I'm published!!

Wait. I can't breathe. It must be from all the screaming. Nathalene can you hear me?

The kindle edition is .99 and you can purchase that here.

The paperback edition is $7 and you can purchase that here.

I'm so happy, I think I'll do the dance of joy!

And the winners are...

Jill

Mike and Shayla

And Rollinsja

Congrats!! I really hope you enjoy reading it!

Love is in the air

Being valentines day and all it would feel strange not to talk about romantic books. Especially since that's the main thing I like to read. Not romance genre of course, (I like my romance clean, thank you). There's a lot of buzz about how Stephenie Meyer redefined the YA genre. You can't pick up a YA book anymore without there being romance. Which is just fine by me. (I'd like the YA novel about witches with romance on the side please).

But romance has been around long before Edward's sparkle made us all sigh. Those lovable hunks just happened to be older. Hello, Mr. Darcy! Which makes me wonder, does it just seem like there's more romance in YA? Or is there really? I'm not the best judge since I wasn't romance driven in high school.

So what do you think? Do you have to have romance for the book to be good? Is it a major plus? Or do you just wish YA could get back to the casual boyfriend/girlfriend mentioning of the past?

Literary Heroes

I thought I was a pretty decent reader before I started branching into the world of blogs. I've been known to read two, sometimes three books a month. Hey, I thought that was doing good. But I've found sites of people who read a whole lot more than I do. I mean a whole lot more. Kathy over at I am a reader not a writer has read something like 30 books since Jan. 1st! (She's a great reviewer if you're wondering if a certain book is worth your time).

In all my reading I've discovered some truly great books. Some are great because of the characters (The Gurnsey Litereary and Potato Peel Pie Society), some are great because of the story (Mortal Instrument series, Book of a Thousand Days), and some are great because of the writing (The Book Thief).

But it's rare I love a book because of all of the above. That title is reserved for none other than Harry Potter. (I wonder how many of you have rolled your eyes at that). I understand witches and wizards aren't everyone's fancy, but there is no denying that J.K. Rowling can write. I mean write! She created a whole different world with dozens of characters. But I loved every single one of them for the part they played. Even Dolores Umbridge. She had so much detail you couldn't help but believe you were living among them.

As a writer I hope to always better myself. That the next story is better than the last. At the very least in my writing technique. But with a writer like Rowling out there, the bar is pretty high. That's why she's my literary hero.

Who's yours?

Waiting on Wednesday

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event on breaking the spine. It's a way of letting others know what book we can't wait to read and wish the release date would hurry up and get here already!!

So my Waiting on Wednesday book is The Clockwork Prince, the second book in Cassandra Clare's Infernal Devices series. And it doesn't come out until September!! For any of you who love paranormal romance, (or is it Fantasy?) and have not read The Clockwork Angel I'm telling you, do it now. Or maybe wait until August so you don't have to wait so long for the sequel. It doesn't end with everything wrapped up all nice and neat with a pretty bow. Not at all. It just ends. Why did she do this to me?

As you know I am a huge fan of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Clare's books mimic that in a way-but not to the point where you want to roll your eyes and say, she just stole that. It's just similar. Plus the Infernal devices books take place in victorian era London. Seriously, it's like she crawled inside my brain and wrote the book for me!!

So that's the book I am impatiently waiting for.

What about you?

Drawing date extended!!

If any of you out there are still following I bet you're sitting around saying, Hey, she said she was going to have a drawing yesterday. What's up with that?

I blame it all on my naivety. I thought once I got everything formatted I was good to go. Unfortunately, that's not how it works. I had to order a proof to look over before I can sell it. It should be here on Thursday and once I look it over (and it looks good), I'll be able to go forward. The thing is, if it isn't all right, it could be another two weeks before I get another proof. So here's how I'm going to do it.

The drawing will now be held on Feb 17th!

Sorry for the delay!

Book vs. Movie

There are very few book-made-to movies that I like the movie better than the book. Pride and Prejudice is one of them. But only the one with Keira Knightly in it. Count of Monte Cristo is another. But that might just be because I couldn't get through the book. TOO. MANY. WORDS.

I am going to add another one to my list now. Charlie St. Cloud.

This doesn't mean I didn't enjoy the book. That's not true at all. It was well written and I'm glad I read it. And just because I liked the movie better doesn't mean I'll watch it over and over again even though the ending was totally cheesy and I'm known to love the cheese.

It's because the main issue I had with the book, is no longer an issue in the movie. It's the whole love thing. I love love. I know love. I'm married to my love. Love I get. And no matter how cheesy the movie (or how much I love the cheese), I hate when they fall in love after the first date. It doesn't happen people. That's not love!

So there you have it. If you have what I call the cinderella complex, then by all means, love the book. But for me, it should be a gradual thing. And my love stories need a bit more substance.

Oops

I knew I was going to jinks myself. Due to illness and formatting issues it will still be a couple of days before Akasha is released. However, I have submitted it to Amazon and as soon as they give me a thumbs up the paperback edition will be available for purchase. YAY!

Until then, here's another quote from the book:

The sound of your heart beating is a sound you are so used to you never hear it anymore. It's a sound from birth, from before birth, so much a part of us we never think of it. I had never listened to the sound of my beating heart, thumping as it pulsated blood to my veins and circulating life through my body. I had never noticed it.

Until it was no longer there.