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.

I think it's time...

After some low days and soul searching I decided I could not stay away from writing. I miss writing this blog and I miss writing fiction. I have one novel fully written that just needs editing and one that I have about 30k in that I need to finish and so many ideas it seems a shame not to write them.

So I am back.

I also have my author website I was updating which I'd like to finish and was going to start a new weekly blog

This is what I love and though I love what I do at my day job as well, it is not enough. I will have to toil through work and health problems, exercise and kids activities and make a schedule that works.

I picked up writing for a reason. I needed it, and I don't mean like oxygen, like so many others might say. It came to me at a time that I was grieving. It makes me calm, gives me peace, help me breathe - a form of therapy that nothing else seems to be able to parallel.

So, I guess, in a way it's like oxygen. I feel I need it to survive this world. I realized that without it my world was a darker place.

Book Review: The Fault In Our Stars by John Green

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is the first John Green book I’ve read, though I’ve wanted to read him for a long time. You know the phrase, so many books, so little time…anyway, I HAD to read it before I saw the movie, so it was time and here are my thoughts:

I thoroughly enjoyed the characters in this book. Green writes them very well, they are unique, and descriptive and you truly get a feel for what they are going through. Both sets of parents, Augustus’ and Hazel’s have just the right balance of strong, yet on-the-brink-of-breaking-down. I love that her father is the sensitive one. I think we often see fathers as being the strong and unemotional, but the truth is, they can be as vulnerable and expressive as their female counterparts.

I adored Hazel and Augustus and found their relationship sweet and affecting. I loved their silly banter, their quick wits, and sarcasm. They are actually much like me, which I liked. Couple things that bugged me, both of them had odd names. There are just not many Hazels and Augustus’ out there anymore. Their vocabulary both in dialogue and internally seemed WAY over their heads. I understand the wisdom of the dying youth, and the fact that these two are incredibly intelligent, but I still don’t think teenagers would talk and think the way they do at times. Sometimes yes. As often as they do? No. Also the calling each other by full names and first and middle names cute at first, but through the whole book, a little irritating. And the over use of “um.” Um? That’s just my ticky tacky stuff.

This brings me to Green’s writing skills, I think he is an amazing and beautiful writer. He makes putting words to paper look effortless and seamless, which, as a writer, I know it is not. It’s obvious he took a great amount of time to research the subject matters spoken of in this book , i.e. cancer, treatments, Amsterdam, and it felt like they mattered to him.

I guess I’m among the minority that found the story just good and not earth-shattering. I liked it yes, I’m not sure I loved it. I’m not a big crier when I read, and I did not cry while reading this either. The only time I remember getting a little emotional is when Hazel spoke to her mom about not being a mom anymore. There are books that have resonated with me more.

However, as I said before, I liked the book, I loved the characters, John Green’s writing is impressive, the storyline, noble. I will read the other John Green books on my shelf. This would be a 3.5 for me, but Goodreads doesn't allow 3.5 so I'd rather up it than down it.

Do I recommend it? Yes. If you like books about cancer, books that make you cry, books like Deadline by Chris Crutcher, Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher, The Pull of Gravity by Gae Polisner and any other of John Green’s books.


View all my reviews

We're on a break

Writing and me that is. Life just keeps handing me these tests and tribulations this year and it's gotten to the point in which something has to be put on the back burner. As much as I'd like it to be my unruly teenagers or my job or health issues being faced by myself and loved ones, unfortunately, they win out.

You've probably already noticed the absence from my blog (if I still have any readers at this point).

I know it only takes 20 minutes a day to stay on top of things, but so do a lot of other things like graduation announcements and doctor appointments and mowing the lawn.

I still have things in play, for instance, Girl in Motion is still competing in the ABNA contest, next cuts being made in a couple weeks. You can go read and review the first 5000 words if you wish. It has an average rating of 4.7 out of 5 stars. Not too shabby.

I also have blog tour the first week of next month for Dissected, and of course it's still for sale on Amazon in print and for Kindle.

Never Eighteen is still plugging along as well.

All other writerly things will be put on hold, including this blog, indefinitely. That is unless something crazy happens like Girl in Motion wins ABNA or sales go through the roof or I win the lottery or something. Feel free to keep buying and reading and spreading the word because I will be back. I have unfinished stories both in files and in my head, and finished ones that just need a little polishing.

Until then...thanks for your support.