I recently had the pleasure of being interviewed by Linda Thompson of The Author’s Show about my debut novel, Sword and Verse, and that interview is being featured today! Click here to listen.
Read This!: SUFFER LOVE by Ashley Herring Blake
Suffer Love by Ashley Herring Blake
Summary: “Just let it go.” That’s what everyone keeps telling Hadley St. Clair after she learns that her father cheated on her mother. But Hadley doesn’t want to let it go. She wants to be angry and she wants everyone in her life—her dad most of all—to leave her alone. Sam Bennett and his family have had their share of drama too. Still reeling from a move to a new town and his parents’ recent divorce, Sam is hoping that he can coast through senior year and then move on to hassle-free, parent-free life in college. He isn’t looking for a relationship…that is, until he sees Hadley for the first time. Hadley and Sam’s connection is undeniable, but Sam has a secret that could ruin everything. Should he follow his heart or tell the truth?
When I first started reading this book, I didn’t think I would like the two main characters very much. But less than twenty pages in, as I got to know them better, I started to fall in love with both of them. (And don’t even get me started on Sam’s friend Ajay. I burn, I pine, I perish for an Ajay-centric novel.) That experience is the whole point of this sensitive, deeply involving story: it’s easy to judge the choices other people make, but there’s always more behind them. Sam and Hadley’s relationship, by any sane standard, should be impossible. But it’s real and lovely and deliciously steamy. Ashley Herring Blake writes some of the best makeout scenes I have ever read. Filled with characters who are both deeply flawed and deeply likable, this is a book that will suck you in.
SUFFER LOVE is out now.
Welcome to the world, FEUER UND FEDER!
The German translation of Sword and Verse, titled Feuer und Feder, is out today from Beltz! The German title translates to “fire and feather” or “fire and quill”.
German translator: Julian Haefs
Cover designer: Carolin Liepins
10 Things You Can Do to Put Off Writing/Editing and Still Feel Like You’re Working
…brought to you by the terrifying plot point I am supposed to be fixing right now.
1. Sharpen pencils. Writers need pencils, right? Really, you are just making life easier for Future You. It’s preparation.
2. 
Decide you need index cards to attack the particular plot problem you are working on. No, those index cards in the drawer won’t do. Go to the office supply store and spend an hour picking out just the right size, color, and style. Maybe you need sticky notes too! That could even be a separate trip!
3. Light a candle to call the Muse. Spend fifteen minutes sorting through your candle selection to find the perfect scent to match the mood of the scene you are supposed to be working on.
4. Make a cup of tea. Not only does this put off the inevitable moment when you have to sit down and work, it guarantees a break in an hour when you will have to go to the bathroom.
5. When you get up to go to the bathroom, make more tea. See? It’s an endless cycle.
6. Search for images for your screensaver or Pinterest board to get you into the mood for the scene. Spend fifteen minutes artfully arranging them and/or writing cagey comments about what they represent.
7. Make a playlist of music to inspire your writing. This yields lots of fodder for procrastination: you can spend time making the list, tweeting and blogging about it, and then spend lots of time before you write deciding which songs to listen to.
8. Post a pithy observation about writing on Twitter with the #amwriting hashtag. Then look through the other entries under that hashtag, because it’s all about being a part of the community.
9. Read one sentence of your scene and then decide you need to do more research on an obscure plot point. So it will be more real to you, of course
10. Write a blog post about how to procrastinate. It definitely counts toward your platform as a writer.
Oh, look at that! My tea is cold. Time to go make another cup…
Read This!: RESURRECTING SUNSHINE by Lisa A. Koosis
Resurrecting Sunshine by Lisa A. Koosis
Summary: At seventeen, Adam Rhodes is famous, living on his own, and in a downward spiral since he lost the girl he loved. Marybeth – stage name Sunshine – was his best friend from the days they were foster kids; then she was his girlfriend and his band mate. But since her accidental death, he’s been drinking to deal with the memories. Until one day, an unexpected visitor, Dr. Elloran, presents Adam with a proposition that just might save him from himself. Using breakthrough cloning and memory-implantation techniques, Dr. Elloran and the scientists at Project Orpheus want to resurrect Marybeth, and they need Adam to “donate” intimate memories of his life with her. The memory retrieval process forces Adam to relive his life with Marybeth and the devastating path that brought them both to fame. Along the way, he must confront not only the circumstances of her death but also his growing relationship with the mysterious Genevieve, daughter of Project Orpheus’s founder. As the process sweeps Adam and Marybeth ever closer to reliving the tragedy that destroyed them, Adam must decide how far he’ll go to save her.
This stunner of a story has largely flown under the radar, which is inconceivable to me. With its ethics-stretching premise and compelling plot, this book is ideal for bookclubs and classroom discussions: it’s a page-turner that keeps you engaged from the start, it’s got an ending that readers are sure to have strong opinions about, and it’s even in paperback, making multiple copies affordable. Get on this, teachers and librarians! Adam is a flawed, emotional mess, his voice keeping the science stuff firmly grounded in the effect it has on real people’s lives, and he is at once admirable and pitiable in his quest to do right by those he loves. This book kept me up late several nights in a row because I *had* to find out what happened next. With its big questions about who deserves a second chance, who actually gets one, and what do with the chances we’re given, RESURRECTING SUNSHINE will engage your mind and heart in equal measure.
RESURRECTING SUNSHINE is out now.
Stories By Hand with Kathy MacMillan 