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Happy Monday! Here's my mishmash of thoughts:

1.  BEA  Woo hoo! I'll be at BEA Thursday evening through Saturday! If you're there, look for me at the Spencer Hill Press booth.

2.  Melinda's Museum Magic  I got the proof for my upcoming picture book, Melinda's Museum Magic this weekend. And even though I was sick with a fever, I made a video to share it with you.



3.  Advantage: Heartbreak releases tomorrow!  The second novella in the Game. Set. Match. Heartbreak series will be out tomorrow! And what's a release day without a giveaway? So here's what you can win.

Happy Monday! Here's my mishmash of thoughts:

Happy Monday! Here's my mishmash of thoughts:

1. Lucky Leprechaun Giveaway Hop  If you are looking for the Lucky Leprechaun Giveaway Hop, click here. The giveaway runs until the 22nd.
2. Thank you!  Last Monday Touch of Death was the Daily Kindle Deal, and I was blown away at how many people downloaded it. I can't thank you all enough. It was an incredible day, so thank you for making it so special.
3. Stalked by Death  Final edits are finished. August 13 is just around the corner, and I'm SO excited to share this book with you. Poor Jodi is up against some really tough odds in this book.
4. Editing  I have three client edits lined up for the rest of this month and one already set for the beginning of April. I'm going to be busy. :)
5. Love All  The reviews are coming in for Love All and I'm so pleased! This book is special to me because I was in a similar love triangle in high school. So while the events in the book are fictional, the emotions are very much my own.

Happy Monday! Here's my mishmash of thoughts:

1. Presidents Day  Happy Presidents Day! My daughter and husband are both home for the holiday.
2. Taxes  We're getting our taxes done this morning. I hate sitting through this, but the refund is always nice.
3. New SUV  We're picking up my husband's new Escape this afternoon. Hopefully, I'll like driving this better than his previous vehicle, which felt like a bus to me.
4. New WIP  Yes, I'm still plotting this book. I keep getting snippets of dialogue instead of an overall plot ARC. Very strange, but I'm very "go with the flow" when it comes to plotting.
5. Love All Reading  I decided to make a video of me reading the opening of Love All, my YA romance novella. If you haven't seen it, you can check it out below. And Love All is still only $1.29 on Kindle and Nook.

Happy Monday! Here's my mishmash of thoughts:

1. Love All is only $1.99!  In honor of Valentine's Day, my publisher Swoon Romance lowered the price of Love All to $1.99. Grab your copy here before the price goes back up.
2. Advantage: Heartbreak and Perfect Match  Novellas two and three in the Game. Set. Match. Heartbreak series have been pushed back to May 7 and October 15. I'm relieved. Spacing them out will make them much easier for me to promote. I've extended the time on the Team Ash or Team Noah poll in my sidebar to span the entire series. Don't forget to cast your vote. :)
3. Touch of Death FB Quiz  The quiz is up and running! Now you can see how well you know Jodi and the other Ophi in Touch of Death. I've seen some of you have already taken it and posted your results on FB. Thank you! I hope you found it fun.
4. Plotting a New Novel  I've been researching for a new book and playing around with Scrivener to help me plot it. So much fun!
5. Into the Fire Cover Reveal  Month9Books made a video to reveal the covers of their new books and showcase those coming out soon. My YA paranormal Into the Fire is in it! I'm so excited. It's gorgeous! And it's the thumbnail for the video! Check it out!

Happy Monday! Here's my mishmash of thoughts:

1. Love All Poll  Since my new novella, Love All, which just released last week, has a love triangle, I thought it would be fun to hear from readers and see if more people are Team Ash or Team Noah. So in my sidebar, you'll see a poll. And, yes, you can choose both guys if you find yourself torn between the two. You can even change your response if you change your mind as the series continues.
2. Touch of Death Facebook Quiz  I'm working on a FB quiz for Touch of Death, so read up and get ready! More details soon.
3. Seeking Pictures!  If you've bought one of my books, take a picture of you holding it. (Yes, ebooks totally count.) I want to post them on FB and my website. As a thank you, I'll send you SWAG.
4. Buy Links  It took me long enough, but I finally got the Amazon buy now buttons on my website and right here in my sidebar. It was so easy I felt a little silly for not being able to figure it out without asking for help.
5. Novellas  I'm really loving novellas right now. They're quick reads, so I can tear right through a lot in a short amount of time. With my schedule lately, that's a really good thing.

Happy Monday! Here's what's on my mind today:

1. Touch of Death launch party!  I've been at Arisia all weekend (in fact I'm still there) for the launch of Touch of Death. Sunday was the big zombie prom! Pictures to come.
2. Love All  The celebration continues because Love All officially releases tomorrow, January 22! Yay! But guess what? You can buy it now on Amazon and Barnes and Noble.
3. Promotion  I did a reading at Arisia, and let me tell you, I'm much more comfortable in front of teens than adults. School visits are less intimidating than speaking to a room full of adults.
4. Me crying... again  So, I made another video on the release day for Touch of Death. I tried not cry. I really did. I didn't work. So here I am, embarrassing myself again, if you'd care to watch.
5. Blurred Cover Reveal  My writer friend and YA Bound sister, Tara Fuller's new book Blurred has a gorgeous cover.

Happy Monday! Here's what's on my mind today:

1. Book releases!  Touch of Death officially releases tomorrow! Squee! And Love All releases in 8 days! 
2. Arisia  I'm leaving for Arisia in Boston on Saturday. I'll be on a promotion panel, doing reading, signing Touch of Death, and of course attending the Zombie Prom! I'm so excited!
3. Picture book contract  FutureWord Publishing, who published my first PB May the Best Dog Win, is going to publish Cricket's Drive Around Town. I'm excited to work with them again.
4. Giveaways  I'm giving away a copy of Love All and SWAG as part of the Bad Boy Rehab Hop. Make sure you enter here. And look for a huge Touch of Death giveaway on Wednesday.
5. New covers  Love All got a facelift. It's slightly different and the other two books in the series now have covers, too!

Many of you know that in addition to writing paranormal novels, I also write YA contemporary romance. Well, on January 22, my first novella in the Game. Set. Match. Heartbreak series releases through Swoon Romance. Yay! So I thought I'd talk a little about writing romance.

Here's what I learned while working on the GSMH series. First, you can't write emotions without feeling them. I had to become sixteen again to write Love All. Why? Because that's when I first fell in love. First loves are incredible. They are all-consuming. You feel like your heart will stop every time your boyfriend (or girlfriend) walks out of the room. I had to tap into those feelings and relive them.

In Love All, Meg has a great boyfriend named Ash. He's the kind of guy you want your first love to be. But here's something you should know about me. I've been in a few love triangles. I hate to admit that, but I'm an open book on this blog. My involvement in them stemmed from my own insecurities, and so does Meg's. Meg's past, complete with a cheating boyfriend, has left her with little confidence. I've been there. I've felt that heartbreak. Yes, I cried a few times while writing this series, but I had to.

So here's my advice to you. If you want to write a romance, be prepared to relive first love, heartbreak, infatuation, attraction, longing... The list goes on. It's not easy to make yourself that vulnerable, but you can't write a good romance without being willing to go there.

Do you agree?

Before I think about my goals for 2013, I want to take a minute to recap the positive things about 2012. (No need to relive the negative, right?) First, let me say that at the end of 2011, I didn't think 2012 would ever top it. 2011 was the year I found my agent, my first picture book came out, and I got my first book deal with Spencer Hill Press. I thought 2012 would never compare. Boy was I wrong. So here I go!

• I signed another two-book deal with Spencer Hill Press for The Monster Within and The Darkness Within (releasing in 2014).
• I signed a four-book deal with Month9Books for my debut middle grade series, Curse of the Granville Fortune (releasing in 2016).
• I signed a three-book deal with Month9Books for my Birth of the Phoenix Series. (The first book, Into the Fire, releases spring 2014.)
• I sold my three-book novella series Game. Set. Match. Heartbreak. to Swoon Romance. (The first book Love All releases 1/8/13.)
• I held Touch of Death in my hands and cried. Here's video evidence.
• Touch of Death released on ebook on December 23.
• I signed on many new editing clients.
• I started editing for another book publisher.
• I got a new puppy.
• I survived my daughter starting all-day kindergarten. (This might have been the toughest goal I achieved.)
• I had my one-year blogiversary and met some amazing online friends.
• I started reviewing over on YA Bound.

Happy Monday! Here's my mishmash of thoughts:

1. Happy Holidays!  I hope you all (and your families) have a very happy holiday! 
2. Touch of Death ebook  The Touch of Death ebook released December 23rd! Yesterday! Just in time for Christmas. Yay! I'm so excited Spencer Hill Press decided to release the ebook early. You can find it here.
3. Editing  I've gotten a lot of new editing clients this year, and they are all keeping me well entertained with amazing manuscripts. 
4. Giveaway  There are still a few days left to enter to win a signed ARC of Touch of Death and some awesome SWAG. Enter here!
5. SWAG  I got awesome drawstring bags for my Game. Set. Match. Heartbreak novella series. The first book, Love All, releases January 8th. My MC is a tennis player, so the bag is fitting and totally practical. (Yes, those are my Love All coins in the picture, too.) Giveaway coming next month!

Have you ever heard that there are seasons in publishing? This time of year, most publishers are winding down and closing up for a while. It's very much like how many publishers slow down in the summer months. 

But somehow this year seems different. I'm getting edits and proofs for my own books and tons of edits for my clients. I kind of expected things to get quiet for the holidays and pick back up in January. Not so. I feel busier than ever. It has me wondering if there aren't off seasons after all.

Anyone else noticing this? 


*On a side note, I've been so busy I forgot my own blogiversary! But I am currently running a giveaway for an ARC of Touch of Death and SWAG for Touch of Death and Love All, so make sure you enter here.

So I woke up this morning and panicked because I realized I never wrote today's blog post. I always write them ahead of time because I'm kind of crazy and like to have everything scheduled. Well, I learned something. The world didn't end because I forgot to post. 

I'm actually glad this happened. I think we can get so caught up in what he have to do that we forget to allow ourselves time to breathe. I have a lot going on right now. The Touch of Death blog tour is going on, the ebook releases on December 23rd, my official release date is January 15, and my launch party is  January 20th. I also have Love All releasing January 8th. That doesn't even mention all the edits I'm doing for my books and my clients. And then there's Christmas, which I host. See how I forgot about my blog? Oh, and my grinder pump stopped working, so yesterday was dedicated to getting it fixed.

But now I know that I have to plan time to relax too because I'm not superhuman. Even though I'd love to be!

How about you? Do get so caught up in what you have to do that you forget to allow yourself down time?

Tomorrow is exactly 1 month until the release of the paperback edition of Touch of Death! 1 month! That's so crazy! As promised, here is the third and final ARC giveaway. Just like the previous ones, it's open internationally.

Okay, so I was tagged again in The Next Big Thing. I know, I know, I've done this twice already. I promise this is the last one. You see, I was tagged by Keren Spencer, who happens to be one of the biggest Touch of Death supporters and an all-around amazing person. I couldn't say no to her, and since Love All is about to release, I thought it made sense to do this again. So Keren, this is for you. (I was also just tagged by June OHara, Emilyann Girdner, and Cindy Brown. Thanks, June and Cindy.)

Annasophia Robb for Meg

Steven R McQueen for Ash (Yes, that's Jeremy from The Vampire Diaries)

And Freddie Stroma for Noah

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

A little while back, I posted about branding. I mentioned I wrote a YA contemporary romance but that I worried it wouldn't get picked up because I've been branded as a paranormal writer. I was a little crushed because the romance held a special place in my heart. I relived emotions I haven't felt in a long time, and the story I created (while fictional) spoke to the sixteen-year-old inside me.

Well, my agent and I decided to put the project on the back burner and focus on my paranormal and fantasy novels. I said I was okay with it. I wasn't. I was crushed. But... my agent, being the awesome woman she is, discovered a new imprint called Swoon Romance. Right now, Swoon is only publishing novellas, so my agent called me and said, "What if you turn your romance into two novellas?" I may have jumped for joy. ;)

She sold my novellas to Swoon Romance, and I started transforming one novel into two separate novellas. Only, I couldn't do it without losing the story. So... my two novellas became three, which worked so well. I jumped for joy again. And now Love All, the first book in the Game. Set. Match. Heartbreak series is releasing January 15, 2013. Serving Up Heartbreak (book 2) releases March 12, 2013, and Perfect Match (book 3) releases May 14, 2013. I'm officially a paranormal and contemporary romance author.

What's the moral of the story? My agent is awesome. Oh, and you never know what will happen. So write the stories you have to tell.

Have you ever strayed from writing the genre you've come to be known for?

Happy Monday! Here's my mishmash of thoughts:

1. Hurricane Sandy  It's official. I hate Hurricane Sandy. The destruction to NJ was incredible. Here in PA, it wasn't as bad, but my family is mostly in NJ and my husband (who works in NJ) is still off from work.
2. Halloween  Thankfully, trick or treating was moved to Sunday so my daughter didn't miss out.
3. Free Monthly Newsletter  My newsletter goes out at 5pm EST today. If you aren't already signed up and would like to receive it, you can sign up here.
4. Normal week  My daughter and husband were both off all last week because of the hurricane. This week, I'm back to writing and editing like usual.
5. LOVE ALL SWAG Giveaway  Very soon, I'll be hosting a giveaway for SWAG for my upcoming YA contemporary romance novella, LOVE ALL, releasing January 15, 2013 through Swoon Romance. Here's a picture of the coins I made so you can help Meg choose between Ash and Noah.