Pre-Order SOMETHING ABOUT LOVE!

Okay, so I am self-publishing another novel! The official release date is September 15, and you can pre-order the book now!

Cover by Erin Summeril Photography

This is my second novel-in-verse, and I loved writing this one as much as my first (Elevated). It's called SOMETHING ABOUT LOVE, and here's what it's about: High school senior Olivia Winging gave up her love of photography when she gave up her boyfriend, Trevor Youngblood, a year and a half ago. She broke things off with Trevor because her mom married his dad, and dating your step-brother? Creepy.

Livvy hasn’t been on good terms with her mother since, and one of her stipulations for staying at the Youngblood’s every other weekend is that Trevor can’t be there. When she gets nominated for the Junior Photography in Excellence award, Trevor insists she enter. She agrees—only if every photo in the portfolio can be of him. Knowing that Livvy can capture a person’s deepest secrets through her lens, Trevor hesitates before accepting the deal.

As Livvy gets behind the lens of her camera again, her love of photography is rekindled. Unfortunately, the time she spends with Trevor also re-ignites the old flame for him she’s kept smothered for so long.

In order for Livvy to finish her portfolio, she’ll have to face her feelings for Trevor as well as deal with the animosity between her and her mother. Livvy’s always been able to capture a person’s soul from behind the camera—but she’s not sure she likes it when the lens is suddenly focused on her. If she can’t find a way to forgive her mother and admit how she feels about Trevor, Livvy may end up losing more than just the photography contest. She could lose her heart.

I started writing this book way last year, when my husband started taking pictures professionally. I'd help him on his shoots, and listen to the language he used when he edited pictures, and watch a lot of YouTube videos with him on apertures, and light settings, and types of cameras, and exposures.

It was a fascinating thing. While I'm not into that line of creative work, I decided to take some of his life and put it into some of mine: a novel. I finished SOMETHING ABOUT LOVE last winter, and I had my husband read it for me to make sure all the photography stuff was accurate.

So yeah. You can pre-order SOMETHING ABOUT LOVE here and get it delivered to your device on Monday, September 15. 

Help spread the word! Enter to win $15 Paypal cash by doing any or all of the items in the Rafflecopter widget.

a Rafflecopter giveaway


If you're a writer, have you ever taken part of someone else's life and put it in a book?

I Am Who I Am

Okay, so I think we're constantly growing and changing. We may think we know who we are, and what we stand for. In a lot of ways, we do. We each have "lines" we won't cross, or things we won't say, or other such things.

But from time to time, we're made aware of some things about ourselves that we thought we were okay with, only to find that we are, in fact, not okay with them.

It's a hard thing to face, especially as an adult--someone who shouldn't worry about what other people think about them.

But -- *whispers* -- we still do to some extent. And over the past several months, I've been wondering about myself.

See, it's pretty hard for me to open up to people. I have this wall up between me and others, and I actually like it. I don't like to hang out with large groups of people -- or even one-on-one is hard for me. It takes years for me to really come to be friends with people.

I care about them (I'm not a sociopath!), and I call them my friends, but I don't share personal information very often. I don't talk about personal things. As I've watched others, I've wondered, "Why don't I want to stay here and talk while my kids play?" or "Why don't I want to go to girl's night?" or "What's wrong with me that I'd rather be at home with my computer rather than hang out with my family?"

I've decided that there isn't anything really wrong with me. I took a personality test as part of my back-to-school activities, and I was labeled an "Achiever." I like to make lists; I like to get a lot of things done in a day; I like to do everything as efficiently as possible.

One of the characteristics of Achievers is that we constantly struggle to "get the next thing done," or "spend time with family and friends."

And it was comforting and eye-opening, because that is so me! I don't want to hang out while my kid plays, because I can get a lot done during that two hours! I can answer two dozen emails, organize a blog tour, format my next book, or write 2000 words in that two hours. I have things TO DO, you know?

So I've decided that it's okay that I like to get things done, but that all things need balance. And I do force myself to attend social situations, and be more friendly and open up more to trusted people. It's hard, but I can do it--I'll just add it to my list. *wink*

Have you ever had an eye-opening realization about who you are? Are you okay with it? We are, after all, who we are.

Keepin' It Real

Okay, so I've blogged about songs before. A lot of songs. Songs and lyrics that influence me as a writer, a person.

This is one of those posts. :)

This time I'm pondering Shaggy (a rapper!) and his song from the Holes movie soundtrack, Keepin' It Real.

I couldn't find an official music video, but the lyrics are the most powerful part anyway. You might want to listen here though. It's a great song! Very motivating to keep going (or as Shaggy says, "Keep on keepin' on), to persevere, and to be happy for everything you have RIGHT NOW, not what you don't have yet.

I love these lines the most:
"Not everything you want is everything you really need,
The standard of society's motivated by greed.
Are you prepared to follow,
Tell me, you prepared to lead?
So persevere and you'll succeed."

I love being reminded to be grateful for what I have, and to keep working hard for what I don't. What do you think? Inspiring lyrics? A song you can get behind?

WriteOnCon 2014!

Dude, so WriteOnCon is happening again this year! I have been on-board with the planning of this amazing, free, online conference for five years running. We have decided to scale things back quite a bit this year.

We will have Ninja Agents and Editors in the forums, so if you're an aspiring author looking for feedback on your query letters, first five pages, or just want to catch the eye of an agent or editor, post there! I love watching the Ninja's come into the forum, and the excitement of people as they comment and request pages.

We will be doing only live events this year. Twitter pitch chats, live chats, and some twitter chats too. Our agents and editors are awesome with their time. I know we'll be putting up a schedule in the next few days, but mark your calendars now for next Tuesday, August 26, and Wednesday, August 27 for the fifth annual WriteOnCon!

Have you attended WriteOnCon before? I hope you'll join us this year!

End of Summer, End of Hiatus

Okay, so I've been gone for a while! It feels a bit like I've abandoned the blog, but I assure you I haven't! I've just been taking a little hiatus while I "summer" properly.

I decided to make "summer" a verb this year. I've been doing all the summery things that should be done, like writing by the pool, catching up on reality TV, taking the kids to amusement parks, hiking to waterfalls, the whole kit 'n kaboodle. (Do people use that phrase anymore? I feel like I'm eighty years old! Haha.)

But anyway, school starts this week, and I'm back into full swing. I have a few exciting things coming up book-wise, and I'm excited to be back on the blogging train with you all! I have been blogging over at the League this summer, but I'll be back on my own blog now, all rejuvenated and ready for an exciting autumn!

Did you summer properly? I hope you did!