The Winner and Reflection

And the winner of the signed copy of The Second Shadow is.....

*drum roll*

SHERI LARSEN!!!

Congratulations Sheri! I will forward your information to Elizabeth Arroyo and she will contact you about sending you your signed copy! Many thanks to everyone who participated!

On a more somber note, Liz had a sudden death in her family. My thoughts and prayers go out to her and her family during this difficult time. 

At the skating rink there is an older gentleman that brings his granddaughter to skate every Thursday. He always asks me how I'm doing and I reciprocate. Today when I asked him, "How are you doing today sir?" His face broke into a big wrinkled grin. "I'm just happy to be alive today." 

When he said that, it made me pause and remember that every day is a gift. Sometimes we get stuck in the daily grind and we stop to appreciate the beauty around us, give that extra smile or hug, or listen a bit longer than we want to. I try to reflect on these things as much as I can, and enjoy each day to the fullest. But sometimes it's hard. Everyday is different. But we still should try =).

Sunday Sketch

It has been an urge growing for months--wanting to sketch. I had stopped many years ago when I was an insecure teenager. I had been in art classes for as long as I can remember, but somewhere near the end of eight grade I decided sketching and art in general weren't for me. I had the blessing (and the curse) of being in art classes with some extremely talented people (some of whom have turned art into their full time career). Everything they created was always exponentially better than my own work. I think a lot of my dissatisfaction with my own artistic skill had to do with a lack of patience. I wanted to sit down and draw something spectacular in less than an hour. I was deluded I know. But when you're thirteen you're priorities are a bit different.

Before middle school, I used to write stories complete with illustrations. And then I'd bind the books stamp the cover, with "By Anita Saxena" and I was a triumphant self-published author. My biggest fans were of course my parents and my grandfather.

About a week ago I picked up a pack of drawing pencils and I started drawing. I can't figure out why I ever stopped. It's so relaxing and fun. And art seems to compliment writing somehow, like I'm using a part of my brain that had been dormant for over a decade. It's so nice to have use of that portion of my brain again. Writing seems easier now somehow. But the feeling may just be temporary. We'll see.

So in the vein of Natalie Whipple's Saturday Sketch (which by the way she hasn't posted a Saturday Sketch in a very very long time), I'd like to share my Sunday Sketch of a mardi gras magnet I found in the infamous everything drawer in my kitchen.

The Second Shadow....COVER REVEAL & GIVE AWAY!!!

I love cover reveals! And today we are sharing Elizabeth Arroyo's cover for THE SECOND SHADOW--the sequel to the THE SECOND SIGN. It's fiery and appropriately reflects the hotness of Jake.

THE SECOND SHADOW will release on September 5, 2013 by Sapphire Star Publishing.

Jake thought being demon meant a shredded humanity, stripped of all human emotion. Chaos and self-preservation dominates a demon’s instincts. But Jake feels every ounce of pain and despair around him.

And it’s driving him deeper into Hell.

Gabby’s choice to save him last summer left a fissure in Hell’s gate that released a malevolent evil. When Jake’s given a mission by the demons to shadow a human girl who may know the whereabouts of an ethereal weapon, he doesn’t expect to see Gabby. 

But Fate has her own agenda.

When Jake and Gabby are thrown together on a camping trip with a group of delinquent teens, Jake begins to grapple with the haunting choices he made in the past.  When the evil finds them, the group begins to battle for their lives, alliances are made, and truths revealed.

As the evil begins to influence Jake, he questions his link to the demons, his purpose, and his love for Gabby. But the answers to those questions are only found in Hell. And it may cost him his soul.

Check out the rafflecopter giveaway below to win a free signed copy of THE SECOND SHADOW (open to U.S. residents only).

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Gossip Time...FIVE FLAVORS OF DUMB

My awesome crit partner, Liz Arroyo, sent me FIVE FLAVORS OF DUMB by Antony John. First, I was supremely excited because it was an unexpected book present. I love getting books as presents. They're the best, right? Second, isn't this an awesome cover? And then you've got the quote from The Philadelphia Inquirer saying this book is "A love letter to rock music." I grew up on alternative rock music so anything that takes me back to the days of Nirvana, Toadies, and Pearl Jam--I love. Third, there was a sweet note from Liz saying this book made her "laugh, cry, and cheer." So, needless to say, I was eager to tear into this one.

Here's a summary from Goodreads:

The Challenge: Piper has one month to get the rock band Dumb a paying gig.
The Deal: If she does it, Piper will become the band's manager and get her share of the profits.
The Catch: How can Piper possibly manage one egomaniacal pretty boy, one talentless piece of eye candy, one crush, one silent rocker, and one angry girl? 
And how can she do it when she's deaf?Piper can't hear Dumb's music, but with growing self-confidence, a budding romance, and a new understanding of the decision her family made to buy a cochlear implant for her deaf baby sister, she discovers her own inner rock star and what it truly means to be a flavor of Dumb.

What I enjoyed about this book:

• The evolution that becomes Piper Vaughan, the main character. She irrevocably changes from the beginning to the end of the book--I love it when novels do this well.
• The rock music (the music came off the page) and the realistic portrayal of the problems that come with trying to get a bunch of teenagers together to play music.
• I don't know or understand the intricacies of leading life as a deaf teenager. Antony John does a great job of showing how Piper gets through life with her capacity to read lips, but that this too has limitations. He touches on the dynamics of a family that not only has one deaf child, but two, and then throws a third kid in the mix--a middle child that can hear perfectly fine.
• Piper may be deaf but she's also been blind in some senses to the world around her, specifically Ed. He sucks at chess but joins chess club just to spend time with her. It's one of those not-obvious-love-stories that isn't all sweaty palms and burning cheeks. It's genuine and well written.

He Never Gave Up

I started seriously writing in 2004 and my concept of the word "serious" has transformed over the past nine years. And I'm sure nine years from now "serious writing" will mean something different to me than it does today. I've written many novels and gathered a lot of rejection. Sometimes the rejection hurts and other times I brush it off and focus on the other things I've accomplished in my life the past nine years. It helps to focus on those other accomplishments otherwise sometimes rejection can leave you feeling like a total failure.

Sarcastically Delicious (aka husband) had a dream too. He started studying and applying to dental school back in 2008. His rejections piled up as well. So many different reasons why he wasn't suited as a candidate. Some lame. Some understandable. None legitimate, in my opinion. And I promise you that I'm not being biased. So S.D. moved to Miami last year to get a Masters, to prove to all those naysayers in Dental School admissions that he was worthy of a spot in their class. He graduated at the top of his masters program and finally, in 2013, was offered letters of acceptance to dental schools all over the country.

It took him five years, but today he's off for his first day at UAB School of Dentistry! So proud and inspired by him. He never gave up, I'm not giving up, and to all those aspiring writers and dentists out there--you don't give up either!

Gossip Time...IMPOSTOR

IMPOSTOR is the sequel to Jill Hathaway's debut novel SLIDE. I enjoyed this fast paced read. The main character Vee Bell has an affliction where if she touches an object that a person has left a strong emotional imprint on, she gets drowsy, and slides into their body. 

Here's the book description from Amazon:

Vee's gift (or curse) of "sliding"—slipping into the mind of another person and experiencing life, briefly, through his or her eyes—has been somewhat under control since she unwillingly witnessed the horrific deaths of her classmates six months ago.

But just as things are getting back to normal—and her relationship with her best friend, Rollins, is heating up—Vee has a bizarre experience: She loses consciousness and finds herself in a deserted area, at the edge of a cliff, staring down at the lifeless body of the boy who had taken advantage of her last year. As Vee finds herself in stranger and stranger situations with no memory of getting there, she begins to suspect that someone else she knows has the ability to slide.

And this "slider" is using Vee to exact revenge.

Some things I love about this book:

• Vee's taste for 90's alternative rock. Smart girl
• It's a murder mystery, who dunnit type book with a paranormal twist.
• Awkward best friend teenagers in obvious love but too silly to realize it.

From Small to Big

As I've been chugging away at new novel I've come to appreciate the concept of little things making big things.

Take for example these seeds. They'd been sitting in a ziploc bag for a year. But, then you stick them in the ground and add some Alabama torrential rain.

And you get baby okra plants! I don't even know how to cook okra. But I'm so excited and in absolute awe of nature.

Or how you can tap on these.

And the keys make words. And the words make sentences. And the sentences make a story (or a partially printed novel because I ran out of ink along the way).

Sometimes I only get 30 minutes to write and it doesn't seem like much. I might get half a scene or just a few sentences. But if you put all those short writing sessions together, it will eventually become a draft of a novel. I love watching the word count on the bottom of MS Word go from 0 to 152 to 1582 to 5824 words and today to 14,882 words. So don't give up! Just do what you can, and eventually you'll get a tiny okra plant or a half printed novel like me. LOL.