EVER - #FlashFiction BLOG-HOP and GIVEAWAY!

In honor of my upcoming debut novel EVER, releasing October 1, 2012 via Curiosity Quills Press, I'd like to welcome you to the ...

GHOSTS (and the girls who love them!) 

BLOG-HOP AND GIVEAWAY

Please read all notes and rules carefully, and PLEASE ask me any questions you may have in the comments section below. 

A couple quick FAQs:

WHAT IS A BLOG HOP?

A blog hop is a fun little activity that brings many different bloggers together, to move from one blog to another reading entries and leaving comments. By including the link list in each participating blog, your name and blog will be reaching many people you may have never reached before.

WHAT IS FLASH FICTION? 

In my eyes, flash fiction is a short story, done in a flash. Easy enough, right? Well, for a more detailed answer, please go check out this post on 365 TOMORROWS. I could never explain it better than they did. 

Now let's get flashing and hopping, shall we!? 

SCHEDULE:

• August 31st-September15th: SIGN UPS via Mr. Linky Tool below. (Yes, I know the button says September 1st, but I started a day early. Sorry for any confusion.) 

• September 15th-30th: Post your flash fiction ghost story entries on your blog. ***Notice I changed this back to the 15th-30th. I want people to have plenty of time to enter. HOWEVER. The longer your post is up, the more likely you are to have traffic and votes, so I really want to STRESS the importance of getting your post up on the 15th or very shortly thereafter. 

• Tell everyone you know about the contest! Go around and check out everyone else's posts and vote for your favorites by commenting. *This is when you want to get your friends to vote for your entry too. :-) You can vote for as many as you'd like, but only ONE VOTE PER ENTRY. The finalists will be chosen by the amount of peer votes they receive on their blog post. (I suggest removing any captchas you may have on your blog during this time. You want to make it quick and easy for people to comment.)

• October 1st-15th: After I tally all the comments on each entry, I will announce the FIVE finalists on my blog. The judges will read each finalist's entry and privately tell me who their favorite is. Judge voting will not be public, but the judges may comment on any entries at any time, if they so choose.  Please remember that comments from judges are NO INDICATION of who the winner will be.

• WEEK OF October 16th: WINNER ANNOUNCEMENT!

THE NITTY GRITTY (aka THE RULES): 

• SIGN UPS: Sign-up linky tool will open (see below) as soon as this post is live, and the linky tool will remain open until September 30th, 2012. Which means that you can join the blog hop at ANY TIME, even the very last day!  (YAY!) You must sign up with your name and email address (email address will not be public), and link to YOUR BLOG or WEBSITE.

• FLASH: Write a flash fiction piece, no less than 300 words, and no more than 1000 words, inspired by EVER's main theme: GHOSTLY PARANORMAL ROMANCE. It can be sweet, scary, sexy, young adult, middle grade, adult, etc. My only requirement aside from sticking with the theme of ghosts is NO PORN. A little erotica is fine, but nothing crazy, please. Keep it classy. ;-)

• POST: Your story must be posted on YOUR blog or website, BY OCTOBER 1st. Any posts that go live AFTER 10/1 will be disqualified from the contest. 

• VOTING: All positive comments are allowed, so feel free to tell your fellow contestants how much you love their flash pieces. BUT. As far as voting goes, ONLY comments with the actual word "VOTE" will count as votes towards the five finalists. So if your crazy Aunt Gertie comes along and leaves a comment asking you to come over later and let her chickens out, that WILL NOT count as a vote. Only comments from an actual person (NO ANONYMOUS VOTES) with the singular word VOTE will count as votes.  Any questions? Please leave them in the comment section below.    

• LINK:  Do not forget to add the linky tool below at the bottom of your post. (It says "Get the code here. Click on that and add it in the HTML of your blog post.) 

FLASH FICTION REQUIREMENTS: 

• Entry MUST be a GHOST story

• Must be between 300-1000 words

*Story Request: Love between a human and a ghost would be an awesome inclusion in your flash fiction entry, but is not a requirement. (Make it a love triangle like EVER's, and I'll love you forever.)

JUDGES PANEL: 

• Jessa Russo (ME!) - Contest Host and Author of EVER, debuting 10/1/12
• Krystal Wade, Author of the Darkness Falls Series
• Liz Norris, Author of UNRAVELING
• Julia A. Weber, Literary Agent at JA Weber Literary Agency 
• Nicole Wolverton, Writer and Creator of the ever-popular #5MinuteFiction series!
• Laura Hughes, aka Mittens Morgul , Writer and all around awesome person.
• Tamara Mataya, aka Feaky Snucker, Writer and BEST CRIT PARTNER EVER.

GIVEAWAY PRIZE:

• NO PARTICIPATION NECESSARY! Fill out the Rafflecopter form below to be entered to win an e-book copy of my debut novel EVER! You don't even have to participate in the flash fiction blog hop to be entered! SWEET, RIGHT? 

PARTICIPATION PRIZE: 

• Each person who participates in the flash contest (and follows all the rules) will be entered to win a signed print copy of EVER. :-) I will RANDOMLY choose ONE winner for this prize, and all you have to do is participate! YAY!

GRAND PRIZE:

• ONE finalist will be chosen by the panel of judges to be the GRAND PRIZE WINNER, winning a prize pack of awesomeness (aka the following items) ... are you ready for this, you guys????  

One (1) First Three (3) Chapters Critique by Julia A. Weber

One (1) Query Critique by Krystal Wade, Author and Editor at Curiosity Quills

And now for the BOOKS!!! 

One (1) signed print copy of EVER by Jessa Russo (That's ME! Yay!) 

One (1) signed print copy of UNRAVELING by Liz Norris

One (1) Kindle e-book copy of WILDE'S FIRE by Krystal Wade, and a matching, SIGNED POSTER!

One e-book copy of FADE by A.K. Morgen

One e-book copy of ONE GHOST PER SERVING by Nina Post

TWO (2) e-books from Micheal Shean!

SHADOW OF A DEAD STAR and BONE WIRES 

One (1) e-book copy of FAMILY CURSEMAS by Rod Kierkegaard

One (1) e-book copy of SKUNK-APE SEMESTER by Mike Robinson

One (1) e-book copy of RETURN OF THE CROWN by Millie Burns

FOUR (4) e-books from Vicki Keire! FOUR! 
From The Angels' Edge Series: GIFTS OF THE BLOOD and DARKNESS IN THE BLOOD

From Chronicles of Nowhere Series: WORLDS BURN THROUGH and SHADOWED GROUND

TO ENTER THE FLASH FICTION BLOG-HOP:

TO ENTER THE *NO PARTICIPATION* GIVEAWAY: 
a Rafflecopter giveaway
GRAB THE BUTTON!

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ONE GHOST PER SERVING - A little fun with author Nina Post

ONE GHOST PER SERVING

Eric Snackerge has had a rough time lately. After being possessed by a mischievous spirit, he lost his scholarship and got blamed for a scandal that left him blacklisted from the legal profession. Now he's working two minimum wage jobs and is desperate to show his wife and daughter that he can put his life back together -- before his best-friend-turned-enemy swoops in and steals his family away.

When Eric learns about an unusual contest, he realizes that winning the grand prize will help him make his daughter's dreams come true. But he'll have to overcome his own self-doubt -- not to mention the seemingly impossible odds -- in order to achieve that goal.

However, this isn't your run-of-the-mill sweepstakes. Everyone who eats the product develops an insatiable craving for more. Plus, the people behind the contest are dispatching everything from spy cameras to attack helicopters to make sure that Eric doesn't get any further.

As Eric soon learns, the contest was only the first phase of a much larger plan. If the villains are successful, they will spread a dangerous supernatural pathogen throughout the food supply. But with distribution of the tainted products already underway, does Eric have what it takes to stop their plan and protect his family from being the next victims?

Welcome to my  blog, Nina! 

I am so excited to welcome Nina Post, author of ONE GHOST PER SERVING to my little world! I'm thrilled to have a fellow paranormal-lover and Curiosity Quills author on the blog! Since Nina's latest novel and my debut novel both center around a ghostly plot, I decide to talk to her a bit about that. 

So, welcome to my blog, Nina! Please take it away! 

What inspired you to write about ghosts?

I'm interested in people being haunted, in the gothic, psychological
sense. Aren't all of us haunted by something or someone, a memory or
an image or a decision? In One Ghost Per Serving, my main character,
Eric Snackerge, is haunted by the spirit who was strong enough to
possess him for eighteen months, and haunted by his own mistakes. This
isn't a traditional ghost story -- enchanters-for-hire imbue spirits
into nanomaterials in yogurt -- and you see a lot of interesting
relationships develop between the human characters and the
supernatural ones.

What are your favorite fictional ghosts or ghost stories?

I'll start with A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, because I have
the Ghost of Christmas Past in One Ghost Per Serving. An early
influence was Peter Straub's Ghost Story. I also like The House of the
Seven Gables by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Shakespeare's various ghosts, The
Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson, and The Shining by Stephen
King. More recent favorites are Maybe This Time by Jennifer Crusie
(based on The Turn of the Screw), The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman,
and Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill.

Have you ever visited any places known to be haunted?

No -- I even checked a list of reportedly haunted locations on
Wikipedia, but haven't been to any of them!

Great answers, Nina, and ONE GHOST PER SERVING really sounds interesting and soooooo unique!! Thanks for allowing me to host you on my blog today! 

Grab your copy of ONE GHOST PER SERVING 

Goodreads

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

Follow author NINA POST

Twitter

Nina's Website

EVER'S Flash Fiction Blog-hop and Giveaway STARTS ON FRIDAY!!

The EVER-inspired GHOSTS (and the girls who love them) blog-hop/contest/giveaway doesn't start until Friday, but I decided to post the rules for you now, just in case there are questions. NOTE: The rules WILL be posted again with the contest, so no worries if you miss this post. ;-)

I'd like to have them all addressed before the contest goes live on Friday, if at all possible, so PLEASE ask away! 

Please read all notes and rules carefully, and PLEASE ask me any questions you may have in the comments section below. 

A couple quick FAQs:

WHAT IS A BLOG HOP?

A blog hop is a fun little activity that brings many different bloggers together, to move from one blog to another reading entries and leaving comments. By including the link list in each participating blog, your name and blog will be reaching many people you may have never reached before.

WHAT IS FLASH FICTION? 

In my eyes, flash fiction is a short story, done in a flash. Easy enough, right? Well, for a more detailed answer, please go check out this post on 365 TOMORROWS. I could never explain it better than they did. 

BLOG-HOP SCHEDULE:

• August 31st-September15th: SIGN UPS via Mr. Linky Tool *will be on actual contest post on FRIDAY.

• UPDATE: September 15th-18th: Post your flash fiction ghost story entries on your blog. You have three days to do this, which is plenty of time. (If you are going to be away from your computer during that time, I know that blogger allows you to schedule your posts. Not sure about other sites like Wordpress.) 

• UPDATE: September 18th-30th: Tell everyone you know about the contest! Go around and check out everyone else's posts and vote for your favorites by commenting. *This is when you want to get your friends to vote for your entry too. :-) You can vote for as many as you'd like, but only ONE VOTE PER ENTRY. The finalists will be chosen by the amount of peer votes they receive on their blog post. (I suggest removing any captchas you may have on your blog during this time. You want to make it quick and easy for people to comment.)

• October 1st-15th: After I tally all the comments on each entry, I will announce the FIVE finalists on my blog. The judges will read each finalist's entry and privately tell me who their favorite is. Judge voting will not be public, but the judges may comment on any entries at any time, if they so choose.  Please remember that comments from judges are NO INDICATION of who the winner will be.

• WEEK OF October 16th: WINNER ANNOUNCEMENT!

THE NITTY GRITTY (aka THE RULES): 

• SIGN UPS: Sign-up linky tool will open (on Friday's blog post) as soon as the post is live. The linky tool will remain open until September 30th, 2012. Which means that you can join the blog hop at ANY TIME, even the very last day!  (YAY!) You must sign up with your name and email address (email address will not be public), and link to YOUR BLOG or WEBSITE.

• FLASH: Write a flash fiction piece, no less than 300 words, and no more than 1000 words, inspired by EVER's main theme: GHOSTLY PARANORMAL ROMANCE. It can be sweet, scary, sexy, young adult, middle grade, adult, etc. My only requirement aside from sticking with the theme of ghosts is NO PORN. A little erotica is fine, but nothing crazy, please. Keep it classy. ;-)

• POST: Your story must be posted on YOUR blog or website, BY OCTOBER 1st. Any posts that go live AFTER 10/1 will be disqualified from the contest. 

• UPDATE: VOTING:  All positive comments are allowed, so feel free to tell your fellow contestants how much you love their flash pieces. BUT. As far as voting goes, ONLY comments with the actual word "VOTE" will count as votes towards the five finalists. So if your crazy Aunt Gertie comes along and leaves a comment asking you to come over later and let her chickens out, that WILL NOT count as a vote. Only comments from an actual person (NO ANONYMOUS VOTES) with the singular word VOTE will count as votes.  Any questions? Please leave them in the comment section below. 

• LINK:  Do not forget to add the linky tool to the bottom of your post. (You'll be able to do this once the form is live on Friday. It says "Get the code here." You'll be able to click on that and add it in the HTML of your blog post.) YOU MUST INCLUDE THE LINKY. 

FLASH FICTION REQUIREMENTS: 

• Entry MUST be a GHOST story

• Must be between 300-1000 words

*Story Request: Love between a human and a ghost would be an awesome inclusion in your flash fiction entry, but is not a requirement. (Make it a love triangle like EVER's, and I'll love you forever.)

PRIZES!!! ALL THE PRIZES!!! 

THERE ARE THREE WAYS TO WIN! 

GIVEAWAY PRIZE:

• One giveaway prize: NO PARTICIPATION NECESSARY! Fill out the Rafflecopter form below to be entered to win an e-book copy of my debut novel EVER! You don't even have to participate in the flash fiction blog hop to be entered! SWEET, RIGHT? 

PARTICIPATION PRIZE: 

• One Participation winner: Each person who participates in the flash contest (and follows all the rules) will be entered to win a signed print copy of EVER. :-) I will RANDOMLY choose ONE winner for this prize, and all you have to do is participate! YAY!

GRAND PRIZE:

• ONE finalist will be chosen by the panel of judges to be the GRAND PRIZE WINNER, winning a prize pack of awesomeness (prize includes a query critique from an amazing editor, a first-three-chapters critique from my favorite lit agent, lots of e-books, some awesome swag, and a couple autographed print books! YAY!)

So, there ya have it! The rules and the details! The GRAND prize pack will be listed on the post on Friday, as will the list of ESTEEMED judges! 

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE read everything carefully and comment with ANY questions below! 

Thank you! 

GRAB THE BUTTON!

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THE EVER COVER REVEAL .....

.... is not here. LOL! 

My amazing editor-turned-friend, Krystal Wade, is hosting the reveal! 

Check it out by clicking HERE. 

Yay! EVER has a cover!!!  

What do you think about it? Do you love it?

Six Sentence Sunday 8-27-12

Happy Sunday! I hope you're all having a wonderful weekend! 

Here's another little teaser from my debut novel, EVER - a YA paranormal romance with a ghostly twist - for this week's SIX SENTENCE SUNDAY!  This is the last one for August. O.o ACK! Crazy, right!? I can't believe August is almost over. *sigh*

Anywayyy, EVER will be published on October 1, 2012 via Curiosity Quills Press, if you don't already know! ;-) Please stay tuned for a cover reveal in the very near future!

Loving Frankie was holding me back. I'd just never really known it.

As the Ferris wheel reached the top again, Toby kissed me once more. 

This time, his hands held my face and all feeling in my body seemed to rush up to meet his fingertips, to focus in on the places where his skin connected with mine.

I relaxed into the kiss, realizing something bittersweet. 

No matter what, Frankie would never be able to kiss me like this.

Author Krystal Wade asks the tough questions: What's in YOUR purse?

What's in your purse? 

My illustrious editor and now friend, Krystal Wade, has posted a fun little expose on the contents of her purse today. You can find her post HERE. 

I decided that instead of just commenting on her blog post, I'd go a step further and actually make my own post in response to her question. This way I can photograph all the fun inside my purse. Because we all know that pictures are so much more fun than just a list alone. 

Well Krystal, you asked for it ... 

So, what's in my purse?

Let's start with the basics, shall we? 

• One oversized orange purse.

• One giraffe print wallet. 

• One zebra print checkbook. (Yes, I still carry a checkbook.) 

• One leopard hair brush. 

• One peacock print manicure set. 

• One peacock print nail file. (Clearly I'm into anything animal print.)

• One stack of random pictures, store cards, business cards and appointment cards. 

• One stack of track bets from the horsie races at Del Mar. (Pretty sure I have money to claim, but I haven't turned them in yet.) 

• Two broken Weight Watchers achievement key chains. (One for the 5K, and one for reaching my 10% goal. Both are broken, which I guess is fitting since I haven't been since January. lol)

• One pen. 

• One Kindle pen-thingy.

• One makeup bag. (Contents include THREE lip glosses, one tampon, and a handful of bobby pins.) 

• Two lotions. (One of which was stolen from a hotel, ahem Krystal.) 

• Keys, of course. (AND I know where all of them go. Except for one. That particular key I am absolutely clueless about and can't get rid of BECAUSE I'm clueless about it.) 

• A stack of wadded up, but unused, tissues. (You just never know when you'll need one.)

• One wet-nap. (I steal these from restaurants whenever possible. I'm not sorry.) 

• One pack of gum. 

• One peppermint. (NO idea where that came from or how long it has been in there.) 

• One stack of change totaling a whopping $1.32 (Which now resides in my coin jar.)

• One busted hair rubberband. (Which if you must know, I call those piggyloops.) 

• One tin of rescue remedy pastilles. (What are these, you ask? These keep my occasional crazy at bay.)

• Five seashells. (Five seashells? I think I can safely blame my daughter for this one.)

Well, there you have it folks! The contents of my purse. Things I need, things I think I need but probably don't, and the random things I didn't even know were in there. Um, seashells? Really?

So, I now turn the question over to you, my bloggy friends... 

What's in YOUR purse????

Six Sentence Sunday 8-19-12

YOU GUYS! I totally missed last week! O.o

So this should be my third Six Sentence Sunday, but because I'm a Goofus Maloofus, this is only my second. You know what I did about that? I set an alarm on my phone. That's right. Now it will give me a reminder every Tuesday so I can sign up. TAKE THAT, FORGETFUL BRAIN! Who's in charge now!? 

Anyway, I'm excited to share another little teaser from my debut novel, EVER - a YA paranormal romance with a ghostly twist. 

EVER will be published on October 1, 2012 via Curiosity Quills Press! Please stay tuned!

The way Frankie’s eyes took me in made me feel like I was the most beautiful girl in the world.

He watched me slowly slide back into bed, his eyes lingering on me in a way I'd never seen him look at me before. 

Something thick and confusing lingered in the air between us. 

A desire that was just out of reach.

You're imagining this.

I watched him for a few long seconds, holding my breath the entire time, wondering if he was also aware of the heated moment happening between us, or if the feelings were all my own. 

COMING SOON! A blog hop and giveaway in honor of my debut novel, EVER!

In celebration of the fast-approaching and oh-so-exciting release date of my debut novel EVER, I am hosting a ghostly flash fiction BLOG HOP and GIVEAWAY! 

YES! A BLOG HOP!

A FLASH FICTION BLOG HOP!

A FLASH FICTION BLOG HOP ABOUT GHOSTS! 

*Yay ghosts!*

BUT WAIT! There's more! 
THIS IS A FLASH FICTION BLOG HOP ABOUT GHOSTS 
WITH A SUPER AWESOME GIVEAWAY!

*Yay giveaways!* 

As some of you may know, my debut novel is releasing on October 1, 2012! *SQUEE* I am doing a few different things to prepare for this crazy day that I never thought would actually happen! 

*Omg this is happening, isn't it!?*

Aside from a blog tour with author interviews, character interviews, giveaways, etc, I have decided to host a FLASH FICTION BLOG HOP! And well, since its not very FLASHY, seeing as how I'm giving you plenty of time to write it, I should probably change the name, but I don't want to. Its my blog hop, so there. ;-)

So, please stay tuned for more details regarding the first ever
GHOSTS (and the girls who love them!) 
BLOG HOP AND GIVEAWAY! 

I am ironing out the details now, and will be posting the rules and the linky sign up soon. In the mean time, I will give you the back cover blurb of EVER, so you have an idea of what kind of story it is. Your story will need to be a flash fiction piece (no less than 300 words, and no more than 1000 words), inspired by EVER's main theme: Loving a ghost. It can be sweet, scary, sexy, young adult, middle grade, adult, etc.

There will be time to post your stories, time for peer voting, a narrowing down of finalists, and then a time for judging by an awesome panel of judges.

Everyone who enters and participates will be automatically entered to win a signed copy of EVER, but in addition to that, I am putting together a prize pack of other wonderful goodies for the grand prize winner! YAY!

IN THE MEANTIME, please comment below with your thoughts, questions or suggestions!

*ALSO: I am looking for prize package donations (a great way to spread the word about your book or company), and guest judges. Comment below if interested. :-)

THANK YOU!!!
STAY TUNED! 

EVER'S BACK COVER BLURB:

Seventeen-year-old Ever’s love life has been on hold for the past two years. She’s secretly in love with her best friend Frankie, and he’s completely oblivious.

Of course, it doesn't help that he’s dead, and waking up to his ghost every day has made moving on nearly impossible.

Frustrated and desperate for something real, Ever finds herself falling for her hot new neighbor Toby. His relaxed confidence is irresistible, and not just Ever knows it. But falling for Toby comes with a price that throws Ever’s life into a whirlwind of chaos and drama. More than hearts are on the line, and more than Ever will suffer.

Some girls lose their hearts to love.

Some girls lose their minds.

Ever Van Ruysdael could lose her soul.

LOOK!

LOOK

O.O

I've been Twitter-tagged by Gerilyn Marin for a meme on her blog called "LOOK." 

If you are tagged, do a search for the word "look" in your work in progress. Copy that paragraph, along with surrounding paragraphs, to your blog, to keep the game afloat. Don't forget to tag others. 

I have included the following excerpt from my WIP "LIZZY" ... poor little WIP doesn't have an actual title yet, so I call her LIZZY, in honor of the name of the MC. :-) 

Here you go! 

Jimmy ran a hand through his perfectly wavy brown hair.  He smiled a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes, but she knew he’d practiced perfecting it for years.  She was sure there were plenty of girls that would swoon over that smile. 

Lizzy wasn’t one of them. 

Not that she would want to be.  She was wary of Jimmy.  Clean-cut, good looking jocks like Jimmy Frankhouse didn’t talk to girls like Lizzy.  Any more than Lizzy cared to talk to them. 

“You look different today,” he stared at her for a long moment; eyes squinted just slightly as if trying to place something, before he shrugged. With the girl-killer smile back on his face, he continued.  “Anyway, I just wanted to see if you had plans this weekend.”

“Seriously?”

“Yeah.”  He shook his head and looked at Lizzy as if she was the crazy one.  “So?  Are you busy?” 

“Yep.  Totally busy.  Completely.” She paused to really drive home her point. “Sooooo busy.” 

He raised his eyebrows at her. “Oh yeah?  What are you doing?”

“Oh, you know,” she shrugged, “the usual. Washing my hair, clipping my toenails, brushing my cat. Did I mention washing my hair?”

“Ouch. Ok, ok, I get it.” 

He cocked his head again, searching her face like he was looking for something.  Almost the way you look at someone that you know is familiar, but you just can’t place why.  

“You don’t want to hang out with me.”

“Wow.  You’re pretty observant, Jimmy. You’d think that kind of brain would have better grades.” 

“Oh Lizzy, leave poor Jimmy alone. He can’t help it if he’s all brawn and no brain, can you Frankhouse?” 

Saved by the bell, Lizzy thought as Beck walked up behind her, glaring at Jimmy.  She hated him almost as much as Lizzy did.  

I'm tagging the following people: 

Feaky Snucker

Laura Hughes

Nanette Pitts 

Krystal Wade

Angi Black

Jamie Ayres

Six Sentence Sunday 8-5-12

This is my very first time participating in Six Sentence Sunday! I'm so excited to share a little teaser from my debut novel, EVER - a YA paranormal romance with a ghostly twist. 

EVER will be published on October 1, 2012 via Curiosity Quills Press! Please stay tuned!

Frankie wasn't going anywhere, so why should I care if another family moved in next door?

But I did. 

I couldn't pretend it didn't feel like the end of an era or something. 

I'd practically grown up in that house.

My thoughts were interrupted when I saw the new neighbor. 

Suddenly it didn't feel like the end of anything. 

Stop the World and Let Me Off *AN UPDATE*

GAH! I'm the worst Buccaneer to ever sail the blogging seas! I haven't posted all week, and I skipped last Friday's post. I've also been absolutely terrible at keeping up with everyone else's posts. I'm so sorry! I do care about what you all have to say, I'm just having trouble managing my time right now. 

Have you heard this song? *please say yes*

It's a classic, if you're into old country like we are in my house. Anyway, the song's great, and the first four lines are how I feel right now. Except, not the love part. Love is good. Life is crazy. Just apply the lyrics to life, and you've got me. See below? I changed it for your reading pleasure. Hope Waylon understands. *grin*

Stop the world and let me off
I'm tired of goin' 'round n' 'round
I played the game of love life and lost
So, stop the world and let me off.

So, since the world won't stop spinning, I just keep trucking forward. I'm absolutely failing as a critique partner, my writing is nonexistent (which means EVER TWO has been sitting at 20K for a very long time - not to mention my poor neglected WIPs unrelated to the EVER series), and my house is a mess. 

Ah, who am I kidding? My house is ALWAYS a mess. 


BUT. 


The good news, is that I am getting very close to EVER's release date of OCTOBER 1st!!!

Wow. I don't know if I really thought I'd ever get to say that. 


I HAVE A BOOK. 


IT HAS A RELEASE DATE. 

OCTOBER FIRST!!!!


Now I just need a cover, some swag, and all the stars aligned. 


I'm really nervous. 


Anyway, in other news, I'm also working as a Proofreader AND an Acquisitions Editor for CURIOSITY QUILLS! On top of trying to manage my own career goals, run a household, raise Princess Awesomest-Girl-Alive, AND continue accepting a VERY small amount of painting orders (for the old Bella Inspired business you may or may not remember). 


I'm swamped. I'm stressed. And I'm happy. 


It's a strange mingling of feelings.

So yeah, I'd like to stop the world from spinning for a day or two - just to take a breath.