Cover Reveal--A Change of Plans

I've helped with a lot of cover reveals over the years.
This time, it's mine! *dances a jig*

Following is the trailer with music written and performed (in part) by my youngest son (he's on the guitar) with his band Kinslayer. When they were writing the music, I fell in love with it.

I'd love to have you add A Change of Plans to your Goodreads to-read list if you feel so inclined. It would totally make my day.

And the winner is . . .

The winner

of

Twitterpated

by

 Melanie Jacobson 

is

ilima

Since tomorrow is St. Patrick's Day, the day when anyone in the U.S. can pretend to be Irish (I am, and my two older children are even more so, since they get it from both sides of the family), I thought I'd post a couple of pictures from my trip to Ireland last April. 

This is at the Poulnabrone Dolmen--a portal tomb in County Clare. It's older than Stone Henge.

The Cliffs of Moher

Even their asphalt is green. lol This is in Connemara where they have world famous marble.

Kylemore Abbey - they have beautiful gardens there but we got there a few minutes too late.

The is from the town of Cong, where they filmed a bunch of stuff for The Quiet Man. There're also amazing ruins of an abbey there. They have a gorgeous recreation area where we took a hike.

Cong Abbey

This is the Ross Errilly Friary--they abandoned this place in the 1600s. For an American, where something is old when it's 150-200 years old, this is mind boggling.

We also made it to Dublin and visited St. Patrick's Cathedral and Christ Church, toured Dublinia and tons of other stuff and generally had too much fun.

Now that I've bored you with my travelogue, I have to say that I loved my visit. I SO have to go back. Really. And I have a great excuse. One of my future books is going to take place there, so I'll need to refresh my memory. Right?

Have any of you visited a real location for research for a book? 

Book Giveaway - Twitterpated by Melanie Jacobson

You guys are in for a treat. This week on my blog, I'm doing a giveaway for the fabulous Melanie Jacobson, the author of The List and Not My Type (both Whitney Award nominees, by the way--can you imagine competing against yourself? Some nationally known Whitney recipients/finalists include: Orson Scott Card, Stephenie Meyer, Brandon Sanderson, Brandon Mull, Dan Wells, Janette Rallison, Ally Condie, James Dashner, Aprilynne Pike, and David Farland to name a few).

Those of you who have followed me for a bit know that last May I went to the Storymaker writing conference and also signed up for Bootcamp. Melanie was my Drill Instructor, and she recently signed with Alyssa Henkin at Trident Media Group for a national project (under the name Melanie Bennett). 



Well, Melanie has a new book coming out. Twitterpated. And you have the chance to win a copy!

About the book:

Jessie Taylor is furious when her roommate secretly posts her picture on the dating website LDS Lookup—furious, that is, until she spends all night instant messaging Ben Bratton, a man whose wit and warmth just might make Jessie forget the train wreck of her last romantic relationship. Their first date is a smashing success (literally), but Ben’s overall awesomeness can’t save Jessie from having to deal with Craig, her competitive coworker whose baiting behavior sets new standards for obnoxiousness. Determined to beat Craig at his own game, Jessie spends long office hours finishing projects and putting out fires, but while her performance wows her boss, it only makes Ben skittish—after a failed engagement to an up-and-coming lawyer, he’s not about to pair up with someone who’s married to her job. Will Jessie figure out how to be true to herself and take her big chance at love before it’s gone with a click of the mouse?

What do you have to do to be considered? It's easy:

1. Be a follower of this blog.
2. Post a comment (with your email) that you'd be interested in having your name entered.

I'll do the drawing first thing on FRIDAY morning, March 16th, and announce the winner on my blog.

And don't forget to check out Melanie's other books (I LOVED them!)

Twenty-three-year-old Pepper Spicer is not living the dream. She ended her engagement at the last minute because fiance—a musician an soon-to-be reality TV star—wanted her to sacrifice her own career ambitions for his. Now she's stuck at home sharing a room with her little sister, trying to pay off massive debt for a wedding that didn't happen, and spending Friday nights Facebook-stalking everyone who has a better life. Her therapist father urges her to choose her career dreams and count her blessings by writing weekly thank-you notes, but gratitude is a tall order when she botches an important job interview and has to settle for writing an undercover dating web-zine column—the last thing in the world she wants to do. Still, as Pepper (byline:Indie Girl) chronicles her bizarre and hilarious blind dates, she gives her father's challenge a try and slowly finds herself leaving self-pity behind. Life takes a major upswing as Pepper's column hits the big time and she tastes the exhilarating thrill of success. But there's one tiny problem: the intensely hot man she's falling for is having issues with her job (again). Will Pepper trade her personal ambition for another chance at love?

Ashley Barrett doesn’t want to get married. At least, not anytime soon. She doesn’t care how many of her friends and family members and fellow churchgoers had weddings before they finished college — the last thing she needs in her fun-loving twenties is the dead-weight of some guy. And that’s why she created The List. By the time she completes all twenty-five goals — from learning a language to skydiving to perfecting the art of making sushi — she’ll be more ready to settle down. Maybe.

This summer in California is a prime time for Ashley to cross two items off the list: learn to surf (#13) and have a summer romance (#17). And Matt Gibson, the best surf instructor in Huntington Beach and the most wanted guy in the singles ward, is the perfect man for the job. Ashley hatches a plan to love him and leave him before heading off to grad school in the fall (#4, get a master’s degree). But when Matt decides he doesn’t like the “leaving” part, Ashley’s carefully laid plans are turned sideways. Now Ashley faces an unexpected dilemma: should she stick to the safety of The List, or risk everything for a love that may tie her down — or might set her free?

Just for Fun

Since I've been so focused on writing since the start of NaNoWriMo (I hit 14,214 words last night, by the way--according to NaNo stats if I keep going at this rate I could hit the 50,000 word mark my November 17th).

Last night I attended my first write-in. It was held at this cute little place called The Chocolate. It's an old home that's been converted into a restaurant. I only knew about it because I attended a book launch there a couple of weeks ago. Holy cow. The place was packed! Since it used to be a home, it's full of lots of small rooms with small, intimate tables.

It was kind of distracting trying to write because real life was going on all around us. Seriously! It was hilarious listening to these young couples who'd come to this dessert cafe. One of the discussions going on next to us made me think about Melanie Jacobson's book Not My Type. The main character gets roped into doing an online series about dating. She's got a snarky, witty edge and many of her dates are disasters. I'll have to ask Melanie where she got her ideas. The Chocolate would have been a great resource.

This morning I needed and wanted something to make me laugh. Someone on Friday suggested that I should go to Google and type in the word askew (no quotes)

Go ahead. Do it yourself.

Did you smile?

Now type in do a barrel roll (no quotes--or words in parentheses).

So do it.

Are you dizzy?

That got me thinking. Dangerous on an early Sunday morning. But I decided to check out what other quirky things those folks at Google have been up to.

Google's Top 10 Hidden Treasures

Google Earth: Top ten fun things to do
I love #3's second option.

Anyway, it's time to get back to work. The general municipal election is Tuesday, so it's going to be a crazy, crazy week. Tuesday I'll be in the office at 6 a.m. and if things go well will be home before midnight.

I used to just ask that people vote (our primary turn out was 7.5%--that means in a city with over 50,000 registered voters, fewer than 4,000 people decided who got to move on to the general election).

It's amazing to me, however, the number of people who vote but do so uninformed. No candidate will ever represent your views on every issue, but do a little research and make sure you're at least on the same continent on issues that mean a lot to you.

Local elections are where the rubber meets the road, by the way. You have the greatest chance at making a difference in those.

Fine. I'll get off my soapbox.

What about you? Do you vote? Or does the ugliness that's so much a part of the national news taint even your local elections?

Book Giveaway! "Not My Type" by Melanie Jacobson

It's not too late to get in on the

Banned Book Giveaway Hop here. 

Not My Type Book Giveaway

 Those of you who have followed me for a bit know that last May I went to the Storymaker writing conference and also signed up for Bootcamp. Well, my bookcamp Drill Instructor was the charming Melanie Jacobson, author of The List and the recently released Not My Type.

I'm reading Not My Type right now and thoroughly enjoying it. Because I was in the middle of another book, I lent this one to a coworker to read first. She loved it! This coworker seems to get to read all my books before I do. Ugh!

Well, to help celebrate the release of Melanie's new book, I'm hosting a giveaway. Some lucky person is going to win a copy of Not My Type. So what's it about? Here's what the back of the book says:

Twenty-three-year-old Pepper Spicer is not living the dream. She ended her engagement at the last minute because fiance—a musician an soon-to-be reality TV star—wanted her to sacrifice her own career ambitions for his. Now she's stuck at home sharing a room with her little sister, trying to pay off massive debt for a wedding that didn't happen, and spending Friday nights Facebook-stalking everyone who has a better life. Her therapist father urges her to choose her career dreams and count her blessings by writing weekly thank-you notes, but gratitude is a tall order when she botches an important job interview and has to settle for writing an undercover dating web-zine column—the last thing in the world she wants to do. Still, as Pepper (byline:Indie Girl) chronicles her bizarre and hilarious blind dates, she gives her father's challenge a try and slowly finds herself leaving self-pity behind. Life takes a major upswing as Pepper's column hits the big time and she tastes the exhilarating thrill of success. But there's one tiny problem: the intensely hot man she's falling for is having issues with her job (again). Will Pepper trade her personal ambition for another chance at love?

And if you're still not sure you want this book (and I'm tellin' you, you want this book), you can read the first chapter here.

Now that you've whetted your appetite with that little appetizer of a chapter, I bet you're wondering what you have to do to win the book.

Well ...

This is what you MUST do:

• Comment here that you're interested in being entered in the drawing
• Since some of this romance also has to do with Pepper's job/career, share a job that you've had some time in your life

This is what you CAN do if you so choose:

• Follow me if you aren't already doing so
• Follow Melanie here

This is going to be a short contest,

and I will announce the winner on my post

on Friday morning.

And don't forget to check out The List:

Ashley Barrett doesn’t want to get married. At least, not anytime soon. She doesn’t care how many of her friends and family members and fellow churchgoers had weddings before they finished college — the last thing she needs in her fun-loving twenties is the dead-weight of some guy. And that’s why she created The List. By the time she completes all twenty-five goals — from learning a language to skydiving to perfecting the art of making sushi — she’ll be more ready to settle down. Maybe.

This summer in California is a prime time for Ashley to cross two items off the list: learn to surf (#13) and have a summer romance (#17). And Matt Gibson, the best surf instructor in Huntington Beach and the most wanted guy in the singles ward, is the perfect man for the job. Ashley hatches a plan to love him and leave him before heading off to grad school in the fall (#4, get a master’s degree). But when Matt decides he doesn’t like the “leaving” part, Ashley’s carefully laid plans are turned sideways. Now Ashley faces an unexpected dilemma: should she stick to the safety of The List, or risk everything for a love that may tie her down — or might set her free?

 Since I'm asking  you to tell about a job you had, I'll lead out. One of the jobs I had in college was folding T-shirts. Well, shorts, too, since it was the laundry for the university gym, but there wasn't anything to folding shorts. Have you dropped dead from boredom, yet? It was so badwe'd have contests to see how many t-shirts we could fold in an hour. O_o

It's amazing the things people would leave with their gym clothes. I mean, come on. I realize a guy might not notice when he left his jock strap behind, but a girl's panties or bra? We used to have fun with those and slip them into the neatly folded clothes of members of the opposite sex. Bear in mind that I attended a conservative religious university *coughBYUcough*. We tend to be a little tight about stuff like that, especially back before there was dirt.

What can I say?

So, what dumb job have you had?

Storymaker Conference - Report 1: How to Scare People

I came back last evening after an incredible three days. I got to meet some wonderful people and learn skads about writing. I attended bootcamp where four writers met with a published author (though one of the bootcampers was published). Our drill sargeant was Melanie Jacobson, author of the The List, and we spent six hours together reading and critiquing 15 pages from each of our WIPS. Learned SO much.

In this blog I'm going to report on the class that Dan Wells taught on how to scare people. Dan is the author of I Am Not a Serial Killer, Mr. Monster (which tied with Brandon Sanderson's The Way of Kings for the Whitney Awards Novel of the Year last night), and I Don't Want to Kill You.

His class was titled "There's a Bomb Under the Table: How to Write Thrills, Chills, and Suspense".  He broke down the process of how to scare people (in 5 easy steps). Dan only had 50 minutes, and he used movies to make his point, some of which he showed excerpts of. I don't write horror, but I do have suspense in my books, so it's important for me to understand how to make it work for my readers.

Establish normal and then break it.
He had a couple of examples for this one. One was a scene with Drew Barrymore in Scream where she gets a phone call that starts out seeming very normal ... until she realizes the caller is watching her from somewhere. Suddenly the norm is broken and it's a shock. Dan showed a clip of the George C. Scott movie The Changeling.

The familiar becomes unfamiliar.
He reviewed that dock scene from the movie Jaws, where the two guys throw out the Sunday roast as bait for the shark and one is very nearly killed. Personally, that was one of the scariest scenes in the movie for me. Dan said that the story is so well set up because everything acts normally ... until the floating dock turns around and heads back toward the man in the water. Freak out!

Delay the other shoe.
He showed the clip from Jaws where Brody is stressing because he knows there's a shark out there but the mayor won't close the beaches. We're given several scenes where people are doing just what people do at the beach (normal) but Brody's also seeing potential dangers everywhere. As viewers we're waiting for the other shoe to drop. We keep thinking, 'this time it'll happen' but it doesn't. And when it does ...

Pushing fear buttons.
Dan's example for this one was from Silence of the Lambs. It's almost to the end of the film, when Jodi Foster has gone into the building where the kidnap victim is trapped. One of the brilliant techniques in this scene is how the viewer is shown things people are scared of. We have the character's obvious fear--let's be real here; if it scares an armed FBI agent it's going to scare me--then we have a room full of scary, creepy things (closed doors, bathtubs full of icky stuff, a screaming victim, etc. and then the lights go out and the viewer then gets to watch the murderer watch the character without her knowing it. *shivers*

Show the monster when the time is right.
Unfortunately we ran out of time on this one and didn't get to see the last video clip. From my personal experience, I would suggest in this one to make sure the monster isn't ridiculous. I remember watching a movie on TV with gargoyles. They did a decent job creeping me out in the beginning ... until I actually saw the monsters (gargoyles). They were so ridiculous I laughed. Not good.

If you're interested, I'm providing the link to the first of a five-part training Dan did on Story Structure at LTUE in 2010. Very informative.