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.

Happy Release Day, Laura Golden!

I first met Laura at an SCBWI conference in Atlanta back in 2012. Back in 2012. It really wasn't that long ago, but it feels like I've known her a long time. She's just one of those sweet people you instantly feel comfortable around. I'm thankful to have her as a friend and to be able to turn to her when I need writing advice and encouragement. I am so happy and proud to announce that Laura Golden's middle grade novel, EVERY DAY AFTER (Delacorte Press/Random House) releases today! Congratulations!

Transition

I'm happy to say that I made it safely through wedding planning land, enjoyed a fairy tale wedding, a tropical honeymoon, the reality crash land, and finally after so long a return to my writer life.

Last week was full of book reading. I read JUST ONE DAY by Gayle Forman. I heart this book. It's about finding yourself, breaking through parental molds, some European travel, and of course love abroad (the best kind). After that I started reading PRODIGY (the sequel to the awesome LEGEND by Marie Lu). And it is intense. It's hard to imagine that in this dystopian world, the United States of America has turned into well...what it has in PRODIGY and LEGEND. But no matter what I continue to cheer on the two main characters June and Day, who were at first enemies, and then realized they had more in common then what they thought. And then when I wasn't reading I was listening to THE DAUGHTER OF SMOKE AND BONE by Laini Taylor. OMG. This book takes fantasy to a whole new level and talk about forbidden love. Yikes. After finishing THE DAUGHTER OF SMOKE AND BONE on audio book, then began the hunt for the sequel on audio book, DAYS OF BLOOD AND STARLIGHT. It only took me two libraries and renewing an expired library card before I found it. This sequel is beautifully written, but it is haunting and sad. I'm still at the beginning though, and so I hope things start looking up soon.

Last week was also the return of me drafting my new shiny novel about an ice skater. It's actually a rewrite/revision based on a critique I received from an agent from an SCBWI conference (SCBWI...if you're children's writer you should be a part of this organization. Seriously). But, I'm enjoying writing it so much this time around because I'm not stressing about wedding planning anymore. My mind is soooo much more free. And creative. And just me. I'm so happy that I'm back to being me again.

I also have a vegetable garden. Yes, I know it's random. But, it's something I take pride in cultivating along with my writing. I have a cherry tomato plant that has exponentially increased in size. So far I've only harvested three tomatoes. But, they'll be more. Just wait. Beside that I've got a cucumber plant. It's feeling a bit overshadowed by the tomato plant, so it's being timid in it's growth. I keep encouraging it to grow up the trellis. But, it's yet to built it's self esteem up for that. On the other side of the garden is Japanese Eggplant. I love the purple hue of it's stems. And this little guy had a rough start as well. At first it's lower leaves kept turning yellow and falling off and I thought he wasn't going to make it. I think he too was getting intimidated by Mr. Giant Cherry Tomato plant. But, in the end I think the eggplant decided enough was enough, it wasn't going to be pushed around by any weenie tomatoes and so this past week, it doubled in size. Last but not least are the sweet banana peppers. I think this trio of plants may have been planted a bit too close together, and so they were like roommates fighting for closet space. And then last week they realized, that growing up and not strangling each other was the answer. And so they too have increased in height. Tomorrow, I plan on planting some very special okra seeds. I have no clue how to cook okra, other than to give them to my best friend and beg him to grill them for me (grilled okra is AMAZING!). The okra seeds are special because they are from a friend of my aunt's. And this lady, Ms. Norma, has had these seeds in her family for over a hundred years! They're like from her great great grandmother, and after every year's harvest they would save some seeds for the next year. Talk about tradition. I'm very honored to be growing these seeds in my garden.

And last but not least, you have got to check out this blog, Open Hands, Overflowing Heart. It's a blog written by a teenage girl that was recently diagnosed with cancer. It really touched my heart and I admire her bravery and how forthcoming she is about her disease.

And last but not least, author Natalie Parker is now hosting critique camps. Two years ago Natalie donated her time to a project she dubbed CALL ME ICARUS, through which she gave aspiring writers free critiques of their work. She was giving back to the writing community to celebrate signing with agent Sarah Davies. She gave three levels of critique, peach, apple, and coconut. Her critique was so valuable and helpful. It really helped turn my novel around. And now Natalie is offering critique camps and I highly suggest checking it out.