Melissa De La Cruz

Back in 2007, I got a book in the mail (from the first blog I followed). It was Revelations by Melissa De La Cruz. But little did I know that there were two books before this series and I had NO idea it was a vampire book. So - I quickly ordered the first two and read them.

And two days ago, I finished Gates of Paradise, the final installment of the Blue Bloods series. It was bitter sweet because I knew that I was saying good bye to Schulyer and Jack. A couple I have been following for SIX years. That's longer than most relationships.

But what about Melissa gave her such staying power?  I mean what makes an author so good, that the reader stays with them, even after the fad ends? Well, I am not sure how they do it, but I know what makes me "stay".

1. Consistent characters.
2. A plot line that doesn't go off on to twenty different tangents but continues to move in a good direction 
3. A love interest, where you really want them to succeed 
4. Background information that is plausible - In Melissa's case - took the vampire myth and tied in the Roanoke mystery. 
5. A good villain - someone you really hate - first Mimi, then Lucifer. 

If you are a vampire fan, which let's face it, vampire have staying power for me -I blame my mother for letting me watch the Winona Ryder Dracula movie - then I suggest you pick up the series, if you haven't already. 

What do you think gives staying power to authors?

Cover Reveal: Wrong Side of Town - Komal Lewis

I don't know if you have noticed, but my dear friend Komal Lewis has been a writing machine. She has shown off three gorgeous covers in the last few months and today I am bringing you her fourth. Yeah I said fourth!

Ummm - steamy.

Estella Markson is a good girl. She studies hard, stays out of trouble, and is struggling to hold together her family that is falling apart because of her alcoholic father.

Vincent Madden is the guy your mother warned you to stay away from. He doesn’t follow the rules, is in a notorious motorcycle gang, and doesn’t care if he breaks the law or someone’s bones.

One night after a chance encounter, Vincent starts to take an interest in the innocent girl who is so different to him. Despite Vincent’s infamous reputation, Estella is also intrigued by him. There is something about this bad boy that gives her an escape from her world of problems, and she can’t stay away.

As Estella slowly strips away Vincent’s defenses, she finds that underneath the tattoos and tough exterior is someone who is just as broken as she is.  And Vincent will do anything to hold onto the girl who makes him want to be a better man.

Everyone warned Estella to stay away from the boy from the wrong side of town, and now she’s in too deep.

Cover Reveal for Erica Cope's Lark

I wanted to show off my friend Erica Cope's cover!

Um, can we say stunning?

The last time she checked, Mia Carrington was pretty sure that she was a normal girl with a completely ordinary life.

She goes to high school, has a crush on the gorgeous and mysterious new boy in town, and has strange dreams that she can’t help but feel are real somehow. 

Okay, so maybe she’s not all that normal after all.

A freak accident changes Mia’s life forever when she is thrown into another world and left to deal with the revelation that she is the daughter of the King of the Light Elves. Throw in an ominous prophecy predicting that Mia will break a curse unleashing the Dark Elves on the world and well, things don’t look too good. 

There is danger lurking at every corner in this strange world and Mia isn’t sure who she can trust…

The only thing she is certain of is that the Dark Elves know about her, and they will stop at nothing until they have her.

I was one of the lucky ones who got to read and edit Erica's book. You'll love it once you get your hands on it!

Goals for 2013

My goals for 2013!

Writing
Publish The Owens Legacy: Redemption - Feb
Write The Owens Legacy: R-something - June
Q the dream walkers novel - September
Outline dystopia idea to get it out of my head - October
Nano - dystopia novel - November

Blogging
Blog twice a week on both Dash and personal blog (4 times a week!)
Tweet at least once a day
Comment like crazy - just commenting more in general.

Personal
Plan a wedding -- June
Have a baby - June
Get in shape for wedding - August
Get married - August
Dirty Girl Mud Run - September

So - there are my goals - I am pretty sure - June and July are going to get rough.

What are your goals? I would love to know!

Top five of 2012!

Best of 2012 Part 1.

My favorite - top five - best books of the year. These five books i have re-read in the same year and have some wonderful characters that I wish were real!! What were your top five?

Sweet Evil!
Embrace the Forbidden

What if there were teens whose lives literally depended on being bad influences?

This is the reality for sons and daughters of fallen angels.

Tenderhearted Southern girl Anna Whitt was born with the sixth sense to see and feel emotions of other people. She's aware of a struggle within herself, an inexplicable pull toward danger, but Anna, the ultimate good girl, has always had the advantage of her angel side to balance the darkness within. It isn't until she turns sixteen and meets the alluring Kaidan Rowe that she discovers her terrifying heritage and her willpower is put to the test. He's the boy your daddy warned you about. If only someone had warned Anna.

Forced to face her destiny, will Anna embrace her halo or her horns?

Obsidian!
Starting over sucks.

When we moved to West Virginia right before my senior year, I'd pretty much resigned myself to thick accents, dodgy internet access, and a whole lot of boring.... until I spotted my hot neighbor, with his looming height and eerie green eyes. Things were looking up.

And then he opened his mouth.

Daemon is infuriating. Arrogant. Stab-worthy. We do not get along. At all. But when a stranger attacks me and Daemon literally freezes time with a wave of his hand, well, something...unexpected happens.

The hot alien living next door marks me.

You heard me. Alien. Turns out Daemon and his sister have a galaxy of enemies wanting to steal their abilities, and Daemon's touch has me lit up like the Vegas Strip. The only way I'm getting out of this alive is by sticking close to Daemon until my alien mojo fades.

If I don't kill him first, that is.

Starcrossed!
How do you defy destiny?

Helen Hamilton has spent her entire sixteen years trying to hide how different she is—no easy task on an island as small and sheltered as Nantucket. And it's getting harder. Nightmares of a desperate desert journey have Helen waking parched, only to find her sheets damaged by dirt and dust. At school she's haunted by hallucinations of three women weeping tears of blood . . . and when Helen first crosses paths with Lucas Delos, she has no way of knowing they're destined to play the leading roles in a tragedy the Fates insist on repeating throughout history.

As Helen unlocks the secrets of her ancestry, she realizes that some myths are more than just legend. But even demigod powers might not be enough to defy the forces that are both drawing her and Lucas together—and trying to tear them apart.

The Goddess Inheritance!
Kate Winters has won immortality. But if she wants a life with Henry in the Underworld, she'll have to fight for it.Becoming immortal wasn't supposed to be the easy part. Though Kate is about to be crowned Queen of the Underworld, she's as isolated as ever. And despite her growing love for Henry, ruler of the Underworld, he's becoming ever more distant and secretive. Then, in the midst of Kate's coronation, Henry is abducted by the only being powerful enough to kill him: the King of the Titans.

As the other gods prepare for a war that could end them all, it is up to Kate to save Henry from the depths of Tartarus. But in order to navigate the endless caverns of the Underworld, Kate must enlist the help of the one person who is the greatest threat to her future.

Henry's first wife, Persephone.



Impossible!

Ashton Summers is on her way to becoming the most popular girl in school and nothing—or no one—is going to stand in her way. Especially not Luca Byron, her freak neighbor, with his tattoos, loud music, and distracting green eyes.

Luca Byron has three goals in life: get through high school with a low profile, make sure his garage band becomes something more than a hobby, and try to forget about his insufferable ex-best friend, Ashton, who he can’t get out of his mind.

The last thing Ashton and Luca want to do is rekindle their friendship, but when Ashton takes a tumble down the social ladder, Luca—with his new makeover—is the only one who can help her rise up again by pretending to be her boyfriend. At first, being together is unbearable and annoying, but things start to change as Ashton and Luca discover the real reasons they drifted apart seven years ago.

Now, keeping their hands off each other seems impossible

One Manuscript, Two Beta Readers

So maybe you've noticed I haven't been posting as much? Not too many reviews? Not to many ramblings about my confusion in the writer's world?

1. I'm pregnant and people were not kidding when they said I would be tired.
2. NaNo kind of burned me out.
3. I've been editing volume 2.
4. I started volume 3 - not going so hot.
5. I'm really going to focus on turning this into an author's blog - so a lot less reviews unless I feel I hit a land mine.

BETA readers - I heart Beta readers, especially mine.

Recently, Komal and Joe read volume 2. Komal got done with it in a few weeks and Joe got done at the beginning of this month. I had never given a manuscript to two people at once. Normally, I give it to one, edit, give it to someone else, edit, give it to someone else, edit, etc. It was the first time the same manuscript went to two people. I was insistent on waiting for both to be completed to edit, for simple tracking reasons. If Komal found a major error and I fixed it five or six spots, that would throw all of Joe's edits off. So I waited.

I have mixed feelings about two beta readers and the same manuscript. While it was a great feeling when I would flip through multiple pages with no edits, or they picked up on the same thing, reaffirming a need for a change - I kept wondering, if I had let one do it first, would the second have picked up on something else. You love and cherish your beta readers, you don't abuse them, and have them constantly re-reading your work.

Would I do it again? Probably.

Impossible by Komal Lewis Book Tour

I am so incredibly pleased about being part of this book tour. It's for my very dear friend Komal Lewis. Her debut novel Impossible is fantastic! Check out my review here!

Title: Impossible
Series: With Me, #1
Author: Komal Lewis
Self-Published
Release Date: October 26, 2012
Pages: 254
Buy Links: Amazon (Paperback) | Amazon (Kindle) | Smashwords

Blurb:

Ashton Summers is on her way to becoming the most popular girl in
school and nothing—or no one—is going to stand in her way.
Especially not Luca Byron, her freak neighbor, with his tattoos, loud
music, and distracting green eyes.

Luca Byron has three goals in life: get through high school with a low profile, make sure his garage band becomes something more than a hobby, and try to forget about his insufferable ex-best friend, Ashton, who he can’t get out of his mind.

The last thing Ashton and Luca want to do is rekindle their friendship, but when Ashton takes a tumble down the social ladder, Luca—with his new makeover—is the only one who can help her rise up again by pretending to be her boyfriend. At first, being together is unbearable and annoying, but things start to change as Ashton and Luca discover the real reasons they drifted apart seven years ago.

Now, keeping their hands off each other seems impossible.

For a little Author Bio:

Komal Lewis is an author who writes both Young Adult and Adult novels in the Contemporary and Fantasy genres. Her debut novel IMPOSSIBLE is a Young Adult Contemporary Romance about a girl who will do anything to become popular, and the rocker boy-next-door.

Komal lives in Sydney, Australia with her husband and one too many dogs and cats (although she never seems to think they have enough). She is overly enthusiastic about video games, comic books, Batman films, Byronic heroes, baking, reptiles, and pretty shoes.

I also got Komal to do a playlist for her characters - a different type of top ten. Here's what she had to say.

When I first started putting together this post, I only had two songs on the list. I had NO idea what kind of songs to pick so I recruited my husband to help me (I’m supposed to pay him for his help though!) and we actually came up with a fairly long list. I managed to narrow it down and this is what I was left with. I hope you enjoy!

Luca Byron

With Me by Sum 41 – I listened to this song non-stop for two months while writing Impossible! It actually became a bigger inspiration than the movie, Drive Me Crazy, was. When I hear this song, it reminds me so much of Luca.

Creep by Radiohead – Luca is a social outcast so I thought Creep perfectly described his social position.

Memory by Sugarcult – I think this describes his situation with Ashton really well. Their relationship is based on their memories of growing up together.

Ashton Summers

Best of Me by The Starting Line – I love, love this song and I was lucky enough to see The Startling Line perform live last year. I think it suits Ashton and Luca’s relationship really well and how they got older and grew up to be different people, but aren’t ready to give up on each other just yet.

One Way or Another by Blondie – If you’ve read Impossible then you already know how ruthless Ashton is. There’s nothing this girl won’t do to get what she wants.

The Kill by 30 Seconds to Mars – This song describes the way Ashton was feeling at Kendall’s party.

Eddie Cavallari

Teenage Dirtbag by Wheatus – You would think that this song is perfect for Luca, right? Well, the reason why this song is better-suited for Eddie will begin to make a lot more sense in Falling for Hadie.

Stacey Parker

She’s a Rebel by Green Day – You only have to read the title to realize what kind of a girl Stacey is. She doesn’t take crap from anyone.

Riley Adamson

Fat Lip by Sum 41 – This is a fun, upbeat, crazy kind of song which is exactly what Riley’s personality is like.

Kance Logan

Stupid Girls by Pink – Kance (and even Ashton) is one of the “stupid girls” described in this song.

Thanks so much for having me on your blog, Michelle! You are the best! J

And here's a chance for you to win a copy of Komal's book!

Here is the rafflecopter code for the tour-wide giveaway: a Rafflecopter giveaway