'From the Ashes' Blogfest and Cover Reveal!

I'm so excited to take part in Jessica McKendry's 'From the Ashes' blogfest and cover reveal today!!! Jess is an amazing and dedicated teenage author. She's been tenacious. Over the past year-plus that I have known her, I don't know that anyone has inspired me more in the craft of writing than this girl. She just keeps at it!!

And now, without further ado, here's the cover for her upcoming release!

I'm not sure how it all went wrong.

The concept was simple.

The Trials were made to test us. They were made to challenge our strengths; our bravery.

We were supposed to come out better.

Winning the Trials would make us Superior citizens.

It would bring us honor and demonstrate our loyalty to the Imperial Alliance. I knew exactly what I wanted.

Until I met him.

There was something about him. Something dark. If only I had known the danger it would put us in.

I thought I knew the risks.

But I never imagined the price we'd pay.

***

An insightful look at the good and bad that exist within us, McKendry's debut is a high-octane adventure that pushes the imagination to the limit as it lays bare the nature of self-reliance, self-confidence, and teamwork. Playing with the concepts of dark and light and how they affect our lives in multiple forms, her novel is a complex coming of age story that encapsulates the heroine's journey from student to leader. A dark tale of love and revenge, From the Ashes is a powerful reminder to think for yourself instead of blindly following what you've been taught to believe.

Snow

I went away for the holiday.
I came home to a world of white.

I hope you all had a lovely Yuletide. I'll write again in the new year. It's time to make your resolutions known.

Merry Solstice

It's the longest night of the year. The darkness has been creeping in, rising to it's fullest height. But tonight marks the turning point. The days will begin to be longer, fuller, brighter. Spring has rung the bell from far away. We'll wait for her return.

I have news for you

(9th century Irish)

I have news for you:

The stag bells, winter snows, summer has gone

Wind high and cold, the sun low, short its course

The sea running high.

Deep red the bracken; its shape is lost;

The wild goose has raised its accustomed cry,

cold has seized the birds' wings;

                                                      season of ice, this is my news

In honor of the solstice and the midwinter, I'm going to pick up Susan Cooper's "The Dark is Rising" series again. They're perfect for acknowledging the long dark of winter while looking ahead to the coming of the spring.

Thoughts and prayers

Just taking a moment to say to our family who read this blog that we're safe here and we love you all very much.

My thoughts and prayers go out to those who are suffering after the tragedy in Newtown today.

Gratuitous Puppy Post

I know I know... but my awesome dog, Tag, turns 4 today and I just can't believe he's grown up so much! If you can't tell, I love my dog. He's my child. He's amazing, smart, beautiful, and so well behaved.

We hike together, snuggle together, play ball and dance around the kitchen together. Seriously... I can't imagine a better pup for me.

So happy birthday, Tag. You'll get a big fat treat later and a present to shred into bits. I know you'll love it. I love you!

IWSG: Finishing a project

It's still Wednesday, right? Ha!

This is Insecure Writer's Support Group, a monthly group hosted by the ever amazing and talented Alex Cavanaugh. Anyone can join in any time, so please hop over to his blog and sign up! You won't regret it.

I'm totally jammin' out to old school hip hop right now... getting back to my roots... which is completely ridiculous, because I'm Scotch-Irish. Hip hop exists nowhere in my background. But I love it.

False starts. That's what I'm insecure about. Everyone has projects that they start and can't complete, for whatever reasons... but after a certain point it starts to add up. I have so many unfinished projects it's scary. And I'm starting to worry that I'll never finish anything! I suppose everyone's process is different... and perhaps it's that I haven't hit on just the right thing yet but... at what point do you just have to put your nose to the grindstone and finish something?

Does anyone else lose interest in what you're working on like that?

I have to wonder if it says something about my character or if it's an issue with the character of my writing, or the characters that I am writing... that I can barely complete something without tossing it in the trash and turning to something new. Margo Berendsen was talking about endings and beginnings and what is the hardest part of the process for her... for me it's definitely endings, because I have to force myself to commit long enough to get there!

I love starting things. The excitement of a new idea electrifies me! If only I could recapture the romance to bring my stories to the conclusions they deserve.

Nightmares

image from
http://www.steampunklab.com/

Usually, any bad dreams I have melt away in the morning light, be it ever so dreary. But this one... this morning... still lingers like heartburn or a bad hangover. I haven't been able to shake the exquisitely painful melancholy it has left in its wake... like a shadow cast by a nuclear explosion, the memory of this dream refuses to fade.

And so I've written 600 words towards it... I can't tell if it's making it better or worse, extracting these characters, these horrible scenes, from my subconscious and giving them life on-screen. But that's all I can do for now.

That... and bake cupcakes.