Vacation Reads Giveaway Hop: Winners Announced

At this leg of the giveaway hop, you can enter to win one of three ebooks of Bound! Here's a few details about the book:

After her mother dies, Elowyn Challis would do anything to bury the pain, but being shipped off to boarding school isn't what she had in mind. Things could be worse. Wyn finds a place for herself in the academy and living in the capital is just sparkling. But under it all, her mother's death still haunts her. Then Wyn discovers a secret that changes everything she believes: the bedtime stories her mother told her as a child are real, the faerie realm exists, and she is the Binder—the one mortal on earth with the power to seal the gate to Fae. It's a power Wyn's not sure she wants or can even wield. But she must confront her nightmares and her grief, or two worlds will be torn apart.

Just enter using the rafflecopter form below. Also be sure to check out the linky list after the form for some other great book blogs and prizes. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

LDS Authors Giveaway Hop: Winners Announced

Thanks to The Book Bug and I Am a Reader, Not a Writer for hosting. Check out the linky below the rafflecopter form for the list of other blogs participating. There are some great blogs and great prizes. But the greatest prize of all?

Enter to win a signed paperback (US only) or an ebook (Int) of Bound.

Good News

Bound has shipped to all the other ebook retailers Smashwords distributes to (Apple iBookstore, B&N, Diesel, Kobo, etc.) so if you've been waiting for it to reach those shelves, be on the lookout. It usually takes these retailers a week or two to get the data up, so it should be any day now!

In the meantime, The Reaping update: I've written over 50,000 words. If that doesn't have a lot of context for you (like my husband said, "I don't know what that means"), The Burn was about 61,000 words. The Reaping is definitely going to be longer. As I'm growing as a writer, I'm developing a better sense of what needs to be developed more and what needs to be cut. The Reaping definitely has a fuller story, and I'm not even done with the first draft yet! There are exciting things still to come for Terra.

Showers of Books Giveaway Hop: Winners Announced

Welcome to the first giveaway hop I'm participating in! I love giveaway hops, and I hope you'll enjoy the ride. Thanks to One a Day YA and I Am a Reader, Not a Writer for hosting.

Enter to win a signed paperback of Bound (US only) or one of 3 ebooks of Bound (open internationally).

The first rafflecopter form is for the paperback. Scroll down for the ebook giveaway.

Bound...A Week Early!

So Bound is now out there! If you've been waiting, you can now get it. But a week early? So the story goes like this...

Hubby: You've had it ready for two weeks now. What are you waiting for?

Me: The release date.

Hubby: Really? Some random date even though it's ready?

Me: Yes...

Hubby: Why?

Me: Umm...

Hubby: Just release it!

Me: Okay. (His logic was overwhelming.)

So I guess, um, early April Fool's? :)

It's available as an ebook through both Smashwords and Amazon. It's available as a paperback through Amazon and CreateSpace. It will be available through other ebook retailers in a few weeks. Check the Books tab for availability. Enjoy and spread the word!

Bound: The First Chapter

Bound will be released in just a few days, and if you just can't wait any longer, you can read the first chapter. I've loved creating this book. After writing The Burn, I just needed something fun to work on. Yes, I liked writing The Burn, but it's definitely not what I would call a jolly story. Bound just made me happy every time I worked on it.

Enjoy, and come back on release day!

Read the first chapter of Bound.

Only 13 More Days until Bound!

I'm counting down the days, and it's almost here. The official release for Bound will be April 1st!

Yes, that is all. I'm just excited about it :)

What It's All About

For those of you curious about Bound, here's the synopsis. Only a few more weeks!

After her mother dies, Elowyn Challis would do anything to bury the pain, but being shipped off to boarding school isn't what she had in mind. Things could be worse. Wyn finds a place for herself in the academy and living in the capital is just sparkling. But under it all, her mother's death still haunts her. Then Wyn discovers a secret that changes everything she believes: the bedtime stories her mother told her as a child are real, the faerie realm exists, and she is the Binder—the one mortal on earth with the power to seal the gate to Fae. It's a power Wyn's not sure she wants or can even wield. But she must confront her nightmares and her grief, or two worlds will be torn apart.

Are You Ready to Be Bound?

Why hello, gorgeous. So many thoughts come to mind. Just a few:

"How do I love thee? Let me count the ways..."
"A thing of beauty is a joy forever."
"I'm just spellbound."

Ha ha. Okay, stupid joke, but seriously, thanks to Jen Foxley for an absolutely stunning cover. Every time I look at it, I just think how perfect it is. And once you read the book, you'll understand how perfect it is, too.

You Might Think I'm Weird, But I Love Copy Editing

I'm deep in the midst of copy editing Bound. I've done the drafting, the revising, the stewing, the plotting, the pondering, the rewriting, the pulling-my-hair-trying-to-figure-out-how-to-make-it-better stuff. Now I'm just editing. Can I say that I love it?

I got an BA in English, with an emphasis in writing and editing. I worked for five years as a writer and editor at an educational software company, and you know what? One of my favorite parts of each of those was the proofreading/copy editing/nitpicking aspect. Though when I was still in school, I admit I had no clue what I was doing when it came to actually editing. Sure I could spout rules, but I'm convinced editing isn't something you can be taught. It comes with lots and lots of practice.

I'm a little over halfway done copy editing Bound, and then I'll get to go back in and make all those changes to the soft copy. (I cannot proofread on the computer to save my life. I have to print it out and let my red pen bleed on the paper.) And I get an immense sense of satisfaction seeing all those little red marks dancing all over the pages.

A Sneak Peek

For me. I guess I should start off with that. Sorry if I got any hopes up :)

I just got the first concept for the Bound cover, and I will say it's gorgeous. My graphic designer, Jen Foxley, created something that made me smile. Not too much more I can ask for than that! We'll probably have a couple revisions back and forth for the next week, but as soon as the final is ready, then you'll be the first to see. Well, my husband and kiddos will be the first. Then you.

And in other Bound news, I'll be finishing up my rewrites today. And there was much rejoicing! But not too much, because then I'll send it off to my beta reader again and see what she has to say. And then there will be edits. Many edits. And then formatting. There's still a lot of work to do. But I love it.

Happy New Year

I hope everyone had a safe and happy holiday. I have. I'm exhausted now. From being with family, eating gobs of food with family, running around the park with the kids just about every day, going to the museum, eating more hand-dipped chocolates (my mother-in-law's specialty--a blessing and a curse!), watching football, eating more treats, and just having a good time, I'm tired to the bones.

And now I get to make new goals for the year. I need to go running more. My hips and rear demand it. I want to be a better wife and mother. And I want to write. Golly, do I want to write. I'm going to finish Bound (I'll be finishing up the current draft within the next week. Then we'll see where I stand on it.) I need to write and finish The Reaping. And I have ideas tossing around in my head for a fun, decidedly paranormal series that I've got the itch for. It'll be a good year.

Blogging Blahs

So I've been feeling just a little "eh" about my blog lately. I realize the last few posts have just been redirects to other blogs I've been featured on. And I'd like to thank those fabulous bloggers for not only getting the word out about my books, but also giving me a few posts in the process.

I was thinking today about why in the world I've had zero inspiration for what to blog about, and you know what? I think I figured it out. It's because I'm completely immersed in Bound right now.

I got my edits back a few weeks ago, and I've been working hard to get them done. But for me, rewrites require a lot more brain power than writing the first draft. I know I've talking about rewrites before, but I'll say it again, they're a doozy. But don't mistake me, I'm not complaining, and I'm having a lot of fun tightening up certain aspects of the story and expounding on others. Just generally figuring out what works and what doesn't, you know?

And it's mentally exhausting. After working on them for an hour or two, I find myself going (with my eyes slightly glazed over), "What in the world am I going to write about now?" And the blog slides quickly away to the back-burner. Where it, you know, gets burned because you forget about whatever is cooking on the stove behind the great big stock pot.

So how's this for a blog post? A sampling of the bad metaphors I create after I've been devoting my intellect and creativity to rewriting. But can I say one more thing? I love Bound. Truly. I love the story and I love the characters, and I'm definitely not sick of it yet. Which is always a good sign.

Doing the Rewrite Dance

I'll be getting feedback from my beta reader any minute now, which means I'm getting ready to work on Bound rewrites. I may have mentioned before that I love rewrites. Most of you out there who have written anything might call me a sadist. Most people hate rewrites. It's work, it's not fun, it's so much easier to just vomit on the page (aka writing the first draft).

That's all true, I'll admit it.

It is work. There are times when I look at my work and say, "What was I thinking?" But still I love it. Even as I was writing the first draft of Bound, I had changes and additions I wanted to incorporate. Changes like:

• Boring scene! Ack! Boring scene. Help it, please!
• Add a little more romance between Wyn and Tom. Yup, the cute boy is named Tom. And no, I'm not giving away more details than that. But this story is definitely more romantic than my previous two novels have been. It just really fit the mood. And Wyn just really needed a nice guy in her life.
• Add more details of x (you remember jr. high algebra when you always solved for x?) so that a + x = b. Don't worry, there's no math involved, but it's that whole I'm-not-giving-away-details thing. But the point of the equation was to show that looking at the entire story allowed me to see what was missing so I could fill in more details early on. You know, the whole foreshadowing thing.

While I was writing the first draft, I didn't let those ideas slow me down. I just made a note of it and then plunged ahead until everything was on the page. Then when I was done with the first draft, I took a deep breath, enjoyed my sense of accomplishment for two minutes, and then proceeded to dive into my rewrites.

I guess I like rewrites so much because it's like a puzzle. I get that from my grandma. She can sit and work on jigsaw puzzles for hours. Doing that makes my eyes go buggy, but it's the same idea. Take the little pieces, decide how they fit and then make a big, beautiful picture.