Si, Se Puede--Yes, you can!

1. Rain is here. I've been sandbagging and clearing out leaves/fallen debris for the past two days. Plus have extra sand and sandbags in my garage just in case for the predicted huge storm coming this weekend. Cross fingers for me that my office doesn't flood again like last years mess. 2. OMG, and my almost 13 year old has discovered...GIRLS. It seems like just yesterday he was this small and more interested in Legos: He says this how I look when he discusses girls: 3. Moved mother-in-law to an independent living community. Had dinner with her too in their dining area. The people seem really nice and son and I plan to visit once a week. Next Monday is Bingo. I love Bingo. It'll be fun. The elderly people there so fun seem happy and active. Just hope Lorena(MIL) doesn't just stay in her apartment and get depressed. 4. Finished reading: My YA Books Central review:http://www.yabookscentral.com/yafiction/16336-fire-and-flood Teaser: What wor

Can you all believe it's the end of February! And next week is March Madness! So today celebrate what you've done and if you didn't do much(like me)then get ready for next week! If you can, share your successes this week. Even if you wrote just a paragraph or two, that's something! Publisher took copies of my latest: No More Goddesses to ConDFW14: So remember that paragraph I needed to do on what my current project's about? Here's the latest: In this thriller, Espie needs to find her sister to regain her right to be in the cult-like society hidden outside of the Salt Flats and falls in love with an enemy from outside as she searches. Phoenix is one of the dreaded 'Others' that el Padre, the spiritual leader of El Compuesto, has warned his followers will destroy them. Phoenix isn't what Espie had pictured as evil but rather a compassionate, caring man who has stood up for her when others want to kill her. But Phoenix is a proud

1. This week's been busy as usual! Getting lesson plans ready for visit this afternoon with our ES-educational specialist-Laura. Most people don't realize how much work is involved when you homeschool. I'm a credentialed teacher(yes, it's up to date!)for grades K-12 and also can teach ELD/Spanish. I work through a charter school which has been wonderful with a student center that son attends twice a week for theater, Lego League, History, and Campus publisher(they put together the yearbook) with credentialed teachers. We go once a week to a math academy. Biweekly to semi-private art classes and weekly to homeschool PE classes. Yes, I'm busy! But we've found this has been so much better for our son who has sensory issues. **Son at last weekend's Legoland event. 2. Books! OMG, books! First, I admit, I'm kind of burned out on YA dystopian novels so I asked the fab Jen or cupcakegirly on Twitter for recommends(she's a fellow YABC editor

I'm excited that I'm part of the 16 Things I Thought Were True blog book tour. I'm a huge fan of Janet Gurtler's contemporary YA novels. Her latest 16 Things I Thought Were True shows us Morgan who is horrified after a video of her dancing in boy's undies surfaces. Then she gets a text from her twin brothers that her mother is in the hospital with heart problems. Morgan is obsessed with getting 5K followers on Twitter and usually only communicates with her twitter friends.But life happens and her mother 'reveals' the name of her biological father before a surgery. Before Morgan knows it she finds herself on a road trip with her boss Adam and chatter box Amy. Morgan learns that maybe 'real' friends are closer than she thought. What worked: Once again Gurtler has a winner! Loved the writing style that shows us a heroine that hides behind her Twitter account when a video leaks out. Morgan might come across to some as cold and indifferent but I

My gosh, can you believe it's already February 17th! We're halfway through the month. My question is how is everyone's writing going? Share!!!! I've been taking an on-line RWA writing and have been trying to narrow what my wip is about in one paragraph. Well, right now it's down to one sentence: While searching for her sister so she'll be allowed back into her cult-like community, 17 yr old Espie falls in love with her enemy. Can any of you share what your WIP/projects are about? Shaking pom-poms your way and also sending some fairy plot dust your way too! And continue writing!!! ***Our winner from last week is.... Candilynn! And for this week I'll be giving away: or

1. First off, so excited that this week's issue of EW has this as the cover: Yes, I'm proud to say I'm a 'marshmallow'. I also was one of the kickstart backers! Can't wait to see movie next month! 2. Finished reading: This book brought back memories of 1983. Loved it! YA Books Central review:http://www.yabookscentral.com/yafiction/16496-going-over Teaser: What worked was the amazing voice of this historical YA novel. It brought back memories. During the early 80s, no one thought the wall would ever come down. We only heard stories of those who were lucky to escape. Ada and Stefan's story is beautifully written. Kephart shows us the heart and that not even a wall could separate a love. 3. Read this: YA Books Central review: http://www.yabookscentral.com/yafiction/16399-loud-awake-and-lost Teaser: What worked had to be how Ember puts together the pieces of her life before the accident even if it might be too painful to face. Her str

I'm excited to be a part of the cover reveal of THE SHADOW PRINCE by Stacey O'Neale! Here we go: ** ** ** Isn't it omg worthy? Blurb: This prequel novella will be FREE and available on Goodreads, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble on March 25, 2014! Every sacrifice has consequences. Sixteen-year-old Rowan has spent most of his life living among the mortals—learning to control the element of fire, impatiently awaiting the day his vengeful mother, Queen Prisma, will abdicate her throne. When he finally returns to Avalon for his coronation, his mother insists he must first prove his loyalty to the court by completing a secret mission: Kill Kalin, the half-human, half-elemental daughter of the air court king. Willing to do anything to remove his mother from power, he agrees to sacrifice the halfling. He returns to the mortal world with his best friend, Marcus, determined to kill the princess. But as he devises a plan, he starts to question whether o

This last Thursday was the start of the Winter Olympics. What I love about the Olympics isn't so much the sports but rather the stories behind the athletes. In this case though it's the place, Soshi, Russia that has been making most of the headlines. There's been rumors of terrible housing, yellow tinted drinking water, bees in the honey, bare chested Russian leader Putin paintings and even threats from terrorists. My question for this week is what do you do when you come across barriers when writing? Do you do like some athletes at the Soshi Olympics and still plow through the distractions and barriers? Or like some just pack up and go home? Meg Cabot in 2008 Cosmogirl once said on writer's block: Usually writer’s block arises when something is wrong internally with the story. Maybe you took a wrong turn somewhere in your plotting (remember writer’s GPS — the best path to writer’s block is not knowing where you’re going or how to get there before you g

1. Really having a hard time working through Act 3 in this revision. I ended up tossing the original part as it wasn't working. Ugh. Ended up printing up another Plot wheel from Joyce Sweeney and trying to write through this plot block which is very painful. Double ugh. Then fab YA author Maggie Stiefvater was on Twitter and I asked her what she did when she had this happen to her and she nailed it perfectly with this post: http://maggiestiefvater.com/blog/in-which-i-advocate-caging-your-plot-bunnies/ Yes, my other project--plot bunny--has been hounding me. Love her suggestions! You rock, Maggie! 2. This week I was able to read fellow YABC Head Ninja's debut book: The 57 Lives of Alex Wayfarer: Verdict: Loved! It's a cross between Somewhere in Time meets Dr. Who with amazing chemistry and exciting time travel stops. Love the twists and turns in this time traveling/past lives tale. The chemistry between Alex and Blue(especially the 1927 dance scene)

In my book NO MORE GODDESSES, Jordan wants so much for the hawt boy of the campus, Ethan, to send her a Valentine gram. In my book these grams are kind of like someone asking you to the Valentine Dance. My son's charter school is going to pass out Valentine Grams too this week. The saying is: I'm bursting with happiness that you're my friend. I thought for the first week of Wipmadness that we'd share a positive in our current project. What are you bursting with happiness over in your story? What keeps you working on it? For me it has to be Espie's journey to finding out not only the truth about her community but herself. While writing this I'm finding myself using some of my own struggles/conflicts with my faith. In my second book in the goddesses book it has to be doing all the research on Paris! Never in a bazillion years did I think I'd want to learn French or go to Paris. But for Jordan, Paris is romance! ***Added bonus! You all k

Today I'm excited to share my review of DEVIL'S FROST, the third ebook installment in The Spellspinners series. You all know how much I love this series. It has more chemistry than: And has more magic than: Here's my YABC review: I’m a huge fan of author Heidi Kling’s ebook serial The Spellspinners. Kling casts a spell on readers by bringing her characters to life. Nothing cliché or stereotypical with her witches and warlocks of Melas! **Love the twist on this Northern Californian town's name. Melas is Salem spelled backwards. I can totally see some t-shirts with this on them! Kling breathes life into each of her characters with vivid descriptions and lush backgrounds. You can’t help but fall in love. In Devil’s Frost, the third installment of this winning series, we find Lilly still struggling with the betrayal of Orchid, her best friend. She finds there are consequences to using magic. Also a number of painful reveals have her questioning ever