Category Archives: Books

Whatever It Takes

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My short story Whatever It Takes is in this anthology. The story is set within the world of The Dream War Saga, but only tangentially connects to the series itself. A good peek into the Dream War universe, Whatever It Takes is available for pre-order now!

Everyone wishes they could get an extra hour in the day. But what if you could?

What if you had a special device that gave you an extra day every week? You could use it to get ahead at work… unless your boss had it too.

What if you knew a spell that gave you an extra hour every day? You could use it to correct a mistake… or make a new one.

What if you could just stop time? You could accomplish a myriad of wonders… if you only knew how to get time started again.

Time loops and time travel, time apps and time outs, time machines, time merchants, and more can be found passing through these doorways into worlds where time can be spent like money… or where extra time can only be bought at a terrible price.

With stories and poetry by Jody Lynne Nye, Walter Hunt, Erica Cameron, Martin Feekins, Anthony Francis, L.M. Graham, R.E. Gofstein, Melina Gunnett, Betsy Miller, Susan Mittman, Brenda Monguez, Jenny More, Ira Nayman, Errick A. Nunnally, Kate Saturday, Gayle Schultz, Rich Storrs, Keshia Swaim, Aimee Weinstein, and Trisha J. Wooldridge, Doorways to Extra Time presents twenty twists on the idea that if we only had a little extra time…

We’d have to deal with the consequences.

Edited by Trisha J. Wooldridge and Anthony Francis

Buy it from:
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Books-A-Million | IndieBound

My first book shaped baby has a face!

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No matter how many times I stare at this cover, I cannot get over how much I love it. Jeremy West did a fabulous job and I’m so thrilled that I can now share the beautiful face of Sing Sweet Nightingale with the world!!!

Also, ALSO, I can finally share more information about the story! That tiny bit of the story doesn’t tell you anything, but now I have an amazing back cover copy to show off!

Mariella Teagen hasn’t spoken a word in four years.

She pledged her voice to Orane, the man she loves—someone she only sees in her dreams. Each night, she escapes to Paradise, the world Orane created for her, and she sings for him. Mariella never believed she could stay in Paradise longer than a night, but two weeks before her eighteenth birthday, Orane hints that she may be able to stay forever.

Hudson Vincent made a pledge to never fight again.

Celease, the creature who created his dream world, swore that giving up violence would protect Hudson. But when his vow causes the death of his little brother, Hudson turned his grief on Celease and destroyed the dream world. The battle left him with new abilities and disturbing visions of a silent girl in grave danger—Mariella.

Now, Hudson is fighting to save Mariella’s life while she fights to give it away. And he must find a way to show her Orane’s true intentions before she is lost to Paradise forever.

AND, as if that wasn’t enough, my cover designer Jeremy and his videographer brother Jeffrey put together a great video interview during our visit to NYC! Watch below and find out more about the design process, the book, and us!

Want to win some cool stuff?

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I am one of the members of the fabulous OneFour Kid Lit debut group and we just unveiled a super shiny look created by the talented Patrick Samphire and Grant Gaither. To celebrate this fun new site, we all got together and donated a bunch of books and writer-centered prizes for you to enter to win!

We’ve made it simple to enter. Click on the Rafflecopter link here or at the bottom of this post. Earn extra entries by following us on our various social media sites and helping us spread the word. Contest is open until May 31st midnight EST.

Interested? Read on to see what you can win!

contest
 
READER PACK 1 (worldwide)

1. Copy of THE NIGHTMARE AFFAIR by Mindee Arnett donated by Lori M. Lee (GATES OF THREAD AND STONE, Spring 2014)
2. Copy of REBOOT by Amy Tintera (worldwide) donated by Michelle Krys (HEXED, March 11, 2014)
3. Dragon charm and sticker + PROPHECY by Ellen Oh donated by Christina Farley (GILDED, Mar. 11, 2014)
4. $10 Itunes card donated by Jaye Robin Brown (No Place To Fall, Fall 2014)

 
 
READER PACK 2 (worldwide)

1. Copy of THE DISENCHANTMENTS by Nina LaCour donated by Dahlia Adler (BEHIND THE SCENES, 2014)
2. ARC of I HEART BAND (worldwide) donated by Michelle Schusterman (I HEART BAND, Jan. 9, 2014)
3. Copy of SIEGE AND STORM by Leigh Bardugo donated by Rachel Searles (THE LOST PLANET, January 28, 2014)
4. Copy of THE 5th WAVE by Rick Yancey donated by Meredith McCardle (THE EIGHTH GUARDIAN, Feb. 25, 2014)

 
 
READER PACK 3 (US only)

1. ARC of DARE YOU TO by Katie McGarry donated Mary McCoy (DEAD TO ME, Fall 2014)
2. Copy of DAUGHTER OF SMOKE AND BONE donated by Kelsey Macke (DAMSEL DISTRESSED, October 2014)
3. ARC of QUANTUM COIN by E.C. Myers donated by Elle Cosimano (NEARLY GONE, March 25, 2014)
4. ARC of IN TOO DEEP by Coert Voorhees + SEMV bookmarks donated by Julie Murphy (SIDE EFFECTS MAY VARY, March 2014)

 
 
READER PACK 4 (US only)

1. Signed ARC of SOLSTICE by PJ Hoover + SEMV bookmarks donated by Julie Murphy (SIDE EFFECTS MAY VARY, March 2014)
2-4. TWINMAKER by Sean Williams, ACROSS A STAR-SWEPT SEA by Diana Peterfreund, and CONTROL by Lydia Kang all donated by Emily Lloyd-Jones (Illusive, Spring 2014)
5. Signed paperback copy of GRAVE MERCY by Robin LaFevers + SEMV bookmarks donated by Julie Murphy (SIDE EFFECTS MAY VARY, March 2014)

 
 
READER PACK 5 (US only)

1. Finished, autographed copy of Tessa Gratton’s THE LOST SUN (US only) donated by Natalie C. Parker (BEWARE THE WILD, Fall 2014)
2. ARC of IN TOO DEEP by Coert Voorhees + SEMV bookmarks donated by Julie Murphy (SIDE EFFECTS MAY VARY, March 2014)
3. Signed ARCs of THE TESTING by Joelle Charbonneau + SEMV bookmarks donated by Julie Murphy (SIDE EFFECTS MAY VARY, March 2014)
4. ARC of INDEPENDENT STUDY by Joelle Charbonneau + SEMV bookmarks donated by Julie Murphy (SIDE EFFECTS MAY VARY, March 2014)

 
 
WRITER PACK 1

1. One free entry to Critique Camp, http://nataliecparker.com/critique/ donated by Natalie C. Parker (BEWARE THE WILD, Fall 2014)
2. 5-page critique donated by Corinne Duyvis (OTHERBOUND, spring 2014)
3. Critique of first chapter donated by Patrick Samphire (SECRETS OF THE DRAGON TOMB, Fall 2014)
4. First chapter critique donated by Kate Kelly (RED ROCK, September 12th 2013)

 
 
WRITER PACK 2

1. First chapter critique donated by Robin Constantine (The Promise of Amazing, Winter 2014)
2. First chapter critique donated by Rebecca Behrens (WHEN AUDREY MET ALICE, February 4, 2014)
3. Query and first chapter critique donated by Stefanie Gaither (FALLS THE SHADOW, September 2014)
4. Query critique 1st page critique donated by Stephanie Diaz (EXTRACTION, Spring 2014)

 
 
WRITER PACK 3

1. Query and first 5 pages critique donated by Lauren Magaziner (THE ONLY THING WORSE THAN WITCHES, Summer 2014)
2. Vintage daisy necklace AND one chapter critique of a middle grade donated by Tracy Holczer (THE SECRET HUM OF A DAISY, May 2014)
3. Three chapter or 30 page critique donated by Erica Cameron (SING SWEET NIGHTINGALE, March 2014)

Did you hear? My cover is coming next week!

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Yeah, okay, I may have already posted about this, but I’M SO EXCITED! I leave for New York on Friday, but next week, this happens:

Jeremy West did SUCH a fabulous job designing this book and I am so thrilled that his work will be gracing the face of my books. You guys, it’s coming soon! SO SOON! We can actually count down the days now! There are only ten of them left! EEK!

Okay, I need to go back to work before I hyperventilate. O.O

Covers and BEA!

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Just in case you haven’t heard yet, the cover reveal for Sing Sweet Nightingale is coming soon. In fact, it’s coming so soon that counting down to that date doesn’t involve three-digit numbers anymore!

There are only 15 days until I get to share my cover with the world! And, to make this already exciting event even more awesome, the first people to see the cover are going to be with me at BEA in New York! We have a lot of really cool things planned, so mark your calendars for May 29th, 2013. My book will get a face and I may or may not have (okay, fine. I will definitely have) something pretty to give away to commemorate the occasion.

Check back here for more details as soon as I’m cleared to share them. I hope you love the cover as much as I do!

Sending your words into the world.

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The first edit of SSN, printed out.

So you wrote a draft. An entire book! Good for you! You’re officially a more accomplished writer than 95% of the people who attempt to write a book. But… now what?

Now is the time to send it out into the world. Not to agents and editors and contests, but to other writers and trusted friends and family. You send it out with the hope that they’ll be able to show you some of the plot holes you never noticed, catch the character discrepancies you accidentally threw in there, and help make this book ready to face the gauntlet of the publication process.

That’s where I am right now.

Last night I finished my last-check read-through of TDWS Book 2 and sent the file off to a few people, most of whom haven’t read book 1. That may seem like a strange thing to do, but one thing I want to check is, can you understand what’s happening in book 2 without reading the first one? If you happened to pick this book up first, would everything make sense?

Now that the book is out in the world, I have to wait. And hope. Hope the people I sent it to love it, hope I didn’t miss anything that would cause the entire plot to collapse, and hope all my kind volunteers have the time to read it before I need notes back at the end of the month. But that’s a lot of what publishing is. Waiting. I’ve never been the most patient person, but I’m getting better at playing this game as time goes on. It helps that I’m also really good at keeping myself busier than I need to be. While my wonderful agent and my beautiful volunteers read book 2, I will be immersing myself in a different world and trying as hard as I can to finish this fantasy project of mine.

*takes a deep breath and disappears*

What do you do when you’re finished?

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Mountain Lake Sunset (c) mwingine

I’ve had a day to decompress a little from finishing the draft of the book that shall not be named right now and I still feel a little too brain-dead to function. It was REALLY bad yesterday, though. I got absolutely nothing useful done. I couldn’t focus long enough to bother. So I didn’t.

One thing I’m learning the hard way is that you have to take breaks and let your brain regroup or your mind is going to burn out and you’ll end up useless for a long while. I’ve been writing on overdrive speed for a long while now and so taking a few days to read things I didn’t write, make some new jewelry, and watch some awesome TV sounds like a really good plan.

One great thing I did do yesterday was read a book by new friend and agent sister Tristina Wright. People, you better hope this book gets picked up. You want to read it. I promise you.

The hardest part of this “taking a break” is that part of my brain is yelling at me to get to work on my next project. I have more than one book I’ve been dying to finish writing. I just… can’t. So I’m telling that side of my head to shut up for now. This weekend, I’m doing nothing but making pretty things and watching Dr. Who. I’m really looking forward to it! 😀

It’s official! Book 2 is DONE!

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You guys, my brain feels broken right now, but I have to post this because OMG.

I HAVE FINISHED THE FIRST DRAFT OF BOOK 2!

I just… I can’t even. I have no words left. I fought this book for all of them and it left me with nothing.

Excuse me while I go collapse.

Drafting breaks my brain.

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This is my brain while drafting:

Broken Glass (c) Patrick Moore

I don’t think I’d feel quite so broken and helpless if I knew what was holding me back from writing the last 30,000 words of this book. But I don’t know. Am I trying to force the characters to do something they don’t want to do? Maybe it’s a plothole I haven’t realized is there yet. Whatever the issue, my CPs and my editors can’t fix something that hasn’t been written. My job for the next couple of weeks is to ignore the problems I can’t find and write.

For this draft, I allow myself to write crap. I allow scenes that will probably get rewritten or deleted and dialogue that jumps all over the place and scene breaks that come too soon because I’m just fresh out of steam. I allow this draft to be a disaster because at least when I finish I’ll have a draft. And that’s more than I would have had otherwise.

Wish me luck!

Stuck and unstuck.

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Truck Stuck in the Mud (c) Nico van Diem

Whether or not it’s truly writer’s block, sometimes you get stuck. Maybe you don’t know where you’re going. Maybe the characters are giving you trouble. Maybe you know your characters and where you need to go, but you’re not sure how to get there. Whatever the issue, sometimes you’re looking at your book and curing the idea that brought you to this point. Especially if you’re stuck and one a deadline. Cause, you know, that’s TONS OF FUN.

In case it wasn’t obvious, that’s where I am right now. Stuck and on deadline.

Granted, it’s not a tight deadline yet. I still have wiggle room. I also have a pretty strong lead. Most of the first draft is already done (thankfully), I just have to figure out how to piece the rest of it together. Which is why I love editing so much better than drafting. When I’m editing, I’ve already made it past the worst of these puzzles and the crossroads where I could split off in a thousand different directions. Options are nice, but they can also be paralyzing. Maybe that’s what’s paralyzing me now.

Whatever the problem is, I have to figure it out, push it out of the way, or go around it. I’m diving into the second book in The Dream War Saga again today and I will finish it before deadline. Because I refuse to let it beat me!

Hold me to that, people. Don’t let me slack off!