And KATE TRIUMPH is now available on Amazon for PRE-ORDER and will soon be available in paperback!!






Chapter One:


San Diego

The Jigsaw Club is filled to capacity and yet they still let me in. A bouncer named Sid checks my ID and then tells me he likes my boots, even though he isn’t looking at them. Inside the club there’s enough light to find the bathrooms. But not the exits.
I take a spot near the back where the wall is sticky and smells like beer. I don’t know much about beer, my mom drinks wine. She says it relaxes her, and I’m okay with that. We both know she needs to relax.
“Be careful, Kate,” she called out right before I left the house. “Be home by midnight. And — be careful.”
If I know anything it’s how to be careful. Normally this wouldn’t be my scene but I like the band. Their first two CDs could be considered the soundtrack to my life — that is, my life of solitary confinement.
The stage lights zigzag across the crowd and I spot a few kids from school. One or two make eye contact but that’s all they do. Their eyes slide on past me without a hint of recognition. They’ve had a few years to perfect this maneuver. I’m the only one not fooled. They sway back and forth to the music, their faces occasionally lit when they respond to a text. Or pretend to. Normal looks good on them. I fight back that familiar twinge of jealousy I always experience in their presence. I tug the sleeves of my black shirt down over my hands and tuck them into my armpits. It’s about a thousand degrees in this club, but I feel cold.
The band stops playing halfway through the next song. I figure there’s some kind of technical difficulty, but then a guy from just off stage grabs the mic and tells us all to head toward the exits. Quickly, he emphasizes. But no one moves. We all must be thinking the same thing: If this is for real shouldn’t the house lights come back on?
The musicians drop their instruments and run from the stage — that is, everyone but the bass player. He pauses only long enough to unplug his guitar and take it with him. From stage left the smoke appears. It clouds the stage lights, diluting their colors into murky renditions of blue, orange and red. It swirls about the ceiling as if it’s looking for someone. And that’s when I notice the flames.
Fire!
Everyone starts moving at the same time, but there’s nowhere to go. They slam into each other like bowling pins, some are knocked over while others tip sideways and then stabilize. I’m frozen until the smoke reaches me. It moves in through my nose and tickles the back of my throat. I push off from the wall only to get knocked to the ground. My hands splash into something wet on the floor and then slide around as I try to climb up onto my knees. Something slams into the top of my head and I slip sideways, nearly face-planting to the ground. My head is pounding, the pain so intense I begin to choke. I breathe in, slow and then fast, trying my best to fight off the possibility of blacking out. I only need to rest for a moment. Just one moment should help.
“Kate! Get up!” Someone tugs at my arm and then all at once I’m on my feet. A blurry figure grabs my hand and pulls me toward him. And because I’m barely able to stand I allow it to happen.
“Stay close,” he yells and then drags me behind him. My rescuer uses his body like a bulldozer, plowing through the shapes and shadows around us. When he knocks a young girl to her knees he pauses only long enough to help her to her feet before we’re on the move again. The stage lights skimming through the crowd bounce off his hair tinting it an electric blue and then a clownlike orange. I’ve yet to catch a glimpse of his face.
We crash out the side entrance and the cool night air feels like a gift I will never return. One deep breath after another fills my lungs and my knees begin to shake. I’m coughing, he’s coughing — I feel like I might collapse.
“You should go,” he says. His voice is scratchy. He still hasn’t released my hand.
The alleyway is dimly lit, but I can make out a strong jawline and dark hooded eyes. There’s something familiar about him. My stomach clenches and I wonder if I know him from school. No, that can’t be right. No one from school would risk their life to save mine.
“Thank you,” I say and he nods. The words barely make it past my raw throat. When I don’t look away he takes a step back into the shadows.
I open my mouth to say something more but then stop when I feel a warm drip of moisture trickle down the side of my face. I want to believe it’s rain, please let it be rain, but when I look up at the sky all I see are stars. I turn my face away and hope he hasn’t noticed. Maybe the darkness will keep my secret this time.
No such luck.
His grip on my hand tightens, as if he’s sensed I’m about to run. “You’re hurt.” His other hand reaches out to me but I jerk away. I’m looking at the ground, my long hair covering my face, when he says, “Don’t let them see you.” He releases my hand one finger at a time and then steps further back into the shadows.
“What’s your name?” I ask. I have to know.
He hesitates for a split second and then says, “Jonah.”
“How’d you—”
“Go, Kate. Now!”
I stare into the shadows one last time, and then I run. I run past the choking wall of teenagers lying on the sidewalk outside the club. I run past the fire trucks and security guards. I run until the blood spilling from the jagged wound in my skull begins to cloud my vision. And even then I don’t slow down until the blood finally stops and the pounding in my head ceases to nothing. I reach up and let my hand move along my scalp until I’m convinced. My hair is matted with dried blood but my skin is once again smooth.
There’s a Chinese food restaurant across the street from me that advertises all you can eat wontons, and the flashing neon sign above the door tells me they never close. I slip through the front door with my head down and hurry toward the restroom. I stick my head under the sink and scrub at my hair until the water changes from rust colored back to clear.
The bathroom mirror is dirty, just like the toilet, sink and floor, but right now I can’t think of a better place to be. My face is paler than normal, which emphasizes the streaks of dirt and blood across my cheeks. I wet down a paper towel and do my best to clean it all away, but the rough texture of the towel only turns my cheeks a raw looking pink. My eyes widen in the mirror when someone starts pounding on the wall.
“Restroom for customer only,” an angry Chinese woman says once I open the door.
I shrug my shoulders and duck behind my long wet hair. I have no reason to hide from her — not now — but I do it anyway.
“Two egg rolls to go,” I tell her, handing her a five dollar bill.
She doesn’t smile. Her suspicious eyes pin me to the wall while she rings out the line of customers back at the cash register. When she hands me my small bag of egg rolls she mumbles something about a woman’s shelter a few blocks away, and then she pushes me out the door.
I eat my egg rolls on the bus. My shirt is slightly wet and my hair is dripping, but I’m clean. No one would guess I was injured tonight. Not even my mother.
“I take it you didn’t like the band?” she asks when I walk through the door. She glances up and smiles over the neatly folded piles of laundry distributed evenly along the back of the couch.
I shrug and say, “not so great live,” and head toward my bedroom.
I know to keep my lies simple and my explanations short. Unnecessary rambling is a sure sign of guilt. Thankfully my mother doesn’t come too close otherwise she’d smell smoke, blood and egg rolls.
“Are you packed, Kate?” Her voice carries down the hallway. “We need to leave a little earlier tomorrow than we’d planned, so you should pack tonight. I have a stop to make before our flight.”
“I’m almost packed. I’ll be ready by morning.”
“Kate?” she calls after me and I stop directly in front of my bedroom door.
I slide my finger along my shiny door handle, anticipating her next words. The handle is smooth to the touch. And pink. I picked it out when I was five years old and it has survived seven different houses, seven different bedrooms and seven different towns. Just like me.
“Yes?” I say when she hesitates.
“You can still change your mind.”
“I won’t,” I tell her.
“It’s just that—” she continues but I cut her off.
“I’m going. It’s important to me.” My hand grips the door handle and I open my door. Just inside my doorway I wait for the argument. The same three words that preempt every disagreement my mother and I have.
It’s. Not. Safe.
But this time the words are different.
“Alright, Kate. Alright,” she says, followed by a sigh.
I slide my suitcase out of my closet and the noise stirs the small cat lounging on my bed.
“You’ve been in that exact spot all day, Lefty,” I say.
But he doesn’t care to acknowledge that comment. Instead he crawls into the top portion of the open suitcase, as if to say you’re not leaving without me.
Lefty is all white except for one gray spot right above his chin. I love that spot. I call it his soul patch, like he should be reading obscure poetry in a café somewhere downtown. But he doesn’t like it much. He does his best to remove it every time he takes a bath.
He came to us when I was eight. He showed up one night at dinnertime and after a few minutes of howling I opened the door and he walked right in. My mother was hesitant at first, until she realized he was the one friend that would always keep my secrets.
Besides, how can you turn away a three-legged cat?
I go through the motions of packing but all I can see is Jonah. If only I could shine a flashlight into the memory of his face just to see the color of his eyes. He seemed so familiar to me, as if I knew him. Or I’d seen him somewhere before. I think back through all the schools I’ve been to, Boston, Chicago or possibly here in San Diego. There have been so many schools, so many kids. But no Jonah. Perhaps I’ve seen him around my mother’s boutique? But that doesn’t seem likely either.
There’s a soft knocking on my bedroom door and then my mother calls out, “Goodnight, Kate.” She doesn’t open the door. No goodnight kiss or bedtime story for me. Now that I’m seventeen we’re past that. But there are times I wish she’d tuck me in, tell me everything’s going to be alright, like she did when I was younger. And I could pretend to believe her, for just one night. Like I did when I was younger.
My mother and I live like roommates, best friends who exist for each other alone. Or “codependent,” I believe they call it. She says there’s no one she’d rather spend time with, but I know that can’t be true because as much as I love her there are days when I’d kill for someone else to talk to.
Someone who doesn’t have to love me. They just do.
“Goodnight, Mom,” I call out now, but it’s too late. She’s already moved on down the hall.
I grab my iPhone and crank my favorite playlist. I fill my suitcase with running shoes and running clothes — everything I need for tomorrow’s track meet — and, oh yeah, one pair of pajamas. Outside my window the night is settling in as one by one lights are turned off and sleep is the uniform goal in the beachside community. And down the hall my mother joins them.
I love it when the house is quiet, my favorite time of night. I dance around my bedroom where I know no one is watching me. That is, no one other than a three-legged cat. Here I can pretend the rest of the world doesn’t exist.
For the moment I’m not a freak.
I’m just Kate.



Thanks for reading!! Check back soon for more news on KATE TRIUMPH!! 

Thursday, September 25, 2014

KATE TRIUMPH Cover Reveal!!

Are you ready??

Are you??

I am so excited to finally show it off!! SO HERE IT IS!!!

KATE TRIUMPH by Shari Arnold





































Normal is so overrated. At least that's what seventeen-year-old Kate Triumph tells herself everyday. But the truth is she lives in constant fear that someone will discover how not normal she really is. With her startling speed and her unusual ability to heal, Kate believes she's something of a freak. 

Then Andrew Shore arrives. 

He claims he's her father, sticks around for a few days and leaves her a plane ticket. “Come to Mercer Island,” he says. “Give me a chance to get to know you.” Soon Kate is floundering in a world of new: new address, new car, new high school and, of course, new father. Not to mention Zack, her intriguing new neighbor, who makes her want to abandon her steadfast rule of never allowing anyone to get too close. But when she discovers someone is trying to kill her, life for Kate gets a bit more complicated. And a lot less normal.



This is the first in a series. Yes, I know. I hate series!! BOO! BOO! BUT!! This is going to be sooo worth it!! =)

A very large THANK YOU!! to Keelin O'Reilly for her amazing artwork!! SHE ROCKS!

And THANK YOU to my awesome friend, and fellow author, Tracy Banghart, who is also posting about KATE today. =)

Please check out my Goodreads page! AND it is now available for PREORDER on Amazon!! 

And check back here as well for excerpts from KATE TRIUMPH!! 

Wednesday, September 24, 2014

COVER REVEAL!!

TOMORROW!!!

Tomorrow is the big day!! I will be throwing my cover up on Goodreads TOMORROW!! You can also check it out here and here!!


SO EXCITING!!!

Wanna read the first chapter of KATE TRIUMPH??


Check back here soon.

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

BIG NEWS!

Alright. Let's just get to it, shall we??


KATE TRIUMPH, the first in a series, will be released this fall!!

Normal is so overrated. At least that's what seventeen-year-old Kate Triumph tells herself everyday. But the truth is she lives in constant fear that someone will discover how not normal she really is. With her startling speed and her unusual ability to heal, Kate believes she's something of a freak. 

Then Andrew Shore arrives. 

He claims he's her father, sticks around for a few days and leaves her a plane ticket. “Come to Mercer Island,” he says. “Give me a chance to get to know you.” Soon Kate is floundering in a world of new: new address, new car, new high school and, of course, new father. Not to mention Zack, her intriguing new neighbor, who makes her want to abandon her steadfast rule of never allowing anyone to get too close. But when she discovers someone is trying to kill her, life for Kate gets a bit more complicated. 

And a lot less normal.


I'm so excited to share this news with you!! And most importantly, I'm crazy excited for all of you to read it!!

Please find it on Goodreads and check back here SOON for more news on KATE TRIUMPH.


Monday, September 15, 2014

Exciting news is coming!!

Hey there!

How was your summer? Mine was over too soon.

It involved a lot of this:













This:













And this:














But now that fall is here it's time for book reviews, lots and lots of book love AND...

some very exciting news!!


All I have to say is this...


Meet me back here tomorrow. =)

I promise it's exciting.


Wednesday, April 23, 2014

BOOKANISTAS REVIEW: THE THOUSAND-DOLLAR TAN LINE (Veronica Mars #1) by Rob Thomas and Jennifer Graham











Veronica!

Yeah. I’m a fan. I’ve watched all three seasons more than a few times and when the movie came out I paid to watch it at my house not once but TWICE! I was a tad bit skeptical about the book but, yeah, I loved that too.

Here's what Goodreads has to say:

Ten years after graduating from high school in Neptune, California, Veronica Mars is back in the land of sun, sand, crime, and corruption. She’s traded in her law degree for her old private investigating license, struggling to keep Mars Investigations afloat on the scant cash earned by catching cheating spouses until she can score her first big case.

Now it’s spring break, and college students descend on Neptune, transforming the beaches and boardwalks into a frenzied, week-long rave. When a girl disappears from a party, Veronica is called in to investigate. But this is no simple missing person’s case; the house the girl vanished from belongs to a man with serious criminal ties, and soon Veronica is plunged into a dangerous underworld of drugs and organized crime. And when a major break in the investigation has a shocking connection to Veronica’s past, the case hits closer to home than she ever imagined.


For those of you who need the full Veronica-authentic-effect I suggest you download the audio version where — YES IT'S TRUE — Kristen Bell is the narrator. And she does an awesome job seeing as she has all those years of Gossip Girl under her belt.
This book was just as fun and intense and suspenseful as the show and the movie. But if you’re a true marshmallow you will notice there is something missing: Veronica’s personal soliloquies. This book is written in third person, which feels a bit odd in the beginning for those of us who are used to the first person aspect of the show, but ultimately it didn't keep me from loving it. Nope. Not one bit.
I was still completely caught up in the story. I’m still thinking about it weeks later. And for those of us who have seen Mars Investigations for years on our TV screens it was a fun treat to read about it.  I’ve never really thought about what it smells like when you walk down the hallway or how it feels being there. Books make everything so much more personal. Don't you think?

Even though the book is written in third person I still feel like Veronica’s voice was present as well as her witty dialogue.