getting the word out

i know how much i appreciate it when people get the word out about my blog so i wanted to do the same for a good friend.  she just started this blog and i think its going to be really great.  its mainly for moms but anyone can benefit from it!  and the best part is that you can contribute to the blog if you have advice, tips, ideas, etc.  Love it! 

So take a look.  Katie (the blog creator herself) has a great prize for spreading the word.  Enjoy!

writing and rewriting and rewriting and rewriting and...

when is enough...enough?  i have nearly 90,000 words typed out on a word document that has been in process since march of 2010.  its the second draft of the original work.  the original work was, in my opinion, a bit stringy.  and now i sit here with only a few more chapters to go and i'm starting to smell a strench coming from somewhere between the ninth and twelvth chapters.  it resembles the smell of garbonzo beans and expired cottage cheese and i'm tempted to just throw the whole thing out.  hit "select all" and then "delete".  forget all about it.  pretend it was never written.  start fresh on a new, white piece of paper. 

what is this?  is there a name for this condition?  didn't i like what i had written the first time i wrote it?  and didn't i like it again when i reread it the next day and the day after that?  then why now, after all this time and work and decrease in eye vision from staring at a computer screen so long - am i so turned off by the work as a whole?

I wish it were possible to step out of my brain for a moment.  to completely erase from my mind all the words, reconfigurations, judgements and expectations that i've ever had for my manuscript and be able to just read it for the very first time.  then, and only then, would i really be able to know if i had something there.  if i nailed it. 

they say its good to step away from your work for a while.  give it a month or two and then return to it with a fresh take.  so this is what i've done.  and now tonight, after many weeks of "stepping away" i am stepping back up to the plate.  stepping back onto the stand.  ready to judge and be judged by no other person than myself.  tonight is the night.  i will pull up my document and give it one more try and then i will make my decision.

HaPpY BiRtHdAy SALE!!!!!!!

happy birthday to me

and

happy birthday to you! 

today i turn 29 years old and as a birthday gift to me i'm having a

one-day birthday sale of my book, Second Kiss.

for today only i've dropped the price from $18.99 to
$14.99 plus Free Shipping!

just click the "buy now" button to the right!

happy birthday!

new baby hiatus

just a quick explanation about my lack of posts lately...
i had a baby two weeks ago and i'm still figuring out life with two children.  i'll be back in the swing of things soon but in the mean time keep writing! (and jot down a few words for me too...  who knew that such a little human could take up so much time???)

some final advice on book signings - as if i'm the expert

i had my third (and final until baby comes) book signing last week and had such a fun time!  what was so different about it this time?  FRIENDS!!!  i mean, it sounds logical enough... you wouldn't throw a party without inviting your friends right?  and book signings should be just that.  a PaRtY!!!

this book signing was closer to my house so i was able to invite a lot of people i knew.  plus, i had some great friends drive 2 hours to come to it! (such a fabulous surprise!) 

not only did having friends at the signing make the event so much more fun but strangers who usually avoid eye contact with me actually came to the table! yeah!  i'm beginning to think that we humans have a fear of interacting one-on-one with people we don't know.  i think it was really intimidating for the customers in the coffee shop to approach my table when it was just me sitting there all by myself.  but when there was already a crowd around it was a lot easier for people to come ask questions and see what was going on. 

what made it even better is that my friends were able to say stuff like, "you should definitely read this book, its great!"  that sounds a lot better coming from someone else than from me - the author. 

my publisher had suggested in a list of tips that i take someone with me as a book signing "buddy" to the events.  i didn't take this advice (mostly because i didn't think any of my new friends in ohio would want to join me.) but i think people would have been willing if i would have asked them and i think it makes a BIG difference. 

so the last tip i'm going to leave with you from my limited amount of experience is...
INVITE FRIENDS TO THE BOOK SIGNING!
LOTS OF THEM!!!

p.s. thanks to everyone who came out.  you truly made it a fabulous event!

Follower Love Giveaway Results!!!

here is the official name-drawing bucket

(as you can see we are very official here in the palmer house...)

here are ALL the names!

here is our cute little name-drawer.

he's going in...

he has the winner!!!  (drum roll please)

and the winner is...

Congratulations Zombie Girl!!!

I'll be contacting you shortly.

Thanks so much to everyone for participating.

i LOVED reading about all your Second Kiss's.

And just for fun...

my second kiss was on a cold december night

on the street in front of my house

leaning against his car.

i was so nervous

and he had a lot more experience

and i was giddy for the rest of the night.

Happy Valentines Day!

Just Kiss Already Blogfest (and a sneak peak of the sequel to Second Kiss)

i've had so much fun with contests and blog hops to celebrate the day of love that is just around the corner. however, i just realized that they'll all be OVER by the time valentine's day actually arrives!  so for a special little v-day treat i've decided to participate in the "Just Kiss Already" Blogfest hosted by Stina Lindenblatt and Christina Lee.
the blogfest is just about posting a 250 word (or less) segment of a kissing scene of either your own writing or from a book you want to share.  even though i am absolutely IN LOVE with the book i'm currently reading Flirt Club by Cathleen Daly - the girls in the book are young and haven't quite come across any big romantic kisses.  so for this event i'm going to post a little sneak peak from my current project (the sequel to Second Kiss).  Of course this is just part of  a rough draft and may not even make the final cut but for those of you have read Second Kiss you may be interested to see what happens to Gemma and Jess a little bit later...


Okay this is more than 250 words.  But if you don't want to read past the 250th word you don't have to. :)


I should have been paying more attention to the bottle and the people around me.  Because when Jess’s spin landed on me there were a million things I should have done, that I didn’t.  I should have kissed him on the cheek the way Drew did.  I should have looked at Lauren and remembered how much she liked him and how good of a friend she was to me.  And I definitely should have considered the consequences. 

But I wasn’t paying attention… not enough anyway.  I was thinking about Jess and how perfect and strong his hand looked as he spun the bottle and rested it on the carpet waiting to see where it landed.  And when he followed the rules of the game and crawled toward me I should have smiled politely and given him a friendly kiss.  Because it was only a game of spin the bottle and Lauren was right there, waiting and watching.  I shouldn’t have crawled toward him – but then again, he shouldn’t have crawled toward me either, especially not with such a deep and determined gaze.  I shouldn’t have allowed my heart to beat a million times a minute.  And he shouldn’t have taken such a deep breath.  I shouldn’t have lightly glossed my lips with the tip of my tongue   I should have pursed my lips.  I should have gone for his cheek.  But I didn’t and neither did he.  He went for my lips and I went for his and when we should have pulled away – when the universal allotted time for a spin-the-bottle kiss was over – we should have pulled away!  But neither one of us did.  Our lips were soft and inviting and accepting and moving and I only realized that we had been kissing for an entirely inappropriate amount of time when Drew gasped and Greg cleared his throat and I knew we had broken the cardinal rule.