Her Heart's Secret Wish by Juliana Haygert

We're thrilled to participate in the release day festivities for a long-time friend of YAtopia, Juliana Haygert! Today, she's celebrating the release of her New Adult Contemporary Romance novelette, Her Heart's Secret Wish!

Check out the bottom of this post for your chance to win Juliana's book or a gift card!

Her Heart's Secret Wish by Juliana Haygert
Publisher: Decadent Publishing
Release Date: 12/12/12
Genre: NA contemporary romance
Length: 13,000 words

With a renowned reputation as a player, she had everything figured out...
Twenty-year-old college student, Natasha is the life of every party and the reason behind many celebrations. The easiest girl on campus has all guys at her feet and more than a few in her bed.
…until he came into the game…
Having entered the academic world by chance, Professor Jason Stone is surprised to find one of his young students a huge temptation. The infamous Natasha has caught his attention. But is there more to her than meets the eye?
…and changed the rules.
As their unexpected friendship grows, so does their attraction to each other. When Jason’s Christmas plans are canceled and he ends up at the same party as Natasha, sparks flare, destroying the safe zone around them. Will they figure out how to break through their self-imposed barriers to be together, or lose one another forever?

Decadent Publishing * Goodreads * Amazon * B&N

Juliana is a Brazilian girl living in Connecticut.

She would love to be Wonder Woman, Cheetara, Elektra, Buffy, Phoebe, She-ra, Rose, Korra, Cornelia, a blood elf shadow priest, and other various kick-ass female from comics, TV series, movies, books and games, but she settles for—the less exciting but equally gratifying life—a wife, mother, friend and a writer. Her heroines are like the ones cited above and she also writes about the heroes who drive them crazy—and occasionally hot.

Since her first stories, she wrote about 20-something year old protagonists without knowing it wouldn't fit in today’s traditional publishing market. Nowadays, besides writing full time, she battles for the recognition of New Adult as a category.

Website | Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | NA Alley

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Cover reveal: Suicide Watch by Kelley York

Former YAtopian, Kelley York, is releasing her latest novel, Suicide Watch this month! And YAtopia is happy to be hosting the cover reveal!

She released the ground breaking novel Hushed and now brings us more heartbreaking new novel. Subscribe to her latest news on her blog for information on how to buy Suicide Watch when it's launched.

Blurb:

18-year-old Vincent Hazelwood has spent his entire life being shuffled from one foster home to the next. His grades sucked. Making friends? Out of the question thanks to his nervous breakdowns and unpredictable moods. Still, Vince thought when Maggie Atkins took him in, he might’ve finally found a place to get his life—and his issues—in order.

But then Maggie keels over from a heart attack. Vince is homeless, alone, and the inheritance money isn't going to last long. A year ago, Vince watched a girl leap to her death off a bridge, and now he's starting to think she had the right idea.

Vince stumbles across a website forum geared toward people considering suicide. There, he meets others with the same debate regarding the pros and cons of death: Casper, battling cancer, would rather off herself than slowly waste away. And there’s quiet, withdrawn Adam, who suspects if he died, his mom wouldn't even notice.

As they gravitate toward each other, Vince searches for a reason to live while coping without Maggie's guidance, coming to terms with Casper's imminent death, and falling in love with a boy who doesn't plan on sticking around. 

GoodReads link:http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16240541-suicide-watch

Guestopia: E.C. Myers

We're hosting our Guestopian a little early this month due to the Christmas Holiday! Click here for more information about our monthly Guestopia feature! This month, we're proud to host one of my personal favorites: E.C. Myers!

Stay tuned to the end of this blog post for a giveaway!!

Writing Alone? 

by: E.C. Myers

Most people know that there’s more than one way to write. Everyone works differently; some of us write on PCs, many on Macs. Some type away at laptops, others scratch out first drafts on legal pads with their favorite pens or well-sharpened pencils. There are even writers who still use typewriters (kids, ask your parents) without irony, pounding out their manuscripts, pressing words onto being through brute force and announcing to all within earshot that something important is being created. Even with all this diversity of experience and more —people write at desks, sprawl on the couch, or curl up in bed — there’s still one enduring cliché of writing: the writer as a lonely, perhaps even a tragic figure.

Granted, there’s something romantic about the classic image of a writer sitting alone in a dark room, hunched over a desk, perhaps absorbed in serious contemplation. (Writing is not a spectator sport or a particularly interesting activity to observe. Some writers may sit like this for hours without committing a single word to the page.) This picture says “Writing is hard.” (It is.) It can suggest the act of creation is a selfless sacrifice: I have chosen writing over socializing with my family and friends. Or perhaps I’m a writer because I have no one else to spend time with, or this is the only way I can express myself.

The iconic image of the modern writer probably more closely resembles someone sitting in a crowded coffee shop amid a sea of Macbooks, earbuds firmly in place — a different kind of isolation in a society of people prone to engaging with tiny, personal screens in public. Though it’s still true that writers give up precious time with family and friends to write, in today’s world other people are easily accessible via Facebook, Twitter, and instant messaging.

Many of those online friends are other writers, and communicating with them while working isn’t always a form of procrastination. (At least, not completely.) Plenty of us use Google hangouts or chats to motivate each other with writing sprints and challenges, get advice when we’re stuck, share lines of our work, discuss characters, and so on, at all hours of the day and night. We share inspiring articles, publishing news, recommend good books, make fun of bad ones, and gossip via social media and e-mails.

It’s the best of both worlds: Company is there when you need to get out of your own head for a while, and no one need cut themselves off from the world while writing. These interactions are especially valuable when we exchange our manuscripts and critiques in person and over e-mail — converting the process of writing from a singular struggle, even a competition of sorts, into a group effort.

This kind of collaboration has existed for a long time; for example, J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis were members of the Inklings, a group of writers who shared and encouraged (and often disparaged) each others’ works in progress. In many cases, the long list of names on the acknowledgment page of a book includes people who read and critiqued the manuscript before publication or made other important contributions: They may have suggested titles, provided plot suggestions, offered up character names, or even helped edit the book in its many stages of revision.

Publishing is typically a collaborative effort by any or all of the following, and more: the writer, her agent, her editors, her marketing team. But the act of writing itself can be just as much a team effort: beta readers, critique groups, agents, editors, and sometimes even critical but astute reviewers and book bloggers.

When I first began writing, it took me a little while to realize that accepting someone’s brilliant suggestion thrown out in the midst of critique didn’t mean that I was somehow “stealing” their idea, and it didn’t make the final product any less my creation. Once you hear a great idea that serves the plot or characterization, it doesn’t matter if you would have come up with it yourself or not — you simply can’t ignore it if it’s right for the book. The story is all that matters; these suggestions are freely offered because in the happiest of circumstances, your beta readers want your book to be the best it can possibly be.

As a writer, I’m always thrilled when one of my suggestions helps an author fix a plot problem, or triggers a new series of thoughts that unblocks them. And it’s exciting to see my name on their acknowledgments pages, even if no one, even me necessarily, knows what my contribution was to the finished novel. Of course, I’m also grateful when someone makes a comment that improves my book in big and small ways, even if I wish I’d thought of it myself.

When I’m writing I never feel alone. I often write surrounded by people in coffee shops, some of them writers themselves; writers sometimes go on retreats to separate themselves from the daily demands of their lives, but also to be surrounded by others who understand the struggle, to feed their creative energy. If I’m at home, my dog is usually lurking nearby, or my cat reminds me that she’s there for me by helpfully walking across my keyboard or blocking the screen with her butt. I can e-mail, text, or message people who will cheer me on, brainstorm with me, talk sense into me, or just provide a few minutes of distraction or hours of procrastination. And even when I’m writing unplugged from the internet (rarely) or human interaction of any kind, those voices are still in my head, offering suggestions or berating me for some stupid writing decision.

Those enduring images of the solitary writer seem more depressing to me than romantic, but truly writing alone is a choice, not self-imposed exile. I’m not lonely, I’m just trying to meet a deadline.

E.C. Myers was assembled in the U.S. from Korean and German parts and raised by a single mother and a public library in Yonkers, New York. He has published short fiction in a variety of print and online magazines and anthologies, and his young adult novels, Fair Coin and Quantum Coin, are available now from Pyr Books. He currently lives with his wife, a doofy cat, and a mild-mannered dog in Philadelphia and shares way too much information about his personal life at ecmyers.net and on Twitter @ecmyers.

Ephraim thought his universe-hopping days were over. He’s done wishing for magic solutions to his problems; his quantum coin has been powerless for almost a year, and he’s settled into a normal life with his girlfriend, Jena. But then an old friend crashes their senior prom: Jena’s identical twin from a parallel world, Zoe.

Zoe’s timing couldn’t be worse. It turns out that Ephraim’s problems have just begun, and they’re much more complicated than his love life: The multiverse is at stake—and it might just be Ephraim’s fault.

Ephraim, Jena, and Zoe embark on a mission across multiple worlds to learn what’s going wrong and how to stop it. They will have to draw on every resource available and trust in alternate versions of themselves and their friends, before it’s too late for all of them.

If Ephraim and his companions can put their many differences aside and learn to work together, they might have a chance to save the multiverse. But ultimately, the solution may depend on how much they’re willing to sacrifice for the sake of humanity…and each other.

The author's giving away a copy of either FAIR COIN or QUANTUM COIN hardcover, signed and personalized (international) or in eBook format (Kindle, Nook, Kobo -- North America only), also signed and personalized via a separate image file. All you have to do to enter is comment on this post (make sure we have a way of contacting you via email or twitter)!

UPDATE: Giveaway ends December 16th at 11:59 pm.

What We Talk About When We Talk About Diversity in YA and MG: A Call to Action

There’s been a lot of talk about the lack of diversity in publishing lately, and I don’t mean just YA and MG. This is an ongoing discussion in (adult) literary fiction circles, too. 

  

It’s almost 2013. Why are we still talking about this?

Well, there’s this:

On Dec. 4^th, The New York Times published this article about Latino children who fail to find characters like themselves in books.

And there’s this:

“Racist Party Picture Lands Penn State Chi Omega in Hot Water.”

What is the relationship between these two? Well, that’s a good question. (I’m interested in hearing your responses in the comments.)

But when we talk about the lack of diversity in YA and MG, we’re not just talking about the lack of main characters who are people of color. We’re also talking about characters that identify as LGBTQ, who have disabilities, who come from bilingual or multilingual families or communities, and from various faiths or religions.  

There’s been a lot of talk about book covers and the whitewashing of the publishing industry and privilege and educational inequality. But for readers and writers who are underrepresented, talking about it is not enough. Something needs to change.

So what can we do?

For starters, you can make it your mission to read widely and diversely. You can recommend these books to readers. You can put these books in readers’ hands. You can ask for these books at your local library or independent book store or wherever you buy books. You can review these books and blog about them. You can write these books. You can publish these books.

Also, here’s a starting point: back in August, Roxane Gay, one of my favorite writers (who is also a fantastic essayist, cultural critic, blogger, and superwoman) compiled this list.

Now, here’s where you come in. I want to compile a list for YAtopia—a diverse YA and MG list for readers of underrepresented groups. So let’s get started. What are your recommendations?        

Book Release: Obscura Burning

Happy Release Day!! 

It's finally here! *pops the champagne and tosses confetti*

My YA debut - OBSCURA BURNING - is now available!

This story began when a song by Explosions in the Sky conjured the image of a boy walking in the desert. That boy became Kyle Wolfe and he demanded I tell his story, so here it is...

Title: Obscura Burning
Author: Suzanne van Rooyen
Genre: YA science fiction with LGBT themes
Publisher: Etopia Press

Blurb:

The world's going to end in fire … and it's all Kyle's fault.

Kyle Wolfe's world is about to crash and burn. Just weeks away from graduation, a fire kills Kyle's two best friends and leaves him permanently scarred. A fire that Kyle accidentally set the night he cheated on his boyfriend Danny with their female friend, Shira. That same day, a strange new planet, Obscura, appears in the sky. And suddenly Kyle's friends aren't all that dead anymore.

Each time Kyle goes to sleep, he awakens to two different realities. In one, his boyfriend Danny is still alive, but Shira is dead. In the other, it's Shira who's alive...and now they're friends with benefits. Shifting between realities is slowly killing him, and he's not the only one dying. The world is dying with him. He's pretty sure Obscura has something to do with it, but with his parents' marriage imploding and realities shifting each time he closes his eyes, Kyle has problems enough without being the one in charge of saving the world...

Obscura Burning is currently available on Amazon and will soon be available on Barnes&Noble.

You can add Obscura Burning on Goodreads or check out more about the inspiration behind the book on Pinterest.

Enter below for a chance to win an ebook version of Obscura Burning. *Warning! This book is intended for upper YA readers and contains some language and sexual content*

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Olde City, New Blood Spotlight: Lucienne Diver

This is the fourth in a series featuring authors who will be attending Olde City, New Blood. Check out the bottom of this post for more info on the con! Today, we're featuring author/agent Lucienne Diver, who places her characters on the Naughty or Nice list!

Lucienne's Bio

Lucienne Diver is the author of the popular Vamped series of young adult novels (think Clueless meets Buffy the Vampire Slayer). School Library Journal calls the first book, “a lighthearted, action-packed, vampire romance story following in the vein of Julie Kenner’s “Good Ghouls” (Berkley), Marlene Perez’s “Dead” (Harcourt), and Rachel Caine’s “The Morganville Vampires” (Signet) series.” VOYA has suggested that the books “will attract even reluctant readers.”

Her short stories have been included in the Strip-Mauled and Fangs for the Mammaries anthologies edited by Esther Friesner (Baen Books), and her essay on abuse is included in the upcoming anthology Dear Bully: 70 Authors Tell Their Stories(HarperTeen). 2011 saw the launch of Bad Blood, the first novel in her Latter-Day Olympians series of contemporary fantasy, set in LA and featuring a heroine who can, quite literally, stop men in their tracks. Long and Short Reviews gave it her favorite pull-quote of all times, "Bad Blood is a delightful urban fantasy, a clever mix of Janet Evanovich and Rick Riordan, and a true Lucienne Diver original." She can now die happy, though maybe not just yet.

Lucienne Diver's Naughty and Nice List

With the holidays ambushing me, as they do every year—working, working…what do you
mean there are only twenty shopping days left until Christmas!—my brain automatically goes
to naughty and nice lists. Oh, and gift lists! You’d think my characters, being fictional and all,
would be exempt from this sort of thing. But, since they always start as voices in my head who
I induce to tell me about their adventures, they feel very real to me. As far as their adventures,
they’re so busy having them, I generally have to clap very loudly and wave my arms around to
get their attention, like “Hey, remember me, the person whose head is hosting you? Time to
come earn your keep.” (Oh, you didn’t know authors were crazy like this? Well, let me be the
first to enlighten you. ;-)

Anyway, I worry about silly little things like this. For instance, would Gina, the fanged
fashionista from my Vamped young adult series, be on the naughty or nice list? If the latter,
would I be able to afford to buy anything from her label-laden “wish” list? I don’t even buy
Ferragamo for myself! So, it’s a very good thing this is all in my head.

In any case, my fictional naughty and nice deliberations go something like this:

Vamped series:

Gina: See, this is a tough one. When she first wakes from the dead in Vamped, she’s mostly
concerned about facing an eternity with no way to fix her hair and make-up to maintain her usual
high standards. Then there’s the vixen vampiress who turns up—biting, killing and resurrecting
Gina’s classmates to enlist them into her own undead army—and Gina stepping up with an “Oh
hell no” and leading the revolt. Points to Gina for putting on her big girl panties and dealing
with it, but there’s still the question of whether vampires have a soul and whether the fanged and
fabulous are even on Santa’s radar. Verdict: jury is still out.

Bobby: Hmm, Bobby bit Gina in a make-out session at the after prom party, not realizing that
it would have such immediate consequences. It gave her the chance to live after death, but not
exactly in a manner of her choosing, so we’ll call that one a push. On the other hand, Bobby is
a true white knight. He’ll do the right thing no matter the cost to himself. He’ll save anybody,
anytime…as long as it’s before sun up when he burns to a crispy critter. Even then, he’d risk the
sun if it didn’t drop him like a stone, leaving him down for the count. Verdict: very nice.

Ulric: I love Ulric. I’m just going to put that out there. Of course, I love Bobby too. (He’s
like an amalgamation of my husband and a young Zac Efron a la High School Musical.) But
Ulric’s the bad boy. Mischievous, wolfish, irrepressible…he’s like a yin to Bobby’s yang.
Pretty irresistible. He’d definitely be on the naughty list, and he wouldn’t have it any other way.
Verdict: naughty.

Latter-Day Olympians series:

Tori: Tori wouldn’t see herself as a heroine. She’s just a Los Angeles P.I. whose overwhelming
curiosity could get her killed. But since she’s saved the world a few times over, facing ancient
Greek gods trying to stage a comeback when she’s just a humble mortal (potentially with gorgon
blood running through her veins and the power to stop men in their tracks if not actually to turn
them to stone)…I’d say she’s pretty heroic. Since she’s essentially the reason my house is still
standing—yes, my characters and their adventures are that real to me—I’d definitely have to
give credit where it’s due. Verdict: nice.

Detective Nick Armani: Nick isn’t what you’d call “nice.” Tough, determined, sexy as hell—
guilty as charged. But nice? Call him that to his face and see where that gets you. I’m guessing
it’ll involve handcuffs; I’m still trying to figure out how that’s a bad thing. Verdict: naughty.

Apollo Demas: Yup, the Apollo, now a Hollywood bad boy. (See, the gods lost a lot of their
power along with their worship and since their heyday have had to get day jobs.) Nice? Um,
no, not unless doing the wrong things—like hooking Tori on ambrosia in a successful attempt to
save her life—for all the wrong reasons qualifies as nice. Verdict: completely naughty.

Hmm, I think I’m going to have to up my quota of “nice” this holiday season. Maybe I’ll string
some mistletoe and see who wanders by next. I’ll just have to keep my naughtier characters
from eating them alive. Maybe I should appeal to all you readers out there for inspiration. What
do you like to see in your heroes and heroines? Naughty? Nice? The eternal struggle to balance
the two? Inquiring minds want to know.

About Lucienne's Books

Fangtabulous is the fourth in the Vamped series.

With the Ghouligans in town, we can’t stay in Salem. But with a supernatural strangler running loose, we can’t leave.
 
After figuring out the Feds like to perform mad experiments on vamps for fun and profit, I decided it was time for me—Gina Covello, fashionista of the fanged—and my minions to ditch our government spy jobs. Unfortunately, that made us public enemies number one through six.

Bad Blood

Tori Karacis is a little more than your average private eye.

Among other things, her family line may or may not trace back to a drunken liaison between the god Pan and one of the immortal gorgons. It may be just coincidence that her glance can literally stop men in their tracks, or that her family sports enough irregularities to keep the Rialto Bros. Circus in business. Then again, maybe not.




Don't miss your chance to meet Lucienne and spend some time with her and other awesome authors and readers at the Olde City, New Blood urban fantasy / paranormal romance mini-convention this February 8-10th in St. Augustine, FL. We'll have panels, readings, meet & greets and lots of time for everyone to mingle with their favorite authors. Check out http://OldeCityNewBlood.wordpress.com for all the details. Can't wait to see you there!

The Importance of Being Patient

Patience is a virtue. We've all heard this time and time again, and--if you're like me--you might have rolled your eyes every time. We live in a world where everything is "lightning fast" and works through a 3G/4G connection. Fast food is delivered, well, fast. Text messages are received almost instantly. We can buy books with one click. We're not patient people. But being a writer requires a lot of patience. Some days our writing comes out perfectly and endlessly, word after word, while other days it doesn't and we end up staring at our document with a blank expression. After we submit to a publisher or agent, we have to wait for an answer. We have to wait for our critique partners/beta readers to provide feedback. We have to wait for bloggers to review our work.

We wait.

                   And wait.

                             And wait.

                                   .....And wait.

Waiting kind of sucks. But it's a natural part of our chosen career path and it's something we can't change. Yet waiting isn't always such a bad thing. In the between time, new ideas can grow, new characters can be born, and new hobbies can surface. We can go out to eat with friends, catch up on emails, or finally go see that movie we've been dying to see.

So, I guess what I'm getting at is that patience is key in this business. Don't try to rush the process and make the most of your down time.

If anyone has any funny or insightful stories about waiting/patience, feel free to share them!

~DJ

Character Development - Getting Real

When I get stuck on a draft, sometimes the best way to find a second wind is to work on making my characters come alive. That's because "real" characters will drive a story forward without need for vehicles or plotting tricks.

But how do you make your characters come to life? How do you make them breathe?

You ask the hard questions of them. You get to the core of who they are, what drives them every day, and how the answers to those questions will affect their reactions to whatever is going on in your book.

Starting tomorrow, for the next few weeks at Seeking the Write Life I'll be spending every Monday working through personality questions and backstory exercises to help you get to the bottom of who your characters really are. Head over there every Monday for the subsequent posts and we'll wind it up here at Yatopia next year.

But before we can start answering those questions, we need to make sure we understand a little bit of human nature. Because even if our main characters aren't actually human, they need to encompass humanity for the reader to relate to them.

So, here's some concepts to chew over before we start asking questions:

1. Every person alive has insecurities - even if they overcompensate for their insecurities by pushing themselves out into the world. Every person on earth is afraid of something, and finds themselves lacking in some way. The difference between personalities is how they react to those fears, not whether those fears exist. Consider how you deal with your insecurities (hidden or openly admitted). Look for the ways those fears change your decision making.

2. People also have dreams, and dreams can be just as motivating as fears (or just as carefully hidden). Dreams may or may not be achievements (i.e. become an Olypian). They may be a state of being (i.e. free of fear), or they may be a state of worth (i.e. fame). Dreams are incredibly important to characterization even when the character isn't pursuing them, because the loss of hope is an incredible driver. A person whose lifelong goal may be robbed through unrelated events will be desperate to do whatever it takes to overcome that circumstance (i.e. a boy who wants to become a professional gymnast facing irreparable injury to his arm). Consider how your dreams move your life decisions. Are they the primary question you ask yourself when faced with a decision? Or are they pushed so deep that the only time they come to the surface is a moment when hope rises? Use your own reactions to inform your character's.

3. Subconscious decisions can be just as important as the decisions we sweat over. A person's fears and dreams will drive them in certain directions without conscious thought. For example: A kid who thinks her parents disapprove of her will either be driven to achieve, or driven to rebel. Her decision on a Thursday to hang with her friends instead of doing homework might seem trivial, but it's driven by a much deeper fear at her core: that no matter what she does, her parents will never love her. So she needs to find approval or love wherever she can. Consider the ways your own personal fears and dreams drive your subconscious priorities. What do you do on a daily basis without even thinking?

Give some thought to your own life and how dreams and fears drive you. Look at the way you make decisions and try to identify moments in your life when your fears or dreams moved you without thought. The better you can understand yourself and your own nature, the better you'll be able to pick apart your characters and make them real too.

Your Turn: Any questions? Are there areas of character development you struggle with and would like to see addressed in this kind of series?

 

Olde City, New Blood Spotlight: C.A. Kunz

This is the fifth in a series featuring authors who will be attending Olde City, New Blood. Check out the bottom of this post for more info on the con! Today, we're featuring mother-son writing duo C.A. Kunz with an excerpt of their newest book, The Modified.

Bio

The mom and son author duo, C.A. Kunz, thoroughly enjoys writing about things that go bump in the night and futuristic action-packed romances while drinking massive amounts of English breakfast tea and Starbucks coffee. To find out more about this duo and their books visit their blog, or find them on Facebook and Twitter!

The Modified

What would you sacrifice to save the one's you love? To save the one who holds your heart? To save the world?

Kenley Grayson is all too familiar with these questions.

After Earth is thrust into its first intergalactic war with an unknown race called the Bringers, our military forces begin to suffer heavy losses. Desperate for a solution, the Allied Federation issues a worldwide draft for every able seventeen year old to enlist. As Kenley turns seventeen, she finds herself thrown into the very war that took her older brother's life.

This year's draft is a little different than in the past though. A new program, known as the Magnus Project, has been introduced, and only the best and brightest qualify. Kenley is amongst a select few whom are chosen to join this elite group of soldiers, and as a part of this project, undergoes a modification procedure that leaves her and her peers endowed with powers beyond their wildest dreams.

As Earth continues in its struggle against the Bringers, Kenley is transported to a high-tech training facility, the Magnus Academy, to prepare for the major battle that lies ahead. It's here that she meets the California heartthrob, and son of a legendary war hero, Landon Shaw. As unexpected feelings toward Landon begin to develop, Kenley wonders if this is the right time or place for romance to bloom, especially when those feelings start to interfere with her training.

With the weight of the world on her shoulders, Kenley is constantly reminded of how important she and the rest of the Magnus cadets are to the fate of humanity. She is one of the Modified, Earth's last line of defense against utter destruction.

Excerpt

Chapter Two – The Shrouded Facility

As I pull up to our usual Thursday night hangout, my car’s headlights shimmer off the side view mirror of Joey’s old red Mustang. The black stripes on the sides of the car have almost all but worn away, and the vehicle is a little beat-up, but he absolutely loves that car. It was what allowed him to get away from his parents.

Thursdays were barhopping nights for his dad, and Joey never wanted to be home when he returned. I’ll never forget the first night he came to my bedroom window after his Dad beat the crap out of him. That’s actually why we started meeting in this field by Old Man Gary’s farm.

Ever since we were kids, Joey and I have loved looking at the stars, and this field was the perfect place to do that. Before we were old enough to drive, we used to come out here with Dylan. We’d all lie in the back of his truck and stare up into the peaceful night sky. Those were definitely happy times.

“Hey, stranger. I wasn’t sure if you’d show up tonight. You know, with us leaving tomorrow and all,” I say as I see him shielding his eyes from the brightness of my car’s headlights.

“I’d never miss our Thursday nights,” he replies with a grin. “Besides, Dad’s been in rare form lately, and I didn’t want to push my luck.” He laughs off his statement, but I know it bothers him. “Hey, what? No pizza this time?”

“Oh crap, I knew there was something I was forgetting.”

“You just don’t want to go to Jonnie’s Pizza Place anymore since you found out that Bobby Fowler has a crush on you,” he jokes.

“Not true. Bobby Fowler has a girlfriend.”

Joey laughs. “Uh, he’s a guy. Just because he has a girlfriend doesn’t mean he isn’t looking. And word is he’s been looking at you a lot lately. And you know how he has a thing for tall, athletic blondes.” 

“First of all, gross. And for your information, not all men are like that. And second, he’s not even my type,” I reply with a huff.

“Uh-huh,” Joey mutters sarcastically as he jumps onto the hood of his car and takes a seat. He taps the space next to him for me to join.

I crawl onto the hood of the car and lay back on the windshield. As I look up into the sky, I take in a deep breath and begin to think about everything that will happen tomorrow. There’s a light breeze and I can hear it rustle through the field of long grasses that surrounds us, as they swish and sway. The smell of fresh flowers fills my nose as I take in a deep breath. It’s soothing really.

“What’s on your mind?” Joey asks me as he settles into a laying position, resting his head on the windshield next to mine.

I let out a little laugh. “Tons,” I reply and look over at him with worry in my eyes. He returns my look and grabs for my hand.

“You know what, Kenley? No matter what happens to us, no one can take away the memories and times we’ve shared. Those are ours, and we will never lose them.”

“Wow, you sound final,” I state with slight sadness in my voice.

“No, not final. I just want you to know that. Just in case…you know,” he says, sending me a little smile while squeezing my hand.

“Please don’t say things like that right now, okay? I don’t want to even imagine that,” I murmur as I turn away to look at the stars again. He just squeezes my hand and lets out a sigh.

“I didn’t mean to make you upset. I just wanted you to know that,” he says quietly.

“It’s okay, Joey. But tonight I just want to live in this moment for a bit and try not to think about what the future holds.”

“Got it,” he states and turns to gaze toward the stars as well.

I begin to feel bad about how I just handled the last conversation. It eats away at me since I know Joey was just trying to get out what he wanted to say. I was quick with him. He’s quite an emotional person and doesn’t really have much of an outlet other than talking to me.

“Hey, Joey?” I ask, breaking the silence.

“Yeah?”

“Do you remember the game we used to play with Dylan? He used to drive us out here and we’d sit in the back of his truck while staring up at the sky and play that star game.”

“How could I forget? The ‘What’s Your Star’ game, right?”

“Yep.”

“Yeah, I remember. You’d pick a star, name it, and then make up a story about it,” he replies with a warm laugh, almost like he was remembering back to a particular time.

“Do you want to play? You know, for old times' sake?”

“Sure.”

“I’ll go first,” I say and then scan the sky for a star. The blanket of tiny twinkling lights above our heads is truly breathtaking. There are so many stars in the sky that it almost makes it impossible to choose just one. I finally settle on a large bright one off to our left. It’s surrounded by several other stars, but its light is so intense that it shines there like a beacon in the darkness. “That one,” I announce as I point to it.

“Good choice. Now, what’s its name?” he asks.

“Joey.”

“Joey, huh?”

“Yep, I’m dedicating this one to you.”

The moment I say that, another star right next to the one I chose begins to shine just as bright.

“Well, I’m choosing that one then,” Joey states, pointing to the star next to mine. “That star has your name written all over it.”

I laugh and so does he. “What’s your star’s story?” he asks me.

“Actually, if you don’t mind, I have a story for both of them,” I reply with a slight smile.

“Oh really? Consider me intrigued,” he jokes.

I strengthen my grip on his hand. “The Joey star and Kenley star are best friends, and have been inseparable since they were young. They’ve been through a lot and have persevered, not allowing their glow to ever be diminished. Joey and Kenley have made a pact that they will always be by each other’s sides, and nothing, not even death, will keep them apart. When one of them glows bright, the other one glows just as bright because they support one another, no matter what.”

I feel Joey kiss my forehead and lay his head down closer to mine. “Kenley Grayson. You are my best friend in the entire world. You know that, right?”

“Yes, and so are you,” I reply as a tear rolls down my cheek. There’s a slight pause in our conversation as a silence falls between us.

“Hey, I thought you said you didn’t want to get deep and emotional,” he says with a laugh.

“I guess I got caught up in the moment.”

“Well, that was a great story. Ever thought of becoming a writer?” he jokes.

“Very funny. Let’s see you come up with a better one,” I giggle, giving him a little love tap on the arm.

     “I’m up for the challenge. Here goes nothing,” Joey states and I snuggle up close to him as he begins to tell his tale of Joey star and Kenley star.




Don't miss your chance to meet Carol and Adam and spend some time with them and other awesome authors and readers at the Olde City, New Blood urban fantasy / paranormal romance mini-convention this February 8-10th in St. Augustine, FL. We'll have panels, readings, meet & greets and lots of time for everyone to mingle with their favorite authors. Check out http://OldeCityNewBlood.wordpress.com for all the details. Can't wait to see you there!

Revenge of the Nerd: How To "Show Not Tell" When Stereotypes Are Changing

Probably more than most, those of us who gather here are well too aware of the long lead times from a book’s creation to its bookshelf debut.  What that means for us is lots of teeth gnashing and chocolate consuming, but what it means for the rest of the world is that books are often a step behind of pop culture (excepting the 50 Shades of Gray’s that actually create pop culture moments).  Mediums with faster reaction times, like television, are often responsible for setting the trends that books and movies respond to.

The latest is the reimagining of the classic nerd. Remember the cringe-worthy Erkel? Anthony Michael Hall in Sixteen Candles?  Anthony Michael Hall in Breakfast Club?  Anthony Michael Hall in that Bill Gates movie?  (Did that guy get typecast or what?).  But have you noticed that there are very few true dorks in pop culture these days?  Let me amend, there are few nerds who are not completely likeable, accepted and praised for the dorky tendencies.  I’m talking about Sheldon on The Big Bang Theory, Zooey Deschenel’s character on New Girl, and Artie on Glee. I’d say the nerds have had their revenge. 

But, as a writer, how do we handle stereotypes being shattered?  Of course we don’t want our characters to be completely cliché (unless we’re aiming for satire in the vein of Mean Girls) but we also need ways to show our readers our character and their possible motivations through actions, dress, accessories, and even meal choices. And for our audiences to “get it” without us telling them, we need for them to have access points.  We need them to understand that when we dress our character in floods and have them wear pocket protectors or cart around an Astrophysics textbook the size of Texas, and compete as a Mathlete, that this guy might not be dating the head cheerleader. Except, as Glee has shown us, that’s now not only entirely possible, but probably even likely.

Our primary audience of teens have grown up seeing, or likely even part of, blended families, gay families, Modern Families.  There’s a New Normal and we need to accept and embrace it in our own writing.  Which beg the questions: when is it our job to perpetuate stereotypes to make our writing accessible, when and how do we respond to shifting cultural changes, and how do we try to impact them ourselves? How are you dealing with stereotypes in your writing?