Aspiring Author Nightmare

So, I dreamt the other day that I got an offer of representation for my manuscript.  But after the agent offered, I realized I had plagiarized the whole thing from a fellow aspiring author!  I got so scared that that aspiring author would find out and then everyone would know it wasn't my work.  And you know how you get towards the end of the dream, on the verge of waking up, where you tell yourself it's just a dream?  Well I was there- teetering back and forth for a bit- thinking, oh it's okay, it's just a dream...whew. But then, What if it's NOT??  Omg, I just copied someone else's work!  Oh wait...just a dream...whew.  But wait...until I woke up.  And thankfully...yep, just a dream.

In other news...I have a new baby!  Mini Monster is already a month old!  Wow, how time flies..So during my sleep deprived nightly feedings, I've discovered something that keeps me occupied...twitter!  Oh man, I'm already hooked.  I've got my iphone, with my sweet breastfeeding app counting the minutes, MM eating away, and I'm scrolling through twitter, totally mesmerized.  Makes the time go by faster.  But now it's starting to get a little ridiculous- I've got it up on my computer, which is with me on the couch while I recover from my c-section.  Which by-the-way, is taking a little longer than I thought.  And I can't.stop.refreshing.the.page.  But seriously, twitter is very beneficial to aspiring authors- there is some great stuff on there from authors and agents!  Plus I can stalk keep track of the agents that have my ms...just in case they want to tweet something awesome about it *crossing fingers*.

Ooh, and I totally signed up for Sara Megibow's 10 Queries in 10 Tweets webinar on July 17.  My first agent-run webinar and I'm really excited.  Okay, totally terrified.  But whatevs.  I'll get my query critiqued by an awesome agent- how can you go wrong there?  Totally worth the money.

Not much else going on here...just you know...baby stuff.  Little Monster is over the moon in love with her baby sister, which makes me very happy.

And I'll humor you with a picture- my rule is not to show faces of my kids, but I'll make an exception this one time.  Besides, I don't really have a rule against butts...

Alright, looks like it's time for Mini Monster to eat (again) so I'll catch ya over on twitter!

Baby = Time Suck

So I know it's been like, forever, since I last posted.  I decided to take April off since I wasn't doing A-Z, and good thing too because I have been going crazy out of my mind with all this baby business.

Mini Monster will be gracing us with her presence in just one short, panic-inducing week!

And seriously guys, I totally forgot how much you have to do to get ready for a new human being to take over your house.  I have barely have time to write, let alone blog.

I have no idea where the past 9 months went- honestly I think my belly swallowed them up.  But here we are, and there is no turning back.  Little Monster is uber excited and is so hyper it's exhausting.  I thank my lucky stars every day that she's 6, almost 7, and can do her own thing while I take a nap or curl up on my bed and cry from one of the many excruciating preggo pains I've been cursed blessed with.  She is so sweet, she even rubs my back when I'm not feeling well.

Anywho, I miss you guys and hopefully I can hop around today and see how you all are doing!  Obvs my posting will be sporadic at best in the coming months.  I really won't have much to talk about anyway except poop, baby vomit, and my lack of sleep.

So cross your fingers, wish me luck and send some good vibes my way!  I'll be seeing you around!

P.S. Dude, I'm gone for a month or two and all of a sudden blogger is like, totally changed!  What do you think of the *new* blogger?

May the Odds Be Ever in Your Favor

Well this is it folks!  The night we've been waiting what seems like YEARS for!  Tonight is the premier of The Hunger Games!

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So who's all going to the midnight showing??  Sadly, not this mama.  But for a good reason- I'm seeing it next weekend with my mom and sis!  (and several friends who will be in town as well!)

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But you guys, I'm SO excited!  I haven't been this excited for a movie since Harry Potter.  And you know one of the reasons I KNOW I am excited about a movie?  I get a bit verklempt when I see the trailer (okay so I'm tearing up just thinking of it) (sniff...tawlk amongst yourselves...).  My sis and I went to see Breaking Dawn and they had a Hunger Games trailer and we both totally teared up after.  Okay so sobbed just a bit...whatever.  So yeah...excited just a tad.

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  I will be dying a slow death every day until I get to see it for myself.  That whole week after it opens it will be SO hard to hear everything about the movie!  Maybe I'll just lock myself in the bathroom the whole week so I don't have to be mocked by all the people who've seen it...

And....while I'm in there, I can just play THIS on my iphone:



So when are YOU going to see it?  ARE you going to see it?  Or dare I say it...do you even KNOW what I'm talking about?  Have you not even *gasp* read the books??

Parting Ways With Your Favorite Book

You know when you give away a book, sometimes it's like having to give away a piece of yourself?  But you know its new owner will love it just as much as you, so it doesn't hurt so much....

Little Monster and I organized her bookshelves this weekend, and I mentioned to her that she could give any of her books to Mini Monster if she wanted, but she didn't have to.  I wanted to make it clear I wasn't making her give anything away to her little sister.  I honestly didn't think she'd really pick any to give to her because she loves all her books- even her old baby ones she still makes me read to her at night before bed.

But guess what?  She picked out some of her favorite books for Mini Monster!  How sweet was that?  She did it without hesitation.  I was so proud of her especially since it would be super hard for ME to give up my favorite books!  When I loan out a book I always hesitate for a second, wondering if I'll ever see my precious friend back in my hands.  But Little Monster was happy to give them to her sister, hopeful that she'll love them just as much as she did.

Do you loan out or give away your books?  If so, is it hard to give up that part of you, or do you do it without hesitation?

Rachel Morgan is Taking Over My Blog!

Please help me in welcoming my good friend Rachel Morgan to my blog today. She's doing a guest post to help promote her Creepy Hollow series!  Check out the other tour stops in the next few weeks as well!

Creepy Hollow: Meet The Characters



Guardian is a paranormal fantasy that revolves around two main characters: Violet, the faerie guardian-in-training whose routine assignment goes wrong when it turns out the human boy she's trying to protect can see through her faerie glamour, and Nate, the human boy who can see Violet and ends up following her into the fae realm. To get to know these two characters a little better, I got them to answer a few questions...

Before I go, here is an excerpt from the scene in which Nate and Vi first meet each other:

   I raise my eyes. The boy is looking at me.

   At me!

   My heart stutters. I mentally feel for my glamour, the magic that should be making me invisible right now. It’s still in place, I’m sure it is. So how can he possibly see me?

   This is bad. This is very bad.

   A few feet away from me, the boy pushes himself up onto his knees. “What just happened?”

   “Um ...” Crap, I am going to lose so many points for this.

   “And what the hell is that?”

   I follow his gaze to the arrow in my hand. It sparkles with its own light, as though made of hundreds of tiny red-hot stars. I can see how that would look weird to a human. I let go of the arrow. It vanishes, causing the boy’s eyes to grow even wider. 

   “Well, I should really be going.” I stand up, hoping my stylus is still in my boot.

   “Wait.” He gets to his feet. “Who are you? What are you doing here? What was that ... thing?”

   “That thing?” I casually reach behind me for the wall. “Oh, you know, just a product of your subconscious. And all that ice cream you ate earlier. Indigestion can make for some interesting dreams.” I cringe internally. Dreams? What idiot would buy that explanation?

   His eyebrows draw together. “I guess that could make sense. You are way more attractive than any real-life girl who’s managed to find her way into my bedroom.”

   This is not happening.

Thank you, Abby, for hosting me on your blog today!

~  ~  ~

Rachel Morgan is the author of Guardian, the first novelette in the Creepy Hollow series. She was born in South Africa and spent a large portion of her childhood living in
a fantasy land of her own making. These days, in between teaching mathematics to high school children, she writes fiction for young adults.

Buy Guardian from

Amazon US | Amazon UK | Smashwords

The Creepy Hollow Series

Website | Goodreads | Facebook | Book Trailer

Author Info

Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | Google+

Come Get Lost in CREEPY HOLLOW With Me This Week!

My good bloggy buddy Rachel Morgan is releasing some super awesome short stories (or as she likes to call them, "novelettes")(See how cool and awesome she is?  She totally calls them novelettes- that's SO European of her)!  Please check out her links- you won't be disappointed!

(Also come back here Thursday March 8th for a guest post from Rachel where you'll be able to get inside her characters' heads!)

Today the Creepy Hollow series kicks off with the release of the first story, GUARDIAN!!

GUARDIAN introduces readers to the magical world of Creepy Hollow, a realm where fae creatures — both safe and definitely-not-so-safe — dwell. Things are cool as long the fae stick to their own realm. It's when they find their way into the human world that things start going wrong...





1. Receive assignment.

2. Save a life.

3. Sleep.

4. Repeat.

Protecting humans from dangerous magical creatures is all in a day’s work for a faerie training to be a guardian. Seventeen-year-old Violet Fairdale knows this better than anyone—she’s about to become the best guardian the Guild has seen in years. That is, until one of her assignments—a human boy who shouldn’t even be able to see her—follows her into the fae realm. Now she’s broken Guild Law, a crime that could lead to her expulsion.

The last thing Vi wants to do is spend any more time with the boy who got her into this mess, but the Guild requires that she return Nate to his home and make him forget everything he’s discovered of the fae realm. Easy, right? But Nate and Vi are about to land themselves in even bigger trouble—and it’ll take all Vi’s training to get them out alive.

Buy from Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B007FRJGXI

Buy from Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B007FRJGXI

Buy from Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/137697

The Creepy Hollow Series

Website | Goodreads | Facebook | Book Trailer

Author Info

Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | Google+

To find out more about the series, the author, and the characters, check out the blog tour that’s happening over the next two weeks.

Click here for the blog tour schedule

It's Time To Catch Fire!

My good bloggy buddy Alex J. Cavanaugh's sequel to CassaStar comes out today: CassaFire.  He is such a wonderful writer and supporter of all of his blogging friends, that I jumped at the chance to support him today.  Please check out all of the links!

Today is the Catch Fire Blog Party, celebrating the release of CassaFire by Alex J. Cavanaugh! The goal is to help CassaFire “catch fire” on the best seller charts and achieve the success of the first book, CassaStar.  

Alex is doing a blog tour Feb 27-Mar 9 and during that time if you comment on his blog, you can win a special package of prizes (copies of CassaFire, CassaStar, tote bag, mug, and bookmarks) as well as book giveaways during his two-week blog tour. See Alex’s site for details: http://alexjcavanaugh.blogspot.com/ 

CassaFire

by Alex J. Cavanaugh

CassaStar was just the beginning…

The Vindicarn War is a distant memory and Byron’s days of piloting Cosbolt fighters are over. He has kept the promise he made to his fallen mentor and friend - to probe space on an exploration vessel. Shuttle work is dull, but it’s a free and solitary existence. The senior officer is content with his life aboard the Rennather.

The detection of alien ruins sends the exploration ship to the distant planet of Tgren. If their scientists can decipher the language, they can unlock the secrets of this device. Is it a key to the Tgren’s civilization or a weapon of unimaginable power? Tensions mount as their new allies are suspicious of the Cassan’s technology and strange mental abilities. 

To complicate matters, the Tgrens are showing signs of mental powers themselves; the strongest of which belongs to a pilot named Athee, a woman whose skills rival Byron’s unique abilities. Forced to train her mind and further develop her flying aptitude, he finds his patience strained. Add a reluctant friendship with a young scientist, and he feels invaded on every level. All Byron wanted was his privacy…

Available today!

Science fiction - space opera/adventure

Print ISBN 978-0-9827139-4-5, $15.95, 6x9 Trade paperback, 240 pages

EBook ISBN 978-0-9827139-6-9, $4.99, available in all formats

CassaFire is the sequel to Cavanaugh’s first book, CassaStar, an Amazon Top Ten Best Seller:

“…calls to mind the youthful focus of Robert Heinlein’s early military sf, as well as the excitement of space opera epitomized by the many Star Wars novels. Fast-paced military action and a youthful protagonist make this a good choice for both young adult and adult fans of space wars.” - Library Journal

You can visit the author’s site at http://alexjcavanaugh.blogspot.com/

Book trailer available at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qa6VINRGtyE.

Barnes and Noble - http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/cassafire-alex-j-cavanaugh/1034742568

Amazon - http://www.amazon.com/CassaFire-Alex-J-Cavanaugh/dp/0982713940/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1329417150&sr=1-1

Amazon Kindle - http://www.amazon.com/CassaFire-ebook/dp/B007A2TSNG/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1329663355&sr=1-1