Winners and Free Books

So, today marks the year anniversary of my novel Dissected. If you've read my blog before, you may know, since publishing it, I haven't had a lot of time to market it, so I'm starting now, on its anniversary.

I began with a contest for a huge prize pack, and picked the winner yesterday. And the winner is...Samantha Gee!!! Congrats!!

See what she won:

I want to thank everyone who entered and those who spread the word.

Don't forget Dissected is free for your Kindle today on Amazon.

It has an average 5 star rating.

Readers have called it "Gutsy" "Powerful" "Raw" "Edgy" and "Intense" so if you know anyone who would be interested, spread the word.

If you decide to take the opportunity to read it, it would be great if you'd take the time to give it a short review on Amazon. Reviews really do help sell books on Amazon.

Thanks for your support! I <3 you="">

One day left

 Seriously, the prizes are awesome. I'm not kidding. I want to keep them, but I can't
because that would be totally unethical. Right now, your chances of winning are amazing.

Enter. Spread the word. Show me some love.  You won't regret it. *cue guitar riff*





a Rafflecopter giveaway

Oh, and don't forget the Kindle version of Dissected is going to be free this  Wednesday, November 12th. Tell the world.

I'll even add a funny cat video for your viewing pleasure.

 

Understanding Self Harm

My book Dissected is about a girl who cuts herself to ease her emotional pain. I think a lot of people misunderstand many things about self-harm, and that's reasonable given that it's kind of like a dirty little secret that gets locked in the closet or swept under the carpet. In fact, when I was searching for a few statistics for this blog, I even had a hard time coming up with sites that talked about it. Don't get me wrong, there are ways to find out about it, after all, I did a ton of research when writing my book, but you may have to dig a little.

People that self-harm for the most part are not suicidal. They don't want to kill themselves. They are hurting themselves to forget about a larger pain or problem they are feeling, whether they are depressed about something, lonely, or just feeling empty inside. They use the harm as a coping mechanism because they don't know how else to manage their emotions.

Many of them are expert at hiding their wounds for a very long time before being found out. They hide their injuries beneath long sleeves, some of them cause injury to their legs so no one will see them. These aren't just the broody kids wearing black, sitting in the corner. Just like suicide, the cheerleader, the jock, the valedictorian...any one of them could be a self-harmer.

It's more prevalent than you may think. Research says about 1 in 6 teens have experimented with self-harm. In the U.S. 1 of every 200 girls 13 to 19 regularly engages in self injurious behavior. Girls do tend to self-harm more than boys, but boys do engage as well.

Those who self-harm may have a coinciding undiagnosed mental illness. Common ones are OCD, PTSD, Borderline Personality Disorder, depression, Bi-Polar, Schizophrenia, and Eating Disorder. There are others. Self-injurious behavior can have serious consequences as well, such as:

·        Social isolation and poor interpersonal relationships

·        Increasing feelings of shame, disgust, and guilt

·        Poor self-esteem and self-image

·        Permanent scarring

·        Injured tendons, nerves, blood vessels, and muscles

·        Permanent weakness or numbness in certain areas of the body

·        Multi-organ damage and/or failure

·        Infections at the site of self-injury

·        Septicemia

·        Suicidal thoughts and behaviors

·        Accidental, inadvertent death

Parents, don't feel guilty if your teen is able to engage in self-harm for a while before you find out. Teenagers are weird. Who would know the difference between normal teen behavior and something more serious? As I said, some kids are expert at hiding their wounds. Here are some signs you can look for in a self-harmer:

·        Always wearing long pants and long-sleeved shirts, especially when it's inappropriate, like in the summer

·        Brushing off injuries as frequent “accidents”

·        Spending a lot of time alone

·        Challenges with friendships and romances

·        Gradual withdrawal from once-enjoyed activities

·        Unpredictable, impulsive, risky behaviors

·        Depression

·        Increased anxiety

·        Scarring.

·        Scratches or cuts

·        Bruises

·        Broken bones

·        Patches of missing hair

If you're a teen that's cutting or engaging in some other form of injurious behavior, your first step is to simply tell someone. That will probably be the hardest part. If you can't tell your parents, find someone else you trust to help you whether it's a teacher, school counselor, a friend or friend's parent, a sibling or other relative. People will want to help.

If you're a parent of a self-harmer, first of all, don't freak out. Stay calm. There is help out there.  Don't assume it's "just a phase." Teens that don't get help may end up being adult cutters. Don't blame yourself or your child. Counseling will get to the bottom of your child's behavior. Don't hide all the sharp objects in your house. That's pretty unreasonable and if a child is going to hurt him or herself, they'll find a way.  Be supportive.

I wish I had advice for educators, but I know all school districts handle these children differently, some well, some not so well. I'd be interested to hear from teachers as to how their schools handle self-harmers when they are recognized at school.

Here are some resources for those who need assistance

S.A.F.E. (800) 366-8288
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline  (800) 273-8255
Students Against Depression Website started in the UK with lots of good info.
To Write Love On Her Arms
Seventeen Magazine online has posted a list of resources on its site.

Okay, so, let's move on to happier things. I'm running a giveaway to celebrate the year anniversary of my book release for Dissected. It's a uber giant prize pack. See...

t-shirt, book, SWAG (not shown), all RED gummy bears and a jar of glow in the dark stars.

Visit my Facebook page to enter.

The giveaway is now live and other writerly things

Yes it is. It's live now. It wasn't yesterday when I posted it.  So, here it is.


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Your chances of winning are tremendously good because this is only going on until the 11th and the prize pack is HUGE!  You can read yesterday's blog to see pics of the prizes. I kind of want to keep them myself, but that would be really rude.

Here are some links to reviews and whatnot for Dissected, if you'd like a taste before you enter.

Bookish Blog  book review
Offbeat Vagabond book review
Review by author Louann Carroll
Bookraptured book review
Author interview on Spines & Covers Book Blog
Interview for My Writing Process Blog Tour on author Stephanie Feuer's blog

Some of the above are from a book tour I did through Lady Reader, Amy Del Rosso.  Also, the graphics you see were created by Kriss Morton, otherwise known as the Cabin Goddess.

Don't forget I will be offering Dissected for free on November 12th for Kindle on Amazon. Yay!

As for other writerly things...

I'm participating in NaNoWriMo because I'm insane. Yes. I'm actually taking the opportunity to finish the novel I start a bazillion years ago and it's working out famously thus far.  I'm a little infuriated though because their website seems to be perpetually glitchy. Ugh. They usually get it fixed right around the end of November. HAHA kidding. I'm sure it will be running smoothly soon.

I also have a finished manuscript in need of a serious edit. That will have to wait until this one is finished however.

And that is what I'm attempting to do in the little time I have.

Anyone else doing NaNo? What are you working on?

Have a great Tuesday night! Enter the contest, spread the word. Peace.

Dissected free for you Kindle tomorrow!

Man, it's been a crazy busy couple weeks. Again.

I had my first school visit in conjunction with my book Dissected. I went to Tacoma's School of the Arts and talked to an English class about traditional and indie publishing, as well as the book itself. They had some great questions for me. I think it was a successful visit.

To celebrate, the Kindle version will be free on Amazon all day tomorrow, February 7th. If you've not read it, go get your copy.

If you read it, I would urge you to leave a review. Reviews truly help us small, tiny, miniscule authors get noticed. Really they do.

Also, if you are a Tacoma/Seattle area school librarian or English teacher I would love to visit your school. It's one of my favorite things about being an author. Feel free to send me an email.

Merry Christmas and all that.

Just wanted to wish everyone celebrating a Merry Christmas. Obviously I've had another couple busy weeks, at work, at home, everywhere. I'm sure we all have.


Just wanted to offer up that once again I'm offering up Dissected for free on Amazon for your Kindle today. Click here.




 And I'll share my Christmas card poem with you all that I sent out this year...

Can you believe it’s been a year,

since we’ve sent out these cards full of Christmas cheer.

We Bostics have been busy, that is for sure.

Let’s start with Rachel, my baby girl.

She turned 15 and started to drive,

at the wheel she certainly does thrive.

With both the girls drivers tests almost passed,

oh dear God I’m free at last!

She’s also still playing music with her band,

microphone in front, guitar in hand

As far as music, the girl is on fire,

she also made Wilson’s Concert choir.

Mary is also in high gear,

playing on three soccer teams this year

And she’s finally part of the working class,

now Megan no longer has to give her money for gas.

Can you believe she’s a senior already?

Applying to colleges, testing steadily.

Good news last week came through,

she got into her first choice school, Wazzu.

Megan’s been busy this year, to bring home the bread.

She coached both girls in soccer, which was quite a coup,

as her team Venom went 10 and 2.

She’s been a busy writing elf,

her new novel hit Amazon and bookstore shelves

She markets, cleans, laundries and shops,

and she’s starting her own business, the woman don’t stop.

So there you have it, 2013,

we three ladies await for what the next year might bring

A quieter house as Mary goes on her own,

and Rachel takes to the car instead of the home

Megan’s freedom comes but it’s bittersweet

her two angels are off to their drummer’s own beat

But for now we celebrate our life day to day,

in chaos and messes, in music, writing and play

Enjoy your families and the holiday cheer.

Merry Christmas to all, see you next year.

Done being thankful

Thankful or taking a poop?

It's not that I have nothing left to be thankful for, but my cousin Natalie made a good point on Facebook the other day. She said this"

"Not to be mean but I could really live without peoples thankfulness after the 15th. I could care less about their thankfulness of coffee, blankets,sunshine,a strangers smile,cars,water and just being a human on a everyday basis. If your posting something stupid about being thankful just stop! No one is gonna say" hey Debbie what happened to your thankful List from the 20th to the 30th" just do yourself a favor and live thankfulness..."

Haha, she's funny and I got tired of trying to think of stupid things to be thankful for. So thank you Natalie for pointing that out. I'll just be thankful every day I wake up because it means I'm still alive.

I will be nowhere near a place like this on Black Friday

I would like to say this about being thankful: If you're one of those batshit crazy kind. Be polite. And most importantly, try not to trample anyone to death.
people that go shopping on Black Friday - I am not, as I loathe the mall, crowds, people in general, shopping and I'm a broke bitch - please remember all the things that your were thankful for just the day before.  Be

One more thing, in honor of Black Friday, the kindle version of my new book Dissected with be free on Amazon this Friday.

Yes I said FREE. One day only.

I ask one thing of you. If you download it, read it and like it, I would love if you would review it for me on Amazon. It really does help sell more books.

If you don't like it, feel free to review it as well, that helps too, but I won't like those reviews as well. Just sayin'.

Dissected Trailer & Fundraising Campaign

First of all, let me give you the cute Monday Monkey.

Now, I'm very excited to announce that I finished the book trailer for Dissected. So, without further ado, here it is. Let me know what you think.

 

Okay, I think I've already mentioned this, but I've started an Indiegogo page to raise some funds to publish Dissected. I'm really not asking for much, just enough to get me started. Find the campaign here. You'll get "perks" for donating, such as SWAG packs and signed books. So you don't get a double dose if info, I'll let you go to the page to see the why's of going indie and the summary of Dissected.

If you can't contribute, it would be awesome if you'd just share the link.

Have a happy Monday. Mine's been pretty shitty so far, but it's looking up.