Si, Se Puede--Yes, you can!

1. Wednesday was my birthday! To celebrate my birthday week I'm giving away three print copies of CROSSED FIRE over on Goodreads! **Here's the link! January 31st is the last day!!!! https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/enter_choose_address/275756-crossed-fire 2. My excitement of the week had to be when I tweeted how I was looking forward to seeing JUMANJI. I never thought in a bazillion years The Rock would actually tweet me back! 3. Thinking I might tweak my revision and make it more mainline fiction. I've been branching out with my writing with a romance and memoir. It's always good to go outside your comfort zone! 4.Books I've read: AMERICANIZED by Sara Saedi Speaking of memoirs, this one deals with a teen living in 1990s and finding out she's an undocumented citizen. If you know me, I have very strong feelings on this issue. It saddens me so much the current sentiment against immigration in our country which

1. Well, GODDESSES CAN WAIT ended up being #9 on P&E **Ok, I know this is basically just a 'popularity' contest, but still it was nice to get an email with this! 2.  Next week's my birthday! And to celebrate, I'll have a Goodreads contest to give away three copies of my latest novel CROSSED FIRE: 3. Aren't these buttons cool? I had dawnjuddcreations made them for me. In my series, CROSSED OUT, Stephanie calls herself a 'Rescuer'. She rescuers dead girls and helps guide them to the Otherside with talismans she makes that reflect their true selves. 4. Been working on synopsis for CANDLE IN THE WIND. Hope to do a quick read through it starting next week and plan to send off to an agent who requested it. 5. Finished reading book 2 in the Scythe series. I reread the first book in the series and totally was ready for THUNDERHEAD. It's amazing with tons of twists and turns throughout. Premise: In the future th

1. This is the first week back from vacation.  I'm getting over a bad viral infection and still hobbling on one foot. Another week wearing a special boot for my sprained toe. 2. Being sick=having a hard time being motivated to write. Need to have this as my mantra: Started getting back to my writing this write by tearing apart my query letter. Next week will work on the synopsis.  Plan on doing another quick read through of my story and then hope to query it out in February. 3. Been reading. **Even when I'm sick, I can't not have a book! 4.  THE SCRIBE OF SIENA This is women's fiction with some time travel set in Italy during the 14th century. Totally loving! Reminds me of OUTLANDER with a little DOOMSDAY. 5.  ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN I'm reading this along with son. My thoughts? There's lots of adventure throughout. But I feel very uncomfortable reading the N word-which is throughout this book. Also for a 13 year o

I was proud to be a part of the Cybils. I helped , along with other panelists, narrow down over 100 nominated YA fiction books to the top 7 of the year. Let me tell you all this: There were some amazing books published in 2017! And it was hard to whittle down the list. The books we did agree on, were all fantastic.  I enjoyed discussing the nominated books with the other panelists.  It's always fun to meet others who love books as much as I do! At the end of the year, I usually share what books I really loved. A couple that didn't make the finalist list.  So here we go: 1. I BELIEVE IN A THING CALLED LOVE by Maurene Goo I've heard from teens and others that they want a light, fun, sweet romance. This novel delivers! There is just so much to love about this book. The voice is fresh and unique. The premise is of a Korean American  over achieving teen that puts together a formula to get a boyfriend by watching Korean soap operas. There's humor, friendship, la

A Short History of the Girl Next Door by Jared Reck Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers Publisher/ Author Submission A Short History of the Girl Next Door by Jared Reck captures the awkward yearning of early adolescence and the hesitant fizzings of first love—all in the note-perfect ninth-grade voice of basketball-obsessed Matt Wainwright. What begins as an amusing battle with cool senior guy Liam for the heart of Matt’s lifelong best friend Tabby explodes into tragedy, and Matt’s rage threatens to destroy his relationship with family, friends, and the sport he loves. Reck explores the toxic anger of grief without ever losing the humor and heart that drew us to Matt in the first place. William Polking,  Guys Lit Wire Moxie: A Novel by Jennifer Mathieu Roaring Brook Press Nominated by:  Jennifer W After one sexist incident too many pushes Vivian Carter too far, she decides to fight back. Inspired by her mother’s Riot Grrrl past, Vivian creates an anonymous fem