MY LOVE AFFAIR WITH KICK-ASSED HEROINES

Hey All!!!
So, I'm slowly making my way through my NA novel that is untitled while reading the Night Huntress Series on the side. In doing both of these things, I realized that I have a serious love affair with kick-assed heroines. Like, seriously serious. Like, put the BF on notice that he has major competition for my affections, serious.

I don't know what it is about a strong female who is more than capable of fighting her own battles and bringing men to their knees, while still being feminine and beautiful, that really appeals to me, but it does. Maybe it's the fact that I've always been shorter, and curvier, and in some ways quieter than my peers. Maybe it's the fact that I've always wanted to be the sort of girl that's able to stop traffic and who feels powerful. Who knows what it is, but it's a love that I see in all of my books now - from the ones I write to the ones I read.

I think that's why I absolutely LOVE Cat from the Night Huntress Series. She's not perfect, and makes more mistakes than you can count, but she's powerful and fierce and wonderfully loyal. And she can kick your butt without a moments hesitation. Cat's the kind of character I want to write. And secretly, a bit of the character I want to be. I'll just have to keep putting pen to paper until I get it right. That, and ramp up my martial arts training as well.

Happy reading and writing!

EVERNIGHT TEEN, TEEN READ WEEK SCAVENGER HUNT!!!

Hey All!!!
My publisher, Evernight Teen, is holding a Teen Read Week Scavenger Hunt on their website. You can find a link to the hunt here.

Myself and all of my fellow Evernight Teen authors are playing a game of hide and seek with our blogs in the form of a scavenger hunt. And we're giving away a brand-spanking-new Kindle Paperwhite eReader! The winner will be randomly chosen from all the correct entries.

Teen Read Week is a national adolescent literacy initiative created by the Young Adult Library Services Association. It began in 1998 and its purpose is to promote and encourage teens to be regular readers and library users.

 

Happy Reading and Writing!

FANTASTIC REVIEW OF THE SHINING

Hey All!!!
I recently read this fantastic review of Stephen King's The Shining on Cuddlebuggery and I couldn't not share it with you all.

Enjoy, and happy reading and writing!

I'M GOING TO BE A PUBLISHED AUTHOR!

Hey All!!!
So, you may have noticed the wonderfully fancy button that I've recently added to my blog. And I can confirm that I will be officially published with Evernight Teen! I'm not sure as to the date yet, but I'm excited for you all to be able to read Cursed in the very near future.

I'll be putting together a post with all the details in the next few days.

Until then...happy reading and writing!

MOOD MUSIC AND WRITING

Hey All!!!
Like many others, I recently watched the MTV VMA's. I gawked at the mess that is Miley Cyrus, was in awe of the wonder that is Justin Timberlake, and squealed like the girl that I'm not when *NSYNC came on stage for all of 30 seconds (and YES I would pay anything to go to a reunion concert). So, I was happily caught up the next morning when all of the post award show buzz on the Kidd Kraddick Show was going on. Or so I thought.

Smack in the middle of the round up, they started gushing over Bruno Mars performance and I felt a little lost. It wasn't that I didn't see it. I caught a bit of it after my evening shower. By that point the show had gone on a bit long for me and I'd already caught the section I'd really wanted to see (Justin/*NSYNC) so I was winding down for the night. I didn't really pay attention to the song Bruno Mars was singing, but remembered thinking it had a catchy tune. But when Kelly Raspberry went on about how it was an orgasmic experience, well, I HAD to figure out what all of the hype was about.

I immediately downloaded it right then and there in the car...and was completely blown away!

Gorilla by Bruno Mars is gritty, raw, sensual, and completely awesome! And it put my brain in such a perfect mood to write romance and sexy-time that I had a writing breakthrough that night.

That's the great thing about music and creating. The right song can completely shift your mood, bringing about feelings and emotions that you can use for your writing. And depending on your life experiences, the music and words can even draw upon the familiar emotions you felt long ago.

Lately as I've been writing, I've been able to evoke all of those hot and lusty feelings of the initial attraction one can have for a potential love interest - and I believe it's made my first few chapters of my new NA story even better!

How does music effect your reading and writing experience? Are you someone who likes complete silence when you throw yourself into a tale or writing? Or do you like to have a little mood music to guide your way?

Happy reading and writing!

THE DRAW OF ROMANCE NOVELS

Hey All!!!
So, I've got a confession to make. I've developed a serious taste for romance novels. Paranormal Romance to be precise.

And when I say taste, what I really mean is a totally-bad-for-you, call-the-doctor-because-I'm-going-to-need-help-really-soon addiction for the stuff.

I don't know what happened. I was doing my YA and NA reading thing, when I suddenly got a taste for a bit more sexy-time. I picked up one - and I do mean one - novel with vampires and hot, hot, hotness between the pages...and became hooked.

I can't put them down. And I mean that. I've tried. Well, maybe I haven't tried hard enough.

So, I'll be adding some of those books into the reviews I'm working on for this week. The series I'm hooked on, if you're interested, is the Black Dagger Brotherhood Series. Not sure how J.R. Ward does it, but she completely grabs you with this intricate world she's built. The voice, the characters, the stories are all fantastic. And if you like sexy-time, you'll get plenty of that. A vividly hot plethora of sexy-time. The differing points of view don't even bother me. Well, except for the bad guys...I could be completely okay without having them in my head.

In other news, I'm in heavy editing mode as well. After 2.5 weeks of illness, I finally feel well enough to do some actual writing work! Hopefully the editor likes what I'm doing with the novel. I guess all there is to do is wait and see.

Happy reading and writing!

THE EVER ELUSIVE BAD BOY IN FICTION

Hey All!!!
Against my original mind, I decided to pick up Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire last week. When I first heard of this book I was pretty turned off by what was described to me as one seriously dysfunctional relationship. For me, when it comes to fiction for young people, I get a bit protective about what we thrust in front of them. With two very young nieces that I adore at home I want to make sure that anything we put in front of them promotes healthy and stable situations and relationships. What scared me about the reviews I saw was the fact that many felt the book glorified an abusive relationship.

So, I read through the first 2/3 of the book and skimmed through the rest...and am still not sure how I feel about it. Is the relationship between the two main characters a mess? Without a doubt! Did I enjoy the parts that I read? Absolutely! Will I let my nieces pick it up when they're of age? Hell no! (If I can stop them. If I can't, we'll at least have a very long talk about how this is NOT the type of relationship they should be having).

In thinking about this book for the past few days, I started focusing on how we glorify the "bad boy" in fiction and entertainment today. I wrote a short blog post on this before, but it still hits home for me.

Why are we so drawn as girls and women to the guys that are no good for us? Is it that thrill of the hunt - of possibly being the one exception to the rule for that bad boy? The hope of being the one person who will tame him. If that's the case, I'll quote the movie He's Just Not That Into You and state that there are no exceptions!

Or is it the thrill and excitement that comes with that situation?

I get it. For real, I do! I spent quite a bit of time with my own versions of the thrilling and exciting bad boy. You know the ones. They never commit. It feels great when it's good, but when it's bad...oh it's bad! It's like being on an emotional roller coaster where you're just hoping things level out eventually, when deep down, you know they never will.

Give me the stable and steady love of the good guy any day!

Now, I don't think we'll ever give up on that elusive bad boy in fiction...he's just too fun to play around with in our heads! But hopefully, one day, we'll see more of an emergence of the good guy actually finishing first in fiction. Besides, who said that the good guy can't be sexy and fun and thrilling? Ummmm, can we say Peeta in the Hunger Games!!!

For a nice list on the good guys of YA check out this post from Emily's Reading Room. It's an oldie, but a goodie. Two of my tops make her list!

Happy reading and writing!