Can We Get Serious for a Minute?

November 12, 2015Linda's Postsbook club, date rape, Em & EM

I tend to shine a rosy light on EM & EM and depict it as a sweet romance, and it is that. But it also touches on a very serious subject: date rape.

There is nothing rosy or sweet or romantic about date rape, nor is there anything humorous or festive about it. By now, you’ve probably seen the Bloomingdale’s ad: “Spike your best friend’s eggnog when they’re not looking.”

Image: Imgur

Unbelievable. Bloomingdale’s? What? How?

Seriously, how did this get through layers of review? Presumably your marketers are respectable, educated business people. They understand certain advertising principles (especially the one about how “sex sells,” apparently). The ad itself is beautiful and sophisticated, so clearly they have an appreciation for clean page composition, font usage, and color. Yet they can’t grasp the simple concept that rape is wrong? Because, news flash: It is. Always. Even when the victim is drinking eggnog.

This week, I attended a book club meeting with a group who had read EM & EM. We talked about the problem of date rape and date rape drugs. One of the women remarked that she knew girls are often advised not to leave their drinks unattended but that often at parties, girls are handed drinks by their friends, and they don’t know exactly what went into them in the first place.

As the Bloomingdale’s ad reminds us, sometimes it may not be advisable to trust these “friends.” Even if they seem like respectable, educated people.

I’m not one to celebrate victimhood. On the contrary, I often rail against the fact that we are becoming a society that perceives persecution and discrimination and offense at every turn. But when an American institution such as Bloomingdale’s errs so blatantly in its judgment on a topic like rape, it’s time to take a step back and try to understand what messages we, and in particular the media, are projecting to teens and young men and women.

More Big Book News!

October 11, 2015Linda's Postspublishing, The Boyfriend Whisperer

Hard to believe I’m posting this. It’s the type of news I’ve seen other authors announce in the past, but I never thought I’d be one of them. Actually, I’ll let the announcement in Publishers Marketplace speak for itself:
So … yay! Very excited to be working with Swoon Romance YA for my next three titles!

YA Scavenger Hunt!

October 1, 2015Uncategorized

UPDATE: The Scavenger Hunt and the Bonus Contest are now closed. Thank you for playing!!

Welcome to the 2015 Young Adult Scavenger Hunt! I am so excited to be part of TEAM TEAL! So many amazing authors on this team … look at all the pretty covers:

The YA Scavenger Hunt is a bi-annual event that was first organized by author Colleen Houck as a way to give readers access to exclusive bonus material from their favorite authors … and a chance to win some awesome prizes! At this hunt, you not only get exclusive content, you also get a clue for the hunt. Add up the clues, and you can enter for our prize. One lucky winner will receive one signed book from each author on the hunt in my team! But play fast: This contest (and all the exclusive bonus material) will only be online for 72 hours!

Go to the YA Scavenger Hunt page to find out all about the hunt. There are EIGHT contests going on simultaneously, and you can enter one or all! I am a part of TEAM TEAL, but there is also a red team, gold team, orange team, purple team, blue team, pink team, and green team … so you have lots of chances to win!

If you’d like to find out more about the hunt, see links to all the authors participating, and see the full list of prizes up for grabs, check out the the YA Scavenger Hunt page.

SCAVENGER HUNT PUZZLE DETAILS

Directions: Below, you’ll notice that I’ve listed my favorite number in BOLD RED. Collect the favorite numbers of all the authors on the Teal Team, and then add them up. Entry Form: Once you’ve added up all the numbers, make sure you fill out the form here to officially qualify for the grand prize. Only entries that have the correct number will qualify. Rules: Open internationally; anyone below the age of 18 should have a parent or guardian’s permission to enter. To be eligible for the grand prize, you must submit the completed entry form by Sunday, October 4, at noon Pacific Time. Entries sent without the correct number or without contact information will not be considered.

NOW … ON TO MY POST!

A little bit about me: My name is Linda Budzinski (which is why my blog is called “Linda Budzinski” … very creative of me, I know!). I’m author of the first book in the second row on the TEAM TEAL logo … EM & EM! It’s a YA romance with a mystery twist. I live in Northern Virginia, work in nonprofit communications, and love chocolate, The Bachelor, and daisies. Oh, and my chihuahua, Demitria, is my faithful (if not terribly helpful) writing partner.

FEATURED BOOK: MAID OF WONDER, BY JENNIFER McGOWAN!

Today I am thrilled to be hosting YA Historical Romance Author Extraordinaire Jennifer McGowan! Jenn was born in Ohio, grew up in Montana, and studied in Paris. She fell in love with the Elizabethan era as a college student and is now an unrepentant scholar of the period, happily splitting her time between the past and present.

A Romance Writers of America Golden Heart Award winner and multiple finalist, Jenn is the author of the Maids of Honor series. She lives in Ohio. Visit her (and the Maids of Honor) at JenniferMcGowan.com.

ABOUT MAID OF WONDER (MAIDS OF HONOR BOOK 3)
Sophia must master her psychic ability if she is to save the life of Queen Elizabeth and her fellow maids from a dark prophecy.

In this third book of the Maids of Honor series, Sophia Dee, the most unusual spy of Queen Elizabeth’s Maids of Honor, has run out of time for her psychic skills to fully manifest. A terrible new prophecy haunts Windsor Castle, and the Queen demands answers before the next doomed soul dies.

Thrust into a dangerous and horrifying competition to solve the deadly prediction, Sophia finds herself pitted against the most celebrated mystics of Europe: John Dee, her devious uncle and the Queen’s personal astrologer, and Nostradamus, the renowned prophet-seer of France.

In a court where whispers of witchcraft, poisonous plots, and grim assassins threaten her at every turn, Sophia needs answers fast. But does she dare trust Marcus Quinn, her uncle’s striking and overambitious assistant? Or, instead, should she turn to the tortured dark angel of the spirit realm, who whispers to her only of sorrow and death?

As new dangers surface and the dire prophecy sweeps toward its final victim, the five Maids of Honor prepare to do battle. Only then will the girl who so often sees the future finally discover if she can save the Crown — and herself.

* * *

Oooh, Nostradamus! Sign me up!

AND NOW … THE MOMENT YOU’VE BEEN WAITING FOR … THE BONUS MATERIAL!
We have for you today an excerpted scene from MAID OF WONDER. In this scene, Sophia, in the midst of an angelic communication session, learns more about the dark angel who is her primary contact with the spirit world:

A rustle of movement sounds to my right, and, smiling, I turn … then freeze.

It is the dark angel.

And for the first time ever, I realize my grim specter is a he. The heavy hood still hangs over his face, all flames banked for the moment, but the dark angel’s cloak is flung back to reveal a powerfully built masculine body. He is nearly as robust as Beatrice’s Alasdair, and his clothing is as fine as any courtier’s in Elizabeth’s circle, all in jet black: doublet, breeches and fine black hose, leather boots. I don’t recognize that I’m staring at those boots until the spirit’s feet shift, and I realize he is performing the Honor, the first step in any proper dance.

Startled, I lift my head to search his face — and meet only shadows.

I do not trust myself to speak. Never before has an angel tried to approach me in this way. I sense it is forbidden, an unwritten rule of the realm. I am mortal, they are spirit. Never the twain shall meet, else….

Madness.

Ignoring my mute objection, the dark angel moves around me, mimicking the dance he observed naught but a few hours ago. He watches me from the darkness of his hooded cowl, and I find myself curtsying to him in turn, then rising up. He positions his hands as the dance requires, and I place mine next to his — close, but not touching him.

The dark specter sought me out in my own realm, after all. Clearly it — he — wants to speak to me. If he wishes to dance with me as well, I can be accommodating.

“What can you tell me?” I ask. My voice is breathless, though we are circling each other most sedately. Still, I feel tired, as if my energy were draining away.

Life, it is this dancing, stepping forward, hastening back.

The dark angel’s words recall me to his face, or, rather, to the darkness that passes for his face beneath the cowl. I smile tentatively, not sure how to respond.

“Yes,” I say. “Life can be a dance, good sir.”

His head comes up then, anger riffling between us. I have said something wrong. I bite my lip and try to give him a better answer. “We seek to come together, yet all too often find ourselves pulling quickly apart. We cannot stay but that we seek to leave; we do not leave but that we wish we could stay.”

He nods, and I breathe a tiny sigh of relief. Still, no sooner have I relaxed than his words sound again. This time, however, they are solely in my head.

See this gathering of spirits. Look but quickly, then away.

They would seek to draw your breath,

To dance your dance, to ever stay.

I frown, but I do as he instructs, glancing over at the collected assembly of spirits. The dark angel is correct, I suppose. There is an intensity in the way the other spirits watch me, but no more so than I felt in the dark angel himself as he watched me dance with Marcus.

The laughter that skates across my senses is low, dangerous. Can the dark angel read my thoughts? If so, I dare not wait any longer to ask my questions.

“Please,” I say, though there is no supplication in my tone, only bold demand. “You and the angels showed me the Queen’s own death last night. You must tell me how to stop that from happening.”

But my grim specter remains silent, watching me from his cowl’s hooded depths as we engage in this caricature of a dance. “I cannot fail in this,” I try again. “I beg of you.”

Do not rush into this madness. Do not fall, ever to stay.

Do not heed the call of sirens. Flee this place, away, away.

“Enough!” I cry in frustration, pulling out of his mock embrace. “If you cannot tell me, then please withdraw and allow another to speak!”

He moves so quickly then that I can only gasp. His gauntleted hand reaches out and cups my chin, lifting my face up to his. How is he touching me? This is not allowed! And yet, at the moment when I feel the dark angel’s forbidden touch, my mind is filled to bursting with, sounds, images, and words.

I see the young, chestnut-haired man in his bed once more, dead.

I see Walsingham at his side.

I push these images away. “What of the Queen?” I ask. “I saw the Queen die! How can that be stopped?”

The dark angel shifts his hold on me, loosing my chin but crowding close. My sight dims further, until I am wholly blind. I feel the lightest pressure along my cheek, as if the angel has drawn his finger down my face. With that touch my vision brightens once more, in sharp and vivid clarity:

I see five women, my fellow maids and myself, in the midst of some great revel — as if we were part of it but with our own unique roles, a play within a play.

Positioned like the tips of a five-pointed star, each of us holds a sword high in the air between our clasped hands, our eyes glowing bright. We are possessed of an eternal inner fire, able to see in utter darkness.

At our center is the Queen, and we all stand upon a circular snow-white field, bisected with a black cross.

I remember this place, of course. It’s where the Queen will die! I am smote with an impossible urgency, and suddenly I understand. When the Queen takes to this white field, I will be close enough to save her. If I move quickly, she will vanquish death. I simply need to reach her. I must reach the Queen!

The dark angel seems to shudder, and I sense that both his hands are pressed to either side of my face as he stares intently at me, my mind filling with bright, discordant images. Now I am back in the Lower Ward, rushing through the collection of carts and animals and people. I seem to be searching for someone, desperate to find her, when the carts suddenly give way and I dash into the open space.

Before me an old woman in heavy shawls whirls around to gape at me, her hands flying up in a violent frenzy as if to warn me away.

Her eyes are as white as milk.

Pain explodes in the back of my neck.

I scream in agony, reeling away from the dark angel as a bolt of fire lashes through me. I am nauseous with a heavy, roiling wrongness.

At that moment a roar besets the glade, wind racing into the sacred space. I stumble to the side, half-collapsing onto the obsidian bench. I feel a cloying wetness on my cheeks and brush it away, but when I pull my hand back, my horror surges anew to see my fingers red with blood. My eyes are once again bleeding! The raging storm grows, and I realize that the dark angel has stepped away from me and is lost in the gale. “No!” I scream into the wind. I squint across the open space, but I cannot see the dark spirit anymore.

“Don’t leave me!” I am dizzy with physical pain, but the sudden wrench of the dark angel’s disappearance hurts me worse, as if, having transgressed so far as to touch me, he may be taken from me forever, never to return. Never to show me his face. “Who are you?” I demand, grasping at something— anything—that will keep us connected across the planes. For I cannot lose him. Not now, when he has given me a way to see visions with such a startling clarity. Not now, when I am so close! “Come back to me!”

But I can already sense the angelic realm slipping away, even as I feel the brush of something against my cheek, as light as a feather though it seems to scorch me to the bone. Arc, speaks a voice in my head, more pictures and thundering music than words, a word full of fire and desolation and loss. My name is Arc.

* * *

So … wow! Just, wow! What an intense scene! Can’t wait to check this one out! I wonder if Jenn has any more books planned for the series? Hmm, there are five maids, so I’m thinking 5 would be a good number of books!

Want to check out Jenn and MAID OF WONDER? Yes. Yes, I believe you do! Here’s how:
Jenn’s Website
Jenn’s Facebook Page
Jenn’s Twitter
MAID OF WONDER on Amazon
MAID OF WONDER on Goodreads

NEXT STOP: KADY CROSS!
Thank you so much for visiting my stop! I hope you’ll take a minute to leave a quick comment below on what you think of Jenn’s excerpt … did it give you chills like it did me?

And now, onto the next stop, hosted by fellow Team Teal member Kady Cross! Good luck!!

BONUS CONTEST: Leave a comment on what your Maid of Honor name would be … I’ll send some EM & EM swag to a randomly selected winner!

EM & EM Book Release Launch!

September 16, 2015Linda's PostsEm & EM, publishing, release day

Today is EM & EM’s release day!! As I write this, there are just three hours left in the day, and I can tell you it has been an exciting, nerve-wracking, and exhausting 21 hours.

Exciting because of all the wonderful writers, readers, and bloggers out there who have been kind enough to post, tweet, and comment about my book, not to mention the folks–family, friends, and followers–who have written to congratulate me. You know that sense of overload you feel when you pop onto Facebook on your birthday? You’re overwhelmed in more ways than one, and that is how today felt. In other words, awesome!

Nerve-wracking because I tend to obsess over my Amazon rankings, even though I don’t entirely understand what they mean, and that basically is no way to live.

And exhausting because, like a kid at Christmas, I could barely sleep last night.

Wouldn’t trade today for the world.

Oh yeah, and I almost forgot, if you want to buy the book, you can do so on Amazon or Barnes & Noble. Thanks!!

Em & Em Cover Reveal

August 15, 2015Linda's Postscover reveal, Em & EM

This week was the cover reveal for EM & EM, being released from Swoon Romance on September 15. I loved my cover for THE FUNERAL SINGER, and if it’s possible, I think I may love this one even more.

EM & EM is a sweet romance, but it has a little bit of a dark side, and feel like the designer did a great job of striking the perfect tone.

I’ve heard a couple of theories already about the heart. One commenter on a blog that participated in the cover reveal said it reminded her of the saying, “Can a zebra change its stripes?” My sister Karen said she thought the stripes represented Em/Em’s dual identity, her light side and her dark side. I love both theories!

Here’s the promo description of the book. What do you think the heart means?

The last thing sixteen-year-old Emily Slovkowski wants is to move away from her home at the Jersey shore, gorgeous surfer boyfriend Zach, and her entire identity. But that’s kind of how Witness Protection works, and Em must prepare herself for an epic do-over as she starts a new life in the Midwest.

Even as she pines for sandy beaches and the night life of the shore, the newly-named Ember O’Malley finds herself making new friends, taking photos for the high school newspaper, and thinking an awful lot about the paper’s editor, an oddly cute cowboy named Charles.

When Em stumbles upon a shady beneath-the-bleachers exchange between one of the school’s football coaches and a student, she refuses to get involved. The last thing she needs is to be witness to another crime or call attention to herself. Besides, she finally has some real friends—well, real except for the fact that they don’t know a single thing about her—and she prefers to keep it that way until the trial.

But as her day in court approaches, Em begins piecing together what she saw that day beneath the bleachers. And, as her own past secrets start to catch up with her, Em needs to figure out who she really is—Em or Em.

Book News! Part 2

July 26, 2015Linda's Postscontests, Em & EM, The Boyfriend Whisperer, YARWA

My brief trip this weekend to the Romance Writers of America 2015 Annual Convention in New York was a blast! It’s always so much fun to connect with my tribe: fellow writers, and especially fellow YA romance writers. Truly the nicest people on the face of the earth.

The location of the event was awesome. Here is a shot of the view from my hotel room:

Yes, that’s Broadway down there. Bright lights, big city, and basically fun, fun, fun central. A horrible spot for a hotel room if you actually want to sleep, but lucky for me, sleep was not high on my priority list.

Before the event, I met up with two dear friends, fabulous YA author Lisa Amowitz and rock star middle-grade author Kate Chell Milford, for a 3.5-hour lunch at O’Lunney’s Irish Pub. Caught up on a bunch of the latest publishing world gossip and had the most AMAZING hard pear cider. I highly recommend it if you’re in that neighborhood. Many thanks to Lisa (on the left) for her mad selfie-taking skills. Can’t you tell she’s an artist by the way she tilted the angle just so?

Next it was on to the YARWA “Evening of YA.” What do you get when you put about 90 YA romance authors in a room together? Lots of estrogen. And beautiful smiles. And laughter. And did I mention the niceness? So, yeah, a very fun night.

Capped off with:

Yay! My third book (which does not yet have a firm publication date), THE BOYFRIEND WHISPERER, won first place in the YARWA Rosemary Award for Contemporary Fiction.

I was so thrilled, and this vote of confidence for the manuscript makes me so excited to finish and polish it up so I can share it with the world!

Coming up in my next post: EM & EM cover reveal excitement.

Book News!

July 3, 2015Linda's Postscontests, Em & EM, publishing, The Boyfriend Whisperer, writing

So as I mentioned in my last post, I have some exciting news on the writing and publishing front. Some of you probably already know about it because I tend to share and squeal and generally blow up my followers’ Facebook feeds when anything the least bit cool happens … which I won’t apologize for, because as I always tell fellow writers, in this business you have to celebrate every victory, even the small ones. Publishing is full of heartache, so it’s important to enjoy the good parts!

Anyhoo … about that news. Well, first off, I have another book coming out this fall! Here is the official announcement from Publishers Marketplace:

THE FUNERAL SINGER author Linda Budzinski’s EM & EM, in which a sixteen year old Jersey girl experiences an epic do-over as she’s forced into witness protection in the Midwest, to Georgia McBride of Swoon Romance for Publication in fall 2015 by Andrea Somberg of Harvey Klinger.

The publication date is currently set for October 27, 2015, which will be here before we know it! I’ve seen a draft of the cover and I LOVE it! Can’t wait until the reveal date so everyone can see it. EM & EM is a little bit dark, but it’s also a sweet romance, and I think the cover manages to capture both aspects. You can read more about the premise and add EM & EM to your “to be read” list on its Goodreads page.

UPDATE: My release date has been moved up to ~~September 22, 2015~~ September 15, 2015! That’s REALLY coming up quickly! Also, the cover reveal will be August 12 … can’t wait for all of you to see it!

But that’s not all! I have some fun news regarding the novel I’m currently writing as well.

THE BOYFRIEND WHISPERER took first place in the Published Author Category of the Virginia Chapter of the Romance Writers of America’s annual Fool for Love Contest. Isn’t that certificate so shiny and pretty?!? This was a real honor, and of course, it’s always wonderful when you’re working on a project to know others feel it has merit. Very motivating!

And that’s STILL not all! THE BOYFRIEND WHISPERER also is a finalist in the Contemporary Category of the Young Adult Chapter of the Romance Writers of America’s annual Rosemary Contest. I will be heading up to New York in a few weeks for the awards ceremony, so wish me luck on that one!

So THAT is all my news! Stay tuned for the EM & EM cover reveal, a report from the NYC Awards Ceremony and more!

My Swoon YA Summer Reading List

June 28, 2015Linda's Postsreading, TBR

You may have noticed that I haven’t blogged in, oh … almost a year. Well, that’s because of two things. One, my husband took down my website and moved it to a new (easier and better) platform and parts of it had to be rebuilt and that was all just a tad overwhelming for me. And two, I’ve been writing. As in, books! And I have some exciting news on that front … but I will save that for next week’s post!

Anyway … thank you for stopping by after all this time. This week, I have a treat for you. I am really excited to share three Swoon YA reads that are on my summer TBR (To Be Read) list. All three of these look fantastic – fantastic enough that the idea of posting about them motivated me to rebuild the site and hop back on my blogging horse. I can’t wait to check them out, and I hope you will, too!

Life in the No-Dating Zone, by Tricia Tighe

First of all … love the title. I want to know what the no-dating zone is and I really want to know what life is like there. Though I’m guessing from the cover image it doesn’t quite work out as planned, ahaha! Also, the reviews on this book’s Goodreads page call it “adorable,” “fun,” “sweet,” and “goofy.” In other words, perfect for summer.

Here is the official blurb: After surviving her parents’ relationship drama when her older sister elopes, Claire Gardner vows not to date during high school. Now, three years later, Claire is thrust into new relationship drama–her two best friends have boyfriends. Which means Claire is spending more and more time alone. And she’s more than a little peeved.

Enter Gray Langley. His year-long crush on Claire’s friend Lindsey has made him desperate enough to ask Claire for help. Hesitant at first, Claire agrees–anything to get rid of Lindsey’s current evil boyfriend. But as Claire and Gray plot together, an attraction develops, and now she must decide if being with Gray is worth the pain that will come from confronting her parents with the reasons for her vow.

Kissing Frogs, by Alisha Sevigny

A modern retelling of “The Frog Prince”? Yes, please. Also, I love me a good nerdy-girl goes popular goes nerdy again book. And also, one of its Goodreads reviews says this book is “like a piña colada on a hot summer day.” So, yeah. Sign me up.

The blurb: Popular party girl and high school senior Jessica Scott has a secret: she used to be a nerd – a big one; a goody two-shoes, grade-skipping, all-state spelling bee champ. But she lost the braces, put on some contacts, and applied all her academic genius to studying and imitating the social elite. Now she rules the school from the upper echelon of the high school realm. With her cool new friends and hottest-guy-in-school boyfriend, life’s a beach – and that’s where she’s headed for Spring Break. That is, until her teacher breaks the bad news that she’s failing Biology – and her only chance to make up the grade is to throw away the culminating trip of her hard-earned popularity and join the Conservation Club in Panama to save the Golden Frog.

Unable to let go of her faded college dreams, Jess finds herself in a foreign country with a new social crew, and one handsome face that stands out as a blast from the past, threatening to ruin her queen bee reputation. Travis Henley may have grown up, but he still likes to play childish games and as payment for retrieving Jess’ lost ring from the bottom of a jungle pool, he wants three dates. While Jess does battle with spiders, snakes, wildfires and smart mean girls, she desperately tries to hang on to the last vestiges of her popular existence like the Golden Frog from its webbed toe. But as she starts to care about something more than tanning and texting – a species on the verge of disappearing forever – she may realize the worth of her inner nerd, and the one frog in particular that could be her prince in disguise.

Set in the lush and tropical El Valle de Anton, this modern fairy tale re-imagining of “The Frog Prince” is toe-curling contemporary romance with an environmentalist heartbeat, in the tradition of Stephanie Perkins.

Snark and Circumstance, by Stephanie Wardrop

This one is actually a novella, just 45 pages, and is the first in a series with equally fun Jane Austenesque titles. After all the sweetness of the two earlier books, I think I’ll be in the mood for some good old-fashioned teen snark! Fun premise … really looking forward to this one!

Here’s the blurb: One superior smirk from Michael Endicott convinces sixteen-year-old Georgia Barrett that the Devil wears Polo. His family may have founded the postcard-perfect New England town they live in, but Georgia’s not impressed. Even if he is smart, good looking, and can return Georgia’s barbs as deftly as he returns serves on his family’s tennis courts. After all, if Michael actually thinks she refuses to participate in lab dissections just to mess with his grade, he’s a little too sure that he’s the center of the universe. Could there be more to Michael Endicott than smirks and sarcasm? If Georgia can cut the snark long enough, she just might find out.

Going ‘Behind the Scenes’ with Dahlia Adler!

June 25, 2014Linda's Postsbook release, Dahlia Adler, writinglindabudzinski

I am very excited this week to congratulate Dahlia Adler–talented writer, brilliant blogger, social media maven, and all around sweetheart–on the release of her debut YA novel, BEHIND THE SCENES!

To celebrate, Dahlia is having a fun release tour where she has asked all of us who are participating to share a little bit about her book and then share a “behind the scenes” peek into some aspect of our own writing.

First things first! Here’s the deets on Dahlia’s book:
High school senior Ally Duncan’s best friend may be the Vanessa Park — star of TV’s hottest new teen drama — but Ally’s not interested in following in her BFF’s Hollywood footsteps. In fact, the only thing Ally’s ever really wanted is to go to Columbia and study abroad in Paris. But when her father’s mounting medical bills threaten to stop her dream in its tracks, Ally nabs a position as Van’s on-set assistant to get the cash she needs.

Spending the extra time with Van turns out to be fun, and getting to know her sexy co-star Liam is an added bonus. But when the actors’ publicist arranges for Van and Liam to “date” for the tabloids just after he and Ally share their first kiss, Ally will have to decide exactly what role she’s capable of playing in their world of make believe. If she can’t play by Hollywood’s rules, she may lose her best friend, her dream future, and her first shot at love.

Want to read it, like, yesterday? I thought so!

Check it out on Amazon or Barnes and Noble, and don’t forget to add it to your Goodreads list!

Now, for a quick peek behind the scenes at my writing routine. I work full time and am an active volunteer with my church and two local writing groups, so people often ask me, “When do you find time to write?”

The answer: First thing in the morning. In fact, that’s the only time I can write. By the time I get home from work (where I do a lot of writing, BTW), I am wiped and want to do nothing that requires more brainpower than watch “Wheel of Fortune” (which I totally rock at, BTW).

So, as soon as I get up, I take a half-hour walk. This wakes me up and gets the blood flowing to my brain. Here’s a shot from this morning’s walk:

Looks peaceful, huh? Great way to start the morning.

Next, I spend about 40 minutes writing. Here’s where all the magic happens … on my bed, on my Mac, with Little D beside me:

Granted, 40 minutes a day is slow going (that’s why it takes me so long to write novel, folks!). But every book ever written was written one word at a time. For anyone out there who is struggling to find time to write, start with 40 minutes. Heck, start with 20 minutes. Carve it out of your day, and stick to it. And if you do that every day, eventually you’ll have a book. Having an adorable puppy by your side helps, too.