Let's face it. Blogger went from okay to less okay to awful.

I'm over at tumblr now, and will transfer it over and link to the archives of this blog soon.

I've got my schedule for BEA--can't believe it's next week!!! In addition to signing at BEA, I'll be doing some other stuff--and I really hope to see YOU!!!

Here's my schedule:

Wed. the 29th--DAY: SLJ Day of Dialog! I'll be on the Real World Horror panel, which is right after Holly Black's lunch speech. The panel starts at 1:45 PM. I'll also be signing ARCs of Heartbeat. 

Wed. the 29th NIGHT: Teen Author Carnival There's going to be so much fun stuff going on--let's face it, this is one event that sells itself. I'll have ARCs and some other things :-) The fun starts at 6:30 PM at the Jefferson Market branch of the NYPL!!

Thursday the 30th: At BEA--I'll be attending the Harlequin Teen Breakfast--can't wait! And then I'll be on the floor, so if you see me, be sure to say hi :-) 

Friday the 31st:  At BEA--I'll be signing ARCs of Heartbeat in the Harlequin booth (1238) from 11:30-12:30

Saturday the 1st:  At BEA--I'll be signing ARCs of Heartbeat in the Harlequin booth (1238) from 10:30-11:30 

Bonus: The BEA ARCs will be bound *and* have a new pub details and cover--though not the final one--that is still to come....

So, if there's one thing I learned from my attempt to give YA books away via this blog it's that:

-- the role of blogs in social media has changed since I was blogging regularly. People are less likely to enter blog contest and author's blogs--or now, tumblrs--are mostly used for updates on what's happening with their latest book/promo for it. Exceptions being book reviewing sites--those are mostly unchanged since I started blogging, although there are more contests and many, many more author tours.

Also, site blogs seem to be shifting even more toward

-- personal info that the author feels like sharing/info shared re: book covers, release dates, and other book news

Therefore, I'm moving the YA book giveaway to other platforms, mostly twitter (I'm at twitter.com/escottwrites) and tumblr (elizabethwrites.tumblr.com/) **

I also do have some news to share. I will be at BEA this year, signing on both Friday and Saturday. I'm going to be at SLJ Day of Dialog on Wednesday as part of a panel discussion, so librians, I hope you'll stop by and say hi! Or better yet, do that *and* stay for the panel. It's right after Holly Black's speech...

I'm also going to be at ALA this year as well, and I'll post more news about when I'll be there as the event gets closer.

Finally, this year marks the FIFTH year in print for Perfect You, Stealing Heaven, and Living Dead Girl. It's amazing to me that all three of my 2008 releases are still in print, and that all four of my first novels (Bloom being the first, from 2007) are still in print. Kind and wonderful readers, thank you, thank you, thank YOU!

**A few people have asked if the books I'm giving away are my own personal copies, which made my mind go fuzzy for a moment because why would I give away my own books???? I'm giving away copies I bought of books I read and liked and wanted to share with YOU. My books are my own, and as much as I love sharing books I've read and liked, I'm going to give you a new one so I can keep my own :-)

In closing, what would you like to see more of on this blog?

And once again, thank YOU for reading my books. It means to the stars and past them for me.

Today, Wednesday, April 24th, I'm giving away an ARC of:

The Eternity Cure by Julie Kagawa

For your chance to win, all you have to do is leave a comment on THIS blog entry (http://blog.elizabethwrites.com/2013/04/win-eternity-cure-by-julie-kagawa-arc.html) and make sure you leave a way for me to contact you! Email addy, twitter handle, whatever--just make sure I can get in touch with you!

That being said, if you want to like my facebook page (facebook.com/elizabethwrites) or follow me on twitter(twitter.com/escottwrites), I wouldn't mind :-)

I'll take entries for The Eternity Cure by Julie Kagawa through midnight PST today, Wednesday, April 24th. After that, the winner will be chosen at random and notified.

So enter and remember to come back to see what I'm giving away tomorrow...

PS Don't forget, this contest is international!

Today, Tuesday, April 23nd, I'm giving away a copy of:

The Dead And Buried by Kim Harrington

For your chance to win, all you have to do is leave a comment on THIS blog entry (http://blog.elizabethwrites.com/2013/04/win-dead-and-buried-by-kim-harrington.html) and make sure you leave a way for me to contact you! Email addy, twitter handle, whatever--just make sure I can get in touch with you!

That being said, if you want to like my facebook page (facebook.com/elizabethwrites) or follow me on twitter(twitter.com/escottwrites), I wouldn't mind :-)

I'll take entries for The Dead And Buried by Kim Harrington through midnight PST today Tuesday, April 23rd. After that, the winner will be chosen at random and notified.

So enter and remember to come back to see what I'm giving away tomorrow...

PS Don't forget, this contest is international!

I've been far too quiet here for FAR too long, so I've decided to start blogging again.

The only thing is, while I've got some news, it didn't quite feel like enough. I mean, sure, news about Heartbeat is great--or at least, I hope you think it is!--but I wanted more!

And then an idea hit me.

Actually hit me.

I have so many copies of great YA novels and they all need homes. So, until they run out, I'll be giving away ONE YA novel every day, Monday through Friday, until--well, until I've gotten through them all! AND! All contest WILL be open internationally unless otherwise noted.

First: The News

1. It's true--Heartbeat ARCs are real! They are not "out" yet BUT if you are going to BEA, I'll be there signing ARCs--twice!! And if you can't make BEA, I'll also be at ALA, where I'll be...yep, you guessed it. I'll be signing Heartbeat ARCs there too!

2. Wide release of Heartbeart ARCs will happen, and as soon as I know more, I'll let you know.

3. The elusive Heartbeat cover...it will be revealed, I promise! Right now, all I will say is that Harlequin Teen is working SO hard to make it the right cover. Now, you all know I've worked with a few (!) publishers, so when I say I have never EVER seen this level of dedication, you know I mean it!

Second: The Book

Today, Monday, April 22nd, I'm giving away a copy of:

The Trouble With Flirting by Claire LaZebnik

For your chance to win, all you have to do is leave a comment on THIS blog entry (http://blog.elizabethwrites.com/2013/04/ive-got-booksand-i-bet-you-want-them.html) and then look for today's entry) and make sure you leave a way for me to contact you! Email addy, twitter handle, whatever--just make sure I can get in touch with you

That being said, if you wanted to like my facebook page (facebook.com/elizabethwrites) or follow me on twitter (twitter.com/escottwrites), I wouldn't mind :-)

I'll take entries for The Trouble With Flirting through midnight PST today Monday, April 22nd. After that, the winner will be chosen at random and notified.

So enter and remember to come back to see what I'm giving away tomorrow...

PS Don't forget, this contest is international!

I've had to keep quiet about this for a while now but I'm thrilled to say that my next two novels will be published by Harlequin Teen!! The first one, Heartbeat will be out in September, and to celebrate, I'm giving away over a dozen Harlequin Teen novels including:

Alice in Zombieland
Speechless
Confessions of an Angry Girl
Undeadly
Temptation
Dark Angel
Pushing the Limits
The Girl in the Steel Corset
The Girl in the Clockwork Collar
The Iron Fey box set and The Lost Prince

This contest is open to US residents only (I promise, my next giveaway will be international!)

Here's how you enter:
+1 if you tweet about this contest (yes, you can do this more than once, but don't do it, like, every hour)
+2 if you mention it on fb/tumblr/pinterest/whatever new social media site I don't yet know about :-) (same as above)
+3 if you do all of the above (same rule as +2 and +1 here)
+4 if you like my facebook page, which can be found at http://www.facebook.com/elizabethwrites

Just let me know what you've done in the comments (with links, although I'll have to take you word that you've liked my facebook page :-) by this midnight EST this Friday, January 11, and the person with the most points wins!

PS Don't forget to leave a way for me to contact you :-)

Didn't mean to disappear for quite so long--sorry!

First, thank you to everyone who commented or wrote to me about my PTSD post. I was terrified to post it and the kindness and understanding that I got--WOW! I always knew how awesome you all were, but this just made me love you all that much more.

Second, I am going to be off-line for a while--but happily, this time, it's not for health reasons. It's because I'm hard at work on my next book.

Which, by the way, is calling to me. So I'm going to go hang out with it.

See you soon, and thank you all again for the support--xoxo

I don't like writing about having PTSD. I feel a constant need to apologize for having it because I haven't been in combat or the victim of a violent crime. My therapist says this is a huge part of why I refused to see what was happening for so long.

I suspect she's right.

In 2003, about a week after I'd gone from being the only allergy-free person in my immediate family to the one with more allergies than all of them combined, I had my first run-in with anaphylaxis.

The culprit?

Food.

For a few days after my trip to the ER, I would make myself something to eat, but within a few bites, I'd have to stop because I was sweating and shaking and convinced I could feel an itch forming in my throat.

Then I realized if I didn't eat, I'd be totally safe because if I didn't eat, I wouldn't die.

So I stopped eating.

I woke up two days later in the middle of the night, sweating and screaming. I passed out trying to get up. My husband and parents (who'd come up while I was in the ER) forced me to eat two tablespoons of sugar and the next morning, I found myself headed toward my parents' home, where I spent the next six weeks learning to eat again.

It was hell. I wept the first time I ate a bite of chicken. I curled up in a ball on the floor for an hour after eating half a cup of rice. I was so sure I was going to die, but as the weeks went by, I gradually realized I wouldn't die if I ate foods I wasn't allergic to.

I ate a very restricted diet for three years after that, and eventually managed to get into the high double digits of things I would eat without fear. I learned to act like I didn't care that I was allergic to so many things, and it didn't take very long for me to believe it.

It wasn't until I started seeing a therapist in 2011 that I realized I wasn't okay with what had happened. In fact, when I decided to have full allergy testing done again in early 2012 and found myself having nightmares, I kept wondering why I was so scared. I'd had the testing before. It took a while, sure, but it wasn't painful.

My therapist told me that I wasn't afraid of the testing, but that I was very afraid of what might happen afterward because of what had happened before. And after she asked me to talk about what had happened, she showed me a checklist for PTSD symptoms and I found out--nearly nine years later--that I have PTSD.

I'm not nearly as aware or as brave as Megan is, but I've come to see that when I wrote Miracle, it was my subconscious screaming at me to see what was going on inside me. I've always sworn I'd never write about myself or anyone I know, but it turns out that Miracle is the most personal thing I've ever written. It just took me a long time to realize it.

If you or anyone you know has undergone a traumatic experience of any kind, please visit http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/post-traumatic-stress-disorder-ptsd/what-are-the-symptoms-of-ptsd.shtml to learn more and make sure you get the help you need.

Today is the official release date for Miracle! I can't believe it's finally here--but I saw in my local bookstore over the weekend, so it's really out there in the world. My eleventh (!!!) novel. A novel about a girl with PTSD written by someone who has PTSD but didn't know it at the time! Because of that, and a few other thing, Miracle is really the book that's closest to my heart.

Also! Thank you to everyone who talked about Miracle, or Miracle and my pre-order contest and a HUGE thank you to everyone who did pre-order the book--you all are amazing, and although I didn't hit my goal of 1000 pre-orders, it did make me realize there are a lot of utterly amazing readers out there--lots and lots of hugs to all!

Finally, this Saturday, June 9th, I'll be doing a signing for Miracle at fhe Fountain Bookstore in Richmond, Virginia. The signing starts at 2 PM and there will be free pizza for everyone because I thought it would be fun to have a pizza party so we can all eat and talk and have fun! I hope to see YOU there...

I know it's the post title, but hey, it also happen to be true:

Miracle is almost here--and I want to hit 1000 pre-orders (and yes, give away some books--what, like it's a shock?)

Miracle is out on June 5th (!!!) and, as most of the blog-twitter-fb-etc-sphere knows, I'm trying to reach 1000 pre-orders

This week, in addition to the on-going contest, where one person (or school library or library) will win either a $500 gift card to the bookstore of their choice or that amount as a donation towards book purchase, five others will get $100 gift certificates/donations and twenty will get $50 gift certificates/donations once I hit 1000 pre-orders, I'm also doing the following. (US and Canadian residents only)

I bet you can guess what it is.

That's right! Pre-order Miracle from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, your fave indie bookstore, or the vendor of your choice. (Currently, Barnes and Noble is selling Miracle for less than a dollar more than the paperback will cost!)

After that, send your pre-order confirmation email/screen shot of the invoice to [email protected] (Please note, this contest is for NEW pre-orders only.)

And then, you can pick one of the following books and I'll mail it to you--first come, first pick, until all the books are gone:

The Thing About The Truth by Lauren Barnholdt (ARC)
Between the Lines by Jodi Picoult and Samantha Van Leer (ARC)
The Drowned Cities by Paolo Bacigali (ARC)
Messy by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan (ARC)
Changeling by Phillipa Gregory (ARC)
Belles by Jen Calonita (ARC)
34 Pieces of You by Carmen Rodrigues (ARC)
Above by Leah Bobet
The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer Smith
Body and Soul by Stacey Kade
The List by Siobhan Vivian
Slide by Jill Hathaway
The Butterfly Clues by Kate Ellison
Graffiti Moon by Cath Crowley
The Disenchantments by Nina LaCour
Pretty Crooked by Elisa Ludwig
The Night She Disappeared by April Henry
Article 5 by Kristen Simmons
The Future of Us by Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler
Bittersweet by Sarah Ockler
The Gathering Storm by Robin Bridges
Cracked by K. M. Walton
The Story of Us by Deb Caletti
The Last Princess by Galaxy Graze
The Unbearable Book Club for Unsinkable Girls by Julie Schumacher
Partials by Dan Wells

This contest is open until midnight EST on Monday, June 4th--because then it's release day!

One more time--you must pre-order the book between NOW and midnight EST on Monday, June 4th. When you send your order confirmation/invoice screen shot to me at [email protected], let me know what book you want. If it's available, it's yours! If not, you pick a second choice, etc--and this is in effect until all the books are gone!

I feel like giving away some books today. Let's see:

Every Other Day by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Unraveling by Elizabeth Norris
The Catastrophic History of You and Me by Jess Rothenberg
Masque of the Red Death by Bethany Griffin
Enchanted by Alethea Kontis

Here's how you can win one of these books (Please note, this contest is only open to US and Canadian residents)

+1 if you blog/tweet/what-have you about the Miracle pre-order contest: http://blog.elizabethwrites.com/2012/05/win-500-gift-certificate-to-bookstore.html
+10 if you blog/tweet/what-have you AND pre-order Miracle (remember: send your order confirmation to [email protected]

Please leave links to your blog post/tweet/what-have-you in the comments below and make sure you leave a way for me to contact you! (Those of you who pre-order Miracle--well, I'll have a way to get in touch with you, won't I? :-)

I also want to reach out to librarians and teachers and let you all know that the Miracle pre-order contest is open to you too--and I know with budgets forever get cut that a donation to your school/library of $500 would help you put more books in your collections/classrooms!

The contest if very easy to enter--just pre-order Miracle from the vendor of your choice, or if you prefer, from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or your fave indie bookstore

And then just send your pre-order confirmation email/screen shot of the invoice to [email protected]

Once I hit 1000 pre-orders, one person will get a FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS (yep, $500!) gift certificate to the bookstore of their choice or donation to their school/library for books.

Plus! Five other people will get $100 gift certificates/donations and twenty will get $50 gift certificates/donations.

Oh! Mailing list members--I sent out a note to you all on May 8th, so if you haven't checked your email in a while you might want to do so.... :-)

I did some thinking after last week's post, and decided that if I was going to pre-order a book I wanted and could get something for it, here's what I want: a gift certificate to my fave bookstore.

So, in my on-going attempt to get 1000 pre-orders of Miracle I've decided that once I get 1000 pre-orders, one person will get a FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS (yep, $500!) gift certificate to the bookstore of their choice.

Plus! Five other people will get $100 gift certificates and twenty will get $50 gift certificates. (Please note, this contest is only open to US and Canadian residents)

To enter, all you have to do is the following:

1. Pre-order Miracle from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or your fave indie bookstore

2. Send the confirmation order email to me at [email protected]

3. That's it! Once I hit 1000 pre-orders, the winners will be picked and notified.

Please feel free to spread the word about this--the more pre-orders that come in, the more gift certificates might be added....

Three things to talk about today:

First, Bloom is FIVE years old! I can't believe it, but it's true--Bloom first hit stores on April 24, 2007. (!)


Second, I'm going to the Austin Teen Book Festival!! It's going to be held on September 29th from 10 AM-5 PM at The Palmer Events Center in Austin. (And not only am I super excited about the festival--Neal Shusterman is the keynote speaker!--I'm also determined to squeeze in a good long shop at Book People, one of the best indies in the country!)

Finally, thanks to everyone who's responded about my attempt to reach 1000 pre-orders of Miracle -- once again, if you want to help me try and get there, you can pre-order the book from your local indie bookstore, Amazon, or Barnes and Noble. (The book is less than a dollar more than the pb will cost (on Amazon and B&N))

Also, it occurs to me that if I actually get 1000 pre-orders of Miracle, I totally owe you all something! I've been trying to think of stuff. I could

1. Show you the picture of Joe that inspired his character and share a scene I wrote about him but cut because I loved it, but felt it held up the story

2. Talk about PTSD and how I really was dumb enough to write a book about it while not knowing that I HAD it. (and how I'm dealing with it now)

3. Reveal the order of my books as they were written (let's put it this way--Something, Maybe was written BEFORE Living Dead Girl, although everyone thinks it was written after)

4. This is my husband's suggestion: YouTube video of me attempting to do a cartwheel. (Which I cannot do AT ALL and sometimes attempt thinking that surely I'll have somehow mastered it because I mean, COME ON! It's a cartwheel!)

So, what do you think? 1. 2. 3. or 4.--or any other suggestions?

Well, I go to write my blog post this morning and okay, the whole interface has changed! Did Google give a heads-up about this, or did they just change it? Either way, it's very...new. I don't know if I like it or not yet. Anyone else with a blog on blogger? What do you think? New interface or old? (Also! last week's contest winners have been notified, and thanks to everyone who entered!)

I also want to talk about something else. I promised myself when I started blogging again I'd post more than just industry info and the occasional food link, but I gotta say, being honest is hard.

But I did promise, so--here goes.

I've been reading about Veronica Roth's 35,000 pre-order push (and yes, I pre-ordered Insurgent--I did the second it showed up for sale! I mean, Divergent was blow-your-mind awesome!) (and yes, the Four POV short was awesome!) and I thought, a. I want Four's story and b. what a fabulous way to make sure that your first week sales are going to be great! (My guess is, number 1 on the Times list and pretty high up on the USA Today list as well)

So, I'm aiming for 1,000 pre-orders of Miracle. Will you help me? You can pre-order the book from your local indie bookstore, Amazon, or Barnes and Noble.

I should add the book is less than a dollar more than the pb will cost (on Amazon and B&N) and that Miracle is the only book I have coming out this year.

Is it just me, or is this spring (although it seems weird to call it that when daily temps are in the 90s!!!) the worst in terms of pollen?

I seriously can't go outside without seeing it everywhere. It's totally coated my car and, I suspect, that if I was willing (and able) to stand outside for fifteen minutes, it would coat me too.

Is anyone else in the same boat as me? (And by boat, I mean extra antihistamine to the point where you have to take it at night so you won't spend your days staring, dazed, at nothing)

Also, I've got some books to give away. I just tried to take a photo of all of them, but let's just say holding three books while facing a computer camera isn't my strong suit and leave it at that. (Please??)

So, the three books I'm giving away all have very striking covers, the kind that make you stop and say "Wait, what???"

--an ARC of Starters by Lissa Price
-- Harbringer by Sara Wilson Etienne
-- Incarnate by Jodi Meadows

For your chance to win one of these books, you need to have a US mailing addy and leave a comment telling me what your favorite "hey now!" YA novel cover is by this Friday, April 20th at midnight EST. Winners will be chosen at random and don't forget to leave a way for me to contact you...

Awesome news! Simon Pulse is giving away not one, not two, but TEN ARCS of Miracle over at Goodreads! To enter, just go here or, for those link-stripping feeds, http://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/enter_choose_address/23696-miracle


In other news, Simon Pulse does have a few ARCs of Miracle left that they'll send to bloggers (they've already done one big mailing) and if you're interested, here's how you might be able to get one (I can't promise you will, because I don't know how many ARCs are left):


1. Your blog mailing addy must be in the US
2. You must have reviewed at least two of my books in the past two years
3. That's it! If you're interested, please write to me at elizabeth at elizabethwrites dot com with MIRACLE ARC in the subject line and please include a link to your blog along with your full name and mailing addy in the email.


One last thing: I've started a tumblr! I don't know about you, but I LOVE tumblr. It's way more fun (for me, at least) than twitter, and it feels more personal too. I'm mostly posting bits of poetry that have caught my eye but there's some other stuff on there too and I've set it up so that if you want to share a fave poetry bit, you can! Check it out: http://elizabethwrites.tumblr.com

One of the things I've promised myself is that I'm going to try and blog more regularly again. Yes, my body still apparently hates me (I'll find out how much when I'm off to see a new specialist in May.

As a side note, why does it always take so long to get in to see a specialist? I know they are busy, but let me tell you, knowing I'm going to have to wait over a month to start with the exams and the endless round of blood testing..ugh. Seriously, I think there may be more blood of mine in lab tubes than in my body at this point.

But I am trying not to worry. I am thinking about Miracle, which is coming out so soon (June 5th!) and ended up being the most personal book I've ever written. (And you all know I've never put anything that's ever happened to me or anyone I've known in any of my books and now this! It's been a weird thing, that's for sure :-)

Miracle will be my only book this year not just for health reasons but because I'm thrilled to finally be able to announce that I've signed a four-book deal with Simon Pulse and will be doing a book a year for them if my dratted body decides to play nice. Simon Pulse has always been so great to me, and I'm honored to be working with such awesome people.

As for the blog post title, there have been a lot of things that have helped me as I'm wrestling with all of this. Aside from the usual, I totally discovered Parks and Recreation. The first season, eh. Second, pretty good. Third--BRILLIANT. Not a single bad episode. I'm starting to watch the fourth now, and so far, I'm loving it!

How about you? Have you ever discovered something that helps you when things aren't going so well?

I know, I've been away for a while and I've missed all of you so much! Here's what's going on:

I wasn't feeling really well during September, which is while I went offline, and when I went to ALAN in November (because there was NO way I was missing that), I basically staggered around a bit, did my panel and signing, then went home and collapsed.

For real. I got a concussion and everything.

Long story short, after some rest (because apparently recovering from a concussion can mess with blood test results), I went to see my doctor. She ran a lot of tests and told me to go see another doctor about my eyes, which had been painfully dry for months.

The eye doctor told me that my eyes weren't producing tears (in fact, one eye isn't making any tears at all) and that I had an infection in my eyes' oil glands. After I got done saying "Ewww!" (because, really, even though it isn't contagious, it explained why my eyes looked so awful) So, loaded up with prescriptions, me and my eyes went home.

Then I heard from my doctor. My red blood cells are--and this is a direct quote from my doctor--"floppy." (HUH??) Apparently it means they are too large. So I am on meds for that, and go back for more testing in March to see if I'm okay or if I have to go see a specialist.

To top if all off, when I went back to the eye doctor, my eye infection had actually gotten worse (I didn't say "Ewww! this time. I said another four letter word.) And so I got more medicine.

And that's where I am now. I'm really not able to go online much at all (I suppose that's obvious, huh? :-)

Hopefully, come March, my blood tests will be good and my eyes will be better. I've got my fingers crossed....

Miss you all SO much!

Hello, lovely wonderful readers. As much as it pains me to do this, I'm taking an Internet sabbatical to deal with personal stuff. Thank you all for being so wonderful to me, and I hope to be back soon!

Talk about having a great day:

1. As I Wake is now officially out in bookstores--if you pick it up, I'd love to know what you think!

2. I've always longed to visit one of Anderson's Bookshop stores, and now I'm going to be able to? How? Because in what is a total dream come true, I'm going to be part of their Annual Young Adult Literature Conference next Saturday, September 24th.

Next week! As I Wake in stores!

Must go before I overload on !

This month has just flown by, but I'm thrilled to say the lovely ladies of Merry Sisters of Fate invited me to share a short story, and I was beyond happy to to do.

You can read Sight here, or for feeds that strip out links, it's here: http://merryfates.com/2011/08/22/sight-by-elizabeth-scott/

I hope you read and enjoy it, and I'll be checking in to read and respond to comments!

This came into my mailbox yesterday and I had to share because a. I love pugs and b. therefore I love this picture.



Comment here with the name (or better yet pic!) of your fave pic through midnight EST on Friday, August 5th, and the person who talks about/posts the pic I like best will win a signed copy of Between Here and Forever. You must have a US mailing addy, and make sure to leave a way for me to contact you!

Today, I'm doing a Girlfriends' Cyber Circuit interview with Jennifer Echols about her new book, Love Story




Me: Tell us about your book in ten words or less!

Jennifer: Erin writes about her crush and he reads the story!


Me: What's the best writing advice you've ever been given?

Jennifer: I was told by someone very close to me that my writing was awful, I would never be published, and I should quit. I did not take this advice. In fact, sometimes anger is a terrific motivator. (Me: Wow! Go Jennifer!)


Me: What do you wish you'd known about being published/publishing before your book/first book came out?

Jennifer: Bestsellers are made, not born. Usually the publisher has to get behind a book and pay for it to become a bestseller, so if that’s going to happen, you’ll know way ahead of time. No surprises. (Me: I have to agree with Jennifer on this one (I was nodding so hard when I read it, I'm surprised my head didn't fall off!) although I think that very rarely, a book will become a huge hit based on word of mouth. But it is--well, rare.)


Me: What's the last book you read that you loved so much you had to tell everyone about it?

Jennifer: There are so many of these! When I love a book, I tell EVERYBODY. So I’ll go with my critique partner Victoria Dahl’s adult historical romance, A Little Bit Wild, which was a finalist in the RITA. (Me: that's a big deal, as it's a huge romance award!)


Me: I hear people can win a copy of Love Story...

Jennifer: There are lots of giveaways of Love Story--and other prizes--going on all over the web right now. I am linking to them, so check my blog at jenniferechols.livejournal.com.


Me: Well, you know..

Suzanne: Newman’s Own used to have a Southwest ranch dressing that I absolutely loved, but I can’t find it anymore. My tomatoes and I are unhappy. (Me: Awwww!)


Thanks Jennifer for stopping by, and to help celebrate the release of Love Story, I'm giving one copy away!

How can you win it? All you need is a US mailing addy, and to leave a comment telling me what you'd do if your crush (present or past) read something you'd wrote about him/her by midnight EST tomorrow, July 29th.

Lots of links to share:

From Genreality, a great post about what it's like the day after your novel comes out

Over at Pimp My Novel, a fab guest post on rejections

Pimp My Novel on Borders closing, and what it means to publishing

Over at YA Outside The Lines, they've been dishing out one gem after another, starting with Do What Works For You (to which I say, Amen!), That Middle Place (I swear, this could be, okay it SO is me: "And maybe...not stress so much? I've never tried this approach. It does not come naturally."), Writing As An Extreme Sport (I can't get over Lynsay Sands's schedule either!), and finally, a truly wonderful post about Borders closing and, in my mind, more importantly how utterly hard it can be for teenagers to find books to read--"However for the numerous subdivisions across the freeway, no public library exists. I actually offered extra credit last year for my seniors (the high school at which I’ve taught for the past number of years is also across the freeway) if they got and showed me a public library card. The vast majority did not have one until this motivated them to get one. At first this shocked me. Actually it still does. But freeways, as my husband the retail guy often reminds me, are like mountains. If you have to go that far to get to something, often you just don’t."

Writer Unboxed is also cranking out some interesting pieces: Reasons Why Your Online Marketing Doesn't Work, a feel-good post where best-selling authors talk about what keeps them writing, a knock-out post on characterization and one on the power of unplugging from the Internet

Food!

You got love recipes to beat the heat during a heat wave (featuring car-baked cookies!)

There's also Brown Butter and Brown Sugar Muffins and Butterfinger Oatmeal Cookies