TRY!

You know ... whether it is writing, exercising, achieving any other goal, or overcoming a trial, we all have to TRY. I am a Pink fan, and her performance at the 2014 Grammys was impressive. She didn't even look out of breath by the end of the six minute performance.

Here's the video in case you missed it (worth viewing!):

Book Review: FANGIRL

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Oh. My. Gosh. FANGIRL was the best book I've read in a long, long time. That is saying a lot considering I tend to be a bigger fan of scary thrillers ... and FANGIRL was a contemporary coming of age story.

The writing was excellent. (I even looked past the over use of those three little dots ... because the story totally sucked me in.)

The only thing I did not like about this story (and in the end, I couldn't ding a single star for it because the greatness outweighed this one detail): the book is peppered with the F-word, a lot. Most of it is in the first half of the book. And I found it more jarring in this story, because it reads like a young adult book.

However, this is NOT a YA book.

The main character, Cath, is attending her first year of college with her twin sister, but her sister wants to cut all ties and go her own way. Cath has a hard time finding her way at first and has a hard time finding the words to connect with the people around her, which is ironic because she can easily find the words to write a profuse amount of fan fiction for her favorite young magician series. Hmm. Yes, the author does a great job of nesting Cath's fan fiction within the story about Cath. Then when Cath turns in a piece of her fan fiction for her fiction writing class, her professor tells her it's plagiarism. Ruh. Roh. Then to make matters worse, her writing partner from the same class claims some of her writing as his own. Cath doubts her ability to ever become a writer, and she doubts her ability to ever be able to be her own person. But it not even just about her sister ditching her, or her settling into college life, or making new friends, it's also about her father's struggle with mental stability and her mother's abandonment and boyfriends and roommates and first loves ... sigh ... SUCH A GREAT BOOK. I didn't want it to end. I kept checking to see how many pages were left, and I tried to read slower to make it last longer, but at the same time I had to read faster to find out how it would end.

Granted, I would have loved a few more pages, a few more details, a few more closures, but I still enjoyed the ending.

My typical notes about sex, violence, and language: Even though this book is about college life, and parties were represented, there were no sex scenes. Some of the fan fiction sections have minor violence and a budding romance between two boys, but nothing significant happens within the writing. Other than the F-word, this is a very "clean" story.

This is the first book I've read by Rainbow Rowell, and I can hardly wait to read the rest of her books.



View all my reviews

Top 10 Tips for Surviving Relationship with a Writer

Martin Luther King, Jr.

"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character".

Martin Luther King, Jr.

 

 

Let's take time to celebrate the content of each other's character.

:)

A Writer's Life

Book Review: UNACCOMPAINED MINOR

Unaccompanied Minor by Hollis Gillespie

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


LOVED IT. I really loved it.

One of my favorite things about books published by Merit Press is that they are not your typical YA. Every book I've read from them has had some sort of unique factor to it. And UNACCOMPANIED MINOR is no exception! It was a breath of fresh air!

The voice of the main character was strong and full of personality from the very beginning. She made me smile throughout most of the book - such a ball of fire.

At first I thought the beginning of the book gave away the ending, but I was wrong. The plotline is non-linear, meaning things don't exactly happen in order. So that kept me on my toes and confused me a couple of times, because I'm used to the typical linear plotlines, but once I got into it I was able to follow along. So don't give up when you see the first few pages are unusual.

Several plot twists caught me by surprise (a good thing) and even made me gasp out loud. I couldn't believe what had happened! Ack. But that made me just want to keep reading to find out what would happen next.

My only pet peeve with the book was the overuse (and maybe even some misuse) of ellipses (you know ... those little dots).

I was a little confused with the final wrap-up, but overall the book was fantastic, and I highly recommend it.

There was no bad language, no sex, but there was minor violence (nothing too much for teenagers).

I look forward to reading more stories by this author and definitely by Merit Press.



View all my reviews

Ellipses

(This post was originally published on 4/5/12. I'm revisiting the topic because I'm currently reading a book that uses a LOT of ellipses. I'll post the review of the book soon; until then, let's brush up on our knowledge of punctuation.)

 

 

That's right ... you love them ... so do I! ...

But what is the correct way to use them? A space before? A space after? No spaces? Only three dots? As many dots as you please?

From the University of South Carolina's Editorial Guide:

Ellipses
1) In general, treat an ellipsis as a three-letter word, constructed with three periods and a regular space on either side of the ellipsis, as shown here ( … ).

2) When the grammatical sense calls for a question mark, exclamation point, comma, or colon, the sequence is word, punctuation mark, regular space, ellipsis, e.g., “Will you come? …”

3) When material is deleted at the end of one paragraph and at the beginning of the one that follows, place an ellipsis in both locations.

4) In writing a story, do not use ellipses at the beginning and end of direct quotes that form complete sentences.

“It has become evident to me that I no longer have a strong enough political base,” Nixon said.

not

“ … it has become evident to me that I no longer have a strong enough political base … ,” Nixon said.
---
And, from Grammar Girl:

Also, usually there is a space on each side of an ellipsis. The ellipsis is typically standing in for a word or a sentence, so just imagine that it's a word itself, and then it's easy to remember to put a space on each side.

If you're omitting something that comes after a complete sentence, meaning that your ellipsis has to follow a period, put the period at the end of the sentence just like you normally would, then type a space, and then type or insert your ellipsis. Again, you're treating the ellipsis as if it were a word: the first word of the next sentence. This will result in four dots in a row with spaces between each dot, but this is not a four-dot ellipsis—there's no such thing. It is a period followed by a regular three-dot ellipsis.
---

And yet, all over the web-o-sphere and throughout many novels, we'll find...with no spaces...before or after.
 
What do you think?
 
Should an ellipsis have a space before and after it?

Book Review: EMBRACE

Embrace by Cherie Colyer

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I enjoyed reading this book. The writing was clean and smooth, and I looked forward to returning to it each time I left it.

I don't normally read Paranormal Romance, but I enjoyed this story. If you're a fan of Twilight, I'm sure you'll enjoy EMBRACE. There are NO vampires, but there are similar themes as found in the Twilight series.

Here's what I loved about the book:
1. The writing was smooth.
2. The plot kept me guessing. I was pretty sure I'd figured out who the "bad guy" was, but I didn't know for sure until the climax.
3. Very clean. No sex (lots of kissing). No swearing. No violence (except for a tiny bit in the climax).
4. I'm excited that there's a sequel. I look forward to reading it!

The only reasons I didn't give it five stars were:
1. The main characters kissed too soon for me (but keep in mind, I'm not a "romance" kind of girl).
2. A lot of the events in the book happened to secondary characters rather than to the main character.
3. The climax wasn't scary enough for me (but keep in mind, I read a lot of Dean Koontz ... so I don't scare very easily).

If you love the young adult genre, and more importantly paranormal romance, you'll love this book.

What are you reading this weekend?



View all my reviews

IWSG: A Dark Secret Revealed

According to the Insecure Writer's Support Group website: "It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds!"

http://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/p/iwsg-sign-up.html

So is there a better way or day to reveal a dark secret about myself?

Here's a visual clue about my secret:

But to find out what the secret is ... you'll need to check out my post over at the Darkly Delicious YA Blog today.

http://darklydeliciousya.blogspot.com/

JUST CLICK HERE  ... but be sure to come back and share what your dark secret is ... WHAT? you think you don't have one? Sure you do. We all do.


Share.

Because IWSG is a "safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds."

:)

LUSH = Soft Soles

Do you make New Year's Resolutions?

I don't.

For a gazillion reasons.

But ... I would like to take better care of my feet. (ha ... for reals) And last summer a friend introduced me to LUSH products. If you've never heard of them and if you've never been inside of one of their stores ... you are missing out on an unique experience.

We went to their store in Salt Lake City, and we sat at the kitchen table in the middle of the store. While we received wonderful hand massages, using their scrubs, sugars, and cleansers, another customer sat at the other end of the table and had her hair colored with henna. An employee applied it for her, and she left with it on her head (honestly, it looked like a pile of cow poo).

As the daughter of a hair dresser, I asked how they could color someone's hair without a cosmetology license. I can't remember their answer, but it seemed reasonable. And now I realize I've digressed with my story ... but the cow-poo-looking henna was distracting, and I did ask the customer if she'd done it before. She said yes, and that she absolutely loved the results. She said she'd go home and wait for a few hours before washing it out and that the color was always amazing. Hmm. Seemed too risky for me, but there are great "after" pictures all over the internet if you're curious!

Anyhow ... back to the point of my story: My hands felt great! I asked what kind of products they had for feet, and I fell in love with the products I took home that day. They worked like a charm on my dry, cracked, and calloused soles.

Last week, I took some of my Christmas gift money (thanks to my generous in-laws) and bought more.

Here's what I do:

1. Apply the VOLCANO mask to my feet.

2. Wrap my feet in plastic wrap and wait twenty minutes. Read a book. Relax.

3. Remove the wrap and then sit on the side of tub or carefully step into the shower.

4. Break off a quarter of the STEPPING STONE (only a quarter, because it fizzes and dissolves in water, which is really cool) and scrub it against feet to remove and clean off the VOLCANO. This cleans off the rough and dry skin from feet. Rinse. Dry.

5. Lather feet in LEMONY FLUTTER, stick feet into softest socks, and go to bed for the night. Then wake up with softer soles!

Now, disclaimer here: the Lemony Flutter is actually intended for cuticle care, but because my feet were so bad, the sales person recommended I use this on my feet, and I LOVE IT! If your feet aren't actually that dry, maybe you should use Fair Trade Foot Lotion from Lush instead. :)

And on Lush's website, their foot-care instructions are slightly different than mine. So check it out: CLICK HERE and then scroll down and decide for yourself, but with either method these Lush products are AWESOME!!

I hope 2014 brings you some soft soles. ;)

How about you?
Do you have a favorite foot care product?

Book Review: ALLEGIANT

Allegiant by Veronica Roth

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Overall, I really enjoyed the book and the series, but I had two issues with ALLEGIANT.

First, I had a really hard time getting into this book because it's written in present tense. I did not lower my rating of the book for this since it's my issue, and Roth did a GREAT job of writing in present tense. I still struggled reading it, because I was hyper-aware of the grammar rather than the story.

Second, I did not enjoy the two points of view. I constantly had to flip back to the beginning of the chapter to see if it was his or her perspective. And I felt like it really weakened Four's character.

I appreciated Roth's gutsy ending. Sometimes in the young adult genre, authors stick to a certain code of rules. So kudos to Roth for stepping outside the box a bit. I found myself completely satisfied with the ending.

I look forward to reading more from Roth in the future.



View all my reviews

Exciting Books to Read in 2014

Curl up with today's hottest YA novels!

One of the things I love about winter is I have more time to read, and with my eReader, I know new books are just a click away. So this winter pour yourself a warm beverage, snuggle up with your favorite eReader, and get lost in a new story. 

 .99 cents

Read EMBRACE today: Amazon | Barnes&Noble

How for would you go to save the people you love? 

Madison is familiar enough with change, and she hates everything about it. Change took her long-term boyfriend away from her. It caused one of her friends to suddenly hate her. It’s responsible for the death of a local along with a host of other mysterious happenings. But when Madison meets a hot new guy, she thinks her luck is about to improve.

Madison is instantly drawn to the handsome and intriguing Isaac Addington. She quickly realizes he’s a guy harboring a secret, but she’s willing to risk the unknown to be with him.

Her world really spins out of control, however, when her best friend becomes delusional, seeing things that aren’t there and desperately trying to escape their evil. When the doctors can’t find the answers, Madison seeks her own.

Nothing can prepare her for what she is about to discover.

Read REAPING ME SOFTLY today: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Ever since a near-death-experience on the operating table, seventeen-year-old Arianne Wilson can see dead people. Just as she’s learned to accept her new-found talents, she discovers that the boy she’s had a crush on since freshman year, Niko Clark, is a Reaper.

At last they have something in common, but that doesn’t mean life is getting any easier. All while facing merciless bullying from the most powerful girl in school, Arianne’s world is turned upside down after Niko accidentally reaps the soul of someone she loves. This sends them both into a spiral that threatens to end Arianne’s life. But will Niko break his own Reaper’s code to save her? And what would the consequences be if he did?

 $2.99

Read A SHIMMER OF ANGELS today: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Sixteen-year-old Rayna sees angels, and has the medication and weekly therapy sessions to prove it. Now, in remission, Rayna starts fresh at a new school, lands a new job, and desperately tries for normalcy. She ignores signs that she may be slipping into the world she has tried so hard to climb out of. But these days, it’s more than just hallucinations that keep Rayna up at night. Students are dying, and she may be the only one who can stop it. Can she keep her job, her sanity, and her friends from dying at the hands of angels she can't admit to seeing?

Read EMBER today: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

When Candra Ember wakes up in hospital after a dangerous encounter with a red-haired woman, she is shocked to discover that seeing a winged boy wasn't her imagination. Candra is exposed to a world of rivalry and sacrifice she never knew existed, and the aftermath of a war to save humanity thousands of years ago. Soon she finds herself relentlessly stalked by Sebastian, a beautiful and arrogant Watcher Angel and romantically pursued by his darkly seductive rival, Draven. Ultimately, dubious about her own goodness, Candra’s very existence compromises a tentative peace in the city of Acheron.

Read HOLD TIGHT today: Amazon | Barnes&Noble

What’s one little spell?

When you’re new to magic, one spell can be the difference between getting what you want...and ruining the lives of everyone you love.

Sixteen-year-old Madison has just embraced her magical powers. The trick now is learning how to control them. She and her boyfriend -and fellow witch- can’t even enjoy a simple kiss without getting shocked when their powers collide. Instead of mastering her new skills, though, Madison is stuck watching her kid brother and doing chores.

But being a witch does have its benefits. With a simple spell, Madison instantly conjures the help she needs around the house. Or so she thinks. Her idea of “help” invites trouble of its own as a pair of dangerous yet enticing beings enter her life. When a classmate disappears soon afterwards, Madison discovers she's the next victim of a threat she's powerless to resist...and there’s nothing it won’t kill to make her surrender.

Caught in the crossfire between two dashing but deadly creatures, Madison must figure out which one to trust and how to rid her world of the other—before one of them destroys her and everyone she cares about.

Read IRIDESCENT (Ember Bk 2) today: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Candra Ember used to dream of saving the world one person at a time. She never expected to become an angelic weapon and the last hope in the battle against ultimate darkness.

Falling for a Nephilim wasn’t part of Sebastian’s plan. Distraction is something he can’t afford when his rival, Draven, wants what Sebastian has.

Lies, manipulation, and corruption are twisting the lives of the citizens in Acheron. The Arch is missing from Heaven, and a demon is intent on claiming the city. At a time they should be growing closer, grief and paranoia is driving Candra and Sebastian apart.

If the price of restoring the Watchers to Heaven is a human soul, who deserves to be saved?

Read JANUARY BLACK today: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Sixteen-year-old genius Matty Ducayn has never fit in on The Hill, an ordered place seriously lacking a sense of humor. After his school’s headmaster expels him for a small act of mischief, Matty’s future looks grim until King Hadrian comes to his rescue with a challenge: answer a question for a master’s diploma.

More than a second chance, this means freedom. Masters can choose where they work, a rarity among Regents, and the question is simple.

What was January Black?

It’s a ship. Everyone knows that. Hadrian rejects that answer, though, and Matty becomes compelled by curiosity and pride to solve the puzzle. When his search for an answer turns up long-buried state secrets, Matty’s journey becomes a collision course with a deadly royal decree. He’s been set up to fail, which forces him to choose. Run for his life with the challenge lost…or call the king’s bluff.

Read MY SISTER'S REAPER today: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
Sixteen-year-old Zadie’s first mistake was telling the boy she liked she could bring her dead sister back to life. Her second mistake was actually doing it.

When Zadie accidentally messes with the Reaper’s Rite that should have claimed her sister Mara, things go horribly wrong. Mara isn’t the same anymore—Zadie isn’t even sure she’s completely human. To top it off, a Reaper is determined to collect Mara's soul. Now Zadie must figure out how to defeat her sister’s Reaper or let Mara die … this time for good.

Read OPPRESSION today: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
Elyse knows what it means to keep a secret. She's been keeping secrets her whole life. Two, actually. First, that she ages five times slower than average people, so that while she looks eighteen years old, she's well over eighty. Second, that her blood has a mysterious power to heal. For Elyse, these things don't make her special. They make life dangerous. After the death of her parents, she's been careful to keep her secret as closely guarded as possible. Now, only one other person in the world knows about her age and ability. Or so she thinks. Elyse is not the only one keeping secrets. There are others like her all over the world, descendants of the very people the Greeks considered gods. She is one of them, and they have been waiting for her for a long time. Some are waiting for her to put an end to centuries of traditions that have oppressed their people under the guise of safeguarding them. Others are determined to keep her from doing just that. But for Elyse, the game is just beginning-and she's not entirely willing to play by their rules.

Read PRETTY DARK NOTHING today: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
It’s time to choose: Love or lies, faith or fear, darkness or destiny.

Seventeen-year-old Quinn hasn’t slept a full night in twenty-three days. She’s terrified of the demons that stalk her dreams, pull her into a deep dark nothingness and whisper hauntingly of her death. Exhausted, Quinn dozes off in the school hallway, and Aaron, an amnesiac with a psychic ability, accidentally enters her nightmare. If Quinn can learn to trust her heart, and Aaron can discover the secret locked away in his fragile memory, their combined power could banish the darkness back to the underworld for good. That is, unless the demons kill them first.

Read SHADES OF ATLANTIS today: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Since the death of their parents, Triona Pryor and her brother, Ben, have lived with their aunt and uncle in Camden, Maine. Now in her senior year of high school, Triona loves her family and friends, but she has always felt that she didn't quite fit in...in Camden, or anywhere else. Enter Caleb Wallace, the devilishly handsome man who has recently moved to Triona's small town. While their attraction to each other is instantaneous, it also proves to be dangerous...and deadly. When tragedy strikes, Triona flees to London for solace and to start her life anew. It's there she discovers from an unlikely source that her family has been keeping secrets from her - secrets about not only her birthright, but her ultimate destiny as well. Armed with this knowledge, Triona finds herself thrown into a whole new world and into a battle to save the lives of everyone she loves.

Read TASTE today: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

At Barinkoff Academy, there's only one rule: no students on campus after curfew. Phoenix McKay soon finds out why when she is left behind at sunset. A group calling themselves night students threaten to taste her flesh until she is saved by a mysterious, alluring boy. With his pale skin, dark eyes, and mesmerizing voice, Demitri is both irresistible and impenetrable. He warns her to stay away from his dangerous world of flesh eaters. Unfortunately, the gorgeous and playful Luka has other plans.

When Phoenix is caught between her physical and her emotional attraction, she becomes the keeper of a deadly secret that will rock the foundations of an ancient civilization living beneath Barinkoff Academy. Phoenix doesn’t realize until it is too late that the closer she gets to both Demitri and Luka the more she is plunging them all into a centuries old feud.

Read UNREAP MY HEART today: Kindle | Amazon

Only a villain can save the day.

During his thousand year banishment in the Nethers, Balthazar thought of nothing but taking over the Crossroads from Death.

On the day he puts his plans into action, Balthazar finds the Crossroads on lockdown. Death has been stabbed by Brianne’s Bitterness, a blade that slowly leaches him of his powers. In order to challenge Death for his seat and prevent utter chaos, Balthazar is forced into a mission to find the Redeemer, the only being capable of pulling out the blade from Death’s chest. The only person who can identify the Redeemer is a human girl in the Crossroads whose soul is still attached to her body.
Meeting Arianne Wilson pushes Balthazar’s patience to the limit. In a deal he makes with Death, he must protect Arianne during their journey through the Underverse using all the resources available to him. He soon realizes the one he needs to protect is himself. For as much harm as it inflicts on Balthazar's body, trekking through the Underverse with Arianne is proving more dangerous for his heart and soul.

Can the villain remain a villain when love gets in the way? 

Read UPRISING (Children of the Gods #2)  today: 

Amazon | Barnes & Noble
Elyse has done everything she can to protect her friends from The Council's reach. As long as they believe she's dead, she has time to rest and train for war. And war is inevitable.

When Kara arrives with the news that Anna and Chloe have been captured, Elyse is faced with the realization that no one is safe until The Council is stopped and Christoph is destroyed. She doesn't need a prophecy to tell her to lead an army. Christoph has done the one thing that ensures she'll fight to the death. He's threatened the people she loves.

It will take more than the words of an oracle to help them fight against the most powerful Descendant alive. To break The Council's oppression and rise up against a plot so many years in the making, Elyse will need to get dangerously close to her enemy. So close, in fact, she may not survive.

More great deals!

Read ASCENDANT today: Amazon | Barnes and Noble
When I was twelve, my mother disappeared. I was the first person to never find her. I’m sixteen now and she has never been found, alive or dead. I’m not the girl I should have been.

When Charlotte Stevens, bright but failing, is sent to stay at her mother’s childhood home in Somerset England her life is changed forever. While exploring the lavish family manor, Gaersum Aern, Charlotte discovers a stone puzzle box that contains a pentagram necklace and a note from her mother—clues to her family’s strange past and her mother’s disappearance. Charlotte must try to solve the puzzle box, decipher her mother’s old journals, and figure out who is working to derail her efforts—and why. The family manor contains many secrets and hidden histories, keys to the elegant mystery Charlotte called mom and hopefully, a trail to finding her.

Read PHANTOM TOUCH today: Kindle | Barnes & Noble
Bridget White just wants to be an average girl, but the car accident that killed her sister took away everything normal in Bridget’s life. Now she spends her days talking to unhappy ghosts and helping them move on to the afterlife. But dealing with death on a daily basis is too much for one girl to handle, so when she finds a way to get rid of her supernatural sight, she jumps at the chance.

There’s just one more job standing between her and normal. When a missing local girl turns up as a freshly murdered ghost, Bridget realizes she’s the only one who can find the killer. Worse still, he’s not done killing. Now Bridget may have to sacrifice her only chance at being normal to stop him from taking another innocent life.

Read SPEAK OF THE DEVIL today: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
What happens when falling in love and falling from grace collide?

High school junior Lily Tyler dies along with her two best friends in a car accident, but miraculously she comes back to life several minutes later. Unable to deal with her loss and her survivor’s guilt, she moves to her dad’s. While there trying to heal from this tragedy and come to terms with the event, she meets some people at her new school who are all too eager to help her. Struggling to fight her feelings for two of these strange new acquaintances, Luc and Mo, she finds out their true identities.

Lily must move on from the past, reconcile her feelings for Luc, and find a way to stop a divine war with the fallen angels, all while trying to pass the eleventh grade.

Read SON OF A MERMAID today: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
Shea MacNamara’s life just got complicated.

After a freak tornado devastates his Oklahoma farm, the fifteen-year-old orphan is whisked away to Cape Cod. Struggling to make sense of his new surroundings, he’s trying hard to deal with feelings of abandonment… and the emotions stirred by a girl he meets along the shore.

Kae belongs to an undersea world hidden from drylanders. The daughter of royal servants, she knows the planned marriage of her Princess to the foreign King should put an end to the war between the clans. But two things stand in the way of lasting peace: the ambitions of the foreign King’s regent, and rumors of the Princess’s bastard child.

Sparks fly when she meets Shea, but could the cute drylander really be the Son of a Mermaid?

Read STALKED BY DEATH (Bk2) today: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
Jodi knows that any slip-ups made by the Ophi--a special group of necromancers born under the 13th sign of the zodiac--will fall on her shoulders... and that Hades is just waiting for them to screw up so he can wipe out the Ophi line.

Unfortunately, Jodi has only convinced one Ophi to join her school: A hot guy named Chase who jeopardizes her relationship with Alex. Jodi loves Alex, but Chase can enhance her powers with just a touch—making her stronger than any Ophi has ever been.

Her mixed emotions send her powers surging out of control, and the dead start rising without her conscious summoning—exactly what Hades doesn't want! If she chooses Alex over Chase, she may lose the battle to Hades, leading the Ophi race to extinction. If she chooses Chase, she might be able to stop Hades for good… but lose everything else.

Jodi needs to figure things out fast--because death is stalking her at every turn.

Read TOUCH OF DEATH today: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
Jodi Marshall isn’t sure how she went from normal teenager to walking disaster. One minute she’s in her junior year of high school, spending time with her amazing boyfriend and her best friend. The next she’s being stalked by some guy no one seems to know.

After the stranger, Alex, reveals himself, Jodi learns he’s not a normal teenager and neither is she. With a kiss that kills and a touch that brings the dead back to life, Jodi discovers she’s part of a branch of necromancers born under the 13th sign of the zodiac, Ophiuchus. A branch of necromancers that are descendents of Medusa. A branch of necromancers with poisoned blood writhing in their veins.

Jodi’s deadly to the living and even more deadly to the deceased. She has to leave her old, normal life behind before she hurts the people she loves. As if that isn’t difficult enough, Jodi discovers she’s the chosen one who has to save the rest of her kind from perishing at the hands of Hades. If she can’t figure out how to control her power, history will repeat itself, and her race will become extinct.

Keep them coming, pre-order today:

Pre-order BURN OUT today: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
A futuristic blend of Beth Revis's Across the Universe and Lenore Appelhans's Level 2, Burn Out will satisfy the growing desire for science fiction with a thrilling story of survival, intrigue, and adventure.

Most people want to save the world; seventeen-year-old Tora Reynolds just wants to get the hell off of it. One of the last survivors in Earth's final years, Tora yearns to escape the wasteland her planet has become after the sun turns "red giant," but discovers her fellow survivors are even deadlier than the hostile environment.


Holed up in an underground shelter, Tora is alone--her brilliant scientist father murdered, her mother and sister burned to death. She dreams of living on a planet with oceans, plants, and animals. Unfortunately, the oceans dried out ages ago, the only plants are giant cacti with deadly spines, and her pet, Trigger, is a gun--one of the bio-energetic weapons her father created for the government before his conscience kicked in.


When family friend, Markus, arrives with mercenaries to take the weapons by force, Tora's fury turns to fear when government ships descend in an attempt to kill them all. She forges an unlikely alliance with Markus and his rag-tag group of raiders, including a smart but quiet soldier named James. Tora must quickly figure out who she can trust, as she must choose between saving herself by giving up the guns or honoring her father's request to save humanity from the most lethal weapons in existence.

Pre-order WANTED:  DEAD OR IN LOVE: Amazon

Impulsive high school senior Monroe Baker is on probation for a recent crime, but strives to stay out of trouble by working as a flapper at her father’s Roaring 20’s dinner show theater. When she cuts herself on one of the spent bullets from her father’s gangster memorabilia collection, she unwittingly awakens Bonnie Parker’s spirit, who begins speaking to Monroe from inside her head. 

Later that evening, Monroe shows the slugs to Jack, a boy she meets at a party. He unknowingly becomes infected by Clyde, who soon commits a crime using Jack’s body. The teens learn that they have less than twenty-four hours to ditch the criminals or they’ll share their bodies with the deadly outlaws indefinitely.