Archive for the ‘book blast’ Category

I’ve been asked a couple times what my process is for writing a book, and this is the best way I can think of describing it.

Writing a book is like being in a relationship.

<The introduction>

The moment the book idea pops in your head. It’s exhilarating and new. You’re shy at first, afraid to tell many people about it because you’re unsure of what’s going to happen.

<Honeymoon stage>

Writing begins, the first draft. This is it. You’re committed and it’s shiny and new. Your book takes over your life. It’s all you think about, and you will ditch the 3 F’s, family, friends, and food to be with it. It brings a smile to your face. You want everyone to know about it. You’re proud and it’s yours.

<Middle of the relationship>

The first draft is done. You’ve reread it until you’re eyes have gone cross. You find annoying traits you’ve never noticed before. Words are repeated, and if you see it again you’ll pull your hair out. You attempt to change it to make it better, and you do, it’s just not the same as it was in the beginning. You’re both growing and learning about yourself. In truth you’re kind of over the whole thing, and there are times you hate it with a burning passion. But you stick with it. You try to recall the giddiness of used to elicit, and sometimes you do. You read a sentence or chapter that reminds of you why you loved it in the first place.

<Couple Counseling>

You need help. You need someone else with fresh eyes to take over. You send it to your editor (counselor) It’s nerve wracking. You’re letting someone else in your relationship, and you’re hoping they will tell you it’s salvageable.

<Break up>

It’s time to publish. You’ve done all you’ve can, and it’s time to release your book. You will always have fond memories of your time together, but you can’t do anymore. You’ll put it out, and hope someone will see the beauty in it you did. You helped create it so you’ll always be proud of it. It’s heartbreaking, and a relief at the same time. You may go immediately into another relationship, or wait a while before starting the whole exhausting process again.

<Rekindle>

Not all the time, but every once in a while you take your book back. Maybe you saw something else that would make it better. Whatever the reasons it is still going to end up in a breakup.

My advice is keep getting into relationships. Don’t stop writing, and be happy with every break up. Be proud.

Life is shorter than a little person standing in a hole. Even if you believe in heaven or reincarnation or any of that other nonsense, this is the only time you’ll be you. So make every day you’re you the best one you can. You’re only you once.

BOOK LINK

Hello,

Remember me?

Yeah, me neither.

I have been telling myself that I need to write a blog post. I guess I’m finally taking my advice and doing it. I’ve become rather bossy inside my head.

Life has decided to give me a big middle finger.

I’m going to try and make this short, and see where it gets me. My kids are also on fall break. What does that mean? It means I’m secretly writing this on my phone hoping to get through it before someone gets hungry or hurt.

Aug. 21st I went and preformed at the Hollywood Improv. I was trying to juggle everything so blogging kind of went on the back burner. Also I had a book coming out Sept. 13th that I was getting ready for.

How was your set, you ask…

https://youtu.be/TGEOSsFCo1k

It was amazing. The audience seemed receptive to my brand of Jackassness. I’m pretty sure I floated off the stage.

That was on a Sat. Three days later the foundation I was firmly standing on shook. I’m still trying to recover my footholds and feel secure in day to day life 

I received a text from my dad saying that my mom…MY MOM…had a stroke. If you have been one if my loyal followers you would know how special my mom is to me. She is the one I take to Halestorm. She is the one I word vomit all my problems to 

My dad is the worst at relaying information. Hell, he’s the worst at answering the phone. I’m pretty sure when he sent me the text he pressed send looked down at the electronic rectangle, shrugged, thought I don’t need this any longer, and chucked it into a magical ocean that appeared to take the only form of communication I had with him. Suffice it to say it was the longest three hour drive of my life.

When I got to the ER my mom could only say Hi and I love you. She kept repeating it over and over again, while internally I was begging myself not to have a complete break down.

In the ICU she was only allowed to have two visitors. I convinced my dad and brother to go get some rest. Here is the thing about ICU they don’t want you to stay. I had one hard chair and nothing else. It didn’t matter I wasn’t leaving her.

That night she was woke up every hour. I was with her throughout the whoke thing. It was also the night she looked at me and said, “I love you, Joy” then turned aroud and corrected herself to,  “I love you, Sissy.” Yeah, the tears flowed.

The second night they realized I wasn’t leaving and a nice nurse brought me a blanket and pillow. 

My mom had a stroke that was caused by a clot breaking free from an aneurysm. Aneurysms run in my family. My grandma and aunt had one both at 56. (in about 10 years I suppose I’ll go get checked) Her aneurysm didn’t bleed or burst. It just had a piece break off. Of course my mom doesn’t do anything half assed. She had a huge aneurysm in the front of her brain in the middle of where the artery branches. 

She had surgery where an amazing surgeon and team placed a coil in the aneurysm and two stints on each side. 

I’ve never understood people wearing sports jerseys, but I can tell you I would proudly wear a jersey with her surgeons name on the back. Also her PT, Norman. He was a PT god, I watched him use PNF stretching where she moved her leg for the first time. He also let me do the PNF on her. Yeah, always the teachers pet. Or at least my mom teased me of that. 

Keeping myself busy in the hospital

Every day my mom improved. She was in the hospital for a month. I’m so proud of her. She is now home. She can walk without her walker ( I named it, Paul) She still gets frustrated, but it is amazing to see her get better and stronger every day.

 

Also during that time I pushed my book release back to Sept. 27th. I worked my ass off to get everything done but I had a lot on my plate. 

I made teasers and banners of my beautiful book cover. I ordered paperbacks for the signing I have on Oct. 22nd. On my release date I was so damn excited. Until around 11 o’clock when I got a message asking if I meant to spell Survivng wrong.

Nope

No

I sure did not

I looked at that damn cover over a thousand times and not once did I recognize it was wrong. 

Ughhhh

I called my printer but it was too late to find out of theg had been printed yet. The awesome customer service lady said she would email me if she was able to pause the shipping. Imagine my hysterical laughter when she sent me my tracking number. 

I owned up to it live on Facebook. Explaining that Surviing Faith paperbacks will be at the signing because I didn’t have time to order another set.

Readers were supportive and understanding. Some even saying they wanted the misspelled cover. The cover is now fixed so any other books I order will be spelled correctly.

So that has been my life lately. I’m still crusing along. I have a paperback giveaway going on right now. To enter all you have to do is add a review of Surviving Faith to amazon. I’ll pick the winner live at the author by the beach signing Oct. 22Nd. Also keep an eye out for the costume I’ll be wearing. 

Hollywood Improv

July 14th, my birthday. I went live and embarassed the hell out of myself. In Surviving Faith I wrote a song. Now when I wrote the song had the JackholeS in mind. So vocals in my head were done by Kill. Van would be on drums and D and Jet would have bass and guitar. 

The song in my head had some awesome solos in it to display the talent of all the band members. So me. A woman singing it doesn’t do it justice. Also I don’t have the greatest singing voice. So be nice when watching. I screwed up one of the lasr verses and my youngest son walked in at the end. I haven’t watched it yet either, but I heard at some point it glitches and my eyelids start fluttering. 

It took us three times to get Facebook to cooperate with us. It kept kicking me off. Most likely because it hated my singing voice 

Broken Faith

A friend of mine pulled me into the ghost writing business. It has been a big adventure and it has allowed me to explore more of my writing ability. I can’t go into details of the books we have been working on, but it has definitely yanked us out of our comfort zones.
The most surprising thing was how much I enjoyed it. We enjoyed it so much that we have decided to expand our ghost writing and create our own business. This is extremely exciting for both of us. We have already had some satisfied customers.
If you are interested, please check out our website.

http://theghostinggals.blogspot.com/p/hire-us_6.html

So one year ago I went to Vegas. I went to support my friend Rebecca Fisher in her first author signing. This was also the trip that I met an amazing person(s). Rebecca’s table was across for Kristen, her PA Dayna, and next to them was Mary Catherine Gebhard.
The trip a year ago https://itsjoysworld.net/2015/04/14/vegas-or-bust/
We hit it off immediately. These were the girls that I ended up spending the rest of the week with.
Kristen was super supportive of Breaking Faith. This was before I was convinced that I was even going to publish Breaking Faith. Kristen felt that if I had a cover I would maybe be more inclined to publish.
She was amazing and I was a pain in the ass, but she found the cover for Breaking Faith. Honestly, she also made the covers for Surviving Faith and Becoming Faith. I know what those look like. Sorry had to rub that in.
Breaking Faith has been an adventure for me. Kristen helped me with everything. She was seriously as patient with me as a kindergarten teacher. She held my hand (through the phone) and helped me with everything.
Kristen gave me faith in humanity. Kristen along with all the other amazing indies helped me get through something very near and dear to me. She posted that this was around one year since we met. I wanted to write this post to tell her how much I appreciate everything she has done for me. If you loved Breaking Faith then you should be thanking Kristen, because if it wasn’t for her I wouldn’t have published.
So this is my Thank you, Kristen.
If you haven’t heard of Kristen her links are below. I highly suggest checking her out. You will not be disappointed.
https://www.facebook.com/AuthorKristenHope/?fref=ts

In October I took my mom to see my favorite band Halestorm. I decided I was going to throw a signed copy of Breaking Faith up onstage. This of course happened when I fangirled the fuck out of her in June. Here is that story

I hugged Lzzy Hale


I made my mom stand in front of the sign with the book. Don’t mind her hand she fell at a waterpark because they didn’t properly mark a dip. She is slowly getting some use out of it.

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My mom is my biggest fan. She thinks I can do no wrong. That being said she made sure to tell everyone what I was planning to do. That woman is a phenomenal saleswoman. My kindle sales were up just from the people she was talking to. She had people pulling up there Kindle app on their phone and downloading Breaking Faith.
After standing in line for a couple hours we were finally let in. As we were herded inside the Rainbowroom in Fresno my anxiety skyrocketed. My brain started yelling at me that throwing my book onstage was the worst idea I had ever had (that’s saying something)
I started imagining throwing my book and having it land on the ground never making it to the stage. So it could be swept away with the discarded tickets and empty cups at the end of the night. Or worse making the stage and knocking Lzzy or Joe out. Or worser (I know) hitting the stage and causing a fire.
Ugh.. These thoughts were paralyzing so as Lzzy Joe Josh and Arejay began their acoustic set I stood there holding this damn albatross. People around me were hitting me and whispering in my ear to throw the stupid thing.
The band ended their acoustic set and left the stage as they were getting plugged in. Everyone yelled at me saying I missed my chance.
My anxiety was in full swing. When this happens I shut down and want to just forget my idea. I also didn’t want to ruin my night. I was watching my favorite band play.
When they came back I tried to get into the concert but it is hard to throw your horns \m/\m/ when you are holding a book.
Lzzy launched into their song
I am the fire. I adore this song and the lyrics were just what I needed to push the voices in my head down.
I was still worried about not making it to the stage so while they were taking a break I tapped on a man next to me. He was super tall and he was there with his wife and kids. I figured he was cool and he could toss it over his kids heads without worry of hitting them.
He asked if I wanted him to wait until they came back to the stage. At first I said yes, but then I realized I didn’t want him to have to hold it and hinder his enjoyment so I told him to just toss it then.
He did.
It landed on the stage and slid.
Everyone around me cheered. It was insane like we had all accomplished something together.
Joe picked it up and I almost had a heartattack.

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He asked the guy who threw it if it was his book. Once again everyone around me started screaming and pointing at me. It was surreal. I’m not going to lie I felt like a rockstar.
Joe asked if I wrote it and signed it. I nodded my head with my mouth hanging open.
He said Thank you and put it on LZZY’S keyboard. Holy shit.
When she came out and moved it so she could play I freaked out. Breaking Faith stayed on her keyboard as she serenaded it with one of my favorite songs.

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I’m not sure what happened to it after that. I’m going to hope she has it somewhere and the pages are not being used as toilet paper for a transient but either way it was awesome.

So Thursday I was interviewed by Robert Moore for the International Writers Association Podcast.
This is the link to the interview.

http://iwaaudio.podomatic.com/entry/2016-01-24T20_49_18-08_00
I come on about into the podcast.
26 minute mark
I don’t want to listen to it. I have a deep hatred for the sound of my voice. I feel I sound like a 12 year old on crack. I also said amazing, awesome, and great way too many times. I kept telling myself to stop saying those words in my head only to blurt one of them out seconds later. I was laughing in my head every time I let one of those words slip.
Also I tried to mention as many people as I could but I know I missed so many. It was not done intentionally, and I’m sorry. In fact I don’t really remember what I said.
So here you go if you want to have a laugh at my expense. Or you can make it a drinking game. Take a shot when I say awesome amazing or great.

Breaking Faith was awarded Rockstar Romance Debut Author from Backstage Book Blog.
Thank you everyone for your support. Surviving Faith will be published shortly.

Backstage Books

The first of the year always brings about discussions and awards for all the best things of the previous year.   With 2015 being the debut year for Backstage Books, we decided it is a good time to begin another annual tradition, the Best of {Year} Awards.    And, being the first time out, there will be kinks to work out.   And being who we are, we don’t necessarily do things the way anyone else does.   So, the awards will be presented at the rate of one a day instead of just in a list – so we can take some time to talk about the award winner, and why it won.   The large majority of the books will have been published in 2015, but there will be a few exceptions where we just discovered them this year.   And yada, yada, yada – let’s let the awards begin!   (and one more yada…

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Nine authors (including me) have got together and wrote nine short stories to get you in the holiday spirit. 100% of proceeds will be donated to To Write Love on Her Arms, a non-profit movement dedicated to presenting hope and finding help for people struggling with depression, addiction, self-injury and suicide.You ma donate if and when you choose by either sending a money order or check to:TWLOHA Inc.PO Box 2203Melbourne, FL 32902(Feel free to send a copy of the anthology if you’d like!)If you prefer to donate online, you may do so here.

You can add it to you TBR here

Of if you are a blog you can sign up for the release here

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Esmerelda Tussaud was born with the ability to talk to spirits.

Jake Delassixe loved her the moment he saw her sipping chocolate milk through a straw at his grandma’s bar.

Jake didn’t think anything could tear them apart, especially after they endured the cruelty of high school. Esmeralda proved him wrong when she left him, on the night of their graduation after his proposal. With nothing tethering him to New Orleans, Jake moved to New York to revamp an old bar his grandma gifted to him.

Now things are starting to happen in his bar. Things that only Esmeralda can help him with. As Esmeralda helps Jake rid his bar of unwanted specters, she also raises the love that Jake thought was dead.

Can Jake forgive her?

Will she be banished from his heart like the ghosts in his bar?

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Being the center of attention isn’t exactly my favorite thing in the world. Being the center of attention at this holiday awards party, when the guy who royally screwed me over this past summer is in the room watching me ranks even lower than that.

My ideal month-long holiday break will be spent trying to avoid eye contact with the infuriatingly still-sexy Landon and all his pompous ass friends, while I instead seek out Finn. He seems nice, normal, and cute, and his parents own the best ski lodge around.

These are my intentions, but sometimes the best-laid plans become unraveled, and while I will try not to become too tangled up in drama on what is supposed to be a relaxing Christmas break, I just may end up unwrapped.

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Rocking Around the Christmas Tree:
When Becca drags Felicity to the top of a mountain to celebrate Christmas, Felicity humors her. When Becca and her boyfriend Will include his pal Eric in the plans, Felicity still promises to make the best of it. Who would’ve figured that Felicity would meet somebody who’s actually kind of okay while there? Definitely not her.
Is Felicity really ready to let someone in?

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Lights of Pemberley by Addison Kline

Jocelyn York is not prepared to celebrate the Christmas holidays. With many presents still to buy, a tree still to decorate and travel plans to make, Jocelyn’s to-do list in a mile long. Add to the top the seemingly insurmountable grief from learning that her husband Grant, an infantryman for Her Majesty’s Army, was killed in action just six months ago, you can safely guess that Jocelyn is not in a joyous spirit.

Andrew Barrington has been honorably discharged from the army, and is re-entering civilian life for the first time in seventeen years after a serious injury has rendered him unfit for active duty. Coming home with a promise from his best friend who was killed in action, Andrew has a task ahead of him: Return Grant York’s dog tags to his widow, Jocelyn, along with a final letter. Andrew considers this his final mission; a duty that he must fulfill. The last thing he expects is to fall for his best friend’s widow. As these two broken souls collide under the lights of Pemberley, their hearts must decide if their common bond with bring them together or tear them apart.

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The Holiday Couple….by Ella Emerson The Holiday Couple
Gavin McDermott has had a rough couple of years. He met a girl, who ended up falling for his kid brother, and then his mother died. Things were not working out quite as Gavin had hoped for his future. With the holidays approaching, he is invited back to his childhood home to spend time with his brother, the girl that got away, and his new niece.
Not wanting to appear to be a failure in love, Gavin gets the idea to bring a “fake” girlfriend home, only problem…who?
Holly Mathis is having a rough time during the holidays. Her mother and step-father are on vacation and Holly is drowning in bills. Her sexy, neighbor stops by one evening and asks her to fake being his girlfriend for the holiday. Appalled, Holly refuses, but when Gavin offers her the one thing she most desperately needs, she finally relents. Only problem is, they hate each other and have hated each other for years.

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CHRISTMAS AT CROSS PURPOSES BY P.MATTERN
“A fierce fire of attraction rekindles from the embers to heat up the holidays”
Cami Blake and Reno Fortuna fell in love too fast and too young. Cami’s disapproving and wealthy family forced her to give up Reno and enter into an early and disastrous first marriage that ended in divorce.
Four years later a chance encounter reconnects the two and Cami realizes that she has never forgotten her ‘first’—but can she come to terms with the fact that Reno’s successful business goes against all her strongly held beliefs?

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7 Days of Christmas: Alicia Hanson is a very single woman whose life revolves around her job at The National Gazette. Every day is like a broken record on repeat… Until she meets Cole Castello— a wealthy and handsome man who tries to restore Alicia’s holiday spirit. Can he pull her away from work long enough to enjoy the Christmas agenda? Can the holiday season bring two people together who are so utterly different?

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Melabeth

Melanie Dare is a teenage girl. Drugs and abuse by her parents change all that. She is raped and murdered and finds herself awake in a new decade. Melanie becomes Melabeth the vampire, and she is thrust into events outside of her control. Meeting a small circle of friends – not all who can be trusted – she finds herself obsessed with revenge against her killers… but along the way finds love. Her battle for revenge has terrible, unintended consequences, and she will question, who, and what she is. Can her love survive her need for revenge? This is the first part of a three part series about forgiveness.

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