As an author, I always find it curious why certain people fall in love with certain books, especially if it's one I can't stand. Don't worry, I'm not naming names on the ones I don't like. That's a whole other blog! It just made me think about why I love the couple of books I read over and over and over. Story and emotion...for me, those win every single time.

I'm a HUGE fan of Game of Thrones, the show and the books. I guess the books are called A Song of Ice and Fire, so I should be correct here. I only discovered the show a year ago and, impatient to watch Season 2, I devoured all five books in a little over a month. Since then, I've already completed a thorough reread. It's weird, coming from a gal like me who gobbles up contemporary romances, to fall for an epic fantasy like this. It's easy to pinpoint what I love about these stories, though. Characters and plot. I wish I could create something so deeply layered and interconnected. When I read these books, I'm lost in them. 1200 pages don't feel like 1200 pages. I love how the characters swing from good to bad and back again, how a character I hated in the beginning has became one of my favorite ones in the entire series <cough> Jamie Lannister <cough>

So, when someone asks me what my favorite book is, I'm proud to say it is any of the Song of Ice and Fire books. I know a lot of people who would list novels like Pride and Prejudice, Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights. I'm easy. Give me blood and battle and dragons and I'm happy. Well, to an extent. It's not like that's all I read now.

My second favorite book, which may very well be my first, is harder to talk about. Mostly because it's one many wouldn't expect. It's The Host by Stephanie Meyer. Yes, THAT Stephanie Meyer, who brought us glittery vampires and questionably healthy relationships. The Host is Science Fiction, aimed more towards adults than teenagers and it really shows in the writing. Gone are the easy to read pages with big font and short sentences. The story is complex, maybe a little out there, but it makes me think. The root of the story is love and I cannot deny this one makes me cry, every time.

Aliens have taken over Earth, wiped out pretty much every human, but use their bodies as hosts, putting their bodies into ours. I know, I know. Like I said, it's Sci-Fi. Anyway, it follows Wanderer, a gentle 'soul' put into the body of one of the last members of the human resistence. But her 'host' isn't as complacent as most. Soon, they're having conversaions, sharing memories and Wanderer begins to feel what Melanie does. Like the love she has for her boyfriend and her brother. Complications ensue and let's just say this book makes me think about love.

Is it physical? Mental?

If you were dropped into a body that loved another person, would those feelings make you love them, too? Or does it all exist in the mind? Do those residual feelings make the new body fall in love?

It's one of the most unconventional love triangles, well, rectangle really, that I have ever seen. And I LOVE it! The Host never fails to take me on this journey, a gentle being caught up in a war she hates and watching her grow. I never thought I'd say one of my favorite characters in a book is basically nothing more than a wormy amobea thing!

And let me say, I hated Twilight. Sure, it was packed with overwrought emotion and I somewhat enjoyed reading the entire series, but it pales in comparison to The Host. I think Stephanie Meyer showed improvement in her writing. But it still makes me hesitate in naming it a 'favorite'. Will people think I'm immature to like it, not as 'cool' as those who like the Bronte sisters instead? I think it's because Twilight gets so much negative backlash from fellow authors.

So, to sum up my long winded blog here. What are my favorite books? The Host and all of the Song of Ice and Fire series. Maybe next I'll talk about how Vampire Academy/Bloodlines comes in a close third! I read A LOT, so there may be books out there I forgot about loving.

I admit it. I'm a complete slacker once June hits. As you can probably tell by the lack of blogs recently. When you live in a state like Montana, where winter is so prevalent, you learn to take advantage of the good days when they come. I live for summers, for getting out and exploring this beautiful place, visiting Yellowstone, just sitting out and savoring the fresh air.

Until I have to write.

I work in a hotel, close enough to be on Yellowstone's doorstep. From the end of May on, we sell out EVERY NIGHT. It's busy, the guests can be demanding, and at the end of the day I don't exactly look forward to sitting down at a computer again. Too many distractions! Too many family BBQs and picnics. Too many nights of sitting in the path of the fan because once again the western United States is in the middle of a severe drought and heat wave.

Not that I haven't been productive. I have. In bits and pieces. Finished editing two books I've written with my fabulous writing partner, started a deep edit of a New Adult book I started on last November, and I'm still slowly putting the sequel for Happily Never After together. It just never feels like enough. Not compared to the epic writing marathons I do cuddled under a blanket once the colder weather hits. And I haven't even mentioned the other book in my head begging to be let out.

So in Summer, I generally feel extremely sluggish when it comes to writing and marketing and plugging my book. Am I alone here? I can't be the only one who wants to be outside all the time! It's a hard balance when you move into the days of deadlines and when the voices in your head want to be let out.

I have been doing some reading and I have to tell you about a book I read called Gameboard of the Gods, by Richelle Mead, one of my favorite authors. She's famous for her Vampire Academy books, which put Twilight to shame by the way. This is an adult book, though, a venture into dystopian and religion. Completely fell for the main character, Justin. I LOVE how Richelle Mead gives us these tortured, indulgent asses that we readers end up obsessing about. Anyone who has read VA or Bloodlines knows I'm talking about Adrian...sigh. Anyway, great book, different and unexpected despite some not so great reviews. Give it a try this summer while you're out at the lake or the beach or propped up in front of the A/C.

And I will get back on track soon, be more dedicated and get to writing. When I'm not writing...I miss it! Hope you all are having a great summer!
xoxo

As a writer, it's a moment of true triumph. It means the months of stress and plotting and living in this world you created is over. The End is bittersweet, celebratory, and oftentimes, elusive. That's usually my problem. I can get up to the last few chapters then...all my momentum will stall. Even if I have it outlined, planned and pictured in my head down to the last detail.

The first time I wrote 'the end', I felt a sense of accomplishment. It'd been YEARS with that first book, something I started for no reason other than to see if I could finally get rid of the people taking up residence in my head. I didn't have a freaking clue what I was doing. While the story does hold a special place in my heart, when I go back and read it now, I cringe. I've come a long way since then.

Now, I'm working with deadlines, release dates, and an understanding of how the book has to evolve. To be honest, it's a gestation period. As the story grows, or takes off on tangents I wasn't expecting, I've learned to roll with it. There's a reason my characters want to go there.

Writing, for me, isn't always technical or mechanical. I learn so much about myself depending on the book I'm writing. Take this one, the book I'm thisclose to finishing and my NaNoWriMo project. I've learned I can do dark and disturbing. Yesterday, I attacked a chapter I've put off for months, not sure I could 'go there'. Whipped it out with no pain at all. The book has taken on a lot more religious undertones than I expected too, dealing with evil and faith and how fully can a person really be forgiven by whatever God they believe in. Deeper meanings than I've touched on with previous works.

So, as I gear up to finish the final three chapters, I'm a little melancholy. I have an attachment to this book I haven't had for another. Will I be glad when I finally resolve the main character's journey? Heck yes! But he's become special to me, regardless of his dark past.

The funny part? This has been relatively easy to write. And I say relatively because I can cough out a chapter or two of this no problem. Add to a scene? Easy! Yet there my sequel for Happily Never After, my first published book, sits and I struggle with it. It frustrates me like crazy! I know a good story can't be forced and blah, blah, blah, but jeez! I WANT to finish the one I'm supposed to! Maybe how the NaNo book is out of the way, I'll be inspired!

Am I alone here? Do any of you fellow authors experience this? Why does 'the end' come so easily to some stories and float around so elusively for others? I hope to God I'm not the only one!

Any fellow authors out there can probably understand what I mean by just those two words in the blog title. In the process of writing, I find myself wondering certain things and the easiest way to resolve it is to pull up Google. This morning, I went from 'soul collectors' to 'evil voodoo loa (or entities)'. Often, they are searches I'll do at work and I can't help but laugh when I imagine the big bad corporation monitoring what I'm searching for. What would the government think when I'm looking at the layout of certain military bases? Or there was the Google of nuclear radiation and radius. The one about demons and their names.

I wish I could remember some of the subjects I've searched. At the time some of them were pretty questionable! Does it put me into a category of merely insane or the next Unibomber?

When I was writing Happily Never After I spent so much time buried in maps of Savannah, Georgia--a town I'd never been to. I had to find which direction Quinn would walk to get to certain places, where she'd catch the bus to the cemetery. It's one of my favorite parts of writing, the research. Which is kind of funny because I wasn't the biggest fan of school. Most of my bookshelves at home are packed with books on things like Egypt, haunted Savannah, ghost towns, a giant visual encyclopedia of the oceans, even a thick, detailed report on all that went wrong during Hurricane Katrina. It's made for some fascinating reading!

For instance, did you know that in a voodoo (or more accurately spelled as vodou) ceremony, when a person is possessed, it's often referred to as being mounted by the spirit. It took me a few minutes to figure that out. As you can imagine, I had a much different thing in mind! Yeah, my mind dove straight for the gutter, no questions asked.

So, tell me, especially you authors out there, what is the STRANGEST Google search you've ever done?

Once upon a time I thought that when I became a published author all I'd have to do is sit back and keep doing what I was supposed to be doing...creating new masterpieces and thinking life was amazing. Well, the reality is harder to accept. These days we authors are expected to be present, available, seen. Sounds awesome for an introvert like me! <---- Yeah, sarcasm. So after all the 'you really need to start a blog' conversations, I'm stepping out and hoping to entertain!

Being so new to the world of publishing and self promotion and blogging, I'll be sharing my adventures along the way and maybe we can all learn something.

I'm certainly not one of those overnight success stories. My book, Happily Never After, was shopped to literally every agent I could find who accpeted paranormal YA as well as a couple smaller publishers. Nada, nothing, except a pile of rejections. The very last person I had to try was a new publisher specializing in Young Adult novels, Fire and Ice. Not only did they love the book, they loved the story I wrote, not the story it'd be with a million and one changes. There are good things coming from us in the future, even the not-so-distant future. I've found a group of people I like, who support me and my so-called talent. What else could I ask for, really?

Sure, there were dreams of the big six publishers, of the day Penguin called and begged for the honor of putting my words in print, but in today's book universe it ain't gonna happen. My book is out there, more are coming, and if only a handful of people read them, fine! Of course each time I get in one of those five star reviews there is a part of me that doesn't trust it, doesn't believe it. I wonder how long it will take until I can?

Do I have a point? Good question. I think all I'm saying is if you're an author the key word to our craft is PERSEVERENCE. Don't quit after ten rejections, or fifty. The next letter you send out may just be the one, the new publisher willing to take a chance on you. You have to adjust your expectations, but the end result is the same...the stories you wrote, the ones that helped you through a hard time or transported you from a dull life, are out there giving the same experience to someone else.

And while I am starting out slow--book then reviews then blog--it's okay. I'll get there. I'll make a name one way or another, even if it is as 'that crappy blogger'. Next up, trying to find more ways to market Happily Never After. More blogs. More pictures of places I love, which tend to be mostly Montana. More books :)

Have patience with me as I get the hang of this blogging stuff. It hurts coming up with witty things to say! Just kidding. I'm looking forward to another adventure.