The Blog Blitz Effect

Writing can be an extremely lonely venture. Add to that the fact that most of us are experiencing a horrifically rigid winter, and it leaves many of us downright depressed.

For this reason (among many others), reaching out to other authors can be good for the soul. I'm not sure how I stumbled across DL Hammons's blog hop, but I'm so glad I did! The mystery/thriller/suspense writer started the blitz with the hopes of focusing on supporting and encouraging a single blogger at a time. Quite often the "target" will get over 100 comments on their blog. In the few months I've been participating, we've reached out to authors

who are going through personal and professional issues. The bloggers participating have proven to be kind souls, rallying together to lift the spirits of anyone who needs a pick-me-up. (Note, while there isn't any physical hugging involved like the picture on the left, you'll feel the love, I promise.)

So if you're looking for a day-brightener for both yourself and others, sign up for DL's inspirational project HERE.

Kindle Matchbook: Amazon Has Done it Again

We all know Amazon is constantly changing the way we buy things, and that's why they're so crazy successful. They're the reason I don't have to get out of my pajamas to go shopping, or spend $50 in gas to go to a decent shopping mall in my hick little area of the world. They're the reason I'm able to publish my books at a decent price, and make them available to people on the other side of the world. They're the reason I've become hooked on so many different TV series, and therefore don't have much of a social life. And today they announced Kindle Matchbook, a program in which authors will be selling their digital books at a discounted price to anyone who has already purchased the paper version.

I see this as a great opportunity for both readers AND writers alike. As a reader, I'm constantly purchasing the kindle versions as I have ZERO patience. Even with second day service through Amazon Prime, if I get excited about reading something, I want it now. But I also have a very large collection on my bookshelf, and I like to add anything that I'm pretty sure I'll read again. And if it's something I end up absolutely loving, I HAVE to have a copy so I can put it up on the shelf, and fawn over it daily. But the times I do buy just the hard copy of something, every time I wish I had the digital copy, too, so I can read it in the dark when my husband is snoring at my side, or when we're on a trip and, of course, I've forgotten the book at home.

Although my digital books are already sold at a low price, and therefore I likely won't participate in this program, big time authors who sometimes charge up to $9 for a digital copy will probably make a little extra money on those of us who want both versions, but can't necessarily afford to buy both at full price. It will be interesting to see what big-named authors choose to jump on this bandwagon. It's just as they say, the publishing industry is changing. With mega companies like Amazon leading the way, you just never know what new idea will influence the way we read next.

Summer Sun Award

I was nominated for this awesome award by my friend and fellow blogger, Shanah Wooldrage. I first met Shanah on Twitter, then in person at a writer's convention in Wisconsin. She's a lot of fun, full of energy, and very upbeat!

The intent of this award is to present it to someone who brightens your day either in blog format or in general and to have a little fun with giving up some summer secrets. This summer has flown by so quickly it's depressing, so I'm glad to have something to brighten my day!

Favourite song with summer in the title or the lyrics (give the line): Since I'm a pretty big Justin Timberlake fan, I have to go with Summer Love. You simply can't listen to that song without dancing!

Favourite book about summer: Wow, I can't really remember which books took place in the summertime. I'm sure I've read many, I just have a crappy memory. Doesn't Lauren Oliver's Delirium take place then?

Favourite hot summer film: Sadly enough, I know just about every line of The Goonies, but I can't remember if it took place in the summer. Didn't Mouth give Bran crap that they could've spent their summer cruising around if he hadn't failed his driver's test? I know they're wearing coats in most of the film, but they live in a colder area. Either way, that's going to be my answer. It's my favorite movie in any category.

Favourite summer memory: On our fifth wedding anniversary (4th of July) we had over 50 people camping in the yard of our lake home. It was so much fun having my friends and family all together, it was like our wedding day all over again. Then there was a giant storm that freaked us out, forcing a bunch of us to huddle in the garage until 4 in the morning. I remember my dad coming out in the middle of the night telling "us kids" it was time to go to bed. I hadn't been told that in over decade. The weekend was filled with craziness.

Favourite summer holiday destination: That would have to be our lake home. It's only two hours away so we go there quite often, although with all the other things we have going on in the summer, it's not often enough. I do some really great writing while there.

What books will be in your suitcase this summer? I challenged myself to read an obnoxious amount of books this summer so I won't list them all, but the best reads so far were: One by LeighAnn Kopans, Foreign Identity by Becca J. Campbell, Rats Saw God by Rob Thomas, Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk, The Future of Us by Jay Asher, Death and Kisses by Clover Autrey, The Way We Fall by Megan Crewe, and Paper Towns by John Green. I highly recommend each and every one of them!

What’s your likely destination this summer? We were already up by Canada a couple of weeks ago for a fishing trip with my parents and siblings. The only destination left is our lake home. And I'm okay with that.

What hottie would you most like to be sharing the hot days and long nights with this summer? Ummm, other than my husband? Okay, if you're going to twist my arm I would have to say Jack Johnson. He has an amazing voice, a gentle soul, and can surf the hell out of those Hawaiian waves. One day I hope to spend a summer in Hawaii...

Here are the rules:

1. Display the Summer Sun Award logo and link back to the blog of the person who nominated you.
2. Answer the questions listed above.
3. Nominate a further eight lucky recipients (one for each sun-ray).

I nominate the following people for brightening various areas of my internet life (they're all a giant ball of fun in my life, and I'm thankful I met them all!):

Tawney Bland

C.J. Sullivan

S.K. Anthony

Emma Meade

Kelly Anne Blount

Danielle Sibarium

London Cole

Maria Monteiro

I'm Back (and as Crazy as Ever)!

*Cue AC/DC's Back in Black*

It's been an insane couple of weeks. We spent a week at our lake home celebrating the 4th of July and our 15th wedding anniversary, plus I've been getting ready to host my class reunion this week as well as working on my next book with my editor (Mind Benders—title in progress), writing the first draft of the sequel to The Day Zombies Ruined My Perfectly Boring Life, and getting slammed with ideas for the NEXT book in line. Plus I'm getting ready to design a new book cover.

This is quite literally how I feel at the moment:

Do self-employed people in general put too much pressure on themselves to finish multiple things at once? Or is that an author thing? Maybe it's just an ADD thing. Regardless, it appears to be a "me" thing. Times like these I get frustrated, especially when I can't find time to read as much as I'd like, or watch my favorite TV series.

Hope all my US friends enjoyed the holiday. I love the hell out of this country and the 4th is my favorite holiday. I even have a tattoo of red, white and blue stars on my foot to prove it (plus to commemorate our anniversary).

Obviously I'm not here to say anything profund, but really just apologizing for the blogging silence. If I'm not committed anytime soon, I'll try to post sooner next time.

Celebrate the Small Things

Happy Friday and long weekend to everyone! As part of VikLit's Celebrate the Small Things blog hop, I'm going to give a quick rundown of the reasons why I'm partying like it's 1999 (okay bad reference because I was extremely pregnant with my firstborn that New Year's Eve and didn't party at all).

1. The re-write of my first novel What I've Done is going so well it has me doing several fist pumps in the air per hour. My original editor was able to help me and I think we make an awesome team. It couldn't be going any better. I'm also working on an updated trailer, so stay tuned!

2. Today I get to go to our lake home for the first time this year! I miss my friends out there so badly and cannot wait to sit by the fire and drink a beer...or two (who am I kidding, I'm bringing a whole case). Plus my favorite band is going to be playing at the local bar there, which means I will get to dust off my dance moves after a long winter...

3. My cold is going away and I've been able to continue running. I feel amazing after a good run and have to restrain myself from doing it every single day. I probably owe all my running friends an apology for telling them they're psycho in the past...

4. School is almost over for the kids and I'm slowly regaining my own life back. Hopefully this will equate to more writing time so I can kick out the sequel to my zombie novel!

5. Some of my best writing friends and I got to hang out in another Google chat session. I got to beta read an awesome story for a friend. I am writing one of my editor's books and love it. Life in the writing world is awesome. This week, anyway.

Wishing you all a fantastic (and safe) holiday weekend!

My "Pretend" Friends

As an indie author, I spend a lot of time alone in my "office", promoting myself online. Pinterest, Facebook, Tumblr, Instagram, and the biggest evil time sucker, Twitter. When I first signed up for Twitter last year, I didn't get it and almost walked away without giving it another thought.

Boy, am I glad I didn't.

To my total astonishment, I have met so many amazing, good people from networking on there. So many of them are other writers, who you would think would be competition, but the community of authors is strong and extremely supportive. And they're not just acquaintances, but people I have worked with and leaned on for help and advice. Actual friends. I feel more of a connection to some of the people on there than I do to some of my "real life" friends. So many of them have made an important impact on my life. And I really want to meet all of them in person, even though my husband is convinced most of them are serial killers in real life (which would actually make for really good writing material).

While some of my new compadres may be a lot harder to visit as they don't live in the same country (Emma Meade, I vow to come to Ireland one day!), I've kept plans in the back of my mind to meet up with many of them. Some live in areas I already visit on a regular basis because I have family there; like Texas, Florida and California. Some live in really awesome locations that have already made my "to visit" list; like Alaska and Colorado. And some live in New York, where I hope to go in early December for a third time.

But I recently signed up to attend a writer's convention in Madison, Wisconsin where I may have the opportunity to meet three of these new buddies!

While there are many ups and downs to being an author, this is certainly one of the major ups. Now I just worry because I'm so excited to meet these friends that I'll come off as being a complete psycho. Which is probably debatable. Regardless, I think my life has been enriched by so many of these people, and I'm forever grateful for their friendship.

Even if we never get the chance to actually meet in person.

MORE exciting news!

This has been an exciting week! Not only is my zombie book now available in the Kindle lending library, but a blog I've been working on with eleven other very fun and spirited ladies is about to go live this Saturday! Being an author can be a lonely road to travel, so we joined together to document our unique journeys as well as bring you other news from the writing world. To get to know my fellow authors that will be blogging along with me, you can check out their profiles here.

Here's a preview of what you can expect from this brand-spanking new blog! 

	The Tuesday Topic: On Tuesdays, each of us will chime with our perspective on a popular writing topic. We'll ask for your point of view in the comments!
	Writers' Review: On Wednesday, one of us will suggest a new book that we're sure you'll love!
	Write Now: On Thursdays, we'll all come together to give you a short insight into what we're doing for our craft at that single point in time.
	Song for a Scene Saturday: On Saturday, one of us will share with you a specific song that inspired or influenced a scene in our writing.
	Dear Diary: A look into the milestones and pitfalls of our journey. We aim for an honest and pull-no-punches view into our minds as we navigate our path to publication.
	Fact and Fiction: We will tell you about one of our personal experiences that differed from our expectations.
	What's New: We'll highlight book releases, contests, other fabulous blogs, and other happenings in our community.
	Who to Watch for: Interviews with up-and-comers as well as industry vets!

Oh, and we're everywhere on the web, so be sure to follow us on the sites below for all the exciting new we will have to offer!

• Email
• Pinterest
• Twitter
• Facebook
• Tumblr
• RSS

Writers Are People Too. No, Really.

I’m not going to lie. When you're an author, negative reviews of your book hurt. Like really bad. Imagine being stabbed repeatedly in the chest, then having an Army tank run you over, only to be followed by a stray dog peeing in your face. That's maybe a small glimpse into how it feels.

Today I came across some negative reviews left for a book written by a Twitter friend of mine who is extremely nice and kindhearted. While I haven't read her book myself, I was appalled to read through the overly harsh comments left by these bloggers on Goodreads. And I felt inspired to explain why I think this is totally uncalled for.

As writers, we spend months pouring our heart and soul into these stories, creating these characters and the worlds they live in from nothing more than the darkest corners of our imaginations. Then we take this precious story we've created and release it to the wild, kind of the way a mother has to send her child to his first day of kindergarten. And we're just ordinary people, like everyone else. So of course it hurts when you use dramatic GIFs and foul language to describe just how much you hated our books. Probably the most ironic part about all of this is the fact that most writers I know are emotional creatures, often even socially introverted. Many of us have a hard time putting ourselves out there to begin with. And we're known to take things to heart.

Before I published my first novel, I didn't fully appreciate this concept. While I've always tried to be a fairly positive person and don't believe in putting others down, I sometimes gave out 2 star reviews to books I really didn't like. Now, as I stand in the awkward and sometimes ill-fitting shoes that writers are forced to wear, I understand just what an impact negative reviews can have. If I really can't stand a book, I will just decline to review it.

Many bloggers I've contacted state on their website that they won't tear a book apart and if they didn't enjoy it that they will do their best to point out the positive aspects, knowing everyone doesn't have the same tastes. This is so true. That's the most frustrating part about negative reviews - just because Joe Blow thought a book was stupid and tacky doesn't mean his 60 year old mother whose basement he's living in won't thoroughly enjoy it.

Next time you leave feedback on a book you've read, please keep in mind (whether you personally know the author or not) that they're just regular people trying to make a living doing something they really enjoy. It's not necessary to put down the author and go on a rampage that tears their books to shreds. And to my fellow authors who have to endure the sometimes immature comments left by people who either don't know or don't care that they're talking about a real person who put gallons of blood and sweat into their work, just remember:

Thankfully, we live in a diverse world where there sill are people who are more interested in sharing the love than spreading the hate.