Writerly news

In case you missed it, I've had quite the exciting couple of weeks. First, the local newspaper contacted me and interviewed me about Pity Isn't An Option and it came out last Wednesday (I kinda squee-d about this all over Twitter & the interwebs, not because of the interview, but because beneath the article there was a selection of other dystopian books & mini reviews about them and I thought that was *so* awesome), and on Monday Operation Awesome made kind of a big announcement (to me, anyway)!

Honestly, the latter piece of good news has been hoped for by me for some time. (I'm talking years.) After everything that went on with Lovemuffin, I decided to just concentrate on the writing for a while. Then, I was invited to join Afterglow Book Reviews. And I published Pity Isn't An Option. And the lovely Nazarea Andrews put together a group for us independent authors called Indie Ignites, and I was honored to get to be a part of it. Now, the newspaper. And Operation Awesome. (Did I mention their--I mean our--mascot is an owl? I mean, how great is that?) It's amazing how the Lord takes care of things when you sit back and rest and let Him do everything. Every single one of those opportunities arose, became available. I did not hunt them down. 

Now, I want to make it very clear that I am not bragging about this. What I'm trying to show is that if you stay in the writerly community long enough and get to know people for who they are and cheer them on and do what you've been made to do (uh, WRITE), things DO fall into place. I have a post coming up on the Operation Awesome site soon about stressing yourself out because you're so scared you're going to miss something or get left behind that you run yourself ragged.

It's not worth it, guys.

So many authors say this, and I have to agree with them: Take time to enjoy the process. 

It's worth it in the end, I promise! :)

Have a blessed weekend!

Blog stop updates, Latvia, BRUISER review & more

Somehow I got behind on the blog stops this week and there are three to share today! :)

First, yesterday PIAO was at  Izz "Pingle"Bookish Place (link) with excerpt #1.

Second, Jonas and Hattie made it out of the US and all the way over to Maija's blog, Bookish Randomness in Latvia, Europe (link)! After Maija informed me where it was exactly, I had to check it out!

Pretty cool, right? I mean, they go on a little journey themselves, but that's nothing compared to Europe (see Finland above Latvia, a bit?) ;) I believe there's an excerpt there, too.

Third, Hattie's excerpt is up today over at Sara in Bookland's blog. (link) I'm noticing almost all of these ladies also have birds on their blog designs... coincidence? I think not!!! ;)

I also have a book review of BRUISER by Neal Shusterman (he's written Unwind, UnWholly, the Everlost series, and a whole lot of other books) over at Afterglow Book Reviews. BRUISER was a GREAT book! (link) There were lots of laughing and tears... as with all of Neal's books, it's going to stick with me for a while.

Last, I thought I'd do another little teaser and share a new photo from PIAO's Pinterest board:

There's a pivotal scene that takes place near Hattie's gran's mailbox (for those of you who have the paperback, it's the back cover excerpt). This view here seemed so perfect for how I imagined things to look in Wanless (though, technically, there'd be a little less grass and more dirt).


Happy Wednesday! :)

Jessica

The Runaway King

It's here! I thought it wasn't coming for another week, but guess what showed up in my mailbox yesterday? THE RUNAWAY KING by Jennifer A. Nieson! (Naturally, I abandoned all household chores and holed myself in my room in order to read it today.) You can check out my review at Afterglow Book Reviews here.

Also, if you're looking for a freebie read, today's the last day my ebook, PITY ISN'T AN OPTION, is available on Goodreads for free. (My whoopsie-daisy announcement is here. I really need to learn how to work this stuff better.)

Be blessed, and HAPPY READING!

Jessica

Unravel Me review

Yup. Two in one week. (I'm getting the hang of this.)

And let me tell you... well, I'd better not. That would kind of ruin things. But Warner... Oh man.

Check out my review of Tahereh Mafi's UNRAVEL ME at Afterglow Book Reviews!

Jessica

Code Name Verity (book review)

Remember how I posted about being the newest member of Afterglow Book Reviews last week? Well, I have officially posted my first review! And it's on the roller coaster of an awesomely emotional World War II/secret agent/flight-oriented book, CODE NAME VERITY! (Have you read this? Ugh! Let me just say that my review is very... wordy!)



You can check the review out here!

Be blessed,

Jessica