Happy Holidays!

Thanks to everyone who has popped by my wee bloggie, and everyone who has supported my books in 2011!

Hope you holidays are full of great joy and create wonderful memories!

See you in the NEW YEAR!!

Hello? Is it me you're looking for?

Oh hello badly neglected Blog. You are still here? Waiting for me to return? How sweet and loyal. Thank you.

Well. I did it! I finished Who I Kissed and turned it into my editor exactly less than 24 hours ago. (I was going to give an exact time but seriously, I'm tired. My brain is fried. Estimations will suffice)

I know it's not done. As in done done. Lovely Leah, super editor, will read and contemplate and send me back revisions, and that's okay. I actually really like the revision process of a novel. Not that I haven't already done lots of work and re-work.  Who I Kissed was an edit as I go project. A weaving journey.

Right now. Today. I'm pleased with it. Of course my brain is still really really full of it, as in I worked on it pretty hard and in pretty high gear to get it written to a fairly short deadline. Again. That's okay. I'm a pretty fast writer. But I haven't really had a chance to step back from it and then look at it with fresh eyes. That will come in January.  

But it has some good bits I think. Hope. Pray. Of course there are sad points. The synopsis kind of acts as a spoiler for that. Girl has a peanut butter sandwich, kisses boy and kills him not realizing he is deathly allergic to peanuts. But there's lighter things. And cute boys.

It's a journey of self discovery.  Angels even have a role. And a funny little dog named Fredrick who looks kind of (okay exactly) like this:

But now as I emerge from my writer cave, I see that Christmas is almost here. Funny how it does that the same time every year, yet it always seems to sneak in unexpectedly. My house is a true disaster zone. My boy is having a sleepover party tomorrow, and there's domestic work to be done. After this weekend I am planning to collapse for a while. And then we'll be off to visit family and then back and ready for a brand new year.

2011 has been a full one. That's for sure. But that's another talk for another day.

Happy Christmas Shopping. See you on the flip side!

Warning. More Writer Deadline Confessions.

When writing a new book, once in a magical while (usually at the beginning when brains are enamoured with  new shiny stories) it sometimes seems like it's the best thing ever written by anyone ever. There may be laughing out loud while writing, there may be tears as characters suffer. These moments are usually replaced by fear that this is the most horrible drivel ever conceived and that the editor will rip up the contract and block email when she receives her first copy of the manuscript.  There may have to be intervention from other writers.

Thinking about people especially professional reviewers reading your work at this stage can only cause major carbohydrate binging. It is best avoided.

Even when it doesn't look an author on deadline is working. She is. She's watching and thinking and contemplating the way real life scenarios or conversation bits might be useful in books. She`s thinking about what her characters are doing and why. She`s wondering how she can make that person more alive. All this is secretly done while driving, eating, talking, watching our children play sports and even sleeping.

An author on deadline secretly wishes that everyone could just stop needing her for a couple weeks. Going away to a secluded room with wifi and coffee and snacks seems like the best idea. Ever. And a personal maid would be awesome too. The author still loves her family and her dog, she just wishes they could function without her for a couple weeks.

Coffee and pop become food staples.  Exercise seems much less important in the whole scheme of things.

Daily chores are really aggravating. And often aren`t done. Laundry starts to breed and multiply.

Google becomes a writer`s best friend. Real friends are only communicated with on Twitter, Facebook or in a real emergency, by email.

Worry. There is lots of worry. And hope. Lots of that too.

Happy writing!!

Confessions and a Deadline

I'm not Catholic but I live in a house with them and therefore this feels like a good time for a confession.

Hello Blog. I have not visited you in two weeks.  During that time I have often been busy working on my new novel as I should be. I also had to stop to write two non fiction write- for- hire books about Football. It was fun but way more work than I thought. The time she is ticking. November, she is a busy busy month. Plus I have begun a run program with plans to run my first half marathon in March 2012?. Yes. I might be crazy. Have I mentioned that I am not a very good runner?

I have spent wasted time reading celebrity gossip. What is up with Blake Lively? Did she really dump Leo or did he dump her? Should I really care? I suppose I'll never know the truth. Seriously she'll always be Bridget from The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants to me. No matter who she is sleeping with or how much cleavage she shows in a dress.  Okay. Yes. I'm jealous.

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I also rediscovered that I am really not a fan of Jesse James. Really not. Did you know he fooled around on that tattoo girl 19 times? Well with 19 different woman, probably more times. Which is bad enough, but what makes it worse to me is that he said something that was a total SLAM to Sandra Bullock,while engaged to tattoo girl.  Something about the tattoo girl being the very best lover he ever had.  So he purposely went out of his way to make Sandra Bullock feel bad when he was fooling around on Tattoo girl too.  Grrr. He has really scary eyes I think. Plus have I mentioned how much I love Sandra Bullock? She handled the whole thing with mega class.

 Please Blog. Tell any teen readers to never ever let themselves be fooled by the bad boy antics of boys like Jesse James. They will break your heart. Every time. There may be a character who has similarities in my new book. But I don't want to give spoilers. So shhhhhhh.

During my absense I also watched almost two full seasons of Drop Dead Diva. This. This is an awesome show. I need to hunt down Season Three.  But not until I finish writing.

I am working working working on book 3, WHO I KISSED.  I promise. And you know what, it has some really awesome parts. Unfortunatley right now it also has some parts that need work. ALOT of work. This deadline stuff is kind of freaky.

The next few weekends I have swim meet committments. I have lots of work to do. Did I mention this deadline stuff is kind of freaky?

I will be back soon, Blog. In the meantime.  If I'm not here, I'm writing. (or catching up on celebrity gossip. But shhhhh. Let's pretend it's all writing)

Read all about The First Time!

You never forget your first...

In THE FIRST TIME, 25 young adult authors contribute 25 stories all about firsts: first loves, first kisses, first zombie slayings, and more. Featuring New York Times bestselling authors Carrie Ryan and Jessica Verday, plus a host of others. From humor to horror, and everything in between, these stories will make you laugh, cry, cheer, (and maybe even scream) as you experience something brand new from the authors that you love.

Contributing authors include: Cyn Balog, Lauren Bjorkman, Leigh Brescia, Jennifer Brown, Kirstin Cronn-Mills, Janet Gurtler, Teri Hall, Cheryl Renee Herbsman, Stacey Jay, Heidi R. Kling, C. Lee McKenzie, Saundra Mitchell, Jenny Moss, Jackson Pearce, Shani Petroff, Carrie Ryan, Sydney Salter, Kurtis Scaletta, Jon Skovron, Kristina Springer, Rhonda Stapleton, Charity Tahmaseb, Jessica Verday, J. A. Yang, and Lara Zielin

Get it from Amazon:

Get it from Barnes & Noble

If you don't have a Kindle, you can still read this eBook on your phone, computer, iPad, e-reader, etc. Just grab the Amazon Kindle app here:

Happy Halloween!!

I am in the cave. Doing that writing thing. Whew. My brain is frying hard. But. A break is needed since I reached my goal for the day. Word count wise.  And so. A quick blog. A quick blog with my current writers brain. Scattered.

True Fact- There are mini chocolate bars in my home and I have not eaten any of them. Today. Yet.

True Fact- Since we last spoke, I have became addicted to Drop Dead Diva on Netflix. OMG I love this show so frickin' much.

True Fact- I feel like Halloween is over already  since we had our Halloween party last weekend. Tonight I will go out with Superson and his buddy and my buddy to trick or treat for a short while. Then all the decorations come down.

And now, some pics of Halloween past before I move on...

A Most Amazing Gift For An Author

One of the things I try to remember as an author is that no story is for everyone. What speaks to one reader may say something completely different to another. It's a personal thing and everyone has their own tastes and preferences in stories.

That said, one of the very best parts of being an author is hearing from readers who connected with a story. I've been fortunate enough to hear great comments and even have had requests for sequels or questions about what happened next. To me it's awesome that a story I wrote was vivid enough readers want to know how lives turn(ed) out or what happened later!

If you think notes like this don't make a writer's day, think again! Well, I can't speak for everyone, but I can speak for myself.  It's AWESOME.

When I'M NOT HER first came out, I invited my friends to a launch party, a celebration for me sticking in there and getting a new book out in the world. It was a great chance to celebrate I'M NOT HER. I dare say I really love the book and wanted to share my happiness and accomplishment with "my peoples". It's hard to brag about my own work, but I am pretty proud of I'M NOT HER.

Paula, one of my girlfriends who was at the launch, (who is always great for my writing ego and a good publicity person as well) passed the book on to her friend and her daughter read the story.  Well, this teenager, Hailey Bell, not only wrote me the most beautiful note, a hand written note about the book, but she is also a talented artist and she drew me a picture from the novel.  First of all the note brought tears to my eyes and then the drawing. Wow!!!

It touches my heart to say the least.  Later, not long ago, I got to meet her in person (at my IF I TELL launch). I even got to give her a hug! She's a beautiful (much taller than I thought) girl with a warm open heart and lots and lots of talent. Thanks so much to Hailey for honoring me with the gift.

Without saying too much about it and giving away a spoiler....this is Hailey's version of a drawing by the character Nick in I'M NOT HER.  If you've read the book, you'll know that this is a drawing that won a major prize.

Thanks again to Hailey for such a wonderful drawing! It hangs on my wall and is an amazing amazing gift!