Review: Before Now by, Cheryl McIntyre

Book Blurb

Park Reed is a bastard in every sense of the word. He hasn't always been this way. But after his heart was broken by the only girl he ever loved, being heartless gets him through the day and allows him to fill his nights with the nameless girls he has no intentions of seeing again. He now lives his life following his ever-growing list of “life lessons.”

Lucy Braden is everything Park is not. She’s sweet, caring, and an all-around nice person. She tries to follow Lucy's Rules to Live By everyday.

When Park moves in with Jessie, which happens to be the floor below Lucy, Jessie's one stipulation: Lucy is off limits to Park. The problem with that is Lucy is determined to be a good friend to Park and see past the drinking and random girls to find the man beneath it all. The other problem: Park follows his own rules.

My Review:

Fair warning: This book was the second in a series, but about side characters. I didn't read book one. What can I say, I'm a rule breaker. I don't think it mattered, but maybe I'm completely wrong, maybe it made all the difference.

OH, this is going to be a mess.
Let's start with the easy:

• The writing: 5 Stars! I loved being in Park's head. And Lucy wasn't bad either. I liked the author's style. Period.

Now for the not so clear:

• Story Line: Started off 4 stars, but then dropped to 2. I think a novella would have sufficed for this couple. The last part didn't grow the characters; I'm done reading once they are grown.
• AND it included things I hate but don't want to spoil the story. Just know they are really in love at 19 and 20 and are prepared to spend forever together.... I am teaching my children to not get married till they are 30. Damn, was that too much? Did I give it away?

Would I recommend you read this story... Nope. BUT I will be reading future books by this author, and possibly even part 1 of this series, because the writing style is great!

HAVE FUN

Collide, by Gail McHugh

 

My review: 4 crazy stars  (out of 5)

Crazy.

They are all freaking crazy.

No one was innocent. I've never read a book where I've been completely repulsed by all the characters in the story.

Maybe I'm exaggerating. Maybe. But I just finished this book, like, 30 seconds ago and am still trying to wipe away the bad after taste.

Emily Cooper

Emily moves to New York, on her boyfriends dime, but lives with her friend Olivia (who hates Emily's boyfriend and always tells him so, makes for very awkward situations). But Emily soon meets Gavin and they have an insta connection. Wouldn't you know it though, Gavin and Emily's boyfriend (Dillon) are friends.

Gavin Blake

                                  

From there things get worse. Emily gets engaged to Dillon. Gavin and her continue an affair, that all their friends know about, except Dillon. Dillon's not completely innocent, he seems to be having his own affair, that everyone knows about except Emily. But two wrongs don't make a right.

As you can see the book is one big MESS.

But I loved the craziness of it and will be reading the sequel to see what these low moral characters will do.

Hopefully Emily will grow a pair and just go out on her own for a while. Chick has some major issues!

Check me out on goodreads. Add me as a friend please!

 

 

HAVE FUN!

 

 

Three birds with one post!

1. Inspiration for the day:

I'm trying, so I at least can at least say I did. I have queried 10 agents so far, but i'm still unsure of my pitch so I'm going to let it percolate in my head for a couple of days and rework it before querying further.

2. A great blog with great books to read, but also resources for authors (or wannabe's like me)
                          NA Alley - All about New Adult books!

3. A sneak peak at some of my book:  This is from early on in the book

My head felt impossibly heavy and pounded as every heart beat squeezed more blood into it. I tried opening one eye and then the other. The muted light creeping through the blinds was dim enough to be tolerable.

The memories from last night hit me like a brick in the face, causing me to groan and bury my head in the closest pillow. The sudden realization that it was not my pillow had the opposite effect, I quickly sat up.

OH SNAP! Someone had a rough night or morning.

HAVE FUN!

Free and Awsome... I'll be there

Baltimore Book Festival


There will be publishers there accepting pitches!


Here's the info:

Dates
September 27, 28 and 29, 2013

Hours
Friday and Saturday, 12-8pm and Sunday, 12-7pm

Location
Baltimore, Maryland, in historic and picturesque Mount Vernon Place

The closest landmark is The Walters Art Museum, located at 600 North Charles Street, 21201.

Admission
The Baltimore Book Festival is 100% FREE and open to the public.


* Did you see that it's free?*

I'm very interested in : The Maryland Romance writers stage

"Three days of craft discussions, author readings, and hands-on how-to advice from some of the top authors in romantic fiction, the bestselling commercial fiction."


Now I have to go practice my pitch!

HAVE FUN!

Everyones still acting so... NORMAL

AHHHHHH  I am exploding!

People, other than the ones in my imagination, have read my book.

AND

THEY LOVE IT

OK, to be transparent, I've only had 2 readers so far. But it is out there now and I have several more people who will provide feed back.

Its great that they like my book, but that's not really the point right now (Actually its the best thing ever. I love that others love my story). BUT I am just freaking out that people have read it. period.

How has the world not exploded.

Anyways, I guess this is what happens when you face your fear.. it becomes a little less scary and a little more normal.

Except.. Family can still NOT read my book. Not yet anyways. (my heart just skipped a beat thinking about it.)

 

HAVE FUN!!!

I was not expecting the book to go there.

I'm having issue with my synopsis. I have tweaked it a little, here is the newest version:

Kate has always gone with the flow, a necessity of her nomadic lifestyle with her mother, but at 20, she’s determined this move will be her last. 

When they arrive in Los Angeles, Kate learns her mother has been hiding secrets; the revelations throw them into a fast world of wealth, privilege, and lies. Nothing is as it seems and betrayals keep crashing around Kate, threatening to drown her. She can no longer remain passive.  Not knowing who to trust, Kate attempts to build relationships and a life of her own, while protecting her heart.  

Carly grew up in foster care, with only herself to rely on. She tried to give her daughter, Kate, a better life while seeking her own happy ending. When given the opportunity to return to Los Angeles Carly takes it, confident this is the move that will change everything for her and Kate.  Can she revisit the past and change it?

So what's the problem? That is only the beginning of the story. Because of the twists and turns the romances in the book take I have omitted them, but its romance that would draw the readers in. At least the readers that would most like this book. So how can I add them to the synopsis?


Hmm... I'll keep thinking.

HAVE FUN!

It has a name... no, not really.

My book possibly has a name:             It Goes On     or     For Me      or       Parts of Me

I am working on the synopsis. The mini one for the query letter and also the 5 page one for publishers.

Another thing I've done: I have Beta Readers. I used some friends that like to read (you know to boost my ego) and I have two strangers from Goodreads that also have blogs. They could be reading as I type. I think I will go throw up now.

Have Fun!

I am on a roll!

I AM HAPPY!

 I Accomplished goal number 2:  I condensed my book to a reasonable 105,000 words from 118, 000


YAY!

Now I have to clear my mind (going to watch The Great Gatsby) and then revisit the book and read it from start to end, but it's hard to look at it with fresh eyes.

Next step: I need a beta reader! or several Beta Readers.

Off to Goodreads I go. - in case you don't know that's a site all about books (and they have beta readers)! and if you didn't know that then you need to stop reading this and go there now. Right now.

 

 

Have Fun!

I Flippin Did It!

I WROTE A BOOK!

I did. No for real this time, I wrote a book. I finished the last word

Nobody's read it yet, and I am  going to have to face that fear soon. But today I am celebrating and working.

The problem: My book is too long. 118,532 words, is about 13,532 words too long.  At least if I want to be published, and I do. I'm terrified of family reading my book, but I would LOVE the general public to read it.

So my new goal: Cut down some scenes. Get the book into the 90,000- 105,000 word range.

Deadline? I think I can rock that by tomorrow. I have this crazy, awesome, momentum going right now and I'm taking advantage of it.


Planning ahead: Here's an awesome sites I came across for query information and general helpful tips:

Query tracker Blog - Even as I was linking this blog they posted a new article that I had to read.



Step 1: Write book: BIG FAT CHECK
Step 2: Edit book to acceptable length (need to cut out 13,532 words)

HAVE FUN!

,

I Judge The Cover!

When I'm suppose to be doing something (writing), I usually do something else (look for pre made covers)


Covers or thumbnails for E-Books are important. It's what draws the reader in, that and the title and blurb (which will be a future post).  We, authors, have three options:

1. Create a cover yourself.  I'm not doing that,  I only have 2 choices.
2. Hire a designer
3. Purchase a premade design

Here are some designers I have come across with pre made covers:

•  Paper and Sage - $45- 90.00 I'm loving these right now!
• Mayhem Cover Creations - $65.00 very few, but beautiful
• Cover it designs - design $90.00 + cost of stock photos. Premade cover $ 60.00 (prices include facebook  and twitter covers.)
• Fostering-success - $99  great selection
• Damonza - $195 more pricey, but has done covers for best sellers!
• Quirky gurl - $25 Definitely better then other cheap covers I have seen, she can throw down with the expensive team.
• Beetiful Pre- designed Covers - $165.00
• Adopt a Cover - 40 euro, I don't know what that is in $. But  I would buy one of those covers if my heroin was blonde...
• Aeternum designs - $75-99 for Ebook cover or $199 for ebook cover, full cover, and 3d design.
• Bookin it Designs - $75.00 - mostly all sold, but I can see why. Waiting for more covers.
• Phycel Designs- $60-120, Has series covers as well.
• Cheeky Covers- $25.00- 35.00- really good for a low price!

More to come ;)

Lets Not Overreact!

I am adjusting my goal... you know the one.

I think I was suppose to finish my book today, well I didn't. So now I am giving myself till Aug 9. 8 more days.

I have to go back to work on the 19th, so it has to be done then, but I hope to spend that last week sending out manuscripts to agents and researching self publishing.

Ok so lets look at what happened for a second.

1. I went camping and to the beach. So basically I let life interfere. If I didn't do those things the book would be done. 
2.  But also a kinda cool thing interfered, inspiration. I realized some of my minor characters had this motivation that didn't match their actions in the beginning of the story. SO I've been adjusting that.

Here's my quote for the day:

 

 

I have to say ^ that has been the best thing about writing. I feel like I am doing what I LOVE and it has made all the difference in my joy and contentment.

 

So back to it:

Still on step 1: Write book (  8 day's left, serious this time.)

Word count: 97, 771( Still revising and cutting past scenes, so I'm not sure how many words total)

HAVE FUN!