When It Becomes Real

On Tuesday the fabulous Gretchen McNeil's book, Possess, hit the stores.
And do you know what that means??! Apocalypsies have entered the building!!

It's real, folks. All these books we spent years writing and rewriting over and over again are going to be real life books! Like in-the-store books! And in case you don't believe me...

Here's proof!



HOW AWESOME IS THIS?!

I know I still have some time before this is my book, but HOLY COW!!

Can someone PLEASE pass me a brown paper bag.

Brave New Words

Hello everyone!

So I'm a contributor on the fabulous YA Sci-fi blog Brave New Words! And if you head on over there RIGHT NOW you can read my very first post! It's all about sexy bad guys AND it includes pictures!!

If you like your YA Dystopian-flavored or a bit on the Sci-fi side then come join us! We are nice. And our books all debut in 2012!

Random

Welcome new followers!

I feel I should explain how every once in a while I post about random things that stumble into my world and pretty much make it into my daily life.

So here goes.

The coyotes are back!

A few days ago I spotted a coyote right outside my window. I haven't seen one since right around January so this is very exciting news. And yes, I realize as I type this that I sound a bit too much like Kevin Costner's character in Dances With Wolves and I should just stop RIGHT NOW!

But. I missed seeing the coyotes. So. There's that.

Last night my husband and I took off for Brooklyn to see Bon Iver. And they're awesome! I'm a big fan. Their newest self titled release is amazing. It literally got me through days and days of revisions on Mystique.

And last night it was pretty incredible seeing them live. IN-CRED-I-BLE!

So I've been cleaning and basically redecorating all things around me lately. Even the cats have been moved around. And you all know what that means...
I'm nesting a new idea. It moved in right before I finished my edits and now that round one has been turned in I can't stop thinking about it!

Now I just need to sit down and start writing.

I'm totally obsessing over The Vampire Diaries.
I have to admit, when I first heard about the show I totally rolled my eyes. I mean, come on! Enough with the vampires!! And then my fabulous critique partner, Tracy Banghart, recommended the show to me and I thought, alright, I'll try it out...

WOW! I haven't been this obsessed over a show since Buffy or Veronica Mars!! Or possibly Friday Night Lights.
I'm so hooked that last night, while we were driving home from Brooklyn, I was tempted to climb into the backseat and watch a few episodes, but then I realized, what with our six-year anniversary coming up on Saturday, that those were the thoughts of a crack addict and I should JUST STOP. I can go a day without Vampires.
Who'da thought.

And last but not least...
I have to share something delicious with y'all!

I tried macaroons for the first time.

WHY HAVEN'T I HAD THESE IN MY MOUTH BEFORE??!

So, yes. Enjoy your Thursday!

SOOO Exciting!!

Wanna see something awesome?!?

Sure you do!

Click me

See. I told you.

Susanne's book is amazing! It's creepy and intense and I had to get up and walk around the room before reading more because it was making my heart race!

Yeah. It's that good.

And The Winners Are...

YAY!!

Okay so this contest was awesome!! A ginormous THANK YOU! to everyone who entered!!

But in the end there can only be two winners. That is, for now. I have other books to give away so stay tuned!

Winner of Carrier of the Mark is:

Melissa!!

Winner of Forever is:

Kimberly Callegan!!

I will email you very, very soon. And then I'd love to hear your thoughts on the books once you've finished them!

BOOKS ARE FUN!

Time For Another Contest!

Who likes free books? Well since this is the second contest here on the blog I'm going to give away TWO books. YES TWO!!


Forever by Maggie Stiefvater

Taken from Goodreads:
In Maggie Stiefvater's SHIVER, Grace and Sam found each other. In LINGER, they fought to be together. Now, in FOREVER, the stakes are even higher than before. Wolves are being hunted. Lives are being threatened. And love is harder and harder to hold on to as death comes closing in.

And...


Carrier of the Mark by Leigh Fallon

Taken from Goodreads:
A move to Ireland is about to introduce Megan to her destiny, her real destiny, can she embrace it and will she survive it?

A tragedy in Megan’s past set her on a predetermined course. A chain of events has been set in motion that brings Megan to Kinsale, a small town in the south of Ireland where her destiny awaits her. Her life starts to fall into place as she makes new friends and settles into her new school. However, the reclusive and distant Adam DeRís calls to her body and soul.

She finds herself increasingly drawn to Adam and his strange family. Adam knows a secret from her past and he and his family hold the key to her future. A future that binds her to Adam and his world, a world of power, mystery and ancient orders. A world that unbeknownst to her, she very much belongs in.

Both of these books are ARCs. Forever was released on July 12th but Carrier of the Mark doesn't come out until October 4th!

So. All you have to do is add up the following:

Comment on post +1

New Blog Follower + 1 / Old Blog Follower + 2

Tweet about contest + 2 (please tell me your twitter name or leave a link)

Blog about contest + 3 (Please leave the link in the comments)

YAY!! Oh! And let me know which book you'd prefer!

Contest will end August 1st! I will post the winners on Tuesday the 2nd.

GOOD LUCK!

Deep Breaths

Well, hello there!

Thanks for sticking around considering I've been a bit quiet lately. You see, I just finished my edits. YAY!!!
And it's summer, which means things are rather busy around Shariland. But I did get a chance to crawl out of the hole I've been hiding in for the last two months and go to this.

It was pretty cool hearing all those stories. I got to meet Nova Ren Suma and catch a snippet from her book Imaginary Girls, which I have to read now that I, um, can.
As well as Tara Altebrando whose books I absolutely love! What Happens Here is one of my favorites. That night she was reading from her newest book Dreamland Social Club which I read before my edits arrived! GO get it!
Everyone did a great job with their readings and my TBR pile is no longer resembling a pile, it's more like a rather large being that eats up the space in my bedroom.

AND!!! I finally got to hang out with my amazing critique partner, Susanne Winnacker, who was visiting from Germany.

AND!! While we were standing there one of the fabulous Apocalypsies wandered up and it was Leanna Renee Hieber whose book Darker Still: A Novel of Magic Most Foul is out November 1st!

(from left to right) Susanne Winnacker, Leanna Renee Hieber, me


Altogether it was a pretty amazing day!

It's All About The Cover

Let's face it. A story keeps you reading but without that eye-catching cover you are never going to pick the book up in the first place.

So. In honor of all the fabulous Apocalypsies covers being announced recently I figured we should just take a moment and let our eyes eat up the pretty.

Feel free to click the photos. You never know where they'll take you!



Jessica Spotswood
BORN WICKED



Brodi Ashton
EVERNEATH



Kristen Simmons
ARTICLE 5



Veronica Rossi
UNDER THE NEVER SKY



Jill Hathaway
SLIDE



Robin Mellom
DITCHED



Gretchen McNeil
POSSESS



Leanna Renee Hieber
DARKER STILL



Jodi Meadows
INCARNATE



Cole Gibsen
KATANA



Robin Bridges
THE GATHERING STORM



K.M. Walton
CRACKED



Miranda Kenneally
CATCHING JORDAN



Sarah Tregay
LOVE & LEFTOVERS



Jenny Lundquist
SEEING CINDERELLA



Megan Bostic
NEVER EIGHTEEN



Anne Nesbet
THE CABINET OF EARTHS



Sarvenaz Tash
THE MAPMAKER AND THE GHOST



Marissa Burt
STORYBOUND



Caroline Starr Rose
MAY B.


(COMING SOON)

Shari Arnold
MYSTIQUE

LUMINOUS!!

Today is the day I interview the fabulous Dawn Metcalf over on the Apocalypsies blog!

Her debut novel LUMINOUS is out June 30th!


And just because I think she's super cool, here is another link where she was featured as a Summer Beach Read on Seventeen.com!

YAY DAWN!

Halfway

As of last night I have reached the halfway point on my edits!

Now this may not seem like a big deal. Halfway means I'm not done, I'm halfway done.
But to me — the person who starts back at the beginning at least a zillion times before I move on — halfway means things are going to be moving a lot faster from here on out.

In all fairness I never would have reached this point without inspiration.
So. Here's some music that has gotten me through the sluggish beginning. And just in case you were wondering, you should definitely check them out.

Bon Iver

Their newest album is self titled. And it rocks!! Not in a "rock" kind of way, more like you could close your eyes and listen to it for hours while you create worlds inside your head. Go check it out!




Cloud Cult

I have been a bit obsessed with their album, Light Chasers. In fact one of the songs would work great for my book trailer...






Death Cab For Cutie

I've always been a fan. Their newest album, Codes and Keys, has one of my favorite songs so far, Monday Morning.

YAY music!!

And if you have some inspirational songs of your own feel free to share them!