Sign up for the HOLD TIGHT cover reveal

Hi everyone!

A Tale of Many Reviews is hosting the cover reveal for HOLD TIGHT on June 26th and I would love for you to join the fun! If you’re a book blogger and would like to participate by posting on your blog, click here and fill out the brief sign-up form.

Can't participate but don't want to miss the reveal or future events and giveaways? No problem! Follow me on Twitter or Facebook to be the first to learn about important dates and giveaways!

Best, Cherie

Click here to add Hold Tight to your To Be Read list on Goodreads

Round One: Hold Tight Update

Last week I finished the first round of revisions on Hold Tight. That made me curious as to how many days are left until book two in the Embrace series is available. I decided to create a quick countdown clock. I'm not sure if that was my best idea, because it made me realize that there are less than 100 days to release date. Wow, it's creeping up quickly!

I actually love to revise, especially when I have feedback from my critique partners, beta readers, or my editor. Knowing what’s working and what didn't quite do the trick lets me know where I need to focus my energy.

This round of revisions was based on my editor's feedback, and she's absolutely amazing. She gets my novel and my characters as well as I do. She’ll point out when she feels a character’s behavior seems out-of-character and she sandwiches the bad between the good. You know, she’ll start with a comment along the lines of I really like how you…. Before a note like there’s something not quite right with the scene with Isaac….

There I was with pages of notes and an 80,000-word manuscript waiting to be improved. As I said I like revising, but that doesn’t mean there weren’t times when I had to take a deep breath and think through how I could address different issues. I re-wrote a good chuck of two chapters, added and deleted different sections throughout the book, and breathed several sighs of relief when I’d hit a chapter that didn’t need any change (at this time, anyway). The good news is I can see how the changes make the writing stronger. I think I managed to answer questions a reader might have at different points in the story, leaving less doubt and hopefully allowing him or her to stay wrapped in the action. And on that chapter that wasn’t working, I think the replacement scene flows so much better. It’s definitely less weird. (In the original chapter a lot of the action happened out of Madison’s line of sight.)

I'm happy to report that round one of revisions are done. I’m anxiously waiting for round two, dying to see if what I did works or if I still have some major changes ahead of me. The cover is in the works. One more thing I’m anxiously waiting to see. To keep myself busy, I've been planning some fun events and cool swag.

Stay tuned for more updates!

Click here to add Hold Tight to your TBR list

One Mother of a Blog Bounce

When Nicki Elson suggested we do a blog post about how our mother, mother-figure, or a mother character either from our books or another book has supported or influenced our writing, I was in.

I’ve been blessed with amazing parents, and my mom has been a big influence on me all through my life, including in my writing. She really should get an award for her listening skills. She’s heard me talk about the writing process, the joys (a.k.a. stress) of querying, my ramblings while I brainstorm, my squeals over the phone when I called to tell her I sold my first book, and my excitement over readers’ feedback. Writing is a journey filled with bumps, road blocks, and triumphs. I know that whenever I’m starting to doubt my work or if I need to hear someone tell me my latest project doesn’t suck all I have to do is call her.

Below are just some of the ways she's inspired my writing:

If she hadn't indulged my wild imagination growing up, I may never have been able to create new characters with special abilities and weave together compelling stories.

If she hadn't taken the time to read the essays I was most excited to write when I was in school, I may never have developed a love for sharing my words which would have meant I would have never started writing and blogging and I wouldn't have met even half the wonderful people that I have.

If she had told me to get my head out of the clouds and back in reality, I may not have the imagination needed to write a novel.

If she hadn't picked me up when I fell, brushed off the dirt, and encouraged me to try again, I may have given up on my stories after the first dozen rejection letters.

Without my mom encouraging me to dream when I was young, I wouldn't be the person I am today. (Mom, if you're reading this, thanks for everything you do!)

Do you have a mother or a mother figured you’d like to honor, feel free to join in and write a post. If you share your link in the comment section, I’ll be share to hop over to your blog.

Happy Mother’s Day to all the amazing moms out there!

Click the link below to join the hop! 

Fine: an IWSG post

It seems like just last week I was writing a new IWSG post and here we are again, at the first Wednesday of the month. First, I'd like to thank Alex Cavanaugh for hosting this meme. If you'd like to learn more about it, click here.

As some of you know, I was the keynote speaker at a lit fest last month. Now that it’s over, I will allow myself to admit I was nervous. See, in the months leading up to the event I kept telling myself I was fine. You know what fine stands for, don’t you?

                    Freaked out

                    Insecure

                    Neurotic

                    Emotional

Yep, I got that from the Italian job and ever since I first saw that movie I can’t help but think freaked out, insecure, neurotic, and emotional whenever I say I’m fine. 

Let's face it, one doesn’t say “I'm fine” and mean they're great. Nope, there is always an underlying meaning to that word.

It’s not like I speak in front of large crowds for a living and I wanted my speech to entertain the audience. I had the fear of looking out into the crowd and seeing people yawning, or worse, snoring. I’m glad to say that didn't happen. The speech went good. I gave a recap of the event in a previous post. 

Because I was insecure about speaking to a large crowd, I practiced my speech prior to the event. I would recommend this to anyone who has to give a speech. By the time I was standing on stage with a microphone in front of me and a big screen behind me I was comfortable with what I had to say, I knew when to pause, and I knew at what points to expect a chuckle from my audience. (And thankfully I did get them.)

May promises to be a busy month. I have big news coming about Embrace that I can't wait to share. (I know, I know, I'm such a tease, but I have to wait for the go from my publisher before I can say much more.) I will have my butt in chair revising the sequel, Hold Tight. And I'm working on some special promotions to go along with the release. I'll be posting updates on my blog as I have them, so be sure to stop back by.

SPC Literary Festival

Last week I had the pleasure of being a part of the Southwest Prairie Conference Literary Festival. (Yep, it’s a mouthful J.) The committee and the sponsors of this event did a wonderful job putting together an exciting day for the students. What I love about this festival is that the schools encourage teens to write and to never stop writing. Go SPC for inspiring interestd students to keep writing!

The conference started at nine with Welcome Introductions. Then I was up. The students seemed to enjoy my keynote speech. They listened, laughed, and had a good time with some fun questions I threw in to keep things entertaining.

Next up were the workshops. There were six to choose from. Mine was on plot and it went well, although I have some great ideas on how to make this workshop more interactive in the future. You know what they say about hindsight.

After workshops and some brainstorming, it was time for awards. Attendees had submitted entries in various categories. It was great to see the excitement on the faces of the winners and their classmates. Congrats to all who received an award!

Thanks Minooka H.S. for the photo!

I had planned on sharing fun pictures from the event, but my camera failed me so instead all I have is a great pic of  Mr. Torres and his lovely assistants getting ready to hand out the awards and a pic of the really cool bag I got (below).

The day flew by and before I knew it the students were boarding the buses back to their schools and the conference organizer was thanking us authors for all our hard work and sending us on our way.

I’d like to thank SPC for having me. I had a great time.

Sharing is Caring: The Liebster Award

 

A big THANK YOU to Tina Moss for this Liebster Award. 

I’m honored to be a recipient. 

Blogging has given me a way to connect with writers and readers across the blog-o-sphere and I've had the pleasure of meeting a lot of wonderful people. The Liebster Award is given to bloggers by bloggers and gives glimpses into our lives. We then get to pass on the honor to others. So today I’ll be sharing with you 11 fun facts about me, I’ll answer my nominator’s questions, and I’ll tag 11 new bloggers for the award.

First things first, eleven fun facts about me:

1. I need a good cup of coffee in the morning. It’s that serious.

2. My second novel will be out this summer. J

3. I support my writing habit with a tech job.

4. Some of my best ideas come to me while I’m driving. (And I love that I can now tell my phone to take a memo. No more hastily written notes at stop lights.)

5. I’m positive my guardian angel worked overtime to keep me out of trouble when I was a teen.

6. I have a thing about closet doors being closed. I won’t go to sleep if the one in the bedroom is open. (I’ve seen Pixar’s Monsters, Inc. I know what comes out of closets!)

7. My weakness is gooey chocolate chip cookies just out of the oven.

8. I love to read the little inspirational notes on the inside of the Dove chocolate wrapper.

9. I feel as if I’m slacking if I don’t write every day.

10.  I enjoy long walks outdoors.

11. I have more fun facts about me in the tab labels “About Me” above.

My nominator’s questions and my answers:

1. Who is the author you admire most? This is a hard one because I have a long list of authors I admire, but I’m going to say Maggie Stiefvater. I enjoyed both her Lament series and the Linger series and she seems like she’d be very down to earth.

2. Why do you write (in five words or less)? I love spinning new tales.

3. What is your favorite genre to read? YA paranormal

4. Who is your biggest inspiration? My family

5. What advice would you give to new writers? Do it because you love to write.

6. What is your favorite hobby? Reading

7. Are you a cat or dog person? Dog

8. Where is your ideal vacation spot? Maui

9. What is a place you want to visit, but haven't yet? Europe

10.What is the meaning of life in one word (or number) *wink*?  Three ??

11. If you're on a desert island, what are three things you must have? Is there cell service? I don’t know if I could survive without either my phone or tablet. Of course, I’d have no way to charge them. Hmm…a book on how to survive off nature, a very large notebook, and a huge pack of pens.

Now for the new nominees whose blogs I enjoy:

Nicki Elson

Carol Oates

Misha Gericke

Michael Di Gesu

S.A. Larsen

Amy Acosta

Mirka Breen

Marta Szemik 

Nancy Thompson

Chemist Ken

Natasha Hanova

Your new questions:

1. What do you like best about blogging?

2. Mountains or ocean?

3. Favorite author?

4. Are you an outliner or a panster?

5. Where do you find your inspiration?

6. What fictional world would you like to visit?

7. KFC or Popeye’s?

8. Are there any books you won’t read?

9. Name three people (living or dead) you’d like to meet?

10. Do you have any advice for fellow bloggers?

11. Is this your first Liebster award?

The Liebster Rules:

1. The Liebster Award is given to bloggers by bloggers.

2. Each blogger should post 11 facts about himself / herself.

3. Each blogger should answer the 11 questions that are asked by the nominating blogger.

4. Choose 11 new bloggers to nominate for the Award and link to them in the post.

5. Create 11 new questions for your nominees.

6. Go back to their pages and tell them they've been nominated.

7. No tag backs.

If you'd like to participate, feel free to snag the questions and begin your own round of the Liebster Awards!