New releases, books to check out and congrats!!

Hi everyone! I'm trying to get back into a regular groove of blogging so we will see what this week brings. I have a bunch of things to highlight today so let's get to it.

1. If you haven't already, go check out the lovely Christina Lee's ALL OF YOU. It's hot!!! I did read this, and whoa, hotness. I'm team Bennett all the way. Currently, it's an ebook but will be released in paperback July 1, 2014. You go, Christina!!

 

Title: ALL OF YOU

Author: Christina Lee

Publisher: Penguin/InterMix

Blurb: In this powerfully emotional debut New Adult novel, Avery has just met her hot upstairs neighbor. He’s irresistible. Tattooed. And a virgin.
 Nursing student Avery Michaels wants nothing to do with dating—she’s perfectly happy single. Privy to too many of her mother’s bad decisions and even worse taste in boyfriends, all Avery can handle is a string of uncomplicated hookups whenever the mood strikes.
 When she meets smoking hot tattoo artist Bennett, she wants him—for just one night. But he won’t accept a no-strings-attached arrangement. He lives by a straight-laced code of values based on his own troubled upbringing.
 Bennett sees something special in Avery and he wants more from her. Way more. As Avery wrestles with her emotions for Bennett, danger and tragedy force them to open up to each other. And Avery must face the terrifying realization that she wants more from him, too.
 
So she needs to make a choice—let Bennett go or finally let him in.

 

2. In other New Adult news, the amazing Stina Lindenblatt revealed the cover of her debut novel TELL ME WHEN. Sweetness!!

 

Title: TELL ME WHEN

Author: Stina Lindenblatt

Publisher: Carina Press / Harlequin

Release date: January 20, 2014

Blurb:

 

Amber Scott should be enjoying life as a college freshman. She should be pursuing her dream of becoming a veterinarian. She should be working hard to make sense of her precalculus math class.
She shouldn’t be waking up her college roommate with screaming nightmares. She shouldn’t be flashing back, reliving the three weeks of hell she barely survived last year. And she definitely shouldn’t be spending time with sexy player Marcus Reid.
But engineering student Marcus is the only one keeping Amber from failing her math course, so she grudgingly lets him into her life. She never expects the king of hookups will share his painful past. Or that she’ll tell him her secrets in return, opening up and trusting him in a way she thought she’d never be able to again.
When their fragile future together is threatened by a stalker Amber thought was locked away for good, Marcus is determined to protect her—and Amber is determined to protect Marcus…even if that means pushing him away.

3. Another New Adult novel has been released by Kevin Sheridan. It has a very cool premise. And I had the pleasure to read it before the release. Definitely one to check out!! Congrats Kevin!!


Title: UNDER A BROKEN SUN
Author: Kevin P. Sheridan
Publisher: Dancing Dolphin Productions

Blurb:

When the world is thrown back into the dark ages, Adam Dawson must find his way across the country to reunite with his father, fighting through the religious zealots who believe the end has come.

4. In YA news, Ilene Wong has sold her debut novel, NONE OF THE ABOVE to Balzer + Bray. A huge congrats to her!! It will be released Fall of 2015. Go give a her your love!!

Big congrats to all these authors!! Mark your calendars for the releases and definitely check out the books that are out!!

That's all for today. No exciting news for me. Just writing and revising. Basically, I'm just moving along . . . slowly. I plan to be back for IWSG on Wednesday!!

Have a great day!!

Check this out.

I have a couple of links to check out plus a teleconference.

1. Adapting Story Structure For Any Project by Becca Puglisi

2. If you Hate Writing a Character . . . Don't Write Them by Roz Morris

3. How Stephen King Writes Imagery by Jason Boog

4. Creating Tension by the lovely Christina Lee

Tonight at 7 p.m. EST. K.M. Walton will be presenting a teleconference --"WRITING YA: HOW TO LET THE CHARACTERS' VOICES TAKE OVER AND KEEP YOU SILENT" To learn more about it out go here. You don't have to be present to take part. It's free, and once you sign up you can access the presentation for 24 hours after it airs.

Isn't she sweet?

That's all I got today.

Do you have any links to share?

Have a great day!

Test the waters

Getting critiqued can be scary. The idea of someone reading what you (heart and soul) wrote may give you  nightmares of blood red ink scratched across each page with comments of how to fix this and that, along with what you need to learn in the margins. Embarrassment, hurt, saddness can take hold and a tear may fall. You open your eyes. It was a nightmare. A big sense of relief, but at some point, you have to share your work. Why? To grow. To strengthen. You need to know what is wrong to fix it.

For some, it's easy. For others, not so much. For me, I wanted lots of people to read my stuff and tell me what I needed to do. It doesn't mean I wasn't chewing my nails or eating a load of chocolate everytime I sent it, or I didn't fall hard when I got some of them back. I did and I still do. You learn how to deal and tolerate it in some way. But I realized the only way for me to learn is to 'see' what I'm doing wrong.

Where do you start? There are many places to begin.

1. Ask a fellow blogger or writer you trust. It's a start. Send something small if you want to test the waters.

2. If you are feeling brave try one of these ultra helpful sites. Both take only small snippits of your work and give some great feedback. Plus, you can remain anonymous. Easy peasy.

Christina Lee and Stina Lindenblatt's First Words Workshop

Dianne Salerni and Marcy's (Mainwords) First Impressions

3. If you're really brave try something more. There are forums where you can load more of your work for feedback.

YALitChat-For young adult

Figment

Authonomy

Miss Snarks's First Victim

It's not easy. No one said it was. Testing the waters is just another step in becoming a better writer.

Have you tested the waters?

If you want to share any other tips or sites, please share in the comments below.
Have a great day!

Kick A** Author Debut Spotlight

So the fabulous Christina Lee has gathered a bunch of folks to spotlight a debut author in 2011 (I think some folks may be doing some authors in 2010). I love supporting people and giving shout outs so here is my spotlight.

I'm spotlighting Amy Holder.

Here are the book specs:

Title: The Lipstick Laws

Author: Amy Holder

Pages: 240

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt/Graphia

Blurb:

At Penford High School, Britney Taylor is the queen bee. She dates whomever she likes, rules over her inner circle of friends like Genghis Khan, and can ruin anyone's life with a snap of perfectly manicured fingers. Just ask the unfortunate few who have crossed her.

 

For April Bowers, Britney is also the answer to her prayers. April is so unpopular, kids don't even know she exists. But one lunch spent at Britney's table, and April is basking in the glow of popularity.

 

But Britney's friendship comes with a high price tag. How much is April willing to pay?

 

This isn't something I would normally read. It's a Young Adult chick lit (I think that is what you could call it). I read a lot of dark and write a lot of dark, but something a little lighter (like this) with lots of great humor helps the mind take a break from heavy. So, here are some reasons I liked this book and spotlighted this author.

 

 1. This book has great voice. I love, love, love books with voice and April's voice is great. I could relate to this gal.

 

2. This book brought back many memories of how kids act in high school.  

 

3. The pace is awesome and I loved the writing (first person, present tense, my favorite). 

 

4. I couldn't put it down. I needed to know what happened. Good sign of a book full of awesome.

 

5. Did I mention voice? April's one liners are fantastic. I smiled the whole time I was reading this. Oh and the other characters are fabulous too.

 

6. Amy Holder (author) is super sweet, seriously, if you ever meet her, you would see what I mean.

 

There you have it. Short and sweet. Definitely check out Amy's website and her blog.

You can purchase her book on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Indie bookstores.

She is also on Good reads, Facebook, and Twitter.

Also,go check out the other bloggers who are spotlighting an author. Thanks to Christina for putting this together.

 

Any debut authors you would like to share?

 

Have you read The Lipstick Laws?

 

Have a great day!!