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.

 

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.

So, here I am blogging and promoting and giving crap away

It's almost been a year since I published Dissected. Copies have sold. It has great reviews. Honestly though, it has not been stellar. Why you ask? Well, right after I published that book my world pretty much fell apart in many ways. I won't go into all the details of my drama, but I've been busy, I've been dealing with matters that needed dealing.

On top of all the drama, I've also had some health issues that were finally summed up for me last week in as disappointing a way as they could be. Basically, I was told, "This is who you are now, learn to like yourself this way and learn how to live with it."

Yeah, no magic cure.

Don't worry, I'm not dying or anything. I apparently just can't function like ordinary people, therefore any time I have during the day to get stuff done is basically cut in half so I have to choose between activities: cleaning, writing, marketing, working from home, etc. etc. My house is always half messy, my lawn is unmowed, and I've been working on this same manuscript for about forever (trying to finish it during NaNoWriMo).

Now that all that is out of the way, and now that Dissected is almost one and hasn't been nurtured in the way it should have been, it's time to start. And how do we do that?

 a Rafflecopter giveaway

Yep, I'm giving some crap away. What you ask? Well,  we have a size L got Cassiopeia? short sleeve black t-shirt, a copy of Dissected with SWAG, a 1 pound bag of wild cherry gummy bears and a jar of glow in the dark stars.

How's that for starters? Click on the Rafflecopter link to go to the giveaway. Winner to be picked November 11th, announced November 12th, right here on my blog.

On top of that, on November 12th I will be offering the Kindle version of Dissected free on Amazon for 2 days.

It would do me a great honor if you'd spread the word (of course, some of your prize entries require it, so there's that).

For a short summary of the book and to read reviews, you can visit the Amazon page.

I'll also be changing the look of this blog. I've already updated my Twitter and I'm working on my website, so this will be next on my list as well as my Facebook. I'm growing up, moving forward, keeping on.


I'll be posting more links to reviews and whatnot up until the giveaway/anniversary date, so come back.

You can find me on Facebook and Twitter, and most anywhere authors hang out on the interwebs.

Thanks to those of you who have supported me along my journey. It's been smooth at times, choppy others, but you have to put things into perspective. I suppose as long as I wake up every morning, I can't complain too terribly much.

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.

MIA, Super Bowl, Writing, Oh My!

Where has the week gone? Have I blogged once this week? I really couldn't say, I've barely known what day it was all week. It's been crazy...

The day job has been so busy. We have some big changes in the making, so I've been putting together a marking blitz to publicize them, which will come out next week. On top of that, I had two marketing events Martini Monday and  Legal Marketing Winter Social and Awards Night.

I enjoy my day job, but, Oy, it's been crazy busy lately.

I've been doing a little writing. I've been working on A Tattered Life, and I started a new WIP. I know, I'm crazy. It's women's fiction. Humorous. Well, I hope it is at least. I've been wanting to write the book for about 3 years. When I was on my vacation...wait...have I already told you this story? Anyway, when I was on vacation, I was lying in bed one morning and specific sentences came to mind. So I started writing it. Stupid, I know. But stupid is how I roll. *cough*

Of course I had to fit the BF in because I'd barely seen him.

Then there were the debates over gun control over Facebook and Twitter. Not going there now, nor am I ever going there again. Agree to disagree. Period.

House cleaning, exercise.

Thinking about marketing my book then not doing it.

I swear I'm going to this weekend.  It's selling without marketing it. Imagine what it would do if I actually told people it was out there.

Anxiously awaiting the Super Bowl. GO HAWKS!!!

Anyway, busy busy busy...

Have a great weekend, relax, don't play with guns, buy my book and root for the SEAHAWKS!!!

Friday Scribbles:

Pandora queue song: Not That Kind of Girl by Miss Li (Miss Li station)

Book of the Week: I'm reading Allegiant by Veronica Roth. Such a great series. Really have enjoyed it. Just started the book a little bit ago. Hope to finish in the next couple weeks.

Netflix of the Week: Damages Season 5. I cannot believe I already almost done with this series. At least it's almost gotten me to the last half of Walking Dead Season 4.

Quote of the Week:

30 days of thanks: day 13

I'm thankful for my readers. I thank everyone that showed up at my Dissected launch party last night. I am overwhelmed with gratitude. I know there were others that wanted to be there but had to work, or were sick, but I know they were there in spirit.

I was so nervous, there was so much I forgot that I wanted to say. I wanted to say, that writing what I write, the hard stuff, the people with flaws, with issues...I write it because I'm drawn to it, because it resonates with me. The people in my books - I know them. In many ways I am them.

I also wanted to tell them that if you read the book and if you like the book, consider taking the time to review it on Amazon. Not just my book, but any book of any author that maybe someone hasn't heard of, because it does help. If we get a number of reviews, Amazon might move us to a certain list, or section that might give us a little more promotion.

Also, if you like it, tell a friend.

Okay enough about that and back to my readers. I started writing because I love to do it. It's a form of therapy, a copying mechanism, not unlike my characters Sydney's decision to cut. But since getting published, I realize how important my readers are to me. To inspire them or to give them a story or character to connect with, that makes me feel good.

Here are just a couple tidbits of messages I've received from people who've read my work:

"...i felt like i had a sense of enlightenment and it made me want to be a better person..."

"My younger daughter died of osteosarcoma (a bone cancer) in Dec 2007; she was sixteen.  She would have had so much in common with Austin.  Her courage continues to inspire me and while I will never get over her loss, I have made it through.  Thank you for giving teens with cancer a voice."

"...Never Eighteen changed my entire outlook on life. Thank you so much for writing this wonderful book. ...Thank you again for this amazing contribution to the literature world!"

Just a few, but you get the point. Messages like these make me feel amazing and want me to keep doing what I'm doing.

So, thank you readers for inspiring me and motivating me to keep going.

Happy Wednesday!

Preview for Dissected and Giveaway

Dissected is almost ready to be released into the world. I've gone back and forth with the editing and proof copies and now I've put a preview of the first chapter up on Createspace. If you'd like to read it, follow this link. The excerpt is 'R' rated. Consider yourself warned.

At Createspace you're able to leave a review of the preview if you wish. Feel free.

Remember I'm also giving away two copies of Dissected on Goodreads, available November 12. Enter here.

Here are a couple blurbs about Dissected from beta readers who happen to be librarians...these are also the blurbs you will see on my bookmarks...

"I liked it. I am disturbed by it. I was sucked in by it...Bostic's writing speaks to the reader's heart, and that is a gift." ~ Laura Denehy, Library Media Specialist,  Merrimack Middle School, Merrimack, NH

"A raw and vulnerable look at a young girl's downward spiral into drugs after being betrayed by her boyfriend. Heartwarming? No. Real? Hell yes!" ~ Jen Bigheart, Librarian, Westbank Community Library; District Director, Austin Teen Book Festival

Writing Wednesday : A Tattered Life

Well I'm up to about 5600 words in this book. It's coming slow, but I've not had a lot of writing time lately. I will now, as I once again have more writing time on my hands. I'm liking this MS, though I find it a challenge to write from the alternating perspectives of a journal writer then the reader 8 months later. But I'm always up for a challenge. :) 

 Setting this scene, Jaden is waiting for Payton out in his truck. He's read more of the journal, and about the "white trash" girl's life, and he sees similarities between her and Payton and starts to worry...

I slide into the truck and pull the notebook out of my bag. Flipping through the pages, I try to find where I left off. Just as I get to the right page, I jump, startled by a loud knock on my passenger window.  I look up and Payton’s standing there, shaking her head, rolling her eyes and motioning for me to unlock her door.

“Jesus, you scared me to death.”

“That was my intention,” she says looking at me strangely, like she’s seeing something new about me. “What are you reading? You looked, well, engrossed. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you that interested in something before, aside from football and cheerleaders, that is.”

I shove the notebook back in my bag and throw it behind the seat.  “I have interests beyond football you know?”

Now she looks at me like I’m mad as a hatter. “Oh, you do, do you? And what might those be?”

Staring into her eyes, I pull a classic Jaden move. “You.” Her breath catches and I scoot closer to her, caress her cheek and move in for a kiss.

Unexpectedly, she shoves me away. “Not here! Are you crazy? We’ll be seen.”

She’s right. I don’t know what got into me. I’ve never been that flagrant with our relationship. If anything, I’m beyond paranoid, always looking over my shoulder, careful not to be seen by anyone, especially Ava. I don’t say a word; I just scoot back, turn the key in the ignition and head to our spot.

We pull in and draw near each other. My hands immediately heads under Payton’s shirt, hers clasp the back of my neck. We lean in and our tongues find one another, dancing, and swirling in the other’s mouth. My mind starts to race, but not like it usually does to things like the color of Payton’s panties and how fast I can get her bra off. No, today it travels to the girl in the notebook and her secret rendezvous with Noah. I push Payton away.

Confused look on her face she says, “What is it? What’s wrong?”

I don’t really know what, if anything, is wrong. My mind just keeps going back to those last two entries. I have questions. “Nothin’. Nothin’s wrong.” I grab her hand in mine. It’s not like Ava’s, soft and smooth like milk. It’s firm, a little rough around the edges like her, but nice —and warm. “Our relationship—”

“Relationship?” Her brows are furrowed.

“You know what I mean. This thing we have, you know it’s just for fun, right? That it’s just what it is or what it will ever be.”

“What the fuck are you talkin’ about?” She sounds pissed.

“What I mean is, I’m with Ava, you understand that, right?”

She pulls her hand away from mine. “Jesus, Jaden, you think I’m an idiot?”

“No. I’m sorry. I just wanted things to be clear between us.”

Slamming up against the bucket seat she says, “It’s crystal.”

I lean over to her and whisper, “Sorry, babe.” I kiss her ear, her neck, make my way down her chest when another thought hits me. I sit back.

“Now what?”

“Your step dad — you guys get along okay?”

“What? Are you writing a book? Yeah, we get along fine.”

I look in her eyes; try to tell if she’s lying. “He doesn’t like, uh, you know—” she stares at me expectantly, shaking her head, waiting for me to finish. “He doesn’t hurt you does he? Touch you?”

At first, she looks pissed, but then her expression softens.  She reaches up and cups my cheek in her hand. “Jaden…,” she says so soft I can barely hear her, “…you’ve been watching too many movies.” Then she giggles, throws her arms around my neck and kisses my cheek and I feel relief. So much relief that I get choked up and I grab her and hold her tight. I don’t want her to see me like that, so I just keep holding her and I let her kiss my neck and the side of my face and wherever she wants until is subsides.

Monkey Madness Monday: Indie Publishing, Getting Closer

Received my second round of the formatted version of Dissected. Oh, it's so pretty. Found just a
couple more things that needed changing, so the next version should be it, then guess what. I make it a printed book! MEEP!!!!

What comes next? I need to come up with a sale price, set up distribution and get my bar codes in place.

As far as the sale price...the book is about 246 pages. A bit longer the Never Eighteen, which was $7.99. And I'm thinking about upping the book up a buck so I can donate some to my favorite charity, Mary Bridge Children's Hospital for every sale. So, I'm thinking $9.99 or $10.99. What do you think? Is the latter too much?

Then Lori, who is formatting my book will format the e-book version for me. She's been a God send, as have many others in this crazy process. I could not have done this on my own. Well, I could have but I'm sure it would have been a fiasco. :)

I also still have to design and order buttons and I need to get postcards designs and sent to bookstores, libraries, and schools. I'm wondering, do I mention the fact that the book is indie published? Hmmm, what have you other indie authors done if you've actually published in print?

Changing gears and writing about tornado debris

After prodding from a couple people, I'm going to write the story about the journal that travels 50 miles via tornado and ends up in a teenage boy's yard. I've been wanting to write it for two years any way and it has stuck in my head all this time, so while I'm getting Dissected off the ground, revising (probably run football book which still needs a new title through autocrit), I will write this story. It's a long time coming and my friend Gae says she will steal the idea if I don't write it now. :)

I will tell more of the background of where I got the idea. After the 2011 tornadoes that blasted through Virginia, Mississippi, Arkansas, Alabama, etc, there was a news report about a man who was picking up debris in his yard, only to find a tattered piece of a pay stub, or something similar (can't remember exactly).

He had enough information from the torn paper to find it's owner. That piece of paper had traveled 100 miles. The man contacted the family at the other end, I believe it was a couple with two daughters. They had lost just about everything. The man ended up helping them pick up the pieces a bit, sending clothing, toys, and such to help them out.

The idea of finding a piece of someones life in another's front yard fascinates me. What if it was

something more than just a pay stub. A personal glimpse into their life. So the idea of sending a tattered journal came to mind and letting this boy, who maybe doesn't care too much about the people and the world around him, find it, and letting him read it, and for once in his life, become involved in something, become attached to it, care about it, and when he thinks he's going to lose it, want to do something about it.

That's it. Working title, A Tattered Life. May change it down the road. We'll see.

Happy Friday everyone. Pray for those in Oklahoma. Remember Zach Sobiech. If you have a three day weekend, enjoy every minute of it.

Friday Scribbles

Pandora song on queue: Runaway by Yeah Yeah Yeahs (Postal Service station)

No book or Netflix of the week, as I've had no time to watch or read anything. First time I've skipped. Oh well.

Quote of the week: “When we think of the past it's the beautiful things we pick out. We want to believe it was all like that." Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid's Tale

Wednesday WIP day

First off, could you go like my profile pic on Facebook? I'm in a contest where I could win $1000 from my kickboxing club.

And without further ado, my WIP.

I believe this is a continuation of the section I posted last week, from my WIP Revelation: Book One of the Divination Chronicles.

Mary and I head to the gym; P.E. is our only class together. We enter the locker room and pull out our second hand gym clothes. As Infidels, we’re not even allowed to shop at stores that sell new clothing. We have to shop at thrift and vintage stores, which I don’t mind so much for everyday clothing, but finding tennis shoes that aren’t worn out is a near impossible task.

As I’m tying up my laces, a voice that makes me cringe every time I hear it says, “Nice shoes. Looks like a pair I had two years ago.” Emily Paine, a fitting last name. She’s a pain in the ass to anyone below Disciple standing. She’s flanked by the pair of idiots that follow her around like shadows, Ashley and Olivia.  They stand there, stupid evil grins on their faces. All blonde, all beautiful, all bitches.

“Hello Emily, Satan give you the day off?”

She leans over and points a perfectly manicured red nail in my face, “You better watch the Satan talk, Danica, you could be labeled a Radical, and you know what happens to Radicals.”

I look her square in the eyes. She doesn’t scare me. Her parents may be high up in the caste system, but my dad is a surgeon, and those aren’t easy to come by these days. “Don’t you have soul to suck or something?”

She crosses her arms over her overstuffed bra, juts her hip out and stands there a moment, staring at me, frustrated expression on her face, more than likely trying to come up with a comeback.  She finally says, “Your shorts are ugly.” Then she turns around and walks away. Olivia and Ashley humph at me, then follow.

As they all walk like runway models down the narrow strip between rows of lockers I shout after them, “So’s your mom!”

Mary says, “You shouldn’t mess with Emily.”

“She’s a heinous bitch.” I finish tying my laces.

Mary stands and looks at me gravely, “A heinous bitch with powerful parents who can make your parent’s life miserable.”

Writing Wednesday: An Unbalanced Line

Tell me what you think.

He glanced at me again. “You should back up, stay out of the way.”

“Yes, sir.”  I saluted, watched for a minute or two then asked, “Dad, why do you practice in Spring, anyway?”

“What?” He turned, an expression of irritation across his face. “Because there’s only a few months left until the season,” he snapped. “Now hush up, girl. I can’t sit here and entertain you. I’ve got a job to do.”

I went back and leaned against the wall, watching the team scrimmage. I never really understood the appeal of the game. The Center—would hike the ball and the Quarterback, who always wore a red shirt so he wouldn’t get tackled, would catch it. Then the Quarterback would throw it, hand it off, pitch it, or run it himself. All the while, his opponents would lunge at him, trying to get through his offensive line.  The other defenders ran down field, chasing after the receivers. I thought it seemed like a simple game. As I watched though, I realized how many plays needed to be memorized, and how you always had to be watching and be on your toes, how you needed to be inside the head of your opponents, figuring out and beating them to their next move.  There was more to it than meets the eye.    

    “Hey, Dad, is there something I can do to help?”

     He gave me a quick glance. “Uh, not really, just keep a safe distance.” And so I did and kept watching, keeping a special eye on the quarterback, who was mesmerizing. He seemed to have the most difficult job on the field. He had to be fast and strong, and have good reflexes. He had to be able to see everything, in front of him, coming up next to him. He had to have eyes in the back of his head.  He had to be quick and accurate, graceful, yet tough. He was the leader, the captain, the hero. I was in awe of the responsibility he held. If he failed, the team was sure to fail.  And the quarterback was also the player my dad paid the most attention to. It didn’t suck that he was totally hot, either.

     During one play, the quarterback—Brady Briggs— who I immediately crushed over—threw a beautiful pass down the field. The receiver went up for the ball, but he tipped it off his fingers, popping it up in the air and out of bounds. It landed at my feet. I bent down and picked it up, flipped it end over end a few times. As I turned that ball over and over in my hands, I got an idea. One that would help me and my dad get along, to become like a real father and daughter.

     My dad came and snatched the ball away from me and tossed it back out to the quarterback. I looked up at him and smiled, knowing in my heart that this would bring us together.  My dad looked at me funny and said, “You look like you’re up to something.”

     “Chu—no.” He still looked at me suspiciously.

     I nodded and went back to watching the practice, plotting in my head all the while.