DEAR CASSIE Cover Reveal

Got a beautiful cover from the awesome Lisa Burstein to show you today!

But first, in addition to the DEAR CASSIE cover reveal, Lisa is hosting an EPIC CONTEST to celebrate DEAR CASSIE’ s cover reveal.  Lisa wants you guys to share diary entries of your favorite fictional characters with her. That’s right, choose ANY character from books, TV, movies, a cereal box and write a 500-750 length diary entry from their point of view.

She'll will choose the top 5 and then let the masses vote on their favorite. The favorite will be published in the final version of DEAR CASSIE. You read that right, published with the author’s name! The additional four will win $20 book buying gift cards.

So get diary-ing! Send your entries to prettyamystories@yahoo.com by January 1st!

Voting for the top 5 will begin January 7th, with the winner being announced January 14th!

Now on to the COVER!!!

Gorgeous, right?!

Blurb: What if the last place you should fall in love is the first place that you do?

You’d think getting sent to Turning Pines Wilderness Camp for a month-long rehabilitation “retreat” and being forced to re-live it in this journal would be the worst thing that’s ever happened to me.

You’d be wrong.

There’s the reason I was sent to Turning Pines in the first place: I got arrested. On prom night. With my two best friends, who I haven’t talked to since and probably never will again. And then there’s the real reason I was sent here. The thing I can’t talk about with the guy I can’t even think about.

What if the moment you’ve closed yourself off is the moment you start to break open?

                                                                                                                                 

But there’s this guy here. Ben. And the more I swear he won’t—he can’t—the deeper under my skin he’s getting. After the thing that happened, I promised I’d never fall for another boy’s lies.

And yet I can’t help but wonder…what if?

AND there's an excerpt! 

Excerpt: We kept walking on the lake trail, the bullfrogs croaking. There was also a humming in my ears from the nicotine.

 It could only be from the nicotine. It had nothing to do with being outside, at night, alone with Ben. It had nothing to do with Ben coming to the cabin and taking me instead of Nez and it definitely had nothing to do with the stars above us shining like they were the sky’s tiara. 

I stopped on the trail and looked up, taking them in, when all of a sudden bright colored lights exploded in the sky—fireworks, one after another, on top of each other, huge kaleidoscopes of light, like sparkling rainbow spiders.

“How did you know?” I asked, my voice going softer, like if I talked too loudly they would stop. It was so beautiful, after weeks of so much ugly. 

Ben turned to look at me, the colored lights in the sky turning his skin pink, blue, green. “I’m magic.” He shrugged.

I geared up to tell him to fuck off, because that was some corny-ass shit, but then I realized that he really kind of was. In that moment he was able to actually make me forget being me.

 “I would try to kiss you,” he said, “but I’m afraid you’d kick me in the balls.”

“I probably would.” I laughed, the sky filling with noisy color like paint launching from a giant popcorn popper. “But like I said, it wouldn’t be about you.”

“I guess I’ll have to figure out how to make it about me,” he said, taking off his boots and socks and standing. “Come on.”

“There is no way I am getting near that water again,” I said.

“I’ll make sure nothing happens to you,” he said, holding his hand out to help me up.

            I looked at his palm, open, waiting, just wanting to hold mine. For once, I didn’t think about anything except that there was a cute, sweet, smart-ass boy standing in front of me with his hand out.

I pulled off my boots and socks and took it.  

We stood at the lakeshore, our hands still clasped, the water licking our feet, fireworks decorating the sky.

I turned to him. He was looking up, his mouth open in wonder like he was trying to swallow the moment.

It was definitely one worth keeping.

DEAR CASSIE pre-buy links:

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13628374-dear-cassie

The Book Depository: http://www.bookdepository.com/Dear-Cassie-Lisa-Burstein/9781620612545

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Dear-Cassie-Lisa-Burstein/dp/1620612542/

Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/dear-cassie-lisa-burstein/1113610316

PRETTY AMY Links:

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13375237-pretty-amy

Powells: http://www.powells.com/biblio/62-9781620611197-0

The Book Depository: http://www.bookdepository.com/Pretty-Amy-Lisa-Burstein/9781620611197

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Pretty-Amy-Lisa-Burstein/dp/1620611198/

Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/pretty-amy-lisa-burstein/1108930786

About the Author: Lisa Burstein is a tea seller by day and a writer by night. She received her MFA in Fiction from the Inland Northwest Center for Writers at Eastern Washington University. She lives in Portland, OR, with her very patient husband, a neurotic dog and two cats. Dear Cassie is her second novel.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/#%21/LisaBurstein

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LisaBursteinAuthor

Website: http://www.lisaburstein.com

So, what do you guys think? I love it! All the words! And the guy looks cute ;) Let me know in the comments!

Thank You and a Promise

Yesterday was the cover reveal of my book, The Summer I Became a Nerd, which is just well... CRAZY TOWN!

THE cover... Of a book... That was written by ME... I mean, that's just BONKERS!

If you haven't seen it yet, here you go!

It's adorable and I love it and I think it fits the vibe of the book and just.... *faints*

But enough about that, what this blog post is really about is me saying THANK YOU!

Thank you to all you amazing bloggers who took the time to work up posts for the reveal, who were brave enough to put my stupid face on your blogs, who talked about my book and what you thought of the cover and the concept. To all of you who went to Goodreads and added it to your shelves. I was ridiculously happy all day long!!!

And as I clicked on post after post, the love I felt for the book community and all the readers and authors friends just grew to the point where I realized something. And here's where the promise part comes in. I feel a responsibility and want to make this the best book it can be. I want it to make you laugh out loud! I want you to fall in love with these characters as much as I have! I want it to go in your keeper pile and stay there!

So, that's my promise to all of you. I will make this the best book I can. Because you are all wonderful and...

Sign up for TSIBAN Cover Reveal (Jon Stewart Style)

That's right, people! The time has come!

The cover for THE SUMMER I BECAME A NERD by yours truly will be revealed on November 30th and I am over the mooooon :D

So, if you'd like to help me reveal this awesomeness on your site, please let me know in the comments and leave your email address so we can send you all the juicy details!

Sign ups will end on Monday, November 26th, so get to commenting!

How to kickstart your muse

I was in a slight slump the other day. I wanted my mind to wander, to imagine all those lovely, awesome new book ideas, but my brain just didn't want to cooperate. So, I asked Twitter and the fantastic ladies over on the WrAHM Facebook group if anyone had tips or tricks for getting the muse into gear. I received tons of great responses, and here they are! (Please click on their tweets to go to their twitters. Then follow these ladies because they're AWESOME!)

(Click on these ladies' names to head over to their blogs, or in some cases, their twitters, for more amazing content!)

Shallee McArthur says, "I have a playlist on YouTube for each book and use it to help me 'get in the mood' before I start writing (when I'm drafting, I can't listen to music while writing). When rewriting, I often have a song on the list for specific scenes, and I listen to that song while I work on the rewrite."

Bethany Crandell has a unique suggestion ;) : "My muse loves it when I blow my hair dry. Must be all the white noise and fumes from the hair product."

Tristina Wright says, "Pinterest inspiration boards! I have a board for each of my books plus generic writing and character boards where I keep ideas for future stories."

Melissa Brady King agrees with Bethany: "The hair dryer has some weird connection to my brain. It blows ideas in my ears or something. Good ideas sometimes occur when I'm folding laundry, but I often get inspired while running and listening to my WIP playlist."

Katherine Ernst recommends asking a lot of "What if?" questions. "Even when I think I know where the plot is going, I like to ask myself questions about whether this plot element or that character choice could be changed or modified. Could this twist be added, or that character be different. Many ideas get thrown away, but sometimes asking those sorts of questions leads to really interesting story choices that wouldn't have been discovered otherwise."

Melissa Blanco also likes listening to her playlist and going for a run. She also says, "Whenever I sit down to write, I read over the last scene I wrote." (I also like doing this. I feel like it gets me back into the story and I might catch a few typos in the process.)

H.E. Gryphus likes Pinterest, as well, and adds, "Staring at a fire... Seriously... I did it this weekend and kept running back to the house to write down notes."

Erica Covey says, "Listening to music or going outside/playing with the kids works best for me. Actually doing anything that prevents me from writing down notes (shower, rocking baby to sleep, baking) is sure to give me a few ideas." (THIS happens to me all the time, too! Which is why I put a voice recorder app on my phone!)

Jessica Opfer has this same thing happen to her, too. "I tend to play scenes in my head while I am swimming laps, walking the dog, or feeding the baby. So yeah, any time I can't actually write things down is pretty much when the best thinking happens. Go figure!"

Robin Lucas goes for a nap. Sometimes our brain just needs to recharge, I think.

Melissa Hurst says, "I use a notepad to write ideas down when I start a scene and I don't know where I'm heading. I include anything that comes to mind no matter how weird it sounds." (I love this suggestion because one never knows what thoughts are going to lead to that AMAZING idea!)

Alexandra O'Connor recommends a shower (I'm on the shower team too!). "Seriously, all my good ideas come to me when I don't have a dang thing to write them on. I have to keep repeating key phrases over and over until I'm done."

Do you have any suggestions for kickstarting the muse??? Please, leave them in the comments!

Keeping Things Fresh

I am definitely a creature of habit. I like a routine. Get up, fix coffee, have coffee while checking internet things, try to write, blah blah blah. But today, I've switched things up. See, normally my husband takes our 6YO to the bus stop in the morning allowing me to sleep a little later which means I'll stay up late. But I've noticed that I write more in the morning, when my mind is fresh. When I stay up, I say that I'll get writing done, but I usually just end up watching a lame movie or youtube videos or playing phone games. Then I'm like:

So, I'm hoping this change will make a difference in my daily word count. We shall see. It's 8:30 now (a good hour before I normally wake up), and I've already done my twittering, facebooking, and now, even a blog post.

Also, there's just something about making a change in one's life. Even though it's just a tiny thing, I feel like I'm moving forward. Like I just leveled up or something!

LEVEL UP DANCE!

Now it's time to spend those experience points and get down to business!

What about you? Are you a morning or night or evening writer? Do you stick to a routine or let things happen as they may?

OPAL by Jennifer L. Armentrout Reveal

No one is like Daemon Black.
When he set out to prove his feelings for me, he wasn’t fooling around. Doubting him isn’t something I’ll do again, and now that we’ve made it through the rough patches, well... There’s a lot of spontaneous combustion going on.But even he can’t protect his family from the danger of trying to free those they love. After everything, I’m no longer the same Katy. I’m different... And I’m not sure what that will mean in the end. When each step we take in discovering the truth puts us in the path of the secret organization responsible for torturing and testing hybrids, the more I realize there is no end to what I’m capable of. The death of someone close still lingers, help comes from the most unlikely source, and friends will become the deadliest of enemies, but we won’t turn back. Even if the outcome will shatter our worlds forever.

Together we’re stronger... and they know it.

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Follow this link to an ~~~ EPIC CONTEST ~~~ Announcement. You will want to bookmark this page!

http://jenniferarmentrout.blogspot.com/p/october-1-2012.html

USA TODAY Bestselling author, Jennifer L. Armentrout, lives in Martinsburg, West Virginia. All the rumors you’ve heard about her state aren’t true. When she’s not hard at work writing, she spends her time reading, working out, watching really bad zombie movies, pretending to write, and hanging out with her husband and her Jack Russell, Loki. Her dreams of becoming an author started in algebra class where she spent most of her time writing short stories….which explains her dismal grades in math. Jennifer writes young adult paranormal, science fiction, fantasy, and contemporary romance. She also writes adult romance under the name J. Lynn.

Find Jennifer on: Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | Website | Blog

5 Animated Movies That Won't Annoy The Crap Out Of You

I'm a stay-at-home mom. My oldest is six and then there's the three year old. We don't have television because we can't afford it. It's not so bad seeing as I don't have America's Top Model or reruns of CSI to distract me, but I also don't have Nick Jr. to distract the monkey-boy. The littlest is pretty good about keeping himself entertained, but sometimes I have to just put on some eye candy to keep him out of trouble (and to retain my sanity). In other words, I've seen a lot, A LOT, of animated movies. And I've narrowed it down to the least annoying, the ones that I actually enjoy and can handle watching multiple times (because as most people know, children can watch the same movie twelve times in one day and still say, "Again, again!"). So, here they are for those of you who might be in the same position as me.

1. CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS 

Based on the children's book written by Judi Barrett, this is our family's go to movie. We even have a nickname for it: Steve. The voice acting includes Bill Hader, Anna Faris, Andy Samberg, Mr. T, Neil Patrick Harris, and the always brilliant, Bruce Campbell. The animation is fun, the story is great, and my husband and I are constantly repeating some of the hilarious one liners. I'm pretty sure a day doesn't go by that we don't watch this movie, and oddly enough, that's alright with me.

2. TANGLED

Remember when you were a little girl and you had crushes on animated characters? Yeah, apparently I never grew out of that. I just love Flynn Rider played by Zachary Levi in this one. My husband says the horse, Maximus, is the best part of the movie. And my 3yo has "Mother Knows Best" stuck in his head practically day and night. Laugh out loud moments combined with great songs make this one a classic Disney flick.

3. MEGAMIND

You can see all the big names in this one. I'm particularly impressed with the story. There's a great anti-hero thing going on plus a strong female character. And the animation is really quite pretty.

4. GNOMEO & JULIET

All Elton John, all movie long. Emily Blunt and James McAvoy do the main voices in this retelling of Romeo and Juliet. I'm a sucker for retellings and I love Shakespeare so this is a no-brainer for me. Also, there is nothing sweeter than listening to the boys sing along with "Love Builds a Garden." Makes me tear up every time.

5. HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON

This is a recent addition to our regular viewing list. The 6yo especially loves this one. There are lots of Scottish accents which I could listen to all day. The story reminds me of a boy and his dog kind of story. And who wouldn't want their own Toothless?

So, there you have it! I'm always looking for new kids' movies to add to our list. Do you have any that don't make you want to pull your hair out?

And now that I've finally done a new blog post, I think I deserve a break!