Isn't it CHARMING?

Like my one of a kind bracelet?

I found a woman who makes incredible bracelets with book covers. These are mine, some that are I published and others that will be soon.  I love it!!!

http://www.etsy.com/listing/112015200/jewelry-charm-bracelet-harry-potter-book

Gifts for Writers

I've had a hard time finding special and unique things for writers, but I have managed to find a few. 

Café Press has several items for writers with funny sayings on them like pajamas, mouse pads, mugs, magnets, etc.  Here are a mug and mouse pad they had that just happen to have the title of my first book on them.

I also found a woman on Etsy who makes charm bracelets with book covers on them so I ordered one.  She showed me a sample of one she made for Rachel Caine, but I can't put it on here because I do not have permission from either party. Trust me, it looks awesome!

Other than that, the pickings are slim.  You can buy the usual things for writers like journals, pens, etc., but these are the coolest, most unique gifts I could find.  Do you know of anything else?  Let us know.

Review: Hollowland by Amanda Hocking

Summary:  Nineteen-year-old Remy King is on a mission to get across the wasteland of America and nothing will stand in her way-- not violent marauders, a spoiled rock star, or an army of flesh-eating zombies.

Review:  This is the second book I've read by Amanda Hocking.  The first one didn't excite me enough to get me to buy the rest of the series, but this one was free so I decided to take a chance.  Remy is a kickass character (of course), but it' never explained how she got that way.  When the story begins, we're already in zombie-land.  I wanted to know about this girl's past, but we are told very little.  There is a lot of action, but after a while it got redundant.  This is the way it went: Remy and her friends meet a few people, go through introductions, and then the new people die in a chapter or two.  When we got to the third group, I was like, "I don't care what your names are because you're just going to die anyway." And they did. 

I don't know what it is about Hocking's books that don't rope me in like they do other people.  I've given it a great deal of thought.  She writes well (in my opinion), and I enjoy the stories as I am reading them, but I don't feel invested in the characters.  I don't care if they live or die.  I don't care enough to read the next book.  It bugs me because I just can't figure out WHY I feel that way about it.  Maybe it's because there isn't hardly any backstory on the characters.  Or maybe it's because Hocking is more interested in the action than in her characters.  I don't know.

I give her three butterflies for a story that kept me reading but didn't intrigue me enough to continue on with the series.

Agony of the Writing Process!!!!

Whoever thinks writing is not hard has never written anything longer than a Tweet.

I just got done slamming my fingers against the keyboard several times in a meltdown because I am trying to fix this damn book and the computer won't cooperate.  Nothing can make me lose my cool faster than problems while writing.  Well, maybe being stuck behind a bad driver.  This sucks!!!  Someday someone will invent a computer that will work without me having to beat the crap out of it... I hope..

HUNTER is currently in the revision stage, and I have been having all sorts of problems.  Why can't things just go smoothly this once?  And wait until I have to format this baby.  That's when I get ready to pull out my hair in chunks. 

While working on Hunter, I am reminded of how much writing is like having a baby.

1.  It takes a LONG time: You have to wait nine months for a baby, but sometimes books can take years to finish.

2.  It is PAINFUL:  The process is extremely painful.  I've gone through days when I think it is trash and just want to throw it away and start over, especially when my damn computer does not want to work right.  (I am getting ready to slam down on the stupid keys again!!!)  This is a brand new computer, but the freaking keys are getting stuck!!!!!

3.  Not everyone will love your baby like you do: This is difficult to deal with, people saying nasty things about your beautiful baby.  You just want to smack them.

VOTE PLEASE!!!!!

Bait is up for best cover of a paranormal book on Storyfinds (dot) com.  If it wins, they will put up the first chapter and boost my sales.  I paid to be in this contest against three other books.  If you honestly like another cover better, then don't vote for mine, but I think you will like it.  The other three are all blue.  Mine really stands out and is winning so far.   Here is the link:

http://storyfinds.com/section/cover_poll

Upcoming Event for Halloween

This year I am going to dedicate my blog to the supernatural for the entire month of October.  What does this mean?  Well, for one thing, I am going to focus on a different creature every week.

Week One:  Witches

Week Two: Vampires

Week Three: Werewolves

Week Four: Reapers

 

 

I hope you will check us out in October and join us for the fun.

 

There will be lists of great books dealing with each creature, word games, author spotlights, and a never-before-published short story from me.  This tale of horror is titled WOODLOW MANSION, and you won't be able to read it anywhere else.  I will NEVER publish it outside of this blog.  So if you enjoy stories about creepy mansions, things that go bump in the night, and monsters in the mirror, make sure you stop by each day in October.  Don't miss out on the Halloween fun.

Do SPOILERS Spoil Your Day???

I see a lot about spoilers online, people handing them out like candy while others complain they don't want to see that stuff.  It ruins the entertainment (book, show, movie, etc) for them.  What do you think about spoilers?  Are you the type who craves them?  Or are you the one who jumps on someone else for ruining the story for you?

Me?  It all depends on what we are talking about.

Reality Shows:  I must know as soon as possible what is going to happen.  This guy who calls himself Reality Steve has been sued over putting up spoilers about The Bachelor.  In fact, the lawsuit is what brought this guy to my attention.  Now I read his blog all the time.  I WANT to know who the bachelor is going to send home before I see it.  Before I discovered there were spoilers of my favorite reality shows I was stressed out while watching them.  There were times when I refused to watch a show anymore because the people on there had me SO upset I couldn't take another minute of it.  But if I go into it already knowing the outcome, I feel much calmer.  

Movies:  Sometimes I want to know and I will ask a friend who has seen it because I am not sure I want to watch the thing.  But then there are other times when I don't want to hear anything.  When there is a mystery to be solved or a major twist, I want to figure it out for myself.  A friend actually ruined a movie I was really looking forward to seeing.  I'd waited for months for the release.  Then he saw it first and couldn't keep her mouth shut.  She blurted out the big twist and 'SPOILED' it for me.  I didn't even want to watch if after that, and I am still mad when I think about it.  There are so few movies I get excited about.  I feel like she stole what could have been an exciting moment for me, whether I'd figured it out for myself or not.

TV shows:  Supernatural is my favorite show, but I don't get the CW channel so I have to wait an extra week and watch it online.  Because I cannot wait another single second to find out what happened, I search for and read detailed recap.

Books:  Sometimes I want to know, especially if I am on the fence about reading a certain book.  I'd heard there was a big twist at the end of The Demon's Lexicon, so I asked what it was before I read the book.  It didn't spoil it for me.  I enjoyed knowing and looking for the clues. 

My books:  I hate it when people SPOIL my books for others and possibly cost me sales.  This is because I go through a lot of work, agonizing over every little detail to keep people from guessing what the twists are.  There have been a few times when people have given away the ending of my book on Goodreads and once on Smashwords, and I had to have the whole review removed.  Yes, I know this makes me a bit of a hypocrite since I like to skip to the endings of books sometimes.  I can live with that.  :)

So what do you think?
Does it bother you when someone puts a spoiler without writing SPOILER ALERT above it?
Do you seek out spoilers on some things?