By: Jessica Burkhart,
on 12/23/2009
You guys asked for it and you've got it--chat away about LWL and be warned that there will be spoilers in the comments. Can't wait to read what everyone's thinking.
HAPPY HOLIDAYS! <3
By: Jessica Burkhart,
on 11/18/2009
Soooo....can't wait till December 21 (says Amazon) when LITTLE WHITE LIES goes on sale? Well, you can read an excerpt of the book at Simon & Schuster's Website. Cool!
Check it out here!
By: Jessica Burkhart,
on 11/13/2009
Since I can't share the CITY SECRETS cover yet, I thought post something else. This is the full cover for LITTLE WHITE LIES (Dec 22, 09). Pretty, right?
On the front, it's Sasha and Callie and Heather is on the back. I absolutely can't wait for it to come out! Eeee! :)
By: Jessica Burkhart,
on 6/28/2009
What a weekend!
First, I made a goal I was sure I'd keep on Friday--4000 new words before midnight. Author Paula Yoo joined me and dubbed it "Friday 4k."
Well, I gave up around 1300 words. Epic fail. The chance to go out came up and I took it. And for once, I didn't feel bad about it! Usually, I'd beat myself up over not making my word count goal. But instead, I ended up going out with BFF and doing exactly what was needed for a ridic week.
I worked a little on Saturday and focused on the end incentive--a night out in my neighborhood with awesome friends. It was sooo nice to be in my neighborhood and not have to get on the train after a night out. There are lots of interesting places yet to be explored...
Today, I pulled the plug on the Internet and got serious. For real. I wasn't messing around, LOL. I got 4049 words down today, so I feel good about it. Better than yesterday's measly total!
Tomorrow, I'm going out with the Melissa Walker and Sarah MacLean. Fun!
Also, I've been getting blurb requests lately and I'm flattered, thank you! Please feel free to send me an e-mail and I can give you an address where to send your book. My rule, though, just FYI--I won't blurb a book unless I love it. I think that's what you're supposed to do...right?
AND! I found out through a neighborhood message board that...get ready...there is a stable near my park! Kensington Stables. OMG! I about died. I'm going to email them to see if I can come observe a few lessons, talk to the riders, maybe groom a lesson horse--anything! I'm insanely excited and would love to go and spend even a little time in the horsey environment. The killer? They offer trail rides in the park.
The park I adore.
That's where it's complicated. I had a spinal fusion for super severe scoliosis. So, if I rode a horse and fell, I could break or snap my rods and have to go through a spinal fusion *again* or become paralyzed. High stakes, right? But there are moments, every so often, where I want to risk it, get on a horse and RIDE! This is one of those moments.
People have argued to me that I could ride a "bomb proof" horse and would have nothing to worry about. But IMO, there's no such thing. Accidents happen and no horse is bomb proof. I don't believe it and I've met/ridden dozens of horses and have yet to find a BP horse.
*sighs* Tough decision.
And I also got a super quick rejection today. Sent the query and got a nice note back within hours. It's a mag I've been trying to crack for years and they had just assigned the topic I pitched to someone else. Getting close I think...it's just about timing! But that's a better rejection than "Um, hello. Have you read our mag before? Why are you pitching us something off topic?!" I haven't gotten one of those--I'm just saying that if you have to get a rejection, I got a nice one today.
And now to tackle e-mails from my reader girlies. :) Hope everyone had a fab weekend!
By: Jessica Burkhart,
on 6/22/2009
Blogging is about to get slowish (I think, anyway. Unless, R Pattz is spotted cuz then all bets are off!) because it's Insane Deadline Time and I'm feeling crazy behind. Which isn't really true. I'm not sooo behind, but it feels that way until I hit midpoint of the book. This is the panic stage of "Aahh! I better get words down or else!"
So, if I owe you an email (my reader girlies!) I'm sorry! I will respond ASAP, I promise. Thank you for writing me and I WILL write back. Just give me a little time or LITTLE WHITE LIES will be late and Editor K will confiscate my lip gloss until I finish it...that would be bad, ya know? :) There would be crying and Lip Smackers cotton candy withdrawal (my fave) and it would be sad.
Gotta get back to Sasha & Co., but I'll be blogging whenever I can. But know that I have to go into Manhattan on Wednesday. Yep. That means subway. And directions. And a high probabilty of something happening that's blog worthy.
Btw, thank you to Whitebrook Farm for blogging about the Girls' Horse Club fiction competition. (See blogger sidebar or old entry for deets).
By: Jessica Burkhart,
on 6/19/2009
I started writing LITTLE WHITE LIES (Canterwood Crest #6 (SIX! *falls over*) yesterday. I Tweeted (stupidly, LOL) that I was going to stay up all night writing and hit 5k before I went to sleep.
Didn't happen. I wrote 500 words and stopped for the night. I needed a few hours to absorb outline changes and just think about where I needed to go with the book.
Today, I got started late and hit my stride. I had one of those rare "OMG" writer moments where I sat back and actually said, "Oh. Whoa. Wow. Um." out loud. One of those crazy-talking-to-yourself writer moments where you actually start to cry like an idiot for no reason.
But a few things hit me full force:
* I'm writing book freaking six. S-I-X. There was a time when I thought I wouldn't be able to write one book. Not one. Just short articles, nothing book length. And I'm not saying this to be like, "Oh, wow. Look. You've written five books." I'm saying this because so many writers e-mail me and say they're sure they can't write a book but so want to. That they can't write past a few pages. I used to think that too.
* I'm in love with a character. A character that I didn't fall for until twenty minutes ago. And I'm hard core crushing. (And man, I'm sooo gonna regret posting this part 'cause EK will read it and never let me forget it when I tell her my new love interest. As if she needs another thing to hold over me, LOL.)
* This is the first book I've ever written in New York and it'll be my only first book in NYC. It feels sparkly just for that reason.
* I'm not the writer I was when I wrote BEST ENEMIES. Not better, not worse (I hope!). Just not the same.
* Everything and nothing has changed. Everything in my life has changed. Nothing in my character's lives has. They were all there--waiting for me to come and move things for them. I'm almost annoyingly giddy to be back to Canterwood (I sound like a student, LOL) and into writing.
And not just writing.
Writing that I love.
There's a difference.
And it took a while for me to find it again. But I have.
Okay! Sappy much? Seriously. :) As you were.
By: Jessica Burkhart,
on 3/10/2009
Cover copyright © 2009 Simon & Schuster. Photo © Monica Stevenson.
Cover copyright © 2009 Simon & Schuster. Photo © Monica Stevenson.
It was good, but it wasn't my favorite. I am such a big Sasha and Eric fan, that seeing her ruin her friendship with Callie just to get Jacob seems kind of stupid to me. Not to be rude: you are awesome, and I can't wait for Rival Revenge, but LWL wasn't my fave.
Merry Christmas Eve everyone!! I still liked this book just as much as I liked the rest but I liked it in a different way. With LWL I felt like I was at the edge of my seat the whole time whereas with the other ones I felt all happy and warm inside at most parts. Don't get me wrong there was suspense in the other books but just not as much. And as for being a Sasha/ Eric fan well......that's tricky. At first I really hated Eric. Then I started to warm up to him. Now I really like him and sort of wish their relationship hadn't been ruined but on top of that I still really like Jacob too. So I don't really know who I like better. I think Eric was a better idea because there is no way that Callie would ever ever ever be friends with Sasha again if she started going out with Jacob.
I just posted but I can't help it I had to post again. I just read the excerpt and OMG!!! I can't wait for January 26 another minute. The first chapter is amazing. I might have made a mistake by reading it because now I am like dying. Again, I am thankful for Heather(which is wierd)and even though she says she doesn't care I think she actually does and I love seeing that side of her. And as always I am thankful for Paige. But I also wish Sasha would just give up the whole act, take Heather and Paige's advice, and tell Callie and Eric the truth.
I loved it but it kept me hanging!! I am dieing!! It was great i really enjoyed it!! Merry Christmas eve!!
I have not gotten LWL yet! We ordered it. I should get it soon. I do know that Sasha and Eric broke due to me reading an exerpt of RR before I read LWL.
Yeah! I received my copy of LWL at 5:00pm yesterday...I couldn't put it down. Luved it. keep going Jess. Merry Christmas!!
It was very dramatic and very suspenseful. I have to say though, I'm kinda glad Eric isn't with Sasha anymore. I never really liked him, but probably only because he reminds so much of someone I know in real life. I though I might grow to like Eric, but I have to say I am still a fan of Jacob. I really do hope that they get back together although I don't see how they could. I do wish that she would at least tell Paige the truth if she doesn't tell anyone else. Like someone said above, I do appreciate Heather. I didn't at first, but now she has become a fav. I liked LWL, and there is SOOOO much suspense for the upcoming RR. I can't wait to see what happens! Thanks jess, for another great book! Happy Holidays!
Ugh!!!! We had a bad ice storm and couldn't go get LWL from B&N I have to wait for the weekend now. I could be done with it by now! Darn ice Just go melt!! But I'm not reading any of these comments!
OKsooo I really looooved LWL and it madde me cry at the end I am the biggest Sasha/Eric fan and now i really hate jacob! i mean, how could he KISS HER after he already has Callie? and I love Eric and was devistated and i mean, you had to cry if you really love them, right? and i feel sooooooo bad for sasha, being most like her. and i know that paige will figure it out. and heather is becoming more nicer and now i can see why she would go on vacay with sasha and paige in City Secrets(amazon.com says) and I will die when i get RR. and again, i hate jacob. at first, i thought he was nice but then i hated him for dating callie and then for wanting sasha back but now he just ruined sasha's life and i hate him for that! My friends and i take it all literally and we wont even say his name now whenever he talk about LWL we say 'the J word' instead of jacob because we really hate him now! how could anyone like him more than eric? on the plus side, i like heather a ton better and i am superexited for paige and ryan! they make a perfect match! over all, i really liked LWL it was awesome except for the jacob mess! that made me sad :( oh well i cant wait for RR!
PS ty for this thread! i needed it! XD
Hey Everyone,
I just bought LWL yesterday and I just finished it today. It was really exciting, but I think it could've had a better ending. I don't get why Sasha would lie about what happened and break her friendship with Callie. I don't really like Callie because she was the one who stole Jacob from Sasha in the first place and then now, she's being mad at Sasha because she says she wants him back although that wasn't even true. I am more of a Sasha-Eric fan than a Callie-Jacob fan. I still loved it though just like all the Canterwood Books and I am dying to find out what happens in Rival Revenge. I also think that Heather is becoming a little bit nicer. Like LWL, I'm buying it the second it comes out in stores.
Keep up the great work Jess! You're keeping me in suspense by not allowing us to read Rival Revenge now! I'm basically having a countdown for when it comes out. LOL! Merry Christmas & Happy New Year :)
I sooo do not like Jacob he's a creep!
Sasha and Eric's realtionship got runied?!? How could it? I'm totally an Eric fan, he's great. Did they really break up?
Adina... Read the book, It will explain everything =)
I do think that Jacob may have been mean, but now I see his soft side come out. I really want Jacob to come back into Sasha's life. I really do. Eric is just, well, annoying, I guess.
Yea but even if he is annoying(which I don't think is true) he still is a much more reasonable choice. Think about it I think Callie and Sasha will most def. be done if Sasha goes out with Jacob. Just to let everyone know though I am a Jacob fan although I'm mad at him because he ruined everything. So even though I like him more still Eric is coming up behind him fast.....so who knows........
Oh yea and by the way....Eric and Sasha are pretty much done as of now. It wasn't really offical but if you read it you would know......it is sort of obvious that they are sort of on thin ice if they aren't already done. And when I say done I mean like done DONE. Yikes!!!!
Well, Southwest Virginia's snow storm has kept all the local Barnes & Nobles from getting LWL!!!! I'm literally having Canterwood Crest withdrawls! Yesterday my mom went out to the mall, in all that traffic and chaos to get it for me(just one of the reasons her and my dad are so awesome! lol!) and she was even going to give it to me right away instead of waiting for Christmas, but nobody has it in yet because of the 2 feet of snow!!! So then, she said she got me something that would cover it, so of course it a B&N giftcard. But I was kinda bad and read the excerpt of Rival Revenge and I read all of the comments so far, and I kinda know what happens. I feel so bad for Sasha. I will be getting LWL Saturday no matter what because they should have it in by then. Merry Christmas everyone!!!! :) :) :)
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
I got BE for xmas today. I finished it quickly, it was SOOOOOOOO good. I can't believe Jacob wants Sasha back. In my opion she should stay with Jacob. I'm glad Sasha got on YENT, but sad Callie didn't make it. She should of replaced Jas. Anyway can't wait to ride LWL. I'm getting $50 from my grandpa, so I'll use that next time we go to the bookstore. Jess, did you make up YENT or is it a real organization?
Hana......I don't have the book yet. I dont think Jacob should come back into Sasha's life. If he real liked her, he shouldn't have dumbed her in the 1st place. Eric is WAAAAAAAAAY better for Sasha, and he is not annoying. :)
I think the YENT is made up because one day I googled it and all these crazy things that wern't horsey it was like japenese or something. Sooo...... Anyways anyone get anything good for Christmas?
Anon I googled YENT and found *Young Entrepreneurial Network of Turkey* LOL I don't know if it is real or not!
I loved LWL. Jacob really, really likes Sasha! I read some of his comments over and over again... like when he said 'it's you I'll always be wishing for'. So romantic. I am a Jacob fan although I am sort of mad at him for ruining Sasha's relationship with Eric. But Jacob is always there for her when she needs him. So cute!
I couldn't go to sleep last night (it was christmas eve, yaknow?) so I went in to my 11 year old brothers room and started talking about random stuff. Then I started talking about LWL and described every detail of all the books before it. Then I read from the best parts of LWL out loud to him, and the romantic tradgedy between Sasha and Jacob. Honestly, I think he was a *little* freaked out! LOL!!! Merry Christmas, everyone!!! Happy Holidays!!
I didn't like LWLs very much, it was good, but Sasha doesn't learn from her mistakes does she? I mean she should have learned from previous incidents (keeping her bf/gf status w/ Eric secret) that secrets and LIES can damage relationships. And why does she think Callie will be happier w/Jacob than with her and w/o Jacob? and if Eric really does like her as much as he says he does, he would've thought that Jacob was about to do the kissing, not the other way around. However, I'm TOTALLY caught up in the drama, glad Heather is around, and can't WAIT for Rival Revenge!!!
I liked the book. It seriously did leave me hanging. I think Eric and Sasha should get back together. I am a Eric fan i just think they would be good together because they both love horses and they are both smart. I liked LWL just as much as the other books in the series. Cant wait for RR to come out.
I am so bored. I don't know why I shouldn't be. I mean it is the day after Christmas for heaven's sake. I shouldn't be sitting here typing this. I guess the problem is that I didn't get anything you actually like play with just clothes and purses and shoes. Plus all my extended family cousins, aunts, uncles all have prior commitments today. My family's plan to sit in the house all day and relax. The problem I don't feel like relaxing. Where I really want to be right now is at the stable pretending I got a horse of my own for Christmas and I am out there to ride my perfect little joy. But sadly......no. Friends are with family and even though I love my family and it is the day after Christmas I am in a rather bad mood. Which is causing me to be quite annoyed at my family right now. There are a few options see if my BFF is home and can come over, internet surfing and shopping, try on all my new clothes again, watch a movie, clean, go on a bike ride, or reread my favorite parts of every book I have read in the past year. Someone please post I will be waiting for some new comments to read.
Soooo..... LWL was AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am also bored to no end for no aparent reason because i don't feel like playing with my presents right now. So I am typing this and I would like to say a few things...
1. Canterwood books just keep getting better
2. Sasha WILL get back together with Jacob
3. Sasha does NOT like Eric anymore
4. Callie will find out the truth in a later book
5. Jacob will break up with Callie while Sasha starts to realize she likes him
6. Sasha will tell Paige the truth
7. Paige will go out with Ryan
8. RR is going to be awesome!!! I CAN"T WAIT!!!!!!!
I want LWL sooooooooooooooo bad and I said I was gonna get it today but none of the B&N have it!!!! AAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm having major withdrawls! I should probably block this until I get it because I'm dying reading all the comments. I just can't help myself! We did order it though and it should be here in "5 to 8 business days." Like that'll happen. Nothing ever comes on time at my house. Did everyone have a Merry Christmas???!!! :) :) :)
I can't wait for me to get LWL!!!! And RR!!!! I know I shouldn't be reading the comments but I just can't help myself. =) My mom was gonna get me LWL for xmas (which came out on her bday btw) but the store did not have it. :(!!! At least I can get RR for my bday (I'd only have to wait 4 days!!!)
I had a very Merry Christmas!! How bout everyone else??
It would totally gross me out if Sasha dated her ex BFF's boyfriend!
So gross.