The Progressive Book Club & a Visit with Ellie Garratt

I am interviewed by fellow Untethered Realms author Ellie Garratt today as part of her Speculative Fiction Writers series. I really enjoyed answering Ellie's questions and am thrilled to be part of her series. Please come and visit with us here. Thanks for interviewing me, Ellie! :)

Also, today is my first time posting as part of Michael L. Swift's Progressive Book Club. I meant to join this club a long time ago but got sidetracked, so I figured since this is the group's first meeting for 2014 there was no time like the present to finally join in.

If you'd like to participate as well visit Michael's site here for all the details.

The book I am sharing today is Haunted by my friend Susan Oloier. I signed up for a review copy of the book last month and was so glad I did! This was a fantastic read, and if I didn't already know Susan was a gifted author this book would have definitely convinced me.

I had been remiss in getting my Goodreads review written but finally got it done today, so I am just going to share that review here.

Haunted is a touching and beautifully written story about loss, love, and figuring out how to live again after a single mistake brings about the unthinkable.

Teenage Hailey grows sleepy behind the wheel and crashes her car while driving home from a party with her boyfriend Jeremy. Hailey survives the accident while Jeremy does not. Hailey has to figure out how to go on without the boy she loves and how to forgive herself for the mistake which took his life. Needless to say, neither is easy to do.

The story also focuses on Eli, a boy Hailey meets who is struggling with his own demons, and on Jeremy himself, who is trying to figure out how to leave the land of the living behind and enter into the spiritual realm where he now belongs.

Oloier has a gift with language and her writing is so lyrical that at times it feels like poetry. This is a book that will stay with you long after you have finished the final page.

As you can tell from my review, I highly recommend this book. Now I'm looking forward to hopping around and seeing the books everyone else is sharing today. Thanks to Michael for hosting this group!

Hope to see you over at Ellie's!

IWSG, Writerly Wednesday, Reviews, and Giveaways

Happy IWSG day! I'm excited for our first meeting of 2014. As always, the group is hosted by the Ninja Captain Alex J. Cavanaugh. This month's co-hosts are Bob Milne, River Fairchild, Julie Dao, and Sarah Foster.

This month I'm insecure about something I seem to always be insecure about - social media. I've mentioned before that I really want to work on expanding my social media presence, but mentioning it seems to be about as far as I ever go. The truth is that blogging is the only type of social media that I genuinely enjoy and feel comfortable doing. 

I have several friends who have worked hard to build a great following on Twitter and really love that medium, and that is the one I would most like to master. But every time I swear I am going to dive in and work on it, I end up right back in the same spot. A writing friend mentioned to me last month that she always feels awkward when she tweets about her book and I agreed 100%. I enjoy lurking and reading what others are up to but I really feel awkward trying to tweet myself.

But I know how important social media is to marketing so I am going to give it another go and once again set a goal for myself to get more active on Twitter and other sites. Maybe this time I will actually stick to my plan. 

I'm super excited to extend my blog tour for The Ghosts of Aquinnah just a bit today with a visit to the amazing Crystal Collier. Crystal is featuring me on her Writerly Wednesday series, so please come over and visit with Crystal and me! Odds are good there will be cheese there. :D 

Also, I had some unexpected stress this past week and I can't say I'm a fan of 2014 so far, but my spirits got a huge boost from two wonderful ladies who reviewed my book on their blogs. T.B. Markinson and Susan Oloier shared their reviews of The Ghosts of Aquinnah this week and of course I'm beyond thrilled that they both enjoyed the book. Thanks, Susan and TB!

T.B. is hosting a giveaway as part of her post and I will be giving away two ebook copies of the book. All you have to do to enter is leave a comment here.  

And speaking of giveaways, I'm holding one at Goodreads as well. Two paperback copies of the book are up for grabs and the giveaway runs until January 21. Click below to enter!

 

Goodreads Book Giveaway

The Ghosts of Aquinnah

by Julie Flanders

Giveaway ends January 21, 2014.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Tag Time

The wonderful and talented Christine Rains, author of the fantastic 13th Floor series, tagged me for one of the writing memes that has been making its way around the blogosphere. Thanks to Christine for the tag!

The rules of this tag are very simple. All I had to do was answer four of the following nine questions, link back to Christine, and then tag four writers myself.

The questions:  

1. What are you working on right now?

2. How does it differ from other works in its genre? 

3. What experiences have influenced you? 

4. Why do you write what you do?

5. How does your writing process work?

6. What is the hardest part about writing?

7. What would you like to try as a writer that you haven't yet?

8. Who are the authors you most admire?

9. What scares you? 

My answers:

1. I am working on revising and polishing my upcoming novel The Ghosts of Aquinnah. Every time I think I'm done I start playing with it again! The novel will be released in December of this year and I'm very excited about it.

7. I would like to try writing short stories. I have written some flash fiction but have never written a longer short story and that's something I'd really like to do. I have some ideas and hope to flesh them out and get some stories written - that's a goal for 2014.

8. There are so many authors I admire that it would be impossible to list all of them. But when I read this question I thought about two author friends I have come to really admire for more than just their writing as I've gotten to know them. One is M. Pax, who is the author of The Backworlds Series, among other works. I admire Mary because she created a business plan for her writing and she's stuck with it, and she is now seeing the fruits of her labor. I am very impressed with her determination and resolve. I also admire Lisa Regan, author of Finding Claire Fletcher and Aberration. If you know Lisa, you know how many times she was rejected by agents (238!) before she finally got a "yes" on Claire Fletcher. Her perseverance is an inspiration to everyone who has ever thought about giving up and throwing in the towel.

9. Public speaking! Just the thought of having to stand up in front of people and talk is enough to make me break out into a cold sweat. 

Thanks again to Christine for tagging me for this fun meme. I am tagging Yolanda Renee, Susan Oloier, S.K. Anthony, and Murees Dupé.

Speak Out Against... YA Book Tour

I'm excited to be hosting Susan Oloier and Rebecca Green Gasper today as part of their Speak Out Against... Book Tour. Thanks for being here, Susan and Rebecca!

For their post, Susan and Rebecca created music playlists for the characters in their novels Break From You and Outcast. As I have posted before, I am a music nut and love listening to music of all kinds, so this was a fun topic for me. I think music can be a great way to get to know people better, and I'm sure the same principle can apply to characters. So, here are the musical playlists for the people who populate the worlds of these great books.

Also, Susan and Rebecca are holding a giveaway as part of the blog tour. If you'd like to enter to win a copy of Outcast or Break From You, there's an entry form at the bottom of this post.

Now on to the playlists.   

Character Playlists

 

Break from You

 

Drew

 

“It’s Not My Time” by 3Doors Down

“I Won’t Give Up” by Jason Mraz

Cooper

 

“I’m Yours” by Jason Mraz

“Footloose” by Blake Shelton

“I Don’t Want This Night to End” by Luke Bryan

Brooke

 

“Over You” by Blake Shelton & Miranda Lambert

“What Hurts the Most” by Rascal Flatts

“Red” by Taylor Swift

“Part of Me” by Katy Perry

“Paradise” by Coldplay

“Because of You” by Kelly Clarkson

"Face Down" by Red Jumpsuit Apparatus

Outcast

 

Chad

“Oxygen” by Colbie Caillat

“Kiss a Girl” by Keith Urban

“You Got No Right” by Velvet Revolver

“Do What You Have to Do” by Sarah Mclachlan

Noelle

“Boyfriend” by Best Coast

“Perfect” by P!nk

“Blue Room” by Miles Davis

“Oxygen” by Colbie Caillat

“Thoughtless” by Korn

“Outsider” by The Ramones

“Girl Next Door” by Saving Jane

Trina

“Teenage Dream” by Katy Perry

“Irreplaceable” by Beyonce

“Miss Popularity” by Jordan Pruitt

“Popular” Wicked

“WhoSays” by Selena Gomez—a huge proponent of anti-bullying

About the books:

 

Outcast by Susan Oloier

Noelle dreams of a different life, one where Trina Brockwell doesn’t exist. Trina has bullied Noelle since junior high. Now she’s tired of it. With the help of her black-sheep aunt and a defiant new classmate, Noelle seeks revenge. But vengeance comes with a price: Noelle risks friendship, her first love, and herself to get back at those who have wronged her.

Amazon
Smashwords
Blog
Goodreads
Moxie Writers

Break from You by Rebecca Green Gasper

Love shouldn’t hurt this much…Brooke Myers wants to believe she has it all: the perfect guy, the perfect relationship, the perfect life. She wants to believe it so much that she's willing to overlook the fear, the isolation, and the pain her boyfriend has caused her. She knows it isn't right but tells herself that love isn't always easy. However, when a fire destroys the restaurant during homecoming dinner, she forms an instant bond with the boy who saves her, one her boyfriend wouldn’t like. With the pain of a concussion reminding her of how bad things can get, she is forced to re-evaluate the relationship she has with her boyfriend and face the ghosts that haunt her. Brooke once believed love was all it took…but is it enough? Is it truly love when you've lost yourself in it?

Amazon
Smashwords
Barnes and Noble
Blog
Goodreads
Moxie Writers


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IWSG and Interview with Susan Oloier

It's time for the September meeting of the Insecure Writer's Support Group, hosted by Alex J. Cavanaugh, and as usual I can't believe another month has come and gone.

As I mentioned in a previous post, my "real life" job, meaning the one that pays the bills, has been very hectic the past month so I haven't had much of a chance to focus on blogging and writing. But that may be a blessing in disguise, because I am having a terrible time playing the waiting game with my novel that I submitted to a publisher earlier in the summer.

I was (and still am) thrilled to receive a request for the full ms of Polar Night and, while it's a good problem to have, it sure is hard to wait for an answer. The publisher told me they normally take about three months to respond, but I still can't help checking my e-mail constantly and hoping for a response. Of course, I know that response could be negative, so I also tell myself that waiting is definitely better than being turned down.

Still, patience is not one of my virtues, so it's been hard for me to accept that waiting (and then waiting some more) is an unavoidable part of the writing life. I knew this already from submitting queries to magazine editors, but since I tend to get more insecure with each day that passes, it's a difficult pill for me to swallow.

How do you cope with all the waiting involved in publishing? Is it something you struggle with as well?

Thanks as always to Alex for hosting this wonderful group!

On a side note, I interviewed my friend Susan Oloier, author of the recently released "Superstitions," for my books column and was thrilled to be able to write about her work. If you'd like the check the interview out, the article is available here. Thanks to Susan for chatting with me!