Thursday, November 28, 2013

Celebrate the small things? Nah! This one's huge!



This post is part of VikLit's blog hop, Celebrate the Small Things. Head on over there to join up! 


So, what am I celebrating this week?




My cover!  It's so amazingly gorgeous.  Waiting two days to share it with you all was torture, but I think worthwhile.  So without further ado, allow me to show you the absolutely perfect artwork my publisher's cover designer came up with....



Isn't it gorgeous?

And here's a little about the book for those of you who may not have been around when I was angst-ridden on draft number 486 of The Boyfriend Plague.


Things at home are rough for fifteen-year-old Livvie Quinn. Jules, her beloved older sister is sick again after being cancer free for almost ten years.  Her mom becomes more frantic and unapproachable every day. School isn’t much better.  Just when she needs them most, her closest friends get boyfriends and have little time for Livvie – except to set her up on a series of disastrous blind dates.

Livvie seeks refuge in the art room and finds Bianca, the school ‘freak’.  Free-spirited and confident, Bianca is everything Livvie isn’t. Shaken by her mom’s desperation, her sister’s deteriorating condition, and abandoned by her friends, Livvie finds comfort and an attraction she never felt before with Bianca.

When their relationship is discovered, Livvie and Bianca become victims of persecution and bullying. School authorities won’t help and even forbid the pair to attend the Winter Formal as a couple. If Livvie defies them and goes, she risks expulsion and further ridicule from her classmates. At home, her mother’s behavior escalates to new levels of crazy and Jules is begging for help to end the pain once and for all.

While searching for the strength to make her life her own, Livvie must decide how far she’s willing to go for the people she loves.

An Unstill Life will be available through Musa Publishing on January 3rd.  You can add it on Goodreads too, if you want.  I'd love it if you did.

What are you celebrating this week?

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Teasing....

I just got my cover art from my publisher and holy crap is it beautiful!  I never imagined that my book's cover could look so amazing.  I can't wait to share it with you all, so you can all see this thing of beauty.

But you'll have to wait...  That's the teasing thing.  But not for long.  I will be unveiling the cover of AN UNSTILL LIFE (formerly, The Boyfriend Plague) on Friday.

And there will be other people out there in blog-land helping me to share over the next week too.  So pop back here on Friday to get a first peek, and I'll keep you updated about where else you may catch it as the days go by.


Friday, November 22, 2013

Celebrate the Small Things 22-11-13



This post is part of VikLit's blog hop, Celebrate the Small Things. Head on over there to join up! 


So, what am I celebrating this week?




I got my edits from my publisher.  And they were not nearly as daunting as I thought they might be.  Since Wednesday I've managed to get through fourteen chapters, so I'm almost at the halfway point.  I'm hoping to have got through them all by the middle of next week.

Summer seems to have arrived.  The weather has been stunning all week, which is not good for business, but is great for my walk to and from work every day.  I've actually been enjoying it, despite the walk there being up a pretty steep hill.

And that's about it for this week.  What are you celebrating?

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Edits

My editor sent through edits on my book yesterday.  I saw the email sitting in my in-box and felt my chest seize up with fear.  I wanted to open the file right away to see what was in store, but I didn't.  In fact, I didn't even look until the following morning when I knew I'd be fresher and more able to process what I had to do.

Which meant I had a long night of tossing and turning while I worried about how much work I have ahead of me.  The deadline for my book is really soon (December 6th), so I'm very aware of the ticking clock behind me. I have a lot on at work at the moment as well as a family who like me to come out of my writing cave on occasion.  So I was concerned.

So, I opened the document with great trepidation.  The first few pages were a cloud of 'track-changes' bubbles and my heart sank.  But when I got closer and actually started reading them, I realized there was nothing too major that has to be done.  I've done the really big stuff already.

And believe me, that was a relief!  But now I can settle in and do the edits without worrying too much about the time I have to do them because I'm confident I can knock them off easily in a few days.

Phew!

Have you ever had unfounded panic about something, only to discover it's not nearly as bad as you might think?

Friday, November 15, 2013

Celebrate the Small Things 15-11-13



This post is part of VikLit's blog hop, Celebrate the Small Things. Head on over there to join up! 


So, what am I celebrating this week?




The big thing is that my book has a release date (January 3rd).  I'm so excited about that.  I should have a cover soon too, and I can't wait to share that with you all.  My publisher makes gorgeous covers, so I have great faith that it's going to be a beauty!

My cold has largely gone.  It's left me with a lingering cough that's annoying, but I can live with it.  It just makes climbing the hill to work every morning an adventure.  I feel like a wheezing old lady....

I feel like I've settled into my new job.  There are definitely some challenges ahead, but I think I know what they are, so at least I'm prepared for them.

What are you celebrating this week?