The Words We Thought Were True cover reveal + giveaway

It's HERE! 

It's finally here! 

After MONTHS of sitting on this, I finally get to share! 

The Words We Thought Were True (Cozenage, #2)'s cover is out. Go to IceyBooks (link) for a first look + enter to win an ARC + ebook! 

July's Monthly Breakdown (a sale, cover reveal, review sign-ups, a read-a-thon, + more)

Hey all! Hope you had a lovely fourth! Haven't done a monthly breakdown in a while, but this month is gonna be busy, so we've gotta have one. :) Buckle your seat belts, we've got a lot of ground to cover! Are you ready? Then, away we go...

Monday, July 13th: Reader Interview with Jasmine Pearl.

Friday, July 17th: IF I SPEAK TRUE's ebook goes on sale for 99 cents!

Monday, July 20th: July's TIME TRAVEL #JLBgivesawayanINDIE begins with two of Nicole Zoltack's time travel standalones! (FYI, neither of these are YA, but they are both YA appropriate.) I *had* to throw that Big Ben pic in there for the announcement photo, but don't worry, there will be a better looking one for the actual giveaway (now you see why I hire Hafsah to do the professional stuff hehehe)! INTERNATIONAL ebook giveaway. 

Friday, July 24th: Early Review sign ups will begin (more info coming soon).

Monday, July 27th: THE WORDS WE THOUGHT WERE TRUE (Cozenage, #2)'s cover reveal at IceyBooks! (IAMSOEXCITED)

Tuesday, July 28th: EXCUSE TO READ--a week-long read-a-thon hosted by Cheyanne Young and I--begins. EXCUSE TO READ is your go-to excuse to set stuff aside and catch up on a little reading! :D It'll be a simple read-a-thon: post the books you plan to read (if you like), read books, post updates (if you like), read books, and at the end, we'll have a few fun summary ideas that you can share on your blog, Instagram, whatever! (Simple, see?) If you're interested in participating in/hearing more about the EXCUSE TO READ read-a-thon, fill out this form! :)

AND... OH MY GOOD SWEET MORSELS OF HERSHEY'S CHOCOLATE, I THINK... 
I'M ACTUALLY.... DONE! Goodbye, and be blessed, everyone! 

Cozenage 2 title reveal (squeeeeee)

Here it is: the title of the companion novel to Pity Isn't An Option (Cozenage, #1) is The Words We Thought Were True (Cozenage, #2)! I am so stinking excited about this, and can't wait for it to come out this fall! Woohoo! 

So... what do you think? Feel free to add it to your Goodreads TBR shelf, HERE (cover and blurb to come soon).

Oh by the way, my YASH (YA Scavenger Hunt) bonus content tomorrow will be a letter written after Pity Isn't An Option ends and right before The Words We Thought Were True begins, so make sure to check out Team Pink/Indie! :)

Thanks for sharing in my excitement with me! 

So much writerly news this week, just come on over for coffee.

I'm alive! (Okay, I'm sure you already knew that, but I've refrained from doing the past few Friday writerly news posts because a) it's been crazy around here and b) honestly, I felt like I was bugging people with them!) 

I have lotssss to say, so grab something sweet and a mug, and get comfy! 

*pours you coffee* 

First off, Tiny and I are celebrating!

Please ignore Tiny's wig. We've been dancin' it up to
Meghan Trainor's Dear Future Husband all morning.

WHY are we celebrating, you ask? Well...

Writerly News: If I happened to be doing this post in proper, I'll-get-you-to-read-the-entire-post-first-before-giving-you-the-news social media fashion, I wouldn't share this until the very end of the post. But I know ya'll are busy and, if you're like me, skim because there's so much to read on the interwebs and (so little time to do it), so here it is....

I have a title for Cozenage #2. 




There are six words in the title, (yes, the title comes straight from a line in the book, as usual) and they totally encompass the storyline and I just can't explain how excited I am. *almost spills coffee* 

FYI, those of you who've subscribed to my e-newsletter (the subscribe link is over there to the right on the sidebar), you will find out a few days sooner. (I'll also be doing something different in regard to ARCs for book two via my newsletter: sending out actual advanced readers copies to about 30 people. ARCs won't be coming out for months from now, mind you, I'm just trying to plan ahead--so if you might be interested in reading/reviewing an ARC, I suggest subscribing, too.) The announcement will go up on April 1st, but do know that it is the real deal and I'm not pranking anyone (Tiny tried to talk me into it, but I gave him some peanut butter and told him to shut it). Normally, I'd put it up on Friday the 3rd, but the blog will be taken over for a couple of days. Which brings me to my next announcement... 

YA Scavenger Hunt: I'm happy to report that I'll be participating in the Spring 2015 YA Scavenger Hunt! There are a TON of authors participating (8 teams with 20 authors on each team) which = a TON of books up for grabs! I'm on Team Pink:

Yes, that's Cozenage, #1, Pity Isn't An Option, right there! Seeing it makes me even more excited about book two! 

I'll be sharing the other seven teams with you next week! :)

SCAVENGER DEETS: 2015's Spring YA Scavenger hunt is Thursday, April 2nd through Sunday, April 5th. To learn about how the hunt works, GO HERE. To find out the latest info as stuff is updated, follow YA Scavenger Hunt on Twitter HERE or Facebook HERE.

ICYMI:

In celebration of IceyDesigns settling on a business brand and starting up a blog, Hafsah, the creator of IceyDesigns (and co-blogger at IceyBooks) is throwing a pretty cool giveaway. This lady is mad-talented (she's designed all of my Flora and Cozenage series covers, and my entire blog, as well) and I send everyone looking for design her way, because she rocks! Read about how she created her brand and enter the giveaway to win either a $100 credit toward design or $50 Barnes and Noble gift card, HERE. 

I was going to tell you guys about the lack of a #JLBGivesawayanINDIE for March and what's coming up for April, but I think that's more than enough to read this week, so look for it next Friday. WHEW!

Have a blessed weekend!

This week's writerly news: Writing Inspiration while on vacation

Hey, guys! Last week our family went on our annual summer vacation. I try not to post things about being away from my home while I'm gone, so even though I took a ton of pictures that I wanted so badly to share, I did not. And yes, this might have meant a bit of angst on my part, but guess what? It means more pics right now for you! Yay! (Didn't that work out swell?) 

We went to the beach, more specifically, where pretty much everyone from the valley goes... Pismo. (But if you go to Pismo Beach you basically always also go to Avila Beach, Oceano, Grover Beach, and the nearby San Luis Obispo, because they're so close.) 

As usual, we writers are always a few steps ahead of the game, so while the second Flora book is coming out soon, I'm already over here working on book three and the second Cozenage book (after Pity Isn't An Option). And sure, blogs and Pinterest boards are great to capture ideas and whatnot (oh hey, here are mine, by the way...) I love coming across visual inspiration the natural way. So here you go... a few photos I took recently that will most definitely end up in my books in the not-so-distant future. 

Do I even need to explain this one?

On the beach. Loved the sunset coloring and
how very dark that one low cloud was.

Looking up from inside a
eucalyptus grove.

Another beautiful sunset.

A house even worse than the Pulman residence!

Took this whilst driving down a lonely road.
It has the Cozenage series written all over it.

Through the passenger window. Soooo
someplace Jonas would come across! 

I actually filmed this. It was evening, and these
birds flew by in a continual line for almost FIVE
minutes. They were all heading south, further out
to sea. (To feed, maybe?) It was CRAZY.

Trying to look through the eucalyptus. 

The grove again -- wanted to show the
dense foliage on the grove floor and
also how dark it was inside even in
the early afternoon.

Have a blessed weekend! 

Writerly News

Not a whole lot of writerly news for this week, mainly because this week is a short one and I'm reading The Count of Monte Cristo (slow reading, but I am really enjoying it--especially since I watched the movie so I have particular faces in my head). Plus, I've been working on edits and whatnot. But I did want to share a little excerpt from one of the things I'm working on, because I think it shows Jonas' heart and the way he is, following Pity Isn't An Option. So here it is, and it will *hopefully* make it to book two of the Cozenage series (as yet, untitled):

I write words like birds on the page. They glide across the paper, getting me from one point to the next, flapping their wings only when the momentum dies down and I need to be propelled further. They are my flittering pace, my fluttering hope. When all is lost and I have nothing and nowhere to go, I still have words, glorious words, and they comfort me and bring me home.

Have a great weekend!

Epiphanies FTW

Six months or so ago, an idea came to me. It was so cool. It was so different. It was so... me. I loved it from the get-go and everything filled my head so easily (I love when that happens), that I couldn't help but start working on it.

But, PIAO was getting ready to be released and, reluctantly, I set it aside. I've been aching to get back to it again, but plan on releasing IF I SPEAK TRUE this summer so I'm working on revising *that* first, now.

The point of this post? Two days ago, it hit me. I know people don't want Jonas & Hattie's story to end. (I don't want it to end, either.) I've been asked if their story is going to continue but there were so many other things I had to tackle first, I hadn't even entertained the idea. And now, I know. That idea, the one I've been so excited to work on? It's the companion novel to Pity Isn't An Option. It has to be. How can it NOT be?

I'm amazed and so excited about how everything is falling into place. I feel so blessed--He always lays everything out perfectly, puts the stories in my head; then shows me exactly where they go.  I can't wait to get IF I SPEAK TRUE's revisions done so I can work on it next!!!! :D YAY! So, it's official... the companion novel to Pity Isn't An Option is... COZENAGE.  Coming out sometime next year. *throws coffee beans*