THIEF'S CUNNING Cover Reveal!

TODAY'S THE DAY!

Head on over to YA Books Central to take a gander at the THIEF'S CUNNING amazing cover and to enter for a chance to win a hardcover of ASSASSIN'S HEART!

CLICK HERE FOR THE AWESOME!

 

In Which My Cover Will Be Revealed!

Book 2, THIEF'S CUNNING, is just zooming along! Which is great news!

And what's ever better news is tomorrow the cover will be revealed on YA BOOKS CENTRAL!!!

Guys, this cover. I can't even wait for you to see it. When I first saw it, I literally gasped. It's so pretty and amazing, and fits so well with the ASSASSIN'S HEART cover, too.

THIEF'S CUNNING is a sequel/companion to ASSASSIN'S HEART.

That means that it's set 18 years later, and focuses on a different main character, but the events are related directly to what happened in ASSASSIN'S HEART.

And all our favorite characters from ASSASSIN'S HEART are present and accounted for!

I'm so excited about this book, and I'm so excited for you to see the cover. And because I want to share some of my excitement, there will be a giveaway on YA Books Central along with the cover reveal!

I really hope you stop by tomorrow, at 9am (EST) sharp!

 

YA Scavenger Hunt

Welcome to YA Scavenger Hunt! This bi-annual event was first organized by author Colleen Houck as a way to give readers a chance to gain access to exclusive bonus material from their favorite authors...and a chance to win some awesome prizes! At this hunt, you not only get access to exclusive content from each author, you also get a clue for the hunt. Add up the clues, and you can enter for our prize--one lucky winner will receive one book from each author on the hunt in my team! But play fast: this contest (and all the exclusive bonus material) will only be online for 72 hours!

Go to the YA Scavenger Hunt page to find out all about the hunt. There are SIX contests going on simultaneously, and you can enter one or all! I am a part of the GREEN TEAM--but there is also a blue team, a gold team, an orange team, a red team, and an indie team for a chance to win a whole different set of books!

If you'd like to find out more about the hunt, see links to all the authors participating, and see the full list of prizes up for grabs, go to the YA Scavenger Hunt page.

SCAVENGER HUNT PUZZLE

Directions: Below, you'll notice that I've listed my favorite number. Collect the favorite numbers of all the authors on the green team, and then add them up (don't worry, you can use a calculator!).

Entry Form: Once you've added up all the numbers, make sure you fill out the form here to officially qualify for the grand prize. Only entries that have the correct number will qualify.

Rules: Open internationally, anyone below the age of 18 should have a parent or guardian's permission to enter. To be eligible for the grand prize, you must submit the completed entry form by October 9th, at noon Pacific Time. Entries sent without the correct number or without contact information will not be considered.

SCAVENGER HUNT POST

Today, I am hosting K.C. Held on my website for the YA Scavenger Hunt!


K.C. HELD is the author of the young adult mystery HOLDING COURT. Born and raised in California with stopovers in Honduras, Mexico, and France, she holds an MFA in costume design and has worked as a freelance costumer in opera, theater, film, and television.

Find out more information by checking out the author website or find more about the author's book here!


http://www.kcheld.com
Holding Court

EXCLUSIVE CONTENT

When a sixteen year-old girl with an embarrassing psychic gift she can't control takes a job at a castle-turned-dinner theater, all she wants is the chance to wear a fancy gown and ogle her crush from afar, but when she stumbles over a dead body that promptly disappears, she must prove she didn't hallucinate a dead girl before the killer strikes again.

And now for the exclusive content: an inspiration board!

Holding Court Inspiration Board

Here are a few sneak peaks of the board:

And don't forget to enter the contest for a chance to win a ton of books by me, Sarah Ahiers, and more! To enter, you need to know that my favorite number is 35. Add up all the favorite numbers of the authors on the green team and you'll have all the secret code to enter for the grand prize!

CONTINUE THE HUNT

To keep going on your quest for the hunt, you need to check out the next author! Lish McBride

Tweet #YASH



FINALLY!!!

One last Giveaway!

I will personally be giving out a copy of ASSASSIN'S HEART along with a copy of HOLDING COURT!

Fill out the rafflecopter below for a chance to win!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

In Which I Had To Say Goodbye

Loving dogs is a hard thing.

I mean, it's really easy, actually, and I know that contradicts what I just said. But we're hardwired to find puppies cute, to want to take care of them.

And they're hardwired to love us in return, to crave human affection.

And so we take them into our homes, and they love us, and we love them so much. Just as much as the people in our lives, science says.

But the thing about dogs is, they don't live as long as us.

Every dog owner knows the moment they take that puppy or dog into their home, they have issued an invitation to heartbreak and grief, who has rsvp'd for a future date.

George was going to be 11 next month.

 

He was my healthy dog. Rarely sick. Never injured.

Until last week, when we noticed he wasn't feeling well (licking his lips (nausea) and shaking)

We took him to the ER Vet, but after an hour and a half wait, he was back to normal, even playing with the vet tech, so we took him home.

He got sick again that night, and all the next day. But after that, he got better, and was back to normal for a few days.

Then it happened again.

The vet discovered he had low platelets, which besides causing his problems, also contributed to a growing lethargy we had noticed with him (he didn't really enjoy walks anymore. We thought maybe he was just getting a little too old for them.)

The treatment was steroids to build his platelets back up, and antibiotics, in case this was a tick borne illness.

And George got better again. For 4 days.

Sunday, we were gone most of the day and when we came back he was in such a good mood. We wrestled with him a little, he played with his tennis ball. He scarfed his dinner, including the delicious canned food his meds were stuffed into.

Then, before bed, he started feeling sick again. He couldn't get comfortable in bed. He spent the whole night pacing around the house, laying down for 15 or 20 minutes, coming into the room to check on me. I heard him scratching the chair a few times, trying to fluff it up.

When I got up in the morning I found vomit. And he was so sad.

I picked him up to carry him outside (and he didn't even grumble at me) but outside he fell over, onto his butt.

I called the vet. He needed to have his platelets checked anyway.

This time Anne came with and we got our usual vet, whom we love.

She told us some of the possibilities, none of them great. And then they took him to run some tests.

And the tests came back as a tumor on his liver. Probably more than one. He was anemic, which meant he was bleeding, most likely into his stomach. It was inoperable.

He was uncomfortable. He didn't want to eat anything. He no longer enjoyed walks. He didn't want to really sniff any sniffs at the vet office. The things he found good in life were no longer good.

So we called our family. And our brother and mom came over and we held him and told him we loved him and I kissed him so many times.

Then the vet came in and I held his head while we put him to sleep.

And he looked the same. He didn't look like he had just died. And so I kissed him again and told him I loved him and we left.

And that was the hardest part, leaving him there, when he looked like he was just resting, still.

I'm not a religious person. There's a study that shows faith is actually about 50% genetics, and I've often thought I'm just not built that way.

Sometimes I wish I was.

Because it's hard to ignore the idea that we are alone, here on this little planet in an endless universe. We are unique in our ability to reason, to build and think and create art.
But it's that uniqueness which brings about our loneliness. We are aware.

And so we are alone, here on this planet. Except, not really. How lucky are we, that we can bring dogs into our homes, and we can love them, and they love us in return? This entirely different species, sharing our lives, happily. It's a gift, maybe. A miracle.

George liked to pee on things so we couldn't have carpet. He hated other dogs so we couldn't go to dog parks. He was a runner, and would escape if given the chance. And he liked to steal seats, if you got up for a bathroom break.

But he loved tummy rubs and face massages. He gave the best kisses and he always smelled so good. He loved sunbathing and eating good food and taking walks where he could sniff all the sniffs and pee on all the things.

I was going to turn on the heated blanket for him when we got back from the vet. I was going to buy him some new toys for his birthday in a few weeks, even though I knew he'd just destroy them. I'd bought him a new fall coat, but he'll never get to wear it.

I loved him so much. I would spend the rest of my life cleaning up pee if it meant I could have just a little more time with him, where he was healthy, and happy again.

It is a hard thing, to love dogs.
It's a harder thing, to let them go.

 

In Which I've Been Away

Hey all you lovely nerds!

I've been away for awhile, due to a multitude of reasons (deadlines, vacations, events, etc etc, the list could go on. It's summer)

I have, however, been blogging at Fair & Fest Feasts with my twin sis and bro about the crazy and delicious and weird foods you can find at fairs and festivals around town.

If this is something you might find interesting (or if you just want to see pictures of said crazy foods) then stop on by!

In Which Characters Make Mistakes Pt. 3

Today is part III on my characters making mistakes rant.
Part I and Part II can be found by clicking on their links.

Recap:

Some readers hate books when they find characters making mistakes.

I do not, and I oftentimes find this reaction baffling, or sometimes just flat out wrong. So I'm writing posts breaking down why I think characters who make mistakes are the right way to go about things. Or if not that, why I find the hate for these mistake-making characters misplaced.

Part I was all about how mistakes make conflict and conflict makes drama.

Part II was about how real people make mistakes, so your characters should, too.

Today, is Part III, which is where Sarah's blood pressure really sky-rockets (and there may be more swearing) because we're going to talk about the bullshit that is the double standard.

So I've been talking about how some readers really hate when characters make mistakes.

But actually, that's not quite true.

What they tend to actually hate is when female characters make mistakes, especially if those characters are teens.

shocking, I know

I'm not kidding when I say there is a ton of hate out there for female characters who make mistakes (ESPECIALLY if the reader thinks the mistake is "dumb" (the quality of the mistake seems to be based solely on the reader's own scale. What's dumb to one may be dumb to another. And rarely is there any discussion about whether or not this "dumb" mistake is actually how the character would act.)

Those same readers who HATE a female character for making mistakes will often give a pass, or flat out love a male character who makes the same sort of mistakes.

And that's some bullshit right there.

Now, I want to step in and say, I'm willing to bet that 95% of the time, those people don't realize they are doing this. It's sort of an invisible sexism thing. We're raised to think of men and women, boys and girls, in a certain light, and therefore characters associated with those genders are judged based on those ingrained beliefs.

IE: our society has a boys will be boys mentality. Boys can and often do, do whatever they want and face no repercussions (ie: rape a girl, and then get sentenced to 6 months in jail because any more jail time might be hard for him.) Our society turns the other cheek when boys make mistakes.

Girls, though. No way. Our society tends to value teen girls the least. We're taught that teen girls are dumb, and vapid, and they make mistakes and, most importantly, they deserve whatever's coming their way.

Therefore, it's no surprise that this crops up in reviews with teen main characters. No one says that Harry Potter is too dumb to live when he makes mistakes. But you have a female teen who does one thing wrong and all bets are off.

Newsflash - boys and girls make mistakes. We're all human. But it's not fair to hold female characters to some sort of alternate code of conduct just because of their gender. Yeah? Yeah.

So next time you hear or see someone talking about a character making dumb mistakes, take a note of that character's gender. I bet more often than not, it's female.

And that's it for my 3 part rant on characters who make mistakes! Hopefully I made you think about some things, or at least entertained you with those Harry Potter gifs.

If not, sorry. Here's another random gif just cuz.

"

 

In Which Characters Make Mistakes Pt. 2

Today is part II on my characters making mistakes rant.
You can see part I over here (it has Harry Potter gifs, guys!)

So, recap:

Some readers hate books when they find characters making mistakes.

I do not, and I oftentimes find this reaction baffling, or sometimes just flat out wrong. So I'm writing posts breaking down why I think characters who make mistakes are the right way to go about things. Or if not that, why I find the hate for these mistake-making characters misplaced.

Part I was all about how mistakes make conflict and conflict makes drama, so don't be afraid to check it out.

But today we're tackling part II, which is:

Characters that make mistakes are more fully developed.

Ahem.

Have you ever known a person who humble-brags about everything? Someone who's so amazing at everything and they want you to know?

(related: I just finished reading SIMON VS. THE HOMO-SAPIENS AGENDA and there is a character in there who is just the worst at this. She says things like "I didn't even know a thigh gap is something girls should strive for because I've always had one" baaaaarf.)

Those people are hard to be around, right? Because they're just so perfect.

Well what do you think characters who don't make mistakes are like?

(side note: the character in SIMON VS. THE HOMO-SAPIENS AGENDA has a great bit of character building that makes her fully formed, even for a minor side-character. It's a great book. You should read it.)

Here's another question for you:

Have you made mistakes in your life?
Do you know other people who have made mistakes in their lives?
Are these mistakes in spite of really knowing your shit about stuff? Yes?

Well welcome to the human race!

Real people, in real life, make mistakes all the time. All the time. Sometimes they're small mistakes, like forgetting to thaw the chicken for Tuesday night dinner (even though you always make dinner on Tuesday nights, and you always have to make dinner.)

Sometimes they're much bigger mistakes. Diving into a shallow pool. Driving drunk. Taking one too many pills. Not trusting people who you've always trusted. Trusting people you shouldn't.

That's life. No one's perfect. I mean, even Freddie Mercury tells us about mistakes.

Don't you talk shit about Freddie now

So why is it that there's so much hate for characters that aren't perfect? I don't see anyone saying Freddie Mercury was too dumb to live because of his mistakes.

Do you know what's boring? A story where a character doesn't do anything wrong. Because how do we learn if we don't make mistakes?

And if characters have nothing to learn from, then they have no way to go, which means there's no character arc.

(Unless of course the character's arc is that things happen and they don't grow. That's a different kind of arc and can totally work. Spoiler, though: those characters probably make mistakes too.)

You know who wrote about characters who didn't make mistakes?

H.P. Lovecraft.

You know why he wrote these characters like that? (well, white men, anyway. H.P. Lovecraft was not about making his own prejudiced mistakes in his lifetime.)

Because he was writing HORROR! It made it terrifying that his characters did everything right and still couldn't defeat the eldritch horror. His characters were perfect because it was a horror story!

As an author, I write characters who make mistakes. Mistakes that come about because of pride and ego, ignorance and prejudice. Mistakes because they're drunk. Or have baggage they carry with them. Sometimes these mistakes are dumb, sometimes they're not. But these mistakes that characters make is what makes them more real, more true-to-life.

If you have a character who's perfect in every way, who never makes mistakes, you don't have a fully formed character. You have a cardboard cut-out. And who wants to read about that?

Not me, anyway.

Part III is going to delve more into how these reactions are actually more BS than you'd think. Stay tuned!

Do you like reading about characters who make mistakes? Or do you prefer your characters perfect?

 

In Which Characters Make Mistakes Pt. 1

Morning, all!

Before we get into this post (spoiler, it's another post in my "rant" series) I'll be on vacation next week (well, staycation) and therefore won't be on the internet as much. Which means limited posts.

And after that I'll be teaching a class to some awesome teens, so it's possible the blogging may fall off a bit the week after as well. But I'm going to try to not let that happen.

Anyway, today I want to talk about a thing that pisses me off (and, honestly, I could write a whole essay on this topic and am a little sad I didn't while I was in my MFA. I feel so passionate about it that I'm actually going to make this more than one post. YOU'RE WELCOME. (which also means, hey! There will be at least 2 posts while I'm on staycation/teaching.)

Characters that make mistakes.

Why do they piss me off?

Wrong - they don't (ooooh, I'm a tricky one.) What pisses me off is the hatred that characters who make mistakes seems to get from some readers.

Let's break down why I think it's a problem when readers dislike books where characters make mistakes.

1. Mistakes make Conflict. Conflict makes drama
2. Characters that make mistakes are more fully-developed
3. The hate for mistake-making characters is usually only focused on female characters.

So, like I said, I'll be breaking this down into multiple posts so today we're just going to focus on #1.

1. Mistakes make Conflict. Conflict makes drama.

Conflict is what drives a story forward. And when characters make mistakes, that automatically creates conflict. If we have a character who does everything right, then we either have a story where nothing happens, or a character with no agency (that is, a character where only things happen to them, and they must react. Some reacting is good. But too much is just a character who gets dragged through their life.)

Let's look at Harry Potter #5 (which is tied with #3 for my favorite.)
So many characters make so many mistakes in this one. And it leads to really bad things happening. And yet, ORDER OF THE PHOENIX is such a great book. (so good, guys. Soooo good. GAH! I love that movie, too. I think it may be my favorite of the movies.)

Why do these mistakes work? Two reasons.

1) they add conflict and drama.
2) There are consequences.

Let's break this ideas down with some actual examples from the book.

Big, effing mistakes made by characters in OotP:

Dumbledore doesn't tell Harry the truth about what's going on, so Harry feels in the dark, and takes things into his own hands, to play the hero because he feels abandoned.

And Harry hates Snape so much that he makes the mistake of not working on his occlumency like he should.

This leads Voldemort into tricking Harry into believing that Sirius Black has been kidnapped.

Ooh that's a lot of conflict. I mean, where would this story be if Dumbledore and Harry just didn't eff things up? It would be a vastly different story, and most likely Harry would make mistakes later in the series (because he wouldn't have these ones to grow off of) which would lead to completely different books 6 and 7.

And why else do these mistakes work?

Because there are consequences! Huge, big bad consequences!

Because of these character mistakes, Harry and gang are attacked by the death eaters, and Sirius Black is killed in the fight.

Ugh. It's so bad. But also really good, right?

That's a lot of consequence. It's also emotional, and dramatic and a great bit of story in the midst of a great bunch of novels.

Sirius's death will resonate with Harry through the rest of the books. Dumbledore will learn from his mistakes and handle things differently in the next book.

All of these things come about because Harry and Dumbledore and all the other characters of Harry Potter constantly make mistakes.

So if you find yourself angry that a character is making mistakes, maybe pause and think about them in regards to the conflict and drama of the story, and then check to see what kind of consequences those mistakes carry.

If you have a character who is making mistakes and there aren't any consequences, well then maybe you can be miffed. But if there's drama and consequences, be glad for those character mistakes! That's some good stuff, right there.

Part II of Character Mistakes will talk about why it's important that Characters make mistakes in regards to Characterization.

How about you? Do characters making mistakes put you in a rage lather?

Summer Reading Giveaway

Hey all!
Today I'm part of the Summer Reading Giveaway which is a Facebook event found here


It is an International Giveaway! And the prizes are ebooks as well as the chance at a little reading dragon!

There will be 7 winners, so definitely fill out the rafflecopter for a chance to win!

Wednesday Weird: The Greggton Werewolf

Time for another post on werewolves for today's Wednesday Weird.

I've blogged about werewolves before, here, but its been awhile (years, apparently.)

Today we're going to talk about a fun little account from 1958.

In July of 1958 Delburt Gregg, of Greggton Texas was home alone while her husband was away.

The night was stormy and hot, so she moved her bed closer to the open window, hoping for a cooling breeze.

In the middle of the night, scratching sounds at the window would wake her.
When the lightning from the storm flashed, she saw a "huge, shaggy wolf-like creature" that was "clawing at the screen and glaring with baleful, glowing, slitted eyes."

Gregg jumped up from the bed and grabbed a flashlight. The creature quickly dashed into a large collection of bushes.

Gregg kept the flashlight on the bushes, waiting for the creature to emerge, but it never did.

Instead, a tall man rose up from the bushes and walked away, down the road into the darkness.

Thoughts or theories?

 

In Which We Talk (Defend) Instalove

Morning all!

Today begins a sort of series of posts I've been thinking about/planning to write for a long time.

Why didn't I write them sooner you (maybe) ask?

Because I'm lazy.

Anyway, these posts are, well, I don't want to call them rants because I'm going to try not to actually rant (though you will notice that the label I chose is "Rants" so, you know...) but they're going to be posts about things that kind of get my ire up in regards to books and publishing and other things.

So strap in! Because today we're talking instalove.

What the hell is instalove you (maybe) ask?

Well let me tell you!

Instalove is a trope in fiction (especially kidlit) that's like love at first sight. The hero (usually heroine) sees someone (usually a boy) and they fall immediately in love with said character. Sometimes this is their first time being in love, or even in a relationship, and usually this love lasts (in other words, they don't break up at the end.)

So that's instalove in a nutshell.

Lately, though, instalove gets a bit of a bad rap. You will see book bloggers or reviewers who absolutely LOATHE instalove.
Some to the point where they will refuse to touch or read a book that may have instalove or maybe even one star it on principle alone, due to their deep hatred of instalove. And they may hate anyone else who loves a book with instalove and they probably for sure despise the author if their book has instalove.

Perhaps you though this post was going to be an argument against instalove, but AHAH! I you thought so, you are wrong!

This is a post in defense of instalove. Or, if not in defense of instalove, to at least examine misconceptions that the haters put up as reasons to hate instalove. (I mean, it's in the title, too, though, so if you really thought I wasn't going to defend it, then may I suggest you read blog post titles in the future.)

So, first point:

1) Instalove is a very real thing that happens to real people.

Many instalove haters hate it because they think it's unbelievable. And maybe for them it is. There are a ton of people who don't fall in love and marry and live happily every after with a person after the first time they see them.

But there are plenty of people who do, too! You would be amazed! If you ask a room full of kidlit writers how many of them are victims of instalove in their own personal lives, there will be more than two or three of them who will raise their hands.

Just because instalove is not something you have not experienced, does not mean it has not happened to other people, and cannot happen to fictional characters.

2) Confusion about what instalove is

I see a LOT of complaints about instalove in books when it turns out what is actually on the page is a crush.

And crushes, I'm sure you know, ARE A VERY REAL THING.

Please don't read a book where a character sees someone for the first time and is immediately attracted to them and write that book off as having instalove.
I promise you, I'm attracted to strangers all the time, and it's not instalove.

Don't make this mistake.

3) Automatically rejecting a book because of a small trope is a way to miss out on some great books.

I get it. We get tired of the same things over and over again. But to forever swear off it, and hate on something, just because it's been done too much is going too far in the other direction.

Like, I love mac & cheese, but when I've had it too many days in a row, I don't go to social media and say that mac & cheese is the worst food and I will never eat it again and also whoever made this make and cheese is a terrible person and should never, ever cook again and anyone else who likes mac & cheese is just an asshole and also dumb.

No. I take a break from mac & cheese and then return. Or I eat it, but I talk on social media about how my meal was problematic for me, personally, because I've had too much mac & cheese in the past but your experience could be different. And maybe the chef made something that was not to my taste at the moment, but I understand that that is on me and my fickle tastes and maybe I should have ordered something else off the menu instead of mobbing the chef on twitter.

Yeah. So not too ranty, right?

Maybe we can just all calm down about instalove and try to see the story as a whole and why the author chose to include instalove and what might be different if it was gone, etc.

In other words, a little critical thinking can sometimes go a long way towards art appreciation.

Annnnnd now I wish I had mac & cheese (also, I lied. I will never get tired of mac & cheese. NEVER! Me and mac & cheese were instalove, baby. All the way)

 

Wednesday Weird: Mothman

We're back for another Wednesday Weird, this one possibly the most famous case I've blogged about: Mothman.

Mothman begins in 1966 in Point Pleasant, West Virginia when 5 men were in a cemetery, preparing a grave for burial.

While they were working, they saw a man-like figure rise into the air and fly over their heads. They reported that it had wings, and was brown and really just resembled a man with wings.

This is considered the first sighting of Mothman, though by the end there would be over 100 supposed sightings (though, it's important to note that the vast majority of these were never and can never be corroborated)

A few days later, there was another sighting of Mothman, and this one is the most famous.
2 couples were driving in a car near an area of town called the "TNT area," which was home to an old WWII munitions plant.

As they were driving, the car headlights picked up two red eyes attached to something that was "shaped like a man, but bigger, maybe six or seven feet tall. And it had big wings folded against its back". When the creature moved, the couples panicked and they sped away.

 

But the creature followed them. It spread it's wings and rose into the air, chasing the car and keeping up even as the car passed 100mph until it finally flew off into the night.

 

The couples were so terrified by their experience that they went immediately to the police. And the police believed them. Deputy Halstead, who was working that night, took them seriously because they had never been in trouble before and were clearly terrified by what they had witnessed.

 

The next night, a woman would report seeing Mothman outside as she approached her car. She was so terrified that she dropped her infant daughter to the ground and lay on top of her in protection, until she finally found the courage to flee back to the house where they'd come from.

 

Over the next year, more and more residents would claim to see Mothman, with its red eyes and giant wings.

 

On December 16th, 1967, a little over a year after the first sighting, The Silver Bridge, a steel bridge connecting Ohio and West Virginia, collapsed, killing 46 people.

After that, Mothman was never seen again, bringing rise to the belief that Mothman was some sort of death omen.

 

There are a lot of theories and suspicions regarding Mothman. Many people believe it was some sort of supernatural death omen, or perhaps something to do with extra terrestrials (this belief comes from the fact that there were many strange people sighted in town during the Mothman years, including men in dark suits and sunglasses.)

 

Some of the more benign explanations is that perhaps it was an owl, though the size of the body and wingspan wouldn't match up, even with the largest owl.

 

Another thought is that it could have been a sandhill crane, off it's migration path. Sandhillls can stand as tall as 4 feet with a 7 foot wingspan. And they have red markings around their eyes.

 

 

 

Point Pleasant would erect a statue, commemorating the strangeness 1966 and of the Mothman sightings.

 

 

 

Thoughts, theories?

In Which I Have Some Updates

Morning all you awesome peeps.

Been away from the blog for a bit. Some of it was because I was out of town (at the cabin, putting the dock in the lake and all that jazz) but mostly it's because I still haven't really adjusted to writing bog posts on something other than my laptop, which was my primary blog posting pc.

It was crappy and slow and dumb, but I miss it.

Anyway, I thought I'd do a quick post of some updates and fun stuff.

First, I got the lovely news that ASSASSIN'S HEART sold to Turkey! Which is super fun and awesome. Now you can buy ASSASSIN'S HEART in North America, Australia and Turkey, if you're a world traveler or, like, live in one of those cool places.

Second, I will be doing a signing at the Blaine Barnes & Noble for the B&N Teen Book Festival on Saturday, June 11th at noon! I know a lot of my readers don't actually live in the twin cities like I do (you should join us, though) but if you do, stop out and see me!

Third, I have seen the rough draft of the ASSASSIN'S HEART companion (THIEF'S CUNNING) and guys, guys, I may have gasped out loud when I saw it. It's so pretty. So so pretty.

 

I can't wait until it's done so I can share it with with the world.

So, how are things with you?

Wednesday Weird Call For Submissions!

So, I have an issue.

My laptop crapped out. That is to say, it no longer works with the internet. It's an old computer (I actually blogged about getting it alllll the way back in 2009) and it's been on its last legs for awhile.

I came back from my cabin a few weeks ago and the wireless option is just completely gone.
And because I'm saving money to buy a house, I can't just hop out and buy a new one.

It's not the end of the world because I have my netbook (which is also rough going, but it'll do) but the biggest problem is, almost all of my Wednesday Weird post ideas and plans were saved as bookmarks on my laptop. And because I'm dumb, I didn't back the up anywhere else.

So, yeah. Hence why there hasn't been a WW for a few weeks (and why April has been a crap month for blogging for me. I almost always blog on my laptop)

So what that means, is, until I get my list of WW back up and running, I could use some ideas from you!

Do you have any Weird things you'd like to see my blog about? I've already got a request for Mothman (which I haven't done yet just because there's a fair amount of info to wade through and condense down.)

OR!!! Do you have a weird or strange tale that happened to you personally? I would love to host you as a guest for a Wednesday Weird! I LOVE personal spooky or strange tales more than anything, so if you're sitting on anything like that, I would be my utter delight to host you.

Tell me all your spooky tales!

Anyway, I hope to hear from you either way! And do not fret - this is not the end of WW - it may just be a bit of a hiatus while I get back on my feet.

In Which The Front Row Writes

Howdy pals!

So today starts a new blog series I'm a part of called The Front Row Writes




Look, we have a logo and everything!

The Front Row is a writing group I belong to, made up of my MFA peers, the ones I walked across the stage with in Januray *sniff*

We're called The Front Row because, shocker, that's where we always sat during lectures and stuff.

Awww - look at these awesome jerks

Anyway, I blog fairly regularly and so do my pals, so were tying a new blog series where we take a topic and write about it.

I took Monday, (because it's super easy for me to blog on Mondays) and the theme this time is WHERE WE WRITE.

I used to write kind of all over the place.

Well, I used to write on the couch with my laptop and my pups on either side of me. It was great. But also distracting because the TV was right there and sometimes Brother plays video games.

And, I mean, I can write while watching TV or video games, I just am not very prolific when all that's going on.

And over the last 5 or so years, I've gotten away from writing on the weekends (unless I really have time (which, let's get serious, I never have time for anything anymore. I am busy busy busy)) and I pretty much never write in the evenings (I think the last time I did serious evening writing was in 2009, the first time I did NaNo. I would come home from work, sit on the couch and punch out my 1600 words. But that was back when I had a 1.5 hour commute (one way) so a lot has changed since then)

So now, I pretty much do all my writing at my desk.

Which is good. I love my desk.

I've talked before about how it's an uplift, so I can raise it up to stand if I want.
But it also has a ton of space. I have my little netbook on there, to keep my gmail open (this is a habit I developed during my years of querying and it has stuck fast) my current notebook for whatever novel I'm working on, knick knacks (of course) and a box to the right which is filled both with used notebooks and folders, as well as brand new notebooks and folders for whenever I need one.

Also, the windows are great (except for when it's really cold in the winter, or when the sun hits the screen during a certain time of year) because I can watch the birds at the birdfeeders.

So, yeah. That's my writing space!

Here's the schedule for the rest of the Front Rower's posts:

Tuesday: Josh
Wednesday: Zack
Thursday: Jessica
Friday: Brita
Saturday: Jennifer
Sunday: Anna

In Which I Did An Awesome Reading

Man, it's finally getting warm here and that is so awesome. Put all the plants outside, got the patio furniture out, set up the fountain and might have to think about mowing the lawn next weekend.

Good Times.

Last Sunday I did a reading for Second Story.

Second Story is this great series held at a local writing center here in the Twin Cities called The Loft (it's an awesome place and I'll be teaching a teen class there this summer and I'm SO EXCITED.)

Second Story takes an established author and a newbie author (me this time) and pairs them up. They do a reading, then there's a Q&A and then themed snacks and a signing.

The best part is, it's offered free of charge. And when I started attending the Second Story readings a few years ago, I desperately wanted to be invited to be a reader one day.

And then that day arrived!

I was paired up with author S.A. Bodeen who writes great books about survival situations (being trapped in a compound, being trapped on a raft at sea, getting kidnapped. Check her out, her books are great!)

 

I even got my own reserved parking space! (I was going to get a pic of that, but forgot)

The reading was fun. I tried something new and read an action scene and that went well. Then I signed books, and after everything I hung out with some friends to do some writing, then we went to a bar across the street for some snacks.

One more check off the bucket list!

How have you awesome peeps been?

Friday Fun

Here we are, ape-friends, the first Friday Fun in April. Soon, soon summer will be here once more and we'll be warm and happy.

This is not what I meant

Until then, let's have some fun!