This week's writerly news, smores, and smore < --- pun... ha ha

So... I have a lot to say this week. Considering I don't have much time and I know you guys don't want to read for ten years, I'm going to break it down as quickly as possible. (Because I care.) But first, a quick FYI... I have some kinda cool news at the end of this post. (*wink wink*) Okay, here goes:

1) Last week I totally forgot to share our neat-o, homemade fire pit that we made while on vacation. We didn't want to go down to the beach for smores (although we ended up doing just that the last two nights we were there, anyway), so we bought a clay pot and well, I'll let the pictures tell the story. :D*

 YUM!!!! And also...

Our first itty bitty bonfire AT Oceano.

*Note: wanting to go to bed but wary of leaving the charcoal burning away in the alley behind the home we rented, we poured a bottle of water over the charcoal. BAD IDEA! The amount of smoke was enough for someone suspect the worst and call the fire department! So make sure you let it go out on its own.


2) The other day I asked for help on Twitter and my Facebook page and BOY did ya'll come through! If you missed the six character names chosen from your suggestions, check it out HERE.


3) I'm excited to announce that I'm participating in I HEART YA 2014! Yay!

I'll be doing two separate features, one being a character interview (which is cool because I'll be doing a *different* character interview a few weeks later for the Open Thy Heart release blog tour)! The feature will be right around when By Sun and Candlelight comes out (August), so I'm excited. It's so awesome of Annabell and Bridget to do this for us authors!

4) I've officially joined the Goodreads Ask the Author feature. You can ask questions HERE. 

5) I'm looking for a few teen readers to interview. I have one more lined up (and one so busy, they can't participate right now, hence the lack of one this month), and then I'm going to need a few more peeps. If you're interested or know someone who is, email me at coffeelvnmom (at) gmail (dot) net!

6) Don't forget both the She's the Man #JLBgivesawayaDVD giveaway AND the Open Thy Heart cover reveal giveaway end SOON! 

7) Last, as you may or may not know, I try to give those subscribed to my Let Me Tell You A Story e-newsletter a heads-up on things before I announce them officially online. (It's only fair, you know?) In keeping with that idea, I've decided to share a rather long excerpt of By Sun and Candlelight with my pals via the Let Me Tell You A Story e-newsletter a few days before it's available to the public on August 15th. So... if you're itching to read a bit of Rowan's perspective, but aren't a subscriber yet, well, PLEASE let me tell you a story!!! (I only send out one to two emails a month, so no worries about spam or anything.) You can subscribe right over there ----- >


WHEW! I believe that was about 9 1/2 years! Coffee, anybody?


HAVE A BLESSED WEEKEND, and read SMORE books, my friends! ;D

BY SUN AND CANDLELIGHT cover reveal and #giveaway

In case you missed it... Hafsah revealed BY SUN AND CANDLELIGHT's cover yesterday! I'm pretty excited about it, as it totally FEELS like Rowan. *squee* 

Teaser photo. Ha ha ha ha.

She's also giving away an ebook of both IF I SPEAK TRUE and BY SUN AND CANDLELIGHT, so head on over, and check it out! :D

This week's writerly news

Happy Friday! I'll keep this post short and sweet since my post was kind of long last week...

News/Noteworthy

Beighley let me interrogate him for this month's Readerly Interview, including questions about his favorite male and female characters, favorite series, and the condition of his books (because, you know, that is very important). (link)

Around the interwebs 

Choosing a book cover: relevance is a necessity: Tuesday I was at the Indie Ignites blog talking about book covers and how the relevance of the cover design comes into play. (link)

Greatly improving your vocabulary: Thursday I was at the Operation Awesome blog again talking about how words like great really aren't all that great when they're greatly used. (link)

This week's snack (aka, junk food):

But wait... the most important part of this isn't the fact that you have to eat like ten to get full or that it's like eating cookies and the sugar low is astounding, it's this:

THANK GOODNESS THE INGREDIENTS ARE DELICIOUS! (I don't even want to think about the other options! *shudders*)

Music

Been rocking out to Skrillex whilst writing this week, including Promises, featuring Nero. (link)

Thinking...

... about sharing an occasional video after talking about it to my pal Ashley about it recently. At first I was going to do it on youtube, but I'm not sure I'm ready for that beast yet, so I might start by uploading it here and on my Facebook and Tumblr pages, and go from there. And if you're thinking, Why would anyone want to watch your stuff? I can promise you I've been thinking the same thing.

Me, in a nutshell

But... fangirling over my favorite stuff/books/movies or discussing characters or answering questions (if there are any asked) would be fun, so we'll see.

Also: By Sun and Candlelight's cover reveal is Monday (MONDAY!!!!), so this is me right now:



Have a blessed weekend! (And don't forget to come back to see Rowan's cover! Woohoo!)

This week's writerly news -- By Sun and Candlelight (Flora 1.5), Divergent, & more

Me at the end of a writing week. Yes, I realize I'm not *that* cute.

IT IS FRIDAY! WOOT! Here's this week's news:

News/Noteworthy

This is not the cover. But part of it is.
I'm totally teasing you guys with this. Ha ha ha ha.

* The cover and blurb for By Sun and Candlelight (Flora 1.5 -- Rowan's novella), will be officially revealed Monday, April 7th, at Hafsah's blog (IceyBooks). Woot! If you feel like it, you can totally add it to your Goodreads, HERE. 

* Divergent. Have you seen it yet? Did you see Veronica's cameo? Did Shailene make you cry? I've seen it twice, and yes, Miles is still my man (even though he's a meanie pants... a.k.a. Peter) but he best redeem himself soon, or we're going to have to have a talk.

          ** Movie poster courtesy of Entertainment Weekly... There are character posters for the Dauntless crew, too.

          ** Did you know that you can read the first ten chapters of Divergent free on the official movie Tumbler page? Check it out!

* Speaking of Divergent, both Beating Heart and Hanging On (I See Monstas Remix) by Ellie Goulding rock. (Anyone else love Miss Goulding?) I also love Find You, Stranger, and I Need You. Check out a soundtrack sampler HERE.


* This week's WoW was Always Emily. 

* This week's snack is Darrell Lea liquorice. Currently... on sale at Target. :D (Strawberry is our favorite.) Be careful, though. You can easily eat the entire bag in one sitting.

* FYI, I'm all caught up on Arrow now. In case you were wondering. :p

* Did I mention that betas ROCK? No? Well they do. (Ya'll know who you are. *smooosh*)

Around the interwebs

* Yesterday, I tweeted my heart's desire about all of my lovely internet pals... and some of you responded, and it made me so HAPPY. One day, we will find a way to make this happen, guys. One. Day.


* Writing: Breaking out of the white mold: I was over at Operation Awesome on Wednesday discussing diversity when it comes to race and how I wish we saw more of this on covers and in the content of YA books. Feel free to check it out/share your thoughts, HERE.


Giveaways


*You're probably getting real sick of hearing about The Man in the Iron Mask giveaway, but guess what? In a week I'll be giving a new one away! Can't tell you what it is yet, but here's a clue ;D --- >




Also, you know how I said I was going to have alllll these fun features now? I've only done about half of them. O.0 Mainly because the writing has been going full force with the novella and book two/Open Thy Heart; and blogging, though lovely and fun, is VERY time consuming. One of the features that I have been able to stick with, however (along with the giveaway one because I loves yous), is Reader Interviews. And next Monday Beighley (@Mockingjay31) will be on! Yay!

Have a blessed weekend, everyone!